12 | NOT THE FIRST TIME |

warning; content referring to sexual assault and attempted sexual assault is discussed. please feel free to skip this chapter if those topics trigger anything and also message me if any of you need to talk.

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FURIOUS GROWLS and snarls rumbled from the pair of vampires who had arrived to the rescue.

A blur of something pale and very fast unexpectedly yanked the man off of Rory, throwing him across the parking lot until a loud, sickening crunch was heard. Bella and Rory gasped at the terrifying display of inhuman strength and speed. Even in the dim lighting, Rory could see something dark liquid pooling from under the man's body.

"Jasper!" Edward hissed, a mixture of shock and anger twisted his angelic features as the scent of fresh blood reached him. The only thing holding him back from succumbing to the thirst was the wide-eyed brunette clutching onto her friend.

Jasper didn't seem to notice the blood despite having the worse control of his family members over his thirst; in that moment, his thoughts were focused on one thing and one thing only—protecting Rory.

The other frat boys stopped and stared in shock, looking from the vicious creature to the unmoving body of their friend. The tall figure looked almost demonic as he glowered at the men whose inebriated states had quickly sobered with the change in prey. His body was wired and ready to pounce, standing between Rory and the men defensively.

Jasper was absolutely frightening.

"What's wrong with him?"

"What the fuck?"

The sobering up frat boys were becoming more frightened by the second as Edward and Jasper glowered and growled at them until they backed off. Jasper didn't even think of using his abilities to control the crowd through emotions, his own fury blazed through all bit of sense. The scent of blood worsened but neither Jasper nor Edward made any move to succumb to the frenzy.

Snapping out from her panic attack, Rory's attention was drawn to the increasingly dire and dangerous situation growing around them. Two raging vampires against a group of drunken frat boys. Even she could smell the sharp metallic scent of blood in the air and by the look on Jasper's face, he was keenly aware of it as well.

"Get in the car," Edward gritted out, his eyes black with thirst and anger.

Bella tried to grab Rory, who only shook her head and gestured for Bella to get into the car. "Go!" Rory ordered, shoving her purse—miraculously she hadn't dropped it—that held her purchases into Bella's arm. Sensing Rory had a good reason she couldn't yet fathom, Bella followed suit and climbed into the passenger seat of Edward's Volvo.

"Rory," Edward snapped warningly. Rory glanced at him without moving her head.

"No. Not without making sure he's not going to lose control," Rory bit back, not moving but keeping her gaze trained on Jasper, who had refused to stop growling and hissing at the shocked men, his lips curled over his bared teeth. His body was tensed and coiled like a snake about to strike it's paralyzed prey. It was absolutely primal.

Rory surveyed her options. Edward was about to lose it. Bella was freaking out. Jasper was on the brink. Her biggest concern was Jasper. Rory knew she was the only one that could calm him down.

Edward's head snapped to her as he caught onto her thoughts in the chaos. "He'll kill you," he hissed.

Rory didn't question how Edward knew her plan. "No he won't," she retorted instead.

She saw the way Jasper was glowering at the group of men slowly backing away in attempt to get away. "But he will kill the rest if I leave him. I can handle this. Take care of Bella."

Both glanced back at the wide eyed and shaken brunette who stared at them from inside the car. Rory suddenly feared for Bella's life—should she be trusting a hungry vampire to be alone and unguarded with her best friend who had no clue of what he really was? She had to. And if Edward harmed her—Rory would make him regret it. She glanced back to the bronze-haired vampire who looked as though he understood her thoughts.

"I won't hurt her," Edward said stiffly, still ignoring the nearby blood.

"You better not."

Edward reluctantly retreated to his car, his concern for Bella outweighing his distrust of Rory's plan and Jasper's control. Edward glared at the men one last time, gave Rory an unsure look, and then got behind the steering wheel, where he slammed on the gas to further scare off the men before roughly backing away and madly driving off.

By that point, the drunken group of frat boys were scrambling for an exit, beyond terrified of the blond avenging vampire Rory stood behind. Jasper kept growling at them, showing his dominance while making no move to give chase. He seemed to be attempting to regain his control.

"Jasper," Rory whispered. While she was certain Jasper would never hurt her intentionally, he was still a vampire. One wrong move...Rory had to be careful, precise in her next actions.

Rory cautiously walked forward, careful not to make any sudden movements, until she was directly behind Jasper, close enough for his cold temperature and hypnotizing scent to wash over her. She tentatively wrapped herself around him, winding her shivering arm around his waist and delicately holding the muscular shoulder on her side until she hugged him like a koala, hoping she could distract him from attacking.

His attention turned on her, her flowery homelike scent overpowering the tempestuous scent of fresh blood. His hard, terrifying gaze softened immediately as he looked down at Rory's careful expression. The black pools of his eyes receded into a shimmering honey tinted onyx shade. He was back in his right mind again.

By now, the crew of attackers had almost all disappeared, some lingered behind attempting to bring the guy Jasper threw with them.

Rory breathed out in relief, successfully calming him down. His eyes flickered to the bloody body lying across the lot and his once furious gaze turned hungry, thirsty. His throat burned.

As his head grew more clear, less clouded by indescribable fury, the scent of blood, fresh from the wound of the man whose heart was barely beating, filled his senses, threatening to cost him his barely attained grasp on control.

Rory gulped. "We need to get out of here." She was suddenly hit with the harsh reality of her attack and she shuddered at the thought of what would've happened without Jasper and Edward showing up.

Jasper jerked his head into a nod, not daring to waste his breath as the burn at the back of his throat worsened the longer he was in the vicinity of the spilled blood.

All he could think about besides the blood was Rory. She held him unafraid of the consequences for there were none in reality. No part of him, no matter how primal or carnal, could attack Rory now even if he tried. But they needed to get far away and fast.

Jasper didn't say a word as he picked Rory up—much to her surprise as he held her with one arm under her legs and the other firmly supporting her back. Jasper ran straight into the forest at an inhuman speed.

Rory hadn't really imagined how it would feel to run—or be carried—at the speed of a vampire but she didn't expect the rush of adrenaline to flood her body so much that she didn't even mind the super speed. He was like an indestructible bullet. Many times she thought Jasper would collide into a tree or something but it never happened. The whole experience was surreal, the world around her became a blur of darkness and Jasper's pale, perfect white face was all she could see.

He was so focused on keeping himself from going back to finish them that it took Rory a few tugs of his sleeve until he came to a full and effortless stop. He looked down to see Rory in his arms staring at him with concern and worry. They were now far away from the parking lot and had stopped about halfway to Forks. He set her down carefully and Rory grabbed onto the nearest tree to steady herself and catch her breath from the change at being carried at intense high speeds.

Now surrounded by nothing but Rory and the watchful trees, Jasper finally could manage a hold on his emotions. Not the drunken men or Bella Swan's fear or Edward's fury, but Jasper's alone. It didn't take long for him to finally grasp onto the severity of what just happened. He froze instantly. He didn't care that he had almost completely broken that repulsive drunk, or uncontrollably growled like a mindless beast. But Rory was certainly scared by the wide-eyed look and much too pale complexion. She was shivering. He backed away from her suddenly.

"What's wrong?" she asked, her voice shaky but she reached out for him.

Jasper glanced at her hand tightly grabbing the collar of his coat and unfurled her grip until he had backed away from her and leaned onto the trunk of a tree. His eyes shut as his emotions reigned over him.

Rory was undoubtedly confused by his actions. She repeated her question at his guarded disposition, refusing to allow him to put distance between them as she cornered him against the tree, intent on getting to the bottom of his inner most conflict. "Jasper."

One word from Rory held both her questions and her compassion.

He stared down at his feet, his waves hung over his eyes. His voice was dry and unfamiliarly cold. "I'm a monster."

He didn't react when she slid her hand up his jaw and held his cheek. "Jasper? What are you talking about?" He finally met her worried gaze with tortured dark eyes.

"I lost control, I could've seriously hurt you or worse." He sounded agonized at the close possibility. "I shouldn't have lost control."

"You saved us. You stopped them from hurting Bella and I." Her voice cracked as she squeezed her eyes shut. "You saved me from reliving the worst experience of my life."

His head shot up. "Reliving?" he asked in a fearful whisper.

Rory swallowed hard. No one in Forks knew her secret—the truth behind the Aden's reason for moving across the country in the middle of the school year.

His voice was pained as he cupped her fragile face. "Rory, look at me. What did you mean by reliving?" She couldn't mean—no.

Not his Rory.

Jasper forgot all about his own turmoil to focus on the crack of darkness in Rory's facade. He knew she had been hiding something, she never discussed her past with him or anyone else but Jasper chokingly realized it was a past of the darkest nature indeed. The worst thing was that he knew what she meant by her slip, but he hoped to any god out there that he was wrong.

"It happened last February."

Those seemingly innocuous four words killed him. He couldn't bare it anymore. He could hear her heart beat faster than ever. The pain in her voice, a vulnerability he'd never acquainted with her before in the past two months of knowing her, paralyzed him.

"Stop," Jasper pleaded, his thumbs rubbed circles on her pale cheeks. "Not here. You don't have to..."

Rory kept her eyes squeezed tight, a few tears escaping. "Okay," she exhaled softly. "Later."

Jasper nodded unsurely. He closed the small distance between them and wrapped his arms around her, careful of his strength, but folding himself over her perfectly like their bodies were always meant to fit together. They didn't say another word as she clutched onto him. The heartbreakingly fragile moment was disrupted a few minutes later by a buzzing coming from Jasper's front pocket of his jeans.

He made motion to end the phone call but Rory shook her head. What if it was Bella who was with Edward? Rory stepped back but he winded one arm around her waist, firmly keeping her pressed at his side.

He sighed and answered with a short "Hello" and then a "Yes" right after, glancing at Rory.

Rory looked at him questionably.

His expression changed a few seconds later. "I thought Alice said they changed paths."

"Not too long ago."

He suddenly froze, looked around the forest sharply, muttered something Rory couldn't decipher and then hung up.

"Jasper?" Rory tilted her head.

"We have to go." He clenched his jaw. "Now."

He didn't give Rory much warning before he lifted her up once more and ran faster than even before. All she could do was close her eyes shut to ease the dizziness his supernatural speed came with.

Something happened.

Something bad.

A few minutes later, Rory felt them stop once more. Jasper put her down and she blinked in surprise at their destination. They were in front of her house. She held onto him to steady her once more for a couple of minutes. As soon as her heart and breathing slowed to a normal pace, she was being promptly guided to her front door.

She looked at Jasper as he led them to the front door. He was glancing around as if he was paranoid something had followed them. Her mother wasn't home yet, but Rory was only half concerned. Rory opened the door to the empty house and looked at Jasper who hadn't spoken yet once they were inside her room.

"Jasper, what's going on?" Rory prodded impatiently.

"Are you aware of the recent string of animal attacks in the surrounding counties?" Jasper questioned instead.

"Yeah. Everyone's been telling me to stay away from the woods," she said guiltily. "What does that have to do with the phone call?"

"That was Edward. He was taking Bella home when they ran into Carlisle at the police department," he sighed. "Waylon Forge was found in a boat out near his place."

"The guy from the diner?" Rory vaguely remembered the kind and funny man who always greeted her and her mother when they would eat out. "Is he...dead?"

"Killed." Jasper grimaced. "It wasn't an animal attack."

Rory sat on her bed, her mind running through with endless thoughts. "I assume none of your 'vegetarian' vampire family members have gone rouge."

He shook his head shortly. "We've been keeping an eye on the situation. Alice saw them go west so we thought Forks was safe. They won't stay in Forks for too long though, nomads tend to only feed once or twice in an area. But I wanted you out of the woods just in case. Too much has already happened tonight."

Rory had several questions but none were expelled. Her fright she had stemmed suddenly couldn't be held back any more as she shuddered and held her head in her hands, looking down.

"Are you scared?" Jasper was suddenly kneeling in front of her, looking deeply in her eyes once she was breathing normally again.

Rory shook her head. "I know you'll protect me." She held his hand in her lap.

"Always." Jasper whispered, his sweet breath fanning over her. "I wish I knew you sooner. I wish I could have protected you when..." His words trailed off but Rory knew 'later' was now. Jasper froze, "You don't have to—"

"—no." She disagreed quietly. "I need to tell you. After tonight," her voice wavered, "I just need to. Okay?"

Jasper solemnly nodded in understanding. He got up and sat next to her on her bed.

"He was my boyfriend. Or he was supposed to be." Rory looked down at her lap darkly. "I partied a lot back then. My father had just left us. My mom was working to make ends meet. My sister—" her voice cracked once more while Jasper frowned. He never realized she had a sister. "—was only fifteen."

Then, Jasper realized everything he assumed about Rory's past was wrong.

Rory wasn't raped.

Her sister was.

"I was so stupid. It was my fault. It was my fault," Rory whispered. "I convinced her to come with me to a party at his house—mom didn't want me going out without Lu anymore. Lu really didn't want to come—she had a soccer game the next day. I got drunk and high and left my baby sister because I was so damn selfish. She ran into Fred, the only person she knew at the party. I guess she thought she could trust him. Fuck, we all did." Rory sniffed, her eyes wet and puffy.

"He got her into a bedroom. Everyone was too fucked up to notice. Somehow, I finally realized I had left my baby sister all alone and went to find her. Fred was on top of her. She was fighting so hard." Her eyes were suddenly ablaze with fury. "I screamed and screamed until he ran out of the room. All I could think about was getting to the hospital. I don't know why I got in the fucking car. I knew I shouldn't have—I was barely sober. We were both crying. I should've stopped driving. Should've called our mom."

Rory was breathing fast now, her tears flooding her face. Jasper desperately wished he could alleviate her pain but all he could do was hold her hands.

"Next thing I knew, the car flipped over. I woke up in a hospital room. Luna was gone," Rory finished with a heartbreaking sob. "It was my fault. Everything was my fault."

"Rory," Jasper breathed out, wrapping an arm around her and holding her cheek with the other hand, rubbing circles to sooth her. "It wasn't your fault."

"It was," Rory insisted with a cry. "I told the doctors, my mother, the police; I told them what happened and nothing was done. My boyfriend got away with raping my baby sister. And I killed her."

"No," Jasper refuted sharply. "You didn't kill your sister and it wasn't your fault. It wasn't your fault, sweetheart," he whispered into her hair as he held her. He would hold her as long as he needed him to. His eyes burned with unshed venom tears as his incorporable heart ached with the pain and grief he felt hearing Rory's tragedy.

The impalpable steel dam Rory had stored every emotion burst and crashed into Rory. All Jasper could do was hold her gently as she cried uncontrollably into his shoulder—every feeling she had suppressed since the death of her sister poured out of her dark heart. Jasper didn't need his empath abilities to know she needed to feel safe and comforted and understood.

Eventually her guilt-ridden tears subsided into hiccups and sniffles. They were both quiet.

Rory was the first to break the tranquil silence.

"That's why when those men were trying to hurt us earlier, I distracted them from touching Bella. I couldn't watch it happen to her. Not again." Rory hadn't realized until that night that she viewed Bella like a sister. She was the closest thing to it at least, which made it worst when the men cornered them. Her immediate instinct was to protect Bella in the way she couldn't protect her dead sister.

Jasper felt angry at her self-sacrifice, but he understood too. He simply sighed and held her closer. "It won't ever happen again. Not as long as I'm on this earth. No matter what. I'll always protect you, Rory," he promised.

"Even when I'm old and gray?"

Jasper hadn't given thought to Rory's unmistakable mortality, but if she chose not to become a vampire, it wouldn't change his choice. She was it.

He nodded. "Even then."

Rory unexpectedly yawned loudly. Her eyes were puffy and tired. Her body ached with exhaustion and faint bruising from the rough handling of her attackers.

"You need to rest, sleeping beauty," Jasper inhaled her sweet scent that still burned his throat but didn't make him want to kill her.

Rory pursed her lips. "I have to change."

"Okay." Jasper nodded. "Goodnight then." He untangled himself from her too fast for her to respond. He tried to stand but her hand has shot out and grasped his sleeve. He looked back at her.

"I didn't say for you to go," she said shyly.

He blinked. "Oh."

"Wait here." Rory wobbly stood from the bed and walked over to her closet where she grabbed the essential items. She debated forgoing pajama bottoms as she usually did, but the knowledge that Jasper was in her bed had her grabbing the most comfortable sweatpants in her drawers...and the nicest pair of lingerie. You never know.

She tried not to look too obvious as she bundled the bunch of clothes in her arm and darted out of the room to the next door bathroom. She quickly changed then brushed her teeth, washed her face and embarrassingly used the toilet because she knew Jasper could hear everything she was doing on full volume.

She took a few minutes to breath and recover from the night's events by herself. She practiced her breathing techniques and then walked back into her bedroom where Jasper sat in the exact same position she had left him in. Not even a hair out of place. He was utterly perfect.

She glanced down at her sleeping wear of a plain black camisole and sweatpants. The intention her lingerie suggested colored her cheeks and inappropriate thoughts raced through her mind the longer she stared at him.

"Are you hungry?"

She blinked twice before answering, scowling at her initial dirty thoughts, and shaking her head to answer the unsuspecting vampire in her bed.

"Food is the last thing on my mind," Rory said with a melancholic grimace. "I just want to sleep."

"Are you...hungry?" she hesitantly asked. "Or would it be thirsty?"

Although his eyes were dark and barely amber, the urge to feed was the last thing on his mind right now. "No," he answered simply.

"Good."

Jasper seemed hesitant as she drew near. Was he supposed to go now? He had to admit he had no clue what to do. Before he could awkwardly get off the bed, Rory had crawled directly into his lap. Oh.

"Can you please hold me?" she whispered, her lips brushing against his exposed neck, sending untimely pleasurable tingles down his spine and straight to—

He swallowed the pool of venom that had gathered in his mouth. She was vulnerable in his arms and he wasn't about to take advantage of her in her state. "Won't you be uncomfortable?"

Rory hummed thoughtfully. "You're right." Jasper breathed a sigh a relief. "It's better if we're under the covers."

FML.

Jasper blinked as Rory crawled over to the other side of the bed and slid under the covers. She looked at him expectantly and he couldn't deny her as he kicked off his boots and lied next to her, keeping himself above the covers and a layer between the warm body that his craved.

Rory merely raised an eyebrow.

"You'll freeze," Jasper said defensive of his actions.

"Good thing I have a blanket." Rory rolled over until her head and arm rested on his chest and her blanket covered leg was folded over his. Half of her body was essentially on top of his much to his surprise.

He still felt like he was intruding whilst feeling perfectly content being wrapped by her body. The situation was entirely new to him. He hadn't even done this in his life as a human, it was considered highly improper. Not to mention the warmness of her body was warming parts of his he desperately didn't need being warmed at this time.

"Are you sure—"

She sighed, her eyes already half closed and her breathing slow with sleepiness.

"Jasper, I want you to stay."

And so Jasper stayed and held her close to him.