Past Meets Present

Recap

DAMON'S POV

She answered the phone, her voice a soft melody that seemed to momentarily calm the storm within me. It was Charlie, her father, on the other end—his voice trembled, a tremor that spoke volumes.

"Hey Dad. What's up?" Her words were light, but the undercurrent of concern was unmistakable.

"Bella, could you please come back to Forks for a few days?" Charlie's request was laced with an urgency that immediately set off alarm bells in my head.

"Yeah sure, but what's the matter?" Her inquiry was gentle, yet the tension in her posture betrayed her growing apprehension.

There was a pause, a heavy silence that seemed to stretch on forever. "Harry Clearwater, my friend and Seth's father," Charlie's voice broke, the sentence left hanging, a testament to the gravity of the situation.

"What about him, Dad?" The worry in Bella's voice was now palpable, her hands clenched tightly around the phone.

"He's dead." The finality of those words hung in the air, a suffocating cloud of grief and shock.

"Don't worry, Dad. Stay calm. I'm on my way. Okay. Bye." Her response was a mix of strength and tenderness, a promise to be the pillar he needed in this moment of despair.

The call ended, and the silence returned, heavier than before. "I'm coming with you," I stated, the decision made in the space between heartbeats. Before she could protest, I added firmly, "No questions asked."

-Time Skip-

The journey to Forks was a blur, the landscape passing by in a haze of green and grey. Four hours later, we arrived at Bella's childhood home, a place steeped in memories and shadows of the past.

"Charlie's over at the Clearwater's," she informed me, her voice barely above a whisper. She pushed the door open, inviting me into the space that held so much of her history.

As the lights flickered on, her breath caught in her throat. There, standing before us, was a figure from another life, another time.

"Do you know her?" I asked, though the answer was written all over Bella's face.

"Oh my god, Alice," she exclaimed, the name a gasp of recognition and disbelief. Ignoring my presence, she rushed forward, embracing Alice with a desperation that spoke of deep bonds and the fear of losing them again.