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~~~Jasper~~~

I had called the house phone, but the only sign of her I had received was her recorded voice on the machine. This was not highly unusual for Alice; she quite often would let me machine get it so she wouldn't have to leave her position in front of a fashion magazine. That woman was as addicted to fashion as some were to heroin. She couldn't cut back; she couldn't let go, not that I minded. She was by far the most beautiful and charming creature that I had ever met, and not even her obsession with fashion would create the slightest crease in the love I had for her.

It was around 6:15 when I finally opened the door to our Portland apartment, closing it quickly behind me. I crossed to the living room, expecting got see her curled up, a blanket over her lap, a pad of sticky notes marking different pages in the thick magazine. The couch, however, was deserted.

"Alice," I called.

My ears were greeted by silence.

"Alice?" I felt a twinge of anxiety. It was not like her to not be out here – even more unusual for her to not respond.

"I'm in the bathroom, Jazz," I heard her say.

It felt as if acid had slid down my throat. Her voice was thick with tears, and hoarse from crying. Hurriedly, I threw my items on the couch, and made my way to the bathroom. When my hand twisted the metal handle, the door didn't budge.

"Alice, please, unlock the door," I called in to her. She remained silent as I padded my knuckles against the door. "What's wrong, love?"

"Nothing is wrong, Jasper. I just don't feel too good." As she spoke, I heard her rustling things around, the crunching of paper. What on earth was she doing?

"You were never a good liar, Love," I teased, standing directly in front of the door. My insides were churning with panic and fear and, as hard as I tried to hide it, my voice was thick with nervousness.

How bad could it be? My mind started to spin in a million different directions, all the horrible possibilities flooding into my mind. Had someone broken in and hurt her? There wasn't any sign of damage around the apartment… Then what? Had I done something to break her like this, to hurt her this badly?

I heard the lock turn, and the door opened. I looked down at her, expecting to see her dark eyes looking back at me, but her face was turned away, avoiding my gaze. A new wave of nausea and fear slammed into me as I noticed her small frame was quaking.

"Alice? What is going on? What happened? Please, tell me." I could hear the panic in my voice, and I was sure she could as well.

Alice took a small step forward, and wrapped her willowy arms around my waist, breaking into a round of sobs. I was shocked. Alice was always to strong-willed. I had seen her cry, of course, but it was a rarity; only when complete tragedy struck. In her left hand was an unexplained brown paper bag. For the moment, I figured I could wait to find out what was inside.

"Alice, love, please," I begged. "Please, tell me what's going on."

I felt her shake her head as she continued to sob into my chest. Unsure at to what else I should have done, I wrapped my arms around her tiny waist, and pulled her into me tightly, feeling the tremors that were exploding from her, the warm tears seeping through my shirt.

I wanted – no – I needed to know. I needed to know who had done this to my angel, the one thing that I would protect no matter what, the love of my life. Through her shaking and fear, I could feel her reluctance and resolve. She wouldn't have told me, not then. All I could do was clutch to her shaking body and hold her tight.

"Look, I can cancel the meeting for tomorrow, and stay home, alright? Whatever is going on here, we can sort this out. I prom-"

"No, Jazz," She warbled. She dropped her arms from around me and pulled out from my grasp. She paused to wipe her knuckle beneath her nose and I felt my heart soften. God I love this girl.

"Don't. Really, I'm fine. Don't cancel the meeting, it is really important."

Her words snapped me back to attention.

"Not as important as you, Love." My brow furrowed as my words caused more tears to seep from the corners of her eyes.

"Yes, as important as me. More so."

Silly girl, I thought. Nothing is even close to being as important as you. All the same, I knew there was no changing her mind. Air blew from beneath my teeth as I raked a hand through my golden curls.

"You are going to that meeting," She stated, forcing her voice to sound firm.

For a moment I was torn, and looked down at her beautiful face. It was deathly white against her short dark hair.

"Are you sure?"

"Yeah, I'm sure," she told me. Avoiding any further contact with me, she wriggled her way into the hall.

"Alice, don't you want dinner?" I called after her in a desperate attempt to keep her with me. She turned back to face me.

"No, I'm not hungry."

She began to turn again.

Before I could stop myself, I blurted out, "What's in the bag?"

She froze mid-step, and turned slowly to look at me. Her eyes locked with mine as a few seconds slithered past. Finally she dropped her eyes from mine and spoke.

"Oh, nothing. Just… girl items." With that she turned away again, and went into the bedroom, closing the door behind her.

The night passed slowly. I ate a small portion of pasta. When I entered the bedroom, her dinner in hand, she was already asleep. Her small was figure curled up on top of the covers. She was still fully dressed, shoes and all. I crossed over to her and quietly set the plate on the bedside table. As delicately as I could, I slipped the shoes off of her feet. Pausing to brush my lips against her forehead, I took her delicate frame into my arms, pulling back the covers.

She murmured something against the smooth skin on my neck. For a moment I thought she was awake, until she murmured it again, sighed, and returned to her steady breathing. As I placed her delicate form on the bed, she spoke the four words that were able to set my heart on fire, as they had from the very first time she uttered them.

"I love you, Jazz."

I leaned down over her, and pressed my lips to her soft pink ones. "I love you too, Alice. I love you too."

~~~Alice~~~

When I woke up, I was still dressed in my jeans and sweater, although my shoes had been removed. I rolled over, expecting to see Jasper beside me, but his portion of the bed was deserted. Panic shot through me for a moment, until I caught sight of a small note placed on his pillow.

Alice, love,

I didn't want to wake you. I love you. See you tonight.

Love, J

I read the note three times over, waiting for my thundering heart to steady itself, before slowly standing up and stretching. Leaving the room, I shuffled to the bathroom.

I caught sight of my reflection with a groan. My face was pallid; I looked tired and worn. My eyes were still slightly red and puffy, a reminder of last night's tears. My usually spiky hair hung lank and limp around my face, pushed back awkwardly with a couple of hair clips I had put in, in case of more vomiting. Thankfully, Jasper had not been here to experience that moment of distress; he would be even more worried… if that was possible.

Noting the stiff pain in the muscles of my back, I yanked off my clothes. I cranked the shower to a scalding temperature. Stepping in, I let the water redden my skin with its heat. After washing up slowly, I stepped out of the shower and dried off, blow-drying my hair quickly. I didn't bother to style it as usual; there was no one to impress other than myself. As I very well knew, a decent hair day would do little to improve my mood.

I meandered my way to the bedroom. Reaching the dresser, I tugged out one of the drawers and began to dig for my clothes. For once I tugged out something comfortable as opposed to my usual high fashion. I slipped into an old pair of jeans, a plain brown t-shirt, and one of Jasper's warm, cozy sweatshirts, which hung down past my waist, landing mid-thigh.

Finished dressing, I flopped back onto the bed. My mind was whirring, weighing my different options.

Abortion was the most reasonable path, but the thought disgusted me. This was Jasper's baby. Could I really bring myself to kill the miniscule life inside of me, I wondered.

No matter which way I sliced this, I knew that I had to tell someone.

My first thought was of Esme – but no, I wasn't ready to tell my mother…

Who would be able to keep it quiet, and stay relatively calm? After a few more minutes of thought, my mind settled on Bella.

I forced my legs to support me as I walked to the phone. As I dialed, I tried to ignore the way that my kneecaps were twitching with nerves. Control, Alice, I told myself. You have to calm down. Just calm down.

I picked up the phone with a shaking hand. After two rings, I heard Bella's voice chimed across the line.

"Hello?" Her voice was easy and soothing. I knew I had made the right choice in calling her.

"Hey, Bella. It's me." My voice was shaking again. I could feel the chocking tears beginning to build once more.

Bella picked up on my tone immediately. When she spoke, concern colored her melodious voice.

"Alice? What is it? What's wrong? Are you two alright?" Her words were panicked and hurried, just like Jasper's last night.

"Jasper is fine," I said, trying to stay honest. I was careful to avoid mentioning my own well being. I was verging on insanity. "Can I come over? I need to talk to you about something."

"Of course, sweetheart. Do you want me to come and get you?"

She could hear the tears in my voice, and I could hear the blatant, honest concern in hers. Her blatant, levelheaded mannerisms were comforting to the panic that was ripping through my nervous system.

The compassion in her voice yanked Jasper's worried eyes into the forefront of my mind once more. I was barely able to swallow the sobs building. I shook my head before realizing that she couldn't see me.

"No, no. It's all right. I'll be there soon," I gasped out. Still sounding unsure, Bella agreed ad hung up.

I slipped on a pair of Toms and grabbed my keys. I locked the apartment door behind me and headed down quickly to the garage.

The white Mini Cooper Jasper had purchased for me got me to Bella and Edward's shared apartment in less that 10 minutes. I yanked the enormous hood of the sweatshirt over my head to protect me from the light rain as I dashed towards the apartment complex.

I rang the bell, and Bella immediately buzzed me in. She met me at the door of her apartment, and ushered me inside, her chocolate-brown eyes swimming in concern. My current apparel caused her eyes to widen in surprise before she forced her face to resume its calm mask. I appreciated the effort.

"Do you want anything to drink?" Bella asked as she led me in to the kitchen.

I merely shook my head. Her face was twisted into a look of concern and worry as I seated myself on the stool by the breakfast bar in their kitchen. She ignored my refusal of any drink, and poured two mugs of hot water, placing a tea bag in each. She pushed one across the counter to me, and then seated herself beside me.

I wrapped my diminutive hands around the heat and focused on pulling the tea bag in and out of the water. Bella's gaze was boring into the side of my head as the tea released dark gold swirls into the steaming water.

"Alice, what's wrong?" Bella's voice was no more than a murmur. I kept my eyes locked on the mug in front of me. I could feel the minutes passing by and Bella's growing agitation.

I couldn't bring myself to say it. It would all be so much more… real.

"Alice," she started. "For the love of all that is holy, would you please stop sitting there silently, and tell me what on earth it going on?"

I opened my mouth to speak. A garbled sob chocked out. Tears began to pour readily from my eyes. Bella silently encircled my figure with her arms, cooing and shushing me as I sobbed.

Eventually I was able to begin speaking; all the thoughts, all the worries and concerns, all the regrets and apologies that had been swarming my mind began to tumble out uncontrollably.

"I am so sorry, Bella. Please, don't be mad at me, or think that we weren't careful or anything, because we were. I swear to God, we really were. It's just, sometimes things happen, and you don't mean for them to, and I don't know what I can do to fix it! It all seems like-"

I froze when I saw Bella's expression. Her eyes were wide and sparkling, and her mouth was open slightly as she stared at me, shocked.

"Alice, are you…" She trailed off, and I nodded.

I took a deep breath, shut my eyes, and very quietly whispered the two words. "I'm pregnant."

There was silence for a moment. When I opened my eyes, I saw a huge grin dancing across her face.

"Pregnant? Like pregnant pregnant?" She shrieked.

I nodded again, and then almost fell off of the stool as she squashed me closer to her. Her excitement disconcerted me enough to halt the flow of tears. A knee-jerk reaction caused me to hug her back. For a moment, a glimmer of hope appeared before me.

"Oh my gosh, Alice! That is nothing to cry about! This is amazing, sweetheart. Don't you worry about anything. This is so exciting! A little baby Alice or Jazz! And Jasper must be so excited!"

Her words suffocated the hope as soon as it began to blossom. Jasper… My tears began to flow again. Bella quieted and froze.

I merely shook my head, and began to cry harder.

"He's not happy?" Bella gasped. I shook my head again.

"He… doesn't… know," I said between sobs and small gulps of air. Bella pulled back, and placed a hand beneath my chin, raising my eyes to hers.

"Alice, believe me when I say that you will be a wonderful mom. And Jazz will be a great dad. He is going to be ecstatic. Trust me."

I mopped at my eyes with the sleeve of the sweatshirt and slowly began to reel in my tears.

"That's the thing, Bella," I moaned. "He won't be. He isn't ready for a baby, and neither am I. When he finds out, he is going to freak out." I could feel my panic rising once more. My words began to tumble out, waves of fear whirling around me. "What if it makes him realize that I'm not worth it? I mean, a baby? He is going to leave me, rather than put up with a baby. And what would I-"

My words were cut off by Bella's hand, which she had clamped firmly over my mouth.

"You sound like me. Cut it out. Jasper loves you. He will always love you, Alice. You know that. Don't let this get in your head. Do you really think that there is even the slightest chance that I would let anything happen to you? If Jasper came even close to leaving you, you know Rose, Emmet, Edward and I would all have his throat. He is never going to leave you. I promise you that."

She took her hand off my mouth. Silently, Bella pulled me back into her tight embrace.

"The only one in danger of losing their man is me," she grumbled into my ear as she hugged me.

I laughed slightly, and returned the hug. Bella pulled back and I turned back to the mug of tea in front of me.

"I have to tell him, don't I?"

Bella smirked slightly as she nodded.

"Well, you either tell him you are pregnant or you fake a very large tumor in your stomach or something. Or just say that you are done working out and are totally fine with being fat."

I chuckled and mopped my eyes once more.

"Will you come with me? For when I tell him?"

I didn't want to do this alone.

She hesitated for a moment before smiling.

"Of course. Do you want to head back to your place?"

I nodded. "Sure. Go get dressed."

Bella was still dressed in plaid pajama pants and a t-shirt. As she trotted down to her bedroom, I poured out teas into two travel mugs, and set them on the counter, taking small sips of mine.

I knew she was right, of course. I had to tell him; there was no way of hiding this from him. I sat, staring at the mug in my hand, trying to configure the best way to tell him. My mind was blank. After a few minutes, Bella came out, dressed in a pair of dark jeans and a thick tan sweater. She held a brown coat in one hand, her cell phone in the other.

"Alright, let's take your car," she said as she walked towards me.

I stood and, for a moment, my legs trembled.

Bella narrowed her eyes slightly.

"I'll drive," she stated.

I nodded silently and tossed her the keys; they clattered to the floor. She chuckled, bent to pick them up and led me out of the apartment.

We were back at my apartment in no time. The rest of the afternoon plodded by as we sat, pouring over lists of what needed to be done. Bella insisted that we tell Rosalie and I complied. Rose had offered to come over as well, but I didn't want this to turn into a bigger thing than it already was. Jasper didn't need an entire estrogen party happening in his house when he found out.

Although she didn't join us, Rosalie insisted on helping. She was by far the most experienced in this sort of thing; she had, after all, been pregnant just over a year ago. The baby hadn't made it; the heart stopped around 6 months into the pregnancy. She was, however, a step ahead of Bella or myself. Rose at least knew what vitamins to take, which doctors were good.

By six thirty, I was curled up on the couch, looking over the latest issue of Vogue, my customary pad of sticky notes beside me, marking ideas for what would be good for the fashion boutique Rose and I co-owned. On the other end of the couch, Bella was sitting, a copy of Jane Eyre open in her lap. Just as Bella licked her finger and went to turn the page, the door to the apartment opened, shut, and Jasper entered the living room.


Alright everyone, there is chapter two! Chapter three is ready to go, and it is pretty darn awesome. So, go ahead and comment on this, and add it as a favorite! Once I have some more comments, I will post!

Thanks again to the fabulous people who have commented on this so far. You guys rock.

xoxo