4.
The next morning, Jasper woke from the soundest sleep he'd experienced in a while. Maybe it was the absence of passing human emotions. Maybe he was just happy to have a mission to work on with Edward. Maybe he was just happy being near Edward.
With a sigh, he turned to face the window, where sheer curtains let in the bright morning light. Either Edward had the curtains automated—which wouldn't really surprise him—or he had been in the room at some point this morning. Jasper had nothing against either option.
Lying in bed, reluctant to let the world in just yet, Jasper let his thoughts drift to the first time he'd met Edward.
…
It was a little over four years ago. He'd met Alice in a bar, and at first he hadn't trusted the fey creature who claimed to be able to see the future. Still, he didn't get any negative vibes off her, so he agreed to meet Carlisle, a vampire she claimed could help him. He met them both several times over the next few months before he started to trust them enough to really consider their proposal. Carlisle was more than happy to answer as many questions as he could come up with, and gradually, Jasper started lowering his guard around them.
That's when Edward walked in and knocked him out cold. Well, figuratively, anyway.
Jasper knew about Edward, a vampire Carlisle had created to save a young man from death. He didn't think a vampire's existence was a better option than death, but maybe if he'd met more vampires like Carlisle… Anyhow, Carlisle made Edward sound like an angel from heaven, what with how gifted he was, and how he had such excellent self-control, how talented he was, how intelligent, blablabla.
He really thought Carlisle was just being a fond parent, until he met Edward.
It was the day Jasper had finally agreed to visit Carlisle at his house. He had just met Esme, Carlisle's wife, when a wave of indifference swept into the room. He turned, and saw Edward. That's when he realized that Carlisle had left out one very important detail about his son—he was fucking hot and unbelievably beautiful.
As soon as the thought popped into Jasper's mind, he saw Edward pause and tilt his head in confusion. Still frowning slightly he looked up, and a wave of confusion and anger hit Jasper, making him stagger. Gasping, Edward reached out and pulled him out of the room, out of the house, far enough that no one else would intrude. To his own surprise, Jasper let him.
One of the first things Jasper did once they were alone was to toss aside his hat, watching for a change on the other man's face when he saw the scars. Everyone flinched, just a little, before they got dazzled by the symmetric perfection of his features. But this man ... Jasper raised his chin, and then in a moment of uncharacteristic bravado, pulled his hair back into a bun.
Edward's composure was unsettling. His blazing green gaze studied every inch of Jasper's face with an intimacy that no one else had dared. Jasper tried but failed to crush the excitement, the vulnerability that it brought out in him. He was annoyed. He wanted this man to run, and he wanted to know if it would hurt like he thought it would.
What followed was a very confusing, fraught hour of soundless communication made up of jumbled thoughts and emotions, a mental battle that left them both exhausted.
When they couldn't take it anymore, they'd charged at each other for a physical face-off that neither could win.
Ultimately Alice wandered by, with a smile and many happy thoughts of her new brother having come home. It was impossible to fight with her around, and they'd both given in for the day.
It wasn't their last scuffle, not by a long shot, not when they so easily set each other off with their thoughts or emotions, with no easy way to control either. But over time they did get used to it, and each other. Gradually they found themselves working together to control the way they tended to magnify each other's powers, and then learned to use it as a weapon.
It was around that time, maybe a year after he'd first met Alice, that Jasper and Edward volunteered to help Carlisle test the newly developed vampire antidote.
…
The slight click of the door brought him back to the present.
"You up?" Edward asked, walking in with a cup of coffee that he placed at the bedside table. He paused there, and Jasper looked up at him with sleepy blue eyes. Reaching out a hand, Edward slowly moved a lock of hair away from Jasper's face. "Always hiding your face," he muttered, shaking his head with a slight smile.
Jasper blinked. He couldn't get a read on Edward this morning, which meant he was using his shield again. For some reason, he was disappointed. He sat up and grabbed the coffee, taking a sip to clear his head.
"What's the plan for today?" he asked.
"We'll practice shielding today, and then tonight," Edward paused. "Tonight maybe we'll run into some more Volturi guards, who knows."
Jasper grinned. "Works for me."
…
Jasper smoothed down the front of the dark, striped button-down Edward had given him to wear. It was an exact fit, accentuating his broad shoulders and slim waist. Jasper smiled at the memory of how Edward had made it a point to tell him it was an old shirt he had lying around, and that it wasn't like he'd bought it for him specifically or anything.
Jasper hadn't called him out on his obvious lie, though. Why would he, when he was more than happy to know that Edward had taken the trouble to do something nice for him? Besides, it was exactly his style, something he might have picked out for himself. Still, he spent ten minutes before the mirror checking that his shirt collar was high enough, buttoned right up so that the silvery scars that scaled across his collarbone weren't evident. There was probably not another creature alive who knew the extent of his battle wounds, the painful history that he wore on his skin.
He turned slightly as the door opened. Edward's green eyes flicked to his collar and then met his eyes. Gritting his teeth, Jasper undid the top button of his shirt and stopped. The eyes dipped and again met his, a dare, a demand. His fingers slid down to the next button of their own accord.
"You never knock," Jasper observed, trying to control his body's reaction to Edward's appearance.
"Do I need to?" Edward asked, his voice so innocent, his eyes anything but.
Jasper rolled his eyes in exasperation. Edward had been this way all day long and it was getting to be more than he could bear. "Let's get to that bar, already," he groused.