Carlisle spent most of his time asking Jasper questions, about how the symptoms started, the kind of symptoms he experimented, what abilities he lost, how he felt whenever he went too long without human blood, how much venom he took.
That had at some point led to discoveries Carlisle hadn't been sure what to do with.
Like his crash on the Church and the reason behind his pained winces at the time.
That time he sent two humans to the hospital and didn't leave his room for a few days, it hadn't been his gift overloading, it had been garlic poisoning, his body had gone into a complete fight response.
Or the reason behind his obsession to wear sunglasses to school at random intervals. He was used to light but sometimes it was too much and the sunglasses helped block some of the light out. Plus. He also used them to hide his eyes whenever he drank venom.
There was also that time he climbed the gate of the school in Wyoming after Edward made them eat human food. He hadn't been acting up. He had been in pain.
He also found out that the reason Kate didn't even look at him now was because he had used compulsion on her at some point to keep her away.
Still .
The idea that his son could have died before without him knowing was rather skin crawling.
Because what if that church had had one of those tub-like places filled with holy water? What if the garlic had managed to poison his blood completely? Or what if the food he ate when his body couldn't stand it had managed to make his blood coagulate completely?
And don't even get started on the pain he must have felt.
All these years he had been in nothing but either pain or discomfort. No wonder he was still so withdrawn at times.
~~~~~~~~~~~
Jasper was glaring at the wall with a might he had never expected himself to. But to be fair he had been three days in this room, in this house , and regardless of what Carlisle said he wasn't someone who liked to be kept in the same place for such long amount of time. Sick or not.
But he couldn't leave because he was still too weak and he still got nauseous or dizzy and while Carlisle hadn't banned him from seeing the others or even leaving this room but he himself he couldn't help but wish he had done different.
But the idea of facing them didn't settle well with him either. Rosalie for the most part. He knew what she thought about black bloods and the last thing he needed right now was feeling her disgust towards him.
Not that he could blame her.
He wished Alice was here but that also couldn't be. Carlisle kept telling him she was out hunting but he wasn't stupid.
He could feel her.
The guilt and blame in her emotions was so thick it was suffocating. He had tried soothing it but that had done nothing but make her emotional signature disappear.
She was avoiding him. All because she blamed herself over this.
But she hadn't . It wasn't as if she had known.
He sighed as he kept pacing around.
"If ya wanna git out jus' do it. It ain't as if he's watchin' ya right now." - The Major was watching him from the mirror's reflection with his arms crossed over his chest.
-What's the point? There's still five vampires in this house who won't hesitate to hunt me down if I step out. And let's not forget the mutts.
"Ya speak as if we couldn't take 'em."- The Major snorted.
-You do realize that now it's a matter of time before you get found out right?
"We."
-That's beyond the point, you can't go around actin' all mighty.- Jasper warned. It wouldn't take the Cullens long to connect the dots if The Major kept acting too... violent.
"Ya speak as if I've been interactin' with anyone but the girl."
-And why are you even doing that again?- Jasper asked with a frown. He couldn't still decipher the reason behind The Major's sudden avoidance of the Cullens.
"Ah dun't have ta explain mahself ta ya." - The Major defended glaring at him. Jasper smirked.
-Is this because you have been growin' soft? There's no shame in it.- He wondered out loud as he came to stand before the mirror.
"'m not ashamed! Shame's yer thing not mine!" - The Major snapped bristling at such insinuation.
-Growin' soft for 'em won't harm you, it could actually help you understand 'em better.- Jasper told as a statement of fact.
"Being soft is yer thing! Not mine! 'm the one in charge of protectin' us an' fraternizin' with a potential enemy ain't protectin' us at all!"
-Enemy my foot.
"Yer foot? Is that what ya will think once they find out 'bout meh? Ah may be The Major but dun't forget it Whitlock. At the end of the day we're the same."- The reflection got closer. A dark look plastered on his face. Jasper's scowled.
-I get it. Shut up.
"There's no Major without Jasper Whitlock an' no Jasper Whitlock without The Major."
-I get the picture. Alright? Shut up.
"We're one. The South's terror."
-I get it.
"The one they're glad is dead."
-I said I get it! Shut up now!- Jasper snapped and in a surge of anger his fist connected with the mirror without restrain. The impact made the glass explode into millions of glimmering shards that rained down onto the floor. Clattering with sharp thuds on the floor as they landed.
The glasses on the floor reflected back to him The Major's dark face now stained in blood. A fanged grin.
"Ah thought we'd already established that no matter how many mirrors ya break ya won' be able ta kill meh."
Came the harsh and cold voice from the reflection.
Jasper's chest burnt with anger. It burnt with the strength of a volcano and flared with the might of a wildfire.
But with the same weakness of a bubble it puffed out leaving nothing but searing frustration behind.
The sudden knock on the door made him tense. Carlisle didn't knock nor did Esme.
In fact.
That emotional signature was the one signature that had kept him from actually leaving this room.
Rosalie .
He pondered about ignoring her but at this point what would staggering do if not make the blow hurt worse?
Thus with a defeated sigh he went to the door and opened it. He didn't meet her gaze so as to keep himself from seeing the look on her face and instead stepped aside to let her into the room. Closing the door once she was in. If she was gonna insult him he would rather not have the others hearing it.
But rather than insult him he didn't even got to turn around completely before her arms were wrapping around him. He tensed for a moment before realizing she wasn't looking to break his ribs.
She was hugging him.
Rosalie. Hugging .
Rosalie .
She didn't do hugs .
And he could do nothing but stand there with no clue on what was he suppose to do.
-Are you okay?- Was the first thing he managed to ask. Her emotions were so full of sorrow and guilt. Regret.
His question did nothing but make the guilt flare.
-Rosa-
-I shouldn't have said what I did before. I'm sorry I made you feel like you couldn't trust me and I'm sorry about all the pain I may have brought to you. It was never my intention to hurt you, you have always been there for me, even when the rest would leave me alone because I wouldn't stop lashing out at them you never left my side. You always sat by my side and put up with my bad temper. I know I can't take back those words or the pain I may have inflicted upon you but I want you to know that you are still my brother regardless of what you are, you will always be.
Each word that came out of Rosalie's mouth made Jasper wonder more and more if his sister had been switched. Because Rosalie would never speak such... open hearted words.
But her emotional signature was the same. Familiar. Now stained with her sorrow and guilt. Regret. Sadness. Blame. Anger at herself.
And at the end he couldn't help but bring his arms around her and smooth down the negative emotions. Drapping calm and forgiveness over her. Her words despite all lifting a weight off his chest.
-It's alright, I forgive you, regardless of everythin', I should've had more faith in you. You may act like a bitch sometimes but you do have a good heart.
He was glad when he heard her snort in amusement.
-Did you break that mirror?- Rosalie asked after a moment as they pulled away from the hug. Jasper made a point to not look at her and instead went to sit on the bed, he was starting to feel a bit nauseous.
-Yeah...- He never liked to dwell on what arguing with The Major led to.
-Why?- Rosalie didn't actually care about the mirror, but Jasper has been in this room for quite a while, with no one to interact with but Esme and Carlisle. She wouldn't blame him if he was starting to grow restless.
But something told her that wasn't the case.
-Unimportant stuff. I would rather not talk about it.- He muttered grabbing his stomach as the swirl of nausea grew noticeable. Carlisle had told him that it may be because his body was still trying to get rid of the remaining animal blood in his system.
-Are you okay?- Rosalie questioned. Concern as clear in her voice as it was in her emotions.
-Have had better moments.
With that being said he was quick to leave the bed and disappear into the bathroom. He almost missed the toilet. His throat burned as he felt the vomit rise and he ended up throwing up, stomach twisting in pain and fingers gripping the ceramic bowl.
He felt a hand rubbing soft circles on his back. Rosalie's presence giving him a sense of de javu.
On the bright side he didn't throw up as much as he had done last night nor it made his head hurt. He spat one last time into the toilet bowl before pulling back and wiping his mouth with his sleeve.
-Don't do that. What are you a child?- Came Rosalie's half disgusted half annoyed voice as she closed the lid and flushed the toilet before grabbing his arm.- Come on, wash your mouth. I will get you another shirt.
He gave her an annoyed look that Rosalie returned with one of her own. She then left him to do as told while she went to rummage in the closet for a shirt for him to change into. He was crazy if he thought she was about to let him keep on wearing that shirt now.
She grabbed the first shirt she caught sight of before shoving it at him the second he stepped out of the bathroom.
-Put that on.
-But-
-I'm not asking. You shouldn't have wiped your mouth with your shirt if you didn't want to change.- Rosalie cut off. Jasper rolled his eyes in exasperation but did as told.
Rosalie had almost forgotten about the actual amount of scars that branded his skin. And there were even more scars on his arms than she remembered. Black co-webs spreading across his stomach and ribs. Even across one of his biceps.
She wondered if that had been the reason for him to fight so hard against the idea of taking his shirt off the few times they went to a lake or the beach.
-There, happy?- He announced as he buttoned the last button. Rosalie smirked.
-Yes, very.
~~~~~~~~~
Jasper did manage to leave his room with some encouragement from Rosalie (or more like she shoved him out of the room).
Emmett hadn't hesitated a second to grab him and crush him into a hug, though it wasn't as crushing as what he was used to. In fact. It almost felt like the kind of force he would have used to hug Bella when she was human.
Edward had given him an odd look but he hadn't been able to hide the streak of relief in his emotions. Relief for what?
Bella had looked at him as if he had awakened after a near death experience which was a bit dramatic in his opinion but he still let her pull him into a hug.
And Renesmee of course was more than overjoyed to be able to hug him.
Alice had tried sneaking out on him but he felt her and of course he hunted her down.
In fact.
Right now he was walking right behind her and while his footsteps were absent he knew she could smell him. He was humoring her.
But the second he deemed the distance between them and the house safe he didn't hesitate to get rid of the distance between them and grab her. Spinning her around and pinning her against a tree.
-You do realize that avoidin' me forever ain't an option right?
She didn't answer. She didn't even look at him .
He caught sight of the new scar on her arm and felt his chest constrict.
Ah.
He did it again.
Still.
This time these scars would serve for something good.
-I've tried to kill you six times, and five times did you told me that it wasn't my fault, that blamin' myself for things I'd no control over was not fair at all. You didn't blame me and therefore I shouldn't blame myself. So do please tell me, why is it any different for you? Is it because of your gift? Because you should've seen it? Known? There was no way you could know that this could happen. No one knew this could happen. If Carlisle hadn't spent so much time in Volterra not even he would've known this to be possible.
Silence was his answer.
But her pain was loud. Guilt. Blame. Anger.
He sighed and pulled her into a hug. Pressing a kiss against her neck and drapping his love over her. Enveloping her in forgiveness and calm. Affection.
He relaxed when he felt her arms come to wrap around him. He picked her up and pressed another kiss on her neck. Trailing up and up until he caught her lips into a kiss. Deepening it and biting her bottom lip. She corresponded the kiss with the same intensity.
And after a moment they pulled back, foreheads coming to press together. He gave her an Eskimo kiss as her hands came to rest on his cheeks. Thumbs stroking the skin softly. Gazes holding; silver against gold.
-I'm sorry I left you for so long, I just... I couldn't bring myself to see you, not knowing that I was the one who put you in that state. You trusted me when I told you about this diet and look what it almost caused.
-It's not your fault.
Even if he said that Alice couldn't help but feel like it was. Even if she didn't knew she should have. Should have taken into consideration all the signs. That something was wrong. His hair, his eyes, the episodes, the loss of abilities. She should have known something wasn't right .
-I bit you. Is that my fault? Do you blame me for it?- Jasper asked.
-Of course not, how could I ever blame you for this? You weren't in your right mind. My Jasper would never hurt anyone on purpose.- Alice told as a statement of fact. One of Jasper's hands came to rest on top of hers.
-And my Alice would never hurt anyone on purpose either. You're the kindest and most wonderful person I could've ever met. - He told. She opened her mouth, ready to protest, but he shut her up with a kiss. Smirking when he felt her flickering annoyance.
All in all, things were looking brighter.