DISCLAIMER: Madame Meyer owns everything in the Twiverse. I'm just a crazy fic writer who just had to do something for Christmas this year.

So I clearly need to change the title of this collection to "Twelve-Plus Days of One-Shots" because "flash fics" these are not! Having rich stories to tell is certainly a good problem to have, but they're taking much longer to write than anticipated. So thanks for the support and patience.

Here's #8. It's late and I have to go, so I didn't really edit this one. Please pardon all mistakes :)


PROMPT: I was watching Top Chef, and a contestant spoke of a Christmas Eve when all the lights went out and his family had to make the best of a messy situation. That tale very loosely inspired this one. (AH)

Alice stood in the middle of her small apartment, looking around in horror. Her long-distance boyfriend Jasper would be arriving in town within the hour, and the place was a disaster. Especially the kitchen where her attempt to prepare him some hometown favorites had gone terribly wrong. The Cornish hens were still clucking at her, the biscuits were hard as rocks, and she had (apparently) substituted salt for sugar in her red velvet trifle. To say nothing of the fact that she hadn't showered, the place was a mess, and let's not even get into what was going on with her hair.

Bottom lip trembling, she let out a tiny scream and grabbed her phone, hitting the first ICE entry who thankfully answered on the first ring. "Hello?"

"Bella?"

"Alice?" Bella asked. "What's wrong?"

"I'm... it's..." She clamped her lips shut then broke out in sobs. "Help meeeee!"

"Oh, Alice," Bella said kindly. "It's okay. Just take a minute to..."

"Ha!" came the voice in the background. "Gimme my money!"

"Rose!" Bella hissed in a muffled voice. "Be quiet."

"What is..." Alice's waterworks came to a sniffling halt. "What is she talking about?"

"Just ignore her," Bella said not entirely unamused. "I usually do."

But Alice knew her best friends too well. "What. Is she. Talking About?"

"She, uh..." Bella cleared her throat. "Well, we actually... um, we had a bet about when you'd call us in a panic."

"What?" Alice shrieked.

"Honey, we love you," Bella said. "But we knew you were going to do exactly what we told you not to do."

Alice tucked the phone under her chin and put her hands on her hips. "Which was?"

"We told you not to go overboard," Rose said, the call apparently on speakerphone now. "We told you that after not seeing you in almost nine months, Jasper wouldn't care what you cooked or looked like. He would just wanna close the door, throw you down on that sorry excuse for a sofa, and get all up in that thang thang."

Alice cringed. "You are so crass."

"Fine." Rose paused. "He would wanna ride in your sleigh, stick his partridge in your pear tree, kiss you on your pa-rum-pum-pum-pum..."

"Her point," Bella said, trying not snicker. "Is that we told you to keep it simple—order some takeout, hang a few decorations, and spend the day pampering yourself so you'd be relaxed when Jasper arrived."

"But nooo," Rose said. "You had to try and go full-on Martha Stewart and now you're too annoyed and stressed to enjoy the fact that your boyfriend will soon be there to jingle your bells alllll the way..."

"Okay, fine!" Alice cried. "Yes, I did too much, it all went wrong, and now I'm a mess, my place is a mess, and Jasper will be here in 45 minutes. So what am I going to do?"

"Here's what you're gonna do," Bella said. "You're going to close your eyes, take a deep breath..."

"And come open the door," Rose said. "Because the cavalry has arrived."

Alice frowned in confusion. "What?"

"You heard me," Rose said, and Alice heard three sharp raps on the door. "Open up!"

"What in the..." Alice walked to her front door, threw it open, and was startled to see Bella and Rose standing in her hallway. "How did you get here so fast?"

"We were parked outside," Bella said with a shrug of her shoulders. "We knew you'd need us."

"And thanks for that, by the way." Rose strolled into Alice's apartment pulling a wheeled duffel bag behind her. "You just won me 100 bucks."

"You guys..." Alice covered her mouth with both hands, her eyes watering all over again. "I can't believe you would..."

"No time for pleasantries," Rose said. "We've got a lot to do and very little time."

"Right." Alice went to close the front door, and Bella shook her head. "Hold on. We've brought back up."

Alice looked at her. "Back up?"

"Ho ho ho!" Emmett boomed as he stepped into the room, carrying large takeout bags. "And that was a greeting not an accusation."

Alice grinned widely. "What are you doing here?"

"We came to help," Edward said as he appeared with shopping bags.

"Tell the truth, man." Emmett closed the front door with his foot. "We lost a bet."

Rose looked at them as she unpacked the duffel bag. "I keep telling you boys that you aren't old enough to gamble."

"Besides," Bella said as she took off her coat. "You should never bet against Mrs. Mallory trying to skank it up on Halloween."

"The lunch lady at your school?" Alice looked at Emmett. "What was her costume?"

"A sexy Cookie Monster." Emmett shuddered. "She has completely ruined Sesame Street for me."

"Okay, so..." Rose clapped her hands, drawing everyone's attention. "We've got about 40 minutes to get this done, so go to your stations."

"Stations?" Alice asked as three of her friends scurried around. "Meaning what?"

"Edward and Emmett are on decorating duty." Bella pulled out an apron from her bag. "I'm tidying up the kitchen and putting out the food."

"And I..." Rose picked up a bright pink satchel. "Am here to get you ready to light Jasper's yule log." When Alice pursed her lips, Rose cleared her throat. "Okay, I'll stop."

"Thank you." Alice paused and looked the rest of them. "And really, thank you all. I don't know what I'd be doing right now if you weren't here."

"Probably having a total meltdown," Emmett said. "But hey, it's part of your charm."

"Speak for yourself," Edward mumbled then grinned at Alice. "Love you."

"Okay, come on." Rose steered Alice toward her bedroom. "We've got work to do."

They walked into Alice's bedroom and found similar chaos to that in the front of the house. Clothes were strewn about, the bed was unmade, and it looked like the trash can hadn't been dumped in days.

"Yikes," Rose muttered setting down her bag.

"Don't judge me!" she cried, swatting Rose's arm. "I'm scared."

Rose smoothed back her unkempt hair. "Of what, honey bee?"

"Of... of Jasper not liking me anymore." Alice pulled back to wipe her face. "I'm... I'm afraid he's only coming all this way to be polite or to dump me in person."

"Why would you think that?"

"Because how could he take me seriously?" Alice walked away and flopped on her bed, sending a pile of clothes to the floor. "He met me in New Orleans shaking my maracas for beads and free beer."

"While he was there for a business convention," Rose said. "I remember."

"He was this super serious guy who skipped college to intern for one of the most prestigious ad firms in the country, and I was this flighty, barely graduating college senior whose only goal in life was to get Instagram famous."

"But you did! And your Insta Story about your Spring Break in the Big Easy got you a gig in the social media department at the Forks Forum." Rose sat beside her. "Not too shabby for a flighty senior, huh?"

"Yeah, but..."

"Alice... what is this really about?"

Alice glanced at Rose then looked down. "I saw something on Facebook. Or... well... really, I saw someone on Facebook."

"You saw someon..." Rose raised an eyebrow. "You mean a female someone?"

"A tall, stunning, could-be-Salma Hayek's-twin female someone."

"Doing what exactly?"

"She was posting all these pictures from some party." Alice stood up, pacing. "It must have been her birthday because she was wearing a crown and a sash that read 'Level Up, Bitches!' "

Rose pursed her lips. "Kinda tacky, but go on."

"Well, in one of the pictures, Jasper was there." Alice's nostrils flared as her little hands balled into fists. "And he seemed to be having a damn fine time!"

"Yeah, but pictures don't ever tell the whole story," Rose said. "I'm sure if someone snapped the wrong picture of Emmett at work with all those perky preschool teachers, it might make me wanna punch someone. Doesn't mean something is actually going on."

"Oh, really?" Alice grabbed her phone and pulled up the photo in question. "So this doesn't look like anything is going on?"

Rose took the phone and saw a photo of Jasper with his face buried in Salma's doppelganger's ample cleavage. The girl's smile was a mile wide as she held Jasper's head in place, and Jasper seemed comfortable in his position. Really comfortable.

"Rose?" Alice prompted.

"Give me a minute." Rose zoomed in, squinting at the image. "Just wanted to see if it was photoshopped."

"You think I didn't do that already?" She snorted. "What kind of amateur do you take me for?"

"Okay, so the image is legit." Rose handed back the phone. "But that doesn't mean it's telling the whole story."

"Oh, I'm sure I could guess the whole story. But the thought of it makes me wanna throw up."

"What I'm saying is that if this picture was on Jasper's Facebook page, he couldn't have been trying to hide it."

"That's just it. The picture was on her page. I happened to see it because Jasper was tagged in it. I took a screenshot so I could google her, but there are thousands of Maria Sanchezes in the world." She looked at Rose. "Is that racist?"

Rose thought about it. "Not if it's accurate."

"Oh, it is. Because I counted them!"

"Then what happened?"

"After my failed Google search, I went back to Facebook. But when I checked his page, the photo was gone without a trace. And Maria's settings were set to Private, so I couldn't get anything else on her."

Rose patted her hand. "That doesn't have to mean what you think it means."

"But it could. And you can't tell me differently." Alice sighed. "That's why I've been trying so hard to make everything perfect for this weekend. I just... I want Jasper to see that he doesn't need Maria or anyone else because I'm good enough for him."

"Honey bee..." Rose paused a moment, measuring her words. "You can't make Jasper see that you're good enough for him. That's... that's not the way to a healthy relationship."

"Well, I have to do something, Rose, because he'll be here in..." She looked at the clock on her phone and gasped. "... oh my god, 28 minutes, and I'm... I'm..."

"You're gonna be fine." Rose held her by the shoulders, waiting for her to relax. "I don't think Jasper would fly all the way here from Houston to break up with you. And I don't think he would have been calling and texting and FaceTiming you every few hours for the last nine months if he was gonna come here and break up with you."

"But the..."

"The picture is alarming, yes," Rose said gently. "But I don't think it tells the whole story. And before you convince yourself that the sweet, thoughtful guy who sent you a care package when you had the flu last month, paid a barbershop quartet to serenade you on your birthday, and is flying out here to spend Christmas with you instead of his very tight-knit family in Texas is going to break up with you, maybe you should hear the whole story first."

Alice's shoulders drooped, and she sighed. "You're right."

"Of course I'm right. It's faster just to assume that."

"And so humble," Alice added, looking at her friend. "Thank you."

Rose waved her off. "Now get in the shower while I try to reinstate some order up in here."

"Okay."

Alice hurried into the bathroom while Rose got to work in the bedroom. She started by hanging up the clean clothes and tossing the dirty ones into the hamper.

(And if you tell Alice that Rose used the smell test to know the difference, she'll hunt you down and throat-kick you.)

Then she flipped the mattress, shook out the comforter, and changed the sheets, fluffing the pillows before placing them against the headboard. By the time she finished putting away the jewelry and straightening the perfume bottles on the dresser, Alice emerged from the bathroom, fresh-faced and properly primped.

"Feeling better?" Rose asked.

Alice nodded. "I let myself get all worked up for nothing. Probably because I like him so much."

"And I get that. I mean, I fell so hard for Emmett that I tried to ruin our second date so he wouldn't have a chance to reject me. Thankfully he wasn't afraid of the crazy and stuck it out with me anyway." Rose looked at her. "Do you think Jasper is worth taking that chance?"

"I do."

"Then finish getting ready, so you can greet your man and find out the truth." Rose grabbed the trash bag on her way out of the room. "Because only the truth will set you free."

She shook her head. "You went from dirty Christmas puns to the red words of Jesus?"

Rose shrugged. "It's a gift."

She closed the door behind her, and Alice took a deep breath. She tried to block the whole photo situation out of her mind and managed to get dressed and ready in record time. With a final swipe of lip gloss and a slight smile, Alice went to join her friends in the main living area.

"Okay," she called out. "I'm ready to... oh my god."

For a moment, Alice thought she had somehow stepped into the wrong apartment because everything looked so different.

The kitchen was spotless, all dishes were either put away or in the dishwasher, and on the eat-in counter was a large bowl of seafood pasta complete with antipasto salad and garlic parmesan knots. Two place settings adorned her dinette table with a chilling bottle of red wine in the center.

"And the cannoli's in the fridge," Bella said, mock-glaring at Emmett. "Minus one."

"I had to test it first," Emmett said. "Make sure it wasn't poisoned."

Alice shook her head, still looking around in wonder. Her living area was decked out in classic greenery peppered with shades of cream and gold. From the wreath behind the sectional to the garland across the mantle, Alice didn't know where to look first. But the most shocking item of all was the six-foot artificial pine in the corner, complete with lights, ribbons, and a stunning star on top.

"How did in the world..." Alice gaped at the tree then her friends. "I thought you weren't going to go overboard."

"We told you not to go overboard," Bella said. "We didn't make any promises about ourselves."

"But how did you put up the tree so fast?"

"Call it a bit of Christmas magic," Edward chuckled. "Or the fact that we decorated the tree at home and hid it in the hallway until you went in your bedroom."

"If you hadn't called," Bella added. "We were gonna leave it on your doorstep."

"You guys..." Alice blinked, trying to keep her emotions in check. "You didn't have to do this."

"Sure, we did." Emmett wrapped an arm around her shoulder. "Rose made us."

"I regret nothing." Just then, an alarm went off on Rose's phone, and she turned toward the door. "It's time, people!"

"Time for what?" Alice asked.

"Time for us to go so Jasper doesn't catch us here." Edward helped Bella into her coat. "Wouldn't want him to think we were checking him out or anything."

"That's tomorrow's plan." Emmett winked at Alice. "So don't be surprised if we pop up."

"We're doing no such thing," Bella said. "Rose would kill us."

"Y'all are making me out to be some bossy dictator." She looked at them and shrugged. "Not that I mind."

"Have a wonderful time, Al." Bella pulled her into a hug. "Enjoy every moment with your guy."

"And if there's any cannoli left..." Emmett gave her a pointed look. "You know my number."

Edward said his goodbyes and grabbed the empty travel bags on his way out, Bella and Emmett following. Rose hung back until they were out of earshot then turned to Alice.

"Whatever happens," she said, hugging her tightly. "It will be fine."

Alice exhaled slowly and offered a small smile. "Thank you, Rose."

Rose blew her a kiss and walked out of the apartment, and Alice closed the door behind her, giving herself a moment to get her mind right. She'd been looking forward to tonight for months, and there was no need to ruin it with worry. So she distracted herself with domestic details.

She refolded the creamy, cozy throw on the couch and rotated the bowl of ornaments on the coffee table. She trimmed the candles on the mantle and lit them, inhaling their warm but subtle fragrance.

She was setting another bottle of salad dressing on the dinette table when the buzzer sounded at her front door. She jumped with a squeak of surprise and walked over to the wall console, taking a deep breath before pressing the button.

"Hello?"

"Alice?" Jasper's smooth voice came over the speaker, awash in relief. "God, I missed you."

Alice leaned against the wall. "I missed you too."

"Good." He chuckled. "But uh, I'd rather be telling you this in person."

"What?"

"Buzz me up, baby. I really need to kiss you."

Alice mashed the button like her life depended on it, holding it for a good five seconds just to be sure. With the glacial speed of her building's elevator, she knew it would take him at least two minutes to get to her door, which would give her just enough time to calm down. The sound of his voice had soothed most of her anxiety, but the image of that Facebook photo wasn't far from her mind either. And before they got carried away with their reunion, she needed answers.

She only hoped her libido would give her a chance to get them.

Sooner than expected, there was a knock at the door. Alice blinked at the sound, throwing open the door as her heart raced in her chest.

Standing there in all of his sandy-haired, hazel-eyed glory was Jasper, his skin flushed and his breathing ragged. Alice stared at him, and he braced himself against the door jamb, exhaling roughly.

"I took the stairs," he panted, dropping his bags at her door. "God, you're beautiful."

"Jasper..."

She didn't have time to finish her thought before Jasper's lips were on hers, soft and hungry and everything she'd wanted them to be. He wrapped an arm around her waist, turning their bodies to press her against the nearest wall.

"I missed you, Alice..." he murmured into her neck. "So, so much..."

Alice trembled as he sucked at the skin beneath her ear, a liquid shot of desire coursing through her body. She ran her hands through his hair, sighing his name as she held him in place. As he brought his attention back to her mouth, Alice forgot about anything and everything outside of Jasper. He ran his hands up and down her sides, his fingers splayed enough to skim the underside of her breasts.

But the image of him with his face planted in someone else's breasts brought her up short, and she pushed him away. "Jasper, wait."

He pulled back, his lips swollen and puckered. "What's wrong?"

"We... we have to talk." She slid away from him, walking toward the middle of the room. She turned to look at him, but her gaze landed outside the apartment. "You should probably get your bags."

Jasper turned to see where her attention was focused then nodded. "Okay."

While he was gone, Alice turned away, clasping her hands tightly to keep them from shaking. The kiss should have done it, should have erased all her doubts. There was no way he could kiss her like that and hold her like that and... mmmm her like that if he was interested in Maria or anybody else.

But how could he explain that picture in a way that didn't end up crushing her somehow?

"Alice?"

She blinked to find him standing in front of her with a querulous expression. "I'm sorry, what?"

"I was asking if you were okay." He paused, studying her further. "But the look in your eyes has answered my question."

"I'm sorry."

"I don't want you to be sorry," he said gently. "I want you to tell me what's wrong."

"I..." She looked away, rubbing her arms. "I don't know how to ask you something."

"Ali, you know you can ask me anything."

"Right, but... does that mean you'll be honest?" She looked at him. "That you've been honest with me this whole time?"

"Yes. But it sounds like you think otherwise."

She sighed. "I don't want to."

"Then tell me what's wrong so we can figure it out." He stepped closer. "Together."

Alice didn't reply but went over to the end table to retrieve her phone. She pulled up the photo with a heavy heart and looked at Jasper. "I saw this on Facebook last week," she murmured, walking slowly toward him. "And I don't know what it means."

She handed him the phone and waited for his reaction. And she was not disappointed.

Jasper gasped, his eyes going wide. He frowned at the photo, looked up at Alice, then looked at the photo again. "This was on Facebook?"

Alice started, shocked that that's what he wanted to know first. "Yes. But not for long. Someone took it down shortly after I saw it."

He shook his head, frowning at the phone. "I told her not to share this one."

"You told..." Alice closed her eyes, seeing red behind her lids. "You told her not to share this one?"

"Yes. I didn't want you to see..." Jasper heard himself, saw Alice's fiery gaze staring back at him, and held up his hands. "No, no! That's not what I..."

"Oh, I think that's exactly what you meant!" She snatched the phone from his hand. "You didn't want me to see this photo... though I suppose there are others with her as well, right?"

"Yes. But not the way you think!" Jasper reached for her hand, grateful when she didn't pull away. "I know this looks bad, awful even. But if you... if you'd let me get my phone, I can explain this picture."

She scoffed. "Really?"

"Yes. I mean, I could explain it to you, and I will. But it would make a lot more sense if you could see what I have on my phone."

Alice looked in his eyes, steeped in indecision. Though her heart was hurting, she wanted to believe she could trust him. And the only way to prove she could was to hear him out and decide.

She went to sit on the couch, folding her hands atop her lap. "Fine."

"Thank you." Jasper went to his messenger bag and took out his phone. He walked over and handed it to her. "Here."

Alice took the phone and saw he had a video cued up.

"Press 'play,' " he whispered.

Raising a brow, Alice sighed and did as he asked.

The video, at first, was of a nondescript office space in which dozens of cubicles were arranged in groups of four. With the exception of plants, colorful chairs, or other personal bric-a-brac, they were all identical.

Then the videographer stopped at this one cubicle, and Alice sat upright. This cubicle had the same dimensions and furniture as the others, but covering the walls from one end to the other were assorted photos.

Photos of Alice.

They were in every shape and size, close-ups and full body shots, and in some cases just her hands or eyes. Alice didn't know what to make of it, so she just stared in stunned silence.

Until the camera zoomed in on one section of the wall in particular. Alice's mouth dropped open when she saw that in all the pictures where Jasper appeared, his head had been replaced with somebody else's.

That's when she turned away from the phone to gape at Jasper. Only to find him smiling.

"What the hell was that?" she asked, thrusting the phone back at him. "And who was the guy who..."

"Who put his head on my body?" Jasper shook his head as he set his phone on the coffee table. "Peter, my best friend."

"Your best friend? Why would he do that?"

"Because he's an idiot. And he likes to prank me."

"I don't understand."

"Peter wasn't in New Orleans," Jasper said, sitting beside her on the couch. "When I met you, I mean. He was supposed to be, but he registered for the wrong convention and ended up in Santa Fe."

"Okay..."

"So when I came back from New Orleans, raving about the beautiful woman I'd met, he started saying that I'd stolen his true love, even though he was already dating somebody else. Peter also loves pranks, which are usually harmless. Gluing all my office supplies to the desk, convincing a new employee that my name is 'Casper,' dumb things like that. And even when he teases me about a woman in my life, which before you, wasn't often," he added quickly. "He would soon move on to something else. So he teased me about you for a few weeks then didn't say any more about it.

"But around Halloween, I started gushing about coming here for Christmas. Peter played it cool, and that should have tipped me off. But I was so damn happy that I was about to see you that I paid him no attention. One day I came to work and the receptionist on our floor said Peter needed to see me right away. That wasn't unusual, but the excited look on her face was strange. I walked down his row, noticing how people were staring at me, and BAM, there you were, in all your gorgeous glory."

Jasper shook his head, the corners of his lips twitching with mirth. "Apparently he'd worked on this prank for two weeks, and everybody helped."

"Oh," was all she could say.

"So the photo you saw," Jasper continued. "Was from Peter and Maria's engagement party three weeks ago. I got his brothers and cousins to keep him away from a secluded part of the ballroom while Maria and I staged that photo, taken by her sister Carmen. We were going to slip that photo... and all the others 'leading to it'... into the batch of original proofs Peter got from the photographer. I asked Maria and her sister to keep the photos off social media, but her sister probably uploaded a bunch at once without thinking, and that one slipped in there." Jasper looked at her. "Maria and I... she is like a sister to me, which sounds weird based on that photo, but she loves Peter and knows I love you. She actually can't wait to meet you."

Alice snorted. "I'll bet she can't."

Jasper looked devastated by her reply. "Alice, you... you don't believe me?"

"Oh, I believe you. But you put your face in that woman's cleavage, Jasper." She grabbed him by the collar, pulling him toward her. "So I'm gonna have to kill her."

Jasper threw his head back and laughed, and Alice chuckled with him, her fears completely allayed.

"Listen, I'm sorry about all of this," he said. "I... it never occurred to us that anyone other than Peter, Maria, Carmen, and me would ever find out about those photos. Had I even thought you might see them..."

"Shhh." Alice released his shirt, smoothing it out with deliberate touch. "It's okay. It was an innocent prank between friends, and I'm not mad."

"You're not?"

"Nope. Cuz I'm gonna have a great time pranking her back."

Jasper's brows shot up. "You're gonna prank Maria?"

"I have to." Alice blinked at him sweetly. "Either that or I kill her."

"Oh, Alice..." He cradled her to him, rocking her in his arms. "I love you so much."

"I love you, too, baby." Alice melted into his embrace, suppressing a grin as her mind whirred with vengeance. "And I love that you think I'm kidding."


And to think, I thought this one would be my shortest one yet!

I do have to tell you that tomorrow is gonna be crazy for me, and tomorrow's story isn't finished yet... because "flash fics" these are not, LOL! So if you don't hear from me tomorrow, you'll definitely get the next installment on Monday.

Thanks for reading, and I'll see you soon! XO