"We won't have anymore lying issues, will we?" Carlisle asks Jasper and Rosalie as he opens his desk draw.

"No sir." The siblings say in unison. Jasper smiles when he sees his phone, and his heart races. Did Maria text back? Did she call?

"And Jasper, we won't have anymore issues with you doing your chores?"

"Not a single problem." He promises.

"Good. You two are good kids and I don't want to have to ground you." He says and hands over the phones. Jasper quickly snatches it out of Carlisle's hand and turns the phone on. Carlisle keeps talking as it buzzes to life. "But remember that dinner will be ready in about a half hour, and I don't want your phones being used while we eat."

"Okay," Rosalie agrees. She glances at her screen before sliding it into her pocket. While Jasper's digging through his messages in hopes of finding one from Maria, Rosalie side-eyes his screen.

"Understand, Jasper?"

"Yeah, yeah." Jasper nods. He pulls his brow together in frustration when he realizes Maria didn't message him. Carlisle notices Jasper's hurt face.

"Why don't you go get ready for dinner, Rosie?" Carlisle suggests. Rosalie hesitates, but reluctantly agrees. Before she leaves, she puts a hand on Jasper's shoulder.

"Come to my room when your done, okay?"

"Okay." Jasper murmurs. Rosalie leaves, taking one last look over her shoulder at Jasper and Carlisle before closing the office door. Carlisle rounds his desk and sits on the edge of it in front of Jasper.

"You okay, kiddo?" He asks. Jasper lets out a heavy sigh as an answer. "What's wrong?"

"Nothing." Jasper lies and throws his phone into his pocket. He feels his heart breaking. He thought for sure Maria would respond.

"Were you expecting to hear from someone?"

Jasper doesn't respond right away. He looks down at his sock-covered feet. Shifting his weight from side to side, he worries about his past foster mother.

"Yeah. I was." He admits. "Just from a friend, though."

"Oh? Just a friend?" Carlisle asks. The look on Jasper's face makes him question if it really was 'just a friend'.

"A good friend."

"And you haven't heard from that friend?"

"No. Not since I came here." Jasper says. As he speaks, his voice trembles and his throats aches. He blinks back the tears that threaten to spill over. He swallows hard, trying to shake this horrible feeling. He does not want to cry. Not in front of Carlisle. In the past five years, only Rosalie and Maria have seen him cry.

"Jasper, are you okay?"

"Yeah. I'm fine."

"You don't look fine." Carlisle stands and puts his hand on Jasper's shoulder. Jasper does his best to replace his saddened face with an angry scowl and yanks away from Carlisle.

"I'm fine!" He snaps. Turning from Carlisle, he heads to the office door.

"Jasper Whitlock, you stop right there." Carlisle says firmly. Jasper clenches his fists and stops, but doesn't turn around. Carlisle walks next to him and puts his hand on Jasper's shoulder again. "I get you're upset, but you need to cut the attitude."

"What, do you want my phone back now?" Jasper asks hatefully. "You gonna ground me again?"

"No. Go upstairs. Sort through these problems. You need to lose the attitude, though. We had a great week, buddy, and I don't want that to be ruined."

Jasper shuts his eyes and bites his lip before nodding.

"I'm here if you need me."

After another nod, Carlisle pats Jasper on the back and leads him out of the office. Walking out of the bedroom, Jasper hustles through the living room. His tears start to overflow and he wipes them away with the back of his hand, hoping that Edward wouldn't notice on the couch. But as he runs up the steps, he hears Edward snicker.

"What's he crying about?"

Jasper clenches his fists, stops of the stairs and faces Edward

"Shut the f-"

"Jasper!" Carlisle cut's him off before he can say anything to get himself grounded again. He points to the upper floor. "I'll handle this. You go upstairs."

Jasper runs upstairs and passes his knob-less bedroom door, part of Carlisle's solution to keep Edward from locking Jasper out of the room. Downstairs, Carlisle yells at Edward for being rude and watching TV when he's suppose to be grounded, the second solution to the bedroom problem. Grabbing Edward by the shirt, Carlisle drags him into the office.

Jasper doesn't even knock on Rosalie's door. He walks right in and sits right next to Rosalie. Without hesitation, She wraps her arms around him and he rests his head on her shoulder.

"Who were you wanting to hear from?" Rosalie asks, even though she already knows the answer. The two may have been partners in crime from day one, but Maria is one topic that the duo can't discuss.

"Peter." He lies. His shoulders shake, and his tears flow without restriction.

"You know, Jasper, sometimes these," Rosalie pauses to find the right words to get her point across. "Relationships aren't meant to last. If he's not putting effort forth, he obviously doesn't value the relationship like you do."

Jasper lifts his head and gives her a hurt look. His lip quivers as he takes in her words. Maria doesn't value their relationship. He whimpers and lays his head back on her shoulder. Rosalie sighs and holds Jasper a little tighter. It kills her to see her brother cry, but she knows they can't go back to Maria's. Although Jasper see's it differently, Rosalie knows Maria is not healthy for Jasper.


Jasper and Rosalie sit next to each other at the dinner table, the same spots they always take. Edward sits as far from Jasper as possible, still angry over being grounded again because of Jasper. He hopes Jasper gets sent to another home soon. Emmett sits across from Rosalie, and Alice across from Jasper. Jasper watches how Emmett and Rosalie look at each other. Even at fifteen years old, Jasper knows what the lusty eyes exchanged between the two mean. Carlisle and Esme sit on either end of the table.

"Hey, Jasper, I ran into your little pals at the park today." Emmett says with a smirk before shoving a forkful of roasted salmon in his mouth. "They won't be bothering you anymore."

"Jesus Christ, Emmett. What did you do?" Carlisle asks. Jasper looks up from his plate and raises one brow.

"Who?"

"Smith and Wicker." Emmett answers. Jasper looks over at Rosalie, and the crack a little smile. Alice smirks.

"He scared the shit out of them." She says. "No way will they be giving you any trouble."

"Alice, watch your mouth, young lady. And what did you do, Emmett?" Esme asks with a disapproving tone.

"You're nineteen, Emmett. They're minors. If you get in a fight, you're not just getting detention. You're getting criminal charges." Carlisle stresses to his muscular son.

"I didn't touch them. I just, you know, made it clear that Jasper is my bro." Emmett explains.

"Seriously?" Jasper smiles bigger.

"What crap were they pulling this time?" Carlisle asks. All eyes fall on Jasper, which just makes him shut his mouth and sinks down in his seat. He didn't want to admit he had bullies at school, and worked hard to avoid telling Carlisle and Esme about it.

"They were making fun of him for his draw." Emmett says. Jasper's cheeks burn red with embarrassment. Carlisle shakes his head.

"Honey, why didn't you tell us?" Esme asks Jasper. He just shrugs.

"An answer would be nice." Carlisle adds on.

"It's embarrassing." He admits.

"Don't be embarrassed. They pick on every new kid the Cullen's get." Alice explains. "Besides, your southern draw is cute."

Jasper pauses for a moment, unsure of what to make of Alice's compliment.

"Dad use to get made fun of for his accent too." Emmett says.

"He has an accent?" Rosalie questions. Emmett smiles.

"Yeah. Dad's from London. Dad, do the accent for them!"

"I don't have the slightest clue of what you're talking about, Emmett." Carlisle says with a thick, over played accent. Emmett puts his fork down and lets out a loud laugh. Alice starts laughing, followed by Rosalie. Jasper cracks a smile, and even Edward shows hints of being amused. Carlisle smiles, and continues speaking, talking about the good food, the kitchen decorations, anything to keep the kids laughing. The table roars with laughter, and Carlisle smiles at the sound before dropping his accent. "When I first came to the states, I was ten years old. My father enrolled me in public school and my teacher couldn't even understand what I was saying."

"What made you come to America?" Rosalie ask. Carlisle shrugs.

"That's not really a dinner time story. I'll tell you later." He promises with a smile.

"You should have heard my Daddy's accent. His was thicker than mine. He was one hundred percent southern. He'd say stuff like 'if brains were leather, he wouldn't have enough to saddle a June bug'." Jasper says, proudly imitating Avery's voice. Everyone laughs, except Edward.

"You're Daddy?" He scoffs. "What are you, three years old?"

"Excuse me?" Rosalie asks, slamming her fork down and giving Edward a fierce, challenging glare.

"What is your problem, Edward?" Emmett adds on before Jasper can defend himself.

"Hush, everyone." Esme say and points at Edward. "You need to knock that off, Edward Anthony."

"Take your plate and go to your room. If you can't be nice at the dinner table, you can eat alone." Carlisle orders. With a heavy groan, Edward grabs his plate and utensils and angrily leaves the table.

Jasper's eyes drop down to his plate again. Rosalie glares at Edward as he walks out. Carlisle clears is throat to move her attention off him. Emmett gives Jasper a small smile, but it does nothing to help the atmosphere. They finish eating with nothing more than small talk.

Once everyone finishes eating, Carlisle and Esme assign a small list of chores to the kids at the table. Carlisle makes it clear that the mess in the kitchen is to be left for Edward to take care of. Jasper and Rosalie quickly jump to the chores. Jasper opts for doing the laundry. After the embarrassingly emotional day, he welcomes being alone in the small closet-like room where the washer and drier hide. Slinking away with his thoughts and a basket full of dirty jeans, he shuts the door behind him and takes his time filling the washer. He's only in there for a few minutes, though, before he is interrupted.

"Hi Jasper." Alice says as she slides through the door. She shuts the door behind her and sits on the drier.

"What are you doing in here?" He asks with a scowl.

"I just wanted to talk to you." She says innocently with a soft smile. Jasper eyes her up and down. As hard as she may try, her eyes will always show her wild side.

"Whatever." Jasper murmurs.

"I'm sorry Edward is such a jackass sometimes. I promise he's actually an okay guy once you get to know him."

"Oh, I'm sure." Jasper responds sarcastically.

"He has his own issues he's dealing with. Not that it's an excuse. But he'll come around." She says. She waits for Jasper to respond, but he doesn't, so she continues to talk. "Emmett thinks your cool, though. And Esme and Carlisle like you."

Jasper shrugs.

"You should set with me and my friends at lunch. They think you're cute." She says with a flirty smile. "I can't say I disagree with them."

He ignores her and reaches for the laundry detergent on the shelf above the machines. His shirt pulls up, exposing pale skin and the top of his black silk boxers.

"So, you got your phone back?" She ask. Jasper nods. "Do you send pictures?"

"What?" Jasper asks. Alice smirks, happy to finally have his attention, but tries again to look innocent.

"I said does it send pictures."

"No. You said do you send pictures." Jasper says firmly. "What does that mean?"

"I said does it send pictures. Sound's like you have your head in the gutter, Jasper." She smiles. "Well?"

"Well, what?"

"Does it? Or do you?"

Jasper sighs and looks Alice in her wild green eyes, trying hard to figure her out. Is she seriously asking what he thinks she's asking? Last week she was doing everything to get on his nerves. But now he questions whether it was to annoy him, or get his attention. She smiles at him. He thinks of his girl back home and how he cried over her. How she doesn't care. How badly he wants to be in bed with her.

"Does yours?"

"I would return the favor." She tells. Jasper smiles.

"Why send pictures when we can see the real thing?"

Alice smiles back and grabs Jasper's hands. After putting them on her breasts, she hooks her fingers in his belt loops and pulls him closer to the drier before sliding her hands down his jeans.


Alice's question rocks in Jasper's mind as he looks at the topless she sent him after she went home. Although this isn't anything he's done before, he can't see a downside. She's already rejecting him. What else could she do to hurt him? Throwing the blankets off of his body, Jasper leaves his bed and tiptoes out of the dark bedroom, careful not to wake Edward. The hall is quiet, and luckily, the bathroom is empty. He closes the door before turning the light on. Pushing his flannel pajamas and silk boxers down to his thighs, he pulls his camera up on his phone before snapping the picture. He attaches it to a text message to Maria.

I know you miss this, Maria

He sends the message, pulls up his pants and leaves the bathroom. He sneaks back into the bedroom. As soon as he settles down, his phone vibrates to alert him of a new message.

I miss you, J.

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