❄︎ HOPELESSLY DEVOTED ❄︎ Jasper Hale

❄︎ O8. NO STRINGS ATTACHED

O8. NO STRINGS ATTACHED

Jasper looked at Eleanor for a few tentative moments before he gave in and sat down opposite of her. The two stared at each other, blue meeting gold, no one saying anything for a while. Eleanor's gaze was heated, her cheeks red and warm. It took everything of her to stare him down. He intimidated her, his presence tall and prepossessing. "Would you like to drink anything, Eleanor?" Jasper broke the silence. "I'm not here for fun, Jasper. Talk," she demanded, "I deserve answers." Jasper looked down and sighed. "Fine. What would you like to know." "Oh, I don't know. Maybe why the fuck you have a whole file on me?" Eleanor spat out with newfound confidence. She wanted answers, and she wanted them now. "I asked someone to make it for me," Jasper started, "They drew it up for me. I wasn't aware that they'd follow you." "And that makes that any better?" "No," Jasper shook his head. "Who made that file?" "My lawyer." "Your lawyer?" Eleanor asked incredulously, "What kind of lawyer stalks someone?" "Mr Jenks does all kinds of dodgy business for my family," Jasper explained, "Faking documents, passports...All of it." Eleanor was utterly speechless. Just how far did the Cullen's go? How criminal were they really? "I asked him to compile a file on you. Because I was fascinated by you. Because you inhabit all of my senses and my mind. And I didn't think I'd ever get somewhat close to you," Jasper explained, using Eleanor's stunned silence to continue, "I just...I was desperate to know you. Desperate to know who you were. I had never wanted it to get to the point of them following you. That wasn't what I had asked for; I never would have asked for it." Eleanor only looked at him, too stunned to say anything and trying her hardest to wrap her mind around things. So Jasper hadn't stalked her. But he had asked someone to dig around her life, and she wasn't sure that that was any better. Although she was glad that, at the very least, he hadn't asked them to follow her around. "Can you say something?" Jasper looked at her with begging eyes. Eleanor pursed her lips, trying to think of something, anything, to say. "So you've had me investigated because you wanted to get to know me?" she asked, almost not believing what she was saying that second. "Essentially," Jasper confirmed. "Why." It was more of a statement than a question, but Eleanor felt she needed to understand. And as of that moment, she did not. "Why what?" "Why me?" Eleanor raised her gaze again, meeting his deep golden eyes once more. "Why me? You can have anything or anyone who you would want, and yet you're fixed on me to the point you're willing to have a lawyer investigate me. Why?" Jasper went quiet for a while and simply looked at Eleanor. He let his eyes wander along her face, which was beautifully sculpted, and her cheeks rosy, but he couldn't find the words to say. Why? He honestly didn't know himself. When Eleanor was around, life was immediately easier. More colourful. He could breathe. His thoughts were clear because the feelings around him were dulled. For perhaps the first time in his life, he was hopeful because his eternal life was better, simply because Eleanor was in it.

"Because you make this world a better place," Jasper confessed after thinking about it for a while, "Because you give me hope." "Hope for what?" Eleanor furrowed her eyebrows. "More," he cryptically says, his voice low and quiet as if he was afraid to say what really was on his mind. "There's something about you, Eleanor. Something that calls to me on a level that I do not understand. Maybe it's because you were destined to be mine. Perhaps it's something else. Whatever it is, you're like a siren calling out to me, and I can't resist you. And quite frankly, I don't want to."   Eleanor noticed the almost vulnerable look on his face. It was an almost disturbing sight because 99% of the time, Jasper held himself with militaristic precision and rigidness. "I'm sorry, Eleanor. But please, don't run from me. Have a little faith and patience in me. Please." Eleanor bit her lip, carefully observing him. He seemed genuine, and above all, he genuinely seemed to like her. And god did she like him, but she still wasn't sure if she'd be able to forgive him. "Patience and faith, huh?" she mused, "I think I can do that." Jasper smiled gratefully at her. "Under one condition," she added quickly. "Anything." "From now on, we communicate. You know, instead of calling the lawyers." Jasper grinned happily. "I promise." "Good," Eleanor grinned right back at him. She could do this, she told herself, even though she probably should've run for the hills. "So, would you like to grab some dinner now?" Jasper offered, "There's a nice restaurant just a few blocks down if you'd like." "I'm ravenous," Eleanor smiled at him. "Oh, one more thing," Jasper remembered something before he jumped from the sofa and sped off, leaving Eleanor behind with a gust of wind. He was back within seconds, holding something in his hands. The file, as Eleanor noticed. "I want you to be the one who decides what to do with this," Jasper said, handing it to her. Eleanor was unsure what to do with it. Tear it apart? Leave it be? Burn it? She quite liked the last idea if she were honest. She decided to open it once just so she could see what it entailed (aside from the creepy stalking pictures). She was both shocked and somehow amazed to find that the file included her birth certificate, her bank account details and everything in between, down to her social security number. As invasive as the file was, Eleanor was impressed to see how detailed it was. Maybe if it wasn't about her or at least made with consent, she'd applaud the lawyer. "I'll think about it," she let him know, letting out a big sigh and closing it before she continued to mull over the possibilities as they took the short walk towards an upscale restaurant.