A/N: Trigger Warning: This chapter contains a non-consensual kiss. Which, regardless of how SM tried to sell it, is in fact sexual assault.

Tsunamis

Jasper was doing some reading on his laptop, grateful the castle had internet, when Bella started getting restless. Even surrounding her with calm wasn't helping, and it wasn't long before she stumbled out of bed and ran to the bathroom. When he heard her start throwing up, he hopped up and flashed to the kitchen to start making her a cup of tea, then quickly got her a glass of water and dampened a paper towel.

He knocked on the half-open bathroom door and when Bella moaned a little, he walked in.

She was kneeling in front of the toilet with her hair falling in her face, so Jasper grabbed the hair tie off the vanity and carefully braided it back, his heart breaking a little to see his mate suffering.

"Thank you. Where'd you learn how to do that?" she whispered as she focused on sending him her gratitude.

Jasper smiled at the memory of Rose throwing her hairbrush across the room and making a hole in the wall when she couldn't master a perfect french braid. "Rosalie, actually," he said as he set the glass of water beside her and started gently dabbing her forehead and the back of her neck with the damp paper towel.

"Mmm," Bella hummed, then slowly lifted her head. "I think I'm done now."

"Let's get you back in bed. I've got a cup of tea for you," he said softly, then carefully picked her up. Once she was settled, he grabbed the tea and brought it to her. "Careful, it's hot."

"Thank you. Again," she smiled. "How do you know how to take care of a sick person?" she asked curiously. "You haven't been around any kind of sickness since… what, 1862? '63?"

"1863," he smiled as he got settled beside her. "I've been doing some reading for the past hour."

"Pregnancy reading?" she laughed.

Jasper nodded. Because he knew absolutely zero about pregnancy, he figured he should at least get the basics down so he did some online research. Besides, he had every intention of kicking her ass on their pregnancy quiz. "Did you know the little one is the size of a pea right now?"

"That's an awful lot of throwing up for something that small," she smiled, then reached over to take his hand. "Thank you, Jasper. Thank you for caring enough that you want to learn," she said softly, tears stinging her eyes. She'd felt so alone the last six months, all of her familiar guideposts gone.

Jasper gave her a soft smile. "I know this is new for us, but that's how it works. We're there for each other, supporting each other however we need."

"I feel like you're on the losing end here," she laughed, her throat tight with emotion.

"No, I've needed my fair share of help through the years," he assured her. "You know that. You know the whole period after your birthday was especially bad, how lost I felt when I left," he reminded her.

It was true. The anger and disappointment from Carlisle, Edward, and Alice left him feeling like all of the ties he'd become so used to since 1950 had been completely severed. Add in the fact that he divorced his wife of over half a century and that there seemed to be something underpinning everything that Jasper didn't understand… well, he wasn't in a great place when he got to Peter and Charlotte's. He felt broken and rudderless. It took him a while to get his feet back under him and Bella knew that. They'd talked about it both in emails and over the phone.

Bella was one of the reasons he was able to get back up. She was just as much a part of his support system as Peter and Charlotte were.

Bella gave his hand a gentle squeeze. "Well, we're new to this but at least we're new to this together."

Jasper nodded. "Together," he said softly.

The two sat in comfortable silence as Bella finished her tea, just holding hands and enjoying what peace they had before real life came calling again.

An hour later, Bella and Jasper were walking the streets of Volterra together. Bella was feeling up to a light breakfast and Jasper wanted to get out of the castle to remove the temptation of hunting down Edward and Alice and removing vital body parts.

Eventually they found a quiet cafe and sat at a table in the back, Jasper's back to the wall and facing the door. He had no intention of letting anyone getting the drop on them. He didn't trust a damn person in this city, though he was slightly - very slightly - more favorably disposed towards Aro, Marcus, and Chelsea.

After Bella ordered her meal, and Jasper ordered some coffee and toast so Bella wasn't the only one with food in front of her, her nerves edged up and she started fiddling with her silverware. Jasper watched her with a bemused smile for a couple minutes before leaning forward and putting his hand on top of hers to still it.

"I'm still the exact same me I was before yesterday, Bella," he said gently. "In all those many months of emailing and phone calls, there wasn't a single thing we couldn't talk about. That hasn't changed. That will never change," he assured her.

Bella let out a deep breath. "I know," she nodded. "I just… Up until twenty-four hours ago I was pretty much all alone in the world."

Jasper looked at her a moment. "That was your choice, sweetheart. I never stopped writing, never stopped calling," he said softly. "I know you said you needed to get out, but Bella, whatever happened to hurt you so much… it wasn't me."

"I know that, too," she whispered, tears stinging her eyes. After a few long moments, she looked up at him. "My dad was killed. In June."

Jasper nodded and squeezed her hand. "I know," he said. When he felt her surprise, he gave her a small smile. "When you went silent I got worried. I went to Forks in July. Talked to Angela briefly."

"Ah," Bella nodded, but didn't say more.

"Do you want to tell me what happened?" he asked. "I smelled the wolves towards La Push…" he trailed off when he felt a hot flare of anger and betrayal from her. "Did Jacob bother you again?"

After the Cullens left, and Jasper and Bella started their initial communication, it was the two of them trying to make sense of things that kept Bella from falling apart. Jasper was still with the family, hoping he could work out whatever the fuck was going on that made all of their lives explode so dramatically. Bella was doing a lot of thinking of her own, looking back at her relationship with Edward and friendship with Alice through clearer - and slightly more suspicious - eyes.

Jacob Black had started turning up once he heard the Cullens were gone and, for a while, Bella thought she'd found a good friend in the younger boy. Unfortunately, it wasn't meant to be. Jacob wanted Bella to be his own version of 'perfect' just as Edward had, even if their definitions of perfect were radically different. Bella repeatedly told him that she didn't see him as anything more than a friend, but Jacob was just as stubborn as Edward.

And, Bella had to admit, herself. She was every inch as stubborn as both her ex-boyfriend and Jacob.

When Bella realized Jacob wasn't paying any attention to her words, she stopped hanging out with him. He made a nuisance of himself and then had Charlie Swan start harassing Bella in his defense, trying to get her to come see him. Bella wasn't comfortable telling her dad that Jacob was too pushy and didn't listen to her, so eventually he wore her down and Bella made a trip to La Push.

It was a day that ended up changing all of their lives, ultimately leading to Charlie Swan's death and Bella's abrupt departure from Washington.

When Jacob answered the Black's door, Bella had let out a shocked gasp. He had grown at least a foot and was far more muscular than he'd been last she'd seen him. He'd also cut off most of his hair. He was virtually unrecognizable from the boy she knew.

"Bella!" he said with a smile and immediately pulled her into a hug, which Bella allowed but didn't reciprocate. "I knew you'd come to your senses," he laughed.

Bella tried to shove him off her but he didn't budge. "Get off me, Jake," she snapped. "I didn't 'come to my senses' so much as you got my dad to fight your battles for you. I'm here to make him happy, not you, and if you can't keep your hands to yourself I'll be more than happy to leave."

Jacob let her go with a laugh as if she'd just made a joke. It reminded her a little too much of the way Edward would blow her off and tell her she was being ridiculous when she asked him questions or offered an opinion that differed from his own.

"Come on, let's take a walk," he said as he stepped outside and closed the door behind him.

Bella didn't feel up to an argument, so she simply nodded and then followed him down to First Beach. The two of them walked along in an awkward silence for a few minutes. Well, awkward to Bella. Jacob seemed perfectly content.

"You hit a pretty good growth spurt since I saw you last," she said eventually when the silence started making her uncomfortable.

Jacob shrugged. "A lot of things have changed recently."

When he left it there, Bella sighed and shook her head. She had no intention of trying to draw him into a conversation. He was the one who wanted her to come down in the first place.

When Bella didn't say any more for a few minutes, Jacob huffed. "You're not going to ask?"

Bella looked at him and rolled her eyes. "You have a mouth, Jacob. If you want me to know what's happening, you can use it."

Jacob looked at her for a long moment and then turned to look out over the water. After a few minutes, he started talking and Bella just stared at him in shock as he told her that the Quileute legends were not, in fact, just scary stories to tell around the bonfire. They were very real. And Jacob was now one of those very real wolves.

"So… you turn into a giant wolf? To protect the tribe from vampires?" she asked incredulously after Jacob stopped talking. At his silent nod, her nose scrunched up a little. "But there are no vampires around."

"There's one," he answered, but didn't offer more.

Again, Bella rolled her eyes. "If there's only one of them and a bunch of you, why haven't you gotten him or her yet?"

Jacob shrugged. "She's slippery," was all the answer he gave.

"Well, you already know that Jasper left me his number in case I ever need help. I can ask him to give you a hand next time I talk to him," she offered.

And boy, was that the wrong thing to say. Bella thought Jacob knew she was in regular communication with Jasper, but apparently she was wrong. Jacob did know he'd left his contact information, but it looked like he assumed Bella had never used it.

Jacob rounded on her and grabbed her arms, holding them too tight and shaking her. "You still talk to the leeches?" he snarled angrily. "Why? Why would you want one of those filthy bloodsuckers in your life? They left. Good fucking riddance. They never should have been here in the first place."

"Let me go, Jake!" Bella said through chattering teeth from how hard he was shaking her. Jacob stopped but didn't release her arms, and he looked at her with a glint in his eye that made her uncomfortable. "Jake, let me—"

Bella was cut off by Jacob suddenly slamming his lips on hers. Bella panicked and tried to shove him off her, but he was too strong. After a few more seconds, her panic turned to anger and she punched him in the face.

Which did make him let her go, but also made her break her hand.

"Motherfucker!" she shouted. When Jacob laughed and took a step towards her, she bent down and picked up a large rock with her good hand. "Touch me again and it'll be this rock slamming into your face instead of my fist," she said as she backed away from him. "Stay away from me, Jacob Black. And stay away from my father. I never want to see your face again."

When Bella told her dad the reason she had been avoiding Jacob and what had happened at the beach, he was pissed. Like really pissed. At Jacob, absolutely, but also a little at Bella.

"Why didn't you tell me how he was acting, Bells? I never would have tried to get you to spend time with him if I knew he was pushing you to be in a relationship with him when you'd already told him no," he said as he gently put a bag of frozen peas on her hand, which thankfully turned out not to be broken. Even if it did hurt like hell.

"I don't know, I just… I know how close you and Billy are and I didn't want to cause problems," she shrugged.

Charlie rolled his eyes and pulled her into a hug. "You're my daughter, Bella. You will always mean more to me than anyone else. Billy and Jacob Black included."

Bella knew her dad was right. She'd let it go because she didn't want to make waves and wanted to spare Charlie, Billy, and even Jacob any trouble. Unfortunately, her stubborn desire to not make waves ended up causing huge tsunamis down the road that none of them could have seen coming.

Charlie Swan left the house that night and made his own visit to La Push. After telling Jacob's father Billy in no uncertain terms that his son was not welcome in the Swan's home again, he handcuffed Jacob and stuck him in a jail cell at the Forks police station for sexual assault. Bella had already told him she didn't want to press charges, so Charlie released him in the morning.

"If I ever see your face on my property again, I'll shoot first before asking a single question. Do you understand me, Jacob?"

Jacob gritted his teeth and turned on his heel, stalking out of the building as if he was the victim in that scenario.

The decades-long bond between the Swans and the Blacks was permanently severed that day.

Bella blinked and looked at Jasper sitting across from her in a cafe in Italy. She'd told him about the kiss but not about the vampire. The kiss felt like the more important thing that happened that day and she'd assumed the vamp was just a random nomad. She didn't want Jasper to feel like he had to come rescue her when he was already dealing with his own shit.

She'd spent a lot of time the previous six months trying not to think about how different her life would have been if she'd just told him. That there was a very good chance that her dad would still be alive. But she hadn't wanted to make waves.

"Victoria was trying to get to me, I guess. All through the end of winter and into the spring," she said quietly. "Jacob, and the rest of the pack actually, knew I had your number in case I needed help," she said quietly. "But they never told me she was hanging around. Jacob was furious my dad put him in jail for a night, and he and Sam wouldn't consider asking a 'bloodsucker' for help. The others were given an Alpha command not to tell me. They can't fight against that. So when Victoria turned up the day after I graduated, it was the first I knew she wanted me dead."

Jasper's jaw was clenched in an effort to control his anger. He took a few deep breaths before he felt confident his voice would come out calmly instead of in the growl that was trying to work its way up his throat.

"What happened?" he asked softly, brushing his thumb across the back of her hand.

"Um… We were in the backyard and she walked out of the trees. My dad didn't understand, obviously. He tried to defend me," Bella whispered, tears stinging her eyes. "Victoria grabbed him and…" her breath hitched and caught in her throat but she pressed forward. "She was similar to James in that she liked the sound of her own voice. She was standing with her back to the trees, facing me, holding my dad in front of her with her hand around his throat, telling me her life had been ruined because of me. Jacob… I didn't know it was him at the time, but… he came flying out of the woods behind her. I yelled for him to stop but he ignored me. He hit… he hit Victoria from behind and they both fell… fell on top of my dad. His neck was broken from the… the force," she stammered. "They fought and Jacob… he didn't even notice my dad was on the ground. Another wolf, Paul, came flying in and… and they managed to kill Victoria but of course… of course it was too late for my dad."

Bella tried to take a deep breath and she quickly blinked away her tears, but they were just as quickly replaced by new ones. Her throat felt too tight to get any air in. Just as she felt herself starting to panic, Jasper was kneeling beside her chair, holding both of her hands, and he placed one over his heart.

"With me, sweetheart. In… Out…" he whispered as he slowly took a breath, letting Bella feel his chest move, shoving away all his fury at those fuckin' wolves. "In… Out. Good."

Bella followed his lead and managed a shuddery breath, then another, then another.

"Good," he said softly. "Do you want me to take some of the panic? I won't do anything else, I won't send you anything. But I can take the panic if you want."

Bella shook her head. She'd been shoving the memory away for six months, refusing to think about it. If she had any hope of healing, she had to face it. And the first step of doing that was learning to breathe through it.

"Okay," Jasper nodded his understanding. "We'll just sit here and breathe then. As long as you need," he said softly, taking slow breaths to act as a guide for his mate to follow.

Because Jasper was so focused on helping his mate navigate her way back onto dry land, he didn't notice the two vampires standing in the street near the front of the cafe.

After only a few minutes, Bella nodded and her face went from bone-white to her more typical pale hue. "Thanks," she whispered.

"That's what I'm here for," Jasper said with a soft smile.

Bella snorted a laugh as she wiped her eyes. "Damsels in distress and fledgling panic attacks?"

"Yes, precisely," he laughed. "I believe that's why I was created. I'm an emotional-support vamp."

Just then the waitress brought their breakfast over, so Jasper looked at his mate and tipped his head towards his chair. When she smiled and nodded, he got up and retook his seat.

After a few bites of breakfast, Bella looked up just in time to see Jasper take a very hesitant sip of coffee. Which meant she was just in time to see him scrunch his face up the way babies do when their parents think they're hilarious and give them lemons to taste. Fortunately she wasn't mid-swallow or else she would've choked when she started laughing.

"Why are you laughing? I think something died in that mug," Jasper said, trying to fight his own laughter. "And I swallowed it, which means something dead is inside of me. It's not funny, Bella," he laughed, the sound of hers contagious.

"You're already dead, Jas," she said, then laughed even harder at the very unamused deadpan look on his face. "Technically, it's true," she shrugged. "You may be walking, talking, and thinking, but technically… you're dead. Have been for ages."

She made the mistake of glancing down at her fruit so she missed the chunk of toast headed for her face until it hit her dead center on her forehead. She very, very slowly raised her eyes to meet his, making every effort to tamp down her laughter.

"Did you just throw food at my face, Jasper Whitlock?"

"Might've," he said with a casual shrug, then easily caught the strawberry she tried to sneakily chuck at him. "That's wasting food, Bella," he mock-scolded. "I wasn't gonna eat my toast, what with me being dead and all."

Bella laughed. "You said it, not me."

The rest of breakfast was spent with Bella making every attempt to eat her fruit and yogurt while dodging the occasional chunk of toast. She even managed to catch two in her mouth when she saw them coming in time, which made her smile.

Bella: three. The world… well, still six-hundred and forty-two. That was alright, though. She was catching up.

Charlotte looked at Peter and saw all the rage and heartache on his face that she knew was a perfect mirror of hers. She tugged on his hand to move him away from the cafe. She didn't want her brother picking up on their turbulent emotions.

Once they were well away, she turned and wrapped her arms around her mate. "Do you know who she was talking about?" Charlotte asked quietly.

Peter had to work at unclenching his jaw enough to get the words out. "The one Jasper told us about. Who kissed Bella without her consent then laughed when she punched him. Jacob Black."

Charlotte nodded. Once this shit in Volterra was taken care of and they got Bella settled in Montana, she'd be paying young Mr. Black a visit.

A/N: I'm working here with the fact that Bella was shocked and had a freak-out when Jacob told her about 'the redhead' in canon New Moon, thus meaning that it hadn't occurred to her that Victoria was after her. So if Jacob never told her that piece… well, Bella would remain unaware.

Please suspend all disbelief, lol. And maybe pretend traveling times were realistic, too:)

Thanks for reading and reviewing! ~ M. x