Speak || A Twilight Fanfic

Chapter 5

Gabriella had gone to bed with anger flowing through her veins. It made her burn up with rage, slowly bubbling up to the surface.

Bella had always been unconsciously selfish in her sister's opinion. At least, she hoped it was unconscious. To Gabi, her sister always found a way to make every situation about herself, and everyone allowed it. Her heartbreak had taken over her father's life, threatened to take over their mother's, and was slowly snaking its hands around hers. But Bella would not become the center of her life, she could not.

But the next morning, Gabriella's anger had seemingly dissipated. Even if Bella believed the world revolved around her, Gabi would not let hers do so. At the end of the day, it was Christmas – a day of happiness and forgiveness. She would enjoy it with or without her sister.

The smell of slightly burnt coffee filled her nostrils before she had opened her eyes and she knew her father was already up. Her excitement for the day was again replenished and she readied herself for a long afternoon. It was her first holiday back in the city of Forks, and the first Christmas she'd have in the town. Nothing would stand in the way of a good day.

"Morning, dad," Gabi smiled at the flustered man. He had taken a sip of the scalding coffee. Not only did he burn his tongue, but he had to taste the awful batch. "Merry Christmas."

"Oh, merry Christmas, honey. I really am a menace in the kitchen."

"Thankfully not on the grill," she chuckled. "Why don't you sit while I make a new batch and a light breakfast?"

"I guess I'm still not used to having you girls here," he sighed. "Normally I'd just go down to the diner and get some food there. And now that Bella's like... like that, I've had to take care of the food again."

"Well, I'm here now. So don't worry about that," Gabriella smiled. "We'll just take it one day at a time and hope for the best. It's the only thing we can do."

"Then we should get ready soon to go over to Billy's house," Charlie responded, resigned. "Were you able to at least convince Bella to come?"

"No. She's as stubborn as ever."

"I really hoped she'd want to come. You both always enjoyed Christmas time."

Gabi shrugged from the stove, the pan she shook scraping slightly the iron grates. She had hoped that, at least for this holiday, Bella would put her family first. Alas, her teenage angst took over and she was once more glued onto the swivel desk chair, overlooking the backyard. All she wanted was for her family to be together during such a special holiday – especially one that promoted togetherness. But all Bella could do or think of was the idiotic boy that had broken her heart.

"Whatever," Gabriella spoke abruptly. "She's the one that's missing out. If she wants to stay at home and wallow in self-pity, so be it. We cannot let her consume every part of our lives."

"Gabs, she's your sister," Charlie said. "She's sad and we can't just leave her behind."

"It's not even for a whole day, dad. She'll survive a couple of hours of staring out of that window," she whined. "It's your day off. It's Christmas. We're not gonna spend today trapped in the house because Bella has a bad case of the blues."

"Gabi..."

"Dad," Gabi said sternly. "We are gonna go to Uncle Billy's house. We are going to celebrate Christmas. Then, we will come back home and find Bella in the same spot. But we deserve — you deserve — to put her in the back of our minds for a couple of hours and enjoy ourselves. And that's an order, sheriff."

"Alright, you win, Gabs," Charlie chuckled slightly. "And thanks again for breakfast. I promise one day I'll get the hang of it."

"There won't be any need whilst I'm here, dad."