Jasper's POV

"…Lay him down on his front… That's it, gently Emmett…"

"…This is all my fault… But he's so damn protective…"

"… Warm water, cloths… I'll help you clean him up…"

"…Jasper… Jasper Sweetheart… can you hear me?"

Weak flashes of calm pulsed though the haze in my head and cleared my thoughts; I could feel cool hard wood beneath my cheek and the solid press of it against my chest, I could hear the clamour of voices and the hectic rush of feet across the floor.

"Jasper…" Fingers touched my cheek and the onslaught of emotions that resulted from it were enough to shatter the haze and make me gasp and attempt to push myself upright. My gift sparked to life, the emotions of every person in the room hitting me like a ton of bricks, and pains seared though my shoulders and down my spine before hands push me back down. "Hey, hey… Shhhh."

Esme's scent and soft voice were enough to ground me again. I knew at least with her and the others around I wasn't in any immediate danger. "A... Alice." I murmured.

"Is safe… She's home and she's safe."

I was able to relax a little at that, but regardless of that the next half hour was spent in a daze of jaw clenching pain, as Carlisle, Peter and Rosalie cleaned the wounds on my back, Esme gripped my hand and I held it tightly, focussing on the stroke of her thumb across my knuckles and the thread of her fingers through my hair.

When the pain finally started to ease I managed to open my eyes, and was greeted by Esme's smile, tilted sideways as she rested her head on her forearms. "Hey." She said softly.

I swallowed thickly and tried to smile back. "I… I don't think I've ever wanted… a modern shower more." I was caked in dirt, my shirt had been torn away but my trousers clung to my legs with mud and I could feel the grit of it on my skin.

Esme laughed, as did Rosalie and Carlisle and the amusement in it was enough to clear my head enough that I was able to start sitting up. "Careful, not too fast… that's it." Carlisle's face finally came in to view and he held my shoulders gently

"Peter's drawn the venom out the bites and we've cleaned you up as best we can to try and speed up natural healing." I nodded, the pain in my back was constant, but not overwhelming, and a lot better than it usually was this soon after a battle.

I swung my legs over the surface I'd been laying on, which I now knew to be the dining table, and steadied myself on the edge. "Ah… perhaps you shouldn't be moving just yet."

I shook my head, running a hand through my hair to push it back out of my face. My head felt fuzzy, like it was still recovering from the attack of emotions from the battle, but I felt somewhat in control again, and that was enough for now. "I'm fine." I assured him. "I've had worse."

I grimaced when I stood as my muscles stretched and Carlisle gripped my arm like he wanted to sit me back down, but I resisted, making sure I had my balance before taking a few steps. "You'll not get him to settle, be used to walk ditches in the dirt he paced that much after a battle in the south." Peter scoffed; I rolled my eyes at him.

"Alice?" I questioned once I was confident enough to walk on my own.

"Living room." Rose answered, nodding in the appropriate direction. "She's still stuck in visions though, Edwards trying to get though to her." I turned and made my way over concentrating on each step as I took it.

Edward was crouched beside the sofa where Alice lay, gripping her hands and holding her steady as she thrashed. "Alice… Come on… look at me." Her eyes were screwed shut and she was tossing her head from side to side as if trying to escape some invisible threat.

I edged closer, attempting to pick my way through the scramble of emotions she was emitting and calm her, but after the strain of the battle and without physical contact it was proving a lot more difficult. "Let me try." I spoke up finally. Forcing myself to push through her turbulent emotions and kneel down by her side.

"Are you sure you're alright." Edward stressed, but I ignored him in favour of pressing myself closer and catching Alice's knee, which was about to find its way into his stomach.

I pulled her hands out from his and held the in one of my own, using my free hand to brush her hair back out of her face. "Hey there, Darlin'." I murmured softly, pulling all the panic and fear from her and replacing it with calm. "It's over, you're safe now… We've got you." Gradually her struggling stopped and the terrified cries she'd been making since her visions took over, turned to helpless sobs that wracked through her body. "Shhhh." I soothed.

"Jasper!" She cried and I was hard pressed to push back the wave of despair that washed over her.

"I'm here, Sweetheart… Look at me… Open your eyes for me." She screwed them shut tighter then and shook her head, so I leaned in and pressed my forehead flush against hers, hoping that my scent at least would be enough to get through to her. "Can she hear me?"

"She's more in-control of the visions and she can hear… but." Edward trailed off and grimaced, pulling in a shaky breath and taking on just a fraction of that despair that Alice was currently experiencing. "It's memories of those visions…" He sighed… "Lets just say not all of us would have made it out."

"Mom!" Alice sobbed and fought weakly against me, but I held her steady, Esme pushed her way passed the others and knelt down with me beside her, taking one of her hands and squeezing. I used Esme's unwavering calm to fuel the emotions I sent Alice's way and finally we got her to settle.

She didn't say a word at first, simply lay with her cheek pressed against the couch cushions, and gradually the rest of the family filtered out, giving her some privacy. I kept touching her, terrified that if I so much as blinked, she'd disappear.

The events of the last few hours hadn't really sunk in, even though we went to face the Volturi expecting to be separated I don't think I'd ever truly accepted it. I daren't think about what I'd be doing now if things had gone the way we'd expected them to, if she'd been lost to me forever, because even though it had meant working with Maria and going back into battle with an army of Newborns, if it meant keeping her by my side it was worth it.

I kept her close and threaded my fingers soothingly through her hair, pulling her hands to my lips and pressing gentle kisses to her knuckles. She was still too shaken to talk so I didn't push her, she'd been through a lot and I knew she'd talk when she was ready.

Esme brought in a fresh bowl of warm water and washcloths, once she'd set them down I took one, soaked it and wrung it out, before reaching over to wipe the dust and the dirt from Alice's face. I thanked god that she hadn't been badly hurt, no bites to burn her while she dealt with the headache she was undoubtedly facing. She closed her eyes and sighed softly, the first sign of acknowledgement we'd had from her since the battlefield, and leaned into my hand.

"Once she's up to it, I 'll run her a bath, but I though it'd be best to clean her up a little in the mean time. " Esme explained softly. I nodded in agreement, running the cloth over her hair to keep it back. "I could run you one too." She hinted not too subtly.

I laughed quietly. "Thank you, but I'd rather wait 'til she's back on her feet."

She smiled softly and dipped one of the spare washcloths into the water, handing it out to me. I swapped it out with the dirty one and went to run it over Alice's forehead but Esme caught my wrist. "That one's for you."

I smiled and lifted my arm to wipe my face, while the wounds on my back had been clean the rest of me probably wasn't in the best of states, but lifting it over my shoulder still proved painful, I flinched and lowered it again, rolling my shoulder to try and ease the ache. Esme took the cloth from me and pushed herself up onto her knees, reaching hesitantly towards my face, almost as if asking permission.

I leaned in closer and let her rub the dirt from my cheek, the warmth soothing on my cool skin. It was a foreign feeling, being taken care of like this after a battle, usually I was left to fix myself up, draw the venom out of the bites I could reach and wait out the burn of the ones I couldn't, if I was lucky we were based close enough to a river that I could wash myself down, but I wasn't always lucky.

Esme's movements were gentle, so much so that when she moved to run the cloth over my neck I didn't even flinch. However her brows were furrowed, eyes locked downwards towards the old scars that crisscrossed over my chest and across my shoulders. "I'm sorry." She said quietly a few moments later, as she moved her focus to what must have been a particularly stubborn bit of dirt. "I'm sorry you had to go though that again."

I frowned. "None of this was anyone's fault, and it certainly wasn't yours." I tried to reassure.

"Never the less, I'm sorry you had to relive it." She pressed, rinsing out the cloth and wringing it back out again.

"You know... back there, in the south... I didn't want that life, I never enjoyed it, not the was Maria does... I fought for her, because I thought it was the only option, but it was never for anything I wanted..." Esme placed the washcloth back in its bowl and didn't pick it up again, seeming satisfied with her work. "Tonight... tonight was the first time I've fought for me, for something I want... for my family."

She smiled at me. "I'd much rather you didn't have to fight at all."

I grinned down at her. "So would I… but I'm still… grateful I was able to today." After I'd left the south, I'd always hated the way my brain was so set in its ways the that first thing I ever did when meeting a person or visiting a new place was to evaluate all the threats and the dangers, the ways to defeat them or escape, that solider part of me very rarely turned it's self off, but today it had served me well.

All of a sudden Alice bolted upright, eyes glazed in a vision before her head snapped toward the window and she pushed herself further into the couch. Esme and I stood and looked over to find nothing, but sure enough a few moments later a figure made its way into view.

Her hair was no longer flowing down her back in dark curls, but rather tatted and matted with dirt, her clothes were torn and instead of holding her head high and standing as tall as her five feet would allow, she was hunched in on herself slightly, holding her left arm tight against her chest. Despite all this the sight of her still sent an involuntary chill of fear through me.

Maria.

Esme moved to hover in front of Alice and I, and while I was sure there was very little she could do to defend either of us if Maria decided to turn, Alice had trained them well, but certainly not well enough to fight my maker… I was coming to realize she was also fiercely protective of what she saw as her children, there was a hidden strength in her that only came out when one of them… one of us, were threatened.

I gripped her forearm nervously, wanting to pull her back. Watching as Maria pulled the window open, making the latch snap and the glass crack.

She sat on the window ledge and swung her feet inside. "Major." She said shortly. Her voice was clipped, devoid of her usual seductive purr. She didn't move from the ledge, simply sat and leaned against the frame.

Peter and Emmett ran in then, swiftly followed by Carlisle after some commotion in the other room. Emmett moved to stand by Esme, while Peter faced off Maria, the pair growled at each other but didn't attack.

I tried to calm them and Peter stood down, but Maria, as usual was harder for me to influence. Peter finally opened his mouth to speak but Carlisle beat him to it. "What are you doing here?"

Maria glared, moving her eyes from him to Peter and then finally to me. "You owe me." She spat.

Both Emmett and Peter growled this time, but I watched her closely, taking in the look in her eyes and the sound of her voice, the smaller flutters of emotions she let escape before she managed to keep them from me. "She's hurt." I concluded finally and the growling stopped. I tried to step out from behind Esme and Emmett but Alice gripped my hand, her fear coursed though me but I turned to her and held her gaze, the first cognizant look I'd gotten from her since the start of the battle, and pushed it back, soothing and reassuring her to the best of my ability, trying to tell her I'd be okay.

Her grip loosened and I gave an experimental tug to see if she'd let me go. She did, so I leaned toward her and pressed my lips to her hair before I went.

Carlisle, ever the doctor, was taking slow, cautious steps towards her as he tried to assess the damage, but Maria's eyes were wary, narrowed in suspicion, being this vulnerable was all but foreign to her. "Let him help." I urged her, my voice quieter than I would have liked, but at least it was there.

She swallowed thickly and I noticed with some apprehension that her eyes were pitch black, before slipping her shoulder out of her tatted clothes. Sets of crescent shaped bites overlapped so much that you could hardly determine where one set ended that the other began.

Peter scoffed. "Like we didn't have worse." He protested. "She'd send us off to lick our own wounds."

"Peter. Enough." I told him firmly, although that was how it had been when he was around, in the earlier decades when it was just me and her she had helped remove the venom from bites, even if it was just to get me back out on the battle field faster… and even then, despite all that… this wasn't the south, I wasn't going to live like that anymore.

Maria hissed as Carlisle began tending to her shoulder but didn't fight it. "We shouldn't have left you to… deal with the newborns on your own." I admitted. It wasn't easy… disposing of the young ones, especially if they were still within their first year. She'd made me do it, but I had my gift to protect me, I'd never have left anyone, not Peter, not even Maria to do it alone.

"Well your 'Partner'-" She said the word in a harsh imitation of my accent. "Seemed to disagree." She cried out in pain then and I felt a sharp tug on my gift as she tried to sooth herself with it.

I frowned; unable to shake the fact that she wasn't acting the way I'd have expected her to, she hardly ever showed weakness, and while the bites on her shoulder were severe, in wasn't anything she hadn't experienced before… "What happened out there." I pressed. "I know you."

She kept her eyes locked on mine, as if trying to decide what to trust me with, and I tried to shy away from her scrutiny. Finally she looked away down at her lap, or at least I thought she was looking at her lap until she slowly pulled her arm out of her jacket.

I took a step back "…Carlisle." He looked up from her shoulder and I nodded down at her hand, or at least what was left of it. Her thumb and forefinger were gone, along with a good potion of her actual palm, along with her little finger and half of her middle and ring fingers. The former had evidently been bitten off while the latter had most likely been crushed in the newborns grip as it struggled. "Where…" I started, but she cut me off.

"Gone." She spat, before continuing to rant about the newborn in question in rapid fire Spanish. I'd lost countless limbs before, a fair few by Maria's hand, and the pain was blinding, but I'd obviously never lost them permanently…

It was decided between Carlisle and Maria that what was left of her hand was more of a hindrance than help, and she wanted it removed, something told me that she'd decided this long before she'd even shown up, otherwise she never would have come here. After commenting on how happy he'd be to help remove what was left of Maria's hand, I managed to persuade Peter to return to Charlotte leaving just Carlisle, Emmett and I with her and Alice still tucked away on the couch as Esme rather reluctantly left to find Maria some fresh clothes.

"Emmett's the strongest one here." I informed her quietly as the others started preparing both the living room fire and the bandages Carlisle wanted to wrap her in. "So he'll be the one to…"

"Tear my wrist out of its socket." She finished. "Don't sugar coat it Major…" I sighed and clenched my fists; the sooner she left the better. "Though I'm surprised you passed such an opportunity up, since you were once planning to kill me."

"Only because you were planning the same for me." I muttered.

She scoffed. "You were depressed Jasper, and it was starting to bring the entire army and me down, what use is an Empath to me when my newborns want to off themselves during every battle."

"Enough!" Carlisle's voice was as angry as I'd ever heard it and Maria stared him down and tilted her chin up at him defiantly. "We don't have to help you." He continued calmly but firmly. "If I left you like this, you'd heal on your own in time. So I suggest if you want our help you respect my family, otherwise I want you out of my house." Maria just smirked back at him.

When he finally went back to sorting though his supplies, Maria laughed quietly and continued. "Not so down now though are you? Not with her." Her eyes rested on Alice and I shifted nervously, moving to block her from view but she leaned around me. "I'd let you bring her with you… I don't mind sharing."

I growled quietly and she turned back to me. "I'm not going back with you Maria, I am never going back there."

Her eyes narrowed menacingly. "You owe me." She sneered.

My jaw clenched, it went against everything in me to challenge her like this but I had no other choice. "I don't owe you anything. I did my service, decades of it."

She stared me down, but I held her gaze and refused to back down, if I did I'd never be free of her. Finally she turned to look back at Alice. "She wouldn't last a week anyway, she's been in one battle and look at the state of her."

I turned despite myself to look; Alice was now sat bolt upright on the couch, rubbing her temples and shaking her head as if to clear away the images. "She's stronger than you realise." I muttered.

"That's the problem with you gifted ones." She said vaguely, nodding towards Alice and I. "Your minds are always the first thing to go."

I resisted the urge to growl at her, knowing from experience that it wasn't the best course of action. "You have no idea the things she sees, even if they don't play out, the burden she carries."

"Oh, please." She scoffed bitterly. "You're all still here aren't you?! If she thinks the illusion is bad she should try the reality! Because I can tell you it is far, far worse." I paused, taken aback by the fact she brought this up again at all. I knew she'd had a mate, long before I was even thought of, and I knew that it was his death that fuelled her rivalry with the Arizonan army in the southwest, but it was an unspoken thing, something I'd learned early on from Nettie and Lucy, she's never actually brought it up.

"You have a type, Mi Amor, and it isn't just for petite brunettes." I frowned at her, but she didn't stop. "Your little psychic and I have more in common than you might like to admit… I was also once the mate of one of the most feared vampires in the south, I never saw battle, but I stayed by his side, and I loved him with everything I had, Even as a vampire I wasn't always like this… but revenge is a powerful thing, it made me into who I am today, and that right there." She nodded to toward Alice as she rocked back and forth and raked her fingers though her hair. "Reminds me of the start of it… you might not want to admit it, but she's but one step away from becoming exactly like me."

What happened next, I don't think even Maria or I expected, Alice seemed to wake from her stupor and sprung from her seat, growling and had Maria pinned to the floor by her throat before I could get between them. "I am nothing like you!" She growled, teeth bared and eyes wild. "I will never be like you." Her grip tightened on her throat but Maria didn't move, didn't fight.

Alice snarled and Carlisle moved to presumably pull her off, but I gripped his arm. "Don't… Let her do this herself." He regarded me sceptically but stepped back and we both watched as Alice warred with herself, the conflict evident in her eyes.

"I am not like you." She cried, she was shaking and I could tell that even in the state she as in Maria would have been able to throw her off, but she didn't, she was trying to prove a point, but I had faith that Alice wasn't going to prove her right

I took a step closer but didn't touch her. "Alice… Darlin'." She growled and pushed down harder against Maria's neck, knees either side of her chest.

"I hate you!" She sobbed. "I will never stop hating you!" With one last squeeze she pushed herself up and away, I grabbed her and pulled her against my chest as she cried.

I passed her to Esme after a few moments, moving quickly to stand behind Maria and wrap an arm across her chest to hold her still. "Emmett!" I prompted, pulling her bad arm out in front of her and gripping her forearm. Maria pushed her back against my chest as she braced herself and I gripped her tighter. "On three." I instructed, waiting until he nodded in understanding. "One… two… three!"

…

I left her with Carlisle and Emmett after that, confident that she wasn't planning anything at the moment and the even if she did turn on them I could get to them fast enough. I took Alice back from Esme and carried her upstairs away from all the commotion. I sat us down on her bed and lay back against the pillows, tucking her up against me, and soothing her as best I could.

"I don't want to become her." It as nothing more than a murmur, I quiet admission muffled against my still bare chest, but I heard it and my heart ached for her.

"You could never be her Darlin', you hear?" I pressed my lips to her hair and shuffled down until we were face to face.

"But if… if the Volturi had killed all of you… If-" I cut her off with a light press of my lips to hers.

"I know who you are Alice… I can feel who you are… in here." I pressed a hand to her chest over her still heart. "And you could never, ever be her… I know it." She kept her eyes on mine for a few long moments, and the sadness I saw there pained me, but finally the words seemed to sink in and she buried her face against my neck. "She makes out that that the illusion of it all is less painful that the reality…but it was your reality, whether that was for seven minutes, or seven decades as it was with me, and your allowed to feel the way you do, even when it isn't reality anymore."

I ran my fingers lovingly over her cheek, relieved to see her responsive once again. "You thought me dead for seven decades, My Love, and you didn't once seek out revenge, you remained the strong, loyal, beautiful, loving woman you always have been and that, is how I know you could never become her." I told her quietly. "And that is why I love you."

She half laughed, half cried as she leaned in and captured my lips with hers, gripping my arms tightly and kissing me fiercely in response, I leaned back and let her do what she needed, taking as much comfort in her as she did from me. "I love you too." She whispered against me… and in the moment, nothing else in the world mattered.

…

Maria left not even an hour after she arrived, she didn't often venture this far north, and I could tell she was already anxious at having been away for as long as she had. That said I was surprised she was going back at all, given the state she was in, the south was dangerous enough without the limitations she was going to have to face. "You know, you don't have to go back…" I told her hesitantly, not sure if I wanted to tempt her into staying any closer than she had to. We were stood at the door, the rest of the family close by, Peter and Charlotte flanking my left side and Alice holding tight to my right. "There's no fighting up here…"

She rolled her eyes and smirked. "Sounds frightfully boring." I sighed, resigning myself to the fact that there'd be no changing her; Peter and I had fought because we thought we had to, but Maria, she fought for the thrill of it. "I've no intention of whittling my eternity away, reading books and playing human, Jasper… and besides…" she trailed of, eyes looking me up and down, surveying me as if to beside whether or not to tell me something. "I've lost my right hand man before…. This-" She held up her bandaged wrist. "Should be an easier adjustment."

I frowned. "Was that a compliment?"

She scoffed and flipped her hair over her shoulder. "I dispose of the things I no longer have a use for… and you, Major. You're more used to me alive than dead, just make sure that doesn't change."

She turned to Peter and sneered up at him. "As for you… lets just say you're lucky he's so fond of you." Her eyes levelled with Charlotte's. "Both of you."

Peter growled at her and I sighed heavily, putting myself back between them. "So that's it?.." I checked "You're just going to..."

"Leave?" She finished, raising an eyebrow and grinning slyly before nodding. "Your legacy alone is enough is enough to keep my army in check, you remember Thomas and Raymond…" I nodded, we saw countless Newborn's through their first years, and vampires memory meant I remembered the names of each and every one, those two had been in the last group I'd trained, the most promising. "They were more than eager to tell the next lot all about you, and even now decades later… I don't need to be an empath to sense the fear it plants in them."

I ran a hand through my hair, not sure how to take it, relieved that she didn't seem to need me any longer, but also conflicted, knowing my name alone was keeping countless vampires under her control, she was telling different lies than she had when Peter and I had served, but she was lying and manipulating all the same. "I'm always sure to leave just enough soldiers around to carry it on." Her eyes glinted in mischief. "Fear of a name, Major, is a very powerful thing… but don't worry, should the effect wear off… I'll be sure to come find you."

"I wouldn't bet on it." Alice snapped.

Maria laughed unfazed. "Look after him for me, Chica." With that she ran off, out into the wood and out of sight, Alice and I stood hand in hand as we watched her disappear, whether it was for good… Who knew?

Peter and I both breathed a collective sigh of relief, and the house, as a whole seemed to relax the second she was out of earshot.

Emmett blew out a breath. "Damn, she's one crazy bitch."

Peter laughed and I couldn't help but join him, the mood contagious. Even Esme and Carlisle, who were usually so mature and collected, chuckled along. Alice wrapped her arms around my waist and tucked herself against my chest. I kept one arm around her shoulders and used the other to pull Peter to my side.

We'd done it, despite the impossible odds we'd faced this morning, we were though it and we'd made it to the other side. Carlisle smiled and made his way over, squeezing my arm once he got close enough. "Welcome to retirement boys."

…

Alice was quiet for a few days following the battle, her eyes would glaze over periodically, only this time I knew that it wasn't her visions plaguing her, it was memories. We all stayed close by and helped her through it, reassuring her that we were all safe and she was by our side.

Slowly, day-by-day, she came back out of her shell, a few words turned into a few sentences, and those tentative tips of the corner of her lips turned into full blown smiles and bright eyes.

Our whole world was changing, with the Volturi fallen, our leadership collapsed. There was no telling what the future held, what the rest of our kind would do with the new found freedom, we didn't know. We needed governance, something to keep the more volatile of our kind under control. Carlisle, Edward, the Denali's, even Peter were all in discussion over it, contacting Carlisle's friends all over the world to try and find a solution that would satisfy at least the majority.

At one time I might have been interested in such a development, now however, my leadership days were past me, and I had enough faith in Carlisle to let him speak for us

Our whole world was changing, but that didn't matter as long as I had her by my side. Alice with her bright eyes, her quick wit and her infallible love. As long as she was with me, I didn't need anything else.

…

Alice collided with my chest in a flash of white skin and ebony hair, the force enough to tip the couch onto its back legs for a few seconds before it righted itself, she pressed her forehead to mine and caught my lips with hers with a giggle for a brief kiss.

I smiled against her and pulled away. "Hello to you too." I pressed my nose to her hair and breathed in, letting her scent envelope me. She'd been out shopping all day with Rose, Renesmee, Charlotte and more reluctantly Bella for the better part of four hours, which I was starting to learn was tame by Alice standards, but that didn't mean I didn't miss her while she was gone.

The others had all congregated into the living room. Carlisle and Emmett were deep into a game of chess while Edward was experimenting with some composition on his piano, and Esme was tucked into the corner of the opposite couch with a sketchbook in her lap and a pencil in hand.

Peter had been sat on the couch beside me, mostly complaining about how bored he was. He and Charlotte and been with us for a couple of weeks now, feeding on animals to keep their thirst at bay, but while Charlotte's control was strong enough that she could still go shopping with the others. Peter's wasn't, he was starting to crave human blood and I knew it wouldn't be long before he had to move on, that or I'd be kicking him out cause he was starting to be a whiny son of a bitch

He was staying for Charlotte's sake, while we were quite happy in our own company, she seemed to thrive on the chance to socialise with the other women, an opportunity she didn't often get while the two of them were travelling. She was happy, but eventually the desire for human blood would be too much for her to stay.

The rest of the girls walked in at more of a human pace taking places beside their respective mates while Renesmee skipped over to her grandparents to show them a new book she had clutched in her hands.

I could feel lips tilt into a smile against my cheek and wrapped my arms tighter around Alice's waist and sighed contentedly. "Yes." She said out of the blue.

I frowned. "Yes, what?"

She leaned back and pulled her hands between us. I looked to her and then down at her hands, in them sat a small box; the lid ajar, and in it sat the delicate gold band, with three small stones set in its centre. It was the ring I'd found in my human mother's jewellery box that Alice had recovered for me. The one I'd finally settled on to use to propose.

I gaped, it had been tucked in the pocket of my jeans for the past few days, for the sheer fact the I wanted it on hand. I wasn't naive enough to think I could surprise her, but I'd figured my best bet had been not to decide an exact date or time to ask her, and just to do it when it felt right.

Now, it appeared all that had been in vain. "Goddammit Alice!" I heard Peter laugh from beside me but ignored him. Alice bit her lip and grinned, holding back her own laugh. I snapped the box shut and took it back from her, but the joy that was emanating from her made it impossible to stay annoyed with her, not that I was that annoyed to begin with.

The others had turned to us due to my outburst, but Alice just hummed in amusement. "Jazz, you hid it on yourself, the one thing I watch the most out of all the things, you were practically asking for me to see it." She cupped my face in her hand and stroked her thumb across my cheek. "Rookie mistake, My Love."

"What's going on?" Emmett asked, eyebrow rose. Edward, who had wandered over to his piano, played a quick rendition of 'Here comes the bride' that was soon followed by gasps and squeals and a tremendous wave of elation that stunned me slightly in its intensity.

I blinked, trying to look away and damped it down to a more manageable level, but Alice turned me back to focus on her, a look of tender amusement and love in her eyes. "Ask me." She whispered. "You've wanted to for days, and I've kept quiet, but I can't wait any more, I don't want to wait anymore." She smiled a dazzling smile. "I want to be your wife, I want to make you my husband." I leaned up to press a kiss to her cheek. "Ask me." She whispered again.

I laughed lightly, taking a deep breath before gripping her hips and pushing her gently off my lap. "Here?... Now?" I checked, and she nodded eagerly. I stood awkwardly for a few moments before finally getting down on one knee in front of where Alice now sat on the couch, bouncing excitedly.

I opened my mouth to speak, but suddenly all the words I'd attempted to rehearse in my head, about how my life had changed, how being with her had made me a better man than I ever could have imagined… but they all seemed to muddle in my thoughts and slip through my grasp before I could speak them. Finally I reached out and gripped one of her thighs above the knee, and bathed her in the emotions I could show her far better than I could say the words, I kept my eyes on hers the whole time.

She looked right back, appearing slightly overwhelmed even though she'd been expecting it. I swallowed, nervous despite the fact that I'd technically already been given her answer. "Marry me, Darlin'?"

"Yes." She laughed, voice thick with emotion as she threw her arms around me and knocked me onto my back. The others cheered, bright smiles on all of their faces, and Esme looked as close to tears as a vampire could be.

I sat us up and leaned back to slip the ring onto her finger. It was a sight I'd never expected to see until I'd met her, a life I'd never even thought to imagine for myself, beginning to play out in front of me. I lifted her knuckles to my lips and pressed a kiss to them. Alice beamed at me and laughed giddily, before burying her face against my neck.

…

It was less than a week later when I finally stood at the end of a makeshift aisle in the garden, our friends and family all around us. The girls had managed to pull the wedding together in record time, which was lucky since neither me or Alice had wanted to wait…we'd waited more than long enough.

That however hadn't stopped my bride from showing up late to her own reception… Upstairs had been chaos as the girls flitted around at vampire speed, still getting ready long after the rest of us had donned our tuxes. Emmett had complained and Edward had rolled his eyes. Peter hadn't understood what all the fuss was about, but I'd let them take their time, I could feel their happy excitement and let myself bask in it… Alice was having fun, and that was all that really mattered.

When she finally did make her way out of the house, she looked so beautiful, her long white gown contrasting wildly with her dark hair, which was styled intricately with flowers. She held tightly to Carlisle's arm as they made their way towards me, as though she wouldn't be able to stop herself from running over if she didn't.

Carlisle pressed a kiss to the side of her head before letting her go and making his way over to stand on our other side, ready to marry us. Alice skipped the last few steps into my arms, giggling. I spun her around and pressed my nose to her hair, breathing in the scent of her, before placing her down and taking both her hands in mine.

And from that moment on all I could see was her, her bright eyes and happy smile, everything and everyone else just melted away and it was just us. She was all I would ever need, and ever had needed, my whole life I'd felt restless, never staying in one spot for too more than a few days, as though I was looking for something that was just beyond reach. Before her it had been so long since I'd known true kindness or love, or experienced them myself. I lost parts of myself I thought I'd never be able to get back.

The day we met, that restlessness had vanished, and for the first time in a long time, I'd felt hope.

"Sorry." She mouthed, swinging our hands between us.

I shook my head and smiled back at her. "It's fine." I mouthed back, but still couldn't resist teasing her. "…You kept me waiting a long time."

….

The End