I walked into the big house, even after all of these years, the house was still as beautiful as when I saw it 9 years ago. I was right, the house was completely quiet and empty, and there was no trace of Edward's scent at all. I sighed out loud and walked into the kitchen. I was wrong on the part when I said that the house was empty, because in the kitchen stood a very dismayed and alone Jasper.

"Good morning Bella."

"Hey Jasper,"

"Looking for someone?" Was Jasper reading my emotions? Or was the answer plastered on my face? The tension and anxiety flowing from me must have been hitting him at 100 mph

"That obvious huh?" He laughed his sweet Jasper laugh and walked closer to me.

"Edward isn't here, he and Alice had some bank business they to take care of," Why hadn't Edward told me? It would've save me all that time I spent questioned our life together.

"Oh, um ok," Jasper's eyebrow raised and he opened his mouth to speak.

"You could stay here, your cottage won't be any fun alone." He was right, I needed to be with someone right now, and Jasper seemed like a good candidate for the job.

"Thanks Jasper." A sudden flow of calm entered me; Jasper was helping me feel better. I smiled a grateful smile and he nodded. The good thing about Jasper was that it was so easy to be around him. He pointed to the back porch and I easily followed. The dark mass of clouds hid the sun and gave the sky a gray tint. He sat on the steps and I joined him. Jasper had a unique beauty that I hadn't noticed before. His scars gave him a look of danger and mystery. For some strange reason, I was pulled to it. He broke the silence.

"So how are things?" he asked sincerely. Should I tell him the truth? How I was constantly questioning every aspect of my life with Edward. "Bad," I couldn't help it; the response came out so fast. He didn't look surprised almost as if he had been expecting for me to say it.

"How so?" Why he asking me? Why did he want me to relive my moments of pain? I shifted on the step, suddenly feeling uncomfortable with sharing these feelings.

"I don't know, maybe I'm just overreacting"

"Are you?" his blond brow arched up.

"Really Jasper, I don't know…sometimes I make assumptions," He sighed and look up at the drab sky. "Maybe we could talk about something else?" I looked at him and he nodded.

"I remember before, you were talking about learning to fight," My face lit up. "Do you still want to learn?" he didn't have to ask twice, I was up before he could take it back. He smiled and darted into the forest that surrounded the house. I followed him with instinct and was running by his side. He stopped completely and turned to me. He looked excited, almost as much as I was. I was just happy to be doing something that didn't involve me being alone. He stretched a bit and I followed his lead.

"Say I'm the enemy," I flinched; I didn't want to think of any of my family as my rivals. But I nodded anyway. "Now try to dodge me," In an instant he lunged at me tackling me to the ground. Of course it didn't hurt but he had taken me by surprise. In a quick second he was standing above me. I stood up in front of him, dusting off my jeans. I had completely forgotten that when it came to fighting, Jasper was the most skilled.

"Wow that was fast"

"Yes, any attack from another vampire would be as fast as that" I felt my forehead wrinkle as I nodded.

"Okay, do it again" I crouched and focused on his face. He laughed and stepped closer to me.

"Before I do, try stepping in the opposite direction to which I step." I nodded and switched my focus to his feet. I waited for him to attack. However instantaneously he was gone and his strong grip was holding hands behind my back with his mouth place lightly on my neck. He moved to back to where he was and laughed.

"You're not very good at this Bella"

"Oh please don't sugar coat it on my account" I stated sarcastically as I leaned against a tree. Was I really that bad?

"Do you want to try again?" I nodded frantically and positioned myself back into a crouch. "Now remember my feet will show you where I'm going, but don't rely on it too much, you have to focus up here." He pointed to his face. "Ready?" I nodded again. This time I kept his feet within my sight but help my gaze glued to his face. His left foot moved slightly and quickly, I then knew that I had go right. I flitted to the right and he was now standing where I was before.

"Very good Bella," I smiled proudly like a 2 year old and laughed along with Jasper. I wanted to do more but so much time had passed and Edward would be wondering where I was.

"Do you think we could do it again? Tomorrow maybe?"

"I have no plans." I smiled. When we got back to the main house Edward and Alice were in the kitchen laughing.

"Do I get to hear the joke?" I asked, wrapping my arms around Edward's stone waist. I could feel him recoil a bit then relax. I looked at Alice, she look cautious. The bank situation must be a lot for them. "Or not?" I added, releasing Edward to stand by his side.

"Oh it's nothing Bella" Alice chimed in her musical voice whilst floating to where Jasper was standing. The air was awkward and the tension was thick, was I the only one who noticed?

"Where were you two?" Edward stated coldly without emotion.

"I'm not going to tell you," I said teasingly hoping to have him beg me. No luck, he didn't ask after that. "Don't you want to know?" I was shielding Jasper and his thoughts, Edward would have to ask me now.

"Do I want to know? Were you doing something reckless? Should I be worried?" I was going to save him the anticipated pain.

"Jasper was training me, well teaching me to fight."

"Did you have fun?" Now I was mad, where were the snarls, the tightening of the knuckles, wasn't he worried?

"Yah…I learned a lot." I shot a friendly smile to Jasper, who graciously returned.

"Good." His sentence was short and crisp. I looked at the three vampires standing before me, they were beautiful no doubt, but they looked bored.

"Let's play a game," I grinned. Edward didn't look too excited; his lips were pressed into a tight line. "come on let's have a little fun, all we do every day is sit in this house"

"What did you have in mind?" Jasper asked. I smiled; at least Jasper was in for some normal fun. But we weren't normal, we were vampires. Normal didn't exist for us. I could hear the sound of a car pulling into the driveway then four pairs of footsteps.

"Looks like we won't have time to play" Edward stated plainly. I was defeated; I wasn't going to be able to lighten up the air.

Esme, Carlisle, Rosaline, and Emmett were back from Denali, they were visiting.

"Miss us?" Emmett joked. I laughed, I really missed his humor. "I bet Edward and Bella found something to do." He roared at his joke. It's been seven years and still hadn't gotten tired of making his sexual remarks. But I didn't laugh or hiss, instead I looked down because usually Emmett was right but today he was wrong. Edward and I barely touched this whole month, let alone had sex. Emmett must've picked up on my attitude because his roar of laughter has stopped as soon as it had begun. Esme laid a reassuring hand on my shoulder but it did nothing, I left the kitchen and went into the yard. I was tired of thinking that maybe things would get better, I needed time to think.