Chapter 25

Bella had made it through the night without any nightmares, she'd slept peacefully in my arms the entire time. Though I couldn't actually fall asleep, there was a comfort in pretending. At 5:30 am her father's alarm clock pulled me from my simulated slumber. I kissed Bella's forehead and gently wriggled my arm out from underneath her, trying my hardest not to wake her up. She was still out like a light as I climbed out of her window, it was still dark outside as I made the run home.

The cabin already felt like home, despite the fact that I'd barely gotten to spend anytime there yet. I breathed a sigh of relief upon entering the warm space and closing the door, it was like my own personal little oasis. I couldn't wait to bring Bella by after school and show it to her. Her scent still clung heavily to my clothing and skin and I relished in the fact that I didn't have to worry about Edward finding it here. I could take a moment to enjoy inhaling the fragrance without my mind immediately snapping into panic mode. I thought back to the first night I'd spent in Bella's room and couldn't imagine sitting in the rocking chair as she slept anymore, it would never compare to last night. After lying with Bella a few hours, I'd hardly even registered the burn in my throat anymore. Lying next to her, holding her and falling into whatever state it was that allowed me to imagine that I was resting, had been one of the best experiences I'd had in a long time. I hoped there would be many, many more nights like it in our future, at least until the day came that Bella didn't need to sleep anymore.

I tossed my clothes into a hamper I found, placed conveniently next to the shower, before stepping into the steaming water. I begrudgingly washed away the remnants of Bella's intoxicating scent, realizing I already missed her. I got dressed and gathered my things and tidied up any mess I'd left behind so that the cabin was in perfect order for Bella's visit. The sun was just beginning to make it's appearance as I drove my truck up to the main house to meet with the others before school. It was almost 6:30 am, I sent Bella a text, figuring she'd be getting up soon.

Good morning Bella. Don't forget to bring your phone with you. Text me when you leave your house please.

As I stepped inside, I could feel Edward's nerves spiking over all the other emotions in the house. I heard Alice talking to him upstairs, so I headed up to their room.

"It's going to be fine. I can see it." She told him, fixing the collar of his jacket.

"When did you last feed?" I asked, stepping through their open bedroom door. His golden eyes told me that it couldn't have been long ago, I just wanted to be sure.

"We just got back a couple of hours ago. I wanted to be as freshly fed as possible." He said, wearing a serious expression. I could feel just how badly he wanted this to go well and I sympathized with him. This had to go well, there was no other option.

"Well, I appreciate you taking extra precautions. I'm sure you already know, but I'll be bringing Bella by the cabin after school." He sighed.

"Yes, Alice warned me. We're going to go hunting again while she's visiting so that I'm not here."

"Thank you." I gave Edward a sincere nod and felt the phone in my pocket buzz. It was Bella.

Good morning. Can't wait to see you, the bed felt empty when I woke up.

I sent her a quick text back as I headed downstairs.

It won't tonight. See you soon my love.

Rose and Emmett were in the living room waiting for Edward and Alice when I got down there. Emmett was watching the news and Rose was finishing up a fresh coat of nail polish. There was still some time before we needed to leave, so I decided to sit with them.

"Weather dude says it's gonna snow tomorrow." Emmett said mindlessly. I started to imagine Bella all bundled up for the snow in a hat and mittens and chuckled to myself. If she hated the rain, I assumed she wasn't going to be the biggest fan of the snow. Emmett gave me a weird look, "Something funny about the snow?" He asked.

"No, um, how many inches are we supposed to get?"

"Don't know, they said anywhere from 2-5, then again, they never get it right."

"Oh it's going to snow alright, and it's going to start today!" Alice said cheerfully, floating down the stairs, Edward was following behind her. I pulled the phone from my pocket to text Bella.

Dress warmly. Forks is getting snow today.

Seconds later I received her reply.

EW!

A smile spread across my lips, it was just as I'd suspected. I still had a lot to learn about her, but I felt like I was starting to get a better idea of who she was. Alice got all of our attention and began speaking.

"Alright, Jasper, you're going to walk Bella to her first class once you see that we're inside the school. You'll have to hurry back over before second period to walk her to Government. After that, Emmett will escort her to where you intersect between your gym class and her trig class, you'll have to finish walking her there and then hurry back towards the gym. Then, Emmett will walk her to your Spanish class, Edwards leaving right after fourth period . . . so you won't have to worry after that."

"Sounds easy enough." Emmett said, rubbing his hands together.

"It does sound easy enough, but let's still be cautious. If I see anything come up, I'll send everyone a text."

"Thanks guys, I'm gonna go on ahead and wait for her." I wanted to be there before she arrived . . . and before Edward arrived.

Just as I pulled into the parking lot, I got a text from Bella letting me know that she was on her way. I parked close to where I'd remembered seeing her truck parked last week, before I knew it belonged to her. My siblings arrived not long after I did, taking their usual spots on the other side of the lot.

The sound of Bella's truck is what alerted me to her arrival. I smiled as I saw her spot my truck and watched her park carefully beside it. There was still about fifteen minutes left until the first bell rang, so I hopped out of my truck and got inside of hers. She quickly unhooked her seat belt and wrapped her arms around me, squeezing me tightly. She'd been running the heat inside her truck and the warmth served to amplify her scent. Despite the fact that I'd only been away from her for a couple of hours, when the fresh aroma hit my lungs, the familiar burn settled into my throat.

As I held Bella, I glanced over to my family to find that Edward's eyes were locked onto her. Could you maybe not give her the death stare? She's already afraid of you. I saw Edward attempt to gather himself upon hearing my thoughts, straightening his posture. He looked away and Alice squeezed his hand in encouragement. They hadn't been the only one's who saw our public display of affection, I'd also felt a wave of jealousy from Mike Newton as he watched us from his vehicle.

"Bella, believe me, I don't want to let go of you, but we may have caught the attention of one of your . . . friends." I felt embarrassment wash over her as her head shot up. She scanned the parking lot for the culprit and her face turned red when she spotted Mike just a few parking spaces away. Once the initial panic wore off she became thoughtful and looked me in the eyes.

"He's not really my friend. I barely know anyone here, besides you." She sighed.

"So you don't care if people see us together?" I asked, skeptically. The Bella I'd met a few days ago was constantly embarrassed when it came to any amount of attention and I had a pretty good idea of the attention that us being seen together would garner.

"No, not really." She said, I could tell that she meant it.

"And if people ask if we're an item?"

"I'll tell them it's not their business." She said with a bit of an edge, I chuckled.

"That's an intriguing idea, but these are high school students. They'll just fill in the blanks themselves until the rumors are running a muck." Her nerves spiked, but they resolved after a moment and I could feel her amusement.

"Then I guess I'll just tell them that you're my 142 year old vampire soul mate." She tried to fight a smirk, but I rolled my eyes and she lost the fight. "Fine. You're my boyfriend - I'll tell them you're my boyfriend. It's not like there's much use in trying to hide it from Charlie anymore anyway." I smiled and brought her hand to my lips.

"Now that sounds like an excellent plan." There was no reason to hide the fact that Bella was mine and I had to admit, the thought of walking into school with her on my arm had me feeling just a little bit smug. Not that I needed to prove anything to these humans, but Bella was definitely a prize and I wasn't used to winning. I watched as Mike got out of his car and went into the school in a huff. "So did you tell your father you were going to my place later to study?"

"Yeah." She rolled her eyes. "He said he was going to call Dr. Cullen and tell him to keep an eye on us, but I'm pretty sure he was bluffing."

"Little does he know we'll be all alone in a cabin in the woods together far from the watchful eyes of anyone." I raised an eyebrow and gave her a teasing grin.

"And the less he knows about that, the better." She smiled and her cheeks flushed.

"My lips are sealed." I smiled and placed a quick kiss on her lips, careful not to get carried away. Her breath caught in her throat as I reluctantly pulled myself away from her. I took a moment to explain the plan to Bella, just as Alice had this morning. My eyes quickly skimmed the parking lot and I realized that my siblings had already headed inside. "Edward's gone in, are you ready?" I felt her heart rate increase slightly as she tried to keep her fear in check.

"Yeah, I guess so." I could feel her nerves, but she was looking into my eyes, trying to focus on her trust. She trusted me and I wanted more than anything to prove to her today that I deserved it, that my family deserved it.

"I promise Bella, we're going to do everything we can to keep you safe. It'll only get easier from here. This is still new, but soon we'll be on a schedule and you won't have to worry. Edward's going to be leaving at lunch for his uh . . . 'internship'. It's only for a few hours." She nodded, trying to push through and be brave. Even at a human speed, I was able to get out of the truck, walk to her side and open the door for her before she'd gotten her book bag on and shut her engine off. I held my hand out for her, grinning as she grabbed it for support and hopped out of her truck. I put my arm around her as we walked into school together. I felt curious and watchful eyes, but ignored them completely. Bella seemed unbothered as well, a smile was painted on her face as we walked together to her first period English class. Once she was safely inside, I headed off to Trigonometry. Worry seemed to make the hour pass by painfully slow.

If I was being honest, I was probably just as nervous as Bella. I tried to put my faith in Alice and my trust into Edward, but what Alice had told me last night had stuck in my mind. She'd seen Bella like us, which should have been music to my ears, but for some unknown amount of time leading up to that, all four of our futures were dark and tangled. The way that I looked at it, that just meant that everything leading up to Bella's change was still left undecided.

I hoped like hell that I would be able to stop anything from happening to her that would force her into this life, I wanted it to be her decision. I didn't want to lie to Bella, but I also didn't want to influence her decision in any capacity. So, I'd decided against telling her about Alice's vision. I didn't want her to think that this was something she had to do, just because Alice had seen it. I'd been hoping that Bella would come up with the idea on her own, then I'd be the one to change her when the time was right. Until she brought it up, or began to ask questions, I was going to keep quiet.

The bell rang and I went to meet her back outside of her English class. She was waiting for me nervously, just outside the door. I held her hand as I escorted her to government.

"Is everything going okay so far?" She asked.

"So far so good." I was trying to reassure her and myself. "Don't forget, my brother Emmett will be walking you to me after this class is over. Keep your eye out for him. Despite his size, he's a big softy, so don't be afraid." She smiled and nodded. After I'd got her safely inside, I hurried to the library for my study hall.

I passed the hour by drawing up some plans for adding a deck to the back of the cabin. The view was beautiful and I thought it would be nice to have somewhere to sit and enjoy it, especially with Bella by my side. When the hour was up, I was the first one out the door, eager to meet Emmett and Bella. I was caught a little off guard by what I saw coming down the hallway, Emmett was walking right next to Bella and they were . . . laughing.

"Okay, now, don't tell him what I told you." He said, grinning ear to ear.

"It'll be our secret." Bella said, returning his grin as she came to stand by my side. Emmett raised his eyebrows and stuck his tongue out, giving me a mischievous look before walking right by without stopping to say anything.

"I see you two hit it off." I said on the way to her class.

"I like him! He's funny!" She said enthusiastically.

"So I gather that you two are keeping secrets now?"

"Something like that." She winked at me before walking into her trig class. I headed off to the gym, filled with curiosity, but decided to let them keep their secrets. I was just glad to see Bella getting along with one of my siblings. Emmett may not have been the first one that came to mind when I imagined my family hitting it off with Bella, but I was glad none the less. So far everything seemed to be going well. There was only one more class change before Edward left for the day.

I faked my way through the hour of gym class and when the coach dismissed us to change, I was the first one finished, ready to go spend the next hour in Spanish with Bella. I caught a glimpse of Edward on the way and stopped dead in my tracks. His eyes were now pitch black and he was feeling agitated and thirsty. His control was still holding up, but I didn't like what I was seeing and feeling. I hurried off to Spanish to find Emmett standing outside of the door.

"Have you seen Edward?" I asked him, trying to mask my concern.

"No, why? Is everything okay."

"Yeah, I mean, I think so. He just seems a little off."

"Well he'll be leaving soon. Are you and Bella gonna sit with us at lunch?"

"I'll ask her what she wants to do." He grinned and headed off to class, I could feel that he'd already gotten his hopes up.

I walked into Spanish and took my seat next to Bella. She was happy to see me and the feeling was mutual, we had the next 3 periods together and we'd seemingly managed to get through the morning without any issues. I wanted to feel relieved, I just hoped Edward could hold it together until he left. His pitch black eyes and irritation were burned into my memory and lingered around the forefront of my thoughts. I looked over to Bella who remained content and oblivious. Mrs. Goff handed out our assignments and left us to work on them quietly in pairs. Of course, Bella and I teamed up immediately. Once we were done wit the worksheets I decided to extend Emmett's invitation to her.

"Emmett wants to know if you'd like to sit with my family at lunch."

"Emmett wants to know? You weren't going to ask me?" She asked raising an eyebrow.

"I was going to find and empty table and try to hoard you all to myself, but I decided to be polite and pass along the invitation."

"Okay, he seems nice enough. When you say your family . . ." She trailed off, pulling her bottom lip between her teeth.

"I mean Emmett, Rose, Alice, and myself." I felt her nerves spike.

"Do you think your sisters will mind?" Ah, I could understand her nerves now. She'd mentioned before that she didn't think Rosalie liked her very much.

"If you're worried about Rose, don't be. She doesn't like anyone, I don't even think she likes me most of the time. She'll probably just ignore everyone and let us be."

"That's going to be so . . . awkward."

"You get used to it."

"Okay . . . I guess that would be fine then." She said, a bit hesitantly.

"Bella, we don't have to sit with them if you don't want to. They'll understand if it's too soon."

"No! They'll never like me if I act scared or they think I don't want to meet them." It was endearing just how much Bella wanted my family to like her, I could tell that it was important to her. She wanted to make the right impression and it made me love her even more. Little did she know that she could probably have had eight heads and my family would still like her, they just wanted to see me happy. I sent her a flicker of my love and watched a smile spread across her face as she looked over to me. She focused on showing me hers in return. We finished the assignment and waited for the bell to ring.

"I have to use the restroom." She told me, her face turning a bit red.

"Okay, I'll walk you there and wait close by."

The bell sounded and I walked Bella to the nearest bathroom. As I waited for her across the hall, I felt Edward's emotional aura close by before my eyes could find him. I started thinking as loudly as I could, hoping to deter him. EDWARD! GO THE OTHER WAY. TURN AROUND. BELLA'S IN THE BATHROOM. Our eyes met for a brief moment and I could now see that his were circled with deep purple bruises, his thirst had only grown, but he was still far enough down the Hallway to where we could avoid an incident. He stopped for a moment, his lips pulling up into a snarl before he turned to head the other direction, disappearing into the sea of students. His mood had caught my attention, it was very close to the angry and agitated Edward that left for Alaska last week and very different than the compliant and caring Edward I'd talked to this morning.