A/N: Thanks mamdi, as always for amazing betaing but also for your honest reactions to the story which give me the confidence to post. You guys can thank her too – she pointed out to me that it's National Coming Out Day in the US today. So I had to update early to celebrate as it's too good an opportunity to miss, so here it is!

"Fuck!" I collapse back on Jasper's bed and cover my face with my hands. "Fucking hell! That was so not how I wanted Emmett to find out about this."

I feel the bed shift as Jasper lies down next to me. He pulls me into his arms and I bury my face in his shoulder.

"He just needs time to get his head around it," Jasper says. "Emmett's a good guy and he's your friend, Edward. I think he'll be okay with this."

"I hope you're right," I sigh. "I just wanted to be able to tell him in my own time. I feel bad about him walking in on us like that."

"Yeah, I know." Jasper voice rumbles in his chest and his arms are warm around me. "But at least it's over with now. Like ripping off a band-aid."

"I guess," I mutter into his t-shirt.

He tightens his arms around me. "It really will be okay. I'm sure of it."

We lie still for a while, my head is whirling with too many things to process. I let my thoughts gradually settle as Jasper holds me and offers silent comfort. I'm not sure how much time passes before I finally speak again.

"I'm going to tell my parents tomorrow."

"Okay," he replies calmly.

"I know it's sooner than we'd agreed, but I don't want to risk anyone else that I care about finding out the wrong way," I explain, rolling off him and propping myself up so I can see his face. "I'm done with sneaking around behind the backs of the people that matter to me."

He nods. "Okay, that makes sense. Let's do it." He smiles at me. "I'll tell mine tomorrow too then. After all, I can't imagine Emmett being very good at being subtle around my folks – and I definitely don't want them to hear it from him!"

I wince, imagining Emmett putting his foot in it over the dinner table with a suggestive comment or a knowing look. Yeah, that would not be cool.

"Fuck!" I say, feeling a new surge of adrenaline rush through me bringing something that almost feels thrilling with it. "We're really going to do this aren't we?"

"Yeah," he nods and his mouth slowly curves into a wide smile. "We are. And I'm glad," he says decisively. "It's been eating away at me for too long. I want my parents to know who I really am."

We grin at each other, excited and a little bit terrified. He pulls me down and kisses me. His lips soft and warm against mine.

"Hey, we nearly forgot!" Jasper pulls back and I frown, confused.

He reaches for his phone from the nightstand, selecting the clock from the menu and I suddenly remember what day it is. There's just a couple more minutes to go until midnight so we lie back side-by-side and watch the seconds tick away until it gets to 00:00.

"Happy New Year!" He rolls over to face me and we grin at each other like idiots.

"Happy New Year, Jas," I reply as I slide my hand around the nape of his neck and pull him down.

We kiss and kiss until we're breathless, then separate reluctantly, laughing and elated.

"I hope the rest of the year is as good as the first two minutes," he grins. "Now we'd better try and get some sleep so we'll be ready to face the music tomorrow."

I brush my teeth while he takes a leak and then we swap places, getting ready for bed in companionable silence. We curl up together, naked, my back to his chest with him spooned around me so that our warm bodies are flush against each other from neck to toe. I feel his dick, half hard against my ass but by some unspoken agreement we keep things chaste tonight. We're both beat and our need for comfort and sleep is greater than the need for sex right now.

He drapes one arm over me. I hold his hand and play idly with his fingers until I feel his breathing slow and settle and know that he's asleep. I lie awake for a while, but eventually my exhaustion catches up with me and I finally drift off.

XOXOXOXOX

When the light filtering through the curtains wakes me the next morning, our positions have reversed. My nose is buried in the warm skin at the nape of Jasper's neck and his hair is soft under my nose. It's warm under the covers and our bodies are hot and sweaty where they're in contact. My morning wood is pressed up against his ass and it feels fucking good. I can't resist pushing against him and sliding my upper hand down to grip his hip and pull him back as I grind in little slow circles. I hear him mumble and then chuckle as he curves his spine, pushing his ass back against my cock.

"Good morning," his voice is croaky from sleep.

"Mm, it feels pretty damn good from here," I murmur as I lick and nip at the hot, slightly salty skin of his shoulder.

I reach my hand around and find his cock, hard and curved tight against his stomach. He grunts as I curl my fingers and thumb around him and start to slide them up and down gently.

"Fuck," he moans, wrapping his own hand over mine and making me hold him tighter. "My dick hasn't forgotten where we left off last night."

"Don't remind me," I growl. "I don't want to be thinking about Emmett right at this particular moment in time."

I let him grip my hand and fist his cock as he guides my movements. I hitch my hips rhythmically and slide my own leaking erection up the cleft of his ass with each stroke of our hands. I continue kissing his shoulders and he turns his head, trying to reach my lips but the angle is awkward. He shifts onto his back and pulls me on top of him, spreading his legs and pulling on my hips so that our cocks rub together. Then he twists his hand into my hair and tugs me down.

"That's better," he murmurs against my mouth as his tongue slips out to touch my lips delicately.

We kiss, sweetly, softly. Licking and sucking at each other's lips, we rock our hips together and our cocks slide, trapped between our warm bodies. The kiss deepens and becomes more intense as we move faster. I feel the slick slipperiness as we leak pre-cum and sweat builds up between us. Jasper's breathing is rapid and his fingers dig into my ass with a bruising grip. He pulls my cheeks apart and teases my hole with a finger, making me buck against him and moan into his mouth. I pull back to look at him as he starts to groan and move faster and watch as his face contorts and he gasps, spilling hot and wet between us. I roll my hips into him and follow with a final thrust, stilling as I pulse and twitch against him with a curse, adding to the mess on his belly. I crush our lips together and kiss him again, fiercely at first but gradually the kiss turns gentle as our breathing steadies.

"Well at least we won't need to change the sheets today," I grin as I finally pull away.

He laughs and grimaces. "Yeah, why exactly do people call it dry humping anyway?"

I chuckle as I roll off to lie beside him and drag my finger through our cum, tracing aimless patterns in it as it cools until he bats my hand away and reaches for some tissues.

XOXOXOXOX

There's no sign of Rose or Emmett when we venture downstairs, so we make coffee and help ourselves to cereal. I'm not particularly hungry. Anxiety is gnawing at my belly, but I force a few mouthfuls down, hoping it will make me feel a little better.

My senses are on alert and when I hear the sound of footsteps on the stairs I stiffen. Jasper puts a soothing hand on my arm.

"Chill, it'll be fine."

I feel my cheeks burn as Emmett enters the kitchen, supporting Rose with one arm as she limps and grimaces.

"Morning," Jasper says cheerily, as if nothing has changed.

Emmett grunts a greeting without meeting our eyes as he helps Rose sit down in one of the kitchen chairs. Her ankle is visibly swollen.

"That looks nasty," I say sympathetically.

"Yeah, it hurts," she frowns. "But I'm pretty sure it's nothing serious."

"If the swelling doesn't go down soon you should probably get it looked at," I say. "My dad will be home later, you could always get him to check it out for you."

"Maybe," she says.

Emmett is crashing around with his back to the rest of us, making coffee and pulling out bowls for himself and Rose. I catch Rose's eye and raise my eyebrows questioningly, but then Emmett turns back and moves towards the table. Rose looks away as Emmett hands her a coffee.

"Thanks, babe," she smiles at him.

Emmett sits and eats his food like he's on a mission. Rose and Jasper start chatting about the party last night while I sit in silence and watch Emmett, the food I've eaten sitting like lead in my belly. He's my oldest friend and he won't look me in the fucking eye. Everyone's trying to act as if nothing's happened but the atmosphere is horrible and I can't handle it. There's a fucking gigantic elephant in the room and it needs to be addressed.

"Emmett, can we talk?" My voice rings out, a little louder than I'd intended. He pauses mid-mouthful and looks at me expectantly. "Not here," I say. "In the living room?"

"Okay," he gets to his feet and I follow him out of the door.

We stand in the middle of the room, facing each other awkwardly. Emmett just looks at me and waits. I take a deep breath and meet his eyes.

"I'm sorry I didn't tell you sooner." He doesn't say anything, so I continue. "I haven't known for long myself. You were going to be the first person we told after our parents if that makes it any better."

His lips flicker. "I guess that's good to know." His brows pull down in a frown. "It just felt shitty finding out like that, especially when Rose already knew."

"I know, I'm sorry, man." I chuckle despite myself and feel my cheeks flush. "Believe me, I really didn't want you to find out that way either!"

He laughs too and scrubs a hand through his hair as he grimaces. "Yeah, that's not an image I'm going to manage to erase from my brain in a hurry."

I look at him carefully. He seems amused rather than disgusted or shocked. "I really need you to be okay with this, Em." I clench my fists nervously by my sides, digging my nails into my palms. "Are we cool now? Or is it too weird for you that I'm…" I pause and man up. "Gay."

"Fuck, Edward," he exclaims. "I don't have a problem with you being gay, really. I mean – it's a surprise and all. I really didn't see this coming, but I don't care." He pauses, bites his lip for a moment and then continues. "You're still you, and you're my friend and Jasper's a cool guy. Honestly, it's not a problem. It's just gonna take me a while to wrap my head around it."

The tension drops away from me and I feel like I could almost collapse with relief. "Really?" I look at him, searching his face and finding only honesty there. "Thank fuck for that, man. I was shitting myself about telling you."

"You idiot," he says roughly. "C'mere." He steps across the room towards me, pulling me awkwardly into his arms for a brisk man-hug with accompanying back slapping. I hug him back and feel tears pricking behind my eyelids. I blink them away, embarrassed by my emotional response.

When we walk back into the kitchen Jasper eyes seek mine immediately, and my face splits into a huge grin as I try and nod discreetly at him.

"See?" he smiles. "I told you." He gets to his feet and puts his hands on my shoulders, leaning in to drop a fleeting kiss on my lips.

I blush again, self-conscious but also thrilled by the easy gesture of affection. Rose is smirking at us, but Emmett looks a little uncomfortable.

"Um… yeah," he says wryly. "I'm totally on board with the gay pride and all, but that's definitely going to take a bit of getting used to."

Jasper just grins at him and keeps his hands on my shoulders, holding tight. "The more you see of it, the faster you'll get used to it. Isn't that called flooding therapy or some shit like that?" He kisses me again, just a brief brush of his lips, then releases me.

We all sit back down and carry on eating. My cereal is soggy but my appetite has returned. We chat and laugh. Jasper's knee is pressed up against mine under the table and each time I meet his eyes a flash of warmth passes between us. Everything feels beautifully normal; it might be a new, different kind of normal but it feels good.

XOXOXOXOX

Rose's ankle is still puffy and painful at lunchtime, so I persuade her that she should let my dad take a look at it. We drive over to my house in convoy, Jasper in my car and Rose in Emmett's.

Jasper keeps his hand in its usual place on my thigh as I drive.

"How are you doing?" he says.

"I don't know," I answer honestly. "I'm relieved about Emmett's reaction, but I feel weirdly numb about having to tell my parents. It's not that I'm expecting them to freak out… I just can't believe that I'm actually going to do it. It doesn't feel real."

"Yeah, I get that," he says thoughtfully. "I've been planning in my head how I'm going to come out to my parents for the last two years. Now today I'm finally gonna do it and I have no fucking idea what I'm actually going to say. I can't quite believe it either."

We drive the rest of the way in silence, each lost in our own thoughts.

Jasper helps Emmett to support Rose as we get her into the house. I've called ahead to check that Dad was home, so they're expecting us. We get Rose on to the sofa with her feet up. The rest of us leave Rose and Em with Dad, and head through to the kitchen.

I help Mom make coffee and tea for everyone while Alice sits with Jasper at the kitchen table, asking him how his Christmas was and what presents he got. I see her looking at the bracelet that's tied around his wrist and she flashes me a quick grin. She'd pestered me into telling her what I'd given him for Christmas and what he'd got for me. I had shown her the scarf but chose not to mention the other things that Jasper had bought me.

I take the drinks through to the living room on a tray.

"It's just a nasty sprain," Dad's saying to Rose. "There's no need for you to get it x-rayed. I can wrap it up for you now, then you need to keep it bandaged for a few days until the swelling goes down. It was good that you managed to get ice on it straight away, that will have helped a lot."

Emmett looks relieved and Rose thanks my Dad. The others drift back through to the living room and we all sit around and make small talk for a while. I'm uncomfortably conscious of Emmett's eyes when they land on me and it feels odd to realize that my parents are the only two people in the room who don't know about me and Jasper and what we are to each other. I feel the tension start to mount, crawling under my skin and making my chest tight. I just want to get this over with now.

It's a relief when Jasper catches Rose's eye and speaks. "I guess we'd better get back, we need to get the house straight before Mom and Dad get home and you're not gonna be any help with that today, Rose."

"True," she grins. "You're on your own with that, but I'm sure Em will help." She puts a hand on Emmet's large thigh, where he's perched on the arm of the sofa next to her, and squeezes. The casual display of public affection reminds me why I don't want to hide my relationship with Jasper from my parents any longer.

I help Jasper and Emmett get Rose to the car, opening the door for them as they support her. My parents and Alice are watching from the top step. I long to be able to touch Jasper but instead I settle for leaning in through the open car window and speak softly.

"I'll text you when I've spoken to them. Call me later – when you can."

"Good luck." He looks at me intently, his face serious. His blue eyes are almost luminous in the dim interior of the car.

"You too," I reply. I glance quickly at Rose and Emmett sitting in the front of the car. They're studiously pretending to ignore our exchange but I know they can hear every word. Oh fuck it, I think to myself. "I love you," I say the words quietly, but crystal clear.

His face blooms with a smile that makes my heart swell in my chest. "I love you too."

"Good luck, man," Emmett turns and our eyes meet for a moment. Then he starts the car and pulls away.

I walk back towards the house, my heart pounding and palms slick with sweat. I have never been more terrified in my life. I feel almost dizzy with panic and force myself to take slow deep breaths to calm down. I can't wait another second. My parents and Alice watch as I approach.

"Mom, Dad, I need to talk to you." I'm surprised at how normal my voice sounds given my mental state.

I look at Alice meaningfully and she smiles and nods imperceptibly and slips away, heading for the stairs.

I move through to the living room and my parents follow. I turn to face them as they look at me expectantly. There's confusion and concern on my dad's face but my mom looks almost hopeful. She smiles at me encouragingly and I take a deep breath that cuts through the silence that hangs oppressively in the room.

"I'm gay."

And just like that, it's out there. Those two little words that I've been so afraid of saying.

My eyes flicker back and forth between my parents. My dad is calm, unreadable as he looks back at me. My mom is smiling but there are tears in her eyes. Suddenly, unexpectedly she launches herself at me. She almost knocks me over, but the force of the hug that she folds me into keeps me upright. Her hair is warm under my nose and smells sweet – comforting and familiar, with a thousand associated childhood memories. My cheeks are wet and I realize that I'm crying.

She pulls back and holds my cheeks, smoothing the tears away with her fingers and thumbs and looks at me with fierce love in her eyes.

"Thank you for telling us." She's still smiling although her face is streaked with tears too. "I was almost sure, but I'm glad you came to us."

I glance over her shoulder at my dad and he's smiling too. "I was still skeptical," he says. "I thought that maybe your mom's women's intuition was on the blink, but she'd almost convinced me."

He moves forwards now and puts his arms around both of us and squeezes us in an uncomfortable, wonderful three-way hug and I'm half-crying, half-laughing as we cling to each other. Eventually I extract myself, brushing my tears away and we separate, moving to sit down. I sit on an armchair and they take the sofa across from me.

"There's more," I say, feeling calm now, ready to tell them everything. My mom is grinning at me and I know that she's expecting what's coming next. Her expression gives me the courage to continue. "I'm in a relationship… with Jasper." I feel my cheeks flush as I look at my Dad. This part is harder than I thought it would be, but he just smiles gently.

"Your mom warned me to expect this part of the announcement too," he grins. "Remind me to always listen to your mother."

She laughs and looks smug, then says. "Honestly, Edward. None of this is a problem for us… you knew it wouldn't be, right?"

"I hoped," I admit. "But it was still hard saying it."

"We love you, we just want you to be happy," she says and my dad nods in agreement. "And we like Jasper, he's a lovely boy." My lips quirk at her choice of words as I drift off for a moment, thinking about exactly how lovely he is. "I assume it's serious, given that you've decided to tell us about him?"

I nod. "Yeah, it's pretty serious. I really care about him."

"Do his parents know?" Dad asks.

I look at my watch and grin, knowing that his parents are due home soon. "Probably not yet, but they will very soon."

"And who else knows?"

"For now, just you, his parents, Alice, Rose and Emmett." I reply. "Alice guessed and Rose worked it out too. We were going to tell the rest of you after the holidays but then Emmett… erm," I falter and feel a blush stain my cheeks. "Emmett found out unexpectedly last night."

My parents are looking at me with amusement now.

"I see," Dad says. "And I know you're going to hate me asking this, but are you boys being safe?"

"Oh my God, Dad," my cheeks burn hot with mortification. "Please. I'm an adult, and there's plenty of information on safe sex on the internet. We really don't need to have this conversation, honestly."

"If you're old enough to be doing it, then you're old enough to be able to talk about it," he replies mildly. "But I'll take your word for it then. I just felt I had to ask." I sigh with relief as he lets the subject drop.

"Okay, so are we done here?" I ask. "Only I really want to go and text Jasper now, I know he'll be waiting to hear from me."

"That's fine, sweetie," Mom smiles indulgently. "And ask him if he'd like to come to dinner tomorrow night, if you'd like?"

I smile gratefully at their easy acceptance of everything I've just shared. "Yeah, that'd be great, thanks Mom."

A/N: I'm nervous about this chapter. I do realize that it's not always this easy, but I'm not a fan of heavy angst and I think the reactions here are true to the characters in this story. Believe me, I would like it to be this easy for every teenager.