Chapter 18

Something in the Orange

Consciousness came back in increments.

The fabric under her hand, the vibration of something under her ear that smoothed ragged edges in her chest, the chirping of birds, the faint and sporadic splatter of rain on the roof. Willow pressed further into that nice sound subconsciously and felt an arm tighten around her gently.

It took a few minutes for her to work the strength to open her eyes, but soft light met her, nothing sharp or sterile like the hospital. She was in bed, Jasper curled around her weaker side, the window was ajar, with a summer shower fading into the distance and that grey area was comfort and cosiness. She tipped her head up, into the hand that Jasper had been using to smooth her hair back and words didn't need to be said.

Minutes passed as Willow shook off the rest of the serenity until she cleared her throat. 'That was coming for a while.'

'Mhmm.' Jasper's chest vibrated through her, though his voice remained soft. 'Her bein' dead, it won't magically make things better, sweetheart.'

The hoodie under Willow's ear had a nice pattern that she traced, 'I know. A small part of me wished it did though.'

His hand stilled in her hair, twisted in the bottom, catching her attention, 'Though Edward did mention something.'

Uh oh.

Their positions shifted, and Jasper caged her softly onto the bed, fisted hands on either side of her head. 'If you do anythin' like that ever again,' he warned her, shadowed copper eyes locking down on her, warning in every word, 'you will seriously regret the consequences.'

'It worked, though.'

His eyebrow went up and Jasper lowered his head, their noses brushing. 'I don't care if it worked or not. Don't you dare even think for a second I didn't feel that fear here,' the bond tugged in her stomach, and Willow dropped her eyes, something in her knowing that Jasper was probably right. And she knew that on the mountain before she did it. 'And I wouldn't have gotten there in time, Willow.'

The devastation in his voice, as quiet it as it was, had tears welling in her sore eyes. Willow cupped his face, ignoring how the tears fell. 'I'm sorry.'

Jasper tucked his head into her neck, cradled her in his arms underneath her, and Willow hugged him tight as she cried for them both. It wasn't like the anxiety attack before, where everything had happened because of Willow doing her typical 'Ignore for Now'. This was because had any actually happened on the mountain, Willow would have been killed. And Jasper could have done nothing but try and race the sands of an hourglass before she was unreachable, tangled within Thanatos's embrace. In the long run, whilst yes, having Bella at Pride Rock would have driven them to savagery, Victoria would have had to deal with Jasper who had a vendetta of his own.

The tears slowed and Jasper kissed her, softly but still pouring everything in it, his hand on her pulse and tilting her chin up. Willow cupped his face and kissed him back. It had worked, yes, but it nearly didn't. 'Hopefully,' she murmured when they tangled around each other after everything, Jasper having dried her tears, 'that's the last of it.'

'It's Edward and Bella, fuck knows what else they'll drag us into.' Jasper murmured into her skin before he pulled back and locked their eyes again, 'You pull that shit again where I ain't able to get to you, I'm turnin' your ass red.'

Willow blinked at him, swallowed, and didn't stop the words from coming out. 'Don't threaten me with a good time.' His eyes flashed dark with promise and, even if Willow was up for a roll around, the house was suspiciously silent. 'Where's everyone else?'

It was like the Fates themselves answered as the front door swung open and there were boots on the floor as Willow jerked. Jasper was up, snarling, frame tight and tense in a second, eyes locked on the door. 'Sorry!'

It was Emmett. 'Hon,' Willow said, dove soft, kicked the covers back and shimmied to the edge of the mattress. She was in her favourites of Jasper's shirt, the worn denim blue cotton t-shirt hung off her frame and she was sans knee sock. 'It was just Emmett, that's all. C'mere, he didn't mean it.'

A snarl was on his lip, but he backed up and gave the door a long look before he scooped her up and settled her in his lap. Willow noticed he was still in the clothes from the fight, including the jacket. His hair was tangled and there were smudges of dirt and muck on different areas of his face, 'Have you hunted?'

'It healed, querida.' He brushed it off and Willow scowled at him.

'Don't brush that question off. You got hurt, you said to me that a quick hunt would fix it. I'm up, maybe not vertically, but I'm conscious. Please.' She didn't want to be away from him, but Willow couldn't exactly hustle up some grub for him in her state so sending him away for a quick trip was a necessary evil

Jasper scowled at the door and the expression softened when Willow brushed it away with a gentle touch. 'Let's get you cleaned up first, yeah? Then I'll go.'

Right, she doubted her leg would support her in the shower. She scowled down at it and, in the light, noticed her knee and ankle were both swollen, barely able to distinguish where her patella, the end of her tibia, or the knobbly bit of her ankle was. Willow could still see the marks from her multiple socks around her calf and heaved a sigh. 'Fine.'

Jasper shimmied her off his lap and took off the jacket as he made his way over to the ensuite. 'Bath or shower.'

'Stop putting the hunt off,' she grumbled and made her way back to the edge of the bed and took her shirt off. 'Shower.'

'I'm not puttin' it off.' He said quietly and padded across the room and picked her up. Willow still felt tired, but it wasn't an emotionally induced one. More like she'd spread herself too thin kind of tired. 'You like your baths, and you smell like us after one.'

Willow puffed a laugh against his skin, and let Jasper take her weight in the shower. The waterfall showerhead was great, but she was too worn right now to get up to anything nefarious. Willow lifted the freshly scarred wrist up and the surrounding area of the scratches was a faint blue, like a blush of bluebell. 'Take on too many at once?'

He gave her a flat look and nudged her head back so that her hair could get enough moisture. 'No,' Jasper kissed her cheek softly, 'One managed to find purchase as I tore 'em off one of the Wolves and then that hand was taken off.'

'Hmm.' Willow blinked, owlishly as Jasper shampooed and conditioned her hair. 'What does this say about us when that sentence felt oddly normal?'

There was that slow smile. 'That you're a human with a vampire who spent decades in a war for territory and blood.'

'Look at you,' she nearly purred as he scratched at her scalp, eyes fluttering against the feel of his nails, 'makin' jokes 'bout the Wars. Good f'you.'

'Reckon if I keep doin' this, you'll fall asleep on me.' Jasper mused and Willow peeled her eyelids back to glare at him. 'Nearly finished. Head back.'

'How long s'I out for?'

'Couple'a hours. The others went hunting because I wasn't exactly the nicest person to be around for a lil bit.' Jasper put in some leave-in conditioner, turned the water off and Willow was wrapped into her dressing gown and deposited on the bed. He disappeared into the wardrobe, came out dressed in a clean pair of jeans and a t-shirt and had another in hand for her. 'Carlisle wants to check your leg when you get a few more hours'a sleep.'

Willow nodded and let him dress her before her hair was plaited back and she was deposited back into the bed. Jasper seemed torn and she tugged him down for a kiss. 'Go hunt and then come back and cuddle, hon. Go, I said so.'

'You givin' orders now, sweetheart?'

'Only when you're stubborn.'

He kissed her again, once on the mouth and then the temple as she settled into his side of the bed. 'Fine. 'Cause you said so. I love you.'

Willow gave a sleepy smile. 'Love you too, cowboy.'

Jasper helped her off to sleep again and distantly Willow could feel another kiss on her head before she fell under again, this time of her own accord.

'I want you off this for at least a week,' Carlisle looked at her through his brow from where Willow sat in his office at the house, pyjama bottoms pulled up to her thigh. 'And the full brace back on.'

'But I didn't need the full brace in Vancouver!' Willow complained. 'I got around fine with the crutches.'

'You didn't go down three times in Vancouver.' Carlisle volleyed back and remained unmoved as Willow glared at him. 'Full brace and crutches for a week, Willow.'

Forgot the impasse she and Edward had come to on the Mountain, she'd kill him herself. Fucking tattle tale, couldn't even wait till she woke up properly before he ratted on her. 'Don't get angry at Edward, young miss.' he chucked her chin with an amused look, 'Don't think I don't know you downplay your pain.'

'No, I don't.' Willow scowled as he refitted the black joint brace back on her leg before she shimmied to the edge of the desk where he had the crutches ready. Jasper stood sentry by the door, amusement licking at the bond in her stomach, playfully tangling with the gentle strands of calm and love there.

'Yes you do, sweetheart.'

'You're supposed to be on my side.' She threw to him as she swung herself out of the office, much to Carlisle's amusement.

'Which would be lying to a medical professional.'

'I didn't mean that.'

'Uhuh.'

'I didn't.' the faint whisps of Esme's chicken and vegetable soup wafted up the stairs and Willow wordlessly made for them, navigating them with ease after a few steps. 'Esme, they're ganging up on me.'

'Poor dear. Come have some lunch.' Esme placated her and Willow swung her leg up on a seat at the dining table.

'Where's the Traitor?'

Edward popped up in the doorway from the living room and stayed well out of her reach, deliberately scanning the area around her for a potential projectile. 'Are you going to throw your bottle at me again?'

'Are you gonna tell everyone everything when I'm asleep? And you deserved that one.' Willow pointed with her spoon, 'You were being a dick.'

'What else is new.' Rosalie wandered in and sat opposite her, and Emmett gave her a wink as he settled beside the blonde.

'Heard you got the fun times.' Emmett grinned, nearly causing the soup to come out of her nose. 'What about Seth makes him a scrappy little shit?'

'Oh, uh,' Willow cleared her throat and swallowed the spoonful. 'He feinted twice that he was hurt more than he was, and Riley fell for it. Therefore, that little dude can do no wrong, ever, in my eyes because he actually paid more attention to the training than some other people.'

Jasper leant on the back of her chair, sticking close. 'Speakin' of trainin',' she had no doubt he was staring Edward down as the telepath shifted, and Willow enjoyed both the food and the show in front of her, 'you've got a helluva lot more comin' yer way. I don't give a shit if we got fights or not comin'; the only reason you ain't dead is that someone distracted your opponent, giving Seth time to get up and give you the upper hand.'

'It worked.' Edward muttered and Willow could feel the agitation in the bond.

'It doesn't matter.' Jasper snarled, the chair beginning to creak under his grip before he released her seat. 'If you'd have paid attention more, participated instead'a bein' on the outskirts, then it wouldn't have had to come to that.'

Willow pressed into the hand that Jasper had curled around the back of her neck and deliberately slowed her breathing down. His thumb had settled on her pulse at some point in Edward's verbal hiding and she could feel his hand relax a little as he absently mirrored her breathing. In getting Jasper to relax, Willow subsequently caused the room to as well. It would take Jasper a while to be as comfortable as he was prior to Victoria being a problem and Willow played with the idea of the two of them going to the house for a few days. It would give everyone a chance to step back from the adrenalin of the fight and give everyone their space.

It also meant that Willow had her own bed. Don't get her wrong, Jasper's was like sleeping on a cloud. Still, there was something about having an entire coven of vampires literally seconds away from the door that took the whole spontaneity out of sex with your very attractive vampire partner. Besides, she hadn't been there in a few days and the last thing Willow wanted was the neighbours getting worried about the post piling up.

'You're right.'

Sorry, what?

'If my ego hadn't gotten ahead of me after Phoenix, and I had listened, that we had listened, to your points, Victoria would never have become the threat she had.' Edward said, contrite and seemingly truthful as he stepped into the dining room. 'If my worry over Bella hadn't been as overwhelming, then having the girls there would have meant she would have been there and Seth wouldn't have been put in danger, that Willow hadn't been put in danger. I have been extremely dismissive of your insight for the past year, and I apologise for that. It has been brought to my attention multiple times that even though I can read minds, it doesn't mean that I am the best of communicators and that I jump ahead of a situation rather than taking in other opinions had I realised this, Victoria would have never have been a problem, that maybe Scott would still be human and I would have been able to work out a way to present Bella to the Kings without straining our relationship with them.'

The room was quietly stunned. Edward had done two things. Apologise and admit to his faults. Something that Willow, over the four years she'd known the vampire, had never done. Emmett blinked. 'Jesus, squirt, how hard did you hit him with that water bottle?'

'It didn't.' Willow blinked at the telepath. 'Or at least I don't think it did?'

Edward gave her a flat look. 'You raised good points between the death threats.'

'They were hardly death threats if you've already kicked the bucket a century ago.'

Esme turned to her; eyebrows raised. 'Sorry?'

'Oh, um,' Willow twiddled her spoon, 'I may have…threatened to shove him off the mountain like…twice but the first time was for science.'

'For science?'

'Yes.' Willow nodded and pushed her glasses. 'If he could make it up the mountain in under five seconds then the weight has nothing to do with his speed.'

'And the other?'

'…Because he was annoying me?'

'Why do you not sound so sure of that?' Esme cocked her head and Willow furrowed her brow.

'No, I am sure. He was annoying me because apparently I have the most relationship advice and it's weird.'

Edward rolled his eyes. 'So, you'd rather me flounder?'

Willow squinted, '…I think we all know the answer to that question.'

'So yes, but no.' Rosalie drawled, and Willow pointed across the table. 'You have to admit though, Willow, it is a little funny. The youngest of us, and yet Edward, Bella, Scott, Leah Clearwater, Georgie, and Lucy have all gone to you for advice.'

'It's like therapy has rubbed off on me.'

'Or, could it be,' Edward announced, sarcasm in every letter, 'that you're the only other human mate that has had very little to no supernatural drama surrounding her?'

'Coming from you that sounds weird.'

He threw his arms up and headed out, and kissed Esme on the cheek as he headed for the door, keys, and jacket in hand. 'I can't win with you!'

'Because I am clearly better!'

Bella had come and gone long before Willow had woken up both times, but apparently, her story was that she and Alice had had a weekend sleepover, shopping and whatnot down in Port Angeles. In a way, as much as it still hurt, having Richard gone meant no more lying about what she was up to. Willow had tried to keep it all to a minimum, but it felt nice, a little relieving, to not have to conjure up another story to tell him.

The Volvo pulled smoothly out of the garage and sped off down the gravel drive and Willow looked to Carlisle, 'How is Jacob, by the way?'

'Unconscious currently,' he nodded, 'I had to re-break the bones on his right side, most had set wrong when he had Shifted back. Luckily none had punctured anything internally, but I'll be headed down by nightfall to put up another bag of saline and morphine – he burns through it remarkably fast.'

Willow leant back into Jasper's hands, 'He mentioned that he ran at like…108 now? I kinda put it down to a Wolf thing because surely he'd have been dead by now, right?'

Carlisle nodded. 'Sam had told me the basics – higher core temperature, heightened healing, heightened pain tolerance – but yes, had he been human, he would have been septic or have died by now.'

'Another thing,' Willow wet her lips, 'Victoria seemed confused that Seth never bit Edward, and he mentioned that James had tracked something in Siberia?'

The realisation hit after a couple of seconds. 'Ah,' he sat down, and Willow tugged at Jasper because she doubted him standing sentry behind her was doing anything to settle things. 'There is a different group of peoples that are basically eradicated at this point due to Caius. The Children of the Moon differ from that of the shapeshifters. They change when the moon is at its peak and can kill us without help in a one-on-one fight.'

'You mean proper werewolves?'

'Yes.'

Because the supernatural world wasn't big enough already, '…okay, I guess. Anyway, continue…'

'Caius was nearly killed by one, over two thousand years ago,' Carlisle shifted, 'and thus caused him to want to eradicate them from Europe and Asia. Most now, travel by themselves or with a companion, rarely needing strength in numbers. They are said to be more instinctive than rationality when up against and they spread through the Bite much like us. But when they procreate, the offspring don't have the gene.'

Willow blinked and let every settle before she turned to Jasper. 'I always thought there was something off with him.'

'I have no doubt.'

'But to try and kill an entire species because one tried to kill him? Red flag.'

'Oh shit,' Jasper rolled his eyes, going for his phone in his pocket, 'lemme just phone him up, shall I? Let him know.'

'I'm just saying.' Willow insisted, 'He might've done something to piss the werewolf off. Or it might have been near the full moon. We'll never truly know that entire story because, like hell, Caius would want to seem weak.'

'You may have a point.'

'Thank you, glad I could enlighten you.'

Alice looked between the two of them. 'Your conversations never cease to bewilder me. Anyway, more importantly.' A scrapbook was thunked on the end of the table and Willow was a little nervous as when Alice had begun to make that. 'The wedding.'

Okay, so someone had to pump the brakes on for this and apparently it would go to Willow once again. 'Is it your wedding?'

'No. But—'

Willow held a finger up. 'Did you basically back Bella into a corner and potentially guilt trip her into letting you plan it?'

'Maybe. But Will—'

'Zip it.' Willow mimed, 'Bella's probably more than happy to elope to Vegas than have a big wedding anyway.'

'But it's Vegas.' Alice whined.

She shrugged. 'So? It isn't your wedding, so you may get to voice an opinion but not make the last decision.'

'You're no fun.'

'I can be.' Willow tipped her head a little before sitting back in her seat, Jasper's cool temperature began to seep through her side. 'I've also had to deal with a lot of Bridezillas so…'

Esme set a hand on Alice's forearm and patted it gently. 'Let Bella get through this rough time and then you can start but maybe rein it in a tad, dear.'

Alice slumped back with a pout but relented. Seriously, that scrapbook looked like the bindings were groaning under the strain of everything inside. It was a little nerve-wracking.

Carlisle stood then, with a quick check to his watch, subtly putting an end to the unofficial family meeting and debriefing. 'I'll be back in a few hours.'

Willow glanced at Jasper and then threw her idea onto the table. 'We'll be at the house, most likely. I don't need Old Mrs Faulker snooping in my post again.'

'Again?' Emmett echoed.

She nodded as they all moved, Esme, taking her dishes as she left. 'Oh yeah, Mrs F snoops like Sherlock Holmes on crack. Where'd you think Mrs Newton got it from? She lived on my street before she moved in with Mr Newton when they got married and Mrs F babysat.'

'Been in this town for nearly four years and we did not know that.'

'I did.' Esme chirped, a box of cookies in hand, 'From Parent-teacher nights.'

'The drama was the one thing that stopped Dad from crying in pain, he enjoyed it even better when he had someone to gossip with.' The memory didn't hurt as much this time, instead, it brought a smile to her face. It was strange but Willow would roll with it and made a mental note to schedule with Dr Florence at some point soon. She'd want to know about the anxiety attack.

Jasper kissed her on the head and vanished up the stairs to grab a bag of their stuff, and her day bag was still at the base of the stairs. They probably should pretend they were coming back from a long hike or something anyway. At least cooperate with the main story that Alice had told Chief Swan, make it feasible.

Willow left her shoes there, the hiking boots were still sopping wet anyway, instead, she swung into the passenger of the Mustang, tucked the crutches in the back and had her belt on as Jasper swung in and turn the car on. 'Nice plan.'

'What? In giving us an alibi of wanting to go back to the house?' she looked to him and smoothed where his hand had settled in her lap. 'Mrs F really does snoop, it's why the divorce of Chief Swan and Mrs Dwyer spread so fast, and last so long. Also, I highly doubt you'll be able to completely relax with Edward basically breathing down your neck anyway.'

'What makes you think I ain't already relaxed?'

Willow pressed her cheek to her shoulder, eyebrow raised, as she looked at Jasper. His eyes were still a little dark – they tended to show a lot of his emotions – the frame of his shoulders was a clean line, not even a hint of a slouch, and the grip he had on the wheel was weirdly fluid, more vampire than human at the current point. 'Don't insult me, hon.'

A puff of laughter, a kiss to the back of the hand and the ride remained silent for the rest of the journey back.

As they settled into the house again, this time in the living room, as evening fell and rain began once more, the two watched a seemingly plotless show on the TV when the roof was lit with orange. It was strange, for so long this place had been home to Willow, somewhere she felt safe, protected, and loved. If you looked closely in the archway of the kitchen there were the faint pencil markings of a growing chart on it, different colours for each of the Crawford children and the dates they were measured. Her father's favourite chair still sat in its corner, his favourite blanket over the top of it. If Willow tried hard enough, it was like she could still hear his husky voice singing as he cooked dinner or finished some papers for work in his office.

Now, as she curled up with Jasper on the sofa, wrapped around him like his own little hot water bottle, it was just a house. She didn't want to get rid of it, didn't see the need to, maybe they could do something slightly illegal and keep it for when they had to move, but it was just a house. Walls and a roof filled with memories. First laugh, first steps, first heartbreak, the place where Willow learnt how to put herself back together again out of sight of her family, where she said, 'I love you' and meant it to Jasper for the first time. The first place where the Cullens could be their physical age, the first place where Willow had created her own little family because most of her blood relations could barely stand her.

Over the weeks since Richard had died, Willow had come to realise something. That home was the people around you, those who loved you, laughed with you, cheered you on at your worst, and brought your ego down when you were being an ass. And she could create that anywhere, part of home was in Italy, part of it was acting as a pillow beneath her, another was less than ten minutes away, another was God knows where galivanting across the World.

Stitch was right when it all came down to it. Family could be any size, a little broken maybe for some of them, but all in all, still good at the heart of it. It was the bonds that made a family.

'You ever think things'll settle?' Willow asked, absently as the advertisement played, honestly, these were why she had so many boxsets.

Jasper pressed his mouth to her hair for a minute or two and continued to run a lazy hand up and down her back before he spoke, 'The way things are now, maybe for a little while. But Jane was pissed earlier, not at Scott but at the fact that we made it out unscathed. She doesn't like Bella or Edward and is more than a little terrified of me, but whatever vendetta she has for those two, I surely doubt things'll stay quiet for long.'

Willow turned her head, rested her chin on his sternum, and blinked owlishly. 'When have things been since those two got together? Edward stirred some shit on the mountain, and told Jacob without letting Bella know, about the wedding.'

'What did you do?'

Her head fell back down, just tired of everything about the trio. 'Tore 'em a new one. All three of them. I think I made Bella cry. But to be honest, I couldn't really give a shit then because of everything. Should probably apologise.'

'Did she need to hear what you said?'

'Probably?' Willow heaved a sigh and tipped her head to the side to elongate her neck, enjoying the finger that Jasper was dragging up and down, and circling the fading marks there. 'Not in the tone I used though.'

'Then give yourself time to heal again and apologise.' He shrugged and it was that simple.

Willow let the subject lie, let her eyes fall shut under the touch that Jasper was dragging along her open skin. 'You were right, you know?'

''Bout what?'

'Victoria knew who was mated with me when she looked closer.' Willow traced the lines of his shirt under her finger. 'Riley knew it was a vampire, but not who it was. She even hesitated. How can you tell?'

He rolled them then, tangled the hand that still smelt vaguely of venom with his and kissed the heel of her palm, the instep of her wrist. 'Because' that drawl thickened again as Jasper tucked loose strands of her braid behind her ear, 'eventually scent profiles start to mingle, even more so with bites.'

'I don't understand.'

'You'll find when you're a vampire, that Peter and Charlotte share notes of my scent, I changed them, therefore my venom flows through them. Rose, Emmett, Esme, Edward? They all share Carlisle's, and Esme's the most because they're mated. It's a way to track stray Newborns, makes it easier to follow the ones who step out of line, and therefore find the sire who slipped up in teaching their…progeny the rules and passes the sentence.'

Jasper nudged her jaw to the side, and traced the line of her throat with his nose. 'You smell like me now because of these,' he mouthed at the marks, and skimmed his lips over them. 'And other things,' Willow could feel his grin against her neck as her cheeks flushed, 'but these leave my scent on the most noticeable parts of you.'

'Like perfume?'

'Exactly.' Willow blinked when he brushed their noses together, quietly relishing in this playful side of him. She didn't think that this part of him would come out so soon after the fight, after being so tense for the past week. Her fingers tangled in the hem of his shirt, another hand around the collar, liking him close to her. It settled the slightly frantic part of her, anxiety cooling with him within reach. Sometimes it felt a little like Willow had taken three steps back with her independence, but throughout everything in the last month – how had it just been a month? – he'd been her touchstone.

'Sometimes,' Jasper went on, 'during sex, each involved can feel the urge to bite again, especially if they had been involved in territorial disputes or there were other interested parties.'

Willow bit back a grin. 'Like…like a shark?'

Her giggles started when Jasper dropped his head to her chest. 'How do you even know the mating rituals of sharks?'

'Humans are friends, not food.' She snarked, only to break into high-pitched giggles as Jasper snagged her by the waist, tickling her ribs. 'Stop, stop, stop, I'm sorry!'

Jasper captured her giggles in a kiss then, his own eyes bright like honey as he directed her jaw where he wanted it. 'You are a menace.'

'Maybe. So, the biting thing is because one of them is insecure?'

'Pretty much.' Jasper tipped his head, 'It'd be different in the South, biting is a primitive way to show which female belongs to whom, especially in a hierarchy that can constantly shift. It also highlights who the weak point is to take them down in a fight. In your Newborn year, and a handful past as the human blood in your system fades, your emotions will be closer to the surface, so jealousy and such isn't uncommon.'

'Even with us being together for as long as we have been?'

'That will be interesting,' Jasper mused and slid his arms under her to pull her into his lap as he rolled. 'To be honest, I won't be surprised if all your senses are a little sharper than usual.'

'My anxiety?'

'Yeah. Your flight or fight is either stuck on freeze or you get out of the situation as quickly as you can without causing a blowout because of experience, darlin'.'

'And human experiences can have a bleed off.' Willow nodded, sighing lightly. 'So, we thinkin' possum or…'

'I don't think that'll happen,' Jasper laughed, smoothing up and down her thighs, the soft cotton shorts a faded lavender, 'I think that you'll startle easier for a while until scent profiles register in your head. Maybe you'll get a lil aggressive with everyone as a result but that's to be expected.'

Hearing that it would be normal for her to be a little feral for a while was more comforting than Willow was keen to admit. She knew that Jasper had had his fair share of Newborns and know how to handle them with ease. 'And if I eat someone?'

Jasper looked at her softly as he took her chin in a gentle grip. 'You're going to. It's to be expected, and even if Bella turns out to be the perfect Newborn and you struggle, so what? We don't have to stay here for your Newborn year, we can fuck off to Texas for a bit, till you get a handle on your control. I want you to know how to defend yourself regardless.'

'That makes sense.' She nodded, letting out a sigh.

'And if you do eat someone?' he caught her eye again, 'It ain't like I haven't, or that Peter and Charlotte don't on the regular. Maybe it might be a good thing. Control is a tricky thing if not constantly kept in check and if you don't know what you're missing, it can come as a shock if something, or someone, surprises you.'

'And you wouldn't be disappointed—'

'Why would I ever be disappointed in you?' He scowled at her, cutting her off gently, 'And why are you countin' your chickens 'fore they hatch? Stop it.'

'I'm just saying…'

'No.' Jasper shook his head. 'Stop it.'

'But—'

'Ah,' Willow glared at him, half-heartedly, as he covered her mouth with his hand. 'No. We'll cross the Immortality Bridge when we come to it, okay? But I'll never be disappointed in you, Willow, ever. Don't think for a second I ever would be.'

The bond between them bubbled with sincerity and she tried to take comfort in that. It would take a while, most likely when she was a Newborn for her to take that as the truth it most likely was. And Jasper had never lied to her, ever, not with big things. Little white lies to cover up what presents he had gotten her, small surprises that he had covered for a while. But there were those pesky remains of the little girl that had grown used to trying to read between the lines of nearly every person in her life that had her hesitate in the face of those words.

He kissed her then, must have felt her turmoil. His hands spanned the sides of her face, tilting her head this way to try and devour her, embed his promise to her bones, chase away the minuscule demons in her mind, she didn't know. All Willow knew was that she was more than happy to lay there under him on the sofa, surrounded by his touch, his scent, just him.

Jasper pulled back from where he was deepening a faded mark and took her chin in his fingers. And it was an absent thing, Willow mused, where the ice cold of his touch was not even an afterthought anymore. 'There will be a day,' he dropped his voice, the words magnetic, hypnotic, with his gaze less than a hand's width from her, 'where I will say things like that and you won't even blink, Wilhelmina. And when that day comes, I will covet it.'

And she would too.

The day when her mother's vitriol has no more control over her decisions, her actions or her thoughts would be a day Willow would be able to take a deep breath without feeling like an anvil was on her chest.

And Jasper would be there to see it, by her side, as he had fallen into step since that first Art Class without hesitation. Every obstacle, every Slump, every time where she just felt like Atlas with too much to carry, all he had done was hold out a hand and make it feel like she didn't have to do it alone. That she wasn't alone.

He tilted his head into the palm she cupped his face with, 'I will too.'

It would be a long path, Willow knew. Dr Florence had warned her that it wouldn't be easy, there was nothing easy about unlearning past habits, but she could do it. Would do it. But with Jasper there, with Scott crowing from the sidelines, the Cullens there to offer a hand and Georgie and Lu to be her cheer squad, well it didn't seem so scary.

She kissed him again, cementing the vow into the Universe, as yet another summer shower began to ricochet down upon the roof. Yes, they had other things to do, like wedding stuff, college stuff, and other adult things, but after the week that they had had, the month that she had had. Willow deserved to make out with her man for a while.

It wasn't like Bella and Edward were going anywhere anyway.

And so the curtain for Eclipse falls and we are now onto the last part. This is just a quick post, I'm going out tonight and didn't want to leave y'all frustrated but I'll say more in the next post. Thank you all for keeping up with Willow, and the progression of my writing for the past few years and I hope that you're all excited for Breaking Dawn.

Anyway, let me know the moments you can't wait for, the parts you liked in this chapter and I'll see you all next Fine Life Friday.

Enjoy,

K x