Carlisle joined me the rest of the week, but I was the only one in Bella's room after that first night.

"I really didn't expect you to play coy," Carlisle told me on our way to her house in the evening. "I mean, it was pretty obvious what she wanted. I couldn't help but call you out." He chuckled.

"Are you sure you're all right with this? I mean, you're jealous. Why do you keep coming?"

He shook his head and continued to chuckle. "I would have thought my feelings toward Bella would be clear to you of all people."

"Well, I guess hers and mine get in the way," I snapped, still testy. I really hated knowing that James, Victoria and Laurent were out there somewhere. Sam had called me the night before just to tell me they hadn't caught a whiff. It was beyond the call of duty; I appreciated it. That just meant they were lying low somewhere. Biding their time.

"Then feel this," he snapped back. I felt the affection he had for me, love mingled with anxiety. I would compare it to the father holding on to the back of his daughter's two wheeler and letting go. He has to, but at the same time he's afraid for her.

"Yes?"

He rolled his eyes. "You really don't understand."

Bella's light was on although it wasn't really dark yet. I jumped up and hung from the eave, knocking on her window.

I heard her laugh as she came to open it. "You probably could come in the door, you know."

"Yeah, but then I'd have to leave again."

I followed her eyes and noticed my shirt had pulled up as I hung. She blushed, realizing she'd been caught. "Well come in if you're coming in." When I did she saw Carlisle at the trees. She waved to him. "I was just finishing up some homework. I assume you're already done?" She flopped on her bed on her stomach, picking up her pencil.

"Yeah, I think I'm done for the next month." I rolled my eyes.

"How many times have you graduated high school?" she asked.

I laughed. "Not that many actually. I've only been able to attend the last decade or two."

She coughed. "Just as long as I've been alive," she mumbled, eyes on her textbook.

I laughed again. "Yep, about that long, actually. Did you need any help with that?"

"No. It's actually going surprisingly well. Trig usually kicks my butt, but I think I've had a breakthrough or something." She typed a few numbers in her calculator before asking her next question. "Dare I ask how old you are?"

"I don't know, do you? Truth or Dare?" I teased.

"Oh, you don't want to play Truth or Dare with me, Jasper Cullen." There was a glint in her eye and anticipation surged in her. I was suddenly very curious what she would have planned for me in this game.

"Maybe you should finish your homework first."

She bit her lip. Then she shrugged. "Fine."

"Bella?" Charlie called from downstairs. He was bored, content.

She paled and sat up quickly, anxious. "Yes, Dad?" Her voice shook a little.

"I'm getting some ice cream. You want any?"

I smiled broadly at her. She calmed quickly. "No, I'm good. Thanks, Dad."

I laughed now. "You're sure you want to play Truth or Dare?" I asked. "I think your heart almost jumped out of your chest."

"Oh, it is on! Truth or Dare?"

"Truth," I said knowing her question.

"How old are you?"

"I was born over one hundred and fifty years ago. I fought in the civil war."

I felt her disbelief. "Blue or grey?" she asked.

I shook my head. "My turn. Truth or Dare?"

"Dare." She said with a grin.

"I dare you to go out there and tell Carlisle how you feel about him."

She cocked her eyebrow. "What kind of dare is that?" she scoffed. "Carlisle knows how I feel about him. So do you." She threw her pencil at me before getting up from her bed. "Carlisle?"

"Yes Bella?" he called back.

"You know I love you, right?"

"Of course I do. And I love you, too, Bella."

She turned back to me and laughed at my crinkled brow. She shook her head before walking over and kissing my gaping mouth. I had felt all that, but I didn't understand. It was the same gentle care she'd felt last night. And Carlisle... I put my hands over my eyes. That wasn't only how he felt about me. Damn, I was dense.

The amusement coming from her was contagious and soon I chuckled as well.

"Truth or Dare?" she asked me.

"Dare."

"You suck."

"You picked the game," I reminded her.

She stuck her tongue out at me. "Fine. I dare you to kiss me like you did before I knew."

Oh, I liked this game. I shoved her books out of the way and leaned over her. I put my lips to hers, not even bothering to hold my breath. I pulled her bottom lip between mine and ran my tongue over it. When she gasped I pressed further, feeling the inside of her lip, the edge of her tongue, remembering it, pink and glistening when she stuck it out a moment ago.

Venom filled my mouth. My mind continued to ignore her scent, but my body couldn't.

Her tongue slid along mine and she swallowed suddenly. I pulled back, startled. "It tastes so good," she murmured, putting a hand to her mouth.

"What?"

"I mean, I knew your kisses tasted extra good, but now I know why." She licked her lips with her eyes closed and I pressed in to kiss her again. She pushed me away. "Truth." She said, her arms out stretched to keep me from her, as though I couldn't push past. I could be behind her before she blinked, but she knew and trusted me.

I backed away. "Aren't you even a little bit afraid?"

She laughed. "Not even a little bit. Not of you. Of those others? I'm scared to death." She shivered and let me feel her fear. "But not of you or Carlisle."

I smiled mollified.

"Truth or Dare?" she asked.

"Fine, truth."

"Blue or grey?" she asked again, exasperated.

I laughed at her. "Grey, obviously. Really, Bella, do I sound like a Yank?" I rolled my eyes.

"Oh, yeah, duh. Can I have another then?"

I chuckled again. "Sure."

"How old were you? What was it like?"

I took a deep breath. This wasn't a story I'd planned to share so soon. "I was twenty years-old and had been promoted several times in the confederate army, the youngest Major in their ranks. I was escorting an evacuation when a trio of beautiful women caught my attention. Impossible not to notice them, they were the most beautiful women I had ever seen. I assumed they were stragglers, but knew I would remember if I'd been escorting them. When I approached, they appraised me. They deemed me worth keeping, and Maria, the oldest among them, drank my blood without killing me. They dragged me from the street, into an empty building, while I transformed.

"It isn't something I would wish on anyone, Bella. The pain, it's ... it's indescribable. You feel it so keenly because all the while your senses are improving, making it worse."

Her mouth hung slightly open. "That bad?"

"You've been thinking about it haven't you?"

She shrugged and tried to appear nonchalant, but I felt how disturbed she was. "It crossed my mind. After all, if Carlisle hadn't stopped you quick enough, it might be over already."

I nodded. "That's true, and now you would be still, marble, and thirsty. Very, very thirsty."

"What is that like?" she asked, looking up to me.

Could I explain? "Have you ever had tonsilitis?" She nodded. "About a hundred times worse than that. And blood is the only thing that soothes it. In the beginning it takes more blood, more often."

"Human blood."

I nodded. "Carlisle has never tasted human blood. He resisted until a herd of deer passed him, giving him the idea to feed on them, but animal blood doesn't soothe the burn as well. You are always left with the fire in your throat."

Her eyes widened and she reach out to touch my throat. I smiled at her. "I've gotten used to it."

"Being close is worse though, isn't it?"

I nodded. "It's worth it." I kissed her. Her heart sped and she pulled away.

"I don't want it to hurt."

I chuckled. "Well, as long as your heart is beating, it will, and I have no intentions of letting anything stop your heart any time soon."

"What if I wanted it? What if I asked you to?" Her eyes pleaded with me.

"Today?" I asked and she nodded. "I'd say no. You haven't had enough time to really think about it yet, Bella. This is eternity we're talking about. You can't make a decision with centuries worth of repurcussions overnight. Also, you'd have to leave your father. Surely you'd like to say some goodbyes first?"

She blushed, embarrassed of herself. "You're right, of course."

I stroked her cheek, loving how warm she was against my skin. "If you still want that, after you've really had time to think about it, I still can't do it. I wouldn't be able to stop short of draining all your blood, Bella. I have tried." I hung my head, feeling my own shame. She was sad, disappointed.

"You did?"

I nodded slowly. "Maria, she changed me to recruit me into a new army, her army. There was a time in the South, particularly in Mexico, when vampires built armies of freshly changed vampires. When we are new we are more thirsty, but we are also stronger, drawing on the remaining blood in our system. One ingenius and infamous vampire, by the name of Benito, had the idea first. His army decimated all of the covens holding central America, but soon, the others learned. They made armies of their own. The resulting conflicts were impossible for the surrounding human populations to ignore, and so it was impossible for others of our kind to allow. The Volturi - did Carlisle tell you about them?" I paused. That really was his story to tell. He had actually lived with them for a time.

"A little. A royal family of vampires?" She seemed a little confused.

"Close enough. They have a group of vampires gifted in a myriad of ways. They were able to destroy everyone involved in the debacle. And they did. Of course, that didn't stop others from picking up the pieces. Maria wanted a small army, one more tightly controlled, one that wouldn't draw attention. She used me for that."

"Oh, Jasper," she murmured. I felt her sympathy, her pity. I didn't deserve them.

"I calmed the raging newborns, I spurred them on when we went to fight. I also helped her choose new recruits. That's why I know I can't change you, Bella. When we found a young man who appeared gifted, Maria always changed him. When it was one who just looked like a fighter, I tried." I shook my head, remembering the minutes of fear, pleading and praying before I eventually drained the life from them. I put my hands to my head.

"It's all right, Jasper. I won't ask you." She smiled at me and kissed my cheek. "That's how you got these, isn't it?" she fingered my collar.

I took a deep breath and pulled off my shirt. Now that she knew what to look for, she could see all the scars. Hundreds, 312 last time I'd counted, using a mirror to see my back. And that was assuming I could actually make out all of the double bites, scar over scar. I was sure there were multiples that I couldn't discern. She started laying kisses on me. I chuckled and tipped her chin up. "It will take all night if you're going to kiss each one."

"That's all right." She pulled her head from my hand and continued making her way down my throat.

Truth or Dare? Just kidding. It wasn't until re-reading that I remembered my trig joke. Love triangle? Get it? I'm such a nerd. ;)