Loving The Major - Jasper Hale

Growing Pains

Adeline, Alice, and Jasper had been with their new family for almost a dozen years now and in that time they had settled into their family's routine of pretending to be humans. Adeline by far had the easiest time blending in as she did not have any traits that marked her as different like the rest of her family. Unfortunately, being an elemental also came with issues of its own. Namely being the only one in the family that actually had to sleep, even if it was only for two or three hours every few nights.

She tried to schedule herself so that her need for sleep would line up with the nights that Jasper would hunt. He was very attentive to her needs and was actually better than her at recognizing when she needed sleep, often curling up with her to hold her as she slept. It was a habit that had formed from when they had just left Maria behind. She had often found herself terrified to sleep, scared of the nightmares that would plague her or that she may wake to find escaping and reuniting with Jasper had all been a dream. Jasper would stay beside her and comfort her when she woke up terrified, soothing away her fears.

But now that she was doing better, she felt bad asking it of him. While she still loved falling asleep with his arms around her, it meant that he was stuck laying there with her for a few hours and she didn't want to do that to him no matter how much he reassured her that he did not mind. Which led to her sneaking naps when he went out to hunt to avoid the issue. Not the best option as she was just putting off a conversation about it that she knew they would have to have at some point, but it had worked for the past two years. Mostly.

However as she got ready for school today her limbs felt heavy, there were small aches all over her body, and her mind felt like it was wrapped in cotton. She knew she had slept two nights ago and shouldn't yet be feeling tired, but that didn't stop her from wanting nothing more than to crawl back into bed.

"You ready to go Darlin'?" Jasper questioned from the door of their room.

She gave him a bright smile, not wanting to worry him, "yep! Just let me grab my bag."

"Are you sure?" His eyes scanned over her as he crossed his arms. He could tell that something was off about her based on her emotions, but he couldn't put his finger on it.

"Yeah" she sighed, realizing he saw through her and was not going to move until he got an explanation. "I'm just a little tired. I'll have a nap when we get home and be good as new."

Jasper gave her a long look before nodding his head in acceptance and moved to carry her bag for her. She had tried discouraging it, stating how the other girls at school didn't have someone carry their bag for them but he hadn't budged. He had just smiled and told her that he was raised to be a proper southern gentleman who would never allow a woman to carry something if his hands were empty and then had gently but firmly taken it from her hands.

That day as they sat through their classes, he kept a close eye on Adeline, noticing how she was indeed acting tired. But he also noticed that she often shifted and moved around in her seat, giving little winces as she did, as if uncomfortable or in slight pain. His worry increased as this continued throughout the day, although he didn't bring it up, not wanting to be overheard by the humans. He intended to ask her when they got home and maybe even have Carlisle check her over, but for now he settled with keeping close to her in case she needed anything.

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By the time school ended and they were all headed out, Adeline was miserable. She had hoped that she would "wake up" as the day went on, but instead she just seemed to be doing worse. The aches had grown, beginning to become almost painful and moving her body was starting to feel like swimming through tar. Adeline had also noticed that she had developed a small fever and kept switching from being too cold to too warm and back again. As the last bell rang she headed towards their cars with her siblings ready to get home and simply fall down, leaning heavily on Jasper as she did so.