Disclaimer: Not mine

Chapter 7

School for the next few weeks was horrible, Tyler wouldn't leave her alone, continually trying to apologise despite how many times she told him it was fine. She tried to convince him that what she wanted more than anything else was for him to forget all about it, especially since nothing had actually happened to her, but he remained insistent. He followed her between classes and sat at the now-crowded lunch table. Mike and Eric were even less friendly toward him than they were to each other, which made Bella worry that she'd gained another unwelcome fan.

No one seemed concerned about Jasper, although she had explained over and over that he was the hero, how he had pulled her out of the way and had nearly been crushed, too. Bella tried to be convincing. Jessica, Mike, Eric, and everyone else always commented that they hadn't even seen him there until the van was pulled away.

She spent a lot of time wondering why no one else had seen him standing so far away, before he was suddenly, impossibly saving her life. With chagrin, she realized the probable cause, no one else was as aware of the Cullen's as she always was. No one else watched them the way she did. How pitiful. Jasper was never surrounded by crowds of curious bystanders eager for his firsthand account. She kind of wished he'd send some of that aura of danger her way to get them to all back off.

Jasper had barely spoken to her since the accident, though Alice was just as cheerful as always, waving and saying hello, waiting to chat by her locker. Edward kind of scared her, he'd stopped talking to her in class and would glare, as if the accident was her fault or something. Rosalie too had taken her disdain to new heights, though her boyfriend wasn't as hostile, thankfully. Emmett had to be the biggest guy in the whole school and he was intimidating to look at.

Then there were her dreams, strange nightmares featuring the Cullen's and the guys from the Res. Why had she ever wanted to know about those stupid legends?

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Jasper knew Bella still wanted answers, but she hadn't said anything to anyone. She'd stuck with what he'd said, that he had been standing with her when the van hit and had gotten them both out of the way. He didn't like being at odds with parts of his family, but he stood by what he had done. Saving Bella had stopped a massacre that could have brought very unwanted attention down on them.

Edward was angry over something the younger vampire hadn't even done, he'd seen it in Alice's head though, what would have happened if Bella had been hit. Rosalie was mad at Jasper for risking their exposure, even though he had been saving them from an event that really would have exposed them. Carlisle and Esme were happy Bella had been saved but were concerned she would say something. Alice was the only one happy with the way things had gone. He was happy he'd saved her and that disaster had been averted, but he just wished it hadn't been necessary. He didn't know what to say to her that wouldn't reveal the truth but would make her happy enough to drop it.

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Bella was thankful when school broke for Christmas. It meant less dealing with the ice and snow and hopefully by the time class started up again everyone would be over the accident.

"Bella!" Alice called as everyone was leaving the school, and she turned to smile at her friend, seeing Jasper in his usual spot just behind her.

"Hey," she smiled at them both, and then was surprised when Alice darted in for a brief hug. "I hope your family has a happy Christmas."

"Thank you Bella," Jasper offered, seeming surprised by her words.

She had decided, whatever their secrets were, they weren't worth the friendship of these two. "Let me guess, skiing?" she asked and Alice laughed.

"Maybe. Here," she passed over an expertly wrapped present. "For you and your Dad."

"Alice…"

"Don't worry about it. Consider it a late welcome to town present if you don't like Christmas presents. We'll see you after the holidays."

"Merry Christmas Bella," Jasper smiled and then they were gone.

Bella put the gift in her bag and headed out, glad to be going home.

Charlie had gone with some of the guys from the Res to get a tree for Christmas and they spent the weekend decorating it and the house. Bella drove into Port Angeles with Angela on the Monday to get their Christmas shopping finished.

Christmas day she got up early to begin cooking for lunch since the Black's would be joining them. When Charlie got up they opened the presents under the tree. He was surprised by their having a gift from the Cullen's but thankfully it was thoughtful and not overly expensive. Charlie lacked a lot of kitchen equipment that she was used to, and somehow the Cullen's knew that or at least guessed, so the gift was a gift certificate to a kitchen store as well as a pair of matching coffee mugs for the caffeine addicted family. Renee's gift to Bella was some books she'd been wanting for a while, while Charlie got her a new winter jacket.

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Carlisle watched the way Edward struggled, but he didn't know what else to do for his son. Alice and Jasper were doing their best to keep him supplied with a source of Bella's scent to ensure he was as desensitised as possible. Knowing that he would have gone on a blood induced frenzy at school had definitely hurt him and Carlisle was unsure how to help it.

As much as it saddened him, Edward had once hunted humans, so his son knew how to accept that guilt. Slaughtering innocent classmates would have been very different though, Edward had only ever hunted those who preyed on the weak. And once he had returned home he'd never slipped up once, had never come close until Bella Swan.

Rose was just relieved they weren't moving again so soon, though if Miss Swan began to push or Edward's struggles became worse, they may move for everyone's safety. Alice was very much against that though, obviously she knew something but was keeping it secret from everyone, although it seemed like Jasper knew something.

It was a relief to leave Forks and spend Christmas with their 'cousins' in Denali, even if it meant poor Edward was forever fending off the girls advances.

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When school returned things seemed back to normal between her, Alice and Jasper, something she was very thankful for. Even in winter, whenever the sun came out, their family went camping and hiking. She thought they were crazy, even with the sun out it was freezing!

She went to the movies a handful of times with the group from school, they weren't really movies she was interested in but it was good to get out with the group, even if the guys still thought that she was interested in them. At school she sat and laughed with the girls as Mike organised snowball fights.

It was mid-February before Bella got up the nerve to ask Alice something she had been considering for a while.

"Hey Alice?"

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Alice looked over at Bella, wondering if today was the day that she would finally ask. She kept having visions of her doing so, only for Bella to change her mind at the last second. After discussing it with Jasper they had agreed they would say yes, Bella just had to ask.

"Hey Alice?"

"Yes Bella?" She smiled at her friend.

"I…" she took a deep breath and Alice smiled as the vision came back. "Would you like to come over to my place this afternoon? Jasper is invited too, if you want."

"We'd love to!" She smiled happily, relieved when Bella relaxed and smiled back at her.

"Great, that's great."

"We'll follow you, though I'm pretty sure everyone knows where the Police Chief lives. I'll call Esme and let her know too."

"Okay, I'll see you after class," Bella called as she dashed off to her next class.

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Jasper parked the car and got out, looking up at the house. He was usually approaching from the trees to steal or return an item of clothing so he'd never just stopped to look before. It was a nice house, could use a little work like some fresh paint, but it felt…homey. It wasn't flashy and grand like the houses they lived in. He smiled as Alice took his hand and they walked up to where Bella was unlocking the door. He'd never been invited over to another students house before so he wasn't entirely sure what they were meant to do.

"Come on in," Bella smiled nervously and he wondered if it was because of what they were, even if she didn't actually know, or something else. She'd shown no real instinctive fear of them like the others at school did but it was different being alone in a house with them than surrounded by hundreds of witnesses. "Do you want anything to eat or drink?"

"Just water is fine," Alice answered for them as they took off their shoes and coats, following Bella into the living room. He listened as the two women chatted while Bella got the water, his eyes drawn to a wall of photos. He smiled as he realised they were all of Bella at different ages, starting from a newborn, the only picture with both Charlie and a woman he assumed was her Mother in it.

"I keep telling Charlie to take them down, it's so embarrassing."

"Why?" he asked. "I think it's sweet." Those pictures obviously meant the world to the Chief, likely since he so rarely saw Bella.

"I guess…" they moved to the couch and Alice soon drew Bella into a discussion on their essay for English.

He then chimed in when they started talking about history since it was his favourite subject. It was unsurprising to hear Bella wasn't being challenged by the classes, he was the grade ahead and he'd noticed she was bored with most of her classes. A large school like her old one would have had a lot more options. By coming to stay with her Father, at such a small school…she was likely hurting her options for the future. That wasn't right. He caught Alice's proud look and smile and he knew she'd seen something due to his thoughts. They could easily pay for a 'scholarship' to a good university when the time came. Bella didn't have to know it was from them.

Conversation flowed easily and they joined her in the kitchen when she began making dinner. He glanced at Alice, were they going to have to eat or would they give their apologies before the meal? And then he heard Bella yelp and spun, seeing the pot of boiling hot water falling toward her, and once again he reacted, darting in to protect her from the burns, feeling the water splash against his back.

TBC…