Why Little Buddy
EPOV
When I used to tell Bella that she would be the death of me, it was a figure of speech. Now God was punishing me for my loose tongue by making it come true. Her increasingly reckless behavior was driving me to distraction, and I feared I would soon expose myself in a fit of rage and the Volturi would give me the release I had so recently and yet so long ago begged for. Thank heavens for Alice. She convinced me to let Emmett rescue Bella from that gang of college guys, no doubt saving their lives. After seeing Bella was safely in bed, and slamming her window shut in rather pointless gesture towards keeping her that way, I had gone after them and threatened to slaughter them one by one if they ever came as far as Port Angeles again. It was an empty threat – if they ever came near Bella again I would kill them all at once, not one by one. It would take approximately five seconds to murder all six of them, ten seconds if I wanted to do it quietly. Their putrid thoughts revealed that they thought I was insane, but would stay away nevertheless, so I was satisfied.
Dealing with Mike Newton was rather more difficult, as he had technically done nothing wrong and required a lighter touch. But God help me, he just would insist on thinking offensive things about Bella Monday mornings. Staring at me, he wondered how "far" Bella and I had gone, picturing the swell of her exposed breasts in that corset the entire time. Admittedly, it was a rather mesmerizing sight, even in his alcohol hazed memory. Next, he replayed her kiss with Jessica, adding the original plot twist that they waved him over a few moments after their lips touched. The sight of Mike Newton degrading my Bella with his little fantasy had me clenching my combination lock so hard that in moments it was unrecognizable ball of metal between my fingers.
I made it through that first day without doing irreparable harm to students or much school property, limiting myself to glaring at Mike and everyone else who attended that awful party. But things only got worse week by week as Bella's behavior became more and more erratic. I could not could not could not figure out why she was acting this way. I knew this wasn't really her. Somehow even when she was dressing and behaving more and more provocatively, she seemed even more innocent. All the more so because she clearly thought she was being wanton. Her pureness was highlighted by the very sweetness of her concept of licentiousness. She might wear scandalous outfits, flirt, and kiss, but she did not truly know what it was to sin. Although the thoughts of those around her, I unfortunately knew were not so innocent.
My family had different reactions to this unexpected turn of events. Carlisle and Esme were worried, but slightly amused. Rosalie was annoyed, Alice was concerned, Jasper was a little angry (he too had put a lot of time and energy into keeping her safe, and she was rather wasting that effort). Emmett, however, was absolutely thrilled. The entertainment factor was high, there was attractive girl involved, and I looked like a fool pretty much any way you looked at it. The situation had everything Emmett asked for in a comedy. The only drawback in his mind is that he had to rely on me to pass along information about Bella's extracurricular activities, since Rosalie wouldn't let him attend high school parties. Needless to say, I was spending a lot of time telling Emmett to mind his own business and even more time enforcing it with my fists. Esme had finally banned us both from the living room after we broke three of her favorite lamps, and now we were just slowly destroying a national forest.
My biggest fear was that Bella would get herself in over her head, as had so nearly happened that first night. I tried to stay close by to her every night, though it was difficult to watch her without rushing to her aid. But I was determined to let her live her life the way she wanted, whatever that meant, and I could only do my best to see her through it, like a guardian angel. If she would just stop wearing those damn push-up bras under her see-through shirts I might even manage to hold onto my sanity while doing it. But why, Bella? Why are you doing it?
Is Edward in denial? Does Bella need to ratchet it up a notch?
