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

[1.21] on the run

THEY WENT TO LYDIA'S HOUSE FIRST, since it was on the way to Bella's from the baseball field. Lydia quickly went in, calling out, "Mom! Mama! Can I spend the night with Rosalie and Alice? Like, right now?" She figured it was the perfect excuse—as long as her mothers agreed to let her go.

Lydia's heart pounded as she waited for their answer. "Is Jasper going to be there?" Johanna asked, walking into the kitchen from the living room. 

Lydia quickly shook her head. "He and his brothers are going with Dr. Cullen camping over the weekend, so it'll just be me and the girls." 

Johanna thought about it for a moment, each second that past making Lydia more and more antsy. "Okay, sure. Are you leaving now?"

"Yeah, Rosalie's waiting outside, so I'm just going to grab a bag and head out if that's okay," Lydia said, hating the way the lie tasted on her tongue. She hated lying, especially to her mothers. 

"Of course, just keep us updated," Johanna said, kissing Lydia's forehead before heading back into the living room. As Lydia ran up the stairs, her mother called out, "Don't forget your toothbrush!"

After grabbing her most essential toiletries from the bathroom and shoving them in a small bag, Lydia ran into her bedroom, seeing Edward already in her room stuffing random items of clothing into a spare backpack. Lydia grabbed her phone charger and her wallet from her nightstand, stuffing them and her toiletries into the bag after making sure what Edward had already packed was enough for a few days. She blindly grabbed a few undergarments from her dresser and jammed them into the bag before zipping it up.

She called out a quick goodbye to her mothers and ran out to meet Edward back at the Jeep, hopping into the backseat with her bag and buckling up just in time for Edward to peel out of her driveway. 

Lydia's nerves grew as they sped to Bella's house. Lydia tried to distract herself from thinking about worst-case scenarios, knowing it would just make Edward feel worse having to hear her panicked thoughts alongside his own. 

She waited in the car as Bella and Edward made a scene on her front porch, making up a rouse for Charlie's sake. Lydia felt bad for the man, knowing from what she'd heard at school that he'd just gotten his daughter home not long ago and now—now she was leaving him again. 

Lydia jumped when the driver's side door opened, but she calmed down immediately at the sight of Jasper getting into the car and turning it on. "They're going to take Bella's truck," Jasper explained. "We're going to follow them to the house." 

Lydia got into the passenger's seat just as Bella burst out of her house, walking to her truck as her father called out for her to wait. Lydia's heart sunk at the sight of Charlie watching his daughter run away from him because of a boy. 

When Bella was a little down the road and Charlie was back inside, Jasper sped off to follow the red truck.

"How bad is this?" Lydia asked. "Tell me the truth." 

Jasper looked at her for a moment before returning his gaze to the road. "We'll protect you," he told her. "Both of you." 

"That doesn't answer my question, Jasper," Lydia said. "How bad is this? How much danger are Bella and I in?" She stared at him for a moment. "Could we die?" 

"I won't let that happen," Jasper said sharply. 

"Why does he want me?" Lydia asked. "He could smell Bella, but he didn't even notice me at first." 

"He knows we're as protective of you as we are of Bella," Jasper told her. "This is all a game to him." He let out a sigh. "The only silver lining is that he'll be tracking Bella's scent, not yours, so your family will be safe." Lydia didn't notice her hands were shaking until Jasper took one, threading their fingers together. "I'll protect you with my life, Lydia," he swore. "I promise."