OOO Chapter 21

Undeniable Truth

APOV:

I pulled up in front of Jasper's house and waited for him to come out to the car. He had obviously left his car in California so I was doing all the driving while we were home. I wasn't sure about going to the New Year's party at First Beach but he wanted to go to see friends and I just wanted to spend time with him before I left tomorrow.

He smiled as he climbed into the car and reached over and grabbed my face to give me a kiss. I giggled as he moved to kiss my neck before sitting back in his seat and buckling his safety belt

"Where's Edward and Bella? I figured they'd be riding with us since they don't have their cars either."

"Mom loaned them hers. They're driving up to Port Angeles for dinner before going to the party since they are getting out without the baby. You still want to eat at the diner or would you prefer something else?"

"Yeah, I want to eat all the greasy junk food I can while I'm here. We try not to bring stuff in the house that Bella can't have. I mean it's not that she'd begrudge us food that we aren't restricted from but we all agreed that it would be shitty of us to eat those things in front of her. Don't get me wrong, we all eat all the greasy burgers, fries, and bacon we can get our hands on when we eat out. Except for Edward, he is good at adhering to her diet."

"It wouldn't hurt you to eat healthier so that you stay healthy. Anyway, fast food is just gross and the worst thing you can put in your body."

"Don't start Alice."

I sighed and dropped it and that was the extent of our conversation on the way to the diner and it didn't get any better while we ate. We talked about other people but not us. Mainly, Jasper talked about Tanya. It seemed that whenever I start talking about Paris or him about his life in California we'd end up in some sort of argument.

I didn't understand what was happening. Things had seemed to have gotten so much better for us after he visited for Thanksgiving but Christmas has not been what I was expecting at all. I was sure when I decided to come home that we were going to be inseparable, but we weren't. I had invited him to stay with me at my house, and he did a couple of times but mostly he wanted to go home for the night. I understood that he wanted to spend time with his family and friends while he was home, too. I mean, I'm not a heartless cow. But he could have asked me to stay with him.

When he had left Paris, we had agreed to try our hardest to go out and enjoy our college lives. One month was all that it took for something to feel different. It wasn't really him and it wasn't really me. I just couldn't figure out what was off until Alec called. He and Jane had stayed in Paris and volunteered to work over the holidays. He had called to tell me about something hilarious that had happened with a customer while he was on shift. The guy was being difficult and rude to the employees and Chef finally had it with him and came out, told the guy of, and physically threw him out of the restaurant. I really wished I had been there to see that. Alec promised me that Jane managed to record the whole thing on her phone. I wanted to tell Jasper all about it but I didn't. I hated the idea that there was anything that we couldn't talk to each other about and that is where we were.

As we got closer to the beach the atmosphere in the car was becoming more and more strained. By the time that I parked the car we both knew that we had to deal with this. We climbed out of the car and he took my hand and started leading me to the beach, away from the party.

In that moment, I wished that I could tell him that I'd give up Paris and transfer to a culinary school in Los Angeles but I just couldn't and I knew that he didn't want me too. We reached the shore and sat down on some logs. Jasper continued to hold my hand and play with my fingers, "I love you, Alice."

"I love you too, but something's not right.

"It feels like we did something wrong."

"I don't think we did anything wrong. I think we are where we are supposed to be. It's just that it's a lot harder than we expected it to be and the results weren't what we were expecting."

"So, what do we do about it?"

"I don't want to end up hating you. I don't think I could bear that."

"Me either."

"I've been thinking about this for a couple days and I really think that we should go our separate ways and see what happens." I looked over and saw tears starting to stream down from his eyes.

"I know you're right but….How come this has been so easy on Emmett and Rose. They aren't having any problems being separated?"

"I don't know." I whispered with tears of my own falling from my eyes.

"I can't lose you completely, Alice. You have to promise me that, at least, we'll still be friends and talk."

"No. I can't handle not having you in my life in some respect. I think "friends" is what perfect for our situation right now. We sat on the beach until I was calm enough to be able to drive and then I took him home.

I arrived back at my house, relieved to find that I was alone. Mom had gone to the hospital to spend the evening with Dad and Bella and Edward were still at the beach party. I went straight to my room and crawled into bed. I laid there and cried for hours. I never thought that my decision to go to school in France would cost me Jasper but it did. After awhile I heard Edward and Bella come home. It made me smile when I heard them in the hall. Edward did something that made Bella giggle and tell him to stop or at least wait until they were in their bedroom. I was happy that everything had worked out so well for my brother.

I never did get to sleep. I gave up after I heard someone come out of their bedroom and head downstairs. I climbed out of bed and followed them downstairs to the kitchen where I found Bella starting to heat up a cup of tea.

"Will you make me one too?" I asked. My throat was scratchy and sore from crying so much all night and my voice reflected that. I also had a major headache from the crying. Bella looked at me for a minute before nodding and turning to add more water to the tea pot.

"Are you ok?" That was the question wasn't it.

"Not really. Jasper and I broke up last night." I watched as she nearly dropped the mugs she was holding due to the shock of my statement and I heard the gasp behind me. I turned to see my brother standing there looking stunned. That is when it hit me that our break up didn't just affect me and Jasper. My brother had to continue to live with him and was still his best friend. I was going to have to have a long talk with Edward before I left today. I didn't want this to hurt his friendship with Jasper in anyway. I wouldn't want that for either of them because when it came right down to it, I would always love Jasper, even if we couldn't be together right now.

A/N:

Do I need to go into the witness protection program? I have a plan. Maybe some people won't be happy but its set in stone. It comes down to some relationships can withstand long distance separations and some can't. I promise that Alice was not cheating with Alec. His is just a friend. Hopefully, another update later this week if I get the Assumptions update written. Thank you for reading.