I do not own the Twilight story or any of its characters or settings.

Night One

"Alice, would you please just wait downstairs with Sam?" Jasper begged again in a frustrated tone as she stopped again. He turned on the stair above her to face her. "If someone is waiting for you in your apartment, you will not be able to get away."

"Isn't that what you are here for? Aren't you here to keep me safe?" Alice asked innocently batting her eyelashes.

Jasper took a deep breath and blew it out toward the ceiling. "I will be fighting off the attacker, apparently for a long time as you descend the stairs."

Alice pushed past Jasper and continued her way slowly to her apartment. She made is a couple of stairs before Jasper shook his head in amazement of her stubbornness. Sighing, he caught up to her and gently scooped her up in his arms. Then, he proceeded to go up the stairs.

Alice tensed for half a second and then, relaxed in his strong arms. "Now this is what you should have done in the first place." Alice said smirking.

"I wish you would have waited downstairs with Sam." Jasper said through his teeth as if trying to hold back the frustration in his voice. "I was planning on checking out you apartment before coming back to get you like this."

"Well, I couldn't have waited for you." Alice huffed slightly before wincing at the sharp movement of her stomach.

"Why couldn't you wait?" Jasper asked as he gently set her down outside her apartment door.

Alice just handed him the key and looked away from him.

Sam caught the blush creeping up her face as Jasper turned the key in the lock. To help her out, he yelled up to the pair, "Has Alice explained about the bras hanging on the shower curtain rod yet?"

"Leave her alone, Sam!" Jasper said taking Alice's keys from her slack hand. "I am sure if there are any bras, they are a whole lot prettier than anything you leave laying around the station."

Even with the food being warmed in the oven, Alice felt a sense of relaxation and home when Jasper allowed her to come in. After sighing with contentment, she moved further into her apartment and sat gingerly on her chaise lounge chair. "Jasper, don't get used to the smell of food cooking in this place. I cannot cook to save my life."

Jasper crossed to her closet and sat his luggage down next to it while laughing at her statement. He sat down on the couch smirking. "Alice, I think that both of us will get used to the smells of food cooking. Your mother started stocking the freezer downstairs with pop in the oven food. Then, Rosalie added to it after she decided keeping busy is the only way she doesn't constantly cry."

"That sounds exactly like what they would do." Alice laughed before wincing at the pain of the stitches pulling. "Do you know what they put in the oven for tonight?"

"I think your mom said she put in your favorite." He answered trying to remember. "It is a funny thing that my favorite is chicken, mushroom, rice, and asparagus casserole, too."

The evening went smoothly with little conversation as they were still relative strangers. Both of them quickly became accustomed to each other's presence. Jasper handled the washing and rinsing the dishes to keep Alice's from getting her stitches wet while Alice dried them. Then, Alice stretched out on her bed as much as she could with a People magazine. Jasper glanced out of each window like he had done periodically throughout the night before settling on the couch with paperwork from the firehouse spread before him on the coffee table.

After an hour lost in his work, jasper jumped when Alice groaned in pain on her bed. Quickly and carefully, he sat down his work and made his way quietly to her. He looked at her sleeping face contorted in pain with her body lying on her stomach.

Using his training, he tried to figure out a way to move her and then, keep her off of her stomach without waking her up. Pulling her body until she was resting on her back would only cause more strain on her stitches. If he lifted her up, he would pull on her stitches and he could possibly have to flip her over like a pancake.

Jasper gently slid his finger and hands under her avoiding her bandage. He tried to curl her back into his chest. "Alice, just go back to sleep." Jasper whispered as she groaned in pain as he moved her as gently as possible. "I am going to surround you with pillows to keep you from rolling over in your sleep again."

"Won't work…" Alice mumbled. "My mom only had one way to get me to stay put when I was a baby or when I had to stay on my stomach after my kidney transplant."

Jasper finished pulling her to his chest and turned to sit on her bed. "What is that one way, little darlin'?"

"She would sleep with me. She would wrap her arms around me to keep me from moving around too much." Alice said in a rushed voice that was barely above a whisper.

"Oh," Jasper said hoping that his shaggy, blonde hair covered his blushing ears. After clearing his throat, he added, "That is something we can try."

"Having my mother come sleep with me and you right over there on the couch?" Alice giggled. "Just a heads up, my mom is a scantily clad sleeper."

"No, that is definitely not what I meant." Jasper said chuckling nervously. "We can try that sleeping arrangement, if you are okay sleeping with me."

Alice thought for a second. "Only if I can take a bath first, I still smell like that hospital."

Jasper nodded his head, chuckling again. He lowered his arm until he had placed her feet on the floor. After she stood and had taken a few steps away from him toward her dresser he asked her if she needed any help protecting her bandages.

"Nope, this is something I get to do myself." Alice said turning back to him and smiling. "It was really awkward and embarrassing to have to ask my dad to help me cover my stitches when my mom had to go out of town for a weekend."

Jasper went through his at home work out regiment of sit ups, push ups, squats, wall sits, and lunges while Alice soaked in the bath o get the hospital smell off of her body. He loved the fell of putting his body through its paces, but was annoyed that his mind was allowed to wander. It kept wandering toward the restroom where a naked Alice was.

When Alice was done with her shower, she dressed in her dark pink, silk camisole and matching pajama pants as quickly as her stitches would allow her. She took her lotion out to the living room with her so Jasper could get in the shower if he wanted. She stopped short causing herself to wince at the sight of Jasper all sweaty doing push ups on her floor. She could easily see herself underneath him covered in a mix of their sweat.

Jasper hopped up and wiped his face off with the hand towel he had laid on the back of the couch. "You are quicker than my sister, Maria. I can usually do three hundred push ups and three hundred sit ups between when the shower turns off and she emerges. I only got in two hundred fifty-seven with you."

"I will take that as a compliment." Alice said after shaking her head.

Jasper chuckled and grabbed some clothes that had been sitting next to the towel he still had in his hand. "I be quick in the shower, but if you are really tired head to bed. I will climb in and anchor you when I am done." Then, he headed for the bathroom as she stepped out of the doorway. Unconsciously, Jasper bent and placed a kiss on the top of Alice's head before shutting the door behind him.

Alice stood shocked for a moment. She was not normally clueless when it came to guys, but she had no idea what that small kiss had meant. Did she remind him of his sister, so he did what he normally did to Maria? Was he trying to comfort her? Did he like her and just kiss her head on impulse?

She heard the shower turn off and realized that she was still standing next to the door holding a bottle of lotion. She set to bottle down on her nightstand and sat down Indian style on the edge of her bed. She was determined to sit there until Jasper came out.

Five minutes later, Alice had had enough. She walked over to the bathroom and threw open the door. She didn't even stop when she saw Jasper with his head hanging down and sitting on the edge of her bathtub, clad only in boxers.

He jerked his head up when her feet came into view. "Alice, I shouldn't…"

"Why did you?" she interrupted.

"Um… Alice, the thing is…"

"Your accent is coming out."

Jasper's shoulders slumped. Then, he straightened his shoulders and back completely so he was eye to eye with her. "I like you, probably more than your father wants. On the other, I can't like you at the same time."

"Why can't you?" Alice asked trying not to snap at the confusing man. "Is it because of my dad? Did Emmett tell you not to?"

"No, it is neither of those. I can't because I am supposed to protect you. I have to stay objective." Jasper said pleading with her to understand that her safety was more important than his feelings.

Alice stood in front of him with a look of contemplation on her face. More to herself than the man in front of her, she muttered, "Mom is right firefighters are so stupid and misguided."

"What was that?" Jasper asked just before Alice not exactly gently placed her hands on either side of his face.

"I like you, too. Again, I like you more than my father wants me to. You are the first man I have felt any kind of interest in since before I was attacked. I was stupid and put my entire world on hold for a long time. I refuse to do that again." Alice stopped to take a deep breath. "If you can't protect me and like me at the same time, take me to my parent's house and then, pick me up for a date tomorrow night."

Jasper leaned toward her and gently pressed his lips against hers. Jasper slid his arms around her waist, pulling her closer while trying not to touch her stitches. Not pressing for more they moved their lips together like they had been kissing for centuries. They both felt like they were home with that one chaste kiss.

"Okay," Alice said breathing heavily. "I am going to step out and let you get dressed for bed."

When Jasper was done dressing, he walked to the bed to see Alice had as comfortably as she could arrange herself on her side. Jasper scooted up behind her. She pulled his right arm under her neck and rested his hand on her left shoulder. She draped his left arm over her left hip just below where her stitches stopped. His long arm ended a couple of inches above her knee.

Just before Alice fell asleep, she mumbled, "Watch how you move those fingers. I am very ticklish!"

Alice and Jasper woke to the sound of her apartment door flying open.

"Esme, I owe you $50!" Emmett bellowed down the stairs. "They are all snuggled up together in bed!"

Author's Note~

Sorry this has taken so long. Between dealing with seniors realizing they might not graduate and the rest of the school complaining about state testing, I have been drained of all energy. But testing is over & the seniors have mostly realized summer school is their only hope. What a fun summer I am going to have with them!

I also had to rewrite it several times because I didn't like how it played out until this version. I hope you like it! Let me know…

KaliCali77