Bella Hale: Peter Hale's Daughter-A Teen Wolf FanFiction

CHAPTER 65: Not Easy to Convince

Peter could barely recognize the little girl he called his daughter. He looked over at her as he watched her sleep beside him, head resting on his leg, sleeping peacefully as if she had not slept in a long time.  Peter knew that the doctor was watching them. Watching their every move. Watching what they say. Peter had to be careful about what happens in the cell.

Suddenly, Bella began to jerk in her sleep.

"I won't leave you." Bella whimpered

Was she having a nightmare?, Peter wondered

Because if she was, things were about to get bad.

Bolting up right a scream ripped through the air, it took Bella a second to realize that scream was coming from her, another second passed and suddenly she was in Peter's arms, soft reassurances being whispered into her ear while Peter  rocked her gently.

"Shhhh, you're okay"

She wasn't though, Bella gripped the arm around her chest tightly, and sagged back onto the firm chest behind her. Peter understood the action for what it was immediately, Bella needing psychical assurance that she wasn't alone.

"I got you, you're okay"

Bella felt a strong hand grip her hand, stilling the trembling, her screams replaced with silent sobs, her father's presence breaking through the fog of terror.

"You're okay, Daddy's here"

It dawned on Bella she wasn't the only terrified person in the room.  After a while the sobbing turned to silent tears, and the panicked gasps turned into slow steady breaths. Bella unconsciously breathing in time with the man behind her.

She felt a hand go gently through her hair, and she let herself be laid back down on the mattress, immediately curling into her father's chest, still trembling hands gripping the shirt tightly.

"It's okay; close your eyes, Daddy's here"

She didn't want to close her eyes.  Peter sensed her rising distress as he moved the hand that had been stroking her hair, to her back and began rubbing circles firmly but gently

"Shhhh, I got you"

Peter's arms had always been a safe place for Bella. But she wasn't a little girl anymore and Peter couldn't protect her from what was about to happen, and they both knew it.

But for now, for the moment she let herself  believe that everything would be okay, that here in her father's arms nothing could get her, that she was safe. The circles on Bella's back continued to comfort her

"Daddy's here" Peter said quietly

When Bella finally came to her senses, she remembered what she had just dreamt. She moved out of Peter's arms and got up from the bed they were sitting on. Bella began to pace back and forth in the cell, avoiding her father's gaze as he watched. She was pacing for a while.

"Your pacing is tiring me, kiddo." Peter said

"Then don't look."

"If I could, I would. But apparently, us being cellmates now, you don't exactly have any sort of privacy. But then again, I have this paternal instinct." Peter said getting off the bed and grabbing Bella's arm to stop her from pacing. "An instinct that tells me that something's wrong."

"Are you saying it scares you?" Bella quietly asked

"All the time. Right here, right now. I can feel that something is off here. What is it?"

Bella sighed in frustration "You're trying to get me to leave here, aren't you?"

Peter was taken aback. A surprised look flickered across his face.  "So, that's what the nightmare was about. It wasn't even a nightmare. You saw it happening."

"I'd rather die than leave you behind here."

His eyes flickered of shock for a brief moment before grabbing her wrist, tugging her to him  "Don't you say that. Don't you ever say that! You have so much to live for."

"No, I don't!" Bella cried "If I leave here, leaving you behind, I'll have nothing!"

"You could have so much more out there than in here. You don't deserve to be here, suffering. Locked up in a cage like an animal." Peter tells her.

"I need you"

"No you don't." Peter said, cupping her face in his hands "You are worth ten of me"

Bella sighed, pushing Peter away "That's where you're wrong. I'm not worth anything. I'm not like you. There is nothing that you can say or do that will convince me to leave"

"Is that right?"

"There's no way you can get me to leave you behind."

"God, you are so stubborn" Peter groaned as he rolled his eyes

"And whose fault is that?"" Bella smirked

"This isn't a laughing matter, kiddo."

"Nothing ever is. You can try but you'll never be able to push me away."

This debate lasted a while. Over the next few days. Peter would try over and over to try to get Bella to leave Eichen. Bella was irresistible as ever, refusing to go anywhere without him. The father and daughter constantly argued over it. Peter was growing irritated, which Bella noticed but she did not care. Days turned into weeks and Peter wasn't getting anywhere. Peter dreaded the thought of what Fenris would do if he continued to fail.

Another month passed and in many of the many sleepless nights, Bella continued to dream of leaving Peter behind in Eichen and was desperate to change the path. To stop it from happening. But no matter what, the outcome always ended the same. By the end of the vision, she sees herself leaving no matter what. Bella refuses. She couldn't. Wouldn't leave Peter behind.

Peter tried to talk to her again when she cried out  "I know what you want but you ain't getting it!"

"Enlighten me." Peter said sarcastically

"You know what! I am growing tired of this useless debate! I am too tired to care!"

"That's it? You're too tired? I hate to say this sweetheart. After everything you've been through, how can you still be so....?

"So what? Cold? Annoying? Needy? Please, tell me what you were going to say."

"Stupid." Peter said "Careless. You don't ever think about yourself! If you did think about yourself, you would agree that you don't deserve to be here"

"Well I am so sorry that I don't want to end up alone. I am sorry that I do not want to leave the only real family I have left behind!  Even if I do leave here, where would I even go? Huh? If I go, I'm as good as dead! In here, I'm safe!"

Peter said nothing as he just looked at her. Unable to come up with a thing to say.

"You must think I'm crazy, don't you?" Bella asked

"You? Crazy? That's impossible."

Bella glares at him "Appreciate the effort to make me feel better. But I'm still not leaving."

Peter shook his head "Doesn't mean that I won't stop trying."

"Good luck with that." Bella smirked before laying down on the bed.

A few hours later, Bella's screams filled the small cell.

"NO!" Bella popped up out of bed like she'd been hit with a cattle prod. Her chest rose and fell with frantic heaving breaths and it was obvious whatever she was seeing, it wasn't their drab little cell. She flailed so hard she actually fell off the bed this time. Peter, who was sitting against the wall on the other side of the cell,  huffed and instinctively reached out to steady her, but tears ran down her face, and Bella had the nerve to slash at Peter when he tried to get close.

The screaming abruptly stopped and eventually the shaking did too. Peter moved closer, taking her face in his hands and looking Bella in the eyes.

"Are you alright?" He asked, stroking a hand in her hair

Bella shook her head "I'll never be alright."