Emmett Cullen sat before Bella in the Cullens' living room at a small card table. He was helping her get through her flashcards for her history final coming up in a few weeks.

"You study early," Emmett noted as he flipped to a new card.

"Louis XIII," she answered. "And thanks, I get test anxiety."

They went through her whole deck, and then Bella began to look over the study guide that the professor had gladly published a few weeks early.

"What are you aiming for?" He asked her. "University of Washington?"

"Yes," she said automatically. "With in-state tuition, too. Good school."

Esme walked in with a grand smile on her face. "Bella, lunch?"

She wasn't hungry at all, though she knew she should eat. Studying always put her in an anxious mood. She turned to her. "Sure, Esme. What's on the menu?"

"There's a new bakery downtown, and I got some fresh bread this morning. Paninis?"

Bella laughed lightly. "Just one panini, please."

"Coming right up."

Once Esme receded back into the kitchen, Bella turned back to Emmett, who was shaking his head with a smile. "You make her so happy."

"Really?"

"She loves taking care of you."

And knowing that made Bella happy, she realized. In a people-pleasing way, it fed her self-importance.

At some point, Emmett's gazed flicked to the grand staircase, and Bella followed. Rosalie Cullen appeared, gliding down with grace, donned in athletic attire. Her long blond hair was tied back, and her leggings were shapely. Bella realized pretty quickly that she was staring. Rosalie was, simply put, beautiful—but it was a different type of beauty compared to what all vampires possessed. It was a type of beauty that she probably had possessed as a human.

Rosalie leaned down and pressed a kiss to her husband's lips.

"Hi, Bella," she then addressed her cooly, looming over her on the table. "How are you? Where's Edward?"

Bella mentally translated this to: Why are you here? Edward isn't.

"He's hunting, and I'm well. How are you?"

She eyed the flashcards on the table, and her tone was bored, and uninterested. "Great as can be."

Bella didn't have a bond with Rosalie. They existed in the same room together occasionally, but they rarely conversed. It was mostly due to social norms that they'd strike up small talk. Otherwise, Rosalie ignored her existence.

This failed to offend Bella. Perhaps it was a submissive side that understood that she shouldn't feel important amongst beings that were far more superior.

Before Bella could further their pointless small talk, a voice stopped her.

"Rosalie." She looked up the stairs and Jasper Cullen was actively advancing towards them. "Ready?"

"Ready," Rosalie echoed, and met him at the base of the staircase.

Jasper bowed his head towards the table, addressing them. "Emmett." He turned his head to Bella. "Edward's Bella."

Bella stacked her flashcards neatly as her face heated, and she couldn't explain why. "It's just Bella."

"Is it?" He asked.

She watched as Jasper and Rosalie left her field of vision, and then she heard the front door open and close. She wanted to ask Emmett where they were going, but Emmett stood from the table pretty soon after.

Rubbing at his stomach, he said, "I'm going to go catch some grub. I'll see you later?"

"Yeah," she said distantly. She realized soon enough that she was staring at the wall that hid her view from the front door. Emmett had already left by the time she snapped out of her trance.

She had never seen Jasper interact with any other Cullen before. He seemed respectful, direct, but distant.

Bella frowned down at her laptop, and then she started to smell the crisp scent of freshly toasted bread. It was a soothing smell, but there was a certain nagging feeling at the pit of her stomach that prevented her from appreciating it.

Why, she thought cynically, was she Edward's Bella?

After going through her study guide a few times, Bella felt exhausted. She had eaten Esme's delicious lunch, which she noticed was much easier for her to get through with only one vampire in the house. But the carbs weighed her down heavily. Edward wouldn't be back until the evening, he had said, so she had some time to herself.

She transferred her belongings from the card table to the large sectional, where she lay her head on a soft cushion.

"Esme, is it okay if I take a nap?" She called.

Esme walked into the living room with a human pace and graced her with a smile. It made Bella instantly miss her own mother. "Do you even have to ask?"

She shrugged playfully and closed her eyes. And within minutes, she was asleep.

There were no dreams for her during this nap, but she woke pretty badly with a racing heart, gasping for air. Nightmares were the usual culprit, but she couldn't remember having one.

She sat up immediately with a hand pressed to her chest.

"I'm sorry."

She jumped at the sound, and turned her wide eyes to Jasper. He was standing at the entrance to the living room.

"I didn't want to touch you. This seemed like a better way to wake you up."

By giving me a panic attack? Bella took a few seconds to go through her breath work—which was something she learned about in PSYCH110. In for four, hold for seven, and out for eight. She repeated that pattern three times before she felt more calm.

She had closed her eyes for this exercise, and when she opened them, Jasper was looking at her strangely.

"What?" She asked.

"You regulated your own emotions."

"Yes," she said, a little too proudly. "It's called breath work."

"Interesting. It worked."

"Naturally, that's why I do it." Bella grabbed her phone from the ground and tapped the screen. The time flashed 4:03 PM. "Is Esme here?"

"We are alone."

What an odd thing to say, Bella thought as she began to scroll through some emails.

"And you should probably leave."

Her finger halted on the screen. "I should leave?"

"Yes. Edward's not here."

She blinked a few times, noting how dazed she still was from her awkward nap. She should've timed it to a strict 20 minutes, because she felt too groggy for her own comfort. And then Jasper's comment finally settled into her brain.

"I should leave—because Edward's not here?"

"Yes."

And her grogginess heightened her irritation. "He wasn't here this afternoon, either. So, by your logic, I shouldn't be here at all."

Jasper merely cocked his head to the side, his expression entirely blank. "You're annoyed."

"A little bit, yes. And I apologize, because I was just rudely awakened."

Jasper's eyes narrowed slightly as he came to a conclusion. "You're not apologizing."

"And you're very smart."

Bella rubbed at her eyes with the heels of her hands to draw some of the sleep away. When she opened her eyes, she flinched at the sudden change in her field of vision. Jasper was sitting right beside her. If she just turned toward him, their knees would touch.

He was looking at her very intently, and Bella instinctively leaned back to put some space between them.

Her hand was on her chest once more. "You don't even need your gift to give me a panic attack. Jesus."

"You should be used to this by now."

Bella thought the same thing, except none of the Cullens seemed to embrace their vampirism around her, with the exception of the man sitting next to her. "Your family seems to prefer living a slow life."

She stifled a yawn and stretched her good arm. Jasper's red eyes flicked to her sling, but once again, he said nothing to address it.

"Alright, I'll go," she said eventually, tiring of the silence between them. She wanted to go home, take a nice shower, and relax into the evening. With one arm, she did her best to grab a few of her books that were scattered on the sectional. She turned to find Jasper offering her laptop to her.

"Thanks." She placed it in her bag as the final item and stood. Jasper did as well, and Bella's stomach lurched at his dizzying speed.

"Take your sling off next week. Your arm is fine."

How could he know that just by looking at her? Bella then noticed the slight ache in her joint. It didn't feel entirely fine. "I have two more weeks."

"You have less. The more you coddle it, the more this will drag on."

"I'm supposed to wear it until the pain subsides." She then smiled at him a little playfully. "And why would I take your advice? You're indestructible."

Jasper's mood seemed to lighten. "Whoever told you that is wrong."

"Yeah? I couldn't hurt you if I tried." She looked around the living room, dragging her eyes over the card table for any items that she missed.

"At night," Jasper said suddenly, "have Edward place his hand on your shoulder." He took his own hand and hovered it over her joint. Bella's eyes were on him, and she was anticipating feeling his touch, but it didn't come. She glanced down at his hand, then back at him.

"The cold helps, right?" She said, feeling like she was finishing his sentence.

He pulled back and held his hands behind his back. "It's too late in the injury cycle to help it, but it should make it feel better. At this point, most of your pain is psychological."

Bella cocked her head to the side, and stated, "You're familiar with human injuries."

"Experience."

And Bella's curiosity spiked. Actually, it had spiked a while ago, and it was just cruising in a pattern that made her anxious to know more. There was something inappropriately alluring in his eyes. Bella thought the red in them made it so. It was different from what she was used to. And different was, embarrassingly, exciting.

"You are leaving, correct?" Jasper said, and it didn't come across as rude. He was just nudging her along.

Bella didn't have a car. Edward had left her at his house that morning like he was dropping off a toddler at daycare.

She tapped away at her phone to call an Uber.

"What are you doing?" Jasper asked her.

She raised her phone to show him. "I'd rather not walk ten miles right now." She glanced out the windows, and the rain was drizzling beautifully. "Unless you'd like to drive me home?"

Jasper was staring out the window as well. "I don't own a car."

The Cullens were the richest people she knew. It wasn't surprising that Bella was confused by this. "Really? Are you an environmentalist?"

"No. Just practical." A moment of silence passed as Jasper focused on the trees outside. Bella watched him, and then he turned his head to her. "Why would I have a few thousand pounds weighing me down, when I can just run faster?"

That was a good point, Bella thought. She was mesmerized this perk of vampirism—the idea of running for miles. She wouldn't have to stop. Rain, shine, snow—nothing would stand in the way. And she wouldn't feel the motion sickness that came when Edward had ran with her that one time. She would be the one in control.

"I should run more," she murmured, mostly to herself. She used to run. She had her favorite pair of shorts, her favorite running playlist, and the shoes she had spent way too much money on to provide the utmost support for her feet. But Edward had become her new favorite after-school activity. Her time was now their time.

Bella's phone beeped with a notification, and she began heading towards the door, her bag slung over her good shoulder.

Jasper followed through the atrium, a few steps behind.

"Have a good day, Jasper," she said, and closed the door behind her. She took a moment outside of the door to listen if he had responded with something pleasant. But there was only silence.

The Uber stopped before the driveway and Bella jogged through the drizzling rain and entered the backseat.

When she was settled in, the driver, a pleasant looking older man, looked up at the Cullen house. "Wow, quite the place. Do you live here?"

"No." Bella followed his gaze and let her eyes roam the exterior of the grand house. She tried to imagine what it had felt like when she had first set her eyes on it. She had been captivated—just how she had been the first time she met Edward. So grand, mysterious, and pristine. Otherworldly. A hidden gem in a forest of possibilities.

"Are they one of those new techies? We're seeing them move into these large, closed-off estates nowadays," the driver commented. "New money."

Bella checked the app on her phone once more and learned that his name was Martin. She then leaned her head back against the headrest and examined Esme's perfect garden. But then, movement caught her eye, and the long curtains through the window by the front door swayed, if only slightly.

As Martin began to drive, she focused on the curtains. And right before she lost sight of them, she could have sworn she saw them part.

"No," she found herself saying. "They're old money. Very old."

A/N: Old money, indeed. I wonder when Bella will truly be tired of being Edward's Bella.