Thanks to AN Zoriah and .twilight.is.here. (who wanted to R & R but was stuck on vacay with the parents) for their feedback...and to AN Zoriah for the muffin...it was delicious;) On with the chappie!


Chapter 12

We got back to my apartment about nine, and I was totally ready to bounce off the walls. Jasper tried to calm me down, but I glared at him and he stopped. I decided that it would be fun to watch random stuff of TV and make fun of the stupid stuff people do and say to get attention. This lasted for about fifteen minutes and I was up and bouncing around the room again.

Jasper had to be about ready to kill me. I figured that out when he started to compare me to Alice. I was in such a mood that even being compared to the never-tired-always-excited pixie vampire didn't bother me. Normally, all this happy would nauseate me. Even I have certain days that I can't stop a good mood from making me annoyingly cheerful. As I completed another round of skipping around the couch, Jasper finally snapped.

"Damn it, woman! Sit you lovely behind on this couch now or, so help me, I'll call Emmett to hold you down and I'll make you sleep!"

I pouted at him as I danced away from his grasp.

"Mean Jasper. You'd be having more fun if you were up here with me instead of sitting on the couch looking pissed off."

"No, I'd be much happier if I did this."

"Hey! Knock it off, damn you," I squealed indignantly as he snagged my wrist and toppled me onto his lap. I struggled to get away.

All thought of escape left my mind, though, as he crashed our lips together in a bone-searing kiss. His lips moved demandingly over mine, making me respond without even knowing what I was doing. I grabbed handfuls of his hair as I felt his hands moving up and down my spine.

When we had to separate (damn my actually needing to breathe), he basically had to hold me to him to stop me from being a puddle of boneless goo on the floor. My eyes stayed closed and my head lolled against his shoulder. When I finally caught my breath, I chuckled dryly.

"Well…that shut me up. Holy cow!"

His quick laugh had me rolling my eyes.

"Okay, you won. I calmed down. Now what?"

"Now, it's ten-thirty, so you need to go to sleep. You do have work tomorrow, you know."

"Ugh. I know. I hate having to work in the shop. I'd rather be finding the stuff than selling it."

"I can't say that I blame you. Come on, bed time for human girl."

I sighed, making myself get up from his lap and walk to the bedroom to change into pajamas. I quickly changed and brushed my teeth and rushed back into my bedroom. Jasper was there on my bed, knowing I'd ask him to be there. I smiled and made quick work of getting under the covers and snuggling into his side. My head rested over his long dormant heart.

"'Night, Jasper. I love you."

"I love you, too, Samantha. Dream well."

I smirked, knowing I'd do just that.


The shop was hellishly busy the next day. I was also extremely cranky because the fricking sun had decided to show itself all day, ergo no Jasper until nightfall. His face popped into my mind at the oddest times and made me miss him even more. By lunch, it felt like half of me was missing, and it pretty much sucked. I told Jasper this that night when he could finally come. He tapped his finger on the edge of my nose and smiled.

"I felt the same way, darlin'. Thank goodness Emmett had the sense to drag me outside and wrestle my mind away from it. Edward was about ready to murder me with his bare hands."

"Of course he was. I'm sure he was tired of seeing my face by the time the sun set. I would be if I were him."

"He'll get over it. If he likes, he can consider it payback for having to feel it when he seduces my sister."

Seeing Jasper shudder of absolute horror had me chuckling in empathy.

"Yep. I can definitely relate. My brother likes to post random make-out pictures on his Facebook. I swear I am scarred for life! Hey, that's an idea for an episode of Jerry Springer: people who are traumatized by their siblings' sex lives."

"Nope. That's more Maury's style."

I grinned as I remembered when we'd found our shared love of trashy daytime talk shows. Jasper insisted he watched them to learn more about human nature, but I knew he only watched them because he and Emmett bet on the outcomes of fights and paternity tests.

Esme was completely ashamed of her sons' behavior, but I assured her my brother and I had done the same thing. This had caused her to throw up her hands in despair and leave the room while mumbling about bad influences, which caused me to dissolve into hysterical laughter.

"Maybe…Montel would totally sick Sylvia Browne on us and have her look for some deep-hidden reason for our trauma."

"Probably. That woman could cause us some serious trouble."

"Pffft. Yeah, if she could actually see all the stuff she says she does. I think she's faking it."

"What? That's a load of bullshit, missy. Pardon my language."

I rolled my eyes at his worry about swearing in the presence of a lady.

"I'm not five, Jasper. I've heard the words and you've even heard me say them. And how exactly is that bullshit?"

"Alice says she's got actual talent. She's read her books and 'sees' things happening like Sylvia said they would."

"Whoa…okay, then. Weird. Moving on…what do you want to do now?"

"I don't really care one way or another. What would you like to do?"

"Hmm…I kind of want to go kick Emmett's butt at Guitar Hero…and eat Esme's brownies. I have a serious chocolate jones going on."

"I think we could do that. And you aren't going to beat Em. He is the Guitar Hero champion of the Cullen house."

I blew on my fingertips, pretending to polish them on my shirt.

"Let me at him and be amazed. I learned from my brother, the ultimate couch potato video game player. I can play most of the songs on expert with an accuracy score of ninety percent or better. I even kicked my brother's ass once."

"Vampire speed and reflexes, Samantha. I will, however, keep those little tidbits of information to myself and watch Emmett be flabbergasted by almost getting beaten by a girl."

"Almost? Who the hell do you think you're talking to? I will beat him…maybe only once, but I'll still beat him fair and square."

"Whatever you say," he said, and dodged the throw pillow to the face.


"How in the hell did that just happen? I just lost to a girl! A human girl!"

I tried to hide my laughter (which was hard because Jasper and Edward were hysterical) as I patted Emmett's broad shoulders.

"Sorry, Emmie. I guess this human girl is just better than you."

He jumped up and proceeded to pace around the room as he screamed.

"The hell you are! You cheated! Damn it, I want a rematch!"

"Emmett McCarty Cullen! Watch your language."

He flinched and glanced to the doorway, which now held an extremely pissed off Esme. I had to turn away so I wouldn't snicker. This quickly stopped when Emmett was suddenly in my face. I gasped and threw myself back into the couch.

"Holy shit, Em! You scared the hell out of me!"

"Samantha Jo Hildebrand!"

It was my turn to wince as Esme turned her motherly wrath on me.

"Sorry, Esme. What do you want," I hissed in Emmett's face as Esme exited.

"I told you, Mighty Mouse. I. Want. A. Rematch. You, me, and a Guitar Hero battle…right here and now."

I sighed, raising my eyes to the ceiling.

"Fine. Jasper, hand me my guitar. Edward, hand Emmett his. Let's give the cry baby his bottle so he'll shut up."

Emmett glared at his brothers as they snickered. Their snickering turned to full-out laughter after I earned a ninety-seven percent accuracy score and hit a 150-note streak versus his ninety-five percent accuracy and 135-note streak. I felt bad for him as he stared at me, sulking. I went over to him, slinging my arm around his shoulders (which was only possible because he was sitting and I was standing).

"I really am sorry, Em. I didn't mean to rub it in your face like that…or to encourage your bone-headed brothers."

He grinned at me as Jasper and Edward both yelled in protest.

"It's okay, Might Mouse. We can always take this up again whenever we want, since you'll be around for—"

I jumped as Jasper's vicious hiss cut him off.

"What? Alice already—"

"ENOUGH! That is never going to happen, so we don't need to talk about that. Samantha, it's time to go."

I stared at him curiously, trying to figure out what was going on. I'd never heard him yell at his family like that before.

"Jasper? What's going on? What is Emmett supposed to hide from me?"

Edward grinned at me, standing and clapping his brother on the shoulder on his way over to drag Emmett out of the room.

"Good luck with this one, Jasper. We warned you she'd be smart enough to figure this out. Bye, Sam. I hope to see you again soon."

"See ya later, Sam."

I grinned at them both in turn.

"Bye, guys. Tell everyone I said goodbye."

Turning before I could hear their responses, I leveled Jasper with my 'I know you're lying and you'd better tell me the truth or so help you God' face. He sighed and tugged a hand through his hair, a nervous tick he seemed to have.

"Let's get you home. I…I promise to tell you then."

"You swear on your biological and adopted mothers' graves?"

He rolled his eyes at my dramatic oath.

"Yes, I swear on both of my mothers' graves. Can we leave now?"

I heard a chorus of cat calling and whipping sounds from upstairs.

"Cram it, you guys. Don't make me come up there and yell at you."

Surprisingly, two invincible vampires were afraid of a little human's threat to yell at them…chicken shits. I smirked as I heard Edward yell.

"I'll have you know that I am no form of animal feces."

"Not the point. We're out of here," I said, pulling Jasper's hand and leading him out of the house and to his car.


As soon as we were in the door, I plopped down on the couch and stared at Jasper. He pretended to not notice and made a show of shutting and locking the door. I simply raised my eyebrow when he glanced at me. I could see the hopefulness on his face and connected the dots to the fact that he'd hoped I'd forget his secret.

"I'm not that forgetful, Jasper. Spill it, Whitlock."

He sighed and gave me an anguished look. Rolling my eyes, I felt him cross the room and sit down by my side. I turned to him, looking at his face and praying for patience.

"Samantha, you know I'm a vampire…and that you aren't. When Carlisle explained things to you the other night, he told you how we became what we are. We're bitten and if the venom is allowed to spread, it turns one into a vampire…but only after three days of excruciating pain. It's like you're on fire."

"Yes, you've all explained this to me. How do I fit into this…oh," I trailed off as I realized what he was trying to hide. "I'm going to be a vampire? How, why, when?"

"According to Alice, yes. You are attacked by another one of us because I will fight to defend you and this makes the other vampire want to kill you more. We don't stop the attack in time and too much venom gets into your system to stop the transformation. Alice's visions are never completely set in stone, but she 'sees' this happening in about a week."

"A week? Jasper, why did you keep this from me?"

"I thought I could stop this from happening if I never left your side. I even watched over you while you were at work. But now…Alice's visions keep getting more detailed. The only thing she's missing now is the vampire's face."

"How long have you all known about this?"

He hesitated, seeing and feeling my anger.

"We've known since the day Edward got back. Alice had the vision the first time that night."

"But, she called…I was right there. She told you then, didn't she? God damn it, Jasper!"

Shocked by my abrupt outburst, Jasper stared at me, wide-eyed.

"You should have told me. I need to say goodbye, damn it! My mom, my brother, my grandparents…my friends. I'm never going to see any of them ever again!"

Realizing this, I collapsed into sobs. Jasper wrapped his arms around me and murmured softly in my ear. His magic hands (and a bit of his power, I'd guess) soothed me by running up and down my spine. As my tears slowed, I pulled back.

"I need to get everything settled before this happens. I just unpacked, damn it…what? Did you think I wasn't paying attention? Carlisle told me about the werewolves in La Push and the treaty. No one can be bitten in Forks. They'll attack, even if it wasn't you guys who bit me. We'll have to leave, right?"

"Yes, we will. Since this is going to happen anyway, the family thought it would be better to…take you out of town before the vampire arrives and turn you ourselves."

"But…he'll just find someone else, won't he?"

"Yes, probably. That's why we are informing the werewolves before we leave. Obviously, we won't tell them that we're planning on turning you. We'll warn them to be on the lookout for vampires other than ourselves in Forks."

"Okay. They should get him, then. But, still…Jasper, my family. I need to see them, to say goodbye."

He was already shaking his head before I'd finished. I felt my heart sink.

"I'm sorry, but there isn't time, darlin.' If we want to beat this other vampire out of here, we have to leave soon…as in no later than Friday. We have to get the things you absolutely need packed and make arrangements to stay elsewhere during your change."

"Fine. Just tell me this: if you'd told me when Alice called, would we still have had time to do all that and to see my family?"

I saw the answer in his eyes and felt the hurt and anger swell.

"Giving my life to be with you is nothing, Jasper. I'll do it willingly because I love you more than my life. Know this: you took away my chance to give my family peace about my death and it'll take me a long time to forget that. I'll see you in the morning. I need to talk to my mom and my brother. I can't take any more of this right now. Feel free to stay on the couch."

I spun sharply on my heel, walking to my bedroom and slamming my door. Making my way to my bed after stumbling into my pajamas, I pulled my cell phone out of my jeans pocket and dialed my mom's home phone. I nearly burst into tears when I heard her voice on the other end.

"Hello?"

I sniffled, being unladylike and wiping my nose with the back of my hand.

"Mom?"

"Sam, what's wrong?"

I can't tell her anything. She'll be in serious trouble if I do. I have to lie.

"Nothing…I just miss you."

"We miss you too, sweetie. It's not very long until Christmas."

I let out a tearful laugh. It's March; of course it's forever until Christmas.

"You're hilarious, Mom. It's frigging March!"

"So? You could come home sooner…like your birthday."

I won't ever be home for a birthday again. I won't ever turn 23.

"Kevin is going to have me really busy with the shop in July. It's tourist season."

"You can't take three days off and fly home? I can give you the money for—"

"No, you can't. We don't have the money for me to fly home more than once. I'll be okay. Talking to you helps."

I could hear the smile in her voice.

"Good. You know you can call me whenever you want."

"Yeah. I know. So…how's Matt?"

She sighed and went into a five-minute tangent about his latest hooker of a girlfriend (even though she didn't call her that…I did). I sighed in contentment at the normalcy; she did this every time I called home and asked about him. This was a sure sign that he was doing okay, and so was she. Thank God for small miracles. Let them stay okay after I put them through my death. This sent a twinge through my heart and I focused again on my mom's one-sided conversation. Suddenly, the topic shifted.

"So, how are you? Have you met a rich man out there yet?"

This was our running joke: my paternal grandma kept insisting that they sent me to college to find a rich husband to take care of me and the rest of my family. I smiled, saying nothing.

"Oh, my God! Sam, did you?"

"Um…yeah, I kind of did."

"And you didn't tell me before now why? I'm your mother, I deserve to know these things!"

I laughed and told her about Jasper. For once, she was silent on the other end of the line.

"Mom? Hello? What do you think?"

"I think he sounds great. When do I get to meet him?"

"Um…I'm not sure yet. We'll have to talk about that."

"You do that. I think I'll like him, though. I'm looking forward to meeting him."

I was baffled. She was always the first to threaten to bring out the shotgun when I brought boyfriends home.

"What? Why? You aren't going to shoot him, are you?"

She laughed, filling me with warmth. I'll miss that.

"No, Sam, I'm not going to shoot Jasper. You sound so happy when you talk about him. I've never heard you talk about a boy like that before."

"Mom, Jasper is hardly a boy and I'm not a girl, either."

"You're both still children. Whatever. Like I said, he obviously makes you happy. I don't care about anything other than that."

"Thanks, Mom. Listen, I hate to do this, but I've got to go. I have to work in the morning and it's already one o'clock here…"

"Get your skinny butt in bed and go to sleep, then. If you get yourself sick, I'll tan your hide."

I grinned at the empty threat. She'd never laid a hand on my brother or me.

"Sure, Mom. Listen…I love you, okay? You'll remember that for me, right?"

She sounded baffled when she spoke again.

"Of course, sweetie. I love you, too."

"I know. Goodbye, Mom."

"Bye. I'll talk to you soon, okay?"

I swallowed the lump in my throat, trying to fight back tears.

"Yeah. I love you."

I hung up the phone before I could hear what she's said. Bursting into tears over the phone would just make her worry all the more. Curling onto my side, I let the tears have their way with me. My sobs were so loud, I never heard the door creak open. Jasper's approach to the bed was silent, which is why I was stunned when I felt his arms wrap around me.

"I'm sorry, Samantha. I know you don't want me here right now, but I can't stand to hear you like this and not do something about it."

My tearful hazel eyes met his sad topaz. In that second, I knew I couldn't be mad at him anymore. I needed him, and it was stupid to push him away.

"Jasper!"

With that one syllable I launched myself at him. He rocked me, murmuring in my ear as my tears dried. Even after they'd stopped completely, he held me in his lap, offering comfort. Suddenly, I knew what comfort I needed from him.

Before he could stop me, I attacked his lips with mine. Shock held him immobile for a second, then he gently pulled me off him. I screeched in protest.

"Samantha, we can't do this. I'll kill you if we do. After you're turned—"

"NO! Now…I need you now, Jasper. I need to feel something good right now. You can make me feel—"

"I'm not going to take advantage of you when you're vulnerable like this. You don't know what you want."

"Yes, I do, damn it! I want you…Jasper, I need you now…please?"

He stared at me for a long time, looking into my eyes. Finally, I heard the whooshing sigh. My heartbeat started racing in response, knowing he was giving me what I wanted.

"If you're sure, darlin.' Come here."

He opened his arms and I gladly crawled into his lap. My lips met his in a fevered frenzy. He's actually giving me what I want! We're doing this now! Sweet Jesus, I need him!

Songs for the chapter: I've Got You-McFly, Who Wants to Live Forever-Queen, Don't Forget to Remember Me-Carrie Underwood & I Don't Wanna Wait-The Veronicas


Soooo...there's chapter 12. I bawled my eyes out at the phone conversation between Sam and her mom. Since Sam is based on me and her mom is my mom, it was almost like I was saying goodbye to her. I hated it, but loved it at the same time.