Bella frowns down at her sandwich. Her appetite is rapidly disappearing.

"Charlie's been a police officer since before I was born," she says. "He's got his share of material to work with, too."

She's seen him come home from work quiet and tired, visibly struggling to make even the simplest of conversation with her, trying to create a normal atmosphere for her sake. Sunnydale, she realized eventually, is a hard place for a cop who cares about his job.