Ch. 11

It often takes a child's mind to see the real truth of matters. The veil of innocence is innate to an infant. They haven't yet lost their faith in the world around them, disillusioned by outside influence or forced to be concerned with maintaining the status quo. Children can look a person in the eye and know their character—their soul—immediately.

This observation is the exact reason that I'm so reluctant near children. Obviously, they are no physical threat to me. They aren't particularly cunning or acute in their senses. They don't, generally, have any notable gifts or advantages over me, apart from one...the ability to detect fraud.

You, my sweetest Bella, are as pure and innocent as they come, so with you, I must form a covenant founded on nothing but the highest of almighty virtue and vow to only live by the line of truth. This is my absolute pledge of fidelity to you, my dearest.

So in the spirit of veracity, I must begin my tale with a disclaimer of sorts. Keep in mind that each of us is a villain in someone's story, but I'm probably a villain to most, if I'm being honest—which I am, indubitably.

OooOooO

"He WHAT?!"

"Yeah, sorry to drop that on you, but, hey, it's not like he killed her himself or anything. He just has a tendency to make a series of poor choices which inevitably lead to everyone in his life suffering. Just thought you should know..."

"This conversation is over, Alice."

Oh I think it's just begun, Edward. You should be happy that I'm opening the lines of communication for you and your "mate." I know you've had problems in the past with expressing yourself fully and that you wouldn't tell her yourself, so you're welcome! Maybe you have Bella fooled, or maybe she will turn out to be just as psychotic as you, won't care, and still will choose you, but I had to give the girl a fighting chance before it was too late. We all know how quickly things can change.

"You seem to conveniently be forgetting your own role in those things you speak of."

Whatever.

I wasn't planning on tonight being so...informative, but when there's a mess, I suppose someone has to clean it up.

Knock knock

"Bella, Esme wanted me to tell you that dinner is ready." Your heart is pounding. I promise you have nothing to be afraid of. Alice must know the implications of telling the truth of our history. Those consequences will follow each of us regardless of who did what before.

You know what I always say—once a liar, always a murderer.

"Oh...Umm...Ok. Alice, which way did you say the restroom was? I think I'd like to wash my hands...Alice? What's wrong with her?"

Wonderful. Alice's vision showed you attempting to climb out of the bathroom window, and then she sees you calling Jake, who won't answer. This is a disaster.

"Sorry, Bella. Headache. I'll show you where the bathroom—" Outta the way, freak.

Oh no you don't.

"Alright, that wasn't totally true...I don't want to make this awkward, Bella, but I overheard what Alice said. I have to tell you that there is some honesty to her candor, but it was not exactly the full truth either. Will you please allow me the opportunity to explain myself?"

"Don't start your crap, Edward! I said exactly what I meant. Bella, I don't want you to get into any trouble because of him. He—"

"Deserves the chance to tell me what you two are fighting about."

"But you don't know—"

"Thank you for your concern, Alice, but unless I am in any immediate danger, I want to speak with Edward alone."

"Of course you aren't in any danger, Bella. Alice has unfairly represented my role in the unfortunate events which led to our cousin's death. I would never harm you!"

"You might not hurt her on purpose, but you didn't want Vic—"

"You have said enough, Alice! Forgive my frustration, Bella, but if you'll still allow it, I would very much like to speak with you myself and will be waiting in my room just one floor up. I'm so sorry that the evening has taken such a sudden turn for the worst."

OooOooO

Knock knock

"Bella, thank you for coming up. I guess I should get right to it. I...I know that we have only briefly known one another, and I hoped that our histories, including regrets we might hold, would come to the surface organically through conversation and shared time together. I would have told you about my past eventually, but I thought we might at least have one dinner together first. And I was going to—"

Mmm...Your hands are so warm. Wait, you're touching me?

"Stop pacing. We all have a past. No need to explain yourself."

"Pardon me?"

"It's fine really."

Fine? So I may have killed someone and it's fine?! "Excuse me? You don't want me to explain?"

"Nope."

"But what if I'm dangerous?" I am. I am so dangerous...Not to you, never to you, but the truth remains.

"You already told me that you're not going to hurt me."

"And what if I was lying?" I wasn't. I won't hurt you. I swear on my own eternal life that I won't ever bring harm to you.

"Are you going to hurt me?"

"Of course not, but you shouldn't just take me for my word."

"Why not? Isn't that exactly what we do every single day? Take strangers for their word? We interact with random people all the time and just trust that no one is going to hurt us. I mean, I probably walk past rapists every morning on my way to work and never know it."

"That's not the same situation at all." You haven't passed a single rapist in the last four weeks. Trust me.

"Isn't it?"

Your eyebrow quirked like that does something to me. I could just—no, it's not the time.

"No, we aren't strangers."

"Exactly. If you wanted to hurt me, you would have already. You wouldn't wait until I was at your parents house with your whole family here and my police chief father just 10 miles away...That would be stupid and incredibly tedious on your part to wait that long."

"I can't believe this. You have absolutely no instincts for self-preservation. Someone tells you that I played a major part in a family member's death and you act like it's no big deal."

"Hey, I have plenty of self-preservation instincts...And It is a big deal, and you can tell me whatever you want when you're ready. That was obviously a difficult thing for you to talk about. I was kind of ticked at Alice for telling me something so private about you without your consent. I even considered jumping out a window and going home just to give you an out, but then I thought that would be rude to disappear without explanation. I didn't want you to get the wrong idea..."

"Unbelievable." Here I thought you were ready to run, and instead you were worried for me.

"I'm serious. She should have respected your privacy."

"I don't know what to say. I cannot describe what I'm feeling now..."

Relief, fear...arousal...take it down a notch, would you?

"Thank you for the insight, Jasper..."

"What was that?"

"Nothing." You don't miss a thing, do you? "So you really aren't concerned about what my sister said about me?"

"No, not unless you give me a reason to be. I'm really looking forward to getting to know you more, but in order for me to do that I have to allow you to be yourself. Waiting for you to tell your story is part of that, and I hope you'll allow me the same courtesy."

I love you.

"Yes, Bella. Thank you."

"You're welcome. So, do you think we could still have a nice family dinner, or is it going to be too weird down there? We can leave if you're not comfortable here."

"Please don't worry about me. Things have always been complicated with my family, but they're overjoyed to meet you. If you're alright, I am totally at ease."

"I'm fine."

"Then let's eat."

Tell me the truth, the whole truth, and nothing but the truth. Follow and review for more!