"I'm sorry." I said, eyes on his back.
"I know." He said evenly, but didn't turn around.
"I didn't mean it." I wished he would get angry with me, or at least forgive me.
"I know." He said again, calmly.
"It was a horrible thing to say. I was upset, and you were so calm about it all. I wanted you to feel some kind of pain too." Just turn around, Jasper. Glare at me. Scowl at me. Swear at me. Do something.
"I know." He was staring at a piece of paper. I found myself growing irritated with him all over again.
"You should be furious with me." I tried.
"I know." Again the same, infuriatingly calm reply.
"Would you stop ignoring me?" I demanded, my voice suddenly shrill.
He turned to face me, then. "I'm sorry." He apologized. Then he smiled at me. "I'm not mad at you, Rosalie. I can't be. I know how you felt."
"You were reading us all, weren't you?" I said more than asked.
"Everyone was upset." He nodded, tucking the paper into his shirt pocket. "Nessie was devastated. Carlisle too. But everyone was hurt, everyone was shocked, everyone felt-" he hesitated ever so slightly, "betrayed."
"So you decided to be strong for everyone else." I said. Jasper nodded again, and we fell into silence. It wasn't comfortable, or uncomfortable, or awkward or anything, it was just silence. The kind of silences that fell between the two of us.
"I just don't understand." I said without making the decision to speak. "She didn't even say goodbye."
"She did what she thought she had to do." He replied softly, patiently.
"But she left you." I blurted, then gasped. Had I really sad that out loud? Was I trying still, to cause him pain?
But he merely shrugged and repeated, "She did what she thought she had to do."
"Do you really believe that?" I asked.
He focused on me with sad but determined eyes. "I do." He said firmly. "I believe she would not have left us unless she felt she had no other choice, and I believe she will come back whenever- if ever- she can." He sounded as if he believed it, as if he had no doubts whatsoever.
It made me feel a little better.
Disclaimer: I own not any part of the Twilight Saga whatsoever, nor do I own anything else you may recognize, or not recognize.