Hi Everyone! Thanks so much for your reviews, messages, alerts, and faves. I truly appreciate all the support you've given me. Jasper in fatigues for all of you, except for the male readers-my gift to you is Rose and Bella in stars and stripes bikinis.
As I said in my author's note last chapter, the next few chapters will be loaded with twists, turns, and drama. Some chapters will be happy, others will be bittersweet-I hope you stick with me because these chapters will delve more into Jasper and Bella's relationship and are critical to them developing as a couple and as individuals.
All characters belong to Stephanie Meyer except for Kid Rock who I believe belongs to Atlantic Records. No copyright infringement intended.
This story is AU/OOC.
Mature readers 18+ only please.
Jasper's POV
It's been a month since the prom and things were swimming along nicely. The trip to Toronto with my mate was exactly what I needed to restart my brain. The weekend after prom, the whole gang, including the parents, went to the hookah bar to enjoy a nice evening out. The belly dancers were a ball—they had us all stand up and attempt to belly dance. Vicky, Irina, Bella, and Rex had the clear advantage there. Bella and Rex ordered some sort of appetizer sampler plate in order to try and find something that was palatable to them. They really missed the food there apparently. No luck there, the two of them spent half the night bringing up the food they ate. Recently, they've taken to the kitchen with Mike, attempting to mix blood and create something other than fried chicken, They figured out mashed potato and gravy finally. Of all things, they had to mix coyote and fox to get the gravy.
Upon Carlisle and Esme's return, Alice finally hit the pavement and started job hunting. She starts work tomorrow at Sears. Apparently, she's hawking major appliances. I'm having so much trouble picturing it. Anyway, she's improved somewhat. Through Riley's urging, she's been trying to spend some time with the family everyday. She finally accepted the fact that she has Narcissistic Personally Disorder and she she started twice weekly counseling sessions with Riley. She and Mike have also been talking daily to try to make amends.
Peter and Charlotte are still not together. They're talking to each other, but, for once, they're taking their time and trying to work on their own issues first. They've both been on a sexual hiatus for two weeks now. That's a record for them. I hear Charlotte's Rabbit going off whenever I'm at the Amherst house, though. I'm sure Pete's jerking off at his apartment too.
Edward and Amanda were definitely not on a sexual hiatus. The two of them have been fucking like rabbits all over the house. He's also been scenting her so Amanda's own scent has been considerably muted. We've all been encouraging him to scent—a lot. After initially fucking up and shouting out Bella's name when he came, Edward did some quick thinking and saved his own ass by telling Amanda that he didn't say Bella's name, that he actually called her 'Ma Belle Amanda'—French for 'My Beautiful Amanda'. Amanda was overjoyed at hearing that and gave Edward his very first blowjob.
Bella and Rose were closer than ever. They were out together somewhere doing who knows what right now. They told us they were going out for some girl bonding time and that they would be back sometime after two am. Emmett and I were sitting at home watching that fucked up comedy True Blood and missing our mates.
Suddenly, Alice came out of her room shrieking. Everyone gathered in the living room. "I had a vision! It's Bella and Rose! They're in trouble!" She was rubbing her temples wildly.
"What do you mean they're in trouble?" I said. "What do you see?"
"My vision is fuzzy, but I'll tell you what I can see. Just let me try to get my bearings straight." Alice's vampire promise was taking full effect. Rose and Bella were her least favorite people, but the promise that she made forced her to save them when they were in trouble. I could feel nothing, but honesty coming from her. I looked up at Riley and he nodded his head in confirmation.
"Emmett? How's your pull? I don't feel any major pain with mine." I was concerned that my pull wasn't working right because I didn't feel any distress signals.
"Just the usual, bro—like when she's at work." Emmett replied.
"We're going to have to look into that later." Carlisle said.
"I got it." Alice shouted. "They're almost nude and they're being put into cages at some sort of a stadium. I can't see where they are. Let me look some more."
"Cages?" Everyone shouted. Esme was a nervous wreck, Pete and Vicky were getting into war mode, and for some fucked up reason, I couldn't seem to summon the Major.
"Alice, do you have anything, yet?" Emmett asked, worriedly.
"I'm looking. I really am. I'm going to go back to my room and try to search alone—you're all making me nervous." She said and ran back to her room.
"What the hell is going on, Jasper?" Emmett asked. "Do you think it's the Volturi?"
"No, the Volturi don't know Rose and Bella so they wouldn't have an interest in them. I haven't detected any vampire scents in the area when I hunt either so I doubt it." Eleazar said.
"I think the best guess is that there were some nomadic vampires that they ran into." Garrett said.
"What about the pull, though. Emmett and I don't feel anything stronger than usual. Do you think there are vampires in the area spying on us?" I asked.
"I want the women to stay in the house—Charlotte and Victoria, you two guard the house from the roof. The rest of us men are going to scan the perimeter in groups of two." Peter, my second in command, took charge. He knew I was a mess and I was grateful to him. "Text if anything happens and hunt while you're out. We meet back here in an hour."
"Irina—start going over some fighting tactics with the women while we're gone. We don't know what we're facing." Laurent kissed his mate on the cheek. She had been trained by both Vicky and Laurent when they were training Riley and a human Bella to fight.
An hour later, we were back. None of us detected a thing. Alice came out of her room saying that she couldn't see anything else, but she was still trying. That's when a thought came to my head. Mike was a tracker. He could track them.
"Mike, it's time you learned how to use your gift." I said.
"What gift?"
"Ah, Michael, you're a tracker." The realization seemed to hit Eleazar. "You can lead us to the girls."
"I can? How?"
"By tapping into your senses. Jasper and I will teach you how. Call it on the job training, if you will." Eleazar said. "We leave immediately."
"What about us?" Victoria said desperately. "We want to help."
"I know you do, Victoria, but I need you to take charge of the women. You, Charlotte, and Irina need to train them to fight. We don't know what we're facing. Alice can help too. She's a strong fighter, I trained her myself. We'll call or text if something happens. You do the same on your end." I told her.
"But Major..." Victoria had venom tears brimming her.
"No buts, Lieutenant—that's a fucking order! Charlotte take charge while the Lieutenant gets her head on straight!" The Major was finally peeking his head through.
Rosalie's POV
"I can't fucking believe you convinced me to do this, sis. We might as well be wearing pasties!" Bella said as she donned the micro bikinis that were handed to us by the radio station manager.
"Bella! I told you, the Pagani Zonda is produced by a small manufacturer in Italy. My name's been on a waiting list since 2005. I still have years to go until I can get one. Winning this contest is the only way I'm going to get one."
"Yeah, but cage dancing, Rose? Why me? Why not Char or Tanya?"
"Because you're my sister and you love me." I said.
"How the fuck are you going to explain the vehicle to Em once we win it?" Bella asked.
"Well, I haven't quite figured that part out yet, but I will." I assured.
I tried to figure something out while I worked on my sister's hair. I teased it so it looked like she had just finished having wild animal sex with Jasper. We were at Foxwoods Resort and Casino in Connecticut—at their concert arena to be exact. I was listening to the radio the other week and the radio station and the resort were sponsoring a contest, together with Kid Rock, where the cage dancers with the loudest applause wins a 2011 Pagani Zonda. I signed Bella and myself up immediately. The deal was that we had to dance in pairs. They were only taking five pairs of girls so we were lucky to be among the ones selected. I wanted that car.
"Ladies, you two are the last ones up. Two more songs to go, so do whatever you have to do to get ready." The station manager said.
"Alright, Rose, if we're gonna do this, we're gonna do this right. Let's go over the moves that I taught you from the Stripping for Fitness class." Bella got a steely determination on her face.
I nodded my head and the two of us started practicing. Before we knew it, it was our turn to go up. "Ladies, we're going to place you in the cages from the back while the audience is distracted. When the song 'So Hott' comes on, it's your key to start dancing."
Peter's POV
What the fuck did those two get into. My gift told me that they were up to no good and they weren't in any real danger. I was just going along because I had a feeling that whatever Rose and Bella were doing, it was going to take all of us to hold Jasper and Emmett back.
An hour into our run, Jasper's cell buzzed. We all stopped.
"Speak!" Jasper ordered.
It was Alice. "Rose and Bella are fine. They're not in any danger. They're at the Kid Rock Concert at Foxwoods Arena voluntarily. I saw the end result. They're going to win, then, hopefully, party afterwards with Kid Rock."
"Thanks, Alice." Jasper said as he hung up the phone.
"There's no way in fuck, they're partying with Kid Rock!" Emmett growled. "Come on, Jasper! Let's go get our women back!"
"Should we head back now that there's no danger?" Carlisle asked.
"No! The danger is in those two neanderthals going after their wives!" I said.
"Oh!" Carlisle said in realization. We all started running after them.
The concert was about halfway over when we got there. We had to sneak in because it was completely sold out, but everyone had rushed the stage by then, so we just blended in with the crowd after breaking in through the service entrance.
Every other song, there were women coming out and dancing in cages. "What the fuck is this contest all about?"
"The two cage dancers with the loudest applause wins a Pagani Zonda." Edward said reading the minds of the audience. "They're measuring the audiences reaction on that 'applause-o-meter' there." On stage, there was some kind of electronic contraption measuring decibels.
"They're not going to go in cages and dance, are they?" Carlisle asked, horrified.
"Trust me, you have no idea what extent Rose will go to for a Pagani. This has to be her idea and somehow she's gotten Bella to go along with it." Emmett seethed.
"Look, I don't see what the big deal is. They're just dancing on stage and trying to win a car. Hell, if men were allowed to do this—I'd hop up there." Rex opined.
"We gotta go find them. Fuck! Mike can you scent them out in here?" Jasper asked.
"I'm not gonna scent them out for you. I actually want to see them dancing in cages." Mike started cheering at the stage.
"Why you little, motherfu..." Jasper threatened, but was interrupted by Kid Rock introducing the final two cage dancers of the night.
"Please welcome Jessica Stanley and Lauren Mallory!"
Edward, Mike, Jasper, and Emmett simultaneously called out, "Who?"
"Do we know those women?" I asked.
"Yeah, we went to Forks High with them." Edward said. "I wonder what they're doing in the Northeast?"
"I can't picture Jessica dancing in a cage. I dated her for three years. It's just not something she would do." Mike said. "Lauren on the other hand—damn I miss her pussy."
"Well, at least, if they're the last dancers of the night, then Rose and Bella ar..." Emmett stopped speaking just as Kid Rock started playing his tune, 'So Hott'. Two cages were being lowered onto the stage and the girls inside them were...
"Rosie!" Emmett shouted at the same time Jasper screamed, "Bellaaaa!"
Rose and Bella were dancing seductively in cages dressed in barely there red, white, and blue bikinis and red cowboy boots. Almost every single guy in the arena was completely turned on and the applause-o-meter was going out of control.
"Grab them!" I pointed to Jasper and Emmett—they were about to rush the stage and rip everyone apart trying to get there. It took each and everyone of us to restrain them. Eleazar, Laurent, Riley, and Edward had Emmett while Carlisle, Mike, Rex, and I had Jasper. The two were clawing at us like insane animals trying to get to their bikini clad mates.
"Bellaaaa! Please, baby. Get off the fucking stage! Bellaaaa!" Jasper hollered, desperately. "Oh, hell, baby, don't jiggle your tits—holy fuck! Bella, please!"
"Rose! You're losing your tempo. Follow what Bella's doing—look at how her knees are bent! That's allowing her to grind her hips lower!" Rex advised.
"Fucker, what the hell are you doing encouraging her!" Emmett chastised.
"Hey, they're already on stage—we might as well cheer them on!" Rex snapped.
"Pretend you're having sex up against a wall with Jasper, Bella!" Rex yelled.
"Fuck, I can't do that! I'll get horny just thinking about it!" Bella answered back.
"Seriously, trust me on this. Nah, you know what? Hang on to the back of the cage and imagine that Jasper's fucking you." Rex instructed. "Now, move your hips like you're fucking him back!"
Bella did exactly what Rex told her to do and the entire stadium went bat shit crazy.
"Fuck, Bella! Tone it down a bit. The lust level in here is going off the charts!" Jasper begged.
Bella got down on her hands and knees, looked straight into Jasper's eyes and said, "For you, anything."
The band was going through the motions playing through the song, but their attention was 100% on Bella and Rose. Everyone up on the stage was sporting a painful hard-on.
"Spank your ass, Bella!" Mike suggested. She did. The men went absolutely wild. In the cage, on the other side of the stage, Rose was mimicking Bella move for move.
"Okay, slowly stand up, Bella." Rex ordered. "Then grab your ankles with both hands, turn your head to look at the audience, then smack your ass again."
She did what Rex said and I'm positive that the entire audience jizzed right then and there.
When the song ended, some guy from a radio station came out on stage and announced. "I think we have our winners here!" He released the girls from their cages. The men in the audience went berserk! Well, who the fuck wouldn't, Rose and Bella could be dressed in muumuus and men would be on their knees begging to serve them. Rose and Bella in stars and stripes bikinis and cowboy boots, forget it, every man in the world—human or vampire, would be willing to walk into the pyre if they could have just one taste of them.
Rose was announced the winner of a new Pagani Zonda. We could hear Bella whispering, "You fucking owe me big time, sis." They were led off stage by concert security. Kid Rock came out for an encore performance and the show ended.
"I want my fucking mate back!" Jasper yelled.
"Pipe down, Major. They didn't do anything horrible really. They were just in a contest and they won." Rex said.
"I could have bought Rose a Pagani Zonda if she wanted one that bad!" Jasper seethed.
"No, you couldn't. There's a waiting list a mile long on that thing. They're saying that the average wait time on one is ten years. Oh, and Carlisle, I wouldn't go all vamp daddy on them—Rose and Bella are already contemplating moving away from the family completely. If you lose your shit, they'll really move out—Bella won't even finish her degree." I warned.
"How do you know this, Peter? Did they tell you?" Carlisle asked.
"Let's just say that my gifts been tweeting me on overtime regarding that issue. They're two grown women and it would be wise if you just let them live their lives and that goes for Jasper and Emmett too." I advised. "Whatever you do, don't lose your shit about this."
"I'm gonna lose my shit! She was flaunting herself up on stage for all the world to see!" Emmett cried.
"Yeah, but was she doing anything stupid and illegal like Char and Tanya were?" I asked.
"No, not really." Emmett admitted. "She was kinda hot."
"Just congratulate her, man. Trust me on this. It's hard living without your mate." I said. I meant it too. I missed Char like crazy, but we still had issues to work out and it just wasn't time for us to live together yet.
"I'm not betting against you, bro." Jasper said to me. "You've never steered me wrong before. Let's go find the girls."
We waited by the back entrance, but the girls didn't come out. Jasper received a text message a few minutes later.
From: I Whitlock
To: J Whitlock
I'll explain later. I'm sorry, but this was important to Rose. Get us a room at the MGM Grand. Text me the room number. Tell Em to do the same. Rose is just signing some paperwork. I love you.
"We might as well all stay the night here." Carlisle suggested. "Call it a mini getaway. Why don't we all get our rooms and send for our mates. We can gamble this weekend."
"I agree. We could all use a break." Riley said.
"Guys, I'm gonna get two separate rooms. I'm not ready to stay in the same room as Char yet."
"Char can stay with Alice." Mike said. "I'll bunk with ya. We're gonna be down in the casinos all night anyway."
"Good idea." I said.
Carlisle placed a call to Esme then we headed to the hotel to get ourselves rooms.
Bella's POV
"How the fuck did they find us, Rose?" I asked.
"Hell if I know, did you drop your shield?"
"I don't think so." I said. "You never know though, I did have the case of the nerves earlier."
Rose and I threw our jeans on over our bikinis. Apparently, we get to keep them and the cowboy boots—courtesy of Kid Rock.
"Fuck! Not only do we have to deal with our mates, we have to deal with Carlisle's fucking overprotective ass too." Rose stomped her booted foot angrily. "These are pretty awesome boots, though. I like them better than the ones we got at the Opry."
"We're a united front Rose. We're going to face this head on and no one is going to tell us what we can or can't do. We didn't do anything wrong. We entered a contest and we won. That's all it was." I said confidently. Truth be told, I was scared shitless of facing Jasper. The look on his face when he saw me on stage was positively feral. I did this for my sister though—she wanted that car and I wanted her to be happy.
"Let's do this." Rose said with determination. We walked hand in hand to the hotel. Jasper and Emmett were waiting down in the lobby for us.
"You looked beautiful up there, babe." Jasper cooed.
"Stunning." Emmett told Rosie. "You won too. Where's the car?"
"Oh, it's getting delivered to the house next week." Rose said warily. She then looked at me. Something was completely off here. Our mates weren't flipping out on us.
"So, we thought that maybe you girls could unload your bags in our hotel rooms and then we could go to the casinos." Jasper said, nicely. Weird—what the fuck's going on? Rose narrowed her eyes at our mates too.
She grabbed onto my arm and announced. "Bella and I are a united front. We are not leaving each other's sides just so you men can get us alone and start nailing into us individually!"
I secured myself onto Rose's arm too. "I agree. If you men have anything to say to us, then say it to us together. We aren't falling for your Vampire Mind Tricks."
"What the fuck is a Vampire Mind Trick?" Jasper asked. "Is that like a Jedi Mind Trick? I swear you've been spending too much time with Pete. Okay, we'll do it your way. How about if we go to our suite to talk?" Jasper suggested.
Rose and I looked at each other and said, "Fine." The two of us walked arm and arm into the elevator. We refused to let go of each other.
Jasper held the elevator door open for us and led us to our suite. "Have a seat." He said, pointing to the sofa. Rose and I sidestepped all the way to the sofa and sat down. Jasper and Emmett pulled chairs up in front of us.
"We just want to tell you why we're here and we also want to know why you felt you couldn't tell us about this contest." Jasper said. He then proceeded to explain how Alice had a vision, became worried, and informed the whole family. All she saw was Rose and I being put into cages so the entire family was on red alert and everyone went searching for us. A second vision, told Alice exactly where Rose and I were and what we were up to. That's when Jasper and Emmett high-tailed it to us in an attempt to stop us, but the rest of the men held them back.
"So, now, why did you ladies feel you couldn't confide in us about the contest?" Jasper asked.
Rose spoke first. "Isn't it obvious? You both get so jealous when it comes to us. After Alice told you what she saw in her second vision, you both admitted that you wanted to stop us. Anytime Bella and I want to do something, you either have to tag along or follow us—and yes, we know that you follow us. We can smell you, remember?"
"Why is it that you two can go on trips with the guys, but when Rose and I want to do something like that you nail into us as if we're children? You do realize that most women our age don't have to ask for permission to do stuff like go on a weekend trip with just the girls? Vicky and Irina go. Tanya and Char go, too. So do, Carmen and Esme, but if Rose and I want to do something, you two plus the entire family start protesting about how dangerous it is." I added. "All Rose and I wanted to do was take a weekend trip to New York City together—that fizzled because you two just had to tag along."
It was true. I knew they followed us even when we just went to play pool—in the beginning, we wanted to surprise them with a chartered yacht trip, now we were trying to make enough so we could buy a hideaway of our own. It simply wasn't fair. On top of that, Charlotte and Tanya barely got a slap on the wrist for their arrest, while Rose and I were punished then put on some sort of fucked up house arrest.
"To be honest guys, Bella and I were thinking of moving out on our own for a while. Just the two of us. We want to experience a little independence." Rose stated flatly.
Jasper and Emmett's jaws dropped.
"It's not that we don't love you guys because we do. It's just that you two are too possessive and there's some sort of unspoken rule within the family that Rose and I aren't allowed any freedom. We might as well be shackled to the house." I said. "Jasper, you don't even give me time to process my thoughts. That time I went out with Peter and I left the house because I needed to think, you carried me back home like a caveman then ripped my clothes off so I couldn't leave. Do you realize how degrading that was?"
Just then, there was a knock on the door, Esme and Victoria were behind it. They looked angry.
Esme spoke first. "What the hell were you two thinking by parading yourselves in public like that? Both of you girls need to think about your actions before..."
"Fuck this shit!" Rose said and yanked me out of the room. We barreled down the stairs and ran as fast as we could into Rose's BMW. Rose floored the car so we were out of the parking lot. "I have so fucking had it with our twisted family, Bells! I really have! I'm pissed off and I'm frustrated!"
"Where are we going Rose?" I asked.
"Away! Don't think about any destination in mind. We don't need anyone finding out where we are.
Our cell phones started buzzing immediately. Rose floored her car all the way to Rochester, New York. No one can best Rose at driving—not even a professional race car driver could catch her up. We only stopped once for gas in Binghamton, New York and once when we got to Rochester. Rose pulled the BMW into the covered garage of a nice townhouse.
"I grew up in this town. Emmett and I bought this place so we could get away from the family. I'd show you around, but we need to run. I'm sure they're following us."
"Okay." I winked. We both ran at vampire speed until we hit the airport in Syracuse, New York. We rationalized that the airport in Rochester was the first one they'd look for us at. From Syracuse, we boarded the first flight out of there—which was to Chicago. Once we got to Chicago, Rose purchased two tickets to Seattle, Washington. On the plane, she whipped out two passports from a hidden compartment in the lining of her purse and handed one to me.
I flipped mine open to take a look. I was aghast. "Really Rose? Margaret Thatcher? The former prime minister of Britain. I don't look like a fucking Margaret!"
"I couldn't think of anything else. I'm Muriel Thatcher, your sister. Here's your license and your credit card. It's drawn from our winnings from playing pool—they can't trace us."
"Rose, if you're using Jenks..."
"I'm not, can you keep a secret?"
"You know I can." I said.
"I've been forging everything myself." She admitted.
My mouth popped open and I slapped a hand to it. "How?"
"Well, I've been wanting to run since about 1970 so I decided to learn how to do it on my own. Jenks' father taught me everything. I've been carrying a false identity in my purse since then. When you came along, I decided to make one for you too."
"Where are we going Rose?" I asked.
"First flight out of Seattle. I don't give a shit where it is." She said.
One month later...
I can't believe that we're actually in Japan. What a cool fucking place. Rose and I toured the entire country, from snow topped Mount Fuji to the ancient city of Kyoto to the bubbling hot springs in the town of Kusatsu. Now, we were back to the bustling streets of Tokyo. We were browsing around the Shibuya district for some clothes. They say New York City is crowded, it was nothing compared to how packed Tokyo was. It was wall to wall people here. We decided to stay at inns and budget hotels instead of somewhere fancy. Rose and I didn't give a shit about that kind of stuff. The country on the whole never slept so we just needed a place to store our stuff and unwind.
"Bella, let's check out of the hotel and go to India tomorrow. I always wanted to walk around dressed in saris." She said.
"Okay, but we need to pick up a suitcase so we can throw our clothes in it. We can't keep carrying everything inside shopping bags. We also need to hit that laundromat again." I said. "I'm running out of underwear."
"We need to hunt too." Rose pointed out. "I'm getting thirsty. It's been four days.."
"Alright, let's hunt first to be safe." I suggested. We ran to a secluded park that we had found upon arriving in Tokyo. "I hope we have a better selection of wildlife in Kyoto. I'm getting sick of these tanuki racoons."
"No shit!" Rose chuckled. "They're almost as rank as deer."
I buried my kill, then clutched my chest. It was the mating pull. I missed Jasper like crazy. Truth be told, he and Emmett were actually trying to listen to us. It was Esme and Vicky that went all overprotective and barged in on a private conversation between mates. I wanted to kill them both at that point. Rose and I hadn't even checked our messages. We both needed this time to think. I knew I didn't want to leave Jasper. I just wanted him to give me a little more freedom. Rose wanted the same thing. On the outside, it seemed as if we were free to do as we pleased, but in reality, the two of us were the most protected. At times, it felt as if we were in jail.
In less than a year, I felt like this. Poor Rose, must feel worse. Seventy-five years of this overprotective bullshit would drive anyone insane. The two of us were sitting on the grass with our backs against a tree holding each other. We both missed our mates. "Rose, maybe we should check our messages." I suggested.
We pulled out our cell phones. Most of the voicemails were the standard "Where are you? We're worried about you" bullshit. Three messages in particular stood out.
The first message was from Vicky and Riley. "Bella, I'm sorry. I really, truly am. I know you've left the nest, but I can't seem to let go. Legally, I know that Riley's your brother and I'm your sister in law, but to us and Irina and Laurent—you're the closest thing to a daughter that we'll ever have. You're our baby, but you're married now and you deserve a little independence. I've driven you aw..."
Riley took over the call after a sobbing Vicky couldn't continue. "You don't have to come home, baby girl, I know you need to regroup. Just know that we're home worried about you. That will never change no matter how near or far you are. Maybe, you can just drop a postcard and let us know how you're doing. That's all we're asking for. I love you, Bella.
Riley and Vicky really were more like my parents. They did everything they could to be supportive parents so I could get through life after the Cullens initially abandoned me. They made sure I was well nourished, happy, and educated. They spent five years caring for me when they could have easily just left me to fend for myself.
The second one was from Carlisle. "Isabella, it's your father. Riley and I tried to stop your mother and Vicky from barging into your conversation, but neither of them would listen to us. Know that I love you and that I support you and Rose on your journey to find yourselves. Whatever it is you need, I'm available for you. Tell Rose that I've deposited more cash into her account for both of you to use. Please, please, please stay safe. I love you both."
Wow! That one wasn't overprotective at all. It was actually very supportive. He was wishing us well on our journey to find ourselves. Is that what Rose and I were doing—finding ourselves? When I think about it, I never really had an opportunity to find myself. During college, I wasn't allowed to live in a dorm or even in an apartment with my friends. I was surrounded by four overprotective vampires. As soon as college ended, I met Jasper and, again, my quest for independence was quashed.
The final message was from Jasper, "You left, Bella. You left before we could finish our conversation. I wanted to tell you that you're right, it's a double standard. You and Rose are uber protected by everyone for some reason. Em and I have already talked to everyone and they swear they'll lay off—especially Esme. Please, baby, just call and tell me where you girls are or at least let us know that you're alright. My chest is killing me, babe. Just come home, you and Rose can go on as many weekend trips as you like, Scout's honor—we won't follow you anymore. I love you so much, baby, it hurts. I need you like I need blood to survive. You're the reason that I live."
I looked over at Rose and she had venom brimming her eyes. She also had a determined look. "Emmett's moved into your place and he's looking for a place of our own for us. He says his chest hurts. Anyway, I was thinking that we should call them and tell them we're okay before heading off to India. What do you think?"
"Good idea, let's call them from the airport tomorrow. There's always a lot of wait time before an international flight." I suggested.
We left the park and went back to shopping. I hated shopping until I got to Japan. They had the coolest stuff here. Instead of suitcases, we picked up large backpacks like the ones students use when they trek through Europe. We rationalized that we were students of life.
"How are we doing on cash?" I asked. Rose was handling the finances. We were determined to fund the journey on our own.
"We're good. We had almost three hundred grand in there and we haven't been crazy, extravagant at all. We'll have to hustle some more when we get back, though."
"I was watching the Travel Channel and they had this show on India, it said we can stay at Ashrams and do yoga and meditate. Maybe that's what we need. They're super cheap too."
"Well, they also have the best hotels in the world in India. How about if we stayed at an Ashram for a few days then get pampered at a luxury hotel for a few more. After that, we'll figure out what to do." Rose suggested.
"Love it! Let's do that." I said.
We got to the airport three hours ahead of our flight to India. We were checked in and roaming the airport. "We should pick up t-shirts that say Tokyo on them for ourselves and for our mates." Rose said. She had started her own souvenir t-shirt collection like I had.
We sat down and turned our cell phones on. "Are you ready to call them?" I asked Rose.
"Yeah."
I dialed Jasper's number while she called Em. "Bella?"
"Hi, Jasper."
"Where are you?"
"In Tokyo." I said.
"Are you coming home?" He asked, hopefully.
"Not quite yet."
"I'm sorry." He said.
"I'm sorry, too. I should have stayed to hear you out. I miss you."
"Then, come home."
"I can't. I still have some things that I have to figure out."
"Please, baby, I can't live without you. I'm dying here. Pete really let me have it. Ironic, isn't it? He's the most overbearing boar, yet even he realized that I was being beyond possessive."
"Jasper, don't take the blame all onto yourself. It's not just you, it's me too. You need to understand that I've never had any independence. I went from Renee to Charlie to Vicky, Riley, Irina, and Laurent, then, finally, to you. You had your time when you were in the army when you were allowed to make your own decisions. I've never had that opportunity. I can't even call my life my own anymore. I need to find out who I am, Jasper, before I could give myself over to you fully. Know this, though, my love for you is eternal, that will never change."
Jasper was sobbing. Oh, God—I made a grown vampire cry. I feel horrible. "Bella, please come home or at least let me meet you in Japan. I need you."
"I'm sorry, Jasper. I can't. I have to do this. You need to let me go." I cried.
"Baby, I can never let you go. You're a part of me, just like I'm a part of you. You're gonna have to find yourself knowing that fact." He said.
We talked for a while longer and then ended the call when our flight was boarding. "I love you, Bella, forever." He ended the call before I could tell him that I loved him.
I sat contemplating our relationship. I've been very honest with him from the beginning about everything. I wasn't hiding one thing from him. I'm pretty sure Jasper has been honest with me, too. I didn't doubt that he loved me. The advantage of being married to an empath is that you can feel all the love he has for you.
Jasper didn't trust me, though, or maybe it was me. Maybe, I didn't trust myself. Whatever it was, we had some lingering trust issues. Something was definitely missing and I hope to God I can figure out what it is on this journey.
So, Rose and Bella finally lost it. How do you feel about their journey? I'd love to hear what you think. Write to me and I'll respond. I promise. XOXO