"I came to realize that if people could make me angry they could control me. Why should I give someone else such power over my life?" - Ben Carson, Gifted Hands

The drive to Cullen's family house was held in silence. I was sitting in the back, Edward drove and Bella picked the passanger seat. Soon after Edward rolled the car onto the main road, Miss Swan turned on the radio, therefore, I hadn't managed to catch practically anything of the conversation the two of them had. That was why I started looking out of the window, affronted, and ignoring their presence. I can assure you, that if it hadn't been an excessively expensinve, amazing Volvo I had been sitting in, I would have started to scratch ornaments into the gum gasket in the base of the window, with my nails. When Edward huffed and while I imagined the five zeroes in price of the car, the violent tendencies left me.

We arrived to a modern, semi-detached house in the middle of the woods soon, at the sight of which my jaw dropped, by the way. It looked exactly like one of the examples from the magazines about housing and living, while I was sure that even George Clooney (or someone similarly famous) wouldn't be ashamed of living in a residence like that.
In the same time, its glorious magnificence made me wonder, how could Mr. Cullen - adoptive father of Cullen siblings - afford to build it. Hayden said he was a Senior Consultant of the surgery in Forks hospital. The hospital belonged to the state though, therefore, the salaries of the emploees weren't half as high as in private hospitals. I was sure about that, since I noticed my aunt was spending more time at work in here, than she had back in Dublin. Time to time moreover, she was assigned more night shifts than day shifts. Working as one of the few doctors Forks had wasn't a walk through rosy garden.

Bella had already been out of the car, since Edward opened the door on passanger's side for her. I figured that it'd be nice of me to stop staring at the building and get my butt out of the Volvo quickly, before the idiot of a man would forget about me and lock me inside.

"Worry not, you're unforgettable," Edward grimaced at me, as if he had heard every word of what I thought. Instead of asking him anything (it would be useless anyways), I stuck my tongue out at him, walking over to Bella's side. Breathing in deeply, I tried hard to ignore the nervousness that had been growing in the pit of my stomach. Bella smiled at me in her usual, shy way, nevertheless, this gesture of hers encouraged me a bit.

The interior of the house was furnished according to my taste. There weren't too many things inside - it was corresponding with the nice, modern minimalist style. Neither there were photos or pictures of the family itself, which soon made another note on my long list of oddities about the particular family. Everything was cleaned neatly, for that, I assumed Mrs. Cullen to be a good housekeeper, besides her obvious being a patient mother.

"Hello there, you two!" Alice's exclamation pulled me out of my thoughts. She hugged Bella at first, then, she grinned at me and pulled me into a tight embrace. As if we hadn't seen each other for years, instead of hours. After the hug, I managed to spot Edward and Alice, exchanging gloomy glances, but before I managed to say something, other people appeared on the top of the staircase. It was a petite, pale, beautiful, middle-aged woman, dressed in purple dress. Her huge, warm-hearted smile was shining to all directions, and she had the same, golden eyes as the man on her left and the rest of the family. That had to be Mrs. Cullen and the blonde guy was surely Doctor Cullen.

"Be careful, Alice," the woman said in a pleasantly pitched, motherly tone of voice. Meanwhile, I was wondering what should Alice be careful about, considering I was the one who knew nothing about this family, being in their house, somewhere in the woods, miles away from the city.

A loud snort came from behind me all of sudden, for that, I looked around, only to find Edward grinning at me. He was going to make a comment, however, the man on Mrs. Cullen's left stopped him with a lifted palm. "No more teasing, son. There is a huge celebration to come," the man ordered peremptorily, yet, in a kind way. His eyes then moved to me and to Ms. Swan. "Bella, it's nice to see you again. Ms. Callaghan, it is our pleasure to have you here; we've heard so much about you. Both of you, welcome."

"Thank you, Mr. Cullen, it's nice to meet you too." I offered him a small smile, then, I looked at his wife. "Mrs. Cullen, you have a wonderful home."

"Oh Honey, thank you for the flattery. Sometimes, leading the family is really exhausting," she shot a look to Rosalie, who appeared out of nowhere, right next to Alice. "Please, call me Esme."

"And my name is Carlisle," added Dr. Cullen.

"Alright, Esme, Carlisle... Emmett, Rosalie, Alice, Edward, Bella and..." I started repeating the names aloud, in order to engrave them into my memory, before my sight landed on the only person that could make me blush for no particular reason. Oh no, was it happening right now? "Jasper... I am Gwyneth."

"Great! We can start moving now!" Alice clapped her hands for a few times, ordering Edward to lead Bella away from the living room for a few minutes, since shewould have to prepare it. On Bella's face, scepticism had been apparent by then, but she hadn't had enough courage to protest against Alice. Nobody in the world had enough courage, actually.

"Aw, Gwyn! I'm sorry, but I need you to stay out too. Jazz, could ya show her the house, please?" Jasper looked at her precariously. "Come on, just for a few minutes! Nothing bad will happen, I promise."

Besides my not being sure how could Alice promise him what will or won't happen, Jasper's apparent reluctance to walking with me sort of offended me. It shouldn't have had this kind of effect on me; after all, I hated myself for allowing him to make me feel that way about it. Although he nodded in agreement in the end, walking towards me hesitantly, I turned around out of spite, as I started climbing up the stairs, before he managed to show the way.

As soon as we got out of sight and earshot, I turned around sharply. Again, I started regreting my actions soon, because the moment I did so, I bumped directly into Hale's chest. His strong arms prevented me from falling down, forasmuch as his chest was as hard as a... wall. Wait up. Why did this remind me of something that had already happened?
My thoughts started running through my mind, as relentlessly as the fastest horses on the races. The memory of my having bumped into a wall - no, into something that seemed to be a wall - only a few days ago, at school, appeared in front of my eyes. It was the day I met Eric Yorkie, the day I found out Rosalie Hale was a bitch, and the day I first spotted Jasper Hale.

All the events were playing right in front of my eyes, as vividly as ever. Until Jasper lifted his hand up, towards my forehead, and brushed his fingertips softly over my bruise. I didn't like what he was doing, yet, I wasn't able to force myself to do something about it.

"What happened to you?" He asked huskily.

"You know what happened, you were there," I replied quietly.

Jasper narrowed his eyes at me. "I am afraid I don't know what you mean, Gwyneth. You saw me for the first time in the school canteen."

"Hell no, I didn't," I insisted on mine, with much stronger emphasis this time. "You were watching me in the corridor, when I bumped into the wall, after Chemistry, before lunch! Well, I was sure it was a wall, 'cause it was too hard to be a person, until Eric Yorkie told me it was you. I didn't believe him then, but now..."

Jasper released his grip on my arms, his eyes darkening. "Now what?" he pressed. "What changed your mind about what is and isn't real?"

Not knowing what to say, I swallowed hard. "You did!" I punched him in the shoulder (my biggest mistake of the day, by the way), while Jasper smiled humourlessly. I wasn't done talking yet though.
"You have no idea how hard it is for me to be near you... or Alice! Everything about you two is somehow... irresistible for me. No matter how much I want to stop caring though, I can't. Dammit, I just... can't!"
My rage had surely showed itself on my cheeks, which were burning by then. However, a strong wave of calmness crashed into me suddenly, and I couldn't do any less than accept it. Once again.

Jasper just watched me carefully, not saying a single word.

"What was that?" I asked hoarsely.

"What do you mean?" He looked careless, though, I had been observing him long enough to know that he was becoming nervous. Good. At least, now he knew how I felt every time I met him randomly.

"This change of my mood. It has already happened to me once. About a week ago, in the Chemist- oh my god..." I stopped myself in the middle of the sentence, as my hand fired to my mouth. I covered it, in order to mute my shriek. "It's you, isn't it?"

Jasper frowned, making a few steps towards me. I backed away, scared. "Don't come any closer!"

"Calm down, Gwyneth," the man ordered authoritatively, stretching his hand towards me. I ignored him. "You're not thinking straight."

"I said don't come -" This time, it wasn't a realization that interrupted me. It was Jasper, who literally clutched my arms in his relatively big palms and pinned me against one of the walls hard enough to knock the wind out of me. Not being able to think about anything else than the excessive speed of the movement of his, I was left to gasp for air.

"You want to know the truth? So be it," his voice was coming out in dangerous hisses. "Every day, since you came to school, it costs me everything to control myself around you. You think the fact, that you're physically attracted to me, is hard for you? Then you're as self-obsessed as everyone else! Everything I can think about, when being with my wife, is you! I don't want it to happen either, but - to quote you - I obviously can't do anything about it!"

Well, that was, apparently it. Jasper Hale lost his temper.