Jasper watches as Rosalie drags Emmett off to their next class. "Jazzy, I don't trust that girl. Edward's right. I can't see her future at all. I've been trying." It takes everything in Jasper to not recoil away from Alice. He hated that nickname. Jazzy. It grates on his nerves like sandpaper. It seemed weird, but as time went on Jasper's love for Alice was beginning to wilt. When he had first met Alice she had been his savior. She had brought him love, happiness, hope. The animal diet was horrible, but he didn't have to feel the pain from his victims. He could feed and not feel like killing himself everytime after.
Alice made him happy. She cured him of his depression and she dragged him out of the pit of despair he had found himself in. But as thankful as he was of her, he was beginning to grow tired of her. She was always so happy and while he used to enjoy soaking up such positive emotion, now it was almost too much to bear. Her constant energy was draining to be around. Some days he just wanted to relax, but with Alice there was no time for relaxing. And then the shopping. Jasper never thought he could hate something so strongly. Alice was constantly shopping and using him as a pack mule for her hundred bags. He loved Alice, but it was getting harder and harder to remember why he loved her. She was his mate. That was all he could find as to the reason why he is with her. She is his mate, they are meant to be together. The rest doesn't matter, or so he kept telling himself. Wasn't mates supposed to love one another, wasn't their relationships supposed to have compromises? With Alice, what she wants she gets. Jasper can't remember the last time they did something that he wanted.
"Jasper?" His eyes lift to look at Edward. "Why are you blocking me out?" Jasper was the only one that could block Edward's powers and it wasn't so much as blocking as distracting. He had gotten into the habit of throwing out past memories when he was deep thinking. He didn't want Edward constantly knowing what he thought, so he made sure that all Edward could read was old memories.
"I'm not blocking." Jasper says. "I was just thinking maybe one of these weekends I visit Peter and Char." Alice huffs, her eyes rolling and a look of irritation on her face.
"You can't just leave, Jazzy. We have to maintain the story here." Alice said.
"It would be only for the weekend, Alice." Jasper says, but Alice shook her head.
"Nope, you need to stay here. I've seen it. If you leave then something bad will happen. You're needed here." And that was that. Alice grabbed his hand and dragged him off, officially ending the conversation. Jasper sighs and proceeds to get lost once more in his mind, like he often did these days when in the presence of Alice. Were mates really supposed to feel like this towards one another?
Jasper didn't know the answer to that question. Sure, he knew Rosalie could be a handful, but Emmett had a gift of calming her down and he was always listening to her venting without one complaint. Rosalie in return always indulges Emmett's obsession with bears and she even wrestles with him! She hated fighting, she didn't like getting dirty, but if Emmett wanted a fight and no one was willing then you best bet that Rosalie was stepping up to the plate. Sometimes Rosalie wants to go shopping, but she never drags Emmett along. Emmett loves video games, but he never makes Rosalie play with him. They were constantly doing things apart. Alice needed Jasper with her 24/7 and refused to let him go off and do his own thing. Even when Rosalie and Emmett are together, they are always doing something they both enjoy. They never make the other do something they knew that they'd hate.
"Jazzy." This time Jasper couldn't stop the sigh from escaping. "Are you even listening to me?" She pouts, causing him to force a smile.
"Of course, Alice, you were talking about going shopping after school." He learned quickly that there was one topic she always reverted to, shopping. Even if she hadn't been talking about it, it was a good way to distract her.
"Oh, god, yes. I really need to go to the mall soon. Half my closet is from last season. It's… disgusting." Alice says, pulling a face at the thought of wearing still very nice clothes.
"I got to get to Chemistry."
"Okay, I'll see you at lunch." She beams before kissing him. The kiss doesn't last long, Jasper makes sure of it. How can mates not enjoy being intimate with one another? Every time they kiss Jasper feels absolutely nothing from it and when they did have sex… Jasper never enjoys it. It's never about mutual pleasure for them. It's about Alice's pleasure. They do what she wants in bed and as soon as she's done then they're done. Jasper can't remember how many times he had to get himself off or how many times he manipulated Alice's emotions just so she doesn't get off before him. Was that really how mates were? Jasper hated it. He hated being with Alice, but they belonged together.
Jasper forces another smile before heading into his Chemistry class. "Mr. Hale, you were almost late." He ignores the teacher. He still had five minutes to spare. The bell hadn't wrung, so who cares how close he was to being late. The point was that he wasn't.
He spotted Rosalie and Emmett right away and started making his way towards them when he felt eyes on him. He was used to people staring at him, but something made him look over. Sitting behind Rosalie was a girl. The new girl that the entire group was obsessed with. When his eyes locked onto the gray eyes of the pale girl… everything just seemed to fade away. If his heart beats then it would have stopped right then. If he could breath then it would have caught at the sight of her. If his blood ran through his veins then he would have surely flushed at the sight of her.
The girl was gorgeous. Absolutely beautiful. Jasper forgot all about Alice. Forgot about the Cullens. Forgot about his past. The only thing he could think about was this girl. He didn't know who she was, but he knew he would die for her. He wanted to protect, love her, know her. It felt as if his entire world had shifted and the only thing that mattered was this girl sitting just a few feet away from him.
"Mr. Hale, anytime you'd like to take your seat would be nice." Jasper snaps out of his trance, blinks, and rolls his eyes as the teacher's words registered in his mind. He made his way to the girl, who was staring at him with wide eyes and flushed cheeks.
"Do you mind if I sit here?" He asks, his southern twang slipping out a little more than usual. The girl gives him a brilliant smile that makes his stomach clench and a sudden warmth fills him.
"Of course not." He almost fell to his knees upon hearing her voice. Soft, gentle, with a beautiful English accent in it. It was like birds singing in summer or wind chimes ringing in the wind. It was music to his ears and was probably the most beautiful sound he had ever heard.
He took a seat, if only to not have to listen to the teacher's annoying voice scolding him again. Jasper has still not taken his eyes off the girl. He couldn't bring himself to look away, as if his mind was afraid that he so much as blinked then the girl would vanish and he'd be left broken.
The sound of a throat clearing forced him to look away. He looked forward to his 'siblings'. Emmett had a stupid grin on his face, while Rosalie had an eyebrow raised and a look of curiosity on her face. "Lily, this speechless man is my brother, Jasper." She says with amusement in her voice. The girl beside him, Lily, giggled the sound making his undead heart flip in his chest and ache longingly.
"It's a pleasure to meet you." She says, drawing Jasper's eyes to her once more.
"The pleasure's all mine." He says, causing her to blush and smile once more. God, he could die happy if that smile and blush was the last thing he ever saw.
"Lily was just telling us she was born in Virginia." Rosalie says, trying to break up the long and quite stare that the two seemed to be trapped in. Jasper swallows and forces himself to stop staring.
"Where about?" He asks.
"A small town, it's called Mystic Falls, but it's been a long time since I lived there. My family and I travel a lot. We've been to a lot of places in the world. England was my favorite. I stayed there for quite some time before moving back to the states."
"Do you have siblings?" Jasper asks.
"Yes, I have four older siblings and three younger ones, although if you would ask my brother, Kol, that question he'd say he was the older one." She says with amusement in her eyes.
"You're twins?" Jasper guesses.
"Yup. I'm the older one." She grins and something told Jasper that that was a long debate between the two siblings.
"Jasper and I are twins." Rosalie says, as if reminding Jasper of the cover story they had. He was almost about to tell her about his own sibling when Rosalie had spoken up.
"Are you really?" Lily asks, looking between the two.
"Yes." Rosalie smiles. Jasper for once in his life was at a loss for words. He wanted so badly to get to know this girl, but he had no idea how to really talk to her. He was struggling and Rosalie was trying to help, but he really needed to get his tongue untied.
"We grew up in Texas." Jasper finds himself telling the girl. They had decided long ago that they'd go with Jasper's past for a cover story due to the accent that would occasionally slip through. "Before we were adopted by the Cullens and moved to Alaska with them."
"Did you have any other siblings?" Lily asks.
"No, it's just Rose and I, plus our other adopted siblings." Jasper informs her. He didn't want to lie to her. What he wanted was to tell her the truth. To tell her about Peter and Char, about his mama who died many centuries ago, about his little sister Emily who used to eat apples like they were cocaine. He wanted to tell her about his dreams, his hopes, his secrets.
"Whoa, whoa, wait." Emmett says, drawing their attention to him. "You have seven siblings?" Rosalie's eyes widened as she realized he was correct. Lily had said she had four older ones and three younger ones.
"I had seven siblings." Lily corrects. Jasper could feel sadness coming from her and it made his heart ache. He wanted so badly to use his gift and make her feel happy, but he held back. He didn't want to manipulate her. Not like he did Alice. "My oldest sister died before I was born. She had gotten ill and passed. My oldest brother…" Lily hesitates. "He was very depressed." Her eyes went to the window, unable to look at the others. "He died three years ago."
"I'm sorry." Jasper says, his hand finding hers before his mind could really think about his action. She looks back at him, a brilliant smile coming to her lips as she laced her fingers with his. It felt natural. Holding her hand. It felt as if her hand belonged in his. It was smaller than his, but not quite as small as Alice's and it didn't feel quite as delicate as Alice's. Her hands were calloused as if she had done a lot of hard work over the years, but Jasper didn't mind it. He enjoyed the feeling of her hand. Her fingers were small and soft, her palms rough and strong. She squeezed his hands, the warmth of it warming his entire body.
"My youngest brother was killed many years ago. Where we lived in Virginia there were a large amount of wolves. Our parents always told us to never go out at night, but Henrik was always fascinated by the wolves…" She trailed off, but she didn't need to spell it out to them. They knew what happened to Henrik.
"How old was he?" Rosalie asks. Jasper closes his eyes as he feels the sadness coming from Rosalie.
"He was only ten." The four fell quiet as Lily said this. "I'm sorry. I didn't mean to start such a depressing conversation." Lily says. "How about we change topics. What are you guys interested in?"
"We love baseball." Emmett chips in, always one to lighten conversations. "Everytime we get a chance we play a game with our family."
"Our family is always big on doing things together, so whenever the weather is nice then Carlisle takes us out camping. Unfortunately, it's not warm often down here." Rosalie says.
"You enjoy camping?" Lily asks.
"I enjoy the company. We always have a lot of fun when we camp. Em and Jasper are always goofing off, while the rest of us work on setting camp." Rosalie says with a roll of her eyes, but a fond smile on her face. "These two are big trouble makers. Don't let Jasper's charming smile fool you." Jasper laughs, his eyes shining with amusement at Rosalie.
"I'm used to trouble makers. Kol lives for trouble. I'm constantly cleaning up after him." Lily says with a roll of her own eyes and a smile on her face showing just how much she loved her twin.
"What are all your siblings' names?" Emmett asks.
"Freya was the oldest of us. Then comes Finn, Elijah, Nikalus, me, then Kol, Rebekah, and finally Henrik. Our parents liked the old style names." Lily tells us.
"Were you close to them all?" Rosalie asks.
"I'm closest to Kol for obvious reasons, but I'm also very close to my brothers Elijah and Klaus. Rebekah and I tend to fight a lot if we're together too long. We're two very different people and we tend to clash. The same can be said about my brothers Klaus and Kol, those two are too much alike and tend to argue constantly." Lily huffs as if just thinking about the two brothers were exhausting.
"Siblings tend to fight." Emmett agrees. "Rose and Alice are constantly fighting." Rosalie just rolls her eyes. She was never a fan of Alice. She made that clear from day one. She hated how spoiled Alice was. Using her visions to get what she wants. "Then there's Edward and Jasper…." Emmett trails off, causing Lily to raise an eyebrow.
"Edward and I, like you said about yourself and your sister, are two very different people. We tend to disagree a lot." Jasper answers, deciding to not to go too much into detail about the younger vampire. Jasper found Edward to be very immature and spoiled at times. He was turned too young in Jasper's opinion and Carlisle and Esme spoil him simply because he was their first 'child'.
"Is he the copper haired one?" Lily asks. "And is Alice the pixie?" Rosalie breaks out into a big smile at the nickname Lily gave Alice. It wasn't something new. Rosalie has been calling her a pixie for centuries, but to hear Lily call Alice it was rather amusing.
"Yes." Rosalie grins. "Alice is the pixie. Edward's the copper haired one. Have you met them?"
"I met Edward on my way out of the office this morning. I never got a chance to meet Alice, but I saw her with Edward after I left."
"Yeah, she's Jasper's girlfriend." Emmett says and as soon as he said it Jasper was hit with a wave of sadness, anger, horror. All of it coming from Lily. Her eyes were wide and her mouth was parted. She seemed to realize she was all but gawking at Emmett and quickly cleared her face of any emotions, but Jasper could still feel them coming from her. There was so much pain coming from her that it was suffocating.
"Oh." Was all she could say. Rosalie glared at Emmett, but before anyone could say anything the teacher once again scolded us.
"Cullens, turn around and please pay attention to class or I will have to send you to the principal office." Jasper rolls his eyes, but faces forward as does his siblings.
Lily's mind was in a whirlwind. She had found her mate. He was gorgeous and his voice was like melted chocolate, smooth and rich. It made her almost moan just from hearing his voice. He was everything she ever wanted. She could already picture their immortal lives together, but then Emmett dropped the bomb of a lifetime. Her mate already had someone. He was a cold one, an immortal vampire similar to her, so there was a high chance he had already mated and committed to this Alice. There was a chance that Lily would never get the chance to be with her mate. It may just be too late for her and Jasper and the thought was so powerful that it made her want to burst into tears.
It was taking all her restraint to not rush out of the classroom and break down. She had spent so many centuries looking for her mate only to find out that he wasn't hers to have. It was soul crushing. The love of her life was already with someone else. Lily wasn't the type to take someone from someone else. If they were together then she would respect it even if it broke her. She would just deal with it. She would allow him to be happy despite her agony.
She felt a tear slip down her cheek as she realized her hand was still clasped with his. She pulled her hand out of his and discreetly wiped her cheek. She took in a shaky breath and forced herself to pay attention to the lesson. She could Jasper's eyes on her, but she refused to look at him. If she looked at him now then it'd be all over. She would break down and lose herself to her pain.
She deserved this. The years of torturing people had finally caught up to her. All the lives she took, all the people she killed, all the pain she caused… it was coming back on her now. Due to her own violence she is now forced to live the rest of her immortal life in pain. It was fitting, really. After the pain she caused, she shouldn't be allowed to be happy. She deserved to suffer. She knew her past was going to come back and bite her in the ass. She had hoped she could make up for her crimes by protecting humans and changing her diet, but in the end she can't erase her crimes. She can't undo the damage she caused. She deserved to suffer.
When class was over Lily didn't even bother waiting for the teacher to finish speaking. She grabbed her things and rushed out of the room. Jasper could feel all the pain she was feeling and it killed him. He wanted to reassure her, but he couldn't. When he felt her hand slip out of his he nearly cried out in agony of the separation. What killed him the most though was seeing the tear rolling down her cheek. He caused her this pain. He was with Alice. He couldn't be with her and yet he led her on. He was an asshole. He hurt her worse than Maria could have ever hurt him.
"Ow! What the hell was that for, Rosie?" Emmett asks as he rubs his arm.
"Do you not see what you did?"
"What did I do?"
"Oh, Em, I love you, but sometimes you can be so oblivious." Rosalie huffs before turning to Jasper. "Are you okay, Jay?" Jay. Jasper didn't mind this nickname. It sounded a hell of a lot better than Jazz or the godforsaken name of Jazzie.
"I'm fine." Jasper mumbles as the three make their way out into the hall.
"What did I do?" Emmett questions again, looking completely lost and now concerned.
"Jasper." Rosalie grabs Jasper's arm, stopping him from walking off. "You do realize what happened back there, right? Between you and Lily?"
"What do you mean?" Jasper honestly didn't know what happened. All he knew was that he couldn't get Lily out of his head and he so desperately wanted her to not be upset.
"She-"
"Jazzie." Alice eclamins happily as she skips over and throws her arms around him. Normally Jasper would just ignore her hold on him, but this time he felt different.
"Get off me." Jasper growls, shoving Alice's arms off him and stepping back as if she burned him. He did it on instinct, he didn't even think about it. All he knew was he wanted Alice's hands off him. It made him feel sick to have her touch him.
"Whoa, man." Emmett says as Alice stares at Jasper with hurt and anger, but Jasper wasn't bowing down this time.
"Jazzie, what's wrong with you?"
"Stop calling me that." Jasper snaps. It seems all his restraints were breaking. He couldn't seem to stop himself from snapping at Alice. Her mere presence made him want to kill someone.
Because she's the reason Lily was crying.
He didn't know why he thought that, but he did and it was true. Seeing Lily hurt made him want to kill the world. To kill Alice. "Guys, this isn't the place for this." Rosalie says. "We're in the middle of the hallway with humans all around."
"Jazzie-"
"Alice." Jasper growls.
"Alice, let it go." Emmett says as he throws an arm around Jasper. "Come on, Jay, let's get to the cafeteria." Jasper allows himself to be pulled away. "You okay?" Emmett asks once they were far from Alice.
"Yeah." He sighs. "I don't know what came over me. I've never snapped at her like that."
"Jasper…" Rosalie hesitates.
"What?" Jasper asks.
"Tell me about when you first met Alice?"
"It was raining and I slipped into this diner to get out of it. Alice was there waiting for me. She told me that I kept her waiting." That used to make Jasper laugh, but now it just filled him with irritation.
"What was it like when you met her eyes?" Rosalie asks, causing Jasper to look at her in confusion. "When you looked at Lily it was as if everything around you disappeared. You only had eyes for Lily. Everything just faded away."
"How did you know?" Jasper asks. He was the empath not Rosalie.
"Because that was how I felt when I looked at Emmett. I felt totally captured by him. Nothing mattered to me except him. Everything was just gone. The only thing I could see was him. I felt this urge to protect him, to make him happy, to love him." Jasper's eyes widened as he listened to Rosalie. What she was describing was exactly how he felt with Lily, but it didn't make sense because Alice was his mate.
"Alice is my mate."
"How do you know?" Rosalie asks.
"She told me. That day in the diner. She told me she had a vision of me and that she knew that I would come to that diner. She said her and I were mates and that she had to wait to see me until I came to her."
"She told you that she was your mate?" Emmett asks. "You didn't feel it?"
"Feel it?"
"Jay, if she was your mate then you wouldn't have looked at Lily the way you did today. That trance you were in, that is the mating trance, the same trance you should have had when you look into Alice's eyes." Jasper stopped dead in his tracks at Emmett's words. Alice had told him they were mates. She told them they belonged together. He was so desperate for happiness. He was desperate to find a way out of the pit of despair and she gave him it. She gave him hope and happiness when she told him of their future together. He had believed her because he needed to.
"Jasper…" He could feel sympathy, pain, and anger in Rosalie. She was angry that Alice lied to Jasper all these years. She was upset that Alice made Jasper question everything.
"She's not my mate." Jasper says, anger filling him. "She… The fucken bitch." Emmett and Rosalie grabbed Jasper and quickly led him to the forest. "She lied to me!" He yelled once they were far from the humans. "All these fucken years she has lied to me! I stayed with her because I thought I had to! I did everything for her because I thought she was my mate! Fuck!" He roars, punching a tree in his anger, causing it to go flying into another tree, causing a domino to happen, five trees now laying all over the ground. "She controlled everything in my life and I let her. I let her control me." Jasper's anger had fled and was replaced with sorrow. "I gave up everything for her and all she ever did was use me."
"Jasper, I'm so sorry. If I had known sooner…" Rosalie rubs his back. "I wish I knew she wasn't your mate. I would have helped you sooner. I'm sorry."
"At first, she was there for me. Helping me, but once I started getting better, once she had her claws in me then she started taking advantage. Just like Maria." He spat the name like it was poison. "She started taking and taking. Making me into her fucken pack mule. Changing me into her idol husband. Forcing me to wear designer clothes. Never allowing me to see my brother. Always taking and never giving. She stopped giving the second she realized she had me. And I let her because I thought it was my duty as her mate to make her happy. I only cared to make her happy and she never cared to make me happy."
"But now you know the truth." Rosalie says. "She can't take anymore. You learned the truth. She has no claim on you."
"Rose…" Emmett says, his voice holding some kind of warning in it.
"What?" Rosalie asks.
"Jasper, did you claim Alice?" Jasper gives Emmet a confused look. "Did you sleep with Alice and mark her? To claim a vampire you need to sleep with them and bite their neck. Once you do, you're mated forever. Not even finding your true mate can break the claim the other has on you. Did you let Alice bite you? If you did…" If he did then Jasper was stuck with Alice even though he found Lily, his true mate.
"No." They all breathed a sigh of relief. "Alice thought my scars were disgusting." A look of pain and self-disgust comes over his face, causing the others to growl.
"Jasp-"
"She didn't want me to scar her and she told me I had plenty of scars and didn't want to add to the horror."
"Your scars are not ugly, Jay." Rosalie enforces. "Your scars show your strength. They show you are stronger than what gave you those scars. You should be proud of those. You're strong." Rosalie says. Playing twins all these years have made the two extremely close. They saw one another as twins and they have grown to know just what to do or say for the other.
Jasper pulls Rosalie into his arms, hugging her to him. "Thank you, Rose." Rosalie closes her eyes and smiles.
"You're my brother. Anything for you."
"And everything for you." Jasper says, completely their saying.
"Jay, this is great!" Emmett shouts, causing them to look at him. "You found your true mate, you aren't already claimed nor did you already claim another, and you are no longer Alice's servant." A big smile breaks out across Jasper's face.
"We need to talk to Carlisle. He needs to know what Alice has done. What she lied about. And he needs to know about Lily." Rosalie says.
"Yeah and preferably before Alice talks to him. She'll just spin the story to favor herself." Jasper says, his military brain already on overdrive. "We should skip school and go now. No doubt Alice has already seen our decision on talking to Carlisle, she'll want to get to him first, but if we go now then we'll get to him first."
"Let's go then." Emmett grins before taking off running. Rosalie rolls her eyes and runs after him. Jasper glances back at the school one final time before hurrying after them.
They reach the hospital only a few minutes later, slowing down just before they reach wood's edge and then proceeding to walk out in human speed. They walked into the hospital and down the hall towards Carlisle's office. He was on his 'lunch' break so he'll be in his office. They walked up to his secretary and greeted her with smiles. "Now, what are you three doing here? Shouldn't you be in school?" The woman asks. She was a kind woman in her early sixties with graying dark hair and bright blue eyes. She was one of those older women who make the best grandmother's, always kind and understanding, welcoming everyone with hugs and smiles.
She gave them each a warm hug, chuckling about their cold temps as always before looking at them, waiting for their answers. "It's our lunch period." Jasper explains. "We decided to skip in and come here. We wanted to talk to our dad about something important. It'll only take a few minutes."
"Well, you're father is on his lunch break, so he shouldn't be busy, but heaven knows that man does not stop working for a minute, he's truly a saint." The three vampires smile fondly at the woman's voice. Carlisle was dedicated to helping people. Even when they were home Carlisle was constantly overlooking case files and doing work in his office. That isn't to say he never takes time to spend with them or Esme because he does, but he also spends more time on his work than any other doctor or nurse in this hospital. He cares about his patients, something that quite a few doctors here lack.
"I know, dad is constantly working. He is very dedicated to his patients." Emmett says. "We all admire that about him." The woman smiles at them.
"Just give me one second. I'll let him know you are here."
"Thanks, Gloria." Rosalie beams. The short elderly woman gets up and makes her way to his office and slips in after knocking. Jasper's phone started vibrating again and again with a call. He pulled it out to see it was Alice. He hit ignore and then Emmett's phone started vibrating. "Alice would have seen us coming here and no doubt she's freaking out now." Jasper freezes as a thought hit him.
"What about Lily?" Jasper asks, looking at Rosalie. "What if she hurts her?"
"She doesn't know about Lily."
"She would have seen that I learned the truth and came here to tell Carlisle about her, so the next step for her would be to hurt Lily."
"Jasper, relax." Rosalie says, putting a comforting hand on his shoulder. "Alice can't see her future." Jasper gives her a confused look. "She said that she never saw Lily's arrival and she can't see anything about Lily in her visions. Alice would have seen our decision to come here before she could, but she won't know why we came here. Alice is blocked from any vision of Lily." Jasper relaxes at that.
"That's so cool. Do you think Lily will show me how she does it?"
"Lily's human." Jasper says.
"I'm not sure." Rosalie says, causing them both to look at her. "She didn't feel human, Jasper, but I'm also not sure what she is. She doesn't feel like a threat to her, but she also didn't feel human."
"Kids, what are you doing here?" They turn to see Carlisle walking over.
"Hey, dad, we just wanted to stop by." Rosalie says. "We wanted to talk to you about something."
"Sure, of course, is everything okay?"
"Yeah, just school stuff. Do you have a minute?" Rosalie asks.
"Of course, come back to my office." He says as he motions them to follow him. They follow him into his office and take a seat in front of his desk. The office was nice. The walls all had huge and wide bookshelves pushed against them, filled with all sorts of medical books. The wall directly across from the door was all windows and had his desk situated right in front of it. In front of the desk were two black leather armchairs that matched his black leather office chair. To the right of the room was a u-shaped black leather couch with a coffee table in front of it.
Emmett and Jasper took a seat in the armchairs and Rosalie perched herself on Emmett's lap, his arms coming to wrap her and pull her flush against him, his chin resting on her shoulder. "What is it you three needed to talk to me about?" Carlisle asks, giving a smile at his two younger children, happy to see the two still as in love as they were when they first met.
"It's about Alice." Jasper says, drawing the doctor's eyes onto him.
"What about her? Is she okay?" Jasper hesitates, unsure what to say. Only until recently did everyone love Alice, minus Rosalie. Jasper wasn't sure where he stood in the family. He knew Emmett thought of him as a big brother and he knew Rosalie truly saw him as her twin, but the others he wasn't sure of. He knew he slipped up a lot and Alice never hesitates to tell him how much of a disappointment he was to the family and how much of a failure he was. She was constantly putting him down and making him feel like shit about himself. It was her way of making him weak and dependent on her because if she didn't love him then no one could, she was his mate after all. Now, he saw the light and he saw just how similar Alice was with Maria.
"We learned something about Alice, Carlisle." Rosalie says. They all call him dad when out in front of others, everyone except Edward. He refuses to call Calisle dad ever and the same could be said about Esme, which had always upset them both and upset Jasper. He hated how Edward just threw away the two's love for him. Jasper longed to have parents who loved him so deeply. His human ones had been good. His mother had adored him and his father was proud of him, but that had been so long ago and he never thought he'd have that again. Edward should consider himself lucky to have Carlisle and Esme dote on him. Rosalie sure loves them. Sometimes Jasper would hear her slip and call Carlisle dad even when not in front of outsiders, she was always afraid she would overstep her boundaries and she always missed the smile that would grace Carlisle's face every time he heard the slip.
"What has happened?" Carlisle asks, drawing Jasper's attention back to the conversation.
"She has lied to Jasper, pops." Emmett says, never hesitating to call Esme and Carlisle so versions of mom and dad, he likes to switch it up. "She told Jasper she was his mate." Carlisle's face filled with confusion, he looked at Jasper with question eyes.
"I thought she was your mate."
"She's not." Jasper says, sitting forward, his elbows on his knees. "When we met, she had told me she was my mate and that she has seen my future of us together. I believed her at the time because I was in a dark point in my life. I took her for her word because I needed something. Any form of hope. She told me we belonged together and she has seen our future and we were unbelievably happy. I wanted that. To be happy, so I took her for her word." Carlisle listened just like he has always listened to Jasper. This isn't the first time Jasper has come to him in need to talk. "She was good for me at first. She got me on the animal diet, which I know I still struggle with-"
"You've had human blood for centuries, Jasper. It can't be easy for someone like you to change. We don't expect you to master it overnight. It takes time and dedication. You have done a wonderful job so far, I am proud of how far you've come." Jasper swallows, feeling his heart ache at the emotions that Carlisle was throwing towards him. He meant every word he spoke.
"Thank you." He says softly, bowing his head. "But that isn't what I came to discuss with you. This is about Alice claiming to be my mate." He swallowed, took a minute to sort out his thoughts before continuing. "The first few years were good. She helped me get my life back in order and for the first time in my life I was happy, but once I was deemed fixed in her life she started taking over. She made all the decisions, she changed my wardrobe to fit her taste, she started controlling my schedule. I let her because I thought she was doing it because she cared about me and I thought she was my mate. But, over the years it got worse. She started taking more and more. I haven't seen my brother in nearly fifty years. I can't even hunt without her constantly with me." Jasper looks away, feeling that lump in his throat forming once more. This part was going to be harder. "I Let her because I thought she was my mate and I thought this was what being mates were like." He glances at Emmett and Rosalie. "I saw how others were, but I thought it differs for each couple."
"It does, Jay, but it's also not supposed to be like how it was for you." Rosalie says, taking his hand in hers.
"I told you about Maria." Jasper says, looking towards Carlisle, who was staring at him with great concern and anger. He was beginning to understand. He hated abuse and he saw what it did to both his mate and Jasper the first time. When Jasper told him about Maria…. It was the first time Carlisle ever lost his control. His anger was suffocating. "Maria abused me in every way imaginable. Physically, mentally, emotionally, sexually." He swallowed hard. "When I did something she liked then it was good, but if I did anything she didn't like…." He closes his eyes, his mind remembering all the times she took that wip of hers to his back or the times she'd throw him in the pit and force him to fight off fifty newborns. There was also the times in bed, the times when she'd force herself on him and make the sex as painful as possible for him. She toyed with his head and fucked up his emotions. She was toxic, but he kept coming back because he was stuck in that dark spiral that is abuse. Unable to leave because he knew no other life at that point. It took Peter leaving to open his eyes and it took Peter coming back to make him truly leave Maria. "Alice…" Jasper swallows. "She isn't Maria. Not nearly as bad, but she is abusive in her own way. She abuses me emotionally, constantly toying with my emotions just like Maria used to and she knows I'm an empath, I feel things stronger than others, it hurts more when my emotions are played with. She always abuses me mentally, constantly putting me down. She makes me feel worthless and like a monster. Like no matter what, I will never be good enough to earn the name Cullen or escape my past. I will forever be the god of war in her eyes." He looked up as he was hit with a wave of sadness, grief, anger, and regret.
"I should have seen this before." Carlisle whispers. "I always thought she was helping you deal with the diet. I thought she was reassuring you. I never knew…."
"She told me she was my mate and I stayed with her because I believed her. I thought this was what mates were supposed to be. I never… I never had a healthy relationship. I'm not even sure I know what a healthy relationship is. She took advantage of that. She told me I was mate knowing I would stay with her and she took everything from me, made me in her servant, controlled my life, made me who she wanted me to be."
"Jasper, I am so sorry. I'm sorry I never saw it before now. I'm sorry I never stopped her." Jasper looked away.
"It's not your fault Carlisle. It isn't yours either Rosalie. I should have come to you both when I started having doubts, but I didn't. Don't feel guilty for something you couldn't have known. I've gotten good at hiding my emotions from others." He tells them as he looks at them both. "But I found my mate, Carlisle. My true mate. I never marked Alice nor did she mark me. I'm free to leave her to be with Lily and… I want your support." Carlisle stands up, moving around his desk, perching himself on the edge, and takes Jasper's hand in his.
"Jasper you will always have the support of this coven, of Esme, and of me. No matter what, Jasper, you are my son and I will be there for you, no matter what you decide." Jasper nods, unable to look at Carlisle as the emotions overpowered him, both his own and Carlisle's. "The girl you spoke of, Lily, who is she?"
"She's new." Rosalie speaks up when Jasper finds it hard to speak. "Alice can't see her and Edward can't read her. She's not a cold one nor a wolf, but I also don't think she's human. I'm not sure what she is. She didn't feel like a threat to me. I've talked to her. I like her. She seems very kind and easygoing. I think she'll make for a good mate for Jasper, whatever she is." Carlisle nods.
"You have my permission to do whatever you think you should to claim her, Jasper. I want you to be happy." Jasper nods, feeling relieved. "I will deal with Alice when I come home tonight. This will not go without punishment. If the Volturi ever found out what Alice did… It is against the law to keep true mates separated from one another. Alice claimed you were her mate when she knew you were not. If she had marked you then she would have insured you never got to be with your true mate. That is a crime punishable by death. I don't want the Volturi to get involved, obviously, but she needs to know the severity of her actions." They all nod.
"Good, that pixie bitch deserves to get whatever punishment you come up with. Too long has she got to rule this coven because of her gifts. She isn't special, she's manipulative. We never should have her let in this coven and if I were you I'd kick her out, but…" Rosalie pauses. "This is your coven and it's your decision, but can I make a suggestion?"
"Of course, Rose." Carlisle says, a bit taken aback by Rosalie's anger.
"Don't let her off easy. She deserves to suffer like she made Jay suffer." Rosalie looks at Jasper with a loving smile. "You deserve to be happy, Jay. Your past does not condemn you, so stop letting it." Jasper nods.
"Get back to the school. I'll deal with Alice tonight, okay?" They all nod and head out of Carlisle's office. Jasper felt as if a weight was taken off his shoulders. He felt he could finally breathe after months of hardly any oxygen.