Chapter 3: Past Love and Friendship

[EPOV]

We pulled into our driveway swiftly. I got out and before Isabella could I held her door open for her. Everyone looked surprised at my actions because I never paid any attention to girls and here I was opening the door for a girl I met less than 24 hours ago.

Isabella was shocked but she recovered before everyone else. She nodded her head in thanks as she got out.

I grabbed her hand and steered her to the door. Jasper and Emmett recovered seconds before the others. Jasper clenched his jaw tightly and Emmett growled but didn't do anything else. Everyone else followed Isabella and I into the house.

I kept my eyes on Isabella as she walked into the house. I watched as she took in her surroundings. Her face held surprise and admiration.

Then she turned her head back to me. She smiled though she was confused as to why I was staring at her.

"Do you like it?" I asked her. She nodded her head up and down enthusiastically.

I grinned and took her to the living room. The others followed behind. Isabella and I sat down on the loveseat beside the window. The others took their seats too. Carlisle and Esme sat down on the loveseat and Jasper took the squashy armchair by the fireplace with Alice in his lap. Poor Emmett was left to sit with Rosalie on the last loveseat and she was shooting glares at Isabella every so often.

When everyone had settled down Jasper spoke.

"I'll start from the beginning to my transformation. Then Isabella and Emmett can continue their tales."

Isabella and the others nodded. I squeezed Isabella's hand again and she leaned into me. She sighed with her head on my shoulders. Emmett narrowed his eyes at the contact but didn't do anything else.

"Well as you all know I was born and raised in Houston, Texas. When I was born it wasn't to a happy atmosphere. My mother wasn't only pregnant with a boy but with twins. However that night my twin sister disappeared. The maid had left the nursery for a minute and when she came back Isabella was gone. I grew up alone since my father was always abroad traveling and my mother was never home. I never sought comfort with a maid or elder. I was truly alone. When I was four a new family moved in next door. A young couple and their daughter who was the same age as me. I was sitting on the grass when I saw a small chubby girl pulling an empty bucket that was bigger than her. The maids raised me as a gentleman so I thought of it as my duty to help out woman in need. So I went over to her and asked if she needed help. I was entranced when she looked up. She had large chocolate brown eyes and pink pouty lips. Curly brown hair down to the middle of her back. She was wearing a cute pink dress.

When she looked up she looked scared. She told me she was fine and started walking to the well nearby again. I was disappointed but a minute later she tripped and fell. I ran over to her and saw that she had a cut on her knee. So I tended to the cut and helped her get the water. I walked her back to her house. From then on we were inseparable. We were best friends like no other. We were like twins. We never went anywhere without the other. At nights we'd take turns sleeping over at each others house. As we grew I noticed how all the guys in town eyed Isabella. I wasn't happy. Of course she was gorgeous so who could blame them but I didn't like it. I remember that once we were in town a guy came up to Isabella and called her pretty. Next thing you know he was in the hospitable with a broken leg and ribs and a black eye with bruises all over him. From that day on no one dared be rude or talk to Isabella. Of course the girls didn't get the message that I didn't like them so they followed me around town flirting and yeah. That's when I had to take drastic measures. Isabella and I pretended to be dating to avoid the bitches and jackasses. When we both turned seventeen our parents decided we would marry each other," Jasper said.

"What?!?" Everyone shouted at once.

"Yeah! But we didn't like each other that way. Isabella was like my sister and I her brother," he explained thoughtfully. "But there was nothing we could do. We tried everything to stop the wedding but our parents wouldn't budge. So we had to cope. Much against Isabella's wishes I bought her a huge expensive ring. It was the least I could do to make up for my parents behavior. Isabella doesn't like expensive or fancy things. She hates girly clothes and being a proper lady," he said grinning at Isabella. She smiled back. "I remember being scolded for teaching her how to shoot with a gun."

"What?" Emmett shouted. "You taught her how to shoot a gun? I'm impressed."

Jasper chuckled.

"Anyways Isabella was always more like a guy than a girl. So there we were a week before the wedding when a messenger came to our house. He was recruiting men for the war. I decided to go. Isabella wasn't happy but she knew I always wanted to fight in the war. A day after the messenger came a young man and a priest came to our door. They said that the wedding couldn't happen. They said that Isabella was the missing sister of mine. Of course it was impossible because we looked nothing alike. The young man showed us her birth certificate and a sheet that had our fingerprints. When we stamped our fingerprints they were the same as the ones from when we were young. It was proved that Isabella was my sister. A young couple was unable to have children so they stole Isabella."

Jasper looked at Isabella and frowned.

"The night I left I promised Isabella I would come back. I guess I broke that promise," he finished looking at Isabella.

She sighed and reached into her pocket. From there she took out a ring case. I was small and velvety. Everyone looked at her curiously.

She opened the case to reveal a diamond flower encircled around a small band of silver. The flower was thin and the silver band had a sentence encrusted on it. Isabella & Jasper~ I'm always yours and you're always mine.

"That's the ring I gave her," Jasper whispered. It was a beautiful ring.

"Wow!" Rosalie whispered.

"Isabella? Can you forgive me?" Alice asked attentively.

Isabella smiled and nodded. She got up and enveloped Alice in a tight hug.

"So you're my sister-in-law huh?" Alice chirped. "Welcome to the family!"

Isabella laughed a beautiful and it instantly became my favorite sound in the world.