After hours of discussion, Elijah agreed that his daughter would stay temporarily with the Cullens so that she may able to control her thirst. He believes that her demon side allows her to repress the urge to feed on humans, however, since she just transitioned it is still hard for her to control the desire.
Sun shone past the blinds, casting shadows in Jasper's room. The two lay entangled with one another on the bed as they engage in a never-ending conversation to pass the time since they could not sleep. Madelline laid her head against Jasper's chest, her fingers drawing patterns every now and then against it.
A gasp escaped her lips upon remembering something, catching Jasper's attention immediately.
"What is it, darling?"
Madelline's eyes darted towards him as if she was surprised he forgot it as well. "Don't you remember? It's Bella's birthday!" she exclaimed, standing up to remove the covers around their waist. Jasper slowly got up, propping his elbows behind him, and watched his girlfriend with a dazed smile as she ran around the room, in search of new clothes before she visit her friend.
He chuckled at her, earning her attention. She stopped at the center, hands placed on her hips as she raised an eyebrow at him. His chuckles ceased as soon as he saw this before a pair of clothes was tossed to his face. He removed it and looked down at it with confusion before he looked back to his girlfriend, his head tilted in confusion.
"Just wear it, Hale."
"I'm not Hale, darling," he said and stood up from his bed, walking towards Madelline who was currently rummaging through their closet. He stopped just right behind her and laced his arm around her waist to pull her closer to him, catching her off guard.
Madelline's breath hitched in surprise at the sudden closeness as she felt Jasper lean towards her ear and felt how his lips ghosted just on top of it.
"That's not what you call me. Do you want me to remind you?" he whispered and placed a soft kiss on the sides of her neck.
Her eyes widened at his words and she pushed him back, turning to send her boyfriend a playful glare. Jasper erupted in laughter upon seeing her glare and feigned innocence by raising his hands up in mock surrender.
"What I mean is, you usually call me love. What were you thinking, Ms. Madelline Smith?" he gasped. Madelline grabbed her slippers and was about to chuck them at him but failed to when he zoomed out of their room.
"Fucking hell, Jasper Hale. You're going to be the death of me."
♡
"Maddy!"
"Alice!"
The two almost ran to meet one another in the middle. Madelline pulled away to hug Rosalie next who was standing just beside Alice who returned the hug with a soft smile on her face.
"Good morning to you two," she greeted the two of them in a sing-song tone as she walked back to Jasper's side who snaked his arm around her waist immediately. Emmett arrived as soon as she said that, fist-bumping the hybrid before standing between Alice and Rosalie, wrapping his arms around their shoulders.
"Good morning to you too," Rosalie greeted back albeit with confusion written all over her face, her eyes darting towards her brother who just shrugged his shoulders and looked back at his girlfriend. "What's up with the cheerfulness today? I can't keep up," she asked.
"Well," she drawled out and rummaged inside her bag to pull out her gift for Bella. When she got it, she revealed it to them with a proud smile on her face. "I got her a gift and I'm just excited to give it to her, that's all."
Before they can reply, a sweet scent engulfed their senses, alerting them who just arrived. Their heads simultaneously turned just to see Bella and Edward walking in the hallways and towards them. Madelline and Alice shared a knowing look before they looped their arms against one another and skipped towards the two, excitement almost evident on how their feet would leave the tiled floor. The remaining three shared an amused look as they trailed behind the two.
"Happy birthday, Bells!" she excitedly greeted as soon as she met them, pulling her in for a hug. Bella chuckled and hugged the hybrid back, patting her back before pulling away.
She pulled out her gift from behind her and extended it towards her with a wide smile, "for you," she told her. Bella looked at Edward with hesitance written all over her eyes before reluctantly taking the gift from the overly-excited hybrid.
"I thought... we agreed on no presents?"
Madelline crossed her arms against her chest as if to ask whether she was serious or not. "Come on, you can't be serious. You know me, I cannot not give you a gift, my lovely Bella." She overly batted her eyelashes at her and gave her an exaggerated wink, causing Bella to ease up and chuckle at her friend.
Bella was about to open her gift just to be stopped by her hand. "Please!" she exclaimed but calmed down as she brought Bella's hand down to her sides. "Don't open it right now. Open it with Alice's gift later," she continued. She sent her a sheepish smile before she walked back between Jasper and Emmett.
Alice stepped forward after Madelline went back, giving her gift to Bella. The latter almost shook her head profusely upon seeing how big her gift was. "I can't accept this," she said under her breath as she looked down at their gifts.
"Why not?" Alice's bottom lip almost jutted out at this and sent the brunette a pleading look. "Come on, please?" she tried to convince her but seemed to fail so as Bella was still reluctant.
Upon seeing this, Madelline looked up to Jasper, silently asking for his help. The empath nodded and looked back at Bella with utter focus. A triumphant smirk came to his lips when Bella heaved a deep sigh, a small smile eventually coming to her lips.
"Alright, thank you... Maddy and Alice."
Alice glanced back at the couple who sent her a smirk which she returned before looking back at Bella and Edward, the latter only then realized what just happened and stifled a smirk as her eyes met Alice's.
Bella seemed to realize something as her head snapped up to look at the three who now stood side-by-side. Only then did she realize what just happened when she noticed the smirks plastered on their lips.
"Jasper! No fair with the mood control thing," she huffed, causing Madelline to erupt in laughter and Jasper to stifle a laugh by smiling at her.
"Sorry, Bella," he replied as he pulled Madelline closer to him. "Happy..." he trailed off when Bella gave him an exasperated look.
"Nevermind."
Alice looped her arm around Madelline's and Jasper's as they turn to walk away, excitedly telling them her plans for Bella's birthday celebration to happen at their house.
Bella looked at her boyfriend with a look that Edward only replied to with a chuckle. She rolled her eyes and gave him her gifts as they start to walk toward their class.
"Can't trust vampires," he shrugged as he feigned innocence. "But trust me."
♡
Just as Jasper promised, they spent the entire afternoon training combat skills, how to kill newborn vampires, and how Madelline can control her powers. They only found out through Elijah that she can control elements which was a common power as a demon. However, before they can go further, they cut it short so that they can still prepare for the party and they can swear that Alice would not let them live it down if she caught them still in their training attires.
(outfit on top!)
Madelline settled on a plain black dress that hugged her in the right places. Due to how occupied she was with getting ready, she did not notice her boyfriend leaning against their doorframe, eyes scanning her from top to bottom, his eyes filling with awe.
"I must have saved the country in my past life to deserve such a lady. How can she look utterly gorgeous just by standing there?"
Only then did she notice his presence upon hearing his thoughts. She looked at Jasper through the mirror and saw how dazed his eyes were as he continued to stare at her. His mind was clouded with thoughts and compliments, unaware that Madelline can practically hear everything that is going on inside his mind.
"Thank you, love."
Jasper's eyes snapped back up to her and saw how she sauntered toward him, her arms immediately snaking around the nape of his neck and pulling him closer to her. He immediately placed his hands on her hips, his eyes switching back and forth between her mesmerizing eyes and tempting lips that she now painted with red that resembled blood.
"Thank you for what?" he breathed out, completely distracted by her lips.
"For the compliments of course," she chuckled.
This caught his attention as his eyes quickly met hers with surprise and sudden bashfulness. "I forgot you can read minds, darling," he sighed as he leaned his forehead against hers.
"And they are extremely loud to an extent that I cannot ignore it," Madelline noted as she gave him a pointed look.
Jasper only chuckled and shrugged. "Well, you cannot blame me. You're such a beaut and I cannot fathom what I did to deserve you," he told her. His eyes studied every corner of her face, stopping on her lips.
The desire to kiss her was growing intense as every second passed by up until he couldn't resist and leaned in, placing a light kiss on her lips to avoid messing with her make-up. However, it seemed as if Madelline disagreed because the moment he was about to pull away, she lightly gripped his chin to pull it back to hers.
"I have something for you," he whispered as soon as she pulled away. She pulled back in confusion, seeing as it is not her day today for him to give her a gift.
"Don't tell me you're going to propose? I'm not against the idea, love but I'm still studying and—"
A laugh cut off her rambles. "No, darling. As much as I want to marry you, I respect your decision and I am aware that you still want to focus on your dreams before you settle down. Rest assured that I won't propose."
Madelline closed her eyes as she sighed in relief only to be surprised when she opened them. Jasper took out a royal blue velvet box from his pocket, opening it in front of her to reveal a rose gold dainty necklace, a rose quartz moon charm hanging onto it, enclosed with tiny vines. A small gasp escaped her lips, enthralled at how beautiful it looked, especially with how it sparkled against the light.
"I know that you are not into jewelry, therefore, I attempted to search for a simple one and—"
He was cut off when a soft pair of lips met his. His once-tensed shoulders gradually relaxed at the feeling of her lips against his. "I love it," she mumbled against his lips when she ever so slightly pulled away from him.
Jasper let out a smile of relief and carefully took out the necklace from the box. "Turn around, darling. I'll put it on you."
Madelline did what he said and gathered her hair to the side. Goosebumps spread throughout her body the moment Jasper's ice-cold fingertips touched the skin of her neck. His eyes scanned her face from the mirror before he focused back on locking the necklace. As soon as he was finished, he snaked his arm around her waist and looked at them through the mirror.
"You look absolutely beautiful, darling."
She couldn't help but feel butterflies flutter inside her stomach upon hearing his compliments. It was only he who could make her feel such things that even she couldn't believe she was capable to do so. Those only occur in the books she has read, not once did it occur to her that it could also happen in real life.
She slowly turned around and faced him, leaning her forehead against his as she wrapped her arms around his neck. A sigh of bliss unconsciously escaped their lips at the same time as Jasper swayed the two of them under the moonlight with no words spoken.
Just them at that particular moment.
The party almost escaped their mind, not until a knock echoed around the room, taking them out of their trance. Their eyes met Rosalie's who had a soft smile painted on her lips, her side leaning against the doorframe as she watched the two.
"As much as I hate disturbing you two, the party's about to start," she told them.
The two pulled away yet intertwined their fingers with one another. They exited the room and saw how the rest of the family were getting ready to greet Bella by the stairs. Madelline descended the stairs with Jasper, ignoring the sinking feeling inside her stomach that seemed to grow every second that passed by, not wanting to ruin Bella's special day.