"Something about sitting on the front porch like this, with a fire in the yard makes me wish I could still drink beer." Peter commented, a smile gracing his face while he mimed holding a beer bottle up towards the makeshift bonfire. Like he was cheering the still twitching remains of Felix as they were being engulfed in flames. Venom leaking out of the open wounds, making little pops and cracks, his limbs having been stacked like wood before the match was tossed onto the pile. The most efficient way to quickly burn a vampire Jasper and Peter had discovered many years ago, was ironically the same way it was efficient to burn most anything else.
"Beer tastes absolutely revolting. I bet Carlisle has some good whiskey in his study." While it was true vampires couldn't really get drunk drinking alcohol themselves, they could get tipsy off of hard liquor.
"Bah!" Peter exclaimed, still pretending to hold a bottle and gesturing at Jasper with it. "You were changed before they got really good at brewing tasty beers."
"If I wanted to drink bread, I'd murder a baker." Jasper retorted dryly, still debating on going inside and looting Carlisle's liquor collection. He wouldn't feel the least bit guilty about it either, he had just saved the day, after all. His decision was made for him, however, when they heard a car turn onto the gravel driveway to the Cullen Residence.
"Looks like Carlisle is a popular guy today." Peter commented, chucking his imaginary beer bottle towards the fire and imitating the sound of a bottle crashing a few seconds later. It clearly wasn't the Volturi again. They weren't known to use cars and it was a tad soon for them to regroup for another go. Wasn't the girls either, they were in a truck. The two vampires on the porch didn't move a muscle, and just waited for the visitors to arrive. When the first glimpse of the silver bumper came into view, Jasper knew immediately it was Edward. It was a Volvo, and vampires were creatures of habit at the base of it all. Eat, fuck and kill. Repeat. Though Edward had only done two of the three.
"It's Edward." Jasper informed Peter, not sure if he had the same realization. As the vehicle got closer, they could see there was someone else in the car, and sensing the emotional signature Jasper realized it was Alice. It shouldn't have surprised him, since he knew she was with him. Still did, though. He hadn't seen her since she returned her wedding ring. At the time he had been hurt, understandably. She had told him that one day he would understand. Today, he did. If he had come across Bella while still in love with Alice, he wasn't sure if he would have realized the mating pull was there at all. As far as he was concerned, that was Alice. Until she had told him otherwise, and gave him back her ring. The emotions coming from Alice were excitement, joy, anticipation. The ones coming from Edward were different entirely.
Entitlement, anger, indignation, possessiveness and... Was that shame and guilt? Jasper supposed that was on par for Edward. Couldn't really figure why Alice was so exuberant, though. Edward had barely put the car in park before opening his door and climbing out of the vehicle. His indignation and entitlement overriding all else, as he stalked towards where Jasper and Peter stood to greet the new arrivals. Approaching the fire with Felix's remains crackling and burning, his emotions turned to disgust and horror. None of the Cullens, sans Carlisle, had ever seen a dead and burning vampire before Phoenix, and even then Edward had chosen not to be apart of it. Realizing it was no one he knew, there was a brief amount of relief as he sidestepped the burning corpse. His disgust still lingering as he realized the unique smell was burning vampire flesh. He stopped short only a few feet from Jasper and Peter, and it was then that they both got a good look at the younger vampire's eyes. They were mirrors of their own crimson orbs.
Jasper wasn't surprised. He had been around for more than one of Edward's little vacations from the Cullen coven over the decades. Except he usually waited until his eyes had changed back to the amber hue, so everyone could pretend he just went off and had some much needed alone time. It must be hard, living in a house with so many mated couples. Everyone knew, but no one said anything. Jasper could feel it in their emotions, though. Rosalie was always smug about it, while Carlisle felt deep shame and failure. Edward never really felt any one way another about it, just annoyed about having to hide his excursions.
Alice had gotten out of the car, the door hardly making a sound as she closed it behind her. Walking past the fire and Edward like she didn't even notice them. She was polite that way, and also trying hard to stave off the terror she felt at Peter's presence She made a gesture of her head towards Edward and rolled her eyes as she passed by Peter and Jasper into the house. Clearly having had enough of hearing about whatever Edward was about to say, already. It must have been a really long trip from Rio.
"How dare you steal my mate." It was more than an accusation, to Edward it was a confirmation that Jasper was everything he had gleamed from his mind over the years. The epitome of the soulless monster he could never fully embrace himself.
"You ended your relationship and any claim on her when you left her a human, alone in the woods." And Jasper was right. No vampire would ever leave their mate in such a vulnerable position. Almost every single vampire he had ever heard of having a human mate, changed them the same day.
"She is my mate, and you had no right to change her!" Edward persisted, his mind insisting that in his heart of hearts, Bella loved him still and would be happy to spend eternity with him, like she always wanted. He was as sure of this as he was that they were a mated couple.
"Bella Swan was a human. You couldn't have left her behind, if she-" Jasper was cut off by another one of Edward's indignant pleas.
"I wanted to let her live!" He stepped towards Jasper then, intent on starting something, but Jasper's next words halted him in his tracks.
"And I couldn't live without her." Jasper stated plainly. This momentarily stunned Edward, and he tried to dig through Jasper's thoughts and couldn't fathom what he found.
"You think you're mates?" Edward was outraged. It was one thing for him to think Jasper gave Bella immortality to spite him, it's another to think that Jasper actually stole his human girlfriend from him. She couldn't possibly like him? Jasper must have been controlling her with his emotions. Like he had always suspected he did with everyone else. It just hadn't made sense that Carlisle would allow such a monster refuge in his home. The accusation was building up inside of him.
"I claimed her as my mate, you can-" Edward didn't get a chance to finish that line of bullshit, because he was swiftly sideswiped by a blur no one saw or heard coming until it was too late. Perhaps that's why Alice had gone inside right away. Edward landed several yards past the driveway, in Esme's rose garden. Char was a mere moment later, having kept on Bella's heels rather admirably considering the newborn vampire's increased speed. Seeing Peter and Jasper, just watching Bella beat Edward's ass up and down the flowerbeds, relief washed over her. If they were this casual about it all, she could relax. The coven hierarchy was reestablished, and she was comfortable not having so much responsibility. She was so worried when Bella woke up and they weren't back yet, even though it had hardly been half a day since they left. She closed the gap between her and Peter, burying her head in the crook of his neck and enjoying the peace and solace she found there in his arms. Peter looked at Jasper over Charlotte's head,
"She woke up rather early, didn't she Major?" But Jasper didn't hear him, he wasn't paying anybody any bit of attention except for Bella and the damage she was doing to Edward. It brought a prideful smile on his face, knowing that the mate he was lucky enough to find could hold her own, when as a human she had been unable to walk to class without tripping over thin air. He was also ready to step in if needed, but he didn't think Edward would be a problem for anyone, let alone an irrational newborn ex-girlfriend.
Alice chose that moment to come out of the house carrying a small duffle bag, which she dropped at Jasper's feet, his focus still entirely on Bella. The only reason he hadn't gone to her already, is that he knew that Edward deserved this and Bella absolutely needed it. Alice snapped in his face to get his attention on her, Peter already going with Charlotte to break up the fight.
"I don't think Carlisle got the chance to tell you before he left, but thank you, Jasper Whitlock. You've done a great service here today." She turned, and for the first time looked at the fire. It had mostly burned away, vampire venom burned hot and fast. "And I don't just mean saving Carlisle, and killing one of Aro's favorites." That was news to Jasper. He didn't realize Aro had favorites other than the twins, or whatever gifted vampire he came across. Like Carlisle, for a time.
"The guy I beheaded like he was a weak ass human?" Jasper asked, a bit of The Major's callousness leaking through when normally he'd try not being so crass around Alice.
"Felix Volturi. I don't really know anything about him. I just saw Aro reacting rather crazily to the news of him being killed, let alone at the hands of a vampire he had dismissed as mere fiction and myth." She waved her hand dismissively. "Luckily he doesn't know anything about you, except that you have been living with Carlisle for the last sixty years." Alice wasn't sure if this would help him at all, but it was rare she even saw the Volturi reacting to decisions at all. She had never met them, and only saw visions of people she never met when it was extremely important. So she knew this was.
"So I reckon he's going to head my way officially now that he knows I'm the real deal?" Jasper asked, not really wanting to deal with another vampire war. Knowing full well that the skirmishes over land in the south were a far different kind of battle than the one the Volturi would wage now. Alice just shrugged,
"I haven't seen anything else. Be less difficult to get a hold of, and I'll make sure you know everything I know." That was a bit of a pointed comment, since he had been willfully ignoring her calls. There was a bit of commotion with Bella and Edward, and she was apologizing profusely while dropping his arm on top of his still prone body and looking slightly horrified at having accidentally removed her ex-boyfriend's limb.
"Thanks for the information Alice, it's the least you could do after getting me into this new mess with the Volturi and forcing me to come out of retirement." He was only half joking, because it would have happened sooner or later. It was just one of those things.
"Actually..." Alice started, glancing over at Edward struggling to get up with only one arm, and no one offering him any help, just comforting Bella. 'It's okay, accidents happen!' and 'If I had a nickel for every accidental limb...'
"It's because of Bella. That nomad you killed in Phoenix. The redhead was his mate, and she went to the Volturi for revenge. Killing a vampire to protect a human is one of the laws. So is keeping a human as a pet..." She cringed as she said the last part, but those were the charges that Carlisle would have been accused and convicted of. "When Aro saw that Edward couldn't read her mind, he wanted to have Bella taken and changed, convinced she would be a powerful asset to the guard. You were always going to be her mate, Jasper. It was always going to be you." She said the last part a bit forcefully, knowing Jasper never really believed a vampire like him deserved a mate, he had told Alice once he thought he probably killed her and never even knew. 'You can't really miss what you've never experienced.' He had explained to her, as a way of diminishing his own desire for true unconditional love and affection.
"They're not coming for her now?" His dead heart was clenching at the idea of losing her so soon after finding her, that he wanted to start figuring out a battle plan immediately. He hadn't even kissed her yet, not really. Not as mates, or as vampire equals and he had so many other things he wanted to focus on that killing the Volturi.
"No. They aren't making any concrete plans that I know about, to come after either of you." This only mollified Jasper the tiniest of bits.
"So what's the plan now?" He gestured to Edward, who had finally gotten up from the dirt and was delicately brushing himself off and looking for his arm, not realizing Peter had chucked it into the woods a few moments before.
"No plans, not anymore. Not after I made sure you both got to Odessa safely. She really should keep better care of that truck." Alice said, knowing full well it had a complete overhaul by Jacob Black before Bella had left Washington state. Jasper couldn't bring himself to even feel the usual irritation he would feel at Alice manipulating him behind the scenes. This time, in this situation, he couldn't fault her for her meddling in his life one bit. Though he still didn't much care for it. Bella chose that moment to run up and hug Jasper, her exuberance and joy reaching him a millisecond before she collided with him and sent them both tumbling to the ground, with her ending up on top of him arms clinging around him and talking a mile a minute.
"I want to be mad you changed me without telling me, but being a vampire is so cool! Did you see me kick Edward's ass? I was so fast! I accidentally ripped his arm off, and I felt kind of bad about it but only for a second and was I sick? Why did you change me? I didn't get to say goodbye to Charlie!" Jasper just laid there, basking in her emotions and his own, never having felt the pure bliss that came from being in physical contact with your mate before, it was almost overwhelming him. Listening to her go back and forth on whether she would hunt humans or not.
"Isn't she something, Major?" Peter asked, walking up with his arm around Charlotte, Edward trailing behind them like a beaten dog, holding his severed arm against his chest. Edward neither looked up, spoke, or made any attempt at talking to anyone. "Not much like a typical newborn, I'd say." But then again, not much about the last year of Bella Swan's life and death had been anything but typical.
"Come on, Edward. Let's get you back to Carlisle. He can help you reattach your arm."
Bella paused for a second, taking a moment to really take in Jasper's scent, seeing as this was the first time she was this close to him since making the full transformation into a vampire. "Oh... Jasper, you smell so good!" Her eyes darkened, the red fading away almost entirely. Jasper couldn't take it anymore, his arms went around her and he flipped them over, so that Bella was on her back. His mouth on hers for a heated kiss that ended seconds later because he was kissing along her neck and collarbone while Bella started a deep growl in her chest, almost like a purr. Inhaling the deep cinnamon and apples her venom had taken on during her transformation. His mind suddenly intent on making his full claim on her right then and there, needing to feel her as close to him as she possibly could be. Bella seemed to be on the same train of thought, because his shirt was missing and he hadn't noticed.
"No!" Edward couldn't take it anymore, Alice had a brief flash of them entwined on the driveway in carnal pleasure and it was unfathomable to him.
"NO!" He shouted again louder, when neither vampire paid him any attention the first time. "Not out in the open, like animals! Bella!" He started towards the couple then, but Peter beat him to it, clothes lining the other vampire as he ran to stop them. He made easy work of his other arm, and regrettably handed it to Alice, who took it with disgust and put it in the trunk along with the other arm.
"Come on, Edward." She said exasperatedly, hating having to take care of him when he was so obviously in the wrong, and disgustingly covered in his own venom from his now two missing limbs. Peter helped shove a stunned into silence Edward into the car, his eyes never leaving Jasper and Bella, still entwined and only concerned with each other, on the gravel driveway of yet another Cullen mansion. That should have been him. Only when Alice fully turned around, did Edward's eyes leave them.
a/n: are longer chapters cool? is third person cool? trying out some new stuff.