Revised: 7/31/13

Previously...

"I will stay by your side until your heart beats its last beat if I have to Bella, because I want you to be with us forever. I need you to be with us forever." He said sincerely, his light gold eyes staring into mine.

It sounds really cliche and girly but in this moment...it feels as If he's seeing straight through me. As if he's looking at my very soul.

"Thank you." I whispered to him.

He froze and his eyes hardened suddenly.

"What?" I asked, my heart rate increasing.

What was with his sudden change of emotion? Did something happen?

"We've got company."

BELLA POV

Victoria. That was the first name that came to me. Then I remembered that Edward had destroyed her right in front of me a couple of months ago. The memory of him ripping her apart would haunt me forever. That was the first time that I saw that side of him. The Cullens always acted so human it was startling to see their true nature brought out.

I moved on to my second guess: The Volturi. Had they arrived to see if I was a vampire yet? Jane had threatened to inform Aro of my unchanged status as a human. But surely they wouldn't come all this way just for me? Aro did say that I had two options, be changed or death. Had they come to eliminate me and my family?

"Bella. You alright?"

Jasper's concerned voice brought me back to the present. I inhaled deeply, and realized that I had inadvertently ceased breathing at his warning.

I blinked, took the deep breath that my lungs were screaming for, and unclenched my hands.

Jasper's sighed in relief and faced me, holding my shoulders in a firm grip. Then, he bowed his head, yet still managed to tower over me with his excessive height. He seemed to recover after a moment and lifted his head, his face just inches from my own.

"Bella, you don't have to worry. With me you never have to, okay?"

I nodded, annoyed and embarrassed at my clearly vulnerable state.

Jasper grabbed one of my hands in his. That's when I realized my hands were trembling. He seemed to notice the state I was in and wrapped a protective arm around my shoulders. "Come on. Let's go back."

In the next moment Jasper's arms weren't around me anymore.

There was a loud crashing sound, similar to two boulders smashing into each other. Or the loud sound of thunder really close by.

I stumbled, disoriented, and fell onto the grass. Ignoring the scrapes on my hands and knees, I stood up.

A loud growling caught my attention. My eyes widened when I caught sight of the source of the sound. Jumping up, I ran towards the two very pissed off looking vampires on the other side of the meadow.

Edward must have come into the meadow looking for me and seen how close Jasper and I were standing. That's the only explanation for why Edward had tackled Jasper in rage. Rolling my eyes in frustration, I glared at them and resisted the urge to just leave.

"Just stop it!"

"It's no use." Alice said, suddenly appearing next to me. "I knew it was only time before Edward snapped. Seeing you and Jasper must have really pushed him over the edge."

I stared at Alice for a second before looking back at Jasper, who seemed to give up on convincing Edward to yield and decided to bring the fight to a quick end.

"What were you and Jasper doing anyways? I mean isn't this you and Edward's meadow?" Alice pointed out bitingly. Accusingly.

"No. Not anymore." I said resolutely, trying to stop her questioning.

"I don't think your husband agrees with you." she said, scoffing.

"Quit acting like everything's the same. Edward is not my husband, just like Jasper is not yours." I exploded, loosing my temper. I was okay with not regretting my outburst at all. She had it coming with all those nasty remarks.

Alice's eyes seemed to harden in anger. "Well then I guess I forgot the part where I signed divorce papers!" she said sarcastically.

"You lose the right to call someone yours when you cheat on them! Edward is his brother Alice. That's just wrong." I shot back, steeling myself against whatever response she had.

"Get off your high horse, Bella. What are you and Jasper doing? You don't think that seeing you with him hurts us? Or did you decide to ignore our feelings after we were unfaithful?" The vampire I once thought of as a sister shouted.

I stiffened and recoiled as if I had been slapped.

"Did you ever think that maybe Jasper is just using you to pass time? I mean, he followed me without a second thought when we first met. Do you honestly think that you can break a bond like that?" She continued, her vindictive words twisting the knife in deeper.

My body felt numb and time seemed to slow. How could I have been so selfish? My hurt was my own, I had no right to come between Alice and Jasper's relationship. Maybe they would still be together if it wasn't for me. No. That can't be true. What am I thinking? Alice is just being her usual manipulative self.

Jasper wanted to be my friend too. He felt the same connection to me that I did to him. He said that we would stick together. He promised.

"Fuck off Edward!" Jasper snarled, drawing my attention back to them.

"Only if you stay away from Bella! She and I are going to work things out." Edward retorted, gritting his teeth in concentration.

"If you would just stop speaking for her and actually listen, you would realize that you're wrong." Jasper growled, tensing for Edward's reaction.

He had said that to intentionally make Edward mad, knowing that he would be reacting out of anger. I've never noticed how strategic Jasper is. It's probably one of the many traits he picked up from being a soldier.

Edward roared in fury and slammed Jasper up against the tree again. Taking advantage of this, Jasper escaped his grasp and tackled his brother to the ground and held him there.

"Let go of me!" Edward hissed, struggling to get out of the older blonde's grip.

"You didn't exactly extend that courtesy a second ago brother." Jasper shot back, tightening his grip on Edward.

I watched in horror as Edward got one arm free and swung his fist towards Jasper's face. I released a shocked breath in horror when I saw Jasper's head snap back and Edward try to free himself. Somehow, Jasper's grip on his brother held firm and Edward growled in frustration and humiliation at being unable to escape.

Never in my life had I felt to useless. Is this what my future would be? Would I always feel inferior to everyone around me? Forget that, if they refused to change me I would be done. I can't live like this if I'm constantly being made to feel insignificant.

I breathed a sigh of relief when Emmett and Rose showed up. I guess Alice had gone to get Emmett, knowing that she couldn't hold back both Edward and Jasper at the same time.

"Shit." Emmett muttered, his eyes widening when he caught sight of his two brothers.

He jumped and grabbed Jasper around the arms, hauling him off Edward.

Rose and Alice quickly took Edward and pulled him away from Jasper, barely able to keep ahold of him.

"Edward, get a grip!" Rosalie said scornfully as he struggled against her and Alice's restraining hands.

"Give him about thirty seconds." Alice said then she turned to Emmett. "You can let Jazz go now."

The second Jasper was released he was at my side again. He asked if I was okay, concern showing in his eyes.

"I'm fine." I lied, shoving my inner turmoil to the back of my mind. I was quickly becoming adept at compartmentalizing things, though that is certainly not a good thing.

He didn't believe me, but accepted my answer and nodded anyways. I knew he was just saving the conversation for later.

"Dude, what the fuck happened?" Emmett asked, his eyes on the vampire next to me.

"Why don't you ask him?" Jasper drawled, inclining his head towards Edward.

Edward shook his sisters grip on his arms off and Emmett looked at him expectantly.

"I needed to speak with Bella alone and Jasper seems to have taken it upon himself to be her guardian and not allow me to." Edward explained through gritted teeth, his eyes squeezed shut in an attempt to calm his clearly unstable emotions.

Jasper folded his arms across his chest and shot Edward a look full of disdain. "Here's an idea. Next time, why don't you try asking her to speak with you before deciding to senselessly attack me."

"Really now? You know what ironic about that? That only a short while ago you were the one that had to keep his distance for Bella's safety. I've never tried to kill her." Edward spat, his eyes narrowed.

Jasper's whole demeanor changed in that second. A growl rumbled through his chest and he moved into an offensive crouch.

"Dude, shut the fuck up." Emmett muttered to Edward shoving him back in an attempt to disengage the oncoming fight.

"What is wrong with you?" I turned on Edward.

His shocked eyes flew over to meet mine before he regained control of his expression. "What? It's true Bella. Don't even attempt to deny that Jasper didn't try and bite you!"

"I don't care." I replied honestly, proud that it came out strong and insistent.

Edward flinched at my words, his controlled facade crumbling. It dawned on me that those were the exact same words I told Edward that night in Port Angeles. Back when Edward was the one I felt most safe around. How things had changed.

My eyes met Edwards and I knew we were both remembering that night. We were both mourning what was lost: trust.

Edward had been everything. Now I see how naïve I had been. Sure, Edward had made me happy, but we would never have lasted. So much had changed since then, and though things seemed impossibly bleak right not, I knew that they would improve. They had to.

"I don't care because I trust Jasper." I continued softly, breaking our eye contact to look at the person I was talking about. "I trust him with my life."

Suddenly a loud, scornful laugh filled the meadow.

"Do you honestly think anyone will agree to that?" Alice asked, joining the conversation, smothering the remainder of her amused snickers.

My eyes widened in surprise. She knew. She must have had a vision. This bitch was going to ruin everything.

"I don't know." I admitted. "But I have to try. I have to ask."

"What are you guys talking about?" Rose asked, looking impatiently between Alice and I.

"Bella here has decided that she wants Jasper to change her!" Alice announced, before I could even reply.

I felt four pairs of shocked eyes on me, and I flushed in disbelief and anger. She had brought everyone into what was just supposed to be between Jasper and myself. I had wanted to talk to him about it, and I planned to, but then Edward had shown up unexpectedly. And now Jasper had to find out like this, from the last person who should ever have told him. Edward's presence only made things worse, which was exactly what Alice had counted on.

"That is not happening." Edward ordered sternly. As if he actually had a choice in the matter!

"I don't think Bella was asking you." Rose snapped at Edward, before glaring at Alice. "And why the fuck did you decide that you should be the one to tell everyone?"

"Everyone needed to know." Alice said defensively. "Bella wasn't planning on telling everyone until the last minute."

I was so sick and tired of everyone making my decisions for me. Just because I'm human doesn't mean I can't think for myself. Alice needs to stop trying to make herself so superior. She had no right to do this. Just because she has a gift doesn't mean she can use it to get the best of people.

I shook my head to clear my thoughts before I responded. "Oh, give me a break."

She turned towards me, caught off guard at my tone.

"Stop trying to play god Alice. In case you didn't notice, no one is falling for your innocent act. So quit being a manipulative bitch and move on already."

A/N: Thanks so much for reading and giving me your feedback! Review for another preview of the next chapter!

Here are some questions you guys are welcome to answer in your reviews:

1. Did you like how Bella stood up for herself, or was it too out of character? I like the idea of Bella having a little more backbone because in Twilight she kinda came off as really weak.

2. Was there too much dialogue, or was it okay? I tried to have some of Bella's thought in this chapter, but most of the chapter is action so it's kinda hard to do that without having too much dialogue.

And lastly... 3. How do you think Jasper is going to respond to Bella's request?