The wait for Charlie was excruciating. Margaret tried miserably to call Isabella over and over again with no results. It seemed, Jasper thought, that Bella Swan was the kind of girl that believes the world revolves around her and that she can call and boss around everyone, but no one can do the same to her. This could end up messy if she were to enter their world. Margaret hung up the phone after, yet another voicemail.
"My dad just texted me," She informed, her hand running through her face and her hair, swiping away her tiredness and frustration. "He'll be here soon." Then she fell silent. Jasper knew what was on her mind, almost as if he could read it as Edward could. They had to talk about it.
"Do you want to talk about it?" It was a topic they had never addressed before, both of them knowing it was there and had to be talked about but neither wanting to risk it, not when things were so good between them. Then again, they wouldn't change a bit, not when they were mates, it may not be official, and the bond may not have been settled, but it was still strong enough to restrict them from leaving each other for long periods.
"We should," Margaret's chest rose as she took a breath to ready herself. "It had to be talked about some time." She sniffled, her nose scrunching in that adorable way Jasper couldn't resist. Her hair was shaken away from her face as she pushed herself off the truck's door where she had been resting. Her hands fussed with the hem of her shirt as she forced herself to meet his eyes. Tears were building at the border of her eyes, her lips quivering, her smile fañlling down. Jasper had his arms wrapped around her, hugging her protectively, in a matter of seconds. This broke his unbeating heart. The sight of his mate, in tears and pain, because of him... he couldn't bear it. Maggie wouldn't deny it, Jasper was like a match made in heaven for her. Her friends would've begun to shush her and tell her not to cry, that everything would be alright, but Jasper knew what she needed, and it wasn't a soft pat on the back.
"Let it all out, darlin'" His muffled voice murmured into her hair. his lips pressing a never-ending kiss on her forehead. After some minutes, her sobs ceased and she managed to step away to look at his worried face, his eyes portraying the broken heart he must have had due to the situation. "You won't have to do anything you don't want to, I promise." His voice was strained, pain could be read from every inch of his expression. "I won't have you crying over this again." The soft pad of his fingers sent chills through her chin as he slipped his hands to her face, wiping away the tears.
"The thought of not having you close hurts me." Margaret managed to whisper, Jasper barely caught it with his enhanced hearing. Given his height, he towered over her a few noticeable inches, looking down at her crystalized eyes. Her honesty flowed around him like a shield. "And I don't mean it metaphorically," She continued, "It's as if something in me had been tied to you, the farther away you move the more it tugs on me." Their eyes never broke contact, Jasper grew concerned, if she felt the mating bond just as strongly as he did, other creatures would sense it just with a look at them. They could be in grave danger. "I you were ever to leave I- " Her voice dropped, her brows furrowing as tears collected themselves again in her eyes. Jaspers's fingers smudged them away, his hands still on her face, she turned to him.
"I am never, leaving your side. Never." He repeated, soothing Maggie. She walked back into his arms and felt her heart relax with joy and the comfort of Jasper's arms around her.
"Do you think we could hide from the Voulturi long enough? From the Pack?" She wondered aloud, her head resting upon Jasper's heart. "I want to spend the rest of my days with you, Jasper. But with an eternity ahead of us, I want to experience every last second I can of my humanity." He understood completely, and still, he had never wished she would have to experience the change, not until it was necessary.
"Sooner or later they will find out, but I'll make sure it's on the later side." He assured her, his smile never faltering. She shifted in Jasper's embrace, their eyes meeting.
"Would you do it?" Jasper felt her heartbeat rise. How much trust did she have in him? He couldn't know, but he felt like it was a lot, probably the nature of their mating bond, so strong, and yet, it was quieted down due to her mortality.
"If that is what you want, I will, only when you ask me to." He vowed Margaret's heart settling back to its calm pace, her body relaxing into his embrace. Jasper couldn't help but wonder, how would he tell her what they were. When would he do it? He didn't want to rush things, knowing that she had to be changed one way or another, as the Voulturi would find out. But he couldn't keep it until she was transformed, it would be too overwhelming to feel all of it at once. He had to tell her, soon.
At that moment, Charlie's car appeared within Jasper's range of view.
"Your father's here." He laid one last kiss on Margaret's forehead before asking, "You're sure you don't want me to come along?" His brows furrowed. Alice's vision was clear, he couldn't bear the thought of having Isabella swan so close to his mate, even if she was her sister.
"Hmmhmm." She hummed, uncertainty in her response. "Better not to get too close to her, eternal chaos and all that..." she replied, Alice's vision fresh in her mind. Jasper nodded, he would have to control himself just a little harder now. Charlie's police car was now fairly visible to the human eye. He parked in their driveway and got out with fussing hands and clumsy steps.
"Nice!" He whistled when he saw the truck, patting it sonorously. "You think Bella will like it?" He asked his daughter, his eyes focusing on Jasper now.
"You got her a car, she better like it, pops!" Margaret laughed. Yet Kasper could feel her worry, knowing Bella as he had, through little snippets of conversation here and there, he could tell this wouldn't end well.
"Hey, Jasper." Charlie greeted, shaking hands with the boy. "Are you joining us?" Maggie's father looked from the boy to his daughter and back.
"I would love to, sir, but I promised my parents I'd help around before school starts." He excused himself. Something Margaret loved about Kasper was that he couldn't lie for the life of him. He told her it was due to his upbringing when he was a little boy, he had always been told lying was wicked and that he shouldn't do it, so he didn't. What he had said wasn't exactly a lie, but it wasn't the whole truth either. Jasper had promised their parents and Alice he would help plan for Isabella's coming, and how to keep her as far away as possible from Edward.
"Aw, what a shame. Well, see you soon kid!" They shook hands again and he left for the car, giving her daughter a little privacy. Maggie loved her father too, he wasn't pushy, and he always knew what to do and say. Maggie hugged Jasper close, with all the strength her thin little arms could manage, making Jasper chuckle.
"I'm not going anywhere, darlin'." His Southern drool tickled her ear. Still, she buried her face in his chest and urged him closer. His arms wrapped around her and he kissed her soft lips, which were salty with the tears she had shed.
"You'll come over tonight?" She asked with hopeful eyes as he parted from their kiss.
"Of course." He dropped one more kiss before they parted ways. Margaret watched the car fade away in the distance and then walked over to her father's car. Jasper observed how she got in the car as the image of her driveway shrank away.
Charlie talked briskly to his daughter during the drive to the airport. He told her about work at the station and the new cases of animal attacks, and he told her how he had gotten Bella's new van.
"I bought it off Billy, he gave me a very good price and I thought it would be a pretty good homecoming gift." He was telling her.
"I'm sure she'll love it. You saw how happy I was when I bought mine." Margaret had bought her car after saving up enough with her part-time job in a coffee shop. When she turned 15 she was able to get a pretty good deal on a secondhand car that would free her dad from picking her up from school and allow her enough freedom to not use the school bus. This had been the first year she was able to drive back and forth around forks and she had loved it. Now her birthday and Christmas money went to pay for gas and she used the money from her part-time job to get stuff she wanted, jewelry and clothes. Her father may not say it, but it was a huge relief that she was able to get a job and pay for her car, it's not like they had financial problems, but they went better off that year.
"You and Jasper have any plans for the last day of summer?" Her father inquired, his hand resting on the wheel as the traffic advanced at a turtle's pace. Tomorrow, their last peaceful day before school, part-time jobs, and Isabella began rumbling over their life.
"Yeah, it's baseball day." She said with enthusiasm. Margaret loved baseball days, something about seeing Jasper running through the woods and his full strength on display lit something inside her, some kind of primal instinct, she knew, of course, that he loved to show off when she was there. Running and jumping faster and higher than he ever did. Besides, they usually had baseball days after they had hunted, and that, was when Jasper was most flirtatious. Margaret couldn't deny that she loved it.
"Ahh, yes." Charlie nodded, his eyes going back and forward to see his daughter. Maggie chuckled to herself at the image of her father waiting for the plans they had made.
"He is also taking me out later." Her cheeks flushed, knowing Jasper he would take it up to the next level. He always went out when it came to surprise her.
"YES!" Charlie exclaimed, his smile growing by the second. "Yes, yes you're allowed to stay until after dinner." Margaret's head tilted to the side in amazement.
"You knew?!" She gasped, her cheeks bright pink. "I mean, you know where he is taking me?" She interrogated, her father simply smiling devilishly.
"Yes, yes, I knew and I know. He came to ask if it would be alright with me if you weren't home for dinner, and told me where you would be in case anything happened." Her father revealed with a proud smile. Margaret remained amazed. "He's a good kid, I like him." Her father stammered. "But, just to keep your old man calm, you're both..." He began, his hands suddenly clumsy and fidgeting with the car wheel, his eyes traveling everywhere except her face. "You're taking precautions right?" He finally splurted out.
"Oh, Gosh Dad!" Margaret exploded in laughter, her face red and bright.
"I just want to know you're being safe!" He explained, his hands gesticulating in the air. Finally, he forced himself to meet her eyes.
"Dad, Jasper's not like that! What I mean is, he hasn't- We haven't..." She exhaled sonorously "He's gentleman-y, okay, pops?" Her father looked at her in confusion. "Pops, I'm a virgin!" She exclaimed in a hushed voice.
"Ah- ah- ah-!" he exclaimed covering his ears. They looked at each other, both red-faced, and began to burst out with laughter.
The airport was packed with people coming from vacation and saying their goodbyes to people going away. In the middle of all that bittersweet atmosphere of goodbyes stood a very annoyed Bella. The light around her seemed to cower away and leave her in her bubble of gloom.
"Hey, Bella!" Margaret called, her hand rising in the air and waving frantically. The tall, pale girl looked her in the eye, a small grin playing at the corner of her eyes, she stared at her for a few seconds and then looked away. Bella plugged in her headphones and sat down at the chairs.
"She saw you, didn't she?" Charlie wondered, shocked at his daughter's reaction. Maggie sighed and left her dad to walk over to her sister. Bella didn't even lift her gaze when she stood over her, Margaret had to snap her fingers in front of her to catch her attention. At the gesture, Bella lifted her eyes with a murderous look in them.
"Oh, so you finally decided to show up?" Bella yanked the headphones out of her ears, her mouth set on a firm line. Thankfully, the atmosphere around them was noisy enough, and her father was far away to hear their conversation.
"Listen, I'm sorry. I must've had the dates mixed up. But please, be nice to Dad, he's excited to have you here." Margaret knew better than to fight with her sister, it was smarter to play along and let her believe her made-up scenarios. Sometimes this made Margaret feel like she was a terrible person, and a horrible sister, but what else was she to do?
"Of course he is." She replied dryly. Bella kept muttering to herself as she picked up her bag and threw it on her shoulders. It was then that Margaret realized how many bags her sister had brought. Two large suitcases a backpack and a medium-sized travel bag. "Are you going to stand there or are you going to lend a hand?" Maggie was snapped from her amazement and she took the two suitcases by the handles, rolling them away towards her father. Charlie's eyes widened as he saw the bags Margaret was carrying, then they shifted towards Isabella, who was texting on her phone, headphones plugged in again, and her backpack on her shoulders. Margaret struggled to keep up with her sister, on one hand, because she was significantly shorter - even though she was older (by four glorious minutes) than Isabella - and because she had to drag the two suitcases and the travel bag on top of one of them. How much stuff did she need to bring?
"Hey, Bells." Charlie greeted cheerfully, his lips slightly turned upwards in an awkward smile. The girls paused in front of him, bags displayed around the ground and in between them.
"It's Bella, just, Bella." She intervened, her voice just as awkward as she seemed, her hands grasping her phone tightly.
"Okay..." His father replied apologetically, he reached to grab the bags Maggie was carrying, but his daughter, knowing her father all too well snatched them away.
"I've got it pops, don't worry." The sounds of the busy airport faded away as they reached the car. Bella and Charlie were talking, well, mostly Charlie was doing the talking, telling her about the school and his work at the office with excitement that began to wither away as he realized she wasn't paying attention. Bella kept looking at her phone, nodding absently and offering a few hummus now and then. It took Margaret a few tries before she managed to get all the bags inside the police car's trunk, but she finally managed to close it. Her hand was hovering on the front door handle when her sister yanked the door open before her, hitting her harshly on the knee.
"Watch it," Bella whispered as she slipped into the front seat, closing the door behind her and plugging her headphones in. Maggie hissed as the jeans brushed over her knee - which was probably bruising - when her father walked up behind her.
"Are you alright?!" He exclaimed, his hand resting on her shoulder caringly, concern in his eyes.
"Yeah, just clumsy old me." She lied, straightening and taking in a shaky breath. "I guess she just needs time, to settle and get used to things here..." Charlie nodded in acknowledgment, but they both knew then, that Bella hadn't changed one bit from when she was last here. And that was dangerous.