Hensley fidgeted with the sleeves of her shirt on their way down to Seattle for shopping. It was summer break, Rosalie, Cooper, and Emmett graduated (again) and that apparently meant a shopping celebration was in order. Port Angeles was nice for a few things but didn't have quite the selection the girls were looking for, according to them.
Truth be told Hensley could use some new clothes. She'd been wearing the same plain shirts and flannels for the last…well, nine years. The only two nice shirts she had had come from another girl in the agency who had been getting rid of them.
The only issue with new clothes was that they were expensive, and Hensley was poor. Of course, she had her job with Emmett, which was nice, but she did have to pay rent, buy groceries, and purchase gasoline for her car. That made things a little tighter on the money. At least tighter than she suspected Rosalie and Alice were doing on cash.
It was supposed to be a three-hour trip from Forks to Seattle, but the way Alice drove nearly cut it in half. Hensley wasn't sure if she should be impressed or scared. If Jasper knew Alice drove like that, would he have insisted on going with? Would he be panicking? Hensley decided the answer was yes. Thinking of Jasper panicking led to more thoughts of Jasper and that kept Hensley more than entertained on the ride down.
Somehow the two other girls found a mall with more stores than Hensley even knew existed. Being the summer, Hensley didn't think things were going to be busy…yet there were hundreds of people. Signs indicating large percentages off of merchandise, sales, and 'new summer styles' flashed in Hensley's face. It was a little overwhelming.
"Okay," Alice stopped out of the way of most of the crowds, "no offense…but your clothes."
"What's wrong with flannel?" Hensley was trying not to be offended, wrapping her flannel tighter around her body.
Alice sighed, "I think all you wear is flannel."
"Okay, you got me there. But flannel is cool. Layers. It's versatile! Could be dressy or casual…."
Rosalie and Alice were looking at her with looks that said she was wrong. Seeing as this was the outside world, it was entirely possible, but wasn't flannel one of those timeless things? Or placeless things…as in you could wear it anywhere?
"Oh boy." Alice huffed as though she could read Hensley's mind. She clasped her hands together, moving on from their conversation, "Okay. Where to first?"
"Um, guys. One thing to keep in mind while we're going…poor student over here, so go easy on me."
Rosalie frowned at her and took her arm, "You're Carlisle's daughter. How can you be poor?"
"Who my dad is has nothing to do with how much money I have?"
"Ugh, you think he'd give you a credit card by now or something." Hensley could practically hear Alice rolling her eyes ahead of her. She couldn't really figure out why though. She wasn't at all entitled to the money her father made. He was even nice enough to buy groceries for her to eat at his house. That was plenty.
The first place they stopped at was some fancy store with bright lights that made Hensley die every time she looked at a price tag. $80 for pants? When had things gotten so expensive? Had they always been that way? She thought agency prices were bad for training clothes, but she was strongly considering just wearing those fulltime.
They stopped a couple more places that were slightly more reasonably priced. Hensley drifted towards the clearance rack in both places because she had no shame in saving money. She did cave slightly and bought a couple nice blouses. It would be nice to branch out slightly. Besides, maybe Jasper had pushed Alice and Rose to take Hensley because he wanted her to branch out…that logic would bring a whole new element into the situation….
Of course, Jasper had never said anything about her clothes or style, but maybe he was just being nice? Maybe he thought this was a good way to nudge her. Jasper usually dressed nice….
While Hensley was contemplating life, Alice was gasping about some store. They rounded the corner on their journey around the mall and whatever had caught Alice's eye had gotten Rosalie's too.
Hensley was thoroughly lost. She was soon informed.
Arm in arm, Alice led Hensley to a bright pink store with 'trendy' music and literal scraps of clothing. Hensley was very unsure how to feel about this store. Bras, panties…onesies? were everywhere. Pictures of skinny, perfect girls in the outfits lined the walls. Alice and Rose seemed to know exactly what they wanted, picking things out of drawers like they owned the shop and debating colors and fits among each other
Hensley was more…dazed. She'd never been in a store even close to that before. Was it awful she bought her underwear at a generic store that just happened to have them? When did one even wear see-through onesies with small pieces of fabric in the boob area? What was the purpose of small bands of fabric around your thigh? Could she even remotely come close to the beautiful women in the pictures? Would Jasper expect all of this when he saw her undress for the first time? Was that what everyone else did and Hensley was far behind the times? They had only kissed a handful of times but she wouldn't say no to their relationship progressing. She wanted their relationship to move forward that way. But did Jasper have the impression that she should be half/kind of/mostly naked in these clothes and flawless when it did?
"Hey, what's going on? Why are you half hyperventilating?" Rosalie's voice pulled her out of her panic. She didn't even realize her breathing had quickened or that she had been stuck staring at the same wall.
Her brain stumbled to form a sentence together "I-they're…I mean…."
There was no way she could do this. There was no way she'd even come close to looking like any of the women in the photos or even her own sisters for god's sake. If this was what Jasper wanted….
Rosalie gave her a confused look while Hensley looked and gestured around. Seeing her confusion didn't help Hensley make better sentences, "I just-…I don't know. I-I'm not…."
She wasn't this. She could never make Jasper happy. Not if this was what he wanted.
"Have you never been in here before?" Finally, Rosalie threw her bone, looking at her with pity that made Hensley's stomach churn even more. Hensley shut her mouth to stop anything from coming up her throat and shook her head. Rosalie nodded then, a soft smile on her face as she understood. "Okay, that's fine. Don't worry about it. Alice will basically do all the work for you."
Hensley let Rosalie take her hand, but she couldn't help the pit of dread in her stomach and the weight on her chest, "Rose. I can't. I mean…." She forced Rose to stop and took a deep breath, trying to make better sentences. "I'm never going to be that." She gestured to the poster behind them, "If Jasper needs this then I'm screwed and not in a way I would like."
Rosalie shook her head and laughed, looking at Hensley with less sympathy and more like she thought Hensley was being dramatic. It was comforting and nerve wracking at the same time. "That's what you're worried about? Please. You could wear the rattiest thing on this earth and Jasper would love it. This is just for fun."
"I highly doubt he thinks that about me. We've hardly kissed."
"Perfect, this will encourage him then." She winked, continuing on her trek to Alice. When she found the small vampire she nudged Hensley forward, "Alice, Lexi has never been here and has nothing. Go wild."
Alice's wide exuberant eyes and slight squeal did not help Hensley's anxiety. But true to Rosalie's word, the pixie quickly got to work. The small girl dragged Hensley around the store picking out different styles, colors, and garments. She wasn't opposed to Hensley's questioning about what things were, which was even better. The only downside: she felt like a toddler. 'What's that? What's that? What's that?'
"If I remember anything about Jasper-"
"Woah, woah, woah! What did you just say?" A fire lit inside Hensley's chest with a ferocity she hadn't ever felt before. She ripped her hand out of Alice's as her entire body tensed and shook slightly. The urge to get her hands on Alice and dismember her piece by piece was agonizing. Hensley knew she shouldn't hurt Alice…but damn if it wasn't satisfying to think about.
Alice paused for a moment, taking in Hensley's temperament, "Oh, Jasper hasn't talked to you about that. Lexi, I promise we weren't together very long. And trust me when I say neither of us feel anything for each other anymore. We got rid of those feelings before we found Carlisle and Esme." Her voice ended in a whisper though its softness did little to calm Hensley.
They had…been together. It didn't matter how long it was. They had been together. Alice and Jasper had been a couple and no one, not even Jasper, had the right mind to tell her about it. Did Jasper still have feelings for Alice? Why else would he hide their relationship? Why else would he take his time doing anything with Hensley? He was biding his time.
She saw that Hensley was no less angry from her words and she sighed, "Lexi…please believe me. Jasper has no feelings for me, and I obviously have no feelings for him. Cooper is my mate. I was just trying to help."
"I don't need your help with that." Hensley snarled barely keeping her composure. That's exactly what she needed. Jasper thinking of Alice when or if they finally did…the burning intensified and Hensley was shaking like her blood sugar was low. She needed to leave. She needed to get out of there. Alice could have Jasper and Hensley could just-….
Her phone buzzed repeatedly in her pocket as she paced around the mall walkways, heart thrumming in her ears. She wasn't sure who the hell would call her. Rosalie maybe? Being Jasper's 'sister', she probably knew. She could go to hell too.
"What?" After the third time, Hensley yanked the phone up to her ear, chest still flaming and aching all at the same time.
Jasper's strained voice greeted her ear, "Who the hell am I killin' darlin'?"
She sighed into the phone and closed her eyes. A low chuckle left her lips, "Why wouldn't you tell me?"
"I'm sorry, Darlin'. I'm not sure what you're talking about?" He sounded lost, though of course he would be. He hadn't heard their conversation.
"You and…and Alice?"
The other end of the phone was quiet for a few minutes and the flame in her chest was replaced with a sharp pain with every second that ticked by. Finally, Jasper spoke again, choking out, "I'm sorry, Lexi." He sounded like he was struggling, like someone stabbed in the lungs trying to breathe.
"Why wouldn't you tell me?"
Jasper sighed and she swore she could picture his eyes squeezing shut as he often did when the words didn't come out right, "No, you're right. You should've heard it from me. Darlin' I just…it was so long ago, and it was only for two weeks and I just- I thought it didn't matter. Alice has Cooper and I have you. But you're right. I should've mentioned that when I was telling you about my past. I really didn't think anything of it. Those feelings…Alice and I realized very quickly that we weren't mates."
Hensley laughed, though there was no humor in it. "Well, you had some feelings for each other. Apparently enough to make it farther in the relationship that we have…." She couldn't help but feel bitter thinking about it. He didn't care about Alice, but he could be with her physically?
"No, Darlin' that…" Jasper groaned, muttering something about going back in time and kicking his own ass, "Okay, yes. Alice and I were together in that way, but it wasn't like that. It was…it was nothing, honestly. Something we did because that's what couples should do not because we wanted to. We didn't know what having a mate felt like and Alice had visions of finding me so we both just assumed that's what it meant and kept trying to force somethin' that wasn't working."
Hensley took a breath. Her mind was spinning around in circles trying to process the day's information. Jasper had been with Alice. Jasper didn't know if he liked Alice or was supposed to be with Alice. Jasper did things to try and figure it out. What did that mean for them? What did that say about her?
"Alexandria." Jasper's voice sounded tighter, and it was then she remembered the pain he was probably sharing with her. "I promise you. It's only you, Darlin'. Anyone else…Alice, Maria… none of them matter. I would come burn Alice right there in front of everyone if it made you happy."
Another deep breath. Another clarifying breath as the tightness loosened and the pain started to dissipate. The unfortunate, yet helpful part was that Hensley knew Jasper was serious. Jasper had proven to be quite…insistent on Hensley's happiness and her protection. He had called her 'his' when fighting James…God had she been stupid? Had she been Jasper trying to fight everyone in a blind rage? Did she experience those feelings too? Is that what just happened? Shit.
"I think I know what you mean when you say losing control just happens. Like I think back on it and my earlier thoughts are so damn-"
"Illogical? Welcome to the strange mate feelings club, Darlin'." Jasper chuckled. He sounded lighter too. "You're not wrong though. I should've told you about Alice. The only thing I would lightly argue with is whatever was causing the pain with it. I get the wanting to fight anyone who touches you thing. I may have had that same feeling towards a few humans at school."
Hensley had to giggle at that. "You may have, huh? Not 100% sure?"
"I may have. Don't worry about it." In a strange way, Hensley wasn't worried about it.
"Now that I'm safe from being burned in the middle of the mall," Alice popped up next to her, a very concerned frown on her face. Hensley couldn't help but laugh. Poor visions. "May we continue on our journey?"
"I'm not sure what she's upset about," Jasper muttered, "apparently she's known I'll do crazy things to people longer than I've known this about me."
"Not to me! To Emmett sure."
"Wait, what?" Hensley gawked.
Alice gave the girl a confused look, "Emmett's never told you about Jasper being upset with him?"
This was news to Hensley, and she was surprised. Emmett was not good at keeping his mouth shut. "Why are you mad at Emmett?"
Again, Jasper was quiet for a few moments before answering, "I gotta go."
"Jasper! If you don't tell me, I'll get Alice to."
"Woah, woah, woah!" Hensley could hear the amusement in his voice, "You're mad at her! She touched me remember?"
Hensley and Alice burst out laughing again. "Oh lord. We gotta go. Love you, Jasper!" Hensley told him quickly before hanging up the phone.
Alice gasped, but Hensley already realized what she did as her laughter died out. She said it. She was the first one to say it. And she hung up on him, so she had no idea how he felt about that. Oh god. Her chest hammered blood through her body, but she never felt this cold in her life.
"Was that the first time you told him you loved him?" Hensley wasn't sure why Alice was asking. Based on the girl's gasp earlier she figured Alice knew it was the first time. Regardless, Hensley nodded.
"That's so cute!" Alice continued, "Anyway, now we definitely need things from that store. I promise I'm not trying to overstep boundaries, just giving you some sisterly help since you've never been here."
Hensley tried to push her love worries out of her head. It was totally fine to tell someone you loved them for the first time over the phone. Perfectly normal. And especially normal to do after you had been joking with them and that totally wouldn't lead to them thinking you meant it as a joke.
Those worries aside, what if Jasper wasn't ready for that kind of thing? What if Jasper didn't love her back or didn't know if he loved her yet?
"Hey." Alice nudged Hensley's ribs, pulling her back in. "Jasper loves you. He didn't get a chance to say it back, but he does. Trust me. You're worrying for nothing. Now, let's get back in there and make Jasper show you he loves you by ripping your clothes off."
To be fair, Jasper didn't call her back and break up with her. That meant it was okay, right? Deep breath in…deep breath out…focus on the task at hand. Focus on Jasper ripping-...wait, no. This stuff is far too expensive to rip off.
Hensley hesitated for a moment, looking skeptically at Alice. "Are you going to tell me what you used on Jasper? No offense, but I really don't want Jasper thinking about you during these events."
Alice linked arms with Hensley again and shook her head while leading her back inside, "I understand, though trust me, that will not be a concern. And technically I didn't use anything on Jasper. I was just trying to remember what Jasper liked and work backwards from there, but how about we just find things you feel confident in, and you can figure Jasper out on your own."
"Sounds perfect."
The rest of the trip went much better. Alice still made Hensley try on a fuck-ton of outfits though. Worse than that, Hensley quickly learned she was expected to show Alice and Rosalie so they could assess. She'd never even tried on such things before and then to have to show them to her two sisters that she hadn't known very long…. Hensley was trying very hard not to fold in on herself. Confidence in this area was not something that came naturally to her and therefore she struggled.
It was a little strange. Bearing herself to strangers wasn't exactly anything new when you were in the military. She even shared a room with three men. How was that totally normal to her and this was not? Probably because she didn't wear 'sexy' stuff for her roommates or anyone in the military.
They started with separate pieces. That was a bit more normal than the singles and easier to feel more comfortable in. It was just like wearing a swimsuit. A skimpy, bedroom swimsuit. Technically it would be wet- no.
Next came single pieces. Alice had picked out a spaghetti-strap black floral lace number that was what Hensley considered a onesie, which automatically made her unsure of it. Hensley kind of felt like a child.
The piece itself was completely form fitting and clung to the middle of her body. A plus: it made her boobs look great. It covered enough to leave a little to the imagination but was low cut enough to give a great sneak peek. A minus was that it completely showed off her legs, which wasn't something she was comfortable with. Her muscled thighs were bigger than she desired. No amount of anything was going to fix it, she trained relentlessly in the military and aside from looking more toned, they didn't change at all. Just the way she was made. Yet, no matter how hard she tried to remember that fact, she was still self-conscious.
Alice ooh'ed with a high pitch little squeal that nearly made Hensley cringe from her eardrums being blown out. Despite Alice's excitement, Rosalie dismissed it immediately, "You don't love it. Take it off."
"You don't love it?" Alice's jaw dropped and she moved to start fiddling with the outfit pulling it different ways to make it fit better. How it could fit better when it was so skin-tight Hensley was not sure. Alice paused in front of her for a moment before shaking her head, "I hate that I can't see you."
Hensley rose an eyebrow. "You can't see me? Like vis-"
"Yes. It's very irritating. I've never been a half before so I can't see you." Alice muttered, trying to keep the humans from hearing. "Anyway, I was trying to see if I could convince you to buy it and wear it or not, but I guess you'll just have to tell me."
"Rose is right. I'm not in love with it. I'm not overly self-conscious, but the legs exposed makes me nervous."
"Why? You're strong. There's nothing wrong with that." Alice's compliment really didn't make her feel any better. Alice crossed her arms, moving to analyzetheir options, "Most stuff fits like this unless you're getting stockings or garters." Hensley had recently learned what the last thing was during her 20 questions moment.
"She could go with something flowy? It won't help much, but it'll come down to here instead of showing off the full leg." Rosalie was quick to jump in, touching Hensley's upper thigh where the flowier piece would hit. It definitely wasn't longer, just covered a touch of her leg instead of none of it. Maybe the touch of fabric would help her feel more comfortable.
Alice leaned back in thought, placing one small hand on her chin, "We could always go sleeper instead." She skipped off back to the main room without another word.
Hensley sighed and made awkward eye contact with another shopper coming out of the fitting rooms. "Am I going to like her plan?"
Rosalie just smirked, "I dunno. She's the fortune teller."
Alice came back with a short-sleeved black lace romper with a plunge neckline that went down to the cinched waist. The cut of the plunge was perfect in that it still covered most of her, but also left a show. And it was more like shorter shorts instead of swimsuit bottoms. Surprisingly, Hensley loved it.
At that development, the three agreed that they'd stick with something less intense and work Hensley's way up. Well, Rose agreed. Alice frowned and sighed dramatically however, kept her complaints to a minimum. All in all, Hensley ended up a few things, not as much as her sisters, but Rosalie assured her the bag would be plenty to keep Jasper interested.
Hensley thought about how Jasper's exposure to such a bag was probably through his siblings and she felt very very bad for him. Vampire hearing must have been damn annoying sometimes. Maybe they could pay them back-…not if Carlisle was going to be around. Damn vampire hearing.
Thankfully Alice kept her distracted from that unfortunate development by throwing clothes at her.
"Alexandria, you pick that back up. That is adorable."
And Alice was bossy as shit about it.
"Alice, I told you. I'm not getting anything else." Hensley walked right past the sweater defiantly. Rosalie was much more apt to protect her from Alice's tiny fashion rage so Hensley wanted to seek her out before Alice could protest more. Unfortunately for Hensley, Rosalie had wandered off somewhere.
"Alice leave her alone." But apparently, she was still in earshot. Thank God.
Her smaller sister was not having it. "Rose, she's gotten nothing else. She needs to update her wardrobe."
"What's wrong with my wardrobe?" Hensley unnecessarily asked. She knew exactly what was wrong with her closet, but the 'pique Jasper's interest' clothes were much more expensive than she'd anticipated. If she wanted to pay rent this month, she had to call it quits.
"Oh please. All the way down here you were excited to get new things and we talked about why you need some updates. Now you're all 'meh' about everything I show you."
"Maybe you don't know her style."
Alice glared at the direction of Rosalie's voice, "How dare you. I think I know her pretty well by now."
Hensley decided to try and remedy the situation before it escalated, "That's not it. The stuff Alice has shown me has been really cute!"
"Okay, so what's the deal? Do you see how many bags I have?" Alice gestured to them. She wasn't wrong about the number. "You don't need to be shy about what you get."
"Remember what I said earlier? Poor student over here. I have spent my entire budget. I gotta pay rent you know."
Alice opened her mouth to say something but hesitated ever so slightly, "Fine. That's fair."
No way she gave in that easily. Did she? Hensley pressed her lips together, trying to read Alice's face. It was a darn shame she couldn't read minds because she'd love to know what was going through Alice's head. Was she plotting something? Or was Alice really just being respectful of the fact that Hensley didn't want to be homeless?
Whatever her reason, Alice backed off. The rest of the time spent shopping was Alice and Rosalie asking Hensley's opinion, but the pressure and frowns stopped. By the time it was over, the girls ended up with way too many things. When Alice and Rose shopped, they shopped.
Even though Hensley got way less, the trip was still a success. She got clothes for her and Jasper's excursions and a couple shirts. Hensley couldn't be upset about that. The only thing she had been left wanting was lunch. Her vampire sisters had no desire to eat, well not human food, and therefore had probably forgotten about her own need to. Hensley wasn't about to say anything though. They were nice enough to invite her on this trip. She was not about to be a pain in the ass.
Besides, spending time with her sisters was a lot of fun, even if it did have a semi-rough start. The last thing she wanted to do was jeopardize that relationship. Especially her relationship with Rosalie, which seemed to be way more positive than Rosalie and Bella's.
Hensley understood why. She was Carlisle's daughter. Half vampire with gifts and secrets herself. With her and the Cullen's they were one in the same, trading secrets for secrets. Bella was about to be thrown into a world she never should've known about. The Cullen's had no leverage against the girl. Not really. Bella could spill their secret with little repercussion and there would be nothing they could do about it.
Bella, of course, would not do that. She loved Edward and cared about Hensley's family too. But there was always the possibility their relationship ended poorly in other ways. To Hensley's knowledge the family had never been close to a human like this before. Accidents could happen, especially with Edward being so attracted to Bella's scent. Edward did incredibly well from what Hensley could tell, though the possibility was always looming.
"We're back!" Alice sang as the three walked into the doorway. Of course, no one needed the announcement. They were vampires, they probably heard the car 5 miles away.
Jasper had Hensley in his arms the second she came into the house. He placed a long, blissful kiss on her lips before giving her a quick peck on her forehead. "I love you."
Hensley flushed bright red, remembering her earlier mishap. "I-" His lips found hers again and her previous embarrassment melted away. "I love you."
Cooper and Emmett began a series of gagging noises from the living room.
"I need to move out." Jasper muttered against her, rolling his eyes at his brothers. She giggled at his statement, receiving another tight hug. His eyes were bright and gold again from his long hunt, though it didn't take them long to darken. "What's that?"
It took her a moment to follow his eyes down to her bags. She had completely forgotten about the fun stuff. Fighting hard to keep the grin off of her face, she played innocent. "Nothing. Just clothes for me to bring upstairs."
"I can help you." He said slowly, trying to be casual. "No need for you to carry your bags. The girls kept you out a long time. You're probably tired."
She slinked out of his arms and past him, pressing her lips together to stop her laughter, "Nice of you to offer but I'm good."
Hensley made her way through the living room to the stairs, waving to Cooper and Em as she went. Jasper followed right on her heels, any attempts at being discreet going out the window. Alice and Rosalie were openly snickering at his display while Emmett muttered something about Jasper finally understanding the appeal.
Yes, yes, he did finally understand that little bag.
She put it on his bed right where he could see it, teasing him. She knew what she was doing. Hell, she was even enjoying it. The smirk on her face was clear as day now that they were alone, and Jasper fought to suppress a low growl at her coy display. Her hands slowly made their way into the innocent bags around it, carefully pulling out the shirts she had gotten to admire them. Jasper waited painfully for the time to pass until she got to the bag he was truly curious about.
But she had other plans. Hensley took that last bag and carefully placed it next to the duffle bag full of clothes she'd packed for the weekend, without even opening it. Jasper let out a slow breath, "Skipping that one?" His voice was not as nonchalant as he hoped, sounding almost whiny.
Hensley shrugged, "Yeah, I can do that later. I don't wanna keep boring you." She smiled innocently at him over her shoulder as she set the bag down.
Before she could step away Jasper was behind her, wrapping his arms around her waist and burying his face in the crook of her neck to place a long kiss there. I highly doubt I'll be bored.
His attempt at casual was still unsatisfactory, as even his thoughts sounded husky and rough. Hensley couldn't help the rush she felt throughout her body, which did not help Jasper's façade. The atmosphere was so thick between them Hensley thought she could cut the air with a knife.
She peeked up over her shoulder to try and get a good look at Jasper. Damn vampire knew what he was doing, nuzzling her neck and face, then trailing her skin with kisses. How the hell had she gotten there? A couple weeks ago the most they had done together was a long kiss…now Jasper was attacking her neck, pressing her body against his after trying to get a glimpse of her lingerie. Hensley decided she'd have to get Rosalie a gift basket.
Jasper spun her around, capturing her lips with his. His hands settled on her hips, threatening to inch their way down at any second. Hensley was trying her best to keep her breathing even, trying her best not to throw herself at Jasper right away. She had to at least try and play dirty. Jasper's black, needy eyes and frantic kisses made that sentiment difficult to keep.
"Sheesh." Emmett barged into the room, not even bothering to knock despite what was obviously going on. He tried to play innocent, letting out a loud, "Oh gee, sorry. Hope I'm not interrupting. Anyway, these are yours, Lexi." He dropped the bunch of bags that had been in his hands on Jasper's bed and headed back out of the room.
Jasper stared after him and Hensley swore his eye would be twitching if he had been human. Jasper took a breath, pressing his lips together before trying to follow Emmett, "I'm going to kill him."
"No." Hensley grabbed Jasper by the waist, trying to pull him back to her. "We will kill him later. When he doesn't expect it. It'll be more satisfying trust me."
"No, I'm pretty sure I want him to know who's ending his life. I want to see the fear in his eyes."
Hensley laughed as she moved to block the door instead, "You can still do that. Just let him live in fear of when it's going to happen for a few days."
She placed her hand on his cheek, trying to rub the frown away. Jasper hated how much it worked. He sighed, turning to look at the bags Emmett dropped off. "So, Alice and Rosalie fully corrupted you?"
Hensley shook her head, "No, I'm not sure what these are."
Jasper rose an eyebrow. If Emmett dropped off bags that weren't even Lexi's just to ruin the moment, then he really was going to die that night.
"You're welcome!" Alice sang, causing Lexi to groan. She dumped out the bags and found all the things Rose and Alice had asked her opinions on and learned she liked. Hensley had thought the stuff they got was for them. That sneaky little shit….
Jasper sighed and ran a hand through his hair while he watched Lexi agonize over the gifts. On one hand he was grateful his sisters were taking such good care of her. On the other hand, they couldn't have waited until the morning?