Disclaimer: SM owns all recognizable characters. No copyright infringement is intended. The plot herein is mine. No plagiarism!

This story contains mature themes and is suitable for those eighteen and over.

JPOV

The last couple of weeks have been murder. But the most important thing is that Edward is doing a helluva a lot better.

The pain of the last weeks weighs heavily on us, but Edward and I are swimming through the shit to get to our slice of happiness.

With each day that passes, it gets a little less hard. Things lighten up and I learn to remember to breathe a sigh of relief that I still have Edward in my life. Things between him and me are healing and I'm thankfully for it. I'm also grateful that he's hearing Esme out.

After that day in the hospital, Edward and Esme have been gravitating toward one another. She's extremely happy about it.

Carlisle, Bella and Peter have returned to Chicago. Work called for Carlisle, though Esme wanted him to stay and help with Edward. But he had to go. Carlisle was the chief of surgeon and he could only be away for so long.

Bella and Peter had school to return to. But Esme had unfinished business here, and she wasn't leaving until Edward gave her a happy and genuine smile. But I also think Esme will be making a trip to Forks before she goes back to Chicago. Now that most things are out in the open, there is nothing stopping Esme from confronting her sister.

I get along really well with Bella, Carlisle and Peter. As does Edward; he's developing a fairly good relationship with his little sister.

Edward and I got to learn a lot about her while she was here, and Bella was wonderful. She's as intelligent as Edward and has aspirations of becoming an English professor; she loved English that much.

What was surprising was how well she and Tanya got along. They were like two peas in a pod and took to teasing me mercilessly before Bella left for home.

But as I said, things have been looking up. Even an unlikely friendship or understanding has been struck between my mom and Edward. Grandpa, Dad, Jake and I are all baffled by it. But Edward and Mom, who was once adamant about getting Edward out of my life, have been talking.

In a way, she's been of great help to him and has been helping him deal with all the stuff that had popped up in his life.

Aside from that strange occurrence, my dad and I are speaking more regularly now. Alice is officially out of my life and has been spending time in Paris. Edward had relayed that to me one night while we were in bed together. He said my mom had told him.

"She left," he said giddily. "Your mother said she was ashamed that not only did everyone at that gala learn some truth about our families, Alice was a liar and fraud. She was aware of your sexual preference and still went around painting this perfect picture of you and her."

"Was she crazy?" I was mildly aware of this. "She knew I was only doing for my parents and the family. When it became irrelevant to keep denying myself, I walked. What's wrong with that girl?"

Edward scoffed. "She got caught up in your stormy eyes and got to ride the bologna pony. I think you 'dickatasized' her."

I tried to remain serious at Edward's lame joke but I quickly lost the battle and burst into laughter. "I'm happy she won't be a problem anymore."

"Me too."

More things happened aside from that.

Edward's 'parents' went back to Forks. They have been laying low since the events of the gala. They're living in shame and embarrassment. Edward is now in college and majoring in Psychology. His ambition is to become a social worker or guidance counselor. "I want to help someone like me in the future," he told me when I asked him about his major.

He's doing very well. He and his friends, Becky and Lily, from the coffee house, where he still works, hang out around campus. My boyfriend has also gotten incredibly hotter if that's even possible.

Edward wears glasses now and I can't say how many fantasies I've had about fucking him with those things on.

Tanya is going to school as well. She wants to further her education and attends community college. She wants to be a peer pressure counselor. She and Jake are officially an item. She and he have been seen out and about and Jake's even been quoted in a magazine saying he's off the market indefinitely. As am I.

Edward and I go for walks now–out in the open. Freely and happily. Something about the tragedy that almost stole him from me has pushed us closer together. It's like he's always been in my life. And I can't see myself waking up without him next to me.

We've discussed my little white lie at the hospital about being his fiancé and though it's not official, Edward and I have no problem in thinking about ourselves as engaged.

I'll have to get him a ring soon because the thought of marrying him is a very happy one for me.

But they're still moments of weakness on my part. I hover now. But it's not as bad as it was a few weeks ago.

I was bordering obsessive in the first few weeks after those assholes almost stole Edward from me. He was out of the hospital and recuperating. But I was so obsessed with knowing his whereabouts, I was almost crazy. It got to the point where Edward simply went for a walk one day and met up with Becky and Lily and lost track of time. He forgot to call and I freaked out.

I called the cops; frantic that my boyfriend had gone missing. By the time Edward walked through the door, I was on the floor suffering from a panic attack with Carlisle and the cops over me, trying to help me.

Edward rushed to my side, despite the discomfort it caused him; he was still healing after all, and calmed me down. He apologized over and over again and then he took care of me.

While lying in his arms that night, I broke down. I cried and told him how scared I was when he ran off and how much I blamed myself for what happened to him. I told him I shouldn't have gone back to the gala. I should have kept running until I caught up with him.

He listened to me and then he told me something shocking. He said he didn't blame me for any of it. Not his attack or the fact that I knew about his true paternity. In fact, he sympathized with me; telling me that it must have been hard to hide that from him.

I was showered with relief and admitted to him that the situation had slightly put me and Grandpa at odds because I desperately wanted to tell him the truth. He told me he wouldn't have lasted as long as I did. I told him despite the strength it took, I hated it and I was never doing that shit again. I wouldn't keep anything from him.

But I was still hung up on the fact that I didn't save him sooner from those fuckers. However, Edward had an answer for that too.

"Can you even fathom how I would've felt if you were there?" I couldn't answer. I wanted him to elaborate. And he did. "Jasper, you're an attractive man. If you were there, they would've tried the same shit with you. I couldn't stand that, love. I wouldn't be able to stand there and let them hurt you because I feared for my life. No, I would've fought and I would've lost. It happened the way it should have and I'll never do that shit to you again. Anything else that comes our way, I'll stand my fucking ground and face it…with you."

"Thank you," I whispered and tightened my hold on him; nuzzling his neck until I found a comfortable spot and fell asleep.

I wash my face and dry it in my towel before looking in the mirror. I look the same but I feel so much older. I have so many things on my mind. I'm surprised my head hasn't exploded yet. "Are you okay in there?" Edward asks through the door.

After wrapping the towel around my waist, I open the door to him. I smile, watching him fix his glasses before leaning in and kissing his lips briefly. "I'm fine. I was just thinking."

Edward sighs. "Are you sure you want to do this?"

"Are you?"

Esme is needed back at her gallery in Chicago. But she promises to be back as soon as the exhibit is over. She wants to make sure her and Edward are okay before she leaves, so she wants to share the rest of the truth. It's been put off long enough, but for understandable reasons.

"Yeah, I am if you are," he counters with a smirk and leans in to kiss me again. I lose myself in the feel of his tongue massaging my own until the phone interrupts us. I answer it while Edward grinds his erection into me and sucks on my neck. We've yet to make love and we're both beyond yearning to, but we're taking things slow. What happened, not only affected us physically; it also affected us emotionally and I now can't stand the thought of Edward in pain. So I haven't done anything more than touch him when he asked me to, or give him a blow job. I don't want to hear a hiss come out of him if it isn't because he's lost in pleasure.

Edward thinks I'm being silly because even his physical therapist says we can fuck, I think those were Edward's words and not his therapist's, and I'm still stalling and I don't know how to stop.

"Hello?" I try to hold back the moan that almost escapes when Edward palms my hard cock and starts stroking it.

"Hi, Jasper," My mother's voice sobers me up and I pull away from Edward. He looks at me questioningly. 'Your friend', I mouth to him.

Edward's mouth forms an 'oh' and steps back to calm himself.

"How are you?" she asks.

"I'm good. And you?"

"I'm fine," she says softly. It's still strange to hear my mother sound so delicate; innocent. "I hope we can talk one day." She and I have spoken before and she keeps expressing this wish.

"We will, but not today," I say. I know I'm being curt, but I can't help it. I need to maintain my distance until I make the decision to either let my mother into my life or keep her at arms' length.

"I know," she says sadly. "Umm…"

"He's right here. Talk to him," I tell her. "Goodbye, Mom."

"Goodbye, Jasper." I hand the phone to Edward and he smiles sadly at me and kisses my cheek before leaving the room.

I get dress and stay in my room for a while. I want to give Edward some time to talk to my mother. Their talks always help him and he's shared that it was my mother's advice to let Esme into his life or else he'd grow to regret it.

After a couple of minutes to myself, I get up and head out to the living room to find Esme and Edward already seated at the dinner table with Chinese food and beer spread out in front of them while they talk animatedly about art. As I draw closer, I can hear their voices rising in excitement about certain artists. Edward and his mom really do have a lot in common. A small smile plays across my lips at the thought and then Edward spots me.

"I thought you'd decided to take a nap," he says playfully; with that crooked smile on his lips that always makes me think dirty things.

"And what were you two going to do?" I ask them as the same pair of emerald eyes smile up at me. "Eat all this food by yourselves?"

"Yes," Edward says cheekily.

I go for a plate and take a seat in front of them. "I don't think so."

Esme laughs and starts to share the food. "I love seeing you two together. So when are we going to have an official engagement?"

Edward blushes and ducks his head. I answer for us, "We want to wait a little."

"Okay," Esme says happily and then timidly goes on, "But please let me know when. I want to be here every step of the way."

Edward glances up and smiles brightly at her. "I'd love that. I want you all here…" He grabs a hold of my hand and squeezes, "…whenever we do it."

"Yes! Whoo!" She jumps up and hugs us both and then goes back to sharing the food. Esme has been really happy about being involved in her son's life. She asks a lot of questions and has been telling me thank you for pulling him out of prostitution since Edward left the hospital.

I told her that it was all Edward. He and Tanya made the decision and Jake and I are just following along. She still feels grateful; especially to Tanya.

They had a tearful talk at Edward and Tanya's place. Jake relayed it to me and said Esme broke down drastically; thanking Tanya for saving Edward so that it was even possible for me to meet him. He said the talk left both of them completely drained.

We start eating while eyeing each other as we wait for Esme to begin.

We are almost finished when Esme finally says, "I suppose I should start talking, huh?"

"Yeah," Edward and I say at the same time.

"Okay, let's go to the living room," Esme advises; mumbling to herself that she wants us to be comfortable. "I want you to absorb this, Edward. And you too, Jasper. I want you to be able to take this in and understand it before making any decisions, alright?"

"Okay," we say together again and chuckle; grabbing our beers and moving to the living room. We each take a place on the couch. Edward sitting close to me; leaning into me, and Esme sitting at the other end of the couch, cross legged; her elbows resting on her knees.

"So where are we picking this up?" Edward asks after taking a swig of his beer.

"Right where we left off," Esme answers. "Just fire whatever questions you both want to ask."

We nod and Edward goes first. "You said my father wanted me away?"

"It's not only because you're gay," Esme says with disgust when she has to mention Edward's father. "It's more than that. He's been lying to you for years. I think when he found you with Seth, he saw an opportunity."

"To do what?" I ask.

"To deny Edward's true place in the Masen family," Esme says with a smirk that could rival Edward's. I see where he gets that attitude from.

"Well, I want to know it all," Edward expresses; taking another swig of his beer.

Esme nods and sips her own beer before saying, "I didn't really like your father. He was too controlling and thought the sun rose and set on his ass. He was always hanging around and bothering me when he came to Elizabeth. I hated it. No, I had someone and he was great," she smiles.

"Carlisle," I state.

"Yeah," Esme says whimsically. "I liked Carlisle. I met Carlisle during a trip and we stayed in touch and things grew from there. But I don't know, looking back now I think Edward Sr. was always eyeing me and I just wasn't receptive."

"It doesn't excuse what he did," Edward growls.

"I know!"She replies quickly. "I'm just saying. Anyways, you happened because of a party my mother forced me to go to. I picked fights all day but she won in the end and I had to attend. I had called Carlisle in the day and he made me feel better about it but while at the party, I was itching to talk to him. So I snuck away and called him from an office."

"It was a society party?" I know those. It's always formal and pompous. Like the galas I had to attend but worse. Society parties to me were all about bragging rights. It's the 'who's richer than who' party.

"Yeah," Esme sighs sadly.

"Okay, so after you called Carlisle, then what?" Edward asks; getting us back on track.

Esme sighs again. I can see her growing uncomfortable but she wants to do this. "Your father was standing there the entire time. He said so. He heard our conversation and I felt defensive but somehow he convinced me he meant nothing by it. I still didn't trust him so I left the office. I didn't want to be anywhere alone with him. But he followed. He kept talking about himself and Elizabeth and all the problems they were having. I didn't want to hear it and told him so. I remember us ending up outside and he left for a little while and came back with two drinks. I was hesitant, but he convinced me and I took one. No harm right?"

"What happened after that?" Edward says softly.

"That part is still hazy to this day," Esme laughs mirthlessly. "It's bits and pieces. But the pieces I can still see clearly are of Edward Sr. coming close and then things go black and then we're in a room. It's a bedroom. And then black. And then…" Esme takes a shuddering breath.

Edward moves from me and reaches for her hand as she begins to cry. He grips it and Esme goes on. "It hurt and I tried to fight but the darkness took me under again and when I woke up again, I was alone. Even my clothes were fixed. I remembered days after that. I tried to tell my mother, but she didn't believe me. My sister was worse and when they found that I was pregnant because I fainted right at the dinner table, Edward Sr. switched stories. I was the one who wanted to talk now. And I was the one who came on to him. His dad didn't believe him." She laughs manically. "My family believed him but his father believed me."

"But?" I ask. This is sickening. How could they do this?

"He wanted it silenced," Edward says as if he was right there and Esme nods sadly, tears streaming down her face.

"I was quit along in the pregnancy when your grandfather found out. He took over my healthcare but my mother ensured that I didn't say too much. But the only I knew was that I wanted you, Edward. I didn't want you growing up around them. They were poison."

"You lost," Edward reminds her.

She nods and sniffles. "Yeah. But I won't lose again."

"No, you won't," Edward smiles.

"So I lost custody and they kept you away from me but I knew the surprise your grandfather had for your father," she smiles amidst her tears. "You see, he can't do without money and power and he does not like to be told what to do. I learned that the hard way."

"Yeah, whatever he couldn't control, he hated," Edward confirms.

"Sick," I growl.

They look at me and smile sadly. "You have no idea," Esme says.

"So, Edward, you being gay was viewed as…"

"Defiance against him," Edward finishes me.

"Something he or my sister can't control," Esme explains. "She's like him. They're like two peas in a pod."

"So what was the surprise Edward's grandfather had?" I inquire.

Esme smiles cunningly. "The entire Masen fortune belongs to Edward."

Edward's mouth falls open and I rub his shoulder encouragingly. "What do you mean?"

"I mean, Edward, your grandfather's final punishment was to leave you everything," Esme says proudly. "But the tricky part is, seeing as your dad was an only child, your granddad still had to leave him in the spot as the head of everything temporarily until you turned twenty-one."

"That's now," Edward laughs. Edward's twenty-first birthday had passed with him in the hospital. It was during his last days there and we had a little party in his room.

"I know," Esme says smugly with a proud look in her eyes. She must be relieved that Edward now knows the whole truth. "Your birthday has passed."

"It all belongs to you, baby," I say and he turns to me with a wide grin.

"Those bastards!" Edward yells and then laughs in disbelief, "He knew! No wonder he was eager to get rid of me. And what if I want it now?"

"It's yours for the taking," Esme says. "You can be like Jasper; live your life and have broad members run things with your say so. You can do whatever you want, it's all yours."

"I want it," Edward says firmly. "This wasn't only about me being gay when they kicked me out. This was about them being greedy. I had to suffer for their gluttony! I want it."

Edward is pissed but it isn't at us. He springs up and groans. I'm at his side and so is Esme. We're frantically asking him if he's okay and it's fucking with his already pissed off mood. "I'm fine!" He snaps and then apologizes to us.

"Tell me what you want to do."

He looks between me and Esme and then asks her, "How long until you have to go to Chicago?"

"I can delay it for a day or two. Do you need me here, because…" Esme is more than willing to walk through fire for Edward.

"I need you to go somewhere with us," Edward says through clenched teeth.

"Where are we going, darlin'?"

"We're going to Forks."

Next: Edward goes home.