Chapter Three
Bella
"Yes?"
"Jasper its me Bella, can I come in?"
"Of course Bella"
When I walked in I could only just see him, still sitting by the window cross-legged on the sill with a book in his hand. He looked slightly surprised that I'd come back.
"I sneaked away"
He nodded smiling slightly.
"How long do you have before they come looking?"
I thought about this,
"A few minutes I guess."
"What did you want Bella?"
"I wanted to apologise properly for causing all this. They shouldn't be treating you this way. Why don't you come downstairs?"
"I don't think I'd be very welcome Bella, besides..."
"Yes?"
"I'm not good at parties and I don't think Alice would dance with me."
"I would"
He smiled genuinely pleased.
"Thank you for that but I think Edward might object"
"He doesn't own me, I can dance with whoever I want to"
"He doesn't see it that way. Why are you here Bella?"
"For the party"
"No I mean here, with me? I can feel that you mean what you say but why are you bothering? Why do you care?"
"You mean why do I care about you?
"Yes. I ruined everything for you once, if Edward finds you here it might ruin it again. Especially with what he has planned for tonight."
"What?"
He looked at me confused,
"I thought he'd spoken to you about it, perhaps I shouldn't have said anything."
He cocked his head,
"I think you should go, Edwards looking for you but thank you for caring."
I went out not wanting to cause any more trouble for him but reluctant all the same. As I got to the top of the stairs he was coming up, brow furrowed.
"What were you doing up there?"
"I went to the toilet, the one downstairs was occupied."
"Oh, OK, well come down, I'd feel happier if you don't go up there Bella"
"Why?"
"I just think it would be better if you kept well away from him"
"Him? You mean Jasper? Why?"
"He's dangerous Bella surely you remember that. I don't want you anywhere near him, now come on, I have an announcement to make and it would be stupid if you weren't there."
"Announcement? What about?"
"Us, remember I spoke to you in the car"
"I didn't hear anything"
"Bella, I checked with you about getting engaged and you agreed."
"What? No Edward, not yet, it's too soon."
I pulled away from his arm and ran out into the night almost falling over my feet on the porch steps. He followed me and grabbed me by the arm,
"Bella, you're being dramatic. What's wrong? We don't have to get married, just engaged. I can wait till you finish college. We'll go together then when you finish we'll get married and you can choose where you want to live, I'll take you round the world, show you everything, the Taj Mahal, the Eiffel Tower, the Leaning Tower, the Pyramids. We'll do all the romantic things, ride in a Gondola, Waltz in Vienna, dine at Niagara Falls. See, it will be like a fairy tale."
I looked at him and sighed,
"I don't want to live a fairy tale. Please Edward leave it."
"Come back in Cinderella and dance with Prince Charming."
I allowed him to lead me back in but only because it was so cold outside and had started to drizzle. Alice smiled knowingly,
"You two behave. No sneaking off into the dark."
Edward smiled but I just rolled my eyes as Emmett came to my rescue.
"Come on Bells, dance with me."
He whirled me round the floor, dancing not to the music playing unless it was playing in his head but I couldn't help a smile. He leaned in close and whispered very low in my ear,
"Be careful Bella. Edward will go mad if he finds out you've been talking to Jazz. He's already warned him off once."
"Edward did? Why?"
"He blames Jazz for your reluctance to agree to marry him. The attack, the trouble with the Volturi."
"He blames Jasper for all that? But it was his decision,"
"That's not how he sees it and Jazz doesn't want to upset things so he's staying out of the way. You're going up there just makes things more awkward. Leave him be and go dance with Edward"
"Thanks Emmett but I'm a big girl now and I can decide for myself."
"OK it's your funeral but there's gonna be trouble."
Looking round I saw Rose collar Edward for a dance and decided I'd had enough of all this secrecy and the blame game so I went back upstairs and knocked on Jasper's door again.
"Come in Bella"
He had put the book down and was sitting looking at me as I came in.
"I'm sorry Jasper but I need you to do something for me"
"Oh?"
"Everyone thinks all the mess with my party and Italy was your fault don't they?"
"Yes they do, don't you?"
"No and I want to show them I don't. Would you come down and dance with me? Just one dance then you can return to your bat cave. Please".
I held out my hand to him and he got up slowly, moving towards me,
"Why aren't you afraid of me Bella? Why do you care? I don't understand."
"Jasper please accept that I'm not and I do care. Will you come down with me?"
He took my hand cautiously and my heart beat faster, thinking I was nervous he tried to pull away but I held on. His hand felt good in mine as if it belonged there and my mouth went dry. I looked into his face noticing for the first time how beautiful he was, how deep his eyes, I felt myself almost longing to fall into their gold. We heard footsteps outside and the spell was broken,
"Come on, you owe me a dance"
We walked down the stairs hand in hand and no one noticed except Emmett who stood gaping, I smiled at him and he returned it a little apprehensively then grinned outright and turned the music off momentarily to replace the disco beat with a slow song. I looked at Jasper who shrugged,
"OK If you insist"
He took my hand in his and wrapped his free arm around me, much as Edward had at prom but this was different, more intense. I looked into his face and he smiled,
"I can't dance"
"Yes you can, follow me"
It was as if suddenly I were a ballroom dancer being whisked around the floor by an angel. Everyone else disappeared from my vision, I could only see him, only hear the music, only feel his arm around me, holding me close, his breath on my cheek, my neck. I felt a heat deep inside me, a yearning to stay close to this enigmatic man and the music finished far too quickly. He whisked me to the edge of the dance floor and kissed my hand gallantly,
"Thank you for the dance Miss Swan"
I looked down wishing the music had gone on and when I looked up he was gone. I felt a hollowness in my chest, a cold space in my stomach where there had been warmth while he touched me. I looked round as I heard my name called and Angela was beside me.
"I didn't know you could dance. That was wonderful, everyone stopped to watch."
I smiled but before I had a chance to answer Edward was beside me grasping my arm a little too tightly,
"Excuse us Angela I need to speak to Bella."
He dragged me to the porch again,
"What the hell was that? I told you to stay away from him and I warned him to stay away from you."
"Why? What was wrong with having a dance? I don't blame Jasper for anything and I thought you might realize that if you saw me dance with him."
"He's dangerous Bella and don't make excuses for him. I saw the way he held you, stopped you from breaking free"
"What? You're crazy Edward. I asked him to dance."
"Rubbish, you're confused"
"No I'm many things, annoyed, frustrated, pissed off, take your choice but not confused. Stop blaming Jasper for your actions. You walked away from me. You made the decision to leave and take the others with you, you, not Jasper."
"If he hadn't attacked you..."
"Bull. It was you Edward not him."
"You stay away from Jasper Hale. He's dangerous and as your fiance I don't want you associating with him."
"My what? I never agreed to get engaged Edward. You can keep your ring and stop telling me what to do"
He grabbed me again, too tightly and I hissed in pain
"Let go Edward you're hurting me."
He dropped his hand and I rubbed my arm.
"See, he's doing it again. You're going to get hurt Bella."
"No Edward, you hurt me, when you left, when you told me you didn't want me any more and now you grabbed hold of me, not Jasper. I'm going home now and I think we should stop seeing each other."
He pleaded but I insisted and called a taxi.
"I'll be over later."
"Don't. My window will be shut Edward"
