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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
- 21
- 22
- 23
An: I am SO sorry. This chapter was really hard to write for some reason, and I’m still not happy with it, but I can’t look at it anymore, so I’m posting it. I should also warn you that my Beta hasn’t seen it as I wanted to get it up before I received any more death threats.
Chapter Twenty Two
Jasper
I yanked my arm out of Emmett's grip and ran for myself, rather than being dragged into the woods. My brother was ‘thinking’ hard. He was angry, but not as much as he had been earlier. I suspected Rose had gotten to him and decided to thank her later. I might have to make another trip to see George soon to pick up a few bribes for her. I had a feeling a few diamonds would convince her to keep Emmett out of the way for a while. Failing that I’d hand her two tickets to Paris, she loved it there, and she’d force her husband to come along for the ride.
My mind quickly drifted to everything Bella and I could do if we had a little privacy. She seemed as eager as I was to get some ‘alone time’. I thought of the look in her eyes just before she’d pressed her warm lips against my jaw. The skin there burned in response. My mind quickly turned to other places she could put her lips if we were ever left alone for long enough.
Amusement encroached on my rapidly building lust and I took in my surroundings. I’d stopped running, how had that happened? Carlisle was standing in front of me with a shit eating grin on his face.
“What?” I growled. He’d interrupted my fantasies.
His smile widened. “Is there any particular reason you’re standing there with your eyes rolling back in your head?”
I growled again. I could tell by his face he knew exactly what had distracted me enough to leave me staring into space in the middle of the woods.
“Jasper!” Emmett growled from somewhere ahead of us.
Beside me, Carlisle laughed.
“Come on son, you’re only prolonging the torture by hanging about here.”
I glared at the ground and started walking at human pace towards what was sure to be an irritating conversation. I was twice Emmett’s age, what right did he have to tell me what to do? He was keeping me away from Bella. Then I realised that I was keeping myself away from her by dragging this out, and I started running.
We found Emmett standing in a small clearing on top of a fallen tree. He had his hands on his hips, and a stern look firmly fixed on his face. It was a gesture I was sure he’d picked up from Rosalie, and he looked ridiculous. I tried not to laugh.
Fifteen minutes later I was still waiting for him to begin. I was getting bored. Carlisle was still enjoying the situation, and for the very first time since I’d met him, I wanted to hit him.
The three of us stood, completely still and quiet and it was driving me nuts.
Finally Carlisle got bored too. “Come on, make a start I’m sure you’ve got lots to say Emmett, and Esme has plans for us all tonight.”
What plans? I hoped she hadn’t included me and Bella in those plans. I had plans of my own.
Emmett sighed loudly and hopped off the tree to sit down on it. He looked expectantly at me, and I sat beside, just out of arms reach. Carlisle sat on my other side, grinning again. I ground my teeth and waited.
“We need to have a very serious talk Jasper.” Emmett began. “About boundaries.”
I said nothing, Carlisle sniggered. This was not funny at all.
“Now I know you love Bella, we’re not debating that.” Did he know how serious he sounded? Or how stupid? I doubted it. “And I know you’re used to having sex on tap with Alice, and that you’ve been going through a bit of a dry spell lately.”
“What?” I tried to keep my voice level.
He looked at me as if I was the idiot. “You haven’t been getting any since Alice left right?” He pointed out. Then he got angry again. “Don’t you tell me you’ve been sneaking off somewhere. If you’ve been cheating on Bella I’ll take your head off.”
I felt my jaw go slack as I stared at him. Carlisle intervened on my behalf.
“Emmett, there will be no violence. And you know as well as I do that when Jasper’s not with Bella he’s moping around the house. Besides, he and Bella have only been together for a few hours, I don’t think he’s had time to cheat on her.” He pointed out. “Perhaps you should try to keep this a little less... personal.”
“Only been together for a few hours?” Emmett laughed. “They might have only just made it official, but he’s been hers for three months now.”
I smiled and nodded at the truth of what he said, and then remembered I was annoyed at him and scowled.
“Back to the point. What I’m saying is, I know what you want to do to my little sister, and I’m just telling you, that you’re not to do it, under any circumstances.”
“She’s not your sister, and what we do is none of your business.” I said calmly. I was quite proud of myself for keeping it polite.
“She might not be related to me, but she’s as close to family as it’s possible to get, and you know it, so don’t give me that bro.” He glared at me. “And yes, it is my business, because I care about her and I don’t want to see her hurt. Even if we overlook the fact that you could actually kill her by accident, there’s still the fact that she’s an innocent little teenager, and you shouldn’t be trying to push her into anything.”
Yet again he left me speechless, and this time polite was out of the window. What the hell was wrong with him? He was like a whole new person. When I got my voice back, my words flew out of my mouth on a snarl. “I would never push her into anything she didn’t want to do. What the fuck are you accusing me of Emmett? Are you suggesting that I’d take advantage of her? She’s not a child, she can make her own decisions, and I will respect them, whatever they may be. And just so’s you know, she is very much up for the things you think I’m going to have to ‘push her into’.” I couldn’t resist that last little dig. I was so sick of people not trusting me.
Emmett smashed into me half a second later, but before either of us could land a single blow Carlisle was holding us apart. Neither of us struggled, the look on his face was enough to dampen our anger.
“I. Said. No. Violence.” He said slowly, setting us down and staying in between us. “Emmett, explain exactly what you meant by that comment.”
I smirked at Emmett, glad that he was the one in trouble.
“Bella would do anything to please you Jasper.” He wasn’t feeling as angry now, but he was worried. “I don’t want her feeling like she has to do things she isn’t ready for. I know you wouldn’t try to make her do anything. I know that Jazz, that's not what I meant at all.”
He was still seeing her as Edward’s Bella. My Bella wouldn’t do that, we actually talked about things. And with my gift, I knew how she was feeling. I could tell she wanted me as much as I wanted her.
“The only thing that pleases me is seeing Bella happy.” I explained carefully. “I know what she’s feeling, and I wouldn’t ever expect her to do anything she was uncomfortable with. She is not the child you seem to think she is Emmett, she has her own mind, and she will make her own decisions, as will I. It’s nice that you love her and you want to protect her, but you will never have to protect her from me.”
“I suppose I know that.” Emmett grumbled. “It’s just that I had a sister once, a real one, and I never liked the idea of any man near her. She was twenty two. Bella’s only eighteen. You should wait a while, let her grow up a little more first. Or better yet, wait ‘til she’s changed.”
He was agreeing that I wouldn’t hurt Bella, but not agreeing to back off. “I’ll wait until Bella’s ready, no longer.”
He growled. “Have you forgotten the issue of the fact that she’s breakable. Edward never did anything with her, and they were together more than six months. You can’t risk it Jasper.”
“Actually, I had some thoughts about that.” Carlisle interjected. We both turned to look at him, curious. “As long as you hunt regularly, I don’t see there being any problems with... um... making out. And before you go any further, there are several things to take into account. Firstly, have you thought about the fact that she might bleed?”
“Stop right there. Bella would be mortified if she knew we were discussing this.” Hell, I was mortified. “I’m sure this is something for another time, perhaps without Emmett in earshot.”
“Of course son. We’ll talk about it tonight.” Carlisle agreed easily.
Emmett’s anger turned on him. “I can’t believe you’re abetting him! Bella is like a daughter to you.”
We started walking back to the house with Emmett still muttering as he followed. Eventually, I got sick of him.
“Tell you what Emmett, you ask Bella if she wants you to keep me away from her, and I promise, if she says yes, I won’t even hold her hand without your permission.”
He looked satisfied with that. I hid a smile, and saw Carlisle doing the same. Emmett was going to get an earful later, and it might even be enough to keep him off my back.
As we neared the house Rose came out of it and dragged her husband right back into the woods. From the emotions she was giving off I only hoped they had the decency to get out of earshot quickly.
Carlisle and I stood side by side, watching Bella and Esme in the kitchen. Both of them were wearing aprons over their clothes as they stood working. Esme was chopping something while Bella stirred several different pans on the stove. Her face was flushed from the heat and her hair was curling and sticking to the side of her head. She was smiling down at one of the pans as if it had made her day.
Esme bumped Bella out of the way with her hip and threw something into the pan Bella had been gazing at. They laughed quietly and returned to what they were doing. I felt Carlisle’s love reflect my own as we watched the women we loved.
How did I get this lucky? To find a love like this must be something special, but to have it returned seemed almost too extraordinary. Absolutely everything had become perfect somehow. The world was a brighter place because I had Bella.
Maybe it was too perfect to last. Surely no one could feel this good for long. What if our love lost its shine? What if something else interfered and took her from me? I couldn’t quite believe that this was all real, that Bella really did love me. How could I, of all people, deserve to feel something this good?
She looked up and caught my eye, her smile widening. She dropped her spoon, splashing what looked like soup onto the counter and ran towards me.
“I missed you.” She whispered as she wrapped her arms around me. And I knew right then that this was for real, and that nothing would ever come between us. She was radiating happiness, and more importantly, contentment. It was exactly what I felt when I was with her. Almost like the missing piece had been put into place, and I could finally relax.
After a few minute of holding each other, Esme called Bella back to the kitchen, so I sat at the breakfast bar to watch. Bella caught me staring and smiled. It was a smile she only ever gave to me, and I wondered why I hadn’t noticed it before. She never smiled at anyone one else in quite that way.
She laughed when I told her about Emmett wanting to talk to her, but she was already feeling embarrassed in anticipation. I hoped Rosalie would keep him busy for a long time yet.
It was strange how watching a human cooking could be the most fascinating thing in the world. Well, as long as the human in question was this one. Despite the fact that she was surrounded by things that could do her serious harm, she displayed no caution, and amazingly, none of her usual clumsiness interfered. She moved around our kitchen as if she had always been in it, which was odd, as Esme did most of the cooking here.
I liked watching her interact with Esme too. They moved around each other as if they were constantly aware of what the other was doing. They even handed things to each other before they were requested, like they were having a silent conversation only they could hear.
Every so often, Esme would glance at me, and feel a sudden surge of triumph and affection. She had finally got her wish.
While Bella ate her soup and Esme cleaned up the kitchen, I drifted off into another daydream. When Bella finished eating, I was going to take her up to our room, and hopefully, pick up where we left off earlier. Carlisle would have raised some sort of real objection if he thought there was a chance of me hurting her, but I’d speak to him about it later anyway.
At least he’d said making out was ok. Hearing him say that phrase had been fairly odd though. It just didn’t sound right coming out of his mouth.
The second she lifted the last spoonful to her lips I took the bowl away from her and washed it quickly. She knew exactly what I was up to, and her sudden pooling of lust only fuelled mine. It took all my concentration not to grab her up and run with her. That would be too obvious.
“Where do you think you’re going?” Esme asked sternly as we reached the foot of the stairs.
We turned back to face her with identical looks of innocence. She didn’t buy it.
“This is our Christmas Eve, and we’re having family time. I have movies and snacks for Bella, and we made eggnog. You two aren’t going anywhere.” My spirits slumped. I didn’t like Christmas anymore, it was getting in the way.
Bella bravely attempted to argue. “But-” She didn’t get very far.
“But nothing. This was your idea.” Esme pointed out. I glared at Bella, when had she had this brilliant idea? “Bella, go and find Carlisle, Jasper, call Emmett and Rose.”
I stepped outside, yelled, and came back in. If they were close enough to hear they’d come home, if not, I wasn’t going looking for them.
Bella followed Carlisle downstairs, looking faintly disappointed as he chattered on about one of the films they were going to watch. She caught my eye and shrugged. We were stuck for a few hours at least.
Emmett and Rose ambled in only mildly dishevelled and both feeling hugely frustrated. At least I wasn’t the only one whose plans had been put on hold.
The four of us slumped into seats around the living room and tried not to glare at our ‘parents’. Bella moved into my lap while Esme started the first movie. All I noticed about it was the title, after that, all my attention was on Bella.
She shifted slightly and I tried to hold her still. First she felt a little confused, then amused and mischievous.
Slowly, she moved around in my lap until she was sitting sideways across me. Her lips brushed mine teasingly, for half a second then she wriggled again and turned her eyes back to the TV. A minute later she rested one hand lightly on my knee and brought the other up to play with the hair at the back of my neck. I knew exactly what she was doing. Minx.
This was the side of her I’d only seen once before, when she’d distracted me with a spoonful of ice cream. It was a side of her I couldn’t wait to see more of.
She shifted again, looking as if she was trying to get comfortable, but I knew differently. And so did a certain part of my anatomy that was currently making himself known. I knew the instant Bella noticed, as her lust bloomed, causing me to pull her in for a kiss which would probably have been better left for a private moment.
Emmett growled, Rosalie smacked him and Esme giggled. Bella blushed scarlet and turned back to the TV. I was disappointed that the game had ended so quickly, but then she surprised me, swivelling her hips and stroking her fingers across the back of my neck.
For the next ten minutes, she continued her wriggling, stroking and occasional kisses, slowly driving me mad. I decided it was my turn to play. First, I ran my fingers slowly back and forth along the strip of skin between her jeans and her shirt. She shivered, but leaned in closer, wriggling a little more. I kissed her neck. She kissed my lips, running her tongue over them for a second before she pulled away.
I swallowed a growl, and ran my hand from her knee to mid thigh. Carlisle cleared his throat, Bella squeaked and clamped her legs together over my hand. I smothered my laughter against her neck, which somehow turned her on even more. This time, when she moved against me, it was involuntary.
I waggled my trapped fingers and Bella opened her legs a little. Then the light came on, the credits were rolling and Esme was walking in from the kitchen. I was beginning to hate my family. We rearranged ourselves a little which was fairly useless, as I could tell by Esme’s face she was aware of what we’d been doing.
While Carlisle put in the next DVD Esme plied Bella with snacks, and a glass of some sort of pale yellow liquid which smelled revolting. The scent coming from the glass was so bad that even Emmett decided not to try it. Bella seemed to like it though.
The light went off again, and I was about to start up the game again. When Rosalie shrieked. “Jurassic Park? Why do we have to watch that again? It’s not a Christmas film!”
Esme sighed patiently. “Emmett went out and bought them, so I said he could choose one. This is what he chose.”
Emmett had watched this movie everyday for a year once, and we were all thoroughly sick of it. Except Bella. She seemed as enthusiastic as Emmett about it. By the end of the movie they were sitting side by side on the floor in front of the TV sharing snacks. Rose was thrilled. I had a good idea of what she was thinking. She’d never have to watch stuff like this again if Bella liked it. I realised she wasn’t only my missing piece. She was the missing piece of the family.
It was almost eleven when the third film finished, and I was hoping to finally be allowed to take Bella upstairs, but the look Esme gave me when I stood up, had me slumping back onto the couch in a second. Apparently, now that we were actually together, she had no intentions of ‘helping’ us anymore. Well that was just fine. I could stand to watch one more movie.
Sadly, Bella couldn’t. She fell asleep ten minutes into It’s a Wonderful Life. I was sorely disappointed, but managed to content myself with the fact that I could hold her however I wanted tonight.
I carried her upstairs and she woke up just long enough to stumble into the bathroom and change. Once she was asleep again I slipped out to speak with Carlisle. His study was the only completely soundproof room in the house, and the perfect place for this conversation.
Luckily for me, he was already in there and I assumed he was waiting for me, as he was doing nothing but sitting at his desk, staring at the wall.
I closed the door behind me and leaned against the wall, surprised at how much I was dreading this conversation. “So...” I began awkwardly. “You had something to tell me about... the ... um...”
He chuckled at me, and I ended up laughing at myself. This was a little strange, but I was a grown man, I’d been a grown man for more than one hundred and fifty years. I wasn’t some snotty teenager with his first crush, and there was no need to feel as nervous as one.
“I’ll keep this brief.” Carlisle smiled, thankfully taking the lead. “You don’t seem to be having any problems kissing her like Edward did.”
“Edward had problems kissing her?” How could they have possibly have had any semblance of a normal relationship if he even found it difficult to kiss her?
“Yes, his blood lust was a constant problem. I don’t believe it was quite as much of a problem as he made it, but yes, it was difficult for him. He also struggled with the idea that he’d be unable to control his strength. How are you finding the blood aspect?”
I thought about it. While I was kissing Bella, I wasn’t thinking about her blood at all. In fact, I didn’t ever really think about her blood. “It’s not a problem.” I shrugged. “My mind is focused on things more interesting than blood.”
Carlisle smirked. “I can imagine. With your mind so preoccupied how do you remember to be gentle?”
“I don’t.” He looked worried so I tried to explain. “What I mean is, it just comes naturally. If I’m holding her hand, I just hold it as tight as feels right, and the same follows for everything else. Honestly, the only thing I’m really struggling with is the desire to run away with her so I can have her all to myself.”
“That makes things easier then.” He smiled. “Now I’m going to assume you’ve done nothing more than kiss so far, and I think that would be a good idea for a while. I think it would be best to slowly work your way up to more, um, dangerous activities. And I suggest that at least until you’ve been out for a real hunt you keep things all about Bella. That way you’re less likely to lose control.”
All about Bella. I ignored him for a while to plan out everything I could do to Bella without getting completely distracted.
“...and as for intercourse” Oh right, we’d moved on time to pay attention and drag my mind back out of the gutter. “You should use protection, just to be on the safe side.”
What? I was hardly going to get her pregnant. “What?”
“Venom son, we don’t know exactly how that would affect her, plus if there’s any tearing and the venom makes contact it could start to change her, and I’m sure that’s not something you want right now.” He explained.
I was going to have to buy condoms. Nervous teenage Jasper reared his head again in horror. Emmett would laugh himself to death if he found out and I would never hear the end of it. It would have to be a covert mission.
I also needed to go on a real, satisfying hunt. “Hunting next weekend?” I asked hopefully. I wouldn’t trust myself to go too far with Bella without being sure the bloodlust was truly sated first. And I didn’t like the idea of having to wait for long.
He gave me that stupid knowing smile again. The one I was beginning to hate. “Leave it to me. I’ll find somewhere for us to go.”
I thanked him quickly and headed back up to our room.
All night I held her and watched her sleep. For the first time since I’d ever spent the night with her she was completely silent and completely still. I missed her muttering, but at the same time, I was pleased she was sleeping so peacefully.
_______________________________________
Bella woke slowly as usual, until she became suddenly excited and sat bolt upright. She looked down at me and got more excited, with surprise and happiness mixed in. She leaned back down to kiss me and I had high hopes of a morning make out session, but they were quickly dashed when she jumped out of bed and ran into the bathroom. Less than five mines later she was back and pulling me out of bed.
“Merry Christmas.” She beamed at me.
I’d forgotten. “Merry Christmas.”
She was giving off the same sort of feelings as a child on a sugar rush. It was exhilarating and annoying in equal measure, but I found I couldn’t keep the smile off my face.
“Make me breakfast while I rally everyone else?” She grinned hopefully. Who was I to refuse? Plus I was secretly thrilled that she trusted me with food again, something she hadn’t done since I’d killed the pancakes and her pan.
Carlisle was waiting in the hallway near our door. I decided not to tell Bella he’d been there since four am, too excited to do anything else but wait for her to wake up. I smirked at him on my way downstairs, letting him know I had something on him now. Emmett would torment him mercilessly if he knew what a kid he was being.
Or at least I thought he would until I found him sitting cross legged by the tree feeling presents to see if he could work out what he was getting. At least the girls were still acting like adults.
“Rose, you have to put pyjamas on or it won’t be right.” Bella complained from upstairs.
“Fine, but you owe me.” She agreed, sounding reluctant but feeling amused.
I could hear Carlisle searching for suitable clothes in his room and Esme joining him to do the same once Bella found her.
Emmett finished prodding the parcels and raced upstairs to join them all. I made Bella an omelette, as it was the one thing I’d successfully made on my own before. I was pretty sure I wouldn’t make a mess of it.
From the kitchen I watched the family gather around the tree, all dressed like they’d actually been to sleep. Bella and Carlisle were by far the most excited, but every moment around the presents brought Emmett and Rosalie closer to the same level of anticipation. Esme just enjoyed watching everyone else be happy.
Bella ran a critical eye over my clothes as I handed over her breakfast. Sweat pants and a long sleeved t-shirt was the closest I was going to get to pyjamas, and Bella looked like she knew it. She shifted closer to Carlisle to make space for me beside her, and then used my knee as a makeshift table while she ate her food in record time.
“Can I have my presents now?” Emmett groaned the second she finished. Without hesitation Bella and Carlisle divided up the gifts between us and we all tore into them.
Rosalie was extremely pleased with most of her gifts, but I noticed her sending thankful glances to Bella, rather than Emmett, who had bought her presents. Maybe Bella had helped him out again. That was probably for the best, I’d seen him buy Rose a toaster for an anniversary. She’d kicked him out of their room for two months, and they were both hell to live with when they were fighting.
I opened my gifts, which were fairly typical, but here again I noticed Bella’s influence, I’d have known she’d helped even if she hadn’t told me. There were books no one else would have chosen for me, and the sort of clothes that I wore because I liked them, and not because of the way they looked.
I thanked Rose, but sent Bella a wave of gratitude. For once she answered me perfectly, without meaning to. Love, my favourite emotion. That was a gift in itself.
She was taking her time opening her gifts, and I was eager to see if she liked any of things I’d found. I had asked Esme for a small amount of help, but I wasn’t admitting to that if I could help it. I’d stretched the budget to the limit, but kept within it, and I was proud of that. The first gift she opened was the least special, just a box of chocolates, but she liked them. I’d almost got her heart shaped ones, but chickened out. She opened them and stuck one in her mouth before she moved on.
The next was a gift basket full of all her favourite bath products, along with a few things I was just hoping she’d like because they smelled nice. This time she grinned at me and sent me her own gratitude.
The next gift was a wide leather belt. This one was a bit selfish. She liked the hat and the boots, and I was hoping that buying her a belt too I convince her to put the whole outfit on again. I hadn’t come up with a good reason for her to get dressed up yet, but I was sure something would come up.
She gave me such a knowing look I ducked my head. It was only a belt. How had she managed to see right through me? I peeked up at her, but she was laughing, not mad like I’d expected. Then she winked. That wink held promises, I was sure, I just didn’t know quite what she was promising.
When she opened the books she spent ages pouring over them and reading all the blurbs. It was driving me mad. I wanted to see if I’d bought the right hair slide. Not that she’d have the others to compare it to, but if it was right, I’d know.
She finally moved on to the last, and smallest box. I smiled as she tensed, expecting it to be some expensive piece of jewellery. She lifted the lid cautiously and then grinned. She was surprised, but she definitely liked it, I could tell that much without my gifts.
I wasn’t all that sure what you were actually supposed to do with it, but I did know it was some sort of hair decoration. Bella seemed to know though. She pulled back a lock of hair from either side of her face and clipped them into place with her gift, effectively holding back most of her hair. The tiny moonstone and sapphire flowers on it glittered in the low light, somehow making her look even more beautiful.
She waded through the wrapping paper to plant herself in my lap. With a quick muffled “Thank you” against my lips, she was kissing me again. I could quiet happily sit here doing this for the rest of my life.
Emmett had other ideas. A miniature version of his jeep roared to life and zoomed across the floor to crash into my leg. Bella turned around, picked it up and set it back down on its roof. The wheels spun uselessly in the air as her lips tangled with mine again.
“For god’s sake, not where I can see!” Emmett growled retrieving his car. He set it down carefully, out of our reach, and then stole Bella to hug her and thank her for his gifts. He put her back down between himself and Rose, where I couldn’t get to her.
He opened his last gift, which was a t-shirt. I grinned when I saw the front of it. It was perfect for him and he clearly loved it. Emmett pulled his shirt over his head, and I saw Bella’s eyes flick across his chest. She felt no desire at all, but that didn’t stop me raising an eyebrow at her and waiting for an explanation.
“What?” She asked, her cheeks colouring slightly. “I might be yours, but I’m not blind.”
The others laughed while I got caught up by the word yours. It was something she never let Edward say. She was willingly saying she was mine.
I tried to tell her with my eyes that I was hers too.
“Bella dear, we have a small gift for you.” Esme interrupted.
“Esme!” Bella scolded. “We did secret Santa, and I don’t have anything for you.”
Carlisle waved her off. “This is only a tiny thing, and it’s not even really a present, we just didn’t think about it until now.”
Bella took the small box and opened it. Inside was a key, and I recognised the pattern of the grooves that meant it fit the front door.
I watched her frown at it, turning it over in her hands. “What’s it for?” She asked nervously.
“The front door.” Esme supplied.
Bella was touched by the gesture, but also confused. “The door’s never locked.” She pointed out.
Esme shrugged and smiled. “We did lock it once.” She pointed out. “Besides, it’s more symbolic than anything else.” There was a lot of love and sappy feelings going around this family lately. I was worried it would turn me into a sissy soon. Then Bella smiled at me and I didn’t care anymore.
Emmett shoved the sofa violently against a wall causing the picture to shake. “Who’s for a game of twister?” He grinned expectantly at us and we quickly got caught up in his enthusiasm.
_____________________________________
Bella
I cheated at twister by keeping a firm hold of Jasper. The Cullen's played the game a little differently than the instructions specified. As they all found it easy to balance, and to stay in one position indefinitely, they’d added an extra challenge. The rules were out of the window, and the object of the game was to make each other fall.
Even hanging on to Jasper I was gone in seconds when Rosalie started tickling me. Esme followed quickly after Carlisle kissed her. Rosalie whispered something to Emmett, and the look on his face as he tumbled made me glad I couldn’t hear what she’d said. “I’ll hold you to that.” He purred at her as he left the mat.
Jasper and Rosalie squared off, looking ridiculous in their awkward positions. Rose looked so determined that if we were gambling again I’d have put all my money on her. And I’d have lost it. Five seconds later she started giggling uncontrollably and crashed to the floor.
“No powers.” She gasped between the still present giggles. “That's cheating.”
Esme and I escaped to the kitchen to make lunch while the others hashed out the finer points of the new rules. I couldn’t help but laugh when Emmett came into the kitchen to ask Esme for paper and pens so he could write out the new rules. It was the sort of thing I used to do. When I was five.
The turkey Esme put into the oven would have easily fed ten. Either she was trying to fatten me up, or she intended to force everyone else to eat with me. Either way, it didn’t look good.
Then she pulled out far too many vegetables too. I was tempted to say something, but I knew she enjoyed cooking for me, so I left it alone. I didn’t want to risk upsetting her today of all days.
I peeled them while she chopped and put them in pans and steamers to cook later. I noticed she was keeping half of the prepared veg back and bagging it up.
“What are they for?”
“I thought we could freeze them, and then you won’t have so much to do tomorrow when you make dinner for you and Charlie.” She smiled, tossing the bagged carrots into the freezer. It was actually a brilliant idea, and I wondered why I hadn’t thought of it myself. A crash in the living room caught my attention, alerting me to the fact that twister had started up again.
Carlisle was wisely sitting out, spinning for them. The crash has obviously come from Jasper and Emmett, who were tangled up a few feet away from the mat.
“What the hell was that?” Jasper growled, righting himself. His hair was all messed up, and I was tempted to run over and play with it, but decided that would probably look a little bit strange.
“Rosie told me to.” Emmett grinned, pointing at his wife, who was still balancing on one hand just to show off.
“Emmett, you were out. You can’t jump on people once you’re out of the game.” Carlisle said patiently.
Emmett picked up his ‘rule sheet’ which I noticed he’d written with different coloured pens and decorated. “It says nothing on here about what players who are out can and cannot do.” He told Jasper and Carlisle smugly.
Jasper snatched up the sheet and handed it back to him two seconds later. I’d only seen him move his hand across it, but I knew what he’d done. “Yes it does. Right there, number seven: Once a player is out of the game they must not interfere. So I win, because Rose cheated by getting you to help.”
Carlisle ended up decided the game didn’t count and made them start again. “I think it was a wise decision to make a start on lunch.” Esme giggled as she watched her ‘children’ tangling themselves up again.
I set myself a place at the table a few hours later while Carlisle carved the turkey and Emmett tried a few things. He’d finally come to the conclusion that he could just lick things to taste them, instead of actually eating them and having to throw them up again later. On the down side, this meant that I had to share pretty much everything with him, and he didn’t seem to think putting his slobbery foods back on my plate was in anyway disgusting. The things you do for family. I rolled my eyes at him as he took a seat beside me and waited expectantly for his first taste of turkey. I turned out to be one of the worst things he’d tried so far.
When I had almost finished I noticed everyone was still watching me, and Esme was holding a bowl of mashed potatoes, waiting to put more on my plate.
“Why don’t you all go for a quick hunt? You should have Christmas dinner too.” I was hoping to avoid exploding from eating too much, and I had an idea Esme wasn’t going to believe I was full.
Emmett was up and waiting at the door within a second. Rose swiftly followed.
“Are you sure? I don’t like leaving you all alone, especially today.” Esme said worriedly, already putting more food on my plate.
“Honestly go, I want to use some of my new bath stuff anyway. Go and have some fun. You’ll be back in a few hours anyway, right?”
Jasper lingered after the others were gone. “Why don’t I stay and keep you company?” He grinned.
“Nope, you’re going out.” I told him, his smile slipped off. “But you could always come back early so we can squeeze in a little time to ourselves.”
His eyes darkened a fraction before he pulled me up for a quick, but heady kiss, and then he darted out of the house to follow the others into the woods.
I washed my plate and covered up the leftovers before taking my basket of bubble baths upstairs. The house was finally quiet and peaceful, and though this morning had been fun, I was glad Christmas with the Cullen's would only happen once a year. I needed to relax.
I’d almost reached our room when I remembered Edward had a bath in his bathroom. I’d been wanting to use it for months, but I hadn’t yet found time. Now I had at least an hour to myself before Jasper would be home, and I could truly relax and try out some of my gifts.
I dug around in the basket, noting that Jasper had played it safe by buying me things I already used, but he’d also picked out a few new things. I found an orange blossom bath bomb that smelt delicious and dropped it into the running water. The whole room filled up with the fragrance as the water turned a pale peach colour. I was slightly worried I’d enjoy the bath so much I’d never get out.
Quickly stripping off my pyjamas I sunk down into the hot scented water. It was heaven. I felt like I was slowly turning into jelly as I relaxed. Everything was perfect, and I wasn’t just thinking about the bath.
I soaked until I was at the point of going pruney, thinking mainly about Jasper. OK, only about Jasper. The only reason I emerged from my Jasper induced daydream, and the bathroom, was because I heard him come home. And I was pretty sure real Jasper beat imaginary Jasper hands down.
In my haste to get dressed I managed to pull a button off my shirt, and fall over twice while trying to stuff my still damp legs into jeans. It could have been worse.
When I reached our room I found him pacing and then he stopped and stared at me. “Have you changed your mind?”
Well that made buckets of sense. “About what?”
“Us.” He said dejectedly.
“Of course not. Where is this even coming from?”
“You were in Edwards’s room.” He seemed to think that one sentence contained a perfect explanation. Well it didn’t.
“What does that have to do with anything?”
“Well you were either in there because you wanted to stay away from our room, or you were in there because you miss him.” He said sadly.
“Or, and here’s a really strange reason, I was in there because I wanted to take a bath and we only have a shower.”
He stared at me dumbly for a few seconds before a smile spread across his face. “You were just taking a bath? We’re ok?”
“No, we’re not ok! I promised you, only yesterday that we were forever and you didn’t trust me. Why? I’ve never given you any reason not to trust me, have I?” I was upset that he was doubting me already, and over such a small thing.
“Alice said we were forever once too and-”
“I’m not Alice.” I snapped. “Jasper, get it through your stupid impenetrable vampire skull. I love you. I will always love you. I’m not going to leave you, and I’m certainly not going back to Edward. Please tell me you believe all that.”
He closed the distance between us in two strides and wrapped his arms around me. “I’m sorry angel, I know you’re right. I shouldn’t have jumped to conclusions like that.”
“No, you shouldn’t.” I mumbled into his chest.
“It’s hard to believe that all this is real sometimes, but I am starting to accept it. I just don’t know what I’ve done to deserve you, or how you can possibly love me the way you do.”
“You’re very easy to love Jasper.” I laughed, remembering how easy it had been to slip into loving him, and how hard I’d tried to ignore it without success. “And there is no deserving or anything else. I love you and you love me. That’s all that matters.”
He held me tighter and I reached up on my tiptoes to kiss him. “Stupid vampire.”
“What did you just call me?” He growled, apparently forgetting our conversation altogether as his hands slid down my back to my ass.
“Sexy vampire.” I amended quickly, praying that this time the family would have the decency to keep hunting for a good while longer. I wasn’t sure exactly what I wanted to do, but I did know I wanted more.
I wasn’t aware that we’d moved, but my back was against our mattress and Jasper was settled above me, his legs between mine. This new intimate position made my cheeks, and my stomach burn.
“That’s better.” He whispered huskily trailing kisses up my neck before claiming my lips. While I was busy being totally unable to think at all, Jasper’s hands slid under the fabric of my shirt and moved slowly over the skin of my stomach before trailing up my ribs, I felt like he was setting me on fire.
Only a fairly desperate need for oxygen had me pulling back from him. Slowly, my thoughts filtered back while he waited for me to catch my breath. What were we doing? Whatever it was, it was more than Edward had ever been comfortable with, and it was driving me wild.
Jasper inched closer, about to kiss me again and I quickly put my hand over his mouth to stop him. “Wait.”
He raised one eyebrow and kissed the fingers covering his mouth. His thumbs moved in circles just below my breasts, distracting me for a moment. I decided the only way I’d actually get to talk to him about what I wanted to was if we weren’t touching at all. I wriggled out from under him and giggled as he scowled down at the empty space below him.
“I just want to ask you something and then we can get back to... that.” I blushed and felt the now almost constant throb beat low in my stomach.
“Ask away.” He prompted, sitting up.
My cheeks burned again as I tried to work out a way of wording my question. “I was, um, wondering, um... I wanted to know, um...” Well this was going brilliantly.
“Yes Bella?” He asked, amusement colouring his voice.
“Well, see, the thing is, it’s just that we’ve already done more, or I mean, been more intimate, I suppose, than I was with Edward. And I just wanted to know where the boundaries are, for you, because I don’t want to be upset and spoil things when you pull away.” I spoke as quickly as I could as if that would somehow lessen the embarrassment.
He frowned and took my hand, stroking his thumb in circles across my palm to relax me. “I don’t quite understand. We haven’t really done anything other than kiss, how could you have done less than that with him?”
“Well, he kissed me, but not like you kiss me. He was worried about his teeth accidentally cutting me, and he worried about the venom too, so we never, um, you know, he kept his mouth closed.” I mumbled avoiding his eyes. “And he didn’t let me get too close to him like this, if I tried to kiss him back like I kiss you back, he would push me away.”
I thought he might think less of me for being so inexperienced, but I couldn’t have been more wrong.
“So I’m the first man to kiss you properly?” He grinned at me.
“I guess so.” I smiled back, hugely relieved.
“So, you want to know what the boundaries are? Well, what are you boundaries?” He asked, running a finger over my wrist.
“Um, I don’t think I have any.” And I was blushing again, I really wished I could control that.
Jasper gave me a delighted smile, but he had a wicked glint in his eyes. “No boundaries?”
I shook my head. “I don’t think so. What about you?”
“I have no boundaries either.” I very nearly jumped on him, but he started speaking again. “I spoke with Carlisle last night, and he gave me some guide lines though.”
I was instantly mortified. “You spoke to Carlisle about our sex life?” And then I was even more horrified that I’d just said sex life, out loud, when we didn’t even really have one yet.
“He asked me to speak with him about it, I think he was just worried about your safety.” Jasper brushed it off, but I was seriously worried that I’d never be able to look my second father in the eye again. “Anyway, he thinks that what we’ve been doing is fine as long as I hunt regularly, which I have been doing, but he suggested we work our way up to more, and that I go out for a real hunt with some decent prey before we go much further.”
“You really mean no boundaries? You mean we can do everything?” He nodded and my body buzzed with excitement and nerves. “When are you going hunting?”
He laughed and pulled me back below him. “Next weekend.” He whispered before kissing me again. “There might be times when I will have to pull away though, and I want you to know that it has nothing to do with you. I’ll only ever pull away from you if I feel like I’m losing control. I don’t want you to feel bad if that happens.”
I nodded mutely, hoping he’d finish quickly so we could get back to making out.
“And I think we should keep things above the waist, just to be on the safe side, at least until I’ve been hunting.” I shivered. His hunting trip was only a week away.
I was sick of talking. If we were going to work our way up to things, we should really start now, and cram in as much as we could. A week wasn’t really very long at all. I pulled his lips back down to mine and kissed him hard. I couldn’t stop the little moan that escaped when his tongue met mine. His answering growl shot straight through my body and I bucked my hips up against his without meaning to. It was like I’d lost control of myself, and I began to understand why this could be dangerous if Jasper was feeling the same way. I just didn’t care.
He ground his hips back against me, letting me feel just how much I was affecting him, and it sent a thrill of confidence through me. I slipped my arms around him and under the back of his shirt so I could feel his skin the way I wanted to. I couldn’t feel enough of him though, and tried to lift his shirt up.
He stopped kissing me as soon as he realised what I was doing and inched back to stare down at me. I didn’t understand the expression that crossed his face. He looked almost afraid. Letting go of his shirt I let my hands wander over the skin I’d already uncovered, ghosting over all the little raised crescents I could feel as I watched him, waiting for an explanation.
As my finger brushed over a larger, more ragged scar his eyes dropped from mine and he shuddered.
I stilled my hands quickly. I couldn’t have hurt him, but I must be doing something he didn’t like. “I’m sorry, should I not do that? Does it bother you?”
His eyes met mine again, incredulous. “Doesn’t it bother you?”
“Doesn’t what bother me?”
“The scars.” He whispered, this time keeping a careful watch of my face.
“No.” I let my hands wander again, and it seemed to bother him much less this time. “They’re just a part of you.” I kissed the one on the side of his neck, the one he said he was proud of, and felt him relax. “And I love all of you.”
I tried pulling up his shirt again, and again he tensed. “You don’t have to do that Bella, I don’t mind keeping it on.”
“Well I mind you keeping it on.” I huffed. The only time I’d gotten to see him without a shirt on was months ago in the hotel, and I hadn’t been in the right sort of mood to enjoy it properly then. Then I remembered the look on his face, the way he’d hated me seeing him without a shirt on, the way he’d covered up quickly. “I’m sorry, you can keep it on if you want to, I don’t mind. I didn’t mean to push you.” I pulled on the hem of his shirt until it covered him up, feeling guilty.
“I don’t mind if you don’t mind Bella. I just don’t want you to have to look at all my scars.” He whispered cautiously.
“Jasper I can’t even see most of them unless the light’s bright, and even if I could, I wouldn’t care. I love you, and you’re the most gorgeous man I’ve ever seen. Honestly.” He gave me a half smile, shifted and then I was staring at his bare chest. He’d taken it off for me.
Who knew when I’d next get an opportunity to ogle him properly, I took full advantage of it. One strong, muscled arm caged my in from either side, but it was the kind of cage I would never mind being trapped in. I pressed on his shoulders getting him to back up a bit so I could see him properly and licked my lips.
“Wow.” I whispered, and then clamped my lips shut to avoid embarrassing myself anymore. I let my hands wander from his shoulders to his biceps and then back up and down his chest, across his pecs and over his abdomen, noting the way every muscle twitched under my touch. The way his hip bones dragged my eye to the bulge in his pants made me blush, but it also made me regret the ‘nothing below the waist’ rule. Part of me very much wanted to see if I could talk him out of his pants too.
My hand detoured on the way back up, moving around to trace his back this time. I had no idea why he was so insecure about me seeing him like this, because scars or no scars, he was utterly perfect. Just looking at him made me tremble. I lightly traced the one scar I could easily see, the one that ringed his shoulder.
Once again he looked away from me. “Why do you let them bother you?” I whispered, not stopping my hands this time.
“They’re ugly.” He shrugged. “And they’re a constant reminder of who I used to be.”
“Yep, who you used to be, not who you are now. I have scars too you know, and if you think they’re ugly, then I’m never going to take my shirt off.” I said playfully.
His eyes widened for a second. “Obviously, I wasn’t thinking straight. Scars are beautiful. I love them.” He grinned. “Let’s see then, I showed you mine.” He waggled his eyebrows, and I instantly regretted saying anything.
I did however have a very nice bra on, and the idea of being almost completely skin to skin with Jasper was a thrilling one. I bit my lip as I debated. Jasper popped the bottom two buttons of my shirt and gave me a puppy dog look that made me giggle. He opened another two and looked up at me again.
I sucked in a deep breath and nodded. It took him less than a second to have the rest of the buttons done and the shirt flying to the other side of the room. I think my entire body blushed as he stared unabashedly at my chest for more than a minute with his mouth hanging open.
“Beautiful.” He whispered eventually, looking back up at me. His hands started at my waist, moving constantly to touch very inch of skin, only pausing to wait for an explanation when he came to the scar over one hip from falling out of a tree when I was little, and again when he noticed one on my side from another accident.
He was kissing his way along my collar bone when his hand finally came up to cup my breast through the fabric of my bra. I stopped breathing for a second as his thumb brushed across my nipple and I arched up against his hand wanting more of this new sensation.
Stupid bra. I bet it would feel way better without that in the way, and I was hot. Surely taking off more clothes would help with that.
My cell rang from somewhere in the room, but I ignored it and pulled Jasper down to kiss him so that he wouldn’t want to answer it either. If it was important they’d ring back later.
The phone kept ringing and Jasper attempted to pull away but I kept hold of him, deepening the kiss and he quickly changed his mind, sliding his thumb beneath the wire of my bra to brush along the bottom of my breast. The phone went blessedly silent as his touch sent a shock running from my chest to my core. I gasped into his mouth and tried to move my hips against his as his other hand got in on the action and moved up to my other breast.
He smiled against my mouth and whispered my name as his hands pushed my bra upwards an inch.
“Off.” I breathed. He wasted no time, and I briefly lamented the loss of his touch as his hands moved behind me to the clasp.
I sat up a little to give him better access and kissed his neck and then the door opened. “Charlie’s on the phone Bella.” Esme called, striding into the room. I froze. Jasper froze. Esme froze. “Sorry.” She giggled closing the door again.
I couldn’t decide whether I was more embarrassed or frustrated. I bit my lip and groaned then swatted Jasper when he chuckled at me. I made a half hearted attempt to get out from under him, giving in immediately when he grabbed my hips to hold me against him as he kissed me.
“Bella? Charlie’s waiting.” Esme called from downstairs. Jasper growled as he released me and it was my turn to laugh at him. I pulled his shirt over my head and barrelled downstairs to speak to Charlie. Being me, I tripped on the last step and went head first towards the ground. Esme caught me just in time, and righted me before she handed me the phone.
“Hi dad.” I said, a little breathlessly.
“Why didn’t you answer your cell?” He asked suspiciously.
“It’s on silent, I didn’t know you’d called.” I lied, my cheeks flushing as I thought about exactly why I’d ignored the call.
“I just wondered what time you’d be home, it’s almost seven.”
I spun around to look for a clock and discovered he was right. I’d been entirely lost in Jasper for almost two hours. “Um, we’ll be there in about an hour. Have you eaten? We could pick up pizza on the way home.” I offered, feeling a little guilty as I’d planned to be home before dinner.
“Sure Bells, sounds great. Extra mushrooms on mine.” He added, as if I didn’t know.
“K dad, see you soon.” He hung up, never one to drag out a conversation. I gave Esme the phone and found she was still laughing at me.
“What?” I scowled.
She grabbed my shoulders and moved me until I was standing in front of the big mirror in the hall way. My lips were red and a little swollen, and my hair had that just got out of bed look, only worse. “Oh.”
“I’d clean up a little before the others get home, they’ll only be about five minutes.” She grinned. “Unless you want a lecture from Emmett.”
I raced back upstairs and through our room to the bathroom. I brushed my hair until it looked vaguely respectable and then pulled it up into a quick ponytail. The lips weren’t quite as fixable, but I was counting on no one noticing them if I kept quiet and didn’t smile too much. I switched Jasper’s shirt for one of my own, knowing what Charlie would think if I walked in wearing his clothes.
Back in the bedroom Jasper had changed into jeans and one of the black t-shirts I’d picked out for him. I was beginning to think they may have been a mistake, as he looked far too good like that. If I wasn’t careful I could seriously end up drooling all over him in front of Charlie. He made the bed in seconds and joined me at the bedroom door.
“Aren’t you putting a shirt on?” I had expected him to put something else on over the top which would hide the way the t-shirt clung to his chest from me. He never wore anything that left his arms exposed if we were leaving the house.
He hesitated in the doorway. “Do you think I should?”
“Well that depends.” I smiled. “Do you mind if end up jumping you later because you look too good like that?”
“Not a bit.” He grinned, taking my hand and pulling me down the stairs.
We hugged Esme and Carlisle goodbye and headed outside.
We’d almost reached the bike when Emmett caught up to us. “Bella, have you got a minute before you head off?”
Oh God. Jasper snickered quietly beside me. “I suppose so.” I mumbled, trudging off for what was sure to be a really fun conversation. Not.
An: Um... Please review... That’s about it : )

Oh, and btw, my new story is up on FF.net now! But that doesn't mena this story is over, it's far from it!
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