A/N: Well I guess the first person didn't turn out so bad after all. Thank you everyone for the reviews and the support. I am so excited to see the response this story is getting. Thank you! Here is the next chapter; you know the drill, review if you have the chance. Thank you for everything!
Chapter 8 – It's Over
Bella let Jasper cling to her as he tried to sort out what was happening in his mind and come to grips with what those papers meant. It was all there in black and white, the small print on the pages could be summed up into just a few words, it was over and the end had come.
The one question Jasper kept saying as he sat there and held her was, "Why?" She wished that she had an answer for him and knew that she didn't. She could only try to comfort him and remind him that Alice didn't do anything without reason, although, even she was having a hard time seeing the reason with this one.
If Jasper could cry, Bella's shirt would probably look like she had been caught in a rain storm. He wanted answers, but the only thing he got was more questions. This was wrong and he knew that although she had her reasons for leaving, she could have explained them. No, she was selfish and he wondered if it wasn't better this way. Either way it hurt, but he would rather be set lose now than to come to hate her more later on.
He pulled back from the fragile human sitting next to him crying the tears he so desperately wanted to cry. He wiped the tears from her face, "Thank you again Bella."
"I am here any time you need me Jasper. I know this isn't easy and it looks like it is not going to get better any time soon, but I am here," Bella said with conviction. She almost sounded like she was trying to convince herself of that. Now that Alice was out of the picture, did she need to help Jasper for Alice? No, she would do it because Jasper, if nothing else, was a friend.
He nodded his head and picked up the papers from the coffee table where they lay. He looked at them once again. Simple divorce, nothing to argue over, Alice wanted nothing and he wanted nothing from her but answers. He knew he would not get those, so he may as well sign them and get this over with.
Jasper asked for a pen and Carlisle gave him one saying, "Are you sure you want to do that Jasper? Maybe wait and let a lawyer or someone look at them."
"Why stall? She isn't asking for anything," Jasper's voice cracked.
"No, but maybe when you have time to calm down a bit," Esme started and looked to Carlisle.
Jasper looked up and took in the expressions of everyone in the room. "What would waiting accomplish?" He wondered to himself. He could see that the others agreed with the parental unit of the family, but he didn't think it would make a difference except dragging out the inevitable, "It's not going to change anything."
"She could still change her mind or maybe when you are calmer you will be able to look at the papers and see something that needs to be changed," Carlisle said trying to be reasonable and figure out why this was happening to his family.
"He's right you know," Bella said quietly from his side, "You could find something that was missed later."
He raised an eyebrow. She didn't think Alice was going to change her mind either and that with the arrival of these papers it was inevitable. He let out a long breath, "Fine, I will wait and get a lawyer to look at them on Monday and read them myself again later before I sign them." He threw the papers onto the table again and stood up quickly. He was by the front door in an instant, "I need some air."
"Do you want me to come too?" Bella asked.
"No, I need to be alone. I will call you later though," he said as he went out the door. He needed to think and just be by himself. He felt everything and needed to get away from the onslaught of emotions again. It wasn't easy to be able to be an empath and today it really sucked. Bella was a friend and had been there for him, but he needed to be alone and to be able to feel nothing but his feelings right now, to think about only his thoughts, and to try to come to terms with the fact that his once happy life was now upside down.
Bella continued to sit where Jasper left her and let a few more tears escape. She knew this was not easy for the Cullen's and this had to be a knife to the heart for them. Their "daughter" left them and is now divorcing their "son" and they had to watch him in pain. She didn't know what to say to them or to herself.
"Bella are you ok?" Emmett asked her suddenly at her side when her head dropped to her knees and she was folded in half.
"I'm ok Em," she cried. She started to feel someone rub her back and when she looked up she saw Emmett still there trying to sooth her. She found herself fighting a small smile, a gentle giant like no other.
"Are you sure that you are ok? Do you need anything?" Esme asked. Bella could hear the concern in her voice and knew it was for Jasper but also for her.
She lifted herself out of her bent position and faced Esme and Carlisle, "I will be fine. I am just feeling sorry for myself and Jasper right now, and I feel bad for all of you. I know that Alice was family and it isn't easy."
"No, but like you told Jasper, she had her reasons and we just have to keep believing that. Are you alright with Jasper? I know that he has been leaning on you but today when he was upset and you were holding him," Carlisle was trying to find the words to express his concern without trying to upset her.
"He is fine Carlisle. I am not afraid of him and he hasn't tried to hurt me at all. I feel safe around him. He is hurting right now and I wish I could take it away from him." More tears fell from her eyes as she defended him.
With a small sad smile, Carlisle said, "Good, I'm glad. I think he will need you a lot more now. If you need us for any reason, we are here for you."
"I know all of you are," she returned the smile, but knew it didn't reach her eyes. "I am going to go ahead and go home. Can someone give me a lift to my truck?"
Edward looked to Emmett and gave him a silent plea to take her and Emmett nodded, "Sure Bella, I will take you. Let me just grab my keys."
"Thanks Emmett. I will see all of you later." She stood and gave a small waive as she walked out the door to follow Emmett to the car.
The ride to the school was silent except for the blaring radio that Emmett turned up to drown out how loud the quiet was. Bella wanted to laugh. Jasper was quiet, Edward liked quiet also but didn't mind some noise, and Emmett loved noise. They were all so different. She wondered if this was going to change things and if she was going to lose them again.
"We are not going anywhere Bells! We are staying put for at least another couple of years," he said to her as he gave her a little grin.
"What are you Edward now and can read minds?" Bella asked.
"No, but when you talk out loud I can hear it. Granted it was whispered and I probably wasn't supposed to hear it, but come on I am a vampire."
She knew he was trying to lighten the mood with that last comment and she gave him a small chuckle, "I guess I did say it quietly. So you don't think this will change things?"
"Nope, not at all. We are where we need to be right now and when we go, we will give you plenty of notice. Does that work for you?"
"Yah, it does. Thank you!"
They arrived at the school and her car was the only one left. She gave her friend a smile and a punch to the arm before getting out of the jeep. He stayed and watched her get in and then start her truck before he moved again. Then when she pulled out of the parking lot, she noticed that he followed her. In fact she noticed that he followed her the entire way home. She pulled into the driveway and got out of the car and went up to his window, "Problems?"
"Not at all, just a very emotional day and your truck is a piece of crap. So I wanted to be sure that you got home safe," he smirked at her.
She couldn't stay mad at him, but couldn't resist one more glare before turning and walking towards the house. The effect would have been better if she had not tripped over herself and landed on her butt when she turned. She got up to the sounds of laughing and as she stomped up to the front door, the jeep drove away. Under her breath she muttered, "Stupid vampire idiot!"
Charlie got home about an hour later. Bella had just started cooking dinner and handed him a beer. "I invited Jake to dinner again tonight. He should be here soon."
"You did what?! I am not talking to him right now. He was beyond rude and I don't feel comfortable around him. Especially the way he has been acting lately. In fact I told him to stay away from me. So if that is the case, I will eat in my room," she glared at her father.
"I didn't know Bells. I just figured that you and Edward had broken up, you may need a friend."
"I have plenty of friends. I don't needs friends that will tell me who I can and cannot be friends with, who are rude to my other friends, and that cannot take no for an answer!"
"He didn't, did he try to…?" Charlie stammered.
"What? No he didn't try anything. I meant that he doesn't accept no when he asks me out. I am not interested in him."
"Oh, I'm sorry Bells. I didn't know all of that. Next time I will ask before I invite him over," Charlie said as he held up his hands in a sign of surrender just as a knock came from the front door, "Why don't I go answer that and you just do whatever it is you are doing." He was saved by the knock and he would be grateful to that.
"Hey Charlie!" Jacob greeted him as he opened the door.
"Hi Jacob, I didn't know that you and Bella were fighting when I invited you over for dinner," Charlie said quietly as he let the younger man into the house.
"Yah, it is just a little misunderstanding," Jacob said as a way of trying to explain.
"Well, stay out of the kitchen for now. She is riled up and I think it best to stay back." Both of them walked into the living room to see what was on the TV.
Dinner was a quiet affair for the most part. True to her word, Bella ate in her room and left Charlie and Jacob to entertain themselves. When she came downstairs when her dishes, she was still ignoring her wolf friend and he decided he had enough, "Bella just talk to me."
"What is there to say Jake? You're an ass," Bella said with narrow eyes.
"Look, I'm sorry for my attitude the other day over the phone," Jacob was interrupted.
"It isn't only that day! You don't listen to me! I am not interested in you like that, you are rude to my friends, and you try to tell me I can't be friends with them. If I wanted someone to control me, I would become a slave!" She yelled at him.
"What do you want me to do? I don't think you know the danger you are in with them?" Jacob whispered.
"Funny, they say the same thing about you, but they don't tell me not to be your friend. Now back off!" She washed her dished and went back upstairs to get away from him. She decided she needed to relax after that encounter and grabbed her things to take a shower and when she was done and coming out of the bathroom, her father was walking up the stairs.
"I'm sorry Bells, I really didn't know that it would be such a problem," he apologized again.
"I know dad. I am just tired of the attitudes and have decided not to deal with them anymore," she said quietly.
"Good for you and I support you as long as you are safe."
"I know dad. Good night." She walked into her room and shut the door. When she was done putting everything away, she realized that the book she was reading was in her backpack downstairs. She ran to grab it and when she returned, Jasper was sitting in the seat at her desk. She jumped.
"Sorry, I didn't mean to startle you," he apologized not looking up from the album he was staring at.
She knew that he was once again looking at the pictures of him and Alice together. She would take them away from him eventually, but not today. "It's ok; I just wasn't expecting you to be there when I walked in."
"I didn't feel like going home and I didn't feel like being alone any longer, that only left me one place really. I hope you don't mind."
"Not at all, how are you holding up?"
"Well I can honestly say that I have been better," he laughed humorlessly.
"I am sure that you have."
"It's like a bad dream that you can't wake up from. I know I am not dreaming though because I don't sleep."
"Yah, I can see that."
"I don't want to talk about it right now. Can you read to me?" He said as he pointed to the book in Bella's hand.
"Yah, I can do that." So she lay down in her bed and got comfortable and Jasper got in beside her on top of the covers, and once they were both situated, she started to read. It kept their minds occupied and prevented complete silence. That is what both of them needed right now. When she got tired of reading out loud, Jasper took over and he continued even after he knew she was asleep. He needed the distraction right now.