thank you for all the reviews and adds

here is your weekly update, have fun with it. I know this story is unfolding kind of slow, but again, I need the action I'm describing here.

twilight belongs to SM

10

Edward's POV

"Why would you say that?" Emmett wondered once I had clicked my phone shut. "What happened to you and Jasper during lunch?"

"They had another dogfight about the human girl", Rosalie explained in a bored tone. "Don't you think it is a bit reckless, the way you're getting involved with that Bella girl, Edward?"

"Not at all."

"But you're not thinking about changing her, are you?" She sounded alarmed.

"Of course not, I would never do that to anyone who had a choice."

"Ah, good." She was relieved and back to checking her looks in the mirror.

"Right, but that still doesn't explain why you called Carlisle about having a vote about Jasper", Emmett said. So far we had not told our parents much about the conflict about Bella; maybe sometimes we were not really that different from human teenagers when it came to talking to Esme and Carlisle. However…

"I had a glimpse into his head just now, that's why", I said grimly and led the way to the dining room table where Carlisle was waiting already.

"Jasper will be with us in a moment, Esme has just gone to get him. She said he looked a bit down in the mouth and that he returned from school earlier", Carlisle said pinching the bridge of his nose. He had been working long hours at the hospital lately.

"Where are they?" I said in such an alarmed tone that he shot out of his seat in a matter of seconds.

"Carlisle?" Esme asked in a surprised tone from the door. Jasper was following her slowly, his mind carefully blank. By now I was wary of him, I noticed his tense way of walking, his wandering eyes checking for a quick retreat.

"Ah, good, you're all here", Carlisle took a cue from me and pulled out a chair for his wife. "So, what is all this about then, Edward?"

I saw that Jasper was still standing until Alice pulled out a chair for him and told him to sit in a patient voice. I cleared my throat and started. "Jasper, I would like to know what I saw in your head at lunch."

"That is none of your business; if I thought you needed to know that, I would have told you", he returned arrogantly. "Stay out of my head!"

"Boys", Esme pleaded quietly. "I know you had some kind of quarrel at school, but you both feel bad about it and you'll probably feel better if you clear the air between you."

"Edward, I think Jasper's right. You promised us privacy, and if he wants that too, you should respect it", Emmett put in his two cent's worth and Alice nodded.

"Not if it puts all of us in danger. You have no idea of the kind of person he is." I gave back.

"He is hurt and alone", Esme countered. Oh no, another female taken in by his looks. "Why don't you tell us what you saw, Edward?"

Before I could say anything, Carlisle put his hand on her arm. "Jasper, was it something about your past?"

Jasper had the grace to look down at that, and I must say I was quite interested in what he would have to say for himself.

Jasper's POV

How could I lie to Carlisle, who was as kind to me as no one except for my friends, the two friends who had got me out of Maria's clutches had ever been. "Yes", I started looking into his eyes thankfully. "It's about my past… something I want to get away from."

"Jasper was in the Vampire Wars of the South", Carlisle said after checking with me. Then he briefly outlined what they were about and how they were fought. Peter is right, he is extremely well-informed.

"So that's how you learned to fight so well. How did you survive?" Emmett asked interestedly.

I grimaced. "I was fast and strong, and I was saved by friends who had gotten out earlier." I sensed curiosity and the yearning for adventure from this big boy and disillusioned him at once. "It was … no game; it was brutal reality, a nightmare of the worst kind. I never want to go back there again."

"They are still going on?" Rosalie was shocked.

I nodded. "There are small bands still roaming Texas and Mexico I think. They try to stay under the radar of the Volturi, but if you look closely, you see them, not that anyone would want to meet them." We knew Maria was still out there and probably looking for me, too, which was why I needed to stay undercover so much. Neither she nor the Volturi should get a hold of me if I wanted to survive.

"So, you see why I thought that we should give Jasper a chance at finally finding some peace, don't you?" Alice asked brightly.

Esme squeezed Carlisle's hand on the table and gave me a loving look. "Of course, Jasper, you are welcome here. We want you to have a home."

Carlisle nodded as did Rosalie and Emmett, but I had already noticed that Edward had been uncharacteristically quiet and realised why: Obviously all through Carlisle's speech I had been flooded with memories, just as I had been when I answered questions. So if Edward had been listening in, he had the full story. I exchanged a glance with him and saw I was right. Now what? "Thank you, Esme, and know I will not endanger what I have found after such a long time light-heartedly." I nodded to Edward to check if he had understood my threat. He had flinched. Ok, that had worked.

I had told Carlisle about Bella some days ago, but he had not been convinced. He said that he had only ever heard of vampires mating, not a bond with a human. In his experience that usually only came down to a specific kind of thirst, as in the singers etc. He had strongly advised me not to try changing her so soon after switching to the animal diet. Besides he had reminded me of the treaty with the Quileutes regarding any of his coven biting humans. I can see his point, but I'm not about to give up on Bella. I know I love her, and when my throat burns near her, it's not thirst for her blood. Of course I will not endanger Esme and the others, but when it comes to a choice between them and Bella, I know who I will choose. I'm still not sure what Alice wants from me, and it's definitely beginning to make me itchy. She took my part in the conference, and she has been keeping up the pretence of being my girlfriend, but I can feel no love from her, at least not for me.

After the talk Carlisle and Edward went upstairs, and she came and sat on my lap. After a minute I felt a lot of irritation from her. "What is it?" I frowned, trying to get her to move without outright pushing her off me.

"Oh, I'm just tired about all this teenager business. I mean, why should we be interested in who is going out with whom and all that prattle?" It came out as an exasperated stream, as if she had been holding this back for quite some time. "I just want some grown-up parts in my life for a while." She started curling against me in a pretty unambiguous way.

I felt need and desire from her, self-doubt and self-consciousness. Huh? But I would not be drawn in to whatever mess she was in. The situation was bad enough as it was. "Alice, please, I told you I'm in love with…" I whispered under my breath for her alone to hear.

"Alright, alright, yeah, I know, precious Bella", she squeaked and jumped off me. "I really don't know what you or Edward or all the others see in her." She left in a huff, flitted upstairs and banged the door to her own room shut so hard that it kept vibrating for quite a while after.

"What's gotten into her?" Emmett asked shaking his head.

"No idea", I said diplomatically. I am a gentleman after all.

"She just doesn't like all the fuss about that doe-eyed human", Rosalie said coolly, flicking some invisible spot from her immaculate fingernails. "I guess sitting with her in a lot of classes she has to endure quite a lot of that from the human guys. I'm not sure what Edward's really planning with her. I mean, he can't be serious about being her friend, can he?" She flipped her hair across her shoulder and left for the garage.

I had started growling quietly already when I felt Rosalie's contempt for Bella, but had gotten louder when she talked about Edward.

"Hey, bro, take it easy!" Emmett told me. Then he gave me a quizzical look. "You're really into that girl, aren't you?"

"She's the reason I'm here", I said quietly. I felt I could confide in him more than anyone else in the family, except maybe for Esme, but somehow it didn't feel right to talk about another woman with her.

"How long have you been watching her?" Emmett asked. You have to give him credit for being a lot shrewder than he lets on.

I smiled. "A while."

"Oh man, falling for a human. Have you talked to Carlisle about this?"

I sighed and told him what he had said, and he commiserated with me. "But you know he's right in a way. You can't attempt to change her at the moment."

"Is that supposed to help me?" I grumbled, and he shook his head.

"No, of course not, especially with Edward also interested. That is a first by the way."

"Yes, great." I got up. "Care for some hunting?" I had calculated that most likely he would not be, so I could meet Char and Peter.

"No thanks, I'm fine", he turned towards his laptop and I went out.

I could not find my friends at the appointed spot, and when I called Peter later, he was in a very bad mood. "You could not have picked a mate that is any harder to woo, Major, could you? Like a resident of the moon, perhaps?"

"What's happened to you? Why weren't you at the meeting place?" It was not like them to disobey.

"Because the whole forest was crawling with werewolves, that's why! They hunted us almost right back over to Seattle."

"That does not make sense", I answered deep in thought. As far as I was informed the Quileute would only develop the wolf symptom when human drinkers were feeding in the territory, and Char and Peter had been careful not to do that.

"That might be so, but they were still there, four of them, to be precise, and I can tell you it was no fun journey."

"I'll sniff around myself for a little."

"Do that, and if you meet one of them, tell them if they snap at Char again, they end up losing a few limbs." He hung up, and I knew he had been quite shaken. So far no one and nothing had been able to threaten his wife, and he did not like that situation.

Only after our call I realised that I had forgotten to tell them about the new development here, but reasoned that the wolf situation was a definite priority here.

After a while of deliberating I decided to talk to Carlisle about the wolves again tomorrow.