This was my submission for the Fandom for Oklahoma Compilation and is part of my apparently growing Fiddle-verse . . .
Thank you as always to BookwormBaby2580 for fixing my words. She makes everything much better.
And a special thank you to Ange De L'aube for creating such a beautiful banner for me! The link is on my profile.
Disclaimer: Everything Twilight belongs to S. Meyer.
"Ladies and—well , guys . . . "
An appreciative chuckle from the crowd.
"Tonight we have a real treat for y'all. Did I get that right? 'Y'all'?"
Nods and laughs.
"Good. Tonight my long-time friend has agreed to do one number with Creepy Stalker Vampires!
Hesitant applause . . .
Bella could almost feel the complaining begin before Alice had even opened her mouth.
"Oh, what now?" Alice drew out the last word into one long whine.
Bella sighed. "Stop moaning, Alice. I swear, since your break up with James you've become a miserable old hag."
"What?! Hey now, that's a bit harsh." Alice huffed. "I'm not the one who felt like coming to listen to my brother's stupid band, with its stupid name, play at this stupid bar, with its stupid name! 'Forking Fantastic'? Who the hell names a bar 'Forking Fantastic'? Is that supposed to be a euphemism? A pun? Cause it's not funny. You, Isabella Swan, dragged me here against my will. As if I haven't heard the band play a million times. I thought that was the last number and that we could finally leave! I'm bored and I'm tired and I . . ."
Alice trailed off, distracted by something shiny on the stage. Bella looked up to see what had caught Alice's attention and interrupted her god-awful whining.
Walking on to the stage, with a wicked grin on his face, was a tall, slender, yet well-built guy, dressed in jeans, a red plaid shirt covering a black t-shirt, black leather cowboy boots, a black leather belt with a large silver buckle, and to complete the ensemble, a black Stetson, tilted low on his head. The shine that had initially caught Alice's eye was coming from the highly polished wood of the upper bout of the beautiful violin the man carried in one hand.
Looking back at her friend, Bella had to stifle a giggle. Alice looked entranced, but whether it was the instrument or the cowboy which held her in thrall, Bella couldn't tell.
"Good folk of Lawton, please welcome the genius of Jasper Whitlock!"
The man, who Bella assumed must be Jasper—as Edward held out his arm toward him and then clapped his hands together, encouraging the crowd—took his place at the front of the stage, a little behind Edward's left shoulder. He then lifted his violin up to his chin and waited. After taking his own place in front of the rest of his band mates, Edward cleared his throat, held up his hand, and then quickly brought it down.
Following the lead singer's signal, Emmett, the drummer, began the number with four quick beats on his drums, and immediately the sound of Jasper's violin filled the room. Bella heard Alice gasp. She could hardly blame her as the rapid notes Jasper was pulling from the violin were giving her goose-bumps herself, and the song had hardly began.
Suddenly, Edward started talking into the microphone, Emmett's quick drumbeats and Rosalie's interspersed piano chords backing him.
"The devil went down to Georgia, he was looking for a soul to steal . . ."
Bella sat back to enjoy the number, feeling the atmosphere in the bar quickly amplify as the fast tempo drew the crowd into the song. The rest of the band supplied backing vocals toward the end of the verse as the song tumbled onwards. Bella looked again at Alice, who had not moved a muscle, her expression absolutely captivated. Bella's attention was brought back to the stage as she heard the strains of the fiddle quicken. Jasper was rapidly drawing his bow across the instrument with a look of glee on his face, tapping his toe in time to the infectious beat.
Bella had heard Edward singing something about a wager. The devil was betting a young man he could play better violin and the young man's soul was at stake. Getting caught up in the story of the song, Bella turned her attention to Edward, who looked like he was having the time of his life up there. Bella always enjoyed watching Edward on stage. Or any time, really. At the lyrics, "and he pulled his bow across the strings and it made a evil hissss…" Bella looked at Jasper as he pulled his bow across his fiddle with a matching evil grin. Jake was striking heavy chords on his guitar while Rose started up a blues rhythm on the piano and all the while Jasper was making truly demonic sounds with his fiddle.
As the devil's turn was over Bella looked back at Edward who started singing again. Jasper quietly walked around the back of Edward to take his place on the other side of the lead singer, just behind his right shoulder this time, gearing up to play the part of Johnny, the boy who's soul was on the line. Bella was so caught up in the music and the story that she was no longer paying any attention to her dazed friend beside her. If she had, she would've seen how Alice's leg was bouncing in time to the music, how her fingers were playing along on the table, and how her head was bopping continuously, her eyes darting between the fiddle and the fiddler.
As Jasper started playing Johnny's part, the rest of the band joined in singing—one minute the fiddle, one minute the singing—in a kind of musical sparring match, Jasper leaning toward the band when it was his turn and the rest leaning toward Jasper as they sang. And then came Johnny's fiddle solo, and if Bella had been looking, she would have seen Alice close her eyes in ecstasy. As it was, Bella was too taken up with the music herself—and she wasn't the only one. The entire bar had broken out into a frenzy of toe tapping, square dancing, hand clapping, and singing along, and as Jasper performed magic on his instrument, the rest of the crowd was under his spell.
The fiddle music drew to an end and Edward, bowing his head over the microphone, continued in a serious tone "the devil bowed his head, because he knew that he'd been beat." Bella could see that Edward was grinning while he sang, totally enjoying himself. But this time, Jasper took over when it was Johnny's turn to speak and bellowed with relish in his clear southern accent "Devil jus' come on back if you ever wanna try again. I done told you once you son of a bitch, I'm the best that's ever been." At that the whole crowd burst into laughter and a fresh bout of dancing and clapping and singing along, and when the song ended, everyone stood up and applauded the fiddle player, including all the members of Creepy Stalker Vampires. Edward had his arms around Jasper and the two of them were laughing while the rest of the band came to clap Jasper on the back. Edward thanked the audience and said goodnight, but Bella hardly heard him as she was looking at her best friend.
Alice had yet to take her eyes off of Jasper.
"Um—" Bella started, trying not to show her amusement. "Do you know this Jasper, Al?"
Alice blinked, shook her head slightly, and then turned it towards Bella. "Huh?"
"I . . . uh, asked if you know Jasper." Bella was really doing her best not to giggle.
Alice still looked dazed and confused, but she scrunched her eyebrows together as she attempted to answer her best friend. "Um. Yeah. We all kind of grew up together. In Chicago. You know, before we moved to Washington. Jasper and his parents moved to Chicago from somewhere in Texas I think, before I was born. Edward and Jasper were best friends from as far back as I can remember. They did everything together and Jasper was always over at our house. Our parents were friends, so you know . . ." She trailed off. "He was such a dork," she muttered, shaking her head. "We all went to the same music teacher. Edward on the piano, me on the cello and Jas on the violin. They would play the most god-awful pranks on me—on everyone. They were really broken up when my dad got the chief of surgery position in Seattle. I knew Edward kept in touch with him, but . . ." She shrugged, as a sort of physical punctuation mark to her sentence.
Bella slapped her forehead. "Oh! It's that Jasper! Of course, Edward talks about him so much. I should've realized. But he didn't say a thing about playing with him tonight. I didn't even know he was in Oklahoma." Bella looked at Alice questioningly.
Alice simply shrugged again.
They both turned their heads toward the stage, and watched as the fiddler and the members of Creepy Stalker Vampires, left the stage. Most of them headed towards the bar, while Edward and Jasper walked toward the table where the girls were seated. Bella grinned up at Edward as he leaned down to kiss her.
"Gross, Edward! You're all sweaty!" Bella slapped him on the shoulder before bringing him down for another kiss and then releasing him. She gave him her best arched eyebrow, looked pointedly at Jasper and then back at her boyfriend.
"Something you forgot to tell me Edward? Like how your bestest ever pal-for-life was in town?"
Bella would not have believed it possible, but Edward's grin got even bigger. He slapped Jasper on the shoulder again, bringing him closer. "Bella, this is the mook who nearly got me expelled from Pritzker Elementary. Twice. Jasper, this lovely piece of womanhood you see before you is my Bella."
Bella stood up, slipped one arm around Edward's still disgustingly sweaty waist, and held her other hand out to Jasper, who took it and squeezed it warmly. "So this is the infamous Jasper? I have heard a lot about you, sir. Although not one word about your current location being exactly the same as ours." Bella said with a wink.
"Sorry ma'am. My fault." Bella could tell he was playing up his southern drawl. "I've been visiting my ma in Wichita Falls, and decided to surprise ol' Eddie here. I knew y'all were travellin' over the summer with the band and he told me Lawton was on the list. Well, Wichita Falls is only an hour away and I decided it was high time I dropped in on this sonofabitch. No offence to your mama." Jasper tipped his hat at Edward.
Edward replied with a gleeful, "Ha!"
Bella liked the look of this guy. And if she were a betting lady, she would put everything on the fact that Alice liked the look of him as well.
Speaking of, Edward turned to his baby sister. "Al, you remember Jas, right? . . . Al? You okay?"
Edward had finally noticed the decidedly spaced out condition his sibling was currently in.
Once again Alice shook her head slightly, and then she nodded. She slowly got up out of her seat and walked the few steps around the table to where the rest of the group stood. Holding out her hand primly, she said "Yes. It's good to see you again Jasper."
But Jasper was having none of that.
"Ali-Bee!" He scooped up the tiny woman and engulfed her in a full body hug. Bella was amused by the nickname, as well as by the sight of her friend's arms and legs peeking out around the tall man, flailing slightly, making her look like an Alice-shaped starfish.
"Aw, man! It's good to see you girl! How've you been? Edward told me you're playing with the Seattle Symphony Orchestra. Good for you, I was so proud of you when I heard. Hey . . . " Jasper dropped his voice slightly, but Bella could still hear him say, "he also told me you've been through a pretty nasty breakup. Sorry. That good for nothing douchebag did not know what he had."
Alice looked overwhelmed. She was blushing and stuttering as she tried to disentangle herself from all the man currently surrounding her. "Well." She cleared her throat. "I see Edward has been telling you much more about me than him about you. I mean, than he's been telling him about me. Me about you. Telling me about you. That is to say—Listen, what the hell are you doing here, Jasper? When? How? What . . .?"
Jasper finally let go of Alice, giving himself space to dissolve into a full-bellied laugh, while Alice looked between him and Edward, her arms crossed over her chest and her lips pursed.
"Aw honey." Jasper said between chuckles. "It's like I was tellin' Ms. Bella over here. I was going to be near Lawton anyway and wanted to surprise y'all. I just didn't tell Ed about my plans. As far as he knew, I was still in Detroit, working the music circuit there." Jasper completely ignored the slap upside the head that Edward gave him along with an annoyed "Cut it out with the 'Ed' shit."
Alice looked bewildered. She slowly brought a hand to her forehead, rubbing it as if she had a headache. "Detroit? Music circuit?"
Bella looked from her friend, to Jasper and then to Edward. "You know what? This has been a long day and an unexpectedly exciting night, thanks to you boys. How about we get out of this crazy bar, and go somewhere a bit quieter? Maybe get some coffee?"
Alice had dropped to a chair and was still rubbing her head. Jasper looked kind of concerned actually. Edward was his wonderful, oblivious self.
"What?" He looked at Bella. "Yeah. Hey, that's an excellent idea. Jake and Emmett already promised to pack up the equipment, so yeah! Jas?"
Jasper nodded his agreement, smiling at Edward. "We sure do have a lot of catching up to do."
Edward grinned again, hooked his arm with his friend's, and proceeded to exit the noise and chaos that was Forking Fantastic.
Bella did not miss how Jasper looked back toward Alice. When he saw that Bella was gathering their purses and jackets and had her arm around Alice's shoulders, he seemed to relax, winked again at Bella and turned his attention back to Edward. Bella fondly wondered if Edward was even aware that he had practically forgotten his girlfriend, his sister and his favorite worn-leather jacket behind.
…(o) …
Jasper directed them all to a 24 hour Starbucks nearby, and while the guys were getting the drinks, Bella found a table and sat her friend down.
"Are you alright?" Bella asked softly, rubbing her hand up and down her best friend's back.
Alice looked up at Bella and seeing the concern clearly written all over her face, smiled. "Yeah. Yeah Bell, I'm fine. Just really surprised! Jasper was the last person I expected to see. I mean, I haven't even really thought about him in ages." Bella saw a glimmer of the naughty twinkle that had been missing from her friend's eyes for the last few months. "And holy hell, will you look at that hunk of hot man-flesh!"
Bella grinned. "He is kind of attractive, isn't he?" She nudged Alice's shoulder with her own.
"Attractive? How 'bout smokin'" Alice giggled. Bella had missed the sound and giggled with her as a steaming paper cup was placed in front of her.
"One Chai Tea Latte for you, a Caramel Machiatto for weirdo over there," Edward teased as Jasper placed a cup in front of Alice, "a Pike Place Roast for me, and . . . what was it you ordered, Jas?" Edward asked as they both sat down.
"A Caramel Ribbon Crunch Frappuccino" said Jasper.
Three pairs of eyes looked at him.
"What? It's yummy." Jasper shrugged, as Bella and Alice broke into another round of giggles.
Jasper beamed at them. "Now, what were you lovely ladies cackling at before we sat down?"
"Oh," Alice started between giggles. "We were just admiring your— instrument." Bella snorted into her tea.
"Why, Alice Cullen. Was that a lewd joke at my expense?" Jasper pretended to look shocked, with his hand dramatically placed on his chest.
Alice blushed a little. "Me? Would I ever do such a thing?" She smiled. "No, honestly Jasper, that really was a beautiful instrument you had on stage. You've definitely upgraded since the last time I saw you."
A look of sadness passed over Jasper's face, but it was gone so quickly, Alice wasn't really sure she'd seen it.
"Well hell, Ali-Bee. It's been nearly 15 years since you last saw me. So yeah, this is definitely not the same violin I had then." Alice saw Jasper gesture to the case at his feet. She hadn't even noticed he'd brought it with him. "I saved up for a few years to get me one of these. It's a Nagyvary violin. Old Dr. Nagyvary is a Hungarian who settled in Texas in the nineteen sixties, I think. He studied chemistry or some such, and eventually him and his partner found a way to closely recreate Stradivarius violins. They make the most gorgeous instruments with the most beautiful sound, as you witnessed tonight." Jasper picked up his violin case and cradled it lovingly. "She's my baby and she sure does sing sweet for me."
"Would you two like to be alone?" Edward smirked as Jasper gently laid the violin case at his feet before punching Edward in the arm.
Alice looked a little dreamy again, after hearing Jasper talk about his fiddle. Bella smiled fondly at her before turning back to the guys and asking, "Well that's great Jasper, but the far more important question, to my mind, is why on earth do you call Alice Ali-Bee? "
Jasper chuckled. "Cause she was always so busy when we were growing up. Always doing something, working on some new project, buzzing around and getting into everybody's business. I started calling her 'Busy Bee' to rile her up and it just kind of morphed. She'll always be Ali-Bee to me. And from what I hear from Edward, the name still suits her just as much now as it did then." Jasper aimed another wink in Alice's direction.
Alice blushed again in reply.
Bella tried to keep the assumptions that were rapidly forming in her mind from showing on her face, the most prominent one being, Aw, you like each other!
The small group sat there for well over an hour, chatting. Edward and Jasper had kept in contact through frequent emails and texts, but it seemed like they still had a lot of catching up to do, just as Jasper had said. While Edward knew that Jasper was playing in Detroit he had not known that Jasper's mother had moved back to Texas after his father's death a few years ago. He also had not known about Jasper's love affair with his violin. But everyone in the group agreed that it was a very special instrument and spent a fair amount of time oohing and aahing over it when Jasper took it out of its case and reluctantly handed it around.
Eventually, though, the long night and the excitement of their reunion started to take its toll. Everyone was very pleasantly surprised to learn that Jasper was spending the night at the same hotel as the rest of the band, but no one more so than Jasper and Alice. At least that's what it looked like to Bella.
The hotel was just a few blocks away, so they opted to walk there, taking advantage of the mild night. Within just a few steps the group had split into two, Bella and Edward leading, Edward's arm draped over her shoulder, and Alice and Jasper taking up the rear, walking close enough that their shoulders frequently bumped. Bella looked back at them every now and again, a warm feeling growing in her stomach at the look of contentment she saw on her friend's face.
"They seem to be falling right back into the same old pattern." Edward sighed, after he'd caught Bella looking behind them for the fiftieth time.
"Huh?"
Edward chuckled a little at Bella's confused expression. "It's just that even when we were young, those two always seemed to be just on the brink of something. They just clicked, you know? Even when Jasper was pulling her pigtails and Alice was hiding his bow to get back at him, there was always something more. Maybe we were too young at the time. Alice sure as hell was. I woulda punched Jasper in his stupid face if he'd tried anything with her back then."
Bella laughed at Edward's 12 year old self resurfacing to protect his little sister. "You're not children anymore, Edward. And look at her. It's been months since I've seen Alice's eyes lit up like that."
"Yeah. I know." Edward shrugged. "Honestly, in the back of my adolescent mind I always kind of assumed they'd get together. But then we moved, and they never really spoke about one another and well, that was that." Edward snuck another peak back at his little sister. "Maybe this is the best thing that could've happened," he mused quietly.
"Let's just see what happens, okay? No pushing, no pulling, just let them figure it out. Look at the disaster our meddling caused last time." Bella grimaced, still feeling guilty that she and Edward had convinced Alice to give James a chance. What a bad move that had ended up being. No, she thought, Alice and Jasper were better off figuring out what was between them on their own. If there even was anything between them.
"No arguments there!" Edward agreed, vehemently. "But Bell, one night is not going to give them much time. We leave in the morning."
Bella knew her boyfriend was right, but before they could discuss it any further, they had reached the lobby of their hotel. Alice and Jasper made plans to meet for breakfast the next morning, blatantly forgetting to invite Bella and Edward, and after hugs and goodnights were exchanged everybody headed off to their rooms—Edward and Bella's was on the same floor as Alice's, while Jasper's was one floor above.
Bella wanted some time to talk to her friend, but when Alice just headed off to her room, chewing on her lip worriedly, Bella figured she wanted to be alone. Besides, Bella had thought of something that she wanted to discuss with Edward anyway. Hey, a little meddling couldn't hurt. Right?
…(o) …
The next morning Bella convinced Edward to order breakfast up to their room, hoping to give Jasper and Alice a little more time alone. She had laid her plan out for Edward the night before, and he had eagerly agreed. After all, there was more in this for him than just a happy sister. They had invited the rest of the band to join them for breakfast in their room, as they couldn't go ahead with their scheme without the rest of the Creepy Stalker Vampires agreeing. Okay, so maybe they didn't tell them everything. Everyone was still happy to agree after last night's performance.
It was probably around eleven in the morning when they had finally packed up all their things and headed down to the small restaurant in the hotel. Through texts, Bella knew that Alice was still there with Jasper and it was time to put their slightly meddling no-meddling plan into action.
As they entered the restaurant, they quickly caught sight of Alice and Jasper, heads bent toward each other, lost in conversation. They walked toward their table, waiting for Alice or Jasper to notice them, but the couple was so wrapped up in their bubble that they didn't even look up when Edward and Bella were standing right next to their seats.
Edward cleared his throat once, then again and when that didn't work, he simply sat down next to them, slapping his hands down hard on the table as he did so. Bella shook her head at his antics as she took her seat next to him.
Jasper looked up first, seeming kind of dazed, followed by Alice, seeming kind of sad.
"Hey guys." Alice said, trying to be chirpy and really not managing it. Jasper just nodded his greeting.
Bella and Edward exchanged a look, before Edward began.
"So, here's the thing," he said in a very business-like manner. "Jasper, Creepy Stalker Vampires have very rarely had an audience respond to us as they did last night. And that was all thanks to you. Now we still have a few towns to stop at this summer, ending with Bumbershoot in Seattle and, well . . . We want you to join us."
Jasper blinked, still looking dazed.
Alice gasped and, what looked very much to Bella like hope, lit up in her eyes.
"Come again?" Jasper asked in a very far-away voice.
Bella left the talking up to Edward. After all, for all intents and purposes she was just a roadie in this whole tour.
"We want you to join the band, Jasper." Edward held up his hands to stop Jasper from saying anything, and barreled on, "I think we could have a very unique sound with your fiddle added into the mix. I know you've been playing in Detroit, and doing okay, but okay just doesn't cut it in this business, man. I don't know how you feel about traveling but I'm sure we could work something out. And we'd make it so you could see your mom regularly, you know? And we wouldn't hold you back, I mean if you wanted to still pursue your solo career at the same time, that's cool. We'd give you space. We'd have to work out all the details and all the schedules, but we could really have something here Jas. Take a chance on us." Edward practically huffed out the last few words as he had run out of breath.
"Dude." Jasper smirked. "You really think quoting ABBA to me is going to convince me of anything?"
Edward frowned, then his eyes widened in shock. "I wasn't— I don't even—it's just a phrase, man!"
Edward looked around while the small group dissolved into giggles, mumbling "I don't listen to ABBA," under his breath, deliberately avoiding looking at Bella, who was just about the only person in the world who knew differently. She had promised to take his secret to the grave.
Once everyone had calmed down, and the sad and serious mood had become far more relaxed, Jasper looked at Edward with a thoughtful expression of his face.
"You serious, man? I mean, this is a big move for your band. Would the rest of them go for this idea of yours?"
Edward sat back, and looking at Bella, grabbed her hand and brought it to his knee. "We've already spoken to them. They agree one hundred percent. Last night's performance was electrifying! Look, it's not as if we don't generally perform well. I mean, we get decent reviews and our audiences enjoy our music and give great feedback. But last night was out of this world. Above and beyond, Jasper! We could create something really distinctive, and everyone is totally stoked about this."
Jasper glanced at Alice. She was looking back at him, trying not to show how much she really wanted him to say yes. To take a chance on them.
She failed horribly
Jasper took in a deep breath, and let it out slowly. He nodded. "Okay. Yeah, okay, let's do this."
…(o) …
The next few weeks were a confusing mess of gigs, arrangements, phone calls, schedules and travelling. Creepy Stalker Vampires had a number of gigs trailing from Oklahoma to Seattle, and they couldn't afford to miss any just because their band was in a state of flux. And Jasper had to make arrangements to pack up his apartment in Detroit. The decision for him to join the band had happened so quickly that no one had really thought of the extended consequences. Jasper couldn't be based in Detroit when the rest of the band was based in Seattle. It was a good thing that Jasper had maintained his mysterious loner persona while in Detroit. He hadn't been there more than a couple of years and had frequently travelled back to Texas to spend time with his mom, so he really hadn't put down any roots there.
There was the issue of where to move to though. At first Jasper suggested that he move in with his mom temporarily, until they saw how, and if, his sound really worked with Creepy Stalker Vampires. But Texas really wasn't any nearer to Seattle than Detroit was, and Edward quickly squashed that idea.
"Jas. We're going to sound awesome. And if at first something doesn't gel, well, we'll just work at it until it does gel." Edward shrugged. "This is going to make us stand out. Give us something unique that not every other indie band has. It's worth working at and we can't do that if you're on the other side of the continent."
Edward had become so excited about Jasper joining the band, he hardly remembered that it began as an idea to give his sister and his best friend more time together. Edward was convinced that this, Jasper joining Creepy Stalker Vampires with his Nagyvary violin, was the break his band had been waiting for. This was going to put them on the fast track to the Big Time. He was absolutely confident in this plan and no one could dissuade him. It didn't hurt that Alice had reverted back to her usual effervescent, excitable, enthusiastic and generally interfering self. She had new ideas for the band every five minutes, it seemed to Edward. Where they should go, what they should play, what they should wear. Edward had vowed that the moment Alice hinted at spandex and sequins, he was putting her on a Greyhound and sending her home. He spent a lot of time complaining about his baby sister, because that was his duty as an older brother, but deep down, Edward was just really glad that Alice was feeling more herself and he was enjoying every moment of her annoying, baby-sister type behavior.
Really deep down.
Bella had kept herself very much in the background during all of these changes. She felt that she had got the ball rolling and now she could just sit back and watch what happened. She didn't want to meddle after all. Well. Unless said ball started rolling in an undesired direction. Then she'd be right there to nudge it back on course. But so far, there was no indication anything like that would happen. Edward was in his element, planning for the Big Time. Alice was happily arranging everybody's life and wardrobe, and although Bella could see that Alice was sad that Jasper had to leave so soon to go pack up his life, she was unbelievably excited that he would be joining them in Seattle. Bella knew that Alice and Jasper spoke on the phone every day, mostly at night and often during the day too. They texted each other almost constantly. It was rare to find Alice without her phone in her hands, furiously typing out a message to Jasper, or sending him a photo of where they were, or what they were doing, or what Alice was eating, or the shoes she'd just found in this "adorable little store", or of Edward's frustrated face while he was waiting on her for something—more often than not he was waiting for her to get off the phone with Jasper so that Edward could get on the phone with Jasper. It amused Bella no end that the only person who came close to spending the amount of time on the phone with Jasper as Alice did, was Edward.
It was weird to watch actually. The way Edward and Alice both gravitated toward Jasper, whether it was in person or on the phone, or in a conversation or merely walking past something and one of them commenting how Jasper would like that. Bella thought to herself that what she was watching was a family growing back together after being kept apart. And she was a part of it. Alice and Edward made sure that she never felt sidelined or excluded. She knew they loved her and it was a joy for her to watch as they welcomed Jasper back into their lives.
In the end it was decided that Jasper would move into Edward's apartment in Seattle. Edward had practically been living at Bella's small house for the last few months before they went on tour, and they had decided that they would make it official a few weeks before the band performed in Lawton. Edward was still trying to decide what he would do with his apartment—sell or sub-let—when Jasper came back into their lives. It really seemed to all of them that Jasper joining them was pre-ordained somehow, as the pieces were falling into place so easily. Jasper would sub-let from Edward and Edward would move in with Bella, and it was as easy as that.
Jasper stayed with the band for a week or so before flying back to Detroit. He performed with them in Tulsa, and then in Addison and Lubbock when they moved on to Texas, and during all this time it was obvious how close Jasper and Alice were growing. When he wasn't rehearsing or performing with the band, Jasper was with Alice and Bella loved watching them together. The two of them smiled so much, Bella was sure their cheeks cramped every night when finally given a chance to relax. When Jasper left, it wasn't only Alice who couldn't wait for his return. Jasper really was a great addition to Creepy Stalker Vampires and he promised to keep thinking of new songs they could practice and perform to hone their new sound. With the fiddle thrown into the mix, the Creepy Stalker Vampires found themselves leaning toward a far more folksy sound than they had previously but everyone agreed they had never sounded better.
It took Jasper a few weeks to arrange everything, and he missed a few performances. The show in Phoenix went off well, even without Jasper, but Edward was really frustrated when they got to California and couldn't show off their new sound. While Jasper was busy packing up his life, Creepy Stalker Vampires were performing in Calexico, Pasadena and Palo Alto. Edward was slightly mollified by the amazing response they got from the varsity crowd in Palo Alto. The band then crossed the state to Nevada and took a few days break in Las Vegas. They did give a small performance at a dive bar just off the Strip, but mainly they just took a breather. And Edward gambled away $150. Bella vowed to never let Edward near another slot machine as long as she lived.
From Las Vegas, the band had a fairly long drive to their next two gigs which were both in Salt Lake City. The students and the LGBT community of Salt Lake City loved the band's performance and screamed for three encores before the band were allowed off stage, and the review Creepy Stalker Vampires got in the Salt Lake Tribune was one of the best they had ever received. But as it turned out, the more staid Mormons did not appreciate the Creepy Stalker Vampire's choice of music. Or name. Or the piercings Jake had in his ears, eyebrow, nose and tongue. This was made very clear in the review published in the more conservative Deseret News. Something about piercings inflicting psychological damage on young, impressionable future missionaries. It was a good thing Jake was fully dressed on stage or Edward was sure his other piercings may have caused a riot. Or a tar and feathering.
From Salt Lake City, the Creepy Stalker Vampires went to Billings, Montana and then Boise and Moscow in Idaho. Emmett and Edward just did not run out of jokes while they were in Moscow, and Rose, Bella and Alice were about ready to throttle the pair of them by the time they finally packed up and headed towards Seattle, Bumbershoot, home and Jasper.
Jasper would be flying in to SeaTac two days after the band was scheduled to arrive. Bella doubted that Edward would be able to move all his belongings out of his old apartment in that time. Although a lot of his things were already at her house, none of the big stuff was. Jasper may just have to live with Edward's waterbed and neon beanbag couch and armchairs for a few weeks.
The band trundled tiredly into Seattle in the middle of the night, each member splitting off to head for their own homes and promising to meet up in a few days. Bella and Edward dropped Alice off at the Cullen home, where she had been living since her breakup with James, and then went to Bella's little house and collapsed in a heap on their bed without even unpacking the van.
The next day, before they were even out of bed, Alice was at the house in full Ali-Bee mode, organizing Edward's life for the next day and a half to make Jasper's move as easy as possible.
Bella made a note to get her spare key back from her best friend at the earliest opportunity, as Alice perched on the corner of their bed and started asking questions and giving instructions.
"Edward, do all the kitchen appliances work? I mean, Jasper can't be expected to live with no fridge or working stove."
"Yes Al." Edward scrubbed his hand over his face, trying to catch up with his sister's rapid fire talk. "I was living there remember? I also needed a fridge and a stove."
Alice waved her hand. "Please Edward, what would you need those for? You don't cook. However I do know that the microwave must be working. Is everything all right with the plumbing? Good water pressure? Toilet flushes properly?"
"Yes Alice." Edward sighed, as Bella got up to go make coffee. Really strong coffee.
"No problems with the electricity?"
"No Alice."
"Do all the windows open and close properly?"
"Yes Alice."
"Is the apartment clean? When was the last time you cleaned it, Edward?"
"It's clean Alice, geez!"
Alice gave her brother one long, contemplative look. "I think we should give it a good once over. Just to be safe."
Edward sighed again. "You go right ahead and do that."
"What about your furniture?"
"What about my furniture?"
"When are you moving it out of there?"
"How do you know Jasper doesn't need it? You think he's flying a canopy bed and a couple of armoires over with him?"
"Oh." Alice looked surprised. "Good point. I guess we should find that out first."
Edward looked smug.
"Now, what about—"
"Alice, enough!" Edward was exasperated. And tired. And very grateful when Bella walked in with a tray and three mugs of coffee. He practically grabbed his mug from the tray and took a long sip. He licked his lips thankfully. It was really strong coffee.
Alice pouted.
Bella handed her friend a mug and sat down next to her on the bed, while sipping her own coffee. "Alice, honey, calm down. We'll go over to the apartment later and make sure that everything is Jasper-ready. Edward will ask Jasper about the furniture when he talks to him later—" Edward started to complain but Bella gave him a pointed look and he slumped his shoulders dejectedly. Now they were ganging up on him. "—and we'll go from there. Okay?"
Alice took a deep breath, and tried to take her excitement down a notch. "Okay. Thanks Bella." She got up to leave the bedroom, and turned around to glare at Edward. "And thanks for nothing, douchebag," she huffed as she walked out of the room.
"What— What'd I do?!" Edward looked to Bella, utterly confused.
Bella smiled and patted his cheek. "Nothing, baby. You didn't do anything. Alice is just excited."
"Well, so am I," Edward grumbled, "but I don't go around breaking and entering and accosting people in their beds!"
Bella chuckled quietly as she walked into the bathroom to get ready for what had become a very busy day.
…(o) …
As it turned out, Jasper had sold his few pieces of furniture to a guy he had performed with on occasion, so he did need Edward's waterbed and his neon beanbag couch and armchairs. Edward, Bella and Alice, under Alice's very strict instruction, cleared out the rest of Edward's things fairly quickly. His pictures and photographs, music, stereo, record player, troll collection and other tchotchkes had been boxed up and taken to Bella's house and his old apartment was declared suitable (by Alice) for Jasper.
(Edward tried to sneak out one beanbag arm chair but was viciously thwarted.)
The entire band met up at the airport to welcome Jasper to his new life. Alice was literally bouncing as they stood at the arrivals terminal waiting for him, and as Edward began saying "There he—" Alice was already running. It was lucky that Jasper saw her because he just had time to drop his bags before she jumped into his arms, wrapping her legs around him and smothering him with quick little kisses. Jasper stumbled a little, but laughed as he wrapped his arms tightly around her and whispered into her ear, "I missed you Ali-Bee."
Everyone went out to dinner that night to celebrate Jasper's arrival. Bella could tell that he was exhausted, but it was also clear how happy he was as he tried to divide his attention equally between the woman he obviously loved and the brother he had obviously missed. It was almost as if he was watching a tennis match, as his head moved from Edward to Alice, both vying for his attention, both vibrating with excitement at his arrival back in their lives.
Bella leaned back in her chair, watching as her new family knitted itself back together over steak and ice cold beer, and smiled to herself. Sometimes a little meddling didn't hurt. It didn't hurt at all.
(o) (o) (o)
go
Go read the second instalment of the Fiddle-verse, Baby On The Menu.