JPOV
The minute I left Bella's, I began running. I couldn't get our conversation out of my mind. Specifically, what she said about bad breakups and teenagers. In my mind, I logically knew that our circumstances were completely different. Bella was a human teenage girl with a hundred year old vampire boyfriend, while I had been married to another vampire for over fifty years.
Emotionally however, I couldn't help but feel a bit ashamed that I had handled the dissolution of my marriage worse than Bella handled her break-up.
Automatically attuned to my surroundings-Maria made sure that I take advantage of all vampire perks-the slight vibration of my phone in my pocket made me stop. It was Peter sending me txt messages.
'Tomorrow an Animal Fair will arrive in Forks. Take Bella.'
' An Animal Fair? Does Bella even like animals?'
'Trust me.'
Of course I should trust him, he's never led me astray before. If anything, he's more trustworthy than Alice. Just as I was about to call Bella and invite her to the fair, she called me instead.
"Hey Bella I was-"
"Jasper, we have a problem."
OOO
APOV
I didn't want to leave Jasper, I really didn't, but it was a choice between him and possibly my true mate. It was actually an easy choice to make because when I really thought about it, after everything I have done for the family and Jasper, I deserved my own happiness.
Don't get me wrong, I was content with Jasper. He was willing to become civilized as soon we met and ever since then he's been the perfect husband. I hope my mate could be as perfect as him. Maybe he'll be even better and shop with me! We could be the most fashionable couple in the world.
Finding my mate has proved difficult. When I first left Jasper, my visions told me that my mate would be in Germany, so that is where I went. I had no such luck. Then I decided to do some shopping in France and as soon as my decision was made, I saw that my mate would also be there. I've been in France for a month and still no sign of him.
I was doing some more shopping when I was hit with visions. They were of Jasper and Bella. The first one was of Jasper laying on Bella's bed reading to her. The second one was of Bella eating funnel cake while Jasper had his arm around her, but it was the last one that was disgusting. It was of Bella and Jasper having sex. I thought that after the first time he and I made love, I would never have to see those horrid scars on his body again. Obviously I was wrong.
Based on those visions, it looked like Jasper and Bella were to be in a relationship.
No, it can't be. He's mine. Something needed to be done.
I began planning, and the more decisions I made and looked into the future, the more pleased I became.
BPOV
The minute school was out, I called Jasper.
"Speak," Jasper's went from a smooth southern drawl to hard, dark, and commanding in response to my statement. I had never heard him speak in a tone like that. It sent shivers up my spine, and not all of them were bad shivers. Something completely female in me picked up on the alpha male in him. He's not only a protector, but an aggressive fighter, and it made me feel safe after feeling worried through most of the school day.
"When Edward was here, he told me about you all's governing body, the Volturi. It occurred to me today that there has been a good number of connected serial murders..."
"I see. I will take care of it."
And he hung up without saying anything else. I resisted the urge to call him again, trusting him completely with the matter.
My cell phone rang a few minutes later when I got home, and the caller ID said it was my father.
"Hey dad, " I greeted. He grunted one in return and I had to smile. He was so awkward it was cute, considering he has fathered a daughter and is raising her teenage self.
"Bells, I'm sorry but I'll be home late tonight, so you don't have to cook dinner or anything."
"Are you going to get a chance to eat dad?"
There was silence on his end, which made me a little suspicious.
"Dad?"
He cleared his throat, "Yes, I'll get a chance to eat...I'm taking Sue, Sue Clearwater, out tonight."
The news made me happy. For so long my dad had been alone, consumed by work and worrying over me. He deserved to find some happiness. Sue is a good woman. I got to know her when I would visit Jake at the Reservation. He was friends with Sue's kids, Seth and Leah. Seth is friendly and doesn't have a mean bone in his body. Leah...not so much. Sue, ever the mother, not only feeds her kids, but basically feeds everyone at the Reservation whenever she can, and she works at the Diner part time.
"Oh my goodness that's great, dad! I'll see you later then. Oh and dad?"
"Yeah?"
"Take Sue out to a place that isn't the Diner? That place is great, but I'm sure Sue gets enough of Diner life at her own," I chuckled. My dad did too.
"I haven't forgotten how to treat a lady, Bells. I'll see you tomorrow."
He hung up after that and I immediately called Angela. She picked up after two rings, which was good news because that meant she wasn't spending her time with Ben which also meant that I didn't interrupt anything important.
"Hey Bella! What's up?"
"Oh Ange, you will not believe what's going! My dad is out on a date tonight!"
She gasped.
"No way! The Chief is out on a date? With who? Please tell me it isn't Lauren or Jessica's mom. I'd literally kill myself if it was."
I laughed.
"No, he's out with a woman from the Reservation named Sue Clearwater. She's a widow and has two kids, Leah and Seth. Leah's the Bitch and Seth is the easygoing Kid Brother. Their father died last year of a heart attack."
"Oh yeah, I know here! Who doesn't?. So your father is basically dating one of your friends' mom. It doesn't feel just a bit awkward?"
" Ange, this is just the first date! And if they did start going steady, I'd be really happy. Everyone at the Reservation is like family to me. Besides, my father deserves to be happy. He deserves a life partner of his own."
" So," her voice became a bit tentative, "I was talking to Jessica again because she and Mike went back to the Cullen house and in one of the windows they actually saw Jasper Cullen in there. Can you believe it?"
I sighed.
"It's okay, Ange, I already know that Jasper's in town. I've actually been hanging out with him He's no longer Jasper Cullen though. I guess he's a Hale, now-"
"Whitlock."
I jumped and turned toward Jasper. Bastard snuck through my window.
He was smirking at me and I glared at him before sticking my tongue out.
"Whitlock, I mean. His original name before he became a Hale and a Cullen is Whitlock and he's back to using it."
"Whitlock, huh? Hmm, Jasper Whitlock. That name seems more fitting."
"Listen, I have to go. I'll talk to you on Monday, okay? Bye."
I hung up the phone and turned toward my guest.
"Has your mother ever taught you it's rude to eavesdrop?" I asked in mock anger.
He smirked and shook his head.
"You are something else, Bella Swan."
He came and stood hesitantly next to me on the bed. I rolled my eyes but gave him a gentle smile.
"You don't need to be afraid of sitting next to me on the bed, Jasper. You don't even have to ask me," he smiled a small smile and sat carefully on the bed, "but may I ask, what are you doing here?"
He gave a sheepish smile and looked down before biting his lip. It reminded me of a human blushing. My heart skipped a beat. He was so cute and charming.
JPOV
"Do you have any plans for tomorrow Bella?"
"No, why?"
"Well, apparently there's some sort of Animal Fair coming to town tomorrow. Would you like to go with me?"
"Sure," She smiled.
"Great. I'll pick you up at, say, three o'clock?" She nodded her agreement.
I glanced down at a book that was in her lap. Robinson Crusoe, It was one of my favorites. I smiled when I saw that it look worn and read. Bella noticed my staring.
"I take it you've read this book before," she smirked and handed it to me, "read it to me?"
I gladly reached for the book.
"Yes ma'am," I winked and held back a chuckle when her heart stuttered and she blushed. We spent the next hour and a half lounging on her bed with me reading to her and I marked the place I stopped when she fell asleep.
'She looks like an angel when she sleeps.'
Lifting her up into my arms, I tucked her into bed and couldn't help but kiss her forehead before I left back through her window.
It felt good to be home.
BPOV
I woke up startled and disoriented.
'When the hell did I get into bed?'
I spent a few moments thinking, and then I smiled and cuddled back under my covers. I couldn't believe how much my life had changed in the course of twenty-four hours. As I lay there in my bed, my mind kept on replaying the last part of the night before, when Jasper read Robinson Crusoe out loud to me. My God, his voice is so amazing. I could live for the rest of my life listening to nothing but his voice. I couldn't even begin to say what chapters he read and at what place he stopped, because I did nothing but fall asleep to his smooth, southern voice. Compared to Edward, Jasper's voice is somehow more...masculine. Edward's voice always reminded me of velvet and chocolate and wine; seduction. His scent matched his voice. Jasper, however, his voice reminds of sweaty, earthy man and he smells like leather and something else that's really hard to define. A true cowboy.
After comparing Jasper to Edward for a few more minutes I looked at my alarm clock and saw that it was already eleven in the morning. I couldn't believe I had slept in so late.
'That was the best sleep I have had in a long while. Maybe I could convince Jasper to read to me every night.'
I sighed in contentment before climbing out of bed and putting on some sweats. I had a few things to do before the outing with Jasper. At that thought, I smiled again. Jasper picked something I definitely liked for us to do. If it was Edward or Alice, they would have picked something like shopping or going to some fancy restaurant where I couldn't even begin to pronounce the names of the dishes on the menu.
I spent the rest of the morning doing what needed to be done before spending a whole thirty minutes looking in my closet, trying to figure out what to wear. I finally realized that it didn't really matter what I wore, as long as I was comfortable and that I didn't look trashy. In other words, I should dress like I always do.
With that thought in mind, and the knowledge that I was going to see animals I decided on an old, faded pair of jeans, a red and black checkered plaid shirt and my favorite sneakers. I made sure to brush my hair out and put it up in a bun. I stared at the mirror and grimaced at my pale visage.
'If Alice were here, she'd be so happy that I finally decided to use make-up...NO I WILL NOT THINK OF THE BITCH!'
Thinking of Alice after what she had done to Jasper made me think of her name as a bad word, not to be used in polite conversation. 'Alice' became the new 'fuck' curse word.
I put some blush on my cheeks and clear lip gloss and I was ready to go. I grabbed my phone, keys, and purse and made my way downstairs to wait for Jasper.
A/N: THANK YOU FOR BEING SO PATIENT. I DON'T KNOW WHEN I'LL UPDATE AGAIN, BUT I PROMISE YOU NOW THAT IT WON'T BE TOO LONG :) SO OBVIOUSLY, THE NEXT CHAPTER IS GOING TO BE THE DATE. -GASP- DID I SAY DATE? I MEANT THE FRIENDLY, PLATONIC OUTING THAT JASPER AND BELLA ARE GOING ON...
FIC REC'S-
Coloring Outside The Lines by WinndSinger-This story is the shit. Seriously. It's abso-fucking-lutley amazing. See how amazing it is? It's cussingly amazing. This story is actually the sequel to The Red Line which has a strong Bella and a sexslavee-ward. You can't read Coloring Outside The Lines without read TRL first ;) I will warn y'all however that the subject content in this story is sensitive and the details very dark. It's amazing and hilarious too :p. READ IT.
Click&Strum by Bratty-Vamp- This story is all human (so is Coloring Outside The Lines by the way) and has a badboyward (or musicianward) and a somewhat OCD Bella. It's very awesome and it's complete so no waiting for updates! :D
Inception On a Rainy Night by KT8812- Just in case you haven't heard of this story, even though it's become very popular recently, as it should because it's effing awesome! It's a Vamp Jasper/Human Bella mate story :)
R&R IF YOU CAN (OR WANT) PLEASE. HAVE A GREAT WEEK! :D
-AKEMI