Chapter 11

"How'd it go?" Rose asked as I hopped in the truck behind the wheel. She was waiting in the passenger seat and the back of the truck had been loaded with our 'supplies'.

I snickered, "I think he needs a new outfit."

Rose laughed with me as we made our way back to the house. Now that that was taken care of I could focus better on just how I was going to save Bella.

Rose really had not gotten to spend much time with Bella. They did not talk at all when they were waiting for us at the theater. Rose was too scared to try she said. I guess I couldn't blame her. The idea of making Bella worse was pretty frightening. I was so glad the whole Mike thing hadn't seemed to set her back. I hoped Emmett was doing alright with her. I pulled my phone out after we had gotten home and unloaded the truck. Rose had spent the day cleaning up the house and making it look livable again. Uncovering the furniture and dusting.

"Jazz?" Rose requested.

"Yeah?" I turned towards her about ready to call Emmett and see how things were going. "Well two things. One, don't call, I think it's about dinner time and you don't want to interrupt. And two, should I go buy some food to keep here for Bella?" She made a good point about not calling right now. I'm sure Emmett would love any excuse to not have to eat. Rose mentioned he grumbled all night about the popcorn incident.

'Come on you're a vampire take it like a man!' I thought. Oh well. 'Um. Food for Bella?'

"I dunno, Rose. I guess you could get some snack foods just in case she comes over. But I don't know how she'll react to bein' here. Honestly, she got rid of everythin' that reminded her of Fuckward and I assume this house is one big ass reminder," I stated truthfully.

I just didn't even know how to approach the subject with Bella about her coming over to the house. Maybe neither of us was ready for that. Shit, she didn't seem comfortable in her own house, why would I think she might be comfortable in someone else's?

I shrugged at Rose and made my way to the living room. I heard her following behind. I guess we were just going to have to wait until Emmett came home or called. I decided to tell Rose a bit more about Bella and we discussed if I should call Carlisle. I didn't know what to do about the cutting thing. I knew that was a psychology issue and I had taken basic psychology in college but it wasn't a topic I typically found interesting. Knowing people's emotions was psychology enough for me. Of course, Bella had to be different even in that aspect.

In the end we decided it would be good to call Carlisle and get his opinion.

During the phone call, the one thing we realized was a regular doctor probably couldn't help Bella because her issue centered on supernatural creatures and she was going to get locked up if she told the truth. Either that or we'd have the Volturi on our asses and neither option seemed acceptable. So, I decided maybe we needed to get some information on her problems off the internet. I found a site that was useful and guided me to services in the area along with an 800 number for people to call. I learned a bit and gathered the information for Bella. Maybe it could help her. I don't think she was quite ready to look at it yet though. This is not something you can push on people, that's what one of the websites said, approach it delicately.

I guess right now she didn't seem to be dangerous to herself. With the exception of the lack of eating but even with that she was doing okay as long as Emmett and I 'suffered' with her. I shook my head as I made my way to my room to get cleaned up before going over to Bella's for the night. I knew Emmett loved her and he wanted to stay with her, but frankly I needed to be with her. It was killing me not being near her. I knew she was okay, Em's there and she's got Charlie. But I was anxious to see it for myself.

'When did I become so needy?'

Emmett called and said Bella was sleepy so I should come over. He was going to stay with her until I got there. That was fine. I left Rose with a kiss on the cheek and wave. She chuckled at me as I bolted out the door excited to get back to Bella. I ran as fast as I could and made my way to the front door of her house. I listened. There was a heartbeat in the living room.

"Come on in," Emmett whispered very quietly. I opened the unlocked door.

I sensed contentment and apprehension as I opened the door. What in the world? As soon as I was through the door I noticed Emmett lying on the sofa with a kitten-like Bella curled up on his chest hugging a medium size stuffed white bear to her chest. She was sound asleep wearing gray yoga pants and a black t-shirt. She had the bear in an iron 'bear hug' with a finger twirled around the red ribbon with white hearts tied around his neck. The contentment was hers with her underlying anger, sadness, and despair, but where'd she get the bear? I'd never seen it before. The apprehension was Emmett's.

"What's wrong? And where'd the bear come from?" I asked, smiling at the scene before me. She really was adorable.

He whispered, "I just didn't want you to be mad when you saw us like this. And, I gave her the bear after you left. It's a Valentine's Day bear I got at the store on our way out here. I told her I had a gift for her yesterday. It was the bear. I just didn't give it to her yesterday. I'm glad I waited. After the shitty day she had I think it made a difference. She hasn't put it down since I put it in her hands." He smiled and was radiating brotherly love and a little pride.

"I'm glad it made her happy. She's very content right now which is not typical when she's asleep." I let him know, so he understood that he did a good job.

It just occurred to me, "Charlie's upstairs, right?" I could feel and hear him. Emmett nodded. He knew what I was asking though.

"We were watching a game and Bella was sitting next to me, leaning on me. Well, before I knew it she had crawled into my lap and was sleeping sitting up. So I rotated and leaned back. Charlie told me to lie down if I could, we'd both be more comfortable."

He shrugged and continued, "He didn't seem to care at all, dude. When the game was over he asked what I wanted to do about leaving. I told him I'd lay here for a while and see if she woke up, so I could send her to bed but I didn't want to wake her up. He said it was fine if I stayed the night on the couch either way. Just to call you guys and let you know. So he handed me the phone and went to bed."

He was smiling brightly, happy to have been so accepted by Charlie. He waved the phone around in the air and then set it back down on the floor.

I was very glad Charlie was happy with Emmett, but I was also a bit jealous that it wasn't me. I tried to push that thought away. Emmett was her brother in every sense of the word except blood. Hell, even Charlie liked him. Us.

I smiled at him but didn't really want to ask my next question, "So… what do you want to do, Em?" I knew I wanted to cuddle up with her tonight but I really didn't want to take this away from either of them. They needed bonding time too, even if she was asleep. Even with a broken nose and two black eyes she was adorable on top of his chest. I made a last minute decision and took my cell phone out. I snapped a picture and sent it to Rose, and Em, so he'd have it.

He laughed at me but was grateful that I did it. It was dark enough in the room you couldn't tell that she was all busted up. I sent it to Carlisle and Esme as well. I figured after the worrisome talk we had earlier they may enjoy seeing this. They did. Esme sent back a lengthy thanks and she was happy we were helping. Carlisle sent back a smiley face. Carlisle never was a man of many words. I chuckled at his text, while waiting for Emmett to answer my question. Since I had distracted him earlier with the picture I asked again, "So… what do you want to do, Em?"

He sighed. I felt his longing, love, and hesitation.

I smiled at him. "Do you want to wait until she wakes up and move her to her bed? Or… I can keep her asleep all night just like that and you can hold her?" I asked.

His large arms gently wrapped around her frail sleeping form. He was feeling unsure, so I made the decision for him. I quickly ran upstairs and grabbed her quilt off her bed. I brought it back down and Em moved his arms so the quilt was between them at least on top and he tucked it under her as much as he could without jostling her. She was doing well by herself so I decided to leave her alone for now. It was probably better for her to sleep naturally if at all possible.

I called Rose to come over for a little while. There was no reason for her to sit at home alone when we were all here. I took the recliner and she sat at the end of sofa with Emmett's big feet in her lap. We talked all night and I told Emmett about what happened in the store with Mike. We also let him know about our research and our talk with Carlisle. Emmett then began to tell us of his afternoon and evening with Bella.

He said, after I left, he gave her the ice for her face but she didn't leave it on too long. He tried to get her to talk about anything from what it was like living with her mom to how her classes were going and she just wasn't very talkative. He was a little discouraged but remembered the teddy bear he had in the jeep. He went and got it and that seemed to bring her out of her funk a little more. We were a little worried what was going to happen when she woke up and had to give the teddy bear up to go to school.

I honestly didn't see anything wrong with taking it but Rosalie said she wouldn't because it would bring attention to her, and she was probably right. Emmett wanted her to take it too, but only because he gave it to her. At one point during our discussion, her fear began to rise and I sent her some calm and lethargy to help keep her peaceful and asleep. Aside from that she never stirred.

Emmett said she talked a little more, told him how harebrained her mother was and all the different things she's made Bella try over the years. It was not an easy flowing conversation but it worked. When Charlie got home he was glad to see that she was talking a little more. Charlie asked her again to press charges against Mike Newton but again she refused. Charlie made fish for dinner and Emmett choked it down. It was still with him even now and his disgust at just the thought of it made me laugh, while Rose just laughed at his whining. He didn't seem to think it was as funny as we did.

"Charlie was great. He let me pick which game to watch since Seattle wasn't playing tonight, he said he was impressed with my knowledge of the teams," Emmett said with pride. We heard Charlie's alarm go off upstairs and looked at each other wide eyed. We had talked the whole night and didn't even realize it. More to the point Bella still wasn't in bed and we were all here.

"We should go," Rose said to me kind of nervous. "I drove here though thinking we'd be gone in plenty of time, what if he hears the car now?" she asked.

I looked over at Emmett and Bella. "He said you could stay, right?" I asked Emmett of course knowing the answer.

Emmett nodded once and looked over at Bella. "She never woke up like she was supposed to," he said hugging her a bit closer to him.

I smiled.

"You know, I don't think Charlie will care, Rose. If anythin' he's gonna be more upset that we stayed up all night." I smiled. "Let's just pretend to be asleep when he comes down. Rose grab that little blanket off the back of the sofa and cover up. If nothing else I'll make him feel pleased or happy or something," I said with a shrug. "I think it'll be fine. He's so happy we're here for Bella right now, we probably could'a killed Newton last night and got away with it." I laughed quietly at the thought.

Rose grabbed the blanket reclined at the end of the sofa and covered up. I put the recliner back and got comfortable. We heard Charlie come out of his room to go into the bathroom. I wondered if he'd notice right away that Bella wasn't in her room. He did. He came to the top of the stairs and listened. Curiosity and worry were his dominant emotions. He really did worry a great deal about her. I sighed internally and we all closed our eyes as Charlie made his way downstairs. I was immediately hit with his shock at seeing all of us in his living room. A moment passed and it turned into amazement and comfort. I had to keep the smile off my face because he was truly happy we were here for her, although he was curious. I'm sure wondering about Rose and me. He walked further into the living room and I assume he was inspecting us to see if we were asleep.

He gave a gruff little chuckle and went back upstairs to shower. While he was in the shower we talked about how we should wake up. Ultimately, we decided since he knew we were up late and we didn't have an alarm clock we had two choices. Set an alarm on one of our phones or let him wake us up. Rose wanted the phone alarm, Emmett didn't want to get up at all, and I said we should let Charlie wake us up. In the end, I won because I didn't want the alarm to scare Bella. And when she woke up she was likely to be disoriented and embarrassed that all of us were there.

Charlie came back down and we returned to our slumbers. We technically had an hour before Bella had to be up for school. So we weren't sure how long he was going to leave us there.

He went in the kitchen and we could hear him preparing coffee.

'Oh hell, I hope he's not expecting us to drink coffee!' I thought.

"I'm not drinking coffee," Emmett whispered too low for Charlie to hear. I heard Rose give a quick, quiet, little giggle. Charlie was feeling unsure of himself and a little worried as he worked in the kitchen. I wondered what was going on in his head? We 'slept' for about another 30 minutes until Charlie decided he needed to wake us up.

He came to me first. I kind of figured I'd be first since Emmett still had Bella and he didn't really know Rose. He probably wanted an explanation before waking the others up, too. So when he lightly shook my shoulder I slowly woke up looking around like I was a bit confused. You have to learn these little things when you're a vampire.

I had never really worried about it until I started living with the Cullen's and started pretending to be human regularly. Then you watched television and movies with a new purpose. I looked at Charlie questioningly and then over at Emmett and Bella and smiled. I looked back at him a little sheepish, hoping I was conveying the right expression. I didn't want him to be mad at us and I thought the sight of Emmett and Bella was sweet.

"Sorry, morning Chief," I said quietly. "I guess we fell asleep waiting for Bella to wake up," I said quickly, hoping he'd know this wasn't 'planned'. It actually wasn't we just weren't paying attention to the time and Bella never did find her Emmett perch uncomfortable enough to wake up.

Charlie smiled at me and shook his head. "What are you doing here?" he asked, looking between me and Rose.

I smiled. "Well, Emmett called to tell us he was gonna be late because Bella fell asleep on him," I smiled widely at that statement and looked back over at the sleeping girl and the 'sleeping' vampires.

"Emmett told us that you said he could sleep on the sofa if he didn' wanna go home last night. When he called he said he was too tired to drive and Rose said we'd come and get him. So we were just waitin' for Bella to wake up and we were talkin' with each other. She seemed a bit cold so I got her quilt, and Rose, I guess grabbed the blanket off the sofa for herself. An' I guess we just… fell asleep. Bella never did wake up apparently," I said with a shrug.

"You guys really do take care of each other, huh?" Charlie smiled with happiness and pride.

"Yes, sir," I said with a nod. "And Bella too. We'll make sure she gets better," I said quietly but with conviction.

"Well, you're all welcome to stay anytime. Sorry again that I don't have the room for you three to just move in here. I didn't know I was going to be getting a bunch of kids," he said, feeling a bit melancholy. I think maybe he would have liked to have a big family.

"I guess… I need to be heading home so I can get ready for school. You want me to wake them up?" I asked nodding towards the sofa.

"Sure, I'm going to go start breakfast. You're welcome to stay if you like," he offered.

I shook my head. "I need to get home to get ready for school and I rode with Rose so she'll need to take me home, but Emmett might be able to have breakfast with you and Bella," I said with large grin.

A small rumble sounded from the sofa and my smile got even wider. I don't think Rose could take it anymore so she pretended to wake up on her own. "Oh, good morning, Chief Swan, Jasper," she said quietly while she stretched and yawned.

"I guess we fell asleep huh, Jasper?" she asked rhetorically and looked at Emmett and Bella and smiled. I remember the picture on my phone.

"Chief, do you want a copy of this picture? I took it last night." I pulled my phone out and showed him the picture. It was before the bulky blanket was put on Bella and you could see her clutching the teddy bear. It really was a cute picture.

His smile was melancholy as he nodded his head. I could smell the tears well up in his eyes but made no comment. He cleared his throat after a moment and we heard his cell beep in the kitchen signaling the receipt of the picture.

"Good morning… Rosalie, right?" he asked tentatively, his voice a bit huskier due to the emotion running through him. He walked closer to shake her hand. "It's nice to meet you," he said as he approached.

"It's nice to finally meet you too, sir. And you can call me Rose, that's what my family calls me," she said with a dazzling smile meeting his handshake.

"Well, I suppose I told the boys they could call me Dad yesterday, so the same goes for you young lady. Bella needs a sister. If you want that is," he added at the end, uncertain of his statement.

She smiled. "I'd be honored, dad," she responded with pride. She was glad to be included in this little family circle we were forming.

I stood and moved over to wake Bella first. "Bella? Darlin'? Wake up, sweetheart." I nudged her shoulder a little. She grumbled and snuggled further into Emmett. He smiled and opened his eyes, hugging her closer.

"Hey," he said to me acting like he was just waking up, too. I smiled back.

"Hey, we all fell asleep and it's mornin'. I need to go home and change for school. You can stay and have breakfast with Bella if you want. I rode with Rose so she's gonna have to take me home."

"Jazz, dude your class ain't till after lunch. Why don't you have breakfast with Bella and I'll take Rose home in her car and you can have my jeep," he suggested looking like he had just come up with a plan for world peace. I knew Emmett saying I could use his jeep was big thing. He never let anyone drive it. That's how bad he didn't want to eat breakfast.

Well he 'slept' all night with food in his stomach and I didn't get to spend any time with Bella, so I agreed. "Okay," I answered simply.

"Bells, wake up," Emmett said rubbing her side with a massive hand. She grumbled a little more, so I sent her a bit of happiness to help bring her around.

"Jasper?" she asked. She knew the happiness was from me. I couldn't help but smile at that thought and the fact that my name was the first thing she said when she woke up.

"Yeah, darlin'. I'm right here. It's time to wake up and get ready for school. I think Emmett might like to get up too," I said with a snicker. I didn't think she was awake enough to know where she was yet.

With that she sat up kind of quickly on Emmett's stomach. He laughed at her causing her to bob up and down. She was still clutching the teddy bear and the quilt had fallen onto the floor. She looked around at all of us.

"What's going on?" she asked. I smiled and looked at Rose. I really wanted her to talk to Bella even just a little. She got my drift and immediately became nervous.

"It's okay, Bella," she started sweetly. "You fell asleep on Emmett last night and Charlie told Emmett he could stay the night and move you to your bed once you woke up. Emmett called us and said he was too tired to drive but wanted to go home after you woke up. So, Jazz and I came to get him. While we were waiting for you to wake up, we all fell asleep in the living room," Rose explained it perfectly. Bella just stared at her. A vacant expression but I honestly think it was more in amazement than anything. Of course, Bella cut her emotions off from me the moment she sat up so I was just guessing.

Emmett laughed again and Bella bobbed up and down again. "Uhhh… Bells, you think you could get up?" he asked trying to appear uncomfortable. Which I'm sure he may have been with food in his stomach but he should have been able to deal with it just fine. I think that was more for Charlie's benefit. Who stood there silently with happiness and pride running around and overtaking his worry, sadness, and anger.

"Oh sorry, Em," Bella said as she hopped off him. We kind of chuckled at that. She looked so cute standing there a little unsure, still a little blank and holding the Valentine's Day teddy bear.

Emmett stood up and put his arm around Rose's shoulders giving her a little squeeze and a kiss on the temple followed by, "Mornin', babe." She smiled at his term of endearment.

"Morning dear." She smirked knowingly.

"I guess we'll get goin', have a good day at work, Chief," Emmett said as he headed for the front door pulling Rosalie behind him by her hand.

"You guys have a good day, too. Thanks for coming over. Are you sure you don't want to stay for breakfast? I can make enough for everyone?" he offered politely.

Rose shook her head, "That's okay. Emmett could eat a whole cow if you put it in front of him. I already have something for breakfast planned, but maybe some other time. Thank you though." I'm sure she had something planned alright. I smirked at them as they declined breakfast and made their way out.

"Bye dad!" Emmett hollered as they walked out the door.

"Bye dad," Rose stated more tentatively and then they were gone.

Charlie chuckled, "It sounds weird to hear them say that, partly because they are already so grown up. But it's nice. I hope it doesn't make you kids uncomfortable?" he asked looking at me.

"Not at all, sir. It's nice havin' family around and since we consider Bella part of our family it is greatly appreciated that you reciprocate that feelin'." I gave him a genuine smile, indicating I was pleased with the situation.

"If you're so comfortable, what is with all this 'sir' stuff? It makes me feel like an old man. Dad or Charlie but please stop with the sir thing." He laughed but requested seriously enough.

I laughed. "Okay, Dad. I call Carlisle sir a lot, too. It's the manners I was raised wit'." I laid the southern accent on thick with that sentence indicating the Southern roots were the reason for the formality. He smiled back and nodded his head.

"Guess I should respect good manners better, huh?"

I smiled. "It's fine, s-dad." I looked over at Bella who was just standing there gaping at our interaction. I chuckled at her. "You look like you're seen a miracle in progress, darlin'. You okay?" I asked, knowing her issue was the banter between Charlie and I and nothing more.

She dumbly nodded her head and closed her mouth. "Uhhh… I'm going to go get ready for school. I'll be back down in a few minutes."

Charlie and I nodded at her and made our way to the kitchen as she ascended the stairs, teddy bear in hand. "Would you like some help making breakfast, Charlie?" I asked. I was trying for the Dad thing but that just slipped out.

"Nah, I got it. Bacon and Eggs good?" he asked. "Yeah, whatever is fine. I'm not picky. I'm not a big breakfast person no matter what. I don't eat much in the mornings." I was trying to find ways to get out of eating while being around Charlie.

He nodded and began preparing breakfast. We talked about nothing in particular while he cooked. I told him about my first semester at Dartmouth, which I hadn't really taken but I had been to college enough times this was no big deal. I even suggested that Bella apply there so we could all be together and he agreed that was a 'great idea'. I smiled at his enthusiasm at the idea. I knew my feelings for Bella were growing and should she ever return them that would make things much easier. Even Fuckward never had the in with her father.

She did seem much better today. She was more responsive, even with the black eyes, the bags under her eyes weren't as bad. Her hair and skin seemed better too, probably because she was eating more.

"I wanna apologize again, dad. I know it's not my fault, but I feel I should'a done somethin' to stop her from gettin' hurt yesterday." I hung my head, I really did feel bad. I wanted to protect her and keep her safe and I failed at that.

He leaned over and put a hand on my shoulder. "Son, I know it's not your fault and though I wish there was something you could have done, there wasn't. It was supposed to hit you and you just dodged it like any normal person would do. No one intended for it to hit Bella. I'm sorry you feel bad… I'd really like her to press charges against the brat so he won't do that kind of shit again," he spoke softly but with vehemence as he ended his statement. He felt a little sheepish for the cussing as soon as he did it but didn't say anything.

I smiled widely. "Well to be honest with you, dad. If I'm talking to you as Dad and not as Chief of police that is…," I paused giving him a knowing look.

His curiosity was peaked; he raised an eyebrow and nodded for me to continue.

"I… uhhh… well… I… sort of… took… care of that… already," I stuttered out. I wasn't quite as nervous as I portrayed telling him this, but I didn't want him to get angry with me either.

His eyebrows raised more and he nodded again for me to go on.

"Well… I… paid… him a visit… at work… yesterday… after… I left here," I paused again. "Rose was with me." I thought this piece of information may make it sound better. He nodded again keeping quite the whole time. "I just told him… well… that he shouldn't've done that… and maybe, I threatened him a… little?" I said, raising my voice at the end, indicating I was nervous and questioning if I should be telling him this.

"Should I be worried that he's going to press charges, son?" he asked slightly proud, a bit happy, and very worried.

"I don't think so. I don't think he'd care to admit to the whole situation," I said with a large smirk. Now he was really interested, and I let that nugget hang there for a minute. "Well…," I laughed. "I may have…umm…madehimwethimself," I said the last part quickly and then burst into laughter. Charlie's eyes got wide.

He was trying very hard not to laugh. "What did you do, Jasper?" I could tell he wasn't sure if knowing the answer was a good a thing.

I looked at him and shook my head. "Better if I don't tell you, but he was not injured at all and he will not be botherin' Bella or anyone in my family ever again. That, I made sure of," I said with a Cheshire grin. "Nothin' will harm her anymore, not even herself if I have anythin' to say about it." I trailed off satisfied I was going to get away with it.

Bella was walking around the corner as I finished my sentence. I was of course not expecting what happened next. She always surprised me.

"WHAT DID YOU DO?" she yelled at me, standing only a couple inches from my face. Her eyes still blank but they were swimming with tears.

'What?!'

She was clutching the teddy bear and appeared to be dressed for school.

'What did I do?' I looked over at Charlie who was just as confused as I was.