Chapter Eight

Jasper opened the door with a groan, his body slumping heavily on the door as it closed behind him. 48 hours of no sleep makes Jasper a dull boy. Everything within him ached, his eyelids half-mast as he sluggishly stumbled towards the kitchen.

"…what…" He mutters as he turns the corner to see Bella at the stove, pulling out what looks be a pot roast and all its trimmings.

Bella turned at Jasper's bewildered look and grinned. "You and Peter need to talk, I figured neither of you will be up to making dinner so I made it. That okay?"

"Fine by me Darlin', half the time we have take away anyway." He explained, watching as Bella arranged their small table and placed the last dish in the middle. Peter and he both could cook, their mama made sure they could before they left home, Peter also continued to do so when he got married as Char couldn't cook for shit… the woman could burn water.

Bella frowned as she saw the pained look on Jasper's face. "You okay?"

"Yes Ma'am." He replied with a strained grin, it wasn't his story to tell really and if Peter hadn't told them then he had no right to do so. "Where is my brother?"

Speak of the devil and he shall appear, Peter walked around the corner freshly showered and plopped down on the chair exhaustedly. Jasper raised his brows at Bella who smirked and gave him a shrug.

"Your ears musta' been burnin'," Jasper said with a grunt as he flopped down into the open chair. "You an' I will be havin' that discussion too."

"Not now, eat first." Bella warned severely while she dished up her own dinner, passing the mashed potatoes to Peter while picking up the green beans and carrots. "We have the next three days off, you have time to talk."

Jasper nodded and moaned as he shoved the first forkful of roast in his mouth. It was delicious, not as good as what his mama made but close enough. It also made him miss his mama all the more. He made the point of telling her that too, earning a few ribbing jokes off her and his brother about being a mama's boy and damn right he was, even after all this time since her death he still was.

Thankfully that broke the tension hanging in the room and the meal passed with jokes and all the Candidate jobs Bella had assigned Peter, he couldn't help but lean back in his chair with a beer and enjoy the scene before him. His woman laughing and shoving Pete off his chair, Peter freely laughing and letting her do so, it was a familiar scene that made his heart ache and warm at the same time. He could get used to this.

"I've got the next day off." Jasper said in reply when Peter asked him when he had to go into work the next day. "Means you and I got time to talk."

And like that the joy evaporated in thin air, tension thick as it was when dinner first started.

Bella stood with a sigh and gathered the dishes. "I'll clean up, you two talk."

Both Whitlock men stood and shook their heads in the negative telling Bella that they can talk and work at the same time, they did so all through childhood and when Peter got married and after he got out the hospital. "Go on an' make yaself comfortable Darlin', I'll be in when were done."

Jasper watched as his lady – Bella, she wasn't his officially yet – eye them both before nodding. He waited until the sound of the shower reached his ears before whirling around and glaring at his brother, the plate he was carrying clanking in the sink with the rest of the dishes. "A shootout? You were in a god damn shoot out an' ya didn't even tell me Peter! I had ta find out by a colleague at work an' then ya ghost me! I been worried sick!"

"I didn't want to worry you at work!" Peter hissed as he began to scrub furiously at the dishes. "Then calls kept comin' in!"

Jasper let out a low growl as he began to dry. "Ya think I give a shit about work if ya get hurt? I just finished my shift when that call came in. Fuck Pete when I heard I thought that puta Maria found ya an' ya didn't reply... if I didn't get messages from Bella then I woulda... I can't lose more family."

"Fuck," Peter swore as Jasper broke before his eyes, his shoulders shaking as he pressed one of his fists to his mouth to keep in his sobs. Of course his brother would think of Maria first, who else would shoot at firemen... and after his wife and their mama was killed by her orders and Jasper taking a bullet for him...

"I'm sorry... I'm okay... I'm sorry." He repeated over again as he pulled Jasper into his arms, his own tears spilling. He's had years of therapy and mourning to help him but Jasper wasn't one to talk about his problems, not until they came spilling out after extreme duress or when the pieces began to crumble once more. Fuck, it was not long ago he was fretting because Jasper took two bullets to the vest.

"We made a promise," Jasper said as he pulled himself from Peter's arms and took a deep breath to gather himself.

Pete grimaced. "Yes we did, I was safe though Jas, I was on the other side of the truck. I was in no way of getting hit, even by a stray bullet. Look, you go on and join Bella, I'll finish up here."

A shake of Jasper's head was all Peter got as Jasper turned back to the plates, as much as Jasper wished to go and seek comfort in Bella's arms, perhaps talk to her about the shooting… he just couldn't. No, he needed to be near his brother just for a moment longer till the flare of fear and worry settled.

By the time they finished washing and drying the dishes the worry and fear had abated and they were chuckling once more over fond memories of their childhood. They both parted ways, Peter stumbling into his room with a yawn while Jasper slowly creeps in just in case Bella was asleep only to pause when he sees her sitting in her underwear on his bed reading.

Hearing the cut off moan had Bella looking up with a smile as she placed the book on the nightstand and crooked her finger at Jasper for invitation. "You coming Cowboy?"

A startled laugh escaped his lips as he hurriedly began to remove his shirt as he stumbled forward with eagerness. "Yes Ma'am."

Author Note: all this sweetness... all this angst and bonding!