AN: This chapter goes out to the one reviewer who logged in under "Guest" just to leave me the one word review of "Bitch." for the last chapter.
She had gone crazy.
Clearly that was the only explanation to her waking up with Jasper's face hovering above her own.
Oh. Maybe she had died. Maybe the shock of watching Jasper be engulfed by flames had been too much for her human heart and it had simply stopped.
So.
Crazy or dead.
Neither was the best option really, but Bella ignored everything in favor of memorizing Jasper's face the best she could.
The slight cupid's bow of his pale pink lips. The way his blonde curls framed his face wildly, yet managed to land so neatly by the time they reached his chin. That scar on his forehead that wouldn't even be noticeable to the human eye if it wasn't for the way it cut through his eyebrow.
The dark intense gaze of his eyes, that always showed his emotions so clearly when he looked at her.
"Bella." His voice forming her name, a gift she didn't think she'd ever receive again.
How merciful this in between was to her.
"Kitt'n, could ya say somethin'? Please?" It was the pleading tone in his voice that made Bella smile.
"Oh, crazy. Not dead then."
Jasper looked utterly confused at her words, and she watched as his gaze flitted over her and back to her face quickly.
"I don't...what do ya mean crazy?"
She wanted to close her eyes at the thought of it, but didn't dare unless the mirage of him was gone when she opened them back.
"I saw...the fire...there's no way you're here right now…" She clutched at the sheets of the bed she just now realized she was in, trying desperately to not reach out.
What would she do if the image of him dissipated before she could touch him?
Suddenly he was there, cradling her face with the cold hands she knew so well. She drew in a shocked breath, eyes widening before she closed them tightly.
"Oh. Oh no. Mirages aren't supposed to be physical. Oh I'm so much crazier than I thought, oh fuck."
He frowned at her, and she reached up to smooth the tilt of his lips away.
"I feel like I should be able to keep the version of you in my head from frowning so much." She murmured, fingertips against his lips. "I loved it when you smiled, surely my subconscious knows that."
"Captain, get Bella a glass of water." If it wasn't for her fingers against his lips Bella would have missed the words. She felt the flutter of air to her left that implied another vampire was there, but still she didn't look away from her mirage-Jasper.
"Hey there, lil' one. Ya mind looking at me?" Peter's voice, but it could all be coincidence that he was the first vampire to talk to her since she woke up. It didn't mean that Jasper was, well…
She shook her head slightly, eyes never leaving Jasper's face. His hands left her face and suddenly there was a glass of water in front of her.
"Bella, drink." She was holding the glass now, and automatically she raised it to her lips, eager to do whatever her mate asked of her.
She was surprised at how chapped her lips were, how dry her throat. Idly, she wondered how much time had passed. Her Jasper, what else was she going to call him, watched her until every last drop from the glass was drained.
"Isabella." Oh she was getting full-named. Her subconscious was not playing around; she loved the way his lips formed the syllables though. "Up here kitt'n, look me in the eyes."
Obediently she let her hand fall away from his lips and raised her eyes to meet his. Dark red, almost brown in hue; why wouldn't her subconscious give him the bright scarlet she had grown to love?
"There ya go. Now kitt'n, ain't no nice way to ask this but I gotta ask." His brow was furrowed in worry, but he caught her hand before she could try to smooth it away. "Do you think I'm dead right now?"
A choked sound from her left, as well as muffled gasps from somewhere else in the room, but Bella didn't look away from Her Jasper's eyes.
"Of course you are, cowboy, I saw the flames. I…" She swallowed, her throat dry again. "I felt you, felt your goodbye."
He frowned at her, and there was a gentle squeeze of her hand.
"A'right. If that's the case, what cha think is happenin' right now, kitt'n?"
Oh she loved that drawl of his, the slow careful way he talked.
"Well," She was confused by this line of questioning, but still she answered him. "I either died when you did, which hey, totally plausible! Or, I'm crazy."
She heard his sharp intake of breath, but Her Jasper's face never changed.
"A'right. Let's unpack that." She frowned at him, but he kept talking. "If I'm not here, why can you feel me, touch me? How does that work?"
She resisted the urge to roll her eyes at him, and instead settled for a soft, probably patronizing, smile.
"I'm my own special type of crazy, clearly." She said with a shrug, and wasn't surprised to see him frown heavily at her.
"Bella, I need you to look to ya left," He paused at her shaking her head, scared of what would happen if she looked away for a moment. "Don't argue with me, kitt'n. I'll still be right here, look to ya left."
"Hey there little lady." Peter's quiet but worried smile. Bella narrowed her eyes at him, scanning his face as if it would give her a hint of whether he was real or not. Without warning she reached out and poked him, then quickly pulled her hand back to rub at her now aching finger.
"Stupid fucking vampires, and their stupid granite skin." She muttered to herself, but Peter laughed.
"No one told ya to poke me, little lady. Now, I need ya to snap out of...whatever this is."
A barely audible growl from Her Jasper, and Bella's heart quickened to hear it.
She went to turn and look at him, make sure that he didn't disappear when suddenly he was right next to Peter. Greedily she drank in the sight of him, and when he saw her watching he gave her a quick smile. Then a wink, as if to tell her 'Hey, watch this'.
"Pete, do me a favor and look at me." Bella shook her head, certain that there was no way Peter could hear Her Jasper. He was in her head after all.
But Peter turned, and looked directly at where Her Jasper was standing as if he could see him.
Then, miraculously, he talked to him.
"Major, I don't think this will help. She seems mighty convinced that ya ain't real."
Her Jasper, or just Jasper, fuck what was going on, never took his eyes off her face.
"Nah, I think we got her," A slow teasing smile spread across his face. "Ya back with us kitt'n?"
She blinked at him, looked towards Peter who was still glowering at Jasper, out towards the rest of the vampires in the room who were all looking at her, then back to Jasper.
"What...in the absolute fuck is going on?"
Jasper laughed, but was quickly pulling her out of bed and into his arms before she could yell at him. There, in her mate's arms who she was certain she would never see again, she relaxed for the first time in what felt like days.
She snuggled closer into him, tucking her head into the crook of his neck so she could smell that sunlight and desert scent she loved so much.
"Well kitt'n, best we can figure is you happened." She leaned back slightly to look at him, taking in his amused gaze and the happiness she could see there.
She shook her head, utterly at a loss, before turning to look at the collection of vampires around the room.
Charlotte, Emmett, Rosalie, Garrett, and a few others she didn't know all looking at her like she was something extraordinary. Well, other than the token human.
"Well, I think I'm going to need some food before I have to hear whatever new nonsense you want to tell me."
A quick flash, and then Charlotte was there holding out a fast food bag towards her. Bella took it with a sigh and waved her hand vaguely towards the couch, hoping Jasper would get the memo that she wanted to be sitting while she tried to eat.
In a blink she was sitting in his lap, his arms protectively wrapped around her. She rolled her eyes but opened her bag, rooting around until she got some form of sandwich in her hand and began to unwrap it.
"Alright, lay it on me. I can tell all of you want to say something."
She took a big bite and surveyed the room as she chewed. Hm, turkey and cheese. Not bad.
Jasper was the one to respond, his voice a soft vibration against her back.
"As far as any of us can tell, you're the reason I'm sittin' here." Her hand tightened on her thigh at the memory of fire rushing him, and she felt the rumble of an inaudible purr from his chest. She swallowed and took another bite before he continued. "You were right, fire was comin' at me, and well, I did, I did say goodbye to ya."
His voice was almost a whisper at the end, and she was surprised that he managed to keep his voice steady.
"But in that last moment, well, the best way I can explain it is I felt ya."
She looked over her shoulder to see Jasper's face, and was surprised to see he was completely serious.
He shook his head slightly before she could ask questions.
"I don't know how else to explain it, but it was like you were standing right next to me, and then I watched as the fire just...went around me."
"It was like he was in a fire proof ball!" Emmett piped up from the corner of the room. "It was something else to see that girl's face when her fire trick failed."
Charlotte stepped forward then, making sure she had Bella's eye before speaking.
"I saw it, Bella, it was like a barely visible shield, like a glimmer in the air. It dropped when Peter said you passed out, so we figured it had to be you."
"Looks like Doucheward not being able to read your mind wasn't a fluke." Rosalie piped up from her spot next to Emmett.
All heads turned to her and Rosalie rolled her eyes.
"She's obviously a shield." She said matter-of-factly.
Bella closed her eyes at the words and let her head fall back against Jasper's shoulder. This was turning into a very long day and she just woke up.
"Well, fuck."
AN: A holiday update for all of you who celebrate. Thank y'all who leave reviews, I appreciate it more than you know. As always enjoy.
