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Destiny Awaits	By : Lollydolly Category: Twilight Series > Het > Bella/Jasper Views: 19535 -:- Recommendations : 2 -:- Currently Reading : 2
Disclaimer: I do not own Twilight or make any money from this story.

Chapter List
- 11
- 12
- 13
An: Firstly, thanks for all the review, some of them were especially kind. This would have been up a lot sooner but I had a few unexpected house guests. Also, it’s a bit of a filler, but I hope you enjoy it anyway.
Chapter Twelve
Bella PoV
I told Charlie I was tired and went to bed early to wait for Edward. After running off a quick email to Renee I took a long hot shower. Today had started fine, but quickly gone downhill. Mainly because of Emmett, but I couldn’t really blame him for picking the wrong time to become observant.
I couldn’t tell Edward that Jasper had left the mark on my neck, that could only end one of two ways, and both were bad. He would automatically think that there was something going on between me and Jasper, I was sure the thought had already crossed his mind at some point.
Then I would be forced to tell him what had happened over the weekend, which would only end with me banned from the house, and Jasper in several pieces.
All that would only happen sooner if Esme or Jasper slipped. It was something that was even more likely to happen now that Jasper’s thoughts were somehow protected. He could be thinking about the wrong thing when Edward started hearing his thoughts again. If Edward ever started hearing his thoughts again.
I tried not to panic too much. The moment Edward got back into Jaspers mind he’d be gloating about it. I knew he would be feeling incredibly frustrated, and couldn’t wait to let Jasper know that his new found privacy had gone.
I wondered if Edward was already waiting in my room. I hoped he wasn’t, I really didn’t want any more arguments today. I’d had enough of his petty jealousy. I could understand why he was suspicious, I just didn’t get why he couldn’t cope with me having a few secrets. I’d made it clear that what I wasn’t telling him didn’t affect him, and that was true.
I spent much longer than I needed to in the bathroom, avoiding Edward. That was new. I used to ache when I was away from him. I’d rush through showers in two minutes flat so that I could spend more time with him. When had everything changed?
Since Alice had left? No, that wasn’t right. Our relationship had never really been equal, but it had gotten much worse recently. Things had started going downhill since the ballet studio, he’d been so careful with me since then, which was ok, he had a right to want to keep me safe. I worried about him all the time, even though he was almost invincible.
Stopping me from doing things and going places wasn’t ok though.
Before James we’d only just been getting to know each other really, we loved each other fiercely, but we didn’t really know each other. Did I know him now? Did he know me?
I realised with a pang that I didn’t care. Edward had been the centre of my world, for months now, but he was slipping out of that position. Right now, I’d rather be with Jasper. Or Esme, or Emmett, or anyone else. Someone who wouldn’t stifle me. Edward made me feel like I was wrapped in cotton wool.
My life before Forks had been dull sometimes, but at least I’d made my own decisions, and lived with the consequences. Yes, sometimes I fell, sometimes I got hurt, but I didn’t care.
I liked having options, and Edward seemed to be stripping me of them one by one. How could we ever really be happy? If he made all the choices all the time, I’d just disappear.
He wouldn’t even discuss the fact that I wanted to be a vampire. He expected me to grow old with him while he stayed beautiful and young forever. We’d just end up hating each other.
He didn’t trust himself to do more than kiss me, and I wanted more. Did he expect me to wait forever, when he wouldn’t even let me have forever?
Nothing was working out the way it should. This wasn’t a fairy tale anymore. I’d known that the shiny newness of the relationship wouldn’t last forever, but I hadn’t expected it to fade way so quickly.
Sometimes things with Edward were utterly perfect, but most of the time, they were difficult. I expected ups and downs, that was normal, but being treated like a princess some of the time, didn’t make up for being treated like a prisoner the rest.
The worst thing was that I didn’t know how to fix it.
“Bells? Are you ok? You’ve been in there a long time.” Charlie startled me.
“I’m fine.” I called through the door. “I’m almost done.”
I scooped up my clothes, steadied my nerves, and walked out of the bathroom to my room. I opened the door to find it empty, and felt only profound relief. I shouldn’t be feeling that, it couldn’t be normal to feel happy that your boyfriend isn’t there.
Sitting cross legged on my bed, I waited for him to arrive. We really needed to have a serious talk, I had to make him understand somehow, that things between us needed to change.
I didn’t have much experience, or any really apart from Edward, but I knew that this wasn’t a healthy relationship. Love shouldn’t be this hard. Couldn’t Edward see that?
I needed advice, but there was no one I could talk to without Edward over hearing and making a big deal of it. I heard a buzz and a beep come from the pile of clothes in the corner and poked through them until I found my phone.
One new message. Are you ok? J
I felt myself relax, and settled onto my bed to thumb a reply. I’m fine, Edward’s letting it go for now. Is he still there? B x
I waited for a message with a stupid amount of excitement, pressing all the wrong buttons when it came through in my haste to read it.
I don’t think he’ll be coming to see you tonight. He can hear me again, so he’s busy listening in. X
The kiss on the end of the message warmed me up as much as the fact that I would be Edward free tonight.
Why do you think he couldn’t hear you before? X
I can’t be sure, but it could just be that I was trying so hard to keep him out. Then again, he still couldn’t hear me when I stopped trying. Who knows x
After that we started talking about his new book. He told me there was a painting in the book that he had seen painted as a human while he was a soldier. There was a girl in the picture that reminded him of me. I was pleased that he had thought about me as he’d looked through the book.
I was surprised when a glance at my clock showed it was two in the morning. I hadn’t realised how late it had gotten. Edward would long ago have stopped talking to me and told me to go to sleep. I wondered if Jasper had forgotten that I needed to sleep, or if he just trusted me to tell him when I got tired.
I was starting to feel the lateness of the hour now, but I couldn’t bring myself to say goodnight. The truth was, I was enjoying the easy conversation too much and I didn’t want to curl up by myself and go to sleep.
Every time I’d heard the little buzz of phone my stomach had fluttered and I’d felt myself smile. I knew the feeling was because of the sender, not the content of the messages. I refused to dwell too long on that.
Edward says he’s going to break my phone if I don’t let you get some rest. Are you tired? X
Yes, I was tired, but Edward interfering made me defiant. Why was he listening in again? I was tempted to ask Jasper to come over but that would only cause more problems.
Tell Edward to mind his own business. I’m perfectly able to decide when I need to go to sleep. X
The reply came slowly this time, and I imagined Edward was arguing with Jasper.
I’ve told him. He’s not happy, so good luck tomorrow. You haven’t answered my question though, are you tired? X
A bit. It is quite late x
I’m sorry, you should have said earlier. I won’t bother you anymore tonight. X
Don’t you start. I didn’t say anything because I wanted to talk to you. X
Good night then. Sweet dreams x x x
Good night x x x
I closed the cell and put it on my bedside table, snuggled down under my quilt and closed my eyes. I couldn’t sleep.
__________________________________________

When I woke, it wasn’t to the sound of my alarm, but to the sound of booming laughter. I prised open one eye and found Emmett sitting in the rocking chair and grinning at me.
“Why would you want a green pig?” He asked.
“Huh?” I struggled up and rubbed my eyes.
“You were just asking for a green pig in your sleep. What were you dreaming about?”
I shrugged and looked at the clock. It was about time to get up, even if I had only had an hour of sleep. “What are you doing here?”
“I thought I’d go to school with you for a change. Jasper and Edward have been arguing for the last two hours and I’m getting a bit sick of it.”
Someone must have slipped. “What are they fighting about?”
“You, what else? They were arguing about how much sleep you need of all things! After a while it was all one sided, Edward was just answering Jasper thoughts. When I left they were mostly just growling at each other.” Emmett clearly found all this quite funny, but I was worried.
“I’m sorry I’ll talk to them.” The rest of the family shouldn’t have to put up with them arguing because of me.
“Nah, it’s funny. You should see the state Edward got into when he noticed Jasper was wearing that bracelet you gave him. He thought Jasper had stolen it!” Emmett broke off into another round of laughter. “I mean, he’s been wearing it all week, in full view of you. He’d hardly do that if he’d stolen it would he?”
“And then, get this, Edward starts saying Jasper’s stalking you! I had to remind him about all the nights he spent sneaking into your bedroom without you knowing about it. He didn’t like me bringing that up.”
I tried to tune Emmett out as much as I could while I got my things together and went into the bathroom.
When I’d finished I found my room empty and went downstairs to grab breakfast. Emmett was poking through the cupboards. “What are you looking for? Haven’t you learnt your lesson about eating people food yet?”
He rolled his eyes at me and smiled. “One day, I will find something that tastes good. I was going to make you breakfast, but I have no idea what any of this stuff is, or how to make it.”
“I usually just grab one of these. But thank you for trying.” I laughed, grabbing a cereal bar.
“So. Seeing as I so kindly tried to make you breakfast, don’t you think you should let me drive?” He did a very credible puppy dog face, but I wasn’t giving in. I hadn’t driven my truck to school in weeks.
“Not a chance.” I snatched up my keys and ran to the truck, leaving him grumbling behind me.
“Oh come on Bella?” He pouted, making me laugh harder.
“I take it the book isn’t working out very well then?”
“Well I said sorry the way the book told me to, and she has let me back in the bedroom, but only to get some clean clothes. Most of the tips in the book involve buying presents.” He groused.
“So buy her a present, surely you can think of something she’d like.”
“I’ve got no money.”
“Emmett you’ve got loads of money!” What was he talking about?
“No I haven’t. Rose has confiscated all my cards and hidden all the cash. Edward, Esme and Carlisle think it’s funny so they won’t give me any, and I don’t want to ask Jasper for help this soon after Alice leaving.” He told me.
“Let’s go shopping after school.” I offered.
“Did you not hear the part about me having no money?”
“Look in the glove compartment. There’s about $30,000 in there I’ve been trying to get rid of, but they just keep coming back. I’m sure we can find something for Rosalie with that.”
Emmett's face lit up. “You are the best little sister ever. I owe you for this.”
“You’re doing me a favour. A lot of that money was yours to start with anyway.” I told him. “Do you know what you want to get her?”
“Jewellery. The book says that will fix pretty much anything, and Rose loves diamonds. Are you sure you don’t mind me borrowing that money?”
I sighed. “I’m not lending it to you, I want rid of it. You can have it all.”
Emmett just smiled and nodded. He spent most of the drive to school chuckling to himself and messing around with the radio. He was an odd boy. He was so easy to get along with, never trying to second guess me. He just took whatever I said as fact and rolled with it.
As I got out the Volvo screeched to a halt next to me. Edward looked angry. “You didn’t tell them you’d decided to ride with me, did you?” I asked Emmett.
“I thought they’d figure it out.” He laughed, walking away and leaving me to deal with them.
“Why didn’t you wait for me?” Edward asked, not bothering to hide his irritation.
“If you hadn’t been so busy arguing with Jasper, Emmett wouldn’t have had to come to my house to get away from you. Don’t blame me just because you can’t keep your anger in check for five minutes.” I wasn’t going to give him any ground today if I could help it.
“Sorry.” He muttered.
“It’s not me you should be apologising to. You should say sorry to everyone else your little spat annoyed, and especially to Jasper. It’s not like he was being deliberately cruel and keeping me awake.”
He pressed his lips together tightly and though I didn’t see them move again, or hear him speak, he must have done, because suddenly Jasper was grinning from ear to ear.
The school bell rang, so I pressed a quick kiss to Edwards’s lips so that he would know I wasn’t too angry with him, and skipped off to join Emmett in the gym.
____________________________________________
Lunch in the cafeteria was a tense affair. Edward hadn’t been able to hear Jasper since he’d pulled into the parking lot this morning and it was starting to get to him.
“You are doing something Jasper, and I will find out what it is.” Edward growled quietly.
“Whatever you say Edward.” Jasper was grinning across the table at him.
“I’ve got a theory.”
“Shut up Emmett, I’m trying to think.” Edward was making us all miserable. I couldn’t wait to get to art where I could chat to Jasper in peace without Edwards black cloud hanging over me.
“No, go on Emmett, what do you think it is?” Jasper asked.
“Well, I was thinking, Edward can’t read Bella's mind, he never has been able to. So maybe if she was a vampire that would be her gift. They have someone in the Volturi that can use their ‘shield’ to protect others too, but I think she has to be touching them.” We were all listening avidly, none more so than me. Could I really have a gift?
“So, if Bella was changed, she might be able project the protection to others, but right now she’s just doing it subconsciously, with no control. You’re probably protecting Edward too, but we haven’t got a way of checking.”
The silence seemed to stretch around us as we processed what he was saying. He looked quite pleased with himself. Emmett's theory did fit. So far, Edward had only been unable to hear Jasper while I was nearby.
I looked at Jasper, who was just staring at me, smiling slightly.
Edward was muttering to himself and shaking his head. “No. She wouldn’t be able to do that as a human.” He said.
“It makes sense Edward.” Jasper said calmly. “Before I was changed I had a bit of influence over people, nothing like as strong as I’ve got now, but it was there. From what you’ve told me, you were always good at reading people, even if you couldn’t actually hear what they were saying. Think about it, Bella will do anything to protect the people she cares about. Everything fits. The only thing that surprises me is that Emmett was the only one to think of it.”
Emmett thumped his shoulder, almost knocking him off the bench. “Shut it smartass.”
“I don’t know.” Edward said, getting up. “I’ll skip Spanish and head to the hospital to ask Carlisle about it.”
“Why?” I asked “It’s not a problem is it?”
“Not a problem, no.” He sounded distracted. “I’d like to get it cleared up all the same.”
He reached down to kiss me and then loped out of the room only just slowly enough to look somewhat human.
The atmosphere improved immediately, and we were laughing and joking in no time. Emmett made me promise that if I ever figured out how to do it, I’d block Edward from his mind too. I think he just wanted to piss him off.
While Emmett and Jasper were busy trying to push each other off the bench without looking to obvious, Angela came over to join us.
“Um hi.” She said quietly, giving us a little wave.
“Hi.” I smiled up at her, I hadn’t spoken to her for ages.
“I was wondering if you’d like to come to my party? I’m having a costume party for my birthday on Saturday and I’d really like it if you came.” Had she always been this timid? I guessed she was nervous because of Emmett and Jasper, I forgot that they were intimidating to other people. “Um, you’re all welcome of course.”
“I’d love to come.” I wasn’t actually that fond of parties, but the thought of getting the boys into costumes was too good to miss. “You’ll come too, right guys?”
“Wouldn’t miss it for the world.” Jasper smiled, making her blush. Emmett gave him an evil glare as soon as Angela had said goodbye.
“What did you do that for? You know what Rose is like with costumes.” Emmett really looked quite worried.
“What? What’s the matter?”
Jasper answered my question, never taking his eyes off Emmett's dismal expression. “The last time we were invited to a costume party was about, what, five years ago now. Rosalie made Emmett go as a medieval Lord. He had the tights and the doublet, and the most ridiculous shoes you’ve ever seen.” He dissolved into laughter.
“Are there pictures? Please tell me someone took a picture.” This was something I had to see.
“There aren’t any pictures, do you honestly think I would have let anyone take a picture f me looking like that?” He said morosely. “I’d have burnt them by now if there actually were any.”
Jasper reigned in his laughter just long enough to tease Emmett some more. “Just think, Rose wasn’t even pissed at you then. Imagine what she’ll make you wear this time!”
Emmett looked utterly horrified. “Don’t worry Emmett, this time tomorrow Rosalie will have forgiven you. If we do a good job tonight, she might even let you choose your own costume.” I tried to soothe him, but the look on his face made me wonder if it was a lost cause.
“What’s happening tonight?” Jasper asked.
“Bella’s taking me shopping, I’ve got to get something for Rosie.” I knew why Emmett was reluctant to answer, he didn’t want to rub his relationship in Jaspers face.
“An apology present?” Jasper wasn’t stupid.
“Er, yeah, I suppose so.”
“I’m I invited on this little shopping spree?” His tone was casual, but hope on his face was so strong that I had to look away.
“Think we can fit him in the truck Bells?” Emmett joked, much more at ease now that he could see Jasper wasn’t bothered by his romantic plans.
“Oh, I don’t know, it’ll be a bit of a squeeze.” I tried my best to sound serious, but Jasper had seen right through it, and relaxed. Suddenly, a few hours in Port Angeles looked a whole lot brighter.
________________________________

The only lesson I had alone with Jasper was art. When we’d worked through our schedules, Edward had persuaded me that it would be good to take something creative. He’d tried to convince me to sign up for music with him, but as I couldn’t play any instruments, and I knew I had a horrible singing voice, I’d gone for art lessons instead.
At the time I hadn’t even known Jasper was taking the class, and had been surprised to find him sitting at the back of the room that first day.
We’d had a table to ourselves and I’d automatically sat as far away from him as the table allowed, remembering the distance he always tried to maintain between us.
For the first three weeks of term we’d spoken very little in the art room, and had stayed as far apart as that first day. Now our stools were almost touching and we spent the double period in comfortable silence or animated chatter.
I was by no means an artist. Whatever I drew was accurate and proportional, but it lacked any life for some reason. Miss Fenwick told me that I didn’t put enough passion into my work, she said I had to let my feelings flow onto the paper. I had absolutely no idea how to do that.
I usually spent a good portion of the lesson watching Jasper work. It was much more interesting than trying to work out why everything I drew looked so flat. I’d been entranced watching his progress since the very first lesson as I’d sneaked glances out of the corner of my eye.
His pictures were beautiful, so real you felt like you could just pluck them right off the page, but that wasn’t what held my attention. It was the look on his face as he worked.
It was as if everything else fell away the moment charcoal touched paper. He had the look of a small child waking from a good dream. Still just a little bit sleepy and serene, half way between fantasy and reality.
He had never caught me looking, as he was always too absorbed by what he was doing. I usually wasted half an hour trying to decide what to draw with, and how to start, whereas he just picked up whatever was closest and began.
Miss Fenwick wasn’t in the room when we arrived, but it wasn’t unusual for her to be late. Once or twice she walked in ten minutes before the lesson was due to end, looking surprised to find students in the classroom.
“What do you think about having a shield? You didn’t say if you believed it.” Jasper asked me.
“I hope Emmett's right.” I shrugged.
“Why do you hope so?”
“It would be nice to do something good for you if I can, maybe for the whole family one day.”
“Bella, what do you think you’ve been doing for the last week? You couldn’t have done more for me if you’d tried, you’ve put me back together. I won’t pretend that this sudden privacy isn’t welcome, but you’ve already proven you’ll do anything for us, for me.”
His voice was alive with some emotion I couldn’t place, it made me feel sort of happy and teary at the same time. I reached out and took his hand into my lap, unable to find the right words to thank him for understanding what I felt for the whole family.
I started thinking of Edward again, why couldn’t he just accept that I loved his family? Why couldn’t we ever sit together like this, and just be happy for no real reason at all? Jasper squeezed my hand and I felt a giggle bubble up inside me. I stuck my elbow in his ribs knowing he had done that to cheer me up.
“Do you want to talk about it?” He whispered.
I shook my head. It was between me and Edward, and it should stay that way. Jasper didn’t look upset by my reluctance to confide in him the way I knew Edward would have.
I had to stop comparing them, there was no point in it. They were two completely different people, and my relationships with them were poles apart.
I tried to think about how Edward would treat me if we were just friends, but it was impossible to see him that way. What would it be like if Jasper was my boyfriend? That was frighteningly easy to imagine.
It would be just like this, but with kissing. I felt my stomach flutter at the thought, and couldn’t stop the image of his lips against mine from springing into my mind. I felt my cheeks flush as I willed myself to think about something else. I could not think about him that way. Ever.
“Your emotions are all over the place today. What’s got you all excited?” He laughed.
Thank god he could only read my feelings and not my mind. He would be horrified. I knew my cheeks must be crimson by now as I shook my head and stared down at the desk.
I tried to get myself under control, the little wave of calm Jasper sent my way helped. So I’d thought about what it would be like to kiss him, that wasn’t such a big deal. I knew that most of the girls in the school had probably thought about that at some time or another.
So what if I was with his brother, it was ok to look right? It’s not like I actually wanted to kiss him. No, that would be wrong, and gross, yeah that would just be weird.
I was so grateful when the teacher finally walked in that I could have hugged her. It took my mind of my less than virtuous thoughts. Jasper finally stopped frowning at me as she began to speak.
“Ok kids, for the next two weeks we’re going to be working on a project. I want you to think of something you’ve seen, and wished you had a camera. Just a little moment in time that you’d like to be able to see again. This will be the first and only time this year that you will be working from memory, and I’d like you to draw or paint the scene exactly as you remember it.” I knew immediately what I wanted to paint.
“You can use any medium, but I would like you to remember that we only have two weeks, so don’t be too adventurous. You may begin whenever you’re ready.”
For once, I didn’t waste any time. Quickly setting up an easel so that my back would be to the wall, I found a medium sized canvas and secured in place, took out my water colours and began to paint. I usually steered clear of paints because of my clumsiness, but they felt right for this, so I’d just have to be careful. I wanted this picture to be exactly right.
I already had most of the background blocked in when I noticed that Jasper hadn’t moved. I’d never seen him hesitate for even a second before.
“What’s wrong?”
“I don’t know where to begin.” He said, looking as surprised by that as I was.
“Surely, you can think of something you’d like to be able to see again and again. In all your years and all the places you’ve been, you must have seen something beautiful.”
“I’ve seen so much that nothing really stands out. That’s the problem.” He gazed across the room at nothing.
“Why don’t you just do a few sketches, it might give you an idea, and it will keep Miss Fenwick off your back.” I couldn’t wait to get back to my own painting, I had a feeling it would turn out to be my best.
Jasper opened his sketch pad and flipped through the pages. He had never shown me the pictures in it, but I had caught a few glimpses of Alice, and a few other members of the family. I went back to my easel. I understood the look on Jaspers face as he drew now, I felt like the picture was coming right out of me onto the canvas, I liked it.
Two minutes later I saw Jasper walking towards me and quickly stepped around the canvas so that he wouldn’t see it. He raised an eyebrow at my reluctance to let him see, it wasn’t something I’d done before.
“I’ll show you when it’s finished. If it turns out as well as I hope it will.” I told him, and was glad when he didn’t press me for a reason.
“There are no photos so I thought you’d like this.” He smiled, handing me a bit of thick paper he’d torn from his pad. On it was a perfect drawing of a sullen looking Emmett all decked out in his medieval finery. It was as good as a photograph, better even.
I bit my lip hard in a useless effort not to laugh too loudly. “Thank you, this has got to be the best blackmail material on earth.” I giggled, tears forming in my eyes.
I stuck the picture in my pocket for later and moved swiftly behind my canvas as I saw the teacher heading in our direction. “Mr Hale? This isn’t like you, what’s the problem?”
“I’m a little stuck for inspiration.” He shrugged.
Miss Fenwick smiled. “It’ll come to you. You work quickly enough, so it doesn’t matter if you don’t make a start today. And what’s this? Is Miss Swan actually painting something?”
That comment would have irritated me if I hadn’t liked the scatterbrained woman so much. “I think I finally found that passion you keep talking about.” I smiled.
“I can see that. I think this is going to be magnificent, you must have found your muse at last.” With that she wandered off to impart her words of artistic wisdom on Eric.
“Will you at least tell me what it is you’re painting?” Jasper as curiously, bored with his own sketching now.
“Nope.” It was sort of embarrassing, but if the picture turned out the way I hoped it would, he’d understand why it was an image I’d like to keep. If it turned out badly, he would probably just think I was weird.
“Fine.” He huffed, opening his sketch pad again. “What shall I draw? I’ll think of something for the project later.”
“Draw me a picture that I can put on the wall in my room. It needs brightening up a bit.” My hand seemed to fly across the canvas as I spoke, painting the picture of its own accord. I wasn’t worried that I was rushing it, I could add the little details later.
Jasper didn’t speak again for the rest of the lesson, and I didn’t look up until the final bell shrieked through the room.
Jasper wasn’t at the table, which was now completely covered in pastel dust. I scanned the room and found him at the front spraying fixer on a large sheet of thick paper. I couldn’t wait to see what he had drawn for me.
As I reached him held out the picture for me to take, looking a little nervous. It was beautiful. In the centre of the page stood a grinning Carlisle with me up on his shoulders, my hair flying about in the breeze. To one side of us was Esme, gazing up at her husband lovingly, a small smile on her face. On her right was Jasper looking up at me with a similar expression, making me realise that he must care about me as much as I cared about him.
Behind us stood Edward, looking worriedly up at me, the expression on his face was so perfect that it made me laugh. Further off in the background Rosalie and Emmett were pushing at each other, but they looked seconds away from kissing.
I half expected the picture to come alive at any moment, the colours were so bright, our faces so alive. I must have been staring at it for quite a while, because eventually jasper cleared his throat and tried to take it back. “You don’t have to put it on your wall, I could do one of just you and Edward.” He offered.
“I want it. It’s perfect, you couldn’t possibly have given me anything I’d like better.” I hugged him careful not to crumple my picture. “I think I’ll get a frame for it while we’re out.”
“Emmett will send out a search party if we don’t hurry up, he’s not really the patient type.” He brushed off my compliments and turned towards the door to leave. I hadn’t noticed that the classroom had cleared out.
____________________________________________

As soon as I saw Emmett I started laughing, the image of him in tights still fresh in my mind.
“Where’ve you two been? The bell went fifteen minutes ago. And what are you laughing at?” He growled.
I couldn’t speak, so I pulled the paper out of my pocket, showed it him for half a second and stuffed it back in so he wouldn’t have chance to get it away from me.
His eyes went straight to Jasper. “You better run Whitlock.” He grinned evilly. Jasper just laughed.
“Be a good boy Emmett, there are humans around” I sing-songed.
He groaned. “I’ll get you later.” He promised.
“If you promise to be a good boy, and not try to kill Jasper, I’ll let you drive.” I knew he wouldn’t pass up a chance to get behind the wheel.
“Scouts honour.” He said saluting.
“You were a boy scout?” I couldn’t imagine it. I couldn’t imagine Emmett ever being small enough to be a boy scout.
“I might have been.” He shrugged walking around to the driver side and getting in.
“You were weren’t you?” I giggled again, he was like a walking comedy today. “How many badges did you get?”
“All of them.” Apparently, this was a very serious subject for him, it wasn’t as funny if he wasn’t embarrassed so I let it drop and climbed in next to him. Emmett took up a lot of space, and once I got in, there was very little space left for Jasper.
“I could run.” He offered.
“Don’t be stupid. We can fit.” I climbed out again, got Jasper to get in the truck and sat on his knee.
“Buckle up Bells.” Emmett yelled over the roar of the engine. Jasper wrapped his arms around my waist in response. Life was good.
Very little was said during the drive, as Emmett felt the need to have the radio on as loud as possible, but it was comfortable. I wasn’t sure if Jasper was doing it deliberately or not, but the whole cab seemed to flood with peace and happiness. If only things could stay exactly like this.
Once we were in Port Angeles and out of the truck, Emmett started playing at scaring people we passed in the street. He didn’t have to try very hard, his physique alone, had many people crossing the street to avoid our group. The others got growled at if they got close enough.
“Don’t make me put copies of that picture all over school Emmett.” I threatened as group of boys my age fled the street under Emmett's glare.
“You wouldn’t dare.”
“Oh yes I would.” I stepped quickly behind Jasper and out of his reach.
“Jasper won’t be around forever Bella.” He huffed. “I’ll get you later.”
“Who says I won’t be around forever?” Jasper smirked. “I’m not going anywhere. Give it your best shot, I bet you can’t get past me.”
Emmett started circling us, a huge grin on his face. There wasn’t much he’d rather do than fight. But people were beginning to stare at us. “Guys? You can play later, we need to get done before all the stores close.”
Emmett and Jasper straightened themselves up and smiled sheepishly at the bewildered shoppers nearby. I rolled my eyes at them grabbed their hands and pulled them away from the crowd.
“Where are we going exactly?” I asked Emmett.
“I was hoping you knew of a good place around here. I haven’t got a clue where to start.” He frowned.
“I buy expensive jewellery all the time Emmett.” I muttered sarcastically, looking around at the stores for some inspiration.
“I know of a little jewellers not far away.” Jasper told us after a few minutes of us just staring at each other. “I need to go there anyway.”
I didn’t want to ask why he needed to go, the only reason I could think of involved buying something for Alice, and that didn’t seem likely.
We had to walk through a lot of alleys in the rougher part of town to get there and I was reminded of my brush with the four men the night Edward had taken me for dinner. I would have been a little scared if I hadn’t have had Emmett and Jasper with me.
We’d been winding away from the front for almost twenty minutes when Jasper stopped us. If he hadn’t pointed it out I would have missed it. The shop was tiny, with one small window out front that gave no indication of what we could expect to find inside.
Jasper opened the door and an old fashioned bell tinkled from somewhere above. The man who appeared was smaller than me, with very dark skin, and very white hair. His face was round and his smile welcoming. I liked him already.
“Ah Mister Whitlock, back so soon? And you’ve brought family, how nice.” He showed us into a cluttered sitting room, every surface was covered with little trinkets. I felt like I’d entered the cave of wonders.
“Would the young miss like something to drink?” The old man asked politely, making me wonder if he knew what Jasper and Emmett were. He didn’t offer them anything.
“Yes please.” I turned to the others as soon as he had left the room. “Does he know?”
“I think so yes. I haven’t told him, but there isn’t much that gets past him. He has a keen eye.” Jasper seemed very at ease here, whereas Emmett looked like he was afraid to break something if he moved.
The old man returned and handed me a tall cold glass of iced tea. “Thank you Mr...”
“You shall call me George little one.” He smiled.
His smile was contagious. “Thank you George, it’s delicious.”
“No rest for the wicked I suppose. Down to business.” He turned his eyes on Jasper.
Jasper swallowed a few times. “I’d like to cancel the last piece I asked for, I’ll still pay of course.” He said tightly.
“There will be no need of payment. I did not start making it. I knew it would not be needed.” George said simply. Jasper looked amazed. “What can I do for your brother?”
“Diamonds.” Emmett said. “I’m in trouble and I need something pretty, preferably with diamonds.”
“I have just the thing.” George chuckled and began rummaging about in a draw. He eventually pulled out a very dusty velvet box. This had to be the world’s oddest store, there were no display cases, no cash register I could see, nothing that I’d expect to find here.
He opened the box for us all to see. Lying on the black velvet pillow was a diamond necklace. The chain was a slender white gold rope with a single circular diamond hanging from it. It was very beautiful, very classy, and very Rose.
“Perfect.” Emmett said gleefully. “What do you think guys? Will that be enough?”
George smiled and closed the box. “It will be enough if you give it to her in the right way.”
Emmett nodded enthusiastically and pulled out the wad of notes he had taken from my truck. While he was busy paying, I wandered around the room. On a shelf I found a collection of crystal animals, each no bigger than a sugar cube.
I picked up a little red tiger, perfect in every detail. “No, no, no. You’re not ready for that one.” George laughed startling me. “This one is yours.”
He handed me a swan no bigger than the nail on my little finger, carved from cornflower blue crystal. “It’s beautiful.” I breathed, holding it on the palm of my hand.
“I think it has been waiting for you.”
I smiled up at George. He certainly knew how to make a sale. “How much is it?”
“I told you, little miss, it’s yours. It is not mine to sell.” He took my hand and closed it carefully around the ornament.
“I can’t accept this, please let me give you something for it.” I begged, but he silenced me with a look.
“I have a feeling you will be bringing business my way soon enough.” He said cryptically. “It has been a pleasure to meet you, but I must get back to work. I trust you can see yourselves out?”
Jasper had to pull me from the room, I was still staring at the place George had stood, trying to think of some way to make him let me pay.
Outside the sky was darkening and the air had turned cold.
“How did you find that place Jazz? That guy is great, I’ll go there again next time I’m in trouble.” Emmett was completely content now that he had a way of getting back into his wife’s good books.
“It was before we moved here, I drove down one day to have a look around and George was standing outside. He invited me in and found me something to give to Alice. I haven’t bothered to look anywhere else since then.” Jasper told us.
“I liked him. He’s a little strange, but he seems like a nice man. He called you Whitlock, was that your name?” I asked.
“Once upon a time.” Jasper smiled. “We’d better get back to the front.”
“What did he mean when he said I wasn’t ready for the tiger? And that I’ll be bringing him business soon?”
“I don’t know about the tiger, but I expect he thinks Edward is likely to buy you something from there. He does have a knack for knowing things.” Jasper said.
“Oh no, please don’t tell Edward about that place. I don’t want him buying me things.” Then I remembered that I still held the delicate little swan, and how likely I was to drop it, or fall with it and crush it. “Could you keep this safe for me?”
Jasper took it from me and looked at it like it was dangerous, but he did tuck it into the pocket on his shirt. “Right Emmett.” He said. “Let's go and rent you a yacht for the night. She’d like that wouldn’t she?”
______________________________________
I dropped Emmett and Jasper off at the end of the drive and drove home. Charlie would probably be in by now, and he’d be worried.
Charlie was standing by the phone when I got in. “I was just going to call you. Where have you been?”
“I went up to Port Angeles.” I told him and went into the kitchen to make a start on dinner. I was suddenly ravenous.
“Were you with Cullen?” He was still wary of me spending time with Edward.
“I went with Emmett Cullen and Jasper Hale. Emmett wanted to get a present for Rosalie.”
“Which one’s Jasper?”
“He’s the tall blonde one, he used to be with Alice.” I told him patiently.
“I don’t know who you’re talking about, I never saw a blonde boy.” He was always suspicious of anything I did involving the Cullen's, because he usually thought I was trying to hide the fact that I was with Edward.
“Hang on a minute.” I ran out to the truck and took out the picture Jasper had done in art. I unrolled it on the table for Charlie to see.
“Did you do this Bells?” He asked awed.
“No, Jasper did it for me, I’m going to put it up in my room, I bought a frame while I was out.” I watched him take in the picture. “That one’s Jasper, there’s Emmett and Rosalie, you already know Edward, Carlisle and Esme.”
“How long have you been friends with that Jasper kid? I haven’t heard you mention him before.”
“Not long, I didn’t spend much time with him before Alice left, but we’re good friends now.”
“He’s a good artist, I’ll give him that. When did this happen?” I assumed he was talking about the scene in the picture.
“The weekend before last we all went on a picnic. Carlisle and I won the piggy back race.” Charlie didn’t seem so suspicious now that he could see that I had, at least at some point, spent time with the whole family.
I made up some sandwiches and handed Charlie his, deciding to take mine upstairs to eat after I’d put the picture up. I struggled upstairs with the huge frame and the plate, feeling quite triumphant when I reached my room without incident.
Edward was sitting on my bed. “Couldn’t you have told me you were going out? I’ve been worried.”
No ‘did you have fun’, or ‘hello’, straight to telling me off. “Sorry Edward. You could have called me.”
“You should have told me. What if something had happened? I wouldn’t know where you were.”
“Nothing did happen though, and if it had I was with your brothers, I’m pretty sure they can handle anything.” I wanted him to go, I was too tired to deal with him right now.
“That’s not the point, were supposed to be together. You should have waited until I could take you.”
I’d had enough. “I didn’t go because I needed anything, I went because I wanted to help Emmett out. This has got to stop Edward, you’re suffocating me with all these rules and restrictions.”
“I just want to keep you safe.” His silky voice and crooked smile weren’t going to work this time.
I tried to keep my voice down so that Charlie wouldn’t run upstairs. “I need… I need some space Edward. I can’t live like this, with you checking up on me all the time. I want you to…”
What did I want? I loved him very much, but I felt trapped. I didn’t want to break up with him but I couldn’t see another way of making him understand.
“What are you saying Bella?” His voice was low, dangerous.
“Just… give me a week. I need a week to think about things. You have to stay away from the house. I’ll see you at school, and if you think you can manage it, we can try being friends.” I could feel myself shaking, saying these words felt like tearing myself in two.
Edwards’s eyes were almost black, his hands clenched into fists at his sides. “And after a week?” He gritted out.
I took a deep breath to calm my nerves. I couldn’t quite believe what I was saying. “Then we see if there’s anything left.”
“This is all because of Jasper isn’t it?” He was smiling now, it was much more unsettling than his growls.
“This has nothing to do with him at all. Leave him out of it. This is between me and you.”
“Leave him out of it? Why are you protecting him? What does he have that I don’t? I love you for God’s sake Bella. I’d die for you!”
“Edward. This. Is not. About. Jasper. I want you to leave now, I’ll see you at school tomorrow.”
He glared at me for what felt like forever, then fled through the window without saying anything more. I sat down on my bed and cried until my eyes were dry.
I didn’t want to be on my own, and there was only one person that I wanted to see right now. I open my cell and dialed.
“Jasper?”
An: I know it was long, but there didn’t seem to be a good place to stop until now. Hope you liked it, don’t forget to review x
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Destiny Awaits