So here's the penultimate chapter of the story with only the epilogue left to go. It might make a few people question the direction I've taken this one in, but I hope you enjoy reading it none the less. Cheers for sticking with me through it all and thanks for the support.

Huge thanks go to elidunbigboot for her help with this chapter, and, as always, I don't own Twilight.

Home Truths

CPOV

I sat in my office, listening to the rest of the household creep around me.

Esme was pottering about in the kitchen, no doubt making something to tempt Bella to eat for the first time that day. Bella was huddled in her room, soft sobs emerging from that direction every now and then. After we had cleaned up the upper floor of the house last night, she had fled to her bedroom and locked the door against all of the family, even Jasper. Following her example, Jasper and Edward had followed suit, Jasper displaying insolence in front of his brother that surprised even me. We had all heard the accusations Edward had made about his relations with Bella, but not knowing the whole of the argument, I could not understand how he drawn such an explosive conclusion.

Emmett and Rosalie were also confined to their separate rooms, much to his distress. My newest daughter had returned early this morning, the stench of blood and fear coating her clothes. The red dress spoke its own story. I couldn't help but feel disappointed that her desire for revenge had overwhelmed her conscience, but I was somewhat heartened that her eyes had remained golden. At least she had withstood the blood lust that assailed her body, although that was small consolation.

What surprised me the most about Rosalie's actions though, was that Bella had known about them and yet said nothing to anyone. From the garbled explanations of last night, it seemed that her and Edward's argument had begun over her unwillingness to divulge Rosalie's location to him.

It troubled me. So much troubled me lately and yet I felt that I was always a step behind.

There was only one way to get to the truth of the matter though, and since two of the people involved were currently barricaded in their rooms, it looked like I would have to confront the third.

"Jasper, could I speak with you, please."

I worded it politely, but it wasn't a request. I was done with all the secrecy, now I wanted answers.

There was a soft snick as he opened his bedroom door, and then a second later he rapped at the door to my study.

"Come in."

He slipped into the room and sat down opposite me. Despite my many talks with him over the years with regards to Bella's wellbeing, this was first time I had seen him looking genuinely concerned about my opinion, rather than just belligerent.

I stared at him for a moment. For once, he kept his eyes down.

There was no point being delicate. It hadn't gotten me anywhere in the past when I'd spoken with him about the dangers of his closeness to Bella.

"When did you sleep with her?"

He swallowed heavily. "Before the school year started, after her 17th birthday. She asked me to and I agreed."

"I'm sure you did." I couldn't keep the sarcasm from my voice and Jasper's eyes shot up to meet mine for the first time.

"It wasn't like that," he bit out.

I raised my eyebrows.

"She wanted to know what it was like and she wanted her first time to be with someone she trusted. There was nothing sordid about it. I didn't coerce her into propositioning me. Surely it's better that it was me, someone who loves and respects her, rather than some horny, human boy just looking to get his rocks off."

If that last part was supposed to appeal to my better nature, it failed.

"It would've been more natural," I hissed. "It would have been a normal human relationship. Bella is not a stupid girl, Jasper. She's well aware of how teenage boys act – more aware than some girls – and I think she's more than capable of avoiding a relationship with someone only looking for physical gratification from her."

I had been gradually leaning forward as I argued with him and I now sat back.

My anger was now met by Jasper's.

"I only want what's best for her," he growled, bolting up onto his feet and slamming his hands on the desk.

I forced myself to remain calm. "And what if you're not what's best for her?" I asked.

He tilted his head to the side, considering me, and for a second my body tensed, preparing itself for an attack. Instead of leaping across the desk though, he abruptly sat down again, his hands clenched into fists. I could feel the rage and protectiveness vibrating off him and it was several moments before the power emotions waned. His hands slowly uncurled and his eyes faded back from the aggressive black to the more natural golden.

Now that he was in a more reasonable mood, I continued. "What if none of us are what's best for her?"

He frowned. "You think I should have kept my distance?"

"I think all of us should have been more careful when it came to Bella. But yes, I feel that I should have made you take a step back from Bella when I first became worried about your relationship. The same goes for her relationship with Edward."

Jasper gave me a bitter smirk. "Why didn't you then?"

I sighed. "Because you told me that there was nothing to worry about. So did Edward. So did Bella, for that matter. I've always let you all make your own way in life, offering guidance when I could, but leaving you all to make your own decisions. Now I see more clearly than ever that I shouldn't have allowed that freedom, especially when it comes to Bella."

"But..."

"She's human, Jasper," I interrupted him. "Human. It's something we all know and yet it's something that we put aside and ignore so easily. I'm beginning to think that maybe we've damaged Bella just by our presence in her life."

He shook his head. "She's not damaged, Carlisle," he disagreed with me. "We gave her a home."

"But what kind of home is it?" I immediately shot back. "A loving one, yes, but not a healthy one." This time I shook my head. "Definitely not a healthy one for an impressionable young girl."

Jasper scoffed. "You're talking like we've ruined her life."

"Not ruined her life, no. I wouldn't go that far." I ran a hand through my hair as I tried to explain how I felt about the situation. "But I think she doesn't see the world as she should anymore."

Jasper leaned back, steepling his fingers under his chin. "Are you just saying this because I've had more influence in her life that you ever did?"

Anger welled up in me. It seemed to be a natural reaction lately, especially when it came to my sons. I actually had to force my jaw to unclench before I could answer him.

"I'm saying this because I think you've raised her to be a wonderful vampire. If she was turned tomorrow she would be perfectly moulded in your image, Jasper. I doubt even you would be able to contain her as a newborn if she wasn't so devoted to you."

Well, that certainly made him shut up. He was now staring at me, mouth open, eyes wide.

I had his undivided attention for once.

"We may not think that we've harmed Bella in any way, but her actions last night prove that she's becoming more like us than she should be. When she was worried about King and his gang, she could have told myself or Esme, she could have gone to the police or the school for protection – they already suspected them – but she chose to contact you instead. I agree that those boys needed to pay for what they did, but Bella specifically chose you to ask for help because she knew that any justice you meted out would be lethal."

"They needed to die," Jasper protested half-heartedly.

"They needed to be contained, and I'm ashamed that I didn't recognise that at the time," I spat out. "I let my fear for Bella and our secret to taint my judgment, but that's my fault, not yours. This business with Rosalie and Edward though..." Words failed me for a moment and Jasper shifted uncomfortably. "She deliberately let Rosalie kill that boy last night. She knew what she was going to do and didn't stop her."

Jasper scoffed. "As if she could have stopped her."

"Not stopped her, no," I agreed with him. "But she could have called one of us or told Edward and we would have taken the appropriate measures to halt Rosalie's actions."

My companion leaned forward again, his brow furrowed.

"Rosalie deserved her vengeance," he swore vehemently.

I pursed my lips. "I'm sure you and I will always disagree on the issue of revenge. But what's done is done and I can only hope that it wasn't all for nothing and that she received some form of closure from it." I rested my elbows on the desk in front of me. "What I am worried about though is that Bella's lack of intervention shows a lack of compassion and adherence to human values. She barely blinks when we mention hunting and the prospect of humans dying...," Jasper began to interrupt but I held up my hand to stop him, "...no matter whether they deserve it or not, is something that doesn't appear to bother her anymore. That's a dangerous route to go down, for anyone, but especially for a young girl."

Jasper's jaw clenched. "She's not you, Carlisle, or some idealised version of a human. She has her faults like everyone else and she's entitled to them."

This was something I could get my teeth into.

"But how many of her faults have been compounded by our own morals? We act human, Jasper. We live with them, work with them, go to school with them, but we're only ever pretending to be the same. We have a family, but it's not a family in the human sense. The way we think and act and react is so different to ordinary people. We've given Bella so much more freedom than she would have had if her parents had remained alive. She's been allowed to do what she wants and go where she wants, and we've indulged her. We've made her selfish."

Jasper wasn't going to accept that. He leapt from his seat and grabbed me by the collar of my shirt.

"Don't you dare talk about her like that!"

I wanted to react, wanted to show him that I wasn't just going to take his anger lying down, but I forced myself to relax in his grasp. Fighting wasn't going to get us anywhere.

"Why not?" I asked him calmly. "It's true. Vampires are selfish creatures by nature and we've made her one of us. Her relationship with Edward is still so new, barely months old, but her reaction to him turning her down and telling her no is incredibly worrying." There was something I had to know. "When was the last time you told her no, Jasper?"

He stared at me for a minute and then another, and finally released me and backed away from the desk. Moving incredibly slowly, he sat back down and carefully folded his arms. I followed his example and sat back down.

A heavy silence fell over the study.

Finally, Jasper spoke. "She doesn't ask for anything I'm not willing to give."

"No," I agreed, "but bad habits that don't seem so terrible in a child or a teenager will be unacceptable in an adult and we can't shield Bella from the realities of life forever."

I could see that he was coming to understand what I was trying to tell him, but his loyalty to Bella held him firm against me.

"You can't blame her for that, Carlisle."

"I don't."

He stilled in surprise, before blinking slowly.

"I blame us for that. Myself, Esme, you, Emmett and even Edward to some degree. After what happened with her parents, the Volturi and the vampires that mistreated her, we all overcompensated. We wanted her to feel safe, to feel accepted within our family, even though it wasn't one that she would have chosen, and in turn we wanted to feel accepted by her."

It was painful to admit to my failings, to admit all our failings. Downstairs I could hear Esme gasping as she tried to control her feelings, crying in the only way she could. Emmett and Rosalie had stilled in their rooms, an unnatural quiet echoing from the direction of their rooms. Edward was silent too, but then none of this was a shock to him - he would have picked my thoughts out of my head earlier this morning when I was considering the situation.

"So we've cosseted her, spoilt her, never left her to stand on her own two feet, never allowed her to learn." This last part was the hardest to say. "So now we need to stop and draw a line between us and her."

Jasper was holding his head in his hands. "We can't just abandon her, Carlisle," he said bleakly. "We're her family. We're all she has left."

"And she'll still have us," I promised him. "But we have to stop treating her like she's a part of our coven; I know we call it a family and it is, but it's not a human family, it's a vampire coven. There needs to be a line between us as vampires and her as a human. That means new rules in the house for all of us."

A small shimmer of curiosity crossed my skin and I met Jasper's eyes, wondering what had caused the emotion.

"May I ask why you chose to speak to me about this now?" he asked.

I clasped my hands together.

"I wanted to speak to you before I spoke with Bella. Even if she agrees with me about the changes that need to be made, she will still look to you for guidance. Despite mine and Esme's love for her, she has always seen you as her primary caregiver, and I needed you to be on side with this."

Jasper cocked his head to one side. "And if I don't agree with it – if I'm not on your side?"

"You will be," I stated confidently.

His mouth quirked in question.

"Because I believe you really do love Bella," I explained, "and you want the best for her, even if that isn't us."

His eyes darted away from mine and I allowed him the time to gather his thoughts. The grandfather clock in the corner of the room ticked away uncomfortably loudly.

"What do you want me to do?" he eventually enquired.

I took a deep, unneeded breath. "I think firstly, I would like you to fetch Bella for me, and then I think the family should perhaps go for a hunt while I speak with her."

He nodded once and then turned towards the door.

I felt the need to say something else, to reassure him.

"It's the right thing to do, Jasper."

He paused and then turned the handle sharply.

"I guess we'll find out soon."

JPOV

Carlisle's words rang through my head as I hunted.

Despite his request that we all go out as a family, we had divided up quickly once in the woods. The emotions my family were radiating at the moment were pretty toxic and the gamut of fear, anger, guilt and depression were making my hands itch. What I wouldn't give right now for a nice, furious newborn to tear apart and vent my anger on.

But then I supposed that that was the kind of violent impulse that Carlisle was talking about Bella picking up on.

At first I had been pissed off during his little talk. I had known when I agreed to it that he would be disappointed if he ever found out about Bella and I sleeping together, but that didn't stop me from feeling that it was none of his business. His comment about Bella as a vampire though...

That had hit me hard.

More importantly, it had made me actually listen to his concerns and analyse them.

He was right.

I had never noticed it before, just never considered how far from human life Bella had grown up in. We had all done our best for her and it had been enough, but it also hadn't been normal for members of the weaker species.

It was a galling realisation. I felt like I had failed her. I was pretty sure everyone else felt the same as well. And yet, we had given her the best possible home that we could, and surely that was miles better than the death that had awaited her otherwise.

Without noticing, I had drifted closer to the house and seconds later Carlisle appeared in front of me.

"Where are the others?"

I shrugged. "We split up after we left."

He nodded thoughtfully. "I've spoken with Bella. She's rather upset right now. It might be wise for you to speak with her later."

I glanced towards the house and the lone light shining in the corner window on the first floor.

Carlisle stepped forward and clapped me on the back. "I'm going to go and find Esme."

I nodded at him and watched him sprint away. There was nothing left now between myself and Bella. Despite this knowledge, I didn't run to her. I felt positively old for the first time as I climbed the stairs, walked down the corridor and knocked on her door.

"Come in."

I stuck my head around the door, before entering. "Hey."

"Hey," Bella greeted me back. She looked truly pathetic, huddled in a ball under the covers on her bed, misery leeching from her.

Crossing the room, I sat down next to her and rested my hand on her covered knee.

"Did Carlisle talk to you?" I asked.

She sniffled and nodded. "He thinks that we shouldn't share a room anymore."

I should have known that one was coming.

"I think that would be wise," I said carefully.

The room was quiet for a while, save for Bella's breathing and heartbeat, but not silent. She was thinking hard about something – no doubt analysing her talk with Carlisle – I could practically hear her mind whirring. My curiosity over what had been said was growing though. Carlisle wouldn't have been as hard on Bella as he was with me or the rest of the family, but then, we had the luxury of seeing the bigger picture.

"I'm going to break up with Edward," she eventually whispered. I was quite grateful in that moment for my advanced hearing because I never would have heard her otherwise.

"Is that right?" I forced myself to stay detached. This wasn't about my feelings on the matter; this was about Bella's life.

"Yeah." She reached up and pushed her hair back behind her ear so her face was uncovered. "I was thinking about it before, but speaking to Carlisle has just convinced me that it's the right thing to do, even though he didn't ask me to."

"Taking Rosalie's advice, huh?"

Unlike the rest of the family, Bella had made me aware of all of the events from the previous evening, including her conversation with Rosalie as well as her fight with Edward.

"She was right," she answered hoarsely. "It couldn't go anywhere, not in the long term, not without me being changed." She sat up and met my eyes, her own were teary. "I don't want that to happen. I love you all, but I don't want it."

I nodded solemnly. "I know you don't. I'll make sure it doesn't ever happen."

She offered me a weak smile and shuffled across the bed so she was sat next to me. I wrapped my arm around her shoulders as she laid her head on my shoulders. It must have been cold for her to be pressed against me like this, but she didn't flinch away from me. That told me more than anything else so far that she was far too close to us, if she couldn't even feel the difference between us anymore.

"I didn't realise," she said, "just how much I had forgotten about my parents."

I froze underneath briefly and then forced myself to relax.

"I mean, I have pictures of them," she continued. "I've got the ones that you and Emmett went and got for me, but it's like my memory cut itself off after the attack and everything else, and I can only really remember how things have been since I came here."

"The brain works in strange ways," I reassured her. "It shuts down and blocks memories and feelings in order for you to survive. It protects you."

"But maybe it hasn't," she argued softly. "Carlisle reminded me earlier of my parents and how comfortable I had become around you all, and suddenly it was like I remembered just how scared of you all I had been. I was so afraid that you all would attack or torture me one day, play around with your food like Victoria and the others had done, and that you would keep me isolated and locked away forever. When it didn't happen, I think my head blocked out all the bad memories and it was as if I'd been a part of the family forever and it didn't bother me anymore."

"You got used to us," I suggested.

"Maybe." She didn't sound convinced.

Her hands twisted in her lap as she thought. I just waited for her to get her thoughts straight in her head.

"I remember sometimes," she eventually said. "Like when Rosalie was changed or when Edward and I fought last night. I remember then how scared I was, and still am occasionally."

Her words hurt in a way that I never thought they would.

I too remembered her first coming to the house, how much derision I held for her natural human weakness. I had grown to love her, we all had, but the word Carlisle had used for the situation rang through my head.

Unnatural.

No matter our feelings for Bella or hers for us, the whole situation was just unnatural.

"You were scared of all of us," I mused, "to begin with."

She pushed away from me at that and I released her to sit upright. To my surprise she smacked me playfully on the arm.

"Not you, silly," she chided. "I was never scared of you, or Emmett either."

Of course she wasn't scared of Emmett, the gentle giant; he had adored her before the rest of us. But me?

"You weren't?" I checked.

"No," she confirmed. "The first memory I have of you is from when you tried to kill me that time and Emmett and Edward stopped you." She frowned. "It's strange, but I think after that I always knew where I stood with you. I always knew you were willing to kill me and so I never really worried that you would."

She smiled at something in her head and I blinked at her strange logic.

"Everyone else was just too nice to me. I didn't trust that they wouldn't hug me one minute and then break my neck the next."

I hummed. "I remember how jumpy you were."

"I got used to you all eventually. I never realised though that that for you to truly be my family forever, I would have to become a vampire. It just wasn't something that ever occurred to me."

"To be honest, Bells, it didn't really occur to any of us either," I admitted. "We knew that we'd have to make adjustments for you to live with us, but I don't think any of us were looking towards the future." I smiled at her and she tried to smile back. "What Carlisle says is true though. We are all never changing and it's not something that I think any of us would've wished for ourselves, or anything that we'd wish on you unless you were dying."

Her emotions were still all over the place so I reached out and pulled her towards me once more, wrapping her back up inside the covers. Sighing, I rested my head against hers, and felt as she calmed down.

What I had to say next would be hard, but it was necessary.

"You do know what that means though – not becoming one of us, I mean?"

"Yes," she murmured.

I said it anyway. "Someday, not now or even soon, but someday, you're going to have to give us up."

The distress we both felt in that moment was almost overwhelming.

"You're going to have to give us up and we're going to have to let you go. If you want to live, that is."

A part of me wanted her to change her mind, but I knew that she would never want it, just as I knew that their family would never allow it, not unless she was dying.

"I want to live," she whispered faintly. Clearing her throat, she tried again, louder this time. "I want to live, Jasper."

The force of her conviction hit me and I swallowed heavily. Gripping her tighter, I pressed a hard kiss to her head.

"Then you will," I promised her. "I'll make sure you do."

Bella wrapped her arms around my waist and hugged me tightly, and I swore to myself that I would do my best to ensure that she had the best life possible.

There was time to grieve for losing her later on. For now, I would plan for the future.

Hers and mine.

Separately.