I had only just made it to the door of Alice's bedroom when the door flung open, revealing the petite vampire, her face lighting up when she saw me.
"Alice, Jasper explained everything, can we please just forget about it?" I begged, rushing my words out, not wanting to have to think about the two of them together ever again.
Alice's face broke out into a huge grin, her eyes full of happiness. "Oh Bea thank you! I'm truly so so sorry, I never-"
"It's okay Alice, like I said, Jasper gave me a full backstory. We're good."
She nodded once, closing her eyes.
"Okay. Does this mean you'll actually start wearing the clothes I bought you again?" I giggled at the fact that she'd immediately started berating me for refusing to wear anything she'd bought me, having to return to my own limited wardrobe. She looked me up and down, clearly disapproving of my choice of leggings and a vest top.
"Of course Alice, but you need to stop buying me clothing." The pixie grimaced.
"Alice…"
"Well, I may have still been buying you stuff, in the hopes that you would actually forgive me." I groaned out loud, as she disappeared and reappeared within a second, ten huge shopping bags in her hands.
I went to sit on Alice's couch, as she showed me everything she'd collected for me. I had to admit, she understood my style so well.
"Oh and this is my favourite!" She squealed, holding up a navy blue, mid thigh length silk dress. "Jasper said it's his favourite colour to see you in- wait! Oh my god, does this mean you and Jasper are..?"
"We're giving it a go, yeah." I smiled awkwardly.
Alice actually clapped, and squealed even louder.
Part of me felt like I'd forgiven the top of them too easily, but it had been weeks and they did both genuinely believe what they did was okay.
"Oh Bea! I'm so happy for you! Jasper has been so lonely and you two are just perfect for each other! I'm so glad you forgave him. And me." I was engulfed in a bone crushing hug by the tiny girl, and I hugged her back. I'd missed my tiny, manic friend.
Alice turned her head slightly as she pulled away, and then smiled.
"Esme says your dinner is ready. I wouldn't keep her waiting."
Their vampire abilities never ceased to amaze me, super hearing included.
I skipped downstairs, feeling buoyed through reconciling with Alice. I thought of Jasper, and my heart actually skipped a beat. Esme noticed, and eyed me inquisitively. She was stood next to Carlisle, his arm around her waist as she was placing my food on the breakfast bar.
"That looks delicious Esme! Thank you. I feel so bad that you cook for me so much though." I said, tucking into the plate of Alfredo. She went out of her way to cater for my vegetarian diet.
"I wouldn't worry Bea." Carlisle assured, "Esme loves cooking for Jacob and Nessie, and with them being away traveling she needs someone to test her cooking." He looked at her lovingly, and Esme stood on her tiptoes to kiss him on the cheek. To see two parents so loved up made me worry for Chloe back home. I hope she was okay with my parents, she seemed to be a magnet for trouble.
"How old is Nessie?" I questioned, knowing very little about the half mortal.
"Technically she's 11… but she is fully grown and has stopped aging at the physical age of 17." Carlisle explained. I furrowed my brow.
"That's very convenient isn't it?" I laughed.
"How so?"
"Well, she stops aging at the exact same age as her dad. Imagine if Edward had to go round pretending that his daughter is his big sister." I mused.
Esme smiled softly. "I think Edward would just have been glad his daughter can live as long as he does. He loves her with all of his soul."
I could tell the whole family loved Renesmee, and I was intrigued to meet someone who was the same species as I was descended from.
"Saying that," Carlisle interjected. "We nearly lost Bella during her pregnancy. Her heart actually stopped. We can never let that happen again. It's too much of a risk." Carlisle spoke so much like a doctor in these moments. My mind turned over what he'd said, the sudden shift in the conversation making me uneasy.
"But Bella can't get pregnant again? She's a vampire? You said only humans…" my eyes bulged out of my head.
"You don't mean Bella do you?" Esme shook her head as Carlisle took a step towards me.
"If you and Jasper do end up together, we just can't risk the same thing happening. You might be less at risk because of the immortality that runs in your blood, but even that can't save you. Bella was lucky. You might not be."
My mouth was open wide in shock, and my mind was reeling. I shook my head, managing to speak. "Carlisle I don't want that. Why does no one seem to grasp that I don't want to risk my life like that. No vampire baby and no immortality is good for me. Has Edward not told you this?"
Esme and Carlisle both shook their heads. I should really have given Edward more credit.
"Besides, I've told Jasper that now I've forgiven him we're going to take things slowly."
Esme's mouth shot open, and I'm sure she wanted to cry.
"You forgave him?" She gasped. I nodded, taking another bite of the pasta. I nearly choked when Esme pulled me into a hug. This family were so affectionate considering their circumstances.
"Thank you Beatrice. For giving my son a chance. He needs you." Esme whispered.
I hugged her back. "I think I need him too." I replied.
"So your parents tried to give me the vampire sex talk."
I informed Jasper. We were sat on the couch in the main living room, watching mindless rubbish on the TV.
I'd waited for Carlisle and Esme to go out for a hunt as I finished washing the dishes before I breached the topic.
"The… the vampire sex talk?" Jasper was sat so he wasn't touching me, knowing I wanted to take things slow.
"Yep. The usual. 'Don't sleep with Jasper, you'll die.'" I laughed. Jasper looked incredibly confused.
"What did they say exactly Bea?" He was more serious than I'd expected, turning my light joke into something more.
"Just that if we were to… have sex." My cheeks were definitely bright red. "Then I'd have to go through what Bella did. Except according to Carlisle I wouldn't be as lucky as she was…"
Jasper stilled, and was staring straight ahead, not looking at me or the tv.
"Carlisle shouldn't have said that." He growled.
"It's okay Jazz, I don't want kids anyway, it's not a big deal. Unless… do you want kids?" I asked.
Jasper shook his head. "No, I've never really wanted a child, that's more Rose's thing. But Carlisle shouldn't just assume we would be as reckless as Bella and Edward. We didn't even know that vampires could even have children. Edward's seventeen and took a risk. Bea, you're twenty and we know what could happen now. That makes everything different." Jasper was getting more worked up about the whole situation and I had to try to calm him down before he got carried away with his worrying.
"Jazz, Jazz look at me." I shifted closer to him and placed my hand on his cheek so he'd turn to me.
"We're not them Jazz. Carlisle is just making sure we're not risking anything. We know how to avoid pregnancy, obviously, whether we try sleeping together or not is something we can discuss way in the future. But I plan on living a normal and human life. Well, as human as I can be." I laughed. My hand was now resting on Jasper's knee, trying to comfort him. His eyes met mine and his brows furrowed.
"You mean, you want to stay human forever?" He seemed shocked. He knew this, surely? I hadn't exactly hidden my distaste for immortality. I loved the Cullens, but I didn't want that life for myself.
"Of course Jasper, I just want to get my degree, get a job, and spend my life being happy. Hopefully with you by my side." I smiled. Jasper still looked uncomfortable, but I couldn't understand why. "What's up Jasper? What have I said?"
Jasper looked up at me, his face still showed inexplicable hurt.
"I don't- I'm not sure how I will cope with falling for you and then having to let you go Bea. Even if it's in eighty years, it's going to be too soon."
It was slightly unnerving to hear Jasper talk about our entire future together so seriously. We knew we had something that neither of us had before, but to hear him say it with such certainty shocked me.
"I'm sorry Jasper. But we can make the most of what we have, and think ourselves lucky we have that much."
He nodded his head, and shifted closer to me. His hand was now on my face, and his other hand on my waist.
"You're right." He whispered, "I'm being selfish. I'm sorry." My breathing sped up at his proximity. I wanted to take things slowly, but when he was this close to me I wanted nothing more than to let my instincts take over.
"One more thing." I whispered.
"Mhm." Jasper replied, staring at my lips.
"My blood doesn't attract you. Right?" It'd been on my mind for awhile, I knew what Carlisle had said, but I also knew that Jasper had been off human blood for less time than the others in the family.
"I smell your blood, and it entices me, but never enough to break my will. I'm stronger than that." Jasper mumbled, and I believed him.
The intense nature of the conversation was tangible, the air thick.
"Okay." I breathed. And then my lips met Jasper's, neither of us being able to stand the tension any longer. My hand reached for his blonde hair, tangling my fingers at the roots, causing him to moan. Our lips moved fervently together, months of built up feelings overflowing, as Jasper's hand on my waist moved to my back, pulling me closer to him.
"Woaaaaaah guys. Calm it down a bit, we all sit on that couch." Emmett interrupted. Of course.
Jasper groaned and pulled away from me, and turned to glare at his brother.
"Emmett, I swear to god… I don't interrupt you and Rosalie." Jasper warned.
"That's because you're scared of what you see." Emmett winked.
"I think we all are." I responded, smiling at him.
"Just be careful Jasper, you'll break her if you're not careful." I glared at Emmett, fed up of people telling Jasper and I to be careful. We were adults, not children.
"Well, I'm gonna grab a shower and then head to bed. I'll see you upstairs in twenty minutes Jazz?" I asked.
He nodded in reply, and I left before Emmett could continue his onslaught of teasing.
When I got to my ensuite I pulled off my leggings and top, turning the shower on, and stepped into the boiling water. The heat relaxed me, my shoulders unwinding and my muscles feeling less tense. I didn't spend too long showering, wanting to see Jasper again.
I turned the shower off, wiping off the remains of my makeup from the day and towelling off, before putting on my silk pyjama shorts and top, which Alice had given me that day.
My hair was still damp but I didn't want to spend more time away from Jasper, so I left it as it was, and went back into my bedroom.
Jasper was waiting, stood by the door, seemingly unsure of whether he should come in or not.
"Hey honey." I spoke as I climbed into bed. "What are you doing over there? Come on, join me."
Jasper took one unsure step forward and then walked towards me, slipping off his shoes and jeans. Oh.
He watched my wandering gaze and smiled his half smile.
"I just figured it'd be more comfortable for you if I weren't wearing denim. I'll leave my top on though, so you don't freeze." All I could do was nod in response, biting my lip as he lifted up the duvet and slid into the bed, his black eyes glistening.
"You know Jasper, I was serious when I said I want to take things slow. What you did can't just be forgotten, it hurt me so badly." Jasper closed his eyes and took a breath.
"I know Bea. I'm sorry. I just get so carried away when I'm near you, I struggle to control myself. I'll make more of an effort, I promise." He said sincerely.
I smiled, and lifted up his arm so I could lie on his chest, part of me expecting to hear his heartbeat, until I remembered he didn't have one.
"Thank you Jazz. And thank you for staying with me for the night. Don't you need a book?" I realised that he hadn't actually bought one with him.
"That was more just for show really Bea, I prefer to watch you as you sleep. You look so peaceful and you scowl less." He teased.
I was slightly taken aback by his comment, but flattered at the same time. I let out a yawn, not realising I was so tired.
"Come on Bea, time to sleep." He soothed.
I wanted to protest, to spend more time talking to him, but I knew sleep would take over me soon whether I wanted it to or not.
I curled up against his side and closed my eyes.
"Night Jasper."
"Goodnight darlin'. Sleep tight."
