A/N: So sorry for the very long delay with this story. Writer's block took forever to go away, but I plan to update more regularly now.

Bella's POV

Edward drove me back to my house and pulled my truck into the driveway. "Well, here we are. You better get inside before Charlie looks out and sees me."

"Uh uh. You're not getting off that easily. What did Jasper say to you back at the house?" I asked him. I knew the gist, but I wanted to know exactly what it was. It had left Edward uneasy and I wasn't used to that. I wondered exactly what my a thousand times great uncle thought to freak him out.

"He didn't say anything to me, Love. You were sitting right there. You would've heard if he said something," Edward said.

I rolled my eyes. Stupid vampires and their stupid semantics. "What did he think then? I know he threatened you, but what exactly did he say. He obviously left you worried."

Edward smiled sheepishly. "It's nothing. He just expressed to me that it would be a bad idea for me to hurt you. It was unnecessary since I don't plan on doing such a thing."

"Okay, then why are you worried?" I asked.

"I'm not worried."

I gave him a 'yeah right' kind of look.

"Okay, fine. Let's just say that you will find Jasper to be very overprotective. He threatened to tear me a part and he may have mentioned something about putting my head on his wall," Edward said with a wince.

"Oh My God! Are you kidding me? But he wouldn't really do that, right?" I asked. I knew that Jasper had threatened Edward, but that was just plain ridiculous.

"Of course he would, Bella. You're his family, the last connection he has to his sister. He will tear anyone apart who he thinks is a threat to you. It's something to admire," Edward said.

"It's something to be annoyed by," I said irritably. Okay, so it was kind of sweet, but it was also irritating as hell. Like I needed another overprotective male. I already had three of those. My father, Edward, and Jacob.

"He's just looking out for you. He knows how much I hurt you before and he won't allow it again," Edward said.

"Because we're family," I said.

"Yes, but he was upset by the way I hurt you even before tonight. He never said anything out loud because he didn't think it was his place, but I read his thoughts. He felt your pain when we got back and he was angered by it. I think even then a part of him knew you were important to his life. That's why it's remarkable that all he did was threaten me. He would've been well within his rights tonight to tear me apart on principle," Edward said.

"He was that bothered by it?" I asked surprised. Until tonight, Jasper and I barely talked, so I was kind of stunned to learn he had been angry on my behalf.

"Oh, he was very bothered by it. He was angry, both at me and himself. He was angry at himself for losing control at your party, but he was also angry at me for hurting you so much. If I hurt you again, I think he very well may kill me," Edward said firmly.

"Well, I guess it doesn't really matter because you won't hurt me. Wait, does that pertain to anything that could hurt me?" I asked. I was thinking about the change. I'd heard from multiple members of the Cullen family that the change was the most excruciating pain you could ever feel. Would Jasper stop Edward from changing me? He'd taken my side when we had that vote when they all came back, but what if he changed his mind now?

"What do you mean, Love?" Edward asked.

"Will, Jasper stop you from changing me?" I asked worried. I thought that once Edward finally agreed to change me that the battle was over, but now it looked like I might have to fight it with Jasper too.

Edward seemed to think about it for a minute. "I don't know. He hasn't thought much about it since he learned who you were to him. He might have a problem with it. He won't want to see you go through so much pain and he will probably worry about my control. I worry about that as well."

"You won't hurt me," I said confidently. I trusted Edward with everything in me. He would never harm me, and if I didn't know that in my heart already, he'd proved it after James bit me and he sucked out the venom.

"That's your opinion. It has no factual basis. Jasper will be wary to risk it," Edward said.

"Take me back to your house," I said after a moment. I wanted to speak with Jasper tonight. I wanted to make sure he wasn't going to interfere with what I wanted.

"Bella, it's late. Charlie will be suspicious if you don't go in now. We do not want to give him another reason to keep punishing you," Edward said.

"I want to talk to Jasper. I do not want to wait eve a day to find out if he's going to try to stop it," I said.

"Okay, I will talk to him. I'll go home and find out his take on the matter. Then I'll come back and tell you about it. That way you won't get in trouble with Charlie," Edward said.

I wasn't very happy with his solution. I wanted to talk to Jasper myself, but I decided not to protest now. Edward was right about Charlie. "Okay, but you have to come back immediately. I wanna know what he says."

"I promise," Edward said. He kissed me softly and then disappeared in a flash.

I grabbed my keys from the ignition and got out of the truck before heading inside.

Xxxxxxxxxxx

Edward's POV

I went right home after leaving Bella and went upstairs to find Jasper. I met Alice in the hallway.

"He's in his study," Alice said. She'd obviously seen what I was wanted to talk to Jasper about.

"Have you seen what he'll say?" I asked. Honestly, I didn't know what I was hoping for. It was no secret that I hated the idea of making Bella into a monster like me. A part of me wanted Jasper to say no.

"No. I've seen you ask him, but he hasn't made a decision. You're going to go in blind on this one," Alice said before turning to leave. She turned around at the last second though. "Oh, but try not to feel optimistic at the prospect of him saying no. He will not respond well to that."

I cringed and headed down the hall to Jasper's study. I stopped outside the door and knocked.

"Come in."

I opened the door and walked inside.

Jasper looked at me and smirked. "What can I do for you, brother?"

I closed the door and approached his desk. "Uh, Bella wanted to ask you something."

"Then why is it that you are the one standing in front of me?" Jasper asked me.

"Well, she wanted to come back with me to ask you, but I didn't want her to get in trouble with Charlie and she didn't want to wait until tomorrow, so I thought I'd come ask you and give her your answer," I explained rather quickly.

"You're rambling, Edward," Jasper said with a smirk. He was enjoying seeming me squirm. "What does Bella need?"

"She wants to know if this new development will affect our plans to change her," I said and nervously awaited his answer. I knew that this conversation would decide once and for all if Bella would be changed. I didn't tell Bella this, but I knew that not even Carlisle would change her if Jasper said no. Because of their connection, he would leave it up to Jasper to decide.

A stunned look came upon Jasper's face. It was obvious even without reading his mind that he had not even given this a thought yet. He had not even remembered that Bella was to change until I brought it up to him.

As soon as the shock wore off, Jasper began blocking me from his thoughts. I wasn't surprised, but I was disappointed. I wanted to know what he was thinking so I could prepare for what he would say. I was really was, as Alice said, blind now.

"I'm afraid Bella's going to be disappointed. I cannot give her an answer tonight. It is something that I'll have to give some thought," Jasper said.

I immediately opened my mouth to speak. Bella wanted to know now, and honestly, I wasn't enjoying the anticipation either.

Jasper silenced me with a glare. "Do not push me, Edward. Despite the smirks and the thoughts I've sent you to make you squirm, I think you know how seriously I would like to hurt you right now. In fact, the more I think about Bella and the connection we share, the more pissed off I get! About the only thing keeping you from tearing both your arms off right now for breaking Bella's heart is the fact that I played a part in it!"

I flinched at Jasper's words. He was seriously pissed at me. It wasn't surprising, but it did cause fear, more so than his earlier thoughts did. That had been mostly your usual 'I'll hurt you if cause the people I love pain' kind of thing. This was him seriously wanting to hurt me. He'd obviously been thinking a lot more about how I hurt Bella after the two of us left.

"So I suggest you give me time to think. Tell Bella I will have an answer for her tomorrow," Jasper said before turning back to a book he must have been reading before I walked in.

I knew I had been dismissed and I had no interest in pushing Jasper any further, so I left the room.