painless | p.lahote

007. father problems

007

FATHER PROBLEMS

BRYONY took a deep breath as she set foot into the Swan residence. She sent anxious glances behind her, almost afraid she had been followed. Who by? She wasn't sure, but whether it was Ram, Victoria or Paul, she wasn't sure who she would rather see.

Bella hung up her coat and walked towards the kitchen, not at all surprised to be met with her father's disgruntled expression and an askew of papers scattered across the table.

"Hey Bells, how was Jake?" Bella grabbed an apple, leaning over Charlie, studying what he was so memorised in. "He's good, yeah." She took a bite from the apple, smiling faintly when Bryony made her way hesitantly in.

"And Bryony," Charlie paused, scratching his head as he watched the young blonde, "Bella says you'll be staying here a while."

Bryony stepped forward, "only if that's okay, I can leave if it's not." She frowned, a lot of emotions were building up inside of her and the reluctance to accept the supernatural was one that was flooding out in full force.

Charlie smiled, "Of course it's alright, as long as you don't mind sleeping on the couch," he started to stack some of his papers up, "and you don't mess up any of my recordings of baseball you can stay as long as you like."

Bryony returned the smile, a slight dose of alleviation beginning to fill her, Bella laughed, "dad you're a cop there was no way in hell you'd let a minor live by herself."

Charlie narrowed his eyes at Bella, "Very funny Bella. Now you two don't go to sleep too late, you still have an education."

Bryony nodded in reply, mumbling a 'goodnight' as the chief of police walked past her. The blond girl made her way over to the table, her nosiness overcoming her as she let her mossy eyes glance over the bold print.

She gasped slightly, they were all unsolved, missing cases.

She looked at Bella, who looked slightly agitated, "are all these people missing?" Bryony asked, it was obvious they were, but from Bella's reaction there was more to the story.

Bella shrugged, grabbing her father's dirty plates and glass from the sink and scrubbing them clean, "Yeah, all across Seattle. The first one was Riley Biers."

Familiarity flashed through Bryony, Riley Biers.

"Riley," she repeated the name to herself, "doesn't his family live in Forks?" Bella nodded, "yeah I think he worked in Seattle or something, why? Did you know him?"

Bryony grimaced at the nostalgia, something wasn't quite right. "Yeah," she found herself biting her nails, nervous, "yeah I did. He was Ram's best friend."

BRYONY settled into the sofa, something she now assumed was her bed for the foreseeable, with her own father being away so much, and a missing Ram, she didn't feel comfortable sleeping in such an empty house, it didn't really feel like a home anymore.

She made a mental note to ask if she could have Wilson stay too, she hoped that Charlie would be okay with it, after all, he spent a lot of his time working with dogs at the station.

She felt the vibration of her phone under her leg, she sighed at the flurry of messages gracing her screen. Paul.

She hesitated over the call button. The profound feeling of loss overwhelming her. She understood that now at least. She didn't miss him really, that was just the imprint telling her she did.