Bella sat up in bed abruptly, confused and disoriented and feeling unbelievably turned on. A blush crept it's way up her neck and into her cheeks as she looked around the unfamiliar room, remembering where she was.

After a moment she let herself fall backward on the bed and covered her face, groaning. As embarrassed as she was, she was still six kinds of hot and bothered. It really had been one hell of a dream. Maybe she'd gotten really lucky and not made noises in her sleep, but she knew there was no hiding the emotional signature from Jasper. She allowed herself to remember it, a small smile twitching at the corners of her lips.

Until she felt her bed shaking.

Wiping a hand down her face just enough to peer out through the cracks between her fingers, she saw Jasper, shuddering with barely suppressed laughter. Something clicked in Bella's brain at that moment. The douchebag had woken her up.

"Sleep well?" he managed to get out before his laughter exploded into the room.

Bella closer her eyes and took a deep breath. She exhaled completely before drawing another. Then, she screamed, "Get. OUT!"

Jasper took his sweet time standing and sauntering from the room, snickering the entire way.

"Asshole," she muttered, knowing full well that he could hear her.

"You chose this," his singsong voice came floating back down the hall.

Bella thought there was not a single thing he could have said to infuriate her more in that moment.

-

Jasper had been right. She did choose her current situation. Technically. Not that there were a whole hell of a lot of alternatives at the time.

After Edward left, Bella fell apart. Then she learned to put herself back together. If he wanted her to live a normal human life, whatever. Fine. She could do that. So she did. As well as a teenage girl who knew about the existence of vampires could, anyway.

She even moved on, a little. Not with anyone, but just enough to realize that maybe her relationship with Edward hadn't been the healthiest. What did they have in common, anyway? With the rose-tinted goggles having been ripped off her so violently, she saw that they probably had nothing but a passing infatuation. In any situation, they definitely didn't have anything that would hold them together for all time. Clearly not on his end, anyway. And the more she looked back, the more she realized it wouldn't have lasted on her end, either.

She figured she'd just about burned the majority of her bridges with the normal kids at school, and that was fine with her. She'd been told over and over again that she wasn't normal, after all. Being dumped by a vampire and having a bestie who morphed into a giant wolf definitely gave her a reason to be the weird one. Oddly, she didn't actually wish for things to be any other way. She went ahead and wore the 'weirdo' label with a sense of pride. What the hell did those kids know, anyway?

She allowed her friendship with Jake to grow, but only so far - especially once she found out what he was. She was done with being in love with the supernatural and not being able to be part of the club. He still had his obvious crush, but she didn't lead him on or give him any reason to think he had a snowball's chance in hell.

It all worked fine in her opinion, until the day of her motorcycle crash. She'd swerved to avoid a fatass skunk in the road, only to smash into a tree. She'd come around in the hospital later on to Alice's relieved and angry face, along with a lot of bumps and bruises and scratches and a nasty headache. Until Alice had arrived, Jake hadn't left her side - and because Alice couldn't see around wolves, she'd thought Bella dead. As did the rest of the Cullen coven.

Edward went to play martyr in Italy, Bella and Alice went to save him, and after a couple promises made concerning Bella's human status, a few creepy offers rejected, some thinly veiled threats, and a whole lot of looks that made Bella wonder if she looked like a walking steak to these people, they were free to go.

On the way home, Alice had taken Bella aside and informed her that Edward was planning on asking for Bella to take him back, and would not at all like her negative response. In fact, it would be very much in Bella's interest to take the escape route Alice had taken the liberty of setting up. The alternative was death, no matter which way the chips fell. Death by Jake trying to keep Edward away from her, or death by Edward draining her, or death by the Volturi, because Edward would never allow anyone else to taste her blood, even to save her life.

She chose the escape option because she was pretty sure she didn't feel like dying painfully quite yet. It never even occurred to her to give Edward another chance.

-

"Honestly, Charlotte, what the fuck?" Bella griped, poking at her cereal. She'd managed to get past her embarrassment enough now to be angry, and Charlotte happened to be in the kitchen, so she got to hear the whole story.

"I don't know what to tell ya, sugar. He seems to get unusual satisfaction from screwing with you."

"I don't even know if it was my own dream, or if he manipulated my emotions to make me have it," she whined.

"Oh, now that I do know," Charlotte nodded seriously and leaned in conspiratorially. "See, about an hour before you woke, he started seemin' all distracted, looking toward your room and fidgetin' a lot. Eventually he made it up there, and you know the rest, but seems to me that you got under his skin. Not the other way 'round."

Bella took a bite of her breakfast, a little more aggressively than was necessary, and chewed thoughtfully while she pondered Charlotte's revelation.

-

Alice's escape plan just so happened to be an absolutely terrifying experience. During a layover, Bella had slipped into the ladies' room for a breather from her would-be murderous vampire ex, and promptly been kidnapped by an unknown ladypire.

She was bound, gagged, blindfolded and thrown unceremoniously into a backseat - a fact she could only really tell by the cushioning. Then, she'd been driven somewhere, for a length of time she couldn't determine, partially because she fell asleep. When she'd come to, it was to a grinning Jasper wiping the drool from her chin with his finger. Had she known then that he was mocking her, she might have put up a bigger fuss and tried to get out of the vehicle. Instead, she smiled at him as best she could around her gag and was glad to see a familiar face.

She assumed he'd put her back out immediately, because the next thing she knew she was waking up in an unfamiliar bed with her bonds removed and clothes changed.

Charlotte had walked right in at that point, introducing herself and talking a mile a minute. Bella later realized it was because she'd been a little nervous, but at the time it was all she could do to keep up. Charlotte apologized for the binding and gagging thing, saying she wasn't sure how far she needed to go to make it look real, so she just went whole hog about it. Then, she reassured Bella that she had changed her clothing herself - no, no, the boys didn't see any naughty bits or her granny panties. Which, by the way, Charlotte happened to know a great store for 'real' underwear, which just so happened to have free shipping online this week.

As soon as she said 'online', Bella knew they were going to be great friends.

-

After breakfast, Bella wandered outside for some alone time. She'd grabbed a random book on her way out the door, but in truth she had no intention of reading. She just wanted an excuse not to have to socialize. Some vampires around this place didn't seem to understand that their company was not always welcome.

She settled herself into a chair on the deck, opened the book's cover, and started to ponder her morning a bit more fully. Had she really affected Jasper in such a way? If that was the case, why was he being such a shit to her?

It was bad enough that she had these dreams. She had them often, actually, since she'd gotten over the shock of Edward leaving her. She shrugged it off as teenage hormones. It's not like the male participants ever had a face or a distinct voice. She was definitely the star in her nighttime mind movies. Usually, she just took care of things when she woke up like she had today. When she did, she could usually go a little while without having one. The only problem was, now she lived in a house with three super-hearing vampires, and that was pretty much a mood killer. There was no way Bella could think of that might make her alright with the idea of getting herself off knowing she could be heard - and felt.

There was also no way she was getting them to leave the house. The deal was that she not be left entirely alone until after her change, in case Edward happened to be dumb enough to try coming for her and stumble upon his opportune moment. Even in her frustrated state, she recognized that her safety was more important than an orgasm.

The struggle was real, though. She shifted a bit, trying to focus on just about anything else. The book she'd grabbed just so happened to be one of Charlotte's bodice rippers. Awesome.

-

"You're an idiot," Charlotte said, flopping over the edge of the sofa opposite Jasper. He'd been staring out the window at Bella. The length of time she was spending on that particular page didn't escape him. Nor did the feeling emanating from her.

He turned his gaze to Charlotte without moving his head, waiting for her to elaborate. He didn't have to wait long. "Just what is it you think you're doing with her, anyway? Why bother to embarrass her all the time?"

"At first, it wasn't intentional," he admitted. "Then, it was just fun and easy."

"And now?"

Jasper was silent. Peter eventually supplied, "Now, it's the only way she pays him any attention at all."

He sighed. He never really could get much past these two. "I don't know what else to do, really."

"You like her, don't you?"

"That's not even worth entertaining until she's changed, and you both know that."

"And who will be doing the changing?"

Jasper growled, and the couple fell over themselves laughing.

-

After Charlotte had swept from the room, Bella had risen from the bed to find some clothes and found a letter addressed to her on top of the dresser. She correctly assumed who it was from, and read it so greedily that she needed to stop and read it again. This was no short missive, and the information in it was both a bit of a shock and important to Bella's continued well being.

First, Alice had laid out a few strict rules for her happiness and survival. One, that she absolutely must be changed as per her agreement with the Volturi, before her next birthday. Bella had made her choice on that count in Volterra, and changing her mind now would be catastrophic on many levels. Second, that she needed to spend at least a little while human first, to let things settle in her mind and to prepare herself. If she didn't, her anger afterward would be out of control, which could lead to some very horrifying situations that Alice declined to elaborate on. And third, she was not to see or speak to any of the Cullens until after her change, and Edward for much longer after that if she could avoid it. While they did view Bella favorably, the fact of the matter was that they would side with Edward, because that is what covens did. By her choice, Bella had ensured she would never be part of that coven. Bella understood this, but it still stung. So much for being the missing piece to complete their little family.

Next, she'd given Bella a few choice nuggets of information designed to put her mind at ease about certain things. By this time, her death was already faked, no need to worry there. Alice also took the liberty of determining the balance of Bella's account, and investing that much money in a portfolio for her. Until that money grew to a size large enough for Bella to live off of, she was awarding her friend a one million dollar loan, that Alice would only accept payment on when Bella's money had grown to exceed that amount. Bella was warned not to argue with this, but the warning was unnecessary. For once, Alice had taken Bella's opinions into account and attempted to do things in a way that made her comfortable rather than like she'd just been steamrolled. She appreciated that. It wasn't like she could contact Alice at the moment to complain, or even knew the first steps to take returning the money, so even if she wanted to kick up a fuss, she couldn't. She decided to just take the gift for now as temporary payment for her current predicament.

Lastly, Alice explained to Bella the exact nature of her relationship with Jasper. Edward had told her they were mates, but that wasn't true. It was just the easiest way to explain to a teenager at the time. In truth, they had been friends and companions who scratched an itch for one another while they both waited for something better. There was a fondness there, but that was about as far as it went. And no, the reasons they separated had nothing to do with Bella, but everything to do with timing. As it happened, that timing was benefitting Bella right now because Jasper owed Alice a favor or five.

After the fourth time reading it, Bella was sure she'd gotten everything she needed out of it. She found clothes in the dresser, put some on, and stuffed the letter in her pocket before heading downstairs to meet Alice's accomplices.

-

Eventually, the light outside faded to the point that Bella could no longer pretend she was reading. She sighed, realizing that for the amount of time she'd been out here, she really should've been able to chew through two of these books. She didn't know whether the vampires inside knew that or not, but she did know that it was time to go in and face the music.

Slipping inside and pulling the sliding door closed behind her, Bella tried to be as quiet as possible. Her hope was that she could make it to her room without interruption.

No such luck.

"You do know you can't sneak around vampires, right?"

Bella just about jumped out of her skin. Turning, she found Jasper sprawled lazily across the sofa, watching her with a smirk on his face.

She was really beginning to hate that smirk. It was as alluring as it was infuriating, and even if she could trust her own feelings around him, her current state meant that...well, she still couldn't quite trust her own feelings.

"Doesn't the fact that I tried imply that I'm not up for this right now, Jasper?" She wasn't really sure where she found the words to snark back at him, but she also couldn't find it in her to care much. She was mentally exhausted from the sexual frustration, the embarrassment, and the puzzle the man in front of her presented. He had never been so forward with her before.

"What exactly are you up for, Bella?" he asked, wagging his eyebrows.

"Fuck you, Jasper. Just… fuck you," she replied, suddenly feeling bone-weary.

"Be careful what you wish for," he replied. She didn't notice the way he looked at her as he spoke. She was already exiting the room, her hand trailing behind her in a gesture that reiterated the sentiment she'd just expressed verbally.

She managed to keep it together long enough to get into her room. Closing the door behind her, she leaned against it heavily and sighed. She'd thought she'd done well handling everything up to this point, but this latest ribbing was just too much. She let herself sink to the floor, finding her forehead butted against her knees as the tears started to fall. When they did, it was as if the floodgates opened.

What had she done to deserve all of this? Fall in love with the wrong guy? Try to get over it? Stop him from killing himself over her? None of those things seemed to Bella like the kind of crimes that deserved the punishment she now faced. Her human life was already all but over, and she was facing down...well, eternity. Alone. The realization that she couldn't even really wrap her mind around that concept brought with it a crushing weight that settled in her chest.

Forever hadn't seemed so bad before, when she'd have someone to love. Someone to love her. So what if it was puppy love, if it never faded? But now...she'd be alone. Truly alone, because there was no hope of the Cullens taking her in, even if she wanted them to. And she couldn't stay here, either, she thought. She liked Peter and Charlotte well enough, but she wasn't going to hang around someone who appeared to get their rocks off humiliating her.

She knew the vampires in the house could all hear her, but she found that the knowledge only made it worse. She sobbed, brokenly and hysterically in fits, until her face felt swollen and her cheeks were raw from the salt tears and her sinuses ached with pressure. The tears didn't stop until she finally managed to cry herself to sleep, aching for something she could only define as a desperate desire not to be so utterly alone.

-

Jasper sprinted out the door into the night as soon as he heard Bella's door click shut. He had to get out of that house. Between Bella's state and the things Peter and Charlotte were getting up to, he was fast approaching a point of frustration, himself.

Once safely ensconced in the forest, he slowed to a walk. Internally, he was kicking himself. Why was it that he just couldn't seem to ever say the right thing to her? Her reaction to his - admittedly lewd - jest seemed blown just a tad out of proportion. He knew she needed time to reconcile herself to her fate, but he hadn't thought she'd lash out at him that way.

Then again, he reminded himself, he was an empath, not a mind reader. While it was often possible to deduce the reason behind someone's emotions, the truth was that he'd never been close enough with Bella to be able to do it reliably with her. He had no idea how she really thought about all of this. In fact, all he really felt from her were flares of annoyance, snippets of lust, and metric ton of sexual frustration.

So, he'd gone with what he knew. It had been a bad move.

Eventually, he found a nice rock that looked perfect for brooding. He perched atop it, turning the Bella problem over and over in his mind. It was true what he'd said to Peter and Charlotte; there was no point whatsoever in entertaining attraction to a human. Sex was...well, not impossible, but certainly not worth the effort. The idea of an actual relationship was laughable; humans didn't live long enough to make it worthwhile.

While mating was a possibility, it was...exceedingly rare, and full of complications. He'd heard of it happening, but didn't know a single vampire who'd ever met their mate in a human.

Still, she seemed to be invading his every thought, lately.

He was ruminating on this fact when he felt something that he'd heard about, but never expected. It was a pull on his psyche, splitting his focus, transporting part of his mind into what he knew could only be a dream.

-

When Bella arrived at the bottom of the stairs, she was greeted by Charlotte, Jasper, and a third vampire, who quickly introduced himself as Peter.

"Um, I suppose thanks are in order," she began, a little awkwardly.

"Not at all," Peter told her seriously.

"It was fun," Charlotte supplied. "I've never kidnapped a human before. Well, not one I intended to keep alive, anyway."

Bella laughed a little nervously at this, and Charlotte realized what she'd said. "Sorry. I haven't exactly kept my social skills very sharp."

Jasper, however, had simply looked at her, quietly assessing. His gaze made Bella nervous.

"So," she started pulling the letter out of her pocket. "What's the plan?"

"No plan," Jasper finally spoke.

"You let us know when you're good to go, and then one of us has dinner," Peter winked at her. "Until then, you're under 24/7 surveillance in case Eddie decides to come knockin'."

Seems simple enough, Bella thought at the time. She'd give herself two weeks.

-

Bella woke, blinking rapidly, trying to gain her bearings. She had been moved to the bed, a fact that didn't surprise her. In fact it hardly registered in light of the memories flitting through her mind. She'd dreamed again, and this time… this time her costar had a face. Jasper's face.

She was trying to decide how she felt about that when she stretched, and her hand collided with something hard and cold. With a sinking feeling, she turned her head, to find Jasper lying next to her. His arms were folded under his head, legs crossed at the ankles, and he was staring at the ceiling, ignoring her.

"What the fuck?" she asked him, dumbfounded and, once again, embarrassed.

He didn't react for a long moment, seemingly content to stare at the ceiling and pretend she wasn't there. She was about to repeat her question when, finally, his lips twitched, and he asked, "So, was it good for you, too?"

"Excuse me?" was the only response Bella could come up with. A thought flitted across her mind, along with a trickle of dread, but she dismissed it. There was just no way. There couldn't be.

"It's been a long time since I dreamed, but that was quite the experience," he supplied.

His words sunk in slowly, but her reaction once they did was swift. She bolted from the bed, ignoring the head rush of getting up too quickly, and pointed to the door. "Get the fuck out."

He seemed to consider it for a moment, then shrugged. "No, I don't think I will."

"Jackass!" she screamed.

He held his position, chuckling lightly. "That's hardly the most creative thing I've been called."

"I wasn't going for creativity, dickweed. Maybe Jackass Jasper, or Jasper the Jackass just has a particularly nice alliterative ring to it."

"Aww, look at the little human showing off her education," he mocked, smirking wickedly. "Call me all the names you like, Little Miss Smartypants. Pretend to be as offended as you want, abuse me in whichever ways you see fit. It doesn't change the fact that you liked it."

She flushed bright red, a fact he noted with great satisfaction as his smirk widened impossibly. "For all you accuse Edward of raping minds, you sure don't seem to have any qualms about doing it to my dreams," she told him, her embarrassment and disgust evident in her voice.

The smirk disappeared from his face and he was in front of her in a second flat, invading her personal space and trapping her so that he was all she could see, and there was no escape. "Look at me, Isabella," he demanded, quiet but intense. She turned her head and closed her eyes defiantly. "Now you're just being childish," he chastised. "You know that was a low blow. This is not the same thing, not by a long shot."

"I fail to see the difference," she insisted, choosing to ignore his characterization of her behavior. "It's sick. You're sick."

"I'm not sick, though I suppose I could be called twisted," he added thoughtfully. "There is sure as shit no cure for what ails me. As to the rest, let me enlighten you, darling," he breathed into her ear. She shivered involuntarily. "It's different in many ways, but the most pertinent to this little spat we seem to be having is the fact that I can't enter your dreams unless you call me." she squeezed her eyes shut even tighter, as if she knew this already but was finding having it confirmed immensely unpleasant. Her emotions hold him as much, and he decided to throw her a bone. "If it makes you feel any better, it doesn't have to be on a conscious level."

"Thanks for that, Captain Obvious," she spat. "Can you fucking move now, or are you not finished tormenting me?"

At this, Jasper paused, tasting her emotions and assessing the situation. As much as this had amused him to begin with, he realized now, as he saw the tears that threatened to fall and sensed her intense mortification, that he had probably taken this a little bit too far. He stepped back and to the side to clear the way.

As she shoved past him in a beeline out of her room, Peter poked his head in. "Nice going, Jackass Jasper. If you wanted to win her over, I'd say that plan is going wonderfully."

Bella stormed down the stairs and found Charlotte waiting on the couch with wide eyes.

"I am so -" she started, but Bella cut her off.

"I am done," Bella announced. "Today. Change me today. I don't care how or where, but make it a surprise and make sure I never dream again."

Charlotte only nodded in understanding. Bella stomped into the kitchen to prepare herself a coffee. When it was done, she took it out onto the deck, staring hard at the trees. Jasper was right, she had liked it. But she wasn't going to subject herself to his shit every morning over it, either. She had no idea what the hell had happened that had allowed him access to her dreams, but she didn't think she could handle it if it continued. She squirmed a little in her seat, trying to ignore the tension that was building up again as she considered that possibility.

Just as she took the last sip from her cup, she felt cold hands grip her from behind and the sting of sharp teeth in her neck.

-