A few days later, at the Cullen house, Edward pointed Bella to the very last room in the second floor hallway. She didn't have a card to give him, but she remained persistent with her desire to give thanks to Jasper Cullen. It was the least she could do.

As she took the stairs one at a time, she thought back to Edward's tense demeanor in the living room. The look on his face had been calm, but Bella was quickly learning of the facade he put up over his true feelings. Edward wasn't entirely comfortable with the situation, but he certainly wasn't going to prevent her from saying a simple thank you.

The tension between them lessened each day following the baseball incident, and Bella was glad for that. Their relationship needed to ease back into something normal—well, as normal as it could be.

"You don't have to knock," Edward had told her right before he pressed his tight lips against her temple. "Don't stay too long."

Bella hadn't responded, because wasn't thanking a family member for their kindness just a regular, normal thing to do?

And now, she entered Jasper's room.

"Hello?" Bella closed the door behind her. The air felt a little musty. Old. Her eyes immediately lifted to the grand bookcases that lined the entire back wall of the room. Their tops connected with the ceiling, and they were filled with books of all sizes and colors. With her eyes glued on the rows and rows of literature, she didn't see the man sitting on one of the two armchairs.

"Isabella Swan."

Her head jerked to the far corner of the room. With an ankle over his knee and his arms folded, it felt absurdly like he was just waiting for her to walk in.

Her mind repeated the two simple words he had used to greet her. Her own name. Part of her wished she had been paying enough attention to watch him say it. How had it floated off his tongue so alluringly?

But then she remembered. It wasn't her name. Not entirely. And she hated half of it, anyway.

"It's just Bella."

His eyes drifted toward the open book on the tall coffee table beside him. "Bella."

Even though she was far away, she didn't miss the gradual rise and shift of his body as he inhaled. Vampires had no need to breathe. No, Jasper was just using his sense of smell, and it made Bella instantly self-conscious.

His attention was still on the book. "Edward's Bella."

"And you're…"

"Jasper."

"I knew that." Bella took a step forward. Her eyes scanned the room and noticed that the faint smoky scent came from the scattered candles. It was broad daylight outside, but long, velvety curtains were pulled tightly over the tall windows in the room.

Her eyes latched back onto Jasper. "I wanted to thank you."

Jasper picked up the book he was looking at and stood. He turned his back to her and, in an instant, appeared by the bookshelf.

Bella blinked a few times at the blur of movement. It wasn't often that she would see the Cullens use much of their vampirism around her. Whenever they did use their strength or speed, she always found herself in awe.

Jasper placed the book back into a spot on the shelf. "Have a seat, Edward's Bella."

Bella eyed the second armchair. "Are you sure? I don't want to intrude."

Jasper held out a hand and gestured to said armchair. "It might just help you calm down."

That was when Bella noticed how fast her heart was beating, and Jasper could probably hear it all. He had probably heard it the moment she cleared the staircase up to the second floor.

Bella moved forward and took a seat. She waited a moment, but the silence nagged her. "So, again, I just—"

Jasper appeared at the armchair next to her, and the sight before her quickly shut her up. She had never seen Jasper up close, and nothing could have prepared her for the sight of his eyes.

She didn't know what to say, but an instinctual swallow graced her throat, which certainly drew Jasper's attention far too close to her jugular vein.

She caught the slight hint of amusement in those crimson eyes before they vanished. Jasper was instantly at the other corner of the room. "Perhaps some distance would make you more comfortable."

Bella turned her head to the bookshelf beside her and fought another swallow. Taking a deep breath, she willed her heart to calm. And surprisingly, it listened. She looked back at Jasper.

"I'm sorry. No one told me about…"

Jasper dug his hands into the pockets of his dark jeans and looked at her expectedly.

"You don't kill animals," she said evenly.

"I'm probably the only one in this house that doesn't."

Bella cocked her head to the side. He had added her into his equation.

Jasper gave her a wry smile. "You're not vegetarian. Vegetarians smell… different."

Bella straightened. "Good different or bad different?"

"Different."

"Well," she said. "I don't kill the animals myself."

"Yes." He took a step forward. "You buy nicely cut, prepackaged slices of them. Brisket, flank, sirloin. Then you throw them into a fire. Rare, or well done, Edward's Bella?"

Bella did like sirloin steak, and there was an interesting twinge in her stomach at the tone of his voice.

"Bloody or burnt?" Jasper repeated.

"It depends," she said. "It depends entirely on the restaurant."

"Why?"

Bella rubbed lightly on her shoulder joint, and she caught Jasper's attention shift to her cast. "The cleaner the meat, the rarer you can eat it."

"Clean meat, then. Bloody or burnt?"

Bella smiled at this curiosity. "Medium rare. Delicious."

Jasper stared at her for a moment, but said nothing. He hadn't even acknowledged how clearly injured she was. Then, he appeared at the far end of the bookshelf, pulled out a book, and placed it on the coffee table beside her. Then, he was back to his spot, maintaining the distance between them.

Bella glanced down at the thick hard-cover. "Meat Illustrated? You own a cookbook?"

"I own many things," he said. "I've been interested in your diets. It changes my experience if I'm mindful of what you eat."

"Your experience?"

The corner of his lips perked up. "What you put into your bodies impacts every part of your bodily functions—including the taste and smell of your blood." He gestured at the meat cookbook. "And there are so many options to pick from. Your meals are diverse, with so many ways to consume."

Bella felt entirely intrigued by this, but she caught herself quickly. His implications couldn't be ignored. She was human, after all.

And Jasper immediately picked up on it. "You're fearful. Have I scared you?"

Bella's hands tightened around each other. He was an empath. Edward had mentioned this. But he hadn't mentioned that his adopted brother drank human blood?

"No," she said, but it came out too uncertainly. "Well, yes." Her human survival instincts shouldn't lie, and her gut definitely didn't like his eyes.

"Naturally," he said, which surprised her. "And it's hard for you to lie to me, but I'm sure you already know that."

Yes, and it was entirely unfair. Bella looked down at the book. "Do you own more cookbooks?"

Jasper turned back to the bookcase. And then gradually, books began to pile on top of the meat one. How to Cook Everything Vegetarian, Everyday Italian, The Food Lab, Mastering the Art of French Cooking…

"Okay, okay," Bella said with a chuckle, and the books stopped once at least ten of them had piled up dangerously. She put a hand up to the tower to prevent it from toppling. "Do you actually use them? Do you cook?"

"No," he said, his eyes still scanning spines of books on the shelves. "Esme will come up to grab some occasionally. She does it more now that you're around."

Her nose wrinkled. "Who else would she cook for?"

"No one."

"What happens to the food?"

"It doesn't get eaten."

Bella frowned. "Wasteful."

"Agreed."

There was a moment of silence before Bella started to feel that she was overstaying her welcome. "Thank you, Jasper, for protecting the family. I didn't realize how much danger I had put them in."

The books beside her began to disappear. When they were all gone, Jasper lingered by the far bookshelf. "No one was in danger. The nomads were vastly outnumbered. The Cullens should have killed them on the spot."

The Cullens? "James wouldn't have stopped. That's what Edward told me."

"A petty tracker. Their obsession usually ends them."

Bella shifted in her seat, not quite understanding his air of nonchalance. "You're so calm. You just killed one of your kind."

"I took care of an annoyance. The Cullens don't like to be annoyed."

"Edward was scared. Carlisle, too. Worried—"

"You're human, and they feel a huge sense of responsibility for your safety."

She fidgeted with her fingers. "If it weren't for me, you wouldn't have had to kill him."

"That is true."

There were so many questions she wanted to ask him. His eyes. Why didn't he play baseball? Why had she never truly seen him before? Why did he refer to his family as The Cullens?

But Jasper spoke before she ever could. "Edward is here."

Bella straightened in her chair when the door opened, and sure enough, there he was.

"Bella," Edward said, almost in relief. He didn't acknowledge his adopted brother. "Esme wants to know what you want for dinner."

Bella watched as he walked over to her with a human pace. She threw him a bright smile. "I'll go talk to her."

Edward looked over at Jasper, before holding out his hand to her. She accepted it, and let him pull her up with her good arm.

"Thank you again, Jasper," she called, as Edward guided her through the door. "It was nice to meet you."

Following yet another lavish dinner for one, Bella sat in Edward's car and watched the raindrops race down the window. She hadn't brought up her interaction with Jasper as she ate her meal beside Edward, and other members of the family shuffled in and out.

But now, as they were far enough away from the house, Bella turned to Edward. "Why didn't you tell me about Jasper's diet?"

Edward's face was blank when he responded, "It didn't seem appropriate."

"Appropriate?"

His eyes turned back to the road. "He feeds on your kind, Bella. I thought it would spook you."

"You could have warned me before sending me up to his room," she said. "It caught me off-guard."

"And what did you think?"

Bella stared at him for a while, trying to find words. Interacting with a true predator had felt… "Interesting. It was interesting."

"That's it?"

"I don't know, Edward. He didn't seem that…"

Edward's eyes cut to her. "He's not supposed to be scary. None of us are supposed to scare you. That's the whole point, Bella."

If they scared her, they wouldn't be able to lure her in. Yes, vampirism was about a lot of sex appeal.

"I suppose."

What she was really feeling, she soon realized, was excitement. She felt thrilled to meet the last member of the Cullen family. If anything, she felt whole. Jasper had always been a question mark in her brain, and now she could put a picture to the name. And that picture stared back with blood red eyes she simply couldn't ignore.

"I don't trust his control," Edward murmured eventually.

"Has he given you reason to doubt it?"

It was as if a switch flipped in his brain, because Edward's tone and demeanor instantly sharpened. "Do I need to remind you what exactly he feeds on?"

Bella fell silent for a moment. "Does he kill them, or…"

"Maybe you should have asked him," he fumed, and Bella drew back slightly. Perhaps her curiosity had been too morbid for the vampire himself.

"He doesn't associate with humans unless it's dinner," he said silently, and continued to drive.

The car ride was silent all the way until Edward pulled up to her house.

Before she moved to get out, Edward placed a gentle hand on her knee, and Bella was pleasantly surprised at yet another shift in his mood. "I'm sorry if I've been on edge."

"You have been," Bella told him. "You still are. I'm not that fragile, Edward." And she meant it both physically, and mentally.

A solemn look overtook his face. "But you are. How can I make you understand?" His eyes slipped to her cast. "How can I make you see what I see?"

It saddened her to see him like this. Bella knew Edward cared for her deeply—she cared, too. Her fascination with his world only added to their relationship, and it wasn't something she wanted to lose.

"Edward…" she trailed, and placed her hand on top of his. They had been rocky ever since her injury, and Bella did her best to empathize. None of this was easy, and she knew that.

"Hey," she said eventually, "do you want to go camping tonight? You can watch me snore under the stars."

Edward was silent for a while before the creases on his forehead melted away. He gave her a small smile. "Do you usually camp out in the woods, Miss Swan? All alone?"

"No," she said. "But I have you. Shall we call it a date?"

Edward glanced at her injured shoulder, but then slowly, brought his eyes down to their joined hands. "That sounds wonderful, Bella."

A/N: Red is such an intriguing color.