CHAPTER NINE - JASPER POV

I don't know why I was so angry.

I went to Bella's to check up on her - Esme worries you see, and to be honest so do I. Bella is sweet, I want to make sure she's okay, even if she can't be happy.

So I went over there, planning to just send her happy waves through her window or something and then she wasn't there. I panicked, of course I did. And then I followed her trail right up to the Quileute boundary line and obviously I couldn't go any further. And that worried me.

I stood there, by the boundary and I had all these thoughts running through my head. Like - Hey, Jasper, remember what happened to Bella last time she was at La Push? Oh yeah she jumped off a damn cliff and almost died.

I didn't trust Bella in the state she was in. I didn't trust that teenage dog either - he would so easily hurt her, even if he wasn't encouraging her in mindless, childish acts of foolishness.

She got pretty upset with me for getting mad at her - but I don't care. It isn't about her being happy about it, it's about her being alive.

And that scares me.

She's a human.

Just a human.

Humans are expendable. Humans die.

So why do I care if she's alive?

Esme? Yes, that's why. I wouldn't want Esme to be upset. Esme loves Bella like she's a daughter, I wouldn't want her to lose her. That's why I care. I care because of Esme.