A/N: Mew! That is all.

"Are you buying this?" Edward sat by Rosalie because he was sure she would be on the same page. No one else was, but Rosalie could be trusted with this kind of thing.

His sister-in-law raised an eyebrow. "Buying what?" She looked across the room to where Alice and Esme were talking as though they were old friends. "The great savior appearing out of nowhere?"

Edward snorted. "Exactly. It's a tall tale."

Rosalie hummed, but she didn't speak right away. "I don't trust her."

Now it was Edward's turn to quirk an eyebrow at her tone. "But?"

She sighed. "Jasper is a good liar. We all have cause to know that, but the thing about his lies was they were seamless. He's such a good liar that it seemed crazier not to believe him. You're right. This sounds like a tall-tale." She frowned. "And that's why it's more likely to be the truth."

Edward grunted, turning that over in his head. He watched as Alice reached over to touch Bella's arm and then whisper something in her ear. Bella grinned and laughed.

In the meantime, Jasper and Emmett were tramping through Carlisle and Esme's damp backyard with the kids. They were all armed with nerf weapons of some kind. Edward huffed as he watched Vera try to climb Jasper like a jungle gym. He reached down, pulling her up and propping her at his side. He made a throwing motion and pointed at Emmett. Vera obediently hurled her nerf ball at her father and gave a gleeful squeal when it hit its target. "She's warmed up to him," Edward said to Rosalie, watching Jasper and Vera exchange a high five.

"Yeah, well. Kids are easy. She saw how much fun he was having with Henry, and she wanted in on that action. Hold a kid upside down by their ankles, and they'll love you forever."

"What about you?"

"You mean where does Jasper stand with me?" She scoffed. "He's like the bee buzzing around the family picnic. You don't want to swat him just for daring to be in the same place as you are, but he has a stinger and he keeps flying near everyone you love."

"Bees only get to use their sting once. Then they die."

One of the kids let out a screech as Jasper dove at Emmett, sending him tumbling to the damp grass. They wrestled, trading insults as though they were preteens again and not adults in their thirties. Rosalie shook her head. "Sometimes it's too easy to pretend the whole thing never happened."

Edward's throat closed off as he watched Kaylee wrestle her way between her uncles to join in the fun. "Not for me."

Rosalie gave him an apologetic look. "I'm just saying, I know Emmett is right in a way. Jasper isn't all the bad things. Jasper was the one I called, you know. Back in high school when it happened." She took a shuddering breath, her expression far away. "When I couldn't talk to anyone else, I could talk to him. I don't know why. He made it easy when it was impossible with everyone else. The high school love of my life raped me, and I didn't know what to feel besides guilt. He helped me through all that bullshit. He was always good with fucked up people, and I haven't forgotten that.

"But the fucked up thing about that is Jasper was also right."

Edward cocked an eyebrow, waiting for her to elaborate. She'd wrapped her arms around herself, her shoulders hunched inward. "When it happened, my parents didn't believe me. You know, Royce ripped my soul apart, but that almost killed me. Until Jasper convinced me I didn't have to keep poisonous people in my life even if they're family. Even if I love them.

"That's what it feels like a lot of the time: poison. I look at him and I remember how bad it got, and I'm angry. I'm so fucking angry every time I see him."

A small, sad smile tugged at her lips, and Edward followed her gaze to see Emmett helping Jasper to his feet. He pulled his stepbrother up into a backslapping hug, and they both grinned. Rosalie made a disgruntled noise. "See? It's not easy. I keep trying to hate him, but he makes my husband really happy. And your parents. They're worried. Sometimes they all dance around each other like they were walking on eggshells, but there's this sense of peace that was just missing before.

"So, I don't know, Edward. Long story really short, I don't know what to think about Jasper anymore. I know I'm still angry. I know I don't trust him not to fuck it all up again. And I definitely don't trust anyone he considers a friend." Rosalie shrugged. "But I'll tell you one thing, that girl is in love with your brother."

At that, Edward sat up straight. "What?"

"Stop trying to look at her as a potential junkie-though I know it's tempting, she's unique, that one-and start looking at her as a normal human being. It's pretty obvious. And he's into her too. They've got that whole magnets-being-held-back thing going on. You know, like you and Bella when she was still with him." She rolled her eyes. "You two were the worst. My God. If you were in the same room together, it was all longing looks. Then you would somehow find yourself getting closer and closer until one of you got self-conscious and made yourself pull back."

Edward's cheeks flamed. "We didn't-"

"Oh, yes you did." She pointed surreptitiously at Jasper as he walked back into the house. "Watch."

Edward watched as Jasper wandered into the kitchen. He walked first toward the fridge, and Edward had to tell himself he was just imagining things now that Rosalie had put ideas in his head. But no. As he watched Jasper take a long drink of a bottle of water, it became obvious he was listening to the conversation going on at the table. He closed the fridge door, his head tilted in their direction. After a few seconds, he wandered over and sat down. Directly opposite Alice though the closest seat was to Esme's right. Another five seconds and he was leaning on his elbows on the table, obviously listening to every word Alice said. And though she had been sitting back in her chair to that point, Alice shifted so she too was leaning on the table, her hand dangerously close to Jasper, though she kept her attention on Esme.

"Oh, hell," Edward said under his breath. He looked back to his sister-in-law. "Bella and I were worse?"

"Disgusting. Cute but disgusting." Rosalie playfully elbowed him in the side. "For what it's worth, I always shipped you two even when I wasn't supposed to. But anyway, I'm just saying. If you're trying to figure out why she helped out a stupid stranger junkie… love at first sight works as well as anything. Not saying I buy it, but there's that remote possibility."

"What is it with you people that you can't grasp the concept a good reason to save a man's life is because it's the right thing to do?"

Edward and Rosalie both jumped and looked up to find Alice staring at them. Her arms were crossed but her expression and tone were more amused than anything.

Rosalie's easy expression faded away in an instant. She stood in that regal way of hers, never dropping Alice's gaze, and smiled with saccharine sweetness. "I think it's time for Vera's nap," Rosalie said and walked away without a second glance.

Alice watched her go but after a moment, she turned back and, to Edward's surprise, plopped down next to him on the couch. "Look, I'm not a really big fan of playing nice when you know people are talking behind your back. I'm a straight-talk kind of girl. So here I am. Ask me what you want to, and I'll answer you honestly."

"You're blunt, aren't you?" Edward asked, amused in spite of himself.

"That's what I just said, isn't it?" She smiled at him and waved a hand.

Edward considered for a moment, but she was right. He wanted answers. "I understand why you saved him. And thank you for that. Honestly."

Her expression softened an iota, and she nodded. "You're welcome."

"A lot of people would have helped him when he was a stranger bleeding to death in an alley." Edward shivered. He didn't like to think of his brother that way. "From what you said earlier, your job and all that, you're not rich."

"No. I'm not rich."

"Then maybe you can explain to me how a not-rich person affords a clinic for a complete stranger." People didn't just do that. There was a lie here somewhere, and Edward was going to find it.

Alice screwed her lips up to one side, looking slightly abashed as she thought over her answer. "There are three trips I want to take. All of them are overseas so you know how much money that is."

Edward's eyebrows arched for his hairline. "You're telling me you spent the trip money you'd been saving up on a stupid homeless drug addict?"

Her eyes narrowed. "That is a hell of a way to talk about your brother."

"He's my brother. If it had been me in that hospital room, pissed or not I would have helped him. What was he to you?"

"At the time? Nothing. It's hard to explain." She tapped her chin, thinking. "You ever read Chuck Palahniuk? He wrote Fight Club."

"Yeah, I know him."

"Well, in Choke, one of the things the main character does for money is he pretends to choke on something at a restaurant specifically so people will save him. And this makes him money because the person who saved him feels responsible for him. So when they keep in touch after the saving, the guy drops in an innocent line here and there about how he's broke or he needs this or needs that. The savior sends the money."

"You're comparing Jasper to the guy who swindles people out of their money?"

"No." She sounded exasperated. "I'm comparing myself to the ordinary people who thought they saved a life." She shook her head, and her expression became guarded, her shoulders hunched. She looked like Rosalie had when she talked of her rape. "I'll bottom line it for you. Yes, there are places I want to go and things I want to see, but I live a very solitary life. There are a lot of reasons for that. The thing about those trips is… I want to go, but I want to be able to share it with someone, and I have no one.

"So again, I don't really know how to explain it. No one is just one thing. The worst people aren't just one thing. It's probably easy to say it's pointless to waste money on a stupid drug addict, as you put it. Thing is, in practice, stupid drug addicts are a little more complex than all that." She nodded in Jasper's direction, and Edward didn't miss the way his brother paused in his conversation with Carlisle to smile at Alice. "Just a guy who didn't know how to get back home. So I took a chance. I took a chance on both of you."

"Both of us?"

"I took a chance on him that he would get better. Beating addiction isn't easy. I'm not an idiot. And I took a chance on you, your family, that you would take him back. Not every family would have." Something flashed in her eyes and she looked away. "Mine wouldn't have."

"Well that's stupid. Family should be unconditional. You should always be able to come home."

Alice raised her head and fixed him with a pointed look. "This from the guy with the charming monologue the first night he came back? What was my favorite part? 'Fuck you for coming back. You could have had the courtesy to die alone in an alley with a needle in your arm.'"

Edward winced and he crossed his arms. "He told you that." He shook his head, defensive. "I was angry."

"I'm not judging you. You were angry, and you were cruel." Edward opened his mouth to argue, but she talked over him. "The fact your anger was justified doesn't make your cruelty right. Understandable, yes. I'm not judging you," she repeated, more emphatically this time. "But the thing is, whatever Jasper did to you and your family, it doesn't mean he gave up his right to feel. Yes, he tells me most things. He's got to talk to someone, and it can't be any of you. You and your family are the only people left who can hurt him."

Edward gritted his teeth, angry though he couldn't put his finger on why. "You think you can't? You got him dependent on you. You think you won't hurt him when you get sick of this Florence Nightingale routine and wander back out of his life?"

To his surprise, Alice laughed. "Edward Cullen, are you being protective?"

Irritated by her blasé attitude, Edward stood and glared down at her. "I'm not a child. Maybe I haven't seen the things he's seen or that you've probably seen, but I'm not an idiot. Something that looks too good to be true usually is. So I'm waiting for the catch. I'm waiting for the other shoe to drop. Jasper's come so far, and I want to believe he's better. I want to believe he won't be the guy who was even capable of doing what he did to this family ever again. I don't want to lose my brother. I don't trust you not to hurt him, not to be the one who drags him back over, and I don't trust him to be strong enough to resist."

He walked away then, fuming and generally just needing to be out of there. He headed for the stairs and sprinted up them to hide in his childhood bedroom. He lay on top of his bed for a long time, his jaw clenched so hard it ached. Memories, Alice's words, and Edward's own fears and doubts flitted across his thoughts, none of them settling into anything rational.

He thought of Emmett and Jasper wrestling, of the brotherly camaraderie that Emmett made look easy. There was a twist in his gut that took Edward a while to figure out was jealousy. He was jealous that Emmett got to be Jasper's brother. Just his brother-that special brand of friend that was only meant for siblings, adopted or not.

So many of Edward's memories of this room, this house, were of Jasper. He'd revered both his elder brothers, but Jasper had been more patient than Emmett. Where Emmett had teased him when he was scared of the dark, Jasper was the one who climbed into his bed so he could fall asleep feeling protected. Oh, like any big brother, there were times when Edward irritated the hell out of him, but Jasper had adored him once.

There were other wasn't anything concrete, but now that Edward thought back, he seemed to recall a heaviness to the atmosphere whenever Jasper came home from a visit with his father. He was always quieter. Different. Edward remembered he didn't understand, and he would bug Jasper until he agreed to play. If he could play, everything was fine.

Edward had only been a little boy, so he didn't blame himself for not recognizing Jasper needed someone to talk to then. Still, he wondered if things could have been different.

It didn't matter now. The past couldn't be changed.

Alice was right about one thing. Edward and the rest of the family were huge stressors for Jasper. He wasn't so blinded by his own anger that he couldn't see that. And Alice was right about the fact Jasper deserved the chance to express his emotions, and it couldn't be with them.

But if Alice turned out to be bad news, if something went wrong, who would Jasper have to turn to then?

Edward was interrupted from his thoughts by the bedroom door opening. He looked up and smiled when Bella walked in. She smiled back, closed the door behind her, and got in bed with him without a word. He hooked his leg over hers and pulled her close, brushing her nose with his.

"If you want to make out, we're going to have to be quiet. Your parents are going to be pissed if they find you snuck a girl into your room," Bella whispered.

Edward snickered, the last of his anxiety easing as he pressed his lips to hers.

"Dinner's ready," she said between kisses. The words vibrated on his lips.

He hummed and kissed her again. For a few minutes, she let him, then she smacked his arm. "Come on, Cullen. Your demon spawn is finally letting me eat. We have to get downstairs before I chew your face off."

"Demon spawn, hmm?" He snaked his hand beneath her shirt and pressed his palm to the taut little ball of her abdomen. He stroked his thumb over it wonderingly. "Ah, Bella. I'd give you anything, but it would be a shame to let you chew off this particular face." He pointed to himself and smirked.

Bella rolled her eyes and got up, tugging at him up with her. "If this kid has anywhere near your ego, I'm so screwed."

~0~

Edward surprised everyone a few days later by offering up his car so Jasper could take Alice to the airport. Bella was at work, and Jacob had taken Kaylee to the park when Jasper came back.

It was immediately obvious that Jasper was sad as he got out of the car, but he made an attempt at a smile as he handed the keys back to Edward. "Thanks."

"Not a big deal." Edward bit the inside of his cheek, wishing this wasn't so damn awkward. "Mom was about to volunteer to drive you. I thought you might want a little more privacy than that."

Jasper's head shot up, and his expression cautious but his cheeks pink with a slight blush. "I, uh… Yeah. Mom always has a lot of questions."

"Yeah. I bet she would have had a bunch of questions when you kissed Alice goodbye."

Jasper's eyes widened and he took a step back. "How the… Why… Who?"

Edward had to grin, and then, that felt so good his grin turned into a full blown chuckle. "You like her," he said with a teasing tone though he knew he must have sounded like a junior high school kid.

Jasper ducked his head, but not before Edward caught the small smile. "Yeah, well." He shrugged.

"She likes you," Edward said, not asking.

"No accounting for taste, I guess."

With that admission, some of the humor drained from the situation, and Edward found himself worrying again."So what, are you adding a long-distance relationship to your list of stresses?"

Jasper blinked at him, looking so baffled it should have been funny, but Edward couldn't blame him. There was a surreal feel to this whole conversation. Edward couldn't remember the last time they'd spoken like this, as brothers might. Maybe the night Jasper told him Bella was pregnant. "Do you really care?" Jasper asked.

Edward considered that. He huffed out a breath, looking anywhere but at his brother. "Yeah, I care."

"Why the hell would you care about my love life?"

"I don't actually care about your love life. I care about you." Edward rubbed the back of his neck. "You just...you have a lot to deal with as it is; that's all." He cut off, feeling more lame than he ever had.

Jasper suddenly pulled him in and gave him a gentle noogie as he laughed. Edward shoved him backward and ran his fingers through his hair, irritated, but not really. Jasper offered a tentative smile. "I'd say you don't have to worry about me, but that's a pretty stupid thing to say, all things considered." He shifted his weight. "I don't know what we're doing, if you want to know the truth. I don't think you can call it a long-distance relationship, because we haven't talked about it like that. She's doing her thing, and I'm doing mine, and yeah, whatever, we like each other. This is like one of those normal things, right? Like yeah, it could blow up in my face, but unlike the other things I've done, it can't kill me, or get me arrested, or permanently alter my brain chemistry."

Edward huffed. "I don't know about it not permanently altering brain chemistry."

"Hah, well. You have a point there."

Edward shifted his weight. "Anyway." He rubbed the back of his neck. "I'll take you home."

They were mostly silent on the short car ride to their parents' house. Jasper thanked Edward again and got out, but before he could walk away, Edward called his name. "Um. How about lunch? On Wednesday?" he asked, when his brother turned back.

Jasper's eyebrows quirked, but he managed to keep the shocked look from his face this time. "Yeah. Oh, wait. Fuck. No. I have an interview."

"Really?"

"Yeah. A non-graveyard shift type job above minimum wage. How 'bout them apples?"

"Awesome. I can drive you if you want, and we can go eat afterward."

Jasper smiled. "Yeah. I'd like that."

A/N: Many thanks to songster and barburella. My friends are made of ossim.

SO. I'm thinking just a few more chapters left to go… we'll see. I have some plans, but these fuckers always do whatever the hell they want, so who knows.