AN: Hey all! Sorry it's been so long since I've updated. I don't really have an excuse other than lack of motivation, and spending a lot of time catching up with friends from home/seeing friends from school. Anyways, I hope you enjoy the chapter and please review!
PS. The albums and songs mentioned in this chapter belong to their respective artists, not me. And, again, I do not own Twilight :)
BPOV
Since the talent show had been on a Thursday, I woke up for the school the next day feeling happier than I had in a really long time. Jasper liked me back. He told me he loves me. He sang me one of my favourite songs in front of the entire school.
I pinched myself to make sure I wasn't dreaming.
I knew Charlie had already left for the day, so, after blasting Maroon 5's new album I showered quickly. Entering my room again, I made my way over to my dressing area. I pulled on a bra and underwear and a pair of midnight blue skinny jeans before going through my morning routine. Once I had dried my hair and applied some natural-looking makeup, I switched my CD to Marianas Trench's Masterpiece Theatre before choosing the rest of my outfit. I settled on a white v-neck tee, with The Beatles written in a red heart, grabbing my grey All Time Low zip up with their skull logo-thing on the left side, and 'Foolish Young and In Love' written on the back with black Cons, before making my way downstairs.
I grabbed a banana for breakfast, walking around the downstairs grabbing anything that I needed for school that was scattered around. I stuffed it all into my white Chanel tote, pulled on my shoes and sweater, grabbed my keys and wallet off the table by the door, and left the house.
I started towards my car, texting Alice to let her know I was leaving, before looking up and stopping short at the sight of the gorgeous man, dressed in blue skinny jeans, an All Time Low tee, and a purple hoodie, leaning against a black Range Rover Supercharged, a car I had looked at myself before deciding I wanted a convertible.
"Hey." I said walking over to Jasper and kissing him quickly.
"Hey gorgeous. I thought you might like a ride to school," He said, smiling softly.
"That would be wonderful," I said as he opened the door for me.
As we drove to school, he seemed to be nervously fidgeting with the steering wheel. The sight made me nervous.
"Is something wrong?" I asked quietly as we pulled into the parking lot.
"What? No, of course not. I'm just nervous about something I'm going to ask you," He paused briefly before continuing. "Would you maybe want to go out with me tonight? I mean, you don't have to. I don't really know why you would want to, but - "
He was silenced as I placed my hand over his mouth. "I would love to go out with you tonight. I don't know why you were so nervous. I professed my love for you in front of the entire school last night. Obviously I want to date you," I laughed.
"I guess that makes sense," He said, blushing slightly.
I laughed again before kissing him on the nose and getting out of the car.
"I was going to open your door for you," He pouted before grabbing my hand. I smiled as we walked over to the picnic table our friends were sitting at.
The morning passed by uneventfully, the only difference in routine being Jasper somehow being able to walk me to all of my classes, holding my hand on the way there and kissing me quickly before he ran to his own class.
However, things took a turn for the worse when, as I was walking into the cafeteria with Jasper and Emmett, we were randomly stopped by Lauren, widely known as being the schools resident bitch, and for having a huge crush on Jasper. Obviously, this conversation could not go well.
"Well, well, well. Look what we have here. Little Bella living in a fantasy world. How much did you have to pay Perry here to pretend to go out with you? Especially because everyone knows that he's obviously in love with me, just like every other boy in this school."
It took me a second to process what she had said after calling Jasper "Perry." Could she possible have chosen a more horrendous nickname?
Once I had gathered my thoughts, I started to stick up for myself, "Listen skank. Everyone here knows that you are in love with Jasper –"
"Who, for the record, is in love with Bella Swan." Jasper interjected.
I smiled before continuing, "so obviously, you should just stay out of our lives, get one of your own, and fuck off."
"Pfft. Whatever Bella. Stop deluding yourself. I know that you're paying him to say these things." Lauren continued.
Jasper laughed, shaking his head, before quickly pulling me to him and kissing me passionately. I didn't care that he was just proving a point, or that we were in a cafeteria full of people, two of whom were like brothers to me, and just as protective as one would expect. All I could think about in that moment was Jasper's lips on me, and the warmth that the kiss was spreading throughout my entire body.
I pulled away slowly to see Lauren storming out of the room, everyone else staring in awe, and Emmett twitching slightly.
I raised an eyebrow questioningly, prompting him to say, "Dude. I know that Lauren's a bitch, but you just made out with my baby sister in front of everyone. Not cool, bro. If you were anyone else I'd have punched you by now."
"Emmett, you make out with my stepsister in front of the entire world, all the time. You really can't say anything." Jasper laughed before grabbing my hand and heading to the lunch line.
When we got to the table, I made sure the boys were involved in their own conversation before turning to Alice and Rose. "I'm gonna need your help tonight. I'm going out with Jasper, and I have a pretty good idea of what I want to wear, but the accessorizing/makeup/hair will be a problem."
They agreed to help immediately, and we turned to join the boys' conversation.
XOXOXOXOXOXOXOX
After school that day, Alice and Rose rode home with me, having received rides from their respective boyfriends that morning. We walked into my room, and I immediately pulled out the dress I was planning on wearing, something I knew neither of them were aware I owned.
Alice gawked at the dress, well Rose exclaimed, "Bella! That dress is seriously hot. Why didn't I know you owned it?"
"Rene made me wear it to a premiere last year. I know I look good in it, because I got hit on by some pretty famous guys so –"
"Wait, who hit on you?" Alice interjected.
"Um, the guy from that Nicholas Sparks movie with Miley Cyrus, Zac Efron, and one of the Jonas Brothers? I don't know which one. I always get them confused..."
I was interrupted by squealing.
"Seriously, Bella. How can you not realize how hot you are when guys that hot are hitting on you?" Rose asked.
"I wasn't really raised in an environment where good self-esteem could develop. Anyways, I figured I could wear this and a pair of tights, because it's pretty cool outside now and you guys could figure out what to do with my face and hair. And also maybe text Jasper and ask if a dress is too formal..." I said with realization dawning.
Rosalie did that, while Alice flitted about my room, choosing accessories from the various places I stored them.
"Jasper says a dress is great, and then something cheesy about you looking beautiful no matter what you're wearing. Also, he'll pick you up at six." Rosalie announced.
"Great!" Alice exclaimed as I blushed. "Now, sit your ass down woman, so I can do your hair."
I spent the next couple of hours sitting at my vanity while Alice and Rose tried out different looks.
They were finally finished at 5:45, giving me just enough time to get dressed and glance myself over before Jasper arrived.
After I was dressed, I looked in my full-length mirror and immediately went to hug my best friends.
"You guys are the best. I look incredible." And I did. The dress I had chosen was a simple black bandage-style dress. It had thin tank-straps, with a thinner v-strap that fell in a second v to the centre of the back. It had a higher neckline, and fell to a little above mid-thigh with the hemming that Rene had had done on it. I had paired it with a pair of black fishnets with a cool design on them. Alice and Rose had worked their magic, pulling my hair back into a weird curly bun-thing with a few loose strands framing my face. My makeup had been kept simple, with a gold shadow on my lids, along with a thin black lining and a coat of mascara, along with a clear gloss for my lips. They had given me my favourite gold gear-style studs, along with a bunch of gold bangles for my left wrist and a red flower ring for my right middle finger.
"You're a great canvas," Alice smiled, thrusting a pair of red patent leather peep-toes and a small Louboutin clutch that I had, uncharacteristically, fallen in love with on sight, at me just as the doorbell rang.
I pulled on the shoes, throwing my cellphone, credit card, and lip gloss into the clutch before running down the stairs to rescue Jasper from my father.
However, when I got to the living room, Charlie and Jasper were chatting like they were old friends. I actually had to clear my throat to draw Jasper's attention. But once I had, it was totally worth it. Jasper was looking at me like he was dying of thirst and I was water. The look caused a blush to rise in my cheeks, but made me know that my dress was doing it's job.
"Are you ready to go?" I asked, smirking a little bit.
Jasper nodded silently, and I noticed his Adam's Apple bob as he swallowed.
"You're staying at Rose's tonight, kiddo?"
"Yeah, dad."
"Okay. Have fun, and I'll see you Sunday probably, knowing you kids."
"Bye daddy," I said before I kissed him on the cheek and led Jasper out the door.
We got into his car, and he still hadn't said anything, which caused me great amusement. Jasper drove for about ten minutes before he pulled over, took his seat belt off, and kissed me roughly.
I was caught off-guard, but it only took me a second to respond enthusiastically. His tongue grazed my bottom lip, and I parted my lips quickly, allowing him entrance. Our tongues battled for dominance until we could no longer breathe, and we broke apart slowly, panting heavily.
"You look so, so incredibly sexy Bella. I really don't know how I managed to get you," he smiled.
"You look pretty damn good yourself, sir," I smirked. And he did. He was wearing black skinny jeans with a light blue dress shirt, with the first couple of buttons undone under a beige buttoned blazer. "You clean up nicely."
"Is it bad that I kind of just want to skip dinner to make out with you?" He asked, smirking and blushing at the same time.
"It wouldn't be, but I'm kind of starving, so I'd like to go to dinner," I laughed.
"As you wish," He said.
"Princess Bride! Are you quoting my favourite movies to try to win me over? Because, just so you know, I'm already in love with you," I said, pecking him quickly on the lips before shoving him back into his seat.
"I love you too, Bells. We should go now though. I did sort of make a reservation."
We got to restaurant quickly, and as Jasper got out of the car I noticed that it was one of the nicest places in Port Angeles, La Bella Italia.
"Is it cheesy that I took you to a restaurant with your name in the title?" Jasper asked sheepishly.
"Only a little. But I think it's adorable." I said, smiling at him.
We walked into the restaurant, where the teenage hostess made way too much of a show of checking Jasper out, something he didn't even seem to notice.
I slipped my hand into his as he said, "I have a reservation for two under Whitlock."
The hostess led us to our table, where Jasper pulled my chair out for me as she laid the menus on the table and glared at me openly.
"Your server will be with you shortly," she said, flashing a smile at Jasper before turning around and walking back to her post by the entrance.
"I'm so pumped for this meal. I'm starving," I said, opening the menu.
Jasper laughed, "Of course you are. You can eat nearly as much as Emmett."
"That's so not true," I laughed. "Emmett could out eat an elephant."
The waiter approached then to take our drink orders.
"I'll just have a water, please," I said, smiling slightly at the boy, who was probably about sixteen.
"And you, sir?" the boy said, not looking away from me. I turned to look at Jasper, noticing him looking angrily at the waiter.
"Water as well, please," He said through gritted teeth.
"Okay, I'll be right back with your drinks," the boy mumbled, stumbling slightly on his way back to the kitchen.
"Jazz? Why are you glaring at that boy so much?"
"Because he was staring at you,"
"Is somebody jealous?" I teased.
"Maybe a little," he smiled sheepishly.
"Well, you have nothing to worry about. Besides, did you see the way the hostess focused all of her attention on you? If you're jealous, I should be jealous too," I finished, right as the waiter returned to our table.
"Here are you waters. And what can I get for you this evening? Miss?" He asked, turning to me.
"I'll have a small caesar salad to start, and the chicken parmigiana please," I smiled.
"And for you sir?"
Jasper looked at me for a moment before replying, "I'll...have the exact same actually."
I laughed as the waiter wrote it down and walked away.
"I'm really glad we're finally doing this Bella," Jasper said as he took my hand.
"Me too. I've liked you since the moment you walked into my house."
"Well, I've liked you for just as long. And I was too much of a coward to do anything about it until Alice talked me into doing the talent show."
"You too? She's a persuasive little pixie, isn't she? Don't tell her I just called her a pixie. She might kill me..."
Jasper laughed, and the rest of the dinner went by in much the same way, conversation flowing easily between the two of us.
Towards the end of dinner, Jasper asked, "Do you want to get desert here, or do you just want to grab some ice cream and walk around for a bit? There's a Baskin Robbins around the corner."
"Mmmm. Let's get ice cream," I said, knowing my eyes were lighting up. It had been a while since I had had Baskin Robbins.
Jasper paid for dinner, and we left the restaurant, holding hands on our way to the ice cream shop.
As we walked in, I noticed two girls, probably freshman, were working at the counter. Since the place was empty, they noticed us right away, and both of their eyes were immediately drawn to Jasper. I didn't blame them at all. My boyfriend is a seriously good looking guy. Also, it was kind of adorable. They both looked so young.
We walked up to the counter, and one of the girls met us there.
"How can I help you?" She asked, obviously attempting to maintain some sort of professionalism.
"Hi," He said, flashing the girl a grin (I swear her grip on the counter tightened as though to hold herself up), "can I have a medium Oreo soft serve? And what do you want babe?"
"I'll have a small mint chip shake, please," I said, trying not to notice the way the girl's face dropped just a little when Jasper called me 'babe'.
The girls set about getting our orders and Jasper and I fell into silence until my favourite song of the moment came on the radio.
"I freaking love this song! There's a fire starting in my heart. Reaching a fever pitchand it's bring me out the dark," I sang.
"There's a fire starting in my heart, reaching a fever pitch and it's bring me out the dark," Jasper continued.
We sang the song through to the chorus, alternating every couple of lines before harmonizing on the chorus. We stopped at the end of the first chorus, noticing that our drinks were ready and the two girls behind the counter were staring at us.
"Wow. You guys are really good," The one that had served us said.
I ducked my head, knowing I was blushing, while Jasper said, "Thanks. You'll have to excuse Bella here, she has an extremely difficult time taking a compliment for some reason."
Jasper paid before we thanked the girls, took our ice cream, and left the store.
"Those girls were totally in love with you," I said to Jasper as we walked down the street.
"Probably not. But the thirteen year old boy we just walked past is completely in love with you," he replied.
"They totally were. And what thirteen year old boy?"
"He's kind of a while behind us," Jasper said as we arrived at his car.
He opened my door for me, and we spent the drive back to Forks in comfortable silence.
"You're staying with Rose at my house tonight, right?"
"Yeah, I'm supposed to,"
"Okay. Just wanted to make sure before I dropped you off at your house," he smiled.
We pulled up to his house, and he insisted on opening the door for me before we walked to the front door hand-in-hand.
He stopped me just before we opened the door and kissed me sweetly. It was short, but made the butterflies in my stomach start all over again. I pulled away smiling, before looking at him and seeing him doing the same.
"I love you. And I know we've already said it but this is only our first date, and if it's weird let me know and I'll never say it again." I rambled.
"I love you too Bella. You know that. Don't be so paranoid."
"I'm sorry. It's just that, the last time I told someone I love him he turned out to be a total douchebag, and I'm kind of afraid of getting hurt again. Not that I believe you would ever hurt me. I really don't think you would."
"I wouldn't. But I understand your fears. However, let's not spoil an increible evening with talk about the past. This is a conversation for another night. Besides, I'm sure Alice and Rose are waiting very impatiently for us to go inside."
I laughed as he opened the door.
"After you darlin'," He said gesturing for me to enter before him.
I made my way to Rose's third floor room, saying goodbye to Jasper, whose room was right across the hall, before entering the room and being bombarded with questions.
I laughed before saying, "Just let me change and I'll tell you everything." And I did just that.