I'll make this short, so you can hurry up and read it.

If anyone (EXCEPT THOSE OF YOU WHO I KNOW IN REAL LIFE!) can guess what movie mainly inspired my choices of music and general crackiness of this chapter, I'll let you read the next chapter ahead of publishing. Just be sure I can contact yous!

I'm replying to all anonymous reviews at the end of chapters now.

Grey-chan

Chapter 10

The gargantuan ballroom was already filled with people, like bits of colored, glittery paper blowing around in some pattern that I couldn't decipher.

I felt Jasper shift next to me, from his slumping gait of the hallway to the proud stride of an important man. He glanced at me, and then led me, almost automatically, to the center of the room to dance. Several people stopped to stare at us as the small string quintet and a piano struck up a bourée. Kitty had decorated the room with chandeliers and lights aplenty, and I can only imagine that we looked slightly unearthly.

Jasper shifted again to face me, and grinned devilishly. "Ready for your first dance lesson? Don't worry," he added as I gave him a look of panic. "I'm really good."

I rolled my eyes. "I feel so much better…" I said sarcastically. He ignored me, continuing to grin into my eyes, and took up my hand, dropping it lightly on his shoulder. He then positioned his hands accordingly, and my spine crawled. Hand… on… waist… too… much… contact! My insides screamed. I tamped them down with the help of Conscience's comment, You did spend those two hours on the train in close contact…

"You've never danced before, have you?" Jasper paused and grinned wider. Maybe it was my tensing under his hand, or maybe it was my expression of blind panic, you never could tell with Jasper.

"N-n-o," I stuttered. I hadn't realized I was that nervous. Oh dear.

"Follow my lead, and just make sure you don't step on me. I have the hard part, anyways." He seemed to preen for a moment, and then suddenly launched into a series of steps that sent us whirling around in circle-ish swoops, so to speak. I don't know if it was a waltz or a tango, but it sure was fast. After tripping a few steps, I composed myself and tried to watch my feet without pointedly staring, and without getting too dizzy. After a few minutes, however, I got the hang of it and looked at Jasper.

He looked down at me fondly. "I see you got it then. So, fun, eh?"

"How do you know how to dance?" I demanded before he could distract me with small talk.

"I have been to a fair number of parties in my time. I could also say something cheesy right now, but I shall now advise myself against it." He cocked his head to the side for a moment, and then nodded to himself. "Mental beating of self completed. Now what were you saying?"

I couldn't help grinning. "Caught sight of Miss Violet, or whoever?"

He peered over my shoulder. "Missus Victoria Spelts –excuse me, that would be Missus Veronica Spelts– is currently lurking on the sidelines… I don't think her husband is up to dancing…"

We turned, and I saw a blur of purple near the buffet-snack-whatever table. We then promptly whisked away to the other side of the room. "How in the hell can you see anything?" I inquired rudely.

"It, like dancing, requires practice…" Jasper wandered off into a train of thought, most likely a train that was heading off of a cliff.

Speaking of cliffs, Conscience added, The music's changing, dearest. Startled, I listened, and the musicians were definitely coming to a stop. I purposefully mis-stepped, digging my heel into Jasper's toe. His eyes snapped down sharply, and he quirked an eyebrow. I nodded towards the musicians and tried to look helpless. He grinned devilishly, and, still in pace with the music let go of my waist, slipping out of my grip.

I was then twirled around absurdly, finally falling controlledly into Jaspers arms. My insides burned with the closeness, and everything seemed over bright. Jasper's arm left a mark of heat across my bad, even though it was cold. "Aww, look, they're applauding…" He muttered slyly.

Not wanting to lose my mind, I said the third or fourth thing that came into my head. "I hope you can fit out the door tonight, honey, else you might bump your gigantic head." I snapped sarcastically. "Wouldn't want to get stuck in here with old Veronica…" I finished, as he pulled me up and we strode over to the side so as not to get run over.

"Oh, that was simply delightful! Wherever did you two learn to dance like that?" Speak of the Devil and she shall appear. Jasper looked at me, well, actually it was more of a glare, and veered towards the buffet-snack-whatever table, leaving me to talk to the atrocious Missus Spelts. "Did you two realize that no one else danced for that whole song, they were so impressed? My, I've never seen anyone dance like that in my whole life!"

Amazing how even though a person is complimenting you; they still annoy the hell out of you. "Oh, no, thank you Miss Spelts…now I really must catch up to…"

I tried to wander off, but she followed, prattling ceaselessly. "Oh, yes, you willbe the talk of Denver for days! You could stay with me and Bernard, you know, if you're staying for a few days…"

"No, no Missus Spelts, we must move on to meet Ja-ohn's family…" I stuttered, distracted, thinking of ways to get rid of her. Most of them were violent, just to say.

"Where are you from, anyway? What's your family into?"

"Manchester…" I muttered the first city that came into my mind. Too late, I remembered our cover story.

"Oh! New York? I know the most delightful lady…"

"No, no, New…" I stopped, trying to remember where 'Alicia Brandon' was from. "New… Georgia." Damnit.

"Oh, really? Is that one of those islands down near Florida? It must be so delightful there!"

We were almost at the table…almost…so…close… I reached out for Jasper's arm…

Veronica snatched my arm and wheeled me around. "Oh, look! There are the rest of them! Dixie, Matilda, Mary! How delightful to see you! You must meet this young lady!" She waved hyperly and nearly sprinted over to them, dragging me along. I looked back at Jasper longingly, but he seemed engaged in an eloquent debate with a tall young man who looked like a politician.

As I was dragged closer to the group, I saw it actually consisted of twenty or so ladies of various ages, ranging from nineteen or so to nearly eighty years old. The younger ladies were all in shocking colors like electric yellow, lime green, and magenta, and their dresses showed too much skin for my vampiric tastes. Or just enough, Conscience added. They do look like they have lots of strong blood in them… I tamped Conscience down. It was very bloodthirsty when it wanted to be. Best keep Jasper away from them, another voice added, because if you're tempted to eat them, then he will be on them in minutes.

I refused to acknowledge the fact that I was simply jealous and wanted Jasper for myself.

The ladies prattled and ooh-ed and aah-ed appropriately at Victoria's descriptions, and they gossiped and talked until my head spun. I was silent, a shadow at the edge of the colorful group.

Eventually their talk turned back to me, and they all insisted that Jasper, or John I guess, dance again so they could all see us. This gave me a chance to escape, but noo, these ladies insisted that they come over with me so they could meet 'John'.

I practically ran over to the buffet-snack-whatever table and stopped just short of Jasper, who was still debating heatedly with the politician, only a crowd of men had gathered around the two. All of the women dispersed into the crowd, looping their arms through their partners'. The only two left standing around were me, and a lady of about twenty-three or so, dressed in a lime-green dress that was strapless, and barely went past her knees. She wore matching eye shadow, but it didn't look bad on her, like it did on Veronica Spelts. She smiled at me, and indicated Jasper.

"Is he your fiancé?"

I smiled acknowledgingly. "Is the other your partner?"

"Husband," she corrected. "It was an arranged marriage, very odd for these times. Matthew isn't mean, but there's nothing more than friendship between us."

I nodded sympathetically, trying to act like I understood. "Yes, John and I were kind of stuck together too." I do dearly hope he likes me more than as a friend, but I won't mention that.

They seemed to have stopped, and judging by the way that Jasper held his head high, and the way the other man drooped, Jasper had won.

The girl turned to me. "Oh yes, my name is Adrianna. Adrianna Harold." She then glided over to um, Nathaniel was it, and looped her arm through his, flashing me a smile before engaging her husband in conversation, most likely healing his bruised ego.

I stared after them, so, before I knew it, Jasper was at my shoulder. I looked up at him. "What were you arguing about? And with a politician no less? I thought you knew better than to show off your immaculate vocabulary."

"Oh-ho! Long words! I must be rubbing off on you. But no talk of debates at such a fine party such as this." He swept off an imaginary top hat. "I do believe, mademoiselle, that we have another dance ahead of us, at the insistence of our good Missus Spelts." His smiled flickered at bit, as he looked around in mid-bow. "It best be only one, of I admit my arsenal of dances is running low," he continued in an undertone.

"Well, best be getting to it, shall we?" I hastily agreed as a crowd of ladies stalked closer to us.

Jasper stalled ever so slightly, trying to annoy me. "Well, then, I best be getting over to that annoying quintet of people who call themselves string players." To most likely tell them how to play one of the only dances he knew how to play.

Jasper soon returned, and seized my hand. "May I have this dance?" He asked formally.

"Of course." I tried to sound proper and keep the exasperation out of my voice. I don't think I did very well, but whatever.

The people had cleared the floor after the orchestra ended the other song rather rudely and abruptly, and Jasper began to pull me out onto the floor again. He pulled, because I suddenly had become nervous again and had lost all of the little confidence I had gained before. I was positively shaking.

The bass and piano started the song, playing an indistinct few plucked notes that, apparently, were supposed to give me time to strike and elegant pose or something like that. I didn't, and Jasper looked at me crossways, doing a very tiny exasperated roll of his eyes.

It was a tango for sure this time. The start was much more sudden, and one of the violins immediately crawled high up on the scale, drawing out a complicated melody.

Jasper had locked eyes with me, and I didn't look down, even though we were starting, stopping, twisting, and whirling in a very complicated way. I kept up very well, I am proud to say; and I didn't look down once. I couldn't. The rest of the world was a blur of color in my peripheral vision, even when we paused on the staccato fermatas.

The dance reached up to what sounded like the most exciting part, and I gritted my teeth and complained silently to Jasper:

"It sounds like the violinist is having a seizure. Are they, or am I just delusional?"

"Oh, no, that's supposed to be music. I, personally, find a seizure an accurate description." Stop, pose. Continue slinking.

"Where did you learn to dance?"

"Texas. Can't you tell that I grew up there, or am I not making it blatantly obvious?"

"So…do they teach all little children in Texas to dance, or am I missing something again?" Stop, twirl, pose, slink.

"Of course they did, back in my day."

"When exactly was that again?"

Beeeeeeeeennnnnnnnnnnndddddddddd…

Jasper's mutter was lost to me. I sighed in exasperation and gave up on conversation.

The music kept up its incessant, loud peak, even though Jasper shifted his grip once again. Considering the fact that he was going to end this dance exactly like the other one –very unclassy, I might add– I improvised a bit. The violin was obviously coming to a close as he twirled me out and around, my dress fanning out very prettily. I came back in controlledly, and I shifted my weight just right so as to make me fall closer to the ground. It made Jasper bend artfully instead of him staying straight as a post. (That annoyed me)

Henceforth, as the music suddenly slammed off, we were face-to-face, two inches apart and nearly falling down. Jasper was really holding me up this time, and my legs were in an artful pose…. somewhere. I had kind of lost track of them. Jasper appeared to be having trouble, judging by the tiny slips of his face and mouth. I grinned showily and cocked my eyebrows. "I think I got the hang of it," I whispered happily.

Then a roar of applause started up. I hadn't realized there were that many people there! Jasper took that as a chance to shift up before we fell, and I heard his spine pop as he got up. Mine had cracked on impact with his arm, so I was fairly limber.

He then snatched my hand and bowed, not allowing me to do much other than scramble out a pitiful half-curtsy thing. We then walked out of the ring that had formed, my arm looped through Jasper's. The orchestra looked exhausted, and got up to go get refreshments. A trumpet player promptly took their place, along with a fresh pianist, and they started on a jazz number that was different enough to get people dancing.

As we tried to disappear quietly into the shadows, still not saying anything to each other, Kitty ran up to us, along with Mr. Wagner.

I didn't particularly want to stop, but Jasper did, and I was yanked unceremoniously back to stand next to him as Kitty spouted praise. "That was certainly the height of this party! However did you two learn to dance like that?"

"Well, tangos aren't that hard once you get the rhythm down," I started, slightly caught up in her enthusiasm.

"No, no! I can dance a tango, I think everyone should be able to; it's the question of how you two learned to dance like you are one person, coordinating everything!"

"Practice, milady, practice." Jasper replied, suddenly seeming like he wanted to go. He had tensed, and I realized nearly too late that Jasper was probably wanting to rip the head off of every human being in this house.

"Oh, dear, excuse me, Miss Catherine, but we must be going… I have forgotten to take my medication." I made a big show of fluttering my eyelids, breathing deeply, and leaning heavily on Jasper.

Kitty's eyes widened, and she looked slightly nervous. I waved a hand absentmindedly, explaining: "I am prone to fainting spells. In the excitement today, I have forgotten to take my pills…" I rolled my eyes slightly and stumbled up against Jasper, clutching his arm and hoping that I wasn't overplaying it.

"Yes," Jasper jumped to the story. "She suffers from narcolepsy, and I usually remind her to take her medication." He frowned down at me concernedly. "It's genetic, and there is no cure except to take these pills for the rest of her life. I try to look after her," He added fondly, "…but today we've both been irresponsible and forgotten them at the apartment. So, if we may excuse ourselves?"

Kitty nodded dumbly. "I do hope you feel better, honey, and don't worry, you can keep the clothes. They don't fit either of us anymore." She smiled at her husband and then patted my arm. "Oh, dear, you're freezing cold! Yes, you two had best be going…" She said worriedly to Jasper. "Thank you for visiting, though."

Jasper nodded and began to walk out, dragging me along. Kitty started to say something, but he stopped her. "Oh, thank you, we can find our own way out Miss Catherine."

As soon as we were out of Kitty's sight, I straightened and took up a business-like tone. "Okay, look. We need clothes, and I need a wash, but for now, I'm not going to care, alright?"

Jasper gave me a strange look.

I sighed, exasperated. "You. Need. Food. I. Need. Air."

"But we have plenty of air in a stor–"

"You know what I mean," I growled, and stalked off into the woods surrounding the house. Well, now that I think about it, it was more like a lodge. Since it had woods around it, you know?

I heard Jasper follow, and before I knew it, I had nearly fallen over a stone bench. Yes, a stone bench placed randomly in the middle of a forest. I sense a cliché, don't you?

Well, right then I didn't realize it, so I simply plopped myself down on it, to look like I had meant to almost run into it, to save myself from being laughed at. I knew Jasper would, given the chance.

Cackle he did, as soon as he sat down next to me. "Isn't this a walking cliché?"

"It's not walking. As a matter of fact, I don't see anything walking except that squirrel over there." I gestured with a nod of my head at the passing rodent.

"Would you prefer I said sitting?"

"Yes."

"Well…too bad."

I sighed dejectedly, and stared off into the distance. Not that there was much distance, even for my vampire eyes, because there were too many flipping trees in the way.

I heard an exasperated sigh next to me, and then more silence. For about twenty minutes, actually. Right about then I was in the middle of a debate with myself about the color of a particular blade of grass, and I was winning. I felt something light touch my cheek for the briefest moment, and immediately looked up. Up, as in, straight up, to look for the offending three that had dropped a leaf on me. It was autumn.

I could've sworn that I felt Jasper roll his eyes. I certainly heard him sigh and say: "Really, don't put me through this!" under his breath.

I turned to him and cocked an eyebrow. He ducked his head, appearing to be composing his thoughts. I did a mental shrug, and then paused, looking at Jasper. The way the moonlight hit his hair like that… he had a halo…

He looked up through his hair, and, seeing my expression, (probably of blank wonder) relaxed visibly.

"Well, now that that's cleared up…" He started, and I cocked my head to the side questioningly. What was he talking about?

"What?"

He rolled his eyes. "Do you really want me to spell it out for you?"

I looked him in the eyes. They were laughing at me. I tilted my chin up proudly. "Yes, as a matter of fact. You haven't spelled a single thing for me."

"Oh, dear, what ever shall we do? Oh, right, I remember!" Jasper said happily.

He then leaned forward and kissed me. Just like that. Can't you see the fireworks going off in the background? They were going off in my head, and making spots on my eyes. I fixed the problem by closing them and tilting my head away, while sliding closer to Jasper to make up for it.

"That…was…" I couldn't exactly find words. I wanted to simultaneously punch and hug Jasper. THAT would have been awkward… but I could've sworn my heart was beating, and my face felt…warm.

"Exhilarating? Long in coming? Cliché?"

"All of that, of course. I think we should spell more often."

"Excuse me while I gag on that cheesy line." Jasper leaned away from me and made an awful retching sound, scaring away all wildlife in the vicinity.

"Well, then. My head and long-dead heart are having a heyday. Care to move on to another topic?" Or not. I wouldn't mind.

"Well, you have summed up my feelings accordingly. Now… lets see…" Jasper counted off on his fingers. "Stop being carnivorous, check. Fix Alice, much more than check. Kiss Alice, check. Yes, my list is finished. Care to add anything more?" He smiled wickedly.

I stared at him. Well, up at him. He was kind of above me now. Since 'me leaning on his shoulder + Jasper's height looking up '

My long quest, okay not that long, was finally –mostly– complete, and I didn't even have to ask! But really, putting kissing me on a list of things to do after he's only known me for a day? But Alice, you were too– Note to self: do not EVER open Conscience's door again.

Well, I was flattered and happy, but that didn't change the situation; I got to ask Jasper about:

his past

well, everything that sprouted out of that

how he found me after I fell asleep

My insides twisted with, happiness, I guess, and I joyfully concluded that this was the best twenty-four hour period I'd ever had in my 47 years of existence.

"Well, no, but you do have a lot to answer for." I reached down, took his hand, and laced my fingers through his. "Please?"

"Milady, you are abusing your power over me."

"As if you couldn't abuse it right back."

"Good point. But, I did promise, didn't I? Well, here it goes…"

MUAHAHAHA! I can feel you getting anrgy at me for my cliffies, now.

meanwhile,

Ange de l'eau: Thanks for reviewing!

italiangirl: how does "addomesticando il credulone di sangue" sound? I don't know any Italian; I want it to say "taming the blood sucker" thats all...;

Don't worry all; I'll post the next one in a couple of days! ;

Grey-chan