Be prepared for lots of fluff, guys! And this is where I had intended for the story to end, but some ideas came to me in a drunken flash (haha…friend's birthday party…don't ask), so I'm now in the process of writing a Part Two/sequel! Be on the lookout for it!

Amanda was waiting on her porch for me when I drove up to take us to school. The gentle, but still chilly, May breeze crept inside the car when she opened the door. She seemed really excited about something, I was anxious to find out what. Before I could ask, she leaned over and gave me a hug, which I happily returned.

I found myself smiling in the wake of her good mood. "I would ask how you are, but that's kind of pointless. So instead, why are you so jubilant?"

"I got accepted to Cornell!" she exclaimed, still smiling like a madwoman.

"You're not the only one," I hinted, attempting to be vague, but she immediately caught on.

"Not only do I get to escape Forks, but you're coming too!" She looked thoughtful for a moment. "I bet they have killer bookstores in Connecticut! I'll have to look some up online after school. Ugh, I don't wanna live in a dorm; we should get an apartment together! Or live really, really close to each other, that way you can do all my schoolwork that I suck at…like math."

I grinned listening to her ramble, a tendency she had when she was really happy or excited…or awkward. Amanda might even rival Alice's renowned ramble skills, the only thing keeping Alice the champion was that she didn't have to stop to breathe. She had started talking about how far away graduation was when I tuned back in.

"It's less than a month away, you know," I reminded her.

"I know, but still! A month! That's like a lifetime in Forks time!"

I shrugged, months didn't matter to me, nor did days or even years. After awhile, methods of measuring time were obsolete for me. Amanda must have sensed what I was thinking.

"Old man," she laughed, shaking her head.

"Well, this old man was going to suggest we leave after lunch today, but never mind. Old men are supposed to be better examples than that," I pointed out and I turned into the parking lot, found a satisfactory space, and slammed the Mustang into park.

"That's okay, I don't mind staying all day because I know how much you love being here," she said.

We were silent a minute.

"We could just leave now," I suggested with a sly smile. "Unless you feel bad depriving me of the joyous experience of school."

"Well, you suggested it, so…" she smiled back.

I crossed my arms and sat back in the seat.

"You're gonna get my hopes up and then make me go to class anyway?" she said, trying to look hurt. I wouldn't say she was feeling hurt, just disappointed and a trifle annoyed.

I just stared at her with, what I hoped, was an unreadable expression.

"Ugh, fine then," she muttered and reached down to grab her messenger bag out of the floor.

I cracked and started to laugh, cranked the car, threw it in reverse and was out of the parking lot in one motion.

"That's what I thought," she smirked, exuding relief. "So where are we going?"

"Not a clue," I confessed. "Any suggestions?"

She was in the middle of a yawn and shook her head 'no'.

"We can just go back home, if you want. No one else should be there and if we think of something better do to later we can," I suggested.

"Sounds good," she concurred. "We're just getting a head start on the weekend."

The Mustang's engine roared in protest as I demanded more acceleration from it. I'd probably have to buy a new one by the end of the summer, with nothing but my aggressive driving to blame.

The car's tires squealed as I turned abruptly into the driveway of my house. I had to carefully maneuver around Emmett's new Hummer, since it took up the better part of the garage. I leaped out and opened the door for Amanda, much to her chagrin.

"I'm afraid you're just going to have to get used to that," I reminded her, earning a swat on the elbow for my trouble.

"I'm sorry, that was rude," she suddenly apologized, taking me by surprise. "I'll try to repress the bulk of my violent urges from now on…or else I'll break a bone."

I laughed at her reasoning, took her hand, and led her into the house. She went to the fully stocked refrigerator and got out a bottle of water. She looked around inside for a moment before laughing that she was glad Esme had started keeping her favorites on hand.

"I can cook something for you, if you like," I offered.

"Nah, I'm fine, thanks." She was leaning over the dining room table looking at Esme's latest project. I crept up behind her, wound my arms around her waist and rested my chin on her shoulder.

She turned her head slightly back to look at me, kissed my cheek and asked, "You okay?"

I nodded and buried my face into her neck, inhaling her relaxing scent. She had a much more subtle scent than Bella, Amanda smelled like lavender and something else I could never decipher.

"I haven't hunted in awhile," I explained.

"I'm sorry," she said softly.

I shrugged. "A few of us are leaving tomorrow morning to hunt, I'll be fine. I'm just sorry I have to leave you for a few days."

"It's fine, I understand."

"I still don't like it. And I'm also not sure how I feel about you being so understanding of it," I said, untangling myself from Amanda.

"I figure I can try and empathize and learn to deal with it, or I can be remarkably difficult and it wouldn't change anything. Which do you prefer?" she laughed, turning around to face me.

"You're insane," I laughed with her.

"Can I ask you a question?"

"You just did," I smirked. "But, yes, you may."

"You don't have to, if you don't want to, don't feel pressured or anything."

That made me a little nervous, but I put on a calm charade and said, "I'll keep that in mind."

"You know those old pictures you showed me the night you, uh…told me?" she began, to which I nodded. "Could I see them again? I'm just curious, but if you don't want to it's perfectly fine."

I breathed a sigh of relief. "That's it?? I thought you were about to ask me something else. Of course you can see them." I took her hand and began leading her to my room.

"What did you think I would ask?" she asked with an odd expression.

"It's nothing, forget it."

"Jasper..."

"I thought you were going to ask me to…change you. Or something along those lines," I murmured, not even wanting to have that conversation.

"Oooh," she said. "I don't think you have to worry about that."

"I don't?" I asked as a burst of happiness coursed inside me.

She vigorously shook her head as she sat on my bed, leaning her back against the headboard. "You know I love you and wouldn't change you for anything, but…I don't know how to explain it. Being a vampire's a big deal, it's not something I'd just casually ask you for, and I don't think it's something I want. I'm not sure if I could handle it or all the sacrifices involved.

"So I never have to worry about you begging for me to bite you?" I asked with a huge smile.

"Not that I can foresee, you might want to check with Alice about that. Why are you so happy about this??"

"It's such a relief, you can't begin to understand," I said, digging through my closet. "I just found out that the person I care about most doesn't want me to kill her. Edward will be so jealous." I found what I was looking for and placed the box beside Amanda on the bed. I sat close to her and also leaned against the headboard.

Amanda gaped at me. "Bella wants that?"

I nodded. "Ridiculous, isn't it?"

"That's incredible…how can she ask him for that?" She paused. "Anyway, moving on," she said and opened the box. She studied the first picture, I wasn't paying attention to what it was of, I was more intent on watching her. Everything about her captivated me, the way she gently held the nearly ancient photograph, how she shook her foot out of nervous habit, and how she periodically shook her head to move her side-swept bangs out of her eye.

I was suddenly very interested in something she had said earlier. "Earlier…did you say you loved me?" I asked randomly.

She met my gaze with shy eyes. "Yeah, I guess I did."

"Really?"

"Of course I love you. I'm surprised you didn't know already, with your superpowers and all," she laughed.

"I'm not nearly as insightful as you might think," I pointed out. "But I can tell you what I do know."

"And what's that?"

"That I love you," I said simply before I leaned down and kissed her.

"This is crazy," she laughed. "But I like it."

I smiled and picked up the photograph she had dropped during our kiss. I glanced down at it before handing it back to her. "That's my parents and my sister," I explained, anticipating her question.

"You look just like your mom." She flipped through the pictures, stopping at one randomly. "Aw! You look so young!" she exclaimed, studying a picture of me sitting on my horse shortly before I left for the army.

"I was," I reminded her, refraining from rolling my eyes.

"How'd you get all these?" she asked gesturing towards the pile in her lap.

"I stole them." Her skeptical expression prompted me to elaborate. "I told you after I left Maria I wondered around for awhile. I decided to go back to Texas to see what had happened to my family, even though I couldn't really remember them.

I found my parents' house that my sister lived in it at the time; my parents had died long before. Anna was in her nineties when I showed up. I was careful not to let her, or anyone, see me. They all thought I was dead and there was no reason for them to know otherwise.

Anyway, I broke into the attic and found a trunk with these in it. I didn't intend to take them, but I did anyway. I feel like these photographs are my last hold to the humanity I can't remember."

Amanda nodded thoughtfully. "You really don't remember being human?"

"Some…the bulk of what I do remember is more like random flashes that are foggy and faded. They don't really make sense. But there are a handful of clear things. I guess the clearest thing is the night I met Maria."

"I'm sorry, that must put a damper on the human experience," she said as she absentmindedly traced patterns into my arm with her finger.

"I'd rather be missing a handful of my past than to have missed out on you."

Before she could say anything, something crashed downstairs.

"Dammit, Emmett!" I cursed; I knew he'd hear me. I heard him chuckle and turn on the TV to watch what sounded like a football game. Amanda laughed at me.

"Did school get out early today or something?" she asked.

"No, we usually leave school early on days we're going 'hiking'." I explained.

"I thought you said you weren't leaving until tomorrow?"

"We're not, but the school administration doesn't have to know that," I chuckled.

"And here I thought you were too virtuous to lie like that!" she collapsed into laughter.

"I doubt I've missed any new material," I argued, trying to defend my nonexistent virtuous nature. "Not like you, skipping school today."

"It was your idea, you're such a bad influence!!" she argued playfully.

Alice poked her head in the door. "I'm keeping an eye on Bella this weekend; I've foreseen you staying over here, too. I already called Lillian." Before Amanda could reply, Alice was frolicked away.

"I'm not being babysat, am I?" she scowled.

"No," I assured her. "Bella's being babysat so she doesn't run off with the werewolves, but Alice likes having you around. You're the guest and Bella's the hostage."

"At least I know I'm free to leave anytime. You know, if things get out of hand with pedicures and playing dress up and whatnot," she said, not entirely joking.

"I'll leave the car keys," I said, tossing them on the bedside table. "You'll probably need them."