The week passed incredibly slowly. Bella had said all the right things, had tried to soothe the sting in my aching heart, but it hadn't helped. I hadn't told her about the scene I had witnessed between Rosalie and Emmett, but guilt twisted in my stomach every time I saw Jasper. Jasper and I had gone back to silence, tension thick whenever we were alone together. His easy southern drawl would turn my bones to liquid as he spoke, and I would revel in the feeling for the fleeting seconds before my head caught up to my traitorous heart, and I remembered Rosalie, guilt thick in my stomach, making me nauseous, my liquid bones suddenly turning to leaden concrete. Luckily, we hadn't been alone often. Jasper was right, we had gone to three or four guards per shift as the beginning of summer rush set in. As Friday morning dawned, the day of Emmett's pool party, Alice, Bella and I arrived at the beach for the morning shift. Jasper was nowhere to be seen, which was possibly a good thing. Seeing him with that damn guitar balanced in his lap every day only served to conjure fantasies that made me toss and turn at night.

"Hey, y'all. Ready for another excitin' day?"

Jasper's drawl caught me offguard from behind, as it so often did. He wandered in the front door, shirtless, sweat dripping down his abs, his curls tangled, looking flushed and oh-so-kissable. I sat down, feeling my shorts tighten as they so often did when Jasper was around. Bella grinned at him,

"Morning, Jasper. Running?"

Bella had taken it upon herself to ease the tension between Jasper and I. Her perky, bubbly questions had begun to annoy me. I hoped Jasper didn't feel the same. He nodded, gulping water from a bottle that had been chilling in the fridge. I fought not to groan at the bob of his adam's apple as he swallowed. It made me picture him swallowing...other things.

"Yeah. It's a good time of day for it. Plus, the water's so calm today."

I nodded halfheartedly, glancing over at Alice, who had been strangely silent throughout the morning. She smiled wanly, but didn't contribute to the conversation, instead looking over to Bella. Jasper grabbed his guard shirt and a radio, heading out onto the beach as Bella and Alice exchanged looks, silent information passing between them.

Most mornings, Jasper and I were the only ones in the guard office, while Bella and Alice took the first shift on the water. As Jasper walked out the door this morning, though, Alice was complaining of a headache. I vaguely wondered if it was just the amount of time Jasper had known her, or if it was his strange ability to read emotions rising to the surface again, like it had with the tyrant woman. Alice's tiny fingers played anxiously with her spiked, purple and black streaked hair, and she looked pale despite the sun.

"You doing okay, Allie?"

Bella asked, passing her a glass of water as she stared out at the waterfront. We were at one guard for the time being, Jasper was sitting alone on the waterfront—only a few small children splashed around in the water, their parents hovering nearby. Alice sipped the water, her dark eyes cloudy,

"Yeah, I'm okay. Just...I feel stressed. Like it's just...going to be a really long day, you know?"

"Mmm, Allie, I'm sure it'll be okay."

Alice nodded,

"I know. Nothing serious. And...the party. It's just a long day."

There was more than what Alice was saying, but she looked terrible. Bella and I exchanged looks, but didn't press her. Instead, I hooked a radio to my shorts,

"Maybe I'll go join Jas, then. Hope you feel better, hey?"

Alice nodded,

"I'll be fine. I get headaches like this once in a while."

Alice and Bella had become friends so fast it made my head spin. Alice, the tiny, pixie-like, outgoing girl we had met that first day hadn't changed at all. She had, however, revealed her eerily accurate predilection for predicting the future. I hadn't thought anything of it when she mentioned, offhand, that first day,

"Bella's going to love Jacob. They're going to be great together."

In fact, I had assumed that Alice meant they would make a good guard team. Instead, Bella had called me after their first shift together, gushing about Jacob. The connection had been instant, apparently. I'd never seen Bella more excited about a guy. I could only hope that I liked him as much as Bella. Jacob was the only member of the guarding staff I was yet to meet. Bella described him as tall, taller than me or Jasper, but shorter than Emmett, with silky dark hair that hung to his shoulders and tanned skin that absorbed the sunlight. Much like Jasper's golden curls. I sighed. I had to stop relating everything to Jasper. Jesus. One sided romance was so overrated.

I wandered slowly down the guard ramp, basking in the warmth of the sunshine and the heat already radiating off the toasted sand. I hadn't gotten sunburned yet this summer—thanks in large part to Bella, who had slathered me in sunscreen every morning before I left the apartment. As I walked, I stared at Jasper, drinking in the flex of his muscles, the sheen of sunscreen on his skin, the glitter of his curls under the afternoon sun.

As I was staring, lost in thought, Jasper blew his whistle, the shrill, sharp sound jolting across the beach. Adrenaline surged through my body, and I could feel my instinctual fight or flight instinct kick in. I had already started running as he leapt out of the chair, splashing into the water. Surveying the water, I could see what he was going for: A little girl, about 100 metres out, struggling to keep her head above water and going down fast.

I grabbed the O2 tank, first aid kit and AED, and ran towards the waters edge. I dropped the equipment and began to follow Jasper into the water, but then thought better of it, and yanked the walkie-talkie off my hip,

"Bells, we need backup."

There was some distant crackling of my radio as I pushed off the bottom and began to follow Jasper out. He was about half way to her, but she was still too far out to reach. The drop-off, I realized. The little girl came up choking, gasping for breath, and then went under, silently. Shit. Jasper swam harder, letting his buoyant aide float on the surface as he swam.

I cursed silently, knowing that he was going to have to dive for the little girl. I swam harder, knowing that Jasper would be exhausted when he brought her up. Finally, Jasper dove down under the water, searching for the little girl. I could distantly hear Alice calling for people to exit the water quickly and quietly, before I finally caught up with Jasper. He breached the surface, sucking in deep lungfulls of air, his eyes dark and blown with adrenaline.

"Edward, I can't—shit, I can't get her up."

We dove down together, the water cloudy and cold as we went down, hands searching for the warmth of skin.

There was nothing.

When we surfaced again, I could hear the mother on the beach, screaming hysterically. Jasper looked at me, his eyes dark and scared.

"We'll get her."

I murmured.

I wasn't sure if it was me, or Jasper I was trying to reassure.

We dove down again, lungs burning from physical exertion and lack of oxygen. My chest ached, my muscles screaming to turn back. I felt Jasper's hand fasten around my own, and I pushed the scream of my brain for oxygen back, knowing what he was going to do.

Jasper thrust himself downwards, jerking me towards the bottom, giving me an extra boost as I hurtled downwards into the darkness below us, my hands searching for warmth, searching for the little girl.

My fingers fastened around her arm, and I immediately began kicking towards the surface, pulling her up behind me. As we travelled upwards, I fixed my hand over her mouth and nose, tipping her head forward to prevent more water from entering her lungs. My body cried for air, the surface glimmering above us, and I could feel myself beginning to fade, my grip on the little girl loosening.

It was every lifeguard's worst nightmare.

Then Jasper's hands fastened around my arm, dragging me upwards.

I broke the surface, my breath coming in shallow pants, dizziness washing over me. Jasper shoved a buoyant aid into my arms, taking the little girl gently from me, swimming her back towards shore. I took several deep breaths, trying desperately to quell the waves of dizziness, before I began swimming for shore.

Jasper walking out of the water with the little girl in his arms was undoubtedly the most beautiful thing I have ever seen.

He laid her down in the sand, immediately into prone position, and Alice began assessing her, Jasper standing breathless over them both. My feet touched the bottom as Alice began CPR, Jasper working quickly to attach the AED to her body.

I felt like crying.

She'd been down for too long. There was water in her lungs, she wasn't breathing, and her heart had stopped. Everything seemed to move in slow motion as I walked out of the water.

I caught the mother in my arms as she rushed towards her daughter's unmoving body. She fought against me, tears streaming down her face.

"NO! NO, KATE!"

I held her against me, dimly aware that I was beginning to shake from adrenaline, and overexertion. Bella came out of the guard office, running down the beach towards us. She put one arm around the woman's shoulders, leading her out of my arms towards the guard office.

"EMS is on their way. They should be here in the next ten minutes."
She murmured, just as Jasper called for clear, charging the AED to shock the little girl. Alice either didn't hear him, or didn't respond, continuing to compress the little girl's chest,

"Alice. I need you clear."

Jasper spoke softly to her, his accent far more pronounced under stress. I touched Alice gently on the shoulder, and she looked up at me, tears streaking her face. She immediately jumped back, and I took her place kneeling at the little girl's side as Jasper shocked her. I lined my hands up on her chest and resumed compressions, praying silently for her to wake up. Children bounce back better than adults, they have a far higher chance of survival in incidents like this, she would live, I reminded myself.

Jasper met my eyes for one brief second, and I could see the fear, the failure, written in his eyes. If this girl didn't make it...

The little girl began to cough, vomiting water up as Jasper and I moved silently, completely in tune, to roll her, exchanging looks of relief as the water flowed out of her mouth, her eyes fluttering open. Jasper placed the oxygen mask on her face,

"Don't worry darlin', you're gonna be just fine."
He murmured, brushing a soaked tendril of her hair off her face. I could feel the relief rush through my body, my muscles beginning to shake as the adrenaline left them.

The paramedics arrived after what felt like an infinite amount of time, loading Kate onto a stretcher and carrying her off the beach. Her mother gripped Jasper's hand,

"Thank you. Thank you so much."

Jasper smiled wanly,

"You're welcome, ma'am."

His hands were shaking as he pulled away from her.

Bella slipped her hand into mine, leading me off the beach. I was shaken, shaking and weak-kneed. Jasper followed behind us, one arm around Alice's tiny shoulders, her fingers fastened in the front of his still-wet shirt, his body almost entirely supporting her weight. The beach had cleared as the paramedics carried the little girl off the beach, and Bella hung the "NO LIFEGUARD ON DUTY" sign on the side of the guard hut as we went inside.

Alice sat down on the cot, curling her body into Jasper's, Bella beside her, and me on the other end. Nobody said anything, and the silence was necessary. We all needed time to process and decompress.

When Rosalie entered the guard room, Jasper stood immediately, allowing her to wrap her arms around his neck, burying her face in the crook of his neck,

"You holdin' up okay, Jazzy?"

I couldn't help it, even in the face of such a tender moment I felt jealousy and anger flash through me.

Emmett followed about five minutes after Rosalie, and they prepared to take the afternoon shift on.

It was over.

We'd survived.

We walked to the parking lot together, silent, like warriors returning from battle.

As Alice veered off to her car, and Bella to unlock the truck, Jasper caught me by the arm. I felt the all-too-familiar tingle of heat thrum through me at his touch, an involuntary response.

"Edward. Thank you. I couldn't have...I couldn't have, without you."

Jasper's words were barely above a whisper, his voice rough. I nodded,

"Jasper, I..."

Jasper shook his head,

"Don't. I just...wanted you to know. I'll see you tonight, hey?"

The pool party. I had completely forgotten about it.

Jasper turned, getting into his car, but not before I caught a flash of something unreadable in his eyes. It was a look that would puzzle me for a long time.

...

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