Jasper's question hung in the air, heavy and overbearing in the already tense atmosphere. The shock value of the statement not appearing to affect Peter all that much, but it nearly floored Isabella. She had never known Jasper to compromise, not even as a human. Compromise spoke of middle ground and Jasper was one extreme or the other. There has never been such a thing as gray area with him, the world painted in black and white only to his eyes. It was so out of character that it demanded your any other influence.

Eyes flying open, Isabella's head snapped to the side, wide and unbelieving. Her lips were slightly parted as the air in her lungs was forced out from the blow to her mind. She simply stared at him for a moment, seeing the desire to actually try and to the impossible.

He was serious.

Blinking and head shaking, Isabella tripped over her tongue a few times before it obeyed her command. "But, you don't do compromise, Jasper. You do orders."

Jasper looked at his mate, crossing his arms and looking at the ground. "I know. But, can you find it in you to at least hear me out? I know I've been an asshole and I know I don't really deserve you to give me this after everything I took without asking. I know I don't really deserve you at all, but please Bella, five minutes. That's all I'm asking."

Biting her lip and dropping her head to look at the ground, Isabella sighed. She would be lying if she said she wasn't curious as to what he was going to say. She would also be lying if she said she didn't care. That was the problem. She cared a lot and he never seemed to until now, other than a very short amount of time in very sporadic spurts. And really, out of everything he has ever asked of her, five minutes of her time was nothing in comparison.

Peter, who was standing next to her being a silent observer, spoke up hoping to give her the last little push she needed to answer the request. "I think you should listen to him, Sugar." When she turned to look up at him, he continued. "What could it really hurt to as least hear him out? You still get final say. No one is gonna force you to do anything you don't want to."

Looking up at her sire, Isabella bit harder into her bottom lip for a moment before nodding and turning back to Jasper. "Alright. But only if you promise me, and really mean it, that this is going to be a real compromise, where I actually get a say in it and it's not a take it or leave it ultimatum. I meant what I said. I'm done being controlled."

For as surprised as he was at her consent, Jasper hid well enough. Nodding to her, "You have my word." He would never admit just how much it hurt to see the brow slide up his mate's forehead and disbelief spark in her eyes. Had he really fucked up that much that she didn't even believe him when he spoke anymore? Had he really broken his word that many times? When he saw the mirrored look on Peter's face, he got his answer to that; he had.

Even on the fence of taking Jasper at his word, Isabella crossed her arms, her shoulders hunched slightly showing just how awkward she felt right now. Not two minutes ago she was about to sever the bond between them and now she was playing nice with the one she was about to be severed from. She was really beginning to think this whole situation was nothing but a fucking joke and someone was going to jump out from somewhere with a camera and tell her she was on some vampire reality show. Grunting at her own thoughts, she looked at Jasper. "So, what do you suggest, Jazz?"

Knowing that he had to word this right the first time, knowing there was no do-over and this was it, Jasper took a deep breath and let it out slowly before throwing out the opening negotiation, since that was really what this was coming down to. Compromise was just a fancy word for it. "Wait until after the meeting with the coven leaders in three days. Then, after that's over, I will leave and let you do what it is you need to do with your sire. He said to stay away for a year..."

Isabella cut him off because this was the entire problem. "You didn't manage a full day, Jasper. You'll never make it a full year."

Biting back the not so nice retort that was on the tip of his tongue at being interrupted, Jasper nodded instead. "Bella, you do remember that Peter said that only your bond to me will be broken, right? Whether I walk away or he bites you, that bond is still going to be there on my end. How about this; do you want to be a newborn again?"

At that, Bella grunted. "Not really."

Jasper slightly cocked a brow, not in a condescending manner, but enough to be seen. "Well, that's going to happen if you do this. I'm not trying to talk you out of it, I am simply reiterating the facts. Here is my proposal. After the meeting, I'll leave for a year, letting you learn what it was that you were denied for the last year. When that time is up, we try this again the right way."

Clicking her tongue, Isabella cocked a brow at him. "And what is the 'right way' to you? Because if it's anything like the last year, I'm going to go ahead and say 'no'. I'm not interested in that for two reasons. I am not interested in being controlled like a fucking moron that can't do anything on her own. Also, I am in no way interested in going back to the camp. THAT is not going to happen; period. I don't want to be a soldier anymore."

Nodding at her, Jasper agreed. "Fine. Besides, by the time that year is up, there won't be a camp anymore. What I meant by the right way was we do this the old fashioned way and date."

Peter barely held back the snort at the term 'date'. What the fuck were they going to do? Go out to dinner and a movie? Have a picnic of bag blood by a lake? Either way, he had to acknowledge that this was at least heading in the right direction, if not in a discombobulated sort of way. Jasper was showing that he was willing to work on his shortcomings and Isabella was standing up for herself. Two things that were LONG overdue.

However, this was going nowhere fast. Jasper was skirting the line of the actual problem and Bella was so confused at this point she didn't know what she really wanted, only what she didn't. Until she knew what she wouldn't compromise on, what her real demands were in this mating, this whole situation would be doomed to reach a conclusion anytime soon. For the fact they had forever, Peter was really impatient sometimes.

Looking back and forth between the two, Peter clicked his tongue. "Alright. I am going to have step in here." Pointing a finger over to Jasper, "You don't get the point." Looking down at Bella, "And you don't know what the point is. Nothing is going to be figured out or decided until you know what it is you want, not just what you don't. So, this is what IS going to happen and there is no compromise on it." Looking back over to Jasper, "You are going to leave her alone for the next three days. You are not going to see her, talk to her, manipulate her, nothing. For the next three days, she doesn't exist to you. During that time, You Little Lady, are going to sit and think about what it is you actually want, not taking into consideration anyone or anything but yourself. After this little meeting with the coven leaders, the three of us are going to sit down and discuss this over a beer or two and see if there is a compromise to be made or not."

Locking his eyes on Jasper's, Peter narrowed his eyes. "Do not think, for one second, that I am going to sit back and allow you to bully her into agreeing to ANYTHING that benefits only you. You have had complete reign of this relationship for a little too long and it's gone to your head. You need a reality check in a big way Jazz and it starts now. You don't run the show here, I do. That is something you need to keep in mind because no matter what you two come to an agreeance on, I am the final say. If I don't like it, it ain't going down. I know you, probably a little too well for your tastes right now, but that's just how it is. Knowing you as I do, I know there is going to be a loophole in there somewhere that will eventually find her right back here. And, for the record, if we ever reach this point again, there will be no third chance. Not only will I break this bond without a second thought, but you will literally never see her again, even after her century mark. Am I completely understood?"

Jasper looked at Peter for a long moment, taking in both the words and the deadly serious emotions that went with them. Peter wasn't fucking around anymore, that much was perfectly clear. He didn't think he was, not after the last couple of days and the level of viciousness he had been showing in keeping him away from Bella. Knowing there was no other option than to agree to Peter's terms, Jasper nodded. "Yeah, I get it."

Peter snorted hard in response. "I guess we'll see, won't we? Now, I suggest you get the fuck out and let us get back to what we were doing before you had your little hissy fit. There is a lot to get done and not a lot of time to do it."

*X*

Over the course of the those three days, Peter worked more with Bella on controlling her gift, but for the most part left her to her own devices. She had a lot to figure out and he wanted her to have the time necessary to do it. After everything she faced, everything she was put through, she had a lot to sort out. He would help her through points of confusion, but for the most part didn't interfere. This was about her and what she wanted and she was the only one that could figure that out.

It wasn't his place to tell her that, only to make sure she got it.

On the morning that the meeting with the coven leaders was scheduled, Peter walked into the living space of the hotel room and leaned on the back of the couch where Bella was stretched out, a book in her hands and looking like she didn't have a care in the world. Smirking at her as he cocked his head to the side, Peter chuckled. "For one of the most important days of your life, you look awfully calm."

Bella looked up at him with a silly little grin on her face, her eyes bright and glossy. "You would think that, but really, I'm just trashed."

Peter rolled his eyes a little at her with a snort. He was the one that told her that being shitfaced in times like this was perfectly alright and there was zero chance he was going to take it back. Bella didn't do all that well around really big groups of strangers without feeling cagy and tense. Being drunk would keep her relaxed enough to get through the meeting of the covens, but what was going to happen after that, the talk with Jasper, that he would have preferred her to be a least a little sober for.

Propping his chin in his palm and humming in his throat, Peter clicked his tongue. "So, you get everything all figured out, Sugar?"

Nodding as she sat up and tossed her book on the coffee table, Isabella turned to face him. "I have. I don't see Jasper liking it all that much, though."

At that, Peter shrugged. "Don't much matter, Sugar. He'll either deal with it or he won't. In the end, no matter what way that goes, you gotta stand your ground and not give up everything for anyone. You gotta do what's best for you eventually, Sugar, and I am gonna make sure you get it. Whether there is an agreement reached or this is left to be hashed out again in ninety-nine years, you aren't going to ever go through anything of the last year again, I ain't gonna allow it to."

Folding her arms on the back of the couch and lying her head on her forearms, Bella sighed as she looked at Peter. "Wanna know what I think?" When she saw his nod, she continued. "I think it's the environment we were in. Since we left Texas, Jasper has been far less of an ass than he usually is. He's had his moments of course, but they haven't been nearly as bad and really, they only happened when others were around."

Peter jumped in at that. "His behavior might be a product of the environment, that's true enough. However, while there were reasons he acted as he did in Texas, we ain't in Texas right now, are we? Don't make excuses for him, Sugar. While that might be true, it doesn't make make it right by any means or stretch of the imagination. We're going to deal with one thing at a time and right now, it's the coven meeting. Go get a shower and get ready to go. Jasper's already on his way there and Felix will be here in about fifteen minutes."

She she was getting ready to stand, Isabella paused at that last sentence. "Jasper already left?"

Nodding one and giving her a shove to get moving, Peter wrinkled his nose a little. "There are a lot of covens that do not get along well with others as well as nomads that could have not seen another vampire for decades. He's gotta be there to keep everyone civil for the next couple of hours."

Walking backwards one of the bedrooms and the shower, Bella cocked her head to the side. "Wait, if we can't get along with each other, how is this going to work?" It was the look Peter gave her that answered that. Pursing her lips and nodding, "Right, that would be where I come in. No pressure."

Peter smirked at her. "You'll do fine. Now, hurry up Sugar. We got shit to do."