Disclaimer: Characters are not mine, universe is not mine, and chess is not mine.

AN: Someone asked for a Bella and Jasper bonding fic, and though I've sort of written one in the disguise of something else, this is a proper one. And also it is entirely an excuse to use the title, which a friend happily supplied.

There were certain rules about games in the Cullen household. Xbox was completely fine, which kept Emmett happy, but board games, card games and anything else not electronically produced was almost entirely forbidden. Apparently, or so the story went that Bella heard from Emmett, Edward had beaten everyone at almost every game ever invented and Alice always knew the outcome when they started playing anyways. It rather took the fun out of it.

Jasper, however, still liked to play chess. This was allowable, so long as Edward wasn't in the room to help, cheat or worse, play.

Emmett had apparently never learned to play chess, though Bella was beginning to wonder what he had done to amuse himself before the advent of computer games. Rosalie and Alice could probably play, but Bella had never seen either of them near a chess board, nor Esme for that matter. Which meant that Jasper was limited in his chess playing to times that Edward was out and Carlisle was in.

Bella had been fighting an uphill battle with Edward about his lack of hunting since they returned from Italy the month before. He was still clearly loath to leave her and Bella secretly admitted to herself that she liked it that way. However, when his eyes darkened to pure black for the third time since their return to Forks, Bella put her foot down Friday night and demanded he go hunt. Since the others had all been their usual conscientious selves and hunted whenever they needed to, no one else needed to go, but Emmett offered to drag his brother out anyways. That decided Bella had only realised after the two vampires had left that she could either spent the weekend at home with Charlie, trying in vain to avoid a fishing trip, or spend it at the Cullen house letting Alice dress her up.

It was a very difficult decision. Still, when Edward said goodbye to her on her doorstep Friday after school, Bella went inside for an hour to do her homework, already bemoaning Edward's absence before Alice arrived to pick her up. Bella made certain there was dinner ready for Charlie and a reminder note of where she'd gone.

'About our sleepover,' Alice started as soon as Bella was in the car.

'You won't be sleeping?' she joked.

Alice laughed at that, but shook her head. 'There's a design exhibition in Portland this weekend and Esme plans to go.'

'And suddenly you want to as well?' Bella ventured to guess.

Alice looked guilty. 'It's just been a long time since we had a girls' weekend. And you are more than welcome to come along, Bella, you know that! I just figured you'd rather go fishing than...'

'Look at wallpaper samples for two days? Hard choice, but probably right.'

'Anyways, Edward and Emmett will be back tomorrow night, so it's only really one day. And Carlisle's home and so is Jasper.'

'Wait, why didn't Jasper go hunting?'

Alice shrugged. 'He went yesterday. And sometimes he enjoys a quiet weekend. When I told him I was going with Esme, he decided that staying at the house sounded nice.'

Bella could hazard a guess that it wasn't often that Jasper enjoyed the peaceful atmosphere that came with an almost empty house. No doubt Carlisle caused very little emotional issues for him, so as long as he could put up with Bella's new feeling of almost constant bliss now that Edward was back, it would be a nice weekend for him.

'And he doesn't mind that I'm going to be there?'

'Nope! Actually, I think Jasper's looking forward to spending some time with you. And you won't be completely alone anyways.'

No, Bella thought; that would probably never happen until such a time as Jasper no longer wanted to eat her.

'That sounds nice,' Bella stated when she realised Alice was waiting for a reply.

'It's going to be great, I promise,' the pixie told her as they pulled up to the Cullen house. 'Anyways, we're leaving immediately, so you have a good weekend and remember that Edward will be back in just a day so it's not the end of the world.'

Bella managed to look indignant even though she'd been bemoaning mentally that very absence. 'Right; thanks Alice.'

Esme and Rosalie appeared then with bags in tow, quickly loading the trunk of the Benz that Alice had been driving – a fact that should perhaps have tipped Bella off from the start – and Esme kissed Bella goodbye. 'You have fun with those two,' she said.

Bella was left standing on the front porch as the black sedan disappeared down the drive.

'Bella?' Carlisle's lyrical voice startled her from behind. 'My apologies. Would you like to come in?'

She blushed. 'Uh, yeah, I guess loitering on the doorstep isn't very polite.'

'Loiter away, only I believe it's slightly too cold out for that.'

It really was. April was definitely not shaping up to be very spring like in Forks, Washington.

'Also, Esme left tea and cookies for you.'

Cold would have been enough, but that offer was impossible to pass up. 'Thanks,' Bella smiled at him, stepping around him into the expected warmth of the house. They kept the heat on nearly constantly now, since she was there so frequently. The tea and cookies were waiting on the kitchen counter. Alice must have predicted her exact arrival time, since the mug was still steaming. Smiling at how sweet Esme was, Bella took the tea and cookies and carried them into the TV room, figuring she might as well stake her claim to the space.

But Jasper was already there. 'Um, sorry?' Bella queried when she spied him. He was lounging on the corner sofa and the flat screen was on low volume.

'You don't need to apologise. This house is just as much yours,' he reasoned. 'Would you like the TV? Perhaps to watch a movie?'

'Only if you're not watching it,' Bella said, setting the mug and plate down on the coffee table before she dropped either.

'Not really, no,' Jasper explained. 'A movie sounds fine.'

'I, um...' Bella started as she sat down in the far corner.

'Yes?'

She blushed against Jasper intense stare. 'It's just that I've always wondered what kind of movies you like. What I mean is,' she went on, still stammering over the words despite the completely placid expression on the Texan's face, 'do you like historical movies or do you hate them because of all...all the mistakes?'

Jasper smiled, revealing that he was just as handsome as the other Cullens, a fact that was often marred by a perpetually closed look. 'I quite enjoy historical movies. Anything in particular?'

'How about you pick? I'm sure you've seen a lot more than I have.'

With a nod, Jasper rose to browse the extensive DVD collection that lined either side of the TV screen. He obviously had something in mind though, because it was only a moment before he slipped a disk into the player and resumed his seat.

'Do I have to guess?' Bella asked, busy devouring one of Esme's homemade chocolate chip cookies. For a vampire who didn't eat, they were shockingly good.

'I'd be surprised if you haven't seen this one, but I thought you might enjoy it more than others. Most historical films are rather...violent.'

Bella snorted softly, because that was a bit of an understatement. A moment later, she gave a happy exclamation.

'Gone with the Wind! I haven't seen this in ages.'

'I thought you'd like it.'

'Will you tell me all the mistakes? I mean, will you tell me the way it really happened?' She was hedging her bets, making an assumption that Jasper had chosen a Civil War movie because he was willing to talk about that time period and his past.

'That was the intention. I've never told you my story, have I?'

Bella shook her head.

Hesitantly, Jasper moved slightly closer to her, still keeping a good seat between them. They both settled back to watch the film, with occasionally sighs of romantic longing from Bella and historical facts from Jasper.

Carlisle came down from his study some time later and joined them on the sofa, looking partly amused and exceedingly happy that the two of them were enjoying some family time together.

When the movie was over, the tea drunk and the cookies consumed, Bella decided it was time for dinner.

'Esme made dinner for you,' Carlisle explained.

Completely unsurprised, Bella went to the kitchen to find a casserole ready in the fridge with instructions on a post-it atop to put it back in the oven for twenty minutes. Smiling once more over the effort Esme went to to look after the adopted human, Bella followed the instructions. While she waited for the casserole to finish cooking, she wandered back to the TV room to find Carlisle and Jasper bent over a chess board on the coffee table.

Bella was so surprised she stumbled over the threshold. Carlisle glanced up long enough to make certain she was well before resuming his concentration on the board. Slowly, Bella inched forward until she had a good view of it.

There were only a few pieces in play so far, and that was about where Bella's knowledge of chess ended. Fascinated, she watched the two of them for the next ten minutes until the oven alarm went off. Casserole retrieved and accompanied by the salad Esme had also left in the fridge, Bella went back to watch the game. They'd been at it for at least twenty minutes and so far there was only one white pawn on the side of the board. Clearly, this was going to be along game. Bella sat herself down at the far end of the sofa and paid more attention to the two vampires than to the delicious dinner.

After a time, Jasper pulled back slightly, coming out of the intense concentration he'd been using. He glanced sideways at Bella.

'We're not being very good hosts, are we?' he asked.

'It's okay,' Bella rushed to assure him. 'I'm actually enjoying watching, if that's okay. I don't really know much about chess.'

'No?' Jasper inquired. 'Well, we can change that. This is about the only time I get to play, when Edward's gone and Alice isn't...distracting me.'

Bella had a good idea of what 'distracting' meant. She blushed against her will.

'I guess you can't really play with Edward,' Bella reasoned.

'He's not allowed to play board games,' Carlisle cut in.

Bella blinked at him, startled. And then she laughed. 'He could play them with me! Although, even without the mind reading, he'd win.'

'Probably,' Jasper agreed. 'But I can teach you chess. Maybe if Edward plays against someone where he isn't advantaged, it will turn out he's a horrible chess player!'

'Okay. I mean, I'd like to learn, but you're probably wrong to think I could ever beat Edward.'

'We'll see,' Jasper replied. He motioned Bella closer and she came to sit on the empty corner of the table.

For the next hour as they moved their pieces about the board, slowly reducing the number, Jasper and Carlisle interchangeably explained each move, the pieces and bits of strategy. By the end of it, Bella thought she might at least be able to name the pieces and repeat how each could move, but that actually playing against an opponent would probably be a losing game. Still, she took Carlisle's place to have a go after Jasper declared 'checkmate'.

As they switched places, Carlisle gentled squeezed her arm before gathering up her dirty dishes. Bella opened her mouth to protest, but he was already gone.

'White moves first,' Jasper told her.

Lip firmly between her teeth, Bella pick up a pawn and moved it one square forward. Jasper grinned.

She proceeded to lose the game rather splendidly in a matter of ten minutes. And the next game, and the next. On the fourth game, just when Bella thought she might be getting a handle on things – not enough to win, but maybe enough to last a bit longer – Jasper performed a move she'd never seen before.

'What did you do?' she asked, marvelling as he abruptly switched his king and castle around.

'It's called castling to the king's side. It's one of the rarer moves in chess, because often the board arrangement simply doesn't allow it. It can, occasionally, be useful,' he said and then went on to explain the rules of the move. 'You can also do it to the queen's side, but that's less common. The king's side is usually considered safer, though it depends on your opponent's pieces.'

'Huh,' was all Bella managed and proceeded to lose the game in six more moves. 'Okay, I think that's enough trouncing for one night.'

'Of course,' Jasper soothed. 'You did quite well, considering you've never played before. You should definitely have a try with Edward, where all of us can watch.'

Bella had to smile at that. 'We'll have a go at that later, alright? After I've played many, many more times.'

'I'll play with you whenever you'd like, beautiful.'

Bella blushed lobster red. Jasper had never paid her so obvious a compliment, though she'd heard the endearment from Emmett before and, of course, Edward.

'Uh, thanks,' she managed to stammer. 'I think I'll go upstairs and read for a bit.'

'Sleep well,' Jasper bit her goodnight.

At the top of the first flight of stairs she encountered Carlisle leaning casually against his study door. 'It's highly likely with practice that you may become the best chess opponent Jasper has.'

'And how many centuries have you been playing?' she couldn't help but toss back.

Carlisle smiled knowingly. 'I will admit that I deserve all 'old' comments directed my way, but simply because I was born in the seventeenth century does not mean I've been doing everything that long.'

'Fine, so when did you first learn?'

'1869.'

Bella blinked at him and then broke out in a laugh. 'Right, I should have stipulated decades instead.'

'History is in the details.'

He was smirking at her. Bella had never once imagined that Carlisle Cullen could smirk, but he was doing a rather well practiced job at it. Clearly, he thought he had won.

'So, you've been playing chess longer than Edward's been alive?'

There was a rather long pause and then after a beat Jasper's laughter drifted up from below. He must have said something as well because Carlisle frowned. 'Very well, I suppose I deserved that. Good night, Bella. If you need anything, please let me know.'

'Oh, I think I'm pretty okay now. I'm sure I'll have happy dreams about chess during the Civil War.'

'Those are happy?' Carlisle raised an eyebrow, clearly disbelieving that any dreams to do with the Civil War would be happy ones, chess or no.

'Of course,' Bella said, figuring two could play this game. She took the first few steps up to the next floor before turning back to look at the blonde, her own smirk matching his earlier one. 'My dreams always star Edward.'

This time Jasper's laughter was loud enough Bella figured he was probably on the floor howling. She was most likely going to live to regret that dig, especially when Emmett heard about it tomorrow; but for now she continued up the stairs to her boyfriend's room, content in the knowledge she'd left a speechless Carlisle Cullen standing in his office doorway.

She might still be human, but that didn't mean she couldn't keep up with the Cullens.

And that did not end how I planned. That last bit sort of just...happened. I'm blaming Bella (because I simply can't blame Carlisle for anything, even if he started it).