Disclaimer: I don't own anything you recognize in any of these chapters.
A/N: Sorry for the wait. Life's hectic at the moment. Happy reading!
"Again? We have to move…again?" Rosalie demanded, anger flaring.
"I'm sorry Rose…I just…" Emmett started, disappointed in himself.
He had accidentally killed a human earlier that day and, as a result, the family had decided that it would be best to move this time.
"I'm just not understanding how this is possible for you, Emmett. You promised me…Em, you promised…."
The hurt in her voice gave away her true feelings. Rosalie did not want to start over again. Each time, the move became a little harder for her.
Jasper and Alice exchanged a look as they listened to the argument. They had only just found the Cullens a few days ago. Alice had been watching Jasper's future so much that she didn't even catch Emmett's mistake. She felt slightly upset with herself. As soon as Jasper felt this, he looked sharply at her, guessing why she was feeling that, and shook his head.
She shrugged with a grimace and he shook his head again, wordlessly expressing, Not your fault.
She closed her eyes and nodded, her face saying, I know but I can't help wishing I could've prevented it.
He briefly concentrated on a decision to say, "You can't save them all," to which she saw in a vision a second later. He stopped deciding to say it and she smiled at his communicating that to her in the form of a vision.
She nodded, I know…
Emmett took Rosalie's shoulders in his hands and looked forcefully into her eyes, trying to convey his apology to her with emotions as well as words. Jasper could feel his determination and felt bad for him. He could feel that Rosalie's anger, disappointment, slight version of betrayal. These would take some time to diminish.
"Rose…I am so sorry. I couldn't stop myself this time…"
"I'm sorry too, Emmett," she said sharply, followed by a sigh, "…I'll see you later. I'm going to start packing."
She turned swiftly and glided upstairs to their room, taking her bitterness with her.
Emmett stood still for a second, stone faced, before turning to face where Jasper and Alice were looking on.
"She's not always so touchy. I just…did the "unforgivable." Again. But she'll forgive me once she cools down…you'll learn to love her," he said, still trying to defend his wife's behavior, even though she was furious with him.
Jasper felt Alice slip into a vision and he paid close attention to her. When it was over, she looked at him and motioned her head towards the stairs, silently asking him to follow Rosalie.
He let her feel that he was confused. Why would he need to go speak with her?
"I saw it. Please, Jasper?"
He shrugged and got up to go speak with Rosalie. What about, he had no idea.
Alice nodded as he left the room, turning to tell Emmett, "She'll be fine by tonight…"
Emmett's emotions became slightly calmer, relieved at knowing that.
"Rose is no fun when she's mad at me. I'm glad this time won't last too long. That woman knows how to hold a grudge…" he expressed.
She smiled, but didn't respond, letting him think for a minute.
He then cleared his head and changed the subject, "Tell me more about how these visions work, Alice…what all have you seen?"
* * * * *
Jasper tread the steps lightly, not making a sound. He thought of what he might say to Rosalie. He knew next to nothing about her, but since Alice had insisted…
Alice and he had already talked about what each of the Cullens were like. Alice had told Jasper much about them before they had arrived, and now that they were here, Jasper had told Alice a lot about each family member's emotional climate.
He remembered telling Alice that Rosalie was a very complex person. Rose's emotions told him that she was very loyal to her family. She loved them, but she was shy about showing it. She had a bitter outer edge, but it was only because of her deep sadness. All in all, she was truly a good person. And Emmett could always make her happy. He liked to tell her how beautiful she was, and she loved to hear it. Both Jasper and Alice suspected that there was more to her than vanity, though.
He stood quietly at the door, testing her emotions. They were still bitter, heartbreakingly so. He wondered why she was so upset this time. The Cullens had moved before…
He knocked quietly and her emotions turned to more annoyance with an edge of curiosity. She opened the door roughly and flinched when she saw Jasper, of all people, standing there.
"Did Emmett send you up here?" she demanded, "because if so, you're wasting your time." Her topaz eyes flashed angrily.
He slowly shook his head no. He felt her anger diminish slightly, but she was still annoyed. He guessed she didn't want to be bothered, and he could sympathize, but Alice had asked him to talk to her.
"Actually, it was Alice. Apparently, I'm supposed to talk to you."
Rose rolled her eyes and turned away to continue packing, leaving him standing in the doorway, "Okay, well, I'm a little busy, so…" Her annoyance was still there, but what he focused on most was her sense of betrayal and hurt by what he assumed was in result of Emmett's actions. He was surprised at how familiar her emotions were to him--he had felt them on many occasions before meeting Alice.
Jasper had learned many things from Alice. One important thing was that the easiest way to talk about something is to just come out and say it. Using that philosophy, he said, flat out, "Why do you feel betrayed, Rosalie?"
She froze and he felt fear shoot through her emotions. He had hit the nail on the head.
She turned quickly to face him, her eyes narrow slits, "Stop doing that. Just because you can feel and manipulate emotions doesn't mean you should." Her annoyance flared.
"I don't…I mean…I don't change emotions unless its absolutely necessary or unless the person wants me to. And I feel them all the time…I can't choose when to feel what people are feeling…" he defended.
She didn't say anything, but he felt the annoyance start to fade away.
He stood by the door in silence as she packed some more, wondering what Alice could have possibly seen to make her think he needed to be here, talking with Rosalie.
Rose's emotions were a mess, he noticed again. She was very indecisive--one moment she was angry and the next she was full of sorrow. Another moment she was briefly forgiving, but then annoyance and anger would flare up again and the feeling of forgiveness would disappear. He sighed and she turned to look at him once more in annoyance.
"Jasper, just…" she sighed, "look, I barely know you, so I'm not trying to be rude or anything. The family likes you and Alice and I have nothing against either one of you but…please, leave me alone…"
He nodded, thinking Alice may have interpreted her vision wrong, just as he had been beginning to suspect.
"I'm sorry," he said quietly, meeting her eyes in sincerity, "I'll get going."
"Thanks," she whispered as he turned to leave.
As he was about to close the door, he felt an overwhelming sense of grief rush through her. He paused, feeling an overwhelming need to try to help her, and opened the door again.
"Rosalie?"
Her pained gold eyes clashed against her perfect pale face as she glanced over at him.
"I don't know your story and you don't know mine, but what you keep feeling… I've felt it before. On my own, I mean." He didn't know why he was telling her this, but something about his words seemed to comfort her, even if it was just minutely.
He continued, "Don't be afraid to let him in. Its hard, but trust him. The love he feels for you is very real, I can feel it. I know you and Emmett have been together for a long time, but I think you've never been entirely sure of him when it comes to deeper things…" he paused, assessing her emotions. She was calm, curious about what he was saying. He thought he even felt some sense of relief from her.
"I guess what I'm trying to say is, if I've learned anything from my time with Alice, it's that love and trust go hand in hand. He loves you and he trusts you and I know you love him…try trusting him, Rosalie."
"Who are you to think that I don't trust--" she started to say, but he cut her off.
"--I know that you don't. I can feel it. You have this really deep sorrow that could only be caused by something terrible and I don't know what it is, but it keeps you from fully giving yourself to him. Let down your walls. Let him in," he said quietly but passionately, wishing he could have told himself that in the first few days he had been with Alice.
He remembered the moment he had let his walls down with her and how good it had felt. How utterly right it was. He wished he could explain this to Rosalie. Instead, he sent that feeling of relief to her the best that he could.
She stiffened when he drew it back and he met her eyes one more time, "It feels like that, only a hundred times better."
He felt her emotions start to swirl again, a small amount of hope flickered through her.
"I'll leave you alone now," he said respectfully. She nodded as he left, not saying anything. As he walked down the hall, he could just hear her whisper, "Thank you."
He smiled as he walked down toward his Alice. That must have been what she had seen. As he walked towards the living room, he met Emmett in the hall.
"Alice told me I have to go talk to her…" he explained with a shrug.
"Alice usually knows what she's talking about," Jasper said knowingly, understanding Emmett's confusion.
"Doesn't it ever freak you out?" he asked seriously.
Jasper chuckled, "No. Alice has always been that…unique."
Emmett shook his head as he walked away to talk to his wife.
As Jasper entered the living room, Alice skipped over to him with a scowl, but he could feel her contentment in her emotions.
"'Unique?'"
"I mean that in the best possible way, of course," he teased.
She shook her head and wrapped her arms around his waist, "I guess I'll forgive you that one…"
He smiled against the top of her head, "Did I help Rosalie how you saw it?"
"Nope," she popped the "p".
He grimaced, "I guess that makes sense, I mean, she still seemed--"
Alice interrupted, "You did better than how I saw it. I saw you talking to her and her feeling a little less upset, but I didn't see you tying Emmett into it. You did something truly amazing today. This will entirely change their relationship…it's a really good thing, Jazz," Alice said seriously. He felt that she was proud of him.
"Well without you pushing me to go talk to her, I never would have, so…I guess we both did something good today," he said into her hair.
She pulled back to look up at him with a grin, "We make a good team, Mr. Whitlock."
He suddenly leaned down and captured her lips in his, causing her to giggle against his mouth in surprise and delight.
"I agree."
He felt her contentment, pure joy. He loved the peace that radiated from her and thought that most of it came from the fact that they had finally found the Cullens.
"I'm glad we found them, too," he told her, answering her wordless expression.
Her joy peaked with his own as he realized how true that statement was.
A/N: So…this one was a bit different. Sort of explored the early relationship between Jasper and Rosalie a bit. Not one of my favorites, but I think it turned out okay.
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Look for an update sometime in the next week or two…I'm working on a few, so it should be a good one. Are you in the mood for fluff, angst, or a little bit of both? Let me know and I'll try to get one like that up next…
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