A/N: Twilight belongs to Stephanie Meyer. I'm only making her characters do my bidding for a little while. The plot and original characters of Longing do belong to me, however. Jasper as the God of War and Peter "just knowing shit" are ideas that belong to Idreamofeddy.

There are three wonderful people I owe so much to. My sister, Shelljayz, is the first. You are my best friend and you are an amazing pre-reader and beta. I cannot express how grateful I am that this experience has brought us closer together, and I wouldn't trade it for the world. To Laurie Whitlock, my other beta—I love you to pieces and am so thankful for your friendship. To juliangelus, my awesome pre-reader—your opinions are invaluable and I value your friendship as well. I am so incredibly lucky to have found the people I have through this fandom. I have made many friends I wouldn't trade for the world.

Another person I need to thank is shirleypositive72. I don't thank you often enough, dear. If not for your story, The Lists, and your FB group, Longing would most likely have never made it to ff*net.

To those of you who have read, followed, favorited and reviewed: you are amazingly awesome and I cherish you. Happy late birthday to you musiclilly! I hope it was a great one! :)

Also, in addition to Deebelle1's amazing banners and cover, Nyx Nuit has made a couple covers for Longing. If you would like to see them, you can go to my photobucket album, the link to which is on my profile.

oOo

Monday, November 30th, 2080

BPOV

I was propped up against my headboard, rereading Wizard's First Rule, though I knew it verbatim. It was a favorite of mine, and it felt good to hold it in my hands again. The quiet crackle of my fireplace was soothing, and I let out a sigh.

It was only a few minutes later when I felt him watching me, the heat of his gaze igniting my skin in a way the fire never could. His scent—rich, sun-warmed leather, nutmeg, newly cut hay, and fresh-baked chocolate chip cookies with an undertone of sunshine, the scent of the air right before it rained, and crisp, red apples—melded with the warmth of the flames, heightening it until it permeated the room, filling my senses and seeping into my pores.

I willed my body not to react and rested my book on my lap before I brought my gaze to his. "What's up, Jasper?"

He was leaning casually against the doorframe, his ankles and arms crossed, the firelight glinting against his honey hair and making his scarred skin glow. There was a look on his face I'd seen only once before. I swallowed.

"Nothing," he replied, his accent so faint I could hardly hear it. "Just admiring the view."

I snorted and rolled my eyes. "That is such a line! Does it ever get you laid?"

He smirked. "The question is, do you want it to?"

"W-what?" I sputtered. Sputtering was embarrassing. It was something I didn't do, except when Jasper was around, apparently.

He moved toward me slowly, like a predator stalking its prey, and I wasn't ignorant or deluded this time; I was very much Jasper's prey in this. When he reached my side, he leaned in close, his hands resting on the bed's edge and seductively purred, "Do you want it to?"

I shivered at the contact of his breath on my skin, but my defiance reared up the way it always did. I averted my eyes, scowled and snapped, "No."

"Don't lie, sugar." His tone was confident, and he was still smirking as he climbed onto the bed and situated himself next to me. He was on his side, his head propped on his hand as he stared. "I know you want me, Bella. You think you're so good at hiding it, but I've always been able to smell it—in the alley in Louisville, off and on since you moved in, Thanksgiving ... now. You can't deny it."

Goddamn it!

"I can actually," I insisted stubbornly, refusing to look at him. If I did, he would see it was a lie.

Jasper chuckled and there was a mocking quality to it. "Not with any conviction."

I flipped onto my side to face him and pressed my hand to his chest with the intention of shoving him off the bed. He caught my wrist instead and jerked, pulling me flush against him.

"What the hell, Jasper?" I demanded, attempting to sound furious—I was furious—but it came out too unsteady to be effective.

"You want me, Bella," he repeated, sliding my hand up his chest and around the back of his neck.

My breath and heart began to stutter almost painfully, my panties dampening traitorously and proving him right, and my hand tangled in his hair of its own volition.

"See?" he said, a trace of triumph in his voice.

"What are you doing? We both agreed Louisville was a one time thing," I came back at him, not pulling away or bothering to deny his claim any longer. I couldn't. My body was singing an entirely different tune than my mouth.

"We did, which is why I'm fixing that," he breathed as he pressed his lips to my neck and sucked, sending tingles of pleasure on a fiery course throughout my body.

"I don't follow," I gasped, tightening the hand in his hair to a fist and using it to tug him closer. My other hand snaked around to his back, and I dug my fingernails into his hard skin that still gave just a little under the pressure. My leg, on instinct, swung over his hip and tugged that part of him closer as well. That was when I felt just how much he wanted me too. His hardness aligned with my center perfectly and made me ache for him even more.

Damn it!

Jasper groaned against my skin. "That one time never actually happened. I'm fixing it."

"We can't," I argued feebly, trying to make my hands let him go so I could push him away. They refused to cooperate.

"We can," he retorted.

"The others—" I continued to argue, but it was even weaker than the first.

"Aren't here," he said. "You're running out of excuses, Bella. You want this. I want this. Don't fight it."

I didn't. He was just so damn persuasive and charismatic, his voice both silky and rough, and I did want him.

"Kiss me." It wasn't a breath or a whisper, but it wasn't an order either. It was a request I hoped Jasper would grant. I wanted his soft but slightly chapped-looking lips against mine, to know if they felt the same against my own as they did everywhere else.

"You know I won't," he murmured, nipping a trail down my throat.

I was disappointed, but I didn't argue with him this time. I signalled for him to sit up instead. He complied, and I couldn't drag his shirt up and over his head fast enough. The sight of his bare chest, his scent and the feel of him underneath my fingertips sent my heart into overdrive, the heat in my veins nearly consuming me.

It occurred to me then that this wasn't a good idea—it was a very, very bad idea in fact, just like it was the first time—and it was surely happening at a pace that was too quick for my inexperience. I also realized I didn't care. It was only once. It would never happen again, it wouldn't mean anything—any time I did something like this in the future it never would, never could—and I was still leaving.

Then Jasper caught my earlobe between his teeth, growled, "Stop thinking," and I couldn't anymore. The fire was too damn out of control to extinguish, and he felt too fucking good to continue questioning.

He pulled me onto his lap, and I didn't put up a fight. My shirt was next to be discarded, and his hand found my cotton-covered breast, cupping it. My hips bucked at the sensation, and I felt him twitch beneath me, a familiar low rumble sounding in his chest. Jasper pushed the material of my bra aside, his fingers finding my nipple and rolling it. I may not have felt it the way a normal person would, but the cool sensation of his touch on my bare, hardened peak was heavenly, and I'd never forgotten what it felt like over my clothes. I bit my bottom lip to keep from crying out, but Jasper didn't like that. He ran his thumb over it with enough pressure to free it, then took it between his teeth, bit down gently and sucked, slowly backing away until my lip was released from between his with a pop.

"I've been wanting to do that," he rasped. I whimpered.

It wasn't a kiss, but I would take it.

Now I had to make a move. If we were going to do this, he couldn't do everything—not like the last time—and I wanted to participate. I wanted to touch him, so I kissed along his collarbone, alternating between my lips, tongue and teeth the way he'd done to me.

Jasper hissed, his hands gripping my hips. "Keep doing that," he ordered, beginning to grind me slowly against his cock.

Ordinarily I would have balked at his order—I did not take orders anymore—but I obeyed it without question. For once I didn't mind. I didn't understand that at all, and I would be furious about it later, but it didn't matter now.

My fingers traced paths over the cool ridges of muscle on his chest and torso as I switched to his other collarbone. His breathing sped up; so did the speed he moved me over his cock. I moaned at the friction, the air that escaped my lungs passing over the slick path I'd left on his skin from my kisses. Jasper shivered and let out a moan of his own.

The next thing I knew, I was on my back with Jasper hovering over me. The fingers of one of his hands were dancing up and down my side, making me writhe underneath him, while the other still gripped my hip.

"What do you want, Bella?" he asked gruffly.

He was gazing intently at me. His eyes were black, which was confusing; he was acting anything but angry. There was caring in his eyes too, but they didn't communicate things like "you're beautiful" or "you're perfect," the way most girls might hope to see there when they lost their virginity. I was okay with that. I didn't need it. All I needed was for his touch not to make my skin crawl and it never had. That was enough.

"Touch me," I commanded softly, unsure where my brazenness was coming from.

Jasper purposely removed his hands from my body and raised up so that there was no longer an inch of us in contact, holding himself over me in a partially completed push-up—he was teasing me. He pressed his lips to my chin and trailed them back along my jawline until he reached my ear, kissing the sensitive skin just behind it.

"Where?" he murmured.

I whimpered unintelligibly in protest, fucking whimpered. Asshole!

I grabbed at his hands, trying to make him touch me, but he resisted. I growled in frustration, expecting Jasper to chuckle or smirk, but he didn't. He just continued to watch me hungrily, taunting, "I'm not laying a hand on you until you tell me where you want me to put them."

"Anywhere, everywhere," I cried, sounding rather desperate to my own ears. Another embarrassing thing I would probably be furious about later.

Jasper's expression didn't change, only intensified, and he gazed at me for a long time ... so long it was driving me fucking crazy with need and also beginning to fill me with a sense of dread, but then he moved so that his knees rested between mine, shifting his weight onto them, and that tiny bloom of apprehension withered away. It shouldn't have because Jasper didn't give me what I wanted. His demeanor shifted entirely; he wrenched my left hand into his, pinning it between our bodies, and yanked, pulling me forward so violently it nearly dislocated my wrist. The motion brought us up into a sitting position, and he twisted my hand so that it was palm up in his, my forearm matching the angle. Then he tore the cuff bracelet off my wrist to reveal the Omega tattoo emblazoned on the cream-colored skin, the pointed blade of my hidden knife glinting and sharp in the firelight, and stared at the bold black shape for several seconds before he met my eyes again. There was a look of disdain on his face, a disgust in his eyes, that made me feel sick.

"I would never touch a freak, and I would certainly never fuck one!" Jasper spat venomously. "That's right, Bella. I know what you are. I know where you came from. I know you're a freak."

I attempted to free myself from his iron grasp, ignoring his callous words. They didn't matter right now. All that mattered was getting my bracelet back on, but no matter how hard I jerked, his grip didn't budge.

"Let go of me, Jasper!" I commanded harshly. "Whatever you think of me, you don't know what you're doing, you don't know what will happen if you don't let go. You need to let go of me right now."

"Will hunters come for you?" he asked. "Because they should. You don't belong here, Bella. You don't belong with us. You belong there, at Fort Ares, with them. That's where a freak like you belongs. In a science lab."

The tattoo on my wrist began to burn, the ink slowly lightening from black to gray and moving on to white. "Don't do this. Let me go, Jasper!"

"Or what? Will you kill me, Bella?" he taunted, a little smile on his face and an iciness and indifference in his eyes I'd never seen before. "That's what you are, who you are. That's what they made in that lab when they created you. They made a freak, a killer! Are you going to be what they made you? Are you going to kill me?"

"If I have to," I said, the words coming so calmly, so apathetically, that they should have scared me. They didn't. "You can't run from who you were made to be forever ..."

My eyes popped open, the fingers of my right hand immediately reaching for the bracelet on my left wrist. It was still there and the throbbing ache between my thighs was very real, but Jasper was nowhere to be found. His scent lingered in my room, but it was stale ... days old. He hadn't been in my room.

It was a dream. None of it had been real. God, my subconscious was fucked up. Not wrong but definitely fucked up.

My racing heart calmed in my chest, and it was only then that I realized my cheeks were wet. I didn't know why the tears were there: because of what Jasper had said in my dream, because of what he'd done, what could have happened because of it or because of how cavalier I'd been about killing him if he didn't let me go. I wiped at the tears vigorously, scrubbing at my face until it felt like I'd scraped a few layers of skin off. The sting was welcome.

I stumbled out of bed and changed into clothes appropriate for running, scrambling down the stairs as fast as I could without appearing to be anything more than a human in a hurry. The walls were closing in on me. I felt like a trapped animal, and I needed to run. I didn't care that it was half-past two in the morning and that my vampire housemates might find it odd. I needed to run.

"Bella, dear, it's so early," Esme commented. "Can't you sleep?" She took in my clothes and frowned. "Are you going somewhere?"

"Running," I said tersely, barely looking at her as I made my way to the garage door. As I walked, I decided that running wasn't the best idea. Now that I knew what the Cullens were, they didn't restrict their hunting to brief trips during daylight hours or the weekends. There was still a chance that one of them or a Quileute might witness me moving in a way that a human shouldn't be able to. Swimming would be better. I could dive down deep enough that the water would conceal me and the the things I was capable of. I could really open up without the risk or the stress of anyone—vampire, wolf or human—witnessing my abilities. I could swim out as far as I needed to, until all this energy wasn't making me crazy anymore, until I "outran" this sense of horror and foreboding ... of inevitability.

"At 2:30 in the morning?" Alice questioned, frowning.

"Yes," I snapped. I didn't mean to, but I wasn't in the best headspace. Alice's face fell. I'd hurt her feelings.

Fuck! I would apologize to her later, when I was better. It wouldn't mean anything now, not when my head was so fucked up.

"Bella?" It was Jasper's voice, floating to me as he ambled down the stairs, Peter and Charlotte, as ever, on his heels. They were like a little fucking flock.

I recoiled as though I'd been slapped at the sound of it, clenching my jaw for a moment as I composed myself and pulled on a mask of nonchalance. I didn't acknowledge him or his little followers, only gave a more elaborate explanation to Esme and Alice. "I get keyed up sometimes, my energy skyrockets and I can't sit still, so I run until I feel normal again. I'll be back in time for school."

I didn't wait for a response from anyone, just made my way to the garage, grabbed a random set of keys and took off.

"... you're a freak ... You don't belong here, Bella. You don't belong with us," echoed in my head in that rich, cold honey tone, repeating on a relentless loop that damn near drove me crazy.

I felt a warm trickle of wetness sliding down the left side of my face; my ear was bleeding again, and my head was throbbing with pain. To add insult to injury, my chest was aching like a son of a bitch, and I was itching too.

"I know I don't," I breathed to the open road. Maybe Jasper was right. Maybe I really did belong at Fort Ares. Then I remembered all the things they'd done to me, everything they'd put me through, and I knew he wasn't. I didn't belong at Fort Ares, but if I didn't belong there and I didn't belong here—which I had always known—where did I belong? Maybe there just wasn't a place for a freak like me in this world.

oOo

CharPOV

"Are you sure this is what we have to do, Peter?" I questioned, uncertain. My mate had already explained everything to me, and it made sense in theory, but it still seemed like a colossally bad idea.

We were standing at our lockers in the Science building before our first period History class, and the students of Forks High School were moving around us like a swarm of bees, constantly buzzing. We were currently buzzing, in the literal sense—speaking at vampire speed. Since we'd come to Forks High later in the school year, we hadn't been able to get lockers in the same building as the others: Alice and Edward in the Arts building and Jasper, Emmett and Rosalie in the English/Humanities building. Though Bella had come along even later than we had, she'd been placed in the Arts building with Edward and Alice. Our separation from the others was good. It meant my mate and I could discuss our plot openly without interference from our family, but we still had to keep it covert for the humans' sake; hence, the rapid-fire vampire conversation.

"You doubt me, darlin'?" he asked, looking wounded. I hated that I'd put that expression on his face, but I had to ask.

"No, it's not that, babe. I swear," I assured him. "I know you explained things to me and all, and I'm not sayin' it doesn't make sense ... it's just, I thought we were gonna go about this subtly. This just doesn't seem all that subtle."

"The subtlety has to be in the Major, himself, figurin' out that Bella is his mate," he told me, as he had the night he'd broken the news about what she and Jasper were to each other. "We don't necessarily need to be subtle about gettin' him to realize he's got feelings for the girl."

"I cannot believe we didn't pick up on that!" I huffed irritably. I was truly angry with myself, with both of us, for not figuring that out at least. The signs had been there. It was obvious now.

"Sugar, we know the guy inside and out, but never, in all the time we've known him, have we ever seen him have actual romantic feelings for a woman. Lust, yes, but never anything deeper. His relationship with Kate is different than his one-night fucks. The one he had with Alice was too but those feelings have always been friendship with a side of nookie, nothin' more," Peter comforted me, laying a hand on my shoulder. "As well as we know Jasper, he can still be a difficult fucker to read if you don't know what to look for, and in this case, we didn't. Now we do, and we're gonna make use of that knowledge."

"And this is the best way to do it?" I still questioned. I trusted Peter, I did. I just didn't want this to end in disaster, and with the way Jasper had been losing his shit, though he had been getting a little better lately, it was entirely likely.

"Jealousy usually does the trick, sweetheart," he replied with a smirk.

I chuckled. He was right about that. The question was, would Jasper recognize that it was jealousy he was feeling? He was an empath, a brilliant one, which made him great at figuring out other people's feelings; unfortunately, it muddled his perception of his own ... except for pain—that was one he could never mistake or confuse. Not being able to figure out what he was feeling had always been a problem for him, and that was all Maria and Savannah's doing.

"Alright then," I agreed, giving him the go-ahead. "Let's get this show on the road. The bell for first period will be ringin' in a few minutes."

He leaned in and brushed his lips across mine, and I hated him a little then. How the hell was I supposed to concentrate now when fire was coursing through my veins at the feel of any part of him pressed against my skin?

Bastard! He smirked like he just knew what I was thinking. Of course he did, because my husband knew just about everything, even though he'd been hit-and-miss lately. That was why I was going along with this hair-brained, potentially disastrous scheme of his ... because he was sure about it just the same as he was about Bella and Jasper being mates, and I really did trust him. The only person who outmatched his strategical genius was Jasper.

"You really want to go to the Winter Formal, babe?" Peter said at a quiet human volume but not so quiet that we couldn't be overheard by the person we were targeting.

"Absolutely, sugar," I crooned, running my index finger down Pete's cheek and smiling at him softly. I loved the man so damn much. "Emmett, Rosalie, Edward, Alice and Jasper are goin', and it has been forever since we've been to a dance. Don't you want me to get all dressed up and pretty for you?"

His hands wound around my waist, and he pulled me closer, his face lighting up at my question. "You all gussied up for me? Hot damn, woman, there's nothin' I'd like more!" Peter enthused sincerely. "But what about Bella? Is she goin'?"

"I don't know," I answered with a frown. "She really wants to, but no one's asked her yet. I really think she'd like to go with a date."

That line was absolute bullshit. Neither of us had any clue if Bella wanted to go to the Winter Formal. We didn't even know if she was a dance kind of girl, and we hadn't even planted the seed with her yet to feel her out on it. We hadn't discussed it with Jasper either, though we had with everyone else. Alice and Rose were down—give them any excuse to dress up and look hot, and they were all over it. Edward and Emmett would go because they would do almost anything to please their women without a second thought. None of them knew our motives behind wanting to go, but they couldn't. It wasn't necessary for them to, and we still needed to keep all this classified.

However this played out, Bella and Jasper needed to remain clueless of our involvement because Peter just knew our scheme was going to work, and ambushes weren't effective if those they were meant for knew about them. The beauty of this plan was that they wouldn't even know it was an ambush or that we had manipulated the course of events.

Despite my reservations, I was eager to see how this would play out. I no longer had a problem with Bella being Jasper's mate, was actually happy about it. When they got along they were actually kind of adorable, and adorable was not a word I ever thought I would associate with Jasper Whitlock. I really did want to get things moving along.

"It'll be a damn shame if Bella doesn't go," Peter lamented, sighing. "A girl that hot does not need a date, but she should have one. The guys at this school are fuckin' crazy if they don't get on that shit soon."

"Definitely," I agreed.

The bell rang, and Peter and I laced our fingers together and headed off to first period, but not before we observed the fruits of our labor—Tyler Crowley had the locker next to ours, he'd heard every word we said, and he was salivating like a starving dog at the sight of a juicy steak.

We smirked. Now we just had to sit back and wait ... wait for everything to go smoothly, wait for the shit to hit the fan, I didn't know. We just had to wait and see. In this instance, those two things might actually be one in the same, so we were going to have to brace ourselves.

oOo

That night ...

BPOV

I had to work today. I was always happy to because it got me out of the house and away from the Cullens. Even after more than a month, I still hadn't really adjusted to constantly being around people, and the space was very much welcome and needed. I was especially happy about it today. I needed the distraction from the dream I couldn't get out of my head. Swimming had helped, and if I could have gotten away with it, I would have remained immersed beneath the ocean all fucking day. I'd still be there right now, in fact.

Leah and I were working a later shift at Diamond in the Rough. The latest we could stay was 10:30 on a school night since we were minors, and it was currently quarter after. Tyler Crowley had been sitting in my section since 7:00, and all he'd ordered was pie and coffee. The pie here was exceptional—Laurie also had her hand in the local bakery, which was a huge reason why that place was also a roaring success, and she served all the baked goods from there here as well. Tyler's table was littered with half-eaten slices of pie, each a different flavor, and I had to have refilled his coffee mug a dozen times since he'd come in. He'd looked nervous since he'd set foot in the diner and had gotten progressively more so as he continued to consume such large amounts of caffeine and sugar.

"Hey, Tyler," I said as I approached his table. "I clock out in a few minutes. Ellen will be taking over for me when I leave, so I thought I'd give you a head's up."

Tyler jumped at the sound of my voice, fidgeting and looking sheepish when he gazed up at me. "Do you think you can take a second and sit?"

I frowned, confused, but sat anyway. I didn't have a whole lot of time, but Tyler's disposition had me kind of concerned. "Sure. What's up?"

He bit his lip and dropped his eyes to his lap. When he brought them back to me, he picked up his fork and began to cut his unfinished slice of chocolate cream pie into small pieces of mush.

"Uh ... IwaswonderingifyouwouldgotoWinterFormalwithme?" he rushed out, blushing and averting his eyes again. He hadn't phrased it as a question, but his voice still lilted upward at the end as though he had.

His words were almost impossible to understand, but I did. I asked him to repeat himself anyway just to make sure I wasn't hallucinating. "What?"

Tyler blushed harder. He was a confident guy, sweet for the most part but cocky at times. It was strange to see him uncertain. "I was wondering if you would go to Winter Formal with me."

I stared at him for quite a while, unsure how to respond. I had never been asked to a dance before. I had never been in a position to be asked to a dance. Did I even want to go to the Winter Formal? I hadn't really thought about it, and he had caught me totally off guard. "Can I think about it?"

He paled, looking heartily disappointed at my answer. I felt kind of bad, but I wasn't going to budge.

"Sure. I guess." Tyler nodded. The tone of his voice suggested he hadn't been expecting me to hesitate and that irked me.

"Thanks," I said appreciatively, effectively masking my irritation. "Hey, do you mind keeping this to yourself until I decide? I don't want to get sucked into the black hole known as the gossip chain at Forks High."

Tyler rolled his eyes and snorted. "Are you kidding? You think I want all the guys to give me shit if you shut me down?"

I shrugged. "I gotta get back to work," I told him, getting up and hurrying away before he could say anything else.

I brought him his bill soon after even though he hadn't asked for it. We settled it without exchanging another word.

oOo

Tuesday, December 1st, 2080

I didn't have to work after school the next day which sucked. It gave me too much time to agonize over my dream and what to do about Tyler's proposition. What almost sucked even more was having to tell Jasper that we weren't going to visit Chaos. We'd gone again on Saturday as well as on Sunday, both times after I'd gotten off work, and it had been great. After we were done working with "our" horse, we talked about stupid shit, never again bringing up any of the heavier stuff we'd discussed on our first outing or anything else weighty, and were truly getting to know each other. The more I learned, the more I liked him—as a friend—but every time my gaze drifted in his direction, the images and words from my dream hit me so hard it was like a brutal punch to the gut. I could hardly be in the same room with Jasper whether there were others present or not. There was no fucking way I could be alone with him. He was disappointed and that was tough for me to see. I had once relished in pissing him off, but now it made me uneasy despite the harshness of my dream.

I did my best to push all that aside. Though I was torn and confused over it, focusing on Tyler asking me to the Winter Formal was easier. The lesser of two evils and all that.

A knock resounded on my bedroom door. I didn't look at it when I invited the person in; I didn't want to see the echo of Jasper standing there instead.

The person was Charlotte. "Hey, sug," she greeted with a smile. "You want to grab coffee or something?"

I smiled back at her, grateful for the excuse to get out of the house. "Yeah."

oOo

Forks actually had a Starbucks despite how small of a town it was. Perhaps it was because it wasn't all that far from Seattle. I didn't particularly care because it gave Charlotte and I a place to go at eight o'clock on a Tuesday night that wasn't my place of work. As good as Diamond in the Rough's coffee was, unless I was earning a paycheck, that wasn't where I wanted to be tonight. Of course, because Forks was so small there wasn't really anywhere else to go but Starbucks if the diner was out.

So there Charlotte and I sat in a corner of the coffee shop, both curled up on oversized, overstuffed armchairs with hot drinks in our hands. Mine was hot chocolate (I tried to consume as little caffeine as possible and I had heard chocolate was a girl's best friend in a situation like the one I was in) while Charlotte was pretending to sip on a caramel macchiato. We were quiet for a while, which I didn't mind. I liked being able to coexist without a lot of conversation, and as much as I liked her, that wasn't possible to do with Alice.

"Any reason in particular you wanted to grab coffee you won't drink?" I queried finally, lifting my hot chocolate to my lips.

Charlotte shrugged, mimicking me but not actually taking a sip. "I thought we could get a jump on becoming friends. It seemed like a nice idea. Hot drink on a cold day and all."

"So you don't want to rip my throat out anymore?"

Charlotte laughed, setting her cup down on the little table in between our chairs and regarding me with amusement. "No, I don't want to rip your throat out anymore."

I let out a breath and made an impulse decision. I really needed advice. "If I tell you something, will you promise not to squeal or bounce or do anything overtly girly?"

Charlotte cocked an eyebrow, and her expression twisted with interest and sincerity. "I promise."

I bit my lip and took another gulp of hot chocolate. "Tyler Crowley asked me to the Winter Formal."

"Did he now?" Her eyes were sparkling, and it almost looked as though she wanted to laugh.

I scowled at her, bunching up a napkin and debating whether or not to throw it at her. "Yes," I said through gritted teeth. "Why don't you seem surprised?"

"Because I'm not," Charlotte responded. "Someone was bound to ask you, sugar. What did you say?"

I sighed irritably. Why was someone bound to ask me? "I told him I needed to think about it."

Her brows furrowed. "Why?"

"I've never been asked to a dance before!" I exclaimed in exasperation. "I'm not even sure I want to go!"

"Why wouldn't you want to go?" she asked, her attention focused solely on me.

Charlotte was really listening to me, really paying attention and wanting to help me out. I could see it in her eyes and it surprised me. I felt close to her all of a sudden, but I was still irritated. "Could you please stop asking me that!"

"Well," she responded patiently. "Assuming is never a good thing, but I have to at least reason that you told me Tyler asked you because you're lookin' for some guidance. Am I right?"

I took a long slug of hot chocolate and rubbed my eyes as I thought. "Yeah, you are, and I wasn't sure who to ask about it. I really wouldn't be able to stomach asking Alice because—"

"Because of the squealing, bouncing and overt girliness?" Charlotte guessed knowingly.

"Yes," I cringed. "Alice is great, but I really can't take that, not now."

"Which is totally understandable," she assured me. "I love the girl, but sometimes she's a bit much. And, honey, I can't help you if I don't ask why."

"I'm just—" I floundered, throwing my hands up. "It's a high school dance!"

A masquerade ball for the purpose of kidnapping a high society douchebag to complete an important mission was an easy thing for me to tackle, but a high school dance? I couldn't see myself at one. Would I even know how to act?

"And you go to high school," Charlotte pointed out. "It's part of the gig. Pete and I are goin'. So are the rest of the kids."

"Oh." I hadn't really thought about whether or not the rest of the Cullens were going, but it should have occurred to me. An excuse for Alice to go shopping? Of course Alice was going.

"So if you do decide to go, you won't be stuck strictly with Tyler," she said. "You still haven't told me why you wouldn't want to go."

"I've just never really thought about dances before, I guess," I admitted. Unless they involve covert operations.

"Then it's a good thing Tyler asked you," Charlotte beamed, "because dances are the kinds of things you should be thinkin' about. It's something kids with normal childhoods do, and that's kind of the point of you bein' here, isn't it?"

Normal. That was the word that brought everything into perspective, but I still had one major concern. "What if he wants it to be a date?"

"Do you want it to be a date?" she asked.

"No," I immediately insisted. I did not want it to be a date. The last time someone asked me on a date I had shortly thereafter landed in jail and eventually the morgue over it. Tyler was nice enough, attractive enough, but I didn't like him in that way, and even if he wanted it to be a date, it wouldn't be because he liked me. Even if I did like Tyler, dating was still not an option for me.

"I have never seen you have a problem settin' boundaries in all the time I've known you, Bella," Charlotte said, a tinge of laughter in her tone.

"You're right about that," I agreed, biting my lip as I thought. "Well, I guess I'm going to the Winter Formal with Tyler."

"Excellent decision," she praised, a happy expression overtaking her features. "I think we'll have fun, sugar."

I hoped so. The Winter Formal would be the last bit of normal I'd get before I left the Cullens—it was taking place on the twelfth of December, and with the exclusion of the time I'd spent taking care of Derek Henry, that was when my six weeks were up. I would be leaving the next day.

oOo

Wednesday, December 2nd, 2080

BPOV

I had told Tyler in our third period Spanish class to come to the diner later. I was working, and I wanted to be able to talk to him in a place that wasn't filled with people dying for any little tidbit of information on who was dating whom.

Later was now, and I was about to give the very anxious guy sitting in the back corner booth across from me the answer to his proposal.

"I'll go to Winter Formal with you, Tyler," I told him with no fanfare.

A huge grin spread across his face, and he pumped his fist enthusiastically. "Yes!"

I gave him a pointed look, and he brought his arm down underneath the table quickly, looking embarrassed. "Sorry," Tyler apologized, but he didn't look or sound sorry at all.

"This isn't a date," I informed him, trying not to sound cold or irked. "It's just two people going to a dance together. That's all."

"Yeah, of course," he agreed hastily, his smile turning a bit forced.

I finally smiled back at him. "Good."

"Are you gonna, like, give me your number or something so we can make plans?" he asked, face returning to an eagerness that didn't make sense to me.

"We have to do that now?" I questioned, confused. The dance was two weeks away.

Tyler frowned, disheartened. "Well ... I guess you could give it to me next week ... if that's what you want."

"Um, no ... I'll give it to you now," I said awkwardly, scribbling it on a napkin and pushing it at him.

"Thanks," he said. His tone was bright and heightened my unease over all this.

"I have to get back to work."

I was so fucking glad I could use that as an excuse to get away from the discomfort the idea of giving him my phone number had brought about. He better not assume he could use it for anything other than dance plans.

oOo

Thursday, December 3rd, 2080

JPOV

Bella had been distancing herself from me for three days now, acting almost exactly as I had toward her when I found out she knew about my time in the Civil War. The problem was, I had no idea what I'd done to make her feel the need. The only thing that made even a lick of sense was how she'd reacted to seeing me in nothing but my boxer briefs on Thanksgiving, and my God, had that reaction been strong. The scent of her had nearly brought me to my knees, and it had taken all of my strength and control to keep from letting her know just how much her arousal affected me that day. It was a fuckin' relief to know I affected her, even if it was because of the fact that I was an unnaturally attractive vampire. At least I knew it wasn't because I had her pinned to a wall.

Though it was the only feasible explanation, it also made no sense at all. Three days had gone by since Thanksgiving before she'd truly begun to avoid me, and in the three days of resolute evasion since, we hadn't gone to see Chaos. I missed him, but mostly, I missed talking with Bella. She was interesting and funny, honest, even if we didn't discuss anything deeper than movies we liked or more books we'd read.

I was waiting in her room, hoping to get to the bottom of what was going on when she showed up. The distance between us made me more uncomfortable than I cared to admit, even if I'd actually managed to do it. Our friendship was nice and things really had been easier at home with our truce in place. I didn't want to lose that. I had to fix it.

"Yeah, that's fine," I heard Bella say as she walked down the hallway towards her room, close enough so that the soundproofing wasn't the least bit effective.

"Are you sure?" a voice sounded that made me grit my teeth. Why the fuck would Bella be talking on the phone with him?

"Yes," she responded, barely able to conceal her exasperation. I knew because she'd used that tone with me so many times.

"Are you really sure?" Tyler Crowley checked. "I really did want to get a limo, and Mike, Jessica, Gavin and Lauren were all willing to chip in, but the rental place in Port Angeles was booked since it's kind of last minute."

"Yes," Bella repeated, still exasperated. "It's just a high school dance, Tyler, and from what I know of them, limos are more of a prom thing. This is only the Winter Formal. I'll survive."

I repeat, What the fuck?

The teenage douchebag let out a sigh of what I assumed was relief. "So long as you promise it's really okay. I mean, you're not just doing that shady chick thing where you say it's okay, but you're actually secretly pissed and plotting ways to castrate me, are you?"

I'll castrate your ass, you little shit! the Major snarled suddenly, catching me off guard. My fists tightened into claws around Bella's comforter, tearing the fabric.

She walked through her door in time for me to see her eyes roll and froze when she saw me sitting on her bed. Our gazes locked. She didn't answer Tyler.

"Bella?" he questioned.

"Yeah, Tyler, it really is fine," she said again, not moving her eyes from mine. "Where's the confident guy I know?"

Tyler laughed nervously. "I guess I just want things to be perfect. I'm really glad you decided to go with me, Bella."

"Sure, Tyler. We'll have fun," Bella responded distractedly. "We'll talk at school or something."

She hung up, tucked her phone into her backpack and dropped it to the floor before she asked me evenly, "What are you doing in my room?"

I stood up, my back went ramrod straight, my teeth ground together even harder and my eyes narrowed. I ignored her question, actually forgetting what I'd been doing in her room in the first place. I was too enraged. "Are you fuckin' kidding me? You're goin' to the Winter Formal with Tyler fuckin' Crowley?"

"Yes," she said slowly, impassively.

"Why in the hell would you do that?" I demanded. I had no idea why I was so fuckin' angry ... at first, until I remembered— "The kid nearly killed you!"

"That was an accident, Jasper," Bella responded, still calm.

"It was not a fuckin' accident!" I seethed. "He was bein' fuckin' reckless!"

"In case you've forgotten, humans don't have perfect vision and reflexes!" Bella snapped, losing her cool and letting out a bitter snort; it was a bitterness I didn't understand. Did she resent me for having enhanced abilities and using them to save her life?

She can fuck off if that's what that is about, the Major grumbled. We're awesome, and we're not sorry.

"That little jackass has lived in Forks his whole damn life, Bella!" I yelled, ignoring my continual shotgun companion and whatever the hell bullshit he was spouting off. "Whether he could see it or not, Tyler knows perfectly fuckin' well about black ice, and he was speedin' around, playin' Russian Roulette anyway! I cannot believe you would give that waste of fuckin' space the time of day! Goin' to a dance with him has got to be the stupidest thing I have ever seen you do!"

Every vampire currently in the house—Peter, Charlotte, Rosalie, Emmett, Alice and Edward—came flying up the stairs as it became obvious that Bella's and my argument had only just begun, Peter and Charlotte probably also because he just knew that some serious shit might go down. They didn't burst into the room, nor were they crowded in the doorway, but they were peeking around the edges; that didn't mean they wouldn't storm in here at some point. Bella and I hadn't yet given them a reason to interfere, but things were definitely getting nasty.

They'd better not fuckin' interfere! the Major threatened lowly.

The latter four's emotions were going haywire. Concern, wariness, fear, distress, confusion, anger, curiosity. They were all swirling around like a fuckin' tornado, and they needed to tamp that shit down. I was already pissed enough without their emotions added into the mix. Peter's and Charlotte's emotions were the only ones that weren't totally detrimental to my state of mind. They were on high alert, anticipatory, curious just like the others, but lacking the chaotic tenor. They were calm, cool, collected—prepared.

"I'm going with him because he asked me," she replied coolly, after having taken a deep breath. "And because I've never been to a dance."

"So you've never been to a dance," I bit out, my eyes turning black. "You don't need a goddamn date to go to one! And it still doesn't explain why you would go with that snot-nosed jackass. You didn't have to say yes just because he asked!"

"Maybe I want a date, Jasper!" Bella shouted, losing her just re-captured composure, her own eyes going dark with wrath and her hands balling into fists at her sides. She wanted to hit me ... that much was clear. I didn't give a fuck. "And who I go to a fucking dance with is none of your damn business!"

"You said you don't date!" I yelled back, my own hands clenching. Red was creeping around the edges of my vision, and I felt like I could lose it. Our audience was getting restless.

"I also said that anything to do with me dating is none of your damn business!" Bella countered furiously.

I hadn't actually known it was a date and hearing that it was made my chest feel tight. "It isn't my business, and I do not give a shit who you date or who you fuck for that matter!" I bellowed.

Bella's mouth dropped open in shock and rage at my statement, but I didn't care. I wasn't sorry, and I meant it. Who she might hop into bed with at some point was the last thing I gave a shit about, and I wasn't saying I actually thought she would sleep with Tyler Crowley; Bella wasn't a slut. I had never thought she was one, and fucking Tyler wouldn't change that. She was a healthy teenage girl, and they had hormones and needs. There was absolutely nothing wrong with that, though I had to admit the idea of her being with someone made me kind of uncomfortable. That didn't mean I cared.

The Major snorted. I wasn't sure at what exactly, but I ignored him.

She stalked forward with deadly purpose and shoved me. I stood my ground; I didn't have to let her move me with her pushes like I had in the alley in Louisville. She now knew I was a vampire, so I didn't have to keep up appearances. Bella managed to send me staggering a few steps back anyway. Then she tried to slap me, probably for my crack about who she might sleep with; I guess I hadn't made it clear that I wasn't saying she would, and she didn't take it well. I caught her hand before her palm connected with my face. A bolt of lightning shot up my arm and zinged through my body like the ball hitting all the top-scoring spots in a pinball machine. I ignored that too.

Wrenching her hand free from my grip, her chest heaving in rage, Bella shoved me again; I let her. I needed the violence between us. I wouldn't hurt her, but I was so fuckin' pissed off and frustrated it had me keyed up and ready to snap. She continued to shove me until my back hit the wall by her fireplace with a thud and continued to shove me still.

And she claims you like pinning people to walls, the Major snickered.

"I thought—" shove, thud— "we were finally—" shove, thud— "good!" Bella shouted, punctuating her last word with yet another shove even though I had just hit the wall again and had yet to rebound from it far enough for there to be another thud. If she wasn't careful she was going to hurt herself. "Why do you—" shove, thud— "have to be—" shove, thud— "such a bastard?" This time when she went to shove me, I caught her by the tops of her arms and held her in place. "Why do you ruin everything?"

Her last question hit me like a freight train, and my hands tightened on her reflexively. As much as I wanted to lie to myself, her words cut me to the bone.

"Because that's what I do," I spat venomously, squeezing her even tighter. I was only partially aware of the heat of her skin under mine or the possibility that I could bruise her if I wasn't careful. "Haven't you figured that out yet?"

Then I pushed Bella away, releasing her so fast it was as if she'd burned me. In a way, Bella fuckin' Crawfield had been burning me since the moment I laid eyes on her, and I was so fuckin' tired of it.

She stumbled backwards, and I stomped passed her, intent on getting as far away from her as I could so I could yet again attempt to figure out why this odd human girl affected me the way she did. It was a question I hadn't asked myself in weeks in order to avoid being driven crazy by my inevitable confusion and inability to find an answer, but I felt the need to revisit it. Bella, however, had other plans.

Her hand closed around my bicep, halting me in my tracks. Why I actually stopped, I couldn't for the life of me figure out, but I did nonetheless. I did not, however, turn to face her when she tried to make me. She moved around me instead and met my eyes. The look in hers was remorseful.

"Jasper, I'm sorry," she uttered. "That was the wrong thing to say."

She'd said she was sorry for saying it, not that she didn't mean it.

I grabbed her again, twisting us around and forcing her back against the wall I'd just been pressed up against. "Don't apologize when you don't fuckin' mean it."

The remorse fled her gaze in an instant. "Don't tell me what I do or do not mean!"

I let out a frustrated roar. "Why do you always feel the need to test my limits, Bella? Why? Do you have any idea how fuckin' dangerous I am?"

"Because you're a vampire?" she queried, scoffing, as fire filled the void of the remorse. "And I test your limits because you insist on testing mine!"

"Yes!" I shouted, focusing on her first statement and not her closing remark. I leaned in so that we were nose to nose. Still my brothers and sisters did not move to break up our argument. In the back of my mind, I registered that my adoptive siblings' emotions revealed just how at war they were over their desire to. Peter and Charlotte were uneasy over the whole thing but willing to let the chips fall where they may; otherwise, everyone would already have made a move. "But not just because of what I am but because of who I am. I am the most volatile creature in this house, and every time you goad me, every time you run that fuckin' mouth of yours, I get so close to snappin' your neck! One of these days, I will snap your neck, or I'll sink my teeth into you and drain you dry. With the way you insist on pushin' me, I won't even give a fuck!"

"Do it," Bella challenged defiantly, her expression steely. "I dare you."

Her provocation only fueled my fury, and the red that had only been a haze thickened and closed in around my vision even tighter. "Don't you have any regard for your life at all? What the hell is wrong with you?"

"Many things are wrong with me," she declared. "One thing that isn't is my ability to see what's right in front of my face, the fact that I didn't notice at first that you and your family are vampires notwithstanding. You think I don't know that you, out of everyone else in this house, are the biggest threat to me? I figured that out the second I met you, Jasper Whitlock!"

Her statement surprised me, though I suppose it shouldn't have, but I didn't let it show. She went to pull that fancy shit that caught me off guard in the alley in Louisville, hooking her foot behind my ankle to start the process of turning the tables and pinning me to the wall.

"Oh no, sugar," I drawled menacingly, standing firm, immovable. "That shit is not gonna work this time."

"You know when you told me I wouldn't know you were stalking me until you moved in for the kill?" Bella continued on as though I hadn't spoken, her eyes still fiery. "I think you lied. I think I'd go to my grave none the wiser unless you wanted me to be. I know how dangerous you are," she repeated with emphasis before tilting her head to the side and exposing her throat. "I believe you when you say you'll kill me, so do it. Sink your teeth into my neck. End my life. I dare you."

As always, I couldn't resist her challenge, so I pressed my lips against her pulse point, my teeth coming into contact with her skin, but I didn't bite; I waited. I waited to see what she would do now, if she would continue to taunt me, continue to fuck around with death.

"Do it, Jasper," she repeated, her tone still resolute, relentless. I increased the pressure of my teeth. "Prove me right. Prove that you ruin everything. Prove yourself right."

Those words packed no less punch than they had the first time, and I backed away until only my lips touched her skin. I hesitated to break that contract, taking a moment to feel the beat of her heart pulse against my mouth. I left something suspiciously like a kiss there before I pulled away from her completely and met her eyes.

I was a little dizzy from it all—being so thoroughly assaulted by her scent, the feel of her pulse and silky flesh beneath my lips and under my fingertips, and the heat that contact with her skin spread through my body, the want, no the need to sink my teeth into her that I only now recognized, my fury, hers—so when she pulled that fancy maneuver that would end with me pinned by her, I didn't catch it in time to stop her.

Bella studied me for a long time, searching my face the way she sometimes did. As always, I had no idea what she was looking for, and I was too angry to care. "I didn't think so," she said, her tone softer than before but so earnest it still contained a hard edge. "You're not going to hurt me, Jasper. Do you want to know how I know? I see it ... here." She ran her thumb under my eye, which closed instinctively as she brought her hand near. "You're dangerous, not to be taken lightly. I know that. It is impossible not to know that, and I was afraid of you once," she admitted with not even a hint of shame. "But I'm not anymore. You've done things, bad things maybe, but you're good, Jasper. I see that here—" she repeated, caressing under my eye again— "which means it's here too." Bella passed her hand over my heart. "You're haunted, maybe by things you've done or maybe by things that were done to you. I don't know, but that doesn't matter. Whichever it is, let yourself off the fucking hook … at least for a little while. Just give yourself a break." Her words made me go rigid and my eyes widen. There was this look in her eyes, a tenderness and an empathy that pierced through the veil of my wrath, and if I'd needed to breathe, it would have robbed me of it. Everything about her read sincerity, and I had no idea what to do with any of this. But then that disappeared and Bella's eyes flashed full of rage again. "No matter what tortures you though, it doesn't give you the right to butt in where your opinion isn't asked for, wanted or needed. Stay the fuck out of my business, and stay the fuck away from me."

My puzzlement and whatever part of me that was touched by what had just occurred between us vanished. "Gladly, sugar."

Bella spun away from me and stormed out her door. Next thing I knew, I heard the screech of metal being pried apart, a pause that lasted several seconds and then the roar of my Tomahawk. I raced down to the garage in time to watch her peel out, leaving black rubber burn marks on the glossy concrete floor as she did. Bella had fuckin' hotwired my motorcycle!

I roared savagely, and all the pent up emotion from the last months erupted out of me in a blast wave powerful enough to knock my brothers and sisters, who had followed me to the garage, off their feet.

Peter chuckled from his spot on the floor, and I rounded on him, ready to tear him apart. "If nothin' else," he said, his lips quirking up in amusement, "the girl's got her uses."

I didn't register exactly what had happened until he mentioned it. I had projected. Bella had gotten me to project, but at that moment, I didn't give a shit.

My eyes narrowed at my brother in a murderous glare, and I growled. I had only found momentary relief from the ache in my chest from all that pent up emotion. It was slowly beginning to build back up, though there was a slightly different tenor added to it, and the itch I now only felt intermittently had returned. I was still angry as all hell, and if I didn't get the fuck away from here, I would start relieving my siblings of their limbs.

I hopped into my Mustang and followed Bella's example, peeling out of the garage. I needed to drive. I didn't know where I was going to go, but I needed to drive.

I needed to get Bella fuckin' Crawfield out of my head … out from underneath my skin.

oOo

A/N: Okay, guys. Sorry for the fake out on the smut. I wasn't being intentionally mean, I swear. Poor Bella! What an awful nightmare that was! Can you imagine? :(

Uh oh! Peter and Charlotte have started meddling and their plan worked. Jasper is officially jealous!

Okay, so yes, Jasper and Bella may be angry with each other at the moment but this won't drag out the way it did with the Louisville situation. They will make up soon. As Peter said, this fight is merely a catalyst for some real change between them. Never fear, dear readers! I promised to throw you a bone or two while I work the plot towards the revelation that J/B are mates. Well, bone number one has been thrown. ;)

As for Bella going to the dance with Tyler, that is just a recipe for all kinds of fun, though angst may occur beforehand. Well, angst has already occurred, but you get the idea. It will still be fun.

An interesting side note you might find amusing: the barn I ride at recently acquired a horse named Major. He is gorgeous and super sweet. He is also a draft horse and freakin' huge! He's at least eighteen hands high.

Take care all! Until next time ...