Chapter 23.

As we entered the store, the scent of old books filled my lungs and left it's taste on my tongue. It was musty like a damp basement and I was thankful that it wasn't very crowded inside. Odyssey Books and Gifts was quaint, but left no space uninhabited by it's selection of books. Bella's mood perked up once we were inside and I let her curiosity lead the way. We were quiet for a while as I watched her scan the shelves with interest. It didn't seem like there was much of a method to her shopping, she just went to whatever caught her eye. When we got to the literary fiction section, her eyes lit up as she brushed her fingers along the spines, looking for a specific title. I could feel when she found the right one and I watched as she reached for a collection of Jane Austen novels. Her excitement bubbled up before she looked at the price and pushed it back down, setting the thick book back into it's empty nook on the shelf.

"I already have most of these, I've just been hoping to get the set. I'm only missing a couple, but it'd be nice to have them all in one place. I read them all the time, I'll have to save up a bit more though." She said walking away from the shelf. We walked around the store for a little while longer, I'd made note of the book that she wanted, hoping I'd have the chance to come back for it later. I'd gathered that she didn't accept gifts easily, so I knew I was going to have to get a bit more creative. We could see the beach from the parking lot of the book store, so we decided to walk the short distance and leave her truck in the parking lot.

Bella zipped her coat up and I held my hand out for her to take. She looked up at me and smiled, letting her fingers lace between mine. They fit perfectly, as if they'd always belonged. We walked over to the Port Angeles City Pier, it was nearly empty being the off season for tourists. It was cold and the wind whipped violently, I could tell we wouldn't be out there long, I didn't want Bella to get sick.

"It's so pretty out here." She said staring out into the water. Every ounce of tension from the day had seemed to ease. Bella was perfectly content, despite the chill in the air. We stood listening to the gentle crash of the waves and I couldn't help but be completely captivated by the beautiful girl in front of me.

"I'm enjoying the view as well." I told her, watching the way the wind blew the stray hairs around her face that had managed to escape her pony tail. I slowly reached up and brushed a wild lock behind her ear. She looked up at me, her big brown eyes beaming all of her warmth into me. We stood alone at the edge of the pier, gazing at each other with shared desire as the energy between us began to hum and swirl. Bella's small arms found my waist and curled around me and mine instinctively wrapped around her in return. We stared out at the sea and I couldn't help but take in Bella's scent. The way it mingled and merged with the smell of the saltwater was intoxicating. It burned my throat, but I was thankful for the fire. We were away from Forks, away from her father, and away from Edward and Alice. I wished that we could just run away together and never return. Things seemed simpler when it was just Bella and I. It was the only thing that did feel simple.

I cupped her face in my hands and placed my lips on hers with a desperate intensity. In that incredible moment, my dreams came true, the world around us ceased to exist. Bella's heart rate picked up as the electricity surged between us. Her arms hooked around my neck as she stood on the tips of her toes, trying to pull herself closer to me. I grabbed her by the waist and gently lifted her up onto the railing of the pier, making sure to support her so she wouldn't fall. Time seemed to stand still as she wrapped her legs around my hips and we melted together. By the time I pulled myself away from her lips, she was gasping for air and I was fighting back more venom than I'd like to admit. We both took a moment to gather our senses as I carefully placed her back down onto the pier. I had to step a few feet away from her to clear my head and get a breath of fresh air.

"How do you do that?" She asked breathlessly, I gave her a curious look. "How do you make me lose every single ounce of my self control?" She chuckled, but her comment had made me feel guilty and a bit uncomfortable.

"Bella, I never want you to feel like you're not in control. Please speak up if I ever do something you don't like."

"The thing is, I do like it. I like letting go and just enjoying the moment with you, it's exciting. I've never really felt like my life was my own."

"What do you mean?" Her words seemed to echo my own from earlier this week. Another piece of the puzzle was clicking into place.

"Well . . . Back in Phoenix I had to take care of everything, it was like I was the parent. My mom did try in her own way and I know she does love me, she just wasn't ever very good at it. I never got to go out with friends, so I hardly made any. I told myself that I didn't care, I didn't need them, but I was lonely. I took care of the household; I cleaned, cooked, and made sure the bills got paid. Don't get me wrong, Rene could be a lot of fun, but sometimes I needed more than that. We went on a lot of weekend road trips when I was younger, but those ended when my Gran died. I had to take responsibility when she was no longer around to dig my mom out of her holes. I guess that's why I always liked to read, it was my escape." She stared out into the water, her emotions were calmer than I'd expected for the turn of conversation.

"So she sent you here?"

"No, um, it was my choice. She'd actually begged me not to go. I think I'm kind of like a security blanket to her in a way, as ironic as it sounds. When she remarried, I was the one who decided to come out here and live with my dad. She had the opportunity to travel with Phil for his job and I didn't want to be the thing that held her back. I knew she was never really happy being stuck in one place. So, I set her free, cutting her last ties of responsibility. Little did I know just how much it was going to free me too."

"Do you miss her?"

"Yes and no. I miss her because she was the only person I was ever really close to. She was my best friend in a lot of ways, but now that I'm out here . . . I don't miss the responsibility, or the pressure. So, don't worry, I like this. I like you. I like letting go and just doing what feels right, having fun. I wasn't exaggerating when I said this has been the most exciting week of my life."

"Well it's definitely been the best week of my life as well." I finally understood some of Bella's hesitations now, why it was hard for her to accept love. Her own mother hadn't given her the love and support that she needed as a child. I wanted her to feel those things. I wanted her to feel loved and secure, to know that it was possible. Bella hadn't got the chance to live her own life because of her mother and I hadn't got the chance to live mine because I was a prisoner to my own self control. She'd said that moving to Forks had set her free and in a lot of ways it set me free too. I reached out and tilted her face so that she would meet my gaze. I stared into her eyes, pouring every ounce of love I had into her. She clutched her chest and a tear fell down her cheek.

"I love you too Jasper." she said, hugging me tightly. I kissed her forehead and held her for a moment until I felt a sudden wave of her panic. "Shit. What time is it?"

"It's 2:30, are you ready to head home?" I asked.

"Ugh. No, but I have to. I was supposed to call Charlie from a payphone and check in by 2, he's probably freaking out." She bit her lip, her worry and nerves creeping up.

"Bella, just use your cellphone." I felt a pang of guilt from her at my suggestion.

"I - I left it at home." She said giving me an apologetic look.

"Well here, just use mine. You don't have to use the phone to only call me. You can use it however you'd like, it was a gift. You should always bring it with you when you leave the house, just in case." I said, feeling a bit of her embarrassment at the word gift. She took the phone and stepped a few feet away to call her dad. The call was over in less than a minute, she let out a sigh as she flipped the phone shut.

"Okay, I'm ready. . . actually do you think we could find a bathroom before we head back?" She asked, handing me the phone, her face turning a bit red.

"Sure, let's just go back to the book store, I saw a sign while we were in there." I told her as nonchalantly as possible, fighting a grin. She nodded and grabbed my hand, unaware of my ulterior motive. We made the walk back to Odyssey in silence, but I could feel that Bella was worried. While she took care of her human needs, I swiftly grabbed the Jane Austen collection and paid for it, sticking it inside my coat just as she exited the bathroom. I stealthily snuck it under the drivers seat while she struggled with her seat belt. As we headed back to Forks, I could tell that Bella's mind was elsewhere. She stared out the window, cycling through several anxious emotions.

"Is everything okay?" I asked.

"Yeah it's just my dad . . . I know he can tell something's up." She let out a long sigh and chewed on her lip.

"Why do you say that?"

"He's just been grilling me about everything lately and all of his assumptions have been right. He's got the freakiest intuition and it doesn't help that I'm terrible at lying." I could tell this was really bothering her and I had to admit that I was also a bit worried. It was both interesting and concerning that intuitiveness seemed to run in her family. If that wasn't reason enough to keep her father in the dark, there was also the fact that he was the Chief of police in Forks. He had the ultimate badge of credibility. If he were to find out too much about my family and decide to speak out, people would be likely to believe him. Then again, if Bella continued to hide it from him, he's a smart man and he would likely dig for more information about my family and I on his own.

"What if we just told him the truth? Wouldn't it be easier?" I asked. Bella's eyes grew wide and I felt a wave of panic from her at my suggestion.

"No! I mean - he'd probably try to lock me away until graduation." She said, trying to laugh it off, but I could tell she was a little worried that there was some truth behind her joke.

"I think he'd probably be more upset if he found out while we were sneaking around."

"Ugh. I know you're right but I can't even imagine telling him that I'm seeing someone already. I've only been here a week, he's going to think I'm some boy crazy lunatic. It's not like I can tell him we're destined to be together or whatever." She groaned and sunk down in her seat. "He's never going to let me hear the end of it."

"Well, you could always just tell him that we're friends."

"He knows that already, and believe me he suspects that there's more."

"I'm sorry Bella. I'll leave it up to you, whatever you decide to do is fine with me."

"Thanks, I'm sorry I'm over here freaking out over nothing. Thank you for today, I had a really nice time. How much was lunch? Let me pay you back for my food." I rolled my eyes and grinned, she was relentless.

"Bella, please, it was my treat." She sighed and gave me a frustrated look, but dropped it. We rode in silence for a few minutes before Bella reached for the radio. It was still on the same station from earlier and bluegrass music filled the car. She eyed me shyly and left it on at a soft volume. I reached for her hand and held it, enjoying the drive, the music, the moment, and most of all, the beautiful girl by my side.

"Are you going to come over tonight?" She asked, as we neared Forks. I could feel her anticipation bubbling up.

"How could I ever decline an invitation like that?" I asked her, my southern draw coming out slightly.

"I'll leave the window open." She said grinning. I watched in delight as her cheeks turned my favorite rosy shade.

"I just have to go hunt after I drop you off, I can be there by 9." The phone in my pocket buzzed as we entered Forks. It was a text from Alice.

Chief Swan is home. He didn't believe that Bella was alone today, just a heads up. :(

"Shit, Bella, your dad is home and Alice said he's suspicious. Do you want me to pull over so you can drive home alone? I can just run back to my place. Or do you want to go tell him the truth, together?" I asked. Her anxiety hit me like a ton of bricks.

"Oh my god! He wasn't supposed to be home yet, I don't know what to do!" Calm energy projected out of me like an explosion in an attempt to reign in Bella's panic. After a moment, she began taking deep breaths and I could feel her relax. I slowly eased up on the dosage.

"Look, Bella, I don't like this anymore than you do, but I think you need to tell him. You panicked more just now than you did when you found out about Edward. Let's just go tell him that we were together today. We don't have to tell him that we're dating, just that we went out to Port Angeles as friends." She took in a deep breath and closed her eyes as she exhaled.

"Okay." She agreed.

"Do you want me to stop manipulating your feelings? Or would it help if I continued while we talked to your father?" I asked.

"Please, keep it going. I don't think I can handle this on my own." I brought her hand to my lips before we turned onto her street. Her heart rate fought against my gift as I reluctantly placed her hand back into her lap. When we pulled up to her house, I grabbed the book from under the seat and handed it to her. Her eyes grew wide and I felt her embarrassment poke out from under the calm, but it was soon replaced with her love and gratitude.

"To help back up your story, so it doesn't look like we were off doing anything suspicious."

"Like making out on the pier?" She asked, raising an eyebrow. A flicker of her lust ignited my own.

"Exactly." I said through a smirk.

"Thank you Jasper. This was really thoughtful." She bit her lip and gave me that look that could stop time. I wanted to lean in and kiss her, but I was hit with a sudden wave of anger. I looked up to see Chief Swan watching us from the window. I cleared my throat and nodded towards the house, feeling Bella's embarrassment and panic fill the truck again as she spotted her father. I got her emotions in order and shut off the ignition. As we got out of the truck, Chief Swan came to meet us on the porch with crossed arms and a furrowed brow.

"Who's your friend?" He asked, narrowing his eyes as he looked me over. I masked myself in a charismatic cloak and worked on trying to seem as nonthreatening as possible.

"Um, dad . . . This is Jasper Hale." Bella said nervously.

"Nice to officially meet you sir." I said, extending my hand out to him. He shook my hand and despite being a bit surprised at the temperature difference, he seemed to be impressed by my firm grip.

"Bella, do you want to tell me why you forgot to mention you were going to Port Angeles with your . . . friend?" He asked skeptically.

"I'm sorry dad, I - um, just didn't want you to get the wrong idea. We're just friends, that's it." I felt a pang of guilt as she looked at me out of the corner of her eye.

"Mhm. Well, I suppose I'm glad you weren't out there all by yourself, but next time, don't lie to me Bells."

"Sorry dad, it won't happen again."

"Uh huh, I'm sure it won't. Son, it's nice to finally meet you. Thanks for bringing Bella's homework by this week. Tell your mom she makes a mean lasagna."

"It was no trouble at all sir, I'm sure she'll appreciate you saying so." I said, turning to leave before I realized how strange it would look if I just walked home. For a human it'd probably take an hour and a half to walk the distance between my house and theirs. I stopped mid stride panicking for a moment, Bella must've realized my mistake because she quickly tried to cover it.

"Uh, Jasper, do you need a ride?" She asked nervously. I turned back to her with an apologetic look, clearly I hadn't thought this through. Before I could answer her, I heard what sounded like my truck speeding down the road. I watched as Alice came to a smooth and effortless stop in front of the house. Relief washed over me, though I had initially began to panic before realizing that Edward wasn't with her.

"Thanks, but I guess I should have mentioned that my sister was coming to get me. Chief Swan, again it was nice meeting you, sorry for any confusion. Bella, I'll see you tomorrow at school." Chief Swan nodded, but I felt a pang of worry from Bella. I smiled and gave her a wink, reassuring her that I'd be back tonight. I felt her anxiety ease and she gave me a subtle nod. I sent her a flicker of my love as I got into the truck and felt hers echo my own. I watched a smile spread across her face as Alice pulled away.