Disclaimer: Nothing you recognize belongs to me and this is my first try at this series, so be nice!
Alice snuggled deeper into Jasper's chest, feeling completely comforted by his presence and not his gift. "Bella's on her way," she muttered into his glistening skin. He murmured something unintelligible in response. Soon enough, they heard footsteps approaching their secret nook of the forest bordering their Forks residence.
"I thought vampires didn't get tired," Bella said with confusion supplementing her adorably naïve voice.
Jaspers smile widened over his sharp teeth. "We don't," he said softly, "But we do like to be with the ones we love." Bella sighed lightly. Edward was hunting and these two were making her feel very alone.
"Would you care to join us?" Alice asked, knowing that Bella would. The human hesitated. She really didn't want to interrupt what seemed like a very cozy moment.
"It's okay," Jasper said smoothly, trying not to use his gift unnecessarily. "We don't mind."
Bella seated herself carefully in the grass beside the nestled couple, feeling very awkward. Jasper laughed. "I told you, it's okay," he assured her, picking up on her discomfort immediately.
Alice pulled herself from Jasper's lap, assuming that that was the main source of Bella's status. After all, she had an eternity left to snuggle with her mate. "How did you find us?" she asked curiously. She'd thought their favorite spot was a secret.
Bella smiled slowly. "Edward told me," she admitted guiltily. Jasper nodded curtly, half annoyed and half powerless against Edward's constant supervision.
"Do us a favor?" Jasper asked secretively, "Don't tell Rosalie. I don't think she needs another place to run off to with Emmett."
"Besides," Alice added quickly, "This part of the forest has so far been untainted by unpleasant images."
Bella's smile turned from guilty to happy to partake in the secrecy. "Of course!" she said immediately. Then her smile turned down to a frown. "She doesn't talk to me anyways..."
Alice and Jasper exchanged unreadable looks. "Ignore her." they said simultaneously. Jasper's expression took on a pained edge. "I know," he soothed, "she's a big presence to overlook." Bella nodded. "But at least try. Nobody cares what she thinks about you." Bella seemed slightly cheered by that thought, and sat for a moment picking at a daisy by her right foot when Alice's eyes unfocused slightly.
"Edward's coming." she said after a moment. Bella looked at her questioningly. "I saw him looking for you and let him know where you are. He should be here in a few minutes." Alice's pixie face brightened up again thinking about how happy Bella made her brother. She was so right for him.
Sure enough, Edward stepped soundlessly into the clearing no more than twenty minutes later. "Bella!" he said cheerfully when he did. "I missed you!" She smiled in return and allowed herself to be scooped into his lap.
"Alice and Jasper were keeping me company," she explained briefly.
Edward smiled, "But the real question," he said mysteriously, "is 'what were they doing here?'" Alice laughed like a bell choir, but instead of answering, laid herself back across Jasper's lap. Now that Edward was there to be with Bella, she had no qualms getting to that eternity of snuggling. Jasper compensated to her shift by curving in to give her a little less space and making her giggle lightly.
The emotional climate in their nook was usually quite nice, but just then it was unbeatable. There was so much love and happiness surrounding the two couples that Jasper found his smile very hard to wipe off, even while Edward invaded his thoughts to see what he was smiling about.
"Hmm," Edward finally said softly, "That's definitely a down-side of having a human around."
Alice smiled at Bella's now sleeping form, her mortal face perfectly at ease around so many lethal creatures. "You could change that," she suggested lightly, knowing that Bella would eventually be one of them.
"Don't," Edward snapped quietly, "Not now."
"Then when?" Alice snapped back, matching her volume to his.
Edward let out a very quiet snarl. Alice glared back. Jasper just let them fight, sensing that neither would respond well to his playing Switzerland out loud. Truthfully, he was in favor of Bella's transformation before the Volturi came for her. That was just a battle that he wasn't looking forward to. Besides, she was basically their sister already. What would the difference be, really? A year or two of newborn insanity. He already knew that he could handle one newborn without too much trouble. And it would save them an unpleasant visit from the Volturi.
Bella stirred lightly in Edwards arms, breaking up the argument more effectively than Jasper could have with his gift.
"We'll talk about it later," Edward said, getting the final word.
Jasper didn't mention to either that being a human, Bella probably couldn't hear them at their present volume, or that her movement was most likely a coincidence. They'd stopped fighting all by themselves, and that was what mattered.
Rosalie entered the grove, leading a very excited-looking Emmett. "Oh," Rosalie said too-loudly, waking Bella.
"I guess it's not a secret anymore," Alice murmured to Jasper.
A/N-I kind of liked getting into a world full of vampires. Maybe I'll do it again sometime.