Disclaimer: not mine

Chapter 9

Edward frowned when he heard Jasper leave the school grounds with the girl. Alice had said they had come to Forks because of her…a human! Did Alice think she was Jasper's mate? He didn't like it at all. Why hadn't she told him? He grimaced as the truck moved out of his range.

Why couldn't he read that girls mind? He'd never found anyone who he couldn't hear. And her reaction to Jasper…he really wanted to talk to Carlisle about it but it would be too suspicious if another one of them left.

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Bella sat on the rock, studying her husband. The man she had known had been tanned from the Texas sun, gentle, and oh so kind…how much of him still existed in the vampire he had become? That he could attend high school made her believe he had control of his thirst, Charlie would have noticed and mentioned if people were going missing. And he'd been very careful with her, had let the bigger vampire manhandle him away from the students.

She reached out to touch his hand, wanting to hold it, and he turned his hand over, letting their fingers tangle together. She gently squeezed his hand, smiling at him, seeing the confusion in his eyes even if his face remained blank.

"How is this possible?" he asked quietly. "You're not," he cut himself off.

"A vampire," she finished for him, feeling his hand tense slightly in hers. "Your eye colour threw me but the rest of the clues fit."

"I don't drink human blood," he admitted warily.

She reached up with her free hand to gently stroke his cheek, ignoring the coldness of his skin. "When I found out about vampires, I did wonder since your body was never found, but a lot of bodies went missing from the war so I never really thought it would be true."

"How do you know about us? How…" he took a deep, unneeded, breath, "how can you be my Bella?"

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His Bella… he barely remembered her and yet the term felt natural. He thought he remembered more of their wedding now that she had spoken of it, or was his mind simply filling in the blanks?

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"I had a run in with a vampire a while back, it didn't end well for him," she admitted softly. She took a deep breath and looked up, meeting his eyes. "I died in childbirth…and woke up in my coffin three days later. The man who dug me up had served the North, he said you spared his life once while you were both scouting. He came to pay his respects when he heard you'd been declared dead, he thought maybe you were like him…he didn't expect me to be. He got me out of Kansas and over the lines to the North where no one would know me," she explained.

"How?"

"I'm immortal Jasper, I literally can't die." She took a deep breath and began giving the basics, until she knew she could trust him, no matter how much it hurt to have any doubt, she couldn't give him all her peoples' secrets.

As she talked, the sun broke through the clouds and he stiffened in alarm. She stared as his skin sparkled in the light, just how she had been told it would except…not quite like diamonds, more broken…oh…his scars. He had to be covered in them, at least on his visible skin. She slowly reached up with her free hand, cupping his cheek in her hand. She could feel a scattering of scars on his cold, hard, skin. Why did he have so many? Who had hurt him so badly?

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Jasper walked through the trees, heading back to the Cullen house, his mind spinning. He didn't know what to think or feel, which was rather jarring for an empath. His wife was alive, he should be happy, right? He absently wondered if they had ever come close to meeting before, although the world was a rather large place. He'd known they weren't the only 'supernatural' species out there, werewolves and the shifters from the local Reservation were examples. It made a kind of sense for there to be even more out there.

Was Bella why Alice had dragged them to Forks? Had she seen her and realised who she was somehow? Or…had she seen Bella as his mate? Was that possible? He felt…well, he didn't know what he felt. Bella remembered everything of their past together while he barely had snippets. Would she even want to be with him after over a century? Though, the way she'd touched him…

As he moved into Edward's range, he carefully hid his thoughts on the day from his brother, he wanted to work things out without him listening. Plus, it wasn't his place to out another species to his family. Good thing they couldn't be fed on unwillingly, otherwise the Volturi would fight to get their hands on them. He wouldn't wish that fate on anyone.

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Esme listened to two of her children rant over Jasper's behaviour with Chief Swan's daughter. Alice appeared quite pleased with herself, which was not helping to calm Edward down at all. Rosalie was ranting about a human girl being so close to any of them, and Esme felt a surge of hope that perhaps Jasper had finally found his mate. That she was human would complicate things, but they would find a way. Another daughter would be wonderful, if she came to love Jasper. If only she was already a vampire, she would feel the mating pull too which would make everything a lot simpler. In the end it didn't matter, if this Bella was Jasper's mate then Esme would accept her as family.

Edward looked at her, and she knew he was reading her thoughts. Why was he so upset about this? Jasper finally had the chance to know the happiness Edward had found with Alice, with a few more obstacles in the way perhaps, but still, this was his one shot at it. If she was reading what her children were saying correctly anyway. Edward looked away and she didn't need Jasper's gift to sense his shame.

The door opened and Jasper walked in, eyeing them all. Esme smiled and went to him, embracing him, and Jasper hugged her back. "Is she?"

"I…I don't know. I feel so confused," he admitted, holding on tight. She was proud of him for admitting that, he still struggled with showing any weakness even after decades with them.

"It will be alright, we're here for you," she promised, even as she heard Carlisle's car turn into the drive.

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Carlisle opened the door to find Esme holding Jasper, instantly worried for the boy who in a way was both his eldest and youngest son. Jasper raised his head and Carlisle saw the confusion in his eyes. "What has happened?" he asked gently.

"Jasper met his mate," Alice bounced on her heels as she announced it, Rosalie scoffing.

"Jasper? Is Alice right?" He asked, hoping so for Jasper's sake.

"I don't know." Jasper seemed torn over something.

"Come on, let's talk," Carlisle motioned upstairs, happy when Jasper followed him to his study. It had been soundproofed even against vampire hearing, not an easy task.

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Bella lay on her bed, smiling softly. Jasper was alive! Well, as alive as a vampire could be. She'd always dreamed of seeing him again but had never actually thought it would happen. But…she could tell she had confused him. It hurt, that he barely remembered her. Would he want to know her? Or would he stay away, finding it less painful than trying to remember?

Should they try to restart their relationship? It had been so long after all. Maybe he wouldn't want to be any more then friends, if that even. He didn't remember being friends all of their mortal lives before falling in love and marrying. Was he still the same man she had loved and married? Could it work between their kind? As far as they were aware, the Volturi were not aware of their existence, if she was with Jasper then it was possible they would find out.

Despite the risk…she wanted to be with him again. She had never gotten over losing him and she still loved him.

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Jasper sat in the chair in front of Carlisle, unsure where to begin. He pulled out the picture of their wedding and put it on the desk, Carlisle smiling softly at the image.

"Your wedding," he murmured, and Jasper nodded.

He had kept most of the pictures Rosalie had found to himself, although all of the family knew he had been married and how she had died.

"She was very beautiful."

"She is," Jasper whispered, sensing Carlisle's confusion. "Bella Swan…is Isabella Whitlock."

"Jasper…how could that be possible? Unless she is one of us?"

"She isn't…she looks totally human, she is…except she can't die. Three days after she died, she woke in her coffin and an enemy soldier whose life I had spared dug her up. He'd been there to pay his respects and he got her away safely, taught her how to live when you don't age or get sick… She remembers everything Carlisle but I…"

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"You don't," he finished for his son. He was using every trick he knew to ensure Edward wouldn't hear his swirling thoughts. It was for Jasper to tell the others when he was ready.

He couldn't imagine what Jasper was going through; he'd found out about his wife and child as a young vampire, then Rosalie had found more for him, bringing it all back to the surface. He hadn't even had a decade to deal with what she had found…and now, somehow, his wife was alive and in Forks? No wonder he was confused.

"If there is a chance she is your mate, do you wish to try and have a relationship with her again?"

Jasper looked away, out the window, and Carlisle let him think. "She can't die, but she's not as strong as one of us…I could accidentally hurt her," he whispered.

"How was your thirst around her?" that would be a problem, if Jasper wanted her blood it would make a relationship all but impossible.

"I had no urge to take her blood," Jasper admitted, and that was good.

"There is no rush Jasper. If she is staying with Chief Swan then he must know about her, and she must be planning to stay for some time."

Jasper nodded and stood to leave. Carlisle watched him, wishing he could research Isabella's kind but he'd never heard of them before and he would not risk bringing them to the attention of the Volturi by asking questions.

At least Jasper would not face the difficult question of whether to turn her or simply stay by her side as she aged and died.

TBC…

Sorry it's short but very busy with uni work.