Later That Evening
Charlie walked into the house and stopped, dead in his tracks, staring into the living room.
Bella tilted her head back, peering at him around the arm of the couch as her foot continued to tap where it was resting in Alice’s lap.
“Hey, Dad,” Bella called out, her voice a little louder than it normally would have been to compensate for the music playing in the room.
He looked absolutely shell-shocked but she wasn’t sure why. After he had finished yelling at her and grounding her that morning, she had told him that Alice was in town and would be staying with them until she returned to her family. Then, halfway through breakfast, Alice had returned to the house and she had Charlie had had a civil conversation before he left for the reservation to help with the preparations for Harry’s funeral.
“There’s music,” Charlie said instead of ‘hello’. He sounded absolutely dumbfounded, and after blinking for a few seconds, he glanced over at Alice, as if he hoped that she could explain what was happening to him.
Bella laughed lightly, and then felt bad about it when Charlie turned to look at her. She understood now why he looked so confused. During the horrible depression that had come over her after the Cullen’s had left town, she had been unable to stand the sound of music. She had winced whenever she heard others playing it, and not only had she boxed up all of her CDs and moved them into the basement, but she had also ripped her radio out of her truck. And now, there she was, relaxing on the couch, music playing loudly throughout the room, seemingly without a care in the world.
Bella thought that it was no wonder Charlie looked confused. He couldn’t know that Alice’s return had filled up the gaping hole in her chest and made her heart start to beat again. He couldn’t know that Alice had filled her with life and hope again.
“It’s Alice’s,” Bella said loud enough that Charlie could hear, trying to explain and ease his confusion. “She wouldn’t stand for my musical boycott, and immediately retrieved her ipod,” she continued turning away from Charlie long enough to share a grin with Alice. “She wouldn’t take no for an answer.”
Alice nodded, expressing that it was true, that it was all true.
“It’s Astrud Gilberto,” Alice said, her eyes on Charlie as he walked tentatively into the room and plopped himself into the arm chair next to the couch. “This one’s … Corcovado,” she said after listening to the song for a moment. “Nice, isn’t it?” she asked smiling brightly. “She’s practically the only thing I listened to when we were in Rio,” she said sighing nostalgically.
Bella smirked and controlled the urge to poke Alice playfully in the stomach with her big toe. The way she phrased it made it seem like she was talking about a recent vacation, but Bella knew that Alice was referring to being in Rio when the music was originally recorded … in the 1950s.
Charlie nodded, still staring at them wearily, almost as if he expected a Tyrannosaurus Rex to come crashing through the room before he suddenly woke up and realized that it was all a fantastically jazzy dream.
“Are you hungry, Dad?” Bella asked, beginning to feel really badly about giving him such a shock. Now that she really looked at him she could see that he looked drawn and impossibly tired, and that walking into what could as well have been an episode Twilight Zone had pretty much finished him off for the night. “I could fix you a plate,” she continued drawing her legs out of Alice’s lap and standing.
“I cooked it!” Alice piped up, her voice coming out alarmingly loud as Bella moved over to the ipod and lowered the volume.
Charlie looked over at her surprised. Somehow he didn’t really associate Alice with food. Like her brother, Charlie didn’t think that he had ever seen Alice consume an item of food. When she had been spending a lot of time with them after Phoenix, he had even mentioned it to Bella, wondering if Alice had some kind of eating disorder. But Bella had told him that Alice kept strange hours and ate at strange times because it. It seemed a strange explanation to him, but Alice she was always full of energy when he saw her, she never seemed to get sick, and she never lost weight so he eventually accepted what Bella had said. Still, despite the fact that he knew she had to eat, the thought of her cooking seemed strange to him because he had never seen her eat.
“Don’t worry Dad, I supervised,” Bella piped up seeing his look. “It’s completely edible.”
“Hey!” Alice exclaimed. “I’m vaguely insulted here. I slaved over a hot stove all day … well, a brief part of the afternoon in any case, and disbelief and mocking is the thanks I get? That’s not right,” she said shaking her head. “There ought to be a movement,” she continued grinning at Bella.
“Let me guess, a women’s movement,” Bella said laughing lightly, able to anticipate where Alice was going with her little joke.
“Yes, a movement. A movement to … to, liberate women. A women’s liberation movement, if you will,” Alice responded, grinning widely as Bella groaned and shook her head as if she was in pain. “Let your dishtowels go!” Alice said in a sing-song, lifting her arm in the air.
Charlie looked between them, a mildly confused but tentatively happy smile on his lips. It was very similar to the expression he had worn when she started to spend time with Jacob, only it was a little bit wearier. He liked Alice, but her connection to Edward made him uncomfortable, and even more so than with Jacob, Bella was certain that her father was hesitant to hope that the exuberance Alice had brought out in her would stay.
“You’re silly,” Bella said grinning at Alice. She looked over at her father. “I’ll be right back,” she told him, and with that she moved into the kitchen, finally understanding just how much she had put her father through over the past six months and swearing to make it up to him.
Alice followed Bella’s progress out of the room, not needing to turn around to know that Charlie’s eyes were on her, not his daughter. When Bella entered the hallway and was out of sight, Alice moved over to the other end of the couch, closer to Charlie and turned to face him.
“You know how grateful I am to you, don’t you?” Charlie asked the moment Alice’s eyes met him, knowing they didn’t have too much time until Bella returned.
When Bella had been injured in Phoenix the spring before, he been completely overwhelmed and had had no idea how he was going to manage. But then Alice had swept in like a teenage Mary Poppins, and had taken care of Bella (and him to certain degree) like she was family, and after that, he himself had held a considerable amount of affection for the small girl.
Alice nodded, silent and serious.
“But then you hurt her,” Charlie said, his voice low, his eyes blazing as he held Alice’s gaze. “Everyone thinks it was your brother,” he continued, his voice soft as could be though his eyes were hard. “But it started before he left. The change was less noticeable, less severe when only you were gone, but it was there. I saw it. I know it started with you,” he continued, watching as Alice tilted her head up to the ceiling, her eyes blinking rapidly before she lowered her head and gazed down at her lap.
Alice looked impossibly young at that moment, and Charlie sighed, and leaned back slightly, easing off of her. No matter what she had done, she was a child too and he had to remember that.
“I don’t think you meant to hurt her,” he began. His voice was gentler than it had been before.
“I didn’t,” Alice said her voice cracking as she looked over at him. “That’s the last thing I ever wanted to do. I care about her … so much,” she continued, blinking again. “I’m so sorry, Charlie. Really, I am.”
Charlie breathed in and out deeply, Alice’s obvious distress affecting him.
She was a good girl, he knew that. There was an innate sweetness and warmth to Alice, a kindness and concern to her that had immediately endeared her to him. She was so bubbly and personable, almost the exact opposite of her brother, and Charlie had been glad that Bella had such a good friend, which was why it had shocked him so much to see the devastation that Alice had managed to cause seemingly overnight.
“I don’t know what happened between the two of you,” Charlie began, his tone bewildered. Right before Alice had left, she and Bella had seemed to be closer than ever, and he couldn’t imagine how things had managed to go so terribly wrong in so short an amount of time. “I’ve heard that the friendships between teenage girls can be intense to a degree that is completely incomprehensible to men, especially old farts like me,” he continued shaking his head again. “I know that you care about her, and I can see how … how badly you feel. But I just … I never want to see my little girl like that again. Do you understand what I mean, Alice?”
Alice nodded again, still blinking.
“Just … you be gentle with her,” Charlie continued, sighing. “Bella’s an amazing girl. A strong girl, but she’s not indestructible. Understand Alice, your actions have consequences, so you be thoughtful with my girl. You have to look out for her.”
Alice breathed in and out deeply, and then nodded. “I will,” she swore looking up and holding Charlie’s gaze. “I promise I won’t hurt her like that again. You have my word,” she declared, her voice shivering with intensity.
Charlie held her gaze for a good five seconds, and then nodded.
“Then it’s good to have you back,” Charlie said, pausing for a second before sticking his hand out in Alice’s direction.
Alice looked at the proffered hand and smiled, then gladly reached out and grasped it, shaking it with a firmness that left Charlie surprised and impressed. The girl had a grip on her.
“Alright,” Bella declared breezing back into the room a plate and a bottle of beer in her hands. “Dinner is served.”
To be continued …
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