The boys did not put up a fight when talking about Thanksgiving. Not that Hensley expected them to, it was free dinner for a night.
Hensley had off of school, Wednesday, Thursday, and Friday. Unfortunately, she had to work with the Agency on Wednesday, which really put a damper in her 'stay with her family all week' plans. To make matters worse, she got switch on Wednesday which meant there would be no staying with Jasper Wednesday night.
It would work out okay though. That way she could drive down to the Cullen's house with the boys and not allow Kaufmann to test out his navigation skills. Mostly because his navigation skills sucked. Red's navigation skills were far superior to anyone's which then would cause a fight and force Hensley and Anderson to listen to the other two bicker the entire hour. So really, she was willing to take the hit on this to avoid all that mess.
Jasper was not as willing to take the hit but didn't argue. He wouldn't push her into doing something she didn't want to.
"You three are gonna be tired." Kaufmann teased Wednesday morning. Hensley wouldn't get done with work until 10pm, which really was a damper. Anderson got stuck with tuck-in, which was 7pm to 4am. Red had to work another overnight though, so really he was the one who suffered the most. Somehow Kaufmann scored a day off. Probably flirting with the Captain's daughter again.
Red was trying hard to sleep the few hours before his shift, which was difficult because he'd just woken up six hours ago. Also difficult because Kaufmann was pestering Hensley in their room while she was trying to get ready.
"Red's going to kick your arse." Hensley whispered, gesturing to the boy.
Kaufmann just shrugged. He was fairly fearless even when he shouldn't be. "Nah, he's still got nine hours 'til his shift."
Hensley was trying to dress in layers. Leggings under her uniform pants, long sleeve shirt, then t-shirt, then army sweatshirt, then uniform jacket…she had to be on patrol tonight, which meant she was outside until 10pm. In Port Angeles, in end of November, that meant cold.
Red was on comms, which was an inside job. Much easier, but on overnight was pretty bland. Not many people to talk to, not many cargos coming in.
Anderson was prepping supply helicopters for a large shipment going out at 5 in the morning. Their branch in Wyoming was facing a shortage on artillery because of…reasons. Anyway, Anderson and a few men were loading choppers and making sure they were fueled up and ready for the flight.
Anderson and Hensley, being they were up soon, often got bland jobs now. Kaufmann and Red were the only two who got to do anything interesting in terms of missions. The price they paid for getting out.
"I'm gettin' hot looking atcha."
"It's cold outside." Hensley whined as she threw on her sweatshirt, "And I have work in 20 minutes."
"20 minutes you could be without a sweatshirt." He pointed out. Kaufmann was a heater. So was Hensley compared to the other people in her species, but she still got cold in negative temperatures. "Anyway, what's the plan for tomorrow? We're leavin' at one so some whiny ass can sleep a bit."
Red threw a pillow at Kaufmann's back.
Hensley rolled her eyes. The boys would fit right in with Emmett and Cooper. "Yes, leaving at one, eating at four. And you better be on your best behavior or you'll be our dinner."
Kaufmann sniggered, "Yes ma'am. Anythin' else we should know? Talk a lot about you an Emmett to your dad?"
"I will kill you."
"You know what they say, if you're embarrassed about it ya shouldn't be doin' it."
"You look your mother in the face and tell her how many women you've been with."
"I would if I had a mom!" Hensley should've known that wasn't going to work. Kaufmann was embarrassed of nothing. If they didn't have to be so minimalistic, Kaufmann would have a trophy from every one. "Can you believe Anderson's leavin' us this year? What a dick."
Hensley frowned at her closet. She hadn't told the boys about her plan of trying to stay with her dad. She hadn't told anyone but Jasper yet.
"Let him go." Red muttered, "Let him be happy."
"Who could be happy without me?"
It was going to be weird. They'd been together for so long now. They were family.
But at some point, they had to go their separate paths too.
She thought about pipping up and telling them, but now just didn't seem like a good time. She had to work, there was the holiday tomorrow…no sense in starting drama. There was still time to tell them.
The November air was just as cold as Hensley expected it to be. Even with a hat, she was cursing the Agency's requirement to wear hair tied back. Her ears could've used the extra protection.
Her patrol shift was done outside the main building, which meant she wasn't able to walk more than a step or two at time. No generating a little body heat by walking around like they could when patrolling the barracks.
Things weren't so bad in the beginning of the shift. It was early enough that people came and went pretty regularly. Around 6, things took a nosedive in terms of activity. By 7 it was basically a wasteland. To make matters even less exciting, she was working with an army recruit. He was nice enough but working in two completely different areas gave them little to nothing to talk about. Especially since Hensley's area was so classified.
It was a bummer because he was curious. Had she been able to say anything, they probably could've talked all night. Double bummer because her and Red didn't overlap at all. Had they overlapped, he could've created a channel for them to speak on when he wasn't busy.
The last three hours of the shift was easily the worst. Hensley was getting cold as the temperatures dropped and she was bored. Her mind couldn't come up with enough things to keep her occupied. Well, it couldn't come up with enough things that she wanted to think about to keep her occupied.
On the bright side, she was so used to going to bed early that by the time she was done with her shift, she didn't have the energy to lie awake and think about things. Sometimes avoidance was bliss.
Bright lights filled her vision. Five humans sitting at a large semi-circle desk. Denied. Denied. Denied.
No alarms meant sleeping in for once. And she needed it. Despite them keeping the heat off to save money it was nice and warm in her bed under the covers. Kaufmann was up bright and early seeing as he didn't have to work the day before or that day. Thankfully Hensley was able to go right back to sleep despite his noise. Kaufmann never was very good at being quiet.
One would think after five years he would've gotten better. Instead, he's been the same.
Poor Red only got five hours of sleep by the time he needed to get up and get ready. Slight bags accented his tiredness. Whether or not the other two boys would be nice enough to be quiet so he could sleep in the car…time would tell.
The morning and the ride proved to be a silent one. Hensley wasn't sure if it was because 3/4 of them were tired or because they were nervous. She herself wasn't that nervous, instead having little excited jitters in her stomach the entire ride. She was no Jasper though it was hard to tell what the other three were feeling. Their poker face was much better than hers which didn't help. On the bright side, Red got his extra bit of sleep.
Once they got there though, it was the polar opposite.
All three boys had known Emmett very well when he was human. Being a vampire didn't change that relationship in the slightest, at least not on their end. Cooper, being a similar personality to Emmett, quickly gained the boys' friendship as well. And then there was Carlisle, who'd also spent a considerable amount of time with them and was no stranger to giving them sass right back. Hensley was relieved. At least they wouldn't feel awkward.
They spent the first part of the evening catching up. They hadn't seen each other in four years and Kaufmann had quite the list of lady encounters to go through. Nothing super personal, he just…knew how to pick them.
"Are you sure you don't need any help?" Hensley asked Esme for the third time since she arrived. She felt guilty sitting around lounging with everyone else while Esme, Alice, and Edward cooked.
Esme felt the opposite, "No, now shoo. Go spend time with your family!"
"You are my family…."
Her mother gave her a stern enough look to make her walk away. Jasper chuckled.
"I told you." He teased as they walked back to the living room where Kaufmann was talking about the time he knocked out a man's front tooth because he was getting too close to his girl.
"Wait, was this before or after he slashed your tire?"
"Before." Kaufmann answered Cooper, "I knew it was him too because there was blood on my rim. Asshole."
Hensley shook her head. Sometimes she questioned how Kaufmann hadn't gone to jail yet.
"That's alright. Caught her with him in her bed two weeks later, so I put her naked ass out on the front lawn. Figured I'd give her some good advertising."
Did she mention Kaufmann knew how to pick them?
Carlisle moved to join Hensley and Jasper on the other side of the room from the newfound amigos. "I'm really not sure what I'm listening to." He chuckled. "Anyway, I did some digging back through the South American legends on half-vampires, trying to see if they had anything to say about the mating thing you two seem to have."
Hensley couldn't help but smile. She had given up the search after her conversation with Jasper about the Volturi. It was nice to know that her father was still looking into it. He undoubtedly had access to more resources than she did.
"Were you able to find anything?" Jasper asked. He tightened his grip around Hensley's waist to pull her closer. Almost as if he wanted to shield her from what her father's response would be.
Carlisle eyed Jaspers hand though he said nothing and shook his head, "They don't say anything about the mating of hybrids. Unfortunately. It would lead me to believe that mating should be the same as mating between vampires. Or, in Edward's case, mating between a human and a vampire. I see no medical reason why it would be different."
She felt Jasper soften next to her, "You don't think there's something physically wrong with us then? I mean, I would think not considering how indestructible I am."
"I would doubt it. What explanation would there be? Your heart no longer beats or functions. Your lungs do function, but if there was an issue with them then it would be constant, not sporadic. It would be trigged by a physical movement, not an emotion from her."
"Do you think that's it?" Hensley questioned, "He feels emotions. Is that why he feels that pain when I do?"
"My range isn't that good though. You were in Port Angeles when you first felt it, I was in Forks. I can feel emotions, but not of people that far away."
Carlisle agreed, "That's why I don't think it's related to your gifts. Lexi's gifts have nothing to do with emotions or feeling and you can feel it even when you're not with each other. You've checked the Agency database?"
Hensley nodded. She wasn't sure why she felt so defeated again. She'd stopped looking already. Her father wasn't telling her anything she didn't already know or suspect. "The only thing Aiden suggested was the Volturi."
"Who's Aiden?" Jasper asked quickly. His voice was hard. Could he be jealous?
"Aiden's the AI in charge of the database." Carlisle rolled his eyes. Jasper had been jealous…this fact warmed her heart a little. "I'd rather not get the Volturi involved. I'm not sure what kind of research they'd like to do for their own records, but I'm sure neither you nor I would enjoy it. I didn't exactly share you with them when I was approached by the Agency either. I'm sure they wouldn't do anything about it now, seeing as your no threat to our secret, but them wanting to research your condition for themselves worries me. Of course, if this was something you wanted to do I'd certainly bring you."
"Yeah, that's what we need. For them to use it against us." Jasper muttered bitterly.
"Why would they use it against us?" Clearly Hensley was missing a piece.
Carlisle glanced towards the kitchen, "They've been after Edward and Alice for quite some time. Interested in using their gifts for themselves. I'm sure they'd share the same feelings about you. Especially seeing as you have so many. They haven't forced Edward or Alice to be with them yet-"
"Yet, being the key word there." Jasper interrupted, "The last thing I want is them using me against you or you against Alice and Edward."
That did put quite the damper on an already drowning situation. "I won't put you, Alice, or Edward at risk with this. It's not something that we think causes long term affects or damage. We were only looking into it because we wanted to know what it was. I won't risk them for knowledge sake."
"I can try other channels as well. In my 300 years on this planet, I've run into quite a few people. Eleazar might even know something. He was with the Volturi for a while as well."
"Who's Eleazar?"
Carlisle smiled over at her, "Our 'cousins.' Well, we just call them that. They're the only other vegetarian group I've met. Because of our similar lifestyles we call each other cousins."
Extended family. Hensley thought she was spoiled with a family, especially a large family. Now she got an extended family. She never had cousins before. Unless…. "Do they know about me?"
"Of course. Eleazar and I shared many conversations during your development. He's also very interested in how we operate, the gifts we possess. His own gift is being able to read others and learn their gifts just by being near them. He would've been helpful in your first few years of life had the Agency let him."
"How many gifts do you have?" Jasper changed the conversation, "I know you can read people and allow people into your mind; you see the future…how many others am I missing?"
Her face felt hot. Knowing most vampires only had one gift made her self-conscious. She was special enough without her gifts. Though the Agency had insisted on them. "Just one more. I can shock people."
"Kate will be very excited about that." Carlisle smiled, then clarified when he saw her confused expression. "One of our cousins has the same gift."
That would be fun. She felt a nice level of understanding between her and Edward because of their shared gift. Maybe Kate would feel the same way and they'd be fast friends. It'd be nice to have something in common.
Jasper on the other hand was marveling at his mate. She was built for battle. Given all the tools necessary to be able to effectively take down opponents, learn strategies, gain insider knowledge, anticipate enemy movements. How the Agency was letting that go without a fight concerned him. So much time and money put into her…there's no way they'd give up that easy.
Unless, he looked at the three men on the other side of the room, they had something much better. Their own versions of these gifts, without needing the vampirism.
….
"Come on. I thought you were supposed to be smart." Kaufmann chided Anderson. Anderson was playing chess against Jasper. He'd made a couple mistakes so far based on Hensley's calculations. In all fairness, Jasper had much more practice.
Anderson didn't give in to the teasing. He was focused.
Kaufmann was too impatient for chess. He didn't like to think through every single possible outcome. He wanted to go in guns blazing. The trait made it hard for him to go much further in the Agency rank wise. Hensley was pretty sure Kaufmann didn't care.
Red would sit for chess if he had nothing better to do. He preferred to think through real situations and not games. The man wasn't much of a joker. How he and Kaufmann had gotten along so well for so many years surprised Hensley.
Therefore, Anderson was really the only one who'd play with her. In a way she felt like she trained him, helped him prepare for battles against others. She wanted him to win so she won in turn. On the other hand, Jasper was her mate. She didn't want him to lose either. A win for him was a win for their team. I guess you could say either way she won, and she wasn't playing.
"Psst." Emmett waved Kaufmann over to the stairs. Hensley saw what he was doing. Something more interesting for both boys. More shooty shooty and less thinky thinky. She hoped Kaufmann creamed Emmett on their video game battlefield. Jasper always complained about how Emmett won. Hensley wasn't sure Kaufmann would be a better opponent considering real fighting was much different than video game fighting, but she could hope.
"Children." Red muttered beside her. He had taken up the offer to check out the extensive library in Carlisle's office. A scholar at heart. Too bad the Agency had very different plans for him.
Hensley wasn't sure why Red was surprised at this point. He'd known Kaufmann longer than Hensley knew any of them. And Kaufmann was not one to hide his personality.
Anderson sighed as Jasper nearly cornered him. "Hensley, distract your man. Put your tits in his face or something."
Jasper gave him a sympathy smile, "Little does he know vampires are excellent multitaskers. I can easily satisfy her and kick your ass at chess."
"Not if I know you're playing chess on the side you can't." Hensley shook her head, trying to picture that situation. Part of her wondered if she'd be so overcome with ecstasy that she really wouldn't notice….
"I manipulate emotions darlin'. Trust me, you'd never know the wiser." Apparently the answer to her question was yes.
Maybe they should test it out just to be sure….
Jasper smirked as he picked up on her emotion shift again. She was thinking it was going to be great based on the strength of her lust. He could only hope to live up to her expectations when the time came. For Edward it would be easy, humans were drawn into vampires by nature. Just being in his presence left Bella dazed. Would Lexi fall prey to the same tactics? He couldn't imagine she would. Not only was she not supremely appetizing given her partially vampiric smell, she hasn't been subject to his vampiric charm so far.
Part of him was glad she wasn't. Their relationship wasn't built on primal tactics. The other part of him was a little worried. Could he really live up to her expectations without it? He seemed to be so far, at least as far as he knew.
Once conversation settled down, Rosalie joined the group to talk for a bit. She'd mostly kept her distance from the situation. She wasn't supremely excited about three humans being in the house, even if they were part of the same government that blessed the Cullen's with Lexi. Still, with Emmett and Cooper upstairs with Kaufmann, Esme and Carlisle cleaning up from dinner, Edward playing his stupid piano, and Alice…who knew, there wasn't much to do for entertainment anymore.
Jasper was almost surprised she came to be with them. He generally didn't have much to talk about with Rosalie, despite their similar opinions. Jasper and Rosalie were the logical ones, generally not swayed by emotion. They were the hard-asses that looked after their family and made the calls that no one else wanted to make. Neither of them were particularly excited about Bella, not because she wasn't a good kid, but because if things ended badly…they'd end really bad. Who would be left burying the body? Usually, Jasper or Rosalie.
However, she'd taken quite a liking to Alexandria. Even if Rose wasn't quite ready to admit it yet. Lexi was of a similar mindset though. You did things because they had to be done or to protect the ones you cared about.
Aside from that, how could one not love Alexandria?
She was intelligent…confident…fierce…strong…funny…determined…driven…not to mention beautiful….
"Dude." Anderson whispered, breaking him out of his thought train. He looked at the chess board and realized he made a mistake. Shit. "You totally screwed up."
"He was totally thinking about his girlfriend." Edward informed them from the piano. Damn Edward. Ratting him out.
Anderson smiled up at him, "You know why the Agency keeps us separated from our family? That. Love makes you stupid and reckless."
….
Jasper wasn't sure what bothered him about that statement, even hours later after the boys had left it was just the family.
Lexi was curled up against his chest, breathing evenly from sleep, perfectly content in the cocoon he created with his body and his arms. Could he really make decisions that would hurt his perfect mate in the end? Could he be so reckless in her safety to lead her to be taken away from him?
No.
He couldn't. He was smart, he was thorough, he wouldn't take chances. Not with her. He couldn't.
The world, without her, would cease to exist. A cold, empty shell of its former self. The sun would never rise; warmth would never touch his skin. Happiness would never be felt. Only darkness. Sadness. Despair. Anguish. Hatred. Burning hatred for who took her…then pain. Sharp, stabbing pain. Crippling pain.
It eased. The muscles in his chest loosened and the air flowed freely back into his compressed lungs. His head broke from the black water. Heat pierced his lower abdomen and with it, brought peace.
"What's wrong, Jazzy?" Her sleepy voice filled his ears. It brought him relief, but also frustration. He knew why she woke up.
He kissed the top of her forehead and flooded her with the same emotions she felt while sleeping, "Nothing, darlin'. You go back to sleep."
She didn't argue with him as she slipped back into her dreamland. Between her being half awake and the emotions he pressed onto her It was hard to fight. Or so he expected anyway. It was times like this he wished he could sleep. He could push emotions on himself and get him close, but his mind was racing. It was hard to shut it off, to be present instead. Especially when there was so much to think about. So many unanswered questions. So many fears unquelled.
"What's wrong, Jazzy?" Her voice stronger this time. Damn it.
He kicked himself internally. He was interrupting her sleep. Forcing her to worry about him when she should be resting peacefully. Instead of answering her, he tried to lull her back to sleep with his emotions. She was a bit more awake this time, moving her hand up from his lower abs to his side and rubbing it. He stiffened as her fingers brushed raised, angry skin. "Jazzy…."
"Shh…go back to sleep baby."
"You hurt."
His hand carefully found the top of hers, so she'd stop rubbing his side. Not that he didn't enjoy her warmth but her touching the scars on his body was making him uncomfortable. Self-conscious. He was scarred up and wrecked. Broken goods. Lexi could only be reminded of that when touching his skin. "I'm okay. Go back to sleep."
"You be nice to my Jazzy."
Her Jazzy. That did sound nice. Perfect, actually. Usually he wasn't keen on nicknames, but Jazzy was close to Jazz. Not that it mattered. She could call him anything and it'd sound lovely simply because it came from her.
How much dignity he lost…
How little he cared.
She woke up a few hours later to Jasper gently stroking her hair. This world she found herself in was weird. Not at all a bad weird. Perhaps different was a better word than weird. Weird had a negative connotation to it. Different seemed much more appropriate.
This world was blissful. Full of love and joy and contentment. Her heart had never been so full.
"Good morning." Jasper kissed her hairline. Sometimes she couldn't help but think of him as a little cat. So cuddly and yet so fierce.
Hensley repeated his morning greeting back to him. The muscles in her body were betraying her. They itched to stretch and flex but doing so would mean breaking away from Jasper. She was much less interested in the latter.
Maybe it was her who was the cat?
She negotiated with her body and let her legs stretch. Compromise, right?
"My sisters have an evil plan to steal you away today." Jasper muttered into her hair.
This bit was news to her. As far as she knew they had no plans this weekend. "Oh? What's so evil about it?"
Part of her expected Rosalie to threaten her within an inch of her life…part of her could replace that thought with Alice. Rose would frown and glare the whole time, but Alice would do it with a sweet little smile. Despite their features, Hensley was sure Alice would be more intimidating.
"The fact that they want to take you away today." Jasper stated as if it were obvious. To his credit, she should've known.
Compromise, right? "Well, you did have me all last weekend. I suppose it's only fair I spend one day with them."
He seemed annoyed at her willingness to leave him for the day. "You don't have to seem so eager."
"I'm not. I'm just saying we'll have to share at some point. Besides, this might not be an awful idea. When's the last time you went hunting?"
Jasper was reluctant to answer that question. It had been much longer than he was used to. School was a little rough during their shortened week. Nothing thinking about Lexi couldn't drag him out of though. "Not that long ago."
The answer wasn't exactly a lie. Time was relative.
Her thumbs caressed just under his eyes. Damn bruises were giving him away, "Your eyes are bruised. They've only been getting worse as your eyes change color. Are you sure you're okay? Are you upset?"
"No, I'm okay. I'm going to miss you today, that's all."
"I'm sorry. Have I been doing something to anger you?"
She felt a twinge of sadness and he was eager to correct it. "No, no. You don't have to apologize. Why are you upset?"
"Because if you get bruises because you're upset, and the bruises have been getting worse lately then I must be upsetting you."
"I don't get them because I'm upset. Don't apologize."
Hensley relaxed a bit at this news, "So you're not mad at me?"
"No," He pulled her in closer for a tight hug. Lexi's scent hit him square in the face as his nose touched her jawline. His favorite place was her neck, but it was better to not test his previously weak self-control.
"So if you don't need to hunt, what are you going to do today?"
Jasper felt bad fibbing to her and broke easily at her question, "I should probably hunt. Just to be safe."
"How long do you guys usually go without hunting?"
"It depends on the person. Carlisle can go three to four weeks. Emmett, because he's younger, about a week, week and a half."
"How long do you usually go?"
He was reluctant to answer. Would his response make him seem weak? "I usually go with Emmett, but before he joined the family I'd try for two weeks."
"Has it been a week since you hunted last?"
Too many questions about hunting. She was curious, nothing more. Part of him couldn't help but feel like it was test and he was failing. "Yeah, it has." More like three, though who was counting.
Maybe pushing himself like this was a good thing. Building his endurance.
Lexi went off to shower so she could get ready for her girl's day. She had asked Jasper if he wanted to join her, but Carlisle's sharp "No, he doesn't." made them both reconsider. Truthfully Jasper had been relieved. He wasn't sure he was ready to bare himself to her. She wasn't in too deep to run away yet.
With him not being graced with her naked presence, Jasper figured he should do something useful and make breakfast.
This was going to be difficult considering he knew how to make nothing. Fortunately, he had a brother that had been human recently and a brother who was also dating a human-food eater. Unfortunately, the recently human brother offered to help him. And he was inept at most things.
"Okay, uh, Lexi likes cereal…toast…pancakes, but only thin pancakes not thick pancakes." Jasper felt like he needed to be writing this down. He'd never forgotten anything since being a vampire, but the fear of forgetting something about Lexi smashed his face in.
"Also, she doesn't like burnt toast. She likes golden toast. And she has to have skim milk or 1% otherwise she gets sick." He should definitely be writing this down. Once he rummaged around for paper and pen he wrote furiously on his post-its, recalling with ease every fact Emmett had listed out.
"Why are you writing this down?" Emmett rose his eyebrow at his newly odd brother. Jasper had never been super weird until he met Lexi. Then he got circus weird.
"So I can't forget." Jasper snapped, "Keep going."
Emmett understood none of what Jasper was saying, but continued, "Uh, okay."
In the end, Jasper had 7 post-it notes full of information and no breakfast prepared. Hensley felt too nice to say something. Especially since he didn't need to cook breakfast for her. The post-its were a little weird. Touching in a way though.
Thankfully Carlisle and Esme had gone grocery shopping, something Hensley really hadn't done herself yet. She'd been outside for a month and yet the boys were the only ones who'd made it out to shop. Working 4-7pm left little motivation for buying food. Besides, Hensley paid the boys for her share.
Having a whole new kitchen full of food to look at was mind-boggling. She took her time to open every cupboard and observe all the different kinds of snacks, quick meals, and sides. Cereals Hensley had never heard of, all the toast toppings, rice, fun noodle packets, deserts in boxes…something called hot chocolate? She figured it was like an MRE for chocolate. Wouldn't that make the chocolate melty though? Who cared…melted chocolate…awesome!
She settled for cereal since she spent so much time marveling at the food instead of eating it. Her cereal was fun little squares with cinnamon sugar on them. It was the sweetest cereal she'd ever had in her life. Normally the boys bought small donut-shaped cereal. Not as sweet as you'd think unless they got the honey flavored kind. The honey flavored one was her favorite.
"Skim milk always has a pink cap." Emmett continued to teach Jasper about human food through her breakfast. It was actually kind of cute.
"How is that?" Jasper pointed to her cereal. She gave him a thumbs up and a smile, so he wrote down the name of the cereal with a check mark next to it that way he knew she liked it.
"She doesn't like whole-grain bread because it's got weird shit in it, like nuts or something. Wheat bread is cool though. White bread is probably the best.
Whole-grain bread…'x'.
Hensley nearly spit out her cereal, "They're grains you idiot."
"Did you seriously just say whole-grain bread has nuts in it?" Rosalie laughed, taking a seat next to her new sister, "So on a scale of 1-10 how excited are you to spend time with intelligent people today?"
Hensley gave her another thumbs up while spooning more cereal into her mouth. Emmett shrugged and continued, "Anyway, little to no butter on toast because she gets sick. Really, little to no butter in anything. Butter is always salted, unless you're some kind of animal."
"Have I ever had unsalted butter?" Hensley didn't even know there was different butter….
"No, because you're not an animal. Now, mac and cheese is always best in the spiral shapes never the normal elbows. Shells and cheese is a good substitute though. She doesn't like strawberries because the seeds freak her out. She also doesn't like melon of any kind. No watermelon, no orange melon, no green melon. Also, pizza: stuffed crust."
Hensley gasped, "Stuffed crust!"
"I know baby, I know."
The next sound that was heard was Emmett grunting in pain from Jasper hurling himself full force into the forementioned brother. "The hell did you just call her?!"
It took Hensley's brain a few moments to react to the scene on the other side of the island. Jasper was on top of Emmett trying to get his hands around Emmett's neck while poor Em was trying to get Jasper off of him. Cooper was in the room next, heaving Jasper off of Emmett. Jasper struggled against his older brother, still growling at the other.
In mere milliseconds she was picturing Jasper growling in a much different setting…her underneath him…a predatory growl on his lips….
"Help me." Cooper's voice was strained. He was struggling to keep Jasper in his grip.
Finally, her brain snapped back to reality, and she jumped off her chair to fling herself at her mate. As soon as she got her arms around him he was better, reciprocating her hug and nuzzling his face in her neck. It was dangerous for him to be this close when he hadn't hunted, but he needed this damn it. Every breath of her scent was a breath of clarity.
"What is going on?!" Esme rushed into the room and observed her children. Some were winded, some were hugging, Rosalie looked bored….
Emmett, who was still laying on the floor, appeared in shock, "I almost died."
"You wouldn't've died. We woulda glued ya back together." Cooper helped him up, patting him on the back with a laugh. Em seemingly forgot his trauma and chuckled along with him.
"You can glue vampires back together?" Hensley asked from Jasper's chest. He was still very unwilling to let her go.
"Yeah," Cooper snorted, "Did that to Peter and Jasper a few times back in the day."
Jasper lifted his head just enough to let one eye glare at his brother, "Make yourself scarce."
"I ain't tellin' her none of your secrets…damn. I though havin' a girl would make you more fun not less."
Good thing Jasper couldn't see Hensley's face.
Alice popped into the kitchen after Cooper left, "Okay, now that we're done fighting I need to steal your girlfriend and-"
She was quickly cut off with a sharp growl from Jasper.
Alice sighed, "I saw this happening. Fine. Lexi, Jasper hasn't hunted in three weeks and-"
"Shut. Up. Alice!" Jasper snapped at his sister. He was too late though.
"Getting him in trouble with his girlfriend so we can leave…nice." Rosalie complimented Alice. Sometimes the little pixie really was clever. Alice took Rosalie's hand with a smirk and a wink.
Jasper watched his mate's emotions carefully to see if she was angry with him. She was calm, content even. For some reason that put him more on edge. She should've been angry with him. Shouldn't she?
"You should get a good hunt in while I'm gone." She whispered, breaking their hug slightly to look up at him. Before he could respond, her lips captured his in a slow kiss. For a split second his body tried to revolt from his brain, tried to push him to crash his lips back on to hers and kiss her senseless. Then water hit them.
Hensley squeaked in surprise at the cool water on her skin. She broke out of Jasper's hug and turned to find her father with a spray bottle, threatening to do it again. "Leave room for Jesus. Or Satan. Or anyone at this point, I don't care who breaks you up."
There was no point in arguing, so she pursed her lips and nodded, "I had to go anyway."
God damn Carlisle interrupting his moment.
Though it was probably for the best. Him not hunting and being closer than normal to Lexi might not have been a good combination.
Hensley fidgeting with the sleeves of her shirt on their way down to Seattle for shopping. Port Angeles was nice for a few things but didn't have quite the selection the girls were looking for apparently.
Truth be told Hensley could use some new clothes. She'd been wearing the same plain shirt and flannels for the last…well, nine years. The only two nice shirts she had had come from another girl in the agency who was getting rid of them.
The only issue was new clothes was that they were expensive, and Hensley was poor. She'd been paid twice now from her new job, which was nice. But she did have to pay rent and purchase gasoline for her car. That made things a little tighter on the money. At least tighter than she suspected Rosalie and Alice were doing on cash.
It was supposed to be a three-hour trip from Forks to Seattle, but the way Alice drove nearly cut it in half. Hensley wasn't sure if she should be impressed or scared.
They found a mall with more stores than Hensley even knew existed. Being the day after Thanksgiving, Hensley didn't think things were going to be busy…yet there was hundreds of people. Signs indicating large percentages off of merchandise, sales, and 'black Friday' were everywhere she looked. It was nice that they had a Friday for the black population, but why the Friday after Thanksgiving? You think that'd be reserved for the Native population….
"Okay," Alice stopped out of the way of most of the crowds, "no offense…but your clothes."
"What's wrong with flannel?" Hensley wrapped her flannel tighter around her body.
Alice sighed, "I think all you wear is flannel."
"Okay, you got me there. But flannel is cool. Layers. It's versatile! Could be dressy or casual…."
Rosalie and Alice were looking at her with raised eyebrows. Apparently flannel was no longer versatile.
"Oh boy." Alice clasped her hands together, "Okay. Where to first?"
"Um, guys. One thing to keep in mind while we're going…poor student over here, so go easy on me."
Rosalie frowned at her and took her arm, "You're Carlisle's daughter. How can you be poor?"
"Who my dad is has nothing to do with how much money I have?"
"Ugh, you think he'd give you a credit card by now or something." Hensley could practically hear Alice rolling her eyes ahead of her. She couldn't really figure out why though. She wasn't at all entitled to the money her father made. He was even nice enough to buy groceries for her to eat at his house. That was plenty.
The first place they stopped at was some fancy store that made Hensley die every time she looked at a price tag. $80 for pants? No thanks. Alice protested hard core about Hensley not buying anything but purchasing one thing would kill her entire bank account.
They stopped a couple more places that were slightly more reasonably priced. Hensley drifted towards the clearance rack in both places because she had no shame in saving money. She did cave slightly and bought a couple nice blouses. It would be nice to look just a little bit like Jasper and his family. Just a little.
Alice gasped as they rounded the corner on their journey around the mall. "We have to!"
"Oh yes. Yes we do." Rosalie agreed.
Hensley was thoroughly lost. She was soon informed.
Arm in arm, Alice led Hensley to a bright pink store with trendy music and scraps of clothing. Hensley was very unsure how to feel about this store. Bras, panties…onesies? were everywhere. Pictures of skinny, perfect girls in the outfits lined the walls. Alice and Rose seemed to know exactly what they wanted, picking things out of drawers like they owned the shop and debating colors and fits.
Hensley was more…overwhelmed. She'd never been in a store even close to this before. Was it awful she bought her underwear at a generic store that just happened to have them? When did you even wear see-through onesies with small pieces of fabric in the boob area? What was the purpose of small bands of fabric around your thigh? Could she even remotely come close to the beautiful women in the pictures? Would Jasper expect all of this when he saw her undress for the first time?
"Hey, what's going on? Why are you hyperventilating?" Rosalie's voice pulled her out of her panic. She didn't even realize her breathing had quickened.
Her brain stumbled to form a sentence together "I-they're…I mean Jasper…I can't…."
There was no way she could do this. There was no way she'd even come close to looking like any of the women in the photos or even her own sisters for god's sake. If this was what Jasper wanted….
Rosalie gave her a confused look while Hensley looked and gestured around. Seeing her confusion didn't help Hensley make better sentences, "I just-I don't know. I can't-I'm not…."
She could never make Jasper happy.
"Have you never been in here before?" Finally, Rosalie threw her bone.
Hensley shut her mouth and shook her head.
"Okay, that's fine. Just take my hand and we'll find some stuff. It'll be easy. Alice will basically do all the work for you."
Hensley let Rosalie take her hand, but she couldn't help the pit of dread in her stomach and the weight on her chest, "Rose. I can't. I mean…." She forced Rose to stop and took a deep breath, "I'm never going to be that." She gestured to the poster behind them, "If Jasper needs this then we're screwed."
Rosalie rolled her eyes and laughed, "Please. You could take clothes from a dumpster and Jasper would think you're the sexiest thing ever. This is just for fun."
"I highly doubt he thinks that about me. We've hardly kissed."
"Perfect, this will encourage him then." She winked. "Alice, she's never been here and has nothing. Go wild."
Alice squealed and quickly got to work. The small girl dragged Hensley around the store picking out different styles, colors, and garments. She wasn't opposed to Hensley's questioning about what things were. Bonus! Downside: she felt like a toddler. 'What's that? What's that? What's that?'
"If I remember anything about Jasper-"
"Woah, woah, woah! What did you just say?" A fire lit inside Hensley's chest with a ferocity she hadn't ever felt. She ripped her hand out of Alice's as her entire body tensed and shook slightly. The urged to get her hands on Alice and dismember her piece by piece was…agonizing.
Alice paused for a moment and nodded, "Got it. Jasper hasn't talked to you about that. Anyway, we weren't together very long. Trust me when I say neither of us feel anything for each other anymore. We got rid of those feelings before we found Carlisle and Esme." Her voice ended in a whisper though its softness did little to calm Hensley.
She saw that Hensley was no less angry from her words and she sighed, "Lexi…seriously. Jasper has no feelings for me, and I obviously have no feelings for him. Cooper is my partner. I just meant it as a way to help."
"I don't need your help with that." Hensley snarled barely keeping her composure. That's exactly what she needed. Jasper thinking of Alice when they finally did have sex…absolutely not.
Her phone buzzed repeatedly in her pocket. She huffed at Alice and stormed out of the store.
"Yeah." Yanking the phone up to her ear, she rolled her eyes at the situation she was in. Let's play mate swap….
Jasper's strained voice greeted her ear, "Who the hell am I killin' darlin'?"
She sighed into the phone and closed her eyes. Causing Jasper pain was the last thing she wanted to do. He was supposed to be enjoying a peaceful hunt with his brothers.
Fresh air and the realization she was hurting her mate was helpful. Really, it was fine. What Alice said was no big deal. Maybe she was irrational. Maybe she was Jasper trying to kill Lauren, "Sorry. Alice told me about you two."
The other end of the phone was quiet for a few minutes, "I'm sorry, Lexi."
"It's fine. She was trying to help me with something and brought it up and I overreacted." Hensley was trying to push her anger down into her toes. Deep breath in…deep breath out…she was just being stupid.
"You should've heard it from me."
Her shoulders shrugged, and then she realized he couldn't see her, "We've never talked about it before. It's not really something you could ever casually mention."
"Yeah, but still. I am sorry. If it makes you feel better I would come burn Alice right there in front of everyone if it made you happy."
Hensley scoff-giggled, "Jasper!"
"What? I'll burn anyone who makes you unhappy." He was completely casual. As if burning people to death was a natural way to show your love. Hell, where he came from with Maria, maybe it was.
"I can assure you that won't be necessary."
"Tell him he's an asshole." Alice popped up next to her. Hensley laughed. Poor visions.
"I'm not sure what she's upset about," Jasper muttered, "apparently she's known this about me longer than I've known this about me."
"Not about me! About Emmett sure."
"Wait, what?" Hensley gawked.
Alice gave the girl a confused look, "Emmett's told you about Carlisle being upset with him but not Jasper being upset with him?"
This was news to Hensley. Emmett never said anything about Jasper being upset with him. And Emmett was not good at keeping his mouth shut. "Why are you mad at Emmett?"
Again, Jasper was quiet for a few moments before answering, "I gotta go."
"Jasper! If you don't tell me I'll get Alice to."
"Woah, woah, woah! You're mad at her! She tried helping you, remember?"
Hensley and Alice burst out laughing again. "We gotta go. Love you, Jazzy!" She told him quickly before hanging up the phone.
Alice gasped, but Hensley already realized what she did as her laughter died out. She said it. She was the first one to say it. And she hung up on him, so she had no idea how he felt about that. Oh god. Her chest hammered blood through her body, but she never felt this cold in her life.
"Was that the first time you told him you loved him?" Hensley wasn't sure why Alice was asking. Based on the girl's gasp earlier she figured Alice knew it was the first time. Regardless, Hensley nodded.
"That's so cute!" Alice continued, "Anyway, now we definitely need things from that store. I promise I'm not trying to overstep boundaries, just giving you some sisterly help since you've never been here."
"Are you going to tell me what you used on Jasper? No offense, but I really don't want Jasper thinking about you during these events."
Alice linked arms with Hensley again and nodded while leading her back inside, "I understand. Trust me, I don't think that'll be a concern. But how about we just find things you feel confident in and you can figure Jasper out on your own."
Hensley pushed her love worries out of her head. Jasper didn't call her back and break up with her. That meant it was okay, right?
Deep breath in….deep breath out…focus on the task at hand. "Sounds perfect."
The rest of the trip went much better. Alice still made Hensley try on a fuck-ton of outfits. Worse than that, Hensley quickly learned she was expected to show Alice and Rosalie so they could assess. She'd never even tried on these kinds of outfits before and then to show them to her two sisters that she hardly knew? Cringe.
Nevertheless, bearing herself to strangers wasn't exactly anything new when you were in the military. She even shared a room with three men. Besides, Rosalie and Alice's opinions weren't what mattered, only Jasper's. If one outfit didn't look flattering then try another one. Not all clothes were made for everyone.
She started with separate pieces. Tops with matching panties, leaving her midriff exposed. Apparently fake underwear was a thing. Fake because there was no fabric on the bottom, meaning she was left completely exposed. The things people thought of….
Next came single pieces. Alice had picked out a spaghetti-strap black floral lace number that was what she considered a onesie. It was completely form fitting and clung to the middle of her body. A plus: it made her boobs look great. It covered enough to leave a little to the imagination but was low cut enough to give him a great sneak peek. A minus (in her opinion) was that it completely showed off her legs, which wasn't something she was comfortable with. Her muscled thighs were bigger than she desired. No amount of training or dieting was going to fix it, she trained relentlessly in the military and aside from looking more toned, they didn't change at all. Just the way she was made.
Alice ooh'ed with a high pitch little squeal that nearly made Hensley cringe. Despite Alice's excitement, Rosalie dismissed it immediately, "You don't love it. Take it off."
"You don't love it?" Alice's jaw dropped and she moved to start fiddling with the outfit pulling it different ways to make it fit better. How it could fit better when it was so skin-tight Hensley was not sure. Alice paused in front of her for a moment before shaking her head, "I hate that I can't see you."
Hensley smirked. Little did Alice know she loved the fact that she couldn't be seen by the pixie's visions. Anything for some privacy. "I'm not overly self-conscious, but I hate my thighs."
"Why? You're built like a Greek Goddess." Alice's compliment really didn't feel like one, "besides, most lingerie fits like this unless you're getting stockings or garters." Hensley had recently learned what the last thing was during her 20 questions moment.
"She could go with something flowy? It won't help much, but it'll come down to here instead of showing off the full leg." Rosalie was quick to jump in, touching Hensley's upper thigh where the flowier piece would hit. It definitely wasn't longer, just covered a touch of her leg instead of none of it. Maybe the touch of fabric would help her feel more comfortable.
Alice leaned back in thought, placing one small hand on her chin, "We could always go sleeper instead of actual lingerie." She skipped off back to the main room without another word.
Hensley sighed and made awkward eye contact with another shopper coming out of the fitting rooms. "Am I going to like her plan?"
Rosalie just smirked, "You're the fortune teller."
Alice came back with a short-sleeved black lace romper with a huge plunge neckline that went down to the cinched waist. The cut of the plunge was perfect in that it covered most of her breasts, but definitely left some out for teasing. Surprisingly, Hensley loved it.
They agreed that they'd stick with something less intense for now and work Hensley's way up. Well, Rose agreed. Alice frowned and sighed dramatically however, kept her complaints to a minimum. All in all, Hensley ended up with some new bra and panty sets and the sleeper. Rosalie assured her the bag would be plenty to keep Jasper interested though.
The thought of Jasper so interested in her purchases lit a small flame in her lower abdomen. Maybe he'd even corner her…towering over her while his body (more specifically his lower half) was pressed tightly up against her…grinding…rubbing…. Please let this trip be over.
Her two companions were not as eager or as in a rush to get home. Patience was truly a virtue.
Hensley quit counting how many stores they went to and decided to try and actually enjoy the time spent with her sisters. Afterall, Rosalie seemed to hate Bella. Hensley should be grateful the girls wanted to spend time with her. Her biggest fear had been that Carlisle's family hated her.
Besides, Alice seemed to love throwing clothes at her.
"Alexandria, you pick that back up. That is adorable."
And Alice was bossy as shit.
"Alice, I told you. I'm not getting anything else." Hensley walked right past the sweater defiantly. Rosalie was much more apt to protect her from Alice's tiny fashion rage so Hensley wanted to seek her out before Alice could protest more. Unfortunately for Hensley, Rosalie had wandered off somewhere.
"Alice leave her alone." But apparently she was still in earshot.
Her smaller sister was not having it. "Rose, she's gotten nothing else. She needs to update her wardrobe."
"What's wrong with my wardrobe?" Hensley unnecessarily asked. She knew exactly what was wrong with her closet, but the lingerie was much more expensive than she'd anticipated. If she wanted to pay rent this month she had to call it quits.
"Oh please. All the way down here you were excited to get new things. Now you're all 'meh' about everything I show you."
"Maybe you don't know her style."
Alice glared at the direction of Rosalie's voice, "How dare you. I think I know her pretty well by now."
Hensley decided to try and remedy the situation before it escalated, "That's not it. The stuff Alice has shown me has been really cute!"
"Okay, so what's the deal? Do you see how many bags I have? You don't need to be shy about what you get."
"Remember what I said earlier? Poor student over here. That lingerie was my entire budget. I gotta pay rent you know."
Alice opened her mouth to say something but hesitated ever so slightly, "Fine. That's fair."
No way she gave in that easily. Did she?
She seemed to. The rest of the time spent shopping was Alice and Rosalie asking Hensley's opinion, but the pressure and frowns stopped. All in all, the girls ended up with way too many things. When Alice and Rose shopped, they shopped.
Even though Hensley got way less things, the trip was still a success. She got clothes for her and Jasper's excursions and a couple shirts. Couldn't be upset about that. The only thing she was left wanting was lunch. Her vampire sisters had no desire to eat, well not human food, and therefore had seemingly forgotten about her need to. Hensley wasn't about to say anything though. They were nice enough to invite her on this trip. She was not about to be a pain in the ass.
Spending time with her sisters was a lot of fun. The last thing she wanted to do was jeopardize that relationship. Especially her relationship with Rosalie, which seemed to be way more positive than Rosalie and Bella's.
Hensley understood why. She was Carlisle's daughter. Half vampire with gifts and secrets herself. With her and the Cullen's they were one in the same, trading secrets for secrets. Bella was about to be thrown into a world she never should've known about. The Cullen's had no leverage against the girl. Not really. Bella could spill their secret with little repercussion and there would be nothing they could do about it.
Bella, of course, would not do that. Even if she didn't know it yet, she would love Edward and care about Hensley's family too. But there was always the possibility their relationship ended poorly in other ways. To Hensley's knowledge the family had never been close to a human like this before. Accidents could happen, especially with Emmett being so new to the lifestyle. Emmett did incredibly well from what Hensley could tell, though the possibility was always looming.
They got home around 6, which was perfect. This way she could eat without Jasper being upset at his sisters for not feeding her.
"We're back!" Alice sang as the three walked into the doorway. Of course, no one needed the announcement. They were vampires, they probably heard the car 5 miles away.
Jasper had Hensley in his arms the second she came into the house. In the living room she heard Carlisle sigh. It was hard to care. He placed a long, blissful kiss on her lips. It was perfect; calm and simple, full of contentment from both sides who were just eager to be back together.
And then the water hit.
"Dad!" Hensley whined, trying to protect herself from the cool liquid.
"Carlisle, leave them alone." Esme scolded him, though it did no good.
Carlisle shrugged, "I'll leave them when they learn." He sprayed them once more just for the hell of it and let them be for the moment.
Jasper used his sleeve to wipe the water from Lexi's face, "God I need to move out."
She giggled at his statement, settling for a tight hug. His eyes were bright and gold again from his long hunt, though they quickly darkened. "What's that?"
It took her a moment to follow his eyes down to her bags. She fought hard to keep the grin off of her face while she played innocent. "Oh this? Nothing. Here, let me take it upstairs."
"I should help you." He said quickly, reaching for them, "No need for you to carry your bags."
She slinked past him and shrugged, "Nice of you to offer but I'm good." Jasper followed right on her heels as they went upstairs to his bedroom. He was trying to appear casual and not at all succeeding. Alice and Rosalie were openly snickering at his display from downstairs. He was just hoping Carlisle wasn't paying attention.
Lexi put her bags on his bed right where he could see them. She was teasing him, and she knew it. Hell, she was enjoying it. The smirk on her face was clear as day now that they were alone and Jasper fought to suppress a low growl. Her hands slowly made their way into the innocent bags, carefully pulling out the shirts she got and admiring them. He waited painfully for the time to pass until she got to the bag he was really curious about.
But she had other plans. She took the bag and carefully placed it next to her duffle bag full of clothes she'd packed for this weekend without even opening it. Jasper let out a slow breath, "Not going to take those out too?" His voice was not as nonchalant as he hoped.
Hensley shrugged, "Nah, I can do that later. I don't wanna bore you." She smiled innocently at him over her shoulder as she set the bag down.
"I highly doubt I'll be bored." His attempt at casual was completely failing now as the sound from this throat turned husky and rough. Hensley couldn't help the rush she felt throughout her body, which did not help Jasper's façade.
He took a couple slow steps towards her, so he was a mere foot away. The atmosphere was so thick between them Hensley thought she could cut the sex with a knife. Jasper's now black eyes bore into hers with force she hadn't felt in years. She bit her bottom lip to stop her from throwing herself at him. She had to at least try to play dirty.
His eyes fell down to the bag at her feet and back up to her face, silently commanding her to pick it up. Her heart hammered in her chest as she shook her head. He quirked his eyebrow at her and closed the distance between them.
"Try again." She could hardly hear him, but the message was undoubtedly conveyed. Once again she shook her head at him.
A low rumble filled his chest. He pulled her against him, the bulge in his jeans the only thing her brain could focus on. He leaned down so his lips barely grazed her ear, "I won't ask again."
She shifted her weight and begged her lower half to behave. Her hands bravely slipped under his shirt, but she needed to keep this conversation between them. And if I don't?
He chuckled darkly, one hand cupping her ass and giving it a squeeze, I'm not one to be defied Darlin'.
A shaky breath escaped her lips. Her fantasies finally coming to life right in front of her. Hmm…you don't seem that scary to me.
Guess I'll have to show you exactly what happens when you misbehave then.
She shivered at his words. The urge to pull him closer and crush his lips to hers was nearly impossible to resist. In the back of her mind, she wondered if this was how addicts felt. The desire was burning her body alive. He was so close, pressed against her, his face inches from her lips. All she had to do was reach up and cup his face. That's all she had to do.
Her lips were so plump and full. Red and swollen from being bitten and sucked on…she wanted him to suck on them, to nip at them, kiss them until they fell off. She needed something…just a touch…a taste….
"Oh god. It feels like sex in here." Emmett muttered as he shoved the door open and carried in an armful of bags.
"It's what?!" Carlisle snapped from downstairs.
The mood in the room quickly shifted, the tension clearing with the addition of a brother and a father in it now. Hensley sighed as Emmett tried to backtrack his words from earlier so as not to get her and Jasper in trouble, claiming he was just joking. It took some convincing but seeing as Jasper and Hensley had separated when Emmett intruded Carlisle really didn't have much evidence.
"Sheesh." Emmett shook his head when Carlisle left, "Anyway, these are yours." He dropped the bags on Jasper's bed and headed back out of the room.
"What do you mean they're mine?" Hensley demanded, "Come back here!"
"You're welcome!" Alice sang, causing Hensley to groan. That sneaky little shit. Hensley dumped out the bags and found all the things Rose and Alice had asked her opinions on and learned she liked. Hensley thought the stuff they got was for them.
Jasper sighed and ran a hand through his hair while he watched her agonize over the gifts. On one hand he was grateful his sisters were taking such good care of her.
On the other hand, they couldn't have waited just a few more fucking minutes?
