I retreated to my room when we got back, hoping to put off the inevitable. I could feel Alice's disappointment, and Emmett's confusion, but ignored them. I didn't really feel like talking to either of them.
I tried to read, to distract myself, but it wasn't any use. I picked up my guitar, and sat picking at it restlessly, not really playing anything.
I heard Carlisle come home eventually, and listened as he was greeted by the family. He asked Esme how her day was, and they moved into the living room to sit and talk. It was funny how much like humans they behaved.
Eventually Carlisle asked about me, where I was. I was surprised by Alice's simple "Oh, he's in his room, playing his guitar." No mention of why. But she knew best, and had probably already figured out the best way to handle it. Or how Emmett would decide to deal with it.
"So what did you two do today?" He asked, and I held my breath.
"We went to the library." Emmett spoke up. "And the librarian scared Jasper."
"She does tend to appear out of nowhere." Carlisle commented easily. "And he was fine, talking to her?" No accusation in his voice, just curiousity.
"A little tense." Alice replied. "But he did very well." She sounded proud. In spite of what had happened afterwards, she was proud of how I had dealt with the librarian.
"Then we ran into In-Your-Face-Sandra." Emmett continued. This was it. I braced myself.
"Emmett!" Esme scolded him, probably for the use of the nickname.
"I'm serious, Esme," Emmett defended himself, "the girl has no concept of personal space."
"He's right." Rosalie cut in, defending her husband. "She pops up out of nowhere, and talks to you, and the whole time she's inches from your face, just asking you to bite her."
"He didn't, did he?" Carlisle asked, slightly alarmed now.
"Nope." Emmett replied. He didn't offer anymore details. I couldn't believe it. He wasn't going to tell them?
"Tell them what?" I heard Edward mutter, and winced. This was my fault. Perhaps this was why Alice hadn't said anything. She had seen that it would all come out anyway.
"Hmmm?" Alice replied evasively. I wondered how she was keeping Edward out. Personally, I was counting to one hundred in spanish.
"He bit you?" Edward demanded. I heard Emmett sigh, felt his annoyance.
"You know, sometimes that whole mind reader gig is really annoying." He grumbled.
"Did Jasper bite you?" Carlisle asked. I could feel him worrying now, though he gave no outward indication of it.
Emmett sighed again. "It's not a big deal. It wasn't very deep, and he took care of it. Sheesh."
"Emmett-" Rosalie was mad now, but he interrupted her.
"I'm fine." He said. "Sandra popped up in his face, and he was going after her, and I grabbed him. He bit me. End of story."
"Let me see." Of course Carlisle would want to check it out. He wasn't happy, but was somewhat relieved; it was near as bad as when Peter had bitten me. Small mercies, I supposed, but then again, I hadn't been defending my mate.
"See?" Emmett said sulkily. "No big deal."
"Jasper?" I heard Carlisle call, and sighed. I slipped out of my room and went downstairs to join the others.
"Yes, sir?" I was tense. I couldn't help it. Two major foul-ups in less than twenty-four hours, both involving Emmett. To a coven leader it would look suspicious. You didn't just have accidents like that. There had to be something more behind it. From an outsider's view, it probably looked as if I had something against Emmett.
But I didn't. I honestly didn't. I liked all of the Cullens, these vampires I had come to think of as my family. Both incidents had been completely unintentional. I hoped Emmett knew that.
"He knows." Edward confirmed, and instead of being annoyed with him for prying, I was actually relieved.
The others waited for an explanation for Edwards comment, but I merely shrugged. "Was there something you wanted?" I asked Carlisle.
He frowned. Something was bothering him. "You don't have to hide, Jasper. We aren't going to punish you for every little mistake. I want you to know that."
"Oh." I said. What was that supposed to mean? I satisfied myself with the knowledge that neither his words nor feelings indicated that he was angry with me for biting his son. "Okay. Thanks." I said, more out of a need to say something with everyone here, than for any other reason.
Alice stood and took my hand, pulling me over to the couch where she had been sitting. "Sit down. Visit." She instructed me.
I sat down beside her, my hand keeping a hold of hers, and tried to figure out what I was supposed to do next. I hadn't really spent much time just being with the family, I wasn't sure what to do.
Esme spoke up, addressing me. "So, what did you think of the library?" She asked kindly.
"Aside from the humans." Rosalie muttered. Esme shot her a look.
I shrugged, not certain what to say. "There were a lot of books." I said awkwardly.
Alice saved me then, her eyes going vacant ever so briefly. She let out an exaggerated groan when her eyes cleared. "Thank you so much, Edward." She said grumpily, and he laughed.
"What?" Carlisle asked.
"Edward's going to get him a library card." Alice wailed. "I'll never see Jasper again." She shot me a mischievous glance. "Buried forever behind a mountain of books." She complained.
I snorted, and leaned to whisper in her ear. "As if a book could ever replace you." She responded with a knowing glance.
"He'll be the librarian's new favorite." Emmett declared. "Not a bad plan, Edward."
Rosaie rolled her eyes. "Why do you think he tried to get us to spend more time there?" She asked her husband. "To get the creepy librarian to focus on someone else."
It was odd to hear a vampire complain about someone being creepy, but then, a lot of my experiences since joining the Cullen family had seemed strange and unusual. It was different, but a good kind of different, I decided.
Disclaimer: Twilight does not belong to me in any way, shape, or form.
