A/N: Happy 2013, everybody! It's my birthday this week, so you all get a present - a new chapter! :)

I still don't own any part of the franchise.

"You know that I love you all," I called out to the house in general, "but if you don't get out of here right now, I'm going to have to start ripping arms off."

"Calm down, Jazzy," Alice chirped as she flitted down the stairs before patting my cheek affectionately. "You have plenty of time."

"It doesn't feel like it," I grumbled, pacing the length of the living room.

I didn't like to use my gift indiscriminately, but I couldn't help myself. I sent a surge of impatience throughout the house, hoping it would hurry them up.

"Jasper," Carlisle admonished as he descended the stairs toward me. "Is that really necessary?"

A growl rumbled low in my chest. I knew that my family members were equal parts exasperated and amused by my impatience, but I just wanted them out of there.

Esme approached me as they began congregating on the front porch. She reached up and grasped the sides of my face firmly, forcing me to look down at her.

"I know this is a big day for you, Jasper. You can't imagine how proud I am of how well you are coping with all the changes in your life."

I smirked at her. "Really?"

She tweaked my ear playfully. "Yes, you can feel it. Fine. It's a figure of speech, smart-aleck."

I shrugged with a smile on my face.

"Just know," she continued, "that no matter what happens with Bella, we are all here for you."

Terror struck me at her words. "What?" I demanded. "Do you think that something bad is going to happen?"

"No, no," she said soothingly. "I don't think that. But just because you're an empath doesn't mean that you will always have a hold on your emotions. And just because you've lived for 150 years doesn't mean that you understand everything about the world. Sometimes we all need a little bit of support. It's a good thing, my boy."

"I'm not a boy," I grumbled. "But – thank you."

"Bella is a beautiful girl—"

"More than just beautiful," I interrupted.

"Yes. Of course you're correct. She's obviously perfect for you. She seems very smart, and I am sure that when she is ready to know the truth about you, she will work it out. Don't force it. Just let that, and everything in your relationship, happen naturally."

I nodded slowly, knowing that what she said was correct; I couldn't force Bella to find out before she was ready. It could be too overwhelming for her.

"We'll see you tomorrow. Have fun."

I hugged her tightly, and only seconds after I released her, the family had left for their hunting trip, leaving me alone. My franticness of earlier had vanished, and I somehow felt peace. In only an hour, Bella would be here to spend the day with me. And most importantly, we would have no interruptions.

Collapsing on the couch, I revelled in the emotional void and allowed my own feelings to come to the fore. A smile spread across my face.

She was on her way – I could feel it. The ache in my chest was easing by the second. I checked that everything was perfect for what must have been the tenth time, and then moved out to the porch to wait for her.

The anticipation grew as I heard the grunting of her truck as it struggled along the highway. I made a mental note to suggest Rose take a look at it one day.

I heard her pass by our semi-concealed driveway, turn around, and slowly make her way back. The crunching of gravel reassured me that she had found the turn on her second try.

I descended the steps as she pulled the truck to a stop. At full speed, I was there to open her door.

"Bella," I sighed once the door was open and I was flooded with her scent.

"Hi, Jasper," she replied, blushing, as she allowed me to assist her to the ground. My body was humming from being able to touch her again.

After a second's hesitation, I reached out and took her hand, leading her into the house. It wasn't the first time I had held her hand, so I made the assumption that she wouldn't object to doing it again. Especially since today was a real date. Holding hands was something humans did on dates from what I understood. She didn't pull away, much to my delight.

"It's quiet," she observed, glancing around. "Is nobody else here?"

"They're all out for the day. It's just you and me."

Her heart started thudding loudly, which worried me for a second until I felt her emotions. She was nervous and excited. Which I supposed was good for a first date.

I led her to the fireplace, where I had set up a rug with an opulent number of cushions to relax on. For a terrifying second, I hoped that she wouldn't think that I was trying to seduce her. Now that I saw it with her by my side, the set-up looked somewhat like a love-nest.

Eager to allay any fears, I quickly explained. "So, my initial idea had been to take you on a picnic somewhere. That seemed adequately romantic." She looked up at me curiously. "But since it's January, you probably wouldn't have been very comfortable with that."

"Not so much," she said with a hint of amusement in her voice.

"So I moved the location indoors."

"It's perfect, Jasper." She squeezed my hand encouragingly. I watched her as she took the details in.

The fireplace was hardly ever used in our house. We obviously didn't require one to keep warm, and since fire was the only thing that could kill us, we tended to shy away from them. But in this case, I was pleased to make an exception. I knew that the fire would be comforting to Bella, so my own fears were ignored.

"M'lady." I gestured towards the nest with a flourish and assisted her to sit.

"Thank you, sir," she replied with a giggle and wiggled around, making herself comfortable.

With a smile at her, I decided to keep up the gallantry. "I will return with your sustenance forthwith."

Her answering grin was spectacular.

I was aware that she was watching me move at a faster than human speed, but I was just following her earlier instructions not to hide my true self. I returned with a tray laid with imported strawberries, sparkling grape juice, mini-quiche, and some roast chicken salad finger sandwiches.

Her eyebrows rose when I laid the spread down on the rug in front of her. "Nice."

After settling myself on the pillows next to her, I reached behind the basket of firewood and emerged with a bunch of flowers I had picked from Esme's garden. "And these are for you," I told her as I presented her with them.

"They're beautiful, Jasper."

"Not as beautiful as you."

She laughed. "That's the cheesiest line I've ever heard."

I ducked my head. "Sorry."

In a move reminiscent of what I had done to her several times, her tiny finger appeared under my chin, and she forced my head back up. "Don't be." She looked straight into my eyes. "Everything is perfect." She took a sip of her grape juice.

"Really?"

"Could be too much for just me, even. I would have been happy if we just hung out and watched a movie or something."

"It's never too much," I insisted before smirking at her. "And thanks for ruining the surprise of the second part of our date."

"You planned for a movie later?"

I nodded.

"Sounds perfect." Slowly, her hand reached out until it was resting on my own.

She picked up a finger sandwich and offered it to me. "Want one?"

"No. This is all for you."

She looked at me appraisingly before taking a bite of it herself. She seemed to be deep in thought as she chewed and swallowed.

"Jasper?" Her voice was soft.

"Yes?" I threaded my fingers through hers. I had a suspicion about what she was going to ask.

"You don't eat at all, do you?"

I looked at her, closely, analysing both her body language and emotions. "No."

She didn't seem too thrown or scared, which I took as a good sign.

She held her champagne flute out towards me. "What about drink?"

I took a deep breath, letting her scent give me courage. "Nothing that you would find appetizing," I admitted slowly.

"Hmmm…." She nodded. She was still curious, but calm. She had previously made her suspicions about my diet known, but had never asked the question outright.

I let my thumb trace over the other fingers of the hand I was still holding and watched intently as she nibbled on the items on the tray. She seemed to enjoy them all, taking alternate samples from each, which pleased me greatly. I may not have eaten human food, but I hadn't gone completely off-track when choosing snacks for her.

"Jasper?"

"Yes, sweetheart?"

She pivoted so that she was looking at me straight on and took my other hand so the fingers of both hands were interlaced. "Are you human?"

"No," I said so softly I didn't think a human would hear me. But apparently she did. Her heart beat quickly for several seconds. Instead of the horror I expected to feel from her I felt understanding.

I looked up at her, questioningly. "Does that not bother you?"

Her teeth bit down on her delicate, pink lower lip. "It should. But for some reason it doesn't. It's almost as if I've always known, and my heart—or whatever it is that is drawing me to you—doesn't care."

"It's your soul."

"Huh?"

I reached up and stroked her cheek before cupping the side of her head with my hand. Seeing my hand covering the entire side of her head made me realize just how tiny she really was. "I think it's your soul, if I understand it correctly."

"This isn't how most people feel about their..." She hesitated. "…Boyfriend?"

"No." I shook my head. "It's very rare. This pull we have toward each other? That's our souls recognizing each other and wanting to stay together. I think. I'm still learning all the details as well."

She pulled her hand free of mine and sat back, leaning against her arms. "Woah. That sounds serious. You're not just playing me here?"

I shook my head once more.

She didn't respond. She sat nibbling on the same strawberry for almost ten minutes. All I could do was sit and watch her. I didn't move for fear that I would spook her. I just watched.

When she swallowed the last of the berry, she looked at me again. "So are you saying that you're my soul mate?"

"Actually, yes. Humans throw that word around so frequently it's lost its meaning, but essentially that's who you are to me—a true soul mate."

"I probably should be more freaked out right now."

I smiled at her. "Probably. You're taking it better than I had."

She looked at me curiously.

I waved her off. "A story for another time." I'd already thrown enough at her today. She didn't need to hear about Alice now on top of all that.

"So to summarize," she said, shuffling herself closer toward me until our sides were touching. "You're not human, but can't tell me exactly what you are."

I nodded.

"And you claim that I'm your soul mate. The fact you that know this is, I'm guessing, somewhat connected to the previous point."

"Yes, I guess it is." If I wasn't a vampire, I wouldn't know about the Romanian Kingdom and therefore wouldn't know their stories of the Pereche.

I looked down at her hair, which was right by my shoulder. She was so sweet and perfect. "Movie?" I suggested. "I think you've learned enough for today."

She nodded, and without waiting for her, I pulled her into my arms and carried her to the couch.

I left her to put a DVD into the player and when I turned back to her, I found her gazing at me intently. "Just for the record," she said softly. "I'll never have learned enough. Not when it's you I'm learning about."

I froze. If I had a functioning heart, it would have skipped a beat. I couldn't believe she had said something so amazing. With those words I knew the truth. I knew that she didn't care whether I was human or not. All she cared about was me. The opening credits of Funny Girl played in the background and I kneeled before her, resting my hands on her knees. I was unable to break her gaze. "I feel exactly the same way," I whispered.

I didn't expect to feel love emanating from her. Not when we'd known each other for so little time. But it was there. A faint flicker, which I knew would just grow as time went on. It was the best feeling in the world, knowing that she felt even a fraction of what I already instinctually felt for her.

And as much as I hadn't expected to feel that love, I never expected what she did next. She grabbed the sides of my face with her tiny hands and leaned toward me. Frozen to the spot, I watched her get closer and closer until I felt her lips graze mine. The whole world stopped. An atomic blast could have occurred outside the living room window, and I would have been none the wiser. Some Major I made. All that mattered was that she was kissing me. My eyes fell closed and my chin jutted forward, putting some pressure into kissing her back. I could feel it in every cell in my body. While touching her made my body tingle, this made my body sing. There were no words in any of the languages I knew to describe the feeling. My Pereche was kissing me. It was chaste and quick, but it was perfect.

When she pulled away, only three seconds had passed, but those three seconds had felt both longer and not long enough. I knew it sounded dramatic, but those three seconds were the culmination of everything good in my life. I had loved Alice dearly, but kissing Bella was better than anything I had ever done with Alice.

"Oh, Lord," I muttered when both our eyes opened. The look of exaltation on her face was, I was sure, mirrored on my own.

"Wow," she agreed. "You're right. It can't feel like that for everyone else."

"Nowhere even close."

I didn't want to push her too fast, so I forced myself to refrain from kissing her again and pulled myself up onto the couch. She instantly snuggled into my side, sighing contentedly.

I didn't watch any of the movie. All I could see was a replay of those three seconds over and over in my mind. Bella had to poke me in the side to get my attention when the movie ended. I hadn't noticed that the credits were almost finished.

She was so relaxed and happy when I walked her to her truck. When we reached the driver's door, her anticipation spiked, and I knew what she wanted me to do. I leaned down and kissed her lightly again. The feeling of our lips touching hadn't changed. It felt just as good as when she had kissed me earlier.

"I could die a happy man right this second," I mumbled as we pulled away.

"Please don't," she said with the cheeky smile, pecking me quickly on the cheek before opening the door.

She swayed slightly. "Woah. It's like the best head rush ever."

Not having blood in my veins, I couldn't remember what a head rush felt like, but I trusted her analysis. "Are you sure you are okay to drive?"

"I'm great." She rolled the window down so that she could close the door without separating us. "This has to be the best first date ever."

"I concur."

She started the engine. "I'll call you," she promised. "We still have a lot to talk about."

I nodded. "I look forward to it."

As she drove away, pain rippled through me, and I had to force my body to stay rooted to the spot and not follow after her.

When the noise of her truck had faded completely, I moved back inside and began to clean up the living room and kitchen. I was almost done when the tugging in my chest plateaued, so I knew she had arrived home.

The house phone rang, and chuckling, I picked it up. "When you said you'd call, I didn't expect it to be the second you got home."

There was silence on the other end.

"Bella?"

It wasn't Bella. "I'm so sorry, Jasper."

"Alice?"

"You have to get Bella."

My body froze. "What happened? Tell me now!"

Her voice sounded like she was in danger of crying. "We were hunting near the border, and we came across Edward's scent. We caught up to him somewhere on the Alaska/Canada border, and we talked to him. We didn't realize what it would do."

"What? What is 'it'?" I demanded.

"Esme mentioned Bella. The second he heard her name, he just went feral. His eyes were black, and he sprinted off. There was no way we could catch him. Jasper, the only time I've seen him so filled with bloodlust was when he smelled her that first day. He's heading toward Forks."

I dropped the phone.

A/N2: And... commence freak out ... NOW.