What if...

Chapter 15 ~ Guilt Trip

Heavy pounding alerted me that Charlie was at the door. I took a deep breath as I stepped forward to open it. Edward stood next to me, keeping one of my hands in his. That was the only way I would get through this right now, as long as Edward was here.

His face was furious, stress lines marked his face, showing his anger as his brown eyes narrowed and swept around the room before landing on Edward. In the next second, he started marching towards my boyfriend, looking as if he could kill him. I eagerly stepped in-between them, separating Charlie from his target. I noticed that Jacob had entered the house behind him; I narrowed my eyes at him.

The tense silent went on for a few minutes, Edward wrapped an arm around my waist, pulling me against him and away from Charlie who stood a foot in from of me, and having halted his attack once I stepped in.

“Hi Dad.” I managed. A stupid thing to say really, but I knew that he would explode soon, and I needed it in my control. His angry eyes shot to me, accusing me of lying…of running away. He knew the truth now. He knew I went to find Edward.

A moment of silence before the storm.

“HI? The last I heard you were in Los Angeles! Why did you not inform me that you were coming back home? And with these…people!?” Charlie bellowed.

I reminded myself to keep my temper, “I did try to tell you Charlie. Remember the last phone call—“

“Oh, yes, how could I not? You hung up on me!” He shouted.

I glared at him, “Because you are so wrapped up in your prejudice against us that there was no way for you to hear me!”

He didn’t say anything. I waited, furrowed my eyebrows at him and waited some more. His eyebrows rose, “Well? I’m listening now Isabella. Spit it out.”

I let out a shaky breath, but I couldn’t speak. If I opened my mouth now…I didn’t know what would come out. I couldn’t remember the plan that I was going to tell him at the airport…

“Listen,” I heard Edward start from behind me, Charlie’s jaw clenched, but he didn’t say anything, “you don’t know the entire story. Carlisle got a wonderful job offer down in L.A. and he took it, not thinking about anything else in that moment, as would anyone else in that position. When he realized what he had promised, he regretted it. But it was my fault, I should have tried harder to stay, I shouldn’t have broken up with Bella. I had convinced myself that a long distance relationship wasn’t healthy, I had only ever heard bad things…” Edward shrugged. He sounded convincing, even to me, who knew the entire truth.

“I regret it and am sincerely ecstatic that Bella came to find my family. She means the world to me Charlie and I would do anything for her.” He continued. I turned to look at him, smiling, restraining myself from throwing my arms around his neck and kissing the daylights out of him. But we had company…and it wasn’t good ones.

Jacob snorted from his stance behind Charlie. I didn’t turn to look at him. Edward kissed my forehead and turned back to Charlie. He had his nostrils flared, his body was tense and his face was turning purple.

“Shall we sit?” Edward asked, motioning us to sit down in the living room. Charlie let out a huff, but did not move. Edward and I walked over to sit on the couch, reluctantly; Jacob and Charlie followed, but again, didn’t move to sit.

“Alright…So when Bella came across Alice in Alaska, where I told her our relatives lived, they came back to their house,”

“I was planning on asking them where Edward’s family was staying in L.A. but instead I find Alice and she all but drags me back with her, not that I minded.” I added in, finally finding my voice after understanding where Edward was going with this.