betagainstme | (no subject)

(no subject)

High in a tree near the house, Alice tiptoes along a branch, her fingers trailing the bark above her head. She breathes in, taking in the scents of the forest, the familiar scent of her husband above her.

He's nestled in a crook in the pine tree, and he's staring out over the land, lost in though. She climbs up to him and settles in across from him, smiling softly. "You're not still annoyed about Bella in Milliways are you?"

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Jasper tears his gaze away from the landscape to meet his wife's. Long enough to quietly say no before he's watching a flock of birds weave patterns in the sky. Which would not be the entire truth, because he is, somewhat, annoyed. As well as sore, confused, curious, and uneasy.

Alice slumps against the tree, her hair catching in the bark. Her tongue runs over her teeth and she reaches out to touch his sleeve. "Jasper."

Jasper has always been able to read his wife. Now, he acts like he can't. He turns her way, an eyebrow raised, and waits to see if she has anything more she wants to add to that.

Edited 2009-04-07 04:22 (UTC)

She looks away, her face falling, her hand dropping from his sleeve. She didn't want to have to say anything.

His hand catches hers the moment it drops from his sleeve and his thumb traces along the fate line of her palm. "I'm not annoyed at you."

Maybe by or with, but not at.

"And Bella..." He sighs. "She was eating cereal."

She looks back at him and shakes her head. "She's human. She does that."

She knows that's not the point but says it anyway. Her fingers curl around his for a moment before standing fluidly on the branch to climb up to the next one and look around. "It'll be okay," She murmurs back down to him. "It will."

Eating cereal, at the end of the universe, smiling at vampires.

Jasper huffs and, with the branch thick enough, sprawls out on his back, a leg dangling over the side as he watches Alice climb. His fingers graze the hem of her jeans.

"When Edward turns her."

Then it will.

She glances down at him and nods, distractedly. "Yes."

It bothers her, though, that the future for that keeps shifting, that Edward's determination to make it not happen keep shrouding Bella in further mystery. It will happen (either way, a new birth or a lasting death), Alice knows it.

She's just lost a little bit of faith in her abilities lately.

Jasper would want to know why, when he has so much more confidence in her abilities than his own, if he knew what she was thinking. He could only tell that something was bothering her. He tugs on her pant leg.

"What is it?"

She shrugs before tugging a few pine needles off the branch above her. "Nothing. It's just..."

Alice sighs. "I missed something big. I could have let Bella...what if I keep messing up? What if I keep getting distracted?"

It's a long shot, she knows, but it's annoying. And detrimental. If she can't be the first protector for this family...

Jasper sighs as he sits up once more, his fingers curled around her ankle in a touch of comfort. "I'm sorry I distracted you. But, Alice, there are going to be things you won't see. Things you have to let happen anyway. What you've done for all of us already is... amazing."

He climbs up to the next branch, crowding her against the trunk with a kiss to her forehead.

"You of all people should see that maybe things need to happen they way they do for a reason. Edward got to talk to Bella last night, didn't he? Their..." He snorts, not able to help it. "...relationship is better for it."

He may dislike that Bella knows, but he can't begrudge his brother happiness.

Alice hooks a finger in his belt loop, her smile softly returning. "He's so happy, Jasper. And he did...he got to talk to her and we're gonna be..."

Great friends is said only by her sigh. She leans up to press her lips against his chin. "I just worry. It's not needed, but it happens."

"Well, you come to me and I'll do whatever I can to make you not worry," Jasper assures her.

Alice runs her fingers over his mouth before grinning. "Oh, no problems there."

She drops her hand, wrinkling her brow at him. "If Bella comes to sit with us at lunch, will it annoy you? We can always...sit somewhere else."

"And have you pine for her from afar? No, we can sit with your little friend. I'll endure." Jasper presses another kiss to her wrinkled brow. "Is Edward going to finally let you talk to her?"

"He better. We don't get friends very often." Alice mutters. "He won't ruin this for me."

Jasper grins at her petulance, though the smile does not quite reach his eyes. He tugs on a short lock of her hair. "You could have more ...friends, if you wanted. I'm sure Lauren would love to be one of them."

"Lauren hates me, Jasper." Alice snorts, biting her lip. "She's so...jealous it turns into petty hate. Teenagers are ridiculous."

"And Bella is not a teenager?"

"She's not jealous of my sexy husband." Alice murmurs, sliding her arms around his waist and letting her head fall back against the tree.

Jasper chuckles, pressing a kiss to her throat. "No, no, I think Bella is hopelessly obsessed with Edward. And I'll have you know that Lauren has moved on to Crowley now."

"Mmm," Alice breathes in deeply. "You will always be in the back of Lauren's mind. Angela told me that she keeps saying mean things about me at lunch."

"My fault. I offered her a pen last week. She must have taken that as a sign of my undying devotion for her." He slides an arm around Alice's waist, bracing the other against the tree above her head as he moves his attention to her jawline. "Too bad for her I only have eyes for my beautiful, sweet, tender, lovable wife."

"I hear that pen giving is a vow of marriage in some countries," Alice whispers, breathing a little heavier. "You need to remedy that. I'm a very jealous wife."

Or would be. If anyone stood a chance.

"Do I have to steal the pen back to break the vow? I will go to her house now to do so." Jasper lowers his voice to a whisper, speaking into her ear, "I don't want anyone but you."