This chapter has been edited. I apologize for any inconvenience this may cause you. This is a work of fiction. I do not own nor profit from Stephenie Meyer and her Twilight series. Nor do I own any of her characters. If I owned Jasper, I wouldn't have the time or inclination to write.

The title of my story is from the song, "Objects in the Rear View Mirror May Appear Closer Then They Are" which is performed by and belongs entirely to Meatloaf. Although there may be some similarities to the lyrics, the plot line is strictly my own.

This story is written from Jasper's POV unless otherwise stated.

Chapter 3 – The Middle Years

JPOV

The years went by and Eddie and I matured. I was no longer a gangly, skinny kid. After Father left, our moms enrolled both Eddie and I in self-defense classes, swimming classes and karate classes, and we were running in the mornings before school and lifting weights a few times a week after school. I was beginning to fill out a little, and was getting a bit of definition in my abs and some muscles in my arms and shoulders. Even though I was more than a year younger then Eddie, I shot up in a growth spurt and was now a few inches taller then him. I had grown my hair out after Father left and it fell in soft curls down past my ears. Eddie had cut his hair shorter, but it was still long and wild on top. He was also gaining muscle mass and filling out. We were no longer boys, but young men. And from the comments I heard when we were at school or out running, we were pretty good looking young men at that. We were still inseparable.

Eddie and I joined the after-school swim team when he was 15 and I was almost 14. We both loved to swim and quickly found our places among the jocks at school. Kids started to gather around us when we were in the halls and the cafeteria, and slap us on the backs whenever we won our meets. Although we each developed a few tentative friendships, we were still chiefly interested only in hanging out together. At least, I thought we were. Being shy, I kinda kept to myself, but Eddie was eating up the attention. Things started to change then.

I was the only one who could call him Eddie now and only in private, and he seldom referred to me as Jay any more. Instead, he was now 'Edward' to everyone (including his mom) and I was always Jasper. The name changes were shortly followed by his change of attitude toward me. It wasn't too noticeable at first, so it took me by surprise when I realized that it was happening. When we were at school functions or at practice or swim meets, Edward started keeping a strange distance from me, and started hanging around other guys and girls more, excluding me in the process. I started running alone in the mornings and we no longer flung our arms across each other's shoulders as we walked to classes. He also discouraged us from having our gym lockers next to each other, saying he needed 'his space'. Actually we eventually stopped walking together to classes, and there were usually a few people between us now as we sat at the lunch table. I was feeling alone and neglected, but he refused to explain his actions, or lack thereof. Soon, even our time we used to spend weight training together ceased.

Of course, things were changing for me personally too. I had never been a particularly gregarious or outgoing kid, and I got shyer as Edward pulled away from me. I continued to work on my anger issues that Father instilled in me. I still had my bouts of rage, but usually was able to channel them into my karate sparring matches. I was getting in trouble with my Sensei a time or two every few months now, as I let my anger explode on another student. But Father's 'lessons' seemed to be fading a bit. It didn't mean my anger was gone, but I was attempting to bury it deep into my psyche.

Then Bella entered Edward's, or should I say our lives. They started hanging out shortly after Edward turned 16. Bella was 17 and a grade ahead of Edward, and two ahead of me. She was a pretty girl I guess; long brown hair and kinda wild brown eyes. But I have to admit, I didn't see the draw. She was clingy and almost domineering at times, when it came to Edward. And she had no time for me at all, scowling fiercely whenever I was around. That was fine with me. I didn't really like her much and tried to avoid any contact with her, because she was slowly taking Edward away from me. In fact, the more Edward pulled away, the more I started to hate her for it.

Bella had a car so she and Edward started taking off after school and swim meets and were together a lot on the weekends. She picked him up for school in the mornings and took him home after school let out. He asked me to cover for him with his mom, and I did…for a while. But as Bella got more abusive in her attitude toward me, and I got angrier at them both, I told Edward he was going to have to find his own excuses from now on. The distance between us continued to grow. Then, seemingly all of a sudden, Edward no longer had any time for me at all. I was confused and hurt by Edward's behavior, and started punching walls and picking fights again. Edward was my best friend! How could this be happening? I was soon enlightened by none other then Eddie's, I mean Edward's new best friend, Bella.

I didn't really think about what they were up to at first, but when I started hearing rumors from other boys about how much fun Bella was in the back seat of a car, I quickly figured it out. Yeah, I knew they were having sex, but, again, I didn't really see the draw. Don't get me wrong, I had urges too, but Bella just did nothing for me. I couldn't see what Edward saw in her. But they were always together. In the halls, Bella's arm was always around Edward's waist or her hand was hanging onto his wrist. She dragged him around like he was a puppy, and he let her. Whenever I tried to talk to him, he never had much to say, and if she was around, we usually ended up in a shouting match. He stopped coming over at all on the weekends, so the only time I saw him now was when we would pass in the halls or when we were swimming. He gave my seat at the lunch table to her, and I was banished to a corner table alone. Finally, after they had been together for about six months, she cornered me after school one Friday.

Edward was still in the locker room, getting changed from our swim meet, when I walked out into the parking lot to jog home alone. I had pretty much quit waiting for him, because I knew she would pick him up. In fact, I had pretty much stopped even trying to speak to him any more, because she was always there. So I am not sure what brought about our little confrontation. As I attempted to walk past her, Bella grabbed me and shoved me into the side of her car. Then she got right in my face and told me that I was "a fuckin' fag" and had to stay away from Edward or she would out me to the entire school. She slapped my face a few times, continuing to call me names, as she accused me of having 'inappropriate feelings' for Edward.

I couldn't move. I was stunned in disbelief. I don't think I had ever thought about Edward like that…in fact I had never really thought about anyone like that. Sure, I was having some morning 'problems' lately, and sometimes took care of business in my shower at home, but I never really put a face, or even a gender to my private times. Edward and I had stolen a lot of his dad's magazines over the years so I knew about visualizing women while jackin' off, but never found it particularly helpful to do so. Maybe I was oblivious in my own mind, but since getting off felt so good, why put additional stress on myself by forcing images into my head during the act. Okay, maybe once or twice Edward's face or body flitted through my mind, but he was my best friend after all.

I didn't know what to say to Bella when she started attacking me verbally and physically. Mom had taught me to never hit a woman, but I sure was close that day. I screamed at her that she had no fuckin' clue what she was talking about. She continued to berate me, telling me that she knew I was trying to take Edward away from her, trying to lead him astray, and she piled even more derogatory and degrading words upon me. Her diatribe began to remind me of the ones Father would heap upon me, and my eyes glazed over with the red of rage. I pulled away from her finally and ran home, with tears running down my face, knowing if I didn't leave then, I would regret it forever. I really think I could have killed her at that point.

Looking back, she saw both of us for what we really were, but she said Edward was just "too cute" for her to stay away from. Bella wanted the status of being on the arm of a jock. She wanted to feel important and desired. She wanted all the other girls to envy her. She was sure she could 'change' him. I found out later that Edward told her he was going to break up with her because he was no longer comfortable with their relationship. She was sure I was behind it somehow; that I was the cause of his defection.

I burst through the door at home, sobbing and calling out for my mom. I was enraged, devastated and didn't know who else to turn to. I told mom what Bella accused me of and what had happened, shaking and crying into her warm shoulder. Mom never said a word, just held me until I was spent. When I finally pulled myself together enough to head to my bedroom, I heard her on the telephone, talking softly to someone.

An hour or so later, after I had showered and was in the midst of pretending to concentrate on my math homework, Edward showed up at my bedroom door. His head was hanging on his chest, his eyes were cast down to the floor, and his hands were dangling loosely at his sides. As he tentatively lifted his eyes to meet mine, I saw from the swollen redness that he had been crying.