A/N: Hello again! You get another chapter relatively soon since you all waited so patiently for the last chapter. Sorry for any spelling errors, I'm a little under the weather today so... Enjoy!

Disclaimer: Stephanie Meyer owns Twilight and all recognisable characters, no infringement is intended. Only the plot is mine.

Chapter Four

After Jasper calmed down, Edward had let him back into the hospital to Carlisle's office. He left to allow Jasper and Carlisle to talk, and Jasper hadn't seen him since then. During this trying time, Jasper itched to have Edward near him.

Jasper decided to continue with chemo, if only for his parents. He knew that they wouldn't want him to give up, regardless of how tired he was. Carlisle set up a chemo routine that Jasper would start the next week. They both agreed that the treatment wouldn't be aggressive. If Jasper was to die, he wanted to die after enjoying himself, but he wasn't ready to give up. He left it up to fate, if there was improvement, great. If not, he would have enough energy to enjoy the people he loved before he died.

The ride home was quiet. Jasper was too caught up in his thoughts and Margaret didn't press him to talk. When she stopped the car, Jasper grabbed her wrist to stop her from getting out.

"Tonight after dinner there's something I need to talk to you and dad about."

"Can't you just tell me now, Jasper?" Margaret said. Her voice was heavy and her eyes filled with tears.

"I'd rather just do this once. Is that okay mom?"

Margaret nodded and stifled a sob. She quickly escaped into the house and Jasper followed her slowly. He got to the porch, but was stopped by his mother's sobs from the kitchen. He couldn't open the door and follow his mother in there, so instead he walked into the woods.

He didn't know how long he stayed in the woods, wondering how he would tell his parents, before he heard his father's car pull up. He took several deep breaths and walked into the house trying to prepare himself for what was to come.

Robert was in the kitchen, holding Margaret tightly in his arms, rubbing her back as he whispered into her ear. He smiled weakly at Jasper, before kissing Margaret's cheek and releasing her.

"Are we ready to eat?" Robert asked.

"Of course," Margaret said brightly, though Jasper could hear the barely concealed sadness behind her voice, "I have chicken and potatoes ready. Jasper, why don't you set the table, and Robert, get drinks for everyone. I'll dish out the food and we can have a nice family meal."

"Sure mom," Jasper said. He got the silverware from the kitchen and went into the dining room and started to set the table. Robert came in with glasses and set them on the table.

"Are you okay Jasper?" Robert asked.

"No, but I will be," Jasper answered honestly. Robert nodded and suddenly Jasper was engulfed in his father's arms.

"We're here for you son. Whatever you do, your mother and I just want you to be happy."

"I know," Jasper whispered. He felt the tears threatening to escape and buried his face in his father's neck. He smelled the deep, smoky smell that he used to love as a child. He remembered when his father would take him fishing, and even though Jasper got bored, he always wanted to go just to spend an entire day with his dad.

Would he ever get a chance to go fishing with his dad again? Would they ever spend an entire day alone, just talking about family and work? Jasper hugged his father tighter before pulling away when he heard his mother in the doorway. Jasper wiped his eyes with his sleeve before he facing his mother

"It smells good mom," Jasper said, sitting at the table.

"Well it's cooking, not rocket science," Margaret joked. She smiled and leaned over to Jasper and loudly whispered, "But don't tell your father. He gets frustrated that he can't boil pasta."

Jasper choked on the sip of water he had just taken, "Really dad? Pasta? That must be the easiest thing to make. Just boil that water, put the pasta in and wait."

"That's enough from you boy," Richard grumbled, "can't take my side on anything, huh?"

"I'd like to dad, but you see, I can make pasta. And I would have to agree with mom that cooking, while frustrating and occasionally tricky, is certainly not rocket science."

"That's not what you said when I was teaching you how to grill."

"I was six dad, everything was rocket science to me. You need a better comeback than that."

Richard muttered under his breath as Jasper and Margaret made fun of him for the rest of the meal. After they cleaned up, Jasper asked if his parents would meet him in the living room.

And there he sat, waiting for his parents, wondering how the conversation would go. They knew what he was going to tell them, that much was obvious. But knowing and knowing were different things. How did a child tell his parents he would die soon? Children weren't supposed to die before their parents, and Jasper would have given anything to save his parents from this pain.

Jasper still didn't have the answers when his parents sat down in front of him. He clenched his hands and plunged in, "I spoke with Dr. Cullen today, and he told me what I pretty much already knew." He stopped and looked up at his parents. They both had tears in their eyes, but they stayed silent, waiting for Jasper to continue.

"The cancer has spread. It's too far for him to reasonably do anything about. I'm going to continue with chemo, I won't sit down and let it take me, but it's going to be light and it's not likely that it will make a difference. I just don't want to be sick in my last moments."

"Did Dr. Cullen tell you how long?" Margaret asked.

"A few weeks. Maybe a month tops," Jasper answered quietly. His mother broke down then, launching herself into Jasper's arms and clutching him close to her.

"But there's still a chance," She cried, "There's a chance that you could get better. There's always a chance."

"Mom," Jasper said, trying to contain his tears. His mind raced as he tried to think of how to calm Margaret. "I'll try, I promise. I don't want to die. I just… I just want you to prepare. It's less likely that I'll get better. The cancer has spread too far. All we're doing now is buying time."

"Are you sure son?" Richard asked.

"I feel tired dad. I can feel my body slowly shutting down. I'll try, I will. But I don't know how much energy I have left." Richard nodded and moved to embrace his son and wife.

"I told you Jasper, we just want you to be happy. If you aren't happy, if you're tired, stop. We will love and support whatever you do. Don't worry about us, worry about yourself. Whatever happens we're a family, and we'll always love you, whether you're with us or not."

Hours later, Jasper stood at his bedroom window trying to calm himself after the conversation. His parents were still downstairs, quietly comforting each other. Jasper was glad that they would have each other, but he desperately wished he had someone to comfort him.

He wanted Edward.

At that thought, something out of the corner of his eye caught his attention. There in the forest was the mysterious red. Without thinking Jasper ran outside, grabbing a coat on his way out. He raced into the woods, frantically looking around to spot what the red was.

He was almost to the spot where he kept seeing it. Once he reached the area he stopped, confused by what he saw.

"Edward?"

Edward smiled hesitantly at Jasper, "Hi Jasper."

Jasper was stunned and waited for Edward to explain why he was lurking in the woods outside his house, but Edward just continued to smile. Edward ran his hand through his hair, drawing Jasper's attention and that's when he noticed.

"It's you?" Jasper asked, shocked.

"What's me?" Edward frowned.

"The red I keep seeing outside my window. It's you. The red is the same colour as your hair."

"Well… um," Edward hesitated. "Yeah, it was me."

"Why are you creeping outside my house?" Jasper didn't know how to feel about this. He had thought it would be a new bird or strange animal. Not the man he was fascinated with. And why the hell was Edward doing it?

"Well, I was… watching you."

"Watching me? Jasper tried not to freak out, while wondering if Edward was stalking him.

"Yeah. Look I know it sounds weird," Edward said.

"Yeah-huh."

"But I wasn't trying to be creepy. I was just checking on you." Edward insisted.

"But I saw you the first night I was here. Why were you outside my house when I didn't know you?"

Edward sighed and ran his hand through his hair again, "That one's a little harder to explain."

"Try." Jasper sat down on a log and crossed his legs. He waited for Edward to explain.

"You aren't going to believe me," Edward warned.

"Tell me anyway. I need to know why you've been watching me from the woods outside my house."

Edward winced, "When you say it that way you make it sound like I'm outside stalking you, jacking off in the woods, and thinking homicidal thoughts."

"You gotta admit that's exactly what this looks like."

"Yes, but that's not what I'm doing. Honestly, I just make sure you're all right. And it's nice to see you on the days we haven't been able to see each other. That's the only reason come. I just want to see you and protect you," Edward insisted.

"Fine," Jasper tentatively relented, "assuming I accept that for tonight's appearance, why were you here the first night? We didn't know each other then."

"But I knew you," Edward whispered.

Jasper gasped, "What do you mean."

Edward walked over to Jasper and kneeled in front of him. Edward took both of his hands in his, and brushed the pads of his thumbs over Jasper's wrists. "My sister is psychic. She sees the future. She told me about you."

Jasper scoffed and ripped his hands away from Edward's. "How fucking dumb do you think I am? What a load of bullshit. Just tell me the fucking truth."

"That is the truth Jasper. She told me you were coming and I wanted to see you. I've wanted to meet you ever since she saw us together five years ago. As soon as I knew you were here, that you had come to me, I had to see you. After that I couldn't stop. I'm drawn to you. My day isn't complete until I see you." Edward tried to grab Jasper's hand and keep him close, but Jasper quickly backed away.

"How the hell and I supposed to believe that? I'm not even sure I believe in a god, why should I believe your sister is a fucking psychic. I don't believe in psychics. Just tell me the truth. Please Edward, what's so bad that you're lying to me? Just tell me. Please," Jasper begged.

"Alice is psychic. I can prove it Jasper. My family is… different. Alice is psychic, and I can read minds."

That was the end for Jasper, now he was getting pissed. "What the hell Edward. Do you honestly expect me to believe this? Fine, play your fucking game. I'm gonna give you ten seconds. If you aren't gone by then I'm calling the cops. I don't want to see you, I don't want to talk to you, I don't even want to hear your name, got it?"

"Please Jasper don't. Give me a chance to show you—" Edward raced forward, trying to wrap his arm around Jasper's waist. Jasper kicked his way free, despite how difficult it was to free himself from Edward's iron grip.

"No. No, I'm not going to give you a fucking chance. What were you planning? What is this? What were you gaining from this? Poor little sick boy, I'm gonna weave a little tale; make him think that someone could possible love him before he dies? Well fuck you. Get out." Jasper turned around so Edward couldn't see the tears in his eyes. Moments ago he had wanted Edward to comfort him about his parents. He had longed for Edward's arms to be around him, his lips to move against his. Now the idea of Edward's cold body made him sick.

Edward was a liar. A crazy liar. Jasper didn't know if he should call the cops or the hospital to get Edward admitted.

"My father would just get me out anyway," Edward said.

Jasper whirled around and his eyes narrowed at Edward, "What?"

"If you were to admit me to a psych hospital," Edward replied casually. With each step he took closer, Jasper's eyes went wider, "my father would just release me."

I didn't say that out loud, did I? Jasper was fairly convinced that he had thought that.

"No, you didn't," Edward said.

Jasper was finding it hard to breathe, What the hell is going on?

"I told you I could read minds. I'm proving to you that I was telling the truth."

This is a dream. It's a weird dream that I'll wake up from at any second. Jasper squeezed his eyes shut and pinched his arm. He opened his eyes but Edward was still there.

"I'm not a dream. Jasper listen to me," Edward cupped Jasper's face between his hands and brought them close to each other, "You can think anything, I'll hear it. My sister, Alice, is psychic and probably saw this moment coming. I'm not lying to you. I could never lie to you Jasper. I will never intentionally hurt you. Please believe me."

Jasper wasn't quite ready to throw all of his beliefs out the window though. He had watched so-called psychics perform cold readings on people. He wasn't completely convinced that this wasn't what Edward was doing. He had to rule out guesswork. If this is real, then I can test you, correct?

Edward nodded.

Jasper tried to think of the most obscure thing he possibly could. One moment that popped into his head was when he was eight and had first discovered Star Wars.He was a Jedi for Halloween, and he loved his costume so much that his mother couldn't get him to take it off for a week. One of those days his mother went grocery shopping and had reluctantly taken Jedi Jasper with her. After they had been shopping for about half an hour, his mother was trying to get something from the top shelf and a rude man had bumped her, knocking her to the ground. He hadn't apologised, and Jasper immediately defended his mother's honour by running after the guy and hitting him with his light saber.

Edward's chuckling brought Jasper out of the memory. Edward's shining brown eyes stared into Jasper's. "For what it's worth, I'd let you defend me. Though I'm much more interested in what adult Jedi Jasper would be wearing under his robes."

Jasper pulled away trying to contain his horror, "What are you?" He gasped.

"Don't you know?" Edward asked.

Jasper shook his head, "All I can think of is some genetic problem. Is there something wrong with your brain? But that doesn't explain all the other weird things about you."

"I'm sure I should be offended by that, but what other weird things are you talking about?"

"You're always cold. Even when I gave you my sweater at the theatre my sweater was cold when I got it back. No circulation issues affect the whole body to that extent. And then there's the fact that you don't eat anything. I've never seen you drink so much as a glass of water. And you're fast. Too fast to be normal. So what are you?" Jasper backed away, putting some much-needed distance between himself and Edward.

He knew that whatever Edward was about to tell him wasn't going to be good. He wished that it had been the easy explanation that Edward was a stalker. That would have been preferable to finding out that Edward was a freaky genetic mutation… or worse.

But what could possible be worse than this? He thought.

"A lot could be worse than this Jasper," Edward said quietly. He started towards Jasper, but when Jasper stepped back, Edward stopped and instead settled on piercing Jasper's soul with his eyes.

"There's a whole world out there that throws in the face of everything you've ever known. Everything you thought you knew about the world, about the process of life, about science, about the soul. There are things that don't belong in this world that, regardless, walk among humanity, invisible. To know this world is to forget everything you thought you ever knew."

"Edward, you're scaring me," Jasper whispered. He didn't understand what Edward was trying to say. Was he talking about ghosts? Heaven and Hell?

"More than that, Jasper. Regardless of whether you believe in heaven and hell, there is tangible evil walking on this earth. I should know."

"How?"

Edward turned away from Jasper, "I've seen it. I've walked among them. I've been them."

"Edward what are you talking about?" Jasper wasn't sure if he could take Edward's riddles anymore. Whatever it was, Edward didn't want to say anything, but Jasper wasn't going to drop this conversation until he had answers. "I don't understand what you're trying to tell me. Are you saying you're evil? Because despite you're creepy stalker tendencies, I have a hard time believing that you're evil."

Edward whipped around and Jasper saw that his eyes had darkened. His beautiful honey eyes had turned black. With his eyes like that, Jasper could very well believe that Edward had the capacity for evil.

"That's the way you're supposed to feel. I lure you in, I intrigue you, and then I kill you. That's how this works. I don't like it, what I am. But I suppose if I wasn't this, then I wouldn't have met you. So perhaps it has it's benefits."

"Just tell me, Edward. I won't freak out, I promise. I just need answers. Your behaviour has been so weird, and now I find out you've been watching me from my window to protect me, your sister is psychic, and you can read minds. I just don't know what to do with this Edward. I need you to help me put the pieces together." Jasper gathered all his courage and took a step forward. This seemed to encourage Edward and he rushed to gather Jasper in his arms.

"You're safer if you never know about my world, if you never become a part of it. That's how I always meant it to be. You would stay the same, the perfect way you were created. And then when you died… But I didn't know that I would barely get to know you. There's just not enough time, and the only way I can keep you is to…" Edward trailed off, instead burying his nose into Jasper's neck and taking a deep breath.

"Please tell me Edward," Jasper whispered into Edward's hair.

Edward muttered into Jasper's neck, but Jasper couldn't understand what he said. He pulled Edward away and caught his eye. "I didn't catch that."

"I'm a vampire."

That was the last thing Jasper heard before he fainted.

Jasper woke up in his bed with the sun shining in his eyes. Something tugged at his mind, something important that he should be remembering, but he couldn't think of what it was. He sat up and rubbed the sleep out of his eyes, looking around his room.

That's when he noticed that his jacket, which usually was on the floor, was neatly hung in his closet. He didn't remember hanging up his jacket. That seemed remarkably uncharacteristic of him. Even more, he realised, he didn't remember undressing last night. Why couldn't he remember?

And that's when he remembered. Edward and the red in the forest, confronting him and discovering that it had been him the whole time, the fights and disbelief, Edward's psychic sister, and Edward's reading minds. And then the holy grail of revelations: Edward being a vampire.

Jasper wasn't sure what to do with that. His first instinct was to call the cops and the hospital. Clearly Edward needed mental help. But he agreed with Edward's assessment: Carlisle would just release him.

It was crazy. Absolutely nuts. Vampires didn't exist. Just like faeries, unicorns, leprechauns, Zeus, and every other mythological creature didn't exist. But Jasper hadn't believed in psychics and people who read minds before last night, and loath as he was to admit it, Edward had been able to read his mind.

So did that mean he was also a vampire? Clearly he wouldn't lie about that if he didn't lie about the mind reading. Jasper had to come to the conclusion that Edward was a vampire. Or at least thought he was.

Then he remembered that Carlisle had many of the same 'symptoms' as Edward. He was also freezing cold. And both were ungodly pale. Was Carlisle also a vampire? Did Edward live in a family of vampires? That didn't sound particularly safe for the surrounding human population.

But what about all the things people said about Vampires? Jasper had read Dracula and seen "Lost Boys". Vampires slept during the day and were creatures of the night. They had fangs. Jasper was pretty sure that when he had his tongue in Edward's mouth, there had been no fangs. Were they retractable? Or just really, really sharp canine teeth?

And why hadn't Edward killed him? He had kissed him, touched him, had been so gentle with him. There was nothing to suggest that Edward ever wanted to hurt Jasper. He had said as much. Edward had wanted to protect Jasper.

He knew he should talk to Edward about this, but he couldn't gather the courage. While he wasn't afraid of Edward, his entire worldview and been turned on its head, and Edward played a very large part in that. He wasn't ready to see him until he was absolutely sure of how he felt about it.

If Edward were a vampire… so what? It wouldn't change who he was. Jasper had a disease consuming his body; surely he could look past someone's appearance to see who he was as a person. Edward was able to.

Edward was a vampire, yet Jasper still wanted to know him. What danger did he pose? Jasper would be dead in weeks anyway, what could Edward do to him that his body wasn't already succeeding at?

It was odd to think about: Edward's life was immortal, while Jasper's was outrageously mortal. Edward was infinite and Jasper was finite. In the scope of Edward's life, Jasper would be a drop in the bucket, a blip in his timeline.

As horrifying as all this was, Jasper still needed to see Edward. He wanted explanations, he wanted understanding. Mostly, he wanted Edward.

He got out of bed, determined to find where Edward lived and confront him. It briefly crossed his mind that perhaps entering a house of vampires was not the wisest of things, but he pushed it away. It was the only thing he could do. He didn't have Edward's number, so had no other way to contact him.

As he thought that, he looked at his bed stand and saw a piece of paper that had not been there before. Instantly knowing it was from Edward, he picked it up and read the note:

Jasper,

You fainted in the woods, so I brought you to your room. Your parents have no knowledge of my visit, so you do not need to fear any questions from them. Please call me when you wake. Regardless of whether you wish to see me again or not, I would like to make sure that you are okay.

Yours, Edward

Beneath his name was Edward's phone number. Jasper immediately grabbed his cell phone from the table and punched in Edward's number. He hesitated for only a moment before pressing the call button.

"Jasper," Edward's voice through the phone calmed Jasper in a way he was sure was unnatural.

"Erm, hi. I just saw your note and called to let you know that I'm fine. A little shocked, but fine." Jasper rubbed his hand over his head, feeling the bristles of hair beginning to grow back.

"Are you really okay? I'd understand if you're not. I wasn't going to tell you so soon, but time…"

"Yeah." Jasper was silent, and noticed that he didn't hear Edward breathing over the phone. Of course he wouldn't be, the dead don't need to breathe. "I just… you're not breathing Edward. You don't need to breathe. What do you eat? People? Oh God, Edward, do you eat people?"

Edward laughed, "No I don't eat people. My family and I live off animals. We find it more humane that way and it's easier to live with what we are if no one beside ourselves suffer for it."

"But what about the sun? Don't you burn?"

"No, no burning in the sun. We're sensitive to the sun, so usually we try to avoid it and prolonged exposure will cause our skin to boil. And it can potentially lead to our death. But that's why we live here. Hardly any sun, and when there is it isn't very strong."

Jasper tried to think of any other question he could possibly have. There were so many, but some of them, like Edward's age and life story, didn't seem appropriate to talk about over the phone. But there was one thing that he had to clarify.

"So you're immortal?" He didn't know why this question was the most important. Something deep in his being had to know the answer to this question.

"Yes," Edward's voice was quiet.

Jasper didn't understand his feelings about the answer. Usually he was good with emotions, always able to tell what he or someone else was feeling. This time though, his own emotions were too complex for even him to understand. Fear was definitely prominent, but something else, something he could only understand as happiness, relief, and expectance, was also there. And he didn't know why.

"I still have questions. I just don't think we should discuss them over the phone."

"Of course."

"Can I see you?" Jasper breathed.

"Tonight? My world basically revolves around you now, so whenever you want to meet…" Add that to the list of things they were going to talk about, Jasper thought, mentally starting to create a list.

"Okay, pick me up at 5? We can go to a park and sit and talk."

"Jasper, are you sure about this?"

No, but Jasper wasn't sure of anything anymore. "Yes. I'll see you at 5."

He hung up and flopped back onto the bed. He couldn't stop wondering what he was getting himself into. But no matter how hard he tried he couldn't find it in himself to regret it.

A/N: Hope you all aren't too disappointed about the way Jasper reacted to Edward's news. But honestly, what rational human would take that news well? A freak out was unavoidable. I always thought that Bella's reaction in the books was ridiculous. So here's mine.

Oh, and about the sparkling. To me, a vampire that sparkles immediately loses all sex appeal. So my vampires don't sparkle, they're just sensitive to the sun. Really, really sensitive.

Until next time! AJ Kelly