Thanks to my lovely beta MeSh17, and as always, thank to Ms Meyer for permission to play in her sandpit.
Published Wednesday 13/6 2:20ish PM AEST.
2034 words.
Chapter Fourteen—Questions
As Bella pulled up in the school parking lot on Wednesday morning she made a concerted effort to put aside the sense of despair left over from her dreams.
Jasper was alive. He may not really remember her, but he did still care about her, at least a little.
Things wouldn't be the same between them, clearly. Whether or not the rumours about him and the Alaskan 'cousin' were true, for him it had been nearly 150 years. Of course he'd moved on. It only stood to reason.
But he was alive, and they could still be friends. She could have him in her life—her waking life—finally. The thought that he would still be absent from one half of her life, and that she would still have to live though the rest of that life believing him dead niggled at her, but she suppressed it. She couldn't do anything about it, so she would focus on the here and now.
And here and now, Jasper was walking towards her.
As she got out of her truck and waited for him, she could feel the grin lighting up her face. She couldn't help it. He may not love her anymore, but he was here, her Jasper. Safe.
As he approached her he reached for her hand, and for a moment she thought he was going to kiss it, like he used to. She felt the fluttering in her stomach that his presence in her dreams always caused.
"Hi," he said, his smile bringing out a single dimple in his cheek.
"Hi," she breathed back. His gaze captured hers, and she couldn't look away. His eyes had swapped grey for gold, but they were still the most beautiful eyes she had ever seen.
"How are you feeling this morning?"
"Better, thank you." She'd had nothing but a coffee this morning, but he didn't need to know that. She had eaten a little more of Esme's soup last night.
The bell went, breaking the spell, and she tugged her hand away and turned to lock her truck.
When she turned back he took her hand again and threaded it through his arm, the way he would have when he was human.
"May I walk you to class?"
"Sure. Won't that make you late though?"
"Nah. I'm pretty fast. Besides, the teachers here love me. Straight A student, quiet, never cause any trouble..."
"You always were the smartest person I knew," she said, feeling her old pride in his achievements.
"I don't think I was as smart as you back then," he said. "But having gone through high school a few times by now helps."
She wanted to question him more on that, but they were at her classroom.
"I'll see you at lunch," he said, as she reluctantly removed her hand from his arm. "You'll sit with us again?"
"Sure," she said. "I'd like that." His eyes had caught her again, and she gazed up at him, wishing she could figure out the emotions in them. He seemed almost as reluctant to part as she was, but the sound of the second bell had her turning away quickly. "You'd better get to class," she said, making her way into her own classroom.
.
The morning went by in a blur of fending off Jessica's questions and struggling to focus on her work. The lesson before lunch she sat with Jess, and as their teacher was late, she couldn't escape the inquisition.
"Come on, Bella," Jessica whined, "tell me what's going on with you. First you sat with him on Monday, then he walks you to class this morning. You can't pretend that's nothing! Even Angela agrees something's up!"
"I sat with Alice on Monday," she corrected, mildly.
"You sat next to Alice, but it was Jasper who asked you!"
"Yeah, but he said it was Alice who wanted me to sit with them."
"Hmm…well it wasn't Alice walking with you this morning."
"Jess, you're the one who said he was involved with one of their cousins. I honestly think he's just being friendly."
"That was last summer!" Jessica said, clearly impatient with her demurrals. "Are you sitting with him at lunch again today?"
"I guess so," she said. She didn't want to let Jess's enthusiasm get her hopes up, but how could she help it? On one hand, he was just being the gentlemen he was, taking care of her the way he always had. On the other…hadn't he done that because he loved her? But if he did still have feelings like that, it was for the old Bella—nineteenth century Bella. And even though she felt like they were both her, she knew she was different too. She wouldn't just roll over and let her father tell her who to marry now!
Then again, she didn't really think nineteenth century Bella would do that either, if Jasper were around. But her nineteenth century self thought Jasper was dead. And in all honesty, as far as she was concerned, he might as well be.
On that depressing thought, she realised everyone was packing up their books. Lunch time.
.
Jasper waited for Bella outside the cafeteria. When he saw her approaching he smiled and opened the door for her. The smile she gave back to him was shy, but her feelings as their eyes met were hopeful.
"Hi," she said as she walked with him to the lunch line.
"Hi, darlin', how was your morning?"
"Pretty uneventful, aside from the inquisition in Spanish." She chuckled ruefully.
"What, a pop quiz?"
"In the sense that I sat next to Jess, and she's been analysing your and Alice's every move since the first time you spoke to me, so this week has given her plenty of ammunition!"
He frowned, he'd have to keep an eye on Jessica. He'd better ask Edward what she was thinking. "Ammunition for what?" he asked.
She looked up at him and frowned back, and he could feel her doubt and insecurity leak through.
"Oh, you know." She flushed and looked away. "First, she thought maybe I was secretly friends with your family—well, after Alice sat with me at lunch when you were gone."
"And then...?"
"Oh well..." She reached for a tub of yoghurt and stood fidgeting with it. He wanted to add more to her tray but didn't want to overstep.
"Aren't you going to get anything else for lunch?" he asked.
She grabbed a water bottle as they got to the checkout.
"Nah, I don't usually eat much at lunch. I'm not very hungry," she said, handing over her card to the cashier.
She waited while he paid for his own meal—none of which he would eat, of course.
"So what else is Jessica thinking?" he asked as they walked to his usual table. Neither Alice nor Edward were there yet.
She looked down at her tray, flushing again.
"You know, just typical high school gossip. When a gorgeous boy like you starts talking to someone like me…people wonder why, that's all."
He frowned again.
"What do you mean, people like you?"
She glanced at him and then away.
"Just, you know—" She gestured at herself. "Ordinary."
"Anyway…" she continued, oblivious to his frown, as she sat down in the same spot she'd sat in on Monday. He took Alice's seat, but turned it so he was almost directly facing her and waited for her to speak. "They already know about—you know—your…your cousin. So I reminded her about that and, I think she'll probably leave it alone."
She had opened her yogurt while she spoke, and now occupied her herself slowly taking a spoonful. She was still blushing, and he had the feeling she was deliberately avoiding looking at him.
"Bella, darlin'..." he waited for her to look at him, but she just glanced up and back down again. "You have said 'you know' four times in the last few minutes, but in fact I don't know. I have no idea what you are talking about. Firstly, you," and he emphasised the word by a touch on her shoulder, "are anything but ordinary. You're the most beautiful girl I've ever known, inside and out. And if you think I'm biased, you should have heard the things every boy in this class was saying on your first day here."
She was blushing harder now, but glanced up at him anyway. "How could you know what they were all saying? You sit over here with Alice and Edward and never talk to anyone, or so I hear."
"Well, one of the characteristics of—of what I am now, is super good hearing. So if I concentrate only a little, I can zone in on any conversation taking place in this cafeteria."
"Wow!" She looked up at him properly now. "That must be…a little overwhelming. Is it?"
"It was, at first, but you get used to it." He didn't want to be dishonest, but he also didn't want to give her extra reasons to avoid being changed herself. "It's kinda useful sometimes, in making sure people aren't getting suspicious of us."
"But, Bella, what were you trying to say about my cousins? They did visit last summer, and Kate did come into town with me one time, on a shopping errand for Esme. But I don't understand what that has to do with anything here?"
She flushed again and looked back at her almost empty yogurt tub.
"Just that—Jess said..." her voice had dropped almost to a whisper, as though she was afraid of whatever she had to say. She scraped her spoon around the inside of the tub absently, but without eating any more. Then she sat up straighter and closed her eyes, but said determinedly, "She said it was obvious you were together. So then—that's that, is all. No need for speculation."
He looked at her, shocked. "What?" He said stupidly. "Together as in—a couple?"
She looked up at him, and he could feel her misery as they made eye contact. "Yes," she said, then looked away again. "It's okay, Jasper, I get it—it's been 150 years. I don't—I don't expect anything."
"No, Bella, that's not—Kate and I—that's not what you think. We're not together that way. I mean, I'm not saying—" Shit. This was not a conversation he'd been expecting to have at school. Why couldn't Alice see her more clearly, so she could have given him some warning?
"Damn. Can we…can we talk about this later? Can I come by again after school? I just—I don't want to talk about this here."
"Sure," she said quietly. "That's probably a good idea. Here come your siblings anyway." She gestured towards the entrance.
He looked up and saw Edward and Alice hesitating by the door. "Everything okay?" Edward asked, too low for the humans nearby to hear him. They must have heard at least the end of his conversation with Bella. He could feel their concern.
Fine, Jasper replied silently, and watched as his siblings made their way over.
"Hi, Bella!" Alice trilled, with her usual enthusiasm, sitting down opposite her. "I'm so glad you're back at school today! Are you feeling better?"
"Uh, yeah," Bella said. "Did—Do you…?" She looked from them back to Jasper.
"They know what I told you yesterday," he affirmed, assuming that was her question.
"Okay," she said, looking down at her hands, fiddling with the edge of her jacket. He reached out and took one of her hands in his. She smiled shyly, but didn't quite meet his eyes.
Her eyes though, settled on his plate. "Aren't you going to eat anything?" she asked.
"Oh, um, well…I'm not really hungry," he answered lamely. "Here, do you want this Alice?" He pushed it across to her and she rolled her eyes.
"No thanks," she said, "Edward and I ate already."
"It's nearly time for class anyway," Bella said, pulling her hand away and standing, before he could argue. "I'm going to go use the restroom. I'll meet you in bio, 'kay?"
"Okay, darlin', I'll see you there."
A/N
Look! No cliffy!
Question for you – I'm just curious to know, do you as a reader favourite a story before it's finished, never favourite an incomplete story, or sometimes do and sometimes wait? Obviously, many people do favourite WIPs, or this one would have no favs, but I'm curious about general attitudes (for myself, I usually wait until the end to make that call, but occasionally I do it earlier, but as an author of course, I am thrilled by every single favourite I get, LOL.).
Recs:
Here's another question, for those who read the recs – I mostly haven't bothered to include the older stories with trillions of likes, even though they may be some of my favourites, because I figure you probably already know them – but would you like me to include those?
Okay, here's a WIP I'm following that's being updated regularly and is by an author with form for completing her stories (in the sense that she has 72 stories published, and this is the only one not yet complete!). I think all her stories are Bella-Jasper.
In the wink of an eye (Gone rewrite) by airedalegirl1. Summary: Everything changes in the wink of an eye. Bella goes missing the night before her wedding to Jacob Black and when discovered near to death almost two years later she has no memory of the past. With Charlie dead, and Renee the other side of the world, who will she choose to trust? And who should she trust? For enemies lurk close by. s/12949826/1/In-the-wink-of-an-eye-Gone-rewrite
And an old one that I just discovered recently:
My Pereche, by ggf83. One of the things that I love about this is that none of the core characters are demonised. A lot of J/B fiction makes it work by making Alice and/or Edward evil, or at least nasty. Sometimes this works, but I prefer the ones where they are still sympathetic characters, and this does it well.
Summary: The stories always said that some bonds are stronger than that of a mate. Jasper thinks this is just a myth until he meets his own 'sufletul pereche' and has to accept he is destined for Bella, not Alice. Sometimes you can't fight what is destined to be, even if your life is already perfect. /s/7555233/1/My-Pereche