Author's Note: This chapter is where you will see a bigger difference between Bella's retellings and what happened in Meyer's books. I slowed the timeline from the books and twisted them to better fit Bella ending up at college. There are several changes you must accept for the rest of this story to work. Bella was not privy to all pack business. Canonically, Laurent was sent ahead to see if Bella was alive/if she was being protected and Victoria changed Riley Beirs because she felt vulnerable, which would make it reasonable that, in this version, Laurent having not returned would put Victoria on edge more and (knowing vampires have a warped sense of time) put a pause on her plans. In this story, because she waits and doesn't begin building her army until summertime, there was no fresh trial for the wolves to chase and Jacob was around to take Bella cliff diving, leaving no Jacobless gap for Alice to see Bella jump off a cliff and no reason for her to return to Forks.

Despite Jasper having class and being on campus on Wednesday, Isabella didn't reach out to him again until that night. He assumed she texted him as she got out of work.

Isabella

I know you said you don't have classes on Thursdays but I don't have to work tomorrow and it's supposed to be overcast. Want to meet?

Jasper had promised he would help Esme with some of the larger house repairs tomorrow. Esme could finish the whole house in a week on her own but she cherished the time she spent restoring houses. He knew she asked him to help for his company. However, he helped her out as many days in the week as he could and knew she wouldn't question him if he told her he could only help for half the day.

Satisfied with the compromise he replied.

Jasper

I am helping Esme out with a house in the afternoon. Are you free to meet in the morning?

He'd asked her to meet him out on the slope. On nicer days, he'd passed many students sitting on the hill everyone called "the slope." The day might be a little chilly for it to be busy but it would keep the two of them outside and wouldn't draw much attention to the pair. At first, she'd requested the library but Jasper had made a good point that there would be better airflow outside. As manageable as it had been to have that initial conversation, he could vividly remember the overwhelming scent of her blood on her 18th birthday and didn't want to push his luck.

Isabella was already sitting in the middle of the grassy hill when he arrived. She had her backpack propped up next to her and a pile of papers pinned under it. She wrote furiously in a notebook as he approached. Irritation rolled off her in waves.

"G'mornin," he said, just loud enough for her human ears to pick up. To her credit, she didn't jump but her pen did skid across her paper.

"Shit." She muttered as she looked up. Her face echoed her mood entirely. Small frown in place, he knew she wasn't excited about this meeting. He wondered why she even asked to meet. Her eyebrows furrowed as he stared down at her before she shook her head. "Sorry, I dropped my coffee on the way here. My luck has just gotten worse from there," she muttered and scowled in the direction of her bag.

Jasper realized with a shock of relief that her feelings had nothing to do with him at all. She was simply grouchy. Amused and with something to talk about, he lowered himself to the ground. "I take it you are one of those humans that claims they would cease to function without a morning dose of caffeine?"

As the chill of the morning faded, so did Isabella's grouchiness. Jasper spent the majority of the time watching her huff over her notebook and asking her small questions.

He tried not to ask any direct questions related to Edward or his family. It was the simplest questions that seemed to make her open up. He found out she much preferred to live with Charlie over her mother, who he remembered was named Renee. This was less to do with who she liked and more to do with her acceptance that she shouldn't have to do the parenting. On top of that, Charlie was also much more subdued and was perfectly okay with not spending every moment together actively doing something but when she needed him he was there for her.

When he'd asked about her depth of knowledge about Jane Austen, she revealed that Emily Bronte had been her favorite author all throughout high school but she'd read nearly all of Jane Austen's work as well. Both authors had been popular picks for her English classes in high school.

Eventually, after a short rant about her 300 level lit class, she fell quiet. She'd been staring at her notebook for some time, pen unmoving. Jasper had been contemplating what she had said about recklessness in their last conversation and was about to ask her what she had meant when she finally asked him a question. "Why did you let me pull you to the study lounge? You so easily could have gotten away, avoided me."

Jasper knew Isabella had not been the most confident human when they had left Forks but he could feel the way her bravery vied for control. Why were there insecurities creeping out now? "I knew a conversation was inevitable and I thought I owed you a chance to give me a piece of your mind." When he glanced over, she was smiling a small smile.

When she next spoke, it was only loud enough for his vampire ears. "I wish I'd had the balls to yell at you but… I don't know Jasper. It seems weird that you're really here, that you aren't a figment of my imagination. I was in shock, frankly, I still am." She stared out towards the dorms and the downtown area the slope overlooked.

If she was ready to talk seriously, he was going to ask about her time without them. He had to. The emotions that had previously ripped him apart in that study room ran rampant in his memory. "Isabella-"

She cut him off at her normal volume. "Call me Bella, please Jasper."

When he determined the smile wasn't going to leave her face he proceeded, cautiously. "Bella," he amended. "Can you tell me about your time in Forks after we left? I'd like to understand what you went through."

She sighed and gnawed on her lip, Jasper could feel the turmoil pulsing wherever her thoughts had gone. He was about to tell her it was alright to tell him no, that he could wait, when she finally turned toward him, lips pressed together. Voice tight, her shoulders bowed forward, "For the first few months, after that night in the forest, I was practically comatose." Her eyes stared past Jasper as shame filled her. "I don't remember what school was like then but by the time I was coherent, nobody was talking to me. Anytime I spoke people looked at me like I had risen from the dead. It was Charlie threatening to send me back to Renee that finally did it. It had to have been awful for him," her voice wavered. "He hardly knew how to raise a functioning daughter let alone one that shut out everyone around her. Even if he had done the reasonable thing and had me see a therapist, I know I wouldn't have talked. I hardly believed you guys had existed and there was no way I could relay a vamp-less version of the story to anyone without sounding batshit crazy."

She paused as a group of students passed on the sidewalk, then lowered her voice. "Then, I got a bit more lively than I think my father intended." She cleared her throat and Jasper could feel a thin layer of dishonesty settling over her welling embarrassment. "I realized that when I was in danger I could better remember E-Edward. I found these dirtbikes on the side of the road and remembered that Jake, the boy who had fixed up and given me my truck, could probably fix them too."

Jasper was concerned for several reasons, and none of them had to do with the dirtbikes.

"So I started hanging out with him. I convinced him to teach me how to ride the bikes and to go in search of a meadow Edward had taken me to, but he didn't know why. He was just happy I was hanging around people again. Only, I had nothing left from the time you all were in Forks and I was desperate for something to prove I hadn't imagined the whole thing. Jake was more than I could have asked for though. He was my own personal sun. He helped me feel like I was alive again." She began hesitating, nervousness and hesitation racking her body. "Jasper, what do you know about the Quileutes?"

Jasper recalled what Carlisle had told him and Alice during their preparations to move to Forks. This girl was a magnet for danger. "Are you going to tell me you got yourself mixed up with wolves Bella?" he drawled, amusement was plain on his face. If she thought for one second he was trying to gatekeep her she would shut back down.

She exhaled sharply. "So you know about the werewolves?" She was curious now.

Jasper smirked, "Not much but enough to know your friendly pack of wolves are really shapeshifters. Actual werewolves are much less humane." He let that information settle over Isabella for a couple of seconds before asking, "How did you find yourself around yet another set of supernatural beings?" He had a few guesses, the first being that she had specifically said a man from the reservation had been the one to find her in the woods.

Isabella eventually nodded, like she had finally come to an understanding with herself. "That's kind of where my story picks up again. I just wanted to make sure the… shapeshifters were not going to be a surprise." She glanced at Jasper before continuing, "So um, after a couple of weeks my friend Jake got sick and started avoiding me. I tried to do everything I could to get him to talk to me, including eventually going to his house and demanding it but- I'm getting ahead of myself. I got mad because I was still obsessed with finding this meadow and we had finally narrowed down a location, so I went on my own. Out into the wood. Alone. Again. Because it had been such a good idea the first time."

When Bella's irritation and embarrassment spiked, Jasper knew better than to say anything. He just raised his eyebrows and waited for steamroller Bella to continue.

"I was actually surprised that I made it. I had been able to get there on my own without breaking anything or injuring myself." Isabella looked up at Jasper. "I just didn't expect to see a vampire there."

Jasper's body tensed, turning towards the skyline, as he ran through a list of vampires who could have possibly been in the area. There were several that would not yet know the family had moved and even fewer that would have let her live.

"Laurent came back. He told me he was just so hungry that he couldn't help himself. I tried to reason with him. I thought he'd been in Alaska with the Denalis learning your diet. He said he'd been trying but that it would just be so easy..." Jasper grew more uneasy as Bella continued, "He got so close to me. I really thought I was going to die but the wolves showed up. I had no idea what they were at the time. There had been rumors around town about large bears attacking people and Charlie had his men out in the woods with rifles looking for these things. When I saw Laurent was afraid of them, I used the distraction to run. It wasn't until later, after Jake made me guess what was going on with him," Jasper didn't miss her rolled eyes, "that I found out the wolves had saved me and killed him."

Jasper mulled over that for a moment. Why had Laurent come back to Forks? Had Victoria prompted him to? Jasper had heard about how close Laurent and Irina had been getting but hadn't heard of his leaving the coven. Hearing that Bella had assumed he'd switched diets so easily made the next topic easier to broach, but none less uncomfortable. His voice was low but he made sure to speak loud enough, only for her to hear, "I am relieved that you had protectors while we were gone. I hadn't properly assessed Laurent as a threat and for that, I owe you my most sincere apology. Edward's not wrong when he calls our existence damned. Some of us lose what humanity we have and that makes it easier to feed on the living. Others are drawn to the power of feeding on human blood. It's the only thing that really quenches the fire. Transitioning to feeding on animals was one of the hardest things I have done." He felt her curiosity peak, as he continued, "Alice knew before we ever met that we would join the Cullens. She made me practice feeding on animals for two years before we finally joined them. It has helped me find some peace. I had felt the emotions of my victims for so long that having the option to feed on beings with such muted emotions gave me great relief." He was unsure as to why she seemed so unphased by the topic. "Yet, human blood is the only thing that can control the burn, anything else just dulls it, and the less practiced of us continue to be drawn to it. Even despite our many reasons to not want to feed on humans."

He reminded himself that he wanted to give Isabella as much honesty as he could, even if that meant exposing the kink in his armor further. She knew it was there, she'd witnessed his break on her birthday. "I am still trying to find the strength that the more willful of us have." He looked at her then, "Esme and Rosalie have always been so dedicated to preserving human life. Even Emmett coasted through his adjustment to the diet. I spent centuries feeding on the innocents," he didn't find any satisfaction when she finally cringed, "and have had a harder time adjusting than most. That is part of my motivation for continuing this year without Rosalie and Emmett. After Alice left, I realized I had no real way to move about the world on my own. No feasible way to make money easily. This and the self-blame I had for the forced move of our family made me realize I needed to put more effort into adjusting. Carlisle and I decided continuing classes and pushing my comfort levels without someone there to back me up would be beneficial. I'm not saying this to scare you, just to make you aware. I am still working on my control, but the exposure to so many different humans has been helpful. I believe the choice to continue on here was the right one."

Jasper observed Isabella as she deliberated. He was not quite sure why he kept giving her an out but as it were, he was still a threat to her and it felt unfair not to make that clear.

"You know," she started, "I've always been told by my teachers that I am a smart young lady. They've never heard the decisions I've made when given a choice between danger and ignorance. I guess that goes to show that one can be intelligent without being wise."

Jasper was curious now. There was no fear, some minor worry tangible, but overall she was content and radiating respect. He had used his ability with such ease when Edward was around. He'd chose to change the emotional climate of the room when needed while Edward deduced the reasoning behind emotions. If he wanted to know what she was thinking, he'd have to work for it. Smirking he asked, "What are you trying to say, Bella?"

She sent a small smile in his direction and spoke with surety, "I never really blamed you for what happened. I know it had a lot to do with the thirst of everyone else in the room but most of all Edward's own bloodlust. I think it's really… brave of you to try and overcome something that challenges you in such a direct way."

The clouds were thinning out overhead, a dull light beginning to shine on Bella's hair as Jasper continued to stare at her. He knew he'd have to leave quickly but couldn't bring himself to part just yet. He was too busy soaking in the peace she offered him.

Author's Note: My original goal of finishing this by the end of summer may have been a bit too ambitious. Either way, I promise not to abandon this! I'm finally starting to like writing this as much as I enjoy writing the other fic, so fingers crossed for another update this month!