Revenant j. hale

Chapter 32

"JARED CAMERON IF YOU THROW ONE MORE ARTICLE OF CLOTHING OUT OF MY CLOSET I WILL NEVER SPEAK TO YOU AGAIN!"

Jared turned to look at me, shock evident on his face. With puppy like eyes he dropped a shoe before plopping down in the middle of all the clothes.

"I was just trying to help," he grumbled quietly.

"J, when you demanded that Alice let you pick my graduation outfit I didn't think you'd make this big of a mess." I gently threw a sweater at his head in hopes of cheering him up. I hadn't intended to snap, but having multiple clothing items tossed around my room grew irritating fast.

"I'll have you know it wasn't easy getting the little pixie to agree! And then I had to argue with the fucking Green Giant because he wanted to do it instead. That's a family of nutcases, are you sure you wanna date one of them?" I giggled at his question only for him to continue rambling, "Ya know we can find ya a nice wolf. Too bad you got imprinted on Paul bec-"

"Because Paul is the best wolf around and it would ruin your view of any other pup that dare try to take you away from me," Paul said loudly as he walked into my room. Leaning down he gave me a kiss on the head before tossing a shoe at Jared.

"Paul," my smile was big and I unconsciously leaned into his warmth. I haven't been able to see much of my best friend lately. Sam had them running patrol like crazy and I was often at school or Emily's. The Cullen's had been busy and Jasper didn't want me hanging out at their house too much when his feeding schedule had been off.

No one had said much about what was going on, but it wasn't hard to put two and two together. Something was wrong and they didn't want to put me anywhere near the problem. I couldn't really complain. Despite the loneliness of my favorite people being away, if my safety made things easier for them then so be it. The less trouble I am the faster everything can go back to normal.

"Hey, we gotta speed this up a little," Paul mumbled in my ear. "I gotta run another patrol after I drop you off." I nodded just as Jared shouted in excitement, finding a dress he thought worked for the graduation festivities.

Standing up I stumbled, gripping onto Paul's shoulder in surprise. "Cay, what's wrong? Are you okay?" He spoke fast, freaked out by my suddenness.

I didn't move for a moment, waiting for the black spots in my vision to disappear. "I'm okay. Just stood up too fast is all." The boys in the room weren't too convinced, but they knew I had low iron and with the weather changing it messed with my allergies. To help with their nerves I changed quickly, coming out and doing a dramatic spin for them.

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"I can't believe I didn't trip."

"I told you," Jasper chuckled in my ear. We were lounging outside, soaking up the last bits of sunlight before Alice put him back to work for the party. I was snuggled comfortably against him, gently touching the bits of skin that shined under the rays of sun. The top few buttons of his shirt undone and my flats that went with my dress discarded.

"You never did tell me," I whispered, only to receive a hum in response.

His cold fingers brushed softly down my arm before making its way back up again. We had gotten even closer since our date. Holding hands in the hallway as he was adamant on walking me to my classes, and me spending at least one night a week at his house - which Paul did not enjoy one bit.

We'd spend time on the balcony I fell asleep on that first night, usually me listening to him read old novels. He had quite the collection. Not what I had initially expected from him either. But I suppose there had to be some form of entertainment when you've been a vampire for so long.

He told me the story of how he became a vampire one night, I had grown quite emotional listening and it threw me off. It took him awhile to calm me down afterwards. Many soothing words and gentle waves of happy feelings were sent my way before I told him my story as well which he took amazingly.

However, we did get interrupted by Emmett who came in looking like he would be crying if he were human, rambling about how he was sorry he overheard and how "Not to worry small fry, your big bro Emmett's gonna take care of ya now." Rosalie nearly sent him through a wall trying to pry him off of me so I didn't suffocate from his hug.

"Tell you what darlin'?" My mind became fuzzy once again. From thinking of the sweet memories to his beautiful accent ringing in my ears now.

"Where your mate is." His movements stopped, making me more aware of his stone-like structure.

"You."

"What?" I laughed. Sitting up to look at him. I had heard what he said but it still confused me for a moment.

"You're my mate," he coughed. "I told you that night, sort of. But you were already asleep. Don't be mad."

I wasn't mad, just thinking. While I had strong feelings for him, that changed a lot. Obviously the whole him being a vampire and me a weird human was challenging. And I wondered how ridiculous it was that I got caught up in so much supernatural stuff.

"Jas, I'm not mad. It's just-" I paused for a moment, trying to find the right words, "I'm not even supposed to be here. I was supposed to die a long time ago. I did die. And for some reason, maybe because of you, I lived. I couldn't be happier that I met you and I get the pleasure of being with you. But, forgive me please, there's just a part of me that still believes I'm meant to die. "

Jasper face softened. "You know I'd never force you to become like me. I've waited so long to find you, it would be an awful feeling to not have you. To have you forever would be like a dream come true darlin'. "

I understood. Both of our feelings were very relevant, and it was a delicate subject. Especially since neither of us wanted to upset or make the other do what they didn't want to. "I just need some time  to process things. No decisions are gonna be made right now anyway."

I kissed his cheek and went into the house. Jasper's face remained in my mind as I walked down a hallway and stopped in front of a painting. It was beautifully done and each member of the Cullen family was present.

"Do you like it?" Esme's voice broke the silence as she came from behind me.

"It's beautiful. I've never seen a portrait done so nicely."

She let out a laugh. "I'm glad you think so. I've never had someone to rate my art before."

It came as a surprise. I hadn't expected her to be the one to have painted it. Although it did make some sense that she would be good at something like that.

"You know, it isn't so bad." I looked at her questioningly. "Once you've found your mate it's like everything falls into place. I was lucky enough to not have to wait like everyone else when I was turned."

My heart warmed at the thought of Jasper being my mate. Esme smiled at me, pulling me under her arm in a motherly hug. "I know my son can't give you everything, but I can assure you that you'd never go unloved in our family."

It brought tears to my eyes. Sniffling, I looked up at her. "Actually, he can."

Her gaze was confused before it sunk in, and she pulled me back into a hug. "I don't know at what point it happened, whether it be from the accident or what happened at that awful place. But  I'll never be abl-"

Esme shushed me and brushed my hair softly. We hugged for what felt like forever, though I wouldn't complain. The motherly feeling she emitted filled my heart up as I let all the feelings out that I had suppressed for so long. Missing my own mother and Gran along with missing the chance that I'd never get to experience myself.

Eventually we had to break away, and Rosalie soon came and asked quietly if it would be okay that she help me get ready for the party. It surprised me, even though most of her hostility was pointed at Bella she never went out of her way to approach me. She hugged me gently before pulling me to her and Emmett's room to get ready for the party.