Elevator Rendezvous
BPOV

*Screech*

*Shudder*

*Thud*

What. The fuck.

Seriously? Could this get any worse?

I knew this weekend was a mistake. It had been foretold from the beginning.

I had tried to get out of it. I had tried, I had begged and pleaded with Alice, but she had had none of it, forcing me to spend an excruciatingly awkward four hour drive to Seattle stuck in a car with Jasper. Yes, Emmett, Rosalie and Alice were all there too, but with Emmett driving (meaning that Rosalie got shotgun by default) and Alice needing a row to herself due to the fact that she apparently always fell asleep on long car journeys and was a kicker, left Jasper and I in the middle row together.

I was just thanking God that Edward hadn't come.

At first, I hadn't been sure if I was relieved or offended that he wasn't going to be there - though with him, Jasper and I all sitting together it would have been the most awkward car ride ever so I suppose I was thankful for that.

Either way, I knew I didn't want to be there.

"Wait," I had asked Alice, crossing my arms in front of my chest. "How come he gets out of going but I'm being forced to come?"

Alice had looked at me with exasperation, her tone reflecting her expression.

"Because, Bella, Edward actually does need to work to get his grades, as opposed to you who can skip almost all of her lessons, never do the homework and still get straight A's. You have no excuse, and I want you there."

How about the fact that it's going to be fucking awkward for an excuse?

I had bit my tongue though, not wanting to draw attention to the fact that things were weird between Jasper and I right now, and vowed to try and enjoy myself in spite of it.

No such luck. Because despite the fact that I had my iPod, so that I couldn't hear him moving, and I could close my eyes and not see him, I was prevented from pretending that he wasn't there by his smell. His fucking mouth-wateringly fresh scent that was so uniquely Jasper that I wanted to scream was all I could smell, and with the smell came the memories.

The feeling of his soft lips on mine, of his arms encircling me, of his body pressed up against mine, pushing me into and trapping me against the wall. The feeling of being dominated, and the thrill of excitement that came with that.

And then, the look of hurt in his eyes. The hole that ripped in my chest and the ache he left behind when he walked out. We hadn't spoken since then, and then were stuck together.

Even then, the car ride wasn't so bad. Even if I couldn't ignore or deny the feelings I now knew without doubt I had for Jasper, but could never act on, could never allow myself to be with him, I survived the car ride because there were other people there.

So, when we arrived in Seattle at the hotel, I made a mental note to make sure to never be alone with Jasper.

Because that could kill me.

But of course, again, as always, Lady Luck was not on my side.

Because as soon as we had checked in, I realised that the room I was sharing with Alice was missing a coffee maker, and I need that shit in the morning. So I started to head down to the front desk.

And lo and behold, who else is waiting for the elevator, but Jasper Whitlock.

Why?

I couldn't pretend that I suddenly wasn't going down, so we both stepped into the elevator, leading to a horrible awful moment when we both reached for the ground floor button and then recoiled, and then we were stuck in a room four by five feet, going down thirty-five floors.

And then the elevator stopped.

*Screech*

*Shudder*

*Thud*

What. The fuck.

Seriously? Why? Why, God? Am I being punished for something?

I was less scared of falling to my death than I was uncomfortable at the unfortunate situation I now found myself in.

"Shit," I muttered, pressing the alarm button and waiting for a response.

"Uh, yeah, sorry folks," a voice crackled through the intercom, "you're going to be fine, but it's going to be a while before we're able to get you out. Rush hour traffic from the elevator maintenance company. Just, sit tight."

And that was it.

Still, neither of us had said anything. There was complete silence in the lift, and it was stifling.

Risking a glance over at Jasper, where he was standing directly across from me, I found those deep grey-blue eyes boring into mine, his stare intense and full of anguish. Closing my eyes in defeat, I sank to the floor, hugging my knees to my chest.

Fuck. Me.

Now we just had to wait it out.

**JPOV**

*Screech*

*Shudder*

*Thud*

What. The fuck.

Seriously? The elevator had come to, literally, a screeching halt, leaving me stranded with the girl of my dreams.

Scratch that, with the girl who had basically ripped out my heart after having heard a declaration of my love and telling me that she was confused because she had just slept with my supposed best friend.

Yeah. Kind of turns the experience from one that could have been amazing into shit.

And god, the elevator was small. I was only three feet away from her, and the air around me was quickly being penetrated by her scent. Her exotic, flowery, mouth-watering scent that made me absolutely crazy.

I wanted her to be mine so badly my hands were itching for me to reach out and grab her.

But she wasn't mine.

Because she was confused.

Fuck. Me.

I had been so lost in my thoughts that I didn't notice Bella had pressed the alarm button, but was quickly brought out of it when a voice filled the air between us.

"Uh, yeah, sorry folks, you're going to be fine, but it's going to be a while before we're able to get you out. Rush hour traffic from the elevator maintenance company. Just, sit tight."

Feeling the air in the lift suddenly get much heavier, I looked over at Bella.

I was wondering if she couldn't have made this easier for me by wearing something that didn't make her look completely ravishing, as she was currently wearing her kick-ass boots, a micro mini skirt, her Iggy t-shirt and black leather jacket. Suddenly, her eyes flitted to mine and, I'm sure, found me staring at her unabashedly. After four days of silence, this apparently was too much for her as she closed her eyes tightly and sank to the floor, pulling her knees to her chest.

Seeing her like that broke something within me. She looked so… fragile. And so unlike the Bella that I knew.

Silently, I sat on the floor opposite her, waiting for her to look at me. I didn't know what I was going to say when she did, I just knew that I craved her eyes, those big, chocolatey brown eyes.

When I looked into her eyes, I felt like Augustus Gloop, drowning in the chocolate river.

She could suck me into her soul with those eyes.

And they were currently fixated on the floor.

Suddenly, finally, her eyes flicked up and met mine, and with that, she broke, her perfect lips parting and whispering, "Jasper." My heart broke all over again with that one word. The way her voice cracked when she said it.

Inhaling sharply, I held it together, but barely. I still didn't know what I wanted to say, and until I did, I wasn't going to say anything. The air between us became more and more tense as it filled with all the unspoken words we had yet to utter, things we needed to say but were so far too chicken shit to go through with.

I was steeling myself up to go first, when she beat me to it.

"I didn't sleep with Edward," she said, and with that my eyes snapped off the lift wall and to her, those words meaning everything and nothing if they weren't true.

She shook her head, starting again. "That's… not what I wanted to start with. What I mean is… I'm not confused about you.. well I am, but," she inhaled and exhaled in quick succession.

"I'm not confused between you and Edward," she finished concisely.

I took that in, but the words weren't computing for some reason.

"Because you didn't sleep with him," I tried to confirm.

She nodded, looking down. "Oral sex was on the list so he just…" she waved to the general area of her cunt and then looked back up at me. "But I couldn't go through with it. He's not…"

"He's not what?" I pushed her. I needed her to say these things. After four days of silence after I poured my heart out to her, I needed to hear these things.

"He's not the right person."

I shuffled closer to her, moving so that I was sitting cross-legged right in front of her, our legs milimetres apart. I took her hands in mine and drew her gaze.

"And who is the right person?" I asked.

Please, please if there is a God in heaven, let it be me. Let it be me.

"You are, Jasper," when I made to move at those words, she held me back with a conditional clause, "but the thing is, I'm not."

I furrowed my brow, not sure what she meant.

"I'm not… good, Jasper," she said, getting up and crossing to the other side of the lift. Scrambling up after her, I kept my distance but yearned to go to her.

"I'm not good, Jasper," she repeated, "And I'm not good for you, because you are good. You are intrinsically decent Jasper, whereas I am not. And that is why, while you are the right person, I am not. I can't hurt you."

I cut her off when I thought she was going to say more.

"You can't say that, because by not being with me you are hurting me," this time I crossed to her, tilting her head up so that she was forced to meet my eyes. "You are hurting me, Bella."

I saw the anguish flash across her face and felt remorse for the way that I said that so bluntly, but it needed to be said. She was clearly damaged, not believing herself good enough for me when in reality I was barely worthy to breathe the same air as her, and I was about to tell her this, had her next words not shattered me.

"Better to hurt you a little now than destroy you later," she whispered, eyes swirling with pain and the resignation that she was letting me go.

"No."

She creased her brow.

"What?"

"No," I repeated.

"You can't just say no," she protested.

"No. I don't accept that. I love you, Bella. You don't get to throw me away because you are under the delusion that you aren't good enough for me. Because I will fight for you. It will be a pretty weird fight because I will be fighting you for your own heart, but I'll do it, because we are fated to be together."

She tilted her head away, but I put a finger under her jaw and brought her back. "Yes, it sounds stupid, and yes it's all part of that mumbo-jumbo hippy dippy shit neither of us believe in, but that doesn't make it any less true. Can't you feel it, Bella?"

Her eyes were full of pain, so full that it was brimming over, but then her head moved infinitesimally.

She had nodded.

Internally whooping for joy for a moment only, I reminded myself that while a battle may have been won the war was far from over.

"Now, will you please, please, let me take you out on a date?"

Again her head moved, this time in a larger movement and it was accompanied by a barely whispered, "Yes."

Watching her eyes for any signs of hesitance and finding none, I leaned in and pressed my lips to hers, once, twice in quick succession. However, this time she quickly took control and cupped her hand around my neck, bringing her lips to mine and moving her mouth over mine. Her tongue asked for entrance and, when granted, entered my mouth, sweet and wet and hot and so perfectly Bella. This kiss was frantic and filled with need.

We were broken apart by the juddering start of the lift coming back to life. I held on to Bella's hips, relishing in the feeling of her pressed up against me, and the feeling of her hands in my hair.

We stayed in that position for a few moments, just staring at each other.

Making a decision, I leaned into her again, internally grinning when I saw her begin to pucker her lips for another kiss. "Tomorrow night, I am taking you out on a date," I said, my lips grazing her ear, Pulling back slightly, I gazed into her dilated eyes. "And make no mistake. You will not be able to back out now. The only reason I'm waiting so long is because I'm pretty sure Alice has tonight figured out and I'm not willing to cross that evil pixie."

Laughing, Bella nodded and let her arms fall to her sides, distancing herself from me. A moment later, the lift doors opened and we stepped out into the lobby.

"See you tonight," I said jovially.

"Tonight," she repeated, an easy smile that I wasn't sure I'd seen before gracing her features.

Oh yes. This was good.