"We should've taken the motorcycle," I said randomly.
"Hindsight is always 20/20," Amanda laughed. "I probably would've frozen to death on it, though. It's a balmy twelve degrees outside, ya know." She paused before continuing with her rambling. "Maybe not quite that cold, but still pretty freaking chilly. It should be warmer than this in June. We should head south. I'm getting too old for these frigid temperatures."
"You're too old for it?" I laughed and reached over and took her hand.
She shrugged. "I hang around with too many old people; I'm starting to turn into one. But people my own age irritate me, so I guess this is the best option. Pretty soon I'll have to start eating dinner at 4pm and be in bed by 8 at the latest."
"It'll never happen," I point out.
"Oh, can't you just let me dream?" She asked all exasperatedly.
I laughed as I swung the car into a sharp, hairpin turn. Amanda didn't even blink.
"I'm afraid I've lost the ability to scare you," I point out.
"Jasper, Jasper, Jasper. I've become immune to your vehicular aggression. But if you try and jump the Grand Canyon you'll get a reaction from me. But probably only then."
"Oooh, a challenge!" I snicker. "I'll have to save that for later."
I slowed the car down, speeding through a crowded downtown Seattle street on a Friday night seemed like a lot more trouble than it was worth.
"It would be kinda like that old video game Frogger, where you have to dodge the lines and still get across," Amanda pointed out after I voiced by observation. "Only dodging pedestrians might be more fun. Not to mention the sound effects would be better. And the graphics. I think there was a Seinfeld episode about this, actually."
I smiled as she continued rambling. Things were good, things were back to about as normal as they could be. We could both finally relax, the mood was definitely lightened. I knew she didn't blame me for anything that had happened but it didn't stop me from feeling horribly guilty about dragging her into it. But at this particular moment things were great. It was just me and her and nothing else mattered…except for avoiding these moron pedestrians who felt entitled to leap out in the middle of the road in oncoming traffic, but I was good and kept my "vehicular aggression" to a minimum until I swung the Mustang into a parking space.
We meandered up to the restaurant and I could tell Amanda had to contain her amusement that we immediately got a table and didn't have to wait like a small crowd of people outside.
"You're just so darn charming," Amanda grinned after we had been seated at a table.
I just smiled. "I can be pretty persuasive."
The waitress came to take our orders and Amanda seemed surprised when I got a steak, but waited until the waitress was gone to bring it up.
"The New York Strip…extra rare?" she asked.
"I'm a growing boy."
She just shrugged and sipped her wine courtesy of the fake ID I had given her a few weeks before.
"Oh, here," she said and pulled the credit card out that I had given her in case she had to take off to Canada.
I shrugged. "Just keep it. Go crazy, buy some Chuck Taylors."
"I'd have to get red ones so I can match the Mustang. You know how I feel about non-coordination."
"Between your disdain for unattractive breakfast foods and matching your shoes to the car, it's a wonder you never leave the house or get any nourishment."
"It's rather problematic. But, being Forks, there's nowhere to really leave the house for and I'm more of a night person anyway. There's no need to eat before at least noon. Extra rare steaks aren't appealing at 6am."
"Maybe not to you…" I laughed.
She smiled and shook her head.
"Extra rare preserves the integrity of the meat," I explained, trying to justify my bizarre and often grotesque eating habits by directly quoting some guy on the Food Network.
"Sure thing, Bobby Flay," she laughed as the waitress brought our food. She seemed to like Amanda and me a lot, I couldn't imagine why. Amanda delicately twirled some bizarre pasta concoction around her fork and I hacked into the hunk of meat.
"You crazy," she laughed as I chowed down on my only slightly dead steak.
"I'm Southern, I do love my meat," I grinned and let some blood ooze out of the steak. I could tell she wanted to say something else, but was opting out in case someone overheard.
We ate in comfortable silence for a few minutes until she chimed in with something random.
"That unassuming, middle aged blond woman over there keeps staring at us. I'm intrigued."
"I know. People are crazy, even unassuming looking ones…is she eating raw steak too?" I mused.
"I'm gonna go to the bathroom and see if she follows me…I might have a stalker! This is kinda exciting; no one in Forks is brave or interesting enough to stalk!"
"Good luck, don't let her get you in a dark alley, she looks like a killer," I laughed as Amanda stood up and very smoothly flipped me a select hand gesture which she disguised as scratching her nose. I watched her walk away and round the corner, but the woman didn't follow. I continued eating, even though everything in my upbringing screamed that I was being rude by not waiting, but I didn't want to draw attention to myself. A few minutes later Amanda wandered back toward the table, but the random woman got up and started talking to her before she reached me.
"Is that guy your boyfriend?" she asked Amanda, waiving her arm in my general direction.
"Yeah. Well, fiancé`, actually," Amanda answered smoothly, but I could tell she was slightly weirded out. "Why, did he start trouble while I was gone?"
I smirked into my steak, trying not to make it obvious I could hear them. But I knew Amanda knew I could hear, so she was trying to be entertaining.
"Oh no honey, nothing like that," Random Woman continued. "I'm just being nosey because you two are so cute together! He's all tall and muscular and blond and you're petite redhead, you'll have beautiful children! He's so crazy about you, it's adorable and so obvious! When's the wedding, if you don't mind me asking?"
"We're not completely sure yet. Sometime in July or August, I think. His sister's doing the majority of the planning, so we're just showing up when she says to."
"Well, congratulations!" she gushed and pulled Amanda in for a hug. "I won't bother you anymore, I just had to know!" Then Random Woman sauntered back to her table and Amanda sat back down across from me.
"I think I just had…girl talk," Amanda said with a look of bewilderment, which caused me to burst into laughter.
"Was it everything you'd hoped it'd be?"
"It's hard to say," she pondered while twirling pasta. "I've only ever had this 'girl talk' thing with Alice and Rosalie and Bella attempted once or twice, so I don't have much to compare it to. But no, I didn't much care for it. I just get along with men better. I'm glad you're male, Jasper."
"Um, so am I…?" I said, unable to think of anything clever to say.
"You should be, because I don't think I'd do well as a lesbian. All that drama. And not to mention all the makeup and clothes and stuff." She paused to take a bite. "Actually, hanging out with Alice is kinda like having a lesbian lover only sans the lover part."
"What?" I asked. Of all the things that could've come out of her mouth, I never saw that one coming.
"Just think about it: she's always giving me clothes and makeup and other random girlie things like a lesbian lover would."
"And you know what a lesbian lover would give as gifts?" I asked and quirked an eyebrow.
"It's a possibility…." She trailed of mysteriously and took another bite. "No, but I really don't know aside from what I've seen on TV. I'm just rambling; you should be used to it by now! Sorry to disappoint."
I just grinned and pushed my empty plate away. "I can't believe I actually ate that."
"Me either," Amanda agreed as she too pushed her plate away. "I've only seen you eat food like twice."
I paid the check much to Amanda's stubborn protests. Unlike a lot of girls who acted like they didn't want they guy to pay but actually did, Amanda really didn't want me to always be paying for her. But I always won that argument, even though I found her hell-bent independence captivating. So many girls seemed to be helpless without a guy in their lives and Amanda had made it clear she was never going to be one of them.
"Where to now?" I asked as we exited the restaurant onto the crowded street.
Amanda shrugged. "Am I really a redhead? Or is that woman blind? It's been bothering me for like the past hour."
I laughed. "Really? All that talk about lesbian lovers and you were really worrying if you were a redhead?"
She smiled sheepishly.
"Your hair isn't red, it dark brown with flecks of blond and in just the right lighting, an ever so slight red tint."
"You would notice, wouldn't you?" she smiled and took my hand.
"Do you need anything? Coffee or something warm? It's freezing out here," I asked as a gust of chilly wind swept down the busy street.
"Nah, I'm good. But thanks."
"Are you sure? There's like 19 Starbucks on this street."
She laughed and insisted she was fine as I steered us into a small record shop. We amused ourselves for a few minutes, rooting around in bins and discussing obscure bands with even more obscure record releases. She was putting up a brave front, but I could tell that Amanda was getting really tired.
"Do you want to go home so you can sleep?" I offered, interested in what kind of response I would get.
"Yes, please," was all she said, looking slightly defeated.
"You've only been up like 24 straight hours," I tried to make her feel better. I draped my arm around her shoulders as if to guide her down the busy city street back to the car.
"And not to mention the emotional duress."
"Duress is exhausting," I agreed. As if to validate my point, she yawned and tried to hide it by casually glancing in the opposite direction like she was looking at the river. I chuckled and said, "You're so stubborn."
"It's part of the magic that makes up me…or at least that's what Grandpa said once back when I was dating that British guy allegedly involved in the mafia. I told you about him. But now that I think back he might've really been in the mafia. Or some underground, less-than-legal organization, anyway."
"I like the magic that is you," I said…choosing to ignore the bit about the British guy. I paused and thought about that statement for a second. "Sorry, that was way too cheesy. I take it back."
Amanda laughed, "Good, I was afraid for a minute that you were getting all mushy or Edwardian or something. That's a relief."
"Edwardian! Ha! Nice one!" I couldn't help but laugh. She had a killer sense of humor. I kept telling her she should write a book. A cold, damp gust of wind swept down the street and Amanda nestled closer to my side. I felt bad that it wouldn't keep her warm but I liked her being right there.
"Do you find pedestrians equally annoying on foot as you do driving?" she asked randomly.
"Not so much," I answered as we crossed the street (in the crosswalk, for the record) and darted for the Mustang. I opened the passenger door for her and Amanda was too tired to protest. I walked at an average human pace to the driver's side and quickly started the car and turned the heat on for Amanda. She mumbled thanks and rested her head on my shoulder.
She drifted off to sleep as I ripped through the highways back to Forks. I was surprised she could sleep through my speeding, even the car itself was protesting wildly. I didn't care, I needed a new one anyway and it was just money. I found it easier to drive fast, I didn't get sidetracked looking at miniscule patterns that humans never noticed and it relaxed me. The normally 2 hour drive took only 45 minutes thanks to my speeding.
I pulled onto her road and kissed her forehead to wake her up. She looked outside and seemed surprised we were back so soon.
"How fast did you go?" she yawned.
"About 90."
She laughed sleepily. "I'm so proud." She buried her face into my shoulder.
"You should go inside and go to bed," I said gently.
"Would you stay?" she asked. I couldn't help but smile, she sounded like a little kid whenever she got tired.
"Of course." I picked up my phone to call Emmett to ask him to come get my car so Amanda's grandma wouldn't know I was staying over but the phone vibrated just before I dialed.
"Emmett's on his way over," Alice said in her usual peppy nature. I thanked her and she continued talking. "What's Amanda doing tomorrow? I can't see her and it makes me nervous."
"She and her Grandma are going to some craft thing or something in La Push…where the dogs are."
"Oh! That explains it then! Well, you two have a good night, cheerio!" And with that she hung up.
"Alice is way too energetic," Amanda mumbled, still not looking up from my shoulder. "However, you're very relaxing."
"I try," I said. I actually was trying to relax her. "Emmett'll be here in a few minutes to take the car back to the house." I put the car in drive and pulled into her driveway, thinking that her Grandma would see or hear the car and then see it leave and everybody wins. As soon as I put the Mustang in park, Emmett tapped on my window. Amanda groaned quietly and dragged herself out of the car. I opened my door and handed my taller and slightly more reckless brother the keys.
"If it isn't a short stop and a sudden drop!" Emmett exclaimed as if that was some kind of greeting.
"Short stop? Why must my height always be the butt of jokes?" Amanda smiled sleepily.
"Hey, now! My butt looks breathtaking in these jeans!" Emmett argued and turned around to show her. I smirked. You could always count on Emmett for something random.
"Go to bed, kid, you look awful," He said, gesturing for Amanda to go inside.
"Gee, thanks."
"Jasper, make her go to bed!" Emmett demanded.
"I would but you keep talking," I couldn't help but laugh.
"Oh. Yeah. That's true. Well, bye then, baby sis!" He encased Amanda in one of his vice-like hugs then took off in my beloved car. I really hoped I'd see it again in one piece.
"I'll meet you upstairs," I said. I took her hand and kissed it before darting up tree that grew beside the house. I heard her open the front door and talk briefly to her grandma as I lay down on her bed. Her bed was amazingly comfortable. I wished I was actually alive for several reasons, one of which was so I could sleep in this bed. I told Amanda that once and she thought it was hilarious. A few minutes later Amanda came in and shut her bedroom door, looking quite bleary eyed, and fell into bed beside me.
"Don't you want to change clothes or something first?" I asked. She shook her head no and rolled over and leaned her head against my chest.
"Your car smells like dog, by the way," she mumbled.
"I know," I chuckled lowly. "You'll smell like dog again tomorrow, too."
"Bleh. Will you wake me up before you have to leave in the morning?"
"Of course. Now go to sleep."
She finally closed her eyes and in a minute or two or breathing slowed down. I pulled the covers up over her and adjusted my body so I wasn't under it with her, keeping my coldness away from her body heat. I lay there, perfectly relaxed, and watched her sleep until morning.