A/N: I want to thank all of the new readers that have favored/followed the story. I am really glad you found it! Thanks also to my reviewers and loyal readers of this story. Now that Peter and Charlotte have dealt with the yet another Victoria straggler, hopefully they can be left in peace for now. We will see. I will be getting back to Michael and Alice in the next chapter, but felt like I needed to wrap up the Peter/Charlotte visit first.
Chapter 32 – Changes
Bella stayed as long as she could to visit with Peter and Charlotte. She could easily see them all becoming good friends, but maybe more so after she was changed. Hopefully she could forget how she and Peter initially met so that she didn't want to knock his block off.
Looking at her watch, Bella knew it was time to head back home. She also knew that Peter and Charlotte would be leaving the next day and didn't want to pull Jasper away from them. So when she stood up to stretch, she decided someone else would take her home. One thing about letting Jasper drive her, she didn't have her own means of escape if she wanted it, "Hey Emmett, can you take me home?"
Emmett looked to Jasper before he answered her and when he saw the unpleasant look that flashed across Jasper's face, he said, "Isn't Jasper taking you home?"
Bella turned her gaze to Jasper and realized that he was staring at her very intently. She figured she should have talked to him about her choice first, but she didn't want to bother him when he was talking. It wasn't like she wasn't going to say good bye to him before she left, she was just getting her ride arranged, "Look Jasper…"
"Excuse us," Jasper said to everyone in the room and took Bella's hand pulling her out of the room. When they were in his room and the door had been shut, he turned to her, "Why are you asking Emmett for a ride? If you are ready to leave, I can take you."
"He looks hurt," Bella thought to herself as she studied her boyfriend. "Jasper I didn't mean to step all over your toes or anything. Peter and Charlotte leave tomorrow, and you don't get to see them as much as you probably would like. I didn't want to pull you away from them and I wasn't going to leave without say good bye to you first."
Jasper tried to school his features and reign in his emotions. He wasn't sure why he felt hurt when she asked Emmett to take her home. His brother had taken her home the previous day, but for some reason when she just asked without saying anything to him, he was jealous and disappointed. Maybe this morning's revelations were eating away at him more than he would have liked and it was affecting his emotions where Bella was concerned. Running a hand through his hair, he exhaled and looked at her with a sheepish expression. He whispered, "Sorry."
Bella walked up to him and wrapped her arms around his waist, "Nothing to be sorry about Jazz. A lot of things have been happening lately and this morning I am sure didn't help." She brought one of her hands up to his face and placed it on his cheek, "But know this, I love you and I am not going anywhere without you. Well at least not anything big or major. Home is a different matter. I want you to stay and have fun with your friends since you don't know when you will see them again. I am going to go home and get dinner ready for my dad."
Jasper smirked and leaned into her hand before turning his head and kissing the palm of it, "Ok sweetheart you go home with Emmett and I will stay here for now. I will see you tonight or in the morning. Sorry I was, well you know."
Bella smiled and stood on her tip toes to give him a kiss. She gave him a smirk of her own when she pulled back, "I know. Now should we go downstairs and allow Emmett to take me home or should we just stay up here for the rest of our lives."
"I don't know, that is a very tempting choice and if I was allowed to pick…" he laughed as Bella rolled her eyes at him and shook her head.
"Yah, it wasn't really a choice," she said as she gave him one last kiss and pulled him out of the room.
When they returned to the living room laughing and smiling, Peter and Charlotte were once again amazed at the change that had come over Jasper. There was a time when defying the word of the Major could mean your death or at the very least a maiming. They knew he had changed from the time he was with Maria, but still no one defied him and when they did, he was usually in a bad mood for a long time to come. Even when he and Alice would fight, it could last for a while because Jasper did not like to admit defeat, but this slip of a girl was very different. The couple had been gone no more than fifteen minutes when they returned and both appeared to be very happy.
Peter and Charlotte looked at each other with a quizzical look. They knew that Jasper had been irritated when Bella had asked Emmett to take her home and when he pulled her out of the room, they figured neither one of them would return for some time. In fact, they were certain that Jasper would return in a bad mood and the visit would have reached it pinnacle and be over, but they were wrong and they knew it all had to deal with Bella. She had changed Jasper and he was better for him. Tamed wasn't the word they would use because of the connotations that went with it, but in a way she had tamed the Texas Major, and they were very happy for their best friend.
"Emmett can you take Bella home for me and stay with her until I can get there?" Jasper asked.
Emmett smirked. He could see the surprise on Peter and Charlotte's faces when the couple had returned to the room. The Cullen family had more time to get used to this new side of Jasper and still it through them for a loop sometimes. He could only imagine what they were feeling at seeing Bella and Jasper together. Chuckling he said, "Yah. You ready to go Bells? Do you want to come Rose?"
"I'm ready," Bella said smiling.
"No, I think I will stay here. I have a couple of things to do in the garage," Rosalie said smiling. She had also seen the look pass between Jasper's friends. It was almost comical and she wanted to see if anything was said after Bella left.
"Ok," Emmett said as he walked over to Rose and gave her a kiss, "I will see you later babe." When they broke apart, he turned to Bella, "Say good bye and let's go."
Bella was laughing at Emmett and turned to Peter and Charlotte, "It was good to see you again. Sorry I can't stay, but my dad is going to be home soon."
Charlotte smiled and said, "Not a problem. We will see you later."
"When are you leaving?" Bella asked.
"The morning most likely," Peter replied.
"Well if I don't see you before you leave, have a good trip and I am sure we will see each other again," Bella remarked.
Peter smiled at the girl that had stolen Jasper's heart, "It was really nice meeting you and I am sure we will see each other again."
Jasper walked Bella out to the garage where Emmett's jeep was, "I will see you soon." He gave her a kiss and then softly said, "I love you."
"I love you too. Don't worry about hurrying over. Spend time with your friends and I will be waiting for you when you are done," Bella said as she embraced him. She got into the car and gave one last good bye to her boyfriend before Emmett drove her home.
Jasper walked back into the living room and was instantly confronted by his friends. He had felt their curiosity and shock when he and Bella returned just before she left, but had ignored it at the time. When he had been walking back into the house, he wondered who the first to break would be and he didn't have to wait long for his answer.
"Oh my God Jasper, I didn't ever think I would see you get over something so fast!" Charlotte gushed.
"I do have to admit Major that it was a sight to see. I have seen you harbor a bad mood for less than that. I was sure when you pulled her out of here, something was going to happen. I was not expecting that you would return so soon smiling and laughing with her," Peter said amazed. "You stayed madder at Alice for a lot longer."
Jasper smirked and chuckled, "I know, but I can't stay mad at her. Plus today wasn't really her fault. She was just trying to make sure she had a ride home without taking me away from your visit."
Peter rolled his eyes, "Since when has it mattered whose fault it was?"
Jasper turned a very intense gaze upon his best friend, "Since I am with her."
"We are so happy you found her after Alice left," Charlotte said beaming. She was really happy for the couple. It was weird because she was a human, but that was going to be changing soon and she had never seen Jasper so happy. He just seemed to smile and laugh more when she was around. Bella was good for his soul.
Jasper didn't want to bring up everything that had been discussed this morning. What's done is done and he did not regret the outcome. In fact, he was grateful to Alice for leaving and where there was once guilt, now there was peace. Bella had become a type of sanctuary to him and he would do anything to make sure she was safe and cherished for the rest of her life. Jasper smiled, "I am glad we were there for each other."
When Bella got home, Emmett immediately went through the house to make sure nothing was out of the ordinary and when he was done with that, he did a quick run of the property. As he was checking for problems, he thought about his adopted brother and Bella. They were a good couple and good for each other. No one would have imagined that Bella would be the one that was there for Jasper after Alice left, and at first the family was slightly afraid for Bella, but Jasper seemed to be more in control of his thirst than he ever was before. She had not only healed him, but brought him something that he never had before. Emmett in awe of it all and realized that although Bella was human, she had somehow touched each person in the Cullen family.
Bella was just putting a casserole into the oven when Emmett returned, "Are you going to move that jeep of yours?"
"Um can't, you dad is coming down the road. Sorry," he said as he was about to bolt up the stairs to her room.
"What am I supposed to say to my dad about it?"
"Tell him that your truck was acting up this morning and Jasper brought you one of our cars to use until Rose could look at it."
She grumbled, "Fine, I guess that will work." She was about to say more to her friend when she heard her dad's car door shut indicating that he was home and about to come into the house.
Charlie had seen the big jeep in the driveway and wondered if maybe Jasper was over again. He walked into the house and noticed his daughter was just coming out of the kitchen, but her boyfriend was nowhere to be found, "Where's Jasper?"
"As far as I know he is at home since they had family friends that came into town," Bella answered. It was the truth and so she didn't feel any pang of guilt for a lie.
"Isn't that one of the Cullen cars out there though?"
"Yah, my truck was making a funny noise this morning when I was going to Jasper's house. So I called him and told him about it. He picked me up and then when it was time to head home, he and Emmett brought me home so that they could leave Emmett's jeep with me. Rosalie said that she would look at the truck tomorrow or while I was in Florida," Bella said turning away from her father so that he wouldn't detect the lie.
"That was nice of them. Do you want to call Jake and have him look at it for you?"
"No, it will be alright. Rose has a lot of experience with cars and she can handle it. Plus Jake and I are not on good terms since I started to hang out with Jasper and when we started to date, he basically told me that we couldn't be friends any longer. Sorry dad," Bella said feeling guilty for how everything played out with her and Jacob, but she couldn't be friends with him if he couldn't respect her and her wishes. Plus he was the one that told her that she needed to choose, and when she did he didn't want to continue their friendship. She looked at it as his loss.
"Oh, I didn't realize. Sorry Bells," Charlie said. He knew that things had been strained between the two, but he didn't realize that it had gone that far. Well, if Jacob wanted to put those demands on his baby, then she was better off without him.
"It's ok dad. I came to terms with it a while ago. Sorry I didn't tell you sooner. Well, I just put dinner in the oven, so you have about 40 minutes before it is done," Bella said trying to change the subject.
"Ok then, I am going to change out of this uniform and then see what is on TV," Charlie replied.
"Sounds good," Bella said turning to go back into the kitchen.
The rest of the night passed without much conversation between the two of them and soon enough, Bella was walking up to her room to read and hang out with Emmett. She wondered when Jasper would show up again, and figured she would probably not see her boyfriend until Peter and Charlotte left in the morning. She had fun with Emmett and they could talk and joke around, but it wasn't the same as Jasper. So when Emmett jumped out the window to make a quick property run, she decided that it was time for some sleep.
Emmett smelled the wolves in the woods making their patrols, but knew that until all threats had passed, that would not change. He was grateful to the help that they gave in protecting Bella and Charlie, and he was happy that Sam had given his blessing to allow Bella to be changed into a vampire. It was not an easy decision and some of the other wolves had balked at the idea, but they couldn't argue and it was what Bella wanted. He had heard the conversation that Bella had with her father when Charlie had walked in the house. She had given him the simple and nice version of everything that happened. What she had left out was the fact that Jacob had yelled, transformed, and taken a swipe at both Bella and Jasper. If Jasper had not been so quick, it could have ended badly for both of them. Oh Jacob had been ashamed afterwards, but the friendship had been severed and Sam made sure that Jacob was never near Bella after that.
After he was done with his run, Emmett jumped back into Bella's window and found her lying in her bed trying to go to sleep. She wasn't quite there yet, but he wasn't going to bother her. Looking at the clock that said it was after midnight, he sent a text to Jasper to let him know that everything was secure and Bella was in bed. Now all he could do was wait for Jasper to show up or Bella to wake up so that he could take her back to the house. He was going to do whichever came first since he wasn't sure what time Charlotte and Peter were actually leaving.
Jasper arrived through Bella's window at just after dawn and found his brother packing boxes for her. He softly chuckled, "What are you doing?"
"Well, she won't have much time after you two get back from Florida and I was bored, so I thought I would help her out," Emmett whispered.
"Ok, well if you want, you can run on home now."
"Gee thanks dad, I think I will," Emmett said sarcastically and then laughed. He remembered to stay quiet since Bella was still sleeping and Charlie was just across the hall. As he was walking to the window, he turned around and asked, "Are they gone?"
"Yah, they left right before I came over here," Jasper said looking at his sleeping girlfriend. He turned to Emmett and said, "Thanks for watching over her for me."
"Any time bro," Emmett said smiling just before he jumped.
Jasper climbed into the bed with Bella and pulled her close breathing in her scent. There was a time when it might have sent him into a frenzy, but now it just calmed him and made him smile. He loved to hold her in his arms and know that she was there in his life. Watching as she instinctively turned to snuggle into him, he knew that he had never been happier.
Bella felt Jasper's arms wrap around her and she turned into him. She was still asleep, but on the verge of waking up and would have probably drifted off to lala land again if it wasn't for her vampire pillow sitting up quickly and pushing her behind him. She opened her eyes and saw Jasper by the bed standing protectively next to her and glaring at Jacob Black.