A/N: Hey everybody! Welcome back! So, if you've been wondering where I was (yes, I saw the reviews demanding I come back ASAP), I recently bought a house. Yip, all by myself. Who would've thought someone would give ME a mortgage.

As always, thanks to Project Team Beta for cleaning up my inability to use commas correctly.

Merry Christmas everyone! Even though we're getting the remnants of Cyclone Evan, and it's going to be raining for the next five days, it'll still be my favourite day of the year. xxx

I struggled to control my own emotions as I hunted—something I desperately needed.

As I finished up in the shower, I could sense Alice waiting just outside my bedroom door. Once I was dressed, I swung the door open and looked at her expectantly.

"Since when do you wait to be invited in?"

She glared at me, but I felt no malice behind it. "I'm trying not to overstep my boundaries here. Give me some credit."

I sighed heavily. I hated the tension that existed between us. "What can I do you for, Alice?" My body itched to leave the house and get back to Bella's house. Alice —being Alice— knew what was on my mind.

"It's okay, Jazz. We'll be six minutes and then you can leave." She perched on the edge of the bed and patted it. "Come sit."

I cautiously obeyed, sitting close enough to breathe in her scent. While she wasn't Bella, the smell still affected me. It was the smell of love, comfort and home. Not the passion that Bella's scent inspired in me, but a sort of security.

"I just wanted to see how you were doing," she said softly. "It's been a tough day—a tough week."

I nodded my agreement. "I'm okay, considering. I think so, anyway. I was so close to losing her today." I sighed, and Alice patted my thigh comfortingly. "She's so fragile; the smallest thing could be fatal. I don't know what I'd do if I was unable to save her."

I heard Alice take a deep breath. "I'm sorry, Jasper," she whispered.

"What for?" Has she done something I don't know about?

"I'm sorry that I didn't see the accident in time. You were so insistent on making sure she was safe, and I should have taken your concerns more seriously. Maybe you were so scared because of some kind of intuition that comes with your bond. I'm not sure. But if I'd looked further into her future, just a little bit, maybe I could have prevented this from all happening." She gazed at her hands.

I thought about her words. Could she have stopped this from happening?

"I don't know if you could have," I admitted after a beat. "There were so many variables. At best, you could have given us a few more seconds."

"Those few seconds could have really helped, though," she pointed out.

"Maybe."

"When Bella finds out the truth about us, can you tell her how sorry I am?"

I nodded thoughtfully.

"Do you know when she'll work it out?"

"No," Alice sighed. "It changes a lot. Sometime after the weekend. But it could be as far as three weeks from now."

The weekend wasn't far away at all. "I really need to work out what I should say to her. I don't want to scare her away."

She shrugged. "I haven't seen that as a problem. Once she knows, she seems to take it really well. She already has such a strong bond with you, and the fact that she works most of it out herself will really help with her acceptance."

As we sat quietly, my knee started to jiggle.

"Go," Alice laughed. "I've said my peace. Go to your girl."

As I ran through the forest easily, the invisible rope pulling me in the right direction, I started to think that after today's conversation, maybe I really could start to think of her as my girl.

"Are you sure this is really a good idea?" Bella asked as we turned into the drive.

"Why wouldn't it be?" I rested my right hand on her knee, and she shivered.

"What if they don't like me?"

"They will. Even if some of them seem standoffish to start with, I know they'll love you. Just like I…." I stopped myself before I said something I really shouldn't after knowing the girl for barely a week.

She glanced at me, her eyebrows raised, but I ignored the unasked question.

"How far out do you live?" she asked as she watched the never-ending line of trees outside the window.

"It's just up around this corner." I pointed out the windshield as we rounded the corner.

"Where? There aren't any houses here."

I smiled over at her. "Oh really?"

I slowed down and pulled into the overgrown driveway.

"Oh, wow. You're right. I never would have found the place by myself." She searched through the trees for any sign of the house. "Wait. You are taking me to your house, right? You're not taking me out to the middle of nowhere to kill me?"

Chuckling, I threaded my fingers through hers. "Don't you trust me, sweetheart?"

"Weirdly, yes."

I brought her hand up to my lips and softly kissed the back of it. Instantly, the thumping of her heart increased, and I felt a flash of – what was that? Holy mother of God. That was lust.

To my great relief, she didn't reclaim her hand, allowing me to keep my hold of it until we pulled up in front of the house.

"Wow. Your house is beautiful," she told me in her awe-filled tone staring out the window.

"I'm sure Esme will be overjoyed to hear that."

"Esme is your– mother?"

"For all intents and purposes."

She removed her seatbelt and turned to face me. "Before we go in there. The other day when we discussed there being something 'different' about you?" I nodded. "Is the same true for the rest of your family?"

I hesitated. I didn't care about outing myself, but I felt odd outing the rest of my family along with me. But as I considered it, I found that I couldn't bring myself to lie to her. "It is."

"So it would be perfectly okay for you to not hold your true self back out here, correct? Like we discussed?"

"—it would be."

"Good. Let's start that then." She smiled at me, a brilliant smile that could light up the whole room.

"I can start right now," I said, grinning, and ran at vampire speed around to her side of the car to open her door. She hadn't even realized I was gone. "Bella," I said softly, tapping her on the shoulder.

"Oh!" she said, gasping. "You're fast!"

"That I am. Now, may I escort you from the car?" I held out my hand for her.

Blushing, she took my hand, and I helped her out and walked her up the stairs.

The door burst open, and Alice was standing there, her hands on her hips. "You took your time. We've been waiting very patiently in here for you show your faces."

Emmett scoffed from the couch. "You? Patient? I'd like to see that."

"Shut up, you doofus," she said lowly, a growl in her voice.

Surprised by the outburst, Bella instinctively cowered slightly behind me.

"It's okay, sweetheart. Alice didn't mean to be so rude." I looked at Alice pointedly, and she slunk back inside to join the rest of the family. I loved Alice dearly, but when it came to a choice between her feelings and Bella's, it was a no-brainer.

Still holding her tiny, fragile hand, I led Bella into the house. The entire family –minus Edward of course—was gathered in the living room, and they rose when we entered, eager to meet the human who would be an important part of all our futures. They all realized that from now on, anywhere Bella went, I would follow.

Carlisle was the first to approach us. "Welcome to our home," he said, carefully keeping his hands in his pockets. We were all still unsure exactly what Bella thought of us, especially since she knew that there was something different, so he was being extra cautious around her. "I see you're better? No more sling?"

I felt her become defensive. "You said I could take it off on Friday. It's Friday." Her voice quavered a little as she struggled to gain confidence in a roomful of people she didn't really know. A room full of people who she suspected might not be exactly human, in fact.

Carlisle smiled softly at her. "I did say that. And as long as you feel better, it's fine. I'm not going to admonish you."

Beside me, Bella relaxed at his words and his soothing tone. She glanced up at me, and I squeezed her hand reassuringly. Surprisingly, I seemed to instinctively know the exact amount of pressure to exert. It was as if my body wouldn't allow me to hurt her. I made a mental note to mention that to Carlisle later.

Esme approached us next. She was the only member of the family who Bella hadn't met. Emmett and Rosalie she hadn't met officially, but they had been around on the day of the accident, so she knew who they were. Esme was the one who, to Bella, would seem like an unknown entity.

"Bella, this is our mother, Esme." I knew that Bella already suspected that the terms mother and father were something of a ruse, but I introduced her as such out of simplicity. In many ways, Esme was just like our mother. Especially in Alice's case; Esme was the only mother she knew.

"It's so wonderful to meet you, Bella," Esme said with a huge smile on her face. "Jasper can't stop talking about you. And I can see that he wasn't at all exaggerating when he said how beautiful you are."

As expected, blood rushed to brighten Bella's cheeks. I quickly checked that it hadn't affected anyone's bloodlust, and once I was sure they were all fine, I could concentrate on Bella and Esme once more.

"You have an amazing house," Bella said softly.

"Thank you, dear." Pride was bursting out of her.

I leaned down to Bella's ear. "Esme has a thing for designing and decorating any house we live in," I informed her.

Bella bit her lip in thought for a moment. "You've lived in a lot of houses, then?"

Of course she would pick up on that part of the comment. "Quite a few, yes."

"Hmm…"

I led her over to the seating area, and we sat next to each other on one of the couches, Alice sitting on the other side of Bella. "And, of course, even though you may not have met officially, you know Emmett and Rosalie."

Bella nodded. "Yeah. You took Jasper inside after the accident."

Rosalie looked Bella up and down before answering. I knew that she was hesitant after hearing from Alice that eventually Bella would be changed, but I think that she accepted it wasn't anything we decided. Fate had decided for us. It probably helped that she had seen how much pain I had been in when we went hunting away from the peninsula.

"I'm glad that you're okay," Rosalie told Bella, her voice quiet and surprisingly shy.

"Thanks." Bella's voice, on the other hand, belayed her obvious confusion and hesitancy.

I sat by quietly as the family asked Bella about her life, and she answered them as well as she could. Within minutes of us sitting down, Esme remembered that Bella was human and got her a drink and some snacks. Bella's lips pursed when she realized that she was the only one with a drink. Another thing to add to her list of suspicions. Not that I minded. If Bella learned the truth herself, I wouldn't be upset about it at all. I had to believe that a pereche bond would be a good enough reason to break the Volturi's rule. And if it wasn't? Well, of course I would fight for her. And there were few who would ever beat me in a fight.

"She's adorable," Esme whispered to me as Bella said her goodbyes, and I prepared to take her home.

"I know." I smiled, glancing over at where Alice was hugging her.

I couldn't believe how lucky I was to have found her. And if all went to plan, I could become even luckier, and she might just accept me for what I was.

As we turned out onto the highway, I pointed back to our driveway. "So, do you think that you could find that turn-off if you were driving yourself?"

"Um, yeah I think so. It's easier to notice when you know what you're looking for."

I smiled, sending her a small burst of happiness. "That's great."

"Why is that?"

"Well, we still have that date tomorrow, don't we?"

"Uh, yes. Unless you want to cancel."

I shook my head emphatically. "Never. I was thinking that my plan would work best if you drove out here. If you don't want to, I can still come and pick you up. Maybe meet your father. That's what's expected, right? Meet a girl's father when you take her on a date?"

She laughed, and to my ears, it sounded like bells chiming. "Maybe if this was the 19th century. But in the 21st century it's not necessary. And regardless, Charlie is working tomorrow."

"Okay. So—you'll drive out here?"

She nodded.

"Brilliant. Does around 11 work for you?"

"It sounds perfect." I could feel her happiness and some giddiness, and it reassured me that she really did want this date.

Now, I just had to hope that my plan came together perfectly.