"Hey, Arizona!" The sound of Mike Newton's scratchy voice carrying throughout the hall was quite possibly the equivalent of nails being dragged across a chalkboard.

Jasper stifled the urge to roll his eyes as the blonde-haired boy ran up to Bella, who looked as though she was ready for the earth to swallow her up whole.

The morning spent in Forks High School transitioned into the early afternoon, and Jasper couldn't help but keep a close watch over Bella's emotions the entire time. Feeling her sadness and anxiety stumbling over one another as the day dragged on. While it was unpleasant, Jasper knew her emotions weren't anything to be alarmed about—not yet anyway—since it was the first day back without Edward by her side. He'd heard the gossiping duo, Jessica Stanley and Lauren Mallory, making comments about Edward's absence in first period and naturally jumped at the opportunity to ask Bella about it. That was when the maelstrom of sadness and confusion began to dance around her until Jasper interfered and gently tampered them down until he no longer felt Bella's need to run away overpower her.

He did his best to focus on his classes until fourth period ended, already listening for Bella's delicate heartbeat or her sweet scent to find her before Jessica or Lauren decided to ambush her as luck would have it. Neither would be stopping Bella in the hall. Instead, it was another nuisance entirely.

Okay, calling the kid a nuisance was unnecessary. Jasper grimaced, chastising himself for feeling...what was it that he felt? Annoyance, sure. Indifference, most definitely. Protective as all hell? No denying that. But there was this odd sensation swirling inside him that he couldn't pinpoint. It felt almost acidic, the feeling radiating through his chest, holding the same weight as the venom that pooled in his mouth whenever he craved blood. Jealousy... that's what it was. Jasper knew the source of his unexpected emotions sprouted the moment Mike decided to go after Bella the first chance he got. Mike was a boy with a very little backbone, not one to stir trouble by trying to make a move on Bella so feeling even an ounce of jealousy was ridiculous. That doesn't mean I like him going near her though...

Jasper had started searching for her in the crowd of students that flooded the cafeteria, but as he made to approach her, Mike seemed to jump at the chance to talk to the girl. Bella turned to face Mike, attempting to hide the apparent grimace on her face as she greeted him, "Hey..."

Mike didn't seem to notice her standoffish mood at all as he continued rambling. Getting a little too close to Jasper's liking. "How's the weather treating ya?" This time, Jasper rolled his eyes as he slowly made his way into the cafeteria. He could hear Emmett's amused chuckle, having listened to Mike's awkward attempt to carry a conversation too from the table. Jasper decided to let the teenagers be, not wanting to crowd Bella with his presence either, and made his way to where his siblings were all sitting.

Bella shrugged, muttering an answer.

"Where's Cullen? Normally he's following you like a puppy." Mike chuckled.

Jasper stiffened, looking over his shoulder just in time to notice the way Bella flinched at the mention of Edward. His golden eyes darkened when he sensed Mike's amusement and hope, "Oh...did you guys fight or something? Trouble in paradise?"

Yes, Mike. You could say that.

Bella's heart was pounding in her chest now, and without realizing it, Jasper made his way over to the two who got in line for their trays.

Bella's ashen face seemed to go paler as she stared at Mike for a beat too long, her lips opening and closing as she struggled to form a sentence. To say—

"Bella. There you are." The two humans turned and looked at Jasper as he walked up to Bella. His smile was warm and meant solely for her as he placed his hand on the small of her back, "Everyone's sitting at the table. Are you getting food?"

There was no mistaking the relief that crashed into him then as Bella looked up and granted the empath a small smile, "Yes I am. Are you waiting in line too?"

It was impossible to ignore the pleading look she gave him as her brows furrowed.

Jasper grinned, "Yeah, I am. Hey, Mike." When his amber eyes flashed to meet Mike's, he instantly felt satisfaction when the boy's apprehension made its way over to him, never quite having the opportunity to meet one of the Hale twins in person. Good, he should be afraid of him.

"Yeah...hey, man." That was all Mike said to the most intimidating member of the Cullens who stood close to Bella. His intent was clear that he was here to stay beside her for the rest of their time during lunch. When Bella and Jasper finished filling their trays, they made their way over to the round table where Emmett and the rest were. Well all except for one which Jasper was sure they were all grateful for at the moment.

"Thanks for that. I don't know how I was going to get through another second of that conversation," Bella murmured as they made their way towards the Cullen's table.

Jasper grinned, "I'm at your service."

Emmett beamed the moment he saw Bella approach and grinned at her, "Finally! Took you long enough. I always forget how slow humans are."

Bella rolled her eyes in response. Her voice was barely above a whisper, but they all heard it, "Sorry, next time I'll make sure you run everyone down so I can get my food faster."

"Smartass," Emmett chucked one of his fries in her direction as she sat down next to Jasper. She narrowly avoided the soggy, sorry excuse for a French fry by leaning close to Jasper's shoulder. Jasper shook his head at his brother as he let out a chuckle.

Alice scooted closer to Bella, taking the other open seat at their table. The girl stiffened when the pixie zeroed in on her face and proceeded to frown, "You look tired."

"Thanks." She answered dryly, making Emmett chuckle. Alice rolled her eyes, ignoring the light dusting of pink on Bella's cheeks that invaded her face because she was the center of attention again.

"There are big blue bags under your eyes. You're going to have to use the facial mask I gave you, and I'll drop some deep moisturizing cream off at your place tonight. After that, you'll be as good as new!"

Bella rolled her eyes but made no move to protest, which was...odd considering she always fought any of the Cullens on the gifts they gave her.

Jasper looked at her; the worry etched across his chiseled face as he leaned towards her without meaning to and knew it was the whole mating bond that he could no longer ignore. It was as though she was a magnet, pulling him closer and closer and Jasper didn't mind it one bit.

Bella turned her head when she noticed he was watching her closely, and the blush on her face could not be missed. When he spoke, his voice was smooth and sweet like honey.

"Are you not sleeping well?"

"I'm okay..."

"Did you have another nightmare?" Bella stiffened, clearly surprised he'd guessed right. She nodded with yet another blush on her cheeks that perplexed him greatly.

Jasper didn't know why he did it since it wasn't even in the forefront of his mind but his hand reached towards the hand on her lap and gave it a comforting squeeze. Bella's eyes never left his, her deep brown irises melting with gratitude and something akin to affection. For him? Bella squeezed his hand in return but didn't say anything. Jasper smiled, knowing she didn't need to when it was clear what Bella felt and it was more than enough for him to understand her.

The sound of a throat being cleared made Jasper sigh as he and Bella broke out of whatever trance they'd been in just now.

Across the table from them, Rosalie's long fingers picked apart the crust of the cold slice of pizza on her tray as she glanced up at Bella—making the latter stiffen when she noticed the beautiful blonde was practically glaring at her.

"You could talk to Carlisle about it. Maybe he'll give you something. Unless you're against taking sleeping medication." Rosalie sighed with a tone of boredom in her voice, but Jasper wasn't easily fooled.

The empath could feel his sister's worry for the girl. But, no matter how uncharacteristic it was of Rosalie who normally detested seeing Bella near her—it was a welcome change, especially now that Bella needed support more than ever. It seemed as though Rosalie understood that too, much to Jasper's relief.

"I'm okay, but thanks." Bella shrugged with a small awkward smile on her lips that did little to convince Jasper, but he let it go, knowing pressuring her into telling him what's keeping her awake at night will only result in Bella pushing him away. So he did the only thing he could do, nod and move on no matter how difficult it was to ignore the feelings that started to awaken inside him. Feelings that were meant for his mate.


Bella hated her gym class—it was a deep-rooted passion type of hate.

She'd known ever since she was a kid that she couldn't participate in sports the same way the rest of her classmates did, at least not without tripping over her own feet and taking someone else down with her. However, watching Lauren Mallory toss ball after ball at the opposing team for their weekly session of dodgeball made Bella less excited to participate.

Currently, she was rubbing the side of her arm after receiving a significantly hard ball thrown her way.

"Oops! Sorry," Jessica giggled across the room when she realized she'd hit her mark. Bella grimaced, knowing she wasn't sorry at all. Yet another person she thought had been her friend proving they were anything but...

Did you really think you were that important?

Bella flinched as she narrowly dodged another ball whirring past her shoulder. She heard Mike curse under his breath when he got a ball to the stomach, but he and the rest of the team laughed. Bella couldn't laugh. Not when she heard Edward's cold cadence caressing her skin, felt his rough hands on her bare arms.

Please...stop. She begged her mind to let her focus on dodging the balls that seemed to gravitate towards her, each one either skimming her arms and legs or missing her altogether. When Coach Clapp called the next team over after Bella's team lost miserably, she hurried to the bleachers on wobbly legs.

Something was wrong, her body felt shaky, and her heart pounded in her chest harder than it had when she ran around the basketball court. Bella shut her eyes, clasping her hands together to stop them from trembling so much.

"God, did anyone tell you, you suck?" Lauren sneered as she walked past Bella with a group of girls who giggled their agreement, getting ready for another round against the next group of players.

You were just a means to an end.

Bella clenched her teeth, willing the memory of him away. He didn't have to repeat those words to her. She knew it was true. All of it was...

Something to pass the time until I grew bored.

It was true—

Smack!

The sound of gasps echoed in the room, and the squeaking of tennis shoes running around came to a screeching halt as all eyes suddenly focused on Bella.

Bella blinked, confused as she looked to a mortified Mike who ran over to her, "Oh my god, are you okay?"

A pressure bloomed across her face then, a warmth swimming over her lips to her nose. Bella barely felt anything, too lost in what would have surely been a panic attack when all she could think about was Edward and his cold hands touching her.

"Okay?" Her voice sounded so hollow when she mirrored Mike's words.

Mike grimaced as Coach Clapp ran over to Bella and kneeled in front of her, "You're bleeding, Bella. Are you okay?"

Bleeding?

Then a trickle of something warm ran down her bottom lip. Bella's fingers gingerly reached up and felt that there was indeed a wet sticky substance coating the tips of them. Pulling her hand back Bella instantly felt light-headed the moment she saw her index and middle fingers painted bright red. And then in the corner of her eye, she saw a bright red ball rolling to a stop at her feet.

"Oh no! I'm so sorry, Bella! I didn't mean to but you were just sitting there!" Lauren called with an air of lament though the way she tried to stifle her laugh behind her hand told Bella she was full of it.

"Shit, you might have broken your nose." Mike hissed and it seemed anytime the blonde kid said anything to her, Bella felt exactly what he was saying to her soon after.

Her whole face hurt—burned actually—and her nose throbbed as more blood ran down her nostrils.

"God." She choked the word out, forcing herself to stand up as Coach Clapp began reprimanding Lauren and the rest of the class. Mike called out to her, to help her go to the nurse's office but Bella didn't listen to him. She practically ran out of the gym, forgetting all about her backpack and clothes as she slammed into the double doors and stumbled into the walkway. She kept a shaky hand on her nose but it was no use when more blood slipped past her fingers. Tears sprang in her eyes as she made her way to the main building, knowing she needed to get somewhere before one of the Cullens smelled her blood and lost it completely. If Jasper caught a whiff of her blood again...she didn't want to think about what it would do to him. She'd already caused enough trouble because of her stupid blood.

Bella was rounding the main building right as a strong hand caught her arm, stopping her before she could trip over her own feet again. Bella looked up and found Emmett and Alice standing against the wall of the building by the entrance, both with strained looks on their faces.

"Oh Bella, I'm sorry I didn't see it coming." Alice apologized, clearly holding her breath as her chest barely moved.

Bella shook her head, keeping her hand pressed against her nose, "You shouldn't...there's a lot of blood."

Emmett grimaced as he wrapped his arms around Bella's shoulders to steady her, "We're fine, kid. Let's go to the nurse's office, hm?"

"I'm sorry, I was trying to get here without any of you..." Bella choked on a sob as she let Emmett lead her into the building. He shushed her apologies with a tender squeeze of her arm, "I'm sorry."

"Don't apologize to us, Bella. It's okay. It's not your fault you got hurt. Besides we're family, we're supposed to be here for you." Emmett said, the strain in his words clear though she didn't know why he sounded that way. It was so rare when Emmett was serious around her.

"We're here for you," Alice said to her right, rubbing her back affectionately. "And we're not going anywhere so you can stop thinking that now. I know you have been, don't try to deny it."

When the tears rolled down her face, the nurse Bella knew as Julia Hammond, quickly assumed Bella had broken her nose. The woman didn't know that the tears were for a whole other reason.

No matter how much she insisted Emmett and Alice go back to class so that they could be as far away from her blood as possible, the two merely shook their heads and stayed with her.

"Well it's not broken, but I would recommend seeing a doctor so he can scan your nose and make sure there's no fracture or ruptured vessel," Nurse Hammond said as she patted Bella's shoulder.

"Oh, she'll go to the doctor, alright," Emmett murmured with a knowing smirk on his lips that made Bella roll her eyes. Of course, they were going to drag her to Carlisle as soon as this was over with so that yet another Cullen could fret over her.

As last period began, Emmett and Alice had no choice but to excuse themselves when Nurse Hammond wouldn't stop pestering them to return to class. She'd been kind enough to let Bella stay, however, commenting on knowing how embarrassed it would make Bella feel if she had to walk around school with an icepack on her nose the entire time.

It wasn't long before Rosalie appeared in the doorway, though with Bella's backpack and jacket in her hands. The scowl on the blonde vampire's face instantly made Bella straighten, surprised to see the one Cullen she would never have expected to show up with her belongings. Before she could open her mouth to apologize for inconveniencing Rosalie, knowing she must be cursing the human ten ways to Sunday, Rosalie walked into the room and placed her backpack on the bed, "Here's your stuff. Your clothes are in there too."

"T-thanks, Rosalie."

Rosalie's eyes darkened as she noticed Bella's swollen nose and the bloody icepack in her hand. She glanced to Nurse Hammond, who was typing away on her computer at the desk, before turning her attention back to Bella. When Rosalie spoke, it was low and quick, but it made Bella's heart skip, "Lauren won't be bothering you again."

Bella nearly dropped the icepack, "What? Did you..."

Rosalie grinned, knowing exactly where the girl's mind went to as she seemed to pale, "I don't make it a point to snack on irritating teenagers, don't worry, she's still in one piece. Well, her narcissism isn't, but that's for the best. I had a talk with her after class."

Oh...Bella couldn't find the words to speak. Too taken back and emotional to think about what this meant when Rosalie, of all people, defended her against Lauren Mallory.

"Hurry up and get dressed. You're coming over to our place so Carlisle can take a look at that. Oh, and Jasper's driving you." Bella didn't miss the way Rosalie rolled her eyes at that last part, but she could have sworn she saw the blonde's full lips quirk up slightly as though Rosalie was more amused than she let on.


Thanks for reading x

Life goes on without Edward, not only for Bella but also for the rest of the Cullens. I liked writing about Bella's relationship with the others a lot.

Next chapter, we'll get Jasper's reaction to the events that unfolded in school!