His Wolf Pup - a Jasper Hale Story

8- Friends Help Each Other

I ran far into the forest before sitting down and leaning against a tree. I don't know why this one accusation affected me so much, but it did. I was so done with all the rumors and nonsense from school. Adding in the fact that they brought the Cullens into it, the only people I had ever met who were kind to me even when they had every reason to hate me.

I cried right then and there.

I felt an arm wrap around me before I realized anyone was there. Knowing only vampires could sneak up on me like that, I leaned into whichever one it was. I felt their cold arms pull me in close as I put my head against their chest. I could tell it was either Jasper or Edward by this point, and I honestly didn't care which one it was.

I could feel the tears streaming down my face slowing down, so I pulled back to see who I was hugging. I looked up to see Jasper's honey eyes looking back at mine. A small sigh escaped my lips as I looked at the others who had gathered around me on the grass.

"Hey." My voice was quiet, but I knew they could all hear me.

"They're all idiots. Ignore them all," Rosalie told me. The fact that Rosalie was on my side made me smile slightly.

"Yeah." I looked over at Emmet as he spoke. "Who needs stupid humans anyways. You have us now."

That simple sentence made my smile widen. "Thanks, Em."

I felt a hand touch my leg, making me turn to see Alice with a smile on my face. "Don't worry. I know it seems bad right now, but I see a really happy future with you in it." She looked over at Edward with a knowing smile that he returned.

In that moment, part of me realized she also knew about Jasper, but I honestly didn't care enough to deal with it.

I felt Jasper's arms stiffen slightly. I unconsciously looked up to see him looking down in concentration. I realized he was probably wasn't used to being that close to a living person for so long, so I started to shift away from him. I voiced my thinking to him so I wouldn't freak him out.

"Sorry, you're probably not used to be that close to someone. I don't need to freak you out more."

His eyes shifted slightly, but I could feel positive emotions radiating off of him. "I'm sorry," he whispered.

"Don't be." I shifted myself out of his grip, but I selfishly stayed close to him. "Thank you, Jas." I looked away from him to everyone else once again. "Seriously, thank you, guys. It means a lot that you'd come out here after me."

"Of course," Edward said.

"I hate to admit it," Noah said from beside Alice. "But I think you're going to be a part of this family for a while."

I smiled at his words, knowing I was the least close with Noah after two days out of everyone; the fact that he was okay with me hanging around after barely getting to know me meant that they were all being genuine.

I opened my mouth to say something, but nothing came out. I was at a loss for words; I was so happy and thankful.

"It's okay, Emma," Jasper told me. "We know."

I smiled at Jasper and realized that maybe everything would be alright.

For the next while, I settled into a new pattern. I would wake up and get ready for school before Jasper picked me up and drove me to school. I would hang out with the Cullens all day, and I ignored everyone else as much as I could. Then Jasper would drive me to their house, where we would hang out and play games until someone drove me home. At home, I would stay up late and do my chores and try to block out my parents. There were always problems at home, but it was all made okay when I would see Jasper picking me up the following day.

Of course, all this time, I hid the truth from everyone. They did not know about my home life, and I hoped they never would. I kept the whole imprinting thing a secret as well, but I knew both Edward and Alice knew all about it anyway.

I also learned a lot about all of the Cullens. Esme would always bake me random sweets and pack me school lunches, and she was the only reason I had food at all. Carlisle was away at work a lot, but he had such a passion for helping others that it came naturally to him. Both had become like my second parents in no time, and I could tell they cared for me to some degree.

Noah liked to keep his distance, being the newest vampire to the animal blood diet, but he often had long conversations with me about old classic novels he loved to read. Alice always wanted to play dress-up with me every chance she could get while trying to subtly hint that I should go on a date with Jasper. She was solely the reason my closet had doubled in size since meeting them.

Rosalie wanted to keep me safe from all the stupid people in the world. This often got her in screaming matches with guys at school, but they were always too scared of her to tell anyone about them. Emmet just wanted to play games and mess around with me. He beat me in Mario Kart over 100 times, but I beat him twice, so I had bragging rights.

Edward could hear my every thought, but he never used it against me like I thought he would. He actually ended up being my number one supporter in any decision I made. He also liked to join in on our Mario Kart games and tried sabotaging Emmet for me so I could win. He said he enjoyed watching Emmet freak out.

Jasper was perfect. Over time, he actually opened up to me about his past in the Civil War, and I told him a little bit about the history of my pack. Every day our bond grew, but I never told him everything. I think some part of him knew there was something special about our bond, but he never suspected I imprinted on him. I would try to keep that a secret for as long as I could.

But secrets couldn't last forever.