A/N: These kids ran away from me. I'm thinking one more chapter after this. And then something gratuitous for an epilogue.

~Three Years and Change Later~

Bella hummed to herself as she brushed out her wet hair. Her eyes were closed, so she didn't see Edward's approach. She was knocked breathless when he attacked, wrapping his arms around her waist and bringing her backward against him. His lips were instantly at her exposed neck, nipping and kissing.

"Ah. Edward."

He grunted but otherwise didn't answer or lift his head from his task. His fingers drew lines around her belly, circling lower.

"Edward."

He tugged on her towel, and it puddled on the floor at her feet. He pressed his pajama clad body against her wet, naked one, pinning her up against the counter.

"Edward!"

Again, he only grunted. With a laugh, she tried to turn in his arms. Rather than let her, he put a hand to her upper back, bending her over at the same time as he used his feet to spread her legs apart. Bella groaned.

"Dammit, Edward. I just took a shower." She reached back, threading her fingers through his hair and giving him a little, not-very-aggressive yank. "You know I have somewhere to be."

"Yes, and I'm marking my territory. Stand still. This will only take a minute."

Bella reached back again, this time peppering smacks to his ass. "Down boy. Settle."

"Why are you so violent?" Edward grabbed her hand. This time, he let her turn around in his embrace. She looped her free arm around his waist, and when she tilted her chin up, he kissed her sweetly.

The sweetness of his kiss lasted only five second before he pressed her against the counter, hitching one leg up around his waist, rubbing his center against her. Bella broke their kiss and pointed a finger in his face. "I'm leaving in ten minutes."

"But...you're so naked."

"And whose fault is that? You know better than to unwrap things you can't have." Bella brushed by him, going into their closet.

As she dressed, she listened to the sounds of him moving around the room—the long sigh, and the squeak of the bed. She smiled to herself, filled with warmth and adoration.

He was the first and only man she'd cohabitated with. When it was new, she'd been surprised at how well they fit into each other's lives. Now, the sounds of him gave her a bone-deep sense of home and comfort.

Dressed, she went back out into the bedroom. Edward was on top of the bed, stretched out on his side, one arm draped over his eyes. She sat on the edge of the bed and pressed his shoulder. Knowing what she wanted without her having to say it, Edward lifted his body enough that she could slide, cross-legged, underneath him, and he rested his head on her lap. She scratched her fingertips just behind his ear, smiling down at him as he smiled serenely up at her.

"You really are okay with this, right?" she asked.

"I already said I was."

Bella took his face between her hands, bending over so her hair fell on his face and they were almost nose to nose. "Because you want to be or because you really are."

He laughed and reached up, running his fingers through her hair. "We got this communication thing down, babe. I couldn't be more secure in our relationship." He pressed his lips together a moment, eyes glinting. "I'm not saying I wouldn't prefer to mark my territory, but you already vetoed that."

His look softened. "But male-instinct aside, there's nothing for me to worry about, and I know that. We have a good thing going on here. We're good partners. We have a good and happy life. And obviously, I'm much more attractive than anyone else you're going to run into today."

Bella rolled her eyes but patted his cheek. "And so modest too."

"I'm good at a lot of things," Edward said solemnly. "Now, get going. We're closing a huge chapter of your life tonight. The rest of the book belongs to you and me, babe."

~0~

Bella paused outside the hole-in-the-wall pizzeria in the heart of the Gaslamp Quarter. She had to smile. She hadn't been here in over three years. It was one of those things that had fallen victim to the destruction of her old life.

Going inside, Bella looked around and spotted him right where she figured he'd be: in a cozy booth in the back that had been their favorite once upon a time. She shouldered past the the people waiting to be seated.

When he saw her coming, he stood with a small, wistful smile on his face. His eyes swept over her, up and down quickly, and he offered his hand. She took it, but she pulled him into a quick but tight hug. "Jasper," she said.

"Hey, Bella." He squeezed her once and stepped back, letting her go. "You look good."

"You too," she said sincerely. His hair was a little more shaggy than it had been the last time she'd set eyes on him, but it was still too damn short for her liking. She supposed she'd always carry a soft-spot for her bohemian Jasper. After all, he'd been the man she'd fallen in love with.

"I was sorry to hear about your mother passing," Bella said, sliding into the booth across from him.

"The basket you sent was really nice." He took a deep breath, looking at her with an expression she didn't know how to read on his face. "So. Dr. Swan."

Her lips twitched. "How about that?"

"It's fantastic." He put his hands on the table, leaning forward slightly. "Can I say I'm proud of you?"

She pressed her lips together, knowing what was about to happen. This was it. This was what she was really here for. Closure. Finality.

And forgiveness.

Bella smiled. "A part of this is your win too. This is what we both wanted for me. What we both planned."

His eyes were on her, but he didn't speak.

Bella took a deep breath. "Jasper, we had one really, incredibly crap-tastic day, and nine years of mostly happiness." She rolled her shoulders, swallowing hard. "I'm not going to say that one day wasn't devastating, but I'm also not going to pretend that you're not part of the reason I am who I am today, that I have what I have." She reached across the table, covering his hands with hers. "I don't regret you."

If she wasn't mistaken, his eyes shone. She couldn't quite tell before he ducked his head, looking off to the side for a moment. When he looked back to her, there was something like determination in his eyes. "You don't know how often I think about that day, about what I could have said or done to make it easier."

"So have I." Bella shook her head. "I think I understand, now."

He met her eyes. "Can I say it anyway?"

She nodded, giving his hands another brief pat. She wanted peace for him too.

The waiter came over then, and they ordered. It must have given Jasper the time he needed to put his thoughts together, because as soon as the waiter went away, he locked eyes with Bella again.

"You know, my mom taught me a lot of things, not the least of which was don't waste a woman's time. When you know it's not going to work out, you get out. Get the heartbreak over as quickly as possible so she can move on." Jasper shook his head, his expression rueful. "She neglected to inform me that sometimes you reach that conclusion while you're still head-over-heels, madly in love."

Bella held her breath a beat and let it out slowly.

"I know it must have felt like I was making decisions for you, taking away your choice," Jasper said. "But that wasn't what I was doing. "

He tapped his fingertips on the table in a rapid, nervous gesture. "The thing was, I had a realization practically overnight about the things I wanted in my life. When I was a young kid, when I met you, I wanted to be everything my parents weren't. But what I came to realize was that the things my parents always wanted for me...I wanted those things too. I wanted that life. I wanted to be that person they always saw in me. Not because it was what my dying mother wanted—although, I can't say that didn't occur to me—but because it was an attractive and fulfilling life. Like I had figured out all of a sudden that the rebelliousness in me had settled down, and I wanted the 9-5. The steadiness. The prestige."

"The money?" Bella suggested, but she was smiling.

Jasper chuckled. "It's nice to be comfortable. Being a starving artist...that's a beautiful thing. But turned out my parents were right. I like it as a hobby, not a life." This time, he reached out to her, tapping the tops of her knuckles. "But that was the thing, Bella. When I realized what I wanted had changed—everything except you—I was the one who had a choice to make. To stay or to go. I could have chosen to reevaluate what I wanted out of life in a way that kept me here, but I didn't. I didn't choose you." He flexed his hands into fists on the tabletop. "I went over and over it in my head, but every time, I reached the same conclusion: I couldn't choose you. It was the wrong place and the wrong time for us.

"So, of course I couldn't ask you to choose me. I was the one changing everything, going in a direction I know you didn't want for me or for yourself. It would have been the epitome of disrespectful to ask you to choose me when I didn't choose you. It would have been the shittiest thing ever to put the responsibility of ending our relationship on you." He sighed, and looked at her with wide, honest eyes. "I never wanted to hurt you."

"But break-ups hurt," she said, her throat tight. "They're rarely mutual." She nodded slowly. "I get that now, and that's half the point, right? You break up not because you reached the natural end of your relationship, but because one person ends up on a different page than the other." Again, she nodded. She took a steadying breath, pushing back the well of emotion. "In case you need to hear it, I do forgive you, Jasper. You hurt the both of us that day, and it couldn't have been an easy thing to do."

He laughed without humor. "No. It was the worst day of my life, actually." He closed his eyes. "My mother was sick, and I knew what experimental treatment meant. I knew she was going to lose that fight." He opened his eyes, rolling them toward the ceiling. "And I was letting go of the best thing that ever happened to me."

Bella screwed up her nose. "Life sucks sometimes."

He huffed, but he smiled when he looked back at her. "Yeah. It really does. And the best decisions are sometimes the hardest."

Their pizzas came, and Jasper straightened up, holding her gaze as the they were put down between them. "But look at us now," Jasper said.

"Yeah. Look at you. The things you've done with the family business are incredible, Jazz. It's something to be proud of."

He nodded, looking genuinely pleased. "I am proud." He paused a beat. "And now we're expanding. Opening up shop in California." Hence his visit.

Bella heard the things he didn't say. When he'd broken her heart, he'd said part of the reason he'd done what he'd done was because if they were going to have any chance at a future together, she couldn't hate him. She could see the story as it might have played out. Him returning to California after all these years away, after her anger had cooled, and she'd accomplished all the things they dreamed of together. They might have had a chance then.

In a different life.

"You're Dr. Swan, Marine biologist extraordinaire." Jasper gave her a soft smile. "Lucky in love too."

"He's good to me." It was the understatement of the century, but it was the only thing Jasper needed to know.

"He's—" Jasper's eyes darted to something over her shoulder and went wide. "Uh. Here."

Bella furrowed her brow in confusion, but before she could glance over her shoulder, someone plopped down right beside her in the booth. She scooted over in surprise, blinking. "Edward?"

"Hello, sweetheart." Edward kissed her. Hard.

Marking his territory. The ass.

"Sorry to crash your lunch," he said, his face a picture of innocence as though he hadn't just had his tongue in her mouth. "We just happened to be in the neighborhood and I'm so hungry, I thought I'd steal a bite of your pizza while we wait to order."

Bella glanced across the booth. Sure enough, the other part of his 'we' was Alice. She was sitting next to a bewildered looking Jasper, flashing a disarming grin.

"Hi. I'm Alice, and oooh. This is my favorite kind of pizza. Mind if I have a bite?" Alice didn't wait for Jasper's response but stole a slice of his pizza and took a dainty bite.

"Uh. Yes?" Jasper said.

Bella covered her mouth with her hand to hide her smile. Alice and Edward could be gigantic brats, especially when they teamed up. When they heard Jasper had asked to have lunch with Bella, Alice had suggested they let her go instead. Apparently, she'd convinced Edward that they should do their best to unsettle Jasper—just for funsies, Bella was sure.

Edward extended a hand. "Hello. I'm Edward."

Jasper glanced at his hand, his expression wary. He took it gingerly and shook. "Jasper."

"So." Alice clapped her hands together loud enough that Jasper jumped. "What were we talking about?"

"Christ." Bella chortled behind her hand. If she didn't know any better, she'd have thought Alice and Edward had been listening in, choosing to interrupt just as they got to the topic of her new life with Edward.

But, hell, it was fun watching Jasper turn bright red and squirm in his seat. He was a big boy, and Bella didn't feel like rescuing him yet.

"Um. Er. Well." Jasper huffed, and rubbed the back of his neck. "We were just, uh, catching up. Talking about, uh, Bella getting her doctorate."

Liar, liar pants on fire.

"Bella's incredible," Edward said, taking her hand and raising it to his lips.

She gave him a cool but soft smile.

"Edward's throwing Bella a fancy dinner party tonight," Alice said. She patted Jasper's shoulder in a consoling way. "We'd invite you, but it's an RSVP kind of thing. We have a lot of family coming in. My mom and dad are so proud, you'd have thought Bella was their own kid."

The message there was clear. Jasper and Bella had been an island of their own, estranged even when his family tried to get closer to him. They hadn't ever taken to Bella. The Cullens, on the other hand, adored her.

Jasper ducked his head and nodded. "It's nice of you to think of me anyway."

The lunch wasn't as awkward as it could have been. Jasper was nothing if not a good sport, and once he got over his initial shock, he rolled with Alice and Edward's good-natured teasing pretty well. Bella knew Edward felt better seeing for himself that her ex wasn't an asshole. And Alice. Well. Besides being fiercely loyal, Alice loved giving people a hard time when she had permission.

At the end of the day, it seemed to Bella that Jasper found Alice more amusing than anything. There was no love lost between him and Edward, but neither man seemed to dislike the other.

It was peace. Bella liked the idea of peace. She didn't like hanging onto anger—especially not when her life was so sweet.

"I'll see you at home," Edward said, stooping to give her one more kiss when the four of them made it outside. He shook Jasper's hand again, probably giving him the hand-squeeze of death. "Nice to put a face to the name."

"Same," Jasper said.

Bella struggled not to roll her eyes. She knew damn well they'd both stalked each other on Facebook more than once. How else would Jasper have recognized him?

Alice kissed her cheek. "I'll see you tonight. Wear the dress we bought the other day, okay?"

"Yes, dear." Bella reached out and mussed her hair, making her squeak.

"So, she's a character," Jasper said when the siblings were out of earshot.

Bella snorted. "You're lucky you didn't get the older brother.

Jasper shuddered. "The one that looks like he might have been able to look Andre the Giant in the eye?"

"Well, I wouldn't go that far." Bella laughed. "Emmett is hilarious, though."

Jasper hummed. "You fell in with some good people, Bells."

"Some of the best."

"I'm glad," Jasper said with nothing but sincerity.

Bella hesitated a beat. "What about you? Seeing anyone?"

He laughed, and shook his head. "I've got a lot of great things going for me, but romantically speaking?" He smiled at her. "I'm having a hell of a time getting over you."

Her heart gave a soft pang, but he shook his head again before she could say anything. He reached over and took her hand, twining their fingers together this time. "I never stopped loving you, and part of that means I never stopped wanting you to have it all. I saw the way that guy looks at you." He nodded as though to himself. "I'm glad he crashed our lunch. You looked happy, you know. In pictures, but a part of me always wondered. Whatever happened between you guys looked so weird from where I was."

Bella scoffed. "Yeah, living it was a little confusing. Trust."

"But you got something true and special. I can see that. And that does a world of good for me to see." He squeezed her hand once more before letting go. "You're always going to be the one who got away, Bella, but I'll still consider myself one of the luckiest people on the planet if you say we can be friendly."

Bella smiled. "I'd like that."

They hugged, and Bella walked away, chapter closed.

A/N: I know some of us like ex's to crash and burn, but I'm not one of those people. Sorry! But on to E/B only shenanigans next time.