The next morning as Jasper heard Charlie moving around downstairs getting ready to go he gently nudged Maya awake. Smiling as she simply batted his hand away, refusing to open her eyes.
"Go away" she grumbled.
"I can't Darlin'. We have school" He teased.
"No we don't. It's the weekend" she argued, still not opening her eyes.
"Sorry Darlin' but its definitely Monday."
"If it were Monday, you wouldn't be here. You would be getting your stuff" she mumbled, burrowing further into the blankets.
He snorted at that. "You forget Darlin' I practically live here now. I have enough with me that I don't have to run home for everything in the morning. Which unfortunately for you, means that it is indeed Monday and time to get up."
When all he got in return was some muttered words of denial, he sighed, rolled his eyes and unceremoniously dumped her on the floor.
She shrieked as she fell and then promptly scrambled up, tripping over the tangle of blankets still wrapped around her as she did in a failed attempt to attack him. She glared at him from her spot on the floor and he used that as his chance to get up, grab his clothes and escape to the bathroom.
By the time she made it down the stairs after getting ready he was plating up a simple breakfast of eggs, toast and bacon. "Since when do you cook?"
"I asked Esme to teach me how while we were away. I figure given the fact that my darling mate requires food it would be a good idea for me to learn to cook a few simple meals" he explained with a shrug.
Maya blinked at him is surprise. "You ... learned to cook ... just for me?" she asked slowly to make sure that she fully understood.
"Yeah" he confirmed, turning to face her just as she threw herself into his arms and brought him into a very hot kiss.
When they finally broke away, he let out a groan. "Now I really wish it was the weekend and we didn't have to go to school."
She laughed at that. "We could pretend that it is and head back upstairs so that I could show you my appreciation" she offered.
"How about you not" her dad said, coming into the kitchen.
Maya's face turned scarlet as she stuttered out a good morning to her father. "We were kidding about ditching school" she said with a look of innocence on her face that not even the most gullible of people would have bought.
"Uh huh, you know I'm starting to think that Jasper is the only good kid in this house."
Maya squinted at him, turning her head from side to side to look at first her dad then Jasper before turning back to her dad.
"What?" they both asked.
"Nothing. Just trying to figure out if I should tell you the truth about him dad, or allow you to believe this fantasy so that you continue to like him" Maya mused.
"Oh, I see how it is; blame it all on me" Jasper said with an eyeroll. "Keep that up and I won't feed you breakfast."
Maya stared at him for a second, judging how serious he was before turning to face her dad with a blinding smile on her face. "Jasper is the most perfect gentleman ever. He is super sweet and kind and would never in a million years even think about breaking a single rule."
Both men burst out laughing at that and Maya used it as her chance to steal the plate from Jasper's hand and head over to the table.
A little while later her dad left for work, Jasper following shortly after him to head home to grab his school bag and the lunch Esme had undoubtedly made for Maya. Which left Maya with a few minutes alone to clean up her breakfast and get her stuff together.
She was just putting the last of her things in her bag when Bella came down the stairs and Maya could already tell based on the look on her face that she was upset.
"You know you could show a little more consideration" was the first thing Bella said as she came to a stop in front of Maya, crossing her arms over her chest.
"Consideration for what?"
"For the other people who live here! You made Edward so uncomfortable last night that he had to leave!" Bella screeched, making Maya wince.
"I wasn't aware that Edward lived here. In fact, I was pretty sure that he was forbidden to even step through the door" Maya shot back calmly. Which only seemed to upset Bella more as her face began to turn red.
"That doesn't matter! What matters is you made him uncomfortable!"
Maya began to feel her temper spike as Bella continued to yell at her and attempted to remain civil, although she was not sure how much longer it would last. "Look Bella, last night I spent some time with Jasper. I am sorry if it upset Edward, but it was private moment that we had in the privacy of my room. As such, if he was listening in then it was no one's fault but his own. Jasper and I give you two the curtesy of doing our best to not listen when you guys are together in your room, the least Edward could do is return the favour." Besides, Maya added silently, she was not going to apologize for something she did not regret. Her and Jasper were a couple and she was not going to be ashamed of them acting like one.
"Private moment? Is that what you are calling it?" Bella said scornfully.
Maya took a deep breath, silently counting to ten. "And what would you call it?"
Bella sneered. "I would call it a slut keeping a man interested in her the only way she knows how."
Maya felt her temper snap at that. Sure, she knew that Bella was just being hateful and the words were in no way true, but she had been putting up with her insults since Bella had first arrived. She was done talking the high road and being the bigger person for the sake of her father. All it had done was allow Bella to walk all over her and believe that what she said was in anyway okay. "Yeah, well at least I'm not some desperate little girl who can't even get my boyfriend interested enough to touch me" she spat back.
Bella reared back in shock, not used to Maya insulting her back. However as her words sunk in Bella felt her anger build and she brought her hand up and swung it towards Maya.
Maya's reflexes kicked in and she caught the hand inches from her face. She squeezed the wrist, not enough to seriously hurt her, but enough to get Bella's attention. She leaned in close to Bella and glared at her. "You ever try to hit me again Isabella and I will break your hand. Do you understand me?" Maya hissed.
Bella nodded fearfully and Maya released her, shoving her away as she did. She watched as Bella stumbled back and tripped over her own feet, landing hard on her ass in the hallway. "Now then, I will say this once and only once; I have let you say whatever the hell you wanted about me since you got here and I haven't done anything in an attempt to keep the peace for Dad's sake, but that ends here. I have tried to be the bigger person, but that obviously is not working. So from now on if you come at me, expect retaliation."
When she finished Maya simply turned, grabbed her bag and headed outside to wait for Jasper, not wanting to be in the house with Bella one moment more.
She did not have to wait long and as she climbed into the truck with Jasper he sent her a concerned look. "What happened Darlin'?"
Maya let out a sigh, "Bella did. She came down and yelled at me after you left, blaming us for making Edward leave last night. I was trying to keep my temper but then she kinda pushed me over the edge and I finally put my foot down. I was tired of letting her walk all over me."
Jasper pulled over to the side of the road and pulled her over onto his lap so that he could hug her. "I'm sorry, I know you wanted to keep the peace for your dad's sake. But I am glad that you finally stood up to her. I hated seeing and feeling you so upset practically every time you had to interact with her."
Maya let out a snort. "Yeah ... it wasn't so much standing up to her as sinking down to her level. I kinda called her desperate and insinuated that she couldn't make Edward interested in her enough to sleep with her" she finished sheepishly.
Jasper threw his head back and laughed at that. "Oh, Darlin' I would have loved to have been there to see the look on her face!" Maya gave him a confused look.
"That girl puts off more lust than I can describe. Its kind of getting ridiculous to be honest." Maya snorted at that, realizing just how accurate her comment of "desperate" had been.
The two chatted for a few more minutes, Jasper doing his best to calm Maya before they arrived at school. When they pulled up, Emmet, Rosalie and Alice met them at their car.
Alice was practically bouncing in place and Maya stared at her suspiciously. "Why are you so happy?"
"I came up with a great idea!" She squealed excitedly.
"What idea?" Jasper asked warily, knowing that some of Alice's so called "great ideas" have not always worked out.
"I'll tell you at lunch" she said with a grin on her face before turning and skipping of towards class just as the bell rang.
"Should we make a run for it?" Maya questioned, causing the boys to laugh and Rosalie to smirk.
"That may just be our only hope" Rose conceded with an exaggerated sigh.
"That's if the shortie doesn't hunt us down and drag us back by our hair" Emmet joked.
"Would she really?" Maya questioned as they began to walk towards the school.
"Yes" all three of them said at once.