FELICITY BELIEVES IN KARMA. If she does good for others, good things will happen to her; it's just that simple. However, on this day she thinks karma just isn't on her side. She must've accidentally done something wrong, she thinks, because it's really just been a statistically horrible day. It started when Mike spilled Gatorade all over her favourite sweater on their drive to school, followed by her getting nailed in the side with a dodgeball during gym class, then continued when she was yelled at by a middle-aged woman passing through at work. Like, Felicity was just trying to scan groceries and make money, not get screamed at by women who don't like the shape of their produce.

Now, finally, when she should be getting some reprieve from the horrors of her day, it's downpouring. And, to be fair, that's not so uncommon in Forks, but it wasn't something that she'd thought about when she decided she'd just walk home from work. It shows no signs of lightening up soon, so Felicity's just sort of resigned to her fate. She bundles herself up in her jacket that is, admittedly, inadequate for this kind of weather, pulling up her hood holding it against the wind.

Then, just as she's about to step out from under her shelter into the pouring rain, she nearly runs into someone. She jumps at first, her heart racing at his sudden appearance and she thinks okay, maybe I should've taken up Mike's offer of a ride. Then she realises who it is and she realises that it's fine, because it's just Jasper Hale, and from what Alice says he's totally cool and she's got nothing to worry about.

"Holy crap!" Felicity says instinctively, holding securely onto her keys (pepper spray included). "Oh my god, you came out of nowhere."

"Sorry," Jasper says carefully. "Are you okay?"

"Um, yeah," she says, uncomfortable laughter bubbling out of her mouth, "I just, I'm like super jumpy right now."

There's something about his expression, she thinks, that says you should be, which totally is kind of freaky, but she disregards it as her own paranoia. To be fair, it is a little dangerous to walk around alone at this time of night, but she's got pepper spray, and it's only a ten-minute walk home. Plus, it's Forks, and the last crime Felicity heard anything about was some vandalism on a brick wall.

"It's late," Jasper says, "and storming. You probably shouldn't be walking around alone."

Oh. She realises now that the look she'd interpreted as you should be is really more it's dumb of you to be outside alone so late in this weather (nearly the same thing, really). It's reminiscent of the lecture she'd gotten from her brother at breakfast where she'd totally lied to him about having a ride home so he wouldn't worry while at work.

"I mean you're probably right," Felicity admits. "I just thought it's only ten minutes and like, what happens in Forks, you know?"

Truthfully, she has no clue why she's trying to explain herself. It's not like she has to justify her decision to a guy she barely knows, but she realises that she's actually just practising what she'll say to her brother if he finds out. But Jasper's not her brother, the cop, the guy who'd freaked out and filed a missing persons report that one time she'd accidentally spent the night at Jessica's, he's just the brother of her friend Alice, who probably doesn't care all that much. Despite this, Jasper is at least courteous and nods at her explanation.

But then he says, "I'll drive you," and she thinks um, what? Then, probably off her confused look he adds, "Just in case."

"Oh," Felicity says, "thank you, but I'm really okay. And I mean, I doubt you really want to drive around some girl you don't know."

"Alice has told me a lot about you," Jasper tells her, "so I wouldn't say you're some girl I don't know. And knowing my sister, she'd kill me if I left you out here all alone."

Felicity tries to not focus on the way he says the word sister, but she just can't manage it. It sounds a bit like an assurance, one that's supposed to say they're not together. Which, by the way, Felicity totally already knows, because Alice had done the same exact thing. She'd stressed it all throughout the first week they'd known each other, until she was sure Felicity had gotten the point. It was always Jasper followed by my brother and then whatever it was Alice really wanted to say. She supposes that they spend quite a bit of time trying to correct this rumour.

He seems to take her silence as a hesitant refusal and adds, "And I wouldn't feel right about leaving you here either."

Chivalrous, the thinks, but entirely unnecessary. Still, she figures they'll probably be stood there for much longer if she doesn't just accept. And she does want to get home before Finn gets off patrol, which is relatively soon barring any sort of emergency, so driving probably is the safer option. This way, at least, if he beats her home he won't catch her in a lie regarding her personal safety.

"I should warn you," he says, "I drive a motorcycle."

The first thing Felicity thinks is of course he does, and then the second thing is I wonder what Karen Newton will think. Felicity is no stranger to motorcycle rides or judgemental middle-aged women, but she's never really combined the two. Knowing Karen Newton, the woman will likely be sitting on the porch the second she hears anything that sounds remotely like a motorcycle driving down the road. It's a funny thought, really, the idea of seeing Mrs. Newton all wrapped up in a robe watching her speed down the street on the back of some guy's motorcycle. She also thinks that it'll be quicker than walking, meaning she won't be soaking for too long. It's a tempting offer, really.

"Okay," she says finally, "thank you."

He leads her out into the rain and to his motorcycle before hesitating for a moment. Then, before she can say anything, he slips off his jacket and hands it to her. "Put that on."

"I'm fine," Felicity assures, "you'll get sick if you don't wear it."

Jasper smiles what she thinks is a genuine smile and climbs on his motorcycle. "Didn't anyone tell you I lived in Alaska? Trust me, you need it much more than I do."

Felicity relents once more and slides on the jacket. It's not instantaneously warmer, but the rain does roll off the leather rather than soaking in like it would with her jacket. "I hope you know that if you end up getting sick I will be morally obligated to send you copious amounts of soup."

He smiles again, and once more she thinks it's genuine. "Hop on."

Felicity does as she's told, and the second her arms wind around him she realises a few things. First, he's very tense, the kind of tense not normally associated with guys that she's got her arms around. Second, he's very cold, so cold that she can feel it through his jacket and it sends shivers down her spine. Third, he's built. Which, to be fair, you can totally tell just by looking at him, but seeing and feeling are two very different things. A few moments later he seems to relax. She's not sure for what reason, but it at least assures her that it was most likely not caused by her.

"You should hold on tighter," he says. Felicity thinks she's already holding on fairly tight, but the tone of his voice makes her believe otherwise. So, she tightens her arms around him like she would when giving an old friend a very tight hug. "I won't break you know."

"My arms might, though," she says, but tightens her arms into an effective vice grip.

"Where to?" he asks, as if he finally deems her grip tight enough.

"Palmer Road, right past the church."

They take off, and Felicity suddenly realises why she needed to hold on so tight. Jasper drives fast, and she's soon sure that they're going at least seventy miles down residential roads. If a cop, her brother or otherwise, were to see them, it'd probably be more than just a ticket (and she'd totally be grounded). Adrenaline floods through her body and although she knows deep down it's dangerous to be going so fast, she can't help but like the way it feels.

"You should slow down," she tells him loudly as they round a corner. "Cops like to hang around here at night."

Jasper laughs, almost like he's not worried at all about getting pulled over. Granted, with the way he drives they'd probably lose the cops, and she's sure the Cullen family can easily afford a ticket, too. "There aren't any around tonight."

Um, Felicity thinks, besides the deputy that lives with me... and the beat cop that lives a couple of blocks down... and the retired chief across the street, but whatever. Despite his refusal that there will be any cops around, Jasper slows down marginally. As in, he's probably going like sixty-five instead of seventy now. Felicity decides that it's fine, though, because they're nearing her house anyway, and she doesn't see her brother's car in the driveway. What she does see, like she'd predicted, is Mrs. Karen Newton standing on the porch in her robe with a glass of wine in her hand. This time, Jasper slows substantially.

"So it's the suburban moms that scare you," Felicity says, almost teasingly, "not the cops. It's that green one right there, by the way."

He pulls into her driveway and the roar of the engine slowly dies down. Felicity climbs off, pushing her sopping wet hair off her face. Under Mrs. Newton's gaze, she suddenly feels very delinquent. She'd forgotten that it's odd, in Forks, to go riding around on the back of motorcycles with boys you barely know. No one in Massachusettes would've batted an eye...

"Thank you," Felicity says, pulling his jacket off, "again."

Jasper doesn't even bother to put it back on when she hands it to him, like he's indifferent to the wet and cold. "Well I couldn't leave you to catch hypothermia, or get kidnapped."

"Right," she says, half glancing back at Mrs. Newton, "um, I'll see you at school?"

Jasper nods, but Felicity has a feeling she'll only be seeing him from afar. She also has a feeling that Mike's going to know about this, if his mother has anything to do with it (which she will). He says a quiet goodbye without even looking at Mrs. Newton (Felicity doubts he cares). However, he doesn't immediately pull out of the driveway. Felicity notices that he doesn't leave until the door is shut and locked securely behind her. Not even just locked, either, deadbolted. It's odd, she thinks. Most of her friends wait until she's in the house, but they're generally gone before she locks it. She can't help but smile at that fact. It's kind of cute, and so is he.

────── ∙ ~εïз~ ∙ ──────

JASPER'S SMILE, FELICITY THINKS, IS DAZZLING. And, apparently, Jessica thinks the same thing. Or, she certainly thinks it's something worth talking about it, because that's exactly what she's doing. All it had taken was a passing glance, a small smile in Felicity's direction before the metaphorical volcano that is Jessica's overthinking erupted. Supposedly, Jasper smiling in general, let alone at anyone, is comparable to a pig flying (AKA impossible). So, the fact that he smiled even just a little bit in Felicity's direction must mean the world has flipped on its' axis.

"That's it," Jessica says. "Seriously, I'm having this studied. Like, you have to have some weird Cullen-attracting ability."

"Oh my god," Felicity says with a laugh, "you are so dramatic. It's fully not a big deal."

"Not a big deal?" she all but screeches, then lowers her voice to avoid attracting attention. "Jasper Hale smiled at you, like genuinely."

"As opposed to...?"

"Um," Jessica says, "I don't know, glaring at you like he does everyone else?"

Felicity rolls her eyes. "He does not glare."

"Oh yes he does," Ben pipes, "I'd definitely categorise it as a glare."

"Deathly," Eric adds.

Okay, so, now Felicity thinks they're all being dramatic. It's not as though he'd flashed some gigawatt smile like the ones that Tyler Crowley gives when he's flirting, it had been small. If Felicity were to smile like that, someone would inevitably ask her if something was wrong. But apparently when Jasper Hale does it, it's a sign of the apocalypse. She supposes that, yes, it is a change from his usual morose expression, but she doesn't think it's really that big of a deal.

"He's probably just having a good day," Felicity says.

"His first good day in like two years, apparently," Lauren amends.

"Or maybe it's got something to do with last night," Mike says casually, spearing a piece of broccoli with his fork.

Angela's eyes practically bug out of her head as she says, "Last night?"

Immediately Felicity thinks that maybe she should make a run for it. If Mike tells them what she thinks he's about to, she'll likely stop hearing about it on the fifteenth of never. And of course that's what Mike is going to tell them, because there's literally nothing else to tell. Unless he's stalking Jasper, which Felicity seriously doubts, there's no way that he saw him at any other point in time than the two minutes he was in Felicity's driveway. She puts her head in her hands and thinks jesus christ, someone save me.

Mike looks at Felicity but apparently determines that she's not going to say anything. "Yeah, last night when he drove her home from work."

"You've been in his car?" Jessica exclaims at the same time Lauren says, "He drove you home from work?"

"Motorcycle, actually," Mike corrects.

In perfect unison Jessica and Lauren exclaim, "Motorcycle?"

She wonders what they might think if they heard she had worn his jacket too. But thankfully she doesn't have to entertain their implications anymore, because she's saved by the subject of their ramblings. Jasper Hale, looking from Felicity's angle like a saviour from a Greek novel, approaches them looking (or attempting to look) more personable than they've ever seen him. His face is as relaxed as he can manage it, but Felicity can tell he isn't exactly thrilled to be there. So why is he there?, she wonders.

"Excuse me," he says politely, "I was wondering if I could borrow Felicity for a moment."

Huh, she thinks, momentarily dazed, that made my name sound really nice. The rest of her friends are just as stunned or possibly more stunned than she is. Angela, although wide-eyed and very obviously surprised, manages to come back down to Earth before anyone else.

"Oh," she says quickly, "yes, totally. Right, Fel?"

"Um, yeah," Felicity says, nodding, "I just have to━"

Before she could even finish her sentence, Jessica had already scooped up Felicity's backpack and nearly thrown it at her. It seems a little bit like the whole cafeteria is watching while she's slipping it on and following Jasper out. She doesn't dare look back, possibly out of fear of what she may see. The whispers, she's sure, have already started. Part of her wonders what they may be thinking, but the other part knows exactly what they are.

"Thank you," she finds herself saying to him once more. "Again. You keep saving me."

"Well," he says, "you keep looking like you need saving."

Felicity smiles. It's not beaming or anything, but it's genuine and it makes her eyes sparkle. "I guess I'm just like, really helpless."

"Or really unlucky," he suggests.

She notices that, compared to last night, there is a lot of space between them. Three feet between their shoulders, at least, which is much further away than she'd walk with most of her friends. It's odd for her, but at the very least she understands it. Jasper, from what she's seen, isn't really keen on people other than his family. Felicity can't relate, but she can at least try to see where he's coming from.

"You know, my name actually means luck," she tells him. "So I guess that's some juxtaposition for you. But, I mean, I generally think I'm pretty lucky."

"You and I must have very different definitions of luck," he says.

"Maybe you just need to see me at my prime," she suggests. "Like at the football game on Friday." Jasper looks at her a little oddly, as if he doesn't get what she's saying. "I'm sort of their good luck charm, according to Mike. They've won every game I've gone to and lost the ones I haven't."

"Baseball is more my thing," Jasper says.

Felicity knows a polite denial when she sees one, but for some reason she still keeps trying. "It's really fun, I promise. And it's the last game of the season, so it's your last chance. And it's your senior year, which means it's your last chance ever."

After a moment of what Felicity thinks is deliberation, Jasper says, "I can't promise I'll stay the whole time."

Felicity grins. "Listen, I'll take what I can get. And, um, you should totally bring your siblings. Everyone should see at least one game a year, in my opinion."

"I don't make any promises on that either," he says, "my siblings are spectacularly stubborn."

The dismissal bell rings around them, and Felicity knows that the rest of the school will be flooding the hall in a matter of seconds. Jasper goes very tense all of a sudden, just as she can hear voices drawing closer.

"I'll see you soon, Felicity," he says quickly.

"Oh, yeah, bye," she says.

Jasper walks at a rapid pace presumably in the direction of his class, and Felicity heads to hers. When she does get there, Alice is standing at the door waiting. It's almost like she knows there's going to be something to tell. Which, to be fair, isn't exactly a huge jump considering she'd been in the cafeteria when Jasper had approached Felicity's table. However, what really gets Felicity is the unsurprised nature with which Alice regards the whole situation.

"So," Alice says, "what do you think of my brother?"