Rosalie sat at the edge of the bed with a frown and a half full bottle of blood at hand. Shaking it in an absent manner to keep the blood from going bad.
It has been almost a week since that incident with the Volturi and while Jasper had healed for the most part he was still too weak to even sit up and he did nothing but sleep.
The one time he had spoken he had been near delirious with pain and his words had made no sense at all. Now he didn't even talk for all he did the few times he woke up was project his pain and feed.
Alice said he would be fine.
Rosalie begged to differ. He looked far from fine. His skin while for the most part had healed still looked grayish and the scars on his ankles looked as horrible as when he had first been brought here. Almost too raw for comfort.
Still.
She wasn't about to argue. Alice had finally been coaxed into leaving Jasper's side and going hunting with Emmett and Edward for despite knowing he would be fine she had refused to leave the house and Rosalie couldn't blame her for if it was Emmett she wouldn't care about hunting. Nothing would be more important than making sure to watch over her vulnerable mate.
But she needed to hunt.
So Edward had managed to get her to go out and Alice had ended up yielding.
That of course not without asking Rosalie first to keep an eye on Jasper.
So she ended up in their room sitting at the edge of the bed and staring at the unconcious form of the most problematic person she had ever met in her life.
Her dear twin.
Roaming her gaze around the room was rather... interesting. It was dark due the cardboard taped to the glass of the window so as to keep the sunlight out. Most of the stuff around were from Alice aside from a rather old looking cowboy hat resting on top of the lamp and the guitar in the corner.
Jasper had never been one to own a lot. Alice was the one who bought him clothes and stuff in general left and right.
Her gaze fell back on him.
He was curled on his side and shirtless which left sight of the still healing skin. Patches of black marring his arms and ribs. It still disturbed her how despite the fact that his back had gotten the worse of it now held no inch of black but grey. No scars from those burns at all.
Seven and a half bags of human blood and he was still not fully healed. A crude reminder of how much blood he could take and how different their bodies worked for all it would take for them to heal a major injury would be one bag of human blood.
There was still a lot of blood left but Carlisle wasn't giving him that much so as to not waste them.
He had told the Quiloutes to stop sending blood and since he couldn't steal more from the hospital these bags were the last.
Carlisle still refused to touch the topic of what to do with Jasper's feeding issue. He couldn't live of human blood nor should he drink animal blood.
But it was clear that no matter which one was the choice at the end he would still be in pain. Rosalie found it rather cruel. All her life she thought herself to be cursed.
Little did she know the one with the actual curse was right at her side.
An empath who couldn't feed on humans and a black blood who couldn't feed on animals. Maria had truly damned him.
The pained moan pulled her out of her thoughts and she glanced down at him. The pain prickling at her skin letting her know he was awake.
His eyelids parted open and black met gold.
One bizarre thing here had turned out to be his eyes, they were absolutely black, even his sclera was pitch black.
And not even Alice had an explanation for that one.
He wasn't blind as first thought though.
Carlisle had said it was due his body using all the venom at its disposition to heal him.
-Hi.- The whisper was so low were Rosalie not a vampire she wouldn't have caught it.
-You alright?
-Yer worried for me? S' a first.
His words made a flicker of anger stab at Rosalie but the relief over seeing him in his right mind after so long was a thousand times stronger.
-You are an idiot.
He gave her a half smirk before shifting and attempting to sit up with a grunt and a grimace. Rosalie put the bottle on the floor before reaching out to him and grabbing his arms, helping him up and making sure to keep her hands on the skin that looked less like it would cause him pain.
His skin was still too hot for comfort and while Alice had said that that happened whenever he was burnt or spent too much time under the sun even if covered Rosalie found it rather unsettling.
-Where's Alice?
-She's hunting.
He hummed at the answer before inspecting the black patches on his arms.
-Will those heal?
-I've gotten worse. Tis but a scratch.- Jasper muttered. It hurt to even remember his ankles existed right now and he felt as if he was on fire in the inside but at least he didn't felt like he was melting from the inside out.
Rosalie for her side bit back the urge to snap at his careless tone. Worse? What the hell was worse than this? Why the hell the need to always say he had gotten worse whenever he got hurt?
̶B̶̶e̶̶c̶̶a̶̶u̶̶s̶̶e̶ ̶i̶̶t̶ ̶w̶̶a̶̶s̶ ̶t̶̶r̶̶u̶̶e̶̶.̶
She picked the bottle back up and handed it to him.
Opening the bottle turned out to be quite the feat for Jasper's hands wouldn't stop shaking.
The growl that came out of him was a reflex he couldn't help when a hand reached out for the bottle. Rosalie was quick to raise her hands in a peace statement.
-I'm just going to open it, alright?- Rosalie was quick to appease. She held her hand out this time and after a moment of hesitation Jasper gave her the bottle.
And the second she took the cap off the second he snatched the bottle back and Rosalie tried to not take it personal. It was basic knowledge at this point how territorial Jasper could get when it came to his food.
Jasper for his side had to fight against the urge to crush the bottle between his hands. Drinking human blood from a bottle was the oddest and most uncomfortable thing ever and he hated how little was there of it.
And he had to resist the temptation of sticking his tongue into the bottle if that meant getting more of the wonderful taste. He wasn't an animal. He had better control than that.
-Why didn't you use your gift against Victoria's army?- Rosalie asked needing to distract herself from the scent of human blood and also because she wanted to know. If Jasper and The Major had the same gift. Which they did for obvious reasons.
That meant he could bring armies down without effort.
Jasper frowned.
-What does that has to do with anythin'?
-You can do that. Can't you?
Jasper didn't answer. All he did was take it to put the cap back on the bottle and hope for this issue to drop. What was Rosalie aiming to get from this weird conversation? Weren't they aware of the why he didn't use his gift much? Carlisle surely must have told them when he first issued the order right? That so they would report back to him any hints of him using his gift without permission.
But so far none of them had ever complained when he used his gift. He had long ago figured that it must be because he didn't use it at its fullest.
He could feel Rosalie's stare.
-I guess I can but... wouldn't that be against the rules?
Rosalie frowned at that.
-Rules? What rules?
-You surely remember when Carlisle told me to never use my gift against others.
Jasper wasn't quite sure what Rosalie's sudden expression meant. The shock in her emotions. Surprise. Anger? What for? He couldn't understand.
-Rosa-
Rosalie got up cutting him off and something about her demeanor struck him as alarming and confusing and before she could even reach the door he was fleeing off the bed and grabbing her.
He didn't expect the pain that rippled across his ankles and explode on his tendons. He knew this pain and it almost made his vision go white as his knees hit the ground. But he didn't let go of Rosalie. Fingers gripping her shirt.
-Wait. I'm sorry. I shouldn't have said that. Please don't tell him I said that, I'm not complainin', it's not as if I've a huge use for my gift, I'm not Edward nor Alice, my gift isn't important, I can live without-
-Jasper.- Rosalie's voice cut him off and he tensed. She turned to look down at him with an odd look. Her emotions just as weird. She grabbed his arms and helped him back on the bed. His ankles were screaming at him but right now that didn't matter.
Rosalie for her side felt rather disturbed. Or was it sadness? Anger? She couldn't tell. But Jasper's words suddenly made a lot of things understandable. She always found weird how despite how it was known the strength of his gift he rarely used it. He had made the wolves back off when Renesmee was born.
And that particular horrible episode...
Also. It was general knowledge that he sometimes used his gift on Alice. Or when he used it on Bella.
She could never understand the reason he would go and barely use it.
Now she had the reason.
70 years.
70 years he had had in his head the idea of some non-existent rule.
-Jasper, what Carlisle said that time, that wasn't a rule, he wasn't banning you from using your gift, he was banning you from using your gift so carelessly against others who don't actually pose a threat to you.- Rosalie tried her best to explain.
Jasper gave her a weird look. As if he was wondering if this was some kind of test.
-You know I would never lie to you about something like that, right?
He still didn't look convinced. Rosalie sighed. As far as he had come from how he used to be at times he could be so infuriatingly difficult.
She really needed to speak with Carlisle.
~~~~~~~~~~~
Jasper almost jumped out of his skin when he heard the door open. Since Alice told him about The Major's outing he had been feeling rather on edge.
Even if Rosalie's attitude had been normal which did nothing but make him twice as anxious.
It was Carlisle.
He looked... troubled as he closed the door behind him. His emotions filled with guilt. Blame. Why?
The man came to sit at the end of the bed and Jasper couldn't keep the wariness from creeping in as he lowered his book.
-Is somethin' wrong?- He questioned after a moment of silence. He felt tense. More than what he was willing to admit.
-Jasper, what are the rules?
-What? Is that some kind of trick question?- Jasper couldn't help but ask before he could stop himself. What was the reason behind such question? Had Rosalie told him?
-No, I'm asking because I would like to know what kind of "rules" you have been following. Just you. Not the general rules everyone else has to follow.
Why did Carlisle sound so strained? Why the guilt? Why?
-Is this about my gift? I told Rosalie I wasn't complainin', it's not as if I actually hold use for it outside of a fight, though I do admit I may had used it to keep Bella calm at times when she was a newborn, and sometimes to extinguish the fire of Edward and Rosalie's arguments before it could escalate. I know you told me to not use it on others but I think those kind of situations called for an intervention. Not that I'm questionin' how you decide to deal with stuff I just-
His words died down when Carlisle sighed and ran a hand down his face. There was something odd in his emotions. Disappointment? No. Not quite. It was guilt but at the same time no?
-Jasper, when I told you to not use your gift I didn't mean that you shouldn't use it at all, what I meant was that you shouldn't use it to hurt others, much less to hurt those who are meant to be your family. You don't have to wait for my permission to use it, it's yours, you can use it whenever you want. Though I would truly appreciate it if you weren't to use it on others without their consent. Toying with people's emotions without their consent isn't right.
Jasper didn't said a word at that. He was giving Carlisle a weird look. As if attempting to decipher if what was being said was a trick of some kind.
Carlisle had to admit that having Rosalie telling him that he should speak with Jasper was one thing.
Having his daughter telling him about how Jasper believed Carlisle was the one who called the shots when it came to him using his gift was... world revealing in a sense.
He had taken his comment from when he first arrived to heart. That explained the reason he barely used his gift, the fact that he had never complained over it and just flat out allowed Carlisle complete control on taking decisions about his gift was a rather disturbing thing.
But he also had to remember who was his creator.
Jasper had come far at this point in life and he no longer was that near feral vampire who would flinch and hiss at everything and everyone.
But he still held mannerisms that spoke loud and clear about the kind of environment he was raised in. He still gave near perfect obedience to Carlisle. Still tensed when someone grabbed him out of nowhere.
And sometimes it was up to them to make it known that he was allowed to set boundaries.
He could, in a twisted sense, be just as naive as Alice at times.
And the last thing Carlisle wanted was to take advantage of that fact.