No flames. No Jackson-bashing (or, excessive Jackson-bashing), because he is not taking the place of Edward. I just thought I'd let you know that now.

The perfect man

Chapter 4 - you sure know how to move

--

Jackson had taken Natalie's place over the next few days following the ending of our friendship.

I wasn't exactly proud of the fact, though. I had told him on day one that I was moving soon, and that no relationship and/or friendship that developed between us (If I let it, anyways) would not last. He had just grinned and shrugged it off as if I had told him that the grass were green or that the sky was blue. He acted like it was nothing important, like we were two long-time friends discussing the weather.

So now, that brings us here, to my half-empty house cluttered with boxes and full of chaos, sitting on the plastic-covered couch. He sat like he lived there; slumped over, feet on a box. That annoyed me a little, but I just let it go. I tried arguing with him, but this guy was absolutely impossible.

"What's this?" Jackson asked me. He held up a crumpled piece of paper.

My eyes widened, and I attempted to snatch The List from his hand, but he dodged me easily. "It's nothing. Give it back."

He laughed. "It doesn't look like nothing. Who's 'The Perfect Man?' Someone I should know about?" He made a show of raising his eyebrow at me, looking devious.

I sighed. "Really, it's nothing. Just something…me and Natalie made up." It made me a little nostalgic (okay, and a little sad) when I mentioned Natalie's name.

He nodded in understanding. "So, The Perfect Man isn't real?" He asked seriously.

I shrugged, grabbing the paper when he was off-guard. "I don't know, probably not."

"Am I in the running?"

The question was laughable, but yet he sounded so serious. He caught me off-guard, and I just stared at him for a moment, dumbfounded. I tried to find the right words to explain, but it took me awhile.

"Well…" I broke off, carefully forming my next sentence. "No one can be perfect, exactly…"

Jackson laughed light-heartedly. "It's okay, I can take a hint. I'm not perfect. But let's see…are there some of these that I have?" He gestured to The List. "Like, oh, I don't know…hot? Manly? Talented?"

I rolled my eyes. "Actually, Natalie was trying to tell me that you had most of these-" Oops. I hadn't meant to say that.

Jackson's eyes widened with happiness and curiosity. "Really? And what were those?" He asked me slyly.

I winced. I had made my bed, and now I had to lay in it. "Um, well…she said you were athletic, interesting, smart, sweet…" He could tell that I was leaving stuff out.

"What else?" He narrowed his eyes at me.

I groaned in frustration. "Hot, good personality…smells good." I mumbled the last part so quietly that I knew he probably wouldn't hear it. But of course, he did.

He grinned at me arrogantly, and I wanted to slap him. He cocked his head and sniffed his shoulder. "Wow, I do smell good. I'm so flattered, Isabella."

Jackson refuses to call me Bella, even though I would really prefer him to. When he walked me home after me and Natalie's fight, he had met my mother (she adores him), who had called me Isabella. Jackson had just grinned at me, ending every sentence with my full name; "You sure do have a nice house, Isabella", "Can I have a drink, Isabella?", and even, "I bid you farewell, Isabella." And I had rolled my eyes and slammed the door on his laughing, arrogant face. He was infuriating.

I frowned at him. "That's what Natalie said, not me."

His smile disappeared and he just looked at me. "Well, what do you think?"

Hot, nice, athletic, manly…

The question caught me off-guard, again. My brows furrowed and I shrugged, trying to seem casual. "I-I don't know…"

He smiled. "You can say it. Would you feel better if I listed all the things I like about you?"

I gaped at him.

Sweet, good-personality, he does smell-good…

"You're pretty cool, because you're not afraid to be mean and sarcastic if you want." He used his fingers to count. "You're hot, if you don't mind me saying. You smell good," He waggled his eyebrows, and I blushed a little. "And I have to say, you're interesting. And you're good personality just draws me to you." He added shamelessly. My face was as red as a tomato now.

Interesting, spontaneous, considerate, strong…

"I can tell you're not selfish or anything like that, which is good. You're smart, because you can probably kill me in a wits test." I rolled my eyes. He leaned forward to sniff me. "Yep, you've got good hygiene, too…but I don't know about manly, and strong and all that stuff, but let's forget about that, shall we?"

I raised a brow. "You're being serious?"

He nodded, looking into my eyes. Was he getting closer, or was I just going crazy?

"I'm dead serious." His breath was mingling with mine now. I could see the pretty little gold specks in his light brown eyes, making them even more enchanting than they already were. I stayed frozen with shock and pleasure as he kissed me gently, putting a hand to my cheek and another one rested at my waist, giving me a little squeeze.

And just as I started to respond to the kiss, he pulled back, leaving me a little breathless and very flushed.

Good kisser…

He smiled, and I gave him a small smile back.

As he leaned forward to kiss me again, I counted inside my head…twelve out of eighteen traits. He really was the best so far.

He wasn't completely perfect.

But he was good enough.

--

As I lay in bed that night, tossing and turning because I was unable to sleep, I thought back to earlier that afternoon when Jackson kissed me again and I wondered exactly what the hell was wrong with me. I had kissed him back, encouraging him when I knew that I shouldn't have done anything. The wedding was tomorrow. I'd be moving before the week was up, and it was Saturday.

I knew that I had to tell him that I had made a mistake and nothing else could happen between us. Better yet, I should tell him that he could never see me again, because it would be pointless. It would hurt us both in the end if we got too involved.

I was still worried exactly how I would tell him, though. I didn't want to be cruel and heartless about it, I was just being a realist. Cynical, Natalie would say. She would be laughing at me right now, telling me that it was no big deal that I kissed a guy and had no intention of being with him. She did it all the time, why couldn't I?

Hm, maybe I would get off easy and Jackson was just playing me the whole time. Okay, maybe lucky wasn't the right word. It's not like I WANTED to be played. But it would make things so much easier when I told him I couldn't be with him, and he said, "Good. I never wanted to be with you, either."

I just had a feeling that Jackson wasn't like that. He probably thought that we could "make things work" and that he could convince me to change my "cynical ways." It wasn't that easy. I was very stubborn.

Come Monday, I would have everything figured out. The wedding would be out of the way and I could finish packing, maybe try to talk to Natalie before she crossed me out of her life forever. I would end things with Jackson - hopefully the process would be pain-less and easy, say my good-byes to anyone who had ever paid attention to me in Phoenix (but that wasn't many), and I would be on my way to Forks, Washington, to start a new life with Charlie and maybe, just maybe…find The Perfect Man.

--

I hadn't expected to see Jackson until Monday.

So you could probably imagine my reaction, with me sitting miserably alone at the reception of my mother's wedding, and Jackson, wearing an ill-fitted rental tux just for the occasion, comes waltzing in, putting his hand out to me and says, "May I have this dance, Isabella?"

I was shocked, angry, dumbfounded, stunned, upset, and a little happy (but I wouldn't show it). Some people had begun to stare at us, and I took his hand just to appease their appetite for wedding gossip.

As he lead me out to the dance floor, I caught my mother's wink with a wince and hissed, "What are you doing here?" He put his arms around my waist and instinctively I put mine around his neck.

"Your mom invited me. I knew that if I told you, you wouldn't want me to come." He shrugged casually.

How did he know so much about me, whenever he had only known me for a week?

I glared at him. "Jackson, what happened yesterday-"

"Was amazing? Great? Was the best moment in your young life?" He cut me off, smirking at me lightly.

I shook my head, wishing he would be serious for just one moment, since he obviously couldn't be remotely un-annoying unless he was kissing me.

"No. Listen, I liked kissing you, Jackson, I admit that." I flushed bright red, but I kept going, "It's just that you know that I'm moving and I just…can't get involved with you." I finished quietly.

He frowned. "Hey, just because you're moving doesn't mean we can't try. There's no harm in that."

I sighed, frustrated. "Actually, there is. One of us could get hurt-"

"How do you know you're not hurting me now?" He was very blunt and I flinched, but the expression on his face didn't reveal any uneasy emotions. His eyes did the talking for him.

"I'm sorry." I murmured.

He shook his head. "I liked you from the moment I saw you, Bella." I vaguely took note of the fact that he called me Bella, "I don't see why you're giving up so easily."

I would've laughed if I knew that he wouldn't think I was crazy. So, I was giving up? No, I was being realistic. He didn't know how hard it would be trying to maintain a long-distance relationship, and after awhile he would "give up" just like I was now. He wouldn't be complaining in a few weeks when he forgot about me, and moved onto a new girl.

When I voiced my thoughts, he let out a small, bitter laugh, "You really are a cynic, Bella. I thought I knew you…I was hoping this wouldn't happen. But I guess I was wrong."

His hands fell away from my waist and he took a few firm steps back, forcing my arms to drop from his neck. He stared at me for a few moments before walking away, shooting me a sad smile of farewell.

I knew I most likely never see him again, and it bothered me. In the past week, I had lost two people who I had wanted to keep. And then I would be losing my mom and my home next, and maybe then would I be able to forget about how humiliated and regretful I felt now.

And as I stood in the middle of the filled dance floor, people giving me sympathetic looks and glances, slightly wondering if I had made the right decision or if I had just let The Perfect Man go.

--

I hope you like. I have a new poll on my profile, please go there to vote!

R.E.V.I.E.W.