It's time, it's time! Halloween for Bella and Jasper! So, as usual, everything Twilight belongs to Stephenie Meyer. I just like to play with the characters. Beta-ing done by the wonderful EdwardsMate4Ever.

(Sweet Jasper)

Band Practice (Jasper's POV) – Chapter 4

She is meant to be with me. I feel stronger, but also protective.

She should have her dance.

At the front door, I buy tickets. I notice the ticket sellers casting disparaging looks at Bella's jeans and plaid shirt, but then they see me and they don't look at Bella again. The feeling of unworthiness drifting my way after this encounter does not make me happy. Weren't these her classmates and friends?

As we walk to the auditorium, the sound of a ballad being played drifts into the hall and Bella slows. Good. She wants to go in, because I'm not ready to tell her about my inability to play guitar.

"Shall we?" I ask, jerking my head toward the auditorium.

"I'm not dressed," she says.

"I don't care," I whisper and tug her into the auditorium. Once inside, I find an empty spot on the edge of the dance floor and pull her close. She melts into my arms, fitting into them perfectly.

"I can't dance," she says.

I suppress the urge to roll my eyes. "Just follow me," I tell her, looking into her eyes. I could feel she is slightly dazzled, but I don't care. Just enough to overcome her fear of dancing.

It works.

The young buck on the stage isn't doing a great job of singing, but the song, a Bob Seeger classic, isn't bad. "Here I am / On the road again / There I am up on the stage…"

We sway and I feel Bella relaxing in my arms. She closes her eyes and I smile. She's enjoying herself. I realize I'm not paying attention to the other dancers, except for an eye on the males who might be getting too close to my lovely. My focus has changed in the past hour. It's all on her.

When the song ends, the band starts a fast number. The guitar and drums are not working together and the cacophony is just too much. I lead her out.

We take a left and as I pull her into a darkened hallway she resists. "The band room is over there." She stares at me and says, "Your guitar…"

"Later," I reply. I'm getting impatient with my cover story. Our brief closeness has been too much. I no longer care that she will feel how different I am, I need to feel her body next to mine. I need to touch, smell, feel all of that warmth; to watch how the blood flows under her skin and hear her sighs as I touch her.

I find an unlocked door and tug her inside a darkened classroom. Her hand feels for a light switch along the wall but I capture it in mine, pushing her up against the wall, putting my hand behind her head as I pull her close. I breathe in her breath, suck in her essence. I can feel her body molding against mine.

I realize she is made for me.

She stands on her tiptoes to put her arms around my shoulders, and I bend down toward her. She grabs on to me, wrapping her legs around my waist. I'm charmed by her unexpected forwardness. I barely need the small dose of lust I send her to get her to overlook how hard and cold my body feels.

For a few minutes, the world stops for us. Everything ceases to matter—the thirst and the decades of loneliness. The only thing that exists is the heartbeat, breath and caresses of the small warm being in my arms.

But I can sense I risk losing control and hurting her in this awkward place, a classroom where anyone else, including other lovers looking for privacy, might barge in.

So I reluctantly let her slide down and we leave the classroom. She takes me to the band room where I pick up the guitar and head for the exit.

As we pass the auditorium, I can hear the raucous sounds of bands and cheers going up. Must be a local favorite.

She stops and looks at me expectantly.

I wait.

"Stage fright?" she asks.

Time to come clean. "Can't play," I respond.

"Wait, what?" she says.

I tug at her hair playfully as I put my arm around her waist. "Going to walk away because I'm not a future rock star?"

"You do look the part," she mumbles.

The feelings coming off of her don't contain much disappointment. Quite a lot of lust. Nice job, Whitlock. You know how to attract your mate. Isn't that supposed to come naturally?

"Want to hear me sing?" I ask. Without waiting for a response, I croon, "Let's stay together…"

She slaps at me. Playfully.

"I mean it. I want us to stay together. Forever." And my statement is much more than a high school romance or BFF.

She looks into my eyes, and I can tell she understands. Her eyes run deep. We leave the building via the back door, and I lead her to the van, pull open the rear door and climb in. I hold out my hand as this needs to be her choice.

She doesn't hesitate.

I help her in then pull her onto my lap.

She finally gives me her answer. "That sounds great."

I nuzzle her neck, inhaling the sweet scent of her hair. "Does it? Would you?"

"Hold on," she says, pushing at my chest. I freeze, suppressing a snarl at the thought of my mate pushing me back. Again. That's not how it works in the vampire world. She will be in for an adjustment when we start living on my terms.

"If you can't play, why did you stop at the high school?"

Oh. She had a question. Truth time. "I was in the forest when I picked up your scent. I couldn't stay away. I saw you inside the school, and saw the signs for the bands. So I picked up this guitar."

I wait for her reaction to my statement that I could smell her. It seems to barely faze her. I wait for any kind of reaction to my strangeness to a mortal. She must notice that my body is hard and cold, yet she doesn't pull away.

"And the van?" she asks.

"Borrowed. Short term loan," I reply.

"Thought I recognized it. Does Pete know?"

"Probably not, as he was passed out inside of his cabin," I say. "Answer my question again. Would you?"

"Would I what?" she asked.

"Stay with me forever?" I ask in a hoarse whisper. The breath that she exhales, for however much longer she remains human, is warm and sweet. The scent of her blood is starting to recede as an interest as I feel the strength of the bond between us increasing. The feeling is as intoxicating as her scent was before. I kiss her neck.

"Yes," she moans. "Yes."

"That's all I needed to know," I whisper. I give a few taps to the front of the paneling, and Emmett starts the van.

She looks up at me, puzzled.

"My brother, Emmett," I tell her. "He's driving us home."

That appears to sound good to my sweet girl, as she relaxes into my arms. She doesn't even seem surprised when a few minutes later my nuzzles on her neck become a bite.

Xxx

Emmett drives quickly, picking up speed as she starts to scream. We ditch the car and go high up into the mountains, me carrying her, my heart breaking as she begins to thrash and scream from the pain of the change.

Over the next day, her struggles and screams lessened from exhaustion, but her agony still blazed through via my gift. It was a long three days, because though I've seen thousands of changes, I never saw anyone I cared about go through this change. The agony she suffered ripped at my soul. If I could have traded places with her and gone through it all again, I would. But it's the hell each of us must endure.

Bella looked so fragile the entire time. She had a delicate beauty as a human, and those looks are transferring over.

The rest of the Cullens join us during the transformation, and because Bella's prints are in the car, Emmett pushes it into the ocean, much to Esme's consternation about damaging the ecosystem. Carlisle isn't happy about the van, but he's happy I've found my mate.

On the third day, her heartbeat finally stops.

She wakes up, blinks her glorious red eyes, and immediately goes into a crouch, feeling for the wall behind her. I'm proud of her instincts. Make sure of your back, find a corner to defend.

Good thing I've had a lot of experience with newborns.

She snarls at me from her crouched position, ready for combat. She's definitely shed the mousy personality that she used as a cover back in Forks.

I'm ready for her. She is a fascinating, roiling mass of emotions, ranging from fear, confusion, thirst and lust. I'll outmaneuver her, my little kitten with claws, and we'll take turns biting one another until she calms down in a year or so. Then we'll face our forever. Together. Just as the song says, and just as it should be.

Xx

THE END

So, Happy Halloween everybody!

Ended this year on a sweet (I hope) note! Leave me a note, let me know what you think! I've really appreciated all the support shown for my stories.

I will have another story coming, late November or December. Working on it now.