Nine
Carlisle sat on the terrace with his son's computer in front of him. Esme had just left for a massage he had booked for her. He always made a point to pamper her on the rare occasions he managed to get away from the hospital. His wife deserved the utmost best, and he had an hour and a half to catch up on a bit of work.
Powering up the Mac book, Edward's hotmail was already open. Carlisle really didn't mean to read the contents, but his eyes automatically scanned the headline.
Hey baby,
He smiled. It wasn't hard imagining his son calling someone he cared for baby. However, the nature of the unsent email suggested it was someone he cared for deeply. Edward had always been an old soul with a huge heart behind all the rage. Carlisle had no doubt that when his son found someone that person would want for nothing. For a long time he had suspected it would be Bella that Edward would cast his eye on, but for more than three years now he had waited for that to happen, and still they were nothing but good friends.
The email, that didn't reveal a name, suggested that perhaps his eyes had fallen on someone. Carlisle was about to close the email program when a Skype chat message popped up.
You sexy beast, what the hell are you doing online when you should be enjoying yourself?
The message was from someone called ALLMALE.
Carlisle's hands were a little uneasy when he hit reply. He felt horrible for doing this, but the name of person on Skype unnerved him. What the hell was Edward up to? It had been years since they discussed how to be careful navigating the web and Carlisle hadn't considered his son still needed any instructions.
What are you talking about?
Pensively, he waited for the response. It took only a few seconds.
Funny. I seem to remember you telling me that today was the day. You should enjoy that beautiful boy of yours, not hang around online.
That was it. Carlisle wasn't comfortable doing this. He wasn't comfortable pretending he was Edward, nor was he okay with this conversation. He typed quickly as his hands started to tremble.
I'm borrowing my son's computer.
With that the other person was offline. Carlisle sat back staring at one single part of the sentence—your boy. What did that mean?
Carlisle anxiously considered what to do before he scrolled through several conversations Edward had had on Skype. What the hell was his son up to? Scrolling upward, he read though a number of conversations that had taken place over the course of weeks. Most of it was sexually related, but not in the way Carlisle had feared. No, his son was merely asking questions and receiving informed answers. There was no outrageous flirting, no planning to meet up, or anything of the nature that would land your face on a milk carton.
Carlisle deliberately chose not to look closer at what he was doing, because he knew without a doubt he was invading his son's privacy and breaking the trust they always had in each other.
He realized Edward was seeking information, throwing around terms like topping, bottoming, and rimming. At first it made little sense to Carlisle, but as he read though the chats, it became clear what his son was interested in.
Swallowing the lump in his throat, he dug deeper into Edward's private files. He hated himself for succumbing to that kind of deceit, but he had to make sure his son was safe. However, what he found out shook him to his core.
Was that why Edward had been so depressed as of late? It wasn't that Edward was doing anything out of the ordinary, but perhaps that was the problem. He was too tame for a seventeen year old teenage boy. Remembering his own teenage years, there had been parties, girl, weed, skipping school, detention—only misdemeanors, but unlike Carlisle, his son never veered off course. Edward minded his school, did his homework, hung out with Bella, but that was it really. It had been like that his entire senior year. Sophomore year was a different story, but then again, Jasper was around for that.
Was what Carlisle found on Edward's computer illegal, menacing, or hurtful? No, but one simple fact was astoundingly clear. His son was gay.
Film clips, blogs subscriptions, emails, pictures, chats all revolved around one thing.
Men.
As he sat, knowing he was trespassing and walking all over his son's private life, Carlisle couldn't escape the strange kind of loss he felt. He had always prided himself on being open minded and not following in the footsteps of so many others who judged anybody who was the slightest bit different. He had met young boys before, boys who had been beaten for not following the unwritten rules of being a teenager. Several times he had stitched eyebrows and lips back together of young men fighting for the right to be who they are. He always sided with these lost souls, supported them, and tried to help them when facing the world that wouldn't accept them. He understood—well, he did when it was the neighbor's son and not his own.
Knowing that Edward was one of these lost boys, one of the souls battling, because he had been fighting for a long time, had Carlisle's heart going to pieces. Nobody ever told him what it was like when it was your own son who had to deal with prejudices in life. Nobody educated him on the strange loss he had growing in his chest knowing his son's secret. However, it wasn't about him; it was never going to be about his pain, but it was always going to be about Edward. This was what he preached to his patients, so this was the set of rules he would live by himself.
Some of what Carlisle found on Edward's computer was downright pornographic, other things were emotional, and lastly, there were the tons of emails to one single receiver. The only problem was that he couldn't figure out who it was to. The email address didn't give anything away. It was just a bunch of jumbled letters, and the emails never revealed a name. However, the letters were deeply personal, so personal that Carlisle couldn't make himself read the context, but he merely searched for a name.
parjesw at hotmail dot com
Edward had written this person hundreds of times. That was when Carlisle went back to where it all started. The unsent email.
The blood in his veins ran cold. Someone was at his house right now, and he was with his son. Was Edward safe? Carlisle sent a silent prayer to God to protect Edward. Then he reached for his phone and called Edward. The attempt went unanswered. So did the next one.
When the hotel door behind him clicked closed and Carlisle turned to look at Esme as she came back, that was when it hit him like a freight train.
parjesw it was an anagram.
Carlisle's chuckle sounded a little hysterical when he realized this.
Jasper W
Jasper Whitlock.
It had been happening right under their noses. Everything was suddenly crystal clear in his mind. The timeline fit perfectly. Edward hadn't been all gloom and doom until the week that Jasper had left for that school. Instantly he felt horrible that his son was carrying this around alone. For a year now, Edward had his heart broken and he had no one to talk to—well, besides Bella.
Ironically, though Edward was clearly hurting, Carlisle was glad this was what he found. He had known Jasper for years. He was his son's best friend for crying out loud.
"What's so funny?" Esme asked, placing her hand on Carlisle's shoulder.
He took her hand and kissed her palm. "We need to talk, honey."
oooooOOOOooooo
And then there's that little debacle… What are you thinking? I need to know.
As always, hugs and smooches to all of you, especially Chartwilightmom, Robfan06 and SaritaDreaming.
If you like slash and everything that entails I have another running story I hope you will check out. It's called Heart and Soul. It's a little different and sadly there isn't much Edward in it, but if you can live with that, please have a look. Those boys freaking own me. LOL
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