I Loved You, Once

Disclaimer: I wish I owned Twilight.

"There are two kinds of sparks, the one that goes off with a hitch like a match, but it burns quickly. The other is the kind that needs time, but when the flame strikes... it's eternal, don't forget that."
-Timothy Oliveira

Then:

I saw a figure in the shadows. "Same old Bells, always stepping into danger," a male voice, definitely a vampire, laughed. That laugh - I knew it from somewhere.

Now:

No, it couldn't be. "Jason?" I called out.

"The one and only!" He said, and stepped out of the shadows. I instantly recognized his layered black hair, angular face, and tall, lean body. I rushed up and hugged him tightly.

"But, you're a vampire!"

"I get that a lot," he said and smirked. "So are you."

“How have you been? Besides being a vampire and all?” Stupid Bella ‘How have you been?’ He looked away uncomfortably. Had I said something wrong?

“Um…I’ll tell you later. Do you want to meet my family? It’s just my ‘mother’ and ‘father,’ but still.”

“Okay.” Why was he so nervous? Maybe he didn’t want to talk about his change. He started to run.

“Follow me,” he called out. “See if you can keep up.” I laughed and began to follow, my troubles momentarily forgotten. Jason he hadn’t changed changed at all in the time that elapsed since we had last seen each other, well except for the vampire part. He and I were my best friend in Phoenix with Renee. We were inseparable back then, with one of us rarely seen without the other somewhere close by. But we, or rather I, had lost touch when I moved to Forks. My life had centered around Edward, neglecting those I had left behind, so I hadn’t noticed us drifting apart until it was too late. We had had a huge fight about me outgrowing him and had refused to speak to, or of each other since. But now he was acting as if nothing had happened, and for that I was grateful. I was happy to have someone, anyone, here with me. I idly wondered if it was the other way around, maybe he had outgrown me.

I was so engrossed in my thoughts that I hadn’t realized Jason had stopped, and not even my vampire reflexes could save me from running into him.

“Same old clumsy Bella, I see,” he said and smirked. His childish dimples had followed him into the vampire life, I noticed. I always thought they were cute.

“Well maybe if someone had given me a heads up before stopping, that wouldn’t have happened.”

“Forgive me, oh mighty Bella, for I have wronged you.” He replied while trying to keep a straight face.

“You are forgiven, my faithful minion,” I said, biting back a smile. We stared at each other for about thirty seconds before laughing hysterically.

“Ready?” he asked once our laughter had died down. I was suddenly very nervous. What if they didn’t like me. I didn’t have time to voice that thought before Jason pulled me in for a hug. “Don’t worry they’re really nice. I’m sure they’ll love you.” He knew me too well, almost as well as Edward did, I mused silently. “Okay?” I nodded, and he let go.

I instantly missed the feeling of his arms around me, but passed it off as me just being grateful to have physical contact with something that did not consist of me running a blade down the end of my forearm each night, relishing in the way the cool metal against may skin reminded me of His touch, and idly wondering if to move it a little lower down my arm, press it a little deeper into my skin, and cut away the the almost translucent flesh that was hiding the throbbing vein at my wrist in which the blood was just begging to be set free...

We walked up a large crème colored mansion that put the Cullen house to shame. Like the Cullen mansion, this one was carefully shrouded by forest and I don't think any humans lived nearby. The house was beautiful, but I doubted its interior design rivaled Esme’s. I miss her. No Bella! Stop. They left you. It’s time to move on. Jason placed his hand at the base of my back and guided me up the steps. "Don't worry," he breathed, and led me inside.

I wrong - the interior was more extravagant than the exterior. This place was amazing! He led me to a large maroon couch as two vampires in their early twenties descended the stairs.

“Layla, Christopher, this is Bella. Bella these are my parents, Layla and Christopher Saukerov,” Jason introduced. I smiled politely and stood up to shake their hands, but they brought me in for a hug instead.

“Nice to meet you Mr. and Mrs Saukerov.”

“Nonsense!” Christopher replied, “Call us by our first names. You make us feel old.” I smiled sheepishly, wondering how old they actually were.

“Jason has told us so much about you, Bella,” Layla gushed, her voice high and musical. He had? But it has been almost three years since we last saw each other. Why would he tell them about me?

“Mom!” I looked at Jason quizzically.

“You’ve told them about me?” I asked, still confused. He began to look uncomfortable again.
“Jason, what aren’t you telling me?” I instantly wished that, like Edward, read minds so I could would know if he told me the truth.

“Oh no! How do I tell her? Will she think that I was stalking her? Well I was, but it was for her own good….” He ran his fingers through his thick hair.

“Jason why are you talking about me like I’m not here?" I growled. "And why aren't your lips moving?”

“I-I didn’t say anything Bella. Not out loud anyway," Jason replied. "I hope she's not a mind reader, that would make things infinitely more difficult to explain," he added, his lips not moving.

“I guess that’s my power.” Just like Edward I added silently. "But why will that make things harder to explain?"

Jason POV
I guess I will have to tell her. She’ll find out anyway. She looked at me threateningly.

“You heard that didn’t you?” I asked out loud. She nodded, not dropping her gaze. I sighed. "Ok, I’ll tell you. Let’s go outside." I gestured for her to follow me and walked out the door. My parents had long left the room. We ran about five miles from the house into the surrounding woods.

“When you decided to go to Forks I was heartbroken,” I began. “You were like my other half, Bella. We were best friends. We did everything together; but then you just left. You left me. I loved you Bella as more than a friend. I realized that when you left, but I realized that you would never feel the same way, especially when you told me about how much you loved Edward, so I never told you. Then we started to lose touch and I hated it. I hated you for making it happen. I hated that things had to change. And I hated Edward for it. I was hoping that you would get sick of Forks, that your would be bored out of your wits, that you'd return, Bella - that you would return to me. He changed all of that; he gave you a reason to stay, and you took it. You chose him over me. For a time, I hated you for it; I hated you for allowing some mysterious guy you met break us apart. But you know I could never stay angry with you for long," I laughed bitterly. "Everything was perfect before you left.

"One day when I came home from school to find my parents gone. I thought nothing of it; I figured they were staying late at the office or something. Then I got a call from the police saying that they found my parents’ car, crashed into a tree. They were dead. I was devastated, everything was going awry. That was not the way things were supposed to be. I decided to run away, to Forks, to come see you. I had no one else. I really missed you, Bella. So I took some money and left. I found out where you lived, rented a car and went there. I had stopped to get gas when I saw a red-haired woman stranded at the side of the road. I stopped to give her a ride, but she attacked me, and I was changed. It took me a couple months to master my blood lust, but I did, because I wanted you. I loved you. I hoped you could accept me for what I had become. When I thought I had controlled it enough to come to you, I went to you house, but you weren’t home. But I smelled another vampire. I waited to see if I could find him and kill him before he hurt you, but then I saw you come in together, and realized that you were together, and I left. I saw that you were happy and I didn’t want to ruin that for you.

"I traveled the world for a couple months, but I sensed that something was wrong. That’s part of my power – I can feel when something bad is going to happen. I went back, expecting to find you and that vampire, Edward, but I realized he’d left. He’d left you. How could he be so stupid? I would never have done anything like that to you. I saw what he had made you - shell of what you were. Devoid of hope and joy and life. I wanted to hunt him down and kill him. But I didn’t. I decided to stay, to protect you, to make sure nothing bad would happen to you. One day I smelled that red-haired vampire again, and I got that feeling, so I rushed to your house to make sure nothing would happen to you. When I got there she was killing Charlie; it was too late to save him, but I didn’t want her to kill you, too. So I killed her. I was the one that told you were safe now. I thought she had come looking for me, to kill me, and traced my scent to your house, so I left. I left to protect you. It was my fault you were almost killed.

"I’m so sorry, Bella. It had been two months since I left when I got that feeling again. It was the day you were attacked. By the time I had gotten there, the other vampire coven, Marc’s coven had found you. I was so happy when you left them! I decided to show myself to you and hope that you forgave me for being so stupid. Please forgive me, Bella.”

I looked at her. She hadn’t moved since I started telling her what happened. I couldn’t tell what she was thinking, but her face was a mixture of shock, hurt, and surprise. What had I done? "Please don’t be angry with me Bella," I pleaded silently.

Bella POV
(A/N From now on, thoughts other than Bella’s will be in italics.)

My mind was reeling. I couldn’t believe my ears. Jason had been the one to save me from Victoria? He felt it was his job to protect me? He…loved me?

“Bella?” I didn’t answer. “Bella!” I snapped out of it.

“Thank you,” I whispered, and gave him a weak smile.

“What?” He asked, surprised. She had just thanked me for stalking her and being the cause of her father’s death. I laughed. Now I know how Edward felt when reading peoples’ minds.

“Yes, I am thanking you for stalking me – you saved my life after all," I said with a wry smile. "But you weren’t the reason Charlie was killed. Edward,” he growled, “he killed Victoria’s mate, James, after he tried to attack me. I always thought she would come back for revenge. Apparently Edward did, too. He left for her to kill me. He never really loved me.” It amazed me that I could now say his name without wanting to die. Instead, I wanted revenge.

Stupid bastard. How could he ever leave her? “It’s ok Bella. I’m here for you.” Wait, what? Oh, right, he loved me.

“Jason, I don’t thin-”

“It’s ok, Bella. I understand if you don’t feel the same way.” Just know that I’ll always be there when you need me. I nodded.

"Thank you, Jason, for everything," I said and gave him my best smile.

"Anytime Bells! Are you thirsty?" I nodded. I seemed to forget about my thirst with the whole Jason-stalker business. "Alright. Come on." With that we took off running toward the opposite direction of the house. The first thing I noticed when we stopped was the sweet aroma of dozens of humans. I'm sure my abnormally red eyes were now black with hunger. That made me realize that I still hadn't seen what I looked like as a vampire.

"Jason, what do I look like now..that I'm a vampire?" I asked, afraid of his response.

"Stunning, as usual, though even more so, now." I nodded, embarrassed, and tried to change the subject.

"So what do I do?" At the moment, we were standing outside of a club, probably looking suspicious to outsiders. They were probably afraid. Good, they should be. Where did that come from? I didn't dwell on it; I was too thirsty.

"Wait for someone, preferably male, to walk out. Talk him into going into that alley with you. Then follow your instincts. I'll be right behind you if you need me." I nodded. You'll be fine, Bella, he said, and smiled reassuringly.

I spotted a guy saying goodbye to a couple of friends while leaving the bar, alone. I made my way over at human pace. They're REALLY slow! He grinned when he saw me. I smirked sexily and put my hand on his shoulder.

Stranger POV

"See you later guys!" I called out and walked away. I saw a girl walking toward me, but pretended not to notice. Let her come to me, I thought, and smiled inwardly. She was about two feet away when I decided to acknowledge her presence and grinned - she was hot! She smirked sexily and put her hand on my shoulder. Wow, her hands were cold.

"Hey," I said, my voice low. She smiled again.

"Hey yourself." Her voice was musical. "What's your name?"

"Jake, and yours must be Bella 'cause you're the most beautiful woman I've ever met." She looked shocked. I hoped she knew that Bella meant beautiful in Italian. She recomposed her features.

"Actually, it is." Hmmm... Lucky guess? "Let's cut to the chase shall we?" she asked, gesturing to a nearby alley. Wow that was surprising; I didn't take her for that type of girl, but I wasn't going to refuse. I took her by the hand and led her over. I couldn't wait any longer so I pushed her up against the wall of the building and began kissing her fiercely. "Someone's anxious," she murmured against my lips.

"You have no idea."

"Neither do you." Then she bit me on the neck. God it hurt. I tried to fight back, but she was so strong! How is that possible? I felt a warm liquid in my neck. Blood, I thought, my blood. Suddenly weak, I collapsed and everything went black.

Bella POV

Good job, Bella. I turned around, confused.

"You've seen me hunt before."

"That doesn't mean I'm tired of it." I changed the subject.

"Are'nt you going to hunt? You must be thirsty, too."

"I did." While you were busy, he added with a smirk. I walked over and punched him in the arm. He smiled, but I knew it hurt - I was a mind-reader and a newborn, after all. "Ready to go home?"

Home? I looked at him confused.

"I mean my house...If you'll stay with us. You don't have to, but it would be great, you know...We haven't seen each other in a while. There's an extra room and everything..."

I grinned, looking up into his hopeful eyes, "Sure." A thought occurred to me, "If Christopher and Layla will have me, that is," I added uncertainly.

"You'll be fine, Bella. I already told you, my parents love you," he said and smiled reassuringly. I nodded.

"Let's go." With that we sped off towards the house. This time Layla greeted us at the door.
"Bella you came back!" She said happily; her thoughts were just as pleasant.

I smiled."Yes, I did." We stepped inside. Jason gave me a tour of the house. The first floor was the living room and kitchen. The entire second floor belonged to Stephanie and Christopher. Jason and I would be sharing the third floor. Thankfully, there were two bedrooms. After the tour, he went to his, and I mine. It consisted an empty closet that was bigger than Alice's, a huge mahogany dresser, a comfy-looking king sized bed which I could not wait to test, and a mirror, which I saved for last. Hesitantly, I walked up to it and looked. I was stunned by what I saw: I was beautiful, gorgeous. My mahogany hair was thicker and ironically enough, full of life, my skin was ivory - not much paler than before, but free of blemishes, my lips were plump and full, and my eyes, they were a scarlet red.

"I always told you you were beautiful. Now do you believe me?" I jumped.

"Jason!" I screeched.

"What?"

"You know what!"

"No I don't," he replied with a smirk, all the while advancing towards me.

"Jason," I started, beginning to get scared, "what are y-" Then he pounced, pushing me onto the bed, and started tickling me all over. I didn't even know that vampires were ticklish! "J-Jason! St-stop!" And being Jason, he didn't listen, of course. I squirmed under his grip, secretly enjoying feeling his hand touching me. Whoa! What was that? Was I developing feelings for Jason?

Suddenly, he stopped and looked into my eyes. Then he bent down and kissed me.