Rated: Mature
Jalice Week Day Seven: Yeehaw/Western
It's been a long time since I came around
Been a long time but I'm back in town
And this time I'm not leavin' without you
Two years.
It had been two years since Alice last stepped foot in little Blue Hill, Nebraska. It hadn't changed much except for the fact she was a completely different woman now. At the time, she'd fled the city to dream big in a concrete jungle, the exact opposite of the laid back life she'd lived all these years.
Everyone always knew Alice was too big and too bright for Blue Hill, her dreams and her ideals went beyond the borders of that little town in the middle of nowhere. It was no surprise to anyone that she had always wanted to leave the place, run away far from it. Everybody knew they couldn't stop her—she knew for sure that she wouldn't let anything, or anyone, do so. For a very long time, though, Jasper thought he could convince her to stay.
The cowboy, whose dad owned the local bar and a farm not too far out from the city's main street, had dated Alice since high school. They were the couple everyone expected to be together forever—even knowing their dreams and ideas were so much different. Jasper and Alice, from freshman year, had been inseparable. And boy, was he ready to marry that woman!
He had their whole life planned. Marriage, kids, the lovely little farmhouse his dad would leave them. Maybe all that was what scared Mary Alice away from him—he often thought it could only be his own fault. He wanted to trap a bird in a cage, but she wanted to be free and fly.
Jasper didn't understand or share Alice's wishes for greatness. He was a simple man of simple pleasures. The bar, the horses at the stable, and a night playing his guitar were enough to keep his spirits up. He didn't realize, until she was gone, that all those were the best parts of him because Alice was there.
Life had to move on, though.
He ran his family's business. She was a significant New York fashion figure. They lived opposite worlds with their thoughts constantly stuck in another past life they shared together.
Alice had returned to Blue Hill at her mother's request. Alice's birthday would be in two weeks and she had the time to spare in between fashion events. She had been working right hand to a designer in the big apple and although work could get awfully busy at times, she still was able to slow down when her boss would take trips. It was like carrying for a baby, Alice imagined once, remembering when her mother had instructed her sister Cynthia on her newborn.
"When she sleeps, you sleep." In Alice's case, it was when she holidays you holiday.
She had thought of flying to Paris or Hawaii. Somewhere she didn't need to be back at a town where her past awaited. But her mother, Lillian, had been ill for a while, and she feared it could be something serious. Alice hated having to be back under her father's roof, but she would endure it for Lillian and her sister.
The news of her arrival had been spread way before she actually made to town—a piece of information Jasper decided to ignore for the longest time. The gazes he would get, the gossips he would overhear, all getting on his damn nerves. One week he had to kick one of the drunks out, as the man kept insinuating Mary Alice would show up and not even remember him. That possibility haunted Jasper.
He had tried to forget her, went as far as dating one of the girls Mary Alice hated from their school. Maria wasn't a bad person, the two women just always bickered—Alice would always say Maria had the hots for Jasper, in the end, it turned out she wasn't wrong. He'd spent six months with her, and it became all too clear that he wasn't over Mary Alice yet.
Two years.
It had been two years since he last laid his eyes on her when she got on that bus out of town and never came back.
Lillian and Cynthia had gone to visit her in New York, as he heard around—news always traveled fast in Blue Hill, but she never came back. Jasper had hoped that she did so he could convince her to stay. Then, for a longer time, he thought if Mary Alice did show up again he would follow after her, say he would leave all behind. But she never came back.
Now it felt all too late. Two years had passed, and life had moved on. He imagined they wouldn't recognize each other anymore. But how wrong they were…
Jasper was the first one she saw back. Alice was driving her Porsche down Mainstreet. It had been unnecessary to rent a luxurious car when she landed in Omaha, but Alice figured if she was going to have to drive all the way there, she might as well. Besides, she knew Blue Hill too well, how the people liked to talk and brag. Alice wanted to give them something to talk about, especially those who hadn't believed she could make.
Fate had mysterious ways to act, so of course, Jasper had to be walking the street when she passed, their eyes meeting for just a brief second. Perhaps he didn't know it was her, Alice considered. She sure as hell recognized him immediately. Cowboy boots and hat on, chewing on a stupid piece of toothpick, golden blond hair reaching his chin and molding his stunning face. She had almost forgotten how handsome he was. But she passed too fast and he was gone too quickly.
When her eyes searched for another glimpse of him on the rearview mirror, he wasn't looking at her car, walking up to the bar instead. Maybe he didn't know it was her. Or perhaps he didn't care anymore.
You taste like Whiskey when you kiss me, oh
I'd give anything again to be your baby doll
This time I'm not leavin' without you
The night she arrived, her family held a dinner at their place with some of the family's close friends. Alice had sipped on the same drink all night, looking around, hoping to find his eyes hidden somewhere among the cloud of people she didn't care all that much for.
"He's not coming," Cynthia whispered in her ear sometime during the night. "I wanted to invite him, but mama thought it might make him uncomfortable. Our families still don't talk all that much, you know." That had always been a big issue in their relationship.
Edgar, Alice's father, never really got along with Jasper's dad and the families kept their distance. When they began dating all found common ground, but never a friendship. Truth was Jasper's dad was relieved that Alice left town, so to release his boy from her charms so he could marry a more suitable woman. Alice's family had money and influence, but Alice herself was a woman of strong opinions and people didn't really like that in Blue Hill.
Alice was disappointed he wasn't going to show up, she was hoping to have an excuse to talk to him. It was not in her plans to simply come by his bar. Cynthia, the good sister she was, made sure to give her that excuse.
"We're meeting all the high school folks at the bar tonight." She had announced mid-afternoon. The age difference between Alice and her was barely two years, one in school, so they somewhat ended up having roughly the same friends—which Alice knew had nothing to do with her wanting to go to the local bar.
Alice was a striking sight, not only because she was so different from all of the other women, dressed so refinedly and modern—with just the hint of country. She was also, in fact, a stunning figure. Her short height was just barely compensated by the high designer wedges, the dress that was surely out of the rack of a fashion magazine. The pixie cut hair styled to be pointing all in different directions. Her makeup, light and natural, made the sight all the more of a runaway type. A country beauty in all her glory, standing out in her own ways of blending in.
They locked eyes the minute she walked in, Jasper behind the bar watching her every move toward her friends' table, Cynthia's arm hooked around Alice. He knew she was coming when her sister made the reservation. Jasper had told himself he wouldn't act foolish, he would keep it to himself. But there was a glimpse of the smallest smile, just a raise on the corner of her lips that was enough to derail any plan he had to be staying away that night.
Jasper excused the waiter at their table and brought the ordered drinks himself. All the women and the guys were silently waiting, anticipating, watching how Alice and Jasper still moved in sync with each other. Him lowering her drink, her reaching for it. His lips curving to a smile, her cheeks blushing. Jasper bowing his head and Alice, at last, beaming. All were attentive, holding breaths for them, on a romance no one knew they still rooted for.
"Ah, kiss already!" All except one, of course—Emmett always the clown of they used to be group. Always the one to simplify and ease things. It didn't really ease things, at least not until Alice had chugged the third cup and mustered the courage to go up to the bar where Jasper had been standing, overlooking the day's operation.
"Feels like I'm traveling back in time, seeing you here at the bar." She told him with a newfound braveness after the few drinks. Her heart was racing, stomping against her chest to the way he looked at her. There was a stillness to the air around them, both having wished for so long to be like this, face to face again. "This suits you."
"You look swell too, Mary Alice." The formality of his words sent a shivering coldness down her limbs, suddenly feeling like there was a thousand miles between them. Why would he be bringing her the drinks and smiling at her so beautifully to then treat her like she was a stranger? Why mustn't he make it all so hard?
"Thank you, Jasper." Alice swallowed her pride but not thoroughly. "Can I have two tequila shots, please?"
He took his time going behind the bar and grabbing their best bottle. He served and handed over, with the slices of lime with it. Alice picked up the first and chugged, then the second. Her gaze piercing through his soul all the way through it. Although the liquor made it all spin fast, she granted Jasper the blam for making her knees feel so weak.
She was drunk already, and tired of his crap. Pushing a bill on the counter, Alice turned to leave the bar, stumbling slightly. Cynthia, who had been watching from afar, stood with an alarmed look, but Jasper was faster to chase Alice out on the street.
"Alice!"
"What?!" Somehow she knew he would follow in her stupidity. Jasper had always cared for well-being, even when they used to be fools together.
"Where ya goin'? All your friends are inside." He held her by the hand, a wave of longing for that touch rushing through both of their veins. Both of them looked down, the contact capturing them. Alice felt a sudden rush of sobriety, although not entirely.
"I don't wanna go back there." She mustered, blindly tangling their fingers. "Not when you're gonna treat me like you don't know me anymore."
He scoffed, and the gaze Alice flashed at him was utterly outraged. "All that 'cause I called ya Mary Alice?"
"You know I don't like it." Of all people, he knew Alice loathed the full name, wholly related to the fact she would only be called that way to be lectured on something.
"Well, you know I think it's a damn beautiful name."
Alice felt the exact moment her heart skipped that beat, hearing him use the word to address her—or her name for that matter, and she found his eyes again. They both missed the moment where their sense was lost, but somewhere in between there, diving carelessly into each other's eyes, they fell back in love.
Jasper pulled her, in a swift, firm movement, into his arms. Their mouths colliding in desperation. The taste of whiskey on his mouth and the feeling of her in his arms was like coming back home.
It's been two years since I let you go
I couldn't listen to a joke or rock and roll
Muscle cars drove a truck right through my heart
On my birthday you sang me A Heart of Gold
With a guitar humming and no clothes
This time I'm not leavin' without you, oh (oh)
On Wednesdays, the bar hosted karaoke nights, a tradition the town embraced fully. Alice and Jasper had been keeping their new little romance—that involved a lot of kissing in the back of his bar, ever since the last Saturday. They had no clue what to expect of it. Alice would be leaving back to her life in two weeks, and Jasper would stay home back to routine. They also didn't want to think about it. In between feeling like the high-schoolers they used to be, sneaking to make-out and exchanging secret gazes no one knew about, they only wanted to think about now.
Everyone knew about, or at least they suspected. It wasn't hard to read how they had smiled at each other during Sunday service, how Jasper hadn't shown up at the bar at all on Monday, or how Alice excused herself for a long time on the town event on Tuesday. Karaoke night, when the entire town was at the bar, the two were nowhere to be found, so people had their bets.
Alice was in Jasper's apartment that night. On the next day, she would celebrate her thirtieth birthday and he knew she'd be with her family, so he wanted to do her something special. He cooked, lit up candles, put on some good old country music.
"Are you trying to seduce me, Jasper?" There was a bouquet of daisies Alice was holding that he had given her when she arrived.
He didn't know how to answer that without pouring his heart out to how much he had missed her, how vital Alice was to him and how goddamn badly he wanted them to be together again.
"Is it working?" When she beamed, Jasper had his answer already and nothing else really mattered.
After dinner, they didn't find ceremonies in doing what they had been aching for all weekend, peeling each other's clothes off and drowning in the haze of endless loving making.
Jasper's body urgently pressing against hers, his broad chest on hers, hips fucking her into the mattress, altogether the sensations she had been longing for two whole years. Alice's aching back and delicious moans filling up the room. The intensity of their need whitening her knuckles on tight grips of the sheets until they both would come undone, a routine that repeated throughout the night until they laid there naked and tired in raw vulnerability.
Her fingers lingered on his spine, both lying on their stomachs, exhausted in bliss.
"I missed this, you," Alice confessed in the silence of the night, the moon their only companion.
There was no answer as Jasper slipped out of the mattress in his bare glory to grab his guitar. She sat up when he joined her back in ber, leaning against the headboard to watch him play her favorite song. The humming, the lack of clothes, and the purity of his smile at her at the end of the melody made her heart race.
"Happy birthday, Alice."
With a heart full of the most sublime love for that man, Alice crawled back on his lap to ride him senseless again, until morning.
Her friends took her to the bar after her birthday dinner. Jasper was surprised but not unhappy to see her. The long gaze they exchanged told her everything there was to know, that they would be later slipping into the secrecy of their romance again, to repeat on the desperate passion of the night before.
"Take the table at the corner, guys." He shouted at her group. "The one with the couch."
Alice recalled the sophomore year's memory vividly, when she and Jasper had their first time on that very couch. She sat down, sunk in the memory of their skins rubbing, the anxious kisses. Her cheeks were burning when Jasper came to the table, carrying shots for them all.
"Happy birthday, Alice. This is on the house." He told her to the enjoyment of their friends.
A few shots later, they were exactly how she had imagined they would be, exchanging kisses on the back alley like horny teenagers.
"We should go to your home," Alice suggested, fingers urging the cowboy buckle on his pants, so masculine and stupidly out of fashion.
"I close tonight. Why don't ya wait? I wanna take you somewhere."
"Alright." He liked to hear how she could fall back into the southern accent when her thoughts got too hazy with desire, speaking so hoarse when her mouth captured his again. He loved everything about her.
She sat on the corner of the bar, dismissing when her friends offered to take her home, casually saying she'd stick around until the very last left and Alice was there alone. She was sunk on the couch, legs crossed, and eyes watching as he worked. Jasper would often meet her gaze, thinking to himself how she was the most stunning woman. Heels on, messy hair, the most intense eyes. There was just something about her and how they fit together so well, in all their differences.
Sit back down where you belong
In the corner of my bar with your high heels on
Sit back down on the couch where we made love the first time
And you said to me there's
Somethin', somethin' about this place
(Somethin') Somethin' about lonely nights
And my lipstick on your face
(Somethin') Somethin', somethin' about my cool Nebraska guy
Yeah, somethin' about baby you and I
He had to lift Alice on the passenger seat of the truck when they left the bar, but both of them were giggling through it. Always Jasper's most immense adoration was her short height, even with the impressive tall shoes. He loved that he could just lift her off her feet with ease or hover over her when they kissed. Alice enjoyed the tugging down so he could meet her lips or having to wrap her legs around his waist when their need was just too intense.
Jasper drove to a cliff that overlooked Blue Hill, the actual hill that gave name to the place, and they laid on the back of the truck, watching the stars.
"You can never see stars in New York." It was a rare happening outside Manhattan but nearly impossible on the island itself. At least not that many like one could glimpse in the country.
"That's just too damn sad." They were naked again, Alice planting kisses to his neck and cheeks as they still recovered from the last peak.
"Too many lights." Alice hummed, feeling the shiver down his skin. "You'd hate it." She joked, nesting on the scent she'd miss so much after her vacation was over. The smell of him would stay in her skin forever, she had no doubts.
"I'll go anyways." The reaction made her halt and raise herself to look him in the eyes.
"I don't wanna be without ya, Alice." Two years had been long and painful enough; nothing would be worst than a life without her. Not even a city with no sky.
"Are you serious, Jazz?"
"Unless ya don't want me to." It occurred to him that maybe she had someone else there, perhaps he had become her adventure down memory lane.
She didn't answer, her body moving to straddle him instead. The griding of their bodies being enough encouragement for Alice to be able to sink on him again, a moan crossing her lips before she bent over to kiss him again.
"I have not stopped wanting you, Jazz. Ever." She mumbled between the thuds of their bodies rocking against each other. It filled up the night until there wasn't any more love left to make.
We got a whole lot of money, but we still pay rent
'Cause you can't buy a house in Heaven
There's only three men that I 'ma serve my whole life
It's my daddy and Nebraska and Jesus Christ, there's
I'm a New York woman born to run you down
Still want my lipstick all over your face
(Somethin') Somethin', somethin' about just knowin' when it's right
So put your dreams up for Nebraska
For Nebraska, Nebraska, I love you
You and I
You you and I
Baby I'd rather die
Without you and I-I-I
You and I
You you and I
Nebraska
I'd rather die
Without you and I-I-I
The sun was shining in Blue Hill, Nebraska, the day Alice and Jasper stood before each other in church, in front of their family and friends, to get married. It was the second wedding, the first in New York just a month before, with their friends from over there.
Alice never imagined life would turn out to be so good. Living with the man she loved on a lovely country looking house, with a big backyard where they'd sip on lemonade and argue over buying the property or not. He loved every minute by her side. Jasper knew giving up everything else to be with her was the best decision he ever made. They both had their works in the city and each other's arms every night to fall into. All Christmas, they would fly to Blue Hill, even after having the twins.
They never had to leave it without each other anymore.
It's been a long time since I came around
Been a long time but I'm back in town
And this time I'm not leavin' without you