Chapter 28 – Introductions
After her mother left Forks, Bella set about preparing herself for her visit down south, moving and changing, and meeting Jasper's best friend and his mate. To say she was a little nervous was to put it mildly. She wanted to meet them and to make a good impression, but the fact that they were not vegetarians weighed on her and made her more anxious about everything. Jasper tried to reassure her and tell her that it all would be alright, but this was unprecedented territory.
Jasper believed in Alice's vision that no harm would come to Bella, but he needed to be sure that he stayed on his guard during the initial meeting. The last time he had seen Peter and Charlotte, he had been happily married to Alice. Now he was with a human and was coping better now than he had ever coped before. The only answer he had was Bella brought him a peace no one else has been able to bring before.
Two days after her mother left and three days before she was set to leave for Florida, there was a knock at the door. Jasper had gone home to grab something and Emmett had relieved him of guard duty. The big guy was making a quick round in the woods before he came inside so Bella thought it was him, although why he would start knocking now when she knew he was there was beyond her. She quickly made her way downstairs and looked through the window of the front door and saw two people she didn't recognize at all. Bella took a deep breath and opened the door slowly, "May I help you?" As soon as the door was opened and she really looked at their faces, she gasped. The couple on her front porch had red eyes.
"Well that is a loaded question. I can think of several things that you could do, but where to start," the man said with a smirk on his face.
Bella paled and backed away. She tried to shut the door, but the man caught it with his hand. Shaking and knowing that if she ran, these two could catch her easily, she yelled for Emmett and prayed he got there in time. Internally she was saying her prayers and asking Jasper to forgive her for leaving him so soon.
"Stop it, you're scaring her!" The woman that was next to the man punched him.
Bella raised her eyebrow, "That was weird." She started to wonder who these two were. If they had been Victoria's worker bees, they would have already attacked. Instead the woman was getting onto the man for scaring her. Was she dreaming?
"Apologize to her right now!" The woman ordered.
"I'm sorry," the man said with a small smile on his face. He started to reach out his hand but a second later he was tackled to the ground by Emmett. The stranger was pinned down and not attempting to move or dislodge the man above him, "Hi Emmett, it is nice to see you again. Now can you let me up and tell me where Jasper is?"
"Right behind you," a southern drawl said from the porch. Jasper surveyed the scene as he ran up to the house after getting out of his truck. He knew immediately that Peter and Charlotte were there. Charlotte was standing just inside the door holding it open and Emmett had who he assumed was Peter on the ground. He looked past them and saw Bella shaking. Fear and confusion were rolling off of her in waves. "Shit! They got here before I did and Bella got scared What are they even doing here at Bella's house?" Jasper thought as he walked into the house after he answered Peter's question. He headed straight to Bella, "Are you alright sweetheart?" He pulled her into his arms and felt her trembling, for that reason alone he wanted to kick Peter's ass.
"Will you tell your bodyguard to let me up?" Peter said to the room in general.
Emmett slowly let the man up from the floor, "A little early aren't you?" They had not been expected for another couple of hours.
"You know as well as I do that we cannot always give exact times when we are running," Peter said as he tested his head and made sure it was still attached. "Besides we picked up Jasper's scent here and thought he was with his new girlfriend."
"Why don't you two go to the house and we will be there in a little bit?" Jasper directed. He needed to get Bella calm before he dealt with his friends. Neither of them knew what had been going on with Victoria and her little helpers, and knowing Peter he said something that completely terrified Bella. He watched as Charlotte nodded and grabbed Peter's ear pulling him out of the house before saying that they would see them later.
As soon as the three other vampires were out of the house, Bella collapsed against his side. He looked down and realized that she had fainted. Frowning he picked her up and carried her to her room laying her on the bed. It seemed that everything had just been too much for her. He was going to have to teach his friend a lesson about wreaking havoc on his girlfriend's emotions. As she was starting to come to, he felt fear, anger, and confusion rise within her and he sent her calming waves. The emotions decreased, but they were still there and he hoped that she would be alright.
Soon Bella's eyes fluttered opened and she looked at Jasper with a smile on her face, but soon that smile disappeared as she thought about and remembered the events that happened right before she fainted. She knew that Jasper was keeping her calmer than what she would normally be right now, and that may have been a good thing.
"How are you feeling Darlin'?" Jasper asked. He had never seen her faint and he needed to know that she was alright.
"I am physically ok if that is what you are asking," she muttered.
"Well what about the rest?"
She narrowed her eyes and turned her gaze to her boyfriend, "I don't appreciate being scared like that."
"Do you want to tell me what happened?"
"I answered the door and asked what I could help them with since I didn't know them. I saw their red eyes and he told me that it was a loaded question and wasn't sure where to start since there was a lot I could do. Then the woman with him told him to stop scaring me. I take it that those are your friends?" Bella said in a rush.
"Yah they are and don't worry, I will take care of Peter. He won't be scaring you again. They don't know everything that has been going on here though and if they had known, I don't think he would have done anything that would have scared you. Hell, he probably would have done as I told him to do and gone straight to my house. I wasn't expecting them to show up at your house instead of mine," Jasper growled. He was not happy with his friends right now.
"Oh so that is how they meet all of your human friends?" Bella said raising her voice a bit.
"No, I never had human friends to introduce them to. You are an anomaly," he smirked.
Bella threw herself at Jasper and started to cry into his shoulder. She held on tight and never wanted to let go. The events over the last hour had her praying to her maker, feeling relieved that she wasn't in the presence of the enemy, and going through a medley of emotions that left her emotionally exhausted. When everyone else had finally left, she couldn't deal with it anymore and sank into oblivion.
Jasper held onto Bella and rubbed her back. He wanted to kill his friends for doing this to her. He never wanted her to feel like this. Kissing the side of her neck, he said softly, "Its ok. I am here."
When the last tear had been cried and she felt like she was calm enough, she pulled back a bit and looked up into Jasper's eyes, "I was so scared because I didn't know who they were and I thought I wasn't going to see you again."
"That is never going to happen. I will be here every day for the rest of our lives," he declared and leaned in to give her a kiss to seal the promise. He finally pulled back, "I will leave this up to you. Do you want to come over, or do you want to stay here?"
Bella thought about it for a few minutes. She was considering it from all angles and without realizing it biting her lip, which Jasper pulled out of the grasp of her teeth with his thumb. She looked up when she felt the tug and offered him a small grin, "What have you told them about what has happened lately?"
"I have only talked to them yesterday and told them that Alice and I were divorced, but that I had met someone and she is human," he replied.
She nodded, "I don't know that I am up for another scare today."
"I promise that he will not scare you again. I will make sure of that. So do you want to come over?" He really wanted her to come over, but he would not pressure her or force her to come over to his house to meet Peter and Charlotte. After how the two of them introduced themselves, he wouldn't be surprised if she never wanted to see them again.
Bella looked at Jasper and knew that he would do everything he could to keep her safe. She also knew that he wanted her to come over to meet his friends, but after the meeting earlier, that is not what she wanted to do. She finally decided that she would do it for him. He has given her so much, she could do this in return, "Alright, I will go, but I cannot promise how long I will stay and if I get uncomfortable, I will be coming home. Deal?"
Jasper smirked, "Deal. How about we seal the deal with a kiss?" He watched the smile appear on her lips as she leaned in and their lips met. He did not want it to ever end, but knew that it had to. "Alright, but we are taking my truck."
"Of course we are," she snickered.
Jasper helped her up off of her bed and onto her feet. He looked at her as she started to get her bearings and grew worried, "Are you alright?" The last thing he wanted was for her to feel dizzy or to faint again.
"I am fine. Let's get this over with," she said as she grabbed his hand and pulled him out of her bedroom. She went into the kitchen and scribbled a little note for Charlie and then turned to Jasper, "Ok, I am ready, but on the way over to your house you have to buy me lunch."
Jasper laughed at her request, "I can do that sweetheart. Come on."
The couple got into the truck and was on their way. After a brief stop at a drive thru, they finished their drive to the Cullen house. Jasper noticed that when he turned off the ignition, Bella didn't make a move to get out of the car and kept staring at the house like it had the plague, "You know you don't have to do this today."
"I know, but I would rather get it over with now than to let my fear keep building if that makes sense," Bella quietly said.
"It does." He used his hand to turn her face towards his and gave her a small kiss on the lips, "I am here and I am not leaving your side." When he saw her nod, he released her and got out of the truck, moving to her side and opening the door for her. He had her food in one hand and grabbed her hand with the other while she grabbed her drink. As they made their way to the front door, he gave her hand a reassuring squeeze before opening the door for her.
Emmett was immediately in the foyer to greet them, "How are you doing Bells? Do you need me to do anything like rip Peter apart?"
A small giggled escaped Bella's lips, "No, I think I am good for now, but Jasper may have other ideas."
Jasper rolled his eyes and led her into the kitchen where he found Esme and Carlisle, "Where are Peter and Charlotte?"
"They are in the living room with Rose and Edward," Esme answered.
"Why don't you sit down and eat?" He said to Bella and pulled out a chair for her to sit down. Leaning against the counter next to her, he looked at his ficticious parents, "They decided when they picked up my scent to go over to Bella's instead of coming here first."
"We heard. Are you alright Bella?" Carlisle asked.
Swallowing the bite of food in her mouth, "Yah, I just got freaked out. I will be fine."
"Good to hear," the patriarch said quietly. Emmett had told them what he walked in on and how he handled the situation, but Carlisle was curious if something happened before Emmett had shown up. Bella had yelled for Emmett and she would not have done that without reason.
Once Bella was done eating, Jasper threw her bag and everything in the trash. He grabbed her hand and gave her a smile, "Are you ready for this?"
"I guess as ready as I will ever be," Bella groaned.
He smirked at the girl standing in front of him. He was proud of her. Not many people would face what she has in the last several months and then deal with what she did earlier, only to face the person or people that had frightened them. It was yet another reason he loved her.
Together they walked into the living room hand in hand and Jasper heard her take in a deep calming breath. He also heard her mutter to herself under her breath that everything would be alright. He smiled down at her and squeezed her hand again.
Peter and Charlotte stood up from their positions on the couch, but did not make any moves to walk closer towards the couple. Jasper appreciated that because if they had, Bella may be running for the hills instead of gripping his hand for dear life. "Bella, these are my friends. This is Charlotte, she is Peter's mate, and the idiot next to her is Peter."
"Yah, we met this morning. Hi," Bella said shakily. She lifted her hand in hello and put it back down quickly.
"Sorry about earlier. Peter thought we would get the jump on Jasper. He, like Jasper said, is an idiot. Sorry for scaring you," Charlotte said giving the girl next to her friend a smile.
"Yah, I am really sorry. I didn't know that you would be so terrified. Emmett and Edward kind of gave us a highlight about what has been going on. I really didn't mean to scare you like that," Peter said properly contrite. He felt awful about what he did to the girl earlier and when he found out some of what had been happening, well it was no wonder she had been so frightened.
"I don't even know what you were doing there in the first place," Jasper growled.
"Sorry Major, but we picked up your scent and…" he stopped when he heard the warning growl from his friend. "It won't happen again."
"Good to hear," Jasper glared.
It wasn't the first meeting and introductions that Bella and Jasper had been hoping for or planning on, but at least they had met and it was time to move past what had happened earlier. Bella thought that they seemed nice enough, but she wasn't about to leave Jasper's side when she was around them. Jasper still wanted to get Peter for what he had done to Bella and he planned to do that later. At least the introductions were over with though.