Chapter Twenty One

Jasper

It looked like we would be staying in Forks this evening, neither Charlie nor I would see Bella driving back from Port Angeles in this. For myself, as long as I was with Bella I really didn't care where we were, it had been fantastic just to be reassured that she still had feelings for me. I had worried that finding out Alice and I were married might have put her off me for good but that certainly wasn't the case.

There were, of course, several obstacles still to overcome, her father being one and the Quileute pack another. It seemed they weren't going to give up warning me to stay away from Forks and Bella although I doubted that if it came to the crunch they would actually attack, breaking the treaty was something the elders would take very seriously as would their leader in Denali. Jacob Black, on the other hand, was more of a loose cannon and couldn't be trusted, I would have to look out for him because although he didn't stand a chance against me his rash moves could injure Bella and that I wasn't going to allow. If necessary I would speak to the elders myself but I hoped it wouldn't come to that. Unfortunately, Bella has another six months here in Forks before she graduated, six months in which she could conceivably be in danger and six months I would, therefore, be staying here too and accepting this I decided to move back to the house, that way I would be close enough to spend lots of time with Bella and keep an eye on the Quileute pack.

When she opened the door I was pleased to see how happy she looked, she was genuinely pleased to see me and our kiss was a sweet as the first although now there was more warmth to it and I wanted to pull her close, sweep her off her feet and carry her away but instead I just gave her a cuddle and then pulled back, this girl was giving me crazy ideas but I had to remember she was fragile and young, inexperienced and needed to be handled gently. I had never had a human girlfriend and I would have to be very careful, I remember Edward telling us he had to imagine her being made of spun glass to remind himself how dangerous he could be to her. I understood what he had said but found it was coming naturally to me. I felt so deeply for Bella I couldn't imagine doing anything to hurt her.

Bella

As soon as I saw Jasper I felt different as if my life were suddenly complete, I felt warm and safe in his arms.

"It looks like Port Angeles is out so what would you like to do? We could go to the diner or there's Pacific Pizza…"

"Would you mind if we just went to Sullys? I can grab something there and we could bring it back here. That way you don't have to pretend you're enjoying yourself and we can talk, dad won't be in until late."

He smiled and stroked my face with the back of his hand so lightly it felt like a feather,

"I don't have to pretend I'm enjoying myself, Bella, if I'm with you I will be enjoying myself but whatever you want, as long as we don't upset your dad."

"He'll just be happy we haven't gone far in this, he's already rung me twice with snow warnings."

He helped me on with my jacket and insisted I put on gloves and a hat,

"I have to keep you warm darlin' yesterday you were shivering and it's colder tonight."

My knees had gone weak when he called, me darling so I was glad of his arm around me as we went out into the snow. I almost slipped on the porch steps too, they were very icy but his strong arm saved me. He smiled as he recollected,

"I remember hearing you were a little accident prone."

"Then you heard wrong, I'm extremely accident prone. I'm probably the only person you will ever meet who can actually trip over her own shadow."

He laughed as he held the passenger door open for me,

"Unless that is you want to drive?"

"No, I'm happy to be the passenger."

Climbing in the driver's side he pulled me close tucking one arm around my shoulder,

"Right, off we go, time to hunt down a meal for my human."

I groaned,

"Just make sure it had four legs and it's cooked, please."

"Ugh, if you insist."

I felt light-hearted in his presence he was so different from Edward, I didn't feel I was being caged in as if I might hurt myself or cause him to hurt me. That was always Edward's biggest fear, that he might hurt me accidentally but with Jasper, I felt safe, he didn't make a big deal out of our differences and that was nice. He was a vampire and I was a human but he didn't feel the need to underscore it every few minutes.

At Sullys he came in with me and waited patiently while I made my choice, a fried chicken sandwich, fries and a chocolate milkshake. There were a few people I knew, friends of dad's mainly who all gave us long speculative looks before returning to their own food and I was glad when my order was ready and we could leave.

"Do you think I meet with their approval? I can hear it now, can't that boy find somewhere better to take a girl on a Saturday night?"

"Ignore them, I'm happy and that's all that matters."

"True but I wish our first official date could have been more romantic."

Back in the truck, I laid my head on his shoulder enjoying the feeling of intimacy. For a moment it reminded me of the first few weeks with Edward before his true nature came to the fore yet somehow this was different, I didn't feel that awkward still getting to know you feeling you usually get with a new boyfriend, not that I'd had many but we girl's talk.

Back at the house, we snuggled up by the log fire while I ate my meal and then sat together on the couch just holding hands and talking.

"Can you tell me what happened between you and Alice or is it too painful?"

"No, I don't mind if you don't mind me talking about her."

He explained exactly what had happened and Alice sank in my estimation, how could she be so calculating and cruel to the man who had loved her?

"So you didn't hunt Edward down and dismember him?"

He laughed,

"No, I probably should have but I decided he wasn't worth my time, Alice either. Besides I had something I needed to work out, my own guilty little secret."

"Guilty little secret?"

He tipped my head up and kissed me again, a little more passionately this time and I felt the heat rise in my face.

"Yes, you. After all, I was still married to Alice when I took you to the dance and out in the car and I knew then that you were special. It's why I had to leave Forks if I stayed I knew I would do something I would be ashamed of and betray my vows so you see Bella, Alice wasn't the only one with a guilty secret."

I thought about this as we sat watching the flames leaping neither of us feeling we had to fill the silence, something else that was so nice about being with Jasper.

He told me a little about his travels in Europe and of his decision to move back into the house to be close to me.

"It seems stupid to rent somewhere when the house is just sitting there empty and it gives us somewhere other than here to go, especially if your father is home. I can't see him being happy to have me around all the time and it gives me a base to look for a job while you are busy studying."

"What kind of job."

"I don't mind, anything if it gives me an excuse to hang around and not look like a bum."

I laughed trying to imagine Jasper as a down and out and failing.

"I've done quite a few things actually. I haven't always written or gone to school."

"Like what?"

"Well, I've done ranch work, breaking horses, driving tractors, that kind of thing. I taught guitar lessons in one place which was fun and I've worked as a laborer but that was hard, pretending lumber was heavy so I didn't show up the other guys."

"Not much call for tractor drivers or horse breakers here, you could probably teach guitar but…..isn't all this waste of your talents?"

"What talents Bella? I'm a poor Texas farm boy who learned how to be a soldier, not much call for soldiers like me nowadays."

"I guess not, do you ever feel out of place? I mean do you feel life has just changed so much?"

"Yes, and not necessarily for the best. My time was harder, everything was a struggle but it was simpler too. People talked more, families seemed closer, nowadays everything is rush and hurry, no one has time to stop and watch the clouds overhead or hear the birds singing, I guess I'm just a country boy at heart."

I thought about what he had said as I watched the flames and wondered what I would think if I were transported ahead a century to find everything was so different.

"If you could do anything at all, what would you do Jasper?"

He sighed pulling me closer and kissing the top of my head,

"That's easy, I'd take you away from all this to live with me on a small ranch and raise horses way out in the country somewhere quiet and peaceful."

"Sounds wonderful but I have to tell you, horses don't like me much."

"Sure they do, they just sense you're nervous around them and that puts them on edge. I'd teach you to ride and we'd have picnics by the creek that flowed through our land and lay together on the grass under a star-filled sky."

I closed my eyes and pictured it smiling until I heard dad's key in the door then straightened up, our time alone together was at an end but this time there would be more times like this, lots more.

Jasper got up and stretched showing just a hint of bare skin where his shirt came untucked and I longed to reach out and touch it with my finger but instead I stole a last kiss before dad walked in on us.

"Glad to see you two didn't drive to Port Angeles in this."

"No sir, we decided it wouldn't be wise so we stayed here."

"Right, well I guess you'll be wanting to leave soon, while the roads are still open. It's gonna be tricky enough on a motorbike as it is, there's been a serious accident already tonight, luckily it was just outside my jurisdiction but someone's gonna be spending the holidays in the hospital."

It was a thinly veiled hint that Jasper wasn't wanted here any longer tonight but he took it well.

"Yes, I should go but if Bella's up to date with her homework by lunchtime tomorrow perhaps I could get her to help me move back into the house."

I couldn't help grinning behind dad's back when I saw him stiffen, he hadn't expected that!.

"So, you're moving back into town? Wouldn't you do better to stay in Port Angeles? You'd have more chance at a job there."

"No, I'd rather be close enough to see Bella whenever she's not tied up with school work but I should be going."

I walked with him to the porch and clung on for a few sweet minutes until the cold began to eat into me.

"Don't worry, I'll be back tomorrow. Bye darlin'"

A final kiss and he was gone out into the snow while I went back inside to find my dad mumbling unhappily to himself.

"Bella,..."

"I know dad, you don't want me getting involved too deeply with anyone, I need to concentrate on my grades, I know all that but I really like Jasper and he's not going to stop me studying, he's not Edward. Oh, and he's taking me to the Snowball."

He sighed shaking his head,

"OK, I give up. I spoke to your mom this evening and she told me the same, butt out you're eighteen and I have to let go of my little girl but I'm still gonna be worrying so you be sensible."

I nodded stretched up and pecked him on the cheek which shocked him and ran upstairs,

"I will dad and I know, I love you too."

That night I dreamed Jasper and I were laying there under the stars listening to the babble of the creek just as he had described and slept soundly until morning.