"You're not going to go easy on me, are you?" Michael asked as he stared at Jasper.

"Not a chance," the blond replied with a grin.

They were standing out behind the back of the house. Michael was shirtless, enjoying as much of the rare sunlight as he could. Emmett had dared the two of them to spar, and they decided to make it a bet. Whoever lost got to be dressed by Alice for the next month. They had yet to tell her such, but they knew her well enough to know she would be thrilled by the opportunity.

"Come on, you know that's not fair!" Michael huffed faintly as he shot Jasper a small glare. "You have had more training than I have. Your technique is better."

Jasper perked up at the small praise before he shrugged his shoulders. "That's your problem, not mine. I'm not going to be the one to get all dressed up."

Michael rolled his eyes before he relaxed his posture. He changed his stance as he placed his footing, trying to get any advantage he could. He watched as Jasper's body language shifted, and he braced himself as the blond came at him.

The breath was knocked from his chest as their bodies collided. He kept his footing under him as the momentum moved him backward.

He slid around the blond, ducking under his outstretched arm. He wrapped his arms around Jasper's throat, only to get yanked forward and flipped over the blond's shoulder.

He let out a small wheeze as his back smacked the ground, but he was back up on his feet before he could be pinned.

He moved before the blond could, knocking Jasper's legs out from under him. Jazz grabbed hold of him on his way down, bringing Michael down with him.

Michael, taking advantage of the situation, wrapped his legs around Jasper's neck as he pinned down one of his arms. He panicked slightly at the sound of cracking marble, loosening the amount of pressure his thighs were using to hold the blond still.

Using Michael's panic to his advantage, Jasper turned his head and bit Michael's inner thigh.

Michael let out a yelp of surprise, his hold instantly failing as a dark blush marked his face. Jasper had him pinned to the ground before he could react.

An involuntary moan left his mouth as Jasper sank his fangs into his neck. He felt himself relax underneath Jasper's body. He reached up, wrapping his hand in short blond hair to pull the older male closer.

Next thing he knew, Jasper was ripped away from him. Michael let out a small hiss of pain as Jasper's fangs tore his skin.

He dropped his head back to the ground as his chest rose and fell with each deep breath. He grabbed the hand held out to him, pulling himself up with Rosalie's help. His eyes landed on Jasper, who was watching him with a look of horror. When Michael looked back down at himself, he realized why. The blood from the torn wound was running down his torso from his neck.

He furrowed his eyebrows in confusion before he raised his hand to touch the wound. It didn't hurt. Not even slightly. As he touched it, an involuntary shiver worked through his body. He quickly dropped his hand again.

"It doesn't hurt," he said as he looked back at Jasper. "Really, it doesn't. I'm fine, Jazz."

Jasper shook his head, refusing to believe the brunet. He took a couple of steps back, before turning around and running off into the forest.

With a small sigh, Michael followed Rosalie and Emmett back inside.

•••••••

Alice walked through the quiet house in search of her sister. Her expression filled with confusion when she finally found Rosalie.

The blonde female was pacing back and forth in front of Alice's and Jasper's shared room. Her face was set in a scowl and her appearance seemed a bit disheveled. Her hair was still wrapped up in a bun, but some strands had escaped and were now framing her face.

Upon spotting Alice, Rosalie turned her back to her and gestured for Alice to follow as she walked into the bedroom. They watched as Emmett cursed in frustration, not aware of his mate entering the room with Alice.

“Goddammit!” He exclaimed. “Just sit still for two fucking seconds, Mike!”

Michael let out a low growl toward Emmett at his irritated tone. His glare was harsh as he spoke, “It’s not my fault! Yeah, I decided to wear tight jeans, but it’s not my fault that I have a fucking boner - ”

Michael’s words cut off as he caught sight of Rosalie and Alice in the room, a blush rapidly covering his face. He instantly looked away from the two women, his blush burning bright.

“Okay, I'm not sure I want to know about those details, but what happened?” Alice spoke, her eyes focused on the blood that is running down Michael’s neck and onto his tan chest.

Rosalie shrugged in response as she watched Emmett help Michael clean up the blood. “Your husband is a very messy eater, it seems,” she spoke, casting a glance at the shorter woman.

Alice remained quiet for a moment before getting over her shock, looking at Rosalie before questioning, “Jazz did this?”

Rosalie nodded her head, a teasingly little smirk forming on her face. “Mhm; made Mike moan some too. At least now, maybe Jasper will realize that Mike’s interested in him.”

Michael's face flushed more in embarrassment at her words.

"Rose!" He hissed out, "Shut up! That's not -- No! That's not cool!"

His gaze flickered back over to Alice before he shyly looked away once he saw her already staring at him.

"You know," she muttered under her breath, "That actually makes everything make a lot more sense."

She dropped the topic then, noting that Michael seemed uncomfortable discussing that conversation with Rosalie and Emmett present in the room.

She walked over and sat down next to Michael on the bed. Her thigh was pressed against his, but neither of them seemed to care.

"By the way, Alice," Emmett began, "You get Michael as your own personal dress-up doll for the next month, considering he lost the fight."

Michael instantly spoke up, his brows furrowed in confusion. "What?" He asked. "How? I had him pinned first!"

Rosalie shrugged as she taped the last bandage down over his wound.

"He got out of it. You didn't even try to get unpinned. You lost."

Michael huffed before lying down on his back, but he didn't try to argue.

Alice got up from her spot next to him and headed over to the closet. "Might as well start now," she muttered. She looked through all of the shirts before settling on a simple cream-colored sweater.

She left the closet, walking back over to Michael as she realized Rosalie and Emmett had left. She handed him the sweater as he sat back up, watching him pull it on. Her eyes flickered over to the envelope sitting on the bedside table.

"Was it important?" She asked. "Rosalie briefly mentioned it, but she changed the topic right after."

He shrugged his shoulders as he lied back down, watching Alice as she laid down next to him.

"It was from Raphael. Well, she and another girl named Diana. I guess you could call them part of my coven. They were wondering when I'd be back home." He took her hand in his as he spoke, absent-mindedly playing with her fingers. "I haven't responded yet. I don't really want to leave. I…I came here for Izzy, but I've grown to love this family, and I'm not sure if I could bring myself to say goodbye."

Alice was quiet for a moment before saying, "Then don't. Don't say goodbye. The plan is to stay here for another year or two, so Renesmee can grow up here some more. You and your family could always move here with us."

Michael faintly nodded his head while listening to her, thinking about the possibility instead of instantly denying it like he normally would.

He looked back down at her hands, briefly rubbing her thumb over her wedding ring.

"You know," he spoke quietly, "I always thought I would be there when he got married. Maybe not the way I wanted at the time, but I guess I would have wanted to be there anyway. So he would know, no matter what, that I was always going to be around."

Alice laced her fingers through his. "You still can, you know. Lord knows someone has a new wedding every time we move."

Michael made a quiet sound of agreement as he stared down at their hands, rubbing small circles on the back of her hand with his thumb.

"You love him, don't you?"

Michael froze as soon as the words were said. The silence stretched on for over a minute before Michael finally nodded his head. The words were caught in his throat, so the silent answer was all he could do.

"Does he know?" She asked as she lightly rubbed her thumb over his scarred knuckles.

"I don't think so," he spoke quietly, keeping his gaze on their hands to hide his face behind his hair. "If he does, he's never acknowledged it. He's never brought it up or hinted that he knows."

"When did you realize it?" She asked softly, before adding on with a small smile, "I think I was in love with him before I even met him. The premonitions were all I needed from him to swoon."

"I was fourteen when it first hit me what I was feeling. It was summertime. It was one of the hottest days in the summer, and humid, too. You can't really expect anything else when you live in Texas."

He shot her a small grin when she giggled, a faint blush dusting his face.

"Jazz and I were down the street from our house. We were working for Mr. And Mrs. McQuaide. Doing chores, mostly. Their last child had just moved out and they were too busy to take over, so in return for us helping out, they let us borrow their horses whenever we wanted. Jasper was a professional at it - "

"Why is that not surprising?" Alice cut in with a small smile.

"I know," Michael replied with a grin of his own. "Anyway, I was a complete amateur in that area. I had never even been up close to a horse before, let alone rode one. He ended up getting up on the horse with me and he helped me work through the motions. It took a little longer than it probably should have because I was painfully aware of how close to me he was. It wasn't until I was lying in bed that night that I realized exactly why I felt like that around him."

Alice smiled as she laid back down beside him. She raised their hands to her lips, pressing a small kiss to the back of his hand.

"Well," she started softly, "All I have to say, is thank you. Thank you for loving our boy for me."

Michael blushed at her words, but he flashed her a sheepish grin in return.

"It was my pleasure."