Emerging Swan

Chapter 6 - Girl At Home

I don't even know her,
But I feel a responsibility,
To do what's upstanding and right,
It's kinda like a code, yeah,
And you've been getting closer and closer,
And crossing so many lines.

And it would be a fine proposition,
If I was a stupid girl,
But honey I am no-one's exception,
This I have previously learned.

So don't look at me,
You've got a girl at home,
And everybody knows that,
Everybody knows that,
Ah ah, don't look at me,
You've got a girl at home,
And everybody knows that,
Everybody knows that,
I see you turn off your phone,
And now you got me alone,
And I say, don't look at me,
You've got a girl at home,
And everybody knows that,
Everybody knows that.

Girl At Home ~ Taylor Swift

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Updated A/N 2016:

I'm sorry this is late. Back to normal Saturday posting next week, I promise!

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Bella (Swan), 2020

Events: 2014

Two weeks after going out to the club and spending the night talking to and dancing with Edward, I decided to take his advice and go visit my family and Mike in Forks. It had been a couple of months since I'd seen them, and I wanted to see them again. I'd missed them, and I hadn't spoken to Mike in weeks, due to his refusal to contact me in any way.

My mother wrapped me in a tight hug the moment she saw me at her front door, and I laughed at her enthusiasm, hugging her back. I greeted Charlie with a quick kiss on the cheek as I moved into the hallway of their house, and my mother insisted on me sitting down while she made me something to eat. That was not going to be good. My mother could burn water, and there was no way I wanted to eat seaweed casserole after a long drive.

I interfered quickly, and refused to let her put mango in the mashed potato she was making. Charlie seemed extremely grateful when we ended up with perfectly ordinary sausages and mash, with vegetables I had allowed my mother to make and cook. I felt sorry for him having to put up with her terrible cooking all the time. Then again, if he bothered to learn how to do it himself, he wouldn't have had a problem.

"How is it in Seattle?" Charlie asked as we sat down to eat.

"Not bad," I said. I'd told my parents a little about the friends I'd made, but had left out all the drama between Edward, Lauren, and Alice. It wasn't my story to tell, and there was no reason for my parents to know. My mother would have loved the gossip, but I kept it firmly to myself.

"Is that Mr Rochester still moody as ever?" my mother asked, giggling like a schoolgirl.

I rolled my eyes at her. "He has reason to be. He's going through stuff."

"How very descriptive," Charlie said. "What kind of stuff?"

"God, you're as bad as her!" I exclaimed, waving a fork at my mother. "I'm not going to tell you all about his private life! You're as bad as two gossiping old women!"

"Thanks, sweetie," my mother said, patting my hand and beaming at me.

I sighed, and turned the conversation away from me and onto other matters. By the time we'd finished eating, I'd enjoyed an hour and a half of chattering about absolutely everything known to man. By God, could my mother talk. She could talk for years if given the chance. Not that she often was.