~*~*~*~*~*~
JPOV
I was grateful that my sister asked me to Ali's to return the damn casserole dish. When I told her I would do it later, she insisted that I had to do it immediately.
When I got to her condo, I could clearly hear her struggling with someone. Naturally my training kicked in when I noticed the door was left open. I'd be lying if I said I wasn't relieved that it was only Garrett, but that seemed to make me even more pissed.
I wanted to deck him when he hurt Alice with his words, but I was stunned honestly. I've never liked the guy, but for him to throw out his infidelity and admit to using the wedding as a way to get her to warm up to him, that was low.
But I had no room to talk. Here I was hoping that their marriage wouldn't happen, after I left her when she needed me the most.
She loved him, I know she did. She even told me so, but to hear the pain as she cried, it tore at me from the inside out. I wanted to run after him and kick his ass, or call Edward and let him do it, and comfort her all at once.
I gave her the one thing I knew she needed the most; stayed to care for her.
I laid with her all night and held her as she cried. I tried making her laugh, succeeding several times, but the tears always won out.
In the morning she called into work, using the excuse that she needed some personal time. I didn't want to leave her, especially now, but I had to complete my work before leaving.
I had expected the day to go much slower than it did. But before I knew it four in the afternoon came and I was heading back to Ali Cat's condo.
I decided that tonight I was going to show her that I still loved her. Sure my timing was off, but I figured if she wanted to try to get things back to how they were when I got back, I should show her that I want it too.
I pulled my bike up in front of the sushi place in town that Bella and Rose claimed was Ali’s favorite, when I saw him. The Armani prick was already out, parading some blonde woman around. I was honestly shocked he had moved on so quickly with this chick I could only presumed was his assistant, Kate.
He looked over at me and I saw him tense up. Good, I thought as I got off the bike. "Garrett! Funny seeing you so soon, " I taunted.
He rolled his eyes at me, but didn't say anything. "Oh, I'm sorry did I interrupt something?" I asked, focusing my attention on his companion.
"No, we were just heading to the museum," She smiled at me.
"Where are my manners? I'm Jasper," I held my hand out to her.
"Kate," she responded, shaking my hand as Garrett glared.
"Pleasure meeting you." I glanced at Garrett before looking back at Kate. "Do you mind if I speak to Garrett real quick? I forgot to tell him something the last time we spoke and it's important."
She smiled and shook her head. "No, of course."
I walked to the side of the building where there was an alley and waited for Garrett to follow. "This better be good," he snarled.
"Oh it will be," I said before shoving him against the wall, holding him up with my forearm pressed against his neck. He tried to fight back and talk shit which only made me laugh. "Don't say a word prick, the more you do that, the more pressure my arm will place on your esophagus aiding in your asphyxiation, so if you have plans to continue fucking your secretary I suggest you stop and listen to me."
He stopped struggling and looked at me, his eyes showing signs of panic.
"Good, now listen carefully. You never deserved her. I may have hurt her and left her when she needed me, but I never made her self-conscious or joked to her brother about fucking someone else. You come anywhere near her again and I will release the hounds. Believe me… You don't ever want to cross Edward and Emmett when it comes to Ali Cat." He glared at me in response and I applied a little more pressure as I leaned in to whisper in his ear. "And as far as her being a fridged bitch... you couldn’t be more wrong," I pulled back to see the confused look on his face, making me smirk.
"I just have to say, nothing feels better than when she cums around my cock especially like she did a few weeks ago. I guess you just didn't know how to get her hot," I taunted, letting go of him.
He leaned against the wall gasping for air. "You fucking asshole," he rasped out.
I laughed. "I'm the asshole? Right." I rolled my eyes before pulling my fist back and hitting him square in the face which made a sickening crunching noise. "That's for hurting Alice in ways you'll never understand." I saw the blood on his face and smiled before leaving him in that alley.
"He'll be back in a few moments. So sorry to keep you," I said politely to Kate before bidding her farewell.
----
When I got to Ali Cat's condo, I entered the code to get into the building before making my way up to her place. I called her to let her know I was coming over with dinner so she said she would leave the door unlocked.
"Ali I'm here!" I called out as I closed and locked the door.
"Be right down!" she called back from her office in the loft. I made my way to the kitchen to unload the bags of sushi I picked up. "Oh my God, did you get me sushi?" A.C.'s happy voice drifted over to me.
"Oh my God, I did!" I mimicked her enthusiasm.
She scowled at me playfully. "I would've jumped on you and said thank you, but now you ruined that."
I snapped my fingers in disappointment, wincing slightly. "Damn that hurt..." I muttered. "Anyway, I figure sushi would be a good comfort food."
"Thank you," She smiled, giving me a kiss on the cheek.
"You're very welcome. Thank God for California rolls or I'd starve," I teased before popping one in my mouth. "Table or living room?" I asked, picking up a few of the plates.
"Doesn't matter, where are you most comfortable?"
"Uh huh, your dinner surprise, you pick. Otherwise we'll eat right here in the kitchen," I teased, knowing how much she hated that.
"Living room... We can watch movies," she suggested.
I nodded and started heading that way. "By the way, there's Sake in the bag."
"Tryin’ to get me drunk?"
I laughed and shook my head. "Of course not. I just thought wine with dinner... and since Sake is Japanese wine I figured it’d go well with sushi."
She laughed a little. "And getting me drunk so you could take advantage of me didn't cross your mind?" she asked with a small smile.
I smirked, "No, why would I do something like that? You know I like you sober."
"I like you when you're drunk," she winked.
I laughed, setting the plates down on the table. "Well... lucky for you, your computer is upstairs."
"Why, you planning on taking me over a desk again, Nerdy Boy?"
She keeps purring like that I just might, I thought. "Actually, not right now... we have to talk."
"Okay..." She looked a little nervous.
"It's not bad, I promise," I gave her a smile. "It's just I'm leaving for Tennessee tomorrow and I wanted you to know that I'm coming back... but... I just... I wanted to know your thoughts... about us..."
She finished chewing the piece of sushi she had in her mouth before answering, "I’m still in love with you."
I couldn't help the grin on my face. "I’m still in love with you too, Alice..."
"So... what do you wanna do about that?" she asked, chewing on her lip.
"Well... I want to try again. But do things differently though." I took her hand in mine. "If you want to, that is."
She smiled, "Yeah, I do. I mean, it might seem kinda soon, but... I want it if you do."
"We don't have to jump into it. I just want to be yours again, you know? I missed you."
"I want to be yours too, I feel like I never really left you, you know? Like when you left, you took a part of me."
I nodded. "I think I left a big part of myself here as well... and it took me coming back to realize it."
"Did you miss me while you were away?" she asked, lacing her fingers with mine.
"I did." I admitted. "I even tried to forget you... but I couldn't."
"What did you think about?"
"Everything... at times I would think I could hear you laughing when I did something stupid at work. I would remember the way you'd let me cry when I had those dreams about my parents. I would miss the way you'd kiss me when you thought I was going to say something embarrassing, or even just to shut me up when I rambled."
The corner of her mouth curled up into a smile. "I missed you so much too."
"I'm sorry I left Ali... I want to make it up to you."
"How do you plan on doin' that N.B.?"
"Honestly... I don't know." I looked down at our hands. How do you fix something like that?
"This was a good start," She smiled. "Are you sure when you go back Kelly isn't gonna figure out a way to keep you there?"
I nodded and leaned my head against the couch. "Yeah I'm sure. That's why I'm leaving so early tomorrow, I want to have time to pack up all my stuff before she gets home from work."
"When are you coming back..."
I rubbed my face with my free hand and sighed. "Uh, I’m hoping three days tops. I'm driving back though so could be longer could be less, depending on the weather and roads."
"I'll miss you," She blushed. "That's kinda dumb huh?"
I shook my head. "No, not dumb. I was toying with the idea of taking you with me, but I didn't want you to be exposed to the crazy ex."
"Soon to be ex," she corrected. "I could handle her."
I laughed. "I'm sure you could Ali Cat."
"But?"
"But nothing. I just think it's easier for me to go out there, do what I got to do and come back," I shrugged.
"Okay... If you really don't want me to protect you from the she-devil..." she teased.
"Oh, you think you can protect me?" I looked at her amused.
She sat a little straighter. "I may be little, but I'm fiesty."
I laughed and smiled at her. "You're beautiful you know that?"
"You really think so?"
"I do. Even when you're in PJs you’re beautiful." I tugged on the leg of her flannel pants.
She blushed and smiled before looking at our joined hands. "Did you want to stay tonight?"
"I'd like that."
She smiled and took another bite of sushi. "Can I ask you a question?"
"Of course."
"How did you go from dating someone like Kayla to dating the crazy trashy version of me?"
I spit my sake out in surprise. "Kayla?" How the hell did she know about Kayla?
"Um when I went to Tennessee... I met her," She chewed her lip.
"What? When? Why? How come no one told me?" So many questions ran through my mind.
"About two years ago..." She chewed her lip nervously. "I wanted to ask you why you left, I wanted to confront you... but compared to her I looked frumpy and fat and gross... she was really nice to me though."
“Yeah, she's a sweetheart. Too good for me. Wait, you met her?" I was seriously confused.
"Yeah, at Applebees...she saw me sittin’ by myself so she came over to talk to me..."
I shook my head, what was it with the women leaving me out of things? "Wow," was all I could say.
"Answer my question," she said impatiently.
"Alright, Alright... relax..."
~*~*~April 16th, 2008~*~*~
"Jasper! You're still here?" A female voice asked from behind me. I spun in my chair to see Detective Morgan leaning against the door frame.
She was attractive, but not my type. Not like my type had been working for me lately. I knew she had a thing for me, hell, the whole department seemed to know this. I kept passing on her obvious attempts to get me alone. Why? She was a tall, leggy, blonde... the pantsuits she wore made one think that she could quite possibly be Hugh Heffner's next girlfriend if he saw her. She was also quiet, and a people pleaser.
Everything Alice isn't. A voice said in my head. Jesus, almost three years and I still can't get her out of my mind.
"Jasper?"
"Oh sorry. Yeah still here," I gave her a tight smile.
She looked at her watch and smiled. "I know Amber doesn't want to pay overtime so you, my friend, need to hang the coat up."
"I'm just finishing up in here. You know, procedure."
She nodded. "You're a good guy, Jasper." No I'm not, I thought as she turned to leave. "Oh, we're all going to O'Mally's for a celebratory drink. You should stop by, since the case would still be open if you hadn’t found the paper trail..."
I shook my head. "Just my job and thanks... I'll think about it."
----
I don't know what made me go to the pub, but I did. Drink after drink, I found myself relaxing and talking to Detective Morgan - Kelly - more and more. Innocent flirting turned into more and before I knew it she was in my bed.
When she asked me out to dinner the next night, I told her I wanted to keep things casual, see how things go.
That was my first mistake.
I used work as an excuse for why we couldn't be serious, much like using Edward as the excuse with Ali-Cat. As time progressed I found myself comparing Kelly to Alice. Kelly swore, drank and smoked. Alice only swore with reason, didn't drink as much or smoke. She got me to talk about my past, wanted more information about my friends and family, but every time Alice came up in a story, she'd roll her eyes or groan. Even Kayla tried to warn me. She said the attraction wasn't normal. I just laughed it off and told her it was fine.
I tried my hardest to not think about Ali while I was with Kelly. After all, she moved on and according to Rose she was happy with her newest beau. I deserved the same right?
A month later, Kelly had managed to move into my apartment. It bothered me because this was my space, it held my secrets, but I suppose it made sense, she spent more time here than she did at her own place.
“You know, I think we should have sushi tonight," Kelly suggested as she sat on the couch.
"No," I stated plainly.
"Why not? It's delicious."
"It's raw fish, fish that live in bacteria filled waters. It’s disgusting."
"Awww... but Jasper, I want sushi," She pouted.
"Then go eat it, just do not bring into my house." I rubbed my hands over my face pushing my glasses up.
She laughed. "God, you're a dick. If you don't like raw fish then get California Rolls, those are cooked."
Yeah, I know because that's all I‘d eat when Alice wanted sushi. I snapped back in my head. "No, I don't want that shit in my apartment!"
"Our, Jasper… Our apartment," she tried to correct.
"Until your name is on the lease, it's my apartment. If you don't like it, there's the door," I pointed at the front door and immediately felt bad when I saw the hurt flash across her face.
She got up and made her way to me, straddling my lap. "Is my poor lab tech stressed out?"
"I don't want to do this right now Kel," I pushed her off my lap.
She stood up in a huff. "If I was fucking Alice you'd be all over me!" she shouted storming towards the bedroom. "Face it Jasper, you weren't good enough for her!"
She was right.
~*~*~*~
I opened the door to the apartment and was grateful that I was alone. I knew hell was gonna be paid when Kelly got here and honestly, I just wanted to get the bulk of my things packed before she got home.
I carried the boxes into the office and carefully started to pack up my comic books. It may seem silly that a grown man would be as protective as I was over these, but I had a lot of Stan Lee's first edition books. I'll be damned if they got ruined.
My mind was racing with things I had to do before Kelly got back. I had to separate my stuff into three categories; going with me, ship to Emmett, and sell. I knew the majority of my furniture would be sold. I couldn’t very well fit a desk from Ikea in the trunk space of the Prius.
Things like my comic books and collectibles were getting shipped to Emmett and Rose. They said that they would take care of them until I found my own place. Then my clothes, movies, Mom and Dad's possessions, and work stuff was going with me in the car.
Just as I was labeling the last of five comic book boxes, I heard the unmistakable sound of Kelly's shoes on the hardwood floor.
"Jasper?" she called out.
"Office Kel," I answered, almost wishing I hadn’t. I could hear her footsteps pick up as she hurried towards the office. She tackled me on the floor, kissing me everywhere she could.
"I'm so glad you're home, I missed you so much!"
I pushed her away. "Kel, we gotta talk."
~*~*~*
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