"Hey, Jazz." I say as I enter the garage. He's sitting on the concrete floor next to his bike, his phone in his hand. "Why don't you come inside?"
"I'm waiting to hear from Alice." Be mumbles.
"She hasn't called you or sent you a text?"
"She called. But that was two hours ago."
"They're in Paris, son." I say as I walk over and hold my hand out to him. He doesn't take it, and instead he stands on his own. "It's quite the exciting trip. She won't be on her phone the whole time."
"But it's been two hours!"
"I spoke with Esme about forty-five minutes ago. Everyone is fine."
"Forty-five minutes ago? That means there was time for Alice to call." Jasper mumbles to himself. "Why didn't she call me?"
"She might not have had service."
"She has the best phone available and our phone server has the most towers in the world! There's no excuse!"
"I'm sure there aren't as many towers in Paris, son."
"There aren't as many as here in the US, but they have a decent amount. I checked."
I sigh. Of course he did.
"Let's go inside. Edward and Emmett have some new video game they are playing. They can hook up a third control." I suggest. He shakes his head.
"I can't miss a call from Alice."
"If she calls, just pause the game. Your brothers will understand. Emmett did the same when Rosalie called."
"When did she call?" He asks quickly.
"About four hours ago."
"I don't understand why Alice didn't called me then, either."
"Jasper," I say as he scrolls through the call log of his phone. "They just arrived in a beautiful place that they have never seen in person before. She hasn't forgotten about you, she's safe, and she is having a good time."
He sighs, runs his fingers through his hair and glances up at me. His eye, along with his gift, are projecting so much. Sadness. Betrayal. Confusion. Isolation. Nervousness. But then something hits even harder than anything else. A strong wave of bravery.
"Why the hell did you let them go?" He says with a demanding voice.
"You're angry with me?" I ask, confused with his attitude.
"You should have told them no! Why would you let them go? Why would you send them off without us? Without me?" He takes a step towards me and clenches his fists.
"If we're going to talk about this, then you need to fix your tone and attitude." I tell him. He looks down and scowls at the ground before turning on his heels and storming out of the garage, slamming the door as he leaves.
I sigh again and listen to the other boys invite him to play. He tells them no, then stomps to his room. He slams the door again.
I stay in the garage for a moment and try to wrap my mind around the situation that has just played out. Our usually obedient, quiet soldier had a complete one-eighty turn around in his behavior. After Esme and I announced the plan of the trip, I knew Jasper would have a difficult time being away from Alice, but I never imagined it to be this rough. And now he's angry with me for letting them go?
I take a deep breath to calm myself. I remind myself that Jasper is a good boy. He is simply having difficulties with this separation. I decide to go inside and let Jasper spend some time alone in his room before going to talk to him again. His decision to end our conversation instead of acting on his anger tells me that he is still thinking clearly, and must have decided that he need time to clear his head. If that is his wish, I will grant him a few hours to do so.
As I enter the house, Emmett and Edward stare at me with wide eyes. A soft thud is heard upstairs, along with the door shaking slightly. I sigh.
"Leave him be. Let him have some time to collect himself." I tell them.
"Do we have to leave later?" Edward asks. I shake my head no.
"No one is being punished tonight." I promise. Their tense shoulders relax and Emmett cracks a little smile.
"Since Jasper is in no mood to play," Emmett says. He grabs the third controller from entertainment center and holds it up to me. "Do you wanna learn to play?"
OoOoO
"You suck, Carlisle!" Emmett laughs as my character dramatically falls into a pool of his own dark red blood. The armed men who killed me casually walk away from my pixelated body.
"Why did they shoot me?"
"They're the enemy, Dad." Edward explains. "You were suppose to shoot them."
"Why are we enemies?"
"That's just how the game is." Emmett says.
"There's no reason?"
"No. You just shoot."
"I don't understand why we're shooting at each other. I see now why so many parents complain about these games. "
"Oh my god!" Emmett laughs and throws his head back. "Don't be that guy! They're not real people. They're animated, they're fake, they don't feel pain. Just shoot them!"
"What button do I push to shoot?"
"Goodness, Carlisle. It's not that hard!" Now Edward groans, but smiles as he does. I hand the controller to him.
"Here. You see if you can get past them, sassy." I tell him and stand from the couch. He gives me a cocky smirk as I walk towards the steps.
"I'm not cocky!" He proclaims.
"Yes you are, Edward." I reply and climb up the steps.
I can hear Edward and Emmett cracking jokes about my poor video game skills. I chuckle. Usually I wouldn't play their games, but these two weeks are suppose to be fun, different. The game took much more than I expected, and the boys got a kick out of watching me play it.
Well, two of the boys.
I reach Jasper's door and gently knock. He grumbles something that sounds like come in. I push the door open, but something stops it when it's halfway open. I slip in and see a pillow wedged between the door and the wall. I grab it and look over to the bed where Jasper is laying. He's on his stomach with his head buried into the pillow at the front of the bed. His hands are folded over his head. His button up shirt is thrown to the side of his bed and his cowboy boots are at the foot of his bed. He's in his wrangler jeans and a white tank top.
"Hey, buddy. I was wondering if we could talk." I say. I don't get an answer, but I walk over to the bed anyways. I toss the pillow next to him, making him lift his head.
"I'm sorry I threw the pillow." He whispers. "I shouldn't have done that."
"There's no harm done." I tell him and put my hand on his shoulder. "I can't say I'm thrilled with your decision to throw anything, but the pillow is the best choice if you're going to."
He drops his head back into his pillow.
"I would like to talk to you about these next two weeks." I say.
"I'm sorry for how I acted in the garage." He says into the pillow.
"How about you sit up so we can speak face to face?"
He slowly pushes himself up and shifts around so he's sitting cross-legged next to me. He looks down and rubs the hem of his jeans between his thumb and forefinger.
"You're taking this much harder than I thought you would."
"I've never been away from her longer than a few hours. We swore we'd never leave each other."
"She didn't leave you. She's simply on vacation." I explain. "You're relationship is still healthy and fully intact."
"But I'm not with her. I let her go."
"Jasper, Alice will be back in two weeks. That's only fourteen days. You'll be fine. You just have to learn to operate without her."
He looks at me with a look of sheer terror. I sigh, wrap my arm around his shoulder and pull him into me. He hides his face in my shoulder.
"It's suppose to be the city of love, of romance. And we're not together." He whispers.
"Paris will be around for a long time. You two will have your chance to visit together." I promise.
"Yeah, right." He scoffs and pulls away from me. After jumping to his feet, he wonders over to the window and keeps his view glued on the outside yard. "Like I'll ever be able to go."
"Son, you will get to that point."
"Sure." He mumbles and rolls his eyes.
"There was a time when Esme didn't believe she would be able to take a trip like this."
"I'm not like Esme." Jasper says with a sigh. "Carlisle, I really don't want to talk about this anymore."
Please review!