OK – this chapter is going up now. It's been so long in the writing (I've been really busy again), and if I put all the other action I want in there in, the wait would be even longer for you. So, sorry for the slight cliffhanger, more to come

Twilight does not belong to me.

20

Bella's POV

The one thing that could get in between Jasper and me had to happen. I have no idea what to do now. I'm just not the person to lie (everybody knows when I try that anyway) and disobey my father. I love him far too much for that, besides, I know just how lonely he must have been before I moved back here, but on the other hand there is no way I'm going to give up Jasper, and if Charlie insists on making me choose, I will choose Jasper. There must be a way to get around this, there simply must!

When I came back from the bathroom, Jasper was lounging on my bed again. The next second however, he had me in his arms. "Shh, you don't need to cry or worry, I told Esme what happened, and she's going to talk to your father."

"I'm not sure what good that will do", I mumbled against his chest.

"Umm… don't give up yet, I don't think there were many men who were able to deny Esme anything during her lifetime, and I'm quite sure there's not one right now. She said she would go and see him first thing tomorrow. She is incredibly happy about me having found you and very determined to add another daughter to her family."

I looked up at his face, his eyes shining with happy anticipation. "You seem to be sure of it."

He nodded. "Yes, now I've got you, I have this insane feeling that I can do anything. Darlin', I need to leave. Carlisle wants me to talk to some people…"

"Will I see you tomorrow?"

He smiled crookedly. "You could try to keep me away, but I would not get my hopes up on that if I were you." He kissed me comprehensively. "Sleep well, Darlin'!"

When I had my breath back and my heart was almost back where it belonged there was no sign of him anymore. He must have gone out the window. I sniffed. Hmm, a faint trace of his scent was lingering. I closed the window and went to bed, still worrying about Charlie.

Edward's POV

"Wow, I'm gonna have a new sister, she's really cute, and she looks as if she's got quite a lot of spunk in her. This will be so much fun. Excellent!"

"Emmett!" Carlisle tried to stop Emmett's raving about Bella again. This time he must have gotten through though, because my big brother finally shut up. "I need to talk to Edward!"

"Um, eh, yes, alright, Pa. I'll make myself scarce." He took off running into the forest, and Carlisle turned his kind eyes on me.

"Son, you need to face facts."

"What facts? That he will kill the woman I love just to satisfy his… debauched cravings?" I kicked the nearest fir tree and toppled it.

Carlisle sighed. "Edward, she is his mate. That was more than obvious from the way she talked about him, and from the way she calmed him down when he was about to attack you."

"Huh – he does not love her. I heard his thoughts; they were all about…"

Carlisle interrupted me. "He was doing what is natural to us. You could not have stopped Emmett when he saw Rosalie…"

"Emmett…" I rolled my eyes.

"…or me. I thought I would die if Esme took any longer to feed for the first time. I would have killed you if you had tried to stop me then."

"You would not kill anyone."

"I was not myself. That is my point. Jasper has waited for three years, he must be incredibly disciplined. And now that it is clear she reciprocates, there is nothing we can do but help him."

"Help him?" I screamed. "You want to kill her too?"

"They both will suffer if they can't get together, and she knows about us, which puts her in danger from the Volturi, so there is not much of an alternative left, wouldn't you agree?"

I groaned. "Shouldn't we at least think about one? What if she's only blinded by his looks or his gift?"

Carlisle smiled sadly. I could hear it in his head that he was trying to comfort me, but he has always been honest to me and was not going to start lying now. "Any normal human would have been scared out of her wits by his threatening you and would have tried to run, besides, she does not seem to be affected by his gift it seems, or she would have been absolutely furious, the way he was projecting. Maybe it's the same like with your gift. Apart from that, Esme was sure."

It was clear there was no leeway with Carlisle on this. "And what about me?"

Son, I'm unspeakably sad that you haven't found your mate yet, but it will not do to get in between them; you're only going to suffer doing that. Please, I don't want to lose you. He wrapped his arm around my shoulders. "I'm sure there's someone out there for you."

I snorted. I knew he was wrong. I loved Bella, and I would make sure she would not become Jasper's pet.

When we returned to the house we heard about Bella's father butting in, but it does not look as if that will really be a problem for Jasper and his plans. Carlisle talked to him for a while about Bella, while Esme gushed about her new daughter so much that I was almost sick. When Jasper went off – to talk to Bella again presumably, against her father's orders (unthinkable in my time!) – the rest of the family made nice with those human drinker friends of Jasper. Only Rosalie was not happy about Bella joining us, her reasons are similar to mine. However, I'm not sure how far she would be an ally for me, because she is loyal to Emmett above all, and the big oaf is fascinated by the way the "little human" as he calls her has captured Jasper's heart.

After ten, Carlisle left to meet the Quileute. I knew he wanted to talk to their leader about changing Bella, and was not happy about him asking me to come along to translate in case they were wary of us, but of course I did my duty.

We waited for the pack at the boundary and they turned out in full force – there are six of them now (must be due to Jasper's friends). Jasper arrived in time and I could read in his mind that he was determined to make a success of this mission, which he started by calming everybody down considerably. Then Carlisle explained our problem and asked about an exception from the non-biting rule. At first Sam, the Alpha was not sympathetic, and hope began to rise again in me. But then Jasper drew the ace from his sleeve and told Sam that one of them had actually broken the treaty by letting slip information about us, i.e. Jacob Black had brought Bella herself onto our track, and Sam had to make concessions. When they heard who it was that Jasper had set his eyes on, there was quite a debate in the pack, which ended by them withdrawing in haste. Apparently Jacob is not willing to give us the daughter of his father's best friend.

The next morning however, Sam got back to Carlisle with a compromise suggested by Billy Black himself: Jasper is to wait with changing Bella until after graduation. This way Bella's father gets to keep his daughter for the appointed time, and there won't be the need to do any changing here. They also don't want us to return to the area, for obvious reasons. Another road closed to me, but at least I get some more time, which in truth is what they are hoping for as well. At least now I know what I have to do to save her.

And finally Esme came to the clearing where we had been practicing our fighting skills late, a satisfied smile on her face. Apparently her visit with the Chief had been a success too. I could hear her replaying the visit in her mind: How she had convinced the Chief how good it was for her hitherto misguided nephew to be with someone so innocent and honest as Bella, how much he had changed for the better since he had admitted to having fallen in love with her, and how dejected he had been by the threat of not being able to be with her again. She had manipulated Charlie Swan so much that it had been he himself who had voiced the fear of Jasper slipping back into lawless ways if he did not get to be with his girlfriend. In short: Bella was un-grounded and allowed to see Jasper if someone else was in the house.

I groaned. It looks as if I'm the only one here who is still immune to Jasper's influence. Huh – let's see if I can't get Bella out of his clutches.