DISClaimer: I'm not Stephenie Meyer. I make no profit from this.

Hope you enjoy this.

-x-

"Do you trust me?" I needed to know. If she trusted me, I could trust myself. This girl seemed about as pure as… well, as pure as glacial ice. She looked at me, still hyperventilating slightly, and after a long couple of seconds, nodded, gasping in another breath of air.

I did the same and we held our breath. She pressed her head against my chest, and I threw the pair of us underwater, ready to get out of this… place.

-x-

Max's POV

I told myself I hadn't kissed him as I pressed my head against his chest and closed my eyes under water. He was feeling his way along the sunken tunnel with one hand, the other was holding me close to him, and making sure I didn't fall away.

I told myself I hadn't kissed him as he adjusted his grip on my, his hand sliding across the small of my back. I told myself it was just a practise at sharing air, because if he hadn't pressed his lips to mine in the bloodstained air, he would never have been able to do it in the cold water, with my blood swirling around his every movement.

My lungs started to burn as we hit the open water, the current buffeting my back, making me cough up all the air, all the breath I'd held. He saw the bubbles, I'm sure, because seconds later, I felt his fingers curl into my hair, he tilted my head up and, far faster than before, he pressed his lips to mine, let me take a bubble of sweet air into my lungs. Two minutes might have passed, three at the most.

His thumb brushed the cut on my cheek as he pulled away. I winced. It hurt, so much; it burned as the salt mingled with my blood.

It took me the second time he did it to realise that it was on purpose. He wanted to enjoy his role as scuba-tank for me… OxyJazz, I guess, but he couldn't hurt Alice like that. He couldn't enjoy being with somebody else. So he wanted to feel some pain for his pleasure, to cancel it out.

He hurt me, so he could hurt himself. A twisted logic, but utter brilliance.

I sucked in a huge breath as my head broke the surface of the water. Jasper spat out some of the salt water he had managed to inhale beside me, and I looked at him, my chest hammering with excitement.

"I'm alive!" I grinned, wrapping an arm around him.

"That's really hard to contain, you know," he grinned, chuckling slightly.

"What is?"

"Your excitement. I can feel it too, remember?"

"Oh, right." I smiled at him and he pulled me close for a second.

"Hold on." he pulled my arms around his neck so I was clinging onto him in an awkward piggyback ride. "Alright?" I nodded and he smiled at me, over his shoulder, "good," and he struck out for the shore, easily beating the current under the water and pulling me to the shore. I sucked in another breath as I was buffeted by the waves, burying my head against the back of Jasper's neck.

Seth's POV

I had been pacing up and down the beach while the others were eating, the vampires had started playing tag and Jake had joined in. everything seemed too normal as I strode through the group of undead people and werewolves, feeling like I was one of the living dead without her.

Then all hell broke loose.

Edward fell to his knees in the middle of the game and put his head in his hands, closed his eyes and started to speak in low murmurs.

"Edward?" Emmet grabbed his shoulder, made him look up, tried to get some sense out of him.

"She's in a bad way…" Edward was murmuring, "Jasper couldn't help himself," Another pause, "She was bleeding," a longer pause, "Where's Quil?" He went silent for a minute, listening for Quil's thoughts in his head. "He's fine… hating the fact that he's fighting the current and losing," He smirked, "He's about two miles that way, and still swimming," A low laugh.

My chest was burning as I grabbed Edward by the shoulders.

"She's in a bad way?" I paused. "What do you mean in a bad way? She alive?"

"I can't see them," He stopped and closed his eyes, "Whoa, Jasper… you didn't?" He was revelling in our discomfort, for some reason Edward was enjoying our pain. "Dear god…" There was a moment, silence washed over the beach, and I closed my eyes, fell back to the empty sand.

No emotion washed over me, I felt completely empty. No Max meant no world. It meant I had nothing, nothing keeping me grounded, nothing to keep me here, to keep me strong, or happy. Nothing to keep me… alive.

I threw myself down on the sand, chewing my bottom lip. I was starving, but I didn't want to eat. I was… I wasn't even furious - how could I blame Jasper? He was… almost bound to be the one that lost it. It wasn't his fault - he was young, he was weak-willed. If anything, I should have been mad at Edward.

He looked up at me as I thought it.

"Excuse me?"

You let him go.

"He demanded he went alone."

You thought that was smart, did you? One word that should have given you a tiny, weeny clue, "Blood," Edward. You should have known he wouldn't cope.

"He seemed so sure." Edward admitted, for once, defeated by a wolf. I felt an empty sense of victory, and then I shut my eyes and let a sense of hopelessness wash over me.

I breathed in and out, opened my eyes and looked out at the horizon.

The sun was setting, on a beautiful day and what could have been a wonderful life. The different shades of red washed out across the skyline and I stared as they reflected across the water, turning it a bloody, horrible shade of red. Irony. I thought to myself. Edward chuckled hollowly in the background.

An arm wrapped around my shoulders and I looked up into Jared's face.

"Man… I don't know what to… I'm sorry, dude." he bit his bottom lip and pulled his arm around me again. "Listen, if I can do anything, I-" but I'd thrown my hand up into his face and risen to my feet.

"Shut up, Jared," I muttered, having seen the mass of gold just beneath the sunset.

"Jasper's coming!" Emmet whooped without any feeling for the mood.

We watched the vampire who had caused so much trouble strike out to the shore, realising that he had her body with him.

I wanted to swim out to them, to meet him, to take her away from him, to bring her back to me. I wanted to hold her and cry and apologise.

-x-

About three minutes later, I was standing, staring into the water as Jasper emerged, soaking wet, shaking his hair out as though it was perfectly normal to be a vampire on a rescue-mission -gone-wrong, and to be carrying a body on your back.

He looked, even I would say it, pretty gorgeous, I heard Alice giggle from a little way to the left of Edward, Kim was staring pretty blatantly, though Jared was ignoring it, completely used to her awe around the vampires, and as he let go of Max's legs and let her stand on the floor… well, the pair of them looked absolutely stunning…

Wait.

"Max?" She looked up, still clinging onto Jasper's side as though her legs wouldn't hold her up. She smiled at me and nodded, grinning widely at me. I looked at Jasper, suddenly all feeling returning to my heart. "You lied!"

"I said she was in a bad way." He replied simply, "I never said she was dead." Max looked up at him again and blushed.

"You shouldn't have implied it, Jazz," She said softly, then placed a gentle kiss on his forehead and whispered something. Edward grinned and folded his arms, "Seth," She turned to me, stumbled forward and threw herself into my arms.

She kissed his forehead. She kissed his forehead. I took in a deep breath and frowned.

"Seth?" Her arms tightened around me and she rose onto her tiptoes. "Seth, what's… what's wrong?" She inclined her head slightly and looked up at me. The jealousy I was feeling was clearly rubbing off on Jasper, he was staring at me, frowning, looking furious.

"Nothing." I said through gritted teeth.

"Oh." She looked away. "Has… have you found Quil?"

"No…" Edward butted in, "But he's coming." He gestured up the coastline vaguely and she relaxed.

"Good." She nodded, then looked down and shivered. My arms wrapped around her convulsively and she leaned against me. "I-is there anywhere I could get some clothes?" She murmured. "I'm kind of cold and wet."

There was a long second where Jared looked up, his face cracked into a smile and he yelled down to the campfire. Everyone has surrounded her within about three seconds, pushing me out of her way, forcing me away from her, fawning over her… making her blush, making her look to the ground, making her shudder and pull her newly-given clothes tighter around her.

I stared at her as she pulled away from the gathering, embarrassment making her features as red as the sunset. She strode away from the group, arms folded, head down, and walked away alone.

I stared at the floor and then looked up at her; she had folded her arms and sat down on a rock in the treeline.

She sat, stock still, for fifteen minutes, her oversized t-shirt pulled down over her knees.

I didn't know what to say to her, my legs had lost their will to walk. I couldn't move. I wanted to, but I couldn't. A movement in the trees behind her startled both of us, and a person stepped down to the rock beside her.

Jasper put his arm around her consolingly, and I felt sick. He was taking her away from me. I sighed, my stomach churning, and took a step forward.

-x-

A/N: Please review and let me know how I did... :P

Yay for Jasper's part in this... I love him so...

OxyJazz rocks. This chapter is dedicated to both BadWolfRose and MathsIsImmortal.

I'm really glad you all like it... so i'd appreciate more feedback...

And i'm really, really happy that you keep reading :)

Please Review!!!

Love you guys

xxx