Friends with Benefits

Chapter Ninety-Four

Things I own: my sanity (though, that's debatable at times), not enough time to write and incredible friends and family!!

Things I don't: Twilight, Edward and Bella (Damn. It.)

Chapter Ninety-Four

BPOV

Alice left shortly after dinner. She was so overjoyed that Edward and I were a couple, that she was completely distracted from her own wedding plans. She tried to finagle us into talking into our wedding.

Yeah, just started dating. I've got a lot of crazy to overcome before we discuss wedding bells, Alice.

That night, Edward and I cuddled in his bed before drifting off to sleep. I was in denial that I was due back to work on Monday, dealing with my hooligans and preparing for ACT exam and Prairie State Assessment or PSAE. In all of my classes, I had a mini lesson prepared for standardized test preparation and study skills. I hated those tests. Our schools were all about differentiatedlessons, meeting the needs of every single learner and yet, we give standardized tests to everyone. Zero differentiation.

And this makes sense why?

Plus, proctoring them was boring as spit.

We had three weeks before we had to give the tests after we returned from spring break, but it was an unwritten rule that we work with our students as much as we could, prior to the tests to ensure their preparedness.

The next morning, Edward and I got ready and he dropped me off at school. I was in the copy room, making extras of my study skills lessons when Jasper sauntered in. "Congratulations! You're finally making Alice an honest woman!"

"Thank you," he smirked, checking his mailbox. "I hear you have your own good news, too."

"How long did Alice wait until she blabbed?"

"As soon as she was in the car, she was calling me and Esme. The both of them, it was insane with the squealing," Jasperlaughed.

"With their excitement, it's almost stealing your thunder of your engagement," I frowned. "This should be about you and Alice. Not a new relationship between me and Edward."

"Trust me when I say, I'm okay with the stealing of the thunder. Steal away. If I had my way, I'd get married at the courthouse by a judge. I love Alice and I want to spend the rest of my life with her. I don't care about table settings, tuxedos, wedding gowns and whether or not our guests want salmon or beef. Granted, I'm going to cater to her every whim because I love her, but aslong as I get to call her my wife at the end of the day, I'm happy as a clam," he smirked.

"That's sweet, Jasper," I sighed.

"In regards to you and Edward, it's about time," he teased. "I was praying that he would pull his head out of his ass and ask you out after you and Paul broke up. How did you get together?"

"Ironically, a fight," I snorted. "After my tumble, I had pushed everyone away. The person that I hurt the most was Edward and he had a few too many to drink at one of the baseball games. Long story short, he called me on some bull shit and we ended up arguing about our friendship and why we hadn't gotten together as a couple. I walked away, but when I came back, I told him that I was sorry that I wanted to try for more. He also apologized for making me cry. That was a little over a week ago and the rest is, as they say, history."

"I'm glad that you two are together, Bella. But, I have to ask. You've had this crush on Edward as long as I've known you," Jasper said.

"What? How did you know?" I squeaked.

"The way you looked at him when you thought no one was looking, it was filled with so much longing," he said, leaning against the counter in the copy room. "Why were you so hesitant to date him?"

"You saw what I dated before," I muttered, picking up my copies.

"Yeah. Assholes. Edward isn't an asshole. Okay, he kind of is since he's a lawyer, but he's never been an asshole to his family or friends," Jasper said, arching a brow. "Bella, did you think that Edward was too good for you?"

"Kind of," I whispered, hugging the warm paper to my body. "I mean, he's handsome, smart, ambitious, sweet, generous andkind. What would he want with me?" I tucked my hair behind my ears. "A lot of that comes from the ex-boyfriends who only used me for their own needs. Also, I'm waiting for the shoe to drop and for Edward to change, turn into one of those assholes."

"Bella, that is not normal thinking," Jasper chided. "Edward cares a great deal about you. He would never intentionally hurt you."

"Now," I snorted derisively. Jasper stood in front of me, his arms crossed and glowering at me. "Look, Edward and I talked about this. My previous relationships have obviously skewed my perceptions and he thinks that I was emotionally abused. He's going to ask Carlisle or even a coworker of his for a name of a good therapist so I can work through these feelings of inadequacy."

"But, it doesn't sound like you're willing to let it work, Bella," Jasper frowned. "Therapy won't be successful unless you're ready to do it. Unless you want to change. You know?" The warning bell rang and it indicated the end of our conversation. Jasper had a first period U.S. History class. "Do you want to change? Will therapy help you?" He hugged me before darting outto get ready for his class.

His questions lingered in my mind as I wandered to my office. Did I want to go to therapy for me or for Edward?

A/N: Jasper...he's a smart dude. Just saying... Leave me some!