Fic: Said and Done (3/25)

[icmezzo_archive]

Said and done

Synopsis: Graduate students Edward and Jasper feel the connection, but is it enough to overcome their differences? (E/J slash, vamp/human, comedy/romance, rated NC-17)

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Chapter 3: Party like it's 1899


A/N: Edward's ringtones are in the author's note at the end.

Thanks to TwilightMundi for betaing this and every chapter.

Disclaimer: All copyrights, trademarked items, or recognizable characters, plots, etc., mentioned herein belong to their respective owners. No copying or reproduction of this work is permitted without express authorization.

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Chapter 3: Party like it's 1899

I set my cellphone down and stared out my window into the darkness.

Jasper's words ran through my head. The conversation hadn't been long; I didn't have very much to work with.

There's only one way to find out.
There's only one way to find out.
Wait. Don't go.
There's only one way to find out.
I'm glad you called.
Wait. Don't go.
I'll call you tomorrow.
Maybe we can get coffee or something.
I'm glad you called.
Maybe we can get coffee or something.
Wait. Don't go.
There's only one way to find out.
Edward.

A sudden jolt of electricity coursed through my body as I remembered him saying my name.

Edward.

Oh my god. There it is again. What the—

Suddenly, my cell began playing the tinny sounds of Esme's 1920s dance music ringtone.

Dammit. I cursed myself and my dramatic tendencies. I'd only been feeling the cell signal transmitting Esme's call to my phone, not some crazy electrical connection. Well, at least I hadn't dreamed it up completely, I consoled myself.

I sighed and answered the phone. "Hey, Esme."

"Happy New Year, Edward!" she greeted me.

"Oh! Happy New Year." I was surprised. I had been deep in thought and hadn't realized midnight already arrived. Esme's call signaled the beginning of a Cullen tradition: Everyone stopped what they were doing in the first minutes of each new year to reach out to each other.

I spoke to Esme and Carlisle for a bit before we hung up. I knew they also wanted to call my brother and sisters, and I knew my siblings would also be calling me soon as well.

As I knew I would, I felt another tingle run through my body a few moments later. A half second passed and my phone began playing Little Brother by Grizzly Bear.

I answered. "Hey, Emmett, Happy New Year."

"Hey bro. You too!" Emmett sounded happy. He and Rosalie must have been having fun. I chatted with both of them until it became clear they wanted to return to their previous activities. I tried not to imagine exactly what those were.

After saying goodbye to Emmett and Rosalie, I waited for Alice's call. I glanced at the clock. 12:24 a.m. That was unusual. Alice should've called by now. Perhaps she was waiting until midnight in Alaska, which was an hour behind.

But just then I felt the electricity course through my body a third time. Alice. I didn't even wait for the phone to ring before answering her call.

"Hey, Al. Happy New Year. What took you so long? Are you partying like it's 1899?"

"Heyyy Edwaaard! It's Jasper."

Wait. Jasper? Oh! I wasn't prepared for this. Quickly, I regrouped. "Jasper. Hi. Sorry. I thought you were someone else."

"Ts'okay," he paused. "I just umm, I realized I didn't tell… I mean I wanted to… to tell you somethin'."

I waited for him to finish, but he was quiet.

"Jasper?"

"Yeah?" he replied.

"What was it that you wanted to tell me?" I was growing confused.

"Oh! Yeah! I wanted t'say Happy New Year!" he laughed.

Not that I minded, but it seemed to be a funny reason for him to place such a late-night phone call. After all, he had no idea I hadn't gone to sleep since 1918; was he not concerned that he might have woken me up? And given the uncertain nature of our relationship—I didn't know what else to call it—well, let's just say his call was completely unexpected.

"Jasper, are you okay?"

"Yep. I'm grrreat. Heh. I just forgot earlier to say that I wanted that, that I just wanted to say that to you."

I responded as soon as I was able to translate his words into a comprehensible sentence. "Oh. Well, thank you. You too, of course."

"Thanks. Edward, s'gonna be a real good year…Edward…" He trailed off.

"I hope so, Jasper. But, are you sure that you are okay? You don't sound like yourself. Do you need help?"

"NoNono. I'm good. Just enjoyin' another beer and talking to my Edwar—Wait! Who's Al?"

"Al? You mean Alice? She is my sister. You didn't meet her when you were here because she was out shopping. Why?"

"Oh, right. Alice. Great. That's a good name for a sister."

"Yes, I suppose it is a good name." Not that I didn't agree with his evaluation, but it seemed a strange topic of conversation.

"Edward salso good. Edward. Ed-ward. Ed, Eddie, Edward. Eeee-dwaaard." He started laughing again.

Was he making fun of my name? Jasper wasn't the most common name either. I opened my mouth to point that out, but he started talking again.

"Hehe. I'd probably like the name Jedebedezelleziah too if it was yours." He paused. "Well, Edward, I have to go." More laughter. "So I hafta go. But I just wanted to tell you something."

"Happy New Year, you mean?" I asked. "You already told me. Thank you for that. And again, same to you."

"No, no. Ahh, shit, Edward. I wish you were here so I could talk to you more. It's gonna be a good yearrr nowwwwWWhoa!"

I heard a splash and the phone went dead.

I tried to call back, but the phone went straight to voice mail. Okay. That was odd.

XXXXX

Thirty-seven minutes later my body tingled again, signaling yet another incoming phone call. This time I waited for the phone to ring and the caller ID to indicate my caller's identity before answering. This time it really was Alice.

"Hey Alice. Happy New Year," I sighed audibly.

"Oh my god, Edward. Have you still not called him? You've really got to just do it. But try not to sound so depressed when you do. Not everyone finds emo hot."

"No, Alice, I called him. It went well, I think?" I told her. I had thought it had gone well, or at least, the initial conversation had.

"Then why are you going all Eeyore on my ass?" she asked.

"Well, because he called me back."

"Again, I fail to see the problem," she said.

"Alice, it was odd. He called me a little while ago but he sounded strange—almost as though he was confused. And he seemed to think everything was really funny, but I wasn't exactly intending to be humorous." I tried to explain, but she cut me off.

"Let me guess. He was slurring his words a bit?" she laughed. "Edward, you were totally just drunk dialed!"

"Drunk dia...Oh."

"That's so funny," she giggled. "Humans."

"Yeah. Human." I sighed again.

XXXXX

I spoke to Alice the following afternoon as she waited in the Alaska airport for her flight home.

"So tell me, Edward, what did your human confess during his call? There's nothing for us to do but analyze every word he said," she suggested.

"Why would we do that?" I asked. "He was drunk, and didn't make a lot of sense, to be honest."

"Yes, but drunk dialing, Edward, is a classic human technique for communicating. You see, they use alcohol as an excuse to be able to say things they otherwise wouldn't because they're too inhibited. They'll blame anything on alcohol given the opportunity. So... did he say anything good?"

"From what I can tell, he just called to wish me a happy new year since he'd forgotten to do so when I called him earlier," I replied. "Although..."

"Although what, Edward?" She sounded excited. Alice loved this kind of thing.

"Well, at one point I think he called me 'his Edward,' but he could have misspoken—he did that quite a bit. And at one point he kept repeating my name, which was really strange. And I think he was saying that he wished I was with him, but then he hung up on me suddenly."

"He hung up on you?" She sounded surprised.

"Well, he said he had to go, started laughing, and then suddenly I heard the sound of water and then nothing. I think he hung up on me. And I tried calling him back, but it just went straight to voice mail."

"Well, that's strange. I'm sure one of his friends just stole his phone or something."

"Maybe. But he also said he'd call me this morning but I haven't heard from him. I even called him again at one point, and again, it went to his voice mail," I explained.

"I bet he's just embarrassed after calling you last night. Don't worry, Edward. For once, just relax a little bit. I bet he'll get in contact with you."

"Right, well, it's probably best if he doesn't anyway," I sigh. "I mean, he was clearly with plenty of his friends last night, so he definitely doesn't need me in his life."

"Really, Edward? Are we back to this again?"

"I guess not. But I have to say, this is very frustrating. I wish I could read his mind."

She giggled. "Right? Like in all those vampire legends. And I want to be able to tell the future!"

The day wore into evening, and still no call from Jasper. I called him again once or twice, but he never answered the phone.

XXXXX

By the time the sun rose again the following day, I decided to give up. He wasn't going to call. It was for the best anyway.

I decided to go for a long run.

I hit my stride a few miles from my house, and appreciated the brisk rhythm of my steps against the frozen earth. After a while, I let my mind wander to Jasper, though I expected I wouldn't have had much of a choice in the matter had I tried to prevent myself from doing so.

There was no question I was confused. I decided to make a list:

I was confused about why he would have hung up on me after saying he wished I was with him.

I was confused about why he hadn't called back as he had indicated he would.

I was confused about why he wouldn't answer my calls, if he was too embarrassed to call me himself.

I was confused about why he had even called me in the first place, although Alice seemed fairly confident that alcohol had played a significant role in his doing so.

And then of course I was confused about why exactly I even wanted him to call again, because why would a vampire want to sit in a cafe and drink coffee with a human? It was absurd!

But mostly, I was confused about my apparent inability to let him go and get him out of my head.

When I reached my favorite meadow deep in the forest, I had no more answers than when I had begun. But I was in one of my favorite places in Washington. I had always felt at peace there.

The clearing was a frozen, icy white wonderland, and a rare patch of sunlight made the landscape (and myself) glitter brightly. I lay down on the icy ground, and willed my pale skin to absorb a bit of the sun and warm my body a few degrees.

I closed my eyes, and concentrated on the sounds of the forest and the feel of the sun's rays. After a few minutes of trying to control my thoughts, I gave in, and let my imagination run wild.

It was not difficult to imagine Jasper in this place. I'd seen him bundled up against the cold the time he had visited. So in my mind, he lay down next to me, decked out in his bulky layers of clothing, mittens, scarves and such. Yes, he too would lay with his eyes closed, and his face unconsciously tilted toward the sun. I had a bit more trouble envisioning how the sun would look on his blond curls. I had never seen him in the sunlight before, simply because I could not be seen in it.

But thankfully, there were other details I could concentrate on more easily. For instance, it was all too simple to imagine the way his nose and cheeks would be so wonderfully pink from the cold. I could almost hear his heart beating. I imagined how he would try to suppress a smile when he peeked at me through the corner of his eye and realize he'd caught me doing the same.

I hummed in pleasure. Thinking of him made me feel happy, and content.

How had I never understood that a human could be so... lovely?

I quickly sat up. What had he done to me?

I wondered how many times the average vampire has thought to him or herself, "If only things were different..." It seemed I thought of little else lately. But to whom would I plead such a case? Who could change circumstances such as mine, or dare I think it, ours?

The sun had moved far across the sky while I'd been in the clearing, dreaming my impossible dreams, and I recognized it would be wise to head home. I hadn't mentioned that I was leaving, and I didn't want my absence to worry Esme or Carlisle.

I headed back through the forest, and arrived back at home when the sun was low in the sky. I noted the rare sunny day afforded Forks a stunning sunset. When I emerged from the woods behind my house, the sky was awash with brilliant color.

Apparently an orange sky was a possible option.

And if that was true, perhaps other impossibilities were, every once in a very long while, completely possible as well.

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A/N: Cullen family ringtones:

Esme: The Vamp, performed by Joseph C. Smith's Orchestra, circa 1919. www.Besmark.com/dan17116.m3u

Emmett: Little Brother, by Grizzly Bear (6:00-6:20ish).
www.youtube.com/watch?v=6POCV842BFo

Alice: Human, by The Killers (specifically, around 1:50-2:20).
www.youtube.com/watch?v=RIZdjT1472Y

And, even though they aren't mentioned in the chapter, I thought you might want to know his ringtones for the rest of his family members.

Rosalie: Screwed up and beautiful, by Better than Ezra.
www.alternativeaddiction.?id=981

Carlisle: Coming back to life, Pink Floyd.
www.youtube.com/watch?v=GPvtUjTbV_A

Oh, and Edward's default ring is Run, by Vampire Weekend (specifically around 0:42-0:59). www.youtube.com/watch?v=qNcjAVuiu-o

Edward's ringtone had been an excerpt from Clair de lune, of course, but one day in high school it rang during class and Edward felt more self-conscious than normal when everyone stared at him. Really, his classmates were simply surprised because one of the perfect Cullen's had made a mistake and let his or her phone ring and then received a lecture from an equally-astonished teacher. But Edward thought the other students were judging him for his unconventional choice, and felt that a more contemporary ring would help him fly under the radar a bit more in the event that it should ever happen again. (It never did. In fact, Edward's gaffe is the only time in vampire history in which a member of the undead accidentally let his or her cell phone ring in class. The only reason it even happened to Edward was because he was distracted by the unexpected scent of a werewolf that entered the classroom via a nearby open window. It also helps that very few vampires ever attend high school.)