I sighed contentedly and snuggled further into the hard, cool, clothed chest I was using as a pillow, one solid marble arm around my waist and a pleasant contrast to the stifling warmth underneath my layers of blankets and comforters.

"I know you're awake, kitten," Jasper whispered with a rumbling chuckle, the vibrations I felt through my body leeching to his making me shiver.

"Mn, and as my lover, you were supposed to pretend otherwise until I fully satisfied my desire to snuggle with you," I murmured sleepily, rubbing my cheek against him like a cat seeking attention. Jasper seemed to give his own feline reaction by sounding what could only be a purr of contentment as he raised his hand to stroke my unruly hair back into some order, not that it was difficult being as short and naturally well mannered as it was.

"Ah, but as your lover, I thought ya might want to know that your sister is gonna wake up soon so if ya want the bathroom to yourself, you should get up now." At that announcement, I sat straight up, scrambled out of my bed, grabbed the clothes in the closet I set aside for today, and all but flew to the bathroom, ignoring Jasper's snickering at me all the while. I liked having privacy in the bathroom thank you very much! Of course, it didn't exactly take me long, only taking a quick shower since I had taken a bath the night before, and then slipping on the black denim long dress I had hurriedly nabbed, drying my hair as I made my way back to my room and, consequently, Jasper. He seemed to enjoy watching silently as I clipped on a vampire tear choker, and sat across from him in the rocking chair to put on my red and black double buckle heels. I smirked when he was right behind me as soon as I reached for my black and red riding hood coat*, beating me to it and helping me put it on like a gentleman.

"Thank you," I murmured with a shy smile, not quite used to chivalry that's genuinely sincere, distracting myself with doing up the buttons of my coat.

"Anytime," Jasper replied easily, wrapping his arms around my waist as soon as I was done. I took a deep breath as I relaxed back against him, letting my head rest in the crook of his neck, my heels putting me a bit closer to him in height, though not by much, both of us being at opposite ends of the spectrum in regards to height.

"Did Edward already get his change of clothes from you?" I asked unnecessarily when I heard muffled conversation come from my sister's room, signifying she was awake, already knowing the answer.

"Of course," Jasper's own voice was slightly muffled from where he had nuzzled his face into my hair. Apparently, it was one of his favorite things to do when we cuddled. I slid around in his arms until we were chest to chest, my own arms wrapping around to lay flat on his deliciously muscled back.

"Your clothes are as fabulous as always," I commented idly as I leaned back a little to eye him up and down, taking in the light gray turtleneck shirt he wore that was loose but still clung a bit to his god-like physique, faded black jeans with a few stylish tears here and there, and some badass, durable looking black cowhide military boots. Overall, the outfit only made the package it wrapped all the more desirable and I licked my lips before I could stop myself, nibbling on the lower half in an attempt to reign in my suddenly strong urges to simply jump him.

Jasper himself gave a small groan, slumping his head against my shoulder and very intentionally loosening his grip around my waist. "It was Rosalie who did me the favor of packin' the bag... I don't know if I wanna thank her or curse her for it, though," he muttered.

"Well, I for one, am definitely thanking her," I said without shame as I pat his head in apology and comfort. "Sorry, hun, but you're just far too attractive for us mere mortals," I cooed. Of course, then I was startled when Jasper burst out in surprise laughter, seeming to shock even himself a bit. "Uh, mind explaining that one?"

"Your sister just pulled a joke out on Edward. It...it caught me by surprise," he coughed, disguising the last of his fading humor.

"Ah yes, the breakfast joke," I nodded sagely, a smile tugging at my lips despite no longer finding much humor in it myself after knowing about it for so long. "Speaking of breakfast," I trailed off, just in time for my stomach to finish for me and growl near inaudibly, as it usually does to notify me that I do indeed need to eat.

"Well, you were plannin' on 'crashing' their breakfast time anyway, weren't you?" I shrugged at that.

"True," I said, tapping a black-tipped, well-manicured finger against my chin thoughtfully. "Well then let's go interrupt their super awkward breakfast!" I continued enthusiastically, putting one hand on my hip and the other pointing up like a superhero, only for the image to be ruined when I shrieked lightly before catching myself and clamping my mouth shut when Jasper suddenly scooped me up in his arms.

"Onward, my handsome steed!" My recovery time was quick as always, I thought as I readily wrapped my arms around his neck to steady myself as he casually glided down the stairs, conversation floating up to me and becoming clearer the closer we got.

"-me hunt." I groaned when we walked in just in time to see Bella 'hunting' for cereal...and then making it worse once she sat with her sad breakfast again. "Can I get you anything?" My attempts to hide my snort of amusement in Jasper's shoulder brought the distant couple's attention to us.

"You might as well just shove your neck in his face if you want to offer him anything," I snickered as Jasper seamlessly set me down in front of the fridge as I spoke.

"You two seem to have a more similar sense of humor than I expected," Edward said dryly, arms crossed from where he was the picture of casual, leaning against the counter as he was.

"I heard an additional 'or wanted' at the end of that sentence," I sang as I opened the freezer to take out a box of waffles, already opened, Jasper taking his place beside his brother, looking far more comfortable in comparison and obviously the more attractive of the two. It really showcased that while Edward had a boyish charm, Jasper blew him out of the water with his more masculine, mature appearance. Bell-Bell can keep her broody boy toy, I'll keep my confident hunk of a man.

I smirked when Edward glowered at me, listening in on my thoughts. Ha, see if he can contradict me! I hummed cheerily as I took out a plate and a glass of milk after putting two waffles in the toaster.

"Er..." Bella looked between the brothers and me, unsure of how to act now.

"Eat your cereal before it gets soggy, Bella, and just pretend Jazz and I aren't here," I said with a roll of my eyes after pouring milk in the glass. I stared between the chocolate and maple syrup in the fridge door, conflicted for only a second before choosing the chocolate and taking out the whipped cream can while I was at it. I shut the door with my foot and gave Bella a flat, pointed look when she still hadn't moved. Bella thawed and very intentionally ate a spoonful of her cereal. I nodded in approval before moving on, reaching my set up in time for the waffles to be done, Jasper moving behind me to watch my actions curiously.

"Uh...so what's on the agenda for today?" Bella asked after swallowing her mouthful, taking my words to heart and seeming to surprise Edward because of it. What, did he expect my sister to not listen to me? I shrugged and focused on turning my waffles into a delicious masterpiece, taking a banana from the fruit bowl and putting thin slices on the hot waffles before smothering it all in chocolate syrup and whipped cream, quickly eating what was left of the banana and moving to the table to enjoy the delicacy at my leisure, Jasper ghosting behind me.

"What would you say to meeting my family?" Edward replied casually, making Bella choke on the spoonful she just took. "Are you afraid now?" He continued hopefully. I only rolled my eyes as I chewed.

"Yes," Bella admitted easily, seeing no point in lying. I watched their interactions carefully, taking in every little action, every inflection in their voices, gauging how well, or how poorly, they interacted with each other as a couple, and while I wasn't completely satisfied with it, there wasn't much to be dissatisfied with at so early a stage in their budding relationship. Dammit.

Edward only sent me a sharp glower before immediately sending a charming smirk at Bella. "Don't worry, I'll protect you." Bipolar much?

"I'm not afraid of them," Bella corrected. "I'm afraid they won't...like me. Won't they be, well, surprised that you would bring someone...like me...home to meet them? Do they know that I know about them?" I snickered at that.

"Please, they knew about you from day one with how much Eddy boy obsessed with you after catching a whiff of you," Bella flushed at that while Edward glowered at me. "And what do you mean someone like you? A teenager? Human? Female?" I teased, turning Edward's glowered into a full-on glare and matching scowl when Jasper snickered.

"Kinda hard to keep secrets in our family with a mind reader," Jasper drawled flatly, sending Edward a look that the boy only shrugged at.

"And you making everyone feel all warm and fuzzy about spilling their guts, don't forget that," Bella retorted lightly.

"Oh, I'm sure he can use more than 'warm and fuzzies' to spill much more than just their guts," I added darkly after finishing up my breakfast, drinking the last of my milk.

"You paid attention," Edward smiled approvingly at my sister, ignoring my comment all together which in turn made me roll my eyes as I moved my dishes to the sink. "I think you should introduce me to your father," he said rather abruptly, probably following one of his strange trains of thought.

"He already knows you," Bella reminded, though it did remind me that I should probably introduce Jasper to Charlie as well. At least I don't spring it on him like Bella will, considering I already told him I was dating Jazz so he's already gotten used to the idea and trusts my judgment.

"As your boyfriend, I mean," Sparkly boy clarified helpfully. Bella only gave him a look of suspicion in return as Jasper and I settled back to watch the show, sitting across from them at the table with me on Jasper's lap.

"Why?" She questioned. Jazz and I's gaze turned back to Edward.

"Isn't that customary?" He asked innocently. And back to Bella.

"I don't know," she admitted. And she really didn't with her nonexistent dating history, but you'd think she'd learn from pop culture things like television and movies. Then again, she wasn't much of a couch potato or moviegoer, and the most recent example she had was freaking Jane Austen books...well it does certainly fit into Edward's era more than the current one. Old souls indeed. Really, they deserved each other. "That's not necessary, you know. I don't expect you to...I mean, you don't have to pretend for me."

I sucked in a nearly inaudible breath of disbelief from that, biting my cheek to keep from replying. Sister, please! I can totally imagine Edward resorting to seduc-ahem- I mean 'dazzling' you into dating him. While Edward's smile towards Bella was patient, I could tell it was slightly strained, most likely because of my thoughts...and Jasper's silent chuckling.

"I'm not pretending," he assured. Bella looked down at the soggy remnants of the sad, sad meal she called her breakfast, insecure. My own grip on Jasper's arms around my waist tightened in my attempt not to snap at the two impatiently. Edward for his stupid beating around the neon pink fucking bush and Bella for her pointless insecurities.

"Are you going to tell Charlie I'm your boyfriend or not?" Edward demanded, apparently pushed by my thoughts.

"Is that what you are?" Bella asked weakly, looking stressed and hiding a grimace, no doubt because of the thought of Charlie's reaction. I only rolled my eyes at that. Like always, she was excessively overreacting and making a bigger deal out of it than it really was.

"It's a loose interpretation of the word 'boy', I'll admit." I openly scoffed at that, casually glancing at my nails when he shot me a glare at my unwelcome interruption, but Bella continued like I wasn't even there, just like I'd told her to. We didn't exactly have my issues keeping such things from each other as she was likely to confess to me more in-depth on the conversation in private and at least this way I could analyze Edward's reactions and expressions for her and report them to her later.

"I was under the impression that you were something more, actually," she confessed shyly, looking down at the table as if she didn't just send Edward's undead heart fluttering if Jasper's straightening slightly and eyeing His brother strangely was any indication, though he did an excellent job of keeping the emotion from his face, his eyes all but swirled with it.

"Well, I don't know if we need to give him all the gory details," he replied.

"Yeah, I doubt Dad would like it much if I called Jazz my lover in front of him," I piped in finally, making Bella's eyes snap to me in surprise.

"L-lovers?" She squeaked, face becoming progressively redder by the second.

"Well 'boy' hardly fits someone like Jasper," I drawled, the 'he's a real man' not needing to be said, "and the whole 'boyfriend, girlfriend' thing sounds disgustingly juvenile regardless," I continued blandly.

"Do you two mind?" Edward whispered slowly, finally snapping at having a peanut gallery criticizing his every move. I raised my hands in mock surrender.

"Fine, sorry, I have some business to attend to upstairs anyway," I said, excusing myself, standing up from Jasper's surprisingly comfortable lap.

"I-ahem- I should probably take my bag to the car," Jasper said, excusing himself as well, clearing his throat to hide an amused smile as the two of us made our escape from the irate, broody vampire. Of course by 'the car' he meant my car since that's what we were taking to his house.

I shook my head of stray thoughts as I made my way upstairs to Bella's room, Jasper wordlessly splitting off to my room when we reached the top of the stairs to do his own little task at a more human speed. Neither of us were in much of a rush to leave, but we didn't want to linger with the awkward couple either...not now that we've gotten all the fun we could out of them.

I sighed and simply moved to Bella's closet, looking through her clothes to pick out the outfit I knew she would choose eventually but also wandering back to my room to bring her back a matching bracelet and necklace set of the more modest, normal designs in my collection. Bella walked in as soon as I was done setting her outfit on her bed, shoes at the foot of it.

"Thank goodness," Bella sighed in relief upon seeing the neatly displayed clothes. "Maddy, you're a lifesaver," she easily praised, giving me a hug of sincere gratitude.

"I know, "I replied smugly, though I hugged her back warmly before letting her go so she could inspect her outfit more closely. "Now that that's done, Jasper and I will be going ahead."

"Ahead?" Bella repeated in confusion, looking up from the blue blouse she had picked up.

"Yeah, Jasper and I are headed to the same place as you after all," I replied casually.

"Wha-" was the only thing she managed in shock.

"Oh, don't worry about it though! Jazz already took me to do the whole 'meet and greet' with his parents yesterday, so we'll probably be elsewhere before you even get there and have the rest of the Cullen family all to yourself. Lucky you!" I winked and waved a lazy hand back as I reached the doorway, smirking at her shocked expression. "Good luck!"

In my attempts to curb the small amount of jealousy I saw budding in Bella's eyes when I left, I only greeted the Cullens quickly before Jasper complied with my wishes to give Bella her time with his family alone and whisked me off again to his sanctuary...though not before I gave both Carlisle and Esme small thank you gifts for hosting me yesterday and also a small apology for coming over again so soon and not staying for very long.

I started with giving Esme a crystal vase filled with pink roses, surrounded by other roses of deeper pink color and a few red roses here and there. I had found the vase at an antique shop but could never really bring myself to use it or give it away until now. Jasper was the one who helped me by setting it up and taking it to the car while I was busy with Bella back home.

"Oh, this is lovely, Maddy, thank you, but you didn't have to," Esme choked out, one hand accepting the vase and the other gracefully covering her mouth to show she was a bit overwhelmed.

"Nonsense!" I denied. "Of course I had to! A thank you for being such a wonderful hostess yesterday and an advanced apology for coming again so soon and not even sticking around for much this time," I finished somewhat sheepishly.

"You don't have to worry about that, dear," Esme assured. "Jasper's told me about how much you love your sister and some of your concerns regarding her," she said with motherly affection. I only sent a raised brow at Jasper who was innocently looking away. "I understand why you want to make yourself scarce today and think it's very mature of you to give your sister this opportunity to grow into herself, small as it may be."

"This and the talk we had yesterday made me understand just why our children thought we would get along so well," Carlisle mused aloud when Esme had excused herself to put the vase somewhere in the house 'where it would look best'.

"Oh! That reminds me! Jasper, hand it over," he dutifully gave me the small wrapped package which I promptly handed to the now curious sire of the coven. "I got you something too," I said cheerfully, shuffling nervously when he unwrapped the gift to reveal a clear beaker mug with amusing forms of measurement like 'half a human brain' and 'enough plutonium to make a bomb'*. "I know you don't drink coffee or anything but I thought it'd be fun for you to use it as a pen and pencil holder at work."

"I love it, thank you! I'm sure Esme and the others will get a kick out of it when they see it," Carlisle said brightly, dazzling me for a bit with his warm smile. It made me recall for a moment that Carlisle was my second favorite male in the book.

"Maddy, you in there?" Jasper's inquiry brought me back to the present where I was currently snuggled in his lap under the willow tree.

"Yeah, just thinking about your hot dad," I reply honestly. Jasper only gave me a dry look and sent a punishing nip to my earlobe.

"Watch it, Maddy," he warned in a low tone that gave me a shiver. I only smiled and nuzzled at his neck.

"You should know by now that there's no competition, Jazz," I assured easily.

"Maybe not...but that mutt at the reserves can be a threat to you and I can't do anything about it because of that damned treaty." Jasper's loose grip on my hips tightened ever so slightly and I could actually feel him giving me a taste of his upset and anger with his gift. Whether it was intentional or not, I didn't know, nor did I particularly care to be honest. It only made me love him all the more that he was comfortable literally sharing his emotions with me, subconsciously or not.

"While I very much love that you're willing to so readily take care of it for me, treaty or no treaty, this was my problem long before I met you and I had been handling it fine until it got hopped up on canine steroids," I sighed despondently at that, reminiscing on the days when a knee to the crotch and a fist to his throat actually hurt the ass himself rather than me. "Besides, it's not exactly like you're having to lock me away to keep me from dashing over to their territory."

"And when your sister starts to spend her time thereafter we publicly leave?" Jasper questioned, voicing a worry I have no doubt has been on his mind for a while. "Then what, Maddy?" He pushed. "I know you already, Madeleine, and while you're perfectly capable of being sensible and listening to your self-preservation instincts, those things tend to fly out the window as soon as Isabella Marie comes into the picture."

"And how would you know that?" I challenged defensively.

"The car accident," he replied flatly, instantly, making me deflate just as fast.

"...okay you may have a point," I conceded softly, unable to muster up much of my humor into my voice like I usually do. Jasper lifted my head with gentle fingers, moving to cup and caress my cheek when our eyes met, his soft melted topaz.

"There's nothin' wrong with lovin' your sister so much, darlin'. That devotion to your family is one of the things I love most about ya, but it worries me to no end that your willin' to put them before yourself, that you're so ready to sacrifice anythin' and everything for 'em." He pressed our foreheads together, taking a deep breath as our noses brushed together lightly. "It's strange watchin' you give up or give in on things that ya want to have or do because it'd be holdin' your sister back or would help her or make her happy..."

I closed my eyes in the face of his words, brows furrowed as I was unsure how to respond. All I could do was bite at my lip anxiously, but he quickly put a stop to it by gently pulling my lip away with his thumb, letting it linger there until I met his gaze again.

"I much prefer it when you do what you want with that confident attitude and pretty smile on your face," he whispered against my lips, brushing them together once, twice, three times before moving back to pressing our heads together. "What are ya gonna do when Edward breaks up with your sister?" He asked again, softly this time.

I took a deep breath, steeling myself a little as I was going to voice something that I had only vaguely thought of in my head before. "I...I'm going to leave her alone. Completely. I'm not going to just ignore her if she comes to me and I'll force-feed her myself if I see she's not eating like she's supposed to, but...I-I'm not going to hover and be forced to watch her go about her daily routine like a lifeless husk, barely able to recognize that I'm even there. This isn't- it won't be something I'll be able to help her with. Bella will need to go through it all on her own. Of course, that doesn't mean I'll abandon her, but I also refuse to be her scapegoat if she decides to take her pain out on me..."

Jasper took a deep breath as he pulled back slightly to lean against the tree, only to let out an equally deep sigh of relief, his sweet, cool breath ruffling my hair a bit as he raised both hands to cup my face. "You don't know how glad I am to hear you say that. I thought I'd have my hands full tryin' to convince ya that bein' her emotional stress ball would be a bad idea." He gave a lingering kiss to my temple. "I didn't like the idea of you getting hurt so much for your sister when it wouldn't even help her much and she wouldn't even be in the right state of mind to appreciate it or feel guilty for usin' ya."

"Is that all that you were worried about?" I teased, play-acting as if it was no big deal. "Please with as much as we planned to keep in contact and as much as you promised to text and call me every day, it'd be a wonder if I could have gotten away with such needless self-sacrificing behavior even with you gone," I finished slyly, though my smile was no doubt warm with my growing affection for him, what with him continuously proving with his words and actions that he was easily putting me first and carefully taking my well being into full consideration. Jasper wasn't the only one that admired single-minded devotion.

"Hn," he gave me a flat look again, "I'm sure you would have found a way. I doubt there's much you couldn't do if you put your mind to it," he finished dryly. Of course, that only made me laugh aloud at his confidence in my ability to do what I want regardless of what anyone said.

"True," I agreed, seeing no point in arguing the statement.