Disclaimer: I do not own Twilight. That honor goes to Stephenie Meyer. This storyline and original characters, however, are mine. Copyright 2009, Lillie Cullen.
A/N: In every story there is a turning point. In A Lesson in Fate, that turning point happened way back in Chapter 17: Soothe My Soul. This first chapter in the alternate ending would replace that one, and I'm expecting the alternate ending to be four to five chapters long. It will be told entirely from Jasper's POV.
This one's for Lea, Trish, Karen, Mrs. Major J and everyone else who let me break their hearts and loved me anyway. It's also for Cella and Touchstone, who were kind enough to bitch to someone else so I didn't have to hear it. I'm hoping it puts a smile on their face, and on yours, and reminds them why they loved me.
I didn't have readingtime beta this because, frankly, my beta loved the original ending and didn't want me to write this. Thanks to Nan, Juliet, Kelli and Cella, however, for giving it your stamp of approval. :)
I couldn't remember having ever been so nervous in my entire life. Ever. I fiddled with the ring anxiously in my pocket. Things with Bella and I had been less than perfect lately. Her friendship with Edward rattled my bones and brought out the worst in me.
I realized though, that if I continued to react that way, it wouldn't be Edward that came between us, it would be my own doing. Tonight, I planned on proving to her that I was still the man she needed, the man she'd fallen in love with.
Bella looked beautiful in a pale pink, strapless dress with a white cashmere cardigan and low white heels. We walked hand in hand, watching the sunset on the horizon as I steered us towards Mirror Lake. Bella stopped in her tracks and gasped as we rounded the bend.
The entire area had been transformed at my request. It wasn't easy getting the permissions necessary for everything I had in mind, but a small donation to the History department had done the trick.
Thousands of tiny, twinkling lights lit up the trees surrounding the lake, casting a soft yellow glow over the area. The lake itself had been filled with dozens of floating candles, and off to one side there was a bistro table set up. A white linen tablecloth covered the table, providing the perfect contrast to the black square plates and napkins. Next to the table was a standalone ice bucket with a bottle of champagne. Soft violin music drifted through the valley, the player I hired just out of eyesight. It was perfect.
I took Bella's hand and led her, stunned, to the table and pulled the chair out for her. I bent over and kissed her cheek before taking my seat.
"Jasper, did you do all of this? For me?" She reached her hand across the table for me and I took it, giving her a gentle squeeze.
"I did. Happy Birthday, darlin'." The waiter I'd hired to serve us brought out the cheese course just then, poured the champagne, and left without a word to return to the catering truck parked on the side of the street.
Bella reluctantly let go of my hand to eat. She tried all four of the French cheeses, each paired with a different bread and fruit chutney. There was only one she didn't like. I wished I could share her enjoyment of it, but although I could appreciate the artful presentation, I knew better than to think it would taste good to me.
"Emmett would have tried it," she teased, waving a bit of cheese under my nose. It was a particularly smelly one and my nose wrinkled in disgust. Bella just laughed and popped it into her mouth.
"Yes, he would have, you're right, but I'd rather not ruin our evening with my…digestive issues afterward."
Bella shook her head. "Not even that could ruin this evening, Jasper. I still can't believe you did this! It's so beautiful." The candlelight danced in her eyes and I couldn't help but think she'd never looked more like an angel. And she was an angel. My angel, and she had saved me in so many ways.
The waiter interrupted my thoughts, coming over the moment she set the knife down to clear her tray and bring her the next course. By the time the dinner was over, Bella had enjoyed five courses of fine French cuisine, followed by a chocolate course and a perfectly done vanilla bean crème brûlée. The conversation flowed easily, despite the fact that I was desperately looking for some kind of segue to my proposal and not finding one.
As she was finishing up the last of her coffee and dessert, I realized that I had no more time to stall.
"Bella, I…" my cell phone buzzed in my pocket. I held my finger up to her, asking her to give me just a sec, and pulled my phone out to look at the caller I.D. Alice. I powered down my phone and put it back in my pocket. Whatever she wanted was going to have to wait. This was more important. Bella was waiting patiently, and I needed to do this. Now.
"Bella, I'm not proud of a lot of the things I have done in my life." Bella started to object, but I stopped her. "No, please, let me finish. It's true. I regret many of the mistakes I've made over the years. There are hundreds of things that, looking back on them now, I would do differently if I had the chance to do them over again. The only mistakes I don't regret are the ones that led me to you."
Bella smiled and I felt her love wash over me. It gave me the courage I needed to continue. "I know it was wrong of me to go into Edward's room that night. I don't deny it. But if I had it to do all over again, I would do the exact same thing as long as when it was all said and done, I had you in my arms Bella, you are my angel. You loved me for who I am and helped me come to peace with myself."
I dropped down on one knee next to her and pulled the ring out of my pocket, offering it up to her. "Isabella Swan, will you do me the honor of becoming my wife? I would like nothing more than to spend eternity making you as happy as you make me."
Bella's emotions were all over the place as she smiled down at me. "Jasper, I do regret the hurt we caused the people in our life. I do. If I could do it over again, knowing what I know now, I would find a way to avoid inflicting that pain on them."
My heart caught in my throat at she took a counterpoint to my own, but then another burst of love surrounded me and gave me hope. "I would do things differently, but only because of my guilt. I have found the greatest love I have ever known in you. You are my perfect match, my other half. I didn't know what I was missing in my life until you came crashing into it.
"You call me your angel, but you're the one who gave me wings and let me fly. So I will live with the guilt and regret from my mistakes and do so happily because when it is all said and done, I have you." She paused, taking a deep breath before continuing. "Yes, Jasper Whitlock. I would like nothing more than to spend eternity as your loving wife."
With a shaky hand, I placed the ring on her finger, kissing her knuckles before pulling her up out of her seat and hugging her to me, spinning us around with her dress fluttering around her knees in the breeze before setting her down and kissing her properly. I took us over to the stone wall behind our table and used my fingertip to carve our initials and the date on the wall, surrounding it with a heart. Bella ran her fingertips over it reverently.
"We'll have to come back here to see if this carving stands the test of time as well as you and I will," I said to her, kissing her forehead and hugging her to me. The meaning was not lost on her.
"You want to change me?" she asked. "When?"
"Whenever you like. I must admit that I'm rather anxious to do it, but I know you're excited about college and if you want to wait until you graduate, that's fine with me too."
Bella nodded her head thoughtfully. "I'd like to think on that some more, if it's alright with you." I agreed. Nothing could mar the aura of happiness that surrounded us now. "I want a small wedding," Bella added, "no Alice Extravaganza."
"Thank God!" I replied, and Bella laughed. We started moseying towards the parking lot when Bella stopped, pulling me back to face her.
"Does this mean that you have finally accepted my friendship with Edward?"
I sighed, trying to figure out the best way to put it. "Bella, I know that I've been a jerk about Edward, and I'm sorry about that. I realize that he is always going to have a special place in your heart. I know that you want to maintain a friendship with him, and I have no right to tell you that you can't. I've come to terms with that.
"I can't blame him for still loving you, I only hope that with time he'll come to accept the fact that you and I are together now, and always will be. In the meantime, I trust you to handle any issues appropriately. I'm not going to overreact anymore. You have my word." Bella beamed up at me, relieved.
"Thank you, Jasper. That, right there, proves to me once again that I am with the right man for me."
Bella's hand was slowly working its way up my thigh as I drove home. I was thankful it was Adrian's night at Hotel Edward. We should have the house to ourselves. I was fantasizing about all the different ways I planned to make love to Bella when we saw all the cars in the driveway. This can't be good, I thought, suddenly remembering Alice's dropped call.
Bella was confused and concerned also. She hopped out of the truck before I could even get there to open it for her and took my hand as we jogged up the steps and opened the front door. Everyone was there. Alice. Adrian. Carlisle. Esme. They all seemed to be packing and Adrian looked like he'd been crying. And off to the corner, leaning against the wall and not making eye contact with anyone, was Edward.
"Why didn't you call me back?" Alice shrieked at me. "Now I can't see anything and it's all your fault!" Alice came up to us, pounding on my chest.
"Alice, stop it!" Bella yelled, futilely pulling on the sleeve of Alice's blouse to stop her assault on me. She gave up and looked to Carlisle. "Can someone please tell me what the hell is going on?"
"The Volturi are coming to check on you," he said calmly. "They're not going to be happy that you're still human, nor are they going to be happy that the only reason they gave you a second chance was because of your relationship with Edward, only to find out you aren't together anymore."
"What do we have to do?" she asked, terrified. Alice stopped pounding on me then, stepping back and allowing Adrian to wrap her in his arms before she spoke.
"Before Jasper proposed to you, I had a vision that would have worked, but now I'm not so sure. I can't see anything anymore."
"Well, what did you see?"
"Adrian moved out. You moved in with Edward. We pretended that you and Edward were still together, engaged, and that Jasper and I were still married. It bought us time, but now I can't see anything past when they get off the plane! I'm afraid they're going to kill us all."
"Bella," Esme spoke up, feeling guilt and pity when she spared me a quick glance before returning her attention to Bella. "I still think it's the best course of action." Alice nodded her head and everyone began packing as though the decision had been made.
Bella's eyes widened in panic as the realization of what they were asking sunk in. She looked to Edward, who matched her gaze. He was masking his emotions from my ability, but they were clear on his face. He was torn between his fear for his family and his guilty joy at the opportunity he believed had just been dropped in his lap. His hope and his love for her were written in his eyes.
Bella tore herself away and took a few steps away from everybody, including me. She was trembling and shaking her head back and forth. I watched her for a moment, helpless, not knowing what to do. I watched as she miraculously pulled herself together, strength and determination dominating her features as she spoke loud and clear to everyone in the room.
"No."
A/N: I sincerely hope it lived up to your expectations. If it did, please bless me with a review and let me know. Find out what I'm doing for my Support Stacie contest at lillie-cullen dot blogspot dot com.
