As Always much thanks to all of your kind comments and suggestions. I am always so humbled by the responses.
This chapter was much faster than the other and probably not as long but its short sweet and leaves you wanting more I hope.
Miss Misty Haze who is quickly becoming the most awesome person I know helped me so much with this! So this chapter is partially for her! Cause she rocks and only we can understand each others dirty minds
This chapter is also for Christian one of my good friends who is much the inspiration for Seth and who works at Starbucks. Drinking his frappichinos there is very much the reason for the setting of this first part! Love you boo boo!
Anyways I hope you all enjoy it! Love you all!
Edward's de calf chocolate chip Frappuccino was a truer form of heaven if he ever tasted one. The perfect blend of chocolate and oodles of caramel, dripping from the sides of the cup, the coffee soaking into his skin making him giddy with joy at the jolt that was to come and whipped cream coating his tongue in a way that only a certain other sweet white substance could.
He blushed but couldn't help it.
Starbucks was, in way of fact, a life giving and pleasure receiving realm of divine comfort in this otherwise sucky world.
Especially at Christmas time.
It was an early afternoon on Wednesday and Edward was sitting in the 11th Avenue Starbucks in his plum colored express V neck cashmere sweater and gray tweed pants, matching the décor beautifully. He tapped his fingers against the table staring with glowing eyes at the pretty decorations hanging from the ceiling and adorning the roaring fire place. There weren't a lot of people in here at this time of day…maybe 5 others all lost in their own conversations leaving him to ponder the way his life had been the past week.
Jasper had redefined his world since their first meeting in the beginning of December. The quiet man who lived down the hall who had started out as a mere curiosity few weeks earlier had now swept into his world which pervaded much of his time. Since the freak accident a week ago Jasper had been an almost constant quiet presence in his day now. Though during the day while Edward was cooking up a storm for his holiday food orders, he would always sneak to the peep hole in his door and watch as Jasper would exit at around 11 every day. Every time he left though, he would always return later around 6 and softly pad down to his apartment asking in his shy southern accent if he could 'maybe stay and just hang' while Edward made his dinner.
There was such a defeated sad look on his face that even if he hadn't wanted him there with every fiber of his being Edward couldn't have turned him away. So instead, he was more than happy to sit Jasper down at his wooden butcher block table while he cooked and packaged his meals for his clients.
They talked now…really talked. Well…ok, so Edward did most of the talking but Jasper would chime in a lot more now, offering nuggets of information about himself that Edward stored away as precious parts of this man who since his outburst in his sickbed had been as quiet and docile as a lamb.
It was as if he was afraid to raise his voice or make any sudden movements for fear that he might scare Edward away. He thought this was very funny at times since Edward usually was the one holding the butcher knife waving it around in true Italian hand talking fashion.
But things had changed since then and now there was this quiet (well not so quiet on his part) friendship that he looked forward to every night, growing and glowing with promise of perhaps something more.
If only that which they had ignored for so long would no longer be just that.
But it sadly was and the mystery of Jaspers past that continued to haunt their conversations. Though Edward believed that his neighbor was as honest with him as he had ever been in his life, he was also positive that the man's life was still a huge void. As far as Edward new he had grown up in Texas and had moved here 2 months ago. He had no past, just a bleak present that gave a new meaning to the word 'man of mystery'.
Edward wasn't starry eyed enough anymore to believe that anyone with a past was as dark and sexy as….ok maybe he did think it was completely sexy but still!
This contradiction called for major intervention.
He needed advice from in the way only another out and seasoned gay man could give.
He needed Seth Avery Clearwater.
Coming back to reality as he took a sip of his drink Edward heard the bell on the door chimed and a wave of snowy cold rushed in whirling with it the fabulousness that was Seth.
How could Edward truly ever describe Seth? The boy he had known in high school and had grown up with in the good times and bad. Through circle jerks and the first forays into porn, from long nights of clubbing to hangover food in the morning. From bad boyfriends and good ones, to the end of innocence they had been together.
But that was only one side of Seth.
If Edward had to psychically describe Seth in one way it would be that he was the kind of man who wore his sun glasses at night to the bar because they were 'Coach sun glasses damn it!' and 'beauty knows neither time nor occasion and morning and night do not exist when it comes to the mother of all brands'…
He was the best dresser Edward had ever known. Every hair was always in place, his shirts all pressed, and his pants impeccably molded to show off his bubble butt to perfection. He wore bright colors that complemented his beautiful chocolate toned skin and made his brown eyes like twin coco truffles gleaming out with spark and vitality.
Seth was a regional manager of a slew of Express clothing stores and it showed in every inch of his demeanor. He may have been 25 but he was as witty and shrewd as any 50 year old white collar administrator. He ruled the stores with the iron fistful of flowers that only a gay man could do…he had 90% of the employees backing him at all times and the other ten percent were either too stupid to get behind him or were jealous of his rise to young success.
The cell phone his ear was currently glued to was Seth's link to the stores he governed and if he was taking a call from a store that would have explained the exasperated look on his face and the roll of his eyes.
"For God's sake, Sarah!" he exclaimed and Edward chuckled watching as his friend rolled his eyes throwing up his free arm in the air. "It's not rocket science! Orange is never going to be the new pink and you know it so don't keep bugging me about this 'idea' of putting those hideous feathered cami's with the lime green skirts again...no, I don't care if that's what the company wants they are idiots and you know it! …Ok, then call me when it's done and then well discuss the purple tights….chow!"
Seth clicked off his iPhone and smiled apologetically at Edward.
"Sarah again?" said Edward knowingly.
"Who else would want to put orange and green together in a way that makes a grandma couch from the 1970's look fashionable?" Seth eased himself out of his gray pea coat revealing a soft pink button down with a dark fuchsia and plum tie. "I swear she has never picked up an issue of Cosmo in her life! I have to teach her everything!"
" Now Seth dear, you know that we as gay men were put on this earth to do many great things…but our greatest mission is to teach the poor uneducated masses that difference between a Versace bag and a Guess purse."
His friend rolled his eyes, "If I could get that far with her I would run down the street in my undies…I hired her because she had retail experience but never did I think that working at Wal-Mart for 5 years could do such damage to a girl's sense of fashion!" He looked up at the counter and the girl behind gave him a wave and a nod. Everyone here knew that on Wednesdays Seth Clearwater got a Venti white chocolate mocha with 2% milk and extra whipped cream.
Seth looked back at Edward and folded his hands in front of him.
"So where have you been these past few days? Christmas shopping getting the best of you?"
Edward smiled and took a sip of his drink. "Nope…"
"Have your food orders been hectic?"
"A little but I have most of it completed and it's all ready to be delivered at the end of the week."
Seth sighed in exasperation and leaned back, "Edward! What are you…" he stopped and blinked then his eyes narrowed into knowing crinkles, "It's that neighbor of yours isn't it?"
Despite the seriousness of what had been going on since they last spoke Edward couldn't help but feel the butterflies flutter in his stomach at the thought of Jasper, and he giggled nodding.
Seth bounced up in excitement exclaiming, "Oh my god! You naughty boy! What have you been up to?"
"I have not been naughty!" cried Edward laughing.
"Well you have been doing something! I recognize that twitter pated look on your face like I can spot a fake Coach wallet! You tell me right now!"
"Well there really isn't much to tell right now…"
"Oh, there is plenty to tell you just don't know how to say it! So let me start! Has he made a move yet?"
"For Moses sake Seth! We've known each other for hardly 2 weeks now!" said Edward.
"As if that matters!" He stopped as the waitress dropped off his mocha.
Before Seth could say more Edward spoke.
"It's not that nothing has happened because a lot has happened but…it's kind of messy."
Seth looked at him thoughtfully then and asked, "How messy?"
He smirked a little, "Sarah's fashion sense comes in at a close second in the messy department."
As they sat he told his friend exactly what had been going on…from the nice dinner and the confession, the late night terror and now the friendship and the feelings he was having about this man that had been starting to take ahold of his life. All the while Seth listened intently, occasionally reaching over and squeezing Edwards hand when he got emotional talking about the scars on Jaspers body, and the lonely haunted look in his blue eyes. It was nice to finally have someone to confide in. Someone who might understand.
"And that's where I'm at now. I like him…I like him a lot! He's so sweet and quiet and gentle Seth, like this big bad guy who is really a sweet heart but has no idea how to even go about bringing it out to the surface. He tells me things now about himself but I have a feeling that Jasper has something he always wants to tell me but he just…can't…or won't."
"Do you think…he's dangerous? Or that this thing might be something bad?"
Edward ran a hand through his hair sighing, "He would never hurt me…of that much I know. He always is so careful and sad…Seth, he's just so sad. As for the withheld information…That I am also certain that it is something bad…something horrible happened to him. But I have no idea what or even how to help him? Do I even want to? I mean this is something huge, something I am not even sure I want to get that involved with. But the thing that is scaring me isn't that it's something so awful that I'd run…it's the fact that right now with all these signs pointing to the fact that Jasper has more baggage than you on a 1 week vacation…is that I don't want to run. I want to stay and help him…fight to bring that smile on his face and give him happiness…but that's wrong…isn't it? Or maybe not wrong but…certainly not healthy for me right?
They were silent for a moment. Edward thought that he had asked a rhetorical question that Seth wouldn't have any answer to…but after a moment his friend spoke up in his unusually wise way.
"When Sam and I had been dating for a year, things had been going so well. You remember, right? We were so happy we did everything together and each day was better than the last. We hardly ever fought…accept about one thing. His family. I have never told you this but I have only ever been on the reservation once to meet Sam's parents and brothers and sisters.
Taking a long sip of his coffee, Seth smiled a little.
"I was so young at the time…21, I think? Anyways, I always tried to be understanding of how he didn't want me to meet his family. I told myself that it was his prerogative and that when he was ready he would take me. But after a long time…being still sort of immature doubt about whether or not he was ashamed of me and our relationship started to seed in my heart. After all, my parents had met him…and Leah too. He knew all of my friends and I couldn't wrap my mind around the answer he would give me every time I asked about taking a trip to La Push. He would say, 'It's not worth the trouble, Seth' and leave it at that. But eventually one day I had pushed enough that he had grudgingly agreed to take me down there."
At this Seth's usually cheerful eyes saddened and he looked far away for a moment.
"I never knew what poor was until I drove onto that reservation. Even though I am also Quileute, my grandma and grandpa left La Push long ago, and my parents never came back. There I was standing in my Express polo with my Calvin Cline jeans and my D&G bag and Seth pulled up to the saddest house I had ever seen, a house that the paint was peeling off and the door was barely hinged on. Everything in the world around me was brown and black and ugly… even the trees looked less green there. I remember the neighbors watching us as we walked to the door, Sam's hand clutching my shoulder and his eyes tight as we walked up the porch stairs. But if I thought that it would get better inside away from the hallow stares of the people living around us, and the bleak surroundings I was so wrong, Edward. Sam's family was…how can I put this nicely…They were hesitant, or maybe scared. But for whatever reason they all looked at me as if I was some kind of alien being…not for being gay but for even giving their son the time of day. And I know this because Sam's mother asked me over dinner what the hell I even saw in Sam. Why would I even be here for a boy born into a trash family in a trash home? Sam's face was so white he looked like he saw a ghost. Of course, I told her that it didn't matter and that I loved him no matter what but everyone at that dinner table including my boyfriend hardly looked convinced. She told me good luck but her son was just as worthless as the rest of them and that he belonged back here with his own kind…I reached over to take Sam's hand but he shook me off. That stung more than anything.
When we were leaving and we walked outside, his mother and father waiting on the porch watching us leave, Sam halted for a moment and grabbed me by the shoulders but he wouldn't meet my eyes…sort of how you described Jasper when he talks to you. And he said, 'Seth, she's…right you know. I don't belong with you…' In that moment I understood why he had been so hesitant and how he could bear to look at me…he was ashamed but it wasn't of me."
Now Seth's smiled returned, " So looking around at all of the whispering neighbors, his mom and dad watching us with disbelief I did the only thing I could do…I gave him the biggest most showy kiss I had ever given up to that point. I let all those people know that he was mine and I was his and even if we came from different planets that we still could fit together like chocolate and milk. No shame and no hesitation on that level baby!"
Edward was grinning like an idiot at the story and his heart filled with hope and joy at the tale of his two very good friends overcoming the odds.
"So you think that he's…just ashamed? That it has nothing to do with…"
"I'm positive Edward that it has very little to do with you and a lot to do with him… we all have secrets but sometimes others are worse than ours. Give him some time and he'll tell you. But time is the key, and I think if you take it slow you'll be just fine…we shall see!" he giggled and licked the whipped cream off his straw.
Wanting to lighten the mood Edward had to interject a little humor.
"So what happened afterwards?" he asked though he suspected the answer.
Seth looked mock offended and put a hand over his heart. "Edward Cullen! A gentleman does not have roadside makeup sex and tell! Where is your propriety and virtue! I would never go into detail about how Sam just couldn't wait till we got home to fuck me senseless so he had to pull over and have his wicked way with me on right there on the highway!"
Edwards's sides hurt, he laughed so hard.
"Honestly Edward! You are just so eager and horny sometimes!"
The phone ringing was always a good sign as far as Jasper was concerned. It meant that maybe an employer had read his resume and had simply over looked his criminal record and wanted to interview him immediately.
It was a quiet Wednesday and he had been sitting with the 'want ads' in front of him waiting for Edward to return.
Jasper truly did not want to examine to closely how this whole relationship was turning out to be something he was quickly becoming obsessed with.
But he couldn't help it.
Everything now was going a little better and he wanted to keep it that way. He felt better, limited his drinking to once a day and was actually trying to keep his home in the order that Edward had put it into. And he was learning things about himself too. As Edward was answering questions about his own intrests and likes he also was coaxing out things about himself that he had never known. Like that his favorite season was fall, that he loved bluegrass music in particular a remembered band called The Hot Club of Cow Town. He found out he loved the cinnamon smell that came from the candles Edward burned and that the beautiful church bells from down the road gave him chills. And his favorite color was that of the ever present green eyes watching him learn all about himself. Jasper felt like a glass jar being filled with things little by little, becoming fuller and fuller with each passing day.
The only thing he really wanted right now though was a job offer.
So when the phone rang he raced to answer it, anticipation clenching his stomach as he unhooked the receiver and spoke into it.
"Hello?"
"Well hey there Jasper. Good ta hear my favorite soldier's voice."
He froze.
That voice…that evil sneaky soft voice that had whispered to him from the shadows for years now. That voice that had given him nothing but pain since he was 12 years old. That voice that told him to beat and maim and sell and kill…
That voice that belonged to the Leader of the gang known as the Texas Suckers.
A gang, in which he had happily been involved with, had pledged his life to.
"James?" Jasper hissed.
"That's right ya crazy bastard…I have a job for ya to do…if you're interested."
Not the job offer he was hoping for.
To be continued MWHAHAHAHAHAH! LOL
Xoxo Maria/Philomina