what a woman! i.

dix-huit

Carlisle meets Sam and Tatum 'halfway'. She noticed it was like an invisible line that stopped the two from meeting each other. Carlisle smiles at a nervous Tatum, she eases her shoulders into a more convincing look of calm. Tatum walks towards Carlisle, standing by his side before turning towards Sam and waving goodbye with a small, grateful smile.

"Thank you, Mr. Uley," Carlisle thanks Sam, giving him a knowing nod. Tatum had no idea what the nod meant but apparently Sam did. The latter gives back a nod before getting back into his truck and driving back to the cabin.

"How was your short stay?" Carlisle asks kindly as the two enter his car. Tatum shrugs while buckling up. God, Bailey would kill her if she knew what was going on. She knew where she was going, too. That didn't mean that she was gonna make Carlisle change direction.

"How was work?" Tatum asks in return, trying to keep the conversation going. She listens interestedly as Carlisle talks about his patients and how his day had gone. The two didn't realize how much he was talking until Carlisle pulled into his driveway.

"Esme made supper but all the kids already ate," Carlisle says, parking his car in a fancy garage. Tatum nods, pulling her sweatshirt sleeves over her hands, she knew her sister would be so upset if she actually interacted with the family. But she decided to do it anyway. Bailey wasn't there, she wouldn't know.

"Tatum? Carlisle?" Esme asks from the kitchen. She couldn't see them but she could hear them. She gives him a pointed glare as Jasper speeds into the room without thinking. He stiffens before realizing she wasn't in the room yet. 

"It's us, dear," Carlisle says, entering the kitchen with Tatum in front of him. "I'm going to call Tatum's parents and then-"

"I can drive her home. I know where she lives," Jasper cuts of his adoptive dad. Tatum finally notices him and sends a small smile. Alice skips into the room and gives Tatum a hug before skipping over to Esme and whispering something in her ear. Esme nods before Edward comes sliding into the kitchen as well.

"Oh, hey Tatum, are you spending the night again?" Edward asks, already knowing that she was uncomfortable with the mostly silent room. The girl shakes her head with a blush spreading across her nose and cheeks.

"No, I'm driving her home actually," Jasper says, walking towards Tatum. She nods towards his words and follows as he walks towards the garage. Tatum waves goodbye to his family before getting into the white jeep he usually drove to school. Jasper pulls out of the garage and makes a plan to take the long way to her house. He waited until they were about a mile away from his house to speak up.

"What your sister said wasn't true," Jasper says, glancing towards her. She stays silent so he continues. "You aren't a disappointment. You did what you did and it doesn't matter. Avery is your nephew, he could be an older sibling's kid or Bailey's. My family doesn't care. But we do care about you two."

"You do?"

"Very. You are the first human that has completely won over my whole family. That makes you very special," Jasper says, noticing a small smile spread across her features. "You wanna know something even more special than you?"

"The woods?" Tatum asks, tilting her head. Holy crap. Jasper wanted to just squeeze her face, she was too cute. Too adorable. It made his non-beating heart warm. He puts his eyes back on the road, making sure she can see his smirk.

"What I would do just to make you smile."

●○●

Jasper never knew how much he loved Tatum's laughter until he was on his way back home and he wanted to strangle the silence. Jasper knew he shouldn't be pulling her into his life, but he kept convincing himself that he could keep her hidden from the Volturi. He had heard from Carlisle stories of vampires falling in love with a human and killing themselves to be with the human. But why didn't they think of turning the human? Were they afraid they wouldn't be the human's mate? Or was it something bigger? Jasper knew he would never hurt Tatum, not on purpose. But what if somebody else did? Would he turn her? Would he kill himself to be with her? Or would she just be a story brought up every century or so?

"God, what am I doing?"