Hey guys! Thanks for the reviews! Love you all Here's the next chapter. You'll find out what Jasper wants :P Hopefully with this I'm back on track with updating once a week.
Disclaimer: I don't own Twilight!
The door chimed when Bella pushed into the small restaurant she was meeting Jasper at. From the outside, it looked rundown but Bella was pleasantly surprised at the inside. It was a breakfast and lunch place and for being in such an obscure place, there were quite a lot of people. Jasper had called her in the morning, asking to meet at this particular restaurant, Riddle's.
It was a weird name but Bella didn't care too much. Looking around, she spotted Jasper with his back to her in the corner. He seemed engrossed in looking at the menu. Bella made her way over to him.
"Hey, Jasper," Bella spoke up when she was behind him. He looked around and got up and went around the table, gesturing for her to follow him.
"Bella! Glad you came." Jasper said as he pulled out the chair for her. Bella thought he was very polite and grinned before sitting down.
"Oh course I came. Did you think I'd just bail?"
Jasper looked cautious, as if judging if Bella was mad at what he thought. Relaxing, he noticed that she had a playful glint in her eyes. "Naw, 'course not." He replied. Jasper handed Bella a menu. "Here, look and see what you want. My treat."
Bella took it and flipped it open. "Oh no, it's okay, I can pay for myself."
"I insist," Jasper said, "what kind of man would I be if I didn't pay for lunch when I was the one that asked?"
Bella rolled her eyes. "It's not the eighteenth century, Jasper. And I'm gay… so I don't really follow that rule." She was really starting to like this kid.
Jasper laughed, "Fair enough. You have a point. But then let me just treat you as a "nice to meet you" kind of thing."
"Alright, fine," Bella said with a smile. "Guess I should get the most expensive thing on here then, yea?" She winked at him.
Jasper pretended to be hurt. "That's called taking advantage of someone."
Bella chuckled. "I'm just joking. I think I'll just take a Cobb salad."
Jasper raised his eyebrow at her. "Salad? I didn't take you to be a salad kind of girl."
"Oh yea? Then what kind of girl do you take me as?"
"Hmmm…. Beef?"
Bella couldn't help but smirk, impressed. "Well well, Jasper. You're a lot more perspective than I thought. Yea, I'm a steak girl but I just want something lite for lunch."
Jasper nodded. "Alright, then I'll take a mushroom ravioli." He looked over, spotted a waitress and waved her over. After ordering for both of them, Jasper settled down as if ready to talk. "So," he began as he leaned back on the chair.
"Uh, yea. What did you want to talk about?" Bella asked.
"It's Alice." Jasper said. "I've known her since she's come to college and we've become quite close. I'd like to say that she tells me everything that goes on in her life."
Bella raised an eyebrow, wondering if Alice told him about what she'd done to her. "And…?" She urged him to go on.
"Well, just this past week, Iet's just say that she's been more distant." Jasper looked deep into Bella's eyes. "I'm won't say I know what's going on, but I think you're that reason."
"And why do you say that?" Bella asked as the waitress came and set their food in front of them.
"Yesterday at the cafeteria Alice seemed to be having a good time with us but for some reason after you arrived she seemed closed off and almost frustrated about something. I couldn't help but notice that you guys didn't talk to each other even though it looked like you guys knew each other." Jasper paused for a bit, allowing his words to sink in. "I mean, more than just in high school cause I know you guys went to the same high school. There's this feeling I get and it's as if you're deliberately ignoring her. I think… that if you tried to be her friend, she might not be like this anymore."
Bella scoffed, "ha, right… I don't know about that."
"How can you be so sure?"
Bella shook her head. "You have no idea what happened between me and her. It was pretty serious."
"Well, you've clearly not talked it out with her and maybe that'll help?" Jasper suggested.
"Doubt it…"
"Look, I don't know how well you know Alice, but I know that she doesn't do things without a reason. She thinks things through so whatever it was, I just don't think you have her side of the story on that yet."
She rolled her eyes. "Hey, I'm not the one hurting her. If anything, she's the one messing with my life, ok?" Bella was getting just a little bit worked up over this talk. She didn't know what Jasper could possibly mean. Could Alice have another reason besides just satisfaction of knowing Bella still wanted her?
"Just try to be nicer to her or just don't completely ignore her?" Jasper pleaded. "I mean, what harm is there to that?"
Bella didn't think that Jasper knew what Alice had done to her. She didn't know if she could be normal around Alice. Every she saw her, she'd remember that night and get hot and bothered but at the same time guilty. However, she supposed Jasper was right. Even though she did that, they haven't talked about it or the real reasons it happened. It wouldn't hurt to try and befriend her.
"I guess…" Bella said, "I'll try. That's all I can promise though." Jasper leaned back on his chair, clearly happy with her answer.
"That's all I'm asking. And trust me, Alice is a very likable person when you get to know her." Bella nodded, not doubting Jasper. The topic turned lighter and they talked about everything and nothing through the rest of lunch. Before they parted, Jasper asked Bella to come over to Emmett's that night. They were apparently having a get together and Emmett knew Jasper was meeting up with her earlier so asked him to invite her.
Jasper told Bella that Alice would naturally be there and if she could start trying to be friendly as soon as possible, it would be great. Bella said she'd try and left for her dorm. She'd try, but she didn't know how Alice would react to that. She was clearly waiting for Bella to do something but she didn't really seem to care if Bella actually talked to her or not.
Right before she reached her doorknob to open it, the door opened before she could touch it. She wasn't surprised when it was Alice that came out. What did surprise her was that she had puffy red eyes as if she had just finished crying.
Alice looked startled to see Bella and a range of emotions that usually didn't show on her face was seen. Embarrassment, sadness, longing, and something else Bella couldn't figure out. All this flickered across her face before she looked to the ground and began to walk off.
Torn between talking to her or not, Bella decided that this was as good a time to start trying then any. "Hey, Alice," she called out. Alice paused and turned hesitantly around, eyes still on the ground. Bella made her way to her. "Are you okay?" Alice nodded curtly, refusing to look at Bella.
With a frustrated groan, Bella reached over, put her hand under Alice's chin, causing Alice to start a little, and lifted her head to that Alice had to look at Bella. Their eyes met for a second before Alice looked off to the side.
"Are you sure?" Bella asked. Despite everything, she couldn't deny that she still cared deeply for Alice.
"Y.. yea," Alice responded, voice cracking from the earlier crying. "I.. I'm fine." She stepped back and Bella allowed her hand to be removed from Alice's.
"Okay then." Bella relented. She didn't exactly expect Alice to pour out her heart to her anyways. "Will I see you tonight at Emmett's?" Even though she wished she didn't, she knew that deep down, she wanted to see Alice. Alice nodded again, twice, and turned and hurried down the hall.
Bella sighed as she left. This would be harder than she thought but maybe that was just because she caught Alice at a really bad time. Still thinking about this, she walked in and saw Sarah sitting on her bed with her laptop.
"Hey, Sarah," Bella began, deciding that she'd ask about Alice. "I just ran into Alice outside." Sarah looked up and her eyes narrowed just a little.
"And…?"
"Well, she looked like she was just crying and I was wondering if anything was wrong."
"Why don't you just ask her? Or are you still avoiding her."
"Who said I was ever avoiding her?"
"Come on, Bella," Sarah said as if tired. "It's really obvious."
Bella sheepishly rubbed the back of her neck. "Sorry about that. Alice's friend Jasper knocked some sense back into me. I did ask her just now, but she didn't tell me, just said she was fine."
"Then she's fine," Sarah said nonchalantly but Bella noticed that she seemed happy about something.
"Ugh," she said. "I feel like I'm totally out of the loop with something here."
"Don't worry," Sarah said. "You aren't." Bella shrugged and decided to drop it.
"By the way, I'm going over to Emmett's in like an hour or so. He told me he was having a small get-together at his place." Bella grabbed her computer as she said this and hopped onto her own bed.
Sarah looked over at her, as if surprised. "Oh, um, isn't Alice going too?"
"Hmm?" Bella asked. "Yea, why? Does it matter?"
Sarah shook her head. "No, it's just that you seemed to be avoiding her and all of a sudden you're okay going to hang out where she is going to be." She twisted her long hair in her hand. "Not that it's a big deal," she added.
Bella didn't reply for a bit as she concentrated on logging onto her computer. She felt as if Sarah was acting a bit strange and couldn't help but wonder if it had anything to do with Alice crying earlier. Maybe she broke up with Alice. Bella mentally slapped herself. She shouldn't be thinking that. If that was the case, it made Alice unhappy and so Bella wasn't extremely thrilled about it either.
"I wasn't avoiding Alice," Bella said, deciding that she would just pretend she never was. "I have just been really busy."
"Riiight…" Sarah replied, clearly not believing her. "Whatever you say," she flipped her laptop shut and got up. "I'm meeting someone for dinner, think you'll be alright on your own?" She asked as she got off the bed and began rummaging through her dresser.
"Yea, I'll be fine. Who're you meeting?"
"Oh, no one you know," Sarah replied. "I'll introduce you guys sometime. But you should probably get ready to go over to Emmett's too, you know? I believe Alice said something about eating dinner over there actually."
"Oh yea?" Bella looked over at Sarah who was changing. Politely, she averted her eyes. "I guess the time kind of infers that. I'll just be late then," she decided, feeling a little lazy. "Nothing wrong with being fashionably late."
Sarah rolled her eyes at Bella. "Okay. Right." She stood in front of Bella. "How do I look?" She asked.
"Um," Bella glanced at Sarah's skinny jeans, vans shoes, and Abercrombie large hoodie. "You look good." She replied, wondering why she cared so much. "Like a skater." She added. Sarah smiled looking pleased. "Why? Are you meeting someone special?" Bella couldn't help but ask. She thought Alice and Sarah were together but maybe they broke up earlier today and this was the reason why.
Sarah laughed in a nervous sort of way. "What? No, no one special. Just thought I'd put more effort into my appearance sometime." Bella nodded, not convinced but decided that she shouldn't pry. "I'll see you later then," Sarah continued and almost bounced to the door and leaving through it. Bella shook her head at how excited she seemed to be. She was just a little confused as to what was happening right now.
Pushing it out of her mind, she slowly got ready to go to Emmett's. She wasn't going to change, just tie her hair up in a ponytail. There was no desire for it to get in the way with whatever they were going to do. Knowing Emmett, it'd probably be videogames but maybe it'd be different especially if his girlfriend was going to be there.
After she was done, she made her way to Emmett's house. Jasper had given her quick directions and said that it wouldn't be hard to find. True to his word, Bella spotted the house and rolled her eyes. Of course it would be the biggest one on the block. Bella didn't know what she would think otherwise. With a chuckle to herself, she went up to the door and debated whether she should knock or not. Since it was her first time here, she thought she'd be polite and knock and if he told her not to, she wouldn't the next time.
Her rapt sound was heard on the other side of the door and she heard light footsteps coming to the door. It opened and light streamed out from inside and Bella was face to face with Alice.
She had changed and cleaned up considerably. Bella would have never guessed that Alice had been crying earlier that day if she hadn't seen her. Remembering her promise to Jasper and realizing Alice probably didn't want the event of earlier brought up, she merely said, "Hey Alice. What's up?"
Alice said in her quiet voice, "I'm fine. You?" Her eyes seemed guarded as she asked Bella. She stepped back as she replied and Bella stepped through the door to see the living room right in front of them with a couch and several armchairs around a tv that was plastered on the wall right next to the door. She saw the whole gang already sitting there and Emmett had gotten up and was making his way to her.
"I'm doing alright." She replied before Emmett reached her. Bella glanced at the tv and saw to no surprise that they had Call of Duty on the screen which was paused at the moment. She tilted her head in the direction of the tv. "I didn't know you were interested in videogames."
Alice shrugged and Bella could see that she seemed surprised that she was still talking to her. "If that's what they want to do, I'll do it." She replied, wariness still evident in her voice.
"Bells!" Emmett's voice boomed out. Bella gave a small jump as she didn't realize how close he was and looked up at him and smiled.
"Hey big guy." Bella reached around the big frame of Emmett and hugged him.
He grinned and hugged her. Before letting go, he held on tight and just picked Bella right off the ground. "Alright," he said with Bella still in his arms. "Now that this little player is here, we can play Risk!" He exclaimed like a little kid.
Bella hit him lightly on his back in a feeble attempt to let him drop her. "Emmett! Put me down!"
"No can do." He ignored Bella and walked over to the others making Bella feel like a five year old. She glanced over Emmett's shoulder and noticed a twinkle in Alice's eyes and her lips curled up into a smile. If she could feel silly like this but make Alice feel better, it'll all be worth it in the end.
Emmett plopped Bella down into the seat that was originally there and a chorus of "hello's" rang out from Rosalie and Jasper. She smiled back at everyone, glad that she was here. Jasper caught her eye and nodded approvingly at her before turning away and Bella knew that he had paid attention to Alice and her exchange words.
Alice had followed behind Emmett quietly and took the one remaining empty seat next to Bella herself and Bella almost groaned. She didn't know if this would be torturous or not. Bella still reacted to Alice's presence and her mind still jumped that that night a week ago whenever she saw her. She wasn't sure how Alice felt about this whole thing though. It didn't seem like she minded cause she still sat next to her but Bella couldn't help but think she was a little tense.
Shrugging it off, Bella decided that she'd enjoy hanging out with everyone and still try to befriend Alice again like she had promised Jasper. The answers would come sooner or later and Bella was okay with waiting.
What do you guys think? Are things going to move forward finally?!
I have plans to have you see into what Alice is thinking this whole time but that will come later. So for now you're just going to have to wait! Hope you guys enjoyed
