@ahopefulbunch
THEIR ….. SIBLINGS REACTED TO STRESS FAR DIFFERENTLY TO HOW HE DID, they had clearly spent the entirety of this second life still trying to be human, they had human ticks. They blinked and their shoulders moved like they were breathing even when they weren’t, their legs jerked up and down when they were nervous, their fingers tapped of tables, they chewed the end of pens —–human ticks. HE DIDN’T HAVE ANY OF THEM. All human habits had been long forgotten for a century of VAMPIRE behaviour, but then Alice was just an expert in reading him, even if no one was. Noted how he hadn’t breathed in a long number of minutes, noted almost steady yet impossibly quiet growl that rumbled in his chest like thunder from a far distant storm ( a growl that must only just be audible to her ears even when she was so close ) She noted that his stress and anxiety took the form of stony expression and tight lines across his shoulders, down his back, he can feel his own anxiety sparking across his skin like electricity, even as he focuses on Alice’s overwhelming trusting and calming input to the mess in his head the current does not lessen. A few beats pass from when she spoke and brightly golden eyes turn to look down at her, the impossibly quiet rumble carrying on anyway. In the back of his MIND he KNOWS that he can, but Edward’s constant and continued stress is so thick he can taste it and only sets him further on edge, makes him as angry as he unnerved —– HE DOESN’T TRUST HIM TO BE ABLE TO DO IT. To get through his first school day in ….. well in a damn long time without trying to feed from one of the other teenagers here. It takes him a moment to UNLOCK the sharp clench of his jaw and when he does speak he’s low, barely there. “ maybe this is a BAD idea. ”
ALICE DOES NOT HAVE HIS ABILITY . no , her talents lie elsewhere , but even then she knows him well enough , to sense the tension set in his bones , the way he squares his shoulders and sets his jaw , as though he is facing a herculean task . and to him , it is . it’s never easy , coming back from a slip . sometimes , if the previous incident was particularly -- unpleasant , carlisle would suggest skipping school for the next move . they would make up some lie about homeschooling , say something about trauma . and jasper’s last school visit had been a right bloodbath . there were still books written on it , newspapers had called it the worst crime in the century . alice shudders delicately at that memory . but it’s nothing they haven’t been through before , each in their turn . fingers dance along his arm , and land on his shoulder , where her hand hovers . she isn’t affectionate during school hours , not usually . it’s frowned upon , and unlike rosalie and emmett, they don’t feel the need to flaunt the rules . she looks into his eyes , they are gold , gold like hers . and they will stay that way . she just knows it . “ -- no . “ she soothes , “ everything will be fine . i’ve seen it . “ edward shoots her an incredulous look , she returns a rather petrifying glare . “ just four more hours . if you want to talk to the school about leaving early , for today , we can . “ she’s doing her best to help him , in every way she can . alice hopes it’s enough . “ you can do this , jasper . “
