A/N: Yeah, this is the long-awaited second part of Truth, which continues on from watching dreams shatter and emotions entwine. I'm sorry about the horribly long wait, but I got a little lazy and a tad sidetracked. Blame the fact that I've been so focused on finishing Poison lately that I haven't really worked on much else. Anyways, enjoy your Jascob slash!
Title:Truth
Part: 2/3
Part Title: walk the dark path, sleep with angels
Rating: PG-13
Pairing: Jasper/Jacob
Words: 2 618 words
Disclaimer: I don't own Twilight or any of its characters, because if I did, Breaking Dawn wouldn't have been what it was.

. walk the dark path, sleep with angels .

Jasper wondered, as he leapt through the wood with a werewolf at his side, if anyone in his family would notice if he just... disappeared. If he didn't come back, if he just ran and kept on running until he couldn't run anymore. Only stopping when he finally felt at peace, when he finally felt that he could be himself. Would it be so hard? He finally decided that he didn't really care, not at this moment at least.

And anyways, he doesn't want Jacob there, or anywhere near his family. Bella still isn't even close to being stable enough to be around anyone with a pulse, and he won't risk Jacob like that. Not the other half of his existence. So he angles away from his home, away from Forks, from what he's known for so long.

Jacob follows him, of course, but with a small whine; Jasper stops fluidly, understanding dawning.

"You go back, I'll wait here." Another whine, combined with the feeling of longing. Jasper paused, trying to sift through the ramifications of what Jacob was asking for. "You want me to come with you." The wolf nodded, even though both of them recognized that had been a statement and not a question.

He sighed, but decided he'd give in. They were on the border right now, near Forks; Jacob gave a wolfish grin and took off through the woods, looping around to the Swan residence where he phased just beyond the outer edges of the backyard. Trying not to think of how much he'd love to pin the young werewolf to the nearest tree and have his wicked way with him, Jasper instead tried to focus on the scents that were drifting to his nose and the emotions that were swirling almost tangibly in the air.

Purposely he'd kept his eyes averted from the naked Jacob who was now standing beside him wearing a pair of cut-off shorts. And nothing else. Suddenly he was incredibly glad that he couldn't blush.

Jacob reached out and took Jasper's icy hand in his, squeezing it. Waves of nervousness and fear rolled through him at the contact, and he returned the pressure giving the werewolf a small smile to reassure him. Even if things didn't go... right, they'd still always have each other. Billy would just have to accept the fact that his son and the vampire were a package deal now.

Carefully, they slipped around to the front of the house. Charlie's cruiser sat unassuming in the driveway; the house didn't look like it had seen one too many myths turned into reality. It looked just like all the typical normal houses you'd see on any street in the suburbs or small towns. The normality... it would have unsettled Jasper on a usual day, but today he pushed it aside in favor of being there for his young love.

The light was on in the front room, it wasn't too late only being the early night. Jacob took a deep breath, trying to steady his nerves. He didn't know how his father would take this; that he was running away, away from the pack, from his father. And with a leech no less. But he knew, that if his father begged, he'd stay; he couldn't just abandon his father like that.

However, abandoning Jasper...

He wasn't going to even go there, just the mere thought of the pain made him wince; the fear grew, and a wave of reassurance and love washed over him. Looking at Jasper, he couldn't help but return the small smile that was there. With his heart warmer now, and feeling much more at peace then he had just felt moments ago, the lovers walked up to the door, and knocked.

.:-o-:..:-o-:.

Billy hadn't expected his son to show up at Charlie's, especially not at this time of night. The treaty had already been amended for the current situation, the Cullens had kept them informed, but Jacob hadn't been there. He'd have heard about it, yes, but Billy hadn't expected to see him back at all.

Oh, but he very nearly had a heart attack when he saw just who his son had in tow.

Jasper Hale.

A vampire.

One of them.

Charlie was knocked out on the couch, and had been for the past hour. This gave Billy the perfect chance to throw a dirty look at the leech standing beside his son, before demanding, "What are you doing back here?"

"... I came back to say good-bye to Bella," Jacob replied, his voice low.

Billy nodded, "I expected you would. But what is the vampire doing here?"

"I... I ran into Jasper in the woods," Jacob began tentatively. The look that he shared with the vampire spoke volumes, as did their entwined hands; Billy's throat dried up and he felt waves of shock roll through him. His son couldn't have imprinted... not on a vampire, but that was the only explanation. He thought it through more, and things fell into place better. Old myths, old legends; the slightest inkling of this echoed in his thoughts.

"You... you imprinted on him." Jasper was taken aback, was this an imprint? But why would it affect him so strongly if that was so? Sure, his empath abilities could trick him into believing that he was in love, that wouldn't have been a first, but this was the one time that he was completely sure of his feelings; his own emotions.

"What?! If I had, it would have manifested itself a lot sooner!" Jacob snapped. This wasn't imprinting... was it?

"It's not the same as if you imprinted on a human. And it's not completely imprinting, it's marking. There's a difference, but they are rather similar." Billy sighed, he had never thought that he would ever have to explain this to any of the pack members, after all, he didn't place any stock in all of those old stories about marking. But now, it was true.

"Marking?" It was the first thing Jasper had said yet, both Black males looked at him.

"Yes, it's different then imprinting." Billy rolled himself onto the porch. "Close the door, I don't want Charlie to hear any of this if he wakes up. It'll cause too many problems and questions that I don't want to answer. This is for your ears only."

The two nodded. Billy rolled himself over to the small plastic table which had lawn chairs grouped around it on the porch, Jacob and Jasper followed; sitting down in two of the chairs, scooting them close enough so that they could hold hands easily. With a sigh, the Quileute elder started.

"Marking and imprinting are two very different things, though their effects are largely similar and they can easily be mistaken for the other. I'll start with imprinting, it's where you," he indicated Jacob, "see the one human who is perfect for you, in other words, your soul mate. Your existence revolves around them, and hurting them or killing them will effect you in the most painful ways, but you'll survive. That's the most crucial difference between marking and imprinting.

"Then there's marking. There are certain times when a person is born, and their, well their being is split in two. Only when the two halves are reunited, are either people whole. Marking only happens between vampires and werewolves, and is incredibly rare. This is why I haven't spoken of it at all; I didn't believe that it was possible, and I never expected to actually ever happen if it did turn out to be true.

"Marking doesn't happen immediately. It's slower then imprinting, which happens the moment you lay eyes on them. Instead, when you first lay eyes on your other half, you won't realize what they are to you; it takes longer to form, and builds slower. The attachment grows, but at all times, you will be unable to cause them any physical or emotional harm because it will affect you just as strongly as it would affect them. The circumstances vary, but if something happens that's incredibly hard to bear for either one, then it acts as a sort of elastic; and everything snaps into focus. I think the separation brought this on so suddenly."

Silence hung for a few moments before Jacob slowly asked, "Is... that it?"

"There are other myths, but what I told you is just the general explanation of what it is," Billy responded; he really didn't like where this conversation was going, and what it entailed, but if the legends were true... then he'd have to tell them, otherwise they'd be destroyed.

"What else is there?" Jasper asked, his brow furrowing as he tasted the emotions in the air. The trepidation rolling over Billy would have given him goose bumps if he had been human; which he most definitely wasn't. But the emotion did make him very curious.

"Marking is... more complicated then mating is. Unlike imprinting, which drives the wolf to be whatever the one they imprint on needs, marking requires those involved to be... intimate with each other. Since those involved are simply two halves of one while, they're bound in the most primal and basic ways. Once the two have come to terms with this, then it's required by the first full moon that they have... consummated this relationship. The details get sketchy from this part out; marked pairs are incredibly secretive when it comes to their relationships. That's the most I know."

Jasper would have blushed at that statement if he could have, instead, his eyes just widened perceptively. On the other hand, Jacob turned a raging shade of bright red and looked away from his father and Jasper and stared pointedly at the porch. Silence hung for several long minutes, where the only noises that Jasper could hear were the pounding of both the Blacks hearts, Jacob's heavy and hitched breathing, as well as Billy much more even breathing.

"Looks like there's going to be some reworking of some of the terms of the treaty," Billy finally muttered. "I'll have to talk to the others elders about this, and Sam too." Jacob's head snapped up at the mention of the alpha of the La Push pack.

"What do you mean?"

"There are laws, you know, in regards to the process of marking; just like there are laws for imprinting," Billy replied. "It just means that now the treaty omits Jasper; he alone can come and go onto our lands. Other wolves can't attack him, and he will be treated as one of our people; seeing as he's your other half, Jacob. Marking is a little more complicated then imprinting, because unlike imprinting, if one of the two die, then the other dies quickly after. The death of who you imprint on will only cause you immense pain and a loss of purpose of living, but the werewolf in question will survive."

"So you're saying that now my survival and Jasper's are linked?"

"Yes. This sort of thing is very typical of those who have alpha blood in them," Billy wondered how much more the two wanted to know before all of the arrangement were made. He didn't want Jacob to leave, not yet at least. He wanted his son to stay around until he wasn't alive anymore to enjoy his company; besides, he need the help. "But it's still incredibly uncommon."

"... uncommon..." Jacob's voice was a whisper; Jasper would have missed it if it wasn't for his superb hearing. He gave his love's hand a soft squeeze. "What does that make me then? A freak?"

"No, Jacob -"

"You're not a freak." Jasper's voice was hard, but not threatening. He'd already read the feelings of dejection and self-loathing that had flooded through Jacob at the idea of just how... different he'd become. If no one would accept Jacob for this, he would simply take Jacob and leave. What Billy had said and explained made sense; he'd always felt like something was missing, but because of his empathy, he had never been able to find it.

Alice had been ecstatic and loving when he'd first met her, and the pure strength of her emotions had overwhelmed him, clouding his normally clear judgment. This was why... he'd never thought to look elsewhere for his other half, what he'd been missing all this time.

But he'd found it all now, and he wasn't about to let go.

"You're not a freak Jake, don't ever think you are." He pressed his icy lips against Jacob's temple, a warm feeling of affection flooded from the teen. Jasper felt his heart warm, though it didn't beat, he let his head rest on Jacob's shoulder; waves of contentedness and love rolling off of him and into those around him. Jacob relaxed, his own head resting on Jasper's.

Billy watched the entire interaction silently. In secret, he'd always hoped hat his son would imprint; he'd always thought that Bella was unhealthy for Jacob, mainly because of his mortality. As tough as his son was, Bella needed almost constant emotional and physical attention and care; she was too fragile. If she didn't have the constant reassuring of affection and love that the leech gave her, she'd fall to pieces.

And no matter how Jacob tried, he couldn't do that for her.

Besides, Bella wasn't what Jacob needed.

She could understand, yes, his being a wolf and the fact that there would be practically no secrets when it came to the relationship; practically everything was laid bear for the others to see. There had to be understanding, acceptance, and empathy for the pack. Bella disliked the idea of others knowing things about her relationships that she'd prefer to keep private.

The vampire's hand held Jacobs, and his head was on his shoulder with just the slightest of smiles on his lips. Oh, he had to admit, they did look good together and Jasper seemed, well, he didn't really seem to care about whether or not anyone knew. But it was more then that; there was an understanding and compassionate edge to the leech that he didn't see very much anymore.

Marking. It had seemed so outrageous to him before, despite the fact that he was surrounded by true myths, and unbelievable. Now though, now that he was presented with a real case of it; it brought a lot of things into perspective.

"The others..." Jacob began. "They won't accept this, they already haven't. Leah's accused me of betraying the pack, I can tell that the rest agree."

"Seth doesn't." Billy sighed and took a deep breath; what Jacob said was obviously very true, the other wolves didn't know of marking, and if they hadn't accepted it yet, then they never would. "Go. You'll be safer farther north, find somewhere where the two of you are safe. Stay there. Just... stay in contact, alright?"

"Dad..."

"No, I knew something like this was going to happen. If they can't accept this, then I don't have a choice but to let you go."

Let you go...

Jasper spoke up, his voice was tinged with sorrow but was supportive as well, "I... I can't do that to Jake. I can't ask him to give up his life and his family for me, for us. I won't hurt him, if I have to wait or leave or something, then I'll do it; I want to see him happy."

"Jacob... has already outgrown this place. I can see that he needs you, he needs someone stable who will love him and care for him. You're that person, you're the one he needs; has always needed, as unconscious as that desire and need were."

The one he needs...

Jacob's hand tightened around Jasper's, he wouldn't let go, he didn't want to, and he didn't believe that he wanted too. So really, his decision had been made before he'd even been aware of it. There was no way that he was going to let go of Jasper.

Letting go meant dying.

"We'll go."

.:-o-:..:-o-:.

Here it is! The long awaited second installation of Truth! Hope you all like it, I don't know... to me it seems to be lacking something, but I won't make a judgment on it until I've finished up the third and final chapter of this story. So please, enjoy and leave me some nice reviews telling me what you think of it.

Anyways, I'm going to finish the twelfth chapter of Poison before I start on the final chapter, so be patient, yes?

Please review!

Twilight.