A/N: I love Alice and Jasper and everything about their relationship, so here's my one-shot take of their meeting on a chilly, rainy day in Philadelphia in 1948. Enjoy!
Alice POV – 1948
The rain was coming down in harsh, icy sheets. The wet pavement outside reflected the thick cast of the sky, making the world glow gray. I could hear the humans around me muttering complaints about the awful weather, wishing it would be warmer and dryer. It was, after all, right in the middle of March. All the humans were aching for the summer to come instead of the dreary, foggy days of winter. I was aching for summer too, when rain would replace the snow that often came.
I had not seen snow in my vision – I had seen rain. Until today, most days with precipitation involved snow or sleet. But today was different. Today, it was heavy rain and fog that hid the tops of the buildings and kept the frail, cold humans off the streets. Today was an opportunity for me to potentially meet him.
"More tea, Miss?"
My eyes turn from the large glass windows to look at the young waitress at my table. My throat burns with furry as the little waitress – Abigail – peers at me with curious eyes. She's holding a kettle in her hand, gesturing towards my half-empty teacup. I hadn't been drinking it. Tea was just as distasteful as any other human food I had attempted to try. Instead, I was periodically escaping to the restroom to dump my tea down the drain. My actions were much too quick for any human here to notice.
It had taken me a long time to establish myself in society. For the first few years, I stayed far away, worried I would kill an innocent again. But ever so slowly, I ventured out. First, it was to walk alongside them in the city. Unnoticed, and easy to escape if things went awry. Then, my outings drifted to entering shops and practice conversing with the shopkeeper and young girls picking out lace and buttons for their dresses. Now, I was capable of sitting in a coffee shop, pretending to drink and read to blend in.
Swallowing back a mouthful of venom, as if it will quench my thirst, I smile back at her softly. I practiced my smile a lot, worried I would scare the humans.
"Please." I was on my fourth cup now. They must have thought I was strange – sitting here drinking four cups of tea by myself without ordering anything else. Most humans I watched got food with their tea or drank it with a companion. I had neither.
The girl's hand shakes as she pours more water into my cup.
"Is he coming soon?" she asks me, her voice quivering slightly as she hesitantly meets my gaze.
My eyes were no longer red. They hadn't been in decades. "I'm sorry?"
Abigail's eyes widen, her body stiffening. "I apologize, I did not mean to intrude. It's just . . . You seem to be waiting. I assumed for a boy." She explains, her voice flying at a thousand words a second. "I did mean offense."
I try to smile less threateningly this time, hoping not to scare the girl into a heart attack. "No offense taken, Abigail."
Then I laugh gently, thinking fondly of my Jasper. He would be mine, soon. He was not quite aware of it yet. "I am waiting, actually. I expect that he will be here soon."
My voice holds so much confidence, and I revel in it. I could feel it – Jasper would be coming today. After years of sitting in this diner, waiting on him in stormy weather, I knew today would be the last time.
Abigail smiles at me, somewhat forced. "Good luck."
"Oh, I have a good feeling about today." I tell her confidently, laughing. I had an excellent feeling about today. Today, everything seemed to be perfectly right. Perfectly set up as if each piece of the world around me had been placed by my perfect memory of my wonderful vision.
The young man sitting two booths down had a hat I distinctly remember from my vision. It was a common hat – most man sported it. But today, the placement of it was perfect. The streak of dirt on the top was identical.
Abigail tries to smile at me again, but I knew I was too predatory for her to be comfortable around me. "Well, I'll be back to refill the cup soon." She tells me before prancing away to the next table, too quickly for it to be normal. She was so scared of me. Everyone was.
I looked down at my book, realizing my fingers were pressing incredibly hard on the pages. Much too hard for a human. I work to lessen my pressure, thankful when I see that I had caught myself before damaging the paper-back book.
I quietly sigh, breathing through my mouth to avoid tasting the scent of the humans around me. I had not hunted in several days, though I was sure I had gotten my fill on my last expedition. I had greedily consumed multiple coyotes, Philadelphia's most delicious wildlife. There weren't many options in terms of carnivores. I never truly understood how Carlisle and the others did it. They were so good at refusing the scent of human blood. From my vision, I understood that Carlisle never consumed human blood except to change Edward, Esme, Rosalie, and Emmett. I, myself, had slipped up multiple times when humans got too close or I got too thirsty. The ravenous burning in my throat seemed to just take over my senses entirely.
But I was taking better precautions now, especially when venturing into town to practice being human or to wait for my Jasper. I had not harmed a human in nearly a decade. Even still, I would have to ask Carlisle how he managed to be around humans without such discomfort, one day. I'd meet them soon, I suppose.
The wind blows heartily outside, and I see some of the humans shivering, pulling their thick coats more tightly around their frail bodies. Their umbrellas were doing no good outside. The water splashing around their boots as droplets pierced through the sky were enough to soak them to their waists.
I felt for them – their poor human bodies were so fragile.
I, personally, did not comprehend the concept of feeling cold. It was so strange to think that humans felt the constantly changing temperatures outside while my body never alerted me of being cold or hot.
What did that sensation feel like? To not feel well, to feel cold? I assumed I was human – at some point – given that I had to have been one in order to be a vampire. But I had no recollection of the taste of the food humans seemed to enjoy or the sensation of the sun burning their skin and making them feverish. I watched as humans became exhausted and tired, knowing I must have experienced that but never remembering what it felt like.
My body was strong, youthful, and forever consumed by the fire in my throat and my visions of Jasper and the Cullen family. I already knew the life I would live with them and Jasper. It was such as happy existence and I was so impatiently waiting for it.
"Stay dry outside!" Abigail calls, waving off an old couple as they tuck their hats onto their heads, walking out into the storm. The water bounces off their heads as they walk quickly to the trolley, trying desperately to stay dry. Despite their best efforts, they were nearly soaked as they reached their destination. The rain was worsening, and the temperature was cooling. Worry etched at my confidence. What if the rain turned to snow? What if my Jasper did not show today?
I see Abigail peering at me and, to appear like her, I wrap my hand around my mug, bringing it to my lips. The smell is much too strong and the steam fans my face, reminding me that humans do not drink hot liquids like this. I blow gently on it, as I had seen many others do, replacing the cup onto my saucer.
Jasper, please come today.
Abigail escapes to the kitchen after a few moments, wanting desperately to return to her little book she had been reading. The diner was mostly empty, besides me and a few young men on the remainder of their lunch break. The closest one to me, the one tempting me with his blood, was sipping on a steaming cup of coffee and reading a newspaper. Every now and then, he grunts in displeasure at the words he reads. Another man, just two tables down from me, is writing hastily on a notepad on the table. As I walked by him to discard some of my tea earlier, I had seen that he was grading papers for students at the University not far from here. He was a professor of literature, and very disappointed in his students' effort.
I knew that the Cullens often went to school, such was the benefit of their vegetarian diet. I longed to go to school, but I was simply too afraid of my control. I was sure I would attack someone and reveal to others who, or what, I was. But I knew I would study, someday, when I was with the Cullens.
I had so many ideas in my mind, already.
I knew Carlisle was a doctor. I had seen him decide the best course of action for patients he felt close to. I watched Edward and Rosalie, too, as they decided on various courses of study in University. Esme did not venture out as much, to my knowledge. But she loved attending her courses in art and literature.
I sit with my tea, reading and watching people. The professor of literature leaves the diner after paying, as does the man with the newspaper. A young woman with a toddler come in, eating a quick meal, and then disappearing back into the haze of the Philadelphia storm.
Abigail returns to offer me a sandwich and a refill, both of which I happily accept. Three new customers had entered, requesting food to satisfy their hunger. It would be appropriate for me to also pretend to be hungry. Upon her leaving, I slip toward the washroom. After four cups of tea, I imagine a human would need to relieve themselves. Although I did not, I had to keep up appearances.
I could feel my luck wearing out just after lunch. The tables had more steadily been occupied during the two hours of the lunch period. Couples, young men with jobs, and young women with their baskets of groceries and decorative purses visited the diner for a sandwich and warm beverage. I waited patiently, picking at my own food as the humans chattered away and then slowly removed themselves from the establishment.
I was growing even more worried now. Perhaps Jasper would not be coming today. The thought made me grow anxious and depressed. I trace my fingers over my book again, starring down at it to pull my eyes away from the empty streets before me.
Alice sighed wearily. "I think you might do something better with the time," she said, "than wasting it in asking riddles that have no answers."
"If you know Time as well as I do," said the Hatter, "you wouldn't talk about wasting it."
I trace my fingers lightly over the infamous words of the Mad Hatter. In my mind, I was not wasting my time. I knew time better than anyone else did – exceptionally better, now that I understood I was unique in my visions. I understood more than the other vampires I had briefly come across in my years in Philadelphia.
My Jasper, I knew, also had a unique gift. But his understanding of time was not at my level, perhaps making me perfectly fit to wait to meet him here on such a rainy day.
I had not wasted my time, sitting here in this diner for years and years. I did not waste it re-reading my favorite Alice in Wonderland book. But my Jasper was a riddle that I had no additional answers to. I had not seen him since my last vision of us finding the Cullen family, even when I saw many visions of the Cullens. I was so eager to meet him in person, so excited to touch him and know that he did not only exist in my mind.
I simply could not be any more impatient to hear his voice besides me.
Just after 3 PM, Abigail takes her apron off and wishes her colleagues a good day. She smiles at me as she walks out the door, hurrying through the rain as it seeps through her clothes. Her replacement – a young boy named Henry – is not as friendly with his refills. He leaves me alone, only stopping by my table once to collect the empty plate that once held my sandwich. I had picked off tiny bites, hiding them in a napkin and then discarding the trash outside in the bin.
I had been slowly flipping the pages of the book, reading at a pace I had recognized that humans read at. I'm not sure where I learned to read, or how. I'm not sure of any sure of anything before I woke up in the forest that one sunny day. The human world was so new and old at the same time. While I understood the concepts of eating and dressing and shopping, I am was never aware of having done it before. Reading seemed to be one of the activities I knew.
"What is the use of repeating all that stuff," the Mock Turtle interrupted, "if you don't explain it as you go on? It's by far the most confusing thing I have ever heard!"
Yes, indeed. My vision of Jasper – the very first thing I ever experienced as a vampire – was the most confusing thing I ever saw. I ran around the forest searching for him, confused by the feelings of cold that didn't quite make my skin shiver, seeing the pouring rain of the streets that did not exist in the forest, sitting across from a dead man who I knew I loved but had never seen before. He loved me, too. I was sure of it. But never the way mu Jasper would love me.
"Take a seat anywhere sir, I'll be with you in a moment."
"Thank you." The voice was stiff, quiet, and rough – as if it had not yet learned how to be less than terrifying with humans yet. I turn slowly, not wanting to scare away the figment of my vision. I was unsure of how fragile my vision might be in reality – could I scare them away? Change the course of action in the moment?
My eyes fall on him as he stands dripping with water in the doorway, carefully looking at me with quizzically dark eyes. His skin was perfectly pale like mine. His hair a dirty blonde, dripping wet with rain. He was the most perfect Jasper, just as glorious as in my vision.
I can't quite help the small bubble of laughter that escapes me as I hop off the bench, walking quickly to him. His eyes meet mine, the dark irises of his normally blood-red eyes wide with shock. It's exactly the face I've been seeing for all these years: the paleness that I have become so comfortable with, the scars that have imprinted themselves onto him, the messy blonde hair that warps over his eyes and just past his ears.
I smile widely, thrilled to be meeting him in person, approaching him.
"You've kept me waiting a long time."
Oh, my Jasper, you've been keeping me waiting for so, so many years.
Jasper ducks his head curtly once, his eyes watching me wearily. "I'm sorry, ma'am."
I smile softly, wishing with everything in me that my dead heart had the capability to skip a beat in my chest. My whole stomach felt tight with anxiety and excitement at the same time. I turn towards the barstool I had been occupying, holding my hand out for him to take. To my utter surprise and happiness, he tentatively reaches for it, wrapping his large hand around my miniscule one. I don't convey the feelings of immense joy at our first contact, knowing that he is fully capable of feeling it himself, as I lead him to a chair.
"What is your name, ma'am?" he's confused as he takes in my book and cup of tea and my general presence.
"Alice." I respond, smiling. I've known his name for decades, and now he knew mine. I've whispered his name under my breath a million and a half times, ensuring I would never forget it.
I was not sure I could forget anything. Humans always seemed to be so forgetful – losing their possessions, their thoughts, forgetting words just before they left their tongues. . . I never fell prey to forgetting. But his name was so comforting to me, and so I uttered it to myself whenever I could. "And you're Jasper."
Jasper's eyes flash to mine, slightly alarmed at my words. "I have never forgotten a meeting with one of my own kind, but our meeting seems to have eluded me. Please, remind me of where I met you before, Miss Alice."
I laugh, more loudly than before, much more happily and this makes Jasper's eyebrows pull even more curiously together. "Oh, Jasper, we've never met. But I saw you." I frown, then. "I was worried for you."
I didn't understand why, at least, until I envisioned a vampire named Maria meeting with two young vampires named Peter and Charlotte. Then I understood Jasper's pain originated with her, with what she wanted him to do for her.
My poor Jasper.
"You saw me?" Jasper repeats slowly, as if he is unable to process my words. I don't like the way his face changes as he watches me. The blank stare that falls over his face, pushing each of his scars into a more neutral form. It the face I know he has when he faces enemies. I wish I could hug him and promise him that I wasn't an enemy. One day, I would be his closest companion.
"I have visions, Jasper, just as you have your own abilities." I explain quickly, worried that I'd be scarring him away before he can agree to meet the Cullens with me. I was beginning to understand the inner workings of my mind. I was beginning to recognize that as people made decisions, my visions changed. I was not seeing any visions of finding the Cullens on my own, which meant that Jasper had not quite decided to leave this diner without me.
"Visions?" he's still staring at me blankly, though his hand is still tucked over mine which is reassuring
"Of the future. I saw you, Jasper. I saw that we would meet here in this diner when it was raining like this outside. I've been waiting years for you, Jasper." I loved saying his name, even when I was feeling anxious about him leaving. "I was searching for dinners like this all over the world – I wasn't quite sure where it would be."
I see him relax with my words, nodding in understanding. Perhaps he had seen enough vampires to witness their own abilities, so it was easy for him to believe in mine.
"Alice." He murmurs beneath his breath, testing the name on his tongue. I grin, hearing him say my name. I liked it the way it fell off his Southern tongue. "It's a beautiful name."
I wish I could feel my heart thump uneasily in my chest the way young women feel their heart when they fall in love. I was so envious of the young women I saw every day.
"Thank you."
Jasper reaches for the book sitting open in front of me, flipping it closed to reveal the title. "Alice in Wonderland?" he says, his lips beginning to form the smallest smile. I had never seen him smile before. He was beautiful. "Coincidence?"
I bite my lips, trying not to smile too much. "It's a wonderful book. Have you read it?" I touch the binding appreciatively. It had kept me company for many years. It was strange – it was the only thing with me when I woke up in the forest that day. I'm not sure where it came from, or why I had it. But I liked the book, and the name.
"I have not." Jasper nods. "Reading is hardly a way for a vampire to pass time."
"It's one of mine." And one of Cullens'. They were all schooled in so many subjects. They loved to learn. I wanted to learn like they did, and I knew my Jasper and I would.
"Hmm."
"Can I interest you in some food?" Henry, the waiter, had finished up with a task and was not standing before Jasper and I holding a menu.
"No." Jasper says forcefully, turning away from him. It did not escape my attention that Jasper stopped breathing. His eyes were dark – he was thirsty. But he knew not to hunt here. Not now.
"Please, we'll take some more tea." I tell Henry gently, offering him a small smile to calm his racing heart after Jasper's response. My own throat was burning. Henry nods, stammering a quick confirmation as he runs away from Jasper and I.
I take a quick breath of fresh air, free of Henry's tempting blood, to cool the fire in my throat.
"You drink tea?" he questions, incredulous. I feel his fingers touching the inside of my wrist gently and I laugh.
"I'm like you, don't worry." I sing happily, amused by him second guessing my nature. "But I pretend."
"Why?" Jasper's voice is strong in disbelief and his eyes are wide.
I smile at him again, placing my other hand over his hand. "Have you heard of Carlisle Cullen, he's also a vampire?"
"Never." Jasper vows confidently. He stares, unblinking, into my eyes and it warms me.
"I saw a vision of Carlisle, and his family." I tell Jasper, noticing the way he goes rigid at my use of the word "family". He was so terribly molded by his time in the West with Maria. "Carlisle lives peacefully with humans, Jasper. All of the Cullens hunt animals."
"That's impossible." Jasper mutters stoically. Henry returns very briefly with the tea, nearly dropping the teacups onto the counter as his hands shake with fear. He disappears without another word, breathing heavily as he goes.
"It's not!" I tell him energetically. "I've been doing it, Jasper. I hunt animals and I have been since the day I woke up! They don't taste nearly as good, but it's possible to do."
"Why would you?" Jasper wonders. I don't miss the way he turns his body towards me, cocking his head as he asks his question. "Have you had human blood?"
"Yes, accidentally, of course." I trace my fingernail gently in one of the crescent scars on Jasper's hand, slightly ashamed of my accidents. I had accidents a few times, but I was much better at understanding my limits now. "But I don't want to kill them, Jasper. That's why I, and the Cullens, hunt animals. We want to preserve human life, coexist with them."
Jasper is silent as he watches me, testing the atmosphere around us. He's more relaxed now, not sitting rigidly the way no human could. And his hand is much lighter in mine, less tense even though I am tracing his scars. He doesn't seem to mind, at all. In fact, it seemed that he liked it. I hadn't touched a vampire, or really any humans, in far too long. I missed the physical contact.
"I simply can't fathom an existence like this." Jasper murmurs, his fingers twitching in my palm. "To care for humans, to want to exist with them." He grimaces as he speaks, as if his words offer him some kind of pain.
"They're not our enemies." My voice is light as I remind him of this, and he presses his lips together tightly in response.
"They're not our friends, either." Jasper points out fluidly. He leans toward me, and I can feel his breath on my face. "But we're preserving them anyway? Hunting animals – far less appetizing – instead. How can that be sufficient?"
"It is, Jasper. Not all of them are terribly awful, some taste quite delicious."
Jasper smiles, shaking his head. "You are a mysterious young lady, Miss Alice. Quite an enigma."
I smile widely at him, feeling euphoric at Jasper's full smile. "And you, Jasper, are just as mysterious."
"I have, before me, a vampire who hunts animals, reads books written by terribly drunk authors, and drinks tea to please humans." Jasper chuckles under his breath, his eyes wide with an emotion I couldn't quite catch.
I shrug at him. "I never drink the tea, Jasper." I correct light-heartedly, and he laughs. It quiet and beautiful and makes me giddy.
"What shall we do now?" Jasper questions happily after he had finished laughing. He gestures to the counter, raising an eyebrow at the two teacups steaming away at the countertop. "Are we drinking the tea?" he makes a disgusted face.
I let a laugh bubble out of me. "Absolutely not."
He chuckles, it's hesitant and slightly forced. "Good."
I stand up, pulling my rain jacket off the stool next to me. It bothers me when I pull my hands away from Jasper to pull my coat on, but no human would ever walk outside without their protective gear. He's quick to grab my hand when I've buttoned up my coat, and, again, a glorious sense of euphoria courses through me.
"We're going to find the Cullens, Jasper." I tell him firmly, my voice high with my excitement and happiness. "Together."
He stands with a nod, though a bit confused anyway. I drop a few dollars onto the counter to pay for the tea we didn't drink, reaching for my book to tuck into the inside of my coat. It was my favorite book, after all.
"And what will we be doing with them?" he wonders towards me.
"Joining them, of course!" I grin at him, happy when he offers me a small smile in return. "We will be part of their family, Jasper." And one day, Jasper, you will understand what a comfortable and happy existence feels like.
He pulls his eyebrows together, considering my words as we walk out into the rain. The wind is harsh and relentless as it tries to sway the two of us as we walk through the pouring rain, but I hold firmly onto Jasper's hand.
Dusk was coming, bringing the lights on the streets to a golden, bright state beneath the sheets of rain falling. The streets were absolutely free of people as we walked, neither of us guiding each other toward a specific path. We were just walking. I had no desire to ruin the moment of bonding we were having by trying to track down the Cullens. We would worry about that tomorrow.
"The most perfect storm, is it not, Jasper?" I ask him brightly, smiling. Jasper peers down at me, his face puzzled and bemused beneath the soft blanket of his hair. I reach up on the very tips of my toes, brushing Jasper's hair from his face. He smiles contently at my movement.
"What ever could you mean?" he wonders, leaning his face down toward me. It makes his hair fall into his eyes again and I can't help but smile even wider.
"It brought you to me."
After years and years of watching the streets, decades of waiting for new visions, and an lifetime of wondering who this wonderful Jasper was, he was finally mine.
"It did, indeed, my Alice." He says, his perfect southern accent drawing out the words. I wrap my arms around one of his muscular arms, loving the way he pulls me closer to his body protectively. I was his, now, and he was mine. For all of eternity.
It absolutely was the most perfect storm to ever hit Philadelphia in 1948.
