A/N: I do not own Twilight or it's characters.
This story takes place after Edward has left Bella. Charlie was murderd by Victoria and Bella turns to alcohol and the gang down at La Push to comfort her. The Cullens return to save Bella when Alice sees she will be next on Victoria's list. But Bella isn't so eager for their help and domineering ways.
Putting Bella Back Together
She won't come down for dinner, yet again.
We were all suffering. Ever since our family had left Forks things had been dismal. My son had the best intentions towards Bella. It was obvious to all of us how much he loved his mate. We had all respected and agreed with his reasoning to leave Bella in peace and safety with her father in Forks. Although we all loved her and would miss her terribly, it was for the best since we seemed to cause her more harm than good. None of us foresaw the damage this would cause Bella.
With Charlie gone it was now our responsibility to take care of her. To ensure that no one else would cause her harm. Including the harm she was causing herself. I didn't want to be harsh with her but something had to be done. She keep refusing to let any of us in. We had all seen her stubbornness before. So I knew it would take a lot of hard work to tear down the wall she had built up around herself. For both her sake and ours, this had to be done.
Edward, of course, was suffering the most. He tried so hard every day to lighten her spirits and earn her forgiveness. But she continued to deny him.
"Carlisle," Alice said in a shakey voice. "Something has to be done. If she continues on this path. I can see things will get worse."
Edward let out a weary sigh. He knew what my plan was to remedy the situation. His eyes lifted to mine, filled with heartache and sorrow.
"I will handle his Carlisle."
I walked over to him and placed a firm hand on his shoulder.
"Edward, this must be done and it is not your responsibility. I am Bella's father figure now, so I will give her the discipline she needs."
He slowly nodded his head and walked over to his piano and sat down, but did not play.
I glanced around the room at my family. By the looks on their faces we were all in agreement. This conversation with Bella was long overdue. I didn't want to be strict with her but her foul moods and reclusive behaviour had to be addressed. She kept pulling away from all of us. She wouldn't spend time with or talk to anyone in the family. She refused to eat the meals Esme prepared for her. We had all tried in our own way to make amends with her. To try and heal the holes we had created by leaving. I had tried time and time again to help her cope with the loss of Charlie, but she would shut down completely and go hide in Edward's room.
I nodded to them all. I turned around to slowly start climbing the stairs up to the third floor, at a human pace. I knocked loudly on Edward's door.
"GO AWAY!" Bella barked from the other side of the door.
"Bella, it's Carlisle. We must discuss your behaviour."
She was quiet on the other side of the door for a few seconds. Her heart rate began to increase. I heard shuffling as she lifted herself off of the bed Edward had bought her. Her soft footsteps moved over to the door. It opened with a click.
I looked down at her face. She was paler than normal, almost as pale as me. She had dark circles under her eyes from her lack of sleep. And it was clear that she had lost even more weight from her refusal to eat our food.
"Yes Carlisle," she said in a small whisper.
"Bella, let's sit down and talk."
She turned around and walked over to the bed. She sat down on the edge and nervously played with her fingers in her lap. She bent her head down to look at her fingers. Her long hair fell down covering her face.
I walked over to her and sat down beside her. I looked over at her but she continued to stare at her fingers. I started talking in a firm but loving voice.
"Bella, we must discuss your recent behaviour. I know things have been extremely diffcult for you the past several months."
She scoffed, letting out a large snort. I ignored it.
"Things cannot go on like this Bella. We are trying to help you heal from all of the loss and hurt you have endured from our families departure."
"I don't think I can heal," she said in a sad, low rush.
"You have to let us in Bella. You have to talk to us about how you're feeling."
"You all know how I'm feeling. It's easy enough to see. Even without using Jasper's talents."
I sighed. "Bella, you have to stop hiding up here in Edward's room. It will be a long hard journey but, you have to make an effort to cope with what's happened. You have to go on living."
She looked up at me. The look of sadness in her eyes was overwhelming.
"Carlisle," she said in a small voice. "I can't move on. Charlie was my father. What happened to him was my fault. I brought danger to his doorstep and he paid for it with his life."
"Charlie would want you to move on and be happy." When I said that her expression changed. First to hurt, then to anger.
With her voice still low she said, "Do you think it would make him happy that I was being cared for by a family of vampires? Who never allow me to leave the house, except to go to school, where I'm constantly under the supervision of three members of said family."
"Bella," I said, making my tone softer and more comforting. "We have to protect you. You are still in harm's way. Also, I do not approve of you spending time with negative influences. You are very impressionable right now, as you are trying to heal from your loss. I don't want anyone to take advantage of you."
She laughed out the words, "Bad influences." Then she cleared her throat and straightened her posture. The clear look of anger still present in her eyes.
"Carlisle those bad influences kept me alive when all of you abandoned me. If it wasn't for them I would have ended up like Charlie."
She turned her small frame away from me. Her body began to shake with anger. A feeling of calm washed over me. Bella stoppped shaking. I knew this must have been Jasper's influence from downstairs.
I took a deep breath.
"Bella, I didn't come here to argue with you. We all feel for your loss and want to help you overcome it. As your authority figure, it is my job to do that to the best of my abilities. As a result, there's going to be new guidelines for you to follow."
She spun her head around quickly to look at me. She folded her arms across her chest. "What guidelines?" she whispered. A look of worry in her eyes.
"Yes, guidelines." I continued, "You already know you cannot leave this house unsupervised because of the continued danger that Victoria poses. And you cannot go to La Push because of the incident with Paul and the state you came home in the last time you went to visit Jacob."
She suddenly cut in, "I told you Paul just lost his temper once. The scractch he left wasn't even that bad." I heard Edward let out a protective growl from downstairs. She continued on. "And I already promised I wouldn't drink again," she said in a hurry.
"I am not going to change my mind," I said. Then I cleared my throat and began again. "The new guidelines are an attempt to help you overcome your grief. We all desperately want to see you happy again, and learning to heal with the aid of your family is the best way to make that happen."
"Just tell me what you are going to force me to do Carlisle," a tone of defeat in her voice.
"You are only allowed in this room one hour before your bedtime. You will spend the rest of your time with the family. I will not allow you to hide up here anymore. You must eat all of your meals downstairs at the dining room table and you will thank Esme for preparing them. You will allow Edward to help you get caught up on all of the work you missed from your absence at school. I would like you to show an interest in the rest of the family in hopes that we will earn your forgiveness." I knew that these new rules were firm. But she need a little tough love so that she could start to heal.
"What if I don't comply with the guidelines?" she asked in an unattached voice.
"Then there will be some form of futher action taken ," I replied firmly.
"What kind of action?" she shot back.
"I do not know yet."
"Hmmmm," she scoffed. "Well, what choice do I have." Her eyes started to well up with tears. I felt Jasper's calming influence again, but it was to no avail. She began crying harder. "Stop it Jasper," she screamed out. I put my hand on her shoulder to comfort her .
"Bella, I..."
She pushed my hand off of her shoulder. "Stop it Carlilse," she sobbed out.
I sighed and stood up from the bed. "I'm sorry. Hopefully in time you can forgive me for this. I feel this is necessary to aid you in your recovery. I will see you downstairs in twenty minutes. Esme has made a nice meal for you."
She started crawling up the bed. Her sobs still racking her body. She curled up into a little ball in the middle of the bed.
I didn't know how to comfort her. So I simple whispered, "I'm sorry," and turned to leave. I shut the door behind hide me and descended the stairs. Edward began to play the paino in an attempt to comfort Bella. It was the only way he could at this point. My heart broke for my son. You could almost feel the pain and longing in each note that lingered in the air. When I reached the bottom of the stairs I looked at my family, wondering what would become of all of us.