Jasper Hale (walkwithfire) wrote in valarlogs, @ 2013-12-07 14:31:00 |
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Entry tags: | !complete, alice cullen, jasper hale |
Who: Jasper Hale and Alice Cullen
When: Halloween
Where: Jasper’s place
What: Lounging
Rating/Warning: Low/None?
Status: Complete
Alice was stretched out on Jasper’s sofa. She had the clicker for the television in her hand, though she wasn’t paying attention to what was on. She was thinking about that bowl of candy on the table, and wondering if they were going to get any trick-or-treaters. If they didn’t… well, she knew what to do with the candy. Of course. She was feeling a bit thirsty, but trying to ignore that. And she was paler than before, which was already quite pale.
The search for a good quality, affordable apartment in a neighborhood that wasn’t scary had turned up nothing, and she was feeling a little dejected because of it. Her work situation was going well, and school was just fine. She just wanted to start feeling more like a grown-up. Less like she was leeching off of her parents. She just wanted her life to start...
It was Halloween, but Jasper wasn’t in a costume. He’d worn one that day at Disney, but it hadn’t been for himself. After work, he’d come home and Alice had come over for a visit. As she sat in the living room, Jasper took a shower. After, he changed into a pair of jogging pants a t-shirt. How many times had Alice seen him like this over the years, but as her brother? Now all Jasper could think of doing was going out there and kissing her.
But as much as he wanted to, he paused when he saw her, looking mildly depressed, holding the bowl of sweets Jasper had taken out for trick-or-treaters. Despite not caring to wear a costume, he couldn’t turn kids away on Halloween. “You okay?” Jasper asked as he moved to the couch to sit where her feet were. He took them and set them on his lap, starting to rub one of them with his hands.
“Yeah.” Alice said with a little sigh. She was glad she’d kicked off her shoes--instant and easy access for Jazz to rub her feet. Which he could do, whenever he wanted. Alice made the executive decision. The normally happy and bubbly girl was preoccupied with this living situation thing, and it was getting her down. “I just feel like I’ve looked at a dozen apartments, and the ones that are half-way decent are in terrible neighborhoods. The ones in decent neighborhoods are falling apart. Who needs that?”
That was the troubling thing about this, that Alice was usually smiling, lit up like a holiday. Jasper felt a pang of guilt when she explained her mood. He’d tricked her, he knew he had, for selfish reasons. Jasper licked his lips and swallowed his pride. There could be no more hinting around. He just needed to ask. “Why don’t you just live here?” he asked, feeling his stomach fill up with the proverbial butterflies that he knew were just nerves, waiting for her to say no.
Alice blinked, turning her eyes from his hands on her feet to his face. “...here? With you?” It wasn’t a suggestion--a question--that she’d been expecting. It was a little shock to hear him say it… did he mean… they should move in together? As lovers? Or was the suggestion that she live with him… there really wasn’t any other way to interpret his question, was there?
The anticipation of her answer only grew worse when she responded with that. Jasper tried not to falter, continuing to rub her feet, although his hands paused briefly. He looked over at her and she was looking back at him and Jasper felt his stomach fill up even more. “Who else?” he asked. It was a shield, a sort of self preservation if you would, that Jasper was seemingly unaffected on the outside.
“Are you sure?” Alice asked. The frown that’d been lingering on her features was disappearing rapidly as she realized that he must have meant it. Jasper wasn’t the kind of person to invite someone to do something if he didn’t mean what he said. In a moment more, her eyes started sparkling, and a smile was tugging at the corners of her mouth. Her heart started to beat rapidly with excitement. “You want me to move in here. With you.” It was a question, though it didn’t sound like one.
“Would I ask if I wasn’t sure?” Jasper countered logically. He could have laughed, but he didn’t. He was nervous, anyone who knew him well enough would see it. Asking Alice to move in with him was a big step and it was early on in their relationship, but it still felt right. It still felt like something he should have done even before now. He shrugged a noncommittal shoulder and folded his arms over his chest. “If you don’t say yes, I’m going to stop rubbing your feet,” he warned.
It may have been early on in their romantic relationship, but it wasn’t early on in them knowing each other. They’d lived together before--as brother and sister. They both knew how the other lived, which was a big deal with romantic couples moving in together. Who left dishes in the sink? Who prefered to watch comedies, who preferred dramas? The only difference between then and now would be… whatever it was growing between them. Love? Romance? Soul Mate… ship?
“Yes. I’m saying yes.” She responded. She broke into a bright grin, sitting up and wrapping her arms around him. “And not just because you give the best foot massages in the world.”
As her lips stretched smoothly into a bright grin, Jasper’s gaze stayed fixed on her. The grin was returned with a smirk, Jasper’s eyes letting off a soft light as he looked back at her, imagining what it would be like to live with her, no longer as brother and sister. “Good,” he said, his hand shifting a bit higher, over the delicate lines of her ankle, toward her calf. “Now I have someone to share the bills with,” he teased. Truth was, he didn’t expect her to pay a dime, most especially if she still intended to go to school.
Alice’s head tipped back as she laughed. “Right. Bills. Those things. I guess I have to grow up sometime, huh?” She said, her eyes sparkling as she turned them back to look into his. Her heart, which felt like it wasn’t beating much at all lately, was now thundering in her chest.
At this, Jasper canted his head to the side, a little confused. It was easy to forget that Alice was only eighteen. Jasper moved toward her, easing himself to a position where he could kiss her lips. He licked his own, his eyes still open as he stared down at her. “Never,” he whispered, smiling crookedly.
And with that, Alice decided that she was done talking. She leaned in for another kiss, hungry for more.