The ninth day of Christmas

Alice took dress after dress out of her closet and chucked them at her feet. Jasper sat on the bed and watched her, amused as she became frustrated. "Jasper, I have nothing to wear!"

"Darlin', you have everything to wear." He said, laughing softly as he surveyed the hundreds of outfits spread across the floor. Alice pouted. "What about that dress you bought yesterday?"

She stared at him, "Are you out of your mind?"

"What's wrong with it?" Jasper asked, instantly regretting his question when Alice launched into a lecture about the differences of day dresses and party dresses. "Okay, okay! I get it! What about that blue one you bought last week?"

Alice rolled her eyes and scoffed, "Yeah, with what shoes?"

"Black ones." Jasper stated, earning another eye roll, "Alice, you must have something. You have so many dresses!"

"But none of them are right!" Alice whined.

Jasper stood up and walked into Alice's closet. He tugged a dress from the rail, "This one?"

"Too short." Alice told him.

He picked another, "This one?"

"Too frilly." She said. Every dress he picked up she discarded.

"Too summery."

"Too bright."

"Too small."

"Too plain."

"Too long."

"Too black."

"Too young."

"Too dull."

"Too fifties."

"Too old."

Jasper sighed and collapsed back onto the bed. Alice shrieked and held up a dress, "Too perfect for words!"

Thirty minutes later they pulled up outside the hospital. Jasper held Alice's door open and offered a hand, helping her climb out of the car. The dress she'd finally decided on was strapless, lilac at the top, with a thick black band around her waist, a purple flower at the side. Below the band the dress was a darker, brighter purple, smooth layers flowing down to mid-thigh. She'd matched it with a flower in her hair and black heels on her feet.

She skipped up the steps to the hospital, tugging Jasper along by his hand, and entered into the annual Christmas dance. They spotted their family members straight away; Carlisle with Esme on his arm, talking to his colleagues and co-workers. Emmett sat in a corner, Rosalie on his lap with their lips locked in a heavy make-out. Edward sulking in the opposite corner because he couldn't stop their thoughts leaking into his mind.

They said a quick hello to anybody they knew, before making their way onto the dancefloor. They surveyed the other people around them; three other couples slow dancing, a father dancing with his young daughter, some kids jumping about to the music, a group of nine ladies dancing - rather tipsy by the look of it. Around the dancefloor there were people laughing merrily, chatting and eating Christmas foods and drinking mulled wine. Then they blocked out all of the other people around them, it was just Alice and Jasper in the room - to them at least.

They danced through the night, outlasting everyone else on the dancefloor. The ladies tottered off in their heels, complaining about their sore feet. The kids were taken home and put to bed. The couples sneaked off to some place private where they could do whatever they wanted. Alice and Jasper just stayed on the dancefloor, holding onto each other and swaying to the music.

Carlisle approached them around midnight, "Emmett and Rose went home a while ago, and Edward's just gone too. Esme and I are planning to leave soon. Will you make your own way back to the house whenever you're ready?"

They nodded and Carlisle left. They stayed a little longer, until almost all the other humans had gone, before wondering outside of the party. Neither wanted to go home just yet, but neither knew where to go either.

"What can we do that's Christmassy?" Alice asked, kicking up snow with the toe of her shoe.

"We could hunt a reindeer." Jasper suggested.

Alice shrieked, "We can't do that Jazz! That's horrible! How could you even-"

She stopped when she looked up at him and saw that he was teasing her. She pouted and punched him jokingly on the arm. "But seriously, what can we do?"

Jasper considered, "We could go to the North Pole." Then he shook his head, "No. Santa might mistake you for one of the elves, and I'd never get you back."

Alice stuck out her tongue and threw snow at him. He narrowed his eyes and Alice's own eyes grew wide. What had she started?

Before she had the chance to run, he'd thrown a snowball straight at her. She squealed and ran for cover, throwing snow this way and that in an attempt to hit Jasper. Jasper's own shots were more strategic, logical and planned out. He didn't throw as many, but they always hit.

Alice surrendered in the end, begging Jasper for mercy as snowballs hit her left right and centre. He gave and scooped her into his arms. She pouted, "That was mean, Jazz."

"All's fair in love and war, Darlin'." He told her.

She giggled, "So this is fair then?"

Before Jasper could ask what Alice was talking about, he received a fistful of snow on the top of his head. He shook it out from his hair and gave Alice a stern look as she giggled once more, "You look like one of those dogs when you do that!"

Jasper growled, throwing Alice into a pile of snow. She shrieked, and the whole fight started again. They really did love each other, but neither of them was backing down from this particular war.

~On the ninth day of Christmas my true love gave to me, Nine Ladies Dancing.~

A/N: Hey :) sorry about the wait, had lots of family Christmas stuff to be getting on with ;) Hope you like the chapter though...review! ;)

See you tomorrow!