AN: Sorry for the late upload guys, we had a very busy week and as such our schedule was thrown off, Courtney will be starting Uni again soon so there may be times when it becomes necessary to adjust our uploading schedule to once every other week. education must come first but don't fret! we will bother each other into keeping steady progress on the fic and uploading as regularly as we can, this chapter is a bit of a dozy, so get comfy, and as always, let us know your thoughts! Blessed be!

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Chapter 7

Don't Make Me Bite You

Alice's POV

January 25th - Saturday

"I'm not going." I flopped face-first onto Bella's bed with a huff. "I don't care if we have to spell the whole damn school. I am not spending ten hours with that asshole."

"Like hell, you aren't," Charlie remarked amusedly, appearing in the doorway with an armful of laundry. "You nearly put the kid through a wall, Allie."

"He definitely deserved it, Dad," Rosalie murmured from where she was half asleep on Bella's pillows (the sun hadn't even risen yet and Rosalie Swan was not a morning person).

"I'm sure he did," he replied as he handed Bella her clean laundry. "But these things have consequences. And taking responsibility for your actions is part of growing up."

I sat up with a pout and widened my eyes, making them mist with tears. "But what if Jasper yells at me again?"

"Then you throw him into another wall," Charlie replied, ruffling my hair, before smiling at me softly. "How about I escort you in and threaten him a little? Would that make you feel better?"

I giggled at the imagery and the indignation Jasper was bound to feel—nothing would make me happier. "Yes, Dad."

I heaved myself off the bed—five minutes of sleep sounded amazing right now; I hadn't gotten any last night—and followed Charlie downstairs. I waved goodbye to Bella (Rose was already asleep again—I wanted to join her so bad) and joined Charlie in the cruiser. The drive was silent, but as we pulled up to the school, he turned to me, serious. "Now, I don't know what happened between you two yesterday," he held up a hand when I went to interject, "and I'm not going to push, but it's a small town and word gets around." His jaw clenched. "But what I did hear, among other things, was that Jasper Cullen threatened you and your sisters."

He looked at me, eyes narrow and furious. "I'm not going to ask if that's true, but if anyone does anything like that again, you make sure they regret it, you hear me?"

I looked at him, contemplating. Charlie hadn't been around much when we were children. I had no memories of him from before the divorce and I could count on one hand how many times Renee had let us visit for the summer.

All in all, before moving here, the only 'memories' I really had of Charlie as our father had come from visions of the future. Those visions had been half my reason for convincing my sisters to move here. I knew he loved us unconditionally, even if I didn't have the memories to prove it. Even if he'd barely gotten a handful of years with us, I knew Charlie loved us—or at least who he thought we were. I wasn't sure how'd he ever react if he ever found out the truth about us, but I knew—for now—he cared for us more than any other 'parent' we'd had in our lives.

Except maybe I'd misjudged him. He was the Chief of Police and yet here he was telling me to kill anyone who so much as threatened us. Maybe he really did know the true us better than I'd given him credit for.

I dipped my head with a smile. "I'll make sure to bury them where no one will find them."

Charlie looked away. "As Chief of Police, I didn't hear that." He looked back at me with a slight smile. "But as your father…I keep the shovels in the shed."

I laughed as we got out. Maybe we'll have an actual father this life—that'd be nice.

I gave him a side hug as we walked towards the front door. "Thanks, Dad," I murmured. "Your support means more than you'll ever know."

He pulled me in closer and kissed the top of my head. "It's what dads do, kiddo."

Not all fathers, I thought bitterly. You'd be our first.

~Scene~

Coach Clapp and Jasper Cullen were waiting in the entrance as we walked up.

"Eric." Charlie nodded to Coach who nodded back, clutching a cup of coffee that I eyed with envy. "Cullen," Charlie scowled.

"You headin' into work?" Coach asked drowsily.

Charlie nodded. "Yep, just dropping my daughter off before I start my day as the Chief of Police." He said this last part at Jasper with narrowed eyes.

Coach hid his snort behind his coffee, but I didn't bother to hide my grin as I made eye contact with Jasper. That's right, cowboy. This is the man who'll be looking into your 'disappearance', and you've already pissed him off.

Charlie turned back to me with a soft smile as he patted my shoulder. "Don't have too much fun, kiddo."

After he'd left, Coach started leading us through the school. "You two were supposed to be paired off with the cleaners today, but last night someone broke in and vandalised the gym walls." He sighed like he wanted to be anywhere but here. "So you have ten hours to clean it off. And I get to watch you—yay."

"Did you seriously get your father to come in and threaten me?" Jasper growled softly as we followed Coach to the janitor's closet, far enough away that Coach couldn't hear us.

I glanced at him. "Didn't have to. It's a small town—word gets around. He volunteered." I grinned. "I am his favourite after all."

~Scene~

"You are infuriating," Jasper seethed as I came back with another bucket of water that I contemplated tipping over his insufferable head. But I knew I'd be the one who'd have to clean it up, so I held back—barely.

"Oh no!" I pouted at him. "You're breaking my heart!" I dropped the bucket, hard enough to splash him, and smirked when he snarled at me. "Rot in purgatory."

"You're the reason we're here," he spat as he shook off some of the water. "If you'd just fixed Carlisle, we wouldn't be here!"

"Oh right, cause it's my fault your moody ass can't take no for an answer," I snapped. "I already told you—it's not going to stop until he's felt all of it!"

We'd been here for seven hours already and after the first minute, I'd wanted to rip his insufferable hair out. We'd had this conversation five times since sunrise and I was starting to think he had brain damage. The first conversation had been draining enough, but by the fifth, I was exhausted enough that using all my remaining magic to blast him into the next universe—audience be damned—sounded like bliss.

"What the hell does it even matter to you anyway?" I dumped the scrubbing brush in the water before smacking it into the wall (making sure to splash water at him along the way).

We'd been scrubbing at this section of the wall for half an hour and I wanted to chop my arm off—just for a break. As amusing as the sight had been when we'd walked in, staring at the same thing for seven hours was enough to make anyone crazy.

The most entertainment I'd had since sunrise had been when Jasper had tripped me into a bucket of dirty water. I had of course thrown the whole thing at his head, but Coach had had to split us up after that.

It was only after an hour of stifled silence, Jasper had eventually convinced Coach that we needed to "work our feelings out together". I had gagged and told him to rot in hades, but Coach had thought it was a good idea. So here we were again, a metre apart and verbally killing each other (because as long as it wasn't physical Coach was happy).

"Because I can feel everything he feels! And I can't do a damn thing about it!" he snapped, tossing his sponge down.

"Then just leave." I glared at my section of the wall that hadn't gotten any cleaner. "Just walk away! This has nothing to do with you."

"I am not going to abandon the man who saved my life," Jasper growled. "Particularly when the enemy will just swoop in and kill him the moment I'm gone."

"Hekate help me from your ego! You're not the only obstacle in our way, you moron!" I sent a dart of magic at his sponge, making it crumble in his hand. I ignored the wave of dizziness that small feat sent through me (I'm more exhausted than I'd thought). I thought back on his words and frowned. "Is that really what you think we want? To come after him like he came after us? To kill him?"

He narrowed his eyes at me. "You've made it perfectly clear that's always been your goal."

"No." I scoffed. "What good would killing him do? We want him to realise the hell he put us through. Not take the easy way out. He deserves to feel every second of what he did to us—and he deserves to suffer for it."

I was starting to sound like a broken record. I had said these exact words so many times over the last few days that I could have said them in my sleep—if I ever got to sleep. Maybe if I force Jasper through the pain of it it'll finally get through his thick skull. I mused. I'm sure Bella knows of a spell to make someone relieve your worst memories.

I was glad when Coach chose that minute to get up from his seat to go look for a snack, leaving with a passing comment over his shoulder about us behaving, because if Jasper kept going along this path, I was going to throttle him. Even if I had already used up most of my magic and was exhausted beyond belief, nothing was going to stop me from ending this madness.

"He already feels all of that! He felt it before your curse kicked in!" Jasper said, exasperated and irritated. "He doesn't need to spend every waking minute feeling more of it!"

"Yes he does!" I exploded. "We don't want to be an afterthought every few centuries when he feels a twinge of remorse for something he half remembers! We want him to never forget what he did to us because we can never forget!" I thrust my hands through my hair, exhaustion wearing me thin. "I haven't had a full night's sleep since I was three because every time I close my eyes I feel like I'm burning again! Rose doesn't trust anyone because she blames herself for our deaths! And Bella is constantly paranoid about losing us again that she barely lets us out of her sight!"

I was shaking and as I pressed my hand to my face I could feel the pressure of frustrated tears building. I forced them back—there was no way in hell I was crying in front of my enemy—and stood up straight, glaring at Jasper with every fibre in my body. "We want him to feel everything he did to us, and we want to make sure he never forgets how much it hurt."

Jasper started to argue but I pointed a shaking finger at him, snarling. "No! You don't get to tell me he already feels it! If he'd been feeling it the curse would have never kicked in! Right now he is feeling 335 years worth of pain and remorse because he hasn't felt it before. Whatever shadow he felt before was nothing compared to what he should have been feeling from the start. And it's not going to stop until he's felt all of it.

Exhaustion slammed into me and I whispered, "It all ends when the debt is paid."

"And if he dies?" Jasper narrowed his eyes.

I turned away, heading for anywhere but here. "So be it."

The moment I was out of the gym I collapsed against the wall, trembling. I hadn't slept since Thursday afternoon when I'd caught a few hours before dinner, and I hadn't eaten anything since my coffee this morning. That combined with my dangerously low levels of magic and the stress of everything—I knew I was about to pass out.

No. I pushed myself off the wall. I took a deep breath and headed for the water fountain. I couldn't pass out—not here, not where the only person to find me was someone who wanted me dead. I only had three more hours—I could get through this and pass out when I got home.

~Scene~

"Alright—go home," Coach said finally, slumped in his chair. "I'll tell Principal Greene you stayed for the full thing. I need a beer."

I glanced up from where I was leaning against the wall focusing on my breathing. We still had an hour left, but if Coach was willing to let us out early, I wasn't going to look a gift horse in the mouth. I'd stolen a muesli bar from Coach's bag an hour ago, but that was rapidly wearing off. Especially since I'd used magic to steal it. I barely had enough magic right now to annoy Jasper, let alone keep me upright.

I headed towards my locker and grabbed my phone, only to groan, my head dropping against the metal when I realised it was dead. "Why today of all days?"

"Do you need a lift?" Jasper's voice was wary but polite.

I didn't even bother to look at him as I grabbed my stuff and headed for the door. "I would rather walk home through a snowstorm than spend another second with you."

He growled in frustration, stalking after me. "Will you stop being so damn stubborn? It's one trip! Not even five minutes!"

I flipped him the finger over my shoulder and let the door slam into him as he came after me.

"You look like you're about to pass out!" he called out. "Will you just get in the damn car?"

I could feel him inches behind me as I spun around at the top of the stairs—ignoring the way my stomach dropped at the motion—and slapped my hand against his chest, forcing him to stop. "I will say this once," I growled, drawing on the last of my magic. "Fuck off." And pushed.

Except he didn't move—I did. The world swayed around me and I grabbed out for the stair railing as the corners of my vision flickered black. And all I could focus on was the sudden panic and confusion on Jasper's face.

Crap. I'm going to pass out.

Hard hands were suddenly cupping my elbows and I latched onto them desperately. I did not want to fall down the stairs as well.

"Alice? Alice! What's going on?"

"Is everything alright?" Coach's voice filtered through, but all I could focus on was a rip in Jasper's collar. Because if I focused on how shit I felt, I knew I'd be gone in a second.

Don't pass out. Don't pass out.

"I don't know." There was an element of panic to Jasper's voice and I wondered idly what he could be possibly worried about—maybe he doesn't want any audience for when he kills me. "I need to get her to the hospital. She doesn't look good."

Oh hades no. Not on your nelly, mister. "No hospitals," I ground out, clutching onto Jasper's sleeve so I wouldn't fall over. "No hospitals."

If they took me to the hospital, then Charlie would find out and he'd tell Bella and she would just freak out. And that was the last thing I needed right now. Bella had enough on her plate without worrying about me too. It was my fault I hadn't been paying attention to my magic last night—I should have seen how low it was. But if Bella found out, she was going to blame it all on herself, and I wouldn't have that.

"Fine but I'm calling the Chief." Coach pulled out his phone.

"No!" I looked up to glare at him, only to collapse into Jasper as my vision went almost entirely black. "No," I whispered. "Please. I just need to lie down for a minute."

I could tell they wanted to argue, but I also knew I looked pathetic enough, desperately clutching Jasper's sleeve to keep upright, that they wouldn't.

"Fine," Jasper said eventually, pulling me closer. "I'm taking you to the nurse's office then."

Yes, that's fine. I dropped my head against his shoulder with a groan. "Just give me a minute."

"I'm going to carry you there." Jasper's voice brooked no arguments but I didn't have the energy to care. "Focus on your breathing."

He lifted me, slowly, gently into his arms and I pressed my face into the crook of his neck to keep from passing out or throwing up. He took off for the office quickly, following Coach with the keys, and I squeezed my eyes shut to keep from throwing up at the movement. He only just walked through the door when I was pushing away and reaching for the nearest bin to empty my already empty stomach.

Jasper held my hair back as I dry retched into the bin. I pressed my head against the cool cabinets and moaned at the state of myself. I was certain the only reason Jasper hadn't taken advantage of all this and killed me was because Coach was hovering behind him. The moment Coach stepped away, I was certain I'd be dead—he'd already made it perfectly clear he had plans in place to avoid the treaty.

Jasper gathered me gently in his arms—like that'll fool me, cowboy—and carried me over to the stretcher, laying me down. He tucked a pillow under my legs, elevating them, before bustling around the office looking for something.

"I guess having a doctor for a dad comes in handy," Coach leaned against the door, content to watch Jasper do everything—as long as he didn't leave, I was fine (I have no intentions of dying today). "Well, I'll leave you to it. I'll see if I can snag some snacks from the caf for you," he said to me before turning around.

Seriously? You're going to leave me alone with him? Less than twenty-four hours ago we were trying to kill each other! What kind of responsible adult are you?!

"Why are you doing this?" I asked the moment Coach was out of the room. I knew I didn't have long before Jasper attacked, but I had to try and delay the inevitable somehow. If only I hadn't used up all my magic with petty tricks to annoy him today—then I wouldn't be so damn helpless. "Why are you helping me?"

He turned back, a sad, pitying look on his face that made me want to throw something at his stupid head. "Contrary to popular opinion, I'm not a monster. Even I wouldn't leave someone to pass out on the school steps."

"So—what? This is just some attempt at playing on our sympathies?" I glared at him, turning my head slightly. Bella had warned me about this; Edward had already tried it on her—it had only been a matter of time before Jasper tried it too.

"Who hurt you all so badly that you can't trust anyone?" He murmured so quietly I wasn't sure I was meant to hear it.

Do you want me to write you a fucking list? Who hasn't?

"Excuse me? Who the fuck do you think?" I went to sit up, but he was there instantly, holding my shoulders down.

"Don't move," he warned softly. He removed his hands when I lay back, closing my eyes against the wave of dizziness that rolled through me. He sighed. "I'm not doing this to blackmail you or make you think I'm something I'm not." He dropped to a crouch beside me and murmured. "I just want to help—I don't like seeing you like this."

I had to look away. I clenched my jaw against the well of pain and exhaustion his words brought up. A part of me just wanted to accept his words at face value and curl up in his supposed safety, but the bigger part, the smarter part of me knew I couldn't. As much as a part of me ached to let all of this go and just sleep, I knew it wasn't possible. Jasper might have been unnerved seeing me like this, but there was no way he actually cared.

So many people in our lives had pretended to care, only to turn around and tear our hearts out when they were done: Victor, Royce, Eliza—there was no way in hades I was going to let Jasper be another name on that list.

I cleared my throat. "Yeah, well all I need is a decent night's rest and I'll be back to kicking your ass."

He huffed a laugh. "I'd expect nothing less." He stood up, handing me a packet of cookies and a gatorade he'd swiped from somewhere. "Take these—then I'll take you home."

"Like hell you will." I frowned at his back, shoving down the absurd feeling that swelled at his actions—he might not have actually cared, but he sure as hell could pretend like he did.

"It's either that or the hospital." His back was turned, but I could tell the asshole was raising an eyebrow at me.

Traitor. "Fine. 'There's no place like home', right?" I mocked sweetly, downing the bottle and screwing my face up at the taste.

He snorted. "Good call." I threw the empty bottle at his head, only wincing slightly at the small wave of dizziness that brought.

"You're heading home?" Coach asked, suddenly materialising in the doorway and grinning like he'd won a prize. "Excellent. I've already called the Chief so he should be there when you get home." He shrugged at my betrayed look. "Hey, I never promised not to call. Your boyfriend's still the one actually taking you home—blame him."

Before I could explain the thousand and one ways Jasper Cullen was not my boyfriend, Coach left with a cheery wave. "Lock the door on your way out!"

~Scene~

"What the fuck did you do to her?" The magic in the air was thick and heavy as Bella stormed down the steps to where Jasper was helping me out of the car. "Get your slimy-ass hands off my sister, you neolithic asswipe."

"I'm fine, Bella," I said, reaching for her and sighing when her arms were wrapped around me. "Just a little tired is all."

"She nearly passed out when Coach let us out early," Jasper explained warily in the face of my sister's fury, even more so when Charlie's cruiser pulled up with a screech and he hurried over. "I had her lie down and eat something before I brought her home. I don't think she's eaten all day."

"Alice?" Charlie rushed over. "Eric Clapp said you'd passed out on top of the stairs!"

Sweet Circe—and they say I'm bad with news. I shook my head gingerly. "No, I just got a little dizzy, nothing that bad." Charlie pulled me into his arms and I felt like just falling asleep there. "I'm fine, Dad."

He rushed me inside like I was about to pass out then and there—"Really, I'm fine, Dad."—and as I walked away, I could hear Bella snarl at Jasper. "Thank you for bringing her home—she's experiencing magic exhaustion—but I suggest you fuck back off to your evil castle before I send you back in pieces."

And with that, the door slammed behind us.

January 26th - Sunday

I leaned against the wall waiting for Jasper and Coach to show up. I was a few minutes early and I was relishing the peace of it all. I had gotten a full five hours sleep last night—not consecutively, of course, but it was more than I'd gotten in years—and Charlie and my sisters had watched me like hawks as I ate breakfast this morning. And then Bella and Rose had practically buried me in magic replenishment crystals and runes last night. So all in all I was feeling more refreshed than I had in years.

We'd worked out that my 'pre-faint' had been a combination of using all my damn magic, living off coffee and no sleep for too long, and all the stress of the last week.

I took another sip from my coffee as Jasper's black dodger pulled in and I wondered idly if we were due for another screaming match. Yesterday had ended on a sweeter note, but I'd been one argument away from passing out, and Jasper didn't strike me as the kind who would argue with an unconscious body.

I was grateful though. He could have easily done a lot of things and I wouldn't have been able to do so much as complain—I still didn't know why he hadn't, but he'd stayed by my side for every minute of it. I laughed humourlessly. If he were anyone else, he'd be someone I could consider a friend.

But— I thought as he got out of his car and headed towards me, he's not. He's part of the reason this is all dragging on longer than it needs to. And unless he decides to disappear into the night, there is no way this will end on a good note.

"You look better today," Jasper murmured, handing me a brown paper bag.

"And you look worse," I replied, eyeing him. I didn't know if it was possible for vampires to look exhausted, but he looked worse than I felt. I glanced into the bag he'd given me curiously and huffed a laugh. "Really? A muffin? Between you, my sisters and Charlie I'm going to start expecting to be waited on hand and foot."

"Anything to make sure there's not a repeat of yesterday," he murmured, frowning. "I thought your heart was going to stop."

I blinked, blindsided. I had fully expected a rematch from Friday's fight, even another blow up like yesterday, but this was just weird. Jasper was looking at me like he was actually worried, and that unnerved me more than any screaming match could.

"Why do you look so terrible?" I changed the subject to keep away from the strange feeling I felt brewing under his stare. "If you were human I'd think you'd caught a cold or something."

He looked away—finally!—and sighed. "It's Carlisle," he whispered and I tensed. "It got worse last night—I don't know how much more we can take." The last part was so low I almost didn't hear it.

"Jasper—"

He shook his head. "I know you can't stop it, but I…I have to ask. Is there anything we can do? Please?" He looked back at me and I was worried he was about to get down on his knees and beg. "I will do anything—anything you want, just please, please—we can't lose him."

"I'm sorry." And I was. I wasn't as heartless as the Cullens seemed to think—none of us were. When we'd laid the curse, we hadn't expected it to hurt anyone else—we hadn't expected there to be anyone else. But there wasn't anything we could do. It was divine-given, and nothing was going to stop it. It was like that kid's story: 'You can't go over it; you can't go around it—you'll have to go through it'.

But even if we could stop it, we wouldn't. Just because they were in pain didn't mean ours meant nothing. We deserved to pay every bit of it back, regardless of who was caught in the crossfire. And as much as seeing Jasper in pain tugged at my heartstrings, as much as I wanted to ease his pain, nothing on their earth was going to stop Carlisle from experiencing the full weight of what he'd done—collateral damage or not.

"I'm not asking you to drop your revenge or to forgive him—God knows you shouldn't—but I don't know how much more any of us can take. This curse might just ruin us all." Jasper looked at his wit's end and I felt sorry for him. I knew what it was like to feel that level of utter powerlessness in the face of a loved one's suffering.

I clutched the paper bag tighter to stop myself from doing anything stupid like reach out and hold him.

"I'm sorry, Jasper—I really am. It wasn't our intention to hurt the rest of you, but that curse was laid over three hundred years ago. Nothing can stop it until it's over." I looked at him sadly. "It's a divine-given curse. He has to push through it, or die trying."

January 27th - Monday

"I take it the curse is still working?"

Jasper looked up from where he was frowning at the desk and I already knew my answer. There were rings under his eyes and he looked worse than he had yesterday.

I nodded. "I thought so. I brought something that might help ease the pain." I shook my head when his eyes lit up with hope. "Just yours. Carlisle's is divine-given. Nothing can stop that."

He looked back at the desk, his voice gravelly with disuse as he said, "I'm fine. You don't need to do anything."

"Please?" He looked up as I sat on his desk. "I want to help."

He stared at me a moment before nodding. I brushed his hair to the side and leaned forward, pressing my lips to his forehead. He started, his hands coming up to rest on my knees as I willed my magic through him. It was an enchantment Bella had always used on us when we were kids—and I could only hope it would work on Jasper too.

I had found the instructions for this enchantment on my dresser this morning, and knew I had Bella's support in whatever this was.

"We didn't mean for it to affect you too," I whispered, pulling away, my hands lingering on his cheeks before dropping to my lap. "It was only meant to settle Carlisle's debt."

"Thank you, darlin'," he murmured, eyes soft as he smiled and took my hand in his. He pressed a gentle kiss to the back of my hand—effectively stopping my heart—and closed his eyes. "It means a lot."

"Glad I could help," I whispered.

He reached blindly into his bag with his free hand and pulled a small plastic jar of melatonin that he handed over to me. "I read last night that this helps humans fall asleep easier," he murmured, still holding my hand. "You said you don't sleep well…"

He shrugged, almost bashful—oh—and I couldn't bear to tell him I'd already tried it (I'd already tried everything—sleep was easy, it was the nightmares that were hard). He looked so hopeful as he looked up at me that I couldn't bear to wipe it away, so I put the jar down and cupped his cheeks.

I pressed another soft, entirely unnecessary kiss to his forehead. "Thank you, Jazz," I murmured against his skin.

His hands curled gently around my waist, keeping me firmly against him and I couldn't find it in me to pull away. "Anytime, darlin'."

"So there's a lot of rumours going around about the six of us," Jasper said, eyeing the table of teenagers a few metres away, clearly talking about us.

Which was fair, considering the last thing these students had seen had been me throwing Jasper against a wall, and now here we were having lunch and his hand was on my knee. His thumb was absentmindedly stroking maddening circles on the inside of my knee and I was certain I was about to combust.

I snorted, taking a bite of my apple to distract me from his fingers. "Yeah, I know Bella started at least three. She and Emmett have a bet going on to see who can make the craziest, most believable one."

He chuckled, and I ignored the swirling in my stomach that followed. I put down my apple—must have been a bad one—and turned to Jasper with a coy smile. "You know, one of the rumours is that Edward is madly in love with Bella." I held out an invisible microphone. "I'm here today with Jasper Cullen himself—can we get confirmation on Eddie's feelings from a direct source?"

He just grinned and leaned forward. "No comment."

I shook my head with a laugh and I pulled out my biology homework, closing my eyes briefly as his thumb made another round.

"So," he said after a minute, and I knew by the grin in his voice I wasn't going to like whatever he'd say next. I focused harder on my homework. "There are rumours that say you're in love with me."

"Don't make me bite you," I said absentmindedly, flipping to the right page, before my brain finally caught up with my mouth and I realised what I'd just said. I closed my eyes. "Sweet Circe."

His laugh was loud and clear, and I couldn't help the tingle that ran through me at how nice it was. I found myself wanting to hear it more often.

I pointed my pen at him as he grinned. "Shush you."

He gave me a mock bow, still grinning and I threw my pencil at him. His laugh bounced around the room and my heart, and I rolled my eyes, not bothering to hide my smile.

January 28th - Tuesday

I quickly finished dressing as I glanced at the clock. Jasper and I had only gotten out of detention a little less than an hour ago. It was now nearing six and the shops unfortunately closed at half past. Regardless, I was determined to do some grocery shopping today—we were getting dangerously low on some bare essentials as well as some of the ingredients for Rosalie's preferred dishes.

I mentally made a list of everything I'd need to pick up to fully stock the fridge. Until now Rose and Bella had simply been making do with quick weekend trips to get just enough food for the week. I rushed downstairs grabbing the keys off the hook near the door,

Stepping outside, I stared blankly at the scene before me. Rosalie was under the hood of the car messing with something—Hecate knows what—and had a very large part of the car lying on the pavement next to her. I knew nothing about cars—but that piece looked way too big and important to be able to operate the car without it.

"Please tell me that's not something important," I groaned.

Rose looked up with an unapologetic smirk on her face. "It's the battery, so yeah it's kind of important."

I groaned again and ran my fingers through my hair. "Seriously? You have to do this now? I need to do grocery shopping. We are running out of everything."

Rosalie looked up again from her work with another smirk. "I know that—that's why I took the liberty of calling your cowboy for you. He's coming by to give you a ride—and by ride I mean in his car," she whispered conspiratorially.

There was no way in hades I was letting her get away with that comment. I smacked her lazily as I made a show of examining my nails and picked at non-existent imperfections, before looking up at her through my lashes.

I deliberately waited until she was fully under the hood again before opening my mouth. "Well, one ride could easily lead to another," I commented casually, not bothering to hide my amusement when the shock of my words caused Rose to hit her head violently against the underside of the hood.

Before she could answer Jasper pulled up to our driveway and leaned on the horn. I flipped him the bird as I shot a grin at Rosalie and headed towards the passenger side of his car. With one last look towards the house I could see Bella pretending to act like she didn't know perfectly well we could see her dramatically peeking through the curtains and flinging them shut once again every few seconds. Sometimes I wondered if she wasn't the one who belongs in an asylum.

Jasper chuckled, seemingly amused by my sister's antics as he pulled away from our house. "I hope you don't mind, but we're going to have to go a bit further than you originally planned—the shops here close in a little under a half an hour, but the ones in Port Angeles are open longer. You'll actually have a chance to get everything you need," he said, smirking at me.

I wanted to simultaneously slap the smirk off his face, and demand he stay exactly in that pose for a few hours so I can draw him with that damned delightful smirk. As if I was going to let him get away with that.

"Admit it—you missed me," I said as I rolled my eyes.

The smirk turned into a full-on grin. "Oh, I think you're mistaken, ma'am. I was sent here on an information gathering operation. My orders are to not return home until I have sufficient."

"Well I suppose it's only fair." I cocked my head. "Though as a general rule I don't particularly like to play fair. But since I've been asking you so many questions lately I'll generously allow you a turn," I said cheerfully.

He snorted. "Thank you kindly, ma'am. Let's see." He thought about it for a minute. "Why don't you three go by your original names? It's not unheard of for people to prefer using they're middle names."

I thought about it for a moment before I answered. "We considered it once, when we were younger and had just gotten our memories back, but it didn't feel right. And it was too painful for Bella. She tried to hide it but every time we called one another by our original names she'd wince or get this strange look." I shrugged. "We never asked her about it, but after that it was basically an unspoken agreement to only use our new names."

Jasper seemed thoughtful for a moment before he nodded and started on the next question.

~Scene~

I continued to browse through the spices, occasionally picking out things with Jasper beside me. He was pushing the cart and looking dubiously at everything I picked up.

"Stop looking at everything like it offends you! People are going to think you survive on grub alone," I admonished. This wasn't so bad—if he stood quiet and followed my instructions—he was actually quite nice to be around.

"Why can't you just get the canned stuff and be done with it?" he complained.

I shot him a glare over my shoulder and continued walking. "I'm going to pretend you didn't just say that," I huffed

I looked through the vegetables picking up some of our favourites: potatoes, carrots, broccoli. I also made a mental note to stop by the sauces; Charlie might just eat it if it's covered in enough gravy, I mused.

At that moment one of the stupid humans we went to school with came around the corner with some other girls. Really, they looked as if they shared a brain cell between the lot of them. Two were holding baskets with granola bars, chips and alcohol—I snorted, there's no way they're getting that passed the cashier. The girl—Lauren maybe?—looked up at the sound and her face immediately soured.

"Oh look, it's the baby freak," she sneered. "Pity mommy Bella isn't here to hold her hand as she usually does."

My face immediately clouded over at the sharp pain that word sent through me. "I'm sorry, do I know you?" I blinked like I'd just remembered her. "Oh, never mind, I recognise you now. You look completely different when you're standing on the curb with barely any clothes on," I said innocently and her face reddened in anger but I wasn't finished yet. "Is it still two dollars a pop or have your prices gone down again?"

I spun away, barely holding my tongue from giving her the lashing she truly deserved. It wasn't the first time someone had tried insulting us by calling Bella our mother, but it still made me furious every time. Bella had done everything for us—she was a far better mother than anyone had ever been for us.

It was only when we were three aisles away that I allowed the furious blush to come to my cheeks. I felt Jasper's hand on my lower back as I struggled with my anger. I knew he could feel my pain, but I could only hope he also felt my desire not to talk about it

~Scene~

I put my stuff down at our table in the ice cream parlour. "Be right back—bathroom break," I called out, heading for the back.

I splashed my face with cold water, allowing myself the moment to finally breathe. After the 'moment' with Lauren, we'd continued shopping, flirting mindlessly, like Jasper had known I'd needed a distraction.

And then without even asking, Jasper had stopped along the way home, intending to get me a pick-me-up in the form of ice cream. He was clearly a man after my own heart if he already knew my love of ice cream.

I took another breather, before straightening and heading back out. Jasper was sitting where I'd left him, but a strawberry cheesecake sundae—my favourite flavour (how did he know?)—had appeared in front of him. And while I didn't squeal, I did quickly snatch it up the moment I sat down.

I frowned slightly when I noticed my phone on the table—I could have sworn I had left it in my bag—but I shrugged and happily turned back to the pure bliss in my hands.

"You are the best," I exclaimed around the mouthful of ice cream, half talking to Jasper and half talking to my sundae.

Jasper smiled lazily at me. "Thanks, darlin'. I'll be happy to get you ice cream any time," he said sincerely and I blushed brightly; Oh, the ice cream might not be the only thing here that's melting.

January 29th - Wednesday

I looked around at the other mortals in the room—Bella seemed entirely too pleased with herself, and none of the Cullen boys seemed particularly distressed; so that just left some clueless mortal as her victim. My eyes landed on Lauren a few rows over. She was wearing a ridiculous wool hat over her head—not one tuft of hair poking through— andher eyes were downcast; red and swollen, like she had been crying all night.

Good.

I turned back to our group—we had broken up into "households" and were meant to work out a budget with a randomly assigned income. We had drawn a seriously low budget, considering we had decided to be a household of six; however, Bella was expertly divvying up funds and practically doing the entire project herself. The boys were both scared and in complete awe at her skills.

Looking at Jasper I could feel the satisfaction rolling off him as he glanced at Lauren every few seconds. Putting two and two together I narrow my eyes at them playfully. "Pardon me, Jazzy" I said in an overly sweet tone. "You didn't happen to say anything to Bella about the shopping incident, did you?"

He shook his head quickly. "I didn't say a word, darlin'."

At that moment Bella looked up and stared directly at Lauren, eyes flashing violet. Before anyone could blink a sudden gust of wind from the air vent hit Lauren directly in the face, knocking off her wool hat and revealing her vomit green hair that looked like someone had taken thinning shears to them. Either that or she'd tangled with a lawnmower and a can of spray paint.

I snorted and Bella smiled in satisfaction before looking at me. "He didn't say a damned thing," she stated proudly. I didn't believe her for a second.

I smiled warmly at them. "You're both incorrigible." I said in fond exasperation.

"Thank you, darlin'." Jasper's voice was low and caressing as he rested his arm along the back of my chair, his fingers drawing maddening circles along my skin. "Now Bella, how the hell are you managing to feed all six of us with only a hundred dollars a month as a budget?"

"Easy: watch and learn."

January 30th - Thursday

By now I was unsurprised to see Jasper leaning casually against my locker; it had become a routine of sorts. In the morning before first period he would always wait for me by my locker. I shoved down the usual flutter I got whenever he was nearby—silly nerves, probably—and smirked at him. Unfortunately he seemed rather serious today.

"Why the grim face, Cowboy?" I asked teasingly. He rolled his eyes, and while his features softened, the serious expression didn't leave his face. "What, just spit it out already?" I asked impatiently.

"I need to warn you, there are signs of vampires in the area. Particularly Port Angeles," his eyes didn't leave me as I shooed him off my locker.

"Remember, the treaty is only a deterrent to those who care, and know about it. Newborn vampires, for example, are a risk. And there's no definitive proof that the ones in the area are mature," he cautioned.

I rolled my eyes, as if dismissing the thought that any vampire could hold their own against us, but made note to warn my sisters. This could be a serious threat. We were already dealing with five vampires—we didn't need anymore.

Not that I showed any concern to him. It was something Bella had drilled into us; always better to keep your opponents off balance and constantly underestimating you.

"Can you please take this seriously? You and your sisters may be powerful, but you can still get hurt," he said, exasperation evident in his voice as he trailed his maddening fingers up and down my arm. "Especially if you're low on magic."

"Saturday was an accident, Jazz—we're not normally that careless with our levels." I grabbed my books and closed my locker.

He was right of course, but to hades if I was going to tell him that. Another thing Bella had always taught us; never tell a man he's right. It'll go right to his head and you'll be the sorry ass that'll have to deflate his ego.

I opened my mouth to tease him about being worried about us, but Emmett chose that moment to materialise beside me. He wrapped his arm casually around my shoulder grinning like the cat that got the cream. "Don't worry, Tinkerbell. I'll protect you," he said in an overly flirty tone.

Oh, it was obvious he was just trying to rile Jazz up, and, like the idiot he was, Jasper was falling for it hook, line and sinker. I rolled my eyes at Emmett's antics. Why Rose had chosen the annoying one I'd never know. I cocked my head to the side; then again Bella did draw the worst straw of the lot.

I looked up at him, smirking. "We're not the ones that need protecting, Gaston."

"I'll tell Bella you called Alice Tinkerbell," Jasper threatened.

I snorted, and rolled my eyes. "Please don't. She'll just laugh and steal the nickname for herself. In this life she's been calling me Sprite ever since she learned with a sprite was," I jokingly complained.

Really, I didn't mind one bit. It always made me smile when she came up with the more crazier nicknames. Though sometimes—particularly when I would set myself on my window gazing out into the forest and thinking of the easier days—I would long for the moments when Bella would call me her little nymph or her dearest. In those moments she was always at her sweetest, calling Rose her sweetling or her speck of gold.

It was moments like those where I'd forget anyone other than Bella had been our mother. They had always been the easier days.

I shook off my sudden melancholy mood, ignoring Jasper's intense look and looped my arm through his. "Come on. We don't want to be late for English."

As we walked off, Emmett called out loudly and cheerfully, "Don't go breaking my heart there gorgeous."

I glanced over my shoulder and made a show of winking and mouthing, "Never".

"I'll wait for you!" he called out. "For however long it takes!"

I could practically hear Jasper grinding his teeth at his brother's cackle. "You do know this is just going to add to the rumours, right?"

"Oh Jazz, we're the most exciting thing to happen to this school." I looked up at him through my lashes. "We're already the talk of the town—what's a few more rumours? Besides, we wouldn't want them to get bored."

He looked down at me with a soft, exasperated smile and a shake of his head. "I doubt life could ever be boring with you around, darlin'."

Jan 31st - Friday

We were ten minutes into the mind-numbing documentary on cells in Biology and I wanted to remove some heads. Honestly, did Mr. Banner really think that this movie would inspire any type of interest in Biology? Or did he have some useless hope that the students would retain anything from it?

Bella was a much better teacher; she always made her lessons so interesting. Like the time she'd taught us how poisonous hemlock was by feeding it to a robber who had tried breaking into the cottage when we were fourteen in our first life.

I stifled a yawn and Jasper, who was sitting next to me, shot me a grin. "Not a fan of biology, Miss Swan?" he asked teasingly.

"Not a fan of boring lessons," I groaned. "Bella is a much better teacher than this, and more creative with her lessons too" I said firmly.

"Really? How so?"

"When she taught us about how ingesting certain plants can induce bowel movements, she did it by spiking one of the glasses of port that the pastor usually had during the local assemblies," I said casually.

His eyes widened and then he looked at the wall, like he was listening to something, and shook his head with a snort. "I hope you know Emmett plans to gleefully inform Carlilse about the cause of his fathers—ah— public mishaps the moment he can. I'm assuming she did it more than once?"

"Of course she did."

"How did she never get caught?"

"We're witches."

"Touche," he grinned. "So did you dance with many men during these assemblies?" he asked, trying to remain neutral, but I didn't need his abilities to see the green-eyed monster lurking behind his eyes.

I grinned. "Oh, not really, I didn't like dancing nearly as much as Rose did. I begged Bella on more than one occasion to play the overprotective guardian—her glare could send a gentleman running for the hills."

I settled in beside him as I recalled the memories with delight. "I remember once, while Rose and I were dancing a reel, a gentleman—and I use that term lightly—was inopportuning a new girl to the town. Her family had moved to the village from France—fleeing some horrid relative I believe–I can't remember, my French wasn't that great at the time. Anyway, the girl—Miss Yvette Frazier I believe—was trying to explain that she wished to be left alone, but the odious man would not take the hint and begone.

"So Bella walked right up to them, put her arm around Miss Frazier and glared heatedly at the fool. He beat a hasty retreat not a minute later. Miss Frazier was a nice girl; she repaid that kindness a little over a month later." She had risked everything, coming to us the morning before our burning to warn us that the church was coming.

Except, some last minute alteration had made them come quicker than expected. They were meant to secretly gather "evidence" and then come for us two days later—we'd thought we'd had more time. The day we were burned Bella had meant for us to wake in the early hours of the morning, before dawn and attempt to flee.

I shook off those melancholy thoughts and smiled at Jasper as he put his arm around me, probably intending to comfort me. I steadfastly ignored the flutterings in my stomach—surely I'd eaten something bad. Maybe it was the combination of oatmeal and tea I had for breakfast. Even though the combination has never bothered me before.

Jasper is an interesting conversational partner—nothing more, I convinced myself. And if I felt a bit warmer in his chilly embrace, that wasn't that odd. Was it?

"You know, your speech changes whenever you talk about your first life," Jasper remarked, fingers drifting across my shoulder.

I blinked, thinking back. "I guess. That's how we used to speak back then. We changed it to suit this time period and modern speech."

We settled into silence for a while and I laid my head on his shoulder—I'm tired, okay!—before he started speaking again.

"You know, there's this place in the forest I like to go; a little rundown cottage. I've been fixing it up a little over the years, but maybe I'll bring you there sometime," he smiled lazily.

Sweet Circe, I loved hi– his smile! I love his smile, I told myself sternly. "Really? You'd willingly be alone with me, in nature where I have the upperhand?" I teased.

"How's tomorrow?" he said confidently.

I immediately shook my head. "Tomorrow is Imbolc—the sabbath to be celebrated with family," I said without thinking (I don't need a reason not to see him! He's the enemy!) then cleared my throat and added teasingly, "It'll be the first time we've been outside of each other's company for a whole day since detention started—how will you live without me?"

"I don't think I could ever live without you, now that I've found you."

1st Feb – Saturday

I smiled as I finished dressing for today. It was Imbolc, one of my favourite Sabbath's. I stopped for a moment to quickly tie up my bed curtains before heading over to my chest and removing the corn husks that I had finished drying yesterday—glancing over them to ensure that none were damaged.

Satisfied I placed them in a pouch and brought them down. Rose and Bella were already in the kitchen, preparing a basket of mini muffins along with what looked like a family sized travelling thermos.

I smirked. "Bribery or poison?" I asked as I sat down at the table. Rose shook her head and rolled her eyes as she absentmindedly placed an omelette in front of me.

Bella shot me an amused grin. "Both, depending on how you look at it. We're bribing the boys down at the station and poisoning them against making Charlie work a full day today with our feminine charms."

I snorted around a bite of omelette, before gesturing at their outfits with my fork. "Is that why you and Rose are dressed like you're from the 50's?" I asked, amusement lacing my tone.

Rose was dressed in a red Audrey Hepburn dress, with black stockings, matching two inch pumps and a white crop cotton tweed jacket. Clearly she was taking care of the unseasonably warm weather we had been having this weekend. Bella had on a dark blue swing dress, with similar black stockings and matching black flats and a shrug open-front bolero jacket.

Bella playfully scowled at me and was about to retort when Rose beat her to it. "You're lucky she couldn't find any hair rollers."

Bella responded by sticking her tongue out at Rose and playfully swatting her ass with the dish towel. Rose laughed and danced out of the way, towards the now full coffee pot, presumably to finish filling up the Thermos.

"So, we're going to the station today, I suppose I should change to match the aesthetic. Will we be teaching any of the hounds new tricks?" I asked pleasantly. "Yes, first we teach them to sit, then stay, then roll over whenever we ask." Rose said happily. "And we will be asking. A lot." Bella said with a wink

~Scene~

Half an hour later I came down dressed in my own light pink sleeveless swingers dress with white pumps and a white lace bolero cardigan. Rose held the muffin basket which was covered by a large cloth napkin and Bella held the now full thermos. We grinned at each other as I plucked up the truck keys from the counter and we were off to wreak havoc on the Forks police station.

Within half an hour I had pulled up outside of the police station. Bella was jumping down from the bed the moment I stopped, uncaring as her skirt fluttered around her, making a young officer who had been walking out of the station turn red in embarrassment. I snorted, of course Bella would put on racey underwear while wearing a 50's dress. She probably saw it as a hilarious joke. And anyone who saw it would never admit to it.

Hey, there were perks to being the Chief's daughters. In fact that cop would probably try to forget it ever happened, as Charlie would definitely shoot first, ask questions later.

I rolled my eyes at her as we began walking towards the door. "Drama queen," Rose teased as she poked Bella.

I held the door for my sisters as I was the only one not holding anything. My sisters and I smiled in unison as we walked up to the young officer at the front desk. He was obviously new, just a trainee from the look of him,

He quickly looked up and smiled flirtatiously at us "Hello ladies—" but he was cut off by a passing senior officer, Tindal.

"Chief's daughters," was all the older man said.

The newbie blanched and let out a strangled cry as I fought down my rising amusement. "How can I help you ma'– I mean s– I mean, uh..."

As the poor boy tried to restart his brain—as well as his heart, I suspected—more officers came out into the lobby, probably warned by Tindal of the show that was going on. I didn't even have to look at Bella to know she was pleased about the audience, the satisfaction practically rolled off of her.

"Hello, I'm Bella. These are my sisters—Alice and Rosalie," she said, gesturing to us.

"Hi," Rose and I said in unison.

The boy cleared his throat. "Hello, ah, how may I help you today? The Chief is on patrol, if you need him, I could call him…" he trailed off.

Bella shook her head politely. "Oh no, you see, well we actually brought something for all the officers, mini muffins and home brewed coffee," she said cheerfully as she and Rose placed their burdens safely on the desk.

The boy blinked in confusion. "Why?" he asked.

I mentally winced. Oh, Bella was not going to pass up the opportunity to make him look like an idiot. As if reading my mind Bella blushed deeply as if embarrassed.

"Well now that we're standing here I feel pretty silly, it's just that today, well—of course, we didn't expect anyone to know, but..." She trailed off and I immediately picked up.

"Well we're pagan, and today is Imbolc, a special sabbath—er, holiday, to stay at home and spend time with family and such. We understand Dad can't spend the day with us because he's so busy out being a hero, but we thought that it would be nice if—in the true spirit of Imbolc we brought you guys a treat," I said, conjuring a blush as well.

Rose continued. "It's just that, you all work so hard—I mean, you're practically Dad's work family—and we wanted to do something nice for the people responsible for keeping Forks such a peaceful place. We've really come to love living here," she said, averting her eyes and summoning a heavy blush.

The idiotic officers were eating this up. I could just hear them mentally awwing. Like dogs with a bone.

"Well, you boys enjoy the coffee and muffins. Send our Dad our love when he gets back. I– I suppose we'll see him tonight? Whenever he finishes his shift, right?" Bella said with a sad smile, Rose and I mimicked her and we quickly left.

We didn't wait to hear their response, but we already knew they'd be leaping over themselves to do what we wanted.

~Scene~

"You girls want to tell me why the moment I walked back into the station after my patrol the boys practically threw me out the door telling me that today was a special holiday and what the hell was I doing at work when I should be spending it with my lovely daughters.''

"No, not particularly."

"It was Bella's idea."

"It was only a little bribe."

"That's not the point."

"Then what is?"

"You girls organised a bribe, fooled men who I know for a fact can smell bullshit a mile away—just to get me off of work early—and got away with it."

"Basically, yeah."

"I'm so proud of you girls."

2nd Feb - Sunday

I stuffed another shirt into the already overflowing basket like I could shove my thoughts in with it.

This is ridiculous. I spent nearly every second with him last week, and suddenly I can't go a weekend without him? Ridiculous! I stuffed another shirt in, forcing it in and nearly yelling in frustration when the shove made three other shirts fall back out. I'm acting like a druggie going through withdrawal! What the hell is wrong with me? I shook my head as I huffed and roughly dropped my clothes hamper, scowling at the shirt that fell out during the motion, pulling two shorts with it.

"I am not falling," I sneered at myself. "That's ridiculous—I'm not a child! It's just for fun. Just fun." I threw the shorts back in the hamper. "Dammit, why the hell does my brain choose now to rebel? It's strictly FUN. There's nothing else to it! I mean, except for that—" I slammed the clothes back in, thinking furiously. No, I must have been dreaming, even if it did feel like a vision… My brain instantly recalled the visi— no! Dream!— I had seen.

It wasn't anything substantial, just me and Jasper laughing; snatches of us sitting next to each other in an unknown place, smiling, laughing, hugging, kissing, having— Stop it! I admonished my brain, like I said—nothing substantial. Those visions could mean anything, I assured myself, locking away the bit of me that protested against the lie.

And if those visi— dreams— were more detailed than most of what I had dreamed before, even without scrying, then that was surely a trick of my mind; an overactive imagination filling in the gaps—surely. I huffed once more and pulled out my phone. Space—that was what I needed, I could go some time without seeing him, nevermind the curling in my stomach of the very thought—I must've eaten something that disagreed with me.

I shot him a quick text, informing him that I would be spending the day with my family again, and that I'd see him some other time. That would show him—I could go any amount of time without seeing him. I would miss him about as much as I missed my period cramps.

A moment later I received a message back from him.

"Don't miss me too much. XOXO"

I growled fiercely and threw my phone onto my bed behind me, crossing my arms, because I did miss him. Fuck, it seems denial isn't just a river in Egypt. I thought drily.

Dammit! This wasn't the plan! This was supposed to be just for fun, and information—nothing more! But, I reasoned, it's not like missing him is so bad. He's good company—that's all—yes. Just very good company…that I happen to find very attractive, but that's it. I have no serious attachment to him. I can't.

3rd Feb - Monday

It's just fun. It's just fun. I waved at my sisters as I headed to my locker, to where he was going to be—where he always was. I'm fine. This is just fun—that's all. Nothing more. Yes, he's attractive, but that's all. It's just fun.

Except if it was just fun, then why did I feel like my heart was going to stop when there was no one by my locker? Disappointment crashed through me and I realised I couldn't lie to myself anymore. Every morning, without fail, he'd been at my locker, waiting for me. And I hadn't realised until he wasn't there that I missed it—I missed him.

"I thought I told you not to miss me too much." A sudden arm wrapped my waist and my heart skipped a beat.

It was like everything I'd been ignoring and pushing away in the last few days was rushing forward at just a touch. It's not just fun anymore. It hasn't been for a while.

And as the thought dawned on me, I waited for the denial and frustration, but they didn't come. I was absolutely, entirely and completely in love with Jasper Whitlock—and I had no complaints.

I looked up at Jasper; everything swirling through me as I realised just how gone I was for this man—my enemy—and I could barely manage to think straight. "Hi."

His smile was like sunshine peeking through the clouds and my breath caught as I felt it. Right alongside my own emotions, there was another, gently caressing mine. Mirrored in its intensity as he smiled down at me and I knew he felt everything I did.

And he wasn't running away. No, he was feeling the exact same things I was.

It was all way too fast, but I didn't care one bit.

I didn't bother to hide my grin as I felt his love curling alongside my own. "You kept me waiting long enough."

"I'm sorry, ma'am." He ducked his head, fingers tracing my cheek, jaw, lips; eyes memorising every inch of my being. "I didn't realise I had someone waiting for me. I'd've come sooner if I knew it was you."

It was almost overwhelming, feeling the incandescent love we felt for each other surging and dancing between us. It was a heady rush, and it was like I was falling in love all over again.

4th Feb - Tuesday

Jasper slammed his lunch tray down beside me, startling me out of my conversation with my sisters.

"Alright, Jazz?" I looked up at him in surprise, raising my eyebrow at the look of betrayal and hidden mischief on his face.

"How could you do this to me?" he cried, drawing the stares of the nearby tables. "With my own brother too!"

I narrowed my eyes a little. I had no idea what he was talking about, but by the look of mischief in his eyes, I knew it was going to be fun. He was only ever this loud when he wanted to make a show of something. And I was growing to love causing a scene—especially since we were so good at it too.

"I suggest you watch your tone, Jazz," I replied coolly, going along with the show. "You're making a scene."

He pointed a finger at Emmett who'd just sat down next to Rose and he growled at me, "I know you're sleeping together!"

A few people at nearby tables gasped as the entire lunchroom fell silent. Ah, the rumours, I thought, swallowing my grin. Well, since he's going all out, we may as well make it fun.

Emmett caught my eye and winked. "A lady's got needs, bro."

I shrugged and turned back to my lunch. "You snooze, you lose, Jazz."

You could have heard a pin drop as everyone waited to see what Jasper would do. I kept my eyes on my food, fighting my grin, because I knew if I made eye contact with Emmett or my sisters I would crack.

Five, four, three, two…

With a growl, Jasper suddenly lifted me up and threw me over his shoulder. "I'll show you needs!"

"Jazz!" Laughter burst out of me as he walked us out of the lunchroom. "Put me down!"

Our siblings laughed, dropping the 'show' and Emmett whistled as we exited the room. "Don't knock down any more walls, you two!"

The rest of our peers stared after us, jaws dropping, and it wasn't until the doors closed behind us that the whispers exploded.

"Oh my god!"

"They are sleeping together!"

"I'd let him throw me over his shoulder anyday."

"Put me down, you menace!" I laughed, uselessly hitting his hard back.

It wasn't until we got into the janitor's closet that he put me down. He pulled the door shut behind us and he framed his arms around me against the shelves.

"I'm the menace?" He leaned in with a wicked grin. "You're the one who's convinced the entire school that you're sleeping with my brother just to annoy me."

"Mhmm. But jealous you is so fun," I purred, pulling him closer.

"I don't like to share," he growled, eyes darting to my lips.

I licked my lips, heated delight curling in me as his eyes traced the movement. "Who said anything about sharing?"

The air around us thickened and suddenly all I could focus on was how close we were. His lips were inches from mine as he caged me in against the shelves.

He brushed a thumb over my lip, leaning closer as he murmured, "You know. Everyone already thinks we're hooking up in here…" his nose brushed against mine, "We could always prove them right…"

"But there's no one around to watch…" I purred, wrapping my arms around his neck.

His grin was wicked and delightfully wrong in every right way as he lifted me. I wrapped my legs around his waist automatically, smirking when his eyes darkened. "Who said anything about watching?" His lips were a fraction from mine, barely touching as he murmured, "I'm sure if you're loud enough…"

I wound my fingers through his hair, my nails scratching his scalp gently, and anticipation curling through me when he shivered. "No one likes a tease, Jazz," I growled.

Suddenly the door behind us opened and we spun around, still entangled. Coach Clapp stood in the doorway and rubbed the bridge of his nose as he sighed. "Of course it's you two. No one's given me as much trouble in the past fourteen years as you and your siblings have in the past fourteen days."

He opened the door wider and I jumped down from my perch on Jasper, ignoring the stares of the students gathering behind Coach. Oh, there's definitely going to be more rumours about us after this.

I grabbed Jasper's hand and pulled him out of the cupboard after me, smiling serenely as we walked past everyone. "Good afternoon, Coach."

Coach Clapp sighed sufferably again. "I guess I should be glad you're not putting holes in walls anymore."

I swallowed my grin as we headed to Gym, ignoring the stares and whispers. There was something about being the centre of everyone's attention that I was quickly coming to love. Stirring trouble had always been a hobby of my sisters in previous years, but with the right partner…?

I glanced at Jasper who was barely hiding his grin. "There are seven other rumours flying around right now about us alone," I murmured, entwining my fingers with his. "What made you choose that one?"

"Would you prefer I brought up the one about me and Rosalie?"

I had to swallow back my own growl at that. No sharing. I contemplated turning around and pulling him back into that cupboard just to prove my point.

He snorted, pulling me closer, arm around my shoulder as he pressed his smirk into my hair. "Later, darlin'."

5th Feb - Wednesday

"You know, Jasper drawled. "When they say 'take a picture—it'll last longer', I don't think you're supposed to actually draw it."

I looked up from where I'd been absentmindedly doodling on my maths paper. Jasper was looking down at my book with such a delighted and teasing grin on his face that I had to look back. I slammed the book closed instantly, a furious blush spreading across my face when I saw what—or rather who—I'd been drawing and I shoved my book away.

But Jasper was too quick as he pulled it out of my reach and flipped to the exact page I didn't want him to see. "I gotta say, darlin', for someone so in denial, you sure are obsessed with me."

And he flipped the book around to show me the picture of him I had been distractedly drawing a picture of him.

I snatched it back from him—careful so I wouldn't rip it (that one's definitely going in my file)—ignoring his shit-eating grin. "Don't get ahead of yourself cowboy." I smirked at him through my lashes. "I'm definitely not in denial."

~Scene~

"You absolute pig's ass!"

Jasper and I blinked at each other as Bella's furious voice filled the air. There was no doubt who she was yelling at—there was only one person who pissed her off that much.

"Excuse me, Miss?" I raised, smiling sweetly, if a little chagrined as I caught Ms Martin's attention. "Do you mind if I…?" I pointed at the door. "It might be best if I go calm her down."

She turned to me, no doubt thinking about how a couple weeks ago I had been the one yelling furiously, and nodded quickly. "Yes, that's probably a good idea. I don't think the school can handle any more Swan yelling," she said in an attempt at a joke.

She wasn't wrong though. The hole I'd made shoving Jasper into the wall two weeks ago was still there, and Rosalie and Emmett had made their fair share of dented lockers flirting over the past week. Forks High School was quickly learning what a furious Swan could do.

I swallowed my smirk and gathered my things before turning to Jasper who hadn't moved with a raised eyebrow.

"It's your sister." He grinned, leaning back like he wasn't going to follow me regardless.

I rolled my eyes. "Yeah, and it's probably your brother she's yelling at." I grabbed his hand and pulled him after me.

He laughed, entwining our fingers as we followed the sounds of yelling. I knew Bella had Study Hall—one she shared with Edward—at the moment, so that limited her choice of readily available weapons, but I knew my sister. She'd kill him with a paper towel if given the opportunity.

"Come on," I sighed, reluctant to end my time with Jasper as a loud bang filled the corridor. "She's going to stab him at this rate."

But Jasper just slowed down, holding me back from speeding towards my sister. "Let her have some fun," he said, grinning, his thumb rubbing circles into the back of my hand.

I leaned into him with a knowing grin. "You just want to hold my hand longer."

He lifted his other hand to brush his fingers over my jaw. "Can you blame me?"

"Not at all," I purred.

And we walked slowly, hand in hand, towards the Study Hall, drunk on each other's presence to the soundtrack of our siblings killing each other.