Perspicuous (J.HALE)

13

"Good morning, Ginge," Emmett sang as I dropped my bag onto the couch, holding Ethan against my shoulder.

"Morning, Emmett," I said, shooting him a smile.

"Can you not come up with anything more creative?" Alice asked her brother, expression unimpressed.

He shrugged. "If it ain't broke, don't fix it."

She shook her head at him as she approached me, before offering me a wide smile. She gently placed a hand on Ethan's back and pushed herself up onto her tiptoes in glee, eyes glimmering.

"You want to hold him?" I asked.

She grinned. "He's just too cute to resist, isn't he?"

"Little player," Emmett called from across the room.

"I know, right? He's such a little ladies' man at the moment," I said, smiling as she scooped him from my arms.

"I'll take him for a bit, if you want," Alice said, meeting my eyes and smirking slightly. "Give you some time."

I blinked at her. "For what?"

"There are no secrets in this house, Imogen."

I swallowed. "Oh."

"He's upstairs."

"I didn't...I wasn't..."

"Just go," she laughed. "It's only Emmett and I in the house today, and we will close our ears."

I cringed and flushed bright red but did not protest.

I couldn't bear to even glance in Emmett's direction, knowing that the goading waiting for me wasn't worth sticking around for. I practically sprinted up the stairs and along the corridor, opening Jasper's bedroom door without knocking and tumbling inside with a burning face. He looked up from his phone as I leaned against the door, clicking it shut behind me, and buried my face in my hands.

"Oh my God, I hate myself," I groaned.

"What?"

"That was unbearable," I whined.

He appeared in front of me in an instant and gently pulled my hands away from my face. "What happened?"

"I'm mortified," I said, pressing the back of my palm to my forehead.

"Ah, Emmet?" Jasper said, mildly amused. "Yeah, he has that effect on people."

"I hate that you're all so honest with each other," I said, scowling up at him. "Why aren't you dysfunctional like the rest of us?"

"I can't help it," he said. "Literally. Alice sees it happening before I even have the chance to tell her, and Emmett wheedles it out of her before I can stop him."

His hands were still on my arms. He was also a lot closer than I'd been prepared for.

I swallowed. "I suppose it's not your fault."

"Believe me, I get it just as bad as you," he said. "Rosalie won't shut up about it."

I raised an eyebrow. "Rosalie? Really?"

"She's relentless," he said, nodding. "It's impressive."

"Huh."

I then realised that I was caught between the door and his body, and the space suddenly felt very small. Not confining, just close. He seemed to notice the proximity too, his eyes flickering down to the few centimetres between our chests then back up to my face. He didn't release my forearms from his grasp.