A/N: I'm SO sorry that you have waited so long for this update. Fanfic was being fail earlier this week. It is my hope and plan to get the final chapter up before Christmas.


I had a hard time believing it. After a month of no contact, Jasper was standing on my stoop, looking happy to see me. How dare he? Did he not know the pain I went through? Leaving me alone at the wedding was the ultimate slap in the face. And then nothing until now.

"It's me, Alice. I'm home."

My eyes narrowed. "I thought I told you to leave me alone."

His smile faded, but his eyes still glowed with love for me. "Alice, you don't know what happened. I wanted to explain that to you."

I placed my hand on the inside doorknob, getting ready to slam it in his face. "Jazz, I meant what I said, I want you to leave." I began to slam the door in his face.

Suddenly, his hand shot out and stopped the door. "Alice, please. Let me explain. I love you."

If you loved me, you wouldn't have left.

I knew there was no other way I'd get him off the stoop other than calling the police, and I didn't feel like doing that. I reluctantly opened the door and gestured for him to come in.

He walked past me slowly into the foyer. I caught a whiff of him and scrunched up my nose. It was as though he hadn't showered in a long time.

Jasper walked into the living room and sat down on the couch. I joined him there, but on the opposite cushion. He ran a hand through his hair before beginning, like he was nervous.

"Jazz?" I asked, growing impatient.

He tugged on his hair and then turned to look at me. His eyes were on fire. "I didn't leave you at the wedding, Alice. I would never do that. I was tied up."

I crossed my arms over my chest. "Uh huh."

"No, literally Alice. I was tied up. Handcuffed to a bed."

I stared at him, my blood turning cold. "What?"

"Victoria abducted me. She tricked me to go to a location and then somehow she abducted me and tied me up in her bedroom for a month."

I looked at him as though he had three heads. "You were with Victoria?"

"Yes, but not by choice."

"And you expect me to believe that?"

"IT'S THE TRUTH, ALICE!" he yelled. I raised an eyebrow at him and he stopped. His expression sobered. "I'm sorry. I'm just frustrated." He reached into his pocket and handed me a photograph.

I looked at it and snarled. "Why would you show me this?"

"So you would see what happened."

I threw it back at him and spit my words out without thinking. "I see that you left me for Victoria and very much enjoyed her pleasuring you. I was such a fool to think you loved me or that I even made you happy! Why the hell would you want me to see this?"

"Because it's not true." He picked the picture up and pointed at his image. "Look at me, Al. My eyes are closed and my position is relaxed. You know me; you know that when this is you, my eyes are fluttering and my body is tense because I'm about to explode. You are the only one that makes me like that. This is a lie. I was not enjoying what she was doing, I was unconscious."

I felt my eyes roll at his words. "Sure."

He took my left hand in his and held it to his heart. "I swear to you, Alice. I love you. I don't love her. This was taken without my consent, after she had people attack and drug me. That is where I was for the past month." He lifted my hand to his lips and kissed it.

I yanked my hand away and glared at him. I wanted to believe him, I really did. But his story didn't add up. To me, it looked like he slept with Victoria and this was his cruel way of rubbing in my face that he liked her pleasuring him.

I stood up and walked to the door. "Thank you for your explanation, Jazz. I would like you to leave now."

Before I could turn around, he was behind me. I felt his strong arms wrap around my waist as he pulled me back against his chest. My heart pounded in my ears and my body grew warm from his touch.

Traitor, I thought.

"Alice," he whispered in my ear, sending a shiver down my spine, "I swear to you, from the bottom of my heart, I am telling you the truth."

I tried to pull away from him but he held me firm. His breath was warm on my neck as his lips made contact. My eyes closed before I could register anything.

"I was so worried I'd lost you," he whispered.

That snapped me out of it. With all of my strength, I pulled away and glared at him. "You have lost me, Jasper, by your actions. You left me on our wedding day and then disappear off the face of the Earth for a month. Now you want to try and work your way back to me?"

He took a breath before continuing. "Damn it, Alice! I didn't leave you. I was abducted. And I recall a little over a year ago that you left me without so much a word!"

My jaw dropped. I felt like I had been smacked across the face. "That was low, Jazz."

He shook his head. "I'm sorry. But you need to understand this. I forgave you when you left me by your own choice. Now I'm asking you to listen to me. I was abducted, I didn't leave you." He pulled out his a business card and then began searching for my phone.

"What are you doing?"

He didn't answer, just handed them both to me once he saw my phone was sitting on the other chair. "Call Officer James' phone number. It's on that card. Call him, he'll verify my story."

I looked at it, it looked authentic. But I knew I had to call and make sure. I dialed the number and then spoke to the person who answered the phone. He transferred me to Officer James.

"Well?" Jasper asked.

I turned away from him and spoke to Officer James . He confirmed Jasper's story, but I still wasn't convinced. I asked for his badge number, thinking he would falter. With no hesitation, Officer James rattled it off, as though he had done it a million times before.

He also told me that Victoria was locked up and he would be in contact with me in the next few days about filing charges. I hung up and turned back to Jazz.

His shoulders were slumped, but his eyes had hope.

"Officer James confirmed your story."

He smiled. "I told you."

I sighed and walked to him, placing both items on the table near the door. "But why didn't you call?"

"I couldn't, Alice. I was locked up and chained to a bed. Victoria is completely insane. She kept threatening that if I tried to contact you, she'd come after you. I couldn't stand the thought that that might be legit. I couldn't take that chance."

I stared into his eyes and saw he was telling the truth.

"Alice, I love you. So much."

The tears I had been fighting to hold back finally burst out. I walked into his outstretched arms and laid my head against his chest. I felt his arms wrap around me and his lips kiss the top of my head.

We stayed like that for awhile until it was too much. Finally, I spoke.

"Jazz."

"Mhmm?"

"Don't take this the wrong way, but you have got to take a shower."

He laughed, the vibration of it echoing in my ear. He kissed the top of my head again before pulling away. "Agreed."

I smiled. "You are welcome to use the shower here…and stay the night."

He stared at me. "You mean, we're good?"

I nodded. "Of course, Jazz. You know I love you. And since I spoke to Officer James, I do believe that you weren't at fault for not being at the wedding. The hard part will be getting Edward to believe me."

Jasper laughed. "Maybe he should come with you when you press charges."

He outstretched his hand and gestured upstairs. I placed mine in his, my hand immediately on fire at his touch. We walked up the stairs in silence. When he reached the bedroom, he turned and placed his lips on mine. What started off sweet and gentle grew in intensity. We had both missed so much in that month that Victoria stole from us.

"I love you so much" he whispered against my lips. I ran my hand through his hair and heard him growl.

"I love you too, Jazz."

He never did make it to the shower that night…or the next day either.


A/N: Short, but I think it covered everything, don't you?

Thanks for reading, as always!