Ok everyone, here it is. This chapter is dedicated to all of the twilight fan's who belong to one of the Cullen sibling's teams. I am a strong follower of Team Jasper myself, and one of my best girlfriends lives and breathes Team Emmett. I've had some requests that I show a little more of the side relationships, and I completely agree. Yes, Bella and Edward are the main characters of this story, but their not the only one's doing some growing up during the show and I haven't done a very good job of balancing out the amount of time we spend with our favorite sets of side characters.

Chapter 39: It had to be her

Pov- Emmett

Friday, The 21…I think, Week four not counting the call back week, Top fourteen dancers, Three day's till the next live show, 1:00 in the morning. Shoot that meant it was Saturday, whatever the days all ran together here. I was sore as hell and couldn't sleep, Damn it.

I rolled out of bed, not bothering with the lights, and changed into a pair of sweat pants. I slipped, bare foot, into the hallway and knocked lightly on Edward's door. Edward was a light sleeper, had he been inside he would have heard me. That meant he was downstairs sleeping with Bella again. I smirked to myself and wondered farther down the hallway. I wasn't nearly as slow as some people seemed to think, it was way too obvious that he liked her. I just hoped he treated her right. I liked Bella, and if he was mean to her I'd kick his ass, brother or not.

Who would have imagined that sweet, little Bella would be the one to flip my little brother's life on its head? Certainly not me; He'd spent so much time shutting Tanya and every other girl down that I'd started to think he'd locked himself in the preverbal closet and was waiting for the right man to come along and help him out. She was good for him, Edward needed to loosen up, and I had a feeling that he was doing just as much good for her in return.

I slipped into the stairwell, carful not to let the door slam behind me, and climbed, nearly silently, down to the fifth floor. The building was asleep, all of the crew members had gone home and the other dancers were sleeping to rebuild their strength for tomorrow. I was to wound up to sleep right now. This building did something to a person's sleeping habits. I knew I wasn't the only one to have a restless night or two since we'd all come here. But I also had a feeling it wasn't just the building or the competition that was keeping me up, and if I was being honest with myself I knew exactly what it was that was bothering me. Who it was.

It was that girl, my thoughts shifted from Bella to the mysterious and beautiful Rosalie that had captured my interest back on day one of the call backs, which felt so long ago now. She was a puzzle, and I'd never, not solved a puzzle once I got started, but there was something so different about her. Some secret she kept from everyone that kept her from getting closer to the other dancers. Maybe I was as slow as everyone said and it was something really obvious. She was beautiful, I knew that much. No, she was more then just physically beautiful, I'd never seen a girl as perfectly breathtaking as Rosalie Hale, but that wasn't what drew me to her. She was stronger then any woman I'd ever met and definitely more then capable of taking care of herself. She could probably beat me in a fist fight if she really tried. Something about a strong woman was incredibly attractive.

A light on the floor had me stopped in my tracks. I could hear the gentle hum of music playing and the soft light spilled out of one of the studios from under the crack in the door. Guess I wasn't the only one awake this beautiful morning. I peeked in the door's window and smiled to myself again. Of course it would have to be her. Who else would be up this early the same day I was. The fates were laughing at me.

Rosalie Hale was dressed in dark work pants and a black sports bra. Her t-shirt was on the floor near the stereo. Like me, she'd decided against shoes and her hair was piled on top of her head like a crown of blond curls. She really was breathtaking. The strands of hair that had pulled free of her pins were sticking to the sides of her face and neck with sweat and she was breathing heavily. She moved quickly to the powerful beat I could feel through the door completely absorbed into the music's lyrics. I watched her while she danced, feeling sort of like a peeping tom but, unable to move away. The mussels in her legs bunched in time with her core as she moved into a set of simple flips and I marveled at how powerful she could be while still maintaining her perfect grace.

The song slowed to its end and she let herself role back on her heels until she was lying on the floor. Her hair spilled around her shoulders and she closed her eyes while her breathing slowly returned to normal. I couldn't stand in the hall anymore and my body acted before I could think my actions through.

I twisted the handle on the door and stepped inside just as the next song was starting. Rosalie didn't open her eyes, but I watched her mussels lock down and her fingers twitch. She knew someone had come in. I let the door close behind me as the music grew so we wouldn't risk waking the others and moved a few steps closer.

My mind had caught up with my body and I floundered for something to say, anything really. What was my name again? Why was I up so early? Rosalie thawed and slowly lifted herself up so she was sitting up. Her legs folded gracefully beneath her. She ran one hand threw her hair, her eyes still closed, and tugged out a couple of pins. "What are you doing up at this hour Emmett?"

She set the pins on the floor and tugged a brown tie out of her curls. Free of its bindings, her hair tumbled down around her shoulders. Rosalie turned to look at me and opened her eyes. She had the same powerful blue eyes as her brother and I felt rooted on the spot. An electric current snapped threw the air and danced along my skin and I wondered if she could feel it to.

"Um," Was the brilliant answer that came from my mouth before I regained full control over my basic motor skills. "I couldn't sleep. I saw the light on." I said by way of explanation shrugging my shoulders.

She blew part of her hair out of her face and nodded, tearing her gaze away from mine. "I couldn't sleep either."

We were silent for a while and I grabbed the first conversation starter I could think of to keep her talking. "What group is this?" I asked nodding towards the stereo.

She took a deep breath, like she was preparing herself for something, and I felt like a dick when I watched her chest rise and then fall again with her deep breathes. "Their called Within Temptation." She said.

"I like it. I've never heard them before." They were really good.

She shrugged. "I don't think they're very popular in the states but, I really like their style. They kind of remind me of another group called Evanescence."

I waited another moment and then sat down next to her. She stiffened up again and dropped her eyes to her lap. I blew out a breath and just went for it. "Why aren't you comfortable being alone with me?" I'd never been good at beating around the bush anyway. The direct approach was much more my style. "We always have so much fun talking at lunch or whenever the others are around, but then when we're alone, you stiffen up and get all shy."

She glanced up at me and then quickly dropped her gaze again and played with the string on her pants. "Maybe I'm just a shy person." She said.

"Thats Bull and you know it" I shook my head and crossed my arms over my chest. "You're not a shy person. I've seen you with Alice and Bella when you're out, you don't mind being in the spot light. Something wrong and it's got something to do with me."

She nodded slowly and shrugged her shoulders. "It's not your fault Emmett." She said and I almost rolled my eyes managing to catch myself at the last minute. This didn't seem like the right time for that kind of thing.

"I know that." I told her honestly. "I haven't done anything wrong to you. You won't let me get close enough to do anything bad. You don't honestly think I would do anything to you that you didn't want me to just because were alone do you? My mom raised me better then that."

She shook her head. "Of course not Emmett and I didn't mean any insult against Esme by that. Believe me on this one, its not you it's me."

Now I did role my eyes but she didn't see because she still wasn't looking at me. How many times had I heard that line? One too many times, and I wasn't going to do it again. "Then what is it exactly, no more of this half answer stuff you're so good at. Come right out and say it to my face. I want to know if I can help."

"Why do you care so much?" She asked me un-expectantly looking up tentatively at me again. She glanced at me through her lashes and I saw a weakness that I'd never seen in her before. She hadn't told me what was wrong, but she'd taken down one of the walls between us. It was a start.

I kept her eyes locked with mine hoping she wouldn't look away again and spoke softly, like she'd shut down if I spoke to loud. She had such powerful eyes that I wasn't sure I'd be able to look away anyway. "I don't know." I told her honestly, hoping that this wouldn't sound stupid. "I've just never met a woman like you before Rosalie. I-"

She cut me off the weakness in her eyes replaced by irritation and annoyance. "Like what?" She demanded, "Nice hair and a big pair of tits! Why is that all you men ever see? I'm no different than any other woman in this building."

She pushed herself quickly to her feet and tried to march past me. I grabbed her wrist and pulled her back down so she was kneeling and forced her to look at me. She was wrong, she was different then the other women here. She was infuriating and stubborn and I found myself drawn to her even more by that. "That wasn't what I was going to say." I said defending myself. "I'm not a pig. Would you let me finish before you start yelling."

She huffed and blew her bangs out of her eyes, the walls back in place and stronger then ever. Shit this was going to be harder then I thought. Damn jigsaw puzzle woman.

"What then?" She asked, the walls still up and her voice still hard.

"Are you going to listen?" I asked not letting go of my hold on her arm. If Rosalie was anything like I thought she was, she was pretty damn bull headed once she'd made up her mind. There was no point in me wasting my breath if she wasn't going to listen to what I had to say.

She hesitated for a second, searching my eyes the same why I had hers. I could see it in her face when the wall came back down. Her futures softened and she sank into her knees more so I wasn't afraid she would bolt the second I let go. I didn't let go anyway, but that was more because I liked the feel of her soft hand in mine then a fear that she would bolt out the door.

She nodded after another moment. "I'll listen. I'm sorry if I over reacted."

"Good." I took my own breath not sure exactly how to say all the things I wanted to. Edward was the one who was good with words, he was eloquent. I was a man of action, my motto was (do first then talk.) I had a feeling that approach was to quick to use on Rosalie. She looked hard on the outside but I could tell she was still thinking about running from the room. One wrong step on my part and she'd bolt like a freighted doe and I might not get another shot.

"I've dated a lot of woman Rosalie." I hesitated when she raised an eye brown at me, that hadn't come out right. "Well you know not that many, but more then a few. Some with bigger tits then yours and," That was wrong, I was drowning. Someone throw me a life preserver! "Not that yours aren't nice, because they are…Not that I've been staring at them because I didn't." Damn it! "Well I did, but I didn't mean to, and this is coming out all wrong." That was it, I drowned. I was pretty sure I'd already messed this up but she hadn't cut me off so my mouth kept making words. "But what I was trying to get at is that you are different then any woman I've ever met. It's a good kind of different though. Something feels different when I try and talk to you. I feel like I've know you forever, but I still don't know anything about you Rosalie."

"There's something different about you too." She said softly. She glanced down at our interwoven fingers and I felt that same spark of electricity sizzle across our conjoined hands, tying me to her. "It's been a long time since I considered letting myself get close to another man besides my brother. It's never been hard to maintain an emotional distance before you showed up."

I smirked at her. "You have trouble keeping an emotional distance from me." That meant she wanted to get closer to me right? Yeah! She liked me.

She nodded. "Yes."

"Then don't."

She shook her head slightly and pulled her hand from mine. I was worried she might get up and leave but she just wrapped her arms around her waist and sat back on her heels watching the floor in-between our legs. "I don't know if I can Emmett. I'm afraid you won't want to be my friend afterwards." She admitted and I felt another wall fall down at her admittance of weakness.

That wasn't what I'd been expecting her to say. What could possible be so bad that she would think I'd push her away. "I don't think there's anything you could say that would make me not want to be your friend Rosalie." What on earth was this girl hiding from me?

"Rose." She said after a minute, smiling softly up at me. I raised an eyebrow at her. "My friends can call me Rose." She explained. "I'd like it if you did too."

I smiled despite myself. I really should try and get away from flowers. In the past they'd never been anything but trouble. I didn't care what kind of trouble I got in with Rosalie. I had a feeling I'd regret it for the rest of my life if I didn't take my chance with her. Besides wasn't there a saying about the prettiest flowers having the sharpest thorns.

"Rose." I said and she smiled again. "That's pretty."

"My mom must have had a thing for flowers." She said with a shrug. "My middle name is Lillian."

Bum, Bum, Bum. One girl, two flowers. I had a feeling Edward would have burst into laughter had he been here. He'd bet me on day two of the call backs that I wouldn't be able to stop myself from going after Rose due to my unfortunate history with flower named girls. Let him have the money. He could kiss my ass.

"Rosalie Lillian Hale." I said trying out her whole name for myself and liking the way it rolled off the tongue. "It fits you."

She wrinkled her nose and shook her head. "I think it's a bit much."

I used a finger to smooth out the winkles between her eyebrows before taking her hand back in mine. "I think it's just right."

"If I tell you." She started after another moment of silence. "Will you promise me something?"

I nodded immediately. "Anything you want," and I found that I would. I'd have done anything for her in that moment. I was definitely losing it.

"I just want you to promise me that we can still try being friends; even if nothing more happens." She said softly. Her eyes had dropped to her lap again and she didn't look up as she continued talking. "I've always worked so hard to avoid telling people because they never reacted well. Lately I think it was just the type of people I'd known before because Alice and Bella both were really cool about it and supportive and I hope that you-"

"Rose, stop" I cut her off. She'd dropped her gaze to her lap again while she talked and I could tell she'd just started babbling. "I promise, no matter what it is we will still be friends afterwards. I also promise that nothing you could say would make me run away. Not even if you admitted to being an alien from Mars."

She chuckled and her fingers tightened in my grip. "I'm not an alien."

"Good, I think green skin and a pair of antenna might be a turn off." I said trying to lighten the dark mood that had settled around us.

It worked for a minute. She laughed and smiled at me, rolling her bright blue eyes, the tension around us dissipating marginally. But it didn't last, her laughter turned sad and she looked back down at her lap. "It's not a happy story," She said. "But I guess I don't have a choice anymore." She glanced up at me and I shook my head. "I want you to know."

"I'm ok with the direct approach. Just say it."

She took a deep breath and started talking. Her fingers, which were laced with mine again, held on tighter, like she was trying to keep me from bolting out of the room now. I didn't run, I couldn't have moved in that moment if my life had depended on it. The last of the walls between us were coming down and I hung onto every word as she told me a bit about when she and Jasper had been kids.

I'd know they were foster kids, like me and Eddie were, but I guess I hadn't realized that they'd never found a full time home. Edward and I had been lucky. A kid couldn't have asked for a better set of parents then Esme and Carlisle. I was going to have to make sure I told them that the next time I saw them. They'd saved us from the hell Rose and Jasper had gone threw, never staying in one place long enough to make friends. Never having a real place to call home.

Then her story shifted tenor. Jasper and Rose had finally hit their eighteenth birthday and they ran without ever looking back. It should have been a good thing, a turning point in their lives when things started to go right. With their new found freedom her story took a dark twist that I never in a million years would have guessed.

Royce King. The name tasted like dirt on my tongue.

He'd hurt her when she had trusted him. I'd find him and kill him. I had to bite back a very animalistic sound when she skipped over the actually attack. I wasn't sure I wanted to know all of the details, but my imagination was doing a damn good job of picturing it even without her help on the smaller details. I could see Rose in my head, scared and violated, young and in way over her head. I tightened my hold on her fingers and she glanced up at me and I had to bite my tongue again at the tears she fought to keep from falling. I wasn't sure what she saw in my face but she kept her eyes on me while she continued.

I wouldn't get a chance to kill Royce, Jasper already had. Good, I was glad the bastard was dead, he disserved it. Her story also explained some of the odd things I noticed about Jasper, but I couldn't really focus on him. I'd never be able to thank Jasper enough for what he'd done. She mentioned the scare that Jasper was so carful to keep hidden and their trip to the hospital. I was practically seeing red. I'd never been this mad before; this scared for one person I cared about. I'd almost lost her and I hadn't even known her at the time. Why did the idea of losing her hurt so badly?

Pov- Jasper

"Jasper?"

I should really check my E-mail more often, this is kind of sad.

"Earth to Jazzy."

Hun? My head snapped up at the sound of Alice's voice and I found her kneeling at the end of my bed holding up two movies. "Did you say something?" I asked, feeling like a jerk. I had my laptop resting on my legs and my back against the headboard while I checked my E-mails. I had four from a buddy of mine back south named Peter and another one from an old girlfriend, now just a friend, named Maria. Two more popped up and I frowned at the screen. I'd fallen behind in responding to them the last few days. With the little ebony angel at the end of my bed I couldn't imagine how that had happened. Sarcasm, you got to love it.

"I asked what movie you wanted to watch tonight." Alice repeated holding up the two movies again. "Vanhelsing or Underworld?" She asked.

I glanced at them both not really caring which one we watched as long as she laid next to me while we watched it. "Which one do you want?" I offered.

She frowned. "I want you to pick tonight. I picked last night."

And the night before that. "Let's watch, Vanhelsing." I said smiling to myself at her mention of our increasingly numerous sleepover/movie nights. I hardly left her side except for dance practice anymore. She didn't seem to mind and I wasn't sure where else I'd rather be.

She nodded. "In the mood for vampire hunters hu?"

I watched as she put the movie in and turned back to the bed. "Nope," I said shutting my lap top with its unanswered mails and setting it on the bedside table. I'd get to it later, maybe. "I just like his hat."

She giggled, like I hoped she would, and flicked off the overhead light. I loved the sound of her laughter. "I like your hat more." She said grabbing the tan cowboy hat I had resting on my counter. I didn't get much of a chance to wear it here, but I was glad I'd brought it. It reminded me of home and as an added perk, Alice liked it.

I pushed the play button as she slid under the covers next to me and set the hat down on the bed. She leaned against my side as the movie started but personally I thought she was far more interesting. Alice glanced up at me and the corner of her lip quirked up when she caught me watching her.

"What are you staring at?" She asked, the corner of her mouth twitching as she tried not to smile.

I shrugged not hiding the smirk on my face. "Nothing."

"What were you looking at before?" She asked nodding to my computer.

I sunk farther into the bed. "E-mails from home."

"Friends watching you on the show?"

I nodded and pulled the laptop back onto my legs in front of us. I flipped it open and pulled up a file for pictures. There were only about a dozen of them but I had one of every person who was important to me. I pointed to one of my favorites.

"That's my friend Peter." I told her pointing him out in the photo. The picture was two years old, but we all still looked the same. Rose's hair was longer now.

Peter had short brown hair and dark brown eyes. He and a few of our other friends had been over at the small house Rose and I shared for a barbeque on the fourth of July. "I met him shortly after Rose and I moved to Austen. We went to school together."

"Who are they?" She asked pointing to the two young women sitting with Rose near the fire pit besides Peter and I.

"The girl with black hair is named Vera. She's one of Rose's friends." The only one she'd kept in contact with after the attack. I liked Vera; she'd gotten Rose interested in dancing and probably saved her sanity. Her finding a outlet through dance had been the turning point after Royce.

I pointed out the other girl. The second girl was shorter, her brown hair and eyes complemented her tan skin tone. "The other is named Maria. She transferred in as a junior my senior year of college from Mexico. She taught me how to speak Spanish and an excellent salsa recipe that's great on corn chips."

Alice glanced at the screen and then up at me, her intelligent eyes calculating something that I hadn't said yet.

"Old flame?" She guessed.

I nodded. "Very old, we only dated for about eight months before the end of the school year. Things got to hard when she went back to finish her masters and I started working full time. I was spending so much of my time watching over Rose, this was shortly after her attack, and we decided to end it. We're still friends, but we both know nothings going to happen between us."

She smirked at me. "I'm glad to hear that." She kissed my cheek. "I thought I might have some competition."

I laughed then, amazed at how comfortable I could be with Alice even though we'd only known each other a short time. I caught her cheek when she pulled away and she leaned her head into my hand. Her dark hair fell over her eyes and I hesitated for just a moment to see if she would pull away from me. She didn't, she never pulled away from me.

"What are you waiting for?" She asked, earning a smile from me.

I ran my finger over her cheek, "I'm not sure anymore. You never do what I expect you too."

This time she smiled. "Well then I hope you like surprises," She said leaning back to grab my hat and put it on her head. The tan leather looked great on her black spikes. "Because I learned not to wait for the things I want a long time ago."

Then her lips were on mine. This little angel of a woman had changed my life so far in such a short time. I knew I'd never get enough of her. Enough of her voice, of her smell, of her sweet taste. I was absolutely lost and I never wanted to be found. I'd stay lost in Alice as long as she'd let me.

She pulled back an inch and blew her bangs out of her eyes. She used one hand to fix my hat on her head. "The cowboy is speechless."

I didn't need words. I never did with her. She always seemed to know exactly what I was thinking. At some point during our kiss she'd moved so she was sitting on my lap and my laptop was sitting on the floor. I wasn't going to get to those E-mails tonight. I put my back to the headboard and pulled her closer to me so I could kiss her again. The hat was in my way so I took it from her head and set it on the bed behind her.

Her tinny fingers played with the curls at the back of my neck and I shivered as they ran across my shoulders. She broke the kiss first, pulling back an inch to breathe, and I moved to kiss the bottom of her jaw, letting my lips slowly work their way to her ear and loving her soft skin. "I think I love you Alice." I said softly against her ear and she stiffened in my lap her soft intake of breath sounded loud in the quiet room.

I pulled back, afraid that I might have pushed her to fast. She was watching me with those intelligent eyes, calculating more things that I hadn't said yet; things that couldn't be put into words. I didn't know how to tell her what I felt for her.

I opened my mouth to tell her I was sorry, and that I could move slower, but she didn't give me a chance to speak. She pulled one hand out of my hair to lay a small finger over my lips and silence my words.

"I know." She said, her eyes almost sparkling in the light from our forgotten movie. People were screaming as vampires ravaged their city and an angle was sitting in my lap telling me she'd already known I was in love with her. "I think I love you too Jasper."

I wanted to change my first words. I knew I loved her. I'd never felt like this with another woman and I never would. It had to be her.

~Darkrose
I'm sorry this took so long to get up. I could make a lot of excuses but I'm glad I waited. The first version of this chapter sucked big time and this one is so much better. I hope you like it as much as I do and I promise I'll try to get the next chapter up faster. This is my favorite Chapter!