Chapter Six:

AN: I'm taking some liberties with vampire traits with the story. Since vampires are mythological, several authors take liberties with what they are and aren't able to do. In Interview with A Vampire, there are scenes where Louie cries, which is actually very powerful in a way - so for future reference for the story here are the traits that the vampires will possess:

They do possess the ability to cry - in SM version, as well as many FF stories, they don't.

They sparkle - I like it, I'll use it

They can drink wine/alcohol - don't know if I will use this as a literary device yet, but added it just in case

Super strength, hearing, speed, and some special powers - this seems to span all vampire folklore

I think that is it . . . read on.

BPOV:

Jasper was lying on the couch with his head in Alice's lap; tears were streaming down his face. His eyes were shut, and his face was contorted with pain. Peter had told me that most of the time, vampires don't cry, but in with severe emotional and physical distress, it has been known to happen.

May the devil have no mercy on Malia's soul.

Alice was running her free hand through his hair, her other hand, she had wound tightly around his wrists, keeping himself from inflicting any more harm on himself.

I threw the book we stole on the kitchen island and ran over to him.

"Bella, thank God," Alice whimpered. "He went catatonic about two minutes after you left and lapsed into silence. I didn't know what to do for him, and Edward can't get anything from him. Help him. Please, Bella, please."

I could hear the desperation in her voice for her ex-husband. Yes, they were exes, but they were best friends, companions, siblings for years. Feelings like that just don't die because soul mates are found. My eyes met her butterscotch ones, and I could tell with just one look that she was asking me not just to help Jasper now, but to help him permanently.

My hand connected with his cheek first, and I started thumbing away his tears, whispering reassurances to him. He let out a shuddering breath, as he finally opened his eyes.

"Jasper, thank God." Alice breathed a sigh of relief.

I sighed, helping him sit up from Alice's lap. When he was sitting in an upright position, he grabbed me, pulling me into his lap. I wrapped my legs around his waist, nuzzling into his neck.

"It took you awhile Cowboy," I whispered.

"Please accept my sincerest apologizes Darlin. It was a particularly nasty episode." His voice was thick. "Bella, I . . . I deserve this. I caused all these beings to feel pain or I caused them pain in some way."

"Don't you start Jasper Whitlock Cullen!" Esme scolded from the kitchen. She had returned from her hunt and had brought Jasper back some black bear blood.

"She's right Jasper . . ." Charlotte sat with Peter on an oversized chair.

"You should hate me Char, you and Peter both. I turned you, I felt what you felt during the last couple of minutes of your life . . . I felt it all again. You were terrified and in agony. I had no right to take you from your lives. I should have fought harder against Maria, should have escaped earlier . . ."

Charlotte interrupted, her eyes blazing at her maker. "I could never hate you Jasper. Yeah, you turned me, you turned Peter, but I never hated you. You need to remember that we were what Maria made us to be. You did what you had to do to survive your time with that sick sadistic bitch, and mark my words, if I ever get my hands around her skinny neck again, I will not hesitate to remove her head from her body."

The pure hate that she had for Maria was evident.

Peter held her close and finally spoke up. "I watched you for years brother. In all my years in the military and in the Southern Vampire Wars, I have never met someone as ruthless as you."

"Peter, shut up!" I screamed. Jasper was not ruthless.

"No Bella, he's right," Jasper spat out. "At one point I was one of the most feared vampires in the southern region. I fought and fucked my way through my first seventy years of this existence. I was good at it, and I loved it at one point. I am the monster that people write stories about!"

"You aren't that man anymore!" Edward shouted.

"Jasper, you were a product of your upbringing and you strive everyday to atone for your sins, to make right what Maria wronged. You are a good man, and I'm proud to have served next to you and to have your venom running through my veins," Peter continued after the outburst.

Jasper sat silently as I stayed in his arms. His breathing, even though unnecessary, had evened out finally from the attack, and Esme was filling his thermos as we spoke.

"You saved me when it mattered the most," Charlotte said. "You were compassionate and understanding to mine and Peter's plight. You could have followed orders to kill me, but you didn't."

"I couldn't," Jasper whispered. "The love that you and Peter have for each other, it's pure. You guys deserved a right to some kind of life after the hell we put you through."

"First off, you didn't put me through hell, Maria did. You were just the puppet. I can't even imagine what that bitch did to you when she found out you let me live and Peter escape."

"She removed my hands."

I whimpered in his arms at his admission. I grabbed his left wrist and saw a faint scar encompassing in.

"The other one is covered by the Cullen crest," he told me. "It hurt like a son-of-a-bitch, but Peter and Charlotte were safe, and that's all that mattered to me. She could have killed me for all I cared. Maria has killed for a hell of a lot less . . ."

I gasped at the admission, not realizing how deep the depression actually ran for years.

"But I'm glad she didn't," Jasper added, clutching me to him.

I'm glad the whore didn't kill him either.

"I may be a monster, but I didn't want to be one. I will forever be grateful to Alice for saving me from my darkness, and to Carlisle for being the mentor/father I needed. This family has showed me love, and made me feel so much more love, that it eclipses all of the agony and pain that I once felt . . . I need to save you guys. I couldn't live with myself if something happened to all of you, any of you, especially you," he whispered the last part in my ear.

"I promise we will figure something out," I told him, kissing his cheek, wiping away a stray tear that escaped. "But you aren't going to pull an Edward again . . ."

"What the hell does that mean?" Edward piped up from his piano bench.

"Running when it gets hard," I explained cheekily. I felt a stab of pain, that subsided as quickly as it came, and Jasper squeezed my hand reassuring me silently. Yeah, it was in the past, and it was forgiven, and I was over him, but it still hurt from time to time. I understood Jasper to some extent about the darkness.

I had been there for a little bit, it wasn't pretty, and I too was grateful to Alice for saving such a beautiful soul. Now it was my turn to save him, in whatever way I could, even if I did have to travel back in time.

Fuck the consequences. I didn't want to lose what I had with Jasper, but if there was a way I could save him, I would.

Edward shook his head, and groaned. "It wasn't like that. I was trying to protect you from this world, and I wanted you to have a life that none of us could have. I wish I didn't hurt you, but I did, and it will always be one of my biggest regrets Bella."

I understood. "I know why you did it, and I wish you and Alice nothing but the best. You guys were truly my best friends, and I am glad that I have you in my life again."

Jasper held me, basking in the love and sincerity that floated around in the room. He seemed almost calm and relaxed, a stark difference from the way he was several minutes earlier when I got home from school.

Peter looked to me, giving me a look as Jasper drank the blood that Esme brought in for him. His eyes were returning back to the brilliant gold that they once were, but his skin still held the same sickly pallor.

We knew that the episodes were getting worse, reverting back to the way it was before I re-entered the Cullens' lives.

I ran my hands through his hair, and he smiled at the gesture. I needed to save him.

"I'm going to go hunting," Peter announced, breaking the comfortable silence that had fallen throughout the house.

"Could I join?" Emmett asked. "It has been awhile since I have been hunting."

Alice and Edward had long disappeared to hunt themselves as they hadn't gone in quite awhile.

Peter nodded, and they were joined by their mates, leaving us with Esme and Carlisle. They excused themselves to go upstairs, leaving us virtually alone.

"It's a nice night out," I commented.

"It is. Why don't we take advantage of the never used fireplace out there and spend the night under the stars? I don't have very many memories of being human, but right after the change, when Maria would let me outside, I loved staring up at the stars. My new eyesight allowed for the brilliance of the stars to really be seen."

"Sounds like a plan Cowboy."

"Go upstairs and change into your pajamas, get comfortable. I'm going to teach you about the constellations."

"But Jas, I can be comfortable in my jeans. It hasn't even been an hour since I found you in tears on Alice's lap! What if you have another attack, go into catatonia?"

"Then you will be right by my side," Jasper replied calmly. "I lived with the torment for months before you came to my rescue, I can go five minutes."

I opened my mouth to protest, but I knew it would be futile. I placed my hand on his cheek, feeling some residual wetness from his tears from earlier. The look in his eyes told me not to argue with him. He needed some time by himself, even if it was only a couple of minutes and at the expense of his mental and physical well-being.

We walked up the stairs and stood in between the two rooms for a couple of minutes.

"I'll meet you by the fireplace," he told me placing a kiss on my forehead.

I nodded, and watched as he disappeared with vampire speed through his bedroom.

xxxxxxxxxx

I walked through the grass and found Jasper on the chaise rocking himself as he tried to shut out the feelings of terror. I poured all the love and adoration I felt for him, and tried to send it to him as I approached.

"I feel you," Jasper whispered as he ran his fingers through his hair. "I feel you through all the misery that is coursing through my body."

I knelt behind him on the chaise and started running my hands through his hair, stopping at the nape of his neck. "Maybe it's because we are close."

It was a plausible explanation, but ever since this curse hit, nothing could be explained easily.

"I don't know what I did to deserve you in my life." If I hadn't been sitting right on top of him, I would have been able to hear his soft admission.

"I feel the same way," I told him. "Fate brings people together." For the first time, I looked around, staring at the never used outdoor seating area. Jasper had the fireplace going and had candles burning around the chaise. The blanket that was on his bed was draped on the back of the chaise. "You did all this for me?"

"Yeah," he said softly, reaching around, bringing me into his lap. "You do so much for me, it's time I do something for you." He placed his hands on the back of my neck, and started giving me a massage. I moaned softly, relaxing for the first time since coming to Maine. I could get used to having cowboys and candlesticks.

"Bella, you mean so much to me . . ." Jasper trailed off, nuzzling my neck.

If someone had told me a year ago that Jasper Whitlock Cullen would be this close to my carotid artery, I would have laughed. He was so tender, so careful with me. It was a far cry from the monster that he claimed to be a hundred years ago.

"You have become my best friend," I told him honestly. Alice had been my best friend, and still was a close friend, but with her being with Edward, and me having to be with Jasper, our friendship was not as close as it once was.

"Friend?" Jasper's cold breath hit the shell of my ear, and I shivered, not from the cold, but the intensity.

"Definitely more than friend, but I don't know what we are. It's too confusing. I feel so much more for you, but am scared that it is because of the way we have to be together . . . does that make any sense? We are touching all the time, and well, you are eternally twenty and gorgeous . . ."

"Gorgeous?" He chuckled a little, moving my hair, and placing a kiss behind my ear. "You are the gorgeous one, and I understand where you are coming from. We may have developed these feelings because of the situation, but I want you to know that when all this is over with, with your permission, I would like to date you properly."

I was silent for a minute, not expecting this turn of events.

"That is if you want it," he added. "You may want to go back to Port Angeles after this fiasco, and get back to the life you built for yourself . . ."

I spun around in his lap, and kissed him soundly on the lips. He was rambling, and nervous, it was cute and unexpected from someone who was the self-proclaimed "Right-hand of the Devil."

His mouth attacked mine a split second after I initiated the kiss, and he quickly won dominance. I nipped his lower lip, and he let out a little growl. His hands were everywhere, up the back of my pajama top, caressing the bare, heated skin. I started to un-tuck his shirt from his pants, when he stopped my motion.

"Sorry, I got lost in the moment," I whispered sheepishly.

"Never be sorry," he whispered before kissing me chastely again.

"Jasper I couldn't give you up if I wanted to. You have become my best friend, and I want to explore these other feelings with you after all this shit with Malia is done with."

He let out an unnecessary breath he was holding.

"If you guys let me stay in Maine after all this is said and done with, then I want to stay."

He kissed me again. "I hope you know that I am going to keep doing that as long as we aren't interrupted."

I chuckled, thinking back about our missed opportunities. "So, did you bring me out here to just to make out with me?"

"The thought did cross my mind, but I really did want to come and gaze at the stars with you. I even ordered a telescope for you."

xxxxxxxxxx

JPOV

With Esme's help and Alice's vision, everything had been set up for something I wanted to do for Bella since she had done so much for me. It wasn't much, but it's all I could do for the time being. If she would let me, I would court her properly after all this was done with.

If one good thing came from this curse, it brought Bella back into all of our lives.

I made it outside and could feel dread begin to take over. I ran at vampire speed and sat on the chaise as agony and pain overwhelmed me again.

I could hear the voice the people I tormented in my head. It was the first soul that I turned. I'll never forget him. His name was Wade and he was a straggler in the Union army. Maria had brought him back to camp and demanded that I change him. This was her test to see if I could control myself enough to help make her army.

I passed, and had condemned many souls to this life and took them from the life as well. All this so I could save myself. If I hadn't passed, Maria would have killed me with the rest of the newborns. Wade didn't prove himself, and I had to kill him a year later.

Maybe I wasn't worth it.

As I let the torment overtake me, I felt a rush of love and understanding fill me. It was slight, but I felt it. I knew then, that Bella was close. It had been the first time I had ever felt someone's positive emotions since the curse had been placed when Bella wasn't physically touching me.

I felt her rub at the base of my neck, a sensation I hadn't felt in years. Alice always neglected my neck, scared of the scars that resided there.

We finally kissed, and talked about the fears that the feelings that we were both feeling were a result from the intense closeness that we had to share physically. I understood Bella's fears, but I knew that the depth of my feelings for her would continue way past this curse.

I took her hand and brought her away from the lights that were illuminated the seating area. I held her hand as I positioned the telescope at a particular area.

"Take a look . . ."

She leaned down, looking through the scope.

"There is a star named for you. Cheesy, I know, but one night when you were sleeping, I powered up a laptop and found a website for buying stars. This one, I bought and named for you."

"It's not cheesy, it's sweet."

She jumped, wrapped her little arms around my neck. I wrapped my arms around her to keep her against me. Her lips attacked mine again, and I kissed her back with fervor. She tasted divine, but I didn't want her blood, I just wanted her.

"Bella, we have to stop, otherwise my actions will be less than gentlemanly."

"That wouldn't be bad."

"It would be. I want to date you properly. Watch you eat dinner, kiss you inappropriately in a movie theater. You deserve some normalcy in this abnormal life."

"Define normal," Bella stated, kissing me chastely.

My girl did have a point.

"So you said you were going to teach my about the constellations, so teach me Galileo."

I laughed, shifting her so she was comfortable against my chest.

"When we were fighting in the southern wars, far from camp, we would use the stars to navigate our way back to camp after the battles. Sometimes we would veer off course, but the stars, they never move." I looked up in the northern sky and found Orion. How appropriate that we start off with the hunter.

I took her small hand in mind, and had her pointing straight at the belt.

"Do you see the three stars in a row?"

She nodded against my chest.

"It's the belt of Orion. In Greek mythology, Orion was a hunter, killed by Scorpion. The gods lifted him to the sky in a tribute to him. He is forever preserved in the stars, as you will be."

She snuggled closer to me, wrapping her arms across my chest. She shivered despite the heat radiating off the outdoor fireplace, so I grabbed the comforter and wrapped her up.

"Tell me more Jas."

I easily found the constellation I was look for. It was always one of my favorites to look at. During my time with Maria, I had often wondered if there was more to life than what she led me to believe. If I had a true love out there.

At the time, I thought I was in love with Maria, but I now know it wasn't love.

Maria loved the power I brought her, but she never loved me.

I sure as hell know I didn't love her.

"You are a million miles away Jasper."

I wrapped my arms around her, focusing on the woman in my arms.

"Sorry. I was about 150 years in the past. Not a very good time in my life."

"Let's not think about that. Tell me about the constellations."

I pointed up to Thisbe's veil next to Leo the Lion. She found it easily.

"What's the story behind this one?"

"The myth is that it are the lovers of Pyramus and Thisbe. Their families did not want them together, and despite all their protests, the lovers decided to elope. When Thisbe arrived at the place they had designated, Pyramus wasn't there. Instead there was a lion, who was bloodied from battle. Thisbe ran from it, but the lion was able to grab her veil from her. When Pyramus finally showed up, all he saw was the bloody veil. He, of course, thought the worst.

"He assumed that Thisbe was dead and that the lion had ran off with body. He killed himself with his own sword. Meanwhile, thisbe came back and found Pyramus dead. Consumed with grief, she flung herself on his sword and died. Zeus, wanting to give tribute to these young lovers, took her veil and floated it into the night sky, where we see it today."

"That's so sad," she whispered. "It's like Romeo and Juliet."

"It's said that is how Shakespeare got his inspiration."

She shifted, snuggling in my arms. I tilted her chin up and placed a lingering kiss on her lips. I would keep doing this until she told me to stop.

"Let's stay out here tonight," she whispered. "I want to sleep with you under the stars."

I wrapped my arms around her and tucked her into my chest. She felt so right there. I nodded, knowing that she would be warm enough underneath the blanket and with the fire going. I ran my fingers through her dark locks, just staring at the sky.

"Bella?"

Her breathing had evened out and she was mumbling softly, a tell-tale sign that she was asleep.

'She's asleep," I thought to Edward who was waiting with Peter at the tree line. They were running patrols seeing if they could catch Malia.

They stepped out, walking over to me.

Bella sighed in her sleep and mumbled incoherently as my brothers came into view. Peter looked down at his sleeping grandchild and smiled. I envied the fucker for a hot second for having blood relatives still around. All of mine I assumed had already passed on.

"Whatever you are planning Peter, don't do it." I held Bella closer to me. "This whole time travel thing is too dangerous; we could lose both of you."

"But it truly is the best shot we have right now," Peter argued back.

"We don't know how it will work. Don't you guys find it strange that during Carmen, Eleazar and Rose's travels, they find a gypsy who can tell us how to travel back in time?"

"Alice saw that everything would turn out okay," Edward told me.

"We always say to never bet against Alice, but look at what happened at her birthday last year! I almost killed her, where was the glimpse of the future then? I almost killed a woman that we all love! Not only that, I altered futures with a knee jerk reaction. This time travel thing is way too risky. We would be better off fighting Malia on our own terms, catching her off guard."

"You know my visions are subjective," Alice said stepping out of shadows. "And yes, the future is always changing. When I saw you, I really thought we would be together forever, but when Bella entered our lives, the future started changing little by little. She was meant to be our sister."

"I can't let her go back in time. If something happens to her, I swear I will beg the Volturi for death and I know that you guys are planning something behind my back. I don't have to be a mind reader to know that."

"So what if we are Jasper?" Peter spoke up. "We need contingency plans in case things go horribly wrong with Malia."

"Jasper?"

Bella's soft voice broke us out of our conversation. She was rousing a little. I still wish I had control over my power, otherwise I would help her back to sleep.

"Yes Sweetheart?"

"I want to help." She brought her head off my chest and looked at my brothers. "I want to help you return to that man that I saw in the library today."

"What are you talking about?" I asked her softly.

"I found a book about the civil war and you were in it. You were happy, smiling. Malia took all that from you, and I need to see you like that again."

I looked over at Peter who tossed the book over to me. I thought I owned every book about the Civil War, but somehow, this book must have been overlooked.

A Brief History of the Civil War by Katherine W. Hamilton. I flipped through the book and saw a picture of Caleb, Katie, and myself. I stared at the picture of my family for awhile, trying to remember anything about them, but the memories just wouldn't come. But now, at least, I had a picture of them.

"You found this book?" I asked her.

"Actually on accident," she replied. "I was just walked away from the class and found myself in the civil war section. I pulled a random book off the shelf, and there you were looking back up from the pages. I knew then that I was supposed to help you."

"You are helping me, everyday by being next to me, by not letting me slip into the madness. You don't need to do anything extreme . . ."

"I will though, if that what it takes."

I sighed, holding her closely.

"I will figure out a way to end this curse with you by my side, not with you gallivanting around the space/time continuum. I promise."

I kissed her softly on the lips, earning a glare from Peter and a chuckle from Edward.

I could tell that Edward was okay with it, after all, he was with my ex-wife now. Peter, Peter would be a harder sell on this development. Peter stood and walked away, and I sighed.

"He'll get over it," Bella told me. Edward nodded, as he stood, agreeing with Bella.

I watched as him and Alice ran back to the house, leaving us to finish our campout under the stars.

AN: Just a little fluffy chapter before I separate the two lovers. It was inevitable that they would kiss, and I had to bring up the way their relationship started. It's not going to be easy on the two, considering that Bella is going to go against Jasper's wishes.

Just remember, time travel is a sticky thing to write, and because of the nature of it, there will probably be some holes. I haven't figure out whether or not the whole reality will change with them, or if it will be she changes it just so slightly for Jasper. It just will take on a life of it's own as I get around to those chapters.

The next chapter will include Malia and the time travel.

Sorry for the delay, but I had someone break into my house and visitors over, and well real life is just catching up. I will try to write more sooner rather than later. Until then, leave me some thoughts on the time travel thing or just a smiley to let me know you are still with me.

Reviews rock my socks.