(Max's POV)

No one was surprised at my outburst, so I elaborated, despite Edward's glare. "No, I mean, he has like a million pictures of her plastered all over his walls. Pictures of her like brushing her hair and getting dressed in the morning. And he has this life-sized bust sculpture of her that he made!"

Edward let out a low growl and I was suddenly very aware of what he was capable of doing.

Two things happened in the next instant. Edward lunged at me, teeth bared, and not just Emmett, but Jasper as well, tackled him to the ground. In a few seconds, Edward stopped struggling, and I remembered Jasper's ability.

Once Edward was calm, Carlisle told him, "Edward. I'm afraid you're going to have to leave this household."

Edward didn't say anything. Just studied everyone's faces, probably reading their thoughts.

Then he stood up and walked out of the room.

(Bella's POV)

I tried to process everything that had just happened.

Edward? Following me around with a camera? Watching me get dressed? It was a lot to take in, and for some odd reason, I could feel myself getting lightheaded.

The room started spinning, and then it went black.

(Jasper's POV)

I saw Bella pass out and let go of Edward and rushed over to her. I looked at Carlisle. "What happened to her?"

"She's had a traumatizing experience. It was probably a lot to deal with. Even vampires can pass out if they suffer something detrimental enough. The same exact same thing happened to Rosalie after she was changed. Bella will be fine."

"Are you sure?" I picked Bella up gently.

"I'm positive. Why don't you bring her upstairs. I'll come check on her later."

I nodded and then carried Bella upstairs. She started to stir once I got to our room. Her eyes fluttered open and she looked around, trying to piece together what had just happened. "Wha...? What happened?" She breathed.

"You passed out," I answered, setting her down on the couch.

"But, how?"

"I don't know exactly. Carlisle says it's not unheard of though." I moved to sit next to her on the couch. She crawled into my lap and I instinctively wrapped my arms around her securely.

We were silent for a minute, before I noticed Bella's emotions: guilt, sadness, and shock.

"Bells? What do you have to feel guilty about?"

She sighed and rested her head on my shoulder. I moved one of my hands to stroke her hair. Eventually, Bella answered. "I can't help but feel like it's my fault that Edward's gone crazy."

I rested my hand under her chin and made her look me in the eye. "Listen to me, Bella. None of this was your fault. You couldn't have prevented any of this. This is something he did to himself. Look at me." She'd looked away, but at my words she looked back at me, doubtful."Stop blaming yourself for everything that happens. It's never your fault. Do you understand that?"

She let what I said sink in and then nodded before resting her head on my shoulder again.

There was a knock on the door and Bella jumped slightly, once again afraid of it being Edward.

"Who is it?" I called.

"Carlisle. Can I come in?"

"Of course."

Carlisle opened the door and entered. "How is she?"

"She's fine. She woke up before I even made it to the room."

He smiled. "Great. How do you feel, Bella?"

"Fine. A little dazed, but overall I feel fine."

"You should feel a little dazed. This doesn't happen often for a vampire. Only after something very traumatic." I felt Bella shudder slightly in my arms as she remembered Edward's assault on her. Carlisle continued, "All I can say is take it easy for the next day or two. You've been through a lot." Then he left.

Seconds after Carlisle left, Alice and Max were standing in the doorway. "Is she okay?" Alice asked anxiously.

"I'm fine," Bella answered.

Alice's anxiety faded and was soon replaced by relief. She and Max stepped into the room, getting comfortable on the floor.

Bella asked Max, "Why didn't you tell anyone?"

His emotions screamed guilt. He looked down at the ground. "I was afraid."

"Of what?"

"Of what Edward would do to me. He caught me spying on him. And I knew what he could and would do to me if I told."

"That seems like a valid reason," I said.

"It is," Bella agreed. "You did what I would have done in the same situation, Max."

"You're not mad at me?" He asked incredulously.

"No. She's not," I answered for her.

Bella tilted her head to smile at me before turning back to Max. "He's right. I'm not."

Max didn't say anything else about it and we just sat there in comfortable silence.

Another knock on the door brought us out of our individual thoughts. Alice stiffened, already knowing who it was. She let our a low hiss, and I knew it was Edward.

"Edward! Go away!"

He opened the door anyway and walked into the room. Bella stiffened in my arms and my arms tightened around her, drowning her in a wave of calm.

All eyes were on the bastard, who was carrying a suitcase and a large red wooden chest.

I saw Max's eyes widened as he stared at the chest, and I wondered if he knew what was in it.

Edward took a deep breath before saying, "I want to apologize to Bella."

She glared at at him and hissed. "If you think I'm gonna fucking forgive you after what you just did, you're delusional." Her fear was temporarily replaced by anger.

"I'm sorry! I don't know what came over me."

"I don't care. Just go Edward. I don't wanna talk to you or see you ever again."

He left the room, defeated. Max was still terrified.

"Max? Are you okay?" Alice asked him.

He whispered, "That trunk. That red wooden chest he was carrying, I think that's where he keeps that sculpture he made. I saw a bunch of shit in there, like napkins with lipstick stains on 'em and notes and shit."

"Holy shit," Bella breathed. "He's more insane that I thought he was."

Alice asked, "What're we gonna do?"

I shook my head. "There's nothing we can do. We can't send him to a mental hospital. He'd kill everyone, which would get us in trouble with the Volturi. The most we can do is kick him out of the house and hope that he doesn't do anything else."

Alice was uneasy with my suggestion. "But. There must be something we could do! What if he goes and kills half of Canada? He's behaving like a crazy serial killer stalker!"

Max put a hand on her shoulder. "He's right, Alice. There's nothing else we can do. All we can do is hope that he's sane enough to keep himself under control."

Alice sighed. "I guess you're right. But I just don't want anyone to get hurt."

"You can't think like that, Alice. You have to believe that he has some self-control," Bella told her.

"Okay. I'll try."

(Bella's POV)

Everyone managed to put the Edward incident to the back of their minds and life resumed as normal. I knew it was especially hard for Esme to see Edward leave. For her, it was like losing another child. But she also knew that he couldn't stay, so she let him go.

Alice put all of her previous worries aside and put all her time and effort into planning the wedding.

She burst into mine and Jasper's room one Saturday while I was reading and Jasper, Max, and Emmett were out hunting. "We need to go dress shopping!"

I rolled my eyes. "Alice. It's just after Winter break. Do we have to?"

"Of course we do! If we don't go now, we'll all be stuck with something off the rack!" She shuddered.

"Well we can't have anyone wearing something off the rack!" I said in mock horror. "Let's go."

I still hate shopping, but I've gotten over the 'people spending money on me' thing. And with Alice, shopping was actually, dare I say it, fun. I liked spending time with my best friend in the world. And there was rarely time for just us girls to hang out together now that she was with Max.

Alice grabbed my hand and pulled me outside to her yellow Porsche. It was her most prized possession, and she never let anyone else drive it. It was her baby. I was glad to see how much she loved it. It had been Jasper's idea to get it for her for Christmas.

And just because it's funny to see Alice pissed off, I said casually, "What would you do if, I don't know. I just... crashed this thing into a tree?"

She glared at me. "If you touch my baby you're dead!"

I laughed and assured her, "I would never touch your car!"

We waited for Rosalie, seeing as how she was a bridesmaid and we were looking for dresses for her and Alice as well as mine.

Seconds later, we were on our way to the nearest bridal store.

Rosalie and I are still not very close, but at least she doesn't completely avoid me anymore.

But I was interested to hear why she had been so concerned about me. So I asked. "Hey Rosalie?"

"Yes, Bella?"

"Why were you so concerned about me? I thought you hated me."

"Oh... about that. Well, I suppose you should know."

"Know what?" I asked, turning my head to look at Rosalie in the back seat.

"Do you want me to tell her, Rose?" Alice offered.

"No. I'll tell her. You see Bella, the reason why Carlisle changed me is because I was raped."

I gasped. It was all making sense now.

Rosalie told me all about her human life, from the beginning, to the end when she was raped by her fiance. Rosalie finished her story with, "So you see, Bella. When I heard about what Edward had done it brought back all the memories. And I was furious that he would have the nerve to do something like that! I don't hate you, Bella. I was jealous. Of you as a human, that is. I guess I should have been nicer after you were changed, seeing as how it wasn't planned. But I was mad that you wanted to one of us, you were willing to give up everything you had as a human. So, I'm sorry."

"It's okay. It all makes a lot more sense now."

"I know we'll probably never be the best of friends, but I hope you can forgive me, and I'll try to be nicer."

"That sounds great." I smiled at her, and she gave me a small smile back.

A/N: What can I say except read and review? And yes, I know vampires can't pass out. But it's fanfiction. So I figured, "fuck it. i'm gonna have Bella pass out"

Disclaimer: I own nothing but Max.