Thank you for all the kind words everyone! You guys are amazing! Also, to the reader who asked if I would write from Jasper's POV as well - as of right now, I haven't decided if I want to or not. I'm still debating. But it is possible. We'll just have to wait and see!
Disclaimer: I own nothing related to Twlight, only the OC's.
Chapter Ten
Sleep was a literal impossibility that night.
Between how shocked she still was over what Bella had revealed to her and how unbelievably nervous she was to see Jasper again, Danielle lay awake in her bed until nearly four in the morning, her mind racing with all the possible scenarios that might take place when she went to school the next day. Eventually her brain seemed to overwork itself and she did get tired enough to sleep, but it felt like she had only shut her eyes for a few minutes and then her alarm was waking her up again. She got ready for school in a daze, moving about her room distractedly as she washed her face, brushed her teeth, and pulled on her clothes, only half paying attention to what she was doing.
Despite her lack of decent sleep the night before, Danielle was surprised to discover that she wasn't even the slightest bit tired. The anxiousness in her belly was putting her on edge, making her feel too wired to feel any sort of lingering exhaustion. When she was finished getting ready, Danielle headed downstairs and walked into the kitchen, immediately going to the pantry to find something to eat. But as she stood there contemplating her breakfast options, she realized that she wasn't hungry. Her stomach was filled with too many butterflies twittering nervously about in her belly – the thought of adding food to the mix just made her feel nauseated.
Danielle closed the pantry without grabbing anything to eat, then spent the next ten minutes pacing the entire length of the first floor of her house, gnawing fretfully on her nails as she waited until it was time to go and meet Bella. When all of her nails had been successfully mutilated and she was no longer able to stand it, she finally grabbed her jacket and her backpack and headed outside.
It was overcast and foggy outside, which instantly told her that Jasper and his siblings would definitely be at school today. With her hands shoved into her pockets of her jacket, she walked across the road toward Bella's house, heading for the truck just as she always did. She froze, however, when she realized that there was another car parked in the driveway of the Swan house.
It was a familiar silver Volvo, one that she had seen at school several times. It was one of the cars that Jasper and his siblings often took to and from school. There was someone next to the Volvo, too.
It was Edward Cullen, and he was staring directly at her.
Her eyes widened with surprise, and in that moment, all she could think about was the fact that he absolutely, one hundred percent, was a vampire.
Edward seemed a little bit stiff as he eyed her, but he gave her a small, polite smile anyway. "Good morning, Danielle," he greeted, inclining his head toward her.
"Erm…hey, Edward," Danielle said back awkwardly. "I wasn't expecting to see you here."
"Yes, well, I thought I would come and see if Bella would allow me to drive her to school," he said with a small shrug.
Danielle nodded and glanced around, but there was no sign of Bella. She hadn't come outside yet. Danielle looked back to Edward, who was giving her a scrutinizing look.
"As I understand it," he said, his tone careful and guarded, "the Cullen family secret isn't such a secret anymore, is it?"
Danielle pressed her lips together, then shook her head. "No, it isn't," she confirmed. "Bella told me about everything last night."
"And?" Edward asked, clearly curious to know what she thought about it all.
"I'm not gonna lie," Danielle said with a sigh and shrug. "This whole thing is pretty mind boggling. I'm not even one hundred percent sure I've fully grasped onto what exactly all of this means," she admitted, shaking her head.
Edward nodded his understanding. "I have no doubt that it's quite a lot for you to take in. Both of you," he added, glancing meaningfully toward Bella's house. He stared in that direction for another moment, then looked back to Danielle. "As I'm sure you already know, something like this becoming public knowledge would be…detrimental to the life we've built here in Forks," he said slowly. "I speak for the entire Cullen family when I say that if you could remain discreet about all of this, it would be very greatly appreciated," he concluded with a small, almost pleading smile.
Danielle blinked at him in shock. It had never, for even one second, crossed her mind to tell anyone that the Cullen's were vampires. One, nobody would believe her even if she did, and two, she would never, under any circumstances, do anything that might put Jasper, or his family, at risk.
"Edward, I would never say anything to anyone about this," she told him firmly. "Your secret is safe with me. I swear it."
Edward let out a small sigh of relief and some of the tension that had been in his shoulders eased a little. "Thank you, Danielle," he said sincerely.
"Of course," she said with a nod.
There was a brief silence, where Edward continued to look at her and where Danielle suddenly could think about nothing but Jasper. She hesitated, wondering if she should ask the questions that had just popped into her mind, then finally decided that she had to know. She needed to get some idea what she was in store for when she saw Jasper again.
"How's Jasper?" she asked uncertainly. "How is he handling all of this? Is he alright with me…you know…knowing?"
Edward didn't answer at first. Instead, he hesitated before giving her a pinched smile. "I think, perhaps, that's something you and Jasper should discuss," he answered evasively.
A sinking feeling filled her stomach in response to those words. He might not have said it aloud, but there was something about the look on Edward's face and the tone of his voice that immediately told her that Jasper had not reacted well to her finding out that he was a vampire. Was he scared that she knew? Or, maybe, was he angry?
Before she had a chance to ask Edward to elaborate further, the door to Bella's house opened and Bella stepped outside. At first she seemed oblivious to the fact that both Danielle and Edward were standing in the driveway, but when she finally saw them, she froze and her eyes went wide.
"Edward," she breathed, her eyes locked on him. "You're here," she then stated, a slightly dazed smile appearing on her lips.
"I am," Edward confirmed, a genuine smile appearing on his handsome face. "I was thinking that perhaps you and I could drive to school together," he said, and he actually sounded a bit nervous all of a sudden. "Assuming, of course, that Danielle doesn't mind," he added, glancing toward Danielle questioningly.
Bella blinked, as if finally remembering Danielle was still there. Danielle shook her head to bring herself out of her own thoughts and back to the present. "I don't mind," she told him with an encouraging nod.
"Are you sure?" Bella asked, looking a bit guilty for ditching her to ride with Edward. "You can ride with us too, if you want," she then invited.
It was a kind offer, but Danielle could clearly tell just by the looks on their faces that neither Bella, nor Edward, wanted her to join them. Danielle immediately shook her head in refusal. "Don't be silly. You guys go together and have some time to yourselves," she encouraged. "I'll be fine."
Edward nodded to her, looking grateful, while Bella gnawed her bottom lip with indecision. "Here," she finally said, stepping over so that she was in front of Danielle. She fiddled with her keyring as she freed the key to her truck. "You can drive my truck," she said, pressing the key into Danielle's hand.
Danielle took the key, but still raised a skeptical brow. "You sure?"
Bella nodded. "You need to get to school somehow, right?" she asked pointedly. "Besides," she added, "if you don't take my truck and Charlie comes home for some reason and sees that it's still here, he'll start asking questions that I don't want to answer yet," she pointed out. "But if you do take my truck – "
"Then he won't have any idea you actually went to school with Edward," Danielle finished for her knowingly. Bella smiled guiltily, but nodded. "Okay. I'll take it," she said with a nod. "Thanks."
"No problem." Bella turned back to Edward after that, who had been waiting patiently while they talked. "I'm ready when you are."
Edward nodded, then walked around to the passenger seat to open the door for Bella. Bella looked at Danielle for a moment, who smiled and gave her a thumbs up, before she went walking over to the Volvo. After her friend had eased into the passenger seat, Edward shut the door and went around to his own side.
"We'll see you later," he said, nodding to Danielle.
Danielle nodded, then stepped out of the way as Edward started the car and reversed out of the driveway. She watched as they drove off, then went to Bella's truck and climbed into the cab, settling into the driver's seat. She didn't start up the truck right away, though. With a sigh, she let her forehead drop onto the steering wheel, that ominous feeling returning as her conversation with Edward replayed on her mind.
She had been afraid that today wouldn't be easy, afraid that Jasper would have had a bad reaction to her discovering his closely guarded secret. And right now, it was looking as though her fears were about to come true. She didn't know what was going to happen between her and Jasper when she got to school, but something in her gut was telling her that it was not going to be good.
Danielle lifted her forehead from the steering wheel and rubbed her eyes. Then, with another sigh, she finally jammed the key into the ignition and started the truck.
Danielle drove to school slowly, which meant the drive took a little longer than it normally did. Part of her reason for her slow, careful commute was because she didn't want to get in a wreck or get pulled over, both of which would mean her getting caught driving a vehicle that didn't belong to her and would likely end with both her and Bella getting in trouble with their parents. The other part, however, was because her nervousness had increased tenfold, and because she was trying to give herself a bit more time to pull herself together before she saw Jasper.
She finally pulled into the school parking lot and claimed one of the last spaces available. Danielle cut the engine, shoved the truck key into her pocket, then grabbed her backpack and started up toward the school. She glanced around, noticing that there weren't many students hanging out in the parking lot, since most seemed to have already gone inside to prepare for the first class of the day. Her eyes quickly spotted Edward's Volvo, as well as a shiny, red convertible that she had seen the Cullen's arrive in before, but there was no sign of Jasper anywhere, nor did she see any of the other Cullen's. Danielle continued up to the school, keeping to herself and ignoring her classmates, and went to her locker. Once she had her books for her first classes of the day, she headed for Calculus.
As she approached her class, her heart pounding so hard against her ribs that she was fairly certain it was going to explode right out of her chest. She stalled outside the classroom, breathing deeply and raising a hand to smooth her hair down. Finally, she could stall no longer.
The time had come to face Jasper.
Danielle walked into the classroom, and as if magnetized, her gaze immediately landed on Jasper. After five long, torturous days, there he was, looking as gorgeous as he always did. Just the sight of him made her nerves melt away and made her feel like a chorus might kick in at any moment. By god, she had missed the absolute hell out of him, and as she took in the sight of him with greedy eyes, she forgot to feel worried or anxious or scared. He was back, and she was suddenly overwhelmed with the urge to run over to him and hug him as tightly as she possibly could.
But then reality came back to her, and she realized that there was something very wrong about this picture. For one, Jasper wasn't sitting in his usual seat next to her. He was sitting on the far side of the room with Rosalie, where he used to sit before they had become friends. The second thing she noticed was that Jasper looked more closed off and more tense than she had ever seen before. He knew she was there, she knew that he knew, but he wouldn't look at her. He sat stiffly in his seat, his spine ramrod straight, eyes locked firmly on the window. Danielle stood at the front of the class for longer than she should have, hoping that he would look at her, but he wouldn't do it. Jasper refused to acknowledge her presence.
Hurt and confusion hit her like a one-two punch. She had been expecting Jasper to be upset. She had been expecting that when they talked, it would probably be difficult and uncomfortable. What she hadn't been expecting was this. Jasper had not ignored her like this since…well, ever. Not even after that first encounter, when he had grabbed her outside their English class and scared her half to death. He had kept his distance, but he hadn't gone out of his way to completely ignore her existence. To have him do so now after how close they had gotten, after how good things had been between them, stung worse than anything she had felt before.
Danielle finally retreated to her seat, where she sat quietly for the rest of class, unable to register anything the teacher said when the lesson began. She told herself not to get carried away with any pessimistic thoughts yet, tried to convince herself that maybe Jasper was just on his guard right now. Maybe he would talk to her after class. Maybe he was just ignoring her right now to discourage her from trying to discuss anything in such an open setting.
But no matter how hard she tried to convince herself that things weren't as bad as they seemed, something in her gut told her that it wasn't true. This wasn't normal behavior for Jasper, not toward her, anyway. And if he was acting like this now, it could only mean something bad.
Her hope that he was waiting until class was over to talk to her flew out the window when the bell rang and Jasper was the first one out of the door. Danielle packed her things and walked to English alone for the first time in over a month. When she strode into class, Jasper had, once again, chosen a seat as far away from her as possible, and, once again, he refused to even look in her direction. The pain she had felt returned with a vengeance, making a lump form in her throat.
She hardly paid attention in class, unable to think of anything but Jasper. She wanted so desperately to tell him that she didn't care if he was a vampire, that she wasn't afraid of him, that none of this had changed the way she felt about him. But he just wasn't giving her the chance.
When the bell rang, Jasper immediately sprung up from his seat. But this time, she was determined to try to talk to him. Knowing his journey to the door would take him right past her desk, Danielle jumped out of her seat too and tried to intercept him.
"Jasper – " she said, doing her best to plant herself in his path.
He breezed past her without so much as a glance and disappeared through the doorway, leaving her to stare after him helplessly. Her eyes suddenly prickled and her vision began to blur. Blinking rapidly to try to keep from crying, she cleared her throat and went back to her desk to grab her things.
The one thing she hadn't wanted to happen when she had learned the truth about the Cullen's was to lose Jasper. And right now, with the way he was acting, she couldn't help but feel that that was exactly what was happening.
She was losing him.
Danielle trudged her way to History, feeling absolutely crushed and rejected by Jasper's alienation. As she arrived at her next class, the first person she spotted was Emmett, who was sitting in his usual seat. He sat straighter as their gazes met and kept his eyes on her as she made her way to her seat. She plopped down heavily at her desk, then looked over at Emmett, who, for once, had a very serious expression on his face. He was on his guard, she could tell.
A beat of silence passed between them, where Emmett eyed her warily. It was almost as if he was waiting for the bottom to drop out, as if he thought she would tell him any second now that he was an abomination and that she wanted nothing to do with him. Danielle sighed, then gave him a pointed look.
"Is there a reason you're looking at me like you think I'm gonna suddenly scream my head off and run away?" Danielle asked.
Emmett pursed his lips. "Did Bella tell you?" he asked cautiously.
"Yes, she did," Danielle confirmed. "And I'm not afraid, Em," she added firmly, reaching over to place her hand on his strong, solid, ice cold arm. "This doesn't change anything."
Emmett blinked at her, his eyes filling with hope. "It doesn't?"
"No," Danielle reaffirmed.
"So…we're still friends then?" Emmett asked, raising his brows optimistically.
Danielle couldn't help but roll her eyes. "Of course we're still friends, you big idiot," she said with fondness. She leaned toward him and lowered her voice. "I don't care what you are. You're one of my best friends, and nothing is going to change that," she insisted, squeezing his arm for good measure. It felt like squeezing the arm of a marble statue.
Emmett immediately grinned. It was more than obvious that he was happy to hear that this revelation about him and his family hadn't affected their friendship. He placed a hand on top of hers, making her hand feel as though it had just been dunked into a container of ice. "Damn, am I glad to hear that," he said with relief.
After Emmett patted her hand, she finally released his arm. As happy as she was that things with Emmett were still normal, it wasn't enough to make her forget the fact that things with Jasper seemed to have taken a turn for the worst. As she once again thought about the blatant way Jasper had ignored her, she closed her eyes and let out a long breath, running a hand through her curls. Emmett noticed the shift in her demeanor and frowned at once.
"What's wrong?" he asked with concern.
"It's Jasper," she said, feeling that lump form in her throat again. "He…" Danielle trailed off and shook her head, trying to ignore the tears that once again prickled behind her eyes.
Emmett leaned forward, a serious look on his face. "What did he do?"
"Nothing," she answered honestly. "He hasn't done anything. He didn't sit next to me in class. He didn't talk to me. He didn't even look at me," she revealed. A traitorous tear finally escaped and went sliding down her cheek. She hastily reached up to wipe it away. "It's like he was trying to pretend I wasn't even there, Em."
Emmett immediately looked unhappy. He scowled and shook his head, letting out a sound of irritation. "That moron," he growled. "I was afraid he would do something like this."
She sucked in a breath to calm herself down, then turned to him with a confused expression. "Why is he being like this?" Danielle asked him, hoping for some insight. "Is he really that mad that I know?"
Emmett shook his head. "He isn't mad, Dani. He's scared," he corrected.
"Scared of what?" Danielle swiftly countered.
Emmett thought about it, then shrugged. "To be honest, I'm not really sure what scares him more – that all of this would freak you out and make you want to push him away, or that you wouldn't be freaked out and you'd still want to be with him."
Now Danielle was even more confused. "Me wanting to be with him is a bad thing?" she asked uncertainly, feeling like there was something she was missing.
Emmett hesitated before speaking again. "Dani, there's something you have to understand about Jasper," he continued, keeping his voice low so that their conversation wouldn't be overhead. "Out of all of us, Jasper is the one who has the hardest time with our…lifestyle. He has never trusted himself around anyone," be revealed. "But then you came into the picture, and you completely changed things for him. He cares about you a lot. But…" Emmett sighed. "He's terrified that something will go wrong. He doesn't want to hurt you, Dani."
Danielle took a second to process that, then shook her head. "And he doesn't realize that he's hurting me right now by ignoring me and completely shutting me out?"
Emmett sighed. "I don't like what he's doing any more than you do," he admitted. "But when Edward told us that Bella knew the truth and that she was going to tell you, he didn't handle it very well. He's freaked out. He doesn't know what to do. And sometimes when he gets like this, he doesn't make the best decisions," he explained with a shrug.
Danielle shook her head, thinking that wasn't much of an excuse. "Well, newsflash – he's not the only one who got freaked out by this whole thing," she said with a huff as she crossed her arms over her chest. She could feel some of the hurt within beginning to show the first signs of turning into anger. "It hasn't exactly been sunshine and rainbows for me, either, you know?"
Emmett sighed, then raised his brows. "Do you want me to talk some sense into him?" he offered. "Or, if you'd like, I'd be more than happy to beat some sense into him," he added with a look that said he was not joking around.
Danielle thought about it for a second, then shook her head again. "No," she declined with a sigh. "I appreciate the offer, but…I think we need to work this out on our own," she said. "Assuming, of course, I can get the jerk to talk to me," she added with a frown of frustration.
Emmett smiled a bit and nodded encouragingly. "If there's anyone who can get through to him, it's you," he said optimistically. "Just give him a bit more time to get his head right."
Danielle couldn't help but snort and shake her head. She was the one who had just discovered that the guy she was absolutely crazy about was a freaking vampire, and he, the vampire, was the one who needed to get his head right? Seemed a little ironic.
She and Emmett didn't talk for the rest of class, though he did leave her with his standard fist bump and a few encouraging words before they parted ways. When she went to Spanish, she found Bella sitting there looking happier than she had looked in the entire time that they had known one another. Bella asked her about Jasper, of course, but Danielle, not wanting to ruin the good mood that her friend was in, decided against telling her the truth. She said things were fine, and left it at that.
Edward was waiting for Bella after Spanish, so Danielle said goodbye to them and headed off to the cafeteria by herself. The moment she walked into the lunch room and caught sight of Jasper's blonde hair at the Cullen table, that ache in her heart intensified. She didn't try to go and talk to him, though, and instead went to go and sit with the lunch group. She thought it wise to follow Emmett's advice and give Jasper a bit of space. Besides, it had been a bad enough day as it was without adding in the public humiliation that would surely come if Jasper jilted her in front of all their classmates.
Danielle did not see Jasper again after that, which she was almost grateful for considering the way he was behaving. The last two classes of the day absolutely dragged, but she somehow managed to make it through. When the final bell rang, she said goodbye to Bella and then high tailed it out of the locker rooms, not wanting to linger and give Bella the chance to ask any questions. She was not surprised to see Edward waiting for Bella again, but she stopped anyway and shared a look with him. There seemed to be a hint of sympathy in his eyes, which led her to believe that he knew exactly what was going on between her and Jasper.
Danielle finally just shook her head, before continuing on to her locker without saying anything to him. Once she had her things, she hurried to Bella's truck as quickly as she could and left. It had been a horrible day, and now that it was over, she just wanted to put it behind her and forget it had ever happened.
The next morning, Bella was picked up by Edward again, which meant that Danielle drove Bella's truck to school for the second day in a row. She arrived a little early, but did not head into the school. Instead, she leaned against the truck with her hands shoved into the pockets of her jacket to wait for the Cullen's to arrive, her features set with determination.
She had thought about Jasper all night long, and after shedding a few tears and throwing herself a pity party, she had pulled herself together and come to a decision.
Danielle was simply not going to let this be the end.
She didn't care if Jasper was scared, she didn't care if he was worried about her knowing that he was a vampire. They had worked too hard and come too far to let him just throw their relationship away like it was yesterday's garbage. Danielle was going to fight for Jasper. Today, she had decided, was not going to be like yesterday. Today, she and Jasper were going to talk, even if she had to tie his blood-sucking self to a tree and make him listen to her.
She didn't have to wait long for the Cullen's to arrive. A shiny, red convertible pulled into the school parking lot about five minutes later, pulling into a parking space about twenty feet away. Danielle grabbed her backpack and, with a jut of her chin, went marching in that direction. Her eyes were locked on Jasper, who still looked tense and unhappy as he stepped out of the car. He went to the trunk of the car to retrieve his school bag, then fixed the strap of the bag onto his shoulder.
Suddenly, as if he knew she was coming, he looked directly at her. The moment their gazes locked, his shoulders tensed even more.
Danielle's heart stuttered, but she kept moving forward. Once she was standing right in front of him, she stared into his amber eyes with purpose. "We need to talk," she said firmly.
She was aware that Emmett, Alice, and Rosalie were all loitering nearby and staring at the two of them, but Danielle paid them no attention. She kept her eyes on Jasper, who gave her an indecipherable look in return. "Not now, Danielle," he finally said, before brushing past her to begin making the journey up to the school.
The fact that he seemed determined to keep giving her the cold shoulder instantly grated her nerves. Frowning unhappily, she quickly followed him – there was no way she was going to let him get away that easy.
"You're not seriously walking away from me right now, are you?" she practically growled. When he didn't say anything and just continued walking, she quickened her pace so that she could dart in front of him and plant herself in his path, forcing him to stop now. "Jasper, please," Danielle said, her eyes pleading now as she tried to make him listen. "Stop acting like this and just talk to me."
He wasn't going to budge, though. "No, Danielle," he said. He then sighed, before shaking his head firmly. "There's nothing to discuss right now. In fact, I think…I think it would be better if we weren't around each other for a while."
Danielle gaped at him. "Are you serious?" she asked, her tone incredulous.
"Yes," Jasper stated. "Now, if you'll excuse me. I need to get to class."
Danielle suddenly saw red. All of the heartache that she had been feeling for the past twenty four hours suddenly turned into a burning flame of anger and frustration, and before she could even think about what she was doing, she suddenly just lashed out at him. Danielle began hitting Jasper with her backpack, whacking him once, twice, three times. When that didn't feel satisfying enough, she planted her hands on his rock solid chest and shoved him with all her might. He didn't budge even an inch, however, and all she succeeded in doing was pushing herself off balance. She tried kicking him in the shin next, which made pain shoot through her foot, but she was so driven by fury that she hardly noticed. Jasper did not bother trying to defend himself, nor did he make any moves at all – he stared at her in shock, as if he couldn't believe she was actually trying to attack him.
"You are such an asshole!" Danielle yelled, trying to push him for a second time and, once again, failing. "How can you just shut me out like this?" she demanded to know. "How can you just toss me aside like I'm nothing? Did I really mean that little to you this entire time? Were you just lying to me when you said you cared? Huh?!"
Two very strong hands wrapped around her biceps and effortlessly pulled her back away from Jasper, who was still staring at her in stunned silence. "Alright, that's enough," Emmett said loudly. He kept hold of her with one hand, then scooped up her backpack with the other. "Let's go."
Emmett began to lead her away, and because he was a vampire and stronger than she could ever hope to be, she had no choice but to go with him. Danielle stopped struggling, but the anger was still very alive within. She shot dirty looks at the small crowd that had gathered to watch the drama unfold, then shot one last glare at Jasper over her shoulder. He hadn't moved yet, but he was staring after her and Emmett, his brows stitched together and his lips turned down into a frown.
"You know, when you turned down my offer to beat him up, you could've just told me that you wanted to beat him up yourself. I would've totally understood," Emmett said once they were walking into school. Danielle gave him a sour look, telling him with her eyes that she wasn't in the mood for his comments. Emmett, of course, ignored her silent warning. "By the way…you're kinda scary when you're mad," he added with a smirk. "I guess it's true – redheads do have nasty tempers."
"He deserved it!" Danielle insisted, feeling so angry she thought she might actually breathe fire. "He's lucky he's not human, or I would've done a lot worse!" she then growled threateningly.
Emmett snorted and shook his head, looking mildly amused. "Just remind me never to get on your bad side."
Emmett walked with her to her locker, and while she irritably retrieved her books, he crossed his huge arms over his broad chest and stood right next to her, like he was a prison guard keeping a close eye on a dangerous inmate. Once Danielle finally had her books, he then escorted her to Calculus. He gave her a stern look as they stopped outside the classroom.
"Can I leave you two unattended in here?" Emmett asked, raising his brows. "Are you going to behave yourself? Because I don't wanna have to run all the way back here to break you guys up."
Danielle rolled her eyes. "Yes, father. I'll behave," she said with heavy sarcasm.
Emmett nodded with satisfaction. "Alright, I'll see you in history, then."
Once Emmett had walked away, Danielle went into the class and stomped to her seat. She plopped down into her chair ungracefully and slammed her books down on the desk, which made the students who sat directly around her jump with surprise and shoot odd looks in her direction. Danielle ignored them and crossed her arms over her chest, her eyes now trained on the door, just waiting for the moment that Jasper would arrive.
Rosalie walked in first. She went to her desk on the far side of the room, but not without quirking a brow at Danielle along the way. Danielle just glared at her, silently daring her to say something about her behavior out in the parking lot. As Rosalie sat down, Danielle shifted her attention back to the door, knowing Jasper couldn't be far behind. Sure enough, he walked in a few seconds later, his brows still furrowed together and his mouth pulled into a deep frown. He went to the seat next to Rosalie, but paused before sitting down so he could give her a long look. Then, he took his seat.
Danielle narrowed her eyes at him from across the room. If she wasn't mistaken, Jasper actually looked like he was a little bit mad, which instantly made her own anger spike again. What right did he have to be mad? He was the one who had ignored her for an entire day, who had brushed her off and given her the cold shoulder, who had made her feel like complete and total crap. If anyone was supposed to be mad, it was her, not him.
When first period was over, she purposefully stalled and packed her things slowly. She wanted to give Jasper a good head start to second period, that way there wouldn't be any risk of being anywhere near him in the hallway – she simply couldn't promise she wouldn't freak out on him again if he said the wrong thing to her. Danielle noticed that while he still left before her, he didn't run out nearly as fast as he had the previous day. He also gave her another look as he walked out, but what that look meant, Danielle wasn't entirely sure.
About halfway through second period, her anger had finally faded off enough for her to feel the first twinges if embarrassment. As Danielle didn't even attempt to follow along with the lesson, she found herself cringing as she thought about what she had done that morning.
She had attacked Jasper. And in front of the whole school, no less. What had she been thinking? That wasn't her. She didn't get physical with people, and especially not with people she cared about. It didn't matter how absolutely infuriating Jasper was being at the moment – she just didn't do things like that.
It didn't take much longer for the embarrassment to start turning into remorse. Being mad at Jasper was understandable, but getting violent with him? It didn't matter that he was a vampire and that she couldn't do any real harm to him. The way she had behaved was not acceptable. He probably thought she was a lunatic now – actually, the whole school probably thought she was a lunatic.
It was her turn to run out of class when the bell rang. She packed up as fast as she could and darted out, wanting to get away from Jasper as quickly as possible simply because she was now way too embarrassed to even look at him. Thankfully, he didn't try to stop her or talk to her, not that she had really expected him to anyway.
History passed by in what seemed like the blink of an eye, thankfully with only a minimal amount of snarky comments from Emmett. Before she knew it, she was walking into Spanish. Since they had not ridden to school together, this was the first time she had seen Bella that day. Her friend gave her an odd look when she walked in, then quickly leaned toward her the moment Danielle sat down.
"Why have I been hearing rumors that you were beating the crap out of Jasper in the parking lot this morning?" she asked in a low tone.
Danielle blushed, then cringed. "Because I did sort of beat the crap out of him this morning?"
Bella had clearly thought the rumors were made up, because she looked positively shocked to learn that they were actually true. "Why? What happened? I thought everything was alright between you guys?"
Danielle sighed. "Yeah, I lied," she admitted. "The moron won't talk to me, okay?" she finally blurted out. "Ever since we found out about…you know…he's been ignoring me. I decided to try to talk to him again this morning and he brushed me off. So I got mad and kinda…lost my temper," she explained.
Bella looked dumbfounded. "Jasper won't talk to you?" Danielle nodded in confirmation. "Why didn't you tell me?" she then asked in exasperation.
"You've been so happy about Edward. I didn't want to burst your bubble," Danielle replied with a shrug.
Bella gave her a disbelieving look. "Now who's being the moron?" she shot back. "You should've talked to me about it. That's what friends are for. They talk to each other," Bella said pointedly.
"I know, I know," Danielle said quickly. "I'm sorry."
"It's okay," Bella said. She paused, then tilted her head questioningly. "So what're you going to do about Jasper then?" she asked.
Danielle pulled a face. "My only plan right now is to find a hole to crawl into so I can die of embarrassment in peace," she said, before sighing. "Beyond that…I have no idea. This whole thing has turned into a complete mess."
"Why don't you try talking to him at lunch?" Bella suggested.
Danielle just snorted and shook her head. "You make it sound so easy," she retorted cynically.
Bella just gave her a sympathetic look in return.
She was absolutely dreading lunch, so, of course, Spanish seemed to fly by way faster than usual, which made lunch arrive way too quickly for her liking. Danielle and Bella left class, then made their way to the cafeteria. Danielle dragged her feet, wanting to put off the inevitable for as long as possible. But she could only stall for so long, and, soon enough, the doors to the cafeteria popped into view, looming ominously in the distance. Danielle walked even slower, gulping nervously and feeling her heart beat faster underneath her ribs. Finally, when the doors were only about ten feet away, she stopped walking altogether.
"I can't go in there," she croaked out, shaking her head. She couldn't face Jasper, nor could she face their peers, who would all undoubtedly stare at her like she was an escaped mental patient the moment she walked in.
Bella turned back and grabbed her by the arm. "Yes, you can," she said encouragingly, before pulling her closer to the cafeteria doors.
Danielle planted her feet firmly on the ground to resist her friend's pulls. "I'm serious, Bella," Danielle insisted as she began trying to work her arm free. "I don't want to go in there."
Bella stopped to face her again. Most of the students going to lunch had already gone inside the cafeteria, so they were alone now. "Dani, you're being a little ridiculous," she said with a frown. "Things will never get better between you and Jasper if you hide from him," she pointed out. "Just go in there and talk to him."
Danielle considered her friend's words, then finally sighed and nodded. "Alright, fine," she said with resignation. "Just give me a few minutes to get it together, though, okay?" Bella quirked a suspicious brow, which made Danielle raise a hand in surrender. "I'll be in there in a second, I promise."
Bella finally nodded, then released her hold on Danielle's arm. "Alright. But if I don't see you in five minutes, I'm coming out to get you."
Danielle nodded in understanding. With that, Bella turned and headed into the cafeteria, and the moment she was gone, Danielle knew she was in the clear. Bella would soon be with Edward, and once they were together, she knew Bella would forget all about her. Sighing to herself, she glanced toward the parking lot, wondering if it was worth the risk to skip out on the rest of the school day and salvage whatever dignity she had left. Her mother would be furious, of course, but facing her mother's wrath sounded a whole lot better than facing Jasper.
It was as she stood there by herself, contemplating her options, that a strong, solid arm suddenly wrapped around her waist. The next thing she knew, she was moving faster than she ever had in her whole life. Wind whistled past her ears and the world turned into nothing but a blur of color. Then, as suddenly as it had happened, it stopped.
Danielle was now standing behind the cafeteria, well out of view of anyone else, her back pressed against the wall and her confused mind struggling to understand what in the world had just happened. Then she realized that she wasn't alone. Jasper was standing in front of her, staring back at her with a fierce glint in his eyes.
"Jasper?" she said with confusion, still feeling dazed from how quickly they had just moved. "What the hell just happened?"
He didn't answer her question. He merely gave her a hard look, his brows furrowed together with determination. "Do you honestly believe that I don't care about you?" he demanded. "Do you truly think that you've meant that little to me?" he asked next, throwing her words from earlier back at her.
Danielle looked at him for a moment, then frowned as her confusion quickly turned back into anger. She dropped her books onto the ground without care and then crossed her arms over her chest. "Well, what am I supposed to think, Jasper?" she countered. "You refuse to talk to me, you barely even look at me! You just shut me out!"
"I was trying to give us both a little space to think everything through," Jasper said with forced patience.
Danielle looked at him as if birds had started flying out of his ears. "And you thought pretending I wasn't even there was the way to go about doing that?" she asked incredulously. "You freaking told me we shouldn't even be around each other anymore, Jasper!"
"I said we shouldn't be around each other for a while," he corrected, which only served to make her angrier.
"What's the damn difference?" she snapped. "Either way, you're still pushing me away!"
Jasper heaved and shifted on his feet. "I made a mistake, alright?" he finally admitted. "I didn't see it at first, but I can certainly see now that I did not go about any of this the right way."
Danielle snorted. That was the understatement of the year. "Ya think?" she retorted sarcastically.
Silence passed between them for a few moments, as if they had come to the mutual agreement that they needed a respite to try to get themselves calm again. Jasper stared at her intently, looking very much like he was trying to decide what to say next, while Danielle glared angrily into the distance, refusing to look at him. Finally, Jasper shoved a hand through his hair.
"I'm sorry, Danielle," he said to break the silence. His previous anger was gone, replaced now by regret. "I know that I hurt you, and it wasn't what I wanted to do," he said sincerely. "I just…" Jasper shook his head, his eyes flashing with frustration as he struggled with his words. This was the first time she had seen him so out of sorts. "This isn't easy for me to explain," he finally said with a heave.
"Try," Danielle shot back.
Jasper gave her a long look. "I have never cared about anyone the way I care about you, Danielle," he finally said, and that was one heck of an opening line if you asked her. "Before you, I was miserable. I have my family, yes…but I was lonely and I never found real joy in anything." His eyes filled with tenderness now as he looked at her. "But then I met you, and all of that changed. For the first time in a long time, I actually have something to look forward to every day. You make me feel normal. You make me feel like this world is actually worth being in. You make me feel happy," he told her earnestly.
"But when Edward told me that you and Bella knew the truth, it scared the hell out of me," Jasper continued. "I didn't know how you would react. I didn't know if you would accept me for what I am, or if you would be scared and push me away. The part of me that can't imagine not having you in my life hoped and prayed that you would understand," he said. But then he frowned, looking incredibly conflicted. "But the part of me that is terrified of hurting you thought that maybe it would be better if you were scared. If you did push me away. And maybe that's part of the reason I pulled away from you," he admitted. "I thought if you were going to push me away, then it might be less painful if I started trying not to be so…attached to you."
Jasper raked his hand through his hair again. "It's harder for me, Danielle," he confessed. "This lifestyle we chose…it doesn't come as easily for me as it does for the others. I still have trouble fighting my instincts and my urges. And the truth is that you…your blood has a stronger effect on me than usual. It's why I behaved the way I did the first time we met," he revealed with a grimace. "Your scent hit me like a ton of bricks. It drove me insane. I came so close to losing it. So close to…"
He stopped for a moment and closed his eyes, before shaking his head. "It's gotten a little easier now that I've spent so much time with you, but not by much. And that's where my fear comes in. If I lost control, if I were to ever hurt you…I would never be able live with myself," Jasper said, his voice going thick with emotion. "I would hate myself until the end of my days."
Danielle felt her anger with him slip away. He did care about her, she knew he was telling truth when he said it. But just as Emmett had told her, he was scared, and with good reason. But she wasn't, and she found herself wanting to try to ease his own worries.
"You're not going to hurt me, Jasper," Danielle finally said.
Jasper smiled humorlessly and shook his head. "I already have," he reminded her. He looked down at her arms, then reached out and gently placed his hands on the exact places he has grabbed her that first day they had met. The moment he touched her, all of her nerves came to life as if they had been jump started. "I grabbed you. I left bruises on you," he said quietly, his eyes filling with self loathing. "What if, next time, I don't let you go? What if I do something worse next time?"
"You won't, because there won't be a next time," Danielle said firmly. "I know you, Jasper. And that guy I met that day, the one who grabbed me? That isn't you. This is you," she said, pressing a hand to his chest. "This is the real Jasper. You've proven that to me over and over again. I trust you, Jasper," she said. "And I trust that you would never do anything to intentionally harm me."
Jasper seemed genuinely confused. "How?" he asked. "How can you trust me when you know what I am?"
Danielle smiled and shook her head. "You're not a monster. You're kind and you're good. You being a vampire doesn't change that," she stated firmly. "It doesn't change the way I feel about you, either. I'm still just as crazy about you as I was before I found out."
Jasper shook his head. He looked as though he couldn't decide if he should feel happy, or if he should feel scared, that she still felt the same way about him. "But, Danielle – "
"You've said your piece, now let me say mine," Danielle interrupted gently, making him fall silent. When he nodded for her to continue, she sucked in a deep breath. "Look, I'm going to be completely honest with you. When I learned the truth about you and your family, I was shocked as hell. Bella and I had been talking about it being a possibility, but never, in a million years, would I have thought it was actually true."
She looked up at him with determination. "But as crazy as this all is, I'm not afraid, Jasper. Maybe that makes me an idiot, maybe that makes me naïve. I don't care. All I care about is you. And if there's anything about this that scares me, it's the thought of losing you." She moved the hand that had been on his chest to rest it on his neck instead. His skin was cold underneath her palm. "I don't know how this works, me being human and you being a vampire. But I do know that I don't want to lose you, Jasper. You're important to me. I've never felt like this about anyone. Only you. I want to be with you, and I'll do whatever it takes to make it work," she admitted once and for all.
Jasper looked at her for a long moment, then sighed heavily. He took both of her hands into his and looked down at them, his thumbs sliding along the tops of her knuckles, before he looked back up at her. "That's what I did – and didn't – want to hear you say," Jasper admitted. He gave her another look, then raised his brows skeptically. "Have you really thought about this, Danielle?"
Danielle remembered the past four days she spent overanalyzing everything and scoffed. "Trust me. I've thought about it plenty," she assured him.
"And you don't want to find a normal, human guy to be with?" he asked next.
"No," she answered without hesitation.
Jasper paused again. "It will be risky, us being together," he then warned.
Danielle couldn't help but feel a spark of hope at those words. "Like I said – I trust you. Now are you gonna stop trying to convince me this isn't a good idea? Because us Clarks are known for our stubbornness – nothing you could say is gonna change my mind, and that's that," she said with finality.
Jasper shook his head, looking almost helpless now. "I just want you to know what you're getting into. I just want what's best for you."
Danielle smiled. "How about you let me decide what's best for me, okay?"
Jasper sighed, then slowly nodded. After a moment, he stepped closer and released one of her hands so he could brush her hair back away from her face. Danielle closed her eyes and leaned into his touch as his fingers then trailed along her cheek, sighing contentedly as every single one of her senses tuned into him. She felt the weight that had been hanging over her finally begin to lift. That awkwardness and uncertainty that had been hanging over them was gone. Things were beginning to feel normal between them again.
Danielle opened her eyes again and frowned with apology. "I'm sorry for this morning," she said, her expression full of remorse. "I shouldn't have called you an asshole, and I definitely shouldn't have tried to beat you up. I feel horrible that I did that."
"It's alright. I forgive you," Jasper reassured her. "Besides, I deserved it. I've been an idiot."
Danielle smiled. "Idiot or not, I still like you." Jasper returned her smile, and at the exact same time, a strong rush of affection washed over her. Danielle gasped a bit, then gave him a curious look. "Is that you that keeps doing that?" she finally had to ask.
Jasper nodded. "Yes. It's a…special talent of mine. I can feel and control the emotions of others around me." He tilted his head curiously. "When did you start noticing my power?"
"A while ago. But I didn't know what it was or why it was happening," she admitted. Jasper made a sound of understanding. "Can all vampires do it?"
Jasper shook his head. "I'm the only one I know who can do what I do. But other vampires do have other powers," he told her. "For example, Edward can read minds."
Danielle's eyes went very wide. Bella definitely hadn't mentioned that little tidbit the night before. "Edward reads minds?" she asked incredulously. After Jasper nodded in confirmation, she frowned and gave him a look. "So wait…if you weren't sure how I was handling all this, why didn't you just ask Edward what I was thinking?" she asked with confusion. "It would have saved us a lot of trouble."
"Because Edward doesn't read your mind," Jasper said. When she gave him a questioning look in return, he shrugged at her. "When you and I started becoming closer, I…very kindly asked Edward not to read your thoughts," he explained.
Danielle gave him a look. "And by very kindly asked, you mean…?" she prompted, feeling like there was more to that statement.
Jasper smirked a bit. "I informed him that he had better respect your privacy and stay out of your head, otherwise I was going to break his arm off," he admitted.
Danielle couldn't help but laugh. "So protective," she commented, feeling rather touched by the whole thing.
"Only when it comes to the people I care about the most," he said without hesitation.
Danielle smiled and felt her heart flutter. She glanced down at her right hand, which Jasper still held securely within his left one, loving the way her hand fit in his. The coldness of his skin didn't bother her in the slightest. "So what now?" she asked as she looked back at Jasper, needing to hear with her own two ears that this was actually happening. "Are we…together?"
Jasper paused for a second, then nodded. "Yes, I would say we are," he answered, which made her heart fill with pure joy. Jasper must have felt her surge of happiness, because he smiled. "Honestly, I don't think I could have stayed away from you even if I wanted to, which I don't. You mean too much to me," he told her, his eyes scanning her features with adoration. "It's been difficult, keeping my distance from you these past few days. Especially so considering what happened before I left to go hunting," he added with a meaningful look.
Danielle immediately thought back to the moment on her porch and felt heat scorch through her veins. She wasn't entirely sure if the sudden desire she felt was hers or Jasper's, whose eyes had gone a shade darker. "That was something, huh?" she asked, her voice breathless now.
"It was torture," Jasper admitted, his voice a bit huskier than normal. He gently tilted her chin up with his knuckle, then slowly ran his thumb along her bottom lip. Danielle's heart stopped for a moment, then began to beat double-time within her chest. "I could feel all of your affection and desire hitting me like a cannon blast. All I wanted to do was kiss you senseless," he told her. "But I was…afraid. My self control was slipping already as it was. I feared if I kissed you that things would get out of hand very quickly."
Danielle gulped. "How's your self control right now?" she asked, her eyes glancing down at his lips before peering intently back into his.
Jasper smirked, but his eyes were intense. "If you keep looking at me like that, it won't be around for much longer," he warned.
Danielle gave him a small smile. "Then you had better kiss me while you still can," she suggested quietly.
The smirk on Jasper's face fell and his expression became very serious. He looked as though he wanted very much to kiss her, but he looked afraid to actually go through with it. "It could be dangerous," he said hesitantly.
"I trust you," Danielle said with a nod. "I know you won't hurt me."
Jasper hesitated again, then, after what felt like the longest second in the history of time, he stepped even closer, so that there was hardly any space between them. He rested his hands on either side of her neck, his eyes searching hers intently. Danielle placed her hands on his waist and smiled, nodding to him encouragingly. Finally, as if he could only move in slow motion, he very slowly leaned down and, after one last moment of hesitation, he gently pressed his lips against hers.
The moment their lips touched, fire raced through her and fireworks exploded behind her eyelids. It was a soft kiss, sweet and tender and undemanding. It felt so wonderful and so phenomenally right that she knew, without question, that she would never want to kiss anyone but Jasper for the rest of her life. Jasper slid a hand around to the back of her neck and kissed her just a little bit firmer, making Danielle sigh contentedly and lean into him even more, her lips happily moving with his. The rest of the world had ceased to exist. There was only her and Jasper and this amazing kiss.
He finally pulled his lips from hers, then let out a slightly shaky breath. Danielle opened her eyes to look at him, and though his eyes were still dark, they weren't black. He looked like he was still very much in control of himself. "That went well," he said.
"There's certainly no complaints on this end," she said dreamily.
He looked as though he wanted to kiss her again, but he didn't. "We should stop now," he said with slight reluctance. "I don't want to push it."
Danielle felt a little disappointed, but nodded understandingly. "Okay."
Jasper flashed a smile at her, then leaned forward and pressed a sweet kiss to her forehead. Danielle closed her eyes and smiled, hardly able to believe how incredibly happy she was and how vastly things had changed in such a short amount of time. As Jasper pulled back again and looked down at her, she couldn't help but look up at him sappily.
"This has turned out to be one hell of a good day," she said.
Jasper nodded, his eyes full of adoration as he caressed her cheek. "I couldn't agree more."
Quite out of nowhere, Danielle's stomach let out a loud growl of hunger that could not be ignored, which successfully put an end to the moment they'd been having. Danielle laughed and put a hand over her stomach, while Jasper shot her an amused look. "Hungry?" he asked.
"Just a bit," Danielle admitted with a shrug.
Jasper grabbed her wrist and looked at the time on her watch. "Lunch is halfway over already," he said, which was quite a surprise to her. How had they been standing outside for so long? How had the time passed so quickly? "Do you want to go and get something to eat before they shut down the lunch line?"
Danielle really, really didn't want to go into the cafeteria where everyone else was. She wanted to stay here with Jasper, where they could be alone and get to enjoy being with one another in private. But she was hungry, and she knew she'd suffer for the rest of the school day if she didn't eat something. "Yeah, I probably should."
Jasper nodded, then finally pulled away from her, which instantly left her feeling cold and bereft. But then he leaned down to pick up the books she'd dropped earlier before grabbing her hand with his free one, his fingers intertwining with her own. Danielle instantly brightened again, her brief feelings of disappointment rapidly evaporating.
They walked hand in and hand toward the front of the cafeteria, smiling at one another almost the entire way. When they finally reached the front doors, Jasper released her hand for a quick second so that he could open the door for her, ushering her through with a nod. Danielle stepped in, then waited for Jasper to rejoin her before quickly grabbing his hand again. They then began walking toward the lunch line, which was thankfully still open.
As they walked across the cafeteria, Danielle could not help but notice that more and more eyes seemed to be turning in their direction. The fact that she and Jasper had just arrived together had not gone unnoticed, nor had it escaped anyone's attention that they were holding hands. Danielle's cheeks turned pink as some whispers began to break out, but Jasper didn't seem to notice. That, or he just didn't care.
"People are definitely staring," she whispered to him.
"I know," Jasper said without needing to look for himself. "I can feel a lot of jealousy in the room right now," he then said.
Danielle wasn't surprised to hear that. "Well, I have noticed that you've got quite a few admirers. I'm sure they're pretty jealous that I'm with you and they aren't," she said with a nod.
Jasper looked down at her and quirked a brow. "I'm fairly certain the jealousy I'm sensing is because of your admirers. Not mine," he stated matter-of-factly.
It was Danielle's turn to quirk a brow at him. "What are you even talking about?" she asked. "I don't have admirers."
Jasper's eyes flashed with incredulity. "You honestly haven't seen the way the males in this school look at you?" Danielle just shrugged. "I've certainly noticed," Jasper told her, and he didn't sound all that thrilled with the fact that other guys had – allegedly – been admiring her from afar. He narrowed his eyes and finally looked at the many people staring in their direction. He seemed to silently be telling her would be 'admirers' to back off.
Danielle squeezed his hand to make him look at her again. "I couldn't care less about any of them, Jasper," she told him. "The only guy I care about is the one that's right next to me."
Jasper instantly relaxed again. He didn't say anything in response, but his eyes gleamed with affection as he raised the hand that he held up to his mouth so he could kiss her knuckles. Danielle grinned in response, a pleasant warmth radiating from the place he had kissed her.
They finally released each other's hands when they reached the lunch line, that way they could both grab a tray and start filling it with food. Danielle shot a few curious looks toward Jasper as they moved along the line, eyeing the chicken tenders and the French fries he added to his tray. Jasper seemed to notice and gave her a questioning look, silently asking what was on her mind.
"Do you like eating regular food?" Danielle asked quietly.
"Not particularly," Jasper admitted, pulling a slight face of disgust as he looked down at his food choices. "It more or less tastes like dirt to us. But it helps to keep up the façade."
Danielle nodded in understanding. Suddenly she was filled with all sorts of questions, questions that hadn't occurred to her while they'd been talking things out and, well, kissing. How old was Jasper? Where all had he lived? What sort of things had he seen? What other kinds of super cool vampire abilities did he possess?
"What are you thinking about now?" Jasper asked. She suspected that he could feel the curiosity bubbling away within.
"Just the hundreds of questions I want to ask you," Danielle revealed. "There's a lot I want to know about."
Jasper nodded, as if this was something he had expected. "I don't doubt that there's a lot that you're curious about," he said. "Though I don't think now is the time to discuss it," he added, looking meaningfully at the many people in the cafeteria.
Danielle sighed. "You're probably right."
When they finished grabbing their food, they went to the register to pay. Jasper insisted on buying Danielle's lunch, and after a quick back and forth she finally caved and let him pay. They then took a moment to look for a spot to sit, knowing that all the tables would already be taken because they had arrived so late. Danielle noticed the lunch group eyeing them, and though most of them were whispering to one another, Angela flashed a big smile and gave her a thumbs up. Danielle's eyes then shifted to the Cullen table. Rosalie was sitting with her arms crossed and a sour expression on her face, but Emmett and Alice both looked happy to see her and Jasper together again. Finally, Danielle looked at the table where Edward and Bella were sitting. Bella looked positively thrilled, while Edward's expression was difficult to read.
"Wanna sit with them?" Danielle asked, nodding toward Edward and Bella. "It's the emptiest table we're gonna find."
Jasper glanced that way, then shrugged. "I suppose so."
They went over to Edward and Bella's table, ignoring the many eyes that followed them as they went. She thought she saw Edward frown with displeasure, as if he wasn't happy that they were coming to sit with them, but Bella seemed alright with it. She smiled as Danielle and Jasper approached, her eyes bouncing back and forth between them expectantly.
"Hi, guys," Danielle greeted. "Mind if we join you?"
"Yeah, of course," Bella said without hesitation.
Danielle claimed the empty seat next to Bella, while Jasper took the one next to Edward. He was a bit further away than Danielle would have preferred, but when she felt Jasper's knee touch hers under the table, she forgot to feel upset about it.
"I noticed you weren't here and thought you'd made a run for it," Bella said to her with a smirk.
"I considered it. But Jasper found me before I could," Danielle admitted, flashing a smile at Jasper.
She glanced at Edward as silence settled over the table, noticing the way he was looking at Jasper. He seemed curious at first, then quite surprised, before he pressed his lips together tightly, his expression turning unreadable again. Danielle couldn't help but wonder if Edward had gone diving into Jasper's thoughts and was now seeing everything that had just happened between them, including that wonderful kiss they had just shared. Finally, just as Danielle was beginning to feel uncomfortable with Edward's possible prying, he looked at her and gave her a pinched smile.
"It seems congratulations are in order," he said in a perfectly polite tone. "I'm relieved the two of you have been able to work things out."
Danielle smiled and nodded, though she couldn't help but feel a bit awkward. Edward did seem glad about the fact that she and Jasper were getting along again, but there was something in his expression that made her think that there was something bothering him. "Thanks, Edward," she said anyway.
Having lunch with Edward and Bella felt equally as awkward as when she and Jasper had had lunch with her friends the week before. They tried to make small talk, but conversation didn't flow very easily and they struggled to keep it going. All in all, the whole atmosphere just felt uncomfortable. Though neither of them said anything of the sort, Danielle still felt like she and Jasper were intruding on Edward and Bella's space. It was quite a relief when the bell rang to signal the end of lunch. Danielle and Jasper said goodbye to Edward and Bella, then went to throw their trash away before heading out of the cafeteria together.
"Glad that wasn't super weird or anything," Danielle huffed sarcastically as they walked hand-in-hand toward her locker. "I'd say we're a long way away from going on any double-dates with them."
Jasper smirked. "I'm not going to complain about that." He then leaned closer, so that he could speak directly into her ear. "I'd much rather have you all to myself," he said lowly.
Danielle looked up at him, her heart jumping in her chest when she saw the gleam in his eyes. "You make it very hard for me to think coherently when you look at me like that," she said, ignoring how breathless she suddenly sounded.
"I'm sorry," Jasper said, though he didn't sound all that apologetic.
They went to her locker and got her book for Physics, then Jasper escorted her to class, holding her hand tightly within his own the whole time. When they reached the classroom, they stopped and faced one another. Danielle couldn't help feeling disappointed now – she didn't want to part ways with him, not after how fantastic and wonderful everything was now. She wanted to stay with him for every minute of every day.
"We'll see each other soon," Jasper reminded her, clearly sensing her hesitance to say goodbye.
"Not soon enough," Danielle countered.
Jasper smiled, then released her hand so he could tuck a curly, red lock of hair behind her ear. "I was thinking…why don't you and I do something after school?" he suggested. "It would give us a chance to talk more about everything. That and, well…I don't want to have to wait until tomorrow to see you again," he added.
Danielle immediately nodded. "Yeah, of course. I'd love to." She didn't bother asking what he wanted to do, because she didn't care. All that mattered was that she would be with Jasper.
"Great," he said, sounding pleased. "I'll meet you after school, then."
Danielle nodded, then sighed contentedly when Jasper pulled her close and pressed a kiss to her hair. He finally released her, then took a step backward. He didn't really look like he wanted to leave her either, but finally, after giving her a long look, he flashed one last smile and turned to leave. Danielle watched him go, grinning like a love-sick fool to herself, until she couldn't see him anymore. Then she finally turned and practically floated into her classroom.
Yay! Hope you guys liked it!
P.S. In the original version, Jasper and Danielle didn't actually kiss until a little later into the story. But I don't know. When I was rewriting it, having them kiss now just felt right. So, yeah.