Rock and Roll Rebel

Chapter 13

"What the hell are you wearing?" Bella laughed when she opened the front door.

Jasper raised an eyebrow at her. "I'll have you know this is an original baseball uniform from 1925."

"Well in 2005, it looks like pajamas."

Jasper tossed his head back. "Shows what you know about fashion," he said haughtily, stepping by her and into the house.

"Um, what are you doing?" she called after him.

"Sayin' hello to your father," he said like it was the most obvious thing in the world. "Can you imagine if I picked you up for a date and didn't at least say hello? What would people say?"

"Jasper Whitlock, you get back here!" she hissed, but he was already gone. She groaned and followed him into the kitchen.

"You know your guns," Charlie was saying as he cleaned his rifle. "You hunt?"

Jasper smirked. "Absolutely. It's a hobby of mine. My whole family, actually. We go at least once a month."

Bella put her face in her hands. "You've got to be kidding me."

"So what are your plans for today?"

"Baseball, sir. Another family hobby," Jasper said with a smile.  Bella rolled her eyes.

"Baseball?" Charlie echoed, glancing over at Bella then back to Jasper. "Bella's going to play baseball?  Oh I can't wait to hear how this goes."

"Funny, Dad. Thanks," Bella huffed, grabbing Jasper's arm. "We should probably go though. Don't want to keep everyone waiting."

"I'll have her home before ten, sir," Jasper nodded as Charlie walked them to the door.

"I'll be here. Waiting," Charlie said.

"Bye!" Bella groaned, already halfway to Jasper's car.  He opened the door and she hopped in, giving her dad a wave. 

"Hey, Jasper. You take care of my girl, alright?"

Bella rolled her eyes again, but Jasper turned back. Something about him in that moment... It wasn't hard to imagine him as a soldier. It gave her chills. Back straight and head held high, he gave Charlie a brief nod. "She'll be safe with me. I promise, sir."

*~*~*

She should've known that, sooner or later, dating a vampire was going to bite her in the ass. She had just been hoping for later.

It was all going fine until Alice froze and shouted, "Stop!"

Before Bella could blink, the Cullens had surrounded her in a protective circle. Jasper pulled her against his side, his arm almost painfully tight around her shoulders. "They were leaving, but they heard us," Alice said, looking between Jasper and Carlisle.

Jasper stepped back with Bella, ready to make a run for the car. Carlisle shook his head. "It's too late."

"Too late for what?" Bella asked, looking to Jasper. "What's happening?"

Jasper turned to her, and she could feel, just barely, his deliberate shift from panic to calm. His posture straightened, his expression hardened, but his eyes were still gentle when they looked at her. "Forgive me," he whispered, leaning forward to take her hair down out of its tie and fanning it around her shoulders as he placed a kiss to her head. He pulled her hat a little farther down over her eyes. "I promise I'll keep you safe. Jus' stay behind me."

"Like that'll help, I could smell her from across the field," Rosalie scoffed.

Jasper growled at her, but Bella ran her hand along his arm. He turned back to her and quickly pressed a kiss to the back of her hand.

Over her head, he met Emmett's gaze, and his brother nodded, taking a few steps closer to Bella, his huge body in a subtly defensive position.

And just like that, they were out of time, and Bella saw what had them all so panicked. Three vampires emerged from the tree-line, all of them with dark red eyes. Darker than she'd ever seen.

The one Bella assumed to be their leader by the way he stood in front of the other two, much like Carlisle stood before his family, held up the baseball. "I believe this belongs to you."

He tossed it to Carlisle, who caught it with ease. "Thank you."

"I am Laurent," the man spoke. "This is Victoria.  And James."

"I'm Carlisle. This is my family."

"Hello," Laurent nodded.

Bella watched the exchange carefully, noticing how Jasper stood in front of her, but also flanking Carlisle. His eyes were focused on the newcomers, and Bella knew he was using his powers to keep things civil and, likely, their curiosity next to nothing. He was trying to make her invisible, but he was ready for a fight if it came to it.

"I'm afraid your hunting activities have caused something of a mess for us," Carlisle continued.

"Our apologies. We didn't realize the territory had been claimed."

"Yes, well," Carlisle said with an easy, charming smile, "we maintain a permanent residence nearby."

"Really?" Laurent looked to his companions and smirked, as if the idea was too ludicrous to even begin to wrap his head around. "Well, we won't be a problem anymore. We were just passing through."

"The humans were tracking us, but we led them east," the woman, Victoria, said. "You should be safe."

"Excellent," Carlisle nodded and Jasper shifted his gaze from his father back to the woman.

There was a heavy pause during which Bella tried her best to calm her racing heart before Laurent chuckled. "So, could you use three more players?"

Alice and Rosalie looked to Carlisle who frowned.

"Oh, come on," Laurent smiled, "just one game."

Carlisle sighed, a smile returning to his face. "Sure. Why not?  A few of us were leaving. You can take their place.  You bat first."

He tossed the ball to Victoria who smirked. "I'm the one with the wicked curve ball."

Jasper smirked back, playing up her competitive drive. "Oh, I think we can handle that."

"We'll see," Victoria said as everyone went to take their place.

Jasper had barely taken two steps toward Bella, intent on getting her to the car as fast as possible, when the wind picked up, blowing through her hair and spreading her scent across the entire field.

James inhaled deeply. "You brought a snack."

He dropped into a crouch, only to be met with the defensively crouched Cullen clan. Bella stood behind Emmett who had moved so she was nearly completely hidden by his upper body. Esme drew her close.

"The girl is with us," Carlisle said, authority ringing with every word. "I think it best if you leave."

Laurent nodded his surrender. "I can see the game is over. We'll go now."

They began to leave but James kept his scarlet eyes on Bella.

"James!" Laurent snapped, and the blond vampire turned to follow with one last look at Bella.

As they retreated, Carlisle reached out to Jasper. "Get Bella out of here. Go."

He didn't need to be told twice.