Chapter Nineteen
Bella
The last two months had flown by and it was almost Christmas. Jasper and I had settled into a routine, I spent from Friday night to Sunday afternoon at his house and he spent Sunday, Monday, and Tuesday at mine, the door stayed open for Charlie's benefit. Wednesdays and Thursdays were total hell, but I didn't want to push Charlie's generosity by asking if he would let Jasper move in. Those days we had to be content to talk on the phone for a few hours.
I was well aware of the fact that our relationship was unusual. Friends did not spend this much time together, especially those that had only really known each other three months. In the beginning we had been together so much because Jasper was sort of dependant on me, but now I was dependant on him too. A day without seeing him was my worst nightmare. It probably wasn't healthy, but I didn't care.
He still seemed oblivious to my feelings though, and I was both grateful and disappointed by that. I'd almost resolved to give in and tell him, but I was a coward and it would take me a while yet to drum up enough courage to take such a huge risk. Rosalie prompted me to do it almost daily and even Esme gave me thinly veiled hints whenever I was with her.
She regularly found reasons to send us out alone, or for everyone but us to be away from the house for a few hours. I wondered if Jasper was aware of what she was doing. He was doing so well now. I couldn't say he was back to normal, because I didn't really know what he was like before Alice left since Edward never let me get to know him, but he was happy.
Sometimes he had a faraway look in his eyes, as if he was lost in a dream or a memory, but he never looked sad. I thought he might be remembering some happy moment from his relationship with Alice now that it didn't hurt him so much to do it.
I was in his room now. Our room, really. I always had clean clothes in the closet and my shampoo and shower gel stood next to his in the bathroom. As far as Charlie knew, I slept in Alice's room when I stayed here, which was somewhat true, or had been in the beginning at least.
Every time I saw our things together, either here or at Charlie's, I was hit with a jolt of love and happiness. Sometimes I worried that I wasn't being fair to him, because our friendship meant something different to me than it meant to him. I thought keeping my feelings to myself might be unfair, but I didn't want to make him feel uncomfortable by telling him the truth. I was stuck.
Jasper was out hunting, something I'd had to get used to, but it wasn't too bad, as he was never gone long, and always chose to remain behind when the family went away for longer hunting trips. I could hear the TV on downstairs and went to investigate as I'd thought I was the only one home.
As my foot hit the top stair, I heard the TV turn off, a soft thump and a quick rustle.
I found Emmett sitting on the sofa staring innocently at an upside-down copy of the TV guide. I held down a giggle as he smiled up at me. What had he been watching? The remote control was on the opposite sofa, where I was sure he'd thrown it. I picked it up and turned on the TV, just in time to see the end of the Powerpuff Girls.
I turned back to face him slowly, my shoulders shaking with barely suppressed laughter. "Powerpuff Girls, Emmett?"
"I wasn't watching it." He said quickly, avoiding my eyes.
"Yes you were, I heard you from upstairs." I giggled, throwing myself into the seat beside him.
"I had the sound on low." He groused, then cursed quietly as he realised he'd admitted it. "I'll give you a thousand dollars to keep this to yourself."
I mulled it over as I watched him get more and more worried. This information was worth far more than a thousand dollars. "Nope, sorry."
"C'mon, please Bella?" He gave me such a sorry expression I almost cracked. "You wouldn't want to upset your big brother would you?"
