Éclair de Lune

A/N: I am back from my hiatus. I am reposting all the things I took down previously. Thank you for your patience. There is a brief explanation on my profile page.

Warnings: AH, AU, One-Shot, Edward x Jasper (slash)

Disclaimer: Everything belongs to Stephenie Meyer.

"All you need is love. But a little chocolate now and then doesn't hurt." - Charles M. Schulz

I gently squeezed the parchment piping bag. With a swift flick of my wrist I swirled the delicate trail of butter cream icing into a small flower. Done, I thought with satisfaction.

I wiped my forehead with the back of my wrist and tossed the bag aside, surveying the finished batch of my latest concoction. Twenty-four made from scratch dark chocolate cocoa fudge cupcakes, complete with butter cream flowers, lined the silver tray. The trick was the faint almond flavoring that I infused into the icing. People always expected vanilla, but I liked to give it a little kick.

I washed the icing off my hands and carried the tray to the display case. They fit right in with plates of flaky pastries, cream filled chocolates, and countless varieties of cupcakes. I was always trying to find new and exciting flavors, especially ones that surprised people. I had tried everything from banana split to habanera, some with more success than others.

Thankfully, I did remember to save one cupcake out for Alice. She always did get cranky when new flavors sold out before she could give them a try. I boxed up her cupcake before writing the new flavor on the giant chalkboard behind the register. A never ending supply of sugar was her price for helping design the store. I tried to argue that brotherly love and devotion for all eternity was sufficient payment, but she wouldn't have it. As a result, Alice was constantly hyper from the sugar high, and the vintage look I had wanted, but couldn't articulate was brought into reality. Every detail from the antique gingerbread on the screen door to the black and white floor tiles was exactly what I had envisioned.

I glanced at the clock on the wall. It was time to officially open, my favorite part of day. I flipped the sign on the door, then propped it open. The fresh smell of baking cakes and cookies wafting out into the street was better than any advertising I could buy. I loved everything about my store, including the frosting pink and chocolate brown color scheme that Alice had selected. Éclair de Lune was my baby.

A few hours later, I placed a tray of freshly cooled chocolate cupcakes up on the counter. All they needed was a little icing and a fresh cherry garnish. My chocolate covered cherry cupcakes were one of my best sellers and I could never have too many. The small silver bell above the shop door happily announced the entrance of the latest customer. I looked up with a ready smile on my face and then froze.

It was him.

It was Jasper Whitlock, my secret obsession that nobody, not even Alice knew about. I was completely and hopelessly in love with him, and he was completely and hopelessly in love with his girlfriend.

I tried, with moderate success, to suppress a groan as I took in his faded jeans and black t-shirt. In a store full of hundreds decadent and scrumptious treats, he was hands down the most edible thing in the room. His laid back, just rolled out of bed look had me tongue tied every time I saw him. However, I have also seen his beautiful, blond, Amazonian girlfriend, Rosalie. Imagining the method by which he arrived at his artlessly disheveled look made me green with jealousy.

"Hey, Edward," Jasper looked down at what I was working on, the icing pooling unnoticed into a pile, completely obliterating the cupcake it was supposed to be decorating. "That's an interesting design. New flavor?" His dimples grew more pronounced as his infamous one-sided grin made an appearance.

"Ha, ha. You're so funny." Brilliant comeback, Edward. Somehow, I always lost all coherent speech around him. He must think I had the IQ of a rock. "Any thoughts on what you want this morning?" Despite visiting my store every day, Jasper always took forever to decide what he wanted. It was never the same thing twice.

Jasper ran his hand through his tousled, sun bleached curls. "I'm not sure. Do you have anything you want me to try?"

As bashful as I was at making small talk, as soon as I could start talking about my creations, I instantly became a different person. It was as if Jasper knew this, too. He would ask me a question about baking techniques or flavor combinations and I would lose all track of time talking with him. After so long, I started to know Jasper's tastes better than he did. I knew just what he would like today.

I put one of my new almond cupcakes on a plate and handed it to Jasper. His eyes closed as he put the plate to his nose and inhaled the sweet scent.

"Oh, wait!" I grabbed the plate back from him. His eyes snapped back open, but I silenced his indignant protests with an upraised finger. "It just needs one more thing." The chocolate I was melting earlier had reached the perfect consistency. I dipped a spoon into the velvety concoction, and then suspended it in the air, moving it in swift back and forth strokes. The warm, dark liquid slid onto the plate, a thin, drizzling trail still clinging to the spoon. With a final flourish, I finished my decoration and returned the pilfered sweet.

"I bet you give all your favorite customers the special treatment," Jasper teased as he paid for his purchase.

I was unable to fight the rush of heat that flooded my cheeks. "What makes you think you're my favorite customer?" Jasper just arched his eyebrow at me and grabbed a fork, sitting down at one of the black, wrought iron bistro tables that lined the wall.

I have sworn this many times, but it was no less true today. The way that man eats should be illegal. Jasper pierced the confection with his fork, swirling the cake into the pooling chocolate. When the first bite passed his lips he closed his eyes and moaned. He didn't just moan like, oh wow, this is really good cake. He moaned as if it was the most exquisite and passionate moment of pleasure he had ever received in his life.

The killing blow was when he realized that he still had chocolate on his mouth. His pink tongue peeked out and wet his lips, but he missed a spot right in the corner. I visualized myself licking the chocolate off him. My fantasy then degenerated into thinking of all the other even more fun places that I could purposefully cover in chocolate only to subsequently lick off.

I was exceedingly grateful that I was behind the bakery counter and Jasper couldn't see my painfully obvious reaction to him. I forced myself to act like I was busy wiping down the counter, but I couldn't help sneaking glances at Jasper while he ate.

Jasper sighed with satisfaction and pushed his empty plate away from him. "Hey, man, Rosalie has a gig tonight down at the Wharf. Did you want to come with me and listen to her play?"

My stomach turned to ice, even as I thrilled at the thought of spending more time with him. I could see it now. If I went, I would spend the whole night torturing myself trying not to watch him as he ogled his girlfriend. Surely staying home was less pathetic, right?

"I … can't," I said. "I have to… get up early tomorrow to bake. Thanks, though." Even to my ears, my excuse sounded lame.

"You're closed on Sunday, but whatever. The cupcake was awesome, by the way." All traces of Jasper's smile were gone as he brusquely made his way out the door.

Jasper didn't come back Monday. He didn't come back Tuesday, or even Wednesday or Thursday for that matter. I couldn't help but feel that it was my fault. I missed him, and that's all there was to it. I had grown so used to our daily banter that my normal routine seemed flat without it. I tried several new cupcake flavors, but somehow nothing tasted as good without Jasper's opinion to look forward to.

I was completely shocked on Friday when I saw Jasper's familiar profile through the display window. He appeared to be pacing back and forth, but finally opened the door and came in.

"Hey, Jasper," I said with a brightness I didn't feel. Inside I was terrified I would say something to scare him off again. "Do you know what you want?"

This time there was no deliberating. "Coconut macaroon." His voice was matter of fact.

I was puzzled. This was completely out of character for Jasper. Half the fun of our interactions came from his indecisiveness and trying to guess what he would like. I went to grab a plate, but Jasper stopped me.

"I'll just take it to go today."

"Are you sure you don't want to try a cupcake? I have another new flavor." I mentally pleaded with him to stay. Irrationally, I felt like I was losing him, even though I never had him to begin with.

Jasper sighed. "Yeah, I guess that's all I need today."

"See you later?" I said hopefully, trying to act nonchalant.

"I don't know…" he trailed off, his eyes trained on the floor. "I don't know if I'll have time to be back for a while. I've got a lot of stuff going on."

"Oh…" I wasn't sure what to say. I tried to keep my face from falling, but I'm not sure how successful I was. What could possibly… oh. He knew! Oh, God, he had to know. How could I not have realized how obvious I was being, practically drooling over him every time he came in the store? Finally, I made a decision. If I was never going to see him again, I had nothing to lose. It was now or never. "Jasper, have I done something?"

Jasper's cheeks tinged with red. "No, Edward, you didn't do anything wrong. You were trying to let me down easily without coming right out and saying you weren't interested. I got embarrassed and made an ass out of myself." He looked at the floor the entire time he was talking. "It's okay, though. I get the hint. I won't bother you again."

My eyes widened in shock. "What do you mean?"

He finally looked at me, his head tilted in confusion. "Rosalie's concert? I was trying to ask you out on a date." He threw his hands up. "Gah, I couldn't even do that right. You're probably not even gay, are you? I just kind of assumed with the pink store," he gestured at the walls, "and the signals..." I'll just leave now and bang my head against the wall." He turned to head out the door.

My heart stopped in my chest. I ran around the counter and put a hand on his arm to stop him. "You were asking me on a date? What about Rosalie, wouldn't she be jealous?"

Understanding and relief dawned over his face. "Edward, I don't think you understand. Rosalie is my sister." The grin that I fell in love with returned, even more blindingly breathtaking than usual. "We're both idiots, you know that? The only reason I came into your store six days a week all summer long was that I was too chicken to ask for your number. You always acted so casual, I could never tell if you were interested or just being polite to a customer."

Amazed shock turned to elation. I turned my eyes up to him in what I hoped was a playful imitation of mock hurt. "I just thought you must have a really big sweet tooth. I was under the impression that you actually liked my cooking skills. I have had a crush on you since the first time I saw you."

Jasper groaned and rubbed his stomach. "Baby, I loved each and every bite, but do you know how many extra miles I had to run to make up for eating so much?"

We finally got our first date, and several more after that. We were awkward and funny, and perfectly us. Jasper and I found out that even when chocolate wasn't part of the equation, we were brilliant together.

Our first kiss was beyond anything I could have hoped for. And my first visit to Jasper's apartment was, well… let's just say we were infinitely more brilliant together when chocolate was, in fact, involved.

My eyes rolled back in my head as Jasper licked a wet trail down my neck, sucking gently. I growled and flipped him on his back, pinning his arms to the bed. He grinned at me, knowing by now that it drove me absolutely crazy.

"Don't move," I warned, with mock severity. I grabbed the bottle of syrup from our pile of discarded clothing. We had gotten a little… enthusiastic… we when got back from dinner. I slowly drizzled a chocolate trail over Jasper's torso with excruciating precision. He squirmed at the sensation, as well as the anticipation of what would come next.

Completely without mercy, I lapped at the chocolate drop by drop, starting with his neck and inching downward. I refused to speed up my decadent journey, despite Jasper's frenzied panting. I brushed a finger along his clavicle as I gently bit down on a dusky nipple. The moans from both of us grew louder. I bit and licked, swirled and sucked, drawing lower and lower, but refusing to grant any attention to Jasper's obvious excitement.

Jasper gave a frustrated noise, and then his eyes sparked with inspiration. He took a finger and scooped up some errant chocolate that I had missed. With his gleaming blue eyes locked firmly on mine, his tongue peeked out to moisten the tip of his finger. He slowly licked a stripe up one side and down the other, then engulfed the entire digit in his mouth, releasing it with a loud pop.

"You're killing me, Jasper," I groaned.

He chuckled and then cradled my face in his hand. He traced my lips with the finger that I was so jealous of a moment prior, leaving a wet trail that burned in its wake. I opened my mouth and repeated his action from before, sucking enthusiastically on his finger. I could taste the faint residual sweetness left from the chocolate, as well as a flavor that was distinctly Jasper. I had never been so hard in my life.

"It's my turn now," Jasper said, his voice rough with want. He pushed me onto my back and proceeded to deliver on his teasing promise. I felt a molten rush of heat as his mouth enveloped my swollen arousal. It was no time at all until, hovering on the brink of release; I stopped Jasper's wicked ministrations.

"Not like this," I pleaded. "I want to come for the first time with you inside me."

He moaned and lowered his head again. For a moment, I thought he was ignoring my request, but then I felt his warm, moist tongue move even lower than before. I was reduced to a quivering mass of sensation as he simulated the act to follow.

"Jasper, please," I pleaded. "I'm ready."

His eyes locked with mine, asking if I was sure about this. Instead of answering, I pushed myself up, impaling myself in one swift move that left both of us gasping for breath. He groaned and trembled with the effort to remain still.

"Just move!" I managed to choke out. "For the love of God, Jasper, don't you dare stop."

The image of him above me, muscles flexing as he moved against me was almost more than I could bear. Lost in sensation, I wasn't sure if it was a minute later or an eternity, but I finally crested in an overwhelming wave. I felt Jasper shudder and pulse within me a moment later.

Completely limp and sated, I collapsed boneless into Jasper's arms. He grinned at me and brushed the hair off of my sweaty forehead. I lazily traced a pattern up and down his shoulder with the tips of my fingers. The love shining from his eyes left me breathless. His lips descended to mine once more in a gentle kiss that I felt all the way to my toes.

Nothing had ever tasted sweeter.

fin

A/N: Thanks for reading!