Twilight Collision: Falling Into Pieces

New Faces, Familiar Faces

Bella settled into Charlie Swan's house and the first night, Charlie didn't realize exactly what he had gotten himself into until he woke up in the middle of the night to hear a screaming Bella. Thinking that there was danger, the police chief had burst into her room with his gun. Only then that he realized that she was having a nightmare.

After making sure that the kid was not in immediate danger, he went back to bed since there was nothing else that he could do about it.

The month went by like he still lived in the house by himself. He knew that Bella was there all right. He still woke up to hear screaming from the other room in the middle of the night but when daytime came, there wasn't a sign of her anywhere in the house.

He realized for the next few days, she had been leaving the house every day when he came home from work late in the evening. He was watching a football game on television when she came in the house, nodded to him in acknowledgement and went straight to her room.

That was when he noticed that she wasn't even eating in the house. The kitchen was just the way that he always left it and the only food that was left on the fridge where the ones that he forgot to ate or just left there.

All throughout her stay, he was never able to find out more about her other than the details that he already had. Every time he would decide to talk to her, she would already be gone from the house. The hardest part was, he had an idea where she was going everyday but he didn't have it in him to stop her or at least talk to her about it. Technically, she was still a stranger and it was none of his business but that didn't stop him from worrying.

Saturday morning, Charlie woke up early to get his fishing gear ready in the car when Bella came out of the house.

"Hey Kid! Good Morning. Heading out?" Charlie asked, though it was obvious that she was leaving again.

Bella only nodded.

"That's a long walk. Why don't I give you a ride? It's on the way anyway. Come on." Charlie opened the passenger's side and gestured for her to get in, not letting her get a chance to say no.

She hesitated but seeing that he wasn't going to accept no for an answer, she went in and Charlie got behind the wheels and drove away.

That became their routine during the weekends then. When Charlie was going fishing or heading to La Push to visit his friend Billy Black, he would drop off Bella at the Cullen's place. She never talked much. The only time she would talk was to thank him for the ride or to tell him that she'll just find her way home. Other than that, she just kept quiet. Charlie wondered if the kid was just as comfortable with silence as he was or if she's really just got a lot on her plate.

The next week, Charlie had decided to stay in with all the rain going on outside. He knew Bella would be stuck in the house as well but wasn't really sure if she would even bother coming out of her room.

His worry about Bella took a temporary back seat when a knock on the door came. He knew who it was and was already looking forward to a whole day of just lounging around the house with his beer and his sports channel.

"You look older" Charlie remarked to the man on a wheelchair when he opened the door.

"And you looked like you could use some good night's rest" Billy Black, Charlie's old friend answered back. Charlie laughed but just shrugged. He didn't want to share what has been the cause of his restless nights.

He was still being awoken by Bella's screams at night and although it was becoming less and less, it was still there. Charlie had never went back to her room since that first night, to give her privacy. He would wake up with the screaming, listen to make sure that it was just her usual nightmares and go back to sleep. Even if he wanted to do something about it, nightmares were something that he was not able to help her with.