Chapter 5

A/n: I've never been big on author's notes… but here I am writing them again. I'm really convinced no one reads them anyway… Thanks to: Sandersonsisters, Casey, and Alene236. Ya'll make this possible! I don't own this stuff, obviously that's SM. Got that kids? Okay onto Chapter 5… the beginning of the road trip.

"Come on pip squeak! We are hitting the road in ten. If you're not up, we're leaving without you!" Rose threatened pounding on my door. I quickly tried to collect my thoughts and bring myself back to reality. I was having a dream about Jasper. It was insane and so real. I felt his lips on mine, they were soft and tender and then the kiss became intense and passionate. Unfortunately, that's as far as my dream got, and even more unfortunately, it wasn't real.

I hopped out of bed, and pulled on the clothes that I put out for this morning. I grabbed my bag, and walked into the kitchen. Rose was drinking a cup of tea, and Emmett looked as if he were a zombie. Bella just walked in the door, and she looked the best of the three. It was obvious none of them were morning people though.

"I'll be the first driver!" I bounced. I wasn't going to be able to sleep, so I might as well take the early shift in driving.

"Whose idea was it to get up so early?" Rose yawned. I pointed to Emmett, and she wrinkled her brow and shot him a dirty look. We piled into the Jeep. I could barely see, and requested a pillow to sit on. I plugged my iPod into FM transmitter, and cranked it up.

First song of the road trip, and Emmett started complaining about chick music. I shot him a look, and ignored it as I pulled out of the parking space. I was rocking out the Spice Girls, Britney Spears, N*sync, and even Taylor Swift. Within an hour, Emmett had finally settled down and fallen asleep. Rose had drifted off as well. Bella was semi-awake next to me. The next song turned to the Goo Goo Dolls, and Bella perked up.

"Is this Better Days?" She asked. I smiled and nodded.

We sat there in silence listening to the old melody playing through the speakers. It was peaceful.

"I haven't heard this song in forever! The Goo Goo Dolls were my life when I was in the sixth grade," She admitted blushing slightly. I laughed at her admission, and truth be it they were my life too.

"Them and Matchbox Twenty!" I laughed.

"I'm not crazy, I'm just a little unwell," She quoted.

"Oh, Bella! I love you," I sighed. The song changed to Many the Miles by Sara Bareilles, and I turned to Bella, "Have you heard this song?"

"Nope."

"It's one of my favorites. I love the line, 'but surely something has got to got to got to give, cuz I can't keep waiting to live,' I get into it. It's so deep to me. I can't handle how awesome it is!"

"Alice, you're something else," She giggled. Another hour had passed. I had two more hours on my shift, but I needed to pull over. Bella and I got out of the car to go to the bathroom. We were in some town between Columbus and Cleveland. We locked the car with sleeping Rose and Emmett and proceeded to the bathroom. I insisted that Bella go first since it was a one man restroom. She came out, almost instantly.

"I'm not a prissy, I don't care about gross bathrooms, but this one is just sick!" I walked in, and she was right. I wasn't sure what was on the floor, but all I knew was it wasn't water. I was almost positive it hadn't been cleaned in days. It reeked so bad, I felt like I couldn't breathe. I stepped out, looking at Bella. I had never known a bathroom could be this bad. I frowned slightly, trying to figure out what to do.

"Maybe we'd be better off at the McDonalds across the street," She suggested. I nodded in an agreement. We got back in the car and drove across the street. The McDonalds was cleaner. We looked at the breakfast menu. Might as well get breakfast while we were here, after all we weren't stopping for another two hours.

I decided on a McMocha and an egg mcmuffin. Bella got a latte and some breakfast burrito. After receiving the order we walked out to the car. Rose and Emmett were still sleeping, and now they were cuddling. I internally sighed. They were so cute!

"I've never went to McDonalds for coffee before," I mentioned to Bella.

"Neither have I, and no offence to McDonald's but I vote no more! It's gross. I'm such a Starbucks girl. Who ever knew I'd be a coffee snob?"

"You're from around Seattle right?"

"Yeah, Forks is a little bit away."

"Then it's fine. I have every right to be a Pizza snob because I'm from Chicago. You can be a coffee snob because you're from Washington State. See how it works?"

"Sure, Alice."

The music started again and we ate in silence. An hour later I had to stop again; Bella was sick. I woke up Rose and Em, because I was afraid she was going to die. She just kept vomiting, and wasn't holding down anything, even water. It came to the point she was vomiting stomach acid. She couldn't even comprehend what we were saying. I was nervous. Did she get car sick, or was she sick? Would we all catch it? This isn't the way to start a road trip!

I dialed dad's number, because I was scared. I didn't know what to do.

"Alice?" He picked up the phone alarmed. I looked at the clock it was 8am here, so it was 7am there. He probably thought Edward had died or something ridiculous.

"Hey, yeah, so… I'm driving up to see Edward, right? Bella, one of the girls with us, is vomiting like crazy. We've been stopped for a half hour. She can't hold anything and is now vomiting stomach acid. What should I do? Do you think it's contagious?"

"Well, I don't specifically know what's wrong with her Alice. It sounds like it could either be a bad flu or food poisoning."

"What should we do? We're on the road to Edward's!"

"Alice, take a breath and calm down. If it's food poisoning, she's not just going to get over it. Nor a flu, but generally with a flu it will feel better after she's vomited. What I suggest you do is get water and Gatorade. Delude the Gatorade with water, and give it to her in small sips. If you can get a clear Gatorade. Don't give her any solids. I'd also get a vomit bucket for her and let her lay down in the car and keep driving. I know, it sounds cruel, but that's the only solution that I can think of for your friend."

"Thanks Dad! I love you."

"Love you too Alice, have a safe trip. Call me if she doesn't get better in 24 hours," He suggested. I hung up the phone and relayed Carlisle's directions to Emmett and Rose. I went in search for a bucket/ bag that Bella could vomit it.

Finally we all got settled. Rose was now riding shotgun with me, and Emmett was holding Bella in the back. Although Rose would never admit it, she was so jealous. The scowl on her face made it apparent, but she wasn't going to say anything because it wasn't Bella's fault. Rose texted Jasper to let him know our predicament, and that we might be later than expected.

After around five hours we switched drivers. It was supposed to be four, but we stopped for Bella for at least 45 minutes, not including our previous stops. I looked out the window watching all the scenery flying by while Rose was driving. She was still like a maniac driver. She was going 82 in a 65. I was holding the oh-shit-handle, while Emmett was still in the back tending to Bella and her now dry heaves. He was trying to hydrate her, but everything that went down just came back up. I was worried she was going to dehydrate herself and she'd have to go to the hospital. That would be my luck.

I looked back at Bella and Emmett. He was stroking her hair, and genuinely concerned. I saw the love that he had for her. It wasn't a love love, it was more of a friend love. It was so pure, and so precious. In that moment I saw Emmett as a dad. I knew he was like a big teddy bear that liked to pick on people, but I watched him with Bella. He was truly going to be a great dad. I looked at Rose trying to see if she would be a good mother. Her strong personality made it hard to see, but she would be a great mom. I tried to envision pregnant Rose with Emmett, and for the first time I saw THEM. It all made sense. I could see them together, they just fit together.

"Em, you're going to make a great dad," I commented. Rose gave me a funny look, and Emmett's smile grew three times its usual size.

"Thanks midget. Too bad when Rosie and I have kids you're going to have to get a step stool to see them over the crib," He chuckled, "Really I feel like they might be too big for you to hold."

I frowned at the jokes, even though I knew they were just for fun.

"Emmett," Rose's voice was soft. I had never heard it so soft before. She had a look in her eye that made me gag a little.

"Rosie," He replied in an equally soft voice. I was surprised that this big guy could even speak so soft.

"I love you," She whispered. He leaned forward from the back seat.

"I love you too, Rosie," He kissed her shoulder, and moved back to make Bella more comfortable. I had just witnessed one of those movie moments. It was too sweet to be true. I was positive of this. I looked out the window for as long as I could. Bella still wasn't feeling better and we were stopping every hour or so to clean her up, get more water and Gatorade. The hours that Rose drove seemed the longest to me. I didn't know what was going on, but I felt awkward. I felt like her and Emmett had just had their first "I love you's" and the whole Jeep was just filled with love. It was medium disgusting. I liked them better sleeping in the back seat.

When we stopped for lunch somewhere outside of Erie Pennsylvania. While we were stopped I called Edward to let him know of our progress.

"Hey little sister! What's up?" He answered.

"Not much big bro. We're stopped outside of Erie right now. Our friend Bella is really sick. Dad thinks it's probably food poising, um… what else? Rose and Emmett are being a gross couple. We'll probably get in about ten or a little later tonight. We got held back that half hour Bella was vomiting at a gas station."

"Are you giving her fluids? Are you sure she's going to be okay?"

"Dad said she should be."

Edward sighed as if he were annoyed with me. I wondered why he was so moody.

"Okay well call when you're getting closer. Jasper and I are cleaning out apartment for your arrival. We're even pulling out the couch for Rose and Emmett. I hope you don't mind sharing a futon with Bella. It normally is in Jasper's room, but we're not sure where to put it."

"Just leave it there, I can sleep anywhere, and hell at the rate Bella's going we're just going to sleep next to the toilet." I had alterative motives for him leaving the futon in Jasper's. I had a slight hope that Jasper and I could maybe sleep in his bed. I could cuddle with him. That would be nice, I'm sure he's better to cuddle than a laptop with sweet nothings typed. I wondered if he would be as suave in real life.

"Be nice, Alice! The poor girl is sick!" He chided me. I rolled my eyes at my brother, he snapped me back into reality.

"Whatever big brother! Get your tighty-whiteys out of a bunch!" I snorted.

"I'm not wearing tighty-whiteys! I wear—"

"Stop the sentence there. I was kidding! Jeez. You are really uptight. Maybe if you weren't so prude…"

"Bye Alice," He hung up. The line went dead, and I couldn't help but laugh at him. He was truly something else.

Once we headed on the road again, I was on Bella vomit duty. I would try and give her liquid, but most of it came up with stomach acid. I knew it was time to try more liquid when she'd start dry heaving. It was disgusting, but I knew she would do the same for me. She occasionally got chills, and I felt so bad. She looked like a fish out of water, flopping around on the back seat and all.

The drive was surprisingly going quicker than I thought it would. I felt like we had only been driving for a couple of hours. I felt like I smelled like vomit and stale car air smell though. My hair I was pretty sure was getting greasy from the car air, and my face felt gross too. That was the only indicator that I had been in the car forever. The gross car effect, as I would call it.

We pulled over in Buffalo to change drivers again. I started driving again, and of course as soon as I took the wheel it started to snow. I huffed in annoyance. Of course this far north it would snow during November! I was driving carefully which was going to push out time back further, I assumed. I tried to clear the windshield, but it wouldn't clear.

"The wiper fluid is out. Let's pull over and get some," Rose suggested.

"The fluid isn't out. It's just frozen. Just clean it off and keep going!" Emmett contradicted with Rose.

"Windshield wiper fluid doesn't freeze, dumb ass!" Rose turned and gave him the death stare.

"Whatever, no it doesn't. Just clean it off!" Emmett huffed. Rose looked at me trying o convey she knew what she was talking about. In Rochester, we stopped and finally got the fluid. He was out, and then Emmett almost put it in the wrong spot.

"Emmett, do you know anything about cars? That is the coolant. It's not wiper fluid. This is the wiper fluid, idiot," Rose laughed at him a little. I saw Emmett blush because he was being shown up by a girl. I felt just as dumb as Emmett did. I didn't know where this stuff went. I tried to take note of where Rosalie put the fluid in case I ever needed to know. She checked a couple of other things before closing the hood. Once that was taken care of we kept driving. The snow was getting progressively worse, and my annoyance was growing as well.

Our last driving switch was in Albany. I was thankful to be done driving. The snow was getting rougher to drive through. I felt a lot more relaxed once Rose took the wheel. Before she was driving like a maniac, but when she need to be, she was a good driver.

When we reached Claremont, I called Edward because it was close to Hanover. It was eleven thirty when I placed the call. He sounded excited and exhausted. I felt bad that we had made my brother stay up so late for our arrival, but we had a sick person and a lot of inconveniences on the drive.

When we finally pulled into his apartment building, everyone was exhausted. I was even tired, but I hadn't slept at all on the drive. I saw Edward open the apartment door on the second floor, and he spotted us getting out of the Jeep. I gave him an over exaggerated wave. He quickly came down the steps and pulled me into a bear hug.

"My little pixie! Where have you been? I've missed you!"

"I've missed you too, Eddie, but I'm running out of air. I think you're crushing my lungs!" I squeaked at him.

"Sorry," he apologized letting me go. Rose and Emmett were helping Bella out of the car. She had been sleeping the last couple of hours, and was feeling a little better, but not much.

"Here, let me help you guys with your bags," Edward offered. Emmett popped the trunk, and Edward grabbed a couple of bags, and I grabbed mine. Rose came and grabbed the rest. Emmett was stabling out Bella, and then we walked up the steps together. We walked into his apartment and it smelled like autumn. I figured he had sprayed the place down with frebreeze or something before we got here. I looked around. It was the ultimate bachelor pad. Luckily it was cleaned. I shuddered at the though of what it looked like before we came.

"So, this is my place. Jasper is out tonight. Something came up, and he had to leave. He should be back in an hour or so. Whenever last call is at whatever bar he went to. Um, this is my room," He motioned to the first door in the hallway, "And the next door is one bathroom. Then Jasper's room in straight down the hall at the end. He has a bathroom in his room. Rose and Emmett, you'll be staying out on the pull out couch. Bella you can sleep on my bed since you're not feeling well. I'll be on the floor. And Alice, there is a futon in Jasper's room," He finished his little speech.

"Sounds great Edward!" I bounced up at down.

"Aren't you tired Alice. You've been up since the crack of dawn, and didn't sleep a wink the whole car ride," Emmett commented.

"I'm really tired actually. I think we can catch up together tomorrow big brother. We all are really exhausted," I kissed him on the cheek giving him a quick hug and prancing off towards Jasper's room. My nerves were on end. I was excited to see what it looked like. I didn't want to be nosey and go through everything, but I really did want to go through everything.

I walked in, he had blue walls. There was a queen sized bed in the center of the room to the left of the bed there was a computer desk with an ancient desktop. That desktop was the holder of some cute messages he had sent. On the right side of the bed there was the futon I was supposed to stay on. I looked around. Mostly, the room was plain and clean. I walked towards his bathroom thinking about getting ready for bed. I walked in, and it looked clean. I was glad they had cleaned the place. It was the average guy's sink. It had a razor, shaving gel, toothbrush, mouthwash, and deodorant. Nothing absurd or weird that I noticed. I checked in his shower to see what kind of shampoo and such he used. I felt like a total creeper. I mean I had never met the man and I was snooping through his stuff. I opened the cabinet and saw his cologne. I couldn't help but smell it. It made my heart pound, it smelled great. How I'd love to smell it on that gorgeous man.

I changed quickly and walked back into his room. Curiosity got the best of me, and I looked at all the pictures in his room. Most of them were of him and Rose or their family. There were no girlfriend pictures or anything weird.

I looked at the time and though that Jasper could be home at any minute. I went over to his desk, though. I couldn't help myself! I went through the drawers. There was extra paper, and pens. Nothing of interest though. I was about to shut the last drawer on the computer desk when I heard a throat clear.

I turned and there in the room was Jasper. He was more God than man. His blond hair looked soft, and made my heart flutter. I bit my lip innocently, and he walked in the room. He was a lot taller than I thought, and his blue eyes twinkled and made my stomach drop. He was wearing a band t-shirt, and a pair of jeans. It wouldn't have looked better if a model were wearing it. My heart went into overdrive as he walked towards me.

"Snooping around were we?" He asked lightly.

"Maybe," I squeaked. I didn't know what to say or do.

"I'm Jasper," He held out his hand. I shut the drawer, got up from the chair and shook his hand.

"Alice." I felt my face flush red. The handshake stopped, but neither of us let go of each other.

"It's a pleasure to meet you. It's been too long," He whispered as he brought my hand to his lips. I sighed. This was way too much for tonight.

"Way too long," I agreed. A broader smile played across his face. We stood there frozen for a minute. I didn't want this moment to end. I felt like it were another one of those movie moments.

"Make yourself at home," He finally said pulling away. I felt like all the energy in my body went away after he let go of my hand. I smirked to myself as he walked to the bathroom. He said to make myself at home, and at home I would be in a bed… 837 miles had gotten me here, and I had never been happier. When I hopped into his bed, I couldn't get the smile off my face. His scent was all over, and I could barely handle it.

"I hate to break it to you, but if you're going to be in the bed you might want to go to the other side. That's my side of the bed," He playfully joked when he came back out. Jasper stood there shirtless clad in just boxers. I was shocked, but pleasantly surprised. Definitely more God than man, I thought to myself.