A/n: Due to JewelledTears review for this chapter, I immediately went back to re-vamp (Lol, re-vamp...get it...? Nevermind...xD) this chapter a little bit. I've only added to the second half of this chapter and the first half is totally untouched. Please tell me if you like it better or not. I would especially like to know if it makes sense or not. I didn't want to redo all of the dialogue just so that I could insert the new stuff but I'm concerned that it doesn't flow very well now. Leave me a review and tell me what you guys think.
Disclaimer: I don't own any of the characters mentioned here.
Chapter 4: Confrontations
"So, the Prodigal Son has returned."
"Would you just shut up, Edward?"
Edward paused and his eyes darted to the seething Rosalie, standing right behind Jasper. She glowered at him. Edward tried to suppress his surprise but it did not go unnoticed. The tight clench of his jaw and widening of his eyes were all it took for them to see how taken aback he was with the sudden show of compassion from the usually uncaring Rosalie.
"Aren't you angry too?" he managed to stammer. He noticed that Rosalie's hand was entwined with Jasper's but the moment she caught him looking, she let go.
"Yes, of course," she said dismissively.
The tension was thick. All eyes were on Edward and Rosalie. Edward broke the silence as he returned his attention to Jasper. "What were you thinking going off like that in the middle of the entire school?" he demanded. "Do you even realize the risk you have put as all in? We've only been here two years and because of you, we might need to leave—"
"Edward! Don't say such things," Esme cried, hoping to keep the peace. Alice put a comforting hand on her shoulder but clearly she too was just as confused and baffled as everybody else.
"I don't have to explain anything to you," was Jasper's cold reply. He understood what Edward was getting at. Unmistakably, Edward's only concern was with the human girl and his continued relationship with her. Had he not been so caught up with this new found obsession, he could care less if they suddenly just got up and left. They were nomads who have been wandering for years. It was not something new.
"Oh really? I suggest you start coming up with an excuse really soon. Carlisle has been waiting for you."
Jasper closed his eyes, ran a hand through his hair and sighed. "Fine," he murmured and broke away from the group, making his way to where Carlisle was hiding away and waiting for him.
Rosalie out of pure instinct grabbed his arm. "Wait, I'm going with you." Jasper stopped and turned to look at her. Her eyes were bright and wild as if she was possessed. Maybe she was. He gave her an incredulous look and she let go of him so quickly it was as if she had burned herself. "I can...can vouch for you or something," she added noncommittally, realizing her mistake. 'What are you doing?' she thought wildly. The scary thing was, she still didn't know.
"I can vouch for myself, thank you," he told her and walked away. The rest watched him walk up the grand staircase up to the second storey and disappear around the corner. They looked at each other as if they could not believe what had just transpired. These events were making everyone act uncharacteristically. Ever since Edward decided to bring this human girl into their lives, everything has gone upside down just to accommodate her.
Stalking off, Edward left without another word and Esme retreated back into her kitchen. Emmett took Rosalie by the hand and she, slightly dazed, let him pull her along. "Come on, Alice. Jasper will be okay," he said, giving the pixie vampire a sheepish grin.
"Wait," she called after them. This was the first time she spoke. Her voice was soft and low. "Rosalie, why was it that you were able to find Jasper?" she demanded.
Rosalie's head snapped back, her eyes boring into her "sister's". Icily, she replied, "Because I didn't stop looking, Alice." Pulling Emmett along, Rosalie left Alice alone, still standing by the entrance.
Just as Jasper's hand struck the door, Carlisle's soft but stern voice came echoing from within his study, "Come in, Jasper."
With a heavy heart, the blond vampire pushed the door and entered. Carlisle was where he was usually found while in his office — behind his desk, sitting back comfortably on his black leather chair. He was casually flipping through a large, old volume taken from one of the many bookshelves lining the walls.
Upon his entrance, Carlisle looked up and put away whatever he was reading, and quietly watched as Jasper crossed the long expanse of the room until he stood right in front of his desk.
"You wanted to see me, Carlisle?"
"The others have told me what happened today at school. I suggest you explain yourself." The elder vampire dark eyes shown ominously and all Jasper could do was obey.
"Had I not left, I would have lost control. I had no other choice."
Carlisle folded his hands together and placed them on top of the desk as he eyed Jasper critically. "This surprises me," he said slowly and deliberately. "What caused this...episode?"
Jasper's eyes flashed and he clenched and unclenched both hands before finally answering, "Bella."
"Bella?" Carlisle repeated.
"Yes, sir."
Carlisle leaned over in his seat and looked at Jasper squarely, "I have known you for some fifty odd years and never once have I seen you so impulsive and emotional. How is Bella so different from all the others you have managed to overcome?"
Brows furrowed, Jasper was at a loss for words. He didn't understand how the human girl came at him so strongly. Edward had said before that he too had difficulty mastering himself while in her presence but somehow he had. The rest seemed to be coping very well too. Was he truly so much weaker than the others?
The elder vampire let out a heavy sigh and closed his eyes. "I cannot have you go on like this. What you did was unacceptable and I will not tolerate it again."
Unable to keep his emotions at bay any longer, Jasper snapped back, "Are you saying I should have mauled that girl in front of all those students? And so what if I left school? I doubt anybody cares all that much. Let them talk, they have before."
"Jasper, there must have been other ways you could have dealt with your desires. Instead, by acting so impulsively, you made all of us susceptible to derision," Carlisle said, echoing Edward's own words and angering Jasper even more.
What was wrong with Carlisle? Why was his judgement so clouded all of a sudden? Never had Jasper seen Carlisle be anything but just and compassionate, and most of all fair. He had always been a man of science and looked at the world with a logical mind. Where was that person now?
"It is not as if we aren't thought of as freaks already," he murmured through clenched teeth.
"Jasper," Carlisle said his name in exasperation. It sounded like he was talking to some naughty child who was deliberately trying not to do what he was being told. "Don't you care that because of the way you acted it now reflects on your brothers and sisters? And gossip shouldn't be taken lightly. One day there will be that one curious human and..."
"You mean like Bella?" Jasper shot back. "I think it's funny you tell me this and yet Edward goes about doing exactly what you don't want to happen. A human knows our secret and you do nothing." Besides the anger that welled with in him, even more so Jasper felt betrayed by the one who took he and his wife in all those years ago. How was it fair that he should be humiliated like this for such a small thing and yet when Edward is at fault Carlisle turns a blind eye?
When Carlisle did not answer, emboldened, Jasper added, "And we're planning to leave in the next year or so, aren't we?" He had hoped to question their future should Edward keep the human girl.
"True..." the doctor said slowly.
The passive expression on Carlisle's face did not convince Jasper and he demanded, "What are you not saying?"
Carlisle shook his head, refraining from giving any real answer, "Nothing. Only that, now with Bella in the picture, our lives have become increasingly more complicated."
"Damn it, Carlisle!" Jasper shouted, slamming his fist against the finely carved mahogany wood that was Carlisle's desk. He knew! Carlisle knew the stakes and yet he still did absolutely nothing!
There was a huge indent now in the wood and Carlisle frowned upon seeing it. However, Jasper took no notice and continued, "Why haven't you talked this over with Edward? And why are you so willing to let this go on? Shouldn't the rest of us have a say?"
Abruptly, Carlisle stood up and walked around the desk so that he and Jasper stood face to face. He placed a hand on his shoulder, hoping to calm him down. "Now, Jasper aren't you being a bit unfair towards Edward? He's gone through this life without truly loving anyone unlike the rest of us. He should have a chance at happiness as well and Bella seems to make it happen."
Jasper shrugged off Carlisle's hand and sneered, "So, in exchange for his happiness, some of us like me and Rosalie have to pay the price? That is what I call unfair!"
Rising to his full height, Carlisle stared at him with all authority which came with being more than a 300-year-old vampire. Jasper stood his ground, his own face just as stern. "This discussion is over. I have allowed this. You will have to deal with it as best you can, Jasper. And when I mean that, I mean no more repeats of what happened today. Understand?"
Jasper's body went rigid despite the angry boiling inside of him and he stared back at Carlisle with so much vehemence. "I do not take orders from you, sir." Jasper's words were scathing and Carlisle winced as they reached his ears and he was momentarily stunned. Without another word, the blond vampire quickly exited the room, slamming the door behind him.
A/n: Wow, phew! Well, that's over and done with. This was bit of a hard chapter to get done but I finally managed to do it. :) There's still one final scene between the two "siblings", Jasper and Rosalie, and after that Between Siblings will be officially over. Yay! Review, please?