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It was almost unsettling, how he made her feel. Such polarizing feelings plaguing her and leaving her scrambling to find any sense in it at all. Almost like being human one moment and suddenly a vampire the next all over again. It left her feeling dizzy, unsure, and all sorts of topsy-turvy.
It shouldn’t have been so easy to feel like this, but it just was. Not a hint nor a premonition of hers would be of any help here, and it felt almost infuriatingly by design of the universe to get her all conflicted and confused.
Yet, this was something she could just not deny. Nothing about Jacob could be denied easily. Not his wet dog smell, not the way he infuriated her to no end, and definitely not the way he was able to quell her turbulent mind without him even knowing. Next to him, she didn't need to worry about anything other than the present.
Conveniently, he just so happens to find him brooding on the balcony, with the constant aches wracking her head recently, she figures there's no reason to not say hi. The company of anyone other than her family would be a nice change of pace for once.
“Has anyone ever told you that it's completely okay to not look constipated all the time? Encouraged, even.” Alice leans her back on the railing, bracing her elbow next to her. She was wearing that smile that could disarm just about anyone.
Jacob glances towards Alice, the iciness in his expression melting momentarily. “What?”
“Nothing. I’m just standing here. You can keep brooding, or whatever it is that you do.” Alice shrugs and turns, mirroring Jacob's own pose. There's a quiet moment shared between them, before she speaks again.
“... It’s good you're here, you know. Bella needs you. She’s more relaxed around you.” Alice looks away. “For what it’s worth, I get her. You know, when I’m with you, it’s like being able to close my eyes. It’s different for Bella, obviously, but being around you lets me rest from everything for this one moment.” There's a short pause before she continues, a mirthful tone in her voice, “—well, apart from your wet dog smell, I guess. But I digress. God knows I need the rest, with everyone being run thin right now.” Alice sighs.
“... I’m glad that I’m able to help someone, at least.” Jacob's head dips, hiding the small quirk of his lips just out of sight.
“You’ve got to give yourself some more credit. Honestly, I’m really here in lieu of Bella. A messenger for her unshared thoughts, if you will. She’s still weak, so I'm here to say thank you in her stead,” Alice chides softly. It was true that being here was no small effort.
“Yeah…? Thanks, then.” Jacob then fully fails to hide the smile in his voice.
The two enjoy the silence in each other's presence for a moment before it's broken by Alice once again. “Hey, everyone is pretty okay inside. We should relax—do something… not miserable—something fun!” Might as well take the chance. If Jacob was the one person her head wouldn't be hurting around, she’d take the opportunity to enjoy her non-head-hurting freedom.
“Vampires know what that word means? … Don't tell me that you're going to take me to go count rice with you?” Jacob jabbed, a sly expression on his face.
Alice held an unimpressed expression, complete with a downturned smile. She playfully punches Jacob on the arm. “Real funny, but no. Follow me.” This was sort of impulsive on her part, but she’s learning to accept the fact that things like this just happen naturally when Jacob is around.
The pair make their way to Alice’s room, checking in on Bella on the way, but making sure to not disturb the lovebirds too much and incur Edward's wrath as a result. Finally in front of her room, Alice peeks inside to make sure they'll be alone before taking a seat and urging Jacob to the one next to hers.
“... I feel weird not worrying as much for once. Is that weird, not feeling worried right now?” He sighs, gaze trained onto some random point in the ceiling as he relaxes into the comfortable seat. It was odd, he felt so disarmed right now in spite of everything going on.
“We can't be doom and gloom all the time. Bella would want us to rest on her behalf.” Alice tuts.
“... Are you seriously using Bella as a persuasion tool on me?” Jacob suddenly turns toward her, in mild disbelief at the recent observation.
“Hey, if the shoe fits, I guess. But seriously! You won't be doing much protecting if you’re just tense all the time! Loosen up, we’re all here protecting Bella and the baby. Things will be okay.” Jacob was her rest, so she was determined to be his. It's what she owes him.
Begrudgingly, Jacob couldn't really find anything to refute her logic with. He turns back up to face the ceiling. “What are we doing here anyways?”
Alice excitedly gets up, rummages around her closet, finds some fabric to unfurl, and lays it on the ground before grinning, “Let’s make a dress!”
“... What?” Jacob isn't quite sure how to respond. Usually, fun in stressful situations included activities like drinking… or darts or something. He was almost taken aback, but in hindsight, it was silly of him to expect anything even remotely sane or normal from any of these people.
“A dress. For Bella. She’ll love it!” Alice claps her hands together, grinning excitedly.
“And you thought this would be fun for me, how?” He questions, wholly thrown off-kilter at the sudden proposition.
“It’s for Bella!” She reiterates with a huff, as if she just said something new.
Jacob’s brows furrow. “You said that already. Do you think you can get me to do anything just because Bella is involved?” He frowns.
“Hey, Bella is my sister-in-law and friend too, of course I want to make her things! If you really need a reason to help, then do it because I am making the dress, and I need help. You wouldn't leave a damsel on her own, would you?” Alice flutters her eyes exaggeratedly, and Jacob can’t help but scoff at the persuasive display.
“It’s just like you vampires to be manipulative.” His gaze narrows, but there's no malice in it, only a playful jab at the other's physiology, as is the dynamic of their unlikely friendship.
Even with the jab, Alice sees the resignation in his expression. He was ready to help. “Heh, of course you’d want to help me. I’m irresistible.” She snubs her nose haughtily before suddenly getting a pillow thrown at her face.
Jacob finds himself smiling genuinely for once—probably for the first time since this whole pregnancy debacle started. “Either make the dress or not. I was promised fun. Do I get to chuck pillows at you the whole time? That sounds more like fun to me.”
Alice laughs, a light, gleeful sound. She would be a little conscious of it if there weren't a hundred different things that were more important to worry about right now. “I’ll let you throw one pillow at me when we finish this dress.”
“Deal,” Jacob smirks.
Even with the sole objective of helping, Jacob was mostly only given menial tasks to do. Hold this down, get those scissors, find this fabric. It was simple, but Alice’s firm voice gave him something concrete to listen to and follow.
For a while, it was just them—no disastrous what-ifs, no tragedies just waiting to happen, nothing that could really go wrong. Right now, it was just Alice, her voice, and the present. It was nice, and for the first time, Jacob was starting to understand her admission to him earlier. What it's like being around someone who lets you shut your eyes for once.
Just… nice. Easy. Simple. Almost as natural as breathing.
Midway through lining the pattern up to be sewn, Alice is right about to ask him to fetch something for her until she sees her makeshift partner passed out on the floor, leaning on the seat and still holding various fabric scraps and little bobbins that she told him to hold at various points throughout the night.
She huffs affectionately and gets up to cover him with a throw blanket that was situated on the edge of the seat. His hair gets gently swept back before she continues to work on the dress with only the sound of his breathing as company.
It was nice, just having someone else with her. Especially when it’s him. And especially when she doesn't have to think about just how easy this all is to settle into. She smiles as she continues to work on the dress throughout the night.
In the morning, the house is still quiet; only calm, muffled conversations are heard from the living room along with the soft chirping of the birds outside. The dress stands finished on a mannequin, and Alice barely has time to stretch after finishing it before Jacob starts to stir awake.
He blinks blearily and looks around his surroundings before fixing his gaze on Alice, and then onto the dress. It was beautiful, and it also feels weird knowing he helped make it, even if only a little bit.
“Sleep well?” Alice muses, “You were drooling.”
Jacob stares at Alice with his resting morning grumpy face. He wipes at the sides of his mouth and grimaces before his face slowly lights up in mischief. Swiftly, he takes the pillow from the seat he’s leaning on and hurls it at Alice.
She catches the pillow and smirks. “Ha, did you really think that—” she gets interrupted as another pillow hits her square in the face with a soft thump. She gives Jacob an annoyed expression before allowing him the win with a roll of her eyes. “Okay. Deserved that, I guess,” she pouts.
“Everyone okay outside?” He asks in a deep morning grumble, rubbing at his eyes.
“Of course. No thanks to you being passed out.” Alice mentions the last part under her breath, watching for a reaction from him.
“Hey, you're the one who lured me in here!”
“Chill out, I'm joking!” Alice laughs, “Seriously though, everything's great. Bella is stronger, and you’re all rested now. Everyone is happy.”
Jacob sags with relief. “Good...” After a moment, he glances back at Alice—who was idly inspecting her nails.
“Hey…” Jacob starts awkwardly.
Alice perks up and hums in acknowledgement.
“... Thank you, for all this. I didn't realize how much I needed a nap.” Jacob admits. Truly, he’d been running on nothing but nerves for days now.
“I’d say that was more than a nap,” Alice snickers, “but it's really no problem. It’s what I owe you, yeah? So… uh, don’t mention it. It was really nice having someone to just be with through all this, really. I gotta thank you too.” There's a sincere expression on her face.
“Yeah… I wouldn't mind doing something like this again. Hanging out. Though maybe we can do something I can actually help with next time?” Jacob snarks dryly, but the implicit intimacy of the admission remains. It seems he realizes that too, judging by the sheepish expression he held right after saying it.
“No promises. But I’ll keep it in mind.” She shrugs in feigned nonchalance. Inwardly however, she’d be blushing bright red if she were physically capable of it.
The two enjoy the slow morning and spend it chatting together about nothing in particular. For once, that feeling of relief and rest was reciprocal, and the two enjoyed it for as long as they could—they had a little bubble of their own where they only had each other to worry about. She may not have her powers right now, but Alice could still see this little reprieve of theirs becoming something of a regular occurrence.