Holidays

○●○ Holidays ○●○

All had been going well. Jasper had been in Forks for almost a week. The bike was looking good, and our plan to get the Cullens back was beginning to work; at least we hoped. We assumed my future disappearing was setting Alice on edge. Me and Jasper were still trying to figure out what the last push would be to get the Cullens home, but the plan was beginning to come together. Jacob knew nothing about any of this; which was probably for the best. He wouldn't help if he knew. Or at least I didn't think so. Jasper and him were actually sort of getting along. They weren't friends by any means, but they didn't mind being in each others' presence too much.

Today was Christmas Eve. Charlie was watching a game in the living room. I knew not to bother him. I hoped that Jasper would be here soon. He promised he would stop by.

Almost on cue a knock sounded on the door. I rushed to open it. Jasper grinned at me. He had multiple gifts carefully balanced so he wouldn't drop them.

"Happy Christmas." Jasper chuckled and carefully walked inside.

"Happy?" I said in confusion.

"Dammit." He laughed and shook his head. "It's Carlisle, after so many years his stupid accent wears off on you. He always says strange English words. And he hates American football, apparently it's the wrong kind of football." Jasper scoffed, causing me to laugh. I helped him place the gifts on the kitchen table.

"Jasper you shouldn't have gotten us anything." I stated.

"Yes I should've, because otherwise you'd give me something and I'd have nothing in return. It would just be a big embarrassing mess." Jasper said. He picked a long box from the pile and walked into the living room. Charlie looked up at him and grinned. My father and Jasper got along well. I didn't know if it was Jasper's gift, or if they just generally liked eachother.

"What's that Jasper?" Charlie asked, eyeing the box in Jasper's right hand.

"Christmas gift." He shrugged and handed over the box.

"Can I open it now?"

"Go ahead." Jasper said and sat down on the couch. I joined them quietly.

Charlie tore open the wrapping paper, and his eyes went wide. He shook his head and pulled out a new fishing rod from the box.

"I can't except this. It's too much." Charlie said admiring his new prize.

"Sure you can chief. Besides, who else is going to want a fishing rod with 'Charlie Swan' engraved on the handle. Merry Christmas." Jasper smiled. Looking generally happy that Charlie had enjoyed his gift.

"Well uh, thanks." Charlie said, not taking his eyes off his present. "I don't have anything for you. I think Bella may have gotten you something, but I didn't-"

"No worries. Just take me fishing sometime and we'll call it even." Jasper grinned. I caught myself smiling at the two of them. Who knew they would make such good friends?

"Is Jacob here? I got somethin' for him too." Jasper said, and tried to hide a smirk but I caught it. What had Jasper gotten him?

"Him and Billy will be over for dinner." Charlie answered. Jasper nodded his head. He stood up and went back to the kitchen. He came back with two boxes and handed them to me.

"Jasper you can't give me two." I said in disbelief.

"Uh.. I think I just did." Jasper laughed. "Now open it, and don't give me that I hate presents crap."

"I really do hate them."

"Yeah, yeah, yeah, just open it." Jasper insisted. I took the smallest box first. It was about the size of my fist and was wrapped in light blue paper. I slowly opened the gift. I laughed as soon as I saw the box. It was a package of bandaids.

"Real funny." I chuckled.

"Oh come on, you know me better than that. Open the box... Although, knowing you bandaids would probably be very useful around here. I'll keep that in mind for next time."

I smiled and shook my head as I opened the box. There was two small pieces of paper sitting in there. I took them out and examined them. They were tickets of some kind. I read the writing on them. They were for a play of The Christmas Carol.

"I thought we could go tomorrow night, if that's okay with Charlie. The play will probably be terrible, but I thought it could be fun regardless." He shrugged.

"Thanks." I said feeling my face blush. Jasper quickly glanced away, probably being tempted by the blood rushing to my face.

I picked up the next present, and began to open it. I peered down into the box resting inside was a... cowboy hat. Wow.

"I mean you're from Arizona, you should have one. Put it on." He chuckled.

I rolled my eyes and set the hat on top of my head. Jasper walked over to me and began to fix it on my head. He was bending it in places, and doing who knows what else.

"For God's sake woman, it's like you've never worn a hat in your life." He teased with a smirk on his face.

"I don't look good in hats." I argued.

"I beg to differ." Jasper said, the smug smile not leaving his features.

"Thanks Jasper." I mumbled. While I appreciated when I was given them, I still hated presents.

"Of course." He chuckled and sat back down.

"I'll go get your gift." I said and left the room. I had found a jacket that was on sale and had bought it. It was higher quality than what I had expected. I thought it would make a decent gift.

I retrieved the jacket from my room and quickly came down the stairs, nearly falling down them in the process. I overheard a conversation between Charlie and Jasper on my way down the stairs.

"So you aren't going to spend Christmas with your family?" Charlie asked.

"No, we don't exactly get along. Well not recently. They are great people, but I like being my own person."

"Yeah, I can understand that. Me and my parents weren't all that close either." Charlie empathized.

There was a short silence before Jasper spoke up.

"So it's really okay for me to take Bella to a play tomorrow? I totally understand if you want her home." Jasper said seriously.

"Oh no, I'm working tomorrow night. She shouldn't be alone."

"I'm sorry you have to work Christmas, that doesn't sound all that fun."

"Oh trust me, it's not, but crime doesn't take vacation days." Charlie sighed.

"I'll take your word for it."

I cleared my throat and entered the room. It was really rude to eavesdrop like that, but I didn't want to interrupt them. I walked over to Jasper and handed the jacket to him, he immediately got excited and thanked me for it. He was such a sweet guy. I understood what Alice saw in him.

I immediately banished those thoughts from my head. It wasn't okay to think about him like that. He was married, and he was practically like a brother. I couldn't think about him in a romantic way. It was wrong.

We sat and talked for a long time. I was still in awe at how easily Jasper and Charlie got along. Edward and my dad had always butted heads, but his relationship with Jasper came easily. It could be his gift, but I think it's a little more than that. I think he's just naturally likable and charismatic, you just have to get to know him first.

I started making dinner because Billy and Jacob would be over soon. Jasper came into the kitchen and stood in the doorway.

"Need any help?" He asked.

"Really?" I questioned. No one ever offered to help me cook. Well Charlie had a few times, but he had gotten used to me cooking so he didn't anymore.

"Uh, yeah." Jasper chuckled. "I wouldn't have offered if I wasn't being serious."

I rolled my eyes at him. "You can start the yams. The recipe is over there." I instructed and pointed to the recipe. "Thanks." I added quickly.

"No problem. I'm sorry for being a smartass." He laughed.

"It was a little funny." I whispered, knowing he'd hear me no matter how loud I talked.

"Yeah it was, wasn't it?" He snickered, causing me to roll my eyes at him again.

"You are insufferable." I mumbled. He tried to stifle his laughter, but he failed miserably.

We continued to cook and relentlessly tease one another. That's when the doorbell rang. It could only be Jacob and Billy. Jasper tensed and turned to face the door. It hit me that Billy might not be as tolerant towards Jasper as Jacob was. This could all go terribly wrong.

I opened the door and was greeted with Jake's smiling face. He hugged me tight and came into the house, Billy coming in behind him. As soon Billy locked eyes with Jasper they both grew very tense. No one moved for a while. Luckily Charlie was still in the other room, because this definitely would be considered strange to him. Jasper gave a curt nod to Billy breaking this intense stare down. Billy didn't respond, instead he slowly rolled himself into the living room where Charlie was. I exhaled a breath I didn't realize I was holding.

"Thought I was about to be decapitated." Jasper mumbled. Jacob snorted quietly.

"Trust me he wanted to. It's just too bad Charlie's in the other room. Would've been quite a show." Jake snickered. Jasper snickered and shook his head.

"Well moving on," Jasper strode over to Jake and handed him the last gift. "Merry Christmas."

"Is this some kind of bribe? Do you really think some gift can excuse one of you crossing our territory?" Jake asked in a hushed voice.

"I haven't stepped one foot over that boundary, without your explicit permission. What are you talking about?" Jasper queried in a faint whisper.

"Well, it was one of your family then. The red haired one."

I stood there in shock. There was only two red haired vampires I could name. Edward and Victoria. I was desperately hoping that it was Edward crossing over Quileute territory, but I knew I wasn't lucky enough for that to be the case.

"Do you mean Edward?" Jasper asked, sounding a little worried.

"No, it's a bitch."

"That doesn't clarify anything. Is this person female?" Jasper said, his serious expression changing into a smirk. Jake chuckled quietly.

"Stop, I'm being serious. It was a redheaded chick." Jacob snickered.

"Alright, then we have a problem. That psycho's name is Victoria, and she wants to kill Bella." Jasper explained.

"So we need to stop her."

"No shit." Jasper whispered. "One of us should probably stay with her and Charlie at all times."

"Are you suggesting that the pack works with you leech?" Jacob asked, sounding like the very idea made him want to vomit.

"Isn't it obvious pup? Trust me, I want Victoria dead just as much as you do." Jasper stated seriously.

"Fine, but if you step out of line I will not hesitate in ripping your head off."

"I want to see you try." Jasper smirked.

"Guys." I whispered, trying to get them to stop. Charlie walked into the room, completely oblivious to the stand off that had just occurred.

"Smells good Bells." He complemented, referring to the food still cooking.

"Thanks." I said with a small smile.

"Er... Jacob, maybe you should open that somewhere more private." Jasper whispered, glancing in my father's direction. What did he give Jake? Jacob seemed to understand what Jasper meant.

"Yeah, yeah, sure." He said, nodding his head. Both Billy and Charlie gave them a confused look.

"Hey," I spoke up "Jasper would you come help me in the kitchen for a minute?"

He nodded his head and we both walked deeper into the kitchen. We started finishing up our cooking from earlier. I looked at him and he smiled back.

"Your dad thinks I'm gay." Jasper said under his breath. I couldn't stop myself from giggling like a schoolgirl.

"Well, considering the way you were acting around Jake, it was a logical conclusion to jump to. What did you get Jacob anyway?"

"A dog collar. I thought that might be a little hard to explain to Charlie."