AUTHOR'S NOTE: Okay, so I originally planned on having this be a single story. But as time went on and storylines were laid out, I realized that just wasn't going to be possible. The story has been stalling and I finally figured out a way to fix that. To get things up to where I'd hoped they'd be by now. So, please don't kill me, but I'm ending the story here. With a sequel being started up very quickly. There's still so much of this story to tell, but to keep from this one being insanely long, I have to find a stopping point. So, without further ado, the unexpected end of Breathe.

Stephenie Meyer's the genius, I'm just taking responsibility for Baylee.

CHAPTER SONG: COMING BACK FOR MORE - THE LIFE OF RILEY

Chapter Thirty-Two:

The summer was officially over. Our last night in Santa Cruz and I was more miserable than I'd been since the beginning of the trip. All because I'd been stupid enough to let something insignificant come between us. Yet again.

Apparently I completely sucked at this whole relationship thing.

I couldn't get my eyes to close as I lay in bed, watching shadows dance as the wind lightly blew into the room. It was our last night and I wanted to smell the salty air flowing around the house. I was going to miss that smell so much when we went back home. And as I lay there, watching the lacy curtains billow in the light breeze, I wondered if the gulf suddenly between Jasper and me was going to follow us home.

I wasn't looking forward to the coming morning. Not only were we going to be incredibly awkward and silent toward each other on the plane ride home, but I was going to have to wear actual clothing. Probably something Alice had selected especially for me so that when our family met us at the airport, her feelings wouldn't be hurt.

It was still strange to me, considering the feelings of my foster family as if they were blood bound to me.

Sighing when my thoughts shifted suddenly into dangerous territory, I wrenched the covers back and climbed to my feet. I shivered a little at the coolness of the wooden floor but ignored it. I didn't bother covering up as I padded out into the dark house. I was thirsty and maybe if I assauged that, I'd be able to sleep. It wasn't going to work, I wasn't stupid enough to believe that, but I was desperate.

Passing through the archway into the kitchen, I froze instantly when I noticed something off. Forgetting about something to drink, I turned and walked through the open doorway that let me know where Jasper was. That he was as unable to sleep as I was.

He was silent and sitting in the chair he'd found me in the day he asked to paint a portrait of me. He was in his standard sleep attire, but sans a shirt. That instrigued me a little, but I pushed the thought away. I couldn't let myself go there, not when we were still avoiding each other.

"Hey." I muttered quietly and eased into the chair across from him at the table. He glanced over at me, angling his chin up before his eyes returned to the dark water.

Okay, that hurt.

I sighed and let my head fall back, yelping when the movement caused pain and stared at the silent blonde in front of me. In the moonlight, he looked paler than normal, with prominant circles beneath the eyes I loved so much. His hair was unruly atop his head and absolutely perfect. I let my eyes travel lower and drank in the sight before me. Pale skin, with scars smoothed out thanks to the moon, stretched taunt against faint muscular outlines. He had his arms on the chair and I could practically see the tension in his forearms, even though his long and slender fingers were dangling idly.

"What'd I do this time?" He asked softly, his voice having a bit of a bite to it.

I winced and pulled my legs to my chest as I carefully settled back into the chair. My own eyes fell on the scenery and I shrugged carefully. "You didn't really do anything. I just overreacted."

"You do that a lot." He replied and I looked over to see him staring at me. I could tell he was angry, but the only outward sign of his distress was the tension riddling his jaw. "You always get angry at me for something, but never tell me what I did. How are we ever going to make this work if you keep shutting off on me?"

"This isn't all my fault." I shot back defensively, even though I knew it was a lie. This time it was all on me. I knew and had accepted that as I left my bedroom in search of something to push away the sleeplessness. I just hadn't counted on having our fight now. I sighed and leaned my forehead into my hand before I got up and knelt beside his chair. It hurt to feel him flinch when I took his hand, but otherwise ignored it. "Jasper, I'm sorry."

He sighed and I could see some of the stress leave his strong features. But he didn't look at me. His eyes remained transfixed on the darkness. "You say that a lot too." He muttered, but the bite I'd originally heard was gone. He was starting to thaw out a little.

Just when I thought that was as far as he was going to take his part of the conversation, he startled me by turning toward me. Bodily. "What did I do, Baylee? How can you let me in one moment, then shut the door in my face the next? I know we've been through some pretty awful crap but come on!"

I jerked back in surprise when he suddenly vaulted to his feet and spun away from the chair I was still kneeling beside. Sitting back, I hugged my knees to my chest and stayed there. I'd never admit this to anyone, but Jasper scared me when he was angry. I couldn't help the instincts that sparked whenever he showed signs of his rage. It took a lot to make Jasper Hale angry, but I seemed to have the perfect combination.

Suddenly, as that thought hit, a new one came right in on it's heels. Maybe we weren't going to be able to make this work. Maybe too much had happened, too many scars marring the surface of what could've been a flawless courtship.

"You're right." I muttered, causing him to pause just inside the house. He sighed, letting his head fall back before he turned and rejoined me out on the deck. I obediantly climbed to my feet and faced him as I tugged on the silk pajama shorts Alice had packed as my pajamas. "I shouldn't be doing that to you and it's not fair."

"Damn right it's not." He threw the words in my face then winced when his own anger bounced back in his face.

"You getting angry at me isn't going to help!" I threw in, suddenly filled with a random surge of rage. All because I felt like I was being attacked by the one person my heart swore never would hurt me. "If I'm frustrating you so damn much, then why are you still trying?!"

That stunned him so much that he didn't respond automatically, like he normally did whenever we fought. There was a weird vibe to this arguement, like a sense of foreboding that refused to go unnoticed. Something was going to change tonight, I could feel it. We weren't going to be the same people when we left for Forks in the morning.

I crossed the distance between us in two, long angry strides. Grabbing his arm, I forced him to face me, blocking his entrance with my tiny body. "Answer me, Jasper." I challenged, my voice dipping into a lower, more sinister tone. "Why are you so hell bent on getting close to me when all I do is push you away?"

"Because I'm hoping you'll stop!" He screamed and fixed his heated glare on me. Jerking his arm from my grasp, he raked both hands through his hair roughly then locked his fingers against the back of his neck. "I keep hoping that if I do the right things, then you'll take down these invisible walls you probably don't even realize you have! But no! Just when I think we're gaining some ground, you shove me right back to the starting point. I'm getting sick of it, Baylee."

I flinched away from him as if I'd been slapped. I knew I was difficult to be around, I'd been told that enough times to be certain of it's honesty. But I never would have guessed that Jasper would ever reach his limit so quickly.

Swallowing thickly, I looked down at my bare feet before turning toward the water. "All of this because you treated me like I was breakable."

"What?!" He sputtered and suddenly, I was the one being whirled around and forced into looking up at him. "All of this because why?!"

"That day at the beach!" I shot back and pulled my arms up, bringing them down hard on his forearms to break his grip. "We were having a really nice moment, Jasper. And there for a second, I forgot about the burns. I forgot how breakable I was. I wasn't even in pain and you dropped me like a doll you weren't supposed to be touching! How do you think that makes me feel? We both may have scars, but I've never done that to you. I've never made you feel like half a person because of them."

"No." He shook his head slowly, sadly. "You just make me feel like I'm fighting a losing battle."

My eyes widened and I stepped away from him, abruptly needing more distance than what'd already been alotted.

"I'm going to school in about a week. I won't be in Forks anymore, or in your daily life. How in the hell are we going to keep a relationship going when we can't even function now?!"

"I just need time!" I blurted out, not thinking about what I was saying before the words burst past my lips. Time for what? I'd thought I already had everything all figured out. What did I possibly have left to get through?! So we'd had a little fight, so what?

The realization made me gasp in shock. I should've known. I should've been paying attention or else I would've seen the signs. Our distance, the awkward silences were code for something else. Jasper had talked himself right out of wanting something with me.

I nodded slowly and lightly clicked my tongue against the roof of my mouth. "Okay."

"Okay?" He stared at me as if I'd suddenly grown three heads. "Why are you saying okay?"

"You want out." I looked up at him and shrugged slowly, almost mechanically. "Well, you got it. I won't bother you anymore. You can go off to college and create this whole new life. I'll finish out the rest of my time here then disappear as soon as I turn eighteen. I'll never darken your doorstep again, you don't have to worry about me anymore."

"Damnit Baylee!" The curse, mingled with my name, flew out his mouth so sharply that I was still focused on it when he grabbed my arms and pulled me up against his body. "Why are you assuming that's what I want?!"

"What do you want?!" I threw back helplessly, suddenly so confused. The fatigue wasn't helping any, I couldn't think or concentrate.

"I want you." He replied with such conviction that I felt it in every fiber of my being. His hands formed manacles around my arms and I grit my teeth to keep from crying out when his fingers scrunched up damaged skin. "I want you to tell me when I do something that hurts you. I want you to let me be there for you! You're the most stubborn girl I've ever known and I don't know how to get you to let your defenses completely crumble. Why can't you just be open with me?"

"Because it's too hard." I blurted out in sudden realization. I'd been closed off for a really long time, and now I suddenly had someone standing in front of me, demanding I open myself up to him entirely. Without fear of possible reprocussions.

The ferocity of his fight slowly faded from his features and he let me go just as slowly. I backed away instinctively and ducked my head to stare at my bare feet.

"So that's it then." He sighed and shook his head slowly, staring over my head. "You're too used to being battered and ignored that you can't accept something good when it comes along. I'd hoped that I was wrong when I originally thought that. That I'd be different because I knew you before the fire. But you're just not going to let me in. You're going to continue to hold me at a distance, using small things to jumpstart a fight. You're too scared of me falling into that category to let me prove you wrong."

I swallowed thickly and kept my head down, knowing deep in my gut that he was right. I didn't want him to be right, but he was. After all, what other explanation was there? How could I possibly explain how I'd let things escalate? All because he'd remembered my burns and started handling me like a damaged child.

He'd handled me exactly like I was. A damaged child.

Bile rose in my throat so suddenly that I nearly smacked into the glass door when I ran inside. I didn't care if Jasper was following me or not, I simply locked myself up in the bathroom and got sick. So violently ill that I groaned in pain when my back arched painfully against my damaged skin. I slowly regained control over my body, forcing myself to stop shaking enough so that I could move back into my room. I could hear faint stirrings beyond the door, but when I walked out, I was greeted with nothing.

Forcing myself out into the hall, I intentionally passed by Jasper's door. It was closed. He'd locked himself inside, away from me. It was then that I realized the real truth behind his words. Right now, in this moment and time, we weren't going to work. The pain of that hit me mercilessly, making me want to curl in on myself so that I could try and escape it. As if making myself smaller would evade the agony ripping through me.

We weren't going to be together. And it was my fault. I was the only one to blame in this senario. I couldn't force it off on anyone else. I couldn't blame the horrors of my past, of the unspeakable torment Brandon had dealt my small family. I was the one letting the past get in the way of the future.

When Jasper Whitlock walked out of my life, I pushed him into a deep corner of my mind. I refused to visit it, to let the memories surface and take me away. Now, he was back in my life as Jasper Hale. And I was still pushing him away.

With no idea of how to stop myself or prevent it from happening in the near future. He was right.

I hated to admit it, but he was.

TO BE CONTINUED....