Disclaimer: I don not own nor do I claim any rights to Twilight and the universe contained therein.

A/N: I have been getting through the week with the help of coffee, Mika & Girl Talk. And your lovely feedback, but o'course. I am so stoked for Halloween- my costume is going to be so baller it burns. That's right. Feel free to quote me: So baller, it burns.

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Chapter 13: The Party (Part 1)

Jasper:

I ran with Emmett and Edward until we were certain we wouldn't be able to hear any part of the conversation that was happening back at the house. We had gotten about 12 miles from the house before we declared ourselves safe. We stalked some small, unsatisfying prey and then climbed up the biggest trees we could find and perched at the tops.

We sat in silence for a few moments.

"I have an urge to talk about, I dunno, football. And man-sweat." Emmett shredded pine needles between his fingers as he spoke.

Edward nodded. "Even though I hate football." He said, "And…man-sweat."

Our phones all buzzed at the same time as we received text messages. Rose had apparently sent something out to all of us Cullens en mass. I flicked my phone open and read it as Em and Edward did the same.

Party for Bella. Come back home 10, fully dressed w/ decorations. Theme: Vampires, duh. Questions? No? Good.

I finished reading a second before the other two and I looked up as they got to the end of the text.

Emmett just shook his head, used to Rose's antics. I could sense excitement from Edward although I couldn't place its source. We had been dragged through schemes like this by Alice and Rose too many times to count—each time Edward had approached them with less patience than the last. Why the sudden shift in perspective?

The only variable was Bella. My phone gave a warning groan as I unintentionally tightened my grip around the casing. Edward must have heard the direction of my thoughts, because he immediately attempted to rein in his feelings so I couldn't read him as easily as he could read me.

"So," Emmett said, oblivious to his brothers' unspoken conversation, "I suppose we need to go buy…what?" He looked at us, "Suits? Capes?"

"Both, probably." I said, "And maybe plastic teeth and fake blood?"

"Ooh! We'll need fake spiderwebs, coffins, dirt from our home country, torches, stakes…" Emmett kept up a near constant stream of conversation the whole run to the nearest shopping center. It took some time to find a place that would suit our needs: tuxes and fake rats rarely kept the same company. As we shopped, we joked around and poked fun at each other. When Emmett tried on a navy, crushed velvet, pinstriped zoot suit, Edward and I immediately encouraged him.

"Rose will be so glad that you've begun expressing yourself through fashion," Edward said, "it's one of her biggest dreams for you."

Emmett checked himself out in the mirror, flattening the suit down over his chest and straightening the cuffs.

I managed to keep a straight face as I said, "Very slick. The zoot suits always were kind to your figure."

Emmet replied in all seriousness, "I know, right?" He looked at the tag and nodded. "I'm getting it. It's on wicked sale."

Edward and I went with more traditional styles; he chose a nicely fitted suit in black, and I got one in charcoal gray. The whole experience seemed a little off, and for the longest time I couldn't place it. As I held up two ties and tried to decide between the two, I realized what it was. I hadn't gotten to choose my own clothing in a very long time. Alice had always bought clothes for me, and if I insisted on picking something out myself, she would always tell me what I was going to end up choosing before I'd even began. It was a brand new experience; picking out articles of clothing, weighing the merits before making a final decision. I was enthralled by how… human the experience felt without Alice's psychic influence.

We left the suit store with bags of clothing.

"I think Bella's rubbing off on us already." Edward said.

I know exactly what you mean, I thought.

Emmett looked confused. "How so?"

I looked over at him. "Don't you feel different? More…?"

Realization dawned. "Human." He finished my sentence. We walked in silence as we let the thought sink into our very beings. Between the three of us, for once Emmett was the perceptive one with the forethought to end our dwelling.

"To the COSTUME store!" he shouted abruptly. In the middle of the shopping center, he charged—bags and arms flying as he ran (a little to quickly for safety's sake) into the decoration store and over to its Halloween wing.

Emmett stopped in the midst of it all and stared up at the wall of wigs and masks and make-up.

"It's so…beautiful." I would have scoffed if I hadn't felt his earnestness. I had to admit, I was a little surprised Emmett had never been in one of these stores before. It was right up his alley.

Emmett wasted no time in grabbing a shopping cart and loading it up with anything that vaguely resembled something from vampire cannon. Spiderwebs, rats, bats, fangs, cloaks, fake blood (both cinnamon flavored and not), coffins, skeletons, goblets, smoke machines, and a disco ball. When I asked him about the disco ball he leaned over and put his hand in front of his mouth like someone would try to read his lips.

"'Cause its like us in the sun, see? Like—" He made his eyes wide and his hands did twinkle fingers as he moved them over his body. "Get it?"

The times I would kill for a camera.

I winked exaggeratedly. "I think I got it."

Emmett nodded seriously. "That's what I'm here for." He pushed the humongous load over to the cash register. The cashiers did a fairly good job not looking completely dumbfounded, although they seemed a little unnerved by how the three of us managed to carry fifteen bags at fifteen pounds each without any apparent strain.

It took a little longer than normal to run back toward the house since we had to protect the bags from hitting the trees and getting damaged. We stopped a mile or two away and changed into our new suits, capes, and fake-exaggerated teeth. Emmett went full out and doused his face and mouth with fake blood making sure his new blue suit was still pristine.

I checked my pocket watch, an old and tattered thing I had had since I was first turned. I had held onto that watch amidst my life among the newborns when I had given up almost everything else; not only everything I owned, but a large part of myself as well. It was later than I thought it was. The long trip back had consumed most of our time and it was almost ten. Soon we would be allowed back inside.

We walked back to the edge of the forest and peered up at the house. Rose and Bella were silhouetted against the window shade and they were jumping around like real teenagers. I heard some upbeat pop music blasting from our house's sound system. Bella was certainly infectious. They constantly moved out of our field of vision, but the three of us were content to wait to be summoned and to watch in the meantime.

Our phones buzzed again with a text from Rose, but she must have heard them from the house because she proceeded to shout from the window,

"Come inside and start setting up, but don't say anything that would give away the theme. Bella doesn't know."

We walked inside and the noise of the music increased tenfold. Emmett and I let the music sweep through us, and we planted skeletons and fake cockroaches around the living room as we bopped to the beat. Edward refused. His elevated musical sensibilities refused to listen to, what I had heard him refer to as, the musical equivalent of a sugar enema.

Where he had pulled that beautiful mental image from, I didn't want to know.

Emmett began mouthing the words to one of the songs he knew and gyrating his hips. I one upped him by grabbing a rubber rat and singing into it like a microphone. I kicked off my shoes and slid, Risky Business style, across the hardwood floor. In no time, the decorations were up and Ed, Em, and I were waiting for the girls to declare themselves ready.

Then Carlisle and Esme walked in and I almost died.

They were in full Dracula and Elvira garb. Our meager plastic teeth paled in comparison. Carlisle rocked a deep black widow's peak and Esme had a huge pillar of hair balanced on her head. They carried even more decorations and looked at the already packed room with chagrin.

"Just add them to the mess." I smiled; the joyful mood was making me giddy. Everyone was happy and excited and the lack of negative emotions was something I had rarely experienced. I felt… high.

The thought made me giggle like a little girl. Edward cracked a smile as he read my thoughts.

"Jasper's emotionally stoned." He explained to the family. Everyone got a kick out of that, and the extra elation just increased the feeling.

We plugged in all of the electronic lights and fog machines and the room swelled with palpable excitement. An upstairs door opened and we looked up as two sets of footsteps made their way down the hall to the stairs. I had a moment of déjà vu: Had it only been a day or two ago when Bella had descended in this same manner?

Rose came down first; graceful in her acknowledgment of Bella's place of honor. Her blond hair was a tumble of curls and her deep scarlet dress fit corset style down her long torso before flaring into a classic floor-length skirt with tiers upon tiers of fabric. I could remember more conservative examples of the same kind of dress on the girls of my youth and I beamed at my beautiful sister. She stopped in the middle of the steps and the smile melted off her face as she caught a glimpse of Emmett's get up.

"Really?" She put a hand on her hip. "Really?" She looked at Edward and me. "Really, guys. Really?" Emmett looked down at himself and back at Rose.

"I look hot." He put his hands out like he was stating the obvious. Rose closed her eyes and took a deep breath.

She looked back up at him and was wearing a smile that only seemed a little forced. "Of course you do, baby." She walked down to him and linked her arm with his. As she walked past Edward and me, Rosalie turned over her shoulder and glared at us.

I blame you, she mouthed. Her free hand pointed first at Edward, then at me. I shared a conspiratorial glance with Edward. We were in for some kind of retribution. Rose had a policy of massive retaliation; whatever she decided was a fair punishment would be amplified by a thousand. Only then would she be satisfied.

I looked back at the stairwell as Bella began her descent.

Holy…

I couldn't form a coherent thought.

I could feel the dumb-ass expression on my face but I couldn't seem to make it change. Bella was…

Bella was damn sexy. It hit me in the gut. I had had this feeling several times with relation to Bella. I had always written it off as an involuntary reaction to the innate attraction we vampires hold. I looked over at Rose. I had never had this reaction to her, though I could recognize she was gorgeous. My reaction to Bella wasn't a reaction to her vampiric beauty…

I was attracted to Bella.

The knowledge pained me. Alice had been gone for…how long? Less than a week. I knew that lust was uncontrollable and completely involuntary. I knew it wasn't a betrayal of Alice, but…

It felt like one.

I looked at Bella again. She was wearing an ivory dress one shade deeper than her skin with a high straight neckline that underlined her collarbone. The bodice was demure by any standards. But the skirt stopped mere inches below her hips and exposed miles of leg. Long, lean—

Bella stepped onto the floor and I took a step forward without thinking, perhaps to offer my hand. Edward had acted more quickly, and he offered his hand with a bowed head.

"You look lovely." He murmured.

I wanted to gag. Lovely? Was he blind? Or a eunuch? Just lovely?

I couldn't have been the only one who caught the brief stutter of Bella's hand as she placed hers in his. I looked up at her and made eye contact, though she quickly broke it to look back at Edward and offer him a shy smile that held only the littlest bit of reservation.

I explored Edward's feelings. There was attraction and lust and…disapproval? Of course. Edward wouldn't want his 'lady' to wear anything so revealing. High necklines, buttoned sleeves, and full skirts that hid any hint of shoe—the garb of a true lady. As he escorted her across the room, I caught a glimpse of the back of the dress.

In short, there was none. A single chain across her shoulder blades held the sleeves from slipping down. The back dipped low until the hollow of her back began to swell outward. Then, the most meager excuse for a skirt and—damn it. More leg.

I felt horrible. I resolved to call Alice as soon as the party ended.

As soon as I made the decision, my cell phone buzzed. A text message.

We do need to talk. I look forward to it :)

Alice. I should be excited to hear from my wife for the first time in several days. It was the longest we had ever been apart.

I didn't need to be an empath to realize all I felt was dread.

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