Note: I am sorry it has taken me longer than usual to update. This is a longer post (for me!) and I've been VERY busy!

Note2: not all the info in here is true. (or to the best of my knowledge) some of it I made up off the top of myhead, but not all of it. No, there were a couple hundred tripps to twilightlexicon for info.

(Thanks Guys!!!)

More Bonding

(Part 1)

It was another boring day at home. Edward had been hunting with Emmett, Alice, and Esme for two days and I had sat at home the whole time and done nothing. I was just feeling ambitious enough to get up and get something to eat, when the doorbell rang. I slowly went for the knob and when I opened it, was surprised to find Jasper!

"Hello, Bella." He greeted me. "What's up?" I surprised me how casual he was acting because we hardly new each other, but it seemed that way with all the Cullens, they new me even if we weren't close.

"Nothing much." I replied when I had composed myself. "Come in." and he gracefully strolled inside. He followed me into the kitchen and where ever else I went.

"Can I help you with something Jasper?" I asked, after this had carried on for twenty minutes.

"Yes." He replied cautiously. "Um, before Edward left, he suggested that I maybe come and spend a day with you or something. Keep you company were his words I believe. So I came to see what you were doing."

"Oh. Well, nothing too exciting is going on here." I said.

"No. But it's better than what's going on at my house. Carlisle is at work and all Rosalie does is stare at herself in the mirror or find someway to make herself look even better. It is very annoying."

"I know how the feeling is." I said.

"So, would you like to do something?" he finally asked. "It's not too late, we could do something and then go to dinner?"

"Sounds great." I happily chirped. I was so happy to finally be getting some quality time in with one of the other Cullens. It seemed like the more of them I got to know, the more I understood them.

So, I quickly wrote Charlie a note, telling him I would be back after supper, changed out of my sweatpants and puts some real cloths on, and went back downstairs to meet Jasper. He was waiting outside by my truck.

"Don't you have a car?" I jokingly asked him.

"Yes. But I was wondering what it would be like to be in a non-sports-car vehicle for a change. So, I thought we'd take your truck, if it were not too much trouble. If you want, I could drive."

"No, that's fine." I said. "And if you really want to, you can drive." He smiled sweetly at me, and got in the drivers door of the truck, as I got in the other.

"What did you have in mind to do?" I asked him, as he got on a main road, obviously having somewhere in mind.

"How do you do with animals?" he asked.

"Quite well, actually. I can't think of a time something has gone wrong with one." I replied, interested now.

"Good. I thought we might try horse riding. It doesn't sound like anyone has taken you to do that yet."

"No, they haven't. But where is there a place to go horse riding?"

"On the beach a little west of Port Angles. It is very peaceful there."

"I do have to worn you Jasper, I have never been on a horse before, and I'm sure you've heard about my coordination."

"Don't worry Bella. The worst I can do to you is kill you and Edward is going to do that eventually. If anything I wills speed up the process." He chuckled to himself. "But you don't have to think about that. I promised Edward I would be careful with you." All I could think to do was smile sweetly.

We road in silence the rest of the way there. The quietest ride to Port Angles I had ever been on.

When he stopped at the barn, I was awestruck. It was huge! And there were horses everywhere! He got out and I followed. We went into one of the smaller buildings on the premises, where a tall man about the age of Charlie was.

"Well hello Emmett." He said, tipping his cowboy hat to Jasper.

"I'm Jasper, Dal." He corrected.

"Aw, I can't tell the difference. There's too many of ya." He replied.

"Yes, but if you start getting too careless, you might call Rosalie Carlisle and then we'd really have a mess on our hands."

" True. Maybe I should be a little more careful." And then he noticed me. "And who's this you've got with you, Esme?"

"No. This is Edward's girlfriend, Bella. You haven't met before."

He squinted his eyes to get a better look at me and then continued, "Since when does Edward have a girlfriend?"

"They've been together for a couple of months."

"Hmm." He thought for a minute. "Yeah, it's been about that long since he's been out here, hasn't it."

"Yes. We've all been quite busy."

"Haven't we all?" he asked. "Well, what can I do for ya?"

"Bella and I would like to go for a ride, if you don't mind." He replied.

"Sure, go ahead. You know where everything is."

"Thanks Dal." And Jasper ushered me out the door.

When we were outside, I looked at him questioningly. "Who was that?"

"Oh, that's Dal. He owns this ranch and has been a friend of Carlisle's since we moved here. His great-grandfather was also friends with Carlisle, back when they lived here a while ago." Jasper walked into a room that was attached to one of the larger barns and grabbed two halters.

"Here." He said, handing me a powder blue one. I looked at the metal piece that was screwed onto it. It was a nameplate and Ranger was engraved in it. "He'll be a good one for you." And he walked back out.

I followed him like a shadow. He walked past all the fields. Some had only a few horses, while others had more than I could count at a glance. But the one he stopped in front of was completely empty. I was about to point this out when he put his hand up in my face and whistled, quite loudly. Nothing happened.

"Umm, Jasper, maybe-" I started but stopped when two huge creatures came galloping over a hill. They were ten yards in front of us and were still galloping. Then, right as they were about to run into the fence, they skidded to a stop, dust flying in our faces and beside me, Japer was laughing.

"Wow!" I said and starred through the dust storm at the two animals in front of us.

"This is Ranger." Jasper said, and patted the head of a pitch back gelding. "And this is Matrix." This horse was taller than Ranger and younger looking. He white with black and brown spots all over his body.

"They're really. . . big." I gulped. "Bigger than I'd expected."

He laughed. "Come on." And he bent over and squeezed through the slits in the fence. I followed. Inside the fence, he effortlessly slipped the halter on Matrix's head. I looked at the halter, twisted it around, but couldn't figure out how to get it on.

"Do you need some help?" He asked.

"That would be nice." I replied. He handed me Matrix's lead rope and took Ranger's halter from me. Then, he held it up in front of me and explained to me how to put it on, and then slowly showed me. When he was finished, he took back his horse and handed me mine.

"This way." He said and started leading the horse toward a gate at the other end of the fence line. He opened it pulled the horse through and waited for me to do the same before he closed it again. We went inside one of he larger barns where I learned what a crosstie was and how to hook a one up to a halter. Then, he disappeared into a room full of saddles and other tack and resurfaced with two blue plastic boxes full of brushes, combs and some other objects I couldn't identify.

"Start grooming with this brush." He instructed and handed me a hard brush. I started pulling it across the horses belly and then across his rump but stopped when I heard Jasper snickering across the isle.

"Here, let me help you." He said and came and stood behind me. He put his hand on top of mine, his cold touch so much like Edward's, and pulled my hand across the horse the correct way. "You have to follow the pattern of his hair. If you go against it, you can put even more dust into his coat." Then he was finished and went back to grooming Matrix.

I continued grooming, combing Ranger's mane and tail with a large toothed comb. But when it came to picking his feet, Jasper had to help.

"Alright." He remarked after he stood upright again and admired our work. "I think we're ready to get on. I'll go and get the saddles and stuff." And he walked back to the room he had gotten the brush boxes. I ran and picked the boxes up and followed him.

"Put those there." He said and pointed toward a shelf where at least ten other boxes sat. "Then come here and grab these bridles." I came over to him and he handed me the leather pieces that would go on the horses' heads. He carried both saddles and the blankets.

When we were back in the hallway, he set his saddle on a rack that extended out of a stall door and brought mine over to me. "Put the blanket on first." He instructed, handing it to me. I threw it on the horses back. "Good. Now make sure it is centered. If it's not, the saddle could slip sideways."

"That would be a bad thing." I remarked. "Especially with me on board." He nodded in agreement.

"Okay, what's next?" I asked.

"Next goes the saddle." He said. "It's kind of heavy, be careful." And he handed me a saddle. I later found out that it was called a western saddle. It was all leather and had something called a horn.

I tried my best to throw it onto the horses back. It must have weighed 60lbs. Finally, I tried sliding it up his side and ended up pushing the blanket off Ranger's back.

"Err!" I yelled in frustration. "Jasper, can you help me?"

"Of course." He chimed and came over to help me. First, he put the blanket back on and then effortlessly threw the saddle onto Ranger's back. Then, he cinched up the girth and we were ready to go.

"Wait." He said. "We need to put the bridle on."

"I think I'll watch this too." I said and observed as he placed his arm under the horses chin and pulled the bit into his mouth, the pulled the strap over his ears and latched the throatlatch.

"Okay, now we're ready to go." He went over to Matrix and undid the crossties, pulled the rains over his head and led him out of the barn. I did the same as best as I could. But by the time I got outside, he was already on.

"Umm, how do I get on?" I asked.

"Follow me." He said and steered Matrix over to a stool. "Stop him and put the stool next to the saddle." I did. "Now get on the stool and put your left foot in the stirrup." Did that too. "Now swing your right leg over his rump and you'll be in the saddle." I hopped a couple times to build up my momentum and then swung my leg. I landed on the other side of the horse; my butt was in the saddle. "Good job." Jasper said cheerfully. "Now come on. I've got to teach you the basics."

"Now, to get him to walk, tap him on the sides a couple times." I did as he said and Ranger started to walk. "Good, now to stop him, pull back on both the rains and say 'hoe'" I did this too and he stopped! "That's all you need to know for now, so lets get going."

"Where exactly are we going to ride?" I asked.

"In the woods." He replied. "There are trails in them that we can go on. Come on." He told Matrix to walk and I did the same to Ranger. We went into the woods. The trail was beautiful! There were birds chirping and squirrels running up and down trees.

"This is awesome!" I said and looked around me in all directions.

"Yes." Jasper replied and smiled. "Should we go a little faster?"

"How much faster?" I asked.

"Just a little." He replied.

"I guess." I said.

"Okay, so you remember how you made him walk. Well now you are going to do that same thing and click at the same time, okay?"

"Can you show me first?" I asked him.

"I suppose." He replied. He tapped his horse's sides and clicked several times and the horse began to trot. It wasn't too much faster, it even looked a little fun. So, I did as he had instructed and Ranger began to trot too.

I followed behind him for a while at this speed; until he stopped to give the horse a break.

"How was it?" he asked as I pulled up beside him, now at a walk.

"Really fun!" I said and smiled big.

"Do should we go even faster now?" he asked.

"Am I going to fall off?" I asked.

"Maybe." He admitted. "But if you do, I'll catch you before you even hit the ground." I thought about this for a minute.

"Sure." I finally said, waiting for instructions.

"Alright. So when you are trotting, give him a kick in the right side and kiss at him."

"Kiss at him?" I laughed.

"Yes. It will tell him to canter." He replied.

"Okay." I said and waited for him to lead. He told Matrix to trot- I told Ranger- and then he kicked him in the side and made a kissing sound. The horse immediately took off in a canter and before I could stop myself, I did the same.

It was so much faster than a trot, but smoother and once I got into the rhythm of it, it was amazing! I felt like I was flying! I think I might've even been laughing.

We raced up a hill and when we got to the top, Jasper pulled Matrix to a halt.

"When did you learn to ride?" asked him as we walked down the hill.

"When I was a Major in the Confederate army in the 1860's." he said. "I didn't do much riding until a couple years ago, when we found this place."

"You were in the army?" I asked.

"Yes. I was changed during the war and became part of a family of vampires that fed on humans. That is why I sometimes have trouble around you or other humans." He said guiltily.

"Oh." I replied and tried to think of something else to talk about. "So, where are we?"

"This is the place where I first met Alice." He said. "She was hunting and I was trying to get away from the family that changed me. I followed their way of life for many years, but as time went by, I became more and more depressed about their. . . diet, and decided to leave. They didn't like that and so they came after me. That is when I found Alice. It is a dangerous thing for a vampire to come into a territory where another vampire is hunting, but she was my only hope. When I found her, she was very calm, as if she had been expecting me, and beckoned me to her. When my family finally caught up with me, they took me for a dead man to go into another vampire's hunting grounds and abandoned their chase. So, in two ways Alice saved me."

"What two?" I asked, confused.

"First, she kept my family from killing me and two, she saved me from becoming a monster, especially when she found Carlisle."

"Oh." I said and we starred at the field that lay before us for a little while.

"Shall we go back?" he asked as I began to fully understand what this place meant to him.

"Yes." I said and turned Ranger around toward the barn.

We walked most of the way back, only trotting or cantering when we got to a flat spot and when we did get back, Jasper had to show me how to take everything off. Then, we went outside and picked some apples off a tree and fed them to the horses.

By this time, it was already 6:00. Jasper went in the house that was in the property to say goodbye to Dal; then we got back in my car and headed toward Port Angles.

"Where would you like to go to dinner?" he asked as we drove through the main part of the city.

"You chose." I said.

"Alright." He replied.

And where did we end up? The Italian restaurant that Edward had taken me to when he had saved me.

"Is this okay?" he asked when he parked and I just sat there and starred out the window, remembering all that had happened there.

"Yeah." I said. "I love this place." We went in and got seated in at a table I the back, where Edward an d I had sat. And of course the same waitress was there to take our order.

"Can I get you anything to drink?" she asked, her eyes glued to Jasper.

"Ask her." He said, and directed the waitress's attention to me as best as he could.

She looked at, waiting for my answer. "Two cokes." I said and then remembered what Emmett had said about Jasper and soda. "Umm, actually, make those iced teas."

"Why did you change your mind?" he asked after the waitress had walked away to get our drinks.

"Umm, I just remembered something . . . and decided I wanted iced tea instead."

"Did Emmett tell you I was afraid of soda? That the fizz creped me out?"

"How did you guess?" I asked, embarrassed.

"I know Emmett very well." He replied. "And if their's one piece of advice I can give you, it's ignore 100 percent of the words that come out of that idiots mouth. He's an incompetent imbecile and one of the worst liars in the world."

"Umm, okay." I said and the waitress brought our drinks.

"What can I get you to drink . . . I mean eat?" she said nervously, starring a hole in Jasper again.

Jasper simply pointed at me. I rambled out the first thing I saw on the menu and she went away again.

"So what else did Emmett tell you?"

"That Esme is afraid of toasters and Edward is afraid of the water." I replied, really embarrassed that I had believed him.

"Blasphemy." He said. "Once Edward raced Emmett across the Atlantic Ocean and beat him."

I laughed at the thought of Edward and Emmett swimming. I'd have to ask Edward to take me swimming sometime. "And as far as Esme goes, I believe she knew the person that invented the toaster."

"Wow."

When my food came, we went onto other subjects like what had happened in between him changing and finding Alice. And my childhood and what compelled me to come to Forks after years of not.

"I suppose I should take you home." He said when we were the last people in the place. "You dad is probably bald with worry."

I giggled. "So. It's not like Edward and I have never made him worry before."

"All the same, I think we should go back."

"Alright." And we got back in my truck. I must have fallen asleep ten minutes after we left because the last thing I remember seeing is the bright lights of a boat in the water.

"Bella. Bella, wake up." Jasper shook me. I opened my eyes and found that we were parked outside my house. "Did you know that you talk in your sleep?"

"Yes, I've been told that. Are we back already?"

"Already? It's 11:30." He said. "Here, let me help you in the house. Your only half awake and heaven forbid I keep you safe all day and then when I let you go in your house, you fall asleep halfway up the stairs and really fall out a window."

"I wouldn't do that." I said sleepily, yawning loudly. "Okay, maybe I could use a little help." He picked me up and carried me like a baby. I can't imagine how hard it was for him. Not physically, though I am heavy, but mentally. How hard it was for him to resist. But, nonetheless, I made up to my bed safely.

"Goodnight." Jasper said and kissed me softly on the forehead. And then he was gone.