A/N: Thanks for all the reviews, guys! You are so awesome! Since we're past 55, and some of you are not following me on Twitter, I'll give you a sneak peek of the next chapter at the end of this one. I love each and every review of yours!

Disclaimer: I do not own anything you recognize in here.

"I'm holding on for you,
I'm fighting for your life.
And when you're blinded by this jaded world,
I'll be your eyes.
Even if you fall,
I won't let you break.
When all the noise is telling you
To run away,
Run to me."

-Nick Lachey, Run to Me

Chapter Thirteen: Back to the past

Alice POV

Jasper just stared at the fire, clutching something in his hand. A gasp escaped my lips as I studied him closely. He'd had his sleeves rolled up before, but now they were scooted down, and I could tell part of his arm was missing.

"Jasper!" I exclaimed, running over to his side in a second and rolling his sleeve up. Just as I suspected, there was a chunk gone. Jasper warily looked to me before opening his hand, giving me the spare piece. I gently took it, worried that I'd break it.

"At least you didn't get hurt," Jasper mumbled, looking far across the pond. Around the edges of his missing piece of skin was a lining of venom that stung my fingers when I touched it. "How did you do it, by the way?"

"I just watched you," I admitted. "I nearly got hit a lot of the time, but I did what you did. It worked, I guess." I smiled a little before tentatively placing Jasper's skin back. He winced, biting his lip hard and closing his eyes tightly shut. I wasn't sure what to do, so I just held it there. "Jasper, I'm so sorry . . ." I whispered, but Jasper just shook his head.

"It's my fault," he said. "If I hadn't have left Maria-"

"Jasper, she would've done this to you anyway whether you left her or not," I argued and Jasper sighed.

"I just hate for you to have seen that," he admitted, his red eyes looking straight at me. "I don't want you to go through what I've had to go through."

I figured he meant something about the "shell shock" that I had been informed the Civil War veterans suffered from. Surprisingly, the violence that I had just seen didn't bother me too much. All that mattered to me was that Jasper was safe.

"Is she . . . ?" I trailed off.

"No," Jasper shook his head, knowing I was asking about Maria. "We . . . made a truce, I guess. I didn't want to kill her. I don't know why. I should've just finished her off . . . but I couldn't." I smiled a little, even though it ached to do so. Jasper was becoming more and more of a Cullen each and every day, though I was upset that he didn't get his revenge with Maria. At least we were both safe.

Jasper grabbed his piece of flesh and licked it, coating it with more venom before sticking it onto his arm. I brushed my hand against the sore. Jasper silently placed his hand over my hand that was tending to his wound, allowing his skin to fuse back together slowly and steadily.

"Does it hurt?" I whimpered into the darkening sky. The sun was going down and the smoke from the burning bodies was clouding around us.

"Not really," Jasper grimaced. "I've had worse." I looked down at his exposed arm, something I hadn't seen before, studying all the scars that twisted and curled down his arm. My other hand gently stroked them while I thought deeply. How could Jasper stand to even smile after what he had been through?

"I'm just . . . so sorry . . ." I mumbled, shaking my head as I watched Jasper's skin slowly fuse back together.

"Everything will be fine now," Jasper whispered quietly, more to himself than anyone else. I nodded, watching Jasper grind his teeth.

"Are you sure you're okay?" I asked him quietly and he nodded.

"Did you get hurt?" he asked, looking me up and down.

"No," I said quickly, ignoring the fact that I was a little beaten from having some difficulty with the vampires.

"Don't lie to me, Alice," Jasper sighed, putting his hand on my shoulder, which was really tender. I winced before I could control myself. I bit my lip and looked at Jasper who looked at the ground discouragingly. Jasper took his hand off my shoulder before looking me hard in the eye. "I never should've gone into that diner."

"I would've found you some other way," I argued, shaking my head. "Jasper, even if I hadn't met you today, I would still search for you until we met. We are meant to be together forever."

"I should've just killed myself before I met you like I had been planning," Jasper muttered and I tried to hide how much that hurt me. He was regretting ever meeting me and falling in love. I looked to the ground, unable to meet Jasper's eyes. My bottom lip trembled. Jasper's fingers were under my chin in an instant, forcing me to look into his apologetic eyes. "I'm sorry. I didn't mean to hurt you. I just . . . just convinced myself for one second that we shouldn't be together so you won't get hurt. I am terribly wrong, darling, because I'd never be that strong to leave you." With that, he gave me another tender kiss. He pulled away, leaving his forehead pressed against mine and looking deeply into my eyes.

"Good, because I'd never let you leave," I whispered, rubbing my nose against his. I looked at his wound and saw that his skin was nearly fused back together. I took my hand off of it and the wound stayed in place. "You're nearly healed," I murmured, brushing my fingers against his arm. He winced.

"As healed as I will be for now," Jasper agreed before standing to his full height, towering over me. I smiled up at him, grabbing his hand.

"To the Cullens'?" I questioned, tilting my head in the direction the Cullens' house was. Jasper nodded and we started running. Amazingly, they hadn't changed their mind yet, but I was ready for the disappointing vision. Jasper was exceptionally quiet and I could tell he was reliving terrifying memories triggered by the war we had just been in. He had a faraway look in his eyes and looked like he would if he were human-105 years old. I tried to distract him from everything in his mind without success.

"Emmett and Edward will be hunting when we arrive," I stated, skipping alongside Jasper while he ran. "That's the downside, but we'll catch them when Carlisle is home from work."

"Work?" Jasper questioned, ducking from a stray branch that was too high to hit my head.

"Yes, Carlisle works at the hospital; did I not tell you that?" I questioned and Jasper stopped in his tracks, his eyes the size of the moon.

"H-hospital?" he choked out.

"Yes . . ." I started warily. What on Earth was wrong?

"But . . . humans bleed," Jasper exclaimed.

"Yes," I nodded. "Carlisle has been practicing his restraint for three hundred and seven years, Jasper. He's got a lot of control around human blood."

"Oh," Jasper said, not seeming to be relieved at all. If anything, he was even more worried about meeting the Cullens. We stared at each other in silence for a little while. Right before I was going to say we should continue running, Jasper asked me, "Alice?"

"Yes?" I answered.

"Will the . . . will the Cullens like me?" he asked sheepishly, his eyes timid.

"Of course!" I said. "They'll love you!"

"They won't be scared?" Jasper asked. Now, that caught me off guard. The Cullens would be a little wary of Jasper at first. I wasn't sure whether that would boost Jasper's confidence or not.

"Um . . . they will be a little shy at first, but they'll soon learn how loving and compassionate you are."

Jasper ducked his head, probably blushing if he were human.

"Oh," he nodded. "Okay." We continued running. I was surprised-we were only a mile away and the vision was only getting clearer. Soon, the house was in view. Jasper clenched my hand tightly as we slowly approached the house of our new family. I just beamed-we had finally found the Cullen family!

A/N: Yay! The Cullens! Finally, huh?

I don't have a song for the next chapter. Anyone want to recommend some that have to do with the compassion of family? It's okay if you don't. So, onto the sneak peek:

"I'm Alice," Alice explained as they all stared at us, flabbergasted. "And this is Jasper. We've come here to live with you. Which rooms are open?"

They still just stared at us, jaws hanging to the floor and eyes bulging out of their sockets. I decided to help them out a bit and give them a small amount of calm to cool them down. Carlisle was the first to recover.

Excited for the next chapter? Review for it to come faster!

~Eclipse-Vamp :)