Emmett lumbered in, searching for Rosalie. He stopped short at the site of Bella, with a grin.
"Well hey there. It isn't often that I see you without being attached to my brother, huh?"
"Guess not, Emmett. I actually want to ask you a question about Edward. Esme mentioned it earlier…about you, him,…and stealing?"
Emmett grinned in remembrance of what was surely a good time to him. "Oh yeah. Well, back in the 30s, Depression Era, Edward and I got bored one day. So, we decided to, umm, steal the car of the bank president who lived up the block. He was a mean old man, so we took his prized Ford and drove it into the slums, just left it idling, with keys in the ignition. It wasn't stealing, really,…except that it was.
8. You shall not steal.
And then, seeing that Bella was furiously scribbling on a piece of folded paper, he left the room with a grin. "What hasn't Edward done?", she wondered aloud.
"Well, there's the question of the century."
"Jasper."
"Bella."
"What exactly are you trying to prove, Bella?"
"I don't want him to think he's all bad…among other things. But my real motive is a lot more self-serving."
Feeling the embarrassment waves emanating from her, Jasper shrugged. "And clearly you don't want to talk about it."
"Unless you can help me by saying that he definitely hasn't done one of these things."
Jasper looked at the list quickly, then snorted. "The Ten Commandments? Bella, you didn't honestly go through the trouble of asking everyone which of these Edward hasn't done, did you?"
She stared at him as though he had three heads. "Uh…yeah, I did. Why?"
"The answer is pretty obvious, Bella. Edward is an innocent in one certain way. A way the rest of us are not. So you can't see which one he hasn't disregarded?"
She looked blankly at the list. "Honor thy mother and father?"
"Bella, honestly. He defied Carlisle, remember? The whole murdering spree? No, it isn't that one. Think about it Bella. What are you doing this for, remember? THINK!"
She stared at him confusedly, while crossing off number five from her list.
5. Honor thy mother and father.
And suddenly Jasper's exasperation became clear. Edward had only two options left on this list of basics, but one didn't matter anymore. What mattered was that there was one that Edward hadn't done. Rushing at Jasper, she threw her arms incautiously around him, as he stiffened.
"Sorry to interfere in your personal space, Jasper, but THANK YOU!"
"Sure, Bella. He's in the yard, by the way. Alone."