AN: Here she is, ladies, men, and non-binary friends. The Jasper/Bella convo. Well, part one of it at least ;)
Song of the Chapter: Black Sheep by Metric
Hello again, friend of a friend...
Chapter 4
It's easy enough to find Bella's apartment, especially with being able to track her scent after being reacquainted with it. While not on the same level of tracking as Demetri, he could hold his own. Once he reaches the brick building where the trail ends, he picks up a faint metallic scent – Vampire.
Each Vampire, like each human, has their own unique scent (though with a metallic tinge to it) allowing Vampires to identify the difference between human and Vampire. He can quickly distinguish Charlotte's scent in the air, smelling of peaches. She was right on the money, not that he doubted her abilities – she had been trained by him after all. This unfamiliar Vampire's scent is about four or five hours old, not familiar to him, not even near Bella's building, but he's not going to take a chance.
He notes her neighborhood is relatively quiet, as much as the City can be, and most of the windows are dark showing the humans either not home or in bed. He runs a perimeter around the streets, marking it as his. The unknown Vampire, and any others, will find Jasper's potent scent and it will be a message of 'my hunting grounds, find a new one'. It's what Jasper would do when they won new territory back in the Newborn Wars when Maria would send him out to mark it. Back then, at the height of the Wars, it had carried an even darker warning. Vampires would recognize his scent and turn tail, putting as much space in between them and that scent.
It had essentially been a marking of 'DEATH WAS HERE'.
Jasper runs a large perimeter, spitting Venom in his hand and rubbing it on different areas – streetlamps, fences, neighboring buildings doors, anything he could. Vampires don't really worry about having to get sick, but Jasper still thought it would be weird to lick those areas. Rubbing it with his hand was less conspicuous as well, lest anyone see him blurring by.
Finally, he walks up to Bella's building and does the same to the front door, using the hand he was marking to open it. He trails his hand on the wall as he walks up the stairs to the third floor. Once he reaches her unit, 3A, he quickly and quietly uses fresh Venom to quietly rub her door. The television is on inside the apartment and he can identify Bella's steady heartbeat. Once he's satisfied with his marking, he takes a deep unneeded breath. He's anxious, mostly to find out where this girl has been the last decade.
Atonement.
Alice's text bounces around in his brain. Righting a wrong, saving her tonight from the Vampire, nine years after almost killing her. Alice had told him to go to her, which means she saw this, she saw this conversation. It's comforting that Alice is still watching out for him. When they had parted, two nights after Bella's birthday, they separated with one last kiss and a firm hug. It ended amicably.
Alice packed up all of her belongings and headed out, disappearing with a letter for each of the family. The Cullens didn't tell him what they said and he never asked. The next day, Edward broke up with Bella, and the family moved to Ithaca. Not finding a point in staying with the Cullens without Alice, Jasper left, meeting up with Peter and Charlotte in Canada.
Two days after that, he had received a text from Emmett and Rosalie, telling him to not be a stranger and that they were headed on an extended honeymoon before planning to settle in Buffalo. They had seen each other in passing about three years ago, telling him that they are permanently on their own now, Edward having left to go on his own and travel. Carlisle and Esme had decided to enjoy some alone time on Isle Esme, the empty nesters.
He had seen Alice about five years ago, on a work trip to Volterra. He had been tapped to help give his expertise on Newborn Armies to The Three Kings, having been recommended by Alice. When he, Peter, and Charlotte had walked into the Throne Room, Alice was right there, standing right next to Aro. It showed her position, how coveted she really was. She's positioned above even Renata, Aro's personal guard.
Alice smiled at him and he smiled right back, feeling nothing but affection toward his once-wife, seeing her matching red eyes glittering back at him. That was the first time he had met Geralt as well.
It all leads back to this spot, the journey he had been on the last nine years, the unknown journey Bella has been on. Once connected by an unfortunate - almost fatal – accident, now brought together by an unfortunate – almost fatal – accident. There was a reason he was in that Club tonight, same time as Bella, to save her from that Vampire, to lead him to this door right now. Alice had directed this path.
"Kismet," he whispers, before glancing down to his watch. He's right on time.
Jasper knocks on Bella's door.
He feels her quick surprise, her heartbeat stuttering a bit before picking up its pace as her nerves hit him. She retreats further back into the apartment before he hears a door close. He grins at her steadying breath before opening the door.
She's changed and, from what he can smell, freshly showered, wearing a thin white tank top and sweatpants. Her face is now clear of any makeup and her hair is still down as it was, falling below her collarbone in waves.
Her face calm and collected, meeting his gaze evenly. He feels her anxiety and nerves, under it that growing curiosity.
Curiouser and curiouser.
Her demeanor makes his grin grow, "May I come in?"
Bella nods, stepping to the side so he can walk into her apartment. He's now bathed in her scent, fresh and clean, floral and fruity, though there's something else in the air. He can also detect another heartbeat inside the apartment, too small and light to be human. Sniffing the air, he turns to her with a raised brow.
"Cat?"
"His name is Fitz. Don't even think about making a happy meal out of him, I won't hesitate on my threat from earlier," Bella warns and he smiles at her, shaking his head.
"Feline ain't in my diet anymore."
"I see that," Bella mutters, looking directly in his eyes, challenging him to explain. She gestures to her apartment, silently telling him to follow. As he does, his eyes scan everywhere he can see. It's nice, he notes, kind of bohemian, kind of modern contemporary, kind of alternative. Very Bella.
The non-brick walls are painted an off white, decorated with some earthy abstract art paintings. One wall is made up all of photos, Bella and friends, - he recognizes some from Forks and some unfamiliar faces. He can also see some of Bella and her father, one looks more recent in front of a Christmas tree, the Chief of Police's brown hair peppered with some grey now. Another of her and a Native American man, very tall with short cropped hair.
He stops at one wall, a framed magazine article with a professional picture of Bella in a white jacket on it. The Writer's Block Interviews Isabella Swan, The Author Redefining the Young Adult Genre. Next to it are three New York Times Bestsellers list, each featuring Bella's books at #1. The name of one of them catches his eye, The Lion and The Lamb. Bella is an accomplished writer, a very accomplished writer from what it seems. He turns to look at her, and sees her fidgeting uncomfortably from her spot, her cheeks red. He feels her embarrassment, she never did like praise or too much attention brought onto her.
"'The Lion and The Lamb'?" he questions, lips quirking. Alice had seen those words spoken by both of them, squealing to Jasper about Bella and Edward falling in love and Bella becoming her sister officially. Jasper had thought the words were a little pretentious back then, rolling his eyes and earning a smack from Alice.
"My first novel. Semi-autobiographical," Bella shrugs, though her cheeks are still a little flushed. "Caused a little bit of controversy when it was released."
Jasper raises an eyebrow, "Why's that?"
"Because my heroine doesn't end up with the love interest."
"Who does she end up with then?"
Bella's lips quirk up at this, "That's the whole point, she doesn't end up with anyone. She doesn't need the love interest to be happy. She finds her happiness in herself."
A pregnant pause lapses between them before he asks, "And are you?"
"Am I what?"
"Happy. Did you find your happiness in yourself?"
He feels it before he sees it, her happiness hits him, her pride, her joy. She practically beams, her eyes clouding over and she's somewhere else, remembering, feeling. Jasper relishes the feelings and mirrors her smile. "Yes, I did."
"Good," Jasper nods, following her to her living room, passing by scattered plants by the windows, well kept. Dark wooden floors are adorned with plush rugs here and there, a television hung on the wall and she picks up the remote to turn it off. She gestures him to a muted blue couch to sit while she goes to the matching sofa chair across from him, pulling a fuzzy white blanket into her lap.
Jasper unnecessarily clears his throat, mostly just to break the silence. "So, where should we start?"
Bella doesn't hesitate, "What the hell are you doing in Philadelphia?"
"Okay, we'll start there."
Bella's eyes narrow, "Are the rest of them here?"
"No, I'm just here with Peter and Charlotte, my brother and sister-in-law."
"Brother?"
"Not blood related, but it's the only term that can truly describe him to me."
Bella nods that she understands and gestures for him to continue.
"Was here for business, nothing more. I had no idea you were here; I had assumed you stayed in Washington."
"I went to college here," Bella smiles fondly, gesturing to the wall where a Degree and a picture from her graduation hung. UPenn. Graduated cum laude. "This City became my home."
"When did Lion and Lamb happen?"
"Wrote it through freshman and sophomore year of college," Bella shrugs, though her emotions read pride and happiness. "Mostly as a catharsis. My best friend and I got obliterated drunk one night and submitted it as a joke to a couple of Publishers. One came back and said they loved the idea. Was published the year after I graduated. I made sure they understood it was a one-and-done, no sequel, no saga."
"It was successful, I see."
"Working on the last book of a trilogy, now. Shifted more into Crime genre," she smiles fondly. "My dad helped me out with it."
"Congratulations, Bella," Jasper projects some pride to her, genuinely impressed by her accomplishments. He had known she was smart, it's all Edward had gone on about at one point, how smart, how sweet, how mature, how different Bella was. It had taken him and Emmett roughing him up a couple of times to get him to shut up.
Bella nods her thanks before she asks, "Where's Alice?"
"Italy."
Bella's frown deepens, "For good?"
"Yes."
"But...but what about?" She makes a vague gesture toward him.
"We're separated, have been since..." Jasper trails off, seeing the realization appear on Bella's face.
Bella then pales, her shame and guilt practically pinning him to his seat. "Did...did I-"
He immediately shuts it down, with the truth. "No. It had nothing to do with you, I can promise you that."
"So, you're not with the Cullens anymore?"
"When we all left Forks, everyone kind of went their separate ways," Jasper holds up a hand to halt any self-blame, "Again, not because of you. Don't be so self-absorbed, Bella," he teases, causing her to glare at him for a second.
"Where is everyone?"
"Scattered," Jasper shrugs. Bella looks at him to elaborate, "Carlisle and Esme settled in Canada, I believe. Rosalie and Emmett are in Buffalo," he feels Bella's dread at the thought of Jasper saying the only name left, but it doesn't come because Jasper isn't going to tell her. Somehow, he knew she really didn't care about him and where he was. Her gratitude and happiness hits when he doesn't say any more.
"Is Alice on an extended shopping trip in Italy?" Bella asks, testing the waters of sensitivity with Jasper, talking about his ex.
Jasper smiles, "She's working for the Volturi now."
Bella's expression is blank, "Volturi?"
"Edward never told you?" Jasper asks, raising an eyebrow.
"Obviously not," she snarks.
He ignores her flippant attitude, honestly finding her fire quite endearing. More and more he has to remind himself that this is Bella Swan. He imagines her younger self meeting her, blushing at her confidence and poise and attitude. This version was inside of her all along, it just had to be teased out. He wonders what made her this way, what teased it out of her, because he has to be honest.
It turns him on.
"The Volturi are our government, they make the laws of our kind."
Bella's eyebrows raise, "Vampire government."
"You were in an establishment owned by the Region's leader tonight."
"Roux is owned by a Vampire?"
Jasper nods, smirking at Bella's shock.
"Aren't you breaking a lot of laws by telling me all of this?"
"Yes."
"And aren't you going to get in trouble for telling me this?"
"The Volturi most likely know about you already. They have Alice and their own mind reader-not him," he says, seeing Bella's eyebrow raise. "Aro, one of the Three Kings, he can read every thought you've ever had just by touching you."
"Three Kings?"
"Aro, Caius, and Marcus. Aro has read Alice's mind, he's read my mind, so he definitely knows of your existence."
"And what's the usual punishment for telling a human about Vampires."
"Execution," Jasper says plainly, "The human, the Vampire, and any others involved."
Bella pales slightly at this and Jasper tries to soothe her. "Bella, don't worry. If he was to do anything, he would have to kill all of us and Alice. I reckon he would rather kill his entire guard than lose Alice and her gift. Also, Aro is very fond of Carlisle. They are old friends, so he wouldn't want to kill him."
It's true. Aro's hands are tied, he could have killed Bella, but he would listen to Alice no matter what. She could convince someone that the sky was green and that up was down. She had loved Bella like a sister, she would protect her. He would too, if it came down to it. "And I don't think he would kill me." Could kill me, he wanted to say.
Bella nods, but he wants to drive the point home. "Also, technically, none of us told you the secret, you figured it out yourself."
Bella rolls her eyes at this, "You guys weren't as subtle as you thought you were. I'm still surprised no one put together the whole never eating your food at lunch, deathly pale, same color eyes despite not being related similarities. I mean, I've never met anyone with golden eyes before you."
"Hm, I think you were just hyper-observant." Jasper smiles with affection, remembering that little slip of a human girl staring at them from across the cafeteria. "Also, a healthy dose of trust projected to a skeptic or a suspicious human helped."
"Is this bothering you?" Bella asks suddenly, causing him to blink in confusion.
"What?"
"Being so close to me."
Oh.
"Your eyes are still bright red, you seem calm," Bella continues, "Back then, you always looked like you were in pain."
"I was," he winces, remembering the hunger, four Vampires hungers projected onto him every day while he was at school, the venom flooding his mouth, the endless days of holding his breath; not needed, but comfortable. The scorching in his throat whenever he even saw a human walk by him, someone falling in gym and scraping their knees, the blood lust of Emmett hitting him and causing his eyes to turn black. "Since I changed my diet, my control has been better."
"When did that happen?"
"About a week after your eighteenth birthday."
"Hmm..." Bella hums, scrutinizing him. "Where exactly do you hunt?"
"Not near here. We'll travel to different states if need be. Peter, Charlotte, and I have a certain...code that we stick to with selecting our meals," Jasper explains, "We try to find people who are not doing very nice things, relatively easy to find these days. You'd be surprised how easy it is to hang around a bar or a Club or a college campus and find a meal."
"No, I wouldn't be surprised," Bella says flatly, pain tinging her emotions. His eyes widen, immediately going to worst case scenario – Bella being taken advantage of, Bella being drugged and raped. Her shaking her head calms him slightly, "Not me, but my friend, Jamie. Her ex-boyfriend was in a Frat. Him and his buddies tried to take advantage of her when she was drunk."
Jasper nods, sending some sympathy her way. She nods her thanks, "Does it make me a bad person to hear that you are feeding on people like that?"
"No."
"Good," Bella crosses her arms, bringing his attention to her tattoos and her well-toned arms.
He smiles and nods to them, "When did that happen?"
Bella glances down to what he's looking at and holds her arm out, "When I was twenty-one."
"What does it mean?"
"Snakes are symbols of rebirth, shedding their skin," Bella smiles, showing him the extremely well-done snake coiling up her arm, emerging from the flowers. "And the Magnolias represent perseverance."
Jasper smiles at her words, the tattoo was certainly fitting, this girl had been through hell with James, almost dying, almost changing into a Vampire, then Jasper himself almost killing her. She had come out swinging, and he projects the sincerity behind his words, "It's beautiful."
"Hurt like hell," Bella mutters, glancing down with a blushing smile. "It was worth it."
Jasper glances around the well-kept apartment, smiling. "You seem to have done well for yourself here."
She laughs bitterly, "Yeah, well when Edward left me in the woods after you attacked me, telling me you all were leaving and the future that I had been planning for myself was ripped away, I kind of went catatonic for months."
Silence.
"What?" Jasper snaps, causing her to jump a little. "Sorry, I just thought I heard you say Edward left you in the woods."
"Do not patronize me, Jasper. Vampire hearing is perfect," Bella snaps back at him, daring him to not believe her. He does. Her emotions read nothing but anger and annoyance, he just can't believe his once brother could be so idiotic and foolish.
"Such a fucking child," Jasper growls, pinching the bride of his nose as if he had a headache. "This is the same boy who would worry and fidget at nights because a poisonous bug could bite you or a meteor could crash through your roof, and he leaves you, who seemed to have the wonderful habit of attracting danger, in the woods."
Bella then does something he doesn't expect.
She laughs.
Jasper watches, a little concerned and very confused at her reaction. She's laughing, as if he just hit her with a boat load of mirth, as if he just told her the funniest joke in the world. She's laughing. Head thrown back, gasping for breath, eyes watering laughter. And he can't lie, he likes the sight, and he loves the feeling. Her humor swaddles him like a blanket and he can't help but have a smile that matches hers. He finds himself joining in, succumbing to his own laughs.
"Bella, not that I oppose you laughing, but what is so funny?"
Settling down a bit, she wipes her eyes. "I'm sorry, it's just...that's the first time I've told someone that story and they actually believed me."
This wipes the smile from his face, "What?"
"My therapist, Jamie, even my tattoo artist all thought that me saying that was just a way to cope."
"You've told people...about us? About Vampires?"
"And they never believe me," Bella shrugs.
"Better it be that way," Jasper warns her, eyes narrowing. "Just because the Volturi don't want to kill you, doesn't mean that they won't kill others who know. You still lack self-preservation, apparently."
Her eyes narrow at him, her mood turning a little sour. "Trust me, they all think I'm joking or crazy or both."
Jasper frowns at her words, "Catatonic?"
"Yeah, apparently I don't handle total abandonment well."
Jasper winces at that, as if physically struck. Though he didn't have a say in leaving, he felt her pain, he could put himself in her place. He was responsible for it, after all.
"For what it's worth, I am sorry," Jasper says, trying to project the truth in his statement.
"Not your fault," at his look, she adds. "I mean, it was, but you only took some of the blame in my mind. Anyway, a kick in the ass from my dad got me moving. He threatened to send me to live with my mom, so I promised to go to therapy and get help. It did. It helped so much, and I am able to see that you trying to kill me was one of the best things to happen to me."
"You're...welcome?"
Both of them laugh at that, forming an odd camaraderie, comfort, kindred.
"Through therapy, I was able to face a lot of things. Issues that I didn't even know that I had, and it all led me here."
Bella then yawns and Jasper glances at the clock on her wall, seeing that they had been talking for two hours. The sun would be rising soon. Standing up, he gestures to the clock, "I should go."
"Are you," Bella starts, clearing her throat before standing. "Are you staying in Philly?"
"Yeah," Jasper nods, before shrugging. "I don't know how long, but I've been instructed to stay here."
Bella nods then, leading him to her front door. She pauses though before opening it, turning to face him.
"Jasper, I don't know if you need to hear this," Bella says, taking a deep breath. "But I forgive you."
It's like a weight he had never even realized been settling on his shoulders was lifted at those words. Any guilt he harbored for the last nine years, gone. He projects his happiness to her and watches as she visibly straightens, exhaling a deep breath, as if the same weight had been on her shoulders. Her brown eyes meet his and she smiles gently at him, her eyes turning a little glassy.
"I guess I did need to hear it," Jasper smiles at her, before flitting back to her living room and grabbing her phone. Guessing her passcode correctly on the first try, he opens her phone and adds his number, saving it as a new contact. All before she could even process it. He hands her phone to her, "If you need anything."
"Vampires," she hisses and rolls her eyes, practically snatching the phone from his hand. She quickly glances to see his saved contact and opens the door. Jasper casts a wave over his shoulder as he walks out to the hallway. She stops him right before he gets to the stairs.
"Jasper," she calls, stepping out of her apartment and causing him to turn. "Thank you."
He grins, "You're welcome, ma'am."
"Come back tomorrow night," she says suddenly, genuinely surprising him. Bella smirks at his look, "It's my turn to hear where you have been."
He then grins at her, a warmth spreading in his chest that she wants to see him again. She didn't hate him, she had done well, they hadn't ruined her.
She was alive, and successful, and beautiful, and happy.
"As you wish."