The girl arrived at Sea-Tac airport not three hours later, having managed to find a direct flight that would get her back to Seattle in as short an amount of time as possible.

She still felt it was too long.

All the way there, she fretted about it being too late, that her actions had been unforgivable and that the boy wouldn't be able to get past her betrayal. She hadn't even been able to leave him a message after hearing his silky smooth voice recording for his voicemail, his low tones leaving her a quivering mess, rendering her speechless.

She had been able to leave a message for her friend, heartfelt and apologetic, and that was her only hope of contacting the boy.

She was a wreck by the time the plane landed, and she barely held it together going through customs. However, belatedly realising that she still had a flask in her bag, she stopped as soon as she came through the arrivals gate, rifling through her bag and locating the liquid gold before taking a long pull.

Over the lip of her flask, she noticed a boy, the one person who had the ability to make her choke on her alcohol.

The boy.

He had been standing against the wall, waiting in the spot the friend had told him to wait,

Never bet against Alice, he reminded himself as he wondered again for the tenth time what he was doing there. He wanted to go after her. Every fibre in his being was telling to him move, go, run.

But the friend had told him to wait, to trust her. And so he did.

And now he was glad for that.

He watched the girl cautiously, not sure what his next move should be. As fate would have it, the girl took the decision out of his hands when she approached him, flask outstretched.

It occurred to her the striking resemblance this had to her first arrival in Forks, when she had been angry and resentful, cursing the weather and planning her escape.

Now she felt like she was coming home - and to the right person, too.

She held the flask out to him, waiting for the rejection. She decided to say nothing.

Actions speak louder than words, right?

She figured that if he refused the flask it was over; their relationship irretrievable.

But if he took the flask, then surely that meant he was willing to listen to her actions.

The boy took the drink.

Internally rejoicing, the girl watched him as he took a sip, clasping the flask in her hand when he returned it to her.

It was his move. The boy wondered about his next course of action - the ball was in his court and he needed to make the next move.

He reached out a hand for her to shake, introducing himself anew.

A fresh start.

"I'm Jasper Whitlock."

The girl looked down at the hand, recognising it for what it was, a peace offering, but not willing to let that be the new course of their relationship.

So, ignoring the hand, she replied, "It's nice to meet you, Jasper. I'm Bella," and with that she launched herself into his arms, wrapping her arms around his neck. To his credit, he only stumbled slightly from the force of it as she locked her legs around his waist and pressed her lips to his.

He returned her kiss with vigour, and she knew then that she was forgiven.

They would have a lot to talk about, with her trust issues and his feelings and worries of abandonment, but he still had feelings for her, loved her even, and she loved him.

She realised this all over and pulled back to look him in the eyes. Both their pulse and breathings rates were elevated with the sheer intensity of the kiss and it was a moment before she could even try to speak.

She started to apologise, but only got a few words out before being cut off with his lips. He protested when she pulled away again, claiming she didn't need to say anything, that it wasn't necessary, but she insisted that she needed to get this out.

"You're going to want to hear this," she said, before steeling herself for what she was about to do.

And there, in the middle of the arrivals gate at Sea-Tac airport, looking into the shockingly deep grey-blue eyes of her soul mate, her kindred spirit, her other, better half, she opened her mouth to him and said the words that would cement them together forever.

"I love you."