Title: Walking Contradiction
Rating: K
Summary: They didn't know her like he knew her. They weren't allowed to get to know her like she allowed him to.
AN: Special thanks to my wonderful beta, Dingbat142001. I love you even though you prefer Carlisle over Jasper.
All mistakes are mine and no one else's.
Holding her against his chest, with his back against the rough old tree trunk, his stilled heart swelled with pride and love. Her sweet, unique smell never failed to make him feel intoxicated. And loved.
"They're so pretty," she whispered softly into the night while pointing a long, slim finger towards the stars coloring the midnight sky.
He nodded in acknowledgment, even though he knew she couldn't see his gesture and plant a soft lingering kiss on top of her head.
Being with her, like this; snuggling in the meadow, looking up at the brilliant diamonds of the night may seem bizarre to those who knew them. Or they thought they do.
The idea of Alice Cullen, spunky little pixie with the energy that give Energizer bunny a run for its money, being mellow and subdue was too good to be true. But they didn't know her like he knew her. They weren't allowed to get to know her like she allowed him to.
They didn't know that she often wondered what it would be like to be normal, to be human. She wanted to know what it felt like to cry when she was feeling sad or to shed a happy a tears when she was feeling joy. She wanted to know what an omelet tasted like or what it felt like to have fresh water, instead of warm, copper blood, bathe down her throat without having the urge to throw it all up later. They didn't know that, having no recollection of being human, Alice lived vicariously through Bella and loved every single minute of it.
Everybody knew that Alice loved to shop. From Gucci to Prada, from Tiffany to Manolo Blahnik, Alice had and worn them all. But they didn't know that out of all the branded items she had stored in her obscenely massive closet, the one item she held dear to her heart was one faded, white shirt. The very same shirt Jasper had worn when he walked in to the diner on that fateful day. The shirt now had holes and almost torn apart for wear after decades worth of washing and rinsing but Alice was insistent on keeping it. Sometimes she would wear it on a day when she couldn't foresee any immediate danger coming their way and knew she could spend it with him.
They didn't know that as much as she loved spending uninterrupted hours sifting through racks after racks of clothes and other unnecessary female beauty products, nothing came close to the time when she could lay peacefully in his arms and listen to him read to her in the comfort of their bedroom. Listening to his deep voice painting beautiful picture inside her head was her idea of nirvana because she knew during that exquisite moment, love was equally given and received.
No one knew, not even his family, that when he proposed to her, seven days after they met in Philadelphia, he only had a single wild daisy on his right hand and his life, his heart on the other.
They were out hunting and while feeding on a fairly large deer, his gaze fell upon a single white daisy not far away from where he was kneeling. The flower stood out among the green moss and wild plants. It was as if the flower beckoned to be plucked out by him and no other. Wiping his mouth clean with the back of his hand, he walked in a daze and crouched before the white daisy. That very instant, he knew.
This was it. Alice was it and no other. No more running, no more searching for God knows what. The wild daisy embodied everything that was Alice – high spirited, comfort and warmth. His very own tranquility.
So consumed with her own feeding, she didn't see get him down on one knee next to her, offering the wild flower like a humble servant offering himself to a goddess. The words rolled down naturally on his tongue as if his entire life, entire being was made for that very moment. A simple 'Marry me' was all it took before she launched herself at him and whispered an equally simple 'Yes' against his lips, then proceed to rain kisses all over his face.
That was the only time he managed to pull a surprise on her.
Now here they were, almost a century later. Two souls still deeply in love. He reached over to clasp their hands together, her small left hand a perfect fit with his right. With his thumb, he gently rubbed the wedding ring on her finger; a daisy-shaped pearl in the center surrounded by five small diamond on a platinum ring. He brought her hand to his lips and whispered her name against her skin.
"I love you too, Jasper," she said. He could feel the smile in her voice.
With a content sigh, he tightened his hold around her, feeling at peace. Undisturbed.
Just like those twinkling diamonds in the sky.