As I approached the house, I felt anxiety, concern and confusion coming from inside. It was quiet. I opened the door and took a deep breath. I could smell a little dried blood, but mostly soap. I could also smell Bella. She must still be here. It was late; Carlisle should have taken her home. I stepped slowly, listening for her heartbeat. How anxious was she? Not actively afraid. The steady thump was coming from the sitting room. She was lounging with her head on Carlisle's chest. His hand was in her hair, stroking.

He turned his head to me and smiled. He cocked it, indicating I should come in. Bella must have felt him shift because she looked up.

"Jasper." She ran to me now, stumbling once. "Are you all right?" She ran her hands over my arms and then my cheeks and neck as though looking for injuries. I smiled and almost chuckled. She was concerned for me, when she was the one who had been hurt. She stopped for the first time on the scars on my neck, her finger tracing a couple.

I wrapped a hand around hers. "I'm fine, Bella. How are you?" I asked, turning her hand over to see the bandage on her forearm.

She pulled her hand away and put her arm behind her back. "I'm fine. Just hit a vein." She looked down, anxious and awkward.

"I'm glad you're all right. I'm sorry you had to find out like this." I hung my head and moved around her to take a seat next to Carlisle on the sofa. "You explain everything?" I asked him.

"Yeah. She had some questions, understandably." He smiled at Bella, and she smiled back at him. I felt her confidence grow and she squeezed his hand before coming to take a seat next to me. She leaned her head into me now, sighing. I looked to Carlisle. He smirked and nodded.

"You aren't scared of us?" I didn't get it.

"You saved me. Why would I be scared of you?" she asked, backing up to look at me.

I looked back to Carlisle, hoping he'd help me out here but he just shook his head — no help whatsoever. "Because I could kill you?"

She shrugged. "You could, but you don't, you won't."

My brow furrowed and I felt confusion, my own.

"Carlisle told me you drink from animals because you don't want to hurt humans. You don't want to hurt me." She wrapped her arms around me again and put her head to my chest. "You don't have a heartbeat." I felt her cheek pull up as she smiled. "How could I not notice that before?"

I put my lips to her hair, feeling the familiar burn in my throat. "You're amazing, you know that?"

"What do you mean?" she asked.

"He's right — truly exceptional. I have never seen a human react like this. Even my patients get anxious being that close for that long. How long were you gone, Jasper? Two hours? She never left my arms."

Jealousy twinged, but I drove it away. "Was that enough time?" I asked Bella, pulling her from me a little. "Do you have any questions for me?"

"Um..." She looked into my eyes. "Carlisle said it's harder for you?"

"It is. I made a lot of mistakes when I first joined him." I looked back at him, unsure how she would take hearing this. "I had spent years feeding off humans. It took a lot of effort to change that. Animals don't taste the same, not at all. It's like trying to compare your truck to my car." She laughed out loud and I smiled too. "They'll both get you there in the end, but I think it's obvious which one you'd rather take."

"I don't know, my truck is pretty awesome." She grinned.

I laughed and stroked her cheek. "I'm sorry if I frightened you. I'm so glad Carlisle stopped me."

"I am too." She kissed me then and my eyes went wide, my lips a little slack. It was so unexpected. She sensed my confusion and backed away. "Am I..." She wasn't sure how to finish her sentence.

"You really aren't worried about me ... biting you?" I asked. I didn't understand. How could she be willing to taste my venom, be so close to my teeth?

She laughed. "No, but if I'm making you uncomfortable." She stood up and started to walk away.

Carlisle nudged me. He looked toward her, then back at me. "Keep her," he whispered. He gave me another three seconds before he jumped up and stopped her leaving. "Bella. Do you want a ride home?"

"That would be good. After all, I don't know what's in the woods, do I?" She smirked.

How could she joke about it? Did she not see the danger she was in? Suddenly I realized just how much danger she was in. "He's going to come back for you."

She turned to me, a crease in her brow. "Who?"

"James, the blonde one. He wants what I want. He's going to hunt you, Bella." I sighed and hung my head. "I told myself from the start this was a bad idea."

"Ow." Bella shook her hand. Had she slapped me? "Carlisle?"

"Pleasure." He slapped me and my head reeled.

"Excuse me?" I asked him.

He shrugged and amusement rolled off him. Irritation was spiking off Bella.

"Being with me was a bad idea? How dare you? You certainly weren't the one who did the chasing you ... you ... vampire!"

Carlisle laughed out loud. He put a hand over his mouth to muffle it but continued laughing.

Bella caught his eye and snickered too. Then she was laughing. They were both rubbing on me, and I didn't want to be amused right now.

"Yes, it was a bad idea. I should have tried harder to chase you off. I'm dangerous, Bella."

"No, you aren't," she argued.

"I am. Didn't I lunge for you? Wouldn't I have killed you if Carlisle hadn't stopped me? And those others learned about you because you were with me. This was a terrible idea."

She looked to Carlisle who guffawed again and slapped me for her. This wasn't fair. I grabbed her roughly by the shoulders.

Carlisle pushed me off. "Take it easy, Jasper."

"She needs to understand."

"I do understand, Jasper." She stalked toward me. "I understand that you are afraid for me. I understand that you might even be afraid of me. But guess what. I'm not afraid of you. I'm not going to be afraid of you." She was pressed up to me now, her finger poking my chest. "And I'm not going to stay away from you. So keep getting used to it." She tipped her head back so she was looking right up at me. "Couldn't you be just a little shorter?"

Carlisle laughed again, and this time it did get the better of me. I chuckled, dropping to my knees. "That better, little woman?"

She smiled and tucked her hair behind her ear. "Much. Thank you." She bent her head and kissed me. I tried not to question it this time. I felt envy from Carlisle. Not quite jealousy. He would love to have Bella, but what he really wanted was what I had with Bella. "I could get used to this." She giggled and peppered my face with little kisses until I was smiling and laughing too.

"I should get you home," I said finally.

"Yeah, Charlie will start to worry."

Her father... "Is he going to wonder about this?" I kissed the inside of her elbow on her injured arm. The wound was closed tight now and tempted me only as much as the rest of her.

She laughed. "No. I'm a klutz. I'm constantly falling or dropping things. He won't notice."

I stood up. "Will you mind if I spend the night in your yard? I want to make sure they don't come back for you."

"I don't mind. You can stay closer, if you like." She blushed and her heart sped a little.

"That's probably not a good idea." I held her close.

"But you'll need to sleep."

I looked to Carlisle, but he had left. I couldn't blame him. "We don't sleep, Bella."

She stepped back. "You don't sleep?"

I shook my head. "I wonder what else you don't know yet." I put my hand into her hair.

"You don't eat. You don't have a heartbeat. You don't need to breathe. Sunlight exposes you ... Carlisle didn't explain that really well. Just that it would be impossible not to notice." She looked at me, hoping for more of an explanation, but I didn't give her one. "You're impossibly fast, impossibly strong. You can put yourself back together. That's creepy, just so you know."

I chuckled. She found that creepy. Drink blood, whatever, but don't reassemble yourself, please.

"And you can see and hear very well. If you bite me and don't kill me, I will become a vampire. Oh, and now, you don't sleep. What did I miss?"

"Did he tell you about me? Me specifically?" I clarified.

Her brow crinkled. "No. What about you?"

"I – You know what it doesn't matter. Let's get you home."

She let me lead her to the car but didn't let me off the hook. "What about you?" she asked again from the car.

I sighed. "You're irritated with me."

"Yes because you are hiding something. After all I've just had dropped on me, I'd appreciate a little more honesty and trust from you." Her voice was hard.

"You weren't obvious, being irritated with me. I have a way of noticing these things. I feel what you're feeling." I tightened my grip on the wheel.

The irritation faded. I looked at her and she was staring at me. I looked away again. Then she was filled with love. "Thank you, Jasper. Thank you for telling me." She leaned over to kiss my cheek.

I pulled over. I'd felt her concern, I'd felt her attraction, I'd even felt her lust, but the only time I'd felt love like this from her was when she was looking at her chained tires, chained by her father.

She was confused. "Did I do something?"

I reflected her emotion back to her. The altruism, wanting what's best for someone else. Concern only for the other. Love at it's essence. Her eyes widened and I heard her pulse pick up. "Really? Is that really what you feel for me, Bella?"

She looked down, blushing. I pulled up her chin. "Don't be ashamed. You have no idea how long I've wanted that." I ran a hand through her hair. "I don't remember being human. I don't remember my parents' love for me, or mine for them. Carlisle and I care for one another, but not like that." I traced her cheekbone. "I would do anything for you, Bella. Know that, all right?"

"All right," she choked out. I saw tears glistening in her eyes. I wiped them away and kissed her again. "I love you, Jasper," she murmured against my lips.

"I love you, Bella. I'm not going to let anything happen to you."

So, yeah, Jasper didn't shred James, yet. YET!