The Rise of Lydia Rowe ↠ Jasper Hale (ON HOLD)

[1.15] stories

LYDIA AND JASPER TALKED FOR A WHILE, until he tensed suddenly, glancing toward his half- open door. A second later, Esme called up the stairs, "Lydia! Jasper! Bella's here!" 

Lydia was the first to stand up, looking at Jasper when he didn't move, his body still tense and his expression almost blank, save for the slight furrow of his eyebrows. "Jasper?" she asked. 

Jasper's golden eyes shifted to her, and he gave her what she was sure was a forced smile. "Yes?" he asked, standing up as well. 

"You okay?" she asked him. 

It took Jasper a second to answer, his gaze moving again to the door. "I can smell her blood from here," he confessed quietly, which was not a sentence Lydia ever thought she'd hear come from another person's mouth. 

Remembering what Jasper had told her about his struggle with bloodlust, she asked, "Are you okay to go down there? I'm sure Edward would rather we skip than you drink his girlfriend's blood." She tried to keep her tone light, hoping to calm him down a little with a bit of humor. 

"We hunted after school, so I think I'll be okay," he said, like he was trying to convince himself more than her. He looked at Lydia, then asked quietly, "Can you stick close to me, though? It's easier to control when you're around." 

Lydia couldn't help the tiny blush that flushed across her cheeks. She was both honored and delighted—she'd take any excuse to be near Jasper. 

She'd been kidding herself every time she tried to convince herself she didn't have a crush on him. 

"Of course," Lydia said. This time, she was the one to hold out her hand. He took it immediately, his cold hand seeming to fit perfectly around hers, their fingers entwining together like they were always meant to come together. 

I'm so screwed.

But maybe that wasn't such a bad thing.

They walked downstairs to the sound of light arguing, courtesy of Rosalie. When Jasper and Lydia stepped into the room, the first thing Lydia saw was the shattered glass and salad strewn across the ground at Rosalie's feet. 

Clearly feeling awkward and wanting to change the subject from whatever had gotten Rosalie so angry, Bella looked at Lydia, smiling at her. "Hey, Lydia."

"Hey," Lydia greeted, smiling back at the only other human in the house. 

"Hi, Bella!" Alice said happily, jumping off of a tree branch and walking gracefully into the house. "I'm Alice." Either oblivious or willfully ignorant of the tension in the room, she moved forward to give Bella a hug. Bella returned it awkwardly, but Alice didn't seem to care.

"Oh," Alice said, letting go of Bella. "You do smell good." 

Lydia had to fight not to laugh even a little at that, especially when Edward made a face at Alice for saying that. "Alice, what are you—?" 

"Don't worry," Alice interrupted him with a big smile. "Bella and I are going to be great friends." 

Lydia looked up at Jasper, who was staring intently at Bella, a look of pain painted across his beautiful features. Bella made brief eye contact, a silent moment of pure awkwardness filling the room. Lydia squeezed his hand, drawing his attention away from Bella and to Lydia as she gave him a small, hopefully encouraging smile.

Carlisle cleared his throat slightly. "Sorry, Jasper is our newest vegetarian. It's a little difficult for him." 

Lydia saw Bella's gaze travel briefly to Lydia, probably wondering why he wasn't struggling being so close to her. She couldn't blame her—even Lydia wasn't sure how that was.