The summer passed by quickly. Prom had been an amazing, fun-filled night that ended with Jasper and I having following every cliché about prom – including our first time together. The rest of the summer was spent in a haze of romance and a spontaneous visit to see Peter and Charlotte, Jasper's closest friends outside of the Cullens. We spent three weeks at their ranch in Texas, the secluded area giving us a chance to be ourselves even in the sun.

Eventually, however, we, meaning Alice, Jasper, Edward and myself, had to go back to school. Rosalie and Emmett had been travelling around Africa for the last few weeks, since they had graduated. We had been back at school for just over a week and today was Bella's eighteenth birthday.

Alice, of course, was especially excited since it gave her an excuse to shop. Not that she needed one. The tiniest vampire in the family had decided to throw Bella a party, though I knew that Bella would be reluctant. She really did hate being the centre of attention.

"There she is!" Alice grinned. The two of us and Jasper had been waiting for Bella at school. Alice hopped the rail, while Jasper and I used the stairs like normal people. I smirked at Bella's stunned expression when Alice all but shoved a gift into her face.

"Happy-"

"Shhh!" Bella hushed as Alice hugged her.

"-birthday!" Alice whispered.

Bella looks over to us and I smile sweetly at her, silently mouthing, "Happy birthday." She returned the smile awkwardly and looked around to see if anyone had spotted the giant gift box. For some reason, she was being really weird about turning eighteen.

"Alice, didn't I say no gifts?"

"You did. I didn't. I've already seen you open it and guess what? You love it!"

Bella frowned slightly. "You had a vision about my birthday?" she asked flatly.

"And about the dress you'll be wearing to your party tonight – great colour on you."

"My party?"

"Please?" Alice begged. "It'll be fun."

Bella sighed. "I guess…"

"Great!" Alice perked up. "See you at seven!" She hugged Bella quickly and hurries over to us before Bella can change her mind. I grinned, watching the realisation on Bella's face.

"Jasper! No fair with the mood control thing."

"Sorry, Bella," Jasper smirked. "Happy… Never mind." I giggled as we followed Alice down the hall, hearing Edward say, "Vampires. You can't trust them. Trust me."

"What are you giggling at?" Jasper asked softly.

"Nothing," I murmured, still smiling. "Hey, do you guys know why Bella's being so weird about her birthday?"

"She's freaking out about being older than Edward in human years," Alice explained. "I don't know why, though. It's only one year and technically, Edward's a lot older."

"It's still nothing for her to freak out over," I said.

"I agree," Jasper added. "She's going to be one of us some day anyway. It won't matter then."

"Exactly," Alice agreed. "And Edward needs to realise that he can deny it all he wants, but Bella will change. Some day."

**TWILIGHT****TWILIGHT****TWILIGHT****TWILIGHT****TWILIGHT****TWILIGHT**

"Oh, my God. Alice, seriously?" I asked.

"What? What's wrong?"

"Why is everything so pink?" The living room had been decorated for the birthday party with streamers candles and balloons, all of them bright pink. There were crystal bowls filled with pink rose petals and there was a three-tiered cake on the glass table, decorated with pink icing and edible pink glitter. "Alice, don't you think this is a bit much? Bella's not one for anything extravagant. And I'm pretty sure her favourite colour is blue."

"She'll love it," Alice assured. "I've seen it, remember?"

"Okay, well even so, what are we going to do with a three-tiered cake?" I wondered. "Bella will only have one slice, maybe two. Even if she takes some home for Charlie, the rest will go to waste."

"Don't worry, dear," Esme said from across the room. "Whatever's left over, I will take it to the homeless shelter in Port Angeles."

"Alright," I sighed. "Still, it's a lot."

"Just go and get ready, will you?" Alice shoved me towards the stairs. I sped up to the room I shared with Jasper, finding him already dressed and lounging on the sofa with a Civil War book. He looked up as I closed the door.

"Alice?" he asked.

"Alice," I replied. I flashed to the ensuite bathroom, taking a speedy shower to wash my hair. Vampires may not sweat or anything, but our hair still got greasy and the warm water felt nice. Ten minutes later, I had blow-dried my curls and done my make-up. I dressed in a dark blue dress that had two diamond cut-outs at the back and threw my hair into a high ponytail. Slipping into a pair of black heels, I was downstairs and standing with Jasper just in time for Alice to lead the birthday girl into the living room.

"Sorry about all this," Carlisle greeted her first. "We tried to rein Alice in."

"Like that's even possible," Esme joked. "Happy birthday, Bella."

There was a sudden flash and we all turned to see Alice with a camera. "I… Found it in your bag. Mind?" Bella just smiled slightly.

Emmett sidled over to Edward, nudging his side. "Dating an older woman. Hot." Edward elbowed him sharply but Bella had already heard and was giving them an awkward look. "What?" Emmett asked.

Rosalie chose that moment to step forward and give Bella a gift. "It's a necklace, Alice picked it out." Bella gave a short smile then caught sight of Jasper and I standing a little further away and waved. We waved back.

Alice was back at it with the camera. "Show me the love!" She took a picture of Bella and Edward and then dragged the poor human over to the gift table.

"Alice, I'm the only one who even eats cake," Bella told her, surprised by the giant cake. "That thing could feed fifty."

"Told you," I said, only to be glared at by Alice.

"Hope you're hungry," she said to Bella. "Here, this one's from Emmett." Bella was handed a gift, opening it to reveal an empty car radio box.

"Um… Thanks?"

I snorted and Emmett grinned. "Already installed it in your truck. Finally a decent sound system for that piece of-"

"Hey, no hating on the truck," Bella scolded. "Thank you, Emmett."

"Ours next!" I called and Alice smiled, handing Bella a blue gift bag.

Removing the tissue paper, Bella pulled the gift out and gasped. "This is a first edition Wuthering Heights. How…How did you get this?"

"We have connections," Jasper told her mysteriously and I giggled.

"Thank you!" she smiled widely. "Really, thank you."

"No problem," I replied.

"You're very welcome," agreed Jasper.

"Okay, now open mine!" Alice chirped, skipping forward with her present.

Bella started pulling the wrapping paper away –

"Ouch! Paper cut."

I couldn't focus on anything but that tiny red drop of blood on Bella's fingertip. I knew my eyes had gone dark and I barely heard the small growl that came out of me. A matching, louder one came from next me: Jasper. We moved at the same. Jasper lunged straight for Bella, a snarl on his face, and I copied. As Rosalie flashed forward, grabbing me tightly, Edward shoved Bella back, away from us and she crashed into the table. Jasper slammed into Edward but I couldn't focus properly.

"Davina… Davina!" My eyes met Rose's and she moved her hands to my face. "Hey, it's okay. It's just Bella. It's okay, calm down. Calm down." Gaining some sense back, I instantly held my breath, blocking the scent of fresh blood. Jasper was still struggling against Edward and Emmett and Alice was trying to calm him down but soon came distracted. We all turned to Bella who was sitting up near the table. The glass plates had fallen and smashed around her, some of the glass cutting her arm. The blood was starting to pool on Esme's cream carpet.

Carlisle was suddenly at Bella's side. "Get them out of here," he told the others, gesturing to me and Jasper. Nobody moved. "Emmett."

Shaking his thirst away, Emmett dragged Jasper from the room, and Rose and I followed quickly. We followed them to the woods and the second I caught the scent of a stag, I pounced. With my thirst temporarily satisfied, I ran back to the others. Jasper was sitting on a large rock, Emmett and Rose standing nearby. The dead body of a bear lay at the bottom of the rock and Jasper's jumper was covered in blood, his face in his hands. Emmett and Rose saw me coming and nodded, heading off back to the house. I walked over to Jasper, perching next to him on the rock.

"Jasper." He didn't move. "Jasper, look at me." Slowly, his head raised and his dark amber eyes met mine. "Baby, it wasn't your fault."

"Davina…"

"No! It is not your fault! Do you understand me?" He stared blankly at me. "Jasper, you do realise that you're an empath, right? You do have control, you really do. How many times over the summer did Peter and Charlotte come back from a hunt covered in human blood, huh? You never once attacked. There were seven other vampires in that room when Bella cut herself and one of them was me. I'm still a newborn, technically. I've only been a vampire for nearly a year. We were all tempted in there, and you aren't the only one who acted on it. But you are the only one who could feel everyone else's thirst as well as your own. So don't you dare blame yourself for any of this, Jasper Whitlock, don't you dare!"

It was silent for a moment and then suddenly I was being kissed. Jasper pulled back, resting his forehead against mine, his breath softly brushing my cheeks. "Thank you."

"You're welcome. I love you."

"I love you too, darlin'."

After a few minutes, we decided to head back to the house. When we got there, Bella was gone and the rest of the family was sitting around the dining table.

"What's going on?" I asked.

Edward looked over at us. "We're leaving."