Disclaimer: I do not own nor do I claim any rights to Twilight and the universe contained therein.

A/N: The weekend is over, she said, and there was much rejoicing throughout the land. Brief pitiful excuse- I wrote a whole chapter before I realized it was completely impossible in the context of the story. I might save the premise for later, but let's suffice to say there is NO WAY it could have happened right now. So, THAT was fun...

OTHER QUICK NOTE: There is reference made to TRUE BLOOD. I have given enough background for people unfamiliar with the plot, BUT: It references episodes in the second season for anyone who is in the process of catching up. Just a warning because I hate when accidental spoilers happen to me.

.

Chapter 11: Untouched

Jasper:

Bella began the movie curled into my shoulder, her newly cropped hair tickling my collarbone. By the time "Sympathy for the Devil" played and the credits rolled, she was on the edge of her seat, her fingers curled into the couch cushions in a way that was sure to leave permanent damage. She looked like an excited child, promised cotton candy or a toy. After the screen flicked back to the main menu, Bella turned to me.

"What of that is true?" I had to admit. I hadn't been watching the movie as much as I had been watching Bella watching the movie. I struggled briefly to remember the details.

"Fire and dismemberment: true. But you wouldn't be able to do it with that sickle-y thing Brad Pitt was wielding."

"What could you do it with?" Bella leaned in toward me, her deep maroon eyes wide with excitement.

"Planning on hunting vampires?" I asked jokingly.

"Psht, like I'd need any help for that."

Then she pounced on me. Her entire body slammed against mine and she braced her arms above my shoulders on either side of my head. Her face was inches from mine and she had a huge grin on her face.

"Hey, look!" She popped her head up and yelled to an invisible audience.

"I got one!" She said.

Emmett and Rose walked in. "Whadja get, Bell-fire?"

Rose looked at him with an eyebrow raised, "Bell-fire?"

Emmett looked thoughtful, "No good? How about…" His hands circled in front of him, "Jingle Bella? Bell phone? Bellanore?"

Bella rolled her eyes. "Just… don't. Please? For all our sakes, but mostly mine."

I laughed and Emmett sent me a death glare.

"Hey, those were some quality nicknames," he grumbled. Bella sprang off the couch and wrapped her arms as far around Emmett as they would reach.

"Of course they were." She pulled back and patted his head like you would a grumpy toddler's. I smirked at Emmett.

"To answer your question, I caught a vampire. Jasper. Not that it should count for much…" she mock stage whispered behind her hand, "Not quite the big scary vampire you'd expect."

Ooh. Now it was on.

"Serious tactical error." I mock-growled.

I grabbed her arms and pinned them behind her, twisting her until she lay face down on the couch. She made a muffled noise into the pillows where her face was shoved.

"Ready to admit defeat?" I lightly pushed my knee onto the small of her back. "Death by couch smothering is a rather ignoble end for vampire, you know." Bella had newborn strength, yes, but no idea how to use it. I had the advantage. She spoke into the couch again.

"Is that an 'uncle' I hear?" I gathered her wrists into one hand and gently pulled her up from the couch.

"Uncle!" She said. I released her and sat, self-satisfied, on the couch.

"Bully." I heard her mumble. I immediately was overwhelmed with anxiety. Had I been too rough? Had I hurt her? I had to be more careful. Who knew where her human-ness ended?

I looked over at her to apologize and saw the snarky grin on her face. I wanted to sigh in relief. She was fine. I wanted to smack myself. I was so off today, nervous and unbalanced.

Pull yourself together.

Bella stretched unnecessarily and stood up. She looked at us.

"So, what do vampires do for fun around here?"

Emmett spoke immediately. "Prank phone calls."

Bella seemed taken aback. "Really?"

Emmett shrugged. "Yup." He said. "Since no one else will join me on the other pranks I want to do."

I interjected. "Emmett, breaking into all of the national parks and spray painting the animals with camouflage-print isn't harmless."

"But think of how funny it would be! The deer all green and brown and…" He trailed off as Rose started stroking his hair.

"Shhh, Emmett. It's okay…" Rose gave me a look of consternation as Emmett whined grumpily. I knew better than to bring up the camo-plan without being prepared for the consequences.

Bella seemed thoughtful.

"I kind of want to watch, like, every vampire movie ever made. It seems like… research, almost."

Emmett plopped down on the couch and immediately stood back up. He perked up and he sniffed the air.

"Mr. Rabbit!" he called. He bolted upstairs and came back with the wide-eyed bunny.

"We want to watch. No one ever watches shows with us."

Bella looked at him. "Us being… you and Mr. Rabbit?"

Emmett nodded, unashamed. "Let's start with 'True Blood'." He said.

Bella shrugged. "I was thinking 'Buffy'. I thought, you know, it would be the best jumping off point for learning about vampires? Since it would kind of be informative on… how to stay alive?" Her voice trailed up at the end as her uncertainty showed.

Emmett shook his head. "Trust me. 'Buffy' is nothing but trouble. Edward watched one episode—one single episode—and immediately started whining about how we don't have souls." He shook his head. "Nothing but trouble."

Rose sat down next to Emmett, "'True Blood' does not get anything right." She tilted her head to the side. "Like really: nothing right. 'V'? Really? Turning vampire blood into a hallucinogenic drug? Laughable." She looked back at us. "But Eric is hot."

Emmett put a hand in the air. "Holla." He said. When Bella quirked her eyebrow at him, he replied, "What? I may be straight as an arrow, but I can appreciate."

Edward walked in the front door and I felt myself stiffen. His feelings were innocent at the moment, but that might be because he know I had my eye on him.

"Hey." He said quietly. He looked at Bella. "I like what you've done with your hair. "

Bella swept it back from her face. "It was kind of a snap decision." She said.

"It looks good."

I wanted to gag. He'd said that already. Over-eager douche bag.

Edward walked over and sat down on the love seat. "What are you guys up to?"

"Bella wants to catch up on the perception of vampires in the popular media. It's looking to be at least 36 hours straight of mindless TV and film. You'll probably want to bow out," I said.

"No, it sounds like fun." He gave his well-worked lopsided grin to Bella. She flushed a little and smiled back.

Hell no.

Fortunately, Emmett had the same response. He grabbed Bella and squashed her into the small space between him and Rosalie. She immediately popped back up.

"I'm not gonna be pulled around like a rag doll." She said.

She flounced over and joined me on the armchair I was sitting in. There really wasn't enough room for two people and while she was technically sitting on the chair, her knees curled up and over my hip and onto my lap and her shoulder propped against my chest. I dipped my head down an inch and rested my chin on her head. I deliberately looked at Edward and thought to him:

Since I'm the one who reads emotions, I'll help you out, here. This is called 'smug.'

He sneered and mouthed back: 'childish.'

I shrugged. He'd get no argument from me. The movement jostled Bella and she looked up at me in consternation. I smiled sheepishly and she burrowed against me once more.

We began watching "True Blood". I had never seen it and it intrigued me. The dynamic they portrayed with the southern vampires… it wasn't far off. It made me think of Peter and Charlotte. Although they were not vegetarians, they were domesticated and able to tolerate human blood at close quarters. I wondered what they were up to and, more specifically, if either of them had ended up in, say, television production?

Bella's emotions ran rampant while the show was playing. After one of the episodes in season 2, while the credits were rolling she turned to me.

"I totally get Jessica." She said, referring to the newly turned red-headed vampire on the show, who I thought was absolutely obnoxious. I couldn't stand her, but I could see how Bella could relate. Bella turned back to the show.

At one point when Jessica began her relationship with a human male (which I found absolutely ridiculous. A vampire with a human? Absolute insanity...) I felt Bella's embarrassment spike. She shifted slightly so she was leaning on the armrest instead of my shoulder and her face flooded with pink. I looked at her questioningly, but she stared at the TV. I was fairly certain she was avoiding my gaze. I looked over at Edward who was looking back at me. He had been watching Bella intently and had noticed the change in her demeanor. When paired with my thoughts, it was enough to make him concerned. A few short hours later and we had finished the most recent season of the show. Bella immediately and abruptly excused herself and fled upstairs to my room. Edward began to follow her but he stopped in his tracks, halted by my glare and Emmett's hand around his throat.

"You've hurt her enough. You don't get to play with her, too." Emmett snarled. My thoughts exactly, Em.

Edward looked beseeching. "But what if it was fate? What if destiny brought us together?"

"Destiny did not bring you together." I couldn't keep the disgust out of my tone. "Your major fuck-up brought her to us. Don't try and romanticize it. You killed her."

Edward did not look convinced. "But fate brought you Emmett, Rose." He looked at her and she softened her harsh look slightly. "And Jasper. Fate delivered you to Alice."

Alice. I hadn't thought about her in days, almost since the moment she left. I was suddenly flooded with guilt. Edward read the direction of my thoughts and tried to prey on my moment of weakness.

"Think of what she means to you. Don't you want that for me? For Bella?"

Mistake, Edward.

"What I want for Bella? What I WANT for her? I WANT for her to have her life back. I WANT for her to be able to see her family, to hug them. I WANT for her to never have come to Washington. I WANT for her not to be dead. You killed her Edward, and you are sick for trying to monopolize on her sympathy for you. You stay the fuck away."

I went upstairs and joined Bella in my room. As I shut the door, I made sure that Edward wasn't following me. I heard muffled conversation from downstairs as Edward continued to attempt to sway Em's and Rose's minds.

Bella was sitting upright on my bed, her knees pulled into her chest and her arms wrapped around them tightly. She stared out the window into the darkness of the forest that surrounds our house.

"So is it true?" I couldn't figure out what she referred to.

"In the show?" I asked, "Is what true? We don't cry blood and we can't control people's minds, at least none of us here can."

"Do we heal?" Her voice was a little too loud. It sounded like she wanted to whisper but wouldn't allow herself the luxury.

"We really rarely get injured." I explained, more relaxed now that I saw where she was going. She was worried about being hurt. "Nothing but vampire strength and vampire teeth can damage us but, yes, if we are injured we can recover. From almost anything!" I smiled reassuringly. Bella grew even more pale.

"So if, say…" Her voice trailed off and she drew in a shaky breath. "Say a vampire was like Jessica. If she was…" another breath, "a virgin when she was turned, would she be a virgin for all eternity?"

Shit. I looked at the door, well aware that my mouth was bopping up and down like a hungry fish. No one was coming to my rescue. I looked back at Bella who was staring down the window like her life depended on it.

Shit.

"I, uh…"

Shit.

It was Bella's painful embarrassment that finally snapped me out of it. This had to be extremely difficult for her and all I was doing was making it worse.

I gently rubbed Bella's back. I wanted to help her, so I sent out some soothing waves of serenity. She finally looked at me, but said nothing. I recognized that I was out of my depths.

"Bella, do you mind if I ask Rose up here to help you?"

Bella shook her head. I heard Rose ascend the staircase and pad to the door where she knocked softly and unnecessarily.

"Come in, Rose." Bella said.

I took this opportunity to bow out gracefully. I had never thought about it. I mean, I knew that when Carlisle had found Rose, beaten and bloody, it had been very clear someone had relieved her of her virginity in the most atrocious way possible. But I had never asked Alice. It was difficult talking about the past with her—the fact that she never could remember hers paired with her attachment to the future led her to completely ignore anything that happened before the present moment. I had never thought to wonder if, once our relationship progressed to that level, I was her first. Now I regretted that. How Bella must be feeling…

I was still shaking my head when I joined Edward and Emmett in the living room in an awkward male silence.

"Rose will… um…" Emmett seemed flustered.

"I—uh—could…" Edward wasn't much better off.

"Just…yeah. I'm, uh…gonna go… out." I stood up.

"Me, too."

"Hell yes."

The three of us fairly sprinted for the door.

.

A/N:

I want to hear what you think-

Does it rock out loud or stink?

Click the button below

and give it a go!

I shall end this rhyme with a ;)