Ben

Disclaimer; all characters and copyright belong to SM.

A/N-thank you for the kind reviews and for putting up with my slow updates. My muse refuses to cooperate, especially when the vampires are involved. How does anyone write them believably? If you do, then I would love some tips. Whenever I write Edward he comes across as a pantomime villain! (I keep expecting the audience to yell "He's behind you!" when he pops up in a chapter, LOL).

Anyway, sorry for waffling on. You can probably tell I've had a few glasses of wine. I thought I would give myself a pick-me-up, these Cullen vamps are giving me a migraine!

Chapter Twenty-Six-Angry Words

"You know, I think I may have misjudged you, Jacob Black." Rosalie conceded when she finally felt more composed.

"I wish I could say the same." Jacob quipped.

"Very funny." Rosalie appreciated his attempt to lighten the atmosphere, even if his joke was lame. "But thank you. I suppose you've had a lot of practice being patient, especially dealing with Bella."

Jacob frowned. He may feel some empathy about Rosalie's situation, but he wouldn't stand for her criticising Bella. "My patience only goes so far, Blondie!" He responded bitingly.

A small smile crossed Rosalie's perfect lips. She quite liked that the wolf boy was defending Bella, even if she didn't really deserve it. He was in love, so of course he was going to stick up for her. It reminded her of the way Emmet always stood up for her, even when she was stubbornly in the wrong. That's what made everything hurt so much more.

"Have you ever considered that your mate is hurting just as much as you are?" Jacob asked carefully. "I know what he said was harsh, but you're not the only one who's had to deal with the fact that you'll always be childless. He's had to come to terms with it, too."

His words shocked Rosalie. She had never thought about it in that way. Parenthood was something they had never really discussed that often. It was just too painful. And when they did it was usually all about her feelings. She had never honestly considered his. Becoming a vampire hadn't just taken away her youthful exuberance, it killed her future children. Being a mother was all she had ever wanted; she couldn't believe that she might have become so fixated on her own anguish that she had completely ignored Emmet's.

"I'm selfish." She murmured.

Jacob wasn't going to dispute that claim. He was getting tired of Rosalie's company. Her smell, combined with her close proximity, was making the wolf inside him uncomfortable. He just wanted her gone.

"Perhaps you should go and talk to him." He encouraged her.

Rosalie turned to look at him. She was so used to being admired and envied because of her elegant beauty, that it proved an intoxicating mix to find another male who actually spoke to her so candidly. Jacob Black wasn't intimidated by her beauty, or showed any attraction to her at all. It was refreshing, but she also saw it as a challenge. She sat up straighter and crossed one leg over the other as she pulled out the band holding her hair in place. She shook her head, allowing her thick, luxuriant mane of hair to tumble around her shoulders in gentle waves.

Rosalie smiled at him coquettishly, her golden-brown eyes fixated firmly on his as she exerted the full force of her vampire charm on him. "You've been amazing." She murmured sweetly as she placed one hand over his. "Can I ask for one more favour before I leave? Can I see Ben?"

Jacob snatched his hand back and scowled at her. "Don't try to pull that shit on me to get your own way, Blondie!" He sneered. "If I find out you've been pulling that dazzling crap on Charlie just so you can manipulate your way in here to see Ben, then you'll regret it. Do we understand each other?"

"I take back every nice thing I ever said about you, dog!" Rosalie taunted him. She was enjoying herself immensely.

"Just get out." Jacob ordered her.

A teasing smile lit up her lovely face as she regarded Jacob in amusement. "I'll be seeing you, Jacob Black. And thanks for the advice." She called over her shoulder as she finally took her leave and headed back home to talk to Emmet.


Jasper stared at his cell phone thoughtfully as Alice's name flashed up again. She had been calling him incessantly for hours, but he had been reluctant to talk to her. He was alone and driving back to Forks after ditching Edward. He barely tolerated him at the best of times, but being confined in the car with his whiny ass had pushed him over the edge. It was Bella this. And Bella that. In the end his limited patience had run out and he had pulled over to the side of the road and kicked Edward out of the car, before roaring off in the opposite direction. Edward could make his own way to Ben's stepfather. It would just take him a bit longer that was all. Not that Jasper cared.

Being alone had given Jasper time to think. Out of the whole coven, he had the hardest time being around humans, due to his unrestrained upbringing as a young vampire in a violent army environment. He was not taught to control or how to regulate his blood lust, and this imperfection continued to plague him, leading him to burden himself with the mentality of feeling weak by not being able to possess the same level of restraint as the rest of his family. Even though Alice had always been his staunchest supporter, he had never really felt he fitted in with the Cullens vegetarian lifestyle.

After becoming a major in the Confederate Army, Jasper had been set upon by the vampire Maria, who proceeded to turn him. After the transformation, Jasper aided Maria in her creation of a newborn vampire army, which successfully conquered the feeding grounds of Texas. However, over the next decades, Jasper had become tired of this violent and bloodstained life, because he could feel the emotions of those he killed, which eventually became too much for him. In the 1940s, he left his bloodthirsty coven to become a nomad, until 1948 when he crossed paths with Alice, sending his life's path on a whole other trajectory.

But now he had reached another crossroads. Unbeknownst to Alice, Maria had been in contact with him again. She asked him to re-join her coven, and at first, he had resisted for Alice's sake. But after the newborn battle his mindset had changed. The adrenaline rushes he'd gotten from the vicious fight with the newborns was a stark reminder of his past and had awakened old memories. Instead of looking on his past as a member of Maria's coven with revulsion, he now looked on it with nostalgia. The vegetarian life wasn't for him. He had tried to adapt, but it felt unsatisfying, unnatural even. He was bored of moving from place to place, attending high school and college over and over again. His diet of animal blood was unsustainable. As he drove home, he finally had to admit to himself that he was done. He wanted to move on. The question was whether Alice was willing to forgo her vegetarian life with Cullens and join him as a member of Maria's coven.


Bella maintained a stony silence on the way back from Esme's apartment. She was pissed, extremely pissed. She hadn't expected to bring Luka home with them tonight, but when Charlie had told her about Esme's intention of fostering Luka and how happy the boy was about it, she was angry. She had expected her father to politely thank Esme for all her help, but firmly tell her that as soon as Luka was feeling better, he would be moving in with them. But to her surprise, it had been the exact opposite. Instead Charlie had waxed lyrical about what a perfect extended family they would make. When he spoke about Esme, he had stars in his eyes, telling Bella what an amazingly selfless and compassionate woman Esme was for offering to foster Luka and move closer to them so that he and Ben could see each other every day. Bella knew it wasn't in Charlie's nature to gush over any woman like that, and the sudden turn around in his intentions was enough to make her suspicious. The only explanation for this quick turn around was that Esme had used her vampire charm to manipulate her father in order to get her own way, and with her own history with being manipulated in the same way by Edward, Bella wasn't going to stand for it.

"What is your problem, Bells?" Charlie demanded when he pulled into the driveway. "I thought you would be pleased."

"Luka should be living with us." Bella snapped as she climbed out of the car.

"We don't have the room." Charlie huffed impatiently as he followed her up to the front porch. "Where's he going to sleep?"

"In my room."

"And where are you supposed to sleep?"

"I don't know. I can set up a camp bed in the lounge or something." Bella fumbled irately with the front door key as she jabbed it into the lock.

"Don't be ridiculous, kiddo." Charlie snatched the key off her, afraid it was going to snap in the lock by the way she was jiggling it about. "Esme fostering Luka is the perfect solution. He and Ben will still be able to see each other every day. I don't know what you're so pissed off about. Esme is a lovely woman. You've said so yourself a thousand times."

"Luka should be with us." Bella pushed on the door when the lock clicked and stormed inside. Charlie would never understand her ambivalence. She couldn't understand what Esme was thinking. There was no way that Luka could live with her long term. As lovely, caring and compassionate as she was, Esme was still a vampire. That alone carried certain risks for any human living with her.

Jacob grabbed Bella as soon she set food inside the house. He leaned down to kiss her, but paused when he saw the angry expression on her pretty face. "What's wrong?" He asked cautiously as he picked up on the tension between her and Charlie. "Is Luka okay?"

"I'll let her tell you." Charlie grouched as he headed into the kitchen to make himself a warm drink. "And when she does, you let her know how irrational she's being."

"Bells?" Jacob tried to ease the tension in her shoulders by massaging them with gentle fingers. "What's going on?"

"Esme dazzled Charlie into letting Luka stay with her." Bella explained in a low voice so her father wouldn't overhear. "I never thought she would do that. Not Esme!"

"Fuck." Jacob swore under his breath. "What is it with these damn vampires!" He shook his head angrily. "She's not the only one."

"What do you mean?" Bella looked up at him in confusion.

"Blondie came over here tonight and she tried to pull the exact same shit on me." Jacob revealed.

A/N-thanks for reading! I would love to know your thoughts on this one. Opinions were pretty split in the last chapter about Esme fostering Luka. Some were for it, some against. Hit me with whether you're still for or against after reading Bella and Jake's reaction. Are they making too big a deal of it?

I raise a glass to you all. Jeez, I am soooo gonna have a hangover in the morning, LOL