.:.

Edward remained oddly silent as Jasper stood in front of him, my arm in his grip. I was confused. The bronze haired vampire hadn't been able to stand the mere mention of Jasper's name recently and here he was, showing up unannounced at school after graduating last year; I expected more of an outwardly furious reaction from Edward. Everyone walked by us and I could pick up faint whispers of curiosity, wondering what Jasper Hale was doing back at school and why on earth he had me by the arm. Alice stood beside Edward, having been brushed off with the same amount of contempt that Edward had been. None of it made any sense to me, but I was secretly pleased that Jasper had showed up. After he had proved that we could have civil conversation, I found myself growing increasingly curious as to when the next time I would see him would be.

"We'll be outside." Jasper said. He seemed to have said it to annoy them rather than appease them. All eyes were on us as we exited the cafeteria. Carefully I extracted myself from his grip. I didn't like the way he was pulling me along, my pace somewhat slower, leaving me lagging behind him. With quick steps, I caught up so I was walking beside him. He looked at me, his expression mildly pleased.

With a grand wave of his arms, he gestured for me to sit on the wet bench. It was very distinctly un-Cullen like, as were most things he did. The Cullens were as pristine as they came, and that included avoiding getting their pants wet after sitting on wet benches. Unceremoniously, I plopped down. Good thing I wasn't a Cullen yet. Jasper sat down beside me, placing his hand on my knee. It was oddly comfortable, not that I was going to tell him that. Instead I just shot a questioning look at him.

"You're warm." He offered as a sort of explanation, lips curling.

I shrugged. "So is Lauren Mallory. Shouldn't you go cuddle her then?"

His expression contorted into disgust. "The only time I'd touch her for warmth is if I was tearing her throat out and then drinking her blood."

"That's gross, Jasper." I wrinkled my nose. "Besides, that's wrong. She has family and friends who would miss her."

"So does everyone. Why should I pick and choose my prey? Lauren Mallory has a family, but so does the unknown victim in Seattle."

"Hypothetically," I stressed, "if you were to kill someone in Seattle, wouldn't you pick someone who… I don't know, was a criminal of sorts?"

He looked unimpressed. "And follow Edward's moral conduct of when he left the Cullens diet? No, everyone has their own crimes. Who am I to take a life based on some kind of self-perceived moral superiority? Lauren may not be a killer but she's guilty nonetheless. Aside from that, the existence of morals is just a personal choice. It's just a façade that's humanities way of protecting itself. It's the highest form of hypocrisy. I'd be hiding behind a blanket of lies if I pretended killing one person was better than killing another. Why should I inconvenience myself by killing someone in Seattle when a perfect victim is right there?"

"Morality is part of humans' instinctive makeup. We exist as a cooperative species, living in groups rather than isolation. The groups of people who were more inclined to cooperate with each other increased their chance at survival in our evolutionary past. Our moral intuition exists simply because it was statistically favored in the past so assuming it's a 'human created' phenomenon is wrong." I argued. I'd been thinking a lot about morality since our last conversation and it felt good to finally get my point out there. Jasper looked mildly proud as he took a strand of my hair in his hand and twirled it around his finger.

"That's where you're missing the main point… vampires aren't humans, Isabella."

I leaned back, trying to wrap my head around what he was telling me. Obviously I'd always been aware of that, to an extent, but I hadn't really realized what that entailed. Being around the Cullens made me assume that most vampires still lived by the same ideals they had when human, except for the few exceptions such as James and Victoria. It was easy to be under that impression when their mannerisms were so human, but perhaps it was only the Cullens. It made me wonder how much of their natural vampire side the Cullens were repressing if the difference between humans and vampires was so significant.

"Why do you stick to an animal diet if you care so little about the lives of humans?"

"It's only out of necessity." After a minute it became clear that he wasn't going to expand on that. Even though curiosity was gnawing at me, I dropped the subject. Jasper wasn't really the type I could eventually coax the answer out of.

The bell had long since rang. It would seem that I wasn't going to the rest of my classes today. "You said Lauren Mallory was guilty. What did you mean?"

"Surely you know the way Forks works by now," Jasper laughed. "The second they saw us together the rumor mill got started. Lauren had some particularly nasty things to say."

Suddenly I was scrambling back from him. It was pointless in the sense that no one was watching us anymore, but I was angry all the same. "You knew what they were saying and yet you still continued to touch me like that!"

"Don't pretend you didn't enjoy it." Jasper brushed off my concerns before tugging on my arm and pulling me back to him. My cheeks flamed scarlet. "Why does what they say bother you?"

"Because I'm with Edward and what if they think…" I trailed off, stammering. Jasper just arched an eyebrow at me.

"Didn't you realize that this," He waved his hand in the air, "All of this−the gossip, the speculation, and so forth doesn't matter. Your human life is going to end soon enough anyway, why should what they say bother you? You need to get used to it, Isabella. Your vampire life will be filled with just as much speculation. Vampires attract attention, whether they want it or not."

"Then at least let me enjoy my last human days without the extra speculation." I snapped.

Jasper was back to looking unimpressed. It was a wonder his face wasn't stuck in a permanent mask of it. "The moment you decided to start associating with the Cullens your life became a spectacle to these people. Don't go pretending that this is anything new. You're not concerned about what people think, you're concerned about Edward's feelings getting hurt."

"Of course I'm concerned about Edward, he's my fiancé." I glared at Jasper. He knew that wasn't the real reason but he generously allowed me to hide behind my excuse.

"Come on, let's get out of here." He got up from his spot and waited for me to follow his lead. Tentatively I joined him and we made our way to the car.

.:.

I hate Jasper with a kind of passion and depth that I'd never hated anyone with before. Any residual feelings of camaraderie after our conversations had completely dissipated. The result was one cold, soaked (which seemed to be a trend in regards to Jasper's "lessons") human, standing lost and alone somewhere in Washington. My phone was currently in Jasper's possession as was my money, so I was left here ultimately helpless.

"Find your way back home." He had told me. I thought he was done with his stupid and extreme methods of trying to teach me things after throwing me off a cliff. Apparently that wasn't the case. If anything, this "lesson" of his taught me nothing but how to hate an individual with a certain fervor that I never thought possible. There would be hell to pay when I got back, even if I was unsure as to how I would dish out my revenge.

The rain was beating down on me so I hid under the awning of a local bar and briefly considered my chances of getting in. I could go home somehow and be the self reliant person Jasper expected me to be. Or in an ultimate kind of fuck you to Jasper, I could completely ignore him and his lesson and just wait for Edward to find me like he undoubtedly would. If there was a perk to having an overprotective fiancé, it was that. A smug smile lit up my face and I wondered if Jasper was watching from somewhere in the shadows. Decisively, I took step towards the seedy looking bar.

.:.

My giggles were drowned out by the roaring laughter of the drunken patrons of the bar who surrounded me. My words were slurred and incoherent at moments, but nonetheless I regaled the men and women sitting by me with stories of my dysfunctional family, my move to a rainy hick town, and a protective fiancé. As far as ideas went, this had been a great one. I knew that Charlie was safe at home, already told whatever lie that Esme had fed him. Of course they would cover for me, given that it was their son who had whisked me away after all. I had no doubt Edward and Alice and everyone else, were doing everything in their power to figure out where I was and that I would soon be whisked away. If only Edward slapped Jasper around a little. Unfortunately, that was only wishful thinking. Even a human like me could see that Jasper would easily best Edward. Kill joy.

Nonetheless, I suppose I should be thanking Jasper. This was perhaps the most fun I'd had in ages. I'd been right in my original assessment that the bar was seedy, but that allowed me to go inside without the request for an ID. After a few drinks generously given to me by the bartender who seemed to have taken pity on me, my tongue was loosened and I began to talk to the regulars who were at the bar; all of which seemed to take great amusement in my blatant drunkenness and eventually warmed up enough to crowd around close and listen. They kept the drinks coming and a pleasant warmth slowly crept through my veins.

"Tell us more about this Jasper character." One of them laughed. He'd introduced himself as Bart or something along the lines. I grinned at him, pleased by the opportunity to bash Jasper again.

"Like I told you, he always looks like there's something wedged up his ass," I began, eager to insult the blonde haired vampire. It was then that the doors to the bar were thrown open and a cold breeze wafted inside.

"Bella!" Edward hurried over, shooting glares at the people around me before gathering me in his arms. "Thank god you're alright."

He then seemed to realize his surroundings and his brow furrowed as he discreetly took a sniff of me. "You're drunk."

The men and women surrounding us howled with laughter. Bert or Bart or Barry laughed. "So this must be the Jasper character you were talking about."

I clapped my hand over my mouth, trying to contain the laughter that threatened to bubble out. "No no, this one is my fiancé, Edward."

"Could've fooled me." Bernie muttered. Edward was already dragging me away and I hastily waved goodbye to all my new friends. They responded with waves of their own and well wishes before I was thrust outside into the rain.

"What the hell were you thinking?" Edward growled, his hand in a vice like grip on my arm. I took a step back, confused. Of all the reactions I had been expecting, this wasn't it. He was supposed to be mad at Jasper, cursing at him and swooping in to save me, playing his usual role of savior. He was supposed to be fussing over me right now, not leveling me with a cold glare.

"What do you mean?" I asked, trying not to slur the words.

Edward's expression remained cold and severe as he ushered me into the car. "I would've expected this from someone else, but not you Bella. That behavior was foolish and immature. I can't believe that you went into a place like that and drank."

"Alright, dad." I frowned. "Let me remind you that it's your asshole brother's fault I was there in the first place. Besides, what's the big deal?"

He seemed unconcerned at the mention of Jasper's name, which was surprising. Instead he pinched at the bridge of his nose. "You're not you, you don't smell like you, and you're certainly not acting like you."

The rest of the ride back to Forks was spent in a tense silence. My pleasant buzz had all but faded away in light of Edward's fit and a pout settled on my lips. It had been a nice feeling.

We pulled up to Cullen mansion where I could see everyone waiting. As soon as I was out of the car, a warm blanket was draped over my shoulders and I was being ushered inside to where food was waiting for me. A triumphant little smile graced my lips, aside from Edward's tantrum, the whole ordeal had worked according to plan.

Emmett sniffed at me curiously. "Have you been drinking?"

Edward scowled before stalking out the back door and I shrugged, shooting Emmett a grin. "Maybe."

He laughed and ruffled my hair while the other Cullens merely looked uncertain as to how to respond. "Looks like you have a story to tell me!"

.:.

I felt his presence in the room before I saw him. He was lingering at the foot of the bed, watching me intently. Initially, I had thought it was Edward, but the blonde hair was the giveaway. The shadows of nighttime could conceal everything but the telltale glow of his golden hair. He didn't acknowledge that I had woken up nor did he explain why he was absent when I first arrived at the Cullen house. Instead, he continued to watch me as I rested underneath the covers of Edward's bed. He looked almost perplexed.

It was silent for about ten minutes. Jasper didn't strike me as the type to care about something so trivial as to who spoke first, but I still refused to be the one to break the silence. "You didn't do what I told you to do."

"Technically, I did." I responded smugly, wondering if the rest of the Cullens were listening and what they thought about it all. "I did manage to make my way home."

"It doesn't count if you get your vampire boyfriend to save you like he always does." Jasper scowled.

"It was convenient and it suited my purpose." I threw his own words back at him. "You're not the only one who's entitled to be allowed to take the easy way out when it suits you. Consider it as me playing the odds to my favor."

Jasper didn't respond for several minutes. The expression on his face was indecipherable as he continued to size me up. Suddenly a smile broke out on his lips. Perhaps the first real smile I'd seen from Jasper. It wasn't smug or dark or sarcastic. Instead it held genuine amusement and wonder. Jasper never looked more beautiful.

"Perhaps I was wrong." Jasper seemed to murmur to himself, his tone thoughtful. Without another word to me, he exited the room leaving me alone with the remnant warmth of his smile.

AN: I once again didn't have time to put this through my beta, so any mistakes here are my own. Bella has a little spunk in her after all! Tell me what you guys think about the new chapter! Reviews are always appreciated. xo