*I don't own Twilight, it all belongs to Stephenie.*

Jasper's fingers clenched around Edward's hair, effectively trapping the short dark blond strands between them, as he plunged his tongue deeper into his brother's mouth, deepening the kiss.

Emitting a very soft sound, Edward hummed and tightened the hold he had around Jasper's neck, readily entwining his tongue with his baby brother's and parting his lips more, to grant Jasper better access.

They continued to kiss slowly and profoundly until there was no air left in their lungs.

Jasper broke the kiss gently, with soft nibbles and lingering pecks.

"I'm hot, baby." He whispered as bringing his eyes to Edward's hooded ones.

Immediately, and feeling very surprised, Edward pulled away to stare at him.

"What?" Jasper asked in a kind tone and sweet smile as he noticed the almost baffled face his brother was making.

"You just…" Edward started but promptly interrupted himself.

He didn't want to spoil the moment… It was the first time Jasper had called him "baby" and it had been so natural, so spontaneous, so clearly unpremeditated… Edward just wanted to bask in the emotion that was filling him.

"Nothing." He dismissed in a slightly mesmerized tone. "You think you have a fever?"

Jasper frowned.

"No. Why would you think that?"

"You said you're hot."

Jasper chuckled. Then he looked pointedly to his groin.

Edward followed his stare.

"Oh." He understood what his brother meant and pursed his lips in obvious discontentment. "There's not much we can do about that in here… That damn door doesn't lock and Mom will be around soon."

Jasper directed a skeptical gaze at him.

"We were making out heavily just now." He countered.

Edward sighed and smiled.

"From a kiss, we can get apart pretty easily and fast." He reasoned and then leaned closer to Jasper's face. "Which is definitely not the case if I am sunk deep into you." He whispered suggestively.

Jasper heaved a weighted breath.

"You can't say stuff like that to me when I'm having a boner. You'll give me a heart attack."

Edward chuckled.

And just then, as if to prove Edward right, the door opened and their mother got into the room.

Jasper rushedly straightened up on the bed and bent his knees up so to tent the sheet and hide his predicament.

Edward chuckled once again.

"Good morning, dears." Esme greeted her sons, totally unaware.

"Hey, Mom." Flustered, Jasper said in a hesitant voice.

"G' morning, Mom." Edward replied in nonchalance, and then leaned closer to Jasper, pretending to rearrange his pillows. "You should take a cold shower." He teased his brother in a whisper.

Jasper slapped him on his chest and Edward started to laugh.

"Are you boys fighting?" Esme asked in a smile as she sat on one of the armchairs, finding it funny that they seemed to be bickering like when they were younger.

"Edward is just being an idiot." Jasper explained as he looked pointedly at him.

"I'm just trying to raise your woo.." He chuckled as he noticed Jasper's murderous gaze. "...Mood."

"I'll kill you." Jasper mouthed to him.

Their mother just laughed together with Edward, innocent of the meaning behind her older son's provocation. Then she looked at Edward more incisively and smiled, seeming amused and also content.

"It's so nice to see you happy, Edward." She commented, and Jasper immediately looked at her, as well as Edward. "It's been a long while since the last time I saw your eyes glinting like this."

Edward and Jasper looked at each other, smiling subtly as they realized what their mother was saying was true and knowing well the reason for that.

One of the nurses entered the room at this moment and asked Esme to go to the floor station in order to deal with some bureaucratic matters.

As soon as she left, Jasper punched his brother's arm.

"Ouch." Edward uttered in a mischievous smile and rubbed his hand over the spot. "What was that for?"

"You know what that was for." Jasper said hastily. "Are you crazy? Teasing me like that in front of Mom? She's clueless about us but she's not stupid."

Edward got suddenly serious.

"Well, she'll learn about us soon, anyway." He said despondently, and then his stare became more vehement. "We have to tell them."

Jasper's sighed and his face assumed the same helplessness as his brother's before he bent his head.

"Do you think Jacob has already done it?" He asked without looking at Edward.

"I don't know… But it's been two days, we can't wait any longer." Edward reasoned before gently holding Jasper's chin between his fingers and raising his face. "It's better for Dad to hear it from us than to find it out when his lawyer contacts him about an incest complaint."

"I know… I'm just a bit scared. I thought we would have more time to prepare ourselves for it." Jasper elaborated with his pleading eyes at Edward's understanding ones.

"I thought that too but we'll just have to deal with it." Edward affirmed with calm and confidence.

Jasper sighed again, his eyes welling up with tears as his bottom lip trembled subtly.

Edward joined their foreheads and they closed their eyes.

"Hey, don't worry so much." He asked in a gentle voice before pulling away and looking at Jasper with kindness. "No matter what happens or how Mom and Dad will react or what they will do… We're together, we'll remain together, and I will protect you, okay?"

Jasper nodded and released a shaky breath.

"I just don't want anything or anybody to force us apart." It came out in a whisper.

"That's not gonna happen." Edward's affirmation was earnest, firm. "I won't let it happen, I promise."

"I love you." Jasper uttered as some tears escaped his eyes.

Edward ran his thumbs under them.

"I love you." He said before leaning in.

As their lips were about to touch they heard a click… The door was opening.

They pulled apart just seconds before their mother came back in.

#IMPOSSIBLE#

"Do you have it?" Edward spoke urgently on the phone.

"Yes, I've just received it." Maxwell, one of his internship mates, answered secretively on the other end. "I've talked to Gunther, he'll test the samples."

"When do you think I can get an answer?"

"Three, maybe four days." Maxwell replied in the same hushed voice. "He won't be here tomorrow, he's off duty, that's why I can't rush things."

"It's okay, Max, I can wait." Edward said a little more calmly. "You're helping me a lot already." He added in a grateful tone.

"Don't mention it. You helped me with that kid's case… This is nothing in comparison to what you did for me."

"Let's call it even, then." Edward suggested as his eyes roamed the hospital corridor. "Just, please, make sure the results don't go into the database."

"Consider it done. I'll call you as soon as I have them."

"Thanks again, Max."

"No problem."

Edward hung up the call feeling restless again. His mind was reeling, overwhelmed with every single thing that was happening at the same time.

He took a deep breath and exhaled slowly through his mouth, compelling himself to calm down at least a little. Then he got back into the room, pushing away his anxiety and smiling to Angela, that was sitting next to Jasper on the thin hospital bed mattress.

"Can I tell him?" Edward heard her asking Jasper in a low voice.

Jasper nodded as Edward furrowed his brows confused.

Angela looked at him with a serious face.

"I talked to Jacob."

Edward's eyes darted to Jasper's, questionative and acute.

"She knows about us." Jasper clarified calmly.

Gasping quietly, Edward's eyes moved back to Angela's placid face.

"Don't worry. I'm Jasper's best friend, all I want is for him to be happy." She assured, her gaze kind and compassionate.

"I know." Edward, at last, was able to speak. "I'm just…"

"Surprised. I understand."

"I told her about Jacob that day." Jasper filled his brother in. "Since she's close to him too."

"So I could try and intervene." Angela completed.

Edward parted his lips a little wilder in order to release a puff of air and carded his fingers through his hair slowly, assimilating all the information.

"Okay… And?" He urged.

"He did try to report you both… But he wasn't able to." Angela provided. "The police asked for evidence."

Edward looked at Jasper, not really registering the desolation on his face.

"He doesn't have it." He concluded in a small smile.

"Yet." Angela added in a firm tone.

A heavy silence fell as Edward brought his stare back to Angela… But it lasted half a minute.

"He's going to your father." Angela informed him cautiously, and Jasper bent his head. "He's probably already there with him."

Edward dropped his eyes to the floor and felt as if the air in his lungs had been punched out of him… He felt dizzy and disoriented for some seconds… Before he got a hold of himself.

His eyes darted randomly for a moment, and then he focused them at Jasper.

"I'll do this myself." He stated.

"Edward, no, we're both involved, we should do this together." Jasper tried to reason in an afflicted voice.

"There's no time for it." He shook his head, his eyes despondent. "And I'm the one responsible for all this mess, anyway…"

That said he turned to the door.

"Edward." Jasper called him.

But for the very first time in their lives, Edward ignored his baby brother and thundered out of the room, determined to deal with the problem on his own.

#IMPOSSIBLE#

Forcing himself not to run, to walk normally and to seem as if nothing much was happening, Edward crossed the large hall between the elevators and his father's office.

He took various deep breaths along the way before he approached Eileen, Carlisle's secretary.

The mid-fifties elegant woman looked at him with her warm smile and kind eyes.

"Edward!" She sounded accurately surprised, Edward didn't go there much.

"Hey, Eileen." He greeted sheepishly.

"Boy, you indeed grew up." She laughed softly as she got up from her seat to give him a hug.

Edward hugged her back as she patted his back. When she held his face he smiled, feeling a little embarrassed.

"Last time I saw you, you were already a young man, but now, look at you, you are a full grown-up."

He smiled again, as kindly as he could. Eileen was his father's secretary for as long as Edward could remember, and she had always been really nice to him. So, although he was in a hurry, he couldn't bring himself to rush the woman.

Thankfully, her surprise seemed to be indulged enough, and she went back to her seat after a gentle pat on Edward's shoulder.

"Let me tell your father you're here." She said as she took the phone.

"No need." Edward spoke fast but controlling his tone not to sound harsh. "If he's alone I can just go in there."

"Of course." The woman agreed in another smile. "So go ahead, he is free right now."

Edward sighed in relief discreetly. But before he could go through the intimidating oak door, he looked at Eileen with a nonchalant countenance.

"Was a man named Jacob here earlier today?" He asked in the most natural voice he could muster. "He's a friend."

Eileen smiled once again.

"Oh, yes. You've just missed him. He left some minutes ago."

Feeling as if his heart had stopped for a couple of seconds, Edward was suddenly livid. Eileen hurried to him.

"Are you okay, dear? You are so pale!"

Edward shook off the dread and forced a smile.

"I'm okay, just a head rush." He said in a weak voice as he rubbed his palm over his forehead. "Haven't eaten yet."

"I can arrange something for you, what would you like? A sandwich? Some juice?"

"No need, Eileen. I'll have lunch soon. But thanks. I'll go see my father now."

The woman nodded but kept her eyes on him until he opened the office door cautiously.

Edward found his father standing before the large windows behind his desk.

Carlisle had his back to him, so he couldn't guess his expression… But Edward knew his father well enough to recognize the meaning behind some of his behaviors, and whenever Carlisle was silently looking through windows he was mulling over something he had to deal with cautiously.

That made Edward tense. He concluded his father knew the truth already… He was late.

He held his breath as Carlisle turned around.

"Edward." He uttered in surprise. "I didn't hear you coming in."

Carlisle looked at him placidly, waiting… Edward got deeply puzzled.

"I-I need to talk to you." He stuttered a little, not knowing how to begin.

His father nodded, pulled his chair and sat, all the while looking unconcerned.

"Take a seat, son."

Every step Edward took felt as if he was carrying a thousand kilos. He was definitely not prepared to disclose the whole truth to his father and, with some astonishment, he realized he wished Carlisle had already found it out.

As he sat and his father smiled softly at him he got even more confused.

Why is he so calm? He thought, feeling increasingly anguished.

"Did you come from the hospital?" Carlisle asked, his voice normal, steady.

"Y-yes." Edward stuttered yet again.

"Is everything okay with your brother?" And there his tone was slightly inflected with worry.

"Yeah, Jasper's fine." Edward hurried to assure.

Carlisle then leaned on the backrest of his chair, holding his hands together by crossing their fingers and resting them over his stomach.

"So what's it that you need to talk to me?" He asked in the same unaffected voice.

Edward felt apprehensive, he didn't know what to say… He wasn't sure Jacob had said anything since his father was so serene, and he was definitely not prepared to come clean about his and his brother's romance… Not yet, not if it wasn't extremely necessary.

He saw his father raising his eyebrows questioningly at him.

"I-I… I think I'm gonna postpone my leave for a little longer." It was the first thing that came to his mind. "And in January, after graduation… I'm moving back." And that was a last-minute decision on something he'd been thinking over and over since the night he spent with his brother.

Something flickered in Carlisle's eyes, although he remained undisturbed, and Edward caught that, he just could not tell what it was about.

"Have you thought this over?" The older man asked in a light tone.

"Yes." Edward lied.

"I recall you've had a job offer from the hospital where you're doing the internship." He pointed out as leaning forward and placing his hands on the table, looking at Edward attentively. Edward only nodded. "So you'll give that up." He didn't ask.

Edward sighed, looked down for an instant, and then looked confidently at his father.

"Jasper is more important." He clarified simply, his eyes glinting.

It was Carlisle's turn to sigh, and he did so in a heavy way, proving to Edward that there was something in his mind and it was definitely related to his secret.

"You really do love your brother… Don't you?" It sounded like a rhetorical question to Edward, and the fierce stare Carlisle was directed at him told him he was certainly being scrutinized by his father.

He took a deep breath, decided not to shy away from that cue.

"With everything I am." He answered confidently.

Father and son shared an acute look… And although no words were exchanged, both deduced the depth of each other's knowledge regarding the situation.

Then Carlisle's gaze became kind, compassionate.

"Is there something you wanna tell me, son?" He asked in a careful and loving voice. Edward just kept staring at him. "You know you can tell me anything." He assured as the space between his eyebrows wrinkled and his face assumed an understanding countenance.

For a moment Edward considered opening up… But then he remembered Jasper's words, and since the situation didn't seem so critical, he concluded it was not the right moment.

"I just wanted to tell you about my decision." He said after more minutes than really expected to answer such a simple question.

Carlisle's eyes seemed sad all of a sudden. Edward felt a pinch in his heart but dismissed the emotion.

"I have to go back…" Edward rushed to say, impatient to get out of his father's presence and the discomfort it was causing him. "I left him with Angela and she must have other things to do…"

Nodding, Carlisle tried to smile.

"Since your mom is out of town, I'll go there as soon as I leave here." He informed. "I know you're tired. You need to go home for a little."

"It's okay, Dad, you can go home, I'll stay with Jade. I won't be able to sleep if I'm not there with him, anyway." Edward affirmed naturally, without really measuring his words.

Once again Edward caught the unrecognizable emotion that flickered in his father's eyes… It made him uneasy.

"All right then." Carlisle said in a heavy exhalation. "I'll see you in the morning."

Edward nodded and got up from the chair, leaving the office in a heartbeat and without looking back.

#IMPOSSIBLE#

"Your ass is so beautiful…" Edward murmured to himself as his brother dried himself with a towel.

Jasper chuckled and shook his head without stopping his motions, which told Edward he'd heard his words.

"What? I can't compliment your body?" Edward asked in a smile Jasper couldn't see since he had his back to his older brother.

Jasper put on a clean hospital gown and turned to him.

"Of course you can, it's all yours." He clarified in a large grin. "I just find your dazzled voice funny.

Edward threw a pillow at him, but Jasper caught it before it could reach him. Jasper sat on the bed and pressed the nurse call button.

A nurse came in and rearranged his saline intravenous infusion and the heart monitor on his forefinger under Edward's close supervision. Then she left the brothers alone.

Edward sat on the mattress turned to Jasper and tucked his brother's hair behind his ears.

"I think I'm in love with your ass." He said seriously before gliding his teeth along his bottom lip.

They both chuckled.

"I know that very well." Jasper replied in the same provocative manner.

"I love your whole body actually." Edward affirmed while looking deeply into his eyes.

"Yeah. I know that well too." Jasper gave back in a cocky tone.

Edward backed away in mocking surprise.

"Conceited much?"

"I'm not conceited, I just know you are crazy about it. It's not like you're discreet on your appreciation… You're always ogling me when you have the chance." Jasper clarified as naturally as it could get.

"Oh yeah, smarty-pants?" Edward defied him with one arched eyebrow.

"Yeah, Mr. horny."

"I'm Mr. horny? Says the one that had a boner just because of a kiss this morning." Edward retorted with a smile playing on the corner of his lips.

They chuckled again.

"In my defense that was not just a simple kiss."

Edward chuckled lightly and shook his head.

"But seriously, you're not discreet. At all. I can even tell which parts you like the best."

Edward licked his lips.

"Try me." He defied his brother again.

"Okay…" Jasper agreed while straightening up in the bed. "I'll mention just the ones that drive you crazy the most, in descending order."

Edward nodded and smiled.

"My forearms… and my hands."

Edward nodded.

"My chest… My thighs."

Edward wiggled his eyebrows. Jasper chuckled a little.

"My navel, my ass, my neck."

Edward licked his lips. Jasper sighed.

"You love my hair, and you love even more to entangle your fingers with it, and pull it."

They chuckled and Edward nodded effusively.

"And you're insane about my mouth… And my lips." He concluded as his eyes darted away a bit as he felt timid. "Did I get anything wrong?" He questioned after bringing his eyes back to Edward's.

The older one shook his head.

"No… You just forgot to mention the one part I love the most."

And as saying that, Edward intensified his gaze to make his brother understand what he was talking about.

Jasper sighed, understanding, and smiled softly.

"My eyes."

"Yeah…" Edward confirmed in a tender voice. "It was them, you know… And it has always been them."

Jasper furrowed his eyebrows in question.

"What made me fall in love with you." Edward clarified with love written all over his face.

Jasper sat up slowly, leaning towards Edward. Edward held him by the waist and neck and rested Jasper's head on his shoulder.

"When was it…?" The younger one asked in a whisper. "When did you first realize you loved me this way?

Edward smiled softly although Jasper could not see and closed his eyes, remembering.

"I was nineteen… You were only fifteen. I had you in my arms, sleeping soundly…"

Jasper pulled away briskly and looked at Edward in sheer surprise. Edward looked at him placidly.

"The night of that storm?"

"Yeah…" He confirmed.

Jasper's smile was content.

"Do you remember what I told you about that night?"

"Yeah, that it was after it that you started to suspect you were gay." Edward answered with a matching smile.

Jasper nodded. Edward got serious.

"That night I realized I was in love with you… But I think I fell for you even before I could understand what that meant." He said as if confessing a secret.

Jasper frowned confused again.

"I don't have many memories from my early childhood… But this one memory… I remember it crystal clear, even though I was just a four-year-old." Edward explained carefully. "The first time I met you… You were just this tiny baby… But you looked at me, really looked at my eyes, focused on them with your big green ones…" He gasped subtly while shaking his head. "That was the moment I felt the happiest I can remember I had ever felt before." He smiled timidly. "I know it sounds crazy… But I really believe that the seed was planted that day, that moment… And I was lost to anybody else because… All my heart could see was you."

Jasper gasped as his eyes filled with tears.

"I love you." He said, sounding mesmerized.

Edward nodded subtly.

"I love you too."

They held each other for a while, before sharing a deep kiss.

Differently from all the other times, they never heard the soft click of the door when it opened, or the equal sound it made when it was closed gently.

Behind it, Carlisle covered his face with both his hands as heaving a deep breath.

As he walked away from the room, he replayed in his head the conversation he had overheard.

######

A/N: Just letting you know that we are approaching the ending. And also, there's a new chapter posted for "Once again", check that out.