Disclaimer: Twilight and its characters are not mine…I wish it was but it's not. I mean no harm; I am just playing in Stephanie Meyer's world.

The First Night

"Thank you, Jasper," I said softly as I unbuckled my seatbelt and gathered my stuff. "I will text you in three hours," I said with a smile.

He chuckled softly as he got out of his truck to help me out, "I was wondering if you mind if I stayed with you for a little while?" he asked once he at my door.

I replied as I walked up to the house, "Ah… you really don't have to," I unlocked the door to the house and stepped inside.

"I feel responsible, so I just want to make sure that you are okay," he smiled at me, "that and I want to get to know you."

I smiled softly at him and led him to the living room, "Would you like a drink or anything?"

"Sure," he replied.

"Okay, I have water, grape juice, Coke and Diet Coke," I said heading into the kitchen.

"Coke would be great thank you," I handed him his drink. I sat down on the couch opposite of him and tucked my feet under me. "So Bella, why were you at the baseball field today?"

"Well, Jessica dragged me to watch the JV Game. Her boyfriend, Mike, plays Right Field," I said.

"That sounds fun," Jasper said, taking a drink of his Coke. "Wait, isn't Mike a Junior?" he asked, looking very confused.

"Yea, I guess everyone who tries out makes the team. From what I have been told he has always played in Right Field," I said with a laugh. "I don't know that much about Baseball, but I do know that Right Field is where you put the bad players."

"Yea, that is a fair thought. So, what brought you over to the Little League Fields? Do you have any younger siblings?"

"No, nothing like that. I left the JV Game to get a drink and snack and I decided to walk around the fields. When I saw you talking to one of the players I just decided to watch the game for a little bit. And then I got hit in the head," I said softly.

"Well, I am glad that you stopped to watch," he said. I smiled into my drink. "How are you feeling?"

"I am still really sleepy, but my head isn't pounding right now."

"Well why don't you lie down and try to get some rest?" he said, "Go on upstairs and get more comfortable, grab a pillow and blanket and then you can curl up and sleep on the couch."

I smiled softly, "Yes, sir," I said standing up and giving a mock salute. He was laughing and shaking his head as I headed up the stairs to get changed, before coming back downstairs with a pillow and a quilt. When I walked back into the living room Jasper had turned on the TV to a baseball game and was sitting at the end of the couch.

"I figured that I could stay here for the night, if that's okay with you?" he sounded really nervous as he asked me.

"Yea, I am okay with that as long as you don't get too bored," I replied with a smile as I was setting up the couch to sleep on. I curled up in my blankets with my feet pointing toward Jasper.

"I think that I will be fine," he said with a smile. "I set my phone to go off in three hours, so rest, Bella. I will see you when you wake up," he softly said, while patting my leg.

It didn't take that long for me to fall asleep. When I woke up, I could hear Jasper talking on his phone.

"Edward, I am staying here tonight," he paused, "I know, but I feel like I am needed here. She is alone and got hit in the head," another pause, "just let Esme know that I will be staying here over night," he said and hung up the phone. He turned to face me, "Sorry to wake you up, Bella, you still have another 45 minutes before I was going to wake you up."

I sat up, "No, it's okay. Is everything okay? I don't want to keep you from anything that you may have going on."

"No, Bella. I am just where I want to be. My brother just doesn't understand why I would want to be here."

"Why do you want to be here?" I asked softly.

"Well I have noticed you around school and I have wanted to talk to you for a while, but I was too nervous."

"Why?" I asked shocked. Why would Jasper Hale be nervous about talking to me, I am just plain ol'Bella Sawn.

"Well you are very beautiful and caring," I could feel myself blushing, "you are also very intelligent and soft spoken. You don't get involved in all the normal high school drama, "he moved so that he was kneeling on the floor by me, "and you don't follow my family or I around like a lost puppy."

"Um… thank you," I whispered. He gently took my hand, "Why would I follow anyone around like a lost puppy?" I asked just baffled by that concept.

"I do not know, but it seems to happen a lot to all of us."

We lapsed into a comfortable silence for a while. He turned so that he was sitting on the floor with his back was resting on the couch. We watched the end of the baseball game.

"So, why doesn't Edward think that you should be here?" I asked once the game was over.

"Oh, he just thinks that because we come from a more troubled background that we shouldn't interact with others as much. Like, you couldn't understand what we have all been through," he said, dropping the back of his head onto the couch.

"That doesn't make any sense. Everyone comes from different backgrounds and that is what makes us all unique and special!" I could hear my voice raising. "How does he expect to heal if he can't interact and make friends?"

"I have asked him the same thing before. We have to be able to grow and evolve as people if we are going to survive."

I was about to respond when my stomach growled. I could feel myself turn bright red, until Jasper started to laugh.

"I guess it is time to feed you," he said while laughing. After he managed to pull himself together his stomach started to growl too.

"I guess it's time to feed you too, smartass," I said while laughing. I climbed around Jasper to get off the couch. "Come on, let's go see what we can find to make for dinner," I said offering him my hand to get up off the floor. He did not let of my hand after he was up, but kept a hold of it until we got to the kitchen. It felt really nice to hold his hand; it was like we fit together.

I went to the fridge and opened it up, "Now, I have to warn you that after the game I was going to go food shopping, so I have slim pickings."

He came up behind me to look in the fridge, "How about… the pizza?" he asked putting his hands on my shoulders.

"Sounds good to me," I said leaning back into his chest before reaching up and pulling out the pizza. After putting it in the oven, I grabbed a bag of chips and a couple bottles of waters and we headed back to the living room.

"So, do you always do the food shopping?" he asked grabbing the bag of chips and opening it up.

"Yup," I said popping the "p". "Before I moved back to Forks Charlie would eat out most days. So, I do the shopping and the cooking, but it works out for us because I love to cook."

"So Bella, how are you liking Forks?" Jasper asked.

"It's cloudy and wet, what more is there to it?" I replied dryly.

Jasper burst out laughing, "That is very true, but other than that?"

"Well, it has taken some getting used to, that's for sure."

"Why is that?"

"Well, in Phoenix I didn't have as many friends," I said looking down into my lap.

He raised his eyebrows, "I find that hard to believe."

"Really?" At his nod I continued. "I am clumsy, shopping is not my thing, definitely can't play sports and I had to take care of my mom a lot."

"Why did you have to take care of your mom?" he asked, genuinely curious.

"Well she was very flighty and would forget vital things like paying the bills, buying food, and she was a horrible cook. So, I learned how to cook very quickly."

"So, if your mom needs you so much why did you leave?"

"She got remarried and I decided to give them the space that they needed," I said getting up and checking on the pizza. I really didn't want to talk about my mom right now.

Jasper came into the kitchen as I was pulling the pizza out of the oven. I set the pizza down and when I turned around he wrapped his arms around me. We stood there hugging for what seemed like an hour, but it was really only five minutes.

After we pulled apart I looked at him confused, "You looked like you could use a hug, darlin'," he answered my silent question.

"Thank you Jasper," I said, stepping completely out of his arms.

We ate our pizza, while talking about the people we both knew at school. Once we were finished and had cleaned up our dinner mess, we decided that it was time to hit the couches. I showed him where the bathroom was and gave him a pair of Charlie's sweats. I also grabbed a pillow and an extra blanket for him. When he came downstairs I was curled up on the love seat and had the couch set up for him.

"I set my phone to go off in three hours, so I guess I will see you at 1 AM," I said with a small smile.

"See you at 1 AM darlin'."