I have the tendency

of getting very physical.

So watch your step

'cause if I do you'll need a miracle.

xxxx

"Edward," Bella pressed, placing her hands on her slender hips. Edward had broken some plans that she had with Alice today, claiming that Alice had broken them. Alice never broke plans, and Bella was determined to get to the bottom of it.

The bronze haired vampire looked up at his human counterpart, actually quite annoyed with her persistence; at the same time, though, he admired her for it. He knew that she cared for his family, and he loved that; the human fit perfectly into his family. At this moment, though, he wished she didn't; he honestly didn't know what to tell her.

"Bella, may I ask you a question?"

"My rejection to a question has never stopped you before," Bella snarked back before she could help herself. Edward's head snapped to her, an amused crooked smile on his lips.

"Touche. Well, I was wondering if you'd be all right if Alice and Jasper moved away."

Bella blinked softly, looking away from the gorgeous golden eyes that burned into hers, and into the woods outside the window, above the bronze hair that she knew well. "I would be sad, of course, because Alice is my friend, but if that's their decision, then who am I to stand in their way? I'm not their mother, nor their father, nor their superior."

Edward stared at the brunette human, his gold eyes burning with curiosity; Bella always renewed his faith in human kind. She was such an insightful and intelligent person, though the rest of the world may not be as such. "You're remarkable," Edward said, getting up and kissing the top of her head.

Bella laughed softly, making Edward throw her a crooked grin. "If they do leave, though, soon, can we go see them?"

Edward hesitated, not having expected that question to come from her. Shit, he thought. I suppose it's time to face the music. With a soft groan, Edward threw Bella gently over his back. "We'll go now."

The slender brunette human, to say at the least, was surprised by this sudden movement and idea. Before, he'd been so reluctant to go see this family. I wonder what changed his mind, Bella thought with a light smile. Edward took off and Bella gently tucked her face into his back, shielding herself from the whipping wind.

When the pair of them arrived at the Cullen house, Bella gently jumped from his back and landed with surprising grace on the balls of her feet; for a moment, Edward just stared, dumbfounded, but soon found he should follow when Bella had made her entrance to the house. Within a millisecond, he was at her side again; Edward and Bella stood in front of Carlisle and Esme, much, as Bella recalled, like the first time Bella met the pair officially.

Bella was the first to speak. "Is everything all right?"

Carlisle and Edward exchanged a meaningful glance before Carlisle turned his large, wise golden eyes to Bella. Without flinching or backing away, Bella stared back into his eyes with large, wise chocolate eyes of her own. They are both so strong and so wise, the maternal vampire at Carlisle's side thought with tender eyes. Edward, her son, smiled at her and reached over to squeeze her shoulder.

"Yes and no," Carlisle said, choosing his words carefully. Bella looked at him expectantly. "No one is dead, but there was an...incident."

"Mhm," Bella said, motioning with her hand for him to continue.

"Jasper...ahm…," Carlisle ran a hand through his hair, "slipped up."

Bella blinked, trying to make some mental connections before the lightbulb went off in her head. Jasper drank from a human, she realized. "Oh," she said simply. All three stared at her, worried about how she'd take it. "May I see him?"

Carlisle ran a hand through his honey hair. "That's the problem, Bella. He's not letting anyone see him; he's not responding to anyone and Edward says that his thoughts aren't straight, yet not violent."

"And even if that weren't true, I wouldn't let you up there to see him. He's already lost control once, and I don't want you getting hurt," Edward interjected.

Bella considered this, looking absently at her hands, playing with her own slender fingers. "I'd still like to try; there are six vampires in this house. I think at least one of you can manage to get up the stairs," Bella joked, a small smile turning up her lips.

Carlisle looked at Edward, silently pleading with him; he cared deeply for his newest son and hated to see him hurt. With a deep sigh, Edward nodded. "All right," he said, "but if anything, and I mean anythinggoes wrong, just scream."

With a gentle roll of her eyes, Bella journeyed up the stairs with Carlisle; she was lead to an unfamiliar door. Carlisle left her, then, with an appreciative smile. Bella rapped her knuckles very gently on the door. There was no response.

"Jasper?" Bella inquired, tilting her head to the side. Again, there was no response. "All right," she said with a small shrug. Bella sunk down gently to the floor leaning her back against the door. "So, I guess this is going to be a monologue. I'm going to bore you so much that you're going to have to talk to me." The inside of the room was completely and utterly deathly silent. "Or I could just sit here." Again, nothing. "You're killin' me, Smalls," Bella joked, quoting one of her favorite movies.

"So," Bella said, getting comfortable. "my favorite movies of all time are the Bourne movies. Despite what everyone thinks, I actually really like action and fighting. It's a guilty pleasure of mine."

"Bella," Edward said, coming up the stairs. "you're not making any difference."

"I don't care," Bella said simply.

"You're basically talking to yourself," Edward argued.

"Well, then it's a good thing I like the sound of my own voice."

With that, Edward took his leave gracefully, albeit a tad angrily.

"Anyways," Bella said, starting into her monologue again. This went on for a while before Bella's throat became quite dry. "I'll be back in a minute, Jasper; I'm going to go and get some water." Bella got to her feet, grunting slightly when her body popped gently. "Goddamn," she muttered quietly to herself. "Ass is numb."

After gracelessly making her way down the stairs, she was greeted with a bone crushing hug from Alice. It took Bella off guard for only a few moments before she folded her arms back around the pixie-like vampire.

"Thank you so much, Bella. You have no idea what this means to me. It may not be working yet, and I may not be able to see the outcome of this, but I really appreciate it. You have a very soothing voice. I never noticed," Alice said, her voice breaking gently as she tucked her face into Bella's shoulder. With a small smile, Bella gently placed a light kiss on one of Alice's spikes.

"It's the least I can do," Bella replied before gently detaching herself from Alice; when she entered the kitchen, she was enveloped in another hug, a duel hug. Esme and Carlisle. They were silent in their thanks, but they expressed it with their hug. "Can't breathe," Bella eventually said. Both vampire instantly retreated.

"Sorry, Bella," they apologized in unison. Bella rolled her eyes lightly, walking to the fridge and grabbing one of the waters from the shelf absently. She cracked it open as she walked out of the kitchen, up the stairs, then retook her seat on the ground, leaning against the door.

"Back now, obviously. I feel really self centered at the moment; all I've been doing is talking about myself," Bella confessed after taking a light sip from her water bottle to soothe her throat. "I'm just going to go ahead and sit here if you don't mind; I don't really know what to say."

For some time, Bella just sat there, breathing and staring lightly at her hands, just letting Jasper know silently that she was there. Eventually, Bella laid down in front of the door, curling up gently and fell asleep.

Downstairs, Edward's head suddenly snapped up; everyone in the room looked to him, panicked. A small smile turned up Edward's lips. "His thoughts are quite peaceful for the first time; I suspect it's because of the emotions that Bella is feeling because of her sleep. Sleep is the most pure form of emotion, and her feelings are peaceful. It's letting him slip into a sleep-like state of calm," Edward informed the onlookers with a small smile.

Alice grinned brilliantly. "I knew that Bella would help; Bella always helps," she gushed, her eyes bright and sparkling. Edward laughed quietly, patting Alice's forehead.

"Should we leave her to sleep on the floor?" Esme inquired quietly.

That threw them all for a loop, even Carlisle. "If we move her too far away, will that lessen the strength of the emotions affecting Jasper?" he mused.

"But is she comfortable on the floor?" Esme countered.

"We'll go ahead and move her," Edward decided, getting to his feet and walking easily up the stairs, taking them three at a time. Once he got to Bella, he smiled gently down at his lover, his gold eyes tender; he gently knelt down and folded his icy arms around her slender, warm frame. He then walked her into his room that was only a few feet from Jasper's study; although he wanted Bella to be safe, he also wanted his brother to be well.

When Edward laid her on the bed, Bella gently curled around the pillow at her side. Bella yawned very softly, and Edward brushed her hair gently from her eyes. "I love you," he murmured, bending over her gently and kissing her lips softly.

xxxx

Bella awoke a few hours later; she yawned quietly and stretched herself out. Edward, at her side, gently stroked her cheek.

"Hello," he murmured.

Bella blinked the sleep from her eyes and looked at the vampire above her. "Oh, hello," Bella replied pleasantly, smiling gently at him. Rolling over gently, Bella got to her feet. "Is Jasper responsive in any way?" Bella inquired.

Edward ran a hand through his hair and sighed a bit. "Well, not really, but when you slept, his thoughts were very calm; it soothed him. It was the calmest his thoughts have been since it happened," Edward said with a small smile to Bella, who's face lit up at this. She was glad that she could pay back Jasper for saving her life in Phoenix.

"I'm really glad I could help," Bella said, stretching, then running a hand through her hair.

"I should get you home," Edward suggested.

With a gentle smile, Bella agreed, walking out of the Cullen house with Edward, her thoughts solely on helping Jasper and some things she'd talk about tomorrow. It felt good to be helping someone in the Cullen family rather than having them help her. It was a nice feeling, and she quite enjoyed it.

A/N: soyeah, that was the first chapter. It's rather short, but it's decent for the introduction, I think. I'd love to hear what you all think of this. There was a bit too much dialogue in this for my taste, but meh. Please tell me what you think about this chapter. I love waking up to reviews.

Until next time,

Claire