Stephenie Meyer owns Twilight. I just like to play with the characters.

Additionally, I would like to thank my wonderful beta, EdwardsMate4Ever, and jaspersdoll, for suggesting the title and other creative input.

This is a Jasper-Bella fiction. It takes place in current time. Vampires are in hiding, but have a more structured society. They take human "pets" for food, and some humans are held in captivity to be bled for vampires. They bottle this blood much like humans bottle beer, and it is sold in the underground vampire clubs and bars. There are a number of "designer" blood labels, some of which are very popular. Bella's blood has been featured in a blend called "LaGuerra" and is the most popular designer bottled blood on the vampire black market.

Humans who have been claimed by vampires have a small tattoo on their wrists to mark them as vampire property. The marks are usually a series of dots forming a small triangle or rectangle. The colors and pattern identify both the Vampire Territory and individual owner claiming the human.

Chapter 32 – Saying good-bye to Aurelia, and a visitor from Italy

After about a week, Isaiah came back from Texas late one night to pick up Aurelia. I think he and Jasper wanted to avoid having a farewell scene between myself and Aurelia, but I had sensed something was up, and managed to stay awake.

When I heard a car pull up to the house around 11:00 P.M., followed by a bedroom door being opened down the hall, I left my room to go downstairs for a glass of water. Just as I had expected, Emmett was leading Aurelia down the hall, carrying a small suitcase that held the clothes and toiletries she had been given while at the Cullens'.

I saw Isaiah at the foot of the stairs when I looked down, so I said to him, "This is good-bye, then?" He nodded.

I turned to Aurelia, who was looking terrified, and gathered her into a hug. She clung to me, so I had to loosen her grip. "It will be OK," I said, reassuringly. At least I hoped it would, I thought to myself. I looked at Emmett, and said, "Wait, just one moment, OK?" as I ducked back into my room.

I grabbed a Forks High t-shirt and a bracelet I had made in art class, brought them out, and gave them to her. She clutched them to her chest, mouthing, "Gracias."

I smiled what I hoped was a reassuring smile. "De nada," I replied.

Emmett took her downstairs and gave her hand to Isaiah. Isaiah took it in his usual calm way, meeting her eyes, waiting for some look of understanding to cross her face. When he seemed satisfied, he led her outside to a waiting car. I noticed that Crazy stayed in the background during this interaction, but followed them to the car. She waved to me, blowing me kisses before climbing into the back seat with Aurelia.

Esme came out behind me, running to the car with a shopping bag and large Tupperware container. "Food for the road," she said, handing the box in the window to Crazy. Isaiah turned the car around, and pulled out of the driveway. Aurelia watched me out the back window until the car turned onto the main road, and the trees blocked my view. I waved to her for as long as I could, then Jasper led me back inside.

I hoped that having Crazy there initially to act as translator would ease Aurelia's transition into her new home. I didn't know what her life would be like there; I could only hope Isaiah would be good to her.

After she left, I couldn't sleep, so I began to clean up the last of the 'Crazy projects' we had worked on while she was there, a collage this time. Jasper and Edward slipped out for a few minutes for a quick run. After they left, Carlisle said to me with a smile, "I do have to admire your friend. Not many of us will stand up to my oldest son, but she not only stands up to him, I think sometimes she sets out to antagonize him."

Trying to remember I should be respectful, I bit back my almost automatic response of, "Ya think?" Emmett came in from the dining room where he had been sending an e-mail, and "helped" with the clean-up by picking up and examining the array of photos we had cut out, which I was trying to sort and put into envelopes.

"Not helping," I said when I realized he was messing up my neat piles to tease me.

"She sure doesn't know when to stay away from you. I'm surprised he let anyone near you those first few days after he rescued you from Benito. He was really holding back."

"I didn't mind," I said in a small voice. "It felt good to have him close."

Emmett wiggled his eyebrows. "Come a long way from Veracruz, huh, kiddo?"

I bit my lip and ducked my head, pretending to examine my stacks that Emmett had messed up. I heard the patio doors being opened and sensed Jasper was behind me before I even saw him. He knelt down next to me, helping me straighten up the mess Emmett was now actively contributing to, taking the opportunity to stroke my arms and hair a few times. After about an hour, I was calm enough to go back to our bedroom and try to sleep.

Weeks went by, blissfully free of incidents, and I returned to school. There had been a lot of speculation about my absence, and I had to work hard to remember the story I'd rehearsed. I'd developed pneumonia after slipping down the hill, which is how I cut my arms, and this was the first time Carlisle had deemed me to return to school.

I was constantly getting stares, and now only Angela was steadfast in walking with Jasper and I between classes. I noticed that Ben Cheney had started to appear at her elbow, and smiled.

Also, now when we met in the hall, Jasper gave me a kiss. These public kisses started small, but as the days passed, they became a bit more lingering. And when we had a few extra minutes, he leaned against the locker, pulling my back up against him. So we now looked just like any other high school couple, leaning against our lockers between classes.

There was a lot of tension in the house when I came home from school one day about a week later. After Jasper walked me into the kitchen from the car, he said he was leaving for a few minutes, but would return shortly.

Esme was smiling, but tense, as she asked me if I wanted something to eat. When I declined, she said that she and Carlisle would like a word with me.

My heart sank; what now? And why without Jasper?

We went up to Carlisle's office, where Esme and I sat in chairs in front of the desk, and Carlisle sat on the edge of his desk. She reached over and took my hand.

"We've had word that we are going to have a visitor from Italy, Caius Volturi," Carlisle began. He will be arriving soon, probably tomorrow, but maybe early in the morning, before dawn."

I waited, and Esme squeezed my hand reassuringly.

"It's somewhat unusual for Caius to be traveling alone, albeit attended by few members of the Volterra Guard. Apparently most of his trip is more of a vacation, a rare chance to be away from Italy for a few days. But any time Caius comes to a house, it is an official visit. It doesn't work any other way."

Carlisle paused.

"We turned in the report of the title dispute and outcome, as it was part of a judicial proceeding, which recorded that Esme had taken a human pet."

I grimaced at the word, but kept cool.

"Sorry to use the word 'pet,' as it makes you uncomfortable," Carlisle said, "and to some extent, it makes us uncomfortable. But the term will undoubtedly be used by Caius, so you should prepare yourself to hear it. The main issue is that if she truly has a pet, she should be utilizing that person according to the laws of our world."

"She needs to feed from me?" I asked.

"Please understand that this is very difficult for me," said Esme, "and what we are planning we do not take lightly. It flies in the face of all that we have stood for, for decades, and is only being done to protect you."

Carlisle looked unhappy, but simply nodded seriously.

I shrugged, rolled down the sleeve on my left arm, and held out my wrist to her.

Esme jumped out of her chair, exclaiming, "Not like that, dear."

Carlisle, trying to calm the situation while glancing between his mate and myself, said, "None of us are happy about this, but she knew that there was a possibility of this when she assumed responsibility for your ownership. I think everyone would be more comfortable if I drew some blood myself. Would that be alright with you?"

I nodded. What was I going to say? They'd been so nice to me.

Esme left, closing the door behind her, and Carlisle pulled out his black doctor's bag, sitting down beside me in Esme's seat. He quickly drew a few tubes of blood, then patted my hand and said, "Thank you for being understanding. This is extremely difficult for her."

I nodded, and when he was through bandaging my arm, went downstairs, thoroughly shaken by the experience. Soon Jasper came returned, slipping in the backdoor quietly. He must have felt the tension in the house, as he flashed to my side using vampire speed instead of the human pace he ordinarily used around me.

Pulling me close, he sniffed my hair, then quickly pulled up my sleeve, finding the bandage from the blood-drawing.

He looked up at Carlisle, who had appeared in the kitchen behind us after Jasper entered. "What's this?"

"Caius is coming. I needed it for Esme," Carlisle replied evenly.

They had a rapid exchange using voices too low for me to hear, and then Jasper looked back at me. "Would you like to go to the movies with me?" he asked, changing the subject abruptly.

Startled by this turn in the conversation, I said, "Sure."

"Pack an overnight bag. There isn't a theater in Forks, of course, so I thought we could go into Seattle to catch a show. If you're tired, we might spend the night."

Alright-y then. Guess I wasn't supposed to be there when Caius showed up.

I grabbed a few things, and we headed out into the early evening in Jasper's car. As we drove, I asked, "So I'm not going to be there when he arrives?"

"Oh, we'll be back before he gets there. You'll need to be present. It's just that Esme hasn't tasted human blood in a long time. This won't be easy for her. We're just going to get some distance."

On the way, we talked about which movie to see, and where to go to dinner. Eventually I decided on "The Hunger Games." I thought it might have enough action to interest him, and of course, he said he didn't care.

Since I picked the movie, he said he wanted to pick the restaurant. In order to find a restaurant, he fiddled around with his I-Pad while driving, which was making me nervous. I could tell by his amused smile that he was aware of how I felt, but he just patted my thigh and told me not to worry, as his reflexes were still fast enough to keep me safe.

He picked a fine dining restaurant in Seattle, called Mistral Kitchen. I glanced at the profile on the screen before he made on-line reservations. He said he picked it for the Vegan options, but I noted "Romantic" was another one of the attributes shown on the listing.

We saw the movie, and then had dinner. He got the Taster's Menu, although he didn't taste, of course. I was fed oysters, and though I dared him to swallow one of those slippery suckers, he just smiled and demurred, leaning back with his arm over the back of our secluded booth. We finished quickly, as we had arrived shortly before closing, and he wanted to be back by 1:00 A.M.

I napped part of the way home, the better not to look out the window, since he was driving at vampire speed. Occasionally, I woke up as he drove down the tree-lined road, and saw the seaport in Port Angeles and Crescent Lake.

When we got home, Emmett met us at the door, grinning wickedly, nodding at us, and looking behind us as well, I noticed. Jasper quietly asked how Esme was doing, and Emmett said something about how she had been outside, destroying a few favorite trees.

I went upstairs to try to sleep for what remained of the night. I washed my face, changed, and fell asleep as soon as my head hit the pillow. I noticed that Jasper didn't stay with me; he just kissed me good-night and said he had to go join the others.

PLEASE REVIEW. I WILL SEND AN EXCERPT FROM THE NEXT CHAPTER TO ALL REVIEWERS.

By the way, somebody asked me if I had a FaceBook account. I now do, "FourMeJasper," but I can't find your PM. So send me another note about your group, if you want.

Send me a PM or "friend" request. Send me a "friend" request anyway! I also now have a Twitter account under "FourMeJasper" as well. Yep, decided to join the 21st century. The photo on the FaceBook account is of Second Beach at LaPush, from my October 2012 trip. Check it out!