1948, Philadelphia

[keptherwaiting]

Jasper stares across the street at the flower store and thinks: It’s stupid, right?

The idea of buying Alice flowers, giving them to her, and having her - what? Be happy about them?

He thinks of the one time he tried to give a flower to Maria:

It’d been stupid. Him standing there and holding out the flower to her like some stupid human kid. Just plucked from the vase it’d been left in on the nightstand from the home’s previous but newly deceased owners. Thank God Lucy and Nettie hadn’t been there to see, though he thinks Maria may have told them later because Nettie had looked at him with pity the next day.

He shakes himself from the memory and watches a man leave the store with an entire bouquet, he’s smiling and so fucking human, and Jasper wants that. To buy a bunch of stupid flowers, smiling, and gift them to Alice.

But - It’s stupid, right?

He feels Alice squeeze his hand, only vaguely heard her approach - which, also stupid, as he shouldn’t be getting distracted like that - and he turns his attention back to her.

“They have the book?” he asks.

He’d been waiting outside, too uncomfortable with the tight confined spaces of the busier shops, even with Alice distracting him from his thirst when need be.

Comments

[keptherwaiting]

“I trust you,” Jasper says without even having to think about it.

Because he does trust her.

He knows a certain someone might think he’s being an idiot if she saw him now, but Alice is the most genuine person he’s ever met.

He looks into her bright golden eyes as she scrubs at his face. Her eyes had started to darken again, like his, but are now as bright as when he’d met her in the diner just a handful of days ago.

When she took his hand and he felt - everything.

“Think we can have a second chance at this first date thing?”

[betagainstme]

Alice smiles, her thumb grazing over his cheek, moving closer to press her lips against his cheek. "Of course."

She takes his face in both of her hands, tilting his head forward so she can press a kiss into his hair.

"If we got straws," she laughs, already rolling her eyes at her joke. "We could pretend we're sharing a shake like kids in town. I didn't even want to finish that joke, it's so bad."

[keptherwaiting]

Jasper bursts out laughing. Its an honest, genuine reaction. Just like his trust in her.

It’s not that her joke is funny, it’s terrible.

“ - Alice, that’s disgusting.”

[betagainstme]

"It made you laugh, though--" Alice beams, his hands still on his face as she dips forward to kiss his cheeks again. "And so that is all that matters, no matter how disgusting my joke was."

[keptherwaiting]

“Don’t know if I’ll be able to get that image out of my head.”

It doesn’t, however, ruin his appetite.

“I think I could try again?”

[betagainstme]

"We can look for the bears?" Alice stands, her hand reaching out for his to take. "They've got to be here somewhere--I know I saw one before you got here."

But the bears tend to fight back and more importantly: ruin clothes. She doesn't like to ruin her clothes. She's somehow managed to stay completely unbloodied, even in crouching by Jasper's side.

"Probably toward those rocks that way," she points, towards a thicket of trees. "There's probably a cave."

[keptherwaiting]

“Are you - Do you want to wait here?”

Jasper rather appreciates how sweet and patient she’s been with him but he doesn’t exactly want her to see it another time if he’s about to have the same reaction.

“I’ll come back, right after,” he adds hurriedly, in case she thinks he’s not planning to do so. “And then we can have ourselves a real date? Or, ‘least figure out what a real date is for us.”

[betagainstme]

“Okay,” Alice smiles. “Hold your breath, it might make the taste less weird.”

Maybe.

“I’ll be here, waiting for you.”

[keptherwaiting]

Jasper lingers for a moment, wanting to kiss her (and also not because he just puked up a bunch of blood in front of her).

He kisses her forehead.

“Be right back,” he murmurs before he’s off in the direction she’d indicated.

She can probably hear it: when he finds the bear, the ensuing fight, the quiet that follows.

And then he’s coming back to her, not quite grinning but pleased.

She’ll see his eyes are gold.

[betagainstme]

She’s perched on a rock, weaving daisies together that she’s picked in the time he was gone.

Alice looks up, fingers still working, before he appears, her grin bright. She sees his eyes before he even walks past the trees.

“Success?” She finishes weaving the daisies into a crown, hopping up from the rock to run over to him, tug him down and place the crown in his hair. “Better this time?”

[keptherwaiting]

Jasper laughs when she tugs him down to put the crown on his head.

“Success. I wouldn’t say it’s any better but I managed to keep it down. And I feel fed. Satisfied.”

He suddenly swoops her up into his arms, spinning her around.

[betagainstme]

She squeals, wrapping her arms around his shoulders to hold on.

Nothing but light—pure and sunny happiness—fills her. She loves this. Loves him. Can’t believe it’s only been days. It feels like she’s known him forever.

In a way, she has. But it feels like he’s known her too.

“I knew you could do it,” Alice beams, kissing his cheek.

[keptherwaiting]

Jasper doesn’t want to set her down so he just keeps holding her up, in his arm.

He’s so happy, and he feels the echo of that same happiness in her. Her love for him too.

“Thank you,” he murmurs. “For this, and everything.”

He feels far lighter than he has in years, especially after feeding. But, he’s felt lighter, ever since he met her too. He feels more whole, more complete, like he’d only been a half-something previously.

(And he knows all about mates, wonders if Alice is that, but he’s hesitant to think too much on it. Knows his hesitancy to do so is rooted in his past and his relationship with María.)

He hugs Alice to him again.

“I want to take you out. Somewhere nice. What do you want to do? Do you want to go dancing? We could go dancing.”

[betagainstme]

Combing her hands through his hair, careful not to disturb the crown of daisies, Alice presses a kiss to his forehead.

“We can go dancing,” she laughs, her fingers playing with the ends of his curls. “I’d like that, very much—can we stop at the hotel so I can change? I have clothes you can throw on in the car, though I’m going to make you change too if dancin’ is on the docket for tonight.”

She has fancy clothes for dancing, after all.

[keptherwaiting]

“Put me in what you want. Dancin’ is definitely on the docket.”

He knows she loves it.

He hugs and swings her around in his arms once more before he’s putting her feet back on the ground.

“C’mon. Race you back to the car.”

[betagainstme]

“Oh, you’ll win,” she laughs, already moving forward. “Your legs are twice as long as mine.”

Alice is fast, like all vampires, of course. But the length of Jasper’s legs definitely give him an advantage.

Or so she believes.

Regardless, she does take off toward the car, flitting through the trees and underbrush.

[keptherwaiting]

Jasper grins, and then darts after her. He quickly gains on her and is only waiting a few moments ahead of her at the car.

“You’re still pretty fast,” he compliments as he gifts her his daisy chain crown, putting it atop her head.

“The clothes in the back?”

[betagainstme]

Sighing, long-suffering and overly dramatic, Alice trudges to the trunk, popping it and digging around for a second before pulling out a shirt and some pants, neatly folded.

“If I could have one wish, it would be to be just a little taller,” Alice laughs, handing him the clothes before shutting the trunk. “Get changed, Mr. Whitlock. I have a date to get ready for.”

[keptherwaiting]

“Well, I like you just the way you are,” Jasper says, ducking to kiss the top of her head as he takes the clothes from her.

He changes quickly as requested. He’ll get rid of the old clothes once they’re back at the hotel, just stuffs them under the front seat as they climb into the car.

“I’m sure you know a place, for dancing?” he asks when they’re moving again, back toward town.