#Georgia Tech is a very nice place to study Psychology. It's not very safe though. Be careful, Edward Leonard Masen Cullen.

That was the text message I got as soon as I arrived at my first class that Wednesday. It had been almost two weeks since the call.

I huffed and pushed the phone into my pocket as I sat alone in the back of the room.

The number was restricted, but I had not a sliver of doubt of who had sent me that veiled threat.

I wasn't scared, though... I was annoyed, especially because he had found out my last name, which not even Jasper knew. Of course, by then he was aware of who my father was. Not that it mattered to me.

I took a deep breath forcefully and focused on the lecture. My finals were coming and I couldn't afford to get distracted.

Two and a half hours later, I was walking to my next class when my phone buzzed in my pocket again. At first, I hesitated to check it, just 'cause I didn't want to get upset, but then I thought it was really stupid of me to play his game. I was better than that.

Thank God it was a text from Jasper.

#Hey, Freckles, I can't pick you up today, I have something to deal with in the afternoon. I'm sorry.

I hastened to answer and soothe his mind.

#Hey, babe, it's okay. I'll work it out. We see each other at the club later?

#You bet!

I put the cellphone back in my pocket and hurried to the front building. It was just the time to get into the classroom for the phone to buzz once more.

I had a subtle smile as I picked it up and checked the screen… But it flickered and died as I read the text.

#Do you trust him?

"Motherfucker." I muttered under my breath before clenching my teeth.

I took a deep breath while reminding myself that I couldn't let him get to me or put ideas in my head… That was his intention and I wasn't dumb.

Focus on the lecture, Edward. Focus on the lecture.

That's what I did, but there was this whispered voice in the back of my head, telling me he was far from done.

After my last class of the morning, I decided I should have lunch alone. It had been a long time since I had a moment to myself to think. I chose my favorite Chinese restaurant, sat in the back, and ordered a Hotpot.

I concentrated my thoughts on my relationship with Jasper. He'd been a great boyfriend for the four months we'd been official, and I had no reason to doubt him. I was with him most of the time so he didn't even have time to cheat on me.

I nodded to myself, satisfied with my own reasoning.

"Where's your boyfriend?" The deep, placid voice reached me.

I raised my head to find the striking blond man that I had seen only once before, standing right in front of me. I felt my stomach drop and my body get cold, but I sustained a nonchalant facade.

"Can I sit?" Maxence asked with a fake smile.

I considered his request for a split second but I didn't really have the chance to answer it. He pulled the chair and sat austere, looking at me from above, his cold green eyes scrutinizing me.

"What do you want?" My voice came out through my clenched teeth.

"You out of Lock's life." He answered promptly and in a demanding tone.

I scoffed.

"Do you really think that Jasper would go back to you even if I wasn't in the picture?" My voice dripped sarcasm.

"That's for me to worry about." He replied undisturbed. "You're just a kid, and this is adults' affair. It's better for you if you're not in the middle of it."

I sneered.

"You're threatening me." I acknowledged in kind. "I'm not afraid of you."

"You should be." He said with a diabolic smile that actually perturbed me. "You have no idea the lengths I'm willing to go to get him back."

With great effort, I pretended his words didn't faze me. I pursed my lips, deliberately heaved a sigh, crossed my arms over my chest, and leaned on the backrest of the chair while looking indifferently at him.

"You can pretty much go all the way around the globe twice, for all I care." I spoke with a smirk. "Jasper will never want you back." I stated confidently and he squinted. "Now, if you excuse me, I'm about to have lunch and I don't appreciate your company."

It was Maxence's turn to smirk. He stood up elegantly.

"I'm not done with you, little boy." He said calmly. "We'll meet again soon."

"I hope not." I replied with a forced smile. "If you know what's good for you." I threatened right back.

Maxence scoffed and nodded once before turning. He went away without another word and suddenly all my blood rushed to my feet.

I grabbed my phone with trembling hands, my head spinning. My first thought was to call Jasper, but then it dawned on me that it would just freak him out a little more and I didn't want that, so I called Ryan.

He answered after the second ring.

"Can you meet me at that Chinese restaurant near college?" My voice was wavering.

"What happened? You sound scared." Ry hastened to say and I could hear him moving.

"Maxence has just shown up here." I explained.

At that point, I had already told my best friend about the whole thing, with Jasper's permission to tell his story, of course.

"Are you alright?" He urged. "Did he do anything to you?"

"No, he just… It doesn't matter, he's gone. I'm a little nervous, but I'm okay, I just…"

"Okay, calm down and stay there, I'm on my way." He said in a reassuring tone. "It's Edward, he needs me." He spoke in a softer voice out of the phone, probably with Alec.

"It's okay if you're busy, Ry. I-I'll just ask for the food to be boxed up and go back to college."

"Hey, I'm never busy for you, okay?" He said in a kind tone. "I'll be there soon, just wait for me."

I sighed.

"Okay."

Less than fifteen minutes later, Ryan got into the restaurant. He strode to where I was with his eyes a bit widened. Once he reached my table, he sat on my side.

"Are you okay?" His tone was urgent.

I nodded.

"Yeah, guess I just panicked a little." I said to him. "I'm sorry."

"No need for sorry, you know I'm here for you." He carded his fingers through his hair. "I was fucking worried, you sounded shaken. Actually, you still do."

"I'm fine now, I promise, he didn't do anything much besides threatening me." My voice really was a bit unstable.

"Which is already worrisome." Ry kinda huffed. "I think this is getting outta hand. You can see that he's dangerous, right?" He questioned in a grave tone, his countenance a little somber.

I shrugged, dismissing it.

"I do but, If he was to really do something against me, he would've already. He had a great opportunity today. I think he just wants to scare me."

Ryan held my wrist over the table in a haste.

"Edward, don't take it lightly." He spoke earnestly and I felt myself focusing on him and his words involuntarily. "He doesn't want to scare you, he's clearly focused on doing it. And that's just for now. He can do something bad to you once he realizes he won't get what he wants." Ry stated, his eyes fierce in mine."After what I went through, I can recognize an obsessive abuser when I see one, and this guy…" He huffed again and shook his head. "You know what he did to Aiden just to make a point, and he supposedly loved him, so do you really need more proof that he's not playing around?"

"I know he's not, but what do you want me to do? I'm not yielding. I'm not giving up Jasper."

"I'm not telling you to, I know you're not able to do that at all." We both chuckled but then Ry got serious again. "I'm just asking you to be more careful."

"I'm always careful." I affirmed a bit grudgingly.

"Yeah, right." Ry retorted while eyeing me skeptically. "I bet you didn't tell Aiden about it and even have no intention of doing it. Am I wrong?"

I sighed while feeling my cheeks blushing.

"I don't want to worry him even more. He's been tense already as it is…"

Ryan sighed too and leaned on the chair backrest heavily.

"Okay, I get it. So just have me as your safety net, okay?" He conveyed his care through his soft smile.

He really was a great friend.

"I wouldn't have you any other way." I replied in the same tone. His smile broadened. "Thanks, Ry. You're actually the one person that keeps me sane, I hope you know that."

"I'm that good of a therapist." He said in a light tone and winked. "And the best of best friends."

"Why so cocky?" I retorted mockingly.

"Care to disagree?" He arched his brows high defiantly, his toothy grin ruining his attempt at looking intimidating.

I shook my head while laughing lightly, my heart just a bit soothed.

We laughed together a bit more, and then I changed the subject to his relationship with Alec.

Lighter theme to lighten the mood… And it worked perfectly.

#(Dis)Sonant*Chapter17#

"Hey, gorgeous." I heard his voice as I stepped out of the classroom, my head shooting up in surprise.

I obviously couldn't control the large satisfied smile that probably flashed all my teeth once I saw him standing in the middle of the increasingly crowding corridor.

"What are you doing here?" My voice gave away joy ridiculously.

Jasper stepped closer and took my bag from me, then slipped his hand in mine. We interlaced our fingers and started walking.

"Picking up my boyfriend." He said simply as he shrugged.

I noticed, with some dismay, the many female and male eyes and heads turning to him as we passed by, but since his stare was solely on me, I didn't focus on the slight jealousy that threatened to take me over.

"You said you wouldn't be able to today."

"I know, but I rushed things up to make time…" He clarified concisely.

A suspicion popped up in my head but I held it off. If I asked him if Ryan had called him and he actually hadn't, that would raise questions I didn't want to answer. I didn't want Jasper to know about what had happened in the afternoon. If he didn't already know that is.

"I was thinking…" He uttered in a pensive tone. "We should take a trip. What do you think about a weekend in Jonesboro?" He asked suddenly as he halted his steps and turned to me in front of the building. "Have you ever been there?"

My smile didn't falter but my suspicion grew. I wasn't against some private moments at the beach with my boyfriend, though… The idea was actually truly appealing.

"I would love to go to the coast with you." That came out in a dreamy tone. "And no, I've never been there. But besides Thursday, the weekend nights are the busiest in the club…"

"Emmett will be there. He can manage everything very well without me." He assured me while resuming our walk toward the parking lot.

"But the bar…" I started arguing in a cautious voice.

Jasper stopped again, smiling his perfect dimpled smile at me, and held my face between his hands.

"You know, sometimes you worry too much. I'll let in a little secret of mine…" His eyes glinted with what I identified as mischief. "I didn't really need to hire a new bartender when you showed up. The staff was perfectly adequate to the club's needs and it still is. They'll all be fine without us for two nights."

That kinda baffled me a little, so my voice momentarily disappeared and my brain was trying to work what I had heard, so I couldn't really form a reply.

Jasper kissed the tip of my nose and dragged me gently to his motorcycle while I was doing my best to shake off my puzzlement. It was only when we were riding halfway to the club that I blurted out the question that, honestly, I kinda knew the answer deep inside me.

"Then why did you?" My voice above the engine roar.

"Why did I what?" Jasper asked back in the same shouted tone.

"Why did you hire me?"

The question remained unanswered until the moment he parked his fancy bike on the usual spot. I took off my helmet and waited patiently until he did the same and jerked his head so to push his shiny hair away from his face.

"I'm pretty sure I've already answered this question…" He said with a crooked smile.

"You did?" I felt myself frowning slightly while I searched my mind for that. "I don't remember."

Jasper closed the distance between us, held me by the waist and looked into my eyes with tenderness.

"I recall telling you that I was promptly charmed by this innocent face the moment I saw you." He whispered, and his scent enticed my heart as always.

"So you hired me because I looked naive?" It sounded like a skeptical statement.

Jasper chuckled and kissed my lips for the briefest of moments.

"I hired you because you intrigued me. You provoked something in me that I had never felt before and I wanted to understand what that was." His words were clearly sincere. "I thought this was clear enough." His adorable dimples were begging me to poke them, but I resisted. "Of course, the fact that you proved to be a very skilled bartender reinforced my decision, but all in all…" He shrugged.

I chuckled once the question he once made me just emerged at the forefront of my mind.

"So it was love at first sight?"

I opened my mouth to voice it… But he looked down at his pocket and pulled a bit away to take his phone.

His whole countenance changed as he glanced at the screen, but he composed himself just as quickly before raising his eyes back to mine, making it impossible for me to understand the expression I had seen on his face.

"Go inside, I need to take this." He spoke hurriedly and strode away from me.

There was nothing much in his behavior, it was actually his usual, he rarely answered his phone near anyone, it was probably just one of the club suppliers…

But this weird nagging feeling knotted my stomach and constricted my throat.

Don't be so neurotic.

I realized I was squinting and frowning and staring at his back while he got farther away. I scolded myself once again and turned to get in the club.

I only saw Jasper again that night when we were closing.

He seemed a bit preoccupied as he stopped before me in the hall.

"Ready to go?" He sounded calm, but there was something in the back of his eyes… They were not as vivid as usual.

I felt myself squinting again.

"Is everything okay?" I heard myself asking before I could stop my impetus.

Jasper gave me a hard smile, a forced one… I knew something was wrong.

"Actually… I'm a bit worried about one of the suppliers. There's a problem with some scheduled deliveries." He clarified calmly and concisely. "But it'll be okay, I'll deal with it tomorrow."

He didn't seem to be lying, although I had never seen him lying before, so I couldn't be a hundred percent sure… But something didn't feel quite right.

"Do you need my help?" I offered, still confused with the awkward sensation in the pit of my stomach and the whispering voice in the back of my head.

Right then his dimples graced me with their appearance, and suddenly I felt more at ease.

"I have it handled, Freckles." He said as he carded his fingers through my hair slowly. "But thanks, anyway."

He was touching me, standing too close to me, looking at me with those dazzling amber eyes pouring tenderness… Of course all my weird feelings melted away.

I felt my heart warming up and smiled at him. I nodded slowly, unable to look away from him.

Jasper put his arm over my shoulders and took me with him to the parking lot. We exchanged no more words until we reached his house.

An hour and a half later, all the weirdness was long forgotten as I turned to mush in his arms…

#(Dis)Sonant*Chapter17#

It was finally Friday!

I was anxious for the next morning and our trip to Jonesboro…

After a very busy and crazy night at the club, Jasper was hugging me from behind, spreading open-mouth kisses up and down my neck while I opened the door to my apartment.

As I managed to get us in, feeling all sorts of aroused, he turned us while closing the door and pushed me against it.

"How were your classes today?" His voice was deep and slightly urgent.

We hadn't had any time alone since the morning of the previous day, so I supposed he was missing me as much as I was missing him.

The way he was looking at me, like a starving animal, was a bit scary but reinforced my conjecture…

I wasn't really afraid though… I was enticed. His deep stare made my core stir.

"No-normal…" I stammered, dazzled by the dense lustful aura around us.

Jasper captured my lips roughly between his and kissed me eagerly…

I grabbed his hair automatically and pulled him to me… We moaned into the kiss.

The exchange was so serious for a moment that I could barely breathe… Then Jasper broke it abruptly.

"I won't be gentle tonight, Freckles…" He warned me as he started to walk backward, taking me with him.

I just nodded. My voice was long gone together with my cognition. I wasn't really thinking, my desire was clouding my mind to the point of becoming unaware of anything that wasn't him.

He kissed me intensely again and I just responded instinctively. Soon he stopped momentarily and grabbed my thighs, making me circle his waist with them.

We kept kissing… He resumed walking but, oddly, he halted his movements just a couple of seconds later.

I pulled away when he gently broke the kiss and looked at him. His eyes were slightly confused as he put me down slowly.

"Edward, don't move." He demanded in a kind tone as he moved away from me.

Jasper turned the lights on, and I focused on his face for a second. He looked calm on the outside, but I knew him well enough by then to recognize the disturbance in his eyes as he looked around. I followed his stare and my heart missed a beat as my throat felt dry.

My living room was a mess… The apartment had obviously been ransacked.

"Do you have your car keys with you?" He asked in a low voice, coming to stand protectively before me.

"I-I do." I stuttered.

"Go to your car and wait for me inside it. Lock the doors." He demanded, his voice grave, his eyes fierce.

"Come with me." I kinda begged.

"Please, Edward, trust me on this and just go." He said as he fished his phone from his pocket. "Someone needs to stay until the police arrive, and I don't want you anywhere near here, do you understand me?"

I nodded, scared to let him there alone but knowing I needed to do what he was telling me to. He was trying to protect me and if I insisted on being there or taking him with me he would get even tenser.

Avoiding to look at the mess around me, I came back to the floor hall and got in the elevator. I hurried to my car once I reached the garage, locked myself in, and waited… And as I waited my phone buzzed.

It was a text. I knew who had sent it even before I saw it was from a restricted number.

#Scared now?

Yes, I definitely was.

Without thinking I erased the messages he had sent me… I didn't want Jasper to freak out. I was already freaking out, I didn't need to bring up all his traumas.

I knew what I had to do, even if it was going to mortify me.

I called the number I had deliberately ignored for more than a year. He picked it up on the first ring.

"Ed!" Oddly, there was a hint of joy in his surprised tone.

I took a deep breath.

"I need your help." I pushed the pride down and forced the words out. "I'm kinda in trouble and it's something serious."

There were shuffling sounds and I assumed Dimitri was moving before he spoke again in a lower tone.

"I'm listening."

#(Dis)Sonant*Chapter17#

It was unusually cold, and the bed felt weirdly bigger… My eyes opened of their own accord and I realized it was still dark as I gazed at the starry sky and moonlit beach through the glass sliding doors of the rental beach house.

I turned on the mattress already smiling, expecting to find my drop-dead gorgeous boyfriend sleeping soundly, but once I saw his empty space, I understood the strangeness that had woken me up.

I sighed and turned on my back, staring at the ceiling while situating myself better.

Just the night before I'd had the police in my apartment, and if I was to be honest with myself, the whole thing Had been truly terrifying.

But I hadn't had to deal with anything, Jasper had taken care of it all…

He had taken me to his house as soon as the officers were gone, then he'd called Ryan to stay with me until he was back from the police station. He had arrived with my favorite Chinese food, which we ate together in bed after we had taken the hot bath he'd prepared in his huge bathtub. He had contacted a person to go to my place and reorganize it the next day before we left for Jonesboro in his car.

But what touched my heart the most was that all the while he was smiling and treating me with care and, without ever asking, clearly making sure I was okay.

My heart felt warm as I thought about those things… And although we'd spent the whole day together, had fallen asleep in each other's arms just a few hours prior, and I knew for sure that he was nearby, I simply missed him.

I looked at the door and tried to hear something so I would have an idea of where in the house he was, but it was quiet… So I got up and tiptoed my way out of the bedroom.

As I was getting closer to the living room I heard his low voice. I couldn't discern what he was saying, but he sounded calm.

Once I reached the corridor arch I stopped under it and leaned sideways on the wall. Jasper had his back to me and apparently didn't notice my presence, but I could see he was on the phone.

It was a little better to hear what he was saying but only bits and pieces… The little I caught were random sentences that didn't make much sense without context like "tell me", "protect", "have to", "can't", and "do anything".

I had no idea what or with whom he was discussing, and I felt a little disrespectful eavesdropping on his conversation like that, so I turned around as quietly as I could and went back to bed.

Jasper came back to the room some minutes later, silently. I'm not sure why, but I pretended I was still asleep.

He lay down behind me and spooned me as usual, his arm pulling me carefully closer. He sighed once he rested his head exactly behind mine, his nose nestled in my hair.

"I can't lose you, Edward." He uttered so softly, it was barely a whisper, but it made my heart jolt in my chest. "I can't." He sighed and I held my breath. "But I can't let you get hurt either… I need to protect you. Whatever it takes."

Jasper squeezed me gently and kissed my nape lingeringly before tucking his head in the crook of my neck.

As he released a long sigh, I tried to swallow the odd sudden fear that took over me… I didn't know what to make out of his words but they definitely incited an uncomfortable feeling within me.

I didn't go back to sleep that night.