Disclaimer: I don't own Twilight; Stephenie Meyer does. Lucky lady! I do own this plot, though.

Author's Note: Ok, so I received the majority of votes to write this in first person, so here I go. I hope it's ok... Feel free to tell me if it isn't! XD Thank you to all the support and encouragement everyone has given me so far, and special thanks to Gwen/Anderling for checking Alice and Jasper's height difference in real life, and to Seb for being my unofficial Beta. Love youuu!

3. Dream Dwelling

As I settled into my seat at the Java Bean with a steaming mug of coffee, I grinned thankfully at the attendant who'd given me a free biscuit. It was 2pm and the coffee house was quiet, before the rush of school kids arrived.

My head flicked towards the door as the bell rang, and I felt my jaw dropped a fraction. He was standing there. Without realising, I was suddenly standing in front of him, my head just level with his chest, below his broad shoulders. His stunning blue eyes captured mine for a second, before I managed to spit out any kind of words;

"You've kept me waiting a long time."

It took me a few seconds to realise what I said and I felt my eyes open wider and my cheeks starting to burn. But he simply inclined his head, smiling and replying;

"I'm sorry, ma'am."

His soft voice struck me deeply and he took my hand, leading me back to the table where my coffee and biscuit were. I blinked, trying to comprehend what was happening; this wasn't normal, was it?

"I'm Jasper Hale, by the way. And you are... Alice Cullen." He grinned, his eyes only leaving mine for a second. "I've always loved the name 'Alice'."

"Erm...yeah." I smiled, my head still spinning slightly; he was dazzling me with his eyes. "Wait –how'd you know I was called Alice?" I looked around before realising I was still wearing the badge from the interview earlier. "Oh." I grinned, feeling the blush rise to my cheeks again.

Jasper laughed gently, before lifting his hand and rubbing my cheek with his thumb, cupping my chin in his hand. "I don't usually do this, but I have to know..." and with that, he leant forward, closing his eyes as-

The sound of my blaringly noisy alarm clock right next to their ear would be enough to make anyone wake up extremely rapidly. I slammed my hand down on it, looking at the time – and double-taking. 3.30?! If this was some cheap joke of Edward's, he'd be feeling my wrath later on. I'd been dreaming, and it'd been such a wonderful dream. But knowing that I'd never get back to sleep now, I opted for going into the open-plan living room/kitchen to watch a couple of movies.

As I plonked my quilt onto the sofa, I picked a DVD from the rack and slipped it into the slot. Grabbing the controls, I arranged myself into a comfortable position as the title screen came up; The Pursuit of Happyness. It was one of my all-time favourite movies and always made me cry too. But I was hoping that at 3.30 in the morning, I wouldn't be functioning quite well enough to cry.

I'd managed to make it through the whole movie without crying…almost. But by the time I got to the part where Chris Gardner received the job, I burst out in tears. That bit always got me. I tried to sob quietly into my quilt but it must've been louder then I realised because Edward came out of his room, only wearing boxers.

"Alice? What's up?" He yawned massively and came to sit by me.

"The...movie..." I sniffed, before bursting out in another round of sobs. Without another glance, he trundled back into his room, bringing a very sleepy-looking Bella with him.

"I'll make coffee," he added, walking over to the petite kitchen. Bella rushed over to me, plonking herself next to me and hugging me to her chest, like a mother would a child. The gesture immediately helped me calm down and my breathing relaxed.

"Alice love, what's wrong?" She asked, rubbing my back soothingly. "And I know it's more than the movie."

"I just..." I didn't know quite how to explain it, so it ended up coming out extremely fast; "You have Edward, Emmett has Rosalie. I'm the only one in our family that is alone and everywhere I go I see couples!"

"I think I just about got that." Bella smiled softly, making my lips twitch upwards too. "But Alice, you know what I'm going to say; don't rush it. You're beautiful, fun, bouncy and have a great personality; ANY boy would kill for a girl like you. Don't fret because you haven't found the right one yet." She propped me up as Edward came over with the cups of coffee – gorgeous, aromatic, steaming coffee.

"I know... it just gets to be too much sometimes." I looked into the swirling brown liquid, hoping that my friends weren't thinking anything along the lines of 'she's pathetic'.

"Alice, Bella is right. I'm your brother, but I see all the men stare at you when we all go out together. Don't worry about it." He grinned at me, and I had to laugh at that; it wasn't often that I got complimented by my brothers.

"Thank you... I think?" I grinned at him, sipping my coffee. "I'm going to the gym later, anyway. That's always a good place for boy spotting."

--

As I signed up with Bella for the aerobics class, my eyes wondered around the large reception area. There were a few blonde-heads, but none were like the one I was searching for.

With a towel slung over my shoulder and a water bottle in hand, we attended the class. Bella, always being clumsy, toppled over a couple of times during the exercises, but the lady taking the class was extremely understanding, even claiming that she used to be like that.

An hour later, we emerged from the class, red-faced and sweaty; not exactly looking our best. I plugged in my iPod; 'Kiss from a Rose' by Seal playing. It was one of my favourite songs and I sang along softly under my breath as I waited for Bella to buy some water.

"You became the light on the dark side of me,

Love remained the drug that's the high and not the pill..."

My eyes flicked up as I heard a gorgeous deep voice joining in with the song.

"Baby, I compare you to a kiss from a rose on the grave,

Ooh, the more I get of you stranger it feels, yeah."

And didn't this man resemble the one I'd seen from the taxi window? The blonde hair, the striking blue eyes... or was I just imagining things?

I took the earphones out, pausing the song. "You know it?" I grinned.

"Why of course; it's only one of my favourites." I laughed, biting my bottom lip. I could practically feel his eyes studying me. But I was bought out of my reverie as a much higher voice said;

"Let's go shower – Edward is treating us to dinner tonight." Bella tapped me on the shoulder, forcing me to look around at her.

"Oh, erm, sure." I replied hesitantly, looking over at the young man who was, apparently, still studying me. "I'll see you around." I added.

He just grinned and nodded.

--

As started getting changed, Bella jostled my shoulder.

"Who was your friend back there?" She grinned, pulling a t-shirt over her head.

"Umm...I don't know. I was singing along to Seal and he just joined in." I smiled, thinking about it before noticing Bella's sweater. "Ooh! I love this! Abercrombie, right?"

She laughed, replying; "Yep. Maybe I'm finally picking up your fashion sense, after all. Anyway, let's go – don't want to keep Mr. Chef waiting!"

--

All throughout dinner I'd been thinking of the boy at the gym. I couldn't seem to get him out of my head, even though I barely knew him. I mean, I'd only met him once; and possibly seen him once before that. But it didn't make any sense to become obsessed over him; I might never see him again, after all.

As I took a sip of wine, Edward mumbled something vaguely recognisable.

"I phoned Rosalie earlier to say thank you about last night."

"Uh huh." I grunted, not really listening.

"She had some interesting news."

"Well spit it out then Edward," Bella laughed.

"Her twin brother is in town. He's been offered a job here, or something."

My head snapped up; Ok, maybe he was right – this was interesting news. Although I couldn't get the other guy out of my head, I was excited at the prospect of meeting the brother of whom we'd heard so much about. "When's he coming?" I asked.

"Well she invited us around to dinner on Wednesday, so we'll get to meet him then."

"Oh, great! This lasagne is lovely by the way, Eddy." I grinned at him, my spirits having been raised by the day's events.

"Thanks," he laughed, "but don't you have that interview on Wednesday too?"

"Nope, it got moved to Tuesday." I grinned; I had bagged myself an interview with Mario's of Seattle. It was a big store that sold designer clothing (including Dolce & Gabbana, Marchesa and Prada), and I was hoping to get my foot in the door by getting a job with them. The thought of being surrounded by designer clothing everyday made far happier than anybody else could comprehend. But although the interview had been playing on my mind...

The man still held precedence in my thoughts...

--

AN: Ok, finished. XD Please review, and I'll get the next chapter up ASAP!