Theresa sat in class, trying to pay attention to the teacher and lesson, but couldn't ignore the stares she was getting from Jasper, who sat behind her.

She looked out the window to see the sun starting to peek out from behind the clouds.

She turned around and looked at Jasper, who was already looking at her, before looking outside the window, and then back to the teacher.

Jasper picked up on what she was trying to say. They would just have to wait until class was over.

~~~~

"Why didn't you tell me?" Theresa asked Jasper as they walked out of the classroom.

"My apologies ma'am" Jasper said, his southern accent thick, "I must say your notes are very good."

"Stop changing the subject."

"Tell me your story" Theresa demanded, as they walked out of the front doors of the high school.

"What?" Jasper asked her, surprised that she wanted to know about his story rather than ask him questions about vampires.

"I couldn't hear what you are from you, so I'd like to hear your story from you" Theresa said as Jasper nodded.

"Okay, but let's go somewhere quieter first" Jasper said as Theresa nodded, walking towards his car.

"Where are you going?" He asked her, causing her to stop in her tracks and turn around to face him, "Hop on."

"On your back?" Theresa asked him as he nodded.

Theresa slowly walked towards him and did as he said, jumping on his back and wrapping her arms around his neck and her legs around his waist.

He made sure that no one was watching them before talking, "Hold on" He said as he quickly ran into the forest next to the school.

One moment Theresa was standing outside of school and the next she was in the middle of the forest.

"What are those? On your arms?" Theresa asked Jasper as he put her down, noticing bite marks peeking out from under the sleeves of his shirt.

She almost fell when Jasper put her down because of how fast she was just going because of Jasper's running.

Jasper waited until Theresa was okay before he rolled up his sleeves so that Theresa could get a better look at the bite marks that covered his arms, "Battle scars. All the training the confederate army gave me was useless against the newborns. Still, I've never lost a fight."

"Confederate army?" Theresa asked, an eyebrow raised.

"Forced by my father" Jasper said as Theresa shook her head.

Theresa looked him in his eyes, she knew he wasn't the type to judge someone based off of their skin tone.

She sighed before speaking again, "Newborns?" Theresa asked him, moving on from the topic.

Jasper sighed before smiling lightly, "New vampires, but that's another story. And if I can remember you wanted to hear my story" Jasper said as Theresa nodded.

"I was the youngest major in the Texas Cavalry. All without having seen a real battle."

"Until?", Theresa asked him, "Until I met a certain immortal Maria" Jasper said as he continued to walk through the forest with Theresa following behind him, trying not to trip over tree branches.

"I was riding back to Galveston after evacuating a colony of women and children when I saw them. I immediately offered them my aid."

"And then she turned you?" Theresa asked Jasper as he nodded.

"She was creating an army."

"Maria was creating an army? Of newborns?" Theresa asked Jasper as he nodded.

"They were very common in the south. Constant brutal battles for territory. Maria won 'em all. She was smart, careful, and she had me. I was her second in command. When I was turned I gained an ability to feel and control the emotions of other. My ability to control emotions served her well. I trained her newborns, but in this occupation, since she never let them live beyond the first year, it was my job to dispose of them," Jasper took a deep breath before continuing and looking Theresa in her eyes, "I could feel everything they felt."

Theresa stared at Jasper as he said this, noticing that he stopped walking.

"I thought what Maria and I had was love. But I was her puppet, she pulled the strings. I didn't know there was another way, till I found Alice. She seen me coming of course, and helped me turn vegetarian-" Jasper said, but was cut of by Theresa, "Vegetarian?"

"Only drink animal blood" Jasper said as Theresa nodded.

"Then Alice and I met the Cullens and here we are" Jasper said as Theresa tripped over a branch causing her to fall, but didn't reach the ground thanks to Jasper's arms catching her, Theresa couldn't hide her blush as she muttered a quick "Thank you" to Jasper.

"She saw you walking into our lives" Jasper said as he helped Theresa stand back up.

"Really?" Theresa asked him as he nodded, a smile prominent on his face.

"Yeah, she told me that I would finally meet the person I've been waiting for."

Theresa knew that if she wasn't blushing before, she definitely was now.

"Your turn" Jasper said, as Theresa looked at him, confused.

"What are you talking about?"

"I may have been angry that night, but my anger didn't make me forget about the cuts."

"I was always alone in New York. I never had many friends at school, if any, and people took notice of that. I was always bullied growing up. Whether it was my looks or my awkwardness, people always found something wrong with me," Theresa said as she smiled sadly before continuing, "The cutting was a way to cope, I guess. I really have no clue. But I was clean for a few years until my mom left me and my dad a few weeks ago," Theresa took a deep breath before speaking again, "No letter, no call, no text, nothing. I remember that night like it was last night. I tried to find her. Thinking that someone kidnapped her or something. I don't know," Theresa said, shaking her head, before talking once again, "My dad just shut down. He didn't talk to me at all. I cried to him, begged him to say something, anything, but he just sat on his recliner and drank his beer while watching TV. I wanted him to know that I'm right here!" Theresa yelled, calming down before continuing, "Like yes, you lost your wife, but you are a father first now. I needed a father and when I may have actually gotten him back, I lost him. And that's why I'm even here, in Forks."

"So I came to the only conclusion that there is. My mom left because of me." Theresa laughed dryly before continuing to speak, "I thought maybe telling her that I was being bullied was too much for her to handle. Maybe she wanted a daughter who could make friends easily. That wasn't an outcast, that was liked. Maybe she left because I was too closed off because of the bullying. It's as if she just didn't want to deal with me and my problems anymore, you know?" Theresa asked Jasper.

"I didn't do it for a while. I was actually four months clean from cutting myself. But, the last night before my plane ride to Forks, I was sad and I just felt like a burden and I-I, um, I cut myself" Theresa said, letting out a shaky breath and a dry laugh as tears ran down her face, "Sorry" Theresa said as she wiped the tears off of her face, "It feels good to tell someone, finally."

"You aren't a burden Tess, your anything but that" Jasper said as Theresa stopped wiping away her tears and turned her attention back to him, "Is that how you really feel about me? What you said earlier, that I was the person you were waiting for?" Theresa asked Jasper, causing him to walk towards her, making her walk backwards until her back hit a tree.

Jasper put both of his hands on the tree next to both sides of Theresa's face before speaking, "Ever since I saw you in Bella's truck on your first day of school."