This chapter was written and brought to you by reruns of Dog the Bounty Hunter and Gangland. Again thank you all for the reviews and kind words! I am still overwhelmed by the support this fic has gotten so far! Much thanks to Misty Haze too…for being her awesome self and helping me with dialogue. Anyways your all amazing readers! Love you all and enjoy!
Love Maria/Philomina
It was an ordinary unremarkable 4 o'clock on a Tuesday when Edward heard the knock on his door. He had been leisurely browsing through his cookbook, after throwing dinner in the oven when the visitor made their presence known. Thinking it was Mrs. Siam the land lady who was bringing him some of her herbal tea blend, Edward walked up to the entrance and swung the door open.
But it was not the elderly Thai lady. No it was 6 hunky feet of blonde badass standing at his festively decorated foyer.
And he was holding his TJ Maxx bargain plate.
And he was staring at him.
The stomach that Edward thought he possessed had fallen to his knees and he felt his cheeks grown warm at the intense gaze of azure blue.
"Hey," was all he could manage to whisper. Watching as Jasper turned the plate over a few times in his hands, Edward's brain frantically searched for any remembrance of language. But the wild creature holding his dinner ware was just too disarming.
Finally Jasper spoke. His voice was rough and a little unsure.
"I...um…I wanted to give you your plate back." He shoved the dish towards Edwards's stomach, averting his eyes. He seemed…embarrassed? In all his wonderings this man hardly seemed the type to ever be self-conscious about anything.
"Oh! Thanks!" He found his voice (thank Moses) and took the plate from Jasper. "How were the cookies?"
"Good…very good." His neighbor's eyes were still was glued to the carpet.
"Really? I'm so relieved! I had thought the icing was too sweet!" For some reason Edward got the feeling that he needed, or wanted to keep up a conversation with this man. It was strange how Jasper seemed to look everywhere but at him, as if he wasn't used to such niceties. But he didn't run away. He didn't leave. He stood there as if waiting, or wanting something. Like he didn't know what to expect and didn't know what to say or how to say it.
" It was a new recipe you know…you were sort of my taste tester," Edward continued. "They were Paula Deans but you know sometimes she over does it on the sweet factor." He smiled at Jasper and sort of bobbed his head down a little to see under him trying to catch his gaze.
"No…they were good actually. I don't like things that are too sweet." The words seemed to slip out of his lips before he knew it, because Edward observed how his head tilted to the side, as if he were surprised that he was even speaking. Still he wouldn't look up.
In these extreme cases Edward did what he usually did best to get out of an awkward situation.
He talked about sex.
"So um you have a little foot fetish going on here?"
Jaspers head shot up and looked him dead on.
"N…no.." he stuttered his checks a tinged with pink. "Why would you say that?"
Edward laughed excited that he for one didn't get slammed in the face by a fist and that such a comment got his stoic fantasy to respond.
"You keep looking at my feet, and well the only person who has ever given my feet that much attention was looking to lick them."
The corners of Jaspers mouth turned up in what Bella would call a "tooth smile". A little teeth, just the top row that showed a small hint of the true self. A little inhibition. In that slight second, Edward saw a glimpse of what this man could look like when his face was washed away of its harshness. Jaspers face transformed for that moment in time and it struck something deeper in him. Something that perhaps went a little more profound than mere infatuation. It was obvious that his neighbor didn't do such a thing a lot. And he wanted it to happen again. And again and again till those eye wouldn't seem so surprised when the lips below it turned up.
The smile was gone but the effects lingered. Edward noticed that his shoulders drew downwards a little that his feet spread apart and he leaned back in a slight pose of ease. Well maybe not ease but he certainly didn't look ready to bolt anymore. And his face, well that relaxed was even better than he had imagined.
"Foot fetish huh? I met one of those before." His drawl was so smooth. For the first time Edward heard the gentle twang in Jaspers voice. It held a little laughter.
"Really?" Edward replied, " I know what you mean…they are all over the dating websites….Craigslist especially. There was this one guy who instead of pictures of himself for the personals section took web cam shots of his feet! What a creep!"
Jasper smirked then, and shifted a little rocking on his heels. He looked like a little boy, with his hair falling in his eyes and his expression very cat that caught the canary. He was effortlessly sexy.
" Gotta watch for them sicko's huh?"
"Y…yeah." Edward really hoped his voice didn't sound as high pitched aloud as it did in his head.
At that moment the oven timer went off and both of them jumped….the moment lost. Jasper tensed back up as if the small alarm bothered him.
"What's that?" his voice changed too. The softness was gone.
" Oh, my roasted chicken…it's done." He looked back inside for a second wishing he had the mental powers to levitate his roast out of the oven, so he didn't have to leave. "Do you want to come in for a second? If you're not busy I would love for you to stay to eat with me!"
Jasper's face fell and he stepped back a little, shifting from side to side now.
"I…I can't. Thanks but um…no." It was more than painfully obvious to Edward that the man was at war with himself. He WANTED to stay but it was as if that were a line he wasn't ready to cross. For some reason Jasper was scared of him.
But before Edward could even speak Jasper had turned heal and was stalking down the hall back to his apartment, leaving Edward puzzled even more at his sexy strange neighbor. And more curious than ever.
He leaned out the door and took a long look at the retreating figure. Strange or not the man had the best ass he had ever seen.
4 Days Later
Jasper really didn't know what the fuck he was doing here. This whole thing …this obsession was getting to be too much, because now here he was standing before Edward's cheery door, face clean shaven and clothes washed, holding a piece of shit strawberry pie in a tin plate. Never would the Jasper of old, the Jasper who fought street gangs, ran drugs, and served a 7 year sentence in a Texas prison, find himself thinking day and night about someone…at least in a positive way.
But Edward Cullen, feminine Edward Cullen, who swayed his, hips when he walked down the hall and giggled like a girl, had completely captured the attention of a man who was his polar opposite. Jasper thought of him when he was watching TV or lying in bed trying to sleep. He thought of him when he was at his window smoking and could hear faint jazz music drifting from Edwards open window the cool winter air doing nothing to sweep away the thoughts that consumed him.
The most frightening part was Jasper had no logical explanation as to why he even was thinking about him. That day when he had knocked on his door and had talked to him Jasper had been so captivated by Edwards's presence. The man had looked perfect of course, in his cream turtleneck and dark jeans that hugged his hips in all the right ways. His smile was as disarming as ever and he had had such a hard time looking him in the eye. Here he was covered in 4 days filth and standing before him was…he didn't know. Everything that he could only hope to watch but never be.
But Edward had just smiled up at him, trying to settle his nerves with easy humor and grace. Jasper admired him for that…it was something that he had never been able to do. Where he had come from being at ease with someone meant you left them alone and didn't drive by their house with a revolver. But for just a moment he had been coaxed out that past and stood in the present with Edward pretending that he could be normal.
The offer though to come and eat with him had been frightening though. For a second he had almost considered it. Wouldn't it have been nice to sit in this beautiful warm presence? To have a meal with a kind soul? He could pretend a little longer that maybe he was good.
It was that longing though that frightened him away.
There he was, Jasper the convicted felon, standing in his dirtiness inside and out, being offered friendship by this blameless innocent Edward.
The words of his bastard father swirled around his head as he ran down the hallway back to his hole.
"You think you're gonna be sumthin? You have to have sumthin' first 'fore you can be anythin. And you ain't got nothin'. At least nothin' good."
His daddy was a heartless ass but he was usually right.
He was nothing. Who was he fooling?
Yet, as the days went on suddenly Jasper was filled with something.
Want.
Longing.
He wanted to see him. He longed to be this mans…well whatever he could get. And try as he might Jasper couldn't even think up a sane reason as to why he was craving to be friends with Edward. He wasn't usually a friendly person. Growing up in Beeville Texas, running around with James and his group, didn't usually call for social niceties. A gun and a reputation were all he needed to get around in life. He didn't have friends or people he trusted. Even those within the gang were viewed with suspicion. And family was a word he had never really had applied to his life.
Of course prison wasn't better. He had become part of the jail that had loomed over his town along the river. For seven years he had watched people get killed behind its walls, watched as the guards stood and observed the violence without a care. Even in his own cell Jasper had felt the prickle of caution at his senses. He was never safe.
Except when Edward had opened his door.
For the first time Jasper was able to walk away from a person without fear. Strange as it sounded there were times when he didn't like people walking behind him. He always had been taught to watch his back.
But not with Edward. Maybe that's why he wanted to be with him. Perhaps that was the reason that he wanted nothing more than to see him, reach out to him. For those 4 days Jasper had thought of nothing but Edward.
Which was part of what lead him now to this moment of standing at his door again.
Jasper had gone down to the corner market to get his essentials: cigarettes and beer. As he had waited in the check out, thoughts still consumed with his neighbor, an, at the time brilliant idea came to him.
He knew that he honestly had not excuse to see him again. But perhaps if he gave Edward something back. Something to show his gratitude for…he wasn't sure. For the gay ass cookies? For the kind words? For just existing? The cookies were probably a safe reason to reciprocate. After all isn't that the same shit that normal people did? Wasn't that all homey and stuff? An eye for an eye? Or not? Was that the wrong saying?
Jasper looked around from his place in line trying to see if there was anything at all he could give to him. There was all kinds of Christmas crap all over the place but that was stupid and he really didn't have the money for…then he spotted it. There next to the line was a small display of day old baked goods.
So that's how he ended up here. Holding a crummy watery strawberry pie the size of his fist, trying to muster up any kind of courage to face him again. With different eyes. So Jasper took every ounce of his guts and raised his hands once more…knocking on the white wood.
It took only a second this time for Edward to answer. The door swung open and Edward stood before him in all of his gay glory. He looked perfect as always and his eyes lit up in a way that made Jasper stutter a little as he said hello.
"Hello again to you!" the neighbor explained smiling wide. " To what do I owe the honor?"
Jasper held up his gift. "I uh…I got you something…as a thank you. Thought you'd like strawberry…"
At the mention of the sort of pie Edwards face fell and try as he might Jasper didn't miss it.
"I'm sorry…maybe it was stupid I did…"
"Oh, no!" Edward exclaimed hurriedly, holding his arms out, " This is so kind of you…but I'm allergenic to strawberries."
Ohhhhh I'm not too pleased with this chapter but my favorite parts are coming up now! So stay tuned and please review! 3