Maybe he was a little strange, a little unique, but Jasper was proud of it. He was proud to be a bucketeer, a rule breaker, and a broth drinker. Most of all, he was proud to be best friends with Charlotte and Henry, and proud to have been able to watch them grow and stand by them through every problem that had come their way. If Jasper believed in anything more than buckets, it would have been their friendship. Maybe he was just a fanciful thinker, but he didn't ever think that the three of them could be broken. He loved Henry and Charlotte more than words could ever express. They were his best friends, and they had loved him despite his many 'flaws.' Henry and Charlotte embraced his quirks while others had scoffed, and for that, he would be eternally grateful. He would break the world for either of them without hesitation, and Jasper knew that they would do the same for him.

As their best friend, Jasper knew them. He had witnessed, first hand, the chemistry, the longing looks, the unsaid words on the tips of their tongues, and the undying love between them. It only got worse as the two grew older, bickering had become flirting, fleeting touches had become lingering, hugs had become cuddles, and the occasional covert glances had become frequent obvious admirations. Despite the hints (from literally everyone) that came their way, Henry and Charlotte were oblivious and stubborn, refusing to acknowledge that they were anything more than friends. So, Jasper gave them space, hoping that with more interaction, Henry and Charlotte would figure it out on their own. Jasper didn't need to be around Charlotte and Henry constantly to be assured of his place in their lives. He had his own hobbies, passions, and other friends to occupy his time.

So, when he had gotten a curt text from Henry to come pick Charlotte up and another text from Piper that Charlotte was crying, Jasper dropped the leashes of the dogs he was walking to sprint to Henry's house, not even thinking twice about it. Even though his lungs burned, Jasper didn't stop until he was at Henry's door. He ripped it open, zooming through the house, taking the steps two at a time until he was panting in the guest room's doorway. Charlotte looked up from her cellphone with tears in her eyes, and Jasper didn't even get to the chance to ask her what was wrong before she was tumbling into his chest. His arms engulfed around her on instinct. Charlotte clung on to him, her arms gripping his chest like it was the only thing keeping her there. Jasper held her closer to him, rubbing her back soothingly.

"Whatever it is, it's going to be okay. We'll get through it, Charlotte. I promise."

"Not this time." As soon as she had whispered the words into his chest, Charlotte felt herself fully break down. She tried to stop it, to continue to be strong, but she knew that she was beyond her breaking point. The sobs wracked through her body violently, her body shaking in Jasper's arms. Jasper didn't say anything in response; he just rubbed her back soothingly. The two stood like that for a few minutes until Charlotte pulled away, eyes puffy.

"I'm sorry, Jasper that was-" Jasper cut her off quickly.

"There's nothing to be sorry for. You know that I'm always here for you and Henry." At the mention of his name, Charlotte forcefully closed her eyes. Jasper winced. This was obviously worse than he thought.

"Let's go." Charlotte instructed, her tone clipped and stern. Jasper nodded, knowing that she would talk about it when she was ready. He walked past her, grabbing the nearest suitcase. Charlotte followed behind him somberly, getting the remaining bags.

"You're going to groan, but you won't believe what I found online."

"What did you find?" Charlotte asked half-heartedly, trying for his sake.

"I found the Tut Bucket on eBay last night."

"The same Tut Bucket you wanted five years ago?"

"Yeah, and guess whose selling it?"

"No, don't tell me-"

"Raydaman25." Charlotte couldn't help but to let out a small giggle, and Jasper sagged in relief.

"Maybe it's not Ray?"

"No, it is. I asked him." Charlotte burst out laughing.

"It gets worse. He still refuses to sell it to me." Charlotte stopped pulling the suitcase to bend over and laugh. The sight brought a smile to Jasper's face. He was worried about her, and the least that he could do to help was to get her to laugh.

After ten minutes of struggling to get her suitcases down the stairs and into the truck of Charlotte's car, Charlotte and Jasper left the Hart's house behind. Jasper tapped his fingers against the dashboard as Charlotte drove, watching Charlotte from the corner of his eye cautiously. She had started to frown again, and Jasper could tell from how she was staring at the road blankly that she was internalizing something.

"Can we make a stop?" Charlotte looked over at him, her eyebrow raised.

"Where to?" Jasper smiled sheepishly.

"The park. I may or may not have lost the dogs that I was walking." Charlotte's lips tugged up into a half-smile.

"May or may not?"

"Okay, so I totally did, but it was for a good cause!" Jasper confessed, and Charlotte groaned slightly.

"You know that the park is in the opposite direction, right?"

"Yes?"

"And you didn't want to say anything. Oh, I don't know, a mile ago?" Charlotte sassed, quickly making a U-turn.

"Well, I forgot."

"Of course you did." Charlotte rolled her eyes, but Jasper knew that she was secretly amused.

"Why are you walking dogs again, anyway?"

"I needed some more cash, so I can try to buy the bucket from Ray anonymously."

"You really want that bucket, don't you?"

"Of course, it's King Tut's bucket. It's the bucket of all buckets. Can you imagine how popular I'll be once I own it?"

"Uhh, just as popular as you are now?" Jasper snorted.

"I'm going to get at least two more followers. Two whole followers, Charlotte." Charlotte grimaced.

"Mhm. Just so you know, you'll be getting those dogs by yourself."

"I know." Charlotte smiled to herself.

"Thanks, for everything, Jasper. I know that I spend a lot of time with H-Henry, and we don't always get to hang out. But you're still important to me." Charlotte confessed quietly, hoping that he would get the unspoken message behind her words.

"I know. When you're ready to talk, I'm here." Jasper squeezed her shoulder gently while giving Charlotte a reassuring smile.

"I know." Charlotte coughed awkwardly as she pulled up to the park.

"Did you want me to meet you at your apartment or to wait here?"

"You can just head over to my apartment." Jasper handed her a set of keys before getting out of the car. Charlotte caught them with ease before waving goodbye and driving off. Jasper sighed as soon as she pulled away, knowing it would take him hours to find those dogs.

Once he finally rounded up the dogs, given them treats, and apologized profusely to their owners, he headed back to Henry's house, knowing that comforting Henry was going to be a lot harder than Charlotte. He passed Piper on his way up the stairs, and she just shook her head.

"I hope you can do better than Charlotte." Jasper's eyebrows crinkled in confusion.

"Charlotte tried to cheer him up? When?"

"Well, she went to go talk to him right before you came. I thought it was to cheer him up, but he seems more upset. Not that I care or anything, I just need him to take me to the movies later." Jasper looked at Piper skeptically, and she turned away, a blush of embarrassment covering her cheeks.

Jasper cringed as he pushed open the door to Henry's room, and he was shocked and a little afraid of what he was seeing. Henry was standing tall, opening and closing his bloody knuckles, and giving Jasper a ferocious glare that rivaled one of Charlotte's.

"Get out, Jasper." Jasper almost listened, but he forced himself to enter into Henry's bedroom.

"Henry, I know you're upset, but-" Henry flexed his jaw angrily.

"But what? There's nothing else to say. I don't want to see you or your lover, Charlotte." Jasper's eyebrows furrowed in confusion while Henry's hands clenched at his sides.

"Henry, what are you talking about? I just came here to help you." Henry scoffed, crossing his arms.

"Help me? No, you came here to rub your relationship in my face. I should have known she was talking about you. I can't believe that not one but two of my friends betrayed me and on the same day too." Jasper blinked.

"How could you do this to me, Jasper? I thought we were best friends. I thought I could trust you." Jasper's temper started to flare. He took a lot from Henry, but he wasn't going to stand for any accusations that he was anything but a great best friend.

"I am. You can trust me!"

"Then why were you out there with Charlotte, giggling up a storm?!" Henry yelled, his voice full of pain and anger.

"I was just trying to cheer her up-" Jasper defended himself, not fully understanding why Henry was so angry.

"What about me? You left me here-" Jasper felt his temper flare, and he interrupted Henry before he could continue to spout anymore nonsense.

"I left you here!? Then what am I doing right now? I've been nothing but a good friend to you and so has Charlotte."

"Of course, you run to her side and defend her." Henry spat, but Jasper had had enough.

"Why wouldn't I? I'm her best friend, and you're supposed to be too." Henry mouth opened at Jasper's tone; it was chilling, full of icy anger.

"I came here, concerned for both of you guys. But Charlotte was sobbing, Henry. Sobbing. When have you ever actually seen Charlotte cry? You and I both know that she's stronger than both of us. She doesn't cry." Henry eyebrows furrowed, and Jasper could tell he had gotten through to him, even just a little bit.

"I don't care. If Charlotte wants to cry, so be it. I cried too, but nobody cares about me." Jasper resisted the urge to punch his best friend since childhood in the face.

"What's wrong with you? How many times has Charlotte helped you, and the one time that Charlotte might have a real problem and needs attention, you don't care? How self-centered can you be?"

"I'm not being self-centered. She hurt me, Jasper." Henry choked out, hot tears streaming down his face.

"And you know what? So did you." Jasper recoiled.

"What could she have possibly done to make you doubt her? And what do I have to do with any of this? I haven't seen either of you in almost four days."

"She lie-lied to me." Henry's voice was raspy, but Jasper was too angry and confused to attempt to comfort him.

"What are you talking about?" Henry shut his eyes forcefully before answering.

"She told me she didn't love me, that she loved somebody else. To tell me that she loved me two days later." Suddenly, it all made sense to Jasper, and he was washed over by a storm of hurt and fury.

"And you thought that was me?! That I would do that to you." Henry wiped his eyes violently before turning towards Jasper.

"Well, who else could it be?!"

"Oh, I don't know, somebody who doesn't know how much you care about her, who hasn't sat back watching you two fall in love?!" Henry ignored him.

"She doesn't love me."

"Shut up, just shut the hell up."

"I don't know what happened to you, but you need to open your eyes, Henry. Charlotte loves you. I don't know why she would tell you she didn't, but it probably has something to do with why she's crying. Even if she didn't, you're still her best friend, you're supposed to be looking out for her, not kicking her out of your house in tears."

"But she lied to me!"

"Who cares? You lied to me for over a year. You lied to Charlotte for weeks. She lies to you for two days, and you freak out? Come on, Henry." Jasper roared. Henry frowned, not expecting his best friend to be this angry.

"That's completely different. I did it because I had to."

"Who says that she's not doing it because she has to? Did you ask why she lied? No, you kicked her out."

"She didn't try to explain herself!"

"And you didn't ask, did you?"

"…No."

"Maybe that's why she didn't tell you, because you didn't ask." Henry opened and closed his mouth, not really sure what to say.

"Think about what I said." Jasper instructed before walking out and slamming the door behind him.

Author's Note: Alright, before I forget, this is part one of two parts, and the second part will go up some time today. Not sure when, but the second part will be up today. Anyway, so this story is relatively coming to a close. I finally fixed the plot holes in my (diabolical) plan, so I will be working on finishing this story over the next week. Hopefully, it will be done before Space Invaders Part One. There are about six chapters left for a total of fifteen chapters, and there will be no sequel. This was originally a one or two shot, and I kinda just turned it into some dramatic plot-filled thing which I've had a lot of fun with, but my writing style has changed a little. I don't want to overstretch it, but I like to think I've gotten at least a little better then when I started this story. (That's thanks to a lot of people such as StarFire, ArdenThayer, wstrnplsr105, Alore, and many others for forcing me to be better!) Not to say that I'm leaving or anything! I just have some other really cool ideas that I want to work on that require time and research, so I'm just going to finish this up. The ending won't be rushed, so don't worry about it. (I've spent days working it out with people to make sure that it at least makes sense and is conclusive.)

Speaking of, this chapter is dedicated to my best friend, Lastelle21 who puts up with my own quirks and my crazy. Thanks for always being there for me and reading my fanfics even though I know you don't care about the ship. ;) So, I finally brought Jasper back in, and honestly? I missed him. I have a lot of mixed emotions about this chapter. [Songs for this chapter: Lean On Me by Bill Withers, Count on me by Bruno Mars, and Gives You Hell by the All American Rejects (I was a little mad.)] I spent like days on it, just trying to fix it, make it readable, etc. A lot of my anger at Henry has been "subtly" coming out, and this chapter is no exception... Nonetheless, I hoped that you guys liked it! It probably wasn't what you were hoping for, but that's because I had to break the chapter down into two parts for it to flow logically.

Super sorry for the extra long author's note, but I had to force all of that information into this. Also? I'm very sorry that this hasn't been updated in like a month? I got really distracted, sorry, but thank you for all of the follows, favs, and reviews. I adore reading them. They make my day, hour, minute, lol. (I died reading your review, silentlittleworld XD)