Takes place in Eclipse, right before, and then at the graduation party.

She looked over at him, silently asking if he was okay.

He shrugged slightly.

She tilted her head, inquiring about what was bothering him.

"The party," he told her unwillingly. She was so excited about it that he hated to bring her down in any way.

But the idea of it really freaked him out. He didn't like it.

"But it's okay, Jasper, I've seen it! You don't do anything. You just try to blend in like the rest of us." Alice tried to convince him.

"It was hard enough for me when Bella started coming over so often. To always have a faint smell of human blood in my own house…"

"But you got past it. And now its normal for you," she said.

"Yes, after I tried to attack her when she got a paper cut," he responded.

"Well, yes, but that was a one time thing. And her blood bothered all of us when it happened, not just you. It won't happen again. And you do have to admit, you have been slightly more comfortable around Bella lately." She smiled at him, a feeling of pride crossing over her. He liked that she was proud of him, but still…

"Around Bella, yes. I have adjusted more to her scent, but Alice, you're planning on having the entire Forks high school here. In our house. With the windows closed. I'm just…I'm a little wary of that. Like Edward has said before, why push my limits?"

"Edward doesn't know what he's talking about. He can read your thoughts, but I can see your future. And I know you better," she said fiercely, her eyes flashing passionately. When Alice set her mind to something, there was no stopping her.

"Please, Jazz. I want to do this. For Bella. She should experience her human life to the best of her ability while she still can."

He looked at her angelic pouting face, so innocent and loving. She was his weakness. He couldn't deny her anything that she truly wanted, and they both knew it. But she always asked him, anyway.

He sighed, "And who better than you could help her experience it?"

She grinned, "Thanks Jazz. I promise you…it'll be so much fun! And we'll hunt the day before AND the day of if you need to." Her excitement could barely be contained as she thought of the party.

Suddenly her emotions turned to panic. "I have so much to do! I have to plan…I'll see you later," she pecked him on the cheek and zoomed out of the room.

He laughed quietly to himself, her bubbly mood leaving him feeling more elated.

* * * * *

The party had been going fantastically, according to Alice. Jasper wouldn't disagree. The emotions in the room were mainly light and fun. Occasionally, someone would look too closely at one of the Cullens and shiver involuntarily, but for the most part the mood was full of excitement.

Jasper was doing okay. He kept his distance, either retreating to his study or standing with one of his family members while in the presence of the humans. It made it easier for him to tolerate so many humans in the house.

Then the wolves had arrived, so that distorted the smell slightly. He didn't know why they were here, and it didn't exactly make him happy, but he assumed it was Bella's doing and he didn't get involved. This was mainly her party (even if Alice had done all the planning) and he respected that.

He was helping Esme replenish some of the food that they had prepared when he heard Alice's name. His head jerked toward the sound.

Bella had called to her. Alice had just started coming downstairs and he could feel stress emanating from her. He wanted to go to her, but he knew if she needed him she'd let him know. He kept a close watch on her though as she joined Bella and three of the werewolves.

The wolves were nervous, he felt. But they were also smug. He didn't like the smugness.

"I need to talk to you," she whispered in Bella's ear.

"Er, Jake, I'll see you later…," Bella told the werewolf.

The two of them moved to walk around them, but then the werewolf shot his arm out to block them. Jasper was shocked and suppressed a growl, watching more intently. One wrong move from them and he was ready to do whatever he needed to protect Alice. He didn't think Edward would be far behind him if they did anything to threaten Bella.

"Excuse me?" Alice's disbelief and surprise was exactly the same as his own. His body twitched to join them. He didn't like Alice so close to them by herself. But he knew she wouldn't want him to interfere, that she could take care of herself. Still, it was just her and Bella, a human, against three werewolves. If they decided to do anything…

"Tell us what's going on," the wolf demanded with a growl.

That was what he had been waiting for. Hostility.

Jasper was next to them immediately. If any human had been watching, it would have been like he had appeared out of thin air. But he didn't care. No one threatened Alice, especially a dog. He glared at the wolf menacingly, ignoring the fact that Bella, along with the three wolves, were all suddenly terrified. As well they should be. If the dog took one step closer to Alice, Jasper was ready to tear him to shreds.

The werewolf pulled his arm back slowly, but Jasper's threatening glare never wavered.

"We have a right to know," the dog muttered. Jasper didn't like the way he was still looking at Alice. It was too aggressive. He put himself between Alice and Bella and the wolf, his look becoming, if possible, even more intimidating.

"Hey, hey, this is a party, remember?" he heard Bella say, but she sounded very far away. He was focused now, ready at any moment to lunge at the dogs. They had been welcomed into his family's house and this was how they acted? Not if he had anything to say about it. He continued to glower at Jacob, waiting for him to make a move.

He felt Alice's emotions shift from defensive to…calmer.

"It's okay, Jasper. He actually has a point," she told him suddenly.

He didn't relax as she began to explain that the newborns were definitely coming from Seattle to Forks. He watched as the three dogs' hands shook and was amused at how easily frightened they were. Regardless of his amusement, there was a serious problem to consider. The newborns. There were only the seven of them and there would probably be at least twenty newborns. That meant at least three newborns for each person to take care of. He didn't like the odds of that.

"We can't let them come that far. There aren't enough of us to protect the town," he stated.

"I know," Alice said, her face desolate. "But it doesn't matter where we stop them. There still won't be enough of us, and some of them will come here to search."

He agreed with her, military strategies racing through his head, trying to figure out a solution.

"Alice," Bella said too quietly, "I have to go, I have to get away from here."

"That won't help. It's not like we're dealing with a tracker. They'll still come here looking first."

Despite his frantic planning, he was proud that she figured that out, whether she had seen it in a vision or not. She was right.

"Then I have to go to meet them! If they find what they're looking for, maybe they'll go away and not hurt anyone else!" Bella insisted.

She had a good point. Maybe they could send her to them with some form of protection…

"Bella!" Alice protested. Her emotions were angry at the thought of it and he dismissed his earlier idea.

"Hold it, what is coming?" The werewolf asked forcefully.

"Our kind," Alice responded icily, "lots of them."

"Why?"

Ignorant dog.

"For Bella. That's all we know."

"There are too many for you?" he asked.

Jasper's anger flared again, "We have a few advantages, dog. It will be an even fight." He had already planned to train his family on how to fight the newborn vampires. If they practiced enough…

"No," the wolf objected, starting to smile, "It won't be even."

Jasper caught on at once. Fight together? He considered the idea…

"Excellent!" Alice hissed. Her emotions were suddenly excited, optimistic, and highly annoyed.

She grinned at the wolf and he grinned back.

"Everything just disappeared, of course," she said smugly. "That's inconvenient, but, all things considered, I'll take it."

Alice and the wolves were all incredibly excited. Jasper could almost see the wheels turning in Alice's head. He had to admit, it just might work. He thought out details while Alice and Jacob reasoned with Bella.

The wolves would need to be trained of course. He laughed internally at the thought of the vampires training a bunch of dogs. It was almost comical if you thought of it as a human to pet analogy.

A minute later, he tuned back in to their conversation.

"Later tonight?" Jacob pushed.

"Yes," Jasper answered, "we were already planning a…strategic meeting. If you're going to fight with us, you'll need some instruction."

He was smug about the disgruntled look on their faces. It was about time they showed a little respect.

"This will be odd," he continued thoughtfully, "I never considered working together. This has to be a first."

They made plans to meet at three in the morning in the field, and then the werewolves left.

Alice and Jasper exchanged excited glances and rushed off together with Bella to inform the rest of the family about their new plan. The more the family heard, the more optimistic they became. Everyone except Bella, who, Jasper noticed, seemed to become increasingly worried the more they spoke.

The party ended quite quickly after that. Edward was just starting to leave with Bella when Jasper caught a meaningful glance from Alice.

He understood at once, sending peaceful feelings Bella's way, trying to calm her down. He could understand her concern for Edward. He had to admit, even as prepared for the fight that he was sure they would be, he was slightly concerned about Alice. He'd never admit it to her, because he knew she'd think he was being overprotective, but he couldn't help wanting to shield her from having to fight an army of newborns. He had fought them too many times in his past, as his body was kind enough to remind him daily. He didn't want Alice to have to experience any of that. There was too much good in her. He didn't want a battle to threaten to take any of it away from her.

She smiled at him briefly as they continued to plan for the rest of the night. The family then went off into their separate rooms to prepare for the training.

Jasper followed Alice into their room. Her magnificent golden eyes met his and she grinned as she sorted through her closet, trying to pick out an outfit.

"You're eager to fight," he stated casually.

She shrugged, "Not to fight so much as to defend. I think they're different."

Maybe they were. He had never thought about it too deeply.

She turned to him, "You're not worrying about me, I hope?"

How well she knew him. He couldn't lie to her. "Not worrying…"

"You don't want me to fight," she guessed, grimacing slightly.

"I don't want you to have to fight."

She didn't let him elaborate as she pulled on some new clothes, "I'll be okay, Jazz. Trust me. You've trained me well already."

He remembered a time shortly before they had moved in with the Cullens when Alice had begged him to teach her how to fight properly. Surprisingly, he had enjoyed teaching her what he knew. He liked that she was so interested in something that he knew how to do so well. Jasper realized later that it wasn't purely the fighting she was interested in. She enjoyed it mostly because it was something she was doing with him.

He shook his head and smiled at her, "That's for sure. And of course I trust you."

She beamed, "It'd be fairly hard not to."

He agreed with her, "Yes, you proved that again tonight. The party was magnificent. Especially the part where the wolves showed up."

"I knew it would be fun," she said, her eyes flashing with excitement again.

"The fun is just beginning…" he stated as they got ready to meet with the wolves.


I feel like I jumped around in this one…that maybe it moved a little quickly. If so, I apologize. I was trying to stick to the book though, so if it's a little too in character or a little out of my interpretation of the characters, that's why. The next chapter will be a little more in-tune with their relationship. Hope you enjoyed, and once again, thank you to all who reviewed! [and to all who are planning to review…] =)