Alice's POV

I sat on the couch in the living room, where I had been all night, still crying.

"Missing in action, assumed dead."

Those dreadful words had broken my heart so badly, it would never be fixed. I told Jasper he shouldn't have gone, so why did he? I'm usually right about these kinds of things, and he knows it! So why did he go?!

Flashback: The night before

I gazed at the TV, where the news was showing information about the war, when the doorbell rang. I looked up. It was already dark, and it always made me uneasy when people rang the doorbell at night. I moved to the door, and stood on my toes to look through the peephole. A man, about ten years older than Jasper, I'd guess, stood on the porch in full military uniform. I opened the door.

"Mrs. Alice Whitlock?" He asked.

"Yes." I said.

"Spouse of Jasper Whitlock?"

"Yes." I repeated.

The man took off his hat.

"I'm Major Peter Grammings. Do you have a minute, Mrs. Whitlock? I'm afraid I have some unfortunate news." The man said.

"Yes, please come in." I said, stepping back. He came inside, and I led him to the living room. I flipped off the TV, and said, "Please sit down. Can I get you anything?"

"No, thank you, Ma'am." He said, sitting down in a chair. "I'm sorry to inform you that Jasper is missing in action, assumed dead."

My heart lurched, and I sank down onto the couch.

"I'm very sorry, Mrs. Whitlock." He said.

"'Assumed dead'? What does that mean?" I asked.

"It means that we have no actual proof that he is dead, but no other explanation makes sense." He said.

Tears gushed down my cheeks. The man left the information for a memorial service for Jasper on the coffee table, told me again how sorry he was, and left.

End Flashback

My Jasper was gone. Dead. Never coming back. Ever. A fresh wave of tears rolled down my face when I realized that we wouldn't be able to even celebrate our one-year marriage anniversary. We had gotten married last time he had been able to come home for a few weeks. He had said that he wanted to be married to me as soon as possible, so we had thrown together a wedding that a hundred people attended in two weeks. That was about six months ago.

Rosalie and Emmett. I suddenly remembered them. Rosalie was Jasper's twin sister, and my best friend. Emmett was Jasper's best friend, and Rosalie's fiancée. Emmett wanted Jasper to be his best man, so they were waiting until Jasper was home again to have their wedding.

I stood up shakily, and went to the phone in the kitchen. I dialed Rosalie's number.

"Jell-o." Emmett answered the phone as he always did.

"Is Rose there?" I squeaked/sobbed.

"Uh, I have no idea what you just said, but I'm going to assume it's for Rose." Emmett responded. "Rosie! It's for you! I think!" Emmett yelled.

"Hello?" Rose said into the phone.

"Rose, it's Alice." I said.

"What's wrong?" She asked.

"Jasper..." I sobbed.

"What happened to him?" She asked fearfully.

"Missing in action...assumed dead...." I trailed off, crying to hard to say anything else.

"Oh, God..." Rose said. She must've dropped the phone, because the next thing I heard was a loud crash, then her sobbing.

"Rose?" Emmett's voice came through the phone. "What's wrong?"

I dropped the phone as well, and sank to the floor. I wrapped my arms around my knees, and rocked back and forth. After what seemed like a long time, I heard the front door open.

"Alice?" My friend Bella called.

"Kitchen." I said.

Bella came into the kitchen, and crouched next to me on the floor.

"What's wrong?" She asked.

I explained everything to Bella. After I explained, she picked up the phone, and set it back on the hook. Then she grabbed me under the arms, and helped me to my feet. She led me to the couch, and we sat down. I sobbed into Bella's shoulder. After a while, I noticed Bella was crying, too.

I couldn't think. Jasper...gone...

He was so perfect for me. The only reason I could drag myself out of bed in the morning was so I could look at the pictures of us hung up in the hall. There would never be more of those pictures.

Flashback

"What's wrong, honey?" Jasper's voice came from behind me. I turned.

"There's just so much to do before the wedding, Jasper." I whined.

"It's okay," He said, sitting down next to me.

"No, it's not! The invitations still have to be printed, and I have no idea what I even want them to look like, and we have to pick out place settings, and flowers, and me and Rose have a dress fitting tomorrow, and--"

Jasper put a finger over my lips to silence me. I fell silent instantly.

"Breathe, honey." He said. I inhaled. "Let it out." He said. I exhaled. He scooted his chair closer so he could hug me. He rubbed my back, and pressed his lips to my hair.

"It'll be fine, sweetheart." He murmured.

"Yeah, I know." I said.

He smiled down at me, then kissed my nose.

End Flashback