After all the new follower I got last chapter and the lovely reviews, I thought you deserved another chapter - Enjoy! :)

Chapter 7

I was once again sat impatiently waiting for the soft knock at the door that would signal the beginning of my session with Jasper. I had seen him briefly two days ago when he had had his meeting with Alice. But he had really got under my skin and I had thought about him alot over the last few days. Especially once I slipped under the covers at night, when my mind seemed to drift, against my will, to thoughts of Jasper. I knew it was unprofessional to be acting like this, but I just couldn't seem to help myself. I was still in a state of denial though and wouldn't admit even to myself that my feelings for Jasper were stronger than the normal bond I developed with my clients.

My train of thought was broken by the knock that I had been expecting. I got up and hurried over to the door, banging my knee into the table in front of me in my haste. I was very pleased that Alice was in her office and wasn't here to see me. I had decided to start our session today sat in the lounge area, so Alice was doing some paperwork in her office. I opened the door to the welcome sight of Jasper standing there, looking a little more relaxed than he did when he had arrived for our first session.

"It's lovely to see you again Jasper. Come in."

He shuffled through the door, only briefly making eye contact to say a quiet hello and thank you. I noticed he had what looked like a portfolio under his right arm. I was really pleased that he had brought some of his artwork, as I had planned the first part of our session around it.

"Is that your work?" I asked, pointing towards the portfolio.

"Yeah, you said you wanted to see it, right?" he asked hesitantly.

"Yes definitely. I thought that we might sit over here in the lounge area and look at it together. If that's okay with you!"

"Of course, yes, if you're sure you want to look at it."

"I do," I answered simply, before leading him to the sofa.

Jasper put the large portfolio down awkwardly on the table and then perched himself on the edge of the sofa in front of it. I sat down next to him so that our arms were very slightly touching.

"I'd love it if you'd flick through it and tell me about some of the pictures," I stated, looking hopefully at Jasper.

He opened the large folder. "So this first stuff is what I do for work, this is the stuff that pays the rent."

He flicked through about ten pages of fairly generic drawings that you would see in most children's books. There were colourful pictures of animals, fairies and other children's characters. They were all perfectly drawn and it was clear that Jasper was very talented.

"They are lovely, you are very clever," I smiled.

"I don't like most of these," he admitted.

"Why? They are great."

He shrugged. "I just like the stuff I do in my spare time more."

"Did you bring any along?" I asked.

I looked at him and insecurity was written all over his face. "I did bring a few, but..." he trailed off. I waited for him to continue. "But I have never shown anyone before," he concluded.

"Would you like to show me Jasper?"

He smiled and chuckled a little. "Well I brought them along with me, so I guess my subconscious must want me to show them to you."

Jasper turned to the back of the folder and brought out another smaller folder. He placed it on his knee and tentatively opened it up. As he did this a thought sprung to my mind, so I asked. "Would you mind if we got a bit comfier?"

"Erm, yeah, I guess," he replied.

"This may seem a little awkward at first, but if you move further back on the sofa and place your back in the corner, I can sit and kinda lean on you while you show me your artwork. I just want to get you more used to physical contact," I concluded.

Jasper nodded and placed himself in the position that I had suggested. I slowly slid myself towards him and positioned my back against his chest. The closeness allowed me to breath in his scent. God this man smelt as good as he looked. I felt a tremendous sense of contentment spread through me, as I relaxed against him. I turned my body slightly towards him and smiled up at his face. He smiled back at me, looking at ease, so I said. "Now why don't you show me your artwork."

Jasper opened the folder up and the first drawing was a beautifully detailed illustration of a angel, drawn in a fantasy art style. It was done in coloured pencil and the angel was surrounded by swirls and flowers. It was so detailed and I think I could have looked at it for hours and still noticed different details in the drawing.

"Wow Jasper, that is just so beautiful."

"You think so," he answered shyly.

"God yeah, you are amazingly talented. Can I see some more?"

He answered by flipping to the next illustration which was another piece of fantasy art, but this one was a lot darker, and featured a dark figure that looked like a demon of some sort. But it was equally as detailed and amazing.

"You want to tell me about this one?"

"I drew this one before the angel actually. Once I'd finished the demon I just felt like I needed something to balance out the darkness, so I created the angel."

I took a moment to let what he had said sink in. I felt that it was a good sign that he had created something light to balance the dark.

"They are both amazing pieces of work," I answered truthfully.

"Thank you Bella, it really does mean alot to me that you think that."

I could feel Jasper's body relax against me and I realised that he must have been holding his body in a tense position. It felt really good to be sitting like this with him, probably too good, and I could feel a slight current passing between our bodies. I watched Jasper's long fingers brush over the illustration before he turned the page over to show me the next picture. This one was a dragon, painted in tones of purple and black and was equally as beautiful. He ran his fingers lightly over this one too, before turning to the next one. The image in front of me was a pencil portrait of a young woman, with long flowing hair spreading across the paper. I turned my head towards Jasper again, wondering if he was going to tell me who this was.

As we made eye contact, he said, "that's my mom."

"It's a lovely drawing of her."

"It's done from memory, as I don't have any photos of her. When she left, my dad was so angry and hurt that he tore up all the photos of her. It was like he wanted to erase her from our lives. Erase her from my world," he said sadly.

"You still have your memories of her, so she will never be gone. He can never totally take her away from you."

"I have very few happy memories of her Bella," he stated in an emotionless voice. He closed up the folder, so I placed it back on the table in front of us. I turned my body towards him and asked, "do you want to talk about her?"

He shrugged his shoulders and sighed. So I added, "it may help!" He looked at me with sad eyes, before he began to speak.

"She was always very closed off, I can't really remember her ever showing he any real emotion or affection, even when I was a small child. I have this very clear memory from my early childhood. I know I was only four as we had just moved house. I remember being in my new bedroom and I was so scared as it all new and there were shadows everywhere and strange noises. I could hear my mom and dad downstairs but I didn't get out bed and go find them for comfort, as I just knew, even at that young age, that they would just get mad at me and send me back to bed. So I just sat there in my bed and cried."

My heart was breaking for the little boy that I knew was still inside Jasper, the little boy that just wanted to be held and loved. Following my instincts once again, I slowly laid my hand on top of his and squeezed it lightly.

"I am here for you Jasper. You don't have to be scared anymore," I whispered, emotion causing my voice to crack.

He continued to hold my gaze, before asking, "really?"

"Really!," I answered simply. Jasper then looked down at our joined hands and I saw his shoulders begin to shake as a small sob escaped his lips. He raised his eyes to mine again and I saw a single tear track down his cheek. I could feel tears pricking my own eyes and the lump in my throat was so big that I was unable to speak. I suddenly wasn't in control of my own body anymore as I reached forward and encircled Jasper in my arms and pulled his body against mine in a tight embrace.

Relief flooded my body when he didn't pull away, but instead he placed his arms around me and held onto my body tightly. He buried his head into my shoulder and I could feel huge sobs causing his whole body to shake. I closed my eyes and held onto him even tighter as my own tears fell freely down my face.

"I'm here Jasper," I managed to whisper.