Happy note of the day, I applied to UNLV (University of Nevada Las Vegas) and I got in but I didn't attend. Sorry for the day's delay. When I realized I had to start writing it was already Monday and I didn't feel anything. Then yesterday I couldn't even open the page. Today (Wednesday) I got bitten by the writing bug and I wrote it all. By the time this publishes (Thursday) I hope many of you will be unwilling to do homework and read this instead (kidding, but hopefully). I'll try to get back to updating Wednesdays. Have a great Thursday and don't forget to review!

"We should take you back, if your car stays out there any longer it'll be permanently frozen to the pavement." Even with Jasper's enhanced sight it was becoming difficult to see much pass the windows of the house anymore. Bella was still standing next to the glass but she might as well have stood by a white wall.

She looked a bit alarmed and Jasper could feel a million emotions soaring around her. He had to take a step back even though her emotions were muffled which still puzzled him they were abnormally strong for a human.

"But we haven't decided what we're going to do…" her voice drifted off, "did I-I assume? Jasper you don't have to help me. I owe you in fact and I'm here…and - and I didn't even ask. I'm sorry." She pulled the blanket off of her and by passed him to the living room where she folded it and laid it on the couch. "I just thought…" she was saying absently and not looking at him, "together we could stop her, I don't want to impose."

Japer was standing disbelieving a couple feet away from her. He got a sudden flashback to the unwilling Bella that used to refuse help from anyone.

"Don't do that," he said, he didn't like it. He wanted to see her strong, weak was exactly how Victoria wanted her. "We fucked up your life Bella, we should have never come back here but we did and we messed with your life and then abandoned you to clean up the mess yourself. I'm going to help you but I can't do that if you resort back to your old habits. We have to work together."

He was happy to see her nod and after a while she even gave him a small smile. He directed her to the door and half way there she stopped and turned to him, they were very close and for a wild moment Jasper thought she was going to lean in to kiss him but she was just reaching behind her. He heard a jingle and then saw her put up a set of silver keys that looked brand new.

"I can't see two inches in front of me," she pushed the keys in his direction, "could you drive?"

"You're trusting a vampire who loves fast cars to drive you home in the middle of a blizzard?" he asked taking the keys and opening the door for her. Even though there was a rush of snow that swirled around them he heard her say, Told you I embraced danger.

Bella POV.

The drive back home wasn't like anything like it had been with Edward all those times. She had driven in a car with Jasper before when they had left for Phoenix and then it hadn't been like Edward either. Edward was known to the family as the fastest, perhaps smartest but there was something Edward didn't have that Jasper did. Grace.

All those years ago when she had seen Jasper play in the baseball field with the family he had stood out to her like nobody else. The way he ran, jumped, and dived seemed like he was born a vampire. It wasn't messy but it wasn't calculated. He was free. Being a vampire was his thing, everyone else seemed to be holding on too strongly to their livelihood. Jasper seemed to want to break out of it. He was in his element while he drove her car just like he had been in his element when he was running or, Bella shivered; when he was hunting.

She had never seen him hunt animals but if the face that he made when he had jumped to suck her dry was the same look he gave his prey then she never wanted to be on the receiving end of his thirst…again.

Jasper had looked over at her while she shivered and turned up the heat in the car assuming that she was cold. He drove normally and slowly albeit still a bit fast for someone driving in the middle of a blizzard. She knew he was doing it to give her some sense of being safe and she appreciated it. Normally she would have huffed and puffed about her independence and insist that he not change on account of her but this was a new car and if something happened to it Charlie would be devastated. Being in a car with a vampire hell bent on keeping her safe assuaged her doubts of being harmed in a car accident.

"I want to go somewhere warm," she said hugging herself with her arms to try to retain some of her body heat, "Angel keeps talking about visiting her grandmother in New Orleans and she has invited me several times before but the thought of being so far away from Charlie is enough to get my heart racing."

"When is she visiting?" Jasper asked. Bella looked at him and studied him for a minute. He seemed genuinely curious to know.

"Spring break." Jasper nodded and kept his eyes on the road. Bella didn't know why but something inside made her think that Jasper was up to something. He had asked a normal question and it had been followed by an honest answer but Bella got the feeling like she could see into him.

Furthering the exploration taking place within her she realized that the anxiety that had followed Jasper's departure from her apartment in Seattle had been extinguished the moment he had opened the door to the Cullen house. It wasn't the same anxiety she felt after Edward left her. When Edward left there was some resignation that stemmed from her knowledge that Edward would never return, that he had never been meant to stay.

Even though Edward leaving and Jasper leaving had been her fault both times there was a strong sense of responsibility that she felt dropped upon her shoulders the moment Jasper left. There was a fight inside her for him. She had been willing to beg for his forgiveness and help but she needn't had worried for he was already at her disposition. She would have begged and pleaded for Edward's return, she did in her dreams, but would she have done it truthfully in person? She didn't think so. Even though she didn't think about Jasper in a way other than a platonic and friendly manner, Edward's leaving was the only she could compare his too.

"Uh oh," she heard Jasper say and then felt the car stop. She turned to her right and saw the outline of her house, looking back at Jasper she noticed that he was looking in the general direction of her front door but she couldn't see anything but white snow and some shadows. "Charlie," he said when she failed to react.

"Oh!" Bella scrambled to think of a lie or some sort of way to get Jasper out of there.

"It's okay," he said taking the keys out of the ignition and getting ready to open his door, "let me get your door and just go along with me okay. He went back inside the house. Just say you ran into me."

"Why? Jasper why are you-"

"Because Charlie is in as much danger as you are. I think it's best that he knows I'm around instead of hiding me from him." Bella thought for a moment. She was getting the feeling again that Jasper was up to something. She didn't want to lie to Charlie and this seemed like one less secret that she had to keep from him.

In the end she nodded but when Jasper made to reach for the door she stopped him by putting a hand on his arm, "Your eyes," she pointed out.

"Thanks, I nearly forgot…" he took out a case from within his jacket where people normally kept their glasses and opened it up to reveal a pair of blue contact lenses, "I got these right after I ran into you. Thought they'd come in handy." Bella laughed lightly as Jasper lowered the visor and popped the contacts in quickly. "Let's go," he said when he was finished.

Jasper got out of the car and before Bella could reach the door handle he had it opened and he was pulling her out. He walked them to her front door at human speed. Bella wondered why he hadn't rushed them over instead of allowing her to freeze but her answer was delivered the moment she opened the door and saw Charlie standing by the window. He had been watching them.

"Hey dad," Bella said hearing the high pitch tone in her voice but not knowing what to do about it she just settled for ignoring it and taking her jacket off, "look who I ran into at the store." She pointed at Jasper but she noticed that Charlie only glanced at him.

"I thought you went to the movies with Jacob," he said simply crossing his arms over his puffed up chest. Oh boy.

"Yeah but Jake got sick and I drove him home," the years of lying to Charlie were finally starting to pay off, "I stopped by the store to get some batteries incase the lights go out here and I ran into Jasper."

"Where are the batteries?" the questions just kept coming.

"In Jasper's car," Bella choked, her story was crumbling.

"What were you doing in his car Bella?" Charlie said looking more and more like a cop as each second passed.

"Sir," Jasper interjected while Bella groaned, "my car failed to start in the parking lot of the store and Bella was helping me turn it on while I tried to fix something in the hood. She didn't want to leave me while I waited for the tow truck that probably isn't going to pick up my car until the blizzard is over. I didn't mean to inconvenience your daughter."

Charlie looked from Bella to Jasper seemingly unconvinced but after a moment or two he lowered his arms and walked over to Jasper. He shook his hand and Bella saw how Charlie looked at their clasped hands like he couldn't believe how cold Jasper was or how hard his handshake was, she assumed. She remembered how it had felt to touch a vampire for the first time. They were unusually cold and their bodies strangely hard as if they were made of lead or rock. Charlie must have attributed the cold to the snow outside and the hardness to someone with a strong handshake because he let go and his eyes didn't look back at Jasper's hands.

"You're one of Dr. Cullen's kids. I thought your family had left," Charlie momentarily looked at Bella before addressing Jasper again, "is the whole family back?"

"No, just me sir," Jasper said, "I transferred to Washington State and I only came back to Forks for a few of my belongings that I will need."

"D'you hear that Bella?" Charlie said smiling for the first time, "Washington State."

"Yeah dad," Bella said slightly shifting towards the kitchen hoping that Jasper would get the hint but Charlie cut in before Jasper could make a move.

"Are you the only one at Washington?" Charlie asked. It seemed to Bella that Charlie was itching to know where Edward was, or his gun was itching to know; either one.

"Yes sir," Jasper responded politely, "Everyone else is at UNLV, Dad got a job at a hospital in Las Vegas near the military base."

"That's great," Charlie said becoming friendlier the more Jasper spoke. Bella felt confident that Jasper wasn't someone who used his power unless he had to so it must have been his charm that appealed to Charlie. "Listen Bella," Charlie said looking at his daughter, "I need to go into the station incase there are emergencies I must attend to. Don't wait up and son…" he turned to Jasper.

"Sir," Jasper said standing a little straighter.

"Call me Charlie or Mr. Swan, only call me Sir if you can see my badge," Charlie said smiling, "the forecast is saying that the blizzard is going to last the entire night so feel free to stay, there is food in the fridge and blankets in that closet there. But this is also a respectable home and I expect the pair of you to behave."

"Dad!" Bella blushed crimson and stared bloody murder at Charlie, "Go to work." It seemed that it had cost Charlie as much embarrassment to say it as it had for Bella to hear it. He put on his badge and jacket as Bella walked him to the open door. "Be careful dad, be safe."

"Night Bell's," As Bella was going to close the door she heard a distant howl that she knew was Jacob's. After spending so much time with him she knew when to identify his unique sound. He would watch after Charlie on his way to work so feeling reassured Bella closed the door.

When she turned she found Jasper standing by the window and looking outside except he wasn't staring at Charlie's cruiser. He was staring in the direction the howl had come from.

"Is something wrong?" had she misunderstood the meaning behind the howl?

"No," Jasper said turning and seeing her worried face he elaborated, "I can sense two wolfs and two unphased ones in a car leaving here. One of them is young and the other is older, he hasn't shifted in a while."

Bella stood amazed that he could do that and then she realized what he had said, "Billy," was her instant response. "He stopped phasing years ago, I think Jacob told me once." Bella walked over to the kitchen to get a glass of water. She didn't hear Jasper coming behind her but she wasn't surprised to see him standing near the corner connecting the living room and kitchen. Vampires tended to be silent. "He probably just left, he's real good friends with Charlie. He's Jacob's dad."

But Jasper wasn't really listening. He had crossed the room to the double glass doors that led to her backyard. He touched the window lightly and sniffed.

"Chlorine and blood," he moved over to the center where there was a strip of plastic and the slider between which the doors connected, "And Victoria."

"You can smell her there?" Bella asked walking over to him and setting her glass of water on the table.

"Slightly," he leaned in and sniffed again, "the rink of wolf is making it hard to smell anything but mud, hair, and dog breath." Bella leaned away and looked at Jasper the same way she would have looked at Jacob had he just called a Cullen a leech.

Jasper was unperturbed at her annoyance however. "I should go," he said. "I need to talk to Sam and then start looking for a place in Seattle to stay while we figure out what to do."

"You're leaving?" Bella blurted out before she could stop herself. She felt her cheeks flush again and tried to explain her outburst but her words just mixed together into a jumble mess that only made Jasper smile.

Jasper looked out of the glass doors and Bella followed his gaze. It was getting darker now and the snow, instead of reflecting the light of the sun was starting to reflect the black of the night. She could also tell that the wind was getting stronger and the snow thicker, it was falling faster and harder than ever. She hoped that Charlie was alright and that the wolves were watching over him.

"I suppose I don't need to leave right away," Jasper said, "I'll just call Jenkins from here and let him know that I need a place."

Bella nodded and wondered who Jenkins was but by the sounds of it he was Jasper's day man. She saw Jasper take his phone out and dial a number. She took her glass of water into the living room and sat down in Charlie's recliner. Instead of thinking about whether Charlie had made it to work alright she thought about the phone call Jasper was making.

She had heard the word 'day man' in a Charlaine Harris novel about vampires. She had seen the show on HBO which was inspired by her novels and she picked up the books the same day. She had read them with interest and couldn't help feeling better about her situation. The Sookie girl had it ten times worse than she had except that Bella was a real life person with a real life vampire that could actually walk in the light of the sun.

The main vampire had been very powerful and strong and he had had a day man who handled his personal agenda during the day while he slept in his coffin deep in his basement. And now Jasper also had a day man who handled business such as finding him a home. Jasper trusted a human man with his living arrangements. Actually Jasper had enough money of his own to have a day man now that Bella thought about it.

For some reason she had always associated the Cullen money with just Carlisle. She always referred to the money as 'Cullen' money. She never thought that the Cullen's may have individual accounts and surely she never even considered how much money there were on those individual accounts.

Her heart started racing a bit so she turned the television on to distract herself and possibly drown out the sound of her heart with the noise. Even though Jasper had heard two people in the distance with ease she was sure he could hear her heart racing but he didn't barge in to cradle her like a baby like Edward would have. She calmed slightly at that thought and smiled.

A second later her heart nearly jumped out of her throat when Jasper was suddenly sitting beside her on the couch watching tv intently.

"I didn't know Ruins of the Pacific: A fascinating Underwater Documentary was so funny," he said smiling himself.

"That's not why I was smiling," Bella said clutching her chest over her heart, "and will you stop being so sneaky and vampire like, you're going to kill me of a heart attack before Victoria can even get to me."

"You used to like vampire like stuff," Jasper said turning his whole body to look at her. He put his feet up on the couch making sure to not get any dirt from his shoes on the fabric. He crossed his arms behind his head and leaned back, the man just demanded attention sitting like that.

"Yeah I also used to liked making mud pies and throwing them on Jacob's head," she said flinging her legs over Charlie's recliner and leaning back as well.

"You could still do that, wouldn't make much difference to his smell," Bella threw a couch pillow but Japer didn't even bother stopping it.

"He's really nice you know!" Jasper nodded as his eyes conveyed sarcasm, "you're being a down right….leech! Ahh!" One minute Bella was on the recliner and the next she was upside down facing Jasper's rear end. "Put me down!"

"Take it back!" Jasper said, laughter in his voice. He had a good grip on her thighs but Bella could still easily fall if he chose to let go of her.

"Never!" she pounded on his back but he didn't even react.

"Are you sure?" she heard Jasper ask, a warning in his voice.

"Yes! Ahh" Again she wasn't where she expected, she was laying on her back on top of the couch cushions and Jasper was on top of her, a mischievous glint in his eye, "What are you-" the rest of her sentence was drowned in laughter as Jasper used his vampire speed to tickle her. He was so fast that Bella couldn't grab his hands and even if she could she wasn't strong enough to detain him. Not five seconds in she was yelling surrender and taking back the leech comment. Jasper tortured her a little bit more but at human speed.

Bella was able to detain him this time and speak out of breath, "Behave Jasper," she said looking at him as she felt the urge to let him continue. A part of her said don't tell him to stop and another part of her took a step back and was wondering why one part of her wanted him to continue torturing her with his hands. Said hands were being held in place by her own even though he could have easily broken free.

Jasper looked as conflicted as Bella felt but he recovered quicker than she. He stood up at human speed and helped her up, "Maybe we could watch a movie. I'll stay until you fall asleep." Bella nodded and ran up to her room to change into some old pajamas. Upstairs she quickly undressed. Her shivering body looked for pajamas in her drawers while she tried to forget how Jasper's body felt on top of hers. She tried shaking her head to clear her mind and eventually she was dressed and ready to descend.

Jasper had chosen an action movie that she knew didn't have any romance which was very fortunate. Jasper motioned for her to sit next to him and he put a pillow on his lap. She got the hint and rested down next to him, she laid her head on the pillow and watched the opening credits but after that she didn't remember anything else. She was lost in her dreams of red.

The next morning Bella awoke to see that the living room window showed a slight snow fall. Jasper wasn't anywhere in the room but she wasn't surprised. What did surprise her was the cruiser in the driveway that she could see through the window. Before she could go to it to make sure it was Charlie's she saw a note on the coffee table with her name printed perfectly on top. It wasn't Victoria's writing and it wasn't Edwards. This writing was neat but not obnoxiously elegant. She liked this better, so different from the awful scribble of Victoria's.

She picked it up and read.

Bella, I've gone over to the reservation to speak to Sam. I told Charlie we were leaving together after dinner since my car is unfixable and you offered to take me. If I'm not back by dinner time expect my remains on the reservation line between the Cullen and Wolf territory.

"That's not funny," Bella said clutching her chest again but she read on.

I'm joking of course but still, keep an eye out. Another thing, Charlie said there was an accident near the city limits, he thinks the couple driving the car were injured and went to seek help on foot during the blizzard but I don't believe it. It sounds like a vampire to me. Keep Charlie indoors and I'm going to try to convince Sam to double his efforts and double the security around Charlie. Have a good day and stay safe.

-Jasper

Bella took the letter to the kitchen and turned the gas stove on. She put one of the corners of the letter on the flame and watched it catch on fire. Once she was sure it would burn she took it to the sink and let it burn completely. She didn't want to leave it around the house for Victoria to find, just in case.

With the last of the letter burning away she read the last visible sentence, Stay Safe. Wasn't that what she had said to Charlie as he went off to work?

With a sigh she poured water on the remains of the letter and took out a pan to start on some pancakes. Pancakes are safe, well unless Charlie was making them.

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