Disclaimer: All characters belong to Stephenie Meyer. I own the plot.
A very special thanks to Verucasin, beta – extraordinaire.
AN:
So you've met Alice, now it's time to introduce Jasper. I'm pretty sure none of you have seen this version of Jasper before and I can't wait to hear what you think.
As it will probably be no surprise to any of you, Alice and Jasper are going to have a romantic relationship. So if you want to read that what is happening between them then check out my story called Four Weeks. It was originally written as an outtake, but through the writing process it became a little longer than that. Check it out.
The second chapter posted of FOUR WEEKS contains the same events as this chapter, only from Jasper's POV.
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Chapter 14
Weeks passed where I refused to talk about the fact that I was pregnant. Alice kept pushing for answers and the more she did, the more I backed down. I needed time and space to come to terms with this. Sure, my mind was made up about having the baby as soon as I found out, but that by no means meant I knew what the hell I was doing.
"I have conditions." I said and looked at her seriously across the table. I needed to let her know what I had already planned. I had decided to take her offer to help me and this was the first time I opened the subject.
"Conditions to what?" Alice looked confused while shoving food into her mouth.
"To your offer." I bit my lip again, maybe that wasn't available anymore. I was a little afraid Alice no longer considered her generous offer to help out with the baby was still on the table.
"Oh that." She smiled her megawatt happy beaming smile for the first time in a while and she was literally bouncing up and down in her seat.
"I'm taking you up on it, but I need you to still be you." I said, trying to keep my face businesslike.
"What are you talking about?" She groaned theatrically.
"I appreciate deeply all that you have offered and I know it's going to be a big sacrifice for you to help me out all the time. But for me to be okay with this arrangement, I need you to still have a life. I want you to date and still work as hard as you do on your collection. In general; you need to go on the way you do now. Here at home we're a family... or whatever it'll be." I gazed at her with terrified eyes. Maybe I just overstepped the boundaries that outlined our friendship, but Alice looked back at me with kind eyes and the huge smile that was still on her face.
"Okay." Was all she said, but she looked happy. Very happy, I might add.
"I'm serious, I want you to have and do all the same things that you used to."
"Sure. Jeez, lighten up. You just made a major decision and you're worried about me? I think you have it a little backwards, Bella." She grinned at me.
"No, I'm just worried."
"Don't be. We're gonna be awesome!" Alice beamed. She lounged out of her seat and put her arms tight around me, hugging me like a boa constrictor. "I'm so happy for you." She chanted into my ear. "I think this is great and I'm so happy that you finally made your decision. I've been biting my nails for weeks." I was still locked in Alice's choking embrace as she continued to gush her emotions.
"I'm a little scared." I whispered, feeling a lump thicken in my throat. "Thank you, Alice for doing this for me. Though, I want you to promise that you'll still have a life." That made Alice pull back and give me a serious eye roll. "Promise me." I implored.
"I promise." She chirped, clapping her hands. I stared at her dumbfounded, was Alice getting teary-eyed now?
"Are you going to cry?" I taunted sarcastically.
"No." She denied firmly, buy I could tell she was fighting back the tears. "So when are you telling everyone?"
"I think I'll hide it for as long as I can. Maybe long enough until my boss forgets I just missed two months of work." I grimaced.
"Bella, I don't think he's likely to forget." She looked at me with scrutinizing eyes. I knew she was right. My boss may be as nice as Santa Claus, but there was no way it would slip his mind I just had a leave of absence.
"I know." I sighed. "Can I show you something?" I was suddenly all excited about the pregnancy and I wanted Alice to see. I had discovered it in the mirror a few days ago.
"Sure." She answered and I pulled my T-shirt up, which in fact was one of Edward's stolen ones. I revealed the little bump that had been forming between my hipbones over the last two or three weeks.
"See." I said warmly.
"Oh my god." She mouthed surprised. "It's not twins, is it?" Her lips narrowed into a thin line, trying to hide a snide smile.
"That's not funny." I gritted my teeth.
"Sorry." She chuckled. "That's amazing." Alice was unable to tear her eyes from my tiny baby bump. I covered myself up again and went back to my now very soggy breakfast. I stared at the contents of the bowl. I was not eating that. I chucked the leftovers into the sink.
It was Sunday and I basically had nothing to do. So when I located my camera in the bottom of my traveller's bag, cleaning up, I was stunned. I had completely forgotten about that. I had so many dreams about Edward when we were together, but I couldn't seem to remember him properly. Sure, I could look at the millions of pictures on the internet, but he just didn't feel right in those images. That wasn't the same Edward I knew. I turned on the camera and started searching through the photos. More than half of them contained Edward and he looked exactly like the man I tried so hard to remember at night. Tears trickled from my eyes. I was happy and sad at the same time. Happy I finally had a way to remember him from when we had been together, but sad that it made me miss him even more.
The next day I dug into my spare cash again and bought a laser printer and some decent photo paper. I didn't want to risk sending these private photos in for development. I didn't trust they wouldn't end up on the internet or be sold to the tabloids. Also, I wasn't exactly decent in some of them.
Days moved past in an orderly fashion. I got up in the morning and went to bed at night. I worked during the day and slept like a rock at night. Nothing exciting happened. Alice and I had our little routine and we were both getting used to the slowly changing situation between us. I was having a baby and she was a major part of it.
So when it became time for me to see a doctor she was right there by my side. I was faced with a lot of facts about pregnancy and labor that I was nowhere near ready for, but most importantly, I was told I was fourteen weeks along and now I had a due date.
She was a support pillar. I think without her, I would have fallen apart several times, but she firmly kept me in one piece. She had promised to still have her life, but she seemed adamant to stay at home with me and not keep up her end of the bargain. That made me feel guilty. I hated I had trapped her in my life of chaos, but I had to admit when I looked closer at Alice she seemed to thrive with our little arrangement.
"Would you do me a favor?" Alice begged. "I have this party I need to go to, and I not sure I can go alone. Would you come with me, please?" She basically whined.
I didn't especially feel like going, but Alice had proven more than once now that she was here for me. So time to repay her had risen. I planted an appropriate smile on my face. "Sure, anything." I gushed a little too enthusiastically.
"Thank you, thank you, thank you!" She chimed and clapped her hands, bouncing up and down. "We can probably leave early and go get ice cream or something."
"Ice cream sounds good, but we don't have to leave early."
"We might need to." She answered evasively. "So if you suddenly start feeling a little under the weather, I would totally understand." She smiled encouragingly, but a little high strung even for Alice.
"Great. Blame it on the pregnant girl." I muttered. "So where is this thing and what's it for?"
"It's Aro showing off his new crash pad, but what he's really doing is rubbing everybody's noses in the fact that he's filthy rich."
"Charming" I mumbled. I wasn't a big fan of Aro, but he was the investor in Alice's new collection and without him it wouldn't be impossible for her to put it together. He had a lot of connections and powerful friends in addition to the starting up funds Alice needed.
"It's just going to be a lot of mingling." She sat down next to me on the couch. "Besides, maybe we should get out a little bit and try to have some fun. It's Friday." I knew she was right. I had been locked up in this apartment for far too long. Yes, I did leave to go to work. And yes, I did go to the grocery store. But no, I didn't go out just for the fun of it.
I leaned my head on her shoulder and she gently stroked my hair. "It would be nice to get out. I hate that I've entombed you like this; you promised me you wouldn't stay home with me all the time. You should go out, maybe on a date or something?" I looked at her apologetically. Though, in truth, I was a little upset she didn't do the least bit to hold up her end of the deal.
"That's okay. I'll date eventually." She smiled reassuringly at me, though there was something elated about her statement.
"So nothing interesting at the moment?"
She didn't answer for a moment. "By the way, the party is tonight." She forced a wide innocent smile and then threw me a guilty look.
"What?" I spat. "No. I have nothing to wear. If you haven't noticed I'm stuck in the 'is she fat or maybe she's pregnant' phase. I have nothing that fits." I complained. I had a feeling she wasn't going to give me an opportunity to bail out.
"I kinda have that covered." She smiled smug. "I was going to bribe you with it, in case you said no. And besides the sweat pants are starting to burn my eyes." She added, glancing down my body. I nodded quietly. I always wore these, whereas Alice was always into bright and cheerful ultra-feminine dresses.
"Ugh. You shouldn't get me anything." I felt guilty enough as it was. "But now that you have, can I see it?" I threw in. I knew Alice hated if you ignored a present, even an unexpected one, so that last statement was for her benefit.
"Yep." She got up and went to the bags she had placed in the kitchen. She returned with a beaming grin on her face. "Here." She held up the dress. It was black and in a light woven fabric. It flowed weightlessly through the air when Alice held it out. At first sight, it didn't look like much, other than expensive, but I had a feeling it would be really nice once you put it on. Besides Alice was never wrong about her choices of clothes. "Try it on." She looked so excited. How could I disappoint that face?
I took the dress from her and went to my room. She followed me like a purring kitten. I pulled the dress over my head and started tying the lacing around my waist or at least in the place where my waist used to be. I took a quick look at myself; the dress was stunning. I checked my face in the mirror, just to make sure it was my reflection. Sure it was my face, not my body though. The body I saw had put on a few pounds over the past weeks.
"You're so beautiful." She cooed. "So you'll go?"
"I promised I would." Besides I did feel really pretty. Showing off and looking nice when you were pregnant didn't happen every day.
We entered the down town building and took the elevator to the thirty-second floor.
"Wow." I said gaping.
"Like I said... filthy rich." Alice whispered in my ear. "And close your mouth, Bella." I snapped it shut with a pop. This place was impressive. The entry hall was enormous and paneled all the way to the ceiling, which was about as far up as the sky. A few people sat around a glass table, sipping on fancy drinks.
"This way." Alice gestured towards two tall glass doors, where light streamed through the frosted surface. She looked amused by my obvious awe. She pulled the door open with a light tug. I had expected the doors to be heavy as a wooden gate in a castle from the Middle Ages, but Alice didn't even put her weight in opening it.
The next room was the exact opposite than the hall. This room was brightly lit and all the walls were white. The light in here was almost blinding compared to the hall. A thin man glided to our side. His hair was slicked back and his face radiated fakeness. His skin looked papery. "Alice, darling." He chimed. If he smiled any harder it looked like his paper skin might crack.
"Aro, this is wonderful." She said while he kissed one cheek then the other. She rolled her eyes slightly behind his back, but I saw it.
"Bella, you wonderful creature." He chimed in my direction, giving me an obvious once over. I was thanking the stars that Alice had given me the dress. Any of my other clothes would have looked like garage sale next to his overpriced Armani suit. I politely held my hand out to shake his, but I was treated with the same courtesy as Alice and he pulled me in for the mandatory two pecks on the cheeks. He was spritzed with heavy floral scented cologne and it went straight to my head, making it spin. I swallowed back a little puke as the stench of his cologne was enough to slay an entire army. Did he bathe in it? I put my hand over my mouth and tried to sound like I had to sneeze. He was completely oblivious to my reaction and was already skidding off to the next arrivals without a second thought to us, I was sure.
"Air, please." I mouthed to Alice. She nodded her head and pulled me towards the windows. The view was spectacular and was overlooking New York's skyline. I breathed in the air that wasn't polluted by the horrid floral sent. "God, Aro reeks." I felt a little bad, but I really had to concentrate not to throw up. I hadn't been nauseated or uncomfortable so far during my pregnancy, but getting a whiff of Aro changed all that in a nanosecond.
"I know." Alice said. "Just breathe through your mouth when he's near. That's what I do." She mouthed disinterested, while she scanned the room like she was looking for someone.
"He looks so fake." I muttered under my breath, not trying to be too insulting.
"Yeah, when he dies, I don't think he will start decomposing. He's sporting more plastic than Barbie." She snickered as she returned her attention to me.
"I was afraid he would self-combust from the gasoline he seems to have soaking in." I joined in when Alice wasn't shy to do a little taunting.
"I wouldn't be surprised if he did." Alice laughed.
Alice worked the room for a while with me tagging along, smiling at the appropriate places and making mindless small talk. Alice really did know how to mingle. She was very believable, acting totally shallow so she could blended in perfectly. I was glad I knew her behind this exterior.
I excused myself to the bathroom and when I returned Alice was chatting up yet another one of these society girls. It was hard to keep up with all of them. This one was almost as short as Alice, but a pair of very elegant high heels made her taller than she really was. She wasn't tiny body-wise like Alice, but still slender. Her clothes were less elegant than the other girls as she wore a pair of perfectly fitted skinny jeans to go along with her heels and a non-decadent top. She had honey blond hair just reaching her shoulders and a face to die for. She was pretty, but not in the obvious and classic kind of way. Her skin was clean and fluid with a slightly dark undertone to it. Her features were feminine and perfectly aligned. Her face was flawless for lack of a better word.
They spoke quietly, almost privately. Alice seemed almost nervous, glancing at the girl who smiled warmly at her. I just stood back and watched them for some unexplainable reason until a few minutes passed and I started to feel uneasy just standing here by myself.
"Hey." I said. "Am I interrupting?"
Alice's breath shook as she exhaled slowly. She seemed almost flustered. "No… I was just talking to… uh, Jasper. Jasper, this is Bella. Bella, Jasper." She hurried, licking her teeth furiously, something Alice only did when she was anxious.
"It's so nice to meet you." I said quickly to alleviate the tension radiating from Alice and held out my hand politely.
"Nice to meet you too." The girl said and I met her eyes, they were alive with humor and the color was hovering somewhere in between green and blue, quite striking. "Alice told me a lot about you." She said kindly. "How's everything? How's the baby?" She asked like that was an everyday topic we discussed, though, I had never met the person before.
"Great... the baby's well." I answered trying not to gape at her. I glanced sideways seeing Alice's eyes widen with shock.
"That's wonderful." The girl said kindly. Beside me Alice looked like she was about to have a coronary and her chest was flushed red with stress, I guessed. "I have to go." The blonde said suddenly. "It was so nice to meet you, Bella. Alice, I guess that I will see you later."
Beside me Alice smiled a little sad smile and nodded her head.
"Nice girl." I said to Alice who didn't bother with a response. I thought that was a little odd. "Jasper is a strange name for a girl." I added in. Alice shrugged.
"I suppose." She answered curtly. "You ready to go?" She looked a little bit like she was high to me. Alice was always just happy and beaming, but now she seemed restless for some reason.
"Sure, if you're done." I studied Alice's face, without knowing what I was actually looking for, but something was off.
"I've had all the vapid chit-chat I can handle for one night." She chuckled, bouncing back into the Alice I'd always known. Alice said a few good byes before we were at the elevators. I noticed her smile - a dazzling, radiant smile that would break a man's heart in an instant, as the elevator doors closed.
We walked home slowly while I was scarfing down a giant size ice cream. It was delicious and I was happy with the fresh air non-tainted with heavy floral scent from Aro. Everything at his place seemed to be coated in the stench. The conversation moved around the party and the vapid people that were attending. Alice gushed over how much she actually hated those things and I complimented her ability to glide through the thing, blending in perfectly. I wasn't sure if it was actually an insult or a compliment.
Alice's phone rang and from the corner of my eye I saw Alice getting a little ruffled again. Whoever was on the other end of the line, Alice was happy to hear from the person. I didn't pay attention to her short conversation.
"I have plans tomorrow." She announced happily when she hung up.
"That's great. Would that be a date?" I teased as she once more was flustered and bouncing on the balls of her feet.
"Yeah." She admitted sheepishly. "Is that okay?" She shot me an all too caring look.
I rolled my eyes at her. "Alice, I don't need a babysitter." At times I was afraid her hovering over me had something to do with a shower and an almost catatonic state. Though, having her think I couldn't fend for myself for one night was a little insulting. "Who's the guy? Anyone I know?"
Alice's eyes flickered a little. "No, no one you know." She added finally, licking her teeth.
"I'll be fine, Alice. Go out and have fun." I said. I would be pissed off if she canceled the date on my behalf and stayed at home with me.
"What are you going to do?" She asked concerned.
"Watch TV. What else is there?" It wasn't like I was in a state to go out and get drunk, not that I did that much before anyway.
"Sure you won't mind me going out?"
"I swear to god, if you ask me that one more time..." She didn't let me finish.
"Okay, I get it." She interrupted. Alice was silent the rest of the way home, which was a rare event. She looked worried and ecstatic at the same time.
The following evening Alice had taken a long time trying to figure out what to wear and how to do her hair. I had been on the couch offering comments whenever a new option had been put on for display and then discarded. Alice gave me a quick peck on the cheek and she was out the door in a very cheerful mood.
I was happy to spend Saturday evening alone with just me and the remote. Being alone was an option for me to concentrate on a few things I had been putting off. My mind was working overtime on how to tell people about my pregnancy. Alice was actually the only one I had officially told, even though Alice seemed to have spread the news around. I thought about how I was going to tell Eric and I feared how he was going to react. After about an hour of imagining how bad it could get, I decided I was going for the jugular. That meant being honest and telling him Monday when I got to the bookstore. I shuddered at the thought, but I still had about thirty-eight hours to man up.
I was going through every drawer in the kitchen. There had to be something yummy to eat somewhere and I was just craving sugar, but there was nothing to find. For a moment I actually thought about eating the sugar right out of the bag. I knew I shouldn't, but it was still tempting. My cravings were uncontrollably so I decided to go to the doughnut shop on the next corner. Sugar glazed doughnuts was what I wanted. My mouth started watering just thinking about it. I knew it was insane, but I blamed it on the hormones. That was always a good defense these days, I couldn't be held accountable as I was pregnant.
I quickly put on a sweatshirt and hurried down the stairs. I rushed down the street, with my arms clutching around me to keep warm. It took me about five minutes to reach the shop. When I entered, a warm smell of sugar filled my nose. I sucked in the scent letting the hormonal cravings get the better of me.
"Four sugar glazed, please." I pointed toward the shelf. The man behind the counter eyed me. I was sure he guessed that I was not going home to a family of four and sharing these. I smiled sheepishly. I handed him the money and added that I didn't need any change when I grabbed the box off the counter. Outside the store I took out one doughnut and sank my teeth into it. The sweetness filled my mouth and it was every bit as good as I had hoped.
I was just around the corner, when I accidentally caught a movement down an alley across the street. Adrenaline spiked in my body when I realized I knew that jacket. It was the same as the one Alice had. The other person was wearing a bright red coat, tied at her waist. I blinked a couple of times as my eyes adjusted to the light. There were two people standing there, just at the edge of the light from the building.
I suddenly realized it was Alice standing there. What was she doing? I gaped when I truly noticed the other person. She had honey blond hair and I had met her yesterday. It was the girl from the party Alice had been so flustered talking to. They stood close together, almost like they were hiding something. Was Alice buying drugs? My mind wandered. Alice would never do drugs, I knew that for sure. I took another bite of the doughnut, chewing slowly as I observed them.
The girl from the party brushed her fingers down Alice's cheek and very tenderly pushed Alice up against the wall. Alice smiled expectantly. It was the same smile she had used at the party. What was this girl's name? I only remembered it being distinctive. I could tell they were talking softly, their lips were moving, but I was far out of hearing range. Alice made the next move. She put two fingers into the front pockets of the girl's jeans and pulled her towards her body. They melted together in the dim light. I felt I had to rub my eyes to make sure they weren't deceiving me at what happened next. My mouth fell open, when the party girl moved her hands to cradle Alice's face. She leaned in and kissed her ever so softly. Alice reciprocated the kiss and put her other hand behind the girl's neck, kissing her back. That was easy to see.
I was dumbstruck when I realized that I had stopped chewing and the doughnut was just lying in my mouth getting soggy from the moisture.
A car passed and I was woken from my heartless staring. I remembered the food in my mouth and swallowed the soggy lump. My heart started pounding, suddenly afraid they would see me here. I looked to both sides and then at the girls. They were still kissing completely oblivious to the rest of the world it seemed.
I suddenly forced my body into motion and ran the last hundred yards home. I almost smacked into the heavy front door when it didn't open fast enough. I slammed the door to the apartment, with too much force and it smashed into the railing with a loud bang. My heart was hammering furiously in my chest.
I left the three remaining doughnuts on the table having lost my appetite and headed to the bathroom. I finished my routine and went to my room. I wasn't going to face Alice just now if she was on her way home. I needed to know what to say first or if I was going to say anything at all. If I saw her now, it was unlikely that I could act cool enough for me to be inconspicuous. I snuggled in my sheets, hoping I would be able to sleep even though I was shocked to my core.
With a world of surprise I woke from a dreamless deep sleep in the morning. I had expected last night's unintended surveillance would have stuck to my mind and would have made it impossible to sleep. I had spied on Alice and she was kissing that pretty girl from the party. I was stunned.
I listened hard to hear if Alice was up yet, but it was silent. First of all, I needed to figure how I felt about this. Secondly, was I going tell her I knew? That I saw them? In truth it was none of my business, no matter who she dated. On the other hand, I was a little curious as to what was going on with Alice.
Suddenly, I thought about the conversation I had overheard between Alice and Lauren in the locker room a long time ago, back when we were in high school. Sure, that made sense now. Perfect sense, actually.
I got up and went to the kitchen. The box of doughnuts from last night was still on the table. I lifted the lit and peeked in, seeing there were only two. Good, she was home. Was she alone? I wondered abruptly. I figured I didn't need to know that, I was not ready for that yet.
I put on a pot of tea and waited for the water to boil. Did I even care if Alice dated girls? I realized I didn't care, because I had slept deeply and calmly all night without a care in the world. I had met the girl and she seemed really sweet and strangely calm. That was the most important thing. I was instantly out of time to think as Alice entered looking like she could use just about five more hours of sleep.
"Morning." I said in a cheerful tone. I studied her face for any indication she was going to tell me about last night. The only thing I did find on her face was lines from her pillow deeply embedded into her skin.
"Mmm." She grumbled and scratched the back of her head. Her hair was a chaos as Alice had a tendency to have really bad bed hair.
"Nice night?" I asked, not really being able to hide my grin, but I would give her the option first of telling me first. The pot started whistling a sharp screech.
"Turn that thing off!" Alice complained and held her hands over her ears. "It was fine." She said nonchalantly, but her smile had a will of its own and it broke through her restraint, indicating that the night might be more eventful than she wanted to lead on. She just didn't know that I knew. This was going to be good. It was usually Alice that could taunt me with having hunches about the future. Now I enjoyed having the upper hand for once.
"Good I'm glad. Looking at you, it got pretty late?" I chewed my lip, while I fixed two cups of tea.
"Not really. I couldn't sleep. You on the other hand, kept most of the building up with your… snoring." She rubbed her face tiredly, like that was going to help. Nothing but a shower could fix her morning face.
"Oh. Sorry." I mumbled. I pondered whether I should string her along or just get right into it what I had seen last night. My gut told me not to joke about this, there probably was a reason she didn't tell me about her current dating situation.
"Thanks." She murmured into the paper when I handed her a cup of tea.
"So..." I started, not quite sure how to phrase my question. I realized this was a potential bomb. I regretted my decision to get into the subject, but instincts still told me otherwise. So from past experiences with Edward I had learned to trust my instincts.
"So what?" She mused disinterested while going over the headlines on the front page of yesterday's news paper.
I folded my hands around the cup. "I saw you last night." I stared at her when she flinched the tiniest bit. She kept her eyes on the paper.
"That's impossible. We were nowhere near here." She lied smoothly. She pretended to be reading, but she looked somewhat like a severely dyslexic person having letters and words thrown at her like arrows. You could take a blade to the tension radiating from her, it was that thick. I was glad I didn't take the humorous path as that would have been a mistake and would quite possibly hurt her.
"Okay, but I saw you... in the alley just around the corner." I kept my voice gentle and understanding, hoping it would soften her fiery mood. I felt guilty again that I had watched them. Her lips tightened into a hard line and only silence followed for a while.
"That can't be. I was down at Times Square." She lied again. She said the words like it was the first excuse she that popped in her head. She turned to the first page. I could tell she didn't want to admit to anything. We never used to have secrets, not to my knowledge. Sure I was keeping Edward's name from her, but I didn't like that she wouldn't confide in me.
"So, the girl I saw last night wearing your jacket and the other girl in the red coat in the alley wasn't you?"
"Ah, that. That was just an old friend I just stopped to talk to her for a second." She lied again. She smiled at me trying to hide the panic in her eyes. The deceitful attitude was getting a little annoying.
"Alice." I said firmly. "You weren't talking. You were kissing." I mouthed the last words.
"No we weren't." She spat like I was being ridiculous. That was a little infuriating.
"Okay. The lying is getting a little repetitive. Alice I saw you. You weren't talking, you were making out. And if you're going for stealth, I wouldn't wear a red coat that's says bulls-eye and I wouldn't stand under the light. So there." I hissed. I instantly regretted my harsh words, but it was too late to take them back.
Alice's face turned bright red. I hadn't really seen that color on her face before, let alone anywhere for that matter. I really wished I had kept my big mouth shut. She closed her eyes and said nothing. I was getting a little worried and didn't have the faintest idea what to say next. I just stared at her as her face returned to an almost normal color. "So you're going to move out now?" She didn't look at me, just glared at the floor.
"What? Who's talking about moving out?" I couldn't comprehend where that was coming from. "Do you want me to move out?" Now I was panicking. If I didn't live with Alice, I would have no one to help me with the baby. Okay, I knew that sounded pathetic, but it was still true. Had I been that bad to live with? I knew I wasn't the most cheerful person in the world, but was I that horrible?
"You won't move out?" She asked and frowned.
"Why would I?" I dared hoping she wouldn't call me out for being a lousy friend.
"I figured if you knew, you wouldn't want to live with me anymore." She said quietly.
"That's why you didn't tell me?" I gawked at her. "Really? If you'd killed someone I'd consider moving out, but not over this."
"OhmygodI'msoglad." She gushed in one word and leaned her head onto the paper. It sounded like she was hyperventilating. Pondering, I didn't think she had taken one breath since I'd started the conversation. "I'm sorry I didn't tell you." She continued mumbling into the table.
"It's fine. I know it's none of my business, anyway. I just had to ask."
"It kind of is your business, since we do live together."
"She's the girl from the party, right?" I asked and took a sip of the burning tea.
"Yep. It's her. And taking into account how you suck at names, hers is Jasper." She smiled that smile again when she mentioned the girl's name.
"Thanks, I tried to remember last night." I shook my head. "So how long have you known her?"
"Not long. Last night was only a first date." She muttered carefully.
"Oh. So how was the date?" I grinned at her.
"It was good." She said flatly, still not looking at me, but had that smile on her face again.
"Jeez, would you look at me please. I don't care who you date. Well maybe if it was a skizo off meds or a serial killer, I might have an opinion." Alice chuckled, her eyes flashed to mine for a brief second.
"You don't mind?" She asked nervously.
"Alice, you're not embarrassed, are you?" I asked. She shrugged her shoulders again in response. "You really don't need to be. And Jasper…" I pointed out that I remembered her name. "Seemed really nice when I met her." I added and shrugged.
"She is nice." The smile appeared on Alice's face again.
"You like her." I countered tauntingly, it was mean but I just couldn't help myself. Alice had never been embarrassed and never been caught making out in alleyways with girls. This was just too good a chance to pass up on.
Alice pursed her lips, but didn't answer. Her eyes twinkled and I watched her skin flush. It looked healthy on her pretty face. "Last night was really really good. She kissed me for the first time." She spoke lightly and analyzing.
"Yeah. I saw." I said and smirked. Alice narrowed her eyes at me. "I sorry I watched you guys... er girls." I corrected and smiled sheepishly.
"Don't worry, I won't hold it against you." She hesitated. "So, I guess now you know."
"I think I always knew, well not completely consciously." I smiled at her snidely.
"What? How?" Alice narrowed her blue eyes at me.
"You and Lauren." I stated and bit my lip.
"No one knew that! No one!" She said firmly.
"I knew, and Lauren knew that I knew. I overheard you two in the locker room in high school, you were having a fight… sort of a girlfriend fight." I said carefully as I wished Alice hadn't flipped to defense mode so fast.
"Oh." She said utterly surprised.
"Yeah, Lauren caught me." I said and shrugged. "Look Alice. If you want my opinion I don't care who you date, as long as he or she is nice and not a complete psycho. I'm just glad you seem to be having a life."
"Thanks, Bella." Alice said and beamed in her normal chirpy manner.
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Don't forget to check out my latest story and the outtake on what is going on between Jasper and Alice. The story is called Four Weeks.
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