Author's Note: It has been a legitimate decade since I have published anything with this account so please forgive the unfinished stories that are from 2009. I was 14 when I published those fanfics. A lot has changed since then. I am a more deliberate and dedicated writer now but I also have a life. My hope is to finish this story before the summer is up. I have an outline and I know where this is going, the only thing standing in my way now is the massive pile of books I want to read and the job applications I need to fill out. Be patient, be kind, and stay safe.
As Jasper marched up the paved path of Ho Plaza, Rosalie's concerned voice rang through the phone. "She still hasn't seen anything?" Of course the concern wasn't for Jasper or his estranged wife, it was for Edward who had run off nearly 11 months ago in pursuit of Victoria.
"No,"Jasper said tersely though trying not to ground his teeth. He couldn't be mad at Rose. As far as she was concerned Edward was the glue that kept the family together and the the force that kept them safe. She longed for her brother's presence just as much as she longed for a genuine smile on Esme's face but they hadn't had either for almost a year. Things had gotten so bad in the house that she and Emmett had gotten remarried and used their honeymoon as a way to distance themselves from the emptiness that hung heavy over their new home. The pair had gone off on their own for a few months before to reconnect but this was different. Jasper had never been the only one of his coven to stay with Carlisle and Esme before.
Jasper continued before he could get too deep into the despairing thoughts that haunted him enough at the house, "Alice hasn't seen anything other than a flash of Edward since June." He sighed. Jasper had grown tired of Edward's antics if he were to be honest.
"I know Jazz, it's just," Rose paused, "how long is this going to last? With everyone avoiding each other? It's not like Emmett and I were any better running off to Europe but I couldn't just do nothing. I couldn't just watch Edward abandon us and and the rest mourn." Jasper did not need to feel his sister's emotions to know that she was distraught. Her voice shook in a way that only a vampire unable to shed tears could, "I may not have cared for her but this is my family and I want my family back."
They both knew the "her" Rosalie had referred to without saying her name. The little human that had turned their world upside down in the few short months she had been in Forks, Washington. Jasper also knew what Rose was trying to say. She would do anything to get her family back. Anything. Maybe even including searching for a certain human.
Even looking past her theatrics, Rose had a point. The family had never been this distanced physically or emotionally. Edward was currently avoiding making decisions and Alice could only confirm he was still in South America because of a very distinct fern she occasionally glimpsed around him. Alice herself was chasing lead all the way down in Biloxi, Mississippi trying to figure out who she had been as a human. Rosalie and Emmett had been in Europe for the past several months reconnecting and enjoying their remarriage. Carilisle and Esme were still working in Ithaca but both were trying their best to keep busy. Carilisle worked as a part time professor for the medical department of Ithaca College and nights at Cayuga Medical Center while Esme refurbished an 18th century house a few miles North of the city. Jasper knew these were all distractions, like he knew his philosophy degree was for him.
After struggling to gain control of his thirst for a little more than half a century, he'd decided it might be more of a mental game. Studying philosophy gave him the opportunity to take a look at morals, his own and those of his human counterparts. He'd discovered that they aren't that different despite the difference of 150+ years of experience he had on some of his classmates. He actually thought his last year at Cornell had served him well. Acting alone as a student gave him more practice blending in and without the thirst of the others amplifying his own, it was almost easy to sit in class. Almost.
Jasper sighed. He loved his sister and sometimes felt they were as close as real twins but he couldn't do this right now. They hadn't had any new information in months and the family was at a stalemate. Nobody wanted to risk coming back too soon. So instead, he told his version of the truth, "Listen Rose, I can't do this right now. I have class." he glanced up at the clock tower he was passing 10 minutes until class. "I will let you know if Alice calls me but you know how deep she is in her past... I don't…" he hesitated. He didn't want to reintroduce this possibility but he had to. "I don't think we'll have the same normal after this."
She sighed too and he could tell she would have sobbed if she could have. "Yeah, Jazz" she whispered.
He wasn't used to her acting so helpless. It unnerved him. She was much like him. She liked to be in control of situations even if it was a hands off approach. She needed to know that those she cared about were safe. Which meant the current status of their family could only be hurting her. If she was heartbroken and tearing herself apart based on the current climate of their family, what did that say about him. Was it selfish to continue to play a college student while the rest of his family mourned?
His heart broke for Rose, just like it broke every time he watched Esme flit around the new house, but his life had been turned upside down too. Between all of his siblings leaving and his wife deciding now would be a better time to examine her past, than help him cope with the nightmare situation he was single handedly the cause of, he couldn't spare the emotional energy.
He could hear the shuffling movement in the background of the phone call and it was like Emmett was standing next to him when he chimed in, "You know Jazz, you can always come with us." He could tell Emmett was grinning.
Jasper chuckled knowing what a trip like that would entail, and could hear a bit of his long-hidden drawl slip into his amused tone, "Thanks Em but I think I'll stick around for Esme. Wouldn't want to interrupt any interludes you two had planned."He could have traveled with them any time while paired but in his single state a mated pair with their high intensity emotions would've been unbearable.
He needed to get a move on if he wanted to be on time and not show his 9 o'clock class just how abnormal he was. So he conceded, "I will let you both know if I hear from Alice. Take care and come back soon ok?" They murmured and begrudgingly agreed but said their goodbyes and let him off to class.
Flipping his phone closed, Jasper continued ahead into the throng of students in front of him. It had been an unseasonably rainy September for Ithaca and he was starting to enjoy it. Alice had foreseen an overcast semester before she left for Biloxi and Jasper had taken the risk to sign up for day classes instead of banking on late semester adds and night classes. He had a plethora of options open to him with only having to worry about the occasional sunny day. Being able to walk out in the open with thousands of other students milling about, let him feel almost normal. Like he could forget the event that wreaked havoc on his family and made this mess their new normal. Instead of dwelling on the disaster that happened nearly a year ago now, he let himself pretend that he could be normal.
He stepped over puddles lining the sidewalk and dogged the students heading the other way with the best of them. The air was damp and heavy emotions tinged with caffeine hung around the corner of the library cafe like a cloud. There was an intense air of focus that clung to the humans around him as they zoomed in and out of the Olin Library. Each step Jasper took towards the quad submerged him into the persona of a college kid. Surrounded by hormones, stress, and the ups and downs of college life, it was easy for Jasper to forget.
Yet, as he walked into the Arts and Sciences quad he detected a scent that raised the hairs on his arms and sent his senses into overdrive. It was so familiar that it conjured the image of Forks and if he closed his eyes it wouldn't be so hard to believe he was actually there. He sniffed the breeze and caught the deep undertones of honey and blood like wine. His mouth watered when he caught the aromatics of freesia. It was the tantalizing aroma of Isabella Swan, lingering in the air as though she were there with him. Perhaps forgetting about the incident wasn't entirely within his reach yet because the scent glittered dangerously in his senses, the way her blood always had, though he was pleased to notice it was muted without Edward there.
He shook off his daze, bounding up the steps of his lecture hall. That couldn't have been real. He gazed out over the quad, scanning every brunette he could see within the quarter mile. He was on the other side of the country attending a college she had never spoken of before, that his family had never mentioned. It had to have been a strong connection to a memory that made him smell her as though she'd been there. He glanced around one more time before finally entering the building. He needed to find a way to distract himself fast. Lest his musings actually summon the Swan girl to the East coast.