The impact of a boot striking him in the back was what brought Jasper back to the land of the living just before noon. Emmett had learned after getting his nose broken, that it was not wise to be close to Jasper when waking him up out of a sound sleep. "Dude, rise and shine, the delivery guys are about 15 minutes out so you better get a shower and get some clothes on unless you want them to just dump the stuff off on you." Jasper looked around confusedly, blinking and rubbing his eyes, " What the hell happened?" Emmett grimaced and brought him a cup of coffee and helped him to his very unsteady feet, "Dude, what the fuck am I doing in a pair of your underwear!" Jasper gripped the waist band of the boxer briefs to keep them from hitting the floor and leaned against the breakfast bar as the hangover hit him. "Well, you got brought home last night, unconscious, with your shirt on inside out, and your pants half off with no underwear of your own. I wasn't sure where yours were, so I just grabbed a pair of mine so we could get you covered up and tucked in." Jasper looked horrified, "We? Who brought me home?" Emmet looked at him and shook his head, "Oh dude, you don't even remember going out?, Dayumm he must have made a hell of an impression on you then. I am sure Captain Cullen will be thrilled to know he made such a lasting mark." With those words Emmett got the reaction he was going for, Jasper lunged forward and vomited in the trash can.
EMPOV
Emmet knew Jasper was going to be a wreck and all he could do was keep him from puking on the floor, help him keep his underwear up until he was done heaving and then get him into the shower once he was ready to move. Jasper emptied the contents of his guts into the trash can and tried to lay back down on the floor in a disconsolate heap, but Emmett was having none of it. "Come on man, its not as bad as you think. Lets get you in the shower and cleaned up and I will tell you what happened as you are cleaning up." He carried Jasper into his bathroom and set him on the toilet like a sulky child as he adjusted the temperature of the water. Jasper just stared at the wall, limp and shocked at what had possibly happened to him. Emmett left him for a moment while he scrounged a couple of towels and some soap. He then came back and pulled Jasper to his feet and shoved the shower curtain back. "Jas, man, are you with me? C'mon man, you need to get a shower and get cleaned up. I saw enough of your junk last night, but if you need help I will help you, though I aint washing your stuff." Jasper looked at him as if he was seeing him for the first time, "Did he?", "He said he didn't man, he said you guys were messing around a little and you passed out before anything happened. I, uh. .kinda took a look, and uh…well, it uh, looked all secure." Emmetts face was as blood red as Jasper had ever seen it, and the discomfort of the moment was amplified by the fact that they were both sitting in the bathroom with Jasper mostly naked talking about whether or not he had been violated, less than 12 hours after Jasper had figured out he was in fact gay. 'Okay, Dude! We have delivery guys fixing to be here and I don't to be dealing with them wandering in and you naked, so are you okay to shower while I get some food going?" Jasper stood up and let Emmetts boxers fall as he stepped into the shower, "Yeah man, Im good, can you get me another cup of coffee and my jeans?" Emmett groaned and hustled out of the bathroom, 'Duude, you could have at least let me make it out the damn door before you scarred me even more, I swear to God I know you better than I ever wanted to." Emmett didn't know what traumatized him more, seeing Jaspers junk in full glory again or what was clearly a hickey on Jaspers hip next to his dick.
Jpov
The hot water of the shower helped to wake him up and clear the remaining cobwebs out of his skull. Before he stepped fully underneath the water, he ran his hands over his body and into his private areas to see if there was any evidence that things had gone further, but to his relief all was well. He washed quickly threw his jeans on and wandered into the kitchen prepared to take the ribbing he knew was coming from Emmett. "Dude, where is my shirt?" Emmett laughed, "Oh man you mean that weird band shirt you had on last night? yeah, well, Cullen snagged it as he was leaving." Jasper was momentarily speechless he could not imagine why the Capt would take his shirt, it wouldn't come close to fitting him, and few people had heard of the band that was a bit on the quirky side. Emmett broke is reverie, "Man, he wanted a souvenir or an excuse to call you again, don't worry about it, I think he is totally into you, but please, be careful. Im not sure what his intentions are, but I know he's ambitious and probably not really worried about what happens to people around him, and I don't want you getting hurt." Jasper appreciated Emmetts concern, but he was a big boy, he just obviously needed to be a little more careful about how much he drank.
The delivery guys arrived with all the furnishings and the day was spent getting the apartment setup and picking up the incidentals that they hadn't realized they needed such as more groceries and towels. By the end of the day they had a nice bachelor apartment set up, complete with entertainment unit that had all the tech features that would make any tech geek hard. Jasper checked his cell from time to time during the day, hoping for a call or a text from Edward, but nothing came through. He was restless and wondered if maybe he had screwed up his one chance.
EPOV
I went home and crawled into the rack and died until mid-afternoon and my damn dog insisted that I get up and feed his rotten ass. My sleep had been restless and I couldn't get the image of Whitlock out of my mind. He was the ultimate in forbidden fruit and I was so torn about what to do about him, so after I pulled my jeans on and tended my critters, I decided to crawl back into bed with my bottle of Jack and do nothing but yank it to thoughts of him. I don't know why I swiped his t-shirt other than it smelled like him and it gave me an excuse to see him again. I had no idea what the shirt was about, but it was in my bed with me, it smelled like him and for a time it made me happy. Crawling out of bed the next morning to go to work was not the easiest thing I had faced. I had a hang over and it was budget time, so it meant endless meetings with bureaucrats who had no clue what the hell we did on a daily basis, and long nights of crunching numbers so we could justify asking for more bodies and cars and equipment in a way that made sense to the same idiots that wanted to take away the ones we already had. I wouldn't have time or energy to try to see Whitlock for at least the next few weeks, and then he would be at the academy orientation, when he would see a side of me that I was not sure he was prepared for unless I could manage to pull a spare moment out of my ass to see him.
JPOV
The weeks crawled by without so much as a text from Cullen and Jasper despaired that he had lost his chance. He threw himself into preparing for the academy with Emmett, working on physical training, running over 10 miles a day and spending long, grueling hours in the gym, pushing themselves to go further and achieve more than they had ever reached. Jaspers body became hard and covered in muscles, and as his hair grew out from its standard Marine buzz cut, the curls became more pronounced. He grew a light beard and mustache to make himself appear older. They spent afternoons on the academy grounds working on going over the 6ft test walls, which was surprisingly easy for Jasper, but a bit of a challenge for the heavier and bigger Emmett. It was there that the Capt next saw Jasper from the window of the directors office.
EPOV
I had to go out to the directors office to pick up the rosters for the start of the academy as well as drop off the departments final sponsored cadets list, both Whitlock and McCarty had made the cut and I was pleased to see them out on the athletic field practicing on the wall. Whitlock virtually sailed over the wall, moving like a cat, and I could see that he looked like he had gotten bigger, and his hair was longer, and fuck me…I could see another tattoo. Stepping back from the window before they saw me, I saw the director smirking at me, " Those two are yours, huh?" I nodded at him, "Yeah, Whitlock the pretty boy and McCarty his buddy." The director grunted at me, "The are out there every damn day either working over the damn walls or just flat working out. Whitlock is a running son of a bitch and he motivates McCarty. I have to wonder if there is something between those two more than just, buddies" I was momentarily speechless but then I chuckled, "Nah, McCarty has it bad for Rosalie and he's been trying to court her by sending her flowers and chocolates and teddy bears and shit. Last week he brought her flowers and she came out to get them, took the scissors off the desk, cut the tops off of all of them and then walked back into her office." The director laughed, "So did he give up?" I shook my head, "No, the stupid fucker said, "So I guess that means I shouldn't pick you up at 8? and be damned if she didn't step out of her office, glare at him and say, "Make it 7:30 and if you are even one minute late I will kick your ass." The directors eye about popped out of his head, "No fucking way! He got the ice queen to melt? Wow… I am in awe of the man who would be willing to try and hit that." I told him that I didn't know the end results, but that Rosalie had been smiling a little more around the office and less likely to make people who wandered into her lair cry, so I figured something good was going on and we all owed McCarty a favor for taming that shrew and making all of our lives a little better. "So what about pretty boy? What is your pet project been up to? I looked a the director with my toughest glare, "I couldn't tell you, I don't have the fucker on a leash, but he hasn't been in any trouble other than if he thinks that scruff and that hair is gonna fly in on my squad, he is in for a rude awakening." The director laughed and shook his head at me, "Down boy, you will get your chance to educate him come Friday, but bear in mind, that poor kid is probably going to be catching more than his fair share of hell from the rest of the recruits, I have met most of them and he is a mouse walking into a lions den." That's what I was afraid of, but I wasn't going to tell the director that. I was going to make sure my boy was as squared away as he could be in time for Friday orientation so gunny and the rest of the goon squad had not excuses to bring any more heat down on him than he was already gonna be facing.
JPOV
When his pager went off on Wednesday night, Jasper thought it had to be a wrong number. It had been 5 weeks since his disastrous date with Captain Cullen and he had given up on anything coming of it, but there were the numbers followed by P-11. Jaspers hands shook as he called the number back and he fought to keep the quiver out of his voice when Edward answered, "Hey Jasper, how are you? Jasper wasn't quite sure what to say, he was a lot of things, confused, hurt, angry, hopeful, nervous, but the only thing he could say was, 'Good, How are you?" Cullen chuckled and hesitated before he spoke again, but then he said, "Look, you may never want to see me again and I totally understand, but I have really good reasons for not calling you these past few weeks, and I am really sorry, and I would really like to make it up to you, could I come get you and we go somewhere and talk?" Jaspers heart went into hyper drive, Emmet was out with Rosalie and most likely wouldn't be home until morning if at all, and Jasper was tired of being alone, so he quickly said, "Yeah, or you could just come here, Emmet is out until morning." The Capt chuckled, that sounds good, ill be there in about 15." Jasper hung up the phone and flew to the shower, He threw on his most comfortable pair of low slung jeans and a t-shirt that was so worn and faded that is was almost see thru, with no shoes he roughly toweled his hair to get the worst of the water out of it and then finger combed it back out of his face as he walked into the kitchen to see if Emmet had left any soda or tea in the fridge,(since the date he had quit drinking), and luckily he found most of a 6pack hidden in the back just as a knock came at the door.
Edward was just as breathtaking as he remembered, and he was momentarily frozen in front of him after he opened the door. He wasn't expecting to see him carrying flowers and dressed in a black jeans and a black banded collar western shirt and wearing a cowboy hat. Jasper muttered , "fuuuuck me" under his breath as Edward walked in, and Edward smiled to himself thinking that he would love to do nothing more than that.
EPOV
Yeah, I was sucking up, big time. I had to . I hadn't called the guy or even texted him for close to 5 weeks, in fact I had pretty much blown him off. It was partially due to my crazy assed schedule, and partially a test. I wanted to see if he was going to be able to handle the reality of our situation without flipping out and getting all clingy and constantly calling or texting me. I did not need some dude going all, "Fatal Attraction" on my ass, and though he didn't seem like the type, I had to be sure, and he passed with flying colors.
He looked so damn good when he opened that door it was all I could do to not just jump him right there in the doorway, but I knew that was not the way to do things, I was going to take it slow and savor things. I handed him the flowers and walked over to the couch and sat down, waiting to see where he decided to sit. He looked so damn good in those jeans and yet another shirt with a fucking monkey on it, I was once again reminded that he was more than a full decade younger than me, and looked closer to two younger but I frankly didn't give a damn at that point. He offered me a drink, and I took a beer, but I noticed he was having a soda and I grinned at him. He fucking blushed and tells me he quit drinking! I wasn't sure if I was pleased or not. I explained to him about the budget process and all the hassles that I had been dealing with at work and my bullshit reasons for not contacting him, and he said "it wasn't a problem." When he reached over and touched my hand and thanked me for bringing him home and apologized to ME for his passing out drunk, I about fell off the damn couch. I decided to see if he was up for finishing what we started that night so I pulled him over to me and kissed him so that he knew he was being kissed.
JPOV
Jasper was virtually quivering in anticipation after they sat on the couch. He was somewhat angry with himself for forgiving Edward so easily, after all, how fucking hard was it to send one damn text message or even an email, but then again those were all department property and maybe he was worried about generating a record of their contact? It was 2 days before the start of the academy, he had nothing to do for the 48 hours except sit and stew and prepare for the Friday evening orientation session, he had already picked up his gear from the department, there were no books to buy because the Academy issued everything, so basically all he was doing was playing his guitar and working a couple of songs he had been writing, so truthfully Jasper was bored, lonely and more than a little horny, Captain Cullen coming over was perhaps the solution to the itch that needed scratching and he seemed more than willing to help him out with that, so Jasper wasn't going to play the callow youth, he was going to take a little initiative and see where things went.
EPOV
I was flat stunned when as I was kissing him, I felt him push up against me and the next thing I know he is pushing ME down on the couch and showing me a side of him that I never would have thought lurked beneath. I smiled as he got a little forceful pulling my shirt open, "Damn boy! you trying to tell me something?" He sat back on his heels and looked at me with kinda wild eyes and said, " Did I do something wrong? Should I stop?" I damn sure didn't want him to stop, but I didn't want things to go too far in the middle of their new couch in the living room, and I told him so. He hopped up and grabbed my hand and practically dragged me down the hall to his room and I gotta say I was impressed by the way he had it set up, nice big bed, but understated and manly, none of that fru fru sissy shit that some tend to have. He had a nice damn sound system and he kicked it on and some blusey sounding rock started playing from all around, but not obnoxiously loud. The only decorations he had up were of a couple framed concert posters with what looked to be autographs or scribbles on them, and of course fucking monkeys all over them,(I always ment to ask about that), and a big metal Texas star over the head of his bed. I noticed a pair of rape preventers on his bedside table and I could not resist, "Whitlock, do you wear glasses?" He looked like a deer caught in headlights as he saw them in my hand and he visibly gulped. "Uh, just for reading and close work." I held them up, "Put em on, I want to see." He cringed for a moment but then took them and put them on and I was struck by just how good he looked. Those damn glasses usually make even the toughest of men look like total assholes, but he made them look good and I told him so. "Yeah, well you don't have to blow smoke up my ass, you are already in my bedroom so you don't have to lie." Whoa! where the hell did that come from? Did he really not know how appealing he was? I grabbed his hands as he took the glasses off and I made sure I had his attention, "I am not bull-shitting you, I meant that, so learn to take a compliment dammit!" He apologized and started running his hands up my chest again and the next thing I knew he was shoving me backwards onto his bed, so I decided to just go with it and see how far he was going to go with things before he figured out he was in over his head with a shark in the water.