YAY! Long chapter! I hope you all enjoy it! And thank you all so much for the reviews! I live off them!

Jasper was in mid bolt when Edward brushed through the door. His fight or flight had been warring and the flight had one out that was until Jasper saw Edwards face when he sashayed up to him.

There was a solid wall of determination glowing from those green eyes and it made him pause in his escape.

"So eager to leave me?" There was no anger in his voice, in fact he was laughing a little.

Jasper looked down and stuttered out, "No I…I was well…I'm not sure." He really wasn't. Part of him wanted to run back to all that was familiar and part of him wanted to stay.

" That's fine! If you aren't sure then I'll decide for you…And I think you should come and sit with me in my kitchen and watch me cook our fabulous dinner…It's very entertaining I assure you."

The next thing Jasper knew he was being ushered through the swinging door and into Edwards colorful kitchen. If he thought the smells of food in the living room were good then the aromas coming from the pots and pans simmering on the stove were intoxicating. Instantly something in him calmed. Just a little.

Edward pointed to a stool situated at the bar/stove. The first thing he noticed when he sat down was the fact that these appliances were 10 times nicer than the crap that was in his apartment. All were polished stainless steel gleaming with obvious care. The crappy white Formica countertops in his home were replaced here by clean pearly surfaces, decorated with clear canisters filled with pasta, flour, sugar, cocoa, dried fruits, spices and things he had no name for. Silver pots and pans hung from the ceiling on hooks gleaming in fading sunlight peeking through Edwards's windows.

"Wow…" Jasper felt the word slip from his lips.

Edward laughed and motioned to a cushioned stool settled against an island stove/counter. "Well for the room I spend most of my time in I wanted it to be as homey as possible."

"It's nice…comfortable." He replied still taking in the surroundings. "Why do you spend so much time here?" It's polite to ask questions right? He hoped it didn't seem creepy.

"It's part of my job…I'm a chef... I cook for all sorts of things. So people who are older and can't make dinner or little businesses will call with orders for lunch and stuff. I also work at the local police station and make them food for the day. It's not exactly how I wanted to be using a CIA degree but it pays the bills for now and I like the people I cook for."

"The CIA? Isn't that some kind of government organization?"

"The Culinary Institute of America…My college of sorts." Edward grabbed a black waste apron and tied it with ease. "So what about you?"
Jasper felt his stomach tighten. "What about me?"

Edward looked at him oddly, while clicking on the massive stove, and slamming a huge stainless steel frying pan on the flame. "Well where do you work? What do you do?"

Hot shame flooded his face and he looked down a little as if afraid it would show in his eyes.

"I don't…I'm not working right now…can't find anything." Seriously, what was he doing here? This was a cluster fuck of a mess and he was in the middle of it. For some reason it bothered him (and he didn't want to examine why too closely just yet) that Edward who obviously was leading the type of life he would only be able to watch never have, would be aware of exactly how much of a loser he was. What a waste of life.

"Hey." Edwards soft firm voice brought his head up and instead of scorn or piety there was simply understanding on his face. " Don't look down, hon…there's nothing to be ashamed of…we all go through rough patches in life. You'll work it out ok?"

And even though Jasper knew that his whole life had been a rough patch and that the chances of him getting on something smooth were slim to none…he wanted to believe this man. Believe that things would turn out alright. Maybe for a second he did.

" So you don't really want to have the 'You' talk yet, which is fine by the way, and even though I would love to know about my new neighbor, I don't think your quite ready to divulge your deepest darkest secrets to me yet." Edward tipped his head a little and placed a hand on his hip.

Jasper smirked and shook his head. "I'm a pretty boring person…not much to say about myself." Yeah maybe if he just counted the last 2 months of his life.

Edward rolled his eyes, adding a large chopped onion and a clove minced of garlic to his pan. It sizzled and instantly added to the smells in the room. It made his mouth water.

"Jasper, everyone says that about themselves…we all are extraordinary creatures…well most of us anyway. There has to be something different about you that makes you tick!"

'A felony?' Jasper thought to himself but answered, "Nothing really…I certainly don't have all this." He looked around at Edward splendor.

"Style and things don't make you tick Jasper…they just make the ticking louder." Edward replied thoughtfully, giving him a wink and a smile.

"Your tick would probably make me deaf I guess." Jasper wondered if that sounded offensive but Edward laughed and said.

"Yes but it would be such a pleasant way to lose your hearing! My tick is fueled by the Madonna album."

Was it wrong that Jasper kept smiling? That he had smiled more in the past five minutes than he could ever remember?

Edward dumped a handful of ground red meat into the pan and started frying it, flicking the handle around in a way that suggested that motion was as home born as breathing. Jasper watched him as he started to move then, to cut and fry and squeeze and sip the food cooking before him. It was like a graceful dancer placing on her point shoes and spinning on toe. Effortless control and poise.

"Look…" He said suddenly. " I'm not a big talker. Um…You though…I like to hear you talk."

Edward stopped dead and looked up, a slow gentle smile spreading across his lips.

"I love talking…I'd be happy to chat if you want to listen to me ramble!"

And so Edward talked and Jasper listened.

And Jasper found out all about his this wonderful strange man. He found out that Edward was a Leo, had lived in Seattle all his life, had majored in music before finding out that while he lived through song his soul breathed through ingredients and recipes. He found out he had a brother named Emmett who was a cop and a sister, Alice, who lived in Paris. He had two little nieces who called him Auntie Eddie and a sister in law who put the B in Bitch. He discovered that Edward loved to read, anything and everything, and that he watched all manner of cheesy romantic movies. This time of year, Christmas was the season he lived for because he could try out all his culinary creations on his family without fear of diets. His favorite color was red and any warm rich fall shade.

Jasper learned so much.

This was a rich human being. This was a person whose soul was like chocolate, deep and full flavored. And chocolate was Jaspers one absolute food weakness.

There was a part of him that felt inferior. His life was miniscule compared to Edwards but in the same breath this man was making him feel…different. Sitting there in the beautiful kitchen, Edward cooking away, with his smooth kind voice rambling on about non consequential things was lulling him into a very different feeling than what he was used to. Edward was like clean water in the summer, washing over him and calming and soothing burns and cuts and aches. He felt safe.

As soon as his brain made that connection Jaspers muscles relaxed, and he slumped comfortably in the stool chair. His breath came easier, deeper.

Safe here. Edward wasn't going to hurt him. This place was good.

Edward must have noticed a difference because he suddenly smiled wider and ventured a question.

"So how old are you?"

And the answer became easy.

"Twenty seven…last month."

Edward busied himself with setting two plates and wine glasses on the round table in the corner.

"Oh you have me beaten by two years! And can I ask where your accent is from?" he asked.

Jasper smirked. He got that question a lot. "I'm from Texas."

"Well that's quite a bit ways away from Seattle." He transferred the pasta from the sauté pan to a large family style serving bowl and hurried it to the table. "What brings you to this corner of the world?"

"I um…change of things I guess." Was there a right way to even answer that question? Luckily Edward was preoccupied with opening a bottle of wine to notice his strange answer. Grabbing the bottle he gestured to the set table, "Shall we?"
Once they were seated Edward served a heaping serving of the steaming pasta. Jasper felt the smell curl around his nose and his stomach clenched in anticipation for the food to come.

"Enjoy!" said Edward, "Its Bolognese sauce."

"Right…" What the fuck was that? Jasper stabbed his fork into the meat covered noodle and sniffed it before shoving the bite into his mouth.

Heaven.

It had been so long since he had real food and even then he wasn't sure if he had ever had anything as amazing as this.

He looked up at the man sitting across from him, who was eyeing him with heavy expectation.

"Did you like it?"

His eyes were so green and his smile too bright to hold it down anymore. The simple pleasure of good food was hard to ignore and it showed in the lightness that crept onto his face.

"It's real good. I never had nothin' like this before."

"Really? It's almost like Ragu…didn't your mom make that when you were little?"

Jasper snorted, "If my mama could have even opened the jar to feed us I woulda been impressed." Realizing how that sounded he added. "But even if she had it sure wouldn't have been this good."

"I always forget that not everyone cooks." Edward smiled and cocked his head a little as he chewed. "It's easy to assume that when it's what you do for a living."

"You really love it don't you?" Jasper asked.

"Oh more than anything! Cooking is an expression of man's most vital of needs. To prepare food in a beautiful tasteful way is just like painting! My ingredients are like colors, my stove the canvas and my imagination my brushes. But its better cause you can eat it." Edward winked and took a sip of the red wine.

Jasper stared at him in awe then whispered. " That's a really fucking beautiful way to think."

And Edward laughed.

And Jasper's heart lurched. Painfully. Perfectly.

He had made Edward laugh. Had made his face become even more beautiful. This lonely ugly soul made this lovely one happy.

"Well I wouldn't know about beautiful!" Edward exclaimed hand over heart. " But its soul stirring. And even better it got you to talk."

He had the good grace to look down and blush a little, " Sorry…I don't mean to be…quiet."

But Edward waved his hands at him, "You are fine! The world needs you quiet people…makes us chatter boxes special."

They finished dinner Jasper eating more than he thought he could. The more he ate the more little things slipped out of his lips. Like his favorite color, his movie preference and most craved dish.

Later when Edward had convinced him to go back into the white and red living room and watch a movie with him.

"A perfect meal needs a perfect movie!" He had exclaimed while scanning the large DVD collection on a shelf. He was apparently trying to find an action movie for them, which was proving difficult since he had taken a peek at Edwards DVD's and there wasn't much in the 'guns and knives' movies. More chick flicks than anything else.

Which was fine by him. Girly movies usually had a good looking guy parading around in underwear. Jasper was no stranger to the world of Reese Witherspoon, Jennifer Lopez, and Jessica Alba. In fact he had always felt sort of grateful to them. Being a 13 year old punk who didn't know why he got hard after seeing the hot Latino guys next door working on their cars instead of the hot Latino guys sisters was very confusing for him. The chick flicks that he had watched on 'Lifetime' while young and stoned had been one of the only ways he had come to understand that dicks were hot, boobs were not in his book. Because no matter how sexy Jennifer Lopez was supposed to be it was her love interest was who had him sloppily beating off in the shower later.

But it was slowly dawning on him that as he watched Edwards cute pert ass swivel around as he searched for something appropriate to watch, that Edward had absolutely no inkling that he was gay. The boy was desperately searching for an 'actiony' movie to satisfy his 'straight guy' needs. While Jasper was somewhat glad his sexuality was still something he could hide (it had been a necessity for parts of his life, and also no one's fucking business) he suddenly didn't want Edward to think he was straight anymore. Throughout dinner there had been moments of correction in Edwards voice when he spoke about things…as if he were checking himself before he said anything possibly too gay that might upset him. And he didn't want that.

Jasper wanted Edward to know him. He hadn't given much away himself that night and Edward had been as open as a book about himself, obviously not hiding his sexuality but not wanting to make Jasper, the supposed straight guy freaked out. And Jasper didn't want that. This was a bold move on his part. He had never actually come out to anyone other than his own thoughts. But while he couldn't tell Edward so much about his life, he wanted this man to know at least the one thing he wasn't ashamed of.

Finally Edward whirled about holding a DVD case in his hand. The cover was actually one he recognized and was one of his favorite movies. The Boondock Saints.

"I think you'll like this one," Said Edward looking relieved. " It has a lot of action and stuff in it and those cool movie lines that everyone likes to quote."

Jasper thought for a second, cocked his head to the side and took a deep breath.

"Well I know it does but ta be honest I would much rather watch it to see that Sean Patrick Flannery without his shirt one. He's pretty hot."

To be continued…

I am evil, are I not? I hope you all like it! I cranked this one out! Reviews are love!

Love Maira