This is part of chapter 15 from Jasper's point of view... aka their I love you scene. And... yeah... this is pretty much just pure fluff haha. Enjoy. :)

We settle in for the afternoon in Charlie's kitchen. I try to be helpful when needed and stay out of the way otherwise. Rosie and Bella keep up a steady conversation, and I stare back and forth between them while they smile and trade stories. The sound of Bella's laugh makes me laugh with her; I know the sound of her laugh so well already, and even without watching I can picture the way her head tilts back and her whole face lights up. I watch her anyway.

Rosie finishes wrapping our presents and helps Bella with the rest of the cookies. She looks so relaxed with Bella, as if they'd been friends her whole life. I've really only seen her that way with Garrett and Tanya before. She has a hard time getting close to people, like me. But then, just like with me, Bella seems to have broken through those barriers somehow.

I always thought it would be hard to find a girl willing to put up with my past, let alone to share my responsibilities the way Bella does. Knowing that Rosie's comfortable with Bella puts me at ease in a way I can't explain. I see the two most important parts of my life standing in front of me, and watching them together is better than anything else I can imagine.

Bella catches me staring at her as she rolls out a ball of cookie dough. She arches an eyebrow, like I'll be embarrassed that I'm busted. I shrug and grin, because she can catch me looking any day. Every day. And I'll just keep looking. She smiles back, and it's the kind of smile that makes me wish for the hundredth time since last night that I could get her alone. I've been waiting for weeks, trying to find a way to finally tell her I love her.

I've known it since the first night she met Rosie. She told me that meeting my sister meant as much to her as it did to me, and I believed her. I kissed her hand, and I knew. I knew I loved her. I knew I wanted her. I knew I'd do whatever it took to keep her in my life. I've been thinking about it since then, waiting for the right time and place to tell her. Waiting for some sort of hint that she might want to hear me say it.

Last night when we were dancing, I almost got there. I told her I'd been waiting for her, and I have. I told her she was the missing piece – the one I thought I'd never deserve. The way she looked up at me, I was sure she felt it too. She answered me quietly and then laid her head on my chest. I knew it was right. I opened my mouth to say the words, but Willie Nelson stole them. It wasn't Elvis, but the words were the same. That was all that mattered to my fucked up brain.

Bella runs her fingers through my hair, and I forget what I was worried about. I smile and lean into her touch; it's all I need to calm me these days.

"What are you thinking so hard about over there?" she asks.

"You," I say, seriously. "I'm almost always thinking about you." She grins but doesn't look surprised.

"You are one smooth operator, Mr. Whitlock." She laughs. She slides into my lap, sidesaddle, and wraps her arms around my neck. She leans in close so she can whisper in my ear, teasing me. "I wonder how many times you've used that line to your advantage."

I tilt her face toward mine with one finger beneath her chin, and her eyes search mine for something. I'm not quite sure what.

"Miss Swan, you insult me," I tease. "You know perfectly well there's never been another you."

She leans forward to kiss me, but not the way I want to be kissed right now. She's kissing me the way you kiss a guy in front of his baby sister, not how you kiss him when you can hardly think for wanting him. I know she wants the same thing by the way she looks at me when she pulls away.

The rest of the day goes by fast, but not nearly fast enough. After dinner, I ask her to take a walk with me. It's snowing outside, the first white Christmas in either of our lifetimes, and Bella's really excited about it. She can't stop smiling. I pull her beanie down over her ears, pushing the hair back out of her face a little. I've always thought those hats look ridiculous on people, but she looks great.

"Ready?" I ask.

"Definitely."

It's freezing outside, but the good kind of cold where you can smell it in the air. You can taste how cold it is, and it burns your nose when you breathe it in. She tilts her head back and opens her mouth to let the snow fall on her tongue. I want to kiss her. Instead I lean back to eat the snow just like her, and she laughs when she catches me.

I take her hand so she won't slip on the sidewalk, because God knows if there's ice on the ground she'll be the first to go down. I take her over to the grass where it's a little safer. I can't take my eyes off of her. She looks so happy, with her red cheeks and that big smile on her face. I love her. I'm still watching for some kind of hint that she wants to hear it, some kind of opening. I mean, she brought me home for Christmas with her… surely that counts for something, right?

Fuck. I feel like such a kid. I have no idea how this is supposed to go. I don't have a clue what I'm doing. But she's gotta know that by now, and she's still hanging around. I just need to man up and tell her. I'm going to. In just a minute. Fuck.

We walk down to the end of the block and back, and I try to start a snowball fight, but she's not having it. When my gloves are soaked through, I can see why. My hands are fucking freezing, and the wind on the wet gloves just makes it worse. I take them off and shove them in my pockets. We're not that far from the house now, and I can suck it up.

I grab tight to her hand. I'll tell her on the porch. I'll just suck it up and say the words, and then they'll be out there. I won't have to think about how to do it anymore. I turn to face her. I'll just –

Oh, fuck.

I'm falling, and falling hard, and Bella's falling with me. I forgot about the ice and now I'm flat on my back, and holy shit did that hurt. I grunt when she lands on top of me, and I move my hands up to steady her so she doesn't hit the ice too. I close my eyes and try to pull myself together. Be a man, Jasper. It didn't hurt that bad. Fuck, but it did.

She starts laughing, and it shakes my whole body. I start to smile in spite of myself.

"Jasper, you dead?" She's trying to talk through her laughs, and she can barely get the words out.

"Yeah. Man…" I think I might be.

"You didn't hit your head, did you?"

"No, I think I'm okay. Only mostly dead, and maybe a little embarrassed." I try to laugh but it hurts. Here I thought I'd be the one keeping her from falling, and instead I'm pulling her down. Smooth, Jasper. Real smooth.

She climbs off of me, then tries to help me stand up. We shuffle to the porch together, and she has a death grip around my waist as we go. I don't let go, and this time we make it to the steps without incident. She's still laughing when she reaches up to grab the spare key from the top of the door frame. I'm so glad I amuse her.

She unlocks the door, and I find my courage. Last night I couldn't even dance with her without issue. I want another chance. I reach out to put a hand on her should her to stop her, and fuck… I'm going to do this. I'm going to do it right.

"Wait, please don't go in yet. Can I try something?"

She's still smiling from her laughter when she turns around. God, I want to kiss her right now.

"Try what?"

"Last night… when we were dancing." I pause, and she seems to understand that this is serious. "Please let me do this, Bella."

I unbutton my coat and reach out for her hand, and she laughs when I spin her once before pulling her against me. I smile. So far so good. I hold her hand tight against my chest, and my other hand finds its way past her coat and under the edge of her shirt. My hands are freezing, and I smirk when she shivers. I don't care. Her skin is warm and soft, and I can't get enough of her.

Her cheeks are still bright red from the cold, and so is her nose. Her eyes are wide and dark, and the Christmas lights reflect in them. It's beautiful. She slides her arm inside my coat, and then she's up against me, her cheek against my chest. I spin us in big circles since I don't really know what else to do. I've never been much of a dancer, or really had the opportunity, but with her it doesn't even matter.

I start singing softly in her ear. I don't even know why. It's the same song from the bar last night, but singing it to her makes it feel like I've conquered it somehow. It doesn't remind me of my mom anymore. It doesn't make me think of bruises and angry words and tears. It makes me think of Bella, and how good it feels to hold her in my arms.

"I meant what I said last night, Bella. It's too late for me to walk away from you."

"I don't want you to."

"What do you want?"

"You. I want all of you." She pauses, and I wonder if she's going to say it. "What do you want?"

I take a deep breath, and then I let it go.

"You. I want you every day. I – I want you to love me." She stops dancing and so do I. She looks up, and I see the beginning of a smile. She wants me say it. "I love you, Bella."

"I love you, too," she says, and her smile is the biggest I've ever seen.

I can't wait anymore, so I kiss her. I kiss her slow and sweet, because I love her. Because she loves me. I'm still smiling like an idiot as I kiss her but I don't even care. She's still smiling, too. Her hands move up to my neck to pull me closer, and I oblige. I always want to be closer. She tastes like snow and her lips are freezing, but it's fucking fantastic, and I can't get enough. I push her back until she's up against one of the porch columns, and then she's pressed up against me in all the right ways. I slide my knee between her legs, because fuck… I just need to get a little closer. I need to touch her more. I need to touch her everywhere, I need to taste her skin, I need her. God, I want her. I've never wanted anything like I want her.

When we need to breathe, I kiss my way up her jaw and to her neck. She loves it when I kiss her neck, and I love the reaction I get.

"I wish I could take you home," I say.

"We're already here." She doesn't get it.

"No, not here. I wish I could take you home alone. I wish we weren't at your dad's house tonight."

She nods, wordless, and I watch her blush. She gets it.

"Me too. God, me too." She's laughing now.

"I love you. It feels so good to say that; you have no idea."

"I think I might," she says. "I've been biting my tongue for weeks."

"Really?"

"Really. I wasn't sure if you were ready to hear it… or if you wanted to."

"I'm ready now."

"I love you."

I laugh, because hearing her say that is maybe the best thing I've ever heard. I never thought I'd have this – someone who loved me like she does. I didn't think I'd ever get this lucky. I didn't think I'd deserve it. But here she is, and she's kissing me again. She's kissing me like loves me.

This was written for tehrager, because I love her and she loves Jasper. :) I told her I'd write this for her months ago, and she was really patient with me... so thank you. :)

This wasn't beta'd, so any stupidity you see up there is mine and mine alone.

Hope y'all enjoyed it. :)