A/N: Hey guys! Hope you like it (: R&R!

Previously: I walked into the room half glad that I knew Bella's secret and half wishing that I was still as oblivious as I was yesterday.

Chapter Song:

Now You Know by Hilary Duff
"Feel so light
Craving oxygen
All this truth's left me empty
Will you run
Can you handle it
Cause I need you to tell me
Maybe this is bold
But I'm hoping you'll stay for the happy ending."

BPOV:

I watched as Jasper walked out of the room; sadness seemed to permeate his form and as he left he shot me a regretful look. I was pretty certain that he left because he didn't want to keep remembering what I had just told him.

"So did you tell him?"

"What did he say?"

"What happened?"

"Are you ok?"

Rose and Alice alternately started shooting questions at me so fast that I couldn't even reply. "Guys! Calm down; I can't answer anything if you keep yelling new questions at me."

"Sorry." They both mumbled.

"It's fine. Now; yea I told him. He was really mad about what happened, but I… I didn't tell him the whole thing. I'm fine, a little shaken up, but I'm perfectly fine."

"Wait, you didn't tell him everything?" Rose asked, looking at me confused.

I shook my head slightly keeping my gaze trained on the ground. "Uhh, I didn't mention the reason it started."

I watched as the confusion slid off both their faces and was replaced with sympathy. "Well, there's always time later." Alice said, seemingly unfazed.

"Why don't you two go change? The guys will be back any minute now."

They both nodded and went to go change just as I heard knocking on the door. I went and opened the door, where I was met with Emmett's smile, Edward's look of nonchalance and Jasper's mixed look of love and anxiety.

I easily understood their expressions so I ushered them all in, trying not to look at Jazz. When the other two went to the living room, I finally turned to look at him when it felt like the intensity of his gaze was going to burn holes into my head.

The minute I turned in his direction, he marched over to me and hugged me tightly. I noticed that even though he had a tight grip on me, he was being cautious and careful so he wouldn't hurt me.

"Its fine J, you're not going to break me with one touch." I told him, teasingly.

He cracked a small smile. "I know; but I still worry. Thanks for telling me your story; I know it wasn't easy for you, but I'm glad I understand better."

When he hugged me, I caught the smell of residual smoke on his skin and I looked up at him hurt and confused. The smile immediately slid off his face and he sighed before turning to face me again. "Sorry B. I had to; I just couldn't deal with everything I was feeling right then."

I looked down as I felt the tears prick my eyes and tried not to show him how much I hated him smoking.

"Bella, look at me." He asked quietly.

I continued to ignore him, finding the carpet of the floor extremely interesting at the current moment.

"B, please look at me." He begged softly and I tilted my head up just the smallest bit. I could clearly see his look of pain and the way he was running his hands through his hair absent-mindedly but I was pretty certain he couldn't see the tears welling up in my eyes. I wasn't even certain if they were angry tears or sad tears considering at the moment I felt both emotions strongly.

"Bell, I'm really sorry. I couldn't handle it, I know I shouldn't have but it was the only thing I knew how to do."

"You could have talked me." I said softly. I saw his expression turn to one of sorrow and when he opened his mouth to talk; I shook my head and plastered a fake smile onto my face. I knew he wasn't doing it to hurt me, but I also knew that I would make sure to break him of his habit. "You know what? It's not important right now why don't you go to the living room and I'll get some snacks. Even though we just had lunch, I'm pretty sure Emmett's still starving.

He laughed lightly and kissed my forehead before letting go of me. "Thanks darlin' and I bet he is."

I smiled at his retreating form as I walked into the kitchen to get the aforementioned snacks. When I finally gathered enough to somewhat satiate Emmett's hunger, I stopped to collect my thoughts. I was happy that J knew most of my story; I hated keeping things from him.

I hadn't told him everything, but I will soon enough. I just couldn't bear the look on his face, he already looked like he was going to cry and I really didn't want to add to his burden. Finally, after pondering my situation I realized I should probably go give Emmett the food.

I walked in to find Emmett and Jasper in an intense stare down, for some unknown reason.

"Uhh, guys?" I asked, hoping to figure out what was going on.

Rose and Alice were holding back their laughs at both the situation and the look on my face.

"My idiot brothers somehow convinced themselves that whoever could stare at the other the longest was manlier. They've been at it for about 7 minutes now." Edward answered, with an amused expression on his face.

I shook my head in shame at them, before I was suddenly hit by a stroke of brilliance. I ran in the middle of both of them, waving my hands up and down.

"Bella!" They both screamed at the exact same time, glaring at me while I laughed at them.

"B, I was totally winning that!" Jasper whined, sounding uncannily like a 5 year old boy.

I giggled lightly. "You were only going to win 'cause you learned from the best." I said, pointing to myself proudly.

He looked at me with narrowed eyes glaring at me but I could see the smile twitching at the corner of his lips and the playful glint evident in his clear, blue eyes.

"I'm naturally amazing, take that back!"

"No!" I yelled laughing as Jasper chased me around the room. As he chased me, my laughs echoed around the room; both of us oblivious to the four people watching us amused. Finally, Jasper gave up and scowled at the wall while I smirked proudly.

"Who won Jasper?" Edward asked in a fake innocent voice.

The glare Jazz gave him was enough to make him shut up, but he was still laughing at Jasper and Jasper hated when people laughed at him.

"Bella won." He grudgingly admitted not looking anyone in the eye.

"Aw Jas, you're still my favorite." I said teasingly, smiling genuinely at Jasper.

He beamed his 1000-watt smile. "You're my favorite too."

"Thanks Jazz! That means so much!" Emmett said suddenly, using the nickname I had given to Jasper.

"Not you, you big oaf." Jasper said laughing.

"Ouch. That hurts on the inside bro." Emmett said, pretending to be offended.

After that interesting display, all of us sat around in a circle talking about our separate lives while Emmett ate just about everything I had brought from the kitchen. Throughout the talk, we had somehow managed to avoid the obvious topic of how Jasper and I knew each other. I felt a smile spread onto my face at the thought of Phoenix and all the time Jasper and I had spent together.

I felt someone nudging me in the shoulder and I turned in that direction, only to meet Jasper's questioning glance. He had one eyebrow raised and his lips were quirked into a small smile as he looked at me questioningly. My smile grew even bigger and I shook my head to show him it wasn't all that important. He just shrugged his shoulders and wrapped one arm around my waist as his own smile spread across his face.

"Hey guys! Why don't we just go to that little café right outside the hotel? We can eat an early dinner and then just hang out for a bit." Emmett asked, clearly excited at the prospect of eating.

"Emmett, you just ate my whole damn kitchen. How the hell are you still hungry?" I asked, exasperated.

Emmett simply stuck his tongue out at me, while everyone else eventually decided it was a good idea after we all laughed at Emmett's ever-present hunger.

We walked to the elevators after making sure our room was locked. We pressed the button for the elevator and waited a good five minutes before Emmett got impatient. Naturally, he didn't want to wait so he demanded we take the stairs. When we got to the stairs, Jasper suddenly stuck his hand out in front of me. I looked at him slightly confused, but mostly disapproving as I had a pretty good idea of what he was going to do.

"Bella, I've told you that you are way too clumsy to be walking up or down stairs."

"Jas, you are not carrying me down the stairs." I said adamantly.

Jasper apparently wasn't going to lose another argument to me considering he just raised his eyebrows defiantly before walking over to me and picking me up fireman style. I shrieked in surprise when he flung me over his shoulder and started to make his way down the stairs, completely ignoring my protests.

"Jasper Hale Whitlock Cullen! Put me down this instant, we're on the seventh floor!" I yelled outraged as I pounded my fists on his back.

He winced as I hit him but all he said was, "Bella, I'm not putting you down. You are a danger to yourself and everyone within a 5 mile radius when you go up or down stairs."

I huffed indignantly, but stopped yelling. I settled for scowling at his back and glaring. We finally got to the bottom of the stairs and Jasper put me back on the ground. "Was that really necessary?"

"Yes." He said simply as I resisted the urge to roll my eyes at him. Instead, we simply waited quietly for the others to get here.

When they finally got downstairs, we were waiting for them, slightly impatiently.

"Come on! We don't have forever!" Jasper said, clearly mocking Emmett.

All of us laughed and we silently made our way out of the hotel to the little café right outside. Jazz had his arm slung around my waist and I had mine wrapped tightly around his. Emmett and Rose stood close together and his arm was across her shoulder. Alice and Edward were just walking quietly down the street, hand in hand.

I smiled at how happy all of us looked as we walked into the restaurant. When we got in, I looked around and spotted a familiar face.

"Seth!" I exclaimed as I let go of Jasper to run to him.

He laughed as he hugged me. "Bella." He said, before we turned to go back to the rest of them. When we got there, I noticed that Jasper had a pained look on his face and Emmett and Edward looked smug.

I went to Jasper's side and tugged lightly on his arm to get him to look at me. In response to my questioning look, he just shook his head and shot me a tight smile that clearly showed he wasn't happy.

I figured he would tell me eventually so I let it go for now. As the rest of them walked to the tables to sit down for a while, I stopped right by Seth.

"Uh, we'll be right back. I just need to talk to Seth alone for a little bit." I said, dragging Seth out the door.

I didn't miss their confused glances or Seth's shrug of nonchalance as he followed me out the door. We walked until we were out of their earshot before Seth's curiosity caught up to him.

"Bells what's up? I didn't know you wanted to talk about something?" He asked, carefully grabbing my arm to stop me.

I sighed loudly before starting. "Seth, I think; I think-"

Seth took my face in his hands and said softly, "Bella. Just tell me whatever it is that's bothering you."

I saw the caring look on his face and it was almost impossible to say what I was going to. "Seth, I love you. I really do; but I think we should break up."

I looked up and immediately regretted it as I saw his face crumble with sadness but I knew I had done what I had had to do. Somewhere along the way I had stopped loving him as a boyfriend, and started loving him as more of a brother.

Sadness was still etched onto his face, but I watched happily as a look of understanding dawned on his face. "It's okay Bella. Really I was kinda expecting it; you've been acting differently lately. I'm alright I promise. We can still be friends right?"

I ran forward and hugged him tightly. "Seth of course we can be. I really do love you; just not the same way anymore. I'm sorry Seth."

He smiled at me and even though there was some sadness in it I knew he would be okay. "It's okay Bells. Everything happens for a reason right?"

"Thanks Seth."

He smiled, genuinely this time, "Your welcome Bella. Just remember that your next boyfriend will have to go through Jasper and me." He winked to let me know he was kidding but I knew he would definitely try and intimidate my next boyfriend.

I rolled my eyes at him before dragging him back to the room so we could meet the rest of them. It had been around 10 minutes since we had left to talk outside and they were all huddled together in a circle not so subtly whispering about us.

Emmett whispered. "I wonder what they're talking about."

Rose answered, "So do I; what's going on?"

Jasper was the first one to see us and he smirked as he said. "Well why don't you turn around and ask them?"

They all jumped in surprise when they saw us and the 4 of them, minus Jasper, looked at us sheepishly.

I rolled my eyes at them before responding to their unasked question. "Seth and I broke up, even though I still love him."

"And I love her." Seth said immediately.

Edward and Emmett seemed confused that we would break up even though we loved each other but Alice, Rose and Jas seemed to understand exactly what I was talking about.

"Wait. Why would you break up if you loved each other?" Emmett asked with a baffled expression on his face.

Jasper saw the grimace both Seth and I barely covered and swiftly smacked the back of Emmett's head.

"Ow! What the hell man? What'd I-"Emmett was quickly cut off by the sharp glare Jazz sent him. "Never mind." He mumbled still rubbing the back of his head.

Jasper turned to look at me with an apologetic expression in his clear blue-grey eyes but I shot him a look to try and stop him from all the self-blame stuff he's been going through. I mean really, what part of me breaking up with someone could be blamed on him? Somehow, I was sure he would come up with a reason for why this was his entire fault.

Stupid Maria, all the shit that went down with her in college changed him a lot. And I didn't like it; I missed my confidant, slightly arrogant Jasper.

I sighed before answering the question that Emmett was trying to ask before Jasper hit him. "Well I still love him, but more as a brother than a boyfriend."

Seth didn't answer and I didn't make him since I knew he didn't feel the same. I felt bad that Seth still loved me, but I knew that this would be better for both of us. After I said that, Emmett seemed uncomfortable about asking the question and I smiled reassuringly at him to show that it was okay.

"So," Rose started with false cheeriness, "What do you guys want? I'll go order."

I smiled lightly at her showing that I appreciated the gesture and said, "I think I'm going to go back to the hotel. I'm not actually all that hungry."

I stood and was only half-surprised to see Jasper stand too. "I'm gonna go with her, I'll see you guys later." He got up and followed me out the door, only pausing to pat Seth reassuringly on the shoulder.

As soon as were out the door I turned to look at Jasper. "J, you don't have to come with me because you feel bad for me. I'm fine by myself." It came out much sharper than I intended and I immediately felt bad when I saw the hurt and uncertainty flicker across his face.

When he spoke again his voice was softer and more heartbreaking than I'd heard it in a long time. "I'm sorry Bella. I didn't mean to intrude. Do you… do you want me to go?"

Shit. I groaned internally. His self-confidence was already at an all time low and me yelling at him for trying to help me feel better definitely didn't help anything.

"Jasper."

He refused to meet my eye and this time I groaned out loud. "Jasper, I'm so sorry. I didn't mean to say it like that. I just didn't want you to ruin your day for me."

As we entered the hotel, he gave me a smile that didn't quite reach his usually sparkling eyes. "No, it's alright Bella. I get it. Uh, I'm gonna take the stairs. I'll see you upstairs."

"Stupid. Stupid. Stupid." I muttered to myself as I took the elevator upstairs. We were on the seventh floor and given Jasper's current mood it would take him a while to get upstairs.

I knew that he was just coming with me because a) he didn't want me walking by myself to the hotel b) he knew how much I loved Seth an c) he most likely knew that I would be sad. He probably just thought that he could come and cheer me up.

I sighed angrily at myself as I walked out the elevator doors and down the hall to our room. I quietly slid the keycard into the door and walked into our hotel room, still mad about what happened.

Jasper definitely didn't deserve how I had treated him; he had come outside to try and help me feel better and to protect me and I had been so rude to him. I went and lied down on my bed as I tried to forget what just happened; I'd talk to him when he came back. I vowed then that I would do anything and everything in my power to make sure he got his self-confidence back and so that I would never again have to see the self-doubt his gorgeous eyes almost always held now.

In my head, I kept playing back all the good memories I had of Phoenix. I was glad that we moved to Forks because that's where Jasper lived now but obviously there were some old memories of Phoenix that I didn't want to forget about. However, I knew that moving to Forks meant we would be able to see each other a lot more and that thought made me happier than I could imagine.

Somewhere in the middle of that train of thought, I found myself falling asleep.

"James! Let me go!" I screamed as he hit me across the cheek. I knew there was going to be the ever present red mark on my face tomorrow morning that I would have to cover up with foundation as always.

"No! You will listen to me Bella. Who do you think you are? You have ruined my life and now you will pay." James growled out, accentuating his point by etching even more marks onto my already bruised skin.

I bit my tongue so I wouldn't scream knowing that my screams always made him more angry and as a result the pain even worse. I tried to hide in the corner only to have him laugh menacingly at me.

"You think you can hide from me Isabella? I'm your worst nightmare. I'll always find you." He spat out sounding extremely threatening.

I was shaking and screaming at him to please let me go even though I knew it would only make this worse. There were tears streaming down my face as I cowered away from James.

"Bella! Bella!" I heard a panicked voice yelling my name and felt familiar arms shaking me. "Wake up! Please wake up!"

I startled awake to Jasper hugging me and I couldn't hold back my tears. "Jasper! He was there and he was hitting me and it was s-so real-l!" I sobbed into his tight grip.

His arms wound even tighter around me and I felt safe, for the first time in so long. "Shh Bella. It's ok; it was just a dream. He will never hurt you again. I promise you I will do everything I can to make sure he never gets near you."

His comforting words made me feel better but it also made me angrier at what I had done. Even though I had been so rude to him earlier, he was still here doing everything he could to make me feel better.

He sat by me, talking the whole time and I found that he even made me laugh with his goofy humor. It was nice, seeing this side of him again. He hasn't genuinely laughed in so long and I missed it.

I smiled up at him, thanking him silently with my eyes. In response, he hesitantly smiled back causing me to roll my eyes.

"Jasper before you start, nothing was your fault. It was my fault for being so rude to you outside, and you couldn't have stopped me from having a bad dream. So don't say anything." I said, the threat in my voice barely concealed.

He just shook his head, seemingly giving up for now. He pulled me against him and calmly played with my hair as I gave him the bare details of my nightmare. I didn't want to make him worry, so I tried not to tell him too much.

JPOV:

"So," Rose started with false cheeriness, "What do you guys want? I'll go order."

I watched as Bella smiled lightly at her showing that she appreciated the gesture and said, "I think I'm going to go back to the hotel. I'm not actually all that hungry."

She stood and I immediately knew I was going to go with her. "I'll go with her. I'll see you guys later." I got up and followed her out the door only pausing to pat Seth on the shoulder reassuringly.

"J, you don't have to come with me because you feel bad for me. I'm fine by myself." She said so sharply that I couldn't help feeling hurt. I had just wanted to make sure Bella was safe, was I annoying her?

When I finally spoke next I knew my voice was softer and barely concealed what I was feeling. "I'm sorry Bella. I didn't mean to intrude. Do you… do you want me to go?"

I could see that she was mad at herself, but it wasn't her fault. It was mine, it always was.

"Jasper." She said pleadingly.

I refused to look her in the eye; I didn't want to see her sadness and the anger that may be directed at me. I heard her groan out loud at my reluctance before she started explaining. "Jasper, I'm so sorry. I didn't mean to say it like that. I just didn't want you to ruin your day for me."

As we reached the hotel, I gave her a small smile. Even though I knew it wouldn't reach my eyes I tried anyway so she wouldn't be mad at herself. "No, it's alright Bella. I get it. Uh, I'm gonna take the stairs. I'll see you upstairs."

I watched as she got in the elevator muttering, "Stupid. Stupid. Stupid." And I couldn't help the smile that spread across my face.

The walk upstairs seemed to take forever as I analyzed and over-analyzed everything as I always seemed to do. Suddenly, I remembered that Bella hadn't eaten anything at the café. The rest of us had eaten while they were talking and I'm assuming Seth ate after we left.

She was probably starving, I'm pretty sure she just wanted to get out of there at the moment. I quickly ran back into the café, and ordered her something that I was pretty sure she would like.

I paid and sprinted out; shooting a small smile at the others so they would know everything was fine. I walked up the hotel stairs slowly, trying to process everything that had happened. I couldn't deny that I was a little happy that her and Seth had broken up, but I was still hung up on how mad she was at me before. I knew I shouldn't pry in her life, and I guess I had finally annoyed her. I hope she forgave me; the trip wouldn't be the same otherwise.

I was startled out of my inner musings by the sound of Bella screaming, "I'm sorry! James, let go!"

Shit! I really should not have left her alone in her hotel room. Shit. Shit. Shit. That was the only word my brain could process as I ran through the hallway to her room and threw the door open. She was thrashing around on the bed and tears were streaming down her face as she screamed.

"Bella! Bella!" I yelled panicked as I shook her trying to wake her up. "Wake up! Please wake up!"

She startled awake, looking around blearily at first. "Jasper! He was there and he was hitting me and it was s-so real-l!" She sobbed into my arms and my heart ached for what she had been through.

My arms wound even tighter around her and I did everything I could to try and make her feel safe. "Shh Bella. It's ok; it was just a dream. He will never hurt you again. I promise you I will do everything I can to make sure he never gets near you." I vowed completely sincere.

I sat by her talking and trying everything I could to make her laugh. I hated it when Bella cried; the pain didn't suit her beautiful face. I realized that I had slipped back into using my goofy humor, and found that I was laughing with her.

She smiled up at me, unknowingly showing me immense gratitude with one look. In response, I hesitantly smiled back at her causing her to roll her eyes at me.

"Jasper before you start, nothing was your fault. It was my fault for being so rude to you outside, and you couldn't have stopped me from having a bad dream. So don't say anything." She said and I heard the barely concealed threat in her voice.

I wasn't going to say anything to her now because I was pretty sure she would just hit me. I just shook my head and smiled, pulling her against me and positioning us so she was leaning comfortably against me. I played with her hair as she told me about her nightmare. My fists clenched angrily at my sides and I knew Bella was editing for my sake, but there was nothing I could do about that. As much as I wished I could change the past, I couldn't.

Suddenly I remembered the food that I had carelessly thrown on the counter when I ran into her room. I unwillingly let her out of my grip and walked over to get her the sandwich and cookie I had bought when I ran to the café.

"Here, I figured that you just left the café because you felt bad for Seth and I was pretty certain that you were hungry so I got you some food…" I decided to cut off my rambling there and simply thrust the bag with her food in front of her face.

She grabbed the bag from me and tore into her food, stopping to grace me with a small thankful smile. "Thanks Jasper!"

I laughed at her obvious hunger. "Not a problem."

She finished her food quickly and seemed content. "That was a really good cookie!" She exclaimed and I laughed as an easy smile settled onto my face. While her nightmare had definitely not been forgotten, I was trying really hard not to let that ruin the good mood. I would have plenty of time later to try and analyze her dream.

We had somehow ended up lying in the middle of the bed and I couldn't help but smile at how we had turned out. Both of us were on our sides, facing each other and Bella was as close to me as she could get. I had my arms wrapped securely around her waist, pulling her close to me and her hands rested on my chest. My chin rested on her head, and the peace that came over me was undeniably amazing.

It was nice, just the two of us. After a while, her breathing evened out and she fell asleep nestled into me. I realized that this was the first time that I felt completely calm in so long. I knew she was safe and that I didn't have to worry about her and the realization that I was finally with her again made me ecstatic. I spent a good half hour after she fell asleep terrified that she was going to have another nightmare but eventually I noticed the expression of total calm on her face and I couldn't help but think that it had to do with me. The thought alone brought a smile to my face.

I figured that it was likely she would have a nightmare, but I also figured that I would be able to deal with it. I hugged her even closer to me and I felt myself falling asleep with a smile on my face that almost directly mirrored hers.

A/N: Estimated posting date: 3/17 Reviews make me type faster!