Oh my gosh, so I totally stopped this chapter half way through. So sorry, but I was totally ready to go onto the next one. Hopefully chapter 11 (which I have a bit more of a plot for) will make up for it! -

Fool

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The trip seemed almost too familiar… Strange. He'd never been to Washington before. It must've just been the feeling of being on the road again that had him wound so tight.

And the fact that the entire clan was moving because of him.

Because he was too weak.

Weak.

That word had been echoing in Jasper's mind for the last week. They traveled by foot, which was to be expected. Rosalie was reluctant to give up her car, but Emmett promised he'd make it up to her. By the way he was feeling, Jasper was nearly positive he didn't want to know how he was going to make it up.

As always, Alice rode contently on his back, burying her face in his neck and the hood of his jacket. Jasper would stop occasionally to make sure she didn't need anything. She was always perfectly fine. That didn't stop him from worrying. "Alice," he would say. "Anything you want, you tell me, alright? I don't want this to end up like last time when we were so unhappy." She would always smile and say, "All I need is you." If his heart was functional, it would have pumped right out of his shining, marled chest.

"Alice," he muttered as they ran several hundred feet behind Edward who was the next in line ahead of them. Alice nodded in response. "Why Forks?" He had refrained from asking thus far. "Think about it, Jazz," she said softly in a bored voice. "Why Washington?" Jasper considered the position and immediately discarded its location because of it's proximity to the water. It would be easy for the enemy to attack from the East, only taking them a day to directly attack or surround the entire state. But Jasper knew Alice wasn't speaking from a military point of view, so he thought again. Forks was, no doubt, a boring, small town, so… "It's a good place because of the lack of activity," he said. Alice nodded. "What else?" she asked, as if she were teaching Jasper to solve a very simple puzzle. Washington…it rained a lot in Seattle. Was Forks near Seattle? Why would rain be useful? People didn't like rain so they wouldn't…get near them? Or…or…rain meant…

Jasper looked at the sky. The sun wasn't out today. It was covered by… "It's cloudy there so we can go out during the day, right?" Jasper knew from living with the Cullen's for the last few weeks that avoiding the sun was something you wanted to do while living near humans. They didn't take kindly to the sparkling. Alice giggled. "Yes, and what else?" He had never been to Forks, but he had an idea. The burning in his throat told him Carlisle would probably decide to move them somewhere where they could get a fairly decent meal. "Are there lots of woods there?" Alice nodded again. "Good for hunting," she said, leaning her cheek against his back again. "Thank God for that," he said quietly. Alice chuckled again. "May I help you?" he asked with one eyebrow raised. "Your accent is so cute, Jazzy," she said in a squeak. Jasper laughed shortly.

After a few weeks of running – it was much easier having a specific location rather than getting lost all the time – they finally arrived to the tiny, pathetic town of Forks. For those of you who don't know, the population in 1950 was six hundred and seventeen people – fairly small. When they arrived, however, Carlisle made sure that they were not seen at all. They entered the town through the woods. "You all had better stay here," he told the gang. "Edward and I will survey the area and make sure it's alright." They took off immediately, leaving the rest to wait helplessly. Jasper hated being helpless. He remained completely silent as they waited, not letting go of Alice or moving an inch. About ten minutes later, they were back with news. "The town seems alright," Carlisle told them. "It's very small…the people here seem generous. And I might have found a place for us to live."

It was a dump. Jasper didn't even know how the building was still standing. The mansion was three stories tall, with boarded up windows and nests of spiders to boot. He was disgusted with it, and Alice didn't seem too pleased, but the Cullen family seemed right at home. All five of them filed into the large foyer in the front and immediately they seemed completely comfortable. Even Rosalie, who Jasper was sure would go on and on about how horrible the house was, didn't even say a word. She sat right down on the disgusting sofa and began cuddling and talking with Emmett. Edward began to wander upstairs to check the place out and Carlisle walked out the back door to see how close the house was from town. The only person that remained in the room with them now was Esme, who was, curiously enough, measuring a wall.

Alice danced over to Esme to hold the measuring tape for her. "Esme, what are you doing?" she asked curiously. "I'm measuring this wall to see if a piano will fit, sweetie," she said in a dreamy voice. "A piano? For what?" Alice squeaked, reeling the tape measure back in and crossing the room to be with Esme. "Edward loves to play the piano," she said examining the framework of a very fragile looking door. "Oh yes," Alice said smiling. "I forgot about Edward's love for music." She moved to stand directly next to Esme now, becoming fascinated with what she was observing. "Are you considering fixing up the house, Esme?" Jasper asked quietly. She turned to him. "Yes, in fact, I am. That is one of my favourite hobbies. Whenever Carlisle and I move somewhere, I fix up a house for us to live in." She smiled lovingly at him. Jasper couldn't help but return with a small grin. "I've built Emmett and Rosalie several houses already." She snickered lightly. "Several?" Alice piped in again, now examining the framework also, trying to find out what was so interesting about it. "Why would you need more than one house?"

Emmett laughed from the other room. It was a deep, rumbling noise that nearly shook the old mansion to the core. "We accidently knocked 'em down, Alice," he said with a grin. Rosalie smiled slyly and kissed his neck. Ew gross. Alice's eyes grew wide. "Oh…wow." Emmett grinned at her again. "Jasper, we never knocked down a house before," she whispered to him. Emmett looked at Jasper expectantly. "No," Jasper said confidently. "That's because we've never lived in a house, sweetie. We've knocked down forests though." Alice smiled and nodded thoughtfully. That wiped the smug look off Emmett's face.

--

In a short month, Esme had fixed up the house to look brand new, Carlisle had acquired a job at the hospital in town under a different name, and they'd all resumed they're family roles. Carlisle had adopted Esme, Edward, and Rosalie. Emmett was his nephew and Alice and Jasper were the cousins. One big happy family. The townspeople didn't even know about the kids though, and Jasper found it foolish to assume the positions. As far as the people of Forks, Washington were aware, Carlisle and his foster daughter, Emily (Esme), lived alone in the mansion in the woods. And because Carlisle was such a good doctor, he became popular very quickly. So no one bothered him about his family history.

"And why did you two change your names?" Rosalie asked one night when they were all lounging in the living room. Alice, who had been sitting on the floor in front of the couch, turned to face Rosalie behind her. "I told you, I saw us leaving here, then coming back a few years later," Alice said simply. Rose stared at her, obviously unsatisfied with her answer. "Then why would we even bother coming here in the first place?" Alice blinked. "I'm not sure," she said with a blank expression. "I just saw us coming here. But if we use our real names now, before we leave, then when we come back, people will notice we haven't changed." Alice nodded. Emmett chuckled. "You're wacko," he said sliding onto the floor and giving Alice a tight hug around the shoulders. Jasper tensed, staring at Emmett intently. Calm down. He told himself. It's only Emmett, he's not going to do anything to hurt Alice. He continued to frown as he watched them. "Ow, Em, you're strong," Alice said. Jasper was about to tackle Emmett away from her, when Alice wriggled free from his grip and jumped up onto the couch and planted herself in Jasper's lap. "I still don't see the point," Rosalie muttered as Alice clipped her tiny arms around Jasper's neck and giving him a peck on the cheek.