Archive of Our Own ^beta

Chapter Text

“That’s it, Bells.”

Nose scrunched up and tiny hands poking out from beneath rolled up coat-sleeves, Isabella Swan hefts her prized catch into the air, triumphant grin all but smeared across her face. It’s an adorable expression, all big brown eyes and dimpled cheeks. Charlie’s heart swells at the picture she makes. His darling little girl laughs, pudgy fingers valiantly struggling to keep hold of the still flopping fish. She counts down from five to one and then the fish is away, a single splash of lake water the only evidence of its time with them.

“See! I caught that one all on my own,” she croons, palms slick from grasping at scales, cheeks flushed with excitement. He’s lucky really. How many other men can say their daughters are just so full of life, so willing to try anything and everything? Isabella is smart too. Smart, healthy, and happy. He cannot possibly ask for anything more. That his darling little girl enjoys coming fishing with him is just one big bonus.

“I saw, Bells. Well done.”

Being reborn again isn’t so bad. True this time the parents are divorced, true there’s no siblings... but she’s loved. She wanted. She’s been treasured. In all honesty, she couldn’t have asked for anything more to experience in this life. Though undoubtedly she confused the hell out of her Mom and Dad in those first toddling years when she’d spoken with a British accent.

Fiddling with the earphones that hang mute between her fingers, Isabella ‘Bella’ Swan shifts eagerly from foot to foot, all but brimming with excitement at seeing her father again. Though she’s been coming to Forks every year for summer (sunny days spent fishing or on the Reservation with Jacob and Billy, rainy days spent playing board games or splashing in backyard puddles), the concept of actually living with her father for a few years is exciting. She doesn’t begrudge her mother having some newly-wed time with Phil. The man’s good for her, treats her like the absentminded queen she is; Bella approves. Being able to truly set down some roots in Forks is going to be an experience too, maybe make some friends outside of Jake. Not that there’s anything wrong with Jake, but Jake has other friends and she can’t rely on him to fill her socialisation quota. Him and Charlie, who is undoubtedly ecstatic to have her educated-in-cooking self occupying his kitchen for the undetermined future. Man can’t cook worth a damn, at that point it was learn or live off takeaway.

“Bells?”

“Yesss, you’re here!” Springing into action, Bella jars her suitcase from the curb, striding forwards before discarding the luggage handle immediately. Charlie barely has time to open his arms before she’s leaping into them, engulfed in the safe scent of home away from home. Or home II. Additional home.

“Missed me, Bells?”

“Always, Dad. You missed my cooking?”

“Oh yeah, the whole reason I wanted you up here,” the gruff is light and Bella smiles into the flannel shirt that’s itching her cheek. There’s one more moment in which see just presses her face that little bit further into Charlie’s chest, taken back to the days of her childhood; days of fishing trips and hours of playing monopoly with rain slashing against the window.

“You need to wash this shirt, I can smell the fishing trip on you.”

.

Settling back into life in Forks is far from difficult. Her bedroom is the same as she’d left it last year, barring the few things she’d had shipped up from Phoenix. A jewellery box filled with all sorts of knick-knacks (ranging from genuine jewellery to questionable stones in various pretty shades), several boxes of clothing, the yoga mat and ball Renee had given up on years ago and Bella had swiftly claimed as her own. A new addition to the house is the beaten up, rusted red truck that now commands half the drive. Her truck, affectionately dubbed ‘Ol’ Red’. Jacob had laughed when he’d brought the beast over from the Res, eagerly sharing the better tales of his past year with her. She’ll wring the more embarrassing tidbits from Billy at some point in the future.

Smearing a healthy amount of marmalade across the surface of her toast, Bella jams the bread into her mouth, leaning by the corner counter. Her hair’s still up in a ponytail from a morning run, something Charlie’d scoffed at with a warm smile. Flavour bursts across her tongue as she wrestles the bobble free, smoothing done the multitude of creases in the ‘one-size bigger than needs be’ jumper she’d thrown on for the day. It’s a worn thing, something Charlie’d bought her last year during her summer visit. Back then it’d been even bigger on her. There’d been a flustered smile of pleasure on her Dad’s face upon sighting the jumper once again in use, it’s the whole reason Bella’d put it on, after all. Though the cartoon goldfish in the police car motif is a little weird, at least it’s a potential talking point for her peers. Where he’d even managed to purchase such a thing, however, Bella has no clue.

Popping the last of bit of toast into her mouth, Bella scoops up her schoolbag, slinging the first strap over her shoulder and wiggling to acquire the other.

“Alright there, Bells?”

“I’m good,” she grunts, cooing victoriously when the arm she’s got half contorted around her back finally finds the second strap. Backpack in place, Bella rolls her shoulders and makes for the door, bouncing nervously along. “See you later tonight, Dad. Have a nice day!” She doesn’t quite hear his reply, pulling open the door with a little too much enthusiasm. The sky’s grey, an inverted valley of clouds stretching out from horizon to horizon. No sun in sight. Not the bright and brilliant day she’d wanted for her first trip to school, but she’ll make do. Second chance at life, this time she’s going to grab it by the horns and crack on. If living a second time has taught her anything, it’s to appreciate every damn little thing, to reveal in each experience and treasure every relationship. What’s the point in getting moody over things she can’t change? It could have been worse, she could have been born in some struggling third world country in which women are second class citizens.

Pumped for the day, Bella wretches open Ol’ Red’s door, leaping up into the driver’s seat and shucking off her bag to rest in the passenger’s footwell. The whole cab reeks of tobacco and scent of Jacob’s childhood it may be, but she sure as hell isn’t going to be turning up for school smelling like she smokes forty a day. The windows screech in disagreement as she goes about winding them down, the handle stiff and stubborn. Undoubtedly, it will take more than one drive with the window open to air the whole truck, but Bella can totally deal with the wind whistling in her ear.

“Right. New school, new people, new life here. I can handle this. Worse comes to worse, it’s only a few years, but there’s going to be someone there that’ll like me. Statistically, there has to be.” Prep talk done, Bella forced Ol’ Red to take his first shuddering breath under her command and shoved the gearstick into first. “Here we go.”

Fork High School is a hell of a lot smaller than what she’s used to.

Chewing on the abused skin of her lip, Bella considers the building before her with both her hands wrapped tight around her backpack’s straps. There’s no shorts here, it’s not something that’s possible in Washington temperatures; what little tan she had managed to coax onto her legs is going to be long gone by the end of the week. Phoenix had been crowded, lively in a way that escapes this place. Oh sure there are teenaged about, but there’s little drama. This is just school to them, a place to go and serve a few hours a day in order to edge that little bit closer to freedom. Bella sure as hell isn’t going to be like that. She’s going to enjoy every damn moment of her stay, she’s going to soak up all the knowledge she can, going to enjoy the vast array of experiences that come with being part of a small school. Hell, she might even be able to put names to half the faces she sees by the end of the week.

Sucking in one more fortifying breath, Bella starts across the car park, heading for the reception with her hands still tight on bag straps. A few students stare, clicking into the fact she’s unfamiliar, and Bella makes sure to smile at them, going so far as to offer a little wave of greeting that’s more often than not tentatively returned. They probably have no idea what to make of her, Bella muses with a little grin. She’s a new face, but she’s also not coming off as nervous. But really, once you’ve lived one life, coming back to school... well, there’s worse things in the world than not being liked by everybody, worse things than not fitting into a small town.

She’ll be fine, no matter how the cookie crumbles.

.

Jessica has no idea what to make of Isabella ‘call me Bella’ Swan. She’s always been certain she‘s one of the most confident girls in their school, it’s not a mindset she’s ever thought would be threatened before. But here comes the pretty brunette from out of town, capturing everyone’s attention so effortlessly that Jessica can feel the green eyed monster rearing it’s ugly head. She’s not a stupid girl; Jessica is well aware she can get jealous. She’s aware of just how quickly she can get envious too. But, it’s not really something she wants to change. What’s the point? It’s a small town, whatever someone has over her will fade into obscurity as life continues onwards.

It doesn’t mean she won’t latch onto Isabella Swan and ride in the wake of her popularity as the new girl while she can. Soon enough, Bella will become a permanent resident in Forks and all the hullabaloo will disappear.

Yet, if there’s one stable fixture, it is the utter disinterest the Cullen Clan show, even with the new girl. Bella might be pretty and different, but even she can’t attract their attention. Just like the rest of school, lowly mortals that they are.

Sneaking a peek at Edward Cullen from beneath her lashes, Jessica feels her cheeks flush and her mouth dry. Because really, the things she’s like to do to that boy... she’d climb him like a tree. And that’d be just the opening act.

“Well, aren’t you gonna ask?”

Bella blinks (huge doe-like eyes, no wonder Mike’s perked up and been paying her some attention, the bitch) head cocking to a side and sandwich frozen halfway into her mouth. Yeah, Jessica can admit that’s cute, she’ll have to try that one herself.

“Ask what, Jessica?” Bella speaks only after she has removed the food from her mouth, genuine confusion marring her features. Urgh, it’s difficult to dislike her when the girl is just so... open and accepting. She’s listened to every word Jessica’s said, enquired about her interests; Bella Swan comes off as a genuinely good person. It has to be an act, surely. No one is that happy go lucky.

“About the Cullens, of course.”

“Cullens?” There’s... there’s a twinge of familiarity to Bella’s confused parroting and it has Jessica pausing. There’s no way that word of the supermodel worthy family has spread outside of Forks. There’d be talents scouts for all sorts of shiny careers crawling about the town if that were the case. Bella flicks her eyes in the direction of the table that must not be approached and Jessica is treated to the same surprised awe that spreads across everybody’s face when they first see the Cullens.

“Oh, okay. They’re very pretty.”

“Pretty!?” Jessica repeats in disbelief, staring hard at Bella until the girl finally stops paying attention to her dinner and meets her gaze.

“Well, yes. I can’t exactly comment on their personality, given I haven’t spoken to any of them yet-“

“Bella! You don’t speak to them. You admire from afar, dreaming longingly of the day they’ll swoop in and sweep you up-“

“Okay, I think I get it,” Bella chuckles, a grape pinched between her forefinger and thumb. She flicks it up, making a valiant attempt to catch it between her teeth but she’s met with only failure. The grape bounces off her chin instead, rolling back onto the table and the weirdest girl Jessica has ever met just laughs, plucking up another grape to try again. Why the hell she’d try again when she just embarrassed herself by utterly failing, Jessica has no clue. This time she manages it, indulging in a little fist pump that is absolutely not adorable in any shape or form. Not at all.

“Anyway,” Jessica stresses, eager to get things back on track, “they’re all adopted by Carlisle Cullen -he’s a doctor at the local hospital- because his wife can’t have kids.” She waits for the scandalised interest... but it doesn’t come. Bella Swan just continues looking at her, waiting for her to continue. “But get this, Rosalie and Emmett are together. Like, as a couple. And they live together!”

“And the other three?” Finally! A mote of interest!

“They’re all single! Alice is the short pixie one, Jasper’s a senior, the one with blond hair. And! And then there’s Edward. He’s a junior like me.” Jessica near swoons as she finishes up, only just managing to drag her eyes from the copper haired god across the room to focus on Bella and her amused smile.

“Well good for them. I’m sure they’ll make someone happy someday.” Huh?

Snapping back to attention, Jessica eyes the new girl suspiciously but, but she can’t see the act, can’t see any faults. It’s almost as if Bella Swan genuinely doesn’t care about the chance (however small) of bagging a Cullen for herself.

She must be staring more than‘s polite, for Bella pops the last grape into her mouth and grins at her.

“I’m not going to say I’m not interested, but I’m also... not bothered, if that makes sense? I want to be happy, so I’m not going to get hung up in a teenage drama of ‘woe, does he like me or doesn’t he?’.” She shrugs, clicking the lid of the empty plastic container shut. “If it happens, it happens. If not, there’s plenary of fish in the sea out there... I’m sure I’ll reel one in somehow.”

There’s something achingly familiar about this; the same kind of sensation that nestled deep into your bones and hibernates for the winter, filling your body with discomfort.

Muscles tense, Bella flicks another cautious look at the (admittedly very attractive) teen sitting beside her. He’s on edge himself, forearms braced tight with hands out of sight beneath their work bench. Mentally, Bella crosses him off as a potential romantic interest. Or even as a friend, really. She’s pretty certain he hasn’t even breathed once since she pulled up a chair beside him. Maybe she’ll be able to play the social anxiety card and wiggle out of this seat to another one? If not, well Bella‘s not going to transfer out of biology so Edward Cullen (that rings a bell, why the hell does that name ring a bell?) is just going to have to suck it up and deal with it. Bella jolts when her assigned partner suddenly lets out a pained groan, rising from his chair and exiting the classroom without a word, to the stunned disbelief of everyone present. Bella stares gormlessly at the door as it swings shut before turning bewildered eyes on the equally stunned teacher.

Not much learning happens with the rampant discussion that overtakes the biology class after that little display.

Covertly sniffing at her jumper (and confirming once again it is utterly free of odour de fishing trip), Bella waves goodbye to Jessica and her little group of friends, eagerly clambering into Ol’ Red and dumping her bag on the passenger seat. Notebooks and pens spill out from the open top but she’s far too focused to care right now. Unable to secure the promise of a different seat, Bella’s heading straight to the closest perfume retailer at the first opportunity. That or she’s going to have an attempt at mixing her own via dodgy YouTube videos. Who knows, maybe she’ll managed some natural-sourced wonder and make millions. Snorting, the brunette shifts Ol’ Red into reverse, even as her foot stills before touching the pedals.

The whole Cullen Clan are gathered in the car-park, minus he of the sensitive nose. The blonde girl is towering over short and spunky and Bella tenses up, one hand going for the door-handle. Just because they live together (and oh, something is really tugging at the back of her mind there) doesn’t mean they have to get along. The pixie one (Alice, was it?) hastily says something to the blonde and suddenly they’re both looking her way, one with a fierce scowl and the other with an overly cheerful grin. Blinking, Bella slowly lifts one hand, giving a little wave to the two with a smile, all the while trying to silently convey to Alice Cullen that if something’s going down, she won’t be up against family on her own. From the impossible widening of her smile, Bella can almost pretend that her fellow junior got the message, loud and clear. When the two girls loop their arms together, blondie rolling her eyes with a fond smile that is unquestionably for Alice alone, Bella finally shifts the truck into gear. Hell, maybe she’s made a new friend there. If odd stare-outs across the carpark can even count as true social interaction.

Emmett Cullen peers through the thick trees that pepper across the entirety of Forks, watching the poor human who was unlucky enough to be a vampire’s singer. Or, was it lucky enough to be Edward’s singer? Oh boy, does he remember his own singers. It hadn’t so much falling of the bandwagon as it’d been an enthusiastic leap. But no, he needs to stop thinking on that because otherwise he’s gonna have to go feed. Again.

With eyes as golden as possible (and stomach sloshing with what is perhaps just a little too much animal blood, but better safe than sorry when she’s caught Edward’s attention so), Emmett tracks the daughter of the police chief as she crosses her backyard. A tiny waif of a girl, though she’s clearly not scared of getting down and dirty. Folding his arms, Emmett crouches lower on the tree branch, tracking the girl’s progress as she scales one of the larger trees in the backyard. She’s got a thick piece of rope tied tight around her waist, the excess length trailing back to Earth and wiggling as she climbs. It’s only when she loops it around one of the sturdy limbs branching off from the trunk that Emmett clicks what she’s doing. It’s been a while since he saw a human make an old fashioned swing. Hell, it’s been a while since anyone in the family made an old fashioned swing. When you can run faster than a car, that kind of thing doesn’t hold the same appeal as it once did.

The sun continues it’s steady march down to hide beneath the trees and Isabella Swan never waivers from her self appointed task. Soon enough, an imperfect swing, complete with wooden plank seat and duck-taped ‘handles’ on the rope itself, now hangs proudly from the tree.

With her hands planted firmly on her waist, Isabella gives the latest addition to the yard a quick inspection. She must be pleased with what she sees, because a wide grin breaks out across her face and Emmett is treated to the hilarious sight that is Isabella Swan attempting an running leap onto her creation. She overshoots the runway, ass missing the seat, not even managing a quick peck of action as she flies over it. The sheer amount of effort it takes to not laugh at her almost brings Emmett to his knees, though his smile is hella genuine when the girl just laughs at herself. He has to double back further into the forest when she actually does manage to get up onto the swing, and then fall right back off again after she got too engaged in her ‘victory dance’.

Oh man, she’s a riot. He’s so glad Edward didn’t eat her.

Chapter Text

“His appendix burst?!” Bella parrots dumbly, Jessica simply nodding along with a deep pout and genuine worry in her eyes. True, she barely knows Edward and true, Bella kinda gets the feeling she’s more in love with the idea of him, but the point is, Jessica is worried. And Bella kinda feels like a hag for thinking so bad of Edward Cullen while his internal organs ruptured. Whoops, guilt trip galore.

And that is when Bella is hit with a bout of inspiration.

“Got yourself a suitor, Alice?”

“Nope!” Bouncing into the living room, Alice presents the bouquet to Edward with a flourish, producing the accompanying card she’d tucked into her jacket at the first opportune moment after she’d been entrusted with its safe delivery. Her dear brother stares at the stems, utterly bamboozled as he works through the hazed remains of Isabella’s lingering scent. The rest of the family slowly (for vampires anyway) migrate over, even Rose looks curious. Alice is all but vibrating with excitement over what’s happened; she’s adorable and Alice is certain they’re going to be the best of friends. So thoughtful, so kind, so, unexpected! This is going to be great!

“A get-well card?”

“Yep! Since we’re rolling with the whole appendix thing- but I didn’t even see this coming! Bella must’ve just decided it on the fly!”

Alice claps her palms together, mind already whirling with the vast amount of information that has been steadily brewing there for years. She’d had no idea that Bella would be Edward’s singer; it makes things riskier than she’d like. The rest of them may not know it yet, but Bella is going to be a close part of their family. She’ll better them, complete their unit. Edward might be able to read this from her mind, but he doesn’t know it, doesn’t yet feel it in his bones, doesn’t sense it with every step and every breath. Not like Alice does.

No, the future is looking bright and it is at last so close Alice can almost taste it, can feel the flavour sitting on the back of her throat as her mouth pools with venom. It’s here at last.

Fingers aching and breath a visible ghost before her lips, Bella sits back on her haunches, grinning wildly at her Dad. She’d rolled out of bed (not so) bright and (certainly) early, only to find Charlie in the process of attaching snow chains to the trust rusk bucket that she calls a truck. He’d seemed surprised at her eagerness to help and, while her fingers certainly aren’t thanking her for it, the experience has been another good slot of Daddy/daughter bonding time.

“Well, I think that should do it, Bells.”

“I’d say so. Thanks for starting it, but next time give e a shout? Because this is certainly something I need to know how to do if I’m gonna be spending a few years here.” Offering Charlie one more smile, Bella clambers to her feet, brushing down the rumpled material of her jumper. It’s a different motif today, an old Halloween favourite with a cheesy logo. It’s not the season yet but Bella’s not really bothered; the burnt orange colouring suits her skin tome and the wool is soft as hell. “Well, I’ll head off. I’ve got you a packed lunch set up in the fridge; I did it while I was making my own. See you tonight, Chief!”

Snapping off a quick salute to the background noise of her father’s chuckles, Bella jolts open the door of the trunk, scooping up her bag from where she’d deposited it on the drive earlier, and clambers into the cab. It’s far from graceful; at one point she one of the bag’s straps caught on the stick-shift and Ol’ Red complains loudly when she attempts to wrestle it free and almost throws the truck into a sixth gear that doesn’t exist. But she manages well enough, settling into the driver’s seat with only minimal fuss. A quick glance out the windscreen and Bella scoffs, fondly rolling her eyes at the sight of her father in hysterics. Okay, it probably was funny to anyone watching, she’ll admit to that. Allowing the engine to roar to life beneath her fingers (admittedly, Ol’ Red is more a retired lion lounging upon pride rock than a king of the jungle in his prime), Bella throws the truck into reverse and swings out into the road. Not too many years left of school now… perhaps she should truly start considering just what she will be doing after that. She’s got a lot open to her this time around, what with being in the land of the free. More opportunities than a small costal town in England that is.

Sliding into what is swiftly becoming her seat at the cafeteria table, Bella drops her bookbag to the ground with a solid sounding thump, nudging it beneath the table with the heel of her foot. She’s a little doubtful that any of the teenagers here would take a fall as gracefully and full of good humour as she might, so better to be safe than sorry. Pulling out a carton of homemade pasta, Bella cracks the lid from the top, fork twisting in her hands before she spears one of the penne.

“Oh my god, Bella, oh my god!” Jolting at Jessica’s less than subtle words, Bella stares crestfallenly down at the pasta that has dropped from her fork thanks to the vigorous shaking Jessica is giving her arm.

“Jess, ‘m trying to eat.”

“Edward’s back!” Jessica hisses and Bella finally drags her eyes up from her untouched lunch, meeting the burning golden gaze from across the room. Holy hell, those are some startling eyes. Bella blinks, breaking the improv staring contest as she turns her attention back to her pasta, this time skewering two pieces with a frown. “Bella!”

“What, Jessica, would you like me to say?” Grinning as she finally (finally!) gets to eat a bite of her lunch since cracking the lid off two minutes ago, Bella turns her attention to the other girl, cocking a deliberating eyebrow her way.

“Come on, Bella, you could at least admit you’re a little interested.”

“Look, just because I find them all hella attractive, doesn’t mean I’m going to wax poetically about shoving my tongue down their throat. Or if you would like me to dig further into the typical teenage fantasies for something to wrap my tongue around-”

“Bella!” Jessica screeches scandalised, drawing the attention of half the cafeteria to their table. The other half are preoccupied with the Cullen table, where the big burly one has broken out into thunderous bellowing laughter. It’s a warm sound, bright and happy; she can see why he’s the one spoken for out of the three guys.

“You think it, not say it aloud!”

“Nah, I’ve got better things to occupy my brain with. Besides, I want more than a teenage mentality of too cool for school, I can’t risk acknowledging those of lower social standing.” Jabbing her empty fork in Jessica’s direction, as if to punctuate the finality of her sentence, Bella returns to her food with a smile smearing across her face.

“Anyway, enough about them. Tell me about your dress, the date worthy one you were bragging about.”

With one last glance towards the Cullen table (where Big and Beefy has yet to stop chuckling), Jessica begins to elaborate on the dress she had discovered on a previous shopping expedition to Port Angeles. Bella listens attentively, pulling through as much food as she can while Jessica fills the air with white noise. Well, not white noise, that’s not a fair description. Bella’s listening, she’s soaking everything in the other girl says… but part of her is still very much aware of a pair of eyes still drilling into the side of her head. Flicking her gaze back to the Cullen table, Bella meets the scorching stare Edward Cullen is directing her way, a slight pucker at the skin above his eyebrows. How does appendicitis work? Has he had his appendix removed, or have they just fixed it up? Is he really well enough to have come back to school? With any luck, he’s hopefully as skilled at lip-reading as he is at giving teenaged, intimidating glares.

‘You okay?’

He stares a bit longer, frowns a little deeper, before the edges of his lips twitch up in an ever so slight smile and he ducks his head. It’s the tiniest, barest nod of agreement but it settles the worry in Bella’s stomach. He’s okay and with any luck he won’t be kneeling over in biology now. Hopefully he’s as nice to get along with as he is to look at. In the meantime-

“Jess, come over to my house tonight and bring your best three dresses. After that, we’re going out for a meal- there is somewhere to have a meal here, right?” The other girl flounders for a moment, popping a cherry tomato between her lips.

“Yeah, but why are we going for a meal?”

“Why not? That’s what friends do, right?” The answering smile she gets in return is promising. Maybe she’s not so incapable of making friends after all. And well, Bella thinks as her eyes slide back over to the Cullen table once more, it’s go big or go home, right?

Dropping into her chair (and it is her chair now, she’s been occupying it for several weeks now) with all the grace and enthusiasm of a dog in snow, Bella slides her bag beneath the table as her notebook hits the top. Edward is already sitting beside her, and he is once again as stiff as… well, there’s a fair few things she could describe him as, each one getting less polite as she considers them. Banishing the ideas from mind (and absentmindedly noticing that the cute pixie Cullen has managed to secure a table swap to sit herself across the aisle from Edward), Bella picks up a pen and twirls it around her fingers.

“So… you all healed up now?” Edward hums, the sound low and rough. Bella bites back the instinctive thoughts on rudeness, drumming a reminder of what happened the last time she made assumptions into her brain. That she’s swearing some new perfume just in case is a moot point. She should go for a run after this; she’d avoided it this morning given the night’s chill remains stretching across the sidewalk with its iced fingers. By now it should have all melted… maybe. Hopefully? It’ll be nice to get some crisp winter air into her lungs.

A slip of paper nudged against her forearm and Bella startles. In the neatest handwriting she’s ever seen from a boy, there’s ‘I am sorry, it hurts to talk for too long -Edward’. That he’s taken the time to scribble that down (though let’s not mention his handwriting is calligraphy worthy) is kinda sweet. Especially given the male ego of most boys here. Though she’d had no idea appendicitis could affect the voice. Then again, poor boy might have gotten an infection from whatever hospital procedure he’d gone through. Bella is, after all, not the be all and end all of all knowledge.

“It’s fine, I can talk enough for the both of us I guess. Though if you get tired of it, well you’ll just have to deal.” Bella let’s the words sit in the air for a moment before she snorts, offering the curious, right state Edward gives her a winning smile. “I’m joking. If I’m bothering you, just elbow me and I’ll shut up.” Pen flicking across the paper between them, Bella only releases it once she’s done with her little caricature; a mini-Edward brandishing razor sharp elbows now present. The barely masked befuddlement on her table-mate’s face is hilarious. Equally amusing is the way his adopted sister is, in a far from subtle way, attempting to see what she’s doodled.

‘You’re not what I was expecting.’

“Expecting some kind of Jessica 2.0, I wanna climb the Cullen boys like a tree, big city girl?” Edward shakes his head, looking away and one hand fluffs through his hair, whisking bronze locks to and fro. He still look exceptionally model-like, it’s sort of ridiculous but makes him very nice to look at indeed. “I mean, don’t get me wrong. I like Jessica, but I am aware she’s… a stereotypical teenager.” Jessica can be nice; the pressure of being semi-popular and coupled with a determination to remain at that status level is shackling her, preventing really growth. Bella knows, she’s been there before. It’s why she’s more than happy to keep trying to be friends with her; hopefully there’s someone fun and cheery under all that teenage melodrama.

Scribbling down the notes on the board, Bella chances another quick glance towards Edward, taking note of the stiff shoulders and just how little his rib cage seems to be moving.

“Does it hurt to breathe too? You’re really quite still.”

“No,” Edward whispers and it is a soft, slow thing, tinged with a strained humour that doesn’t really backup his words. Bella can feel her own smile wilt ever so slightly by the tension, but she brushes it off. If he doesn’t want to talk that’s fine. Writing’s okay too, everyone has their little oddities and who is Bella to judge a person by their little ticks?

“Did you end up with a whacking great big scar then?” Bella asks as Edward reaches for the equipment. There’s a hazy memory of appendicitis and scars baffling in the back of her mind; it’s not something she’s had to think about in a long time but the old knowledge slowly comes tumbling back. Edward Cullen, he of the golden eyes that seem darker than before, twists to give her a curious look and Bella traces a line down the side of her abdomen. She has no idea if that is where a lab appendicitis scar would rest, she’s taking a guess. From the amused smile Edward tries to hide in his lips as he ducks to write on their conversation paper, she’s not quite hit the mark.

‘Carlisle saved my life, but he did make the scar he gave me as neat as possible.’

“Coolio. Hopefully he’s not ruined your chances as a male model; Jess’ll be heartbroken if that’s the case.”

‘It’s a huge scar, ugly and twisted.’ Bella snorts a laugh, having not truly expected a response like that. She can’t tell if it’s a deadpan joke or a genuine attempt by Edward to shake Jessica off his tail, but she finds it funny all the same.

“Has your blond brother had appendicitis recently too? He was wearing your expression at lunch time.”

And, she thinks as Edward’s writes a decisive ‘no’ on the sheet of paper, that maybe making friends with one of the elusive Cullens isn’t as hard as everyone thought. People just need to be a little more positive about things.

He’s on Edward watch tonight, seeing as Alice and Esme took last night’s shift. Him and Rose, his darling wife, the butter to his bread, the venom to his fangs, the-

“Emmett!” Edward’s irritated hiss draws him back to the present and Emmett laughs, dropping onto a particularly thick tree branch. It groans under his weight but holds steady.

“Don’t be such a bore, Eddy.” If he doesn’t like what’s going on in his head, then he shouldn’t go digging through it. After all, he’s got some brilliant memories he’s more than happy to think about with Rose. Just like that time she- “Ow! Babe!” The crack of Rose’s hand slamming against his chest tumbled through the air, thunder on a cloudless night. He spots Bella (it’s Bella, to Isabelle which is great because it’s so much less of a mouthful) on the front porch spending a curious glance to the sky. Luckily, she shrugs it off as irrelevant and gets back to stretching. The girl’s in good shape, not Rose worthy shape, but then what other woman is shaped like a goddess and just as-

“Emmett,” Edward moans, pressing forefinger and thumb to his forehead, “please.” Right, keeps he thoughts PG. He can do that. For a little bit.

“I don’t even understand why we are here,” Rose grumbles, arm’s folded across her chest, the soft pink of her hoodie a delightful background to the waterfall of blond locks that tumble down before her shoulders. God, she’s gorgeous, he’s so lucky.

“I need to become accustomed to Bella’s scent if we want to remain here.” Emmett snickers, shoulders rolling back in the same stretching motion Bella is currently completing. Oh, he wonders what it feels like, this fabled muscle burn that apparently humans suffer when they exercise too much too soon.

“I still can’t believe your appendix excuse got swallowed up, hook, line and sinker.” Emmett has gotten that bouquet of flowers pressed between two glass panes and the get well card treated for long term display. He’s not letting this go for at least fifty years; this shit’s gold. All this just because some chick rocked up outta nowhere smelling oh so fine.

“Bells! You got your taser?”

“Yep!” The girl hooks a thumb into her pocket, pulling free a small plastic box that she spins between her fingers. Even with the distance between them, Emmett can still hear the tell-tale crackle of electricity that sparks between the two prongs. “I’m good!” she hollers, stuffing the device back into her pocket before proceeding to fire quick finger guns at her father, laughing as she finally stops risking tripping over her own two feet by twisting around to begin jogging forwards instead of back. It’s a pretty familiar routine by now; whenever one of them have popped by to see how she of the delicious blood has been doing, she’d either been off running or up to something as ridiculous as the backyard swing.

Emmett loves it; it’s been a while since he’s seen an interesting human.

“I don’t see why we just can’t make her leave,” Rose mutters, folding her arms and watching the little human take off settle into a steady pace of a jog down the street. Humming to himself, Emmett leaps down onto the road, the sturdy tree branch he’d been standing upon shaking in the aftermath of his departure. He’d made sure to land away from any curious human eyes; the only other person really around is Chief Swan and he’s focused on the game. The game Emmett would like to be watching but instead he’s tailing Edward as he tails the interesting human. Well, there are plenary of matches that he’ll be able to watch in the future and it’s not as if he has anyone at school to discuss the match with. None of the other Cullen’s are really interested in football; baseball is the family sport, after all.

“Because we don’t have the right to remain here over Isabella,” Edward murmurs, the usual self-hatred taking over his features and Emmett pushes down the urge to roll his eyes. He’s never tested it, but given vampire physiology, he wouldn’t put it past his body to be capable of rolling his eyes hard enough that the pop right out of their sockets. It’d be just his luck and dear Rose would sooner laugh at his idiocy than help him for the first five minutes. Not that he can blame her, if anyone else did that, he’d find it pretty fucking hilarious too.

“And, like, Alice is super excited about it all. She must have seen something good, right?” Emmett muses, rubbing one forefinger and thumb against his chin as he thinks. “She’d have warned us if it were all gonna go to pieces. She trusts you, Eddy.” Emmett doesn’t exactly throw his own weight behind the belief Edward can resist. Sure, that self-hatred and certainty he’s a monster that must suppress his own instincts has carried he pretty far already... but Emmett recalls his own singers vividly. How divine their blood had smelt, how the scent had been a siren’s call, enticing him in, a hypnotic trance he’d not awoken from until he was already fang deep in a near drained body. Yeah, Emmett knows how hard that is to resist.

“I can do this,” Edward agrees, taking in a deep breath. The hunger and pain of denial is crystal clear on his face.

Well, he’s a stronger man than Emmett, that’s for sure.

Chapter Text

Chapter Text

“What is she doing tonight?”

“It’s bath time.” Yes, Jasper had assumed as much; he can smell the scented washes, hear the fizzing of the ‘bath bombs’ beneath the water’s surface, all through the vented window. Steam coils out from the slight gap, invisible to human eyes but all too clear to their superior sight. The steady thrum of contentment and peace that all but froths from Isabella Swan’s form washes over his senses and Jasper just takes a single moment to soak, to really enjoy the sensation. He imagines its rather like a hot bath for a human; a glorious sensation that relaxes his muscles and slows his brain to a quiet hum. Watching Edward as he tortured himself over his singer is no longer the terrible task Jasper had believed it to be previously. While he can feel the other male’s irritating, his frustration with himself… well, it’s easy to ignore him in favour of the sensations Bella offers instead. Forks High is always full of turbulent emotions, rising and falling and yelling his mind six ways to Sunday. The amount of effort it takes to remain focused on the present, on the class and the rest of the coven… well it undoubtedly shows on his face, as Bella had so kindly pointed out in her short discussion with Edward.

Though he does find her assessment of them incredibly amusing. Aliens or superheroes. She’s so far off the mark it’s funny, only Rose doesn’t see it that way. Edward is far too focused with wrestling bloodlust into submission, Alice had seen her coming apparently, and Emmett finds everything the girl does hilarious. Jasper, well, other than finding her sheer emotional presence delightful, Jasper’s not quite sure what to make of Bella. She’s a strange human, mature for her age, certainly. She recognises how immature her peers are in comparison and she adjusts her interactions but never her intentions. She’s supportive and kind and so incredibly far from the typical teenager that she’s the biggest oddity he’s encountered in a decade. Maybe two.

“What are we doing here, Edward?”

“The more I remain around her scent, the higher a tolerance I can develop. Then life can go back to how it was.” Jasper makes a noise in the back of his throat, not quite agreeing but not yet disagreeing either. Sure, such a thing can work upon animals and humans, becoming desensitised to the scent of blood, but to them? It doesn’t seem to have happened for Jasper, not since he advanced from the stage of newborn vampire anyway. But Carlisle works in a hospital, works around blood every day without even the slightest dip in his iron clad control. That’s the kind of level Jasper strives to be at; he had a rough start with this… second lease of life (if it could be labelled as such), the only way he can keep going is up. He refuses to spiral again. Maybe in a few centuries he’ll have that kind of iron clad control too. And maybe being around Bella is giving him a strange infestation of hope.

“Can it really go back when such assumptions live in her head?” questions Jasper. The unsaid ‘she may be off the mark with aliens but she’s right on the money about the not human part’ resides as the sword of Damocles above their heads. Undoubtedly Edward feels iron kissing at the crown of his skull just as surely as Jasper does.

Nothing but silence exists between them within that moment, two vampires nestled within a large pine, occupying one thick branch each. How much is Edward capable of lifting from his head? Can the other vampire read Bella’s emotions from Jasper’s mind? Can he understand the overwash of delightfulness that she brings to the environment? How referencing a change it is; if Jasper were the earth, Bella is a blazing comet swinging into his orbit. There’s no contact, but she does steal all the attention from the mundane stars and their protractive presence.

“It has to. Humans shy away from what they can’t understand,” Edward murmurs and, on that, Jasper has to agree. If something discomforts a human, they do try their best to ignore it. That Bella is different from the rest emotionally, could she not be different in other aspects also?

The sun is undoubtedly shining and Forks’d probably be able to appreciate it were the big beauty not shying away behind cloud cover. As usual.

It’s March at last and Bella can almost feel the promise of flourishing flowers and the little lambs that an impending onset of spring brings. She’s looking forwards to eventually jogging without a hoodie. Oh, and the potential of sitting outside instead of in the school cafeteria.

“So, spring dance. Who are you going to ask?”

“Not Mike or Erik, if that’s what you’re worried about,” Bella fires back, a rapid return followed by a touch of innuendo-hinting eyebrow wiggling. Jess mock scowls as Angela (a late addition to their lunch table but a more than welcomed one) flushes hard and fast. The males that usually occupy the empty seats are off doing… something. Probably working on a plan of attack on how best to attract a girl’s attention so they might improve their chances of getting asked to the dance. “Oh, but wouldn’t it be hilarious if the girls all asked each other.”

“Too big city there, Bella, too big city. Boy and girl are the only acceptable couple here.”

“Well rats,” Bella grumbles with little heat. If she wants to ask a girl, she’s not exactly going to let small town syndrome stop her. This is, after all, her life and Bella’s going to live it how she wants to. “But no, I’ve actually got someone else in mind.” She flicks her eyes over to the Cullen table once, twice, and then thrice. Finally, Jess follows her line of sight and gasps audibly.

“Bella, no!”

“Excuse me, Jess.”

“Wha- Bella?! You’re not actually going to?!”

Rising from the table, Bella uncorks that fanciful vial of valour she’s been bottling up all day, making her way to the table by the window with a strong, steady pace.

Simultaneously, five heads snap up to stare at her and Bella can feel her fortification waver slightly, but it ultimately holds strong. It’s like set of battering rams against a castle drawbridge but she shall not fall yet. Not at the first hurdle.

Instead, she catches a pair of startled, liquid gold eyes and drums up her best smile, the one she’d spent childhood days practicing in the mirror, desperate for a year-mate to call friend, one who wouldn’t believe her ‘strange’.

“Will you come to the spring dance with me, please?” That Jasper Hale double-checks she’s definitely looking at him and not another of the Cullen clan is ridiculous; she made eye contact and everything. It’s rather endearing too.

His twin sister snorts and yeah, Bella’s well aware she’s punching above her weight here (like, two weight class’ of difference kind of aspirations) but she holds firm. You don’t get if you don’t try and the Cullen clan seem so… isolated from the rest of them. And yeah, they might be bringing it on themselves but who knows the full story? They’re all adopted according to Jess, maybe there’s issues with social interaction because of that, no matter Hot Doc’s best intentions. Bella can only offer a hand and see what happens (and hope it doesn’t get bitten).

Edward’s struggling to look at her and Bella hasn’t the slightest idea why when she scans the group before her eyes return to Jasper Hale. She’s doing her best to ignore how noise in the cafeteria seems to have halved in the last five seconds, never mind how more and more voices seem to be muting themselves as time drags by.

“You’re asking me to the dance?” Jasper finally says and his voice is just as velvet and sex-laced as the rest of them. Well hell, she’s not surprised in the slightest; is this what Clark Kent would have sounded like had he been real? A collection of alien superheroes and here Bella is attempting to affix one to her side as arm candy for a night.

“That’s exactly what I’m doing,” Bella concedes with a nod of her head, hooking a thumb into the front pocket of her trusty blue jeans, the ones that cling nicely to her calves but have a little more room in the thigh. If they just so happen to hug her ass, well it’s not like she picked those jeans- oh who is she kidding? Bella’s got enough vanity in her for that to be the sole reason she bought these jeans and can be honest enough with herself to admit to that. “Is this you accepting or declining? Come on, Hale, I’m a big girl, I can take a little rejection with only a few tears if that’s the reason for you pause.” Grinning, Bella runs a hand through her hair, pushing it back and away from her face. Without that curtain threatening to fall, she’s treated to the high definition display of Jasper Hale’s slowly blooming smile.

“I think this is me accepting, Ma’am.” Oh. Oh wow, Southern charm. That’s, that’s dangerous.

“Sweet,” Bella blurts out, so startled she pulls her hand free from where it’d been toying with her pocket to instead rub sheepishly at the back of her neck, “can’t say I was expecting that but it’d be a lie to say I’m not pleased as punch. And it’s Bella, not Ma’am, Cowboy.”

“Jasper!” The hiss that comes from a suddenly very angry looking blonde has Bella rocking back on her heels. Regardless of what can only be impending danger, Jasper Hale does not look away from her, nor does his little smile wilt. It’s just the thing Bella needs to see, that little confidence boost that’ll get her through, well, probably the rest of the year actually.

“We can meet at school, Dad’s a cop.” The unspoken ‘so you’ll probably want to avoid the intimidation show that’d come with picking me up’ goes unspoken.

“I’m aware. I’ll see you around, Bella.”

“Later, Cowboy.” Bella twists on heel, heading back over to her table, not even fazed when the big burly Cullen lets out a truly ecstatic laugh. Instead, feeling like her hands should be shaking from adrenaline or endorphins or something, Bella drops back into her usual seat and plucks up her unwrapped sandwich. Jess is gawking at her.

“What the hell?!”

“I’m going to the spring dance with Hale. Good luck with Mike-”

“No, you’re not allowed to do that. You’ve got to tell me how you did that!”

The afternoon passes swiftly; people whisper but no one really dares to approach her to actually ask. Well, barring Mike who checks with her if she is truly going with Jasper Hale to the spring dance. He gets a bit of a face on him when Bella confirms it, to which she can only pat him on the shoulder and happily inform him there’s someone who intends to ask him soon.

Which leads her to the present, inspecting the student bulletin board. There’s a call for help on decorations for her spring dance and while Bella’s no Van Gogh, she’s not too shabby at painting. Finger running under the room number, she twists on the balls of her feet, near skipping down the corridor, hem of her open coat pecking constantly at the back of her legs. There’s not many students left after school, the vast majority having disappear off home. But she does find a handful of overworked pupils residing within the classroom. Bella sucks in a deep, sharp breath and crosses the threshold, hefting her bag back up over shoulder.

“Fresh recruit Swan, reporting for decoration duty.” A startled laugh echoes her declaration and the ginger haired girl that must be leading the efforts here sizers her up.

“You any good at painting?”

“I’m no Picasso, but I’m half decent in the ways of high school art.”

Soon enough, Bella has found herself armed with a brush and presented with an empty banner that needs a bouquet of daffodils slapped across its extensive length. There’s something repetitive about the motion and she’s quick to lose herself in the painting, putting the events of the day from her mind for now.

There’s a truck on her drive, a truck that isn’t Ol’ Red.

Slamming the cab door shut, Bella pats her trusty rust-red automobile, flicking the tail of hair back over her shoulders as she makes for the door. Sure enough, it opens before she can even knock and Jacob is there with his ridiculous grin and wild hair.

“Jake!”

“Argh! She’s diseased!” Bella snorts, throwing herself into the boy’s arms and wrapping her own tight around his neck. If she happens to bury him face first into her armpit, well, that’s a purposeful power move.

“Gross!” Jacob quickly peels himself free and Bella grins, tugging gently on a lock of his near feral hair.

“Did you say my little girl’s diseased, Black.” Charlie’s call has Bella perking up, hip checking Jacob aside so she can make her way down the hallway to better greet her dad. She finds him in the kitchen, sitting up to table with heated leftovers cracked open to share with Billy. Bella plants a kiss atop her dad’s head, snatching up a wrap full of… whatever they’d had last night. It tastes Mexican, but not the usual flavour; some new recipe that’s name escapes her right now. Jacob ambles into the kitchen a few moments after the slam of the front door rattled the frame, hands digging deep into his pockets and a teasing tilt to his lips.

“Yellow spots, Charlie. I’m afraid she’s contracted a case of the adorkables. Common signs include paint-based freckles and adorably flustered cheeks.”

“Oh hardy-ha-ha,” Bella grunts, flicking Jacob in the shoulder as she passes him in her quest to find a mirror. The stairs groan beneath her quickstep up them but soon enough Bella is in the bathroom, half a burrito wrap jammed in her mouth and a galaxy of yellow spots littering her face. Okay, she’d maybe gotten a bit enthusiastic about the painting thing but at least it’s done. Bella’s contributed and done her part, she’s all set to go with the spring dance. Speaking of which-

“Hey, Dad! School dance is on the Saturday after next. I need to get a dress for it!” Heaving her sweater up and over her head, Bella snatched up her running gear, changing as swiftly as she can manage. She’s halfway through shimmying the leggings up her thighs when Jacob comes bounding up the stairs. He pauses and gawks, mouth popping open and Bella wriggles the last of her lower half into Lycra.

“Get a good look, Jake?” Now it’s his turn to blush, swinging around to face away from her and Bella snorts. It’s hardly like he saw anything; if they went swimming together he’d see about the same thing given just how much flesh a bikini covers, which is to say not very much at all.

It is with little fanfare that Bella leads her companion back down the stairs, throwing a sweatband at the younger teen’s head in a clear invitation.

“What’s this about a dance, Bells?”

“Girl’s choice, spring dance. I asked and my target said yes, so I’m going. But I do need to get my hands on a half decent dress to go with my heels.”

“Are heels really a good idea?” There’s a moment where both Bella and her father acknowledge the track record Bella boasts with balance and agility, sharing a shifty look with each other.

“I’m sure I’ll manage,” Bella finally mutters, peeling hair back against her skull until she can seal it in position with a bobble, “and if not, Jasper’s tall and has strong shoulders. I’m sure he’ll be able to hold me up.”

“Strong shoulders,” Charlie repeats dumbly, staring with furrowed brows and Bella grins back, pocketing her taser and loosening her shoulders, hopping from one foot to the other.

“Well, I could expand on that with you instead of Mom-”

“Leave it for Rene. Keep the kid safe on your run,” Charlie mutters, ducking his head down to continue inhaling his leftovers alongside Billy. There must be a game due to start soon; it’s the only reason Bella can give as to why Jacob and Billy have come over.

“Don’t worry, Chief. I will.”

“I was talking to Bells, Jake.” Laughing at the sudden fountain of splutters Jacob now sprouts, Bella snatched up his arm and drags him to the door, eager to just get on with it all.

The cool night’s air has her lungs aching and her pulse is a steady hammering in her ears. Bella sucks in a deep breath, laying one hand flat against a tree trunk as the other clutches firmly to her flashlight.

“Are you asking to get murdered, Bella? Running in the dark?”

“Please, I’m pretty sure this place has Guardian angels,” of the superhero or extra-terrestrial kind, “so I’m not too worried. If I’m lucky, they might be watching over me right now.” Jacob showcase exactly how he feels about that idea with disbelieving snort and firm roll of his eyes. Bella follows the motion, releasing her grip on the tree to instead pinch at the other teen’s nose, squashing the two nostrils shut. Jacob fights the motion, fingers attacking her ribs until she squirms away.

“I hope this Jasper dude knows what he’s getting into, Bella, because you’re absolutely crackers.” Maybe she is. Maybe she doesn’t think in the same way others do at her age, maybe she’s got a brighter, lighter outlook on life. But she remembers that haze of depression in the first few years, can recall the childhood photos and just how gaunt she’d looked, how dead-eyed she’d appeared. Sometimes there are moments when she wonders if, had she’d recovered from the shock a little quicker, acclimatised a little faster, maybe her parents could have made it. But no, that’s a bad thought, Rene is happy with Phil, Larry the Lamb style happy, and while Charlie’s not quite at that stage… it’s not the constant fights she remembers. It’s not the muffled sound of each parent crying in separate rooms as she lays in bed and wonders why she’s failing as the family glue, drying out and useless. It’s not like she ever managed to really stick them together as a family unit in the first place, looking back on it. But she’s better now, recovered and at the top of her game. It’s not difficult to remain there anymore, she’s been practicing all the smiles, the laughs, the positivity, for so long it’s engrained now. So what if she’s crackers; at least she’s nice about it.

“If I’m too much for him to handle, then it’s only for one night, he can run for the hills afterwards,” concludes Bella with a low shrug of her shoulders, arms thrown up and over her head as she stretches out the muscles there. Her core feels tight with how hard she’s pushed herself and she’s not ignorant to the sweat that laces Jacob’s brow. He needs to work out a bit more.

“Yeah, I guess. You know, being out at night like this kinda reminds me of some old tales my dad used to tell me.”

“Oh?” Head tilted to a side because tales of any kind are interesting and something she’d very much like to hear about, Bella hops from foot to foot one last time before she sets off. It’s not a round route tonight, they’re just retracing their steps now to make it back home at a slower pace. “Do tell.”

“I don’t know if you’ll have ever heard about this one, it’s kinda a tribe tale but you and Charlie are practically family anyway. It’s about the Cold Ones.”

Chapter Text

What kind of idiocy have you succumbed to?!” Were they not contained in the back of Edward’s Volvo, then Rose would have undoubtedly began tearing through whatever she could get her hands on. As things are, Edward and Emmett are removed from the situation up front and it’s Alice that finds herself sitting smack bang between the fuming Rose and guiltily not guilty Jasper. She’d seen it coming, but that doesn’t make the situation any more pleasant to be in. Edward catches her eyes in the mirror, a knowing smirk to his lips and Alice sticks her tongue out in return. Sitting between Jasper and Rose when the tension is running this high is far from ideal. Alice does not want to be here, does not want to have to face this, but, but...

There’s pale lips in a smile, a wave of contentment as the sun shines down and they do not sparkle. 

Bella’s laugh echoes in her ears as she comes back to the present and Edward has swerved, pulling up just off the road in order to spin around and stare at her without any form of interruption. 

“What was that.”

“You saw it?” Alice chirps, bouncing forwards in her seat and ignoring the warring blinds completely, all but wiggling in her seat. It all keeps coming in quick flashes and snippets, rapid-fire slices of life that she can never quite bring up to show after they’ve happened. It’s not from a lack of trying, that’s for sure. Edward is staring, a clear light in his eyes and finally, finally someone is starting to understand why Alice is so insistent that Bella’s important. She’s looked, she’s search and stared into the future and the never ending expanse of possibilities. It’s only with Bella Alice and we’ll, only with Bella a’okay and friends with them that this kind of impossibility occurs. She’s seen it, seen every outcome that could come about and yet there’s always more to see. In each and every vision... they’re happy. Happy and brimming with hope. 

“Alice-“

“That is why we need Bella,” Alice states, finality clear in her tone and Edward just watches, his gaze steady but a slow acceptance coiling from his form. 

“What did you see?” It’s Emmett who asks the question, voice near a whine with the level of curiosity within it. Rose’s gaze is hard and heavy, the weighty world upon Alice’s shoulders and all the deer can do is just grin and bear it; it’ll become clear to her soon enough. “Come on, tell me!” Well that is most certainly a whine and Alice would never normally indulge the vampire. However, Edward has managed to get a sneak peek, what could one more hint help? 

“Hope, Emmett. It was hope.”

It doesn’t put the argument off indefinitely, just until Edward starts up the Volvo again and they set off down the road. Luckily, with how far the house is from the centre of town, there are few people traversing this road right now. Still, the moment of silence is nice, while it lasts. As usual, it’s Emmett that breaks it with his usual level of tack. 

“Why did’ya agree to go with Alien Chick anyway, Jazz?” Rose’s already dark mood blackens and Emmett’s giant shoulders hunch down, the hindsight realisation that he will be further banished from their shared bedroom hitting home too little too late. The poor fool has already been sleeping on the couch for far too long in Alice’s opinion. Then again, she has no true idea of how she’d feel in a relationship. Involuntarily, her eyes slide to Jasper, venom pooling in her dry mouth that she hastily swallows back. There had once been the opportunity for something, only... patience has offered greater rewards for both of them. A great deal is out of her hands now, a choice she has made if not happily then with a tentative hope. It’s a change when she’s not the deciding vote on future events. It doesn’t make sitting beside Rose’s stewing resentment anymore pleasant. 

“She’s... pleasant to be around.”

“Oh my god, you are high on Bubbles.” 

“Don’t call Bella that,” Alice groans, even though she’s well aware that Emmett has solidified his claim of intent regarding friendship with the human by slapping a nickname on her. From the set to her face, Rose has recognised this too and appears to be attempting to burn holes in Emmett’s head. Which, you know, means she’s not trying to burn holes in Alice’s head in order to get a clear shot at Jasper. 

“What about your control.”

“I don’t really think you have much ground to stand on, Edward.” And just like that, the tension in the car wretches up another notch, Jasper’s statement meeting Edward’s question as their eyes lock via rear view mirror. Alice could do without all this postering, all this huffle and fuffle. She already knows nothing bad is going to happen, they’ll be no accident and without the presence of other vampires to inflict further strain on Jasper’s own bloodlust... yes, that could work. 

“It’s simple, Carlisle and Esme will offer to chaperone the dance,” Alice declares, hands clapping together as everything comes into alignment in her mind. Yes, that’ll all work rather well, quite frankly. Though she’s sad to miss a dance and an opportunity to dress up, well, there’ll be plenty of those in the future. This’ll be a good step for Jasper, a solid way to build his confidence and time with Bella will certainly do him some good. 

“I can’t believe you are encouraging this madness, Alice. The girl might not be at vampire yet, but it’s only take one slip and then it’s all over.”

“We’ll be careful, both with ourselves and her.” Slipping her hand over Jasper’s, Alice gives it an encouraging, supportive squeeze, feeling the marble like muscles relax minutely beneath her grasp. The sensation of his skin, of those scars are still strange to the touch ( and oh, there would have been a life where that was nothing but normal if Alice hadn’t had the patience) so she returns her hand back to its partner and places both primly in her lap. The leather bracelet, dyed strands woven into a five part pattern (a thank you gift from Bella) clashes horribly with her outfit. Alice has yet to take it off. 

“And the Volturi?” All five of them take a moment to consider that, a solemn still air entering the space between them. 

“Well, the Volturi rarely leave Italy unless something has gone very wrong. And if that’s going to happen, I’ll catch it.”

Rose doesn’t talk any more on the way home. It isn’t until they get back and Jasper disappears to hunt that they realise the Southern vampire had never really expanded on his reasoning for accepting Bella’s request.

.

.

There’s the ring of the doorbell, shrill and sharp and certainly unexpected. Shoving the last pin into her hair and glancing in the mirror, Bella skedaddles down the hallway, almost slipping on the wet patch she’d not bothered to clean up that’s been left from her boots earlier that day. Yanking open the door produces not the stressed out Jessica she was expecting or even an unannounced Billy Black (even though there’s no game on tonight, but Bella cannot deny the possibility of them changing it up and watching the hockey or something instead) she would have not expected but not been surprised by. 

Instead, Jasper Hale is there, hands held formally before himself with a flower corsage between his fingers that matches the blunted yellow of her dress perfectly. Bella blinks but he doesn’t disappear, instead a shallow smile slowly begins to surface on his mouth, the rain pouring off of the porch to land on the drive behind him. The tops of his shoulders are sprinkled with little wet patches, droplets residing in the half curls of his golden mane. In all honesty, something had been nagging at the back of Bella’s head, insisting that Jasper wouldn’t show, that for some reason or anther he’d pull out of accompanying her. Bella’s not too shabby at dancing on her own, but it’s nice to know she won’t have to break out those questionable skills. 

“So, you’re more courageous than I was expecting of a senior.” Grinning, Bella steps back and to a side, gesturing for Jasper to make his grand entrance to her household. He does so almost gingerly, flashing another small smile her way and Bella cannot possibly have her own grow any larger. Jasper Hale looks so very out of place in her hallway and it’s not just because of how pretty he is. It’s the way he holds himself, as if should touch anything this whole facade of being human will fall apart in these working, naturally human surroundings. Too big. His presence is too big for this place and he doesn’t fit in the slightest. Awkward nonhuman. It’s adorable. Bella’s still pretty set on alien (shape-shifting alien is her best bet given the lightening and darkening eyes and the fact they’ve got human faces but they’re not quite right) but she’s adaptable. Tonight is about having a good time, for both her and Jasper. If she happens to gather some facts to clear things up, well that’ll be a bonus. It’d not been her intention when inviting him and she’s not about to let it take over the night either. Which means making him feel comfortable. “You wanna come take a seat in the living room, or is this as far as your bold heart will venture?” 

“I’m feeling brave tonight, Darlin’. A new frontier, an’ all.” 

“Ah, he sticks with the cowboy theme! I hope you know you’re never shifting that nickname now,” Bella declares, poking her fellow student in the arm and valiantly ignoring how little give his biceps have. She wouldn’t be surprised if it’s all compact muscle or simply non-human physiology. Whatever, she flexible. In more ways than one but that’s not how she should be looking at Jasper Hale’s shoulders so she shoved that thought aside. 

“Bells? Whose does that voice belong to?” Shoving her way into the living room, Bella eyes the semi-sensible heels waiting for her by the couch before she turns her gaze to the lump of chief occupying it. 

“It’s my target. Dad, Jasper Hale. He’s one of Hot Doc’s kids.” Her father groans, running one hand down the side of his face. The motion dislodges the pretzel crumb he’d had stashed in his moustache and Bella just eyes the offending snack evidence until Charlie brushes it aside. 

“Doctor Cullen, Bella. It’s Doctor Cullen.”

“Doctor Cullen, Hot Doc, doesn’t matter. We all know who I’m referring to.” Beside her, Jasper Hale huffs a small, gruff sounding laugh, rusty in a way that indicates he doesn’t get to do that too often. She does her best to not flick him a nervous glance but it happens regardless. She hadn’t intended to end up introducing him as a date would and she’s hoping it won’t spiral out of control. They’re on a friendly date, that is a date as two people who might come away from it as friends. That’s what she’d been gunning for anyway. Meeting the one parent present isn’t exactly friend date protocol. 

“Regardless, Jasper, my dad, the pretzel thief.” 

“Hey now!” Snorting at Charlie’s half-hearted protest, Bella goes about swiftly shoving her feet into her shoes as quickly as she can, so as to restrict her father’s time scale of eyeballing Jasper. Thankfully it seems the Southerner is made of stern stuff (though she supposes he has to be in order not to melt in the sun down there... dependent on where he comes from, she guesses) because her company for the dance doesn’t so much as shuffle his feet. 

Instead, he greets her father with a formal, “Sir,” and a shallow dip of his head. Almost military like. No, she doesn’t swoon (okay, well, maybe a little bit). Bella shoots to her feet, perhaps a little too fast because her ankle gives an irritatingly coltish wobble and it’s only by Jasper’s timely intervention that she doesn’t end up face first on the floor. 

“Keep an eye on her, Mr Hale. She’s practically a fawn in those things.”

“I’d have given you an advance warning, but then I might not have snagged you as arm candy for the night,” Bella admits, utterly unbothered with confessing her deception aloud. After all, who would want a potentially klutzy hazard of a partner for a school dance? Egos are fragile; delicate little glass baubles that can break and shatter under the slightest pressure. Well, most are. 

“I’ve quick reflexives.” The Southern accent leaks back through in a way that seems to indicate Jasper’d have loved to tagged another Darlin’ on the end of that, but choked the word down in the face of her father’s potential reaction. Cute. He still looks incredibly uncomfortable to be here in this setting but she’s pretty sure her dad’s just chalking that up to ‘dealing with parents of the date’ nerves. Well, if anything, it’ll be a nice ego boost for him.

“And I totally believe that. Don’t wait up, Dad, I’m off to Jess’ to spend the night gossiping after the dance. I’ll see you tomorrow.”

They’re going to the dance in the Cullen Volvo. She’d been reasonably certain it was Edward’s but now she’s not too sure. Maybe it’s a family car for the teens to use? Maybe Edward lent it out for the night? She can’t say for certain. But Bella can declare it’s the nicest damn smelling car she’s ever found herself seated in. That includes Phil’s brand new convertible that’d had the signature new car smell. Can aliens smell nice? Or is that a superhero thing? Surely it can’t be a ‘cold one’ thing. None of the Cullen clan have red eyes... pushing those thoughts to a side yet again, Bella finds herself babbling, speaking on anything and everything that captures her interest. She speaks of childhood adventures with Jake, trampling through the wilderness beneath the keen eyes of their parents, discovering bugs and all manner of creepy crawlies that her mother had squirmed over being presented with. As she talks, Jasper ever so slowly opens up too; it’s like delicately peeling an orange. She’s managed to remove the difficult outer casing and, soon enough, her date for the dance is now sharing how he and Emmett had ended up wrestling the last time they went camping. Jasper had won that match apparently, though Bella will take the potentially biased result with a grain of salt. Emmett is a big fella and while Jasper’s not exactly short (he’s over six foot but heaven help her if Bella’s ever asked the exact numbers), he’s not mountain material like the other male is. Then again, Alice’d stopped a van with her tiny hand... strength is a questionable measurement with these guys. 

“Mud wrestling is nothing. What you really need to try is a mud slide.” 

“Mud slide?” Jasper repeats, eyes still on the road but there’s a warmth of amusement to his tone. The climate control roars between each moment of speech, the hot air kissing at Bella’s face as surely as it puckers up to Jasper’s. It smells crisp, pulling in the outside air and heating it right before blasting them in the face. It’s pleasant. 

“Oh yeah. ‘Bout half a mile from my house there’s a hill in the forest that’ll have a sort of trough carved out; I’ve been going down that thing on a repurposed snow sledge every summer I’ve been here. It’s quick and I can even stay in half the time now.” Jasper laughs again, that same low sound and Bella relaxes a little more into the leather of her seat. This right here, this is nice. She glad she decided to punch above her weight because it seems to be going well enough right now. 

.

.

He’d not been wrong, it is a delight to be around Bella. But even she is struggling to compete against the curiosity cocktail that is the emotions of a hundred or so other teenagers. Jasper’s aware his face is probably pinched ever so slightly and he prays Bella thinks nothing of it. He’s also hoping she’s not noticed just how few breaths he’s taking. Maybe he has pushed himself too far too soon. But Alice had given him the go ahead, had indicated she’d not seen a major upset that’d snowball from accepting Bella’s invitation. It is only with his vampiric hearing that he catches Carlisle’s soft question, asking if he’s alright. He manages to meet the good doctor’s eyes, manages a shallow, unnoticeable to the humans, nod. 

“You know, if you didn’t want to come, you didn’t have to say yes.” Bella’s standing right next to him and she’s been a good date so far, asking him for one dance before she bustled them over to the open windows the hall boasts. Perhaps there is something to his posture that suggests crowds are not optimal for him. He straightens his spine and shoulders, meeting Bella’s wide eyes as she peers up at him, her lips pressing against one another. It’s not that he didn’t want to come to the dance, but it’s not that he did want to either. It’s more... 

“I agreed because I wanted to spend some time with you, Bella.” That’s the truth of it. Even among the rest of the Cullens, they’re not exactly a source of constant positivity. Then again, neither is Bella. While she is one of the brighter lights he’s met in his years, it doesn’t mean she’s a constant core of contentment. Right now, for example, there’s a nervous anxiety bubbling from her. What is different is that, as far as he can tell, she’s anxious over him. No, not over him, for him. Considerate. That’s the word; there’s so few humans that are ever genuinely considerate for vampires. Bella’s a bit of a novelty and he’s not the only one who has noticed that. 

“Are you claustrophobic? Or is it the crowds that’re less than ideal?” Bella’s hand is warm when she takes his own, soft and terrifyingly prey like in his palm. It’d only been two hours ago that he had snapped the neck of a mountain lion, a creature boasting as much muscle mass as Bella probably has total mass, if not more. Alice had been right, they would have to handle her delicately. He still has no idea just what it was the female vampire had seen in her vision and Edward hasn’t exactly been open to sharing it either. But the subtle little looks the two shared, as if they were in on some great big secret that revolved solely around Bella... he’s curious. 

“A little of both, Darlin’.” 

“Well, that’s easily solved.” And then she’s pulling him towards the exit. Jasper doesn’t stumble, it’s not in a vampire’s nature to do such a thing. However, there is a moment where he is rooted to the spot before he can make himself as pliable as possible to follow after the girl. The last thing he needs is Carlisle coming over because he’s accidentally enabled Bella to pull her shoulder from her socket trying to move his stubborn self. The silk-cotton hybrid material of her dress swishes between her legs, the short capped sleeves doing little to hide the small scratch that decorates the curve of her left shoulder. It’s half healed over, the lingering scent of congealed old blood (which he can deal with) mixing with the tree bark she’s not quite managed to fully wash out. 

“Bella, what are you doing?”

“Sorting the crowd issue. That, and I’ve always wanted to dance in the rain.” 

Then they’re outside, the double doors protesting as they swing on their hinges, the lead vocals over the background symphony of pattering rain. Bella’s out under the night’s sky, head tilted up with the gentle droplets sprinkling down on her skin. Almost right away whatever mascara she’s used starts to run (he can all but hear Alice mumbling in his mind about cheap products and water resistance and you get what you pay for) but her grin doesn’t slip in the slightest. But the smells are wilting, dull beneath the soft onslaught of rainwater from above. It smooths the punch of Bella’s perfume, washes away the taste of concealed blood that has been lying in wait on Jasper’s tongue. So when Bella takes his other hand, Jasper uses the hold to pull her closer, until there’s a few inches between their torso and they’re swaying back and forth. There’s a curl of hair steadily plastering to the middle of his brow and Bella’s grinning up at him with brown eyes that’re dappled with a subtle green inner ring around each pupil. 

“Is this better?” she shouts over the constant march of raindrops and the steady thrum of music that escapes the hall’s open windows. She’s bubbling again, that same sparkling optimism that could perhaps be best visualised as fresh champagne in a clear glass and Jasper is dangerously close to succumbing and getting drunk. Out here, it’s just her emotions and she’s having such a good time, enjoying herself and enjoying his company and he cannot help but to bounce off of such a sensation, to allow it to fuel him. It’s acres away from Maria’s darkness, the Newborns’ hunger and selfishness, the discontentment of wandering the continent and the tired acceptance that came with Alice finding him. It’s not the steady comfort of the Cullens, it’s not the content he’s slowly come to believe is the best he’ll ever get. It’s... it’s ridiculous, it’s stupid but it taste like hope, bubbling through him in a way that little has managed since he woke up to three females that’d been the last thing his human eyes had seen. It’s obvious now, Jasper thinks as he lifts a hand and it’s all the encouragement Bella needs to spin under it, why Edward and Alice had been such live-wires in the Volvo last week. They’d gotten that flavour of hope too. Over what, Jasper could not possibly say. But it is there, he has sampled it too. The crowd may have been uncomfortable, the way the material of his shirt and formal dress pants stick to his limbs is undesirable. He’s glad he accepted Bella’s invitation. As long as he’s careful, friendship with a human, friendship with this human, seems entirely possible. 

“I have a few ideas what you Cullens are,” Bella suddenly states, still swaying back and forth even as Jasper stalls. The small pulls upon his arms are the only movement as Bella continues to dance. “Aliens, superheroes, cold-ones, hell, you could be part-time mermaids when you get near the sea for all I know. That’d at least explain your voices. Honestly, I’m not bothered. There’s been no suspicious disappearances around Forks since you moved here, I checked my Dad’s files. I think, what I’m trying to say is that I don’t really care what you are? Because I know Alice is kind, Edward’s a little weird but he’s nice enough, I’ve not spoken much to Emmett and Rosealie but Emmett seems like he’d be a hoot to know. And you’re lovely. Like, Southern charm is cute but you’re brave and well mannered and you were even willing to deal with crowds when you don’t like them. So, you’re Jasper Hale and I’m Bella Swan who would like to be friends with the strange blond Southerner.” It’s odd, how even with his brain it doesn’t quite jump right to an answer, that it’s still spinning over how very close she got (cold ones, how does she know that specific terminology? He’s aware that Billy Black is friendly with Chief Swan, but to the point of sharing tribe tales?) before she deviated to part-time mermaid. Try as he might, keeping the small smile from his lips is impossible. Once in his life he threw caution to the wind and agreed to follow the strange little female that’d turned up in his life and demanded he follow her. Despite all his previous experience with female vampires, despite the hesitance that’d come with being in a new land and the trepidation of waiting for a war that wasn’t present to drag him into its games. He’d gone along with the seemingly crazy girl and... and life had improved. He’d climbed up from that terrible hole of despair that’s been filled with all his demons. He can take one more risk. 

“The name was once Jasper Whitlock, Ma’am, and I’m not a part-time mermaid.” Bella laughs, a delighted and absurd sound, her eyes bright and clear and altogether far more human than any other he’s looked into for years. 

“I’ll stick with Cowboy,” she muses, tapping at the tip of his nose with her pointer finger, with absolutely no idea just how dangerous his mouth is, no idea of how the last human who got so close to his face had met a very grizzly end, probably with more blood than Bella’s ever seen in her life. It’s ignorance and ignorance can get fragile little humans killed. Not that telling her would give her a better chance of escaping a vampire hiring her, not when she’s only a regular human but... but Alice said she was important. Insisted, actually. 

“Bella. If you ever see someone like us with red eyes...” Jasper trails off because what can he tell her to do? To run? She’d be run down; it’d be laughably easy for any vampire worth their salt. No, the best bet of keeping the fragile little human full of positivity safe is to protect her themselves. “Let us deal with them.” 

“Red eyes... so, cold-ones, huh?” Bella finally stops dancing, sucking her lower lip in before huffing out a breath. While her eyes are cautious, she’s not yet running for the hills. What a lacking sense of self-preservation. “Give me some time to digest that? I’ll not blab if you don’t turn me into a snack, alright?”

“We only drink from animals, Darlin’.” 

“Sounds good. I’m gonna go find Jess, I’m staying with her tonight. But, thanks. For a fun night, I can tick ‘danced in rain with a cowboy’ off of my bucket list.” She winks, claps him once on the shoulder (she has to perch right up on her tiptoes to do so and would’ve toppled right over had he not caught her elbow, but she doesn’t flinch from the support either) and then saunters back off into the building. 

Watching the wet strands of brown hair disappear around the corner, Jasper can’t help but huff a chuckle, one that could pose uncomfortable questions about his sanity. He’s never seen a movie nor read a book where being left in the rain after what could have been a romantic moment leaves a person instilled with such a sensation of hope as he feels right now. 

It’s as he’s sitting in the car, indulging in the heating as he waits for Carlisle as Esme to finish to chaperoning, that he finds more traces of Bella than her scent and the few hairs she’d shed in the passenger seat. She’s drawn a smiling sunshine into the condensation on the car window, markings that are bleeding into existence despite her missing presence. 

Hope. 

It’s a funny word, he’s not even quite sure what it is he’s hoping for. But, just like how Edward and Alice had said it previously, it feels remarkably positive. 

Chapter Text

“I still can’t believe you left early because you don’t like crowds. Why did you even come to the dance?” Edward lifts his head as the buzzing mind of Jessica Stanley waltzes into the cafeteria, Isabella Swan walking along right beside her. She’s sporting bruises, injuries gained from a fall on Jessica’s porch steps after the dance. He’s not quite sure why the other girl had felt to the need to gossip after the event and neither is Bella. Admittedly, Edward should have been able to glean some ideas given his ability to read minds. He’s still clueless.

“I have a policy of always trying something at least once before I let my opinions settle. Besides, it’s not my fault Fork’s school hall is hella small.” Once again brimming with positivity and a zest for life Edward had thought the majority of the world long past experiencing, Bella bounces up to her regular table, plonking herself down on her usual stool with a wide grin and an eagerness to devour her pasta-based lunch that Edward will never get the chance to comprehend. He can’t recall if he ever sampled the popular Italian cuisine in his human life and there’ll be no enjoyment from dining on such a thing in this life. Bella must sense his (their; all of them are shooting covert glances her way) eyes on her. She straightens, a gazelle in the wildness who has sensed the predator’s interest has fallen solely upon her shoulders. She twists, and Edward does not allow himself the opportunity to turn away from her, instead meeting her curious look with an even stare. Just to see what she would do. As usual, she bucks all expectations he has of her to duck down and ignore his weighty gaze and instead she waves at him. It’s an excessively obvious motion and he almost wants to hang his head in shame for being the recipient of it.

“That’s it,” Emmett hisses, shoving his cafeteria slop aside and rising to his feet, “I’m tired of not being involved in this.” Even Rose’s hasty, furious growl doesn’t deter the biggest vampire among them from making his way over to the very startled collection of girls. Beside him, Alice huffs out a little laugh, a light giggle that doesn’t leave the general vicinity of their table, a smile on her face as Emmett muscles his way into the seat that would have otherwise been occupied by the startled Mike Newton, who can do nothing more than stare form his place in the lunch line. He’s just another insecure teenager and Edward does feel a little sorry for him; it’s in the nature of teenagers to grasp at the shiny new oddity present in their lives. It’s why Mike believes himself to be enthralled by Bella right now.

On the table that is suddenly the centre of everybody’s attention, Bella looks delightfully surprised, eyes wide and lips parted before she recovers. She hoiks her bag up and off the stool beside her just in time for Emmett to replace it. Edward flicks a quick glance to Alice in askance but the small vampire just waves away his concerns, forcibly removing her own gaze from the scene to give an illusion of privacy. As if all the vampires in the room aren’t going to be earwigging every last line spoken on that table now.

“Hey, I’m Emmett. What’re your intentions with Jasper?” Cutting straight to the chase then. Why on earth would he expect anything less from Emmett? The younger vampire is well aware of how bulky and intimidating he can look, often using that to his advantage whenever necessary. To the humans, he’s the most physically intimidating. Because, of course, it’s Jasper that terrifies the venom out of other vampires, given the vast array of scars that span his body. Sometimes, when he’s hunting and catches sight of the other vampire from the cover of his eyes, even Edward tenses up before his brain registers, he knows who that is. There are so terribly few vampires who can survive the number of fights that Jasper has, after all. Yes, for vampires, Jasper is without doubt the most intimidating. For humans…

Bella stares at Emmett with wide brown eyes, brain skipping in an attempt to catch up with the question. When it does finally register, she laughs, bright and bold and brilliant. Planting her cheek down onto a closed fist, elbow on the table, she wiggles her eyebrows at the vampire, as if he’s not currently disturbing the fragile peace between the other occupants of the table.

“I wanna show him a good time, if you get my drift.”

Emmett laughs as Edward grimaces, looking to Alice with a pained expression. Even if he can read the joking attention from her mind, it’s still a crude comment. This is what society has degraded into, after all.

“Oh ho?”

“Yeah, making friends through good experiences; the life goal is to gather enough friends that I can use the power of friendship to kill a god.”

“I like the attitude. Lofty goal though.” Planting his own arm down on the table with a thump that’s perhaps too loud for a limb meeting table-top, Emmett considers Bella through eyes that indicate he’s freshly fed. “Now, I gotta know, is it Edward, Alice or Jasper you’ve got the hots for? ‘Cause I honestly can’t tell.”

“You mean I can’t have all three?”

At that, Edward does startle, head shooting up and spinning around to look directly at Bella. Her attention, however, is completely on Emmett and, while he cannot see through her eyes, Edward is more than capable of reading her mind right now. The sheer surprise that Emmett is currently exhibiting on his face is clear enough even the humans can read it.

“Greedy! That hilarious and I still have no fucking clue if you’re serious, Sunshine. Name’s Emmett.”

“Bella, but Sunshine is fantastic, and I’m honoured to light up your day.”

“Ha, you make me sparkle, Bella.” And he needs to stop talking, right now. Rose clearly believes the same thing for she rises from her feet, crossing the cafeteria perhaps a little too fast in order to collar her wayward husband. It appears as if Rose’s presence is the signal to kill all conversation; the boys too dazed and the girls too intimidated by her appearance. Even Bella.

“Well, see you around, Sunshine.”

The day rolls on much as an armadillo would, bouncing over all the uneven path that lays before it with all the grace of a fish on land. People are giving her side-eyes and all Bella can do in response is give them a bright grin, utterly unsure why Emmett Cullen had seen fit to interrogate her in front of Fork’s High’s gossip monger. Jess hasn’t left her alone at all, seemingly unable to believe that Bella hasn’t somehow magically orchestrated the Cullen clan’s interest. Probably with some kind of witchcraft. Hey, it’s not out of the realm of possibilities, given the whole ‘Cold-Ones’ thing Jake had so helpfully clued her in on.

Perhaps more pensive than she has any right to be, Bella makes her way over to Ol’ Red, a bounce in her step but a frown to her face. The sky is still covered by a thick blanket of clouds, tucked away ready for nightfall. It may be March, but the lingering touch of winter still persists in parts.

“Bella.”

Peeling her key free from the depths of her pocket, Bella flicks her gaze up to find Jasper Hale, in all his sweet, Southern glory, leaning against the chipping paint of her trusty truck. A worn brown jacket hugs at his broad shoulders, a butter-soft leather that stretches across the swell of his biceps in a way that Bella perhaps pays a little too much attention to. Hey, it’d a hard job for anyone to ignore the man that’s currently relaxing back against her ride like he’s on the set of a photoshoot instead of a school parking lot.

“Hello, Jasper. I hope the humans haven’t discomforted you too much today.”

At this, Jasper Hale smiles, that same high-definition thing she’d been treated to upon asking him to the dance. It’s a KO attack, floors her mind so that when he enquires if they can talk, her mushy shell of a brain can do nothing but comply before the words even register. Her non-human friend seems to register this as well, for his gives an apologetic dip of his head, all bashful long eyelashes fluttering away. As if he isn’t too tall for the looking through his eyelashes thing to work. Magically, he still manages it, despite the significant height difference between the two of them. Holy hell, she needs to get him to teach her that. That look is killer.

“Not catching a ride with the rest of the clan?”

“I was rather hoping for some privacy to talk, Darlin’.”  

“Cool, privacy is a’okay with me. Especially since your sis is sending me the ugliest look I’ve even seen. Which is odd as hell because she’s an utter bombshell. How can she even twist her features like that?”

As if capable of hearing that comment across a carpark and stretch of schoolyard, Rosalie Hale sneers. Bella offers a shallow little wave back, just enough to kind of showcase she has only a small incline of whatever Jasper wants to speak on. It’s why she jams her key into the lock of Ol’ Red, peeling the door back with only the weakest of protests from her rust-bucket.

“Wanna chat as I give you a ride home, if that’s easier for you?”

“As kind as that would be, Bella, I feel you’ll have a few questions for me.”

“Right, cool. Considerate then. Either that, or you’re gonna drop a life-changing bombshell on me and don’t trust my ability to focus on the road.” Jasper Hale only smiles at her words, giving no indication that she has guessed correctly or incorrectly. Which, yeah. This could be interesting. But she’s going to be learning something new, something about the world she is now in (or is this actually her previous world and she has access to secrets that she never did before?).

Incredibly conscious of the entire Cullen clan (minus the obvious one) watching her drive out the carpark with Jasper Hale in her passenger seat, Bella shoves Ol’ Red into his highest gear as she hits the open road, not too sure where on earth she’ll be driving to.

“Bit of a rough gear change there, Darlin’.”

“Passengers don’t get to complain, Sweetheart,” Bella snipes back before she’s truly thought about it and Jasper laughs. It’s magical, a sound she can listen to for hours on end and never tire of. For ‘Cold-Ones’, they sure sound warm enough. Flicking a quick glance at the non-human that currently shares her space, Bella has a split second to take in the vibrant honey of his eyes, the glimmer of his teeth, before she returns her attention to the road. While she’s not sure if a crash will kill Jasper, it’ll definitely do her in. She’s quite happy living her best life right now, anyway.

“I don’t need to turn you into a snack, do I?”

“I’ll have you know I’m a legit snack already, thank you.” Stopping at the traffic lights, Bella forces the shift into neutral, hefting the handbrake on before she risks another glance at Jasper Hale. He looks incredibly out of place in her rust bucket, but no more so than he did her home. Too big a presence, too… otherworldly. He doesn’t fit in anywhere, she’s found. No, that’s not quite right. He fit in perfectly before she was informed he was anything but human, before he confirmed it himself. Now, now she cannot stop seeing him as something extraordinary.

“Excuse me?”

“It means I’m attractive and confident in myself. In ten or so years, it’ll be a world-wide saying. I know it.” The lights go green and Bella pushes Ol’ Red into gear again, releasing the handbrake as she does so. Her passenger is silent, absorbing her statement, though Bella likes to imagine she can feel the amusement curling off him. “Do you mind if we swing by my house, so I can drop my bag off?”

“Go for it, Darlin’.”

The rest of the journey’s auditory experience is filled mostly by Bella’s own tales, recounting her many adventures with her mother in all sorts of extra-curricular activities. Not once does Jasper Hale tell her to be quiet, nor give any indication he’s anything other than a very attentive listener. He makes all the right noises in all the right places, asks the right questions where he should to prompt more of the story to fall from Bella’s lips.

She’s recounting the moment Renee had walked in on her attempting to paint her own bedroom walls when the pull up on her drive. The cruiser isn’t present; Dad’s still at work. By her own estimations, she’s got a half hour before she has to start getting tea ready, an hour before Dad should be walking through the front-door.

“So, is this a conversation we can have in the back-garden, or is a closed-doors, Jess would spread rumours of what we’re up to like wildfire kinda conversation?”

“The backyard will do,” Jasper confirms with a smile, running a hand through the half curls of golden blond that tops his perfect little head. Ridiculous, how can he look so good at the end of a school day? Bella’s relatively sure her own mascara (cheap brand though it may be) will have crumbled to cake the bottom of her eyes with panda like markings. Then again, she doubts Jasper wears mascara like she does. Maybe when she goes crawling home, Rosalie experiences the exact same thing. Though Bella’ relatively certain that the other girl will look far more appealing lounging in her pyjamas than Bella would. Mainly because Bella can’t do sexy if her life depending on it. Fun and flirty, yes. Seductive and sexy, no. That’s fine, seductive and sexy isn’t ever man’s cup of tea, after all. There’s gotta be some willing to get down and dirty with a fun and flirty.

Shaking her head, Bella comes back to herself as Jasper opens her door. She hadn’t even noticed him getting out the truck, nevermind rounding the vehicle to open her door like the good Southern gentleman he is. She opts to leave her bookbag in the truck, making a silent promise to return for its contents once the visitor she, in some states, might have appeared to kidnap has left.

“Are you not nervous about being on your own with me, Darlin’?”

“I don’t think I could stop you from hurting me if you wanted to, but you all come to school. If you wanted to be out and about hurting people, I don’t think you’d bother with the human façade,” Bella mumbles, gathering up the hulking mass of her hair and hoisting it up into a ponytail. A loose strand, missed by her useless fingers, brushes up against her left cheekbone and Bella determinedly ignores it. How cares about a loose lock when Jasper Hale seems as if he’s willing to offer her the secrets of the universe? Or, the secret of being a ‘Cold-One’. She’s getting vampire vibes, but given the lack of red eyes and previously mentioned diet of animal blood, she’s hesitant to make any assumptions.

“Race you to the swing!” Bella shoves Jasper in the arm but it does nothing to his stance, even as she takes off running for her intended target. Her lungs burn with the sudden challenge, booted feet eating up the distance between herself and the swing. But she blinks and misses the moment her companion moves, for one second the wooden board is void of all occupant, the next, Jasper Hale is standing on the plank as if he’s been there all along. He’d moved so quick she’d missed it. Worse, he’d done so when she was within touching distance and her crappy human reflexes won’t allow her to stop instantly. She crashes into him as literally as the word is implies, huffing out a startled breath with how the motion winds her.

“Holy hell, you’re rock solid. Rock solid and quick. Both your non-humanness?” Dropping to sit back on the grass, Bella does her best to ignore how the wet dew seeps into the tough hide of her jeans, peering up at the occupant of her homemade swing. He even makes it look good, like it’s purposefully rustic and not a ‘I threw this together in half an hour’ kind of bumpkinness.

“You can call it what it is, Bella.”

“Cold-One-ness? I’m hesitant to use any other term, because that’s the only technical term I’ve heard others use and I don’t want to mislabel. Not that anything I’ll say will change what you are, but I don’t want to offend.”

“Don’t worry too much about not offending, Darlin’. It’ll take more than a few inconsiderate words to offend me.”

“Doesn’t mean I should just blather on with whatever because you’re not human though, does it?” Grinning, Bella forces herself up to her feet, grabbing hold of the swing and planting one foot on the wooden plank. Jasper hastily removes himself from her home-made contraption before she fully clambers on, standing tall and proud with both handles clenched in each hand.

“Vampires is the term we use for ourselves, Bella. Since you know the bare bones, I might as well flesh it all out for you. Especially because my family do not know that you’re… well informed now.”

“Hey, I can keep quiet. No one needs to know you’ve told me if it’s gonna get you in trouble. I can play along like I think you’re still human.” At that, Jasper huffs a laugh, husky and low, as he leans back against the tree trunk. With his arms folded over his chest, he looks good. Too good to be just a friend; god, she hopes Dad doesn’t come home early, otherwise he’s gonna have awkward questions and she’ll have to bluster through them without blushing. Which, given the lily-white skin she’s been cursed with, will be impossible. And Jasper will probably laugh and she’ll end up even redder… which might be a problem for the vampire. Oh. She’d never considered that; would blushing make him hungry? How does that even work, is it scent or sight based? Or both?

“That’d be a good idea, if Edward couldn’t read minds.”

“He can what now?” Shit. While she can’t remember every thought she’d ever had on the Cullens, she knows there’s been more than a few daydreams. “I’d say I’m sorry for every scenario I’ve ever dreamed up, but I’m not. You’ve got amazing shoulders and Edward’s fingers are very pleasing. As is everything about Alice. Though I should probably prepare for your sister to gut me, given the handful of thoughts I’ve had on Emmett: I swear I’d never actually try it on with him, I know he’s in a relationship and I’d never disrespect a fellow human being by trying to steal their man.” Her hand has found the back of her neck and she’s rubbing sheepishly, suddenly finding the wet grass below very interesting. It’s hard to be embarrassed by the usual teenage stuff when you’ve got an adult’s brain. Being called out on all the NSFW thoughts you’ve had on the pretty people in your life is a new experience though and Bella can already feel her cheeks burning away.

“My shoulders?” Jasper mutters around soft laughter, the kind that has Bella chancing a glance up to meet his warm eyes. “Bella, unless someone’s onto our secret, Edward rarely discloses other people’s thoughts to us.”

“Oh.”

There’s a still moment of silence between them as Bella lowers herself down until she’s sitting on the swing, fingers twiddling with one another in her lap before a sharp bark of laughter escapes her throat. “Man, I’ve just really dropped myself in that one, haven’t I?”

“And what exactly have you been planning to do with my shoulders?” Jasper enquires around her own amused laughter, soft smile transforming into a dangerous smirk.

Twisting her weight about on the balls of her feet, Bella rocks back and forth on the swing, toes not quite leaving the comforts of the ground but coming close to doing so. “Well, it involves my legs going over them.” Accompanying the words with a wiggle of her brows, Bella laughs again, fully pushing off the ground this time. She keeps her legs up, lets gravity pull her back and forth, the force of movement slowly dwindling.

“That’d be dangerous for the human.” The words are spoken with a soft consideration, as if the topic’s never been touched on before. What does Bella know of vampire relationships? Nothing. Given that she’s relatively certain humans aren’t supposed to find out about their predators (until it’s too late and they’re being drained of their blood), then there’s probably never been any thought given to a human-vampire relationship. Which is a shame. Though, if all vampires look like the Cullen clan, she can see why no vampires ever go for humans. Not when they’re all pretty and smart and just all around better.

“What else would be dangerous for the human in a human-vampire friendship? Just for future reference?”

“…You still want to be friends, even knowing this?”

“Of course,” Bella murmurs, licking nervously at her lips and forcibly stilling the instinctive motion to start chewing at her lips, “just because you’re not human, doesn’t change the time we’ve spent together. Short as it is. We went to the school dance and we had fun and danced in the rain and you very kindly didn’t point out how ridiculous I looked with mascara streaking down my face. That’s a solid friendship foundation right there.” Heels digging into the earth, Bella halts all the motions of the swing, taking care to meet Jasper’s gaze. “So, tell me it all.”

“Well, to begin with, we’re fast. Fast and strong. I could untie this swing while you’re still sitting on it.”

“You could wha- HEY!”

He spends the next half an hour torn between informing Bella of all the aspects of vampirism he considers relevant to Bella and helping her create a better swing after he’d taken it apart. The look on her face as her ass had met the grass had been hilarious but Jasper had done his best not to laugh, instead grinning down at her from where he’d been lounging on the tree branch. She’d tried launching the plant of wood up at him but, with how it’d still been attached to the duo ropes, it hadn’t gotten anywhere near him. Bella had laughed after once she’d clambered off of the floor, all awkward human movements. Up in the tree, her scent hadn’t been so potent and he’d been able to draw in a longer breath, been able to watch her flustered face without the usual huger clawing at his belly.

“So, how much shit are you gonna be in with the fam once they realise you’ve told me everything?” Bella enquiry is innocent; she’s not hounding for gossip, but her eyes are filled with a mischief that’s rarely directed at him. Not unless it’s coming from Emmett. It’s no wonder the other vampire had introduced himself to her earlier today; they’re two peas in a pod. Both mischievous, both full of energy. Heaven help them, should Bella become a steadfast fixture in their lives, the two are going to spend days trying to outdo each other. He’s almost looking forwards to it, what with the emotions that’ll pour out of them both. Rose may still be unhappy with how he cast his vote (not that two votes would have won her the argument anyway), but it is so very rare a chance when he gets exposed to nothing but contentment, nothing but bubbling happiness.

“A lot. Wanna be there when it happens?”

Bella laughs, the noise deep and clear. She’s used to laughing, used to seeing the brighter side of life. It takes her a moment to realise he’s serious.

“By god, you’re serious. I mean, sure, why not? You’re clearly cool with keeping the helpless human alive, Alice saved me from becoming a truck sandwich and Hot Doc-” hot what? “-will have taken the oath to do no harm. That’ll be three who don’t want to kill me and I like those odds. Is this your first time bringing a girl home, Jasper Hale?”

“Whitlock,” he corrects absentmindedly, realising that she is indeed right. Alice had been the one to present him to the Cullens, not the other way around and they’d been the last additions to the coven. Bella will be the first new face in half a decade. Not to say that he is taking her there with the intention of having her turned but… he does want the rest of the family aware. To know they do not need to hide from one other person in Forks. He wants this friendship, Jasper realises. He wants to keep this easy-going interaction, to know a human but not have to hide himself. Even if it is all interactions, he is hyperaware of, it is nice to speak with someone new.

He’d never have thought to build an old-fashioned swing, but he’d enjoyed doing it.

“I could take you to the house tomorrow after school, if you want to meet Esme then?”

“Vampire mum? If she’s half as nice as Hot Doc and half as pretty as you, I’m sure we’ll get on fine.”

“Try not to have any day-dreams about Carlisle’s wife.”

Bella chokes, near falling off the tree-branch she’s spent the past five minutes straddling. He reaches out and gently corrects her posture, so there’s no chance of her tumbling out of the tree. The last thing he needs is her cracking her head open. Edward would kill him and Carlisle would be very disappointed.

“I’ll do my best. No promises though,” Bella ruffles the one lock of hair she’d not managed to tie up, shifting along the tree branch until she’s managed to get to the trunk. Jasper watches her work her way down, each careful movement calculated to ensure she won’t fall. The second her feet touch the ground, he jumps down, landing with a muffled thump before the human at the tree’s roots can even look back up to find him. Bella turns to the noise and scoffs, folding her arms and grinning all the while.

“We can build a swing in your garden too.”

They don’t need a swing in the backyard. It’ll ruin Esme’s aesthetic with the house.

The thought of that doesn’t dissuade Jasper from thinking such a thing would be a good idea.

Chapter Text

"Oh boy."

Flicking her gaze up, Alice Cullen meets the eyes of one Isabella Swan from across the carpark, her bones already crackling with energy. Just like Emmett, she's finally done with waiting around for her turn. It's why she's currently standing by the door to Bella's truck, Jasper leaning against the bonnet to her left, waiting for the human right across from them.

Bella's low mutter has travelled right across the carpark to her, echoing around in her ears, just as Jasper's low huff of amusement does. They're both well fed, Jasper more so than her, simply for the fact that they don't want to risk anything. It's good that Jasper's taken to Bella, things'd have been difficult if the family had tried to keep their distance. She's eager, more than she probably should be. Undoubtedly Jasper can feel that but Alice doesn't bother trying to hide it. The advances that'll come about because Bella knows about them, the ways she'll improve their lives; she can't wait. She honestly can't.

"Bella!" Waving one arm above her head in an overly exaggerated motion, Alice grins. The heels on her feet creek as she pushes that little bit further up onto her tiptoes and she doesn't force them to bend any further. They're one of a kind.

The human centre of her focus recovers quickly and begins jogging over, one arm above her head as she mirrors Alice's over-rambunctious wave. "Aaallliiccceeee!"

Beside her, Jasper turns away, unable to hide his amusement behind the clenched fist he tries to bury his laughter into. People are turning to stare now, even two of the passing teachers, not that Alice can blame them. High school usually means insecure teenagers trying desperately to fit in. They've probably never experienced someone like Bella bouncing into their lives, so clearly unbothered by anything and everything other than what makes her happy.

"Bella!" Alice calls a second time when the girl herself is half a foot away. The human oddity crashes into her, arms wrapping around her shoulders and it doesn't matter that Bella's near half a foot taller than flat-foot Alice, Alice remains rooted to the spot as Bella wraps her limbs all around her. At this point, Alice meets Jasper's eyes over the human's shoulder and makes sure to wiggle her eyebrows. The scowl he sends back to her is perfect.

"I didn't realise Jasper had called in reinforcements. Figured he'd be capable of kidnapping me singlehandedly." Peeling herself free, Bella Swan runs one hand through her hair before flushing. "Were you okay with that? Didn't push too far-"

"Hugs are fine with me, Bella. I can call you Bella, right? We're gonna be such good friends, I can tell." Bella grins, the corner of her eyes crinkling under the pressure before she turns to Jasper.

"Am I okay to hug you? Or is that pushing it too much?"

"I can manage a hug, Bella." Throwing her arms around Jasper's neck (and having to leap up onto the very tips of her toes in order to do so), Bella laughs into his chest as her human legs tremble with the effort of remaining in place. More people are staring now but Alice is relatively certain she's the only one that notices just how gently Jasper handles the human between them, his hands carefully placed around her back and almost hovering there. That way, he's ready when Bella steps back to look up at him.

"So, visiting the vampire coven today? Am I appropriately dressed? Should I have invested in a turtleneck or something?" She pulls at the collar of her shirt, exposing one sharp collarbone and Alice laughs, snatching Bella's hand away so she can wrap her fingers around it.

"A turtleneck will make no difference for us, Bella. Honestly, just be yourself. You'll win everyone over, no problem." Perhaps the sincerity Alice injects into her voice is enough, perhaps Bella's just that resilient in bouncing back but, either way, the human offers a big, bold smile before swinging their joined hands back and forth.

"Okay. Skip the turtlenecks, got it. That's good, they're itchy anyway."

The Cullens live well and truly off the beaten path. Maybe it's because of Hot Doc's oh so thankful patients; no doubt some pushy few have tried to find his household to offer up their most sincere thanks. Hell, if Bella had been half a decade older and unbothered by his wedding ring, maybe she'd have been among them. She's kinda excited to meet Mrs Cullen; surely, she'll be as much of a bombshell as everyone else in the family. Bella would be a bit nervous on the aesthetic front, had she not already accepted the fact she's playing ball in the wrong league. They're all vampires, cold-ones, whatever they want to call themselves. It's like trying to hold a horse and a lion to the same standard. They're just too different to even begin to compare them with a level head.

Eyeing Jasper from the edge of her vision, Bella considers the senior of questionable age beside her, all the while running her thumb over the back of Alice's hand in fascination. She's got the smoothest skin Bella's ever had the pleasure of touching,; her fingers are all dainty and almost fairy-like. It's hard to believe she's a vampire. Accepting the fact, she's something otherworldly comes easy.

"So, any no go topics? Should I not mention blood? Would that trigger anything? Wait, how does Hot Doc do his work if someone's haemorrhaging?"

"Please do call Carlisle 'Hot Doc' to his face," Jasper huffs, eyes never leaving the road but his lips twisting up at the corners. "And it's not a problem to mention it. Just try not to slice your finger open, Darlin', and we'll be just fine."

"So, is it the smell or the sight of blood that tempts you? Can you not watch horror films because it gives you hunger pangs?" Twisting to look for an answer from Alice, Bella cocks her head to a side and scratches lightly at her face. Beyond Alice, outside the window, the world whizzes by, a blur of green and browns as they venture further away from town. Wow, if Alice and Jasper were dragging her out here to commit the perfect murder, then they'd sure have the best chances at it.

"It's the smell, Bella. Vampires have exceedingly strong senses, so our eyes can detect the difference between the image of blood and the real thing. But it's mainly the smell."

"Ever tried essential oils dabbed beneath your nostrils?"

Both vampires pause, turning to look at her and Bella cringes.

"Eyes on the road, Cowboy, eyes on the road! Unlike some, I'm squishy and susceptible to death at high impact."

"Fifteen miles per hour would hardly classify as 'high impact'," Jasper mutters, taking a corner just that little faster and Bella scowls, clenching her fingers around Alice's but she might as well be seeking comfort from a rock, for all the give her hand has.

"Hey, are you as rock solid to each other, or does vampire skin have more give if it's a vampire doing the squeezing?"

"The second one. Excuse me; just gotta go intercept Rose." Alice is out the car before they've stopped, before Bella can even register that her little pixie hand has slipped free of her grasp.

Wiggling her lonely fingers, Bella turns back to Jasper as he forces Ol' Red into park, the internal mechanics screeching in protest. He looks as inhuman as ever, eyes a vibrant gold that glimmer even in cloud-blocked light. All golden half-curls, heavy brows and cupid's bow lips… Maybe Apollo would have been a better name?

"Hey, can you shoot an arrow?" The god of the sun who doesn't ever go out beneath his domain…

"Can't say I've ever tried my hand at archery, Darlin'." Yeah, it wouldn't work anyway.

"Well, there's one thing I can do better than you already," Bella concludes, unbuckling herself and shuffling along for the door. It whines the entire time she opens it and she pats at the side, offering a quiet promise to rub the old boy down in oil at some undetermined point in the future. The scent of nature hits her right away, wrapping around her as surely as a hole-ridden blanket; she wonders what it smells like to Jasper, what it smells like to the other vampires she's ended up in the acquittance of. It's utterly wild, to think that she, a regular human, has been pulled into a world of fantasy monsters who are far more attractive than any book before has ever led her to believe.

"So, I'm totally betting I'll zone out for, like, ten seconds before I get over how pretty your mum is. Thoughts?" Jamming one hand into the pocket of her pants, Bella meets Jasper's eyes with a grin. Above them, there's a gentle cloudburst, a fine mist of rain sprinkling down from the heavens. Bella tilts her head up, drinking in the sensation of cool water on her face before she turns her attention back to the task at hand.

"Fifty seconds."

"Fifty- Hey! I'm not such an utter incompetent that I'll end up staring at your mum for nearly a minute," Bella scoffs, jabbing Jasper in the side with her elbow. It's like hitting a wall; no, like hitting a rock. A wall, would offer a little give at the very least, there's none of that from Jasper. From his smug little smirk, he knows it too.

"Who else is in then?"

"Just Carlisle, if Alice has managed to entice Rose away." Right, so if both vampire parents appear at the same time, chances are good it's gonna be a full Bella knockout. Hey, she's honest enough with herself to acknowledge that. Ruffling a hand through her bangs, Bella squares her shoulders and then starts for the door, ignoring Jasper's husky little laugh beside her; stupid sun god. He probably looks even better in the sunlight… or, he might have done had he not been a vampire. Hell, she'd be skipping school if the great ball of fire that is the sun would vaporise her the second, she stepped beneath it's merciless gaze. Although, if that was the case, Bella probably wouldn't chance going out in the daytime at all. Maybe the sun isn't that bad of an issue after all, maybe it just, stings a little. Like summer sunburn, only worse.

Bella’s gonna ask. Or, well, she was. Because that’s when Esme Cullen appears at the door and Bella exe. cannot compute.

When she comes back to herself, Bella’s sitting in the fanciest kitchen she’s ever seen, a bowl of cold pasta in front of her and fork in hand, with yummy vampire mummy staring pleadingly at her.

“S’good?” she offers, still a little dazed.

Where he’s leaning against the kitchen counter, Jasper grins, coughing and turning away to hid it her Esme Cullen turns to look at him. His muffled murmur of ‘one-hundred and sixty-three’ would be irritating, but… Bella doesn’t care. This pasta is divine and she needs to recipe. Its tomato based, with some meat that could be either beef or pork. It’s excellent, either way. Esme Cullen is still watching her, all warm golden eyes and soft smiles. Bella squirms in her seat. Don’t get any ideas about Mrs Cullen. Don’t do it. Edward can read her mind and it would be very, very bad if he saw exactly what she’s picturing. No, Jasper’s safer territory there; probably still not a good idea but he’s not married… is he?

“Hey, Cowboy, you ever been married?”

“Married, Darlin’?”

“Well, yeah. You’ve lived a long time, right? Ever gotten hitched?”

“Lived a long time?” Esme’s soft questioning comes before Jasper’s answer and Bella lets out a nervous little laugh. Oops. That’s right, Jasper’s not told anyone that she’s in the know, other than Alice it would seem. Though Alice seems like one of those little clairvoyants who just knows everything and anything. Esme gives off no such vibe. Other than righteous mother who’s been left uninformed of important developments. With the way she slowly turns to look at Jasper, it’s clear Bella’s dropped him in it. 

Well, drat. Hopefully this won’t prevent her from getting invited back. Or her blood sucked out her body. Nah, she trusts Jasper to look after her, Alice too. Maybe Hot Doc can patch her up once the fight for the delicious red she brews is over? Always a silver lining an’ all. 

Bella has the most appealing blush covering her cheeks. It’s almost enough to distract him from Esme’s stern, searching gaze. Almost. 

He had rather been hoping Alice would be here to soften the blow in that special way of hers, to reassure everyone that it’d all be okay, that she’d seen the outcome and everything was going to be just fine. However, she’s still off making sure Rose doesn’t come home to find the human invader, which leaves him dealing with the fallout of his own decisions.

He doesn’t regret telling Bella, not in the slightest. Because there’s been no change. Sure, she needed a bit of time to come to terms with it, but they’re back to that easy going, casual friendship. Cowboy and Darlin’, empathic vampire and human positivity. Jasper and Bella. The others may be upset, Esme may be concerned, but Jasper doesn’t regret allowing Bella to uncover the full extent of what they are. Acceptance is so hard to come by; even among the other Cullens, there are times when they forgot themselves, when they catch a glimpse of him and his lacework of scars and they react. It’s nothing personal, it’s instinct. The sheer number of scars he boasts makes him dangerous, the largest threat among them. He can recall that one meeting with one of the Volturi guard, how they had watched him, cautiously. Curiously. 

“Jasper.”

“I told Bella about us,” he admits, freely and with little hesitation. “She already knew we weren’t human.” 

“I promise I’ll do my very best to not bleed all over your house,” Bella says solemnly, the serious intent of her words ruined by the pasta sauce goatee she sports. Jasper’s lips curve up into a smile despite himself. He knows what Esme would like to say, he may not be Edward, but a person’s emotions give them away often enough. This particular mix of surprise, worry and warmth make it clear enough. ‘You should have consulted the family first, this is a very big issue, but I’m glad you’ve found a friend.’ She cares too much, this younger vampire who poses as his mother. Physically, she is his elder, but Jasper has more than half a century on her. It is only Carlisle that dwarfs his own lifespan among this coven.

“I’m gonna build a swing in your back garden. Jasper said it was okay, so that’s our plans today. It’s great fun, would you like to join us?” Bella grins, head tilting to a side as she peels her hair back against her skull binding the dark strands in a loose ponytail. She’s still a bit dazed, it’s the only reason Jasper can think of as to why she’s not quite bounced back to herself. She is recovering though; he can feel the emotions bubbling about beneath her skin, rolling atop one another.

“A swing?” Esme repeats, bemused. “I couldn’t possibly intrude on an activity that you and Jasper have done before. While you’re up to that, I’ll find Carlisle.” And update him to the current state of things. It passes between them silently and Jasper dips his head in acknowledgement, watching Bella inhale the last of her pasta.

“Alrighty then. We’ll be out back if you need us, I guess.”

Their house is surrounded by trees; it’d been one of Esme’s requests when they moved. However, not just any old tree will do for Bella, it would seem. The girl begins by walking along the clearing, the bounce in her step increasing with every one she took. She pauses every so often, staring up at a tree with a dramatic squint to her features, as if weighing up it’s worth before deeming it undeserving. Jasper watches her curiously, wondering just what is whizzing through her mind, all the while half his thoughts go to the outpour of emotions he can sense from the house. Carlisle’s caution, his hesitance, Esme’s swirling reassurance as Carlisle no doubt reassures her. Neither will want to worry Bella, to upset her in any way. No, the quiet interrogation of why he has chosen to disclose their secrets to her will come after Bella has left.

The soft thump of boot meeting trunk has Jasper looking to Bella, just in time to see her kick up the tree in order to scramble for the lowest hanging branch. She misses, and he’s across the clearing just in time to catch her before she hits the ground. The meeting of his shoulder and her stomach still winds her.

“Ow. Ease on the goods, Cowboy,” she breathes, laughter breathy as one hand pats at the top of his head. The steady thumping of her heart is dangerously close to his ears, the warms of her thighs pressing up against his chest. He’s well fed, had ensured he was well-fed specifically because he knew Alice was going to ensure he followed through with his words and allowed Bella to come over. This bubbly little human who has inspired hope in their physic and their mind-reader. Holding his breath, Jasper manoeuvres Bella until she’s sitting upon his shoulders and more than capable of reaching the branch she’d made a leap for earlier. He has both hands curled around her ankles when the throbbing of her blood registers, thighs bracketing his ears and the temptation is so dangerously close. He can see Carlisle at the window, looking down with some alarm. The elder vampire makes no move to come down, however. He’s trusting him, Jasper realises. Trusting him to resist temptation, even though he’d been on this diet the shortest amount out of all of them, even though he’d been the one to fall off the bandwagon most often. It is for that fact alone that Jasper pushes down the urge to nuzzle against Bella’s thigh, against her femoral artery. She’d probably take it the wrong way; he realises and laughs at the thought.

As if reading his mind, Bella tugs at a handful of his hair so he’s tilting his head back to look at her as she says, “you know, this wasn’t how I was expecting to get my legs over your shoulders.” Determined to make her point that little bit clearer, she presses her heels back into his chest. Jasper pulls her ankles forwards, nearly throwing her right off him and Bella shrieks with laughter, grip on his curls tightening.

“Don’t you dare! I’m a squishy innocent who only wants to make a swing with her weird new friend! No need to throw me off the six-foot marble mountain!”

“Innocent is hardly the word I’d use to describe you after yesterday’s conversation, Darlin’,” Jasper huffs out, spinning around once on his feet, fast for a human but with nowhere near enough speed that his human passenger will get thrown violently from his shoulders. Bella laughs again, louder and higher, hands still clinging desperately to his hair. While part of him hopes that Alice returns soon, that she can smooth things over with Carlisle and Esme… the other half of him is content to wait. They have a swing to make, after all.

Having ensured all the suppliers were present before heading off to school for the day, they get started right away. Bella remains on his shoulders the entire time; Jasper had only made one attempt to remove her, but she’d wrapped her arms around his head and whined that she wished to remain tall for the experience. Putting together the swing with her balanced on him hadn’t been much of a challenge, but Bella had certainly giggled every time she’d dropped something. By the sixth time, Jasper had cottoned onto the fact she was doing it on purpose, which had only prompted the girl to giggle that little bit harder. But, finally, it was done.

Stepping back and away, Jasper considers the swing as Bella hums, fingers still in his hair. It’s far more intricate than the one that resides at the Sawn residence, with curved metal handles attached carefully to the varnished planks of wood, though Jasper had been forced to curve the metal by hand so the swing sat right. That Bella had fanned herself as she mockingly swoon while he did so was neither here nor there.  

“We’ve done good,” Bella muses, planting both her hands on her hips; she’s probably grinning. That sounds like the kind of sentence she’d say with a grin. Her emotions are certainly reflecting that.

“We? Pretty sure I’ve done most of the work, Darlin’.” All Bella had really had to do with it was throwing the rope over the tree trunk and then making sure it was tied tight.

“Puh-lease, it was my wonderful idea.” With that, Bella begins wiggling about, trying to clamber off his shoulders, no doubt in order to get on the newly finished swing. Jasper tightens his hold on her ankle, not enough to hurt, but firm enough that she can’t slide free.

“What do you think you’re doing, Miss Sawn?”

“I’m gonna Christen this swing with a good ol’ leap and launch,” she mutters, tone resolute, shaking her leg rather fiercely for a human. As if that has any hope of loosening his hold.

“I don’t think so, Darlin’. Those who try for a free ride go second.” He steps towards the swing, fully intent on sitting himself down, passenger on his shoulders or not. Bella squawks in animated fury, pulling at his hair but she’s laughing again, breathless and her stomach flutters against the back of his head with each gasping breath.

“I had no idea you wanted my legs around your head so bad,” she needles, tensing the muscles of her thighs as if to exaggerate her point. To which Jasper can only scoff.

“You know Carlisle and Esme are watching us from the window. They can probably hear everything you’re saying.”

“Well shit.” And Bella waves jovially up at the house, as if she doesn’t have a care in the world. This time, Jasper does turn his face into her thigh, but only so he can hide the laughter that threatens to bubble up out of his throat. She smells pleasant enough. He cannot imagine what it is like for Edward, who her blood signs so clearly too. It’s why the younger vampire is off hunting; there’s every chance his own bloodlust would ramp Jasper’s up right alongside it, given his abilities. And, as it’d been Bella who approached him first, Alice had insisted it was only far he got to spend the majority of the day with her. Which, come to think of it, is probably the reason the little pixie of a vampire isn’t around right now. It’s almost shameful that it’s taken him this long to click onto the fact.

“I was joking; Carlisle and Esme left the house ten minutes ago.” Off to go and play the human charade, shopping for food they’re never going to use. Not unless Bella comes around again. “The only killer vampire around right now is me.”

“You little shit.”

This time, when Bella gives a kick of her feet, Jasper releases his hold on her ankles. She shimmies down from his shoulders carefully, spinning so her legs are half wrapped around his torso before she managed to get her feet back on the floor. She brushes her jacket down, green moss displaced from the tree as they’d put up the rope sticking persistently to the cotton. There’s no smile on her face, but Jasper can sense the contentment, the good-humour and soft appreciation for what they’ve managed to get done. For how they’ve spent the afternoon.

“You say you’re killers, but don’t humans kill cattle to feed themselves? It’s just the natural way of the world. You can be likened to vegetarians; you’re going for a food source that isn’t your primary, simply because you don’t agree with the standards the rest of your society hold other living beings to. As one of the aforementioned cattle, I think that’s pretty neat.” Bella grins, head cocked back and closed eyes curving up. Jasper flashes around her to the swing, taking a seat just to be contrary.

When his human companion opens her eyes, she stares at the space he had occupied before swinging around to face him, scowling good naturedly. She goes to kick him in the shin and Jasper takes care to trap her foot between his calves instead. A kick with that kind of force won’t break her toes, but it’d certainly hurt for a few hours. If his capture of her foot prompted a loss of balance that sees her rump hitting the floor, well, that just makes it that little bit funnier.

“Hey, Cowboy. We’re already friends, and you’ve told me your big secret-” Bella gestures to the expanse of space around them, fingers that’re littered with long-healed papercuts spread wide. “-so, in order to become the best of friends, I’m gonna be just as honest as you were.” Here, she rolls her bottom lip back into her mouth, teeth dragging across the surface as her eyes filter away. Nervous, thoughtful. But there’s a slow coil of trust within her, trust for him. Trust he’s never been given by anyone outside of the Cullen clan, outside of Peter and Charlotte.

Then, Bella’s grinning again, pulling her hair free of the ponytail she’d had it in so she can fiddle with the bobble.

“I can remember the life I had before this one.”

Chapter Text

Bella had not started her day with the intention of spilling her biggest secret to Jasper Whitlock. She hadn’t thought to ever tell anyone about it in truth, had never considered anyone would believe her. But then she’d found out the hot-stuff she’d asked to the school dance was a vampire, as was the rest of his family (family, friends, coven, colony?) and keeping her own secret to herself hadn’t seemed… Right? Fair? Sensible? Who knows, she certainly doesn’t. What she does know is that Jasper listens to her patiently, his face giving nothing away to the point Bella offers up old family videos to prove she did indeed once have an English accent.

It’s only as they’re sitting in her living room, throw blanket draped over her legs and Jasper sitting on the rug, that Bella realises they’ve totally ditched Alice. Which, damn, she’s wretched and will totally have to make it up to the cutest vampire she knows.

Hitting pause, Bella stares at the little girl on the screen with her too chubby limbs and rosy red cheeks before she turns her gaze to Jasper. He’s full out grinning at her.

“I believed you from the start, Darlin’. I can sense emotions; I knew you weren’t lying.”

Spluttering, Bella throws the remote at her current company, scowling when it bounces off him with a crack, not unlike what would have happened if she’d thrown it at a wall.

“Then why did I just dig out the home-videos?!”

“Because I wanted to see if you were as clumsy a kid as you are now.” Bella huffs, throwing the afghan at him this time because at least that won’t break on contact.

What Jasper doesn’t mention is the distinct air of depression that had surrounded her often as a young child, all drawn up from too deep thoughts as she’d drowned in her situation. What was the point in trying in life if it was all just going to reset? What was the point in getting attached to people if she’d just be ripped away from them and stuffed into a new body? What was the general point in life if it was one endless cycle of rebirths? She’s in a better place now, Bella can admit. She’s shed her English accent, managed to get a buzzing personality and even worked at getting a banging body. She’s sassy, confident and proud. Not bad for a brat who’d suffered an existential crisis before she’d hit five years old.

“Well, you got your evidence. There’s stew all down little-me’s shirt and I’m relatively certain there’s mash potato in her hair too,” Bella mutters with a groan, rolling her eyes before flipping over onto the belly, pressing one cheek down into the sofa’s worn cushion. She should probably bug Dad into getting a new one. Well, new to them, maybe technically second-hand.

“So, you still eat like a child then.”

“Oh yeah, laugh it up,” Bella huffs, cheeks puffing out as Jasper laughs, fighting down a smile of her own. “Like you can possibly claim to be a tidier eater than I am. I doubt you’re getting your blood from a butcher’s and drinking it down in a tea-cup. Though I would totally be down for a princess tea-party if that’s the case. I’d look good in a crown.” Eyebrows wiggling, Bella laughs again, even as her brain circulates to that little titbit Jasper had dropped a moment before. He can sense emotions, has probably felt her full range throughout the time they’ve known each other so far. God, she hopes those horny thoughts haven’t translated to feelings. Then again, he’d said all vamps have enhanced senses. They’ve probably been able to smell it. Well, Bella can take comfort in the fact she’s probably not been the only horny teenager that’ll have put them off their lunch (prey?) with their scrambled emotions.

“I’m feeling pretty bad now. We totally ditched Alice.”

“Alice’ll have seen it coming, to an extent,” Jasper murmurs, curling the afghan around his shoulders. He looked ridiculously out of place wrapped up within it. All beautiful, golden angel curls, slight dimples to his marble-sculpted cheeks, warm honey eyes. Wrapped up in her warn throw blanket of questionable colours. The sun god is huddled under her seven-year-old blanket and Bella has never wanted to take a picture of something as badly as she does now.

“So, is this it then? We know each other’s darkest secrets; best friends or bust? I think I’ve got a pair of old friendship bracelets upstairs if you want a physical reminder.” At that, Jasper does laugh, attempting to muffle the sound into the afghan with minimal success. With the frozen image of her childhood still on the screen, Bella finds herself with a desperate desire for some hot chocolate, the kind Dad had always made her whenever she visited at Christmas. She knows the recipe off by heart, but it’s a shame she can’t share the delicious cocoa drink with her vampire friend. Speaking of which-

“Hey, since we’re best friends now, should I actually get some pig’s blood from the butcher’s so you’ve got something to drink when you’re ‘round here?”

Straightening, Jasper leans back against Dad’s usual chair, the blanket slipping down one shoulder to expose the dark tee-shirt beneath.

“As thoughtful and kind as that is, Darlin’, please don’t. When we feed, instincts tend to take over. Out of all the Cullen’s, I was the last to join this diet and my control isn’t something I’d care to test. Not around you.”

“Cool. Maybe after today I’ll drill you for all the need to know stuff about vampires. Right now though, I’m gonna go grab a drink. Because, unlike your supernatural self, I can keep my head while indulging.” Winking, Bella scrambles off the sofa, swearing when she stumbles over one of the cushions she’d deposited on the floor. She recovers, but only just, making for the door again. That’s when something hooks around her foot and she trips, falling forwards with a shriek.

Jasper catches her just before she hits the floor face-first. He’s not laughing, but the smirk on his face is undeniable.

“Thought you’d recover from that one.”

“Just you wait. One day, I’ll figure out a way to trip you up. See how you like it.”

When Jasper leaves, she’d drunk two cups of cocoa, eaten three cookies and snapped twenty or so photos of the two of them. She’d tried claiming they were for a photo-album of her time here, but Jasper’d seen through her excuse pretty swiftly. So, with absolutely no remorse, Bella had admitted they were for her mum. Because the woman’d go mental knowing that she’s got a ‘Greek God of a best friend’ and it’d drive her crazy over ‘how good a couple they’d make’. It’s those words exactly she offers to Jasper, whose blank-faced confusion makes the hassle of pictures worth it before she even sends them off via email.

That she has one of them (where she’s got ridiculously round cheeks and cross-eyes next to the humorously stone-faced Jasper) as her phone background is neither here nor there. That she acquired Jasper’s number (and by extension, Edward, Alice, Emmett and even Rosalie’s) is another added bonus.

Staying up until Dad returns is no hardship; in fact, she welcomes him in with a soothing cup of camomile tea and a wide grin. Naturally, he’s instantly suspicious.

“Bells. How has your day been?”

“Great. Went to the Cullen house, it’s amazing by the way. Then Jasper came back here with me and we watched some of the old home videos before he left.”

Charlie Sawn makes a considering noise, sipping loudly on the hot drink she has so lovingly provided him, moustache twitching.

“You got that one with the fairy-princess party to hand?”

“The one where I got Jake to dress up in full forest fairy regalia? It’s labelled in neon, of course I have.”

The next morning dawns low and slow, the sun rising. Or, Bella assumes it is, given a thick blanket of clouds once again engulfs the sky, leaving no blue untouched by grey. She’s caught a ride with Jessica today, leaving the truck to the wayside and no, it’s not because she’s short on cash for gas. Okay, it’s totally because she’s short on that dollah-dollah. She needs a job and quick.

“So, what did you get up to yesterday, Bella? And don’t dare deny you didn’t do anything; I totally saw Jasper Hale getting picked up by Alice on your street.”

“Wouldn’t you like to know?” Bella retorts, wiggling her eyebrows something dramatic to see the other girl’s mouth drop open. Her face is a picture and Bella laughs, hoisting her bag further up her shoulders as they make for biology. The other brunette huffs, jabbing one finger in her direction with a firm scowl on her face. The stern look is ruined utterly by the bright, playful shine to her blue eyes.

“You listen to me, Miss Sawn. If you’ve managed to get Jasper Hale between your legs, then I want to know everything about it. You can put in a good word for me to Edward.”

“Bella’s thighs were warm around my ears.”

Both of them shriek in surprise, Bella instinctively reaching out to smack Jasper’s upper arm. Her hand smarts with the action, palm throbbing in pain but she doesn’t let it show, doesn’t act like she’s just hit a concrete wall instead of a former human’s arm.

Her new best friend smirks, the burnt yellow of his hoodie stretching taunt across his shoulders in a tantalising distraction. Bella follows the motion of the fabric for a moment before she turns her gaze up to eye the amused vamp. His eyes are a violently bright gold and she’s rather certain the ever-changing eye colour has something to do with his diet. Well, hopefully bright means alright. Turning to the goldfish that is currently impersonating her closest human friend, Bella smiles, bright as the sun.

“Jasper’s tongue could drain the life right out me.”

Somewhere down the corridor, she can hear who she can only presume to be Emmett dissolving into helpless laughter. The only reason she can possibly have kept a straight face for those ten seconds that Jessica just stares at her in wide eyed amusement is only through the power of the gods themselves. Sadly, it’s too good a joke to last and Bella cracks like a cheap chocolate egg. Her shoulders shake with the power of her laughter and she has to cling to Jasper for support, least she crumble in on herself like the aforementioned Easter treat.

“Oh my god, Jess, you’re face! Man, that was priceless!”

The soft, slow motions of Jasper’s ribcage is the only indication he’s chuckling at this whole spectacle, his head tilting to a side as he considers her. There’s nearly a foot between the two of them, so Bella squares her shoulders and mirrors the ridiculously attractive half of their friendship with a firm pout. “Seriously, what’re you here for?”

“Just to let you know Edward hasn’t clicked onto the content of our best friend indoctrination, but it’s up to you to keep it that way if you want.” This isn’t shared aloud, for Jessica and the other ten or so eavesdroppers to hear. Oh no; Jasper leans down so his lips are close to her ear, one hand carefully holding back the thick mass of her hair so his words aren’t muffled. He knows exactly what it looks like. He also probably realises she has no shame whatsoever for, when he pulls back, Bella flashes him a wide smile, fanning theatrically at her face.

“Save your sweet nothing until later, Cowboy, I’m free tonight.” Her wink is over exaggerated and mocking. Jasper’s smile doesn’t fade in the slightest.

He spins on heel, walking over to where Rosalie and Emmett are waiting, chancing a single glance over his shoulder.

“Lookin’ forward to it, Darlin’.”

When her gaze returns to Jessica, her fellow human is goggling. Wide eyed, open mouthed, slack shoulders, it’s the full monty of gawking.

“What?”

“You have, like, actual nicknames for each other! That is cute as fuck; how on earth have you managed it?!”

As they make their way to first period, Bella makes it as clear as she possibly can that she and Jasper are, in fact, just friends who know each other’s darkest secret and spend their time building swings in each other backyard. Even if, now that they’ve both got one of each, they’re gonna have to come up with some new bonding activity. And it’s certainly not going to be fixing up her truck; that’s here and Jacob’s thing, after all.

Regardless of future plans, the look on Jessica’s face makes it clear she doesn’t believe a lick of what Bella’s informing her, even if it is nothing but the truth. It’s actually kinda funny and she wonders how long it’ll take until the school rumour mill is proclaiming she’s banging the semi-traumatised blond of the Cullen Clan. Bella’s never been the centre of a scandalising rumour. New experience, here she comes. She’ll make sure to get a kick out of it at the very least.

Isabella ‘Bella’ Swan comes bouncing into biology with a wide grin on her face and that incredibly potent blood pounding through her veins. It takes everything he has to not throw himself out of the chair at her. Sitting on their new swing, scenting the last lingering traces of her presence has helped. The jacket she’d forgotten to take back to her house had also helped. It is slow going, has been for the seemingly eternity since they met. He doesn’t think his control will ever be good enough. But right now, he can manage to hold a conversation with the girl. As long as she doesn’t bleed everywhere.

It doesn’t mean he’s still not struggling to wrap his head around why Jasper told her exactly what they are.

Doesn’t mean he isn’t amazed that Rose hasn’t yet severed Jasper’s head from his shoulders for so clearly outlining what they are to a human girl.

“Morning, Edward. I’d ask how the scar is, but I rather get the feeling it’s as non-existent as your appetite.” It’s all said with a teasing lilt, a curious little smile to lips that are just a little too full for the face they sit in. Bella laughs to herself, dropping her bookbag to the floor with a thunk. She’s quick to whip her hair up into a ponytail for which he’s pretty thankful; less hair to get caught in the AC’s grasp means there’s less chance of Bella’s scent sucker punching him in the face.

“Carlisle did give me a scar when he saved my life,” Edward murmurs in a low tone, pulling out a notebook of his own and flipping to the first clean page. He titles it, dates it, then scowls good-naturedly as Bella scribbles a smiley face into the top corner.

“Smile, Grumpy Gus. Just for the record, I am fully expecting flowers and a card when I pull my first sicky. Though if you want to contribute to gas instead, I won’t protest.” She’s dead serious. There’s a flash in her mind of an empty petrol gauge, her death-trap of a truck sitting forlorn on the drive of her home, of riding to school with Jessica Stanley, of all people. Bella Swan is very different to what people expect her to be; a self-conscious teenager from a big city, suddenly introduced to a small town. Then thrown in with a vegetarian vampire coven. He’s not sure what she told Jasper; the other vampire had made sure to blanket his thoughts with Queen songs whenever Edward was nearby since he returned from the Swan residence yesterday. But it had to have been something important for him to react that way, to wish to protect her secrets so determinedly.

‘Edward?!’ The greeting is loud, over-excited and painfully direct. It would seem Jasper let her know a little more than their current species.

“You don’t need to be so… mentally loud,” Edward murmurs, trailing off as Mr. Molina begins his lecture. As Edward’s heard it all before, he’s more than content to focus his attentions on Bella. Primarily on ignoring her scent and the crazed monster it stirs within him, but also listening to her.

‘So, Jasper dropped the ball on the whole vamp thing and he’s trying to be a good Southern gentleman about it but I’ve let him know my deepest darkest secret too. It’s a best friend thing; even though I’m gonna tell you now, it doesn’t make us the bestest of buds, okay? That’s my first and only.’ Edward highly doubts that anything Bella could produce as her ‘deepest darkest secret’ would trump vampires.

She does give it a good try. Being capable of reading her mind (even if it’s a bit muddled, as if he’s trying to read a book but there’s a muddy overlay in the way), he knows what she says is truth.

It doesn’t change the fact it’s ridiculous and explains a hell of a lot.

“Were you going to share that Bella’s a reincarnated spirit?” Edward asks as he slides onto his usual chair at their usual table. Jasper’s the only one present so far; the two girls have yet to return from the bathroom while Emmett is off getting them their guise of human food. It’s disgusting, he has absolutely no desire to spend an evening retching to remove it all from his stomach. Normally, they’d make it a competition to see who could get the most food into the bin without any of the humans noticing (they never notice). But right now, Edward has a little more on his mind than those silly contests.

Glancing up from his phone, Jasper meets his gaze evenly, the artificial light catching at the swath of scars that collar his neck. They’re a thick overlay around there, specifically on his jugular. Even now, after decades of knowing the other vampire, it is still a struggle to comprehend just how many Newborns Jasper must have fought. Just how many he must have put down. No, out of everyone in the Cullen Clan, the Southern is the one that all the others would hesitate to meet in a fight. Jasper is a powerful and Edward cannot honestly say which of them would win in a fight, despite his advantage of mind-reading.

“She told you then?” Jasper closes his phone with a click, accepting the tray of… ‘food’ that Emmett slides onto the table before him, its twin swiftly appearing by Edward’s elbows as the youngest among them sets himself. The chair groans in protest.

“Told you what then? Is this ‘bout Bubbles?” Hunching his huge, hulking figure down, Emmett cradles his chin with one hand, elbow to the table top and a frown on his face.

“Bella claims she can remember her past life,” Edward confines lowly, his voice quiet and soft; zero chance of a human overhearing him that way.

“She what?” Emmett, for lack of better term, gawks at him before swivelling around to stare at Bella. Edward follows her gaze, not because he needs to stare at her to confirm what he’s already decided from her mind, but because of what is currently making a mess in her mind.

The girl in question is folded over, seated but with her torso under the table as she digs through her backpack for something or other. There’s a shallow thump as one of her elbows hits the table leg, follow by a short swear that has Edward cringing alongside Emmett’s deep chuckle. Rubbing at her smarting elbow, Bella surfaces from beneath the table with a triumphant grin and some kind of fabric in hand. Jessica Stanley, the bane of his mind-reading existence, enquires after it with curious, eager eyes, but Bella waves her off with a grin. Then, she’s turning to look at them, no, for them. No, for Jasper. Her eyes light up at the sight of him, then she’s out of her seat with a sudden spring, overly eager as she strides forwards. And then falls flat on her face, leg tangled in one bag strap as the other clings to the edge of the table.

There’s a moment of silence as the school takes in the sight of Isabella Swan, chief’s daughter, sprawled out on the ground with both arms half-stretched out before her. Then, Lauren Mallory laughs. It’s a nasally sound, tinged with the bitterness she feels towards the new girl who has so effectively monopolized everyone’s attention. A few others join in, but it’s Bella that surprises once again, laughing the loudest as she rolls over onto her back instead, limbs sprawled out wide and head tilted back.

Jasper’s up and out of his chair before Edward, but it’s a close thing. The other vampire makes for the downed teenager, who just seems content to lay there bonelessly, the shallow crowd parting with little to no effort.

“What are we gonna do with you, Darlin’?”

“You could carry me,” Bella replies, utterly shameless and completely serious at the same time. He can get a vague sense of her emotions form Jasper, though it’s aided by the fact so many people are looking at her and seeing the smile.

‘Oh my god! I knew they were-‘

‘-comes in out of nowhere and suddenly Hale is-‘

‘What a fool, why is Jasper even bothering.’ The last one is Rose and it has Edward hiding a smile behind his hand.

Instead of swooping in and scooping Bella up as Edward half expects the blond to do, Jasper offers her a hand, fingers wide and welcoming. He pulls her up with no effort whatsoever, catching her as she stumbles forwards, ankle still ensnared by the strap of her backpack. She lets go of his hand, laughing and jamming both thumbs into the pockets of her jeans, head cocking to a side.

“What’s this?”

“Best friend initiation present. You stop wearing it, you’re declaring that our bond is broken and we are the greatest of friends no more.”

“And when the last thread wears away?” Jasper is holding a bracelet, woven from yellow and deep blue embroidery threads, a brass clasp at the end.

“Puh-lease, Cowboy. You take better care of your stuff than that.” Bella grins, utterly ridiculous as she suddenly remembers a notebook left atop their shared biology desk. Edward had assumed it’d been purposely left for the next lesson but he’d evidently underestimated the human’s absentmindedness.

“Later, alligator.” Fingers click, pointer fingers shooting at Jasper in a mockery of guns before Bella snatches her bag up, hopping awkwardly to free her leg from it’s hazardous hold. She’s out the door before Jasper has managed to return to their table, half-smacking, half-bouncing into the doorframe as she goes. Utterly ridiculous.

Jasper still looks charmed regardless.

Chapter Text

She’s in hospital again, a cut digging deep into the flesh of her palm this time. Luckily, it’d only been Dad and the Blacks home. If Jasper’d been over, chances are good she’d be running a little low on the teed stuff right now.

“Look, Doc, if I could tip you, I would,” Bella declares, flexing her hand back and forth. The new stitches are tight; a good thing, otherwise some of that fatty stuff in the chunky part of her palm would probably be trying to fall out again.

“What exactly were you doing, Bella, that gave you such a deep cut?” Carlisle asks, warm humour in his voice and Bella makes sure she grins extra bright at him, hopping down off the examination table, boots slamming against the floor.

“We’re re-tiling the kitchen,” Bella confines, shoulders rolling and a smile smearing its way across her face, “or, rather, I’m ripping up these nasty green tiles because, after seeing Vampire Mum’s kitchen, I’ve been struck with semi-homeowner envy and I’ve got to make an attempt at dragging the house out the nineteen-eighties.” She’s thinking sunshine yellow for the cabinets, maybe cream or white flooring to lighten the place up. The windows aren’t too small, but the room certainly isn’t big enough to allow for the dark colour it currently is… was. Is half-way through transitioning from? Eh, details.

“That’s not exactly the answer I was expecting,” Carlisle admits, scribbling something down on his professional doctor clipboard, “but I can believe it.”

“Good to know you’re already on board with my brand of idiocy. I’ll be the resident drunk to your bartender, Hot Doc.”

“I beg your pardon, Bella?”

“Basically, means I’m gonna be a regular here; you’ll have to learn to put up with me I guess,” Bella declares, snatching up her discarded jacket and shoving her good arm into the sleeve. She takes a little more care with her injured hand, carefully wiggling it through the material, thankful she’d decided on an oversized, second-hand beaut of a jacket.

“It is not a trial to help you, Bella.” Bella pauses, turning back to look at Carlisle with pursed lips and sceptical eyes. It’s not that she’s surprised and it’s not that she’s never experienced it before. Back when her Mum and Dad were together, they’d take time off work to watch her when she was sick, to make her soup and hot chocolate if it was raining (which it almost always was), No, in all honesty, she’s just doing it to fuck with the vampire and, from the amused smile, he’s aware of it too.

“I know; I’m just that loveable.” She wiggles her eyebrows and Hot Doc laughs. It’s a glorious sound.

Jasper’s laugh still beats it out though.

“I am sick!” Bella declares, grinning as she drops into what is usually Rosalie’s seat in the cafeteria, bag hitting the floor with the ample thud that indicates it contains one to many hardback books. “I am going to be snotty and phlegmy and completely gross! Welcome back to the world of human disease in close proximity!”

Flexing her injured hand, the human plants one elbow down on the table, her palm cradling her chin as she flutters her eyelashes at him in an obnoxiously over-the-top manner. It’s pure theatrics and it has Emmett guffawing and Edward smiling despite his tense shoulders.

“And, Darlin’? You waiting for me to offer playing nurse?”

“As much as I enjoy the mental image of you a nurse’s uniform-” her eyes trail over his form as if she’s already picturing it- “that wasn’t what I was fishing for. Maybe next time.” The last part is hastily added, followed by a wink that has Jasper rolling his eyes, basking in the warmth her teases generate. Even if there is an uncomfortable lethargy that lingers as a result of this developing… illness. It’s nothing more than a common cold as far as he can tell; not something Carlisle can fix in an instant. That’s a shame.

“So, what are you gunning for over here then, Bubbles?” 

Bella swings around to face Emmett, her eyes widening just a smidge as she sniffles into her curled fingers. With that, she’s near the epitome of a cute, sick little human who need nursing back to health. The whole act’d probably set Carlisle off better than any match to a firework ever could. 

“Forty percent sympathy, sixty percent enjoyment of fuelling the rumour mills for when Cowboy here caves and offers me some of that best friend comfort for my poor, disease-riddled self. I’ve never been part of a school-wide rumour before and I must say, I’m enjoying it immensely. So far Jasper and I are planning a secret wedding, have banged in the back of my Dad’s police cruiser and in Hot Doc’s office, and, this one is my favourite, I’m dating Jasper but seeing Alice on the side. Also, I’ve apparently got my eyes on Edward in order to complete my sexy love square like the confident, greedy bitch I am.” Here, she mockingly winks at the vampire in question, a few speckles of mascara falling free to dust as the semi-bruised skin of her lower eyes, evidence of too little sleep last night. The skin around her nose is already beginning to peel, the outcome of one to many dives into a too rough tissue. Her cheeks are flushed as those white blood cells do battle with the invaders. 

“You shouldn’t refer to yourself in such a derogatory manner,” Edward says softly, gazing up at Bella from beneath the thick bracket of his eyelashes. The only working heart in close proximity hammers away at the sight and Jasper scowls, kicking Edward in the shin. He’s well aware the other vampire isn’t doing it on purpose but would it kill him to be a little more considerate? 

“Is it truly derogatory if I wave it ‘round like a hammer though?”

“Whatever floats your boat, Bubbles. Now, for the question we’ve been planning to ask you since this morning-” Bella jolts up at that, wide eyes that have just a hint of red soreness around the edges focused on Emmett- “what are your plans tonight?”

“They involved a hot water bottle, a mug of hot chocolate, and a lot of Disney movies.”

“Well, it’s a shame you’ll miss tonight’s baseball game then.”

“What?! Vampire baseball? Noooo, I don’t wanna miss it! Let me see supernatural baseball, pretty pretty please with a pig on top?” 

“With a pig on top?”

“First animal I could think of that kept the alliteration going.”

“Pig’s no good to us, Bubbles. Try a panther next time.” 

“Huh. I’m assuming that’s an apex predator thing. Anyway, serious question here, Edward. I know some predators can smell when prey is diseased so they avoid eating it; are you put off by my sick self, or am as tasty-smelling as ever?” 

“This isn’t something you should be talking about here. Now get out of my seat.” The arrival of Rosalie effectively kills whatever conversation Bella had been in the process of creating. Jasper loves Rosalie, he does. She’s like the sister he never had (or perhaps, one he can’t remember) and she’s the only other Cullen who understands the gritty dark-side to being a vampire. She’s the one who hunted her attackers down for revenge. There are some days, days when the scent of human blood gets too much for him, days when heartbeats are all that he can hear vibrating around in his mind; there are days he wishes he could do what Rosalie did. That he could find it in himself to hunt down Maria, to outline to the older vampire just what it is she has made him into, just what kind of monster she created. But his feelings towards Maria are a complicated tangle and it is best to remain removed from her. That and, should he return to the South, he’s relatively worried he’ll slip right off the bandwagon again. And that’s not something he can afford to do right now.

“Ah, the blonde goddess of diamonds; so pretty and yet, so cutting.” Bella sighs but gets to her feet nonetheless, swiping up her lunch tray. She’s not quick enough with the motion for Jasper to fail at noticing the second pudding that has appeared on there. A quick glance over the table shows that Emmett’s is missing. Sneaky bastard.

Jasper pushes back on the chair, ignoring the screeching that comes from the legs being forcefully moved across the floor, and gets to his feet to follow Bella. He pays Rosalie’s grumble of “you idiot,” the same amount of attention that he did the chair legs, plucking Bella’s tray out of one hand and hold his own in the other.

“Can you stomach sitting with the other humans, or do you want to go outside?” It’s an Esme question, asking after him and checking he’s okay with the situation.

“I’d rather have you all to myself, Darlin’.”

“Outside it is then.”

There’s no rain today and there won’t be until they’re halfway through their post-lunch lesson, according to Alice. No one else is foolish enough to be outside in the early spring chill, other than the two of them. And Jasper’s not exactly effected by temperatures, other than ones that threaten spontaneous combustion. Bella drops into a seat at the nearest table, inspecting the neat stitches in the palm of her hand, fingers wiggling and the motion pulling some of the skin taunt. It’s not like the stitches will come out; Carlisle is far too good a doctor for that.

“You never had stitches before, Darlin’?”

“Not ones that I could see and manipulate so effectively as these,” Bella murmurs, grinning up at him as he places her lunch tray down. There’s a slab of pizza on there, grease pooling onto the plate and looking all around disgusting. Bella immediately begins tearing into it, smearing both the excess grease and the tomato sauce around her lips as she eats. She’s such a messy eater. Bella swallows down her cardboard topped cheese before she turns her attentions back on him, all bright smiles and runny nose. How adorably disgusting.

“But I am a-okay to come and watch vampire baseball,” she insists, head nodding along as physical evidence of her agreement.

“I don’t know, Bella, won’t your hot-water bottle miss you?”

 “I wanna see the supernatural baseball,” Bella hisses, this time with feeling. She’s finished her pizza now and, given how Jasper has decided to sit with his back to the windows, nobody will be able to see how Bella steals the slice from his own plate. She bites into it, holding the slab of cheese and tomato with her good hand, the injured one gesturing to him with a pointed finger waggling around. “You cannot leave me out of supernatural baseball. I’m a reborn spirit, that instantly qualifies me as a spectator.”

“Does it now? Where’s this rule written then?”

Bella’s injured hand, her dominant one, comes down on the back of his own. Well, her pointer finger does. He has all the time in the world to move his own hand out of the way, but he’s interested in what she’s up to. Wants to know what ridiculousness she’s going to come out with to try and convince him he should bring the human to the vampires’ game. He muffles a laugh into his shoulder when she actually begins writing out the rule on the back of his hand.

“That’s not permanent.”

“Doesn’t matter. You know it’s there; I know it’s there. Ergo, it’s there.” Here, she flips his palm, tracing the creases that remain in his skin even now. He wonders what it feels like to her. Though his skin moves as any living thing, the density of it means his body undoubtedly feels like a rock beneath Bella’s touch. Are the creases on his palm like weathered lines cut into stone by nature itself? Does she ever startle when the ‘rock’ moves or has she come to expect it now?

Bella traces the curve that begins between his pointer and middle finger, following it until she reaches the edge of his palm, before proudly stating, “you’ve got a long life line.”

“That’s the love line, not the life line.” There’s a moment of silence between the two of them, the sound of Fork’s High’s cafeteria the only noise before Bella suddenly snorts, hiding her nose in a tissue to dispose of the excess fluid the action comes with.

“Oh my god, how do you know that? Is that vampire knowledge? Is it something you actually use in your day to day living? How do you know how to read palms, Cowboy?”

“Alice wanted to learn it back in the sixties so she could play at being a psychic at state fairs. None of the others volunteers to learn it with her and I owe Alice.” He owes her more than he could ever say for leading him to his lifestyle.

“I can totally see her doing that,” Bella muses with a smile and a nod, snatching up the napkin from his plate to wipe her mouth clean. “So, you can do me a palm reading, then I’ll go to Alice to see how accurate you were. After vampire baseball.”

Jasper smiles, swiping his thumb down the length of Bella’s index finger, still lingering on his palm. “After vampire baseball,” he agrees.

As predicted, it rains throughout most of the afternoon, trickling to a stop when the final bell echoes through the building. Jasper had paid little attention to his lessons as the teacher attempted to cram knowledge into the heads of his other students. Jasper, after all, is well aware of all aspects of the civil war. History is what he is good at, what he’s invested in. He’s one of the few vampires in the world who cares enough about the human world to keep track of everything, the one who keeps written statements of everything significant that has happened, who writes about what he’s witnessed. The entire Cullen Clan had been there for Apollo 11’s take-off, in the shade of a building. All thanks to Alice’s precognition. It’d been a sight to see, a once in a lifetime thing for most humans. It’d also been the last rocket that Jasper had seen blast-off, simply because no others have held so grand a significance. He’ll be there for the one that makes it to Mars, and all the ones that make it further after that. But it’ll be a long while before that happens.

“Tell me you invited Bubbles to the game tonight,” Emmett mockingly whispers, elbowing him in the side and Jasper tilts his head back to roll his eyes at the other vampire.

“Yes, I did. The reincarnated human will be in attendance.”

“You think she’ll remember all her human life when she’s changed?” At that, Jasper’s thoughts skid to a halt, head snapping around to stare at Emmett in full, probably freaking out the odd human who watches his head spin far too quick for their eyes to keep up.

“Excuse me?”

“Well it’s obvious, isn’t it? Bubbles is hanging around with us too often for it not to go that way. If she’s gifted in her human life of remembering the one before, maybe she’ll remember every little thing when she’s changed.”

“Bella isn’t getting changed,” Jasper states as if it is something he is utterly certain of. Only, he’s not. Come to think of it, Alice has mentioned nothing of the sort on Bella’s future. Nothing other than the fact she’s going to be constantly inspiring hope and happiness in them.

“Eh, what happens, happens, you know? Ten big ones says she does.”

“I am not betting on this, Emmett,” Jasper snaps, hefting his bag strap up over his shoulder and narrowly avoiding ripping the material in his annoyance. He strides away from the larger male, ignoring the whispers the kick up across the student body.

Would Bella want to be changed? Would she want to become a vampire like them? Undoubtedly, Edward and Rosalie would be against it, both for different but potentially valid reasons. Carlisle and Esme would be neutral on the matter, Emmett is evidentially all for it while Alice… Alice cheats because she already knows the outcome. When it comes to being a vampire, when it comes to the thought of Bella becoming a vampire… Jasper isn’t sure where his opinion on that falls. On one hand, their lives are a constant battle to remain humane, to cling to the last shreds of humanity and to not get lost in the monster. But humans age. Humans die. The thought of Bella dying, no matter how inevitable should she not somehow become a vampire, is discomforting. 

“Penny for your thoughts, Cowboy?” Speak of the devil-

Bella Swan has two books pressed to her chest, backpack slung over one shoulder and a tissue clenched between the fingers of her right hand. She’s smiling and the mascara of her right eye is smudge into the skin around it, as if she’s been pawing at it. Probably has; though she won’t have been through the education system as many times as Jasper, she has done it at least once before. Things left to learn, but it’s not all entirely new.

“S’nothing, Darlin’. You ready for baseball?”

“Hell, yeah I am. Can we pop to my house so I can get my own kit on?”

“You have your own kit?”

“Please, Phil plays baseball. Of course, I have my own kit.”

Pulling at the stretchy fabric that clings to her ass, Bella shoves another packet of tissues into the pocket of her jacket, jamming the cap down on her head, attaching the Velcro strap once she’s fed it under her ponytail. Sick she may be, but there’s no way in hell she’s missing out on vampire baseball. Jasper had ridden home with her in Ol’ Red, but he’d disappeared when she trooped upstairs. Running back to his house to get changed, no doubt. She hopes the Cullen Clan will be in matching sets; that’d be adorable.

Bouncing down the stairs, Bella skips the last step to jump to the floor, sticking the landing with the practiced ease of one who’s been doing this since they were six years old. Yes, she may have been jumping up the third or fourth step up into her father’s arms; isn’t that part of childhood though? Well, even if it isn’t, she’d had fun doing it, still finds a little pleasure in leaping down when she can.

“Bells? What’s with the getup?”

“Jasper invited me to the Cullen family baseball game. Gotta dress the part, you know?” Wiggling her eyebrows, Bella wanders into the kitchen, ignoring how she doesn’t take the turn wide enough and ends up banging her hip on the doorway. The lack of green tiles is jarring now; she can’t wait for the lino to arrive so they can start slapping that down on the floor. When Dad has a day off, that is.

“And it is a family thing?” Dad continues, head half buried behind his coffee, suited and booted up the for the night shift and just waiting for the hour hand to reach the clock’s five. This is why Bella has zero intention of being a cop; the night shift is not for her. No way, no how.

“If I was going on a date, I’d be a bit more dressed up than this.” She gestures down at the purple and orange set that she’d clad in. It’s Phil’s colours, the ones for his new team. Maybe someday she’ll be able to get her ass down to Florida; Mum and Phil have just moved into a new house so it won’t be for a while… but she’s so, so looking forwards to being able to abuse the fact she’s suddenly much closer to Disneyland. If she can get the funds for it, that is. Damn, she needs a job so bad right now.

The knock at the door snaps her from her thoughts and Bella bounces over, peeling the entrance way back. Jasper’s there, Alice sat behind Emmett and Rosalie in Ol’ Red’s younger, sexier cousin. Bella whistles, eyes flying over the red jeep, taking in the mud splatters up the side that indicate Emmett has powered that baby across the roadless landscape.

“You know, the only way this could be better is if you’d picked me up on a bike,” Bella declares, adjusting the brim of her cap. “I bet I’d look sexy in leathers.”

“Bella.”

“Yes Dad?” Smiling cheerfully, she swings back around to look at the man in question, going for her best innocent puppy-dog eyes. Coupled with the impending sickness that is steadily creeping across her face she probably looks a sight. Not cute, but definitely something that needs taking care of. It’s a look that’s never failed to work before, and the success rate is yet to be broken, going by the way her father turns his attentions from her to Jasper.

“That thing road legal?”

“Yes sir. It’s Emmett’s baby, he’d never risk not being able to drive it.”

Dad hums deep in the back of his throat, bushy moustache twitching.

“Come on, Dad, I’ll only stick my head out of the side once, twice tops.” Thrusting her feet into a pair of worn, reliable trainers, Bella grins up at her father, who’s trying to supress a fond smile. It’s too clear though and Bella will tease him like hell for it. Later, because vampire baseball is first.

“Look after her, Mr Hale. The last time we played baseball, she managed to knock herself out with the bat.”

“It was a cheap bat,” Bella mumbled, recalling the injuring with a frown on her face. Everything had been going fine; her, Dad and Jake were having a whale of a time playing baseball while Billy barbequed up some meat. The bat had been brand new and trustworthy; she’d thought. On the next swing, however, the ball had hit the ground by her feet because the damn bat had split right down the handle, the end bouncing off the side of her head. The next thing Bella had remembered was waking up in the emergency room to the devastating news that all the steak had been eaten.

Jasper’s cocked one eyebrow up, looking down at her with a smug little smile. No doubt planning to weasel the story out of her later. And, like the soft-hearted fool she is, she’ll tell him what happened because he’s too pretty to be denied.

“We’ll keep her safe, Sir. I’ll bring her back with the same number of injuries she leaves with.”

“Hey! That’s not funny.” Bella jabs Jasper in the side. Or, she makes it look like that, but she’s pressing the flat of her thumb against his side instead to express her displeasuring without injuring any of her fingers. Because she’s finally cottoned on to the whole marble-body-not-good-for-hitting thing. From the smirk he shoots her, Jasper’s noticed. Stupid vampire abilities. Not fair.

“I’ll try to aim any broken bats at Jasper’s head, Dad. I’ve had my monthly hospital trip, so I should be fine.”

The look she receives after saying that is one of deep suspicion and Bella makes sure to keep grinning just that little bit longer for it all. It’s not like she’ll actually be playing, is it? She probably won’t even get her outfit dirty which means less washing. Which is a plus on any front.

It is with a sigh that Dad relents in his not-quite-interrogation, dipping his head and checking his watch for the time. “Have fun, Bells.”

“Will do, Dad! Don’t arrest too many people!”

Chapter Text

The field that Emmett drives them to is huge. A great big open space, bracketed with trees on all sides and the Olympic mountains in the distance. The only thing that could have made it any prettier was if the sun had been shining. But given the fifty-fifty change it’d have cooked her best friend and his family, Bella’s pretty cool with the overcast. Save the vamps and all that.

The ride up hadn’t been… tense, but there had been an undeniable current of ‘I don’t want you here’ shimmering off of Rosalie’s entire body. Luckily for Bella, Alice is a wonderful vampire-being who went about putting her at easy quickly, even going so far as to explain how her vampire superpowers worked, discussing how the cracks of thunder would disguise the way they play baseball. Bella had listened, hypnotised, by how Alice described the differences between vampires and humans. Jasper hadn’t mentioned the extent of their super strength, or their speed. She knew he was quick, knew her eyes couldn’t keep up with him except to register that he was a blur of movement, but getting the low-down from Alice was something else altogether.

“So, you play ref, Yummy Vampire Mummy?” Esme Cullen laughs at her nickname and it sounds like cherubs and heavenly choir all at once.

“Yeah, we’re not allowed to play on our own anymore because we’re ‘dirty cheats’ who ‘don’t know when they’ve taken it too far’.” Emmett’s answer is accompanied by finger-quotation marks, a shrug of his shoulders, and a stern frown from Esme.

“The last time you two went at it, the house in Chicago was pronounced ‘structurally unsound’.” The mocking return of the finger quotation marks startles a hard laugh out of Bella, only made that much worse by Emmett’s sheepish expression. Once she’d seen her biggest son off, Esme turns back to Bella with a soft smile on her face, whistle balanced between a finger and thumb. “Don’t let Jasper’s Southern charm fool you, Bella. He’s just as competitive as the rest of them.”

“Let me guess, neither of them would take me on their team for fear I’d be the one to sink their chances of winning?”

“Not at all. They were actually both fighting over who could win with the human handicap.”

Pressing both hands atop her left breast, Bella stumbles back theatrically, as if wounded by an arrow. “Say it isn’t so; they doubt me that much?”

Esme says nothing and Bella drops the act. “Seriously though, who plays for what team and who should I be betting on? Come on, give me the insider information, pretty please with a panther on top?” Emmett’s loud cackle is ignored as he runs perimeter, dropping what appears to be the stand-in base markers as he goes. It’s a big, big pitch. Bella could maybe do two laps at a steady run before tiring, but then again, vampire superiority and all that. Man, if they’re half as graceful at moving fast as they are when they’re parading about at school, then they’re probably a sight to see in true motion. A shame her weak human eyes won’t catch it.

“The A Team, as Emmett insists on, consists of the big lug himself, Carlisle and Alice. While Team A Plus-” Esme grins at her undoubtedly poleaxed expression- “is Rose, Jasper and Edward. Rose named them right after Emmett chose his team name. I know she may seem distant, but Rose has her reasons for it and I am sorry that she is struggling to…”

“Accept Jasper’s human best friend into the family dynamic?”

“Exactly,” Esme says with a laugh, warm gold eyes glancing back over towards six vampires that were all finished limbering up. Edward was apparently the first up to bat, Alice the pitcher. The first two throws, Bella didn’t even see coming until it was all over and the ball was already in Esme’s hands. The third one, however, met the bat with the crack of thunder, the ball rocketing away, as did Edward. Both he, Carlisle and Emmett were a great blur of white cotton and coloured hair; Bella spent the few seconds they were in motion squinting before Edward was sliding home, Emmett chasing uselessly after him with the ball.

“Next up!”

It’s Jasper that steps up to the plate next, twisting the bat back and forth in his hands, watching Alice watch him. Bella could see it now, the thrum of competitive spirit that buzzed back and forth between them all. Oh god, she wants in on it so bad but she’d never be able to keep up with them. Maybe she can get them to join in a game with her that doesn’t rely on reaction-speeds. Not monopoly though. She doesn’t want to destroy their friendship, after all.

“Go Jasper!” Punching the air above her head, Bella leans forwards in excitement, even as Alice tries (and fails) to contain her laughter. The first ball flies right by Jasper, straight into Esme’s waiting hands. Her blond best friend raises an eyebrow, cocking his head back to meet her gaze and Bella sticks her tongue out at him. The next swing of the bat strikes true, a thunderous hammer of a sound and the ball is off once again. Jasper blurs out of existence, nothing both a hazy shape of white, blue and blond. It’s not even a breath later that Carlisle is crashing into him. If Bella had thought the sound of the ball being sent into hyperdrive was loud, this was the protester rocking up with a megaphone and custom-built speakers. Even from this distance, the noise physically pained her ears, to the point her hands were clamping over them with no forethought. Watching the normally calm and composed Carlisle bounce off of a suddenly visible Jasper, watching them both slam into the ground and leave a crater where they’d once been, is delightful.

“This is amazing,” Bella whispers, giving up the pretext of a stationary observer and making her way over, closer. “Are there vampire baseball leagues? There totally should be; though from what I’ve seen so far, Edward would trounce you all.”

“You wound me, Darlin’.”

“He looks like he’s the fastest of you all. I’m just being truthful, Cowboy!” Grinning, Bella doesn’t have the option of preparing herself for Jasper’s sudden attack. She’s swept up in his arms, thrown carefully over his shoulder and Bella shrieks out a laugh, pulling wildly on his shirt as she’s spun just a little too fast for what any normal human hostage-taker could manage.

“That fast enough?” It’s only as her head has stopped spinning that Bella notices all the other vampires are suddenly a lot closer than they had been before. That is some hella quick reaction time.

“Hey,” Bella asks, well aware she has absolutely zero dignity hanging over Jasper’s shoulder like this, dressed in a baseball kit that most certainly does not match the Cullen colours, “can I have a turn to swing? Just for shits and giggles?” She absolutely plans on playing the idiot, the ‘I’ve never done this before so I need someone to stand behind me, show me how to swing the bat, actually take the shot for me but I’ll take all the credit’.

Alice’s serious face kills that thought rather quickly.

The three nomadic vampires arrive not long after Bella has been set back down off of his shoulder. Part of him had insisted to take her and run; he was quick, knew the area… but where would he have run to? If they followed (and they would if they had run), then all it would have eventually led to would be a confrontation of sorts. Human eating vampires will want only one thing from a human at the end of it all. Jasper knows that all too well, knows how the jugular feels beneath fangs, knows how the spurt of blood can hit the back of a mouth and the struggles can wither and die.

But that’s not Bella’s future. Not while he can still stand between them.

Running had been off the table since the second the thought had crossed his mind. That leaves two options. Peaceful confrontation, in which the nomadic vampires accept they aren’t allowed to hunt in what Carlisle calls his territory. Then, violent confrontation. The one where they turn down Carlisle request to not hunt. The one where they go for the closest human. The one that leads to fighting. He doesn’t like fighting, but he is good at it.

He is very good at fighting.

The three vampires have no shoes on; clear evidence of their lifestyle. When put to the levels of vampiric abuse that consists of a run across country, shoes fall apart pretty easily. They’re not designed to last, not anymore. They’re not Newborns, the move with the fluidity of age, but there are no visible scars on them. Not like what Jasper boasts. Their eyes (crimson and bright) scan over the lot of them and, as always with strangers, they stop on Jasper. He’s used to it. He’s aware he’s a sight; even the other Cullens can tense up if he’s in the corner of their eye when they’re lost in their instincts, when they’re hunting and drinking.

Carlisle steps forwards and greets them. As introductions are made, Jasper reaches out with his gift, testing the waters. The woman (Victoria) is the most flighty, apprehensive. No doubt because their trio have come face to face with a large clan. It is no secret than Carlisle’s family, this family he has found himself a part of, is one of the biggest covens in North America (discounting the turbulence south). He supposes that can be intimidating to most other vampires. Yes, the woman is easily scared off. It’s the one that isn’t talking that could be the threat. Laurent is calm enough, open enough. But the other is tense. Jasper doesn’t like the flavour of emotions he’s getting off of that one; luckily, with his gift, that’s something his can begin to smooth out.

That doesn’t account for the wind.

It ruffles through Bella’s hair, sucker-punching him with her scent. It’s followed up by a jab of bloodlust as the other vampire, James, lurches forwards into a crouch. A growl tears through Jasper’s throat before he can stop it and Bella is behind him, the warmth of her side pressing up against his back, the short gasp of her breath echoing through the air. He’s spun her too quickly; he can feel her nausea but he’s not sorry. Not when James is feinting to the left and Jasper can only track him, eyes hard.

“You’ve brought a snack?”

“She’s with us.”

“You’re human eaters?” Bella’s hands are on his shoulders, applying a feeble amount of pressure in an attempt to push him down, to peer around him because for some unfathomable reason she wants to see the things that are currently threatening her life. “Hey, can I ask you about how you handle the morality of eating something you once where?” Bella’s leg slides up his side as if she’s genuinely contemplating clambering up and over him. Jasper snatches up the thigh, grip like titanium. Not only does that force her to remain stationary, but it also means he can swing her around to Edward if needs be. He’s the fastest of them, he can run with her if needs be. It barely takes him a moment to take stock of it all, the fall back into old routines. Emmett is their strongest; he would be Jasper’s ideal partner to take down James. Alice, given her gift, would be best suited to dealing with Victoria and Rosalie has enough ruthlessness to follow through with that. Edward running with Bella, Carlisle and Esme offering support and defence. What would be more ideal would be using Bella as bait but everything inside of him balks at the thought. Strategically it makes sense, but-

“If you want my legs around you Cowboy, all you have to do is ask,” Bella breathes, cheek pressing against his shoulder blade and thigh clenching in his grip. It’s enough to wrongfoot two thirds of the nomads, who both startle, curiosity swirling. James, the hunter, just tilts his head and flares his nostrils that little bit more. Jasper responds in kind, angling his own jawline so the lacework of scars ripple. Victoria is instantly on edge and there’s a healthy amount of caution coming off of the leader.

“A human lover?” Laurent, the sensible, level-headed one asks, and Bella’s heartbeat jackhammers in her chest. It’s so loud that everyone present can hear it, but she powers on anyway, working herself into a magnificent distraction as Jasper keeps his eyes on the threat.

“I even let him take a bit out of me when he’s done.”

At that, James does snarl, taking another step forwards and Jasper has had enough. Thank fuck for Edward’s gift; he knows to be there to collect Bella as Jasper launches himself forwards, intersecting James’ path to the girl. He’s tagged Carlisle and Esme to follow him as he disappears out of the clearing before the other two have managed to gather their wits enough to attempt to follow.

“James, no!”

“Alice, and Rosalie, the woman. Emmett!” Jasper slams Laurent (the only one with enough sense not to tangle with them) with enough lethargy and disinterest that it’d stop a lion in its tracks and focuses in on James.

Jasper’s main experience with fighting comes with the nonsensical battles against Newborns. There had been a handful of times, however, when he had faced down a coven leader. The rules change once a vampire is no longer a newborn. They’re not driven by their instincts; they’re not focused on blood along and are clear headed enough to think.

But these nomadic vampires, they’ve not got the experience that comes with being turned in the South. James is a good fighter, but he’s not seasoned enough to ignore the pain of Jasper’s first bite, to ignore the venom that laces through his shoulder. Not like Jasper, who takes the bite to the neck and just powers through the pain in order to rip the arm off. He hears the woman screech, backs off quick enough for Emmett to collar the would-be-hunter and tear off a second arm.

It’s quick from there.

The woman flees, panic and fear and hatred pouring off her. Laurent surrenders, his hands up and his fearful eyes tracing ever mark on Jasper’s sink left by incisors.

Carlisle is going to be disappointed; he always is whenever he comes face to face with death. Edward too will probably be upset. But he’ll understand, will have seen in the hunter’s mind what Jasper had felt in his emotions. That he’d decided Bella was prey. That he wasn’t going to stop until he had her. No, Jasper was military in his human life, has spent a lifetime studying war and the tactics used within it. He knows what they have just done is the best course of action. Though a part of him warns the fleeing Victoria is a bad sign.

What worries him the most is how Bella will react to all of this. It is one thing to know of the Cullens, to be on friendly terms with the vampires who eat animals, who abstain from human blood. It is another thing entirely to be exposed to the bloodied side of it, to be turned into prey and have your humanity stripped away from you.

“Anyone got a phone so we can let Edward know the problem has been dealt with?”

Laurent pulls a face at that particular expression but wisely says nothing.

“Hell yeah. I always leave mine in the jeep, otherwise they get trashed.” A mote of wisdom he’ll be taking on board given the pieces of crushed technology lying broken in his pocket.

It doesn’t take long for him to dig Emmett’s phone from the cupholder and to punch in Edward’s number. It does take three rings before the other vampire picks up.

“Jasper?”

“James is dead. Victoria fled and Laurent surrendered. Is Bella okay?” He can hear her on the other side of the phone, the steady thumps of her heartbeat. Her demands to be given the mobile are met with solid resistance from Edward, who continues to question how everyone is. Not that anyone other than Jasper suffered a bite. The foreign venom in his shoulder is still stinging. It’ll heal quick in comparison to human’s wound, but it’ll scar as thoroughly as it currently hurts.

“We’re on our way back. Might be best if Bella stays the night given the fact the woman is up in the wind.”

“I’ll swing it by Carlisle; if we can claim a concussion that he wants to keep an eye on-”

“Wait, who’s getting a concussion? Is it me? It’s me, right?”

“Put Bella on please, Edward.” There a moment of quiet as the phone is passed between hands, a few muffled thumps and bangs as the speak transfers hands and the receiver slams against Bella’s ear.

“Jasper! Are you alright! Is everyone okay! Do I need to donate any blood to a worthy cause? Would that help?” Huffing a shallow laugh, Jasper clambers into the jeep alongside Alice, Emmett opening Rosalie’s door for her and bowing gallantly.

“We’re fine, Darlin’. We’re on our way back and we’ll talk then, so could you put on a performance for your dad?”

“Got it. I’ll give him the performance of a lifetime; he’ll be worried for my health in no time!” Great, next they’ll have Charlie Swan knocking down their door to figure out why his daughter’s lying to him about a concussion.

Dad is utterly unsurprised when Hot Doc calls him up and informs him that she’s managed to earn herself a concussion. It’s not the truth, but with how her head is bubbling with new thoughts and feelings, it’s not too far off. 

It hadn’t really hit until now just what ‘vampire’ meant. Watching one make a pass at her, brilliant red eyes and a bloodthirsty expression... it’s a bit like taking a hammer to the head. How is she supposed to live, how is she supposed to carry on with her life knowing that exists? Well, the answer is she’s not supposed to. That expression, that specific thing on a vampire’s face is meant to be the last thing a human sees; all inhuman and monstrous. Ignorance is bliss, she supposes.

At the moment, she’s resting on the sofa, wrapped up in a blanket that Esme’s rustled up from whatever motherly dimension all mothers pull that shit outta. There’re calming tones floating through the air as Edward runs his fingers back and forth across the piano, Carlisle standing next to him and doing a damn good job of pretending he’s not watching her for shock. Being in shock sucks; she’s aware of it, but that doesn’t mean she can break the dazed sense of disattachment she’s got going on. But she can totally snuggle up into the blanket of warmth and bask in the smooth tones of Edward-Von-Beethoven. 

There’s a slight jolt in the music that lets Bella know her fellow junior has been listening in on her internal narration. She wonders if any of the other Cullens are hiding magical musical talents. She’ll be very disappointed in them if the answer is no. Emmett seems like a ukulele kinda guy; huge muscles and a tiny musical instrument. She could see Rosalie playing the drums, hammering away at them as if they were all that was wrong with her world.

“Bella?” Peeling back one layer of the very large blanket, the Bella in question peers up at Jasper, taking in the windswept mess of his hair, the tear in his shirt near the collar. It’s a shame, that was a nice shirt. Back before… whatever it was happened. She doesn’t know what’s happened, just that it’s all sorted, according to Edward.

“Jasper-” because they’re apparently doing the first name thing now, not nicknames- “what happened?”

Her fool of a best friend goes to sit down on the sofa beside her blanket bundle and there’s no way she’s having that. So, it is with great effort that Bella shuffles closer, throwing the blanket over him, tucking his shoulders inside and laying her head against one. Jasper is shockingly cold; it’s a vampire thing, Alice has explained it to her before, but knowing and then experiencing are two very different beasts. Bella still presses her head against his clavicle, nose scrunching up when she notices a wetness residing on her cheek.

“Why is my cheek wet?”

“James bit me.”

“James bit you. That’s, that’s kinky. No, no this is serious, that’s not good.” Peeling her head back, Bella carefully shifts the ripped collar of Jasper’s shirt to a side, spotting the indentation and holy shit, he has actually been bit. “Holy shit.” She aborts the idea of touching it at the last second and while Bella would like to say she’s smart enough to have done so in order to avoid causing Jasper further pain, it’s something else that catches her eye entirely. It’s faint, incredibly so, but it isn’t the first bite that’s been put on Jasper’s skin.

“Holy shit,” Bella whispers, this time with something almost like reverence because now that she’s looking, now that she’s really paying attention and squinting like a goodun, it’s easy to see the rest. Well, not easy; she has to really focus or they blend right in with the rest of the marble. But they’re there. Bite mark after bite mark after bite mark. Hell, if the Cullen household wasn’t as well lit as it is, she’ll probably have never noticed them to begin with.

“Holy shit,” Bella repeats for the third time, “you’re either really kinky or you’re really scrappy.” That’s the bit that finally pulls a laugh from Jasper, soft and low in his chest. His ribcage flutters beneath her touch and it registers that Jasper’s not been breathing until now, that his ribcage has been utterly still while she’s been laid by his side.

“Scrappy isn’t the word most would use for it,” he murmurs, shoulders rolling back as Bella carefully rests her head back on him, conscious of the open wound (is it open though? Does a bite for a vampire count? Why is there no blood? God, she’s got so many questions) even as his muscles moves beneath her cheek like rocks rearranging themselves.

“Are vampires into kinky bites?” Bella asks, fingers running up and down her blanket covered thighs, trying to inspire warmth and movement back into them.

“Any venom but our own is the most painful thing a vampire can experience.”

“So, no kinky bites then,” Bella concludes, glancing over at Edward’s abandoned piano stool, at the kitchen threshold that Carlisle has crossed through, undoubtedly still able to hear them, but the illusion of privacy is there. She’s really not sure how she feels about everything that’s happened and that’s without knowing the fallout. She has questions, but she also has a hesitancy in asking them. If she does ask what happened after she was suddenly kidnapped à la sprinting Edward, then will it change her entire perceptions of the Cullen clan? Will it change how she views her best friend? Is ignorance bliss, or cowardice? The question is, what can she live with?

“You’re distracting yourself, Darlin’.”

“Got it in one. Maybe soon I’ll ask after everything that’s happened today, but not right now.”

“Don’t wanna ask about the scars?”

“Nah. You’ll tell me when you’re ready. And in return, I’ll tell you about the time Mum and I went rock-climbing. It’s embarrassing as hell, you’ll love it.”

Jasper hums, tucking Esme’s blanket further around his thighs,

“If a vampire bites a vampire, it’s painful. If a vampire bites a human, it starts a transition. But if a human bites a vampire?”

“The human’s teeth break.”

Running a tongue over the only set of human teeth in the house, Bella huffs, letting her eyes slide shut.

“That sucks.”

Chapter Text

“I’ve come to terms with it all. He was a serial killer, I was to be his next of many future victims, and now he’s been stopped. Morality is fine, I can now get on with my life.”

When she’d woken up after falling asleep on Jasper, Bella had found herself with a droll trail down the side of her mouth, sticky sleep in her eyes and a crusted nose from the unrelenting cold that’s still lingering in her sinuses. Things had been… awkward between them in that no one seemed to want to tell her what had happened, pussyfooting around like she’s delicate (which, fair enough, in comparison to them she is). What returns things to the status quo is, surprisingly enough, Rosalie Hale. Admittedly, she’d probably told Bella what had happened simply to scare her off. Only, Bella’d had a few days to calm down and she’s made of tougher stuff than that, metaphorically.

It’s Alice who finds her first after she’s come to her decision to either ring up the Cullens, or turn up unexpectedly on their doorstep, armed with a bucket of animal blood and a ‘thank you for keeping me alive’ card. But of course it’s Alice, she who sees the future. Bella is gonna take the other girl with her the second she turns eighteen and can buy scratchcards. She needs that dollar dollar and she’s not afraid of calling on a friend to help her out with her money-making ways. That’s if no jobs open up in the area; small town syndrome, all the jobs are currently taken. It won’t be until the latest batch of seniors leave that their part-time occupations open up. And Bella has her CV at the ready, prepared to launch it their way.

“So, you’re not going to stop hanging around us?”

“How can I possibly stop hanging around the strongest, smartest people I know? Another tile, please?”

Alice laughs, lifting up one of the twenty-by-twenty tiles as if it’s made of paper. Armed with a spreader and sitting next to a bucket of freshly mixed tile adhesive, Bella slaps another lot of the sticky stuff onto the wall, allowing the girl who has the better eyesight and hand-eye co-ordination to put the along its brethren.

“Who else would ever help me tile up the kitchen? Jess is great, but her talents lie more towards the fine-art side of things. She’s gonna swing around to help me paint my bedroom over summer.” Bella’d already asked. Both Jess and Angela had tentatively accepted her invitation and Bella has zero intention of letting the two wiggle out of the agreement now. “In fact, you wanna join us?”

“Yes! I’d love to come and hang out with you! I can come up with so many ideas-”

“Only rule is the colour scheme. Yellow, browns and a little orange. I wanna be warm like sunshine. So, when I wake up after forty winks, it’s gonna feel like daylight every time.”

“Forty winks of sunshine, huh?” Alice muses, smile on her face and the next tile for the kitchen in her hands. “I like the sound of a hundred winks of sunshine better. There’s not a lot of sunshine in Forks, so I guess making your own will work wonders.”

“That’s the plan.” Spreading more of the tile glue onto the wall, Bella sits back on her haunches and considers the current state of the kitchen. There’s the usual old bedsheets spread out across the floor to catch the mess before it hits the ground. The lino is present, rolled up into three tubes that lay against the empty carcass of a cardboard box that’d once housed the new tiles. The curtains have been stripped down (and thrown in the bin, not that Dad is aware of that yet but they were so old Bella just had to throw them out) and the cloud-covered sun is valiantly attempting to lighten the room. The rows and columns of tiles are spot on, perfectly level. Not like the previous ones that’d sloped to the left ever so slightly.

“Man, Alice, if I’d known you were so good at DIY, I’d have tried seducing you weeks ago.” Her bell-like laugh chimes through the room, pale hands dusting the dirt from her skin. They’re both dressed in the DIY dungarees that’re shoved in the cupboard, Alice in the ones that had belonged to her mum (back when she’d been living in Forks) while Bella sports her dad’s slightly more used pair. They’re both a bit swamped in the fabric, each wearing one of Bella’s old tee-shirts and using thin patterned scarves to hold their hair back, forties-style. Because they’re independent women who don’t need no man.

“Let’s take a few photos,” Alice declares, whipping out her phone from the front central pocket.

They’re on the twenty-sixth photo (in which Bella is trying valiantly to lift up all three rolls of lino while Alice hefts the tile adhesive bucket as if it weighs nothing) when the door goes. Instantly, they both drop what they’re doing, Bella swearing beneath her breath as roll number three thumps down on her left foot. It hurts, but luckily it caught her at a good angle. Pain, but not the blinding kind.

“Is that my clumsy daughter, I hear?”

“Yeah, Dad! It’s me! Alice is here too; Hot Doc’s kid!”

“I do wish you wouldn’t call our best doctor that, Bells.” Dad walks into the kitchen, stopping in his tracks and letting out a long, slow whistle when he spots the tiles. “Impressive. You both did this in one afternoon?”

“We sure did. Alice helps out her mum with their home decor, so I did the manual labour and she did the thinking required to get everything straight.” Holding out one dust covered hand, Bella slams it against Alice’s when she too offers her palm up.

“Well, er, good work, girls. Let me know if you need any more supplies, Bells.”

The rest of the day passes by; she goes for a run that Alice joins her on, has tea with her dad once the friendly neighbourhood vampire has left, then goes to sleep in a room that will someday become something bright like sunshine.

It is as if the thought of sunshine summons it; the next day is cloudless with a clear spring sun presiding over its domain. This means that Bella trudges through school without her favourite supernaturals. It doesn’t feel right. Even though she always makes time for Jess and Angela, even though she has human friends and a life outside of the vampires that coexist alongside humanity, it doesn’t change the fact there’s a little hole in Bella’s day. No boisterous Emmett, no stunning Rosalie, no mystical Alice, no broody Edward. No warm Jasper. It’s different to when she’d been in the tailspin of accepting the events of the baseball game, then it’d been a polite distance they’d given her out of respect. Now, it’s enforced by the traitorous sunlight that resides above her head.

Squinting up at the sky, Bella hops out of Ol’ Red, boots crunching into the authentic stone pathway leading up to the Cullen household. By the time she’s collected her schoolbooks and the Cullens’ missed assignments, Jasper is at the door. He’s standing in the shade of the house and absolutely nothing gives away the fact the sun might very well set him alight. Then again, if she had the control of her body he did, she wouldn’t be worried either.

“Cowboy!” She accompanies this bellow with a hand gun gesture, made with her only free hand. To Bella’s absolute delight, Jasper slams both hands over his chest and staggers as if he has genuinely been shot. He drops to his knees, then down onto his back, one arm sprawled out and staring up at her as she gets to his side.

“Darlin’, I’m fading. A single shot gone astray and I am torn from your presence. Take a good look, my dear. It's a historic moment you can tell your grandchildren about - how you watched the last of the Old South fall one night.”

“That’s a Gone with the Wind rip off quote if I ever heard on,” Bella declares, slipping her shoes off before dropping the Cullen clan’s assignments atop Jasper’s chest. The stacks of paper hit him with a thump but he doesn’t so much as flinch, instead smiling up at her with those knock-out dimples.

“Frankly my Darlin’, I don’t give a damn.”

“Have you been watching films while I’ve been slaving away in a stuffy classroom?” Bella grumbles, offering Carlisle and Esme a wave when they poke their heads out do the dining room to greet her.

“I’ve spent more time in the American education system than you’ve been alive, Bella. Forgive me if I don’t have any sympathy.”

“Forgiven. If you come back with me and watch some more Disney movies. I’ll even drive Ol’ Red close so you don’t crisp in the sun.” At that, Jasper cocks an eyebrow, rising to his feet and forcing her to tilt her own head back to keep eye contact.

“We don’t crisp in the sun, Darlin’.”

“Well, what do you do then?”

Jasper has to drive them over to Bella’s house. The girl herself is utterly useless, still dissolving into fits of giggles whenever she so much as catches sight of him from the corner of her eye, cheeks wet with mirthful tears. Every so often, she’ll whisper a lowly ‘disco-fever’ or ‘I’m feeling the funk’. Once she’s whispered one of these things, the giggles slip free again. The undiluted joy is an absolute pleasure to be exposed to and, truthfully, it more than makes up for the fact she’s laughing at him and his circumstances. 

Pulling up on the drive, Jasper forces the hand-break on, silently bemoaning the fact Bella would undoubtedly protest if he were to buy her a newer car, a safer one. Maybe he can put the old red truck out of action? But he could never purposely do that; Bella loves this old rust bucket far too much for him to ever go through with such an action. Even if it would crumple like a cheap can in a crash, he doubts she’ll part with it. Not without some heavy-handed persuasion anyway. 

“Your humble abode, Darlin’,” Jasper atones, circulating his hand before his chest, folding into a mock bow as best he can in the driver’s seat, conscious of how close the wheel is and how very upset his company would be should he accidentally break it. 

“Thanks, Disco-flairs.” The passenger door is thrown open with only minimal protest, Bella clambering out with all the grace of a young puppy, all enthusiasm and little limb control. That she gets out without both breaking down into hysterics all tripping on her untied shoelaces is a miracle in and of itself. Jasper rests one arm upon the steering wheel, a smile touching his lips as he watches her. Bella straightens herself out, standing tall and brushing down flyaway hairs. It is only after she’s got herself sorted that she turns back to look at him, hips shifting to a side and arms folding across her chest, the posture at odds with the warm grin on her face. 

“What you smiling at, Cowboy?”

“The ridiculous human that’s just made gettin’ outta a truck into a pantomime.”

“Oh no! There’s a vampire behind you!” Bella cries, all theatrical pointing, one hand pressing over her parted lips and the fearful expression dialled up to a mock-level of ten. 

“Bella.”

“Oh no there’s not! Oh yes there is!” She slams the door shut with the swing of a hip, continuing her one-woman re-enactment of a play that only exists within her head. Jasper watches her troop up to the front door, not yet moving from the truck where the keys are still twisted into ignition, waiting for her to realise. The silly little human pats at the pockets, brow puckering as she finds them flat or otherwise occupied only by a phone. After a moment, she swings around to frown at him, nose all scrunched up before the tongue comes out. Then, she’s flipping over the little gnome on the porch, waving a second set of keys at him in triumph.

With a roll of his eyes, Jasper frees the keys from the engine, exiting the truck and making his way over to join Bella as she completes her victory dance. He knows the disco point is put in there solely for him.

“All done, Darlin’?”

“Until I see the disco in action, I’ll never stop making a point.” She completes her sentence with an additional disco point, near jabbing him in the skull with the action. He can’t stop the chuckle when she trips over the little step to the door, catching herself on a conveniently placed cabinet in the hallway, the picture frames upon the surface rattling but not yet falling over in the wake of Earthquake via Bella. There’s several of a young Bella on her own, all at different stages of her life. One of a full family photo from what has to be Bella’s first Christmas (she’s tiny; must have been born late in the year, he doesn’t actually know her birthday, come to think of it). She’s in a painfully eighties baby-grow; it’s adorable. There are a few pictures of her with her father, some that have obviously come from her time living with her mother (given the background) and one with another kid, a boy from the reservation.

“Come on, Cowboy. You’ve seen the home videos; don’t think you need to inspect the baby photos as well. Unless you’re willing to share some of your own.”

“Weren’t many cameras around in eighteen-forty-four, Darlin’.”

Bella hums, kicking off her boots and clambering up half her stairs before his words register.

“Holy shit! Eighteen-forty-four?!” she cries, spinning around on the balls of her feet. It’s only because the stairs are covered in carpet that she doesn’t instantly plunge down them; on Esme’s oak staircase, she’d have been halfway to the bottom already with those fuzzy socks on her feet.

Slowly removing his own boots, Jasper flexes his toes in the cotton of his socks before following after Bella, stopping only when he reaches the human roadblock on the stairs. Even though she’s standing two steps above the one he’s on, he’s still taller, if only by an inch or two now. Bella takes another step up without looking back, grinning when she has to angle her head down to look at him now, higher up by a mere inch.

“Eighteen-forty-four?” she repeats, grinning all the while. “You actually were a cowboy then!”

“Technically, the era of the cowboy is stated to have existed between eighteen-sixty-five until eighteen-eighty. I missed it by two years as I was turned in eighteen-sixty-three.”

“Close enough,” Bella concludes, waving the technicalities away with one hand, offering the other up to him. Jasper slots his own hand in hers, allowing the warmth of her palm to soak into his, fragile fingers tangling with his own. He lets her put the energy in on dragging him upstairs, even if she would get nowhere if he didn’t want to move.

Soon enough, Bella has managed to hustle her into his bedroom, illuminated by the multitude of fairy-lights that bracket a massive corkboard on one wall, the setting sunlight leaking in through the single window. As Bella peels her phone from her pocket, muttering about ringing her dad to let him know Jasper was visiting, Jasper takes the open opportunity to snoop, sure that Bella would inform him if he was poking his nose in places he shouldn’t be.

His eyes flicker over the corkboard, taking in the collage of pictures, all far more recent than the ones that occupy the cabinet downstairs. There’s plenty of Bella with Angela and Jessica from school, trying on dresses, as a sleepover, trying out the swing in Bella’s back garden. Then there’s ones of a boy from the reservation; by the shape of his eyes, it’s the same one from the photograph downstairs. Both he and Bella are working on her red truck in some photos, others, they’re throwing snowballs at each other. Then there’s photos of Bella with Alice, redecorating her kitchen, of all things. A scant few of Edward; one candid shot clearly taken undercover of Edward grimacing, captioned with a ‘I smell too good; chomp, chomp’ beneath it. That has Jasper’s lips twisting up in a smile; the other vamprie’d probably be quite upset at that dark humour, but it’s certainly appropriate.

The final group, well, that’s him. Bella and him, that is. Most of the photographs are from that day in her living room where they’d spent some time pulling stupid faces after a few nice photographs for her mother. There’s another that absolutely has to have been taken by one of the other Cullens from up a tree; he doesn’t think Bella could climb that high and get down (he doesn’t doubt her ability to climb the tree, but getting down is another matter entirely). Clearly this photograph had been snapped when he’d heard the movement of some prey; his head is tilted slightly to a side, shoulders loose and ready to run.

Using a sharpie, Bella has drawn a cowboy hat upon the picture, captioning it below with a ‘yeehaw’. Utterly ridiculous.

“Alright, so dad knows you’re here which means he won’t shoot you on sight if we’re still in my room when he gets back, and that means the bullet wont’ bounce off you or whatever which means your secret is safe!” Bella leaps up onto her bed, the springs groaning in protest as she then falls into a seat-drop, bouncing twice before she loses her momentum. “Okay, so you said eighteen-sixty-three; is this you willing to tell me the sordid details or your past, or do I get to enjoy the mystery for a little longer?” Eyebrows waggling, Bella folds her legs and snatches up a pillow, half reclining back against her bed and patting the mattress beside her. Before he joins her, Jasper opens the window and turns the air freshener on, inhaling the artificial scent of oranges.

“No offence, Darlin’, but it stinks in here.”

“Stinks of snack?”

“Yeah, you’re a terrible temptation.” At that, she laughs, shoulder kneading at the pillow to her back until she’s comfortable. Brown eyes with those little flickers of green watch him settle on the mattress beside her. All the while, Jasper does his best to focus on naming the different chemicals he can smell the air freshener giving off.

“Okay then, Darlin’. What would you like to know about me?”

“Everything. I want to know anything and everything.” And she means it too; he can feel it in her emotions, the sincerity, the curiosity, the eagerness. The acceptance. It’s in the eye contact she makes, the way her whole face brightens as he nods in agreement.

“My… upbringing, shall we say, wasn’t as pleasant as that of my adopted siblings…”

He speaks for far longer than he planned to, going a bit more in-depth than he had planned to. Bella is a captive audience, listening without a word, responding to every key detail. He feels the sadness as he admits to fighting in the Southern Vampire wars, the sorrow as he describes what it was like to live in those conditions. There’s happiness when he describes finding a friend in Peter, joy when he speaks of how he got out and went North. The amusement when he recalls his first meeting with Alice, the satisfaction as he retells his meeting with the rest of the Cullen Clan.

At some point, Bella had snatched up his wrist, twisting his forearm back and forth in an attempt to spot the numerous scars that litter his skin like a leopard’s wears its spots. After ten minutes of failure, Jasper takes pity on her, pulling his phone free of his pocket and turning the torch on. He ignores the cheeky text message from Emmett; he’ll deal with the idiot when eh gets back tonight.

“Ouch,” Bella murmurs, tracing one of the ovals with her finger, a grimace on her face. Her legs are tucked under the thick duvet of her bed by this point, tow thick jumpers pulled over her torso but she’d adamantly refused to allow him to close the window yet, citing that she ‘didn’t want to get eaten’. Then she’d has the cheek to grin at him. Silly girl that she is.

“Have you eaten yet, Darlin’?”

“Nope! I’ll go make a sandwich, you pick a Disney movie off the stack and then we’ll watch it until I fall asleep, as is my destiny as the weak human of our awesome friendship.” With that declaration, Bella throws the covers off of her legs (and consequently over his own), grimacing at the cold, and clambers over him without so much as a ‘by your leave’.

The second Bella is downstairs, Jasper closes the window, though he leaves the air freshener on. Squatting down next to the bookshelf, he inspects the array of Disney movies on offer, some familiar, some not. Judging by the greasy fingerprints that’re all over ‘the Emperor’s New Groove’, he’d guess this as a personal favourite, so that’s the one he pulls out. Turning on the DVD player is no issue; Emmett’s had once since they first came out; it’s more than familiar to him. Even if a part of his old soul misses the simplicity of the VHS. Just watch the movie, manually rewind it and job done. There wasn’t any of this selecting options from a menu.

On the other hand, the advancement of technology means videogames have come a long way from Pong. He’s relatively certain Carlisle has that in the loft in some home or another.

The thunderous thumping of human feet on the stairwell heralds Bella’s approach and she arrives at the doorway only a moment before the scent does.

“What is that?” He can’t help but to ask; he imagines it’s something like an odorous suckerpunch.

“I put some perfume on. Tell me my natural musk is no longer attracting you.” Bella climbs over him again with even less grace than her exit, too busy focusing on the sandwich she has balanced in one hand to care for decorum.

“You stink, Darlin’.”

“Excellent. Now, I believe I promised you an embarrassing story about me and mum rock-climbing?”

“Yeah, you did. But I promised you a palm reading before that.”

A palm is shoved under his nose the second he finishes his sentence, Bella’s fingers wiggling back and forth. All he can smell is the smear of butter that’s been rubbed between her pointer finger and thumb, along with the minute flakes of cheese that’ve ended up under her nails. Taking a gentle hold of her wrist, Jasper flicks Bella’s hand over so he can see the palm, eyes tracing over the lines present.

“Start with the love line; that’s the one we were taking about before, right?”

“This is your love line, though it’s more often known as the heartline,” Jasper says softly, tracing his finger along the crease in question. He can feel the curves of flesh on each side of the line, the small indentations were smaller creases have worked their way along the main line, the callouses that have formed on Bella’s palms for a little too much DIY. “You’ve got an upwards curve; that usually means you’re good at creating a romantic atmosphere and verbalising your love. Your heartline extends to the Mouth of Jupiter; this one here-” Jasper presses his forefinger to the first knuckle of Bella’s pointer finger, hidden beneath the flesh of her palm- “that indicates you’ve got a lot of love, big dreams and some high expectations, Darlin’.”

“Huh. Not quite sure what big dreams my hands are trying to tell me about,” Bella murmurs, squinting down at the palm that Jasper has yet to release. He’s nowhere near finished yet, after all. “What about this little triangle over it?”

“If it’s above the line, which yours is, it shows you’re fickle and like butting into other people’s married life as a third entity. I’ll tell Carlisle to watch out.”

“What! No! You’re fucking with me!” Bella jabs her fingers into his ribs, or attempts to. Jasper moves enough with the motion that she doesn’t fracture her fingers, but the tips will probably hurt for a few minutes.

“Don’t put too much stock into it, Darlin’. These things are hardly accurate. Rosalie’s got a lot of short lines crossing her heartline and that usually means you’re supposed to unhappy and a failure at love, plagued by a lot of romantic bad luck.”

“I’d hardly call Emmett bad luck,” Bella grumbles, rolling her eyes even as she nurses the tips of her fingers in the comforts of her arm pit.

“You’ve not had the live with him. Now, your lifeline as a sharp curve…”

Bella falls asleep before Jasper completely finishes his palm reading. He has, however, moved on to the much smaller and less important lines, well aware the sound of his voice was inducing a drowsiness in her but unwilling to stop talking. The movie he’d put on has been all but ignored, only the odd phrase registering as the brightly coloured animation begins to draw to a close. He hears the police cruiser arrive on the drive, hears Charlie Swan clamber out and open up the front door. Jasper has plenty of time to decide if he will scamper off, pretending one of his siblings have collected him by car and that Bella fell asleep watching a movie.

He doesn’t move.

When he chief opens Bella’s bedroom door, the movie is drawing to its conclusion and Jasper has his head resting on Bella’s, his eyes closed and chest moving in a slow approximation of sleeping breaths. Surprise and a wistful happiness curl off of the chief of police before the door closes again.

Jasper lays there, supporting Bella’s sleeping form as he listens in on Charlie Swan ringing up Carlisle, informing his adopted father that Jasper has fallen asleep and he’s welcomed to stay the night, if that’s okay with Carlisle. Though Charlie cannot hear it, Jasper catches the low of confusion in the elder vampire’s voice; it probably won’t be long until one of the Cullens are checking in. Jasper’s not to bothered about that in the slightest.

He waits until Charlie has showered and gone to bed himself before he slips out from under Bella, making sure to tuck her in. He removed the plate a sandwich had once rested on from where the girl has tipped both it and the crumbs upon it on herself. Then, he takes one of Bella’s pillows, grabs the ugly throw that Bella has already got a picture of him huddled under, and sets himself up on the thick floor rug. He doesn’t sleep, it’s not something vampires are capable of. Just another element of humanity that the venom has erased from him. It doesn’t matter.

Laying there, Jasper allows his mind to wander as he waits for the morning to come.

Chapter Text

Two months have passed since Bella woke up and tripped over the Jasper log some fool of a lumberjack had laid upon her floor. The first wisps of summer are upon them now; Bella can smell it in the air, can feel it on the skin of her exposed forearms as she’s wearing a short-sleeved shirt now that the temperature has been forcibly dragged up to an acceptable level. The sun is shining, the sky is blue and everything is absolutely beautiful.

“Bella, you’re burning.”

“Huh? Oh, guess I am. Hold my books while I look for some suncream?”

Jessica hums, accepting Bella’s stupidly big pile of books. Digging deep into the depths of her backpack, Bella emerges triumphantly with a small bottle, waving it excitedly before Jessica.

“We live in Forks. Rainy, rainy Forks. Why are you even carrying suncream?”

“Because fortune favours the prepared, Jess!” Flipping back the cap, Bella squirts an ample amount onto the tips of her fingers before she begins slapping it all over her face. It’s been a long while since she had to apply suncream, the last time it’d been a common a morning routine; back in Phoenix, it’d been a necessity to avoid burning like a forgotten piece of toast. She bets the Cullen Clan don’t have to worry about burning. Just spontaneous disco parties.

“Any exciting plans tonight?”

“Oh, I’m going to meet up with Jasper when he gets back from camping.”

“Urgh, what is up with you two? You’re like, the worst kind of best friends because you should definitely be a couple. Trust me, I know.”

“Jasper and I are the very best of friends, Jess. We’re like bacon and eggs; we just make sense together. And while the idea of wrapping my legs around his shoulders is pleasing, I just…” Bella trails, rubbing at the bridge of her nose to ensure the suncream is correctly applied, all the while unsure how to finish that sentence. The thought of doing sexy things with Jasper has crossed her mind (many, many times), but she’s never considered a relationship. Because she’s reborn, she has far too much life experience to be with someone her own age and she’s not an adult yet, so she hasn’t been able to look elsewhere, other than a few dates for fun. Only, there are five vampires who appear to be her age but have that second life (and probably a third and fourth lifetime work of experience). True two of them are in a relationship with each other… but Edward, Alice and Jasper aren’t.

“You just what?” Jessica asks, digging her elbow into Bella’s side, a smug little grin on her face, eyebrows waggling.

“I just never considered it,” Bella confesses, swiping one last bit of suncream over the tops of her cheeks, rubbing it in quick and hard. She’s managed three years without semi-permanent red cheeks, she’ll be damned if she burns after moving up north.

“Never- you’ve never considered Jasper Hale as your boyfriend? Never?!” Jessica hisses, true confusion on her face. She’s right though. Bella has never once considered Jasper Hale as boyfriend material. He’d been her arm-candy to the dance, he’d been pleasing on the eye. But Jasper Hale is nothing more than a poor illusion of humanity.

Jasper Whitlock, on the other hand, is a being as out of place as she is, if not more so. Or maybe less so, given there’re others, given he’s one of many. She’s never met another person that’s been born again, that remembers their previous life. Jasper though… he’s got that lifetime of experience she’d never actually expected to find in another person.

Huh.

“Not until a moment ago,” Bella states, accepting the pile of books back, tucking them neatly between her arms and chin. “Thanks for the talk, Jess, see you later!” And she takes off, scampering across the car park to Ol’ Red. She does take a moment to suspiciously eye the new tires (Dad had said about replacing them in summer so she’s pretty sure it wasn’t him that changed them, but change they have) before clambering into the cab. She’s getting the evil eye from Jessica for escaping gossip time, especially when they’ve hit upon a topic her prospector-like friend could mine deeper on.

Blowing her a kiss, Bella forced Ol’ Red to splutter to life and takes off.

“Oi! Cowboy!” Bella bellows, slamming the truck door shut with the swing of a hip. Her arms are full of assignments, fly away hairs sticking slick with the sun-cream on her forehead. She’s relatively sure a bit is in her eye; it stings but in that odd kind of way that you can power on with it. Eh, her tears will wash it out eventually.

Adjusting the books in her hands, Bella straightens as Jasper opens the door, dressed down in a simple tee and worn pair of jeans. Even then, he looks ridiculously handsome, like Apollo trying to walk among the mortals. Behind him, Rosalie saunters by with a look of disdain on her face. Yeah, there’s no way that she could compare Jasper to a deity when the other blonde is nearby, looking like Aphrodite in the flesh.

“Bella. You’re dressed for a hike?”

“We’re going hiking, I’ve made an executive decision. Seeing as you missed the board meeting, and the casual chat over lunch break where we muttered about how certain people can get their comeuppance for missing out on the history test, you get no say in this.” Plus, she’s very, very excited to go trampling around in the woods with the biggest-bad there is watching over her shoulder. Absolutely no need to worry about any kind of carnivorous wildlife if it means they’ll turn tail and run at the sight/scent of vampire Jasper. Plus, the idea of watching her friend tackle a grizzly bear is doing funny things to her insides. From the puckering of Jasper’s eyebrows, he’s very much aware of her flipping stomach but without context, there’s nothing he can do.

So, Bella smiles like it’s all sunshine and roses, striding over to thrust the stupid number of reference books she’s collected for the Cullen’s essay assignments into his chest.

“I got you some books for the essays; essays we are writing together, by the way because my first life of English-awesome always fails to aid me with American History, funnily enough.” Does she still have some English-heritage bias? Maybe so. It’s such a shame she lost the accent growing up; Americans are supposed to find that particular dialect attractive, aren’t they?

“And why do you think I’d be any help, Darlin’?”

Is she envious that Jasper manages to balance all those books on one hand, leaving the other free to begin putting on his boots? Yes, yes, she is. It’s also really quite strange because the pile of books is almost as large as her torso and he makes it look so effortless.

“Oh, I don’t know, maybe because you’ve been through the American education system before? Or because you lived through a good chunk of America’s time-line according to the white man?” Hey, she’s Jake’s friend, she has to acknowledge the dirty her ancestors have done in order to strive to never repeat those mistakes. To try and make amends for them.

Whatever else she’s going to say disappears from her thoughts, for Jasper’s managed to hand off the books to Edward and has stepped out onto the porch. It’s like some god has taken all the of the stars in the sky and rammed them all under his skin, leaving them sparkling and twinkling and drawing a human like a bee to honey. It’s not her fault; sparkly usually means water in the natural world; it’s a human instinct engraved throughout centuries of survival. Bella steps closer to Jasper, taking his hand and lifting it, twisting the limb back and forth to watch the sun bounce off in so many different ways. The shade her hand creates leaves a dark imprint over his skin where the sparkles disappear in the absence of light, nothing but pale marble remaining.

“Disco fever,” Bella whispers under her breath, linking her fingers between the spaces of Jasper’s own, nails scraping back and forth over the knuckles. She can’t feel the indents of bite marks, even if she knows they’re there; Jasper told her himself. Her human senses are only good enough to spot her own prey, not to find the flaws in her predator’s form.

The lightshow is still wicked cool.

“Disco fever hike through the forest!” Bella declares, putting all her weight behind a violent tug that ultimately gets her nowhere, Jasper rooted to the spot and watching her with blatant amusement in his gaze. Edward and now Alice are both standing in the hallway, watching her fruitlessly try to lure Jasper further out into the open. It’s to the point where she’s no longer supporting her own weight, pulling hard on Jasper’s arm with her legs straight and heels digging in to Esme’s grass (sorry yummy vampire mummy). Still no move. “Cowboooyy!” Bella wiggles herself in an attempt to do the same to Jasper’s arm he’s a rock, unmoved in the face of her whine and cute little pout. Damn it. “Pretty please?”

“All you had to do was ask, Darlin’.” And just like that they’re in motion. Bella throws their adjoined hands up into the air in a shameless victory pump, twisting to look at Alice and Edward as they cross the clearing. “If dad rings, tell him we’re out hiking and that there’s no forest hanky-panky happening because Cowboy’s too much of a gentleman to do the dirty with me!”

Edward groans, hiding his face in one hand as Alice laughs, high and delighted, like a fairy taking flight. Bella waves goodbye to the duo, squawking as she trips over a rock. Jasper catches her, swinging her back up onto her feet and around so she’s forced to face the right way and is no long walking backwards.

“You’re a damn hazard to yourself, Darlin’.”

“And don’t you forget it!”

They walk for a half hour, filtering in and out of the sunlight, all dependent on the amount of shadow the trees offer. Bella’s backpack, filled to the top with human snacks and two water bottles, bounces against her hips as they move, hiking boots digging into the soft earth beneath her feet. After her third near fall, Jasper’d taken her hand again and not let go this time, saving her from three move falls with little effort on his part. She’s sporty, but that’s on flat ground. It’s anyone’s ballgame when they’re on uneven ground like this. A single tree root is all that’s needed to put her out of commission. As it is, she’s got the world’s best defence against human clumsiness; a vampire with a vested interest in her not breaking her neck.

“Come on then, Cowboy. How often do you just go for a walk in these here woods, instead of heading out to lasso your prey?”

“I promise you, Darlin’, there ain’t no lassoing involved.”

“Oh, but there could be, couldn’t you?”

Jasper smirks but doesn’t continue that line of conversation, instead returning to her original question. “We don’t really go for walks. A lot of vampires, if they do not fine a fixation, an interest, usually find themselves in a state of motionlessness. For humans, you are constantly moving, your lungs contracting, heart beating. We don’t experience that.” Bella hums, swinging their arms back and forth, the back of her neck warm under the sun’s golden light-

“Ah, shit! I forgot my neck!” Shimmying the backpack from her shoulders, Bella swiftly begins rooting through the array of contents to locate that treasured little bottle, ignoring Jasper’s amused huff. He’s probably rolling his eyes, the irritating ‘I don’t burn, just sparkle’ bastard. She’ll keep him as her best friend, but he’s on thin ice. Alice is an attracting alternative… but, alas, she told Jasper her deepest, darkest secret first. Looks like they’re stuck together.

Squirting a huge dollop of the white stuff (heeheehee) onto her palm, Bella slaps it onto the back of her neck, furiously rubbing her fingers back and forth. She’s done the whole red-peely-owie skin thing before, she doesn’t want to do it again. Too many of her clothes have a high-ish collar that’d rub her neck raw if it were burnt. That’d suck. As she finishes the final few circles on her neck, Bella chances a glance to Jasper, taking note of the bemused smile on his lips. She squirts another dollop into her hands, but smears it across the vampire’s cheek this time, a delighted little laugh escapes her lips over the fact he’d actually allowed her to do that. Even though Jasper’s pale, the suncream is still that awful off-white on him too, resting in a large swipe mark on his cheekbone. If it’d been whipped cream, she might have offered to lick it off. Suncream, however, is about as icky as you can get. She rubs it into his cheek instead.

It’s not fair how damn smooth his skin is, it’s really not.

“Only gonna sort one cheek, Darlin’?”

At that, Bella huffs, shoving the bottle into her jacket pocket, bag already having been swung up onto her shoulder and she’s just too lazy to bother opening it back up again. Once again she begins eating up the distance between herself and their unset destination, fingers running along the trunk of the nearest tree, feeling the roughness of the bark biting at her flesh. “Well, it’s not like you-”

“Bella?”

Bella doesn’t answer, body in an awkward half-twist as she keeps looking at Jasper, frozen in midstep. Because the sun’s coming in, but only half his face is sparkling. Suncream cheek is normal. Suncream cheek is normal and not sparkling and the sun is kissing up on those cheekbones like every other thing with a mind of its own would like to do.

“Hand, hand, gimme gimme!” Holding out her own palm, Bella snatches up the bottle of suncream (wonder fluid) with the other, emptying what could probably be half the bottle’s contents in the next second, all over Jasper’s hand. She doesn’t care, dropping the bottle to better work the stuff into his skin, getting ugly smear marks on the sleeves of his jumper that she knows Alice will kill her for later. But that doesn’t matter because-

“Aye-oh! You’re not sparkling!” Gesturing wildly towards Jasper’s frozen arm, Bella finally looses her balance, falling into the trunk she’d stopped by because it seems that Jasper.exe has just shut down. He’s staring at his arm uncomprehendingly, golden eyes wide and lips parted. He’s shocked, she can feel the waves of it slamming up against her insides, a crashing force that proves he’s utterly lost. Bella reaches out and takes his hand, drawing it closer and turning it back and forth. You can see the point where she’s stopped rubbing the suncream in; his forearm sparkles, his wrist is just… normal.

“No more unnecessary disco fever,” Bella concludes, lacing their fingers together as Jasper finally gathers his wits and reboots, a disbelieving laugh leaving his lips.

The next thing Bella knows, she’s got Jasper’s arms planted on either side of her hips and she’s in the air, getting spun around at a speed that makes her incredibly dizzy and just a little sick.

“Jasper! Jasper down! Nasty human fluid incoming!” She can feel it in the back of her throat the more her eyes try and fail to figure out the blurs of colour she knows have to be shapes. Jasper puts her down just in time for Bella to upchuck a little stomach acid; luckily, it’s not a full out throw-up. Still, far from an attractive move in front of her most attractive friend/potential romantic partner.

It’s also ‘round about the time things start clicking in her head because, hello, suncream isn’t a recent invention. Not to her, at least.

“Hang on a second, have you never tried to put suncream on? Knowing it blocks damage from the sun?” Well, for humans it does and clearly there’s something in the sun’s rays that moves vampires into glitter-town. “Wait, have you ever actually tried to figure out why you sparkle?”

From the expression Jasper wears, the answer is blatantly obvious before he speaks.

“It’s not something I’ve ever heard to be experimented with.”

“You’re, you’re joking, right? I mean, good god! I can’t believe you’ve all had this problem, your entire race has had this problem for centuries, maybe longer than a millennium even, and not once have you ever thought to figure out why you sparkle!” Bella laughs and it’s a wild, free thing, filled with shocked amusement that evolves into genuine humour. It is only after another few moments of chuckles, of throaty giggles, that Bella manages to reel herself in and continue her train of thought. “Not one of you has ever tried to figure out how to stop it? You’ve all just, just accepted that it’s the be all and end all?” She just can’t wrap her head around it. Whenever she has a problem, she doesn’t work out a way around it. Not unless she’s exhausted all options of solving the problem in the first place. And she’s never had a problem so blatant as a ‘I can’t go outside in the sunlight’; surely that kind of issue would be a pressing problem, one to be solved as soon as vampirically possible?

Bella laughs again, shaking her head in sheer disbelief, even as she plucks up the near empty bottle from the ground. Unscrewing the cap, finger circling the inner rim, Bella runs the last of the cream across the rest of Jasper’s face, rubbing it in, watching the sparkles slowly fade. Without the glaring brightness, he looks even more attractive in the sunlight, golden eyes set ablaze, a shimmering halo of light reflecting off his half-curls.

And, under the sun, still with thick streaks of suncream visible on half of his non-sparky face, Jasper smiles at her.

It’s like a sucker punch, a hit from a heavyweight champion and she’s only in the lightweight’s class; she’s knocked right off her feet, breath driven from her lungs. 

“Darlin’?”

Looking up at him, Bella finds her lips slowly lifting at the corners, her heart clenching and flipping far too fast for her present company but she just can’t stop it. 

“Hey, can I kiss you?” Asking because A, consent is important, and B, she doesn’t want to throw Jasper into a feeding frenzy, or some such thing. That’d really kill the mood right here.

Jasper’s still staring at her, dimples still present in the flesh of his cheeks, smile still on his lips. Bella steps closer and he doesn’t move away, just continues to smile at her. It’s only when she puts one hand to his shoulder, rises to her tiptoes, that he moves. His lips are hard against hers, no give whatsoever, no matter how gently he cradles the small of her back with his other hand. It’s quick and soft (emotionally, not physically because it’s like kissing a living statue) and it leaves Bella’s head spinning because Jasper smells so good. But god-

“Urgh, sun-cream!”

Watching Bella try to scrape the taste of chemicals from her tongue in the middle of the forest, Jasper turns both of his hands back and forth, one sparkling, one still. Just like it should be if there were no sun. He’s not sparkling, he’s not so painfully inhuman beneath the spring sunshine and it’s all because Bella had teasingly smeared some suncream across his cheek. Suncream; it’s ridiculous. Not once has he ever considered what he could do about the sun and the way it so blatantly exposes them for what they are. He’s just accepted it. Accepted he has to hide, has to go without. He’s never once wondered if there’s a way to fix things. How utterly imbecilic.

He licks at his lips, allows the venom to destroy the chemical residue that resides there, wiping the liquid free with the sleeve of his jumper. He still ends up with some of it smeared on the fabric (Alice’ll kill him for it unless she’d actually passed him this jumper on the way out for this exact reason), but it’s off his lips.

So, when he steps forwards, takes a careful hold of Bella’s chin to look her in the eyes, he feels no worry at all as he asks, “can I kiss you now, Darlin’?”

Bella’s pupils are wide, the green-freckled brown of her irises still visible but noticeably thinner to his senses. Her heart is pounding away, blood pooling beneath her cheeks and though he feels the venom gather in the back of his mouth, Jasper pushes it away, reaches for that wonder he’s just uncovered instead. He can go out in the sunlight now, they can go out in the sunlight now, so long as they get a cream that’ll stay on them for a while. He nestles that sensation close to his breastbone, lets it fill his every pore as he continues to stare at Bella.

“You can definitely kiss me any time you like. I’ve always had a thing for the Wild West.”

He laughs, keeping it soft and trapped in the one exhale that ghosts across Bella’s skin. Her head is tilted right back to keep looking him in the eyes, his angled down and their noses so close the tips brush. She smells so good but he could never dream of drinking from her, not now. Not this magically little thing that’s given some of the world back to him.

He puts every ounce of control he has into the brush of lips against lips, does his best to meld his own against Bella’s, to follow the push and pull of her muscles, to allow as much give as he can under the pressure she tries to exert. She’s so breakable, so warm compared to him. Her heart is hammering, eyelashes fluttering with nerves. The slightest pressure against his scalp as she threads her fingers through his hair, tangling in his curls, contrasts against the tight clench her other hand creates in the fabric of his jumper.

Bella pulls back slightly, glancing up at him and grinning, teeth scraping against her redredred lips (perhaps he’d put a little too much pressure into that kiss?).

“Hey, can I kiss you anytime I want?”

“I think you’d only reach my jaw unless you let me know,” Jasper muses. Bella takes it as a challenge, leaping up at him until they’re in a reverse piggyback, her lips planting an obnoxiously loud smacking kiss against his cheek and he hooks one arm around her back to keep her from falling.  

“You’ll just have to anticipate me then!” she declares, sliding back off him, fingers threading between his again and, this time, Jasper curls his own around her infinitely smaller, infinitely more delicate hand.

Anticipate her sudden affections is something he’ll never have an issue looking out for. He doesn’t doubt she’ll continue to surprise him. Especially now that they could explore Fork in the sunlight together now.

“Guess I will then, Darlin’. Suppose I’m the only one who’s got a chance at that.”

“Yup,” Bella agree, popping the ‘p’, “a human wouldn’t be able to keep up with me and you’re my emotional support vampire now. If you wanna be, that is.”

“That your way of asking me to be your boyfriend?” He won’t deny that the idea is pleasant. While the implications of an other-half that is human terrifies him, the chance to experience this swell of happiness all the time, to inspire this kind of happiness in Bella with just his presence and actions, is beyond appealing.

“We’re too old to be boyfriend and girlfriend. We’ll be a classic couple, like Scarlett and Rhett, or Calamity Jane and Wild Bill Hickock.” At the last one, Jasper laughs, shaking his head in sheer disbelief.

“Sounds good to me, Darlin’. Sounds good to me.”

Chapter Text

“I present to you, Disco-no-more!”

Standing beside him, Bella had gestured with straight arms, fingers spread wide. Her grin had been wide, her genuine pleasure and eagerness to offer her solution to a problem that was thousands-of-years old had been nowhere near enough to drown out the overwash of shock from the rest of them.

Even now, a week on from that date, Jasper still thinks of the day life improved with an overwhelming fondness that he cradles beneath his breastbone. And today, today is the first sunny school day that he has ever been present for. The suncream’s scent is almost overwhelmingly strong, but the way Bella’s whole face lights up as she spots him makes it more than worth it.

“Cowboy!” She comes bouncing over, teeth flashing white against her rosy skin, a half-dissolved mint rattling about against her molars. Jasper opens his arms to catch her, bookbag hitting the floor but near forgotten in the face of the human hurricane that sweeps into his hold. He can hear the other humans whispering, the handful who have yet to see the evidence that one of the Cullen Clan is dating clearly disbelieving, the ones who have seen it exhibiting the shock that it remains true.

Still, Jasper closes his arms around Bella, drawing her into his chest, basking in the warmth her human form radiates, the sun kissing at the top of her head illuminating the little flyaway hairs that halo her head. He spins them once, sweeping Bella carefully off of her feet before gently placing her back down in time for her head finish nuzzling against her torso.

“Good morning, Darlin’.”

“You smell of suncream.” Yes, he doesn’t need reminding of that but if even Bella can smell it, he’s probably put a little too much on. Regardless, it’s best to have more than not enough in this case.

“Thank you, Bella.”

Bella startles, her mouth popping open as Rosalie flounces off after her very curt, very quick thank you. Jasper knows exactly what it’s for; Rose has a piece of her life back, the ability to walk in the sun. He knows that as soon as she and Emmett marry (he’s not sure if this will be the twelfth or thirteenth wedding and he doesn’t truly care to ask), they’ll be going somewhere sunny for the honeymoon. Maybe even several sunny somewheres.

“Did she just-”

“Yeah, Darlin’. Best not to bring it up again though.” Making any progress with Rose is difficult; it’s probably best to not force more human time on her then is needed, no matter how much Jasper wishes for his ‘twin’ to like Bella. She will at some point, he knows it. It’ll take time though. And speaking of time-

“We have a whole summer holiday approaching; do you have any plans?”

At his question, Bella links her arm through his, firing a warm smile up at him, all doe-eyes and white teeth.

“I’ve got plans; do you want the decent ones, or the one’s not safe for school?”

Behind the both of them, Edward chokes, increasing his pace to power past them into school and away. Jasper watches him leave, feeling the wash of embarrassment and appal he leaves in his wake. Huh. Part of him wonders what exactly is spinning about in Bella’s head, another part of him doesn’t want to know. Not yet.

Humans are so incredibly fragile.

“Let’s save the more indecent ones for a time when you won’t get thrown in detention for voicing them, Darlin’.”

“We’re in cahoots now, Cowboy,” Bella reminds him, bumping her hip against his and near toppling herself over, “it’d be the calaboose for both of us.” She’s right; he wouldn’t leave her to it, if only because he’d spend the afternoon waiting around for her anyway.

“On more important matter than your dirty thoughts, Bella, will you do me the honour of accompanying me to the end of year dance?”

“Without question; gotta make sure the ladies of Forks understand you’re taken.”

He laughs, shaking his head as they come to a halt by her classroom, Edward already inside and unfalteringly not looking in their direction. Jasper doesn’t admit that he’s thoroughly taken, that Bella’s a bright spot in his life that he doesn’t wish to do without, but he’s not far off. Even if they figure out that they’re not mean to be romantic partners, he could never withstand the loss of their friendship. Not now that he’s experienced the hope she emanates.

“Mmm, I’ll work on staying out of detention if you offer to fill the time with me this afternoon instead.”

“Done deal, Darlin’.”

Bella grins, linking her hands around his neck and pressing up on her tip-toes. She’s still not quite able to reach his lips and Jasper doesn’t make it easier for her, refusing to lower his head. Just to see what she’ll do. Kisses are peppered along the edge of his jaw, down the column of his neck, before Bella mockingly imitates a bite with just the pressure of her lips alone. It’s such a stark contrast to the last time someone tried to bite him there that Jasper can only laugh, disbelieving and hopelessly amused. He plants a kiss to the tip of her nose, forehead against hers.

“See you at lunch.”

School is a bore, the only break in the monotone of non-too-quiet whispers is the bright glimpse of joy that is lunch with Bella. It makes him wish they had come to this town one year later than they had; then both he and Bella would be in the same year group. Regardless, he presses on throughout the day, right up until the bell is done. Normally, he’d stick around and ask some history related questions, a way of prepping the humans in his interest to attend college. Jasper can’t quite care for that now though; he can visit a multitude of campuses over the great length of his lifespan; Bella is here and now and that’s his priority at the moment.

He’s down the corridor and waiting outside the door to her classroom just as the rest begin to pour out. Several children twist to look at him, girls whispering and giggling; Bella’s friend Jessica pouts, gently elbowing the one human he’s remotely interested in. Bella lifts her head from her notebook and grins, hastily shoving it into her bag as she comes bouncing over to him.

“Hey, Darlin’. How does a trip out for the weekend sound?” He’s been thinking about it during history, plotting all the different places he could take her, then narrowing it down to places that Chief Swan would allow him to take her. There’d a great stretch of American land open to them now that he can walk under the sun and Jasper is eager to get back out there, to explore as he hasn’t been able to. It goes without question that he’ll bring Bella along with him.

“Oh! Road trip! I’ll need to get snacks and pack a few things and check with Dad, but I’m sure he won’t mind. I’m trustworthy, after all.” Here, Bella grins, tucking her hands beneath her grin to peer up at him from beneath her lashes. Jasper holds out his hand to her and Bella’s quick to snatch it up, swinging their joined limbs back and forth, a spring in her step as she walks beside him. He takes a moment to ensure her things won’t spill out her bag by zipping it closed, then returns his focus to their conversation.

“So, did you have somewhere in mind, Cowboy? Are we gonna ride off into the sunset, wrangle some cattle, oh, oh! How about barrel racing?”

“Darlin’, I don’t have a hope of getting a horse to come close to me, nevermind actually riding one.”

“Aww.”

“Pack for a weekend away and a four-hour car ride, if that’s acceptable to you, Darlin’.”

Bella Swan has a stomach that is currently occupied by a thousand and one butterflies. It’s ridiculous and her veins are full of bubbly champagne and oh, what a time to be alive and dating a vampire. She’d stumbled out of her house at too-early-O’clock in the morning, allowing an unfairly attractive Jasper to heft her luggage into the boot of what can only be the family Volvo. He’s a good boy who doesn’t mention that it takes her three attempts to get a grip on the handle of the door and open it up and, though he feels bad for it, Bella’s conked out in the passenger seat for the vast majority of the journey.

She’s not sure if it’s the universe working in mysterious ways or if it’s Jasper who used his gift to nudge her into alertness as the right moment; all she knows if that they’re in a parking lot for a McDonalds and that greasy, greasy breakfast is calling her name right now. That her boyfriend (her vampire boyfriend who is far too good looking for his own good; yes, she’s seen the eyes that followed him as he came back to the car) has returned with the food in question only cements it; she’s hella lucky and Bella is gonna bask in it for as long as she possibly can.

“Sausage sandwich, ketchup and orange juice. Curtesy of Alice’s instructions.”

“She’s an angel and I need to make her something cute,” Bella murmurs, peeling back the paper wrappings to begin chowing down. The feeling of guilt that usually comes when she’s eating and her companion is not is absent; only the bubbly butterflies remain; they keep fluttering around in her gut whenever she so much as catches a glimpse of Jasper. But, ah, he’s so pretty and thoughtful and he’s all hers in his sparkly glory. Whenever he’s not got his suncream on that is.

Taking another bite of her breakfast, Bella scans their surroundings, waving at a trio of teens who’re flat out staring at them. She’s impressed they’re even up at- Bella pauses, chancing a glance at the inbuilt clock on the dashboard. Yeah, she’s impressed they’re up, dressed and out in public at eight o’clock in the morning. God knows she’s rather impressed with herself, vampire chauffeur notwithstanding.

“So, where are we, Cowboy? This sure doesn’t look like a ranch. Or a castle à la Dracula.”

Jasper smiles, all Michelangelo’s David in bone structure and Orest Kiprensky in his intense stare. He’s so lovely.

“We’re not too far from Washington Park, Portland. The location of the International Rose Test Garden.”

“Ooh! Sounds romantic,” Bella chirps, brushing the debris of breakfast from her lap, making an attempt to catch the crumbs in her other hand to launch out the window ‘cause a pigeon’s gotta eat too. Once her good deed to nature is complete, Bella turns to look at Jasper, waiting for him to start the engine. Only, he’s looking at her instead of out the windscreen, a soft smile touching at the edge of his lips and, all of a sudden, Bella is absolutely desperate for Edward’s gift. Man, what she couldn’t give to crack this man’s head open and have a look inside. And then piece it carefully back together with all the reverence kintsugi is treated with. Though gluing Jasper back together with gold would probably lessen his attractiveness instead of enhance it. Or would it? She doesn’t doubt he could make it work; that’s just how he is. Her ridiculously attractive vampire boyfriend whose stares make her stomach flip like a new gymnastic recruit (it keeps falling hard; it’s gotta be a new recruit because these performances are far from smooth).

“Ah, Darlin’, what I wouldn’t give to know what’s going through your head.”

“It’s mainly how pretty you are; how good you’d look with some gold on you is the key thought right now.”

Jasper laughs and she could listen to that sound for days, years even. His eyes sparkle as he looks over to her again, not turning his head completely so his lashes frame those golden irises.

“Do you not need to go relieve your basic human needs, or shall I set off?” Oh. Now that he mentions it-

“Man, I have gotta pee. I’ll be right back!” Bella scrambles for the door, shoving it open and clambering out after remembering to remove her seatbelt. Her legs ache from standing all of a sudden, her back all but whining with relief as she stretches it out, arms up and over her head. She closes the door, adjusts the collar of her shirt and makes for the McDonalds. The orange juice and been deliciously refreshing; she’ll take two more after using the restrooms.

The rose garden is an amazing array of colours. Families and couples meander past, more than a few staring at Jasper and Bella cannot blame them. It looks more like he’s here for a photoshoot, even with his smart-casual clothing. If they weren’t holding hands and if she had a bigger camera with her, then perhaps they’d assume Bella’s the photographer. But no, they are holding hands, her fingers interlaced with his, flesh to stone. He’s so deliciously cold in what is shaping up to be a relatively warm late spring,

Bouncing over to a simple brick fountain, Bella stares into the innards, stares at the simple clay tiles that lay beneath the clear water. She sits down on the ledge, pulling Jasper down next to her and then she digs for the camera.

“Smile, Cowboy!”

Twisting the device around, she snaps a quick picture, then another one once she’s resting her head against Jasper’s shoulder.  A third one follows when she feels his arm come to rest around her waist, his cheek pressing to the crown of her skull. Her hair’s not yet hot to the touch given the morning sunshine hasn’t yet had the time to warm up but it’s only a matter of time now.

“Do you want me to take some photos now?”

Bella hands the camera over without hesitation, leaning back on her hands as Jasper removes himself from her side, doing her best to smile prettily (it’ll have nothing on Alice or Rosalie and certainly nothing on Yummy-Vampire-Mummy but Bella knows she’s a pretty human and she’ll sure as hell work with what she’s got). Jasper snaps a photo and Bella slides her hands a bit further back, dipping them into the coolness of the fountain’s water, the liquid kissing up against her sweaty palms. There’s the snap of the camera and Bella does her best to spring forwards, flicking the water she’s gathered up in Jasper’s direction. He jumps back a little too quickly but no one’s really watching them.

Unbothered by her failure, Bella scoops up more water into her palms, bag abandoned by the fountain. Most of it dribbles through her fingers but the little she does manage to collect in her palms flies well and, this time, Jasper lets it hit him.

“Ha ha!” she cries, triumphant as the splatters cover his chest and she had but a second to bask in her glory before Jasper’s putting the camera down and making his way over to the fountain himself.

Bella shrieks, snatching up the device and taking off, ducking through the people as her heart pounds. A water fight in the rose gardens had sounded liked a good idea in her head, but now she’s weighing in Jasper’s superhuman abilities against human hands and their ability to carry water and she’s not liking her chances anymore. Perhaps she should have waited to start a water fight until she’d managed to get Jasper in the company of her human friends, then she could have monopolised his awesomeness on her team to defeat them all… Oh well.

She manages to get three pictures of in pursuit Jasper before he catches up to her and she gets a faceful of fountain water. And even then, it’s only because she had no qualms about carefully darting through the rosebuds while Jasper, good Southern Gentleman that he is, went around.

It’s a great date, even if half the other visitors give them the stink eye for the rest of their time there.

“Come along, Cowboy! Exercise waits for no man nor vamp!”

When he’d planned this outing, Jasper can honestly say he’d not expected Bella to be utterly dead set on completing her daily jog. He’d thought she’d have the weekend off. Well, she does live to surpass his expectations, it would seem.

Bella jogs on the spot, the movements overexaggerated and her knees reaching higher than is necessary. Her outfit is utterly ridiculous too; jogging bottoms and a thin shirt designed for exercising is her standard gear. The luminous sweatbands that wrap around her wrist and head, the matching leg-warmers? That’s only there for the visual impact. While part of him considers the possibility that she’s wearing these now because they’re out of town and no one she knows will see her and judge her, Jasper quickly discards the thought. No, it’s far more likely that it’s new gear she’s bought recently and she’ll be quick to begin parading it around in Forks upon their return.

Bella peels her phone from the pocket of her trousers, flicking through the options as Jasper makes his way to the bathroom. He let Alice pack most of his clothes so he doesn’t doubt there’ll be tasteful workout gear included within his luggage somewhere, it’s just a case of finding it and putting it on.

By the time he arrives back in the main room, Bella’s happily chatting away with her father, twisting a lock of hair back and forth around one of her fingers. Upon seeing him, she breaks out into the brightest grin, the one she reserves for him alone he’s coming to realise.

“I owe Alice, like, so many presents,” she muses, cutting off her father’s questions on her day so far and plans for the rest of it. And yes, he knows exactly what Bella’s referring to; sweatbands are not normally part of his everyday-wear (he never normally bothers with the sports stuff either, having no need for it given his unnatural nature). Alice, little menace that she is, clearly believes otherwise.

“Bella, just please tell me you’re going jogging while the sun is up and that you’re taking Jasper with you.”

“Of course, I’m taking Jasper with me; he’s six foot something and can be intimidating as hell. Ain’t no one gonna try anything when I’ve got him by my side. Even if by some hellish miracle someone does get by him, I’ve got Ol’ Sparky with me too.”

“That’s- that’s good, Bells. But just remember about unlawful usage.”

“I’ll make sure she doesn’t have to use it, Sir,” Jasper cuts in before Bella can formulate an answer, loud enough that the Chief can hear him

“Right. Thank you, Jasper. And Bella…” There’s a cough on the other side of the line and Jasper just knows that this is about to get awkward, knows without having to be in the room with the man; he can taste the awkward undertones already. “-just remember, you’re not eighteen yet-”

“Don’t climb Jasper like a tree, got it,” Bella cuts in, pulling the edge of her headband and allowing it to twang back into position, “got it. I’ll ring you in morning. Bye Dad!” She hangs up before Chief Swan can get a word in edgeways and that’s probably for the best. Jasper doesn’t try to hide the smirk as Bella pockets her phone, giving a slow wiggle of his brows as Bella takes all of him in again. He can’t look her in the face when she licks her lips.

“Come on then, Darlin’. Let’s get that blood of yours pumping.”

“Would that be like soft core porn for you?”

He chokes a little, even as he basks in the teasing, light aura that comes with Bella’s words. Were any of the Cullens around to have heard that, he’d probably be a bit more embarrassed than what he is currently. As it is, he just takes Bella’s hand, runs his forefinger over her pulse-point just long enough for her to question, and then pulls her out the door. 

Soon enough, they’re going at a pace too quick for Bella to both breathe and chatter. There’s quiet between them but it’s far from uncomfortable. Nothing but the steady footfalls of their feet and Bella’s progressively louder breaths; Jasper does his best to match them, though he does keep his own slower, less raspy. He is, after all, frozen in peak physical condition. It would be odd if he couldn’t handle physical challenges between than Bella, though having to pay attention so he remained within human limitations was important too. 

It’s only as they’re entering their second half hour of the run that Jasper registers the eyes. When he snaps his gaze to the side, he finds another vampire watching him from the shadowed shelter of an apartment block, their full red eyes very wide indeed. He can’t blame them; he’s out in the sunshine and clearly not sparkling. Hell, it’s probably more distracting than the fact he’s in human company. There are an array of decisions laid out before him now and every one of them discomforts him in some way or another. If he goes over to speak to them now, then it will leave Bella in the middle of the street, utterly defenceless if this vampire is not travelling alone. On the other hand, he could approach the vampire in question, but that would expose Bella to the other.

He rakes his eyes over the man’s form, taking in the flawless skin, the confused burgundy eyes. He’s not a fighter, not like Jasper. He can sense the twinge of unease that melts of the other, can sense the hesitation to approach based on his appearance alone. It’s easy to forget, what with the way the Cullens have grown used to his scars, with the way Bella oh so rarely sees. He wears the attacks of his deceased enemies like medals, like trophies that he has been gifted and has no way to hide. 

“What’cha staring at?” Bella whispers, her words a harsh rasp between two large, gulping breathes. 

“Another vampire. He’s probably wondering why I’m not sparkling.”

“And not why you’ve got a tasty snack by your side? For shame. Let’s go speak to him; I’m all for sharing!” 

Clearly Bella doesn’t realise that allowing their kind the information on how to walk among their prey in the day will lead to more killings. It sits uncomfortable in Jasper’s stomach as it is. But this is their nature. There are other options, true and, with any luck, Jasper will be able to prove humans are worth respecting, what with the fact it was a human who had discovered the solution to their age old problem. He can only hope, anyway.

Threading his fingers through Bella’s, Jasper sucks in an unnecessary breath and makes for the other. 

Chapter Text

“Edward!”

Were he human, then Bella would have easily taken him by surprise, either sweeping him up and off his feet, or knocking him to the floor with a flying tackle. As things stand, he is most certainly not human.

He sidesteps her approach with as much grace as a human would be capable of. Bella huffs, skidding to a halt before she swings around to look at him, a smile slowly beginning to stretch across her face.

It’s not a gentle look.

“You’re a musician, right?” she all but purrs, leaning closer and he automatically stops breathing. No need to tempt fate, not when she’s up in his face like that, undoubtedly unaware of the punch to the stomach her aroma brings. “You gotta teach me a little summet summet.”

“I- pardon?” It’s slang, has to be slang, though for the life of him, Edward cannot quite decode the meaning of the words from her mind alone. As usual, Bella’s thoughts are a jumbled-up mess, no true liner process between them.

“I need you to teach me the language of love-” French? “-oh, don’t give me that face! Music! I need to learn it because Jasper is too pure and good and I wanna make sure he knows it and what others medium is there other than the medium of song?”

“Literally anything else,” Edward deadpans for it’s true. She could write him a poem, draw him something and, though baking is out of the equation for obvious reasons, there was always the option of simply speaking her opinion aloud.

Clearly none of this has so much as crossed Bella’s mind. She stares at him, head tilted to a side and her manic smile has dimmed somewhat, though her sunny disposition remains. And, speaking of sun-

Edward glances towards the sky, a rare cloudless sight that he can enjoy in full because of the young woman before him.

“It takes a long while to become anywhere near proficient with an instrument Bella and-” he cuts himself off, recalling at the last moment that to point out one’s lack of talent with anything is rude. By the wry smile on her face, Bella knows exactly where he was going with that sentence.

“Don’t sweat, Music Man, I’m not planning on serenading my Cowboy. Even I can acknowledge where my talents lie, or die, as is the case with this one.” Though it’s not polite to agree, Edward is relatively relieved. Though she is certainly enthusiastic about it, Bella is no songbird. Not even Jasper is so far gone to admit to such a thing.

“Then consider something that plays to your strengths,” Edwards suggests, adjusting the strap of his bag, books and stationary rattling around within the canvas container.

“Huh, yeah, sounds about right. Just gotta decide what my strengths actually are right now…” she trails off, mumbling before suddenly socking him in the arm. The motion causes him no pain but, given how Bella shakes out her hand, it must hurt her. “Thanks, Music Man!” And then she’s off, bouncing down the corridor and swerving out of the way of Miss Nampleton and near knocking the coffee from the young teacher’s hands.

It would seem he’s managed to acquire a nickname. That’s… less than ideal.

Jasper barks out a surprised laugh when he pulls open the door to Bella’s truck and finds her sitting within, rose clamped between her teeth and a grin on her lips. Other than the surprise flower, there’s nothing else to indicate something is afoot so he slides into the passenger seat, bag dropped down in the footwell to rest between his calves.

“What’s with the flower, Darlin’?”

“It’s for you,” Bella announces, though the stem held gently between her teeth distorts her words something terrible. She seems to realise this as well, peeling the rose free to offer it to him between forefinger and thumb, as she repeats, “it’s for you.”

Jasper takes the rose from her, holding it carefully between his own fingers. The stem it a little damp, a handful of indents along the length where Bella’s teeth have been pressing into it. The large red petals are unmolested though.

“Pretty sure you’ve got this the wrong way ‘round.”

“Psst, gender equality is a thing now, pull yourself out of the eighteen hundreds,” Bella scoffs, keys twisting in the ignition and the ancient engine rumbles to life, chugging and groaning away. Does it sound less worrying to human ears? Even if he did remember some of his human life, there were still no motorised vehicles around during his pre-vampire days. He honestly cannot say what one of these is supposed to sound like to humans. All Jasper knows is that this doesn’t sound healthy. Rose would probably be able to give a more detailed analysis, but she’s nowhere near happy enough with Bella’s presence in their lives (despite the good she has brought) to offer that service.

“I just wanna make sure you know how awesome you are,” Bella chirps, pulling up to a stop at the traffic light before turning a blinding grin on him. Half her hair is tucked back in a lazy braid, trailing down the centre of her back and it leaves the curve of her cheekbones free to be graced by the afternoon sunshine. He gives in to temptation, reaching out and running the tip of his finger down the exposed length of her upper arm, circling around the slight protrusion of bone that resides at her elbow. Her skin is soft, for a human, and radiates a gorgeous warmth that he could fall into for days on end.

“I think you’ve got this backwards, you’re the amazing one.” The one who’s not bothered by their nature, who accepts them despite the monsters that they are. The silly little human who’s decided that a hundred-odd year old vampire is exactly what she wants in her life.

Jasper will never not be thankful.

“Well, let’s just agree we’re both breath-taking and make and adorable couple and be done with it, yeah? Only, I’ll never be done with it, because I need to keep checking that you know how absolutely brilliant you are. I mean, you’ve survived vampire wars and learned a whole new way of living while you’re part of a species that supposedly finds it hard to move on and change. You’re incredible, Jasper-babe, and I’ll remind you of that for as long as I can.” Bella grins, not turning to look at him because she’s driving and fragile and human. But he still feels the warmth of the gesture all the same, still feeling the liquid heat that settles in his stomach with an ease only blood ever does now.

They arrive at Bella’s home to an empty driveway; Charlie Sawn is clearly still out on his shift for the town and Jasper has stopped feeling that squirm of guilt that comes with being on the man’s property when he doesn’t know. He’s been invited in by Bella’s father, approved of even, given how he’d been allowed to take her out of state for their first date.

He hadn’t really expected to spend the time after school helping to redecorate Bella’s room, but it’s hardly a bad thing. Though their official dates occur on weekends (they’d agreed to it just yesterday, Bella declaring she needed a full week to plan something as amazing as what he’d come up with on their trip out and that she needed to do it on a budget because that’s how she rolled), this is hardly a chore.

Standing there in his school gym kit, Jasper covers his lips to hide the laughter that wants to break free at the sight of Bella in painter’s overalls that are clearly a bit too big for her.  She’s got the sleeves and the trousers rolled up thrice at the hems, thin wrists and ankles poking through in a sharp contrast to the vast amounts of fabric.

“I was gonna do this with Alice and Jess, but I’m sure they won’t mind if you help me just paint the basic background of the walls; we’ll add in the details over summer. I want trees and blossoms and stuff like that, but I’m sure as hell not good enough with paint to manage that on my own.” She laughs, head through back, long braid hanging between the curves over shoulder blades. And, just because he can now, Jasper reaches out and runs one finger down the length of her neck, from jawline to collarbone, catching on the fine silver chain she’s decided to wear today.

“You decided where you’re whisking me away to at the weekend, Darlin’?”

“Nope, it’s gonna be a total surprise. No getting hints from Alice. Otherwise, it’s not fair.”

“Can’t get hints if you haven’t decided yet.”

She sticks her tongue out, muscles in her neck shifting to accommodate the action and his finger brushes up against the throbbing vein on her left side. He hastily removes his hand, the phantom sensation of blood beneath his fingers still lingering, even if there’d bee a layer of skin between them.

“Alright there, cowboy? Counting your cattle?”

He blinks back into the present. Bella is hunched over, carrying one large bucket of paint and her thin arms tremble with the weight of it. “Alright there, Darling?”

“Just swell. Would be even better if my much stronger partner in deco would get his act together and prise open the paint.” She drops it to the floor and it lands with a solid thump despite the thick plush of the carpet. He can hear the slosh of the liquid inside, feel the vibrations in the floor that ring out from the sudden impact. Bella goes for the paint rollers, all of the furniture already covered with repurposed sheets. Some, he believes, have had a long and fruitful life as painter’s sheets, given the splatters of colour that exist across their fabric. Kneeling down, Jasper carefully peels the lid off. The last time he’d helped with the painting had been in ’79 and he hadn’t accounted for the spill-over that could come about after a vampire-powered can opener. Luckily, it’d been in a room that Esme had wanted to carpet, so they hadn’t needed to peel all the paint from the floorboards.

“Right, well, let’s get to it!”

They paint. A roller each, one large tray between the two of them, working a sunny yellow over the old, tired walls. Another, smaller can of blue paint rests in the centre of the room to decorate once the top layer is dry, not that Jasper expects it to be before the night is over. Bella, it seems, has different expectations. She wiggles a screwdriver between the can and lid, a relatively small paint brush dipping inside to crest across the surface of cobalt blue. A selection of spots and swirls come next, no coherent pattern to them from the whimsical flavour that Bella’s mood takes.

Jasper sits himself down on the cloth covered bed, reclining back to just watch her. There’re a few flecks of yellow paint in her braid despite her best attempts to keep it clean, from when she’d turned too quick too close to the wall. Jasper’s own hands are pristine. He’s far too quick and far too aware to get any paint on him unless it is intentional.

“You know, I was gonna go with brown instead of blue before. But, I don’t know, it just seems like it needs some bright blue in here. What do you think?” Bella tips her head back to look over her shoulder, grinning all the while. There’s a thumbprint of yellow paint on her jawline where she’d scratched at her cheek. It’s remarkably human. It’s also remarkably endearing.

“I think it suits you.” If he were to assign a person a colour based solely on their emotions, Bella is the one he’d give yellow to. She’s bright, like the sun, and just as warm. Something he can appreciate because of her.

“Darn right it does,” Bella agrees with a pump of her fist, eyebrows wiggling. “I’m a delightful ray of sunshine and I won’t allow you to forget it, Daisy-do.”

“Daisy?”

“Well, yeah. You appreciate my presence, right? And daisies appreciate the sun, don’t they?” Bella plants her hands on her hips, utterly unconcerned with the yellow prints she’ll leave behind, paint brush balanced precariously between the fingers of one hand. It drips paint onto the sheet-covered floor, a steady stream of drip, drip, drip.

He doesn’t point out that the daisy needs the sun to live; it’s not about appreciation, it’s about survival. He’s not at that stage. Not yet.

But he could be. Someday.

It’s why he steps forwards, slipping his palm into the blue bucket to press against the wall ever so gently. Last thing he needs to do is put a hand shaped hole in the plaster board. Especially now that they’ve painted it.

“I like it!” Bella declares, hastily abandoning her brush in order to thrust her own hand into the bucket. She’s not as careful as him, allowing the paint to engulf her hand completely, pulling it out and spraying droplets everywhere. Jasper takes a calculated step back, avoiding the worst of the splatters, though his gym shoes aren’t lucky enough to forfend the assault from reaching them. Oh well. Who knows, maybe Alice won’t notice and judge? Or, maybe she’ll appreciate their sacrifice in the march to entertain Bella? It’s a possibility. Bella peels her palm from the wall, the motion accompanied by the interesting sound of something unsticking. He doubts she can hear it, but it’s loud and clear to him.

There’s too much paint though; two steams dribbling down from the lower swell of her palm’s imprint. Jasper stops them midway down, catching the droplets on his fingers and then using their remains to fashion another series of lines, until it seems like Bella’s palm is a blue sun with rays of light drifting off it.

The girl herself stands with her arms folded, a firm pout to her lips as she inspects his work. Then-

“I’m totally using a sharpie to draw a cowboy hat on yours once the paint dries.”

Jasper gets in the shower second. Bella showers first, does her best to clean the paint from her body and hair but traces of it still linger. He could smell it in her hair as she walked past, declaring she was going to go and make herself some lunch and then they could laze about in the living room. He’s sure she’ll have some other activity planned than just ‘lazing’ (he could feel the excitement in her voice, she’s clearly come up with some kind of plan), so he takes his time in the shower. In truth, he didn’t need one. Only his hand had paint on. But if Bella believes him to be in the shower, then she’ll spend more time cooking and eating. Which, as a human, she needs to do.

There’s also the issue of prom tomorrow. They’ve already agreed to go tomorrow and Alice had blitzed the two of them with requests to dress them up for the event, something that Bella had happily agreed to. He’s not sure if she’s aware just how much Alice will spend on making sure they look perfect for the night. He’s not sure if Alice is aware he could turn up in jeans and a worn tee-shirt and Bella would still be happy. He does know, thanks to their live-in psychic, that it will rain tomorrow. He has every intention of recreating that moment from their first dance, only this time, there won’t be any admissions of being supernatural. He hopes. He wouldn’t be surprised if Bella’s part faery or something at this point.

Taking the stairs one at a time, Jasper ruffles his hair with the towel still hanging around his neck, swinging around into the kitchen and then pretending to stop in his tracks at the sight of more than just Bella sitting up to the kitchen table.

“Ah, Jasper. Good to see you, Son.” Charlie Swan greets him with a clap to the shoulder, an action Jasper subtly moves with. Don’t want the chief breaking his hand on his shoulder, after all. It’s difficult to glance at the man from beneath his lashes, what with the whole ‘taller than him’ thing he has going on. Jasper manages though, offering a small, warm smile.

He’s never been called son before, not with that warm tone; not by anyone other than Carlisle anyway.

“Chief Swan. Did you have an uneventful shift?”

“Just call me Charlie, you’re around here often enough now.” That is true. But Jasper’s rather certain the elder from the Quileute Tribe won’t be very happy to hear it. The stony face on the man makes that abundantly clear. “And yeah, pretty dead to be honest. S’a good thing though.”

Jasper nods his head in agreement, making his way over to where Bella is standing by the counter, working a stir fry around the large wok. It doesn’t smell appetizing to him, but nothing does now. Nothing other than human blood. But he can focus beyond that, can get lost in the sharp punch of pepper and the calm, mellow scent of carrots.

“Are you staying for dinner, Jasper?”

“I’m afraid not, Charlie. Esme will be expecting me home for it.” He runs a hand across the back of his neck, intentionally aiming for a sheepishness that doesn’t come naturally. It’s behaviour he’s seen often enough in humans, felt the emotion enough to know the ‘habit’ will showcase his nerves. “I wouldn’t mind a small bowl if you’ve got any spares though.” He can choke down some human food to play human in front of Bella’s father.

True, he’s never done it before, but both Edward and Carlisle have. They say it’s uncomfortable, unnatural, but he’ll manage.

“Best give your Southerner a portion, Bells. You teenagers are still growing, right?” The Quileute, Billy Black (Jasper never forgets a name, is incapable of it now), cannot contain his disgusted snort. Jasper’s relatively sure the only reason he’s not left as a result of the vampire presence within the house is because he’s in a wheelchair.

“Can do, Dad. I’ll make sure you hungry men get the majority. Gives me an excuse for biscuit snacks later on!” Bella winks, fishing a slice of pepper from the wok with the stirring spoon before transferring it to her hands. Her eyes find his, a challenge sparkling in the brown irises as she tries, and fails, to raise a single eyebrow in question. He holds her gaze for a moment, watching the flutter of her eyelids, the brush of lashes across the curve of her cheeks.

Then, after that moment of silence, Jasper pops his mouth open ever so slightly, sticking out the tip of his tongue and curling it in a wordless ‘bring it on’. Bella laughs, head thrown back and looking utterly delighted by the fact he’s playing along. No, she doesn’t just look delighted, he can feel it, the warm curl of emotion bundled deep in her chest that only his can sense.

“Brave of you,” she whispers, stepping closer and holding up the thin slip of vegetable. He can smell the sunflower oil that coats one side from the spray Bella had used to grease the pan before she began cooking.

“I can handle a little spice, Darlin’.”

She huffs, pushing the stick of pepper between his lips and Jasper, with the ease of years of practice, forces the revulsion to remain hidden from his features. Swallowing that little bit of pepper is harder than he’d expected it to be; another point for Carlisle and Edward.

“You know what, Bells? Do you two want to eat in here? Me and Billy will go catch the game in the living room, if you’re willing to bring us dinner?” The discomfort of witnessing their little… couple moment (if that is the correct term) all but wafts off of Charlie, accompanied by a long fidget. Humans; stillness is not their natural state of being.

“Sure, Dad. I don’t mind. Enjoy the game.”

He can hear Billy Black informing Bella’s father that he’s a bad decision, that he’ll only hurt Bella. It warms his insides to hear the other man defend him, warms him to hear the Chief asking for evidence. Not that he should be surprised; it’s part of his job, after all.

“So, how badly is Billy slating you in there?” Bella asks, already finished with her own dinner. She’s swapped out their plates now, attacking his untouched stir-fry with a gusto. Her fingers are sticky with sauce, other hand tapping the rubber tip of a pencil against a sketchbook. Because Bella’s idea of a fun activity is to have a go at sketching each other. She’s working on his eye right now from what he can see. Jasper’s made sure to angle his own book so that she can’t see his finished piece.

He’s had a long time to practice a great many skills. Drawing is one of them. Somehow though, he gets the feeling that Bella won’t appreciate that knowledge, nor take it into account when she sees his sketch. So, hide it away it is. Seeing her face when she spots it will be far more entertaining.

“Your father seems to like me,” Jasper chooses to reply with instead, reminding himself of just how Charlie had addressed him earlier, how he had invited him to call him Charlie instead of Chief Swan. That’s good, isn’t it? It’s not exactly like he has a lot of experience to work from in this regard. None of the Cullens have ever dated a human before, nor have they had any interest in dating. Times have changed since they themselves were human. If any of them even remember that aspect of their human life.

Jasper certainly doesn’t.

“That’s not what I was asking and you know it,” Bella points out, punctuating her point with the end of her pencil, jabbing the sharp end in his direction.

He hides a smile in the sleeve he has pressed to his palm, keeping his head still otherwise. It’s no difficult task; he’s a vampire.

“Did I mention I like that jumper on you, by the way? Because I do. Like it, that is. That particular shade of blue suits you.” He wouldn’t know; Alice does the shopping for the vast majority of them.

“Thanks, Darlin’.”

“But you look good in anything. Or nothing at all, I’d bet.” She waggles her brows here, seemingly giving up on her drawing, pushing the sketchbook to the centre of the table for him to look at. It’s not bad; she’s had training in drawing before, probably in her first life. It’s just that she doesn’t have the muscle memory for it here, too busy focused on… well, experiencing things, he guesses.

“So, prom tomorrow.”

“Prom tomorrow,” Jasper agrees, plucking up the first empty plate and making for the sink. He switches the hot tap on and the rush of water is almost enough to drown out the sound of the two humans talking in the living room.

He’s rapidly distracted by Bella. It’s not that he didn’t hear her approach, not that he didn’t know she was getting close. He did expect her to stop though, instead of pressing her face into his back, arms around his waist. She drops her empty plate into the sink before him with a clatter.

“You don’t have to wash up, I can get that.”

“I don’t mind. Isn’t that how it works, one cooks and the other washes and dries?”

“Don’t think that counts if you didn’t eat, Cowboy. Though I can understand why you’re confused; in your time, the woman did everything around the house, right? While you went out to rustle up the next piece of meat that was to tied the family over for the rest of the week.”

“And I remind you once again that I was before cowboy times.”

“Eh. Close enough.”

Bella dries the pots. She scoops up a handful of bubbles to mash into his hair.

He pretends that he doesn’t realise Charlie is at the door watching their bubble war.

Chapter Text

“What’s all this, Bells?”

Blinking, Bella lifts her gaze from the computer, rubbing at the tired corners of her eyes. There’s several sheets of paper spread out around the desk, their ancient printer still churning out another page at a splutteringly slow rate, like a smoker trying to hack up a chest full of tar. They’re running low on ink again; oops.

Dad’s leaning over her shoulder, inspecting the papers and Bella shuffles out the way, fingers skimming across the keyboard and hammering a new sentence into the search engine.

“College stuff?” Dad asks after a moment, bushy eyebrows migrating to join one another above his nose, moustache twitching like it too wishes to join in the emigration. Bella watches the movement for a moment, then returns her focus to the screen as she scrolls through.

“Yeah, college stuff. What with Jasper graduating, I figured it was time I started looking into my options for the future too.”

“And this,” Dad murmurs, lifting one of the sheets of paper so she can see it, almost as if he’s checking she actually knows what’s on it, “is what you’re interested in?”

“Hell yeah. Science is cool and it’s not just for boys.” She’s a little early to the female scientists exist party, but Bella’s sure as hell on board with it all. She’ll never manage being a doctor; she just doesn’t have the temperament for it, nor does she think she’d ever be able to cope if she lost one of her patients. But, being a doctor isn’t the only way to help people. Especially the very specific patients she has in mind.

“Right, of course.” Dad might not have a complete understanding of what she’s saying, but he’s got the spirit, that’s for sure. “And this, er, biological engineering? That’s what you wanna spend three years on?”

“Might be a bit more than three years, but yeah, that’s what I wanna do.” It’s kinda obvious now. She can’t be a doctor, but biological engineering? Finding out faults in different forms of biology and coming up with ways to fix it? To improve things? Oh yeah, that sounds like a perfect way to spend a couple of decades. And- and she has seven vampire friends (even if one of them is determinedly ignoring the fact Bella considers her a friend) who all have problems they’ve never tried fixing. With this, she can learn, can explore ways to help improve their lives.

That she’ll need to know more about vampires, that she’ll have to spend even more time in their (Jasper’s) company to expand her knowledge base, well, that’s just a bonus, isn’t it?

“And are your grades at the level for this?”

“Of course. And no, I won’t let them slip. I mean, Jasper’s already signed up for an online year on his history course so he can stay put, so it’s not like I’ll spend loads of time travelling to see him, and it’d be too embarrassing for him to head off the college next year and me be stuck here not following because I was too busy making moony eyes at him to not study. That’s even if we last that long.” She’s hoping they will; Bella really, really likes Jasper. He’s fun and charming and just pure delight in a six-foot plus package. There’s not much about him that she doesn’t like, but maybe there will be down the line? Maybe there won’t be. She doesn’t know. Alice probably does but she’s not gonna ask. It’ll ruin the surprise of the future if she keeps crawling to Alice for insider information.

She might ask about lottery numbers though.

“I’m glad you’ve got a good head on your shoulders, Bells.” At that, she does grin, spinning around in her chair and waving at her dad with one of the many sheets of paper.

“Of course, I’ve got a good head on my shoulders; you and Mum raised me that way, didn’t you?”

She’s pinning the photos of her and Jasper at prom to her wall, cut out in a leaf-like shape to go on the branch she, Jess and Angela had painted, when the roar of an engine announces the arrival of a guest. Snatching up her shirt, Bella shimmies it on, adjusting the wide collar so it sits evenly across her shoulders and doesn’t expose any bra strap on either side. Now presentable, she spins on heel, making for the stairs. The two short knocks on the door that Jasper always announces himself with has Bella brightening, bare feet slapping against the wooden flooring before she gets to the door.

Standing on her porch with the morning sun outlining his form, Jasper stands as if he has every right to look so presentable and pretty in a morning. She should have known he’s an early bird- or, wait, does he even sleep? She’d not thought to ask that one, too busy focused on the whole sparkling during the day and drinking blood to survive.

What is a surprise is the serious face he has on him. Not to say that Jasper doesn’t usually wear a serious face; it’s normally his default expression until Bella comes bouncing about and sets her sights on coaxing that pretty, high definition smile out of him. And those dimples; man, now they’re a sight for sore eyes. She loves those dimples.

“Good morning?” she tries first, offering her best smile, head tilting up and back, eyes widening. Is she going for that cute-bambi look? Maybe so. But it’s worked before and it’s working now. It’s soft and there’s clearly something weighing heavily upon her darling vampire, but Jasper Whitlock is smiling. Whatever’s wrong? Well, Bella can do her damn best to fix it.

“Good morning, Bella.” Oh no. No nickname. That means it’s serious. “Do you have the day free to come over? Something, something has come up, Darlin’.”

Something has come up? What on earth could ‘come up’ for vampires? No, wait, stupid question. She doesn’t know everything about vampires even if she is totally dating one. But clearly, it’s something she needs to know about or be involved in because otherwise Jasper wouldn’t be here.

“I’ve always got time for Yummy Vampire Mummy and family,” Bella agrees with a bright smile, scanning the hallway for the nearest pair of footwear. One pair of flat leather sandals later, she’s ready to go, throwing on the hoodie that’s on the hook by the door on the way out. She doesn’t recognise the car on the drive by brand, but she does recognise by design that it’s probably something speedy. The kind of thing your average Joe would get to drive once in a lifetime. Yeah, she can picture Jasper in this now that he can go out in the summer’s sun, the window rolled down, one arm resting on the door, sunglasses on.

“Bella?”

Cold fingers brush up against the curve of her cheekbone and Bella leans into the touch for a moment before she snatches the hand from the air (more like Jasper allows her to snatch it). Even if the walk to the car is so very short, there’s never an opportunity missed to hold hands in their relationship. Not so long as Bella gets a say of it.

“Should I ask about it now, or would it be better if I asked once we got to your house?”

“Probably best if you ask when we get there, Darlin’. Now, tell me about that mud slide; are we are the right time of year to go and try it yet?”

“Oh, Cowboy, you do know how to pick your topics…”

The drive to Vampire Central is filled with Bella’s mindless chatter but she’s rather cottoned on to the fact that Jasper likes that. That he listens to her is everything Bella could ever want and more. He asks questions in all the right places, doesn’t quite laugh out loud but certainly smothers a chuckle or two, and occasionally looks over at her with eyes so fond that she can’t help but stumble to a mid-sentence stop to drink in the expression on his face.

Man, she is so done for; Jasper is her teenaged sweetheart and she’ll fight to keep him as her lifetime partner.

“What’s got you feeling so determined?”

“Just thinking about how I wanna spend all of my days with you,” Bella admits with zero shame, throwing her hand over Jasper’s, fingertips grazing the edge of the handbrake as he puts the car in park. Those gorgeous golden eyes find hers and Bella smiles, leaning forwards to peck a kiss to Jasper’s nose. The hand on her cheek drawing her back is as unexpected as it is welcomed; she adjusts her hand, the way her knee rests on the chair, but leans in better to continue the kiss Jasper starts. It’s still strange as fuck because his lips are like moving marble but smoother, dry in a way that lets her know he’s being exceptionally careful about the vampire venom stuff. Still, Bella has the saliva necessary for a smooth brush of lips and, though there’s little to no give on her end, she still sucks on his lower lip before parting, bumping the tip of her nose against his.

“You’re too sweet, Mr Whitlock.”

“I’ll try not to give you toothache, Miss Swan.”

She’s still laughing when Jasper walks her over the threshold of the Cullen household, head thrown back and a beaming grin on her lips. It slowly mellows when she comes face to face with a very serious looking Carlisle. She can’t see any others of the Cullen clan but that doesn’t mean they’re not around, nor that they’re not listening in. That it’s Carlisle who’s the one meeting her… it’s probably something vampire related. She hasn’t been to the hospital in, like, months. Hasn’t had her blood taken (for medical purposes, not that she’s had a vampire blood extraction yet either) so they can’t have done tests to find anything wrong. Plus, if it were something wrong with her dad then he’d be the one telling her, not Hot Doc.

“Hello, Bella. Are you well?”

“I’m doing swell, Doc. By the pained grimace, I assume all is not well in the land of the centenarians?” That, at least, twists that soft smile into something warmer, something more welcoming.

“Not all of us have lived a hundred years yet, Bella.”

“Yeah, but it sounds better than the land of the old people,” she muses, pushing down the squeal that wants to come up and out of her mouth when Jasper’s cold fingers find hers, winding between them, thumb brushing across her knuckles. He all but radiates reassurance and while Bella knows that means he’s probably trying to wrap her up in emotional cotton wool for whatever is about to come, well, she can’t really focus past said warm-fuzzy wrappings. Man, she should be asking Jasper to do this every time she wants to go to sleep; its phenomenal.

“Have you had a chance to eat yet, Bella?”

“Warm comforts and food? You’re not leaving town, are ya?”

They’re not leaving town. Not that Bella wouldn’t have been able to go on without them (she’s quite certain she and Jasper could keep up a long-distance relationship, or, she could or her end, at least), but it woulda been quite the knockback. It’s a little worse than them leaving town. Well, not emotionally, but in regards to the consequences of the news? Yeah, it’s a little big.

Lifting the parchment that Carlisle has just finished reading from, Bella studies it, squinting at the so neat it’s near illegible handwriting.

Dear Carlisle my old friend, blah blah blah, hope you and the family are well, waffle waffle waffle, I’ve heard tales about a human you’re hanging out with and the discovery of walking beneath the sun, words words words, as you know when it comes to certain secrets, sharing isn’t caring and is most certainly forbidden, natter natter natter, turn the girl before we next see you or you’re in trouble. Oh, and there’s an invite to Italy at the bottom that makes it seem more like a permanent move than a two-week holiday.

Of course, it’s all in a hell of a lot fancier terminology than what she’s just finished decoding, but Bella gets the gist of it.

“So… what does all that mean?” That’s not to say she doesn’t get the general gist of it. These guys are clearly in charge of the vampire world (they have a government; that’s pretty cool and she’s also got questions; do they pay taxes? Is there any need for them to pay taxes? How does their government work? Is it worldwide? It must be if it’s based in Italy) and they must’ve known Carlisle for a long time. But hey, for all that they don’t look for new stuff, vampires sure are quick about spreading it once it’s been discovered.

“Darlin’, curiosity isn’t the right emotion for dealing with the Volturi,” Jasper murmurs, his hand still wrapped in hers but now it seems like he’s cradling her fingers a little bit closer, with a little bit more care. Not that he didn’t already take more than enough care with her. But… these guys scare Jasper. Jasper who’s covered in bite scars and has probably been in more fights than she can possibly imagine. “I- Carlisle. You spent some time with them, could you explain to Bella just how, significant this is please? I need to go hunt.” That’s weird, because Bella’s sure his eyes hadn’t been that burnt honey colour when he picked her up earlier. She’s missing something here.

“Of course, Jasper. Come back when you’re ready.”

Carlisle catches her up on what the Volturi are and she only has more questions at the end of it all.

Jamming a spoonful of some delicious Esme creation (how is she this good at cooking without an appetite for it herself? How?), Bella swings her legs back and forth on the bar stool, humming in contentment. So, the Volturi are some kind of monarchy of the vampire world, make all the laws, and if you don’t want to mysterious disappear, you don’t break any of their rules. Such as the ‘don’t tell a human’ rule. Bella’s not sure she gets that one (though she does now understand why the Cullens had tried making her believe she was coming up with wild ideas, right up until the point Jasper had pretty much admitted what they were). Why would the Volturi not want the humans to know? What would it change? Sure, the humans would know there’s some big bad predator replacing them at the top of the food chain but… it’s not like they could really destroy the vampire race. Well, maybe they could now with all the advanced weaponry, but in the early days, centuries ago?

She’s still mulling over the thought as Jasper comes back in, wearing a new sweatshirt and jeans combo that looks really quite appealing, even if she’s certain it’d look even better on the floor. No, wait, she’s lying, it definitely looks better on Jasper, everything (including his birthday suit) would look better on him.

“All full now?” Bella asks, springing to her feet. Then, she pauses because she’s certainly not finished off Esme’s delicious cake and oh, she wants to.

“Esme won’t mind if you take the cake home; there’s more in the fridge.”

“Oh, thank god.” And Bella bounces over to him, tripping over her feet (a genuine accident) to land in his arms. “Hi there, Cowboy. Did rustling up your dinner go well?”

“Yes, Bella, it went well.” Icy lips press up against her temples, hard and gentle all at once and her eyes flutter closed for a mere moment, basking in the sensation. She’s got her legs back under her again, standing up and she’s still ridiculously short compared to Jasper; there’s probably a foot or something between them. Ah, they probably look hella cute walking around town with each other though.

Pressing up onto her tiptoes, Bella tilts her head and lays a smacker on Jasper’s jawline. Then a second. Then a third. He catches on before she can land the fourth one, swooping down to entrap her lips with his own, the hands that’d been supporting her now slowly meandering up her ribs.

After a moment, he draws back, though the gap between them remains small. “You’re remarkably calmer than I thought you’d be,” he admits, thumbs stroking very distractingly along her sixth (seventh?) ribs.

“I have so many questions about the Volturi, so many questions for the Volturi that I’m struggling to prioritise- hey, can I see your room yet?”

Jasper’s room is twice the size of her own. There’s the usual glass wall that she’s coming to expect of all the rooms within this house (barring the bathroom, thank god). Another wall is dominated by the largest bookshelf Bella’s seen outside of a library, along with a bigger collection of non-fiction books than she’d found in the history department’s store cupboard at her old school (not that that was a particularly high benchmark; the less said about the focus on history in her old school, the better). A comfy looking leather couch faces the window and there’s a massive, untouched bed in the centre of the room. She half expects to find the tags still on the pillowcases.

But no, they’re tag free.

“Was the running leap necessary?”

“Of course it was necessary,” Bella declares, rolling onto her back and spreading her limbs as far out as she possibly can, fat-man-starfish position style. Nope. Not one limb can reach the edge of the mattress. As previously state; it’s huge. Huge and unused. “Like, I know you don’t sleep or anything, but how could you own this bed and not spend days lounging out on it?” To emphasis her point, Bella shuffles to the edge of the bed before snatching up the duvet, rolling to the other edge until she’s firmly wrapped up in a Bella-burrito.

She wiggles slightly as Jasper takes a seat on the mattress, having removed his shoes (not kicked them off at the door as Bella had done) before doing so. She shrieks when he grabs hold of the bottom of her burrito, screeching and chortling until he’s finished pulling her into his lap, arms still trapped up in the swath of blankets. She’s got no hope of getting them free to wrap around his neck as she wants to, so Bella settles for option two; resting her face against a rippling pectoral. Once again; marble like. Not the most comfortable thing in the world but hell, she can adjust.

“Carlisle explained what the Volturi were, what they represent to us, and yet, you’re more than scared. You’re curious. And determined.”

“And horny,” Bella admits, even though she’s relatively certain Jasper’s well aware she has sex on the brain a lot when they’re spending time together. It’s fine, she can wait, she’s a good little girl. Plus, who knows what the horizontal tango would look like between a human and a vampire. Death by snu-snu would hardly be a bad way to go, especially if they put a picture of Jasper on her gravestone. Yeah, I went out banging this guy, can you blame me?

… on second thoughts, that’s probably not appropriate for a graveyard. Eh. Belay that.

“I would love to know where your mind goes to inspire that wistful amusement,” Jasper whispers, fingers now running through her hair, the ever so gentle scrap of his nails against her scalp almost sinfully relaxing and Bella melts. He’s probably using his gift to calm her down, but it’s sure as hell working if so.

“Sorry. Anyway, back on track! First of all, the letter said that they’d be getting in touch or checking in or whatever it is that vampires do soon. But, Carlisle said for vampires, that could be anywhere between next week and next century. So, undetermined amount of time.” She shuffles about in the blankets until Jasper relents and helps her sit up somewhat straight. He doesn’t release her from the duvet straightjacket though.

“Anyway,” Bella continues, meeting his honey eyes and grinning, “that means I can do what I do best. Surprise them. They’re based in Italy, right? So, the obvious answer if for me to go over there and plead my case!”

Ten minutes of Jasper sitting and listening to her plan later (even if the expression upon his face clearly indicates he’s questioning her sanity), they’re both knocking on the door to Carlisle’s office, despite the door being open. Hey, he’s got his laptop out and seems to be hard at work, it’s only polite. It’s with a deep sigh that Jasper steps into the room first, even though she doesn’t really have a choice. She’s still in the blanket burrito, as if the protective, warm covering will be enough to shield her from the evil vampires too.

“You heard everything, Carlisle?”

“I did,” the elder vampire admits. Man, he sure looks good for being nearly four-hundred or so years old. Hey, he said he met the Volturi three-hundred years ago, that makes him the oldest person she’s ever met. “And I think it’s the only way we’re going to be able to solve this problem and rest peacefully at night.”

“See, Hot Doc agrees. Doctor’s have to have a degree, so obviously Carlisle is smart and we should go with what he says.”

“We all have degrees, Darlin’,” Jasper huffs, setting her back on her feet and, with a deft flick of his hand, effortlessly freeing her from the blanket entrapment. Super cool.

“I mean, worst comes to worst, I become a vampire. I mean, I’m not sure if that’s what I want; it’d never really been an option before this year so I’d not considered it, though seven-year-old me from a week before Halloween would be having fits right now.”

“Because you wanted to be a vampire, Bella?”

“Nah,” Bella mutters, shaking her head as she grins over at their resident doctor, “I thought werewolves were the cooler ones at that age.”

Jasper strangles a disbelieving chuckle beside her, wrapping one of his arms around her waist and Bella’s in no way ashamed to admit she sinks into his side, basking in the physical contact. Once again, spending the rest of her days with Jasper is sounding better and better, and speaking of the rest of her days-

“Back on task, Bella, come on! Right, I was thinking since you’re the Hot Doc, maybe there could be a completely fictitious science conference over in good ol’ Italy and, knowing my interests, you asked if I would care to attend with you, as no one else in the fam really cares for the disciplines. Meanwhile, Jasper just wants to go to get a good look at the Ancient Roman empire and its historical remains, big history nerd that he is. Thoughts?”

“I don’t know how your father would feel about you being taken out of the United States,” Carlisle murmurs, resting his head on one closed fist and Bella sure as hell may be head over heels for her good-Southern-boy, but she can appreciate Hot Doc is one fine piece of ass. Lucky yummy vampire mummy.

“I think he’ll be fine; you’re a well respected professional that he’s worked with for at least a year and dad actually likes Jasper. Dad trusts me; if I say I’m going for academic interests; which I kinda am because I wanna know more about the Volturi I have, like, so many questions- I mean, if I say I’ll be good, he’ll trust me.” She knows he will. Dad loves her. She’s never lied to him before and she really doesn’t want to start doing so. Lying by omission sucks, but it’ll keep him safe. That’s what matters. The next thing is getting herself to a point of safety and dragging Jasper along because… oops, he’s the one that told her, wasn’t he? And the Volturi law says snitches end up in ditches. Or pyres. However, they dispose of their dead. Why does a vampire die by fire? Is it the only way? Fire’s the result of a chemical reaction, so-

“I’ll ask for the plane to be charted. Is two weeks acceptable, Bella?”

“Huh? Oh, yeah, two weeks sounds great. No school, job hunting, hanging with Jasper for two solid weeks? That’s where I’m at.”

“And you know there’s no going back, right?” It’s Jasper this time. Jasper who’s spun her around to look him in the eye, lips pressing into a worried hard line that makes Bella want to tug on one of those golden curls. She does. They’re soft and bouncy and she’s jealous. All the other girls of Forks should be jealous too because she’s the one that gets to touch those curls.

“I know. But I think I figured out what I wanted to do with my life thanks to you guys, no matter what becomes of it.”

Chapter Text

He carts Bella’s luggage through the airport, Carlisle just in front of him. Bella, well, Bella’s perching on the edge of her luggage, precariously so. The heels of her feet are balanced on the side-handle, both hands half wrapped around the extended grip that Jasper is using to tow her along, and she’s only just managed to fit her rear onto the top of the suitcase. Coupled with the messy half-bun, dark circles beneath her eyes and her tired grin, she probably looks as manic to human eyes as she does to his. He still cannot deny the swell of affection, of fondness that blooms within his breast as she cocks her head back to look at him, lips separating to birth a smile that’s filled with more energy than her appearance suggests she has.

It has been thirteen days since the letter arrived. Thirteen days since the enormity of the problem had burrowed deep beneath him skin, burning through his veins in a sensation startlingly close to what the venom which made him had once done. Absent of Bella’s presence throughout the nights, he’d spent most of his time worrying over the outcomes of the meeting they’re about to create for themselves. Part of him wishes he could take Bella’s approach of what will be will be, don’t worry about something you can’t change but if you can change it? Fight like hell for the bit you want.

That’s exactly what she’s doing here and, to his ears, her ideas and plans sound solid. Jasper, however, has not had the pleasure of dealing with the Volturi before; not during his time with the Cullens (despite their shallow correspondence with Carlisle through letters, his situation has never once come up according to the elder vegetarian) and he had never come afoul of the famed coven during his days in the Southern Wars (he’d not have walked away from it if that were the case). For all that he’s never seen them in action… he’s heard the stories. He’s heard what happens to those who try to stand up to them, those who flout the rules. Fear of the Volturi had been one of the few things Maria had hammered into him at the end of his newborn years, during that time period where he’d proven himself too useful to dispose of. For all that he’d fought within these wars, torn through newborn after newborn, he’s intimately aware of just how his creator had seen the Volturi.

All the other Southern Leaders had shared the same view; keep fighting, keep claiming territory, but by the grace of god, keep it quiet enough that the Volturi don’t feel the need to get involved. Unlike Bella, he’s had years to cultivate a healthy respect for the Italian coven who stand as the de-facto leaders of the vampire species.

“What’s our place of residency like, Doc?” As she speaks, Bella walks two of her fingers up the handle of her suitcase to climb over his own hand, making camp at his wrist. Her thumb brushes back and forth over the ever so slight protrusion of his wrist bone, right over the trio of criss-crossing scars there. Not that Bella’s aware of them. Or, he doesn’t believe she’s aware of them. She knows the scars are there, but she cannot map them out as easily as, say, Carlisle can.

“We have accommodation on the university campus, Bella,” Carlisle answers with his usual calm, walking out of the electronic doors into the cool Italian night. The summer air still retains the heat of the day; it’s not necessary to bundle up in a coat in order to fit in. More than a handful of people are wearing just long-sleeved shirts, so Jasper and Bella’s thin sports hoodies are hardly going to stand out. “The lecture of current biological engineering will take place in three days.”

“Woah, wait! There’s an actual lecture?” Big brown eyes blinking, Bella stares up at Carlisle in surprise before a yawn tears its way through her mouth instead, forcing her eyes to close from the motion.

“Of course there is, Bella. As you once said, I am a respected professional who would never take a minor out of the country on a lie.”

Lips twitching up at Carlisle’s comment, Jasper carts the suitcase (and Bella) towards the Audi sitting pretty a bit further into the multi-story garage, Carlisle clicking the keys to unlock the doors.

“Focus on surviving the Volturi first before you go uncovering new ways to make our lives better, Darlin’.”

Bella falls asleep in the car. Carlisle had insisted he was quite alright up front on his own, allowing Jasper to slide into the backseat alongside Bella. He’d had every intention of sitting himself in the centre, despite the lack of legroom, but Bella had beaten him to it. No doubt for the sole purpose of conking out on him, exactly as she’s done now. She’s leaning well into his side, head pillowed against his chest and it can’t be comfortable, no matter how much he tries to ensure her neck isn’t twisted or angled poorly.

It’s also getting relatively difficult to ignore the lingering burn that’s been progressively building up in the back of his throat, despite the fact he’d over-indulged before they’d caught their flight. Part of him wonders if the mountain lion population will ever bounce back in Washington by the time they move on. But, if it keeps him from feeding off humans, from feeling their sorrow and fear, then he’ll live off rabbits if he has to, no matter how disgusting the blood may be.

“Alice would have said if this was going to turn out poorly,” Carlisle says, penetrating the silence of the car as he turns of the intersection. Jasper lifts his gaze to the centre mirror, meeting the others eyes. He’s not worried about Carlisle keeping his eyes on the road; they’re vampires. If worse came to worse, then they could flee the car before another could impact it. Jasper’s confident he could get Bella out safely before impact.

“I know… I’m afraid my upbringing has ensured I view the Volturi in a different light to what you see them, Carlisle.” He ignores how Carlisle looks him over again after those words, lingering on the thick lacework of scars that decorate his skin, particularly around his neck. They’re a brand he can never throw off, shackles that tie him to a violent and bloody past. All vampires are supposed to be superior to their human selves; more attractive, more powerful. Jasper is certainly the latter, though he doubts the are any vampires who could ever claim him to be attractive. No, the scars on his body scream a warning far too loud to ignore for the pretty face beneath. If the humans could see… well, they’d be running, that’s for sure.

“Would you like me to accompany you to meet he Volturi, Jasper?” He’s thankful Carlisle has offered. The other has spent time with the legendary vampire kings, has worked alongside them. He knows them. And yet, there’s every chance the Volturi will not like what they hear. And he would hate for the man who had taken him into his home, who has given him siblings and a family to come to harm through his actions. And yet… with Carlisle, there is probably a greater chance they will listen, would there not? Either way, should he make the wrong call, he's relatively certain that Alice will inform him.

“I think we should be okay on our own. Unless Alice rings.” Jasper pitches a smile to the other, smoothing his fingers down the cotton covering of Bella’s jumper-sleeve. Still fast asleep, she peppers out a little grumble between her lips, twisting in her seat and utterly ignorant of how the seat-belt cuts a little into the meat of her shoulder. Instead, she puts all of her energy into burying her face into Jasper’s neck, grumbling all the while. He focuses on that, on the peace Bella’s luxuriates in as she sleeps, on the heat of her body lying slumped against him, one set of her fingers still intertwined with his. No phonecall from Alice.

They should be fine.

Jetlag utterly destroys her.

Bella wakes up at some undetermined time in the afternoon and, well aware she’s gone twenty-four ours without access to more than the bare-basics of human hygiene care, she jumps right into the shower.

Stumbling out of the bathroom and working the fluff of the towel against her hair, Bella peers into the kitchen and can’t help but smile at what she sees.

Italian sunlight is drifting in through the open windows, kissing against Jasper’s forearms as he lays out the last of the breakfast supplies; soft pastries, jams and a selection of fruits. She’s salivating just looking at it. No, wait, that’s from looking at Jasper. But damn does he look fine, all gorgeous half-curls all but glowing gold in the light. The Italians were known for their High Renaissance art, weren’t they? They’d probably think Jasper had walked right out of the canvas if they caught sight of him now, might even ask where he’d hidden his wings. He’d make a fine angel. All the Cullens would, Rosalie especially. Bella’s a little bias though. Which is a’okay. He’s her boyfriend, she’s definitely allowed to be bias about how incredible he looks.

“What are you thinking about?”

“How pretty you are,” Bella answers without an ounce of shame, bundling the towel in her hands into a ball and throwing it back towards the bathroom. She’ll pick it up later, after she’s eaten her breakfast. Though she’s pretty sure it’s well past lunchtime now.

“That doesn’t explain the smugness.”

“You’re my boyfriend and you look like you floated down from Michelangelo’s ceiling; all the Italians are gonna be frothing at the mouth.” Hopping up into one of the bar chairs, Bella leans across the countertop to plant a good morning kiss against Jasper’s lips, ensuring there’s an obnoxiously loud pop when she pulls back. Jasper’s smile is glorious. She takes back what she said earlier; now he looks like an old master’s painting. Just, wow.

“I think Italians are a little more composed than that, Darlin’.”

“You ever rolled into town here, Cowboy? ‘Cause if not, I’m certain you’ll be getting more than a few second glances. Expect excessive handholding and several attempts to climb you like a mountain so I can plant a kiss on those lips like a flag.” She’ll be claiming this summit for all to see, that’s for certain. Sure, there’s the whole Volturi thing to deal with, but Bella’s feeling pretty okay about that. If she has to become a vampire, she has to become a vampire. But she’s really, really hoping she can swing it so that she’ll get some human time too. She’s only seventeen, she hasn’t even finished growing yet! And, with Mt. Jasper over here, she’s gonna need every inch she can get.

Popping a strawberry between her lips, Bella takes a moment to admire the flex of Jasper’s forearms as he cuts open a pastry and spreads some kind of berry jam across the innards. She’s not missed the violent golden burn of his eyes; he must have fed while she’d been asleep. And, speaking of asleep-

“I didn’t voice any sexy-thoughts while asleep, right? Because Carlisle knowing I’ve had thoughts of pinning his adopted son down in the sheets and actually hearing them are two very different things and I’m not sure I can sit next to him in a scientific lecture if that’s the case.”

Jasper huffs a laugh, closing up the pastry and pushing the little plate its on forward; Bella takes it in both hands and digs in, ravenously. “Nothing but incoherent grumbles, I promise. He’s out hunting now.” It goes unspoken that Jasper had hunted when she slept which, yeah, that’s nice. As much as she loves the idea of him sleeping beside here (well, as close to sleeping as vampires can get anyway), she much prefers to have her time conscious spent alongside him.

“Cool cool cool. Hey, do you think the Volturi will be able to tell me how vampires came about? I mean, they have to have come from somewhere and, since the only way to make more vampires is to go for humans, that must mean some human had to become the first vamp, right? I mean, clearly there’s something in the venom that initiates the change but what that is… Ah, I’d need a centrifuge, wouldn’t I? That’s probably best saved for when my degree starts… Not that I could let the professors know what I’m up to an’ all.” Shaking her head, Bella slides the last of her Jasper-prepared pastry between her lips, swiftly gathering her half-dry hair back into a lacklustre ponytail. “Alright, Cowboy! I’m ready to go enjoy some Italian sunshine!”

The Italian sunshine is warm. Really, really warm. Like, almost Florida warm. Gods, she can’t wait to visit Mom and take Jasper down with her and show him off. What a daughter she is, reeling in a catch like Jasper Whitlock. Though, it’s him that’s doing the pulling at the moment, even if it’s only ever so slightly.

His hand is deliciously cold in hers, slick with an overabundance of suncream and ensures she’ll have to wash her hands before she even thinks about touching her lips because, ew, bad taste. But holding hands with Jasper? So worth it. The flat soles of her sandals slap against the old-timey cobblestones, sundress fluttering around her thigh and she’s already thrown the idea of exercise out of the window. Not unless she gets up super early to do it and Jasper comes with her. Maybe Carlisle too. Hey, she’s hopeful, not stupid. She has exactly zero intentions of tempting fate and running around vampire central with all her juicy, juicy blood pumping as she gets hot and bothered.

“Carlisle said the entrance isn’t far from the fountain,” Jasper says, ducking through another throng of tourists, three of which all turn to stare at him with parted lips. Bella makes sure she meets the gaze of one, firing off a grin and a wink. The other girl returns shots with a thumbs up; how supportive! Awesome! Europeans are great which, you know, is obvious because she was once one of them, wasn’t she?

“Do they dress in dull grey cloaks, despite the sunshine?” Bella asks, nudging Jasper as she offers a wave to the vampire who is blatantly trying to burn a hole in their heads with his eyes alone. Which, you know, red eyes and the Volturi apparently like gifted vampires, it’s possible. Jasper has clearly spotted the other vampire too, probably before she did as well. He’s taller and has much, much better eyesight; it’s to be expected. “Come on, Cowboy. Let’s go introduce ourselves.”

Despite her words, it’s Jasper who takes the lead, though it’s through no inaction on Bella’s part. She tries to stride forwards, but her five-foot-something legs can only do so much against vampire super-height and speed. Were it not for the fact she’s well aware she’s a grown woman in a teenager’s body, Bella would feel very much like a child being pulled along in the busy street by her mother. Only, Jasper is very, very far from a parental mother. Though he most certainly could be her daddy.

Her cowboy doesn’t look over his shoulder but it’s a very near thing; Bella can only imagine the emotions that must be pouring off her form right now and she needs to get her head in the game, to not distract Jasper or let herself get distracted by Jasper. That’s why, when her gorgeous boyfriend comes to a stop, that Bella leans around his imposing form to smile at the vampire under the grey hood.

“Hi! We’re hear to speak to the Volturi? Carlisle’s coven? Well, one vampire and one human.” She’d only gotten the ‘hi’ out before Jasper had planted one hand on her head and forcibly shuffled her back behind him. On the very tips of her toes, she can only just peer over Jasper’s broad (yum) shoulder. The red eyes up close are- well, they’re very startling. She doesn’t think she’s imagining the way the other is giving Jasper a second, almost wary once over. Right, he’s covered in scars, isn’t he? Yeah, he’s probably pretty intimidating. What does it say about her that she’s totally into that?

“I’m Bella, by the way,” Bella calls around Jasper, wiggling one of her hands between Jasper’s ribs and arm in order to wave at the Volturi member. “And this is Jasper. Hello!”

“Carlisle’s coven… yes, we’re expecting you. Follow me.”

The nameless guard leads them into a building and then an elevator; what follows is a long, twisting path through ancient stone corridors. She’d half-been expecting torchlights but no, it’s the usual modern-day lights in the ceiling running off electricity. Very modern, very normal. Not at all what she was expected of thousand-year-old vampires. Huh.

“So, is there any protocol to follow?” When the vampire doesn’t answer her, Bella looks to Jasper, who nods for her to continue. “Like, am I supposed to bow? They’re kings, right? I should probably bow.” At this, the vampire does turn to look at her, drawing the hood down from his head now that they are safely underground. It takes a great deal of effort for Bella to not reach into her backpack and offer to cream him up. No, wait! To slap some suncream on him- oh man, that sounded so wrong, she’s so glad Edward isn’t around right now because if he could pick up on that thought, it’d have made for a real awkward moment between the two of them.

“Be respectful,” the vampire instructed, lips cutting into a devastatingly beautiful smile that would have been distracting if, you know, she didn’t get the HD Jasper-smile on the daily now. “And I am Demetri.” He turns back around, walking towards the double doors at the end of the corridor, guarded by a receptionist at a desk. It is only as they get closer that Bella realises what is not quite right; the woman is pretty but, in their current company, she’s just that. Dark skin, green eyes, a figure that’d have turned Bella’s head nine months ago; bombshell alert. But, also, human alert?

Cocking her head to a side, Bella turns her attentions back to Demetri but he doesn’t pay her any mind. And though she’d rather like to theorise with Jasper on just why they have a human receptionist (emergency snack? Potential vampire? Something to do with taxes?), the doors are opened before she can think to even open her mouth.

The room Demetri leads them into is a rather larger chamber, though there are only two other vampires present within, one large, one small. Both turn their heads towards them and it takes Bella a moment to register that it’s because of her. Her human heartbeat, her human respiration, probably her human digestion as well; she’s not going to turn her nose up, she’s well aware her stomach will be gurgling away to supernatural ears, digesting her breakfast. Man, Jasper is such a good guy, sticking it out with her like this.

“Demetri, you’ve brought one… and a half back,” the smaller one says, head tilting curiously to a side. Yet, Bella doesn’t miss the way his eyes are scanning Jasper’s form, focusing in on his neck. Right, the scars that’re apparently super-visible and super-off-putting to other vampires. From the way the big guy has stood up rim-rod straight, he’s very much aware of it too. Which means it’s her time to shine and defuse the situation.

“I know Jasper’s tall, but I really don’t think I’m small enough to qualify as a half-” Bella makes to step forward, to offer her hand to one of the two vampires who’ve actually paid her a lick of attention, but Jasper doesn’t budge in the slightest. Given her hand is still very much intertwined with his, she doesn’t get very far. Instead, she ends up a step in front of Jasper, wrong hand extended for a handshake; she smiles through it anyway. “-and I prefer to go by Bella. Hi, we’re from Carlisle’s coven!”

“Huh.” Big and burly who is quite possibly the same size as Emmett takes a step forwards and, as he does so, Jasper reels her back, tucking her against his side. Bella very determinedly pretends it hasn’t happened, wiggling about in the iron trap that is her boyfriend in order to keep grinning at the unnamed duo. “Your bodyguard there wouldn’t happen to come from the southern half of America, would he?”

“Cowboy?”

“Bella. Please tone it down a bit,” Jasper asks, half hunched over and she’s just sure if it’s because it’ll be easier to scoop her up and flee, or easier to defend her, but Bella is one hundred percent on board with the puff of air that kisses up against her ear as she speaks. It sends a delightful little tingle of excitement down her spine.

“Southern twang. I’m not sure what impresses me more, that you’ve survived the Southern Wars, or that you’ve managed to go veggie. I’m Felix and this is Alec.” Felix of the tree-trunk stature offers her a smile and Bella can’t quite decide if it’s a nice one or not.

Luckily enough, she doesn’t need to, for the doors once again open and permit another two bodies into the room. Of course, these two are both vampires, draped in robes, one black, one red. Scarlet small is remarkably close to the same height as Alec, but she’s not the one who holds Bella’s attentions. Instead, it’s the other one, the one in black.

To prepare her for their little trip, Carlisle had offered her a few stories of his time with the Volturi, had shown her the great big portrait he had within his office, painted hundreds of years ago when he had called Italy home. As such, she’s prepared enough to recognise the vampire standing before her, knows that he’s Aro. But, seeing him in person is such a different thing to seeing him depicted in oils. He’s attractive, but in an almost alien like way; skin that looks like paper, thin and near translucent. And, can’t forget the blood-red eyes. Not the glowing in the dark red she’d expected (thank you Hollywood blockbusters), but red enough they’re discomforting.

“Guests!” he chirps, gliding to a stop before them in a way that is so smooth he’d put Alice and her floaty little fairy motive to shame. “Carlisle wrote and said you were coming to visit in response to our letter, but I had not imagined you’d visit so soon.” And he smiles, holding out his hand in a clear invitation, one that Bella is well aware they cannot turn down. She isn’t the fighter of the two of them though, so it’s blatantly obvious which of them should shake his hand. Plus, she’s really interested in what the texture of his hand is gonna feel like. Will Jasper become like Aro in a few centuries? He’d look good no matter what regardless.

“Well, I’ve only got so many days of the summer holidays to play about with, so there was no use dragging our feet. Hi, I’m Bella.” His hand is just as cold as Jasper’s, though the texture is off. Like, like she’s holding a different type of rock, maybe? Eh, who cares. Bella drops into a little curtsy as Aro’s milky red eyes focus in on her face, his lips slowly coiling up into another pleasant grin.

“What a wild cascade your thoughts are, dear Bella. You are aware vampires can come into their new lives with gifts, correct?”

“Yep. Telepathy, Empathy, shi- stuff like that.” Don’t swear in front of the royals. Plus, it’s kinda nice that one of the vampires is paying her attention before Jasper. All the others in the room have focused in on him first and, Bella’s not an attention hog or anything, but she’s the only human in the room. She’s the commodity here. Just, like, not one to eat. Hopefully. Eh, Alice’d have warned her if that was the case.

“Yes. I’ve heard a few whispers of Edward’s gift in Carlisle’s coven. My own gift is somewhat similar, if slightly more restricted in that I require physical contact. However, I can see a touch bit more.”

“How much more?”

“Ah, all of the thoughts you have ever had. Though I must say, some of your own seem to slip through my fingers like sand- no, more like water. I can feel the fluid escaping before I can truly grasp it and I’m only left with the slightest bit of run-off. How marvellous.” Bella’s not quite sure what’s so marvellous about that, nor is it something she’s really got control of. But hey, a compliment’s a compliment.

“You hear that, Cowboy?” Bella asks, contorting their joined arms slightly in order to prod at Jasper’s rib with her elbow. “Marvellous. It’s almost as good as the compliments you pay me.”

Jasper smiles, though he doesn’t look at her. He’s not taken his eyes off of the girl that had walked in with Aro.

This does prompt Aro to move his focus to Jasper and, even though she can’t do anything about it, could never dream of doing anything to stop any one of these vampires from trying something with her cowboy, she still tenses up a bit. From the snort big and burly Felix makes, they all see it, everyone else is just polite enough to ignore it.

“And you would be Jasper, yes?”

“Yes, sir.”

“An army man; Carlisle has mentioned you within his infrequent letters. Though, I must say, the last one I received was some years ago. Long before, I image, dear Bella came into the picture. It is funny, isn’t it, how ground-breaking news has a way of travelling quickly among a world where we often lose track of the decade. The ability to walk in the sun is, as you can imagine-” Aro flashes her another one of his jovial smiles before he continues. “-quite the treat given our location at present. I suppose we have a story to hear before any big decisions can be made, no? Tell me, Bella, would you like a chair?” Would she like a chair?

Bella cocks her head back, assessing the three wooden thrones that sit at the dais, lips pressing into a thoughtful pout. They don’t exactly look comfortable and she guesses the thrones probably aren’t what the vampire king is referring to. She can only imagine what the other two kings would think if they were to walk in and see her lounging about it one.

It almost makes her want to go sit on one anyway.

Reeling in her urges, Bella flops to the floor with as much grace as a fish on land, stretching her legs out before her because crossing them in this dress would mean flashing all the vampires present before she could get herself sorted out. She’s got a bit more class than that. If it’d been Jasper on his own, well, that’d be a different story.

“I’m cool with the floor; I’m getting accustomed to cold things being pressed against me.” The flood of exasperation and worry that Jasper sends her prompts Bella to glance up at him. Their hands are still joined, her arm half held of her head to keep their limbs joined but she has no intention of getting up. Jasper seems to realise this for he gracefully lowers himself into a crouch beside her. It’s the kind of position that means he’s ready to spring up and into action at a moment’s notice; it’s really sexy. She stares just a bit too long because Aro laughs, joining the two of them on the floor until they look like toddlers ready for a picnic.

“Would his majesty like the SparkNotes of how we uncovered the suncream thing, or the whole epic tale of how a hapless human managed to entice a vampire into her little web?”

“The full story, if you please, Bella. I am sure it will be quite the tale.”

Chapter Text

“-and I have no idea why you as a species haven’t been exploring your options, especially given the leaps and bounds humans have made in regards to technology and science in the last century. I mean, you’ve got problems and you’ve just, worked around them? Never tried to figure out why you lust for blood, why human is superior in taste to animals, why one person’s blood can sing but another’s cannot?” Bella is well a truly on a roll.

It’s been roughly a half hour since she began to regal one of the three vampire kings with the ‘tale of their epic romance’, as she had termed it. And, while it has been fascinating to hear everything from Bella’s point of view, Jasper does wish he were in a position he could have enjoyed the retelling from. As it stands, he has been locked in a crouch for the entirety of it, muscles coiled and ready to spring. Oh, he’s well aware that he wouldn’t be able to get out alive, that it’d be a fruitless endeavour if the Volturi decides Bella’s death is necessary. That doesn’t mean he wouldn’t fight it though. No, he’s here like this because he doesn’t know how long these vampires have gone between feeding and he’s aware that Bella’s blood is... sweeter than most.

It is a blessing Edward is not with them; that additional thirst would have been far too distracting. Just like the thumb Bella keeps rubbing back and forth over his knuckles; the change of sensation between regular skin and scar tissue being brushed over isn’t something he is well used to. Even among the Cullens, it had taken them some time to get comfortable enough to initiate physical contact, to stop instinctively dropping into fight or flight mode at the sight of him.

All of the Volturi guards keep giving him the occasional once over even now and Jasper doesn’t doubt that these four have already been exposed to the Southern Wars. They are, after all, the ones who put down the first generation. He’s heard tales of the twins and their powers; they’re exactly the ones that Jasper wants to avoid fighting. While there’s a chance he might be able to ramp up his own emotions to rebuff Jane’s gift, he doubts there’s anything he can do against Alec. Other than turn the panic of emotions he’d no doubt suffer under the other’s gift onto him.

Again, not something he wants to test.

“-want to go into biological engineering. It’s a degree level course that means I’ll be studying how the body is made, the cells of it all and, most importantly, develop solutions for health-related problems and techniques that improve the quality of life. Which, I’m certain I could apply to your lives as vampire.”

On the plus side, it seems that the Volturi are just as blindsided by Bella’s ideas as he and the rest of the Cullens had been. It all seems so incredibly simple now, the idea of looking into how to improve their own way of life. In that respect, Carlisle has come the closest with his own strives towards a different food source. But his vegetarian solution has only aided in the morality of their lives; it has nothing to do with the physical aspect of it. And they had stagnated. Right up until Bella had smeared suncream across his cheek as a joke.

Sitting upon the stone floor and with a look of intrigued contemplation upon his features, Aro is utterly fixated on Bella. Jasper wishes he could get lost in the happiness of Bella’s inquisitive emotionally bubble, but he can’t risk it. Even as the hope and need for progress and motivation rolls in his stomach, seeps into his bones like it is a gift just for him.

“Fascinating,” Aro breathes, the first other than Bella to talk in the past fifteen minutes. He steeples his fingers, hands resting in his lap as he considers Bella once again, lips slowly curling up into a smile. It is so exceptionally strange to see a vampire who is so clearly old. After all, Jasper’s background still has him occasionally counting the lifespan of a vampire in days (fifty-one thousand, seven-hundred and fifty-nine days as a vampire; he’s had fifty-one thousand, seven-hundred and fifty-nine days of his ‘second life’).

Then, the old one turns his eyes on him and Jasper knows what is coming next will not be a request. A hand is held out to him, not an invitation but an unspoken demand to allow the vampire king access to his every thought. He’ll see everything he did under Maria’s orders, will see the near desperate exodus he conducted with Peter and Charlotte. He’ll see every time he has fallen off of the wagon, forcing the Cullens to move on to a new town, lest they be discovered, will hear every one of Jasper’s thoughts in regards to his own lacking willpower.

And, he’ll feel the surprise of Bella asking him to the dance, will be swept up in the bubbling sunshine of her emotions as Jasper has always felt them. He’ll hear Bella’s ‘I’ve been reborn’ spiral again but, this time, he’ll feel the truth that zings through Jasper as she speaks. It isn’t a demand Jasper can stand against though.

He shakes Aro’s hand, watching the other vampire’s features twist in response to the sudden influx of memories. Perhaps he’ll even be able to feel the emotions that Jasper does right in this moment; the swirl of intrigue and anticipation from the Volturi guards, the hope that bubbles up among the worry and affection Bella emits. The caution and disquiet that nestles in Jasper’s breast that is entirely his own feelings.

Aro releases his hand and Jasper slowly sits back on the balls of his feet, still keeping Bella’s arm tucked against his own, their fingers still entwined. It’d be difficult to pull her into a protective position right now, but not beyond him. He’s never had to fight to protect before. It’d been about killing newborns, then about killing animals to subdue his thirst. He’s not had to fight another vampire to protect something before and he does not like his chances here.

The smooth calm of Aro’s emotions is promising though.

“Three years,” Aro says, looking the two of them in the eyes, one after the other, before he turns his gaze onto his guards, “at most. One year to finish your American education, then two years to remove yourself you’re your human life. In three years, you will visit the Volturi again and you will be a vampire, Bella Swan.” He smiles, hands slowly clapping together, as if this the happy ending they’d all been hoping for. And, while Jasper has little problem with the concept of eternity with Bella… she’s never explicitly stated that it is what she wants. As she had put it previously, the idea of being a vampire had never factored into her life plans because she hadn’t been aware it was an option. Jasper doesn’t even know if she’s thought it over yet.

He turns to Bella, watching the emotions flash across her face as surely as they filter through his mind.

“Right,” she says, seemingly a bit dazed before she slowly but surely begins to firm up. “Right. Maybe we can move the Europe because they’ve got some super science stuff, or that’s what I can tell Dad until I have my thirst under control and then, maybe, Hollywood special effects could do a mask to make me look older when I need to see him? Ah, that’s a lot to think about, I’ll need to plan and look at the courses on this side of the pond, though it might be nice to be in England again…” Bella trails off, one hand theatrically stroking at her chin. She’s doing a good job of masking her turbulent emotions, of rolling with the punches that the Volturi had dealt out.

He's still worried.

“Ah, dear Bella, you do remind me of Didyme.”

At that, both of them look up, Jasper straightening at the whisper of regret and affection. The guards too snap to attention, surprise flashing across their faces and that only makes Jasper tense up that little bit more, releasing Bella’s hand to instead wrap his arm around her back.

“My sister,” Aro elaborates, rising to his feet and gesturing for them to copy him. “When she was turned, Didyme could make all those around her happy. I was uncertain until Jasper shared his memories, but there is every possibility that, when you are turned, your gift will be something similar. Hope, most likely, given how often I have felt it brimming from you.” Yes, Jasper can see that. Bella, as a vampire, inspiring hope for the future, for their lives, with her every action and thought. It would not surprise him in the slightest.

“There are worse gifts to have,” Bella decides, brashly smushing herself to Jasper’s side without a hint of shame, one of her arms around his back, the other half wrapped around her so that she might gather a handful of his shirt between her fingers. Her touch is warm, fingers brushing up against his abdominals and he’s not even surprised by the zing of lust that shoots through her, nor the way she unashamedly presses her hand flat against his midriff for a better feel. Ever the opportunist. “You write to Carlisle, right? Can I have a Volturi penpal too? I mean, you guys are the oldest vampires I know and I have loads of questions to ask before I can start on my investigations. Pretty please?”

They leave the Volturi without meeting the other two kings; apparently, Aro had felt confident enough to deal with the two of them on his own. Jasper isn’t sure if he should be thankful or worried by that fact, or pay more attention to the very serious offer the Volturi king had extended to them in regards to joining their ranks. Bella had giggled, shaking her head and turned it down, which had allowed Jasper the opportunity to state he’d rather remain with Carlisle, that it was better for his dietary needs. Even if the very idea of becoming a Volturi enforcer didn’t make his stomach flip with the reminder of the Southern Wars, he doesn’t doubt it would be a slippery slope right back to drinking from humans again. It is hard enough to remain on the vegetarian diet as it is. He’s under no illusions when it comes to his own control; remaining with those who drink human blood would not aid him in any way.

“Well, that went well!” Bella chirps, her hand one again threaded through his own as they come out into the main plaza, the bell tower striking three times as the afternoon sun continues to burn hot on the back of his neck. The scent of his reapplied suncream is almost overwhelming, though it does not seem to bother the tourists that bustle around them, unaware of the monsters that lurk in the shadows. Perhaps due to Bella’s discovery, they will soon be walking side by side with those very monsters. A monster that Bella is to become.

“Are you alright, Darlin’?” She’d had a future picked out for her, a course set and any deviation would result in instant death. Jasper had once lived under such rules, if it could have been called living. Bella blinks, cocking her head back to look at him and she smiles as if all is right within the world.

“I’m great. When Hot Doc told me about the rules, I kinda resigned myself to having to turn at some point, I’m just surprised they gave me three years. Which, hey, I’ll be twenty, that’s a year older than you, right?”

“Yes, I was nineteen when I was turned.”

“Then you’ll be my boytoy!”

Were he capable of it, Jasper rather thinks he’d have choked a little bit at that. As it is, his lips curve up into a bemused smile, his free hand reaching out to tug ever so gently at a tress of Bella’s brown hair.

“I’ve got a solid century on you.”

“Ssshhhh, let me pretend,” Bella whispers, pressing one of her fingers to his lips and Jasper places a chaste kiss at it. Bella’s response is to offer him a second finger, then a third, then a fourth as he keeps kissing at them. When she pulls back her hand and instead does her darn best to shove her face up towards his, he lets the thoughts of the Volturi go. He can focus on that later, once they’re back at the house and have the chance to discuss things further. Jasper rises up onto his tiptoes too; Bella just crushes her face into his chest instead, making the most obnoxious kissing sounds he’s ever heard. A passing father looks scandalized as he shuffles his children away.

“Stop traumatising the locals.”

“Then stop getting taller. I’m the one that’s supposed to still be growing, not you.” Bella grumbles, wrapping her arms around his waist and pressing herself flushed to his body. She’s warmer than usual, maybe from the Italian sun, maybe from the high of getting out of the Volturi alive and well. He’s still struggling with the fact she’d asked Aro, the vampire considered the overall leader of the Volturi, to be her penpal. That the other had accepted is, well, something.

“No more growing,” Jasper agrees easily. It’s not exactly a promise he can ever break, is it? Leaning forwards, he presses a kiss to her forehead, then to the tip of her nose. When his lips meet hers, he can taste the mix of sweat, suncream and lip gloss, can feel the fractures in the skin where she’s chewed a little too often on the delicate flesh there. But there’s something remarkably human about the contact and, knowing those days are numbered now, he savours it.

While Bella lines up for an ice-cream sundae, Jasper calls Carlisle to regale him with the events of all that had happened. He’s aware the other vampire will probably be feeling discomforted with the idea of turning Bella; Edward, Esme, Rosalie, Emmett, they’d all been turned because they were on the brink of death. They didn’t have the option of living their human lives because they’d been dying anyway. Bella, Bella is a somewhat different matter, only somewhat because there is a threat that will end her life. Only, that threat has come about because she has gotten entangled with vampires. While a small part of Jasper regrets admitting to what they are, a far larger part of him does not care.

Bella wouldn’t be in his life like this otherwise. He wouldn’t be standing safely in the summer sunshine, watching Bella stumble through her order with the half-baked Italian phrase he’d had her rehearse prior to lining up.

“I suppose we best begin discussing how to handle this situation then,” Carlisle says quietly, tapping what sounds like a pen (he can hear the spring and ink rattling through the phone) against something soft, most probably a notepad.

“When we return to the States please, Carlisle.” It goes unsaid that Jasper wishes to just spend a few days existing for the time being, enjoying the sounds and sights of Italy while they can. Who knows how many years it will take Bella to get her bloodthirst under control? It could be decade. It could be longer.

“Of course, Jasper. Will you be attending the lecture with us tomorrow?”

The lecture is fantastic; Bella’s already filled several pages of her notebook, scrawling notes and ideas she goes in the margins. She’s also got a list of questions that she wants to ask Aro and it’s going to be a hell of a lot easier sending those off to someone on the other end of a penpal relationship than it is to ask, say, Hot Doc. Because ‘if vampire venom replaces all other fluids in the body, then how does sexy times work’ isn’t exactly something she wants to ask Jasper’s pseudo father unless there is no one else with more life experience. And vampire kings have a millennium or so on Carlisle. Which, you know, cool. Aro was pretty cool actually and had sorta reminder her of Alice almost. Which, yeah, odd. Cool, but odd.

Better yet though, is the fact she and Jasper have one day left in Italy before they’re hopping back on a plane to the States and Bella has ever intention of getting photographs of their foray into Land of the Euro to show her dad. Which means a mid-day costume change to make it seem like they’ve been to multiple different historical locations over different days instead of ramming it into one so they could go visit the vampire overlords that live in the shadows… She needs to do something nice for Dad, to show him she really appreciates the trust he’s put in her to travel across the world with Dr Cullen and his son that she is most certainly dating.

Damn, it’s a good thing Jasper is so responsible and respectful. If he’d been an oddball who whisked her into dangerous adventures every weekend or so, Dad would probably have had a different opinion on it all. Hell, he’d probably have had a different opinion if Billy’d have clicked onto who she was spending her time with and had chance to put Dad off. Luckily, Dad’s spent enough time ‘round Jasper to know it’s a load of bullshit.

“What’s on your mind?”

“You,” Bella answers, swiftly and with style as she switches out her relaxed sit into a stomach sprawl across the ancient stone, legs bent and crossed in the air as she peers up at Jasper. “Pretty much always you. Either ideas about vampires and science because of you, thoughts about how pretty you are… a lot of thoughts about your shoulders.” Gods above, she is obsessed with those shoulders. So broad and strong and so very… sexy. Yeah, she likes her a man that looks as if he can carry the world on his shoulders and Jasper fits that down to a tee. “Specifically, how Dad trusts you to spend time with me without him being in immediate reach. Which is why I’m laid out on Italian stone older than you, hopefully looking like a legit snack… and not in the vampire feeding way.” Bella fires a wink at Jasper, a cheeky smile on her lips before she rolls to bounce up to her feet, hands digging through her bag for a camera. She’s in outfit two right now, so photos are a go. She just needs to prompt Jasper into using his intermediate Italian to ask another person to take a photo of them.

“You have some of the strangest phrases, Darlin’.”

“Don’t pretend you don’t love it.” Jasper just smiles, holding out a hand for the camera that she places in his palm. She watches him walk away (and she’d say the whole spiral about hating to see him leave but loving to watch him walk away or whatever, but he’s coming back) as she zips her bag back up. There’s something very attractive about Jasper speaking another language, even if he’s admitted he’s far from fluent in Italian. French, apparently, he’s very good with. Spanish as well, given he’d spent plenty of time down in Mexico. There are a few others, but he’d never bothered too much to learn Italian beyond ‘the basics’. Bella’s clever though and she knows what Jasper considers ‘basics’ is probably somewhere she’d be after three to four years of studying. Determined studying.

Languages were never really her thing.

“Heavy thoughts?” Jasper pinches her nose and Bella huffs, flicking out her tongue to catch the underside of his thumb. She’s not imagining the way Jasper’s eyes follow the action. On the plus side, when she’s a vampire, she’ll be able to do all the fun sorts of things she gathered Jasper can’t do with a human. Which, yeah, that sucks. But hey, vampire. No sex is worth dying for… she thinks.

Maybe she’ll change her tune once she actually gets Jasper in bed but, she’ll probably be vamped up by then, so it’ll be a moot point. Eh, that’s not really her decision to make. She can certainly make her intentions clear but, if Jasper doesn’t want to do sexy times, then sexy times won’t happen. Because if there’s no consent, then it’s not sexy. Unless it’s consensual roleplay. Hmmm, she’ll shelve that thought for later consideration.

“Nah, but they sure ain’t appropriate.”

“Are they ever?” Jasper asks and Bella chortles, eagerly ribbing him over the fact he is ‘finally catch on’. The look in his eyes as she says that makes her remarkably weak at the knees. There’s all sorts of fondness, affection, and warmth in his golden eyes and she just wants to, well, Bella’s not sure. Crawl into Jasper’s embrace and ever come out, like some kind of greedy little gremlin? Run away with him to the depths of the rainforest, live in a little homemade treehouse and spend every day playing in the shallow waters of a nearby river? She’s not sure what she wants, only that she wants it with him. Maybe Aro’s decision is a blessing, forcing her into a situation that is as guilt-free as one could possibly get when ditching everything they’ve ever known to be changed into a creature that could kill all her former human acquaintances? Damn, she’s gonna need a human-life bucket list or something. Eh, that’s tomorrow’s problem.

“Hey, history nerd. Is there a ‘kissed my sexy-beast of a girlfriend’ on your historian’s travel check-list? Because if there isn’t, there should be.” There is most certainly one on her ‘scientist in a foreign land’ traveller’s checklist.

“I should probably check the list,” Jasper mutters mocking, tapping one finger against his chin, “but I left it at the apartment.”

“Better kiss me then, just in case.”

“And if it’s not on the list?”

“Then I’ll add it on.” When Bella presses her lips to Jasper’s, she can feel his are curved into a smile.

The photos all look good. Flicking through the digital camera (because they’re the Cullens and Jasper has access to newest technology and Bella’s sure as hell gonna use that to her advantage to take precious memory pictures of their latest adventure), Bella keeps the apartment’s wireless telephone pressed to her ear. She’s kinda clicked that they’re not in the student accommodations but the ‘important guests’ quarterses. Which, yeah, that’s cool. More importantly, they have a phone and she has a Dad she wants to speak to.

“Hello?”

“Hi Dad!”

“Bells. You sound well.” Now, one thing Bella most definitely misses about cored phones is the ability to sit curling the cord around her finger again and again as she’s talking. Instead, she settles for flicking through the pictures from today, happy with the fact they look like they were taken over two different days. Hell, there’s even two photos taken the other day when they’d been out in Volterra; she’s got ice-cream on her nose on one. Very authentic. Damn Jasper for getting a picture of that.

Oh well. At least she’s dressed cute.

“I am well! The lecture was super interesting! I definitely want to go into biological engineering; it’s amazing! Anyway, no use talking about my trip around the world until I can ram my photos under your nose to discuss everything I’ve seen. So, how’re you?”

Curled up in the armchair with Jasper writing something down in a journal (he has a journal; that’s super cute and adorable and maybe something she should get into when she goes full on immortal?), Bella listens to her father talk through everything she’s missed in town over the last few days. Which is to say, not a lot. Though Jake’s apparently caught a fever which sucks for him. She’ll pick up some Italian chocolate as a get well present. And some for Dad too, as a thank you for being an awesome dad. One of the best dads to ever dad. Hell, she’ll get some Italian pasta too and make an authentic dish once she’s back.

All in all, this has been a successful adventure. The only downside is that she hasn’t been able to get Jasper’s shirt off in the Italian sunshine. Oh well. There’ll be another chance when they go to visit her Mum at some point.

Hopefully.

Chapter Text

Flying the other way isn’t so bad. Bella’s not exactly full of beans when she gets off the plane, but she’s got enough of a bounce in her step to bring a smile to Jasper’s face and, really, is there anything better that she could spend her energy on? Well, there’re all the questions that she wants to fire the Volturi’s way, but that requires a long sit-down period so she can take the floppy thoughts that are swimming around in her noodle-soup of a brain and straighten them out into something coherent. Given she’d be writing to the vampire kings who’ve been kind enough to spare her lowly human self and have even given her a few more years of humanity, it’ll probably be a good idea to play nice.

Fingers laced with Jasper’s, Bella stumbles out of the airport, her cheek smushed up against his upper arm, the delicate clack of the suitcase wheels on tiles echoing behind her. Carlisle has gone on ahead to retrieve the car, leaving Bella in the capable hands of her favourite vampire babysitter. Speaking of said capable hands, the one she’s got ensnared between her own has her complete focus now. Long fingers, strong knuckles, firm palm; if the skin weren’t so cold to the touch, this’d be the perfect hand. Hell, it is the world’s perfect hand, Bella’ll fight anyone that tried to claim otherwise.

“What are you thinking about?” Jasper breathes the question across the flyaway strands of hair that bracket her forehead, the exhale kissing up against the skin of her temple. They must make a glorious picture; her slumped into his side, Jasper craning his neck to address her secretively, lovingly. Man, she’s caught herself a good one, hasn’t she?

“Your hands,” Bella admits, lifting one of the hands in question to plaster her lips to the knuckles, a long wet kiss followed by two dry, butterfly presses of her mouth to his scarred thumb. She can actually feel the very, very slight texture difference between skin and scar with her lips; it makes her want to trace his entire body with her mouth, map each and every mark until she knows where they all reside. “Give me twenty minutes and I’ll move on to a different part of you.”

Jasper laughs and it’s a low, husky sound that zings right through Bella’s bones, shocking enough to beat back the loose grasp of jet lag and leaving her free to focus.

“Such as?”

“You’re neck and that interesting thing it does when you speak or laugh. I haven’t gotten to study that last one much which means I need to try harder. Or maybe not; it’s hypnotic.”

Her boyfriend (her boyfriend, seriously, how fucking lucky can a girl get to call this gorgeous being her boyfriend) laughs again, but Bella doesn’t get the chance to stare at his neck. Not when he’s taken a gentle hold of her face to guide their lips together, as if it’s a meeting that needs as little influence from outside sources as the tide meeting the shore. Inevitable. She likes that. Jasper is so beautiful, so amazing but—

“I’m gonna spend the day with my dad tomorrow,” Bella declares, forcibly suffocating a yawn before it can escape from between her lips. “Maybe go visit Jake since he’s ill.” Maybe Dad’ll be up for a father-daughter fishing trip, like the good old days? It is summer after all, so the chances of the weather being half-decent are... well, not great given the location, but remarkably better than they would be in autumn or spring. “If we go fishing, I’ll dedicate a catch to you.”

“Just don’t fall in the lake, Darlin’. I ain’t gonna be fishing you out if you do.”

“I’ll have you know I’m a catch; you’d totally fish me out of the lake,” she teases, almost completely assured that such a thing is true. Jasper walking out the lake, cradling her right to his chest as water streams down his muscles and his shirt sticks to his torso— yum. Maybe she should fall in the lake after all? Nah, too much gunk in there. She shelves that plan for a later date. Maybe when she’s a vampire herself, then the stunning good looks may detract from any pondweed hair extensions. “But I’ll do my best to not take a dive.”

Jasper and Carlisle drop her off on the drive, both waving to her dad when he opens the door to find her standing there, no doubt looking a little bedraggled and hopefully her lips aren’t too swollen from her obscene kiss goodbye (yes, Carlisle had looked away to give them some mockery of privacy and yes, Bella had just maybe dialled up the macking noises for his benefit). She hadn’t paid much attention beyond that, too busy abandoning her suitcase by Ol’ Red to better launch herself into her dad’s arms.

“That’s an enthusiastic greeting, Bells.”

“I missed you.” It’s as simple as that, but it beats back the crow’s feet that are starting to gather by Dad’s eyes, his smile lifting them into something more like ‘cat-got-the-cream’ whisker lines. You know, pleased wrinkles of a life well lived and well-laughed.

Releasing Dad, Bella spins on her heels and scrambles over for her suitcase, waving goodbye to Carlisle and then blowing several kisses to Jasper, one after the other. Because he’s worth so much more than one measly kiss. He blows one back and Bella catches it, pressing it to her chest, heart a steady thump beneath her fist.

“How that boy puts up with you, I’ll never know,” Dad grunts, offering a wave of his own to Hot Doc and his even hotter adopted ‘child’. Two yummy blonds set off down the street— it sounds like the start of a bad joke. Well, joke’s on everyone else because one yummy blond is all Bella’s. God, what even is her luck? She’s not gonna question it; Jasper is her miracle and she’ll accept no attempts for refunds or returns. This transaction is final, thank you very much.

“Because I’m a bundle of sunshine in a very tired package. Hey, Dad, can we go fishing tomorrow? Maybe pop around Jake’s so I can launch Italian ‘get well soon’ chocolates at him?”

“Depends, are there any chocolates for me?”

Bella laughs, driving her elbow (gently) into her dad’s side before she eagerly skips up towards the house, suitcase dragged behind her and flopping about like a fish on land. It’s awesome being back home; everything smells as it should, the temperature is just what she expects and the water will no doubt taste right.

Toeing her flip flops off by the door, Bella meanders inside, leaving her suitcase in the hallway to be later stripped for the dirty laundry that’ll need a wash. The TV is blaring in the living room, recounting a rerun of baseball’s best scenes from last season. It’s not something she knows a hell of a lot about, though if she’s gonna become a vampire, it’s best she learns at some point. After all, it’s the Cullens’ favourite sport. The one time she’s seen them play baseball hadn’t exactly turned out perfectly, but the bit she’d gotten to watch before that damned interruption had been really interesting. The crack of the bat meeting the ball, the thunderous slam as their bodies collided; it’s probably great fun when you can keep up. Ah, she’s really looking forward to that.

But hey, she’s got just short of three years to prepare for that now. Learning baseball tactics could be a father-daughter thing again. She wants to spend as much time with Dad as she can before she has to stay away for his continual good health. Will video calls be around in three years? Hopefully, the Cullens either have connections with movie-makeup artists or maybe she can get them to create some makeup technique to help them look a bit older. Why they haven’t done something like that before, Bella’s not too sure. She knows Alice in particular is very arty and good with makeup; surely the cute little vampire could age them up a bit with some powders and paints?

A thought for another time.

“Anything in the fridge?” Bella calls, already making her way to the kitchen and reaching for the door. Opening the threshold produces a cardboard takeout box which, when removed from the fridge and prised open, produces six leftover slices of cold pizza. God, she’s so hungry, the plane ride had been so long and, though Hot Doc certainly splashes his cash on feeding her, it doesn’t mean Bella isn’t hungry now. Plus, cold pizza is divine. She’ll fight anyone that says otherwise.

“Help yourself, Bells. I’ll ring Billy and see if he wants to join us tomorrow.”

“Congrats, you still have your head!”

Emmett’s booming greeting is the first thing to register as he walks through the door of the house, though it’s far from the first thing Jasper has picked up from the rest of the family since he arrived back upon the Cullen property line. He’d been able to feel the anxiety, tension and curiosity since Carlisle turned the car onto the little country lane up to the house, though it had only been as they got closer that he started hearing Esme’s feet scuffling against the floor as she paced. It’s a remarkably human trait for her to exhibit, as if she’s so used to going through the motions of pretending to be human, she’s forgotten when it’s necessary to switch it off. And speaking of humans—

Now that they’re well away from the Swan household, Jasper tilts his head ever so slightly towards his shoulder and inhales the scent that lingers upon his shirtsleeve. Bella’s sweet aroma clings tight and hard, heady and enticing as always. It makes the back of his throat burn and venom pool in his mouth, but he’s becoming better at tempering the reaction. Yes, she smells delicious and the blood would probably be divine. But what short satisfaction he would get from an accidental slip would always be eclipsed by the sheer joy she brings to his life by just smiling at him. That kind of slip is not one he would ever be able to build himself back from and so he disciplines his body’s response in the same way he’d been forced to discipline his flight response to the more scarred vampires at the start of his bloody career in the Southern Wars. If he could control himself then when he had no hope, he sure as hell can control himself now.

The very thought of Bella being threatened in the Volturi’s meeting chamber had caused him greater stress than he’d felt in a long time; it’s brought about a realisation he’s not quite sure how to handle. Namely that he is very much on his way to being in love with Bella Swan.

It’s a daunting thought for certain, but right now he cannot picture himself ever being in love with anyone else. So, it is quite possible this ‘on his way’ is actually a slippery slide slick with grease and he’s got no chance of finding his footing before he hits the bottom. He doesn’t actually care for the potential impact either. Perhaps that’s the most damning thing.

A smile works its way across his lips at the very thought of her and Jasper stems the pleasure that wants to curl off his form. It’s hardly appropriate right now.

So instead, he offers Emmett a tight nod of greeting, remaining still when the younger vampire bundles him up in a welcoming hug. He’s projected his intentions clear enough with his movements so Jasper doesn’t automatically react as he would should a sudden vampiric limb wrap itself around his shoulders. The first few times Emmett had tried hugging him had resulted in limb loss before they both got better at anticipating and projecting intentions for physical contact.

“What’s the verdict?”

Teeth grind on the other side of the room and Jasper flicks his gaze over to Rosalie, already aware of exactly what her opinions will be upon the Volturi’s ultimatum. It won’t go down well with his faux twin, nor will Edward be particularly happy about it given his opinion on their state of being as ‘soulless monsters’. Jasper isn’t so sold on that particular point. He has a unique outlook though, can sense the emotions of these ‘soulless monsters’. Can they be so soulless when they love so purely? He experiences the feelings that Carlisle holds for Esme, the tender love Rose cradles close for Emmett only every day. There is no way that can be produced by the damned creatures as Edward believes them to be.

“Bella has three years before the Volturi stop by to check if she has been turned.”

Rosalie exhales, sort and sharp as Emmett rubs at the back of his head. The contrast between their emotions is stark; Rosalie is a mixture of low simmering bitterness and sweeping regret, while Emmett... Emmett is secretly thrilled. Of course he is, he’s made no secret of his like of Bella and his thoughts on Jasper finally finding someone that can turn his head. The younger vampire highly approves; Jasper, after all, is the second oldest among them but doesn’t have anyone to express all those tender emotions with. For Emmett, who has always had his Rose since he woke in this ‘second life’, the considerations for Jasper’s love life come with a bit more weight to them. 

 “So that’s it. Three years before the Volturi descend on us.” Rosalie’s words hang heavy in the air, smothering the tentative joy of their successful return home. Emmett mutters a low ‘babe’, but Rosalie has already had her fill of their discussion; she turns for the stairs and disappears, leaving Esme and Emmett trading silent glances in such a way that it’s abundantly clear there’s been many conversations regarding this while they’ve been absent. 

Carlisle coughs, another human mannerism and Jasper cuts him off before he can delve into the mess that is Rosalie’s emotions. 

“I’ll go find Edward and Alice.” It goes unspoken that he’ll catch them up on the verdict (though there’s every chance that Alice is already aware) while also sating his thirst. 

“Be safe, Jasper,” Esme requests, reaching out for Carlisle’s hand. Emmett, meanwhile, had absconded from the discussion entirely, and the raw determination that’s frothing from him indicates he has every intention of going to speak to Rosalie. Jasper wishes him the best of luck. 

Three years until the Volturi come to check on Bella. There is now a expiry date to Bella’s humanity and Jasper wonders if he should feel guilty that it exists. But… he enjoys the thought of eternity with her perpetual happiness more than he cares to admit.

Ah. He is in this deep, isn’t he? Forget going down the slippery slide; he’s already rocketed out of that and landed… well, in the ball pit, he guesses. It’s a place he’d never expected to find himself in, filled with colour and joy and he can’t believe he’s comparing his feelings for Bella to a children’s playground. 

What a strange year it has been.

“Bill-eeeeee.” It’s a whine, the kind of whine you’d probably scowl at four year old children for producing when they’re nagging for their third favourite candy because the other two are all out of stock, but Bella’s not a child— she’s cuter than that. 

But Billy Black clearly doesn’t agree. 

“Sorry Bella, but Jake’s not taking visitors. Don’t want you catching whatever it is from him.” Billy grumbles, voice gruff and dark eyes flinty as he gives her a once over. They soften slightly when they fall upon the gift bag she’s got clasped between her hands, Jake’s name scrawled out along the side and so damningly large it can’t be missed. “Anything in there for an old man?”

“Not for an old man that won’t let me see my buddy,” Bella mutters, petulant in her stand off. All the while, Charlie is half-slouched against the front door between them and desperately trying to muffle his laughter into the collar of his fishing jacket. 

Billy huffs a sigh, relaxing back into his chair and she can see some of the tension bleed out of his shoulders. The knowledge that she’s dating one of those dastardly vampires looms between them, invisible to Charlie but heavy in each interaction between them. Bella’s not backing down though; Jasper is gorgeous, a gift from the heavens and Bella has every intention of cradling her holy miracle in her arms and never letting go. And there’s just so damn much of Jasper to hold onto. All those muscles and that perfect golden hair and that little half-smile thing he does is just, *ah*. There are no words.

“You’re drooling there, Bells.” Charlie runs a finger along her chin and, sure enough, her skin does feel somewhat damp there. “Hungry?”

“Nah, thinking of something tasty.” And she is. Jasper is a snack— no, he’s a three-course meal and Bella wants to gorge. But she’s gotta pace herself, gotta be a whole, well-rounded member of society. She’s not gonna become one of those people whose life revolves solely around their significant other, who builds their whole self-up around someone. She’s an independent woman who can stand on her own two feet. 

Though she won’t ever say no if Jasper ever offers to carry her in those hunky arms of his. When she’s a vampire, maybe she’ll even be able to fully appreciate it without focusing on how rock solid he is. 

“Are you sure you don’t want to join us fishing, Billy?” Charlie asks, returning them to the topic at hand and Bella forcibly pulls her mind back and away from Jasper because today is all about daddy & daughter time. Which is why she’s mighty pleased that Billy has opted to stay home for Jake. Not that she’s happy Jake is ill, but if Jake’s not gonna be there, then just Billy tagging along with be all sorts of awks. With the confirmation of him not joining them though, daddy & daughter time is a’go. 

“I’m sure, Charlie. Enjoy your day with Bella.” 

The drive to their usual lake isn’t particularly long (by American travel times; European standards for travel would be horrified by what American’s call a ‘quick drive’). Charlie loads up the boat, Bella mans the bait, and soon enough they’re bobbing out on the calm waters. 

“How’d your conference go then, Bells?” Charlie asks once they’re set up, hunched over beside her with fishing rod in hand, chewing on a piece of beef jerky he really shouldn’t have brought along. It’s that overly salted, crunchy kind and Bella knows if she has one bite of it, neither of them will stop until they’ve consumed the entire packet. 

“It was really interesting, actually. It was all about how in the future, we might actually be able to go into our DNA and begin altering the coding.” Shifting her weight from one buttock to the other, Bella flings a glance over her shoulder and grins. “Personally, I’d give myself fangs. They’d be great for Halloween.”

“You’d be better off with luminescent skin, so people can see when you’ve fallen over.” 

Bella huffs, driving her elbow (somewhat gently) into her father’s side, matching his laughter with her own. 

“Who know? Maybe one day I will glow like some fairytale princess. I’ll look so good, I’ll cause all sorts of traffic incidents.”

“Well, wait ‘till I’ve retired before you start with that then, please.” 

The soft lapping of water at the hull of the boat is all that fills the silence between them for a moment and Bella lets her muscles relax, lets her shoulders unravel until they’re smooth slopes as opposed to a harsh, hard horizon. This is nice. She loved coming to Washington as a kid, getting to spend time by the lake with Charlie, getting stuck in with all his favourite activities; fishing, watching the sport, playing with the cruiser’s siren. Well, okay, that last one was her favourite activity when she was small, but that’s because she’d known full well she’d only be young enough to get away with the ‘I forgot what that button does’ excuse for so long. She’d made the most of her childhood cuteness. 

“I brought your camera,” Charlie says suddenly, his quiet words snapping the silence and Bella twists to look at him. Face somewhat flustered, not looking at her, the man’s so awkward and Bella is so glad she’s chosen to ignore the social rules that Charlie seems to have taken to heart to stress over. The idea of not doing as she wishes now because of what someone will think of her doesn’t even register. 

“If you wanted to take some family photos, dad, you should’a just asked. Gimme!” Bella reached with grasping hands as Charlie laughs, handing her the camera without a fuss.

And it’s nice, relaxing here with her dad, taking photos, nearly falling in the lake, but Bella avoided it at the last second (and swore Charlie to secrecy because if Jasper learnt she’d almost gone for a swim, she’d never have heard the end of it), and just… being. 

She won’t get many more opportunities to be human like this, not when there’s a timer counting down.

But that’s okay; she’ll just make new precious moments as a vampire. 

Chapter Text

“Gotta say, having a big-wig friend who attends conferences across the world is amazing.”

“Are the chocolates really that good?”

On the other end of the phone, Jake gives a husky laugh, loud and delighted, and Bella relaxes further into the sofa with a grin of her own. It’s good to hear his voice after the absolute let down of not being allowed to see him the other day. Anyone else might assume Jake had become horribly disfigured with how insistent Billy had been on them not seeing him, but he’s reassured her that he’s fine. Better than fine even— fit as a fiddle! Which, you know, is great! Because Bella wouldn’t appreciate having to climb god knows how many steps to go visit him if Billy decided to ship him off to a cathedral, Quasimodo style, in order to hide the family shame.

It’d have been cool to get a look at some famous cathedral bells though.

“They are sooo good, like, you don’t even know,” Jake says, his voice a low rumble down the phone and Bella laughs to herself, spinning her pencil about between her fingers and then scrambling to catch it when it slips through her grasp.

“I had proper Italian ice-cream while I was over there,” she shares, insistent, eager to point out that she did manage to sample the local culture, that she hadn’t been locked in a laboratory or lecture hall, released only long enough to gather chocolates for ill childhood friends before she was once again contained among the eggheads. Eggheads that she will someday join the ranks of.

If she doesn’t scramble herself before that.

“’S not Italian chocolates though, is it?” Jake teases and Bella gives a groan of agreement.

“It’s not Italian chocolates,” she repeats. She’d been a good girl on the flight back, hadn’t devoured the gifts she was bringing to others, and this is how she’s repaid? With this mean teasing? And over the phone-line too, so she can’t even jab her fingers into Jake’s side in recompense! The absolute scoundrel. “How are you feeling anyway, Jake?”

“’M good, Bella, ‘M good…” Jake trails off and, though Bella is now very much aware that he is ‘good’ in the physical terms of health and wellbeing, there must be something resting on his mind to shut Jake up like that. The silence between them, punctured only by the buzz of electricity humming through the phone’s speaker, is damning.

Please don’t let Billy have spilled the beans. Please don’t let him—

“Dad says you’re doing something stupid.”

Oh, god damn it, Billy Black. Once Bella can muster up the energy to get up off this sofa, then… then she’s not going to do much of anything, anyway. It’s easy to be annoyed with Billy from her perspective; she knows exactly how good the Cullens are, knows that they’re precious little angels who desperately don’t want to hurt humans (but, just like real humans, can accidentally end up doing so regardless of their best intentions) and can be trusted as far as they can throw you. And Bella’s pretty certain that they could throw her damn far.

Especially Jasper with those oh-so-solid arms of his.

But Billy? He’s got his superstitions from his elders telling him otherwise and Bella can’t even blame him for it; other vampires are fucking scary! Gods, if she hadn’t met Jasper and the rest, hadn’t spent so much time with him (admiring him, adoring him, just, him, you know?) then she’d probably trust in Billy’s words and give the Cullens a wide berth. But Billy ain’t no Kaa and Bella ain’t no Mowgli. She won’t trust in him on word alone.

“Well that doesn’t sound like me.”

“Bella.”

“Okay, fair, it does sound like me,” Bella concedes, holding one hand up in surrender before recalling that Jake isn’t in the room and cannot see her ceding to his point. “But I do a lot of stupid things— you’re really gonna have to be more specific.” And does she feel mean pinning Jake between the whole ‘can’t share tribe secrets with outsiders’ and his concern for her? Yes, yes she does. It makes her guts squirm something terrible, so far away from the springtime butterflies that Jasper gives her whenever he’s nearby that it has Bella shifting about on the sofa, discomforted.

“We’re talking about the kind of stupid with serious consequences, Bella. Don’t— fuck. Don’t make light of this. Please.” Oh shit, there’s the manners that he knows she can’t resist.

Bella bites at her bottom lip, working the flesh back and forth, grimacing to herself. Man, Jake is such a good friend, trying to warn her off the ‘cold-ones’ that are an enemy of his tribe (though what his regular human ass can do about them is beyond her) and she feels super crummy letting him down like this.

She probably should have brought him more Italian chocolates than she did. Maybe then he’d have shared them too.

“Okay,” Bella breathes, somewhat defeated as she rises up onto both feet, only wobbling a little bit (note to self, don’t spend so much time sprawled without moving; blood does not appreciate having to suddenly work hard with no warning). “I promise I’ll be careful. Besides, I have Jasper to haul me out of any danger now. He’s so tall he can see it coming from a mile off!” And hear it. Sense it too, probably.

Jake gives an aggravated huff on the other end of the line, one that Bella pretends she hasn’t heard. Instead, she offers to meet up with him over the weekend, though Jake is quick to turn her down. Almost insultingly so. Like, yeah, she’s aware he’s a good-boy™ who probably comes out in hives at the thought of causing any relationship drama, but Bella likes to think she’s made it blatantly clear that she’ll never cheat on Jasper. Never ever. Never ever ever ever.

She doesn’t give off any kind of vibe that her affections are so easily swayed… does she?

Huh. Best to double down on romancing Jasper more if there’s this kind of doubt floating about the town.

“Well… maybe next week then?” Bella offers, meeting Dad’s curious gaze from across the room and shrugging her shoulders, an unspoken ‘I don’t know what the hell is up with him— any offers?’

She’s not sure if it’s a comfort or not when Charlie just responds with the same lacklustre shrug of ignorance.

“Maybe next week,” Jake mutters, though there is absolutely zero conviction in his voice. It’s the kind of voice you use when you’re making plans with friends for the next decade despite knowing you’ve only got six months to live.

Jake hangs up before Bella can ramble out the (potentially very inappropriate) question, leaving her listening to the dial tone thundering down the line.

“Not going out with Jasper today, Bells?”

Nope!” Bella chirps, bouncing into the kitchen and setting aside her weird phone conversation with Jake in favour of getting everything ready for the night. “It’s girls’ night, remember? I asked you if Angela and Jess and Alice could come for a sleepover because you’re on nights and you said yes, probably because you know then that I won’t be having Jasper over for the night. And even if you didn’t have a problem with that, I’m still gonna go through with girls’ night because I’ve put a lot of thought into it.”

Charlie blinks, looking as if she’s been pelting him with rotten fruit instead of a ramble of sentences, his moustache twitching away on his upper lip in an attempt to hide the quivering of the smile he wants to give.

“Alice Cullen is coming over again?” he mutters and Bella huffs out a laugh, rummaging through the cupboards in a search for un-popped corn. There’s gotta be some in here somewhere, lurking in the back. Can’t have a girls’ night without snacks, and can’t watching a movie without popcorn.

She’s got her Legally Blonde box-set out and ready… Okay, it’s not a real box-set, it’s the two DVDs that she’s put into a single case and made her own cover for to act as a box-set, but that’s close enough, right? The point is, she has the movies ready, she’s getting the snacks ready— she’s almost ready for girls’ night!

“Yup,” Bella hums, stepping up onto her tiptoes and making an agreeable noise in the back of her throat when she finally sight the much-desired corn. “We’re going do some painting in my room as well. Probably mostly Alice because she’s very much into that stuff and I like it, but I’m no Michelangelo.”

“Think she’ll be up to re-tiling the bathroom as well?”

Bella laughs, gently hip-checking her dad as she passes by, not-so-nutritious goods gathered up in her arms as she makes for the door.

“Not this visit, but I’ll ask if she’s got any openings next month.”

Now, Bella does a bang-up job of entertaining, if she may say so herself. She doesn’t look at her phone once, always talking with Angela or Jess or Alice, no matter what they’re doing (it means Jess swats at her a few times while the movies are on, but that’s something Bella can live with). It’s only once they’ve all gone to ‘sleep’ (a term she uses for Alice hesitantly, knowing full well that the vampire in her room and in her bed is most definitely not asleep in the slightest; she is however, putting up a good pretence) that Bella allows herself to look at her mobile, hidden beneath her pillow.

Jess and Angela are both conked out on the camp-bed they’d set up in Bella’s room – one that Alice had brought from the Cullen household, so it’s understandably better than Bella own mattress but she’s being so brave about it and is only a little bit jealous – and Alice is paired with her because then Bella will feel no guilt for accidentally waking someone else up by tossing and turning.

Flicking the phone, Bella glances down at the screen and selects the message from Jasper.

‘Why are you looking at you phone? I thought you wanted a girls’ night, Darlin’?” Oh, the tease.

‘Technically, it’s early morning, cowboy. My time is yours.’ She doesn’t get to press send though – a thin, cold palm presses itself over her screen and Bella follows the expanse pale skin back up to Alice’s face. In the light of her phone, the other woman looks ethereal, more so than usual. It sets her dark hair in stark contrast with her white skin, eyes molten gold and the only flash of colour on her face.

If Bella weren’t with Jasper, umm, she’d like a piece of that.

“If you send that message,” Alice whispers, a little smile to her lips as she reaches out and gently flicks Bella on the nose (gentle as it is, it still makes her blink a few times), “then Jasper will come over to steal you out for a bit. Until just before the Jessica and Angela wake up. And as romantic as that probably sounds, you’ll be too shattered to enjoy the day.”

“You’re not really selling it to me on why I should not send the text, Alice,” Bella whispers, a cheeky little smile blooming across her face as she wiggles forwards on the bed, pressing her arm to Alice’s, savouring the delicious coolness of her skin. “Romantic night out on the town with my very own cowboy sounds like the better deal.”

“Emmett and I have a day planned for us all. You’ll love it, Bella, I promise!” The chirpy whisper has the two of them pause when Angela lets out a ferocious snore, one than rumbles through the bedroom and has no business coming out of the mouth of such a soft-spoken girl.

“Alrighty then.”

‘Looking for sweet dreams inspiration, Cowboy. And oh man, are you providing.’

In the morning, once Angela and Jessica and Alice have all left her (the latter of whom promised she’d be back shortly after lunch to pick her for the day), Bella finds herself hunched over her desk, chewing thoughtlessly on an apple as she spins a pen about between her fingers. Before her, a notebook is spread out before her, several bullet-points already scribbled down (along with a doodle in the top corner of a certain cowboy that hadn’t turned out at all like she wanted it to, so she’d scribbled it out).

Now, they’ve sorted the sparkle situation out, haven’t they? It’s gotta be something to do with UV rays from the sun, because suncream blocks it. Or, that’s how it seems. She’ll need to get a UV light and wave it in Jasper’s direction to confirm for certain, but Bella’s pretty confident in this deduction. Suncream is what, less than a hundred years old? Maybe even as young as fifty years old – she’s not too sure. The point is, vampires would have had no reason to come into contact with it. And why would they? If one believes themself to be immortal, why would on concern themselves with skin cancer? How many vampires are there out there than could possibly make the connection between UV light, their disco party skin condition, and suncream? Education, human knowledge has advanced exceptionally in the past century, and it’s clear the vampires haven’t been keeping up.

And it’s not that they can’t!

Bella jolts, dropping her pen and she retrieves it with a curse, pulling the notebook closer so she can begin scribbling.

Because vampires can learn new things, can’t they? So they can’t possibly be biologically frozen, because their brains are learning! Their retaining things, making memories, their synapses are making connections. And they use their venom to turn others, don’t they? They use it when they bite other vampires, when they attack others, and not one of the Cullens have warned her that there’s a limited supply of venom for each vampire.

Conclusion?

Something in the body is producing that shit.

“I’m gonna crack this,” Bella whispers to herself, scribbling note after note (what’s lubricating their eyes anyway? Something must be for them to be able to move in the socket) as more and more of the biology she knows clashes with what the Cullens have told her— or rather, haven’t told her.

She needs to get some x-rays, some other non-x-ray things that can see inside the body. Once she’s a vampire herself, maybe she can even go about digging around inside her own body (hey, she’ll heal up.. won’t she?) to see what’s going on inside. Maybe get a tiny little bit of flesh off, a few cells, and put them through a centrifuge, see what happens…

“Bella!” It’s Alice.

Putting down her pen, Bella bounces over to her window, throwing it open and looking down.

It’s a good thing Charlie’s at work; Emmett’s huge off-roader is parked up at the bottom of the drive, the man himself at the wheel and grinning like a loon. Alice is in the passenger seat with Jasper, all six-foot plus of him, crammed into the back.

“Alice!” She ensures her call back is as dramatic as Alice’s was, injecting as much period drama as she possibly can into the other girl’s name, leaning out of the window to wave at them and she can see Jasper surge up in the back seat, a flash of concern fluttering across his handsome face – and what a fucking face it is, cheekbones chiselled by the hands of God himself, she swears – but Bella catches herself on the windowsill before she gets too far out.

She can see the way Emmett laughs, elbowing Alice and saying something that Bella has no hope of hearing without vampiric senses.

“Are we going on an adventure?!”

“If you get your ass down here, Bubbles, we sure are!” Emmett calls back, going so far as to kick open the driver’s door – showing no concern for any potentially passing traffic – and then clambering out, as if he has every intention of scaling the side of her house to come and get her.

A moment later, Bella realises that’s exactly what he’s doing.

“Emmett!” A laugh escapes her. “What’re you doing?”

“Don’t worry, no-one’s around. Now come on, you just know Jasper’s got that stern little frown on at the thought of you exiting stage left.” A sweeping gesture of his arm makes it abundantly clear that ‘stage left’ is code for ‘leaving through the window’. For anyone else, it’d probably be a stupid decision. But she trusts them not to drop her.

Emmett carries Bella down from her bedroom window like he’s a fabled knight of old, rescuing a princess from a tower. Jasper should probably be more annoyed with him for wrestling him into the back of the jeep, should probably be more annoyed that it’s not him retrieving Bella from her home. But—

“Cowboy!” But Bella wriggled free of Emmett the moment he’s brought her in range of the jeep, stumbling as she gets free of his arms and then she’s climbing up on the outstep of the jeep, pressing her face to the glass that separates them and spearing her lips across the surface in a sloppy, dreadful kiss. It’s awful and terrible and so damningly charming it has his cheeks lifting with the force of his smile.

“Gross, Bella!” Emmett scowls, grabbing hold of Bella and hoisting her laughing form away, shaking her (gently, of course, Jasper would remove his head and hide it for a bit were he anything but) before he gestures to Alice to throw open the door. She does so and then Jasper’s little human is off, clambering over the driving seat, purposefully planting her boot – much to Emmett’s annoyance – upon the driver’s seat as she clambers into the back to join him. And he does mean join him— she ignores the other seat beside him to instead plant herself firmly in his lap, palms cupping his cheeks as she peers right into his eyes.

Bemused, Jasper carefully takes hold of her waist, thumbs brushing back and forth as he greets her with a questioning, “Darlin’?”

“Gold for go,” Bella declares and Jasper has but a moment to make the connection that she’s speaking of his eyes (gold because he is as full on animal blood as he could get before meeting her) and then her lips are on his, a firm, warm press that has his shoulders relaxing, has his fingers flexing at her hips. And then Bella does what Bella does best; make things utterly outrageously silly. The kiss descends into the same sloppy, dreadful thing she’s mockingly planted on the window (where there’s still smear-marks on the surface, Emmett’s morning spent cleaning his pride and joy ruined by their human company) and Jasper laughs against her mouth, returning the favour, inspiring bubbling delight to begin emitting from Bella.

Jasper ensures there’s an obnoxious smacking sound when they separate, partly for the annoyance that wafts from Emmett (who’s still in the doghouse with Rose, simply because he is not utterly against Bella becoming one of them) and partly for the sheer joy that surges from Bella, who then takes it as an opportunity to snuggle up against him, tucking her head against his shoulder and— yep, she’s sniffing him, his silly little human.

“How’s my favourite vampire?” Bella asks, waving off Emmett’s offending scoff, not once tearing her eyes away from him, peering up at him as if Jasper is all she ever wants to see. He’s felt this from Carlisle, from Esme and Emmett and Rose, but it’s something else to have it directed at him, to be the cause of that feeling.

He’s done with the slide, he’s in the ball pit of emotions and he has no intention of ever getting out. He’s here to stay in this weird world of colour and joy and childish wonder.

Who knew his life, after decades spent suffering in the Southern Wars, would ever come to be like this?

“I’m well, Bella.” How could he ever be anything but now? He can walk in the sunlight unafraid, Bella’s father calls him ‘son’, and Bella herself seems to be buzzing with energy. All is well.

“Great! Because I’ve got some ideas I wanna bounce off you before I write my first letter to Aro.” Yes, her letter to Aro. One of the vampire kings, who she is, impossibly, on good terms with. Of course, that may very well change if Bella is still human when the King of Volturi next sees her, but Jasper is rather of the opinion that won’t be the case.

He’s still trying to wrap his head around the fact she’d managed to charm Aro at all.

“Fire away, Darlin’.”

And fire away she does.