A/N: Well would you look at that, I'm on time... Almost.
So this one was really hard to write and I know its not my best but bear with me.
The next chapter is my favorite by FAR.

I have not edited this chapter because it's late but I wanted to get it up.
I will look over it tomorrow and possibly make changes...
Let me know what you think!
It tickles me to hear from you guys!

Happy Reading!

Disclaimer: I don't own Covert Affairs. (Thought I'd forget again, didn't you?)

Starry Eyed

Jasper watched Auggie as he lazily slid his cane across the pavement, following his older brother's footsteps as they walked home that night. He looked tired, the shadows beneath his eyes purpling but he looked content. It had been an interesting day, he had to admit, going from Mr. Anderson's silent implosion to Corrine's dynamite on crack to this quiet peaceful walk back to the Anderson household. Yes, it had been quite a day.

The more he thought about it the more Jasper decided that he didn't much care for Corrine. She was too volatile, as though trying to make up for something, compensate, if you will. Bottled chaos, that girl was, and bottles break. It was just a matter of time. There was one thing he could tell though, she loved her friends, honestly and they loved her back. It was the fierce kind of love and it was refreshing to see in such young people.

Matt let out a hearty laugh at something Auggie had said, Jasper hadn't caught it but listening to his boyfriend laugh was a beautiful thing. He knew the guy had a personality and a big one at that, but he also knew it was being strangled by the loneliness of being away from his family and the weight of his schoolwork. To see him at home, at his best, was something to behold. It made him smile, made him want to explore his lover and reach into those depths that he'd previously locked away for nostalgia's sake.

When they got to the house, Jasper felt a sense of foreboding. In many ways he didn't want to face Mr. Anderson again, the way rage seemed to simmer behind those dark eyes made visions of Jasper's own father invade his memories and those were memories best forgotten. Scars that needed to be hidden.

The house was brightly lit when they walked in, giving it the sense of sunrise though the sun was rapidly disappearing. He watched with fascination as Auggie disassembled his cane and successfully tossed it onto the entryway table. He'd never met a blind person before and Auggie had blown his expectations out of the water. The kid was amazing, Matt hadn't been exaggerating – as he was known to do.

As soon as they went into the kitchen, Jasper's vision was filled with Mr. Anderson's imposing form as he sat on one of the barstools. The man guided Auggie around him as the kid nearly walked right into him. He was silent as a ghost though something in his eyes allowed Jasper to relax in the most minimal of ways.

"Evening boys," he said with a half-smile, if Jasper didn't know any better he'd say Mr. Anderson looked- nervous? "Did you have a good day?"

"Yea, Dad," Matt answered, sounding rather unsure of himself. "It was pretty good."

Jasper leaned against the counter and watched Auggie as he found a YooHoo in the fridge.

"Listen I- I need to talk to you- both of you about what happened this morning," Mr. Anderson began, struggling to figure out what to say. Jasper finally brought himself to look at him, "I acted like a child, an ignorant child and I would like to offer my apologies to the two of you-"

"Dad," Matt interrupted, Jasper knew how much Matt hated awkward situations and this was certainly awkward, "You don't have to-"

"Yes, son, I do," Mr. Anderson stated, using his Father Voice to quiet his son, "I may not understand what you two have together but I still love you, boy, and I accept- I accept your personal decisions. I can see that you two care about each other and that's all I've wanted for my children in a relationship. I just hope that you can accept my apology."

It was quiet for a moment, save for the sound of Auggie trying to get the last of his YooHoo through the tiny straw. Matt was looking at his father like he didn't know him anymore and his father was looking at Matt with desperation.

"Apology accepted, " Jasper said softly, earning a bright smile from the man, Jasper knew now where Matt got his smile and he couldn't help but smile in return.

With a small voice, Matt said, "Yea. Like he said."

Mr. Anderson clapped his hands together, the smile reaching his deep brown eyes that crinkled in the corners. He stood and embraced his son and it saddened Jasper to see how stiffly Matt reacted. This morning's rejection still stung. Mr. Anderson clapped him on the shoulder and Jasper gave his most honest smile, hoping to make up somewhat for Matt's cold reaction.

"I would like to take everyone out to dinner," Mr. Anderson announced. "You boys get ready while I fetch Julia and Jamie."

Once he was upstairs, Matt rounded on Jasper, his usually smiling hazel eyes turning hard as glass. His body language gave away what he was thinking.

"Nice, Jasper," he said, throwing his hands up.

Jasper looked to Auggie who looked just as surprised as he felt. Normally, Matt shrugged things off, but he supposed the rejection of his father still held tight to his heart.

"What are you so upset about," Jasper asked calmly, trying to convey with his eyes how concerned he was. He'd never seen Matt like this and this was certainly not what he'd meant when he wanted to further explore his lover.

"You just let him win," Matt exclaimed in a yelled whisper, "Just let him go like he'd done nothing wrong!"

"Matt," Auggie stepped in, "Jasper didn't do anything wrong and dad apologized."

"That's just it, August," Matt spun around to talk to his brother and Jasper stepped closer to him, "He thinks that every time he says something wrong that he can just say sorry and everything is fine! Well, he can think again, because-"

"What is it you wanted from him, Matt," Jasper asked softly, there was more to it than the way Mr. Anderson acted that morning, it went deeper than that. "What is it that you need from him?"

When Matt turned around he looked surprised, like someone had stabbed him in the back or read his private diary. It seemed that no one had called him out on this anger before, that no one had ever told him that there was more to it. Funny, how a psychology student can possess such a strong ability to deny their own problems while diagnosing everyone else's.

"I'm done talking about this," he said in a deadly calm voice before fleeing the kitchen.

Jasper watched him go, hurt welling up in his chest. He hadn't done anything wrong and it annoyed him that Matt was angry with him, but at the same time he just wanted Matt to feel better. It was decided then that he didn't have anything to apologize for.

"Well," Auggie said, crunching into an apple he'd retrieved from the bowl on the counter, "That went well. Apple?"

xXx

One would think that she would be used to coming home to an empty house by now, it still stings like a bitch. She didn't bother flipping the light switch, it wouldn't help the loneliness go away. Conrad had offered to go home with her, but she hadn't been in the mood to give him what he wanted. Her mother's car wasn't in the driveway and the house echoed emptiness, she didn't bother wondering where the woman was.

The bar lights in the kitchen glowed amber and she noticed a note written in her mother's script lying on the stark kitchen counter. She didn't read it, instead she balled it up, wet it down and shoved it down the garbage disposal. For a moment she thought of calling Auggie but her confidence that he would answer her was strangely withered. And she knew exactly what the problem was.

With a flourish, she popped open a beer and set herself up on the couch, using the remote to turn on her favorite composer. Chopin. Something about his dissonance reassured her that she wasn't the only one hearing the chaos of the world. She laid her head back, the sight of Annie kissing Auggie still burning hot on her irises. It made her heart feel like a rock in her chest.

She guzzled down half of her beer, took a breath, and guzzled the rest. In her mind, she knew that she was being ridiculous and yet, it seemed that she couldn't control her actions. Her fingers itched to call him, to just put all of this aside and have a good talk with him without prying, jealous eyes. To be honest, she missed him, her best friend. It felt like she hadn't seen him in months. Not since Annie Walker came around.

That was it.

She picked up the phone and dialed the most familiar number she knew.

xXx

Matt sat on the edge of the guest bed, watching his boyfriend pulled on a thin white t-shirt, covering the strong muscles sheathed in milky white skin. His entire family had white skin too but it was tinted from the sun and heritage, Jasper didn't have that and Matt was intrigued.

"Did you have fun today," he asked as Jasper sat beside him, his blue eyes penetrating.

"I did," he smiled softly, "I enjoyed seeing your hometown."

"Yea," Matt grinned, "Maybe we'll actually get some time to spend alone together, there are a lot of things we could do."

"Listen," Jasper said, more serious this time, drawing Matt in with those beautiful eyes, "I don't want you to be too mad at your dad anymore, alright. He's doing really well considering we sprung on him this morning."

"I know," Matt groaned, "And I'm sorry for getting annoyed with you earlier, you didn't deserve that. I'm over it."

"Alright," Jasper said, but Matt could see that doubt in his eyes, that knowledge that he always seemed to have about things that most never noticed.

"I'll let you get some sleep," he said, leaning over and giving Jasper a soft kiss to his mouth, "Knowing my family they may multiply tomorrow so you'd better get some rest."

"Night Matt," Jasper smiled.

"Night."

There was a part of him that wanted to share a bed with Jasper that night, just like in New York, but he thought that might be pushing it, especially if his father found out. Instead he would share a room with his baby brother, just like old times. He flipped the light switch to their room and found Auggie at his desk, headphones on, fingers racing across the pages of his book.

Matt sat on his old bed and just watched his little brother for a while. It was fun to see his face change as he reacted to what he read, his eyes growing wide, or his lips twitching into a millisecond smile, or his lip lodging in his mouth in anticipation. Like Matt said, he always wore his feelings on his face.

"Auggie," Matt said loudly enough that his brother would hear him over the music. He jumped a bit and pulled his headphones down around his neck.

"Jesus, Matt," Auggie chuckled, spinning his chair around to face Matt.

"Sorry, just thought I'd let you know I was in here," Matt said. "I'm probably going to hit the sack soon, Mom said that Ethan and Benji may get in tomorrow."

"They're going to be here for the week, too?"

Auggie looked somewhat distressed, the entire Anderson troupe would be arriving throughout the next week and a half and that put him on edge. There would be too many people in the house who would be moving things around and being too helpful. Matt also knew that other than himself and Jamie, no one had been around enough to get used to Auggie's still tender disability. Last Thanksgiving had been a disaster and they could only hope that this one would be better.

"Yea, Andrew too, but Lucas, his family and Nana and Pops shouldn't be getting here till next week," Matt said in hopes of easing his brother's tension.

"Awesome," Auggie closed his eyes, a habit he developed as a kid. If he couldn't see the problem, it wasn't there. It was kind of a blind joke now.

"Hey, don't stress about it. It'll be fun, I'm sure," Matt grinned.

A song started playing suddenly, a song Matt recognized as a Katy Perry song though he couldn't be sure which one. Auggie spun in his chair, grabbed his cell and flipped it open.

"What's up," was his greeting and Matt rolled his eyes. "I'm not doing anything… I don't know, I mean, probably… Sure, can you pick me up… Wait-"

Auggie rolled his eyes and Matt leaned forward, trying to make sense of the mostly static noise that was leaking through the speakers of his phone.

"Hold up, have you been drinking?"

Corrine, it had to be Corrine. That girl had been drinking by the time she hit middle school. Matt didn't really understand her reasoning but he tried his best not to judge her for it either. Her home life was ruff and some people just can't deal but when he was being honest, she was taking it a little far and sometimes she put his brother's life in danger because of it.

"Cory, I thought you weren't- Well no, but I can walk… Yea, I'll see you in a bit…" Auggie clicked the phone shut and got out of his chair, moving to his closet to change his shirt.

"Where are you going," Matt asked, pointlessly, he already knew.

"Corrine's, she's lonely and we haven't spent like any time together lately, so-"

He pulled his shirt over his head and Matt stared at the scar the stretched on his back. He still felt guilty about that accident they were in, even though it wasn't his fault. His brother had gotten hurt because of it, someone died because of it and sometimes he just couldn't get those things out of his head.

"You sure you want to walk over there," Matt asked, nervous about his brother walking any distance by himself. He knew Auggie would hate it if he knew, but Matt couldn't help it any more than he could help breathing. "I could drive you in Jamie's car-"

"Matt, it's cool," Auggie smiled, "I walk to her house alone all the time."

"Alright," he sighed reluctantly, his hands up in defeat. "What do you want me to tell mom and dad if they find out?"

"Make something up," Auggie grinned, "You were always good at that."

xXx

The door was unlocked when he got there and when he stepped inside it wasn't much of an escape from the outside cold. It wasn't freezing yet, but he could tell from the biting wind that it would be soon. He left his cane by the door like always, he'd been in this house so often it felt like he knew it better than his own. At least in this house, no one ever moved anything.

"Hey, baby," Corrine said from the end of the hall.

Auggie had to admit, it had been way too long since they'd gotten to spend alone time together. He missed it immensely.

"Hey, Cory," he smiled, following her voice down the hall, "Is everything okay?"

"Sure, everything's fine," she said, her voice sounding a little bit off, though ever since her revelation, everything about her seemed a little bit off. "I just got a little lonely and started missing all the time we used to spend together."

"Me too," he answered whimsically.

Her thin strong arms wrapped around his chest and he pulled her into him. There was something about the feel of her that he missed desperately. He rubbed circles in her back and remembered something he'd heard earlier that day.

"So, you cut your hair," he said thoughtfully.

"Yea, I did," she answered, her voice rumbling from her chest to his.

Suddenly he was hyperaware of her breasts against his chest, full and soft. He shut his eyes tight, trying to block those thoughts out of his head. He had a girlfriend now and he and Corrine were just friends, best friends.

"You want to see," she asked, taking his hands and bringing them to her head.

It was an unexpected gesture and it embarrassed him slightly, but it was Corrine, he'd done more embarrassing things around her. He ran his fingers through her hair and was surprised by how quickly it ended, from his exploration he realized that it ended just past her chin. His fingers lingered around her jawline, falling lower to her neck and her collarbone, her shoulders and slender arms. He sucked in his breath and stepped backwards, putting his hands in his pockets. This was wrong.

"Corrine, I- I shouldn't stay," he muttered, turning around and heading back to the door, "This was a bad idea."

"No," she recovered quickly, her voice breaking in the middle, "Don't, I'm sorry, I shouldn't have asked you to do that I'm just- I'm trying to find a comfortable balance here and it's hard."

"I know," Auggie sighed, his fingers running through his hair, "How about we just get a drink and watch a movie or something, yea?"

"Yea," Corrine said with a smile in her voice, "Just like old times."

As he followed her bare footsteps to the kitchen, he wondered when it became so hard to be around his best friend with wanting her in ways he shouldn't. They'd spent a lot of nights together as kids and even recently and nothing had ever come of it. Not that he didn't want it to, but she had made it clear that it wouldn't. But that kiss. It was that kiss that changed everything.

"YooHoo, Capri Sun, or Sam Adams," she asked from the direction of the humming refrigerator.

"YooHoo," he answered, taking the safe route, the last thing he needed was for both of them to be tipsy.

They settled on the couch together beneath a chenille blanket and listened to the previews of movies that had been out for years. When her hair was long he would twirl it around his finger before falling asleep when he stayed the night. He missed that, but then again, it may be considered inappropriate by now. He settled for laying his head against hers.

"So, you and Annie are official now," she said softly.

"Yea," he answered, the thought bringing a smile to his lips. Even though Corrine's presence was tempting, he knew that being with Annie was right. "When I asked her she was like 'Hell yes'. I was totally not expecting that."

"That's cute," Corrine chuckled deeply.

"Could you tell me what she looks like," he asked quietly, the question sort of slipping out unexpectedly.

The question had been sitting on his tongue all day, waiting for the right time to voice itself to Matt. But he couldn't think of anyone he trusted the same way he trusted Corrine, she would be perfect.

"You realize I dressed her as Barbie for Halloween right," she giggled.

"Corrine," he laughed, "Come on."

It was quiet for a moment, and he could feel her green eyes skimming over him.

"She's beautiful, August," she said finally, seriously.

He could feel her shift on the couch so that she could face him and he did the same.

"Her hair is like golden sunlight and it's sort of wavy like mine. She has the prettiest eyes too, they're brown but when the sun hits them they're this really light brown, kind of honey-colored, I guess," she said and he drank in her words, painting the mental image of a beautiful girl, "She has this heart-shaped face, kind of like Reese Witherspoon from that movie Just Like Heaven, you remember. Her skin is pretty light but it has this lovely undertone that gives her a lot of color and her smile, Augs, it's radiant.

"And she does this cute thing when she's flirting where she bites her lip and looks up at you through her lashes, so cute. When she's thinking or nervous, I suppose, she nibbles at her fingernails. She has the cutest body too- but you know, I'm going to stop there because that you can find that out for yourself, I think."

He smiled widely at her, trying to put all the pieces together in his head. It wasn't perfect, of course, but it was more than he had before and for that he was grateful. There was a peace that swept over him in a strange way, a mystery solved, he supposed. He wondered just how many mysteries there were to come.

"Look at you, Auggie," Corrine said softly, pushing his overgrown bangs back from his eyes, "You're all starry eyed."

"Corrine," he all but whispered, "Are you sure you're alright?"

He caught her hand, lacing it up with his own.

"Of course, baby, you know me," she answered, but that was exactly it, he knew her well enough to know when she was lying, "Just promise me one thing, that even after you've grown all up and had pretty babies that we'll still do this. That we'll still be best friends. Promise?"

"Cross my heart," he said firmly.

He drew her in and placed a soft kiss on top of her head before wrapping his arms around her. Things were changing so rapidly lately that he was hardly sure of anything anymore, but he was sure about his promise, he just wished he knew why she sounded so sad.

A/N:
I know, I know.
Not very Augnie-ish.
I promise that there's OODLES of that in the next chapter.
But please, don't let this deter your reviews. ;)