Charlie

I rolled out of bed, not bothering to wake Bella up – she was always a good little thing, especially when it came to getting up in the morning.

I ate some cereal, pulled on my uniform, and I was just about to leave the house and head down to the station, when I noticed the answering machine light blinking.

With a sigh, I pressed the 'play' button.

"Hi, Dad?"

"Bells?" I gasped to myself, immediately running upstairs to check on her.

She shouldn't have left yet, or gone out – so, why would she leave a message?

I didn't bother listening to it straight away- I had tunnel vision.

I barrelled into her room, to find her bed completely empty. I stood there for a minute or two, trying to steady my breathing, and clear my head.

Message, Charlie!

I ran back downstairs just in time to catch the end of it, "I love you, Dad."

I rushed to the machine, rewound the tape and pressed 'play' again.

"You better not have done anything stupid, Bells," I growled to myself.

"Hi, Dad? I'm sorry you weren't up yet. I just need to…uh, let you know that…I'm going on a little trip – getting away for a while, you know? I promise I'll call as much as I can, and I'm sorry that I couldn't tell you this to your face – it was a last minute decision. I won't be gone long. I'm sorry. I'll call. I love you, Dad," she sighed, and then hung up.

The next thing I knew, my knees gave out and I was sitting against the wall, cradling my head in my hands.

What was she thinking?! She wasn't even eighteen yet! She had no rights to run off on her little whim, and expect me to be okay with it!

I sat up immediately, grabbing the cruiser keys and slamming the door behind me.

I would find her.

Edward

We ran out of gas, just as a station pulled into view.

Alice immediately jumped out and filled the car up, while she told me to pay. She was taking this 'I'm not stopping for more than a moment' thing seriously.

I wasn't too worried about Jasper. We would find him, and we would help him – I didn't understand why Alice and Rose were so antsy.

I went into the store and up to the cashier, passing him my card, and I tried not to hear his thoughts as he took it.

"Second guy to use their card… Doesn't anyone use god-damn, good, old-fashioned cash anymore? Obviously not… But that girl that was with him was H-O-T…"

An image of a young girl immediately sprang into his mind, and I recoiled from it.

Not only did I know exactly who that was, but the things the human was imagining doing to her made me furious, and I had no idea why.

Why would Bella Swan have been here? And why would I feel so fiercely protective of her?

I didn't know, but in the next moment I had pulled the cashier over the counter, and I was holding him up off the ground by his collar. But before I could say anything, an image flashed through his mind, and I could feel his terror.

Jasper…

He was baring his teeth and growling, and the cashier was shaking as he backed away from Bella.

Jasper…and Bella – together?

Was Bella the human that Jasper had taken to drain? She did smell delicious, but that was no excuse. I would destroy Jasper if he had harmed a hair on that girl's head, and I still didn't know why I would.

I was brought out of my thoughts by the pleading coming from the cashier, "Please, Man… Please… Put me down. I didn't do anything… Are you with that other guy?"

I growled, "He used his card, and I want the details."

The poor human nodded, stammering, "I've got them… Just let me down… Please…"

I dropped him over the other side of the counter, and he immediately pulled up something on the computer screen. His shaking hands snatched up a print-out from the computer, and he pushed it into my hands, along with my card.

I stormed out of the store, sliding into the driver's seat of Alice's waiting car, and speeding away.

"I still can't see," Alice said quietly from the back.

"No, but now we have some information," I murmured, throwing the print-out into her lap, and gunning down the road.

Bella

Jasper and I spent the afternoon snuggled up together under a large tree in Peter and Char's garden. It was the point where you had the most amazing view of the city, and we watched the buzz as we cuddled together in the shade.

Peter suddenly broke my blissful state, "Bells!"

He had already started calling me that, without any kind of prompting, but I didn't mind – it felt nice to have him be familiar with me.

He suddenly appeared next to me, cross-legged on the grass, "What do you say we take you out tonight? We need to celebrate your arrival."

I chuckled softly, "Sounds good." I turned to Jasper, "What about you, Major?"

He grinned – I knew he liked me calling him that, and I had picked it up so easily from Peter, even in one afternoon – "I think it's a great idea, Darlin'."

He nuzzled my neck sweetly, placing a few kisses over my pulse and I shivered deliciously. Peter was watching our intimacy shamelessly, his trademark grin on his face.

Suddenly Char's voice rang out, "Bella!"

She appeared in front of us all in a flash, and I smiled up at her brightly, "Yes, Char?"

She had one softly spoken word for me, "Shopping."

I bit back my groan – I hated shopping. I just hoped Char wasn't the kind of girl who wandered about aimlessly – I could deal with it then.

Almost as if she heard my thoughts, she smiled at me, "I promise it will be as painless as possible. In, out, leave."

"Oh, Char! You make it all sound so romantic!" I teased, giving her a sly wink.

Peter and Char's flirtatious natures were really rubbing off on me, and it hadn't even been a day yet.

She grinned at me, and helped me to my feet, "Let's go, now!"

"Okay, okay," I smirked, holding my hands up in surrender.

We walked to the garage, and when the electronic door pulled up, I beamed.

"You are so my heroes," I sighed.

I wasn't really interested in cars, but I could tell a nice truck when I saw one. It was obviously better than my rusty, red Chevy, but it had the same good feel to it. It was in a dark blue, and it was incredibly shiny, but I noticed mud spatters and I smiled at the thought of it being well-used – almost like it would be if a human owned it. I ignored the make – that didn't matter to me.

I hopped in immediately, and Char was right behind, but as Jasper and Peter went to squeeze in with us on the black leather seats, Char closed and locked the doors.

"Sorry, Boys," she sighed playfully. "It's girl time."

Peter immediately tried to get in, as did Jasper, but it was too late – Char had already sped away.

I looked back and waved at Jasper, knowing he would see and hear me, "Love you."

The last thing I saw, before Char turned a corner, was Jasper's slight grin and him mouthing my words right back at me.

"Let's shop!" Char beamed, "Jasper is going to have a fit when he sees you – the good kind of fit, that is."

I chuckled as she eagerly drove into the city, and parked in an underground lot. The sun had been replaced by clouds now, and I could see that the evening was quickly drawing in, so we could walk about freely.

"Come on, Bella! Anyone would think that you don't like shopping," she teased, pulling me towards some expensive-looking stores.

"Uh, Char?" I breathed, worried.

"Yes?"

"I don't have that kind of money," I grimaced, and she stopped in her tracks, turning to me.

"Bella!" She sighed, hugging me tightly, "This is all on Peter and me. It's the least we can do, in return for making Jasper so happy."

"Really, that's lovely, Char, but I'm not worth all that money."

For the first time, Char looked kind of angry. Her peaceful expression had contorted into an annoyed frown, and, luckily, it wasn't directed at me.

"Bella, you are so worth it," she whispered, hugging me. "I'm going to give Jasper a piece of my mind if he hasn't told you that."

I chuckled, "Char, it's my own opinion. Jasper loves me."

I blushed when I realised what I had said outright. I knew we had said it to each other, and I knew Peter and Char had heard, etc., etc. – but it felt kind of weird saying it out-loud. It almost made me feel ill – in a really, really good way. Saying it out-loud grounded me, and put me in the position I suddenly felt I had been skirting around – I was Jasper's. Every inch of me was his, and I couldn't be happier about it. I didn't know why I hadn't completely given into it earlier!

Char kissed me on the cheek, joy written all over her face, "I'm so glad."

I grinned, and she pulled me towards the scariest of the shops.

"Uh-oh," I breathed.

It was the most obvious sexy lingerie shop I had ever seen – the kind of place I couldn't even look at without blushing, which I was doing then and there.

"Really, Char?" I asked.

She smiled at me blindingly, "Bella, you have no extra clothes, so you need new underwear. Why not get sexy underwear while we're at it? Jasper will just die…among other things."

I shut my eyes, "Just get it over with, Char. I don't want to see what you're buying."

Her lovely laugh rang out, and we began my torture session.

Jasper

"Man, you can't go an hour without her!" Peter sighed, exasperated.

I was sitting on the edge of the couch in the living room, trying to watch the ball game on the T.V. - the operative word in that sentence being 'trying'. If I were a human I would be sweating up a storm while twitching nervously – I had the twitching thing down to an art. It was like Bella withdrawal, just without the small dosage patches – I was going cold turkey, alone.

Every now and then I would catch a flash of her scent from my clothes and I would relax. But then I was reminded that she wasn't with me, and I began to get nervous all over again.

No, she's with Char – she will be perfectly fine…

I wasn't appeased one bit.

"Do you think we could go find them?" I asked hopefully.

"Major," Peter said, giving me a hard look, "you might be a feared and powerful vampire, but you haven't seen Char shopping. She will cut off your most prized possession, nail you to a cross, and dance around your burning body – if you interrupt her shopping trip. She might be an angel, but she's anything but when it comes to sales and shoes."

I grimaced, she sounded like Alice, but I knew Char was far better than her. I hoped Bella wasn't having too bad a time. I could feel her reluctance and fear at the word 'shopping,' earlier.

Peter grinned, "She'll call soon, Major. I've got a feeling she's changed her plans a bit."

I frowned at him.

How does he always know these things? He refuses he's got a gift, but he's always so…

The home phone rang.

…right.

He picked up the phone with a very smug grin.

"Hey, Baby," he cooed, and I heard Char giggle.

"Hey, Petey. Bella and I are having so much fun," she chuckled, and I could hear a 'yeah, right' from Bella in the background.

"What are you calling to tell us?" Peter asked, smiling to himself – as if he didn't already know.

"I'm calling to say that Bella and I will finish up and meet you at the Gallery."

"What time, Baby?" Peter grinned at me – he knew I was itching to grab the phone and talk to Bella.

"Meet us at eight. We'll be the two gorgeous ladies sitting at the bar," she giggled, and I heard Bella scoff.

"Jasper – if you can hear me, just know that if I don't come out of this alive, I love you," Bella sighed.

"What's happening, Darlin'?" I asked softly, trying to grab the phone from a reluctant Peter.

"It's only a shoe store," Char sighed heavily.

"Jasper, it is seven fucking levels high!" Bella growled, "You want to know the name? 'Death by Shoes'. I'm never going to make it – start carving a tombstone."

I purred slightly when I heard her swear – it was so hot. I could tell Peter thought the same thing, because I felt his rush of lust, and his eyes hooded over a little.

"We'll let you get on before you make the Major miss you anymore, Bells," he said huskily, hanging up.

I growled, "Hey! I wanted to talk to her, Peter!"

"Major, if she carried on talking with that sweet little mouth, uttering anymore of those profanities, you would be more pissed off than you are now at my reaction."

I couldn't argue with him there. I was so turned on and my body was aching for her, just from that one unexpected word. I couldn't help the images of what my Bella would look like beneath me, above me, joining with me, and I couldn't help the sounds I imagined her making. I was instantly hard, and I had to run outside for fresher air before Peter noticed.

"Major, if you think I didn't see the General standing to attention, you're sorely mistaken!" He boomed, and I growled back.

"Fuck off, Peter!"

He just laughed, and I focused on the darkening sky instead of my intense desire for my lovely Bella.

I would see her very soon, and even though we had already made the intentions of our physical relationship clear today, I was going to have to talk to her about it again – tonight. We wanted each other, and it would happen when the time was right, but I was going to have to tell her how deeply she affected me. She had to understand what she did to me, and, when she did, I prayed she would be kind.