a/n Ha ha! I give you Jasper! This is an interlude, however, and not a technically "real" chapter. Meaning maybe more Jasper later, if you'd like. This is pre-Cullen, post-Alice Jasper. That said, if you'd like to argue foliage with me, I'm a very stubborn Midwestern girl. I maintain that Midwestern foliage is the bomb, because you never know exactly what you're going to get—pretty colors, or lots of brown. That just makes it all the more beautiful.
I feel absolutely atrocious right now and I can't go to school because my CT is pregnant, so that's why this update's so quick. Enjoy.
Interlude—somewhere in the Midwest, October, 1949
The smell of harvested grains drifted up the hill to where two vampires lay, side by side, listening to the toils of the farmers in the fields.
Thankfully, the smell of dust and corn and pollen was strong enough to mask the human scents from below.
Jasper leaned up, reclining on his elbows so he could still lay in the grass that was still green while staring up at the trees above him. The day was cloudy, and his new companion had assured him it would remain as such. Apparently, this wonderfully dismal weather was quite common here, wherever here was. Illinois, Kansas, Wisconsin... He didn't really know, and he didn't really care. Wherever they were, he was staring up at something he'd only seen in pictures.
The unprecedented autumn foliage of the Midwest.
Reds, oranges, purples, and yellows of a thousand different shades. The muted light filtered through the trees, making the light that hit Alice's face a muddle of all three. Her eyes were closed, not in concentration, but in content.
She was more beautiful in that one moment than she had ever been. Her dress had long since been abandoned and hung over a branch on a nearby tree near their shoes and his slacks and shirt. Her bare skin contrasted sharply with the dark green of the grass, the light turning her body so that it almost looked flushed. There was a small, almost smug, smile on her face, and she radiated happiness even more so than usual, if it were possible.
It was so strange to be lying here with her, as if she'd always been here. As if she'd always known him. He wasn't used to having a companion, and it was better than he could have possibly imagined. He let his hand wander to her side, tracing the curves of her body from her hip to the soft skin at the edge of her breast, down and back. Over and over.
She sighed softly, and her golden eyes opened. She smiled at him. "Hello."
Chuckling, Jasper did not bother to stop the motion of his hand. "Hello," he replied, smiling more widely when she stretched, purring like a much-loved kitten, under his fingers.
"You're very happy today," Alice said, smiling a little more softly as she gazed up at him.
Jasper considered before answering. "I'm happy," he whispered, rolling so he could bury his face in her soft flesh, "because you are."
She radiated more joy than ever and he felt her fingers twine in his hair. It felt wonderful. He couldn't help himself. Before giving it a second thought, he exhaled as fast as he could, blowing a raspberry against her soft belly a split second after she squirmed, trying to get out from under him. She squealed with laughter, giggling like a school girl as he repeated the action, this time letting his fingers tickle her sides. She laughed uncontrollably and he did not want to stop, enjoying the way her voice pealed unrestrainedly.
Somehow, she wound up turning the tables on him, and he found himself lying below her, his back against the soft grass, laughing more in this one moment than he had in his life as her fingers found the most sensitive spots at his sides. She continued for a good five minutes before he finally managed to capture her wrists in his hands and yank her down so that she was flush against him. She giggled again and rested on his chest, snuggling so that her head was just below his chin. Her hands lay flat against his chest, and his wandered up and down her back.
Later, when they were once again lying side by side, this time, with her playing with his hair, she finally spoke.
"Are you sure about this?" she asked softly. Her voice was a little husky still, and the sound of it made him feel more comfortable, more at home.
Jasper knew what she was talking about. It had been the same thing she'd been talking about since he'd met her almost a year ago. He considered his answer carefully before he spoke.
"I want you to be happy," he said gently. "I want you to be just this happy, or even happier, if that's possible. If finding the Cullens means you'll be more happy than now, then that's what I want."
"I'd be happy with just you, though, you know."
It really was like she'd known him his entire life. Bizarre, how she seemed to read his mind, and he, hers.
Smiling, Jasper held her a little closer. "As long as you're mine, I don't care where we go."
He felt her lips curl against his shoulder. "I'll always be yours."
"Good." He leaned down again, pressing his lips to the crown of her head. "And I'm yours, so where you lead, I'll follow."
He felt a wave of adoration and love wash over him, radiating out from her like beams of sunlight. Like she was his own personal sun of happiness and love. "Do you have any idea how much I love you for doing this?"
Jasper frowned despite himself. "I'm not doing a very good job," he said softly, thinking of the muddled color of his eyes, not unlike the burnt orange of the leaves in the trees above them.
"You're doing an amazing job," she said, and there was encouragement in her voice, just like always. "It's not going to be easy. It's not supposed to be. It's not the same, I know."
What he had ever done to deserve such an angel, Jasper would never know. It was like she had been sent to take his demon soul out of hell and into a new, happier life. A life he never thought he would find. Had given up on looking for.
He would never forget the way she had looked that day in Philadelphia. The way she'd felt. How, when she'd hopped down from the stool, the first thing he'd noticed was how happy she was. The second thing was how she didn't even come up to his shoulder. The sound of her voice, teasingly scolding, telling him she'd thought he'd never arrive. The warmth of her hand when she'd taken his, pulling him back out into the rain, chattering nonstop. Her name was Alice, and his was Jasper. He was from Texas, and she was from nowhere. How she'd seen him. How he'd barely heard a word of this, cataloging it in the back of his mind while he'd focused on her face, her strange but nevertheless beautiful eyes.
The absolute, undiluted and unpolluted joy pouring off her and drowning him. How it had felt when he had resurfaced and she'd been staring up at him, her head cocked off to one side. How hard he had laughed when she'd asked if he'd been paying any attention to her, at all. He remembered the sound of her laughter complimenting his when she'd joined him, clutching at her sides and all but rolling in the dark alleyway.
The way her lips felt, molding to his, when he'd first kissed her, her body curving to meet his. The feeling of home when he'd rested in her arms later, their legs still twined together, in the dingy hotel room she'd taken him to. How her lips had felt, tracing every scar on his body, memorizing them.
She always felt like home.
Right now, home was on a hill somewhere in the Midwest, lying in the grass with Alice's fingers tracing the scars on his chest. Home was the contented feeling surrounding him again.
Home was where she was.
a/n Aw, Jalice fluff! My favorite. Leave me love and reviews. They'll make my tummy feel better.
