A/N: My "thank yous" got so long I put them at the bottom. Up here, I want to thank my beta, siouxchef, who is always there to hold my hand and reassure me. I very much also appreciate the fabulous Ninapolitan for allowing me to write another Friday Free For All. Below is my Oscar-length "thank you" list.

This is part two of the The Trip Home Prequels, where we learn more about Edward and Jasper and their journey before Bella. Bella has started talking to me recently, explaining that she wants a turn. I suspect she will be the next Prequel to show up in your mailbox, so if you want to read it, make sure you are on the alerts. I don't know yet how detailed or in-depth it will be, or even what it will cover – I suspect she'll recap life, and a few dating partners with some details, but no true lemons.

All copyright and trademarked items mentioned herein belong to their respective owners. The remaining content is all mine. No copying or reproduction of this work is permitted without my express written authorization.

When last we left our boys...

EPOV

He kissed my thigh after releasing me from his mouth, and slid up my body. Rolling to one side of me, we lay there together trying to catch our breath. So many thoughts swirled in my brain, but the ones that stood out the most were simply, What the fuck did we just do, and, when can we do it again?

***

I knew this wasn't another incident we could go months without talking about. This, we had to address. Not just the progression of our physical relationship, but the realization that there was genuinely something more between us. As we lay there panting, chests rising and falling in synchronicity, my heart clenched painfully.

Jasper gave me no time to get lost in my sea of emotion, however. His hand fell into mine and he pulled me to standing. As Jasper led me into the bathroom, he squeezed my hand a few times. When the water was running and warmed up, he tugged my hand and brought us under the hard spray.

Once we were wet, Jasper leaned in to kiss me. I couldn't quite place everything that had changed between our last kiss and this one, I just knew it was different. The intensity was so much greater, the passion flamed hotter and our need for each other seemed to lick at the edges of our skin.

My hands moved down his body and wrapped around his hard cock. The excitement that I was going to be face-to-face with him as I touched and pleasured him this time was palpable. I felt his hand on my own dick as we stroked each other together. His whole body pressed to mine and I rested back against the cool tile of the shower walls.

As our bodies slid together, water providing the slightest bit of slickness between us, I felt Jasper's mouth on my neck. When his teeth scraped the surface of my skin, my body tensed and I came without warning. My forehead rested on his shoulder and I looked down to watch us moving together. My fingers glided over his thickness, then I wound my hand around his head, palming the very tip of him. On my next downstroke, I gripped tighter, wanting to watch his orgasm as it happened. Several strokes later, he let out a deep noise and I watched as he came.

Exhaustion began to take over and we rinsed off quickly. Our touches had changed and morphed, exchanged with intent and affection. We dried each other off and I raised an eyebrow at my bed, a silent invitation.

That was the first night Jasper and I slept in the same bed. Most of the night, I watched him. I watched as sleep gently took him under. Unlike me, he didn't fight it, he went gracefully into the night. The muscles in his face relaxed, except for the hint of a smile on his lips. The creases at his eyes softened and let go. His hair dried and I fought the urge to touch it constantly. To touch him. We were close to each other, closer than two "friends" would be in bed, but not wrapped up as lovers.

In the dark of night, I gave in to my body's need for rest, but even through sleep, my brain kept working overtime. Wondering what we were. What would we become.

The next week was fucking exhausting. Not only was I having trouble sleeping, desperately trying to find some meaning, some explanation of what my life had turned into, but Jasper was in prime game season. When I wasn't at school, studying in the library or in classes, I was watching as Jasper settled into his groove and began to dominate on the field. In the few years he had been playing with the Fire, he had grown as a player enough that even I could see a difference.

One winning match against a team I'd never remember, thirteen classes, six days and one hundred and seven hours had passed, give or take a few minutes. I did the math in my head quickly as my mind began to wake at his touches. It was early; my alarm hadn't yet gone off. Even on weekends, I had taken to getting up at the same time each day in order to stay in my routine.

Warm, wet kisses were landing on my legs. The sun was beating down in my room, blinds open to help me wake up in the mornings. I was hot, the blanket suddenly causing me to sweat and breathe harder. I wondered if I was dreaming. It wouldn't have been the first wet dream I'd had about Jasper. Whatever it was, I decided to go with it, reaching my hand down to touch any part of him I could. His hair felt soft under my fingertips as he kept placing those damn kisses all over.

As his upper body began to cover my lower half, the deliciously heavy weight of him unselfconsciously pressed against me, I grew harder. I made no attempt to stop the physical signs of my need as he crawled up, pulling my blanket to the side. My eyes were closed and I was certain I was not dreaming once he slid his lips around the head of my erection. I tipped my head, moaning softly, as he worked his mouth up and down, twisting and turning.

My fingers tugged through his hair, pushing and pulling, demanding of him where my words and voice failed me. I wanted and needed him so much, it was only moments later that I came. Jasper was kind and loving in his actions, licking and kissing me softly, gently, as he made his way up my body. I felt myself sliding deeper into the emotions we were sharing, and as he curled up next to my chest, I couldn't find it in me to care that I had no fucking clue what we were doing together.

The blare of the alarm clock woke us up next, and after a long shower together, we were dressed and ready for the day. We hung out together in the apartment while I did schoolwork and Jasper did... whatever it was Jasper usually did on days at home like that. The truth was, I hadn't paid very close attention to Jasper's everyday routines up until that point.

Around dinnertime, we agreed to go to Uno's, one of our favorite places to grab pizza and hang out. We each ordered a beer and a large pepperoni pizza to share. As we waited for the food to arrive, we talked about the usual random life events: school, work, family. After some time, Jasper leaned across the table and lowered his voice.

"I've missed you this week," he offered.

"I missed you, too."

His hand came across underneath the table and rested carefully on my knee.

"I've been trying to keep my head focused on the team, and let you get your studying done this week, in the hope that maybe we could spend some extra time together this weekend."

We looked at each other for a few moments before I spoke. "Thank you for being so considerate, Jasper..." I began, my eyes creased with worry. "I don't know what this is."

"Why does it have to be something? Why can't it just be us, Edward?" he whispered softly.

Our pizza arrived at our table, preventing either of us from debating it further in that moment, and we ordered another round of beers. As we devoured the hot, cheesy pizza, I thought about what Jasper said. Why did I always have to define and classify every little thing? Maybe just for once, I could go with the flow. Let things happen, not worry about them so much.

After we ate, we walked the short distance to the apartment. Jasper's hand grazed mine several times and I itched to hold it. Whatever this was, even if we didn't define it, it wasn't something either one of us was willing to share with the world just yet, if ever. Jasper had a lucrative career to worry about, and I wouldn't ever do anything to hurt that.

Once were inside, however, all bets were off. I barely had the door closed when Jasper pressed me up against it, his body hard and defined behind mine. He seemed overwhelmed with his need, hands gliding up underneath my t-shirt, wasting no time as he threw it off my body. Both hands came down the front, stopping to tweak my nipples quickly, and then went to the button on my pants. Before he had them unzipped, however, he pressed his length into me, and I wondered where we were headed.

As he muttered and swore, his hands left the waistband of my pants and ran back up my chest, pulling me back into him even more. I realized he was whispering, arguing with himself. I turned to face him, to try and decipher what was causing him so much pain and anguish. Once I could see his face, the answer was no more clear. I cupped his cheeks in my hands, tilting his eyes to meet mine.

"What's wrong?"

I started to worry he was having second thoughts – rethinking our informal arrangement? Relationship? Whatever it was that we had agreed to not define mere hours ago.

"I just... I can't... I wanna..."

The lines on his forehead creased heavily and I moved forward to kiss him softly.

"God, Edward," he groaned in my ear as I nipped at his collarbone. "I want to fuck you."

His voice was so small, so light, such a whisper. He what?

I stopped all movement as I processed what he said. I was wrapped up in worrying about him wanting to stop what we were doing, worried he was warring with himself over his feelings for me, and he wanted to... do that?

Setting my head on his shoulder, I composed myself. I'd had a few girlfriends go exploring before, but never to quite the extent I was sure Jasper wanted. And, my God, I knew the size of him, compared to dainty lady fingers. The thought almost made me cringe, but I trusted Jasper.

"I," I hesitated. I wasn't sure which words to use, how to phrase them, or what to say. Did I really want him to fuck me? Did I want to make love with him? What was I, sixteen and at my junior prom again? "I think I'd like that."

I pushed off the door, wanting Jasper to know I wanted it to happen. It wasn't just me acquiescing to his desires and needs, I wanted him just as badly once the thought settled into my head. I pressed my body to his gently at first, and then harder, making him walk backwards. Once we were in my room, he sat on the bed in front of me.

"Stop, wait," he breathed. "Do you have any lube?"

It took a few moments for the synapses to fire again in my brain, but I shook my head.

"I'll be right back."

He left the room and my thoughts slammed into me. Did I really want to do this? It was probably going to hurt, I realized. But then again, it hurts for girls the first time, too, right? Does it ever not hurt, I wondered. I mean, if all these people are doing it, there must be some pleasure in it eventually, right? What do you do fir-

My thoughts were cut off midway by Jasper walking back into the room. He had such a beautiful smile, I was caught off-guard by it. Jasper recaptured my attention with his hand snaking down my pants. As he took me in his hands, I closed my eyes and heard things landing on a soft surface and assumed it was the lube on the bed. He unbuttoned my pants then pushed them down with my boxers.

"Lay down," he said softly.

I opened my eyes to watch him as he took his clothing off, keeping his eyes trained on my body the entire time. My hand was lazily stroking myself as the last of his clothing hit the ground. Jasper crawled onto the bed next to me and took his time touching me everywhere. I tried to relax, letting my muscles loosen under his actions.

A soft sigh escaped my lips as he finally brought his back to mine and we kissed languidly for several minutes. I could feel his hardness against my thigh and I was eager to get things moving. I had no idea how to proceed, however.

"Jasper?"

Certain he could see the pleading in my eyes, I lifted my hips for extra emphasis. He chuckled and smiled at me.

"Patience, Edward. I don't want to hurt you. I'm going to take things extra slow and gentle."

There was a sweet, teasing quality to his voice, and it just made me want him even more. Once he was back to touching my legs, I saw him grab a bottle of clear liquid and open the cap. I watched between my calves as he poured the lube onto his fingers, rubbing them together carefully to warm it, and then reached out and touched me. He didn't go straight in for the kill, so to speak – he ran his fingertips up and down the length of my shaft, teasing me and sending me back to a place of bliss.

Now and then, his fingers would move lower, teasing me even further. He played my body perfectly, adding more of the slick lubricant as needed, which I knew only from the coolness against my skin and increased slippery feeling of his fingers. Eventually, he worked the tip of a finger inside of me. I was unsure, nervous, and he kept the right pace, using one hand to stroke me slowly and carefully as his other pressed the single finger further inside.

I watched as he added a second finger, again with careful precision and practice, watching the bottle drip slowly from his other hand. There was something entirely erotic about watching both of his fingers dip in and pull back out of my body, and once I relaxed and let go, the experience was pleasurable beyond what I had imagined, especially when I felt him rubbing softly over my prostate. The way his fingers slid across it, rubbing and stimulating, but not directly pressing, was driving me crazy.

Jasper reached to our side and grabbed a condom that I hadn't even seen. I sat up fairly quickly and snatched it from his hand, ripping it open. I figured out which side was up, then carefully rolled it down Jasper's waiting cock. Leaning forward a little more, I kissed him hungrily, ready to take this next step together.

Laying back down, I smiled at him and he smiled back. Even I had enough common sense to know that two fingers wasn't the head of his dick, but he had been true to his word, taking things slowly, and I had no reason to believe this would be any different. He poised his body over mine, then shifted his hand back lower on my body. He teased me again with his fingers, reminding my body of their previous acceptance of him, and then slowly guided himself to me. Jasper took his time rubbing the slippery tip of his erection over and around, pressing gently periodically and then returning to rubbing. He was working me into a frantic frenzy of need and want, and I was ready to press my body lower and just take him, but I wanted to move at his pace.

Finally, blissfully, he pressed the tip forward and into me, and it did hurt to begin with. I took a deep breath and attempted to relax my muscles again as he pulled back out. He repeated this movement, going mind-numbingly slowly forward each time, until he was able to pick up his pace and move deeper inside of me each time. I was aware of my body reacting, my vocal chords straining and making noise, but nothing seemed to exist in that space except for Jasper's body and mine.

Before I had time to think about touching myself, or asking Jasper to touch me, he was coming loudly. He was buried entirely inside of me and it made my own cock throb to think about what he was doing. As he pulled out of me, making sure to keep the condom on, and then dispose of it properly, I wondered if he was going to let me reciprocate the action.

We laid together on the bed and after a few minutes, I pressed myself against Jasper's body. I wanted to give him time to get used to the idea before I spoke the words out loud, if I could even bring myself to. He moaned into my mouth, which I took as a sign to proceed.

"Jasper, I want you to..." I stopped, needing to think about how I wanted to phrase it. I decided to just man up and say it. "Get on your knees."

He chuckled lightly, but complied. I picked up the small bottle and poured some of the lube onto my fingers. I began to tease him as he teased me, spreading the wetness around. I felt and heard him moan, his body pressing back against my hand. I pressed my fingertip in experimentally and he got louder, pushing back, and taking in more than just my fingertip. I raised an eyebrow, but went with it. As more of the cool liquid dripped from my other hand onto where our skin met, I added another finger.

"Edward," he moaned. "More, please."

"I'm just trying to be gentle, like you were. I don't want to hurt you," I explained. I understood the biology of the body parts we were playing with, so I knew the importance of warm-up at least.

"Fuck, this isn't how I wanted to have this conversation Edward, but this isn't my first time. Please," he begged. "Put on a condom and fuck me."

I was too horny to question, to be more curious, so I did as he asked. I unwrapped the condom, slid it down myself and positioned my cock at his opening. I still took my time getting him used to my body; he was Jasper, and I cared for him greatly (loved him, maybe?), and I would never want to cause him unnecessary pain.

Once he was showing no signs of being in pain, and every sign I knew of his pleasure hitting higher and higher, I began to thrust slightly faster. I was pulling out almost entirely and pushing back in as deep as I could each time, both of us panting and groaning. Jasper's head was turned to the side, his cheek resting on his arms as he willingly offered up his body for my pleasure, and I took it greedily.

My hands were on his hips, steadying myself, and helping to guide him as I wanted. I flexed back and forth, feeling my orgasm building from my toes. My knees were aching, breath escaping my lungs in short bursts, and my whole body began to tingle and cry out as I thrust into him faster. I shifted my right hand to Jasper's cock and began to stroke him in time with my thrusts.

"Jasper, fuck, I want you to come with me," I panted out.

A long, loud, low groan came from his body, and I felt him stiffen in front me. As his muscles contracted, I cried out. Even through the thickness of the condom, I could feel him around me and it was one of the best sensations I'd ever felt. I stilled, wanting to absorb every last moment of his body's reaction around mine, and came harder than I could remember ever coming before.

As I pulled back and out of his body, he groaned again, though time it was softer and more quiet. I moved my hand to his back, stroking over his body. I felt so close to him in that moment, so much love. I had no idea if it was romantic love, life-long partner love, or just love in gratitude for sharing the experience with me.

"Fuck."

Jasper's body began to shake with laughter, after he swore.

"What's wrong?"

"Edward, I just came all over your bedspread. If I had known you were going to do that, we should have... I don't know, found a different position, or a condom or something."

He was still laughing and I took that as a good sign. I moved off the bed, then helped him up and off as well. He grabbed my comforter and cleaned it up a bit before putting it in the washing machine. It was late, too late to stay up and wait for it to wash and dry, I realized.

We decided to take a shower together and it was lovely. It was a reminder of how we began these intimate moments together, except this time we cared for each other in a different way. I soaped his back and washed his hair, and he did the same for me.

As I laid in bed curled around Jasper, wrapped in a blanket drenched in his scent, I realized that the shift and change in our relationship was obvious, even if the definition wasn't. I had no idea then that it would be only a matter of months before we found Bella and complete the puzzle of our lives.

A/N2: Thanks to ninapolitan & manyafandom, who never fail to make me smile. To tby789, LolaShoes, Kassiah, siouxchef, bsabatino & moijojojo (and really, all the girls on Twitter), who seem to know just when I need a dose of love and are always happy to provide it. To adorablecullens & algonquinrt, who listen to me whine all fucking day, and never once tell me what a petulant bitch I am (perhaps they should start). To tarasueme, there just are no words for you, bb, you know them all already. To einfach mich & kimpy0464, who have both had to listen to late-night ramblings about a variety of topics I don't ever want to repeat, except in-person, with a beer or martini in my hand. Lady M and Angela of Alagaesia, you have been two of the most enthusiastic supporters on my Twilighted thread – thank you. Your enthusiasm and the love you show for this story is unbelievable, and really needs to be acknowledged. For that matter, I love the stuffin' out of everyone who takes the time to post on my Twilighted thread and review to tell me what you love/hate about this story, and I wish I had the space to call you all out by name. And, thank you to you – for reading this little oneshot of mine, and maybe for giving the TTH characters a first-time try on for size.