Fic: 'Nice' as in 'genuinely nice'.
Title: 'Nice' As In 'Genuinely Nice'.
Author: fadedpresence
Fandom: Twilight
Characters/Pairing: Jasper/Angela
Prompt: "In a lover's sky, all stars are eclipsed by the eyes of the one you love..."
Rating: G
Word Count: 2,140 words
Notes: A request for hazy-crazy. This took me ages to get right... still not sure if it's what I wanted it to be, but I hope you like it anyway.
“Where’s the bathroom?”
The girls around the fireplace stilled. Rosalie, stunning in a pale pink nightgown, paused while applying polish to her toenails. Alice, who was braiding Bella’s hair, managed to break a hair elastic in her grip. Esme, who had come into the open-planned living room with two mugs of hot chocolate, stilled. You would have thought by the look on their faces that I’d just ruined Christmas.
“Up the stairs and down the hall, third door on the right.”
It was Bella who spoke, her face brightening momentarily. She’d been nothing but sullen ever since Alice had popped open a box of brightly colored hair ribbons and accessories. I’d been Alice’s first victim an hour ago.
“Thanks…” I mumbled, picking myself up. I hadn’t known what I’d done to offend the girls, but I felt edgy and insecure.
Two weeks ago, Bella had invited me to a sleepover at the Cullen’s. It was her version of a bachelorette party, a product of compromise between her and Alice. I’d envisioned more of a crowd, but I didn’t have the heart to decline the offer when I’d shown up this evening on my lonesome.
“Am I it?” I’d asked, sleeping bag beneath my arm.
“You’re it!” Alice had exclaimed, hauling me inside. Bella had smiled sympathetically from her right. “And you won’t be needing this,” Alice brushed on, plucking the sleeping bag from my grip. “I had matching ones ordered in! I’ve had this planned for weeks.”
“Don’t even get her started on the games were supposed to be playing,” Bella huffed.
“Games?” I blanched, feeling unsure already.
Angela Weber was a lone soldier in a scary new world.
I found the bathroom and locked myself inside. For the first time since my arrival this evening, I felt like I could breathe properly.
I splashed my face with water and steeled myself for another twelve hours with Rosalie Hale.
Walking out onto the landing, I spotted a door that wasn’t closed all the way. The light from inside the room cast a rectangle of light across the wooden floors. Carefully, I tiptoed across the landing, grateful that the Cullen’s floorboards didn’t squeak beneath my footsteps.
I could see inside if I lined up my eye correctly. I swallowed, feeling guilty immediately as I pressed my eye to the door.
I couldn’t make out much; a dark wooden desk, stacked with papers and books. The study lamp was on, which was creating the glow. Beyond the furniture, the night sky flowed from an open balcony. I noticed at once that the glass doors were wide open, their white gauze curtains blowing in the breeze like twin ghosts. There was nobody inside.
I pushed open the door with one palm and peered in. This room was definitely a study. There was a chaise lounge by the doors, one half covered in the flowing curtains and the other with a pile of books. Everything was stacked neatly, like someone preparing to move out.
I lingered in the doorway for a fraction of a second. Just get it over with, Angela.
Books lined the walls; squashed together, piled on top of one another on the shelves, anywhere they could fit. In the corner, on an armchair, was a brand new laptop computer, unopened, but switched off. As the night air coasted in, papers fluttered on the desk.
I moved closer, scaring myself. I never snooped, pried or poked my nose in other people’s business. Something in this room was begging me to, and I couldn’t help but go along with the feeling. Curiosity, eagerness… it all was there, forcing me to open my eyes to the papers and just look.
I noticed a battered bronze compass was serving as a paper weight, I noticed that first. There was an engraving, ‘J. W.’ My brows furrowing, I drew my attention down to the pages. Passport forms, bonds and shares… a birth certificate… with Bella’s name written down in elegant script. I leant in closer, squinting without the aid of my glasses.
There was a loud bang from the balcony. The curtains swirled with a sudden gust of wind. Struggling to escape, the papers fluttered beneath the compass and I flinched away from the desk.
Instead, I went to the open double doors and hooked my hands around the curtains, gathering them and pulling them inside. I knew with the fire blazing downstairs, that the girls would probably want the doors closed. Then, I saw something on the balcony landing… an old-brass telescope angled towards the night sky.
I released the curtains to the wind, stepping out onto the porch with that same insatiable curiosity. I let my fingers run over the smooth metal, icy cold and abandoned. I could feel bumps and scrapes on its surface, like a possession well-used and traveled. I leant into the eyepiece.
“Of everyone tonight, I didn’t think Angela Weber would be the one to poke around.”
I jumped at the voice, backing away from the telescope. The quick removal of my hands caused it to spin until it now pointed sharply at the wooden deck. A white hand shot out to steady the telescope, a glowing pale in the moonlight. I met eyes with Jasper, absolutely horrified at myself. I’d been caught snooping in the worst way possible.
I placed a hand against my heart, urging it to slow. My mouth was dry and my head was trying to find the right words.
“Jasper…” I managed, wanting to disappear.
“I thought Bella, maybe,” he carried on, his hand still resting on the brass scope as he looked at the sky. “Alice, even… an open door and she’s unable to resist… but you… you’re usually so…”
“I-“. My thought process came to a slow halt. I felt the need to talk dissolve and I became still and silent.
“Let me guess,” Jasper interrupted. He curled his hands around the metal railings of the balcony, eyes still on the stars. “You had an overwhelming surge of curiosity, one you weren’t able to rid yourself of until you came in through that door. One you’re still trying to figure out.”
He wasn’t questioning me, he was telling. And he was exact.
“Are you always so good at guessing?” I asked in a small voice. I saw him grin momentarily to the night before his face returned to its usual void of emotion. I knew I should be apologizing, but Jasper and this unusual calmness made me forget the reasons why.
“I’ve had that for a while,” he mused, turning his eyes towards the telescope. I had guessed he had, even before I knew it was his. Then his eyes snapped to mine for the first time and his face grew accusing. “Aren’t you supposed to be downstairs with the others?”
“Yes, but aren’t you supposed to be out with Edward?”
His eyes opened a little wider, his brows arching, perhaps surprised by my challenge.
“Strip clubs aren’t my thing,” he offered candidly. I noticed this admission was accompanied by another grin. “But you didn’t hear that from me.”
He was… overwhelming, endearing, uncomfortable to be around… all at once. He made me blurt out the ridiculous.
“It’s kind of strange,” I said in a rush. “Bachelor and bachelorette parties at our age…”
Jasper looked at me with that blank expression. “I’ve been to a fair few,” he said cryptically.
I found myself analyzing every word he said, as soon as he said it.
“Are you home for the night?” I pressed on. I wanted an awkward conversation more than an awkward silence. “Esme just made hot chocolate and I’m sure Bella wouldn’t mind if you joined in. Alice is busy braiding hair… well, not that you’d be interested…”
“I can see she has,” he said, his face lighting as he looked at my hair. I felt the red prickle my cheeks as I remembered the tiny little braids fastened with bright elastics. Dumb, Angela, dumb.
“Anyway,” I carried on, talking over my own embarrassment. “Does Alice know you’re home?”
“Frankly, I have no idea,” Jasper said with a gleam in his eye. “Alice is very intuitive, I can never tell. But I don’t plan on staying. I just came to pick up something.”
My eyes darted over him, noticing a book cradled beneath his right arm.
“You like to read,” I pointed out.
“I do,” Jasper answered. “I also like my time alone.”
I felt that panic sweep my chest. Was he telling me to leave?
“Oh, well…” I rambled on, my hand going to my throat, lingering there, a nervous habit. I caught him look there swiftly, before turning to the sky. “I’ll just… go…”
“No, Angela,” he said. The sound of my name from his lips rattled me more than it should. “It gets… suffocating… living in a house with five overly emotional people. If one person’s unhappy, I’m unhappy. I like my time alone. I cherish it,” he explained. I didn’t know where he was going with this, but I felt captivated. I had to hear what he had to say. I needed it.
“But you, Angela Weber,” Jasper turned back to me, a mischievous smile playing on his face. “You feel like being alone… with company.”
I stared at him, my mouth open a little in wonder. That last part shouldn’t make sense to me.
“I know you understand what I’m saying,” Jasper guessed. He looked like someone who had just solved a riddle and was insanely proud of himself for doing so.
“Thank you?” I tried, my mouth still feeling slack from his somewhat confusing explanation.
“You’re nice. And not the kind of ‘nice’ you use in regards to something you can’t find a better description for. ‘Nice’ as in genuinely nice. You find me up here and you don’t care about why. Instead you ask me if I’d like to come downstairs because that’s just how ‘nice’ you are. You don’t invite me because you like the way I look, or because you want the opportunity to flirt with me,” Jasper rolled his eyes. “You invite me because you would hate to think of me up here alone and uninvited. A completely un-selfish reason. I haven’t come across that in the longest time.”
I wanted to thank him again, but instead I squinted, wondering if he had the right Angela Weber. The very same Angela Weber he’d caught snooping in his study.
“You can’t know that. We barely talk,” I went on. My voice was barely more than a whisper. “In fact, I don’t think we’ve had one conversation, ever. This is our first and it’s completely awkward, but it feels right, too. I’m tongue-tied and calm, all at the same time…”
I forgot where I was heading, but I knew I had a point originally.
“As much as you flatter me, you forget the part about me prying in your study.”
He laughed at that, pushing away from the railing and closing the gap between us a little.
“You were curious because I was curious,” he explained. “It’s mostly my fault.”
“You’re blaming my actions on yourself?”
“They weren’t really your actions. You were interested because I wanted you to be.”
“I’m sorry, but I’m not sure I follow you.” My eyes were growing cross-eyed at the confusing turns our first conversation was taking. Since when had we delved into the bizarre? Somewhere shortly after bachelor parties and books.
“You even apologize for your confusion,” Jasper reflected, finding this amusing.
“Angela? Have you fallen in?” came Bella’s voice from downstairs.
I bit my lip, how could I possibly leave?
“I hope we talk again, Angela Weber. There’s still so much to figure out.”
“Angela!” echoed Bella’s voice. It was closer this time, on the stairs.
“Yes, sorry! I’ll be right there,” I called towards the door, turning for just a split second.
When I turned back to the balcony, Jasper was gone. I’m not sure what my face conveyed right then and there, but I knew somehow that he hadn’t fallen to his death or shimmied down a drainpipe. I held a hand to the base of my throat, releasing a slow breath. I believed in it… whatever ‘it’ was.
“What are you doing in Jasper’s study?” came Bella’s voice, this time in the same room. Her face was worried, her brows narrowed as she looked around for something.
“Oh,” I flushed, letting out a staggered breath. “The doors were open, I was just closing them.”
“Come on, Jasper will kill us if he finds out we were in here,” Bella sighed, sounding anxious. “Alice has promised not to paint our toenails if we agree to one round of truth or dare.”
I smiled to myself, leaving alone with company and entering something else entirely.
Author: fadedpresence
Fandom: Twilight
Characters/Pairing: Jasper/Angela
Prompt: "In a lover's sky, all stars are eclipsed by the eyes of the one you love..."
Rating: G
Word Count: 2,140 words
Notes: A request for hazy-crazy. This took me ages to get right... still not sure if it's what I wanted it to be, but I hope you like it anyway.
“Where’s the bathroom?”
The girls around the fireplace stilled. Rosalie, stunning in a pale pink nightgown, paused while applying polish to her toenails. Alice, who was braiding Bella’s hair, managed to break a hair elastic in her grip. Esme, who had come into the open-planned living room with two mugs of hot chocolate, stilled. You would have thought by the look on their faces that I’d just ruined Christmas.
“Up the stairs and down the hall, third door on the right.”
It was Bella who spoke, her face brightening momentarily. She’d been nothing but sullen ever since Alice had popped open a box of brightly colored hair ribbons and accessories. I’d been Alice’s first victim an hour ago.
“Thanks…” I mumbled, picking myself up. I hadn’t known what I’d done to offend the girls, but I felt edgy and insecure.
Two weeks ago, Bella had invited me to a sleepover at the Cullen’s. It was her version of a bachelorette party, a product of compromise between her and Alice. I’d envisioned more of a crowd, but I didn’t have the heart to decline the offer when I’d shown up this evening on my lonesome.
“Am I it?” I’d asked, sleeping bag beneath my arm.
“You’re it!” Alice had exclaimed, hauling me inside. Bella had smiled sympathetically from her right. “And you won’t be needing this,” Alice brushed on, plucking the sleeping bag from my grip. “I had matching ones ordered in! I’ve had this planned for weeks.”
“Don’t even get her started on the games were supposed to be playing,” Bella huffed.
“Games?” I blanched, feeling unsure already.
Angela Weber was a lone soldier in a scary new world.
I found the bathroom and locked myself inside. For the first time since my arrival this evening, I felt like I could breathe properly.
I splashed my face with water and steeled myself for another twelve hours with Rosalie Hale.
Walking out onto the landing, I spotted a door that wasn’t closed all the way. The light from inside the room cast a rectangle of light across the wooden floors. Carefully, I tiptoed across the landing, grateful that the Cullen’s floorboards didn’t squeak beneath my footsteps.
I could see inside if I lined up my eye correctly. I swallowed, feeling guilty immediately as I pressed my eye to the door.
I couldn’t make out much; a dark wooden desk, stacked with papers and books. The study lamp was on, which was creating the glow. Beyond the furniture, the night sky flowed from an open balcony. I noticed at once that the glass doors were wide open, their white gauze curtains blowing in the breeze like twin ghosts. There was nobody inside.
I pushed open the door with one palm and peered in. This room was definitely a study. There was a chaise lounge by the doors, one half covered in the flowing curtains and the other with a pile of books. Everything was stacked neatly, like someone preparing to move out.
I lingered in the doorway for a fraction of a second. Just get it over with, Angela.
Books lined the walls; squashed together, piled on top of one another on the shelves, anywhere they could fit. In the corner, on an armchair, was a brand new laptop computer, unopened, but switched off. As the night air coasted in, papers fluttered on the desk.
I moved closer, scaring myself. I never snooped, pried or poked my nose in other people’s business. Something in this room was begging me to, and I couldn’t help but go along with the feeling. Curiosity, eagerness… it all was there, forcing me to open my eyes to the papers and just look.
I noticed a battered bronze compass was serving as a paper weight, I noticed that first. There was an engraving, ‘J. W.’ My brows furrowing, I drew my attention down to the pages. Passport forms, bonds and shares… a birth certificate… with Bella’s name written down in elegant script. I leant in closer, squinting without the aid of my glasses.
There was a loud bang from the balcony. The curtains swirled with a sudden gust of wind. Struggling to escape, the papers fluttered beneath the compass and I flinched away from the desk.
Instead, I went to the open double doors and hooked my hands around the curtains, gathering them and pulling them inside. I knew with the fire blazing downstairs, that the girls would probably want the doors closed. Then, I saw something on the balcony landing… an old-brass telescope angled towards the night sky.
I released the curtains to the wind, stepping out onto the porch with that same insatiable curiosity. I let my fingers run over the smooth metal, icy cold and abandoned. I could feel bumps and scrapes on its surface, like a possession well-used and traveled. I leant into the eyepiece.
“Of everyone tonight, I didn’t think Angela Weber would be the one to poke around.”
I jumped at the voice, backing away from the telescope. The quick removal of my hands caused it to spin until it now pointed sharply at the wooden deck. A white hand shot out to steady the telescope, a glowing pale in the moonlight. I met eyes with Jasper, absolutely horrified at myself. I’d been caught snooping in the worst way possible.
I placed a hand against my heart, urging it to slow. My mouth was dry and my head was trying to find the right words.
“Jasper…” I managed, wanting to disappear.
“I thought Bella, maybe,” he carried on, his hand still resting on the brass scope as he looked at the sky. “Alice, even… an open door and she’s unable to resist… but you… you’re usually so…”
“I-“. My thought process came to a slow halt. I felt the need to talk dissolve and I became still and silent.
“Let me guess,” Jasper interrupted. He curled his hands around the metal railings of the balcony, eyes still on the stars. “You had an overwhelming surge of curiosity, one you weren’t able to rid yourself of until you came in through that door. One you’re still trying to figure out.”
He wasn’t questioning me, he was telling. And he was exact.
“Are you always so good at guessing?” I asked in a small voice. I saw him grin momentarily to the night before his face returned to its usual void of emotion. I knew I should be apologizing, but Jasper and this unusual calmness made me forget the reasons why.
“I’ve had that for a while,” he mused, turning his eyes towards the telescope. I had guessed he had, even before I knew it was his. Then his eyes snapped to mine for the first time and his face grew accusing. “Aren’t you supposed to be downstairs with the others?”
“Yes, but aren’t you supposed to be out with Edward?”
His eyes opened a little wider, his brows arching, perhaps surprised by my challenge.
“Strip clubs aren’t my thing,” he offered candidly. I noticed this admission was accompanied by another grin. “But you didn’t hear that from me.”
He was… overwhelming, endearing, uncomfortable to be around… all at once. He made me blurt out the ridiculous.
“It’s kind of strange,” I said in a rush. “Bachelor and bachelorette parties at our age…”
Jasper looked at me with that blank expression. “I’ve been to a fair few,” he said cryptically.
I found myself analyzing every word he said, as soon as he said it.
“Are you home for the night?” I pressed on. I wanted an awkward conversation more than an awkward silence. “Esme just made hot chocolate and I’m sure Bella wouldn’t mind if you joined in. Alice is busy braiding hair… well, not that you’d be interested…”
“I can see she has,” he said, his face lighting as he looked at my hair. I felt the red prickle my cheeks as I remembered the tiny little braids fastened with bright elastics. Dumb, Angela, dumb.
“Anyway,” I carried on, talking over my own embarrassment. “Does Alice know you’re home?”
“Frankly, I have no idea,” Jasper said with a gleam in his eye. “Alice is very intuitive, I can never tell. But I don’t plan on staying. I just came to pick up something.”
My eyes darted over him, noticing a book cradled beneath his right arm.
“You like to read,” I pointed out.
“I do,” Jasper answered. “I also like my time alone.”
I felt that panic sweep my chest. Was he telling me to leave?
“Oh, well…” I rambled on, my hand going to my throat, lingering there, a nervous habit. I caught him look there swiftly, before turning to the sky. “I’ll just… go…”
“No, Angela,” he said. The sound of my name from his lips rattled me more than it should. “It gets… suffocating… living in a house with five overly emotional people. If one person’s unhappy, I’m unhappy. I like my time alone. I cherish it,” he explained. I didn’t know where he was going with this, but I felt captivated. I had to hear what he had to say. I needed it.
“But you, Angela Weber,” Jasper turned back to me, a mischievous smile playing on his face. “You feel like being alone… with company.”
I stared at him, my mouth open a little in wonder. That last part shouldn’t make sense to me.
“I know you understand what I’m saying,” Jasper guessed. He looked like someone who had just solved a riddle and was insanely proud of himself for doing so.
“Thank you?” I tried, my mouth still feeling slack from his somewhat confusing explanation.
“You’re nice. And not the kind of ‘nice’ you use in regards to something you can’t find a better description for. ‘Nice’ as in genuinely nice. You find me up here and you don’t care about why. Instead you ask me if I’d like to come downstairs because that’s just how ‘nice’ you are. You don’t invite me because you like the way I look, or because you want the opportunity to flirt with me,” Jasper rolled his eyes. “You invite me because you would hate to think of me up here alone and uninvited. A completely un-selfish reason. I haven’t come across that in the longest time.”
I wanted to thank him again, but instead I squinted, wondering if he had the right Angela Weber. The very same Angela Weber he’d caught snooping in his study.
“You can’t know that. We barely talk,” I went on. My voice was barely more than a whisper. “In fact, I don’t think we’ve had one conversation, ever. This is our first and it’s completely awkward, but it feels right, too. I’m tongue-tied and calm, all at the same time…”
I forgot where I was heading, but I knew I had a point originally.
“As much as you flatter me, you forget the part about me prying in your study.”
He laughed at that, pushing away from the railing and closing the gap between us a little.
“You were curious because I was curious,” he explained. “It’s mostly my fault.”
“You’re blaming my actions on yourself?”
“They weren’t really your actions. You were interested because I wanted you to be.”
“I’m sorry, but I’m not sure I follow you.” My eyes were growing cross-eyed at the confusing turns our first conversation was taking. Since when had we delved into the bizarre? Somewhere shortly after bachelor parties and books.
“You even apologize for your confusion,” Jasper reflected, finding this amusing.
“Angela? Have you fallen in?” came Bella’s voice from downstairs.
I bit my lip, how could I possibly leave?
“I hope we talk again, Angela Weber. There’s still so much to figure out.”
“Angela!” echoed Bella’s voice. It was closer this time, on the stairs.
“Yes, sorry! I’ll be right there,” I called towards the door, turning for just a split second.
When I turned back to the balcony, Jasper was gone. I’m not sure what my face conveyed right then and there, but I knew somehow that he hadn’t fallen to his death or shimmied down a drainpipe. I held a hand to the base of my throat, releasing a slow breath. I believed in it… whatever ‘it’ was.
“What are you doing in Jasper’s study?” came Bella’s voice, this time in the same room. Her face was worried, her brows narrowed as she looked around for something.
“Oh,” I flushed, letting out a staggered breath. “The doors were open, I was just closing them.”
“Come on, Jasper will kill us if he finds out we were in here,” Bella sighed, sounding anxious. “Alice has promised not to paint our toenails if we agree to one round of truth or dare.”
I smiled to myself, leaving alone with company and entering something else entirely.