[closed/in progress]

[bellatramonto]

WHO: Bella and Jasper
WHAT: Jasper comes to make sure Bella's okay after her near rape incident.
WHERE: Swan apartment
WHEN: During Charlie's graveyard shift

Comments

[insanguinato]

Jasper wasn't sure how he felt about what had happened to Bella. He was by no means her bodyguard, and yet learning that she'd been attacked during the one time he hadn't been around her made him feel guilty, like ignoring her blatant attempts to get him to accompany her without actually asking him to was somehow his fault. He certainly could have gone with her, he'd had nothing else to do that night. He wouldn't have liked it, but at least it'd have kept her out of danger

[bellatramonto]

Bella hadn’t seen Jasper walking towards her apartment from her window view, so it was a surprise and slight shock to hear the sound of knocking on the door of the apartment.

Oh no. She hadn’t thought this fully through. Jasper was here, at her house. He was going to see the ugly baby pictures of her all around the dining room and refrigerator. He was going to see the horrible paint job done by Charlie on the walls. The man really had no sense of color coordination…

Bella jumped off of her seat so fast her socks slipped on the wooden floor and she smacked her face into her throw rug.

Perfect.Picking herself up, Bella skidded out into the hall and used her arms to right herself on the walls as she went. It was a pretty sizable apartment for this part of town, but definitely nothing fancy. This building was probably the most upper-class of the poor division

[insanguinato]

She sounded like a heard of elephants stampeding through the place, so Jasper wasn't surprised when the door suddenly flew open. She was flushed and her heart was pounding hard enough to be distracting, but Jasper did his best to ignore it as he stepped inside.

It was unusual, being invited in someplace, but inside he could sense that they really were alone in it, and that helped him to relax a little. He took a moment to glance briefly around, taking in the immediate sights as the scent of Bella and her father mingled with various house smells to form a scent that was unique to the place. It was already half-familiar, having clung to her clothes every time he'd met her someplace else. Still, it was another thing entirely to be swamped in it, and he felt a bit out of place.

From Bella herself he could pick up nothing but nerves and excitement, probably at his presence here. He glanced out onto the street one more time before she could close the door, then finally turned to her.

"Hi."

[bellatramonto]

Once Jasper was inside, Bella could do nothing but stand and stare. Her eyes squinted as they took in his disheveled hair, his trendy but rebellious clothes, and his ocean-blue eyes. They were usually blackish, or red, so it was interesting to see them so normal for once.

When she was able to snap herself out of her trance, Bella cursed herself inwardly for her labored breathing. She took one look around the apartment before deciding that she needed Jasper to get out of it. Grabbing his arm, she tried to pull him towards her bedroom.

"Let's go to my room," she pleaded. It was the cleanest part of the flat, and it also reflected her personal style and tastes the most.

[insanguinato]

"Okay," Jasper agreed distractedly, allowing her to tug him along. He was focused on the way she felt, but as of right now he couldn't find anything out of the ordinary. She always seemed to feel this particular mix of emotions when she saw him. Maybe after the elated rush had worn off he would be able to pick out something that had a little more to do with what had nearly happened to her.

[bellatramonto]

Once inside her bedroom, Bella slammed the door shut behind Jasper and locked it out of habit. She exhaled with obvious nervousness as she looked around before darting over to the edge of her bed and taking a seat.

She watched Jasper carefully. Her room wasn't anything great, but she worked with what she could. Maybe one day when they had the money, she'd be able to repaint it and buy some new bedding. Her bedroom was the same as it had been when since she was a little girl, only the bed had grown along with her over the years.

"You can sit down if you want," she offered. She didn't gesture to the couch because she would like it better if he sat on the bed with her. Being near him was all she needed right now.

[insanguinato]

Jasper nodded, but when he moved, it was over to the window so that he could take a look outside. She had a nice view from up here and that was mildly comforting, but it still felt as if he was stuck inside an unfamiliar place in unfamiliar territory, and Bella's nerves were only serving to put his own on edge as well.

It didn't help that they were in her room, either, and that she was on the bed, and that he couldn't inhale even the smallest breath without smelling her and her blood. Her scent was in everything, the carpets and the furniture and the walls, and it was impossible to get away from. He turned back to her and hoped she didn't expect him to stay the night. She knew he didn't sleep well, and that was when he was alone.

"I'm all right," he said in answer to her offer, then narrowed his eyes as he again tried to find some wisp of emotion from before. "How are you?"

[bellatramonto]

Bella's head fell the instant she knew he wasn't going to be the 'savior' guy. Jasper wouldn't fly to the bed and pick her up in his arms, and she knew that. It wasn't his style at all- especially when he was a natural born killer. Still, the absence of his affections or his body near hers put her mood right back where it was before he had come.

"Frustrated," she said truthfully, more about his refusal to be close to her than about the rape thing.

She brought her legs up the bed and rested her chin between her knees. She was feeling more insecure and exposed than ever with him there, and wished suddenly that she had been smart enough to throw something sexier on.

When Apollo R.S.V.P.ed to an event, one usually made sure to provide and impress.

[insanguinato]

Jasper frowned. The emotions were suddenly there, but he got the feeling he'd caused them just now, not the boy from the party earlier. It took him a moment to figure out why, and he flushed a little, backing up against the window.

"I'm not--I came here to help, not--" His blush darkened a little and he frowned, crossing his arms across his chest self consciously. He hadn't forgotten about what had happened in the graveyard, and he wasn't naive enough to believe it wouldn't give Bella ideas about them. But he really had come here to help her emotionally, not...anything else. He wasn't even sure he should let himself do anything else with her. Her blood smelled too good for him to resist for long, and in her room the scent was inescapable.

[bellatramonto]

Bella found herself tightening her hold on her legs. She had to tell herself that at least he made the effort to come over here at all, and not to expect anything else. Hell, she even went to a party without Jasper and he didn't seem to perturbed. Maybe he just wasn't that into her . . .

Shame that she was just that into him.

"I didn't say anything," she threw her hands up, exasperated. She let herself fall back onto her bed in a laying position and crossed her hands over her stomach.

"I don't like house parties," she muttered as she stared up at the ceiling. If he wasn't going to comfort her physically, the best thing to do would be to avoid looking at him. She would feel less desperate that way.

[insanguinato]

Bella's position on the bed made things awkward for Jasper, so he shuffled over to the side where he could see her without unintentionally ogling. He wasn't used to humans relaxing so much in his presence.

"You shouldn't have gone, then," he told her gently, trying his best not to sound like he was lecturing her on it again. "If you didn't want to go, you should have told him no. And if you thought it was going to be dangerous, you should have told me so when I asked."

[bellatramonto]

Bella sighed. "I was completely ignorant on the subject. I mean I've gone places with Mike before and everything's been okay. He's such a do-gooder, really. I think that party was even over his head. He was probably just trying to impress me."

She continued to stare at the ceiling, thinking about the other night and feeling a queasy sensation coming on. Mike still hadn't gotten it into his head that she wasn't interested in him romantically, but as long as he was her ally at school, she didn't really care. The few minutes that he actually managed to leave her alone was when the Sicilian came over and acted all trustworthy and stuff.

"I didn't think the Sicilian guy was drunk because he wasn't wobbling or slurring his words. He seemed perfectly fine . . . but I found out after the fact that he was high on something."

[insanguinato]

Jasper regarded her carefully for a moment, unsure of what to say. She was accident-prone and seemed to attract dangerous people to her like a magnet, but telling her that wouldn't fix it, and he couldn't go everywhere with her. He hated social gatherings more than she did, and he had assignments to carry out sometimes. It was stupid to think he could keep her out of danger on his own

[bellatramonto]

"Yeah, my dad has some laying around, but I didn't think I'd be in so much trouble at a party where I was with a friend."

Bella looked away from the ceiling, frustrated. She removed her hands from her stomach and let them lay motionless on either side of her body. She sighed heavily, still looking across her shoulder, and refused to acknowledge her guest further.

"I was barely able to get him to stop but I did," she told herself quietly, as if she was a weakling in need of a good beat-down.

[insanguinato]

"You should take some self-defense courses," Jasper advised. "Just in case. And keep the pepper spray on you at all times, no matter what. You never know when something like this will happen."

He sighed, shifting his weight to steady himself as he glanced around her room again. The strong smell of her was making his head feel light again, and after a moment's hesitation he perched awkwardly on the side of the bed. There was a couch, but it was on the other side of the room an far from the window. He let his eyes breeze over Bella again, briefly, frowning when he was still unable to pick up on any of the shock or fear she should have felt after an encounter like that.

"Are you sure you're all right?"

[bellatramonto]

"Should I press charges even though he didn't succeed?" she asked ominously.

Bella felt a brief spasm of fear thinking about the end of the night again. The guy was cute, but a little on the sleazy side with that greasy black hair and fake tan. He was overly friendly, naturally, but Bella was used to that kind of behavior from guys.

Jasper's presence was able to calm her and distract her from those thoughts a little. Whenever he was around, she was torn between being scared, or being attracted. The fight between emotions was usually enough to keep her in the middle-ground somewhere.