Edward was there on the fluffy white reading chair when Bella woke up in the guest bedroom the next morning. He had a distinct look of concern that Bella was slowly getting used to.

"Bella," he said, his voice oddly raspy, as he rubbed at his jaw. "Good morning."

Sitting up, Bella stared at him. No, it didn't feel like a good morning. She hadn't slept well, with questions and thoughts swarming her brain. When she looked at him, she didn't feel an ounce of remorse for her bitter tone. "None of this is acceptable."

He didn't seem to understand. "What?"

What? Bella scoffed inwardly. "Edward, I haven't seen you since yesterday morning. You dropped me off at this place, and left me to…what? What did you think I would do? Happily be left in the dark as you go off, and risk your life?"

"Bella," he said gently. "I know. I know, and I'm sorry."

"What exactly are you sorry for, Edward?" Because she really wanted to know. What did he really think was the problem here?

"I'm sorry for… upending your Sunday yesterday. I'm sorry for leaving you alone, but there's a certain protocol we follow, and I hope you understand."

"Protocol? At least shoot me a text, or let me know that you're okay. That shouldn't be too out of protocol for you to do." She frowned. "I'm worried, and restless, and truthfully, Edward, I just want to know what's going on."

Edward got up from the reading chair, and sat on the edge of the bed. He scooted closer to her and laid a hand on the sheets where her calf rested underneath. "I didn't feel that I had the time yesterday, and I apologize. Here's what happened. Jasper was out patrolling early Sunday morning, and he came upon Laurent. He was able to learn through him that Victoria was planning… a revenge game of sorts."

"Revenge—because of James," Bella added. "But why me?"

Edward seemed to take a moment to figure out the right words. "Think of it as a partner for a partner."

Bella understood, and she stated her understanding, "Victoria and James were together."

"More than together," Edward said.

"Married?"

Edward smiled slightly, as if it were cute that Bella was so unknowing. "There are partnerships in my world that go deeper than marriage. It's a different level of connection, and it's very hard to lose the person you're connected to this way."

"It's very hard to lose anyone that you care about," Bella argued lightly, and then thought about this connection. "What was so special about their relationship?"

"They were what we call mates. And the death of a mate is… unacceptable in our world."

"Mates. Mating." Bella said, trying to internalize the idea. "Like animals?"

"Yes, you could think about it that way. A primal bond."

Bella ran her hands on the soft comforter on top of her legs. "So—Victoria is out for blood, because Jasper killed her mate?"

"Yes."

"Then shouldn't she be after Jasper?"

"We are all responsible, as a coven, for James's death."

That was the first time Bella had heard Edward use the term coven.

"Additionally," Edward continued, "it seems that Victoria wants to finish what her mate started."

"And James wanted to hunt me down and kill me," Bella murmured.

"That won't happen. You have a whole family here for your protection," he said proudly, but then deflated a little bit. "Which is why I do apologize for being a little distant, and gone. I just—" He grabbed her hands, and interlaced their fingers. Bella shivered at the momentary brush of cold. "—I need you to be safe."

Bella smiled at him, because yes—it did feel good to be taken care of, and protected. "I know. I can't do much, obviously—but your communication is important to me. I want to learn from you, Edward—I want you to tell me, teach me, show me. These are all things I'm willing to put effort into. This world is new, and confusing…"

Edward watched her carefully, his lips almost upturned into a smile, but not quite. "You do realize the danger, don't you? I hope you do."

"Of course, I do."

Edward leaned in and gave her one chaste kiss. "You are very important to me." He looked around. "Have you been comfortable?"

She looked around the grand guest room, with the sunlight seeping through the blinds, and the sparkling chandelier above. "Absolutely."

"Let me make you a little uncomfortable," he teased, and got in directly under the comforter, shimmying closer to Bella until he could put an arm around her. Bella adjusted to lay her head against his chest as his arm held her close, and they both leaned back onto the cream headboard.

She sighed against him, the thick comforter helping to maintain her body temperature against the cold mass behind her.

"Is Jasper not part of this… coven?" She asked, feeling a little too proud at her use of new vocabulary.

"Kind of," Edward said, his fingers running up and down her arm. "He is, and he isn't."

Well, that makes no sense. "That's why he's different," Bella said, hoping he'd provide a little more detail. "With his diet."

"It must be unnerving for you to be around him. You can always leave if you feel uncomfortable, please know that. Anyone in the family would be happy to intervene."

Unnerving wasn't the right word. Scary wasn't either. "I don't think I'm that put off by it."

"No?" Edward chuckled. "You invite danger, Miss Swan." He then took on a more serious, fore-boarding tone. "I can't imagine intentionally hurting a human. It doesn't sit right with me."

He was implying that it sat right with someone like Jasper. "When is the last time that you…?"

His fingers on her arm stopped. "Do you really want to know?"

Bella turned to look back at him, giving him the most sincere expression she could muster. "Of course. There shouldn't be anything that you can't tell me."

Edward sighed, and then said softly, regretfully, "Eight months."

There wasn't a number that Bella could compare this to and make good sense of it. Was it good that it was only eight months? Was eight months a very short period of time? What was normal?

And Edward didn't seem to take her silence lightly. "You're repulsed."

"No!" Bella spun to face him. "I'm just not sure how to interpret it."

"I killed a young woman eight months ago, Bella, and you're not sure how to interpret it?"

Perhaps she should be repulsed. If Edward were human, surely she'd go running out of the room, screaming. "Control is hard."

"Incredibly." He wasn't looking at her. "And it's harder with you. I'm always close, and you always have the chance of… injury."

"Even something as small as a paper cut…" she trailed. "Would that…?"

"I'm working on my control," he said, not really answering her question. He grabbed her hand and placed a kiss on her knuckles. "I can't lose it with you. I don't know what I would do…"

Bella felt a certain chill run through her as Edward pressed a kiss to her fingers again. She watched as his lips brushed over her skin, and the thin veins on the backs of her hands were stark next to his jaw.

His teeth were close, and it was unnerving to think about how easy it would be.

"Are you sure that you don't need anything?" Charlie asked through the phone as Bella sighed inwardly to herself. "A change of clothes, a charger…"

She had been staying at Emma's for three days now. Edward had been driving her to campus, and hanging around until her classes would end. He was skipping his classes, he had told her, to make sure the campus grounds and the surrounding areas were threat-free.

But it was mid-week, and as far as she knew, Victoria was still out there.

"No, dad. Emma's family has been great."

"If you're sure…" Charlie did not sound sure.

"I'll probably come home this weekend, alright? It's just some girl time."

It took a few more it's okays to get Charlie to hang up. It all made her stomach twist with anxiety.

Alice Cullen roamed about the living room, eyeballing the books on a pristine, glass bookshelf. She held her hands behind her as she rose on her tiptoes, then came back down again. She was a very animated vampire. It was her turn to stay guard at the Cullen house, since the Cullens would always leave someone with Bella when she was home.

Alice was pleasant as she talked to her about her travels, and took her through two rooms worth of her clothes. Emmett had stayed the day before, and they had binge-watched an old horror series once she had gotten home from her classes. And the day before that, Esme had cooked and fed Bella until she couldn't possibly eat anymore.

"Is there a problem?" Alice asked, gazing at her expectedly. And it was weird, because Bella knew that Alice could hear every word of her phone call. Yes, she asked anyway. Was it out of respect?

"No, Charlie's just a little worried."

"Understandably," Alice sympathized.

"Yes. I don't like lying to him." Vampirism was a secret that, according to Edward, wasn't shared easily.

"Of course not."

The front door slammed open, and Bella probably jumped at least an inch off of the ground. When she looked over, there was a hole in the wall next to the door in which the door knob had poked through. And in the doorway, stood Jasper… Cullen? No, surely not Cullen, right?

"Apologies," he said, though it didn't really seem like he was sorry. He looked at the two women in the living room. "I was told that I needed to assert my presence better." He glanced solely at Bella. "For the human."

And then, he was gone. Actually, he had been gone for the last few days. Bella hadn't seen him in the house. She turned her wide eyes to Alice.

"Sorry," she said meekly. "He's not very used to being…"

"…human-friendly?" Bella completed.

"In a way."

"Right," Bella said, even though she didn't understand. "He's not really part of your family."

Alice paused, then smiled at her. "Kind of."

Which was exactly what Edward had said. And this notion of kind of made Bella think of a distant cousin that you might not see, who had gone off the rails, but was still kind of part of the family. Perhaps that was it.

Then, in the next moment, the family was there. One by one, they whooshed into the living room. And when Bella realized what was happening, she immediately closed her eyes. She was finding that it made her less disoriented if she just simply didn't look.

"Bella?" It was Edward. "Are you alright?"

She opened her eyes and found him standing beside the sectional. She nodded, looking around to find Carlisle, Esme, Emmett, and Rosalie surrounding her in the living room.

Jasper appeared from wherever he had disappeared to, standing in front of the fake fireplace.

"This is a game for her," Carlisle began, clearly referring to Victoria. "She's incredibly elusive. Fast."

"It's been three days," Emmett said, a little deflated. "She hasn't outright tried to come for Bella, but she's been circling."

"So have we," Rosalie insisted. "We've been circling for days. It's ridiculous."

Bella came to a pleasant realization that she could understand each word that the family was saying. Previously, they were speaking in speeds she could barely keep up with. Were they slowing down for her own benefit?

"It's six against one," Jasper said unemotionally. "This shouldn't be this hard."

"She's fast, Jasper," Edward said.

"Alice?" Jasper turned her head to her.

"She's done her research on us," she murmured. "Split-second decisions make for shit visions, and she seems to know that."

Jasper's head was bowed as he listened.

"And she washes out her scent," Rosalie added. "The rain hasn't been helping us, but it's clear that she's been trying to go swimming to throw us off."

"Six against one," Jasper repeated, his hands crossing behind his back.

Then, there was quiet as the family fell into contemplation. After a while, Jasper lifted his head, and sighed. "I suppose we'll continue."

But then Esme spoke up with slight, unusual hesitation in her voice. She enunciated carefully. "One more thing. Victoria has been leaving… gifts." She glanced at Bella—and was that pity on her brow? "Humans."

"Gifts?" Jasper repeated immediately, his head lifting up.

Carlisle picked up from there. "She's been feeding and leaving her meals barely alive for us to find. She's not being very cautious."

"Unacceptable," Jasper said curtly, and even Bella felt her spine straighten at his tone. His demeanor had quickly changed, taking on a sharper, more dominant form. And after a moment, he seemed to come to a decision. "We'll lure her."

"With what?" Emmett asked.

Jasper then looked directly at Bella, which drew the room's complete attention to her.

There was a weird tingling at the very base of her spine. It was a whisper—a sensation that told her, Hey, be cautious. There might be danger here.

And perhaps that was a normal reaction. Were these people not predators? Glancing around at the silent, intense marble statues around her, she couldn't help but feel a little bit like prey.

And then she heard it. Little, soft murmurs. They were talking. They were communicating, and they weren't letting her hear a thing.

Bella straightened in attention. Yes, she thought morbidly, as she swept a gaze around the room. These people could certainly kill me.

And it brought a new understanding to what Edward was constantly afraid of. He was the one to sternly and openly respond with, "No."

"Yes," Jasper said. "You've been circling, and at this rate, you will keep on circling until Victoria kills half the town."

"Carlisle," Edward demanded, and behind the strength in his voice was surely fear.

Carlisle remained silent as Jasper went on, "And, she's not a tracker like her mate. So, Bella's scent needs to be more potent." That was when Bella noticed that his eyes were trained on her wrist. "We'll need her blood."

"This is dangerous," Edward argued.

"It's necessary," Jasper said. "Otherwise, you risk her life even more." He glanced at Carlisle, addressing him. "Your choice. Say it, and it's done."

Edward looked over at Carlisle, as if he wanted to discredit the suggestion.

But after mere moments of contemplation, Carlisle gave Jasper one single nod. "We'll do it," he said, then looked over at Bella. "We won't need a lot of blood."

"No," Jasper agreed, then seemed to examine her from top to bottom. He was too quick for Bella to squirm. "Your scarf will do."

Bella's hand unknowingly came up to touch the wool scarf. "What? Now?"

Jasper stepped up to where she was seated on the sectional, his eyes on hers, but addressed the rest of the family. "If you need to leave, do it now."

No one moved for a few seconds, but then Bella saw the shift in Emmett and Rosalie. They looked at each other before walking out of the front door. Alice stared for a moment longer before following. Esme pressed a kiss on Carlisle's cheek before nodding at Bella and vacating the room.

Bella looked up at Edward, who seemed conflicted, and he wouldn't look at her. He would stay, right? Of course, he would stay. Definitely. He would—

He was gone. Bella was left staring at the empty space he had inhabited seconds ago.

"I'm going to direct them to run rounds," she heard Carlisle say, and then heard the following woosh of him leaving her alone with the man that undoubtedly was going to ask for her blood.

There wasn't much time to think. Jasper motioned with his hand for her to get up, and she did, albeit reluctantly.

He stood before her, and Bella was momentarily distracted by the indents in his skin. Up close, they were subtly visible. What were they?

"Your scarf."

Right. Bella looked down and pulled it loose. She handed it to him with hands that were shaking.

"Just a little blood flow," he murmured. "Not much." Bella didn't know where he had gotten it, but he procured a sewing needle and handed it to her. "One of your fingers."

Bella grasped the thin metal in her hands. "Any finger?"

"Yes, there's a high concentration of blood vessels in your hands." He examined her palm from afar. "Have you ever cut your hand? You'll bleed a lot compared to anywhere else in your body, unless, of course, you hit a major artery. That would be a bigger problem."

All this blood talk was making her queasy, and looking at the needle, she hesitated. And apparently, she didn't need to say anything for him to understand.

"I am well practiced around blood," he explained carefully, which Bella supposed should have made her feel better, but that wasn't the concern on the forefront of her mind.

Jasper then paused. "Why are you embarrassed?"

"Because I'm not," Bella admitted. "Well practiced, that is."

It took Jasper a second to understand what she meant, and he held out his hand, palm up. "Let me, then."

This felt dangerous. Bella wanted to take a step away as his crimson eyes watched her. It could only take one drop of blood. Just one paper cut. Then, all control would be lost. A blood-thirsty animal would replace the sliver of humanity they held within. Edward's words, not hers.

"You still fear," Jasper noted. He nudged his hand again for hers.

Bella hesitantly placed her palm in his, but Jasper turned her hand around for easier access to her inner fingers. Grabbing the needle from her, he paused for just a moment.

And then Bella felt like she could sleep. A fog entered her mind, and her heart-rate began to slow. Feeling a little faint, she lifted her tired eyes to his. "You're doing this."

"And you're very afraid."

Bella felt like she hardly wanted to stand. But she kept her eyes open to watch Jasper slide the needle into the pad of her thumb. Blood began to pool to the surface, and without Jasper's influence, she probably would have thrown up by then. She knew she should pull away and create as much distance between them as she could. Her blood, exposed to the surface and polluting the air around them—it must have been torture. Just her lips pressed against Edward's tested his control to the limit.

Still holding her hand, Jasper pulled down the scarf that he had thrown over his shoulder and thoroughly wiped the blood onto the fabric. As more blood surfaced, he alternated different areas of the scarf against her thumb.

"Jasper, I'm—"

"Sleepy, I know."

Her eyes began to close, but she fought it as much as she could. Once Jasper seemed satisfied with the amount of blood scattered on the scarf, he directed her to sit on the couch. Bella unceremoniously flopped down, her eyes instantly closing when she hit the soft pillows. The cushioning felt heavenly.

She felt the couch take on Jasper's weight next to her, and then her eyes popped open.

She was curled on one side of the couch, and he was sitting beside her. The scarf rested on the glass coffee table before them, the dried blood appearing to add a modern edge to the plain color scheme.

Bella sat up immediately, and the speed of it made her dizzy. "How long was I out for?"

"Ten minutes. You've finally stopped bleeding."

Bella looked down at her thumb that now had a tight bandaid around it. She looked at the scarf in front of them. "Was it enough?"

"Yes."

She turned to him, not quite knowing what to say, so she defaulted to an apology. "I'm sorry."

"For?"

"It couldn't have been easy."

He reached forward to grab the scarf. And then he did something that entirely intrigued her. He brought the scarf closer to his face and inhaled. Cocking his head to the side, his eyes slid to her. "Yes, this will be just fine."

Bella swallowed, unsure how to feel or react to someone satisfied at the smell of her blood. She looked down at her bandaid. "It took me ten minutes to stop bleeding?"

Jasper got to his feet. "Hands will bleed for a while. As I said, blood vessels…"

"I got that."

He tossed the scarf to his other hand, staring at it. "What confuses you?"

Everything, starting with, "How are you so well controlled?" Should she be grateful that she was currently alive?

The answer came easily, and Bella felt that she was leaning in, entirely fascinated.

"My diet lets me interface with humans in a more intimate way. Blood is appealing, sure—but for me, it's more like a decadent piece of chocolate. You generally wouldn't turn into murderous rage for that, would you?"

"Probably not?"

"Good. I wasn't sure if that analogy held."

Bella found herself smiling. "Thank you for explaining it to me."

He glanced around the room. "Open the windows. This place needs to be aired out for the Cullens." He was already making his way to the front door. "I will be back shortly."

Bella got up and approached one of the giant windows, and when she turned her head, she found herself to be alone, which brought upon a distinct feeling of disappointment. She had more questions, and Jasper—well, he had at least given her one answer.

Maybe he would be willing to give her more.

A/N: Jasper's control doesn't seem to be that much of an issue. Hm.