keptherwaiting | 1948, Philadelphia

1948, Philadelphia

Waiting for Alice to finish getting ready, Jasper is far more excited and confident than nervous for their date this time.

She’d made him shower first, not wanting him to put on his fancy clothes without one, and then she’d disappeared into the bathroom with more than one bag in her arms after he’d finished. His suit had been left on the bed, which he’d changed into quickly - a perfect fit, because she knows him so perfectly and so finely crafted too - and then he’d been left to more or less think about their upcoming night.

He feels good, more sure of himself than he has been in awhile, and vows to make up for the little stumbles earlier by making sure Alice has a great time tonight.

He’s sure Alice will look beautiful, she always does, and he knows he looks great, because Alice picked out the suit especially for him. He wonders where they’ll go to dance; Alice has said she knew of a place. And it’s still early enough, a Friday, and even the quietest of weeknights in Philly have seen plenty of activity.

He’s just thinking of fetching another bouquet of flowers for her - the other already artfully displayed on a table - when the door to the bathroom finally creaks open.

He turns and sucks in an appropriately sharp breath at the sight of her.

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“I don’t want to be rid of you,” he murmurs against her lips, not even wanting to move an inch away from her at the moment.

He kisses her again, deeply, at which the waitress who had been approaching their table quickly turns and walks away with a giggle.

There are many things that thrill Alice.

The scent of the world just before and just after it rains on a warm day, the sparkle of a pretty diamond in the set of her jewelry, the twirl of a new skirt.

New things thrill her right now--the feeling of being around Jasper, the smell of him, the feel of him, the taste of him. The way he has to curl in over her, to reach her, to fit against her.

She smooths her hand over the front of his jacket, up into his hair, tangling her fingers into the curls at the nape of his neck as she kisses him, lost in the world that is just him.

Being with Alice, feeling how she feels about him and the way she focuses all her attention on him, is such a stark contrast to anything Jasper’s ever known.

It makes him feel like he’s on top of the world.

And he wants her to feel that way too. Vows to ensure she always does.

He pulls back, only a little, his mouth still close to hers, still greedy for her.

“Thank you for bringing me here. For coming out with me,” he says with a gentle smile. “And for earlier too. I don’t think I’ve said so yet, but I appreciate your helping me through that.”

"Sweetheart," Alice bumps her nose against his, her fingers fiddling with the ends of his hair still. "I will always be there to help you, and I'll always be ready to go out with you."

She chases his mouth, the tiny space between them closing fast. "If you want me, of course."

There's a sly curve to her lips though, as if she knows he wants her--and she does. In more than just the way her words imply, too.

His gaze drops to her lips, to that little sly smile, and he laughs softly, a slight growl to the tone.

“Do you want me to show you how much?” he asks, his smile a mirror to hers.

He squeezes her knee gently, fingers flexing.

“I could, you know.”

She catches her bottom lip between her teeth, big eyes wide with excitement, want and more. Alice gives a coy little shrug, seemingly disinterested as the waitress walks by, checking on their drinks and asking if they need anything else.

Once the waitress has turned her back, however, Alice very purposely lets her knees part, under the gentle pressure of his hand.

"You should," she whispers, her lips close to his again. "You should show me."

If Jasper could blush -

“Not exactly what I meant, darlin’, but - “

He glances around, an eyebrow raised to ensure no one is paying any attention to them, and then smirks as he slides his hand a little further up her skirt.

“I’m starting to feel like I’ve corrupted you,” he says with a laugh as he brushes his fingers along her inner thigh. “It’s not just about this for me though. I want you to know that.”

He presses his palm flat against against her skin and concentrates on using his powers, to have her feel everything he’s felt in the past few days:

Hope, trust, want, desire, loved, happiness, appreciation, kindness, admiration, (love), joy, tenderness, need, and more. So much more.

It's overwhelming--and exactly what she's felt too. The doubled dose of it, his and hers, entwined and whole, all of it--she inhales sharply, her fingers curling around his shoulder, clutching onto him.

She wants to say it, wants to tell him what he already knows (because how can he not, when it bubbles up out of her entire being) but she's terrified it's the wrong thing to say, that saying the words will break the spell and he'll leave.

What if he leaves? He is all she has wanted, searched for, needed, for twenty-eight years.

Alice swallows hard, her lips twitching, tucking an errant curl behind his ear. "You're perfect, Jasper Whitlock. Absolutely perfect."

“It’s you, being around you,” he murmurs just before he leans in to capture her lips in another kiss.

He can feel it: her love for him. Even now. (He doesn’t know how he’d react if she said it, only knows that he wouldn’t run from her.) Kissing her is just one of many responses to it.

"I don't even want to be here now," Alice laughs, pulling away to lay her head against his shoulder, content now to just look at him. "You make me just want to lay in bed with you for days. Just us--all these other people, they're just in the way."

She shakes her head gently. "I'm supposed to be showin' you the world, and here I am, just wantin' to hide away with you."

Jasper presses a kiss to the top of her head, chuckling.

“I want to hide away with you. And I want to be here with you too.”

He also wouldn’t mind carrying on with her right here, follow through on her idea of his hand under her skirt.

He squeezes her thigh once more before he slides his hand out from under her dress to take her hand in his, press a kiss to her fingers.

“You got all dressed to come out but, if you want to go back to the hotel, I’m not about to argue.”

Squeezing his hand, Alice looks out at the dancers again, watching as they twirl and jump and laugh.

“Let’s dance a little more,” she smiles, her thumb tracing the back of his hand. “And then we can go back.

“Oh, but I’m not done kissin’ you in this booth,” Alice says with another impish smile. “So c’mere.”

“That grin, how could I say no?” Jasper says with a laugh, already closing the distance between them to kiss her.

Not that he’d say no, regardless. He loves kissing her. The way she delights in him being so close, her hands in his hair, the feel of her lips against him, their attention fixed on each other and no one else.

He kisses her softly, deeply, hungrily.

She may have to drag him to the floor again or he’ll just spend the rest of the night kissing her in this booth.

At this moment, Alice is perfectly content to just kiss and be kissed.

She loves the shape of his mouth against hers, the graze of his teeth against her bottom lip, the slide of his tongue along hers. The grip of his hand on her, the feel of his hair against her fingers.

Him.

She knows with absolute certainty that he will love her (that he already does even if he doesn’t realize it yet—how could he not? After all, everyone loves Alice!) soon, as much as she loves him.

Until he says the words though, she’ll keep them close to her heart if she can. Show him, instead. Which she does by kissing him back; softly, deeply, hungrily.

Her hand cupping the line of his jaw, her fingers tangled in his hair, pulling herself against him further, knee sliding over his. She’ll get back to that dancing thing in a minute.

She pulls herself closer to him, and he pulls her closer still. Practically in his lap, his hand disappearing under her skirt again with her knee on his like that.

He’s forgotten the rest of the room and he’s lost in her, in the moment. He pours his feelings into the kiss, in the slide of his fingers on her skin.

A hundred and five years, and he’s foolishly and feverishly enthusiastic about just kissing. He’d maybe laugh at himself if he weren’t so wrapped up in it. She just makes him feel so alive again.

There’s a wolf-whistle from someone walking by, followed by laughter as the whistler is rough housed by his friends.

Alice pulls away, just enough, to shoot them a glare. Way to ruin her fun, guys.

Looking back at Jasper, she sighs a soft, exasperated laugh. “Oh dammit, my lipstick again—“

She stays close to him as she grabs her small purse, her leg still thrown over his. Retrieving a mirror and a handkerchief, she fixes her smudged lips before attending to his. “Okay,” Alice whispers, breathless and close to his face. “Two more dances and then I wanna go back to the hotel and I wanna kiss you like that again. But more, and in private.”

Jasper nearly leans in to kiss her again, right then and there. He hadn’t been too bothered by the interruption, would have kept going even, but the sweet promise of more to come -

He grins.

“C’mon then, let’s get back out there.”

He takes her hand in his and is leading her back to the floor. It’s a faster paced song already playing and he starts off on the right foot, swinging and spinning her out onto the floor.

They dance, swinging around, spinning out, hands always touching the other's. She doesn't want to stop touching him, doesn't want to let go.

Beside them, a man flips the girl he's with over his shoulder and the other dancers clap at their display. Alice watches them with a shrewd look--one day soon she's going to be able to do that, she's sure of it. Just not yet, not when it's the first time dancing with Jasper.

The band finishes this song with a flourish, and the group on the floor claps loudly. One of the band members comes to the microphone, announces their singer for the next song. She's dressed like a movie star, and she glides up to the microphone with easy grace. A slow song, a love ballad.

The others around them dance closely and Alice is no exception to this rule. She takes Jasper's hand in one of her own, the other settling at his waist as they move in time to the beat. "I feel like," she starts, blinking up at him as they do a little turn. "There's so much more for us to find out about each other, yet I keep finding myself without questions to ask, or things to say. I think you've stolen my ability to talk, Mr. Whitlock."

“And here I thought it was you just knew everything there was to know about me already.”

He jokes and yet - She does have him at an advantage. It doesn’t scare him, though. He just holds her close, staring down at her.

“Maybe I should have questions,” he says somewhat seriously, “But - I don’t know. Feels like I already know you in some ways? I’m comfortable with you. Everything else - Well, we got time.”

He’ll learn all about her as he needs to, her likes and dislikes, what she loves and hates, her pet peeves, her dreams.

“And, for the record - “ He grins at her, eyes twinkling because he loves this about her: “You start ramblin’ when you’re nervous and I’ve gathered a good lot from that.”

"You make me nervous," Alice's nose wrinkles as she looks up at him, feeling a little off-kilter, but in a good way. The way he makes her feel. "I've never worried much about impressing people or wondering what they think of me..."

They make another turn on the floor, her skirt fluttering around her knees.

"I know what you think of me--you tell me often enough and that helps. But I don't know," she murmurs, reaching up tug on a wayward lock of his hair. "I've never really been nervous about anything else before. Probably because it was worth bein' nervous about. You're worth it, though."

“Can I tell you what I think?”

He only asks because he’s worried she may not like him gauging her feelings in a serious way. Maria never did; she always hated being called out on her feelings.

"Of course," she whispers, sadness wafting over her. "You don't have to ask for that--just don't...I don't know, calm me down when I'm righteously angry or something."

“I’m not planning to?”

Jasper smiles softly at her, trying to get her to smile again, not liking the sadness that lines her brow now.

“No, I just - You’re afraid too, when you’re nervous, and I think you’re afraid I’ll leave you if you say or do the wrong thing?”

He pulls her closer, even with how close they already are, hardly moving to the music.

“I like your rambling but you don’t have to be nervous; I’m not leaving.”

His words make her more nervous at first. The absolute honesty of being seen how she is. It's disconcerting, for a moment, even as she reconciles it.

"I got used to bein' on my own," Alice whispers, her lips turning up in a strange smile--not happy but not sad either. "I guess I'm worried I'll have to go back to that. It's an awful lonely existence without you."

She breaks her gaze with him, focusing on his shoulder, lips pursing as she thinks. It was a truth she hadn't meant to speak: it's an awful lonely existence without you--she'd meant to just end it without adding him to it. But it's true. She'd be lost without him.

She'd have been lost without him for the last twenty-eight years, if that vision hadn't persisted, hadn't filled her with such hope and joy upon waking up.

Looking back at him, Alice truly smiles this time, if not a little shyly. "I worry, because I don't want to hurt you. I worry because...I know you've been hurt. I worry because I know I'm...a lot, but you're worth the worry, Jasper. Because it'll be sporadic and most of our time together will be wonderful and real and I promise you that."

“I like the sound of real,” Jasper whispers, and he wraps his arm around her to lift her from the ground so he can kiss her.

“Want to get out of here now?”

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