Bella was smarter than what people gave her credit for, that's why she had figured out in a few minutes what took the Cullens years to figure out.
And that was his existence.
Of course she never faced the alter but for what Edward had told her he was... not someone to anger for his mood could be quite explosive and his presence was as crushing as it was overwhelming. That if she was to ever notice him and she was to find herself alone with him to remove herself from his presence as fast as possible. She would notice the change.
It screamed wrong on a lot of levels.
But she didn't remove herself from his presence.
Edward was too paranoid and the Cullens knew she knew about him. If he was dangerous Alice or Jasper himself would have told her.
Still.
In a sense, she could understand what Edward had meant with overwhelming and crushing.
He sat there on a branch staring at her with such darkness in his gaze it made her feel cold. It was like the void staring back at her. His posture was slouched and almost too carefree compared to what she was used when it came to Jasper.
And the most noticeable detail was the fact that his desire to kill her was loud and clear in his face. His shoulders tense and his gaze fixated on her like a predator waiting for the perfect chance to pounce.
It was an odd thing truth be told.
And while her entire being was screaming at her to run for this was one of the most intimidating situations she had ever been in with a vampire another part of her couldn't bring herself to.
She didn't even move as a wise person would have done when he dropped off the branch, landing with the grace of a cat and walking up to her. The air around seemed to grow twice as cold and dark and heavy . Her heartbeat could have started a marathon on its own and she was sweating cold. Her throat closing and a sense of impeding doom settling over her chest. That gaze was darker from up close. Darker than black. Than the night. Than the void itself.
It was like staring at death itself.
She was frozen in place despite her body screaming at her to run.
But she can't move.
Not even when he leans so close to her neck that she can feel the iced tip of his nose touching her. A low sound that seems to resemble a growl rumbles deep within him. It crawls from the pits of hell itself and resonates through her whole body, making her hairs stand on end. The sound sends chills down her spine and makes the desire to hide flare in her like never before.
Was he gonna bite her? Kill her? This was the first time she had ever felt like an actual prey in the face of a vampire.
But he doesn't bite her despite how close he is to her neck. It takes a moment before he steps back and meets her gaze.
-You're the mind reader's angel. We won' bite nor kill ya, you've mah word.
Bella's knees gave in the second that voice was heard. Her human body and brain becoming too overwhelmed by his presence and now his voice.
He didn't even attempt to catch her as he took a step back.
Meanwhile The Major watched the human drop unconcious and couldn't help but sigh. He had really thought that by now he would be weak enough his presence wouldn't send humans into fainting on him.
He stared at her for a moment. Her scent was so intoxicating and he hadn't had a single drop of human blood in weeks... but he made a promise.
A promise to never hurt her.
The angel loved her. The mind reader. The Cullens.
He couldn't hurt her. Never . Much less when she was the mind reader's angel. Were someone to harm their angel he didn't think they would survive, and the mind reader had left very clear he was willing to kill himself for her.
And if the mind reader died their angel would be sad. Esme would be heartbroken. The coven leader would be heartbroken. He couldn't allow the mind reader to shatter this coven.
And if doing so meant not biting this human then so be it.
He could spare one. He had better control than Jasper when it came to his thirst or drinking blood. Branding her scent into his brain would help him to tag it as unimportant. Worthless. Forbidden.
And it would help him keep Jasper in check in the future.
He stared at her for another moment before deciding that it wouldn't be wise to leave her on the ground. He poked her arm as he knelt before her, he hated touching people, women to be more precise, but she was human, what could a weak human do to him?
So taking a deep breath he picked her up bridal style. She smelt good, so good, he could easily bite her and drink just a tiny little sip, tiny enough that all it would take would be half a bear to hide the orange from their eyes.
No one would ever be the wiser.
It wouldn't be the first time he had done that.
A bite on her back. High so it couldn't be seen by others nor even herself. He wasn't poisonous and he had fangs, it wouldn't leave scar.
But he couldn't do so.
This human was forbidden.
Also because Jasper had to go and stain her blood with that disgusting vervain.
In a flash he was leaving her on the living room's couch and stepping back. His throat burnt like the sun itself but he forced himself to endure it as he had been doing for decades now.
The sudden wave of dizziness that hit him wasn't new. But as quick as it came as quick as it was gone. He shook his head before leaving.
~~~~~~~~~~~~
Jasper wasn't quite sure what was expected of him when he was asked to take Bella home since Edward and Emmett wouldn't still be back until midnight.
He knew The Major had done something since Bella wouldn't stop throwing him glances as he drove. There wasn't fear in her so he had to hope nothing bad had happened. The Major had grown quite secretive these past years.
Her emotions were for the most part anxious which wasn't a new thing since that was the persistent state of whoever faced The Major for the first time and survived.
As he brought the car to a stop right infront of the Swan's house he got out of the car and in a flash he was opening her door. Surprise flickered in her emotions before amusement dawned in.
-Are all vampires allergic to keeping up human appearances?- Bella couldn't help but ask. How had this bunch survived for so long when Edward landed on her truck out of nowhere? When little Alice went around carrying a hundred bags with obvious ease? And now Jasper with his speed?
-My apologies ma'am.- Was all Bella got as an answer, but she could see the amusement in his gaze.
Bella wasn't surprised when Jasper walked her to her door. Emmett and Alice had the habit to do the same. Almost as if she would be snatched on her own doorstep. God Victoria was dead relaxing a bit wouldn't kill them.
But unlike Emmett and Alice who would step inside as if they owned the place Jasper didn't, he just stood awkwardly on the doorway. As stiff as ever and with his arms behind his back in what Bella liked to mentally call his "resting soldier pose".
And then the oddest question.
-May I come in?
-Of course you can come in, you don't have to ask.
-It's the polite thing to do.- He stated as if it was the whole truth of the world before stepping in.
Bella raised an eyebrow but chose to not give it mind.
-Charlie won't be back until 9... Wanna watch TV until then?- Bella asked not sure what was she even expected to do with him. Alice would usually just torture her until Charlie came back from work and Emmett would take it to watch TV or destroy the kitchen by aiming to help her cook.
But she knew nothing on how to keep Jasper entertained. She was still unnerved over what happened earlier.
Thank God he shrugged and she took that as an affirmative.
So she turned the TV on and sat down.
He sat on the other side of the couch and part of her couldn't help but wonder if he ever relaxed his posture.
The silence was thick and uncomfortable for a long while before his voice broke the silence.
-Did he said or do somethin' wrong?
It took her a moment to realize who he was.
-No. He didn't.- Bella chose to not tell Jasper about the fact that he had gotten too close to her neck for comfort. Nor about those strange words.
And while his presence had been overwhelming part of her couldn't help but believe his words.
-Are you sure?
-Yeah.
He narrowed his eyes at her, of course lying to the empath wouldn't work at all.
-Bella, if he did or said somethin' to you I must know.
Bella sighed.
-He did nothing. He just sort of... sniffed me? He said that he wouldn't hurt me.
-Oh.
Understanding seemed to dawn upon him and Bella couldn't help but ask.
-What was that for?
-... To him humans are nothin' but food. Doesn't matter who they're or how old they're. Food is food. But you're Edward's mate, the Cullens love you, he knows perfectly well that hurtin' you will do nothin' but cause troubles. Unlike me he can ignore the smell of blood if he wants to, though he has no restraint at all.
None at all. Even now The Major would refuse to give up the idea of drinking human blood. If it was infront of him it was his.
-I'm not sure how he does it but apparently smellin' someone's blood helps him identify 'em, he won't hurt you.- Jasper assured her.
Bella wasn't quite sure what to answer to that. Wasn't it ironic though? That the one who viewed humans as nothing but food was the one who held the best control around them? She felt bad for Jasper.
Still.
At least she got an answer of the oddest thing to happen to her in a long time. She had to admit that having a vampire so close to her neck had been rather unnerving. Though that may had been because this particular vampire she knew nothing of. Edward said the alter rarely fronted nowdays.
Bella sighed and got up to grab something to snack on. Yeah. She ate at the Cullen's house before coming back home but she was still a bit anxious and Jasper wasn't that much of a talker. She needed something to do and she had no homework. And she had memorized her book by now.
She snatched the half eaten bag of onion rings Charlie had brought last night from the store and went back to the couch. Jasper gave her a funny look.
-What?
-Nothin'. I just find strange the kind of things humans seem to find... tasty now days.
-What? You never had an onion ring?- Bella couldn't help but ask feeling both curious and shocked.
-Onion? That's... Onions don't look like that and they certainly don't smell like garlic. It's an onion, it's suppose to smell like an onion.
-It's suppose to be a chip not an actual onion.- Bella told as a statement of fact not being able to keep herself from smirking at the fact that the always near emotionless Jasper was making such a disgusted face.- Can vampires taste human food? I mean, I know you can't eat it, but what about the taste?
Jasper frowned at that and tried to remember how Alice had once described the taste of human food for her.
-... It tastes like sand and the texture due our heightened senses can be quite overwhelmin' and nauseous. That doesn't stop Emmett from orderin' happy meals whenever he wants a toy though.
Yeah, Bella could totally see Emmett doing that.
-So you can't taste it?
-... No.- He told unconsciously reeling back from her when she brought an onion ring to his face.- Those are hideous either way.
-These are good. Don't let the smell fool you.
-I hate garlic. If it smells horrible I don't wanna know how it must taste.
Oh but he knew how it tasted.
-Fine. So all vampires are weak against garlic.- He glared at her but Bella didn't find it in herself to be afraid, much less when there wasn't actual anger behind his glare.
She ate the onion ring and held his stare for a moment. His eyes weren't a deep orange anymore but they weren't golden either. It was an odd thing considering it had been over a month since he slipped. She wasn't a genius on how long it took to change their eye color but it couldn't actually take so long right?
-How long does it take for your eye color to change? Does it goes orange because the red is fading into gold?
Amongst all questions Bella could ever speak Jasper never expected she would come up with questions about eye colors in vampires.
-I'm not sure about the why of the orange but it's probably because it goes from red to gold as you said.
Jasper had never given it thought to be honest.
-And for your first question, well, it usually takes less than a week to get 'em back to gold, for me it takes a month and a half, sometimes longer, it mostly depends on my luck.
-Your luck?- Bella asked in confusion. What did luck had to do with anything?
-...Yeah... - Jasper looked away, he should tell her now, she would find out once she was turned anyways.- I sometimes get sick and can't feed off of animal blood for days on end, sometimes I faint, sometimes I don't, Carlisle says it's because I was raised feedin' off humans for over 40 years without restraint and that my body may still not be used to the change in my diet, to give it time, it's less recurrent now days but that means it just comes worse and worse every time.
And at this point in life it had gotten so worse sometimes he wished to rip his throat out.
-Even when I'm not sick I still can't drink an entire animal. It makes me nauseous. Sometimes more than usual which means I can't drink much and if I can't drink much it takes longer for my eyes to go back to gold. So as I said, it depends on my luck.
Bella stared at Jasper.
And stared.
She wasn't even sure what to think about this. The idea that he got sick with animal blood but still kept feeding off it made her see him in a new light. His commitment with the vegetarian diet was outstanding. He never gave up. Never allowed himself to be won over by his thirst.
She never thought that there could be side effects from living off of one blood or changing diets.
Still.
The idea that he couldn't feed from animal blood but lived a life free of human blood sounded kind of cruel considering it sounded as if he were starving himself. And if that was the case no wonder he always looked like he was in pain while at school, or why his eyes were so dark half of the time.
God Bella hoped he wasn't actually starving himself.
~~~~~~~~~
When Charlie came back home it was to nothing but the sound of the TV and the sight of rolling credits. He caught sight of Bella asleep on the couch at an odd angle with her head resting against someone's side. Her arm drapped over him in an equally odd angle.
For a moment he pondered about seeking his rifle and waking that Cullen kid up with it.
But then he caught sight of the golden locks rather than the bronze hair. And as he circled the couch he came to the realization that this wasn't Edward. He looked taller and more built. His head resting on the armrest.
Who the hell was this?
He did had that bizarre ethereal look characteristic of the Cullens and as far as he knew Dr. Cullen had two daughters and three sons.
So this must be the third.
Jasper Hale; one of the twins.
He had never seen the kid in person but he did meet his sister once; Rosalie, and he had to admit that he looked less menacing than her. Or that could be because he was sleeping.
The sleeve of his shirt was caught between his chest and the couch which prompted it to be rolled up a bit. There were quite the disturbing scars littering his wrist and what was visible of his forearm. Old and almost resembling bite marks. It made a shiver run down his spine.
Because what the hell was that?
He knew that the Cullen's kids were adopted but he never stopped to think what had led such a young man to adopt teenagers of all things or how did he even come across each and every single one of them.
Now as he saw those scars he wondered if there had been a deeper meaning behind Dr. Cullen adopting five teenagers. People spoke a lot about them and he had heard rumors.
That the Cullens kids behind their strange and untouchable behavior seemed like kids who had at some point suffered a great deal. It didn't show in their skin but their gazes sometimes held a tormented glimmer that no child their age should wield. Charlie had once investigated them after hearing that one of the twins always looked like he was in pain.
Because while he knew Dr. Cullen was a good man and a doctor on top of it all the idea that he could be abusing his children behind closed doors hadn't been far for Charlie had seen good men in public turning out to be absolute dicks with their families.
Plus. Rumors or not as a police chief it was his job to make sure people were safe, specially youngsters.
So he had investigated.
Turns out most of his children came from abusive backgrounds. The twins had been diagnosed with PTSD and one of them also had DID though Charlie couldn't remember which one at the moment. And the other daughter; sweet Alice , was prompt to spacing out even in the middle of a conversation. It never failed to boil Charlie's blood to hear people talking about those children or how Dr. Cullen may be hiding something, that that's why he had the habit to take his kids out of school at random intervals.
Dr. Cullen was an amazing man who loved and cared about his family deeply, he had saved those children and given them a new and better life. People should stop talking about them and spreading rumors, they should be grateful for having him around. He had saved countless lives around here and his children were the most well behaved bunch of teenagers around.
Yeah. He disliked Edward for the suffering he brought to Bella but that didn't mean he hated the kid, Bella seemed happier since he came back and the boy at least had the decency to apologize, even though he gave no reason whatsoever for his sudden disappearance.
Bella was never alone now though. There was always one Cullen around, whether Charlie was around or not, they were good kids. Who would have said his Bella would have ended up catching the attention of the most reclusive family around.
He grabbed the remote and turned the TV off. Picking the bag of chips from the ground and leaving it in the kitchen before coming back to wake Bella up.
-Bells, I'm back, go to bed, the couch isn't a comfortable place to sleep at, trust me I speak from experience.- Charlie whispered in amusement, Bella hummed and did get up, she was still more asleep than awake so it didn't surprise Charlie that she just automatically disappeared upstairs mumbling nonsenses, forgetting completely about her guest.
The kid didn't even stir, he looked exhausted and Charlie kind of felt bad for having to wake him up. He almost decided to let him be and give Mrs. Cullen a call that her son would sleep here.
But he didn't had to because the kid flinched awake and sat up at the speed of light and looked around half disoriented before his gaze fell on Charlie. Odd enough rather than the familiar golden eyes that the Cullens seemed to share wasn't present in him. Instead, an odd shade of orange was the one staring back at him.
That for some reason made his hairs stand on end.
-Sir.- He greeted looking far from how someone who just woke up should look. There was a slight southern accent in his voice and Charlie came to the revelation that awake the boy looked as menacing as his sister if not more. Sitting as straight as a ram rod and with his gaze so profound it was almost disturbing.
And then he stood up. He was taller than Edward but a bit shorter than Emmett.
-My name's Jasper Hale, sir, I'm Edward's older brother. I was just keepin' Bella company until your return.- Jasper told politely, offering his hand for a handshake.
Charlie took it and at this point he no longer could bring himself to wonder the reason behind the Cullen's iced skin.
The kid looked like the picture of intimidation itself but for some odd reason Charlie couldn't bring himself to feel anxious about him.
Maybe it was like Emmett. That kid looked like he could fold you like a lawn chair but was actually a giant puppy.
And as he had told Bella once. The Cullen kids were good kids, they were the only teenagers in this town who had never, not even once, caused trouble.
He wondered how did Dr. Cullen kept five teenagers in line with such perfection though.
-Thank you for looking after her. You should go home now, it's getting late and your parents will worry.
-Of course, sir.
Something about how polite the kid spoke and how he stood gave Charlie an odd feeling. He reminded him of a soldier and for a moment he wondered if Dr. Cullen had sent the kid to military school at some point for there was no way a kid would have such posture by choice.
Charlie watched him leave. His posture so straight he found himself subconsciously mimicking him. God would standing like that do wonders for his back.