To Love and To Be Loved (A Jasper Hale/ Whitlock Love Story)

Fear and Guilt

"You're worried," I turned quickly to see Jasper standing a few feet away from me. I had been standing in the forest on the outskirts of where the fight would take place. He was looking at me like he knew something. I had been in my own little world for nearly an hour, just standing and waiting. Knowing that, for the moment, all I could do was wait. They would be arriving soon. Very soon.

"Slightly," I admitted.

"We have the advantage," he reassured. "We have the wolves... and we have you. If Victoria truly is behind this, then even she won't know about you. And your hand-to-hand training was more a... precaution than anything else."

I just nodded, looking away, but I still felt worried. I couldn't stop thinking about Bella and my new family. Hell, I couldn't even stop thinking about the wolves. I couldn't stop thinking about my father... And I couldn't stop thinking about Jasper.

"I just don't want anyone to get hurt," I admitted, and I knew that if I were human, I'd be crying again. Jasper came toward me, and I felt calm begin to swirl in me, but I continued, pulling away slightly and looking to him. "Hell, even if one of the wolves got hurt, I'm almost certain I'd..." I sighed and shook my head, looking away once more. "I finally find the place I belong, the people I belong with, and not even two days later, they're being threatened by an entire army of newborns."

"Just focus on the fight," he insisted, taking my hand, and I filled with that electrical energy, and the feeling in my chest--the feeling that made me feel alive again--grew so strong I thought my chest would burst into flames. "Focus on what you learned, and use your talents. You know what you're doing." His eyes were serious and focused as he looked at me. "I trust you. I don't think anyone will get hurt."

"You don't think they've got enough power? An entire army?"

"There can't be more than thirty-five from what Alice has told me," he admitted.

"Thiry-five newborns with unknown talents," I reasoned, and he huffed out a laugh before pulling me into a hug, and there, I felt safe. Safety I hadn't felt even with Benjamin. And a content, a want to just stay there in his arms forever.

"You're surprisingly stubborn," he murmured into my hair, and I smiled slightly at that before I pulled away and looked at him.

"Are you doing that?" I asked uncertainly.

"Doing what?" he asked, confused, and I hesitated.

"The safety and the... content," I admitted, and he shook his head, his face relaxed into a small smile.

"No," he admitted. "But I feel it too."

We heard the others approaching, and we pulled apart.

"They'll be here any minute," Alice told us, and I nodded before I looked at my father, and he came forward, holding me tight.

"I don't want to lose you after only just getting you back, father," I told him quietly, clutching him tightly.

"We won't be losing anybody," he insisted quietly, and I took a deep breath. He smelled comforting. Like home. Just like he did when I was little. For a moment, I remembered a little memory, one from when I was very little.

"Remember when I was a child, and I was afraid of thunder and lightning?" I asked, and he let out a little laugh.

"And you'd come out of your room and sleep with me and your mother," he agreed, and I smiled, taking a step back.

"You were always there to protect me," I remembered.

"And I always will be," he promised, and I hugged him one more time.