A/N: I couldn't help but post this now. :-) I'm sure you won't mind. ;-) Thank you all so much for the lovely birthday wishes. I had a nice day. I love your reviews, and appreciate each and every one. Leave me love!!! Thanks as always to LittleLea05 for being rad, and that'd still be true even if she weren't my beta. ;-)

Disclaimer: Plot line mine, not much else is.

"So, I need to know every single solitary detail from the last three weeks," Rosalie stated, curling her legs up underneath her criss-cross-apple-sauce style, staring at me intently.

"Every. Single. Detail."

"You sure about that?"

"Okay, so I don't need to know all the times he smiled and you got wet- eww, by the way- but I mean, tell me what happened, starting with the night you slept on the couch together."

I started filling her in, starting with the kiss on the neck on their couch, his breakup with Maria, the ways we'd been catching up, spending every day together, all the way up to his confession of how he didn't think he could stay away from me anymore.

"Whoa," she said when I was all done.

"Yeah," I said. It was still unreal to me, even as I recounted each memory to her.

"So what do you think it all means?" she asked. She grabbed a pillow and hugged it to herself, biting her nails, something she always did when she was thinking about something. I have no idea how she kept her manicures intact. I looked at my own nails. They were in dire need of some TLC. Spending time with Jasper did not include trips to the salon, though I was willing to make the trade any day, especially if he was going to be looking at me from now on.

"I have no idea," I said. "Sometimes it feels like he wants to tell me something… like he's on the brink of confessing something. But he never does, and I never know what it is. He's so damned hard to read sometimes."

"And yet he was an open book just now. I've never seen him behave like that before, and I know you haven't, either. It was like you possessed him somehow, got in his head and he couldn't control himself anymore. He was practically panting and drooling. We can't forget that he was checking you out last night, too. And he touches you a lot now, on a regular basis. The old Jasper and Alice wouldn't have greeted each other with affection beyond a noogie, and now you can't keep your hands off each other, as platonic as it may seem. That has to mean something."

I remembered just how insanely wonderful his touch felt, and I melted just a little. "God, I hope so."

"Well, we've gotta find out more! And we have to have you looking sexy, m'dear."

"Rose, I always look sexy," I teased. I always looked my best no matter what circumstance. Hell, even when I was sick I wore eyeliner. I knew it was ridiculous, but you never knew just who you might see…

"That's true, but we have to make sure that he doesn't see you as his little sister or even his friend anymore. I mean, you can be friends, but not look friendly."

"I thought you didn't want me near him."

She sighed. "I'm so sorry, Alice. I was really wrong about that. You have to think about where I was coming from; he had a girlfriend, and he wasn't showing signs of interest. You know that you both hadn't spent a lot of time together lately. And I thought maybe you were just deluding yourself because you'd always loved him. I thought you needed to get out more, be with other guys to get him out of your system. I never expected you two to get close, for Maria to be a cheater and skank, for him to start checking you out."

I laughed. "I don't think anyone expected that to happen. So now you want us together?"

"Honey, I keep telling you, I just want you to be happy. And clearly, Jasper makes you happy. I still have no idea why… it still creeps me out… but he's who you want, and maybe, just maybe, you're who he wants."

My heart thudded just thinking about it. It was one thing for me to think it, and another for someone else to say it out loud.

"You think?" I knew I sounded incredibly hopeful, and I couldn't help myself.

"I mean, don't quote me on it… but you never know. We need to do a little detective work, make you look hot enough to fuck, and get you two in a sexually charged situation."

I decided not to add that nearly every situation was sexually charged, at least for me. And there had been a few where he was involved, too…

"Let's see what you've got," she said, hopping up from my bed, and I joined her to root through my closet. "You have to look the same but different," Rosalie said unhelpfully.

"Oh of course," I said sarcastically.

She frowned at me. "Do you want my help or not?"

"Yes!" I didn't want her to freak out on me and start our tiff all over again. She was finally okay with my feelings for Jasper- to an extent- and I didn't want to push it.

"Alright. You have to be Alice- the girl he's known and loved all his life. But you can't be that Alice anymore, either. Show a little more skin. Wiggle your hips more."

"Rose, I do know how to behave around men."

"And yet here we are, in the same place you were ten years ago… maybe a few steps forward, but still pretty much in the Friends Zone."

I ignored her tone. "You're probably right," I mumbled. "I am still a virgin."

"I still can't believe you and James never got anywhere," Rose smirked, pulling a tight tank top out of the closet.

"He wasn't-"

"Jasper," she finished knowingly.

I stuck my tongue out at her. Extremely mature of me, I know. We continued to look through my closet, throwing winners on the bed. Rose also ordered me to only wear my Victoria Secret push up bras from now on. "I don't want to think about you flaunting your goods for my brother to see, but you've gotta wear these now," Rose advised. I imagined Jasper's hands tracing the edges of the cups, enjoying what little cleavage I had.

"Why don't you wear this stuff more often?" Rosalie asked, holding up a purple skimpy top I'd bought on a whim in Seattle. "You'd look so hot in this!"

"Um… I bought that just a few months ago, before we came home and Jasper could see me."

Rose sighed and rolled her eyes. "I realize no other man in the world exists for you, but that's just sad, Alice."

"I know," I said. "Come on, help me find some jeans to match this top."

While I wouldn't call the changes a make-over because I'm the one that did the making over, not getting the help, but I appreciated Rose helping me with my transition. Everything was a little bit tighter, a little more revealing, and a lot more enticing.

"You really think he'll like this?" I asked, adjusting the dark blue tank top that showed the top of the black lacy cups of my bra. I had excellent cleavage now, modest though it was.

Rose rolled her eyes. "Are you crazy? Of course he will! Now, we're going over to my place, and you're going to hug Jasper and kiss him on the cheek before we run upstairs. I'm going to watch his reaction. Think you can do that?"

I rolled my eyes. "That's nothing new, Rose. We're closer than that now."

"Yeah, but hun, I have to see how he reacts when you're not looking."

"Right." I was anxious now. Would he look twice? Would his jaw drop? Could he ever see me as sexual being? I snagged my leather jacket and shrugged it on, in the hopes that Jasper's promise of a ride would come into fruition.

"Okay, let's go," she said, and we walked down the street to the Hale's house. Jasper was reading on the couch in the living room, probably a book on the Civil War. The boy was obsessed, it was a little ridiculous.

"Hi Jasper," Rose called out. He turned to greet us, and his eyes widened before he could check his reaction. He stared right at me, and my entire body flushed under his intense gaze.

"Hi guys," he said, still looking directly at me, or rather, at my girls. Apparently he's a boob man. "What are you guys up to?" He tore his gaze to Rose. My heart fluttered with the implications.

"Oh, just hanging out at Alice's, and I have something to show her here. You have plans for later, right?" she asked innocently.

"Yeah, if Alice still wants to," he said, looking me up and down again without shame. If I weren't so excited, I'd have laughed in his face at his blatant move. There was nothing funny about this. I leaned over the couch, arching my back slightly so my breasts were on display. Knowing full well that his eyes were trained on me, I leaned forward to brush a kiss against his cheek. And he blushed. 100%, without a doubt, blushed. I pulled away and said, "I'm looking forward to it." Our eyes met, and we didn't break contact.

My heart was running away from my chest. He was looking! I didn't even need Rose there to tell me, it was just happening, right before our eyes. Holy shit. Either I was really good, or something real was really happening here. God, his eyes are blue…

"Okay, Alice, I've gotta show you that thing, remember?" Rosalie said through her teeth, grabbing my elbow roughly and tugging me to the stairs.

"Wha- I… sure, Rose," I said, giving Jasper a smile, and then following her up the stairs.

"HOLY FUCK!" Rose said. "I can't believe that just happened. He was practically eye fucking you, Alice! He looked like he wanted to… eat you alive or something."

My hands were shaking. "Was that real?"

"Very real. It grossed me out. Trust me, it happened."

Just then, my cell phone rang. I wanted to keep talking about this with Rose, but I think I needed a distraction. Otherwise, I'm going to have a heart attack or stroke or something.

"Hello?" I said. My hands were shaky.

"Um, hi Alice," a sweet voice replied.

"Bella! How are you?!" I missed my klutzy roommate. I told her so, skipping out the klutzy part.

"Aww, I miss you, too, Alice! Listen, Edward and I have been talking, and we were thinking about taking a little road trip over to Forks, that is, if you're not too busy."

"Bella, that would be awesome!" I squealed. "When?"

"Next weekend?"

"Perfect! Oh, I'm so excited, I've missed you so much. And we have SO much to catch up on!"

"Don't tell me you and Jasper-"

"Not yet… but there are things I have to tell you about. Oh, this is going to be so much fun! We can go to Port Angeles and go shopping and drinking and-"

Bella was laughing. "Calm yourself Alice! I suppose I'll put up with shopping… for you."

"Bella, you touch me so," I joked. "Okay, call me later with details? And I have plenty of details to give you, too!"

"Sounds good!" she said, and we hung up a moment later.

"Bella and Edward are coming!" I said excitedly. "I can't wait for them to meet Jasper… and you…" I added, catching myself.

"Nice try, I've already met them," she said with a smirk.

"Oh. Right." Of course she had met them already. God, my brain was fried. Fried, and filled with Jasper.

"I can't believe how pathetic you are for him," Rosalie marveled, and I scowled at her.

"Sorry, sorry," she said, "but it's true. Where do you think he's going to take you on his bike?"

"I'm not sure," I said, but I was thrilled at the idea of being anywhere with Jasper, period.

"Somewhere on his motorcycle."

"Oh, so either way, he's going to be the death of you," she said sarcastically. I couldn't help but laugh hysterically.

"You could definitely say that," I said with smirk.

A half an hour later, Rosalie secure in her bedroom, I was walking down the stairs towards my Jasper again. He was still on the couch, and he held his book open in his lap, but he wasn't reading. He was staring into space, looking like he was trying to figure out a complicated puzzle in his head. He looked absolutely gorgeous, even with his forehead wrinkled up.

"Hiya, Jasper!" I said enthusiastically, hoping to break him from his spell. I didn't want him to keep things in, although he was more than welcome to contemplate how sexy I was if he really wanted to.

"Hi Alice," he said, his voice faraway. He glanced up at me again and gulped, looking away quickly this time.

"You still wanna go for a ride?" I asked.

"Um… if you want," he said, but his enthusiasm was gone, his voice quiet and vacant of any emotion whatsoever.

I frowned. "If you don't wanna go…"

"No, I really would like to go for a ride," he assured me, but I could tell his heart wasn't in it. What had I done NOW? I bit my lip, trying very hard to fight the tears that had easily sprung into my eyes.

"Jasper, if you don't want to go, I understand. We can go another time." Please, please, please, don't say okay.

"If that's what you want," he said, shrugging indifferently. A lump rose in my throat, and I couldn't help the tear that fell down my cheek. I brushed it away before he could see it, but since he wasn't looking at me now, I supposed it really didn't matter whether I was crying or not.

"We could do something else…?" I said meekly.

"Whatever you and Rose want to do," he said, still not looking directly at me.

God, I had no idea my heart was this fragile. How he could go from professing he needed me to coldly dismissing me in less than twenty-four hours was beyond me, and it hurt beyond belief. What had inspired this change?

"Fine," I said, whipping off my leather jacket and throwing it over the back of the couch. Jasper's eyes focused on me again, and I could tell he was trying very hard not to look. He kept swallowing, and call me crazy, but I thought his breathing picked up a bit as he took in my pale, exposed skin.

Everything clicked at that moment. Ohhhh…

I went from heartbreak and sadness to excitement in ten seconds flat. Was he being weird because he found me -dare I say it- attractive?

He cleared his throat, and I grinned to myself. "Have you had lunch?" It was late in the afternoon, but who knows how long that boy had been caught up in his Civil War tome, and Rose and I had been talking and plotting so long that we hadn't had a bite to eat.

"No, I haven't," he said. "You hungry?"

"Yeah, let's make something to eat."

He was starting to sound normal, but I noticed that on our way to the kitchen, he was quiet behind me- yes, behind me. I wiggled my hips just a little bit more. Not for the first time, I was glad that I had short hair now. He would be able to see my bare shoulders now. Perhaps it would inspire some naughty thoughts about giving me a massage, or perhaps taking me from behind. Hmmm….

"So what do you wanna eat?" I said, throwing open the fridge and bending over to see what was on the bottom shelf. Okay, so I did it to freak him out and give him ideas. I'm evil, what can I say? I heard a choking sound, and turned to see Jasper coughing, tears rolling down his cheeks. I whapped him on the back a few times, and he gave me a sheepish smile as he stopped choking.

"Um," he said hoarsely, wiping the tears away. "Whatever you want to make, I guess."

"It's your house!" I playfully protested. "You make me something." I hopped up on the counter, rendering myself useless, and couldn't help but notice that he and I were pretty much eye to eye now. I'd remember this for later, just in case we ever needed a nice level playing field… literally.

Jasper seemed to notice, too. It made it a lot easier for him to check out my boobs without being obvious, since they were right at eye level, and he took full advantage, thinking I was oblivious. Hardly. I leaned back on the counter, hopefully giving him ideas. I would let him fully ogle my body if he really wanted it. I'd been ogling him for years, it was only fair. Rose and my plan seemed to be going spectacularly well so far.

He pulled out sandwich makings, and I giddily pointed out that he had pulled out two different kinds of cheddar and three types of mustard, the duplicates of which were completely unnecessary. He was distracted!

Suddenly, I was being pulled into another lovely Jasper hug. I sank into his arms, welcoming how my body felt against his, and how if I were to kiss him now, I wouldn't have to crane my neck, and he wouldn't have to bend over so far. Perfect.

But there was to be no kiss, sadly enough. Even when I knew there was no chance for a kiss, I was always disappointed when none came. I'd keep on being disappointed until that moment happened. And it would. I was confident in this. I threw my arms around his neck and massaged the back of his neck right where I now knew he liked it. He groaned into my neck for a second, and then pulled back, looking me straight in the eye.

"Just checking," he murmured to himself.

"Checking what?" I asked my voice huskier than usual.

"Never mind," he said, and turned back to making us a sandwich. I noticed he only made two, though he was still perfectly aware Rose was here, too.

"Maybe we can take that drive after all," he said, and I cheered on the inside. Anything to be alone with him.

"Sounds like a plan," I said cheerfully.