Disclaimer: S. Myer owns all, but what I wouldn't give for a Jasper of my very own-sigh.

A/N- I take 100% of the responsibility for this chapter if it sucks. This chapter was difficult at best, it still feels forced to me, but have been assured it does not come across that way. Also, any and all grammatical errors, pronoun fail, typos etc are mine-it went unbeta'd.

C Me Smile- thank you, for everything-you truly are my muse, full of inspiration, laughter and Jasper love.

Huge hugs and thanks to Dannie for holding my hand through this chapter, for making me smile when I didn't think I could, for the support, friendship and love. I wouldn't be here without you, sweetie.

To those that have read, thank you! I appreciate it very much.

"**~~**"

Battlefield

Location: Forks, WA (Heroic)

"**~~**"

We are young, heartache to heartache we stand
No promises, no demands
Love is a battlefield
We are strong, no one can tell us were wrong
Searchin our hearts for so long, both of us knowing-Pat Benatar

"**~~**"

Summer ended.

School began.

Hello, Senior year.

I had begun to slowly pick up the pieces to my broken life.

As I slid off my motorcycle in the parking lot of Forks High school on yet another dismal, but sunny day, the silver Volvo caught my attention when the sun reflected off the shiny paint. At first, I thought to quicken my pace and get inside before having to face either Edward or Alice, having seen little of Edward and none of Alice since our break up. Out of the corner of my eye, I saw Edward unfold from the Volvo, but saw no movement on the passenger side. Odd, Alice always got a ride to school from him.

As much as my mind willed my feet to moved, my heart kept them firmly in place as Edward approached me, his backpack slung over one shoulder, dark glasses in place, messed hair twisting toward the sky. I finished attaching my helmet to my bike just as he reached me. I stood tall, using those extra inches to my advantage, and faced him.

I had seen him twice briefly in the past two weeks. Once he had showed up to work, asking about my class schedule, wanting to compare our classes, and once at my house to see if I wanted to hit a movie with him. Of course, I had said yes and he drove us to the theater where we saw some stupid teen comedy, but it was enough to make me forget my shitty life for ninety minutes. Not an easy feat, trust me. I was still wallowing, although I had moved from the deep end to the shallow end. Guilt still plagued me over the end of my relationship with Alice, and every time I saw Bella with Mike, my stomach churned. It still hurt like a motherfucker to think about, but I had finally come to accept Bella and Edward's night together, trying to focus on the fact that Bella's first time was with some who loved her and not some random guy looking to add another notch to his belt.

Needless to say, I had still avoided all things Cullen, including their house, since Alice left me by her pool that night. The wound of our break-up still freshly bleeding, and Edward's dark green eyes just a bit too much a reminder of what I had fucked up so badly.

Of course, it never occurred to me to try to win her back. I accepted the clean break Alice had given us, not wanting to drag either of us back into a relationship we both realized I was never completely in to begin with.

I was surprised by Edward's reaction to the news of the end of Alice and I. Sure, I got the pursed lips and crossed brow, but overall his demeanor was still very…Edward. I had expected an outburst, at the very least, about how I had deflowered his sister but had not begged for her forgiveness. I'm not sure what Edward thought my future with Alice would have held, but I don't think he expected Alice and I to get married, live in our picket-fenced house with our two-point-five kids.

Alice was the only one that predicted that future.

For once, she had been wrong.

"Jasper," he nodded as he came to stop in front of me, combing fingers through his hair. "How's it going?"

Squinting into the sun, I put my keys in my pocket and shrugged. "Same old shit. You?"

He chuckled, and then nodded to a group of cheerleaders standing nearby, already in their uniforms showing off their long legs. "Think they'll finally learn any new cheers this year?"

I scoffed, "You got to be shitting me, Cullen. Seriously?" Was I asking about his subject matter, or actually replying to the question asked? I wasn't sure. I glanced over at them, three of them giggling and fawning over each, hair bouncing down their back, breasts bouncing in their front. When I turned back to Edward, it was there.

A full, wide as fuck grin on his face. Where the hell did that come from?

"What?" I looked down the front of me, checking for anything amiss, casually sliding my fingers to my fly, making sure everything was hidden and accounted for. His eyes followed my hand, watching me check my zipper.

"Welcome to Senior year, Jasper." His grin turned to a smirk. I appropriately rolled my eyes as he turned toward the front doors. With one last look at the cheerleaders to appreciate their new bouncier moves, I moved to catch up to Edward, my long legs covering the distance quickly. Slinging and arm casually around my shoulders, he leaned into me, almost whispering in my ear.

"You would look so hot in those one of those short skirts, baby."

I couldn't help but laugh as I pushed him away with a hand. "Fuck off ," I retorted. "Besides, you know green is my color, not red." A hearty laugh filled the air around us as we rounded the corner to the front door. I reached out and pulled it open for us, motioning him to enter."See you in Trig, Cullen." He nodded as he removed his sunglasses, folding them into his pocket.

"Later, Whitlock," he replied without looking back. I stood, a bit dazzled by the way he always worked his fucking mojo on me when I least expected. I was completely on his life raft now, having been dragged on without even realizing it, clinging to my savior once again. I shook my head has he was swallowed by a sea of angst teen dramas and bad fashion in the wide hallway.

And we were back to being Edward and Jasper.

He needs to seriously consider taking his hypnotizing skills on the road, because, damn, he was good.

After four classes of teachers handing out syllabuses and explaining expectations for the upcoming semester, I headed to lunch, looking forward to seeing Edward for the first time in awhile. Although, I was not looking forward to seeing Alice and had momentarily considered skipping lunch, but still found myself walking down the hall.

The lunchroom was crowded by the time I got there. I hoped Edward had been able to arrive and grab a table for us. Standing on the steps, my trained eyes scanned the room for the brilliance of bronze hair, finding it sitting next to…Bella.

And Mike.

This was not going to be fun.

They had continued to date for the remainder of the summer, and I had really tried to accept their relationship and welcome Mike into our intimate circle, but I was not nearly as generous as Edward and I found it difficult to stomach the site of them cuddling at every second.

Fucking cuddling better be all they were doing.

Only I knew it wasn't. On one of the rare occasions the three of us were together recently, Edward and I were tortured with ten minutes of Bella's over descriptive details from her make-out session with Mike from the night before. I swear I even saw Edward cringe when she mentioned 'how soft his lips were.'

I closed my eyes, keeping my opinion in check when I really wanted to shout shut the fuck up!

A hand went up to stop her. "Bella," he began tensely. "Please, that's enough. Perhaps this is a discussion you should be having with Alice, because I think both Jasper and I are about five minutes away from ripping Newton's tongue of out his throat and shoving it up his ass."

With a giggle, she stopped pouring the salt in my wound.

"About fucking time, Cullen," I murmured under my breath as pride radiated from me. Apparently the shiny veneer did have hard limits.

Hearing about their kissing second hand was bad enough, having to sit and witness it while trying to keep my lunch down was something else entirely. I really wanted to strangle the person that scheduled our lunches at the same time.

Or perhaps throw them in front of the bus with Newton.

Casually, I approached the table, tossing my backpack on the floor by the empty chair across from Edward. I glared at the arm around Bella's shoulder, and ignored the tiny hand on Mike's thigh.

Must they always be touching? Had Alice and I that been that bad? Speaking of Alice...

"Where's Alice?" I nodded toward Edward, making sure he knew the question was directed at him.

With a sigh, he leaned back in his seat before responding. "I don't know. I asked her if she wanted a ride this morning and she said no. I haven't seen her since. I'm not even sure what lunch she has. She's been pretty quiet lately." His look spoke volumes. I knew he was asking me to patch things up with her, not get back together with her, but at least get us back on speaking terms. I just wasn't sure I was up for that quite yet.

I pulled out a bottle of water from my backpack and took a long drink. While Edward closed his eyes, effectively shutting out the world, Mike and Bella continued to make googley eyes at each other.

God, it was going to be a fucking long year.

"**~~**"

A week later, I stood in my sweatshirt leaning against my bike in the school parking lot waiting for Edward to arrive. It had somehow become our routine; I would arrive about ten minutes before him, and wait for him by my bike, he would walk over, greet me, and then we would turn and head to the main doors, making a snide comment about some teacher or assignment. He knew I found security in routines, in doing the same thing day after day. Perhaps it was some dysfunctional side effect of being a military kid, but it was soothing to me, the comfort of knowing what to expect and when to expect it. I was not a fly by the edge of your seat kind of guy. After our first day of school, Edward had automatically built this morning arrival ritual into our routine.

The flash of silver caught my eye, and I turned my head toward his car as he pulled into his spot. There was movement in the car, even after he had gotten out and closed the door. He waited for her by the trunk of the Volvo, before they both walked over to me. I couldn't see his eyes, his sunglasses firmly in place. I knew he was hiding from me.

The fingers combed through his hair twice before he even reached me, Alice tight by his side.

"Morning, Jasper," his voice still rough with sleep. I could only shake my head at him, a bit stunned he was ambushing me without warning.

"Hey," I forced out as he and Alice stood before me. She was still Alice, fashionably overdressed for Forks High, hair perfectly done. Still the girl who predicted just under two years ago that we would date, whose fingers had tangled in my hair as she cried out my name withering under my sweaty body, who had broken my heart.

Squinting against the dull sunlight, Alice lifted her face to me, a small smile on her lips. "Hi, Jazz," My heart stuttered a bit at the familiar use of her nickname for me.

"Well, I promised Bella I'd meet her before first period," he turned, heading to the door, but called out over his shoulder, "See you Trig, Whitlock. Bye, Alice, meet me at the car after school."

I wanted a witty comeback, but all I could manage was a weak, "Later, Cullen." It was nice to know that part of our routine was still intact. For a moment, my eyes followed his head as he slowly made his way inside the building.

My chuckle caught Alice's attention. "What's so funny?" Shaking my head, I looked down at her, really at her for the first time in about a month, and I couldn't help but smile a bit at her innocence.

"He's not meeting Bella, Alice. She has AP English first period, over there," I pointed to the other door. "He set this up." Suddenly embarrassed at the admission, I looked down at my boots, inspecting the artistic lines in the worn leather.

Her quiet laughter brought my eyes back up to hers. "Jazz, he didn't set this up, I did," she confessed without remorse. "I just wanted to say hi and see how you were doing. I figured we had avoided each other long enough." She paused, giving the information enough time to sink in. "So…how are you?"

Answers raced through my head, some appropriate, some not-so appropriate, before I settled on the old standby.

"I'm okay. You?" As I nervously shifted from side to side, my lip already felt sore from being pulled between my teeth.

"I'm okay too," her voice was so much quieter than I was used to. Where was energetic Alice, the one that radiated life. "Listen, I just…I just," she stopped, the quiet voice now quivering a bit, uncertain how to continue.

She was too good to suffer. "What is it, Alice?" I encouraged gently, although slightly worried for her answer. In a flash, her bag was on the ground, her arms forcefully wrapped around my neck as she pulled me down into a tight hug. Stunned by her reaction, it took me a minute to return her embrace, but when I let my arms go around her back, holding her to me, I felt her body relax against mine. With concern, my hands ran up and down her back soothingly. I murmured into her ears, "Baby, what's wrong? Are you okay?" I fell back on the nickname as easily as she did.

I heard the small catch in her voice as she mumbled into my shirt."I just miss you, Jasper…so very much."

Smiling against her hair, I replied honestly."I've missed you, too." I took a deep breath and pulled back, so I could see her face, her eyes as the tears clung to their rims. "You know you did the right thing though, right?" I assured her. Biting her lip, she nodded, bringing up a hand to swipe the unshed tears.

"Yes, I know. I just miss you sometimes."

"I know, baby, me too. But I'm here. Anytime you need me, anytime, I'm here," I promised honestly. "Come on, we're going to be late." I motioned to the clearing parking lot.

Sniffling, she grabbed her bag off the ground, hanging it on her shoulder. I smiled down at her, more certain than ever we had made the right choice. Taking her hand in mine, I walked toward the building.

"Hey, Alice?"

"Yea?"

"Please remind me to kick Edward's ass later." I glanced down at her, rewarded with a smile on her face.

"You got it, Jazz."

Just as we entered the door and turned the corner, I spotted Edward leaning against the trophy case. After a knowing glance at our clasped hands, he smirked knowingly at me. There was no doubt in my mind of his involvement in the planning of this, whether Alice thought she was behind the set up or not, he was most definitely the man behind the curtain. I went to speak, but didn't want to alert Alice to his presence, so I mouthed 'thank you' to him.

Nodding, he winked and pushed off the glass case, heading down the hall.

"**~~**"

The Monday before Christmas break, I sat in a hard molded plastic chair in front of the large mahogany desk. I cradled my left hand in my lap a bit, under the gauze pad, the blood still trickled from the torn flesh on my knuckles. Suppressing a smile from my bloodied lip, I kept my head tilted down, staring at the stains on my jeans as the principle droned on about actions and consequences.

I had always been a guy ruled by my emotions, usually acting before thinking. Edward was the sensible one between us, always considering his options before making a decision.

Not me, I would jump in heart first, consequences be damned.

A fucking note? Unacceptable.

About an hour earlier, I had walked into the cafeteria and made my way to our table, expecting to find Edward, Bella, and of course, Newton.

Her face was buried in his chest as she sat across his lap, her hands covering her tear-stained face as her shoulders gently shook with quiet sobs. A large hand stroked up and down her back, lips gently kissing her hair with mutterings of 'don't worry' and 'it'll be okay' as he tried to coax her pain away.

He was offering her his life raft. That raft was getting crowded.

Edward looked up, finding me quickly and shook his head slightly. This couldn't be good.

Hastening my pace, I pushed through the crowd, arriving at the table unnoticed by Bella. With wide eyes, I asked Edward what was going on, and with a sigh, he reached into his coat pocket and pulled out folded piece of lined paper, handing it to me across the table.

I hadn't even sat down before I was desperately unfolding it. In typical messy boy script was written:

Bella,

I wasn't sure the best way to tell you this. It's our senior year and we need to have fun. I think we should start seeing other people, but we can still be friends.

Mike

Rage immediately circulated through me, my entire body tensing as I let the anger flow freely, for once not holding back. Edward recognized the symptoms, having seen me pissed off on more than one occasion, although he was usually Bruce Banner to my Hulk. Today, he not only supported the anger, he encouraged it with a nod of agreement. For once, he was as pissed off as I was; only he was busy comforting a heartbroken Bella.

I, however, was free to do as I pleased.

He spoke quietly. "Not only was it a note, but he fucking gave it to Angela to give to Bella in gym." His arched eyebrows and darkened eyes assured me that my anger was not misplaced.

A fucking note? Unacceptable.

I tossed the note onto the table and rapidly searched the cafeteria for the asshole.

"Jasper," Edward called, pointing to the front door as Newton stepped through the double glass doors into the falling sleet of December.

Perfect.

With a knowing nod to Edward, and a quick glance at Bella's sobbing form, I turned and headed for the doors.

Reaching Newton quickly out of view of the cafeteria windows, I put an arm around his shoulders, pulling him to me tightly. Waves of hair clung to my face from the wet sleet, the slush staining the leather of my boots.

"Newton, let's you and I have a talk over here for a minute," I insisted, guiding us toward the ageing greenhouse.

"No thanks, Whitlock. This doesn't concern you anyway." He tried to pull away from my grasp.

The fuck it's doesn't.

I was not the scared new kid freshman anymore, now thirty pounds heavier and five inches taller. Newton had grown some too, but not as impressively as I had. Briefly, I thought to remind myself to thank Edward for making me lift weights with him.

"See Newton, that's where you're dead wrong." We had reached the small building, and I not so gently pushed him against the brick and glass side, putting that thirty pounds to good use. "If it concerns Bella, it concerns me," I paused briefly, "and Edward. "

He stood, as tall as Edward, with his blond bangs covering half of his soon to be fucked up face, against the wall. I sensed confidence coming from him, with only a slight tint of fear. He thought he could take me. At that moment, my hands hung began to fist by my side, ready to pounce at the slightest invitation.

"Whatever, Whitlock," he shrugged. "I'm just saying that she's a big girl. She'll get over me. It's no big deal. I just wasn't that into her. She wouldn't even put out once." The former confidence I had sensed in him was now betrayed by the very slight tremor in his voice.

It was time to pounce.

Quickly, my hands were fisting his coat as I jerked him to me and then slammed him hard back against the wall. His hands came up for my wrists, but I took the chance to once again slam him, the glass wall behind him shaking from the force.

"You did not just fucking say that!" I growled at him, close enough to see the pores on his face, smell the mint on his breath. Wide eyes, now empty of even a trace of cockiness, stared back. "She's not just a piece of ass."

Another slam, another shudder of glass.

"Jesus Whitlock, calm the fuck down," he stammered.

"Listen to me, I don't fucking care what your reasons are, Newton. You're a piece of shit regardless…but a fucking note? A fucking note? Unacceptable."

"Fine, I'll go talk to her," he hissed, trying to make amends before it was too late.

After one more shove against the brick and glass, I continued to show him just how unacceptable his fucking note was.

If I couldn't throw him in front of a bus, this was my next best option.

Some scraped knuckles, swollen lip and cut brow later, Newton and I sat in front of Principal Marcus, who had pulled out the school's code of conduct policy, highlighting the rule strictly prohibiting physical violence of any kind.

I didn't consider it violence. Exercise in a life lesson perhaps. Violence…hardly.

I sat low in the chair; my legs sprawled out before me, channeling my inner Edward Cullen. Raised blue flesh satisfyingly surrounded Newton's left eye, his bottom lip covered in dried blood while spots of molted black covered his swollen jaw.

Not wanting to neglect a body part, after a few solid hits to his face, I made use of a low jab to his side. I hadn't felt the returning blows at the time, but I was started to feel them now as the adrenaline had begun to wear off.

Unfortunately, before I was able to inflict the kind of bodily harm he fucking deserved, some kids had found us, and had begun to circle around, spurring us on with chanting. Having seen me follow Newton from the lunchroom, and knowing the lack of love between us, they were ready for a show. The yelling and cheering drew the attention of one of the teachers in the lunchroom, who came out and stopped the fight long before I was finished.

"So, Mr. Whitlock, you will receive a three day suspension for fighting. Mr. Newton, you will receive a two day. These suspensions will go on your permanent record. Did you both learn any lessons here today?"

I smirked.

Yea, the next time I want to make the long painful death a reality, make sure no one follows me.

Because I seriously doubted this was the answer he was looking for, I just nodded.

"Good. I will be calling your homes later to notify your parents of your suspensions. I trust we will have no further problems between the two of you in the future?"

Not as soon as he's dead, Principal Marcus.

We stood to leave, Newton glaring at me as we exited.

"This isn't over, Whitlock," he warned as soon as we were out of range of the Principal's office. "Not even close."

Looking at the inflamed skin surrounding his eyes and jaw, along with the blood discoloring his lips, I couldn't believe he was threatening me.

"Bring it on, Newton," I challenged as I headed in the opposite direction toward my locker to grab the books I would need over the next three days.

He was there, of course, leaning against my locker, feet crossed at the ankles.

"You look…" he eyed me up and down slowly, taking in the bruises and disheveled clothing "colorful," he finished.

I ignored his jab at my fighting skills. "Bella okay?"

Nodding slowly, he reached out for my chin, turning my marred face side to side, inspecting the damage with doctor's son eyes. "She will be. She definitely looks a fuck lot better than you at the moment." I exhaled a breath, releasing some of the tension I had been holding onto since seeing Bella crying on his lap. "You should have my dad look at these later."

Swatting his hand away, I pushed him aside and begin twisting the knob on the combination lock. "I had to let him get a few in, make him think I it was a fair fight and all." I opened the door, grabbing a few books, stuffing them into my backpack.

With a shoulder against the wall of lockers, Edward watched me as I loaded my bag up with supplies for suspension. "I'll grab your assignments for you. Drop them off at your place after school."

I zipped up my backpack, stood and slung it over my shoulder. With a bang, I slammed my locker closed, spinning the dial one last time. Edward could always get anything else I needed, he know the combination as well as I did. "Thanks."

"What are you going to tell the Major?" With cold fingers, he straightened out the collar of my sweatshirt.

"Mmm, not sure yet. Probably the truth. Somehow I don't think he'll have a problem with me defending Bella's honor." I took a step back from him, and pulled my keys from my pocket. With a nod, I turned for the doors, calling to him over my shoulder "Later, Cullen."

"See ya, Whitlock," he chuckled. "Oh, before I forget."He waited for me to stop. "Thank you."

"My pleasure," I admitted as I pushed the door open and stepped into the slush.

"**~~**"

It just kept blinking at me. The evil cursor just kept mocking me and my lack of creativity.

"Fuck," I spat, tossing the pile of papers across the carpeted floor. Sighing, I leaned back against the side of Edward's bed, his comforter offering some padding as I rocked into his bed a few times. I closed my eyes, my hands in my hair, grasping at the curls pulling them straight out from my head. "Grrrr, I just don't get what they want!" I literally growled.

With one last deep breath, I opened my eyes to find a rather entertained Bella and Edward staring at me. Bella sat crossed legged in next to me, her laptop sitting in front of her. Lying on his stomach on the floor opposite me was Edward, his legs bent at the knees, his bare feet crossed at the ankles.

"Stressed much, Jasper?" he peered up at me over the screen of his own laptop. I couldn't see it, but I could hear the smile in his voice.

"Okay, Mr. Cullen, you tell me what the hell I am supposed to write for 'evaluate a significant experience, achievement, risk you have taken, or ethical dilemma you have faced and its impact on you'? I mean, seriously, how do I answer that." I blurted out more as a statement of frustration than a question.

"I'll take your question, and raise you a 'discuss some issue of personal, local, national, or international concern and its importance to you'." Bella challenged, her pencil taping against her lip as she peered at her blank open Word document.

At least I wasn't the only one utterly clueless.

I glanced over at Edward, his fingers pounding away on his keyboard, brown crossed as his lips silently mouthed whatever he was typing. Of course he had the answer to his question.

"What's your question, Edward?" He held up one finger indicting to give him a minute. A few more clicks later, and he looked up at me.

"'Indicate a person who has had a significant influence on you, and describe that influence.'" He snorted, "Easy, huh?"

"No shit. Bella and I get the Einstein of college essay questions and you get the 'who's your hero?' from fucking first grade." I leaned against his bed, rubbing my temples with my fingertips. "Why is this so difficult?"

"Oh, I don't know, Hale, maybe because we are writing an essay in hopes of getting into the colleges of our dreams-which decide our entire future. No big deal." She shrugged with fake casualness.

We were gathered at Edward's during our Christmas break, in an attempt to complete our college applications. Bella was applying to Dartmouth's English program. She had always wanted to pursue an Ivy League college and Dartmouth proved to be a good choice for her. Not as expensive as the other Ivy League schools and its location in a small town New Hampshire was an atmosphere that suited her. Edward was concentrating on getting himself into Standford's Pre-Med program, his father's alma mater.

I was concentrating on my University of Texas application, having a desire to get back to the sun and dry heat of my home state to study history. Sure, I had grown to love the rainy atmosphere of Washington, but I believed that I had come to love the clouds and rain for an entirely different reason.

There was no doubt in my mind that either of them would accomplish their goals. In addition to high SAT scores, both were high honor students, Edward had participated in a lot of extracurricular music activities, while Bella was a staple of the journalism department at Forks High.

We were each applying to different colleges, but in our hearts, we knew there was only one place we all wanted to get accepted to. We had found one school that had all three of our majors and would keep us together and close to home; University of Washington. Edward wanted into their Pre-Med program, Bella, their English department, and they had an excellent History department for me as well. I think we were all applying to the other schools to see if we could get in, for our parents satisfaction, but there was no doubt in our hearts, regardless of what prestigious schools we might get accepted to-we wanted to stay together.

We all sat for a minute, silent, considering our essays, our future.

"What if we don't all get in?"Bella asked the question we had all been thinking but not dared to ask out loud. Edward sighed, and sat up, stretching his legs out in front of him, leaning back on his palms.

"Bella, why wouldn't we all get in? Do you really think you can get into Dartmouth and not U of W?"

With shrug, she replied quietly. "I might not get into Dartmouth, Edward. What if two of us get in, and one doesn't? I'm not sure I can…" she took a deep breath. "I'm not sure I can be without either of you. And I know I can't do this alone. "

Reaching across her laptop, I grabbed her hand. "Edward's right, Bella. We'll all get in, don't worry about it." I assured her even as my own concern grew. My grades and SATs were great, although not as great as theirs, but I didn't have the extracurricular activities they both did. Weaving words together to make magic, or play the piano well enough to entrance entire rooms of people were not skills I possessed.

I was a simple boy from simple town just trying to do as good as I could.

"I hope you're both right," she whispered, looking down at our entwined fingers, placing her other hand over them.

"Of course we're right, Bella. We're Edward and Jasper-there is no going wrong with Edward and Jasper," Edward stood, holding out his arms toward us. "Come on, group hug," he smiled, motioning us with his fingers. With an eye roll, I tugged Bella's hand until we were both in Edward's arms, all our arms wrapped around each other. I pulled back first, stepping out of the embrace, and sat the edge of Edward's bed.

With his arms still wrapped around her, Bella turned to face me. "What's wrong?"

I shook my head, biting my lip, "Well, as loving and supportive as that hug was, it didn't fucking help. I still don't know what I'm going to write my essay about." The laughter of my two best friends filled the room, Edward's deep chuckle highlighted by Bella's tiny giggle.

Edward winked at me over Bella's shoulder. "Have Bella write it," he suggested.

"Oh, no, if I write about some significant experience in Jasper's life, I'll end up having him losing his virginity to his best friend Edward," she laughed. Her words stung a bit, how open and casual she was about it now.

"Well there you go, significant event, risk, and ethical dilemma all wrapped into one answer," Edward replied casually, releasing his hold on Bella, he reached down and grabbed the essay question I had tossed on the floor earlier. Handing it to me, he grinned. "Come on, Jasper. You have an essay to write and we have a college to get into."

With a resigned sigh, I grabbed the paper, sliding back onto the floor in front of my laptop. I glanced up at Edward, once again lying behind his laptop. "Does getting caught with porn mags by your mom count as an 'ethical dilemma'?

Edward's widened eyes quickly shot at Bella and I realized what I said.

Oh shit.

"Whoa, back up, Hale. What did you just say?" she asked with a huge smile, and blush in her cheeks. I was pretty sure my cheeks were just as red as I stared at the blank screen before me.

"Do you want to tell her, or should I?" Edward tapped my barefoot to get my attention.

"Definitely you," I mumbled.

"Fine-" he started but was interrupted by Bella.

"Wait, should I like…go make popcorn or something? Just how good a story is this?"

"Ew, Bella. Gross," I shuddered dramatically, but peeked at Edward and the Cheshire grin he had plastered on his face.

"So, Jasper and I get back from the movies one day and my dad calls us into his office. There he is all intimidating and serious behind his desk. We walk in and sit down, and that's when we see them. A rather large stack of porn magazines on his desk. The very same ones that had been under my bed when I left the house that morning. My mother had apparently cleaned up in my room, and was under my bed looking for dirty laundry or some shit, and found them."

How he was so comfortable telling Bella this, I will never understand. I could already feel the blush permanently staining my cheeks. Her eyes were bright and wide with anticipation, as she leaned toward Edward, eager for more.

Edward continued in his perfect mimic of Dr. C, "So boys, we have a situation here. Your mother came across these earlier today and has asked me to talk to you both about them, and a few other things, such as your unusually close relationship with Miss Swan."

Her hand went up over her mouth. "Oh my God, no way! How embarrassing." Welcome to my world, Bella.

"It gets worse, trust me," I reply, shaking my head as I remembered sitting in the leather chair facing Doc while Edward sat all sprawled out next to me.

"So, then he talks about the 'objectification of women' and how they are to be treated with respect. And trust me, Bella, Jasper and I treated them with the upmost respect." He looked over and winked at me. "I'm sure the fantasies they induced were nothing but wholesome fun, right Jasper?"

I leaned back on my palms, resting my head against this bed, stretching my legs out in front of me. My hair, in desperate need of a cut, fell into my eyes and I shook my head to move it. "Yes, definitely wholesome fun fantasies."

"I would have just DIED!" Bella shakes her head, glancing between Edward and I. "Then what?" Oh, sure she would have died, but didn't stop her from wanting to know every sordid detail.

"Well, after some talk about basic birds and the bees shit, he tells us how it's natural to be attracted to women's 'assets', which is, by the way, what were concentrating on. You know, their goals, favorite books, and of course, what they look for in a man."

"Oh yes, I am sure that's exactly what you were both concentrating on," she giggled, crossing her arms in front of her own assets.

"Then Dad says, that for boys our age, sometimes this means 'rubbing one out' in the shower, or in the privacy of our bedroom, ya know to release some of the 'tension they create'." He uses his fingers for air quotes.

By then, I had my face in my palms, knowing the worst part was coming. I groaned as Edward continued. "Then my dad does this brief description on how to exactly 'rub one out', as if Jasper or I didn't already know." A loud gasp came from Bella, her eyes impossibly wider, her little mouth open in shock at Edward's bluntness. "Oh yeah, total details, all clinical on hand placement, pace...everything. Finally, he gets to you, and our relationship with you. Even my dad gets embarrassed here, telling us we need to keep our hands off certain body parts of yours, although he managed to skip over which specific parts, I think both Jasper and I were pretty clear on what he was referring to."

Knees drawn up to her chest, arms wrapped around them, the tears streamed down her face from her laughter, she made no attempt to wipe them away, because they would only be followed by more. Sighing, I pulled my hands from my face and glared at Bella.

"I can't believe you are laughing about this. It was so fucking embarrassing," I practically snapped at her. The lazy grin on Edward's face told me he was enjoying it.

"Aw, Jasper, come on, you have to admit it's pretty funny," she swiped at her cheeks with a hand. "I can just imagine the look on your face when Dr. Cullen starts talking about

'appropriate parts to touch," she had to pause to wait for the current round of laughter to stop before she could continue. "Oh, and then advising you to 'rub one out' when you need to?" she choked out through breaths. "With instructions? That is just...hilarious!"

I thought it was probably inappropriate to tell her exactly what I imagined when I did follow Doc's advice and rub one out.

Edward shifted uncomfortably and glanced at me and back to Bella, who had stopped laughing and looked at him.

"Edward?" Her voice was suddenly quiet.

He grinned wide and open, his eyes betraying to me what he was about to do, even though I began shaking my head furiously. "No, Edward, you can't..." I gave up quickly, there was no use, he was going to whether I spoke up or not. This embarrassing moment was about to get about ten times worse.

"Bella, you might want to go make that popcorn now," he instructed. "It's about to get really interesting."

With a squeal, she hopped up, almost knocking over her laptop in her excitement. "Oh, it gets better than masturbation? That's pretty hard to top..."

"Yes, better than masturbation," Edward promised. Knowing I would never survive this, I debated on leaving, letting Edward continue telling Bella on his own. The more I considered it, the less likely I was to leave. After all, someone had to make sure he didn't embellish much.

"Don't forget the drinks." He called to her as she practically ran down the hallway.

"You're not going to tell her everything, are you?" I leaned toward him, whispering, as if she could remotely hear me.

Smirking, he teased, "Why not? We don't keep secrets from each other."

Actually, there was one secret I kept from them both.

I was in love with the giggling girl who had just run to the kitchen to make popcorn before listening to our embarrassing story.

"**~~**"

Thank you for reading!

Safe and Sound was featured on The Fictionators blog last week, thank you, ladies, for this honor!

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