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Alice felt her cheeks flame as she practically ran away from him, darting down the stairs and into the garage to intercept Edward before he entered the house. Shame made the tears flow thick and hot from her eyes as she threw herself against her brother as he closed his car door. "I can't do this. I just can't," she said over and over again, her voice breaking as she sobbed.
Edward wrapped his arms around her and lifted her up, carrying her over to the workbench, where he sat and held her as she cried. His hands smoothed over her hair and down her back as he questioned her softly, trying to get answers from her. "What happened, Alice? What can't you do?"
She heard the tightly controlled rage and fear in his voice as he spoke to her, but she couldn't care as every emotion she had suppressed while in Jasper's company rose to the surface. Long minutes passed until she quieted enough to speak. Edward's heart thumped in a furious rhythm beneath where her ear pressed against his chest and his torso expanded in shallow, controlled breaths.
"What is wrong?" he tried again, managing to keep his voice soft and even as he blotted her face with his sleeve.
"Jasper is here," she rasped.
Edward blinked, her answer leaving him confused. "Why is that bad?"
"He saw me like – like that. I can't face him, Edward," she cried. Her teeth started chattering, she was shaking so hard. She buried her face in her hands.
He hugged her close and kissed her forehead. Bella had told him of Alice and Jasper's encounter prior the events at the club and of Alice's intense reaction to the man. A small part of him was wary, but much more of him was glad that she had finally found someone with the capacity to care for her as she deserved. "He's not the kind of guy that would hold that over you or allow it to influence his opinion of you. He's a good man. I wouldn't do business with him otherwise."
Alice shook her head. "I am broken, Edward. I can't pretend to be okay when he's around. There's just something about him that strips everything away, like I want him to see me, but I know that if he does, I'm going to end up alone again." The absolute certainty and despair in her voice nearly broke his heart.
Edward stood and placed her on the workbench so that she would be on eye level with him. He gently pulled at her hands until they came away from her face and he could force her to look him in the eye. "You are not broken, Alice. You have been hurt in ways that take a very long time to heal, but there is so much more to you than your past before becoming part of our family. Just because you have remembered your birth parents and the terrible people they were, does not mean that you are any different than when you didn't remember. All it means is that there is a new side that you need to reconcile. You are still an amazingly talented clothing designer and dancer. You are still beautiful and generous and ridiculously intelligent and creative. You have the capacity to love as deeply as anyone in this family and you deserve to be loved just as much, if not more than the rest of us. He would be insane to pass up the chance to love you."
Her face nearly crumbled again.
"And I don't think he's insane," Edward added softly, tucking a strand of hair behind her ear. "I think he's entirely in his right mind. So, relax and give the guy a chance. He just might be the one you've been waiting for." He wiped the tears from her eyes with his thumbs and held her face until she gave him a small smile. "Good."
Alice wiped her face clear of ruined makeup, Edward nodding when she got it all, and let him lift her down. "Thank you," she said, emotion thick in her voice.
Edward shrugged. "That's what I'm here for," he told her and offered her his arm. She took it with a tremulous smile and they marched upstairs together.
Bella's face brightened considerably as they crested the stairs, and even Jasper looked a little relieved as he watched them over his shoulder though his eyes narrowed as he took in her flushed cheeks and bright eyes.
"Is everything okay? Ow," Bella asked, clipping her shin as she moved around the island to greet Edward with a proper hug and kiss. He forced her to sit in one of the tall chairs lining the island and lifted her calf so that he could examine her leg.
Alice moved to stand closer to Jasper. "Disgusting, aren't they?" she said with a tiny smile on her lips and a hint of longing in her quiet words. She glanced over at him, a little startled to find him looking at her already with an odd expression on his face. She supposed that she should apologise. "I'm sorry about earlier. Your arrival kind of caught me off guard. That doesn't usually happen," she trailed off.
The right corner of his mouth quirked upward and her breathing accelerated a little. "I didn't mean to upset you," he said. "But I do confess that I wanted to see you again. I wasn't sure, with all that's happened, if you wanted to." He sounded uncertain. That alone made her feel much better.
She moved to retrieve her wine glass. "I don't think I was ready before, but I'm glad you're here now." She lifted the glass to her lips, hating the way her hand shook as they always did after she experienced intense emotion. His gaze settled like a blanket over her; she could feel its weight. Fighting down all of her uncertainty and terror, she lifted her eyes to meet his. Oddly enough, she felt safer with him close by.
"You kids go sit on the couch," Edward said, with a small shooing motion and an understanding smile for Alice. "I'll help Bella finish up and then we'll eat."
Jasper's look turned expectant and Alice had no choice but to lead the way across the expansive living room to the small cluster of couches at the far end. She settled onto her favorite loveseat and tucked her legs underneath her body, motioning for him to take a seat wherever he wished.
He sat next to her.
Heat flared up along his left side where his thigh pressed lightly against hers and spread throughout his body, fading to a low burn that he could almost ignore. He took another sip from his glass and he struggled with keeping himself under control. The quiet tension in her body and her rapid breaths helped him maintain his composure.
"So," she began, her voice soft and husky. She sounded like she had been crying. "What do you do for work? I'm sure that you have a job other than being a partner in Luster."
"I'm something of an investment banker," he told her. "I handle mostly international clients. The club is more of a personal diversion." His mouth stretched into a smile.
She nodded. "That sounds interesting," she said politely.
He wanted to laugh. "Not really," he admitted. "It pays the bills. That's about it."
Silence fell between them, stretching out in a comfortable few seconds.
"I haven't upset you, have I?" he asked suddenly, wanting to kick himself as soon as the words were out of his mouth. He already knew that he was a hopeless case when it came to her, but there was no need to broadcast it. Most women didn't like a man who was unsure of himself.
Her dark eyes went wide and she sucked her bottom lip into her mouth. "No," she said slowly. "You haven't upset me." She paused, seeming to debate how she was going to say what she was thinking. "I've been dealing with a lot of unpleasant things."
"And I remind you of those things?" he interjected, unable to keep from voicing his fear.
She frowned, looking down at her hands. "It's not so much that you remind me, as I would prefer that you had not seen any of it." She took a deep breath to keep her emotions in check.
He gazed at her, studying her features as her struggles played out across her face. He could sense that she was close to another bout of tears. The unnatural brightness of her eyes paired with the near-translucent cast of her skin and the dark smudges on the breast pocket and cuffs of Edward's shirt hadn't escaped his notice earlier. He reached out and gently took her hand in his.
She flinched, almost pulling her hand away, but his grip remained firm.
"None of that matters, Alice," he said softly, squeezing her hand gently as she began to shake. Her skin was cold so he slid his other hand beneath hers. "I know that this doesn't make sense, that this seems crazy, but being away from you is very difficult for me. From the moment I saw you standing in that diner, you've been a constant presence in my head. I don't know what it means yet, but I'd like to have the chance to find out."
Her bottom lip trembled. Her lips parted.
"Dinner's ready," Bella called across the room.
As if a switch was thrown, Alice's face smoothed out and a veil dropped over her dark expressive eyes. Her mouth curved up into a false smile and she stood, scooping up her wine glass in a smooth motion and removing her hand from his. "You're in for a treat," she said. "Bella's the best cook around."
Jasper swallowed the disappointment burning in his throat and nodded as he followed her back to the neatly arranged dinner table. "I'm looking forward to it."
Conversation during the meal flowed smoothly as it hovered around stories of Bella's unfortunate lack of coordination and the ridiculous situations into which the three of them, along with Emmett and Rosalie, managed to get themselves during their high school and college years.
Jasper watched Alice out of the corner of his eye, marveling at the change in her as she grew more comfortable during stories of the past. He was certain that the several glasses of wine had assisted her, but he wasn't going to complain when her eyes lit up with laughter and her skin grew rosier with heat. She even glanced at him a few times, and he could see the slight smile in her eyes just before they slid away.
"No," she was saying. "No, no, no, Edward. That entire night was totally Emmett's fault, not mine. He was the one buying the booze and there's no way I'm going to pass up a free drink, especially when Emmett is buying."
Edward rolled his eyes. "Emmett is also six times your size and you should have known better…"
"Anyway," she said, cutting him off. "They found us six miles away from the house at ten the next morning, passed out on someone's front lawn. I don't remember what happened between leaving the club and waking up draped across Emmett's chest, but I do know that it was a great night."
Bella drained the last sip from her glass and stood to gather the plates. "And that is why each of Edward's clubs has an overnight room with two beds, a shower and clothes for each of them. We're just lucky that nothing happened to them, though I suppose no one would have messed with Emmett, even if he was drunk." She shook her head and winked at Alice behind Edward's back.
Alice hid her smile behind her hand as Edward gave her a mock-glare while he picked up the plates that Bella had left behind. The love and affection among the members of the Cullen family was obvious in the protective tone of Edward's warnings and the fondness in their voices as the spoke of the absent members of their family. She turned her gaze on him. "What about you? Here we are talking about ourselves and you're our guest."
He shrugged, his thoughts becoming difficult to grasp as he looked back at her. "There's not much to tell. I grew up in Texas, went to school there, moved out here to take over my dad's business when he died four years ago and the rest is history."
She looked like she wanted to press him for more information, but said nothing. Her eyes went wide and her head whipped around. Any sound she would have made was lost in a loud crash, Bella's squeal and Edward's curse. She leapt up from her seat and dashed around the island to where Edward and Bella were.
"Oh, shit, Bella," she said, her voice smooth and calm. "Look at me, honey. Don't look down. Here. Breathe through this."
Jasper quickly moved back to the kitchen to find Bella seated on the floor against the cupboards, her face chalky white and her left hand dripping with blood. Alice was holding her head tilted up and away from the ground, a dish towel over her nose and mouth. Edward was kneeling in the middle of the remains of a serving dish, her hand cradled in his as he pulled out a large shard of glass. Bella whimpered.
"Okay, Bella. It's all right. I'm going to wrap this up now," Edward said in a calm voice that belied the panic in his eyes.
Alice glanced down and winced. "Ugh, you'll need stitches again," she said, her features scrunching into a sympathetic grimace. She took hold of Bella's other hand and brought it up to her face. "Here, hold that in place so I can tie your hair back. Jasper, stay back there. There's glass all over the place."
Edward finished tying up the wound and grabbed another towel to wipe away the excess blood dripping down his girlfriend's arm.
The sight of it made every muscle in Jasper's body lock into place, effectively preventing him from doing anything at all. He had to fight the unwelcome heat flickering inside his body.
"Bella?" Alice shrilled, drawing his attention. Bella lay slumped over in her arms. "Damn, she's out. Do you want me to come?"
Edward barely glanced up at her question. "No, we'll be fine. I'll call you when I have news. Can you -?"
Alice was already nodding. She scrubbed a hand across her face, leaving bloody streaks on her pale skin. "Of course. Go." She helped Edward get Bella settled in his arms and tiptoed out of the glass after him. "Don't even worry about it, Edward. She'll be fine." She trailed downstairs after them, opening doors and speaking softly.
The garage door rumbled open and Jasper vaguely heard the squeal of tires as Edward screeched out onto the street. He couldn't tear his gaze away from the blood smeared across the floor.
"Jasper?" Alice called him from the top of the stairs.
With supreme force of will, he turned away from the kitchen to see her standing at the top of the stairs.
Her eyes widened and she crossed the room quickly to stand in front of him. "Are you okay?" She had to reach to place a cool hand on his cheek and he couldn't stop himself from leaning into her touch. Her dark hair twisted in distracted tangles around her face and her lips were parted slightly with her accelerated breaths. "Shit, I'm sorry. I didn't realize I had blood on my hand. Come on."
He wanted to grab her face in his hands and devour her.
She grabbed him by the hand and pulled him along after her. He marveled at the sudden change in her personality when faced with someone else's distress. She became self-assured and attentive, knowing exactly how to react to the person in distress. She flicked the lights on in the bathroom before pulling him in after her and pushing him to a seat on the closed toilet.
He watched her swift, graceful movements as she pulled a towel from the cabinets and twist the water on full blast. She scrubbed her hands vigorously with soap, rinsing and drying them quickly. Then she soaked a washcloth with water, grabbed his chin and proceeded to dab away the bloody fingerprints she had left on his cheek. The strokes were firm and gentle as she worked and her forehead wrinkled in concentration.
Having her so close did wonderful and frustrating things to his body and he had to fight to keep his hands to himself, and seeing the blood had already dumped a ton of adrenaline in his system. Her scent swirled around him, permeating the air and raising him to heights far higher than alcohol could ever take him, transforming the burn inside him to a different sort. Her fingers on his jaw held him secure, but he wanted them to be there in a much less clinical fashion.
"You're sensitive to blood, aren't you?" she asked softly, her eyes wary.
He nodded. "Yes, but not in a fainting kind of way." He hoped she didn't ask what he knew she was going to ask. He couldn't lie to her and it would hurt like hell when she recoiled from his answer.
She arched an eyebrow in curiosity and wiped the water away with the dry corner of the towel. "Then in what kind of way?" She straightened and let her fingertips slide along his jaw as she released him. She appeared to have no idea of how she affected him.
Damn. "It excites me."
Only because he was watching her closely did he notice the tiny ripple of nervousness travel up her body. The adrenaline was wearing off from Bella's accident and Alice was quickly crashing back down.
His eyes were fixed on her face. "You have blood…" He took the washcloth from her hands and performed the same favor she had done him.
She watched him, tense under his touch, as he gently removed the blood from her skin.
When he was done, he wrung the washcloth out and hung it on a towel rack. "Do you want me to leave?" he asked quietly. Every nerve in his body screamed out for him to take the question back, but he wanted to give her the choice.
She shook her head silently. She stood so still that he wasn't sure she was breathing. Her eyes closed and she took a deep breath. "Please stay," she said, her voice cracking.