I began to second guess my decision of taking Bella in to see Alice and Edward's urns when an intense sadness flowed off of her and into me. I held that feeling and steadied myself against it to keep from faltering in my ability to comfort her. Then reaching out my arms I wrapped them around her fragile figure and began to apologize profusely.

Had I made a mistake? Was it too soon for her? Mentally I chided myself while my hold on Bella tightened! I could have at least told her what was behind the door. Maybe then she could have prepared herself. I had acted selfishly and I knew it. My intent was only on getting through with requesting the girl's help before I lost my gumption. I had pushed forward for simply my sake. I knew my rationale was not completely self-centered. I did ask Bella if she thought she was ready to experience more pain, but had my mind truly been focused on protecting her then bringing her in to see this … well, the idea would not have even left my mouth.

"I'm so sorry, Bella that I have to expose you to this, but I have no choice, because there is something that I must ask of you pertaining to Alice's ashes."

I shook my head in disgust with my actions, knowing full well that my mistake could not be retracted now. Bella had been exposed and the thought occurred to me that even if we left the room right then the damage had already been done.

I began to worry when she did not respond to me, "Bella …" Her name sounded like a plea on my lips.

The girl's head was buried deep in my chest and at my frantic mention of her name she pulled away slightly to look up at me. Her eyes were red and she sniffled a bit, "What about Alice's ashes?" Bella's voice was unsteady.

I removed one of my hands from around her waist and lifted it to stroke her cheek, "I'm asking this of you, because I know that if I were to attempt it alone then I would fail miserably, but at the same time I know it needs to be done … for me to move on." I paused and then added, "For you to move on."

"What do you mean?" She asked, her eyes staring at me curiously.

"You see … when our kind loses a mate there is no ceremony for us. Vampires do not hold funerals for our dead. We see grieving as a solitary event involving only the one who lost the most. In the case of Alice that would be me, but as you can very well tell what with how much I have leaned on you for support …" My voice broke off as I contemplated admitting my true emotions to the human girl.

Could I tell Bella without creating more emotional turmoil inside her? Was she strong enough to know how I truly felt? I had tried so hard to keep her unaware of the extent my need for her was.

"What is it, Jasper?" Bella asked when my break from talking began to drag, "You can tell me."

I felt the sadness inside her slowly begin to transform into a deep concern and the sensation of this emboldened the trajectory of my words. When my speech finally returned to me I expressed my thoughts in the most passionate of appeals, "I need you, Bella. I need you there when I scatter Alice's ashes. I cannot manage it on my own. You have been and are my strength. You are the one thing that keeps me going and without your presence by my side I am not sure I can move forward."

I braced myself for whatever reaction the girl would express either verbally or emotionally in response to my confession. The level of anxiety I felt was maddening, but then as I stared down into the darkness of her eyes there was a moment when that stress completely vacated my body. It was Bella. Her emotions struck me with the same powerful devotion she had exhibited outside earlier. She was radiating her desire to help me in full force once again, but unlike my shock from before when the intensity had caused me to shy away; I now recognized the scope of that concern. The strength of it was not a surprise to me and so, I found my ability to pull it in quite adequate. I experienced her emotions to the fullest of my capacity and discovered that when I allowed it to wash over me the feeling was extremely soothing.

Love.

Such a pleasurable thing to feel. I sighed as I experienced Bella's love for me. It may have not been the same romantic love she felt for my brother, but it was strong enough for the moment to fill the void Alice's death had left inside my soul.

"You silly vampire." Bella giggled and the sound of her soft laugh filled my dead heart, "Of course, I will come with you. Why would you even think that I wouldn't? After all, I would only expect the same from you."

I was quite inexperienced at being surprised, but with this being Bella who seemed to possess the unique ability of catching me off guard, I had to admit that when her soft lips came up to caress my cheek it stunned my senses. The place where her mouth had touched my cool skin felt like it was on fire. Such warmth these humans radiated … it left me comforted.

"Thank you." I embraced her once more, "But, you do know that by agreeing to this the two of us will have to travel together to Philadelphia."

The girl instantly pulled away and stared at me with furrowed brows, "But, Charlie would never agree! Me … traveling with you … alone!"

I reached out to pull her back into my hold and leaned slightly down to speak softly into her ear, "That is why I am asking you now. I realize that your situation with Charlie is precarious. I can see into your heart … or more literally your emotions and I know how you would never want to cause Charlie pain. I was not planning on spreading Alice's ashes anytime soon. This will give you time to soften your father's opinion of me and his feelings on cross country travel for you. You are of legal age … are you not? He has no authority to keep you here against your will. So, you must work with him and over time I can foresee your father coming around."

"But, Philadelphia … it's so far away." Bella stated.

I moved my body away from hers and turned to look at the lovely urn I had managed to choose for Alice all those weeks ago. I may have been incapable of many things during those first few days, but selecting this had not been one of them. I wanted to make sure that whatever held Alice's remains would be a testament to who she was in life and had settled on a hand crafted marble urn with purple and blue swirls decorating the surface in beautiful artwork. I stared at the design as I answered Bella's inquiry, "It is where I first met her … the place where my life changed forever for the better."

"Yes, of course." Bella said tenderly, "But, then will you do something for me in return?"

My gaze turned back to Bella. "Anything … all you have to do is ask. I would never deny you."

The intensity of my declaration caused Bella's face to flush and I tried to reign in the power of my love from showing on my face or through my words. I knew I could use the term love without a second thought. I did love Bella as she loved me. The feel of her devotion towards me was proof enough. We may not have been in love, but that emotion was nearly as powerful as any romantic sensation I had ever felt.

Bella's eyes turned downward and her long lashes shaded the scarlet cheeks under them. "I uh … just meant that … to ask if you would do the same for me," she pulled in a ragged breath and exhaled it slowly, "with Edward's ashes."

Her eyes returned to mine and I saw that the blush had dissipated from her features. Now in its wake was a dejected look. "I do have a place that I feel would be the right location for his ashes, but unlike you it is not very far from here."

The sadness in her eyes caused me to reach out and once again cradle her warm and soft form in my steel cold arms. "When you are ready … all you have to do is ask." I breathed into her hair as my lips softly grazed the top of her head.

I felt Bella nod from under my mouth and then her body slowly moved away. She turned to kneel against the soft carpet directly across from Edward's urn. I had not had a hand in choosing his and honestly did not know who had. Possibly Esme. She had always seen Edward as her son even more so than Emmett or I. Bella's hand ran across the hard surface of her love's urn.

"It's bronze." She mused, "Just like his hair."

Mimicking her crouched position, I came to join Bella. I could not think of anything to say while she continued to stare and I thought it best comfort her through actions. My hand reached out and softly stroked her back in a repetitive motion. We both stayed that way for a long moment. Time passed by without notice. All the while I made myself available for whatever need Bella might have. I did not think it necessary to use my mood manipulation on her. Pain was present in her body, but the intensity of it was muted … a far cry from what she had felt when her eyes first caught sight of the urn.

"It's odd isn't it?" Bella said after awhile.

"What is?" I asked, turning my head to look more directly at her.

"You. Me. Us. I remember being so consumed with worry during Edward's fight with Victoria. I thought there was a possibility she might win, but in the end he had and for a brief time afterward I was okay. Then this happens," Bella gestured with her hand towards the urns. "I very well may have died myself from grief after losing Edward. I'm ashamed to admit that my mind even crossed into that dark territory once, but then you come into my life and things suddenly didn't seem so extreme. I can do things like visit Edward's room or see his urn without having that same thoughts of dying from before. Honestly, Jasper … I don't know what I would have done had you not been a constant figure in my life from the start."

The whole time she was speaking Bella's eyes were faced forward looking at Edward's ashes. When she finished her last sentence my friend stood and moved, so that her whole body was in my direction. I followed suite and got to my feet as well. Immediately I groaned when my eyes caught sight of the tears trailing down her face. My first instinct was to put my powers to use and try and take Bella's sadness in and inevitably away from her, but something peculiar happened. I could not locate it. I anticipated grief to be there, but contrary to my expectations there was only gratefulness surrounding her form. Bella was thankful … for me. I barely had time to digest this new revelation when the girl once again surprised me by throwing herself into my arms saying, "Jasper … thank you so much. I cannot imagine my life being anything close to livable if you were not here. Thank you … thank you."

In a slow and methodical movement, I cupped her face between my hands and lifted Bella's head away from my chest, so that I could stare directly into her eyes. "You must know by now that I feel exactly the same way."

Her lower lip receded behind her teeth as my thumbs moved gently against the soft skin of her face attempting to wipe away Bella's tears. There was a slightly self-conscious feeling creeping over Bella and I decided it best to move away from any more confessions … at least for tonight, "Now …" My voice was unusually heavy for the light subject I was attempting, "This Travis Birkenstock."

"Oh … yeah." She smiled shyly, "Clueless."

It felt as if a lifetime had passed since our conversation about the movie. All the unspoken emotions we had been keeping from each other were now revealed and we stood emotionally naked for the other to see. It felt nice knowing that I was not the only one with a deep dependence on the other. Bella felt the same and this caused relief to surge throughout me. The walls between us, which had initially been constructed after my attempt on Bella's life, were now beginning to crumble. That was if they had not already been reduced to rubble.

Releasing Bella from my hold, I maneuvered my body to stand by her side and then slipped an arm snugly around the girl's waist. Slowly I led the way out of the room and away from anymore blunt reminders of what we both had lost. Although, I mused, the fact that the two of us were now extremely comfortable with each other enough to be walking in such close proximity was proof enough that something had changed. We were no longer the Jasper and Bella from before. Our lives had been irrevocably altered that day when Alice and Edward were found dead. Their end had unexpectedly been our beginning.

Once we reached the downstairs I told Bella goodbye and set out through the front door on my way to find her movie. She briefly attempted to convince me that her tagging along was a good idea, but she fought a losing battle. I could not see this as supportive at all in keeping up with her ruse of staying the night at Angela's. What if Charlie or someone else saw us together? No, it was better to keep Bella out of sight for the duration of our time playing house. Besides, I was far more capable of retrieving the film in record swiftness if I did not have a human girl slowing me down. I would be gone a mere 15 minutes if my trip was made alone. So, much to the girl's frustration I left her behind.

The town of Forks did not contain many stores beyond the usual Mom and Pop places that sold everyday goods, but it did have one movie rental store and I placed my hope in that one shop having a copy of 'Clueless'. I entered the building and nodded to the stoner teen with the mop top hair behind the counter. He sent me the barest indication of acknowledgment before focusing his attention back onto whatever text he was typing out on his phone. It was not too crowded inside and I was able to locate Bella's movie with ease. Although, I could not find a DVD copy. Instead there was only the rectangle shape of a worn VHS tape and I wondered if my family even owned a VCR. I would have to do some searching after I returned home.

Stupid Po dunk town. So behind on the times.

I paid for the rental and then made my way out into the twilight. The day's sun had already melted away in a haze of orange and red set against the western horizon and that was when it suddenly occurred to me that Bella might be hungry. It was, after all, dinner time for her kind and to my knowledge a vampire house did not stock much in the form of human food. My eyes quickly scanned the area around me and then focused in on a tiny grocery store not far off from where I stood. I strode in that direction, intent on picking up a frozen pizza of some kind. I would have to call Bella to find out what exactly she liked for toppings though.

I pulled out the shiny silver mobile phone I kept in my pants pocket and hit the send button twice, knowing it would be Bella's number, because the girl was the only person I bothered to ring these days. She did not pick up the first time I tried or even the second and my mind began thinking of all the possible situations that might be keeping her away from answering with each one being more horrific than the last. I was just about to leave my food finding mission behind when on the second ring of my third call I heard a click and then Bella's voice, although I noted right away that it was oddly subdued.

"Jasper." She whispered.

"What's wrong?" I asked, knowing I could trust my intuition that sensed a terrified tone in her voice.

"Come home, please." She said in a nearly inaudible voice … even for me.

Then she was gone and I looked down at the glowing screen of my phone to see that Bella had hung up.

My feet did not even wait for my mind to command them to run. I was instantly off and moving with lightening fast speed in the direction of Bella . A fear constricted my whole being when I thought of what might lay in store for me when I got there. The terrified emotion took me back to another time I had felt this way not so long ago. Only then I had been searching for Alice.

Not again … please, not again!

I was nearing the house when a stench caused me to halt abruptly and subsequently a loud snarl erupted from my lungs. The bastard was here. I knew his awful scent and now realized the reason behind Bella's caution and fear on the phone. Jacob Black was inside with her.

Author's Note - I will take the blame for my incessant use of cliff hangers. I just can't help myself. Don't hate me too much.