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This is probably where we less the less evil side of some characters....

Stephenie Meyer owns everything Twilight

Chapter 7

Jasper couldn't help but feel extremely pleased with himself as he watched the alcohol infused crowds pulse through the house. His plan had been carried off without a hitch, and the look on the Cullens' faces made it all worth it. He'd been at the party for less than an hour, and he'd already met the goals he set for himself. Taking another swig from his bottle, Jasper knew he had a ridiculous grin plastered on his face. To anyone observing him, they would probably assume that he had drank may more beers than he had.

As he walked down the hall towards the kitchen, he noted that he hadn't seen the Cullens since their stand-off by the door. On his way, he stopped briefly to take a vase off a table, right before on of Emmett's larger friends collided with it. His original plan had been to wreck the place, but since Cheney had been so hospitable, he would have felt guilty following through. Besides, Jasper already had what he wanted.

"Hey, you better watch some of the stuff you got here," Jasper said to Ben, handing him the vase. Ben thanked him and put the vase in a cupboard, before stumbling into his girlfriend's arms.

Looking around to see who else was in the kitchen, Jasper's eyes fell on a figure by the door. She was facing away from him, watching people dance in another room. Her recognized her instantly.

Draining his beer, he made his way over to her, checking as he went for any sign of the Cullens. He already knew where Rosalie was. When he last saw her dancing with Emmett, it didn't look like she'd be slowing down any time soon.

"You don't look like you're having much fun," he said to Bella when he finally reached her. She jumped at his voice, and she looked surprised when she turned around to see him standing behind her. She eyed him cautiously, making Jasper feel uneasy. After assessing him, she settled on looking uncomfortable. "I don't bite, you know," Jasper said after a few moments of awkward silence.

"I didn't think you did," Bella said in reply, still looking uncomfortable. "I was just wondering why you came here. This isn't really your crowd." Just as he was beginning to regret coming over here to talk to her, Bella smiled.

Jasper returned the grin, relieved that she had a sense of humor. At least this wasn't going to be boring. "I didn't think this was your crowd either. I believe I was the one who brought your friends." When he said this, he cocked his head towards the room they were standing outside. Within, Mike Newton and Lauren Mallory were welded together on the couch, while Jessica Stanley and a few others danced awkwardly to the music that was still blaring from the main room. Jasper could only guess that the way Jessica was letting her tongue hand from her mouth and throwing her hips from side to side was intended to be seductive.

Thinking back to the one time a few years ago when Jessica had shoved that same tongue down Jasper's throat at another party, Jasper smiled. Had he not been so drunk, he would have pushed her away, but she wasn't a bad kisser. Just a little repetitive.

"I'm still the new girl," Bella said. "I don't have a crowd."

"Yet," Jasper added, nudging her.

"Period." The finality in her tone made it clear that she knew exactly what was going on.

"So, you're not very political?" Jasper laughed, trying to bring some lightness back to the conversation. Bella turned her brown eyes on him once again.

"Not really, no. I'd rather stay out of things. If that's alright with you," she added sarcastically.

Jasper laughed at first, but then felt the sting of her comment. "I suppose that's fine," he said. Then, he spied a pair of prying eyes from across the room, and Jasper was suddenly inspired to lean in to Bella and whisper in her ear, "I just don't think Edward will be too happy about that."

Bella blushed furiously, and her mouth fell open. Their lone audience looked stunned as she watched. The look on Alice's face rivaled Edward's protective glare in the satisfaction they gave Jasper.

However, the combined look on both of their faces when Edward joined her was better than Jasper could have imagined it. He wished he'd brought a camera, but Bella probably wouldn't be too impressed by that.

Alice turned to say something to Edward, but, ignoring her, he thundered right past towards Bella.

She noticed his arrival, and, to Jasper's disgust, a look of relief spread across her face. This girl was too easy to read.

Edward shot daggers at Jasper, but at this point he was more than willing to retreat; he had already sowed the seeds, now he only had to wait for the rain. Slowly and deliberately, he lifted Bella's hand to his mouth and kissed it.

Just when Edward was within earshot, he said, "I'll see you in school, Bella."

He moved before Edward reached Bella, into the next room, but not before something caught his eye. Alice had a weird look on her face as she filled a cup and emptied it in almost one go. It was strange behaviour, and something that prompted Jasper to pass immediately through the next room and out into the hall, just in time to see Alice stomp through the front door and into the garden. Judging by the speed at which she walked and the look in her eyes, Jasper could deduce that she'd had a few drinks herself.

Glancing into the room with the speakers, Jasper could not locate Rosalie or Emmett. A couple walked past Jasper, hand in hand, and went upstairs. This, presumably, was where Rosalie and Emmett were now.

With his only friends otherwise occupied, and Bella off with Cullen, Jasper decided it was time for him to have a little improvised fun. With one last check to make sure that Rosalie was not watching him, he pushed open the front door and stepped outside.

It looked like half the party was on the lawn, as Jasper looked around, with low expectations of finding Alice here. He wandered without bearing in the direction of the street. Further down the road, he spotted a small silhouette perched in the curb.

With light steps, he moved closer to Alice. She was still drinking from the red cup, and Jasper guessed she'd filled it up since he last saw her. As he drew closer, he pulled out a cigarette and lit it. He took station by the tree closest to Alice, leaning against it and not saying anything.

She obviously knew someone was there, but not Jasper. Otherwise, he would have been assaulted by now.

They remained in this arrangement for at least ten minutes before Jasper started to become uneasy. Did she not care that some strange guy was standing right beside in a dark street?

Putting out his cigarette on the sidewalk, Jasper turned so he was staring at Alice side-on, crossing his arms across his chest. He studied her face in the dim light, trying to see if, maybe, she just really so out of it that she didn't even know anyone was here at all.

After a few minutes, she took another sip from her cup.

"Something bothering you, Hale?" Jasper was taken back by her spontaneous question. She sounded bored.

"Didn't think you know it was me," he said, voicing his initial reaction.

"I could smell you from the fucking house."

"Oh, a personal hygiene jab. However will I recover from that mighty blow?" Jasper stumbled back into the tree, his hand over his heart. Alice laughed, a little too much. She was very drunk.

"You know, when I can't see your face you don't sound so obnoxious," Alice said, her small frame still shaking. She really was tiny, about two thirds the height of Jasper, and about half as wide. Jasper crouched down beside her. He fell inwards, but caught himself before he crashed into her body. In his head, he tried to count exactly how many beers he'd had that night. When he drew blanks, he knew the answer: too many.

"Do I sound obnoxious now?" Jasper stared at her profile as Alice continued to stare straight ahead of her. She turned to face him, and shoved his shoulder hard away from her. Caught off-guard, Jasper fell.

"What the fuck?" he said, propping himself up on his elbows.

"Go away," Alice said. She lowered her head between her knees.

"You're a moody drunk, then?" Jasper shot at her. He said it more forcefully that he had intended, but he wanted to get another reaction from her. "You know, there's nothing more unattractive than a drunken girl."

"I really don't give a rat's ass what you think of me, Hale. I thought Bella was your girl. You two looked pretty damn cosy in there." Alice lifted her head and rested it on her knees. A slight breeze lifted the ends of her short hair and her hugged her legs to her body. In the hazy light from the street lights, her pale skin struck a contrast with her surroundings. Not trusting himself to make a judgment on whether or not it made her took beautiful, Jasper settled on etherial, and it suited her perfectly.

"Jealous?" For some reason, one word was all Jasper could manage at that moment.

In an unexpected quick movement, Alice spun her head around to look at her. For a split second, one of her eyebrows was raised in incredulity, but as her head recovered from the effects of such a sudden move, she scrunched up her eyes and her forehead wrinkled.

When her head stopped spinning, she opened her eyes and reasserted her look of disbelief.

"What? Like you've never been jealous before," he stated.

"Actually, I haven't." She shrugged her shoulders as though it was just that simple. Jasper found this very hard to believe.

"But you were jealous tonight," Jasper said more seriously. The drink was beginning to make him feel tired, and he knew he was on dangerous territory.

While Alice appeared to be a moody drunk, Jasper was more of a emotional, bare-your-heart kind of guy. It was something he resented about himself, and Emmett loved to make fun of him for. Thankfully, he had few secrets, so there wasn't anything he could let slip that would really damage him. However, he was much more prone to speaking what was on his mind. When this involved a Cullen, it was very risky business.

Alice opened her mouth to protest, but Jasper cut across her. "You were jealous of Bella."

Her eyebrows furrowed as she cast her mind back to earlier that night, and she rolled her eyes as she spoke. "You are such a cocky sh-"

"I don't mean because of me," Jasper said. "You were jealous of Edward's reaction to her." In a strange turn of the conversation, Jasper had pin-pointed the exact look on Alice's face when Edward had walked straight past her, as if she wasn't there, just because Bella was in the room: Jealousy.

"That's ridiculous," Alice said, averting her eyes from his gaze.

"No it's not. It's actually a quite rational reaction. Edward is your only friend, and if he's off with someone else-"

"Edward is not my only friend," Alice cut in, offense raking her voice.

"Then why are you out here talking to me?"

"I could ask you the same thing."

With neither of them willing to answer, they held a steady silence. The only thing Jasper could hear was Alice breathing.

"Oh shit." Alice broke through the quiet with her whisper. "There's Edward. He hates when I sit in the streets alone."

"Alone?" Jasper was too preoccupied with this part of her statement to inquire as to how often she sat in deserted streets by herself.

She stood up and dusted herself off. Considering how drunk she was, it was a surprisingly steady move. "Yes, alone. No way in hell I'm telling him I was talking to you. That would make him more mad."

Jasper contemplated this for a second. He had half a mind to jump out from behind the cover of the tree, just to infuriate Edward. He refrained, however, thinking about how Rosalie would react if she found out about this late-night activity.

"Just hide,"Alice hissed at him. "And don't even think of telling anyone about this."

"Don't worry, I'll probably forget about it by the morning," Jasper said truthfully. It may have been the alcohol, but a part of him felt sad about that.

"Alice, there you are. What are you doing out here?" Edward's voice sounded loud and obtrusive compared to Jasper's ear in comparison to Alice.

"Just sitting," she said. Even in those small words, Jasper could detect a change in her voice. She sounded different when she talked to Edward. More sober, definitely, but there was something else as well.

"I thought I told you before not to do that," Edward said. There was a sternness in his voice that made Jasper itch to punch him in the jaw. Alice can do whatever she fucking wants he thought to himself.

"I'm fine, honestly. I could still see the house from here." Jasper smiled at her obvious exasperation.

"Fine," Edward sighed eventually. Jasper could just imagine what his face would look like, crumpled with worry over his fragile little sister, his nose wrinkled in disgust at the smell of alcohol that radiated off his sister- "Were you smoking?"

Jasper froze.

"No! You know I think it's disgusting." She hadn't told Jasper that.

"Oh, right, sorry. It must be from the house... Anyway, I'm giving Bella a ride home, I can come back and get you if you want to stay."

"I'll come now," Alice said. "Wait, haven't you been drinking?" God, even Edward's presence made her intolerably stiff.

"No, I didn't actually take any."

Jasper heard them walking away, and eventually, drive. He sat in the street for another while before picking himself up. His steps towards the house were slow and labored.

The last hour of his life had been the most surreal experience he'd ever had. Not only had he engaged with Alice Cullen in actual conversation, but he hadn't wanted to kill himself while doing it. He mulled over what had passed between them, trying to figure out whether or not her had actually been talking to Alice, or if he had been talking to a drunk, or fake, version of her. Halfway up the garden path, he gave up, deciding that he didn't want to know, and promising himself that he'd never find out.

As superficial as it may seem, Alice's arrival at Forks had destroyed Rosalie. Not many people knew just how much Rosalie's happiness depended on other people's opinions of her. It was something Rosalie recognized, and hated, about herself. She adapted eventually, but her feelings against Alice were so strong that she would not tolerate Jasper harboring anything other than hatred and contempt for her. Not even mild interest was acceptable, so Jasper tried to stop his thoughts before they exceeded that stage.

People on their way out of the party congratulated Jasper on the success of the crash, patting his back and slapping his hand. Jasper returned their smiles. Rosalie and Emmett came out of the house when Jasper reached the porch.

"Hey, we've been looking for you," Emmett said, his arm slung around Rosalie's shoulder. She smiled lazily up at him, linking her fingers through his.

Jasper was constantly thankful that Emmett was a part of Rosalie's life. His support, love and loyalty for Jasper's sister was a rock solid as his pecks. Without him, Jasper never liked to imagine what kind of wreck his sister would be now.

"I was outside, there were a few of your friends' friends out here," Jasper lied to them. Emmett had brought so many people that there was no way he could call Jasper out on this one.

"Getting freaky with some college babes in the bushes," Emmett laughed.

"God, Emmet, where are we, the 90's? "Getting freaky"?" said Rosalie while she pulled him away from the house. "Come on, let's get a cab. I'm tired."

As soon as Jasper's head hit his pillow he fell right asleep. When he woke up, the unease in his stomach matched the unease he felt when couldn't remember his whole conversation with Alice.

Groaning to himself, Jasper prayed that he hadn't said anything incriminating. He would not be able to handle being blackmailed by Alice Cullen.

End of Chapter 7