Disclaimer: Twilight and the characters are the property of Stephenie Meyer.

I only own the plot of this story.

Chapter 7 Every Rose has its thorns

Rosalie POV

"Rosie, so how are we going to get rid of Mary Alice?" Emmett asked with a worried look. "I ran into Jasper in town today. He looked like he hadn't slept for days."

"I'm thinking of contacting some of my old acquaintances who may know Mary Alice personally, or some people in her social circle. I'm sure it won't be hard to dig up dirt on her."

"Who do you have in mind?"

"I have several in mind, but first of all I'm going to contact Jane. You remember her right? She used to be my hair stylist?"

"I remember her. But why her?"

"She's definitely the 'got to' person for the latest gossip. Models tend to pour their hearts out to their stylists. You spend so much time with them that they sort of become your therapist. If she doesn't have anything on Mary Alice, then no one else would."

"Wow, so she's that good? Wouldn't she want something in return though?"

"If I tell her a little about what Mary Alice did to Bella and Jasper it should be enough. She would be the first to hear about it, so she'll feel special. I'm sure that'll get her really excited and make her spill what she knows about Mary Alice to me."

"Good luck with that. Be very careful, Rosie. Choose your words wisely. We're doing this to help Bella and Jasper. We don't want to end up hurting them."

"I know. I know. Relax!" I said to Emmett and moved to the bedroom to make the call.

"Hello. Jane? It's Rosalie Hale McCarty."

"Rosalie Hale? Wow! To what do I owe the honor of this call? How long has it been since you left all the glory for that dreadful little town in Washington you now call home?"

"Too long."

"Sooooo. What can I do for you Rosalie? I'm sure this isn't just a social call."

"I need a little info from you. Do you know Mary Alice Brandon? She's a designer there. She's also from the town I now call 'home', and she's back in town," I said and chuckled.

"Oooh. This is good. We were all wondering where she fled to."

"Fled?" I had no idea there was another reason why Mary Alice was back in Forks other than wanting Jasper back.

"Yup. Mary Alice Brandon is hiding from a lot of angry people right now. She must have done something there too since you're asking about her. So what is she up to?"

"Mary Alice threatened a friend of mine who's dating her ex-husband."

"Damn! She just can't keep her hands off other people's men."

"Did she hit on someone gossip worthy in New York?"

"Smooth, Hale. Real smooth. You're trying to fish info from me, aren't ya? That's okay though. You give me something and I'll give you something in return."

"Fair enough. Mary Alice divorced her husband. Her ex-husband met someone and he's currently dating, but Mary Alice wanted him back. She barged into her ex-husband's girlfriend's house and held on to her son. Police got involved. She didn't get arrested, but her ex's girlfriend's father is the Chief of Police in this town so they are watching her like a hawk, and will not hesitate to throw her ass in jail the minute she fucks up," I explained to Jane.

"Nice. She deserves that. Call Victoria Chapelier. I could tell you, but it would be more interesting to hear it direct from the source. Things got really messy between Mary Alice, Victoria, her boyfriend, James, and Laurent."

"Laurent?"

"Oh, maybe you don't know him. His magazine is quite new. He's the editor in chief of Strawberries and Champagne. It's a new lifestyle magazine. The circulation of the magazine is phenomenal. All the designers want their line featured in that magazine."

I couldn't believe Mary Alice's stupidity. No one messed with Victoria. There were rumors that she was the granddaughter of one of the prominent crime families in New York. Her boyfriend, James, was also rumored as being the son of a capo of another prominent crime family in New York. In my modeling career I stayed clear from jobs Victoria Chapelier wanted. She was very possessive. It was rumored that if Victoria found out you stole or landed a job she was named as a possibility, she would hunt you down and end your career. I've heard too many horror stories of models "accidentally" injured before the job or during the shoot, and never work as a model again. There was no proof that Victoria had a hand in it, but there were too many coincidences for me to risk myself. I didn't feel comfortable calling Victoria, but the need to rid Mary Alice was priority, so I decided to suck it up, and give her a call.

"Thanks for the info, Jane. You're a life saver."

"My pleasure, Rosalie. You just made my day. Take care and say, Hi, to Emmett for me. I miss you guys. Come and visit us soon!" Jane said and I ended the call so that I could get right on calling Victoria.

"Hello, Victoria. It's Rosalie Hale McCarty. Long time. How are things going for you?"

"Rosalie? Wow, I never imagined getting a call from you. What made you even think of me anyway? It's been a while since you left New York."

"Do you know Mary Alice Brandon? She's a designer in New York. Well, she's from where I live and I just saw her. She reminded me of you since you are also a designer in New York."

"Mary Alice is in your town? Well I'm not surprised she's hiding there right now. If you see her, tell her that I said 'Hi' and that I'd better not see her ass back in New York," she said and laughed. Her laugh sounded so evil, I had chills down my spine.

"What? What did she do?" I said to her as if I didn't know anything about what happened between her boyfriend and Mary Alice.

"Tsk,tsk, tsk, Rosalie. Fishing for some info? Oh well, I like you. You were smart. You never bothered me. Let's see, what did Mary Alice do? Well, first, I caught her in bed with my boyfriend, James. I should have shot her then and ended everything there. She was in my home. I could have said I mistook her for an intruder, but I didn't want my sheets dirtied with her brain matter, so I kicked her out of my condo naked. Oh you should have seen how quick that little pixie ran to the elevator," Victoria said and laughed. She then continued to tell me what happened.

"James and I almost broke up, but I forgave him. She wasn't worth breaking up over. After finding her in bed with my boyfriend, I found out that Mary Alice approached him to secure a venue for her after party during Fashion Week. She tried to convince James to give her the night my party was supposed to take place at his club. James turned her down. He told her to get lost if she cared for her life, and to stay clear from me." When she stressed on the word "life" I realized that the threat wasn't a joke. If she stayed in New York and bothered them more, it was a real possibility that she would be at the bottom of the ocean with the fishes.

"Last, but not least, James and I found out that Mary Alice had another agenda when she tried to steal James from me. Before I caught them in bed together, James had introduced her to his best friend, Laurent. Laurent is the editor in chief of Strawberries and Champagne. Mary Alice was sleeping with Laurent to secure a monthly coverage of her designs in that magazine. Laurent's wife, Irina, had a private investigator on Laurent's ass after she suspected him of cheating on her. The private investigator gave pictures of Mary Alice amongst other ladies Laurent had been sleeping with to Irina. So after Irina saw the pictures, she called me to ask who Mary Alice Brandon was. That was how I found out. Mary Alice has too many enemies here. She would be insane to come back. So, now it's your turn to tell me something juicy about Mary Alice. She couldn't be behaving there."

"Well, she's made quite a few enemies here too."

"I'm not surprised. What did she do? Did she also try to hit on someone's boyfriend or husband there too?"

"Worse. She wants her ex-husband back when she's the one who filed for divorce. She wanted to win back her ex-husband and go back to New York with him. Her ex-husband is a very close friend of my husband, and he's already involved with someone else. Mary Alice got into her house, held on to her son, and threatened her to leave Forks."

"Damn. She's deranged. Were they all right? Did she harm them?" I could sense that Victoria wasn't sincere and that she didn't care about Bella.

"I got there before she could inflict any harm on them."

"I don't want her back in New York. She's obviously not wanted in your town either. We need to work together," Victoria said and I couldn't agree with her more.

"Do you have something in mind?" I asked as if I had no intention of doing anything to Mary Alice.

"I've been trying to figure out what I can do to get back at Mary Alice without inflicting bodily harm on her. I think the dirt on Mary Alice involving my boyfriend and Laurent coupled with what she did to her ex and his lady is definitely tabloid worthy. Is the harassment on record in your town?"

"Yeah. My husband's friend and his girlfriend made an official statement of what happened so it's on record."

"Excellent! If we play this right the reporters from the tabloids can track the info down on their own. We won't have to get our hands dirty. I'll invite some of the eager writers to James' club and slip to them what Mary Alice did to me, James, and Laurent. I'm sure once the reporters start digging on Mary Alice they'll find out what she did to her ex-husband's girlfriend. We'll just see how it goes from there. If the tabloids find this news interesting, and I'm sure they would, it's a guarantee you'll see some reporters down in your little town soon. Mary Alice is going down. She'll end up getting all the attention from the press she always wanted, but in this case it's going to be the kind that would most likely end her career. She markets herself and her clothes line as innocent, fun, and cute, so once people hear the dirt on her, she's going to be history. I'm pretty sure the department stores will pull her line off their racks."

"Let me know how things go tonight," I said to Victoria and hung up the phone. I couldn't wait to see how things were going to unfold.

Jasper POV

Days passed in a blur since the incident at the Swan's. Jenks still wasn't able to get a hold of Mary Alice's lawyer. He was told that her lawyer was currently in New York and was unavailable to take his calls. Jenks believed that the lawyer was intentionally evading him.

As I was about to leave the teacher's lounge to leave for the day, one of the teachers told me that the headmaster wanted to see me. When I opened the door to his room, I was surprised to see the Chief there.

"Jasper, please have a seat. Chief Swan wants to have a word with you." I glanced at the Chief and he gave me a nod.

"Hello, Jasper. We have a little situation on our hands. We've received calls at the station from reporters wanting to know the details in regards to the incident that happened at my home between you, Mary Alice, and Bella. There are paparazzi in town. I've seen some in front of my home. I'm here to escort you out of the school so that the students stay unharmed by all this," the Chief explained to me.

"Paparazzi? They are at yours? Are Bella and Edward safe? Why are the paparazzi even here in Forks?" I asked and the Chief sighed.

"I didn't quite catch all the details, but according to the ladies working at the station, Mary Alice got herself caught in a love triangle with a super model, and the model's boyfriend. She also tried to secure some magazine coverage for her clothing line in an unconventional way. The reporters must have found out about the incident involving you, Bella, and Mary Alice, since the ladies at the station even said that the magazine mentioned about Bella being a single mother, and the accident involving Tyler Crowley and Edward Cullen. I rescued Bella and Edward from the reporters and took them to the Cullen's. Don't go home, Jasper. You should stay at a friend's place or at a hotel." This all seemed so unreal to me. I couldn't think.

"Ummm. Okay. Please give me a few minutes so that I could call Emmett or Rosalie, and ask if they'd let me stay with them." I said and stepped out. I wasn't prepared for this at all. It was hard to comprehend that Mary Alice was worth being hounded by the paparazzi. I felt horrible that the reporters were hassling Rosalie and Bella. I felt anger course through my body. Bella already felt unsafe in her home after the incident involving Mary Alice, and now she was even chased out of her home by the reporters.

"Hello. Rose? It's Jasper. Is Em around?" I called Rose, as I couldn't get a hold of Emmett.

"Hey, Jasper. Are you all right? Did you see the media circus? There are photographers and reporters. Even the people in town are out and about with their cameras. The diner even has a hotdog stand. I even saw a stand selling coffee and hot chocolate to cater to the paparazzi. Em and I couldn't stay home. Some of the reporters found out where I lived in Forks and have been pounding on our door to get a comment from me. When I called Bella, she told me that she was at the Cullen's. Esme Cullen extended her invitation to stay with them so Em and I are at the Cullen's now. Was there something you needed from us?"

"Oh, ummm. Don't worry about it. The Chief advised me not to go home to avoid the paparazzi. I was going to ask if I could stay with you guys. I'll just go to a hotel."

"Oh, I'm so sorry Jasper. Do you have to go to a hotel? Isn't there anyone else you could stay with? Oh wait. Just a second. Esme wants to talk to you."

"Hello. Jasper? This is Esme. I overheard your conversation with Rosalie. We have plenty of rooms here. Please stay with us instead of going to a hotel. I'm sure Bella and Edward would love to see you," Esme said. I was thankful for her invitation, but was not sure if Bella would be comfortable seeing me since she wanted a break from me until things with Mary Alice resolved. Before I could reply to Esme, I heard the voice I longed to hear.

"Jasper? It's Bella. Are you okay? Please come and stay with us at the Cullen's. I really miss you and so does Edward." Her voice was so sweet and comforting. I felt all the stress and anger towards Alice that built over the last few days subside.

"I would really like that, but are you sure it won't inconvenience the Cullens?"

"She's not the type to extend an invitation if she didn't mean it. Oh, she's nodding. She wants you to come over."

"Please thank her for me. I'll tell the Chief to take me there."

"Chief? You mean my Dad? What's my Dad doing there with you?"

"There are paparazzi at the school too. He came to escort me out of here so that the paparazzi won't disturb the students."

"Oh, I see. I'm glad to hear that you're with my Dad. He'll keep you safe. So, I'll see you soon?"

"Yup. See you soon, Bella," I said and I ended the call. Out of all the chaos, at least one good thing came out of this. I now had the opportunity to see Bella again.

I went back to the headmaster's office and informed the Chief that I'll be staying at the Cullen's with Bella, Edward, Rose, and Emmett. The Chief was pleased that all of us would be together. It made things easier for him and his boys to protect us.

When we stepped out of the headmaster's office, we were blinded by flashes. Students gathered to take pictures of me. The Chief, the headmaster, and several of the teachers surrounded me and rushed me out the front door. I used to be just a simple, small town, history teacher, but now I needed protection not only from the paparazzi, but also from students who were hungry for my pictures. They all looked really excited probably to post my pictures on the internet, and to tweet about me.

When I got into the Chief's cruiser he explained to me that one of his officers was taking my truck, and that I'd be hiding in the back of the Chief's cruiser, so that we won't lead the paparazzi to the Cullen' s residence.

When we got to the path that led to the Cullen's, I noticed that it was barricaded. I glanced at the Chief raising my brow. The Chief shrugged. He explained to me that even though the barricade might attract the paparazzi this was the only way to legally arrest any of them for trespassing, since this section of the path wasn't part of the Cullen's property.

As soon as I saw their house, my eyes immediately went right to the two people that my heart ached to see for days. Bella and Edward noticed the Chief's cruiser and came running towards us.

"Grandpa, Grandpa," I heard Edward call out to the Chief. As soon as he spotted me I saw the beautiful smile he had on his face turn into a frown. "No truck?" Edward asked.

I picked Edward up into my arms. "Not today. I promise we'll take a ride in my truck soon, okay?"

"Ooookay," Edward mumbled.

"Hi, Jasper," Bella said and hugged me. I wrapped my arm that was free around her, and felt a sense of relief. I had the two people I cared the most safely in my arms now. Then I heard the Chief clear his throat.

"I hate to break this reunion, but I'd feel better if you three took that into the house. The photographers could be lurking despite the barricade. They'll do anything to get their scoop."

I agreed with the Chief and rushed into the house. As soon as we stepped in, Esme greeted me with a warm, motherly smile.

"Welcome to my home, Jasper. I'm so happy to have you. Please consider my home as yours. I'll take Edward so that Bella can show you to your room."

"Thank you very much for your hospitality. I sincerely appreciate it. I'm very sorry for the inconvenience I have caused you because of my ex-wife." I meant every word.

As soon as we stepped into the guestroom, Bella threw her arms around me. She felt so small and frail. I hated that I put her through all this. I felt horrible that the tabloids brought up Edward's death. Bella didn't need to relive that experience.

"I'm so sorry for all this, Bella. I'll do everything I can to keep you and little Edward safe. I'll call my lawyer and see what we can do about this situation."

"It's not your fault. She did a lot of damage to all of us, but I think things are only going to look upwards now. I have a feeling your ex didn't just come back here because she wanted you. I think she had another agenda. My theory is that she wanted to get back together with you to clean her image, but now the public knows what she did to you, me, and Edward. She has nothing to gain by getting back together with you. The public pities me because the tabloids painted me as the poor single Mom with a child whose father died from a tragic accident. The public will hate her if she takes you away from me. Now that there is no reason for her to be in Forks, I wouldn't be surprised if she hightails out of here the minute she can get away from the paparazzi." I was glad to see that she wasn't shaken up too badly, and that she didn't blame me for the harm Mary Alice caused them.

We sat on the edge of the bed and I held her really close to me. Bella rested her head on my chest and I rested my chin on top of her head. We sat together in silence until we were rudely interrupted by Emmett and little Edward busting in through the door.

"Hey guys, we're gonna watch some movies. Edward here wants to watch movies with trucks in them. We're gonna watch Twister, and then we're going to watch the Lethal Weapon series," Emmett said excitedly, pumping his fist in the air with Edward on his shoulders.

"Emmett, would you please keep your arms around Edward's legs or put him down? I don't want him falling off your shoulders," Bella said and scowled at Emmett.

As we comfortably sat around the TV to watch Twister, Edward went to Rosalie and snuggled into her chest.

"Just so you know. She's my woman." Emmett said to Edward.

Rosalie slapped the back of his head and scowled. "Idiot. He's just a little kid."

"Ouch. I was just kidding."

Edward and Emmett seemed to really get along with each other. I was fascinated with Emmett's skill of communicating with Edward. Twister seemed to be one of Emmett's favorite movies as he kept quoting the scenes from the movie.

"Food…Foooood….FOOOOOOOOD," Emmett quoted and Edward imitated him when the guys in the movie begged to be taken to Aunt Meg's place to be fed in the movie.

"Naked. Naked. Butt naked." Edward copied the actors in the movie. Emmett bellowed and Edward kept repeating the word "naked," over and over again.

"Umm Bella? Are you sure you want Edward watching this movie?" I asked. Bella just shrugged and didn't seem to mind.

"Mmmmm. Look at those steaks and eggs," Emmett said and pointed at the TV screen. He almost looked like he was drooling. "Oh and those mashed potatoes and gravy."

"We can have steak and eggs for dinner. Would you like that, Emmett?" Esme asked and Emmett's eyes sparkled.

"Really? Awesome!" Emmett raised his hand and high fived with Edward. I don't think Edward understood what he was high fiving for, but he looked happy nonetheless.

"Well, if we're having steaks, I need some help with the barbecue grill. Will you please help me set it up, Jasper?"

"It would be an honor to assist you," I said and followed Esme to show me the grill.

"I'm glad you joined us. I would have gone and dragged you over here if you didn't come on your own," Esme said and laughed.

"I'm thankful you invited me over. I missed her very much."

"I don't like the circumstance that brought you two here, but at least it got you two together under one roof," Esme said and I nodded.

"How is she?"

"Bella was really miserable not seeing you. You two seemed to have bonded really quickly. She needs you and it seems like you need her too. You haven't slept very much the past few days have you? You have dark circle around your eyes. Tonight you two can spend some quality time together. Carlisle and I'll watch Edward. Let's just hope Mary Alice and the paparazzi leave Forks soon," Esme said and patted my back. I quickly finished setting up the grill and Emmett came out with the steaks.

"I'm going back to the kitchen to make the potatoes and gravy. My gravy is another food group too," Esme said and laughed.

"You saw the movie too?" Emmett looked surprised.

"My son loved that movie. Edward and his friends wanted steaks and eggs after seeing that movie too," Esme laughed and went back inside.

The Chief joined us for dinner. He seemed a little nervous at the dinner table, but relaxed as soon as Emmett started cracking jokes. When he served himself a lot of mashed potatoes on his plate, he earned a death glare from Bella.

"Dad, less potatoes. More salad," Bella said to him.

"Just today, Bells. I had a stressful day. Oh, I have some great news. I received a call from the Brandons requesting police escort to follow Alice's car out of town tonight at 9 p.m."

"She's leaving town at 9 p.m.?" Rosalie asked.

"Yes. Hopefully the paparazzi will leave as soon as Mary Alice leaves town. We'll be placing road blocks to ensure that Mary Alice can get out of here without the paparazzi following her, but we'll make sure to let the reporters know Mary Alice left town. If any of our delinquents happen to rid the road blocks so that the paparazzi can follow Mary Alice, I'd keep a blind eye. They'd be doing me a favor. I, as the Chief of Police, have to honor my role, but I'm Bella's father and Edward's grandfather first and foremost," the Chief said and raised his brow at Emmett.

I noticed Emmett grin at the Chief. They seemed to be communicating silently. I saw him text something from his phone. As soon as he seemed to have sent the message, I saw Rosalie look at her phone and giggle. I narrowed my eyes at Rosalie and she stuck her tongue out at me. They were on to something, but I didn't really care. I didn't want to waste my time on them. I just wanted to be with Bella and Edward.

As soon as the Chief excused himself to go back to the station, Rosalie and Emmett said they needed to run an errand. They told Esme and Carlisle that they won't be long and left the house.

Bella and I cuddled on the couch while Esme and Carlisle went to bathe Edward and tuck him in bed. My phone buzzed. I got a message with clips attached from Rosalie. Bella and I laughed when we saw the clips. The movie showed a man dressed in black, wearing the Ghostface mask from the movie Scream, removing the road block. There was no doubt in my mind that the man dressed in black was Emmett. The next clip showed the paparazzi vans speeding to catch up to Mary Alice's ride. The final clip showed a stretch limousine leaving Forks town limit with 3 police cruisers guarding the limo, but the paparazzi vans and cars belonging to the some of my students were right on their tail. It looked like a parade.

"So this was the errand Rosalie and Emmett had to run," Bella said and laughed.

"Well, looks like peace is restored in Forks," I said and kissed Bella.


A/N

I'm sorry I took a while to update this story. One of my other stories, Amor Vincit Omnia, is coming to an end soon, so I needed to put a little work into that story. It also took me a while to come up with this scenario of how Rose was going to rid Mary Alice. I wanted something that went along with the theme and title of this story. I hope you liked this chapter. Now that Mary Alice is out of the picture I can concentrate on developing the relationship between Jasper and Bella. Please leave me a review and let me know your thoughts on this chapter! Thank you!