Chapter 26
Bella and I entered the cafeteria and I immediately noticed that Emmett and Rose were the only one's at our table, I wondered where Alice was. The snow had begun to fall outside, the cafeteria was filled with the sounds of wet shoes squeaking against the floor as the students gathered their food. I followed a nervous Bella as she grabbed her lunch, tossing a few items onto my own tray for show. I felt the phone in my pocket buzz as we walked over to take our seats. Rose was checking her phone, not bothering to look up as Bella and I sat down.
"Uh, I guess you and Emmett already got to meet this morning, but Rose . . ." I waited, hoping she'd at least pretend to be somewhat civil. She looked up, first at me, then to Bella. I could feel that she was actually trying pretty hard to mask her hostility. She forced the smallest of grins, or perhaps she'd just eased up on her frown. I could feel just how badly she'd rather be doing anything else at all.
"I take it you're . . . Bella?" She asked flatly.
"Uh, um, yes. It's nice to meet you." Bella said nervously.
"The pleasure is all yours." Rose said in a condescending tone. I could feel the sting of her words in Bella's emotions, I grabbed her hand trying to reassure her before sending Rosalie a wave of anger. She glared back at me. "Fine. It's nice to meet you too." She said to Bella with a sarcastic smile before rolling her eyes and turning her attention back to me. "Did you see what Alice said?"
"No, I was trying to introduce you to my girlfriend, but since you've just reminded me why I shouldn't have bothered, I guess now would be a good time to check." I gave Bella an apologetic smile as grabbed the phone from my pocket, hearing Rosalie scoff and mutter the word 'girlfriend' under her breath.
Edward isn't . . . Feeling well. We're going to see Carlisle. Tell Bella I'm sorry I wasn't able to meet her today :(
I knew things must be serious if Alice was passing up the opportunity to meet Bella. Obviously Edward wasn't sick, but there was definitely something wrong the last time I'd seen him. I'd never seen his eyes turn dark so quickly. I feared what it meant, but I was thankful that he was in control enough to leave when I asked him to turn around.
"What does she mean he's not feeling well?" Emmett asked, shaking his head with a confused expression. Rosalie looked at him and rolled her eyes.
"His eyes had gone dark by the time he left." I told him, glancing at Bella out of the corner of my eye.
"Already? I thought we were plenty careful." Emmett's eyebrows scrunched together and I could feel his concern as his eyes drifted to Bella. I felt her curiosity.
"So did I. He'll go hunt and he'll calm down."
"What are you guys talking about?" Bella asked nervously.
"We don't think that Edward directly came in contact with your scent, but something was triggering him. I felt his thirst before he left, while you were in the bathroom, it was getting pretty bad." I told her.
"He got that close?" I felt her fear spike and I put my arm around her in an attempt to calm her down.
"No, he was still pretty far down the hall, he turned around and went the other way when he heard my thoughts."
"So . . . even though he was thirsty, he still listened . . . and left for my sake?"
"Yes Bella." I could tell that my answer had eased some of her fear, but it hadn't done much to ease mine. I knew that it would take a lot to break Edwards control, but he hadn't looked far from the edge earlier.
"Don't worry, we got your back Bella. Edward isn't gonna lay a finger on you. Not without coming through both of us." Emmett said confidently, crossing his arms and giving Bella a serious nod. Bella gave him a small smile before nervously chewing on her lip.
"Alice really wanted to meet you, she sends her apologies." I told her.
"That's okay, I understand. Will she be around after school?"
"I don't think so. Her and Edward are going to hunt." Her shoulders relaxed a bit when I mentioned that Edward would be gone during her visit. The tension around the table seemed to ease but the cafeteria was buzzing with another kind of energy, speculation.
Bella hadn't noticed all of the whispers floating around the lunch room in regards to us being seen together. No one else had ever been invited to join us at our table before and people noticed. Jessica Stanley's jealousy was burning a hole through the back of my head, I didn't have to turn around to know it was her, Mikes was a close second. Bella ate some of her food, remaining oblivious to the stares, while Emmett talked her head off about his game collection, offering to bring his system out to the cabin to play with her anytime that she wanted.
"I don't think I'd be very good, especially against any of you." She sipped her soda.
"Come on, I'll take it easy on you." I sighed, knowing he wasn't going to accept no as an answer.
"Okay, sure . . . maybe sometime." She said, trying to be polite, though she had little interest in his offer.
"Make sure you wait until you're invited." I said, shooting him a stern look.
"Yeah, yeah." He rolled his eyes and grinned.
The rest of the day passed by smoothly. In biology Bella and I worked on a lab together, identifying phases of mitosis under a microscope. Her intelligence shined through, she'd gotten every answer correct without any help from me. We even won some spray painted golden onion 'trophy' for finishing first. I let her hold onto it, though I don't think either of us really wanted it. When the day was over I met her by the exit and we headed outside together. I felt Bella's relief at seeing that the snow hadn't stuck to the ground. I followed her home so that she could drop off her truck, then we rode back to the cabin in mine. As we drove up the driveway that led to the main house I felt Bella's amusement.
"You guys really don't like company do you?" She chuckled.
"Well, the more secluded we are, the less we have to worry about being ourselves. We can let the sunlight shine in and not worry about who sees." I smiled before adding, "On top of not liking company." She laughed. As we passed the main house, I could feel Bella's interest.
"That's your house? I mean, where your family lives? It's incredible." I sighed, wishing that I could show her, but knowing that it was impossible right now. But once she was changed . . . I cleared my throat.
"Yeah, the cabin's still up ahead, a couple of miles through the woods." She nodded and turned her attention back to the dirt path ahead. I felt her anticipation growing as we drove down the winding road. When the cabin came into sight I watched Bella's face light up. A smile spread across her face and she nearly hopped out of the truck before I'd came to a complete stop.
"Jasper! This is really all yours? It's beautiful!" She said as I came to stand beside her. Her joy was contagious. She laced her fingers through mine and pulled me towards the front door eagerly.
"Now remember, I haven't spent much time here yet. This is still new to me as well." I said, unlocking the door. The newly familiar smell of the cedar walls filled my lungs as we stepped inside. I watched carefully as Bella took it all in, admiring all the details, much like I had at first.
"I've never seen this one before, it's beautiful." She said, tracing her fingers over the framed drawing of her that Esme had hung in the living room.
"Esme found it in my room. She hung it up for me." I told her.
"That's Mrs. Cullen?" I nodded. "That was really thoughtful of her. I still don't know how you manage to make me look so . . . pretty." I felt a bit of insecurity coming from her.
"Bella you're more than pretty. You're stunning, the most beautiful girl I've ever laid eyes on. When you see my drawings, you're seeing yourself the way I see you . . . and vampires do have impeccable eyesight." I felt her insecurity ease as I went to stand behind her, placing my hands on her shoulders for a moment before helping her out of her coat and tossing it over the arm of the couch."I'd been meaning to ask, may I see your hand Bella."
"Um, one of the blisters popped earlier, I don't think you want to see." She said, her face turning red. I sighed and rolled my eyes, giving her an exasperated huff. As if a popped blister would make me squeamish.
"Then we should probably get it cleaned up and leave the bandage off so it can breathe." I told her. The scent of the open blister did intensify the burn in my throat for a short time, but there was no blood, it wasn't overwhelming.
After we cleaned up her hand and she got settled on the couch, I decided to see what we were working with in the TV department. I wasn't sure if the one in the living room had been hooked up or if there had been cable ran out here yet. I was pleasantly surprised to find that the TV was plugged in and ready to go, there was no cable, but there was a DVD player hooked up to it. I opened the doors to the small entertainment stand to find it filled with movies. The collection was filled with some of my favorites, mixed with some that I'd never seen before.
"Do you mind if I take a look?" Bella asked from the couch, it felt like she was up to something.
"Of course not, be my guest." I said, curious to see what she was up to. I felt her amusement from her as she came to look through the stacks of DVDs. It felt like she was looking for something specific and she found what she was looking for rather quickly.
She pulled the last movie that I would have expected her to grab, though it had been sitting at the top of the stack. She handed me Mean Girls, trying to fight a smirk, I sighed. This had to have been Emmett's doing, he knew just how much I'd hated that movie. It was okay the first time, but after Emmett and Rose watched it once, he became hooked. He had a huge crush on Lindsay Lohan, though he'd never admit it to Rose. He had watched it countless times since it'd been released the previous year, annoying us all on many occasions. We could all probably recite it by now. I gave her a discouraging look.
"I've never seen it" She said, giving me her best big puppy dog eyes, trying to mask the mischievous nature behind her suggestion.
"Did Emmett put you up to this?" She fought a smirk.
"Uh . . . No . . ." Her lie answered my question. I rolled my eyes and popped the pink disc into the player. I honestly didn't even mind what movie we watched, I was just glad to be spending time with her, and in my own place even. I kicked my boots off and got comfortable on the couch, Bella scooted over to me and laid with her back against my chest.
She seemed to be entertained enough by the movie, but I could feel her concentration teetering. It was hard to concentrate on anything besides the energy swirling between us. It seemed as if we were both trying desperately to ignore it. Though, I wasn't sure if I was trying to ignore it because she was, or the other way around, maybe both. I couldn't keep my hands still any longer, I ran my fingers through her long brown hair. She let out a soft hum and turned her head slightly, exposing her neck. I looked down and her throbbing jugular began taunting me. I watched it pulse with an erratic rhythm as I traced my index finger along her neck and then her collar bone. She shivered and my mouth began to fill with venom. The phone in my pocket buzzed, thankfully, distracting the predator. I was a little surprised to see that it was Esme.
Jasper, is Bella hungry? Alice suggested that I went to the store earlier, so I went and picked up a few things.
I smiled and showed Bella the text. Right on cue, her stomach growled.
"Uh, yeah I guess I am." She said with a bit of a chuckle, her face turning red.
Esme, you're amazing. Yes, thank you.
I started to get up to go retrieve the food from the main house, but her reply came seconds later.
I could bring everything out to you if you'd like, I'd love to meet her!
"Bella, would you like to meet Esme?" I asked her.
"Absolutely!" She smiled and sat up, straightening her clothes, I could feel her nerves creeping up a bit, but she was still genuinely excited. I told Esme to come on out and within a few minutes, there was a knock at the door. I went to greet Esme, instinctively inspecting the color of her eyes before stepping aside to let her in. She lingered outside the door, giving me an apologetic smile and handed me a few bags filled with groceries. I went and set them on the counter and sent her a flicker of curiosity as I walked back over to her. She began speaking so fast and low that I knew Bella couldn't hear.
"I could smell her as soon as you opened the door, maybe it's best if we step out here. I don't want to contaminate myself. I'd never forgive myself if I was the one to accidentally bring her scent in the house." I gave her a subtle nod of understanding.
"Bella, would you mind coming here?" I asked. She stumbled off of the couch, forgetting her coat and came to join us. She smiled and held her hand out to Esme, who looked to me nervously out of the corner of her eye. "It'll be fine, just wash your hands as soon as you get back to the house." I told her, watching as Bella's face contorted with confusion, her hand still extended. Esme gave me a thankful smile and grabbed Bella's hand with both of hers.
"Oh Bella, It's so good to finally meet you! You're even lovelier in person."
"Oh, um, thank you. It's nice to meet you too. Thank you again for dinner last week, you're an amazing cook!"
"If you tell Jasper some of your favorites, I can try my best to make them for you. Especially if you'll be spending more time here, we can't have you going hungry!"
"Well, thank you. The cabin is beautiful. Jasper said you were a great designer, he wasn't kidding!"
"I'm so glad you like it. We tried our best to keep your needs in mind, but if there's anything you find to be missing, just let Jasper know and we'll take care of it." She smiled and gave Bella's hand that special motherly little squeeze before letting go. "I'll leave you two to your movie, Carlisle will be getting home soon."
"Thank you!" Bella yelled as Esme took off at lightning speed. She blinked as the wind from Esme's departure blew the hair around her face.
"She probably heard you." I chuckled. "Come on, let's go back in, you're probably freezing." I put my arm around her and guided her back in the house. The movie played on in the background while we put away the groceries. Bella seemed to be pleased with the selection. Grabbing a banana while she microwaved something called a Cup O' Noodles. When her food was ready, we went and sat back down in the living room and finished the movie while she ate.
"I don't know. . . I thought it was sort of funny." She said, shrugging as the credits rolled.
"It was sort of funny, the first time or two." I told her, trying to fight a grin. It was almost 6pm and I knew that Bella's father would be expecting her before too long. Though I didn't want to be away from her, I had to admit that the burn in my throat told me I needed to go hunt before I spent the night with her later. "Thank you Bella, for coming out here. It feels complete with you here." She blushed.
"I really like it, I can't wait to come back."
"Anytime you wish." I told her. We gathered her things and headed back to her house. When we pulled into her driveway, I shut off my ignition and Bella looked a little confused.
"I thought that I should walk you in, I'm sure your father will appreciate it." She sighed and got out of the truck. I resisted the urge to reach for her hand or sling my arm around her shoulder as we walked to the house, knowing that she hadn't officially told her father we were dating, though he suspected. Bella hesitated before opening the door, and stepping inside. The smell of cheese and pepperoni hit my nose as we walked into the living room.
"Hey Bells, I ordered pizza." Her father said, just before realizing that she wasn't alone. His face didn't give him away, but his emotions told me that he was a bit irritated by my presence. "Jasper." He said curtly, giving me a nod.
"I just wanted to see Bella inside safely and thank you for allowing her to come over."
"Well, I'm sure you two got a lot of studying done." He said, narrowing his eyes. I felt his suspicions.
"Yeah, uh, big Spanish test tomorrow." Bella said, trying to seem casual, but failing. "I needed all the help I could get after missing a few days, Jasper's really smart." He let out a small sarcastic chuckle.
"Well, let's hope he is." He said raising an eyebrow and giving me a skeptical look that seemed like a threat. Clearly he wasn't going to warm up to me overnight. I gave him a polite grin before turning to Bella.
"Bella, I'll see you tomorrow. Have a good evening."
"You too, see yah." She said, following me back to the door, looking behind her to make sure her father wasn't watching. He was, despite trying to appear like he wasn't. She stepped onto the porch, closing the door behind her without latching it. I wrapped her in my arms and kissed the top of her head.
"I'll be back in a few hours. Text me if you need anything at all." I told her quietly.
"I love you." She whispered before stepping back inside. I let her feel my own love as I walked to my truck, already counting down the minutes until I could climb through her window. My cellphone buzzed as I got inside my truck. I started the engine and slid it out of my pocket to find a text from Alice.
Family meeting, please come straight home.
My nerves settled in as I drove home. No one had called a family meeting in decades, I knew it must have something to do with Edward's behavior earlier. I already planned on going back to drop my truck off before hunting, I just hoped that the meeting wouldn't put me too far behind schedule. I pulled up to the cabin and ran inside for a quick shower and a change of clothes to get rid of Bella's scent before heading to the main house.
I could tell that everyone was a bit on edge as I neared the house. I stepped inside to find everyone in the living room. Edward's eyes were once again golden and he seemed a lot less hostile than he had earlier, it was like night and day. This was the Edward I wanted to trust, the one that I knew and loved. The man I'd seen earlier was someone totally different. He gave me an apologetic look as I took a seat on the arm of the couch near Esme. Carlisle stood up to speak.
"This past week has been difficult. I want to commend you all for looking out for each other during these unusual circumstances, for that is the true meaning of a family. As you know, Edward was experiencing some difficulty this morning at school. Now, from what he and Alice could gather, he's still yet to come into direct contact with Bella's scent. My theory is that the allure to her blood is so strong, that even the faint hint of it mingling with the scents of the others students throughout the school is triggering his intense thirst. He observed that it was worse after his third class, English, and I'm to understand that Bella has that class first period, correct?" He looked to me and I nodded, anger bubbling up inside me.
"He should leave then, go back to Alaska and stay there." I said sternly, glaring at Edward. He remained calm, yet I felt a flicker of smugness from him. My eyes narrowed and my lip twitched, fighting back a snarl.
"Jasper, son. Please, let me finish. When Edward came to the hospital after school he was distraught and showed remorse. He doesn't want to hurt Bella, you know that. He wanted the day to go just as well as you did."
"I don't want to hurt her and I didn't." Edward said.
"Jasper, if Edward leaves, he won't be back for quite some time. We're not opposed to that solution, but we'd like to give it the week. He still remained in control today and has expressed his desire to prove that he can get through this. As long as he remains well fed and does his best not to breathe more than necessary, I think he can quietly finish the school year and then we can reevaluate."
"So you're allowing him to stay because you don't want his pride to be hurt?" I stood up and began to pace the floor. The tension in the room was growing, even Rose was giving this conversation her full attention. I could tell that she and Emmett agreed with me. Esme and Carlisle were obviously on Edward's side and Alice was neutral, which made me skeptical as to why she wasn't automatically siding with her husband.
"Son, if you don't recall, we had a similar conversation earlier this week when you decided to start seeing Bella. I would do the same for any of you. You all are aware of your limits and while I don't want you to push them too far, I believe it's important to allow you to decide where the line is. We are going to keep a close eye on his thirst and I'm going to observe him each day after school. If by the end of the week, things aren't looking any better then we will have another meeting." It was quiet for a moment. My eyes locked onto Alice who was doing her best to mask her emotions.
"Alice. . ." She had that far away look on her face. "Alice, what do you see?" I asked, my concern growing.
"Nothing really, things are still pretty fuzzy. I can't see whether we end up leaving or staying, there are too many variables still up in the air."
"Well, since everyone is so evenly split and I know that Edward's ego isn't going to allow him to leave on his own accord, let this be a warning. . ." I turned and looked Edward dead in the eye. "I will do what ever I have to do to protect Bella . . . and I do mean anything. If that means tossing your head into the flames because you fuck this up, then so be it." I stormed out the front door and took off at a sprint, eager to sink my teeth into something.