Chapter 12- Family.

For a moment I concentrated on reversing the car out of the thicket and getting us back on the path towards home, but then I spoke again. "Will Jasper be very upset about today?" I knew the high standards of behaviour and control Jasper held himself too, and my heart ached at the thought of him struggling with failure.

Alice's face was sober. "He judges himself very harshly for what he sees as a lack of discipline. He was also unhappy that you and I were going to take care of the matter; he would prefer to clean up his own messes.

Oh, not that! "Boys!" I snorted in disgust.

Alice giggled, and I grinned at her companionably. "Emmett's the same way. He gets very upset when he thinks I'm emasculating him!" I laughed a little, and then sighed. "But I'll do whatever it takes to protect him, and unfortunately when it comes to human deaths he's given me more practice than I would perhaps like over the years."

"He doesn't dwell on it though?" Alice questioned "Emmett doesn't seem to…worry too much."

I thought about my bull-headed bear of a man, and his eternally optimistic outlook on life and smiled fondly. "No, he doesn't worry too much. It's not in his nature to fret about what can't be changed really. He's accepted that the two of us need to be equals and that he has to let me take care of him when I can, just as I let him take care of me. Even if that does involve rather more corpses than it would for normal couples." I laughed, low and wickedly, as I thought of some rather more pleasant ways that Emmett took care of me and I of him. "And of course, there are some very simple things I can do that let Emmett feel like a man again!"'

Alice gave a sudden burst of scandalised laughter, clapping her hands over her mouth to hide her grin. "Rosalie!"

I snorted with laughter. "Oh, don't play innocent Alice! You know how things are!"

"Between you and Emmett, yes, I know how that is!" Alice wriggled her eyebrows at me in mock outrage before her laugh came pealing out again. Unembarrassed, I stuck my tongue out her and laughed comfortably as we reached the made road and began moving faster.

Alice's laughter faded, but her eyes were still bright with affection when she looked at me and said seriously, "Thank you Rosalie, for what you did today."

I let my own smile fade. "It's nothing more or less than I would do for anyone in the family Alice, and you and Jasper are my family now." I hesitated for a moment, struggling to gather my thoughts and find the courage to share them. "I don't find it easy to be open," I said at last. "Trust is hard for me, and I know I can be a complete bitch and I push people away…but I'm glad you're here Alice. You and Jasper. I'm glad you're my sister now."

Esme met us in the front hallway when we reached home, looking worried to see the two of us alone and looking so damp and dishevelled.

"There was an accident at school," I said to her shortly. "We had to hide a body Esme, I'm sorry." This was not the kind of incident we would ever hide from the family.

"Oh!" Esme clasped her hands together in distress.

I could smell the dank, rotting smell of lake water clinging to my hair, and I picked up the long tail and sniffed at it in distaste. "That's not the nicest smelling lake in the world- I'm going to have a shower." I left Alice with Esme. Jasper was hers, and I thought I would leave it up to her how she wanted to share the story with Esme

The water in the shower was hot and the shampoo and soap smelled clean and fresh as I washed myself down. I wondered a little bleakly how Jasper was and what the repercussions of this would be. We had all learned to coexist since he and Alice had walked up to the porch that day…more than that we had learned to be friends and even family, and the thought of something happen to upset the beautiful and fragile balance we had achieved made me feel surprisingly sad.

"Hey baby," Emmett was in our room when I came in from the shower, pacing restlessly across the floor in front of the window. He immediately crossed to me with a bound and took me in his arms. "Okay?"

"It's okay," I said reassuringly, closing my eyes and briefly leaning into him. "Alice and I took care of it, and she said…her visions…she said it's going to be fine. By the time the body is found they won't be able to tell manner of death."

"Convenient really, isn't it?" Emmett murmured into my hair. "Having the little freak around to see the outcome?"

"Yes, it does have its advantages," I admitted as I pushed him away and sat down to pull on my stockings. "How is Jasper?"

Emmett frowned. "Pretty cut up about this," he said honestly. "Edward and I told him that it happens, that it's awful but that no one is judging. I don't know that he's really taken that on board."

I buckled my shoes with a sigh. Over the sound of Edward's piano I could hear the others talking in the living room. "I think we should go and talk to him and see what everyone is thinking."

Emmett stroked my hair and kissed me gently. "We can…as soon as you tell me that you're okay with what you had to do this afternoon."

I smiled up at him and gently traced his lips with a fingertip. "I am. It's not necessarily easy to see a death and then simply make a plan to hide it and carry it out. But it has to be done- it's part of the way we live. And Jasper…" I hesitated. "He's my brother, and he's my friend, Emmett. I didn't even know I could have friends, but he and Alice have just come in and accepted who and what I am, and they like me anyway." I laughed, a little embarrassed. "And maybe it's selfish, but I don't want to give them up. I like this new family…I want to keep it."

"We'll keep it," Emmett said confidently. "It works for everyone. So come on angel girl, let's go and assess the damage."

"It's a sad facet of this difficult life we've chosen." Emmett and I glanced at each other. We could hear Carlisle talking as we walked along the hall. "That there are times we stumble on the path, and at those times the consequences are profound. But you are trying Jasper, you've resisted countless temptations and you know you can do it, and now you just have to keep trying."

"You're not the only one who's done it," Emmett jumped in while he was still walking into the room. He dropped on to the sofa beside Alice, reaching past her to affectionately cuff Jasper on the shoulder. I squeezed onto the sofa beside Emmett, who wrapped his arm around me and briefly kissed my hair.

"You're not the only one who's done it," he said to Jasper again, his voice low and serious. "Being surrounded by that temptation all the time…it happens. Trust me, I know and when it was me I felt like shit about it, but you have to let it go." He made a face at me, and I knew the two of us were remembering times when Emmett had been the one with red eyes and a suffering conscience. "We just have to try and minimise the repercussions."

"We've done that," I interjected practically. "Alice has seen it- the body will be found but there'll be no evidence of how he really died. It will be ruled a drowning."

"I appreciate all you've done for me today," Jasper said slowly, "But I cannot allow you to take responsibility for my failings in this way again."

Well, I'd prefer not to take responsibility for it again either…but I'll do whatever it takes to keep you safe and the family together.

I raised my eyes at Alice, who sighed mournfully and took Jasper's big hand, holding it between her two small ones. "Jasper my darling, please don't do this."

"Alice…" Jasper said in a tight voice, raising her hands to his mouth and kissing her knuckles. His jaw was clenched.

"No." Alice said firmly, looking around the room. "You have to understand Jasper, that this is our family now. What's done to help each other isn't done out of obligation, but out of love, because we belong together. All of us."

"Alice is right," Carlisle said calmly, and I heard the smile in his voice. "Jasper, you and Alice have added a breath of fresh air and a new layer of strength and caring to this family. We want you here because of who you are, whatever that takes."

"I'm not able to do what you all do, not yet," Jasper insisted stubbornly. "I should not have attended school when even I can tell my control is so tenuous. I cannot continue to put the safety and secrecy of the family at risk with my own unpredictability."

Alice looked as though she was about to cry, even though I knew that was impossible. "I'm sorry," she whispered to him. "This is all my fault. I should have known, and not been so wrapped up in doing what I wanted to do to think about you."

Oh my god, this is like being in a room full of Edwards…everyone wants to take the blame and wallow in guilt and angst. Well, screw that.

"So what are you saying Jasper?" I said impatiently. "You made a mistake…yes, we know. What would you have us do? Crucify you for it? It's not as though what's been done can be undone."

Emmett touched my mouth. "Go easy baby."

I flipped his hand away. "I just want to get to the point! We can sit here navel gazing and introspective all night, or we can just deal with the facts." I looked at Jasper half defiantly. "You killed someone. It was a mistake, you're sorry, and Alice and I have fixed it so it won't come back onto the family. Because you are part of the family now, and damned if I'll let you take yourself and my sister away just when we've found each other because you have some warped idea about responsibility."

The silence after my outburst was broken by Edward playing a soft note on the piano and laughing gently. "Tell us how you really feel, Rosalie," he said.

I whipped my head towards him defensively, but he was smiling at me in genuine affection and amusement, and I relaxed and grinned at him sweetly. "Not all of us like to wallow in inner torment Edward!"

Jasper raised his eyebrows at me, and I met his gaze as openly and honestly as I could. "I mean it Jasper," I said softly. "You and Alice are Cullens, and part of this family now." I knew he had to be feeling the emotion behind the words.

"And we take care of our family," Esme said firmly. "We've made a family from strangers, but the bonds are real Jasper."

"This isn't an easy life we've all chosen," Carlisle said thoughtfully. "Maintaining our essential humanity in the face of vampirism is a constant challenge, but I think that the family we've made together is key to our success. The love and support of a family…well, you've felt it Jasper. You told me how it feels to you here."

"I don't wish to go away," Jasper said, his voice barely audible. "You're right about the family Carlisle, and the way it feels to be part of this- I do want that. And Alice wants this…you deserve everything, darlin', and I wouldn't take you away from anything that makes you so happy as you are here." He hesitated. "I need to be honest though, and I don't believe that school is possible for me. Not yet. It's too much, too constant…"

"That's my fault for pushing it," Alice jumped in guiltily. "I forget that it really hasn't been so long for you. It's only been a year and a half of even trying to resist and abstain, coming after a long time of following your instincts every day. It took me longer than that."

"The more human blood you drink, the stronger the desire for it grows," Edward said. "I was vegetarian from the start with Carlisle, but then there came a time where I explored the darker side…it was harder to go back to denying myself after indulging than it was to go without at the start."

"Fuck," Emmett muttered irreverently. "I'd better never go feral…I'll never get control back if it's any harder than it was!" He made a comical face of horror at me as everyone laughed.

"We don't have to go to school," Alice said to Jasper, a smile blooming on her face. "We don't have to do anything you don't want to."

"I do want to make this work," Jasper admitted, his gaze moving from one of us to the next.

"You just need time," Carlisle said encouragingly. "And if there's one thing we have in abundance it's time!"

Alice giggled joyously. "We won't go to school, you and I. We'll stay home and learn and play here."

"I can teach you to cook," Esme teased. "I might be a little rusty after all this time, but I ran a human household once upon a time and I do know how to cook!"

Alice clapped. "See…who needs school?"

Jasper's grin was genuine, and he broke into a laugh as Edward played a jaunty little tune on the piano and said, "Don't worry Emmett…Rosalie and I can make you keep up your French lessons. It wouldn't do at all for you to miss out on something you're so passionately fond of."

Emmett growled in mock rage and dove across the room, and I winced at the crashing sound as the two of them collided and went rolling off the piano bench and over the floor.

"Outside!" Esme implored, and then I laughed as Jasper grabbed the two of them by the scruff of their necks and dragged them through the French doors to the porch and down onto the lawn. I heard Emmett's roar and Edward's muttered curses, and then Jasper bellowed with outrage and the three of them became nothing more than a blur of laughing, wrestling vampires as the rolled across the grass. I rolled my eyes with a tolerant sigh, but as I caught Alice's eye a smile spread across my face. My sister. I liked the sound of it.

"Come on," Alice said, holding out her hand to me. "Let's go and see what they're doing."

And without hesitating I took it and the two of us stepped out on to the porch. I stood for a moment, watching as Jasper came and embraced Alice with a luminous smile, looking from the two of them back to Carlisle and Esme still sitting in the living room and then down to Edward and Emmett still wrestling on the lawn. Strangers who had become so much more…family.

As always, Twilight and all these characters were the creation of Stephenie Meyer- I love and appreciate her making them all up and then letting us play with them!

Thanks to everyone for reading and reviewing- I love chatting with you. I really enjoyed doing this one because it was just looking at the relationships at a really intense time for the family. I love the idea of Rosalie and Alice being sisters (even if she'll get kicked to the curb when Bella turns up, lol) and the Rosalie and Jasper brother and sister dynamic. And of course Rosalie and Emmett, my forever favourites!

I've made a start on something new for me, and I'm trying writing an all-human story. I know, for me with my obsessive following of canon this is a BIG step out of my comfort zone! But hey, what's life without a challenge? Anyway, I'll hopefully have that started soon for anyone who's interested in something like that.