1949, Prince Edward Island, Canada

[keptherwaiting]

The bathroom is filled with the steam of hot water, making the room appear to have a hazy glow.

Jasper actually fits in the tub for once, a luxuriously large tub for a luxurious hotel room, and Alice with him, leaning back against his chest, squeezed in between his legs.

They were on Prince Edward Island for the weekend and Alice had wanted something nicer than the roadside motels (or forested areas) just outside the populated areas that Jasper favored.

And who was he to deny her anything? Especially when it has been exactly a year since they met in Philly.

He kisses the top of her head, sighing softly, happily.

He wonders if she knows it’s been a year, and that’s the reason for the weekend and the room. He wonders if she knows that he knows?

Time’s a funny thing for vampires to keep track of, and neither of them have mentioned it yet.

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[betagainstme]

Alice stretches, rolling her head to the side before sighing happily and settling back against Jasper’s chest.

Her hand finds his in the water, dragging his arm across her chest. Her eyes close and for a long moment she just lays there, utterly relaxed in the water.

She knows it’s been a year. Every second has been precious, remembered, filed away in her memory. Every touch, every kiss, every dance and photograph. Each experience, new because he is there. Alice tilts her head back to look up at him, her smile helpless.

“In an hour, it’ll be exactly three hundred and sixty five days since we met.”

[keptherwaiting]

“I wasn’t sure if you were payin’ attention,” Jasper murmurs when he meets her smile with one of his own.

His arm tightens across her in a brief hug, and he captures the corner of her smile with a quick peck.

“I love you. I love the year we’ve had.”

[betagainstme]

“How could I forget the best moment of my life up to that point?” Alice smiles, twisting to look at him properly. The water sloshes precariously, but doesn’t go over the tub’s lip.

“I love you, too—and we are going to have so many more years. Hundreds, until we can’t even remember where they started.”

[keptherwaiting]

Her twisted toward him, he kisses her gently, a slow glide of his lips against hers.

His fingers brush across her cheek when he pulls back to look at her. His gaze is soft, his smile softer.

“I’ll take it all. Good and bad and of carrying your shopping and bags around.”

[betagainstme]

“Hey, I gotta replace all the clothes you rip off me,” Alice teases, her fingers sliding up his sides. She’s twisted around fully to face him, her knees drawn to her chest to fit between his legs safely.

Her smile is bright, happy and full of the love she has for him. It’s been the best year of her life so far. She can’t even put her feelings into words.

Instead she raises her hand to trace the scar on his chin, water running down her arm. “I can’t wait—to experience it all, forever.”

[keptherwaiting]

“All the new places to explore,” he says, taking her hand in his to kiss each fingertip.

“The new music to discover and dance to. The books to read. The clothes to tear off.”

He kisses her palm, and her wrist.

“The arguments we’ll have, the mistakes we’ll make.

“All of it.”

[betagainstme]

“You make me so happy,” she murmurs, watching him, the press of his lips against her skin. “I’d like to believe we’ll never argue but—“

Well, you can’t go hundreds of years without a few hiccups, she’s sure. So far the only true misstep had been the slip up and that wasn’t even an argument. Just a sad day.

Alice leans in, pressing a kiss against his chin, then cheek. “I love you.”

[keptherwaiting]

“I love you too. And maybe we’ll just argue over what book to read next.”

He reaches up, combing wet fingers through her hair, tucking loose strands behind her ears. He smiles at her.

“Or what clothes I’m allowed to tear. That seems likely.”

[betagainstme]

“Honey, you can honestly tear whatever you like,” Alice laughs, leaning into his hand. “I only put up a fight for pretenses.”

And she’ll just buy more. It’s not like she doesn’t own enough clothes to wear something different every day.

The haze of steam, the hot water and the happiness between the two of them makes her feel floaty, untethered. She feels whole, with him before her.

Turning around again, Alice presses herself against his chest, fitting under his chin as she draws his arm over her once more. “We can argue about whether or not cowboy boots go with everything.”

[keptherwaiting]

Jasper laughs.

“Honey, ‘long as I’m wearing ‘em, they go with everything.”

Besides, she is the one who bought him the boots. She should’ve foreseen his wanting to wear them often. And -

“You liked it when they were all I was wearin’ that one night,” he adds, whispering in her ear.

[betagainstme]

His lips against her ear send a shiver through her and she laughs softly—he’s not wrong, but:

“I think I was distracted by other things at that moment.”

He’s right about the other thing too, though—somehow Jasper manages to make the boots look perfect with every outfit, even if she knows they shouldn’t go together. Maybe that’s what true love does to you—warps your sense of fashion in favor of seeing a smile on Jasper’s face.

“You can wear the boots with whatever you want,” Alice smiles, looking up at him again. “I don’t think this can even count as an argument.”

[keptherwaiting]

"Hey, just because you conceding early on doesn't mean it wasn't an argument."

He grins, and nips at the shell of her ear, follows the curve of it with his lips.

"I had to argue my points that the boots go with everything - and can also be worn when naked."

[betagainstme]

She presses back against him, shivering again at the nip, the feel of his lips against her ear.

“You’re very distracting when you want to win an argument,” she protests softly, her head tilting to the side to allow him better access to her ear, neck, wherever. “You’re very distracting now, too.”

[keptherwaiting]

He chuckles at her shiver, her soft protests. "Are you accusin' me of not playing fair?"

He tries to sound shocked, and yet fails to do so as he continues to trail his lips down her neck. He sounds very much like he's not playing fair.

He sounds, if anything, like he's trying to seduce her, even though he already has her naked.

[betagainstme]

"I do believe," Alice inhales sharply, her fingers curling at his thigh, "you are not playin' fair. At all."

She lets her head fall back against his shoulder, her hand sliding up his leg with a trail of her nails. "I don't mind though. This time."

Nor anytime, truly.

[keptherwaiting]

Jasper stirs against her, shifts at the scrap of her nails along his leg.

"You never play fair," he says, nipping at her shoulder. "Your existence is not fair."

He presses his face against her neck then, inhaling deeply. That scent that is uniquely hers, that he can't get enough of, mixed with the florals of whatever soap she'd dropped in the tub before they'd crawled in.

[betagainstme]

"My apologies," Alice laughs, twisting around again after a moment, wanting to look at him, to kiss him.

Her hands cup his face and she does just that--a slow slide of their lips, taking her time to trace the shape of them, enjoy.

"However shall I make up the pain of my existence to you, my love?" She murmurs against his mouth, her smile lost against his lips.

[keptherwaiting]

“It really hurts, darlin’.“ Jasper pouts against her smile, being silly because he loves the way it makes her giggle and laugh. “Kissin’ helps.”

[betagainstme]

His silliness works, making her grin stretch wide as she shakes her head at him.

“Really? You’d think me being closer would make it worse.” Alice punctuates each word with a kiss on his cheeks (and a laugh).

[keptherwaiting]

"No, no, the closer you are, the better it is," he promises her, sitting up from where he'd been leaning back against the tub to lean into her kisses more.

He brings his hands to her shoulders, and then runs them down her sides, disappearing under the soapy water to settle on her hips.

"Touchin' helps too."

[betagainstme]

“—ah, like drinking little bits of poison to get used to it.” Alice nods, affecting a wise expression.

“I read that somewhere. I’m not poisoning people.”

Just in case he doesn’t know that she’s not a secret poison hoarder.

She shifts and wiggles a little under his hands, leaning in to kiss him again. “Well, let me make it better, my love.”

[keptherwaiting]

Jasper laughs, leaning away from her kiss but keeping his hands firmly on her hips. "Now hold on, should I be concerned with what you're readin'?"

[betagainstme]

Her fingers wrap around his biceps, crowding him as he leans away. Water sloshes over the edge this time but she pays it no mind.

“Come back here,” Alice laughs, “you can’t get away from me.”

[keptherwaiting]

"Should I be shoutin' for help?"

He keeps teasing her, even as he lets her crowd into his space.

"Will anyone hear me? Have you already poisoned the entire hotel staff?"

[betagainstme]

“They’re already gone,” she grins, letting her hands slide up to his neck, pressing herself against him.

“It’s just you and me in this hotel now—I’ve somehow poisoned everyone here while also never leaving your side.”

Alice kisses his chin, his cheek. “I’m magic like that.”