After hearing her speak he set her back down gently, still keeping a hand on her shoulder, less she lose her balance and fall again. He was concerned and that much was indisputable. One glance would give his feelings away. He didn’t want anything to happen to her, even something as small as losing her balance and falling over. It could be prevented, and he would make sure that it was.
He wondered what Alice would think of this, wondered what she would say to him when she found out. She would find out, he knew she would. She might even be aware right now, might have saw them together in a vision before their meeting had even taken place. Since they’d left Forks, Alice had viewed doing so as a mistake. She’d told him that he’d been wrong and that he should have never said the things that he did. Most times he listened to her, but pretended not to agree. In reality he agreed with almost everything she said, but still wanted Bella to live a normal life, without him and his family.
“Bella, I know I hurt you. I thought you’d get over it. I thought you’d get over me. I wanted you to.” But she hadn’t, and in the back of his mind he knew all along that she wouldn’t.