And here we are at the final chapter. Thank you all for following along with this story. I hope you enjoyed it and perhaps Rock & Roll Rebel before this! There will be an Eclipse and Breaking Dawn (truly not sure how that one is going to play out, to be honest) installation in this altered universe of mine, but no release date yet. I need to get a few more chapters done before I start posting. Thanks again for reading! Cheers, darlin'!

Chapter 20: I Promise

"No! Don't!" Bella screamed, jolting upright and out of a deep sleep. Cold hands immediately cupped her face.

"Hey, hey. It's okay, darlin'," a sweet voice crooned as he brushed her tears away with his thumbs. "You're okay. It was just a dream."

She took a deep breath and nodded. Jasper leaned forward from where he sat beside her bed to press a kiss to her forehead. "Try and go back to sleep. I'll be right here."

"Will-" Bella bit her lip, cutting herself off and instead staring at her hands in her lap.

He gently freed her lower lip and tilted her head with a finger under her chin so he could look her in the eye. "You never need to feel embarrassed or guilty around me, alright? Never."

Bella gave him a shy, grateful smile. "I just... would you lay with me? It... It helps me sleep."

"Of course," he said, a small smile of his own turning up his lips.

He moved to lay beside her but froze, his head whipped toward the door just as Charlie burst in. "You alright, Bella? Another nightmare?"

She reached over to turn the lamp on that was sitting on her nightstand. Jasper had completely disappeared. "Um, yeah. I'm okay though, Dad. Really. They're not as bad as before. You don't have to worry."

Her dad scoffed. "Yeah. Right. Last time you said that, you disappeared. You wanna talk nightmares."

"I know. I'm so sorry, Dad," she said, meaning it down to her very core. She hadn't actually kept track, but it felt like she had apologized at least four or five times a day since they got back.

Charlie sighed and sat on the edge of her bed, as had become their ritual during the months Jasper had been gone. "Just... don't ever do anything to me like that again, alright?"

"Yeah," she nodded. "I promise, Dad."

He gazed at her a minute more before giving her leg a squeeze and kissing her head. "Goodnight, Bells. Come get me if you need anything, okay?"

"Okay."

He gave her a small smile and stood to go. "Love you, kiddo."

Charlie had just opened the door when Bella called out to him, "Dad?"

"Yeah?"

She crossed the room and wrapped her arms around him. "I love you too."

He brought his arms up to hug her back, smoothing her hair and cradling the back of her head like he had when she was little. "More than you know, Bells."

They stood for a moment together, healing them both in ways they would never find the words to describe. At last, he placed another kiss on top of her head. "Get some sleep," he said, then smirked. "You're still grounded, and your chore list is gonna be a mile long. You'll need all the rest you can get."

Bella rolled her eyes and gave him a small smile of her own. "Goodnight, Dad."

By the time she'd shut the door and turned back around, Jasper was lounging on her bed with his hands tucked behind his head. "Okay, seriously, where were you?" she asked with a light laugh, crawling back under the covers and cuddling into his side with her head resting on his chest.

He brought his arms down to wrap around her and pull her impossibly closer. "Wouldn't you like to know?"

She smiled and lightly smacked his shoulder, closing her eyes and relishing the cold that seeped through her pajamas where his arm rested across her back and tickled her cheek that rested on his chest. Odd how something so cold could be so comforting. No, not something. Someone.

"Think he'll ever forgive me?" Jasper said after, what she had considered, a contented silence had passed between them.

Bella shrugged. "Eventually he'll have to. It's not like you're going anywhere."

"Not unless you tell me to."

She scoffed. "Yeah, right."

He took her hand in his and kissed her fingers.

"I would... I would see you, while you were gone, you know. Or hear you," she said as she played with his long fingers that danced over hers. "Like a... like a vision or a ghost."

"Oh?"

She nodded, relieved to finally say it out loud and not have him think she was crazy. "It was like you were trying to protect me. Anytime I did something... stupid, really, or kind of crazy, you were there. Of course, every so often you would just provide commentary on whatever I was doing no matter what it was."

A dry chuckle escaped his throat and he kissed her hand. "I wish it had been me. I wish I never would've left," he said more seriously, his face buried in her hair. "I'll never forgive myself for leavin' you here unprotected. Especially with Victoria."

"Hush. How could you have known a psychotic vampire was going to make me her new obsession? Although I am starting to recognize a pattern..."

He pinched her hip. "Not. Funny."

She chuckled, burying deeper into the covers and against his chest. He ran his fingers through her hair. "I am so sorry, darlin'. For all of it."

"I know," she reassured him, propping herself up on one elbow to meet his golden gaze. "I forgive you, okay? Really."

She watched his eyes flit across her face, and knew, even though he was careful to keep his own emotions carefully locked away, that he was searching hers to see if he was truly forgiven. She kept her eyes fixed on him, knowing he'd find nothing but absolute forgiveness.

Bella knew he'd found it when his eyes widened a fraction of an inch as he stared at her. He quickly looked away, swallowing hard. "Oh Bella," he sighed, swinging his legs to put his feet on the floor so he could sit on the edge of the bed. He dug his fingers through his hair. "How? How can you..."

She moved so she could hug him from behind, wrapping her arms around his torso and resting her head on his shoulder. "Because I love you," she said softly, and felt his shoulders sag as some of the tension he always seemed to carry eased a bit. She opened her heart completely to him so he could feel just how true her words were. "I love you, and I know you. No matter what she did to you, or who she tried to make you become, I know the real you."

"I never wanted you to see me like that," he said, so softly she had a hard time hearing him. But she did, and her heart ached. She moved to sit beside him and took his hand. He held onto it like a lifeline.

"We all have a past," she said gently. "We all have things we struggle with. It's nothing to be ashamed of. What she did to you... I don't know the whole story, but what I do know is that you had to be as strong as fuck to make it out as sane as you are."

He blew out a shaky breath and swallowed heavily again, past all the emotions that were churning deep within him like a brewing storm. He could feel himself on the brink of losing control of them. The pure, uninhibited love and acceptance radiating from Bella would be his undoing. The emotions and events from the past few months that he had been trying so desperately to keep locked away were threatening to overwhelm him. He knew he needed to be alone when they did, or he risked Bella being caught up in the storm. He didn't want to do that to her, but he also couldn't make himself leave. Not again.

Warm, soft hands suddenly caressed his face and he brought his golden eyes back to hers. The molten chocolate of Bella's gaze made him catch his breath. "You've been taking on everyone else's emotions ever since we've been back. More so than usual. I don't know if it's some kind of weird penance thing or what, but it's too much. Let me help. I promise, I can take it."

He shook his head. No. Absolutely not.

"Please, Jasper."

Somehow, her voice pushed him over the edge. That one plea undid his last shred of control. His face crumpled and a sob burst from his chest. Bella closed her eyes tightly as it all rushed through her. God, it was crushing. How had he kept this up for so long? She bit her lip hard to keep her own tears at bay and climbed onto his lap, wrapping her arms and legs around him, wanting to be as close to him as she possibly could.

Jasper's chest heaved with sobs he didn't know he could still cry as everything came to the surface. But one horrendous moment stood out amongst them all. "I thought I'd lost you," he whispered, burying his face in the curve of her neck, something he wouldn't have dared before but now that he knew the pain of losing her, the pain his throat could hardly compare.

"I'm here. I'm here," she said, over and over again as tears fell from her eyes. They sat together and let every single feeling flow through them. "You're not alone," Bella whispered. "Not anymore. You're safe."

He brought his head up to see her face, wiping the tears from her eyes. "So are you. I won't let them hurt you, I swear," he said, sealing his vow with a kiss. "I'll never leave you again."

She sniffed and nodded. She believed him. She believed all of it. If the past few months had taught her anything it was that they belonged together. They were two halves of the same whole. She didn't know what they'd do about the Volturi or Victoria, but she knew she wouldn't be facing it alone.

"I love you, darlin'."

She nodded, kissing him again. "I love you, too."