Chapter Twenty-Two: Returning

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Edward and I had arrived back in Forks in less than a day, showing up at his house. "Bella!" Alice cried as she ran over to me and wrapped me in a tight hug, she was already waiting outside with the rest of her family for my return; meaning she had seen us coming.

Hugging her back, I smiled as I breathed in her scent. I did miss Alice. Esme was the second to hug me, and I knew that she would be crying if she could. The love continued and I was happy to be home, but I needed to see Charlie.

It was only midnight when we arrived, so I knew I'd have to wait until the morning. I planned on staying with the Cullen's for the night, and calling Charlie as soon as I knew he'd be awake. After taking a quick shower, I changed into a dark grey long sleeved shirt and paired it with black leggings, meeting the family back downstairs where they were talking happily about my arrival.

"We missed you so much, Bella." Alice smiled as I took a seat on the couch beside her.
"We really did, and we hope you feel better now that you're back." Esme added, reaching over to grab my hand and squeezing it softly as I smiled over to her.

"I really am better, I feel happy for once in a long time. I am really sorry about running off like that without warning, I know it must have hurt you all in some way, but I promise I'm staying from now on. I knew my parents deaths were bound to happen, but my mothers was quick and it was a shock to me, I wasn't ready to lose her so soon. But now she's gone, there's no bringing her back, so I have to deal with it." The atmosphere had changed after my speech, and I knew everyone was a little sad.

"I'm sorry, I didn't mean to down the mood. I'm happier now, I promise. I thought running away would have been a good thing to do, and it somewhat was.. I learned that I have a special ability." With this confession, all eyes in the room shot up to look at me, Edward and Alice smiled proudly; they already knew what the other's didn't.

"How did you figure this out?" Carlisle asked me. Alice must not have told them where I was. After I explained the story to them of where I was and who I met, and the training I had to go through to manipulate my power, everyone was gazing at me in awe.

"I already knew you were very self controlled with the thirst, being able to see your father the day of your change, but you actually having another special ability? Now that is amazing." Jasper said out loud, and I smiled at him proudly. "Sometime I can show you all how my power works, next time we visit the Denali's so we can use Kate's power." I offered, and they all looked thrilled at the thought.

The sun rose eventually, and I was excited to see my father. Before I could reach the phone to call him and invite him over, Jasper caught my arm.
"Bella, how long have you been away from humans?" He asked in a concerning tone.
"Since I ran away, why?"
"So it has been five months that you have been away from the scent of human blood pulsing in veins, and hearing human heartbeats?" I nodded my head, oblivious to where he was getting with this. When he could tell I was still confused, he sighed softly.

"Bella you might have untrained yourself with your self control. Now I know I might look like a fool warning you this, but that's exactly why I'm doing it. Better safe than sorry. If you are absolutely sure you will not hurt your father, go on ahead and invite him. But if you fear you did forget some control, it would be best to ease into this. We can take you out in public and see how you'd react, if you'd like."

I knew Jasper could be right, it has been a while since I've been around humans, but I was confident I wouldn't hurt him. Giving Jasper a look that didn't need words, he stepped away from the phone and I reached out to grab it.

"Hello?" I heard the familiar voice I had known all my life.
"Dad." I breathed out loud, smiling. Even over the phone I could hear his heartbeat escalate and my throat burned slightly at the sound, catching me off guard.
"Bells?" He asked, choked up.
"Dad I'm home." I could hear moving over the phone, but I didn't know what happened.
"Where?" He asked in excitement.
"I'm at the Cullen's house, do you know where that is? You can come meet me here." Charlie sighed in relief and I smiled.

"I'll be there in ten." He promised before hanging up the phone.

I knew it would take longer than ten minutes, but if it was for seeing me, Charlie might actually break the law and drive faster than the speed limit prohibited. I took the short time to my advantage as I went to the bathroom and placed the brown contacts in my eyes and growled in annoyance.

It had also been five months that I didn't have to wear these stupid things.

Edward came to stand behind me in the mirror and chuckled softly at my annoyance. When I turned to glare at him, he quieted. Our moment had quickly turned intimate as Edward stepped closer, my bottom hitting the counter as I brought him back with me. Shutting the bathroom door, Edward lifted my body up slightly before placing me back down on the counter, where I was sitting and he stood in between my legs.

He took the time to run his fingers over my arms, my legs, my face. His thumb traced my bottom lip and I closed my eyes at the feeling. His lips found mine, and I sighed, wrapping my arms around his neck to deepen the kiss. Running my fingers through his hair as our lips connected, Edward rested his hands on my waist and pulled me closer to his body, as if it were possible.

It had been five months since I had kissed him, held him, breathed in his scent. Feeling this contact made me want to deepen our love more, become more intimate, but we didn't have the time; and Edward had made it clear that he wanted to wait before we gave ourselves to each other completely.

Knowing that if I didn't break this kiss off now, we would cross our line of intimacy and I knew if we continued on we would not stop. I pulled my lips away from his and smiled slightly at the sound of his soft whimper that escaped his lips at the loss of connection.

Before I could apologize for pulling away, we heard a car pull up to the house and I quickly knew that was Charlie. Pushing Edward away slightly so I could hop off the counter, I grabbed his hand and lead him down to the living room where we would meet with my father.

As soon as we reached the room, the blood in Charlie's veins had been brought to my attention, and I was shocked at the ache in my throat. I had taught myself to ignore the feeling, but I guess being away from human contact for a while had affected me.

Jasper looked over to me quickly, giving off a look of concern, but backed away as I nodded simply and gave off a smile.

Charlie rang the door bell and Carlisle exited the room to answer the door and invite him inside.

"Charlie, it's great to see you." Carlisle greeted him.
"Hello, Carlisle. Where is Bella?" Charlie wasn't one for small-talk, he was eager to see me.

Carlisle led him upstairs, and I watched as everyone slowly exited the room to leave us alone. I stood beside one of the couches, still holding hands with Edward. As soon as Charlie came into view and he saw me, I listened to his escalating heart-beat and the gasp that escaped his lips.

"Bells?" He called out.
"Hi, dad." I smiled at him, letting go of Edward's hand so I could hug him.

The hug was sweet, a hug I had never received from my father; at least none that I remember. His arms tightened around my body, and I rested my head against his chest and closed my eyes, breathing in his scent that I had unknowingly longed for.

"I missed you." He whispered, and I opened my eyes to see everyone had exited the room, even Edward.
"I missed you." I returned, letting go of him willingly after his grip lightened. He wore a light grey t-shirt with dark jeans, and I know he had left his jacket downstairs. I walked over to take a seat, Charlie sitting beside me, and I began telling him of my adventure; excluding the part of vampires and my special ability; knowing that although he knew about me, he couldn't act as if he did.

The visit was nice, and the sun was beginning to set faster than I had expected. "Are you coming home with me?" Charlie asked as he stood up, getting ready to leave. Shaking my head, I hugged him once more.
"I'll be there in the morning before you head off to work, though." I promised. I wanted to make him breakfast as a small apology for my leaving.
"Well I guess I better tell you about her now, then." Charlie sighed, and I raised my brows in confusion as I let go of his body.
"Who?" I asked in wonderment.
"Sue Clearwater. We sort of, uh, well I guess we got along well. She might be there in the morning when you come by." I couldn't help the smile that crossed my face, I was happy my father had finally found someone to look after him. It was time everyone began moving on from the unfortunate event that occurred a while back, and that included me.

I was ready to actually be happy.

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