JPOV

I knew after the first few minutes of Isabella lockin' herself in the bathroom that no amount of bribery, yellin', or cussin' would make amends for my actions.

I paced in front of the door for hours without a clear goal in mind; the knockin' of my boots against the floorboards had me countin' into the high thousands before I heard anything behind the door.

"You might as well come in, Jay." She whispered.

I opened the door slowly and grunted when I reached the wall of her emotions: Anger and emptiness flowed steadily from her beautiful shoulders.

She stared at me from the hand-carved window seat with such a look of curiousity that I could barely make myself step forward. My heart begged me to reach out and touch her.

"Please do." She said quietly.

"Please do, what exactly?"

"Walk over here, and touch me." She responded as if it were totally obvious. I blanched.

"Isabella... I didn't say anything..."

She giggled and played gently with a long lock of her hair. "Why are you here?"

I stopped my inch by inch progress towards her which was hard enough in itself, and attempted to organize my thoughts before openin' my damned mouth again.

"I ain't gonna apologize to you, Isabella. What I said to you outside was honest and it wouldn't be right to take it back, so instead I'm gonna try and explain what I meant. Your insides, or... your heart I guess.. Is real. It's honest and open, and questionin'. When you go through the 'change', most people lose what makes them real. They lose their sense of self.." I sighed exasperatedly at myself and rubbed the tips of my fingers over my temple, "You didn't lose any of that. It makes you one in a crowd of millions. You're what I've been strivin' to be for over a hundred years. So when you started in with Alice I just... I wanted you to think it through completely before you took her life. Because it ain't somethin' you can bring back, no matter how badly you may want to."

She stared at me for what seemed like hours before movin' even the slightest; Really, I thought she'd have my balls in a grip by the time I was done.

Instead she studied my face like one would a diamond, or somethin' as significant. I became a little flustered over her stares.

"I don't want an apology from you. Though, I feel like I was forced to give up the revenge I deserved..." She paused when I made the move to speak.

"You ain't that type 'a person, baby." I internally cussed at myself for lettin' the term of endearment slip but the woman before me seemed amused.

"No. I suppose I'm not..." She cocked an eyebrow at my stumble, but let it go. "However. You owe me one hell of a favor. So! Are you prepared to fill a need?"

I heard a chortle from downstairs; Peter couldn't hold back the snortin' no matter how hard he tried. I gave Isabella a look of disbelief and suspicion.

"You, sir, are going to make a few calls. Pete should know what's comin' by now, so we'll call him up after we're done with our conversation. I want Maria. I want her head on a silver fucking platter, Jasper. I don't give two shits about the consequences, or the risks. I want her life, in place of Alice."

She had taken to her feet and started a gentle pace to and fro, makin' slow gestures with her hands- Gestures that my eyes stuck to like glue. She had me mesmerized.

I almost had it in me to argue with her over her request. Almost.

"Yes ma'am." I said with a bow of my head.

'You can call me baby if it pleases you, Major...'

I'd been lookin' at Isabella when the words reached my ear, so I knew I couldn't have been her talkin'. However, her sly grin told me she knew what I was turnin' over in my mind.

"Care to share with the class, Kitten?" Peter's doggish commentary made me growl.

"Mercy, Jay! Take a seat and think of something purty if you're going to ruin my fun again." She chastized me with a scowl.

"Isabella..." I stared her down for an explanation. She stomped in place like an impatient colt.

"Frick, man! What the hell crawled up your ass and died this morning? Seriously you're gonna have to work on your social skills if we're gonna work."

I couldn't help the upturn of the side of my mouth at her near-admission, and damn near did a jig in front of them. But only almost.

"Fine. It all sorta started when I was playing with Alice. She... must've wanted me to 'know' how much she hated me, because I got this little whisper of "I hate you" when she wasn't saying anything. Then, Char was braidin' my hair and I heard her call me Pumpkin, but she said she didn't say it. She thought it. My guess is I have something along the lines of Edward's gift, but not quite the same."

"Wonderful. A mind-reader, a know-it-all, and an empath. We'll just be our own little clusterfuck of crazy!" Char's voice was laced with an irritation that make the three gifted vampires in the house laugh knowingly.

BPOV

Jasper and I were in the seventh hour of a betting stare-down in the living room when his cell rang. He only grinned when he put the phone to his ear, never breaking my line of vision.

"What." He answered.

"Jasper. Man, we have a problem. Alice is missing." Emmett's booming voice tore through the phone like he was sitting right next to us.

"Yeah, it's sorta expected. Comes with the territory of bein' dead." Jasper chuckled. I heard a roundabout of gasps near Emmett and tried my hardest not to laugh.

There was a scuffle for the phone.

"Jasper Hale you tell me where my daughter is right now! So help me God if you're telling the truth..." Esme's motherly scold blasted through the speaker like a foghorn. I winced and grabbed the phone from Jasper before he could react.

"You best remember who you're talking to, Bitch. You think the God of War is bad? Wait until you meet his mate." I hissed at the group I knew was listening at the end of the line. I heard a string of cussing from more than one person, including a very familiar male voice.

Jasper's pitch black eyes had me shifting in my seat uncomfortably.

"Bella? What the hell, why are you with Jasper? What has he done to you? Just tell me where you are, we'll all be there as quickly as possible..."

I had the urge to crush the phone in my hand at the grating sound of Edward fucking Cullen's voice.

"Oh Eddie-kins.. have you already forgotten? You left me to keep me safe, remember? You weren't there to keep Alice from pulling chunks of flesh from my body. YOU didn't keep her from slicing through every inch of my skin with her fucking nails and teeth. So don't you think for an umpteenth of a second that I could possibly need your help now, when I'm a VAMPIRE, and have already killed the source of my trauma."

"You're lying. How dare you speak so poorly of your sister. I'm not surprised how crass you've become, what with hanging around the Whitlocks. But I never thought you'd stoop so low as to blame Alice for your own issues." Came Esme's disbelieving voice.

I dropped the phone with a start and backed away from it quickly, dumbfounded by her words. Jasper stood and picked up the phone, then reached out to brush his fingers along my brow gently.

"Ya'll best think of relocating. If I ever lay eyes on any one of you, I'll feed your limbs to the neighbors dog." He spat before clipping the phone shut.

We stood in silence, studying one another. He kept his fingertips on me, and I managed a step closer to him, feelin' like a marionette the way he was tuggin' at my insides.

The "pull" was described to me as being unable to exist without your other half. No one had ever really explained what it REALLY meant.

The way my hands trembled when he was so close to me; The warmth and comfort of his presence, the way his eyes danced with emotion when he wasn't projecting, even the way his lips twitched when he was irritated made it near impossible NOT to think about him damn near constantly.

But besides that, no one ever explained the NEED. I needed him like a human needs water and food to survive. He was a requirement in my life, not an option.

"Baby..." His whisper pierced straight through me and made my dead heart jump. I exhaled and leaned into his brush of fingers.

A rush of hesitation startled me out of my little world and forced my eyes to his.

"What's wrong?"

He looked from my eyes to my feet, shifting his weight uncomfortably. I knew his major malfunction instantly. I took a step forward, and then another, until I was a fraction of an inch from touching his chest with my nose.

"Please..." His voice was only a fraction above silent, but I heard his request loud and clear. I jumped up to straddle his waist, and pulled myself as tight to him as possible. The exhale he let was one of relief.

"Je t'aime." I whispered into his ear as I stroked the back of his neck gently.

"Je t'aime aussi, ma cherie."

Je t'aime is french for I love you.

Je t'aime aussi is french for I love you too.

Ma cherie is a term of endearment; darling, dear.