Life of A Reluctant Mate

New Moon

Chapter Three: Avery's Nightmare

"Please go get them, Avery. Before Alice jumps through the roof." Esme sighed with what could only be a mother's exhaustion.

"Okay." Avery passed Alice jumping up and down in impatience while Jasper attempted to hold her still and calm her or even just distract her.

"Hey, Alice is gonna start bouncing off the walls if you guys don't hurry up." Avery smiled at the couple. She eyed the paintings in passing before closing Carlisle's office door.

"Are they coming?" Alice started Avery when she jumped out from no where and landed so close their noses were touching.

"Alice! Stop! Doing that!" Avery's heart pulsated against her ribs.

"Alice, leave the fragile human alone." Rosalie said as she passed. Avery gave Rosalie's back a nasty glare.

"Ice Queen."

Rosalie was about to respond when Avery was suddenly grabbed by Jasper and gently pushed to go into the main living room. "As amusing as it is, you'll eventually have to learn to get along with her." Jasper smirked. Avery stomped her foot in defeat unable to think of a response.

"You look beautiful." She eyes snapped from the window to his eyes.

"Please don't do that. We were doing so well, just-"

"Then become a hideously ugly, unwanted, disgusting human and I might."

"So look like Rose?" Avery said levelly though she knew Rose's vampire hearing would make her hear it.

"I heard that, Human!" Rosalie's angry voice called and Avery and Jasper smirked.

"But you do." Avery accepted Jasper's small kiss to her cheek but soon took a step back. She had a boyfriend and however much Jasper didn't like him it wasn't right to do this.

"You look out of place." Avery smiled at Esme who had a gentle one for her. Avery looked down at her pink dress the one she had worn to Prom last year and chuckled. Its light pink fabric was a contrast to the other dark colors or purples everyone else was wearing.

"So are you." She nodded to Esme's light purple dress. Esme linked her arm through Avery's before escorting her down the stairs.

The other vampires, 'cept Alice, who had finally escaped Emmett and ran to get Bella, had come into the living room.

Avery looked around for the first time and noticed how beautiful it looked, large bouquets of roses, lit candles creating most of the light and a small table holding Bella's beautiful wedding cake and gifts.

"Sorry about all this. We tried to rein Alice in." Dr. Cullen apologized to Bella when she made her way down the stairs.

"As if that were even possible." Bella accepted a hug from Esme.

"Happy Birthday, Bella." Esme laughed. Alice had zipped around taking different pictures.

"Avery gave it to me. She said you would mind, you don't do you?" Alice asked. Bella gave a small dirt look to Avery.

"Memories!" Avery smiled sarcastically. The tone was sweet and innocent but they both new what it really was, revenge for that morning.

"Dating an older woman. Hot." Emmett said to Edward stared at his brother in wonder before sigh exasperatedly. "What?"

"You first, Rosalie." Alice handed a small box to Rosalie who in turned thrust it into Bella's hands.

"It's a necklace. Alice picked it out."

"Does it hurt you that much to be nice?" Avery asked Rosalie.

'Yes." Rosalie fired back with a flinch. Avery gave a look to Esme who simply laughed it off.

"Thanks." Bella tried easing the problem.

"Show me the love." Alice smiled before snapping a few pictures. Of the multiple couples. She giggled before grabbing a bigger gold box. "This one's from Emmett." Bella shook the box and gave Emmett a confused look, it sounded empty.

"Already installed it in your truck." Emmett beamed. "Finally a decent sound system for that piece of…"

"Hey! Don't hate the truck." Bella cut in.

"Protective much?"

"How would you feel if it was Carla?" Bella pointed out Avery's much deeper love for the Impala.

Avery gasped "Don't you bring her into this!"

"Open Esme and Carlisle's." Alice thrusted a small blue wrapped package into Bella's hand.

'Just a little something to brighten your day." Carlisle smiled.

"Oh, I wanna take a picture!" Avery grabbed the camera from Alice and waited to see Bella's face.

'You've been looking kind of pale lately." Esme's motherly concern showed thoroughly.

"Even more than the other one." Rosalie commented. Avery glared up at the blonde.

"Yeah because your tan just seems to….sparkle." Avery smirked. Chuckles were heard as Bella began opening her gift.

"Ah, paper cut." Bella commented before going back to work opening the little blue package. Not being around the Cullens all the much anymore Avery hadn't totally realized the severity of the situation.

In a blur Bella was flying towards the wall and landing with a crash. She let out a startled scream when Jasper appeared quickly running full force for them. Edwards braced himself quickly and threw Jasper back, his body hitting the piano and crushing it.

Avery ran towards a barley moving Bella panic in ever pore of her body. She looked over at Jasper charging yet again, this time almost blurring he was moving so fast to duck and weave through Carlisle and Emmett before the two finally got him in a tight grip.

Avery's fear turned into terror as Jasper kept trying to lung for Bella. His face an ugly, viscous sneer, teeth bared. His eyes weren't their beautiful gold but instead a pitch black.

Alice worked quickly trying to calm him. "Jaz, Jaz. It's okay. It's just a little…blood." Avery helped support Bella and blanched white when her little paper cut was outshone by the bleeding gash in her arm from where the glass table had cut it.

She looked up at a deep snarl, only to find all eyes looking at them.

"Get Jasper out of here." Carlisle commanded.

He blurred over to Bella taking her injured arm in his grasp. Emmett and Jasper left with Alice not far behind.

"I'm sorry, I can't." The blood became too much for her. Rosalie left with them and Esme gave then a concerned and apologetic look before going to calm down her children.

"I'll have to stitch this up in my office."

"Check on Jasper. I'm sure he's very upset with himself." He told Edward. When Edwards didn't move Carlisle snapped him out of his haze.

His eyes turned to Avery and he hesitantly said, "It would mean a lot to him, I doubt he'll listen to anyone but you right now."

Avery realized for the first time her eyes were watering, she had never seen Jasper like that and it frightened her beyond belief. "I'm sorry, I...I can't." She couldn't handle seeing more of him that way, ready to attack, even kill, her best friend, what if he did it to her? Jasper might have told her he didn't crave for her blood that it smelt different to him, wasn't appetizing, but the fear in her heart was still there. Carlisle looked on wearily but gave a small reassuring smile anyways.

Avery looked from one painting to another. Each different in style but all of old world medical procedures.

"I never wanted a party."

"It's not your fault. Jasper hasn't been away from human blood as long as the rest of us."

'How do you do it?'

"Years and years of practice." Carlisle smiled.

'Did you ever think of just doing it the easy way?" Avery came to stand besides Bella and Carlisle, watching him suture intently. If she wanted to one day become a doctor what better way of learning than by observing a man who's been doing it for centuries.

"No. I knew who I wanted to be. I wanted to help people it brings me happiness, even if I am damned regardless.

'Damned? Like Hell?"

"Carlisle, you could never be damned. You couldn't its impossible. Rosalie a toss up but the rest of you are too good of people to be damned to hell."

"Thank you, Avery. You both have been very gracious about us." Carlisle said. Avery felt guilty knowing that wasn't exactly true in her part, during the summer she was ashamed to say she had been keeping herself busy with her "human gang" as Bella called it. In hopes of taking a break from the supernatural.

"So that's it? That's why he won't change me?"

'Imagine the situation in reverse. Hmm. If you believe as Edward does, could you take away his soul?" Carlisle set the blood and alcohol on fire and Avery watched the flames as she thought about it. Surely Esme the woman who was the most saint like person she had ever met had a soul….

When Edward brought them home later that night. She said her goodnights before carrying Bella's gifts into the house and putting them on her dresser. Still shuck up her made a quick post it about not feeling well before leaving out the back.

Once inside her home she made her way upstairs to her bed room. There was one large space in her bedroom that had previously been occupied by one of the many bookcases. Now in its place was a shrine of different pictures. Some of her with her parents, some it her friends of Kansas and a lot of her year here in forks. She lightly skimmed the glossy picture of one of her favorites.

It was taken during the summer, Avery and Bella were squished between Jasper, Emmett, and Edward as Alice took the picture. Her gaze lingered on Jaspers slight crooked smile a little too long for her liking...

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Up Next...M RATING! (HINT HINT HINT!)

For you T readers please know that you can skip next chapter since it will only have a little bit of plot to him and mostly just "adult situations".

So I'll clear up what happens at the very beginning of chapter 24