AN: I do not own twilight. To all who have favorited, followed, and reviewed, thank you.

Song of the Chapter - Feels like the First Time by Foreigner

Chapter 7 - Feels like the first time...

The month of November passes by fairly quickly and suddenly it's the week before Christmas.

Jasper has gotten back to going to Sunday dinners at his family's house, much to his parents - and Peter and Char's - delight. Of course, Anna had found out had found out that Bella had gone to the Halloween party and had been over the moon - especially hearing about the Maria situation on Halloween. She has been constantly telling Jasper to invite her over for family dinners, and he has deflected pretty well, telling his mom she worked weekends because that was the best time to get tips with all the college kids coming in to watch the football games. She's been invited to Christmas dinner though and he has been trying to find the way to broach the subject.

His relationship with his brother and sister-in-law has never been better. The trio frequently visit Bella at Lonestar nights she's working. Peter has been relieved of his chauffeur duties since Bella has gotten her truck, not that she minds at all. She'll drive him to his appointments, waits in the parking lot reading, and drives him home. Jasper's happy because this gives them extra time together.

Dr. Wilson notices a change in Jasper, a rising hope in him and inquires to what has brought that on. Jasper trusts him enough to tell him about Bella - obviously leaving the vampire part out - and her affect on his life. Dr. Wilson is pleased with this, that Jasper has felt confident enough to put himself out there and applauds him, telling him to keep this Bella close. He feels his knee recovering, his limp fading and fading each day, a new determination within him to improve, to fight through pain. He used to feel like he was just coasting through life on autopilot, things have meaning now.

As for him and Bella, not much has changed since Halloween and they're talk on the roof - not that it's a bad thing. They spend every available moment together, laughing, watching movies, talking, reading. Jasper took Bella to the drive in theater where they watched a movie from her truck, he shows her around all of his favorite hang outs in Houston, shows her his family farm from a distance. He's never felt like this about someone, she knows him like the back of her hand, she understands him, and he feels at home with her. The best he's ever felt. His mate.

The turning conversation hasn't come up again, not that's he's stopped thinking about it. He's been weighing both options, and it's honestly a difficult decision. Breaking it down to the bare bones, he would either be losing his family or he would be losing Bella. He's not sure which one would hurt worse.

The pros of becoming a vampire include being super fast and strong, practically becoming a super hero. Immortality is in the pro side as well, to think of all the time he will have, all the things he will see, the places he can go with the unlimited time. During his talks with Bella, he learns that your human attributes are magnified as a vampire, and any ailments are cured. She mentioned that she knew someone who had attempted suicide and broke practically every bone in their body, which was healed through the transformation. His knee would be healed, his scars would be gone. No more limp, no more aching in his knee when it rains, no more looking in the mirror and seeing the scars from the Army. No more nightmares, no more flinching at loud sounds. He would be healed.

The most important pro would be that he would have Bella forever.

And then he debates the cons. He would never be able to see his family again, Bella telling him that he could run the risk of killing them. He would never be able to have children of his own. Admittedly, that dream had been given up when he got home from Iraq, believing that his PTSD would never be truly under control and exposing children to that is not ideal in his mind. Not being able to eat food again, never sleeping, having to live a nomadic lifestyle. The biggest con is that he would have to hunt. He once took an oath that he would do anything for his country, including kill for it, and when he finally did that, it felt awful. It's the main thing that plagues his nightmares.

He's pulled from his thoughts when his front door opens and Bella walks in from work. She smiles when she sees him and toes off her converse by the door, "Hey."

"Hey, Darlin'," he stands up and walks toward her, taking her face in his hands to kiss her. He keeps her face in his hands when he pulls away and she opens her eyes, smiling at him. He can see up close that the contacts are dissolving and the natural red of her eyes is showing. His heart warms at the sight of her.

"How was your day?"

Jasper hums, "Mmm...better now."

"Charmer," she teases, kissing him again.

"How was yours?"

"The usual," she shrugs, grabbing his hand and pulling him over to his bed. The climb in, taking their usual spots of him laying on his back and her laying her head on his chest. Jasper grabs the remote off his end table and puts a random show on to fill the background noise as they cuddle together, just basking in each other's presence. He had never been a big "cuddler" before, finding himself getting bored after a couple minutes of it, but this, laying with Bella in his arms...it was perfect. He could spend hours like this.

"Jasper," Bella starts, tracing his chest with her finger. He can practically feel that she's nervous and he glances down to her.

"What's wrong, baby?"

"I want to tell you something."

"Go on," he gently encourages her.

"I want you to make love to me."

Jasper feels his heart drop in his stomach at her words. They haven't really discussed taking their relationship to that level, not that Jasper was a virgin or a prude. He wants to have sex with Bella, he can't remember the last time he wanted something more. In actuality, he wasn't too sure of the logistics, if they even could have sex as a human and vampire. But, Christ, he wanted her, she was the most desirable woman he had ever laid eyes on.

"I'm nervous though." Bella suddenly says and Jasper frowns, raising a hand to her soft cheek.

"Why, Darlin'?"

"I've...I've never had...consensual sex...I don't really know what I'm doing," Bella stumbles out, not meeting his eyes. He feels a stab in his chest at the pain her words, "and I don't want to lose control and hurt you."

"I don't believe you could ever hurt me," Jasper affirms.

"Do you want me?" Jasper asks, kissing her.

"Yes."

"I want you, Bella," Jasper assures her, "I'm going to take care of you."

Bella smiles, "I trust you," she says, before leaning up and kneeling on the bed, pulling the black Lonestar v-neck over her head, leaving her in a plain black bra. She then stands up off the bed and undoes her belt, undoes the button of her jeans and pulls them off of her. Jasper gulps at the sight of her lacy black panties and immediately sits up, grabbing her hand and pulling her back on the bed to kiss her.

She guides her hand to the bottom of his long sleeve shirt and pulls it over his head, he watches as her red eyes turn black with desire as she looks at him shirtless for the first time. A growl rumbles in her chest but he knows she's not hungry to drink, she's hungry for him.

Bella then frowns and gently traces some scars on his chest and arms, looking at him for explanation. She's never seem him this exposed before, in both senses.

"I was a little shit as a kid," Jasper explains with a shrug.

"I've got scars too," Bella says, pointing to her torso and arms. Jasper squints his eyes and sees a bunch of crescent shaped scars littering her body, some layered over each other. She then turns around and his heart drops into his stomach. Long silvery scars trail the entire length of her back, he reaches up his hand to trace over them and realizes what they are - scratches down her back. She looks over her shoulder at him, "James liked to coat his fingers in his venom and scratch them down his back. Said my pain brought him pleasure."

"Bella..." he starts, a little choked up at the sight of them - reminders of a painful time in her life. He feels the red hot rage rising in him, but knows that he needs to quash it down. This isn't about him becoming angry, this is about comforting Bella, she is the most important thing here.

"Just battle scars," Bella shrugs and Jasper undoes the button on his jeans, sliding them off his legs. He points toward his left knee and his right thigh and her eyes become a bit glassy at the scars there.

"Battle scars," he says with a smile, "We match."

"Meant to be," Bella whispers and Jasper grabs her face in his hands, crushing his lips to hers.

"Meant to be, baby," he growls against her lips before kissing her once more. His eyes ask for permission once he pulls away and she nods, him reaching behind her to pull of her bra and panties, exposing herself to him for the first time. Fuck, he curses, drinking in the sight of her naked body.

She's fucking perfect.

He must have voiced his thoughts out loud or it's the look on his face because she smiles and practically tackles him onto the bed, pulling off the remaining article of clothing between them.

She cries out softly as they finally join and become one.

"Do you remember your last name?"

They're cuddling after their second time together, Bella purrs smelling theirs scents mixed together combined with the smell of sex in his apartment. She had nothing to be afraid of, Jasper was a perfect gentlemen, he was so soft and tender with her, didn't pressure her into anything. James had been rough, forceful, painful. There was nothing but pleasure with Jasper. Pure ecstasy.

She glances up at his question though and smiles at him. "I do."

"What is it?"

"Swan," Bella answers with a small smile. "My parents named me Isabella Marie Swan. I hated Isabella though, I just liked going by Bella."

"Bella Swan," he hums, rolling it around in his head. "I like it," he then glances down to her, "but I think Bella Whitlock has a good ring to it, too"

Bella smiles wide and doesn't even think as she says, "I love you, Jasper."

She realizes what she just blurted out and briefly panics, wondering if it's too soon, but Jasper just kisses her, tender and soft.

"I love you too, Bella."

Bella watches Jasper sleep, gently tracing his face. She's so happy, she's so fucking happy. She has her mate, who loves her, who she loves. Tomorrow does not matter, his decision on becoming a vampire does not matter, how she's going to deal with his family for Christmas does not matter. All that matters is this moment, her mate is sleeping peacefully without nightmares and they finalized the bond and she is feeling alive again.

For years she just coasted.

Those ten years spent under James and Victoria's thumb, fighting their fight, having to watch vampire life be created and destroyed, having to endure all of that pain from James. Having to endure Victoria tormenting her because her mate was an sociopathic unfaithful fuck. Having to fight and fight and fight for no reason besides James needing to conquer territory.

Then she felt a semblance of peace when she escaped and ran. She tried to trace back to her human memories and realized that she was declared dead after a year search for her. She didn't have a life anymore to return to. For the first year she just wandered, going wherever she wanted, feeding when needed. She felt no direction or purpose and was close to lighting a pyre and throwing herself in it.

Before she did though, she wanted to see her dad once last time. She went to his home in Forks, Washington and crossed her paths with Alice Cullen. The small pixie vampire said that she was a mind reader and said that she saw a dark spot - an unknown vampire - watching Charlie Swan and thought that he was in trouble. Alice ended up introducing her to her family - a coven of "vegetarian" vampires. While she did not desire adapting to their lifestyle, she did enjoy their companionship and forged close bonds with the family.

Through them, she was able to establish a life for herself, Alice helping her invest some money in stocks and different companies that ended up making her very rich. She was eternally grateful to them, they allowed her to establish this life.

While she maintained a rather semi-nomadic lifestyle, she still liked to pass time by working and with working she needed a residence which caused her to have an apartment. Alice once told her that big things were in store for her based on the path she was on. Looking at the sleeping man next to her, that little pixie was right.

And you never bet against Alice.

Jasper walks back up to his apartment, finally finished Christmas shopping for his family. Peter and his dad had been taken care of for a month now, it was his mom and Charlotte that he was a little stumped with. In the end, he thinks they'll be happy with his gifts.

Bella had stumped him a bit, as well. What do you get a vampire that has the money to buy anything? Glancing at the bag in his hands, he thinks he did well for her too. He unlocks his apartment and freezes immediately.

There's someone in his apartment.

The dark haired man is facing away from him as he looks out the window. From the back, Jasper can see that he's tall and broad. Glancing at his nightstand, where his gun is, he wonders if he can reach it in time. He's confident that he would be able to take him down without though, the man was a couple of inches shorter than him. He snarls at the man, "What the hell are you doing here?"

"You must be Jasper."

What the fuck...

The man turns around and Jasper feels his heart drop into his stomach at the sight of the man's red eyes. Vampire.

Fuck fuck fuck...

Bella's at work, won't be off for another twenty minutes, there's no way he can defend himself from a vampire, unless he can get his hands on a fire. As he's about to glance around for his lighter, he gets a good look at the man's face and frowns - dark hair, dark eyebrows, dark mustache across his upper lip.

His face though, it so similar to...

"I'm Charlie, Bella's father."

AN: Thanks for reading.