.:.

Even the physical bars of a prison were more appealing than this grossly inadequate illusion of freedom. I wasn't stupid. I'd long ago learned how to look out for the tell tale signs of a Cullen hiding in the trees, silently stalking me. To the average human, they would be invisible, but I knew what they were capable of and what to watch for. It was almost insulting to my intelligence that they still thought I couldn't see them. Since Edward had found me at the bar, he'd been overbearingly protective. Smothering me with attention and not letting me leave his sight. He viewed my drinking as a sign of rebellion and cry for help. I no longer saw Jasper. Instead all I saw were the invisible walls of my prison, Edward, and Shakespeare. There was a tightness in my throat and aching in my heart. I was suffocating here. Would my eternity be like this too?

Trapped behind the closed blinds of my room at least gave the impression of privacy, however, I knew that listening ears weren't far away. Claustrophobia had never been a problem for me before, but in this boxy room I'd begun to acquaint myself with the feeling. It was either this or go to the Cullen house where they wouldn't even be discreet about watching me. My phone buzzed with a text and the screen lit up with Edward's name. A frown creased my lips as I opened it to reveal a sweet declaration of love. Some love indeed.

As if on cue, I heard the knock on the front door. I didn't need to look to see who it was; instead I mechanically made my way down the stairs. Perhaps we'd go to the bookstore tonight and peruse the classics section, or maybe it would be a picnic, or even a stroll in Port Angeles.

"Edward." I greeted, looking up at those smoldering golden eyes of his. His fingers lightly trailed along the side of my face, leaving ice in its path. He kissed my forehead lightly before grabbing my hand.

"I figured we could go and take a walk around downtown Port Angeles today. How does that sound for fun?"

Internally, I scoffed. That didn't sound like fun at all. Regardless, I nodded and graced him with a small smile. At least he was trying; I couldn't fault him for that.

.:.

Displeasure was written all over my fiancé's face in a stark contrast to the sheer euphoria on mine. He hid under the shadows of the coffee shop's umbrella while I stood out in the sunlight.

"Alice should've seen this." He grumbled, angrily reaching for his phone to call her no doubt. "Come join me here, love. We'll have to wait until the clouds cover the sun again and then we'll leave."

Victory danced through my veins and my cage walls lifted. I shot him a smile. "No, darling, you have to wait for the clouds to cover the sun."

There was a spring to my step as I turn away from him and walked off. It was perhaps unwise to rock the boat the way I did, given that I had only a few hours of freedom at most, but I really couldn't bring myself to care much. Today held more promise than any other had in weeks, yet more clouds were looming on the horizon, promising to end my free reign eventually. The reminder spurred me into motion; I had to do something that made my temporary independence count, no matter what it was. My time as a human was the grains of sand in an hour glass. Time was not on my side, not today nor tomorrow. Eventually, whether I wanted to or not, I would become a vampire and I'd be damned if I didn't make my last few months count.

.:.

Perhaps there were other ways to act out in rebellion. Queasiness overtook me as I felt the needle against my skin. I had never been particularly inclined to get a tattoo, but I figured that anything I did to my body in this life would be erased once I became a vampire and so it spurred the impulsive idea into action. There had been no time to plan or to book an appointment so I simply crossed my fingers and hoped that it wouldn't turn out to be a mess of garbage painted on my skin after I found a random shop in Port Angeles willing to take me in. Despite my doubts, I couldn't help but be pleased as I looked down at the small design that was currently being tattooed on me.

I'd been torn when it came to deciding but in the end, I chose a small artistically drawn shark. I thought it was pretty and almost poetic. Sharks always moved forward in the same sense that I would have to as my life came to close and my vampire one began. Or perhaps it was just romanticized bullshit. Nonetheless, I was pleased with the way it was turning out. My gamble seemed to be paying off.

When the tattoo artist finished, he instructed me on the basic care of it before I handed him the black visa Edward had so generously given me when we first got engaged. This was the first purchase I was making on it and I had to bite the inside of my cheek to refrain from laughing. The man seemed surprised and accepted the card with wide eyes.

I exited the shop checking the sky and realizing how close I was cutting it, the clouds were lingering dangerously close to the sun and I frowned. Instead of returning to the coffee shop where Edward was no doubt still stuck, I called a cab. Somehow it seemed preferable to the ride back with my fiancé.

.:.

My eyes opened blearily in response to the banging on the door. Groggily, I made my way downstairs before yanking the entry door open. I'd been prepared for Edward, what I hadn't been prepared to see were the rest of the Cullens standing there behind him. My eyes zeroed in on Jasper who was also standing in the back. His gaze met mine, those ochre eyes of his boring into me with a startling intensity. He looked almost curious, but surely that couldn't be right. My breath caught. How long had it been since I'd last seen him? A month?

"Are you even listening to me?!" My attention snapped back to Edward. He had both of my arms in a vice like grip and I furrowed my eyebrows, looking down at the tight hold he had me in before looking back up to meet his eyes. His expression softened and he dropped his hands before pulling me close to him.

"You could have been hurt or taken and then what would we do?!" He lamented. I looked behind him at the other Cullens who all held similar expressions of relief, which I didn't fully understand. Surely they didn't think I was that helpless as to not be able to survive a few hours by myself. My eyes met Jasper's and his lips curled into a smirk of sorts as he took a whiff of the air.

Edward's eyes were narrowed as he pulled away from me. "That smell… what's that smell? Why do I smell ink?"

I'd forgotten just how acute their smelling could be and suddenly I was back to frowning. I'd never intended on hiding my tattoo from him or from any of the Cullens, if anything it was meant to be an act of defiance of sorts, but somehow it seemed wrong to bring it up now. I stared as Jasper as I responded to Edward. "I was writing and my pen broke."

None of the Cullens seemed to believe my explanation, but they politely refused to comment on it. Instead they all made excuses about letting my go back to sleep before dispersing. Edward and Jasper remained. It was silent before Edward finally spoke up. "Would you like me to join you?"

"No," I murmured. "I'm really tired."

He sent a hesitant look towards Jasper before his face contorted into a scowl and he ran off, having no other choice after his blatant dismissal. Jasper and I remained staring at each other in silence. The blond vampire took a step forward, moving to stand in front of me. With slow and deliberate movements he took the fabric of my shirt in his hand before slowly raising it up a few inches revealing the raw tattooed skin underneath. It had been a few hours so the bandage was off, exposing the inked shark by my hip. He looked back up at me before dropping the fabric and slowly backing away. I watched his retreating form as he walked into the woods.

.:.

"He hadn't wanted me seeing you anymore."

I didn't look up from my book as I leaned further back into the chair on the porch. "You never struck me as the type to make excuses, Jasper."

It was silent for a moment before I heard the creak of chair beside me. Sighing, I closed my book and set it on the little table between us. Jasper sat there, looking completely at ease. When he noticed my eyes on him he shrugged. "I was just stating fact."

I rolled my eyes and swatted him lightly with the book. "If you say so."

He ignored me and instead grabbed the book from my hand and idly started tearing at the pages. I glared at him. Before I could protest (although honestly speaking, I'd found the book to be quite bland), he spoke up. "Why'd you pick a shark?"

"Dunno," I shrugged as I yanked the book out of his grasp. "Didn't anyone ever teach you to respect literature?"

"You didn't give a shit that I was doing it. I doubt you even picked the book yourself." He scoffed. I slightly inclined my head in admission to what he said, not willing to admit it out loud. Carlisle had dropped it off earlier at Edward's request. Jasper resumed studying me intently. "But really, you must have a reason."

Nervously I fiddled with the hem of my shirt, briefly lifting it up slightly to inspect my tattoo. "You're going to think it's stupid."

Jasper cracked a smile. "Probably."

With rushed words, I explained the significance behind it. Jasper's expression didn't change throughout my spiel and worry settled on me. I repeated the motion from earlier and shrugged again. "It's all symbolic crap, I guess. Really, I just liked the design."

He remained looking at me, his expression unreadable. When he finally spoke his voice was low and rough and his words hurried almost as if he were uncertain about sharing them with me. "Here's another lesson for you Isabella, you don't need me or anyone else to validate your thoughts and ideas."

Heat flooded my cheeks. I'd been prepared for that mocking smile of his or a condescending laugh, but not the good intentioned words. He was back to staring at me intently and I wasn't sure as to how to respond so I settled on a soft but fervent, "Thank you."

Suddenly I was uncomfortable. Asshole Jasper was something I'd gotten used to at this point and had learned how to react to; however, this side of Jasper was something I was a little uncertain as to how to respond to. He sensed my discomfort and amusement shined in his eyes. Casually he reached over and put his hand on the raw skin of the tattoo. His touch was light and he merely let his hand rest there for a second before he pulled away but I couldn't help but stare at him with wide eyes. I wasn't certain if I was comfortable with this softer, although that was still hardly accurate, side of Jasper or not. As I mulled over the change in behavior, he stood up and small smirk formed on his lips before he went off into the woods.

My tattooed skin felt like fire was dancing all over the surface.

.:.

Edward's lips were pressed together in a thin line. His expression verged on severe for a second and he tried, in vain, to smooth the creases between his eyebrows. His displeasure was nothing new. It had been an almost constant since the little trip to Port Angeles however he wouldn't speak a word about it. Instead, he'd try very hard to keep it in check. Unfortunately he was far less of good actor than he gave himself credit for. It was painfully obvious to me that he was still heated about the events that day and even more so it was painfully obvious to the rest of the population at Forks High. He never left my side, always stalking beside me, but he refused to talk to me. I knew Edward wasn't stupid; he'd long since pieced together what had happened while I had left him for those few short hours.

I'd expected him to be upset, he was never particularly fond of tattoos, but I hadn't expected him to be quite so angry towards me. It was just a tattoo after all. What really threw me for the loop was that he had never once addressed the topic with me. He had yet to even see what it was or where it was on my body. In some ways it felt almost sinfully delightful that Jasper had seen the almost intimate location of my tattoo before Edward had. Of course it wasn't as though Edward hadn't had his chances; he was just disinterested and sexually repressed, resulting in his never seeing that bit of flesh exposed.

I finally decided it was enough when Jessica Stanley came over to greet us and he remained beside me sulking and silent. With a glare on my face, I turned to him. "What's your problem, Edward?"

His eyes were burning and he held my arm in a vice like grip. Suddenly I was uncomfortable. This was too public; too many curious eyes were glancing in our direction. At the same time, it was just as relieving as it was uncomfortable. I'd never seen Edward behave quite like this and something about the presence of other people reassured me. "I could as you the same thing. I've been good to you. I've let you have what you want, always done what makes you happy and yet here you've been acting like a complete child these last few days. Running off places and getting tattoos, getting drunk. You couldn't seem to care any less about our wedding and I'm tired of it, Isabella. You need to get yourself together and start acting like the woman I proposed to. Regardless of whatever bullshit Jasper is trying to teach you, you are a lady first and foremost and your loyalty is to me. Quite frankly, you'd do best to remember that I'm the one you're marrying and not him before you go off on your silly little adventures with him."

My eyes prickled, the tears that were fighting to escape were born of anger more so than anything else. There were many things wrong with what he was saying, all of which I wanted to scream at him but his hands were holding my arms a little too tightly and for the first time I felt painfully vulnerable.

AN: Once again, this has gone unbeta-ed (simply for faster posting time) so any mistakes are mine. Thank you so much to all who reviewed for the last chapter! Normally I'd take the time to individually respond to the reviews, but time has been scarce recently. Anyhow please let me know what you guys think of this chapter! I was suffering from a small bout of writers block, so I'm a little uncertain about the direction it took. xox