Big thanks to my beautiful beta Stitch_cat for prettying this up for me. Thanks also to Verseseven and KristALchelle for all your support – it means the world to me!
Disclaimer- All recognizable copyrighted and trademarked items mentioned herein belong to their respective owner, most especially Stephenie Meyer. Everything else belongs to the respective author.
BPOV
"Come on kiddo! We're going to be late if we don't leave in the next ten minutes! Renée, leave the girl be and get down here so we can go watch our daughter graduate all ready!"
"Good grief, Charlie! Keep your pants on! I'm only helping Bella to look her best on this special day!" Renée shouted while simultaneously laying the finishing touches on my hair, which she had styled into big soft curls and pinned up to show off my cheekbones and eyes while the rest cascaded down by back.
"Bells doesn't need any help, she always looks good!" Charlie said, shocking the crap out of me. My dad has never been vocal with his feelings and him paying me a compliment was an extremely rare occasion. I guess the 'special' day that was my graduation day made him slightly mushy, and I couldn't help the tears that started to form from hearing the love and pride in my father's voice.
"Oh, no you don't! Don't you dare ruin my hard work by crying, young lady! There will be no crying for either of us before you've got that diploma in your hand" Renée threatened, and glared at my newly made-up face.
"Relax mom, I'm fine! I did not suffer through the last hour of 'Bella Barbie' to have it all undone now, I promise." The truth was that I hadn't really suffered all that much. I always hated when Alice used me as her own dress-up doll, and I only let her get away with it because it made her happy. With my mom it was different. She listened to my opinions and never pushed me past my comfort level. Spending some one-on-one girl time with Renée had actually been kind of nice, and I liked the end result. I was wearing a pair of low-rise dark jeans with a deep-red shirt that showed off my cleavage nicely without making it obvious. I looked good, and as long as I didn't trip and fall on my ass up on that stage, I felt I could end my high school career with my head held high.
"Oh, baby girl you are so beautiful! I can't believe you're graduating today! I'm so proud of you honey!" Mom pulled me in for a hug and I swear the woman had already forgotten about the no crying rule, or maybe it didn't apply as heavily to her as it did to me.
Renée had arrived in Forks yesterday afternoon and was heading home to Jacksonville later today. Phil had unfortunately injured his leg and wasn't able to come with her. He had had a hard time convincing Renée that he was capable of coping on his own for twenty-four hours because he knew how much it would pain her to miss seeing my graduation. As much as I loved spending time with my mom, it was undeniably something that was more enjoyable in smaller doses, so this short visit was perfect from my perspective.
We had spent the night before watching movies, pigging out on junk food and talking, talking, talking. Mom wanted to know every little detail about my life and, to my mortification, that most definitely included everything that had to do with Jacob. I was not exactly comfortable talking about my sex life with my mother but she was relentless, and got me to 'fess up to a lot more than I initially was willing to. Of course she had trouble understanding why I was so adamant about not wanting a boyfriend/girlfriend relationship with Jake when we clearly enjoyed each other's company, could talk about anything and had great sex. I couldn't exactly tell her that he would most likely imprint one day due to being the rightful Alpha of a pack of wolves who protected us from psychotic vampires, so I had to work really hard on convincing her that although we loved each other, we were not in love with each other. Renée being Renée naturally got excited after a while about having such a progressive daughter that had a hot, Native American friend with benefits. Only my mother would be proud of her only daughter having sex without being in a relationship…
Thankfully Charlie had made himself scarce during the evening, stating that he had a lot of paperwork to catch up on, so he wasn't subjected to all the uncomfortable sex talk that went on. Charlie and I had gotten a lot closer over the last few months but there were still a lot of subjects that we carefully avoided broaching, and sex was definitely one of them. Charlie knew that Jake and I were closer than 'just' friends and had had a sit-down with Jake, telling him that he better be good to me and for God's sake always use protection or he would find out just how well Chief Swan could handle a gun! Thankfully he was satisfied with Jake's response and didn't feel the need to have the embarrassing talk with me as well. I felt humiliated enough when Jake regaled me with the details of their talk, and I think my cheeks were constantly red in my dad's presence for about a week after that. However awkward the whole thing felt it still warmed my heart to know that my dad went through with an undoubtedly uncomfortable situation because he felt protective of me. I had always known that Charlie loved me, but somehow this action made me realize that there really wasn't anything he wouldn't do for me, and I loved him even more for it.
Today, after the ceremony, Charlie, Renée and I were going to the diner to have a simple celebratory dinner and then Charlie would drive Renée to the airport so she could go back home to fuss over her injured husband. I was going to La Push where a huge graduation party was going to be held at First Beach. Paul, Jared and Leah were all graduating today, and since I was not only an honorary pack member but also an honorary Quileute, I was included in the celebration. There was going to be music, dancing, a bonfire and naturally a massive amount of food that Emily and I had been working many hours to prepare. In short, the party should be quite similar to the usual bonfires except there would be family and friends outside of the pack there and the legends would not be told. It should be a fun night, though and I was looking forward to it.
I was going to spend the entire weekend at Jake's since Charlie and Billy were leaving in the morning to go on a two day fishing trip, and Charlie wasn't thrilled by the idea of leaving me home alone. I was a bit peeved about him treating me like a child but I didn't complain too much, seeing as it meant two uninterrupted days of Jake and me being alone without worrying about one of our fathers walking in on us in a compromising position. Oh, the thought of being able to totally let go with Jake for 48 hours sent instant tingling feelings down my spine that settled in my core as I started to imagine what we would be doing in just a few hours. It had been almost a week since we had had sex due to all the graduation preparations we both had to do and I felt a burning need for some release.
I was abruptly pulled from my delicious daydreams of being ravished by a chiseled, russet, insatiable man when Charlie once again yelled out to Renée and I to hurry up. We scurried downstairs and quickly got in the cruiser and headed for Forks high school to finally put an end to my high school career.
After putting on the unflattering cap and gown I started to make my way towards my seat, when I suddenly felt like I was being watched. It felt very unnerving. I tried to shake it off, telling myself that of course people were looking; all of us graduates were being watched by family and friends, but the niggling feeling in the back of my head told me that this was something different. Thinking about Victoria I started to regret not letting any of the wolves attend my ceremony. Jacob had not been happy with me when I stated that he couldn't come to see me get my diploma. I was adamant about every member of the pack being at the ceremony at La Push high school to watch their pack sister and their two pack brothers graduate instead of coming to Forks. They could celebrate with me at the party later, and I would leave with Charlie and Renée right after the ceremony anyway; plus I really didn't want any more attention walking across that stage. Now, however, I would have welcomed the small sense of security knowing that my wolf bodyguards were nearby.
Just as I was beginning to panic, I suddenly felt oddly calm and realized that I was being absolutely ridiculous. I was perfectly safe and I really didn't think even Victoria was stupid enough to attack in such a public place, with half of Forks present. If she truly was here watching me, I would not let her see any weakness or fear. I took a deep breath, squared my shoulders and made my way over to my seat next to Jessica, silently cursing the fact that we were next to each other alphabetically, which meant that I had to sit through her incessant blathering for the entire ceremony.
When she looked up at me and started to open her mouth I steeled myself but my looming irritation vanished and I found myself smiling, feeling strangely happy to see her. Maybe it was the fact that it would be the last time I was forced to spend time with her, or maybe I started to get caught up in the graduation nostalgia that most of my classmates seemed to feel? Either way, I gave her an honest smile and sat down.
"Hi Bella! Wow, can you believe we're finally here? We're graduating!" Jessica squealed.
"Hey Jessica! Yeah, it feels a little unreal doesn't it?" I responded, looking around to see that Charlie and Renée were laughing together while preparing their cameras so they wouldn't miss a single opportunity to take pictures. I sighed silently at that thought, but it still felt good to see them get along so well and working together to make this day perfect for all of us.
"So Bella, did you know?" Jessica leaned into me with the look she got when she thought she could potentially get some new, thrilling gossip.
"Know what?" I asked hesitantly. The glint in her eyes told me that I might not like whatever it was that had her so excited.
"That they're back of course!" She stated in a matter-of-fact way.
"That who's back, Jessica?" I started to feel a little irritated again, and the unsettled feeling in the back of my head came back with a vengeance.
"The Cullens! The Cullens are back, Bella! You really didn't know?" Jessica sounded like she had just got the best present ever and I felt my mind racing to take in the news. They're back? The Cullens are back? What? Why? When? Huh?
"What are you talking about Jessica?" I struggled to keep my voice calm but I could hear it crack slightly at the end.
"The Cullens, Bella" she said slowly, maybe realizing that I was a bit slow on the uptake at the moment.
"The Cullens are back. Apparently they didn't like LA and Alice and Edward wanted to graduate with their old class so they came back to Forks. I think that they just got here yesterday or something. Anyway, they're all here - Alice and Edward are sitting with Ben Cheney and Dr. and Mrs. Cullen, Emmett, Rosalie and Jasper are all standing over there." She pointed, not too discreetly, across the courtyard and there stood five familiar vampires looking as otherworldly beautiful as always.
It felt as if the whole world had come to an end. I found it hard to breathe and I had to fight very hard not to jump up off of my seat and head for the hills. The panic from earlier came back in full force and then I realized that Jasper was probably behind my shifting emotions. I didn't know if that thought was comforting or disturbing. What were they doing here? Edward had told me in no uncertain terms that I would never see them again, and yet here they all were. I felt extremely confused and my mind was swirling with questions.
I couldn't bring myself to look in the direction Jessica had said Alice and Edward were sitting. It would just make it too real to see them. I had wished for so long that they would come back and now I didn't know how I felt about it. I had made such a transformation during the last few months; my former vampire family was not in my thoughts as much anymore. My feelings towards them had also changed and I had a lot of anger towards them. The confusion and anger were fighting with my feelings of love and hurt. My head started to throb and I felt utterly overwhelmed. I couldn't do this. Not now. My fight or flight instinct was firmly set on flight and I desperately wanted to deny what my eyes were telling me. It had to be an illusion. There was no way the Cullens were actually here. All of a sudden I felt a comforting sense of calm, peace and tranquility. My head snapped up and my eyes met Jasper's golden ones. He gave me a small smile and made a motion of breathing heavily, indicating that that would be a good idea for me to do. I tentatively nodded my head in understanding and took a few deep breaths.
The breathing and the manufactured calm helped a little but my mind was still spinning. I was vaguely aware of the ceremony beginning and people making speeches. I clapped my hands absently after Angela finished her speech as valedictorian. I had no idea what she had said and that made me feel a little bit guilty. I was not being a good friend at the moment, but I just couldn't bring myself to pay attention to things that seemed so trivial in comparison to the fact that the vampires were back.
Jessica nudged my shoulder and whispered that the diplomas had been started to be handed out and that I should get ready to head up to get mine. I shook my head trying to clear the fog that seemed to have settled in it. I took a deep breath and looked up towards the stage to see how far along the alphabet they were. Big mistake. Just as my eyes fell on the Principal, Alice Cullen skipped forward smiling a brilliant smile and took her diploma from the now-dazzled man. I could feel my stomach clench as I watched my former best friend and sister looking radiant and happier than ever.
"Edward Cullen" A voice came out over the speakers, and there he was. Walking across the stage with his usual confidence he looked every bit as beautiful as I remembered. His bronze hair was still as untamed and the sharp angles of his jaw were still begging to be kissed. Stupid vampire lure! My eyes drank in the sight of him as he left the stage, and then he turned his head, looking directly at me.
I gasped when his eyes met mine, and I couldn't for the life of me look away. His eyes held so many emotions that didn't make sense to me. Love, pain, regret, shock and sadness were fighting with a sort of pleading look. If I thought I was confused before it was nothing to now. What the hell was that? He couldn't possibly be feeling all of those things. I must be seeing what I always dreamt I would see. I clearly remembered the cold, hard look in his eyes the last time I saw him when he told me he didn't want me and that he was tired of pretending.
With that thought in mind I tore my eyes away from him and started to make my own way up towards the stage. I felt like I was walking in a daze and then I met Jasper's eyes again and the stupor dissipated, I found the strength to hold my head up and focus on the task at hand. Oddly enough it didn't feel like Jasper had manipulated my emotions, instead my mind just seemed to clear itself out just by his encouraging gaze and I felt strangely empowered by that thought. It was as if he reminded me of the fact that I was a lot stronger now than the naïve, innocent little girl I had been a year ago. I walked with determination across the stage, took my diploma and turned to smile at my cheering parents without even stumbling the tiniest bit.
Finally the ceremony was over, the caps were thrown, hugs were shared and I could slowly make my way over to Charlie and Renée and get the hell out of there. Renée threw her arms around me and sobbed loudly while telling me how proud she was of me. Charlie had tears in his eyes as well and took me in a deep embrace. As he was expressing his own pride over me he suddenly stiffened and I could feel him slightly trembling. I took a step back and looked questioningly at him only to see the vein in his forehead throbbing, and the look in his eyes showed profound hatred for someone behind my back.
"Crap!" I sighed when I realized who was approaching us. I slowly turned around and came face-to-face with Edward.
"Hello Bella." He said in his soft, velvet voice. "Chief Swan. Mrs. Dwyer." He nodded to my parents.
"What the hell are you doing here?" My father spat out with venom in his voice. I had never heard my dad sounding so hateful and I knew that he wanted to do some serious damage to Edward for hurting me the way he did.
"Charlie!" My mother admonished, clearly not impressed by Charlie's attitude.
"I'm sorry for interrupting your celebration Chief Swan. I was just wondering if I might have a word with your daughter."
"Like hell you will! Who do you think you are? Leaving her in the woods like that, breaking her and then come wandering back like nothing ever happened and expect me to let you come near her again?" Charlie was seething with anger and his face had taken on a dangerous shade of purple.
"Dad, calm down!" I started to get a little worried about him having a heart attack and I really didn't want him telling Edward more about how broken I had been. The look on Edward's face told me that he saw some pretty nasty images in Charlie's head, and I resigned myself to the fact that I had to pull on my big girl panties and talk to Edward.
"Calm down? Bella, please go with your mother and wait for me in the car." Charlie never once took his eyes off Edward, and as much as I appreciated my dad standing up for me, I started to get pissed off. I was perfectly able to speak for myself and I didn't need protection from something that Charlie didn't even know the truth about.
"No, I will not go wait in the car. You and mom should go wait for me while I have a talk with Edward." I said in a surprisingly strong voice while looking at Renée, silently pleading with her to agree with me.
"Isabella, you are not going to talk to that boy!" Charlie hissed out through clenched teeth.
"Dad! You can't decide who I talk to or not! I'm going to have a little chat with Edward and then I'll be right along so we can go to the diner."
Charlie finally stopped glaring at Edward and looked at me with frustration and fear written across his face. I could see him warring with himself; torn between the fear of me getting hurt again and his knowledge that I was stronger now and could handle myself.
I put my hand on his chest and in a soft voice said "I'm fine dad. I promise I'll only be a little while and I'll still be fine when I return."
"Charlie, come on. Let's go wait in the car for Bella. This is clearly something that she needs to do. We can talk about it over dinner later." My mom finally decided to pipe in and gently pulled Charlie by the hand giving me a look that said we would definitely be talking about this later.
Feeling very tired I rubbed my temples and slowly turned to speak to Edward, noticing that we had an audience. Jessica, Lauren and their mothers were watching us with excitement in their eyes, and I felt a headache creeping on.
"Bella…" Edward started but I quickly cut him off.
"Not here Edward. I see that the rest of your family is standing by themselves over there. Let's go over to them and you can tell me whatever it is you feel the need to and then I can go back to enjoying my graduation day."
He winced a little at my tone but nodded and we walked across the courtyard towards the rest of the Cullens. I felt like I was walking towards my own execution. I had no idea what to expect and there were so many conflicting emotions swirling around me. I just wanted to get this over with, so I forced myself to start thinking about the upcoming party at La Push and the weekend of steamy sex that I had to look forward to.
This was something that I had learned to do to cope when my emotions got too dark. If I focused really hard on something positive, and made myself imagine every little detail, I eventually started to feel better. The optimistic thoughts slowly pushed away the negative ones, and this had become easier and easier to do with the passing months as I had more positive things to focus on. I wasn't sure if the increase of positive things came from my new outlook on life or if the new outlook came from an increase of positive things. It was my own version of the chicken-or-egg conundrum, not that it really mattered anyway but it made for a good philosophical mental diversion.
During the time I had managed to distract myself, Edward and I had reached his family. I took a deep breath and waited for someone to say something. Emmett stood grinning at me, looking like he wanted to jump up and wrap me in one of his bear hugs. Alice bounced lightly on the balls of her feet, smiling brightly at me. Esme looked like she was about to cry any second if she could. Rosalie surprised me by giving me a small smile instead of the scowl she usually reserved for me. Carlisle cleared his throat and took a step towards me.
"Bella, it's so good to see you again. We've missed you so much." He sounded so sincere that I froze for a second before I remembered how talented actors vampires had to be to pass as humans, and Carlisle had clearly spent a lot of time perfecting the art of appearing compassionate and honest.
"Really Carlisle? You've missed me? Well, I've been here the whole time." I could hear the bitterness in my own voice and the look of hurt that shot through Carlisle's face cut me deep in the heart. I had, however, decided not to let myself become vulnerable again so I directed my next question towards Edward; "What did you want to talk about?"
"Bella, there is so much I want to tell you and I don't quite know where to begin." I had never seen Edward looking so unsure and nervous; it was really unsettling to see.
"Perhaps now is not the time to have this discussion." Carlisle cut in. "I think it would be best to talk in another setting when we have more time. Edward informed us that Charlie will be driving your mother to the airport after you've had dinner together. Would you be willing to come over to the house and visit with us afterwards?"
"Oh, Edward informed you did he? And just how did you get this knowledge, huh, Edward? Been poking around in my parents minds since you can't pry into mine?" I felt deep indignation at the thought of him snooping around and sharing his findings with his family. I heard some muffled snickering coming from Emmett and Rosalie and saw them staring at Edward with pure glee. They apparently didn't appreciate his constant mindreading either, and were obviously happy to see me snapping at him.
"Bella…" Edward started.
"No Edward, I don't want to hear your rationalizations! Your gift only gets you this far though since you obviously don't know that I already have other plans tonight, so I will not be able to pay you a visit!" The thought of going to La Push had never felt better than it did at this moment. I definitely needed some time to collect myself before I would be able to talk to the Cullens. Right now I felt like a tight bundle of nerves waiting to explode.
"But Bella…I haven't seen you having plans tonight!" Alice cried out. "In fact I can't see you at all after you leave the diner. Why can't I see you?"
God, her shrieking voice sent shivers down my spine! Had she always sounded so whiney?
"Alice I have no idea why you can't see me, but I can't pretend to be sad about it!" It was a little weird that she couldn't see me, but I was not going to look a gift horse in the mouth. It was quite freeing to know that she couldn't monitor my every move like she used to do.
"Do you really have plans or are you just saying that to avoid us? If you haven't made any decisions it would explain why I haven't seen it."
"Are you accusing me of lying, Alice?" The anger I had tried so hard to suppress began to surface hearing her condescending questions. "Do you really think I'm so pathetic that I would have nowhere to go to celebrate my graduation and that I would lie to cover that fact up?"
"But I can't see…" Alice continued to grumble, pissing me off even more.
"Not my problem! For your information I'm going to a party at First Beach." I spat out, feeling the need to defend myself.
"But I heard…" I quickly turned to Emmett waiting to see what wisdom he had to share with us in this fucked-up discussion.
"I'm sorry Bella. Please don't bite my head off, but I heard Newton talking about the Natives having a private party at First Beach, and it sounded like no outsiders were welcomed." Emmett looked slightly afraid and concerned at the same time. I couldn't help myself, I started laughing. The look on his face was simply priceless! The huge, strong vampire was afraid I'd snap at him! I felt my heart opening up a little bit for Emmett again. It was just impossible not to.
Composing myself I answered him with a smirk; "You're absolutely right Emmett. It is a private party, but I'm not an outsider. I'm an honorary member of the pa…" I instantly shut my mouth, realizing that I almost told them about the wolves. I wasn't sure if they knew about the pack but I certainly was not going to be the one to inform them of it.
"You're an honorary member of what?" Emmett asked confused.
Carlisle and Edward exchanged a glance and looked inquisitively at me. Edward was shaking his head at Carlisle, clearly not pleased with the question coming.
"Are you talking about the pack of wolves Bella?" Carlisle asked, looking a bit amazed while Edward let out a low growl. I didn't know what to say. I wasn't willing to break my loyalty to the pack, and since I didn't know if Carlisle was only guessing or if he had the facts, I kept my mouth shut.
Sensing my dilemma, Carlisle quickly reassured me; "I spoke with Billy Black earlier today to inform him that we were back in the area and he informed me that there's a new pack of shape shifters at La Push. He also made it very clear that you were under their protection but I didn't realize that you knew about the wolves. I should have known though, since you seem to be a magnet for all things supernatural." Carlisle shook his head and chuckled lightly.
Edward did not chuckle. At all. He growled again and then turned and stared at me with a very angry expression.
"Bella, shape shifters are extremely dangerous! You should not be around them! Especially a new pack of young wolves that have no control what so ever! You could be seriously hurt! You promised me you wouldn't do anything reckless and you go hanging around with a bunch of volatile wolves! How could you?"
I just stood and stared at him, completely dumbfounded. I didn't know where to even begin to address his stupidity and I felt the headache starting up again. Knowing that I had to have the energy left to deal with Charlie and Renée, I decided to simply let it go for now.
"Look Edward, I'm not going to dignify your little rant with a response right now because Charlie and Renée are waiting for me, and quite frankly I'm too pissed off at the moment to even look at you any longer." Again I heard Emmett and Rosalie snicker and I think I saw the corners of Carlisle's mouth twitch a little as well.
"Carlisle, I'll come by your house tomorrow if you still want to talk to me. Is that okay?"
"Of course Bella. You're so welcome and I look forward to seeing you again tomorrow. Come by at any time, we'll be there. I wish you a pleasant dinner with your parents and a relaxing, fun evening with your friends tonight." Carlisle said gracefully, putting his arm around Esme's shoulder.
"Carlisle, you're not seriously going to let her traipse off to the wolves are you?"
Before I had time to chew the idiot out, Carlisle's head snapped towards Edward and his voice was suddenly a little harder as he scolded his son.
"Edward, that's enough! Neither of us have any right to tell Bella what she can or can't do! She is obviously comfortable with them and we should respect her perspective and have trust in her judgment."
I felt like sticking my tongue out to Edward while giving Carlisle a high five but I restrained myself. I didn't want to do anything so soon that would put a damper in the trust in my judgment that Carlisle was just talking about. Instead I took a deep breath and turned around to leave when I suddenly realized that I hadn't seen Jasper since the ceremony. He was the only Cullen that I actually wanted to talk to. I desperately wanted him to know that I understood what had happened on my birthday and make sure that he didn't blame himself for it.
"Where is Jasper? I saw him earlier, but where is he now?" I asked, looking at Alice, who looked a little annoyed that I asked about Jasper. When she saw that I was looking at her she quickly changed her expression to one of compassion and love. What was that about?
"He's right over there by the tree line. He didn't want to make you uncomfortable around him." Rosalie said, looking towards the woods with sadness in her eyes. I followed her look and saw Jasper standing with his head hanging down looking like somebody had run over his puppy. My heart started to pound in my chest at the sight; he looked so sad and I couldn't walk away without at least saying something to him. As I started to walk over to him, Edward's hand shot out and grabbed my arm, forcing me to stop.
"What do you think you're doing Bella?"
"Get your hand off me Edward! What does it look like I'm doing? I'm going to talk to Jasper!" If I didn't know I would only hurt myself I would have kneed him in the balls by now! I was fuming and started to wonder if smoke were actually coming out of my ears or if it just felt that way.
"Love, I can hear your heartbeat. You're obviously afraid of Jasper, as you should be, and you shouldn't make yourself go over to him in some misguided attempt to make him feel better."
By now I was seeing red, absolutely livid at the infuriating vampire who thought he knew best. I cast a look at Jasper hoping he would understand that I would appreciate some calming juju and a couple of seconds later I felt the soothing waves from the helping empath. I shot a thankful look at Jasper and forced myself to look into Edward's eyes for the last time today, hopefully.
"First of all Edward, don't call me 'Love'. Second, I'm not afraid of Jasper nor do I think I have any reason to be. Third, my heart was beating faster due to the sad look on his face in combination with the intense anger I've felt for the last 15 minutes or so. Now please shut the fuck up and stay the hell away from me!" I shouted the last few words and Edward took a step back looking extremely shocked by either my tone or my language. Knowing him it was probably both. I really couldn't care less and made my way over to a smirking Jasper.
I was so happy to see Jasper with his head held high and a smile on his face that I impulsively threw my arms around him and hugged him tightly. I felt him tense against me before he slowly put his arms carefully around me and hugged me back. I heard a couple of faint growls behind me and vaguely wondered who the second growl belonged to. All of a sudden it dawned on me that I was hugging Jasper Hale and I felt my face flush, and pulled back, totally embarrassed.
"Don't be embarrassed darlin'. That was the nicest hug I've had in a long time." Jasper chuckled and looked me intently in the eyes. I had never been this close to Jasper before and I discovered that although his eyes were golden like all the other Cullens, his differed some. It looked like there were swirling spots of black, red and even green in them. They were extremely expressive and absolutely mesmerizing. In combination with that sexy southern drawl I had heard a hint of I realized that Jasper was exceptionally attractive. I had always known he was beautiful, he was, after all, a vampire, but I just noticed now how dangerously enticing he really was. Jasper raised an eyebrow and I realized that I had been staring at him completely caught up in my emotions. Another low chuckle emanated from his broad chest and I mentally face-palmed myself. Stupid empathic ability!
"Sorry. It's been a while since I was around your stupid vampiric beauty." I deliberately chose to omit the fact that I had just faced six beautiful vampires without fawning over any of them. Denial was my best friend at the moment. Thankfully Jasper followed my lead and changed the subject.
"You're really not afraid of me are you?" He asked in an awed voice. "I can feel a myriad of emotions from you but there is no fear. How is that possible? Last time you saw me I tried to kill you! How can you stand here in front of me and not be even a little scared? I don't feel an ounce of fear from you. It doesn't make sense. She said...terrified...harm...changed…go back…"
I couldn't make out the rest of what he was saying after he had started to mumble at vampire speed. He looked like he had the world on his shoulders again and finally he exclaimed "I don't understand."
"Jasper, I want to talk to you about it. I think I understand what happened on my birthday and I want us to discuss it, but right now I better hurry before my dad comes looking for me. I'm not sure if he's got his gun with him and I really don't want to try to explain to him why the bullets didn't hurt Edward. Can we talk tomorrow?"
Jasper let out a deep, throaty laugh. I had never heard him laugh like that before but now that I had I couldn't wait for him to do it again. It was a beautiful, rich and sexy laugh. His whole face was more animated than I had ever seen; it was like he had a bright light inside of him that I got to see a glimmer of when he laughed. He was absolutely breathtaking.
"Sure thing, darlin'. It would be my pleasure." He drawled out with a glint of mischief, probably predicting my lusty reaction to his accent. I, of course, didn't disappoint him and I glared at him before I let out a huff and walked away to the wonderful sounds of his laughter.