Jasper's POV

Edward Masen

Seven AM, Monday morning. I despised this appointment every week, but I was not stupid enough to turn down the high price the parents were willing to pay me. We all have to do things that aren't exactly worth it, but at least the pay was good. His name was Edward Masen and he is only sixteen years old. I don't take on any patients under the age of eighteen, but what can I say, I'm one of the best in my field and Edward's parents wanted me and only me. Our appointments were always Monday morning, right before the school week began. Edward was an odd one. I had no doubt that he put on an act with his parents to get their attention. Initially he was brought to me because he was suicidal, and maybe he was, but everything I had gotten from him in the five weeks I had been seeing him pointed towards something else. I had a feeling he was just struggling under his parents' high expectations, whether they were real or just perceived. I believed that he thought if he was in therapy then his parents would cut him some slack, but regardless I treated him like I would any other suicidal kid. I was hardly ever wrong in my assumptions though, however I was not about to have the death of a kid on my hands just because I believed he was not suicidal.

"Edward," I greeted him, ushering him into my room. I could see his mother sitting in the waiting room looking frightful. What had her son done this time? "Take a seat." I motioned to the couch and he sat down. I grabbed my tablet and sat down opposite him in the armchair. "What's been going on since I saw you last?" I asked him as I pulled up his file on my tablet, ready to take any necessary notes.

"It's been the same, but…" Edward began, but stopped. He liked to play games, but I didn't allow my annoyance to show through. Edward was always playing an angle I suspected.

"But?" I prompted him, keeping my focus on him. He faltered under my stare. He was still only a young boy after all, plus I have been told by others that I can be very intimidating at times.

"I, umm, told my mother that, umm…" the boy stopped once again. "I got a 'B' on my math test and they weren't too happy with that, so I grabbed a knife and I threatened them with self-harm… They backed down."

"And were you really going to go through with it?" I asked as I made a note of the incident on my tablet.

"No, I guess not," Edward eventually answered.

"Have you taken a moment to think about how this made them feel?" I asked.

"No," he answered, dropping his head and staring at his shoes.

"We've talked about this, Edward. You know that before you do anything rash you're supposed to think of how it will affect the people around you."

"I know, I do, but they were just so overbearing. They were not happy with me. If it's not an 'A' then they're not happy."

"Have you talked to them about this?" I asked. It was always circles with Edward.

"Of course."

"Okay, so why did you get a 'B'? I know you're capable of getting an 'A' in math. What happened?"

"There was this girl-" Edward began, but we were interrupted by my assistant via the intercom.

"Dr. Whitlock?" She asked and I pressed the button on the phone next to me.

"Yes, Gina?"

"Sorry to disturb you, but your sister is on line one and she says that it's an emergency."

Rose, of course. I let out a sigh.

"Take a message and I will get back to her," I told Gina before disconnecting the intercom. Rose's emergencies usually weren't emergencies. I would allow Gina to make the decision as to whether or not it needed my immediate attention. "Sorry about that, Edward, please continue."

"There's this girl. Her name is Jessica, she's annoying, but she is so hot. She's smart, but I'm smarter. We switched tests, well I switched our tests," Edward explained.

"Jessica? You haven't mentioned her before, is she new?"

"No, she is not new. She's been in my year since kindergarten."

"Okay, so what changed? Why are you suddenly interested in her?"

"Because she's hot," Edward deadpanned, but I knew that wasn't exactly it.

"Does this have to do with Mike Newton?" I took a stab and I was right.

"No," Edward huffed before crossing his arms. Mike was just like Edward in many ways, except one. Edward was rich and Mike was considered high middle class. Oh, and Mike seemingly got everything that Edward wanted.

"If you say so," I answered back, being unable to go any deeper without Edward's permission. I could push him a little, but it wasn't worth the risk. I liked to be cool, calm and collected always. Plus, I didn't believe that baiting a patient to reveal more was ethical.

We sat in silence. Edward would speak eventually, he never could resist.

"Jessica is so hot. Brown hair, dark gray eyes, so skinny, and big…" Edward didn't continue that line of thought out loud, but he did take the time and effort to show me with his hands just how big her breasts were. Real classy there, but I had to admit that description ticked a lot of my boxes. I wasn't obsessed with breast size though and personally it was brown eyes that undid me. I had the image of the 'perfect' girl in my mind and she was, as Edward would put it, so hot. I shifted slightly in my chair, but Edward was none the wiser. I was 36 and yet to meet my future, but I had vowed not to give up hope. My younger sister Rose was in the same boat, but she was only 29, so according to her she still had time. But I knew just how desperately she wanted to meet her special someone and settle down and have kids. Thankfully she wasn't stupid enough to settle down with the first person who took an interest in her.

"Okay, I think we've established that she's hot," I told Edward trying to re-direct the conversation back on track. "So what's the problem? Ask her out."

"I can't," Edward mumbled.

"Why? Is she dating someone else?"

"No," Edward answered, but didn't offer anymore.

"Is she into the same sex?" I asked.

"No!" Edward answered, his voice rising, but he still didn't elaborate.

"Does she think you're gay?" I knew I probably shouldn't have said it, but I think it was just below that invisible line. In the end, I didn't regret it.

"NO!" Edward yelled. "I'm not gay. She likes Mike okay, she likes Mike."

Ah, there we go, finally. Jessica liked Mike, and Edward liked Jessica. There was one question left unanswered…

"So who does Mike like?" I asked. It was the missing puzzle piece.

"Fucked if I know," Edward answered. "Why would I care about that?"

Oh, Edward. Maybe we should move on.

"No reason," I answered vaguely enough for him to drop it for now, but I knew that it would annoy him enough to think further on it later. "So, how do you think your parents felt when you threatened yourself with the knife?" I re-directed and I saw him shudder.

"I don't know," Edward answered. "Not good," he lamely answered. He knew exactly how he made them feel, but he was unwilling to admit it.

"Answer me this," I began, "are you going to threaten yourself again?"

"No," Edward answered, but it wasn't convincing to either of us.

"And the reason you got into this mess in the first place…" I left it open-ended so that Edward could choose how to answer.

"It was my fault," Edward finally admitted.

"So you're admitting that if you never switched math tests with Jessica then you never would have threatened yourself?" I asked him.

"Yes," Edward let out a breath.

"And in the future you are going to do what?"

"Umm," Edward responded, thinking about it and I had no doubt that he was coming up with a smartass answer. "I'll convince her that she needs a tutor and then I'll tutor her."

Well that wasn't as bad as I suspected. Not a bad idea, but if she is already a 'B' student then she doesn't really need a tutor.

"Please think twice before threatening to harm yourself again," I warned him. "You're not only hurting yourself, but your family, Edward."

"I know," he grumbled and I hoped he would think more on that later as well.

"New goals for this week to go along with your other ones?" Goal setting was very important for Edward. I was trying to get him to plan for the future without him realizing it. My goal at this stage was just to get him through each week, and that is why I met with his parents without his knowledge. I didn't divulge any information to them. I believed highly in doctor-patient confidentiality, but I did help guide them to properly deal with their son and I did a lot of reassuring.

"I am going to get in Jessica's pants," Edward answered cockily. I knew he wouldn't and he knew he wouldn't, but that wasn't the point. Edward didn't have a lot of sexual experience and I could tell that he wasn't ready to go all the way, but he always said these things to try and get a rise out of me, but he never would.

"Try talking to her first, but good luck to you. Next week you can tell me how it all went. Any other goals, family related perhaps, maybe a personal one too?"

"I will try and be better at home." Very vague. "I will also try not to pick up a knife." I know he was joking when he said it, but I could read the seriousness behind it. It was a goal he would try not to break, which was good. If we could get through one week with no major incidents we'd be making progress.

"Okay, sounds good. Good luck with Jessica," I told him standing up. "Hopefully you can achieve all the goals you set."

"Okay, Doc, see you next week."

"Yes, next week. Enjoy the rest of your day, Edward." I shut the door behind him and breathed a sigh of relief, no more Edward for one week. This was good. I walked over to my desk, taking my tablet with me and picked up my phone.

"Gina, I'm free. What did my sister want?"

"She said to tell you that, umm…"

"What is it, Gina?" I collapsed in my chair and rubbed my forehead.

"You suck."

"Excuse me?" I questioned confused.

"Your sister, she said, 'you suck', Sir."

Ah, I should have picked up on that.

"Okay, thanks, Gina." I disconnected the call quickly.

Gina was fine and all, but she was single and I was single, so somehow that meant we were destined for each other. It didn't help that she was always reading 50 Shades of Grey and had begun calling me 'sir' all the time. I wasn't stupid though and I knew how to avoid her advances. I, like my sister Rose, was not stupid enough to date someone just because. Our parents were so in love and had taught us so much. Unfortunately when Rose was 18 and I was 25 they were both killed in a car accident. It was tough, of course, but we made it through together and we never forgot the love they shared with each other and with us.

My door opened and I straightened up in my chair. I had tried teaching Gina to knock, but it fell on deaf ears. She sauntered over to my desk and I firmly ignored her.

"Here are your messages, Sir."

I reached out and grabbed them from her. She somehow managed to rub my fingers in the process. She let out a little giggle and left. I really should find a new assistant, but I was afraid I would get someone worse. Gina was harmless. Sure she liked to flirt with me, but she never actually came on to me and I had a feeling she probably never would, not unless something shifted.

I looked at the messages, there were only two. I shook my head, Gina didn't need to hand me these. The first was from Rose. I really needed to stop spacing my appointments out so that Gina didn't have a chance to enter my office. I looked at the message and it made me smile. It simply read, from Rose Hale (Rose had decided to honor our mother by taking her maiden name after her death. I kept my father's surname of Whitlock). Underneath Rose Hale it read YOU SUCK! in capital letters with three exclamation marks. It made me smile, I loved my sister dearly. I grabbed some tape and stuck the note to the corner of her picture on my desk. Apparently because I had no woman Rose said I should have a picture of her on my desk at work. I tried to argue, but it was pointless. It didn't matter though, I liked looking at the photo of her. In some ways it made me feel less alone.

I looked at the next message and let out a sigh. My new patient, who I had yet to meet, Isabella Swan had cancelled for the second week running. Usually I wouldn't care, but one more cancellation and she would breach her parole and be thrown back in jail. I grabbed my phone and dialed the number we had listed for her. It rang out, but I left a message regardless.

"Isabella Swan, this is Dr. Whitlock informing you that if you miss one more appointment I will have no choice but to contact your parole office. It's your choice." I hung up the phone, satisfied. I had done everything that I could. Her future was in her own hands now. I just hoped she would make the right choice.