It's hard I must confess
I'm banking on the rest to clear away
Cause we have spoken everything
Everything short of I love you ;;
When Jake had left, Bella let out a breath she didn't realize she'd been holding. There had been such a close call of a fight between the two of them and if there had been one, she didn't know what she would have done. She was only thankful that Jake took the seriousness of her words and left. Bella knew he wasn't happy and she did feel bad about that, but at the same time, it was his fault for dropping in like he did. She would never leave Jasper, nor did she want to. Turning back to him after she shut the door, she closed the distance between them and ran her hands down his arms.
"I'm sorry," she said, fearing that he was upset again. She imagined he would be by the names and insulting speech Jacob had used. "I wasn't expecting any near-death matches to interrupt our day," she said apologetically with a hint of a grin on her lips. Bringing his hand to her lips, she kissed the palm of it before brushing her lips lower against his wrist. For every scar that Maria had put there, Bella vowed to leave a kiss to erase it.
"Did it kill the mood completely?" she asked, looking up at him.
Jasper was not sorry to see Jacob go in the least. The only thing he was sorry about was that the dog came over at all and interrupted their morning. It surprised him a little when Bella sent him off without any sort of compensation. She didn't make future plans with him, as she had before when they'd faced off at her school. That made Jasper happy, though he wasn't going to show it. He didn't want Bella to feel she couldn't be friends with Jacob, even though he did inwardly wish that she wasn't. He simply remained stoic until the dog was gone and he couldn't smell the stench of dog any longer before softening his expression and speaking again.
He smiled down at her just a little, watching as she kissed his skin. It did always soothe him when she would give him kisses. The warmth of her lips against his icy cold skin was unlike anything he'd ever felt before. The hand that wasn't being treated to her kisses slid up to lightly brush against her cheek, then gently passed through her slightly tousled hair.
"No, not completely. My desire to kiss you and have you close could never be truly extinguished," he replied. And that was the honest truth. Jasper didn't think there was anything that could possibly take away his need to be with her. Even the presence of some rancid dog calling him names, speaking rudely and trying to move in on his time with her, could not make him want to be apart from her. Bella was his world, and nothing else mattered to him.
"I'm sure the mood can be invoked again." That was true as well, but just because he wanted to be with her, didn't mean he was in a state to be with her. "I just need a little time to calm down," he confessed.
He'd tried to maintain his temper, and he thought he'd done a fairly acceptable job at doing so, but he knew inside he was furious, and the last thing he needed was for that anger to ignite, even if it was in passion for her.
"Let's order a pizza for you, or at least find you some sort of lunch. I believe that the morning is drawing to a close anyway. We could watch a film if you'd like." He knew that she wanted to go back upstairs and continue what they were doing before. He wanted that too, but he knew for her sake he needed time to calm down and let the anger Jacob had provoked from him pass naturally before he put his hands on her in passion again.
"I'm sorry, Bella. I know it wasn't my place to come down here. I just.. It's.. I didn't want you to go with him.. I.." He looked down, then met her gaze a moment later. "Let's get you something to eat."
Bella really had half a mind to jump in her truck and follow after Jake so she could properly berate him for interrupting what was nothing less than a perfect morning. But she refrained for several reasons. The first was that it meant she would be creating an even worse situation than the one that just occurred and she knew how angry the boy was already at being turned away. The second was that it meant she would be away from Jasper and that just wasn't an option. And the third? It really hadn't been Jake's fault. He obviously didn't expect that Bella would have been busy, and there was no way he would have been able to know that she was busy with Jasper. Even though he could have handled the confrontation better by at least being civil, she couldn't hold him responsible for ruining things.
That didn't mean she wasn't still disappointed. She really wanted nothing more than to take Jasper back upstairs and take that shirt off of him like the other one, freeing him from the too-small garment. It didn't help that the t-shirt in question was short enough to show off the cuts of his hipbones. The sight was enough to cause her cheeks to flush all on its own. She forced herself not to look again though. Jasper claimed that he needed to take some time to cool off and Bella would respect that, no matter how hard she may have tried to work to keep her hormones at bay.
Just because she was disappointed with not engaging what they had been in her bed prior to Jake's unannounced visit, didn't mean that Bella was disappointed to be doing anything else with him. She loved spending time with Jasper doing anything and thus, she couldn't have been too upset. It was important that he have a chance to calm himself down. She could feel that he was still tense, though Bella probably didn't realize the full extent of his anger toward the La Push native.
When he mentioned getting something to eat, her stomach growled as if on cue. Laughing quietly, she nodded and put her hand over it. "Pizza sounds good," she said, glad that he didn't want to take her out anywhere as Jake had suggested.
She'd fibbed a bit when she told him the house didn't have food. It did. She could have made herself something for lunch, but Bella was more about ease today than anything else and ordering in sounded the most appealing to her. She just wanted to stay here with Jasper. Food and curling up with him on the couch to watch a movie sounded perfect.
She started to turn to get the phone when he spoke again. Her face scrunched slightly with confusion as to why he was apologizing. "Jas, you have nothing to be sorry for," she said, reaching up to scratch the back of his neck soothingly. "I'm… glad you came down," she said. And it was true. While she wasn't happy there was an altercation of sorts, she was glad to Jasper there and eventually with him, get the problem resolved.
"You know I never would have left you though, right?" she asked in all seriousness. "There's nowhere in the world I would rather be."
Standing on her toes, she reached for a kiss to further assure him. "Now come on. You have a very important job ahead of you," she said with a grin. "You're in charge of picking out the movie."
Jasper felt guilty for being so angry, but he knew it would pass. With Jacob gone, a good portion of the tension had left which immediately helped Jasper to transition his own anger towards calmness. Bella's soothing touch and kisses were also aiding towards that goal, and he could feel her own relaxing presence near him, which was gladly welcomed. Jasper breathed in her scent and closed his eyes for a moment, trying to push out the memories of what just transpired, and refocus his attention only on Bella. Knowing she was going to have food helped, too. He wanted to make sure she was always taken care of in every way, and since he didn't have to eat the way she did, he took special care to make sure she got the nutrients her body required. He was glad she agreed to eat, rather than brushing off her hunger for one reason or another.
As her hand reached up to brush against the back of his neck, Jasper lightly trailed his hand down her side to rest on her hip. He felt he had plenty of reason to apologize, as he still felt he'd intruded on the situation. He just didn't know how to explain how protective he was, even if deep down he knew Jacob would never hurt her. He just loved her so much, and he needed to make sure she was okay. Her question left him wondering. He felt guilty about that, for having wondered if she might go with Jacob, or make other plans with him that could take her away from their time together. It made him feel selfish, but he simply couldn't help it.
"I know," he said softly, and leaned down to kiss her lips.
There was a little pressure in picking out a movie. Jasper raised an eyebrow at her after he was assigned the task. He didn't want to pick out something she hated, but he didn't really know what her movie tastes were. He needed to find out sometime though, as he wanted to know everything there was to know about her eventually. Now was just as good of a time as any to find out what movies she liked and didn't like. His own tastes were rather widespread. He'd be happy watching a documentary with Carlisle, a classic with Esme, or a nonsense comedy with Emmett. Didn't really care for the chick flicks Rosalie was into, but he'd endure if he had to.
"Right.. the movie.."
Jasper moved into the living room where the television was and started looking through the Swan movie collection. It was pretty eclectic from what he could tell. It looked like Charlie had a lot of sports matches taped, but there was everything from horror films to comedies. That made it a little more difficult to find the right one, though, since there was no specific genre that seemed more prevalent than another (save for the sports tapes). There was one that caught his eye, though.
He picked up the movie, a copy of "Gone with the Wind," and stared at it. He'd never seen it before, though he was pretty sure Esme had it in her collection. It was an old movie, he could tell, and apparently about the South during the Civil war, from what he read on the back.
"...Is this.. for real..?" He asked, still staring.
Bella went to the kitchen to find the number to call for pizza. After she placed an order for delivery, she called into the living room to Jasper that she would be right back. Going upstairs, she changed her clothes. They weren't a vast improvement from her pajamas - just a thin long-sleeved t-shirt and a pair of capri cut sweatpants. It was a little warm for the summer, but she fully intended to be curled up and cuddling with Jasper and thus, she thought her attire was appropriate. Perhaps she should have put a little more effort into her appearance considering she always wanted to look a little nicer for Jasper, but her clothes kept up with her desire for a laid back day and so she didn't worry over it all that much.
Grabbing her quilt, she joined him downstairs while he was selecting a movie. She'd just gotten there when he was making a comment on one. Coming up behind him after she tossed the blanket on the couch, she wrapped her arms around his waist and tucked her chin over his shoulder to see what he'd picked. When she saw the cover, she laughed, understanding now why he would make such a statement.
"You've never seen Gone With the Wind?" she asked with a smile. "It's a classic! I thought it would be one of your favorites," she joked. Somehow she thought things were quite different the way Jasper remembered them. Still, it seemed fitting that he picked one that he would have some relation to.
"It's really long," she warned him. "Is that all right with you? I know you're short on time with, you know, an eternity ahead of you and all," she joked, giving him a squeeze and kissing the back of his shoulder before letting him go. "I wouldn't want you to feel like you wasted a few hours that you can never have back."
She grinned and took the movie to put it in the player beneath the TV. It had been awhile since she'd watched the movie he picked, but she and Renee loved it. Her mother even went through a phase where she insisted Bella call her Scarlett like the lead in the film. At least they would be able to watch it on a decent screen. Charlie's television, with it's wide flatscreen, was like a second child. Bella never watched it much, but it would be nice to take advantage of it today with Jasper. Settling down on the couch, she waited for Jasper to join her before she started the movie.
"I'm afraid I haven't," he replied, when she asked if he'd seen it. "Esme has it at home, but I've never watched it." He stared at it a little longer, trying to make sense of the people on the cover, but it was difficult to focus on anything when her arms were around him and she was leaning against him like that. Jasper closed his eyes and let one of his hands trail of her arm as a smile tugged at his lips.
Anger? What anger?
"You forget, I don't measure my time in hours," he said. "It won't feel like a long time to me. ...Unless it's a bad movie. However if that's the case, I'll just pay attention to you instead." He grinned and watched her go set up the television and player. That was mostly what he thought he'd do anyway. How could he focus on a movie with her in his arms?
"Besides, I'd hardly call sitting with you for any length of time a waste. And I certainly wouldn't trade that time for anything."
As she settled herself down on the couch with her quilt, Jasper moved to sit next to her. He lowered down onto the couch beside her, sliding an arm around her shoulders to pull her against him. He leaned his head down and kissed the top of her head, then did so again and nuzzled her hair. He was almost sorry they hadn't just gone back upstairs, but like her, any time spent with her was special to him. He cherished cuddling on the couch as much as he did their passionate kisses. He pulled the quilt around her to tuck her in within it to keep somewhat warm, then held her close as the movie started.
The movie started, but Bella could share the sentiments about it being difficult to pay attention to anything aside from Jasper. It was worse when she had already seen it and thus, she could have gone without watching it altogether and instead, just on his reactions to it. But because jasper hasn't viewed it before and since he had chosen it, there was no way that she was going to ruin that for him. She could be patient. She could wait.
When the pizza came, she assured him to let the movie continue as she went to answer the door and paid the delivery man. She couldn't have been more grateful either – by the time it had gotten there, she was starving. Taking it to the kitchen, she pulled a couple of pieces from the box, put them on a plate, and took them back to the living room so she could stay with him while she ate. As useless of a thought as it may have been, Bella always felt guilty eating in front of him, as if she should have offered him something as well. But considering she knew he wouldn't be interested in anything she ate and because she didn't have any spare bottles of animal blood laying around, she couldn't remedy her silly thoughts. When she was full, she gingerly set the plate on the tabletop by the couch and settled back down. She didn't need to take away from anymore cuddling time with Jasper by returning it to the couch.
Leaning against him, she sighed contentedly and watched with him. Often, she found herself daydreaming about what it would have been like to live in that time period. She imagined it differently than when Jasper told her about his history. He seemed far more charming than any of the men that Scarlett O'Hara concerned herself with. His accent was certainly different, but she preferred Jasper's. It held the Southern charm to it and she loved when he was speaking and it would come out some times more than others.
But Bella hadn't fully thought through her plan. With a full stomach and with his arms around her, how could she have been anything less than comfortable? After about two hours into the movie, she fell asleep, tucked against Jasper's chest. He might have worried that he wasn't the best for cuddling up to considering how hard and cold his physique was, but Bella would have disagreed. With her quilt around her and her choice of clothing, she was perfectly at ease with the temperature and it was nice to be pressed against the chill of Jasper's skin. It was as if her body was in tune with the movie. Bella started to stir when it was nearing the end, just in time for the famous Clark Gable line. Yawning as she stretched, she pulled him a little closer.
"Well?" she asked, looking up at him when the credits started and the movie ended.
The film was.. basically what Jasper expected it to be. A dramatized, overly romanticized story that wasn't really realistic at all that took place during the Civil War. None of the belles he had known had behaved like Scarlet, but he knew that was just the way movies were. Still, the fact that he'd grown up during that time and really lived it, and then to see it displayed like this? He'd scoffed through most of the movie. It was as bad as having to sit through an inaccurate history lesson and not say anything. From what he could tell, Bella really liked the movie, so he wasn't going to verbally rip it to shreds. Esme liked it too, and he didn't want to disrespect his mother.
Fortunately, Bella had fallen asleep through most of the film. That left him able to make faces when he wanted to and occasionally roll his eyes. Though he preferred Bella awake, it was nice having her sleep in his arms like this. He'd really, truly missed having that experience over the past few weeks. Watching her sleep was something he loved, and not being able to do it had been really hard for him. It was a nice distraction for the movie, to be able to take care of her while she napped. He was able to make sure she was completely relaxed, and able to enjoy her slumber to the fullest. It relaxed him, too, wiping away any remaining tension he had from before.
After she woke up, the movie came to a close, and Jasper was a bit relieved. It definitely wasn't something he'd choose to watch again, though if Bella wanted to he wouldn't hesitate to sit through it. At her question, he stared at the rolling credits as he tried to form the words he wanted to say.
"Pardon my language," he said, "but that woman was a bit of a harlot, wasn't she?" He shook his head and couldn't help but laugh a bit. "Sorry, I know it's just a film. It's just.. romanticized the time quite a bit. I must commend her for those dresses, though. I'm not sure how one would walk around or sit down with skirts like that."
Bella couldn't help it. She started to laugh when he gave her his commentary about the film. She hadn't heard anyone use the term 'harlot' in years. But it was fitting for the film and it was fitting for Jasper, as was his apology before using the word at all. He was such a gentleman all the time. Bella loved that about him. Even when he didn't need to censor himself around her, he was always still so considerate of her presence. That had been shown when Jake was trying to pick a fight with him earlier on as well and Jasper had been more concerned with the fact that the other boy was swearing in front of Bella as opposed to shooting back with harsh words himself. It was such an admirable trait.
"Yes, she was," she agreed.
Bella usually didn't like films that cast the supposed heroine as… well. A harlot, as Jasper had said. The woman was married three times and had her sights set on any man that walked. Well, any man that walked with money, that is. She was hardly anyone to look up to. And yet, the film was an epic classic in movie history. It was just proof that drama and romance were top sellers.
"I don't know why though," she said honestly."If I had one of those Southern gentlemen, I wouldn't be looking for another one," she said. "Then again, my gentleman isn't like any of the ones in the movie," she said with a grin, nuzzling his neck. "He's far too charming. Not to mention incredibly handsome. Ms. O'Hara wouldn't have stood a chance."
She laughed again when he mentioned the skirts. "I do have to commend her for that one too. I can hardly stay upright wearing jeans," she said, blushing a bit in the cheeks. "I wouldn't have been able to make it two steps in something like that," she said nodding to the cover of the movie.
Lifting a hand, Bella aimlessly thread her fingers through his hair, gently massaging his scalp with her fingertips. Even though she was well-rested, especially after her nap, she still felt somewhat lethargic.
Jasper absolutely loved it when she stroked his hair and massaged his scalp. He loved it almost as much as he loved her kisses. It made him feel like he was melting, and he very nearly did, leaning against her and closing his eyes, a soft sigh escaping his lips.
"I would've had you on my arm," he murmured. "I wouldn't have let you fall."
Of course, he was talking about if she'd been wearing one of those ridiculous dresses back in the 1800's, but it was also very relevant to the time they were living in. Jasper would never let her fall down.
"And Ms. O'Hara wouldn't have gotten a second glance from me, to be quite honest. I would've treated her with respect because that's how I was brought up, but she wouldn't have been my type at all. I don't even know if women like that existed. So dramatic and self-involved." Jasper scrunched his nose and shook his head.
"I was more attracted to the independent girls with sharp minds, who did more than sit around beneath their willow trees waiting for gentlemen to woo them. ..Though, I did like to woo them..' He smiled thoughtfully at that, then kissed the top of her head.
Jasper smiled and tilted her chin up with his thumb, then rested his hand against her cheek.
"I think I'd very much like to court you, Miss Swan," he said quietly. "I don't believe I ever formally asked. Would you have me?"
He pulled her closer to him and brushed his lips against her forehead, then looked down into her eyes. The smile never left his face as he looked at her. Clearly he was over the anger he'd felt before. "I promise I won't let you trip and fall. And if for some reason you should, I'll catch you before you hit the ground."
It was funny the way that things happened.
Bella hadn't watched Gone with the Wind in well over a year. Before that, she would watch it and think nothing of it aside from being a movie that she enjoyed with her mother. She wouldn't give much thought about the characters or what was really happening in the world in the mid 1800's at the time to story was based and how it may have differed in reality as opposed to the tale. She simply thought the scenery was beautiful and the plot line interesting despite being slightly drawn out with almost too many twists and turns. She wouldn't ever put herself in Scarlet O'Hara's shoes and imagine what it would be like to have men fawn over her. That just wasn't something she'd ever dwelt on.
But now she, she thought of it in a completely new light. She imagined what it would have been like to live in that time, wear those clothes, talk in that manner. Perhaps she would have been more graceful back then. Perhaps she would have been raised in a more eloquent nature that would prevent her from being so clumsy all the time. She would have been proper and poised, well-bred. Of course, Bella imagined that otherwise, she would still be herself as opposed to a Scarlet. She, like Jasper said he preferred, would have been independent with a strong mind and steadfast ideals. She thought about what it would have been like to know Jasper back then. She'd done such a thing before when she imagined what he must have been like in that time period, but she never really put herself in the situation with him. Now, she was.
He would have gone off to war and she would have given him her heart to take with him. Surely, it would have been one of the most difficult things that she would have had to endure with him gone. But her love for him never would have wavered. Every day that he was gone, it would only have grown and she would have waited patiently for him to return. Because in her story, Jasper's fate would have been different. There would have been no Maria, no pain in his future. Just happiness. That's the only thing he deserved.
That wasn't how the past had been. Awful things had happened. Terrible things. Jasper's fate had been grim and Bella's… Well. Bella's hadn't even existed yet. But it did now. This might not have been an epic movie, but it was reality. This was a story that she wished would have been written sooner, but one that Bella wouldn't complain about now. This was something she never imagined. Finding love once had been such an impossible thing to her, something that had never even been considered. After the tragedy struck that shook both of their lives, the word 'love' was no longer even in her vocabulary.
And yet, that was the only thing she could think of now.
Love.
His words went right through her, striking at her heart and igniting it in a way that had never happened before. Jasper wasn't the only one who might have felt like he was melting. Bella felt the very same way because of him. She couldn't imagine any movie, book, story she'd heard otherwise that ever held such feelings within the pages or on the screen. The characters might have thought they were in love. But they weren't. Bella was sure they couldn't have felt like this. Love.
Love.
She loved Jasper.
She loved Jasper.
This wasn't new; she'd realized it before now. But it felt like all the pieces fell into place when Jasper asked if he could court her, when he assured her that she would never have to worry about falling because he would always be there to catch her. Her skin where he touched her, even with the lightest brushes of his lips and fingertips, felt like it burned as her heart did. He couldn't possibly have had any idea of just how deeply she felt for him. He couldn't possibly have understood how much of a whole person he made her feel, how much he made her heart swell up with every single thing he did.
Bella didn't have an eternity right now. Her days were numbered. Every second she took a breath, it grew closer to the last one that she would ever take. But that didn't matter. It made no difference that her life was quite like an hourglass, slowing passing sand through to the end of it. She vowed that she would spend every single last day of it trying to make him see how much he meant to her. There were no words for it that could accurately describe it, she was sure. But he would always, always be able to feel it. It surrounded her now, radiating off of her light an invisible light that wrapped around him.
Her lips turned up in a smile when he finished speaking, but her eyes never left his for a second. Nodding, she gave him an answer. But she would do a lot more than that. Yes, he would be able to feel it now. There would be no mistaking it. Sometimes words weren't needed for that reason. But this time… This time they would be given anyway. He needed to know, to hear it right from her. He needed to not have any doubts. Brushing her fingers against his cheek and forgetting about the truth that she was not a movie heroine, she resorted to the fact that she was just Bella. And Bella loved Jasper. Her tone was quiet, but nothing less than sincere and full of the emotion she wished to convey.
"I love you."
Love.
It was an emotion and a feeling that Jasper valued above all others. He never thought he deserved to be shown love, let alone was worthy of it to bestow such a beautiful form of affection on another person. Love was something he never tried to explain, because putting it into words seemed to lessen and demean it, to take away from its passion and depth. He would not ever attempt that, wanting instead to simply feel it for himself and allow it to be felt from him.
Jasper had endured quite a bit when it came to love. He'd dreamt of having that one true, deep, passionate love when he was a human that never came to be. He'd harbored feelings for a few ladies back then and had his heart broken for it, but he'd never been in love. In the beginning of his vampire life, he thought he'd found his love. He didn't understand what love was and what he thought it to be was a grave mistake. Love did not abuse or manipulate. He learned that through experience, and had his heart trampled on mercilessly in the process, leaving him jaded and unwilling to accept or give love to anyone he came in contact with .. until he was given hope; hope that he could have redemption, a new start. Hope that he could understand love for what it truly was. And he did have it, for half a century. A pure love that he never felt he deserved. And when that was taken from him, he never thought he could find love again. He never wanted to find love again.
But that was the funny thing about love. It had a way of finding him, and without even realizing it, this one girl sitting beside him had managed to piece together his shattered heart and make him feel complete again. It wasn't the same love he'd felt before. It was newly born, formed by the bond the two of them shared with no other influences from the outside world. It was a love only the two of them could understand, because it was formed from their bond to each other.
Bella's confession of love did shock him. Perhaps it shouldn't have, because he'd felt it from her and though he couldn't put it into words, he knew what it was because it mirrored the feelings he had for her. Even so, to hear it spoken, to have his thoughts confirmed, had been a surprise. He still held the notion that he did not deserve it, and especially not from her. But it was there, and it was so real that the emotions were bursting from his delicately mended heart. He'd never felt this way before. Not specifically. This wasn't a love he could compare to any other, because it was for him and Bella alone. Jasper kept his hand lightly pressed to her cheek, his eyes on hers, but he did not speak at first.
This was not the way he'd imagined himself one day professing his love for her. Perhaps at their carousel, with her wrapped up in his arms after engaging in a passionate kiss. Or laying together on the beach listening to the waves wash up onto the sand. Or with the seats back in his car, looking up at the stars in the night sky. Perfect moments, etched out in his mind with the details playing one by one. He hadn't expected it to happen while they were sitting on her couch watching a cheesy movie, with him wearing her dad's Mariner's shirt.
And yet, it all seemed rather fitting.
Jasper had come to realize that there were no perfect moments. Something so meticulously planned was not genuine. It made everything seem overly thought out, and precise. That wasn't what love was. It was raw and passionate. It couldn't be explained, it couldn't be predicted. It just happened. Just like now.
"I love you, Bella," he whispered, just before pressing his lips to hers in a soft kiss. As he kissed her, she would be able to feel just how deeply that love ran, as he let it roll off of him in gentle, but strong waves of emotion.
Bella had been horribly wrong. She didn't think she could have felt more complete, more alive than she did when she told Jasper that she loved him. But when he said it back, it doubled her emotions and her feelings in regard to him and their relationship. Tripled it, more like. There was nothing to describe the way it felt to hear those words coming from him.
It was different than Bella would have thought it would have been. The setting wasn't one she would have predicted considering all the circumstances. But when she thought about it, there was nothing she would have changed. She said those words because she felt them and the moment was right. All that was needed to make any moment special was Jasper and after he'd spoken so sweetly to her, there was just no more hesitation. It was one that she wanted to lock away forever like the many she started collecting with him. Keepsakes in an imaginary box like the seashell from the beach that she kept on her nightstand.
Usually, Bella would have felt awkward with such an important thing. Not in the situation, but in herself. She wasn't always the most eloquent with words. But when she'd told Jasper she loved him, it was easy. It was natural. It didn't require any prior thought or provoking. That's exactly how it had been to fall in love with him in the first place. Neither of them had been planning on it, nor were they ever expecting it to be certain. From that first night that it started to storm and Jasper watched over her house all the way to now. They'd gone through heartbreak together and because of it, their bond felt unbreakable. When he kissed her, she was sure of it.
Another fear that wasn't present after she'd confessed her love for him was rejection. Jasper didn't need to say it back; she was content in simply assuring him that she loved him. That would have been just fine with her if he wanted to digest it and leave it go for the time begin – she would have understood. But she wouldn't have felt hurt by it. Bella was simply just happy to be able to have the courage and ease to say it aloud when she had been feeling it so strongly for quite some time now. He did say it back however, and thus 'doubt' was a word that never would register for the brunette.
She met him for his kiss, lips moving perfectly in sync with his. There was no rush. Even though she'd touched upon the concept of time before, in this second, she felt as if there were no such thing.
Just Jasper. And she was just Bella. And they were just in love.
When she pulled back, she was still close enough to lean her forehead to his and touch the end of her nose to his. For a moment, she just stayed like that with her eyes closed, fingers stroking the hair at the nap of his neck softly. Then, as if everything hit her at once, Bella's face lit up with a smile. She kissed him again. Once. Then again. One more before leaning back again.
"Let's go back upstairs," she suggested. "I think your pillow needs attention."
Author's Note: One of our favorite moments between Jasper and Bella was when they told each other they loved one another. We felt the setting was prefect for them to confess to how they felt because it was unexpected. Please let us know what you thought! Were you pleased? Next chapter coming soon where unfortunately, our couple gets some bad news.
Lyrics: Hundred - The Fray