AN: Thanks for the reviews! They always make me smile!

I'm sorry for the wait! I've had a lot on my plate with moving into my new apartment and classes starting up and all that. This chapter is pretty long. It was actually longer, but I split it up into two parts.

I made this chapter in Bella's POV but I've already started thinking up a chapter for Jasper's POV!

Disclaimer: SM owns Twilight, I just like to frolic around with her characters. ;)

BPOV

The week after my trip to the police station, and subsequently Jasper's odd behavior, passed by in a blur. Before I knew it, it was the night of Mike's and my dinner. For some reason I can't think of it as a date. It just feels weird to classify it that way, and since neither of us has used the term, we have come to some sort of unspoken agreement that this is just a friendly dinner to get to know one another.

After the two of us made dinner plans, I set up a reservation at my favorite Italian restaurant, Bella Italia. I was promised that they would have my usual table set up for me. My table happens to be directly in front of the window, overlooking the streets of LA. I always thought it was beautiful to see the city lit up at night.

Whenever I show up at Bella Italia, the restaurant staff makes sure the surrounding tables are vacant so that my dinner is not disturbed. I always felt bad that they went out of their way to do this, but the owner insisted. This was all because of a certain incident a few years ago when I was ambushed by some fans while I was in the middle of my Tiramisu. Instead of finishing the delicious dessert, I spent the next immeasurable amount of time signing autographs and seeing spots due to all the camera flashes.

The restaurant staff are used to me making appearances there frequently. Now come to think of it, my presence might be the reason for the restaurant's booming popularity of the past few years. Shaking that thought off, I continued to rifle through the clothes in my closet looking for the perfect outfit for tonight. Normally I would drag Leah over to my house and she would give me her opinion as I would try on different outfits, but she and Jake are still in France.

I haven't told either of them about the creepy notes I've been getting because I don't want to ruin their trip, and I know they would spend their vacation time worrying about me. They don't even know about Paul's death. The two of them will probably be upset with me for keeping this information from them, but I'll deal with that when the time comes.

Emmett and Seth haven't been around as much lately and so I haven't gotten a chance to tell them about the notes either. Now come to think of it, I haven't seen either of them since I bailed Emmett out of jail. Abandoning those thoughts, I willed myself to focus on the issue at hand. Clothes.

Bella Italia is a high class restaurant, so I should definitely wear a skirt or dress. This shouldn't be so hard to do, but considering how my closet has a striking resemblance to the Beverly Center mall, the simple act of choosing an outfit is proving to be rather tricky.

After much deliberation, I finally decided to wear a simple white halter dress with an empire waist that fell to just below my knees. The shoes I chose to wear were silver stilettos with multi-banded straps that wrapped around my ankles. The heels increased my height to about 5'7" making my legs look even longer.

A little while later, I was just finishing applying some sheer lip gloss to my lips when the doorbell rang. I smiled as I looked at myself in the mirror, making sure every strand of hair was in place. Running down the stairs, I composed myself before opening the door to see Mike standing there in a blue dress shirt and black dress pants. His eyes got impossibly wide when he took me in, before he swallowed noticeably and gave me a wide smile.

"You look great," he said, while his eyes swept over my form. I smiled at him.

"You do too. Are you ready?"

He nodded and offered me his arm. I laughed slightly at this gesture, but took it as we made our way down the porch steps and to his car. He opened the passenger door for me and I gracefully slid in. It wasn't long before we were pulling up in front of the restaurant. The car ride had been spent in relative silence with the occasional comment one of us would make.

The hostess greeted us once we stepped through the door, and we were ushered to my usual table by the window. The waitress passed us two menus as well as the wine list.

"Can I get you two started with anything to drink?" I looked over the wine list before turning back to her.

"Yes. Could we get a bottle of the Brunello di Montalcino?" She smiled and nodded before leaving Mike and me alone.

I noticed Mike's eyebrows knitted together as he opened up his menu, before looking back up at me.

"The menu is in Italian," he stated bluntly. I smiled slightly at his obvious remark.

"Yeah. I think the owner thought an all Italian menu would contribute to the authenticity of the place," I explained.

"But how are we supposed to know what to order?" I stifled my laugh at his frustrated expression.

"With other customers the waitress would ask if they would need help with the menu, but they know I speak Italian." He raised his eyebrows at this, but didn't comment about it. I spent the next few minutes translating the menu for him until he picked something that he wanted, which turned out to be Steak Florentine.

Pretty soon the waitress returned with the bottle of wine. She uncorked the bottle before pouring the two of us a glass and setting the bottle in the middle of the table.

"Are you two ready to order?" I nodded at her question.

"I'll have the Scaloppine di Vitello alla Parmigiana and he'll have the Bistecca Fiorentina," I said. The waitress nodded and collected Mike's and my menus. After she left, I turned back to Mike.

"So what was that you ordered?" He asked curiously.

"Veal paremesan," I smiled.

"How long have you spoken Italian?" Mike asked quietly. "It's kind of sexy." I laughed at his comment.

"I've been fluent for about eight years." I smiled at his amazed look. "I've never gone to a public school," I blurted out suddenly. Mike's eyebrows shot up at this statement so I decided to elaborate.

"I've been acting for most of my life so public school wasn't something my parents wanted me to do. They were worried that I would get ambushed by crazy fans or something," I said, rolling my eyes. Mike nodded in understanding.

"That must have been hard," he said softly. I shrugged with a sad smile.

"When I was younger I wanted to go to a public school just to be normal for once, but I got used to being homeschooled. My private tutor was pretty cool though. Her name was Victoria, but I always called her Vicky even though she hated it when I called her that." I laughed at this and Mike smiled.

"Anyway, when I reached my high school years, she told me I needed to take a foreign language. She said a lot of the kids in the public schools either took French or Spanish, but I always thought Italian was a pretty language. When I told her this, she arranged for this guy named Laurent to teach me Italian. By the time I was seventeen I was fluent."

"Wow." Mike seemed at a loss for words as he stared at me in awe. I started to get uncomfortable under his gaze so I decided to redirect the conversation.

"So what about you?" I asked with a smile. "What's your story?"

"You wouldn't want to hear about that. It's nothing like what you've done."

"I don't believe that," I smiled encouragingly, "there must be exciting things you have to do all the time with being the police chief, especially in LA." He chuckled and nodded at this.

"Well there was this one time…" But my attention was caught by something over his shoulder that caused me to groan loudly. Mike stopped talking at my annoyed sound.

"Sorry, am I boring you?" I shook my head and looked back at him.

"Not at all. I just saw something that I wish I hadn't." I put my head in my hands. Of all nights for him to show up…

"What did you see?" Mike sounded concerned. Before I could answer, I was cut off by a familiar southern drawl.

"Well, ain't it a small world." Jasper stopped in front of our table and smirked down at me, but there was some sort of tension in his expression that baffled me.

"What are you doing here Jasper?" I asked, exasperated. He chuckled slightly.

"That's the greetin' I get?" He looked amused. "I was takin' a walk and saw you through the window. I thought I would come in and say hi," he explained. I stared at him completely speechless.

"You thought you would say hi?" I repeated. I couldn't seem to get those words to make sense to me. I would have thought he would continue walking and ignore my presence like he has done so frequently in the past. Something strange is going on with that man…

"Yep," he said, popping the 'p'.

"Okay, well you said hi, so…" I trailed off, thinking he would take the hint and go. No such luck.

Mike glanced at me. He looked slightly uncomfortable with this situation. He looked back at Jasper, who apparently could not take a hint.

"Did you want to join us?" It was obvious in Mike's tone that he was annoyed but trying to be polite.

"Oh, Jasper probably has somewhere to go. He doesn't want to stick around." I gave Jasper a warning look when I said this, but he didn't seem to notice as he pulled out a chair at the table and sat down.

"Actually, I think I will join you two. Thanks for the offer." He seemed oblivious to the glare I was sending his way.

"Why are you here anyways? Don't you have things to do…or a brain to find?" I asked sweetly.

"Ha ha," Jasper said rolling his eyes. "This one's a keeper," he said to Mike. He leaned over and ruffled my hair. I glared at him as I smoothed my hair back down.

I opened my mouth to tell him to go fuck himself or something, but the waitress chose that moment to appear at our table.

"Hi there honey, I'll just leave this with you," she said with a smile. She passed a menu to Jasper. "I'll be back in a little bit when you're ready to order."

"Actually I'm a quick chooser, I'll just order now," he said while opening the menu. "I'll have," he paused and his forehead creased as he stared at the selections. I suppressed a laugh. He probably couldn't speak Italian, and knowing Jasper like I do, he would be too damn proud to ask for help, especially in front of me.

"Is there a problem Jasper?" I asked with a smirk. He shook his head and looked back down at the menu.

"Uh…I'll have that," Jasper said, pointing at the menu randomly.

The waitress nodded and took his menu from him.

"Alright, your Lumache alla Romana will be out shortly," she said before sweeping away. I burst out laughing once she had left. Jasper and Mike looked at me like I had grown two heads.

"Mind filling me in on the joke?" Jasper asked, quirking an eyebrow.

"Do you even know what you ordered?" I asked with another giggle.

"Of course I do," Jasper stated indignantly.

"Right, so you do realize what you just ordered translates to 'Roman style snails'?"

I had to shove my hand over my mouth to stifle my laughter from Jasper's horrified expression. A moment later he composed himself.

"Yes, that's exactly what I meant to order." His voice quivered slightly as he said this, calling his bluff.

"Sure," I said sarcastically, turning back to Mike.

I did my best to ignore Jasper's presence as I leaned forward and smiled at Mike. We tried to make small talk, while ignoring Jasper, when the waitress showed up with our dinners. She set the plates down in front of each of us before walking away. I looked over at what Jasper had ordered. The snails were about the size of a quarter and were covered in a red sauce. I had to stifle my laughter when I saw Jasper make a face at his dinner.

"Is something wrong?" I asked Jasper innocently.

"Nope," he croaked out.

"Why aren't you eating then?" I asked him sweetly. He swallowed thickly and picked up a snail on his fork. He took a deep breath and then plopped it in his mouth. I suppressed my laughter as I saw him grimace but he tried to cover it up.

"Mmm tasty," he said around a mouthful of snail.

"Uh huh," I said disbelievingly. It looked like he was trying to keep it in his mouth and not spit it across the restaurant instead.

"That's an…err…interesting texture," he said with another grimace as he stared at the snails on his plate. I shook my head at him in amusement and turned back to Mike. I was about to say something when Mike chuckled.

"You got some sauce on your cheek," Mike said softly, leaning closer to me. I put my hand up to my cheek but he shook his head and chuckled again.

"Here, let me." He leaned closer to me and reached a hand up to gather the sauce, but he didn't pull away. His eyes flickered to my lips before he leaned in closer, our faces inches apart. Suddenly I felt something wet sliding down my dress and get caught in my bra causing me to jump about a foot in the air.

"AHH!" I screeched. Jasper was shaking with silent laughter beside me. I turned and faced him with narrowed eyes.

"Did you just throw one of your snails down my dress?" I asked incredulously, using all my effort to keep myself from throttling him.

"Oops, sorry. It slipped."

His lips twitched as he stared at my chest. I looked down to see some of the red sauce the snail was covered in soaking through my dress from where it was pressing against the fabric from the inside. It was just my luck that I happened to be wearing a white dress.

"How the fuck did that just slip?" I was surprised he didn't flinch at the intensity of the glare I was giving him. He shrugged in response. I groaned. "Just perfect," I muttered.

"Here, let me get that for you," Jasper reached over and attempted to stick his hand down my dress. I slapped his hand away.

"What the hell is wrong with you?" I whisper yelled. I chanced a glance at Mike who was looking increasingly uncomfortable.

"I'm just trying to help," Jasper said with a too innocent expression.

"By groping me?" I asked furiously. He smirked but shrugged. I was trying my hardest not to lunge across the table and shove my fork up his nose. What was his problem? He was acting even more annoying than usual.

"Why don't you go busy yourself with infecting half of LA with herpes and leave me the fuck alone!" He narrowed his eyes at me and leaned closer, his warm breath fanning across my face.

"Why so angry? Is someone here not being satisfied?" He glanced from me to Mike. "That's it isn't it?" Jasper continued with a smirk. "He's unable to get a boner, huh?" I wouldn't be surprised if steam was coming out of my ears by this point.

"I'm sure Mike is very capable of getting a boner," I whispered the last word. I glanced at Mike who now had his head in his hands. "What's your problem anyway?" I hissed.

"I don't have a problem." I scoffed at this.

"Oh really? Then why are you here ruining this dinner?"

"I don't see how I could be ruining it. You should be thrilled to be in my company," he smirked at me. Cocky bastard.

"I think you need to get over yourself and stop trying to make my life miserable," I said harshly.

"And I think you should go see a doctor about that stick that is permanently wedged up your ass."

"How about we just enjoy our dinner, alright?" Mike asked, sounding tired.

"Shut up Newton," Jasper snapped. I narrowed my eyes at him.

"Don't tell him what to do!" I hissed.

"Bella, it's fine—" Mike started.

"Shut up Mike," I repeated Jasper's earlier words. Jasper coughed something behind his hand that sounded suspiciously like "hypocrite." I snapped my gaze back to Jasper.

"Why don't you go do something that's more your style, like calling a hooker or something?" Jasper narrowed his eyes at me.

"Why call for a hooker when you're here lookin' like one?" Jasper shot back.

"You know what? No one is making you stay here, so why don't you leave us the fuck alone!" My voice was gradually getting louder.

"Bella, calm down—" Mike stopped talking when I fixed him with a glare. The worst thing you can tell a woman to do is calm down. I turned back to Jasper.

"Are your parents siblings? Is that it? I mean, I wouldn't be surprised if you were a product of incest with how much of an insufferable dunce you are." I clasped my hands firmly in my lap to resist the temptation of hitting him. Violence is not the answer, I kept telling myself. "Why can't you just act like a normal human being instead of some creature from the zoo for once?" He leaned closer, our noses practically touching at this point.

"Normal, like you?" He scoffed. "Any similarities you may have with an actual human being are purely coincidental."

"Maybe I should go." Mike made to stand up but I yanked on his arm. He was taken by surprise and fell back down in his chair with an "oomph."

"Don't go anywhere," I demanded. "I need to talk to Jasper NOW." The subject of my annoyance leaned back in his chair and smirked at me, while looking down at his practically untouched dinner.

"But I'm not finished…OW!" Jasper exclaimed as I grabbed his ear and yanked him from his seat.

"Yes you are," I hissed. "I'll be right back Mike." He nodded with wide eyes, apparently beyond words at the moment.

I pulled him away from the table and in the direction of the restrooms. When we were out of ear shot, I rounded on him.

"Why are you here?" I demanded. He raised his eyebrows in an innocent look.

"I already told you that I saw you in the window—"

"Cut the bullshit!" I said, crossing my arms in front of my chest.

"I don't know what you want me to say," he replied stubbornly.

"What about an apology?" I asked sarcastically. He stared at me for a moment before rolling his eyes.

"I'm sorry your date," he sneered the word, "is an uptight asshole. It probably has to do with the permanent wedgie he has goin' on though, or maybe he's upset because he lost his pocket protector..." he trailed off looking thoughtful.

"Jasper!"

"What? It's true! Have you even seen the guy? He's a complete dork. I bet he was the type to get swirlies and dumped in trash cans in high school." (AN: No offence intended to the dorks of the world lol)

"That's beside the point. This was supposed to be a dinner for Mike and me."

I sighed and rested my back against the wall, folding my arms in front of my chest.

"Besides, it wasn't a date." His expression brightened somewhat. That's weird…

"I thought you wanted us to try and get along," I said suddenly. My voice sounded tired to my own ears. Jasper's face softened slightly at my weary tone.

"I do," he said softly.

"Then what was that?" I gestured toward the direction of our table, implying the fiasco that just occurred between us. He shrugged and looked away, not meeting my eyes.

"Look, it doesn't even matter now," I groaned. "Can we just enjoy the rest of the dinner and be civil to each other for once?" He sighed but nodded.

"Good. Come on." I led the way back to the table, only to stop once we reached it. Mike was gone. I don't know why I was surprised about that after what just happened, but my anger at Jasper came back as I realized he ruined the night for me.

"Are you happy now?" I asked furiously, jabbing him in the chest with my index finger. "You ruined my date!"

"I thought you said it wasn't a date," Jasper said with a strange emotion in his eyes. I opened my mouth but snapped it shut. I threw my hands up in frustration and fixed him with a glare.

"It doesn't even matter now because I probably won't see him again because of you," I hissed angrily. Jasper shrugged, clearly unaffected by this new turn of events. He looked back to the table where most of the food was left untouched before glancing back at me.

"How about we stay and finish this food so it doesn't go to waste?" He asked. I sighed in defeat and plopped back down in my chair.

"Fine. But you can bet your ass I'll pepper spray you if you throw something else at me." Jasper put his hands up in a sign of surrender.

"No more food projectiles," Jasper promised, his lips twitching at the corners as he said this. I shook my head before stabbing a piece of veal and tossing it in my mouth. I noticed Jasper pushed his dinner aside and took Mike's half eaten one. I smirked despite the situation.

"Something wrong with your dinner?"

"Shut up," Jasper muttered. His disgruntled expression and the absurdity of the night caused me to lose it.

I couldn't help it, a giggle escaped my mouth. I clapped a hand over my mouth in surprise, but I couldn't stop the next giggle from passing my lips until pretty soon I was full on laughing. And I'm not talking the dainty girly giggles. I'm talking full on, bent over at the knees, laughing so hard you're going to pee your pants, laughing.

Jasper looked up from his plate surprised at my mood change, but suddenly started laughing too. Everything that happened tonight was just so fucking predictable for us that we couldn't help but find the hilarity of the situation. It took a while, but eventually we calmed down.

"Well, this night has been a fucking disaster," I said with another chuckle. "I can't believe the way we've been acting towards one another. I mean, we're both adults and have been acting like we're five." I shook my head at the absurdity of the previous events.

"If it's any consolation, I'm sorry I ruined your dinner," he paused, "And your dress," he added as an afterthought as he appraised the red stain that stood out in stark contrast to the white.

"It's fine. I can just add it to the pile of other clothes you've managed to stain in the time I've known you," I said with a shake of the head.

"That was just once, and it was an accident," Jasper defended. I narrowed my eyes at him suspiciously.

"So this wasn't an accident?" I asked, waving a hand indicating the stain.

"I didn't say that," he said quickly, but looked away. He almost looked sheepish. I looked down at my plate thoughtfully.

"Why do we keep doing this Jasper?" I asked suddenly, causing Jasper to look at me again. "We can't seem to get along and I don't know why." Jasper was quiet and we didn't talk for a while after that.

"Does that hurt?" He asked suddenly, breaking the silence that had settled over us. I stared at him confused. He gestured to the finger shaped bruises on my wrists.

"Not really," I said with a shrug. "It hurt more when it happened." He nodded thoughtfully before he frowned.

"Have you gotten anymore notes lately?" I shook my head in response.

"Well are you ready to go?" I asked suddenly, wanting this subject to be over. He gave me a look that made me think he knew what I was doing but he nodded.

After flagging down the waitress for the check and paying, we made our way out of the restaurant. I stopped walking when I realized something. I gave a short humorless laugh and shook my head.

"Well, isn't that just fucking great," I muttered sarcastically. Jasper looked at me and raised his eyebrows in question.

"I completely forgot that Mike drove. Now I'll have to call a cab or something." He shook his head and smiled.

"I can give you a lift," Jasper said, much to my surprise.

"Am I going to have to pay a fair or something?" I asked suspiciously. I couldn't help it. One minute we are at each other's throats, and the next we are acting all civil to one another. If I didn't know better I would wonder if guys can get PMS with the way he is constantly changing his tune with me. He laughed and shook his head.

"It's the least I can do after I crashed your dinner." I gave him another suspicious look but followed him as he led the way to where his car was parked. This night just keeps getting stranger...

AN: When I was writing this chapter, I realized it was starting to get too long, so I split this night up into two separate chapters. The next part of this night is about halfway done, so that means a quicker update for the next chapter! lol

I know this is kind of a slow build up to their relationship, but I'm getting there… The next chapter will still be in Bella's POV, but the one after that will be Jasper's POV.

And the results for the relationship for my next story will be Bella/Jasper! Thank you to everyone who voted! I'll try to post it as soon as I can.

Also, I know I haven't been very good about replying to reviews, but I'm going to try and reply to all of them now. I'll also try updating sooner, but no guarantees with that since classes just started up. I'll try though… :)

Thanks for reading! Please review and tell me what you think!