The ride to the Cullen's home had been especially stressful this time around since Jasper barely spoke a word to her after checking in on her the moment his class ended.

"Are you alright, darlin'?" Had been all he asked as Jasper helped her get into the truck on the passenger side, clearly unhappy with the way the day unfolded.

Bella didn't know how or when but Jasper had taken her keys and started the engine before she could blink. When she tried to apologize to him for the trouble, however, the empath had none of it.

By the time they were finally on the road on their way to his house, Jasper explained, "I wanted to go to you the moment I felt your emotions. I knew something had happened and I was about to walk out of class when Alice told me what happened. Told me about the blood."

Bella bit her lip and immediately regretted it since her split lip had reopened sometime when she received the ball to the face, courtesy of Lauren Mallory, "I didn't want any of you to be bothered by it."

"I know. That's what Alice said you'd say. It's why I let her convince me to wait until the nurse checked you up."

"I'm glad you waited...it wouldn't have been fair to you to sit through that. I'm surprised Emmett and Alice did."

"That wasn't why I stayed away, Bella." He said, surprising her. His hands began closing over the steering wheel in a tight grip, his knuckles turning white, "I stayed away because I didn't want to lose it the moment I saw you and went after that...girl for hurting you."

Bella's heart swelled as she felt the undeniable protectiveness Jasper shared her way—what he had felt for her in this moment.

"It was an accident," Bella murmured in an attempt to make him overlook this as nothing more than what it was.

Jasper scoffed, flashing his narrowed black eyes her way, "We both know what Lauren did wasn't an accident."

"It's not like she'll be a problem anymore. Rosalie apparently talked to her..."

"Yeah, now that I was there to witness." Jasper gave her a mirthless grin that sent nerves coiling in her stomach. Sensing her concern, not for Lauren, but for the Cullens getting involved with other humans Jasper shook his head, "Rose didn't hurt her or threaten to suck the life out of her, don't you worry about that."

"So what did happen?" There was no denying Bella was more than a little curious now.

Jasper seemed to mull over what he would say to her but as he contemplated it, they were pulling into the long narrowed driveway that led to the Cullen's three-story glass house nestled deep in the forest.

Her conversation with Jasper had been forgotten when she saw the angry look on Carlisle's face the moment they walked into the house and he saw Bella's swollen nose. Seeing the kindest member of the family upset made the girl want to turn on her heel and run out of the house. If it hadn't been for Jasper's arm wrapped around her shoulders, that was exactly what she would have done.

Now, as Bella followed Carlisle into his office with Jasper beside her, she had no choice but to sit still and face the music. Carlisle inspected her nose carefully. Her face was three shades of pink as he prodded her nose and lips with his cold hands as he took to disinfect the cuts. This is so embarrassing.

When Bella winced he sighed, "I'm sorry, Bella. I'm trying to be as gentle as I can."

"It's okay." She shook her head as Jasper grimaced from his seat on the couch across from her when Carlisle wiped away the dried blood with a cotton swab.

Carlisle tutted his disapproval, "The blood was most likely coming from a cut inside but it looks like it's stopped bleeding now. But I want to do a quick examination to make sure I don't miss anything in case something is broken." Once he confirmed Bella hadn't broke any of the delicate bones in her nose, he moved onto checking her lip, "Do you want to talk about what happened today?"

"Not really..." she instantly felt bad for her curt answer, seeing the sadness in Carlisle's eyes shining in hers almost instantly. He cares about you, he's not trying to judge or belittle you. If anything Carlisle is always kind and supportive of Bella, no matter how messed up things have gotten in the past few days. Bella relaxed her tense shoulders a bit and took a deep breath, "Lauren Mallory doesn't like me very much."

Jasper's scoff made both of them look to the empath who muttered, "Understatement of the year."

"Why not? You're a wonderful friend." The pure confusion expressed in Carlisle's tone made her want to smile.

"She thinks I'm a stupid klutz who'll never be anything more than the dirt underneath her shoe." Bella shrugged clearly resigned to accept that Lauren and Jessica would never have become her friends—no matter how much they'd insisted when she first moved to Forks. "She also hates that I'm around you guys which isn't surprising since I'm...me."

A low growl seemed to rumble through Carlisle's chest as he placed a butterfly bandaid over her split lip. Jasper shook his head, his unspoken words clear in his frown. Bella didn't read into it too much.

"You're a part of our family because you're you, Isabella. There is absolutely nothing wrong with that. If that girl is too jealous, too bitter to see all that's wonderful about you, then she is the one who isn't worth being the dirt under your shoe."

Bella was stunned. She'd never heard Carlisle insinuate that someone was unworthy or less than anyone in their family. She honestly couldn't think of one instance where Carlisle had been truly enraged or frightening.

Rosalie and Jasper? Well they were intimidating in their own right with their cold glares and feral instincts to attack their enemies. Emmett was also frightening with his towering stature and bulging muscles as soon as he laughed however, it was a whole other story.

Edward had been frightening but only that day in the forest when—no, best not to think of it now.

Apart from them however, Esme, Carlisle and Alice had been the only ones in the family who seemed...human. Too good and mundane to ever frighten Bella.

The ferocity shining in Carlisle's eyes awakened an ache in her chest and she instantly felt guilty for being the cause of all this turmoil.

"I'm sorry," she swallowed down the tears in her throat, "This has been too much."

Carlisle curled his hand under her chin, "No sweetheart."

He sighed with a tender smile on his lips. Gone was his anger—replaced with empathy that she couldn't bring herself to look at for too long out of fear of breaking down completely in front of him.

"Do you want to talk about it?"

Bella frowned as she motioned to her bruised nose, "You know what happened."

Jasper remained silent the entire time but the guilt she'd felt in her belly was lessening significantly with his help. She bit her lip as she glanced at him before Carlisle's shook his head, "Try to avoid doing that okay? It'll never heal properly if your lip keeps splitting open." She listened to his request and made the effort to stop that bad habit of hers. When Carlisle spoke again, in a gentle whisper, she stiffened, "I meant did you want to talk about what happened with Edward?"

Bella gradually felt herself slipping back into that numb state again—her mind and heart at war inside her body.

Carlisle and Jasper noticed it too, shooting each other quick meaningful glances.

Balla's shoulders slumped forward as she stared at the beautifully embroidered carpet laying on top of the hardwood floor.

"I should have listened," She murmured, her voice hoarse with the tears that sprang up again, "he didn't want me anymore. It was clear as day. I was...a means to an end. And yet, I couldn't let him go. I thought..." she swallowed thickly. Her palms pressed into her eyes but it was no use, the tears slipped past them in hot wet streaks over her cheeks. "I thought that maybe he could still love me if I fought harder. And then he changed so quickly right in front of me. Like a switch."

Bella dropped her hands, felt his fingers ghost over her skin again. His knee pressing into her thighs. His tongue pushing past her lips in a forceful kiss.

"If I hadn't pushed him maybe he would have just walked away and I wouldn't be left with this memory of him."

Carlisle kneeled in front of her, his hands resting on her knees with an unspoken affection for the girl he saw as his daughter. His attentiveness to her need for comfort made Bella ache countless times when she thought of all the times Charlie and Renee hadn't shown her an ounce of love when she needed it the most.

Carlisle's voice was low when he spoke, "There is nothing wrong with fighting for something you believe is right, Bella. You fought more than Edward did and he should have known better than to hurt you the way that he did. That is not on you, sweetheart."

Jasper stood and slowly came to her side, his large hand rubbing soothing circles on her back. She shuddered as she rested into his cold touch without thinking twice.

"No one had ever touched me that way before, not even him. It wasn't gentle or exciting like all the girls in school describe it. It hurt and when I asked him to stop...he didn't at first." Carlisle winced at the same time Jasper's lips curled into a silent snarl of disgust. Not towards her but at Edward. "I can't get it out of my head. Which is stupid because he didn't...take it too far—"

"He still touched you without your consent, Bella. Even if he'd hadn't taken it too far, he still hurt you in the worst way a person could be hurt. Edward betrayed your trust the moment he acted on his impulses." Carlisle said as he stood, pulling her to his chest into a tight hug that made her feel completely safe in a matter of seconds. Bella's hands wrapped around his back and held onto him.

More tears rolled down her cheeks but this time a cold hand wiped them away. Bella tilted her head up to see Jasper beside her—a heartbreakingly mournful expression on his beautiful face.

"I can't tell you how sorry we all are that you experienced something so horrific by the hands of one of our own." Carlisle said as he finally released her. "I'm so sorry, Bella."

"Worst things have happened..."

"That's true but it doesn't change the fact that this was something horrific for you. This hurt you. Yes there have been many terrible things that happened to women and men in the world but your pain is your own. No one has a right to diminish it."

"What if I'm broken now? I've never felt this way before, Carlisle." Bella admitted. "I think I let him break me but maybe I was always like this. Before him, I was alone. I never felt happy or loved with Renee. He let me feel those things, brought me to all of you too."

Carlisle shifted closer to her, a deep sadness invading his golden eyes.

"I thought that maybe he would love me, even though I'm...nothing." Bella's eyes shut in defeat as she breathed the last words.

Carlisle's hand cupped her face and when she looked into his eyes, she saw an urgency on his face, "No. No sweetheart, you're not nothing. Not to the people who love you. Not to us."

Bella sniffled and allowed herself to be pulled into another hug by the man who was like a second father to her.

She wanted to believe in those words.


Jasper clenched his jaw as he stepped into the living room where Esme and Rosalie sat on the stools by the island. The two women watched him with assessing eyes as he plucked a glass out of the cabinet and filled it with water. When he turned he sighed, feeling their curiosity radiating off both of them. Esme more than Rosalie however the latter was emoting something dark and distant—the taste of hatred searing his mind.

He'd know about Rosalie's past—she'd told him of the men, the monsters, that hurt her one night when the memory of her past began to torment him and he finally asked. It hadn't been an easy conversation. How could it ever be? While it had been so long since Rosalie breathed her last human breath, Jasper feared that a part of her would always remain there. Just as a part of his human life—the dark, hateful part he wish he'd buried during the war—would always remain inside him.

After that, Jasper sincerely wished Rosalie's attackers had been alive today so that he could end their sorry existences but the knowledge that his sister got her revenge in the end relieved him to know her tormentors hadn't gotten away without suffering agonizing deaths.

If anyone knew what Bella was feeling now it would definitely be Esme and Rosalie. They could help her greatly through their empathy and understanding.

Jasper had felt his mate's self-deprecating feelings she experienced towards herself. As though she were blaming herself for what Edward had done.

She did blame herself.

"How can I help her get past this?" He finally asked in a low murmur.

Esme straightened, hearing the unmistakable resignation in her son's voice.

It was Rosalie, however, who spoke, "You do what you've always done, Jazz." He looked up—golden eyes meeting as an unspoken message connected the two. Rosalie's lips quirked slightly, "You stay by her side, even when she doesn't want you to. Even when the shame of being in her own skin becomes overwhelming and all she wants is to rot in her own self-loathing. Be there for her. Don't let her go." Because Emmett didn't let you go. He never gave up on you...

Esme seemed to agree as she granted him a tender smile with saddened eyes, "Go to her."

And he did. Excusing himself from the kitchen, Jasper sent our a heavy dose of appreciation and love for his mother and sister which they returned right away. It made him smile as he made his way back upstairs to see his mate once again.

Once Carlisle finished patching Bella's nose up, the girl was instantly embarrassed when she looked in the mirror on the wall of Carlisle's study.

"God I look like something out of a horror movie." She flushed, placing her hands over her face to hide the bandaids on her nose.

Jasper chuckled as he pushed off the door frame and walked over to her, "You look like you got into a fight, a pretty rough one at that. I'm sure Charlie won't be too happy."

"Don't remind me! Telling him is going to be a nightmare." She groaned.

"Darlin'," Jasper sighed as he took her hands in his and pulled them away from her face. He couldn't ignore the sound of her beating heart going just a little faster the moment he touched her. Nor could he ignore the electrifying sensation coursing through his hands to his own dead heart as his entire existence responded to Bella. His long fingers brushed back a strand of hair, "It'll be alright. I'll take you home and we'll both explain what happened. If that's what you want, I don't want to overstep here but maybe having someone by your side could make things easier?"

Bella hesitated for a moment before saying timidly, "It doesn't...bother you? The blood? Being around me after—"

"Stop."

She glanced up at him. Jasper's soft eyes were molten with anger now, not towards her but towards Edward for ruining this girl so badly that she doubted everything and everyone around her. Edward made her this docile, scared puppet and Jasper wanted to do everything in his power to make her realize she was anything but that. He could feel it—deep down he could feel her strength and kindness. Feel the way she felt every time she was with his family—the unconditional love and the desperate need to feel loved.

Jasper cupped the side of her face, his thumb brushing over the warm flesh that grew a shade pinker. He could hear her breath catching as he murmured gently, "Please stop. I want to do this for you. I won't lie to you and say that being around blood isn't difficult for me. It still is sometimes but not when it comes to you. Not after everything."

"Why are you so nice to me? I don't deserve it..."

"Because I care for you and you do deserve it, Bella. You deserved so much more than what was offered to you." She flinched but he continued, "You deserve a friend who will care for you."

Bella licked her lips and he did everything in his power not to look at them, never breaking away from her warm eyes.

"So we're friends then?" She sounded surprised—hopeful. It made him smile.

"Yes, darlin'. I'm afraid so. You're stuck with me."

The raw relief that shot towards him nearly took Jasper's breath away as he watched Bella's shoulders relax—a small smile slowly making its way over her full lips as she gazed up at him.

"I'm glad that you're my friend." She meant it. It was a shock to know that the same girl who'd once been intimidated by him, who had thought he wanted to hurt her because of a small drop of spilled blood—would want to be his friend. "Jasper?"

"Yes, Bella?"

"Can you...hug me?"

Jasper nodded, "Come here." Once again feeling her sadness beginning to overlap the small sliver of hope she might have felt seconds ago. His hand slid off her cheek and cupped the nape of her neck, pulling her closer to him until she leaned into his touch. They stood next to each other, holding onto one another as if their very lives depended on it.

"Thank you for being here," she murmured. The scent of her tears filled his senses and he wrapped his arms a little tighter around her until his chin rested on her shoulder.

His breath caressed the sensitive skin behind her neck, making her shudder against him as he said, "Always."


Thanks for reading x

Can't wait to see where Bella and Jasper's relationship goes from here!