»and i said, i'll take in tomorrow if I don't wake up dead.«
2000
"What is it?" Alice had that same blank look on her face. It's been happening more often than usual. Once she finally snapped out of it, she shook her head and threw me a weak smile. "You know you can't lie to me." I mumbled under my breath. Her aura was fluctuating from pink to yellow. I decided yellow meant concerned or worried.
"I hate that you're just like Jasper now." Alice pouted. I turned around and turned the faucet in the kitchen on. I just didn't need to have her see me smile at that comment. "Now I can't get away with certain things. Can't hide things from you or Edward either..." It seemed to turn a shade of blue. "You know we all love you right?" She looked at me with a solemn expression. "No matter... what you decide. Whenever you decide it."
"Look at you being cryptic all over again." I teased.
"I'm serious Sage." She held my hand into hers and squeezed it. "You're our newest addition and we'll always be here for you." I looked at her with a puzzled expression and wondered what I possibly would be doing in the future for her to say this to me. She kissed me on the cheek before skipping off. Jasper appeared in her place. He raised an eyebrow and I shrugged his shoulders. We both dismissed it. Jasper nodded his head towards the back door. He wanted to talk, I could tell. I nodded before I headed out first. We ended up back on the mountain Emmett and I had spoken on earlier. It was crazy to think I've already been with them for a couple months. This was probably one of the longest I've stayed in one place. Even with my homes around the States, I only stayed there for two or three weeks tops. I loved being nomadic and going from one place to another. There were still several places around the world I wanted to travel. That was one perk to this life. I had a bit more time to explore the world.
Jasper and I haven't spoken about what happened in my bedroom. That had been six days ago. We still continued to talk but breezed over the topic. Lately though, he seems to have gotten more comfortable and has been around me more. His hands have brushed up against mine or my arm. He'd sit next to me more. He's even come into my room more than he did before. We had gotten close in intimate ways now.
I took a seat on a boulder as he leaned up against it. I smiled at the back of his head. He made me feel happy inside. Not the way being part of the family did, but something else. There was something about his presence that soothed me into this absolute bliss. He knew how I felt around him every time. I noticed his aura turned into a soft pink. He felt as happy as I was and it was comforting to know his feelings were mutual.
"You know it's nearly impossible to lie about how we feel about each other." Jasper spoke softly and quietly. It was just above a whisper. It took him a moment to look at me with his golden eyes. The corners of his mouth twitched up to a smile. "And I've taken a notice to how you seem to be feeling the way I do right about now."
"It's every time I'm with you." I rolled my eyes to humor him. He knew it was true, there was no denying it. "Is that embarrassing?" He shook his head and took my hand in his. I felt a jolt of electricity throughout my body. This is the first time he was holding me. "What does this mean for us?" I asked him quizzically. I was unaware of why I felt this way towards him. I've met other vampires. I've taken a notice to how they were attracted to me and I've tried to be interested in them. But they never sparked my complete interest. Not the in the way Jasper had. Our feelings were mutual and we both silently knew without having to tell each other. So what did that mean? Were we going to act upon it or leave it be? Jasper shrugged his shoulders before he jumped beside me. His hand never left mine.
"It's whatever you want it to be." Jasper was inches away from my face. I had to look away from his beauty and down to his hands. They glittered against the sun. "I do know though, that I want nothing else but to be with you all the time." Jasper admitted to me. My fingers traced the scars that were on his wrist then up to his arm. He had many little crescents scattered across his skin. I noticed his they were also on the other arm. I looked at him with a concerned look on his face. "Battle scars." He drawled. "Do you want to know." He took my hands in his again. I nodded like a child about to be told a fairytale. But from what Jasper told me, it was far from it. He was the youngest major whose never even seen a battle. He won people over with his charisma. Then, he spoke about Maria and how he had turned him for her own selfish use. That for the longest time, he thought what they had was love but she had just been using him the entire time. He trained the newborns that they made to win territories; she never lost a battle. Maria never let them live throughout their first year. I imagined what it would've been like for him to have to go through all that. For him to feel every bit of emotion they had. All the emotions from his victims whether they were newborns or people.
Alice expected him, after a several years, at a cafe. Naturally she knew they were bound to meet up, but to him it was a surprise. He told me how with her, she was different. He was hopeful with her. She had showed him a new way to live and since then, he's been with the Cullens. A pang of jealously hit me before I tried to cover it up. Jasper would surely have felt that too. Were him and Alice mates? I didn't want to be stepping on anyone else's toes. Let alone Alice, who was the quickest to form a bond with me aside from Emmett. If they had been mates, I was happy for them. They deserved to find happiness. Even if Jasper wasn't meant to be mine. His happiness meant much more Han my sorrow. Which was weird because I had never felt the strong need to put anyone else's feelings before my own. Jasper chuckled and shook his head at me.
"Sage, Alice and I aren't mates. So you don't have to feel as upset as you do." I covered my face in embarrassment. I slipped right in front of him. He let out another melodic laugh at me. It sounded like a chorus of angels.
"My sheer embarrassment isn't something to laugh at Mister Whitlock." I pushed him away playfully. "You're supposed to be a Southern gentleman." I taunted him, jokingly of course.
"You'll be surprised to see what I have in store ma'am." Jasper smirked. I felt at peace with him by my side. We sat together in silence as the sun set. It was a beautiful sight to see indeed. My head managed to navigate towards Jasper's shoulder without me even realizing. It was when he moved his arm to wrap it around me did I realize our close proximity. "I can't deny that I'm drawn to you Sage." His lips brushed against my hair before he rested his cheek on my head. "It's a very new feeling for me."
"I concur." I snuggled into his arms more. It all felt so right but why? Who was he to me? Then it clicked. It was like an epiphany. All the feelings, and memories rushed to me all at once. The initial feeling I had when I first met eyes with him. The mystery behind the way I felt. How much sweeter his scent was to me. How quickly he could make me feel at ease. Or how he could make me feel safe. How very fond he was of me. Or the way he seemed to become less tense by my side. The way I was able to open up my powers and how he began to feel my emotions; we were soul mates. I was astonished at the fact I could ever find a mate. I couldn't help be back away and stare into his eyes.
Jasper had known this all along. That's why he had been so upset to hear of my and Emmett's previous relationship. That's why it was easy for him to sit beside me or choose to be with me period. He knew from the moment we met we were destined to be each other. And he was waiting for me to come to my own realization before he made any true advances. Sure coming to my room was one thing. For him to actually say "I am in front of you. I am your mate," was an advance towards me. For him to try and kiss me would be an advance. He didn't do any of that. He patiently waited for me.
"Finally realized it darlin'?" Jasper had a mindful look on his face. I nodded my head in a feeble manner. I was embarrassed it took me this long. Jasper had been in front of me this entire time, how could I be so idiotic? He chuckled again and held me tighter around his arms. A smile that seemed permanent on his face. I asked why didn't he tell me just above a whisper. "I didn't want to push you into anything you weren't ready for or didn't want." He truly was a gentleman. "What if you didn't want me?" I laughed at that. He was my mate, why wouldn't I want him?
"Who wouldn't want you." I rolled my eyes as my lips rested against his arm. I had found myself in between his legs, my head to his chest. The sun was long gone, instead replaced with a bright moon. "Edward knew."
"Rosalie definitely knows." Jasper informed me. I asked him how she did. He mentioned the night Emmett and I spoke to her, was the night she had come up to him. Rosalie had noticed the way Jasper looked at me and confronted him about it. She claimed it was the same way she looked at Emmett the first time.
"Alice should know too." It wouldn't take forever for a subjective precognitive vampire to see this exact moment. Especially if Jasper planned to talk to me from before.
The family stared at Jasper and I as we entered the house that same day with smiles on their faces. I couldn't exactly tell if they were happy for us, or amused by the situation at hand. It was Edward who had been the first to make a comment on the subject.
"Hopefully I don't have to hear both your conflicting thoughts on whether or not you guys should tell each other your feelings." Edward jokingly informed the lot. I would be blushing if I could. It surprised me to now know Jasper had the same thoughts I'd be having all along. "I'm glad you figured it out yourselves by now."
"Especially you Sage." Alice emphasized the first word. "It took you about three months to realize who your mate was." They entire house boomed with laughter at my dismay. I told them to hush up. I took notice to how the entire room lit with a bright pink. They were all genuinely happy with my findings. I leaned into Jasper a bit more as I stared at my family. I couldn't help but grin. I found my family. I found a mate. My mate.
I found Jasper Hale Whitlock.
[A/N: I'd like to thank aakiira15 for voting and for those who added this story to their reading lists. I appreciate you guys xoxo]