"Lessons Unexpected" by AlexisDanaan

Okay folks, I’ve got another rec for you this week, and this one’s a real winner. If you haven’t read AlexisDanaan’s Lessons Unexpected then you need to do so now! This little beauty has a great plot, and a whole helluva lot of angst. This starts out with Bella, four years after Edward left, working at a bar in Alaska while attending college. This certainly isn’t the Bella we know; she got a whole lot more fire in her veins now. When working one night, she comes across Jasper in the back alley, and their reunion isn’t on the best of terms:

Bella gasped and pulled at the unyielding hand around her throat, willing herself to stay calm despite the fact that her chest was burning and she feared for her life. Her efforts were for nothing; the kind of panic that swallows a human being faced with death is not easily defeated and Bella was no master at staring down death. Sure, she had been pretty sure she was about to die when she went to meet James, but when the moment came she was far too distracted by the pain in her body. Now, there was very little pain compared to back then. Now, there was a terrifying lack of oxygen, a burning in her chest, and fear in her heart. She felt her limbs growing heavy as her vision darkened. She realized, belatedly, that the last thing she would see before she died would be Jasper's angry face, staring into her own. For some reason, that disappointed her.

"Argh! I can't do this!" Jasper practically screamed as he released his hold on Bella's throat.

Instantly she dropped to her knees, taking in a deep, painful and ragged breath as she did. Her hands came out to catch her and she found herself on all fours, staring at the toes of Jasper's boots. Cowboy boots; she had been right about his footwear. She wanted to laugh at herself, and would have had she had the breath to do so; of all the stupid things to think of when your life has just been handed back to you.

Suddenly, Jasper was crouching in front of her, his lips next to hear ear, "Stay away from me Bella Swan. I've no need for you to complicate my life once again."

With the speed and grace inherit in his species, Jasper straightened up and turned on his heel. She looked up, watching him cross the street and walk away as if he had been doing nothing but strolling leisurely through the neighbourhood. As she watched his retreating back she felt that same anger rise up in her again, the anger she had worked so hard to let go of four years ago when he had walked away from her, when they had
walked away from her.

Jasper was walking away from her, again. Abandoning her. Running.

Coward, she thought, her blood boiling.

"You COWARD!" she screamed, her throat protesting such violent use so soon after being assaulted.

Jasper didn't pause. He didn't look back. He didn't even acknowledge that he'd heard her.

He just kept walking.

    After running into Jasper again during class, they have another spat, and again at her work, Bella begins to worry that she might have pushed Jasper over the edge. That night she finds out how right she was. After a scuffle in her room, Jasper takes a bite out of Bella, and the change ensues.
      
    Waking up from the change in a cabin in the Alaskan wilderness, Bella realizes what Jasper has done and attacks him. The pair continues fighting for months while Bella struggles to gain control of her bloodlust. These two are constantly at odds with each other, fighting over the simplest of things. Combined with Bella’s unstable emotions, there are a few good fights between the pair. With the Charlie’s vow to continue the search for his supposedly dead daughter, Jasper decides it time to move on. They head to a Cullen house in Canada to wait out Bella’s newborn year. The pair grows closer as their time together wears on, and hopes for more than friendship is in the air. Unfortunately Alice’s visions bring the Cullen clan to the Canada house, and cause a rift between the two. Fights break out, and the once calm house is disrupted.
      
    Never fear, AlexisDanaan ends this story on a high note; A naughty lemon in the forest, an understanding between Bella and Edward, and everyone heading their separate ways. The epilogue gives us a glimpse into their lives several years down the road. We get to see bits of what the happy couple has been up to in the past few years, and the happiness that our lovely couple shares. This is one great fic, and will keep you hooked for sure.

So grab a drink and enjoy!

“Lessons Unexpected” by AlexisDanaan http://www.fanfiction.net/s/6208626/1/