Hopeless Devotion ~ A Jasper Hale Story

When the Future Hurts

I got Bella's text.

Hey, umm.. I have something to tell you.

Great. That's never how good news starts.

By the time I walked into her room, the vibes were already a disaster. Bella was curled up on her bed like a sad Victorian painting — knees to her chest, face pale, fingers twisting like she was trying to strangle her own hands. Edward stood near the window, staring out, but not like he was admiring the weather. More like he was avoiding reality.

Neither of them looked at me.

Red flag number one.

Bella always met my eyes when she was about to drop bad news. Like somehow staring me down would make it easier. It didn't. But at least it meant she had the guts to be direct.

Not today.

She didn't even try.

Edward's jaw was tight. Arms crossed. A little too still, even for a vampire. The room felt like a live wire, buzzing with all the things no one wanted to say.

I broke the silence. "Okay. You wanna run that by me again? Slowly. With less cryptic brooding."

Bella winced.

"I told Jacob," she said, voice like crushed paper. "About the decision. About the timing."

My stomach dropped.

"You told him... that you're getting changed. After graduation."

She nodded.

"And?" I asked, already bracing.

Bella's voice cracked. "He said he'd rather see me dead."

I blinked. "I'm sorry, what?"

Edward's jaw twitched.

"He didn't mean it like that," Bella rushed. "He was just hurt. And scared. I told him I'd made my choice. He thought I was choosing... the Cullens over him."

Edward didn't flinch. "You did choose."

"Yeah, but that doesn't mean I wanted to lose him!" she snapped.

I moved toward the bed slowly, like sitting down would anchor me. "So let me get this straight. You told Jacob that in about four weeks, you're planning to go full immortal bloodsucker, and you expected him to take that like it was the weekly forecast?"

Bella buried her face in her hands. "I didn't expect anything. I just thought... he'd understand."

"He doesn't," I said, flat. "He won't. You're asking a werewolf to be chill about his best friend dying—yeah, I know, not technically, but it's death to him. It's a loss."

I felt Jasper arrive before I saw him — the shift in the air, the subtle calm he pulled over the tension like a blanket.

He hovered near the door, eyes flicking to me, checking. I didn't have to look at him to know he was trying to steady the emotional hurricane.

Bella looked up at me, her eyes wide and glassy.

"I didn't mean to hurt him," she whispered.

"Doesn't mean you didn't," I said gently, but not softly.

Silence pressed in again. Heavy. Raw.

"There's more," Edward finally said. "I agreed to the timeline... but only on one condition."

I raised an eyebrow. "Dare I ask?"

He looked me dead in the eyes. "Marriage."

I stared.