The next morning, Brianna stands at the station, longer than she should, talking to Charlie. She was only wearing a long sleeve and jeans. They're arguing about whether she should take the flannel he's got in his cruiser. It isn't much but it's something, he said. "I'm fine, Charlie." She laughs. He shakes his head. "No, come on. You're wearing it." He states, setting his hand on the small of her back and walking her outside. As soon as the wind hits her, she shivers. He scowls at her. "You're shivering." "I'm fine." She says again. "You either take it or my jacket." He says with finality in his voice. "I can't take your jacket." "Then wear the flannel." She huffs, playfully glaring up at him. "Yessir." "Thank you." He grumbles, handing it to her.
She slips the flannel around her shoulders, it wasn't much but it did help. She smiles up at him gratefully. His heart flutters seeing her in his clothes. He wants to scold himself for thinking about her this way. He's forty one for God's sake, she's eighteen, he can't think about her this way. After staring at each other for a minute, she looks away, her face red. "I gotta get to school." "Be careful." He says, ruffling her hair. She grins, going even redder. "Yessir." He smiles, shaking his head and carefully pushing the small of her back. "Go on." She smiles at him one more time before walking to her car. Charlie walks back into the station, finding her coffee sitting on his desk. He wants so badly to see her again, but he couldn't justify a trip just to give her coffee.
But she does every morning. He decides to leave it, which, it's best he did because a minute later, she walks back in, taking it off his desk. "See you later, Chief." "Be careful." He calls after her. She smiles, walking out. The following days continued almost the same, except she had a heavier jacket on after she was playfully scolded by her father since Charlie said something to him. She walks into the station, setting her dad's coffee on his desk before walking to Charlie. "Morning, Chief." "Morning." He smiles softly. "I see you've got an actual jacket on." He says jokingly. "Only cause you told my dad." She rolls her eyes playfully. "Watch the attitude, little one." He points at her. He's called her little one practically her whole life, but it feels different.
She goes red, nodding. "Yessir." "Get to school." He motions her out as he sips his coffee. "I don't wanna." "I'm not sure Bill will agree to another paperwork day." He says. She huffs, nodding. "See you later, Chief." "Be careful." She grins. "Always am." At the end of the school day, Bella pulls Brianna over to her truck, telling her about the strange interactions with Edward Cullen. "Don't let it get to you. It's Edward. He's kinda weird, I mean that in the absolute nicest way possible." Brianna shrugs. They stand for a moment before a horn honks, they both quickly turn, finding Tyler's van barreling straight toward them. Brianna barely gasps before she's quickly pushed away, her head hits the concrete.
She sits up, holding her head with a groan, automatically feeling sick to her stomach. She looks over to see Edward holding Bella against his body. People rush over, carefully helping Brianna up. "Bri, Bella, I'm so sorry, I panicked." Tyler says, his eyebrow bleeding. At the hospital, Charlie rushes in. "Bella. You okay?" He quickly walks over before pointing at Tyler. "You and I are gonna talk. You alright?" "I'm fine, dad. Calm down. Who we should be worried about is Brianna, she hit her head." Bella says, motioning to Brianna in the bed across the aisle. She sits with her knees to her chest, her head buried between her knees. "I heard the Chief's daughter was in." Carlisle Cullen says as he walks in. "Oh, Dr. Cullen." "Charlie." Carlisle greets him.
"Go check on Bri." Bella says to her dad. He quickly nods, walking to the girl. "Brianna." He says, setting his hand on her back. She carefully looks up, smiling as much she can with the fact that her head is killing her. "Chief Swan." She greets. "You doing okay?" He slides his finger under her chin, lifting her head further. "I'm fine." She says, shrugging. "Yeah?" He asks, not believing her. "Stand up for me." He says. She goes to stand when she groans, holding her head. "Dr. Cullen." He calls for the blonde who quickly walks over. "How're we today, Bri?" He asks. "She can't even stand." Charlie says as Bella walks over. Carlisle holds up a finger, shining a light into her eyes. She winces, looking away.
"It appears you have a concussion." Carlisle says as Charlie glares Tyler again. Not only did he almost kill his daughter, he gave Brianna a concussion. "We're gonna keep her tonight, just in case. Where's Bill?" "He's helping out at Grisham Mills, he couldn't get away." Charlie says, setting his hand on Brianna's back as she buries her head between her knees again. She forces down a blush, trying not to think about his hand on her. Bella watches Charlie as he rubs Brianna's back gently. "I'll be back in later with Bill." He tells the girl, petting her hair when she looks up at him. She smiles, nodding. "Let's go, Bells." "Be careful." Brianna says. "Always am." He smiles, leading Bella out of the room.
A little while later, Bill and Charlie burst in. Bill walks to his daughter, carefully pulling her against his chest. "I'm so glad you're okay. The school called me and I couldn't leave." He says. "I'm fine, dad." She laughs lightly. Charlie smiles at her. "Charlie was here." She assures. Bill glances at Charlie then back to his daughter. "Well, Charlie's gonna stay here with you for a bit while I go back to Grisham Mills. They need a lot of help." He says with a cringe. "Have fun." She says. "Will do." He laughs, carefully ruffling her hair before leaving. Charlie sits in the chair beside her bed with a small grunt. She looks at him, rolling onto her side in the bed. "You know you don't have to stay if you don't want to."
"I know." He moves the chair closer, carefully setting his hand on her head, stroking her hair. She sighs contently, closing her eyes. She was told she isn't allowed to sleep yet due to it being a head injury. "Now, don't go falling asleep on me." He scolds lightly. "I'm not." She says sleepily. "I'll go get a nurse, see if you can sleep yet. Until then, sit up. Do something." He says, removing his hand and standing. She nods, sitting up. A few minutes later, Charlie returns, sitting beside her again. "Go to sleep, little one." He says, petting her hair again as she lies back on her side. She closes her eyes, falling asleep to the feeling of Charlie carefully smoothing her hair down. She wakes up a bit later, an empty chair beside her.
She huffs, sitting up to see a note in the empty chair. 'Had to get home to sleep for work tomorrow. - Charlie.' She smiles, lying back again. They let her out in the morning, she quickly gets her coffees and heads to the station. "Morning, Chief." She says as she sets it on Charlie's desk. "Good morning, Brianna." He smiles. "How're you feeling?" He asks, motioning her to sit beside him. She pulls the chair closer to him, sitting. "Head's a bit tender but I'm okay." She says, looking up at him. He looks over at her, watching her chew on her bottom lip nervously. "You still going to school today?" "Dad says I don't have to so I could stay here and help with paperwork." She says with a grin. He laughs.
"If you want to." He hands her a stack of paperwork. "Do you need me to sit somewhere else so you have your room?" "No. No, that's okay. Stay here." He smiles, looking over at her. She goes red, looking down at the papers. He chuckles, shaking his head. They work quietly, their arms brushing each other's each time they move. She watches him as he stares at his computer before he feels her watching him and looks at her. She quickly looks away, face going red. The watching switches and he continues to look at her, her hair falling into her face to hide it. Without thinking, he reaches out, tucking it behind her ear. She goes even redder, looking up at him. "Sorry." "No, no, it's okay." She says.
At the end of the day, she starts to leave. He catches her arm, stopping her. "You wanna come over for dinner so Bella knows you're okay?" "I probably can." She says with a grin. "Let me talk to my dad." She walks away and when she comes back she nods, telling him she can go. He notices she didn't bring a jacket and quickly wraps his around her shoulders. She looks up at him. "You don't have a jacket." He says, smiling softly at her. She shakes her head, laughing lightly. "I can't take your jacket, Charlie." "You can and you will." He says sternly. She blushes, looking down. "Yessir." He smirks lightly, setting his hand on her lower back, walking her out. At the house, she sits in the kitchen, waiting for him to change out of his uniform. He sits across from her.
When Bella comes in, Brianna stands, moving to sit on the counter behind Charlie. Bella throws her bag in the chair, it falls. "Your mom called. Again." He folds the paper, setting it down. "Well, that's your fault. You shouldn't have told her about the almost accident. You finished?" "Yeah." She picks up the plate that Brianna had made for him. Charlie sips his beer. "Yeah, I suppose you're right, she always did know how to worry. She seems different. She seems happy. Phil sounds like an alright guy." He says. "Yeah, he is." Bella sighs, walking out. "All right." Charlie looks at Brianna, who shrugs. She sets her hands on his shoulders, carefully massaging them. He smiles up at her, sipping at his beer.
"She didn't even acknowledge you." He grumbles. "It's okay. She had a day." She says, refraining from wrapping her arms around him and snuggling into him. He removes himself from her hands, looking up at her. "Sit down, little one." He motions to the seat across from him. She lifts Bella's bag, putting it on the back of the chair. "You know you don't have to pick up after us." He says. "Speaking of picking up, let me get to the dishes." She stands. "Sit." He says. She shakes her head, walking to the sink. "Let me." He stands, setting his hands on her waist and pulling her away from the sink. "Sit." He laughs, shaking his head. She looks up at him, her eyes dropping to his lips before quickly going back up to his eyes. He smirks lightly, watching her go red.
Her eyes widen and she looks away. "I should probably get home." She says softly. "Yeah, yeah, uh," He clears his throat, pulling his hands away from her. After she takes his jacket off, she gently presses a kiss to his cheek before quickly walking out. He sets his hand against his cheek, fingers running over where her lips just were, a smile playing on his lips. The following day, Brianna goes back to school, slipping between people before Bella grabs her wrist. "You coming to La Push with us? Jake is gonna be there." "I'm actually gonna get caught up on homework. I've been behind for weeks." Brianna says, shrugging. "You sure?" "Yeah. I'll be good." Bella nods. "Okay. Well, maybe you could come to my house when I get home." She suggests with a smirk.
"What's with the smirk?" Brianna asks cautiously. "We still have to talk about you and my dad." Bella states. Brianna goes red, looking down quickly. "What about Charlie?" She questions, trying to force down the blush. "I know you like him." Bella says as they walk down the hallway when the bell rings. "I do not!" Brianna objects. "You so do!" Bella laughs, shaking her head. Brianna rolls her eyes, stopping at her locker. "Whatever helps you sleep at night." She says. "You don't get blushy around anyone but my dad. Which, I will admit is weird but it's cute." Bella states, laughing. "Not true." She objects again, shaking her head.
She pulls her bag out, shoving her books into it. "I'm going home. Text me when you get home, I'll be over to make dinner." She says, starting to walk away. "Is Bill coming?" "Probably not." She walks backward, shrugging. A little while later, Brianna gets a call from her father, being told Waylon had been killed. She quickly climbs in her car, speeding to the police station. She arrives, walking inside and hugging her father before looking at Charlie slumped at his desk. "I'll be back." Everyone was close to Waylon but Charlie was closest. She pulls a chair up, setting her hand on his arm. "You doing okay?" She asks softly. He shrugs, sniffling lightly. Carefully, she slips her finger under his chin, lifting his head.
"Are you okay?" She asks. He shakes his head, looking down. She wraps her arms around his neck, hugging him tightly. His arms quickly wrap around her waist, pulling her to him. He sniffles again, burying his head in the crook of her neck. "I'm so sorry." She says, her hand coming up to the back of his head, fingers curling in his hair. Bella walks in causing Brianna to carefully pull away. "Hey." Bella says. "Hey." Charlie greets. "Dad, I'm really sorry." She says. "I've known him going on 30 years." He says, staring at the computer. Brianna sets her hand on his shoulder, his hand comes up, holding hers. "Don't worry, we're gonna find this thing. Meantime," He pulls out two cans of pepper spray. "I want you to carry this with you. Both of you. Give me some peace of mind." Brianna nods, taking it front him.
Charlie looks up at her before looking at Bella. "Let's get home." He says. They stand and Brianna carefully hugs Charlie again. "Let me know if you need anything." She says softly as his arms snake around her waist. "Will do, little one." He says. Bella smirks at Brianna knowing Charlie isn't one for physical contact but he's got his arms wrapped tightly around Brianna's waist. She pulls back, looking up at him. "I'm serious, Charlie. Let me know." "I will." He smiles, planting a kiss on her forehead. "I'll see you in the morning." She grins, trying to force down a blush. "Be careful." "Always, Chief." She smiles, walking out. Bell looks at her dad with a smirk. "You like her." "Not true. Let's go." He says.