Before The Storm | J. Hale & A. Cullen

1.1

It was dark by the time they returned to the Cullen residence. For most of the walk, they exchanged playful nudges and shoved each other often, smiling and laughing it off. At one point, Michael had hit Jasper in the back of the head with a snowball. Jasper, in retaliation, had tackled Michael and kept him pinned in the snow until it started to soak through their clothes. Not many words were actually spoken, but they weren’t needed.

The closer they got to the huge house, the less responsive and playful Michael became. Jasper wasn’t quite sure why until Michael yawned, completely having forgotten that the boy still needed sleep, to eat, and other “human” things. Jasper watched in amusement as the brunet stumbled, knowing that he was practically falling asleep as they walked. He grabbed Michael’s arm to stop him from walking any farther. Michael’s expression shifted from confusion to surprise in a matter of seconds as Jasper picked him up. He made a sound of protest, going to tell the blond that he could walk just fine, but he kept his mouth shut when Jasper half-heartedly glared down at him.

He allowed himself to be carried by the older male, relaxing into him as he walked. He rested his head against Jasper’s shoulder, deciding to close his eyes for a moment. That moment turned longer, though, as he involuntarily drifted off to sleep.

•••••••

Jasper remained silent as he carried the sleeping brunet up the front steps. He stopped to tap the door with his foot to get someone to open it, as his arms were full with a sleeping body, but the door already opened before he reached it. He was greeted by Alice. Though she tried to hide it, he could tell she was concerned. They started to walk to the stairs together to put Michael in an actual bed, but they were cut off as they passed the family room.

Jasper let out a quiet sigh of irritation, knowing that he had to explain some things to the rest of the family. Before he could say anything, Alice was already holding out her arms. After a moment of hesitation, Jasper carefully gave Michael to his wife. She carried the male up to her and Jasper’s room, glad that she had better strength than a human, as she was sure she wouldn’t have been able to carry him otherwise.

Walking into the bedroom, Alice closed the door behind herself with her foot. The brown-headed male was now awake, but just barely. Setting him down on the edge of the bed, Alice made sure he could remain sitting up by himself before letting go of him. She walked into the closet in search of clothes that would fit him. None of his clothes were in here anymore as he had taken his bag to his car.

She came out a moment later, setting the clothes down on the bed beside him. The boy’s clothes were still wet from when Jasper had pinned him in the snow. Worried that he would get sick if not taken care of soon, Alice rid the male of his clothes except for his boxers. With little to no help from the tired male, Alice dressed him in one of Jasper’s white short-sleeved shirts and light grey sweatpants.

She turned off the lamp on the bedside table as Michael laid down. She turned to leave, but she was stopped when the boy grabbed her hand. Ironically, it was close to the same action Seth had done to him over a week prior. Alice looked back at the male, only to find his sleepy gaze already focused on her.

She let out a quiet sigh as she looked down at the brunet. She knew she should be going back down to her family, but the way he was looking at her and the warmth that radiated off him was alluring. Taking off her jacket, Alice climbed into the bed with Michael.

Much to her surprise, Michael instantly buried himself into her side. He didn’t strike her as the type of guy who would enjoy cuddling, but she wrote it off as him just being tired. She felt his arms snake around her slim waist, but she wasn’t too worried about it as the man already seemed to be asleep again. Her hand instinctively found its way into his hair, gently brushing it away from his peaceful face. Admittedly, Alice wasn’t used to this; seeing someone sleep. Let alone holding them as they did. Bella had only slept over a few times when she was human. Renesmee does sleep around them at times, but that was different.

She was just a child.

Her dreams were predictable; filled with imaginary nonsense. Alice was unsure of what could possibly be going on in Michael’s mind as he slept. At points, his sleep was so deep that his breathing almost seemed to stop. It almost seemed non-existent. There were also times, though, where his breathing heavily picked up.

She was able to get it back to normal by gently rubbing his back, but she still couldn’t help but wonder what caused such a reaction from him.

•••••••

Jasper sat down on one of the couches next to Rosalie and Emmett. He didn’t speak for a while despite the obvious curiosity his family held. His gaze remained on the stairs, waiting to see if his wife would come back down to listen. He was sure that she would still be able to hear him talk from their room, but he was curious as to what made her wish to stay there with Michael.

His attention turned back to his family, and he was glad to realize that both Jacob and Renesmee weren’t there.

“I suppose I should ask if any of you have questions? I will not discuss a few things. It really isn’t my right to be giving out any of his information anyway, so I'll try to keep it from my perspective.”

There were some murmurs as they looked amongst each other, but Carlisle was the only one to actually speak.

“How do you know each other? You said you traveled alone after leaving the newborns; before Alice found you.”

“I did travel alone. I knew him before I turned.” A sigh fell through his lips, his hand raking through his blond hair. The human-like action shocked some of the others as he usually didn’t use such behaviors.

“Avery - er, sorry, Michael. He went by Avery growing up, I'm not used to his first name. Michael and I knew each other growing up. Our mothers knew each other well, so we spent a lot of time together. Michael is two years younger than I am. We never really got along well in the beginning. We eventually became close after being forced to spend so much time together. His father wasn’t around all our lives. When his mother disappeared, my mother took him and his younger sister in.

“The last time we saw each other was before I joined the war. He joined after he was informed that I had died. Said he wanted to look for me, for my mother's sake. That's all I can tell you.” Jasper got up from his spot, speaking one last time before heading up to check on his wife and his friend. “That’s enough for tonight, you can learn more from him tomorrow, if you ask.”