Disclaimer: I don't own Twilight.

Yay! We've reached 500+ reviews! I'm so happy that everyone likes this story, and likes it enough to review and favorite it and everything. Thanks so much to everyone for all of their support! I really appreciate it! And, without further wait, here's chapter twenty four!

Long Road to Ruin
Chapter Twenty Four: Dance in the Dark

Jasper.

I had to admit, winning the first game of the season was something that I would never forget.

It was hard to forget those things, anyway. The cheering, the shouting, the celebrating - everything that happened that day would be etched into my memory. It probably sounds foolish, since it wasn't even a major game or anything like that, but for us, it was just as good as if we'd won the state championship.

I was still a bit woozy from the hit I'd taken on the field - the one that made me sit out far longer than I'd wanted to, even though, in reality, I hadn't sat out for that long. But, for me, any moment spent out of the game, was a moment too long, when I wanted to help my team win.

The locker room after the game was a blitz of cheers and taunts and cocky attitudes, and I couldn't help but smile at the sound of it all as I changed into my ratty sweats and a t-shirt. Forks was too broke to afford a shower room in the field house, so we all had to head to our respective houses to clean up before the dance. Not that I minded. I was never too fond of the idea of showering in front of people. I don't see how anyone could be, actually.

I left the locker room early, eager to get in the shower and change clothes, but also eager to take a couple of Tylenol or something. My head was throbbing, despite the fact that I had a helmet on when I took the hit on the field.

As I walked to the car, I could hear the shouts and hollers of the students, still worked up from the game. I was too - I could still feel the adrenaline pumping though my veins, a residual effect from the game.

I opened the passenger side door, and climbed in, as my mother cranked the car before leaning over and hugging my sweaty, tired form, "Great game, sweetheart!"

I chuckled, only slightly uncomfortable, "Thanks, Ma."

She parted from me and put the car into drive. We pulled smoothly away from the school and onto the empty road. All the other cars were lingering around, with a few, like us, leaving early so they could get out of the way of traffic.

The car ride to the house was filled with random conversation. Mom told me about how Bella was cheering for me, jumping around with Emmett and Alice, and how she looked worried for my safety when I got clocked like a newbie.

"Shoot, everyone was so quiet!" Mom said, looking at me kindly, "It was like someone had shot you, Jasper. It scarred me!"

"Sorry." I said bashfully, hating the fact that I'd managed to worry both her and Bella. And maybe the entire school.

We continued to talk for as long as we could, and then Mom turned into our driveway. Even though Bella had sworn to look out for me, I couldn't help but worry every time I saw the house. Especially since my mother had let in Victoria without so much as a blink of her eye.

Mom opened the door and got out of the car, and I followed suit. She walked up to the door and I tailed behind her, looking around. Yeah, as if I could see a vampire before it attacked. Geez. Talk about outmatched. I'd rather get smacked down a thousand times by that boulder-esque football player. Bring on the concussions.

She then moved to unlock the door, slipping inside and I did the same. Okay, so everything was fine. But I couldn't help but be a little bit worried that I was leaving my mother at home by herself while I went off gallivanting at a dance, and then met the vampire parents of my…girlfriend?

Yeah, I suppose that's what I would call her. Girlfriend. I couldn't think of anything else, but the word just didn't sound right. There should be another, more idyllic term for our relationship without sounding so juvenile. But, then again, I was a juvenile, so I guessed it was appropriate.

Girlfriend was the human term for it, but I couldn't help but wonder what the vampiric term would be.

Mom must have noticed me just standing around, because she clapped me on the back, "Are you okay, honey? Do you need something for your head?"

As soon as she brought it up, my head started throbbing. "That would be nice."

Mom smiled at me, "Well, you go take your shower and get ready. I'll try to find you some medicine for your head."

I nodded, trying to ignore the panging in my head, and moved up the stairs to get ready. There was something itching at the back of my skull, and I was pretty sure it didn't have anything to do with my injuries.

Shaking my head, I grabbed a towel and made my way into the bathroom, where I showered, taking the time to scrub myself thoroughly. Wouldn't want to be that sweaty when I was around Bella. Her sense of smell was probably equally as strong as every other sense in her body.

After I left the shower, I walked into my room and changed into the clothes I had laid out before. I found myself hurrying, as I had already taken long enough in the shower. Looking at the clock, I realized that the dance must have started already.

Racing down the stairs, I almost tripped over my untied shoes. Growling at myself, I continued my way down the steps - more carefully now - and then bent over to tie the damned things.

"In a hurry?" Mom asked. She was seated on the couch with a bowl of popcorn in her lap, watching something on the television. She hadn't even looked at me and knew what was going on - a mother always knows, I suppose.

"I guess."

"Bella will wait for you." Mom said, and there was a hint of knowing in her voice.

"Thanks for the insight, Ma." I said, thinking about what else I would have to do before I made my way back to the school. I could remember nothing else I needed to do, so I walked over to the couch after grabbing my keys, and kissed my mom's head. "Bye. I'll be back."

"Don't do anything I wouldn't do." Mom called playfully after me. I snorted at that and gave her a final wave before I shut the door behind me.

The drive to the dance was filled with the random sound of my radio. I had actually caught the tail end of the people covering the high school games around town, and our victory was apparently big news. Not surprising, since we had lost a shit load of games, and winning the one on opening night was always a big thing.

I turned into the school with a strange feeling of lead in my chest. I didn't think I would be this nervous, but I was. I guess it had to do with the fact that I would actually be at a school function with Bella…and because I had to meet her vampire parents afterward.

Yeah, that would make anyone nervous.

I cut off the engine and got out of the car. After I shut the door behind me, I turned around and came face to face with the very girl I had been wanting to see, but my heart jumped in fright in my chest, not expecting to see her luminous features, highlighted by the moonlight.

"Jasper." She said, and her voice was breathy. Immediately, I could tell that there was something wrong.

"Are you okay?" Were the first words out of my mouth.

She shook her head, as if to clear it, before plastering a smile on her face. "I'm fine."

I kinda doubted that.

Her hand was immediately in mine, and the sudden cold made me shiver. Bella looked at me with her wide, topaz eyes, her lips parted slightly. I could practically feel the anxiety rolling off of her in waves, so much so that I thought I was going to be pulled in the undertow.

"Let's just go enjoy ourselves, okay?" Bella whispered to me, and the sound was so sincere, so kind, that I couldn't help but go along. If Bella wanted to tell me, she would tell me. Though the thought that it could be something about me flooded my mind, I pushed it back. Who was I to think that it was about me?

We entered through the front of the gym, underneath a canopy of colored paper and various other decorations. I felt her iron grip tighten against my fingers as we entered the place. It was strange, the amount of unease she was feeling, and it was almost as if it were effecting me as well.

Her worried golden eyes were regal, scanning the crowd for her siblings as we stepped onto the dance floor - which was technically the gym floor now, decorated along the sides with various tables. Many people sat in the bleachers, or at the tables, and still other couples danced. Bella locked eyes with Edward, who was standing alongside the wall with Alice. They looked strangely uptight as well. Rosalie was sitting at one of the tables, tapping her long white fingers on the paper that covered it. Emmett was no where in sight.

"Bella." I said, trying to make my voice sound forceful, but it didn't work as well as I had thought. The tension was catching.

"Let's dance." Bella said, bringing clasping my hand and bringing me over to the center of the floor.

She was trying to distract me.

I wanted to say that I would have nothing of it, but somehow, I just wanted to relax and revel in the moment. The moment that Bella and I could be out and about like a normal couple, when we were anything but.

Her thin arms formed a vice around my neck, and my hands found the curve of her waist and settled there. Luckily, the song playing was a rather slow song, and everyone had simmered down from the lively song that had been playing when we had entered the gym. Now everyone was filing on the dance floor, joining together, and dancing.

And we swayed.

It was strange, trying to keep up with the otherworldly grace that Bella displayed, but she seemed to be taking that down a level to keep up with me. We were quiet for a while, just enjoying each other's company. Though Bella seemed to be distracted by who knows what, she would smile at me and keep her attention on me. It was a while before I noticed that Alice and Edward had decided to dance as well, leaving whatever tension they had behind, and trying to enjoy themselves. Rosalie stayed put at her table, fighting off whoever decided to hit on her.

I stared at Bella, for once noticing what she wore. Her knee length, deep blue dress was stylish and suited her well. The neck was a scoop-like cut, and I couldn't help but want to kiss her collarbones that she had displayed so prominently.

Yeah, I'm a dork.

I played with a strand of her wavy brown locks and pulled her closer. She let me, because she knew that if I tried too hard that I would get no where and end up hurting myself. She was practically made of stone, after all. I could feel the tension ease out of her joints, but the anxiety wasn't gone at all, so I decided to try and talk to her, try to get her mind off of what was bothering her so.

"I remember when I first met you, Bella." I said, my voice barely a whisper, but I knew she heard it.

She pulled away from where she had her head rested against my chest, and looked up at me, "Yeah, that was just a few months ago."

"No," I said, giving her a smile, "when I was ten."

Bella's face looked blank for a second, seemingly surprised that I had brought it up, or surprised that I had remembered it - I didn't know which.

"You remembered." Bella said, and she wasn't at all surprised. Most likely Edward had told her how much I had thought about that moment from the time that I had "officially" met her.

"I haven't forgot that, you know." I told her, quietly, so no one else would hear. Though it was painfully obvious that both Edward and Alice could hear, though they were now across the room, and Rosalie had gone painfully still at the table.

She was quiet, as if waiting for me to continue.

"It was with me all these years." I continued, "I could never get it out of my head. No matter how hard I tried. I dreamed about you, without even knowing your name. I was sure I was going insane because of how much I thought about you. I guess that was why no other girls really interested me. I tried, of course, but it never even compared to that one moment that I met you."

I looked down at her. We had stopped swaying altogether, and she was staring up at me with wide, touched eyes. There was a curious feeling emanating from her - something stronger than anything I'd ever felt. A feeling of the brightest warmth that I had ever felt flowed through me just by glancing at her. Just by connecting my eyes with hers.

"I'm glad I was able to meet you again. To prove that what I saw that day wasn't a product of my imagination." I chuckled slightly at that.

"I'm glad I was able to meet you again, too." Bella said, her voice barely there. It was strange, the sound of her voice.

"I'm still not sure why you did it - why you saved me."

Bella smiled, and it was bitter, but happy, at the same time, "I was hunting, at the time. Once you shut yourself off to your instincts, it's incredibly hard to stop, but I sensed the human blood - your blood - along with the cougar I was hunting. I stopped breathing, so I could turn off that hunting instinct. I was just a few feet away, watching you walk around with the strangest grin on your face. You were dirty, and just very happy. Then, when that…animal attacked you, I knew I had no choice."

I stared at her, my mouth slightly agape at her confession.

"Somehow, though I had seen death and blood and horror before, I just couldn't bear to let you die. Your face…it stuck in my head. Your bright eyes and your cheerfully adventurous nature. I couldn't bear to let anything happen to you, so I saved you."

"Thank you." I said, but the words sounded clumsy and unrefined. Somehow inappropriate for the situation.

Bella laughed at that, and said, "There is no thanks necessary."

"You've saved my life twice."

"Because I wanted to." Bella said, and suddenly the mood was more heady, "Because, though I didn't know it at the time. I didn't know it when I saved you that day. Not even when your face was plastered in my mind, childish and curious, I had no clue that…"

I waited, hanging on every word.

"I had no clue that you would mean the world to me. I did not know that one day, you would be the one thing that I would die for, live for, exist for."

There was nothing to say to that.

I couldn't find words. Everything I wanted to say was either too cheesy or too immature. Too inappropriately dull and mundane. I couldn't even begin to describe how she made me feel, but I wasn't sure how to put that into words.

So I lowered my face down to meet hers, our lips brushing for a heart-stopping second, before I kissed her solid mouth.

I didn't care that people were staring. I didn't care that people would constantly talk about our relationship, because of how "strange" Bella and her family were. I didn't care about any of those trivial things. I just knew that by meeting Bella, a part of me had changed.

"I love you." I murmured against her lips.

She stilled in my arms, and pulled away, shocked by what she heard. She shouldn't be. Those words couldn't be any more real.

My head was still craned over her, our foreheads were pressed together, and her hand found its way to the back of my head. She eyelids fluttered shut, and she breathed in deeply. Her emotions were strange now - a mixture of elation, of confusion, and regret? I had yet to figure out how I could feel exactly what people were going through, but I didn't question it. I thought that would reveal itself in due time - hopefully.

Nonetheless, she snapped her eyes open and stared at me, all the while rubbing her icy fingers cross the nape of my neck, sending shivers of delight down my spine.

"I love you." She replied.

My muscles relaxed, though I didn't remember ever being tense, and my heart started on a race all by itself.

A grin spread across my face, and I couldn't help but smile at her. There was nothing I could say, nothing I could do, that could ever replicate that feeling. It was quite extraordinary. I pulled her closer to my body, and breathed in the sweet scent of her hair.

"You know, you can tell me whatever is wrong." I told her, as a song that was slightly faster came over the speakers. Some of the couples parted, while others seemed to not care - Bella and I were apart of the latter.

"I know." She whispered.

"So…why not tell me?"

Bella gave a hitching laugh, something that sounded almost like she was crying, but it had a note of that dry humor deep within it. "Not now."

I looked down at her for what seemed like the thousandth time that night. "Why?"

"Jasper, I am a selfish creature." Bella said, with a hint of self-loathing that I automatically disliked. "Can you blame me that I just want this last day of normalcy with you?"

"Last day?" I asked, and her finger found my lips quickly, before I could ask any more.

"Don't worry." She told me, "We've got everything under control."

Her reassurance was sincere, but somehow I wasn't satisfied.

"Where's Emmett?"

Bella was silent before answering, "He's…with your mother."

"My mom?" I almost shouted, but managed to keep my voice down, "What?"

"Alice had a vision…Victoria was in your house just before you two got home."

Suddenly, the nausea I had felt when I entered my house took on a whole new meaning - she had been there. And she was still close by. The sickening feeling in my stomach came back, despite the fact that she was no where around.

"Emmett volunteered, while we stayed here and kept up the charade." Bella said softly, "Please, don't be angry."

"I have to get home right now." I told her, wanting to break apart from her, but her arms were like a steel cage around my form. "I have to…"

"To what? There's nothing you can do right now. The best thing we can do right now is keep one of us at the house when your mother is home. At all times."

"Are you positive that my mother is alright?"

Bella reached up and stroked my cheek, her icy fingers leaving a trail of fire on my flesh, "Alice hasn't seen anything. Emmett is with her. Your mother is fine. Now, please…"

I trusted Bella with my life. And I don't know why she would feel the need to lie about something so important as my mother's wellbeing.

So, I calmed down, though the tension never really left my shoulders, not even when Bella's hands pressed gently on them. She looked deep into my eyes, and I tried not to meet them, but I couldn't help myself, "Please, let's just enjoy the moment."

She was desperate to regain the mood from before, the mood of utter happiness and elation. For a moment, I felt bad that I was ruining her time, but my mother could be in danger. But I decided to humor her. I would dance with her. I would try to not stress her out, even though right now it felt like I was the one on the verge of a nervous breakdown.

She had said, "Please, let's just enjoy the moment."

So we did.

End Chapter Twenty Four.

Just when ya think everything is gonna be okay, some other shit happens! I guess that's the moral of this chapter, haha. Anyway, I hope that everyone enjoyed this chapter! I'm really trying to update more often. I would love to hear your opinions on this fic of mine; I always love hearing feedback.

Thanks for reading!