A/N: A short chapter because my brain won't function for this piece. Thankfully, it's perfectly capable of coming up with Cullen summer content? \_( . . )_/

~.~

Kaufmann absolutely cornered her the moment she stepped through the door, demanding to know why she had been gone and what she had been up to. Though he had obviously expected something important, and maybe a little strange, running from and fighting a vampire tracker was not what he had in mind.

"Are you fucking with me?" He had to ask her. It sounded true, and they had experienced far less believable things…but he still had to ask.

"His name was James." She told him, grabbing a glass of water. Sleep sounded far better than water, but she only wanted to wake up once.

Kaufmann narrowed his eyes, still unsure. "How's she smell?" He asked Red.

"Like her boyfriend." The man answered without sparing his roommate a single glance. He was trying to replace the fan in the range hood, making Kaufmann's question wholly unimportant.

"Nothin' else?"

Red sighed. That was Kaufmann's sign that any further questions would not be tolerated.

"I was just askin', sheesh." Kaufmann tilted his head towards Red, rolling his eyes. "Okay. So, vampire tracker. Is this something that happens often or is this just because you're special?"

Hensley shrugged. She honestly wasn't sure. Were trackers common in vampires? Did the Cullen's have to fight them on a regular basis? Or had they just been prepared because Jasper and Cooper had fought vampires before? "I dunno. I'll ask."

"I swear if vampires show up here when Kaufmann is gone, I'm going to feed you to them, Hensley." Red muttered, followed by a curse when he dropped a screw. It was a fair threat. Kaufmann probably was the most able to kill a vampire, following Hensley. Not because he was necessarily stronger than Red or Anderson - only because of his enhancements.

"Well, now we can add 'possibly getting attacked by vampires' to our list of exciting things going on." Kaufmann teased, having a much better attitude about being eaten than Red. Or maybe he was just more confident in his vampire-fighting abilities. Whatever the case was, Hensley didn't really care.

~.~

It became increasingly clear to Hensley over the next month that her and Jasper weren't as well-known as she thought they were when a couple guys from school asked her to the dance. Of course, they weren't overly touchy in public. Both of them kept a respectable distance and didn't engage in what the kids called 'PDA.' But Jasper did walk her to and from classes and they sat together at lunch quite often. Hensley thought those few things were enough to keep other guys from questioning it. But when Tyler, a senior named Mike, and Eric asked her to the dance all in one day, she found out that she apparently had a lot to learn.

Emmett filled her in during study hall, chuckling at Hensley's ignorance. "Yeah, well, if I've learned anything about relationships in school, it's that you have to be overly touchy. That, or super standoffish. Otherwise, people will have the little slivers of doubt or hope and make their move."

Hensley nodded slowly. She wasn't overly sure how she felt about those two options. The last thing she wanted to do was make Jasper uncomfortable. The only time he'd kissed her was when she had been in danger. But she didn't want to be mean to the other students either. "Are you sure there's not a secret third option? Eric was nice enough about it when he asked after gym. I'd rather not be mean to him."

"Hmm, nope." Emmett shook his head. "Oh! You could talk about your fabulous sex life. Oh, oh wait…no, you can't."

Hensley rolled her eyes, shaking her head at Jasper, "Are you sure we have to keep him around."

"No." Jasper was inclined to get rid of Emmett and Cooper on most days.

"Honestly," Emmett continued, "It's probably for the best. If you fill people's head with mental images, they'll probably start putting themselves in there instead."

Hensley wasn't sure she wanted the answer to this question, but had to ask anyway, "What do you mean?"

"You know, if you talk about sex, they'll start picturing them having sex with you instead."

Jasper's eyes snapped up to glare at Emmett, rage filling his body at the thought of someone else touching her. Rosalie was better prepared for Jasper's outbursts, digging her nails into his skin to keep him still.

Jasper was not better prepared. His body had a mind of its own, every fiber of his being demanding he throw Lexi on the table and claim the girl as his own. Venom pooled in his mouth, the urge to mark her skin with his bite making him tremble. Consciously he knew he had to go. He had to get out of the room where he couldn't hear Alexandria and Emmett snapping at each other about-…he shut his eyes trying to block it out.

At the same time, he didn't trust himself to stand. If he stood then he'd find Eric Yorkie and rip the boy to pieces, throw himself at Lexi, or a horrifying mixture of the two.

His only saving grace was that Rosalie picked up on the fact that something more serious was going on than Jasper momentarily losing control. She kept her hand on his wrist while silently giving Emmett a look.

The younger vampire glanced between her and Jasper for a fraction of a second before continuing on with Lexi. He knew what the look meant. Rose only used it when someone, either him or Jasper, needed to leave the area. And judging by Jasper's expression it was him.

Emmett quickly took Lexi off on an adventure to the vending machines, not even giving her an opportunity to look at Jasper, hoping to relieve his brother's struggle by removing the human from the situation. Em thought Jasper had went hunting the day before, but maybe he had just been out talking with Cooper. Either way, he didn't judge. Jasper had it hard for control and Emmett knew exactly what it was like to struggle.

Once they were out of sight, Rosalie spoke quickly to Jasper, "They're gone. Do you need me to walk you out?"

Jasper shook his head, jaw still clenched tight. He took a couple deep breaths, the scent of Alexandria surprisingly acting as a comfort instead of intensifying the feelings. As quickly as he could without potentially drawing more attention to himself, he grabbed his backpack, mumbled a quick "Thank you" to Rosalie, and booked it for the nearest exit.

He couldn't abandon his siblings by taking a car, so he walked to the nearest set of woods by the school and ran home. Esme was waiting for him when he entered, a sympathetic smile on her face. She assumed, Jasper thought, that he was struggling with his blood lust again. But once she saw the gold of his eyes, she realized that wasn't the case.

"What happened?" She asked, jumping up from the couch and taking a couple steps forward to be available for comfort if needed. He rarely took it from her, but she still gave him the option. It was a nice thought.

Jasper wasn't sure how to explain his situation to her. He didn't even know what was going on himself. It was so similar to how he normally was…and so different at the same time. He often the felt the need to protect Lexi or keep her close. He could count on snapping at the thought of someone hurting or insulting her. But this…never had he had the urge to…what was happening?

Esme saw his hesitation and started guessing to try and ease his struggles. "Did something happen to Lexi? Did someone do something to her? Was it like that?"

"I-…I don't even know. It was the same, but it wasn't." Jasper stressed, tossing his bag down and moving towards the windows in the living room. "No one else is like this." Carlisle and Esme weren't like that. Rose and Em, Cooper and Alice…even Edward was no different towards Bella, other than his desire for her blood. What made Jasper so damn different?

"What happened today?" Esme didn't move from her spot, knowing he preferred his space. "Was it the same? Was it better? Was it worse?"

Jasper scoffed. Yes, he was home because it was better. "It wasn't even close to the same. Emmett, he-…he made some comment about the guys at school and Lexi…I-" He closed his eyes as the venom in his body tingled at the memory.

"They did something to her?"

"No. I mean, they asked her to the dance. But Emmett was talking about something…more and…" One deep breath later and he continued, "I wasn't going to do anything to them. I mean, I wanted to…but they weren't my focus."

"It was her." Esme nodded as she picked up the direction of his words. "As in…you were upset with her?"

He shook his head.

"Honey…I'm not understanding. You were focused on her, but you weren't upset with her?"

Jasper couldn't say the words out loud. Not to Esme. Hell, not to anyone.

Esme slowly approached him, placing a gentle hand on his arm when she was close enough. She was hesitating as well, trying to give him room to talk. When she got the hint that he wasn't going to, she offered another solution, "Maybe Carlisle will have a better idea if you explain it to him?"

"I don't know that I could describe it to him." That was sure to go over well. 'Hey Carlisle, I wanted to throw your daughter on the table and have my way with her today, any idea why that would be?'

He took a breath and closed his eyes. Without Alexandria's scent, it was far harder to keep calm. If he had any blood left in his system, it would be boiling. "They didn't even do anything; Emmett was just spouting off. Why does it matter?" He ground out just so he could finally stop talking about it.

"Probably for the same reason why thinking about her hurting causes you pain. You care about her."

It was painfully logical and had he not been so focused on trying not to go back to school and spill blood he probably would've come to the same conclusion.

Though it took far longer without Alexandria's scent, he was able to calm himself down enough to talk to Carlisle about it deep in the woods where no one could hear. Thankfully, instead of ripping Jasper to pieces, Carlisle listened and tried to come up with ideas on what was going on. Unfortunately, he had no ideas on what the cause of such a strong reaction could possibly be, nor had he heard of any other vampires having such feelings. He did have one last avenue though and it was decided that a visit from their cousins was necessary that summer.

Jasper did not tell Lexi what his issue was the day before and let her assume that he had struggled with controlling his thirst. If she hadn't experienced the same thing, he didn't want to freak her out or scare her off. He could control himself for her.

The night that had sparked such strong reactions came quicker than Hensley was really prepared for. Though it was easily one of the best nights of her life.

Alice and Rosalie forced Jasper out of the house to help Hensley get ready for the dance and she was eternally grateful. Aside from braids, Hensley was useless with hair, and she did nothing with makeup because she'd waste it attempting to not look like a clown, so when she saw herself in the mirror that evening, she swore Alice and Rosalie worked literal magic on her. They curled her hair and put it up in a side bun, accentuating the one-shoulder dress, while leaving a few pieces out for 'face framing.' Whatever that really meant. Her makeup was lightly done, leaving it neutral while highlighting Hensley's features. She was convinced she'd probably never look that good ever again. Hopefully Jasper had a photographic memory.

It was almost ridiculous how good he looked dressed up. And by the sheer grace of some twisted fate, that crooked smirk was just for her.

Spending most of the night on the edge of the dancefloor, they were completely lost in their own little world, stealing kisses and soft touches. There was no thoughts of Tyler or Mike or Eric or anyone but Jasper. She wasn't sure she got a forever like he did, but she prayed that she did just so she could spend it with him.