*Ducks in quietly* So hi, I know it's been YEARS and there is honestly no real excuse for that. I am sorry, after everything started getting crappy I lost my muse for writing. I was still reading when I got the chance, but I had no good ideas and I didn't want to keep writing fillers.
If you have forgotten this story, here is a quick recap, (feel free to skip) Edward finds a young Bella almost being kidnapped, and brings her home. They decide to keep her, and one night she falls off her bed and starts to bleed and Edward nearly noms her blood, causing him to get all Edward and leave for years. He comes back and pretty much falls for her right away, but she's angry and bitter. She acts like a child for a while, and finally they confess their love. The Volturi find out about them harboring a human, and the girls and Carlisle go to Italy to see if they can fix things. The Volturi decide to let Bella live, but they have 4 months to change her. Then James comes and Jasper takes her out of town to keep her safe, but while hunting, James catches up to them with his big friend, and they beat the crap out of Jasper and James takes a bite out of Bella. Edward does his usual suck out the venom thing, and now Jasper is being all sad and not talking to people because he feels like this is all his fault.
This is pretty short, and after this, I promise I will get on to the point of the story, but this chapter had to be done.
Since the run in with James, Bella had really seemed to lose focus at school. When you're told you have 4 months left of your human life, it kind of puts things into perspective. Most of the family seemed to be walking on eggshells around her, with the exception of Jasper, of course. He was still being distant, and it was really bothering her.
Bella figured that he would be in his funk for a bit would but eventually realize that he was being dumb, and go back to being his usual goofy self. But he was so withdrawn, he spent most of his time out of the house, or in his room. He even seemed to pull away a bit from Alice, and it had to end. Bella was tired of it, and Alice didn't deserve to suffer for it.
Luckily, Edward had been extremely supportive since the day in the meadow. While he still didn't want Bella to be changed, he was starting to accept that it was inevitable. He would now openly speak to her about what it was going to be like the first few months of her newborn life. He would explain certain feelings that he had gone through when he was first changed. While some things scared her, she knew that Edward would always be there.
"Full house," Bella smiled wickedly as she laid out her hand of cards on the table. Edward smirked at her, and threw down his hand of two pair.
"I think you're cheating," Edward laughed.
"I think you're a sore loser," Bella laughed as he reached over and started tickling her sides mercilessly. "You can't stand that I'm the only one that can beat you," Bella squealed between fits of laughter. Edward pulled her into his lap and kissed the spot where her shoulder and her neck met. It sent shivers throughout her body every time he did that.
"You're absolutely right," He said softly, raising up to kiss her properly.
"I know I am," She murmured resting her forehead against his for a moment. "But you're not getting out of this that quickly," She smiled, going back to her side of the table and shuffling the cards.
A moment later, Jasper and Alice walked through the back door, clearly coming back from a hunt. They were both silent, but Alice brightened when she noticed they were playing poker.
"Are you sweeping the floor with Edward's butt?" Alice smiled. Jasper stopped as well, but remained silent.
"Don't I always?" Bella smirked. Alice and Edward both laughed, but Bella was looking at Jasper. He smiled a little, but it didn't reach his eyes.
"Want to join us?" Edward asked.
"No, thank you. I'm going shopping, Bella you are welcome to join me." Alice smiled. Bella laughed out loud.
"I'll pass," She smiled at her sister. Alice rolled her eyes playfully but said bye after giving Jasper a quick peck on his cheek and flitting out the front door. Before he could leave, Bella called out to him.
"What about you, Jasper?" She asked hopefully. Jasper almost looked like he was going to agree for a moment, before shaking his head a little.
"Thanks, but I'm going to go clean up a little," He said quietly. He nodded to Edward and made his way upstairs. Edward looked over to Bella, and his heart broke a little at the expression on her face. As angry as Edward wanted to be with Jasper, Edward was the king of brooding, and if he was the one in Jasper's position, he would probably be acting even worse. But it was making Bella upset, and Edward was not okay with that.
He pulled Bella back into his arms, and held her close. She let him hold her for a few minutes, but he felt her stiffen in his arms, and he could almost sense the change in her emotions. She was pissed.
"Uh oh, angry kitten is ready to pounce," Edward smirked. Bella glared at him.
"This has to stop," She whispered quietly so only Edward would hear.
"Go get him, tiger," Edward said, kissing her forehead quickly.
Jasper was laying down with his eyes closed, sometimes, if he tried hard enough, he could get himself calm enough to almost feel as if he was sleeping. He seemed to be doing that a lot lately, it was better than dealing with the guilt.
He heard a soft knock at his door, and his senses became more alert. He could hear her heartbeat beating a little rapidly on the other side of the door. He reached out to feel her emotions, but oddly enough, he couldn't put his finger on what she was feeling.
"Come in," He called, not moving from his spot. He wasn't trying to be rude, but it was hard to look at her and not imagine the look of terror in her eyes when James bit into her wrist. That image had been haunting him ever since. His door opened and closed, and her scent filled his room quickly. As clumsy as she was, when she wasn't stumbling around, she was actually pretty quiet for a human. "What's up, Bella?" He asked, his eyes still closed.
The next moment shocked him, one minute he was lying comfortably on his bed, and then next Bella had pounced and was sitting on his chest, with her knees holding down his arms, and her hands were covering his mouth. He was too surprised to do anything, and while Bella was fully aware he could move her with no effort, she didn't seem too fazed by the thought.
"What the-" Jasper's voice was muffled behind Bella's hands, and she pushed down harder.
"You listen to me, Jasper Whitlock!" Bella started. Jasper winced, he knew when she used his last name that there would be major bitching coming his way. "I am sick and tired of you ignoring me and everyone else."
"Mpphh-" Jasper tried to protest but she growled at him.
"Shut it, you are going to listen to me, and not talk until I'm finished. Got it?" She asked.
"Yesh," He mumbled.
"I didn't say you could talk!" Bella growled. From downstairs, Jasper could hear Edward chuckling. "Now, you are being a jerk. I don't care that you think that you are responsible for what happened with James, because no one else thinks you are. If this was anyone else in the family, you wouldn't be blaming them, would you?" Jasper just shook his head, not wanting to piss her off further. "So then you know you're being dumb. This brooding crap has to stop, Edward is the broody one, not you!" Bella argued. He couldn't hold back his laughter when he felt Edward's indignation from downstairs. He really looked at Bella now, and his heart clenched when he saw how sad her eyes looked. "I want my brother back," She said softly, and her voice broke a little. That was enough to snap Jasper out of it.
He sat up slowly, holding onto her so she wouldn't fall. He wrapped his arms around her and held her tightly.
"I'm sorry," He whispered smoothing her hair back. "You're right, I'm being a jerk." He said softly. He could smell her tears, and it nearly broke him. They sat like that for a bit, and she finally pulled back and wiped her eyes.
"If you ever do something like that to me again, I will kick your ass. And in four months I'll be able to," She threatened playfully. Jasper chuckled and pulled her back into his arms again for another quick hug.
He would never admit it, but he kind of had a paternal feeling when it came to Bella. Carlisle was clearly the 'father figure' in their lives, but when Edward left, Bella had clung to Jasper more than anyone else. He was the one she came to for guidance or whenever she was scared or hurt. He was there to catch her when she fell, he was there to help her when she was having problems with school, and he was the one that felt the pain when he had to let her go and start making decisions for herself. He didn't want to take that from Carlisle, but he was more of a father to Bella than anyone else, and knowing that he caused her pain broke his heart.
"I know you will, Bells." He said softly. She jumped off from the awkward position she was in on his lap and sat down next to him, leaning her head on his shoulder.
"Love ya, Jas." She said.
"Love ya back, brat." He smiled. He still felt guilt, he still couldn't wash away the memories of her pain, but he wouldn't make her feel that way again.
"It's about damn time!" Edward called from downstairs, using Jasper's words from a while back. Bella and Jasper both smiled, things were going to be okay.
If you are feeling friendly, please review, if you want me to give up because you no longer care, let me know =] If you want to yell at me, I will gladly take it!