I'm experimenting with Jasper now. Sorry Jasper. Jasper may seem a little out of character since there really isn't all that much to base him on. Carlisle and Jasper are, by far, my favourite characters in the Twilight saga (and book series).

The title's not great, sorry about that. I'm not very good with coming up with titles.

As always, I apologise for any mistakes.

Ohana

If it so happened that Jasper were still human, there would be many things that were happening right now. One; his breathing would be elevated – he would be very close to hyperventilating with his chest rising and falling rapidly and, no matter how hard he tried, he would not be able to draw in a sufficient amount of air. Two; his hands would be shaking. In fact, his entire body would be trembling from head to toe – his legs would feel weak, as though he wasn't able to hold himself up. Three; his heart would be pounding rapidly in his chest. It would feel as though it were rattling against his chest wall and making his ribcage ache. And finally, there would be a lump in his throat, just waiting for him to start futilely wiping away the falling tears.

As it were, he was hovering awkwardly outside of the door to Carlisle's study. He was nervously ringing his hands. Jasper was more than aware that the waves of his mixed emotions would be assaulting Carlisle through the door, no doubt making him wonder what on earth would be making him feel such a way.

With a sudden urge of confidence, Jasper raised his hand, tapping it against the wooden door and waiting.

"Come on in, Jasper."

JH-JH-JH-JH

Dr Carlisle Cullen's gaze was torn away from the patient file that he had been reading through as he felt a sudden, overwhelming sense of sadness and confusion overcome him. He frowned at the sensation, trying to school his features out of the pout he knew painted his face. He would have wondered what on earth was causing such emotions to assault him, had it not been for the fact that a knock sounded on the door to his office at just that moment. Carlisle knew just from the sound of the knock who was standing on the other side of the door. It was timid, made up of four taps, unsure and irregular in pressure and the sudden onslaught of unbidden emotions made sense.

"Come on in, Jasper." He beckoned in, what he hoped was, a conversational tone as he tried to force the emotion out of his voice.

The office door opened slowly, tentatively, revealing the newest member of the family. Jasper, usually quiet and reserved, appeared to be rather unsettled as he cautiously took a step into Carlisle's office. He leant his weight against the door handle despite not really needing anything to hold him up.

Carlisle closed the file that was still sitting on his desk and he turned his swivel chair so that he was facing Jasper, making certain that he was aware that he had his father figure's full attention. He watched closely as Jasper nervously, and habitually, scratched at his right forearm with the nails of his left hand as he stared uncomfortably back at him. He'd let go of the door handle as Carlisle had turned, now standing under his own steam.

As they stared at one another in an uncomfortable silence, Carlisle couldn't miss the pain and discomfort in Jasper's eyes. With him feeling the way he was, the last thing Carlisle wanted was for him to feel uncomfortable trying to talk to him and so he decided to try and make it easier for him.

"Is there something that I can help you with, Jasper?" He kept his voice casual, not wanting to express too much concern for fear of scaring him off.

Jasper nodded in response, the action jerky; a stark contrast to his usually graceful movements.

"Yes, um, well, I-I think so," Jasper stammered, nodding again, "possibly."

Watching Jasper and his difficulties in communicating his feelings, Carlisle couldn't help but think how helpful it would be to have Edward around right now. Unfortunately, his son had chosen to go out and visit Bella.

"Well, what is it?" Carlisle pushed gently, tilting his head a little as he watched him.

"I've been – I've been talking to Alice," Jasper began, his right hand still dancing repetitively up and down his left arm and, had it not been for the fact that it was so difficult to injure a vampire, Carlisle would have ordered him to stop. "She suggested I come and talk to you. Well, actually, she demanded I come and see you and threatened that if I didn't, she would do so herself."

Jasper averted his gaze for a moment, letting his eyes dance around the room before they fell back on Carlisle.

"Talk to me about what, Jasper?" Carlisle enquired, finally standing from his chair and closing the small space between them, coming to a stop just in front of him. Carlisle could feel the hesitance radiating from Jasper like heat from somebody with a fever and he decided it would be best to grasp the situation with both hands before Jasper lost his bottle and left.

He gestured to the sofa in the office, closing the door lightly to give them a little bit more privacy.

Jasper perched tentatively on the edge of the couch, watching Carlisle as he came to sit beside him. Carlisle positioned his body so that he was open to Jasper, hoping that it would show the support that he was trying to convey. He waited patiently as Jasper nervously wrung his hands, thankful that he was no longer scratching at his arm.

"Jasper?" Carlisle prompted lightly when it appeared that he wasn't going to speak. "Talk to me about what?"

"Alice says it's been radiating from me from the last four days."

When Jasper spoke, it sounded as though he had something lodged in his throat. His accompanying swallow added to that effect.

"What has?"

"She said everybody can feel it."

"Feel what, Jasper? What are you talking about?" Carlisle asked, his eyebrows knitting together in confusion. It certainly wasn't helping Carlisle to understand the situation with Jasper being so vague.

"My uncertainty." Jasper swallowed again, a nervous reflex.

"What are you uncertain about?" Carlisle hated to think that there was something bothering the boy. But now he came to think of it, he had felt an unbidden sense of insecurity and uncertainty recently. He'd just assumed that it had been to do with Bella hanging around.

Carlisle loved Bella like his own. But sometimes she made him feel a little nervous. Not for himself, of course – but too much temptation in the house may be too much for the members of the family that had a little trouble controlling themselves. The last thing he wanted was for something bad to happen.

Jasper sighed softly.

"My place in this…," He hesitated, "here."

Carlisle couldn't miss the sudden change in Jasper's wording. There was no doubt in his mind that Jasper had been about to say 'this coven' but had changed his mind. Carlisle was slightly disappointed to find that Jasper was unable to bring himself to call them what they were – a

"Family." Carlisle amended. "This family."

He had to fight hard to suppress the urge to embrace Jasper as he focused on watching his son's hands as they danced around one another. Jasper had always been very hesitant when it came to physical contact and Carlisle couldn't blame him, given what it was that he had been through. Obviously, Carlisle didn't know all the details. In fact, he didn't think anybody did – not even Alice. But he knew enough to know that it was understandable that he wasn't very trusting of others.

"We are not a coven, Jasper. I sincerely ask that you please try to remember that. We are family, and you are very much a member of this family. In fact, I don't believe for a second that our family would be the same had it not been for you. Alice would likely be still searching for you – we would not have been lucky enough to have met her. Edward would be without his best friend,"

Because that's what they were. Jasper was Edward's best friend whether he felt as though he was or not. Jasper was the only member of the family that Edward could truly be open with.

"Emmett, Rosalie and Bella would be without a brother. And, finally, Esme and myself – we would be missing a son."

Carlisle had allowed his head to tilt to the side slightly as he had spoken. It appeared that Jasper wasn't responding very well to Carlisle's words of reassurance.

"Jasper, I can guarantee that if you had chosen to discuss this with any other member of this family they would have told you exactly the same thing as myself."

Still no response.

A frown knitted Carlisle's eyebrows together. How else could he say this? If there was one thing that Carlisle hated it was knowing that somebody was hurting and not being able to provide them relief. With a soft sigh, he tried a different tactic.

"Jasper, I'm going to say this in the simplest way I can. We love you."

Yes, that worked.

Jasper's head snapped up so suddenly that it almost made Carlisle start.

"Our lives simply would not be the same without you in them." Carlisle continued.

After a moment of silence, Carlisle figured that it would be worth chancing it. He reached out a hand, placing it gently on Jasper's right shoulder. Jasper tensed under the touch momentarily, but relaxed when Carlisle's hand failed to move any further. Instead it just squeezed reassuringly.

Jasper hesitantly met Carlisle's gaze. There was still uncertainty in his eyes, but there was something else in there too.

Hope.

Carlisle took the opportunity to drill the point home.

"You are one of us, Jasper. You are a part of our family. We love you. And if you ever feel unsure about it again any one of us will be here to reassure you."

Carlisle wanted nothing more than to pull Jasper into his embrace, comb his fingers through his hair and hold him close until all of his worries and his uncertainly went away. But that would be pushing it too far. And so instead he gave Jasper's shoulder another gentle squeezed, removed his hand and then settled into the, now comfortable, silence that encased them.

It may take a while, but Jasper would learn to trust them.

And he would learn to feel a member of the family.

This was a step in the right direction.

Carlisle had no doubt about it.

Thank you for reading.

I hope you liked my experimenting with Jasper.

Please review and let me know what you think. Would you like to see more Jasper?

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