Chapter Text
PART ONE
There had probably been six months that Alice was overdue on the return of a book to the public library in her neighborhood. She wasn't a regular at the place, really. In fact, Alice was almost positive she had lost the book they were emailing her about.
She had been choosing to ignore it for the past weeks, shamefully erasing each email as she told herself to look for the book later. Which she never really did. The reason she got it in the first place was because Bella, her geekiest friend of all times, had agreed to undergo a makeover if Alice would swing by the library with her for a few hours. Which she did but in the middle of her boredom, she ended up with a library card and taking some cheesy novel home—that she now couldn't really find.
Alice prized books a whole lot, it was just that the ambiance of a library didn't really fit her character. She liked the smell of new books and appreciated browsing through bookstores. But there was something about libraries that screamed desperate old lady to her.
Maybe it was due to the fact that, when Alice was three, her mother, Esme, would routinely take her to the local library. Mrs. Harrington, the librarian, was this older lady who, although strangely lovely, seemed to unintentionally scare the kids with her constant shushing and reprimanded stares.
To the woman's defense, Alice's brother, Emmett, happened to be the loudest guy in the room at all times, and the Cullen children often got sentenced by his mischiefs.
So all resulted in Alice not being the most enamored when the subject came to libraries. She tagged along with Bella and didn't invest any further into the book membership. Losing the novel was a pretty bad move on her end, though.
It would have been alright had Alice not accidentally told Bella—who was appalled by it.
"I have a good reputation there, you know?" She had told Alice with a disapproving gaze. "And you know if you don't return, they'll just keep increasing your fee, right?"
That did worry Alice. She couldn't really locate the book and Alice hated to be owing anyone anything. Money, especially, even if it was merely the city's library. She read on one of their emails about her being able to bring another book to compensate for the lost one, which would have to be the solution to her problem.
Carrying a whole pile of books, Alice entered the library, hoping they would forgive her for the slip. A line led up to the librarians, and this old lady was helping it move very slowly. The woman immediately reminded her of the ancient Mrs. Harrington and Alice got the chills. Such a ridiculous thought, to be afraid that the strict stares the woman could give her would be similar to her old librarian. She didn't need to be so nervous, Alice reminded herself mentally, she wasn't seven anymore.
The fact that her pile almost covered Alice completely didn't truly help with having to stand in line either. Alice had figured if one book could forgive another's loss, the pile would just have them forget her altogether. It had been a nonsense idea in the first place, as she couldn't see herself frequenting the site that often.
As the line moved along, and Alice was next to be seen, another attendant joined the counter and called up for Alice. He was nothing like the old lady next to him.
She stood there for a millisecond, taking a good look at the tall fella. He had these blonde locks cascading along his cheeks, his eyes were an intense green covered by glasses that sat sloppily on his nose. He stared at the screen in front of him and keyboarded with purpose. What a cute nerd, Alice mused to herself.
When she didn't move, the librarian looked up, adjusting his glasses on his face with sudden realization.
"Do you need help, ma'am?" Before Alice could say anything, he was already jogging around the counter to meet her at the line.
"Oh, yeah." She mumbled, starstruck to the sight of him right there at her face. He was even more charming than Alice had glimpsed before. Jawline strong, a dimple on his cheek, and a devilish crooked smile.
"Got it." He released Alice of her misery and she followed along to the counter. When they were both there, and he was placing her pile down for inspection, Alice managed to catch his nametag.
Jasper .
"Thank you, Jasper." When she made use of his name so clear and efficiently, he looked up to meet her gaze, smiling a very welcoming and broad grin.
"My pleasure, ma'am. Lots of returns today?" He asked as his eyes darted back to the books, inspecting it, attempting to find the library logo.
"Actually, I lost a book I had borrowed months ago. I got some emails that said I could replace it with new books?" Jasper nodded, and Alice continued, "So I figured I'd resolve it already."
"Well, you only need to bring one." He explained to her. "May I see your library card?"
Alice fished for it in her pocket—she had been prepared before when she first came in, shoving the unused plastic card in her back pocket because she knew they would need it. "Here you go."
"Thank you, Alice." It sounded peculiar to hear her name rolling out his tongue, but Alice appreciated her took the time to mention. As if he was acknowledging the fact she had said his before. "Well, there is a fifty dollar fee accumulated, but if you're thinking about donating these books, I can see to have the late fee waived." He explained and that made Alice promptly nod.
"Absolutely, yeah! Take them all. I don't read them anymore." She rushed into the sentence and figured that he would have a strong book appreciation if he was a librarian. Alice didn't want to sound like she didn't care about books. "I've just been on this different reading vibe." She explained as a comeback.
"What is it that you read?" As Jasper typed away on the computer, she wasn't sure if he was genuinely interested in the question or just making conversation for the sake of not standing there awkwardly. She decided to be vague just in case he wasn't remotely interested.
"A lot of war books lately, actually."That made him look up at her, gazing the petit woman over his glasses, with a perplexed smile.
"Really? I wouldn't take you for that type of reading."
Alice laughed, feeling her cheeks heat up slightly.
"Well, don't judge a book by its cover." She taunted.
"Not the cover, but the previous content." He tapped the pile of books Alice was donating, which were a collection of Nora Roberts type of romances. Alice shook her head.
"I did have that phase, yeah. But I like the war books for the fashion content. That's my field of study, and I really dig the late forties style." She explained to the man. Jasper, on the other hand, only seemed more mystified, eyebrow raised at her. "Very girly, I know."
"Sounds neat, actually." He smiled before pulling out a paper the machine had just printed. "Here's your receipt, Alice. You're all set to get new books anytime. Just remember to always return them within the month or renew it. We have drop-off boxes outside that can facilitate if you're in a hurry."
"Thanks!" Alice took the paper with a smile, shoving it inside her purse. She hadn't been planning to go back to the library, now she wasn't that sure of it anymore. "Have a good day, Jasper. Thanks for your help."
"Anytime, Alice."
It was utterly stupid that Alice now wanted to go to the library because of the cute guy helping her with the late return. She hadn't stepped foot there a single time, so how utterly stupid would she be if now, after seeing him, Alice just became a regular? Borderline creepy, she told herself. Sure the librarian was a nice piece of ass, but neither Alice, who had been single for quite some time, was that desperate to pursue a man to the point where she stalked him at work. She just would not do it.
Instead, Alice pushed the idea of him aside and carried on with her regular life. It had been a whole week ever since the library when they bumped into each other at the supermarket. Quite literally, actually.
Alice had been texting and " driving " her shopping cart and didn't see when it ran right into Jasper's—who was adequately parked on the side of the aisle, while he inspected the products on the shelves.
"Fuck." Alice cursed under her breath and glanced up from her phone to an appalled Jasper. "I mean—sorry. I was super distracted." Honestly, Alice should have been paying more attention. Looking at memes her friends sent her weren't a priority when cruising the supermarket halls. She was shocked to run into the guy that hadn't left her mind these past days. Was this some sort of fate prank?
Jasper adjusted his glasses to his face very calmly and gave her a crooked grin. "It's not a problem." He swore, and his eyes returned to the shelves.
Alice's disappointment was evident. He didn't remember her. Why would he really? The man probably helped dozens of people throughout the day. What was so special about her that would remark him? Still, she didn't want to move away, so she gave her best thinking face.
"It's Jasper, isn't it?" Getting his attention back, Alice smiled. "Library guy."
He was eyeing her doubtful, but it soon faded into realization. "The girl with all the books." So he did remember. Her name hadn't been that important, though, as it seemed. Alice couldn't hide her hurt ego and feeling like a complete idiot.
"Yep, that's me."
This time, it was her turn to eye the shelves, pretending any of those products were on her list, as she inspected the brands.
"So, you come here often?" There was something on the way he asked it, mostly because Jasper was trying to make conversation, but he had no idea how to even begin. Alice found it endearing, so she smiled at him.
"Yeah, I live in the area."
"I do, too, just down on Myrtle." Alice's eyes widened at the revelation.
"I'm on Myrtle!"
"Really? I've never seen you there, that's funny." Jasper chuckled, interested now. "I do spend a lot of time in the library, though."
"I never saw you there before, you know. But then again, I don't go there that often."
They both shared a chuckle at that and Jasper added, "I figured when I saw the late fee. Don't like or don't have time?"
Her face twisted a little, considering whether or not her honest answer would be a big turn off for the guy. She did want to see him again. "Mhm, I do like books. I just have an awful experience with libraries."
Jasper frowned, "How so?"
"When I was little, we went to the public library a lot, but we had a really mean librarian. To her credit, my brother was very noisy. But she always gave us the worst looks. I was terrified." Alice shared with amused laughter. It was ridiculous now that she said it out loud to a stranger.
"Libraries aren't that terrifying anymore. You should come more often." His glasses seemed to have slid down on his nose a little, so Jasper properly adjusted it to place, smiling kindly at Alice. "We even have book club meetings."
"What kind of books you read there?"
"All kinds here. We're currently finishing The Hunger Games." He said with amusement. "We normally put some options up and vote for them."
"That sounds cool, actually."
"You should swing by." That was the second time he was inviting her there, so Alice figured she would end up going there after all. "But, you can't lose the book this time."
Alice felt her cheeks fluster as he chuckled. "I'll try."
Jasper was surprised to see the short-haired brunette walking into the book club by Bella Swan's side on Wednesday night. She shyly waved at him, so he went up to the two ladies, whom he had no clue that were friends.
"Bella, hey. You brought a friend." His eyes were on Alice all along, not able to hide his content that she had, in fact, came to the book club. "Hi, Alice."
A week and a half before, when he had helped in line, Jasper had been mesmerized by the brunette. She was for once the shortest girl he'd met—and he had a thing for short girls. He was pretty tall himself, and Jasper exceedingly appreciated that kind of height difference.
He had thought about her during the entire week. She was astonishingly gorgeous, and her enthusiasm was something Jasper hadn't been expecting. Foolishly he had awaited maybe Alice felt the same spark, that she would stroll back into the library looking for a book, and that they would talk. But it never happened.
When they ran into each other at the supermarket, he couldn't help but think it was a sign. He truly believed in those sorts of things, so he made conversation—as much of it as he could in a grocery store aisle. Jasper was admittedly terrible at making small talk, and what was he going to ask her about? Juice brands?
Still, he must have made some impression because there she was. Or maybe her friend just had convinced her.
"You know Alice?" Bella broke the staring contest between Alice and Jasper, with a raised brow.
"We met here at the library." He explained, but that only made Bella look even more confused.
"I was coming to bring back that book I had late," Alice explained, peering at her best friend for a moment, smiling casually.
"Ah! At last." The three laughed.
Jasper nodded lastly, "Nice that you joined the book club after all."
Bella seemed to be putting two and two together, to why she hadn't had to force Alice to come this time, and how the brunette had readily accepted her invitation to join. Maybe, just maybe, Bella thought, Alice was interested in Jasper.
At the end of the book club meeting, Jasper gathered the guts to chat with Alice again. She had been hanging on her own by the cookies table, eyeing them with hesitation.
"There's no going wrong with chocolate chips." He told her with a smile.
"I guess you're right. I was just hoping for a cup of coffee, but that seems to be over." She lamented, looking up to him.
"That's something I never understand… It's not good coffee." They both could agree to that, so Alice laughed. "What you say we go out for a coffee?"
Alice felt her heart skip, but then her face dropped. "Now?"
"Is that a problem?" Jasper frowned, slightly disappointed.
"No, no. It's just that I was going to give Bella a ride." Alice, too, seemed to be disappointed at the realization she'd have to skip on finding out more about Jasper.
"Ah! I get it…"
"How about tomorrow, though?" Alice suggested and observed his expression light up. "We're neighbors, after all."
"That's right! Almost forgot." He hadn't really. Jasper had spent the last two days hoping to run into her again, anywhere in their neighborhood.
"Do you know the Blue Brew?" Jasper nodded, "So how about we meet there, say at eight?" She had a meeting two hours after, but she hoped that would be plenty of time for them.
"That's perfect, yeah." He was usually up early to run, so he figured it would be great to meet her for coffee before he had to go to work.
"It's settled." Alice nodded, at last fishing for the cookie.
"It's a date."