I never want to see you unhappy
I thought you'd want the same for me
Goodbye, my almost lover
Goodbye, my hopeless dream

Goodbye My Almost Lover – A Fine Frenzy

Jasper's hands shook as he hung up the phone; it slipped out of his clammy hand and hit the receiver with a thunk. He raised a hand to his hair, pushing it out of his eyes as he sank down onto the small bed.

His eyes turned to Bella, curled up against the wall, still sound asleep, and he lurched towards the bathroom, retching acid that burnt his nose and throat.

Grabbing his car keys, he closed the door as quietly as possible, slamming his truck's door, hands clutching at the steering wheel as his head sunk down and the sobs began to wrack his body. Turning the ignition, he threw the car into drive, and backed out of Bella's driveway.

Arriving back at the B&B he couldn't get out of the car, the desire overwhelming him was just to go back to Bella's to get back into bed with her and pretend he had never received the phone call. Mustering his strength, he slowly made his way into the B&B to check out.

Route 30 passed in a blur through his window, Bryan Adams blaring from the radio as the Ohio countryside dashed by. Reaching a rest stop, he pulled in and reluctantly made his way to the pay phone.

Dialing the number he now knew by heart, he braced his hand against the wall for support, and prayed the girl he wanted to speak to would pick up.

"Family Diner, how can I help?"

"Jessie? Listen, it's Jasper, I need to talk to you."

He pulled into the driveway, and took in the house. Grey clapboard and white trim, a large grassy front yard; it could have been any house in this part of the country.

Jasper shoved his door open; making his way over to the front door he reached to ring the doorbell. Excited squeals came from inside, several young voices clamoring to be the one to open the front door.

The voices came closer, and the white door swung open to reveal a young girl, about 15 years old, fair hair and sparkling blue eyes. Jasper fell to his knees as he took in his baby sister for the first time since she had been rescued from their father five years previously.

"Rosabee," he choked out, rubbing a hand over his matching eyes to clear the tears.

She looked confused, but reached for the familiar looking man crying on her doorstep and engulfed him in a hug. A woman appeared behind her, eyes concerned until she took in the similarities between her charge and the young man crying on her doorstep.

"You must be Jasper," she smiled, reaching down to touch his shoulder, retracting her hand and smiling sadly when he flinched away, "I've just put the coffee on, won't you come in?"

Rosalie and Jasper spent several hours becoming properly reintroduced, before he produced the death certificate from his back pocket, creased and worn from the amount of times he had taken it out to stare at since he had collected it from the post office the week previously. Esme smiled brilliantly as she took in what this meant for the beautiful young teenager she had looked after for so long.

"I was hoping y'all could look after her a while longer," Jasper explained, "I want to get down to Texas and sort out selling his house so I can buy us one of our own."

Rosalie's arms clung tight around his neck, her damp face pressed up against his ear as she whispered:

"Will Bella come too?"

Jasper had to blink back his tears as he smiled down at his baby sister.

"I really hope so Rosabee, but I have to ask her first."

Rose smiled, fingers going to her wrist to toy with the bracelet Bella had sent her all those months previously.

Jasper pulled into the drive of their new house, Rose craning her head out of the passenger side window to get a good look at it.

"So, Rosabee, what do you think?"

Rosalie took in the small house in front of her, grinning widely when she saw the expanse of land either side, a small barn to one side of the house – perfect for a horse, she though, although she'd have to work on Jasper for that.

"I'll take that grin as a good thing then!" Jasper laughed.

Rose turned to him, nodding enthusiastically and giving him two thumbs up. Jasper turned to get out, swinging an arm around her shoulder as they walked up the paved path to their new home.

"If the outside gets that bigger smile, I'm half worried y'all's face is going to break when you see the inside."

Jasper swung the front door open and Rosalie followed him into the house, she dashed up the stairs towards the bedrooms, throwing herself on the double bed in the master bedroom and declaring it as her own.

"Fat chance," Jasper laughed, pushing her gently off the bed, "This is my room. Your room overlooks the back."

Rosalie huffed good-naturedly, picking herself up off the floor and turning to leave the room. Crossing the hallway to the other bedroom she pushed open the door, a grin breaking out across her face when she took in the view from her window, a horse grazing languidly in the farm her room overlooked.

Turning, she found Jasper in her doorway and smiled tremulously at him.

"It's perfect, Jazz," she sniffed, swatting away her tears as she engulfed her brother in a hug.

Bella's phone rang shrilly the next day, two minutes after she arrived home from the diner. Knowing the only person that knew her schedule well enough to call so precisely was Jasper; she crossed the room to answer the phone.

Her and Jasper had been in sporadic contact since that day he barreled out of her house so quickly; Jessie came banging on her door on Bella's day off to relay the message Jasper had left at the diner. Bella had stayed in the background while Jasper sorted custody and moving to Texas, not wanting him to feel like she was an extra burden he had to juggle.

Jasper's stomach was in knots as he waited for Bella to pick up, knowing that by asking her to move to Texas with him he was asking her to uproot herself from her home and friends for the second time in less than two years.

Rose came in from school less than half an hour later to see her brother slumped over their telephone, tears streaming down his face.