Disclaimer: Everything Twilight-related belongs to SM, you know the drill. Everything else mentioned belongs to their respective owners. I merely own the storyline. =]
Info to this chapter: The timelines come back together now, as in this chapter takes places after the last one (after Jasper received the paternity test!).
EPOV
I hadn't noticed how much I missed simple touches like hugs and kisses until I started hanging out with Daniel. He was always holding my hand or kissing me casually even after we decided to take it very slow and start out as friends for the moment. He knew all about my past relationship with Jasper, it had been surprisingly easy to talk to someone neutral and Daniel seemingly understood that I wasn't ready for something serious; he went as far and assured me that he liked me, but he liked playing around as well.
Gradually my moods eased up and with every evening out, dancing with Daniel, my dark thoughts retreated. Tonight we had decided on movies though and cuddled together on my couch as we shared a pizza and laughed about Adam Sandler and Kevin James in their newest movie.
It was strange how comfortable I felt with Daniel after only knowing him for a few weeks, but I felt uncomfortable around my year long friends and family. Although I guessed the fact that my friends appeared to walk on eggshells whenever they talked to me, only added to my discomfort. Their wariness on certain topics constantly reminded me about my breakup with Jasper and the pity in my friends' eyes was unmistakable.
And that was nothing compared to my family, Carlisle stayed in the background as usual, but Esme wouldn't stop mothering me every chance she got and my fainting had made matters indefinitely worse. Daniel however was completely different, he liked talking, but was a good listener as well, but mostly what impressed me, was his wide knowledge about music and the fact that he wanted to open his own tattoo studio.
The ink on his skin still intrigued me as much as it had on the first evening we met. The only parts of it I had ever seen, were the black lines creeping out of his collar and another array of colorful ink as he stretched and his shirt lifted; sadly, the moment had been too short to even make out specific shapes and as curious as I was, I was too shy to ask him outright about seeing his tattoos.
One day, I promised myself and turned my attention back to the TV. Granted, it didn't take long before my attention strayed once more. The planes of Daniel's muscled upper body were flush to my back as he wrapped his arms around me, holding me to him, and it had been a really long time since my last release.
I was hyper aware of every vibration going through his body, caused by his laugh, and wondered how long I could take this before I had a problem on my hands. Luck seemed to be on my side though as the movie ended a couple of minutes later and Daniel sat us both up.
I hadn't expected Daniel to lean in and peck me on the lips though. While I usually prided myself with my self-control, all caution was forgotten when Daniel's lips touched mine; warm and soft. It was the last bit needed for my resolution to snap and before I fully registered what I did, I was straddling Daniel; our lips locked in a heated kiss. My fingers pawed at his shirt, eager to feel the smooth skin underneath while my tongue thrust into his mouth, meeting Daniel's.
Breaking away, I stripped the shirt over his head and sucked in a deep breath. Most of the left side of Daniel's torso was covered in bright, hundreds of colors flowing into each other; some divided by black lines. It was almost impossible to capture it all at once, as the tattoo consisted of many smaller details. Most prominent was a Celtic motive that I wasn't familiar with which was engulfed by many swung lines. There were whole flowers in every color mentionable as well as single petals, and after starring at the tattoo for some time, I made out two sayings. Nosce te ipsum* was written in black, delicate lines right on top of his heart and just a little underneath were, in the same script, the words ego sum, qui su**.
I was too fascinated by the sight in front of me that I only vaguely recognized the rasping breaths as my own. I was hyper aware of the growing tightness of my pants however. Daniel apparently decided that I had starred long enough and pulled me once more closer to him, his mouth moving to suck on my neck while my hands buried in his thick black hair.
Groaning he pulled away and shifted his body until he lay flat on his back with my body nestled between his spread legs. Grasping the hem of my shirt with both of his hands, a pleasant shiver coursed through my body caused by only the slightest contact of Daniel's fingertips on my skin. Tugging the shirt over my head, one of his hands wrapped around my neck and pulled me down until my body was flush against his.
It felt undeniably good to feel the body of someone else warming my skin, but as soon as the thought appeared in my mind, it was gone again when Daniel demanded my attention by tracing my lower lip with his tongue. Opening my mouth for him, I grinded my hips down until Daniel's erection pressed firmly against my own, electing a deep moan from him.
Delighted by his reaction, I repeated the movement with my hips while I dragged my lips over his neck, sucking and biting my way to the hollow at his throat. I licked along his collarbone to his shoulder where I bit down gently and this time, a small whimper escaped his throat. He was almost like a new instrument and I was eager to learn what buttons I had to push before I was rewarded with the right sounds.
Tickling along his ribcage with the fingers of my right hand, I descended further down until my fingers met the waistband of his jeans. Slipping a finger underneath the fabric, I pulled slightly away to unbutton the jeans when the door bell rang. It was enough to break the spell. Leaning my head against Daniel's shoulder I desperately tried to catch my breath and with a "Sorry" whispered against his skin, I fetched my shirt and made my way to the door.
Pulling the shirt on, I tried to smooth down my hair as much as possible and opened the door. I could literally feel my mouth drop open at the sight in front of me. There standing, in ragged jeans in which he would've never been caught outside under normal circumstances, his blonde locks in disarray and his reddened, swollen eyes with big dark circles accentuating them, stood Jasper. My heart gave a painful squeeze as my mind tried to come up with something to say, anything, but my mouth only opened and closed again; without a single word.
Jasper wasn't acting any differently; he simply starred at me, his eyes flicking over my whole body before they came to rest on my face once more. Suddenly it occurred to me that I might very well be dreaming; the frenzied make out session with Daniel never happened and Jasper didn't actually stand in front of my house; I simply must've fallen asleep watching the movie.
This dream swiftly developed into a nightmare when Daniel's voice called out my name and he appeared right behind me only seconds later, his hand reaching out to my shoulder. Startled by the situation I swung back to face Jasper whose eyes widened in shock as he took in the sight of the strange, shirtless man standing behind me. Several emotions flickered over Jasper's face and if I hadn't known him so well, I wouldn't have been able to identify them as hurt, sadness and maybe a hint of betrayal.
Then everything went incredibly fast as Jasper thrust a piece of paper into my hand, turned around and almost ran down my driveway. Still gob smacked by the situation, my eyes were still fixed on the path Jasper had just taken. Closing the door, Daniel gently wrapped a hand around my arm and steered me towards the living room where he sat us down on the couch.
He gave me a couple of minutes to sort my swirling thoughts before he inquired, "Would you tell me what the fuck just happened?"
"That was Jasper," I whispered, thinking the rest of the reaction self explaining. Now however, I remembered the piece of paper that I still clutched. Looking down, I opened the folded paper and swiftly read through the contents. Only when I read the sentence "Hereby Jasper Whitlock isn't Aden Whitlock Sanchez father by a certainty of 99.9 %." did I realize what I held in my hands.
I read through the sentence once more, just to make sure that I didn't imagine important words in my shocked state and handed the letter wordlessly to Daniel; he already knew most of the story about the breakup with Jasper and deserved to know this last tidbit of information as well. Reading through it, he handed the paper back to me once he was done, his gaze locking with mine.
"I don't know what to say," he said quietly. "You suspected it all along."
And if it had only been this easy. Yes, I had been right, but that didn't change the heartache I felt for Jasper at the moment. I wished I hadn't been right, Jasper loved this little boy more than the rest of the world and I didn't want to be right anymore, but there was nothing I could do. I couldn't even offer Jasper comfort, seeing how he walked away again without even saying a word.
Letting my head fall into my hands I tried to sort out this huge mess in my head. I felt Daniel's big, warm hand rubbing my back and as much as I welcomed the comfort it gave me, it only confused me further. Here I was stuck between a confrontation of my ex-lover and the comfort of a possible future lover and all I could think about was that little boy whom I had come to love dearly as well; now I would most likely never see him again and my heart broke all over with the realization.
"Is there anything I can do to make you feel better?" Daniel asked. He waited until I shook my head negative before he continued speaking, "I understand if you need some time for yourself now."
Lifting my head, I looked at him and for the first time since I knew Daniel, I saw a hint of insecurity in his features.
"I'm sorry," I apologized. "I need to make sense of this by myself first. Can I call you tomorrow?"
"You can call me whenever you need me," he assured me, the hint of a smile playing along his lips.
Rising to his feet, he gathered his things and straightened out his clothes. Grabbing his arm, I pulled him towards me and pecked him on the lips before I let him go.
"Thank you," I said, trying for a smile which I was sure turned out to be more of a grimace.
"Nothing to thank me for. I'll talk to you tomorrow," he promised and quietly left the house.
Sitting in the silence, I contemplated what I should do now. I didn't know where Jasper went and I wasn't even sure if I wanted to see him. There stood so many things between us that I didn't have a single clue how to work out the many problems standing between us. If not my lover, I missed my best friend and yearned to have him back in my life, but I wasn't sure if I could forgive him this easily.
I hadn't been alone for ten minutes before my phone rang. Checking the display, I answered quickly, "Hey, did you forget something?"
"No," Daniel answered to my confusion. "But could you come out for a minute maybe?"
"Sure," I said frowning. "Let me fetch a pullover and I'll be outside."
"Thanks," he sighed and hung up.
Doing as promised, I threw on a pullover and stepped out of the door where Jasper was sitting on my front steps. It took me a moment to realize that Daniel hadn't wanted me to meet him outside, but rather initiated another meeting for me and Jasper; seeing how Jasper still hadn't found his guts to ring the bell again and talk to me this time. Sitting down on the steps next to Jasper, he startled by my presence.
"Edward," he whispered, tears forming in his eyes.
His voice hit me like a bullet to the chest, his normally smooth baritone, sounded ragged and tired as if he hadn't slept in days. Lifting my eyes to his, I inclined my head; hoping that he'd understand the gesture as what it meant, my willingness to listen at least.
"He's not mine," he continued whispering, the tears finally spilling over; running over his cheeks.
Wrapping my arms tightly around him, I let him weep. Lover or not, best friend or not; everything was forgotten for the moment because nobody deserved what he went through right now. My anger at Alyssa spiked, but I pushed it away, focusing on rubbing soothing circles on Jasper's back as he sobbed the words "How could he not be mine?" over and over again.
He was completely and utterly destroyed by the truth and broken or not, he still looked as gorgeous as ever.
* "Nosce te ipsum." - "Know thyself." by Cicero, de finibus 5, 16, 44
** "Ego sum, qui sum." – "I am who I am."
AN:
Did I restore some of your faith in me? :) Now who will it be, Daniel or Jasper?
Thanks again for all the reviews, PMs and alerts on the last chapter – I loved all of them (and even replied this time!); took me only a shit load of time to type them with one hand, the chapter has taken indefinitely longer, even though it has less words than usual.
Go ahead and let me know your thoughts about this chapter as well, good and bad!
As usual a big thanks to my lovely beta, Jasper's Darlin' Kathy. Thanks for always being there for me and letting me bounce my ideas off you!
Now take care,
Sanny
