You always knew to wear it well,
And you look so fancy I can tell.
And I don't mind you hanging out and talking in your sleep.
I guess you're just what I needed.
...
Just as Bella and Jasper were driving into Vegas, her phone chirped softly, indicating a text had been sent and received. The two exchanged a glance, both having a pretty solid idea who was texting her. Jasper squeezed their threaded fingers very softly as Bella produced her phone from her pocket and looked at the screen. As suspected, Edward's name along with a message was on her screen.
Bella leaned over and gently kissed Jasper's cheek before slipping her hand out of his and unlocking her phone to inspect his message throughly as well as reply to it. In a small bubble on the left, a simply message laid. Where are you?
A small smile twitched at Bella's lips, and she ran her hand through her hair. I'm not coming back.
Only moments passed before the next text message was received. Bella, please come back. I'm sorry. We'll go somewhere and we'll work it out. I love you.
Bella smiled very slightly. No. I'm safe and that's all you need to know. Adios, muchacho. With that, she turned her phone off.
Jasper grinned at Bella easily and slipped her hand into his.
"I like your hands," Bella commented lightly.
Jasper looked at her, tilting his head to the side. "They're cold," he said lightly.
"Yes; that's to be expected. I find that you can tell a lot about people by their hands," Bella commented, flipping his hand over to trace patterns on his palm. "For example, Carlisle's hands are smooth and light; they make you feel safe. Esme's touch is gentle and cool and make you feel warm and loved. Your hands are...different, though. I never knew that a vampire's hands could be rough. Yes, they're rough; yes, they're cold, but that's not it. They're soft, though, somehow, and tender, capable of much love." Bella smiled up at him, her eyes unfathomable with multiple emotions
Jasper smiled down at her, confounded by this girl once again; she'd saved him from the brink of insanity and shown him kindness and love and understanding when he did not deserve it. He was a monster, a monster that had killed thousands of people, and she knew that. What had he done to deserve the unconditional devotion that she gave him, all the understanding.
"I doubt that. I'm not capable of much love," Jasper said quietly.
Bella squeezed his hands. "Liar," she accused teasingly.
Jasper shook his head. "I speak the truth," he replied. "I've never been capable of much love. I'm always to cautious, too paranoid, too crass and blunt and cold and, well, it goes on forever."
Bella squeezed his fingers tenderly. "Hey, hey, hey. Don't hate on yourself," Bella said softly, raising his hand to her lips tenderly and brushing her soft, warm lips over his knuckles.
Jasper flashed her a small smile. "All right, kitten, whatever you say."
Bella looked up, surprised by this new moniker that she had earned. "KItten?" Bella asked dubiously.
Jasper grinned at her, unable to help himself. "I like to spice things up."
"I guess it's a good thing that I like spice," Bella chuckled, rolling her eyes.
"I suppose," Jasper said, turning the car .
"What are we going to do, Jasper?" Bella asked, arching a brow upwards. "If we use a card, then they can track it. If we withdraw cash, then, again, they can track the card." She tilted her head lightly to the side, looking sideways at Jasper.
Jasper shook his head lightly. "My family and I, we're prepared for this kinda thing. Cards are untraceable."
"Even by those within the accounts?" Bella asked. Months before, she would have been surprised at the plural associated with the word account, but soon, she realized that of coarse the Cullens had multiple accounts. They were practically criminals. They had accounts in the Caribbean, Switzerland, Germany, and the list goes on.
"Especially by those within the account," Jasper assured, smirking at her.
Bella shook her head softly. "I swear to god, if I had known ya'll were a bunch of fuckin' mob bosses when I first met Edward, I never woulda got in with this shit. If I end up going to jail, I swear…," Bella muttered darkly under her breath.
Jasper grinned over at her and tickled her side lightly. "You so would have," he argued, smirking gently at her.
Bella looked up, surprised for a moment that he heard her, but soon remembered about his vampiric senses. A large grin broke across her face and her eyes danced. "Yeah," Bella said, drawing out the a. "You're right. I'm a rebel." She winked saucily at him and turned her eyes to Vegas scene. With just a glance, Bella knew that she and Jasper were going to have a lot of fun.
xxxx
"Jasper," Bella slurred drunkenly, drawing out the last four letters of his name in a throaty purr. Jasper laughed lazily down at her, swiftly knocking her knees out from under her and scooping her up bridal style. Bella slipped her arms around his neck, pressing herself to his frame.
"Yes, Bella?" Jasper asked as he carried her to the elevator.
"I like you; you're handsome," she slurred, poking his nose softly.
Jasper chuckled, knowing that she was just saying that because she was quite intoxicated. "Nah, darlin'. I'm nothin' special," he protested, getting on the elevator with her still pressed to him easily.
Bella giggled drunkenly at him. "No, you're very special. I like your jaw. I have a thing for jaws. It always irritated me that Edward didn't have a strong jaw. Not like yours." Bella skimmed her nail down the defined line of his jaw. "It's strong and defined. A man's jaw." Her last words were breathy whispers in his ear.
Jasper shifted uncomfortably and looked down at her, placing a lazy grin on his lips. "Kitten, you're smashed...as am I." Only just then had he noticed that his vision was bending oddly, blurring very minutely at the edges; he felt high on a cloud, floating.
"Yes, yes, I know," Bella said dreamily, lolling her head backwards and giggling easily.
Jasper grinned down at her, ducking his head slightly and giving her a light kiss on her forehead. "Let's go, darlin; we'll get you into something comfier."
Bella wrinkled her nose and nodded; the snug, grey jersey dress that cut off quite a few inches above her knees was getting rather uncomfortable. At the moment they were talking, as Jasper walked, her skirt was progressively riding up. Though she had not been modest in the slightest all night, she reached down and tugged down her skirt. Jasper smirked down at her, winking saucily; outside the door to their room, Jasper lightly put her down on her feet, not sure if he would have been able to balance her on one arm in his intoxicated state. Once the door was open, Bella stumbled in, practically falling out of the heels that she had put on earlier.
Jasper laughed easily at Bella and snagged his arm around her waist, pulling her off her feet easily and into mid air; he helped her over to the couch where she proceeded to face plant onto. Unable to contain himself, Jasper began laughing louder, harder as Bella struggled to undo the straps of her "deathtrap heels" as she has so aptly put it earlier when she'd bought them.
"I'm going to go change," Bella slurred, getting to her feet, finally out of her heels, and padding to the bedroom.
Flopping onto the couch, Jasper unbuttoned his shirt, prepared to remove it and replace it with his old Led Zeppelin shirt, but once he had removed it, he felt lips on his neck. He hadn't even heard her come up, but now her lips were at his neck. Soft, pillow-like lips were pressed to a very sensitive spot a few inches below his ear. She applied a small amount of suction, and Jasper let out an involuntary groan.
"Darlin', darlin'," Jasper protested, moving away from her lips gently. He then felt the lust rolling out from her. God, this woman was going to be the death of him.
"I like it better when you call me kitten," Bella purred, reaching forward and touching the waistband of his jeans. His breathing shallowed, and despite that he wanted her to slither her small hand into his jeans, he put his fingers over hers, guiding her hand away from his.
"Bella," he said, deciding to stick with her given name, "come on. Let me put you in bed. You're drunk; you need to sleep it off." WIth that, he scooped her up into his arms and walked her to the bedroom, dropping her gently on the bed. He noticed, then, that she was still wearing the dress; he rolled her eyes softly. "Silly," he murmured. He let her pull him down onto the bed with her, laying lightly at her side and wrapping his arms around her.
"Night," Bella mumbled, her inner vixen having calmed with the lethargy he was sending her way.
Jasper grinned gently at her, kissing her cheek. "Night, kitten," he said with a small smirk.
Bella smiled as she drifted into sleep.
xxxx
The next morning, Bella awoke with Jasper's cool arms around her; she peeked an eye open and let out a low groan. Though it was pitch black in the room, aside from the eerie glow that Jasper's skin threw off, her head throbbed; she wrinkled her nose. Her mouth tasted like a dirty sock. Jasper let out a throaty chuckle, a smirk turning up his lips.
"You got really smashed last night, darlin'," Jasper said quietly, keeping his voice low as to not hurt her head further. He knew how humans were with their alcohol...and he knew how he was with his alcohol. Though he could not get a headache, he had his fair share of vomiting beforehand.
"I know," Bella groaned, cringing back from him softly. Even though his voice was soft, her head throbbed at the sound of his voice, amplified outrageously.
"Sorry," Jasper said, lowering his voice sufficiently.
Bella flashed him a small smile. "Thanks," she rasped, pushing the covers back off her and stretching out. Her muscles were stiff, as though she hadn't moved in hours, and she probably hadn't.
"I'll make you coffee and get you some Advil," Jasper said, getting up as well. He walked into the kitchen; Bella cringed back, expecting light from the outer room, but found none with a flood of relief. She got to her feet and walked into the bathroom; she blindly sought out her toothbrush, which she found with grateful ease and brushed her teeth thoroughly, getting the odd taste in her mouth.
After her mouth was sufficiently clean, she made her way back out into the bedroom. There was a bit of light coming from under the door. It wasn't much, but it was enough to make her head pound and her stomach roll. She quickly reentered the bathroom and emptied the contents of her stomach into the porcelain bowl.
"Ugh," Bella groaned, slumping backwards onto the wall, resting her cheek on the cool tile of the bathtub. A throaty chuckle came from the doorway, and Bella lifted her head to give Jasper a dirty look. "Damn you," she said, weakly lifting an arm, a single choice finger in the air.
"You're a bit late for that, kitten," Jasper chuckled and walked over to her, handing her the coffee and Advil; Bella took the Advil with a scalding drink of coffee. She exhaled slowly, relaxing against the wall. Looking down at herself, she realized she was still wearing the dress she'd bought last night.
"What the hell happened last night?" Bella asked, rubbing her temples.
"You don't remember?" That relieved him quite a bit; that would eliminate the awkwardness of having the talk about the drunk touching that had gone on last night.
"Not in the slightest. I can assume I drank...a lot?" Bella looked up at him for affirmation.
Jasper grinned broadly and exited the bathroom and came back with a bundle of clothes. "Here. Put these on; they'll be more comfortable."
Bella took them and pointed to the door, indicating for him to leave, which he did. Pretty much blindly, she pulled a shirt over her head, a pair of panties up her legs, and a some stockings up her legs. When she was through, Jasper automatically reentered the bathroom.
"How bad to I look?" Bella rasped as she took a long drink from her scalding coffee. Surprisingly, it was good; normally, hotel coffee was shit. Then again, they were living on a Cullen budget rather than her own budget.
"Hungover," Jasper said, handing her a hair tie. Bella smiled gratefully up at him.
"Did we have fun last night?" Bella asked as she blindly tied her hair up into a messy bun.
Jasper flashed her a grin. "Yes, yes we did," he affirmed, smiling easily at her. He sunk down to the floor, opening his arm for her gently. Bella leaned gently into him, relaxing into him as he tightened his arm around her shoulders.
"I think I've had enough of Vegas for a while. I'm too hungover to do anything else for probably a damn week," Bella said, leaning her head on his shoulder.
"Promise we'll come back?" Jasper asked, looking down at her.
Bella smiled back easily. "Promise, doll face," she said, patting his cheek placidly and sipping her coffee lazily. The bathroom was blissfully cool and dark, perfect for Bella's hungover state. That plus Jasper's familiar, cool arms around her almost cured her hang over, but soon enough, her stomach heaved and she emptied her stomach once again. So much for a cured hangover. She wasn't getting off that easily.
A/N:
What's up, fuckers? Well, I don't have anything to say.
Wait, yes, yes I do. You'll get a peek of the Vegas trip and what happened throughout the fic in the form of flashbacks.
I'm tired and going to bed now. God, I'm such a wuss, but I don't even care.
Also, thank you SO much for all the reviews. You have no idea how much I adore each and every word of every review.
-Claire
