Hello all of my wonderful readers! I am so excited to post the first chapter of this story. Needless to say that it has been stewing in my mind for a few months, and I wanted so badly to put it on paper (figuratively speaking of course). This story is not for people who are 100 percent team Edward. Don't get me wrong, I love Edward, go team Edward... and this story will have plenty of Edward. But... yes there's a but... I want to play with Jasper a little...

Official Author's Note: This story will contain adult language as well as adult situations. - LEMONS- be forwarned! K thx

Full Summary: The "Four Musketeers" are inseparable; ask any of their other friends. But when Edward and Alice go on a family vacation for three weeks and Alice pressures Bella and Jasper to keep each other company while they're away, Bella feels things start to change- no matter how much she tries to shy away from it all. Bella begins a journey of discovery as she tries to decipher her feelings towards her best friend that began once unsuspecting afternoon…

D/C: I do not own Twilight, nor do I own any of the characters portrayed in the book and/or movie. I do, however, own a brand new pair of fuzzy socks. They're pink and purple, and with this freezing freaking weather they feel like fucking HEAVEN... *sigh* ~Ashley

Bella's Point of View

My eyes were glued to the far wall, the second hand on the clock ticking so slowly that I was sure the battery was dying. There was a man standing in front of the auditorium, droning on and on about the necessity of keeping up with our education during the next few months. Apparently, if we didn't complete some type of homework during summer break, our brains would turn to mush and therefore we would all be socially and educationally inept. I knew the mystery man would be one of my teachers next year, but even if I learned his name right this moment, I would forget it within the next hour, and it would surely be a lost cause by the time we began classes again.

"Uugghhh…" The soft moan came from my right and I peeked over to see my best friend, Alice, slide further down in the hard brown plastic chair.

"We're almost done," I whispered to her. The mandatory end-of-the-year assembly was torturous. And completely unnecessary. A chosen speaker from each class would stand up and tell their upcoming students how excited the staff was to teach them next year. We would get a reading list to finish by the end of the summer break, and they would even encourage us to write essays and complete projects, all for extra credit. Now, I'm a book worm, if I do say so myself, and I thrive in the school environment. But this was my last summer as a free person. My last summer to do whatever the hell I wanted to do. My last summer to spend with my best friends before we had to worry about going off to college.

Forks High School and its staff could suck my invisible cock if they thought they would be the center of my universe this summer.

"Bella, oh my God, I'm going to turn into a puddle of boredom over here." Alice's voice was tiny and pathetic sounding, and I had to stifle a laugh. My eyes automatically gravitated down about ten rows towards the front of the mass of students. There, sitting in the third row about twenty feet to my left, were our boyfriends. Alice's eyes followed mine and she grinned at Jasper, winking seductively. Jasper flushed and elbowed the person next to him, nodding in our direction. Jasper's return wink went unappreciated by me, because the person sitting next to him turned and grinned at me.

Edward Cullen. Yeah, the clock no longer grasped my attention as I gazed lovingly at my boyfriend.

"Uugghhh…" I mirrored Alice's earlier moan. I wanted the assembly to end. End right now.

"Yep." Alice barely finished her one word response before she was blowing Jasper a kiss from across the room. He made a show of reaching up and catching the imaginary kiss in the air and tucking it in his pocket. Pretending to swoon, he fell back in his chair with his hands over his heart. Edward and I both rolled our eyes, but laughed regardless along with several other students who caught a glimpse of the show.

"Mr. Whitlock." Jasper's name being spoken into the microphone brought the four of us out of our bubbles and our heads snapped towards the stage. Mr. Mysterious-teacher-guy was staring down at Jasper with scowl.

"Sorry." I could hear Jasper's apology from my seat and I slid further down into my seat than I thought possible.

"Yes, you and I are going to have a great relationship next year, Mr. Whitlock." Edward shook with laughter at his position next to his friend, while Alice gazed on apologetically. It wasn't necessarily her fault that he was in 'trouble', but she sure as hell felt bad.

"Ah, priceless," I muttered. Suddenly a loud bell rang throughout the air, cutting off any further conversation between Jasper and the teacher. The bell was drowned out by loud screams and cheering.

"Fuck yeah!" Alice screamed. I laughed and jumped up with her. We weren't the only ones who were making a scene- the entire student body of the dismal town of Forks was standing on their feet, cheering as loud as possible at the fact that yet another school year had ended.

"Let's go!" I grabbed Alice and pulled her behind me as I pushed past equally as eager students.

"Bella!" I turned when I reached the isle and saw Jessica Stanley waving frantically to me. I let out a shriek and pulled Alice towards her. Lunging at each other, we created a three person hug, blocking half the escape route for the rest of the students. A few people threw us dirty looks, but an evil glare from yours truly can go a long way.

"I can't believe we're officially Seniors!" Jessica mumbled into our hug. I laughed and moved to pull back, but was immediately accosted by arms surrounding me and pushing us all back together. I grunted and recognized Jasper and Edward's laughter above the noise. Looking up, I saw that Jasper was behind Alice, pushing his way into the hug as well.

"Air!" Jessica breathed out. The guys let us up, and I turned to look into Edward's beautiful green eyes.

"Howdy there, Cullen," I winked. He leaned down and pressed his lips to mine quickly. We were, after all, on school property. No PDA, blah, blah.

"I can't believe we're free," Edward whispered to me as he pulled me into a hug. I sighed and leaned into his touch. There was never any doubt in the world- in Edward's arm was my happy place.

"What do you guys say about a movie night at my place?" Jessica asked, her arm looped with Alice's. I glanced at Alice and shrugged. She was nodding enthusiastically, which summed up her feelings.

"Sounds like a plan!" I pulled Edward towards the parking lot, already having emptied my locker before the assembly. I wanted a clean break, free to run and not look back for three months.

"What time works?" I asked Jessica. She thought for a second and shrugged her shoulder.

"Seven?" She hugged Alice and threw me a kiss before waving and darting away. I watched as she launched herself at Tyler and his bunch. I loved Jessica, truly. She was friendly with just about everyone, and I could honestly say that she was my first friend when I moved to this town three years ago.

The summer before high school was scheduled to begin my dad received a nice little e-mail from a 'friend' of his. I don't like the term 'friend' because my dad only spoke to this person when it came to work. Shouldn't that just be a work acquaintance? Well this 'friend' dropped some information to my father about a job opportunity that might interest him. Interest? Yeah, I would say that's an understatement. My dad followed up on this lead without checking with my mother or me first to see if we were okay with it. Next thing we knew, my wonderful father was sitting in front of us in the living room and informing us that he received a job offer from the city of Forks. He was now Charlie Swan, Police Chief.

To say that my mother was furious would be, again, an understatement. She was more livid than I'd ever seen her. More than the time that I put gorilla glue in her conditioner (you know, the leave in kind?) when I was six. More furious when I was twelve and thought that I could drive her station wagon just because I'd seen her do it a million times. Needless to say, the dent in the back and the neighbors' destroyed garbage can did not agree with my hypothesis.

So, because my father 'ran' the household (an illusion my mother instilled in him early in their marriage), we moved from our home in Spring Valley, Nevada. The second I slipped out of my seat in the large moving truck and stood in front of our new home, I was being drenched with rain. I think I've seen a total of ten rain showers in Nevada in the fourteen years I lived there. And here I was, constantly surrounded by the portable shower fairy.

My mother and I didn't speak to Charlie for over a week, baffled as to why he would bring us to this town so unlike home that it was like we stepped into the Twilight Zone. But his sad faces and puppy dog eyes got to us, and eventually we caved under the power of Daddy Swan.

I had spent that summer going to the library and wandering around the downtown area (all three blocks of it). That's where I met Jessica Stanley. I had gone into the drug store to get feminine products, and ended up knocking over an entire display of candy bars. My face had turned scarlet red as I rushed to pick them all off the yellow linoleum floor. Jessica had rushed over, laughing, and helped me pick them all up. She introduced herself and I found out then that her parents actually owned that drug store. From that day forward, I would stop into the store to say hi to her. She then invited me to a party some kids from the school were holding. I was nervous, because I hadn't met any of my future classmates besides her, but I relented and found myself 'dolled up' as Jessica put it.

Enter Edward and Alice Cullen- the party throwers. It was a 'Welcome to High School' party, and the entire high school population had showed up, not just the freshman class. I stuck to Jessica's side as we walked to the Cullen house, telling her over and over again that she better not ditch me there. But Jessica was a true friend, and didn't even go to the bathroom without dragging me with her. She introduced me to dozens and dozens of people, whose names I would never remember, before bringing me to see Edward and Alice Cullen.

As soon as Jessica pulled me in the line of sight of Alice, I was grabbed hold of and pulled into a tight hug.

"Bella! It's so great to meet you, we've heard so many great things!" She had? From who? I patted the tiny girls back hesitantly and was met with laughter from a tall figure standing behind her. I pulled away from Alice and was met with the most beautiful boy I had ever seen. Edward and Alice were twins, but besides the color of their eyes and the color of their skin, they couldn't look more different. Alice was shorter than me, and at my 5 foot three inches, that was saying something. She was about two inches shorter, but wore the heels to make up for it. Her eyes matched Edward's- wide and green and sparkling with happiness. Her hair was a dark brown color, pulled up into a short pony tail high on her head. Multi-colored hair clips decorated her head, apparently holding down any stray hairs. Edward, however, was much taller than me- about five foot eight inches- with a light brown colored hair. It looked like a caramel color with touches of a bronze-red, sticking up in every way imaginable. I wanted to laugh and tell him to buy a brush, but the rare shy moment overtook me and I only stood there with a smile on my face.

And then we lived happily ever after… Ha! No, not really. Don't get me wrong, I had a freaking blast that night. Jessica and I hung out with Edward and Alice while other students mingled their way past us. By midnight, I was sitting happily with Jessica to my left and Alice to my right while Edward kept close (but not too close of course- he had to appear manly to all the other guys).

My first day at Forks High School was fabulous. I wasn't stared at like I thought I would be. No, everyone greeted me like they'd known me forever. And to make things better, I had either Alice or Jessica or Edward in each of my classes.

The summer after freshman year, I was no longer the new girl. A family moved to the area from California, which brought three new kids- although no one knew their ages exactly. Rumors were flying, and I had wondered if that's what happened when I moved there.

On the first day of sophomore year, I made my way to the front office to talk to someone about my schedule (I had somehow been put in boys soccer… did I look like a boy?) when I ran into Jasper. Literally. He was like a damned wall, and I went tumbling to the ground like a slinky. My schedule went flying into a puddle, and my ankle twisted into a horrible position that caused me to cry out in pain.

"Oh my God! I'm so sorry, are you okay?" I closed my eyes to bite back the sarcastic response I had in mind for my attacker and took a deep breath before I opened them. And I was looking into the eyes of the third most gorgeous person I had ever seen (First- Johnny Depp, Second- Edward Cullen, Third… you get the picture). The boy looked at me with bright blue eyes, and I took in his tanned skin and messy blonde hair.

"No, I'm not okay," I managed to say calmly. The boy had wrapped his arm around my waist and helped me to my feet. The second I put any weight on my right foot, I screamed out in pain, ready to fall back to the ground. But the boy had held tight, grabbed my bag off of my back, and proceeded to practically carry me into the office. The women behind the desk stared blankly for a second at the sight of the two of us, but snapped into attention when I snapped my fingers at them.

"Hello? Help?" I ended up sitting on the nurses' cot for a bit while the new kid spoke to the nurse and to the woman behind the counter. Of course I eavesdropped, and found out that his name was Jasper Whitlock, and today was his first day.

"Oh! Welcome Mr. Whitlock," the woman behind the counter (Mrs. Irwin? I wasn't sure) said. "Isabella here was in your same shoes just last year, I'm sure she can show you around." I had stared in shock at the fact that I had just been volunteered to escort him. How the hell was I supposed to do that when I was officially labeled a cripple? Jasper only shook his head and laughed, asking for his schedule. I piped up and asked for a copy of mine as well, due to the fact that mine was destroyed outside in the rain. When it was printed out, I remembered my original reason for coming there in the first place. There, in period three, was Boys Soccer.

"Um, yeah, that reminds me," I had said with a grimace. "I need my schedule fixed." Mrs. Irwin had looked at the computer with a confused look on her face.

"What seems to be the problem, Miss Swan?" I looked at her for a moment, reminding myself that not all people were 'quick'.

"Well, period three," I pointed out. Mrs. Irwin continued to stare stupidly at the computer screen while Jasper looked back and forth between the two of us. A solid minute passed before I arched an eyebrow and cocked my head to the side. I gave her one of those looks that you want to give people who wear underwear on their head as a stunt. I lifted myself off of the cot and hobbled my way over to the counter, slamming my schedule down before pointing at the class in question.

"This one, ma'am. This one right here, the one that says Boys Soccer." Mrs. Irwin glanced at me again, and I took an uneasy step back.

"Look at me," I said carefully. Mrs. Irwin and Jasper both looked at me. I motioned to my chest and to my face as I gave her a cheesy grin. Then I pointed to my crotch area and shrugged. "Sorry, no penis, and I still have boobs. I think the label 'boy' was lost on me." Jasper had burst out laughing while Mrs. Irwin blushed furiously. She quickly changed my class to a different elective and shooed us out of the office. Jasper held my bag while he walked next to me slowly.

"Again, I'm sorry." I waved him off and smiled.

"It's okay, really. My name is Bella." He smiled and stuck his hand out, which I took carefully (you had to admit, I had every right to be cautious around the guy; last time he touched me, I went tumbling to the ground).

"Jasper. It's a pleasure. Now, let me see your schedule." I handed him the paper and he smiled.

"We have first hour together, which we are both officially late for, so let's enjoy the tardiness together, shall we?" I laughed at him and accepted his help to get to the classroom together. When he opened the door to our English class, all heads turned in our direction, including Alice and Edward's.

"Bella!" Alice had leapt out of her chair when she saw that I was hobbling into the class. Our teacher yelled for Alice to sit down, but she, along with Edward, rushed to me and literally took me out of Jasper's arms.

"I'm fine, just a little twist." But Edward didn't listen as he rushed me to an empty seat next to him. When I was sitting properly, I looked up to find Jasper. Yep, there he was, standing right where I had left him. And so was Alice. They were staring at each other, mouths agape. The teacher eventually had to step between them to get their attention, and Alice rushed back to her seat while Jasper grinned stupidly from his spot next to the teacher. Once his slip was handed in, he made his way to the seat to my left.

This was the beginning of our beautiful friendship.

I dealt with my crush on Edward at the same time Alice dealt with her crush on Jasper. Neither one of us wanted to make the move and ask their crush out, so instead we gathered in one of our rooms and gossiped and daydreamed.

Until Alice dropped the 'L' word.

"I think I love him," she whispered to me about five months after we became friends with him. I had looked at her in shock.

"Ali- really?" I asked carefully. "You haven't known him long, and you haven't even gone on a date or anything…" But Alice rushed towards me on her bed and got in my face, her eyes wide with some sort of emotion that I didn't know.

"Bella, haven't you ever just known? Have you ever looked at someone and the entire world just falls away? Your heart starts pounding so fast that it echoes in your ears? You wonder if you'll even be able to stand on your own two feet long enough?" I swallowed hard and nodded. I did know what she meant. Edward.

"Okay," I whispered, "I get it. I'll make you a deal." Alice leaned back from me and arched her eyebrow. I couldn't believe I was doing this.

"Deal?"

"Yeah," I said. "I'll help you get Jasper… if you help me get Edward." The screaming that came out of that girl made me deaf. I should have gone to the doctors and gotten a flipping hearing aid.

And our plans began. I dropped little hints to Jasper about Alice, and asked him little questions to see if he liked her the same way. I also set up a group get-together so we could all go to Port Angeles to see a movie. Edward and Alice already had their drivers' license and Edward volunteered to drive us all there. The night we headed up there, I had Edward pull up to the front of the theatre and had Jasper and Alice get out while I went with Edward to 'find a parking spot'. When Edward pulled away to park, I turned to him with a huge grin and told him to drive. Of course he was confused, but did as I told him to. We parked around the block, and I took out my cell phone, shooting a text to both Jasper and Alice: 'Thought the two of you would enjoy an evening together. Seems you both have things to admit! See you in two hours ;)'

I sat with Edward in the car, munching on a bag of chips that was mysteriously tucked in the back seat of his dad's car. Edward and I talked about school, about how mad Jasper and Alice were going to be at us and even about the future (whatever future could be in store for a fifteen year old). About ten minutes before we were going to head back for Jasper and Alice, Edward surprised me by leaning forward and kissing me on the cheek. I looked at him in shock, not understanding why he did that. Was he amusing me? Did he know about my crush? Did Alice say something?

"I like you, Bella," he said to me. I continued to stare at him with my eyes open wide as he leaned forward and kissed me on the lips. The kiss only lasted a moment, but it was enough to fuel the energy within me. When we pulled to the front of the theatre, I was ecstatic to see that Alice and Jasper were holding hands- the exact posture as me and Edward. Alice climbed in and tried to glare at me, but saw my hand entwined with her brothers.

"Oh my God! You two…? Jazz! Look! Bella and Edward are together! All of starting dating on the same day! What are the odds!" The entire trip back to Forks was filled with three people smiling and one person rambling. Jasper leaned forward at one point and whispered in my ear,

"Thanks, B."

And that… was the beginning of our wonderful friendship. The four of us had been inseparable ever since. The four Musketeers, the four Amigos, the four Pain-in-the-Asses. Depended on who you spoke to.

"Bella, hellooo!" I snapped back to the present and grinned when I saw Edward about an inch away from my face. His eyes were staring into mine, laughter covering every line.

"Sorry babe," I winked, leaning up to kiss his cheek. He rolled his eyes and winked back.

"I'm not a pig, don't call me babe." Honestly? I knew that. I did it on purpose.

"You got it, babe," I retorted. Jumping out of his way, I lunged behind Alice, knowing Edward was in for the kill. He didn't disappoint, and within two seconds (no thanks to my best friend who just stood there and laughed) Edward had his arms wrapped around me in a tickling hug.

"You're in trouble," he muttered. I shrugged him off and made my way to Edward's car. His dad bought it for him as a sixteenth birthday present- an Audi S5, shiny black and brand new. For the first two months he had it, he paid more attention to it than me. I was good natured about it, understanding the shock factor, but after a certain point, I wouldn't kiss him until he left the thing alone for three days. Meaning no washing, no waxing, no detailing, no washing the rims, nothing. Only sitting behind the wheel and driving from point A to point B. Jasper thought it was freaking hilarious, and taunted him every chance he got. Which in turn started a war between the two of them- a war of taunting and teasing and practical jokes. It's been a year, and every couple of weeks a new practical joke would find its way to the surface.

"Let's go back to our house," Alice piped up. She didn't even need to say it- it's like we all flocked back there anyway.

I climbed into the passenger seat as Alice and Jasper climbed into his truck- his pride and joy, his blue F-250. Jasper was such an odd person.

Edward drove his way out of the parking lot and sped along the back roads to his house, finding the hidden driveway as easily as if there were a flashing light marking the spot. I'd always found their house magical. It was set a bit away from the road, but not too far to where you wouldn't be able to see it through the brush. Maple and oak trees lined the driveway, hanging over the rock road with elegance. Their house was three stories high and made to look like a stone and log cabin. The bottom level had walls of stone, extending into the sky with architectural genius. Their mother, Esme, thrived in the designing business and apparently spent a good year designing her dream home. Once it was built and they moved in, she spent another year decorating it. To think, I grinned, they used to live in a normal house just like me.

Edward parked his car in its spot in the open garage, right next to Alice's Mini Cooper convertible. Sometimes I wondered if Jasper had ever even been in her car before. Over the past year or so, both Edward and Jasper grew to over a whopping six foot, Edward beating Jasper by one inch at six foot two inches. Alice didn't grow at all, while I stopped at five foot four (although, she did recently cut her hair to a short spiky look). Yeah, we were vertically challenged. Let's just say, there was a reason why Alice never offered Jasper a ride to school in her little red thing. I glanced back up at Edward and smiled. His hair had darkened over the past couple of years, and along with his height, his coloring had also changed. The reddish bronze color had overtaken the caramel, and now it was dark enough to pass for brown. Jasper had also changed other than his height; his hair was grown out now, almost to his shoulders. When it got longer, it had started to curl. Me? Yeah, my hair was the same. No, that's a lie- I had grown it out to past my shoulders now (enter ecstatic grin).

Jasper pulled his beast behind Edward and fell out of the drivers' seat. Like magnets, his and Alice's hands found their way to each other while we all walked into the house. Sometimes I was jealous of their relationship. Don't get me wrong- Edward and I were tighter than the spandex on Jessica's mother's ass, but we'd gotten so comfortable around each other that little things like holding hands and little kisses didn't seem completely necessary all the time. Oh well, I shrugged, we loved each other. Not everyone needed the constant touchy feeling environment.

Edward opened the front door, ushering us all in as a few rain drops began to fall. And here I thought the day would not be tainted by nasty weather. Edward and Alice made their way into the living room while Jasper and I kicked off our shoes. Everyone always looked at us funny, but hey- it wasn't my house and if I got something on their pretty beige carpet because I tracked something in, I'd feel horrible. It's one thing if it was my own house, but we aren't all this lucky.

I turned the corner while looking down at my cell phone (I was texting my mother to tell her where I was), Jasper following close behind, and ran smack into Alice's back.

"What the f-" I stopped my sentence when I saw that both Alice and Edward were staring into the living room with identical looks of surprise on their faces. I peeked around Edward's shoulder, feeling Jasper right behind me doing the same, and bust into laughter. There, sitting on the couch, were Carlisle and Esme Cullen. They were dressed from head to toe in tropical get-ups, Hawaiian shirt for Carlisle and coconut bra for Esme, with matching grins on their faces. Spread out in front of them was a table full of brochures and pamphlets with pictures of smiling people on the front- creepy smiles that looked eerily like the ones the Cullen parents were giving their children.

"Mom? Dad?" Edward was the first to speak, and it encouraged Alice to step forward.

"What's going on?" Alice asked. Esme and Carlisle looked at one another and they both nodded. Turning to us, they took a deep breath.

"We're going to Jamaica!" My mouth dropped open, effectively cutting off my laughter. Suddenly I felt movement from behind me, and hands cupped over my ears, blocking any noise from reaching me. I wanted to turn around to look at Jasper in question, but I understood exactly why he did this when Alice proceeded to open her mouth and let out the loudest scream I have ever heard in my entire life. Even Carlisle and Esme's smiles faltered a little when their hands flew up to their own ears. When the high pitched noise finished, Jasper's hands dropped and I turned to smile at him. He winked and we both looked on as Edward and Alice ran forward in surprise. Alice immediately went for the brochures on the table, looking through them at an amazingly fast speed.

"What do you mean? When are we going?" Edward was shocked, and his lack of verbal skills showed that. I stood back, grinning at them while their parents explained that they would be leaving the day after tomorrow for three whole weeks. First a week in Jamaica, then a trip through the Bahamas, and then they would spend six days in Fiji. My mouth dropped open in jealousy, and I suddenly wished that I was a Cullen. Damn lucky freaking-

"Oh my God, Bella! Can you believe this!" Alice cut off my mental rant and crashed into me, hugging me close. I was happy for them, really. As I said though, just jealous.

"It's great guys! You suck, but it's great!" Edward laughed at me and pushed his twin aside, pulling me into his own hug.

"I wish you could come with me," he whispered into my ear. I nodded, tears welling in my eyes. Maybe it wasn't jealousy. I think I was just going to miss them… this was the longest we'd all been away from each other since we'd met.

"Don't you worry. Remember, I start on Saturday at Rose's." I had applied all over town for a job, needed anything really so that I could have an income of some sort. The others didn't really have to worry about that because of Carlisle being a surgeon and Jasper's dad being a lawyer in the city. Don't get me wrong, my family lived comfortably, but with my dad being a cop and my mom being a substitute teacher, I still got the stink eye whenever I asked Charlie for twenty bucks to go to the damn mall. Hell, the only reason why I had a car was because one of my mom's friends at the elementary school deemed the old Nissan Altima un-drivable. Something about the transmission slipping, etc etc. Well, my dad knew me better than anyone when it came to cars, and told my mother to 'take the car off of her hands'. All in all, I took one look at it, spent maybe $150, and I had a working car. Leaks aren't that hard to fix lady, I felt like saying to her.

So when I applied to Rose's garage as just a simple desk person, the owners took one look at me and hesitated. Hypocritical much? Hell Rosalie and Emmett McCarthy thrived on the fact that Rosalie was the bread and butter in that duo. She was the one under the cars repairing things every day. Emmett did his part as well, but he had nothing on her. The second they hesitated, I rolled my eyes and started to walk out the door. But Rosalie stopped me and gave me a 'test'. Let's just say that after an oil change, a simple belt fix, and a tire rotation, I had a job. I wouldn't be under any cars as far as I knew, but I was good enough to answer phones and know what the people were talking about. During the summer I would work about thirty to forty hours a week, and then when school kicked back up, they agreed to let me do my hours as well as do my homework as long as I was sitting my ass at the counter.

It was a dream come true.

The four of us chilled out at the Cullen house… well that's a lie. Edward and Jasper sat their happy butts in front of the television while Carlisle answered the hospitals page. And me, Alice and Esme made our way upstairs to pack. Well, I was helping Alice pack while she jumped back and forth between hers and her mother's room asking questions. I couldn't believe it- three weeks in basically a tropical stupor. I missed the heat of the Nevada desert, and sometimes wished that I could just hop on a plane and head on down. At least for one day. Or two.

"Bella!" I snapped out of my funk and looked at Alice, who was standing in front of me with her hands on her hips. Her left hand was clenched around a wire hanger, which seemed to be shaking. Was her hand shaking? Was the room shaking? No, I looked closer, Alice was. It took me a second to realize that she had asked me a question.

"Sorry," I flinched under the ferocity of her stare. "What's up Ali?" Please don't hit me with that hanger, please don't hit me with that hanger…

"I said, what are you and Jasper going to do while we're gone?" I froze. Huh? Oh shit. Don't get me wrong, Jasper was one of my very best friends. If he wasn't in my life, my life would be very different, and I wouldn't be happy at all about that. But I don't think we'd ever actually hung out, just the two of us. I thought for a second, and realized I was right. Besides that very first day we had met, we'd never spent any time together. Alice or Edward, most of the time both of them, were our buffer.

"Fuck," I muttered. Alice's jaw dropped, as it always did when I cursed. What can I say? When the authoritative figure in your life (i.e. Police Chief Swan) cursed like a sailor, it rubs off.

"Sorry, Alice. Um, I don't know. I don't think Jasper and I have ever spent quality time together." Alice scoffed and waved her hand at me.

"Yes you have, silly." She continued to prod through her many bathing suits that lay on her red comforter while I stared at her, shaking my head. After a minute of me doing this, she finally looked up with panic filled eyes.

"Okay!" she shrieked. "I know you've never actually spent any time together, but I'm begging you not to leave him all by himself for the entire three weeks. If you leave him alone with his sisters, he'll go absolutely insane!" I thought of Jasper's twin sisters that had just finished off fifth grade. They thought they were hot shit because they were entering middle school, and had made it their lives ambition to drive Jasper up the damn wall. The panicked look Alice continued to give me actually made me feel bad.

"Alice, I would never ignore him for three freaking weeks!" She had to know me better than that! "He's one of my best friends. But I'll be honest, I don't know what we'll do." Alice seemed to calm slightly and continued to pick out bathing suits.

"Just do what you normally do. Hang out, go to the movies, maybe go to First Beach, shopping for my birthday present… that kind of thing." Yeah, subtle.

"Oh! That's right!" I pretended to be stupid. "You and Edward turn eighteen sometime… when was it? Next month?" Alice's eyes narrowed in on me and I had to use every ounce of will power not to bend under her wrath.

"June twentieth," she hissed. I smiled and nodded.

"Yeah, that's right. Whoo! Thank God you reminded me!" I made a swiping motion over my forehead and leaned back on her bed to pick through a pile of bandanas. I allowed five seconds to go by before I cracked up laughing. Alice stomped her foot once and threw her hands out to her sides. Geez. Sometimes I wondered if she was stuck in the whole pre-teen phase of life.

"Like I'd forget your birthday, Ali." I gave her a sincere look and smiled. "Besides, it's mandatory that I remember my boyfriend's, and since you guys are twins it just goes with the territory." Alice didn't even allow the joke to settle in before she launched herself at me, tackling me off the bed and onto the floor. A loud thud sounded through the room followed by my moan. Footsteps sounded down the hall, several people running up the stairs. Alice straddled me, smacking me with a fake fierceness in her eyes, as Jasper and Edward rushed into the room. I glanced over to them and gave them the most pitiful expression that I could.

"She attacked me!" I cried. The two guys began laughing, and Jasper walked over to lift Alice off of me. Edward followed close behind and pulled me into his arms.

"Are you okay, love?" His voice was silky smooth in my ear and I shivered. I nodded, running my fingers along his back. Why oh why did he have to go on vacation.

"I'm going to miss you," I whispered to him. He held me closer if at all possible, and I sighed. Three weeks wasn't that bad, right? Three weeks of just me and Jasper, and then Edward and my bestest friend would be back and everything would be fine. Right? Right.

WELL? WELL? Okay, please let me know what you think, because this is my first story where I'm concentrating a little more on Jasper. Usually it's all go Bella, go Edward (which, again, don't get me wrong is absolutely-fucking-fantastic. Be open minded!).

Also, there's a new concept- we LIKE Jessica in this story lol. She's gonna be one of the good guys, so roll with it. And Rose and Emmett are not high school students like everyone else. They're all grown and adult-like (well, Rosalie is, Emmett is still Emmett). AND... no Jacob. Yeah... some may take this horrible. So sorry.

Review! Love, Ashley