.:.
Resolutely, I turned my head away from him, focusing on the wooded area behind the school. Perhaps he was right and I had been childish but that tended to happen when one was treated like a child. His hands had loosened their grip on my arm and from my peripherals I could see that Edward's face was almost apologetic due to the rough hold he had on me, but it did nothing to quell the growing anger. I took a deep breath in effort to get hold of myself─ there was no use in creating more of a spectacle than we already had.
"Bella…" Edward's voice was soft now. If anything he sounded horrified by his conduct.
Turning my eyes to meet his, I raised an eyebrow. I was emboldened by his remorse and despite the fact that my arms were still in his grip, I finally spoke. My message was short and cold. "Yes, you're right Edward. I'm your fiancé, not your doll. It seems you need a little reminder too."
His hands momentarily tightened when suddenly his eyes glazed over and his hold on me slackened. I frowned but quickly took the opportunity to step away from him. Thankfully the warning bell had rung and so the onlookers had dwindled down, allowing me to scope the area. I'd been almost sure that Alice had shown up having heard our spat, yet she was nowhere in sight. My gaze shifted back to the trees. His shape was indistinct and almost undistinguishable, but somehow I knew. Realistically, I shouldn't have been able to see him, but somehow I'd caught sight of him and it was the only solution that made sense. With a quick backwards glance at Edward (who remained frozen in place with a faraway expression on his face), I made a beeline towards the woods. My steps were hurried in fear that he'd runaway even though I knew the odds of that were unlikely.
Once I was in the protection of the closely knit trees, I halted upon seeing him. Jasper was standing in front of me, not having moved from where I had initially caught sight of him. His expression was blank, revealing nothing, abruptly making me uncertain. His name rolled off my tongue as a form of greeting. "Jasper."
It seemed that the one word was all it took because his eyes came to life, blazing with some unidentifiable emotion. Despite that, his face remained blank and his tone was indifferent. "You're turning this into a habit now."
"What?"
His lips curled up infinitesimally. "Skipping school."
Without further thought I quickly crossed over to him, throwing my arms around his neck. He was stiff and his hands remained at his side but for a second I could've sworn I felt his head rest on mine. I pulled away, cheeks tinged pink. It had been rather impulsive and now the embarrassment was setting in due to his unenthusiastic response. Despite that, my eyes were playful as I teased him. "You seem to be the root of that particularly problem, both times."
He merely hummed in agreement and we stood in silence for a second more before I resumed talking. "Thank you by the way. It… uhm… thank you."
Suddenly his eyes were boring into me, intense and probing. His entire body tensed for a second and I frowned at the odd reaction. He then seemed to get a hold of himself a wry, almost bitter, smile made its way to his lips. "I suppose you could say I was protecting my investment."
I rolled my eyes. The response was typical Jasper to try to underplay the significance of what he did. I bumped my shoulder against his, laughing. "Just admit it, you like me enough to not want me dead or mangled."
He frowned, this time his expression troubled more than anything else. I chalked it up to him being an emotionally inept (ironically so, given his gift) vampire. He reached out and took me by the arm and I winced as he touched the tender flesh. That caused his frown to deepen and instead he started to lead me by the small of my back. "Come on now, time for another lesson."
"What? I thought we were done with them." He was behaving oddly and it was sending off warning bells in my mind.
"You'd be hopelessly underprepared if that was the case." Jasper rolled his eyes. The words themselves were playful but Jasper's tone was the furthest thing from it.
.:.
Uncertainty and dread settled deep in my stomach. This didn't seem right. I wasn't entirely sure of what was going on, but nonetheless my instincts were screaming at me to leave. We were parked outside a cemetery, the grounds untended to and the area quiet. Jasper had told me to wait in the car until he retrieved me but unease was smothering me. There was something off about this and before I had time to dwell on that further Jasper's figure appeared in the windshield, striding towards the car. The relief I felt was short lived when I looked at his expression. His expression was the same as it had been most of the car ride over here, tense and troubled which had made the car ride less than pleasant. He seemed agitated over some unknown dilemma and whatever it was was making me nervous. There had been a severe mood shift yet I wasn't quite sure when it had first taken place.
He yanked open the car door. "Come on, Isabella."
Hesitantly, I got out and followed his quick pace back into the actual cemetery grounds. It was all rather cliché, looking at it from an unbiased perspective. Nonetheless, that did nothing to quell my discomfort. My steps halted as I caught sight of a casket that had been dug up from the ground. Nausea overtook me as I realized that's what Jasper had been doing while I was in the car.
"Wha-?" The question failed to form on my lips and I dug the heels of my feet into the ground, refusing to go further. Jasper's hand was on my back again, lightly pushing me forward until I came stumbling in front of the casket. The whole point of bringing me out here was becoming overwhelmingly clear. My words were a whisper when I spoke them. "Jasper please."
His eyes were hard as he looked at me. "Open it."
"Why are you doing this?" I refused to move. Jasper paced for a second, unsure of himself.
"Go on, Bella." It didn't escape my attention that he called me Bella instead of Isabella. My mind was whirling trying to process everything at once. I didn't budge and I resolutely jutted my chin up. Jasper looked frustrated and in one swift move he yanked up the top of the casket, the wood groaning in protest.
"Look at it. Accept that this is your reality. This is what you're going to live with." The words came out tinged with madness. Tears sprung into my eyes I took in the body. The embalming process that the body had gone through had long since been rendered obsolete and mold was growing on the decaying face. I was horrified in more ways than one and bile rose to my throat. In an effort to get hold of myself I took big shaky mouthfuls of air.
"That's not my reality, Jasper. That's no one's reality." I backed away from him. "Is nothing holy to you?"
"How do you think you're going to deal when you slip up and take a fresh human life when you can't even look at a damn body? Get out of your little fantasy world, this is what it'll be like. There is no room for weakness. Accept that vampires are base creatures and this is what we do."
"No, it's what you do." I shot back, fists clenching. "You didn't have to go and dig up a body to try to prove a point to me. That's just sick."
He seemed unimpressed. "I did what I needed to. You still haven't opened your eyes to the main reality about vampirism. Death and decay and immorality are the basis of our being, stop letting it get to you."
"Stop letting it get to me?" I asked incredulously. "Be realistic, none of the Cullens behave like that. You just have issues, Jasper. I wouldn't be human if that didn't 'get to me'."
He got angry at the mention of the family. "If only you knew the reality of your precious little Cullens. You don't know the reality behind them, you're just ignorant and naïve."
I ignored him and ran back to the car, suddenly regretting leaving Edward alone at school. Jasper remained in the confines of the cemetery and I slid into the driver's seat, twisting the keys that had been left in the ignition. He could find his own way back. The thought of being in the same space as his sickened me.
.:.
Crying had never particularly been something I was fond of doing. To me, it was a weakness and even though I very much knew that wasn't necessarily the case, it was still something I rarely indulged in. Today however, was a separate matter. Once in the safety of my own house the flood gates opened and hot fat tears streamed down my face. Jasper's car was still parked outside my house and the keys were sitting on my nightstand as a constant reminder of today. If anything, I just wanted to erase the memory of today from my mind. None of the Cullens had called me and for once I was desperately craving their presence. It seemed like some sick joke that they chose to be unconcerned now of all times.
When the knock came on my door, my heart leapt. Everything would be normal. Edward was here and he'd come sweep me up in his comfort and warmth and we'd sit together watching silly movies. Everything would be ok. With hurried steps, I rushed down the stairs. I must've been a sight, my eyes were brimmed red and I was in pajamas, clutching at a blanket wrapped around me. Despite that, I couldn't bring myself to care. I just wanted the safety of the bronze-haired vampire's arms. Unfortunately when I yanked the door open, it revealed that was not the case at all.
"Isabella." Jasper's voice was rough and the agitation in his expression that had been present all day had increased by a tenfold. Before I had time to respond he stepped forward, grabbing my arms and crushing me to his chest. He buried his face into my hair and nothing made sense to me anymore.
"I can't…" He started mumbling and then he stopped himself before continuing on again. "You're driving me crazy. I don't know what to do… I don't know what to do. What's going on with me?"
It shouldn't have been that simple. It shouldn't have taken only his muttered ramblings for me to forgive him but the urgency and desperation in his tone convinced me and suddenly I was melting into his embrace, taking comfort in the tight hold he had on me. As he felt my emotions shift, his body seemed to sag with relief.
Gently he pulled away and closed the front door behind him. Edward's name was now a distant memory in my mind as Jasper's hand cupped my cheek. "Take it off."
Feeling as though I'd been doused with cold water, I stepped away. "What?"
"The ring," he pleaded. "Take the ring off."
Stricken, I looked down at the diamonds gracing my finger. Earlier when I was arguing with Edward I'd been almost sure I'd be taking the ring off, but suddenly I wasn't so confident. Cautiously I studied him. "Why?"
He seemed reluctant to explain but finally spoke after a moment's silence. "I can't… I don't like seeing it on you. It's irrational and making me act irrational and I don't like it."
"Have you ever thought that you ask too much of me?" I asked softly as I twisted the ring on my finger. Did he peg the situation in the graveyard as his irrationality then? I wasn't quite sure that excused him. What he didn't need to know was that I desperately wanted to acquiesce to his request, but wasn't it wrong? Just minutes prior I'd been desperate for Edward's company and now here I was contemplating a move that would symbolically end my engagement.
"Perhaps I do, but please do this for me. Seeing it on you, it's wrong. You're not his." Jasper reasoned. He wasn't the type to beg, so this was a bit of a surprise. His words also sent a shiver of pleasure down my spine, he didn't like Edward's claim on me. Did that perhaps mean he wanted me for himself?
"I don't belong to anyone."
He ran his fingers through his hair before looking at me, exasperated. "I know that, what the hell have I been trying to teach you? Regardless, Edward isn't right for you, you have to see that."
I did see that. How could I have not after his spiel earlier today? Clearly we weren't fit for each other in the way I thought we were, but wouldn't it be wrong to take the ring off without him knowing? It seemed wrong to do it without some kind of talk with him prior to me doing it, but at the same time, I'd already been considering the notion after our argument today. What scared me was that if I did, he would be right. I'd be childish in running away at the first sight of problem, although the reality of it was that these problems between us had been there for a long time now. When I'd accepted the marriage proposal, I'd fooled myself into thinking that perhaps it would be the thing to solve the problems between us.
Jasper seemed impatient at my silence and he stepped forward, taking me into his arms again. He words were soft as he spoke. "There's a reason I don't like his claim on you, Isabella."
His lips descended on mine roughly and suddenly all rational thought left me. His kiss didn't last long, but it spoke volumes. He pulled away and I stepped out of his embrace. His expression was unreadable as he watched me and I had no time to think about the thought that I may have hurt his feelings by stepping away after his display of vulnerability. We remained staring at each other for what felt like an eternity. The silence between us was heavy with the weight of his action and unsaid words. Decisively, I slid the ring off my finger and placed it into the key tray beside me. Jasper's answering smile was brilliant.
AN: I know the revelation came soon but since I've moved back and started school, I figured I might speed up the story a little to keep it going. Thanks for reading! Let me know what you think, I know a lot happened!