A/N: Holy shit, y'all, this story reached 100 reviews! Thank you to traceybuie who left the 100th one - I'm so thrilled it was you! You've stuck with this story since I started posting it and you've been kind enough to review every single chapter. So thank you:)

I've been trying to come up with a realistic update schedule and I'm leaning towards twice a week - maybe Mondays or Tuesdays and Fridays. I figure one at the beginning of the week, one at the end.

Thank you all for taking the time to read, and thank you to everyone who has taken an extra few moments to leave me feedback. I may not know how to respond to reviews, but I love hearing what you guys think:)

Take care, M. x

Chapter Twenty-Three

Jasper spent most of the following morning in his study. He was looking out the window but not really seeing anything, his mind working overtime on how he should move forward.

Because his future with Bella had been tantalizingly out of reach for so long, he never actually planned what to do once Bella had firmly relegated Edward to the past. Now that her heart was open and the danger from Edward wasn't a constant concern, he was wrestling with the choices in front of him.

Not that there were that many. Only two, really. He either told Bella outright that she was his mate or he starting trying to shift their relationship with the hope of Bella eventually falling in love with him.

Because they were soulmates, he knew it was inevitable that she would at some point, but he had no way of knowing how far in the future that would be. Because of Jasper's behavior at the family meeting - his very obvious defense of Bella and her safety - two more members of the family had figured out the truth. He wasn't comfortable with the idea of the others knowing when Bella didn't.

It had been necessary to keep his connection to her a secret up until now, but he didn't feel it was right to go forward without him and Bella being on equal footing. She deserved to have a voice in how her future unfolded.

He'd never lied to her before and now that it was safe for the truth to come out, lying by omission felt just as wrong as lying outright.

Jasper nodded to himself. He would tell her the truth and answer every question she had honestly. What happened from here would be for the two of them to decide together.

Jasper had just gotten out of the shower when his phone rang. Looking at the display, he saw it was Jacob.

"Hey Jacob, what's—"

"What the fuck happened?" Jacob growled, surprising Jasper. He'd never heard the wolf angry before.

"Uh, with what?" he asked cautiously.

"With Bella. I just got to her house and she's black and blue and wincing every time she moves. I know she was at your house yesterday so what the fuck happened?"

Jasper heard Bella's annoyed huff in the background. "I said I was fine, Jake."

"You're not fine, you're in pain," he snapped and Jasper had to bite back a laugh. That was exactly what he'd said to Carlisle.

Jasper thought for a moment about how best to handle the situation. "Would you ask Bella if she'd mind if I came over? I don't have a problem telling you everything but it might be easier in person."

Jacob sighed and then spoke away from the phone. "Can he come over?"

"Not if you're going to question him like you're my father, no," she snarked.

"I promise not to question him if you promise to stop being a brat."

"Hey, I'm not a— ow! Damn it, Jake!"

"Then don't hit me," Jacob laughed. "Yeah, that's fine, Jasper. Back door's open."

"Alright, see ya in a few."

"Yep."

Jasper quickly threw on jeans and a hoodie and walked to Carlisle's office. The door was open and Carlisle looked up as he knocked on the doorframe. "Come in, Jasper."

"I don't think the ibuprofen is helping Bella. Jacob just called and said she's black and blue and not moving all that well."

Carlisle nodded and opened one of his desk drawers and pulled out two prescription bottles. "I filled these for her earlier this morning just in case. One's a painkiller, one's a muscle relaxer," he explained as he handed them to Jasper. "The directions for each are on the bottle. Sometimes the painkiller causes nausea when taken on an empty stomach, so try to see if she can eat something beforehand."

Jasper tucked them in his pocket. "Thanks, I appreciate it," he nodded. "Jacob wants to know what happened and I told him I'll come over to Bella's to explain. He trusts me so I'm not going to lie to him, but is there anything you'd prefer I keep back?"

Carlisle thought on it, head tipped to the side. "I don't think so, although the information about her change is likely to be a flashpoint for any of the wolves."

"Yeah, I know," Jasper sighed. "I'm happy to let Bella decide how to handle that. I'll follow her lead. Other than that, I'm just going to be honest with him."

"I understand," Carlisle nodded. "Thank you for checking in with me first."

"Of course. I'm gonna head out. And thanks, Carlisle."

"You're welcome. Give Bella my love."

Ten minutes later, Jasper knocked on the back door of Bella's house and let himself inside.

He stopped short for a second when he caught a trace of Rosalie's scent. It wasn't fresh and it was distant enough that he knew she hadn't been downstairs, but she'd definitely been in the house in the last twelve hours. Rose had been gone when he, Alice, and Carlisle had returned to the house after hunting the night before and he hadn't seen her that morning.

He shook his head. It wasn't his business. That was between Bella and Rosalie. Mate or not, Bella Swan was her own person.

"In here," Bella called from the living room. Jasper smiled. He could hear her heartbeat, he knew where she was. Walking in the room, he found her laying on the couch, a soft blanket tucked around her.

"Where's Jacob?" he asked as he sat down on the floor beside her.

Bella rolled her eyes. "He needed to run an errand for his dad, he'll be back in a little while."

"So what hurts?" Jasper asked as he took her hand.

"I'm fine," she huffed. "Jake shouldn't have called you."

He gave her a look as he nudged her sleeve up to expose the bruise near her wrist.

"I said I'm fine, Jasper."

"Bella," he said gently. "I'm not Edward. I'm not going to suddenly have a personality transplant just because you're hurt."

"I know," she sighed. "I'm sorry, I shouldn't have snapped at you. And I do know that. I'm just..." she shook her head and gave him a small smile. "I'm sorry. You've never treated me like he did, I shouldn't have assumed you'd start now. I really am fine, though. I'm sore, but I've definitely had worse."

"Carlisle gave me some meds for you. A painkiller and a muscle relaxer. Want to try those?"

"Um, maybe the muscle relaxer? No painkiller, though. I just took some ibuprofen. I'd rather wait and see if that helps first."

Jasper nodded and got up to get her a glass of water. When he came back in the room a few moments later, Bella was wincing as she shifted her body. Seeing him, she immediately cleared her face of any evidence of pain, making Jasper smile and roll his eyes.

"I'm not gonna get all overbearing with you, Bella," he laughed as he handed her the water and then tipped one of the pills into her hand.

"Sorry, habit," she smiled.

Jasper helped her sit up a little so she didn't choke, then gently laid her back down and made sure the blanket was tucked around her. Once Jasper was settled on the floor, he took her hand again. "Do you have a heating pad? Esme said it might help."

"We did but I think it was my mom's before she left so it was about twenty years old and beat to hell. I threw it away. I have no desire to be the first person to die of a spontaneously combusting heating pad," she laughed.

"You humans die in the weirdest ways so I doubt you'd be the first," he smiled, making Bella laugh and swat his arm. "I'm really sorry this happened to you, Bella. I got distracted and wasn't paying enough attention."

She waved him off. "It wasn't your fault, Jas. Edward never was good at holding his temper. I should've been paying more attention too," she shrugged. "Do you know what set him off?"

"It was right after you said Peter and Charlotte offered for you to come to Texas. You know he's always been unmovable about you being changed. I'm assuming he sees that as my fault since they're my family."

She rolled her eyes. "Or he doesn't want to lose my precious blood. And I don't know why he thinks it's any of his business what I do or who changes me."

Wanting to avoid the topic of her blood, Jasper asked a question he had been curious about. "If the Volturi weren't forcing your hand, would you still want to be changed? I know that was what you wanted when you were with Edward but we haven't talked about it since he left."

Bella thought on it a minute. "I'm not sure. After he and I broke up I just assumed I wouldn't be so I didn't give it much thought. It doesn't really matter though. The Volturi are forcing our hand, so… it is what it is," she shrugged. "I love all of you so being a part of your family certainly isn't a hardship. Leaving Charlie is the only thing that's really painful to think about. My mom and I… I don't know, we haven't been close for a while. I think she was hurt when I decided I wanted to live with my dad again. She's barely returning my calls or replying to emails at this point. The only other worry was losing Jake and Angela, but I figure if Jake can be friends with you and Alice, I won't necessarily have to say goodbye to them."

"No, I don't think you will," he smiled. "Angela was never nervous or uncomfortable around me or Alice, and you and Jake love each other enough that I don't think species will matter."

"Woah," she breathed. "I never thought about it that way. I'll be a different species."

Jasper brushed his thumb across the back of her hand. "I think maybe you didn't have a real clear picture of what becoming a vampire means. You thought about it simply as a way to spend forever with Edward."

She hummed thoughtfully. "That's probably true. It didn't help that he blew me off any time I tried to ask questions. It's hard to make an informed decision without any information. Most of what I know is from you and Alice, honestly."

"Your experience will be vastly different to mine," he laughed.

"No newborn armies for me?"

"No, definitely not. No newborn armies for you," he smiled.

"Maybe I'll start a list with all my questions or things I want to know before I'm changed."

"Sounds like a solid plan. Anything you want to know, just ask. I'll never lie to you. You may not always like the answer, but I'll never lie."

"I know, thank you," she smiled. "And I'm not gonna lie, the thought of being as beautiful as the rest of the family is appealing," she laughed.

"You're already beautiful, Bella. You don't need venom to achieve that," he said softly.

Bella looked in his eyes a minute, probably to see if he was just saying that to be polite. She'd never felt like she was all that pretty and her self-esteem sometimes took a hit when around the other Cullens. Seeing he was being honest, she gave him a soft smile. "Thanks."

The back door was suddenly thrown open, stopping the moment from getting too weighty, and Jacob's loud voice called out their names.

"In here, and you don't need to shout. My house isn't that big," Bella answered as she rolled her eyes.

He walked in and plopped down in the chair after tossing a bag in Jasper's lap. "Here, make yourself useful," he said. He had a smile on his face but Jasper could feel the anger he was trying to hide.

Looking in the bag, Jasper saw he'd stopped to buy Bella a new heating pad. He and Bella both smiled and thanked him and Jasper got up to plug it in. After asking where she was most sore, he wrapped it around her hip and then tucked the blanket back around her. He sat down, this time resting his side against the couch so he was facing Jacob.

"So?"

Jasper smiled at the wolf's impatience but starting relaying everything that happened at the family meeting. He felt Jacob's satisfaction and respect that every single Cullen found the telepath's behavior unacceptable and that they all defended and supported Bella. He was also highly amused about Edward getting his ass kicked, breaking into laughter at that part of the story.

As Jasper got to the reason Edward finally lost his shit, he hesitated.

Bella rested her hand on his shoulder, letting him know she'd take over. "Jacob, you already know what the Volturi's condition was to let me leave," she said softly. Jacob sneered but nodded. "And you also know Edward never wanted me to be changed. That's when he got angry, when I brought up the offer from Peter and Charlotte. He lunged for Jasper, who was sitting beside me. Rosalie and Jas both tried to protect me but I still got a bit banged up."

"He doesn't get to be angry. It's his fucking fault the vamp police even know about you!" Jacob snapped.

"I know," she nodded. "But you and I both know Edward will never admit he was wrong about anything."

"Isn't there any way to get out of it?" he asked Jasper. "Doesn't Carlisle have some kind of in with them that he can use?"

"It doesn't work that way, Jacob," Jasper said gently. "Edward broke the law by telling Bella our secret. And telling a human about our existence is usually an immediate death sentence for both parties as soon as the Volturi find out. In this case, it would have meant a death sentence for our whole family - Peter and Charlotte, too - since we were all aware she knew. If Bella was anyone else they would have either killed her or forced her to be changed before she stepped a foot outside the castle. It was the 'in' with Carlisle that allowed us the breathing room we have."

"This is bullshit," Jacob growled. "Where is the asshole? Is he at the lair?"

"No," Jasper shook his head. "Carlisle told him he wasn't welcome here for the time being. He also told him that if he didn't think Edward could keep his temper in check, he wouldn't be allowed to return until after Bella was changed. We won't risk her safety, Jacob."

"Carlisle said that?" Bella asked in surprise.

"He did. And we all agreed with him. Even Esme," he added when he felt her doubt creep in.

"I should hope so," Jacob grumbled. "How long does she have?"

"We've got some time. Alice made sure Aro knows Bella hasn't finished school yet and what her dad's job in town is. If I had to guess, I'd say we have at least six months. Possibly longer."

If Aro and the other brothers were as pleased that Jasper had found his soulmate as Alice made it sound, they might have a bit more leeway. He didn't want to offer that information yet, just in case he was wrong.

"Six months?" Jacob sighed. "God I fucking hate Edward Cullen."

Bella laughed tiredly. "You're not alone."

"Where is he?" Jacob asked, looking at Jasper.

"From what Alice can see he's on his way to Isle Esme."

Jacob scrunched up his nose. "What's an Isle Esme?"

"A small island off the coast of Brazil. Carlisle bought it for Esme as a wedding gift," Jasper answered with a smile.

"He bought her an island?" Jacob asked incredulously.

Bella smiled, though her eyes were starting to close. "That was my reaction, too."

"When you live as long as we do, money tends to pile up," Jasper shrugged.

Jacob shook his head but then smiled at him. "Think they'd ever let me stay there?"

Jasper laughed quietly. "What, as a honeymoon for you and Angela?" he asked and Jacob's smile got wider. "I'll ask for you. I'm sure they'd tell you you're welcome any time."

Jacob opened his mouth but then closed it and smiled softly at Bella. "She's asleep," he whispered.

"Yeah, I knew she was getting close. Carlisle gave me some meds for her. She took one of the muscle relaxers," Jasper answered as he gently brushed the hair from Bella's forehead.

"Can I ask you something?" Jacob asked quietly after a few minutes.

Jasper turned back to face him. "Of course."

"You and Bella. Are you…" he trailed off when Jasper huffed a laugh. "What?"

Jasper shook his head. "Nothing. Go ahead."

"You guys are… mates or whatever, right?"

Even though Jasper knew that's what was coming, he still found himself surprised. "What makes you say that?"

Jacob smirked. "You do know I have eyes, right? I may not have vampire sight, but I still have eyes."

Jasper threw a pillow at the wolf's head. "Don't be an asshole," he laughed. "Can I plead the fifth for the time being? I respect you too much to lie to you, but I'm also not really prepared to talk about it with anyone else until Bella knows."

On feeling a surge of amusement from beside him, Jasper turned to see Bella's eyes just barely open.

"Bella already knows," she said with a smile.