"Is this okay?"

Alice gestured to an empty table in a sparsely crowded corner of the cafeteria. Unable to speak yet, Evelyn nodded, pulling her hand from Alice's and sitting down across from her. She wouldn't meet her eyes, instead choosing to focus on the cracks weaving through the table top.

"So, I think we should start with what you think you know. I want to know your thoughts about all of this." Alice knew already what she was going to say, but for Evelyn's sake, she asked the question out loud.

It took Evelyn a few moments to gather her thoughts enough to be able to speak coherently, but Alice was perfectly patient. Evelyn appreciated that despite her fear and apprehension.

When she spoke her voice was coarse and shook slightly. "Honestly, I don't really know what I think. I'm so confused, Alice. I'm so scared."

Alice reached across the table and grabbed her hand. Evelyn knew she meant to comfort her, but she slid her hand away and into her lap. There was a reason she sat across the table from her. Even though Alice was being extremely kind, Evelyn was still afraid.

Seeing the apprehensive look in her eyes, Alice sat back in her chair and smiled kindly at her. "Of course, I'm sorry. I didn't think. Please, continue."

Evelyn took a deep breath before meeting Alice's golden gaze. "Well, I guess I thought it was weird when I started noticing little things about you and your family. Things like your eyes changing color, your cold skin, and the way you look. Stuff like that."

Alice pursed her lips. Edward hadn't told them that she had focused on these things. She listened as Evelyn continued to speak.

"It wasn't until that day in the parking lot that I became truly suspicious. There's no way any normal person could have done what Jasper and Edward did. Not that I'm not grateful," she added quickly.

Alice smiled brightly at Evelyn. "He knows that, Evelyn. Don't worry." She could see Jasper across the lunch room rolling his eyes for bringing him up. Her whole family, in fact, was listening quite intently to their conversation.

Evelyn chose to ignore the mention of Jasper and continued. "Bella told me a story that one of the boys on the Quileute reservation told her. It was about.... well it was about you. Your family. Something about 'Cold Ones'? She mentioned vampires and werewolves, and of course I thought it was ridiculous." She sighed, opening her bag and digging out the photograph she had shown Edward. "But then I found this in my grandfather's old papers."

She slid the picture across the table so Alice could see it. She watched as Alice's eyes widened in delight. "Oh! Edward didn't tell me about this! What are the chances..." she trailed off, staring at the small faces in the picture. "I didn't know Edward's brother had survived the influenza outbreak. That's where you come in, I imagine."

"I assumed it must be something like that, that we are related somehow. Alice, please tell me I'm crazy. Tell me I'm wrong. You guys can't actually be vampires, right?" Her voice dropped to a whisper as she finished her sentence, the words feeling wrong in her mouth.

Alice gave Evelyn her most dazzling smile. "Evelyn, you're not crazy, or wrong, for that matter, but you don't know the whole truth. My family and I, we consider ourselves to be vegetarians." She grinned, as if smiling at her own joke. "We survive off of animal blood. We try to be civilized, you know. You and everyone in this town have nothing to worry about."

Despite Alice's confirmation, Evelyn couldn't believe what she was hearing. "I swear if you're kidding right now, Alice–"

"I'm not! I promise. I know it's hard to believe, and it'll take some getting used to, but please know that none of us have any desire to hurt you or anyone in Forks. You haven't told anyone, though, right?"

"No, I wasn't planning on it. But you should all know that Bella is close to figuring it out."

Alice nodded, her eyes far away. "That shouldn't be a problem." She blinked, and suddenly she was in the present again. "Evelyn, I know I'm asking a lot of you already, but there's one more thing. You are more connected to our family now than you know, especially since you are literally part of Edward's family. On behalf of all of us, along with keeping our secret, I want to ask if you think it would be possible for you to learn to trust us. Do you think you will be able to do that?"

Evelyn searched the girl's deep golden eyes. Could she? After everything she knew, could she just let all of this go?

Cautiously, she nodded her head once, although somehow, she felt that this wasn't entirely a good idea. Her fear still twisted in her stomach, but she held Alice's gaze as she spoke.

"I'm not promising anything. But I can try."

Alice's mouth twitched up into a grin. "That's good enough for me."

***

That evening, Evelyn easily distracted herself by throwing all of her energy into working; the dinner rush was particularly busy tonight, and Marie needed all the help she could get. It was easy to lose herself into the routine: take order, bring food out, bring check, clean table, repeat. It was as if she was on autopilot; she didn't want to think anymore after the events of the past twenty-four hours.

As she was bringing dishes back to the kitchen from a freshly cleaned table in her section, she heard the doorbell jingle happily, indicating a new arrival. She knew Lauren, the hostess, would seat them at her table, so she dropped the dishes off quickly and hurried out to meet them.

She stopped in her tracks when she saw that it was Jasper sitting in the corner booth, his ocher eyes already on her. Why now? She thought, closing her eyes and taking a deep breath before cautiously walking over to speak to him.

Jasper could feel her apprehension and fear as she came closer to him, but he was determined to earn back her trust. Especially now that she knew about him and his family. He couldn't stand the thought of her being afraid of him. He knew being here was selfish; it was the most selfish thing he had ever done. But he was tired of staying away.

"What are you doing here?" Evelyn asked, standing slightly away from him.

"I wanted to see you." She was shocked at his simple honesty. His eyes were intense, pouring into her own. She felt the blood rising in her cheeks, and it took almost all of her energy to fight the blush away.

"Why?"

"I needed to talk to you now that you know. I know you're still afraid, and that you have questions." He leaned closer, and Evelyn stopped breathing. "I was hoping I could help with that."

She shook her head slightly, breaking herself out of the spell he had put on her. "I don't know, Jasper. I'm not sure that's a good idea..."

"Please, Evelyn? I'll make it worth your while."

Just like the first time he had spoken to her, all of her resolve to refuse him dissolved when she heard his silky voice, her name rolling so beautifully off of his tongue. She let out a soft sigh in defeat. She didn't miss the way the corners of his mouth turned up when he knew she had relented. It both infuriated and enchanted her at the same time.

"You'll just have to wait, then. I'm working right now, and I don't get off until 8. It might be a while."

A crooked grin spread across his face, revealing his dimples. "I think you'll find that I am excellent at being patient. I'll be waiting for you."

It was hard for Evelyn to concentrate for the rest of her shift. She could feel his eyes on her as she interacted with the customers and moved through the dining room. She tried not to, but her eyes ended up on him quite often. He held perfectly still, never once leaving the spot that he had been in when they spoke. Of course, Evelyn was still afraid, but as the hours ticked by, she found herself more and more intrigued; she was eager to know what he wanted to talk to her about.

The dining room was nearly empty by the time it was eight o'clock, with only two couples and Jasper occupying tables. Evelyn finished wiping down a table and made her way into the back, letting the door shut behind her.

Marie was waiting for her, looking curiously out the little window that provided the kitchen staff with a view of the front.

"Who is that?"

This time, Evelyn couldn't fight off the blush that climbed up her neck and settled onto her cheeks. "He's a friend, he's waiting for me to finish up. We have a, um, government project due this week."

"A friend? Are you sure that's all? I don't know a single teenage boy who would wait three hours for his 'friend' to get off of work." Marie raised her eyebrows, a knowing look in her eyes.

"Stop Marie, it's not like that. Look, I'm all done cleaning up my section. Can I please be done, now?"

Marie pursed her lips, still not buying her niece's "friend" excuse. "Fine. But it's a school night. Make sure he brings you home at a reasonable time or he'll have me to deal with."

Evelyn kissed her aunt's cheek as she grabbed her coat from off of a hook by the kitchen door. "Thank you! I'll call you if I need anything." And before her aunt could ask anymore questions, she hurried out the door to meet Jasper.

He was already waiting for her by the front entrance of the restaurant. "Shall we? We should probably get started on that government project." He winked at her, holding the door open.

"You heard that?" She mumbled, sliding on her coat as she walked at the door, knowing he was right behind her.

"My hearing is more, ah, sensitive than the average person's. I am surprised, though. I didn't peg you as someone who would lie."

She snorted, narrowing her eyes at him. "That's really funny coming from you."

He opened his mouth to respond, but then closed it again, a thoughtful look on his face. Evelyn grinned to herself in triumph; for once, she wasn't the one at a loss for words.

"Where are we going?" They had arrived at his car, a sleek black Mercedes with the windows tinted so dark that she didn't think it could possibly be legal.

"I thought we could go for a drive. I figured it would be easier to speak freely without the possibility of anyone listening in. After you," he said, opening the passenger door for her. Evelyn bit her lip, debating whether or not to get in. Ultimately, her curiosity won over her doubts, and she climbed clumsily into the car.

In seconds Jasper was seated beside her, revving the engine and peeling out of the parking lot. As he turned onto the highway that would lead them out and around the town of Forks, Evelyn couldn't help but stare at his face. He looked straight ahead, his eyes on the miles of road that stretched out in front of them in the pale moonlight.

She knew she should be more afraid than she was; she should have ran screaming in the other direction as soon as he walked in the door of the restaurant. Evelyn realized that although it was something she should've done, she had no desire to run away. There was some kind of force, a magnetic attraction, that made it impossible for her to ignore him.

Jasper's eyes suddenly flickered to hers, a curious look on his face. "What are you thinking about?"

"You, actually. I'm still not sure if me coming with you was a good idea."

He chuckled darkly. "You're debating whether or not coming with a vampire is a good idea?"

She frowned, considering his dark tone. "Well when you put it that way, it sounds bad. I thought Alice said you weren't dangerous to humans."

"It's not quite that simple, Evelyn." His voice was pained. He looked back at the road. "Yes, we survive off of animal blood, but that doesn't mean the temptation isn't still there. It's a daily struggle to blend in the way we do." He didn't dare mention the strength it took him to just be in her general vicinity; she already had enough to worry about.

"Then why do you do it?" Evelyn asked, her voice soft, almost a whisper.

"Because we don't want to be monsters. I – we –don't want to hurt people." I don't want to hurt you, he thought, suddenly overcome by a wave of sadness. He couldn't bear to think about how she would react if she knew about the countless people and vampires he had killed in his past.

Evelyn sensed that the conversation was turning down a dark path, so she changed the subject. "So other than the whole blood drinking thing, what makes you so different from humans?"

"All of our senses are heightened after we change, but there's also physical abilities. Speed, strength, that kind of thing. I know you know what I'm talking about." They both thought back to that day in the parking lot. "We're practically indestructible. Immortal. We don't age, and there are very few ways that we can be killed."

"Must be nice," Evelyn murmured. "Not having to worry about dying." She was thinking of her parents, suddenly feeling very sad and lonely.

He looked at her again, wishing very much that he could manipulate her emotions. If he were able, he would make sure she never felt this pain ever again.

"I wish I could take your pain away," he told her for the second time.

"Why? It's a part of life. It's a part of my life. Nothing can change that."

"I feel very... connected to you, like there is something constantly bringing me back to you. Can you understand that?" Despite being an empath, Jasper always found it difficult to express his own emotions, especially around Evelyn.

Evelyn's heart fluttered at his words. "I know what you mean." Her cheeks burned. Jasper noticed, a soft smile playing on his lips.

"It's so wrong, Evelyn. I'm so wrong for you, and I know that. Like I've told you before, it would be so much better if you stayed away from me."

"It seems like you're the one who can't stay away from me, Jasper." Her tone wasn't accusatory; she was simply stating a fact. He grinned at her.

"Unfortunately, I'm not as strong as I wish to be when it comes to you." The car suddenly stopped, and Evelyn realized that they were in front of her house. She hadn't even noticed how fast he had driven, or where they had gone. She had been too caught up in being with him that she had lost all sense of time and space.

She blinked, and he was pulling her door open, holding a hand out to help out of the car. She took, it, the sudden touch and chill of his skin sending a jolt of electricity through her. He led her up the porch steps, stopping to face her when they reached her front door. He had not let go of her hand.

"I find myself being so selfish around you, Evelyn. I'm breaking so many rules by just being here." Jasper spoke carefully, afraid that she would run away from him at the slightest mistake.

The pair gazed intensely into each other's eyes, both searching the other for any sign of hesitation or fear. The charged silence took Evelyn's breath away; she had never felt such intense emotions for one person in her entire life.

"I don't want you to stay away," she breathed at last, staring up at him underneath thick, dark lashes. Jasper couldn't believe what he was hearing; Evelyn, sweet, beautiful Evelyn, wanted him? He had been prepared for her rejection, for yelling, screaming, and her running away in fear. Never in his entire existence did he believe that he would feel the pure joy that he felt now. Softly, as if she were a porcelain doll, he raised his other hand to brush a few stray strands of hair from her face, the tips of his fingers leaving goosebumps across the rosy skin of her cheek. Jasper held his breath, afraid of losing his control in a moment like this.

"Then I'm not going anywhere," he murmured, releasing Evelyn's hand and taking a step back. "Goodnight, Evelyn."

She watched him as he got into the car, waiting to go inside until he was safely around the corner down the street. She let out a shaky breath before entering her house, shutting the door quietly behind her.

Evelyn caught a glimpse of herself in the mirror hanging on the wall just inside the doorway. Her cheeks were flushed, her green eyes sparkling like stars. Her heart was beating wildly, and she felt like her entire body was on fire. She slowly placed her palms on her cheeks, shocked at how warm they were despite the biting air outside.

What the hell have I gotten myself into?

**********

hey friends! hope you liked the chapter, and that you are all safe and healthy. I love you all!
Remember to vote and comment if you'd like!
Kris :)