[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 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.

"Don't you have any pepper spray?" he asked after a moment. If her father was a police officer, she might, and if she did, he'd rather she actually carried it around and used it. It hurt like hell and the smell was strong enough to distract any would-be assailant, even other blooddrinkers. And now she had his number in case things went really awry.

He wasn't sure why he cared so much, but imagining her fending off some idiot boy at a party really bothered him. She was so small and fragile and she smelled so good that imagining her falling prey to anyone else aroused a protective streak in him that he wasn't used to. And he still wasn't sure if that was because he was saving her for himself or not.

[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.

[insanguinato]

"No." Jasper had grown up relying on himself instead of the police, and knew firsthand that most of them were corrupt. Not that he believed her father was one of them, but old habits died hard. "If you want, I'll track him down for you."

Her fear was finally there, and Jasper went about trying to soothe it so that it wouldn't come back. He wasn't used to it, though, and had always found inspiring fear to be easier than dispelling it.

[bellatramonto]

Bella gave a dry laugh at the suggestion, but on second thought, she wasn't really sure what he meant by 'tracking down.'

"You mean you'd kill him?" she sat up suddenly, interested.

Of course she would never suggest he do such a thing. The fact that he couldn't help himself was one thing, but she hated the thought of him being used as a killing tool.

Her eyes flickered to his hands briefly. His skin was irresistibly inviting, making her wonder whether he knew that she and himself had many things in common.

[insanguinato]

Jasper met her eyes and blinked, momentarily taken aback by her reaction to a suggestion like that. "No," he clarified slowly, "not for that. Not if he's just a kid. But I can make sure he doesn't do anything like it again."

[bellatramonto]

"Oh," Bella said softly. The frosty frustration she felt earlier was beginning to melt. Sometimes he felt like a boyfriend, even though he wasn't.

"Well, thanks for the offer, but I think that picture frame to the head messed him up pretty good, and I'll likely never see him again."

Bella wasn't attracted to the Sicilian, even though he tried to rape her, which meant that her attraction to Jasper was on its own level. She didn't like Jasper because he tried to 'kill' her. She liked him because something clicked in her when she was around him. She wasn't some psycho chick that got turned on when people tried to hurt her.

Sometimes you just can't help who you fall in love with . . .

[insanguinato]

"As long as you're sure," Jasper said slowly, keeping a careful eye on her emotions. He would probably figure out who the kid was anyway, just in case he really was someone to look out for. But if Bella didn't want him to, she didn't have to know.

"Is there anything else you want me to do?" he offered instead.

[bellatramonto]

He really shouldn't have said that.

"Uh."

So much. There was so much she wanted him to do. Touch me. Tell me how you feel. Comfort me. Hold me. Kiss me. Lift me. I give you permission.

"What did you come over here to do, exactly?"

[insanguinato]

It was impossible to miss the sudden surge of desire in Bella, and Jasper swallowed thickly as he tried to force it down again, his stomach flipping uncomfortably. He shrugged.

"Just..calm you down," he said honestly, trying not to dwell on how easy it would be to let her do what she wanted and drain her before her father came home. "I thought you'd be more upset. Most people are."