Is this real life… or is it just a fantasy? Two chapters, less than a week apart? I don't even know who I am anymore, honestly.

Anywho, I gotta back-track on what I wrote in my post-chapter author's note for chapter 2… the beginning of Twilight is actually in JANUARY, not MARCH. IDEK where I got March from (my butt, probably), but I'm glad I thought to look it up before I started writing this chapter.

The events here will start following the OG timeline, although Bella and Edward's lust story will purely be in the background here. The only thing that will have changed is that Edward had started ignoring Bella as soon as he returned from wherever the hell he went after smelling Bella's stank (scent). He will start talking to her that same fateful, January day in Biology and from there things will progress in mostly the same manner as they had before, just with tiny tweaks to accommodate my babygirl, Lainie.

Enjoy :)

Chapter 4:

Lainie Cortes was feeling kind of okay. It shouldn't have been such a celebratory thing to just feel "okay." Most teenagers felt that way on a daily basis and they spent most of their days wishing for more. But then again, Lainie wasn't like most teenagers. She hated how cliché that made her sound, as if being like most teenagers was a bad thing, but it was the God-honest truth.

Most teenagers didn't have to go by a completely different name than their own. Most teenagers didn't have to bleach their hair on the regular to ensure it looked nothing like their original color. Most teenagers weren't living with a U.S. Marshall posing as a middle school librarian. Most teenager, parent-less teenagers, to be more specific, didn't lose their parents due to them having been brutally murdered.

Fact of the matter was that for the first time in a long time, Lainie wasn't completely miserable. By no means was she in love with life, but her lowest lows no longer consisted of suicidal ideation, and that was what many liked to call progress.

What had changed? Two words. One person. Jasper Hale.

She hated to admit how much of an impact a mere boy had on her. Her mother had always raised her to be independent, to never have to rely on anyone other than herself to get her through the day, especially a boy. Her mother, however, hadn't accounted for her current circumstance and how much this boy made Lainie feel okay when she thought she'd never feel that way again.

There was just something about Jasper. Something that she couldn't find the words to explain, but he just always knew just what to do and just what to say to pull her out of whatever funk she found herself in.

Surviving without Jasper Hale was just not something Lainie wanted to do, even if she knew she had to be capable of it.

He'd wormed his way into her heart and had settled himself in that very special place that implied that what she felt for him was much more than just a mere friendship.

Lainie did her best not to acknowledge those feelings for obvious reasons. Despite how close they had gotten in the last few months, the secrets they both kept from one another were reason enough to make the idea of a romantic connection between them nothing more than wishful thinking.

Their friendship had been forged on a bed of mutual lies and Lainie, despite her feelings, did not want a relationship with Jasper under those same circumstances.

There was a thick, foggy, glass wall between them, allowing just the right amount of closeness without revealing who they both really were, and Lainie wanted nothing more than to break down that wall, but she knew that she'd be risking too much. The wall kept her safe, and it kept Jasper safe, and for now, she'd just have to be content with those blurry glimpses of Jasper that'd shown through.

She swore that maybe one day, if life dealt her a better hand, she would tell him everything.

Unfortunately, that day was not today, so she just had to settle for "okay" and wait patiently until the day she could dare strive for more.

"What's got you thinkin' so hard over there?"

"What?" Lainie blinked owlishly at Jasper. She'd been so caught up in her thoughts that she'd completely forgotten that Jasper was sitting right across from her at her dining room table.

"You kind of zoned out for a moment there. Either that, or you're a lot more interested in chemistry than you've led me to believe." He had a teasing smile on his face. It was her favorite of Jasper's smiles because it told her that he was as comfortable in her presence as she was in his.

"No," she laughed, "definitely not that interested in chemistry. I was just thinking about stuff."

"Care to share?" He raised a blond brow.

"Maybe one day." She smiled, before moving on. "Anyway, I think my brain has had just about enough of studying for today. Wanna watch a movie?"

"Let me guess… Tower of Terror?"

"Hey, do you remember when you promised not to make fun of me for that?" She mockingly held her hand to her heart as if he'd offended her greatly. "Besides, it's a classic."

"No, a classic is Casablanca or Gone With the—"

Lainie cut him off before he could continue. "Nope, no. We do not speak of movies that glorify the ante-bellum south or slavery in this house. No, sir. I refuse."

Jasper quickly shut his mouth. He knew that if he were ever to tell her the truth about who he was, or more like who he had been, she wouldn't ever be able to look at him the same.

"I was actually gonna let you pick the movie, since you always let me choose."

"Well, you have such great taste in movies, of course I always let you pick."

"You're such a kiss-ass, Jasper. I don't entirely hate it." She laughed. "Just pick a movie. I'm gonna go make some popcorn. You want some?"

"I'm okay. Speci—"

"Yeah, yeah, special diet, you weirdo. I get it." Her eyes sparkled mischievously, the same way they always did when she teased him.

That was one of the many odd things Lainie noticed about Jasper. He never ate anything in front of her, always claiming to have had a big breakfast or something of the sort. Lainie didn't often bring it up, only in a joking manner every once in a while when she offered him something, already knowing she'd be shot down.

That wasn't the only odd thing she'd noticed about Jasper. It was kind of hard not to considering how often they were in one another's presence. She'd have to be stupid or blind not to notice the little oddities that the Cullens seemed to share.

Jasper, like Alice and Edward, the only other Cullens she'd ever been in physical contact with, were always freezing. She'd thought it might have been a shared medical condition, but none of them were blood related, so she wasn't sure if that was the case. Then again, she also wasn't sure if poor circulation was common enough to affect three non-related people in the same household.

Another thing she'd noticed was that they all seemed to share the same peculiar eye color, which had a tendency to shift shades. Jasper's eyes were typically a bright gold, or just a few shades darker to a golden brown hue. That bit wasn't really weird. Her eyes also changed colors, usually depending on the light. But Jasper's eyes could shift colors in the exact same lighting.

Lainie refrained from pointing these things out, however. One, it wasn't any of her business. And two, she didn't want to invite questions about her own oddities. She wasn't dumb enough to think that her and Rey didn't have any.

Her house, for example, was completely devoid of any photographs of Lainie, her parents, or even Rey, who was supposed to be her mom's sister. Other than their own personal belongings, none of which clued in on either of their identities, it was almost like the home was meant to be as generic as possible. Lainie's room looked more like a guest room than it did a teenage girl's bedroom, with the only things signifying the young girl as an occupant being the clothing in the closet and the light scattering of makeup on her desk. It was almost as if they could be ready to leave at a moment's notice, without a trace.

Lainie also wasn't dumb enough to not realize that Jasper had also noticed these things. He'd just never brought them up, further cementing in Lainie's mind that she, too, should avoid bringing up his own inconsistencies.

A short while later, Lainie and Jasper were cuddled up to blankets on their own sides of the couch, watching the Tower of Terror. Jasper's pick. While Jasper didn't necessarily need the blanket, Lainie had brought him one, insistent that he'd get cold, and he had found himself comforted by Lainie's lingering scent on the knitted piece of fabric.

Towards the end of the movie, as the curse on the hotel was broken and Abigail and Sally ascended into Heaven, Lainie looked over at Jasper and whispered, almost hesitant to disturb Jasper's concentration on the film. "Do you wanna know why I love this movie so much?"

"Why?" He inquired softly.

Lainie looks over at the movie feeling the nostalgia like a ton of bricks, but this time not having to resist the urge to break down in tears. "My mom and I used to watch it a lot as a kid. You know how some kids were obsessed with Barney? I was obsessed with a scary movie about ghosts being trapped in a hotel elevator." She laughed.

Jasper knew then that he had made the right choice when picking a movie. He knew there had to be a good reason why that movie, in particular, was her favorite.

"I remember my mom telling me a few years ago that she was glad I was obsessed with something a little more tolerable than a creepy purple dinosaur, so being the annoying ass kid I generally was, I downloaded the 'I Love You' song and played it every chance I could. It wasn't long before I lost my DJ privileges in the car."

Jasper eyes softened as he took in Lainie's expression. He tried his hardest not to think about the words "I love you" coming from her mouth, knowing that it was in the entirely wrong context. Jasper wondered if maybe one day he'd hear them leave her mouth in the way he really wanted to hear them.

"Tell me about them." He said, leaning over to grab Lainie's hand from where it was situated on top of her blanket.

"What?" She asked, her eyes suddenly wide with unshed tears.

"Tell me about your parents." He repeated, a bit thoughtlessly. Just because she'd mentioned her mom didn't mean she was ready to talk about them, he thought, quickly adding, "If you want to, of course."

"Okay." And it was okay because Lainie realized that she did want to talk about her parents. She wanted to remember all her best memories with them and having Jasper sitting there listening meant that she didn't have to do it alone.

And so that was how Lainie and Jasper spent the rest of their Saturday night, cuddled up to their own blankets, with Lainie telling Jasper slightly altered stories of her parents and their lives before their deaths.

She told him about how her dad was the one who taught her how to play guitar, how her mom was the one to teach her how to cook. She told him about how she made her dad cry while he was trying to teach her how to drive a car. She'd been 14 years old and had begged and begged for weeks for him to teach her, only for her to almost crash his car when she'd turned the wrong direction on a one-way road. She told him about her mom's phobia of lizards and how every time one got into the house, her mom had a full on freak out, jumping all over the furniture, screaming for someone to find it and get it out of her house. She told him everything she could and he just listened and held her hand with a smile on his face.

Rey, who'd entered the home not long after Lainie began her tales, had watched on for a couple minutes, absolutely enthralled by the smile on her young ward's face. Lainie had forced herself to carry her burden alone for far too long, and it seemed like she was finally letting someone in, even if she couldn't let them in all the way.

Jasper Hale had done what Rey and Dr. Ross had been unable to and for that, Rey would be forever grateful.

Rey only hoped that they could catch that son of a bitch as fast as possible so that Lainie wouldn't have to lose the one person that made her feel like Nic again.

January had come and gone in almost a blink of an eye. Bella, who had almost been crushed to death by Tyler's van, only to have been pulled out of the way by Edward Cullen, was in a considerably better mood now that he had stopped ignoring her.

Come February, the two had even started dating, leaving Lainie to suffer alone at her usual lunch table with Jessica and co. While Lainie only sat with Jasper at lunch a few times a week, not wanting to take him away from his family completely, Bella seemed to have no such qualms with Edward, leaving Lainie to bear the brunt of Jessica's spite as she wondered what was so interesting about Bella to have made Edward Cullen, of all people, take an interest. Jasper's own interest in Lainie was left unsaid on the brunette's lips, but Lainie figured she'd only been spared as much due to them only being friends.

By the time March rolled around, Lainie had learned to drown out the sound of the girl's nasally complaints. She couldn't say the same for Mike's voice, however, it being a relatively recent development.

"So, Lainie, do you have any plans this weekend?" Mike had given up on Bella for the time being and had now set his sights on Lainie. Never mind the fact that Jessica was sitting right there and had stopped talking long enough to catch wind of the conversation. A not very intimidating glare was now set in Lainie's direction.

"Yeah." She said shortly. She'd made it pretty clear plenty of times that she was not interested in him.

"Oh, I was gonna ask if maybe you'd wanna watch a movie or something. You know, together."

Lainie only sighed, the blond boy was incapable of taking a hint. "Can't, I have some errands to run for my aunt in Seattle." A lie. Lainie had a hair appointment in Port Angeles and that was all she planned to do that weekend. Her roots were starting to look a little crazy and if she wasn't so afraid of burning off her own scalp, she'd just do her hair her own damn self. She hadn't wanted to tell Mike her real plans though since she knew the kid was capable of driving out just to try to bump into her.

"Oh, okay. Maybe next weekend." Laine didn't bother replying. She hated being a bitch, but she'd been nice enough in the start and that was getting her nowhere. Now she had to deal with Jessica being moody not just because Edward wanted Bella, but also because Mike seemed to want anyone but her. It was exhausting dealing with the trivialities of these sheltered teenagers.

For a moment she wondered how Jessica, or even Mike, would fare in a situation like hers, but she quickly shook those thoughts from her head. Lainie didn't wish her circumstances on even her worst enemies.

Jasper met her by the lunch room doors, insistent on walking together to their shared history class. He must have noticed the sour expression on her face because he laughed and asked, "Mike still not taking the hint?" He'd overheard the boy trying and failing to score a date with Lainie.

Her lack of interest in the human boy was the only thing that comforted Jasper about their interactions. Jasper couldn't help but think that she deserved a hell of a lot better than Mike Newton. He couldn't help but think that no one could ever be good enough for Lainie, but he had to refrain from going down that road. Lainie was very much capable of deciding who or what were good enough for her all on her own.

"He is not. Asked me if I wanted to watch a movie with him this weekend. Can you believe the audacity?"

"It's Mike Newton. I'm pretty sure he was born audacious. What did you end up telling him?" Jasper wasn't wrong. The boy had a tendency to shamelessly flirt with anything that moved. The southern gentleman in Jasper couldn't help but be disgusted by the boy's typically flagrant displays. He knew nothing of properly courting a lady and it showed.

"I told him that I had to go to Seattle." She shrugged.

"And what are you really doing?" He quirked a blond brow, already knowing she wasn't going to Seattle. She'd been there once and had decided that she'd hated it and would never be going back. Lainie had never told him why, and her feelings of anxiety while recalling the trip stopped Jasper from asking.

"Hair appointment in Port Angeles." She said simply.

"Again?" He laughed. "I thought you went just last month."

"I'm high maintenance, so what?" She joked. She wasn't really. Not as much as she used to be, at least. There just wasn't much of a choice but to be. Rey insisted on keeping up the blonde as well as she could and that meant consistent hair appointments since her hair had always grown exceptionally fast. If Lainie hadn't already been so used to bleaching her hair to accommodate her favorite pastel shades, she'd have been pissed at how fried her hair was turning out to be.

Lainie thought that maybe when the psychopath was caught, she might give her scalp a break and go back to her dark brown roots. When he was caught. It didn't escape her notice that she'd become a lot more optimistic about her odds ever since her and Jasper became friends. It was almost hard to believe that only a few months ago she was spending her nights battling her invisible demons down in her and Rey's make-shift gym. Now, she was actually able to sleep through most of the night, still scared, but not completely terrified out of her mind. It was liberating how normal he had made her feel.

A part of Lainie, however, was afraid that maybe she was becoming entirely too comfortable.

"Alright, alright." He held his hands up in mock surrender. "Did you want some company?"

"Are you offering? 'Cause if so, I'm suddenly remembering that spring is fast approaching, and I'm in desperate need of a whole new wardrobe. You can carry my bags." Lainie winked playfully. She remembered how much Jasper seemed to hate shopping when he had accompanied her and Alice only a few months prior. While he had not complained even once, he'd had an oddly pained expression as they walked through the mall. Lainie figured Jasper would probably liken shopping to waterboarding if asked.

"Well now that you mention it, I'm going to be very, very busy this weekend, but I'm sure Alice would love to accompany you." Jasper joked in response. As much as he hated shopping, he'd do absolutely anything Lainie asked of him, even if it meant spending a whole day in a mall.

"Nah, I think I'll leave the shopping for another weekend in that case. Alice can only carry so many bags, after all." She pouted. "Real talk, though, I think I'll be okay. Just a quick, boring hair appointment and then I'll be back home, stuffing my face with whatever ice cream Rey's bought this week." Rey had an odd habit of buying a different ice cream flavor every time she went grocery shopping. Lainie didn't know what flavor Rey had bought, but she'd noticed Rey favored the more interesting ones, for lack of better word. Last week's mint pistachio didn't give Lainie much hope for something good but she knew she'd eat it either way. One didn't just let ice cream go to waste.

"Are you sure? I'm sure Alice wouldn't mind. She loves hanging out with you. Apparently so much that if I piss her off one more time, she's going to be assigning you the role of her new best friend." He rolled his eyes exhaustedly at his overly dramatic best friend.

"I'm sure, Jas, but thanks." She smiled and playfully bumped her hip into his side, which didn't do much since Jasper was built like a steel wall. "You better be careful though because I take my best friend roles very seriously and you would never get her back."

"I'll have to keep that in mind." He chuckled.

The rest of the week sped by and soon enough Lainie found herself driving alone to Port Angeles. While Rey would typically accompany her, the middle school was set to be hosting a last minute book fair throughout the weekend and Rey, their librarian, was highly encouraged to attend. "Highly encouraged" didn't really leave a lot of room for argument.

Rey had repeatedly asked Lainie if she was sure she was okay driving to Port Angeles by herself, which Lainie repeatedly assured her that she'd be fine.

The U.S. Marshall had given her a long look before sighing and reminding Lainie to share her location with her in case she wasn't able to get in touch for whatever reason. Lainie only smiled and gave Rey an unexpected but very much welcome hug.

Lainie pulled into the parking lot down the street from the salon. The one thing about not having Rey drive her was that she couldn't park the SUV in the parallel spots directly in front of the salon. She'd never been good at parallel parking in her Corolla so she didn't even dare attempt it in the Tahoe. Thankfully it wasn't a very long walk from the lot to the small, family-owned salon.

Lainie kept her keys in hand as she walked, the can of pepper spray attached providing a semblance of comfort as she made haste in crossing the road.

Two and a half hours later, Lainie found herself leaving the salon. Her hair freshly trimmed, bleached, and toned to the cooler blonde she'd graduated to from her original dirty blonde coloring.

She crossed the street to where her car was parked, stopping for a moment to glance into the small coffee shop to her left. Suddenly in the mood for a hot coffee, she stepped into the shop, immediately feeling the warmth contrast the coldness outside. It wasn't too busy, only a few patrons inside, most distracted with either a book or a computer screen, which definitely made Lainie feel better about her slight deviation.

She ordered the coffee shop's version of a white chocolate mocha and stepped off to the side to wait for her to-go cup.

Lainie had only been waiting for a minute or so before she felt someone tap her on the shoulder.

She turned to face a rather short, albeit good looking man. His hair was nearly black and had been parted neatly and gelled on his head, not a strand out of place. There was a hint of stubble lingering on his face. Blue eyes stared into her own hazel ones momentarily before trailing across the rest of her face. His assessment was cold, almost clinical as if he were dissecting every inch of her features and committing it to memory. The warmth she felt upon entering the coffee shop disappeared and suddenly Lainie felt cold.

She forced herself to churn out a 'can I help you?' doing her best not to look as intimidated as she felt. Suddenly she wish she'd taken up Jasper's offer of asking Alice to tag along. Like with Jasper, Lainie had always felt safe in the small girl's presence.

"Oh, no." He smiled, his perfectly straight, white teeth glinting almost predatorily. "I just noticed you earlier when you walked out of the hair salon across the street and couldn't help but notice how lovely your hair looked."

He was gazing down at her light blonde strands and Lainie had never had a stronger urge to shave her own head.

"Although, if I'm being honest with you, there are so many other hair colors that I think would suit you better than the blonde." He reached down and picked up a piece of her now straightened hair, almost reverently. Lainie wanted to throw up.

"My niece" he continued with a small smirk on his face, like he was privy to some sort of joke he wasn't going to be sharing with her, "has similar coloring to yours and she's always looked so wonderful with pastel pink hair. I, too, think it would suit you."

Lainie froze. It couldn't be. She forced herself to look at his face again. The smirk had been replaced with a polite smile and suddenly his demeanor changed to something a lot less threatening. The wolf had receded into his sheep costume, having already gotten what he came for.

The barista called out the fake name Lainie used when out in public, Mary, and motioned toward the coffee cup sitting on the counter.

Lainie didn't even offer the barista a polite smile. She just grabbed the cup and sped-walked out of the coffee shop. The last thing she heard before the door shut completely was the man shouting out, "It was nice to meet you, Mary."

Lainie drove home in complete silence. The coffee cup sat in the cup holder, untouched, growing colder and colder by the minute.

Just like Lainie.

"She hasn't texted me back. She always texts me back."

Jasper was admittedly worried. It was now Sunday afternoon and he hadn't spoken to Lainie since they said goodbye to one another after school on Friday. He had texted her Saturday evening, long after she should have been back from Port Angeles, but he hadn't heard anything back.

He'd been hesitant to make a trip to her home in the middle of the night due to the surveillance cameras he knew were on the property. They were set up to start recording upon detected movement with a notification being sent to Rey's phone when triggered. Rey was a bit paranoid, he remembered Lainie telling him. What she hadn't told him, however, was where the cameras were located, meaning he couldn't bypass them.

"Well since you're so insistent on having this human in your life, why don't you go knock on her door and check on her?" Rosalie rolled her eyes. While she still did not like the human girl very much, she definitely didn't hate her. Her lack of curiosity into their lives had certainly made her a lot more tolerable than Bella Swan, who for some reason thought it was okay to stick her nose where it didn't belong. For that reason, and the fact that Jasper was insistent on her not being privy to family secret, Rosalie let her general distaste toward Jasper's association slide.

Jasper ignored her, despite it being a perfectly reasonable suggestion. "Have you seen anything, Alice?"

Alice shook her head. "She's not making any decisions at the moment."

"Chill out, Jas. I'm sure she'll be at school tomorrow. I've got first with her, so if she's not there, I'll text you and we can skip to go check on her." Emmett would never easily admit it, as it'd go against his tough guy persona, but he was also a little worried. He'd only had one class with Lainie, but they'd worked on a few assignments together and he'd grown fond of the young blonde.

"Okay." Jasper sighed. Sometimes he resented the fact that Lainie didn't know that he was a vampire. It'd certainly made refraining from certain actions, like showing up in the middle of the night to ensure her safety, a lot more difficult. It was the best choice though, he justified to himself. Not knowing was going to keep her safe.

Lainie did end up going to school the following day, showing up just before the bell rang. Emmett had texted Jasper as soon as she walked into their literature class. She'd looked exhausted, obviously not having slept very well. Emmett hadn't seen her show up to school looking so tired in months and it worried him. He had told Jasper as much.

Lainie spent the whole period staring blankly ahead, fidgeting with the sleeve of her too-large sweatshirt. Emmett noticed she only did this when she was feeling especially anxious.

When the bell rang, she had quickly gathered her belongings and sped out of the room, not even sparing a glance in Emmett's direction.

Emmett was more concerned than offended by this. He hadn't seen this side of Lainie since before she and Jasper started talking, and he didn't like it. This Lainie had the weight of the world on her shoulders. Emmett wanted nothing more than lift that weight and relieve some of the pressure that had settled on the girl who he knew would one day become a little sister to him. If Jasper ever got his head out of his ass, that is.

Lainie Cortes was going through the motions. She couldn't remember a single thing that had happened in any of her classes that morning. She could barely pay attention when Jessica complained about the usual things she liked to complain about. She didn't even recall picking anything from the lunch line or even paying for it. Lainie Cortes was on auto-pilot.

She'd started heading in the same direction as Jessica, not remembering that her and Jasper usually sat together on Mondays. It was only when Jessica snapped her fingers in front of Lainie's face, a rude gesture on its own, that Lainie zoned back into the world of the living.

"What?" She said almost aggressively. Jessica looked slightly taken aback before gesturing toward the empty table where Jasper sat, a concerned look marring his striking features.

"Not that I have a problem with you sitting with us, but I think Jasper's waiting for you." Said Jessica, a slight edge to her voice as if she suddenly did have a problem with Lainie sitting with her.

"Oh, right. Thanks." She mumbled shortly, quickly walking away, leaving an incredulous Jessica in her wake.

"Lainie," Jasper started as soon as she sat down. "is everything okay?"

Jasper's voice must have flicked a switch in Lainie's brain because her head quickly snapped up, hazel eyes meeting dark gold. He'd been too preoccupied with his worry for Lainie that he hadn't hunted that weekend.

"What?" She laughed, but it was high pitched and slightly strangled. "Yeah, no, of course everything's fine, Jasper." Jasper didn't believe her. Her fear and anxiety were off the charts and her heartbeat had spiked in the way most heartbeats did when trying to present a lie as truth. Even then, he didn't need his vampiric abilities to be able to tell that everything was most definitely not fine.

"I was a bit worried when you didn't text me back on Saturday." Jasper knew he sounded like a clingy boyfriend. Neither of which he was. But he couldn't figure out how else to go about talking to Lainie about how concerned her lack of response had left him. He knew something was wrong and he knew he had to address it eventually, but he had a feeling that today would not be that day. She was far too distressed and he didn't want to make it worse for her.

"Yeah, I just got caught up in helping Rey with some stuff around the house. Didn't get around to checking my phone all weekend. I'm sorry I worried you." She sounded so sincere that Jasper would have believed her if he hadn't known better.

After school that day, after Jasper walked Lainie to her car, Jasper confronted his brother in the parking lot. Going against his original instructions to stay out of Lainie's head, Jasper had asked Edward to keep an eyes on Lainie's thoughts during lunch, the only time Edward was in her general vicinity. He hadn't wanted to resort to outright invading her privacy, but there was a pit in Jasper's useless stomach telling him that something was very, very wrong. The fact that Alice hadn't seen anything had left Jasper feeling like he was quickly running out of options.

Edward motioned for Jasper to get in the car where the rest of his siblings were already waiting. They were barely out of the parking lot when Edward told Jasper what he was wanting to know.

"Well, initially when she was with Jessica, she just kept repeating 'It was a coincidence. The pink hair. It can't not have been a coincidence.' Like a mantra. I don't even think she was aware of anything else that was going on around her."

"Did she think about what was a coincidence?"

Edward shook his head.

"What was she thinking about when we were talking?"

"She just kept thinking that she hated lying to you and that she didn't want to anymore, especially after what happened this weekend, but every time she thought about that she'd scold herself for being stupid and just start repeating that it was a coincidence again."

"Lovely. Jasper, you just had to choose the one girl here with some obviously very creepy issues to be your mate."

"Rosalie, shut up." Ordered Jasper. "Do you think it could be possible that she's not human?" Jasper had been so sure that she was human, there had never been a doubt, but now he wasn't quite so sure. She'd never indicated otherwise, but Jasper was starting to realize that there was still so much about his mate that he didn't know.

"It would explain why I can't see her future all that well." Alice admitted from the backseat.

"I think if she weren't human I'd have picked up something from her thoughts." Edward pointed out.

"Not likely, you're usually too wrapped up in Bella to notice most people's thoughts these days." Said Emmett, rolling his eyes at his brother. Edward didn't bother refuting his words.

"You'd probably know best, Jasper, considering you're the one always around her." Rosalie mirrored her husband's eye roll. "I'd recommend you finding out quick, since we've already got one prospective threat to handle." She gave Edward a pointed look. "We don't need another one."

A new face had taken up residence in Lainie's nightmares.

Lainie had always prided herself on being a generally rational person, but she'd come to realize that her rationality was a gift bestowed only upon her conscious mind. While awake, she could continuously repeat her mantra, and at some point she'd even started to believe it. Because it had to be true. She'd been so careful. It couldn't not be true. While asleep, however, rationality ceased to exist and he was now the star of all her nightmarish illusions.

She didn't know his name. She was glad for it because that would have made it all the more real. Which it wasn't, because it was a coincidence, she had convinced herself.

Never mind the fact that he wasn't invading just her dreams anymore, but her reality as well. She'd seen his face from across the street, getting into a car she knew belonged to her neighbor. She'd seen his face on the side of the road on her way to school, his car having broken down on her usual route. Her car had made a ghastly noice as she'd pressed hard onto the accelerator, rushing to leave the scene and determined to take a different route to school the following day. She'd then seen his face while walking down the hallway at school. He'd been leaning against a locker, a leering smile spread across his face as his eyes raked over her body.

Lainie was terrified in her dreams and in her reality.

She hadn't told Rey about the encounter because she knew she was being crazy. She knew that it was nothing more than a coincidence that she was blowing out of proportion because she had gotten far too comfortable in Forks. Her friendship with Jasper had been such a beacon of light in her life and this was simply her mind convincing itself that this was the other shoe dropping. There was no point in worrying Rey and getting the other agents involved. They'd all just think her to be a stupid little girl once the threat assessment came back negative.

Because why would it come back positive? It was a coincidence because lots of girls had pink hair. It was a common thing these days and pink was just one of those colors that looked lovely on all skin tones. That's all he meant. He couldn't have meant anything else because it was a coincidence.

A storm was coming.

Alice had foreseen it occurring Saturday evening, meaning the Cullens would be getting together to play a long anticipated game of baseball. Jasper knew he wouldn't enjoy the game as much as he typically did.

One, things with Lainie were still so incredibly wrong. If he didn't know any better, he'd swear she'd been body snatched because the Lainie he knew was not the Lainie he'd been interacting with that week. Two, Bella Swan would be joining their game, meaning he'd have to spend more time than usual resisting temptation.

Jasper couldn't win.

It was now Thursday and Jasper intended on confronting Lainie. She'd gone from completely out of it to almost manic in her positivity. Jasper knew she was using the faux positive emotions to distract from the storm brewing beneath. Her emotions were tortuous for Jasper and the complete and total dissonance between her inner turmoil and the almost nauseating positivity she radiated outwardly was, in Rosalie's words, creepy.

Jasper had skipped his class before lunch, fully intending on meeting Lainie outside her Spanish class. They didn't typically sit together on Thursday's so he knew the girl wouldn't be looking for him during their lunch period, meaning he had to intercept her beforehand.

The bell rang, releasing the entirety of the Forks High student body into the hallways. Their feelings of hunger invaded Jasper in the form of his own bloodlust, making his throat burn. He quickly shoved those feelings to the side. Lainie was his priority right now.

He casually leaned against a locker right next to the door to her Spanish classroom. Lainie was one of the last ones out of the classroom, trailing behind Jessica and Bella with a lazy grin on her face. The almost dead look in her eyes as she turned and saw him standing there gave Jasper pause.

What the fuck is going on? He thought.

"Jasper." She said simply.

"Lainie."

"Were you waiting for me? You usually eat lunch with your family on Thursdays." Jasper didn't like how she emphasized the word 'eat,' and he especially didn't like the conspiratorial glance she gave to her surroundings as if she were privy to something they were not.

"I wanted to talk to you. Wanna walk with me outside?" While Jasper did not typically act without Lainie's consent, he lightly grabbed her arm and led her in the opposite direction of the cafeteria. He wasn't really giving her a choice here.

"Sure, since we're already heading in that direction." She giggled sarcastically. "What did you want to talk about?"

Jasper stayed quiet until they reached the lunch tables the school had situated outside for the rare, sunny day. While the rain had let up for the time being, he knew that it was still too cold to eat lunch outside, meaning the area would be empty, and most importantly, private.

Jasper gently grasped one of her hands in his own. "You've been extra anxious lately." He spoke softly, not wanting to spook the blonde.

Lainie laughed, but it didn't sound right. It sounded forced and it lacked the mirth that usually accompanied the sound of her laughter. "Is that what you're worried about, Jas? Yeah, I'm a little anxious. I mean, finals and graduation are coming up soon so it's kind of to be expected…" she trailed off.

"You're a lot anxious, Lainie."

"Okay, so I'm a lot anxious. So what? You're acting like my being anxious is the end of the world, or something."

Jasper sighed. He had figured she wasn't going to be honest with him, but he didn't realize it would hurt this much. Jasper knew he was being a hypocrite because he wasn't all that forthcoming with her either. The only difference between them, however, was that his secret wasn't eating him whole from the inside out. He'd learned to live with what he was. Lainie, on the other hand, was obviously struggling with whatever she was hiding. He didn't want her to continue struggling alone.

It was time for Jasper to bite the bullet. She wasn't going to respond to anything other than a direct approach, so it would seem.

"Maybe it's not the end of the world, Lainie, but it's starting to feel like it's the end of your world." He paused, taking an unnecessary breath. "I know you well enough to know that you're not being honest with either of us right now and whatever it is that you're hiding is destroying you. Let me in. Let me help you."

Jasper knew the moment something broke inside of Lainie because suddenly it was like a dam had shattered and a flood of anger and resentment hit him full force, rendering him almost breathless at what she had been holding onto underneath.

"You know me?" Lainie laughed sarcastically, ripping her hand from his grasp. "You don't know anything about me, Jasper. And you want to talk about how I'm being dishonest? Oh my fucking God." Her eyes with ablaze with all the fury that'd been simmering for too long below the surface. Her hands were fisted so tightly that he knew if she applied just enough pressure she'd draw blood.

"It's actually fucking hilarious how you claim I'm hiding something when you and your family are so fucking transparent. You wanna know my secret so bad? Well why don't you tell me yours first? Maybe then I'll be more inclined to share."

Jasper remained silent. Maybe this had been a mistake.

"I didn't peg you for a hypocrite, Hale. All this time, I kept my mouth shut about you and your secret, whatever it may be, because I realized that it wasn't any of my god damn business. If you wanted me to know then you would have told me, right? Same goes for me. I thought you would've offered me the same courtesy." She sounded almost disappointed in him, as if she'd expected so much better from the boy who'd helped her find the pieces of herself she'd thought she had lost.

"Lainie, you don't understand, it's life or death for me." Jasper sounded almost defeated. He wanted to tell her, he wanted so badly to tell her what he was, but he knew the options were limited if she knew. He didn't want this life for her.

"And what makes you think it's not life or death for me, too?" Her words were filled with nothing but pure sadness and terror and Jasper wanted nothing more than to take it away from her. Before he could think of a response, Lainie shook her head and walked away.

He didn't chase after her.

"You didn't chase after her." It wasn't a question. Alice was merely stating what he had already told her, almost incredulous at her best friend's stupidity.

"Jasper, if what she said is true, about her situation being life or death, then she's damned if she does, and damned if she doesn't. In that case, don't you think it's best that you do just tell her the truth?"

"What if there's a chance that she doesn't have to be damned either way?" He'd said it so quietly she might not have caught it without her enhanced hearing.

Alice sighed. "I think she's long since passed that road."

"I know you're right, I just don't want you to be. I really wanted to hold out hope that maybe she could have a normal life."

"I know, Jas, but a normal life isn't always in the cards for some people. Lainie is obviously one of those people."

"I'll talk to her tomorrow." He decided, but Alice shook her head.

"It's going to be sunny tomorrow so you'll have to wait until this weekend. Maybe Monday if you want time for her to cool off."

"Can you see how she takes it? Now that I've decided to tell her?" Jasper asked hopefully. He wouldn't blame her if she didn't take it well, but Jasper desperately hoped that she would.

Again, Alice shook her head. "I can still a future there, though. It's her and you, but it's so blurry, like someone took a video with a giant smudge on the lens." It was aggravating to her. Alice didn't often have visions of Lainie, but nine times out of ten, if she did, it wasn't a clear picture. All her other visions were as clear as day, leading Alice to believe that her malfunctioning visions were because of the young blonde girl.

"The only consolation I can give you is that you and Lainie do have a future together. I just can't tell you what may or may not occur between now and when that vision will come to pass."

"She was just so angry, Alice. I hadn't felt that much anger in someone in such a long time." The last time had been while he was still fighting down south. Vampires weren't just given enhanced strength, speed, and sight… their emotions were heightened as well. Comparing her anger to that of a newborn vampire's was a testament to how strong and all-consuming it was. Jasper hated himself for being the one to break her. He knew it wasn't healthy to keep it buried for so long, that release was only inevitable, but he'd pushed and shoved and torn down the wall keeping it at bay, and maybe she wasn't quite ready to process that particular emotion. Jasper had forced it on her and now he wasn't even there to help her deal with the aftermath of it. He hated to think of what his poorly thought out actions had done to her.

"You're going to fix this, Jasper. Come Monday, she'll have a much clearer head and you can tell her everything." Alice gave him a meaningful look. She wanted to make sure that he wasn't intending on leaving the mate part out of his explanation.

Jasper, having understood her silent expectation, nodded. "I hope you're right, Al."

"Yeah, me too, Jas."

Author's note: Wow, are things getting a lil spicy up in here? Especially that dude in the coffee shop, like seriously, who does that?

Lol this was a little too much fun to write considering it was a lil heavy in some parts there. I feel bad making Jasper suffer like this, but also, it's interesting writing from a perspective where the vampire is the one walking on eggshells around the human.

Onto other matters, if you haven't been streaming Fearless (Taylor's Version), what the hell is wrong with you? (Absolutely nothing because everyone is entitled to their own musical opinions and tastes.)

Real talk, though, if that's your kind of vibe and you haven't given it a listen yet, I definitely recommend, especially the vault songs. "You All Over Me" and "Don't You" had me re-living my old heartbreaks in the most melodious way possible. It was sad and I may or may not have shed a tear or two, but I also can't help but be incredulous at the fact that Taylor Swift has once again managed to put into words what I was never able to.

So, yeah, if you're feeling like a good cry, stream Fearless (Taylor's Version) #notsponsored