Tender Thrills

4- Thunder

Thunder (Black)

Disclaimer: I don't own Twilight, though if I did, I would cut Sam some slack for being the Alpha (He's just misunderstood and hated by many people for not letting Jake tell Bella the truth which is just sad :[ ). I only own my plot line and my OCs.

Mia moaned in relief when she finished writing the long list of items needed. The minimum time she could estimate of spending in the stores were around three hours. Majority of the items were fresh vegetables, fruits, nuts and some frozen foods like pizza, chicken pieces, and French Fries. Though the rest of the list was bombarded with pepper spray (courtesy of her dad), some insect spray and detergents.

Mia rubbed her wrist as a cramp started to make itself known.

I should've listened to dad when he told me to slow down on the cleaning yesterday.

Charlie slipped into the kitchen. Mia glanced up at him but saw him make a pot of coffee. Her eyes fell back to the list and once she finished going through it again, Mia openly stared at her father.

Mia leaned forward and watched him move comfortably about in the kitchen. A tense atmosphere could be felt from Charlie making Mia worried but she pushed it down.

Stop overanalyzing everything he does. It's probably work related; you haven't even been in Forks for a week, her mind scolded her.

"So," Charlie trailed off, looking more awkward in his police jacket, "how'd you sleep?"

Mia looked up from the list in confusion before she nodded a bit awkwardly, adding to the sudden bizarre atmosphere.

"Okay, I guess?" She whispered out as she scratched her temple in confusion.

"Have you talked to Renee yet," he asked timidly as his eyes jumped from place to place, avoiding looking into her eyes.

Mia felt like such a jerk at that moment and mentally slapped herself. She let out a strained smile and shook her head. How could she forget that her dad never truly felt like he belonged next to his daughters from all the neglect Renee pushed onto him.

(In the back of her mind, she berated herself for being rude to her mother. It wasn't like she could have controlled her Postpartum Depression.)

"I like it here dad. I love being here with you, even though I've just been here for a day," she mumbled just loud enough for her dad to hear her. She could see the tips of her dad's ears burn as his neck took a similar color, but who was Mia to say, she knew she would be blushing as well. That was one of the traits she loved having from him. The others would include being able to eat a lot of pizza. But that would be irrelevant at this shy moment.

Charlie cleared his throat, "We should probably get going if we want to get everything today."

Mia quickly nodded as she picked up the list after placing the dishes in the sink. She followed him into the police cruise but her mind was still stuck on how nervous her dad looked. His unusually reserved eyes looked like an open book, betraying his casual stance. Mia couldn't help but resent Bella. If she could only cut Charlie some slack, it wouldn't have had such a deep and long psychological effect.

Her eyes turned into slits as she glared out the window. Why hadn't Isabella called already as well? Mia knew that Bella knew that she was still getting used to the new phone but she could have still checked up on her. Mia had emailed her mother in the morning as well, hoping to get used to the idea of emailing every day. Yet Isabella was a no show. But none of that mattered at the current moment as anger brewed up inside. Mia mentally vowed to never push her dad out into exile as the other Swan child did.