Bella was tossing and turning, trying to get to sleep in the large bed in Edward's room. He and the rest of the Cullens' were in Northern California, hunting for the weekend, minus Jasper. He hunted the night before so he was the one who offered to stay with Bella this time. He had learned a little more self-control since her birthday.
After an hour of tossing and turning, Bella gave up on sleeping without Edward there to sing her lullaby.
Swinging her legs over the edge of the bed, Bella got up to get a glass of water. As she stepped outside, she heard what sounded like music playing faintly from upstairs. Curious, she followed the sound.
She ended up outside Jasper and Alice's room, where the door was left open a crack. Being as quiet as was humanly possible, Bella poked her head in... and saw Jasper playing guitar.
His back was facing her and he was deep in concentration. His acoustic guitar was on his lap, where he sat cross-legged on the floor.
His fingers flew across the fretboard as he started playing a new song as soon as the old one ended. All Bella could do was stand and listen, she was in shock. As she stood there listening, Jasper started singing.
The drugs begin to peak
A smile of joy arrives in me
But sedation changes to panic and nausea
And breaths starts to shorten
And heartbeats pound softer
He started playing power chords.
You won't try to save me
You just want to hurt me
And leave me desperate
You taught my heart,
A sense I never knew I had
I can forget
The times that I was,
Lost and depressed from the awful truth
How do you do it
You're my her-
Jasper stopped playing abruptly, sensing that someone was watching him. He turned to stare at her with a deer-caught-in-the-headlights expression.
He blinked and stammered. "B-Bella? I thought you were s-sleeping."
She shook her head. "Couldn't sleep. I can't believe that was really you playing!"
If Jasper could, he would've been blushing.
"That was amazing," Bella continued. "Could you play another song?"
He shook his head, making his bangs fall in front of his eyes.
"Why not?"
Jasper brushed his hair out of his face. "I'm not comfortable playing in front of other people. Not even in front of Alice!"
Bella sighed. "Fine. I won't force you. You are really good though." This was the most comfortable she'd ever felt being alone with Jasper.
He smiled. "Thank you, Bella." He looked at the time. "You should probably go back to sleep."
"Ok. Night Jasper."
"Good night Bella."
Bella crawled back into bed and once again tried to fall asleep. She just barely managed to fall into a fitful slumber.
Jasper, feeling Bella's fitfulness even from upstairs, crept into Edward's room with his guitar and sat on the couch. Bella being asleep made it easier to play.
He took a deep breath and closed his eyes for a minute. Then he opened them, and carefully started picking out the melody of Bella's lullaby, strictly from memory.
Bella relaxed and snuggled deeper under the covers, mumbling Edward's name.
Jasper smiled and stopped playing. He got up to go but a hand on his wrist stopped him. Surprised, he looked down at his arm. It was Bella. "Keep playing," she mumbled.
Jasper let out a silent laugh and sat back down. He thought for a minute, thinking of a good song, nothing too hardcore. He decided on a song and started strumming chords lightly.
When
I was younger I used to be wild
As wild as an elephant's child
No
one could hold me down
No one could keep me around
Now it's
your turn, take a shot
Baby show me everything that you got
Maybe
you can keep me alive
Maybe you can get in my mind
But it's
only a matter of time
Before I run far away
I need to take
a holiday
Maybe it's a fall from grace
I gotta find a new
place
A holiday
I'll set off on a new chase
I gotta see a
new face
I need to take a holiday
My father, he was always
wise
As wise as an elephant's eyes
He couldn't hold me down
He
couldn't keep me around
So are you gonna take your shot?
It's
the only one that you got
Maybe I'll go out on a limb
Maybe
I'll jump in for a swim
When the lights go dim
You know
I'll run far away
I need to take a holiday
Maybe it's a fall
from grace
I gotta find a new place
A holiday
I'll set off
on a new chase
I gotta see a new face
I need to take a
holiday
(Need to take a holiday)
Whoa, whoa, whoa, whoa
A
new start
I've broken too many hearts
And I don't have any clue
where to go
I don't know
But maybe I'll be back someday after
my holiday
When I was younger I used to be wild
As wild as
an elephant's child
And I don't think I'll ever change
I think
I'm gonna stay the same
I'll run away
I need to take a
holiday (need to take a holiday)
Maybe it's a fall from grace
I
gotta find a new place
A holiday
I'll set off on a new chase
(set off on a new chase)
I gotta see a new face
I need to take
a holiday
A new start
I've broken too many hearts
And I
don't have any clue where to go
I don't know
But maybe I'll be
back someday after my holiday
All of the wasted time
The
hours that were left behind
The answers that we'll never find
They
don't mean a thing tonight
By the time Jasper finished the song, Bella was in a deep slumber, completely content. Jasper stood up with his guitar and kissed Bella's forehead gently. "Good night, Bella. Sweet dreams."
She mumbled Edward's name again and rolled over onto her side.
Jasper smiled and went back up to his room to wait for Alice to come home.
A/N: Read and send me nice reviews!!!
Disclaimer: Stephanie Meyer owns all but songs. First one was "My Heroine" by Silverstein. And just for the record, that's the acoustic version, no screaming. Just thought I'd clear that up. Anyhoo, the last song was "Holiday", by Boys Like Girls.
