Disclaimer: S. Myer owns all, but what I wouldn't give for a Jasper of my very own-sigh.

A/N- So, let's find out what happened with Edward and Bella, shall we? Although, I admit, I am not entirely pleased with this chapter-so much dialogue scares me!

Also, if you read Lost and Found, there will be a mirror chapter of this posted there (a slashy version). It will be the last one before Jasper is gone for awhile-although there is one outtake planned while Jasper is away…involving a phone perhaps?

My poor beta, C Me Smile, has been working her fingers to the bone at work, so this chapter is once again unbeta'd, so all mistakes, grammatical and otherwise are my own.

Huge hugs and thanks to Dannie for the feedback, and encouragement on this chapter when I cringed at everything I wrote. 3 you!

More author's notes at the end.

To those that have read, thank you! I appreciate it very much.

"**~~**"

Wash Away the Past

Location: Seattle, WA (Altruistic)

"**~~**"

Lie awake in bed at night
And think about your life

It's time to forget about the past
To wash away what happened last~30 Seconds to Mars

"**~~**"

Walking into the house, I closed the door quietly, not wanting to announce I had returned home. I didn't want Edward to think that I ran my ass home to talk to him.

It had been three hours since I had left Maria's. I had gone back to the ocean and walked along the beach with the intention of thinking about shit, and in reality all I could think about was Edward and Bella in bed together, images of them fucking passed through my mind like a slideshow. Having to stand by and watch Bella with Jake made me sick enough, there was no way I could watch her and Edward make a life together with their two-point-five kids and white picket-fenced house.

It was my own damn fault. I never fucking manned up and told Bella how I felt. But would it have mattered? If Edward was the one that owned her heart all along, would telling her I loved her have made a difference? Even if I suspected she felt a sliver of the feelings for me that I do her, all I had done was stand by while she moved on with her life.

My life was stagnant, rotting and covered in self loathing…and I didn't do shit about it.

I had closed Bella out, the pain of hearing about her happy times with Jake were too fucking painful. Edward had tried to keep me afloat, as he always did, offering his life raft to me time and time again, even convincing me to go out with him to a local bar. The weekend Bella had gone to La Push for a few days had just about killed me. Edward had tried distracting me with movies, games, and even a cooking lesson, but my mind was on her and La Push all weekend. As much as I had convicted Edward of guilt by association for accepting Jake and Bella's relationship, he was still the one person I on which I could depend. Edward was generous, determined, caring, and lived his life by his terms.

He was everything I wasn't.

I had made up my mind.

As I reached the top of the stairs, I heard Edward's shower and sighed in relief, at least I had a few more minutes. Standing in front of her closed door, I had my hand in the air to knock.

Edward and Bella naked, her atop of him, her breasts bouncing as she pumps herself up and down on him, her head thrown back, calling out his name as she cums right before Edward does the same. After, they lay in each other's arms, kissing and whispering words of devotion and…love.

"Fuck," I whispered, lowering my hand, I turned and entered my room. Walking over to my dresser, I opened the top drawer and took it out. I had never told them about it, and now my secret was about to become my ticket out. Rereading the letter, as I had a thousand times, I searched it for anything would answer the one question I had.

Was it too late?

It was in perfect shape, even with the amount of times I had read it, reassuring myself it was real, and it hadn't been a dream. It had been the one thing I had done right.

Standing there, I felt like shit, my stomach was empty and in knots, my breath smelled like Patron, and I reeked of sex. I wasn't ready to talk to Edward, I needed more time to prepare for his news, more time to prepare my heart for the devastation that was surely going to destroy me. My heart had broken into shards at the site of them in bed together; his confirming their love for each other was going shatter those shards into tiny pieces, certainly never to be put back together again.

I would never be complete again.

Hands stroking each other, grasping hair to pull into a kiss, lips brushing, tongues tasting, muscles clenching as bodies reached unknown heights of passion. Moans of ecstasy filled the dark room as fingers sought secret places. He had remembered what she had liked from their first time together…when he had taken her virginity.

The shards began to ache uncontrollably, forcing air through my lungs at an unnatural pace, gasping to catch my breath. Putting the letter on the dresser, I took a few deep breaths to try to regain control while I begged someone, anyone, for relief from the pain.

"You're home."

Jumping, I spun around to see Edward in our doorway, still damp from his shower and dressed in only jeans. He had obviously rushed.

"Jesus fucking Christ, Edward. Scared the shit out of me."

Ignoring my comment, he took a step inside my room, hands on his hips. "You got my message."

He wasn't asking, he knew.

"Yeah, I got your fucking message." I stood straight, trying to build a resolve in my body that I didn't feel in my heart.

"Where were you?" He took another tentative step, feeling out my reaction.

What the fuck did he care. What was he, my father?

"Out."

"Out where?" he asked, tilting his head, and taking another step, his eyes glancing down to my hands fisted at my side.

"None of your fucking business," I said defiantly. "You said you want to talk, so fucking talk."

Taking a deep breath, he ran his hands down his face before speaking. "I know you saw us."

"Saw you?" I feigned innocence with my words, but my voice was laced with knowledge, and anger.

"You left the door open," he began, nodding to the door between our rooms. "When I went to bed last night, it was closed." He let the information set in. "I'm sure of it."

"Fuck," I muttered at my own stupidity, hanging my head.

"Listen, it wasn't what you thin-"

"Yeah, right, Edward. It fucking looked like what I thought to me." He stared at me, his eyebrows raised, wanting me to tell him what I thought.

Fine.

"You, bare-assed, spooning a barely clothed Bella." I swallowed down the bile that had risen in my throat at the words. "Thank you, though, for closing the door so I didn't have to hear the two of you fucking all night long. Fucking bastard," I finished, my voice raw from the vomiting and liquor. Standing before him, my chest heaved, the shards cutting into my lungs and stealing my breath. As much as I refused to let my emotions show, my body betrayed me and the tears welled in my eyes. Clenching my jaw, I willed them away even as one slid down my cheek.

Nodding at my words, he walked toward me, his steps more certain than before.

"Jazz, you okay?" he asked, reaching out to me.

I wanted to slap his out stretched hand, instead, I turned from him as my shame slid down my face. "Fuck you, Edward. What the fuck do you care anyway. Just leave me the fuck alone. Go on with your perfect little life with Bella."

I had to get the fuck out of there. Spotting my backpack on my chair, I grabbed it and went to my dresser again, opening drawers and pulling out clothes, not even caring what I was stuffing in the bag. I could feel him right behind me, so I wasn't surprised when his voice was so close.

What surprised me was the hand on my arm, stilling my movements. "Stop, Jasper." He wasn't demanding, but he knew I would listen regardless. With the partially filled bag in my hands, I stood with my back to him.

"I can't," I whispered.

"Can't what?"

Licking my lips, I felt them dry and cracked. "I can't stand by and watch you two. I'm…sorry. I just can't." I finished, my words broken, fragmented by the beginning of sobs as the images of their future hit me one after the other.

Graduation. Wedding. Pregnancy. Baby. Holiday parties with friends and families, pictures of the happy couple surrounded by loved ones.

Fucking picture perfect life.

Without me in it.

I didn't belong with them anymore.

And yet, as much as that broke me, I knew it was how it should be. It should have always been Edward. I had no right to even consider it should have been me.

"Jasper, listen to me," he spoke to my back, knowing there was no fucking way I would turn around to face him. "Bella and I didn't sleep together."

I snorted. "No, I doubt there was very little actual sleeping except for what I walked in on. I'm sure there was a lot of fucking though." My anger started to return, taking hold of the self pity.

When he sighed, I felt his breath on my neck, his hand still on my forearm. "Fucking turn around and listen to me." Finally, his tone was beginning to match my own, spite crawling into it as his frustration with my behavior grew. Debating on whether or not to do as he asked, I glanced at the letter on the dresser.

My ticket out.

Jerking my arm from his grasp, I turned around, and looked down on him, my eyes glaring at his. For once, I appreciated my height advantage. However, Edward didn't back down, in fact, he returned my stare, only his eyes were filled with a peace I would never know again.

"Thank you."

Edward, always so fucking polite. Bastard.

"As I was saying, we didn't sleep together, as in we didn't have sex."

We didn't have sex.

Immediately, the air rushed from my lungs, only this time in relief, the shards of heart remaining intact for the moment. I went to speak, but no words would come out.

"There was no 'fucking', as you so eloquently put it." He sighed and pinched the bridge of his nose before continuing while I remained dumbfounded. "This isn't my place to tell you this. But after I saw the door this morning, I knew you had seen us…and what it must have looked like…" he voice got quiet.

"What?" My voice finally reappeared, although it was weak and timid with remorse.

"She'll kill me for telling you this, with you not liking Jake and all-"My eyes grew wide at his words, and immediately he shook his head. "They had quite the fight, Bella came to me, she was upset and wanted advice."

"What happened, Edward?"

He glanced behind him, made certain my door was closed and we were alone before he looked up at me."He asked her to marry him."

"WHAT!" I went to move past him, but he caught my arm.

"Jasper, you can't. Let me finish."

I had been on a fucking rollercoaster of emotions all day, and I just wanted to get the fuck off this ride to hell. If Edward could be the one to let me exit the ride, then I was going to stand and listen. The visions I had had earlier repeated, only Jake was in place of Edward.

"Did she say yes?" Even as the words passed my lips, I didn't recognize that I had said them.

"Not exactly," he replied a hell of a lot more calmly than I felt.

"Edward, fucking tell me." The waiting was a form of torture.

"She told him she needed time to think about it."

"Time to think about it? As in, she might still say yes? How much time?"

He had let go of my arm, convinced I wasn't going to go pound on Bella's door demanding answers. "This is so not my place to be telling you about this," he said, shaking his head.

"Yeah, well she isn't going to. Please Edward, tell me what happened."

We stood there, neither of us moving as he relayed the details of the events from the night before. How he had gotten up to go to the bathroom and heard Bella crying in her room, he knocked and entered to find her sobbing on her bed. It had taken him a few minutes to coax out of her what had happened, how Jake had planned a romantic dinner, and proposal, complete with candlelight, diamond ring and bended knee. Bella had said she needed time to think about it, Jake got upset, he was hurt and confused. They argued, and he dropped her off at the house without a word.

"She was a wreck, Jasper, so I invited to come into my room, where we could talk more. "

I raised a questioning brow at him.

"My bed is bigger," he answered my unasked question. "Anyway, we talked about what had happened, and what she was going to do. After a few hours, she started to doze off, I offered her a shirt, she changed and climbed under the covers, asking if she could stay, saying she didn't she didn't want to be alone." He looked down at the floor. "I don't know how we ended up spooning. I swear, when I fell asleep, I was on my back."

I was an ass. Not only had I assumed they had slept together, but Bella had been upset and hadn't been able to come to me because of my feelings on Jake. She had felt alone, with no one to talk to, Edward consoled her, helped her, and I had fucking assumed the worst.

Then there was Maria.

Fuck.

I went by Edward and sat on the edge of my bed, my elbows on my knees, and face in my hands. "Aw, man I fucked up big time," I mumbled into my palms.

"Anyone would have thought the same thing," Edward excused my behavior with reasoning.

"No, I mean I really fucked up." I sighed, looking up at him. "I fucked Maria."

"Maria, Maria? Calculus Maria?" His eyes widen in surprise. As far as he knew, I hadn't been with anyone since Alice. Of course, he didn't know about the kisses with Bella.

"Yeah. I left here with our bottle of Patron, went to her place and…she…we....fucked."

"I don't believe it." Not often was Edward shocked. "You definitely fucked up." Joining me on the bed, he leaned back on his hands. "Details. What happened?"

Rolling my eyes, I felt my cheeks flush at my embarrassment. Edward and I were close, no doubt, but we had never really talked sex before, other than the porn magazines we had looked at together. We had never discussed in any details of our sex lives. Considering most of mine included his sister, and one of his included Bella, it was understandable. "I called her, went over, we talked for about five minutes before I was up in her room. She gave me head, I fucked her and left."

God, I was such a bastard.

"Jesus, Jasper," he chided, shaking his head.

"Yeah, I know." I almost couldn't bear to look at him.

"Well, that explains the smell."

"Smell?"

He motioned to me, and sniffed the air around me. "You smell like had sex in a fucking brewery."

"Close…sorority house." I cringed at the memory of Maria leading me up the stairs to her room. Details of her room were blurry, I vaguely remembered two beds, and a window. "I need to shower."

"Good idea," he said as he stood up. "I need to finish getting dressed. Oh, before I forget, your mom called with a message," he said, pulling a paper out of his pocket.

Not exactly in the mood to deal with my mother, I told him to leave it on my dresser. Instantly regretting my decision, I jumped off the bed and bolted past him, but I was too late.

With letter in hand, he stood there reading it. "Is this what it looks like?"

Here we go.

I nodded.

"What the fuck, Jasper? You said you didn't get in." Green eyes, filled with anger, scanned the letter again, for the third time.

Again, I nodded.

"A fucking FULL RIDE? Jasper…" he went back to the bed and sat down again. I kept my back to him, while I was proud of the letter; I was ashamed I had kept it from him. "Why, Jasper? Why did you lie?" he asked quietly, his voice so full of hurt, my heart ached.

With my back to him, I spoke to my dresser, fingering the grains in the wood. "I just wanted to stay together. I wanted to be with you and Bella."

"But a fucking full ride Jasper? You turned that down for us?"

"Yes," I whispered to my dresser before turning around. Staring at the letter laying on his lap, he ran his fingers through his hair.

"Jasper, this is…fucking huge. Your parents must have been pissed." He read it the letter again.

"They don't know, I never told them." I hung my head, even though I had turned around, I couldn't look at him.

"Are you serious?"

I wanted to explain. I wanted to tell him how I couldn't bear to be without him and Bella. How I couldn't imagine a future without them in it, even for a few months at a time. How they meant more to me than any scholarship. All these things I wanted to explain to him, and yet, nothing came out, I just stood there, dumbfounded, at a total loss for words and reasons.

"I never told anyone. I just…I just didn't want to be alone." I tried to explain, and failed, my simple words not conveying the complexity of the choice I had made, the weight I had given it, the thought and consideration that had been involved. It was not a decision I had made lightly, although I had always known, deep down, that my future was with them. Walking to the bed, I sat next to him, still not looking at him.

We sat in silence for a few minutes, until he reached over and put a comforting arm around my shoulders.

"I would have done the same thing." Shocked, I finally looked up at him.

"You would have?"

Nodding, he shrugged. "Yeah, I mean, I would have chosen you and Bella over a scholarship too." Placing the letter in my lap, he pointed to the logo at the top. "But you gave up more than a scholarship, Jasper."

Confused, I stared at him.

"You gave up the chance to go home."

Home.

Heat, sunshine, Abilene…Petey.

I missed Petey the most. Although we had kept in touch over the years, he was attending a community college studying business so he could run his own garage, and was now engaged to his high school sweetheart Charlotte; our relationship wasn't what it once had been. Edward, of course, had moved into the best friend spot, but my heart always had a special place for Petey. We had experienced so many firsts together, and had gone through those awkward years by each other's sides.

"You miss it, Japser. Texas. I can tell."

"How?" Of course I missed it, it had been my home for more than three quarters of my life, I loved everything about it, I was proud of my Texas upbringing.

"It's a part of you, Jasper. It always has been, and while your parents took the boy of out of Texas, they didn't take the Texas out of the boy," he chuckled at his bad humor. "The way you dress, talk, eat, hell, even your fucking southern charm, it all screams 'Texas', and your pride in it."

Before the first one fell, I tried to catch it but I was too late and it splattered on the paper in my lap, spreading out to create a dark uneven circle. "I do miss it," I admitted quietly.

"I know."

"Regardless," I took a deep breath, "of how much I miss it, I wouldn't have left the two of you…and now, it looks like she might be leaving us."

"Not necessarily. She said she needed time…and I think I have just the solution." Suddenly, his words and movements were animated, and I swear I saw the light bulb go on over his head. He stood up and started pacing in front of me. "What are your plans this summer?"

I watched him walk back and forth, and shrugged. "Umm, go back to the music store, hang out with you at the pool…other than that, I have no fucking clue."

"Before you say no, think about what I am about to suggest, okay?" He stopped and faced me, biting his lip.

"Okay."

"Promise?"

"Yes, I fucking promise," I blurted out, irritated and impatient.

"Let's go to Texas."

"Huh?" What the hell was he suggesting? More excited than I had seen him in months, he practically bounced in front of me at his idea. He was like a child on Christmas morning having been told they had to wait for the relatives to arrive before they could open presents.

"You, me, Bella, and a road trip to Texas."

Suddenly, I was as excited as he was and stood up, almost bouncing in time with him. "Are you serious?"

"Absolutely," he grinned.

"The three of us in Texas?"

"Yep…all summer. What do you say, Jasper?"

"Fuck yes," I laughed. My head started spinning with ideas, what I wanted to show, where I wanted to take them. Finally, I could share my own history with them. Then, I stopped bouncing and laughing. "Wait, what about Bella? She won't agree to this, not with what's going on."

"Leave her to me. It's exactly what she needs, some time and space to think about her decision."

"What if he doesn't let her go?" I began doubting Edward's abilities. He had stopped pacing, and faced me.

"We need this, Jasper. All of us. We need to get back to…where we were. Something has happened this year, and instead of getting closer by living together, we've grown apart. We need to get back to…us."

He had me convinced. Then again, Edward could talk me into just about anything. "Okay, I'm in."

"Good. I'm going to go work out some details, give my dad a call. I'll talk to you later," he said, heading toward our door.

"Edward, wait."

"Yeah?"

"Does Bella know I saw you?" I looked away from him, fearing his answer would drive the wedge between Bella and me deeper.

"No. I didn't feel it was necessary to tell her," he eased my fear, giving me sad smile.

"Thank you."

"Welcome…and Jasper?"

"Yeah?"

"I'm sorry."

"For what?"

"Everything," he murmured before turning and walking into his room.

Home. I was going home.

"**~~**"

After showering and changing, I lay on my bed. It had been one fucking long day, and I let the sounds of house lull me into a light sleep. Edward's muffled voice on the phone in his room, Bella walking down the hall on her way to the kitchen, the sounds of her cooking dinner and starting laundry. I still hadn't seen her yet, my door closed tight since I had arrived home a few hours earlier.

While my body attempted to seek rest, my mind did anything but, instead it crowded with thoughts of Edward's suggested plan, thoughts of money, time, transportation.

I had jumped at the chance, eager to see my home again, but was it even feasible. Money wasn't something I had a lot of; I had worked hard and paid for some of my college, my parents chipping in, as well as school loans. The Cullens had saved my ass by letting me live in the house rent and utility free. Bella, Edward and I split the food costs, and I rarely spent extra money. Still, not working at the music store all summer would hamper my funds for the following year, and as much as I wanted to see Texas again, was it right to have my parents pay more so I could spend the summer road tripping.

"So, did you carpe diem?"

Her voice was cold, chilling me even as I jumped at its sound.

"What?" I cleared my throat and sat up.

"Did you take Emmett's advice and carpe diem?" she leaned against the door jam, dressed in jeans and a tee shirt, her expression was one of anger and hurt.

Edward couldn't have told her.

"What difference does it make to you?" I retorted, and immediately regretted the words and their harsh tone. She lifted a shoulder and glanced around my room, refusing to meet my eyes.

"It doesn't but you weren't here earlier, I just assumed you had spent the night somewhere."

"I went jogging." Well, I had intended to, until I found you in bed with Edward, then I got drunk and fucked a girl I barely knew.

"Jogging," she repeated, seeing through my lie. Finally looking directly at me, she furrowed her brow, and I could tell she was debating calling me on the lie. Relieved when she turned to leave, I sighed…until she turned around.

"Did Edward talk to you?"

"About?" I asked, trying to buy myself time.

"He wants to talk to us over dinner. Something about a trip?"

"Yeah, he mentioned it earlier, but I don't know details." I thought that was the end, she would turn and leave. With a palm on the jam, and her back to me, she spoke over her shoulder but kept her eyes down.

"I think it's a good idea," she whispered before leaving.

Edward called me down to dinner about thirty minutes later. While Bella had cooked, Edward had set the table. Before, I would have been down stairs helping them, but a lot had changed in the past five months. They shared a few knowing looks as they carried dinner to the table and set it down. When Bella put the plate in front of me, I glanced up at her.

She had cooked my favorite meal.

I mumbled a thank you, surprised at the effort she had gone through to make the chicken marsala. After sitting down, Edward wasted no time.

"I talked to my dad, and he supports the idea. Even said he would fund part of it, if we needed him to. I told him we would try to conserve money by camping out some nights. The weather is good enough for camping, right Jasper?" He looked at me expectedly.

Caught off guard at the speed of which he spoke, I had almost missed the question."Umm, yes, the nights get cool, but nothing we can't handle."

"Good, so that will help, and if we pool our money, I've got quite a bit left over from tutoring, we should be fine. I'm thinking…six or seven weeks? We should leave enough time to be in Forks when we returned. I'm sure our families will want to see us a little this summer." He stopped and looked at us both.

Was it our turn now?

Bella spoke first. "I really want to go, but I am not sure my dad will go for it, that far away for that long."

Edward smiled his knowing smile. "Leave that to me, or rather, my dad, he said he would talk to Charlie and take care of it. And Jasper, I can't imagine your parents would be upset by you going back to Texas and camping out. "

I nodded. "Yeah I think they will be okay with it. I'm just…"

"What?" he pushed, knowing I wouldn't it say otherwise.

"I'm worried about the money. About tuition for next year. I hate to ask my parents for more than they are already doing. Not only would I not be working this summer, but I would be spending what little I have left from last summer. It just doesn't seem fair."

"You're right, and I've thought about that a little. Maybe…a shorter trip, then you can work the rest of the summer," he suggested hesitantly. "How many weeks do you think you need to work?"

"Assuming he pays me the same as last year, I don't know…ten weeks? That will give me four for the trip."

"We can do it in four weeks, right?" Edward looked back and forth between Bella and me.

I couldn't help it, I had to ask. "What about Jake? He won't be happy with this." Her head shot up and she glared at me.

"I'll deal with Jake," she said, although I could tell she wanted to say more, which I imagined was along the lines of 'mind your own fucking business.'

"We need this, guys, we need to just be the three of us again. Alone." Edward finished pointedly.

As much as I wanted to look at Bella, to see her reaction, I couldn't bring myself to do it, so I continued to stare at my plate, stirring my food around with my fork. "I think we need it too," I finally replied quietly.

"Me too." It wasn't the sudden gentleness in her voice that surprised me, it was her soft hand covering and squeezing mine.

"It's a done deal then. Let's plan on leaving a few days after finals. Give us some time to pack and map it out a bit." Edward grinned bigger than I had seen him in weeks.

"Sounds good," Bella and I answered simultaneously.

Four weeks camping out under the big Texas sky.

Four weeks of being with just Bella and Edward.

"**~~**"

"Should I pack the coffee maker?" she yelled from downstairs. I was up in my room, my door wide open as I stood beside my bed, hands on my hips staring at the mess laid out before me. We were twenty-four hours away from leaving and I had no fucking clue what to pack. Finals were done, and we had been planning our trip for the past few days. While Bella and Edward came up with places they wanted to see, I came up with places I wanted to show them, and people I wanted them to meet.

Petey.

"Seriously, Bella?" I yelled back at her, shaking my head. Exactly where did she think we would be plugging in the coffee maker when we were camping?

"So, that's a no?" she laughed.

"Bella!"

"Okay, okay," her voice gradually faded, but I could still her giggling to herself, probably in satisfaction of getting me riled up…again. It seemed to have been a goal of hers lately, drive Jasper to the brink of insanity. Even though I was thankful we were at least back on speaking terms, there were still tense moments between us, usually involving Jake.

Edward had told me that Bella's talk with Jake about Texas had gone over a better than expected, Jake actually kissing her good-bye and telling her to have good time, but had reminded her to check in with him daily by phone or text. Groaning, I had rolled my eyes at Jake's instructions.

"Jesus, can't he just leave her alone for a few weeks?"

Edward became silent and raised an eyebrow. "Would you?"

I sighed, of course, Edward was right. Wonder if he ever got sick of being right? "Point taken." I moved by him to my dresser and pulled out more clothing I had no idea what to do with. "I still don't like it."

"I don't expect you do, but you do need to accept it." Edward sat on my bed, legs crossed, leaning against my headboard. "At least he wasn't an ass about it, he could have been."

"True, I guess I am surprised he even agreed to let her go," I paused, rethinking my words."Not that he had much choice."

Chuckling, Edward put his hands behind his head. "Regardless of what we think, he's a smart boy, and he didn't want to face the wrath of Bella."

I shudder dramatically. "We learned that lesson."

"Fuck," I muttered, attempting to shove more than physically possible into my huge duffel bag.

"Problem?"

I jumped at his voice and looked up to see him in my doorway. There was something off about him, his face looked drawn, and his hair messed-certainly from running his hands through it.

"Hey," I greeted, and he entered my room, coming to sit on my bed. "This bag is big enough for me to commit a crime, and hide the body in it, but I can't seem to pack everything I need in it."

Leaning over, he scanned the contents of my bag, reaching in he pulled out my Scrabble game. "Do you really need this?"

Shrugging, I grabbed it from him and put it back in. "Never know-always be prepared, right?"

"Right...prepared for those emergency Scrabble tournaments," his voice was low, and full of wistfulness. "I have something to tell you."

My heart immediately jumped into my throat, temporarily clogging my ability to breathe. "What?"

Looking down at his lap, Edward spoke quietly. "I haven't told Bella yet, but remember that meeting I had at my dad's hospital a few weeks ago?"

Smiling, I recalled teasing him about his shirt and tie; it had been the night he had taken me out to a bar for some fun. "Yeah, I remember."

"Well, it was an interview for a position, an internship of sorts…for this summer."

He let the words sink in, and when they did, I sat on the bed next to him. "This summer," I repeated unbelievingly. Biting his bottom lip, he nodded. "And?"

"I start next Monday. I'm moving home this weekend."

"Shit…"

"My thoughts exactly," he sighed, laying back on my duffel bag. "I can't go to Texas. You guys are on your own."

"Well, this sucks." I realized what I had said and apologized."I'm sorry, Edward. I shouldn't be complaining. I should be congratulating you on getting the position. Your dad must be proud."

"Thanks, and yeah, he seemed pretty happy. As much as I think it's going to be a great step for me," he paused, finally looking up at me, smiling."I was really looking forward to seeing your home, Jasper."

"Me too." We sat in silence for a few minutes as I considered the consequences of Edward not going with us. It would be only Bella and I only for four weeks, without Edward to referee.

Surely we would kill each other.

"You know one of us won't survive this trip?" I joked, trying to lighten his dark mood, as he would have done for me.

He turned to me with a sad smile, "I'm sure you will be fine, both of you."

"I suppose we should tell Bella?"

"Tell Bella what?" she asked, entering my room dragging the largest suitcase I had ever seen. When she saw the somber looks on our faces, she stopped. "What's wrong?"

"Edward has something he needs to tell you."

"**~~**"

Thank you for reading! Texas…here they come.

Also, a huge, huge thank you to everyone that voted for Mergers and Acquisitions for the Slash/Backslash contest, M&A has made it to the final round, should you want to vote again, all entries can be found here: http: // www. fanfiction. net/u/2110516/Slash_Backslash (remove spaces)

I am humbled by the support the story has received, and I look forward to continuing it after the conclusion of the contest.