Battles of the Heart

Chapter 10

I swore if I heard Bella and Peter bickering like kids one more fuckin' time I was going to lose my shit, and from the looks of it, Char was getting pretty sick of it too. Arguing over who was better, Jaws or a Megalodon, and who would win in a fight between King Kong and Godzilla. I swear, their crazy asses were getting dropped off at the next service station and they could catch a lift with Sky and Aaron. Let this truck be the adult one. We had to stop soon anyway. From what I remember of the rudimental shit I knew about humans, they would have to eat and use the bathroom sometime soon. According to my GPS, we were only 5 miles from the nearest one. And after that stop I was going to make sure that Bella slept through the last 3 hours of this journey.

Pulling into the nearest parking spot as we got there, Bella shot straight out of the truck and to the ladies. Clearly, I should have stopped a whole lot earlier. Peter went in to look at all the skinny mags and Charlotte was right in there after him to ruin his fun. I stood by the truck, waiting for everyone to finish doing their stuff as I noticed Bella's emotions were a lot stronger again. She was awfully determined and feeling full of mischief. Charlotte and I were definitely going to have our hands full with her and Peter.

She returned to the truck and stood next to me, waiting for Peter to notice she was back. When he did, I swear my eyes rolled so hard I saw my fuckin' spine. He was just as mischievous as Bella and I wasn't liking this mix. They should not be together.

"Hey Peter, I've got a dare for you."

She whispered in his ear as if I couldn't hear anyway, and I really had to fight not to react to what she had dared him to do. Charlotte came to stand next to me and leaned against the truck with her arms crossed, waiting for the children to have their fun. Sky and Aaron finally emerged from the toilets, only to find Peter walking away from the counter, arms laden with gay nude mags, extra-large tampons and a fuckin' large stash of KY Jelly. Where they were just about rolling on the ground with laughter, Bella was just shocked as hell to see that Peter had held up his dare. I felt sorry for what might come next for her.

"Here you go, Jazz! Send that down to that little virgin brother in law of yours. I'm sure he'd really appreciate this." I couldn't help laughing out loud at his remark. He dumped it all in the back seat next to Charlotte's handbag and got in, apparently ready to roll. We waited while Aaron and Sky bought themselves some snacks and drinks. Bella got herself some water bottles and then we got back on the road heading to Bull Run. I let Bella rehydrate a little and started hitting her with some lethargy to make her fall asleep. There was no way I was going to let her start anymore arguments with Peter. Fuck knows what the next ones would be about but I sure as hell never wanted to find out. The road was long and quiet until Peter broke out of his little sulk over Bella being asleep and spoke.

"She's really something, Jasper. I can feel something changing out there. Something big. She is going to do great things for us, man. I can't wait until she joins us for good." Maybe I had the lethargy turned up too high because this fucker was just letting shit loose that I was sure he meant to keep to himself. Bella with us forever? I couldn't help but like that idea. Bella helping with the horses, Bella helping out with the pumpkin fields come Halloween, Bella pale and sparkly with beautiful red eyes.

What the fuck? Where did that come from?

I shouldn't think about her in that way. I didn't know her, I didn't know the plans she had for her life. I wasn't going to end them all for purely selfish reasons. Now if she asked me to change her then I sure as shit would do it in a heartbeat but never before she asked.

Hey, genius. To ask, she would have to know it was an option. And to know it was an option, you would have to tell her what you are and watch her run for the hills.

I suddenly didn't like the idea. That would mean no Bella with red eyes… but surely the rest of it would happen. Right?

"She'll be such a kickass vamp. We should bite her now." I needed to lift some of this lethargy I was throwing out there. It was almost like Peter was drunk. Luckily Charlotte wasn't as 'drunk' as he was so she pulled him back into his seat as he leaned forward toward Bella, saving him from having his head ripped off by the pissed as hell monster that lived inside me. He was raging and really struggling to get out. I pulled back my power, knowing that Bella would stay asleep now until we woke her. Peter seemed to come to a bit and started swearing at himself, annoyed that he had let his little secrets out.

"If I had known that was all it would take to get you to tell me what goes through that all-knowing head of yours, I would have done this, years ago. Did you mean it? That she would decide to join us forever. And if that's true, Peter, what sort of forever are we talking here?" I tried to imagine Bella living out the rest of her human life with us, finding someone to marry out there, helping out with crops, building her own house on my land to live in with her husband and their kids, eventually decaying and dying.

"Whoa whoa whoa, Major. I'm about to cry back here, reign that shit in!" I realized that the cab was full of a feeling I hadn't even realised was mine. Imagining the life that Bella could have without me in it… well. It was something I didn't want. It made me want to be human again. The husband should be me, the house she lives in should have my pictures with her and our children all over it. Not that I would ever admit that to anyone. I had just met this little human woman, admitting that she had made her way into my head in such a short time was humiliating. I was out here to get over my ex-wife, to get away from love. Not to find it in the first woman I set eyes on. No, this shit would be staying with me. I pulled back my power again, for a second time, and waited for Peter to start answering my questions.

"I wish I'd kept my big mouth shut. Yes, Jasper. She will join us, and the decision will be made soon. I don't know how and I don't know why she makes the decision so suddenly but she does. And I will not be telling you what her life with us will be like because I have no damn clue. Don't ever ask me again. And please Jasper, as fun as that was to feel drunk again after so many years, don't be doing that shit to me again."

I laughed. I couldn't help it and I couldn't stop it so I just laughed and laughed until it was spreading throughout the car, making Pete and Char join me. I didn't know why I was laughing as nothing Peter had said was inherently funny, but once it had started I was finding it difficult to stop. That was until Bella let out a loud snore and stopped us all. And then it started again only this time it was the ridiculousness of the fact that we had a real, living, breathing human with us snoring away and drooling slightly. This was never supposed to happen. This trip was all about me finding myself again, remembering who I really was away from that poisonous woman I had called a wife. Bella was the last thing I ever thought would happen to me. She really came like a bolt of lightning and woke me up from the life I had been coasting through. She had woken me up without me even realising it. I stopped laughing and just smiled.

"He told you she was special, sug. You really should start listening to him a bit more." Charlotte was right. Peter had never lied to me. He kept secrets and refused to tell me things and was a general pain in my ass, sure. But the one thing you could never call Peter was a liar. Well… that and a mature adult.

I think the little stunt that he and Bella pulled at that gas station proves that.

"Hey, Peter. I just want to say thank you. If it wasn't for you, none of this would have happened."

"No problem, brother. D'ya think I was going to pass up the opportunity to have a little sister? Or for Char to have another woman around? Or for you to have a m-"

He may have suddenly stopped what he was about to say but that didn't stop me from knowing exactly what it was that he was about to say.

MY MATE! MINE! MINE! MINE!

Holy shit. I glanced at the woman in the seat beside me, sprawled out as much as she could be, hair falling out of the bun on her head and just a small river of drool making its way from the corner of her beautiful mouth and down her chin.

My mate. How could this be? She was human and weak and breakable.

We will protect her. My mate.

I had never felt my monster react in that way to anyone. He even hated Alice. That should have been my first hint that there was something off about our relationship. The second being that we were never anything like the others. Carlisle and Esme were always so in love. Rosalie and Emmett would do anything for each other. Edward and Fortuna gave up so much to be with each other. And then Alice just got whatever she wanted and didn't care if I got hurt in the process. None of them did, except for Emmett and Rosalie. They were the only ones I considered to be truly family out of the Cullens. I must try to call Emmett again. He'd definitely get a kick out of this. We used to make fun of Edward, saying that if he waited any longer to find a mate that he would end up with a human. And now here I was, in that exact predicament. Actually, maybe I wouldn't tell him. I don't think I would be able to take the shit I'd get from him for this. My mate, a human. Unbelievable.

"Better start believing it Jasper old buddy. She's your perfect match. This is the woman who is going to complete our lives. I can't wait for it. After meeting her, our lives are never going to be the same again. Now, all we have to do is figure out how to tell her the truth about us. That won't be easy. There will be a need to look over our shoulders a lot with Maria and the Volturi. Jasper, none of this will be easy but for a while, we can be a nice, happy, chilled out family. We can be what we've always wanted. We can be complete."

Peter was squashing his feelings again, but I respected his wishes to keep some things to himself. Knowing everything about your future wasn't a good thing. It was nice to be surprised by it. And boy was Bella a big one. Thinking about Bella and surprises, I remembered our conversation about how she and her mom would listen to the radio and make a game out of guessing what song would come on next. No wonder she felt so nostalgic about it. She clearly hadn't been in contact with her mom for quite some time. It upset me to know that she was so hurt by it but had clearly hidden it so well from the people she classed as family. Hopefully, we could talk about it all soon, and maybe get her to open up a little more. Stop her from hiding her emotions away. Again I thought about how I wanted to be able to provide her with the life she deserved, surrounded by our kids and happiness. But that would never happen. It wasn't possible. Maybe the best way to be her mate would be to let her live her life the way she wanted. Not tell her what she is to me and let her make her own decisions. It might kill me to see her with another man but being her mate didn't always mean that romantic love was needed. There were mates out there who felt only familial love for one another, led totally separate lives other than being a part of the same coven. Maybe that's what I needed to try to be for Bella.

By the time I had started to pull off the highway to come into the city of Manassas, I had made up my mind that I would let Bella decide herself what she wanted. If she wanted romantic love with me then I was all for it. If she was just looking for family, then I would be that for her too. There was nothing I wouldn't do for this small human next to me. I started pushing some peace, serenity, and a little wake up juice her way to wake her up gently and give her the nicest possible transfer from the land of sleep to the harsh real world. She started to stretch and rub her eyes, yawning a few times as she awoke.

"Where are we? Did I sleep the whole way? That was really weird, I wasn't sleepy at all and then I suddenly felt as though I could sleep for a week. Clearly, all that crying this morning was a lot harder on me than I first thought. I do feel amazing now though." She continued to ramble about some really good naps she had had in her life until Peter in the back seat couldn't hold back anymore and just let out the laugh he had been holding back. Bella's blush was back with a vengeance. "I really started rambling there huh? I'm sorry; I tend to do that when I get nervous."

Nervous? I didn't feel anything but happiness and belonging and a little bit of embarrassment coming from her. Maybe she was squashing it down again. She really should stop doing that.

"What on earth would you have to be nervous about being in a truck with us?" Peter asked the question on everyone's lips.

"Well Peter, I just fell asleep in front of people I hardly know, while they were all awake. I was probably snoring and drooling and my hair is everywhere so I know I look ridiculous and to top it all off, I usually talk in my sleep. So fuck knows what I've said to embarrass myself but if I talk enough, maybe you won't be able to tell me what I said and you'll forget all about."

"Fat chance of that happening, Sweetpea! You were telling us all how much you love us and how you can't wait to marry Jasper." I knew he was lying but the poor girl didn't at all. She was blushing like crazy and I started to worry that she didn't have enough blood to pump through the rest of her body as it was all in her face and chest.

"Bella, don't listen. You said nothing and there was very minimal snoring and drooling. Also, I think your hair still looks pretty cute." I couldn't let her be that embarrassed in front of us. We were family now after all. She started to calm down and the blush retreated some, so she was just faintly pink.

"Oh, way to ruin my fun, Major. Now I'll have to find some other way to make Bella blush." I didn't doubt that he would so I sent him a little warning shot of fear, hoping he got the message to keep it small. Her delicate human heart could only take so much.

Driving through the city of Manassas I started to notice that Bella would quickly glance my way every once in a while. She was trying to build up some courage to do something but I couldn't tell what she wanted from her emotions.

"Jasper, while you were at the hotel to collect my things, I spoke to Peter and Charlotte. We discussed me coming to stay at your ranch for a little while. I realised that we never talked to you about it. I just want to make sure that we're all okay with the plans. Is it okay?"

She wants to come and stay with us on the ranch? She wants to be with us and wants to know whether I would be okay with it? Where would she get the idea that I wouldn't be? Of course I wanted her with us. It would mean the world to me to have her with us.

I felt her hope start to disappear and I realised I was taking a long time to answer.

"Bella I would like nothing more than to have you join us on the ranch! How long would you like to stay with us? The place is really beautiful during the fall. It's my favourite time of year."

She looked away from her hands in her lap and smiled at me. Her joy turned quickly to disappointment but her face remained the same. "Yeah, that's what Peter said to convince me to stick around for a while. But I have a feeling that I'm going to have to go home first. I'll even have to duck out of the rest of the trip. I have no clothes and not enough money to replace them. I may even have to find somewhere else to live if all of this business with Ford hasn't been handled before I go to visit you guys. There's so much now that is unknown. All I know is that I really want to be there and I will try my hardest to get there." She looked back down at her hands and a small sigh left her. If we weren't vampires, we surely wouldn't have been able to even hear it.

"Fuck that Bella, I have Peter's credit card! Let's go shopping while we're here and get you a few things. And I will not be taking no for an answer, Sug. We need some girly time alone to get to know each other." Charlotte gave her a look that screamed 'no arguments' and Bella actually smiled. It may have been more of a grimace but I was taking it as a smile.

"I hate shopping, Char. I'm the kind of girl who gets everything I need from Target or Walmart. If I want to push the boat out I go to Old Navy. And I don't have the money to pay you back." Bella was definitely stubborn.

"Little lady. If you say no, not only will you be breaking my sweet wife's heart, but you will be denying yourself a once in a lifetime occurrence. It's really not very often I let Char out unaccompanied with my credit card. Go, have fun, get a little drunk, come back to my hotel room… you know, whatever."

To his credit, Peter really knew how to make her feel comfortable. She stopped with the disappointment and was on gratefulness and belonging. She was going to say yes!

"On one condition."

"Anything Sweetpea. What's the condition?"

She turned around and smirked at him. "You're only there as the cameraman."

I had never seen Peter this speechless in all the years I had known him. She was trouble, and Peter was lovin' every minute of it. He had finally met his match.

"Oh darlin', you have no idea what you have just started." I laughed.

Bella laughed next to me and I was mesmerised, I couldn't believe how lucky I was to have her.

She's not mine yet.

MINE!

Author's Note.

Just another thank you to all you lovely people out there. Thank you so much for reading this story. It is literally just stuff that pops into my head so I apologise if none of it is making any sense to you. Please let me know what I can fix if anything, and don't forget to leave a review! Thanks everyone, much love!

Also thank you again to my love beta, VeldanTwilight. If you guys havent checked out her stuff on here then you should! *hearts*