Date : 04.02.2011

Title : Twilight : Sunshine and Shadow

Author :

Chapter : 2 of ?

Rating : M

Pairings : Jasper Whitlock-Hale / Molly Atherton

Warnings : Some Sexual Content, Romance, Angst, Maybe Some Strong Language.

Spoilers : Possible references to Twilight, New Moon, Eclipse and Breaking Dawn - do not read if you have not read all the books!

Feedback : Yes please, always welcome whatever it may be.

Disclaimer : I do not own anything to do with the Twilight franchise. This plot, Molly and any other O/C's are mine.

Summary : AU set two years after Breaking Dawn. With Alice mysteriously gone, Jasper wonders what his future will hold until he meets Molly, a mortal who has troubles of her own. Can Jasper save her from an untimely death or will he spend eternity regretting his decision to let her go?

Jasper and Esme looked at one another as they took in the dusty old fashioned interior of the bookstore and Jasper couldn't help the crooked grin as he tried not to actually laugh.

"Nice…" he commented and Esme whacked his arm lightly, just as a human would lightly tap another to show that they were mildly affronted by the others' comment.

"It just needs a little re-decoration that's all," she said, moving toward the back of the shop and Jasper followed, arms folded across his broad chest, eyebrows raised as Esme continued,

"You know we can have this place looking good as new in no time…it's the stock that's concerning me, some of these books look like they could be older than us."

Jasper watched as she began shrugging out of her jacket and he nodded, glancing back at the shelves of both modern and older looking reading material.

"The girl next door, Molly, she seemed nice. She was just saying that a book of hers is in the safe and she was wondering if I'd be willing to let her keep it there," Esme continued to talk and Jasper frowned.

"What kind of book would you want to keep in a safe?" he asked and Esme shrugged lightly.

"I don't know, but I wouldn't mind seeing what else, if anything, is in this safe. There may be some things that need returning to the last owner's family."

They moved through to the back room of the store and located the safe in question easily.

"I don't suppose you have the combination?" Jasper asked and Esme laughed.

Jasper shook his head and bent to the dial.

"No matter, we should be able to hear the clicks," he said and sure enough, the lock disengaged shortly after.

He stood back and let Esme open the door and she reached inside and pulled out the few contents that the safe held. There were some old scrolls of paper tied with fading red ribbons, a couple of items of jewellery that were obviously not real despite being locked in the safe and what appeared to be Molly's book wrapped in a cloth.

"That must be the one Molly was talking about," Esme said, offering the book to Jasper so that she could put the other items down onto an old table.

'Molly,' he mused as he took the book and undid the four corners of the cloth to see what lay hidden beneath. The name reminded him of the girls from his own time, before Maria had turned him, before he'd joined the confederate army even. It made him think of summer days and homemade lemonade, of swimming in the river down by the wooden white-washed house he had grown up in…

His thoughts were brought up short by Esme's voice.

"What is it?" she asked and he realised that he had been staring at the leather bound book without actually seeing it.

"I…" he cleared his throat gruffly, realising with a jolt that he hadn't thought about his human life for the longest time. Focusing again he continued, "I don't know…there's no title. This lock is interesting though…very old craftsmanship." He moved his fingers over the metalwork, wondering where the key to it was.

"Maybe it's a diary," Esme surmised, taking the book from him and re-wrapping it in its protective cloth.

"Perhaps," Jasper replied, forcing Molly and the memories her name provoked to the back of his mind.

Forcing his thoughts back to the task at hand he said,

"So, where do we start?"

OoOoOoOoOoO

Molly was not normally the kind to rush people, but the day was over and there had been no sign of Esme and she was anxious about her mother's book.

Whatever its contents, they had been important to her Mom and Molly just wanted to know one way or the other if it could stay in the safe next door or if she'd have to take out a deposit box in the bank or something.

She worried her bottom lip as she finished cleaning out the coffee machines, trying to decide if it was appropriate to go and speak to Esme again or not.

Eventually she decided to just go and she grabbed a small box from under the counter and then moved to the pastries' cabinet and pulled out two large Slapjacks and placed them in the box. Molly loved to bake anything that originated from the South and they seemed a favourite with most of her customers and so, squaring her shoulders she picked up the box and left her shop, locking the door behind her.

She moved to the bookstore doorway and through the grime on the glass she could just about see a light coming from the back. Doubting that Esme or her son would hear her if she knocked, she tried the handle and was surprised when the door swung open.

She stepped inside and closed the door behind her, holding the box a little tighter as the bookstore looked quite eerie in the dark.

"Hello…Esme?" she tried, wondering if this really had been such a good idea as she didn't want to disturb her new neighbour.

She was just about to turn and leave, when a voice from behind her had her whirling in fright, the box of slapjacks leaving her grasp and heading toward the floor.

Jasper had been looking through a stack of books by the door, the need for a light totally un-necessary, when Molly had decided to just walk in and he had watched her silently, wanting to see what she was up to. When she'd paused in the middle of the store floor and called for Esme, he had stood and all he had said was,

"Can I help you?" and she had almost hit the ceiling with fright.

He bent to catch the box she had been holding before it hit the ground and he got a whiff of something he had not smelt again since his human life.

"Oh…Jeez, you scared me," Molly said, trying to suck in some air to calm her erratic heart. Her hand pressed against her chest and she swallowed and offered him a smile.

"Slapjacks," Jasper replied, his intention to apologise forgotten as he remembered what the smell was.

Molly beamed, her heartbeat slowing and she nodded.

"Yeah, I love to bake the old recipes, well, anything from the South really, but they were popular with the…" she stopped as Jasper interrupted her.

"…the Confederate Army," he stated and she nodded again.

"Yes…" she frowned a little as she noted that Jasper didn't look very happy all of a sudden. "They're popular with the customers too and I just thought that you and Esme might be hungry…"

Just then Esme popped her head around the doorway from the back room. She had been well aware of Molly's presence since the moment their neighbour had set foot in the store, but she had wanted to finish off cataloguing the section of books she had been working on, plus she had also secretly wanted to see how Jasper would react to having a human in close proximity and he'd been doing well…up to now.

"Molly…hi…" she said, stepping out and Molly turned away from Jasper who seemed to be in danger of crushing the box that held the slapjacks.

"Esme, I'm so sorry to disturb you guys, I just thought you might need a snack and…and I was wondering if you'd had a chance to think about my keeping my book with you?"

Heat flushed Molly's cheeks and she was glad of the fact that they didn't seem to be bothering turning a light on in the part of the store where she and Jasper were standing in.

"Forgive me, the time has run away with us today…I was intending to pop next door and tell you it's fine," Esme said, coming closer and moving to stand almost, but not quite, in between Molly and Jasper. She could sense the growing tension in her son and she took the box from his vice-like grip before he had the chance to turn it and the biscuits inside to dust.

"This is very kind of you," she added, raising the box a little and Molly smiled.

"No problem and thank you so much about the book…it's a weight off my mind…"

Esme nodded and Molly's eyes flicked to Jasper. He had a pained expression upon his handsome face as he regarded her and she swallowed a little nervously.

"Okay…I should go and let you get on…" she said, dragging her eyes from his and offering Esme one last smile before she headed for the door.

"I'll pop in for that coffee as soon as we're a little more straight," Esme promised as Molly's hand grasped the door handle.

"Good…I'll look forward to seein' y'all," she replied, her Southern accent suddenly becoming more pronounced as it did sometimes when she didn't think about it too much. She did a quick wave and was gone, leaving Esme to turn and look at Jasper.

"Are you alright?" she asked of him and he nodded, his face like stone.

Esme sighed and regarded the box of slapjacks for a moment before looking back at him. She raised her hand and gently touched his cheek.

"You know…memories can be good, so long as you don't let them consume you. There were times in all our pasts that weren't so bad…you should try to enjoy remembering who you once were…"

Jasper moved away without speaking, letting Esme's hand fall away from him and she sighed again sadly.

"I'll dispose of these at home," she said, referring to the slapjacks. "I don't want Molly to see them in the trash somehow and think that we're ungracious." When Jasper still didn't reply she moved away and went back to her cataloguing, hoping that he would think through whatever was bothering him and come out the other side feeling better for it.

Jasper had moved back over to the books he had been skimming through before Molly's interruption. He could sense Esme's worry for him and he sent out a calming wave to help her relax and get on with her work. He didn't want her stressing over him, he could do that himself.

He picked up another book, but didn't actually look at it for his thoughts turned back to the petite redhead next door. She was going to be bothersome, he could tell. He had been aware of her for less than a day and already she had made him think more about himself as a human than anyone had managed in decades.

He wasn't sure he liked it.

End of Chapter Two