Disclaimer: I do not own twilight…even after all this time

A/N: Sorry this didn't post on Sunday…my beta and I had some e-mail issues which caused a delay. Plus I am super nervous about this chapter, so I kept changing things lol.

Big thanks to Cherry Bella for betaing for me…sorry you had to re-send it so many times cause my e-mail wouldn't wk

Huge thanks to all the read, review, lurk, and message me. I love you all dearly, you mean the world to me! I am going to miss you all so much once this is over.

There will be 1 more chapter after this…the Epi.

Chapter 38

-Ecclesiastes 7:8-9

Finishing is better than starting. Patience is better than pride. Don't be quick-tempered, for anger is the friend of fools.

Bella

Things slowly got back to normal, well I guess as normal as they would ever be.

After the breakthrough with my Dad, Edward and I decided it would be best for us to move back home. We both missed our families and friends, plus I knew Jasper needed me, even if he wouldn't admit it. So we discussed it, and both felt that this was just where we needed to be. We both enrolled back in school, and while we had to do some extra assignments, we were both on track to graduate with the rest of our friends.

Edward's family was beyond thrilled that he was coming back for good, and while Maria was sad to see me go, she was happy that my father and I were working on our relationship and understood I was doing what was best for me.

My father was released from the hospital after two weeks. He was still sore and had to attend physical therapy three times a week until he was able to get around by himself. But he was home, that in its self was a miracle.

I moved back in with my father, with the understanding that Edward and I would be dating. He wasn't all that happy about it, but he knew he needed me there to help him, and in order for our relationship to progress, he had to accept Edward and our relationship. That didn't go over as well as I had hoped, but it is a work in progress.

The move back home was bittersweet for me. I had grown so accustomed to being with Edward all of the time, it seemed almost surreal to not wake up beside him or eat breakfast with him every morning. The transition back to a normal teenage relationship took its toll on us. But I have to admit it was nice to have a normal relationship, at least for a while. The butterfly's in my stomach before meeting him in the parking lot at school, the nervousness about what to wear for our Saturday night date nights, it was intoxicating to still have these feelings for him after everything we had been through.

My father and I attended weekly family counseling sessions; some were good and left me feeling like there was hope for us, and some were harder, with both of us leaving in tears. No matter how hard they were, they were helping us build our relationship back to what it should have been, and for that I was grateful.

Jasper was a different story. He rarely came home, and even more rarely attended school. I tried talking to him numerous times, and even staged an intervention for him, but he just wasn't interested. The only people that really knew of his problem, besides his druggie friends, were Edward, Alice, and I. The others would occasionally ask me what was going on with him, but I would just shrug them off, not wanting to bring them into our broken family. I should have told my dad about what was going on with him, but I thought it would just make the situation worse. He was already dealing with so much; I honestly thought I could handle Jasper on my own. But I was wrong; in the end it wouldn't be me that would be his saving grace.

The drugs had taken over him and nothing else seemed to be important. Not me, not school, not even Alice. It was hard to watch him waste away, but I tried every day to show him that I still loved him and would be there for him when he decided he was ready. Luckily, there was something that would be important to him and it was just a matter of time before he realized it.

With graduation quickly approaching, I was excited for this part of my life to be over. I was ready to move on to the next chapter and see where life took me. I was ready to be grown and independent, and discover more of this new person I had become.

Prom was super exciting for me. Alice, Rose, and I all went shopping together and picked out our fancy dresses. The day of the big event we all went to get our hair and nails done together and Alice even convinced me to get a spray tan, just so my tan lines wouldn't show on my dress, she said.

Edward showed up in a limo to take me to the dance and I must say he looked stunning. My Dad, though he wouldn't admit it, was happy for me. He told me repeatedly how beautiful I looked and how much I reminded him of my mother. Those words made me cry, but at the same time they meant the world to me.

Prom was amazing, I felt just like Cinderella, without the whole glass slipper incident, of course, and I already had my prince charming which made the night that much more magical.

Edward and I danced, and ate, and laughed with our friends. It is a memory I will always cherish. The life changing events came later that night at the after party. Yes, there was an after party, and yes, we attended it. I shed my sequence dress and traded it in for a pair of jeans and a tank top. We danced some more but mostly spent the night just hanging out with our friends. We would all be going in our separate directions soon, and it seemed we just didn't have enough time left together.

Jake insisted we all take a shot to commemorate our time together, Edward and I had discussed it beforehand and decided not to drink, but in the end we gave in and figured just one shot with our friends wouldn't hurt. Emmett convinced Jasper to join us for the toast, he hadn't attended prom, but he had managed to make it to the after party, go figure.

Once all of our shots were poured, Jake gave his toast with a big cheesy grin,

"Man on top of woman hasn't long to stay.

His head is full of business and his ass is full of play.

He goes in like a lion and comes out like a lamb.

He buttons up his pants and doesn't give a damn.

Here's to us, our past, present, and future. May we always be as close as we are right now in this moment."

After a few chuckles we all tipped our glasses back and downed the shots. Well, all of us except for Alice. She, not so discretely, set her full shot glass down with the rest of our empty ones. Jake was none too happy about it. He immediately picked the glass back up and tried to hand it to her. "No way, Cupcake, you're not getting out of this one. It took me all week to memorize that." he teased.

Alice just rolled her eyes, "Seriously, Jake, I don't want it." She tried to brush him off.

"Come on, Alice," Emmett whined. "It's one shot, for our friendship, you can do one shot for us, right?"

"Really, it doesn't taste that bad," Rose added, taking the glass from Jake and placing it in Alice's hand. "Besides, I haven't seen you drink all night, one shot isn't going to hurt you."

Alice looked pained as she set the glass back down on the counter. "Really guys, I can't."

Jake scoffed; obviously he wasn't going to drop it. "What do you mean you can't?"

"I just...I can't." Alice said looking everywhere except at us.

"Holy shit!" Rose shouted, grabbing Alice's hand. " Are you...you're not...are you pregnant?"

And suddenly everyone fell silent, all eyes on Alice, and time stood still. Alice didn't really answer; she just looked up to meet Jasper's eyes. She held eye contact for what seemed like forever before a tear slipped down her cheek and she turned and bolted into the crowd.

We all stood stunned speechless, until finally Edward took off in the same direction she had gone.

Jasper was the first to break the silence; his glassy eyes were wide and seemed to focus solely on me. "Is it mine?" I opened my mouth but I had nothing to tell him, this was news to me, but it explained a lot.

The next day, Alice called a meeting with her parents, Edward, and I. She said I was family and should be involved in all family business, but my guess was she just needed some moral support. She confirmed that she was indeed pregnant, approximately eleven weeks. Her mom and dad cried, they told her how they wished she was older and had at least finished school first. Carlisle even let it slip that he had expected this conversation from Edward, but not from her. But overall they were supportive, and told her they would be there to help her.

I asked the question everyone else was too afraid to ask. "Is it Jasper's?" I hated to ask, and I hoped she didn't take it the wrong way, but I needed to know.

She wiped her tears away as she answered. "Of course it's his; there is no one else for me."

Esme asked the next question and for that I was glad. "Sweetie, does Jasper know about the baby?"

"No." Alice said sniffling. "He's dealing with so much right now; I didn't think he could handle this on top of everything else."

"Alice, he deserves to know." Her mother said softly. "Let him decide what he wants to do with the information, but either way he needs to know."

Alice agreed that telling him was the right thing to do. She called him, and as surprising as it was, he answered her phone call and agreed to come over. We left them alone in the family room to talk but all stayed in the house just in case they needed us.

After a few hours, Alice called us all back in the family room. It was apparent that they both had been crying but they were holding hands, so I took that as a good sign. Jasper admitted to the drug problem and cried as he begged for our forgiveness. He agreed to go to rehab as soon as possible and pleaded with Alice to let him be a part of his child's life.

Alice was crying so hard it was hard for her to speak, but she finally managed to tell him that she loved him, and nothing would make her happier than for him to be involved, but she quickly let him know that he had to change because she wouldn't allow that lifestyle around her child.

They called my Dad and together they found a rehab center that would take him in. Jasper left the next day. It broke my heart to see him go, but I knew it was what was best for him.

The next week was graduation, and as happy as I was to be graduating with my friends, I was sad that Jasper couldn't be there. Rose, Alice, Edward, Emmett, Jake, and I all took a weekend camping trip right after graduation. I couldn't believe that we were all going our separate ways and wouldn't be seeing each other every day any longer. We spent the entire weekend reminiscing about our past time together and discussing our futures.

Rose and Emmett had decided to go to the same college in Seattle at Washington University, and no big surprise, they were going to move in together. They were leaving in week to start their summer jobs, but made us all promise to visit before school started.

Yes, Rose was going to work; she had gotten an assistant manager job at a Ralph Laurn store, a job which I thought suited her well. Emmett was going to be a personal trainer at a Golds Gym near the college. They offered him a full time position, and said they would work around his school schedule once classes started in the fall, which he was very excited about I might add.

Jake had decided to go into the Army. That decision surprised us all, but I could totally picture him in that uniform trying to pick up women.

Alice had decided to enroll in the community college so she could work her schedule around the baby once it was born. I hated that she had to give up her dream of being a big fashion designer in New York, but she was doing what she needed to do for her and the baby.

Jasper was still in rehab, he would be in there for at least six weeks and then he would need to work on finishing his credits so he could get his diploma. I wasn't sure what the future would hold for him, I could only pray for the best.

As for Edward and I, we decided to postpone our wedding. With Jasper away, and things still crazy with Alice, we decided this just wasn't the best time. While my father had lightened up on many things throughout the last few weeks, me getting married was not something he was budging on. And while I didn't want him to dictate my life, I felt like we had made huge strides in our relationship so I didn't want to set us back. And as crazy as it may seem with everything my father and I had been through, I really did want him walking me down the aisle and giving me away. As much as I hated to admit it, I still craved his approval.

I was staying with my Dad for two more weeks then I was leaving with Maria to go on a mission trip to Africa. I hated to leave my Dad, but we had arranged to have someone come in once a week and help with the house cleaning and odd- and- end things he was still having trouble with.

I had huge amounts of anxiety about leaving Edward, but I knew that our relationship was secure enough to withstand anything at this point. As much as we were going to miss each other, he was very supportive of my decision, and encouraged me to take this one in a life time chance to fulfill my dreams. I will only be gone for a little over a month, and I know that when I get back, our relationship will still be as strong as ever.

And Edward, well, he shocked us all when he decided what he wanted to be when he grew up. He was leaving the day after me to go to the Police Academy. Apparently, all the trouble he has gotten in throughout the years caused him to have a greater appreciation for the law enforcement. And I honestly couldn't wait to see him in his uniform.

As we all said our goodbyes at the end our camping trip, many tears were shed, and several promises were made to never lose touch. I walked away sad that we were all taking separate directions in life, but proud of each and every one of us for overcoming all the obstacles life has thrown at us, and that in spite of it we all managed to find ourselves.

It seemed that all of our lives were on track, we were following our destiny. Some of us by the choices we made, and some of us by the choices that were made for us, but either way, I had a feeling that we were all going to make it.

*chews nails nervously* what did you think? ~DON'T FREAK OUT~ THERE IS AN EPI LEFT!

Yes there will be 1 more chapter…this was the ending so to speak..but there is 1 final chapter that will go into their life after graduation. OBVIOUSLY the wedding and some sexin will be in the epi….but I want to know what you want to see. Are there any questions you still have? Are there any loose ends I didn't tie up? Is there anything you just want to know about them after graduation? LET ME KNOW and I will do my best to add it in the Epi.

I don't have a post date as of yet for the Epi..I have it about half written, but I wanted to wait to hear from you guys to see what you wanted before I finished it. Then it will be sent to my pre-reader then beta…so be patient with me

I am super nervous about this chapter so please leave me a review and let me know what you think. I will send out teasers for the epi along with a post date once I have it figured out.