Disclaimer- No, I don't own it!
A.N. - I had another day off today :) But, stupidly, didn't bother sitting down and getting ahead with my chapters, I sat down and read other fan fics! Gah, I've got serious problems. So it took a little longer than usual. Well, anyway, here's chapter 25. And if you're wondering, Jasper and Bella are alone again in the next chapter. :) Review please guys!
"I'm serious, Bella. The second Rose walked in the room, you tense up and you've got countless emotions running from you. It took all I had not to be overpowered by them." I stayed silent, and Jasper shook his head. "I can see we're not going to get anywhere while we're still here, are we Bella?" He said, his voice a little patronizing as he opened the car door.
"What are you doing?!" I asked, my voice a little hoarse.
"Taking you away from here. They won't be able to hear us what so ever. And you can tell me the truth." I nodded silently, and sat down in the car. By the time I'd buckled up, he'd already shut my door and gotten into his side, turning the key in the ignition.
"Are you going to drive fast?" I whispered. He turned to look at me, one eyebrow raised.
"Please, Bella." He laughed, and screeched down the driveway. Did they all have a complex or something?! Could they not understand how terrified I was of speed? When I finally became one, I'd be a pretty screwed up vampire.
The car jerked to a stop just as we swerved down from the driveway, and had I not been wearing my seatbelt, I would have smashed through the window.
"What the hell Jasper?!" He hadn't even moved an inch, and his head was facing his feet. He slowly raised his head, not looking at me. He was breathing heavily and the set of his jaw let me know that something wasn't right.
"Bella," he started, his voice a menacing growl."That could have killed you." He opened his eyes, a dark black. "What did you think you were doing, hitting me with those emotions?!" I stared at him in shock. He was blaming me?
"Oh sorry," I started sarcastically, "I was thinking of myself too much, wasn't I? Maybe next time when you're driving fast enough to kill me, I'll think about keeping my emotions under control so as not to scare the itty bitty vampire." My voice cracked a little at the end, and I unbuckled my seat belt, kicking the car door open. Jasper sat there momentarily, his eyes wide as they lightened.
"What are you doing?" He asked, jumping out of the car as I turned this way and that, not sure where to go.
"I'm going home." My voice cracked on the last word, as I began walking the way that the car had been headed. I couldn't see Edward like this.
"Bella, please!" I started walking, stumbling over the uneven road. I fell over as usual, and collapsed in a heap on the floor. Jasper was by my side before I could blink.
"Bella, please, come on. I'll take you somewhere and we can talk. I hate seeing you like this." Tears rolled down my cheeks and glanced off my chin, into darkened spots on my jeans.
"Why don't you just leave me alone Jasper, it's not like you want anything to do with me!" I shrieked as he pulled me up, and I began tripping down the road again, knowing that I wouldn't get far.
"Bella, please. What are you talking about?" Jasper wrapped his arms around my waist from behind, and I shuddered at the bolts of electricity from his touch. He spun me round and I collapsed against his chest in hopeless tears.
"You told me you loved me and then next minute you just spontaneously get over me and go back to having sex with your wife." I sobbed harder, realizing how stupid it sounded. "And now you're patronizing me and treating me like a child and you lied to me about being in love with me, and then you wer-" He cut me off with his lips, and I lost every train of thought that had ever been through my mind. It was just him and me. The tears dried quickly, as he pressed my body tighter against his, his hands winding through my hair as I clung to him.
"I never spontaneously got over you, Bella. I love you. Come on, let's get out of here." He swung me up into his arms, and placed me gently in the car. He jumped in and caught hold of my hand, smiling at me. He drove slowly for him, but still a little too fast for my liking. I didn't get overwhelmed this time as he drove, because I was deeply lost in thought, staring at our clasped hands on the seat. When I saw the edges of the highway appear, I jumped up.
"Where are we going, Jasper?" He laughed.
"I'm taking you to Port Angeles." My eyebrows rose.
"Why to Port Angeles?"
He laughed, and let go of my hand to caress my cheek. I shuddered at his touch, sending all kinds of signals through me. "I didn't think you'd want me to take you anywhere further." I nodded, completely mesmerized. We ended up going to Bella Italia. It was only after I recognized the waitress that I realized I'd been here before.
"Are you okay, Bella?" Jasper asked, winding his arm around my waist.
I nodded, trying not to get overly worked up. It didn't matter. The waitress wouldn't recognize me. She hadn't even been looking at me.
We sat down in the booth and ordered. It surprised me greatly when Jasper ordered, but when I questioned him later, he said that I would eat it. I was sure that if I continued to eat when all these vampires kept on trying to 'feed me', then I would be as big as their house! I ordered the mushroom ravioli, out of habit. I seemed to order it frequently these days. Once the waitress had brought our food, Jasper launched his attack.
"Right. Now you are going to tell me what was wrong." I stared at him blankly, a rabbit caught in headlights. I shoveled ravioli in my mouth, making sure I couldn't answer him. It was a childish tactic, but it worked. But I couldn't hold back for long, because in my haste, I'd finished my plate.
"Bella, please tell me. I want to help you." Jasper's eyes smoldered into mine, and I melted momentarily.
"I can't tell you Jasper."
"Please Bella, I just want to help!"
"I know," I muttered, "you've already said that half a million times." Jasper raised his eyebrows.
"I heard that, you know." I blushed a violent red and hid my face. I didn't know what was wrong with me – I'd been a bit accusing and overly emotional all day.
"Sorry." I said, still hiding my face. Jasper's cool hand reached out to me and tilted my face back up.
"It's okay. I just wish you'd explain." I shook my head, and his hand followed. "What if I guess? Who's it about...You?" I nodded. "Edward?" I twisted my expression.
"A little." He nodded. "Rosalie?"
"Yes." I whispered, lolling my head back down as I tried to push back the tears that were threatening to go over the border.
"I thought so. Is it about me?" I drew in a sharp breath, and he was silent.
"Bella, please tell me. I won't do anything, I promise. It'll help to get it off your chest, I promise."
"Well," I started, and I could see him visibly relax. "Well, it was at the dress fitting. She'd told me before that she'd found out about...us, and that she wasn't mad. She'd promised to tell me why she didn't mind at the dress fitting...so it was even better for us when you and Alice were off having sex." I said the last word bitterly, and Jasper reached down to hold my hand, that was clenching the white cloth covering the table. "So I had the dress fitting and then we went for food...and then I asked her again and then she told me." I thought of her words again, and my breathing began escalating along with my heartbeat. I was nearing hyperventilation even before Jasper tried to calm me. It didn't work very well, but I managed to plod on. "She told me that, she had grown closer to me, but she needed me out of her life. And you. We are her number one problems," I sniffled, the tears beginning to fall. "I've got everything she wants, and you're... a liability." I caught Jasper's pained expression as he covered it, nodding for me to continue. "She said that she'd been thinking for a while about how to get rid of you and I," I paused, wiping my eyes. I wasn't sure if I could say this, the words that had been haunting me night and day. "And then she said it was the perfect chance to kill two birds with one stone." I whispered the last sentence, and the next thing I knew, the money was on the table and Jasper and I were outside.
"What is she going to do, Bella? Did she tell you?" Jasper's voice was frantic as he swung me into the car, getting round to the other side before I'd even had a chance to answer.
"No. She said that you and I would manage that by ourselves, that we couldn't hide it well enough." Jasper visibly calmed down. "I agree with her." I whispered, my voice shaking ever so slightly at its low level.
"What happened then?" He asked, the car accelerating as we swerved through the back streets, trying to avoid unwanted hold ups.
"Then I cried and she took me home until I'd calmed down so that she wouldn't alert Edward. And now I'm scared that Edward will leave again." Tears trickled down my face as Jasper draped his right arm around my shoulder. I thought about telling him to keep his eyes on the road, we were on the highway and he was going at least 3 times the set speed limit, but I didn't bother.
"He won't leave, Bella. They won't find out." I sniffled.
"But what if they do?" His entire body tensed, his arm tightening around me.
"Then there's only one thing to do. I've got a compromise, Bella." I nodded, eager to hear what could get us out of this, urging him on.
"One night. I want you for one night, and then we forget about this. We move on with our lives with the people we love, and no one will ever have to know." I stared at him, my breath catching in my throat.
"Or?" I whispered, already knowing the answer.
"Or, we continue like this and eventually, Rose will have her way and we'll accidentally let it slip." I nodded. It didn't sound like a compromise to me.
"So what you're saying is, it's one night together or lose Edward forever? It sounds more like an ultimatum to me." But I knew what I would choose, despite all this.
"Maybe so. But you know as well as I do, that it's the only way." I nodded, and as we swerved to the opening of the Cullens' driveway, I wiped away my tears and answered him.
"One night together."