Lena came down from her room at the smell of something burning. This was unusual as Bella was the one to cook while Lena did the cleaning and laundry. It had been a month since Charlie had grounded Bella for riding a motorcycle without his permission and the two weren't exactly speaking to each other. Actually no one in the swan household was really getting along. Lena was disappointed that Bella had seemed so eager to forgive Edward and the rest of his family for leaving Forks. Lena had seen the absolute devastation and destruction their leaving had done to Bella. She felt it herself as well and without Embry and Jacob who knew if either girl would be sane today. Bella told Lena to just leave it be and just accept the Cullens apologies and had been irritated when Lena refused. Of course she missed them all, especially Jasper. But she just couldn't bring herself to forgive and forget. Not yet anyway.
When Lena came into the kitchen she saw Charlie about to put a whole jar of spaghetti sauce into the microwave, metal lid and all. "Woah there Charlie. No need to get the fire department involved in dinner." She took the jar from him and emptied the contents into a saucepan on the stove. There she saw the clumped up spaghetti noodles that had scalded to the bottom of the pan. "Why are you trying to cook." Trying being the operative word. She had to restart with a new box of noodles as the others were goners. Before Charlie could answer though Bella was in the kitchen. "Dad's cooking?" She questioned as she took a seat at the table. "I know how to use my own kitchen you know." Charlie harrumphed. "I think the burnt pasta says otherwise." Lena nudged Charlie's side as her and Bella broke into a fit of giggles.
Once they settled at the table and had begun eating, Charlie's secret agenda for tonight's dinner came up. He was planning to let Bella off the hook on the condition that she spent more time with her friends. Mainly Jacob. Lena had just ate her dinner quietly. This was none of her business. She slid the paper toward her and read about the situation in Seattle. Brutal murders had the city shaken.
Soon after dinner Edward arrived with admission forms for Bella to fill out and a bouquet of roses and sunflowers. He passed the flowers to Lena who took them apprehensively. Tucked into the flowers was a note that had Jasper's neat script. It had been a month since they'd spoken, since she left him standing in the airport. "Why?" Lena kept her eyes on the flowers. She also hadn't spoken much to Edward. He was the hardest to forgive as he left Bella out in the cold that night. If her and Sam hadn't found her Bella would've died. "He misses you more than you can imagine Lena. He just sits in his room." Edward told her. Lena sighed and frowned deeply. "You think I don't miss him too? But I'm not as forgiving as Bella. I can't just look past what happened. Especially what you did. You left her in the cold to die Edward." He winced as he surely caught the image of Bella curled up in a fetal position on the forest floor where he left her. "Lena that's not his fault." Bella defended. "It's not his fault? He left you Bella! He made a decision for the both of us that we would be better off. He didn't ask us what we thought. You shut down for months. If it wasn't for Jake who knows what would've happened!" Lena let her temper slip out a bit but Bella's temper roared right back. "Get out of my house! Go!" She pushed Lena back a few steps before Charlie could intervene.
Tears picked in Lena's eyes as she packed a bag. Charlie stood in her door way trying to get her to stay but Lena wouldn't have it. If Bella wanted her out she wasn't going to stay. If she was picking Edward over her after years of friendship she couldn't stay. Lena had no where to go but her car. She drove for a few hours before she came to the beach side Jasper took her to when he asked her to be his girlfriend. Lena looked at the flowers she had put on her dash and plucked the note out of it. He had written about the night he had asked her to be his and how he had finally found what was missing. In his entire existence he had never met anyone that completed him like she did, made him feel truly content with this life. Lena sighed and set the letter on the seat next to her and rested her head against the steering. What was she going to do now?
