Disclaimer. All publicly recognizable characters, settings etc., are the property of their respective owners. The original characters, ideas and plot are the property of the author. The author is in no way associated with the owners, creators or producers of any media franchise. No copyright infringement is intended. I only do this for fun. –B

Chapter 10
(Jasper's POV)

I walked through the front door with my hand on Lilly's back as I guided her into the house and to the dining room table where our family meeting would be held. It was Thursday and we had already let John and Anne know that Lilly will be staying here for the next two weeks while they went back up to Vancouver to tie up some loose ends and finalize the sale of their old home and visit with her grandparents. There was no way that Lilly and I could be apart that long and not to mention, we both had school. Since she is 18, they give her lots of freedom and trust that they raised her right. They also liked and trusted me a lot.

I hesitated, but went to the side of the table where Rosalie was and pulled Lilly's chair out for her and pushed it in next to Rose's and then pulled my own chair closer to hers and took my seat. I don't think she realized it, but the family was divided on two sides. Rose, Emmett; because he was her mate, and I on one side, Esme, Edward and Alice on the other. If she knew what each side represented, I have no doubt that she would move to the other side. I wanted her near me, so I made sure to seat her next to me.

Lilly and I were the last to arrive, besides Carlisle, because we had to stop at her house on the way back from school to get a bag for her. I reached over and took her hand in both of mine and turned sideways in my seat so I could face her as I began to lightly write secret messages to her on her hand. It was something we came up with to communicate so others couldn't understand us. Our gifts also came into play as I sent her an emotion and she sent me one back. If we were at school, she would control my hand to write out what she wanted to say to me on a piece of paper.

We all stayed silent while we waited for Carlisle to arrive, but under all of the quiet, I could feel emotions coming from everybody. Lilly was nervous about what was to come, Emmett was worried about Rose and the family among other things, Esme was concerned about everything that was happening as she fidgeted in her seat next to Alice. Rosalie was furious as she constantly glared at Edward. If looks could kill, Edward would be nothing but ashes right now. Alice was frustrated, about what, I had no idea. Her eyes were focused on something far away – the future, it must be still too indistinct for her to make use of it. She rubbed her forehead as if she had a headache. Edward was feeling dread about this whole thing. I couldn't blame him. He was about to get the full blunt of Rose's wrath. Me? I was pretty pissed off about the whole ordeal. I had everything under control and distracted, even Bella. I was about to yank her over the bed of the truck to safety, but he had to reveal us to her. I swear if what he did brings the Volturi down on us, heads will roll. I can't risk them finding out about Lil. Her gift and the fact that she is a hybrid will make her something that Aro will try and covet. Not to mention, he has been trying to get me to be the head of his guard since he met me after I joined the Cullen's.

I was decided, regardless of the outcome of this discussion. I would protect Lilly no matter what I had to do and it seemed that there was no other way to fix the mess that Edward had created. His teeth locked together as he read my thoughts.

Finally, we heard Carlisle's car turning onto the driveway. The tension and mixed emotions were about to make me snap. A little over a minute later, his car door was shut and he walked through the front door and took his seat next to Esme at the head of the table. Rose was still glaring at Edward, never looking away. Emmett sat behind her with his face and emotions both wry.

Edward took a deep breath knowing that he should speak first.

"I'm sorry." Edward said breaking the silence and looking first at Rose, then me, Lilly, and then Emmett. "I didn't mean to put any of you at risk. It was thoughtless, and I take full responsibility for my hasty action."

Rosalie glared at him balefully. "What do you mean, 'take full responsibility'? Are you going to fix it?"

"Not the way you mean." He said in an even, but quiet voice. Lilly's eyes widened as she realized what Rose meant by 'fix it' but she kept quiet. The more I thought about it though, the more I thought that Rose had the only plausible course of action. It was law.

"I'm willing to leave now, if that makes things better." Edward offered feeling skeptical and unsure. He was probably warring in his head about leaving the Swan girl and making sure that she is safe from us, namely Rose and I. I knew that Lilly would be upset with my actions, but if it meant that she was safe, then I would suffer the consequences. Edward growled at me as he heard my thoughts, but it was cut off by Esme's outburst.

"No!" She gasped. "No, Edward." She finished with a murmur.

He patted her hand reassuringly. "It's just a few years."

"Esme's right though," Emmett said. "You can't go anywhere now. That would be the opposite of helpful. We have to know what people are thinking, now more than ever."

"Alice will catch anything major." Edward disagreed.

Carlisle shook his head. "I think Emmett is right, Edward. The girl will be more likely to talk if you disappear. It's all of us leave, or none of us."

"You mean all of us, including Lilly." I corrected as I narrowed my eyes in his direction.

"Yes, including Lilly." He nodded.

"But, what about my parents?" Lilly asked alarmed.

"You can still keep in touch with them." I said reassuringly. "You are almost out of High School. We can tell them that you got an early admission to college and you can visit them and email them, as well as talk on the phone."

"That won't be necessary, because she won't say anything!" Edward insisted quickly. I could reel Rose building up to the explosion, and I could tell Edward wanted to put that 'fact' out first.

"You don't know her mind." Carlisle reminded him.

"I know this much. Alice, Lilly, back me up." He pleaded.

Alice stared up at him wearily and Lilly looked like she was about to cry. I wrapped my arms around her and pulled her into my chest, purring for her to calm her, growling in Edward's direction for bringing my mate into this. She was torn at sticking up for Bella and going against me. It wasn't fair that Edward push her like that.

"I can't see what will happen if we just ignore this." Alice said as she glanced at me and Rose.

No, she couldn't see that future - not when Rosalie and I were so decided against ignoring the incident.

Rosalie's palm smacked down on the table with a loud bang, making Lilly flinch in my arms. I tightened my hold on her and began to purr louder.

"We can't allow the human a chance to say anything! Carlisle, you must see that! Even if we decided to all disappear, it's not safe to leave stories behind us. We live so differently from the rest of our kind – you know there are those who would love an excuse to point fingers. We are a very gifted family and you know Aro has wanted Edward, Alice and especially Jasper. Not to mention we have Lilly with us now! A hybrid that was born from a human with an extraordinary ability, the Volturi would love to just take her from us!" Rose yelled and I growled loudly at this, holding her tighter to my chest as she began to shake. Rose paused and looked at me apologetically. No one would take her from me! Lilly brought my face down to her neck so I could calm myself with her scent. I began to take deep breaths and slowly began to relax again.

"See? We have to be more careful than anyone else." Rose finished quieter.

"We've left rumors behind us before." Edward reminded her.

"Just rumors and suspicions, Edward. Not eyewitnesses and evidence!" Rose argued.

"Evidence!" He scoffed.

I was nodding my head with hard eyes. He shouldn't have interfered when I had everything under control without leaving said evidence behind.

"How come it's okay that Jasper was able to fly across the parking lot and get to Lilly, but when I do the same for Bella, I get the third degree?" He asked angrily.

"Jasper didn't leave witnesses or evidence! He distracted everyone for the both of you when he made it across the parking lot and didn't stop a van with his hand in front of a human! He was about to grab Bella and pull her over as well, but you were already there about to stop the van! He is not the one who exposed us to a human, Edward! If he hadn't pulled Lilly out of the way, she would have exposed herself when she didn't get hurt and the Swan girl died. If anything, he saved all of us! You doomed us!"

"Rose –"Carlisle began.

"Let me finish, Carlisle. It doesn't have to be any big production. The girl hit her head today. So, maybe that injury turns out to be more serious than it looked." She shrugged. "Every mortal goes to sleep with the chance of never waking up. The others would expect us to clean up after ourselves. Technically, that would make it Edward's job, but this is obviously beyond him. You know I'm capable of control. I would leave no evidence behind me."

"Yes, Rosalie, we all know how proficient an assassin you are." Edward snarled.

She hissed at him, furious.

"Edward, please." Carlisle said. Then he turned to Rosalie. "Rosalie, I looked the other way in Rochester, because I felt that you were owed your justice. The men you killed had wronged you monstrously. This is not the same situation. The Swan girl is an innocent."

"It's not personal, Carlisle." Rose said through her teeth. "It's to protect us all."

There was a brief moment of silence while Carlisle thought through his answer. When he nodded, Rosalie's eyes lit up. She should have known better. I didn't need Edward's gift to anticipate his next words. Carlisle never compromised.

"I know you mean well, Rosalie, but…I'd like very much for our family to be worth protecting. The occasional…accident or lapse in control, or even the way Lilly and Jasper decided to hunt is a regrettable part of who we are." It was very like him to include himself in the plural, though he had never had such a lapse himself like I did with my many slips. "To murder a blameless child in cold blood is another thing entirely. I believe the risk she presents, whether she speaks her suspicions or not, is nothing to the greater risk. If we make exceptions to protect ourselves, we risk something much more important. We risk losing the essence of who we are." I could tell Edward was trying to control his expression very carefully, but his emotions told it all. It wouldn't do at all to grin. Or to applaud, as I could tell he wanted to.

Rosalie scowled. "It's just being responsible."

"It's being callous." Carlisle corrected gently. "Every life is precious."

Rose sighed heavily and her lower lip pouted out. Emmett patted her shoulder encouragingly.

"It'll be fine, Rose." He said in a low voice.

"The question," Carlisle continued, "is whether we should move on?"

"No," Rosalie moaned. "We just got settled and Lilly moved here not five days ago! I don't want to start on my sophomore year in high school again!"

"You could keep your present age, of course." Carlisle said.

"And have to move again that much sooner?" She countered.

Carlisle shrugged.

"I like it here! There's so little sun, we get to be almost normal."

"Well, we certainly don't have to decide now. We can wait and see if it becomes necessary. Edward seems certain of the Swan girl's silence."

Rosalie snorted.

(Edward's POV)

I was no longer worried about Rose. I could see that she would go along with Carlisle's decision, no matter how infuriated she was with me. Their conversation had moved on to unimportant details.

Jasper, however, remained unmoved.

I understood why. Before he met Alice in the diner, he'd lived in a combat zone, a relentless theater of war. He knew the consequences of flouting the rules-he'd seen the grisly aftermath with his own eyes.

It said much that he had not tried to calm Rosalie down with his extra faculties, nor did he now try to rile her up. He was holding himself aloof from this discussion – above it. He only held on to Lilly as if she was his life line and remained quiet and motionless.

"Jasper," I said.

He met my gaze, his face expressionless.

"She won't pay for my mistake. I won't allow that."

"She benefits from it, then? If you had not interfered today, she would have been saved and we would not be having this conversation. By saving her, you set this in motion. It is your fault that I am reduced to this. I will set this right and protect my mate. I will not let her suffer for your stupidity."

I repeated myself, emphasizing each word. "I will not allow it."

His eyebrows shot up. He wasn't expecting this – he hadn't imagined that I would act to stop him.

He shook his head once and pulled Lilly into his lap. She only looked back and forth between me and Jasper, as her thoughts showed that she was torn about what to do.

"I won't let Lilly live in danger, even a slight danger. You don't feel about anyone the way I feel about her, Edward, and you haven't lived through what I've lived through, whether you've seen my memories or not. You don't understand. I've only just found her, I will not lose her."

"I'm not disputing that, Jasper. But I'm telling you now; I won't allow you to hurt Isabella Swan." We stared at each other; not glaring, but measuring the opposition. I felt him sample the mood around me, testing my determination.

"Jay," Lilly said, interrupting us.

He held my gaze for a moment more, and then looked at her. "Don't bother telling me you can protect yourself, Lilly. I already know that. I've still got to –"

"That's not what I'm going to say." Lilly interrupted. "I was going to ask you for a favor."

I saw what was on her mind, and my mouth fell open with an audible gasp. I stared at her, shocked, only vaguely aware that everyone besides Lilly, Jasper and Alice was now eyeing me warily.

"I know you love me and I love you too, more than words or actions can describe and I thank you for that and wanting to protect me. But I would really appreciate it if you didn't try to kill Bella. First of all, I can see that Edward's serious and I don't want you two fighting. Secondly, she's my best friend."

"And she's mine, too." Alice added. "At least, she's going to be."

It was clear as glass in her head: Alice, smiling, with her icy white arm around the girl's warm, fragile shoulders. And Bella was smiling, too, her arm around Alice's waist.

The vision was rock solid; only the timing of it was unsure.

"But…Lilly…"Jasper pleaded.

I couldn't manage to turn my head to see his expression. I couldn't tear myself away from the image in Alice's head in order to hear his.

"I love her, Jay. She's the first true friend I had, before I met you guys, and I know she won't say anything. If she says anything to anyone, it would be me because she is probably worried since I spend so much time around you guys and if I have to, I will use my gift and have her believe what I tell her about Edward and you really being next to us. I would rather not, but if it will save her life, I will. Please, mon amour, just let her be."

I was still locked into Alice's thoughts. I saw the future shimmer as Jasper's resolve floundered in the face of Lilly's unexpected request.

"Ah," Alice sighed, bringing everyone's attention to her as well as breaking Lilly and Jasper's intense gaze. His indecision had cleared a new future. "See? Bella's not going to say anything. She will talk to Lilly about it out of worry and curiosity, just as Lilly said, but there is no need to use her gift on her. There's nothing to worry about." Lilly smiled gratefully at Jasper, and he returned it, though the smile did not reach his eyes as he kissed her cheek.

But the way Alice said the girl's name…like they were already close confidants…

"Alice," I choked. "What…does this…?"

"I told you when we got home that there was a change coming. I don't know, Edward." But she locked her jaw, and I could see that there was more. She was trying not to think about it; she was focusing very hard on Jasper suddenly, though he was too stunned to have progressed much in his decision making.

She did this sometimes when she was trying to keep something from me. She was in love with Jasper before Lilly came along, and still has feelings for him, though she would never interfere in their relationship and happiness.

"What, Alice? What are you hiding?" I heard Emmett grumble. He always got frustrated when Alice and I had these kinds of conversations. Lilly was looking confused between the two of us as Jasper whispered in her ear what we were doing.

She shook her head, trying not to let me in.

"Is it about the girl?" I demanded. "Is it about Bella?"

She had her teeth gritted in concentration, but when I spoke Bella's name, she slipped.

Her slip only lasted the tiniest portion of a second, but that was long enough.

(Lilly's POV)

Edward's chair hit the floor as he jumped out of the chair and on to his feet.

"NO!" He shouted. He looked stunned as he just realized that he was on his feet.

"Edward!" Carlisle was on his feet, too, his arm on Edward's shoulder. It was obvious that he was barely aware of him.

"It's solidifying," Alice whispered. "Every minute you're more decided. There're really is only two ways left for her. It's one or the other, Edward."

By the look on his face, it was obvious that he saw what she saw, but could not accept it, whatever 'it' was.

"No," He said again; there was no volume to his denial as he braced himself against the table.

"Will somebody please let the rest of us in on the mystery?" Thank you, Emmett!

"I have to leave." Edward whispered to Alice, ignoring him.

"Edward, we've already been over that." Emmett said loudly. "That's the best way to start the girl talking. Besides, if you take off, we won't know for sure if she's talking or not. You have to stay and deal with this."

"I don't see you going anywhere, Edward." Alice told him. "I don't know if you can leave anymore." She paused. "Think about it. Think about leaving." She added quietly.

A painful expression crossed his face that then turned into determination. Like he couldn't sanction either future that he'd apparently condemned her to; whatever they were. I remained silently listening, not wanting to interrupt with a question that would only cause my best guy friend more pain.

"I'm not entirely sure of Jasper, Edward." Alice went on. I snapped my gaze back up to Jasper worriedly. He sent me a silent apology by emotion and in his expression. "If you leave, if he thinks she's a danger to us or especially Lilly…"

"I don't hear that," Edward contradicted her, still not paying much attention to the rest of us. It was obvious that Jasper was wavering in his decision, not wanting to hurt me, but wanting to protect me.

"Not right at this moment. Will you risk her life leave her undefended?" Alice challenged.

"Why are you doing this to me?" He groaned, his head falling into his hands.

"I love her, too. Or I will. It's not the same, but I want her around for that. Not to mention, she's Lilly's best girlfriend and Lilly's your best friend. Jasper will do what it takes to protect Lilly, even if it means temporarily hurting her. Do you want to hurt your best friend when you could do something to prevent it?" She pressed.

He looked up at me worriedly. I gave him a pleading gaze.

Please, Edward? If you stay, I will help you in whatever actions you choose to take. Losing her will not only hurt me, but hurt you. I don't want you to be hurt and I don't want you to leave me. I don't want to lose either of my best friends. I love you both.

He sighed, then nodded at me, bringing a smile to my face.

It looked like he just remembered something, because his gaze snapped to Alice.

"Love her, too?" He whispered incredulously.

She sighed. "You are so blind, Edward. Can't you see where you're headed? Can't you see where you already are? It's more inevitable than the sun rising in the east. See what I see…"

He shook his head, horrified. "No." He kept shaking his head as if trying to shut out the visions she revealed to him. "I don't have to follow that course. I'll leave. I will change the future."

"You can try." She said her voice skeptical.

"Oh, come on!" Emmett bellowed.

"Pay attention," Rose hissed at him. "Alice sees him falling for a human! How classically Edward!" She made a gagging sound.

"What?" Emmett said, startled. Then his booming laugh echoed through the room. "Is that what's been going on?" He laughed again. "Tough break, Edward."

"Fall for a human?" Esme repeated in a stunned voice. "For the girl he saved today? Fall in love with her?"

"What do you see, Alice? Exactly." Jasper demanded.

She turned towards us as Edward continued to stare numbly at the side of her face.

"It all depends on whether he is strong enough or not. Either he'll kill her himself," – She turned to meet Edward's gaze again, glaring – "which would really irritate me, Edward, not to mention what it would do to you and Lilly-" she turned to face Jasper and I again, "or she'll be one of us someday."

Some of us gasped; I didn't look to see who.

"That's not going to happen!" Edward was shouting again. "Either one!"

Alice didn't seem to hear him. "It all depends," she repeated. "He may be just strong enough not to kill her – but it will be close. It will take an amazing amount of control." She mused. "more than even Carlisle has, but he may just be strong enough…the only thing he's not strong enough to do is stay away from her. That's a lost cause."

I couldn't find my voice. No one else seemed to be able to either. The room was still.

Edward stared at Alice while everyone stared at him. We all seemed to be horrified.

After a long moment, Carlisle sighed. "Well, this complicates things."

"I'll say!" Emmett agreed. His voice was still close to laughter. Trust Emmett to find the joke in the destruction of my best friend's lives.

"I suppose the plans remain the same, though." Carlisle said thoughtfully. "We'll stay, and watch. Obviously, no one will…hurt the girl." He looked towards Jasper pointedly as Edward visibly stiffened.

"No," Jasper said quietly. "I can agree to that. If Alice sees only two ways –"

"No!" Edward's voice was not a shout or a growl or a cry of despair, but some combination of the three. "No!" He shouted once more before stalking out of the room. Esme touched his arm as he passed, but he didn't acknowledge the gesture and ran out of the house towards the forest, clearing the river in one bound and raced into the woods, just as it began to rain.

A/N: So, what did you think of the family meeting? Dramatic, huh? Read and Review! If you have any questions or comments, post them in my reviews and I will answer them in my next Author's Note.

If you liked this story, check out the other ones on my page! I also started a new story called 'The Heart's Desire'!

'The Major'
'Pretexting'
'Attempting to Covet'
'Mirror Image'
'Other Worldly Beauty'
'Perplexing Revelations'
'Far Fetched Realities'
'Twilight ReVAMPed'
'The Heart's Desire' NEW!

Read and Review!

I am also currently accepting Twilight stories to Beta if anyone needs one and their story involves Jasper/any female lead or Bella/selected male leads. I will accept other characters depending on the plot. PM me for further details!

Thanks for taking an interest in my writing!
- Bella'Xo
Xo BellaItalia oX