Chapter Three - Family Meeting

This picks up the night of Bella's party, letting you know what was going on with the Cullens in the time leading up to Edward's final confrontation with Bella and her subsequent suicide. It will then move past that point.

Jasper POV

I finally had regained control of my emotions and was ready to face the music. I had lunged at Bella Swan, my brother's mate, my wife's best friend, a cherished and respected member of my own family. Bella was truly special, and I had nearly killed her earlier. I had killed James to protect her. I hadn't killed another vampire since I left Maria. I had never wanted to be in that position again. Yet, I hadn't thought twice when I saw what the bastard had done to her in that ballet studio. I hadn't felt any qualms about ripping him to pieces and setting his ass on fire. I didn't have the slightest regret, guilt, or remorse about it either.

She was worth it, just like I told her all those months ago in that hotel room. She didn't know my past, but she accepted me unconditionally. She trusted me, more than my own wife did. She never once discouraged or disparaged me, never judged me or was disgusted by me. She didn't even fear me. In fact, on the whole, her emotions were far more positive toward me than Alice's had ever been.

Alice liked to control me, manipulate me, bend me to her will. She had taken away my self-confidence, my self-respect, gradually over time, undermining me so slowly but surely that I didn't even realize it was happening until the damage was already done, and I was in too deep to free myself. Alice and I really had nothing in common. The only reason we were together was because she had convinced me it was 'meant to be' according to her visions. Who was I to question fate?

Over the past few years though, as her manipulations have become worse, as I've lost more and more of myself to become the perfect Ken doll she wanted me to be, I've actually started to wonder if some of her 'visions' weren't products of her imagination just to get her way without resistance. Seeing the way she and Edward treated Bella had opened my eyes to the issues in my own relationship. Identifying their behavior toward her as wrong, and then realizing they used some of the exact same tactics on me, had shown me just how much of my 'self' I had sacrificed on the altar of Alice's happiness. Could I even recognize myself at all now?

I continued along with my inner rant as I ran back toward Forks. My phone suddenly rang, and I was happy for the interruption of my negative thoughts. I checked the Caller ID and saw it was Alice. No surprise there. She would have seen me on my way back and would likely want to meet me somewhere along the way for some comfort and a private hunt. I still loved her, of course, and would never be unfaithful to the woman who had given me hope and a reason to keep going when I was at the lowest point of my existence. I had been seriously considering suicide at the time and thus owed her my very existence. I felt guilty for my feelings of resentment toward her for her treatment of me. After all, never once had I stood up for myself against her and told her how I really felt, so it wasn't really fair of me to simply blame her for our problems. My avoidance of conflict had certainly played its part.

"Alice?" I answered.

"You need to come home immediately. We're having a family meeting."

"Sure thing, darlin'" I drawled. "Is everything okay? You sound a little tense."

"No, it's not okay. We're leaving Forks. All of us."

"What? Why?" I asked, surprised. "Did something happen?"

"Yes, Jasper! You happened!," she snapped. "You ruined everything!"

"Excuse me?" I growled. "What the hell is that supposed to mean?"

She snarled. "Whatever, Jasper, just forget it. What's done is done. Talking about it won't fix anything."

"No, I'm not going to take the blame this time," I declared. "This was all Edward's fault."

"Look, I can't talk to you right now, Jasper. I'm really mad and disappointed, and I'll say hurtful things that won't help anyone."

"WTF, Alice?"

"Goodbye, Jasper." Then she hung up. She actually hung up on me. What the hell was going on that Alice, my Alice, would treat me that way? I didn't know, but I had every intention of finding out, I thought, picking up my pace.

It was one thing for her to beg, plead, whine, fuss, complain, promise, and seduce me to get her way, and another thing entirely for her to talk down to me and condemn me out of hand. I wasn't going to put up with that kind of treatment from the little lady. I may not have ever stood up for myself to her before, but there's a first time for everything. Unfortunately for her, she just crossed the line in the sand that summoned up my inner Major, and I wasn't going to fight him back this time. She was in for a surprise once I got her alone later. It was time for Alice to learn how female vampires were supposed to treat their mates, and the Major was just the one to teach her.

I returned to our Forks home in the early morning hours to find them all waiting on me in the dining room. The emotions in the room were haywire, and I did my best to push them away for the sake of my sanity. Edward glared at me, but I ignored him, blocking my thoughts from him. I didn't intend to take the fall this time, like I always had in the past.

"Thank you for joining us, son. You'll be pleased to know that Bella is fine and has already forgiven you for your actions," Carlisle informed me. Edward growled, but I turned to thank my father, for all intents and purposes.

"Thank you, Carlisle. I'm very glad to know she is okay, both physically and emotionally," I replied.

"She is not okay!" Edward snarled. "This is not OKAY! She nearly died tonight! That is NOT okay!" He was projecting his rage and hatred toward me, focusing the family's attention and disappointment in my direction. I narrowed my eyes at him, but before I began speaking in my own defense, I felt a large amount of guilt coming from Alice. I filed that away for later study, before jumping into the argument with my 'brother'.

"Don't even try to blame this on ME, brother!" I sneered. "This little accident was all YOU, and you know it!"

He grimaced. "Shut up, Jasper!" He sent me a warning through his emotions, not wanting to admit his weakness to the family. Well, I wasn't taking the fall this time. Knowing I was about to rat him out, he jumped into a subject guaranteed to distract the family. "We are too dangerous for Bella to be around. We are all going to leave, now, today. Her life is in danger every minute she is in our presence, and I'm not going to subject her to that anymore. She deserves a human life, with a husband she can grow old with and children of her own. It was wrong of me to bring her into this world, and I'm going to correct that mistake now. I want you all to begin packing up your most important belongings and head to Alaska as soon as possible. I'll stay back and tell Bella goodbye myself."

"Hell, no! I'm not going to just go off and abandon my little sister, especially not without telling her goodbye and giving her my contact information in case she needs me for something," Emmett instantly protested.

Edward closed his eyes and pinched the bridge of his nose in a show of frustration. He opened his eyes and turned the intensity of his glare on Emmett. "Giving her contact information will defeat the whole purpose, Emmett! As long as she believes she has a future with us, she won't move on to a human future."

Emmett growled and shook his head. "That's stupid. She's part of our family and family sticks together. Besides, she's a danger magnet! What if something happens? What if she needs us and can't get in touch with us?"

Edward sighed and shook his head, looking away. "Fine, Emmett. Write her a goodbye letter, and I'll make sure she gets it, okay?"

Alice opened her mouth, and Edward turned on her growling. "Why didn't you see this, Alice? Your visions are supposed to be foolproof? You didn't see your husband trying to eat my mate?"

Alice's mouth snapped shut, and she hung her head in shame. I growled warningly at him, and he turned on me this time. "You have something to say, Jasper? You nearly killed an innocent child today, just because you were too weak to handle a paper cut!"

"Oh, hell no!" I snarled, standing up, fists clenched, ready to tell the family what really happened.

"Boys!" Esme shouted. "Enough! Jasper, sit down. Edward, you are overreacting and hurting your siblings is not going to help anything."

I carefully took my seat again, not wanting to disrespect my mother figure, who truly loved and accepted me the way only a mother can. Edward too hung his head and backed down.

Now that she had our attention, Esme took the floor. "I have no intention of disappearing into the night, if that's what you're suggesting, Edward. What kind of mother would I be to just walk away from my youngest daughter, the one who needs me the most? Do you really think I could live with myself if I behaved so callously, without regard for her feelings, wants, needs, and desires? You just need to relax, son, and take some time to think things through."

"I agree with Esme, son. Bella only has this one more year of school and then she would be going off to college anyway and leaving all her family and friends behind. It's a natural time of transition, and we can change her then. I'm sure we can keep her safe for the next ten months, Edward, until she is ready to become one of us," Carlisle remarked calmly, rubbing Esme's back soothingly.

"NO!" Edward shouted. "She is MY mate, and I'LL decide if she is changed or not. I don't want her to become one of us, and you promised you wouldn't go behind my back and change her anyway."

"Be realistic, son," Carlisle responded calmly, trying to be a voice of reason. "You know the laws as well as the rest of us. You've known since you saved her from Tyler's van. She only has two options and staying human isn't one of them. Our whole family would face the death sentence if we leave her behind with knowledge of our kind."

"Only if the Volturi find out," Edward insisted. "Who's going to tell them?"

"How about Victoria?" I suggested. "I still think she's going to be a problem. She was bonded to the one we killed, even if he didn't seem to give a damn about her. There were definite feelings on her side."

"Fine, I'll track her down myself and make sure she's not a threat to us or Bella. Happy?" Edward offered.

"Not really," I admitted. "You suck at tracking. It's like Emmett promising to be subtle and diplomatic."

"Funny," Edward sneered, frowning at me. "Why don't we both go and we'll see which one of us finds her first."

I pursed my lips. It wasn't a bad idea. I shrugged. "Maybe."

"Are you boys done with your pissing contest yet?" Rose demanded. Edward and I both rolled our eyes. "Good! There's no reason to leave Forks. What happened was unfortunate, but the human is still alive and in relatively good shape. She knew the dangers of spending time with us and accepted them when she chose to continue in a relationship with Edward and come over to our house. I don't agree with the choices she's made, but she is willing to keep our secret, even after seeing us at our worst, so I don't see why Edward needs to make such a big deal out of it. It's over and done, so get over it and move on already. I vote we stay right where we are."

"Me, too!" Emmett quickly agreed.

"Me, too!" Alice added eagerly.

"NO!" Edward roared before anyone else could agree. He could read their minds, and I could sense their emotions. He was fighting a losing battle. Everybody else wanted to stay.

I sat back with a smirk, waiting to see how he intended to talk his way out of this one.

AN: I think this would be a fairly realistic family meeting based upon the way everybody felt about Bella. Heads up to everyone - for the purposes of this story, I have slightly exaggerated the faults of Edward and Alice, while still trying to keep their basic characters the same. I have also brought in the characteristics of Jasper that are more consistent with someone strong enough to have been Major Whitlock - someone who was very different from a loafer wearing, preppy, high school student. Neither Alice nor Edward are evil in this story, simply emotionally immature, manipulative, controlling teenagers who think they know what's best for everyone else - just like Meyer wrote them, only more obviously so.