I am a child. Perhaps by human and legal standards, I was an adult, but I was struck with the overwhelming realization that to these vampires I was nothing more than an infant. My age and lack of years of experience was something that I'd always been aware of before. However, I'd always just assumed that the Cullens and vampires in general viewed age differently, given how every single one them varied so drastically in years. Otherwise, surely, wouldn't my relationship with Edward, someone who was a hundred plus years, bother them? Clearly I was mistaken.

Their words were garbled through the thick wood door of Carlisle's study and I sat outside listening to the occasional rises in volume. After their initial inactivity at the clearing, the Cullens had suddenly erupted into a flurry of movement, scooping me up and rushing me back to the house in Emmett's Jeep. All of them kept glancing my way, attempting to be discreet but having no such success. The only one who didn't bother sparing me another look was Jasper. It was both confounding and relieving. The second we made it back to the Cullen estate, they rushed up to Carlisle's study and unceremoniously shut the door in my face.

My anger settled deep into my bones, morphing into a feeling almost akin to an itch. I lifted myself up off the floor and grabbed the keys to Edward's Volvo which had been carelessly tossed onto the table after he last used it. Somehow, that seemed to grab the Cullens' attention and the noise prompted them to open the doors to the study and stare at me. They seemed unsure of what to do, so I took the initiative to address them first.

"Typically, it's considered rude to discuss a person when they aren't present." I remarked coolly. Leveling them each with a unimpressed look. Edward stepped forward and opened his mouth before shutting it again. They all arranged their expressions to look contrite. Jasper did no such thing. "Now that we've established that, I'm going to go home. Edward, you can pick up your car tomorrow."

"Bella, love, I'm sorry. We all are. You have to understand that this just took us all by surprise and we momentarily forgot ourselves," Edward pleaded with me. "At least let me take you home."

I couldn't help but feel bitter. Apparently they momentarily forgot that I was supposed to be a member of this family too. "No, Edward. You've all done more than enough tonight."

Hurt spread over his features and he took a step back. Feeling guilty, I threw him a bone. "I just need time to process everything."

"I can take you home." Warily, I looked over at Jasper. He moved forward from his place in the back and came to stand by my side. No one said anything in objection although Edward certainly looked less than pleased. Pausing for a moment to contemplate the stupidity of getting in the car with a man who very well near killed me with a baseball, I nodded.

.:.

It was silent as we made our way back down the long driveway. "Why are you driving me home?"

Jasper didn't bother looking at me as he turned onto the main road. Instead he lifted his shoulders in a miniscule shrug. "I figured I owed you as much."

"Yes, I suppose giving me a car ride home completely makes up for the fact that you almost killed me."

"I didn't." Jasper responded and upon my inquiring glance elaborated, "Kill you, I mean."

"Did you know that was going to happen?"

"No."

I threw my hands up in frustration. "So then what the hell was the point of it all?!"

Finally Jasper looked over at me and then pulled over to the side of the road. Idly I wondered if he was going to follow through and actually kill me now. "Listen, if your… shield hadn't stopped the ball, a Cullen would've. There was no real danger."

I hadn't missed the way that he didn't categorize himself as a Cullen. "Then what was the point of it?"

"I was testing out a theory," He repeated the same gesture from earlier and shrugged. "You may not like it, but the vampire world abides by different rules than the human world. The Cullens have been sheltering you from the reality of it all and because of it they failed to see your true potential. What happened in the clearing? That's no average parlor trick, it's a game changer. All of the Cullens suspected you were capable of it, but they never tested the theory out for fear of what it would entail. You're going to be a powerful vampire, Isabella. That means you're going to catch the eye of quite a few covens and because of it, you need to be prepared for vampirism. Covens will try to use you for their personal gain. I'm teaching you to save yourself."

At his last words, he gave a wry smile as though he were enjoying some kind of inside joke. I thoughtfully leaned back into my seat, mind reeling. Jasper's delivery was harsh and abrupt, but he let me mull over what he said to me in peace and stayed quiet for the rest of the drive.

.:.

"Wake up." A hard voice commanded as my covers were tugged off of me. Cold air chilled my skin and goosebumps emerged. Blearily I opened my eyes to see a blonde vampire looming over me.

"Wha-Jasper? What the hell are you doing?" I scrabbled back into the corner of my bed, embarrassed to be sharing the same space with Jasper especially having just woken up.

"I was bored." There wasn't a hint of amusement or anything else to betray he was joking. In fact, he looked very serious. I wasn't entirely sure Jasper knew what jokes were.

Blinking owlishly, I stared back at him for a moment. "You were… bored?"

"Yes, that is what I said, wasn't it?" He snapped at me. "Now get up, you've been sleeping for hours. It's about time you did something productive."

I was confused enough not to question him. "I only got 5 hours of sleep."

He looked at me impatiently. "That's a long time to be laying around motionless."

This was perhaps the most I'd interacted with Jasper outside of our car ride last night and I didn't know how to react to his complete lack of boundaries and knowledge of human needs. I wasn't particularly thrilled to have him in my room and waking me up but on the other hand I was curious about him. Stretching, I stood up. "Since you aren't too well versed in the art of basic human requirements, I'll let you in on a little secret. Humans are supposed to get at 7 hours of sleep a night. Stay here, I need to freshen up."

Without sparing him another glance, I made my way to the bathroom. It was disconcerting knowing that the one Cullen I knew nothing about was in my bedroom. If anything, I had been under the impression he didn't particularly like me, but perhaps that was just the way he was. I'm teaching you to save yourself. The words echoed in my head and I couldn't help but wonder about him. After splashing more water on my face I returned to the room. Jasper was rummaging through my stuff; he briefly looked up at me with my copy of Wuthering Heights in his hand before tossing it into the trash bin. "You have garbage taste in literature."

I was torn between being affronted and amused. I picked it up out of the trash can. "Good thing I don't exist to please you then."

"You're right," he said thoughtful. "That's for Edward. It explains all the Shakespeare on your nightstand."

My mouth opened and closed itself on its own accord. How dare he? Not only was I furious at the implication of that, but I was taken aback as well. I'd grown used to the Cullens' gentle words and their considerate way of approaching topics. I hastily grabbed the underwear he was rifling through before slamming the drawer shut. "I don't belong to anyone."

He merely raised an eyebrow in response before grabbing one of the pairs of underwear again that I had taken from him moments prior. "I can imagine you'd look good enough to eat in this one."

My cheeks warmed as I looked into his dark eyes. When I spoke, my voice had rose several octaves. "Excuse me?"

"You heard me fine, Isabella, don't play daft. It's unbecoming." With a wave of his hand he dismissed my indignance before turning and looking through the papers on my desk. "A B+, Isabella? I thought you were supposed to be smart."

"Get out." He looked up at me and something flickered on his face. A slow smile spread on his face. Instead of sparing me a response, he grabbed the underwear he had commented on earlier and exited out the window leaving me completely bewildered and annoyed.

.:.

When Edward came in he sniffed the air. He didn't seem surprised to have picked up Jasper's scent, but there was displeasure written all over his face. Instead of commenting, however, he pulled me into his arms. "I'm sorry Bella."

He offered me nothing else. I wondered what exactly he was sorry for─ my anger or his behavior? I took a breath and braced myself to ask him but then he pulled away from me and shot me that dazzling smile. The words died on my lips and suddenly I was hyper aware of the weight of the ring on my finger. Not trusting my voice, I nodded. The troubled expression that had graced his face melted away.

"I'm glad that's behind us. Esme is preparing dinner for you as an apology of sorts, so we'll be going to the house after you get ready. Alice says to wear the grey wool skirt and blue cardigan." He laughed as if to say "oh Alice" before shooting me another one of his grins. I turned away before he could see my frown and mechanically began getting ready. One grey wool skirt and blue cardigan later, I was in Edward's car. My hair was fluffed and pulled in an updo and pearls graced earlobes. A complimentary look that was Alice approved, I thought wryly.

The car ride was silent and when we arrived at the mansion, Edward led me straight to the kitchen where all the Cullens were waiting with smiles. Jasper wasn't there but then I could hardly count him as a Cullen, could I? Cullens were polite and kind, Jasper wasn't. It was odd, and a little disconcerting to sit there and be the only one eating among them but conversation flowed and was pleasant. No one mentioned anything about yesterday or brought up my shield, instead the impending wedding seemed to be the main topic of conversation.

It was only when Emmett was ushering me into the family room, jokingly nudging me and making innuendoes about the honeymoon that I saw Jasper. He looked angry and it made no sense. He could've avoided me, but he stayed there and made sure I saw him and his uncalled for anger. Shouldn't I be the one angry at him? Finally he broke my gaze and swiftly walked out the door, not sparing me another glance. Emmett looked from me to where Jasper was a second prior, seeming conflicted about something before he sighed. Rosalie met his eyes and he seemed to be pleading with her for a second. He looked back at me, seemingly resigned. "Maybe you should go out there and see what his deal is."

"Me?" I asked incredulously. "I barely know him."

Emmett shrugged. "He's been moody with us since last night; you'd probably have a better chance at seeing what crawled up his ass."

"Uh… alright," I murmured. I wondered if it had anything to do with our conversation that we had last night. Emmett squeezed my arm gently. Stepping outside, it took a moment for my eyes to adjust to the dark and then I saw him, mostly able to distinguish him by the way his pale skin seemed to glow under the moonlight. He seemed to be waiting for me as he stood by the edge of the river all the way by the edge of the forest. I started walking towards him, hesitant and unstable in the heels that I'd somehow gotten convinced to wear. I expected him to come and meet me but instead he remained where he was, making me reassess my previous assumption that he was waiting for me. Surely he wouldn't have remained in plain sight if he wasn't? Finally I approached him and stood next to him, staring out at the river.

"Look who decided to join me," he muttered. I turned to look at him in confusion. His brash and offensive manner had become expected, but he seemed almost hostile this time around.

"What's your problem?" I huffed.

"You're pathetic," was all he said as he took out a cigarette from his jacket pocket and lit it. Before I could respond he turned and advanced on me. "Look at you, you've morphed right back into their play toy. If you keep that up, you'll never make it as a vampire."

"What the hell is it to you?!" The exclamation burst out before I could stop it.

"You could say that I have a stake in your afterlife." Jasper's tone was dry. Briefly I wondered if he was serious, but then he continued. "Listen, I don't particularly care for that shield of yours, it's guaranteed to reappear again once you turn into a vampire. There wasn't anything about that to galvanize my interest in you. What did the trick was when you showed that you're not just a doormat and finally stood up for yourself. For a second you seemed more than a doll, but this? This is pitiful. You're nothing more than a mindless puppet. This morning and last night I caught a glimpse of Isabella Swan, but now you've transformed yourself back into the Cullens' weak little pet Bella."

I took a step back, unsure how to process his ruthless words. He blew out smoke and I coughed. "Can you stop that? It's bad for the human here."

He barked out a cold laugh. "It doesn't matter, you're going to die soon enough anyway."

AN: There you have it, chapter 2! I'd like to give a special thanks to my lovely beta kimmy397! Anyhow, tell me what you guys think. Teasers for chapter 3 are available to those who ask. xo