Hi guys! This is one of the last few chapters before the next book. The next few chapters as well as the sequel will be full of action. This book is essentially groundwork. We will be heading into New Moon in the next chapter. Excited for the next round!

"What, not watching her sleep tonight, Eddie?" I grin slyly at Edward as he sits carefully at the piano.

"No, she's coming here." He glares over at me, obviously not caring for my jokes. He's been much more tense since the fragile girl's accident.

He glances down at the piano before looking back to me.

"I can hear you, you know." He reminds me, but I pay him no mind, instead listening for Jasper around the house, frowning when I realize he's no longer in the house.

"You two look like you're having a bundle of fun." Esme jokes lightly as she passes through the room "Edward, why don't you and Calina go on a hunt, you two haven't done anything together in a while."

Our eyes dart to each other, our response coming at the same time, and with the same amount of disinterest.

"No."

I shoot a dirty look at Edward who simply ignores me, playing a few notes on the piano as if I don't exist. He has it through his mind that I'm team Rose, and has harbored loathing for me since I got back. It's quite petty if you ask me.

"It isn't petty." He mutters to me, stopping to look in my direction.

"Seems awful petty to me." I turn the page of Ethan Frome, knowing that I've probably upset him more.

"If you would just give her a chance." Edward tries, and I roll my eyes.

"A chance to die? To turn into what I am now?" I laugh, but my joke isn't funny even to me.

"I don't want it any more than you do." He growls lowly, more at himself than me.

"Doubtful."

"You're impossible, Calina. She's a part of our family. I expected this from Rosalie, but not from you. You were once in her shoes, and so recently. Can't you just try, for my sake?" he pleads, golden eyes locking in on me.

"Well, since you asked so kindly." I stand, stretching out "No." I finish, and he sighs.

"I hate you." He huffs, turning back away from me.

"No, you hate that Rose and I are right. If she stays with our family, it is inevitable. Do you think we are daft enough to hope that she will live out her human life? That she won't crave to live out forever with the man of her fantasies? Edward, you're so much smarter than that." I sigh, deciding that no matter what I say, he will be stubborn enough not to listen.

I take up my copy of Ethan Frome, knowing that if I stay I'll say more things I would regret, and I do genuinely love Edward. I just don't love the choices he is making for another girl who could have had an entirely different life ahead of her.

Wistfully I walk into my room, throwing myself down on the canopied bed I reopen my book, full ready to get lost in it when my phone rings.

Sighing, I set down my book again, my face lighting up when I see the caller's picture flash up on my screen.

"Kate!" I gasp into the phone breathlessly, excited to have heard from my sister for the second time this week.

"Hey Cali." Her voice sounds distant, but it is still oh so comforting.

"What's up?" I ask, sitting back down.

"Carlisle told Eleazar about your newest member, and I wanted to hear what you have to say, I can't trust Alice to give me the truth about her. Honestly I'm surprised you haven't mentioned her sooner."

I can imagine Kate as she flicks through a magazine, boredly trying to find something to pique her interest, and landing on the subject of Edward's erratic mate.

"Well, she's very human." I laugh, playing with the ends of my hair.

"Not enough, like what makes her better than Tanya dearest, she's been sulking since she heard. The human has to be something special to catch Edward's attention when even Tanya couldn't, right?" I can sense that her question is more rhetorical than real, and my heart drops thinking about sweet Tanya hurting because Edward has found his other half.

"She's a nice girl, hard to talk to, but sweet none the less. Rose hates her."

"Well, I assumed as much, who doesn't Rosalie hate? Now, tell me about that handsome mate of yours."

If my cheeks could still burn bright red, they would now. I can't help but roll my eyes at her pointedness.

"We're okay." I smile to myself, his handsome smile taking over my thoughts.

"You sound more than just okay, you've forgiven him." She gasps, and I balk at the thought.

"Kate, be reasonable. We've barely even lived in the same house for two weeks. I don't know that it will ever be okay again, but I look at him, and I sense his regret, and his sincerity, and my heart just jumps to forgive him." I ramble.

"Tell me more." Kate commands, and I let out a breath pulling at the edge of my comforter.

"Kate, he looks at me, and I can barely even move. The way his eyes follow me like I'm the most captivating thing in the world scares me, but I know from the looks everyone else is giving me that I'm doing the same." I pause "It's just that I can't bear to see him so withdrawn. With everyone up in arms about Bella, I know that no one else sees how rigid he is, but I do. I don't want him to feel that way, ever."

"Look, I trust your judgement. Cali, you're so strong. Give him time to adjust, he needs time to tell you his story before you decide. I have to go, love you, sister." The line clicks dead, and it leaves my heart in more confusion than before.

I can hear him before I see him, and in an instant, Jasper is standing in my doorway, looking just as awkward as he always does, pain evident on his face. I can smell the reason from a mile away. Bella's voice rasps from downstairs, and for a moment I fear that Jasper may lose control. It's been a week at the least since he last fed.

"Jaz?" I ask slowly, eyeing him as he snarls to himself, all timidness gone from his posture.

"Calina, make me leave." He growls, and my eyes widen at his request.

I fumble around for an answer, but he gets more agitated, and I put all my energy into pushing him out of the room. Robotically, he takes a step towards the window, and then with some force of speed, he rushes out my balcony door, running into the woods around us without even a glance back.

Unsure of what just happened, I follow behind him, but at a safe enough distance. He knows I'm following his hunt, but ignores me. When I finally get close enough to speak to him civilly, he's already drained a mountain lion, his eyes lighter than before, but still hauntingly deep pools.

"Kate was right." He clears his throat, looking at me.

I cock my head at him, waiting for him to continue. He seems to straighten then, becoming more of a man than I have seen him be. He looks almost complete.

"I have to tell you about my past, Calina, or you will never understand. I want you to understand me, and I want you to know that I can protect you, my sweet darling." He is in front of me in an instant, his cool hand running over my cheek like I'm the most precious possession in his grasp.

"Then tell me about it." I lean into his hand, safety washing over me like a drug.

He takes a moment to look up at the stars above us, swallowing hard, he begins.

"I was born into a time of hostility, although I had no idea just how hostile it really was. Growing up, people used to tell my father that I had a charm about me, people liked me, and I thrived off it. When the war rolled around, I knew that I wanted to fight. I had to. It was the honorable thing to do." He stops, closing his eyes tightly.

I take his hand into my own, squeezing it tightly, urging him to continue.

"I moved through the ranks easily. I quickly became the youngest Major in the Confederate army. It meant great honor to my family, and I felt like I had found my purpose. Of course, that all changed in 1863, I was charged with bringing all the women and children out of Galveston. I was hurrying back to get more women when I ran into Maria and her followers for the first time. She sensed something about me, and it was final.

"The change was incredibly hard, I felt like I had died a thousand times over, and honor meant nothing. I would have traded anything to satiate the fire I felt in my bones. When I woke, Maria taught me everything. From fighting to blood, and how to kill a human without evidence.

"Maria was greedy, she was always wanting more than we had, and with my charisma we slowly took over land anywhere we could. I worshipped the ground she walked on, did everything she asked. I trained a group of newborns into being an effective killing vice, and she quickly decided that we would restart the wars."

I look at Jasper, pity filling my system as my eyes take in his stiff form warped by the darkness of the light.

"Don't pity me, that's the last thing I want." He gazes over at me, reaching out to grab my hand.

"Okay."

"We took out a coven in Maria's hometown, and didn't lose a single newborn. I assumed that then we would be done, but she wanted more. I stood by her side, and watched as every single one of the twenty-three vampires I turned with were killed. I was the only one left. Around that time, I started to notice my differences." He pauses.

I take the time to squeeze his hand tightly, and he looks at it like it's the only thing anchoring him to the earth.

"I was depressed, I felt things like no one around me. I could feel when allies were going to turn, make a newborn calm before they were killed. It was something Maria and the others knew of, but eventually my talents began to take their toll. I pinned the depression to feeding. I could feel everything the human I was killing felt, I tried to starve myself, but then I would lose control and go on a spree and feel worse than before."

I watch him as he continues to explain his life to me, his hand clasped firmly in my own, and I know that I must move forward.

"Jazz?" I whisper lowly in the middle of his explanation of his introduction to the Cullen family.

He stops.

"Can I just tell you something?" I ask, losing confidence quickly.

"Of course," His eyebrows knit in confusion.

"I know that turning me was a hard choice. I know that it came out of nowhere. I would be dead either way, and his isn't natural, but I wouldn't be here, with you, having this conversation had you not turned me. I hate feeding, and I hate wanting to kill everyone around me, but what I don't hate is you."

I gasp in air that I don't really need, and continue.

"I don't hate the way you look at me, or knowing that you would protect me always. I don't hate your charm, or the way you smile genuinely when everyone is together. I really don't hate hearing your voice, I don't hate the way you make me feel when we're even within inches of each other."

"Calina, what does all of this mean?" he asks.

I scoot impossibly closer to Jasper, shivering when my skin comes into contact with his.

"I forgive you, Jasper."

His eyes widen, and emotions flicker across his face, and I feel him melt as my hand trails up his arm.

Without warning, my back hits the tree behind me, and his lips crash onto mine. Without time to even think, I kiss him back feverishly, the whole in my heart shrinking.

. . .

"Jesus, what the hell were you two doing out there? It was like a damn earthquake." Emmett whoops as Jasper and I return to the house, hand in hand. He grins devilishly at me when he sees our joined hands.

"Will you leave them alone?" Rosalie quips, tossing her pen impossibly hard at her hulking husband.

"Oh, come on, Rosie, you remember how loud we were the first," Emmett is cut off as the notebook Rosalie was writing in is flung in his direction, hitting him before he can catch it.

My eyes dance over the people in the room, Jasper pulling me closer as the front door opens. I wince when I realize that Edward and Bella are back from whatever took them out of the house. I look to Jasper, and he tips his head at me, guiding me upstairs with his gaze.

He takes my smile as a go ahead, and starts to lead me out of the open living room. I barely notice Rosalie or Emmett's bickering, and focus solely on the man behind me.

We cross straight into Edward and Bella as they ascend the stairs, and I try to be civil, for Edward.

He mutters a quiet "that would be nice." In my direction, and I send him as many awful things as I can in my mind without telling the fragile girl to my right.

"Bella." I nod at her, trying out a smile that reads more like a grimace.

"Calina." She regards me nervously, and I glance back at Edward. He's watching us like a hawk, no doubt reading the way my throat burns as she moves.

"I hope your walk was nice." I say sincerely, a smile tugging on the corner of my lips.

"Yeah, it was great." She clears her throat, returning my smile with an awkward one on her end.

Hurrying past the couple, I Jasper and I barely manage a good night to them before he's pulling me into the room, slamming the door shut.

I eye him with a grin.

"I want to try something."

. . .

"Cali and I are leaving for a few days." Jasper announces as we convene in the living room, each of us soaking in the only family time we have had for the past few weeks.

"Alaska?" Edward questions, and I nod.

"We will be visiting the Denali clan." I inform, praying that Edward will not spill my true plans, to my surprise he does not say a word.

"That sounds pleasant." Carlisle smiles at the both of us, his pale skin seems to seep into the white couch as he speaks.

"Just remember school starts up again soon, and we have to acclimate Calina better to the humans." Esme looks around the room, her eyes resting on the both of us.

"Of course, ma'am." Jasper assures her, gently squeezing my hand.

"Remember that we still have to go back to school shopping." Alice quips, fixing her hair with graceful fingers.

"Wouldn't miss it." I laugh, slinging my hiking bag onto my back before Jasper can make a fuss and carry it for me.

"Safe travels." Carlisle motions to us, walking with us to the front door where Jasper's sleek car waits in the drive.

Carlisle continues to talk to Jasper as I stuff the backpack into the car.

"What you're doing, you have no way of knowing it will work." Edward appears at my side, his face brooding in the dusk light.

"I have no way of knowing that it won't. I have to try."

I turn into the door, getting situated quickly as Edward and Carlisle watch us. Jasper drops into the driver seat, and looks at me.

"You ready, darling?" he grins.

"Forever will be."