A/N
Thanks for the reviews - very much appreciated.
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I do not have a beta, so all errors are my own.
This story in not suitable for readers under 18, as it contains strong language and lemons. So please find your entertainment elsewhere.
I do not own Twilight or its characters, Stephenie Meyer does. I just like to take them out to play.
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Flashbacks are written in italic.
I turn the pages until I reach the ones from the summer I first met Jasper.
…
Chapter Two
July and August 2010.
I still remember the day we met for the first time as if it was yesterday.
That spring I had just turned six and Esme told me there would be a new boy and his family living and working at the house. She also told me to be kind to the boy, because some of the kids from the village had teased him, because of his Texan accent. I loved watching western movies, so I could not wait to meet a real cowboy.
Esme encouraged me to go and introduce myself, and so I did.
I found him by the lake, the place that for the years to come became our favourite place to be.
"Hi Jasper, I'm Edward, we're going to be great friends," I said to his back. I would not normally act so casual, but somehow seeing him so at ease in the nature made me relax and I had promised Esme to be nice.
"I think so too," he replied after checking me out. "I'll call you Eddie and you can call me Jaz. Have you seen the size of those fish?"
We spend all our days together that summer; running around, fishing, playing hide and seek and sometimes we included Bella in our games.
I look at one of the photographs closely. Esme has captured a moment of true joy. The three of us laughing so hard we hold our stomachs. I cannot remember the joke anymore, but smile when I think about that day. We were an odd trio: Jasper with his blue eyes and golden curls, Bella with her dark brown hair and eyes, and me with green eyes and reddish brown hair.
…
I turn a few pages and stop at one where we are 11 years old. Jasper and I sit in the opening of a tent near the lake. We convinced Esme we wanted to camp and sleep outside, and Charlie raised a tent for us. Bella wanted to join us, but we told her there was no room for her. Of course, she could easily have fit in, tiny as she was, but this time we wanted some boy's time.
Before we went to sleep that night, we talked about school, movies we had seen and books we had read. Jasper did not read much, but when he did, it was always old history books about the battles of the American Civil War. His dad had even taken him to some of the historical sites back home.
We lie in our sleeping bags listening to all the odd sounds coming from nature by night. The only lightning we have comes from an old flashlight on the ground between us.
After a few moments of silence, I figure Jasper has fallen asleep, but he suddenly breaks the silence.
"Eddie, can I ask you something?"
"Sure," I say, feeling a bit awkward since Jasper never asks if he can ask questions. He usually just asks me about anything.
"Okay…have you ever, you know…had a wet dream?"
I do not know what to say to him. Of course, I know what he is talking about, because the boys in my dormitory often joke about having them, and a few months ago, I actually had one myself. Even though my roommates use to brag about it, all I felt was slightly confused. Mostly because it hadn't been girls who had brought it on, but a memory from the summer the year before, where Jasper and I went swimming in the lake.
I still haven't given him an answer, and before I get the courage to do so, he continues. He tells me he has had some wet dreams this spring while dreaming of Jessica, a popular girl from his class. I tell him I have them too - about a sister of one of my roommates. "Nice!" he says.
I am relieved he does not ask for any details about the specific dream, or said sister, since I do not have a back-up plan.
"Dad says it's perfectly normal and part of growing up. Maybe you could talk to Carlisle about it 'cause you don't have a dad, Eddie?"
"Yeah, maybe," I say, not really feeling comfortable having a sex-talk with my uncle.
We did not speak of wet dreams or girls the rest of the summer, just fooled around like the boys we were.
…
I close the album and leave it on my bed. Then I go down to meet all the familiar faces – save one.
We always have big Saturday dinners and tonight is no difference. There is a lively chat around the table and everyone is interested in hearing about my life in London. Afterwards people hang around for coffee, scotch or whatever until it is late and time to call it a night.
I say goodnight to them all and see Jasper's parents to the door on my way to the stairs. His parents live in a small cottage close by the big house. Jasper lives with them, but tonight they walk home alone.
I am glad when I enter my quite room. It has been a long day, and I am exhausted.
I do my nightly routine and go to bed, but sleep will not come to me.
After half an hour of tossing and turning under my sheets, I get out of bed and grab the album from the chair next to the bed, and continue my journey down memory lane.
…
The photos from the year after the tent episode are of Bella and me alone. Jasper went home to visit his family in Texas that summer. I remember missing him terribly, and the pictures from that year are few.
Photos from the following year show the happy trio once more.
We are now 13 and we have grown into a bunch of limp arms and legs on weedy torsos. I even have a gigantic pimple in the middle of my forehead in one of the photos.
I remember Jasper joking about it claiming attention from my reddish hair.
Looking back now, I think I know what might have caused it in the first place. I never had pimples on my flawless skin, but that spot, was a pure stress symptom!
One day during my stay, Carlisle had summoned me to his private office in the distillery.
"Well Edward," he begins looking at me with a strange look on his face. I fear I am in for a serious talk. Has something happened to my mother? Have I done something to upset him? All kind of thoughts passes by in slow motion.
We sit across each other at his desk, and I can see he is fumbling with his hands and searching for the right words.
"You have just turned 13, a wonderful age, a trying age though, an age where you also start wondering about a lot of stuff!" he continues.
I sense he is hoping I know what he is talking about so this awkward discussion can end sooner rather than later, but I am still confused, and let him continue.
"You know you can ask me anything, right? I mean you haven't had any fatherly discussions, and somehow I can't picture your mother telling you about the things a young man, like yourself, need to know. Am I right?"
Oh, it suddenly dawns on me… we are having the sex-talk, and now it is me, who am fumbling with the hem of my T-shirt.
I give Carlisle a sign to go on and he starts telling about hormones, body hair, girls, condoms, masturbation and I do not know what. Somehow, it is too much and I daze off while I just watch his moving lips.
After what feels like hours, he stops and looks very pleased with himself.
"So, you can always come to me with questions like that in the future, Edward."
I just nod at him even though I have not heard the last part of his talk, and I leave his office.
When I close the door, I can hear him saying, "That went well, I think…"
The following days after our "talk" I think about if I should tell Carlisle about my suspicions about liking boys, well one boy in particular. However, I decide against it.
Looking back all these years later, I am almost certain that talk caused the spot!
I close the album and put it back in the drawer and go to sleep.
…
Next day Bella shows me all the changes they have made to the stables and the new horses bred during my absence.
We talk with Jacob while he is tending a horse, and I notice the way Bella's behaviour changes. She seems nervous and not quite like the calm person she usually is.
When we are alone later in the day, I ask her if she fancies Jacob. The way she blushes, tells me all I need to know. She asks me not to joke about it in front of others or even worse tell Jacob about her crush.
I assure her I would never do anything like that, but ask why she simply does not tell him. I have seen the way he secretly glares at her when she walks by, so the odds are good.
"I'll tell him, if you tell Jasper," She dares me.
"Not going to happen, when he's not around," I reply.
"You still haven't told me about what happened that summer," Bella says while searching for some clues.
"That's because I'm not really sure myself," I add.
I have a hunch, but I cannot be sure, but I do not tell Bella that, not yet.
…
The days turn into weeks, and I adapt to the feeling of Jasper not being around. I miss seeing him and being around him like crazy, but being with Bella, Esme and Carlisle, is the next best company I can get.
August has been very wet this year, and when I am not helping around, I stay in my room reading the works of Charles Dickens. Somehow, it comforts me to read about other people's misfortunes!
One day when the longing for Jasper is unbearable, I remember the photo album. There are still photos in it I haven't seen during my current stay. I get it from the drawer and sit on my bed, not knowing if seeing his glorious smile will make me feel better or even worse. I overcome the fear and turn the pages to where I left off.
There is a gap between the visits from when I was 13 to the one when I am 15.
A/N
Flashbacks in this chapter: the summers of 1998, 2003, 2004 and 2005.
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I am glad readers still appriciate J/E-stories.
If you have come across some long (20.000), great E/J-stories (besides the ones on my favorite list) please send me a tip. I would love to read some new ones.