Asher had decided not to attend school.

After all, he found school both terrifying and annoying. With so many people around, bumping into him - the smell of blood became quickly unbearable. Even after hundreds of years, he still craved the taste of blood. No matter how hard he tried to shake it. With Lucy and him broken up, and his mind so fucked up - he was unpredictable. Lucy begged him to go with her. He had declined over and over until he snapped at her. She was upset but he knew she would get over it. She did, of course, as predicted.

He was home alone. Something he preferred often, but never really had the chance to do. That is, until a soft knock came on his front door. Head buried in a book about politics in 1800's England, he let out a soft groan. Within seconds, he was at the front door. He quickly opened it, and the scent hit him. A vampire. No, a group of vampires. He didn't know if they were a threat. Then, it hit him that they wouldn't exactly knock on his front door if they desired to harm him. They would just...come in.

"Good morning," he said quietly.
"Good morning, Mr. We've brought you some cookies."
"Oh, that would be lovely if I could eat," he chuckled. The pale-faced male before him nodded, chuckling along with him.
"So it seems."
"Please, do come in."

They piled into his home, looking around at the decor.
"Ooh, this place is decorated so beautifully! It's modern."
"Thanks, my friend did it."
Friend. That felt weird. So, so weird.
"Well, is your friend here?" the male who had stood up front at the door asked.
"She's at school."
"Oh? I'm Carlisle," he said, then motioned to the other vampires surrounding him, "this is my wife, Esme, and my 'adopted children', Edward, his wife, Bella, their daughter Renesmee. Also-"
Asher tilted his head to the side, observing the child. Carlisle stopped, noticing his confusion.
"It's a little hard to explain."

"Ah?" Asher nodded. His eyes trailed to the back of the pile of vampires standing in his hallway. That's when his eyes met with his. There was no mistaking those eyes. Despite the fact that they were now a completely different colour - amber - they still sparkled with the same pain that Asher's did. They held their gaze. The other male looked like he was in severe pain, like he was holding his breath, but obviously Asher knew better than that.

"Y-" he was about to say "you", but he couldn't even talk. Carlisle's eyes followed Asher's gaze, stopping on his 'adopted' son. The girl clinging to him raised both eyebrows, Asher had just noticed her now that he had pulled his gaze away. She was soft looking, very pretty.
"This is Jasper and Alice. Then Rosalie and Emmett."
Emmett gave him a small wave. Asher returned the wave, looking at anyone and everyone except Jasper. He had almost whispered "I know" when Carlisle introduced him.

"Well..." Asher started, motioning towards the living room, "make yourselves comfortable."
"We surely will," Emmett began, but just as Jasper went to follow everyone else into the room, Alice held him back, whispering something to him. Asher could have heard but - he was focused on everyone else.
"We need to go. Welcome to our town" Alice said, taking Jasper's hand and pulling him out the door. Asher stood there, looking after them.

'He's happy' he thought to himself, half relieved, half upset, 'he's got a girl.'
Snapping his thoughts back to reality, he entered the living room, "I'd offer you some coffee but - yeah."
Everyone chuckled, shaking their heads at his joke. He was trying to be a gracious neighbor. After all, he wasn't used to being 'friends' with vampires. He wanted to, though, especially since Lucy was no longer his girlfriend.
"So your friend, are they...?" Esme started. He took a seat beside her on the couch, trying not to squish too close.
"Yeah, she is. We've been together since...since a long, long time."
"So you've been one of us for years?" Edward questioned. Their daughter played with a toy on the floor. Asher was still confused about how that came about, but he knew it was none of his business to question them - and frankly. he didn't care.

"Oh, yeah. Hundreds of years" he said, motioning towards Bella, "you haven't been for long though, have you?"
"How did you-" she started. Asher smiled.
"Just a guess."
Bella smiled, nodding her head a little bit, "good guess."
"Yeah. Well, Lucy was a vampire before me. She's been on one hell of an adventure."
"That's awesome," Emmett said, leaning forward and clasping his hands together, "we're a close knit family and we don't usually interact with other vamps for obvious reasons but, now that you're in town...we'd love for you and your friend Lucy to join us for a baseball game this Saturday."
"Oh? That sounds lovely" Asher said. He was about to come up with some lame excuse for why he couldn't go but...his mind trailed back to Jasper. In that moment, he could feel Jasper's lips against his ear. Teasing him, softly jeering him.
"You need to loosen up, relax a bit" he would say.
"Tch, I am relaxed!" Asher would protest loudly, "now go away." Asher would place his hands on his chest.
"Why don't you push me? You're just as strong as I am."
Yet, no matter how much he teased him - Asher wouldn't push him away, because he liked it.

Was this some higher power pushing them back together after all that time? He couldn't help but think it was. He hadn't seen Jasper in hundreds of years. Sure, they were bound to bump into each other at some point but why when Asher was going through a breakup?
"I'd love to" he nodded, realising he had been quiet for too long.
"You sure?" Carlisle questioned.
"Absolutely. Lucy will be delighted to hear about this. She loves making friends."
"Great" Edward said, standing up, "meet us in the back field at 6. Is that okay?"
"Sure" Asher grinned, standing up along with everyone else. They were leaving, he was sort of relieved.

"It was nice to meet you, Asher."
Asher chuckled, "I'm sorry. I didn't introduce myself properly. Totally forgot."
"That's fine. Asher...?"
"Asher. Just Asher."
"I see," Carlisle nodded, "well, Asher. Till Saturday. Let's go, everyone."
Asher seen them out, then leaned against the door. His legs were shaking. Was this really happening? Was this a sign? He had to get him alone somehow. They needed to talk...

It was long overdue.