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

[2.03] gone

EDWARD AND ALICE WEREN'T AT SCHOOL THE NEXT DAY. Or the day after. They missed the rest of that week, which worried Lydia and Bella to no end. Neither girl had talked to any of the Cullens since the party, all of their calls and texts being ignored.

"I'm sorry about my birthday, Lydia," Bella murmured as they exited the school a few days after the party. 

"It wasn't your fault," Lydia said softly. "It was an accident." 

Bella looked at her, as if searching for sincerity. "Still." 

Lydia met Gwen at her car, and Gwen frowned at Lydia's visibly negative mood. "You okay?"

Lydia bit her lip. "Jasper won't return any of my calls or texts," she murmured. 

The girls got into Gwen's car. "You want to talk about it?" Gwen asked her softly as she turned on the car and pulled out of the parking lot. 

Lydia shook her head, leaning back against the seat. "Can we just... pretend everything's fine?" she asked softly. "I'll worry about my relationship later."

✦✧✦✧✦✧✦✧ 

Lydia had hoped her sleepover with Gwen that weekend would cheer her up after the rough week she'd had, but as she sat on her porch the next day, trying to focus long enough to get through the next page of Wuthering Heights for her English class, she still felt that heavy feeling of worry weighing her down. 

As she turned the page of her book, she noticed movement in her yard. She looked up, her heart picking up its pace as she spotted Jasper walking toward her out of the forest behind her house. 

She stood up as he came up the porch steps, feeling relief at the sight of her boyfriend. "Jasper," she breathed. "Where have you been? I've been calling you since the party." 

Jasper didn't answer her question, or even meet her eyes. "We need to talk," he said softly. 

"If this is about the party, don't," she murmured. "It's—"

"We're leaving," he said, looking anywhere but directly at her. 

Lydia looked up at him, furrowing her brow. "Wait, what? Why?" 

"I could have killed Bella," he said quietly, looking like the words physically pained him. Maybe they did. "I could have killed you, Lydia." 

"You wouldn't have hurt me," Lydia said. She moved to place a hand on his arm, but he stepped back, away from her. Lydia faltered, letting her hand fall back to her side. "It was an accident, Jasper—it's okay." 

"No, it's not!" he exclaimed, finally looking at her. He still avoided meeting her gaze, instead studying her face. "What would I do if I'd hurt you, Lydia? What would I do if I'd killed you?" He paused, looking away from her again. Lydia was glad—she could feel tears beginning to prick at her eyes as she willed them away, not wanting Jasper to feel worse than he already. 

Even now, she didn't want him to hurt. 

"We have to leave Forks," he said, his voice just above a whisper. "For your sake and Bella's." 

"Jasper—" 

"It's for the best," he said, as if he was trying to convince them both. 

Lydia stared at him. "So that's it?" she asked, feeling anger  join the sadness brewing inside of her. She wasn't sure if it was her own or a product of Jasper's gift, though the logical part of her was leaning more toward the latter. "You're just going to leave? Because of one accident?" She clenched her hands into fists, digging her fingernails into her palms to force her tears away. "I thought we were stronger than that, Jasper."