Alright- I'm sorry it took awhile for me to update again.
It's only fair to warn you guys that I'm not very good at consistently updating so sometimes I may have a strange lapse before writing again. As it is I'm not very pleased with this chapter. But I felt bad about leaving you guys hanging and well, honestly, I suck at writing the beginning of stories anyway.
Thank you to everyone who has left a comment, favorited this story, and put it on story alert. It means a lot to me. Seriously, ask anyone. I always end up grinning stupidly whenever I read your comments. :D
And so without further ado, here is chapter two! (I am a rhyming legend.)
Chapter Two
"Wake up fellas; we've arrived to our destination!"
Excited murmurs filled the bus and the men began clamoring toward the windows to catch a glimpse of the small town. Although Jasper was awake, exhaustion kept his lids closed. Sitting between Alice and Jasper had been utter hell. Alice had fallen asleep quickly, no doubt tired from her previous walking.
That hadn't been what had bothered Jasper.
What bothered him were the moments when the bus would stumble on the dirt path, causing Alice's head to loll to one side before lolling to the other and then finally ending its journey on his shoulder. The first time it had happened, Jasper's entire body tensed and his nerves concentrated to where her breath lightly teased the skin on his neck. He counted to five in his head before slowly letting out a breath of air. As if subconsciously mimicking him, her chest fell in a synchronized movement.
Stop staring at her chest you pervert.
Jasper felt his cheeks heat. He found that it was quickly becoming a habit to do so around her.
Sitting next to Emmett was even worse. He too, had quickly fallen asleep, but it was more likely from boredom than fatigue. The first couple of times when the bus rocked precariously, Emmett had remained immobile in his seat; his great seize lending him stability in his sleep. Then the bus had lurched forward with no prior warning and like all great things, Emmett fell.
He fell right into Jasper's lap.
Oh, my, god. Get it off, get if off!
Jasper tried the subtle 'psst' to get Emmett's attention, afraid of waking the softly snoring girl beside him. The response Jasper received resulted in an even greater dilemma: Emmett had merely mumbled, smacked his lips, and then turned his head so that it was now facing Jasper's crotch. One of the men in the group, Aden, had turned around at the exact moment. Eyes wide, Aden mouthed a 'wow', his lips forming around the word with such distinction that Jasper couldn't even attempt to pretend it was something else.
Jasper scowled. Fuck this. He none too gently slapped Emmett's head, causing Emmett to wake with a snort and blink blearily upwards at Jasper.
"Jazz, I thought I told you I wasn't ready for that yet."
"Shut up and get off."
Emmett gave Jasper an innocent smile and did what he asked. Pouting with disappointment, Aden turned back around in his seat.
To Jasper's relief the rest of the ride resulted in no incidents. Still, his arm tingled at the memory of Alice's skin subtly brushing against his. Risking a glance to his right, Jasper felt his heart thump at the sight of her blinking blearily. She was attempting to rub the sleep out of her lashes but that only resulted in her eyes slowly fluttering before reclosing.
Jasper resisted grinning and turned to face back forward. Everyone else was slowly rousing from their sleep and getting ready to exit the bus. Emmett's face was plastered to the window as he gazed excitedly at the small buildings clustered together.
"Dude, I'm so psyched to explore the city!" Emmett exclaimed.
More like you can wait to explore what kind of women the city has.
Jasper resisted voicing out his opinion and merely shook his head. Alice caught Jasper's eyes and shared an amused smile with him as Emmett blabbered on, unaware that the two were ignoring him.
The trio stood and slowly shuffled behind the line of men. The line abruptly stopped, causing Alice to bump into Jasper's back.
She let out a soft laugh.
"Sorry."
"Ah, it's fine."
Jasper was distracted by the heat from her hands as she braced herself against him. The warmth seeped through his shirt and he found himself getting light goose bumps. Ahead of him, Emmett was still talking eagerly, but Jasper was unable to focus.
Finally Alice lifted her hands off of his back. He resisted letting out a disappointed sigh.
Once everyone had exited the bus, the entire group began clustering around Neville, who was holding a large microphone and frantically waving a small white flag. Alice reluctantly followed Jasper and Emmett, her gaze briefly pausing on Neville before straying elsewhere.
Why does she keep looking around? Eyebrows furrowed, Jasper attempted to follow her gaze.
"Ahem. Jasper, please pay attention when I'm talking or else you could miss something important."
Jasper whipped his head so fast that he felt a cramp forming in the base of his neck. Wincing, he sent an apologetic smile to Neville, who merely narrowed his eyes and continued on. Emmett glowered at Jasper as well, whispering peevishly, "Jazz, quit looking around and pay attention to the man's words of wisdom."
Unbelievable, even Emmett is annoyed at me.
Resisting to roll his eyes, Jasper grumbled under his breath and plastered an, what he hoped, interested expression on his face. He didn't even need to look to know that Alice was chuckling beside him, hiding her smile behind her small hand.
"Alright, everyone will have two hours to explore Siena and then meet back here afterwards. Please do not be late. I cannot stress that enough." Neville spoke the last two sentences loudly and stared dead on at Jasper. Jasper looked elsewhere and attempted to ignore the heated gaze being directed at him.
Emmett, the braver one of the two and the one on better terms with Neville, went up to get a map of the city. Literally bouncing back, he smiled and without a word began marching in no apparent direction. Alice giggled and walked beside Emmett, occasionally leaning over to glimpse at the map. Lagging behind, Jasper felt a
wiggle of discomfort at the sight of them walking side by side and quickened his pace until he was between Emmett and Alice. Emmett shot him a knowing look.
Ignoring Emmett's smirk, Jasper questioned, "Emmett, do you know where the hell we're even going?"
Emmett sniffed as if offended and cited, "Un viaggiatore allineare segue non il percorso regolato per lui ma il percorso intagliato nella sua anima. (A true traveler follows not the path set for him but the path carved in his soul)"
Jasper paused, hummed thoughtfully under his breath, and then gazed at Emmett's smug face with awe.
"Emmett, wow I don't know what to say."
"I have that affect on others."
"Except that what you just said was absolute shit."
"I kno- what? I'll have you know that a famous philosopher said that words! I'm only relaying his message."
Alice raised an eyebrow, "Oh yeah, what philosopher?"
"Psh, only the greatest of them all: Boyardee."
"Emmett, that's the name of a canned food. Remember, we lived off that stuff for a month?"
Emmett looked momentarily baffled before recognition light up his features.
"Oh, yeah! That stuff was the shit!"
Jasper groaned, shaking his head, while Alice laughed and took the map from Emmett. Playfully smiling at the two, she ripped the map in half.
Emmett let out a gasp before scowling and crossing his arms. "Oh, no you didn't."
Jasper knew he should be more worried, but he couldn't help but feel himself respond to her mischievous grin.
God, she's gorgeous.
"Do you two trust me?"
Jasper had to refrain himself from nodding frantically and settled for a small tip of the head.
I might as well be her damn dog the way I'm acting.
Alice raised a brow at Emmett. He scuffed a toe before letting out an exaggerated sigh.
"Yeah, yeah."
"Good, because I'm going to be your own personal tour guide for the day! Well, for two hours. But the point is I can take you to places in the city which aren't even located on that silly map."
Emmett and Jasper both looked at each other then looked back at Alice, causing her to squirm at their serious expressions. A blush stained her cheeks, but she stared firmly back. Suddenly the two whooped loudly, starting Alice.
"That's awesome! I can't believe we didn't even think of that before!" Emmett didn't bother lowering his voice and ignored the strange glances he was receiving from strangers.
Alice let out a soft relieved breath, before grinning at the two with equal exuberance.
"I'll take you guys to only the best places, I promise on my honor as an Italian."
Without realizing, Jasper clasped her right hand in his own and smiled at her.
"We're holding you to that."
She flushed and diverted her gaze, unable to meet his grey eyes, but Jasper could see the subtle dip in her skin where her dimple formed. Nodding her consent they set forth. Emmett was ahead of the two, blabbering nonsense as he gazed eagerly at his surroundings in a fashion that could only result in him being labeled as a tourist. As a result shopkeepers were calling out loudly, attempting to lure them into their shops. Emmett was the easy target and veered right and left into the shadows of the room before exiting out with more than he had entered with.
"How much did you pay for that?" Jasper pointed at the small snow globe.
Emmett shook it vigorously and stared until the last flake had dropped before re-shaking it.
"Uh, about 17 lira?"
Alice shook her head while laughing. Petting Emmett's head she muttered under her breath, "You poor gullible boy."
"What?"
"You got ripped off. That's at most 8 lira."
She resumed giggling at Emmett's incredulous expression. He opened his mouth before reclosing it and then clutched the globe possessively. He then sniffed haughtily and walked even further ahead of them, grumbling while shaking his globe even more. Jasper smiled at Alice's almost childish laughter and felt slow warmth spread throughout his chest at the sound. And as they ran to catch up with Emmett, both wailing out dramatic apologies, Jasper didn't fail to realize that her hand was still clasped firmly with his.
And then they walked into the fading rays of the sun, with nothing but the wind pushing their love forward.
THE END!
another great love story has been born! hehe. alrighty i'mma shut up now.
