A/N: In case it might be confusing, the parenthesis in the titles tell you who's narrating the chapter.

Into the Woods (Jasper)

I tightened the belt holding my books together then ran to catch up to my brothers. Or at least I tried to. Even after a week of wearing shoes I still wasn't used to the darn things.

Esme had me try on 23 pairs before 'we' decided on the ones I was currently wearing, but it still didn't make any difference. I wasn't used to having my feet restricted, unable to feel the cool earth beneath me as I walked. It didn't help that this was also the first week I'd been in close proximity to humans since Alice and I became Cullens. It has hard enough having to refrain from biting the neck of my science partner, but to have to slip my feet into leather traps for 8 hours a day? Maria ordered kinder tortures.

Emmett and Edward stopped and waited for me, matching grins on their faces. To the rest of the student body it may have looked like I was walking just fine, but to their keen eyes I was about as uncoordinated as a newborn calf.

It was easy for them to laugh, they'd spent their whole lives wearing shoes like trained monkeys. There was a time when I wore boots in the Texas Calvary but that was a drop in the bucket compared to my hundred odd years of living.

Scowling, I hobbled towards them.

Edward patted me on the shoulder once I got close enough. "You'll get used to them," he said.

"Yeah, you're actually becoming civilized, Jasper," Emmet joined in. "Maybe next week you'll start washing your hair and wiping your nose."

I rolled my eyes as he and Edward laughed. "Funny. I'd like to see you try and walk around in these things."

"But we do. Every day." Emmett did a little jig in his loafers. "See? It's easy. That is, unless you've spent the last century playing Neanderthal in the woods."

"Dry up," I replied.

Emmett smiled wider. "I'm just sayin', who knew the great Jasper Whitlock was a klutz?"

I growled lowly.

"Cool it, morons, before someone hears you, "Edward interrupted. "C'mon. Let's get out of here. We're still way too close to the school for my taste."

"Rose has the car keys," Emmett protested.

"So, we'll walk." Edward shot me a sly look. "If we're capable."

Ignoring the jibe, I looked back at the school yard. Alice was staying after to help decorate for an upcoming recital. I was planning to wait for her but the smell of humans was starting to make my throat burn. I had managed to keep control of myself for 5 days and I didn't want things to change now.

"'Cmon," Emmett prodded me. "Rose will stay with her. Besides, we don't want to waste a day like this. Let's get going."

He was right. This morning the sky was clear so we had to come early and hurry into the school before the sun fully rose. Fortunately for us, the air became humid and dark clouds accumulated over the last hour or so, as Alice had predicted. It was perfect weather for a vampire to take his time getting home and horse around in the woods without having to worry about being seen. There was no reason to spend more time indoors than necessary.

"Let's go, Jasper." My brothers were already several feet ahead of me. "Keep up."

Swallowing down my irritation, I paused to scratch at my ankle before walking forward. "I would if these darn shoes would stop… itching."

The walk home was really uncomfortable. Not just because my shoes pinched, squeezed and smothered me but because Emmett and Edward poked fun the entire way. They said it was taking them twice as long as it normally did to make the trip. I told them they could go along without me, but I could feel they were both getting a kick out of watching me stumble along.

I shuffled behind them, nearly losing my footing twice before realizing that my laces were untied. My brothers thought it was all hilarious.

Finally, we reached the woods that marked the edge of the Cullen property.

"So what do ya'll want to do now?" I asked.

Edward looked up at the clouds. "We could hunt – before the rain comes in."

"Nah," Emmett blew a raspberry. "We already did that this morning."

I shrugged. I was usually agreeable to a hunt, but this morning I nearly lost us the heard, tripping over myself in the woods. I really wasn't in a hurry to try again. "Baseball, maybe?"

A roll of thunder sounded overhead and Emmett's eyes gleamed with a sudden idea. Behind him, Edward's lips quirked upward.

They were both feeling mischievous and I looked at Emmett suspiciously. Whatever they had in mind, it wasn't sports.

"I know what we'll play." Emmett sing-songed.

That was all the notice he gave before turning quickly and smacking me square in the forehead. I stumbled backwards.

Before I could even think to retaliate he and Edward dashed into the woods, laughing.

"Tag, you're it! Catch us if you can, country boy!"

I raced after them. Without shoes I was faster than Emmett and nearly as fast as Edward. Today it was all I could do to keep my leather soles from skidding on fallen leaves or my shoe laces from snagging on a stray branch. I felt like a duck out of water and they both knew it too. I was yards behind my siblings, who winded through the forest with ease, doubling back only to taunt me.

"-You're going to have to move faster than that, Jasper!"

"- Aw, give him a break. He's a Klutz. He's got two left feet, Edward!"

Emmett leapt into a tree, latching onto the wood and scurrying up. Determined, I tried to follow him. I was accustomed to gripping at the bark with my toes for leverage. These shoes didn't give me any traction at all. My feet slipped against the trunk and I feel onto the dirt on my hands and knees. My brothers' laughter rang through clearing and thunder cracked overhead.

"It's not funny," I seethed, brushing off my pants. I stared down at my shoes, which were now scuffed badly at the toe. Carlisle and Esme would probably think I'd done it on purpose.

"Take it easy, man," Emmett commented from a hanging branch. "It's only a game. Not our fault you can't run like a real person."

"Emmett, the game's over." Edward appeared from behind a tree further down. "Can't you see he's cheesed off? Let's go home. It looks like it's going to pour any minute."

"Aw, the storm's not due for another hour." Emmett argued. "Boy, Jasper. I didn't know you were so sensitive."

I hopped up. I wasn't hurting, and I sure as heck wasn't going to let my pride take a beating either.

"The games not over," I said. "Go on, I'll give you a head start. You'll need it."

"Oh, yeah?"

I spat on the ground. "Yeah."

Emmett looked down at my shoes and back at me. He scoffed. "Suit yourself, slow poke."

They vanished into the woods a moment later. As soon as they were out of sight, I stooped to inspect my shoes once more. What were the odds that Mama would notice the damage?

Neither Carlise or Esme had asked me about my shoes since I'd gotten them. Sure they bombarded me with questions about my day, how I was feeling about school and whether I felt myself losing control of my thirst, but not once had they checked to see if I was living up to my side of the shoe bargain.

I supposed I was safe.

"Oh, Jas-per! Are you going to stand there all day? Don't tell me you forgot how to move your feet too!"

"C'mon, Jasper. I've seen a one legged dog run faster than you!"

Snarling, I flipped off my shoes and socks. My toes immediately dug into the soft earth. I sighed with relief. There was a hollowed log that I spotted not ten feet away. Carefully, I tucked my shoes inside. Then I took off running.

Emmett was my first victim. I felt his shock moments before I slammed into him, sending us both flying out of the trees and onto the ground with a loud crack. We wrestled until I had him pinned, his disbelief puffing me up even more. Emmett was peeved but I was more than satisfied with the outcome.

"No fair," Emmett hollered, arm twisted behind his back. "You cheated."

"Once a Neanderthal, always a Neanderthal," I mocked.

With a grunt he tossed me off of him. I gave him a smug grin and raced off in search of Edward. I pumped my legs as I weaved through both branches and tall grass, jumping from tree to earth to tree again in a matter of seconds.

It took me longer to get my mind-reading brother, but I tripped him up by doing a back flip over his head with just a moment of forethought. Something I wouldn't have been able to pull off had I still been wearing those crummy shoes. Emmett quickly joined the fray, jumping on Edward's back while he was preoccupied with me.

We wrestled until the light drizzle over our heads became fat raindrops and the first steak of lightning appeared in the sky. Then we dashed to the house. Rain pounded against the foyer windows as we shook off our wet jackets.

Esme appeared seconds later with towels, clucking over our appearance.

"I wish you boys wouldn't play outside so close to the start of a storm. You know how dangerous lightening can be, especially in the middle of a forest," She said.

"Aw, Mom," Emmett ducked away as she tried to rub his head dry. "We got inside just in time. See? No burn marks."

"Yes, I see, Em. Now, all of you get out of those wet clothes and leave them in the laundry room to wash. I just mopped this floor." She wrapped a towel around my neck. "Jasper, where are you shoes?"

I froze, my stomach dropping as I looked down at my bare feet.

Oh, no! How could I have left my shoes behind?

"Well," I stuttered. "They're-"

"He already put them away," Edward supplied.

His nervous energy buzzed against my skin, a clear contrast to his calm demeanor.

My eyes darted from him to Esme and back again.

"You didn't put them in the closet, did you?" She asked me. "They'll get musty if you don't let them dry out."

"No, ma'am. I didn't put them in the closet," I answered truthfully. I willed the churning in my stomach to cease and prayed my own nerves weren't giving me away.

"Good boy." She kissed my cheek. "Well, off to the laundry room to change, all of you. Shoo."

We headed that way quickly, shutting the door to the small room behind us with a click.

"Where are they?" Edward whispered.

"Don't tell me you threw them away again," Emmett added, stepping out of his own wet shoes and socks. "We were only foolin' with ya."

"Hush, before she hears you," I hissed. "I didn't get rid of 'em. I just put them somewhere, is all. I meant to go back for them."

"I hope it's somewhere good," Edward chucked his shirt into the clothes hamper. "Or else you're in for it."

I pictured the log I chose for safe keeping in my mind. My new shoes tucked safely inside the thick pine.

"They'll be fine." I said aloud.

"Well, it's not like you can go back and get them now anyway," Emmett put a leg through a fresh pair of pants. "You know how Esme is about thunder storms."

The door knob turned and all three of us jumped when Alice poked her head in the door.

"Geez, Alice," Emmett yelped. "We're changing in here."

I looked into my wife's worried eyes and my stomach plunged yet again. Before I could even think to conjure up any bit of hope, she said the very last words I wanted to hear.

"Oh, Jasper. Why didn't you just keep the shoes on?"