Author's note: So, funny story! I was so absorbed in developing Jasper's motive and emotions towards Bella that I COMPLETELY forgot this story wasn't just from his point of view! Ha! So I decided it was probably best if Bella started off this chapter for us. Enjoy!

After sending the text, Bella was only able to make it to the other side of her tiny apartment before it started ringing. By the second ring, she'd picked up the phone and was breathing, "Hi, Jaz," without a second thought. Why did she call him Jaz again? She'd told herself she would stop doing that.

"Bella, what did you find out?" Jasper's tense voice rang through the phone as Bella paced between her kitchenette and couch.

She sighed, returning to her couch, before slowly starting, "Charlie found out about the wolves this morning." She paused but Jasper let her continue. "Seth, he's the son of one of Charlie's good friends that passed, changed in front of him. I guess the fright knocked Charlie right to the ground." Bella tried not to let too much worry seep into her tone but the phone calls she'd endured the last few hours had left her weary and emotionally exhausted. "Charlie is okay," she began again, unsure if Jasper would even care about the state of her father's well being, "but Jacob spent most of the day trying to calm him down. I guess he phased in front of Charlie to prove Seth wasn't some kind of monster. It sounded like Charlie was close to pulling his gun on him a couple of times." Bella's face ended up in her free hand. "Jake is like a son to him, Jasper! It sounded like Charlie chewed his dad Billy out too… I can't believe this happened."

She wanted to curl up on the couch and forget the last few hours had ever happened. It broke Bella's heart to think Charlie may never look at Jacob the same way again. She wondered how long it would take for Charlie to talk to Billy this time.

There was a caution in Jasper's voice when he spoke again, "It's good to hear Charlie is unharmed but this is very important, Bella. Did the wolves expose us?"

Jasper's tone did nothing to put Bella at ease. "Jake assured me that no one mentioned vampires but I know Charlie already suspected something was off about Phoenix," she fretted. "I called Charlie after Jake let me go and he's really freaked out. He said he accepted that the guys are considered guardians to the tribe but he's super pissed that I would put myself in danger like that."

Even in her childhood, Bella had never heard her father yell at her. He was always even-tempered, justified in whatever decision he made, and firm about consequences. Today though? He had been scared. That was the only justification she could find. Charlie had yelled at her for spending so much time with "men" who could seriously injury her, "like poor Emily," he'd said.

As if reading her mind, Jasper inquired, "Are you afraid he'll react poorly if he finds out you dated a vampire?"

Bella huffed incredulously, "Dated? Jasper, I'm afraid he'll fly out here just to shoot you if he finds out I'm speaking to one of you. If he finds out you're vampires…" she trailed off.

She didn't know what he'd do but it couldn't be good. Charlie had set up a great college fund for her when she was a baby. Between the money he had saved and the shifts she works manning the desk at the fitness center, she could barely afford the apartment. If Charlie found out she had kept this from him and was now speaking to one of the Cullens again, she was scared he'd pull her funds or pull her from school entirely.

Jasper's tense voice rang through the phone again, "We won't let that happen, Bella." She knew Jasper was trying to sound reassuring but there was only so much either of them could do. Charlie was more likely to figure it out on his own, like she had.

Jasper continued, unaware of where her thoughts had led her, "It is very dangerous for Charlie if he finds out. If you think he really suspected something then you need to try your hardest to convince him otherwise." Bella's chest tightened, the knot being pulled over and over. "I know Edward told you about the Volturi on the first visit to our house." The knot grew tighter. "If Charlie finds out, they are the biggest danger to him. Forget the dangers that sporadic vampires pose. The Volturi have ears all over the world. Charlie cannot afford to draw their attention."

Bella felt tears that had been building for several hours, well in her eyes. She couldn't let Charlie be put in danger like that. Yet, in the back of her mind, she knew she'd been putting him in danger this whole time. Drawing James away from Charlie had been one thing, but the danger had never really dissipated. The Volturi were the ruling class of the vampires. They made the laws and enforced them. They got rid of any human witnesses. She'd never been scared for herself, but Charlie? He didn't know what kind of danger he was in.

"I'll talk to him if he finds out," she whispered, "make sure he understands how dangerous they are."

Jasper sighed on the other end of the phone, "Just try to keep him out of it for as long as possible." A sadness had crept into Jasper's voice, "I will do what I can to keep your father out of harm's way if it comes to it but keeping him in the dark is the safest option, for him, for you, for the family."

Things were tense between Jasper and Bella in the week following but as Thanksgiving approached, and the weather forced them to move inside, things slowly returned to a new normal between them.

Bella was unsure if it was being surrounded by productivity or the feeling of guilt for coming to the library with the intention to hang out, but somehow their hangouts had turned into study sessions of sorts. At this point in the semester, there was always a paper that needed to be written and Jasper had had some very unique perspectives to contribute. Not that Bella truly needed the help, and not that Jasper actually needed to study, but when gifted with a vampire who is unable to forget anything, one tends to use their resources.

Bella gaped in Jasper's direction. "So you are trying to tell me that you believe people who constantly read novels of the same subgenre are not doing it for enjoyment but instead to find an author who isn't banal? How does that make sense? If someone doesn't find enjoyment in reading they're bound to abandon books."

Jasper smirked at her from across the table, his ankle propped up on his knee as he skimmed through another of her thematic essays. "I'm not trying to say people don't enjoy reading certain genres but if someone has been reading a subgenre, whether it is a remark on the Battle of Gettysburg or a baseball romance, then their purpose isn't enjoyment at that point. They want to find an author, or even just one chapter of a book that approached the topic differently."

Bella chewed her lip in contemplation. Her essay had been about motivations for reading and she honestly thought she'd done a good job of it. She may have been a bit sarcastic when it came to her interpretation of reading for school work but she had thought she touched on all of the major intrinsic and extrinsic motivations.

She was perturbed. If this made a big enough of a difference, and her professor's thoughts were along the same line as Jasper's, she'd be better off rewriting the whole section on intrinsic motivation but part of her was still convinced she was right. "Even so, they have to find enjoyment out of the activity. If they found the subtopic boring, or even worse annoying, they wouldn't keep looking." Or at least Bella wouldn't. It seemed like some form of self-torture.

Chuckling he teased, "Well, some people like a challenge." Even though the situation with Bella's father had made these last few weeks rough, in part due to how much stress Jasper was absorbing from Bella, he still liked to get her going. He loved seeing her reactions. Though, he thought, heckling her like this might come back to bite him in the ass.

It was so worth it.

She gestured wildly at the laptop he was still holding. "You even said it! Like! People enjoy a challenge they find in reading just like people enjoy learning from books or enjoy getting lost in books! It's just another facet of reading for enjoyment!"

The passion flooding off of Bella gave Jasper a bit of a high, and he refused to think he was some kind of junkie. However, he would concede that he was enjoying one of the strongest positive emotions he had felt in a while.

Bella sat perplexed, wondering why Jasper had ceased his rebuttal, when she realized the smirk had never fallen from his face. He was pushing her buttons, goading her. Indignation filled her, followed by traitorous affection. She was tickled that he joked with her the way he did. He'd complimented the argument she'd made during their joint lecture and had enough wits to push her buttons in ways he knew would bring out the same side of her.

Bella didn't need a mirror to know just how red her face had turned. She felt it creep up the way the emotions she'd rather just ignore did. Adoration, longing, embarrassment, so much embarrassment. Why did Jasper have to be an empath?

Thankfully, she thought, Jasper had the decency to never bring it up. There were a lot of things she felt grateful for when it came to the mysterious Jasper Hale and his consideration of her comfort had to be near the top. Now if only she could be as considerate in return.

Seeing Bella blush continued to catch Jasper off guard.. He suspected at this point, due to the frequency with which this particular human blushed, he should be used to it but it wasn't the blood rushing to her face that shook him. Rather, he continued to be amazed by how lovely it made her look. That wasn't to say that she wasn't lovely when she wasn't blushing or that he was observing her that way, but there was some appreciation there.

The scent of her blood seemed to phase him less and less. Part of him hoped that it was mind over matter that allowed him to get this far, that way it would be applicable to more situations. If it ended up benign that he physically acclimated to the scent of her blood then he would just have to take it as a one-time success. Each individual human would have to be their own test for Jasper. Still, he hoped, mind over matter.

Moving to sit next to her, and placing her computer back in her lap, Jasper tried to soothe wounds, "I don't mean to get you so riled up, Bella." He still got a good bit of amusement from this but the embarrassment coming from her wasn't something he could let last very long. She was supposed to be happy after all.

Bella nearly shook herself. She needed to get thoughts of him out of her head. He was Edward's brother. She hadn't felt like this towards Emmett, even though he at one time teased her just as relentlessly.

A tenderness welled in her in a way she wasn't expecting. Slowly, thinking about the family had grown to hurt less. Yes, she had understood that they had no part in leaving, that Edward had lied to them just like he had lied to her, but it had still hurt. Now, after spending all of this time with Jasper, she just felt like she was missing out on being a part of the family. She knew he hadn't told them anything but he liked to keep her updated. He had shown her some amazing pictures of the house he was helping Esme refurbish. Why they were working at a human pace she was sure she would never understand. And he continued to supply her with funny anecdotes from the hunts he and Emmett took on the weekends. At this point, she just missed the family. Her family. She wondered if they'd really thought of her the same way.

Bella's uncertainty rose but she could feel Jasper fighting it back. He preferred it when she spoke her mind. Keeping things to herself hadn't been much of an option these last few months, which is another reason why she thought he was so gentlemanly to ignore the hormonal reactions she sometimes had around him.

Eventually, Jasper's soothing won out. So she tried not to chew on her lip when she prodded, "Hey Jasper?"

"Yes, Bella?"

"I think you might want to tell your family that I'm here." The fragility in her voice nearly broke Jasper. "I mean, I don't know if they would want to see me, I'm just a human and they thought I was the reason they had to leave, but, "she hesitated. Jasper was so eager to have her see the family, she wouldn't be able to take this back. But, he wouldn't be encouraging her if he didn't think it would go well, right? "I think I might like to see them, apologize for all the trouble I've caused."

Jasper had been filled with pride until her last statement stopped him in his tracks. There's no way she could blame herself for any of this. "You did nothing wrong, Bella," he tried to reassure her. He was no Peter but surely he'd learned something from his own kick in the ass. "Absolutely nothing. No one would accept your apology because you have nothing to apologize for." He let her feel the affection each member of his family had expressed toward her at one time or another. "They love you and if you would like to see them, then I would love to tell them that. But Bella are you sure? I am not going to push you. If you need to take a step back or retreat you can trust that I will go with you."

Bella couldn't control the fluttering in her chest any longer and, though a part of her wanted it to be just her and Jasper for a little while longer, she knew she'd put this off long enough. Giving Jasper a small smile, she spoke resolutely, "I do trust you, Jasper. And yes, I'm sure. I want to see the rest of the family."