Fanfic / Tough Love

During an argument with her father where he's threatening to punish her for running away, Bella threatens to move out. Unfortunately for her, she'll regret those words when Charlie takes her threat seriously and tells her she's no longer welcome to live under his roof, and goes into detail regarding all the reasons why.

Tough Love is a Twilight Hate Fic/Deconstruction Fic by gehayi that can be read here.

For the actual trope, see Tough Love.

For other Twilight Deconstruction Fics, see For You, I Will and The Wedding Crashers.

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This story provides examples of:

• The Alleged Car: Among the many, many other things she's been neglecting, Bella hasn't been bothering to do regular maintenance on her truck. The result is that several parts are badly damaged, which will require thousands in repairs—money she doesn't have and that her father isn't willing to cough up.
• Ambitious, but Lazy: Bella doesn't want to invest any time or effort into achieving the lifestyle she desires for herself. She isn't even willing to treat the Cullens well, despite how her plans primarily hinge upon leeching off of them and convincing Edward to make her a vampire.
• Armor-Piercing Question: Charlie asks why Bella even wants to be with the Cullens when she doesn't seem to like or even know anything about them. Bella doesn't react, but an eavesdropping Edward (who, incidentally, Charlie was aware of) hears it and realizes that Bella is only dating him to become a vampire.
• Be Careful What You Wish For: Bella impulsively threatens to move out when she doesn't get her way for the umpteenth time. After her father outlines the ramifications of doing so in full detail, she no longer wants to, but the decision is already made for her.
• Book Dumb: Charlie rather bluntly reveals his low opinion of his daughter's intelligence (or lack thereof). What seems to frustrate him more than that, however, is how Bella has completely given up trying to even pass her classes. She ignored any and all help offered by teachers in the form of tutorials, extensions and counseling, and once turned in a calculus test covered entirely in the words, "WHY, EDWARD, WHY?"
• Break the Haughty: Rather than getting what she wants, Bella ends up getting cut off by her father and getting kicked out of her house after Charlie spells out exactly what kind of people she and Edward are and how he feels about her treatment of him. As a bonus, Edward breaks it off with Bella for good after hearing the argument, cutting her off from simply going to the Cullens.
• Calling the Young Man Out: Effectively the whole point of the story; Charlie confronts his daughter, shuts down all of her attempts to emotionally manipulate him, and kicks her out of his house while making clear that she's got nobody to blame for this but herself.
• Conspicuous Consumption: Charlie reveals to Bella that the Cullens are close to going broke because they keep spending on luxury cars and designer clothes. He did some research and found out their Aston Martin cost $35,000 more than Carlisle's annual salary, and their Lamborghini cost almost $100,000 more than that.
• Crocodile Tears: Variant; after Charlie notes that his daughter isn't very good at cooking, Bella makes a show of sobbing as she protests that he always ate everything she put in front of him. However, Charlie silently notes that her cheeks remain perfectly dry.
• Crossing the Burnt Bridge: After her father informs her of all the expenses she'll have to cover herself now that she's no longer living under his roof, as well as the fact that the Cullens have been living well beyond their means and won't be able to support her, Bella shakily declares that she was wrong and doesn't want to move out anymore. She's not happy to hear that her assertion comes too little, too late, and that Charlie isn't going to support her any longer.
• Dating What Daddy Hates: Played for Drama; Charlie makes it clear that he hates how Bella's obsession over Edward and their unhealthy relationship has caused her life to go down the toilet in more ways than one.
• Despair Event Horizon: A rare case of the trope being treated unsympathetically. After being dumped by Edward, Bella has seemingly lost the will to do anything meaningful with her life or connect with anyone, and it's been dragging down everyone around her because she refuses to try and move on, preferring to wallow in endless self-pity.
• Death Glare: Bella gives her father one of these in response to his joke about her putting her complaining and crying skills to use as a professional movie reviewer. She also glares at him while reporting that Edward broke up with her.
• Didn't Think This Through:
  • Bella assumed that threatening to leave home would force her father to capitulate to her demands. Instead, Charlie calls her bluff, spelling out exactly what that will entail... and making clear that she doesn't get to take it back.
  • She also assumed that Ms. Newton would never figure out that she'd been Stealing from the Till, inflating her hours, and being rude to all of her customers, much less that any of this would get back to her father. She's rather unnerved to learn that her former employer called her dad while she was in Italy and let him know that she was letting her go, along with all of the reasons why.
  • Despite Charlie repeatedly warning her that he's only giving her a certain amount of time to pack before he's kicking her out, Bella doesn't bother even getting started. As a result, she finds herself turned outside with only a single duffel bag that her father packed for her, containing a handful of clothing items, a blanket and a toothbrush.
• Earn Your Happy Ending: According to Word of God, after being thrown out of her father's house and being dumped by Edward, Bella is left with no choice but to make a life for herself. It takes her seven or eight years, but she does change and learn to stand on her own two feet.
• Family of Choice: When Charlie makes it clear that he wants her out of the house, Bella declares that she'll just go live with the Cullens and calls them her "real family." Charlie shuts that down by pointing out that: 1) the Cullens are broke from their constant spending on luxury goods, 2) Bella doesn't have any useful skills to justify them taking her in, and 3) she doesn't even seem to like them that much and always says she hates it when they do things for her.
• Freudian Excuse Is No Excuse: In a variant, when Bella defends her moping around after breaking up with Edward before by insisting "I was depressed!", Charlie agrees that she was — but that doesn't apply now:
  Charlie: In other words, 'second verse, same as the first'?
  Bella: I don't—
  Charlie: I mean that you're planning on pulling the same shit that you pulled from September to March, right? Sitting and staring, wailing, not talking to anyone, trying to find ways of almost killing youself?
  Bella: I was depressed!
  Charlie: Yes, you were. But you're not now. You're just angry that you didn't get something you wanted. And you think that Edward will feel guiltier about making you unhappy than he will about not giving you something that you won't talk to me about and that he doesn't like. Do what you want in your own place, Bella. But not here. I'm not prepared to live through the emotional Siege of Leningrad a second time.
• Full-Name Ultimatum: Charlie uses this when he informs his daughter that she's been breaking the law:
  Charlie: Did you know that it's illegal to ride a motorcycle without a license or permit, Isabella Marie? Did you know that such operation means that the police must impound the vehicle and charge the driver? Do you know what I do for a living?
• Get Out!: Charlie has finally had it with Bella throwing her life away over Edward and kicks her out of the house so she has to learn to be a functional adult the hard way.
• Gold Digger: It is implied that this is one of Bella's reasons for wanting to go live with the Cullens. Charlie bluntly reveals that the Cullens are on the verge of going broke because they keep splurging on luxury items they can't actually afford—their Aston Martin alone cost $35,000 more than what Carlisle makes in a year.
• Hoist by His Own Petard: Bella attempts to emotionally blackmail her father into letting her have her way by threatening to move out if he doesn't bow to her whims. Instead, Charlie calls her bluff — and when she balks and tries to backtrack, kicks her out entirely.
• Immortality Seeker: Charlie points out that, for all her obsession over Edward, Bella doesn't seem to actually like him or his family that much. Edward, listening to the conversation while in the closet, realizes that Bella is just using him so he'll turn her into a vampire.
• It's All About Me: Bella has been wallowing in misery for so long that she's never bothered to consider how her depression is affecting other people, namely her parents and friends.
• Jaw Drop: Bella's jaw slackens when her father blithely informs her that the Cullens aren't as wealthy as they've always presented themselves to her.
• Karma Houdini Warranty:
  • Bella is bluntly informed that hers is coming to an end when her father kicks her out of his house, as he makes clear that he won't allow his friends to cover for her anymore.
  • It's also revealed that the Cullens are in dire financial straits due to living far beyond their means. Charlie started looking into their finances since it "wouldn't make sense to sue people who could hire every single Supreme Court Justice as an attorney", only to learn that they're already under investigation for suspected insider trading and potential involvement with the drug trade.
• Know-Nothing Know-It-All: Bella insists to her father that she's smart, but it's made clear that she dramatically overestimates just how clever she is. For instance, she clearly believed that her former employer Ms. Newton wouldn't ever figure out that she was artificially inflating her hours and Stealing from the Till, and that Edward would never realize that she was only stringing him along in hopes that he'd make her a vampire.
• One-Note Cook: Charlie snarks that the Cullens won't want Bella for her cooking, since all she can make is spaghetti.
• Precision F-Strike: During his rant, Charlie calls Edward an "abusive fucktard." He’s absolutely right.
• Pretty Freeloaders: Discussed when Charlie asks Bella just what she's going to bring to the table if she moves in with Edward:
  Charlie: Assuming that you move in with the Cullens... what is your contribution going to be? Aside from becoming Wardo's fucktoy and punching bag 24/7.
  Bella: That's disgusting!
  Charlie: I call 'em as I see 'em. That's all I can think of that you've got and Wardo wants. I've got independent confirmation that you're a lazy employee and an indifferent student. I know for a fact you can't cook to save your life—
  Bella: You always ate everything I put in front of you.
  Charlie: (rolling his eyes) Bella, I learned how to cook after your mother and I divorced. Took courses in cooking at Port Angeles and everything. And I'm really not that crazy about spaghetti. I mean, I like pasta in some things—seafood fettucini alfredo and tomato-basil pasta salad—but if I want it, I can cook it and the sauce myself. It's not that hard. I know you try...but trust me. The Cullens won't want you for your cooking. And you act like a martyr if I ask you to wash clothes or empty the wastebaskets. And I don't remember you ever doing yardwork. So what are you going to contribute, Bella? Because I don't think that just sitting in the Cullens' living room and staring at Edward as adoringly as a cocker spaniel will inspire Carlisle to adopt another useless teenager into his 'family' and cause his eventual bankruptcy to happen a few years sooner.
• Puppy-Dog Eyes: As she's being forced to leave the house, Bella gives her father a look that reminds him of a beagle he'd owned once — "sad, soulful eyes turned toward Heaven and a tragic expression that said he was making her life impossibly hard, but that she forgave him anyway."
• Rage Breaking Point: invoked Charlie finally reaches his regarding how his daughter Bella has been treating him throughout the first two books in an alternative take at the end of New Moon. In this take, he takes Bella's threat of moving out seriously and tells her that she is no longer welcome under his roof, calling her bluff and giving her a combined Take That, Scrappy!, "The Reason You Suck" Speech, and Did You Think I Can't Feel? over how she has been treating him, her mother, and her friends all for the sake of Edward, who he calls an "abusive fucktard." When Bella tries talking her way out of being kicked out of the house, Charlie makes it clear that it is permanent and slams the door in her face in the end.
• "The Reason You Suck" Speech: Among other things, Charlie calls Bella out for treating him like crap even though he's her own dad, not taking care of her truck to the point that it needs $4,300 in repairs, driving away all her friends because she doesn't care about anyone who isn't the Cullens, getting fired from her job at the sports store by being a terrible employee, doing absolutely none of her homework or schoolwork (and ending up with a GPA of 1.3), and generally being a useless sad sack who's not good for anything other than complaining and crying over her ex-boyfriend. Most importantly, he makes sure to hammer it in how shallow and abusive her relationship with Edward is and the unbelievable amount of time and energy she's wasted sobbing over him for months.
  Charlie: You're my daughter, and I love you. But—I will admit that right now I don't like you very much. And I'm tired of watching you tear yourself apart for a pretentious little bully who's so mentally unstable that he's ready to commit suicide on hearing a rumor of your death. I'm tired of watching you throw away your friends, your brain, your future and yourself. I'm tired of realizing that your idea of a perfect life is giving up on everything and everyone except a physically and emotionally abusive turd. I don't want to hear any more fucking lies about how you fell down the stairs or banged into a wall. And I'm sick over how many friends of mine, as a favor to me, have covered up the crimes that you and the Cullens have committed. That protection ends tonight, by the way. God knows I don't want to visit you in jail—but I will not ask my friends to continue to dishonor themselves for you.
  Bella: I don't understand.
  Charlie: It's very simple. You're not getting your way. Your way means that you get to dictate terms and treat me and your mother like doormats. Your way means that you get to dash off to Italy instead of sending the idiot boyfriend a text message or an e-mail that says, 'Hey, asshole, I'm ALIVE.' Your way means that it's fine if you treat me like a thing and not a person. Well, it's not fine, Bells. It's never been fine, and it never will be.
  Two more things. Then I'm done talking. You have fifteen minutes to pack and leave the house after that.
  First—this isn't temporary. You don't get to leave and then come back in three days wailing about how miserable you are and how sorry you feel and please-Dad-I'll-do-anything. You succeed or fail on your own. Second, you running to the Cullens means you're not on your own. You can run to 'em if you want to—and you probably will, they seem to be your default setting these days—but just know that if you do, I'll take that as an admission that you aren't an adult and that you're not ready to be treated as one...not by anybody.
  I gotta wonder why you're so eager to go to the Cullens. You say you hate it when they buy you things, when they take you places, when they make you food, even when they throw you parties. And it sure isn't Edward. You two barely speak. I bet you couldn't even tell me his favorite color. I wish I knew what they have that you want so damned much.
• Screw the Rules, I Have Connections!: One of the reasons why Bella has gotten away with so many of her antics is because Charlie's friends went out of their way to cover things up as a favor to her father. Charlie makes clear that he's putting a stop to this practice.
• Screw the Rules, I Have Money!: Brought up and Averted in regards to the Cullens. While weighing the potential of suing the family, Charlie looked into their finances and learned that they're already under heavy investigation.
• Secretly Selfish: While pretending to be unaware of the fact that Edward is listening to their conversation, Charlie observes how little Bella actually seems to care about the Cullens, remarking that "I wish I knew what they have that you want so damned much." This helps Edward realize that Bella only wants to hook up with him in order to be turned into a vampire herself.
• Shout-Out: At the end of the fic, Bella asks her father, "Dad, where am I supposed to go in the middle of the night? What am I supposed to do?" He responds with ''Frankly, Bella... I don't give a damn."
• Shown Their Work: To make Charlie's accusations accurate, the author researched things like an average internist's salary in 2009, the cost of repairs for a Ford Ranger pickup truck, and the base price for a 2006 Lamborghini Murcielago.
• Stating the Simple Solution: Regarding the situation in New Moon, Charlie points out that instead of Bella flying all the way to Italy to prevent Edward from killing himself when he thought she was dead, she could have just sent him an e-mail or a text saying, "Hey, asshole, I'm ALIVE."
• Small Name, Big Ego: Bella has an over-inflated opinion of her own intelligence, even though she hasn't been doing any of her homework for months and her grades have dropped so low that her GPA is sitting at a dismal 1.3. When Charlie tells her that she's not going to graduate from high school and won't be accepted by any college, she protests, "But I'm smart! This can't be happening!"
• Take That!: Charlie suggests that, since Bella isn't good at much else other than complaining and crying, she could become a movie critic, since "they seem to do both a lot."
• Tough Love: It's in the title; Charlie decides that the only way Bella will learn to get back on her feet is to make her face hard consequences for her actions.
• Tranquil Fury: Bella is unnerved by her father's cold anger when she had expected an explosion of rage.
• With Catlike Tread: Edward isn't very good at sneaking around when he breaks into the Swans' house, because Charlie can hear his heavy footsteps pacing around Bella's bedroom. As well as him hurrying to hide in her closet when he hears them coming upstairs.

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