** I had a lot of inspiration for this chapter from Hissy (.net/u/2765736/ ) – thanks a lot, you're full of good ideas, and I hope you like what I made of them **

*** still don't own the characters ***

** do own an awful punctuation in English, sorry! (or as I've just found in Monaldo&Sorti's 'Salai': "Some of you might think I've left out a few commas and semicolons, well, here they are, so put them in where you will!" ,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,;;;;;;;;;;;;;;;;;;;;;;;;; **

Ch 37

Bella's diary

Sunday was slow, but I managed to get out for what was officially a walk with Jasper, unofficially he carried me to our meadow on his back, and we had another picnic, this time without interruptions. He had brought his guitar as well, and I enjoyed him singing to me so much that I almost purred.

"You're adorable", he said after putting the instrument down.

"I'm not", I scrunched up my nose. "What the hell will I wear to that fundraiser thing?"

"Oh…", he was playing with my hair, "we could go out together and buy something."

"You want to go clothes-shopping with me?" Even with my limited experience I was sure that that was most definitely not a guy thing to do.

"Sure, why not?" He seemed surprised. "I could drive us to Olympia Friday afternoon, and we could browse the shops there."

"Jasper, I don't have a lot of…"

"Don't you go insulting me now, darlin', and talk about money. I won't let you dig into your college fund for my pleasure, and besides, I have enough. Would you like Rosalie along?"

"Yes, we could ask Emmett too, and I could see them again outside school, that would be nice!" I felt relieved, sure that if Emmett was along, the clothes shopping wouldn't go on for too long. And… if we didn't find anything, I could maybe sneak out of the dance…

"No, you're not", Jasper smirked.

"How?"

"Empath", he said with a crooked grin. "Come on, Bella, let me spoil you and dress you up. I'm not set to make you feel uncomfortable, but I think you have no idea what you could look like if you made an effort. Besides, it's part of being with the Cullens."

"But you're still keeping your end of the bargain?"

"Of course, I'm a man, sorry, vampire of honour." He started kissing me again.

"You will get me grounded if we're not back in time for Charlie's dinner."

"I know", he sighed. "But at least he seems to like me a little better now."

"Hm-m, let's wait what he says to our Seattle plans."

Jasper got me back just in time and as usual left until I got back to my room.

Charlie was in a strange mood during dinner, so I asked what the matter was.

"Oh, nothing really, Bells, it's just that all those stories of Billy keep going round and round in my head, and I don't know what to do about that. I even had nightmares about them, would you believe that?"

"Nightmares?"

"Yes. Why the hell was he going on about all those horrors anyway? I kept getting the impression that he was dead serious about them, almost as if he believed them word for word."

"Maybe he does." I tried not to show how uneasy all this was making me. For all I knew that might be exactly what Jake had intended by the invitation. "Tribal traditions are a big thing with the Quileute, even with the youngsters."

"Yes, but come on, Bells, wolves and blood-sucking monsters? Were they having us on?" He ate in silence for a while, but I could tell he was still deep in thought. He had not gone to La Push that day, but back to his office.

"There is another strange thing though, Bella", he said after a while.

One? The understatement of the decade! "What are you thinking of?"

"Well, I went back to the files on those bear victims we had some weeks ago."

Damn it, Jacob! "Why would you do that?"

He shrugged, clearly uneasy with his own reasoning. "I don't know, something about the stories kept nagging at me. Anyway, I rechecked the autopsy report, the description of the wounds etc, and, well, I don't believe in these things myself, but if I did, I'd say that those people had met some of the Cold Ones. Their throats were all but ripped out, and we found bite wounds too small for a grizzly. Besides, they were really bled out." He forced a chuckle and I joined in. Then he became sober again. "Sorry, Bells, didn't mean to bring the job home with me."

"Don't worry, Dad, I can handle it." Could I? I wasn't sure, but I wanted to keep the tone light here. "Put out a warrant for Count Dracula yet?"

"No, but I think I'm going to talk to Doc Cullen again."

"You do that. Desert?" I got up and gathered the dishes.

"No thanks. Need help with that?"

I shook my head. "No, you go and watch the game. I'll be upstairs after I'm done with these."

After I had entered the kitchen, I breathed out quietly. If he did as he had said, I'm sure that Carlisle could somehow put his suspicions to rest. He must have encountered that kind of problem before in his long life.

About the Seattle thing I had decided that I would leave it up to Carlisle and Esme to talk to Charlie, relying on their persuasive powers as Jasper had suggested. Besides, I wanted to make sure that Wednesday was still on.

Jasper's POV

When I came back Monday morning to change and get my school things, the atmosphere in the house was thick with negative feelings. I found Peter in my room, being nursed by Charlotte for a bite wound, and was about to lose it when he called me back. "It's ok, Major, it was my fault."

"Who was that?" I spit, my temper already boiling.

"Laurent", Charlotte mouthed while her husband shook his head.

I turned on the spot and went looking for the newest member of the Cullen clan, who seemed to have a very strange idea of how to treat your guests: first he had attacked Bella, now my best friend. On my way out I heard Char shushing Peter, telling him that that really was my call and he needed rest.

I did not have far to go in my search. As soon as I reached the living room, Laurent was close to me. "Back off from Alice", he hissed, his eyes pitch-black.

"Don't be stupid. I've lived with her for fifty years; she can defend herself quite well. Besides, she obviously has information that the family needs to protect Bella…"

"I'm not interested in protecting your human; I'm taking care of my mate. You might want to step back." His stance left little doubt as to his willingness to fight, yet I still had an ace up my sleeve.

"Why?" I asked sarcastically. "Will you attack me too otherwise? Are you really sure about that?"

"Boys!" Esme had come into the room, Carlisle on her heels.

Laurent was so close to me that he could whisper into my ear under his breath. "I'm not fighting you here, but if you don't make sure there is no more pestering of Alice, you might find me in your way at your human's house. Is that understood?"

"Don't even think of hurting Bella", I growled back quietly, but nodded. Damnit, this whole thing was getting more and more complicated, and I didn't feel like talking to Carlisle about it and seriously putting Alice and Laurent leaving up to a vote. I did what I had come for and joined the others for the ride to school. Alice was going on her own and had already left.

"And?" Rosalie had been out hunting with Esme and was curious about Bella's answer for Seattle.

"Yes, she's coming. Are you free to go shopping on Friday?"

"Of course, let me take her to Olympia, I know just the place for her." Her eyes lit up with enthusiasm.

"Rose, she's not really into fashion", I tried to calm her down.

"Nonsense, she'll like that place."

"Hm-m. She suggested we make it a double date with Emmett. You fine with that?"

"Sure, looking forward to it."

"Erm, eh, there is a slight hitch to that…"

"Aha?"

I told them about the condition.

"What's she up to now?" Rosalie wondered.

"I have no idea, maybe she wants to involve Charlie a bit more in her life and make him easier on us, but she's pretty stubborn."

Emmett grinned. "You can say that again. Alright, I'm in. Carlisle's always saying we need to mix with the town's people anyway and who better than the Chief, eh?"

"Yes, of course, especially as we're about to steal his daughter", Rose commented. "Em, he is a real nice man."

"At least, we'll find a way to make it easy, and I think we really need to wait for changing her until after graduation, so we can leave at the same time." We had been going round that bend a few times already.

"Can't she graduate earlier like Alice?" Rose asked. "I bet that Biology project alone should have given her enough credits."

Banner had returned the project to her last week, and he had been full of praise. The only thing he regretted was that he could not give Edward his credits, too. I sighed. "I've been down that road too, but I'm not sure she's ready. I'll talk to her about it after Seattle."

Emmett high-fived me as we were getting out at the school. "Good for you, bro!" Then he suddenly stopped and stared. Alice was waiting for us near the main door, a broad grin all over her face.

I took a deep breath. "She's seen something again, and she will not tell us what. Damn pixie!"