A/N: Hi everyone! Back to Jasper's we go. I usually update this every Friday, but I haven't decided what I'll do next Friday since it's the premier of New Moon. I'm thinking about skipping a week since everyone will have their attention elsewhere, lol, but I'm also considering maybe doing an outtake or something - quite a few people have been asking for some insight as far as Newton's thoughts. I haven't decided yet, but I'll let you all know. Thanks for reading!

(Previously):

I sighed. "Of course I'm going back. Why wouldn't I Edward – you saw the place. I can't wait to use that shower again," I said quietly, looking over my shoulder to make sure the kids were still asleep.

"Bella – you don't have to do this. You know it's not likely you'll get much sleep, and tomorrow's a big day," Edward pleaded.

"It will be fine, Edward; and I'm much more likely to get some sleep if you're there with me. Now quit worrying so much and just accept it – you know as well as I do you were relieved to be away from listening to Mike's thoughts last night," I said seriously.

Edward cringed as he looked back toward Mike's cabin.

"See? Now just give me a moment, and we'll be on our way," I whispered.

Edward sighed in defeat. "All right, we'll wait for you out here, love."

Chapter 17:

Later, once I'd gathered my things and Alice , Edward and I made the trip through the woods, we found ourselves settled into the comfortable couches at Jasper's. We were all lounging around when suddenly Edward sat up and glared at the door.

"No – absolutely not, Emmett – do not come in here with that thing," Edward said, his voice directed at the doorway to the cavern.

A moment later Emmett pushed the door open and strode in, ignoring Edward. A small, odd-looking kitten sat perched on his shoulder, looking around as if frightened, eyes narrowed and tail twitching nervously. Its fur was sort of mottled, a variety of different colors, and had bits of forest debris clinging to it. It clearly wasn't someone's house pet.

"Chill out Edward – I couldn't leave it in the cabin again, there was a some trouble last night and Simon had to let it outside. It took me hours to track the poor little thing down again today, and I'm not abandoning it. He's perfectly harmless," Emmett replied, settling into the couch across from us.

Alice rolled her eyes. "Trouble as in that thing tried to kill half of your cabin's occupants? You've got a problem, Emmett, and when Rosalie finds out this time I don't want to be anywhere near you. Why do you think you've managed to get away with this nonsense so long? We've all been distracting her, hiding your ridiculous antics because we don't want to have to endure her fury in front of all the kids – they shouldn't have to see that."

Emmett looked nervous for a moment. "Look, it's not my fault – those kids love these animals, and it just kind of spun out of control," he mumbled, looking down at his feet. "When I saw little Spaz here hanging out behind the mess hall, I realized he must have gotten lost and was trying to find some food scraps. He just needs looking after, that's all."

I blinked. "Spaz?"

Emmett grinned back at me. "That's his name. I think it suits him – he's got lots of energy."

Edward groaned. "Just keep that thing on the other side of the room. You know it's feral, don't you? It's completely wild – there's no taming that cat," he said, crossing his arms in irritation.

"He is not – he likes me," Emmett retorted, reaching up to pat the kitten on the head. It swiped a paw at his hand, hissing. "He's got spunk – he likes to play like that," Emmett chuckled.

Edward sighed heavily.

When I got up to take my nightly shower, Edward followed me, keeping himself between the kitten and me, who hissed at any movement. Ever since Emmett got up to play video games with Jasper, it had taken to hiding under the couch, the reflection of its eyes glowing in the shadows. Edward was waiting for me right outside the door when I was finished, ready to accompany me back to the couch. Since the bathroom was on the far side of the cellar, it gave us a little distance from the others. I saw my chance and pounced, throwing myself into Edward's arms before he began heading back to the couches.

He caught me easily and held me close, looking slightly confused. "Not that I object love, but what exactly are you doing?"

"Shhh…I'm trying to sneak in a moment with you, it's been hard for us to have any alone time since we've been here," I whispered. Of course everyone in the cellar heard me anyway, but they were all decent enough to respect our privacy even if it was only for a moment.

With understanding in his eyes, Edward raised his hand and gently traced the length of my collarbone. He placed soft kisses along my neck, working his way up to my ear. His lips grazed the bottom part of my lobe as he murmured, "I couldn't agree more…I've missed you my Bella."

I met his lips eagerly, and instantly felt my hands move to his hair where they happily entwined themselves. Edward was kissing me back with enthusiasm, and just when I was worried that he would break us apart like he usually did, he surprised me by pulling me even closer. My feet left the floor, and he spun us around so I was pressed up against the bathroom door. In one quick moment he'd opened the door, and before I could even blink we were on the other side of it with a more solid barrier between us and his siblings. I was surprised but thankful, as Emmett had started whistling and cheering.

After a few more minutes Edward slowed the kisses down and gently pulled away from me. The leftover steam from the shower clung in the air, making it even more difficult to breathe than normal when kissing him, and I was practically gasping for air.

He ran his hands soothingly through my damp hair, his gaze still intense. "As much as I'd like to continue this, I think it's best if we stop, love. You can hardly breathe and you're shivering. Perhaps you should take another shower to warm back up before bed," he suggested.

I nodded reluctantly, but I was glad to have had at least this little amount of time with him. The thought of going back out to the main room of the cellar wasn't all that appealing; Emmett would likely have all kinds of things to say. It had become oddly quiet out there, and I wondered why Emmett had stopped his earlier harassments.

Joking, I raised my eyebrows suggestively at Edward. "You know there's plenty of room in here…"

Expecting his response to be the usual groan and commentary on the overestimation of his self-control, I was shocked when he didn't say anything. Instead he leaned in and placed one last gentle but urgent kiss on my lips, then moved to open the door. Just before he left, he glanced over his shoulder at me. "Our wedding is soon, love. Perhaps after it's over we can revisit this place as husband and wife…or maybe a much better idea is to just have a replica of this shower room built in our house, so that we can use it as often as we like."

As the door clicked shut behind him, I stood in shock staring at the door, my face five shades of red. Maybe he really was missing me just as much as I was missing him.

After I'd recovered I showered again until I was comfortably warm, and then met him outside the door again. Edward greeted me with his crooked smile and began accompanying me back to the couch, his gaze flitting between me and the kitten, whose eyes I could still see peering out from under the couch.

"Edward – it's just a kitten," I muttered, embarrassed. What could it possibly do to me?

"It's feral, Bella – that thing is completely unstable, and I won't allow it anywhere near you," he insisted. "It's obvious by the way it's hiding under the couch that it feels threatened, and I'll not have it taking any of its aggression out on you."

"Quit being so overprotective Edward – it's annoying," Alice said. She was sketching out her latest fashion design while bouncing in her chair to "And She Was," by the Talking Heads.

Emmett turned around and looked like he was about to say something, but Alice cleared her throat and glared at him, and he sighed and went back to his game. So maybe that was why he'd quit making his stupid comments.

As if reading my mind, she glanced up at me smiling. "I told him to leave you two alone or I wouldn't get him his special order," she said as she winked at me.

I smiled in thanks and reminded myself to let her make me over when we got home at least once with no complaints from me – what she had done was well worth it.

"What do you want to do tonight, Bella?" Alice chirped from her chair, frowning at something in her design she seemed unsatisfied with.

"Um…I'm pretty tired, so I think I'm just going to relax and hopefully fall asleep – sorry Alice ," I mumbled, watching the disappointment spread over her features. I felt bad, especially in light of her latest favor, but all the nonsense that happened at the pool had me exhausted.

Edward was glaring at his sister, as if daring her to argue.

"Well maybe once you take a nap, you'll be up for something more exciting," Alice said hopefully.

As Edward began giving her a speech about how much sleep the human body required to function properly, I rested my head on his chest and blocked out the sounds around me so I could get some rest.

Lost in sleep, my mind was resistant to respond as it faintly registered the sound of a low growl. I didn't want to bother with knowing what it was – I'd finally been sleeping soundly, and I wasn't eager to give that up.

"So help me, if that thing gets any closer, I'll rip its throat out," Edward hissed. That got my attention – what was after me now? Images of all the past threats on my life resurfaced and I snapped my eyes open, ready to run. As I struggled to sit up, Edward gently pushed me back down; he had me pressed up against the back of the couch, his body around mine in a protective cage.

"Edward – what's wrong? What's happening?" I gasped, my eyes wide with fear.

"That – that thing, is all over the place and it's getting too close," Edward muttered, pointing his finger to my left. The kitten was crouched on the adjacent end table, the hair on its back raised and its tail twitching menacingly.

"Shut it Edward – it's fine, he's not going to do anything. He just wants to play – don't you know anything about kittens?" Emmett said, turning away from his video game.

"Right – and you're the authority on them because you're around them so much? Oh – never mind, that's usually the larger variety, and that's only because you're eating them," Edward growled back.

"Shhh – you're upsetting him! You're the one who likes the mountain lions anyway – you know I prefer bears. It's probably why he doesn't like you," Emmett said, stomping towards the kitten.

"That thing is a menace Emmett – all it has done for the past hour is leap at anything that moves, hissing and spitting. I wouldn't be surprised if it has rabies," Edward muttered, narrowing his eyes at the kitten.

"I can't believe this conversation is actually going on," Alice murmured, carefully setting her open bottle of nail polish on the table next to her. Jasper sat down next to her, squeezing her shoulders comfortingly.

"Here kitty, kitty, kitty – come here, don't you listen to him," Emmett muttered moving towards the cat. It immediately turned its attention from us to him. "We know you don't have rabies."

"I wouldn't do that Emmett," Jasper said quietly. "That cat really is feral."

Emmett leaned over to the kitten and reached out to pick it up. "There's nothing to be afraid of, silly. Come on, we'll go find some string or something – surely Auntie Alice has some ribbon of some sort."

Alice glared at Emmett. "I am not the Aunt of any kind of animal, Emmett."

"Why are you guys being so mean about it? I bet if Bella wanted to get a kitten you'd be out buying every possible accessory ever made for it, and Edward would be building a custom-made litter box or something," Emmett huffed.

"If Bella wanted a pet – which I know she doesn't, she told me as much not long after we met – we'd go to a pet store or shelter to find one, not take in a wild animal from the forest," Edward replied easily.

Suddenly the cat leapt onto Emmett's outstretched hand, hissing wildly. It scrambled unsteadily against the marble-like surface, claws flying, fighting his way up Emmett's arm.

"That's it – there you go, buddy," Emmett said encouragingly.

"Emmett you idiot, it's trying to attack you," Edward snapped.

Emmett glared at him. "Is not – he's just having a hard time. He's uncoordinated like Bella – I don't see you turning her away because she can't keep her balance."

"Thanks a lot, Emmett," I said, wishing the cat could actually harm him.

The kitten successfully found something it could latch onto – Emmett's shirt. It meowed violently as it crawled over his shoulder onto his back, each of its paws clinging to the soft fabric.

Emmett was trying to reach around to his back to grasp the cat. "Wait now, that's not a good place for you – hang on, let me help you down," he said unsteadily. Unable to reach the animal, he began peeling his shirt off over his head, which was a bad idea. Now the kitten had hold of both his shirt and his hair, leaving Emmett in an awkward position with his arms raised in the air, t-shirt tangled around his head blinding him. The cat hissed and fought, creating the odd illusion of Emmett's head spinning inside the shirt.

"What are you doing? I'm trying to help you! Argh – no, no, no, no," he muttered, stumbling blindly around the room. He bumped into an end table and spun around, completely losing his balance. He ricocheted off the couch, ran into the expensive stereo equipment which crashed to the ground, then went hurtling into Alice's 'back-up inventory' supplies, sending all the neatly piled items flying in all directions. Jasper intercepted him before he could run into anything else and led him in the direction of the cavern's door, which he kicked open while simultaneously pushing Emmett and the cat out.

The cavern was quiet except for the sounds coming from the CD skipping in the background.

"And he wants to be my Assistant Manager…I don't think so," Alice murmured, eyeing her store's scattered supplies.

Jasper sighed heavily and began working on the stereo equipment, trying to put it back in place.

"If he comes back here tonight and has that thing with him, I say we cut him off outside before he has the chance to come in, agreed?" Edward asked, still staring at the door.

"Agreed," Alice and Jasper said together, nodding their heads.

A/N: Please remember to review. Thank you, I really appreciate it!