Right in Front of You

Quote used for inspiration: "It hurts to love someone and not be loved in return, but what is the most painful is to love someone and never find the courage to let the person know how you feel."

Character: Jasper

Rating: T

"Dude, you need to buck up and just ask her." Emmett's booming voice could be heard above the noisy din in the cafeteria.

"Shut it Em." He knew about the gigantic crush I'd had on Isabella Swan for the last three years and harassed me every single chance he got. He had just caught me staring over at the table where she sat with the other cheerleaders and dumb jocks.

"You know Jasper, maybe you should go with someone else? Maybe you'd make her jealous or at least get her to notice you," Alice's chirpy voice butted in. I loved Alice, she was my best friend for the last four years but I didn't need or want to take girl advice from her. She was the reigning emo queen in the high school. Hair dyed to an unnatural black that made it appear almost blue in certain light. The dark eyeliner and blood red lips made her appear gaunt and almost eerily scary. Looking over, I noticed her picking at her chipped platinum fingernail polish and from the expression on her face I knew she was sulking at my lack of interest in her suggestion.

"Alice, I'll ask her to prom when I feel like it. If she has a date, maybe I'll go stag. I don't know. Hell, I suppose I could always take you, right?" I joked, elbowing her in the ribs to get her to laugh. If there was one thing everyone knew, was that Alice wouldn't be caught dead dressed up like a princess to go to the prom.

"You're such an ass," she snarled, leaving me sitting at the table stunned at her sudden departure.

"Dude, you're an idiot. Alice wants to go to prom so freaking bad, but no one would dare ask her because everyone thinks you two are an item."

"No one thinks that. We're friends for fuck's sake." The school wasn't that big and Alice and I had never ever even kissed, let alone been seen walking the halls hand in hand.

"Whatever. Good luck with that. Woman scorned and all." Emmett heaved his hulking body up and walked off following the same path that Alice had.

The weeks passed by and when I finally did garner up enough courage to ask Bella to prom, she'd sadly said that she'd accepted Edward Cullen's invitation to prom just the previous day. She sounded remorseful that she was unable to go with me, but encouraged my infatuation by saying she'd hope to see me there.

I sat at our usual lunch table mulling over my options when Alice sat down in a huff by my side.

"What's up mighty mite?"

"Jasper, I'm not in the mood, okay?" Looking up at me, I could see her eyes were rimmed red, as if she'd been crying.

"Alice, what's wrong? What happened?" While Alice got pissed off from time to time by the usual standard High School cliquey antics, she rarely let it get to her like this.

"Nothing."

"Alice, tell me, please?"

She sighed heavily, picking at her salad before responding, "I overheard Rosalie and Isabella basically saying that the only way I would get to go to prom was if I asked Gordon Blonkowski to go with me."

I tried, really, really hard not to laugh at the picture of tiny little Alice next to our schools gigantic, albeit super shy tuba player. Needless to say, my laughter at the image didn't help the situation with Alice.

"Fuck you Jasper. This is why I don't tell you shit."

"Wait, wait. It was just the image of you two that made me laugh, not what they said," I stated, getting my laughter under control in record time. "Alice, why don't you go to prom with me?" I was just as shocked as Alice was when the words spilled out of my mouth, but I hated to see my best friend so disheartened, especially if the harsh words had come from someone who I thought I liked.

"You want to go to prom with me? Is this some kind of pity thing, because if it is, you can go fuck yourself," she ranted, eyeing me skeptically.

"No, I mean it. Bella's going with Cullen and I would honestly like nothing better than to go with my best friend. Seriously Al, will you go to prom with me?" After taking a moment to really think about it, the prospect of spending the evening with Alice, making fun of everyone's outfits or stupid dance moves sounded incredibly appealing.

"Okay Jasper, but I'm wearing black and you should get yourself something cooler than a lame ass rental tux." She kissed me on the cheek quickly before saying she needed to get to work on her dress now and ran off for locations unknown.

"What'ya say to Alice to get her charging out of here like that?" Emmett asked plopping down beside me in the now empty seat, his mouth filled with the cookie he was eating.

"I'm going to prom with Alice." The snort along with the spray of cookie was enough to turn my stomach from the rest of the food sitting on my tray.

"Classic." Was all I heard before Emmett's boisterous laughter echoed around me.

Two weeks later I stood holding a small bouquet of poppies and standing in a vintage black suit that Alice had picked out for me to wear. I was making small talk with her mom when she cascaded down the stairs in a stunning black cocktail dress with blood red stiletto heels on. Her hair was dyed a more normal shade of dark brown and her face was scrubbed clean of her usual mask of heavy eyeliner and lipstick. Her makeup was light and her lips were a creamy pink just a shade deeper than the natural color of her own. She was the most beautiful creature I had ever laid eyes on. My heart sped up and was beating an unnatural tempo in my chest and could barely get the words past my lips, "You look stunning."

Her blush from my compliment made her look like she was glowing and I was never more happy for Bella's rejection than right now. Handing over the bouquet and taking the requisite photos, we left the house and drove off to the prom in my partially restored 1973 mustang that I'd been working on since I was thirteen.

"Jasper, can I tell you something?" she asked meekly.

"Of course, you don't even need to ask."

"Um, before we go in there, I need to get something off my chest… I, I… I can't go in there tonight without you knowing." Her stutter made me glance over and see her fidgeting with the bow that was attached to the flowers.

"Alice, you can tell me anything, you know that."

"Um… Jasper, I. Jeez this is a lot harder than I thought it would be. Uh, I like you Jasper. I mean like really, really like you." The words tumbled out of her mouth in a stream of words that took me a moment to figure out.

"What?" She wanted me to be her boyfriend now? She was my best friend, what the hell was I supposed to do now? I liked her, but did I like her in that way? I valued our friendship and really didn't want to risk losing what we had. But what if we could have both? The idea sounded more and more appealing before I was taken out of my thoughts by Alice blurting out, "Never mind, forget I said anything."

"Alice, no. You just shocked me. I think I like you too. Can we see how tonight goes?" My mind drifted to Bella and Edward and while I cringed a little at the thought, it wasn't as nauseating as it was only a few days ago. Perhaps my crush was just that, a temporary fleeting thing for someone who I didn't even really know.

"Fine. Just don't start acting all weird or anything. And if I catch you mooning over Bella, I'm taking the Mustang and leaving you here," she ranted, pulling open the door before I had a chance to open it for her.

Quickly catching up with her, I tugged on her arm, whirling her around to face me. The flush from her embarrassment or anger was incredibly endearing and I just had to see if her lips were as soft as they looked. Bending down, I kissed her softly, pulling her closer to feel the way her body fit my own. Pulling back, I couldn't help but mirror her smile with one of my own. "Yeah, I'm pretty sure you're going home with me in the 'stang," I said, grabbing her hand and escorting her into the prom where we would talk, dance and kiss the night away.

I never did find out what Bella Swan wore that night. I only had eyes for one person and it wasn't her.