Many thanks again to everyone who has taken the time to review! I hadn't realized how important feedback was until I started posting in this forum. I never would have believed it if I hadn't experienced it myself, but reviews actually do help speed up the writing. :-)

Also, for everyone who expressed frustration at not being able to have Jasper's POV, I have felt this frustration as well. In fact, I hadn't realized how hard it would be to write this story from Bella's single POV. But having made that commitment in the beginning, I'm very reluctant to go back on my word. Instead, if you feel I do a good enough job with this story by the time it ends, I may pull a Midnight Sun and re-write it in its entirety from Jasper's POV. But you'll have to let me know how you feel about that later.

In the meantime, here's the big movie night.

As always, the characters all belong to Stephanie Meyer.

Chapter 10: Movie Night

We stayed on the beach for a while, talking about inconsequential stuff. As before, being with Jake was effortless. He was funny, and the stories he told me about his friends made me laugh out loud as I haven't in a long time. We only stopped and went back to his house when we were both faint with hunger.

After lunch we moved the conversation to his garage, where he worked on his car and I watched. I found watching him work absolutely fascinating. The pure pleasure on his face and happiness that radiated from him was enough to affix a permanent smile on my face as well. I was as thrilled as he was when he told me that the repairs were nearly complete.

Jake stopped working around four o'clock so he could shower and change. He tried to cover it up, but I could tell he was a little nervous about going out with my friends. The biggest hint was when he asked me what he should wear – it wasn't something Jake would ordinarily care about. We went through his limited wardrobe choices together, and settled on a simple black T-shirt and jeans. When he came out of the bathroom, freshly showered and wearing the new ensemble, I knew we had made the right choice. The T-shit and jeans fit perfectly, stretching over his overgrown frame to emphasize his muscular physique without being too tight and obnoxious. I knew the other girls would have a hard time keeping their eyes and hands off him.

"Wow, Jake. You look goooood!" I teased.

"You think so, huh?" He said, raising one eyebrow.

"Oh, yeah. You'll drive the girls to distraction and the guys mad with envy."

He shrugged.

"I only have one mission tonight, and that's to keep Mike's paws off you. Anything else is gravy."

I chuckled. We left a note for Billy and Charlie and drove back to my house. I didn't bother showering and only changed my jeans and shoes, which were full of sand from the beach. This was not a night to make any special effort to enhance my appearance.

Jake inhaled an entire bag of potato chips as we waited for Mike. As huge as he was already, I swore I could see him growing in front of my eyes. It was like seeing an evolution of a superhero out of a comic book – simply amazing.

I had a bit of a problem with Jake as I slipped him a $20 bill to take care of his share of the movie and dinner. He put up a good fight, until I reminded him about the car and how his money would be better used for car parts.

"You're doing me a big favor here, Jake, the least I can do is pay. Besides, I have a job, so I can better afford it. And I really want you to finish the repairs so I can go on that ride you promised me!" Reluctantly, he pocketed the cash, giving me a sheepish grin.

As promised, Mike pulled up to the house at 5:30. A shadow crossed his face when he saw that I came out of the house with Jake.

"Hey guys," I said, trying to sound casual, "Do you remember my friend, Jake?"

I could tell by their faces that none of them could. It was no wonder, Jake had changed and matured so much since the spring, he was almost unrecognizable.

"You met him at First Beach in the spring," I prodded. Jessica was the first to put the pieces together.

"Oh yeah, I remember, you were there with your friends. Hi Jake." Her voice was a bit breathless. I stifled a laugh and shot Jake an 'I told you so' look.

"Hey," Jake said, and winked at Jessica. She giggled.

I went through the rest of the introductions.

"Anyway, I was hanging out with Jake today and invited him to go with us. I hope you don't mind," I deliberately directed the question to the group, instead to Mike, who was shooting murderous glares at Jacob. For his part, Jake didn't seem to notice.

"Not at all, right?" Jessica said, "The more the merrier." Mike turned beet red and fumed, but didn't say a word.

I saw that Mike had planned to have me sit in the passenger seat next to him, but Jake's size made it impractical for him to sit anywhere else, so I squeezed in with Jessica and Eric on the bench seat in the very back. The ride to Port Angeles was extremely uncomfortable. Jessica and Lauren didn't seem to notice as they discussed the stars of the movie we were about to see and other equally trivial subjects. Eric and Tyler contributed little to the conversation, both of them watching Jake, cautiously. They didn't seem as uncomfortable as Mike, for which I was glad. Fortunately, Lauren was more interested in Tyler than Jake and Eric wasn't particularly interested in Jessica, so her fascination with Jake didn't seem to bother him much. Mike, however, was a different story. He didn't say a word on the entire drive and even from the back seat I could see the tension in his grip on the steering wheel. Suddenly I felt horribly ashamed and insensitive. It probably would have been more kind to cancel on him this morning than to let him get hopeful and excited about the evening only to crush him when he got to my house. I watched his back wearily, wondering what I could do to salvage the situation without giving him the wrong idea.

Despite being completely ignored by Mike, Jake seemed comfortable. He didn't really participate in Jessica and Lauren's conversation, but on occasion he would turn around and dazzle them with his smile. I had a feeling he was really trying to see how I was doing, for which I was grateful. A couple of times his gaze caught mine and he winked conspiratorially, but the undercurrent of tension in the Suburban was too strong for me to respond in kind.

As we pulled into the parking lot at the movie theater, Mike's demeanor suddenly shifted. He straightened in the driver's seat and relaxed his grip on the steering wheel, as though he had made a decision he had been struggling with during the drive. At first I thought I was the only one who noticed, but then Jake looked back at me with one raised eyebrow, and I knew he had felt it too. I shrugged and sent him a look that told him I had no idea what was going on. We would find out what Mike was up to soon enough.

As we got out of the Suburban, I could see Mike trying hard to shepherd us along so that he and I would be in the back of the group. Jake and I exchanged another glance, and I signaled that this was fine. Mike was not going to try anything in the parking lot.

I knew Mike wanted to talk, so I deliberately slowed my pace to match his, letting the rest of the group walk ahead of us, out of earshot. Mike was clearly uncomfortable, but determined to proceed with his plan.

"So, you and Jake spent the day together?" He asked cautiously, the way you ask questions you don't really want to hear answers to. The unasked question was obvious. In spite of myself, I sought to re-assure him.

"Yeah. His dad and my dad are good friends. He's practically family."

Mike was somewhat relieved, though not completely convinced.

"He looks different than he did last year. What grade is he in, again?"

I smiled slightly. I had a feeling Mike remembered that Jake was younger, but that was hard to believe given how much he'd grown. He overshadowed all three senior boys in our group in terms of height and bulk.

"He's a sophomore, I think. He goes to school on the reservation."

"That's right," Mike brightened considerably. "So he's like a little brother?" He asked hopefully. I smiled again.

"Something like that. Except he's a big flirt."

Mike's face fell a little. The prospect of Jake flirting with me obviously didn't sit well with him.

"So you're not here with him?" He placed emphasis on the word 'with'. "Like, on a date?"

I cringed inside. This must be so hard for him.

"No, Mike. This isn't a date thing, remember? Just a group of friends going to the movies, right? I'm not with anyone." I could almost hear his relief, and I congratulated myself. Jake and I actually managed to convince Mike that it was a good thing this wasn't a date night. I started to hope this could work out well after all.

We were nearing the box office and the first of our group were already buying their tickets. Mike positioned himself in front of me, and I knew he intended to pay for my ticket. I pursed my lips, realizing that he still hadn't gotten the point.

"Hey, Bells." I heard Jake say, "I got one for you, too." He flashed me another conspiratorial grin and handed me a ticket. I let out a soft sigh of relief. Jake was clearly a bit of a mind reader. Just like Edward!

The pain that followed the though hit me like a ton of bricks. My face must have betrayed me, because instantly Jake was by my side and his arm snaked around my waist supportively.

"You OK, Bella? What happened?"

I shook my head to clear my mind. I didn't want to think about him right now. I wondered how much time would pass before I could go a day without him invading my life.

"I'm fine, Jake." I said, leaning into him a little for support. "Just a stray thought."

I looked up and my eyes met Mike's. His face was a kaleidoscope of emotion: anger at Jake for foiling his plans; confusion at my sudden mood change; concern for my wellbeing; jealousy and resentment at Jake's support. Reluctantly, I pulled myself away from Jake, so as not to upset Mike further.

"Let's get inside," I said, following the rest of our friends, who were already handing their tickets to the usher. Knowing we were going out to eat afterwards, we passed by the concession stand.

Inside the theater, we decided to all sit in one row. Tyler and Lauren went in first, followed by Eric and Jessica, who grabbed Jake's hand and pulled him behind her. I quickly stepped into the row behind Jake, not giving Mike a chance to sit between us.

We had a little time before the movie started and the house lights hadn't gone down yet. I saw Jessica start a conversation with Jake, forcing him to turn towards her and away from me. Mike leaped at the opportunity to speak with me alone.

"I'm really glad you're here, Bella," his voice was low and he leaned closer to me, presumably to make it look like he was trying to make sure I heard him. As he leaned in I caught a whiff of a strange scent, a mixture of spice and musk. With horror, I realized that he was wearing cologne.

"Sure," I said. "It sounds like a good movie." Just stick to neutral subjects, Bella.

"You look really pretty tonight. That color looks great on you," I looked down at my shirt with disbelief. Where was he getting these lines? Even I knew pale-skinned, brown-haired and brown-eyed girls did not look their best in beige.

"Thanks," it seemed impolite to laugh at his attempts to flatter me. I glanced over at him. He had obviously taken care with his appearance. His hair was carefully styled to appear casual and he was wearing what appeared to be a new polo shirt and khaki pants. Reluctantly, I said "you look nice too." He had the grace to look embarrassed.

"I'm sorry you had to miss your shift Friday night. Did you do anything fun instead?" Oh, boy. Now we were getting into dangerous territory.

"No," I said, trying to nip that subject in the bud, "not really." The whole stilted conversation would have been funny if I wasn't one of the participants.

"So, did you choose a play to do your English paper on yet?" Poor guy, he was really getting desperate.

"Nope," I decided to throw him a lifeline. English seemed like a safe enough subject. "I'm leaning towards Julius Caesar"

"Oh, Shakespeare, huh? I don't know. Shakespeare and I never got along. I was thinking of Inherit the Wind."

"That's a good choice," I agreed. "Our drama club performed that play in my sophomore year, back in Phoenix. They did a great job."

"Yeah. I guess I like plays that are more modern and American," he said, "ones that I can understand without needing a dictionary." I laughed.

"You have a point. My annotated version of Shakespeare's plays definitely comes in handy. But his plays are so beautiful – they're worth a little extra work." I was enjoying this conversation and I soon found myself turned completely towards Mike, our heads close together as we compared our literary likes and dislikes. It was actually really easy to talk to him, when he wasn't trying to be Casanova. I wondered what other interest we had in common and I actually seriously considered whether some time down the line, when I was really over Edward instead of just pretending to be, there was a chance of Mike and me being more than friends.

Our conversation continued until the lights dimmed and the previews started. The first preview was for a sequel to a popular spy series. The main character was a renaissance man – a great lover and fighter. The preview was sprinkled with several love interests to occupy the spy's time between more perilous assignments. When the preview was over Mike leaned towards me.

"That one looks great, Bella. Would you like to go see it with me when it comes out?"

And there it was. How was it possible that I had not anticipated this moment and allowed myself to be blindsided? And what was I supposed to do now?

Fortunately, the next preview involved fighter jets, and the deafening noise form the speakers precluded any conversation, buying me a few seconds of precious time to gather my thoughts. I realized that I didn't need to get too fancy. Simplicity would be best.

"I don't really care for that series, Mike," I said, nearly sighing out loud with relief at my relatively quick thinking, "Thanks, anyway."

Mike looked like he was going to say something else, but then the opening credits were rolling and I turned away from him, pretending to pay close attention to the movie. I made sure to keep my right hand away from the armrest, just in case Mike had any ideas in that direction. Sometime midway through the movie Jake leaned over and whispered in my ear "Everything all right over there?" I nodded. "Minor crisis successfully averted."

I wasn't really paying attention to the movie at all. The last thing I needed to watch right now was a romance. Instead, I focused my mind on Jasper. It was problematic that Billy and Jake knew he was back in town. It meant that Charlie could find out about Jasper at any moment, and that would be a disaster. I couldn't imagine any circumstances under which Charlie would be OK with me visiting a 19-year-old single guy living alone, even if the guy was my ex-boyfriend's brother. And if he knew I had already done it and lied to him about it, I would be grounded until graduation! I panicked at the thought that my visits with Jasper, as short lived as they might be, could be over even before he left town to re-join his family. The more I thought about it, the more miserable I became.

Thankfully the movie was short. We got up and left the theater as the end credits were rolling and decided to walk to the restaurant. We chose Chinese, because it was cheap and made it easy to purchase and share a bunch of different dishes. Once again, I was seated between Jake and Mike. That was fine, until Mike decided to throw his arm over the back of my chair and rest his fingertips on my left upper arm. It was a seemingly meaningless, friendly gesture, but I tensed up nevertheless. Jake sensed my discomfort and immediately wrapped his right arm around me, pulling me close to his side, effectively trapping Mike's fingers between us, forcing Mike to withdraw his arm.

"I got your back, Bells" Jake whispered in my ear and I giggled, earning a dirty look from Mike and Jessica. He let me go as soon as he knew Mike's arm was gone.

The rest of the night was fairly uneventful. Everyone spent a lot of time discussing the movie we had just seen, trying to impress each other with who could remember more of the funny lines. Since I hadn't been watching, I had nothing to contribute to the conversation. I threw in an occasional affirmation or a half-hearted laugh, but otherwise remained on the periphery. Finally it was time to pay the check and return home. As soon as we were on the road to Forks, I felt more relaxed.

My relief was short lived, as I realized that Mike had a plan for the end of the night that differed drastically from mine. He had engineered a return route that resulted in Jake being dropped off first. As he got out of the Suburban he threw me an 'I did what I could' glance. "I'll talk to you soon, Jake" I called out from the back bench as he closed the passenger door.

Mike then reversed the order of pick up, taking everyone else from the group home one by one, until we were the only two people left. Not wanting to feel like a cab passenger, I moved to the seat beside Mike. I was starting to feel uncomfortable. I knew I had nothing to fear from Mike, but I was worried that he would try to set up another date or otherwise force me to be crystal clear about my lack of feelings for him. I had completely lost control of the situation, and I didn't like it one bit.

I opened the passenger door and got out as soon as Mike pulled into my driveway and parked. To my dismay, Mike followed, walking me to the front door.

"I had a great time tonight, Bella," he said hesitantly, "I hope you did too and that we can do it again some time, just the two of us." I saw him lean forward in an attempt to kiss me, but before his lips could reach mine or I could pull away, we both heard a deep, animalistic growl from a dark portion of the yard. Both of our heads snapped in the direction of the sound, which was so low it may actually have been a vibration.

"What the heck?" Mike asked, his face betraying a hint of apprehension. "Did you hear that?"

I sure had heard that, and I had a good suspicion who had made the sound. It was the same sound I heard through a haze last spring in Phoenix, as Edward's brothers were killing James after he had bitten me. I knew that the only source of the noise could have been Jasper. I was at once grateful and furious.

"Yes. Whatever it is, it doesn't sound friendly. I should go inside and you should go home." I said.

"You're probably right," he looked and sounded uncertain. "I'll see you around, Bella," he said. I was already turned around, unlocking the front door.

"See you, Mike." I said, walking into the house and shutting the door behind me. I knew I was being rude, but I reasoned that rudeness was better than outright rejection.

"Is that you, Bella?" Charlie called form his bedroom. "Did you have a good time?"

"It's me, dad," I shouted back. "It was fine."

I waited for Mike's Suburban to be gone before carefully unlocking the front door again. I walked out into the driveway.

"Jasper?" I hissed angrily. "Stop hiding. I know you're out here."

He walked over from the back yard, standing in a thin sliver of light from the driveway lamp post.

"Have you been following me all night? I thought we discussed this and you weren't going to come along. What if someone had seen you?"

"Relax, Bella. I never left Forks. But I figured Newton would try to find a way to get you here alone, so I decided to wait and see if you needed me."

My anger ebbed. I should have been mad at him for behaving like a stalker, but his instincts had been absolutely right and I owed him.

"How was your evening? Did you manage to keep things casual?"

I wanted so badly to tell him all about my evening, but it was late and this was not a subject to be discussed in the middle of the night in front of my own house.

"I can't talk now, Jasper. Charlie will wonder why I haven't gone upstairs."

He was silent for a moment. I started turning back to the house when I heard him say quietly, "Get inside and pretend to go to bed, then call me. I'll be waiting."

Writing this chapter was really, really hard. It's been a while since I;ve been a teenager, so I wasn;t sure if the if the whole "date" scenario was realistic. At one point I thought I might re-write it, but positive reviews convinced me otherwise. Thank you!

Whether you loved it or hated it, I would really like to hear your reviews and critiques. Thanks in advance!