"Why are you making me get new clothes if I don't even want new clothes?" Jasper questions with an angry huff as Carlisle pulls out of the driveway.
"You only have four or five shirts and two pairs of jeans."
"They're nice jeans, though! They're Wranglers!"
"If that's the brand you like, then I'll buy you Wranglers. "
"But the jeans I have now are fine!"
"Jasper, you're getting new clothes and that's that. It's non-negotiable." Carlisle says firmly. Jasper rolls his eyes and leans his cheek against the car window. "But while we have this time, why don't you tell me what's the issue with school?"
Carlisle waits for a response, but Jasper just ignores him. With an agitated sigh, he continues down the road and keeps glancing at Jasper, hoping for some sign of acknowledgment. It's not until Carlisle reaches the express way that he tries again to talk to Jasper.
"Okay, so what's the issue?" He asks harshly. Jasper continues to ignore him. "You've had an attitude from the day you arrived. You won't talk to anyone. What's the problem?"
Jasper sunk down in his seat.
"What's wrong at school?"
No response. Jasper hoped that keeping quiet would stop him. It always brought an end to arguments with Maria.
"It's obvious that you have issues with living in my house, so why don't you just tell me what they are!"
Still nothing.
"Jasper Elliot, I swear, you better answer me-"
"I hate it here!" Jasper finally yells back at Carlisle, turning sharply to face the driver and clenching his fists at his legs.
"Why do you hate it?" Carlisle yells back, pushing his foot harder on the accelerator. "You've made it perfectly clear that you hate it here!"
"I hate you, I hate the house, I hate your stupid rules!"
"What, you can't follow rules? Is that it?" Carlisle asks angrily.
"You know what, fuck you! I'm not talking to you!" Jasper huffs and returns to glaring out the window. Carlisle grits his teeth. If it's one thing that gets him heated, it's being disrespected.
"How much longer do you want me to keep your phone?" He demands. The threat of having to go longer without any connection to Maria make's Jasper jump back to his defensive pose.
"You can't keep it any longer! You said only for a week!"
"If you're not going to be respectful then you can say goodbye to that cell phone for another two weeks! Don't you dare take that language and tone with me!"
Jasper looks at Carlisle with a bitter scowl.
"Fine." He whispers.
"What was that?"
"Fine!"
"What's 'fine'?"
"You know what it means!" Jasper grimaces.
"What's 'fine' Jasper? Be specific." Carlisle grunts. How he hates arguing with his kids, especially his foster kids. But rules are rules and he will not deal with this profane behavior.
"Fine, I'll be respectful! Just don't keep my phone." Jasper finally agreed, slouching down is his seat. Carlisle eyes him skeptically. He doubts Jasper's attitude is really gone. In all of his years spent parenting, he's found that a turn-around in behavior that quickly is rare.
"Now, just tell me what issues-"
Carlisle starts to speak, but is soon cut off by the sound of sirens. Jasper jumps in his seat, spinning around to see the blue and red lights on top of a cop car. Carlisle looks down at his speedometer.
"Shit," He curses angrily under his breath.
"Oh my God," Jasper looks at Carlisle with terrified eyes. "He's pulling you over."
Carlisle puts on his blinker and moves to the shoulder of the road. Once the car slows to a stop, Carlisle rubs his eyes with one hand and pulls his wallet out of his pant pocket with the other.
"Esme is going to kill me. Get the plastic envelope out of the glove box. It has my registration."
Jasper quickly pops open the glove box, shuffles through other papers until he finds the small blue envelope Carlisle told him about. He hands it over nervously as the police officer walks up to the window.
"Well hello there, Dr. Cullen." The officer says as he leans into the car window. Jasper's shocked face slowly turns into a smirk as the cop speaks. "Going a little fast there, aren't you?"
"Hey, Charlie." Carlisle sighs. "How over was I this time?"
"This time?" Jasper laughs under his breath, earning an unamused glance from Carlisle. Charlie leans down more to see Jasper.
"One of your boys?" Charlie asks.
"Yeah, this is Jasper. He and his sister are new to the area.
Jasper draws back for a moment, unsure of what to think of being considered one of Carlisle's 'boys'.
"You'll be seeing a lot of me if you're driving with speedy, here." Charlie smirks.
"Does he get pulled over a lot?" Jasper asks.
Just as Charlie says yes, Carlisle says no. Jasper laughs as Charlie starts to explain that Carlisle was going twenty-seven miles per hour over the speed limit, but the ticket will only be for seventeen over. Carlisle doesn't argue, he just nods and thanks him for lowering it. As Charlie goes back to his car, Jasper smiles at Carlisle.
"This time?" He questions again. "How many times do you get pulled over?"
"I may have a history of speeding." Carlisle admits. Jasper's smile grows.
"So much that the cop knows you by name?"
"Well, to be far, I've had many of the cops around here in the hospital." Carlisle says. As annoyed with himself as he is, Carlisle tries to keep his thoughts on the bright side. At least Jasper is smiling now.
"He knew you right away."
"I'm the only one around here with a Mercedes."
"Or you just get pulled over a lot."
Carlisle rolls his eyes, but his harsh glare quickly softens as Jasper jokes.
"You know, the lady I lived with before you got pulled over once. She used her boobs to get out of it though. Maybe you should try that!"
Laughter erupts from the passenger side. Carlisle just watches him, smiling as Jasper's laugh grows stronger. Even as Charlie returns to the car with a ticket and gives them Carlisle the okay to go, Jasper's lighthearted mood stays.
"So other than today, when was the last time you got pulled over?"
"Two months ago." Carlisle admits. "Let me tell Esme, okay?"
"Okay." Jasper chuckles, but then furrows his brow and grows serious. "Is it going to cause a fight?"
"Hmm?"
"Never mind," He shrugs off quickly. "No big deal."
"If it's something that bothers you, then it is a big deal." Carlisle tells him. Jasper looks at him out of the corner of his eyes, not sure how to take Carlisle's concern. Finally, he lowers his head and his pride. "Did you ask if it would cause a fight?"
"I just don't like the screaming." Jasper murmurs. Carlisle nods.
"Far enough. There won't be a fight. I'll remember that. Esme and I shouldn't be yelling at each other anyways." He says. Jasper waits for a few seconds to see if Carlisle will say anything else about the subject, and once he realizes that no taunts or laughs are following, he relaxes a little more.
"Cool." He smiles.
"And now that I answered one of your questions, it's only fair that you answer one of mine."
"Oh." Jasper sighs.
"What do you want to eat for lunch?"
"How does it look?" Jasper asks as he adjusts the collar of a black and white plaid shirt.
"Looks good. You want that one too?"
"Can I?"
"Sure. Toss it in the cart."
Jasper refolds the shirt and sets it on the other three shirts already in the cart. He eyes Carlisle at the jean rack. So far, he and Carlisle have gotten along. He doesn't know how he feels about it, though. But he does know he likes seeing a stack of clothes in the cart for him. Maria is always tight on money, and she never indulged Jasper like Carlisle is doing. Not that he won't trade those shirts to be back with Maria.
"These are your size. What style do you like? There's carpenter, slim fit, cowboy cut."
"A like a little variety. How many jeans can I get?"
"Four or five. "
"Seriously?" Jasper's jaw drops. Carlisle nods.
"Seriously. Go try these on."
Carlisle hands Jasper a few pairs of jeans of different styles and colors and sends Jasper back into the dressing room. Before shutting the door, Jasper takes another look at Carlisle. He obviously doesn't belong in Tractor Supply Co. In stiff, black jeans, a white button up dress shirt and a red button up sweater, he stuck out like a sore thumb. But it's the store Jasper said he wanted to come to, so that's where Carlisle took him. Jasper can recall multiple trips to the Tractor Supply back in his Taxes home with his father. Many times, his dad was covered in grease, dirk and sweat. "It's a working mans store, Jazzy boy," he'd tell his youngest.
Disappearing into the dressing room, Jasper sighs and tries on the first pair of jeans and chuckled. If only Avery could see his son in here with Dr. Cullen, Jasper knows he would laugh his ass off. The though of it made Jasper laugh out loud. If only Avery could see this.
"We're back." Carlisle announces as he and Jasper come through the front door with three bags of clothes and two shoe boxes; one with black leather dress shoes and one with a pair of tennis shoes. Jasper insisted that he didn't need new shoes, and that he'd wear his boots until he walked the soles off, but Carlisle refused to budge on the shoes. So Jasper just sucked it up as they drove to the shoe store and agreed to the first pairs that fit properly. Carlisle wanted to take him to Macy's for some dress clothes, but Jasper really started to protest that. Carlisle agreed not to take him this weekend just to avoid ruining the quality time they had.
They enter the house, and they don't hear any movement. Carlisle just shrugs it off, and heads up the stairs behind Jasper to help put the clothes away. As they get to his room, Jasper wiggles the door handle, but nothing happens. He twists it again, harder this time, and gives an angry scowl to Carlisle.
"Edward locked it again." He huffs.
"Again?"
"He'll lock it in the afternoon sometimes."
"Really?" Carlisle asks, but he's not really surprised. He knows Edward has always been dramatic, and he's been angry over having to share a room since the day Jasper arrived. He knocks angrily on the door. "Edward! Unlock the door!"
There's no response. He knocks again, leaning closer to the door to try to hear any movement. With a heavy sigh, he sets the bags down and pulls out his wallet.
"When Edward was younger, he would get mad at Esme and I and lock himself in his room. I picked up this little trick years ago because of it." He explains.
He shoves a credit card into the crack between the door and it's frame, and within two seconds, he has the door open. As Jasper walks in and goes to his dresser to put his clothes away, Carlisle starts questioning him.
"How often does he lock the door?"
"Usually just once a day."
"For how long?"
"Sometimes a half hour, sometimes two hours." Jasper says.
"And he won't unlock it for you?"
"No. I mean, it's not like I have anything anyways." Jasper shrugs. Carlisle pulls his brow together.
"What do you mean you don't have anything?"
"I just have my phone and my clothes."
Carlisle nods solemnly. He looks around the room with a sigh. It's not unusual for his foster kids to come with only one suitcase of possessions, but they usually have pictures or books or CD's. Jasper didn't even bring a blanket or pillow of his own. And although he doesn't speak of it often, Carlisle knows what it's like to be a foster kid. His own blanket and pillow were the only consistency in his life between the ages of eight and sixteen.
"Next time we go shopping, how about we look for some decorations for in here? You can look for a different comforter, maybe some posters." Carlisle suggests.
"Sure. But I don't think Edward would like me changing his room anymore." Jasper sighs. "He doesn't like sharing his room."
"Don't say that, Jasper. He doesn't mind. It's your room, too."
"No, he does mind. He's told me that he does."
"Well I can promise that will come to a stop tonight. I'll have a chat with him."
Jasper shrugs again. Carlisle glances between the obvious difference between both sides of the room. He knows that Rosalie's room must be just as bare.
"Jasper, I have some bills and paperwork to take care of in the office. Why don't you come down there with me and while I do that, you can use my laptop to go on E-bay and pick out some decor."
Jasper nods, but then narrows his eyes at Carlisle.
"This isn't a trick to get me in there so you can yell at me, right? Because I haven't done anything wrong!"
"No, no, you're not in trouble." Carlisle says with a chuckle.
"Good, because I don't want to lose my phone any longer."
Carlisle chuckles and waves for Jasper to follow him out of the room. Entering the office, Jasper settles onto the small couch in front of Carlisle's desk. Carlisle powers up his laptop, then passes it over to his newest foster son. Jasper pulls up the browser and watches Carlisle settle into his desk Carlisle catches his gaze and smiles.
And Jasper smiles back.
