SM owns.

Thanks so much to my beta, cocoalvin!

Hello, lovelies! I just want to warn you to look out for the POV change in the middle of the chapter. This is also the last regular chapter of the story, but there will be an epilogue to follow. I hope you all enjoy...

Jasper

"We're not going to California until the summer, Edward!" I exclaimed, watching him flip through catalogues and cross check those items with items on websites. He was like a maniac.

"That's exactly why he have to start shopping now! By the time summer rolls around everyone will be putting out their autumn collections. We need to at least start mapping out what we want to buy and wear. That way our actual time trying things on in the store will be cut in half. I know how much you hate shopping, Jasper. I'm doing this for you my little berry bunny drop!"

I sighed heavily and walked out of the room. Ever since Edward and I had exchanged 'I love yous' he'd taken to calling me these silly little pet names whenever we got into even the slightest of arguments. For some reason he thought calling me his 'little berry bunny drop' was going to make me give in and walk away, but that was probably because whenever he did I gave in and walked away.

Leaving him to his obsession, I went back to our bedroom and decided to put my focus on clothes as well because tonight was The Night. Tonight Edward and I were going on a date, and I was so going to look damned good for him. I'd arranged everything perfectly, and I refused to let anyone or anything stand in our way. I hadn't even told Edward about what we were doing tonight. I was afraid that if I talked about my plans the universe would hear me and immediately begin conspiring against me. The only person who had even an inkling of what was going on was Peter and that was only because he had connections. A friend of his had just opened a new restaurant and had received nothing but fawning reviews from the local foodies. The place had only been open for a of couple weeks, but their already famed Brazilian beef, cocktails and intimate atmosphere kept the wait at a minimum of two hours on any given night without a reservation.

After asking Peter to talk to his friend, he'd secured a table for us that night at 6:00pm. We'd have something of an early dinner then head over to the park for hot chocolate and ice-skating. Edward had told me he hadn't been in years, and this was the last night the rink would be up. After skating, I had tentative plans to go dancing, but that was only if he didn't fall on his ass too much and, therefore, be too sore for Drip.

It took me approximately ten minutes for me to decide what to wear for the evening, and since it took Edward three times as long to perfect his look on any given day, I figured I'd better go back down to my office and try to pull him away from his wardrobe planning again.

"E, I think we should start getting ready," I told him. "Want to shower with me?"

He spun around in the swivel chair at my desk and grinned at me. "Do you even have to ask?" he replied.

Grabbing his hands, I pulled him up and we tripped and stumbled down the hall to the bathroom where I had the shower running and waiting for us; undressing each other quickly we stepped under the hot spray.

"Will you at least give me a hint as to what we're doing tonight?" Edward asked, wrapping his arms around my neck.

"There will be food and then fun activities afterward," I replied and watched as his face lit up with exaggerated glee.

"Like arts and crafts? I've always wanted to make a macaroni noodle necklace for you!"

My witty retort was forgotten when I felt his warm tongue tracing my collarbone and his finger sliding between my ass to massage my hole. I bit my bottom lip in an attempt at keeping myself quiet and under control. We really didn't have time for a quick fuck in the shower, especially since Edward and I had never come close to anything resembling a 'quick fuck' since we'd started sleeping together. In my head, I was chanting, "We don't have time. We don't have time. We don't have time!" I meant to say that exact thing out loud as well, but just as I opened my mouth to speak, Edward applied more pressure and slid his entire middle finger inside me. Blood rushed to my cock, turning my semi into a full-blown erection. I whimpered helplessly as my head dropped to his shoulder and my hips alternately rocked forward against Edward's hard cock then backward onto his finger.

"You're so fucking tight, Jasper," he whispered before licking the shell of my ear with the tip of his tongue. "I want to be inside you so bad. Is that what you want? Me inside you?"

We didn't have time. That was something I was consciously aware of and wanted to make Edward equally so. It never happened though. He slipped another finger inside me, and the burning stretch made me dig my fingers into his biceps as I hissed in dizzying pain and pleasure.

"Please," I begged, earnestly adding, "I need it. I need you inside me."

After the shortest of moments, I was filled with Edward. That was the thing about him. No matter if it was big or small, Edward always gave me what I needed—his time, his patience, his fear, his anger and his happiness. It was the hardest work I'd ever done, but I'd earned him in his entirety. It made me proud and just deliriously happy to know that he was mine, but what was better than that was the fact that I was his too. We belonged together and to one another, and the feeling of belonging was just amazing...spectacular...magnificent and any other adjective you could think of. Maybe that sounds really sappy and you might want to tell me to go find some panties to cover up my vagina, but it was the truth—pure and unadulterated.

"The fucking light is green!" I yelled at the car in front of us. "Is he trying to turn? This is not a turn lane! Who the fuck taught this asshole how to drive?" I growled under my breath and slammed my fist down on the horn.

"Jasper, babe, calm down. We'll get there," Edward said, rubbing my shoulder. There was a hint of a smirk on his face and mirth in his eyes, and the only reason why I didn't yell at him was because I could see he was trying really hard not to laugh out loud. That and the fact that he'd coaxed three of the most mind-blowing orgasms out of me before we left my house.

"I know we'll get there, but do you know how late we are?" I replied with frustration.

"Of course I don't! I don't know how late we are. I don't what we're late for. I don't know anything, Jas, because you haven't told me anything," he said with feigned cheerfulness.

I rolled my eyes and decided to focus on getting to the restaurant. We didn't have much farther to go, but there wasn't much time before they'd give our table away either. When we finally arrived, I practically dragged Edward inside and up to the hostess stand.

"Reservation for Hale," I exclaimed breathlessly.

The young, bored looking girl standing on the other side of the podium plastered a phony smile on her face. "I'm sorry, Mr. Hale. We've just given your table to that couple there," she said, pointing to...Esme and fucking Carlisle. I knew the hostess was saying something else to me, but I wasn't listening anymore. Esme, having caught the exchange with the hostess, spotted me at the exact same moment I saw her, and I imagined we were wearing identical expressions of panic. I tore my eyes away from her to glance at Carlisle, but because his back was turned, he wasn't aware of the building tension. It was plain in the way Edward's fingers were squeezing my wrist that he saw them as well. Shaking my head to get rid of the shock, I started toward the door, wanting to get Edward out of there. He had other plans though.

"You stole our fucking table?" he asked Esme, and even though we were in a busy restaurant, Carlisle heard his brother's voice and whirled around at the sound. My heart began racing in my chest as I scrambled to find some way to diffuse the situation.

"Correction: you lost your fucking table," Esme countered, quirking a challenging brow.

"Well, I'm here now and I want it back!"

"Finders keepers, losers weepers!"

There was a short pause and then Esme and Edward burst into laughter. Sighing at their antics, I shook my head and went over to hug and kiss Esme. I didn't know why I wasn't used to that kind of stuff by now.

"How fucking crazy is this?" she asked before wrapping her arms around my waist.

"Of all the Brazilian steakhouses, you walk into mine," I replied, making Edward laugh.

"You're lucky it's us! Of course, we're not going to take your table. We've eaten here three times already. Go ahead and sit down," Esme said, urging me toward the table they were being led to before we came in.

"This place just opened a couple of weeks ago! You've eaten here three times already?" I asked incredulously.

Esme opened her mouth to respond, but Edward beat her to it. "I'm surprised it's not more than that. Carlisle's diet consists of meat and more meat," he said with a smile and stunned all of us into silence. I hadn't forgotten that Edward and Carlisle being in the same room together was a potentially dangerous situation, but I think Esme and I had gone into survival mode and tried to keep the conversation going between the two us until we could smoothly escape without our partners getting hurt. None of us could believe that Edward had acknowledged Carlisle and in such a joking manner. As the silence stretched on, Edward started to get uncomfortable and began fidgeting as his cheeks started to redden. I didn't want to discourage this surprising new progress, so I threaded my fingers through his and kissed the spot just behind his ear.

Clearing his throat, Carlisle laughed nervously and shrugged his shoulders. "Oh, please! I remember one week you ate nothing but French fries and peanut M&Ms!"

Edward quirked a smile and shrugged. "I was thirteen. You're a grown man!"

"Well, a man's gotta eat, doesn't he?"

Edward took a huge breath and rocked back and forth on his heels. He glanced over at me and then at Esme. I could tell that he was struggling with whatever was going on in his head. My heart broke for him, and I wanted to do something...anything to help him. He had to work through this on his own though.

"A man does have to eat," Edward finally responded. "Women too. So, why don't we all just eat together?" he asked.

"Really?" Carlisle asked hesitantly as if afraid that this might be some sort of joke at his expense or that maybe Edward wasn't really including him in the 'we all'.

"Yeah...um, I think it might be...okay," Edward said. "If you...if you want to that is."

"Of course!" Carlisle exclaimed, rushing forward as if he was going to grab Edward's hand but backed off at the last minute, probably not wanting to press his luck.

"In that case, there's now a two hour wait for a table for four," the hostess said, poking her unwanted head into our conversation. I glared at her, but Esme just laughed and pulled me toward the door.

"Like fuck I'm going to wait that long," she said before looking over her shoulder at Carlisle. "Sorry, babe, we've gotta go somewhere else. I'm sure we can find some meat for you wherever we end up," she said.

Edward walked up to us and elbowed her away from me. "Can I have my boyfriend back? You have one of your own now!" he barked before mimicking her position and wrapping his arms around my waist. I reciprocated, and not being able to control myself, I claimed his mouth in a searing kiss. I had no idea what had gotten into him, but I found his being magnanimous inspiring and sexy as hell. He moaned into my mouth before he began kissing me back with redoubled fervor. When I pulled away, it was only slightly. My lips were still brushing his, and I was able to feel his smile just as he was able to feel mine.

"I love you," I whispered, squeezing him tight so that he'd know that I truly, truly meant it.

"I love you too."

It took us forever to decide where to eat, and in the end, we ended up back at my fucking house with pizza for Carlisle, Chinese for me, and McDonald's for Edward and Esme. We spread the food out on my dining room table and shared it all like a virtual smorgasbord. Even though yet another attempt at a date had fallen through for Edward and me, I still managed to have a good time.

I kept a close eye on Carlisle and Edward the whole night. I was so fucking worried that something would happen and an argument would occur. Fortunately, nothing of the sort happened. While Edward and Carlisle didn't really talk to each other, they didn't ignore each other either. More than anything else, it seemed as if Carlisle was trying not to try too hard to get back into his brother's good graces, and Edward was trying to decide if he could even handle being in the same room with his estranged sibling again. From what I could tell, Carlisle was doing just fine and my boy had no qualms.

Edward

Jasper was in the dining room cleaning up our mess, Esme was poking around Jasper's office trying to find some good porn to read, and I was sitting on the back porch with my brother. I'd asked him to come out there with me because I knew that we needed to talk. Ever since I'd found out about him and Esme, I'd been doing a lot of thinking and seeing them out tonight made for the perfect opportunity to do what I'd been encouraging myself to do for quite a while. Taking a deep breath, I concentrated on the snow-dusted grass and began to talk.

"I'm not going to sit here and say that I forgive you. What happened all those years ago still hurts. I do want to forgive you though, Carlisle. I still love you, and I miss the relationship we used to have. I just need some time, okay? I still need to work through things, some of which has nothing to do with you. Tonight went well though, don't you think?" I asked and looked over to see him nod his head. I couldn't look at him for too long, but his eyes never left me. He missed me and loved me just as I did him, and those two similarities made me even more secure in the fact that one day I'd have my brother back and Carlisle would have his.

"Just to have the opportunity to regain your trust means so fucking much to me. I'll give you all the time you need, Edward. I'll do whatever it takes," he said sincerely.

I nodded my head and felt what seemed like tiny winding vines of warmth, relief, excitement and joy spread through me.

"I'd like to spend more time with you and Esme. Seeing you two together tonight made me smile. You really do make her happy, and that gives you a fuck ton of points in my book. Esme is everything to me, and her happiness is just as important to me as my own," I said, daring another glance in his direction. I wanted to see his reaction to my words, and what I saw made that feeling inside me grow even more. He loved her. Esme didn't talk to me about their relationship much, so I didn't know if he'd told her or not. I could see it though in the sparkle in his eyes, the flush of his ears and the tiny smile on his lips at the mention of her name. "Maybe you could hang out with my other friends too? I know that Esme has introduced you to Rose, Em and Riley already, so whenever we're all together, feel free to join us. I just think it might help to see you interact with other people, get to know you as the man you are now opposed to the man I remember from all those years ago," I continued.

He nodded his understanding, and we settled into a comfortable silence for a few minutes. It was cold out on the porch, but I didn't want to go in yet. Carlisle stayed out there with me until Esme came out to tell him he was late for an appointment with her vagina. I laughed at the embarrassment on Carlisle's face, and walked them to the front door. I gave them each a hug goodnight, lingering with Carlisle a lot longer than I did with Esme. I really fucking missed him.

After they'd gone, Jasper and I went into the kitchen to finish off a carton of ice cream we'd had for dessert. We sat, eating quietly for a few minutes before Jasper broke the silence like I knew he would.

"You really surprised me today," he said with a smile that suggested that he was more proud than anything else, and that filled me with the happiness and self-satisfaction that only comes from receiving the praise of someone you love.

"When...my whole...I've—" I stopped and took a deep breath. I wanted to tell Jasper what exactly was on my mind, the conclusions I'd come to, but it was proving to be a lot harder than I'd thought. My mind was racing and there was just so much I wanted to say. Everything seemed to slow down and come together when I felt his fingers in my hair though.

"When I left home, it was because there were things that I wanted, and I wasn't going to let anyone stop me from having them. I wanted friends, family, love and happiness. When I realized that I could and was taking care of myself, I felt invincible...like nothing and no one couldever hurt me. That feeling of invincibility hung around for a long time, but once I was proved wrong, it left me and I became so afraid of everything. I started hiding, and when I finally got the opportunity to have allthe things I've always wanted, I was the only thing standing in my way," I said.

"No matter how much my family hurt me in the past, I can no longer deny the fact that I still love them, and that if they were to sincerely apologize for what they've done to me I would forgive them. I was scared that if I let Carlisle back into my life I'd be setting myself up to be hurt again, but hiding from him was hurting me too. No matter what happens down the road, I don't want to regret not even trying to get something I knew I wanted more than anything because I was too chicken-shit scared. If I end up hurt again, I'll deal with that when, or if, it ever comes, but I'll know for certain that it wasn't because I did anything wrong.

"As for us...I've been looking for you for a long fucking time, Jasper, and I'm done hiding from you too. We had a rocky start, but we've both changed so fucking much. I'm not going to fight the happiness we both deserve and worked so hard for. I'm sorry it took me so long to get here, but I'm not afraid anymore. You love me and I know that with the utmost certainty. I hope that you are just as sure of my love for you, because I do love you...more than anything, and I'm ready to just be with you. For ever and for always," I told him, reaching up to intertwine our fingers.

Jasper's eyes shone with unshed tears, and when he leaned forward to kiss me, he started gently and worked up to a fevered frenzy that left us both breathless. He broke the kiss but kept his hands on either side of my face and stared into my eyes. There was so much playing across his face, and while I could read every single emotion and word he was feeling and thinking, I still had to hear them.

"Tell me," I breathed. "Tell me what you want."

He answered me without hesitation. "You, Edward. Always and forever you."

And there you have it, dolls! Please click the little button and tell me what you think!