"Stay awake, Bella," Jasper murmured as he sped through the forest. Shielding her as best he could from the rain after draping his jacket over her shivering body. "We're almost there."

The journey back to the Cullen residence took longer than he realized, grating on his nerves as Bella continued to come in and out of consciousness. His panic had come into play now, finally after finding her. After being seconds away from losing her if he'd been any later.

He would have lost her, had it not been for the shifters who saved her from Victoria's wrath.

Too close.

I was too fucking close to losing her.

Rosalie opened the door for Jasper as they arrived to their home—Bella curled close to his chest—Emmett already moving to fetch a thick towel to help dry her off from the rain that had soaked through her clothes.

When Edward wandered into the hall however, the air in the room changed drastically. Rosalie and Emmett halted, watching as Jasper blatantly ignored the mind reader. Edward's brows furrowed as he took in the girl, all her injuries, but her heart was beating steadily.

"Is she—"

Jasper's sharp menacing glare as he strode past Edward was enough to silence his foolish question. Even with Bella in his arms now, Jasper would hand her over to Emmett if Edward opened his mouth again. If he even dared show concern for his mate after what he'd done. Edward had the good sense to keep his mouth shut. For once.

Jasper walked up the stairs and was in his room in no time.

"We need to get her out of those clothes," Rosalie said, switching the lights on in the closet and rummaging through Jasper's clothes like she knew it by heart. Knowing his two sisters, they probably made it their business to know.

"Bella? You have to stay awake," He murmured again as he sat her down on the bed, gratefully taking the towel Emmett offered before he pulled the jacket off her.

"W-where's Charlie?" She rushed out between chattering teeth.

"Charlie's okay. He's with Esme. He's been asleep for some time. I'll take you to him once I take care of you." He left little room for argument. Because knowing Bella, she'd rather go straight to see her father than take care of her own wounds.

"I'll be in the hall if you need anything," Emmett supplied, running a gentle hand over Bella's head before he murmured, "Good to have you back home, little sister."

Bella's eyes fluttered open, hearing his words before a small smile graced her lips, reaching a hand up towards him, "Em..."

A wave of pain washed over Jasper as he gently ran the soft fabric over her face and hair. Bruises painted her pallid cheeks and neck, a considerably large bruise in particular started at her collarbone and disappeared beneath her shirt.

"Is it your arm?" He couldn't tell where the pain began or where it ended. It was impossible to tell at this point.

"I'm okay," Bella said, and he gritted his teeth as she tried to play it off. She gave him a sheepish look before she breathed, knowing he wouldn't let her simply pretend everything was alright. It wasn't. "Everything hurts..."

"I know. I'll try to take as much of the pain as I can. Rosalie, get me Carlisle's bag."

Rosalie emerged from the closet with an oversized grey t-shirt and a pair of sweatpants in her hands. She quickly placed them on the bed before running out of the room, Emmett following after her.

Bella's cheeks were flushed and her skin was clammy against his neck but he had to lean back to look her over. The scent of her blood reached his nose again. He stood, keeping her steady while he looked to the back of her head.

She groaned when he gently moved the bloodstained strands sticking to her head to one side, to look at the small gash on her scalp.

He silently released a breath, thankful it wasn't worse than he'd initially thought. By the looks of it, she might not even need any stitches.

"I'm sorry," she murmured.

Jasper frowned, gently pressing the towel to her head to soak up as much of the blood as he could.

"Why," he breathed out, "would you ever apologize for something like this?"

Bella swallowed, trying to speak through the tears that were clouding her vision. He could feel her guilt like a slap to the face and he hated it. But he waited patiently until she finally said, "Victoria...she killed those people. Because of—"

Jasper was in front of her before she could finish that sentence, cupping her face with his hands until she looked at him with those endless deep brown eyes, drowning in her tears. It was only now that Jasper allowed himself to consider the possibility of never seeing those eyes again.

He rasped, "Listen to me. That was Victoria's doing. All her fault. She lived to kill, even when she was with James. It was all she's ever done. Don't let her wretched actions inflict such wounds on your heart, Bella. Don't let her win. Don't take this burden upon yourself."

Bella bit her lip, "That man and woman...they couldn't have been much older than me. They'll never..."

Jasper's heart broke when her voice wavered, unable to finish what she was about to say.

"Jazz," Rosalie whispered, standing in the doorway with Carlisle's bag in her hand.

Without tearing his eyes away from his mate, he said too low for her to hear, "She'll be ok. Just give us a moment."

Understanding trickled into his heart before the sound of the door closing behind Rosalie reached him.


Bella didn't reject Jasper's touch as he gently picked her up and carried her to the bathroom.

Neither of them spoke after what she'd said. They didn't need to. He was careful as he set her down on the closed lid of the toilet before getting to work.

She watched him as he set the clean set of clothes on the counter of the sink, barely taking the effort to wonder when he'd gotten them. Jasper was quick to turn the handle in the shower, letting the water warm up and fill the silence that stretched on between them as the stream hit the tiles.

When he turned to face her, he knelt before her, "Can I?" She followed where his hands motioned, towards the hem of her soaked shirt.

After she nodded, he was careful as he slowly lifted the hem and helped her pull it over her chest and shoulders until the wet fabric was finally off.

It was an effort not to cry out when she lifted her arms over her head.

The cool air that hit her skin was incredibly welcoming. Soothing her aches and pains. Her long hair fluttered around her face and when she opened her eyes, she saw the shadows playing across Jasper's face. As he took in the blue and purple bruises painting her chest and ribs. Little ones that stretched into bigger splotches. As if someone had taken a brush dipped in paint and haphazardly flicked it towards a white canvas.

She noticed that he wasn't breathing.

His chest no longer rising or falling as it did when he was with her.

Jasper's whole body was tense, like a wire ready to snap.

Bella reached a hand out and cupped his cheek, "Look at me."

When he did, she could see the relief—the fear—in his gaze, "If I lost you..."

"I know." She whispered. "I'm here now."

Despite the pain, it hurt more to see him this way. So raw and vulnerable. But only ever with her.

Leaning forward, she pressed her lips to his. The moment their lips touched, warmth flooded her chest. Swirling around her heart and easing the uncertainty of never seeing him again. A balm to her battered soul.

Jasper's hands captured her face as he pulled her closer, taking her kiss and deepening it. Their tongues swirled together as he moaned—another sound that was just as precious as the sound of her heartbeat was to him—and Bella surrendered herself to him.

They kissed for a long time. Savoring every peck, every breath shared, every caress of their hands.

When Jasper finally pulled away, he was breathing heavily as he took in the pink flush of her cheeks. He ran the pad of his thumb across her cheek, over the bruise left there by Victoria.

He breathed, "I'll leave you to get undressed so you can slip into the shower."

Before he could rise and turn to give her privacy, Bella's hand gripped his. Jasper arched a brow in question that quickly turned into understanding. A small smile graced his lips as he patiently waited.

She stood, stepping up to him until her chest was brushing his. Her eyes never leaving his as he slowly unclasped her bra and pulled the straps down her arms. And then, he took her breath away as he knelt before her. Kissing her stomach once before undoing the button of her jeans. His long fingers left a trail of goosebumps as he pulled her underwear down her legs. Finally leaving her bare.

Her heart was pounding in her chest so hard she wondered if she might combust.

He was up before she could see the hunger filling his black eyes. Kissing her once more before he started shedding his own clothes.

By the time he was just as naked as her, steam filled the bathroom. The tremors started again and Jasper took her hand in his before helping her step under the stream of hot water.

The shower that was large enough to fit both of them. One side of the wall sheer glass, showing the marble porcelain walls and the built in shelves with all sorts of body wash and shampoo. If she'd been in any other state, she might have remarked on the sheer size of the bathroom. If only to tease Jasper and get him to smile again.

The pain intensified as soon as she ducked her head beneath the stream, hissing when the cut on her scalp met the water.

Jasper stood behind her, massaging the strands before working his way up to her head.

The moment was incredibly intimate, more so than all the times they'd pleasured each other in bed. It was delicate, reverent, and more than Bella could have ever asked for.

Again, they didn't speak as Jasper helped her wash off the grime and blood. The tendrils pooled around their feet before slithering down the drain. Bella watched each stream intently. Flinching when she pictured that man, the scream of the woman as she mourned him and watched in horror as Victoria forced her to watch. The sickening crack of her neck...

Cold hands cupped her shoulders and turned her until she faced him. Until she could no longer hide.

Bella breathed out her next words that sounded too much like a sob for her to try and play it off as anything else. The events that unfolded hitting her like a freight train.

"Oh my god..." Her hands covered her face, finally feeling the weight, the gravity of what Victoria had done. What she could have done if those wolves hadn't saved her. "Jasper..."

What have we done?

Without hesitation, he pulled her to his chest and held her as she unraveled before him. Holding her until the tears stopped, never letting her go even when he shut the water off and carried her out of the shower. Helped her get dressed in his clothes that were entirely too big on her. And carried her to bed, holding her until she finally fell asleep in his arms.


Edward could hear every word uttered between them from his room.

He sat on the edge of the bed, thinking of how he'd lost control so quickly. All because of a slip up.

Because he made an error.

A miscalculation in his plan to keep his singer all to himself.

Guilt played in the back of his mind but it was at war with the unending obsession to taste the blood surging through Bella's veins.

His jealously towards everyone in the Cullen household was never ending. Even when he didn't wish to feel such things towards his adoptive mother and father. His siblings. It was always there. A snake rearing it's green little head around the corner.

He'd thought having Victoria would sate his emotions. This venom that kept growing with every second he couldn't have a mate of his own.

Worst of all...his family had chosen Bella in the end.

They loved her.

They protected her from him.

His hand shot out and reached for one of the picture frames on the nightstand. One of him and the Cullens all gathered around on the field where they played baseball. Happy. Unchanging.

Until Bella showed up.

The glass in the frame shattered as it met the wall across the room. Falling into hundreds of fragments on the hardwood floor.

His door opened seconds later, revealing a heartbroken Esme as she regarded her first son.

She didn't enter his room. Barely looked at him long enough to understand what she was feeling. He didn't fail to notice that his family had shut him out of their minds. Using cryptic riddles or thinking of useless information at all times. They didn't want a traitor amidst them.

When they were the ones who betrayed me first.

He murmured, "Esme..."

"Why?" She finally asked softly, her amber eyes nearly impossible to see as the light in the hall created a silhouette around her. "Just...why would you do this, Edward?"

He swallowed his frustration. His guilt that he didn't quite understand.

What was wrong with him?

When had he become so callous? So selfish?

How did he never notice this acidic change in his heart?

Edward ran a hand through his hair, "I don't know anymore. I thought I did, once. She was—is—my singer. My addiction. I tried to keep her for myself while also trying to keep her safe. It all just escaped my control."

Esme was silent for a long moment, her stillness making him grow wary. Esme had never once been cold to anyone. She's always been the sun that shines upon them all.

Today though, she might as well be as cold as an endless snow infested landscape.

"You wished for a mate so badly that you resorted to manipulating your own family. Your brother. Going so far as to hurt Bella in the worst of ways. And yet," this time her voice wavered, "you do not feel an ounce of regret for any of it?"

"My only regret...is that I got caught, mother. If you'd all simply let it go, I would have been able to move on. You all would have forgotten Bella sooner or later."

Esme drew in a sharp breath before turning on her heel, "That's the difference between us, Edward. We never once tried to change our fates. We accepted it, and each other. Because we are a family. I hope that someday you will remember what that means."


Thanks for reading x

For those of you who asked: don't worry, Edward won't get away with everything he's done so easily.