I was lying on the couch, being a touch overdramatic, when Jasper slinked back inside. I didn't really like him leaving me alone, but I was making a real effort not to be all clingy. I worried more when he wasn't around…which is saying a lot because lately I'd been doing a lot of worrying while he was present. Instead, I was trying to distract myself by staring at the ceiling. You can imagine how well it was working out.

"I see you made it through Alice's barrage," he smiled.

I nodded. "She had some good ideas, there was just way too many. I couldn't keep up, I need to mentally breathe. Thanks for leaving me all alone with that, by the way."

"She already told me what you'd pick out, after I made her swear on her new Porsche that she wouldn't force you into anything."

"So I have this migraine for nothing, then? Since she already knew."

Jasper chuckled and I semi-playfully glared. "She just wanted to double check. You know that she can't see decisions until they're made and she says you're hard to read. She was just being thorough."

I suddenly burst out laughing. Apparently I was too eccentric for the all-seeing vampire to see my future.

"You're more complicated than you think you are," he sighed and sat down on the arm of the couch. "So we're getting hitched in Germany, then?"

"Looks like it. We just have to pick an exact date," I answered. "I guess if we wanna do it before going off the Cornell it needs to be in the next month or two."

His brow furrowed.

"What?"I asked.

"It's just something Alice told me earlier." He paused and took a deep breath. "Alice said she can't see you anymore after next week and doesn't know why. I know you're not planning anything crazy while the newborns are around, we don't understand it."

I shrugged. "Maybe I turn into a werewolf."

"That dog has such a thing for you," Jasper grumbled, looking less than thrilled.

"Ha! Quil? Really?"

The roll of Jasper's eyes and a scowl was my answer. I tried to contain my laughter but I can only do so much. A second later Jasper joined in.

"I don't think you have anything to worry about. I like my men cold, dead and sparkly. Not smelling like wet dog and pissing on tree trunks."

"I'm so relieved." He scooped me up so I was sitting on his lap.

"Did you have fun?" I asked, stifling a yawn. It wasn't late, but I hadn't been sleeping well lately.

"Yeah, but I missed you." He kissed my forehead. "You're going to give yourself gray hair from all this worrying."

A feeling of serenity washed over me.

"It's hard not to worry," I argued.

"Think of something else."

"Like what?"

"I don't know, whatever girls think of…puppies, kittens, oven mitts. Or in your case, something artsy…like oil paints. Anything to keep you from being on the verge of a mental breakdown."

"Mmm, Starbucks," I said longingly. "A caramel latte is so much better than kittens. And oven mitts. And really any other beverage, although maybe not better than oil paints."

He laughed and I thought I saw him make his "mental note" face. I hoped he wouldn't got to any trouble…the closest Starbucks is in Port Angeles. That was a long way to go for some coffee. Even if it was incredible, energy giving, mouth-watering espresso with a delightful shot of caramel.

"I'll be sure and plan our honeymoon around your coffee addictions," he grinned.

I laughed but didn't argue.

"I'm going upstairs, Lillian's about to be back. Since you haven't had any coffee today you're too weak to pull her off me."

I snorted and he darted up the stairs. It was kind of fun sneaking around like that. Of course the guarantee we wouldn't be caught was a definite plus. Grandma came in, spouted greetings and began to talk animatedly about her day. I grunted and tried to sink farther into the couch. I really hadn't been sleeping well lately…being exhausted by 8pm after not having done anything was testament to that. I briefly wondered where I could snag some B12 shots. I heard that sticking yourself in the butt with one was an excellent energy jolt.

"Honey, just go to bed. You need all the rest you can get if you're going to Seattle with Alice tomorrow," Grandma said from the kitchen doorway.

"M'kay," I muttered and trudged up the stairs. I didn't want to go to sleep. The sooner I slept the sooner tomorrow would be here. This time tomorrow, I might be Jasper-less. Again, I tried to mentally change the subject. I opened my bedroom door and walked straight into Jasper's chest.

"I'm sorry. I wish I could make you believe me," he said quietly. His expression was ridden with guilt, which made me feel guilty.

"I believe you," I argued, "but I can't help being anxious."

"I wish I could convince you that I'm not the one I'm worried about. I'm as close to indestructible as they come…you're the breakable one."

"Right, as long as the newborns don't use their "brute strength" and rip you apart."

It came out a bit harsher than I intended.

"Nothing's going to go wrong," he tried to assure for what had to be the millionth time.

"Then why do I have enough fake IDs, papers and credit cards to relocate to another country without anyone suspecting a thing?" I blinked back tears. I was trying to be strong, I really was, but I don't deal well with such ominous suspense.

"I'm nothing if not thorough," he said quietly and rested his chin on top of my head. He picked me up, walked over to the bed, somehow balanced me with just one arm and pulled the covers down. He tucked me in like I was a little kid and lay on his side next to me.

I giggled randomly and he looked confused.

"I dunno," I explained. I have such a way with words.

"Your mood swings could throw the planet out of orbit, you know."

"What?" I smirked. "I think I'm pretty stable to be a girl."

He laughed. "I guess you have a point… to everyone else you're pretty mellow. Of course, they don't know any different, though." He reached over and turned off the lamp. "You've got to go to sleep, you're exhausted…and that's making me tired."

I rolled my eyes. "Fine, I'll calm down and go to sleep, but if you come back tomorrow with so much as a scratch I'll personally kill you."

"I'll keep that in mind," he said, but the amused smile lingering at his lips implied I wasn't being taken too seriously.

I didn't remember drifting off, but the next thing I knew Jasper's deep, quiet voice told me it was time to get up.

"Ugh, five more minutes," I groaned. I slept surprisingly well, I suspected Jasper had a hand in it. And he'd get no complaints from me.

I heard him chuckle and lay back down. "Sure."

I rolled over and rested my head on his chest. "Nevermind, I'm already awake."

"Esme will be here in 10 minutes, all you need to do is change clothes into something warm; you can afford to doze for a minute."

I glanced around the room and saw that a pair of jeans, a dark purple sweater and my leather jacket was laid out over my desk chair. Finally, someone understood how far from a morning person I was.

"I love you, Jasper."

"And I love you," he said. He glanced at his watch and sighed, "She's early."

I heaved myself out of bed, earning a snicker from Jasper when my knee popped loudly. In return, he received a specific hand gesture. I changed clothes in a half asleep state and nearly fell over putting on my shoes. Yep. Not a morning person. But I did manage to remain upright as I shrugged on my jacket.

"You'll need these; it's going to be quite cold today. And you'll be in the mountains," Jasper explained and handed me a scarf and some gloves. I stuffed them in my pockets.

He took my hand and led me downstairs. Esme was waiting on the front porch. She greeted me with a warm smile and a hug. She and Jasper exchanged a few words that were too quiet for me to hear, although I knew they didn't do it intentionally.

The next thing I knew, the three of us were in the Mustang. Jasper's driving was less alarming than usual, probably because my death grip on his hand hampered his steering. Esme sat quietly in the backseat, trying to be unobtrusive.

"Here, Amanda," Esme said gently and handed me a Starbucks cup. "Someone told me that a caramel latte was your comfort food."

"Aw, thanks, Esme!" I said and took the sweet nectar of life. "And thanks, Jasper."

He smiled and glanced out the rearview mirror. He was being unusually quiet, and he wasn't even a loud person, but it didn't matter. There wasn't really anything to say.

"Isn't Quil supposed to be following us?" I asked after taking a sip of my beloved beverage.

"He is, he's a little bit behind us off in the woods," Esme explained, casting a glance behind us.

I nodded and zoned out as I drank my latte. You couldn't really call it a state of shock, but I wasn't sure how to react. I was potentially about to lose my fiancé—the only person who had ever managed to make me feel like I belonged somewhere. The only thing I could concentrate on at the moment was the death grip my left hand had on his right hand. He swung the car off the pavement and onto a dirt road that was really more of a trail, and kept driving. The trail got rougher and rougher. I thought the Mustang would get stuck at any minute, but somehow it kept going forward. We reached a small clearing and Jasper slammed the poor car into park. He flung open his door and a second later had the door open for Esme and me.

He took my hand and gingerly helped me out of the car. He didn't release my hand and I tried not to resume my death grip. He didn't say it had hurt him, I knew I physically couldn't, but my own hand hurt a little. I glanced around the clearing. There was a tall rock wall that looked like it had fallen straight off a mountain, adjacent to where the Mustang was parked.

"Everything you need is here," Jasper began to explain as he took his jacket off and draped it around my shoulders. "The wind is blowing the right direction, so if you stay close to the rocks they'll keep your scent from being carried off, although if that were to happen it wouldn't be devastating as we're 30 miles away from the meadow."

"There's a shorter trail back to the road," he pointed out. "If anything were to go wrong, which it won't, Esme can hold them off long enough for you to be safely on the road. The car keys are in my jacket pocket. There's a bag in the car with anything you'll need…fake ID, credit cards, fake passport, and that plane ticket. Esme has a cell phone; I'll call her when it's safe for you to come back."

I nodded and stared at the ground.

"It's all going to be fine, I promise," he said and crouched down so we were eye level. "But I couldn't live with myself if I hadn't taken every precaution possible for you."

I nodded again and launched myself at him, wrapping my arms around him and burying my face in the crook of his neck. He put his hands on my waist and stood up, picking me up…one of the few times in my life when I could actually be tall.

"I love you, Amanda," he said.

"I love you too."

"I promise everything'll be fine," he insisted quietly.

"Well, remember what I told you earlier. And I really don't want to have to kill you."

He chuckled and we kissed. I thought I heard a snort come from Quil's direction. It had to have been Quil, Esme didn't make dog noises and was still trying to linger unobtrusively. Jasper set me back down on the ground and nodded to Quil, who began to trot over.

Jasper dropped my hand and took a few steps back.

"I love you," he said again.

"I know, and you know I love you."

He smiled and jogged back about 20 feet. Esme moved to stand beside me and put a motherly hand on my shoulder. Quil began to jog around the clearing, obscuring the trail of all of our scents. He rubbed against all sides of the car, before circling around Esme and me and lightly grazing us with his fur. Esme maintained a pleasant expression, but if he stank half as bad to her as it did to me I have no idea how she did it. Jasper kept an unblinking, hard glare on Quil's every move.

Satisfied that everything in the camp stank of wet dog, Quil wagged his tail at me and then retreated to stand next to Jasper. Jasper and I made eye contact one last time before he dashed off into the woods. A second later he was out of my line of vision. And potentially out of my life.

I sank down and sat on a rock.

"I'm sorry," I said to Esme. "I know this is hard for you, being separated from Carlisle. I'm sure you'd rather be with him making sure he's fine instead of babysitting me."

"I'd do anything to keep my family safe. You're part of that now," she said softly and sat beside me. "This is a miniscule price to pay for your safety and Jasper's happiness. Besides, it's not like Carlisle is fighting an army of vampires on his own, and neither is Jasper. There's nothing for us to worry about."

"I still feel guilty," I elaborated. "For making you stay here and I feel like I'm just being a distraction for Jasper when he doesn't need one."

"You're not," she soothed. "Jasper is a protector, it's part of his nature. It's what sucked him into this life, offering protection to those women."

We lapsed into silence. A few minutes later, Esme retrieved a backpack from the car. She handed it to me and smiled.

"Jasper provided entertainment."

I quirked an eyebrow and opened the bag. Inside were a few books, one of those bottled Starbucks drinks, my iPod, and some bridal magazines. A piece of paper jutted from the top of one of the magazines. I plucked it from between the pages. In Jasper's slanted scrawl was the simple phrase: "Alice made me." In spite of myself I laughed.

"How long are we supposed to be here?" I asked Esme.

"A few hours."

I nodded and pulled out one of the books. I needed any distraction I could get.