Bella

I don’t know how you feel about breakups and such but they’re, you know, a part of everyday life. Happens all the time. Normal. Nothing to mull over too long. Maybe after a particularly bad breakup, you shed a few tears, throw a few sodden tissues on the ground, then you forget about it after a few months.

But Alice and Jasper breaking up is near unbelievable. I mean, after seeing them together for a just a few months, you can see that every atom of their body is practically made for each other. Them breaking up is almost one of the final signs of the apocalypse.

Seriously.

Which is probably why I just stood there for a long, long while, gawping obscenely at Alice and my head spinning. Part of me was thinking, What the frick? and the other part of me was screaming, Oh God. Oh God oh God oh God…

‘What am I going to do??’ she sobbed, burying her head under the white - with some unsightly eyeliner stains on them that would surely freak Alice out later - and letting out distressed hiccups.

‘Jasper… broke up… you??’ I repeated, trying to get my head around it.

‘Yes!!’

‘You two broke UP??’ I shrieked in horror.

‘Y-Yes!’

‘BROKE UP??’

‘No, this is all just some sadistic joke and I’m purposely letting my mascara smudge the sheets and Ashton fucking Kutcher is going to jump out any moment now and yell, “You got Punk’d!” or whatever the hell that annoying shit says.’ Alice stopped crying long enough to send me a death glare.

‘Oh, God. I’m so, so sorry, Alice.’ I hurriedly wrapped my arms around Alice tightly, head still spinning. It just didn’t make any logical sense. Even trying to picture them separated hurt my head. Very severely. My mouth was as dry as Gandhi’s flip flop, I licked my lips hoarsely. They’ve broken up.

B-R-O-K-E-N U-P.

BROKEN UP.

BROKEN up.

Broken UP.

Nah, it still sounds as terrifying no matter much I change the damn inflections.

Alice continued crying into my shoulder, and by the time she was done she quietly sighed, ‘Well, I suppose it’s for the best.’

I forcibly wheeled Alice around to face me. ‘You WHAT?’

‘The fact that Jazzy and I aren’t together anymore, I mean.’ she explained patiently, smiling a tiny smile as forced as the dialogue in the interview portion of “Jeopardy”. ‘It’s probably for the best.’ he lower lip wobbled dangerously.

‘Alright, first, tell me everything that happened. Start from the beginning.’ I demanded, pulling off my shoes.

Alice gave a great rattling gasp, lifted her red eyes towards the heavens as though saying a little prayer, and began.

‘Alright, so it all began yesterday. As you very well know, it was our two-year anniversary, so we celebrated it at some restaurant, can’t remember where. It was kind of close to Chelsea Piers though. So we ate, we drank, we had a fantastic time. I remember thinking… I remember thinking…’ Alice’s voice began to choke up again. ‘I remember thinking: “This is bliss. This is what it feels like to be in heaven, to be happy”. You know the feeling?’ Alice looked at me beseechingly.

‘Urm. Actually I was just thinking it this morning.’ I said, surprised at the sort-of coincidence. How weird is that?

‘Alright, so, after the dinner, we both came out of the restaurant, and we walked along the pier. It was beautiful, I tell you.’ Alice sighed contentedly, lost in the memory. ‘The stars were just so bright, and the sky was inky black, a kind of dark violet-y color. The sea was mesmerizing. It was like some surreal dream. We were both kind of talking and laughing and it felt so nice… I was holding his hand… and then Jazzy stopped walking. He turned to face me and I couldn’t speak. At all. You ever get that feeling?’

‘Yeah. Countless times. Go on.’

‘I could’ve sworn he wanted to propose there and then. I mean, the time was right. We were walking along a pier, it was close to midnight, it was so fucking romantic, seriously. We’d been dating for two years. I remember him looking so damn perfect in the moonlight. His hair was all gelled back and he looked delicious. My hands were in his and… and… he knelt down.’

I did a double take. ‘He KNELT down?? As in… marriage??’

‘And oh GOD, Bells, I was so fucking STUPID. My breath kind of just got stuck in my throat and I just blurted out “YES” before he could even pop the question. What kind of idiot does that??’ Alice placed her face in her hands and howled. ‘Turns out he wasn’t even going to propose.’

‘WHAT??’

‘YES! I KNOW! He was just bending down to pick some penny from the ground. He heard me say “YES”, of course, and he asked me, “Yes? What d’you mean by ‘yes’?” then he looked at his kneeling position and he stood up and kind of laughed nervously. He said, “You didn’t think I was going to ask you to marry me, did you?”’

‘Oh, my GOD.’

‘I KNOW! Then I asked, “Is the idea of us getting married that repulsive?”, but kind of in a joking way, you know, to cover up for my mistake. And then Jasper went and said… he said…’ Alice dissolved into tears again.

‘What?? What did he say??’ I flapped my arms, though I kind of already knew what was going to happen next.

‘He told me, “Well, yeah.” then I looked at him and said, “You’re joking right??” and he said, “I mean, come on. Marriage? You and I both know we’re not ready for that yet, Alice.” and he put his hand around me and kind of wanted to continue walking but I wouldn’t let him. I pushed his hand away and demanded, “Not ready? We’ve been dating for TWO YEARS. Surely marriage might be a slight possibility.” and then Jazzy laughed and said, “I didn’t say it wasn’t a possibility. Maybe it’s something we should think about later on.” and me being completely stupid and moronic refused to drop the subject. And… you know what happened next.’ Alice concluded miserably. She slumped against her pillows, looking exhausted.

‘You guys just kept arguing until… you broke up with him?’ I ventured.

‘Yeah. He’s a commitment phobe, Bells!!’

I could sort of see Alice’s side of the argument. Alice is just one of those people who absolutely adores anything and everything to do with weddings, down to the very last rose petal or pink satin sash. I dunno, I’ve always been kind of intimidated by weddings. She’s been telling me lately that she wants to get married before she’s thirty, which is about four years away.

‘You couldn’t have stayed with him longer? I mean, he might’ve changed his mind in a few more months.’

‘Yeah, right! You should’ve heard him, Bells. All that crap about not being ready and marriage being too permanent and he didn’t want to “risk” destroying our relationship. I, of course, blew my top. I really shouldn’t have overreacted, actually. I went a bit overboard.’

I repressed a snort. Knowing Alice, her version of “a bit overboard” was probably skewed.

‘Jazzy backed off, kind of defensively. We argued. For quite a while. I think we got a little heated though, people were starting to look.’

‘What happened then?’

‘I stormed off first and I left him calling after me, he was asking me not to go, and that he was sorry. I didn’t listen to him.’ Alice’s face paled considerably.

‘You know what I think?’

‘What?’

‘I think you shouldn’t have just stomped off like that.’

‘What else could I do?? Jazzy actually gave me this lecture about why marriage was STUPID and UNWISE and there was plenty more time before we could consider the option… and I asked him why the hell he was so afraid of marriage. He didn’t answer that question.’ Alice said gloomily. ‘And what’s the point of staying in a relationship that isn’t going anywhere? I want to get married, Bells.’ she looked up at me tearfully, curling the sheets around her fingers. ‘You understand, right? I just had to break it off. We weren’t going anywhere.’

‘Completely.’ I assured her, giving Alice another hug, glad the crying was over. ‘So you’re never going to see Jazzy again? Ever?’

‘What would the point of a breakup be if I still saw him everyday? Besides, it’ll hurt too much.’ Alice stated, burrowing deeper within her protective sheets.

I stayed silent. Jasper without Alice? Alice without Jasper? It was inconceivable. They were like Romeo and Juliet. Bonnie and Clyde. Yoko and Lennon. Angelina Jolie and Brad Pitt. Posh and Becks. Seal and Heidi Klum. Ben Affleck and Jennifer Garner. Even Vanessa Hudgens and that Zac/Zack guy, damnit!

‘It hurts.’ Alice said in a small voice.

Wordlessly, I leaned over and gave her yet another hug, trying to convey to Alice that it was going to be alright.

Author's Note: Sorry for the long wait. :D Review? Kind of busy at the moment. Drowning in a sea of homework, actually. And a few stupid assignments gah. Exams are coming up too O: