A/N: Hello again! I hope everyone is doing well. Thank you all so much for the reviews and for sticking with this story. I have good news! I have next week off so I hope to be able to update both of my stories! (about damn time, right?) Anyway, here's the latest chapter. Hope you all enjoy!
Disclaimer: Stephanie Meyer owns Twilight and all recognisable characters, no infringement is intended. Only the plot is mine.
Chapter Six
He squeezed his eyes shut against the sun shinning into the living room. It had been a week since the revelation about Edward, a week since their tentative and unnamed relationship, and a week since Jasper had resumed his chemotherapy. As a result it had been the happiest, worst, and weirdest week of Jasper's life.
Jasper tried to think about everything that had happened but the pounding in his head cut off all thoughts. He groaned and slowly rolled over to press his face against the couch cushions. He had been feeling sick all day and hadn't moved from the couch to pee or eat, and certainly not to close the drapes. No matter how much he was suffering for any of those decisions.
Margaret was with a group of her friends and wouldn't be home for hours and Richard was a work. Jasper had thought about asking Margaret if she could come home and take care of him, but he wasn't ready to be a burden yet. He was a fucking adult and could take care of himself. Even if that meant he had a headache from the sun and a strained bladder. Collateral damage, he figured.
His stomach rolled and Jasper groaned again. He wasn't in the mood to be both nauseous and hungry. Jasper was used to taking care of himself in these instances but he always had supplies. Foods to settle his stomach but still keep his energy up and plenty of liquids within easy reach. His parents weren't used to dealing with it though, and so some of the things he would normally have weren't available.
Like an empty bucket, He thought as his stomach gave another lurch. He'd need to either find something to puke in close by, just in case, or move to the bathroom and sit there for the rest of the day. The thought of moving upstairs to the bathroom made his whole body hurt worse than it already did. Okay, so moving was out.
He looked around the room for something close by. If necessary his mother would just have to accept the loss of one of her decorations. That's when he noticed something. In the corner across the room was a potted plant. It was a fake one because Margaret couldn't keep a plant alive to save her life. So at least she could easily replace it. The problem thought, was that it was across the room. Jasper debated not going until his stomach gave another roll.
Jasper closed his eyes against the sunlight, took a calming breath and slowly lifted his body off the couch. Once he was sitting and confident that his stomach wasn't pissed at him for moving he cracked his eyes open letting his eyes get used to the light. Then with every muscle in his body protesting, he began walking to the plant.
Once he made it minutes later he leaned against the wall… and decided that the wall was really quite nice and it wouldn't hurt to stay there for the rest of the day. He looked back over that the couch, which now seemed miles away, and decided the comfort wasn't worth it. He let his body slide down the wall until he was sitting on the floor. He leaned against the potted plant and looked wistfully at the couch.
Damn stomach needing the damn pot. Damn you. Jasper cursed everything he could and even tried wishing himself and the plant back to the couch.
Eventually Jasper managed to make himself comfortable by draping his arm across the pot and resting his head against his arm. He began to drift off when there was a knock on the door.
"Come in," Jasper yelled as forcefully as he could. Thankfully whoever it was heard him because Jasper heard the door open and close and then footsteps heading towards him.
Edward walked into the living room and immediately his eyes found Jasper. He rushed towards him and knelt down beside him.
"Jasper, what are you doing on the floor?"
"I felt sick and I needed something in case I needed to puke. But the bathroom was too far away so I tried to use this. But once I got here I was too tired to go back to the couch," Jasper explained.
Edward cupped Jasper's neck and ran the other hand along his cheek, "Do you want me to bring you back to the couch? Or your bed?"
Bed. That sounded amazing. Comfy mattress, soft sheets, fluffy pillows. "My bed please," Jasper said quietly.
Without a word Edward was lifting Jasper in his arms. Jasper leaned his head against Edward's shoulder and breathed his scent. As stupid and impossible as it was, Jasper felt as if Edward's scent and presence had calmed his stomach and made his body relax. Of course that wasn't possible, but Jasper notched it up to the placebo effect. Whatever helped make him feel better.
Edward shuffled Jasper to hold with one arm as he pulled the comforter and sheets back from Jasper's bed. He laid Jasper down and pulled the sheets over his body. Then he sat on the side of the bed and brushed his hand across Jasper's face.
"Do you want something? Water or food? I'll get you something in case you're going to be sick."
"Water and some light food would be nice."
Edward nodded and got up. Before he left the room he shut the blinds and Jasper was never happier for Edward's mind reading ability. He buried himself in the covers and thanked God for Edward coming along. Seconds later Edward was back with a trash can a glass of water and some crackers and fruit.
"Okay your bucket is to your right so now you can aim. Let's prop you up so that you can eat something and have something to drink. You have to stay hydrated."
"Yes Doc."
"And don't you forget it," Edward remarked. He put his arm around Jasper's back and helped lift him up until he was sitting up. "Why are you alone?"
Jasper swallowed the sip of water he had taken and then answered, "My mom's with some friends. I didn't feel as bad when she left so I didn't think I'd need her."
He didn't mention that the other reason he hadn't stopped his mom from leaving was that he didn't want to be a burden on them. But he knew that Edward had caught the thought as it went through his head. Edward frowned but didn't say anything. Instead he passed Jasper the crackers and fruit, watching as he ate.
"When is she coming home?"
Jasper shrugged. He was much more interested in trying to eat something. He cautiously nibbled on a cracker to test his stomach. "Sometime later today." He dropped the cracker on the plate, too tired and weak to eat at the moment. He took another sip of water and pushed the food away. Edward moved it to the dresser then came back to the bed to pull the covers back over Jasper who had curled into a ball on his side.
"Maybe I should find her," Edward said quietly. Jasper lightly shook his head and moved slower to Edward until his knees lightly brushed Edward's thigh.
"I just need to lie here and sleep. There's no reason to worry her." Jasper closed his eyes and focussed on the feeling of Edward's hand brushing across his cheek. He thought, for a moment, that he had felt a soft flutter of lips against his but when he opened his eyes, Edward was sitting up straight and gazing out the window. When Edward looked back at Jasper he hesitantly snatched his hand back and placed it in his lap.
"I'm sorry, Jasper. I should leave you alone so that you can sleep, I must be disturbing you. I'll clean everything up and then I'll find your mother. You shouldn't be alone. You might need something." Jasper didn't like the idea of being alone, but he also didn't to disturb his mother. Besides, he wasn't alone.
Edward was already off the bed and moving towards the dresser to clean up the food when Jasper reached out to catch Edward's hand. Edward turned, "Yes Jasper?"
"Stay," He murmured. He couldn't keep his eyes open any longer; even that was becoming painful. "Stay with me."
"You need to rest Jasper. And I need –" Jasper tugged on Edward's hand again with as much force as he could muster. He tried not to smile with glee when he heard Edward's defeated sigh. "Fine. I'll be right back."
Edward returned the dirty dishes to the kitchen and when he returned Jasper was asleep, still curled into a ball. Edward smiled and admired Jasper's body. Though it was thin and sickly, Edward had never seen anything more beautiful and pure. He removed his shoes and crawled into Jasper's bed, curling himself around the slumbering form. He closed his eyes, knowing that he wouldn't sleep. But with his eyes closed and thoughts of Jasper, Edward could almost believe he was dreaming.
In his drowsy state Jasper felt something touching him, which was weird because he was couldn't remember sleeping with anyone. Not that his dreams were evidence of that. In fact, his dreams were filled with images of a very naked Edward. An Edward that would crawl up his body, press him down into the mattress, rock his hip against his…
"As wonderful as your dreams and subsequent fantasies are, I must warn you that my self control is already as thin as it can go. Unless you want me to fuck you, eat you, or run away, you better stop."
Jasper's eyes shot open revealing a smiling Edward. However his smile was just a bit too forced and Jasper could tell that Edward wasn't kidding about his control being thin.
"Sorry," Jasper grinned, "but I'm a growing boy and I have needs."
"Growing?" Edward asked, lifting an eyebrow in question.
"Fine, grown," Jasper amended. He started to sit up but halfway through changed his mind and flopped against Edward's chest. "How long was I asleep?"
"A few hours. It's almost 4 now. Are you feeling better?"
"Yes, my headache his gone. Of course every muscle in my body and every joint still hurts but there's not much I can do about that. Were you here the whole time?"
"Almost. When your dreams got too much I had to… remove myself for a while."
"Remove yourself?" Jasper teased, "I think you mean 'take care of yourself'."
Edward sniffed and looked away quickly, "I don't know what you're talking about."
Jasper stifled his laughter to put on a straight face, "Really Edward? It's okay, you know. We're both men and we sometimes need to wank."
"Men – humans – do. But vampires are above such basic human urges."
"Really?" Jasper doubted that, especially if the fact that Edward wouldn't look him in the eye was anything to go by. He rolled over so that he was lying halfway on top of Edward. The most important part, though, was that his hands had easy access. "That's lucky for you. Because I can't tell you how hard I am whenever I wake up from one of my dreams."
Edward's eyes widened and Jasper decided to tease him even more. He didn't know where the line was between where Edward was in control of his Vampire instincts and where he would go crazy exactly, but he was willing to test it a bit more.
"I can't help it, Edward. The image of you on top of me, our slick skin sliding against each other, your body seated between my thighs," Jasper emphasised each word with the touch of finger tips on Edward's body. His hands found their way beneath Edward's shirt and ran along the plans of his stomach. Edward's breathing was getting harder and pushing Jasper to go farther, though he made sure his touches stayed light and innocent.
He could resist completely though, and so he leaned down and brushed his lips across Edward's, hopefully giving him time to prepare for the coming onslaught. He lightly kissed the side of Edward's mouth and then nibbled on his bottom lip before firmly pressing his lips against Edward's. Edward's groan of approval had Jasper opening his mouth and Edward's tongue delved into his. Despite his desire to deepen the kiss and to allow his tongue to explore Edward's mouth, he only touched his tongue against Edward's. After several moments Jasper pulled away and buried his face into the crook of Edward's neck.
"I just have to touch myself. And I pretend it's you stroking me, you're mouth surrounding me. Then I imagine what it would feel like to be inside you. How tight and warm you'd feel wrapped around me. Or I imagine how you'd feel inside me. Do you imagine that Edward? Do you imagine how you'd feel inside me?" Edward's low growl confirmed that Jasper was getting to him. Edward stopped Jasper's hands.
"Trust me Jasper, I've thought about it. I've known about you for years and I don't sleep. I've had plenty of time to think about all the things I'm going to do to you once we're ready. One of them includes never letting you leave the bed for a week," Jasper blushed at that, though he didn't know if it was with embarrassment or pleasure. There was no reason to be embarrassed. Hell, he had just teased Edward with his masturbation fantasy. But Edward wasn't teasing. And it was the seriousness in his voice, the absolute certainty, which made Jasper blush.
"Really?" Was all that he could manage to say without choking.
"Yes, but not yet. We're still getting to know each other, and you're sick. I don't want to hurt you. And when we make love it will be a celebration and you will be perfectly healthy."
"Edward," Jasper began, "You have to face reality –"
"No. You will be healthy. Even if I have to drug you until you're loopy." Edward said, trying to lighten the mood.
Jasper played along. He didn't want to talk about his sickness. Not today. "Well now you're talking. If you're bringing pot along…"
Edward snorted, "I think I can get my hands on something a bit stronger than pot."
"Speaking of, shouldn't you be at work right now?"
"Well I was working but I came over on my lunch to check on you. I hadn't seen you for a few days and I was worried."
Well that got Jasper's attention. "Why the hell didn't you tell me that? I wouldn't have made you stay. You shouldn't have stayed, Edward. What will Carlisle say?"
"First off, I stayed because I wanted to take care of you and I will always want to stay with you. You didn't make me stay. If you didn't notice, it didn't exactly take a lot of convincing to get me to stay. Secondly, I already explained to Carlisle. It's been a slow day anyways. I've been much more useful here.
And Thirdly, Jasper, you will always come first for me. No matter what is going on, if you need me, I'll drop whatever I'm doing and help you. Not because I feel obligated to, but because I want to. I feel… special when you turn to me, Jasper. And I love that feeling."
"Because I'm your," Jasper hesitated. The word was on the tip of his tongue, but it was one of the things he was still coming to grips with. Uttering the word would be accepting that place in Edward's life. Jasper wanted that though. For however long he had, something told him that he wanted to spend it with Edward. So he pressed forward and said the word that he hadn't been able to say with any semblance of seriousness before. "Mate?"
"Yes, because you're my mate and vampires take mates very seriously. I know you haven't met any other vampires, but you'll see it in my family. We're all a family and we all love each other, but mates come first."
"What will Alice do now?" Jasper asked. He knew that Alice was now the only vampire in their family who was unmated, and that was why she and Edward were so close. Jasper didn't want to interfere in their relationship.
"Don't worry. Alice may not have a mate, but she never let it affect her the way I did. I'm…"
"Nervous, melancholy, thoughtful?" Jasper supplied. He instantly regretted being a smartass when Edward smacked his head.
"That was rude. But yes, I suppose. I've watched others love and I always wanted that for myself. But Alice has always been very independent and she loves the freedom of taking off whenever she wants and coming back a week later. She doesn't want a mate as much as I did. So she won't feel left out."
"I just don't want anyone to feel like I'm interfering in your family."
"They wont. Just like me, they've had five years to get used to the idea of you." Edward assured.
"When will I get to meet them?"
"The second you admit that you're ready, you'll be beating them off with a bat. Alice and Esme are already squealing over you. Esme's working on your room."
"My room?" Jasper was astonished that people he hadn't even met would want him to have his own room. But he didn't understand why they would. "Why would I have my own room? Am I not allowed to stay with you?"
"Of course you can. But we didn't know if you'd want to. So instead of making you feel uncomfortable Esme just decided to give you your own room. Rosalie is very jealous of that, by the way. She's wanted her own room for years. Mostly she just wants the extra closet space, but she also wants her own room so that she can punish Emmett when she's mad at him. Apparently she can't refuse him if she's stuck in the same bed as him," Edward said with disgust. Jasper had a feeling that Edward knew a lot about his family member's personal lives that he wished he didn't know. The idea both creeped him out and made him laugh, and only Edward's glare at Jasper's thoughts kept him quiet.
"So, if I say that I'm ready – not that I'm saying it, but hypothetically – then what would we do? Go to your house? Meet in a populated area? I mean I've never met vampire parents before."
"Well, maybe our first step should be having me meet your parents," Edward innocently suggested.
"No," Jasper said as forcefully as he could. "No, my mom already teases me about you enough, the very last thing I need is for her to actually meet you. She'll just tease me more."
"Oh man up Jasper. How bad could it be?"
Jasper quirked an eyebrow, "you doubt me? Whenever I talk about you she gives me this look. And then she asks me if I like you, she says how cute you are, and she always asks if we're dating. It's embarrassing. And she knows that she'll make me uncomfortable, so she does it on purpose."
Jasper waited for Edward to defend him and sympathise with his plight. Instead Edward said, "You talk about me?"
"Not the point, Edward!"
"Yeah, but I want to talk about that."
"Well I don't want to –" But Jasper was interrupted by the slamming of the front door and his mother's voice yelling for him. He stole a glance at Edward's amused face.
"Well, we better go see your mother," Edward said cheerfully.
"You did that on purpose," Jasper muttered. Edward shifted off the bed and held out his hands to help Jasper up. "You knew she was coming home and you distracted me so that you'd still be here when she arrived."
"I'm sure I have no idea what you're talking about. But for future knowledge, Vampires have very good hearing." Jasper quietly muttered about damn vampire being able to hear and read people's damn minds, but he allowed Edward to pick him up and carry him down the stairs.
Edward put Jasper down on the couch, wrapped him in a blanket and then placed the bucket down beside him. Jasper hadn't noticed Edward bringing that, though he didn't know why he was surprised that his vampire – wait, his vampire? Where the hell had that come from? – had been able to carry him, a blanket, and his bucket.
Edward leaned down and kissed Jasper's forehead, "I'll be right back," he whispered and then he vanished. All the talking had made Jasper tired again and his fatigue was affecting his entire body. His headache was returning and he couldn't muster the strength to move.
"Oh Jasper, why didn't you tell me you weren't feeling well today?" His mother said as soon as she came into the living room with Edward right behind her.
"It's nothing mom, I'm used to it and I don't need you to baby me," Jasper insisted.
"Oh stuff it," Margaret said harshly forcing Jasper to notice that she was actually upset and he felt bad about not letting her know. "We didn't move you up here so that you could suffer on your own." Margaret knelt down beside Jasper and wiped the clammy skin on his forehead. "I need to take care of you Jasper. You're my baby boy and I," Margaret choked on her words and bit her lip.
"I'm sorry mom. I didn't mean to make you upset. I'm just used to taking care of myself and I didn't want to be a bother."
"You are never a bother, Jasper. Never." Margaret kissed Jasper's cheek and stood up. Then she looked at Edward with a predatory grin and Jasper felt his mood drop. "Well what are you doing here Dr. Cullen?"
"I'm just visiting Jasper here, Mrs. Whitlock."
"No, remember I told you to call me Margaret. Now, I can't tell you how happy I am that my Jasper made a friend here. And such a handsome one too."
"Mom, please stop," Jasper begged.
"Shush dear. Now Edward, will we be seeing more of you around?"
Edward cast a quick glance at Jasper before smirking, "I'd like to think so Margaret. But I guess you'd have to ask Jasper whether he'll let me."
"Oh of course he will. The boy would be a damn fool to let such a handsome man like yourself slip through his fingers."
"No, I think I'd be the fool to let him get away." Edward smiled when Margaret cooed at that. Jasper, at this point, had his face hidden in the blankets.
"Will you be staying for dinner, Edward?" Margaret asked.
"That would be wonderful Margaret, thank you."
"Well I have some work to do, but dinner should be ready around 6:30. Jasper dear, let me know how you're feeling and if you're up for dinner. Now I'll just leave you boys alone." Margaret winked at Edward and left the room. As soon as she was gone Edward was up and sitting on the couch beside Jasper.
"See, that wasn't so bad," Edward said.
Jasper pulled down the blanket to glare at Edward, "Were we in the same room? That was horrible! My mom's teasing has gotten out of hand. I'm gonna have to start on her now. I don't know what I'm going tease her about, but I'm sure I can remember something."
"Jasper, if that's what you consider tough, you are not prepared for my family. They're invasive. They mean well, of course, but they are nosey. And it takes a while to get used to them. So compared to what I'm used to your mother was easy."
"Don't tell me that," Jasper moaned, "I'm not used to having people delve into my personal life. I need time to get used to it."
"Don't worry, love. I'll protect you from them. Now how should we spend the next few hours?" Edward didn't seem to notice his term of endearment, and while it made Jasper's heart beat faster to hear it, he wasn't ready to acknowledge it. So instead Jasper introduced Edward to Mystery Science Theater 3000 and they lay on the couch together.
It gave Jasper time to think, which was something he rarely was able to do in Edward's presence. Usually they were talking and really they had only had a handful of conversations. This didn't give Jasper a lot of time to digest the information he had been given. Now, however, his problems seemed a lot more normal.
He had already accepted that Edward was a vampire and had adjusted to that remarkably well, if he said so himself. Now he was much more focussed on his relationship with Edward.
Jasper found himself having feelings for Edward that he had never had for another. It scared him to feel this deeply about someone he hadn't known that long. It didn't make any sense and he could only put it down to two things: either his cancer was getting to his head or this mate thing worked both ways. Just as Edward felt an instant connection to Jasper, somehow Jasper was also able to recognise his other half in Edward, even if it wasn't to the extent that Edward felt.
Weeks ago Jasper would have laughed at himself and thought he was losing his mind. But now it was actually the most logical explanation. And Jasper was beginning to find the whole situation quite normal.
"I think you might be right," Edward said. Jasper looked up surprised, but then remembered the mind reading.
"I always forget that part of you. I don't know why."
"I actually like it. It means that you don't view me as a freak who can read your mind…"
"Don't forget drinking blood."
"And as a result, you're less guarded than some. My family has learned how to get around it at times. They've learned how to mask their real thoughts behind others. It's fine with me; I don't want to know their thoughts. But yours… I want to know everything you think. Even the dumb thoughts," Edward placed a kiss on Jasper's head and tightened his arms around him. "But again, I think that you're right. I think that somehow we recognise each other and that's why this seems so natural so soon. It's probably because of what I am."
"So if you were human?"
"I don't know. It's hard to tell whether we'd feel the same. I think so but it'd take us longer to reach this point."
"You mean it'd be like every one else's relationships. Normal."
"Well yes, probably. But because of what I am," Edward stopped and took an unnecessary deep breath, "Our mates are perfect for us. People tease that they found their soul mates, love at first sight, the one they recognise instantly as their other half. But that's kinda the norm for vampires. So there must be something connected. You aren't feeling it as strong as I am, so that must be it."
"I don't understand," Jasper admitted, "I mean. That entire conversation made absolutely no sense. It sounds like something from one of those bullshit romance novels with Fabio on the cover."
"I know. I think I need to kill something to get my balls back. But I do think that's what's going on."
"This is weird Edward. I mean, I think I'm handling this pretty well, but there are times where I expect to wake up from this and find that everything is back to normal."
Edward hesitated before asking the question that was hanging in the air, "Do you want everything to go back to normal? Back before you met me?"
"Sometimes," Jasper said quietly, but he quickly amended, "But no, not really. Because I just can't imagine not knowing you. I don't want to imagine that."
Neither knew what to say after that and so both of them watched the TV for a bit. Finally Edward opened his mouth to speak but then seemed reconsidered it and instead captured Jasper's lips in a soft kiss. Jasper wrapped his hand around Edward's neck to hold him down when Edward tried to break the kiss.
Only a throat clearing from the doorway forced them both to look up.
"Hello boys," Richard said. He eyed them both, sighed, and turned around yelling over his shoulder, "It's time for dinner."
Jasper grabbed Edward's chin and forced him to look at him. Without Jasper having to say anything Edward chucked, "Yes, yes. I did that on purpose. Now let's go eat."
A/N: Sooo, basically this was a filler chapter. I'll admit it, and I'm not exactly proud of this chapter as a whole. But it was necessary. They had to get more familiar with each other before Jasper meets the Cullens (which is the next chapter).
Oh, and the Mystery Science Theater 3000 is because I'm watching episodes of it on youtube and remembering saturday mornings of my childhood. When it came time for them to be watching something MST3K was the first thing that popped into my head.
Anyways. I'll see you all next week, and thanks for reading! ~AJ Kelly