Bella MacLeod's Twilight Fanfiction

Behind Steel Bars

By Midnight Dreamer

Chapter 32:Connections unknown.

Previously:

“Okay, well – I got that out of the way. Now I love ya n Char a whole bunch – and all that girly shit ya are always spoutin’ at me – but I’m gonna ask ya to get the hell out and let me have some time alone with Isabella. I have a lot of questions for her and we have a lot to talk about.”

“I can take a hint, Jasper.” Peter said.

“Good – then get out!” Jasper chuckled.

Charlotte leaned in and kissed his forehead. Peter shook his hand and said they would see him later. They told Isabella they would be in the cafe’ when she was ready to go. With that, they left the two of them alone.

~BSB~

They both sat silently for a few minutes. The only sounds in the room were the beeping of the monitors still connected to Jasper. Neither of them knew where to start. Isabella had answers that Jasper had the questions too. They were both nervous of what the other one was going to ask and what the answers were going to be. Soon it became too much and Jasper asked the first question that came to his mind:

“Why?”

“Why what?”

“Why did you keep it a secret?”

“Because I had to protect myself.”

“From what?”

“The pain.”

“What pain?”

“Rejection. Abandonment. Loss.”

“Why?”

“I’m all I have left.”

“What about Emmett?”

“He’s close but not too close.”

“Peter and Charlotte?”

“I let them in. They make me feel safe.”

“Safe from what?”

“Everything…?” It sounded like a question.

“Okay.”

Jasper let that question go since he knew what she felt like – it was that way when he was overseas. He would make friends and get close to them but then he would lose them when they were sent back home – some in an ambulance, others in a body bag – but gone nonetheless. He quickly learnt to not make friends. Though he would protect his group with his life, he didn’t want to get personal with any of them. Of course, they would try but he would give them the bare essentials: his name, how many were in his family and where he was from… but nothing more and nothing less.

He was brought out of his inner thoughts:

“Where’d you go just then?”

“My thoughts.”

“About what?”

“Pain.”

“You’ve felt it too?”

“Yes – differently but still the same.”

“Overseas?”

“Yes.”

“Okay.”

Isabella answered the same way he had; an understanding they made between themselves silently. Jasper broke the silence once again with a new question:

“Why are you helping me?”

“You mean so much to Peter and Char… and they mean a lot to me.”

“No other reason?”

“Maybe…”

“Well?”

“You’re my friend too… At least, I hope you are?”

“I am.”

“Good.”

“Isabella, please look at me.”

Isabella finally looked into Jasper’s eyes. The emotions swirling in his stormy blue eyes told so much. Pain, fear, sorrow, anger, hatred, love… Could she believe what she was seeing or was it a trick? An illusion of what she wanted to see there? She looked down once again.

“We have a lot to talk about Isabella.”

“We do?”

“Yes. I have some very important things that you need to know.”

“You do?”

“Yes.”

“Are you angry that I kept my secret from you?”

“No, I understand.”

“Then you understand what it means to be me?”

“More than you know.”

Isabella’s eyes flashed to his quickly. What did he know? How could he understand? Her pain. Her loss. Her fears. He had his Ma, his brother, Charlotte. He couldn’t understand.

“You don’t know anything.” Isabella huffed pulling back from him.

“Don’t turn away from me, please.” Jasper pleaded.

“How could you know how I feel? How could you understand my loss? My pain? My fears?”

“I knew him.”

“Knew who?”

“Your father.”

The room got deathly quiet. The only sounds once again was the beeping and their breathing.

“How?” Isabella breathed.

“I was always in trouble with the law when I was a kid. Your father was normally the one to catch me. It was like he followed me. He knew me inside and out. Sometimes better then I knew myself. He saved me.”

“How?”

“He helped me become a better person. He taught me martial arts and boxing – giving me outlets for my anger while also teaching me to protect myself and the ones I loved. He was the one that put the idea in my head to go into the Marines in the first place. If it wasn’t for him, I would either be dead or already in prison.”

“I never knew.”

“I didn’t want anyone to know. Now the only one’s who do are you and Emmett. And, of course, myself.”

“The year he died was the year you joined.”

“Yes. I promised him I would do better and I couldn’t let him down.” Jasper had tears rolling down his cheeks.

Isabella slide onto the bed next to him and wiped them away.

“You cared for him very much, didn’t you?” Isabella asked.

“Yes – he was there when my father wasn’t. He became the father I didn’t have.”

“I’m sorry, Jasper.”

“Don’t be – he was your father after all.”

“Yes but now when I think back, I remember something else.”

“What is it, Isabella?”

“My father was called into work late one night when I was younger. I remember him telling my mother all about it. It was a break in and someone was killed.”

Suddenly, Jasper was having flash backs. He and Peter weren’t home; they were staying at a friend’s house. A man had broken into their home and their father tried to stop him. He was beaten to death by the robber and their mother was knocked unconscious. He remembered being woken up in the middle of the night and rushed to the hospital. That was the first time he had ever seen the policeman with the dark hair and deep eyes. He spoke to both him and Peter, explaining what had happened. He didn’t sugar coat it or talk to them like they were mere children but like they were men. Looking back now, that man was Isabella’s father. Charlie Swan was the officer who was called to the scene – the officer who talked to him like he was a man, not a child – the officer who changed his life more then once. Even now, that man is making changes in his life that are to make him a better man. He couldn’t help but smile.

“Jasper… Jasper… JASPER!” Isabella yelled to get his attention. “Where did you go?”

“The past. I remember the night your talking about. That was the night my father was killed. A robber broke in when Peter and I slept over a friend’s house. He beat my father to death and left my mother unconscious. Your father was the one at the hospital. He sat my brother and me down and told us what happened. He was straight up with us and never talked to us like we were only children. Your father has been a big part of my life for so long and I never knew…he’s been guiding me all these years even after he was gone, and he is still doing it.”

“What do you mean, Jasper?”

“He brought me to you.”

“What?”

“Isabella… I don’t know how to say this, so I’m just gonna go out on a limb here and tell it like it is: I’m fallin’ for you! Hard. I know we haven’t know each other long, and hell we haven’t had time alone to really get to know each other but I feel it. When you’re away, I feel this tightness in my chest. When your close, my heart beats faster then the wings of a hummingbird. You have made me smile and laugh during one of the lowest times in my life. Please tell me you feel the same way?”

Isabella was shocked. He felt the same for her. He was falling for her too.

“Isabella? Say something, please.” Jasper pleaded.

“Oh god, Jasper! I’m sorry…” Jasper’s face fell quicker then a penny from the top of a building. He began to close in on himself. He couldn’t handle the rejection, not after Alice. Not from Isabella.

Isabella wasn’t sure what happened. What was going on? One minute Jasper was confessing his feelings for her and then she went to tell him she felt the same but she only got five words out before he started to close off from her. He pulled his hand from hers, and turned his head away, closing his eyes. He didn’t seem to want to hear what she had to say. When she thought about that she had said she realized her mistake. He thought that she was gonna tell him that she didn’t feel anything for him. That they were just friends. Isabella quickly jumped up onto the bed further and straddle Jasper’s waist. Putting both her hands on his face and forcing him to look at her.

“Jasper, you didn’t let me finish! Now what I was gonna say is that I was sorry I didn’t answer you right away. You stunned me! I didn’t expect you to feel the same way. I’m fallin’ for you too.”

Jasper no more then locked eyes with her before her lips were on his. The kiss was soft at first until it registered in Jaspers’ head that Isabella was kissing him. Then his hands flew up, one to her hip and the other into her fiery locks. Kissing her back with everything he had in him. The sparks that shot through his body from where their lips were joined would cause a fire to ignite on even the wettest of timbers. Jasper slowly ended the kiss – reluctantly, of course – since they still had so much to talk about.

“How did you get it so I don’t have to leave Dallas?”

“Well, you know who I am… I have some pull in the system and a few people owed me favors. So now your bunking with Emmett.”

“Yeah, I know – he made sure to relay that tidbit of information. Do you know what he calls that place?”

“Yes, so please don’t repeat it.”

“Do I really have to bunk with him?”

“Take my word for it – you would be better with him than in any of the other cell blocks… That and you’re in his time-frame.”

“Huh?”

“My prison is set into 5 separate buildings – each building can hold up to 200 prisoners comfortably. Emmett runs building one – or Cell block A – where criminals convicted of petty crimes are held or those who are serving sentences of 1-5 years.”

“Okay, so the higher up the worse the criminals – gotcha. So yeah, I guess I will have to endure Emmett’s sense of humor during my time in purgatory.”

“Hey, it’s actually rather nice there! It’s more like a rehab than a prison.”

“How so?”

“Well, we have sports courts and fields, a complete gym with trainers, a library that would make the library of congress jealous, counselors for those with emotional issues and both an indoor and outdoor pool”

“Okay, am I goin’ to prison or taking a vacation to a spa?”

“Depends on how you look at it…”

“I see.”

“Well, as much as I would love to stay and converse with you all night long, Peter and Char are waiting to drive me home. We can talk more tomorrow, right?”

“Of course, Darlin’!” Isabella blushed deeply at the sweet endearment used. Jasper lifted his hand to lightly brush her cheek.

“Beautiful.”

Isabella blushed deeper. Jasper reached his hand around and wrapped it in her hair, guiding her to him. He brushed his lips against her. Isabella fell into the kiss, her hands going directly to his hair. The kiss was again deep and passionate. When they pulled apart they were both gasping for breath.

“I have to go.” Isabella sighed.

“I know. Come see me tomorrow?”

“Of course.”

“Then I will see you tomorrow. You better go before Peter comes and sees us like this. He would never let either of us live it down.”

“Yeah, he won’t. Now that he has Emmett with him as well, we won’t be able to escape it at the prison either.”

“I’m beginning to warm up to this prison idea. They can only come during visiting hours, right?”

“Yeah.”

“Good.”

Jasper kissed her again. The clearing of a throat caused them both to jump. There in the door way stood Esme.

“I thought I would stop in and see you since I was picking up Carlisle but it seems you already have company.” Esme giggled.

“Yeah but she was just leaving. Peter and Charlotte are waiting for her in the cafe.”

“Well then, by all means – finish up and I will be waiting outside.”

Esme stepped back outside the door. Jasper and Isabella both broke out into laughter.

“I feel like a teenager getting caught making out with her boyfriend in the back of his car.” Isabella said.

“Well, I ain’t no boy and I don’t drive a car.” Jasper said, nipping at her bottom lip.

“True but I do need to go. We have already been busted once and I have a feeling the rumor mill will be full throttle by morning.”

“Yes well, I will see you first thing then?”

“Sure thing.” Isabella kissed him again quickly and climbed off his lap. Jasper whined about the loss. Isabella laughed.

“I’ll be back in the morning. Rest soldier, and that’s an order.”

“Yes, Ma’am.” he saluted her.

Isabella giggled and passed Esme on her way out. Not saying anything to her, she made her way to the elevator and pressed the #2 button for the cafe floor. She was slightly more peppy then normal and she knew that she would be busted on it the moment Charlotte and Peter saw her. She was ready for it – she wouldn’t hide her feelings for Jasper any longer and she didn’t care who saw.