Chapter Eight
The thickset man shrugged away from the wall as we came to stop, I was keenly aware of us being herded. I shrank back beside Bella, gripping my crutches ready to use them as weapon if needed.
"Stay away from us," Bella warned.
Her voice was stronger than mine would have been but there was no volume.
"Don't be like that sugar," he called, and the raucous laughter started again behind us.
I gripped my crutches tighter and tighter as they grew closer and closer. I tried to go over in my mind what I knew of self-defense. Although with my luck I would end up hurting myself or Bella in the process. Headlights suddenly flew around the corner, the car almost hit the stocky one, forcing him to jump back onto the sidewalk. Bella jumped into the road, the silver car unexpectedly fishtailed around, skidding to a stop with the passenger and back door open. Just a few feet from us.
"Get in," A furious voice commanded.
We jumped into the car and slammed the door behind us. It was dark in the car, no light had come on when the door opened and I could barely make out his face from the glow of the dashboard. My crutches were on the floor of the back seat. The tires spun too quickly as he spun around to face the north, accelerating far too quickly, swerving towards the stunned men on the street. They dived for the sidewalk as we straightened out and sped towards the harbor.
"Put on your seatbelt," He commanded.
I realized I had the rear bar clutched in my hands. He turned towards me.
"Calm him down," he bit at me.
I didn't notice that beside me was Jasper, he matched Edward's murderously angry expression. I heard Jasper growl lightly at Edwards tone towards me, it was drowned out by the roar of the engine. I lightly took Jasper's hands in mine, he was like a statue but he reacted when I touched him. His hands pulled me till I was more or less nearly entirely on his lap. I blushed scarlet and was severely grateful that the car was as dark as it was. He held my face in his hands pausing before gently running his hands down my neck and arm before they settled on my waist. He let out a sigh, I hadn't realized he was holding his breath as he leaned his forehead on my chest.
"I'm still mad at you," I mumbled.
I was jerked forward so I was against Jasper's chest at the sudden stop of the Volvo. I then realized we were secluded in a dark outline of trees by the roadside, we definitely weren't in town anymore.
"I'm going to run over Tyler Crowley tomorrow before school?"
I chuckled at that as Bella began to try to distract Edward. I could feel Jasper physically relaxing as we parked in darkness. I was vaguely worried about Bella's proximity to Jasper, but he seemed to be alright.
"What wrong?" Bella asked.
"Sometimes I have a problem with my temper Bella," Edward whispered.
I snorted and I could feel Edward's glare on me.
"But it wouldn't be helpful for me to turn around and hunt down those…" Edward struggled for a moment. "At least that is what I'm trying to convince myself."
I glanced at the clock on the dashboard.
"Jessica and Angela will be worried, we were supposed to meet them," Bella murmured.
Edward started the engine, turned around smoothly and began speeding back to town.
"Jasper you may want to have her return to her seat," Edward offered.
Jasper didn't move for a moment, but gently released me but only so far as to let me sit in the middle seat and buckle myself in, before tucking myself beside him. When I looked out the window again, we saw the lights of La Bella Italia and Jessica and Angela just leaving, pacing anxiously away from us.
"How did you know where…?" Bella asked.
Edward was getting out Jasper didn't move and neither did I.
"What are you doing?" Bella asked him.
"I'm taking you to dinner," he said smiling slightly.
His eyes were angry and hard. Bella fumbled with her seatbelt and hurried to get out of the car as well. He was waiting for her on the sidewalk. Bella looked at me through the car window.
"Go stop Jessica and Angela before I have to track them down, too. I don't think I could restrain myself if I ran into your other friends again."
Even I could hear the threat in his voice. Touching Jasper's cheek I clamored out of the car grabbing my crutches.
"Jess! Angela!" Bella called.
They rushed back to us, the pronounced relief on both their faces simultaneously changing to surprise when they saw who we stood beside. They hesitated a few feet from us.
"Where have you been?" Jessica's voice was suspicious.
"We got lost," I admitted sheepishly.
"Then ran into Edward," Bella said gesturing toward him.
"Would it be alright if I joined you?" he asked, turning on the charm.
I could tell from their expressions that he had never used his talents on them before.
"Sure," Jessica breathed.
"Actually Bella, we already ate while we were waiting – sorry." Angela confessed.
"That's fine – I'm not hungry," Bella shrugged.
"I think you should eat something," Edward's voice was low, but full of authority.
Edward spoke slightly louder.
"Do you mind if I drove Bella and Remington home tonight? That way you won't have to wait while they eat."
"No problem, I guess…" Angela bit her lip, trying to figure out if that is what I wanted.
Bella subtlety winked at her. There were so many questions I'm sure she was waiting to bombard Edward with.
"Ok, see you tomorrow Remi, Bella…Edward." Angela was quicker than Jessica.
She grabbed Jessica's hand and pulled her toward the car, which I could see was parked a little ways away, parked across First Street. As they got in, Jessica turned and waved, her face eager with curiosity. We waved back waiting for them to drive away before we turned to face him.
"Honestly, I'm not hungry," Bella insisted.
"Humor me,"
He walked to the door of the restaurant and held it open with an obstinate expression. Bella looked at me and I waited back by the door.
"Are you coming?" She asked.
I shook my head.
"I'm going to make sure Jasper's ok,"
"He's not big on crowds," Edward assured her.
With a sigh, Bella walked past him. I was more or less pulled back into the Volvo happy for the dark tint as my crutches magically disappeared and the door locked as I was checked over again for any marks or scratches.
"Jazz, I'm fine," I mumbled.
His eyes snapped up to mine. He searched my eyes, I noticed then they were charcoal nearly black. Slowly I reached up to touch the dark circles under his eyes.
"You haven't hunted," I said quietly.
He looked away.
"That was the plan before…"
His hands tightened on my hips.
"You are mad at me…why?" He asked suddenly.
I was keenly aware of the fact I was straddling him, and I swallowed hard trying to ignore that fact as I looked at him trying to get my brain to form words.
"You didn't answer my texts…"I mumbled trying to look angry.
He chuckled and pulled me closer so I was sitting in his lap and he could lean his head on my chest.
"Emmett and I wrestled, I forgot my phone was in my pocket, it was destroyed." He finished lamely.
Gently he placed a kiss on my collarbone and my heart went into overdrive. I felt him smirk as he pulled up with that crooked little grin on his face. I tried to ignore it as I ran my fingers through his hair.
"Will you be ok with the car ride to Bella's?" I asked quietly.
"I won't breathe, I'll be ok, you're here, and you act as a buffer."
I snorted.
"So glad I could help."
He tightened his hold on me.
"I don't think I have ever seen Edward so angry, or you for that matter," I said quietly.
Jasper's hands tightened on my hips for a moment.
"He read their minds. I originally wasn't going to go with him, but he mentioned you were with her. Then he read their minds, and my mood fed off of his, and once he told me what they were thinking…"He trailed off.
I frowned.
"Do we need to wait for Bella and Edward? I don't want you to be uncomfortable." I asked.
He hesitated for a moment before pulling out a new phone for a minute, typing, and waiting and then put it away. He took my hand and led me out of the car and on to the street, supporting a vast majority of my weight. He pulled me into a dark alley, pulled me up into his arms, a deep breath and closing my eyes, I felt the wind rush around me and the various sounds, after a few moments I felt we had stopped and sure enough we were in on the porch of my house. Mom's car wasn't in the driveway, I unlocked the door and he carried me into my room. Gently he pulled off my shoes and socks. I unsnapped my pants and he turned around as I tugged them off and struggled out of my shirt and into my light blue racer-back tank. I was having difficulty trying to tug my light blue pajama pants over my cast but eventually it was done. I sat on the bed and Jasper had turned so he was standing in front of me. I tugged on his hand so he was close enough to where I could lay my forehead on his stomach. He gently weaved his hands in my hair, gently taking the clip out and massaging where the clip had pressed too tightly to my head. I sighed in contentment. I felt him chuckle and eased me back so I was laying on my bed, he occupied the opposite spot, the usual spot he occupied when he was at my house. I maneuvered so my head was on his lap and he began brushing his fingers through my hair absentmindedly. There was a comfortable silence weaving around us. I wasn't sure if it was his ability or if it was my own doing, but I was relaxed and utterly content.
"Sleepy darlin?"
I mumbled incoherently.
"Are you sure you're ok?" I asked quietly.
His hand paused but then resumed.
"I'm fine sweet thing, hush," he said shortly in his drawl.
I was beginning to notice there were two sides to Jasper, the sweet guy I've come to know but there was also this. The more commanding presence, more dominate, it commanded respect and I was willing to submit, but I was curious about his sudden mood change. I would have to ask him about it later. But later would be much later, I fell asleep.
