“What is this?” Bella asked again, more loudly this time.  She turned her uncomprehending eyes toward the others, letting her gaze land on Carlisle.  The rain falling hard through the foliage had already set diamonds of water in her hair.  We would all be soaked soon, but it didn’t matter.

Our family gathered closer to Bella, though still no one touched her but me.  I held her trembling hands in my own, and I released one so that I could place a firm arm around her waist.  Jasper finally stood, still wiping his hand across his lips and reeling from what had just happened. Alice gently pried his fingers away from his mouth and held them in her own.  He immediately brought his other shaking hand to his brow, and I thought of when he’d tried to calm the newborn Bella in our bedroom by placing his fingers on her forehead.

His thoughts, and the rest of our family’s, were deafening. It was almost difficult to hear Bella’s voice, a whisper under the cacophony of elated speculation.

“What happened?” Bella pressed, panicked.  “I wanted him.  I wanted that man’s … that man’s blood.  I would have killed him.” Her face twisted in anguish and her fingers trailed over her lips before she went on.  “But when I caught up to him, I felt sick.  I just couldn’t do it.  I had to stop.”

Jasper nodded, and Bella turned to him with desperation in her scarlet eyes. 

“Same here,” he said hoarsely.  “As soon as I had the scent of his blood, I knew I had to have him.  There was no doubt in my mind that I would have tried to take him, if no one stopped me.” Looking ashamed, he darted his eyes toward Alice and me, the only ones who’d been close enough on his heels. “But I couldn’t.  It was – ” He grimaced wryly as he struggled to find the right word.  “ – it was disgusting even to think of.”

His eyes held Bella’s for a long moment, and when he smiled I saw something of the man he must have been long ago.  The muscles of his face relaxed into the expression of someone I hadn’t quite ever met.  Alice watched him.  Thoughts darted through her mind like a thousand flitting birds, her delight hidden behind the usual pixie smile.  Jasper looked back at Alice and squeezed her hand; and then they were lost in each other’s eyes again.