waiting ii.

vingt-quatre

April 4th

Jasper had cashed in that date deal pretty quickly. He had booked a pass for some art museum in Tacoma. Entering the museum hand-in-hand, the two strolled through. Tatum drags Jasper through to a specific painting, heels clicking softly. She stops at Sandra Botticello's Birth of Venus.

"Did you just bring me over to a painting of a naked woman?" Jasper teases, standing behind her. He wraps his arms around her torso and sets his chin on her shoulder. Tatum swiftly bumps his chin purposefully. 

"No, I brought you over to see that this is real art. Not that Campell Soup Can painting," Tatum roasts, earning a playful little nip on her ear. She squeals quietly, leaning into him. 

Jasper nuzzles his nose into her hair. "Agree to disagree."

"Mhm, sure. You're just too scared to surrender," Tatum teases, unraveling his arms from her torso. She grabs his hand and walks with him to check out more painting. She stops at a majorly yellow one. "The Kiss made by Gustav Klimt. Beautiful, but the original was much larger."

"Almost every doop of a painting is smaller than the original, darlin'. Maybe we could remake it. Also, the original is also brighter," Jasper informs her. They continue walking until they reach a beautiful painting of a woman surrounded by a variety of flowers. 

"La vache! That looks like me!" Tatum says quietly in wonder. Jasper chuckles before silently pointing at the plaque under the big painting. "Quelle Une Femme made by Mary Alice Brandon?"

"A painting of a woman that looks exactly like you, surrounded by your favorite flowers, titled in French, and it is submitted conveniently in your old town. Coincidence?" Jasper prompts to her, grabbing her hand and squeezing as softly as he can. 

"But who's Mary Brandon?"

"You missed one name," Jasper hints, trying not to smile. "That leaves you with-"

"Alice, that little bootyhole," Tatum groans. "Wait, this says it was made in 1920. That was the year she changed, right?"

"Apparently, this was her first vision," Jasper whispers, looking wistfully at the flowing hair on the painting. "She didn't know what to do with it so she gave it away. Some rich guy liked it and bought it for a couple hundreds of thousands."

"She must've been rich," Tatum whistles lowly. "What'd she do with all that money?"

"She still has it in a small folder. Alice refuses to tell us why, but apparently it's important," Jasper shrugs, hugging Tatum to his chest. Tatum smiles softly, leaning her head on his shoulder. 

A small, croaky voice sounds from a little ways away, "Goodness, Chester, why can't you hold me like that?"

"Dammit, Edith, we're old and wrinkly. I can't go for a walk without popping a hip!"

●○●

Walking out of the museum, hand in hand, the two decide to take a stroll through downtown Tacoma. The two go across a small bridge and into a park. There was no playground, only a small, concrete stage with a local band playing.

"Darlin', I don't understand why y'all would ever move from here," Jasper says, pulling Tatum towards the band. "Dance with me."

The two start slow dancing. Tatum chuckles, teasing her lover. "Avery. Bailey being pregnant. Ring a bell?"

"Ah, yes. I miss my bug. But, why didn't your family just homeschool her?" Jasper asks, making Tatum laugh as he shimmies his shoulders. 

"We tried, but people found a way to bully her from there too," Tatum says, laying her head on Jasper's test. "But, as bad as it sounds, I'm glad it happened."

"Otherwise you wouldn't have moved to Forks?" Jasper prompts, kissing her head as they dance. "Maybe it was for the best."

"Maybe..." Tatum says, looking up at Jasper with a small smirk before it instantly falls. "Why're you brooding?"

"I'm not brooding-"

"Yes, you are. Don't argue with me. You, Jasper Frank Whitlock Hale, are glaring. Your jaw is tense, you're not breathing again, and you are not listening to me." Tatum twirls a strand of his honey curls and tugs softly. 

"I am listening, thank you very much," Jasper says, looking down at his love. "Someone keeps taking pictures of us."

"Twirl me so I can see," Tatum whispers. Jasper chuckles but does as so. Tatum spots the person holding a camera. "Oh mon dieu. That's Isla, she's Bailey's old best friend."

"Bad blood or safe?" Jasper tests, twirling Tatum back out of sight. 

"In between. Isla was nice but talked behind her back," Tatum says, peeking over his shoulder. "And she's walking over here."

"Do you want to leave?" Jasper asks, wrapping his arm around her torso. She nods, but before they can actually leave, a voice calls for her.

"Tatum Fernsby! Long time no see!"