He turned his head slightly and I could just see him from the corner of my eye, looking at me. His head turned ever so slightly on an angle, and he raised an eyebrow. The best I could liken it to was when a dog was trying to contemplate something they were confused about.

"What do you mean?"

I cleared my throat and briefly looked back at him with a smile and a shrug of my shoulders before looking at the woods again. "You know. I noticed that you are never in the middle of a crowd. Alice – well she is always in the middle it seems. But you – you hold back. Keep to the sides. When others enter a room, you maneuver. You keep back. Never at your back. Even though your mate is not near you."

A soft chuckle before he responded, "Funny how you noticed that. Not many people do. I do not like people being able to sneak up on me. What made you think of that now anyways?"

I could not help my reaction. I felt the heat in my cheeks and turned my face down to stare at my arms, using my hair as a shield to hide my blush. I knew he would be able to smell the blood flow change and feel my embarrassment, but it was a natural reaction. "Not sure. Just that it was the first time that I could remember that you had put your back to me in any way." I shrugged, still focusing on the railing.

He straightened. "Huh."

I turned to look at him when he didn't follow up with an actual comment. His head was cocked to the side, contemplating me. I stood up as well and shrugged my shoulders. "What?"

He shook his head and straightened. "Oh, sorry. Nothing. I just had not realized I had done that with you till you pointed it out. I am thus, trying to determine why."

My mouth opened in a silent "o", and I nodded slightly. I made my way back inside, as I was starting to feel a bit of a chill in the air. When I was back in the Cullen's living room, I settled on the couch, pulling my knees up to my chest and I hugged a pillow. I patted the seat next to me because Jasper had followed but he had stayed standing in the doorway. I had made the offer; I was not going to drag it out. He could choose to accept or not.

"So, you don't like being snuck up on. Why is that?"

He sighed. "Ah. How kind of my . . . brother to not share my story. If you knew my upbringing, you would not be asking." He came over and finally sat down next to me on the couch. "Well, my early vampire years were different from the others. It was a different time and place. And life was full of death and blood."

"Okay. When were you turned into a vampire? How old are you really?"

He quirked the left side of his mouth up in a partial smile. "Figures that is the part of that sentence you would want further information on. Death and blood didn't seem to bother you but different time, now that had you intrigued." He shook his head slightly while giving a soft chuckle. "I was born in 1844. Or that is my best guess. We were not great at keeping records of dates back then. I was turned in 1863."

My eyes grew wide, and I leaned forward. "Wow. So that makes you about one hundred and sixty years old. Wow! What is it like seeing your present become history? How accurate are history books?"

He chuckled, "Yes. I am the oldest in the house, second only to Carlisle. At times, the ebb and flow of time has been fascinating, watching the world evolve. At others . . ." He paused for a few moments before shaking his head. "And your school history books have it all wrong. Those pieces of trash have so much wrong in them, but it is hard to argue without having a source to back it up. And well, I can't just tell them I was there. Anyways, they are wrong. Most history books are. I sometimes purchase some just to correct the inaccuracies."

We both laughed.

"Well, I was born in the south. Texas to be exact. And I was the youngest major in the confederate army." Jasper's smile deepened and his eyes glistened with pride.

"Wait! Confederate? Like civil war? Umm . . . did you have," I cleared my throat and looked at my hands, avoiding eye contact, not sure I really wanted to know, but curiosity driving my mouth more than my embarrassment. "Did you have slaves?"

He paused for a moment, and I eventually peeked up at him from the corner of my eye. His forehead was scrunched, and head tilted, pondering my question. "No. We paid our workers. But is that the only reason you really think people fought for the confederates?"

I shrugged, "I . . . I don't really know. All I know is what the history books say, and well, as you said, they are trash, so. What is the truth?"

He sighed. "Well, part of that is correct. Many that started it were in fact pushing to keep slavery, free labour and all. But many of us, we simply saw the writing on the wall. Enemy soldiers were not going to stop and ask if we paid the farm workers – they would just storm in and liberate them. I had to protect my family. It was my duty and my honour to do so."

Huh, that I guess makes sense. "I never thought of that before."

After a few moments of silence, I remembered what we had been discussing first. "So, blood and death. I presume that was because of the civil war?"

Jasper sat back and focused his eyes out the window. "No, because of the Southern Wars." Every muscle on his body was taut and his shoulders were stiff. If he had blood in his veins, I was certain that a vein would pop out on his temple. This immediate change from his more careful demeanor surprised me.

I bit the inside of my cheek, trying to remember the reference from what I did know. But that war was drawing a blank. "What were the Southern Wars?"

His voice was tense as he replied. "They were vampire wars. Wars over territory and access to . . . food sources." My eyes widened as I realized he was referencing people. They were fighting over the chance to kill the most amount of people. "Yes, you are guessing correctly. Though your revulsion is duller than it should be. Access to people and space. It took up the lower areas of the United States and all of Mexico. I was turned by Maria. She had the largest vampire army, and I became her major, due to my experience with the civil war, and well, my talents at calming or riling up newborns. But, even with me at her helm, she always had to keep replacing her soldiers."

"Oh, dying in the battles, I guess. Even vampires can be killed."