LIMINAL || 𝙅𝙖𝙨𝙥𝙚𝙧 𝙃𝙖𝙡𝙚 [1]

𝟙𝟠 | 𝕓𝕣𝕠𝕥𝕙𝕖𝕣𝕤, 𝕒𝕞 𝕀 𝕣𝕚𝕘𝕙𝕥?

Faster.

I revved the engine again, pushing the bike to its limits and putting as much distance as possible between myself and Collins before my instincts got the better of me. Any local cop would have a field day or a heart attack if they caught me speeding through the back roads of Forks, and it'd be one hell of a ticket. The speedometer needle continued to creep farther right, nearing the end of its track.

110, 120, 130...

I could run equally as fast, but there was the issue of retrieving the vehicle later. Besides, it was a welcome distraction, weaving through the cars cruising at a creeping thirty-five. If there's anything I needed at that moment, it was a distraction from what I'd just experienced. I thought I was in better control, after spending hours on end alone with her. There would have been no witnesses if I'd lost my head, but my family would know; I would know. And I couldn't live with myself if something as detrimental as that happened to Collins. For once, Edward's incessant protection of Bella seemed less like overkill and more like a reasonable course of action, regardless of how irritating it could be to everyone involved. One slip up, one lapse in control, and she'd either be dead or one of the undead. I wasn't sure which was worse at that moment.

Edward was home, which meant Bella must be kicking it with the mutts, or else he would have been scaling the side of her house and climbing through her window. Emmett and Rosalie were also back from their trip to see the cherry blossom trees bloom in Japan. Even Carlisle had ended his shift early at the hospital. From outside, I should have been able to hear someone talking, but the only sound detectable was a low murmur of undistinguishable words. Whispers. I parked the bike in the garage and took my time placing the dust cover over it. When I pushed the door open, all whispering ceased. Esme was examining a set of blueprints at the kitchen table, and looked up with a warm smile as I passed by.

"Hello, Jasper. How's Collins?"

Not dead or a vampire.

"A lot better. She wanted me to thank you again for the soup you sent."

The worry clouding her immediate vicinity lessened and her smile broadened.

"I'm glad she liked it. It's so hard to season human food when it all tastes like dirt."

Her perfect features scrunched up before she turned her attention back to the schematics, making adjustments with a small white pencil as she went.

In the den, Emmett hunched over a controller, trying to beat his personal high score on a new version of Pac-Man. He refused to play multiplayer games with anyone other than me or Rosalie, and judging by the look on her face, she was not in the mood. Edward sat at the piano bench, hands in his lap instead of on the keys. Alice flipped through a magazine while Carlisle tried to feign interest in the game on screen. Any other night, they'd all be scattered in different directions, pursuing a hobby or out hunting — except Emmett, who loved video games almost as much as he loved Rosalie — rather than crowded in a room together. Which only meant...

"Jasper," Edward called my name like a parent trying to get the attention of a wayward child. I waved my hand but continued in the direction of the stairs. "We need to talk."

I paused. The emotional atmosphere left much to be desired. For what it's worth, when confronted with a group of vampires, the first instinct is to run or fight. While I'd spent a lot of time fighting, years of curbing that instinct had made it possible to live with the Cullens. But this was getting old. I lifted an eyebrow, waiting for Edward to start a fight that had been brewing for weeks.

"If your...friendship with Collins continues, there will be consequences. Alice has seen it."

I turned my attention to Alice, who had stopped her magazine flipping. I'd been diligent about keeping Edward out of my head the past few months, not wanting to constantly answer for every time I saw or spoke to Collins, let alone every time I thought about her, which increased by the day. I couldn't, however, keep him out of anyone else's.