Adult-FanFiction.org : Books

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
- 16
- 17
- 18
An: Thanks for all the reviews, you make my day, every day. Some of them are so wonderfully complimentary I feel all teary lol. Hope you enjoy this.
Lots of love to my fab beta ladyofkeegan!
Chapter Seventeen
She’d woken up in the night after a bad dream, but all she’d done was mumble my name and search for my hand. As soon as she was holding it, she’d fallen asleep again and she’d barely moved or made a sound since then. Bella was even more beautiful when she was sleeping peacefully like this. She spent so much time trying to please everyone else that she was often stressed and it showed. It was good to see her relaxed for once.
I wanted this to happen every morning from now on if possible. Watching Bella wake up was the highlight of my day and I’d done it two days in a row now. The great thing is that it was ok, Charlie knew about it and even bought me a camp bed. I felt like part of the family.
I just wished I could see what Bella saw me as. Her emotions had been all over the place for the last few days, often changing before I had a chance to grasp what they were. I’d felt a lot of love, as always, but also a lot of guilt. She was often excited but it never lasted long.
On the outside, she usually appeared to be happy in my presence but her swirling emotions told a different story. In truth, I had very little idea of how she felt about me at all. She must love me, at least a little bit though, or she’d avoid me and she certainly wouldn’t look to me for a shoulder to cry on.
I’d thought about that kiss almost constantly since it had happened and I was still deeply annoyed that I’d missed my chance to kiss her back. What if it had been more than the punch that had made her kiss me? I didn’t think she felt anything for me but friendship or at worst brotherly love. Friendship I could work with but if she was already thinking of me as a brother, I had no chance at all.
I frowned remembering the conversation I’d overheard between Esme and Carlisle last night.
“He loves her you know. I asked him about it and he denied it, but it’s obvious.” Esme had stated before they were even in the car.
“Are you sure you’re not just seeing what you want to see?” Carlisle had chuckled and I’d heard her slapping at him playfully.
“You know I’m right.” She’d teased. “You didn’t see how they were sitting. When I walked in he was rubbing her feet. If that’s not love then what is?”
“Yes Esme.” Carlisle had given in by this point, knowing he wouldn’t win against Esme. “Giving a foot rub always means you’re in love with someone.”
She didn’t seem to notice his slight sarcasm and moved onto Bella. “And Bella, I hadn’t thought about it until today, but she was so angry when she found out we were blaming him. And look at how much time she spends with him. Surely she’s falling for him too. Everything will work out fine, you’ll see.”
“Don’t interfere. Leave them to it.” Carlisle had begged, but I hadn’t heard her answer as they’d pulled away.
Knowing Esme she’d start dropping hints as soon as she saw me. I just hoped she wouldn’t start on Bella.
I heard Charlie coming out of the bathroom and heading towards our room. I was tempted to let go of Bella's hand and turn away from her, but decided against it. I didn’t want to hide anything from him that I didn’t have to. He was trusting me with his daughter, and he deserved to see the way things really were.
He stood in the open doorway and I awaited his reaction. A flicker of anger at first, smothered by worry and then a happy acceptance. From where he was standing he could clearly see that the cot was pushed up against the bed and how close we were lying and even that we were holding hands, but he was beginning to like what he saw. I wanted to open my eyes and tell him how grateful I was that he was allowing me this, but I didn’t dare.
Things were going so well, but I knew that today could be a turning point. There were two things to worry about. Bella's reaction to my painting, and the dinner tonight. I wasn’t worried about dinner. It would be awkward, and uncomfortable for me in more ways than one, but Bella would still like me at the end of it.
The painting was the thing that worried me more. It was stupid of me to draw her but I couldn’t think of anything else. From the moment Miss Fenwick had told us to draw something beautiful that we wished we could see again and again, all I could picture was Bella's face.
She’d know what it meant as soon as she saw it, I was sure. When I’d begun I hadn’t even realized I was falling for her, not really. It hadn’t occurred to me that she was the only thing I could see because she was the only thing I wanted. Because she was everything.
I couldn’t pinpoint exactly when I’d fallen in love with her, it had crept up on me without my permission or even my knowledge. Before Alice had left I’d liked her, I found the way she had been willing to give up her life to save her mother fascinating, and the fact that she had worried about all of us more than herself even more amazing, but I certainly hadn’t loved her.
With Alice around there hadn’t been room to love anyone else. Sometimes, and I could barely believe this now after everything that had happened, I’d wished Bella away. She made my lack of control more prominent but it hadn’t been her that had scared me out of the house, it had been my desire to protect her. Even before I’d gotten to know her, I’d known that she was important.
If she left me now, it would be far worse than when Alice left. Even thinking about it made me want to wake her up and hold her, make her promise again, that she would always be here.
But she won’t always be here. Some sadistic voice in my head told me. What if she doesn’t want to be a vampire anymore?
That wasn’t something we’d talked about. What if it was true? She’d wanted to be a vampire so that she could spend forever with Edward. She didn’t want Edward anymore, so it followed that she wouldn’t want the forever either. She was free to live a normal life now, to go to college, get a job, marry someone. The thought was torturous. I could see her in my head, standing in front of a house with some nice normal boy like Newton, her stomach swollen with child and his arms wrapped around her middle.
She could have all of that now, everything Edward ever wanted for her. I knew it was selfish but I didn’t want that for her. I wanted her to be strong like me so she would always be safe. I wanted her to be able to defend herself when I wasn’t around. I wanted her to be with me. Forever.
I could make her happy, if she’d let me. I’d do anything for her and I wouldn’t stifle her, the way Edward had. There would never be anyone else for me, it was something I was certain of. I’d loved Alice very much, and I supposed I always would in some ways, but Bella already outshone her by miles, and I loved her more with every passing minute.
Whenever I thought about her I got a strange, full feeling in my chest, and the urge to laugh and cry all at once. When I was with her the feeling was stronger, and I basked in it whenever I wasn’t busy trying to work out how she was feeling.
A quiet click from outside distracted me and I listened carefully for a threat, but it was only Rosalie getting into her car. I assumed she’d already checked it for scratches.
Bella grumbled something unintelligible beside me and slowly opened her eyes. She looked at our joined hands and then up at me with a breathtaking smile. I was wrong. She was more beautiful now than she had been when she was asleep. I felt my own lips turning up and mirroring hers. The warm, full feeling intensified.
“Good morning.” She breathed, still smiling.
“Sleep well?”
She frowned, blushed and let go of my hand. “Y-es, fine thank you.” The almost constant love and guilt were back, this time with just a little nervousness. She scooted down to the end of the bed and stood carefully, testing the weight on her ankle. Please ask me to carry you.
She smiled vaguely at me before leaving the room. I heard the water running in the bathroom and the rattle of the pill bottle, and worried about how much pain she was in.
She probably wouldn’t be able to make herself any breakfast, and she’d seemed to enjoy the omelette I’d made her, so I headed downstairs to attempt another culinary creation.
While I mixed the batter for pancakes I heard her shuffling about in the bedroom. With every passing minute she became more frustrated and angry. “Ow.” She cried, and had me sprinting up the stairs to her aid.
“Are you alright?” I checked, crashing into the room with about as much grace as Emmett usually displayed. Annoyance turned quickly to embarrassment and indecision. “What’s wrong? Have you hurt yourself?”
“No more than usual.” She laughed, turning to face me. “I can’t fasten my buttons with one hand.”
Her shirt hung open over a little pink camisole. I was staring and I couldn’t seem to stop. Get it together!
“C-c-can I” Oh god, I couldn’t even form a sentence. I shook myself, hugely thankful that all my staring and stuttering had only taken a second. She might not even have noticed. Now be a gentleman!
“Would you like me to help?” That was good, right? I didn’t sound too eager and offering to button up a shirt was surely ok.
“S-s-sure.” Well at least I wasn’t the only one having speech problems. She was looking at me weirdly. Oh right, I was supposed to be helping. I stepped towards her and held the bottom edges of the shirt together to fix the first button. My fingers didn’t seem to want to co-operate. Vampires are not supposed to fumble, but I could feel the heat of her skin through the thin cotton and it was distracting me.
I finally managed to get the stupid bit of plastic through the buttonhole and risked a glance at her face to see if she’d noticed my less than brilliant co-ordination. She was biting her lip and watching my hands move towards the next button. I sucked in a breath in an effort to calm myself down.
This was torture. No other word for it. All I could feel was nerves and lust, was that me or her? I couldn’t concentrate enough to find out, but something told me that she was unlikely to be turned on by my fastening her shirt. Maybe if I was taking it off instead.
I took another deep breath and squeezed my eyes shut to get my mind out of the gutter. Why had I offered to do this? What good could come of it? I rushed over the other buttons at vampire speed, not daring to let my hands linger any longer.
“All done.” I smiled hoping my voice didn’t sound quite as strained as I thought.
Bella tilted her head back to smile up at me, a faint blush tinting her cheeks. “Thanks.” She whispered, and her warm breath brushed across my jaw. As I looked down into her eyes I realized how close we were still standing. All I needed to do was lean down a couple of inches and our lips would touch. Why not? Just a friendly little peck, that's all.
I moved forward an inch and gauged her reaction. She was still smiling but I was still too fogged up by my own lust and nervousness to feel her emotions. Another inch, she smelt delicious, but it wasn’t just her blood, and her big brown eyes seemed to be dragging me closer.
“Is something burning?” She asked, snapping me right out of fantasy land. I stepped back from her quickly, horrified. I didn’t know what bothered me more, the fact that I hadn’t got to kiss her, or the fact that I’d been about to try in the first place. “I can smell smoke.”
I sniffed the air and found that she was right. Running downstairs I berated myself for my stupidity. What had possessed me to try to kiss her? I had no idea how she felt about me yet, kissing her now could wreck everything. I needed her in my life even if she was only ever a friend, I couldn’t scare her away.
Well, the pancakes were black. They were practically welded to the bottom of the pan and smoke was curling into air above them. Bella came down the stairs slowly, gripping the banister and she was laughing so hard she almost fell. I caught myself wishing she had slipped so that I could catch her.
“’S not funny.” I grumbled attacking the blackened mess with a knife which bent and then snapped. Bella just laughed harder and slumped into a seat at the table. “How do I fix it?”
“It’s not really fixable.” She giggled. “The coating’s burnt off the pan. Throw it in the bin, but rinse it under the tap for a minute first, we don’t want to burn the house down.”
“Sorry.” I mumbled, doing as she asked. I’d wanted to do something nice for her, and instead I’d ended up wrecking her stuff. “I wanted to make you breakfast.”
“Maybe you should stick to omelettes in future.” She sighed going over to the cupboard for a cereal bar. “Would you mind driving today?”
It took me a few seconds to understand what she’d asked as I’d been busy turning the almost kiss into a real kiss in my head. I had a very vivid imagination.
“I... uh... yes. I mean no, I wouldn’t mind.” There was something wrong with me.
“Are you feeling ok?” She frowned.
“Perfect.” I gave her my best smile, trying to cover up how much she was affecting me. I did not stutter. I did not fumble. And I certainly never got nervous. Except when I was with her.
Was this what falling in love felt like for everyone? I had no experience. I’d been alone and depressed one minute and with Alice the next. She told me that she’d love me and I would love her, so I did. It was as simple as that. There was none of this hiding feelings and stumbling over my words. I hated it. How was I ever supposed to get Bella to like me if I couldn’t even string a coherent sentence together?

Emmett was leaning against his car in the parking lot when we arrived, grinning like an idiot. “I bring gifts.” He shouted far too loud as I helped Bella out of the cab. “I’ve got clothes and homework for Jasper and information for Bella!”
He threw a dufflebag at me, and I recognized Esme's scent all over it. She’d started already. This was a clear sign that she didn’t expect me to come home for a while. I didn’t mind in the least, I’d stay at Bella's forever if she’d let me.
“So, guess what happened this morning?” Emmett sang poking Bella when she didn’t answer immediately. “C’mon, guess. I bet you can’t.”
“Rosalie ran away with the milkman and you’re going to join the circus?” She grinned poking him back.
“Nope. As if Rosie would ever leave me.” He laughed.
“Are you actually going to tell us what happened?” I was getting impatient.
“Right, yeah. So, Eleazer called this morning, to tell us that Edward is hiding in their basement.” He burst out laughing, not recognizing how un-amusing Bella found his story. She was worried and annoyed in equal parts. “D’you think he’s scared we’ll beat him up?”
“No, I think he’s probably feeling pretty ashamed.” I corrected quietly, hoping he’d drop the subject.
His eyes flicked to Bella. “Well so he should!” He grumbled back.
I put my arm around her. “You ok?”
“Hmm.” She didn’t look ok, and she didn’t feel ok, but I didn’t want to push her, especially not out here where Emmett was likely to make some stupid comment that would only upset her more.
Emmett dragged her off to the gym, where I knew she’d spend an hour and a half sitting out because of her wrist, and thinking about Edward. She was feeling guilty again, and I hoped she wouldn’t talk herself into giving him another chance. I knew she wasn’t stupid, and she was angry with him for what he’d done, but she always wanted to please everybody, often overlooking what she wanted herself.
Spanish was spent watching the clock. The hands moved more slowly than they ever had before and every little ‘tick’ felt like it was vibrating through me. For the first time ever, when the teacher asked me a question, I was completely stumped.
I was thinking about the almost kiss, the possibility of Bella taking Edward back, the possibility of Bella finding out I loved her, and how slowly the clock was moving. There was no space left in my head for the irritating man who spoke worse Spanish than I did.
I felt the general surprise of the class as I failed to answer a second question. There was another thing to add to my list of strange, love induced behaviors; constant distraction.
Only five minutes left now until I could see Bella again. It was an eternity. My whole life up until this point had passed more quickly than the last eighty minutes. I literally ached to be beside her again. I was even jealous of Emmett for god’s sake, simply because I knew he could see her right now. He was in the same building as her, he could probably even pick out her heartbeat from all the other noise around him if he wanted to.
Two minutes. I could live with that.
Who was I kidding, no I couldn’t. I groaned as I remembered that she had biology later, while I had chemistry. Another ninety minutes when I’d be forced to endure the miserably slow passage of time. At least I’d have Emmett with me then, he’d keep me occupied. A little. Maybe.
I should have convinced her to skip school today. Her injuries were easily to excuse enough and I could have spent the day looking after her. Or more likely, she’d have spent the day making sure I was ok. I loved her for that. Actually, I pretty much loved her for everything.
The bell rang, and I hadn’t even noticed those last two minutes passing! Now all I needed to do was walk to Math like a human and not fly across the school like I wanted to. This would be a real test of my control. I casually shoved past everyone who got in my way and walked far too quickly through the door.
“Where are you rushing off too?” said the sweetest voice from behind me and I whipped around, almost knocking down Lauren Mallory in the process. I didn’t wait to see if she’d recovered her balance before I shoved my way back through the fractious crowd towards Bella.
She was leaning against the wall outside the door to my Spanish classroom smiling at me.
I bit back the ‘I love you’ that tried to escape as I reached her and asked her “What are you doing here?” instead.
“I sneaked out early.” she grinned. “No one noticed, not even Emmett.”
She’d sneaked out to meet me. I was jumping about on the inside. When had I turned into a love-sick teenager? It was mortifying. I was glad no one else could see what I was thinking and feeling. Calm down! She sneaked out to meet her best friend, not to marry you!
I wrapped my arm around her and chanced kissing the top of her head. That was allowed or at least it should be. She rested her head against my shoulder and I felt tenderness coming from her. But what did that mean? Was that the type of brotherly love I’d been dreading?
“How was Spanish?” she asked as we walked slowly to our next lesson. There was no rush now that I was with her.
“It was... boring.” That seemed like a safe answer, and it wasn’t entirely untrue.
“Gym too” she laughed. “I couldn’t wait for it to end.”
As we walked down the hallway I noticed several people whispering and looking at us. I’d thought the rumors had died down, but apparently not. With a bit of luck they might be true soon. I listened in on one conversation and heard a sophomore telling her friend that Bella and I were a couple, I liked the sound of that.
Someone else was regaling a whole group of friends with a story about me beating up Edward, he even went as far as saying that he was in hospital recovering. That one was interesting, and not one I’d heard before. I wondered where he’d heard it. Bella was becoming uncomfortable, she’d noticed all the staring too.
“Ignore them” I whispered, hoping she wouldn’t pull away from me in an effort to squash any gossip, but I needn’t have worried. She snuggled further against me and my heart soared.
As we entered the classroom all the students fell silent and Bella tensed again. I squeezed her shoulder and led her to our desk where Emmett was sitting with an incredibly suspicious expression of innocence.
“What have you done this time?” I muttered sitting down. Bella pulled her chair as close to mine as possible. She did that a lot. I filed it away to think about later.
“Nothin'” he grinned in an overly offended tone. “I get the blame for everything.”
“That’s because things are usually your fault.” Bella laughed, relaxing into taunting Emmet.
“That’s not true.” he pouted. “I only do about half the things I get the blame for. Anyway, have you heard the latest rumours yet?”
“Do you mean the one’s about me putting Edward in the hospital?” I glared at Emmett. I was sure he had something to do with this.
“That’s even better.”
“Better than what?” I growled.
“Uh, nothing... I just didn’t s- hear the part about him being in hospital.”
“You have to be the worst liar I’ve ever met.” Bella said rolling her eyes. “You started that rumor didn’t you?”
“Nope.” He grinned across at her and licked his lips. “I said that Edward and Jasper fought over you, and Jasper won. I may have also mentioned that Edward had gone away for a while to lick his wounds.”
“Why would you do that? Don’t you get enough attention as it is?” She was angry, but she was also fairly amused.
“Well, I thought, we’ve got to explain Edward’s absence somehow and we might as well do it in style. See, this way, Jasper’s reputation gets a boost, and no hormonal boys will be sniffing round you cuz they’ll all think you’re taken.” He was actually proud of his story, but Bella's mounting anger told me he wouldn’t be feeling that way for long.
“What if I want to go on a date?” she said dangerously. Emmett looked a little fearful. “What if Jasper wants to go out with someone? Did you even think about the fact that this is yet another thing that will have to be explained to Charlie? I’m telling Rosalie.”
“Oh god, please don’t,” he begged. “I’m sorry, I’ll tell everyone it was a joke, don’t tell Rosie on me. I can’t take another sex ban this soon, and I’ve only just got the jeep back.”
Bella stared him down for a full minute before she started laughing. “I’m not that bothered really you big lug.” She giggled. “But it would be nice if you discussed things like this with us in the future.”
He actually wilted. “So you won’t tell Rosie?”
“Your secret’s safe with me.” She smiled and then turned to face the front as the lesson began. About five minutes after we’d started work she ripped a scrap of paper out of her book and handed it to me under the table.
We are getting him back for this : )
I felt myself grinning in anticipation, I couldn’t wait until we were home so we could plot against the man who claimed to be the master of pranks.

Chemistry wasn’t quite as bad as Spanish had been, but I found I couldn’t even listen to Emmett, let alone be distracted by him. I was too busy worrying about art again, there was only lunch left between now and revealing my picture to Bella. I suddenly wanted to slow time down instead of speeding it up.
Bella barely touched anything at lunch and she was feeling almost as nervous as I was, but she was also excited. My curiosity took my mind off things a little.
Something else that was keeping me occupied was what Bella had said to Emmett. She’d said ‘what if I want to date’. Was that true? Did she want to date? And if so, who? It better not be Newton, he’s not good enough for her. So I’m lying to myself again, no one is good enough for her. I’m not good enough for her, but I’d love her better than anyone else.
On the other hand, she was sort of joking when she’d yelled at Emmett. She might not have meant it at all. She probably wouldn’t want to get into a relationship this soon after breaking up with Edward. Any relationship. I didn’t know how long I’d be able to conceal my feelings. Which brought me right back to my picture and we were conveniently right outside the door to the classroom.
All the easels were exactly where we had left them at the end of the last lesson, except that they’d been covered with dust sheets and turned to face the middle of the room. I got more nervous and felt Bella do the same. I wished she was calm so that I could feed off her emotions to calm myself down.
We strolled towards our section at the back of the room, equally hesitant to reach it.
“Ok class, I want you to present your paintings to whoever you’re sitting with and explain why you chose your subject. I’ll come around and speak to you all individually.” Miss Fenwick just had to choose today of all days to turn up on time and start the lesson quickly didn’t she.
“Ladies first?” I tried, hoping to hold off the inevitable a little longer.
Bella gaped at me and shook her head. “No, show me yours first, please?” How could I refuse her?
“Ok.” I said. “Ok.” I stood in front of the easel to block it from her view as I removed the sheet. It had taken me a grand total of seventeen tries to get this right, and I still wasn’t completely happy with it. I prayed that Bella wouldn’t read anything into it. But how could she not?
“Oh” Bella gasped peering over my shoulder.
I felt the need to explain quickly. “It’s... it’s the way you looked at me. That's the thing I wish I could see again and again. You looked at me like I was something special, like I was worth something. And I wanted to keep it.” I knew I sounded defensive, but I wasn’t even sure she was listening.
She was feeling happiness, sadness and love. No guilt this time. Her eyes were glistening with tears as she stared at the charcoal sketch. I’d drawn her the way she’d looked the first time she saw me in the sunlight, my perfect recall making it easy to remember every detail. She’d been wearing my hat and cradling a hot mug of tea, her mouth slightly open and an expression of wonder in her eyes. It was the way she’d looked in the split second before I’d turned to face her fully.
No one had ever looked at me quite the way she did.
Out of nowhere her emotions changed to amusement and joy and she started laughing. “What? It’s not that bad, I know it’s not my best, but you don’t need to laugh.” I groused.
She could barely speak through her giggles. “It’s... not that... it’s beautiful... you’ve made... me far too... pretty. But look... come and see mine.”
I wanted to tell her that I hadn’t made her too pretty, the opposite was true, I hadn’t been able to make her beautiful enough, but my curiosity was piqued so I followed her over to her canvass.
She pulled off the sheet with a flourish, all traces of nervousness gone, and what I saw shocked me speechless. I understood why she was laughing. She’d painted the opposite of my picture. It was me lying in the grass by Esme's roses.
Only it didn’t look like me, really. The Jasper in the picture looked more like a god than a man, glowing faintly in the sunlight. It looked like something out of a fairy tale. Bella was looking at the world with different eyes than everyone else, I was sure. If this was how she saw me it was no wonder she’d looked at me the way she had.
The happiness, sadness and love were all my own this time, and I understood exactly how she’d felt when she’d seen the picture of herself. In the bottom corner in tiny writing, she’d written ‘Perfectly Imperfect’ Bella Swan.
I wanted to tell her everything, but all I could do was stare between the painting and her face as she ginned at me.
“Is that really how you see me?” I finally choked out.
Her smile softened and she reached for my hand. “I see you exactly as you are.”
“Ahh... young love.” Miss Fenwick sighed as she reached us. I was sorely tempted to snap her neck for interrupting. Bella blushed brightly and released my hand. “I don’t think these need much of an explanation, but I do wonder why you’ve both chosen to draw what you can see whenever you want to anyway. I asked you to paint something you’d once seen that you wished you could see again.”
“I haven’t just drawn Jasper, Miss, it’s the way he looked in that particular moment.” Bella mumbled avoiding my eyes. “He was the most beautiful thing I’d ever seen.”
I knew Miss Fenwick had started discussing Bella’s technique, but I didn’t hear a word. She’d said I was the most beautiful thing she’d ever seen! Me! She thought I was better looking than Edward! I was truly touched, but my ego was swiftly taking over. I felt like strutting around the school telling everyone I met that Bella thought I was beautiful. And she’d even seen some of my scars.
“Jasper?”
Miss Fenwick seemed to be waiting for me to do something. I should probably have been paying attention. Bella, still blushing nodded pointedly at my picture and I took the hint.
I didn’t want to tell her about the way the pictures were linked, that was private, a secret between Bella and I, so instead I told her about my failed attempts. She didn’t ask any more questions after that and left us to it.
I glanced at Bella wondering where we stood. She was pleased, amused and relieved. Did that mean she knew how I felt, or that she didn’t? She’d painted me. Did that mean she felt the same way I did? I wished I had the confidence to come out and ask her.
We sat down at our desk and I could almost feel the awkward barrier dropping into place between us, but apparently, Bella could not. She shifted closer, as always, until we were bumping shoulders. I relaxed as her body heat spread through me. She was happy enough to sit quietly with her own thoughts, so I took a bit of time to analyze her.
Certain things told me that I was in with a chance, but it all came down to interpretation. For example, every time she moved closer to me I wondered why. Was it something she wanted, or was it something she did because she thought it was what I wanted?
She’d made more of an effort to make me get to know Charlie than she had with Edward, but why was that? We had become very close, very quickly, was she just introducing me to Charlie as her friend? Why was Charlie allowing me to stay at their house? Did he like me? Or had Bella told him that we were like brother and sister? I hoped it wasn’t the latter.
I’d heard the others talking of course, and I knew why Bella had made such an effort to help me. It was simply because she had made a promise to Alice. I knew that that had changed now, Bella genuinely liked spending time with me, and she trusted me more completely than anyone else ever had. But was she spending more time with me than she wanted to because of the promise she’d made almost a month ago?
“What are you thinking about?” Bella whispered, kicking my foot under the table.
Honesty. I could be honest about this without worrying her, and I’d know if she was lying. “I’m thinking about the promise you made to Alice.”
“I didn’t know you knew about that.” She muttered flushing.
“Well I do, I’ve known since the beginning. I wanted to know if you’re still keeping your promise.”
She frowned at me and I felt her confusion. “I don’t know? Am I helping you? You’re the only one that knows the answer to that.”
“Of course you’re helping me, but that isn’t what I meant. I was wondering if you’re spending so much time with me because Alice asked you to.”
“Jasper, I haven’t even thought about that promise since the weekend she left. I like being with you.” She explained, and her emotions changed to worry. “Do you... do you not want to spend so much time with me?”
“How could you possibly think that?” I reached under the table for her hand. “Best friends, remember?” I mentally cringed.
She relaxed instantly. “Ok then. Looking forward to dinner?” She giggled.
“Can’t wait.” I scowled at her.
“Sorry. I’ll try to make it as bearable for you as possible, and I’ll do my best to keep Billy off your back.”
“I’ve been meaning to ask about that. Charlie said something about his prejudices, and you were really uncomfortable when he said they were coming for dinner. What's the problem?”
“You must know about the treaty, right?” I nodded. “Well Billy’s a descendent of whoever made the treaty, and he believes in all the mythology.”
“Mythology?” I laughed. “It’s all true. Or do you think that us being vampires is all an elaborate hoax?”
She rolled her eyes and laughed. “Of course not, but to most people, all the old Quileute legends are just mythology. Even Billy’s son Jacob doesn’t believe that you’re really the ‘cold ones’.”
“So... dinner’s going to be a riot then?” I laughed uncomfortably.
“It will be fine. I’ll protect you from Billy.” She smiled squeezing me hand.
“You’ll protect me, will you?”
“Yep.” She managed to keep a straight face, but I knew she was perilously close to laughing. One raised eyebrow pushed her over the edge and into a fit of giggles.
She shrieked abruptly and almost fell off her stool in her haste to look under the table. “You nearly gave me a heart attack!” she whispered loudly as Emmett’s head appeared.
“What are you doing in here?” I asked him as he smirked up at us.
“My class got out early so I thought I’d come and wish you luck with dinner and see what you were doing.”
“But why are you under the table?” Bella scooted her chair away so he could stand up between us, but he chose to remain on the floor, glancing around suspiciously.
“I didn’t think your teacher would like me barging in, so I crawled really fast. It was like something out of Mission Impossible, only more fun and without Tom Cruise.” He edged out a bit and looked around again. “Isn’t this supposed to be an art lesson?”
“It is an art lesson.” Bella said looking pointedly at the room full of canvasses and art supplies.
“If it’s an art lesson why were you just sitting here holding hands under the table?” He smirked. “Where's your paint and stuff?”
“We’ve finished for today.” I told him.
He looked over my shoulder at my picture of Bella and started laughing, and whispered “You got it bad.” Too quietly for Bella to hear. I knew it was obvious. So either Bella knew, but wasn’t bothered, or she’d become exceptionally unobservant. Childishly, I wished that Emmett would notice Bella's picture and make some snide comment to her too, but of course he didn’t.
“What’s for dinner then Bells?” Emmett asked when he’d calmed down.
“Pasta.” She told him. “And no, you can’t come.”
“Didn’t want to anyway.” He said. “I don’t like pasta. I just want to be able to imagine how much fun Jasper’s having later when I’m bored.”
“Thanks Emmett.” I shook my head at him. “You really know how to make me feel loved.”
He shrugged. “You don’t have to go to dinner, you could have just said you were busy. It’s your own fault, so don’t look at me like that.”
After laughing at my picture again, we watched him crawl out of the room and saw him ducking around the windows once he was outside.

“So, I was thinking we could photocopy that picture of Emmett in costume and put it up all over the school tomorrow morning.” Bella suggested as she added the tomatoes I’d chopped to the sauce. She put me in charge of making a salad now, not trusting me near the oven so soon after this morning.
“You do realize that if we do that he’ll keep trying to get us back? And it whatever he does won’t be pretty.”
“What can he really do though? I can’t think of anything truly awful he could do to us, and let’s face it, it’s not like either of us have a sparkling reputation to worry about.” She was less bothered by that fact than I’d expected her to be.
“Well, let’s look at what he’s tried so far, getting you to think you’ve fallen for Carlisle, bleach in your shampoo, the Denali’s all over Charlie and spreading rumours this morning.” I counted. “Not that all of those worked, but he doesn’t have a limit on how far he’ll go. If you put that picture up...”
She turned to give me a mischievous smile. “Let him try. I’m putting it up tomorrow, I’ll even go to school early.”
“Fine. I’ll help you, but if he asks I had nothing to do with it.” Actually, I’d happily take all the blame.
“Do you need to hunt before dinner?”
“No, I’m fine.”
“Are you sure? Charlie will be home in about an hour.” She was always so concerned.
I didn’t feel very thirsty, and the smell of the food was putting me off eating all together. Besides, if I hunted now I’d lose half of what I drank later when I had to bring up the human food.
“I’m sure. I think this salad is done, what should I do now?” As I finished speaking we heard someone pulling into the drive.
“Stick it in the fridge and keep an eye on the sauce for me? I’m going to see who that is.” As she walked to the front door I started to feel the emotions from whoever was outside. Hostility, anger and worry from one person. Excitement, desire and impatience from another. I didn’t like it and I was tempted to stop Bella from answering the door, but I didn’t want to be like Edward. I listened carefully, instead, ready to go out there and get rid of whoever it was if need be.
“Bella!” The voice was young and happy and definitely male. I scowled to myself.
“Hey Jake. Billy. You guys are early.” She laughed uncomfortably, but she was still fairly calm. “Come on in, Charlie’s not home yet.”
The sounds of them moving into the house confused me at first, only one set of footsteps, and the quiet squeak of wheels. I worked out that one of them must be in a wheelchair.
“Make yourselves at home. Would you like a beer Billy?” It was clear that despite her worries about how Billy would behave towards me, she actually liked these people, and I resolved to make tonight as easy as possible for her.
“Wouldn’t say no.” Billy said gruffly.
“D’you want a soda Jake?”
“Please.” I could hear the smile in his voice, and I wasn’t at all fond of his feelings, but he seemed harmless enough. “How long will dinner be? I could eat a horse.”
“A while yet, sorry. I could get you some chips?” Bella offered. “I can’t believe how huge you are, you must have grown a foot since I last saw you.”
Jacob laughed, and I could feel his pleasure at her comment. I would need to keep an eye on him tonight. Bella came back into the kitchen and went to the fridge for beer and soda.
“Do you want to meet them now?” She asked, struggling to open the beer.
I took it from her as I contemplated hiding out in the kitchen for a while longer. I didn’t actually have chance to make a decision as Billy rolled through the door and stopped short as he saw me.
“The leech is here, then?” He growled to Bella without taking his eyes off me. “Can I speak to you alone?”
Bella looked at me and I left the room, taking the soda and chips with me. I’d be able to hear everything that was said anyway.
“Cullen.” The boy on the couch nodded at me, smiling as he saw the food. He looked familiar in a vague way, maybe I’d passed him on the street once.
“Hale.” I corrected him, trying to smile non-threateningly. “It’s Jasper Hale.”
I sat on the opposite end of the couch and waited for him to speak. He was glaring at me. “You’re that kid they said Bella was sleeping with.”
I resented being called a kid, by someone I was probably ten times older than, but I couldn’t exactly say that. And it would probably best for everyone if I explained the situation.
“That was all just rumors, and it was mainly Edward’s fault. Bella and I are just friends.” I aimed to keep my voice calm as he stared at me.
“Good.” He said firmly, turning back to the TV. I didn’t think we were going to become friends. I could hear Bella poking about in the cupboards as she tried to avoid Billy.
“That boy is no good.” He started. “He’s not safe to be around.”
“I’m grateful for your concern, honestly, but I know what I’m doing.” Bella said evenly.
“But you don’t, you don’t know what he’s capable of.”
“I do Billy.” She sighed, impatience creeping out. “I know. I know what he is.”
“How can you know?” He was very surprised that Bella knew about us, and it made him uncomfortable.
“I figured it out.” I could hear the smile in her voice as she moved about the kitchen.
“They are dangerous creatures Bella. I don’t know what they’ve told you, but they aren’t safe, they’re killers.”
“Do you see this Billy? Do you know what it is?” I was dying to run into the kitchen and see what she was showing him, but I kept to my seat.
“A bite! They’ve broken the treaty.” He was equal arts horrified and excited. It worried me.
“No, they haven’t broken it. I was bitten by another vampire who was travelling through the area. Do you remember the accident I had in Phoenix? I didn’t fall down any stairs, I was attacked by a vampire. The Cullen’s risked their own lives to save me. Edward fought his blood lust to suck the venom out of the bite and Carlisle stopped me from bleeding to death. Emmett and Jasper killed one of their own kind to keep me safe.”
“Don’t tell me that I don’t know what they’re capable of, because I do! I’ve seen it first hand, I felt it. You’re the one who doesn’t understand. If it weren’t for them I’d be dead, several times over and I love them all. They are family and you will respect that. You don’t have to like them, but while you are in my house you will be polite to my friend.” She was furious with him. “His name is Jasper, and you will use it. He is a good man, and he deserves to be treated like one.”
I wanted nothing more than to sweep into the kitchen and kiss her. She called me a good man.
“So... D’you like cars?” I gaped at Jacob. My brain struggled to catch up with his words, still lost in Bella's speech.
I cleared my throat. “I’m more of a bike man.”
“Have you got one?” Jacob asked, turning to face me and pulling his feet up.
“But Bella-” Billy said in the kitchen.
“No Billy. That's the way it is, if you don’t like it you can leave. No one is forcing you to be here.” She snapped.
“I’ve got a 2003 Harley-Davidson VRSCA V-Rod.” I might have enjoyed this conversation if I wasn’t so busy eavesdropping on the one in the kitchen.
“Cool.” Jacob said, grinning now. “You should come down to La-Push…” He trailed off realizing his mistake and I felt his frustration and confusion.
“Don’t worry about it. Parents, huh?” I wanted to put him at ease, remembering that I’d promised myself I’d make things easy for Bella.
“So… where’s the other one that’s usually hanging around Bella? Edward, I think?” Jacob was obviously trying his best too.
“He’s gone to stay with family for a while, he and Bella broke up.” I told him distractedly. I couldn’t hear anyone speaking in the kitchen now, and I wondered how long it would be until I could go back in.
Jacob swelled with anticipation and desire. “They did? That’s good.” He grinned.
I wished I hadn’t told him I was only Bella's friend now. He would probably spend the rest of the night flirting with her, meaning I’d have to spend the rest of the night trying not to kill him.
“I’m going to see if Bella needs any help.” I muttered moving to the kitchen as slowly as I could manage.
Bella was setting the table while Billy glared at the stove. I could tell he was trying to make a decision. His eyes snapped up to meet mine. “I’m sure you heard all that.” He spat. “And while I will respect Bella's wishes, you should know that we’re keeping an eye on you. You can tell your family that there are wolves on the reservation again.”
Bella's previous emotions were taken over entirely by curiosity. “There are werewolves in La Push? Real ones?” She gasped.
Billy nodded and quietly made his way out of the kitchen. “Did you know?” She asked me.
“No. As far as we knew the last of the wolves died years ago. These must be a new generation.” I typed out a quick message to Carlisle as I spoke. The wolves shouldn’t cause us any problems, but it was always better to be informed. “Thank you for what you said. It meant a lot.”
Bella shook her head and smiled. “It was all true. Did you speak to Jake?”
I scowled. “I did.”
Bella frowned at me. “You didn’t like him?”
“I don’t really have an opinion of him.” I lied sniffing the sauce.
“He’s great once you get to know him, and he’s not like Billy, remember. Give him a chance.” We heard Charlie coming home and Bella dumped a huge amount of pasta into the waiting water. Charlie greeted his friend and all three of them came into the kitchen. I wanted to leave, Bella was the only human I was used to spending any length of time with, and I felt uncomfortable.
“Smells delicious Bells, do I get a taste?” Jacob was standing far too close to her for my liking.
Bella laughed and held out the spoon for him to try some sauce. I tried not to let my jealousy get the better of me and went to the counter to grate some cheese for Bella. I couldn’t help but watch them as he teased her, trying to get more of the food and more of her attention.
Well I wasn’t going to let him stop me being close to her. I crossed the kitchen and stood behind her, thrilled when she leaned against me. I was stupidly pleased when the boy noticed my hand resting on her hip. “Don’t I get to try the sauce?” I whispered, loud enough for both Jacob and Bella to hear.
She frowned up at me no doubt wondering why I would needlessly put myself through the horror of human food. I smile reassuringly and she shrugged and held up the spoon for me to taste. “Best I’ve ever eaten.” I said honestly. It was the only time I’d ever tried it. The tomato sauce wasn’t quite as bad as I’d imagined, but still pretty terrible.
Bella giggled and elbowed me so I’d let her go. She gave me a look which promised an interrogation about my odd behavior later. I helped her serve up the plates, avoiding the garlic bread which smelled worse than anything else.
Bella sat between Charlie and Jacob, leaving me to sit between Charlie and Billy. I wasn’t happy.
No one spoke for a while, except for making the odd noise of appreciation for the food, and the atmosphere was slightly tense. Only Jacob seemed totally at ease, shovelling his food down like he’d never been fed and grinning like an idiot at Bella.
The worst part of it was, Bella returned all his smiles, and every time he smiled at her she cheered up a little. I made him feel slightly lethargic hoping he would pay less attention to her, but it didn’t work. I pushed another forkful of the food into my mouth and swallowed quickly, trying to hold back a grimace. Bella smiled sympathetically at me, but the boy claimed her attention again almost immediately.
“That was great Bells, is there any more?” Not wanting to be outdone I cleared my plate quickly and held it out for more too. Charlie grinned at me doing the same and Bella looked confused as she dished up more pasta.
When Jacob took one of the dreaded pieces of garlic bread, so did I, and whenever he made a comment about the food I made sure to make a better one. I think he might have caught on to what he was doing, because after a few minutes he slung his arm across the back of her chair. I growled quietly and tried to convince myself not to kick him under the table.
I glared at him when his hand came to rest on Bella's shoulder and he whispered something to her making her laugh. I was so busy trying to control myself that I didn’t even hear what he said.
Bella tapped my foot with hers and smiled at me. For a minute I felt better, knowing she hadn’t forgotten about me but it didn’t last long. I felt a short surge of lust coming from her and she blushed. Did she like him? She couldn’t could she?
I’d ask her later.
Finally everyone had finished eating and moved back into the living room so I was able to get rid of everything I’d eaten. It wasn’t a pleasant experience. When I got back to the kitchen Bella and Jacob were hugging and she was agreeing to go and see him soon. I was already forming plans that would keep her too busy to head down to La Push.
I started washing up as Bella couldn’t really do it with her brace, and she cleared the table and put the small amount of leftovers in the fridge. “So.” I kept my voice casual. “You like Jacob then?”
“Yeah.” She smiled. “He’s a nice kid.”
I liked the fact that she’d called him a kid, but she hadn’t quite answered my question. “I meant, do you like him?”
“No, what on earth made you think that? He’s sort of like the little brother I never had.” She laughed.
“You seemed close, and he certainly likes you as more than a friend.” I shrugged. I wanted to chase after the Blacks and tell him he didn’t have a chance. On the inside I was grinning from ear to ear.
Bella didn’t answer me and I worried that I’d made her uncomfortable by mentioning Jacobs’s feelings.
I splashed some sudsy water at her to cheer her up and she scooped up a handful of bubbles and smeared them over my face. Charlie came in and laughed at the state we were in.
“I was just going to put a movie on.” He informed us. “Why don’t you two clean up and come watch it.”
Bella agreed and started towards the stairs.
“And if you’re staying again you’d better call your parents and make sure it’s ok.” He grinned at me and left me standing in the kitchen, beaming at my reflection in the window. Dinner had gone well.
An: Love it? Hate it? Want to kill me because they still haven’t confessed all? Let me know x
- 16
- 17
- 18
You need to be logged in to leave a review for this story.You need to be logged in to leave a review for this story.
Report Story

Destiny Awaits