Will you stay with me, will you be my love
Among the fields of barley
We'll forget the sun in his jealous sky
As we lie in fields of gold
Fields of Gold – Sting
Jasper woke up the next morning to a still warm bed, but when he threw out his arm to find Bella he encountered only sheet. Stretching, he pulled himself up into a sitting position and languidly cracked his neck.
Hearing voices from the living area he stood up from the bed, dragging Bella's sheet around his waist, and padded softly across to the door.
"I deserved to know," Bella's voice cracked as he walked down the stairs into the lounge, "as soon as your dad told you, you should have told me."
There were tears rolling down her face so Jasper sunk down into the sofa next to her. He laid one hand comfortingly on her knee and used the other to gently flick away her tears. He could hear the low buzz of a voice on the other end of the line but couldn't work out what they were saying.
"I've got to go, Jake," Bella sat up straighter and entwined a hand with the one resting on her knee, "I'd really appreciate it if you'd stop calling me, please."
Bella took the handset away from her ear and rested in back in its cradle. Taking a shaky breath she leaned sideways to place the telephone back on the side table. She turned her head and buried it into Jasper's chest.
"Sorry," she mumbled, her breath raising goose-bumps right over his heart.
"Want to talk about it?" Jasper asked, gently stroking his fingers through her hair.
"Not really," she laughed without humor.
Jasper gently grasped a chunk of hair and tugged her head back.
"I told you about Rose," he reminded her, "fair's fair. It'll make you feel better to get it off your chest."
"Charlie was the trade for that," she mumbled, not meeting his eyes, "Jake's nobody anyway. A face from the past that I have no interest bringing into the future."
Mike shouted along to the radio as he barreled his truck down the many rural back roads that littered their corner of Ohio, a steep ravine falling away to one side, a river rushing alongside on the other. Jasper followed behind in his recently repaired truck more cautiously; he didn't have the encyclopedic knowledge of the road's hairpin turns that came with spending one's whole life in this small town.
Mike turned left and Jasper followed, the trucks throwing up gravel in the small parking lot. Jasper jumped down from the cab before turning to the passenger side and lifting Bella down.
"I could have got down myself," Bella grumbled to him as she straightened her skirt, reaching on her toes to lift the picnic basket down.
"More fun this way," Jasper grinned, looping one of his arms through one of hers and tugging her over to where Mike and Jess were waiting.
"Jessie-Lou," Jasper tipped his hat at her, slapping Mike on the back with a grin.
The four of them set out along the trail that cut across the fields in front of them, Bella swinging the picnic basket in her free hand. Once they had reached the small copse of trees about two hundred yards from the car park, Bella and Jess began laying out the picnic blankets while the boys explored the contents of Bella's basket.
As the sun went down it cast a soft orange glow over the four twenty-somethings; Bella was lying with her head resting in Jasper's lap, while Jess was sitting propped against Mike, one of his arms resting gently around her shoulders.
A herd of cows had gathered in the distance, their soft moo-ing and the cicadas singing the only sound they could hear. A slight breeze stirred the leaves of the trees, and Bella yawned loudly.
Bella's yawn shattered the stillness. Jess untangled herself from Mike and started tidying up the picnic while Bella pushed herself into a sitting position.
"Guess we should start heading back," Mike said, gesturing at the herd of cows, "don't want them bulls to get between us and the car park."
"They're not gonna maul you," Jasper sniggered, piling the plates together and slotting them back into the basket, "those are heifers."
"We've got ourselves a genuine cowboy," Mike held out a hand to help Jess stand, "you see a lot of cows back home then, Texas?"
"I'm a city boy," Jasper snorted, "but even a city boy knows that bulls don't have udders."
Mike had the grace to look shamefaced.
Bella's phone rang while she was showering, so Jasper pulled the cord to drag it towards him and picked up the handset, knowing Bella wouldn't want to miss a call from her parents.
"Hello," he said, fumbling along the side of the sofa for the TV remote, there was silence on the other end of the line, "Bella's phone," he clarified.
A throat cleared before a male voice spoke.
"Uh, hi, who is this?"
"Jasper," he successfully located the remote and directed it at the TV to flick the channel to the football, "who's calling please."
"How do you know Bella?" the voice didn't answer his question.
"I'm her boyfriend," Jasper propped his feet on Bella's coffee table as certainty settled in his gut as to the caller's identity, "I'm pretty sure she asked you to stop calling her, Jake."
Breath hitched on the other end of the line.
"I just," his voice broke, "sorry, I wasn't expecting that answer."
Jasper rolled his eyes.
"I'm going to hang up now," he told Jake, "I strongly suggest you don't call again."
"Wait," Jake sounded desperate, "can you just tell her I'm sorry? That I know I should have told her as soon as I found out but I was scared. But it was my dad that's in the wrong not me, I never did anything to hurt her."
Jasper locked eyes with Bella as he looked up, she was standing in the doorway dressed in a robe, a towel wrapped around her damp hair.
"I'll relay the message," he said, not breaking his gaze.
He replaced the phone onto the coffee table and quirked the corner of his mouth at Bella. The small gesture was all it took to break her dam and the tears spilled out of her eyes. With two strides Jasper was by her side, gathering her into his arms.
"Darlin'" he crooned, resting his chin on her head, "it's ok."
He pulled her across to the sofa and laid her across his lap, his hands going to the towel in her hair and gently rubbing in through her damp hair. Bella was crying so hard she was hiccupping, a fist going to her eyes and scrubbing.
"Hey, hey," Jasper said, catching her hands in his, "don't be so rough, you'll hurt yourself."
Bella shook him off and sat up.
"I suppose you want me to tell you what that was all about," she spat, eyes not meeting his.
"I'd like to help you feel better," Jasper chose his words carefully, "and if you think telling me about it would help, then yes."
Bella sagged against him, the wind taken out of her sails.
"Jake was my high school boyfriend," she still wouldn't meet Jasper's eyes, "his dad was a cop too, my dad's partner back in the day. One of his stray bullets caught my dad in a shoot-out, that's how he died."
Jasper pulled the sobbing girl into his side, both arms winding around her protectively.
"And Jake knew?" he guessed.
He felt Bella's head shake beneath him.
"Not for a long time, we both thought he took a bullet from the people they were pursuing," a hand went up to scrub at her face, "but he found out junior year. His dad told him. I had to find out through a stray comment at graduation."
"Oh honey," Jasper crooned, pulling her even closer.
"We were meant to get married," Bella sobbed, "it just wasn't fair."
She brought a fist up in frustration, knocking it against Jasper's knee as she punched at a cushion.
7 years ago, Jasper is 17
Rose was cowering in her room, hands pressed tightly over her ears. She could hear him downstairs; hear his stomping footsteps and the cupboard doors slamming. Normally Jasper was here when he was like this and he made it all ok, but daddy had come home early today and Jasper was still at school.
The footsteps came up the stairs, louder and louder. She heard Jasper's door slam open, the door handle thunking heavily into the plasterboard.
"Fuck," the curse was growled and ragged, ripped from her father's throat.
She pushed herself further against the wall as the footsteps grew closer to her door, wincing when her door swung open. She could smell the whisky on his breath as he shoved his face right up against hers.
"Do you know where your brother is, little murderer?" he crooned, sickly, falsely sweet, "you're thick as thieves you two."
She sobbed harder, nose and eyes running, pushing herself into the wall as hard as she could, desperate to escape the man in front of her. His hand went to her collar and he lifted her up, it squeezed too tightly around her throat and she coughed.
"Where's Jasper now, Rosalie?" he mocked, a hand pinching her cheeks painfully, "your knight in shining armor's seen you for the little bitch you are, finally."
Rose hiccupped in terror, the collar of her shirt constricting her breathing. Her eyes rolled back into her head in panic.
"Put her down," the voice came from the doorway behind her father.
He dropped her and she hit the floor hard. Swinging round to find Jasper in the doorway, her father swung a punch. Jasper dodged but it glanced off the side of his face, a bloody gash left across his cheek from his father's wedding ring.
"Jasper, Jasper!" Bella was shaking him, her voice desperate.
Jasper shook his head to clear the fog and looked down at the girl on her knees in front of him.
"Oh thank god," she engulfed him in a hug, "I think you had a panic attack."
Jasper pushed her away and stood up, rubbing a hand across his forehead. He pushed the window open and took deep gulping breaths of air. Bella came up behind him and he span around quickly, preventing her from touching him. He held up a hand.
"Just don't," he muttered, "please."
She reached up to catch his hand and tugged him gently back towards the sofa. Sitting down she pulled him down next to her and settled his head in her lap, carding her fingers through his hair.
"You don't have to tell me," she hummed softly, "I worked it out a while ago. I think you're a very brave man, Jasper. Rose is lucky to have you."
Jasper stared up at her in disbelief.
"You knew?" he whispered
"Since you told me about Rose," Bella nodded, "I put it together. I was waiting for you to tell me."
Jasper lifted a hand and twined it in her hair, tugging her lips down to his. He pushed himself up and gathered her into his arms, never once allowing their lips to break apart for more than a second. He carried her towards her bedroom, covering her face with tiny butterfly kisses every step of the way.