Something Just a Little Different (Jasper Hale)

Maybe So

After his hunting trip, Jasper made his way back to his home. He hadn't been able to stop thinking about what had happened, how it happened, actually. He had felt what the animal had felt, the urge to just stop what he was doing and turn and leave. What confused him was where that had come from.

He wandered inside, where all of the family was meandering about, all of them having returned from their previous engagements. He could tell that Edward had already seen everything from the slightly puzzled look on his face, but he didn't say anything. No doubt wanting to wait until they could be alone to talk about it. Edward didn't like worrying the family with anything unless he couldn't handle it himself.

Jasper made his way to his room, but sitting still only resulted in thinking. And thinking only resulted in confusion. He had stood to leave, to go find something to do, but Edward had entered the room by then. "Want to go for a walk?"

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Arri sank down farther into the warm soapy water, letting it get just over her mouth, but avoiding her nose. She had already been in the bath for over an hour, but she couldn't talk herself into getting out of the warm water.

Her silver hair was floating around her shoulders in small ropes, long enough for her to be able to amuse herself with. A loud bang came from the door making her jump, "Arri! Hurry up! You've been in there forever!" Josh yelled.

Arri huffed, sinking her entire head under the water one last time before getting out, throwing her hair up in a towel and putting on her pajamas. She quickly brushed her teeth and walked out of the bathroom.

Josh was waiting at the door, a slight frown on his face. When he saw Arri in her pajamas, he scoffed, looking down at his watch. "It's only one o'clock."

Arri just shrugged, she hadn't told her brother or her parents about the almost attack. She knew how badly they would react and she honestly just wanted to nap. Something about a near death experience just drains you, man.

The silver haired girl made her way to the kitchen, starting a kettle for tea as she picked at a piece of egg from the breakfast her mom had made by the time she had made her way back to the house. She had faced enough of the world today, and staring at the walls didn't seem like such a bad idea anymore.

Josh came trampling down the stairs as soon as Arri had made herself comfortable on the couch with a book settled in her lap. When she noticed he was dressed in full attire, she looked at him questioningly.

"I'm going to hang out with the guys from the res," He answered, catching on to the look. Arri just nodded in response, not feeling like forming words at the moment and continuing to read from her book.

When Josh just continued to stand over her, she looked up again. "Can I help you?" She finally asked. Her brother gave her a 'duh' look, holding up her Jeep keys.

"Well, I can't exactly drive myself, now can I?" He scoffed, tossing the keys onto her lap. Arri let out a groan of exasperation. She didn't want to leave the house, hell, she didn't even want to leave the couch.

"Can't you just get Mom to take you?" She whined, knowing good and well that their mom was not going to taxi him there.

"I am not going to be that guy that has to be picked up and dropped off by his mom. Not gonna happen, so get your lazy ass up," He laughed, playfully shoving her shoulder.

With a groan, she stood, shaking her hair out of the towel, raking her fingers through the wet strands. "You're a jerk, you know that."

The drive was a quiet one, well, for Arri, anyways. Josh had his music turned up, dramatically playing air guitar in the passenger seat, but Arri was quiet. Death had stared her directly in the face today, and here she was, sitting next to her idiot brother like nothing had ever happened.

She wanted to think about it, to think of a rational explanation for what could have made the cat stop mid-attack like that, but at the same time, she never wanted her mind to wonder back to that horror filled moment ever again.

Josh directed Arri to the house they were supposed to be at, a group of tan, muscly teenage boys sitting on the front porch. As they pulled up, the guys came out to greet them. Arri rolled down the window, waving and telling everyone hello.

Jacob Black came up to her window, plaster-white smile on his face. "Thanks for bringing him out. It sucks to have to taxi him around, I bet?" He laughed.

Arri gave a small laugh in return, "I just hope he enjoys the long walk home." She smirked teasingly, sticking her tongue out at her brother, who proceeded to flip her off in the most generous manner.

All the boys got a kick out of the sibling banter, but as the rest of them were picking on Josh, Jacob's face took on a slightly more serious look. "Hey Arri, you're good friends with Bella, right?" He asked quietly.

Arri looked at him quizzically, "Yeah, what about it?"

"Could you just- just keep an eye on her for me? Make sure she's okay? I worry about her being with-" He stopped there, like he had made a mistake, but a goofy grin that didn't reach his eyes took its place. "She's just such a clutz! Ya know? Just keep a watch out for her, would ya?"

The silver haired girl gave an unsure smile, "Yeah, I'll keep a watch out for her." Seemingly satisfied, Jake pushed off from the Jeep and went to join the other boys, leaving Arri to find her own way off of the reservation and to her own thoughts.

The way Jake had asked her to keep an eye on Bella, she knew what he had meant to say, that he worried about her being with Edward, it just struck her as strange. Maybe her uneasiness towards him was justifiable.