24

Bella awoke the next morning and stretched across the bed, expecting to feel Jasper asleep next to her, but when she felt nothing but cold sheets, she sat up and looked around. She was alone. Well, alone in the bedroom, but not really alone. Jasper had proven that he had no intention of letting her go, so once she'd stopped sobbing, stopped trying to convince herself that she'd made a mistake by leaving her mother inside Bayview, he loaded her into the front seat of Ben's car and drove straight to Baker Lake.

He assured her that everyone would finish packing up the house and deliver her belongings the following day, and while she felt guilty for relying on them to take care of everything, she was grateful, too. They loved her. Just not as much as Jasper, he joked.

Slipping out of bed, she grabbed his shirt off the floor and pulled it over her head and put her panties on before walking out of the bedroom on the right side of the hallway and down stairs in search of her boyfriend. She found him seated out on the back deck with his laptop open and a stack of invoices next to him. They'd arrived at Baker Lake just before ten the night before, and headed straight to bed. Before she changed her mind for the hundredth time.

He had just picked up his cup of coffee when he looked back and found her staring at him, earning her his smile. "Hey."

"Hey," she whispered. "What are you doing out here?"

"Catching up on work," he admitted, shifting his laptop so it held the stack of invoices down before he stood. "How about some coffee?"

"Please."

Jasper kissed her before slipping into the house. She walked over and settled at the table, pulling her legs up inside his shirt. "Did you want anything to eat? You didn't eat any dinner last night."

"I'm not that hungry."

He placed the coffee on the table before he knelt next to her. "Are you okay?"

She shook her head. "I can still hear her screaming how much she hates me. I know it wasn't the real her, but that doesn't make it hurt any less."

"I wish I could make it better, Cricket."

"Me too." She gave him a weak smile before looking at the invoices under his laptop. "Catching up on work?"

He cringed. "I hadn't planned on taking so much time off, and need to get these paid before they start screaming."

Bella frowned. "I'm sorry."

"Don't be sorry. I was much happier with you than I would have been here, dealing with these. Dad tried to take care of what he could, but my system is setup differently than his. Better, but he doesn't know it and he get flustered, and well, it's just better that I take care of it sooner rather than later."

Bella nodded. "Can I help?"

Jasper shook his head. "I'm almost done. Why don't you take a shower and get dressed, and we'll run into town. Maybe eat breakfast at the diner and then grab some groceries."

"You know, we haven't discussed how this is going to work, you know, financially."

He raised an eyebrow before moving back into his chair. "And what is there to discuss?"

She stared at him.

"The house is already paid for. The bills are . . . inexpensive, and I've already been paying them on my own, so no need to change that now."

"That is not going to work."

"Why not?"

"Because I can't . . . No, I won't be one of those women who lets their man pay for everything. I need to find a job. I have the money Mr. and Mrs. Cope gave me, but that won't last long."

"You should save it for medical school."

Bella scoffed. "I probably won't even get in."

This time, Jasper scoffed. "Whatever, babe. You are a shoe in. I, on the other hand, probably ruined the only chance I ever had."

Bella frowned.

"Don't, Cricket."

"Don't what?" she asked.

"Don't feel sorry for me. I . . . Look, I made a lot of mistakes, and I am hoping that I get the chance to fix them, but if I don't then . . . then I don't. As long as I have you, I'm happy."

She smiled. "I want to be an equal partner here, Jay. It's important to me. I've spent a long time being independent, and . . . Well, I can't go back to being dependent on anyone again."

"Cricket," Jasper groaned. "Fine, how about you get a job, if you insist, but every penny you make goes to what you want to spend it on, i.e. medical school, perhaps."

"And if I don't get in?"

"You will."

"But if I don't."

"But you will," he said again.

"But what if I do not get into medical school?"

Jasper rolled his eyes.

"It's been over three years, Jay! I might be stupid now."

He laughed. "You are anything but stupid, Cricket."

"So you say, but I did lose three years with you. A smart girl would never have let you go."

"Well, when you put it like that," he teased, turning in his seat and placing his hands on her knees. "You are brilliant and beautiful. You are going to get into medical school and Phil Dwyer is going to give you the scholarship back, Cricket. But if by some crazy, bizarre reason neither of those things come true, you and I will figure it out. Together."

She smiled. "I like the sound of together."

"Me too, sweetheart." Jasper leaned forward and kissed her. "Now, go shower and get dressed. Then, we will go buy groceries."

Bella nodded, stood, and walked to the backdoor before turning and looking at him. "Do you think she's okay?"

Jasper frowned. "Why don't you call Heidi and ask?"

"Yeah, maybe."

Bella headed upstairs and closed the door to their bedroom. Grabbing her phone off the nightstand, she bit the inside of her lip before scrolling through her contacts and stopping on Heidi's number. However, before she could make the decision on whether or not to call, her phone started ringing, startling her and causing her to drop the phone onto the floor. With a muttered, "fuck," she picked it up and turned it over, finding Peter's name scrolling across her screen.

She clicked the green talk option and brought the phone to her ear before saying, "Hello, Peter."

"Good morning, Bella. How are you?"

"Been better," she confessed.

He sighed. "Yes, I suppose that's true. I'm sorry yesterday didn't go better. I had hoped that I had prepared her for Bayview, but I guess I hadn't."

"Why did you take it upon yourself to prepare my mother for Bayview, Peter? Why are you so invested in her care?"

Again, she heard him sigh. "Because you need a father to step in and help, and since yours is unfortunately not available, I thought . . . Well, I thought I would help. If I overstepped, I'm sorry. I . . ."

"You didn't," she whispered, shifted backward on the bed and folding her legs in front of her. "And I am thankful. I just . . . I'm not used to so many people helping me, it's hard to trust that there isn't ulterior motive."

"I do have an ulterior motive."

"You . . . you do?"

He laughed. "Of course I do." He took a deep breath. "I want my son to be happy. Both of them, Bella. Ben has Alice, and she's everything he needs in a partner. She pushes him out of his comfort zone, but gives him the space to figure his way on his own. Jasper, though, needs someone who is going to let him love her, let him take care of her. He's a nurturer, always has been, and you need someone to take care of you for a while. I'm not saying you have to be dependent on him, don't get me wrong," he was quick to add. "But you need to learn to rely on your family, and, honey, we are here and willing to step in and help with your mother."

"For how long, though? Ben and Alice, Kate and Ang, Edward and Garrett, Em and Rose, Carlisle, and Esme, Peter, they're about to start the next phase in their career. We both know as interns they are going to have to work like a hundred hours a week just to stay competitive."

"That's true," he admitted. "But I guess it's a good thing I don't have anything else to do right now."

"Peter, you have a company to run."

"Nah, I pay people pretty well to do that for me."

"Peter, you can't . . ."

"Don't tell me what I can or cannot do, young lady."

"Then don't be a stubborn old man," she quipped, ignoring the teasing tone in his voice. "My mother is not your responsibility, Peter."

"She's not yours, either." He paused. "Renee and I talked a lot while I was at the hospital with her, dear. While she wasn't the same woman I'd met on previous occasions, Bella, there is a part of her that only wants the best for you. She's scared, trapped in a body she doesn't understand. Logically, she knows that her behavior is . . . unreasonable, but she has lost the ability to control her impulses, hence her lashing out at you. Let me take care of her, for a little while at least."

"Peter," Bella whimpered.

"I need to do this, Bella. For you, and for Jasper. Please, just . . . let me do this."

"Promise to call if you need help with her."

"Nope."

"Peter!"

"I'm sorry, but I will not be calling you. She's got a team of nurses and doctors who know how to care for her. I'm just going to be around to help ease her transition and keep her company during the day. As much as I can, at least. Bella, dear, she will never be able to acclimate to Bayview if you are always right here."

"I know."

"Do you?"

"Of course, I do. I just . . . I miss her, Peter. I miss her so much."

"Give her some time to adjust."

"You're an alright guy, Peter."

"I've always thought so," he laughed. "I'd better let you go. Just wanted to check on you, and my son is ignoring my calls at the moment."

"He needs you, too. You know that don't you?"

"I do, but right now, he needs you more, and I'm willing to stop pushing so hard if you promise to take care of him for me."

"I promise."

"I'll check in with you later, dear. Please get some rest."

"I'll try, and thank you, Peter."

"You're welcome."

—WL—

Forty-five minutes later, Bella had managed to shower and dress in a pair of jeans with rips in the knees and her favorite UW T-shirt. She'd brushed her teeth and pulled her hair into a ponytail before slipping on a pair of Hey Dudes and hurrying downstairs, finding Jasper in the kitchen. He was washing the coffee pot, his cup, and the dishes he had used to make them breakfast, which now sat on two plates on the small island. She leaned against the doorframe, watching him. How in the world had she gone three years without him?

"Are you just going to stand there and stare at me?"

"I might," she said, and when he looked back at her, his eyes shifted to the T-shirt and frowned. It was the same shirt she had worn the night. "I haven't worn it since that night."

"Why not?" he asked.

"Because every time I looked at it, I was reminded of one of the worst nights of my life."

"Why not get rid of it?"

"Because you bought it for me. Don't you remember?"

Jasper smiled. "Of course I do. We were working in the student center on our group project. You know the one everyone else bailed out on half the time."

Bella laughed. "I seem to recall it."

"You and I were in the middle of dictating Edward's notes, when that asshole came over and started flirting with you."

"He was not flirting with me!" Bella snickered. "He was flirting with you, Jay!"

"No way, Cricket."

"He was practically rubbing his dick on your arm."

Jasper gagged. "Gross!"

Bella laughed. "Why do you think I told him to get lost? I had to stake my claim in you anyway I could. I just wasn't expecting you to scream when I grabbed your ass and throw your coke all over me."

"To be fair, you'd never touched me, Cricket, and I thought I was going to explode just from the feel of your hand on my ass."

Bella laughed. "He was trying to take my man."

"Your man, huh? You already thought of me as your man then?"

"You've been mine since that first day of class, Jay. It just took me a while to believe that someone like you would even look at someone like me."

"There you go again, Cricket, not seeing yourself clearly."

Bella rolled her eyes. "Whatever you say, lover."

Jasper narrowed his eyes at her before he tossed the dishtowel onto the counter and walked over to her, placing his hands on her hips and pulling her flush against him.

Bella moaned.

"You're the most beautiful woman I've ever seen, Cricket, and you always have been."

"To you, maybe. But to everyone else . . ."

"They don't matter, do they?"

"No," she admitted. "Only you matter, Jay. It's only ever been you."

Jasper shifted his eyes down to her lips moments before he kissed her — again.

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