New story! I wrote this one in about two weeks while avoiding all sorts of work. It's about 20k and is in my usual abbreviated style. This is not a romance.

I'll be working on Just A Cup of Sugar over my coming Thanksgiving break btw.

Just after sunset I caught the scent of an old friend as I drove down the highway. It's been a few decades since I last saw him so I decided to follow the scent trail. Twenty minutes later I was in a little town in the desert.

I was about to park my truck and look for him on foot when I spotted him coming out of a store carrying grocery bags. I took a moment to contemplate the various reasons why he'd have groceries- and most of my conclusions were bad considering he wasn't the type to donate food to shelters. He started loading them into a Jeep and my bad feeling grew worse.

I followed his Jeep at a distance until we reached the town's limits where I parked and got out of my car, following him the rest of the way on foot. Twenty-five minutes later he parked under the only tree around and pulled out the groceries.

"Hello Peter." I said, and he jumped a foot high. "Your observational skills have gone down substantially."

"What are you doing here?" He asked nervously while trying to push the bag of groceries behind him, as if I hadn't already seen them.

"Why do you have food?"I cut straight to the chase. He seemed to flounder under my steady gaze, the same way he always used to when we were back in the war. After a moment he sighed, resignation setting in.

"Just don't be mad at me." He said while picking up the bags. "And try to keep an open mind." He gestured for me to follow him and we started running. I quickly spotted a small house and as we got closer a mind bogglingly delicious scent grew stronger.

Peter gave me a worried look before going inside the house.

If the appetizing scent hadn't already stunned me, then the beautiful woman sitting in the kitchen would have. Her brown eyes slowly drifted from the book in her hands to Peter then me.

"What the fuck is this vampire doing in my house?" She said with hatred in her voice, surprising me.

"Your house?" Peter's anger skyrocketed. "I don't see you fucking paying the electric bill!"

"Oh, I'm sorry! For me to pay the bills I'd have to have money, a job, but in order for that to happen I'd have to be able to leave this place!" His anger quickly twisted into guilt.

"Isabella-" She tossed her book at Peter and he let it hit him.

"Peter, who the fuck is this guy?" She pointed at me and I could almost see fire in her eyes.

"He's uhm, my maker."

"Your maker?" She turned towards me. "Oh so you're the reason this asshole still burdens the world with his presence?" The human walked up to me, not a tendril of fear in hr. "Let me guess? You caught my scent and just had to have a bite? Well fuck you!" She flipped me the bird before storming off to another part of the house.

"What the hell just happened?" I asked right before a door slammed.

"Isabella isn't a happy person." Peter said while putting away the groceries.

"You don't say." I said sarcastically. Seeing her angry and worked up only seemed to make her blood even more appealing. "What's the story behind that filly?" Peter squirmed. He was acting like a dog that had just been kicked.

"Jasper, you should really just go. I don't think you being here is a good idea."

"What? Are you worried I'm going to steal her away and leave her lifeless body for you to find somewhere in the desert?"

"No, it's not that- well it's sort of that, but it's also," Peter growled in frustration, "I don't like having anyone else around her." I whistled in amazement.

"So you have this lovely little bird locked in this gilded cage all for yourself…" I mused, looking around. The kitchen was state of the art, something Esme would love, even though it was useless to us. In the adjoining room there was a large television with bookcases around it filled with movies and games. From my angle I could see a hallway that led to at least three more rooms. It was a very nice cage, and she was a very lovely bird. "How long have you kept this little bird from flying away?"

"Major-"

"Answer the damn question." I commanded, my voice dull, yet threatening.

"Seven years…" Isabella was anywhere from nineteen to twenty-three years old…

"Petey, please don't tell me you became a pedophile." I asked while covering my face. I knew I should have never left him alone.

"No! Of course not! Maria fucked me up, but I'm not that sick. I'm not- we're not like that." He looked down the hallway where Isabella had retreated to.

"Well she must be giving you something good for you to put up with that bullshit and buy her all this stuff." And I had a pretty good idea of what that was.

"Please just leave-"

"Start acting like the goddamn soldier I made you into- and stop fidgeting like you've got fleas." Peter immediately stood up straight and kept his eyes diverted. "What has this woman made you into?" I shook my head in disappointment. I hadn't planned on spending my vacation here, but it seemed a hell of a lot more interesting than what I was going to do. And damn that woman's scent was down right delicious. It was drying my throat out. "I'm going to see what I can scrounge up in this desert to eat. You two better still be here when I get back."

What do you think of my Bella? Of this whole situation?