YOU DID IT! 3k!! I had no idea this little drabble of mine would ever hit this many reviews! I'm speechless.

You would have had this chapter earlier if ffn hadn't decided to stop working.

And seriously, your reviews throughout the day had me laughing! All of you becoming detectives and going back to review all chapters you missed so we would hit 3k and you would all get another chapter today. I seriously love you all. We've been together for 98 consecutive days and you've all been nothing but supportive every damn day. *heart eyes*

As always, thanks to my team and all of you for making me feel pretty damn special today. Longer note about Jasper The Husband at the end!

"Jasper's here."

"We don't know that," Edward whispers, his eyes flicking over all areas of my room as he stands completely still. "Don't move."

I don't think I could if I wanted to. I'm frozen in place, the only sound in my ears is my heart threatening to beat out of my chest. My hands, shaking as I reach for Edward beneath the window in my bedroom, grip his arm as my greatest nightmare begins.

A sound from the front of the cabin rips through the still, silent air, Edward's eyes shooting towards it with a level of calm alarm that momentarily reminds me how safe I really am.

There are two of us. One of him. Jasper is outnumbered.

But he's angry and on a mission. He always finds a way to get what he wants.

My moment of confidence is fleeting, especially when Edward moves from the window without a sound and silently makes his way towards my bedroom door.

"Don't leave this spot," he whispers, gently pulling me against the wall in the corner of the hallway. "I don't want you near the windows."

"Edward, no - "

"I have to get the surveillance from the living room. The gun is in there, too." He's stern. Serious. Prepared. "Stay. Here."

My hands cover my mouth in fear, tears filling my eyes as I struggle to send him a single nod before he creeps down the hallway and into the unknown.

I'm not ready. I'm not ready. I'm not ready.

There is no air in my lungs as I watch Edward disappear.

I realize then how truly alone I am here in this hallway.

We're unprepared - the surveillance monitor is in the corner of the living room and my phone, where I can also view my property on the app on my phone, lies buried in the bag I took with us earlier in the day to the meadow.

So is my gun.

Lost in the moment, we had forgotten everything in our haste, and I fear now it will cost us everything. My phone to keep an eye on our surroundings, my gun in the bag - all safety measures that were left in the living room while Jasper advanced upon us without us knowing.

It's as if he knew we were at our most vulnerable, somehow managing to watch us unaware.

Maybe he had been this whole time.

But Edward would have known, right?

These thoughts, along with a million others, flash through my mind as I use the wall to steady myself and keep me on my feet. I've feared this day since the moment I left him, and the possibility of seeing him now, here in my cabin, makes me stifle the scream that wants to burst from my lungs.

The soft light I keep on in the kitchen casts shadows I've never seen before. I can't see Edward from where I stand in the corner of the hallway; he's so quiet I have no idea where he is or what he's doing.

I can't see the door, either.

But I can hear it open.

That's all it takes. One unlocked door.

And he's inside.

I pierce my eyes shut at the sound, my head leaning against the wooden wall of the cabin in disgust at myself. I practically let him in myself with my carelessness.

While the light from the kitchen does the job of lighting the room, apparently it's not bright enough, and I watch as the light from the switch by the door nearly blinds us all within the small space.

"Where's Bella?" My heart drops to my feet at the sound of his voice. A rich and deep timbre, usually calm and collected and in control - but not sounding that way today. There's a desperation in his voice only a person close to him could detect. It sickens me that I can still recognize it.

"She's not here." Edward's voice is the opposite of Jasper's. It never wavers. Never changes with the threat of emotion. He would have every right to be angry - the man trespassed not only onto our property, but into our cabin - but Edward never falters.

Jasper, sensing he may be no match for Edward, scoffs loud enough for me to hear down the hallway. "I doubt that."

"You want to tell me how I can help you? Considering you've broken into my house," Edward adds.

"I came here to take my wife back home," Jasper says, his words sounding more like a threat than an answer to Edward's question.

An unlocked door may have been all it took for Jasper, but the words off his tongue is all it takes for me.

I snap.

I love this cabin. I love this town. I love the man in the living room fighting for my protection. I love this life.

And I know how to fight for it. I pray for Edward's forgiveness the second I leave the spot in the hallway where I promised him I would stay.

And I look directly at my husband when I spit out the venom that has been forming in my mouth since the first time Jasper ever laid a hand on me all those years ago. "I'm not going anywhere with you."

The main reason I chose Jasper as the villain is because of his abilities to manipulate emotions in canon - isn't that the perfect predator? Abusive relationships will always have that as a factor - the abuser will always find a way to make the victim feel guilty or inferior, find ways for the victim to shoulder the blame, etc. so I used his usual calm and in control demeanor in here as well. I never pictured him as a guy who would ever let his image of self control wane around others - which is why he never told police, never relinquished control to someone other than himself. Him attacking Alice was his final breaking point - which sets off a chain of events that Edward and Bella have been preparing for.

As for the clues: (yes, subtle, so don't be upset if you missed them :)

1. Alice's husband's name was never mentioned.

2. Alice's last name is Brandon, not Whitlock.

3. Every character but Jasper has been mentioned. Edward, Bella, Charlie, Renee, Rose, Emmett, Alice, Mike, Carlisle, Esme. No Jasper, which still kinda low key saddens me because I love me some Jasper (and Jackson Rathbone).

I'll see you tomorrow morning again for our regularly scheduled update!