I forgot just how much I loved this crew together. They're so much fun!

SM owns the Twilight. I own this fuckery.

Jasper

I'm not sure which surprised me more: Bella's easy acceptance of Peter, red eyes and all (I'm not even sure if they even registered with her) and the effortless camaraderie they fell into, or my possessive reactions to Peter's flirtation. His flirtation of course was not a surprise; he's a fucking horndog after all, and Bella's hot. He and Char are a little more liberal in their relationship; Char wouldn't bat an eye if he made a move on Bella. In fact, she'd probably only be miffed if she wasn't invited to join.

As it was, Bella and Char's connection was almost as immediate as it was with her and Peter. Char was in the kitchen putting the finishing touches on an enchilada dinner she'd whipped up for Bella. It looked and smelled godawful, but the way Bella went on about it, it must've been pretty tasty.

"Ohmigod Char, if things don't work out with you and this asshole over here, will you fucking marry me? These are the best enchiladas I've ever had," Bella moaned while chewing a massive bite she'd just taken. Char was bursting with pride, having not had an opportunity to cook for anyone in a very long time.

"Well it's nice to know I haven't lost my touch! I'm glad you like them Bella. And while I don't think I'll be tossing Peter aside anytime soon, you can feel free to borrow me any time you'd like," Char said with a laugh. I could tell, though, she wasn't really joking. Bella's beauty wasn't lost on Char either.

"Careful there Char-babe, you may never get rid of me," replied Bella, stuffing another bite in her face.

Char ran a hand through her long blond hair and leaned forward toward Bella across the table. "Bella sugar, I hope we don't. It's been a long time since we've seen our Jasper smile." She looked over at me with a smile of her own, and I knew if I had been able, I would've been sporting one of Bella's trademark blushes. Bella looked at me, raising an eyebrow.

I cleared my throat nervously, as unnecessary as the gesture was. "Aw Char, g'on now," I muttered looking down at the floor.

"What Jasper? It's true," Char chided. I looked at her pointedly so she'd grab a hint to cut it out, but then of course fucking Peter had to throw in his two cents.

"Get over yourself Whitlock, you've been moping for fucking months. I think you know damn well we have Bella to thank in helping you pull your head out of your ass," Peter said, clapping me on the arm. I shoved him not-so-playfully. Are they trying to embarrass me to death?

Bella took a sip of the wine Char had opened to go with her dinner, watching our entire exchange with sheer amusement. Char looked at Bella's nearly empty plate and asked if she'd like a little more. "No," said Bella, "I'd like a lot more. That is some good shit there, wifey." Char stood and kissed Bella on top of her head, then mouthed at me, "I love her!"

Bella put away a better part of that bottle of wine while finishing her meal, strangely at ease while three vampires sat around her at the table watching her eat. At one point she did mutter, "It's like feeding time at the zoo for you guys, isn't it?" Peter just awarded her with one of his shit-eating grins, nodding like a fool.

After she'd finished, we all moved into the living room and ended up telling a few stories about our times together; some recent, some in the past, during my pre-Alice days. Bella laughed until tears were streaming from her eyes, every now and then reaching over to touch or hold my hand, sending a charge through me every time she did.

As it neared dark, Peter stood up and stretched his arms above his head, giving Char a wink. "Well Bella, me and Char are gonna run into town and grab a bite; can we bring you back anything?"

For a moment the only sound in the room was my palm hitting my face in utter mortification. Cue the crickets.

I looked over at Bella, whose face was blank, eyes looking glazed over similar to how Alice's would. Shit, she's gonna freak out, I thought. I looked over at Peter, daggers shooting from my eyes, but he was completely ignoring me, with the exception of the middle finger he was now holding up in my direction.

Bella looked down into her now-empty wine glass, and then looked at Peter and replied, "Bring back some more of this wine, it's pretty good." She sat the glass down on the coffee table, stood up, and announced, "I gotta pee. It was nice meeting you two." Once again, this woman had rendered me speechless.

While I stood there gaping, Char gently shoved me out of the way so she could get to Bella, kiss her cheek and give her a hug. "I'm glad you enjoyed the dinner and the wine, I'll stock up some more of that for you. You know you are welcome here anytime, ok sugar?"

Bella smiled and gave her a good squeeze in return. "Thanks, Char-babe."

Peter pulled Bella away from Char, "Back off woman, it's my turn," taking Bella in his arms and dipping her low, sniffing the area of her jugular. "Mmm, delicious; you're making my mouth wah-tah." He placed a kiss on the pulsing vein. Bella giggled. Fucking giggled. Her self-preservation was still obviously non-existent. "Char's right Bells, any time day or night, our casa es su casa."

She smiled and placed a quick peck on Peter's cheek. "Aw, thanks Petey. Now get out of here before all the scum of humanity is taken."

Peter laughed and tapped her on the butt as she headed toward the bathroom. He looked over at me. "Close your mouth Jazz, you're catching flies. You two have a lot to talk about, we'll be gone until dawn. Char! Let's roll, woman." And the two headed out the door.

I stood there for a few more moments until I realized Bella hadn't returned yet. The bathroom was now unoccupied so I ventured further down the hall, where I found her standing in my room staring at my wall that was covered with shelves of books. She turned to me as I walked in. "Impressive collection Jasper."

"Help yourself," I offered. I remembered Bella used to be a bit of a bookworm.

She gave me a half-smile, looking a little wistful. "Thanks, maybe I will sometime. I don't read like I used to. I guess I do kind of miss it."

She sighed and walked past me, flopping down on one side of my bed and resting her head on the pillows resting against the headboard. I raised an eyebrow at her. "Comfy there, darlin'?"

"Sure am," she nodded. "I've got a little bit of a wine-buzz going on; it feels good to stretch out." She then patted the unoccupied side next to her and smiled at me.

I shrugged and then chuckling, I walked over to the other side of the bed, sat down, pulled my boots off, then stretched out next to her, mimicking her prone position, staring up at the ceiling. We laid there in silence for a bit, and then I heard her turn her head toward me. "How are you doing Jazz, really?"

I peeked at her out of the corner of my eye. Her eyes were on me, full of curiosity.

"Truthfully Bella, Char had a point. I'm feelin' better than I've felt for a long time."

She gave me a small smile and then turned her head to look back up toward the ceiling. "Jazz, can I ask you something?"

"You can ask me anything Bella," I think I knew what was coming by the sudden case of nerves she was feeling.

"What happened after you guys left?"

I sighed, thinking about how I should go into this. "A couple days after your birthday party, we headed to Alaska. Edward joined us a couple days after that, though he didn't stay long. He was seriously pissed at me, and then everyone else, myself included, was completely miserable about what happened and felt horrible about leaving you. We all missed you so much. He couldn't handle our misery on top of his own so he took off."

Bella sat up a little. "Wait, what? HE was miserable? Why the hell was he miserable, I figured he would've been happy and relieved to finally be away from me."

I looked over at her, confused. "Why would you say that?"

"He made his feelings about me clear when he left," she said bitterly.

"Just what exactly did he say to you before he left?" Something wasn't adding up.

Bella proceeded to tell me of their conversation in the woods behind her house, how he made her believe she wasn't good enough for him, and then how that son of a bitch left her in the woods. His words were worth an ass-kicking alone, leaving her alone in the woods like that… well, he should be glad he was no where in my immediate vicinity at that moment.

I rolled to my side, propped up on my elbow and looked at her, eye-to-eye. "Bella, he's a fuckin' liar. Edward wanted us, me, away so that you could be safe and live a 'normal' human life." She rolled her eyes. "Right, guess that plan didn't work out so well now did it? Regardless, Edward remained madly in love with you; he still was when he left for South America after all of our thoughts of you was too much for him to handle. I guess he finally did return home a month or so after I left, though we haven't spoken. Still pissed I guess."

Her eyes narrowed. "If he should be pissed at anyone, it's himself! He has no one to blame but himself. If he really loved me like he said, like you say, he'd have stayed. We would've found some way to work it out. So, fuck him. At least he got part of his wish; I moved on. Now tell me, what's gone on with you?"

"After we reached Alaska, Alice started to grow a little distant with me. She tried to act understanding and forgiving, but the resentment was still there, she couldn't hide that from me. She blamed me for causing her to lose her best friend. A few months later, she decided to attend Fashion Week in Paris. She had a vision not long after making that decision, and I could feel her registering shock, love, hurt, and then resignation. She wouldn't tell me what it was about, but she did tell me that I didn't need to go with her, she wanted to go alone this time. She suggested that I go on a hunting trip with Emmett and Carlisle instead.

"We left the same day she did. She hugged me that morning before we all left; I felt a strange mixture of giddiness, apprehension, guilt, and sorrow. I just figured it was the first time she wasn't dragging me along. She told me she'd call in a few days, to take care of myself, and that she loved me. Thinking back, I now know that last kiss was her kiss good-bye.

"I had a good time hunting with Em and Carlisle, it was the first real fun we'd all had in a while. It was weird not talking to Alice, but in the woods cell reception was pretty bad, so I figured we'd get in touch after I got back. She called the evening we returned home; you already know how that conversation went. I went into complete shock. I couldn't go in my room; I would've destroyed everything in there that she owned. Instead, I sat in my study for a week. Emmett and Rose tried to bring me out of it, but my anger and despair I was projecting would envelop them when they'd come into my room, so they wouldn't stay long. I managed to get out and hunt again after about a week of that, but I went back to my room immediately afterward. Everything reminded me of her and everyone was feeling the loss of her, especially Carlisle and Esme, and they were still reeling over losing you and Edward. Finally I couldn't take it anymore so I packed up a few things and left. I drove until I ended up at Peter and Charlotte's door.

"Over the last few months, I've finally started to feel like myself again, though a miserable version of it. I'm thankful they've put up with me as long as they have. They're like my other family, we go quite a ways back…" I paused, deciding whether or not to continue into my history with them. It's only fair I guess; she'd poured her soul out to me last night, it's only fair I followed suit.

"You should know my story as well, as I do intend to continue spending time with you." I smiled, leaned over and kissed her on her forehead. "Are you sure I'm not boring you?"

Bella shook her head. "No, I want to know how you met them. I can tell that you go farther back with them than the Cullens, and that you're very close. In fact, I've never seen you as relaxed, as at ease, as you are with them. It's really nice to get to see this side of you."

I thought about that for a moment. "Yeah, I guess I am," I chuckled. "I'm Peter's sire you know."

Bella's eyes were wide. "Really? You're not fatherly with him…"

I chuckled again. "It's not like that with us. We're more like brothers. He is my brother as far as I'm concerned." I went in to the story of how I met Maria while I was a major serving the Confederate army. Recognition dawned in Bella; she now understood the 'major' reference. I silently acknowledged this with a smile and continued, telling her about the Vampire Wars: Maria's quest to take over the southwest, and how I served as her general in the creation, training, and disposal of newborn vampires in this quest. Peter was one of these newborns; he was different though, and we became quick friends. He later escaped with Char when she was supposed to be destroyed. I told her about how they came back for me a few years later; how they'd explained the way my existence could be outside of that seemingly unending war, and after feeling how they felt, I went with them. "I came across Alice a couple of decades after that, and the rest you pretty much already know."

I had feared that she would be afraid of or disgusted with me, with all the carnage I'd participated in. While she ran a gamut of emotions during my story, these two particular emotions were not among them. I did, however, feel awe, respect, admiration, and maybe a hint of pity. I looked over at her lying next to me to see if her expression proved likewise. What I saw surprised me.

Bella

As I listened to Jasper's history, my admiration for him, for his strength to overcome his horrific past, went through the roof. He'd been involved in some serious shit. Who knew Jasper was such a badass? He came off as Mr. Mellow, the Cullen family peacekeeper, but in truth he had massive vamp street cred as the baddest Mo-Fo of the Vampire wars.

He looked over at me and it was like he was having one of those moments similar to how Edward would wait for me to scream and run away after hearing "scary" vampire shit. The look on his face was kind of pitiful really. Did he honestly think I was going to write him off for all that? Not fucking likely.

I sat up next to him onto my knees and turned to face him, then reached out, taking his face in my hands and leaned forward slightly, looking him straight in the eye.

"You hear me now, Major Whitlock. Don't even think for a second I'm going to hold any of that shit against you. Sure, I get it. You were one bad motherfucking vamp warlord back in the day. I'd be willing to bet you still got a lot of badass lurking within you. You are The Shit and I'm in awe of the man you manage to be today, after all the shit you've seen and done. You rock Jazz, and I'm honored to know you."

I was suddenly hit with a wave of what felt like adoration, and in a flash Jasper closed the distance between us, his mouth crashing into mine. I was too shocked to respond, well for maybe half a second, and then I pulled myself even closer to him, sliding my hands from the sides of his face to threading through his hair, grasping the nape of his neck. He leaned back on the bed, pulling me with him, positioning me so that I was straddling him. His hands stroked down my back, then cupped my ass in his palms, kneading the flesh and pressing me into him. A moan escaped from me, which caused him to press me into him harder while thrusting upward. My previous assumption seemed to be correct: this cowboy was definitely packing.

I pulled my face back in a gasp for air and he moved his mouth down my jaw, kissing down my neck, tasting me and caressing my jugular with his tongue before softly sucking on the skin there.

I pulled back a little more. "Hey no hickeys, fucker. I don't need that shit on display at work." Then I covered his mouth with my own again before he could respond. His tongue darted inside my mouth. Tasting. Stroking. Conquering. Ugh, Edward was so full of shit.

I rocked my body on top of his, grinding myself on to him. I heard a low growl coming from him and goddamn but that was a sexy sound. I sat up to look at him; his eyes were as black as obsidian. That stopped me for a sec. I wondered if maybe I was pushing things too quickly or too far. "Are you ok?" I asked.

He smirked. "Never been better, darlin', how about you?"

I gave him a smirk of my own. "Like you don't know." I was so hot for him at that second and I knew we were at a crossroads. Well hell, I guess we kinda had just crossed that road from friendship to- what, exactly? Friends with benefits? While typically not opposed to that, this was Jasper we're talking about. He deserved more. I deserved more.

Possibly sensing the conclusion I'd just reached, he scooted me back a little, settling me back on his thighs and sat up, keeping his arms around me. "I think you're right darlin'," he said.

"What, you read minds now?"

He gave me a soft peck on my mouth. "No, but I'm feeling the same way that you're feeling. If we do this now, it could cheapen 'this'. I want our first time to be special. Fuck, that doesn't make me sound like Douche-ward does it?"

I snorted. "No, you've already proven to possess much more sexual prowess than Edward, believe me."

He leaned in and kissed me again, then pulled back, leaning his forehead against mine, and looking deep into my eyes. "Darlin', you ain't seen nothin' yet."