Jasper POV
Marcus detained me in the throne room, calling out as we were leaving and asking Peter and Charlotte to escort Bella to her room. With a final squeeze of her hand, I returned to Marcus, who spent a quarter of an hour emphasizing how precious Bella was, not only to him but especially to his mate. He reiterated multiple times that her safety was of the utmost importance. I assured him, also multiple times, that I was in complete agreement and would do everything in my power to ensure she returned to Volterra hale and hearty.
I knew that Marcus was anxious about letting Bella go to Forks and I did my best to put his mind at ease. Once he was adequately pacified, I was dismissed, and I made my way back to my own rooms to pack my things.
Placing a final pair of jeans in my bag, I zipped it closed and carried it into my living area, setting it by the door. I was just placing my laptop in its case when a knock sounded on my door.
“Come in,” I called, gathering the other accessories for the device.
“Jasper,” Charlotte
“Hey, Char. I’ll be ready in a minute,” I told her as I opened a desk drawer and sorted through a few CDs before tossing them into the case with the laptop.
“No rush,” she said, coming to a halt in the center of the room.
She was silent as she stood there watching me, indecision and hesitation her dominant emotions. I sighed and paused, looking up at her. “Spit it out, Char.”
She rolled her eyes at my words but obeyed them nonetheless. “I like her.”
I raised a brow, not sure exactly where this conversation was going to take me, although I was fairly sure who ‘she’ was. “Who?” I asked just to taunt her.
She rolled her eyes again. “Bella, of course. Peter likes her too.”
“Why are you telling me this?”
“We know you like her, J.”
I hadn’t been hiding my attraction to Bella, so I wasn’t surprised that my closest friends would notice. “I figured as much.”
“I’m pretty sure she likes you too,” she said with a smirk.
I returned the smirk with one of my own. “I’m pretty sure she does, too.”
Char grinned and leaned her hip against the desk. “So, you gonna go for it?”
Leaning back in my chair, I rested my elbows on the arms and steepled my fingers. “I might.”
She snorted. “Might, my ass. You will.”
“It’s a delicate situation, Char. She isn’t in the best frame of mind just now to be starting a relationship.” My reply was honest, sincere. Bella was in a fragile state, emotionally, and I didn’t want to exacerbate that delicacy by pushing things too far, too fast. I was content to just be her friend for now and get to know her, be there for her and help her grieve. I would be whatever she needed me to be, regardless of how difficult it was becoming to temper my own emotions and responses to her proximity.
“I get it, Jasper. I do. Tread carefully, but…” she trailed off.
“But what?” I prompted.
She sat on the arm of the couch, hands on her thighs. “You don’t know what’s going to happen in the future, J. I just think if you get a chance, no matter when or how, you should take it.”
“I don’t know, Char-" I began, but she cut me off before I could protest further.
“This could be your only chance, J. It’s not like there is a huge vampire dating pool. And I get she’s human, but fuck, J! Get your head out of your ass. You’re how old now? Have you ever felt this way before? About anyone?”
I shook my head. “Never.”
“Then don’t you think it’s worth the chance? Don’t you want what Peter and I have? Or do you want to be the eternal bachelor?”
Fuck, she had me there. And by the look on her face, she knew it too.
“Just think about it, J.” She rounded the desk and gave me a kiss on the cheek. “I’m off to find Peter. I’ll meet you in the garage in twenty?”
I nodded. “Sure. I’ll get Bella and meet you there.”
I sat there for a few minutes to gather my focus and consider Char’s words. She had a point. In the century and a half since I’d awakened to this life, even within the memories of my years as a human man, I had never felt an attraction such as this. There had been plenty of women in my past, countless numbers of one night stands and short flings. But, while they had been beautiful and entertaining women, I had never been interested in more with them, even with the ones I was, and still am, friends with. They were diversions.
Bella was different. Since the moment I saw her months ago in the airport, I had been spellbound. I’d not been with or even considered being with another woman since seeing her that first time. I had thought of her more than I should have while I was away. When I saw her again, swinging the pipe at Laurent, I felt a fierce sense of pride that overshadowed even what I felt for Peter and Char, the two people in this world with whom I was closest.
I leaned back in my chair, resting my head on the back and staring unseeing at my ceiling as the revelation came to me. I had tried to deny it and pass it off as a passing interest, but I could no longer pretend that I wasn’t falling for Bella Swan.
UBUBUBUBUB
The hum of the plane’s engines was a constant source of white noise as we blazed west through the clouds. I barely paid them any heed as I reclined on the couch in the main room of the private jet. It was one of the larger planes in the Volturi fleet at the moment. It needed to be to house the number of vampires – and the human – on this trip.
While I do occasionally fly commercial airlines, I prefer the luxury of being able to stretch out comfortably on the longer flights. Trying to stuff my six foot two frame in an airline seat, even in first class, isn’t as comfortable as I would prefer. Besides, this flight would be longer than usual since we would be stopping first in Vegas to drop off the others before Bella and I continued on to Seattle
So here I lay, my head propped on one arm of the couch and my booted feet on the other, feet crossed at the ankles. I had tilted the hat on my head so that it shaded my eyes, allowing me to covertly watch the beautiful brunette sitting curled up in the chair across from me.
After speaking with Char and finally opening my eyes to what this feeling was that I had for Bella, I couldn’t keep my eyes off of her. She was dominating my thoughts even more than before.
When we had arrived at the garage to meet the others, I had given Char a quick hug and kiss on the cheek, sending her a burst of gratitude. She just grinned and winked at me, not saying another word about it.
Bella had spent most of the time from the castle to the airport on the phone. When I had picked her up from her room, she’d been speaking to a friend of her father’s - a Billy Black, she later told me. He had been giving his condolences and filling her in on what had happened, as far as he knew anyway. She had thanked him and told him she would contact him when she got to Forks.
After speaking with Billy, she’d called her advisor at the university to inform him of her father’s death and subsequent departure from Italy
She had been quiet as she got in the car. I’d feel her struggle to keep her composure after her talk with Billy and her advisor. For a moment, I thought she’d crumble again, but she surprised me with her fortitude and I found my admiration for her grow even more.
At the apartment, she had struggled again as she said goodbye to her roommates. We had fabricated a story, saying that Sera would be going with Bella to Forks and they would both need to leave school. The girls had been sad but understood, helping Bella pack both Sera’s and her things as Felix and I took them down to the car. Bella’s things would come with us while Sera’s would return to the castle.
Bella’s phone had rung as soon as we boarded the plane. It had been Sera – a very irate Sera. She had not been happy at having been left behind, but Bella had soothed her as much as possible before ending the call, citing that we were about to take off.
Not long after we took off, I’d noticed how tired Bella was feeling, so I had offered her the couch to rest. She had given me a grateful smile before curling up on it, eventually drifting off. I admit I had helped her sleep longer with my gift. She had started getting dark circles under her eyes from the stress and I didn’t want them to deepen.
When she woke, she seemed refreshed, if still sad and morose, but that was to be expected. She had changed seats so she could use the small table by the chair to eat her meal, or at least some of it. It now sat forgotten before her while she was curled up on the chair. Her feet were tucked against her, her arms around her legs and her head resting on her knees, as she stared out the small oval window of the plane. She was wearing a pair of faded blue jeans and a pale yellow top with long sleeves. Her white sneakers lay on the floor in front of her seat and her bare feet peeked out over the edge of the chair. I couldn’t see her face very well from my position, only a bit of her profile. She had left her hair down and it was falling slightly forward, lying against her cheek.
I focused on her emotions – sadness, a touch of depression, loneliness, guilt, grief, love, anxiety. She was feeling so much, so fast, that it was almost impossible to decipher each one.
The shifting in altitude of the plane pulled me from my thoughts and I heard the pilot call out that we were starting our descent into Las Vegas
Three hours later, we were in the air again and speeding toward Seattle
“Are you sure about this, Bella?” I asked.
She turned her head and her eyes met mine. “Yes, Jasper.” She smiled, but it was small and fleeting. “I know you don’t want me here.” There was a tinge of emotional hurt behind her words.
I bit back my retort and sighed. “Bella, it’s not that I don’t want you with me. I do.” Her face pinkened a little at that and I grinned at her before continuing. “I just hate the thought of you being in danger, and you will be.”
Her little chin lifted and I felt her indignation flare. “I’m not all that incapable, you know? Just because I’m a woman-”
My laughter cut her off. “You’ve got to be kidding me.” I snorted another laugh. “Bella, Char is one of our fiercest fighters. There are few that can match her and even less that can beat her – with or without her power. I have the utmost respect and faith in her abilities. But there are two very glaring differences between the two of you. First, she’s a vampire and infinitely more durable; and second, she’s been trained since her rebirth into this life to be the soldier she is now.”
“Oh,” was her quiet reply and I felt her sheepish embarrassment. “I’m sorry. I know that. I’m just…not myself.”
I caught her eyes again before she could look away from me. Leaning forward across the small table between us, I held my hand out for hers. She noticed and reached out to slip her tiny fingers into my waiting grip. I held her hand firmly and let my thumb rub idly against her skin.
“I understand this is hard for you, Bella. You’ve been through a lot and I am amazed at how you are dealing with it all. You are a very strong woman and I admire that.” I wanted to say more but knew that now was not the time for that.
Her eyes were watering and I used my free hand to grab a tissue and offer it to her. She mumbled a thank you and sniffled, wiping at the tears that had begun to fall. I tugged on her hand, opening my arms and pulling her up and into my lap. She curled up against me with her legs hanging over the arm of the chair and her head on my chest, crying harder now.
“I miss him so much, Jasper,” she cried.
Wrapping her tightly in my embrace, I did my best to soothe her. One hand gently drifted through her hair, knowing how much she liked that, while the other rested on her hip and held her in place.
“I know, princess,” I whispered to her. “And he would be so proud of you. I bet he already was proud of the woman you’ve become.”
Her sobs continued for a few minutes longer as I whispered softly to her. After a while, the tears subsided to soft sniffles and we were silent for a time, each lost in our thoughts.
“I want to see him,” she stated out of the blue.
“What do you mean?” I asked.
“Can we go to the funeral home? I’d just like to see him before the…funeral.” She choked a little on the words, sadness and grief mixing with the burgeoning acceptance she was beginning to feel about Charlie’s death.
“Of course,” I told her. “I figured you would want to do that. Carlisle will be there to meet us at the airport and he’s offered to take us first to the funeral home.” I gave her a squeeze and she sighed, curling deeper into the circle of my arms.
“Thank you, Jasper,” she whispered.
“My pleasure, princess,” I said, my lips pressing into her hair.
We were silent the rest of the flight, content where we were. I felt Bella’s emotions calming and was grateful for it. She was slowly starting to heal, but there was more to come. I knew seeing her father would be hard on her, as well as the funeral, but it would give her the closure she would need to move past her grief.
I settled back and just enjoyed the feeling of her in my arms.
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