Lonely Days at the Cullen House -open-

[Alice Cullen]

“Somewhere there is someone that dreams of your smile, and finds in your presence that life is worthwhile, so when you are lonely remember it’s true, someone somewhere is thinking of you.”

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Alice trailed her pale cold fingers down the railing as she walked gracefully and slowly down the steps to the first floor. Not that she needed the support or balance from the railing. It was just something that made her feel a little more human to act like this, sometimes she got tired of not feeling human so she would do things like pretend to need the balance while walking down steep stairs.

Once Alice reached the bottom level of the large house that she lived in, she paused. The house was oddly quiet. Sure it was a house full of vampires, but normally you could hear Edward’s soft music playing from his room, or Carlise shuffling through papers in his office. She found it odd that no one seemed to be home. Maybe everyone still wasn’t home from school, she had come straight home, hoping to be able to spend sometime with her family. A slightly frustrated look appeared on her smooth marble like face. She didn’t have any plans, seeing as the majority of the school refused to have the Cullen’s be a part of their lives. It was probably a good choice for them to be scared of them, better chance of not ending up lunch. Of course all of Alice’s family was a “vegetarian” meaning they didn’t feed on humans, even the best of them could slip up at any moment.

Alice sighed and then walked over to the over sized couch. She flopped down lazily and picked up the remote. As she flicked through the many channels they had she finally stopped it on a channel that played soft classical music. She sighed again and lay back on the couch with her eyes closed. To anyone that didn’t know better they would think she was asleep. Alice hated this; she hated not being able to hang out with someone and being all mopey like this.

[nileki]

Jasper had been out in the forest surrounding the Cullen household, hunting yet again. It seemed that ever since the family had moved to Forks, all he had done was endure all the temptation crammed in Forks High, then release himself in the forest to hunt after deer and whatever animal came across his path.

He hated the fact that he was weaker at controlling himself than the other Cullens, despite the fact that he had a very valid excuse. Jasper had always held himself to high standards, but he constantly underestimated his ability to control himself. Just when he thought he would go insane and wreak havoc down the halls of Forks, Alice would pop up an encourage him to fight, to wait just a little longer. Jasper knew that without the love of his life, he would have failed in his attempts to not attack humans a long time ago.

Of course, Edward helped a lot as well. Since he could read anyone's mind around him, Edward often knew when Jasper was beginning to waver. Often, he got a swift kick to his shins once Edward caught a whiff of what Jasper was planning to do to the students nearest him. Only once did the group have to drag him outside, all under a guise that he was having some sort of seizure. The foaming at the mouth bit helped, but it was most definately not from a seizure.

He'd been embarrassed for the next couple of days, more so that Jasper and the others had been at Forks less than a week at the time of his incident.

Still, he got a swift return to reality when he opened the door to the Cullen house and Alice's scent slammed into his nostrils. A small, controlled grin creased his marble face, something that was highly rare to anyone besides his wife. Classical music from the living room drifted across his hearing, drawing him to the oversized couch that Alice was flopped over. He was surprised that his "little monster" wasn't already bounding off the couch, Jasper becoming another casualty of her future gazing ablities.

He came around the back of the couch, boots clumping against the hardwood floor. He flopped his upperbody over the back of the couch, head and arms hanging down to tease Alice's hair and shirt.

"Why so mopey?" Jasper asked, his mood quite mellow. "Surely your 'terrifying' abilities should have seen me coming from a mile away," The smile in his voice gave away that he was teasing, his bright gold eyes once more making him look like an owl.

[Alice Cullen]

Alice was begining to feel the longing to see Jasper right about now. Normally at times like this when no one was home she would be with Jasper. Alice realized that she hadn't seen him at all that day and started to wonder where he was. She sighed again and let her mind go blank, not thinking about anything, not seeing anything. After a while of this she began to wonder if this is what it felt like to sleep, a state of mind that nothing bothered you, no thoughts to make you worry or anything. Alice sometimes wished that she was able to sleep, she couldn't remember what it was like to do anything human, she it wasn't that hard for her, but still, sometimes she wanted to sleep, let herself relax and take up a few hours of her endless life.

Alice's eyes popped open, revealing slightly dulled golden eyes, when she felt someone touch her. Jasper's senct filled her nose before she even saw him. Had she really been that unfocused that unfocused that she had seen him coming, or heard him enter the house? A bright smile worked its way to her lips when she saw her husbands bright eyes, he must have been out hunting. His teasing tone made her laugh softly. "I guess I wasn't watching. Its nice to be surprised sometimes." Alice loved being around Jasper when it was just them, he always smiled and seemed more relaxed, she liked it when he smiled, she wished her family got to see that side of him more often.

Alice stood up from the couch and walked behind it to stand by Jasper. She wrapped her small arms around Jasper in a loving hug. She looked up at him and smiled. "So where have you been today?" She asked, curious as to what had kept her from him all day. "I missed you." Her tone was happy as she spoke and waited for him to answer her question.

[nileki]

"Decimating the local wolf population," Jasper said, his mood improving even more due to Alice's pleasure to see him. It was like a circle really; the more happy Alice grew to see him, the more it influenced his own mood, in return, possibly influencing her. "You know how I get when I have to spend too much time at that bloody high school,"

His own body shivered at the hug, and he leaned down, allowing the fringes of his blond hair to tickle Alice's pale face. Her gold eyes were slightly darker than his, but not dangerously so. Jasper really wanted to put Forks out of his mind, unwilling to let the mere mention of it ruin his time with Alice. His expression was set in a tease, his ocher eyes hinting at a kiss, but he was purposely being indecisive. It was one of the very few ways around Alice's gift, and his favorite activity was attempting to foil it. Most of the time, she was on to him, but there were times, however rare, that he could truly surprise her.

"You know, as much as Carlisle and Esme love this couch, could you imagine their expressions if they walked in on this?" Jasper's eyes grew even more devilish, his grin growing to include a few white teeth. "Or, God forbid, Edward stomping in here? I think our thoughts would scar him for life,"

He chuckled at that, shifting his body so that his feet now dangled off the floor and the rest of him slowly slid over the couch's back, putting more weight on his arms that were planted on the white couch's cushions.

Jasper's behavior now was something that no one but Alice saw. He had always reserved this for their "alone" time. It was probably something left over from his human life, but that didn't make him any less a member of the family.

[Alice Cullen]

Alice smiled at him, "Good, I hate wolves." Hating wolves kind of came with being a vampire. Of course Alice would rather have to live with a wolf then be around a werewolf, but they might as well be the same thing. She nodded at Jasper's comment about being at school. She knew that it was hard for him at school, being surrounded by delious smelling humans was harder for him than it was for any other member of their family. A feight twinge of saddness hit her, it upset her that she couldn't do more than support him to help get through not feeding on humans. She wished she could make it easier for him...

Just as soon as the saddness came, it was gone. She was to happy that Jasper was here now to stay upset. She felt the soft tickle of his hair as it brushed against her face softly. She looked at his teasing expression, trying to figure out what he was thinking. Alice forced her self to not allow her 'gift' to see what was going to happen. Sometimes she didn't see her gift as a gift at all. She didn't always like to see what was coming her way, she liked it when life was a surpirse sometimes. Alice looked into Jasper's bright eyes, catching the look a small smile came to her lips. She continued to look into his eyes for a moment before leaning up a bit and kissing his lips delecaitly.

Alice watched as his grin grew a bit and she playfully smacked his arm. "Jasper Hale, that kind of talk is not very gentalmen like." She scolded him in a teasing tone. She wrapped her arms around his neck lightly as he slid himself gracfully over the edge of the couch. The thought of Edward walking in was pretty funny, but Carlisle and Esme walking in would probably embarass Alice a little. I mean, they were her parents.

[nileki]

"Mmmm, true." Jasper savored the taste of her lips. He didn't mind the arms that now twined around his neck, instead he dug the toes of his boots into the couch's back and slid himself the rest of the way over, adjusting the resulting awkward position until he managed to nestle himself behind the bend of her knees, sitting up straight. His sharp white teeth nibbled at his lower lip, but his expression hinted at the pleasure he took at being able to let Alice remained wrapped around his neck and not disturbing her original position too much.

He would have leaned over, but as Alice had so kindly pointed out, that wouldn't be very gentlemanly. Besides, Jasper didn't think Carlisle or Esme would appreciate his and Alice's "defilement" of their couch. Which meant he would be refraining from any positions that would lead to some potentially embarrassing situations. He sensed her embarrassment, lips quirking again.

"I hope this isn't too much like a caveman," Jasper said, still teasing. One hand briefly pinched the denim material that covered her legs before he removed his boots, not once using his hands. The heavy brown leather boots clumped as they hit the floor, but his sock clad toes wiggled as Jasper enjoyed the sensation of having his feet free again.

"So has anyone figured out why Edward can't read this Bella Swan's thoughts?" He asked, curiosity slinking around the dark corners of his mind. Since he was taking a few advanced classes, only one without Alice, he hadn't had much time to really "mind dump" with his family.

[Alice Cullen]

Alice thought she might need to let go of Jasper's neck while he adjusted himself. But just as she was about to release him he settled in a comfortable postion. She smiled at him yet again, liking to see him with a look of pleasure on his face. She liked that the Cullen house was set outside of Forks. It gave them and escape from the ever present sent of human blood that was at school. It gave them a chance to relax and just be who they were without worrying about hiding. That was perhaps her least favorite part of being a vampire. Always having to hide who she was and what she was. She also liked being able to look at Jasper and see him comfortable and happy, not straining to not jump and kill someone.

Alice laughed softly again, "Not too much like one." She said in a playful tone, putting an emphasis on the word 'too'. She heard the soft clump of his boots hitting the floor and sighed mentally. He refused to let her shop for him, knowing that she would buy him things that weren't his style. She had given up a long time ago on buying him clothing that he wouldn't wear. Now if she ever shopped for him she tried to stick somewhat to his southern style, but no matter his style, she loved him more than anything all the same. Alice closed her eyes again and snuggled into Jasper, she felt very protected and relaxed in his arms.

Alice shook her head at the question. The only thing she could come up with was that Bella had something very different about her mind. She had tried to use her ability to figure it out, but she had only gotten blurry flashes of Edward's face and Bella's face. It troubled Alice slightly, she had the feeling that Isabella Swan was going to be a part of something going on in the Cullen family, that she was going to get closer to them than any human had ever gotten to be. "No, its kind of frustrating. Anytime I try to see something about her, Her face and Edward's pop up and its all just very blurry..." Frustration started to weave its way through her happiness, not completely smothering it, but definatly dimming it.

[nileki]

Jasper's eyebrows arched in shock. Not only could Bella resist Edward's mind reading abilities, but she could wreak havoc with Alice's visions as well? He felt her frustration gnaw at the back of his mind, dull, but not completely eliminating her content state. He briefly wondered if his mood altering abilities would work, or if he would run into the same stone wall as his two family members.

"You know, as dangerous and unlikely suggestion as this is, don't you think it would annoy Edward to no end if he chose to break his own rules and try to be her friend?" Jasper asked, knowing that Edward was more likely to run to Alaska than risk killing a human. Besides, he couldn't remember the last time Edward had had a human friend. Edward had a tendency to come across as cold and rude, and with a glower that beat Rosalie's at times, Jasper wasn't surprised. Not that many humans were dumb enough to test their luck with someone who looked like they would rather bite their heads off than carry on a civilized conversation.

"Or, maybe he would finally get a break. At least if he's with her, he won't have to put up with all the mental chatter in his mind," Jasper was merely speaking his thoughts aloud, hoping that maybe, he would be offered a similiar respite from living in a constant emotional climate. It would be nice to have a least one person whose moods he didn't have to share with them. Jasper didn't mind his family's or Alice's moods, but it would be nice to have his own moods and not have to experience everyone else's.

Jasper wrapped his arm around Alice, closing his own eyes for a few moments, experiencing the moment through touch alone. His hearing picked up on birds outside, then to a pair of crows that seemed to be bickering over something. A small grin quirked his mouth when he realized that the two crows reminded him of Edward and Rosalie fighting. A deep breath made his chest rise a little higher than normal, but he was merely going for meditation type breathing.

Slow and even, with no hurries in the world.

[Alice Cullen]

Humor sparked in her at Jasper's suggestion. Like Edward would be friends with that girl, she got on his nerves because he couldn't read her thoughts. Alice couldn't picture him being friends with someone that made him react so vilolently. She could still remember the events of lunch the other day, that was the most attention the Cullens had gotten since they had arrived in Forks. She could understand his frustration though, though it was annoying sometimes, Alice couldn't imagen her life without her visions just not being able to see Bella clearly made her feel like she was blind...Alice sighed, trying to calm herself so that Jasper wouldn't have to put up with her emotions, but it seemed as though her frustration just kept growing. "He won't even let me try and be friends with the girl Jazz...I dobut he would try to be friends with her." She thought of the very slim chance that Edward would ever be friends with the girl, even if he did want to be friends with her, Alice couldn't see why Bella would want to ba friends with someone who look angry and cold all the time.

Alice felt a small smile form on her lips when she felt Jasper wrap his arm around her. She opened her eyes as she thought about what Jasper said about Edward getting a break from reading minds. Alice's eyes focused on a random spot on the rug in front of her. "Its not like that for him. He doesn't like not being able to know what people are thinking, hes always been good at reading people and so now when he doesn't know wat going on in someones head......." She trailed off, he was like her when she couldn't see someone, he felt blind...

Alice tried to even her breathing out with Jasper's slow breathing, still not wanting him to have to deal with her frustration or any unpleasant emotion she had. She just wanted to lay there happily in his arms, but this Bella girl was making her stress over the complications she was adding to their life..