6:14:19 → j. hale, a. cullen

18; in which she chooses to fight

4:21:16

Jasper let out a sigh as he opened the driver's side door for Alice, refusing to make eye contact with his mate. If she were to see how on edge he was, the plan would immediately be cancelled.

It wasn't their idea in the first place. Bella had ran down to them in the hospital's waiting room as soon as their cars had parked, screaming about how Emery was awake and how she was completely healed. Jasper remembers Alice crying out and Rosalie following suit, but for him, he felt no excitement.

He knew that his mate was still going to die. No matter how much she healed, she was still sick on the inside. With Alice not being able to see any future visions with her alongside them, he little to no hope for the future. Instead of being surrounded with everyone else's feelings, he was instead trapped with his own.

He remembers walking behind his siblings that ran in front of him in a haze, his still heart clenching in his chest at the idea that her body may have been even worse off then before. That it was all a sick joke and that whoever mentally attacked Bella and Edward was now messing with him.

But as soon as he made his way into her hospital room, he knew that it was real. No one other than Alice could make his numb nerves jolt with excitement except Emery. She was there with them now.

And he wanted it to stay that way.

If he were able to cry, he knew that in the moment their eyes met, he would have. Instead, he held it together and kneeled down at her side, clutching onto her free hand and holding onto an Alice that bawled at their side.

Jasper eventually came back to the present as Alice stared up at him, a grim look set on her face as she took in his depressive state.

"She's here with us now, Jas," Jasper flinched as her voice broke off, reaching out to hold onto her shaking hand. "Let's make the most of it, okay? Let's protect her."

Jasper swallowed thickly and weakly nodded, before closing the door behind her.

A silver car rolled up beside them in haste, and the sibling of their mate busted out of the car before the car could brake.

"Where is she?" The Swan barked out in panic, her wide brown eyes glancing around and watering. "This isn't a good idea."

Alice frowned, but nevertheless allowed the girl to panic, knowing that what she was expressing, she too felt inside.

"We know. It was Emery's. Always the self sacrificing." Edward chimed out, faking a grin as he made his way over to his mate and gazed out into the crowd of unknowing students.

Bella solidified at his words, but made no comment. She made herself believe that he was acting this way because he cared. She made herself believe that he did not feel any animosity toward's her older sister because he couldn't figure her out and saw her as a threat.

Emmett made his way over, sending a placating smile towards a worried looking Alice as she noticed Rosalie was not with him.

"She's on her way now. Decided she wanted to drive the convertable today. It's muggy enough." Bella allowed herself to smile, although it dimmed as Edward barked out a forced laugh, shaking his head and staring into the crowd. Looking over at him, Bella opened her mouth to make a comment, but Edward missed her eye contact and began to open his mouth.

"This isn't going to work," Edward drawled out lazily, leaning back against his car and wrapping his arm around the nervous Bella. "Throwing her out as bait seems dangerous and idiotic. She should be at the hospital, where people could actually help her and keep her safe. How is being surrounded by three hundred teens going to help lure them out?"