(Bella)

After everyone else left, Jasper and I just relaxed for a while. It was still early, barely past three in the afternoon. Jasper got online and booked our return flight. This time he checked the weather forecast before purchasing tickets.

"There's a direct flight to Seattle leaving at 8am tomorrow." He informed me. "As much as I'd like to show you around the city, I'm not sure it's safe to delay."

I nodded, I would have to say goodbye to Charlie quickly. I probably only had days left as a human. After that, I would never see him again. We had grown so close over the last year. I was so glad I had decided to move to Forks, even with everything that had happened. If I hadn't, I would never had gotten the chance to get to know my Dad. Before last year, he wasn't so real to me. Of course, he was always my father, but he wasn't a part of my life. Not like now. I would miss him.

The change was weighing on my mind as well. I wanted to become a vampire. At first it had been so that I could be with Edward forever, but my reasons were different now. It was more about me. I never fit in the human world, always out of step with everyone around me. I wanted to be strong, to be able to stand up for what I thought and let no one stop me from doing what I thought was right. If I was one of them, I was sure nothing would stand in my way.

I traced the scar on my wrist, hoping I could stand the process. It was impossible to forget the pain my brief encounter with venom caused. Three days of that, but worse, was a bit daunting. I steeled my resolve. I could do it, I would do it. It helped that once it began, there was no going back. Jasper wouldn't do something stupid like suck out the venom, even if I begged him to. I looked up to see Jasper watching me closely, his eyes following my fingers as they traced my scar.

Without a word he got up and walked over to me, taking my hand and leading me to the bedroom we had claimed as our own. Jasper sat me on the edge of the bed, taking off my shoes before removing his. I frowned at him in confusion, but he shook his head at me and continued on in silence. Jasper sprawled out on top of the plush comforter, turning on his side to face me.

"Join me darlin', please. Tell me what has you so upset." He pleaded with his eyes. I mirrored his position, propping my head up on my arm and laying next to him, our bodies separated by mere inches.

"I was thinking about a lot of things." I evaded. I felt his frustration. "Charlie, myself, the change, the future." I elaborated, not wanting to hide anything from him.

"A lot has happened quickly." He reached for my free hand, linking our fingers together. "I wanted to talk with you. It's going to be rare for a while that we get to be alone."

"Talk about what?" I asked, nervous that I had been worrying about all the wrong things.

"About what happened today." He said, confirming my fears. Jasper must have felt my anxiety because I felt his reassurance. "I'm not normally very good at dealing with my own emotions. Give me a hoard of newborns and I'm fine, but this... is hard for me." He grimaced.

"I'm not upset about Edward." I said quickly. "I may have been his mate once, but that bond was broken when he left me. I've had time to deal with it. I was actually a little surprised how little I felt for him seeing him again." I huffed. "Besides anger and betrayal."

"Good to know, but I wanted to talk to you about what happened after that." Jasper said. After that, I had kissed him.

I didn't think he disliked kissing me today, I thought with a frown. I mean, he kissed me back after all. And he kissed me in this room, the room that we were going to share tonight. Was he trying to tell me things were going to fast for him? My earlier concerns about him having time to get over Alice bubbled up.

"Jay, it's okay. I understand if you need more time." I told him. "I had months to heal when Edward left, I don't expect you to be in the same place I am."

"No, that's not it at all." He sighed, closing his eyes for a moment. "Bella, when we were in Port Angeles in that diner, I wished we weren't just pretending to be a couple. Alice and I have been over for a long time, I just didn't see it." His sincerity flowed into me. "I want to make sure you understand what you're getting yourself into first. I've told you my past, you know I'm flawed."

His face looked pained as he said the word flawed. I pulled my hand free of his, touching his face. He flinched as I traced a barely visible scar along his eyebrow, the light from the large windows reflecting off his skin just enough to illuminate it.

"Jasper, your flaws make you who you are. Without them you wouldn't be as strong a man as you are today." I traced another on his chin, he tightened his muscles as I moved along his skin softly.

"I'm hard to live with sometimes. I'm bossy and can be domineering." He stated, his hand circling my wrist, but not stopping me as I found another scar by his ear to follow with my finger. "I'm the jealous type." He told me, turning his head to kiss my finger. "I get in moods and go days without talking."

"I'll have to cheer you up then." I told him, moving my hand to his neck. The scars were thick here, criss-crossing each other. I was sure there were more I couldn't see with my weak eyes, but I caressed the ones I could find. He hummed softly, tilting his head slightly.

"I'm a killer Bella. Can you accept that? I'm not going to change. I won't go through that again." His voice was hard, despite the obvious enjoyment my fingers were causing.

"I don't want you to change." I whispered. I bit my lip as I reached for the top button on his shirt. I touched it, but waited until his eyes met mine. "I want to see." I said shyly.

"I have a lot of scars." He said. "Are you sure?"

I popped the button in answer and he leaned back, allowing the light from the windows to hit him fully as I opened his shirt. I kept my eyes on his as I worked, sending him confidence. I needed to see, not just because I wanted to, but because he needed this. I could feel his insecurity battling me as I slipped the material down his shoulders, exposing him.

When I finally looked, I was shocked at just how many bites he had suffered. There had to be hundreds of them. They formed a complex pattern, overlapping and swirling together. It almost looked like an elaborate tattoo, but much more sinister. I pressed my palm flat against where his heart should beat, into the largest of the scars. That scar wasn't from a simple bite. Jasper told me he was punished by Maria if he displeased her, but I hadn't realized the extent of her methods until now.

"Does she still exist?" I demanded, sending him my anger. I pressed my hand against him tighter, as if I could heal his pain.

"Yes." He said, watching my reaction closely. He put his hand over mine. "Don't be angry, it's over now."

"She did this to you." I shook my head, the outrage still boiling inside me. I examined the large scar more closely. "Why?" He hesitated long enough that I wasn't sure he'd answer me.

"That scar is one of the few I don't regret." He eventually answered. "I've never told the others, I don't want Peter and Char to feel responsible. That scar is the one I got for letting them leave. It was worth it."

"I hate that Maria did this to you." I said, looking into his eyes. "I want to hurt her." I crawled closer, moving so that I could kiss it, right above his heart. His cold flesh under my lips moved as he inhaled. "This scar is proof that you are a good man." I told him, sitting up.

I felt his appreciation and awe hit me as I examined the rest of him in detail with my fingers. I had to lean in close to see some of the details and I couldn't resist kissing some of the worst bites. Jasper didn't move while I explored, his hand resting on my lower back while the other remained fisted by his side. I could feel his emotions spinning from disbelief to contentment as I looked.

"I don't feel any disgust from you at all." He marveled. "No fear either."

"You're beautiful."

"I'm glad you think so." He sighed. "Because I plan to keep you for a long time, if you'll have me."

"I'd like that." I whispered, stretching back out beside him. This time no space was left between us. I wrapped my arm around his now exposed chest, tangling my fingers in his hair. I loved the feel of his blonde locks in my fingers. I nuzzled my nose into his neck and smiled, letting my lips rest against his skin. "Are we mates like Peter and Char?" I asked softly.

"I don't know." He said thoughtfully. "I've been wrong before, but there is a connection between us. At least, there is for me." He paused. "I can't promise you things will be easy. Just trust me and don't give up on me darlin' and I'll never let you down."

"I do trust you." I said, tugging lightly on his curls. "I think even if we aren't mates officially when I'm like you, that's okay. Anything easy isn't worth having anyway. Are you sure you want to be with me? I tend to attract trouble."

"Nothing I can't handle." I looked up to see his cocky smirk.

"We'll see about that." I said, raising my eyebrow at him.

He growled softly, rolling slightly to pin me to the bed. His eyes were darker than usual, reminding me he needed to hunt soon.

"Already challenging me. You are going to be a handful when you're changed."

I laughed, squirming free and pushing him off me. He let me escape, still watching me with a slightly predatory gleam in his eyes. It felt dangerous to be provoking him, but I couldn't help myself. I shoved him back, kneeling over him and holding him down by his shoulders, glad he was playing along.

"You like it when I challenge you." I told him. "Don't try to deny it." I dragged my finger down his exposed chest, stopping when I got to his stomach. I smirked when it contracted under my fingertip and he hissed.

"You're courting danger right now." He warned me, stopping my hand from moving.

"Am I?" I asked, feeling bold.

"Bella!" He hissed again as I moved my free hand slowly in small circles.

I had never acted like this before. Partly that was because Edward would never let me get this far. I would have, if he wasn't such a repressed prude. The few things I had already done with Jasper proved that Edward was wrong in the limitations of a vampire/human physical relationship. The limits were obviously all in his head.

"Bella, I care about you very much. I don't know if you could ever love me, but I want to try and see what happens."

"I want that too." I whispered back.

Now that Jasper and I had agreed to try a relationship out, I wanted to experiment. Seeing his reactions to my innocent touches was spurring me on and giving me the confidence to keep going, any embarrassment or shyness washed away by his obvious signals. Jasper's low growl started up again as I moved closer, letting my hair drag across his skin. The sound wasn't frightening at all. I kissed his chest again over his heart, soothing the large scar before moving to his neck. I rubbed my body against his as I stretched out, my hand coming free from his grip as he wrapped his arms around me.

The feeling was bliss as I felt him against me. He was perfectly formed in every way, his body and mine aligning as if we were made to fit together. I moved a little higher, kissing his jaw. His growl had intensified, his hand drifted from my back down to my jeans. He palmed my behind softly as he shifted me half on top of him, pulling my body against his more firmly. The weight of his hand resting there made me tingle and I moaned, wanting more.

Jasper was losing patience with my slow pace, it seemed, because he threaded his hand into my hair and tilted my head so he could capture my mouth. His kiss was hungry, demanding response from me. I could feel his need slamming into me from his gift, spurring on my own desire. I felt myself responding, involuntarily grinding into his leg as he drove his tongue into my mouth.

We were both panting now, our moans and sighs intermingling with his growls as he eased me onto my back. He sucked on my lip, allowing me to breathe harshly for a moment as his hand drifted down my side, stroking my body softly but not touching where I wanted him to. When I pushed my chest toward his hand, he chuckled slightly.

"My dangerous Bella." He said, his eyes dark. "I need to hunt, you are driving me insane."

He kissed me again, less urgently but with just as much passion. I could feel his affection and tenderness this time, it was so sweet it made me want to cry. He stroked my face softly, as if I was the most important thing in the world, pouring love into his kiss. I sent him all my trust back, all my hopes that we could build a future together no matter what happened.

This time when he pulled away, his eyes were shining with the same adoration mine must have been. Jasper needed to stop, but instead of leaving me feeling rejected and worthless, he took care of me and I felt loved. I felt like my heart would burst as I looked at him, hoping he understood how much it meant to me.

"I do." He said as if he could read my mind.

"Thank you." I said simply, allowing my emotions to convey the depth of what I really meant by those two simple words. "Do you need to go now?"

"Soon." He said, his hand rubbing his throat. I didn't like that he was in pain.

"You should go." I said reflexively. "I don't want you to suffer."

"I don't want to leave you alone." He said, his grip on me tightening.

I thought about it for a moment. We were too close to the Cullens, they could track us down. It wouldn't take much to find our location and locking the door would hardly keep them out if they showed up. Until the other's came back, I would be too weak to defend myself. They wouldn't be back for hours probably since they had to buy a car and clothes for Emmett.

"Take me with you. I'll need to see how it's done anyhow." Jasper could keep me safe if I was with him.

"I can't take you away from the city right now." He shook his head. "The humans around us are an advantage at the moment. No one would dare attack us so openly."

"I meant, take me with you in the city." I said, hoping I wouldn't have to clarify I didn't mean a trip to the zoo. When he didn't answer right away, I back-peddled. "I don't mean to push you, I mean, if you don't want to hunt that way we can wait for the others. Or I could go have dinner in a public place, stay around lots of humans. That would work right? They wouldn't be able to get to me."

He shook his head, cutting off my words. I wasn't sure which part he disagreed with, so I waited sending him my curiosity. I hoped we would still be able to talk while we waited for the others to return, it would really suck if we had to wait in separate rooms.

"Too risky Bella. We need to stick together. I can wait awhile longer. If it was just the Cullens to worry about, we'd go now, but there are also the native vampires to the city to consider. I won't risk your life."

"Oh, I hadn't thought of that." I said.

"Vampires are territorial, although this part of Manhattan isn't claimed by any particular coven. Even our kind can be tourists." He smiled. "However, if I go with a human in tow, it will attract attention. We'll go as a group, unless Emmett objects to tagging along."

"Will the natives fight?" I asked.

"No, they shouldn't. Not as long as they see you are defended. We may not run into anyone at all, it's a big city." He shrugged, laying down on his back, his hands folded over his stomach.

I copied his pose, both of us staring at the ceiling. This vampire business could be complicated.

I decided to kill some time by calling home and leaving a message on my father's antiquated answering machine with our flight details incase he beat us home. I didn't want him to worry. I sent a text to Jake with the info, not feeling like talking to my friend right now. I had too much on my mind.

"Tell me more about vampire life." I said. "You said this part of Manhattan isn't claimed. How can you tell?"

Jasper explained about scent marking and the other ways borders were marked. He also told me some of how different ways of marking borders dictated how to behave if you needed to cross another's land.

"Some vampire's won't allow anyone to cross at all. If you find borders marked by vampire ash mixed with human blood, it's a good indication to go around. Most just use their own scents and blood to mark. As long as you don't hunt in another's territory and move through fast, you should be fine. When in doubt, go around. Carlisle just used scent alone. Borders like that mean you should come say hello."

"What do we mark with?" I asked, including myself as a member of the Whitlocks. He smiled at my question.

"I'm not sure what Peter's been using. I haven't been to his place in Montana since they built their house. Using ash can sometimes draw in the wrong kind of attention. The young or the bored. It scares away just as many, so it has it's uses."

"Hmm..." I wondered aloud.

I reached for my phone again, dialing Charlotte's number quickly.

"Hey Bella." She answered.

"Hey Char, I got a question for you."

"Ask away." She said.

"How do you mark your borders? Ash, blood, or what?" I bluntly asked.

"Oh... umm..." She stuttered not expecting such a blunt question. "Just a sec, Emmett is just signing for his car now." I heard some shuffling as she moved away. "Sorry, had to get away from those slimy car salesmen." She huffed.

"No problem."

"He uses ash and blood. He also had signs made and posted up on the edges of our land that read 'Trespassers will butchered and slow roasted'." She laughed. "Humans would think it's a joke, but he's serious about it."

"How cute." I rolled my eyes. "Thanks for the info. How's it coming?"

"Good. Emmett didn't take long shopping, thank god. We just let him loose in a big and tall store and he was done in thirty minutes. The hardest part was picking the color on his new truck. He decided on a Hummer H3 in black. Looks like a rolling box, but he seems to like it."

"Yeah, I could see him driving one." I agreed. "You coming back soon?" I hoped so, crossing my fingers and winking at Jasper.

"Shouldn't be long, the slimeball is getting the keys now. We had to register it in Peter's name since Emmett doesn't have an ID yet, but we can transfer ownership later."

"Excellent, we'll see you soon!"

"Talk to you later hun." Char said, ending the call.

I was glad they were almost done so Jasper could feed. His eyes were still dark, even though I wasn't provoking him right now. I decided I had better eat something myself, not knowing how long we would be out on our hunting trip.

"Is there a room service menu around here?" I asked.

"I'll get you one." Jasper said, pecking me on the lips before hopping off the bed. I watched him walk to the kitchen, staring at his ass unashamed as he moved. I was so glad he was wearing jeans instead of those ugly khakis he used to wear. He was made for jeans. He grabbed the menu off the counter, turning around and smirking at me.

I sent him my indifference at being caught staring and he sent back some smugness. I thanked him as he handed it to me, picking some pasta with shrimp and a small salad.

"I'm going to grab a shower, would you order for me Jay?"

"Sure thing darlin'." He told me.

Part of me wanted to invite him to share my shower like he was sharing my room, but I wasn't feeling that bold. I nervously grabbed my stuff, blushing slightly as I left the room. By the look on his face, he must have felt my emotions before they shifted to nervousness because his eyes had gone almost black and he licked his lips as he watched me scramble out of the room. I shut the door behind me, leaning against it trying to escape the look he was giving me.

With my head resting against the door, I could hear him growl softly to himself and it made me smile. I forced myself to focus on the task at hand and got ready for my shower. I ended up spending a long time in there, enjoying the most extravagant shower of my life. I could seriously get used to this, it was amazing. By the time I got out, I was a prune, but I felt great.

Jasper knocked on the door letting me know the food was here and I called out that I would be out in a minute. I finished drying off and dressed quickly, leaving my hair wrapped up in a towel. I gathered up my things and dropped them next to my bag before following my nose out to the dining area.

Jasper's lips twitched at my appearance, seeing a towel wrapped around my head, but didn't comment. I grabbed a bottle of water from the fridge to go with dinner. The menu recommended specific wine with the meal, but I didn't want to drink. I preferred water anyhow. I wanted to be fully alert later.

"Smells great." I commented.

"If you say so." He said, he nose wrinkling.

"Sorry, I'm stinking up the place with my human food."

"Don't apologize." He shook his head. "You're beyond understanding about our dietary needs after all."

I nodded and dug in. The food was better than it smelled and I ate all of it, feeling stuffed afterwards. Jasper cleaned up for me and I thanked him. I went to the bathroom to brush my teeth and fix my hair which had mostly dried.

"May I?" Jasper asked, walking up behind me and pointing to the hairbrush. I nodded, handing it to him with some trepidation. I'd never had a man brush my hair since I was a little girl and my dad had attempted to. He was never very good at it if I remembered right.

He pulled the towel out of my hair, tossing it onto the counter and sweeping my hair gently behind my back. Starting from the bottom he worked the brush through my long hair, using the exact right amount of pressure. It felt really good and I closed my eyes, just feeling. He used his hands to smooth my hair down as he worked. I didn't feel a single tug as he brushed and he drew the process out longer than it required.

I opened my eyes, watching him in the mirror. He was concentrating on the task, carefully pulling the brush down making my mahogany hair shine. The look on his face was so content. I sent him some affection and he met my eyes, pausing.

"I like to take care of you." He admitted.

I turned, taking the brush and setting it down, wrapping my arms around his neck. I kissed him softly on the lips, just brushing with the lightest pressure before pulling back.

"I can tell. I think I like that. No one has ever really taken care of me before."

He was about to say something else when the sound of the suite door banging open caught both of our attention.

"Honey! I'm home!" Emmett's boisterous voice called out, breaking the moment.

We grinned at each other and he took my hand, leading me out to the living room. The guys were back, time to go hunting.