JPOV

I was so damn proud of her. She put Alice in her place and set the boundaries. No one had ever really managed to restrain that girl, save Rose. And honestly, watching Bella set Alice straight was so hot. And then she acted as though nothin' had happened. She was very blasé about it. It was rather refreshin' actually. Everybody was always makin' such a big deal about shit; the woman just kept on surprisin' me.

The fact that she was bisexual didn't bother me at all. However, I was surprised she had even told me in the first place. A part of me was thrilled that she already seemed to trust me.

After hearin' what she told me 'bout her brothers…I felt a connection. Despite the fact that Travis had technically been her brother, he still had played the role of a father for her. James had joined in that role when he came along.

Continuin' on that line of thought, I couldn't help but wonder…where were her parents? She had said they were the only parents she had ever known. So, she either had no idea who her birth parents actually were, or they hadn't been involved in her life for some time.

But I felt like she would understand. She sure seemed to understand when Rose told her what had gone down to bring 'bout our parents' end. And maybe even me, to an extent. With the whole scars business. I didn't exactly like showin' them off; especially when Rose was around. All that did was remind her of somethin' that would never be far from her mind in the first place. Plus, they just scared the shit out of her. Accordin' to doctor who had stitched me up, as well as Carlisle, I was, apparently, lucky to be alive. Now, the fact that they had to say that in front of my sister, who was already probably sufferin' from PTSD pissed me to no fuckin' end. She didn't need to know that, on top of everythin' else that had already happened; she had almost lost me too.

I still seethe at the thought of what coulda happened to her. She had only been sixteen when all this shit went down, and yeah, I know, I was sixteen too, but given the upbringin' I had, I was already a man.

And it wasn't that I was ashamed of my scarred body. To me, they were a reminder that I had defended my sister.

But with Bella; she hadn't said "scar", she'd said "scars". Her arms looked clear (although, of course, that didn't mean they were), so that only made me wonder just how scarred up she really is. What was she hidin'? If she was hurt on her torso and/or her legs (bein' the only other fuckin' option) they can't be a small thing. Some serious damage would have to be done for them to be worth coverin' up.

This was so fuckin' frustratin'! It was pretty fuckin' clear B didn't feel like sharin', but damn it! If someone hurt her, and I know someone did, I'll kill 'em. I'll fuckin' kill 'em.

And, in the interest of doin' a complete 180 with my thoughts, I was really surprised when Bella grabbed my hand. Surprised, but happy. Her skin was so soft and warm. I could still taste her on my tongue from when I'd kissed her knuckles.

She led me into the kitchen, and gently pushed me toward the table. She plated six slices of pizza before takin' the seat next to mine; placin' the food between the two of us, so we could both reach it.

Again, I was shocked. Not so much that she chose to sit near me (although I hadn't expected that either), but that she had us eatin' from the same plate. But hey, I'm not complainin'!

She grabbed one of the slices, and I followed suit. Even though she had grabbed pizza from both boxes, we were both eatin' the cheese and mushroom one.

I grinned at her, got up, and switched out the meat lover's pizza for more of the cheese and mushroom, before returnin' to the table. As I was leanin' over her to set the plate down, she looked up at me. Her doe eyes sparkled in tandem with the sweet smile she gave me around a bite of her pizza.

Watchin' her lips wrap around her food…uh, I wanted to kiss her so badly. Everythin' 'bout this woman; I was under her spell.

I braced myself on the table, and with my free hand, I reached up to stroke her cheek. She swallowed, and set the remainder of her pizza slice back on the plate. I leaned toward her, glancin' at her lips, before liftin' my eyes back to hers; silently askin' if this was ok.

Her gaze shifted to my mouth, and I purposely flicked my tongue out, hopin' to elicit a reaction.

It worked. Her eyes darkened as her lips parted in a sigh. She locked her eyes with mine, and I knew. She wanted this as badly as I did.

I moved the hand that was strokin' her cheek to cup her face. When she leaned into my touch, I was able to feel just how hollow her cheek was. Too hollow. How long had it been since the last time she ate somethin'?

I knew my timin' wasn't great. Here I was, with a very beautiful, very sexy, and very willin' girl, practically in my lap. She was waitin' for me to kiss her, and I was thinkin' 'bout fattenin' her up like the witch did with Hansel and Gretel. Like I said: fucked up timin'. But, as it always seems to go when it comes to Bella, my concern for her won out.

Just as I was gonna back off, the li'l minx hooked her arms 'round my neck, pullin' me down into the chair next to hers. And then proceeded to climb into my lap.

Ok, scratch that earlier thought. Now, I've got a fuck hot and completely kissable girl actually in my lap.

And just why was I tryin' to back off a second ago?

Uh, because she's grievin' and needs to fuckin' eat. So this ain't the time for a li'l hanky panky.

Right. That's why.

I tried to be good, I really did. But when those warm, wet lips caressed my own, I was a fuckin' goner.

Food can wait.

I had been makin' sure all of this was her choice; the hug, the kiss, everythin'. So when she thrust her hot li'l tongue into my mouth, I was relieved. I ached to taste her.

My hands moved of their own volition. My right hand restin' on her hip, so my arm was 'round her, and my left tanglin' itself into the soft tendrils of her hair.

At the same time, I felt her hands rubbin' my shoulders and the back of my neck. I hadn't realized I was tense, but Bella's caressin' hands felt too good for me to really fuckin' care.

It ended too soon. But I couldn't kiss her if one of us suffocated. I laid my forehead against hers as we both tried to regulate our breathin'. Her lips were swollen and her eyes shone.

Without really thinkin' 'bout it, my lips connected with hers again. I took control of the kiss this time. It wasn't rushed; it was soft and bruisin', sweet and intoxicatin'.

My hands slipped underneath the edge of her shirt, and I traced patterns on her lower back. She shivered lightly and pushed closer to me.

As much as I didn't want to, I pulled back. We were both pantin' lightly. Her lustful eyes gave me a questionin' glance.

I could hear Rose and Em approachin'. I glanced toward the entryway, and she immediately caught my meanin'.

She leaned towards me, her soft lips just barely brushin' against my ear. "We'll be finishing this later, J." Bella lightly tugged on my earlobe with her teeth, before pullin' back with a smirk adornin' her beautiful face.

I grinned at her. "I'll be takin' you up on that," I whispered. I sucked her lobe into my mouth and twirled my tongue around it before releasin'.

She went to get up, but I made a protestin' noise in the back of my throat, and tightened my grip on her waist. Bella settled back into my lap and handed me a slice of pizza before pickin' up hers.

Rose and Emmett came in, and sat down across from us. Em was eye-balin' Bella on my lap, and even though I knew he was only lookin' out for her, I still didn't like the stink eye he was throwin' her way. B noticed and silenced him with a glare of her own. And Rose refused to be left out, 'cause she glared at the poor bastard too.

Emmett got up to get him and Rose somethin' to eat. Rose threw a quick wink my way while Em's back was turned. I couldn't help but chuckle at her antics.

When he sat back down, he looked at me through narrowed raised my eyebrow at him. I didn't wanna lose my oldest friend, but if he couldn't accept Bella and me, then we were gonna have a problem.

He glanced from me to Bella, and his eyes tightened further. With me, he looked like he'd been sizin' me up, but with B, he looked pissed.

I heard a low growl off to my left. Riley had wandered in, and caught Emmett glarin' at Bella. Em's eyes widened; no doubt, he was thinkin' about the chew toy comment B had made earlier. I felt Bella shake with laughter; she must have been thinkin' the same thing.

When he looked back at Bella, she nodded at him. He caught my eye again and, to my surprise, smiled. I smiled back; we were gonna be ok.

RPOV

Thank God Bella has Riley! I think he was the key that made Emmett take a good look at his sister. He saw her happy with Jasper, he saw how Jazz adored her, and he also saw that if Riley didn't object, there was no reason for him to do so.

Ever since New York, what Jazz and I went through, I'd always hoped this would happen for him. And after I met Emmett, I wanted it for him even more. Probably more than he did. But he had made protecting me such a big part of his life; I was afraid that once I met someone who could take over, that he would be alone. Even though we were twins, he always acted the part of the older brother.

A particular memory I had of this, was when we were nine. I remember we were at the playground down the street from our house. Jasper had brought a basketball with him (he had really wanted to practice his lay-up that day), but instead he was pushing me on the swings. I loved to swing, but I couldn't quite pump my legs yet to keep myself going, and there was no one else around to push me.

It was a little later that I told Jasper to go play basketball. He had been playing with me for thirty minutes already, and it was getting late; I wanted him to have his fun too.

I was sitting on my swing, watching Jazz shoot hoops, when a group of boys from the neighborhood had shown up. They were all at least a year ahead of me and Jasper. They started playing on the jungle gym near the swings. I felt a little nervous because they were all bigger and older than me, but Jasper was there, and I knew he wouldn't let anything happen to me.

He had noticed the boys too. His eyes had narrowed, but he didn't say anything. Instead, he picked up his ball and walked over to me.

"Do you wanna go home, Rosie?"

A part of me wanted to say yes. I didn't like those boys. They were the class troublemakers, and they scared me. But at the same time, Jasper had only been playing for about five minutes, and I didn't want to ruin his fun.

That made my decision for me. I wasn't a baby anymore, and my daddy had taught me that just because I didn't like something, didn't mean I should let it ruin my day.

"No Jazz, I'm ok. I wanna watch you play."

He stared at me, as if he was trying to see if I was being honest. He nodded after a few seconds, smiled, and went back to the basketball court.

This went on for a few more minutes without incident, and soon the boys were leaving. But out of the corner of my eye, I saw one of them heading my way. He hung back a bit from the group, but the others were all watching him. So was Jazz. He had moved closer to the swing set, and was giving the boy walking up behind me the stink eye.

What happened after really shouldn't have been a surprise. The boy pushed me off the swing, causing his friends and him to crow wildly. I wasn't hurt, a scraped knee maybe, but for whatever reason, I started crying.

Then their guffaws got louder. It took me a minute to realize they weren't laughing. They were screaming.

Jasper had thrown his basketball at the boy who'd pushed me. He'd already been leaving, but Jasper was faster. It hit him square in the face, and he fell down screaming and crying. He and the other boys had quickly run off, leaving me with Jasper.

He came over to where I was, picked me up, dusted me off, and set me on a nearby bench. He checked my hands and knees; they were raw and had started bleeding. He asked me if I was hurt anywhere else, I said no. he asked if I could walk, or if I wanted him to carry me. (Even though we were the same age, Jazz was already taller and stronger than me). I wanted to be a big girl and say no, but my knees really hurt, plus Jazz gave the best piggy-back rides.

He didn't wait for an answer. He pulled me into a hug, whispered in my ear, then swung me up on his back, and carried me home.

"Nobody messes with my girl."

An unconscious smile slipped across my face as I thought about that day. I had always been Jasper's girl, but looking at the two love doves sitting across the table from me, I was more than happy to relinquish that title to Bella.

I glanced to my right and caught Emmett watching them too. A tiny smile graced his face, and his previously stony expression had softened. He noticed my gaze, and when he raised his eyebrow I smirked in victory. He rolled his eyes at me but I didn't give a rat's ass; I was too fucking happy.

Jasper caught my eye over Bella's head. I winked at him, and he absolutely beamed.

"Hey Rose," Bella mumbled, "Anything I should know before going to school tomorrow?"

I shrugged. "It's a small town, B. everybody knows everybody, and everybody knows everything about everybody."

"So I should expect stares, glares, and gossip?" she clarified.

"Pretty much."

She shrugged in a 'big deal' kind of way. "Sounds like Las Vegas."

Bella went back to eating her pizza. Jasper placed a gentle kiss to her temple (earning a loving smile from the girl snuggled up in his lap), and returned to his own slice.

Emmett glanced at me. I don't know why, but I gave him a 'What the hell?' look and dug in to my meal. Emmett followed suit.

We spent the rest of the evening playing stupid teenager games like 'Ninja' and 'I Never' (with Coca Cola, of course). Bella told us some stories about her brothers. Apparently a favorite one in her old household had been when her grandfather was in the Vietnam War, and to pass the time, they taught monkeys how to smoke. I laughed my ass off at that one!

I was actually looking forward to school the next day.

Terribly sorry for the delay. Real life came back with a vengeance.

And I know I keep saying this, but seriously; comments, questions, ideas, pleas, any replies at all, really help me write.

Until next time, my darlings.