Thanks for the reviews. Please, keep reviewing guys! It only takes a few seconds ;)

So...here is Chapter Ten, as promised. Hope you like it :)
I'm not sure if Maria is anything like this at all...but this was just how I imagined her, haha.
And yes, another cliffhanger at the end.
Sorry, haha.

Anyway, ENJOY :)

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"Hello Jasper."

Her voice was exactly like he remembered it; the words spilled from her mouth like liquid. She walked with a grace and dignity that compared to no one as she stepped out from her hiding place in the trees behind them, never taking her eyes away from Jasper.

Her clothes were simple, but effective. She was dressed all in white, tight white trousers and a t-shirt to match. Her skin was paler than Alice's, and she was much taller. In fact, she was the same height as Jasper himself. Her blonde hair was literally the colour of gold, tumbling over her shoulders and falling down her back.

Obviously, she was quite a sight to behold. Any other man, or Vampire for that matter, would have been drawn to her instantly. And, although he hated to admit it, Jasper would have been too...if not for Alice. But Alice was still stood behind him, and in Jasper's opinion, she was the only one.

He winced as powerful rays of jealousy hit him from both sides.

The one main difference between Maria and Alice could easily be seen in their eyes. Alice's eyes were wide, innocent and beautiful. Maria's eyes were wild. Everything about her was powerful, commanding and wild.

She finally reached the couple, and stopped just a few feet infront of them, waiting for someone to talk. Jasper was still frozen, staring at her with complete shock. He hadn't seen her in so long...he thought he had left her behind now. And yet, here she was. It brought back an uncomfortable wave of memories, things that Jasper had spent so long trying to push out of his mind and forget. But seeing Maria stood there infront of him brought it all back to him. He shuddered slightly.

"M-Maria?" He clarified, still trying to convince himself that she was actually stood right there infront of him. A tiny part of him was hoping that this would just be a freaky mistake...but he knew it wasn't. He knew it was her really, he couldn't escape that.

She laughed. It was a loud, singing sound that seemed to ring in Jasper's ears long after she had stopped laughing.

"Long time no see." Her smile was wicked, and her eyes gleamed. He gulped.

"Um...hmmm...yes, well, I...um..." he stuttered, struggling to think of something to say. She just laughed again, obviously amused at his shock and lack of words.

"You look good." she said smoothly. Again, Jasper winced as a painful wave of jealousy hit him from Alice. He didn't dare to turn and look at her.

"Um...thanks?" he muttered, awkwardly. What the hell was she doing here?!

Throwing her hair over her shoulder, she held out a hand to shake. With no other alternative, Jasper shook it. Her touch was cold, even for a Vampire. It was...uncomfortable, to say the least. A third wave of jealousy washed over him from Alice, until he couldn't stand it anymore. His eyes flickered to her. She was staring at Maria, looking a little shocked and certainly very confused.

To Jasper's surprise, Maria's eyes followed his gaze to Alice. She raised her eyebrows as she looked her over, but continued to smile brightly.

"So...who is this?"

Jasper shuffled his feet slightly, moving back to stand by Alice's side. He laced his arm around her. "This is Alice. She's my, um...I...I love her." He wasn't sure what to call her. They weren't married...and saying that they were soulmates would seem a little strange.

Alice lit up slightly beside him, bathing him in happiness and pride. Jasper turned back to Maria; her expression immediately had turned sour. She sniffed Alice as though she was something disgusting and although Alice didn't see that, Jasper did. But Alice, always polite, held out a hand.

"I'm Alice."

Maria hesitated slightly, then, she awkwardly shook Alice's hand.

"Maria." she replied, coldly. Alice nodded, drawing back behind Jasper slightly. He kept one arm protectively around her. And Maria noticed that too. She drew away from them slightly, watching Jasper's every expression with teasing eyes, her voice suddenly so friendly and playful again.

"My, my, my...you certainly have changed, Mr Whitlock!" she muttered, fiddling with a lock of her hair. Jasper flinched.

"Changed?"

"Hmm. Very much so."

"How so?" He was curious to know. In his mind, Jasper had never been happier with himself as he was right now...his life with Alice was perfect. But what would Maria think? He watched while she thought.

"Well...you've certainly lost your charm," she teased, laughing again. "You used to be so...wild."

Before Jasper could think of a comeback, Alice piped up unexpectedly beside him.

"Well...I don't think he's lost any charm," she said quietly, "He's always been charming."

Maria stiffened slightly. Her teasing glare turned frosty as she stared Alice out. "He was very different when he was with me," she insisted, carefully keeping her voice soft. "He was wild, a real fighter..."

Jasper cleared his throat slightly, desperatley trying to end that line of conversation. "Yes...well...why are you here Maria?"

But, unfortunately for Jasper, neither of the females were listening to him today.

"When he was with you?" Alice clarified. Maria nodded smugly. She pranced around, just making Jasper even more uncomfortable.

"Ooh yes, Jasper was so...different," she sighed dramatically, catching his eye, "And of course, we were inseperable," she added. Alice went tense under Jasper's arm and he inwardly cursed.

Where is the off-button on this bloody woman?! he thought, panicing now. Alice stepped out from beside him.

"Well, we're pretty inseperable too," she stated, folding her arms. "We go everywhere together, tell each other everything."

"Oh...so, has he mentioned me?"

Jasper gulped. A wave of betreyal washed over from Alice. Crap.

But, Alice was smirking. "Well, he doesn't talk about his past much," she replied, running a hand up Jasper's arm. "It brings back bad memories for him, doesn't it Jazz?"

There was a very awkward pause. Maria glared at him with a hardened expression.

"Does it?" she hissed. He looked away.

"Um...well...I just prefer..."

"You prefer trailing around with this little child?!" Maria suddenly exploded. It was shocking. The rage in her eyes made both Alice and Jasper shrink bad slightly. Jasper quickly calmed Alice, wishing for the thousanth time that his gift worked on himself.

"Maria," he growled softly. Anger had sparked inside of him, no one called Alice a 'child'...

"Don't you 'Maria' me!" she hissed. "You don't belong here 'Jazzy'" she mocked, throwing back her head. "You belong back with ME, back where you came from! Not following pixies!"

"She's NOT a pixie!" he roared, crouching down. "And what on earth makes you think I would want to go back to that life, killing innocent people, taking lives! I'll fight you Maria, and you know I will...so I suggest you back off."

He waited until the beautiful blonde vampire had calmed down before relaxing his defensive position. Alice still stood slightly further back, glowering with anger.

When Maria turned back to face the couple, they were ready to defend. But, she wasn't angry. Her whole mood had changed, again.

"Jasper...let me talk to you about this." She almost pleaded.

He shook his head.

"Jasper...please. For old times sake. Please."

For old times sake. The classic line. He sighed, looking at her reluctantly. Would it really hurt?

"Wait there."

Pulling Alice aside, he took her under his arm, away from Maria so she wouldn't hear the conversation.

"Alice...I'll talk with her tonight."

"What?" she hissed, her eyes burning with betreyal. "Jasper, you can't! She'll convince you to go back...she might hurt you."

"She won't. Alice, I have to talk to her." He sighed, playing with her messy hair. "For old times sake."

"Old times sake?" Alice repeated, bitterly. Of course. The 'old times'. The time when she hadn't been in Jasper's life. The time when Maria had been Jasper's, and Jasper had been Maria's. They had been the 'inseperable' ones. Alice hadn't been there.

"Alice...it will be okay. She'll be gone by morning, I promise you." Jasper reassured her quickly.

"You promise?" she murmured, quietly. Jasper nodded.

"Of course. I don't want her here either...she reminds me of so much..."

Silently, the little pixie vampire nodded. She hid her feelings, determined not to give herself away so easily.

"Fine. I'll go hunt," she said firmly. Jasper nodded.

He had no idea how much Alice's heart ached as she saw him walk away from her. It burned right through her, to the point where it actually caused physical pain. Wincing and taking a long breath, she forced herself to turn away, to go and hunt to take her mind off of all this.

Maria was perfect. She was beautiful, so much more beautiful than Alice was. She was clever, cunning, wild, adventurous...she had such a perfect existence. She lived on instinct, fought amazing brave battles...it all seemed so...so...glamorous. So appealing.

Old times sake, Alice muttered to herself as she brought down her third deer with a loud thud, drinking it dry in seconds. She wasn't thirsty anymore, but she needed something to take her anger out on.

In her mind, she could imagine them. Perfect Maria and Jasper. Hand it hand, fighting together, so flawless. Jasper didn't have to pretend with Maria, she didn't make him eat animals and run all over the country. She let him be free.

Alice, stop! Urgh..I'm so jealous! She was screaming inside her head. She knew she was just being jealous and stupid...but it still hurt. She hurriedly reminded herself for the millionth time that Jasper had insisited he was okay with the whole 'eating animals and chasing visions' thing.

But...was he really?

Alice stopped, taking several deep breaths. I'm being stupid, she told herself repeatedly, Stupid, stupid, stupid. Maria will be gone by morning. Jasper will still be here...it will just be him and me. She won't win him back again, she won't.

With a heavy heart, Alice found herself back where she started. She could see them, sat in the grass, talking closely. And she had no idea what they were saying.

And, even though she didn't like listening in on private conversations...she had to know. She just had to. She had to know what they were saying.

With a deep breath, Alice sank down into a crouch. She inched closer, shuffling along in the grass and being as silent as Vampire-ly possible, edging forward towards them, until she was crouched in the grass, just metres away from where they sat. She could see them clearly.

Jasper was sat, thinking hard with a mixed expression. Opposite him, Maria was looking like a little lost child...begging for sympathy and attention, fiddling with another long lock of perfect blonde hair and batting those long eyelashes.

Closing her eyes, Alice listened in. She could hear every word.

Jasper let out a long sigh.

"Alice won't like it."

"Jasper...please? For me?" Maria begged softly.

He sighed, again. "Only a few days."

"That's all I'm asking for." She sounded happy.

"Fine. You can stay with us...but just a few days." He didn't sound so happy. Relucant maybe, not happy.

"And you'll consider coming back...right?"

"Maria...I left for a reason..."

"But it will be different Jasper!" she squealed, "It's changed now. You can be free...you wouldn't have to deny who you are...you can hunt like a vampire should, instead of pretending that you actually like eating those animals, urgh." She shuddered.

"I do like that! I don't want to kill humans, Maria."

"Just tell me you'll consider."

"I can't...Alice..."

"She's the only thing that's stopping you Jasper. Just leave her! Be a real Vampire again, like you were before!"

Alice's eyes snapped open.

The same words replayed themselves in her mind.

She's the only thing that's stopping you Jasper.

And then, confused, hurt and betrayed, she turned and ran in the other direction.

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Just want to point out...I don't know if Maria and Jasper were ever a couple, but in this story, they were :)

Hope this chapter was okay anyway :/
Review please :)

Thankyou!
Chapter 11 will be up as soon as I can write it :)