Chapter 22

Bella had wanted to eat before we did anything else, so we'd gone straight to the diner. She let me hold her hand as we walked inside, there was still a bit of tension from the conversation we'd had on the drive over, but it was slowly easing. The Fairmount Restaurant was, to my surprise, attached to a motel and seemed a bit dated. I hoped Bella would at least like the food. It was fairly busy, but not packed.

I held my breath as a waitress showed us to a booth along the outer wall of windows. It was near the middle of the diner and I was thankful that we were close to the kitchen and not far from two separate exits. Once we were seated, I took a careful breath and I could feel Bella's curiosity as she watched me assess the scent of the diner. I relaxed when the over powering smell of sizzling meats and fried foods hit my nose. Of course, I could still sense the humans underneath, but it was masked enough that I felt confident it wasn't going to be a problem. I hadn't hunted since yesterday afternoon, but my control was still holding up. I heard someone walking up behind me and the scent of her offensive perfume hit me less than a second later.

"Hey guys I'm Dawn, I'll be your waitress today, can I start you guys off with something to drink?" she said in a friendly tone. She had a bouncing pony tail containing wild red curls and wore bright pink lipstick that clashed with it harshly. Bella smiled at her and ordered first.

"Um, yeah, I'll take an orange juice." she said, eyeing me curiously. The waitress scribbled in her note pad and looked to me expectantly.

"A black coffee please." I said, smirking at Bella and earning a grin.

"Alright I'll be right back with that, then I'll get your orders." The waitress said, before leaving the table.

"Please don't drink that for my sake." Bella said with a chuckle, looking up at me from behind her menu.

"Don't worry, it would just look a little out of place if I didn't get anything at all." I told her, pretending to look over my own menu. I felt her growing indecision as she looked over her options.

"Hmm . . . I'm kind of in the mood for breakfast food, all I had this morning was a granola bar, but I can't decide between the waffle, or the omelet." She mindlessly tapped her fingers on the table and I smiled, remembering Alice's suggestion.

"Alice said you should get the omelet."

"Oh, is that what she normally orders?" Bella said, raising an eyebrow. I laughed and rolled my eyes. "I'm just kidding, I'll take her word for it." Dawn came back then with our drinks and took Bella's order diligently. When the waitress left our table, Bella's gaze was drawn to the window. I could feel concern peeking through her thoughtful mood.

"What are you thinking about Bella?" I asked after a moment. She blinked a few times and looked at me, I could feel her embarrassment.

"Sorry, I must've zoned out for a minute, I was just thinking about um, Alice. How did she know what I would like to eat? How much does she see of our time together if she got to experience our date before we did . . ." She trailed off, biting her lip and staring back out the window. I sighed. This day really wasn't going the way that I'd hoped.

"She see's a lot. She's been watching closely because she's helping make sure that I'm in control around you. This is still dangerous Bella. She's watching us, she's watching Edward, all on top of trying to live her own life. She doesn't do it to eavesdrop or be nosey." I felt a pang of guilt from Bella at my last statement.

"I'm sorry, I didn't mean it like that. I just feel like she must know me almost as well as you do, and I know almost nothing about her besides that she can see my future."

"It's okay, I'm sorry too. I've had a lot of time to get used to it, but it probably is a little unnerving finding out that someone is watching pieces of your life happen before they actually do, no matter how good the intention is."

"So does she tell you everything before it happens?"

"No, I've been just as surprised as you have. I was led to believe that I was just switching classes with Edward to help out the greater good of the family and that you were just any other human. Though, from that first moment that I looked into your eyes, I had a sneaking suspicion that there was something else there. Alice had been acting strange around me for weeks, but I didn't know why."

"So she saw me coming to Forks weeks in advance?" She asked as her eyebrows scrunched together. She wasn't alarmed or concerned, just genuinely trying to understand.

"What would you think if I told you that Alice has saw some version of you entering my life for as long as I've known her?"

"What do you mean?" I felt her shock and disbelief.

"This is kind of strange to talk about, but I've been alone since Alice met me. She's always told me that I would find my other half, to have patience. There were times when I didn't think I could take it anymore and she'd be right there, giving me a pep talk that would leave me feeling hopeful rather than lost. I didn't know this until a few days ago, but Carlisle told me that Alice had always had a feeling I'd end up falling in love with a human. She just couldn't see your face until you made the decision to move to Forks." I tried to swallow down my nerves as I let Bella digest my words.

"You're . . . falling in love with me?" her heart rate increased.

"Bella, I've been hopeless since I laid eyes on you." I reached for her hand across the table and let her feel what I felt for her. She gasped and stared at me with big wide eyes. I felt a wave of panic from her as she let go of my hand and stumbled out of her seat.

"I - I - I gotta go to the bathroom." I watched as she looked around frantically for the bathrooms, feeling my own panic set in. I sent Alice a text.

Thanks for warning me this day was going to be a disaster.

The waitress brought Bella's food to the table and I stared at the plate, I wanted to fling it across the room like a child in a temper tantrum. I didn't deserve Bella, I knew that, so why was I being pushed to keep pursuing this if it was just going to slip through my fingers in the end? It didn't seem fair. I sat with my elbows propped on the table in front of me, my head in my hands until Bella returned. She was swimming in guilt, nerves, and embarrassment.

"I'm really sorry Jasper. I don't know what happened."

"I'm the one that should be sorry. We haven't even known each other for a full week and I'm making a fool of myself, professing my love to you." I felt another pang of guilt from her, and a medley of other emotions. Insignificance, insecurity, fear, and anxiety. Underneath it all, her love was still there, though it was sort of hiding.

"Jasper, that's not it. I - I just don't understand how you can love me. How your sister can spend all of her time making sure that I'm safe. I don't deserve it, I'm nothing. I'm just a human and you're this magnificent supernatural being. This has been the most crazy, exciting, happiest week of my life, but I'm absolutely terrified that I'll wake up one day and you'll just be . . .gone."

"Bella, you are the most beautiful girl I've ever laid my eyes on, and your soul is just as radiant. There is nothing in this world that could ever make me disappear from your life, unless you asked me to go. I will be by your side for as long as you'll allow me and I'll never stop trying to show you just how wrong you are about yourself. You deserve anything and everything that your heart desires." She stared down into her food as tears fell down her face.

"My eggs . . . are . . . getting . . .cold." She said through quiet sobs.

"Bella, why don't you go out to the truck. I'll have them make you a new one and we can just sit out there while you eat. This conversation's got a bit heavy for the diner, don't you think?" She chuckled and wiped the dampness from her face.

"How embarrassing. Now I've really ruined our day."

"Bella, you haven't ruined anything. I'll be right out, I'm gonna get the check and have them make you a new omelet, just calm down and try to relax. I'll help when I get out there, okay?" She nodded and headed out to her truck, I was thankful that I could still see her from inside the diner. What had happened to make this beautiful soul feel like she was so unworthy of being loved? I waved Dawn over and told her we needed a new omelet to go and handed her enough money to cover both of them, plus a healthy tip. When I got out to the truck, Bella was sitting in the passenger seat, her emotions were a bit more under control, but I sent her a wave of calming energy anyway. She gave me a small apologetic smile as I opened the door and got in. I watched as she took her first bite of the food, feeling just how much she enjoyed it.

"Oh my gosh, this is so good. Alice really knows her breakfast food."

"It was more a matter of seeing your options. When you couldn't decide between the waffle and the omelet, the vision split off into two paths. One where you got the waffle, one where you got the omelet. She probably saw you enjoyed the omelet more and that's where her suggestion came from."

"I'll never get over how crazy that sounds. I think I'd like to meet her." I rolled my eyes and grinned. Of course, Alice had seen this coming. She'd mentioned how much she wanted to meet Bella, and this was her ticket in. When Bella finished her food, I took the empty styrofoam container and threw it away before we headed to the book store. Odyssey Books and Gifts was right off the beach and as I pulled into the parking lot I felt a spike of nerves from Bella. I glanced at her and found that she'd been staring over at me.

"What is it Bella?" I asked, shutting off the trucks ignition. She reached for my hand and closed her eyes. I felt her emotions shift and swirl. She was putting all of her effort into focusing on just one of them. She wanted me to feel her love. It wasn't something we'd ever talked about until my earlier confession, though I knew we'd both been feeling it.

"Can you tell what I'm feeling?" I immediately leaned across the cab of the truck to wrap her up in an embrace. The emotion began to pour out of her stronger, and suddenly it felt like I was going to be the one choking back tears. I felt my eyes gloss with venom. "See, you didn't freak me out, I just don't know how to handle any of this."

"I love you Bella Swan."

"I love you too Jasper Hale." The words sounded exquisite leaving her lips, though I'd have to remember to mention that my real name was Jasper Whitlock. I touched my lips to hers and felt the same jolt of electricity from last night. The inside of the truck swelled with our love for each other and I suddenly wished that we weren't in a crowded parking lot, that I could just melt into her and stay like this forever.

"OW, OW!" I heard a man yell from across the parking lot. I looked over to find him staring at our public display of affection, he was making crude gestures and whistling. Bella's embarrassment flooded the truck, efficiently zapping away the last bit of our special energy. I looked at her and chuckled.

"Watch this." I told her with a smirk. I then proceeded to pour all of the fear and terror into the man that I could. His face froze with horror for a moment before he looked down to find that he'd pissed his pants. I stopped when I couldn't hold back my laughter any longer.

"Jasper! Stop! That's so mean!" She said, trying to be serious, though she was having a hard time containing her own laughter. She bit her lip to stop a smile from spreading across her face.

"You don't think I can feel your amusement Bella?" I raised an eyebrow at her and smiled, placing one final peck on her lips before we headed into the bookstore.