Title: The Fall Of A Angel

By: PinkPixie

Summary: My take on the week after Edward Left. From Charlie's POV.

AN: This was something I hadn't seen done before. And I like to write all dark and stuff.. You know me. So this fit. Hope you like it!

What was she doing? I tentatively stepped out of the front door, cautiously approaching Bella's truck. Bella sat inside, jerking and pulling at something. I stood a few feet away as I heard her crying as she pulled at the object in question.

"Bella?"

She gave one last hard pull and fell back on to the seat, crushing the box to her chest.

"Leave me alone, Charlie!" She pulled her self out of the truck and pushed past me. I looked back into the open truck. Reaching in to close the door I noticed what she had be pulling at. Her brand new stereo was gone. Blood was smeared along the edges of the dashboard. I shook my head. What was going on?

I looked back to the house as I heard the door slam shut. I sighed lightly and walked back to the house and up the stairs to Bella's room. I'm not sure how long I stood there and looked at her door. But it was long enough to hear a loud bang and her closet door shut. Before I knew what I was doing, I knocked lightly and opened her door slowly. "Bells?"

What I saw broke my heart. Bella lay curled into a ball her bloody hands laying limp in front of her. I sighed again and turned around. I returned quickly with the first aid kit I had been keeping stocked since Bella had moved in with me. Bella was still in the same position, silent tears running down her face.

"Bella, what did you do?"

She looked at her hands and pulled them close. "I couldn't find a screwdriver." She sobbed loudly.

I quickly sat next to her and pulled her into my lap. "Shh, Bella." I pulled one of her mangled hands from her chest. I pulled out the clean rag I had picked up with the first aid kit. She fell silent, tears still streaming down her face as I cleaned and bandaged every sliced finger.

I finally finished and picked her up, laying her in bed and pulling the blankets up over her. She never even made a noise. She just looked out with a blank stare as she cried.

I pulled each bullet out of the gun and put them away into my lock box. I hadn't done this in years, but with Bella's recent behavior...it wasn't safe. She hadn't even come down stairs today. I could tell because of the untouched cereal on the table.

I turned and walked up the stairs, not sure of what I'd find.

I knocked and opened the door. Bella sat with her back facing me as she looked out her window. I looked at the pile of plastic on the floor.

"Bell? What is that?"

She shrugged, not turning around "My CD player."

I shook my head and looked at her. "Have you eaten today?"

She shrugged again. "Not hungry. Can you leave me alone?"

I closed my eyes, hearing the pain in her voice. "Yeah." I went back downstairs, making my decision. I was going to have to do it. I hated to have to do this to her; but she was slipping so far, that I might never get her back.

I picked up the phone and dialed Renee. She picked up almost right away.

"Hello?"

I wanted to get this over with quickly. "Hello, Renee; it's me,

Charlie."

"Hey, Charlie, how is she?" Her voice was strained. She was just as worried as me.

I let out a heavy sigh. "Not good. She ripped her stereo out of her truck yesterday, with her bare hands. And she hasn't eaten today and she destroyed her CD player."

She echoed my sigh, knowing that Bella was straying too far from us. "What are we going to do, Charlie? She's not getting any better, only worse."

I was going to have to say it. "I think maybe she would do better away from here, away from all this. This is a small town; the whole place knows what happened."

Renee sighed again. "I'll be on the next plane there. She might do better here; all that rain can't be good for her." She paused for a moment, then slowly said, "I know you don't want to do this, but it can't help being there. We need to think of what will help her get past this whole thing."

I nodded as I looked up the stairs. "When can I expect you here?"

I could hear Renee typing something. "I can get a flight at eleven tonight, and be in around three your time. I'll have to rent a car and drive up there, seeing as you have no airport. So I'll be there around nine or ten."

"Okay. Should I tell her you're coming?" I was slightly worried how she would react if I told her.

Renee's voice was slightly on edge now. "No, she won't be too happy about that. And let's wait to see how she reacts to this first surprise before we tell her she's coming home."

Home...this was Bella's home. But this was better for her, I kept telling myself. "Ok, Renee, I'll see you then. Call if any plans change."

"What do you think you're doing?" Bella screamed at us. She pulled her clothes out of the bag and shoved them back into the dresser.

"Bella, sweetie, this is better for you. You need to get away from here." Renee reached over Bella and put the clothes back the bag.

Bella's tear-streaked face glared defiantly at us. "No! I'm not leaving!" She wrenched the clothes out again and threw them to the floor. "Why can't you leave me alone?" she shouted.

I placed a hand on her shoulder lightly "Bella, your mom is right."

She jerked away from me and shot me an icy glare. "Don't touch me!" She was crying again. "You don't want me here any more! I start acting like a real teenager for once and you ship me off!"

That stung a little. "Bella, you know that's not true. I love having you here with me; but maybe you need to be with your mom right now. You need to get away from this place so you can move on with life and forget about Edward." I flinched as I said his name; I should have known better. She froze. I reached out and shook her.

"Bella, that's exactly what I mean. Just hearing his name makes you freeze up."

I hadn't received a glare like that from a woman since Renee had walked out many years ago. I suddenly remembered that she was Renee's daughter too. Everything flashed back to the words of her mother's that she had mimicked half a year ago. It was all happening again. Ripping herself from me again.

She marched over to Renee and yanked the bag out of her hands.

"I'm not leaving Forks. I can't. Not ever."

Renee pulled the bag back. "Honey, he left you in the woods alone. He's not coming back."

Bella pulled the bag back and flung it, scattering clothes everywhere. "How would you know, Mom?"

As she breathed heavily, she took in our expressions and realized that her screaming was having no effect. Her eyes were wide and bloodshot. Her eyes darted quickly between the two of us. "Please. Don't make me leave. I'll be good. I'll go to school, I'll try to forget him. Please, Mom."

Renee looked at me significantly then back to Bella. "Bella, sweetie, we only want what's best for you." She glanced back at me, paused, and sighed. "Let your father and I talk about this for a minute."

I nodded to Renee and said warningly to Bella, "This is not a yes or no." I left of the room and Renee followed. I led her downstairs to the kitchen table. "Well, that went better than I expected."

Renee sat down at the table. "Yeah, she didn't jump out a window like I expected." She looked back up the stairs, toward Bella's room. "That's a side of her I've never seen."

I sat across from her. "I know, she's acting like...well, a teenager. I had gotten so used to her calmness around here."

Renee thought for a second, then slammed her hand down. "If I had known that boy would do this to her, I would have brought her home the day she got hurt in Phoenix."

I looked at Renee. She was right. If Bella had stayed down there to begin with none of this would have ever happened. "Do you think taking her back now is really the best idea? Look how she reacted just now; what do you think she will do when you get her to Jacksonville?"

Renee shook her head. "I don't know. I guess we could give her another chance here. But if she starts in on the breaking and self-destruction again..." She trailed off, looking at me pleadingly.

I hated to be happy over this but I was getting to keep my Bella. "Ok then," I agreed. "If she starts up again, I'll send her back to you."

Bella kept her word. She behaved like she said she would, although it was more along the lines of shut down. She went to school, work, came home to fix dinner, then right to homework and bed. It never changed; she was only a shell of what she used to be.

My little girl was long gone. That boy took her with him when he left her, leaving me with a creature that posed for my little angel. I wanted to hate him for all of this.

It had been months since that day and it wasn't getting better.

I had to do something. She never left the house unless she had to. I wished she would get out and do something, anything! I wanted her to be happy again.

There she sat, just staring at her food; I barely saw her eat at all anymore. She had to have lost 20 pounds in the last few months. I hadn't even heard her speak in a week. I simply sat there and looked at her, getting angrier as I thought about it.

I had to do it. There was no other way around it. But she was not getting better or worse. She was just not here, running on autopilot. I had stood back and watched it all; she never smiled or even looked at anyone. Her eyes were the black holes of my former angel.

I slammed my hand down on the table, startling both of us. "That's it, Bella. I'm sending you home!"

The End