A/N: Sorry it took me awhile! But, I was working on a lot of things...and I wanted to make sure this came out really good.

And to my Seven reviewers from last chapter, THANK YOU so much. You all inspired me to make this chapter extra long.. lol. Especially to xoKellyAnnexo...for her fantastic suggestion!


Chapter 27: Attacked

~The worst is over now, and we can breathe again. I wanna hold you high, you steal my pain away. There's so much left to learn and no one left to fight.~

One inch to the right was all it took.

One fraction of a second and he didn't see me moving.

It all happened so fast.

Before I even had to time to blink, I felt something…rather, someone slam into me.

An attack I'm sure was intended for Jasper sent me flying across the gravel in a matter of two seconds. Ten feet from where I had just been previously standing.

I landed with a hard thud on the hard ground and for a few seconds all I saw was white. For a moment, I thought I was goner.

But alas, I soon felt a sharp pain shooting up my side.

I screamed out, and that quickly stopped my attacker.

Even though this all probably happened in a matter of seconds, it felt like it had been hours before my brother finally locked eyes with me, realizing that he wasn't fighting Jasper here on the ground but, his own sister.

His human sister.

"Oh, god.." was all he said as he removed all his weight off of me, letting the oxygen rush into my lungs as I gasped for air.

I tried to sit up but was hit with a very unpleasant feeling, followed by a similarly unpleasant smell.

I gently touched the back of my head and brought my hand back in front of me and winced at the amount of blood that was on it.

"We need to get you…" Edward started to say something but was flung out of the way and someone else was pushing me back to the ground again.

I did a double take as I stared at my new attacker. Someone I didn't think would ever be trying to hurt me.

Alice. Alice with pitch black eyes to top it off.

She didn't even say anything to me. All I heard was a strange growl come out of her chest before she grabbed my bloody hand in hers.

I tried to say something to her, but, when I tried to speak, I felt a nasty taste coming up in my throat. More blood.

Before it even registered, I felt a pair of teeth graze across my skin. Like knives just cutting through me.

But, that was it. There was no burn that followed…isn't that how it works? I also didn't feel the life being sucked out of me either.

There was another scream and then I was back on the ground, staring up into the cloudy sky.

"Get her in the house now!" I heard someone yell and at the same time, someone lifting me up off the ground. My mind was spinning by the time was reached the living room and I felt myself being set on the couch.

"Don't worry darlin', I got you." My favorite southern boy spoke to me from somewhere, and I felt the side of my head being pressed against something cold and soothing. The pain started to fade somewhat so I knew I was against Jasper.

Out of the corner of my eye, I saw Edward walking in, his hand wrapped tightly around Alice's tiny arm. Her eyes were still black but she had a look of utter remorse on her face.

Carlisle and Esme came running down the stairs and he was instantly at my side, demanding to know what happened.

Edward openly admitted to having attacked me on accident and Alice shyly threw in that the scent of my blood over powered all of her senses for a brief moment.

"What's with you guys always wanting to attack me?" I choked, trying to get my breathing back to normal. It wasn't working. The more I coughed, the more blood came out. It was disgusting and I didn't like it all. And I'm pretty sure Esme was going to go ballistic when she saw the blood stains on her favorite couch.

"She didn't bite her." Jasper pointed out "I pulled her away before she had the chance to sink her teeth in." he pulled me tighter against him when I winced as Carlisle touched the almost bite mark.

"I need you to move away from him so I can clean up the gash on the back of your head…and then I need to run some blood work and take a few x-rays." Carlisle gently grabbed me and I leaned a little forward, the pain shooting up my body. He cleaned it quickly and thankfully I didn't need stitches.

When Carlisle moved for a split second, Alice was suddenly kneeling in front of me, her hair a mess and oddly, I didn't move away from her.

I knew she could never intentionally hurt me.

"Oh, god Natalia, I'm so sorry…can you ever forgive me??" she grabbed my hand and sobbed tearless sobs. I didn't answer her, I was in too much shock.

She looked up at me, fear flashing across her eyes "If you want, I can leave…you won't ever have to see me again…" she said sadly, going to get up.

"No, Alice." I choked out, trying to stop anything from coming back up. "You aren't going anywhere. I was just surprised you were asking me for forgiveness…" I took a deep breath and it killed me.

"I just tried to kill you…" she shook her head.

"But you didn't. And I don't hate you. You're like my sister…so you just keep your little self here okay?"

"Oh, Natalia, thank you! I love you so much too!" she gently wrapped her arms around me, trying to avoid any blood contact.

"Let's go hunt Alice." Edward helped her up and then looked down at me.

"Can you ever forgive me?"

"Yea, just this once." I laughed but regretted it as I started coughing again. "it was an accident…don't get all depressed on me Edward." I frowned. I knew my brother. He was going to be blaming himself for this for a long time.

"I love you so much little sister." He leaned down and kissed my forehead before heading out with Alice.

I turned and saw Esme, Carlisle and Jasper staring back at me.

"I know." I mumbled. They were probably thinking I was insane. Forgiving the two people who could've very well killed me less than fifteen minutes ago.

"Jasper, can you carry her upstairs so we can run the tests and get her changed?"

"Yes." He nodded quickly and gently picked me up and followed Carlisle up the stairs and into my room.

"I'll get the things I need…" Carlisle went to go get his stuff.

Jasper sat beside on me on the bed, looking towards the wall before turning to look back at me.

I didn't need to be a mind reader to know that he was angry. At who, I wasn't quite sure.

"Natalia, you're such a fool…" his voice was stern but his face was full of concern "What am I going to do with you?" he looked down at his clothes, the blood drying on his hands and shirt.

"You're just going to love me…" I managed out. It was still a little hard to breathe.

"You could've been killed." He reminded me.

"But I wasn't. I'm still here." I even threw a smile in there for good measure. "Jasper?" I called him so he could look up at me again.

"Thank you…for saving me, again." I said, a lump forming in my throat.

"Saving you? Your brother was only attacking me because of what happened earlier. He saw it in my thoughts for a split second…if anything, this is my…"

"No, don't you dare say it…" I grabbed his hand and holding it in mine. "just accept my gratitude alright?"

"Alright darlin', whatever you say…" he nodded, kissing my cheek.

Carlisle came back and Jasper said he was going to leave for a bit, to get some clean clothes and give me a chance to take a shower and that he'd be back soon.

After he left, Carlisle did his exam, stopping for a brief moment when something caught his attention. He frowned but didn't say anything as he touched the bruise on my hip.

Esme then helped me take a shower, washing all the blood off. It was still hard for me to breathe but I was a lot better by the time I was done, Carlisle waiting for me to talk to me about my injuries.

"I've finished running all the blood work and doing my exams on you, and I'm pleased to see that nothing is broken, and you're going to be perfectly fine. You'll be in an immense amount of pain though unfortunately."

"That's a relief." I sighed. So, I didn't have brain damage after all. Thank goodness for that.

"So, can I get some rest now?" I asked hopefully, already snuggling deeper into my blanket.

"Not so fast honey." Carlisle grabbed the blanket gently and pulled it back "I'm afraid there will be no sleeping for you tonight Natalia."

"But, why? You just said I'm going to be fine."

"I know. But, you did suffer a pretty nasty fall and you hit your head pretty hard. You might have a concussion and I don't want to take any risks. So, you're just going to have to stay awake all night. And, if everything looks okay in the morning, I'll let you rest then."

"Oh come on Carlisle…" I pouted "you know how much I like to sleep."

"I know and I'm sorry but I'm not going to let you sweet talk your way out of this Natalia. I don't want my daughter running the risk of slipping into a coma. So, you're just going to have to suffer this one night."

"Fine. Well, what the heck am I supposed to do all night?"

Before he could answer, I heard someone clear their throat from the doorway. I looked up and smiled.

Jasper was back.

"If it's okay with you Carlisle, I'd like to stay here with her. I'll make sure she doesn't fall asleep and I will call you if anything out of the ordinary happens."

"Very well then. Only because I know better than to try and argue with you about her. Even though she is my daughter…but…" he looked back at me "I don't want any funny business you understand me?" he gave me a knowing glare I just about died.

"Thank you Carlisle." Jasper nodded at him as he went to exit the room.

"Oh and Natalia?" he paused, turning around to look at me once more "when you're feeling better, don't think for second that we aren't going to have a talk about that"

I nodded, and I felt my cheeks go hot with embarrassment. He closed the door behind him and Jasper was instantly at my side of the bed again.

"What was that all about?"

I looked up at him, still feeling extremely flustered. I couldn't find the words to tell him so, I did the only other thing I could. I showed him.

I pushed my blanket done even more and lowered the hem of my sweatpants just a little bit, until they were right below my hip.

He stared at me for a few seconds, a confused look on his face. So, I grabbed his hand and positioned it over the bruise that had formed there. His eyes widened when he saw that it was the exact same shape as his hand.

From when things got a little control earlier today by the water.

"I'm so…"

"Don't, Jasper." I frowned "I already forgave you remember. I just wanted to show you why Carlisle was acting like that just now. He thinks that we were….well, you know." I shrugged.

"But, we weren't. I was trying to hold you down so I could bite you." He said quickly and quietly that I barely heard him.

"It's just a bruise. It'll go away in a few days. I think it's kind of cool."

"You…what??" he shook his head but still kept his hand on the bruise.

"Now you can say that you literally imprinted on me." I suddenly burst into a fit of giggles and a strange feeling came over me.

"Are you okay?" he quirked an eyebrow.

"Yes…no…maybe." I just kept on laughing.

"If you didn't have a possible concussion, I'd send you some much needed waves of calm. You're acting a little strange Natalia."

"Are you making fun of my joke? Because that's not very nice Jasper…"

"I don't see how this is funny."

"Just shut up and get in here…" I tugged on his hand lightly.

~Jasper~

Natalia's emotions had changed about ten times in the past two minutes. They were all over the place.

I know Carlisle said that she might have a possible concussion but, I didn't think that would affect her emotions and her actions even.

When she showed me the bruise on her hip, I didn't know what to think.

A part of me was extremely angry with myself for doing that her. I didn't think I had pressed down that hard.

And then there was another part of me that had to agree with her awkward joke.

She said that I had 'literally imprinted' on her. And, regardless of how long that bruise would stay on her, it was almost like I had marked her as mine.

"Just shut up and get in here…" she grabbed my hand and pulled it lightly to join her in the bed.

I, of course complied instantly. I sat against her headboard and stretched my legs out in front of me.

"So, what are you going to do to keep me awake Mr. Imprinter?"

"I'm going to talk to you." I shrugged.

"Talk! How boring..." she rolled her eyes and leaned over and poked me in the side a few times. "I don't want to talk silly…" she laughed at my expression after she was done.

"Why were you poking me?"

She didn't answer me at first. My eyes just followed her as slowly sat up in the bed and sat on my lap.

"I wanna hit you just to see if you cry. Keep knocking on wood, hopin' there's a real boy inside. But you're not a man…you're just a mannequin." She laughed as she sang…and terribly slurring her words at the same time.

"Get it Jasper?? You're just a vampire…" she improvised her own lyrics into the song.

"Oh, Natalia…" I patted her hands, trying to contain my laughter. She had completely lost her mind, sort to speak.

Given her current state though, she just might start crying if I started laughing at her.

"I don't want to talk though…come on, you got to have something more exciting we can do."

"Like what darlin'?"

"Maybe something like this?" she smiled innocently at me and repositioned herself so that her legs were on either side of me now. She kept that sweet smile on her face as she ran her hands up along the front of my shirt and eventually up around my neck.

"Mm, Japser…you smell good." She giggled, running the side of her face against mine.

"Are you trying to seduce me?" I asked, half seriously as she kept pressing her body against mine.

"Is it working?"

"Not really." I acted indifferent. It was all lies.

"Well, give me some credit…" she pouted and moved her mouth closer to my ear "what about this?" she sighed just before I felt her teeth grazing against my skin.

I just about threw her down when she did that. She may say she doesn't know what she's doing but, she was doing everything right in my mind.

"Natalia…" I sighed and pushed her back away from me a few inches "as amazing as this is, I'm not about to take advantage of you. You can't possibly want this right now…when you're not even fully conscious do you?"

"Nonsense…" she attacked me again "Major Whitlock…" she laughed lightly at her own words "I give you permission to take advantage me…I promise you I won't regret it in the morning…"

"Oh yes you will…" I said half heartedly, her hands slowly making their way down, unbuttoning a few buttons. I let her get to about halfway when I grabbed her hands in mine.

Gently, but quickly, I repositioned us so that she was laying flat on her back now. Still holding her hands, I kissed her quickly before sitting up.

"You're making this extremely difficult on me." I frowned, trying to fix my shirt but she kept pulling my hands back, laying them to rest against her.

"It's only difficult because you just won't give in. And I'm running out of ideas…" she sighed in frustration. "You aren't thinking that you would hurt me right? Because that would be the stupidest thing…"

"That's the furthest thing from my mind." I admitted "I would love nothing more if I could just let these hands wander into the unknown…to be a part of you." I leaned down, holding myself up so that I wouldn't hurt her and kissed her nose.

"Then what's stopping you?" she looked up at me and her eyes were glazed over. Out of lust or from her concussion I wasn't quite sure.

"This neither the time nor place I'm afraid…"

"Says you."

"Natalia, there's no way. Did you not forget that you were attacked a few hours ago?"

"No." she sighed "But, if you promise me that we will…"

"You don't even have to ask. One of these days, when the time is right, I am going to give you my everything…"

"Kay." She smiled and blushed at the same time.

Her smile faded slightly when I placed my hand gently on her side and she winced in pain.

"May I?" I looked at her and grabbed the hem of the shirt she was wearing and slowly started to pull it up.

"No, Jasper!" she giggled and placed her hand over mine "That's embarrassing…"

"What?" I couldn't stop my laughter this time "Not more than two minutes ago, you were all set to be together and now, you won't let me look at your bruise?"

"Oh, yea I forgot." She sighed and let my hand go. She still blushed when I pulled the shirt up slightly so that I could get a good look at the bruise over where her ribs were.

"It looks worse than it feels." She whispered.

"Liar. I can feel your pain." I leaned down and pressed my lips against her bruise, causing a slight moan to escape her lips.

"Can you do that again?" she asked after a few seconds "it helped me feel better." She batted her eyelashes at me.

"It seems as if your concussion has increased your sexual desires." I teased her.

"No, they're always there, I just try not to think about them so much when I'm around you…or anyone else for that matter." She admitted, sliding her eyes closed.

"Seems to have made you say what's really on your mind too." I shook my head and pulled her shirt back down. Any more of this and she'd surely try to go at it again. And I don't know if I would be able to stop her again.

"No Natalia, you can't go to sleep, open those eyes." I sat up and sat her up with me.

"How much longer?" she looked over at me.

"Oh about seven hours." I glanced at her clock.

"Oh this is just great…"

"Look on the bright side, at least you won't have to take that Chemistry test tomorrow…"

"Not like I studied…" she laughed, sitting cross legged in front of me.

She grew silent after that. I wondered what she was doing when she stretched her arms out in front of her, her eyes full of all types of things.

"What am I going to tell everyone at school?" she whispered.

"I'm sure they won't notice." I tried to reassure her.

"Not going to notice??" she glared at me "look!" she flipped her wrist up, flashing the semi-fresh scar that was forming from where Alice had tried to bite her.

"They're going to think I'm some sort of freak." She sighed, glaring down at her wrist.

"And if they do? It doesn't mean you are…" I leaned up closer to her and grabbed both of her upturned hands in mine. On her right she had the scar on her palm from when I had left and now on her left wrist she now had two jagged marks across the width of her wrist.

They were only jagged because I pulled Alice away from her.

"What's going through your mind?" I asked her when she stopped talking again.

"I'm just trying to think of one good reason as to why you pulled Alice away from me? I mean, if you would've just let her bite me, things would be different now. We'd be halfway to our forever…and isn't that what you want?"

"Of course I want to be with you forever but…" I lifted her wrist and kissed it gently "If it ever comes to down to you being changed, I assure you now that it will be me who bites you, not anyone else…because I'm selfish."

"I don't think it's selfish. Maybe more like a bonding thing." She shrugged.

"Perhaps. Either way, you know Alice wasn't just going in for a bite…she was going all the way if we would've let her."

"I know, I feel so bad! I'm just glad that I was able to convince her to stay her. I love her like a sister. So she slipped…I can't blame her. She is a vampire after all. It's a little funny though…I thought that maybe it was going to be you who attacked me." She admitted.

"Me?" I stared at her wide eyed. "Why would you think that?"

"You aren't attracted to my scent…isn't that how it works?"

"I've never really been attracted to your scent. Maybe it's the imprinting. That made things complicated enough. I've never had the desire to drink your blood Natalia…I'd say the only thing that drives me crazy sometimes is your heartbeat, your pulse…"

"Like earlier today?"

"Exactly."

"Well, when and if it ever comes down to it, looks like you're going to have to find a new spot to bite." She giggled. "well, you could always have the other wrist if you want…"

"Oh, I think I'll be able to find a place."

Really, in my mind, it wasn't a matter of when and if.

It was a matter and when and how.

"Enough about biting, let's talk about something else…please?" she asked.

"Well, since you asked so nicely…" I grabbed her so that the two of us could rest against her bed.

We talked for hours. About everything and anything. I learned a lot of things about her childhood and she learned a lot about those years after I was changed.

"Now I won't be able to fall asleep…that was some disturbing information." She frowned, sad that I had to endure it.

"It's all in the past. Things are so much better now…I have you." I assured her.

Thankfully, she stopped acting so strange after about two hours.

I honestly don't know if I'd be able to handle any more of her advances towards me.

I may be strong but, when it comes to her, I'm seeing now that I'm not.

When the sun began to rise, it had been just about seven hours when her family came waltzing into her bedroom.

"How are you feeling?" Carlisle walked up to her, pressing his hand against her forehead and then felt around her head, to make sure nothing seemed out of place.

"Tired."

"Well, you seem to be doing better. How was she last night Jasper? Nothing out of the ordinary?" he looked over at me.

"No, she was alert the entire night." I stated, trying not to let anymore of my thoughts slip through the cracks, especially with Edward standing ten feet away. I had a feeling it'd only embarrass Natalia.

"Good. Then I suppose after you eat and take some medication, I suggest you take a shower and get some sleep."

"Thank god!" she sighed, practically jumping out of the bed. She swayed a little when she did though.

"Easy there." I caught her quickly and pulled her against me and sat us both back on the bed. "just because he said you're going to be fine doesn't mean you should be bouncing around." I laughed, pushing some hair out of her face.

"Oh yes." Carlisle looked at the two of us sitting together "that reminds me…about that conversation we were going to have…."

"Oh! You're awake!" Esme walked in the room and smiled.

~Natalia~

Oh, saved by sweet Esme! I wasn't about to have this conversation with Carlisle while my brother, Jasper and Alice were all in the room.

"Hi Esme." I smiled gratefully to her when she hugged me. It was like I wasn't even sitting in Jasper's lap…she was just so relieved to see me up and moving.

"I'm so happy to see you that you're feeling better." She looked over at Carlisle who was about to interrupt her and he stopped.

No one in their right mind would interrupt Esme. She's been known to pack a mean punch when she wants to.

"With all the excitement yesterday, I forgot to tell you that these arrived for you two in the mail." Esme smiled sweetly and handed each of us a small stack of letters and envelopes. One to me and then she turned around and gave one to Edward.

I knew what this was. I had spent almost an entire year preparing myself for this moment.

My eyes flickered to Jasper for a moment and he just smiled back at me…and I wasn't sure why. We had never gotten around to talk about this…but he seemed relatively calm and I wanted to know why.

There were four envelopes and two letters. My mind immediately told me to open the envelopes first. I looked over at my brother for a moment, his were all envelopes. No surprise there. Not that I was jealous…a little irritated maybe over the fact that he just looked so calm.

As if this didn't mean anything to him. Where I had busted my butt off for all this.

"Just open them." He laughed at me, listening in on my thoughts.

I grabbed the first envelope, opening it quickly.

It was a rejection from John Hopkins. I frowned to myself when I read it. I really wanted to go there.

"Well, so much for that one." I placed it on my bed and grabbed the other envelope. It was in such a thick envelope. A little too fancy.

"Oh, Edward I'm going to kill you." I rolled my eyes reading the letter. "I told you…" I glared up at him, waving the big rejection letter from Harvard.

"I'm sure the people there had a blast laughing at my 'application'."

"It was worth a shot." He shrugged.

I looked back down at the envelopes in my hand. I suddenly remembered that I had only applied to four schools and yet, I had six responses.

My first two acceptances were to Boston University and Texas A&M.

"Texas huh?" Jasper laughed. "You have a thing for the South now?" he joked.

"Yea, I've come to develop a thing for accents…"

The last two envelopes in my hands just stared up at me in the face.

The next one was from UCLA. I just about jumped up into the sky when I saw it.

"Oh! Do you know how competitive this school is?! And I got in…" I waved the letter to my family and they just all nodded and congratulated.

"Where is this one from?" I looked back up at my brother. He had obviously applied for me.

"Is this a joke?" I looked at him, my heart racing somewhat.

"Doesn't look like it…" he smiled smugly. "I may have filled out the application, but I used your writings…"

"Oh my god!" this time I jumped up and ran over to my brother and hugged him tightly.

"You jerk, I can't believe you did this." I laughed and hugged him tighter. "thank you!"

"What is it Natalia?" Carlisle asked me and I walked over and showed him the letter.

"Oh, my." Esme smiled peering over to see the letter.

"Dartmouth is pleased to offer you acceptance to the freshman class for the academic school year of 2009-2010." Carlisle read off the letter, his eyes brimming with excitement.

"Can you believe it!" I yelped, grabbing the letter and making my way back to Jasper, who had remained silent during all this. "Jasper, I know we haven't had the chance to talk about college but I…"

"Don't worry darlin' it's already taken care of." He smiled at me.

"What's taken care of?" I watched as he stood up and went to grab something out of the duffel bag he had brought last night. He handed me a stack of six envelopes. I flipped through them, my eyes widening as I realized that there was acceptance letters to every one of the schools I had applied to, and the two that Edward did.

"But how? How did you know?" I handed him the letters back.

"Alice." He looked over at her "I had her help me out. I hope you don't mind."

"Mind? No, this is perfect!!" I flung my arms around him.

"So, Jasper, which school have you decided to attend?" Carlisle asked him.

"Whatever school she chooses, that's where I'm going."

"Oh how romantic!" Alice squealed and Esme nodded her head, a smile on her face as well.

"Wait, hold on a minute." Carlisle held up his hands "I don't know if I like the idea of you going off to college with him Natalia."

"What? You've got to be kidding me right?" I looked over at him.

"No, I'm afraid not. Just the two of you, I don't know. What if something happens?"

"Like?"

"I think you know." He looked at me.

"But, that won't happen. Right Jasper? If we go to school together, you're not going to change me out of the blue right? My family will be there with me…they'll know it's going to happen right?"

He looked at me, a look of uncertainty in his eyes. Like, if he was almost afraid to tell me the truth.

"Right?" I stepped closer to him and took his hand in mine.

"I…I honestly don't know." He admitted truthfully. "you saw what happened…" he trailed off.

He was right. He almost lost all control yesterday. But, if it would've happened, at least my family was still nearby.

If the two of us moved away, there was a good chance they wouldn't be there.

What if he lost control again? Was I really ready to be like one of them…forever??

Then again, why wouldn't I want to spend eternity with him? He was the only person I was ever going to love.

He was my everything. My sun, my earth.

"I don't think it'd be a wise choice." Carlisle voiced his opinion after a few moments.

"I think perhaps she should make the choice."

"I'm her father." He shook his head, starting to go into dad-mode.

"She's an adult." He snipped at him.

I didn't like this. Again, two people I loved were arguing about me. I hated being the center of attention.

"Oh both of you just stop it!" I dropped Jasper's hand and walked away from the two of them, taking a few deep breaths when I felt a little dizzy.

I stared at the two of them.

And I suddenly had the feeling that someone was about to make me choose. And I didn't mean what college either.

My family or my Jasper?

I wasn't about to let Jasper go anywhere. But, I wasn't about to hurt my family either.

Who and what would I choose?

More importantly, who was going to be the one who ended up getting hurt?


Wow, there was a lot going on in that chapter! I hope you all enjoyed it. The song Natalia was 'singing' to Jasper was "Mannequin" by Katy Perry.

Anyways, let me know what you thought.

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