CHAPTER TWO

Choices

He stared at the screen on his phone and thought that he had to be seeing it wrong. It wasn't what he expected. In fact it was about the last thing he expected.

"Not yet," it read. Well that was a direct hit to his pride. He couldn't remember a time that a girl turned him down and most of the time it was more than a kiss they were talking about. Okay where did he go from here he thought? His mind scrambled for plan B. The problem was there was no plan B and he really didn't want one. All he wanted was her lips pressed next to his, his tongue tasting her sweetness.

"I'm sorry," she said when he didn't look at her or react. What was she thinking? She had totally offended him and blown it, "It isn't that at some point that I don't want to kiss you it is just that we don't really know each other yet and…" she said trying to explain her reasoning, but the real reason was she was scared. She never kissed a boy before and he was not a boy anyways. He was a man that was going to want more than a kiss from her.

Then she thought to herself, what an idiot. She was talking about it happening sometime in the future, but the truth was there was a real chance there would be no next time. She should have just closed her eyes and leaned in.

"You know what they say, the best things come to those who wait," he told her trying to get over the momentary blow to his ego. In the long run of things waiting to kiss her was not going to kill him and he knew it was just a matter of time before it happened. That was not a question and neither were all the other things that were to come with her. If he didn't know it before he knew it now. This girl was his angel sent from heaven and whatever it took, whatever sacrifice he had to make, he was going to hold on to her forever. He had waited his whole life for her and now a little longer was not going to kill him. He hoped.

"You're not mad at me?" she questioned, sure that he was going to tell her to get out of his car and never look back.

"How could I be mad at you?" he told her with a smile that came across forced, "We will take things as slow as you need them to be. We will get to know each other and when the time is right…," he said without finishing, but his smirk said it all. She blushed again knowing he was inferring more than a kiss. She was innocent, but not that innocent.

"Alright," she agreed and wondered who was going to crack first. She thought it might be her as he stared into her eyes.

The next few days Bella was on a high. The smile on her face wouldn't fade. Every single thought in her mind was about Jasper and the next time she would hear his voice. She lived for those moments when they connected. Too bad it was only over the phone and never long enough.

"Hi beautiful," he said later that night. She had called him the moment her father was asleep. She had needed to hear his voice.

"Hi." Just hearing his voice made her tingle. It was hard to think when that sensation was happening to her.

"Is he asleep?" he asked, having gotten a taste of what Bella kept telling him about her father when they were talking last night and he barged into her room screaming at her because she was still awake. It had only been ten.

"Sound asleep, I checked," she said not daring to chance him coming in there again like last night. Luckily he had not caught her on the phone. The thing was Bella was getting pretty good at sneaking around. It was not something that she was proud of, but in times of love and war all was fair.

"Good," he said getting comfortable in his chair. Their nightly conversations had become marathon sessions. He never felt so connected to another person in his life. It felt like he could tell her anything and it would be alright.

"How was your day?" she asked wishing that he as there next to her as she asked him that question. She had flashes of them sitting on a couch, her rubbing his shoulders as he told her all about his day. Wow…where had that come from?

"Long," he told her and it had been, but that was how it was since he met her, "I was thinking that I want to see you. Don't get me wrong talking on the phone to you is amazing, but I need to see you. What would you say if I asked you to skip school tomorrow and spend the day with me?" he asked knowing that she might tell him no way. One reason was Bella was used to never daring to do anything she was not supposed to. Even if she did have the thought to be bad she was so afraid of her father finding out to act upon it. He understood what they were doing was taking her to her limit already. That made him realize that she was kind of into him. Well that was what he told himself.

"I can't do that. My dad would definitely find out if I did that," she said always worried about her father, but she wanted to say yes. He was right that talking on the phone was pretty wonderful, but she wanted to be near him. She was thinking that she might even want to rethink that answer about kissing. No she knew she wanted to kiss him. Her stomach was flipping and flopping all over at just the thought.

"It could happen without that much effort. You get up in the morning go to school like every other day. I will be waiting to pick you up. Then we have the day to spend together doing whatever we want. When school is getting out I take you back and you go home," he told her dying to spend some time with her. All the calls to each other had done was made him even crazier about her. Every word she spoke, every laugh that escaped her lips she pulled him in. She was perfect in every way. Even more so because she had no idea how perfect she was.

"You are so bad for tempting me to skip school," she told him as she really considered doing it. Her need to be with him was becoming way stronger than her fear of her father. In fact since she had met him nothing else seemed to matter except him and being with him. For her that was life changing. Never had anyone or anything dared her to go against the norm and dream of something more.

"If you give me a chance I'll tempt you to do a lot worse than skip school," he told her and knew without being able to see her that she just got all red. She looked so hot in red.

"Alright," she finally said but added, "If my dad finds out and he kills me my blood is on your hands."

She was never as nervous as she drove into the parking lot at school. Besides being paranoid that her father was hiding in the bushes she was freaking out about spending the day alone with Jasper. All she could think about was her decision to let him kiss her. That was if he tried to again. If he didn't she doubted she would have the nerve to kiss him or tell him that she wanted him to kiss her. It was all so complicated this boy girl stuff.

It was hard to miss his slick black SUV as she pulled in parking right next to him. He looked over at her as she turned off her car and smiled. She forgot everything else.

"Hi," he said as she climbed in and smiled at him. It had only been a few days since he saw her, but it was way too long. His reaction to having her near was shocking. It was going to take all his will power to be a good boy today. Wait, he had never been a good boy before and had no idea how to be one. Being bad was so much more fun. He just had to convince her of that.

"Hi," she said nervous, but excited. When he was around her it was like it was hard to control her joy. She felt the jumping up and down, laughing and screaming type of happiness. He was the only one to ever make her feel that way.

"I figured that we would head over to the club. I'm supposed to be at work…"

"Maybe this was a bad idea then," she cut him off as fear started to overtake the excitement. She glanced around almost expecting her father to pop up and catch her.

"No it was a great idea and I'm the boss so I get to decide when and if I go into work. I just figured that we could hang out there and if I was needed I would be there. Not that I think that will happen. Besides the likely hood of your father ever finding you there is like a million to one."

"Alright," she conceded. She needed to be near him. Where that happened mattered none to her. She thought that she would go anywhere with him if he only asked.

He didn't know how he was doing it. Having her there with him laughing and smiling like something out of his dreams and still not being able to touch her was pure agony. It was like for the first time in her life she was free and she was glowing as she floated around the club. He wanted to chase after her and catch her, but he stood there and watched her in amazement. It was truly like watching an angel dance on the sun. Light from nowhere filled the room as the sound of her laughter filled not only the space, but parts of his soul.

What was this girl doing to him? Where had this need to make her his and only his forever come from? Never in his life had he not only wanted, but needed someone more. It was like his single reason to wake up and breath now was her.

"This place is amazing. I know that it is going to be a huge success. What is the name again?" she asked out of breath from spinning around the room. She felt free and alive.

"Toxic," he simply said as he looked at her glistening skin and tousled hair and he couldn't help but wonder if this was an example of how she would look after they made love. He tried not to think about that as his body began to react to his vivid imagination.

"That is kind of a dark name. I mean I like it. Are you going to have live music or a DJ?" she asked with interest in what he did. She felt like she wanted to know everything about him and what made him tick. The club seemed to be a huge part of what made him up.

"Mainly a DJ, but I'd like to have live music, too. I want a wide range of music. Something for everyone. I'll probably even throw in a few love songs so you can be close to someone," he told her and suddenly had an idea. He walked over to the DJ booth and scanned the song list until he found what he was looking for. A push of a few buttons and music filled the club.

"Can I have this dance?" he asked so totally cheesy. The thing was this girl was making him want to do all the things he had always thought he was too cool to do. Like going steady, having a song, and slow dancing to that song.

"I don't dance…no I can't dance. Totally two left feet," she told him.

"Trust me."

She hesitated for only a split second before she eagerly stepped into his arms. In true teenage prom style her arms went around his neck and his circled her waist.

For an intense moment they didn't move. His eyes stared into hers and asked for answers to questions she didn't have. Then if even for him the moment was too powerful he lowered his eyes and they finally started moving.

It was a magical moment for her as she slowly danced wrapped up in the warmth that was Jasper. For the first time in her life she was having a 'the world ended and only they remained' moment. The music became a back drop to the melody of his heartbeat and the sound of his breath on her neck.

"Would you like me to kiss you now?" he whispered into her ear and the deep rich tempo of his voice sent multiple chills through her body.

She just shook her head yes unable to find her voice. Not knowing what to do she closed her eyes, held her breath, and waited for her first kiss.

As he gently lifted her chin she never opened her tightly closed eyes. Her lips were clamped shut as well. A smile crossed his face as suddenly he was full of joy. As he bent in to kiss her he hoped that he could stop at one simple kiss. Every part of him was pulsing from dancing with her. What would his reaction to a kiss be? He held his breath as he bent in.

She forgot to breath as she stood there feeling him inch closer. His warm breath that smelled of coffee brushed over her face and just as his lips lightly brushed hers the moment was interrupted. The spell was broken and she crashed back to earth.

"Jasper, are you around here somewhere," came a voice that caused him to pull away from her and swear.

"Wait here," he commanded as he disappeared off into the back of the club cursing the whole way.

She took a deep breath and let it out as the last notes of the song ended. Was the interruption the world's way of telling her that she shouldn't be kissing Jasper? It hadn't felt like she shouldn't be kissing him. Nothing in life had felt more right. Her heart was racing from dancing in his arms. She could not image the impact that kiss would have had.

Just then she heard a noise from somewhere and she jumped. Now without Jasper there she realized how creepy being in there alone was. If she didn't know better she would think that she was in some really bad horror movie.

"Bella?" a voice asked her from behind the bar that set her jumping once again.

"Yes…" she answered staring at him wondering who he was and how he knew who she was. Maybe her last thought had not been so far off.

"I'm Mike the bartender. Jasper is dealing with some business right now, but he asked me to show you up to his office," he told her with a smile that she was sure got him lots of tips and even more numbers. The thing was she didn't like him already.

Jasper's office was in the back, up some stairs and on the second floor overlooking the club. She only tripped once going up the stairs.

It was an amazing view she was sure once the place opened and it was full. There was a clear view of the entire club from his office.

The office itself was huge. There was this old antique desk that took up a good piece of the room. File cabinets, chairs, a couch, and TV filled the rest of the room.

"He shouldn't be that long and if you need anything I'm just downstairs, okay?" he told her flashing her again his perfect smile.

"Sure, thanks," she said. She would be happy to see Jasper again. It was nothing that he did, but the bartender gave her an uneasy feeling that something was not right about him. He creeped her out in the psycho serial killer way.

She tried to push that thought from her head and chalk it up to her nerves or the fact that her father had raised her to trust no one, fear everything.

Jasper walked into the club searching for Mike. He had finally straightened out the liquor delivery and he wanted to make sure that Mike was going to be around to receive it.

"Everything alright? Want a drink?" he asked as Jasper climbed up to the bar.

"Let's hold off on that drink for now. The liquor truck is going to be here in like twenty minutes not tomorrow like we thought. Can you handle it by yourself? I have…."

"A hot, very young girl waiting up in your office for you," he said with a grin. He got his fair share of girls, but compared to Jasper he looked like a rookie. It was not just the quantity either, but the quality. The girl upstairs was no different.

"Don't give me that look. This girl is different," he tried to tell him but when he said, "Sure boss whatever you say," he knew he didn't believe a word he said and for good reason. His reputation when it came to women was better known than anything he ever did in business. Once that would have been a badge of honor, but suddenly it felt like a crown of thorns.

He climbed the stairs to his office and walked in to find her quietly sitting on the couch waiting for him. She smiled when he came in and he couldn't help but smile back.

"Sorry about that. You know that you could have turned the TV on or something," he told her as he sat down at his desk and not next to her like he would have liked. Space was his friend at the moment. Too many emotions were raging through him at the moment.

"That is okay I was just sitting here thinking," she explained to him briefly glancing over at him.

"What were you thinking about?" he questioned wanting to know every little thought that ran around in her beautiful head.

"A bunch of stuff but right now mainly about your club."

"My club?" he asked with a puzzled look on his face. That was about the last thing that he thought she would say.

"Yeah, like even though I'm sure you need an office this would make an amazing VIP room with it being above the rest of the club and having a great view over the entire club."

"That's a pretty good idea," he said amazed at her eye for that type of thing. Why hadn't he thought of that?

"It is simply about that celebrity factor that is so popular right now. People will pay to feel like they are important."

"Damn, where do you come up with this stuff?"

"I have a lot of spare time. I read a lot," she told him and then decided smart was not sexy and changed the subject, "Is everything okay?"

"Fine. Just one of the million things that comes up. Are you hungry? I could send Mike out to get something or we could go somewhere?" he asked even more amazed by this girl the more he got to know her. The more she revealed to him the more he wanted to know.

"I'll go get us something," she told him thinking it gave her a chance to get her thoughts together. When he was around she found it hard to think clearly.

"I don't know about you driving my car," he told her. He was crazy about this girl, but that was his baby.

"I'm a great driver. My father made me take the driving class three times."

"Oh shit…" he said thinking there was no way that she was driving his car.

"Not because I was a bad driver. I passed it the first time but he just wanted to make sure that I was fully prepared to be behind a moving weapon of death as he put it."

"Yeah he is a few drinks short of a six pack," he announced giving her a smile, "Here are my keys," he said feeling like he was giving away his first-born.

"I'll be right back," she said with a happy smile that said it meant a lot to her that he had just done that, "Oh what do you want?"

"Surprise me."

He sat back in his chair and closed his eyes. What was he going to do about this girl? It was like she was taking over his every thought. His every thought unfortunately was about getting close enough to her to have her wrapped around his body. It was almost painful to know that there was no way he could have her, just yet. That was pushing him towards one bad mood. God how he would like to lay her down on that couch and watch her turn red all over as he whispered in her ear all the things that he planned on doing to her.

"Jasper…" Bella said walking in to find him daydreaming it seemed. It was nice to know she was not the only one guilty of that. She just wondered if he daydreamed about her the way she did about him.

"That was quick," he said clearing his throat trying to get his thoughts in check. He couldn't help but wonder how she would react if she knew what he had been imagining only seconds before.

"There is a pretty good place not too far from here. I got you a turkey sandwich. There is water and a smoothie too. They make the best ones. I got banana and you strawberry but I didn't drink out of mine yet so we can switch if you want," she told him feeling nervous with the way he was looking at her.

"Nope this is perfect," he told her taking a drink of his smoothie. A smoothie, he wanted to laugh. It was not something that he would ever drink normally. It was either jack and coke, sometimes minus the coke sometimes minus the jack or coffee.

"So tell me everything there is to know about you," he said to her as she picked at her food. She was too nervous to eat.

"Not that much to tell. You know most of it. I live with my father as you know. My mother died when I was born. She's just a photo in a frame to me. I stare at her and try to see myself but I can't. I feel guilty that I don't miss her but it is hard to miss someone you never knew. My dad is a cop. That is his life when he's not controlling mine. I have an older brother, but I haven't seen him in years. He had a huge falling out with our dad and took off. At the time, I couldn't forgive him for leaving me but now that I am older, I totally understand why he had to do it. I still think about him. I wonder where he went and how is he. I sometimes worry about if he is okay since so much time has passed since I heard from him. Hopefully one day I'll get to see him again," she said as sadness hit her from talking about her brother. She tried not to think about him because all she ever ended up was sad.

"I'm sure you will, especially now that you are older. Maybe you should try to track him down. With the way the internet is now you can find people pretty easy."

"Maybe I will try to see if I can find him. I never really thought about that before," she said as her brain started to give thought to maybe finding her brother after all this time. She smiled at him and thought she couldn't believe how well he got her. It felt like no matter what she told him that he wasn't going to judge her. He just listened and didn't try to fix things. He was just there for her. It said so much about him as a person, but there was so much more to know.

"What about you? What is your story because I can just look at you and see that you have lived a life already," she told him which he knew was the truth. She looked at him and saw him. It wasn't just that she saw by looking at him but she was looking into him. Her eyes saw pass the surface and all the way into his soul. Those eyes were going to be his undoing.

"Growing up life was a little rocky. I was blessed with the best mother and the worst father. Nothing I ever did was good enough for him. A total disappointment he called me. I think I was the only kid ever happy when his parents got a divorce. I was fourteen and for a few years things were really good just with my mom. Then my mom met someone and even though he was a nice guy he was still an intruder in my life. I was happy the way things were and now here was this guy who thought that he had some say over me. I had spent too many years having my own dad tell me what to do and basically here was a stranger coming in and trying to parent me. Sure I was happy that my mother had found someone, but there was no way that I could hang around there. Two weeks before my eighteenth birthday I left home. I went from Texas to Las Vegas. The beginning was a little rough, but I wouldn't change any of it," he confessed to her. He knew then without a doubt how special this girl was.

"So how did you go from that to having your own club in such a short time? I know that you can't be that much older than me, right?" she dared to ask. She thought that he wasn't that old but she could be really wrong.

"Twenty-four," he told her and watched as her eyes widened either from the thought that he was younger than she thought or older, "I'm not proud to admit it but the person I despised more than anybody in the end helped me out. My dad died and left me some money. I took it and with my brother opened our first club. I was just twenty-one. The club was Rave and it was a hit. We sold it for a killing and open Perplexed and it was a hundred times more successful than Rave. We are in the middle of selling it and opening this one. My brother wanted to move here and I was pretty burned out on the Vegas life. We thought three times is a charm and this club could be huge. We kind of have a knack for this. With his brains and my charm," he told her with a smirk. He had wanted to get to know her better, but it felt like he was the one spilling his guts. Opening up about himself was not something that he was used to doing and it left him feeling very exposed and vulnerable. He didn't like that feeling even if she was the one causing it.

"So what do you plan on doing after you graduate?" he asked her trying to keep his mind busy.

"First, move out of my father's house. After that everything that I was never allowed to do when I was under my father's roof. Then probably go to college," she told him as the countdown to graduation rolled through her brain.

"What do you want to study?"

"I honestly don't know. It's always been my father's plan that I would study law and become a lawyer. Never my plan, but I don't tell him that. For once it will just be nice to not have my life planned out and explore everything to find out what I like. I could always come run this place for you," she said with a smile.

"Tell me when."

It was too soon that she realized that time had flown away and school was about to get out. Even though he said he wanted to keep her there for the rest of the day he reluctantly drove her back to school.

"I'm glad that I decided to play hooky today," she confessed to him with a smile as they sat parked at school. The bell had just rung so everyone was starting to filter out. The freedom she had felt alone with him in the safety of his club disappeared as she scanned the faces for Angela.

"Not as glad as I am. I have something for you," he said digging into his pants to pull out a set of keys, "These are the keys to the club. There is stairs in the back of the building that goes up to my office. I would give you the keys to my house but I'm at the club ninety-nine percent of the time. Whenever you can get away no matter the time you can come and see me," he told her already thinking about the next time he could see her. Mostly he was thinking about kissing her. Two chances and still no kiss. The third chance was now as she was about to leave him. There was no way that he was letting her go again before it happened.

"Are we at that stage already?" she questioned. She knew this was all new to her, but she still felt like they were moving really fast. Maybe just to her it was fast.

"I wouldn't know. I don't normally do stages," he told her thinking that he didn't spend long enough with a girl to move to the next stage, "As far as I'm concerned though this is hardly a stage. If it were up to me, we would be way past this stage. I'm settling for this because I don't want to freak you out by moving at the speed that I would like to be," he confessed to her. For the love of God he still hadn't kissed her yet. How slow did she expect him to move?

"Well it doesn't matter because I am already freaked out. If you haven't realized yet we are on different playing fields. I'm like peewee and you are in the pros. You are so far out of my league," she said as she was having a war with her own thoughts. Nothing made sense. Part of her was caught up in this new exciting experience with Jasper. She liked him and liked being with him. He made her laugh and he made her feel special. That was the part of her that said forget everything and let it happen. Then there was the part of her that said things like he is too old for you, he is too experienced for you. He is probably just using you and once you give him what he wants he will be gone. No one as great as Jasper would ever want someone like her so what was the angle?

"I won't lie, I'm sure that I have more experience sexually than you…"

"I'm sure of that since I'm still a virgin," she let pop out without thinking and then instantly regretted it. She couldn't look at him as her face got third degree burns.

He had thought she might be, but for her to confirm it took him a little back. An eighteen-year-old virgin was a rare thing these days. The thing was though nothing had turned him on more. The thought that no other man had touched her in that way made him want to be the first like he wanted to breathe.

"Okay so I'm a lot more experienced than you in that department but as far as this relationship thing we are on the same level. I haven't been here before. What is happening between us is all new for me, I'm falling for you and I don't fall. The big difference between you and me though is that I know that we are meant to be together. I knew it the moment I saw you. You don't; not yet but you will," he explained to her.

She sat there wanting to sink into his sureness. She wanted to close her eyes and jump having no doubts this was meant to be. She just couldn't. Not yet and maybe not at all. There were things holding her back. Her father maybe. Maybe her own fear of the unknown and the chance of getting hurt or rejected. There was so much to be lost. Just maybe though there was more to be gained.

"I better go. I don't want to be late," she told him. She grabbed her bag, opened the door, and hopped out.

"Bella…" he called to her afraid of how she was leaving. He saw the doubt in her eyes. She half smiled and closed the door. She could not tell him what he needed to hear.

Over the next two days, even though she talked to Jasper several times she kept the conversation brief and casual. She kept telling him that her father was around or that she had homework to do. Whatever excuse she could come up with to cut it short before he could bring the conversation of them up.

It wasn't that she didn't want to talk to him. It was more like she was freaking out about everything. Here he was so sure that they were meant to be together and everything was going to work out. How could he be so sure? How could he know what the future was going to bring? Even she was not so naïve to believe that real love could develop that quickly.

She did have feelings for him. She liked him a lot. She liked being with him. She liked the way he made her laugh and the smile that was on her face whenever he was around or she was just thinking about him. Butterflies and blushing was two constants when he looked at her with those intense eyes that dared her to let go. Emotions that she had never experienced before invaded her brain until she could not think straight.

That was the thing though. Jasper had come into her life like a force of nature stirring everything up. She was feeling things she never felt before. She was doing things she never dared do before. She was petrified of all the feelings she had for him. She was scared that if she let go she would get caught up in Hurricane Jasper and the devastation she would experience when the storm died down. And it would. Nothing ever lasted. Happily ever after didn't exist.

He was getting blown off. He had done it enough times to enough girls to know the deal. He had laid it on too thick too soon with the 'they were meant to be together' line. He had witnessed the retreat in her eyes when she left him.

He knew as he was saying it that it was too much for her too soon. What happened to going slow? The only problem was with her he found it impossible to hold anything back. He wanted to empty his heart out to her until it was empty to be refilled only by her. He had to make things alright between them again. He just didn't know how.

She was at the library again. It was the only place her dad let her go without a fight. She spent a lot of time there.

"I figured you would be here," Angela told her sitting down across from her.

"What are you doing here?" she questioned. The library was not her type of hang out.

"Well I tried to call you, but for some reason you are not answering your phone…" she said and at that exact moment her phone started vibrating on the table.

"Is that why? You got a new phone," she said grabbing it without a second thought.

"Angela…" she said trying to grab it back.

"We need to talk…" she read and then it began, "Who is Jasper and why do you need to talk to him?" she questioned, raising her eyebrow.

"It's nothing…" she groaned thinking the last thing she needed was Angela with her big mouth finding out about her and Jasper. She loved her friend, but Angela never knew when to shut her mouth.

"It seems like something to me and on top of the fact that you were not at school Friday," she put out to her and watched as she paled. Totally busted.

"I was at school,' she told her, but what she wanted to do was tell her the truth. What she wanted was to talk to her best friend about her boy and the trouble that she was having. That was what a best friend was for. She could not risk it though.

"I know that your car was there, but you were not. Do you forget we have English together?"

"I was in the library during English. You need to stop watching so many soap operas. You know me better than that. I don't skip school," she told her and that used to be the truth. That counted for something, right?

"Okay let's say you were at school that still does not explain Jasper?" she told her and watched as her friend tried to come up with some valid answer to her question. She was amazed when she did without missing a beat. It almost made her believe that she was telling her the truth.

"I found this guy to help me locate my brother. He probably wants to tell me that he couldn't find him," she explained to her best friend hating the fact that she was lying to her, but right now she wasn't sure if there was anything to tell. No need to get into all that if there was going to be no Jasper.

"How come you never told me about any of this?" she questioned. As juicy as it would be for Bella to be having some secret relationship with some guy there was no way that she was. It was just not in her.

"Until there was something to tell I didn't want to jinx anything," she explained and wondered when she had gotten so good at lying. She hated lying. She should not have to. Lying implied that something should be hid and seeing Jasper she thought was not something that should.

"Well I hope that you find him," she told her with a sweet smile that made Bella feel like total crap. She reconsidered telling her the truth, but just as she was about to Angela changed the subject.

"The real reason that I came looking for you was I know I was supposed to spend the night tonight, but there is this big party tonight and…" she trailed off because she knew there was nothing more that needed to be said. This was not the first time that this had happened and Bella knew the drill.

She just smiled and told her it was fine. She didn't waste any time getting out of there.

A note was waiting for her from her dad when she went into the kitchen to get a snack.

"Working the late shift. Be back in the morning. Don't be out."

What an ass she thought. Just than her cell rang only to be her father.

"Hello."

"Are you at home?"

"Yes."

"Are you sure?"

"Yes I just got home from the library. I'm getting a snack and going to do homework."

"Okay. No one is there either, right?"

"No I am alone."

"Good, keep it that way. I'll be home in the morning."

"Okay."

She thought about going over to Jasper's, but in the end decided not to. She wanted to see him but she wasn't sure yet if she should be seeing him. She was having an internal tug a war between right and wrong. The problem was she wasn't sure which was which. She just needed time to try and make sense of her feelings. Besides she was afraid what it was that he wanted to talk about.

The phone woke her from sleeping. She had crashed like an hour ago from boredom. She should have gone to Jasper's. It was probably her dad double-checking that she wasn't having any fun she thought as she answered it.

"Hello."

It was after one and all Bella could think about was going home and crawling back into bed. This was all Angela's fault. It had been her on the phone calling from some party, drunk. She begged her to come, pick her up, and take her home since she had come with other friends that had just left her there. She wanted to leave her there too, but that wasn't the type of person she was.

So here she was walking into an out of control frat party. She scanned the crowd from the door looking for Angela but the room was filled with nothing but short skirts and boobs. She took a step into the room only to have some large really drunk guy crash right into her, spilling his beer all over her.

"Damn," she swore. It wasn't the only thing that she wanted to say but what was the point? If the guy hadn't been totally wasted to even understand normal conversation, the music and sound level in that place was at maximum. At this point all she wanted was to find Angela and then the nearest exit and get out of there. To think she actually thought all this time that by not getting to go to parties and things like this that she had been missing something.

She took a deep breath and walked into the mess of people. It seemed like there was someone everywhere. Couples making out, people passed out where they fell; bodies lined the floor and any other surface. No one seemed to care as they stepped around or over whoever was in their way. It seemed to take her forever to make it only a few feet and there was still no sign of Angela.

She took one more step and felt someone grabbing at her. It wasn't the first time either. In the few minutes that she had walked into the room she had felt more than a few hands on her. She was about to scream.

Someone grabbed at her again this time catching her by her hand and didn't let go. She instantly turned to pull her hand free and yell at the guy who was holding her prisoner. She had no idea who he was as she stared at him. He was a stranger to her, but there was something in his eyes that held here there and stopped her from trying to pull away. Then he smiled at her and she was gone. She instantly forgot about the party, Angela, and the fact that she didn't know him.

He tightened the hold on her hand and motioned with his head to follow him. Her brain should have told her no way but it must have been damaged from the noise and shut down because she let him led her through the maze of people and out of the party.

They ended up in the backyard of the house. There was only a few people out there and within moments of them stepping foot out there they all headed back into the party and she was left alone with him.

He was still holding her hand and all she could do was stare at the sight of their two hands clasped together. It was like there was an electric current flowing between his hand and hers. It wasn't until he slowly let her hand slip through his that she was able to focus on him and who he was.

Who he was she thought was the cutest boy she had ever seen. She knew that she was openly staring at him, but she couldn't help herself. He was beautiful but there was also something else about him that was drawing her to him even though she knew it was wrong.

His hair was a coppery bronze that was cut not too short and it had that kind of shaggy, messed up look. He had a strong face, well defined bones and a solid jaw, but he also had a youthful face that made him seem younger than he probably was. His eyes were the most incredible thing. She had never seen eyes that green. It was like they were piercing right through her. Then there were his lips. They were all pink and they looked so soft and sweet. Lips made to be kissed.

She could feel her face start to redden as that thought swirled around in her brain. As she looked up at him he smiled and she just knew that he had known what she was thinking and that just made her face glow red.

"Are you okay?" he asked and his voice was like the sweetest music and she knew that she could listen to it forever.

"I'm fine," she said, but it was like a whisper. Her voice seemed to be caught up in her throat. She had never had this type of a reaction to a boy before. Not even Jasper. That thought freaked her out and restarted the questions in her head about if she should be seeing him.

"I had the feeling like you were looking for the closest escape."

"Was it that obvious? I just came to pick up a friend of mine who had too much to drink and needed a ride. But I can't find her probably because there is like a million people in there and some guy spilled beer all over me and I got grabbed a few times and then you did it and I was about to hit you but I think that I am glad that I didn't…" she told him and then decided to add, "Since you were the one to get me out of there."

"Bella, right?" he asked and watched as her eyes lit up like how did this guy know her name? "Angela told me to watch out for you. She ended up getting a ride from someone else and wanted me to let you know," he explained to her.

"What? How do you even know her?" she questioned, right at that pissed off state.

"I don't know her. I just met her tonight. She hooked up with a friend of mine and that is who she left with. She asked me to stay and wait for you and let you know what was going on."

"And she couldn't call me and let me know that instead of having to come all the way over here for nothing," she said more to herself than to him.

"She said she tried to call, but that you didn't answer."

"Oh yeah I forgot my phone at home. I was in a hurry to get over here thinking that she really needed me. I should have known that she could take care of herself. Well thanks for going out of your way to let me know that she had left. I think that I could have spent hours in there looking for her," she told him as her mind thought about what she was going to tell Angela when she talked to her, if she ever talked to her again after this stunt.

"No problem, I'm Edward by the way," he told her with a smile.

"Nice to meet you, as you already know I am Bella. Well I better get out of here and get back home. Thanks again," Bella said turning to go when once again he grabbed her arm and pulled her back around.

"Wait, can't you stay?" he asked with puppy dog eyes that felt like they were hypnotizing her.

"No I need to get back home," Bella told him thinking even though he was a very cute boy that she had clearly had some kind of reaction to, he was still just a boy. He was not Jasper and as freaked out as she was about him she was starting to realize that was just because of how he made her feel. He made her feel like no one else could. It was deeper and intense.

"Can't I do anything to convince you to stay?" he questioned.

"I really can't."

"How come? Do you have somewhere else to be? A boyfriend perhaps?" he asked her.

She stared at him for a minute and thought to herself what the correct answer to that question was? Was Jasper her boyfriend? If someone asked him that same question how would he answer? Did it matter? She was his no matter what he called her.

"The cops are coming," someone screamed.

"I have to get out of here," Bella said as her brain slipped back to reality. She would be dead if her dad even found out that she was at a party. Without a second thought to the guy she turned and ran.

"Wait…" but she was already gone.

Bella's praying must have helped because as she was pulling away from the party she heard the cops pull up. Her life would have been over if she had to call her dad and tell him that she had been picked up by the cops. No, there was no way that was going to happen. She would rather sit in jail for the rest of her life than make that call.

It was just about two when she finally got home and all she wanted to do was go to bed. There was so much going on in her head and she needed some time to figure it all out. Something had happened tonight that had calmed her doubts about things she had feared before.

She walked into the dark hall and went to turn on the light when she felt someone grab her and then she screamed.