Chapter 8

(Two weeks later)

Edward's POV

After we all got back from Phoenix, it took some smoothing over on Bella's part to fix things with Charlie, but now everything was pretty much back to normal. Sometimes I could tell Bella was thinking of what happened in Phoenix because she would hug me for no reason or give me a certain look. I on the other hand thought about Phoenix a lot more than Bella. My Bella could have easily been taken away from me that day, and that fact was not easily forgotten.

I never officially talked to Alice and Jasper about the incident. Alice took it upon herself to talk to me. One day last week, she walked up to me and used her thoughts to speak with me. She had said, Edward, I just saw that you are going to forgive me for Phoenix, but you don't need to say anything. Just know that I'm sorry and I will accept your forgiveness. Then she gave me a quick hug and danced off before I could reply. Alice truly was a strange, but loveable person.

Jasper was a completely different story, however. Lately his thoughts had been dwelling on Phoenix. His thoughts practically screamed that he wanted to talk to me. It wasn't that I was still angry with Jasper over Bella's involvement in the fight with James, but I wasn't quite ready to forgive him. I knew that Bella was the one who had the final say in going to the ballet studio, but Jasper had given her the idea. It's wasn't that I was holding a grudge against Jasper, but I didn't feel ready for things to be normal between us.

Lately, I had really been making an effort to think of Phoenix in a different way. From a different perspective, Jasper could have quite possibly saved Bella's life. We would have been hard pressed to catch up to her in time had he not caught her in the airport. I truly was grateful that Jasper had been there for Bella, but I still let my anger about the ballet studio overshadow my gratitude.

Eventually, I knew Jasper would force me to speak with him, he had been thinking about it for a while. I clearly remember the talk we had earlier today…

I was so thirsty that I had been forced to take a hunting trip nearby the house, and Jasper followed me. When we were a good distance away from the house, I heard him call my name in his thoughts, Edward. I have to talk to you, please will you let me?

Jasper's POV

I was almost begging Edward to speak to me with my thoughts. I felt a little humiliated that I had to actually follow Edward and plead with him like this, but I was desperate. I truly had tried to be patient with him, but this was getting ridiculous. It was time for him to hear what I had to say. I was sick of the constant undertone of anger I sensed coming from him whenever we were together, I missed my brother.

I chose to talk out loud, rather than have Edward pick at my head. "I really tried to wait for you Edward, but now I can't wait any longer. I want to talk about what happened in Phoenix. I want to apologize." I nervously waited for his reply.

Edward sighed, then said, "You're right Jasper, it is time to talk about this. Go ahead."

I was momentarily surprised that he agreed to talk, but I collected my thoughts and started. "Edward, I've had a lot of time to think about what I did back in Phoenix, and I know that what I did was wrong on many levels. The worst thing I did was put Bella in danger." I sensed his anger escalate at my words, but I still continued, "I hope you know that at the time, I wasn't thinking as a Cullen, I was thinking as a fighter. My past life makes it more difficult to think as a member of a family and not some sort of vampire warrior. It has been really hard for me to get used to this lifestyle, but living with this family is the only place I have ever felt like I belonged. I just want you to know how truly sorry I am for letting my past life get the best of me in Phoenix. I can't promise you that I won't stray from my path again, but I can promise you that I will do everything possible to keep Bella out of danger in the future." I patiently waited for Edward's reply. I didn't sense any powerful emotions coming off of him, but that wasn't necessarily a good or bad sign.

It took Edward a couple seconds to respond, but he finally said, "Thank you for saying that, Jasper. I know how bad you felt about what happened in the ballet studio. I know you were only concerned with Alice's safety, and I can understand what you did because I probably would have done the same in your position. I accept your apology, and I'm sorry for putting off talking to you for so long." He paused, then continued, "I also want to officially thank you for saving Bella, Jasper. I really don't know what I would have found in that ballet studio had you not stopped Bella from running away. I'm eternally grateful to you for her life, Jasper."

I certainly wasn't expecting him to thank me for anything that happened in Phoenix, but I was gracious all the same. "I'm just glad that none of my mistakes were harmful to Bella, Edward. I think we were all lucky that this didn't turn out the other way. All we can do now is just move on, right?" I asked, hoping he would agree.

"Right, Jasper. Let's go home, I'm sure Alice has told everyone that we will be getting along again. I know Esme will be relieved, you know how she gets when this happens. We can put this behind us now." I sensed relief coming from Edward. Talking to each other had not only been beneficial to me, but to Edward also. I was ready to go home and be with my family, where I belonged. From now on I would try harder to be a Cullen, a member of a family, and not a member of a mere coven.

End.