Edward and Bella seemed to be getting along quite well at school over the course of the week. He took her to school and brought her home, they sat together at lunch, and talked more during biology than they ever had.

Hensley had asked Jasper about it, but Jasper didn't seem to know much. Emmett didn't either. In his words, 'maybe Edward's finally passing the stick that's been up his ass.'

Rosalie hadn't been overly impressed at that.

Hensley was happy for Bella. It was seeming that Bella was finally getting what she wanted out of the situation. She didn't know that Bella had the hots for Edward though. She totally would've pushed that forward had she been aware. Jasper probably knew. What the fuck?

Jasper was actually quite relieved. He had been afraid the feelings of attraction Bella had been feeling were directed towards him, especially after she asked him about the school dance. It made more sense that she actually felt them for Edward. Edward was much more attractive than him anyway.

His mate slapped him hard on the arm, "Ow! The hell was that for?" Mentally he cringed. He didn't mean to swear at her.

"Stop that. Edward is gross."

"You reading my mind?" Jasper tried again, gentler this time than his initial reaction.

"I was trying to read those two." Hensley gestured to Edward and Bella across the lunchroom, "Then you started with your 'I'm not attractive' thing."

Cooper tried to flip his slicked-back hair, "Obviously I am the more attractive sibling."

Emmett scoffed, "Dude, she didn't even date you. You're ranked down there with Edward."

"She dumped you for him," Cooper gestured to Jasper, "Where's that put you?"

"She didn't dump me. I died."

Rosalie sent Lexi a devious look, "So you played dead to get away from her?"

"Wha- NO!"

Hensley was glad to join in on this, "What the fuck, Emmett?" She gave him a nice slap on the upper arm.

"Ow! No! Ask Jasper, I wanted to come back!"

Jasper sent Emmett a devious look, "Really? So, when you were saying how glad you were to be away from your crazy girlfriend, that's what you actually meant?"

Laughter broke out throughout the table at Emmett's expense. The moment reminded Hensley of previous conversations they had with Emmett's older brothers. The two men equally ganged up on poor Em. Hensley never had any contact with her mother's other children, so she'd always been jealous of Emmett's relationship with his siblings. Until the boys started acting like mean older brothers…then she wasn't so sure.

She was grateful though that she had a new family of siblings to laugh and joke with. It would've been a long life if the Cullen's didn't get along with her and weren't so close. She was also glad that Emmett knew her boys on a closer level too. That way she could have someone else to fondly remember them with once they ultimately succumbed to their mortality.

Kaufmann already demanded that she name a child after him. She wasn't even sure she could have children, especially not with Jasper.

Either way, kids was not on the menu yet. Or ever.

Hensley never had a mother figure in her life until now and now she was 16. She'd been a full-grown adult for 9 years already. She doubted she'd make a great parent with hardly any parental interaction to go off of. The last thing she needed was to screw up a kid and live with that guilt. She had enough guilt to live with already, thanks.

Though it might be a good question to ask Carlisle. Just in case. Her and Jasper weren't exactly near that stage in their relationship – still hadn't kissed yet (insert frown here) – but it would be good to know for when the time does come up.

Also, if she bled and hurt every month for nothing, she was going to be pissed.

"You guys care if I come over this weekend?" She asked suddenly. Truthfully, Jasper should've been the first one she asked, but oops.

"That depends." Emmett looked between her and his brother, "Do we need to leave the house for a night or two? I guess I don't mind, but some heads up would be nice. Might go hiking this weekend instead of tonight, ya know."

Hiking was obviously the code word here.

Cooper hummed, "Saturday night's not really good for us to leave the house. Would it kill the mood to know Alice and I were doin' the same thing?"

"For God's sake." Jasper muttered under his breath, "You're going to subject her to that the first time she tries to spend the night?"

"I got packages coming." Alice protested. "By the way, I know a great website if you need anything."

"She doesn't need anything." Emmett smirked in remembrance, earning a hearty elbow to the ribs from Rosalie.

"Wait," Cooper's eyes lit up, "How are you goin' to do that with Carlisle home? That'll be a hell of a fight to watch. Maybe we should postpone." He looked at Alice with a child-like glint in his eye.

Alice wasn't as amused, huffing in her seat, "I'm not postponing so you can watch Carlisle try to kill Jasper."

"Who said anything about Lexi and I having sex this weekend?" Jasper finally demanded, breaking up the banter between his overly invasive siblings.

"Aww." Hensley quietly protested, earning chuckles from everyone but her mate.

"Don't worry Lexi-"

Rosalie cut her own mate off with a deathly glare, "Finish that sentence the way I think you will, and I'll murder you right here in front of everyone."

Emmett's face looked guiltily blank, glancing quickly at Rosalie for a couple seconds before busying himself with organizing the food on his tray. Hensley wanted to know how he was going to finish that sentence but didn't at the same time.

The table was awkwardly quiet for a couple seconds before Hensley broke it, "So I can come over this weekend?"

Hensley drove the hour back to Forks Saturday after she was finished with training. She'd reluctantly taken a shower before she left, not because she didn't need to but because it was 15 minutes later she got to leave for the Cullen's. Ultimately she figured showing up later would be better than showing up sweaty and gross from her workout. On the bright side, she'd been doing these training sessions for so long that she didn't really get sore anymore. It's no fun being achy and stiff. Take that how you will.

Unsurprisingly, Jasper was the first one to greet her in the driveway with a tight hug. She loved coming back to him. As soon as their skin connected it was like everything else melted away. Any overthinking, any worry was just…gone.

"I missed you." She told him truthfully. It sucked living so far away from him in an enclosed, guarded building where he couldn't just visit whenever she wanted him to.

Hensley felt him smile against the top of her head, "I missed you too. You're here now though and I have you for over 24 hours just to myself. Well, myself and my annoying siblings."

She giggled against his chest, "I'll gladly fight them off for just a bit of alone time."

"How prepared are you to argue with Carlisle? He's already forewarned me that my bedroom door stays open all weekend."

"Oh Jesus." She laughed, pulling away to grab her bag out of the Jeep, "Well, I guess we'll see how fussy he gets in front of me."

"She says that like you'll be less fussy." Cooper laughed from inside.

Less than a second later, "Ahhh you're too slow old ma-" A slap. "Fuck!"

Hensley snickered at the banter. This was going to be an interesting weekend.

Esme was the second member to greet her when she came in, pulling the girl in for a tighter hug than Jasper had greeted her with. She gushed about how excited she was that Hensley was staying over this weekend. The girl was unsure what she did to receive so much excitement and warm feelings from Esme, but she wasn't going to complain.

After fearing for days that Esme would feel the exact opposite about her, she was not going to complain.

Jasper successfully evaded his siblings taking Lexi away, but not Carlisle. "Drop your things in Jasper's room and then come back. We need to discuss rules."

Emmett booed as Jasper took her to his room. Jasper felt the same way.

She'd never been in Jasper's bedroom before and she admired its look. It was neat and clean and filled way more things than Hensley's bedroom was, and she even shared it with three other people.

There was a large bed in the center of the room against the wall. The wall ahead of them was solid windows, something Hensley was greatly jealous of. It wasn't sunny, but it let in so much natural light that she almost felt like it was sunny.

Jasper had a dresser on the wall across from the bed, neatly "decorated" with some books and a framed picture of her and him; the first and only picture they'd taken together. Right on their left was a large desk, covered in open books. Above the desk, the wall was turned into a miniature library full of history books.

"You can put your stuff anywhere." Jasper told her, awkwardly leaning in the doorway. He was watching her reaction carefully. He'd never had anyone in his room whose opinion he cared about until now. Lexi liked blue and green, and there wasn't really any of those colors in his room with his black desk, light gray walls, and dark bedspread. In hindsight, he should've gotten different things.

She threw her bag next to his dresser and took one more look around before facing him again. Hensley knew why he was watching her. He was probably nervous. That's how she'd felt when he was in her room for the first time. "It's really nice."

"It's fine."

Hensley shrugged and came in for another hug, "No, it's great. Why do you say that?"

"It's not very you."

"This is your room silly. It doesn't have to be me. All it needs is you."

Downstairs she could hear Emmett pretending to gag. Fair enough.

They went back downstairs to listen to Carlisle lay out his long list of rules: No being alone together in rooms with the door closed, no being in any bed together (which Hensley already decided would be broken tonight), no kissing, no touching except to hold hands (how gracious of him), no joking about sex, no talking about the two of them having sex, no having sex, no showering or bathing together, no being in the bathroom together, no changing in front of each other, no taking any clothes off for any reason other than to stop a major bleed in front of each other, clothes must be worn at all times, clothes being undergarments, pants or shorts, and a shirt, and finally any other member of the house who knows of such behavior and makes no means to stop it faces the same punishment as Lexi and Jasper will for breaking the rules.

Once he was finished Emmett stared at him with a bewildered expression. He and Lexi had broken all of those rules within 3 months of dating. "Thank God you weren't around when her and I were dating."

"Come here and let me kill you."

While Carlisle and Emmett bantered back and forth, Esme took a seat next to Hensley and grabbed her hand, I hope this is how this works. I'm taking Carlisle out hunting later tonight for a few hours, so you'll have some peace and quiet. He'll come around eventually.

God Bless you

Esme gave her hand a squeeze and smiled warmly at her. Hensley had never known what came from having a motherly figure in your life, but apparently it was someone to help wear down your overprotective dad. Thank God.

Her mother broke up the conversation between Carlisle and Emmett once it started to turn harsher and took Carlisle somewhere to be distracted. Or to be sternly talked to, Hensley wasn't sure which.

In any case, this gave them the chance to finally do something enjoyable.

"Okay, first-"

"No." Jasper interrupted Alice, "No, no, no. This is not Alice and Lexi time. This is Lexi and Jasper time."

Alice gave him a disappointed look, "Did you not listen to anything her father just told you?"

"Alice."

"She's only been over one other time. At this rate it'll be years before I ever get to talk to my sister. You hog her all day at school, it's my turn."

Jasper stiffened next to Hensley, "The hell-"

"Hey!" Hensley quickly interjected, "Let's just chill, we have all weekend. I'm sure Jasper will get sick of me at some point."

"Impossible," He muttered, pulling her closer to him.

Alice gestured to Jasper, "See!"

"Alice, we talked about this, school don't count. Let him have the weekend with his girl." Cooper spoke up from his spot on the couch. He was scrolling through his phone, looking like one of those bored teenagers you see in magazines. The Agency had been reluctant to give Hensley and her brothers such technology, but in case of danger off the job, it was necessary. Aside from texting and calling, she didn't really have much use for it and therefore wasn't sure what the Agency was so worried about or what Cooper was so interested in.

Alice huffed impatiently but let the subject drop. Hensley wouldn't have minded spending time with Jasper's siblings. She definitely wanted some time with Jasper first though. This was really the first time they got to spend time together just relaxing and not at school or researching their strange relationship.

She looked over at Jasper with a smirk, "Wanna go push the boundaries of Carlisle's rules?"

Jasper chuckled, "Absolutely."

Hand in hand, they headed back upstairs to his bedroom. Along the way he pointed out various rooms of the house. To the left of the stairs was Alice and Cooper's and Emmett and Rosalie's rooms, as well as a bathroom. Edward's room was across from Jasper's, next to Alice and Cooper's. Hensley figured that was a much nicer setup than having Edward be next to Emmett and Rosalie. Emmett was pretty physical. There was also a bathroom between Edward and Jasper's room, which was convenient. Not that they used it for anything other than showering, but Hensley appreciated it.

Vampire hearing was bound to be hella embarrassing though…great. Now she couldn't pee all weekend.

She pushed his door, so it wasn't technically closed because it wasn't in the latch but was basically closed. Jasper smirked at her efforts, "This is all you when Carlisle gets upset."

"I'll gladly take credit for this." Her voice was quiet as he took her in his arms and pulled her in for a hug. It would've been the perfect time for a slow and sensual kiss. Being so close to him alone and thinking about their lips locked together sent her heart racing faster than normal.

"Jasper! Don't make me kill you!" Carlisle bellowed from upstairs. He didn't need to; he could've easily been heard in a normal tone. Hensley supposed that yelling got his point across better.

Jasper sighed and slowly threw his head back, "This is going to be incredibly annoying."

"I'll show you incredibly annoying." Her father threatened back.

Hensley stifled a giggle while Esme chastised the vampire upstairs. Vampire hearing was going to be bad in two ways now.

"You had mentioned fighting him?"

"Hmm, I did mention that didn't I?" The words sounded sexual coming out of her mouth. That might've just been the lust she was feeling though. She bit her bottom lip and played with it a bit to try and keep her mind distracted. There was no way this was going to happen with Carlisle in the house. Vampire hearing was really kicking her ass.

Jasper cleared his throat and pulled away to face his room. Hensley couldn't help but wonder if he was thinking the same thing or if he was smothered by her apparent never-ending sexual desires for him. Poor Jasper.

He quirked an eyebrow at her as her feelings shifted again but didn't say anything.

"So. Would you like your desk chair or the bed because even though we are two adults we cannot sit on this bed together?" She heard Carlisle approve of her phrasing and rolled her eyes.

Jasper grinned and gestured for her to take the bed, "Probably more comfortable."

Hensley took his hand and pulled him to the bed as well. The way she pulled him left her against the bed with him pressed against her again.

You are all kinds of trying to have sex with me today. He thought to her through their conjoined hands.

She gaped at him, flushing a bright shade of red, "Wha-no! That's not what I was- I mean, do you want to?" Yeah…jump between four sentences and sputter a little. Super sexy.

He laughed in response and pressed his lips to her forehead. Her heart squeezed at this. It was the first time he kissed her. His lips were cold and quick against her skin, but she relished the contact. They'd been dating for a week and a half. Hensley wasn't sure if that was a long time to not have kissed or not. When she dated Emmett, they had kissed before they became official. That was probably wrong though.

"I thought I said to leave the door open?" Carlisle's scolding voice broke the pair apart, Jasper taking a quick couple steps back.

"It was open." Hensley sassed. He gave her a look but didn't say anything else and let them be, leaving the door wide open.

Jasper gave her a look that told her exactly what he was thinking: that was close.

They spent most of the evening holed up in his room talking. He complied with Carlisle's request on not being on the bed together for the most part. The longer they talked uninterrupted, the braver he got, scooting his desk chair so it was next to the bed and they were facing each other. Hensley sat most of the time so her feet were on the foot bar on his chair and she was leaning in closer to him. Pushing the boundaries, as always.

"I feel like it's hard to know what to study. I don't have much experience out in the real world. How did you decide what study?"

"I liked history. And philosophy was interesting. Reason, existence…just understanding the living. Or the partially living? I studied that during a darker time in life."

Lexi smiled at him and rubbed the tops of his hands with her thumbs. One thing he loved about her was how she always looked in his eyes when talking to him. Most people seemed to stare at his features, most notably his scars, which made him uncomfortable. To her, it was like they didn't exist. He knew she saw them; she'd asked about them when they first started dating, but they didn't seem to bother her.

"I guess psychology has always been interesting. Why people do what they do. But what do you do with that?"

"You learn with it."

She frowned, "But is that enough? Aren't I supposed to do something with my life?"

"What am I doing with my life?"

"Making innocent girls fall in love with you?"

Jasper snorted at her comment, "Hilarious. Lexi I think you've done more with your life than most 16-year olds would dream of. Why not take some time to enjoy your freedom a little?"

"It feels…weird. I've never not been doing something before. I've never not been working and saving people's lives…or taking people's lives I guess. It might be nice though to relax. Not monitor the world, not worry about aliens…."

"Aliens?"

"There's a reason we don't go into space much anymore." Lexi shrugged nonchalantly. As if aliens were totally normal. He smiled more to himself than to her. What different, yet similar worlds they came from.

"Anyway," she continued, "I suppose it's hard to do anything super fancy when you don't age. Don't want to draw too much attention."

Jasper nodded. It was one of the harder parts of their existence. Moving around, trying not to get recognized by humans who just happen to be in the same place. It was one of the reasons why they tried not to get too close to anyone. That and the obvious. "You don't age?" He knew that Emmett said she looked similar when they dated, but he wasn't quite sure what that meant.

"Nope. I haven't aged in 9 years. We're pretty sure I'll stay this way forever, but I guess you never know. Not much is known about half vampires. And by not much, I mean nothing."

"I remember Carlisle being nervous when you were first born. He wasn't sure how much time he'd have with you."

She looked off in the distance, remembering herself what her younger years were like, "I grew really fast at first. I was full grown by the time I was 7."

"7? That's insane. No wonder he was so panicked. You're not aging anymore though?" He was trying not to think about it.

"Not that we know of? Whether I'll start aging again who knows. But so far I've been the same."

He nodded slowly. He wasn't going to think of it. He wasn't going to. "You can change though? Physically?"

"Sure. My muscle tone has changed with my training. I bleed every month unfortunately."

Still not thinking about it. She could probably still live forever even though her body allows her to change. She would live forever. "Are you susceptible to venom? If a vampire were to bite you, would you change?"

"I'm not sure! We've never tried it."

He would try it. He would do it if he had to. He would do anything if he had to.

"Can I ask you a question?" A nervousness radiated from her and he wanted nothing more than to stop it. He didn't want her to feel nervous around him ever.

His grip tightened on her hand in an encouraging way, "Of course. You can ask me anything."

"Do you think this will fade one day? Do you think there will be a day where we don't feel pain or each other's sadness?"

Jasper looked down at their hands laced together. They were the same temperature now from being connected for so long. He looked back up into her eyes so full of wonder. So many things those eyes have seen. So many awful things. Yet they sat there in front of him, who'd seen just as many if not more awful things and looked at him with such love.

He released her hands and cupped her face, holding it forcefully enough so she didn't get knocked over when he smashed his lips to hers. She was surprised at first, for just a split second as her brain caught up. Once her brain worked in overdrive to assess the situation, she kissed back eagerly.

It was better than he ever imagined. Easily the best kiss she'd ever had.

Her lips were warm and soft against his. His cool breath against her hot skin.

He was drowning in her ecstasy. She was surrounded in a wave of pure love.

All his years, this is what he was waiting for. This is what she'd wait for in all her years to come.

He pulled away too soon for both of them, but she needed to breathe he thought. His eyes were carefully watching her face as she pressed her lips together. After a few moments, her voice was barely a whisper, "I hope this never goes away."

Edward rolled his eyes from the island he was standing next to, "I'm still surprised you're fine with this." The comment was clearly directed at Rosalie, who was not excited about Bella but had no issues with Lexi joining the family.

"She's vampire." Rosalie snapped, "She's one of us, not a threat like the human is."

"Don't fight." Esme interjected, turning to give her children a stern look, "There's no point in discussing it further."

Jasper knocked on the archway of the kitchen, a curious Alexandria beside him.

"Hello, hello! We have chicken alfredo almost done." Esme greeted the two. They'd been in Jasper's room all afternoon talking, but the smell of food encouraged them to come investigate. Well, more Hensley than Jasper.

Emmett nodded, "You're welcome. It was my idea."

Carlisle scoffed with a head shake. "I think her favorite meal is noodle something." He imitated Emmett's voice, "Definitely has meat in it."

Hensley laughed while Emmett pouted, moving to stand near the island with Edward. Jasper was close behind her, still wary about her being near the family. Too many people focusing on her made him anxious.

Is it weird seeing them cook?

Edward smiled over at her, A little bit. I'm surprised they're doing as well as they are. Even though we can eat we never choose to. Just a waste of time if it doesn't help our thirst, so we never do.

You've never even tried just for the fun of it?

Not in many years.

Emmett suspiciously looked between Little Red and Edward. "What's going on?"

"Alexandria is reading my mind. And so graciously allowing me into her thoughts as well."

"So, you're having a mind reading conversation?"

Hensley was slightly surprised Emmett figured that out by the way Edward explained it.

Emmett slammed his stirring spoon down on the counter, "Man, this is some bullshit. I wanna read minds."

Hensley reached her hand out to him across the island.

"You can do it! You can give it to me?" Emmett eagerly took her hand.

No, she thought to him, but if you take my hand you can hear what I hear and read Edward's mind too.

"Think something." Emmett demanded of Edward.

Emmett's an idiot.

Emmett's face fell in annoyance as Edward and Hensley laughed at him. "Fuck you guys."

Jasper closed the gap between him and Lexi then placing his hand on top of hers as he stood behind her. See, he told her, you fit in perfectly already.

She leaned back against him as a response. Admitting he was right wasn't exactly something she wanted to do, even if she knew it.

"Hopefully this is good," Esme broke the silence, "we haven't used the kitchen in a while."

"Guess this means I have to learn to cook things." Jasper commented with a grimace.

"Yeah old man," Hensley nudged him, "You probably have never used," She gasped, covering her mouth with her hand, "an electric stove."

Carlisle and Rosalie chuckled at her antics.

"I'll have you know I got curious one day shortly after Alice and I joined the family and tried boiling pasta."

"And how did that turn out?"

Jasper frowned, remembering how the water boiled over and created a bunch of smoke and muck on the stove. He burned himself in the process of trying to clean up the spilt water and among the chaos had forgotten about his noodles, leaving them way overdone and mush, "I don't wanna talk about it."

"Speaking of pasta," Esme gestured to Emmett's pot.

Emmett apparently had forgotten about it, muttering an "Oh shit." And checked on the noodles.

"That's what happened to me." Jasper sympathized.

"Among other things." Edward grinned. Hensley liked seeing Edward here at home versus at school. He loosened up quite a bit in the presence of his family.

"Shut up."

Dinner was very much the same. Cooper and Alice joined the family just in time for the meal. According to Esme, they'd never really sat down for a family dinner before, but the boys quickly took the time to jab at each other.

"Hmm, Emmett has by far broken the most things." Cooper shrugged, answering Lexi's question. They had been talking about the boys fighting in the house and how it was now forbidden.

"But he's the youngest." Lexi countered, confused.

Jasper shrugged, "Yeah, but you didn't see Emmett and Rosalie."

"We destroyed a house." Emmett said cheerfully. Esme did not look as cheerful.

"Yeah, you never were very good at figuring out female anatomy." Lexi stared Emmett right in eyes.

Jasper and Cooper snorted. Carlisle was less than pleased at the turn this conversation took, muttering something about God helping him.

"What is that supposed to mean? You never complained." Emmett glared at her, putting down his fork. He remembered their sex life very differently.

"I was just too nice. If you guys are wrecking houses though it seems like Rosalie had some."

Rosalie shook her head, clearly reminiscing, "You were a strong newborn."

Hensley gave Edward a very sympathetic look, "I'm sorry for you."

"I'm sorry for me too." He grimaced, pushing his plate away.

"Anyway," Lexi changed the subject to one much more favorable. Well to her anyway, "Cooper, as Jasper's only biological sibling, what embarrassing stories can you tell us?"

"Yes, do tell." Emmett leaned in. It was nice to not be on the receiving end of this conversation.

Cooper sighed, giving Alice a side glance, "I'm not much fun. I don't remember much about us being human."

"Who said you had to be human to do embarrassing shit?"

"Jasper's kinda a downer."

Jasper rolled his eyes, "Have I told you I regret going back for you sometimes?"

Cooper laughed, clearly unfazed by the comment. Hensley assumed it was one Jasper made often.

Though Cooper was technically two years older, Hensley wouldn't have guessed based on looks or personality. Cooper was 23 when he was turned, but looked very youthful with his soft features, lacking the more mature look her father had. As luck would have it, he was a couple inches shorter than Jasper at 6' 1".

He matched Jasper in hair, which he wore a few inches long and pushed back out of his face, and in the bitemarks that covered his arms, neck, and jaw. Though Cooper's marks were far less dense than Jasper's. Hensley wasn't sure how that worked, seeing as they came from the same place. Cooper also seemed to have more of a carefree attitude towards them, often wearing the sleeves of his shirt pushed up to reveal his forearms and didn't wear collared shirts which revealed more of his neck, something Jasper never did.

Hensley had talked to Cooper the least so far, but she could tell that Cooper overall was more untroubled than Jasper. He took more of a casual attitude towards life like Emmett.

"So, nothing then? Nothing funny to share?"

Cooper shrugged, "I've been told if I say anything that he'll rip my arms off and kill me with them. I've seen him to do it to other's so…I ain't tryin' to die."

Hensley rolled her eyes with a dramatic sigh. Clearly Jasper's siblings were not as eager to rat him out as Emmett's had been. "Emmett had way cooler siblings." She muttered glumly.

Cooper looked thoroughly offended, "What?"

"Emmett had two older brothers who teased the shit out of him. It was hilarious. You're kinda lame."

Emmett burst out laughing, "OH man! Right for the jugular!"

Cooper pressed his lips together and frowned at the girl, "So because I don't have embarrassing stories about Jasper I'm lame?"

"Lame as shit, frankly."

"Have you met Jasper? He's not any fun. How can you have embarrassing stories about someone who ain't fun?"

"I dunno. Jasper has embarrassing stories about you."

Emmett's jaw dropped. He stared between Lexi and Cooper with wide, amused eyes. This was the best dinner he'd ever had. Rosalie was equally impressed, "If you don't marry her, I will."

"What about me?"

"When you're as cool as she is we can talk."

Jasper couldn't help but smirk at the conversation. He was elated the family, well except maybe Cooper, liked her too. She fit in so well, as if she should've been here the whole time. How Jasper wished she had been here the whole time. Imagine how good life would've been.

After dinner, Carlisle and Esme went out hunting. Carlisle made Edward and Cooper swear that they would watch Jasper and Hensley to ensure they weren't breaking any rules. Esme shook her head and gently rolled her eyes behind her husband.

Once Carlisle and Esme were out of earshot Jasper threatened both boys within an inch of their lives if they dared to snitch on him. Jasper's voice was dangerous, a vicious growl mixed with it.

Hensley had never seen this side of Jasper before. Part of her was glad she wasn't on the receiving end of that tongue lashing. The other part of her was trying really hard not to be turned on.

He finished his thorough threat to his brothers and grabbed Hensley by the upper arm, leading her back upstairs. His grip was firm, but not too tight that it hurt or would leave a mark. She wasn't sure how to feel about that either.

What the hell was wrong with her?

The door was promptly closed behind her and she turned then to look Jasper in the face. He was much more relaxed than he had been when talking to his brothers, his face more amused than menacing.

Jasper quickly closed the space between them and kissed her again on the lips. Hensley was going to do anything but complain. Their lips moved together surprisingly in sync for their first time, the kisses quick and full of need on both sides.

She was surprised how much he wanted this too. He always seemed so hesitant to initiate or participate in physical contact between them. She just assumed that he wasn't as interested in her that way.

He broke their kiss and stared at her blankly, causing her to focus again. Had she done something wrong? Was she a bad kisser? How come Emmett didn't tell her?!

"It's not that." Jasper whispered. He sounded…hurt. "You think I'm not interested in you?"

Hensley's cheeks felt hot. It shouldn't have been a surprise. He was holding her arms again, touching her bare skin. She wasn't at all focusing on projecting or not projecting thoughts to him. In the heat of it she must've slipped. "No, I just-…we never-…I mean…I don't know."

Her inability to speak was not helping her red face.

Jasper's lips formed a small frown while she spoke causing her heart to ache slightly. She rubbed the spot in a feeble attempt to dissolve it. Why she did it she wasn't sure. The only way to stop the pain was to make him feel better.

"I just feel like I'm the needy one…in that way in this relationship." She said finally. Her words did nothing to ease the pain in her chest or the pain in his face.

"It's not like that." He muttered, "It's just…complicated."

"Explain it to me."

Jasper led her over to the bed and they settled onto it, her head leaning on his shoulder with their hands linked together. The air was much denser than it had been a moment ago and Hensley couldn't help but feel as if they were in the middle of arguing about something.

As if he could sense the tension too, he rubbed the back of her hand in solace. "I don't ever want you to think that I don't want you. My feelings are actually quite similar to yours. It's just harder for me to express those feelings for a few reasons. One, as eager as you may seem, we haven't been together that long, which causes hesitation on my part. I would never want you to do something you would regret with me. Two, though you are strong, you are still breakable to an extent. To what extent, I'm not quite sure. I would never forgive myself if I got carried away and did something to hurt you. Three, I've never been this close to someone who has blood in their veins. Well, not in this sense…. Anyway, you smell vampiric, which generally wards off any feelings of thirst around you, but you do smell human as well. It's an odd mixture and I'm afraid that if I get too…lost in the moment, I will hurt you."

"You would never hurt me." She stated quickly. Hensley didn't need to know Jasper long to know that he wouldn't hurt her. He lacked confidence in himself, which was understandable. If you've never had people to help you build it or the thinking pattern to build it yourself it was easy to fall prey to a lack of it. She knew him though. Not very long, but she knew him.

"I appreciate your confidence, but we don't know that. My upbringing as a vampire didn't do me any favors in self-control. I've been at this lifestyle almost 60 years and still struggle."

"I know you won't." She repeated confidently. Her lack of hesitation was comforting in a way…and potentially ignorant in another.

He sighed but didn't argue with her anymore. It was their first weekend together to enjoy each other's company and he didn't want to ruin it by fighting with her over his self-control or lack thereof.

She released his hand and moved to straddle him. A quick tinge of worry crossed his chest until she wrapped her arms around his neck and hugged him. It was easy to return the hug. In the short time they'd been together he'd never felt so much love or so much peace.

After a few moments, she kissed him again, slow and tender versus fast and needy as she had been earlier. Their conversation indicated to her that he needed time and was going to respect that. Had the roles been reversed, she knew she'd be just as worried about hurting him as he was her.

Well, almost. Her personality was apt to throw a bit of caution to the wind, but she understood more than well enough that Jasper was not the same type. Though they came from similar worlds, those worlds shaped them in very different ways.

"I'm sorry." Jasper's voice was defeated, full of frustration at the situation or himself or both.

Hensley's heart twinged again at the sound. She never wanted him to feel defeated or torn down. Not ever. "Please don't be. You're wonderful, Jasper. Why would you be sorry for wanting to ensure my safety?"

"Because I know it's not what you wanted in this situation. I couldn't give you what you wanted and it's my fault. I could be better. I could be more in control after 60 years. Cooper and I came from the same place and he does well."

"Have you ever thought that you're at a disadvantage with your emotion feeling?"

"Don't make justifications for me. Please. I need to overcome this, not make excuses as to why I'm not."

She admired the hell out of that statement. "Okay, so how do we fix it? How do you overcome it?"

"Practice." Hensley was not going to argue that statement. "Please be patient with me though." He added when picking up on her emotions, "Please know that I want this too, which is why I am determined as hell to fight this."

Unsure of what to say, she nodded lamely. Conversations weren't exactly her strong suit.

Instead of prolonging the slightly awkward silence, his lips connected with hers again; lingering and soft. This part was easy. He could kiss her all day long. It was the things kissing led to he worried about.

Still, he pushed on, deepening the kiss by putting slightly more force and need into it. How he would react by having his tongue in her mouth he wasn't sure. Just take it as it comes. Stop overthinking it. His tongue swiped her bottom lip, and she was more than happy to comply with his unspoken request. Her body unintentionally shivered at the new contact. Whether that was because he was cold or not Jasper couldn't tell, but her emotions remained unchanged, stronger even. He was doing well with her warmth too. Not the least bit affected by it really…..

"HEY!"

The sound scared Hensley nearly to death. She pushed herself away from Jasper so she was on the bottom edge of the bed. Adrenaline poured through her veins as her heart surged faster than it had already been beating. Her eyes met her mates for a split second before daring to check the door.

She groaned. Cooper.

The older Hale was laughing hysterically in the doorway at his antics. Close behind him she could hear Emmett doing the same. Her chest tightened for a whole new reason as she hopped off the bed, "You're dead!"

"RUN!" Emmett sobered up quick enough to grab Cooper by the back of the shirt and pull him out of the doorway. The two boys flew down the stairs with Hensley very close behind them. She thought hard as she ran and locked the sliding door leading to the backyard. Cooper tugged on the handle once before realizing it while Emmett yelled at him to open it.

The slipup was just enough to allow Hensley to catch up to the two and give them both whacks on the back and upper arm. Emmett was used to the sensation of being hit by her and was able to laugh through it, but for Cooper this was entirely new and caused much more anguish than he had ever predicted to come from the small girl.

"You arseholes! I can't believe you. Impersonating my father?!" She raised her hand to hit Cooper again, seeing as he was the one who did it.

In return he held his hands up to try and stop her, "Jasper make her stop, Jasper make her stop, Jasper make her stop!"

Jasper was in no rush. He let Lexi get a few more good hits in while his older brother cowered before he wrapped his arms around her waist and pulled her back towards him. This was by far one of the best sights. "Big Bad" Cooper afraid of his 5' 5" tall girlfriend.

Cooper had by far taken the brunt of her wrath and Emmett thought this was the best part of his night. Scaring Little Red AND watching Cooper get beat up for it? Amazing.

"The next time you do it, I'll rip your arms off and beat you with them." Hensley threatened before letting Jasper lead her back upstairs.

"I swear she gets cooler." Rosalie commented from the couch as they left, not even trying to hide her amusement of the situation.

Jasper waited until they were nearly back to his room before letting himself chuckle at the display. It was fascinating to watch her. Judging by her size and human-like qualities no vampire would expect her to be so fierce. A secret weapon. Exactly what her human government had wanted out of her.

There was some moods you couldn't quite recover from. Apparently fighting with your boyfriend's older brothers was one of them. Hensley was still a little tense and shaky from the encounter as much as she didn't want to be. She wanted to go right back to how her and Jasper had been but her own emotions were betraying her.

Time was also betraying her. It wasn't late per se, but it was no longer early either. A sense of dread filled her as she realized she'd have to go home tomorrow. Maybe her next research project should be how to convince the agency to let her stay with Jasper instead of living in their apartment complexes. This was a fight, however, that she wasn't sure Carlisle would be in her corner on. Something told her that he might have a few additional rules to implement if they went this route.

Still, between her and Esme, Carlisle could be broken, right? Surely Esme had some sort of leverage on him. Hensley didn't know enough of him to really have any dirt. He was just too good of a person from anything she heard. Decided right after he was changed to never drink people? From anything she heard about being a new vampire that was incredibly difficult if not close to impossible.

Besides, then there was also the issue of her boys. The three men she'd lived with for the last five years. Thinking about leaving them behind was hard. She was on a different path though. All of the boys, with the exception of Anderson, were going to renew or had renewed their contracts already. They enjoyed the work and the structure of the Agency. Hensley didn't.

Besides, they couldn't be that upset with her. Anderson's contract was up at the end of this year. He signed a 3-year deal when he turned 18 with the knowledge that after those years he was done. Anderson didn't love the group any less. Like Hensley, the work just wasn't for him.

The group often joked that you had to be just a slight psychopath to enjoy what they did.

In any case, Hensley doubted the Agency would ever go for something like that. It was a battle and a half just to try and get her out to a public school system.

Jasper picked up on her emotion shift instantly. Neither of them had been very talkative since her discussion with Cooper. It seemed that neither of them quite knew what to say.

A few minutes later though and Jasper was worried. Anxiety filled her moments for it did him and he was desperately trying to uncover why. Cooper would never hurt. He hoped that Lexi knew he would defend her until his body went up in flames. It didn't matter if Cooper was his brother.

He remembered what she said to him when they first started dating: just ask the question. Prying wasn't really something he was interested in, but he was curious. What if he did something wrong?

A few more minutes, then he would ask. Until then he held her just a touch closer.

The clock flashed by six more numbers. Maybe a few more? Internally he sighed. He was being stupid.

"Are you okay?" The silence was broken, and Lexi quickly glanced up at him like he'd woken her up. He didn't think she had been sleeping….

Her cheeks turned a lovely shade of pink, "Yeah, sorry. Just thinking about how I could convince the government to let me live here."

Relief. The exact opposite of what he expected to come from this.

"How can I help? Who do I need to argue with?"

She half-heartedly giggled at his comment, "You're cute. It's quite a process. I think my best bet would be to wait until the end of this year. Anderson's contract is up the last day of December, so it might be best to push the issue at the same time."

End of December. That was only a month and eleven days. He could wait that long. The original timeline for her living with him had been after graduation, at least in his mind. But now it was being pushed…down to a month and eleven days.

He could live with that.

Carlisle was not impressed to come home and find his daughter in the same bed as Jasper. In fact, he was quite upset about the whole thing. That was his daughter.

"Oh stop." His wife whispered while he glared at the pair that were snuggled up together. Carlisle didn't think there was room for a sheet of paper between them. "He makes her happy, doesn't he?"

He could concede that. Jasper did seem to make her happy.

"This is what we wanted isn't it? For him to find someone that makes him happy?"

He could concede that as well. For years he and Esme had been hoping that Jasper and Edward would find their mates. They deserved the same happiness he had with Esme. Well, Jasper had deserved it. "Not with her."

"This isn't his fault. You know that. She is who he wants. He is who she wants. You can't stop that."

He was not as willing to concede that. "What if he's manipulating her?"

"Carlisle James Cullen. You know he wouldn't do that."

He was just being bitter. "I know."

She rubbed his arm, pleased that he would give Jasper that integrity. "What do you think is different about them? Do you think it's the fact that she's hybrid?"

That was something he desperately wished he knew. "I'm not sure. I studied the legends about hybrids in South America when she was first born. They didn't say anything about abnormal mating conditions, not that there was much to go off of."

Neither of them were satisfied with that answer. Though in all honesty, no one in the family was satisfied with that answer. In a way, their connection towards each other seemed stronger than most. Jasper was willing to defend her in ways that were simply irrational. Almost as if he lost all control, he was unable to see the logical side of situations involving Alexandria. Carlisle was absolutely willing to defend and protect Esme…but he didn't feel it was necessary when the family was making mild jokes. Of course, he would step in if things went too far, but not nearly to the extent that Jasper jumped too.

Maybe this was just teenage infatuation?

Somehow, though, Carlisle doubted that.

….

"What are you doing for Thanksgiving?" Esme made conversation the next morning. Hensley insisted she help Esme with breakfast, considering the woman was really only cooking for her.

"Thanks for what?"

Esme giggled at the response, "Thanksgiving. The holiday? This Thursday? You guys have a few days off of school for it."

Hensley did remember her teachers talking about time off this week. She thought it was a teacher appreciate thing and that's why they had time off. "Oh. Um, I guess I've never celebrated that before. I didn't even know it was a thing."

"You didn't know about Thanksgiving?" This was Esme's first experience with how they did things in the Agency and she didn't enjoy it.

The girls face started turning red. It wasn't often she didn't know things, "Um, no. I thought it was a thank you break for teachers."

Somewhere in the house Cooper and Emmett were dying of laughter, which didn't help Hensley's face. She heard a couple thuds milliseconds later and knew Jasper was on the case. Sometimes she really appreciated his protectiveness of her.

"Oh sweetie! You come over and spend the weekend with us, we'll celebrate!" Esme insisted. The thought of her daughter spending the holiday alone broke her heart.

Lexi let out a nervous laugh but didn't argue. Quite frankly, the thought of another weekend with Jasper and his family was appealing. "Okay. Sure!"

Esme paused what she was doing for another moment, "You have roommates don't you? What are they doing?"

"Uh, probably not much. None of us have ever celebrated Thanksgiving before."

"Well, you bring them too. I heard about what happened with Cooper, you're not allowed to take no for an answer."