Sign Of The Times || Jasper Hale

chapter 028

Alex had made her peace with the Cullens. They were there and they were not going away. At least, not for a few more years. So here they were, yet again, for a dinner and to set some new ground rules. They had been friendly - maybe a bit more - with one another but both sides wanted to see if there was more to that. If they could rely on the other.

"Did they finally stop with the dog jokes?" Alex asks as she walks up the stairs with her brother and remember the first time she stood here.

"Slightly." Her brother chuckles as he knocks on the door. Alice opens the door and smiles brightly at the two in front of her. She couldn't see them coming, but she heard their bantering from miles away. It was a sibling structure that she admired and she knew that it had taken decades before they were this way.

"Welcome!" She opens the door further and gestures towards the hallway. "Dinner is already set." Alex and Peter give each other a sheepish look. They had forgotten time and were 10 minutes late. Their game of Yathzee had gotten a bit competitive.

They walk in and feel awkwardness wash over them as the rest of the family is already sitting there and smiling at them, as if they didn't have anything to do without them.

"Hey," Peter says and waves at them all. "Oh Esme, that smells delicious." The woman in question stands up and walks over to them and hugs Peter first, who gives a small kiss on the top of her head. Alex feels a smile creep on her face as she remembers how he was the same with Esme as he had been with their mother.

"I got a few more bottles than last time." Alex holds up the bag with the special drink and Esme claps her hands in delight before hugging the young woman as well. The same smell.

"Please sit." Two chairs are pulled back and Alex is sat between Edward and Peter while being in front of the Hale 'siblings'. Peter kicks her shin as she tries to focus and she glares at him. "Dig in." Alex starts right as the words sound. It smelled delicious and the taste was even better. While his sister was wolfing down the food, Peter felt a tad more awkward as the Cullens just looked at them.

"Maybe you could drink something?" He suggests and while the Cullens are distracted with pouring themselves drinks, he digs in even more than Alex.

"Ha, first." Alex smiles at her brother and he rolls his eyes at her. "You got to do the dishes." Esme's eyes widen as she shakes no.

"Oh no, we don't expect that from you!"

Peter chuckles as he raises a hand to Esme out of kindness. "It's not about here."

"Yeah, we got a buttload of dishes at home and we had a bet made on this." Emmett laughs loudly at Alex' statement while Alice and Rosalie join in. "He's the sucker of this time." Alex shrugs as she lays back in her chair. "Oh Edward," she grabs her notebook and opens it up between them. "I've got some ideas for Biology." He raises an eyebrow at the scribbles and small drawings and he chuckles.

"Maybe we should talk about this some other time." She looks down and her mouth forms in an 'o'-shape. He wasn't able to read it.

"Good idea." She closes it and places it back in her bag. "Saturday?" He nods and she smiles at him as she looks around.

Peter had strikken up a conversation and everyone started to talk among themselves while Alex just observes. She heard phrases that were made for sports, school, medical training and also questions about vampirism and being a wolf. Her ears widen at the last part, knowing fully well that there was someone that had an inkling about them. Peter didn't need to tell her, she knew him to well.

"I adore your sibling dynamic." Alex looks at the person who says it and smiles at the mother of the house. "You don't see a bond like that anymore." She smiles kindly at the Spure siblings and Alex scootches a little closer to the woman.

"It hasn't always been that way." Alex smiles over at her brother who is talking to the males of the house. "He and I had fights that didn't leave much standing." A feeling of nostalgia washes over her and she quickly shakes it off. It wasn't a good time for them.

"Really? You wouldn't say that now." Alex smiles as Alice joins in on the conversation.

"Oh yeah," she licks her lips before continuing the story. "The first time was when we first turned in wolfs, what we already told you last time. The woods were completely molested." Alex chuckles at the memory. "But that is a fond memory, just two rascals. No, yeah, we had some pretty dark times. He had fallen in love with a beautiful and perfect woman and she was the best thing that happened to him. When she was killed however, I took care of her murderer."

"And smashed a whole city on the way." Alex looks at her brother as he inserts himself in the story. "He didn't get away far." She rolls her eyes at his dramatics.

"But that's a story of where you two got along?" Esme gently asks confused. "If you don't want to tell anything that's also okay."

"Just getting to the part where..-"

"-.. where I completely messed up." Peter finishes. "I was in mourning, couldn't see reason." His eyes turn cloudy as he remembers the past. "Alex was the smarter one back then. We fought for a decade, I think?" Alex nods as she remembers the time. "A large part of the Russian clans were destroyed in our anger towards one another."

"Only because you didn't want to know that I was smarter."

"Oh I knew," Peter chuckles as he pokes her arm. "I just didn't want to admit it. Still don't."