Jasper pushed open the door to the small apartment they had been calling home for the past 6 months and the small smile that had been gracing his features instantly fell. He should have seen it coming but things had actually seemed like they were working out for once. The empty vodka bottle on the coffee table and the sight of his unconscious mother slumped on the sofa told him that her vow of sobriety had obviously been too good to be true.

He dumped his backpack on the floor before slowly walking further into the room. He stared down at the only parent he had and, for a fleeting moment, he was disgusted with her. It was four o'clock on a Friday afternoon and she was already passed out drunk with smudged makeup and a line of drool tickling towards her chin. Disgust soon turned to resignation. He had long ago given up on any expectation of having what most people considered to be a normal mom and it wasn't as if he hadn't come home to this same scene a hundred times before. He was tempted to just leave her where she was but his sister would be home soon. Rosalie was just as used to seeing their mother like this as he was but they had been enrolled in their current school long enough for her to start making friends and she had started to relax enough to bring them home occasionally. It would be much better if Jasper could get his mother into her bedroom. The problem would still be there but at least it would be behind closed doors. He just hoped he didn't have to carry her.

"Maria, wake up." he said but there was no response. He nudged her foot with his own but still she lay there without moving. He nudged her again a little harder and raised his voice more. "Hey, I said wake the fuck up."

Maria lifted her head and opened her eyes but it took her a moment to actually focus on him. When she did, her smile was almost identical to the one he had been wearing moments before. "Hey baby, what you doin' home?" she slurred. "You should be in school."

"School finished for the day, Maria." he replied, pulling her unsteadily to her feet. Even with his arms to guide her, her body swayed as she started to walk.

"You never call me momma no more. You might think you're all grown up but you're still my baby boy, Jasper."

Jasper ignore her statement to ask what he felt was a very pertinent question. "Why aren't you in work, Maria?"

"I hated that damn job anyway. Boss was an asshole."

"You got fired." It was a statement rather than a question.

"It'll be ok. I'll get another job."

"Did he pay you everything you were owed?"

"Asshole was going to dock my wages. I told him he could shove what was left where the sun don't shine."

Jasper didn't see the point in asking what had happened or shouting about how they needed the money. What was done was done. Besides, Maria wasn't exactly in any fit state to have a conversation about it. If he wasn't supporting most of her body weight as they walked, she would have hit the floor after just a few steps. When they finally reached her bed and he was able to lay her down, her eyes closed almost as soon as her head hit the pillow. Jasper stayed long enough to pull of her shoes and make sure she was lying on her side before leaving her to sleep it off.

When he got back to the living room, Rosalie was home and thankfully alone.

"I take it mommy dearest is passed out." She said as she sniffed the top of the empty vodka bottle. "Smells like she went for cheap and nasty this time."

"She got fired."

"Shit." Rosalie replied. "Rent's due at the end of the week."

"I know."

"I saw Rick the Dick on the way up the stairs." Rosalie said, referring to the superintendent of their apartment building. "He made sure to remind me that we still owe some from last month."

"I know." Jasper repeated, as he walked past her into the kitchen.

He opened one of the cupboards and took out an old, battered looking tin. He took out the contents but a quick count of the bills inside confirmed his suspicion that the money it contained was not going to be enough.

"He's not going to let it role again."

"I know, Rosalie! I know!" Jasper repeated again, shouting as some of the anger he felt towards his mother leaked out. He instantly realized that he shouldn't be directing it at his twin sister. None of this was her fault. "Sorry…I just-"

"It's ok." she cut him off with a shrug. She didn't blame him for shouting. She was angry too. She reached for her purse and added twenty dollars to the pile. "That's all I've got left from this weeks wages."

"Will you be able to get an advance?" Jasper asked

Rosalie had managed to land herself a part time job working in a small boutique in the mall. It was only Saturday mornings and a couple of after school shifts during the week but she loved it, especially the great discount she got on the clothes they sold. Any time the other girls who worked their had asked for an advance, they had been refused. She didn't see why her boss would change the rules for her. Still, there was no harm in trying.

"I'll ask." she replied. "Even if they say yes, we'll still be short."

"Yeah." Jasper sighed. "Don't worry. I'll get it."

"How?" She asked, uncertain of whether she actually wanted to know the details.

Jasper had no intention of answering her question. Instead, he gave her what he hoped would be a reassuring smile and headed towards his bedroom.

"Everything's going to be fine, Rose." he said before shutting the door behind him.

Rosalie was left alone in the living room and she had no choice but try to believe him. After all, he'd always managed to get the money when they'd been in the same situation before. She didn't have any reason to start doubting him now.

Two hours later, Jasper was in downtown Port Angeles. The near constant drizzle had thankfully stopped and he hoped that it would stay that way for the rest of the evening because the park bench he was sitting on didn't offer much in the way of shelter. There were still a few younger teens hanging out by the skate ramps a little further up the path but he didn't think they would be there much longer. Dusk was starting to fall. It was nearing the time that they would have to get home before their mothers started to worry about them. Jasper was only seventeen years old but he couldn't remember the last time Maria even inquired about where he had been when he got home after midnight on a school night. It was probably better that she didn't worry about him. It made it easier for him to do what he was doing. On the flip side, if she was the sort of mom that actually cared he wouldn't need to be doing this in the first place. Not that he was actually doing anything yet, apart from waiting. As the saying goes, the freaks only come out at night so it was still a little on the early side. It was only a matter of time though. He knew that he would catch someone's eye sooner or later.

His mind wandered as he sat and waited and he found himself thinking of his fucked up childhood and how this had all started. It was one of his mother's boyfriends that made him realize that it was something that even happened. He had just turned fourteen and they were still living in Texas. Maria had been seeing Kevin for three months. They fought constantly and both had low paying jobs and a drinking problems. So, it was no surprise to come home one day to an argument about money. He wasn't intentionally listening in. It was just impossible not to hear them as they talked and shouted at each other. At one point Kevin said it was a pity Rosalie wasn't a bit older because she would make plenty of money if he put her to work. Then he said Jasper was nearly as pretty as Rosalie so why not him too. He had laughed, trying to pass his comments off as a joke but Jasper didn't think he was joking, not completely. Apparently, neither did Maria because they moved out soon after that.

When he was fifteen, they were living in Denver, Colorado. Jasper used to hang out in a park not all that different from this one. One evening when all of his friends had gone home and he had somehow ended up alone, a man approached him and offered him $50. He said all Jasper had to do was let the man blow him off. Jasper had called him a pervert and told him to fuck off but as Maria's drinking got worse and their financial situation declined, that $50 started to look more and more tempting.

He couldn't remember making any conscious decision but he started to loiter in the park after his friends had all gone home for the evening. It didn't take long for someone to notice him. That first time, he wasn't sure that he was even going to be able to get it up. Standing in a cubicle of a less than hygienic public bathroom with some strange guy's mouth around him had never been a part of his spank bank fantasies. He just closed his eyes and pretended that it was Maggie Richards' lips around his dick. It wasn't too far a stretch of the imagination because that was exactly where her lips had been after a party the previous Friday night. However, it turned out that, as fantastic as Maggie had been, the guy whose name he didn't even know had a lot more skill than a fifteen year old girl. Before he knew it, Jasper had been hard with a capital H. He didn't just cum, he erupted and the guy swallowed every last drop.

He wouldn't exactly call it a pleasurable experience though. It was too tainted by shame and paranoia. He spent weeks worrying that people would know what he had done just by looking at him. He spent weeks flirting with pretty much every girl he knew in an effort to reaffirm his heterosexual status while also secretly checking out the guys as well, trying to figure out if he was even the slightest bit attracted to them too. It had been confusing and weird and he didn't think he would ever do it again but, just when he was starting to feel normal again his battered biker boots finally gave up the ghost and wore through. The second time wasn't as bad in some respects but it wasn't as good in others either. Still, neither were as awful as the first time the guy he was with wanted to reverse roles. It was one thing to have someone blow him but to do that to another guy for the first time, a guy he didn't know, wasn't in the least bit attracted too and was three times his age, had filled him with revulsion. He had done it though and the guy had gotten his money's worth, so to speak.

Jasper had now lost count of the encounters he had had. He tried not to think about it unless he had too. It wasn't something he did all the time. It was only when he needed too. It was a way to survive, a means to an end and, as a rule, he did not make conversation, get to know them or let them think they would get the opportunity to know him. He wasn't attracted to them, he didn't consider himself to be gay and as soon as he had finished high school and had a real, full time job he would be leaving this scene far behind.

The slats of the wooden bench shifted as another person sat down next to Jasper, bringing him out of his thoughts. Jasper didn't know whether to curse or smile so he did neither and just waited. You see, as much as Jasper liked having his rules, rules always seemed to have at least one exception.

"Jasper," the man said keeping the volume of his voice low while still managing to maintain it's gravely timbre. "It's been a while."

Jasper tried to ignore the way his voice made his breath catch in his throat or the hairs on the back of his neck stand on end but he still swallowed in nervous anticipation before he could speak.

"Hi Peter."

A/N ~ thanks for reading. Please R&R