"Do you know how hard they have to work to keep that store open? It's not easy for them! The last thing they need is a teenager going in and stealing from them! You better count your lucky stars that they agreed to not call the cops." Carlisle lectures angrily as we drive down the rode to his big house. The grip on his steering wheel is so I tight that his knuckles are white. "How am I supposed to trust you? How long have you been doing this?"

I don't answer him. I just slump down in the front seat and look out the window. I pause on the first step and my whole body tenses up.

"I can't believe this." Carlisle sighs. He turns down the driveway. "You are grounded."

He pulled into the garage and cuts the engine. As soon as he does, I jump out and hustle to the door that leads into the house. Carlisle opens his car door and hesitates while clicking the button to shut the garage door.

"Jasper, wait. We still need to talk." He says firmly.

I ignore him and fling open the door. It opens into the kitchen, where Esme is sitting at the counter with the open newspaper. When she sees me, she smiles.

"Hi, sweetie. How are you feeling?"

I ignore her and stomp out of the kitchen and into the living room. I head for the stairs, but Carlisle's strong voice stops me.

"Jasper!" He yells after slamming the door. His voice seems to rumble the house. My whole body tenses up. "Get back here! Now!"

I don't even think about my movements. As soon as I hear his demand, I drop my head and return back to the kitchen.

"Carlisle, what are you screaming for?" Esme asked in a hushed tone. Carlisle points to the kitchen table.

"Sit down and stay there." He orders.

I take a seat, fold my arms on the table and rest my chin on them as I watch Carlisle and Esme interact. Carlisle turns to her and pinches the bridge of his nose and clamps his eyes shut.

"If you look at our credit card statement, you will see a charge for $87. That's because for the past three weeks, Jasper has been shoplifting from the pharmacy!"

"What?" Esme says with a shake of her head.

"He has some bad sticky fingers. Tom came up to me while I was waiting for some pills and told me he just watched Jasper fill his pockets on camera. And sure enough he had his pockets stuffed full! Makeup, playing cards. He had deodorant and shampoo and condition shoved in his pants!" Carlisle grumbles angrily and crosses his arms. "Oh, and that's not even the best part. Tom took us in the office and replayed videos from our past visits, and he's been stealing from them since day one!"

"Jasper!" Esme gasps, placing on hand on her chest. "Is that true?"

I don't respond.

"Answer her." Carlisle orders.

I nervously nod yes. She lets out a heavy sigh.

"Tom and I tallied up $87 worth of merchandise that he took. We're lucky it's Tom's Pharmacy. If it were a chain pharmacy they would have called the cops on him and thrown him in Boysville!"

The name "Boysville" sent a shiver down my spine. It's a juvenile delinquent center. I had to stay at one when I was thirteen and between foster homes. I was only there for a week, but it wasn't a good experience.

"Honey, you're making him nervous." Esme whispers to Carlisle.

"He deserves to be nervous!"

"Let's go discuss this in the other room. Come on," Esme puts her hand on Carlisle's shoulder and gestures to the living room.

"You," He points one finger at me. "Don't move."

The two walk into the living room without another word. The open floor plan of the house didn't give them much privacy. They would have had better privacy in their bedroom that's just off of the living room. The only thing separating the kitchen from the living room is the change in the floor from tile to hardwood. The back half of the lower story is all open, with big sliding glass door in the kitchen that leads to the outside patio. The front half of the lower floor isn't open at all. When you come in through the front door, there's Carlisle's study on the right and a sitting room on the left. There a short hallway where there's a bathroom that also has the washer and dryer in it.

The stairs are in the living room. They take you upstairs where the rest of the bedrooms are. There's Edward's and Rosalie's bedroom on the right side of the hall, and mine and Emmett's on the left. There's a bathroom between my room and Emmett's, and a closet between Edward's and Rosalie's. There's a tiny room at the very end of the hall that could be another bedroom, but it's smaller than the rest and is used for storage.

Everything in this house has its place. From the office to the storage room, nothing is without an organization plan. Photos of the Cullen's and what I assume where past foster kids are everywhere.

Rosie and I probably won't be here long enough to get our picture put up. I sigh and rest my forehead on my arms. They'll probably ship us off to someone else now that they caught me stealing.

I strain to hear what's being said. I can't make it all out, but I can hear them say my caseworkers name, Mr. Vince. Ugh, great. They'll probably call him and he'll have to ship us off to someone else. Rosalie is so happy here.

Sighing lightly, I lift my head and pull my phone out of my pocket. I pull up my messages to Esme. She's the one with the bleeding heart for us.

I'm sorry

It only takes a second for her phone to ding after I hit send. I lower my head onto my arms again, this time laying the side of my face down so I can watch them in the living room. Esme pulls her phone out, puts one hand over her heart and holds the phone out to Carlisle to see.

"Honey, look. He's sorry." She says.

Carlisle sighs and they lower their voices again. They talk for a short while before standing up and heading back towards me. I suck in a breath and hold it as I watch them. Carlisle still looks pissed. I can feel the nerves in my throat. I sit up and look down at my legs.

"Jasper," Carlisle says as he pulls out the chair next to me. He sits down and places his hand on my shoulder. I don't mean to, but I tense up instinctively. He notices and pulls away. "Listen buddy, you know what you did was wrong, don't you?"

I glance up at him, but quickly look away again. He sighs again.

"Just give a nod for yes or no." Esme instructs. I glance at her next and she gives me a smile.

I nod yes.

"Will it happen again?"

I shake my head no.

"Good," Esme says and pats my knee. She doesn't seem to notice my tension like Carlisle did. "You're too good of a boy to be doing things like that."

"Jasper, were you ever forced to steal things so you and Rosalie wouldn't go without?" Carlisle asks.

A big lump forms in my throat. I try to gulp it down, but I can't. It feels like my throat is closing on me. I remind myself to take some steady breaths.

My Dad taught me how to steal. I had to steal to get Rosalie and I what we needed when we were at our second foster home. I kept up the habit after that. We never know when we're going to change homes, and we ever never know what kind of home it may be.

"I'm going to take that as a yes." Carlisle murmurs. "Jazz, if you need anything, let us know."

"Write it down, or text it to us. We'll get it for you." Esme promises. She pats my knee again. "Don't be afraid to ask for anything."

I nod.

"You are grounded, though." Carlisle adds on. He points one finger to the second floor. "Go to your room. You aren't to leave it for anything other than dinners or the bathroom. Understood?"

Almost on cue, my stomach growls.

"I'll make you lunch first." Esme offers and stands from the table. "How about a sandwich, some chips and a pop?"

She looks over her shoulder at me and I give her a thumbs up. As she opens the refrigerator, Carlisle leans in close to me and lowers his voice.

"Don't let this happen again, Jasper." He warns. "Sticky fingers will not only earn a punishment at home, but it can also earn you a criminal record. You don't want to start that."

I shake my head no and he gives me a curt nod before standing up.

"Make sure to get to your room right after you eat, Jazz."

I nod to let him know I'm listening and he heads off towards his bedroom.

"Hey," Rosalie says softly as she pokes her head into my room. "Can I come in?"

I nod and set down my tattered book next to me on my bed. It's just an old paperback I was able to smuggle out of a Goodwill two foster homes ago about World War II.

"What happened today? You practically ran out of the lunchroom." Rosie asks and slides in, closing the door behind her. She comes over sets across from me. "Esme said you were sick."

I take in a deep breath. She must not be mad at me anymore if she's coming to talk to me. It feels so nice to just relax with her. Rosalie has been the only consistency I've had in life, and I've been the only consistency in hers. With just me and her, I can finally let my guard down.

"I'm okay." I promise her. She gives me a little smile. "I just felt sick to my stomach."

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