BPOV
"So exactly how much do you know about us?" Jasper asked. I looked down at him from my spot in the tree and smiled. We had successfully started a new and less painful conversation but now it was back to the 20 questions.
"Not as much as you probably think." I answered and carefully moved down to the branch he was on. We were not as high as he would have liked to go but we weren't too close to the ground either.
"Well, what do you know?" he asked again, looking up from the branch below me.
"I know that you drink from animals. I know your abilities and I got the gist of everyone's personalities." I rattled off the small things I knew and he smiled. God, he had a gorgeous smile. And those eyes...so big and bright.
"How many visions have you had? Like of us?" he asked. I bit my lip thinking.
"I had one in our last town. I didn't see too much but I saw you." I smirked, trying to fight down the feeling of attraction. I was not sure if he caught it or not.
"So you had a vision of me and said let's go to Forks?" he asked, only half joking. I blushed a little and looked away. Maybe he did catch it.
"When I have my visions, I feel everything. I feel the heat or cold and I feel how I feel." I explained and I felt his gaze on me.
"What did you feel when you had the vision?" he asked and I mentally yelled at myself for telling him.
"I felt safe." I answered. Damn me and my mouth. Maybe he wouldn't push it.
"And?" he pressed.
I bit back a groan and picked at the, now fascinating, half-eaten leaf on the twig closest to me. "And what?"
"That's all you felt?" he asked. The disbelief was clear in his voice. I moved my eyes back to his and smiled softly.
"That's all I needed to feel to come here, Jasper." I told him, only half-lying. It is all I needed to come here but it was not the only thing that made me jump and go pack when I had my first vision of him. He studied me for a second, probably trying to feel my emotions. I prayed that he wouldn't catch onto the extra emotions or if he did, maybe he would leave it be for now.
"I'm sorry. I didn't mean to press or offend you." he smiled and I breathed a sigh of relied. His eyebrows raised and I hurried to change the subject.
"Why did you keep it?" I blurted out and he furrowed his brows. "The journal?" I clarified.
"Oh, that." he mumbled and scratched his head. "Um I'm not sure. I just never had the heart to get rid of it. I guess it kept me in touch with my human past. Reminded me where I came from." I could see a far away look in his eyes and I frowned.
"You don't remember do you?" I asked softly.
"My human days? No. I lost those memories decades ago. I only remembered them for a few years after my change," he told me with a soft smile. He seemed sad, lost.
"Do you wonder what you were like or what it was like being human?" I wondered. He paused for a moment and finally shrugged.
"Not often. I know I was a good soldier but that's it," he said as he pulled himself up on the branch next to mine. He was face to face with me now. "I guess I don't want to try and think of it."
"Afraid you'll start to get bitter?" I asked. I will admit I was curious. I might know about him and his family from my visions but I do not know more than what I have seen. I just know I was safe and comfortable.
He chuckled, "Something like that. Also, that I might not like what I remember."
"What? Like that you were a bad person or something?" I pressed and he smirked at me.
"Yeah, or that I was a really good person that turned into this." he said and waved a hand to himself. I frowned.
"Turned into what? A good guy?" I retorted and his face dropped. He was serious now.
"A damned soul." he said gravely. I took a deep breath before reaching over to the branch by his head and pulling myself onto his branch. One of his hands shot out to grab my waist and helped me to sit beside him. I looked over at him and laid a hand on his chest.
"You might be damned but you're not bad. You're not evil."
"How do you know that?" he whispered, his arm still wound around my waist. I smirked at him and tapped my temple.
"Because I've seen you." I told him and he rolled his eyes. "Past, present and future. You're good, not evil." I saw darkness in his eyes when I mentioned his past and I wondered if he would say anything.
He did.
"And that leads back to our original conversation, what all have you seen?" he asked hesitantly.
"Enough to say that you don't have to explain yourself to me right now." I whispered and he lowered his head. I felt his grip on me tighten a little and I hurried to lighten the subject.
"I saw you in the first one. You were driving and I saw the 'Welcome to Forks' sign. I had touched a fork, go figure, and hoped that you were in the town." I rolled my eyes playfully and he chuckled.
"So you knew me when you saw me?" he asked.
I nodded, "Yep. Granted, it took me a minute to see that you were real. I thought you were just a vision of my imagination and then I met Alice in class." I admitted and I felt the heat go to my cheeks. I could feel him smiling and prayed he would not push that right now.
"Did you know about her then?" he asked and I shook my head.
"No, I knew she was a vampire but I didn't realize she had a power until lunch when she touched me. I could feel it. The look in her eyes when she says things," I smiled. "It's the look that I have when I know what I saw."
"The look of recognition mixed with confidence." he chuckled.
"Exactly." I smiled. "I went around touching things that afternoon and night, trying to get visions. Adeline almost caught me." I laughed at that memory. Adeline had walked into my room as I was touching my windowsill and gave me a very curious look before she just turned around and left. Half an hour later she came back to find me staring and poking at the bathroom door knob. I wasn't sure what I was hoping to get from that object but anything was better than nothing at that point.
"Did you get any?" he asked and I tilted my head back and forth.
"A few. I touched a baseball bat downstairs in the living room and that's what I realized Edward's powers." His eyes shined at this.
"We were playing baseball weren't we?" he smirked and I laughed.
"Yeah, in the field. Emmett missed the ball and you had to calm him down. All the while Alice and Edward were cheating to make him loose." I said with a grin. His shoulders shook with laughter.
"That sounds about right." he nodded. "Where were you?" he asked after a moment's pause.
"I was watching." I smiled and he looked at me curiously.
"Did you already know my power?"
"I had an idea." I nodded. It was vague but I was not sure if he would want to know the story. A few things he wanted to know and other's he didn't.
"Spill." he demanded playfully and pinched my side gently. I giggled and moved from his hands.
"I remember one short vision when I was unpacking at the B&E. I grabbed the teddy bear that Adeline got me when she took me away." I started. He gave me an odd look when I mention the teddy bear but I waved my hand. "It always made me feel safe. Well, when I grabbed it I had a vision of you and me." I paused again and tried to read his face.
"Go on." he urged and I smiled.
"I remember it being dark and stormy. Anyways, you were," I paused again and he sighed. "-hugging me and I felt safe. I didn't say anything but you told me, I should always feel safe and that you weren't leaving. Between that and the other visions, I figured that you could feel emotions somehow." I watched as a small smile crossed his face and his grip tightened on me once more. Then in a flash, it was gone and he was frowning and rubbing his face.
"Jeeze, I can't believe I didn't know." he grumbled and looked over at me. "Knowing now, it's like everything was yelling at me but I wasn't listening. Alice had an inkling but we never thought a human could have a power like this."
"What did you all think?" I asked. I had wondered this from day one. I knew they had to have been thinking a variety of things but never knew exactly what.
"Honestly, I think we all thought you and Adeline were runaways. She was your older sister or something and you two ran off," he told me.
"Really?" I asked shocked. I didn't think it would look like something that...simple.
"Yeah. It was the human thing to think but then you and Alice started talking more and with what I was feeling it seemed like there was more." he froze as soon as the words left his mouth. I felt him tense and then slowly move his arm from around me.
"What were you feeling?" I asked and he stayed quiet. His eyes were focused on the forest around us. I reached out and grabbed his chin, turning it to me. When his eyes found mine, I asked again. "Jazz, what did you feel?"
"You emotions." he whispered sadly. "The pain and fear. After a while, it started to fade but I could still feel it. Then the way you were acting..." he trailed off and stared at me. I knew he was trying to feel what I was feeling.
"No, it's okay." I smiled and he shook his head. "The people...I try not to act that way but I can't really help it, ya know? It's become a habit to shy away from touches. I don't realize I do it half the time." I assure him. I could see the sadness in his eyes and it was making me feel worse.
"You're getting better though," he whispered and I cocked my head to the side.
"What gives you the impression that I'm getting any better?" I asked. He smirked and looked around the forest.
"Well, you're out here alone with me, aren't you?" he asked. "I might not know you that well but I do know that men in your past have hurt you and the last place you would be, if you weren't getting better, is somewhere alone with a guy." He had a point. I have not been this close to guy, let alone be alone with one, since Adeline got to me. I was not scared though. In the hallway on my first day, when the teacher found me, I was scared but not now. Not with Jasper.
"You're right about my past. Men have hurt me." I agreed, looking out in the woods. "But in my future, no one does."
EmPOV
Bam. Bam, Bam!
Crack.
I was extremely happy that I could not feel pain or get hurt or else my whole arm would be shattered from the force of my hitting the large oak tree in our front yard. I heard the leaves crunching under Rosalie's heels as she walked over to me.
"Emmett?" she whispered. I knew she knew why I was mad. "Calm down." she added in an even softer voice. My hand froze half way to the next tree and I spun on my heel to face her. It wasn't very often that I saw her flinch but when she looked up at me, she did.
"Calm down?" I said through gritted teeth and clenched both fists at my side. I saw her face fall when she realized that was a stupid thing to say.
"I know." she held her hands up to try to stop my rant but I wasn't having it.
"No, you don't. You know what it's like to be hurt in that way, yes," I shouted and threw my hands in the air. Her face was fallen and shocked but I was too pissed to care at that point. "But you don't know what it's like for me to hear that." I told her and shoved a finger to my chest.
"It's hard," she mumbled and I laughed a loud. Hard? Really?
"It's more than just hard, Rose. Like when I found out about you and what that-" I closed my eyes and paused to take an unnecessary deep breath. "-bastard did to you. Remember what happened?" I asked. I opened my eyes to see her nod stiffly.
"You left for three days." she whispered. I knew it was hard for her to remember but I had to make a point now. "Carlisle said you needed to process things."
"Yes and take my aggressions out." I added and clasped my heads behind my head as I paced in front of her. I remember those three days as if it was last week. After she told me what happened between her and Royce on the day she was changed, I flipped out. I had never felt such anger. It was pure rage, I swear. I took off into the forests of Montana but didn't get far until Carlisle found me. I told him I needed time alone and he let me. I wrecked complete havoc in the mountains and by the time I was done, it looked like an avalanche of rocks had tumbled off the side and into the woods on the outside of a tiny town. I left to go back home after three days and didn't say a word about where I was. I simply walked into the house, scooped Rose up in my arms and carried her to our room so I could make love to her; show her what love really was. She and Esme both asked about where I had gone and what I did but I never told. I wanted it all behind me and after a while, they let it go.
I walked up to her and laid my hands on her shoulder as gently as I could, "I grew up in the south, Rose. My Ma and Pa taught me that being a man was opening your woman's door, brining her candy and telling her, she looked beautiful. Begin a man meant cutting up the firewood to make a fire, building her a nice house with your own two hands and brining dinner home. It meant bowing down to her feet and confessing my undying love for her because she was the one that cleaned my house, cooked my dinner and gave me children. That made a woman and that is a hell of a lot more than us men could ever do, Rose. That is what a man is and that is what he does." I told her and I saw a ghost of a smile on her lips. Everyone in the family knew what I stood for. I grew up with values and luckily enough, I kept them after my change.
"He doesn't get drunk and help gang rape his fiancée, he doesn't smack his wife, daughter or mother around because he's mad and he sure as hell doesn't molest his own flesh and blood." I growled and moved my hands away from her before I crushed her shoulders. "What Royce and Bryce's father and brother are," I stopped again. Rose's eyes were getting red and if it were at all possible, she would be crying. I hated brining up her past. Moreover, I hated to remind her of what happened to Bryce. She of all people knew how it felt to be taken advantage of. Rose might not have liked Bryce before but she sure as hell would now or would at least try to make an effort.
"They aren't men and they aren't like me." I finished. I thought it best not to say anything else. "So it's a little more than hard for me to hear. It is a fucking sin and it is worse than the fucking monsters that everyone thinks we are. It's fucking ridiculous!"
Even for my tuned ears, the silence was deafening. I turned way from my wife and rested my forehead on the tree. I felt like crap now. I just blew up at her about the worst thing possible. God, I was an idiot.
"Emmett." she whispered. I felt her hands on my back but I didn't move. She walked around to my front and slid between the tree and me. Her forehead now rested on mine.
"What?" I mumbled, not looking at her. Her hands cupped my face and she moved my face so I would look at her. She was smiling.
"I love you."
And just like that, everything was okay. I felt my lips turn up and I wrapped my arms around her.
"Ah Rose, baby, I love you too. I'm sorry for going off like that." I apologized as she hugged me back.
"No, it's okay. I blew off how you would feel about it. I admit I only think of how the victim feels and not how the people around them feel. I'm sorry I blew off your feelings like that." she rubbed my back and pulled away from me. "It was wrong and very selfish."
I tucked a piece of her hair behind her ear and sighed, "I still didn't mean to yell like that."
She laid her hand on my cheek and smile at me, "It's fine. You needed to let it out and I am glad you did. Plus, it reminded me what a good man you are." I smirked at her and she dropped her hand to my chest. "You are a good man, Emmett McCarty. Don't let anyone tell you differently." I kissed her forehead and pulled her in my arms for another hug.
I buried my face in her hair and sighed, "I've heard about it from you and then on the television but I've never met this face to face like this. I don't know how to act. How do I act?" Her arms squeezed me a little and she looked up at me.
"She won't want your sympathy. It is like a slap in the face. So do not let her know that you feel bad for her by staring or being too careful. It will remind her that it really did happen. Act as normal as you can. Be careful around her but not too careful. Playful gestures but only when she is already in a good mood. Do not touch her unless she knows you are there and gives you the go-ahead. After a while you'll learn what you can and cannot do." she assured me and I soaked in her words.
I was afraid I would mess up.
"We're lucky that she feels safe with us as it is." she added and I nodded. This was true.
"Yeah."
I heard another set of footsteps and looked over my shoulder. It was Esme, looking very upset. I wasn't sure if it was the fact that she just heard that a young girl was being beaten by her father and molested by her brother or that she was angry that I had nearly torn down her house. I mentally kicked myself for thinking the last one. I knew Esme would be upset with me for beating up the house before I left but that was the last thing she would be worried about. Bryce was number one priority now.
"Rose, Em." she asked and I moved to stand next to Rose. "Is everything okay?"
"Yeah, Mom. I just freaked out a little." I sighed and she walked over to my other side.
"I know, honey." she sympathized and patted my side. "But she's stronger than we think. Her visions keep her strong."
I nodded a little, "Yeah because she can see that she'll be okay one day."
"She's okay already, Em. It just takes time for the paranoia and habits to ease off." Rose interjected and I pulled her closer to my side.
Esme rubbed my side and nodded in agreement, "Rose is right. She looks worse than she is."
"But what about what Jasper feels?" I huffed and moved my arms from them. I was still afraid of crushing them by accident. I knew it wouldn't really hurt them but I wasn't about to do it by accident. "He said it's the worst pain he's ever felt and he's felt a lot."
"The wounds run deep, babe. Just because she's starting to move on, it doesn't mean the pain went away." Rose told me and I rubbed my hand over my face. This was all too much, even for a vampire.
Esme cleared her throat gently and I looked over at her, "Also Edward thinks that she might have forced herself to dwell on the pain."
"Why?" I asked incredulously. Rose looked just as confused as I was.
"So Jasper would notice it." she shrugged. "If she knew he could feel emotions, she could have focused on those memories." That kind of made sense. Kind of.
Rose bit her lip, "It'd be like her calling out to him, 'Hey. I'm right here!'" She looked over Esme who nodded.
"Exactly. But we're not sure." she added. "Carlisle wants to talk to her alone." I scoffed and they looked at me oddly.
"Will Adeline let him?" I asked and Esme smirked. Apparently, I was not the only one who noticed how clingy and overprotective Adeline was with Bryce. Then again. I cannot say I blame her. I would be up her ass 24/7 if it was my job, not literally though.
"Yeah, that's what we've been talking about. She told us the more detailed side of things and well," Esme rolled her eyes. "-before her and Edward got into it, again, we invited them to stay here." I followed her action and rolled my eyes. They could not get along if the fate of all humankind depended on it.
"What did they get into it about?" Rose asked, taking the words right out of my mouth.
Esme waved a hand in the air and explained, "Edward got a little nasty when Adeline told us that they didn't know who murdered Bryce's family. He pulled the 'you're an angel and you show know this shit' card and Adeline didn't like that." I smirked at her when she imitated Edward's voice and used air quotes. She was quite the comedienne when she wanted to be.
"Great." Rose grumbled and moved back to my side.
"Yeah, so they are tense but she agreed to stay here." she grinned and I nodded. "It'd be safer here." I definitely agreed with that one.
"Does she think that whoever killed Bryce will be coming back?" Rose asked. I never thought to think about that but I guess it would be the reason for them running from town to town.
"They think so." Esme sighed. "The people who order Adeline around might not know who killed Bryce's family but they are worried that they want to finish the job."
Silence.
This day really does keep getting better.
"They know she's alive, don't they?" I asked, not really wanting to hear the answer.
Esme nodded sadly, "Yes, and they know Adeline took her. Adeline is also worried that the public will find her."
"Why?" Rose asked before I could. Esme clasped her hands in front of her and wrung them together. She was nervous. Oh no, that just means it gets worse.
"The police never found her missing..." she trailed off and looked over at Rose and me.
"They declared her kidnapped, didn't they?" We asked at the same time.
"Yes, again." Esme sighed. I groaned and rubbed my face again. Why did I feel like I needed a nap? "Adeline is worried that if the killer doesn't find Bryce first, the police will and they will take Bryce away-"
I interrupted, "And then they will go after her because they think that Bryce could identify them." I knew this. It was like listening to CNN, there is a new twist or turn every second and with each one, it gets worse.
"Exactly." she nodded again.
"So she's hiding from two people?" Rose asked and crossed her arms over her chest. I wondered what she was thinking. She was very protective of our secret and us and being involved with murderers and police, she might not agree to stay in contact with them.
"It seems so." Esme told her. From her jittery hands, it seemed that she was thinking the same thing that I was. Was Rose going to freak out and tell them to leave, or would she help like the rest of us wanted to?
After a moment's silence, we got our answer.
"So we just keep her hidden," she announced. Esme and I let out simultaneous sighs of relief and Rose glared at us. I wrapped an arm around her and kissed her head.
"You make it sound so easy." Esme whispered and I smirked.
"It is. We have two people who can see the future, a house full of vampires, a Guardian Angel, a mind reader, an empath and me." I reminded them and pointed to our house. "If we can't protect one person, who is one of the future seers, something is severely wrong with us."
That seemed to boost their spirits but why did it sound like I was trying to convince myself and not them?
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