Writer in the Dark - J. HALE

19 - ᴀꜰᴛᴇʀ

"That I risk my life for others? That's a bit odd," Athena responded with a slightly raised brow, sensing some forgiveness but she did not want to jinx it yet.

"That you care enough to do that for a human, or mortal as you call them," he chuckled softly, nudging her lightly with his arm in an attempt to soothe away the remaining apprehension that she had not blocked away from him. Some emotions she wanted him to know about, others (like the one she had uncovered near-death) not so much.

She grinned, knowing she had been forgiven. "Are you making fun of me Jasper Whitlock?"

"Of course not," he replied, keeping his mouth pressed in a line to attempt to not let the laughter escape. She chuckled softly, glancing down to the ground as they stepped off of the pavement and onto the road, crossing where they weren't any lights (another perk of the Vampire lifestyle).

"I am really sorry, I'll tell you next time," she hesitated, listening to what she had just said. " Wait no! Touch wood!" she exclaimed, running across the path to touch the bark of one of the only trees in the area. She smiled at the feeling of the rough bark under her fingers, stopping any fate that could come back to bite her. She lived through a large part of the superstition era but some of them just stuck more than others - the touch wood jinx and not walking under ladders.

"Apology accepted," he chuckled, catching up to her with a quickened walk. They continued on their path for a few minutes, making conversation that had them both laughing and acting as if they were drunk.

As they reached the entrance to the hospital, something within her sparked as a thought snapped into her head. "Oh! Can I borrow your phone?" she asked, stopping outside of the doors.

He raised a brow as he reached into his pocket, "Why?"

"I need to call someone, obviously," she chuckled softly little chuckle. He passed his phone to her with a smirk, walking into the hospital to leave her with some privacy. She quickly dialled the number as she sat down on a bench at the entrance to the hospital. "Hello?" A lighter voice that she had expected answered the phone and it confused her for a second before she figured out who it was.

"Jake? Is Billy there?" she asked, confused as to why he had picked up his Dad's phone.

"Athena?" he blurted, perplexion and shock showing clear in his voice. She listened to the commotion of Billy tugging his phone from Jakes hand mixed with the sudden emergency to speak to the person on the other end. "You're alive?" The deeper voice she had expected in the first place echoed down the phone, bringing a misplaced smile to her face. Having thought that she wouldn't hear his voice again bought a sense of relief now, even if it was distorted by the phone.

"Seems so, sorry for scaring you," she blurted, unsure on how to really phrase such information.

"What happened?"

"I'll tell you when we come back, I just wanted you to know I was still kicking," she chuckled softly, dropping her voice lower as a pair of worried mortals walked through the doors.

"I'm glad you are." She could hear and feel the relief that he felt.

"I'll be back in a few days," she smiled, feeling an overwhelming sense of relief at that phrase as it fled from her mind.

"Stay alive for god's sake." He chuckled softly.

"Same goes to you old man," she laughed and hung up the phone, walking back into the hospital where Jasper had waited for her at the elevator. She had already flipped the bloodthirsty switch in his mind off (given that they were going to a hospital) so she didn't really understand why he had waited around for her alone. Nevertheless, they hopped onto the elevator and headed up to Bella's room so they could talk with Edward before she woke.

-

Alice and Athena drove home after Bella had left the hospital. The two of them had stayed at either Bellas (in Athena's case) or Edward's (in Alice's case) request. Athena didn't mind it too much, though she did make Jasper promise that he would water all of her plants for her. Priorities, right?

"How was Jasper, after finding out?" Alice asked as they drove through a tunnel which happened to be the cause of their sudden lull in the conversation.

"Better than I thought he would be, calm," Athena sighed softly, the hint of a smile forming on her lips.

"That doesn't surprise me," she chuckled, overtaking a particularly slow car as they exited the tunnel.

Athena raised a brow, turning her head to look at Alice, "What's that supposed to mean?"

"I haven't seen him act the way he does around you," she replied softly, watching her reaction out of the corner of her eye.

"Alice..." she sighed, failing to fight the urge to roll her eyes.

She smiled, "Athena he's calmer around you. Less moody. He was just like Edward before you came around, never opened up to anybody about anything, well apart from me. And you know things that I don't know. "

"Jasper was like Edward?"Athena asked with a raised brow, not believing that the person that she knew could be so saddened with their situation. She knew that he hadn't exactly become a vampire in the best of situations but did not think that he could have resembled moody 'broody' Edward in any shape or form. Alice nodded, sending her mind in another loop. "I can't imagine that for a second," Athena exhaled sharply, almost laughing at the anxiousness that that idea surprisingly bought up.

"See for yourself, I give you permission," Alice responded with a reassuring smile that convinced Athena to do just that. It didn't take long for Athena to find the very prominent memories that she had been talking about. Most of them picture Jasper in his room, alone with his thoughts as he quite literally stared into space. Some of them showed him during family meetings, just half present in any situation. She saw Alice and Luna's wedding, where Jasper had sat alone for most of the evening - only moving when Alice wanted to dance with him. The lost look in his eyes, the raw pain that radiated off him in any situation had her heart tugged so tightly it felt as if the venom had taken over her body again. But the little annoying voice in the back of her head told her that it meant nothing. The change in him was due to something else, not her.

"That doesn't mean anything," she sighed as she came out of Alice's head, surprised at the sudden change of scenery as they pulled into Forks. She hadn't realised how long she had been watching for and Alice had let her, wanting her to see as much as she could - without breaking any sort of privacy issues that Jasper could carry.

"Have you seen the way he looks at you?" Alice almost scoffed as they drove past Bella's house. Charlie stood outside with Bella, helping her take each step carefully as Edward hovered in the tree line - just in case she fell. She sighed, "I wish Luna looked at me like that."

"He looks at me?" Athena asked softly, not daring to look Alice in the eye as she laughed at Athena's blindness.

"Like you're the most important thing in existence."