AN: Okay, time for the rest of the date! Who's ready? I know I am!

Familiar Faces

Day 7 continued…

"Do you see this ring?" he asked me. I nodded, afraid to speak for fear I would cry. "This is my promise to you. It not only means that I'll be yours and only yours for all eternity. But it means that every time you look at it, you'll remember my promise to you. I promise to always come back to you. No matter how badly injured or different I may be, I'll never leave you alone. I love you. This ring in my promise to you, my love for all eternity."

My heart was pounding. I could feel my happiness bloom starting in my chest and spreading rapidly through my whole body. A smile spread widely across my face and I squeezed his hand.

"Jasper, I love you. I always will." I let go of his hand and started to eat.

"I'll have to saddle Pistol with the side saddle. I need a calmer of my two horses with me." he said between mouthfuls. My heart dropped.

"You won't be coming back with me?" I asked, frightened that he was staying in town and I would have to ride home alone in the dark.

"Of course I'll be accompanying you home. I have to get you and pistol used to each other before I leave tomorrow morning. I'll not have him bucking you and you being hurt." He told me. I sighed in relief. He wasn't leaving me yet. I ate in silence. I watched as men and women slowly trickle out onto the dance floor. I wish I had the coordination to dance the way they do.

"Jasper! Get your lady out there and dance away with her heart!" Bo hollered from behind the bar. Jasper smiled and took a long drink of his water. He stood and moved to stand next to me.

"Shall we dance my lady?" he asked, offering me his hand. I set my fork down and turned to face him.

"I'm not graceful enough to dance, Jazzy." I said, hesitantly. He took my hand and pulled me to stand.

"You are with me." He wrapped my arm around his and we glided out to the middle of the dance floor.

Dance partners twirled and skipped around us in excited glee. He turned to face me and moved to a relaxed dance position. I joined him carefully, he slowly showed me the movements of this particular dance. I mimicked him and eventually we were dancing.

He pulled me closer and held tight to my waist.

"Hold on tight, princess." He said, then he took off dancing at full speed. I struggled to keep up with him at first but after a few tries, I got the hang of it. I enjoyed every second of skipping and twirling around in Jasper's arms. I only tripped once or twice; Jasper never let me falter.

The song ended and he stopped abruptly. I nearly fell again. He stepped back and bowed his head.

"That was mighty fine dancin', Miss Isabella." He stepped back up and started a slower more laid back version of the dance we just did. I remember my dad teaching it to me when I was little. I stood on his feet and we two steeped to his old country music.

"We'll have to dance like this at our wedding. You're a natural at this." he told me.

"I'm only vertical because you haven't let go long enough for me to fall yet." I said with a cheeky smile. He laughed and spun me.

"I quite alright with that." He smiled and pulled me close again. "What time of day would you like to have the wedding?" I thought for a moment. I would have to go back by the end of Saturday. In my book, that was midnight.

"I love the idea of a wedding in the evening a small bonfire send off. What do you think?" I asked.

"I think that sounds wonderful. We'll have the wedding just before sunset on Saturday evening." He was too perfect for me.

I had a shiver run down my back. I looked around and saw nothing out of the ordinary. Someone tapped Jasper on the shoulder.

"Jasper, my night guy's here so whenever you're ready to do business, I'm ready." Bo said. He nodded in my direction and I gave the smallest of curtsies.

"I'll only be a few minutes, my love. Why don't you go up to the bar and have some desert?" Jasper suggested.

"Alright." As they walked toward the stairs, I couldn't help but notice the perfect shape of Jasper's ass; I walked in the direction of the bar. I leaned forward against the bar and waited for the barkeep to turn around. When he didn't, I cleared my throat.

"Excuse me. Could I trouble you for a slice of that perfect-looking pie?" I asked.

"It's no trouble at all little lady." The man turned around and I felt all the air leave my lungs. There stood a man I knew to be long gone. Golden eyes and a complete contradiction of everything I had ever know about him.

"Here ya go. The name's James. You're new in town?" he asked.

James. The James that tried to kill me. The human-eating vampire was golden eyed and living with humans?

I was too shocked to answer.

"… Um. Yes!" I tried to recover. "I'm Isabella. Only been around here for a week. I'm engaged to the eldest of the Whitlock children." Jasper knew James?

"Jasper got a girl. Wow, now isn't that something? You must be something special."

"I… I like to think we're soulmates. That we were meant to be together no matter what. Ya know?" I asked, cautiously trying to figure out if he was alone.

"Do I ever? I got a real great girl. She's absolutely perfect for me." he answered.

Victoria was here too. I wonder about Laurent.

"I actually don't remember anything before about a week ago. Somethings stuck around but not much. Mary Elizabeth Whitlock and her daughter found me on the side of the road. I had been locked in a carriage and left to die. Jasper and I fell in love fairly fast and here we are." I explained.

"Goodness. You have no idea what happened? No memories of family or where you're from?" he asked.

"Not enough to do anything with and as far as we know no one has asked about me. How did you meet your wife?" I asked. "How did you know she was your soulmate?"

"Victoria and I met on her father's farm in upstate New York when we were seventeen. I knew she was perfect when I first saw her. But the connection didn't happen until I looked into her eyes. We married three years after that and began our journey down here to Texas soon after. We've been here for about three years now."

"Any children running around?" I knew the answer, but it seemed like the right question to ask.

"No. We've been trying for about a year and a half with no luck yet." He really had his cover story perfect. How was he not nervous? Well, being a vampire had to have something to do with it too.

"Oh, that's a shame. You don't speak like the rest of the people I've met. Somethings different about you're accent, I think." I said.

"Well I grew up in the North. You don't speak like a Texan either." He said.

"I have no explanation." I laughed. He smiled. Genuinely smiled, not that malicious grin I had burned into the dark corners of my brain. "Your eye color is different too. It's unique. It that common in the North as well?" I was pushing my limits. How far could I prod without him becoming suspicious?

"It would seem so. My wife has them too. She dislikes them, but I take great pride in the oddities of my eyes." he told me.

"Why that? I love the color." I said.

"Hey buddy, can I get another?" an already drunk patron banged on the counter.

James pulled out a fowl smelling brown liquid and a glass. He poured it and sent it flying down the bar to him. It was very graceful.

"My wife is very particular about everything. If it isn't exactly how she wants it, she isn't happy. She would rather have green eyes." he said.

"I can understand that, a bit. I had a dream the other night that my eyes were red. It was definitely something. Can you imagine having red eyes?" I asked him. He hesitated for a minute and gave me an odd look. He knew something was up.

"I can't say that I've ever thought about that, Miss Isabella. You sure have an imagination." He leaned forward onto the bar in front of me becoming very close to me. "Where ever did you hear about such an odd thing?" He was looking at me like he did that day at the baseball field. I panicked.

"I know about you." I froze, half expecting him to kill me. Say something Bella. "I mean, I know of you."

"What do you know about me?" he asked playfully. I leaned forward playfully in a surge of courage. I picked up the fork and took a bite of pie.

"I know that you can't eat this." I said pointing at the pie.

"How'd you know I couldn't have apples?" he asked, with a smile. That was sneaky, but I ignored his reply.

"I know that even if I wanted to stab you with this fork, I would do more damage to the fork than to you." I paused and tried to see any changes in his reaction. None. "I know that you didn't meet Victoria on her father's farm. I know why your eyes are gold and why Victoria hates hers. I know why you works nights. The only think I don't know is why you like having golden eyes and why you haven't tried to kill me yet." I finished.

"You certainly know a lot, Miss Isabella. Are you one of those hunters?" he asked. He put his hand on my arm softly but effectively keeping it in place.

"Hunters? Goodness no, anyone crazy enough to hunt you is just asking to be killed. I just have the information, it doesn't matter how I got it."

"While that is true enough. I'm still curious as to how you got it." He said taking the fork from me and bending it.

"That's a trade secret. Why do you only hunt animals?" I asked him. He released my arm. I guess he deemed me as not a threat.

"In my human life I was an amazing tracker. People paid me to find animals, people, you name it. I preferred to hunt purely for sport. Animals are harder to track than people. They're smarter."

"I know that if you don't learn to control your temper and your gift, it'll get you killed one day." I said.

"Are you a seer, Isabella? You know they burn witches in these parts." He said playfully.

"How's Laurent? I would imagine he's in hiding, being in the South and all." I said.

"I've said nothing about any man. How do you know so much about me?" he asked straightening up.

"You'll figure it out in due time." I said.

"James?" I heard a small feminine voice. I turned to see a not so angry looking red head.

"Victoria, my sweet." He said. "What are you doing out? It's late." She walked over and stood next to me. James lean across the counter and kissed her. She turned to me and held her hand out.

"I'm Victoria. And you are?" she was sickeningly sweet.

"Isabella." I took her hand.

"Well Isabella," she yanked me close to her. I was only inches from her face. "I could kill you right now. Why do you know so much about us and we so little about you?"

"Victoria…" James said with a warning tone.

"She's a threat, James. I won't be threatened by an insignificant human." She spat at him.

"Don't make me set you on fire." I said. "Let. Me. Go. I'm no threat to your coven. I'll leave you alone supernaturally if you would return the favor. I just wanted someone to talk to while I waited for my fiancée." She released me and looked at James.

"I'll make sure she doesn't bother what we have going." James said. She glared at me before turning and stomping off.

"You're not going to mess us over are you?" he asked. I smiled.

"No sir. I know what you're capable of. I meant what I said. I just wanted to talk." It was true to an extent. I t would be nice for him to not try to kill me in the future. I was content now that he wasn't going to kill me. Victoria, on the other hand, I was skeptical of. "You're not gonna let her hurt me, right?" I asked.

No, I say what I mean, if I thought you were a threat I would have neutralized the threat already. Although, that fire comment didn't make her much happier." He said.

"Well, it was my only defense." I said. "Ya know, James, I think we'll be pretty good friends."

"I think we will also, Isabella. So when's this wedding I'm hearing about?"

I smiled.

"Saturday, just before sunset. We're having a bonfire after, you're welcome to come if you like." I said.

"So soon?" he asked.

"I don't know if you saw, but Jasper is a ranked military official as of today. We want to be married before he has to go and actually put his life at risk." I told him.

"Congratulations are in order then." He said.

"Are you about ready to head back home, Isabella? I've already re-saddled the horses." Jasper said, walking up behind me. He wrapped his arms around me and handed the canteens to James. "Would you fill these for us, please?" James nodded and left.

I turned in his arms and wrapped my arms around his neck.

"Do you promise to be home on Wednesday?" I asked.

"It'll probably be Wednesday evening but, I promise to be home on Wednesday." He said. I laid my head in his chest and listened to the sound of his heart and him humming a familiar tune. He kissed my head and let his chin rest on the top of my head.

"Here ya are, Mr. Whitlock." I turned to face James. "It was nice meeting you, Miss Isabella. I'll be seein' you."

"Thank you James." I said. Jasper ushered me out of the saloon and toward the horses. He helped me up onto Pistol. Once I was set, he walked me about with him. Pistol seemed to like me well enough. He felt powerful underneath the saddle.

"How does he feel? Think you can handle him?" Jasper asked me.

"Yeah. I think he and I will get along just fine. It will be easier on us both when I'm not riding side saddle." I leaned forward and patted him.

"You ready to run him?" Jasper asked. I thought for a second. I spurred him and he took off like a light. I felt the breath leave me and I gripped the saddle horn and reins in separate hands. Riding pistol was different than riding October. I felt more freedom with him. I connected with him and could do anything.

"That's my girl!" Jasper said riding up next to me.

…

James and Mary Elizabeth were still awake when we returned. It was well after 10pm. We had already taken care of the horses and Jasper had decided to stay in his parents' home for the night.

"Jasper?" Mary Elizabeth called. "Come on in here and talk to us."

We stopped on the porch in front of the door.

"I had a great day, Miss Isabella. I hope yours was just as good as mine."

"I had a perfect day. But, any day is perfect when you're around." I took his hands.

"I guess you'll be havin' a few ordinary days while I'm gone. My apologies, Ma'am" he said, kissing my knuckles. I rested my hands on his chest and he pulled me close to him.

"They'll be awful, but I'll survive as long as you're hurryin' back to me." I said. With one had on the small of my back, he took my chin and made me look up at him.

"I'll always hurry back to you, Isabella." he said. The, he placed a chaste kiss upon my lips.

"Let's go tell your parents your big news." I said when he pulled away.

AN: I know this one is shorter but I hope you like it! Tell me how you feel and I love all the speculating! If you have any questions, comments or concerns, you are perfectly welcome to PM me or leave a review and I'll get back to you when I can. LOTS OF LOVE!