4

Bella Swan met Jasper Whitlock on the first day of their freshman year at the University of Washington. They, along with Alice, Ben, Carlisle, Esme, Edward, Garrett, Kate, Angela, Emmett, and Rosalie had been in the pre-med program and had Human Anatomy with Dr. Banner. In an unorthodox way of teaching, he decided a little healthy competition was good for the soul and divided his freshman class into two groups, and the twelve of them were grouped together simply because they just happened to be sitting on the left side of the classroom. They were each assigned a project and whoever scored the highest at the end of the semester got eternal bragging rights and a gift certificate for dinner at the best steak house in town. Needless to say, their group won and they were handed a night on the town, so to speak.

The Fab Four, as Edward, Garrett, Kate, and Angela referred to themselves, had opted out of the dinner, saying they would rather hit up one of the local queer clubs than sit through a boring dinner surrounded by people who wouldn't like the fact that they were openly affectionate with each other. It had taken Garret and Edward exactly four days into the start of term to fall in love. Kate and Angela managed to hold out for a month, but the four were best friends, and did everything together.

Carlisle and Esme were having dinner with her parents, and said under no circumstance were they allowed to miss said dinner. It was the one and only stipulation Mr. and Mrs. Platt had when they allowed their only daughter to leave their small town just outside of Seattle for life in the 'big city'. From the way Bella understood it, Esme's parents were extremely protective of their little girl, even if they knew Carlisle loved her more than anything else in the world.

Emmett and Rosalie couldn't stand being in the same room with each other longer than the forty-five minutes their class lasted, and even that was difficult. This was a solid two years before Bella caught him balls deep inside of her in the downstairs bathroom at the lake house over Spring Break during their junior year. Turned out they had been secretly dating for the better part of the year, but didn't want to tell anyone because, as they put it, the sex was better when it was in secret.

Alice had to work in the campus bookstore, and Ben didn't want to be the third wheel, which just left Bella and Jasper. Of course, she didn't know that nobody else was going to be there until she arrived at the steak house and found Jasper sitting at a table for two with a single blue rose. Turned out he had had a crush on her from that first day of class, and decided if he was getting the chance to go on a date with her, he wasn't going to let it pass him by. From that night on, Jasper owned her heart, her soul, and her body.

"Cricket, let's go! Now that everyone is here we're hitting town for supplies. A.k.a. booze and junk food."

The door to the bedroom opened, startling Bella, who dropped the brochures. As Jasper paused in the doorway, his eyes looking from the floor up to her, she realized she'd had been sobbing softly.

"Cricket." He hurried over and knelt in front of her, bringing his hands up to her face. "Talk to me, darlin."

"I . . . I . . ."

But she couldn't get the words out. All she could hear was her mother's voice inside her head telling her how ugly and stupid and worthless she was. It was her fault, Renee had told her, that her father died. They'd been on their way home from her graduation after all. And instead of them staying in the city and celebrating with her, as they had been expecting to, she headed to the lake to spend the weekend with Jasper and they left early to go home. It was supposed to be their last weekend of freedom before they started medical school, but instead, Bella's world fell apart and she lost everyone she ever loved.

Jasper sighed and reached down, picking up the handful of brochures. "Oh, Cricket."

"I don't know what to do, Jay," she whimpered. "She's so mean. All the time. Just hateful and violent. But she's my mom, you know? Yet, she's not, because my mom would never call me a bitch."

"No, she wouldn't," he said, placing the brochures on the bed before shifting so that he was sitting next to her, slipping her hands into hers.

"Jasper, we know you missed her, but you can't keep her to yourself, dickhead," Ben yelled just moments before the door to their room got thrown open and Ben stopped in the doorway, his eyes flickering from his brother to her and back. "Oh, shit, sorry. I . . ."

"It's okay," Bella whimpered, taking a deep breath. "We'll be down in a minute."

"Bella," Ben started, but when she sighed he simply said, "Okay."

Giving Jasper a look first, something Bella noticed, but didn't call him out on, he turned and walked out of their bedroom. Bella stood up and walked into the bathroom, turning on the water and splashing some on her face. When she stood back up, she saw Jasper watching her through the mirror. She turned and leaned against the vanity.

"I'm sorry."

"Why are you apologizing?"

"Because this weekend is supposed to about reconnecting, relaxing, whatever, and I'm sitting here crying like a baby because my mom is mean."

"Don't apologize, Cricket. Least of all to me."

"I owe you the biggest apology, Jay." Bella walked over to him, placing her hands on his hips. He inhaled a sharp breath before his arms wrapped around her, holding her against him. "I hurt you."

"You did," he admitted, and a minute later, she felt his lips pressing against her forehead. "I never stopped loving you, Cricket. Never, not ever."

"I love you, too, Jay." And she did. She had from that night at the steakhouse and every night since. He was her first everything, and the only man who never made her feel less than perfect. "I missed you so much."

"I missed you, too." Jasper brought his hand up to the back of her head. "I'll tell them to go without us. We can stay here and talk."

Bella sighed and shook her head. "I'm not ready for that talk, Jay. I know we have to have it, but I'm not ready."

"Okay." He tilted her head back. "But know that nothing will ever change how I feel about you."

Bella frowned. "But these few days won't change things between us, either."

Though she could tell he didn't agree with her, he never had and they'd fought for a solid month about their future before she forced him to leave for good, he simply kept his arm around her and led her out of the bedroom, down the hallway, and downstairs, where they found everyone waiting for them in the living room. The sad, pathetic pity in their eyes made it clear that Ben had shared that she'd been crying, which she wasn't even mad about. Even though she pushed them all away, her friends had never given up on her. She had been the one to give up, not them. All they had ever done was love her.

"Let's go," Jasper said, his tone sharper than it should have been, but she didn't call him out on it. It was her fault, anyway. She was the one who always ran away from him. As they walked out onto the porch, he looked over at her, winking before he led her around back to the garage, and the dark jeep in the back.

"You still have her?"

"Duh. We made a lot of memories in her," he snickered, pulling her over to it and opening the passenger side door. "Your chariot, my lady."

Bella laughed and climbed in, but instead of closing the door, he leaned in and pressed his lips against hers. "Jay."

"I just want to get as many kisses as I can while I can."

"Me too." Bella leaned in and kissed him again and again and again. "I really have missed you."

Jasper smiled, but didn't reply before he closed the door and hurried around the driver's seat and climbed in. When he pulled out of the garage, Bella saw everyone else climbing into various cars, including the silver Toyota Camry Alice had driven to pick her up from the marina. Bella pulled her knees up to her chest, wrapping her arms around them as she laid her head on top and once again, let her tears fall.

—WL—

The closest grocery store was a ten minute drive from Baker Lake in Concrete, Washington. Every time they made the trip to the lake, they would head into town and load up on everything from beer and wine to food and games. As soon as they walked into the small supermarket, the men were put in charge of the booze while the women were in charge of the real food, as they called it. Bella walked behind the rest of them while they shopped through the produce aisle. She had just stopped by the tomatoes when she felt someone step up next to her, and when she looked over, she saw Esme with a smirk on her lips.

"Hey."

"Hey," Esme snickered, bumping her gently with her shoulder. "You look good, Bella."

She scoffed. "No, I don't. I look . . . I look fucking tired."

"Okay, you do," Esme agreed with a laugh. "I mean, you're still beautiful, but you do look exhausted. We take it things aren't really any better with your mom?"

Bella shook her head. "Some days are better than others, but most are bad."

"And the damage is irreversible?"

"Yep, according to the six doctors I've taken her to over the last three years. All of them say the same thing: severe traumatic brain injury. They say with injuries such as hers the behavior changes are only going to get worse, not better, and she's at a higher risk of developing Alzheimer's or dementia."

"And you've tried occupational therapy?"

Bella nodded. "Yes, Dr. Platt, or are you going by Dr. Cullen?"

"Dr. Platt, of course, because I am a strong, independent woman, Bella, who don't need no man to take care of me." Esme laughed. "So therapy was a bust?"

"We have tried it all. She's just . . . who she is now, and there's really nothing we can do about it, but take it day by day. Sometimes, hour by hour."

"I'm sorry, I don't mean to get all professional on you."

"It's okay," she murmured, turning back to the tomatoes. "Did you love medical school?"

"For the most part," she admitted. "It wasn't the same without you and Jasper, though."

Bella sighed. "Yeah."

"Come on, you two!" Kate called out, drawing Bella and Esme's attention to her, Angela, Rosalie, and Alice who were waiting for them at the edge of the produce aisle.

"We're coming," Esme exclaimed, looping her arm in with Bella's before they started following them. "So, we were thinking about lots of stuff for grilling. That way we can drink while the guys argue about proper grilling techniques."

Bella laughed. "Just like old times."

"Right?" Esme giggled. "Let's just hope they get plenty of tequila to help us get through that bullshit again."

"We should probably grab a few bottles ourselves," Kate quipped, slipping her hand into Angela's and pulling her girlfriend toward the liquor section. "Knowing Edward and Garrett they'll get the cheap shit, and we do not want the cheap shit. Talk about a hangover from hell."

While Angela and Kate headed to over to make sure the guys got the right brand of tequila, Alice, Rosalie, and Esme filled the basket with steaks, pork chops, chicken, ground hamburger meat, and several gallons of ice cream. Bella once again found herself walking behind them, not really caring what food they got. Her phone chimed in her back pocket and she felt her shoulders tense as she slipped it out, sighing in relief when she saw it was just a notification of an upcoming doctor's appointment for her mother at the end of the next week. Another in a long line of appointments, but she found herself stopping at the end of an aisle and confirming the appointment.

As she moved to shove her phone back in her back pocket, she caught sight of Jasper in the pharmacy section of the market. She stopped and watched him reach up and grab a package of condoms. He paused before grabbing another box and when he turned, he saw her watching him. He simply gave her his infamous smile before raising an eyebrow, almost daring her to question his choices. She didn't, because while she knew after three days, their love affair would once again end, she wanted nothing more than to spend the next three days with the love of her life.

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