A/N: *ducks and hides* hey guys... I'm so sorry that it's taken so long to get this out. There's a whole long list of excuses this time. Real life has been kinda shitty for me these past few months. Drama up the wazoo, my parents nasty divorce, and an overall shitty outlook on life for awhile.

Then when I finally came back to the story, writer's block took over and killed me. It's literally taken me three weeks to crank this out and it's a short chapter. For that I apologize but we have to get some things squared away.

I did write a couple new o/s during my time away from Conflicted Love. One is a Bella/Emmett called Love Story and the other is a Jasper/Edward (friendship/brotherhood not slash) called Sixteen Again. Check em out!

As always, thanks to my fabulous beta, Coachlady1 who I visited over Christmas again and already miss a ton, she's the light of my life :) hehe

Thanks to my crazy awesome pre-readers Tiffaninichole and Handsandfingers, I couldn't ask for better girls to help me! Also thanks to EarlyBird82 for her quick pre-read to assure me that it wasn't tooooo short LOL Tiff made this shit not suck, so she deserves half the credit for this chapter! Please go check out her new o/s collab Too Much! You can find her under my favorite authors!

Alright, in case you've forgotten cuz it's been so long, we last left off when Jasper had just gotten home from seeing Ava for the first time and that nasty fight with maria/katherine and found Bella/Jacob on the couch when he got home... Here's what happened next...

Xoxo

JL

Chapter 14: The Morning After The Night Before

I wasn't sure of the time when I woke up, but it was still dark. I could feel Bella's arms around me, holding me close to her from the back, her face buried in my shoulders and her legs tangled between mine and it felt all wrong. Usually, I was holding her when I woke up, and for a moment I was confused, until the weight of the night before came crashing down on me.

I remembered being upset after having to leave Ava with that woman who was trying to put a limit on the amount of time I could spend with my daughter. I was already pissed and feeling shitty, only to come home to see my girlfriend and my best friend cozied up on my couch.

The scene hit too close to home, and while I rationally knew that they wouldn't betray me like that, in my state of mind, all rationality had momentarily flown out the window. I didn't want to feel that pain, so my brain just automatically shut down.

Looking back, I realized I'd probably overreacted to the situation and should have given them time to explain. I should have stayed to talk it out instead of acting like a giant baby throwing a tantrum and storming out of the room.

Once my eyes adjusted to the dark and I was able to focus on the clock, I noticed it was only four o'clock. I rolled over and pulled Bella close to me, kissing her neck and watching her smile while she slept.

I had just closed my eyes and was on my way back to sleep when I felt Bella stir. Her fingers gripped my back and her lips found mine, catching me off guard for a second.

"Bella..." I breathed quietly. "You're awake?"

"Yeah..." she answered softly. "Look, I don't know what happened last night..."

I had to cut her off immediately before she started to apologize for something that she hadn't done. "I'm really sorry, Bella. I shouldn't have stormed out of the living room like that, I just had a really bad night..."

Her hand pulled my face toward hers as I was trying to explain and she kissed me softly. "Let's not talk about it right now, Jasper. It's too early..."

She yawned rather loudly at that point and we decided to go back to sleep for several more hours. We fell back to sleep, her back to my chest and I felt safe again, with her in my arms.

I woke up around ten and Bella was already out of bed. I realized that I'd never asked her if she had to work so I wasn't sure if she was home or not. I stumbled out of bed and quickly and shed the clothes I'd fallen asleep in. I hurried through a shower and when I was fully dressed again, headed into the kitchen.

Bella was sitting at the table, reading the paper and munching on a bagel. "The coffee is fresh," she informed me, never taking her eyes off the paper.

"Thanks," I replied.

After I poured myself a mug of coffee and made a bowl of cereal, I sat down at the table. The silence was deafening except for the crunching of my cereal and the occasional rumple of the paper as Bella turned the page.

I ate quickly and put my bowl in the sink. "Do you have work today?" I asked her while rinsing out the bowl.

"I'm working until close today; I switched with Meg because Jax has a show tonight that she wanted to go to, so you're on your own tonight." Her voice was so cold and distant that it sent a shiver of worry through my body.

I walked up behind her and wrapped my arms around her shoulders, pulling her close to me. "Baby, what's wrong?"

"Jasper, I know I seemed okay this morning, but the more I think about what happened, the angrier I get. You didn't even try to talk to me last night, and if we can't talk about our problems, then this isn't going to work. You shut me out and I don't even know what I did wrong." She released a long sigh full of frustration.

I grabbed her hand and tugged her out of the chair, guiding her to the couch. We sat down and I told her everything that had happened before I came home. As she listened, I could visibly see her face soften as the anger she had for me left her body, but the anger and resentment she held for Maria was deepening. I think she might have growled when I got to the part of the night where Maria confronted me in front of my car.

"So, after missing the first three years of my daughter's life, they're already trying to keep tabs on how much time I can spend with her. And after my fight with Maria, I drove around for a while until I knew I had to be where you were, so I headed home. I wanted to hold you and talk to you, but when I walked in on you and Jake... you two were sitting so close and... well, it brought back those old memories and I couldn't take it. So I left before I said anything I'd regret," I explained to her, my fingers tangling with hers, thumb rubbing soft circles on her palm.

She was quiet for a short moment before she answered me. "Jasper, I know you have trust issues and, believe me, I get it. But you have to talk things out with me if you want to make this work. I was so confused when you ignored me and Jake... Jasper, Jake isn't Edward. He'd never betray you like that. He was here because he wanted to support you when you came home, but now he's next door feeling like shit."

I knew I needed to get my act together and hearing it from Bella just cemented that fact. I rested my head on the back of the couch and cracked the knuckles in each one of my hands, a nervous habit when I felt bad about something. "God, I feel like such an ass," I grumbled to myself.

Bella looked at her watched and sighed heavily. "I'm really sorry, but I have to get ready for work."

I pulled her into my side and laid my head on top of hers. "Are we okay now?"

"Yes, but let's just talk things out next time, okay? You know what they say, never go to bed mad, even if it means staying up all night. I say that makes a good rule."

"You're right, it does. I'm really sorry, Bella." I kissed her forehead and she got up to head into the bedroom.

I sat there for a while trying to figure out what to do about things. I needed to call my lawyer and get some work done, plus I still needed to apologize to Jake for being such an ass to him.

I don't know how long I sat there staring off into space, but soon I was pulled back to reality by Bella.

"'Kay, baby, I'm leaving. You sure you're going to be alright today?" she asked with a teasing smile.

"I'll be fine," I swore to her, and with a hug and a kiss, she was out the door.

I spent most of the afternoon finishing up a few things that Paul had emailed me about that morning. I truly loved that I was able to get work done from home when I didn't feel like going into the office. I had let Jared and Paul know about the rough night I had and they were very supportive about the whole deal.

Halfway through my project, I found my mind wandering to the issue with Jacob and I couldn't take it anymore, so I grabbed my phone and sent him a text.

*Hey, man, wanna grab some dinner later so we can talk? I'm really sorry... -Jasper*

It only took a few seconds before my phone buzzed back at me.

*Yeah, Lazlos at five? -JB*

*Walking or driving? -Jasper*

*Meet me there, I'm not home.*

*'Kay, see ya then. -Jasper*

After that, it was easy to finish my work. Time flew rather fast and before I knew it, I was walking into Lazlos scanning the room for Jake. I spotted him sitting in the back corner booth and quickly made my way to where he was.

I could literally feel his intense stare as I slid into the booth and I decided not to waste any time starting my apology. "Look, man, I was out of line last night and I'm sorry. I know you wouldn't fuck me over like that. I was just in a bad state of mind and when I walked in on you two, it was like déjà fucking vu."

Jake's face softened a bit, I already knew it was going to be hard for him to stay mad at me; he was too nice to be mad for long. "That's what was fucked up, Jasper. I'm your best friend and she's your girl. You should know us better than that, but you assumed the worst."

The waitress came and took our order and as soon as she was gone, I jumped right back in. "I know it's fucked up, but that's just how my mind works. I'm new to this whole friendship thing, but I'm really trying here. It's just hard sometimes."

Jake's expression went blank and I knew what that meant; I'd seen it many times before. He was thinking and I knew it might take a minute for him to respond, so I picked up my beer and drank it. Three gulps and it was gone so I motioned for the waitress to bring me another one.

"Okay, here's what I think," Jake said suddenly and it startled me a bit. "I was never really mad at you about the whole thing. Hurt? Yes. But never mad. What Edward was to you, that was not friendship, because a true friend would never treat you like that. So, with that being said, we're good. Now, I'm done being all girly and shit for the night."

"Thanks, dude."

Our food arrived shortly after that and we ate. Jake asked me about the night before and I began to tell him everything. He was so excited to hear about Ava and I knew my face was lighting up every time I talked about her; she already owned me. When we got to the part about my argument with Katherine and Maria, he got pissed. Jake was always a passionate person and he cared deeply about his friends, so I had to calm him down and assure him that I would win this battle, I had the law on my side.

After I finished the story, I asked him for his advice because I was so confused on what to do. I told him about my concerns and how I knew what I wanted to do but I wasn't sure if it was the right thing to do for Ava. I wanted to bring her home to me, to be with her every day. And I wanted to do it as soon as motherfucking possible. But she didn't know me and I didn't want to traumatize her by ripping her out of the only home she'd ever known. Getting to know Ava would take time and I was worried about what would happen if I took too long to make a move.

Jake said I should do whatever I felt was right for my daughter, because even if I hadn't known about her, that's what she was, my daughter. He also said it might take some time for me to figure out exactly what the right thing to do was and told me that it was okay not to make any rash decisions. He said to talk it over with Bella and my family and he knew they would help me figure out what was right.

I knew he was right and that I should hold off on calling the lawyer until I knew exactly what I wanted to do. I paid for dinner and we headed back home. On the way there, we decided to play some one-on-one before it got dark and fuck if Jacob didn't beat me for the first time ever.

He accused me of letting him win and I assured him he had won on his own. My mind may have been a bit preoccupied but he'd legitimately beaten me, so I invited him up to the apartment for a celebratory beer and while we were drinking, Bella came home from work.

I could tell she was satisfied to see Jake and me sitting there laughing by the smile that erupted over her beautiful face as she walked in the door. "Hey, gorgeous," I greeted her, smiling like a fool.

"Hey, baby!" She walked over to me, plopped herself down on my lap and kissed me.

"How was work?" I asked when she pulled away.

"Eh, it was okay. Tiff was sick today so I was pretty bored the whole time." She looked back and forth between Jake and myself before asking, "So, I take it you two worked things out?"

Jake spoke up. "Yeah, we're good, and on that note I'm heading home."

"Thanks for everything man, seriously."

He threw his head back and laughed casually, and I knew he was still gloating about his win. "No prob, bob. Text me tomorrow or something and maybe I can school your ass on the court again," and with that, he was out the door.

Bella looked at me incredulously. "Jake beat you in basketball tonight?"

"Yeah, seriously, too. I swear I didn't let him win."

"Well, damn." She started laughing at me, too, and I decided it was time for a little punishment, so I grabbed her sides and started tickling her.

"You think that's funny, do you?" I asked, ghosting my fingers along her rib cage and down to her thighs where I knew she was extra ticklish. She was giggling hard and breathing erratically before she cried "uncle" and I let her go.

She jumped on top of me, straddling me and pinning me to the couch. "Oh, you're in for it now, baby."

"Ooooh, I'm really scared," I joked with her. She reached down and started to unbutton my shirt, while wiggling her hips on top of me. It was sexy as hell and had me hard before she could get my shirt off.

She giggled again and leaned down to kiss my chest. "Someone is happy to see me tonight."

"Baby, I'm happy to see you every night."

Bella looked up at me and smirked before continuing to kiss her way down my chest. As she licked, sucked, and nipped at my skin, my groans couldn't be contained anymore. "God, baby, that's feels so good..."

I could feel the smile cross her lips as she kissed me right above my navel. "C'mon, Jasper," she whispered in the sexiest voice I've ever heard as she winked at me. "Let's go to bed..."

In that moment, I could think of nothing but getting Bella in my bed; the rest could wait 'til morning.

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