Disclaimer: I do not own Twilight, or any characters associated with Twilight.

Reader Warning: While I will not be publishing any explicit sort of content, there may be some mention of physical/emotional abuse and, or sexual assault. I do not condone these behaviors, but due to the storyline, mentioning them will likely be necessary. I do realize that speaking/reading about these behaviors may be painful or triggering for some people. PLEASE, if this is you, just skip over this story, and I won't be offended in the least. I'd much rather it wasn't read than to have it cause anyone that sort of distress.

Authors Note: First of all I just want to thank you for reading this story. Some of you out there may recognize it, as I did have it published before. I am now in the process of re-doing it, because there were several things about the original that I did not end up liking. This version will be a bit different than the last, but not drastically so. I cannot promise regular updates. I tried that before, and it simply didn't work. As I republish, there may be frequent updates, and there may even be several chapters done in a day. This will likely be a rarity, though, and updates may take anywhere from several weeks to several months.

Reviews:

xxxbulletxxx: Haha, oh gosh.

countryheart: Thank you! And hey, your wish might soon be granted :)

Angel6969: I appreciate that!

Kammi: Of course, no problem! And thank you for continually reading and reviewing. It means a lot :)


When Bella awoke the next morning she almost immediately noticed two things. The first thing was that she felt strangely rested, and the second, she was oddly comfortable. Her pillow was unusually soft, and warm, and...Her eyes widened suddenly as she realized that her head was no longer resting on her pillow. It was resting on Jasper's chest.

Bella stiffened as she dared to let her eyes drift towards his face. She prayed that he wasn't awake yet to see the predicament that she had gotten herself into. Thankfully he wasn't, and she felt her lips form into a small smile when she looked at his sleeping form. A stray lock of hair had fallen onto his forehead, his eyelids lightly fluttered, and his lips had taken on a small smile of their own. He looked perfectly content and peaceful, and Bella groaned inwardly as she tried to figure out any possible way to get out of this situation without waking him up.

She had one arm thrown across his waist, the other under his shoulder. Her feet were pressed against his, and to top it all off he had one arm wrapped around her back, holding her securely in place. 'Alright', she whispered to herself, 'I can do this.' Slowly, Bella moved her feet, and began trying to slide towards the edge of the bed. Jasper's arm was presenting a problem, and as she stopped to contemplate what to do, she felt his chest shake with laughter. Her eyes shot to his face accusingly, "You were awake?!" He shook his head grinning, his voice still a bit hoarse from sleep "Nah, I just woke up from all your moving around." Bella's face flushed and she sat up quickly, shoving his arm aside. His smile faded as he studied her, "No harm done, Bells."

She shrugged feeling uncomfortable with the situation, and confused by his sudden use of a nickname. Surely he must think of her terribly now. All the man had done was try to sleep next to her to keep her company during a storm, and then he had to wake up with her practically lying on top of him. What kind of person must she look like in his eyes? Certainly not a proper lady.

She looked away, feeling his eyes still on her. After what felt like an eternity he spoke again, "What are you thinking about?" She shook her head silently and he sat up beside her, "You're embarrassed." Bella shrugged again, and Jasper placed a hand gently against her cheek, silently asking her to face him. She finally did and for a moment he saw such pain and shame on her face it took all the willpower he had to force himself not to look away.

He shook his head at her, "Please don't be embarrassed." "I'm sorry," she said in a soft voice, "I know that you were just trying to help me, and I'm sorry; I didn't mean to-" Jasper cut her off, moving his hand from her cheek to her mouth, "Stop. You didn't do anything wrong." She was once again slightly confused by his actions. The look on his face and the emotion in his voice as he spoke was so intense that for a moment she wondered if he was even referring to the situation that they were presently in.

Suddenly Jasper grinned, breaking the serious moment, "In fact, you slept real well after I got in here, and it sure beat sleeping on the floor. I just might have to start doing this every night." Bella shook her head, and Jasper felt a huge wave of relief sweep over him when a smile suddenly turned up the corners of her mouth, "Maybe." He laughed, and she swung her legs over the side of the bed, "I'm going to go make breakfast; are you hungry?" He grinned even wider, reminding her of a little boy, "Thought you'd never ask."

Bella shook her head again as she walked into the main room to get the food started. He had a way of somehow getting her to smile even when she didn't feel like it, which sometimes had a way of annoying her, but she still had to admit that she was glad for it. It had been too long since someone could really make her smile. As she turned over the events of the last night and morning in her mind she realized that Jasper was right about one thing. She had slept well. In fact, as soon as he lay down next to her she had fallen asleep, and the nightmares hadn't returned the rest of the night.