A/N: Many, many, MANY apologies for the long wait! Real life caught up to me and I had a ridiculous amount of work to do, but that's NO EXCUSE. On a brighter note, I'm going to be done with school in two weeks and will therefore have plenty of time to write and update. Thank you so much to everyone who has reviewed and for your patience! Also, I forgot to add a disclaimer last chapter, so this one counts double!

Disclaimer: Twilight and all its characters sadly do not belong to me, but to Stephenie Meyer.

Jasper

"So it's true."

"Every word."

I couldn't stop the sigh of relief that escaped from me. The sudden phone call that Carlisle had received from Forks had seemed suspicious from the start, and I had not been happy watching Alice rush back, even if she was with Carlisle. Yes, she had used her gift to make sure that returning to Forks wasn't going to be too dangerous, but that hadn't helped me relax. It didn't change the fact that there were werewolves in Forks, nor that the dogs hated us unconditionally. The years I'd spent as a Major in the Civil War wouldn't let me sit back and pretend that nothing could go wrong. I couldn't shake the feeling that this whole thing could be a trap. After all, why would any dog go out of its way to protect a vampire? It'd kill a newborn without a second thought. And tactically speaking, the best way to get almost any of the Cullens back to Forks was to feed them some crackpot story about Isabella Swan in danger.

But it seemed that the crackpot story had been true—Bella was indeed a vampire, and the wolves had actually wanted to let her live. Most importantly, to me at least, Alice was out of Forks and on her way home, safely away from any threat the Quileute werewolves posed.

The anxiety I'd been feeling dissipated, and a surge of irritation took its place.

"So. All of it was for nothing then."

I could imagine the look on Alice's face as she answered, her voice hard. "Yes."

"I'm going to kill him."

"You'll have to wait your turn. I'm afraid there's not going to be much of him left once we're all done." She paused, and I found that I already knew what was coming next. "Jasper, don't dwell on it too much, okay?" She really did know me too well. I didn't respond, knowing that she wouldn't like anything I could say in reply. I heard her sigh into the phone. "Look. Bella's jumpy enough as it is about coming. We barely managed to get her into the car. The last thing we need is for the whole family to be brooding when she arrives. She'd blame herself and take off and we'd never see her again."

My irritation spiked, even though I knew it wasn't fair. "Well if it's for Bella, then sure. No problem."

Alice, as she always does, saw right through me. "Jasper, you know I'm worried about you. Bella's a good reason for you to try to stay happy, but I mostly don't want you going back to how you were right after we left."

I remembered all too well what that first month had been like for me. For her. "I know," I responded, somewhat reluctantly.

"Please take care of yourself." She sighed and let it drop. "We should be home tomorrow. Tonight, if Bella ever lets us get above seventy-five."

I couldn't help a small smile of amusement. "By all means, be safe on the road." Her answering laughter was as soothing as any balm.

"We'll try. I know it goes without saying, but do us a favor and keep an eye out for Edward."

"Esme's tried calling him several times, but he's not picking up."

"I didn't really expect him to. If it weren't for Bella, I'd say to just let him wallow in his own misery until he chooses to come back."

"It's probably going to end up that way anyway if he keeps refusing to talk to us."

"Idiot," Alice muttered. "Don't let him disappear again if you can."

"Don't worry. If, by some miracle, he shows up, Emmett and I will make certain that he doesn't go anywhere." Just the thought of Emmett and I doing so gave me a vindictive sort of pleasure.

"Try getting Rose on board too, you know how she can be." I snorted. I knew only too well how Rose could be. If we could convince her to help, she'd end up calling him over and over again until he answered out of sheer irritation or broke his phone in order to get some quiet. "Bella's waiting for me, I should probably go. I'll see you soon."

"I love you."

"Love you," she replied lightly, and then she was gone.

I set the receiver of the phone down gently, my good humor fading with the sound of Alice's voice. The honest truth was that I'd spent the majority of the past five months in a state of constant guilt. Finding out that all that misery—the family's, Bella's, my own—was for nothing irked me to no end.

For a while now we'd be leaving someone at home at all times, just in case Edward decided to check in, and it was currently my turn. I found myself grateful that the rest of the family was out, as I didn't feel much like talking anymore. Having someone else around may have been a good idea, though, because the longer I thought, the harder it was to think of anything but our family's current predicament. Alice's request that I 'not dwell' on my guilt couldn't stop the thoughts and memories that were suddenly resurfacing.

With human Bella out of our lives, our family had been safe again, far more isolated in Ithaca than we'd ever been in Forks. The only human interaction I had these days was during the course of night classes I was taking at Cornell, and that was a far cry from the daily imbecility we had dealt with from the juvenile students of Forks High. It was a relief, in a way. But none of that made me feel better.

Despite the many problems I'd had with our previous place of residence, the honest truth was that we'd been more of a family there than ever before. Sure, Rosalie had had a few issues, but she's always had issues, and as the rest of us improved she'd actually gotten better by default. We'd been happier, more unified, all thanks to Bella.

And it was all thanks to me that it hadn't lasted.

There was no doubt that what we'd gained during the short period of time that Bella Swan had graced our lives had been lost with interest once we'd gotten here. We had barely set foot in the door before Edward had taken off and we'd rarely heard from him since. It was surprising how much his absence hurt. All of us (well, perhaps not Carlisle or Esme) felt varying degrees of anger or bitterness towards Edward; it was easy to blame him for all the misery we were feeling. But for all our talk of anger and vindication, we actually missed him a great deal. He was still a part of the Cullen family and everything seemed a little bit wrong without him around. Sadly, as much as we wanted things to return to how they'd been, Edward's stubbornness was famous for bordering on the idiotic, and we had very little hope that he'd ever change his mind.

So we kept moving forward, but it was like our family unit had had a limb—or two—amputated; all we could do was crawl where once we could have flown. I had spent the last five months watching our family regress, all the while believing that when all was said and done, it was my fault we'd ended up like this.

I shook my head with a growl. Those were exactly the kind of thoughts that Alice wanted me to avoid, even if they were the truth. But guilty as I felt that it had been my weakness that had ultimately separated Edward from his one true source of happiness, I found that I was more angry that Edward's poorly thought-out self-sacrifice had all come to nothing. He'd left to protect her. We'd suffered without both of them to protect her. And she was on her way here, a vampire despite it all.

Wait…

Bella was a vampire. She was on her way here.

I let that thought sink in, surprised at the implications. If Bella was a vampire, all of Edward's fears were null and void. I was no longer a threat to her. Though he might feel guilty—and I was going to make sure he did—that his noble suffering had backfired and resulted in the one thing he was afraid of, he'd get over it eventually. Even if he found out and somehow managed to run off again, he wouldn't be able to stay away. I knew exactly what he'd felt for that quirky human girl, and I knew that her being here—and a vampire—would be too much for him to resist, no matter how guilty he felt. Edward would come home. The family would be whole again. This whole situation had the potential to work out in the end, as long as we could get Edward back home in the first place.

My anger had ebbed as quickly as it had come. I felt a true smile tugging at my lips, a rare experience for me. I no longer wanted to be alone. I wanted to be with my family. All seven of them.

It took me two seconds to reach the front door and yank it open. I winced slightly when I heard the plaster on the wall by the hinges crack, unable to bear the strain of my pulling so hard on the door. Esme was going to kill me, but I would worry about that later. Right now, I was a man on a mission.

"Rose!!" I bellowed into the quiet solitude of the surrounding forest, knowing that wherever she was, she would hear. "Rose, I need you!"

Bella

By morning we were already all the way through Minnesota. Instead of stopping in the populated hub of the Twin Cities, Carlisle detoured south a bit towards the slightly smaller Rochester in an effort to keep me away from as many humans as possible while he stopped for gas—he had done the same each time we'd needed to stop. Much to Carlisle's increasing surprise, the thirst that plagued all vampires still hadn't shown up. We had been talking since about three in the morning, and Carlisle had admitted that he was starting to think that I might not ever actually get thirsty. He wasn't sure what that would mean as far as my diet was concerned, but he had promised that he would help me figure things out, and I trusted him completely. Still, he was determined not to take any chances with me, and that was the reason for the detour.

Carlisle pulled into a Kwik Trip and shut the car off. "Good thing it's cloudy out," he said good-naturedly as he opened his door. "I'll be right back." I nodded, torn between disapproval and amusement. We had refilled the tank the night before once per every state we'd entered—twice for Montana—resulting in the use of enough gas to get a normal, law-abiding driver all the way across the continental United States, and probably half-way back again. I had to admit that the insane speeds didn't frighten me like they used to, but I was still Isabella Swan, the daughter of a police man, and something about going over a hundred miles per hour just didn't sit well with me.

In the back seat, Alice whipped out her cell phone. "I'm just going to call the house and find out…well, check on some things," she finished vaguely, popping her door open as she speed dialed. "It's probably better if you don't leave the car. I'll be right outside."

As she shut the door behind her I couldn't help but feel slightly depressed. I was coming to terms with things, it was true, and there was no denying that I was reasonably looking forward to life as a vampire, but that didn't make it any easier, especially not when I was shut in a car by myself. A woman carrying a young girl in pigtails walked past the front of the car, and in that moment I felt a rather sudden surge of loneliness. Which was utterly ridiculous. I wasn't alone, not really.

The little blonde, blue-eyed girl caught my gaze and, after a moment, gave a shy little wave. Surprised, but suddenly feeling very fuzzy inside, I waved back, a goofy smile plastered onto my face. I watched the girl and her mother until they were inside the station, my sudden good mood spiraling into confusion.

I was a vampire, and vampires are supposed to drink human blood. Any other vampire looking at that little girl—with the obvious exception of the Cullens—would have seen a snack. Would I eventually get to the point where that little girl would seem like nothing more than an appetizer? The very thought was appalling to me. She was human, with a family and a long, happy life ahead of her. My instincts were telling me to hug her, not eat her. Was Carlisle right then? Was I truly going to be a vampire that was free of the agony of thirsting after human blood? Was I really actually a vampire without that urge?

I pulled the visor in front of me down in order to check my reflection again. It still startled me to see that familiar yet different face staring back at me. It was the vampire look, alright, and I'd spent the whole night awake without once getting tired, something I'd never managed as a human. I sighed, frustrated. If I wasn't a vampire and I wasn't a human, then what was I?

I looked back out of the front windshield in time to see that same little girl come tottering out of the station by herself. I sat up a little straighter, looking for her mother, and saw through the station windows that she was still waiting in line at the register, clearly unaware that her daughter was no longer by her side. I started to get nervous as I watched the little girl playing outside the door of the station. She was young enough to still be little unsteady on her feet, which she demonstrated by falling down two or three times. I bit my lip anxiously as the little girl toddled out into the street right in front of me.

I heard the sounds of the approaching truck seconds before actually seeing it speeding straight towards that little girl who had fallen down again in the middle of the road. The girl was too small and the truck was going too fast for the driver to even have a chance to notice that the road in front of him was not clear. It was going to run right over that infant!

I wasn't sure exactly what happened next. One second I was sitting in the front seat of the Audi, hearing Alice opening her door and sliding into the backseat, and the next I had thrown my own door open and was charging across the street as fast as I could—which was pretty fast, these days. Alice was shouting something behind me, but I couldn't register any actual words. I shot in front of the approaching truck, scooped the little girl into my arms, and dove for the sidewalk.

I think I felt the side of the truck brush my foot as it roared past.

I landed heavily on the sidewalk, hard enough that I would have sustained several large scrapes, had I been human. In my arms, the little girl started to cry, more startled than anything. Of course, I wasn't exactly the softest thing in the world, so it was possible that my rough handling had bruised her up a bit too. But at least she was alive.

"Shh, it's okay, you're alright," I soothed gently as she cried into my shoulder. I pushed myself to my feet shakily, a little unnerved by all that had happened.

"Bella?" Alice's voice was, for lack of a better word, flabbergasted. I turned to see both her and Carlisle staring at me as if I had suddenly sprouted wings.

"Just in time," I shrugged, turning towards the door of the station, where the little girl's mother was currently at the register.

"But…but you…were supposed to stay in the car," Alice finished, a protest that I thought was rather lame considering I had just saved someone's…oh.

I looked down at the girl in my arms in surprise. Here I was, holding a human child, and I felt…

…Nothing…

There was no sign of any burning, no animalist instincts, just my own desire to protect someone weaker than myself. I looked back up at Carlisle and Alice and shrugged again.

"I'm fine," I said, and despite my earlier concerns, I found that the revelation that I was indeed safe around humans made me incredibly happy. "I'm fine."

Carlisle's answering smile was radiant.

A/N 2: There will be an update soon. And by "soon", I mean within the week, probably sooner. I wasn't as happy with this chapter, it didn't seem to flow as well as the previous ones have. I'd love any suggestions you'd like to offer! And thanks again!