Delicate (Jasper Whitlock Hale)

Chapter 18

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The next morning came too soon and I felt as tired as Bella looked when I climbed into her Mercedes that she looked less than pleased to be driving. I didn't have plans to show up before Seth, Billy, and Sue did, but Bella had asked me to come earlier, saying that she didn't want all of the attention from Alice focused on her and that if I was there it would offer some kind of distraction.

"Morning." She greeted me, shyly handing me a cup of hot chocolate.

"Good morning, future Mrs. Cullen." I said, thanking her and taking the hot chocolate from her hands. A blush spread across her face and she let out a dry laugh,

"Alice is going to scream at me once we get there. I kept having nightmares." She said, and her voice reflected just how tired she was.

"Wedding jitters?" I asked, taking a sip of the hot chocolate and mentally moaning at how good it tasted.

"Probably." She said, though it didn't sound too convincing. She started speaking again before I could ask her anything else. "Thanks for riding with me."

"No problem. It gave me an excuse to not phase." I told her, watching as the trees passed by us at a slower speed than I was used to.

"Why don't you want to phase?" She asked, the smallest amount of curiosity lacing her voice, but the concern was the primary emotion. It was weird how I could pick up on emotions so well now. I chalked it up to being around Jasper so much and his gift even helping me be able to pick up on emotions.

"Do you understand how deeply connected the pack is?" I asked, trying my best to make sure my voice didn't sound as snippy as the sentence may have come out.

"I think so. I know the whole sharing thoughts kind of makes it hard to be distant with each other so you're all close whether you want to be or not." She answered.

"Close enough." I told her, "Everyone was hit by Jacob leaving, but it's hit us all differently. None of us come from perfect homes and families, and the pack is the closest thing to a family we can get. Even Leah and Paul, the two hardasses, have been hit hard by his leaving. He won't even directly talk to us. Of course, we hear his thoughts, but he's trying his hardest to ignore us and live like a wolf. I think I've phased six times since he's left because it's painful to deal with the purposeful silence." I explained. I could tell Jacob's leaving had also messed with Bella, any time I was around her, which was anytime Jasper and I were at his house, you could tell that talking about him hurt her. She missed him just as much as we did.

"I-I'm sorry. I know it's my fault." She replied, a coarse edge in her voice.

"Don't be sorry, most of us know it wasn't your fault and he's overreacting to this. He knew it was coming, he just hasn't wanted to face it. Now he's being forced to."

"It doesn't change things, you said the pack was your family and I've messed up your family."

"Bella, my family has always been messed up. This will pass and we all know it." I tried comforting her, somewhat regretting telling her the truth.

"Is there another reason you don't want to phase?" She asked me.

"You're trying hard to make me be your friend, Swan, don't think I can't see that." I said, a smirk on my face but my tone light and joking. Truth be told, once I had hung around her, she wasn't as bad as I thought. I had a problem with her hurting Jacob, but that was between the two of them and I had to realize that just because he was in the pack, didn't mean it was the pack's problem. She chuckled at my statement and shook her head,