A/N: All the usual suspects apply as far as disclaimers are concerned… if you haven't got them by now, it's probably not going to make any more impact this chapter :D
Keep in mind that Edward is in Texas and Emmett in New York, so this takes place only minutes after Jasper leaves in the last chapter.
Chapter 10 - Breaking Point
At ten in the evening, Emmett's cell phone rang with a familiar tone; he flipped it open, expecting the first words would be either grateful or pissed.
"WHAT THE FUCK, EMMETT?"… pissed.
Emmett flinched and held the phone at arm's length. He settled into his chair and waited for the tirade to stop, "FIRST OF ALL, HOW THE HELL DID YOU FIND OUT ABOUT JAMES? AND WHAT GIVES YOU THE RIGHT TO TELL JASPER? DID YOU TELL ANYONE ELSE? I SWEAR TO GOD IF YOU TOLD MOM OR ALICE, I'LL SKIN YOU AND THEN FEED YOU YOUR OWN TESTICLES.I DON'T CARE IF YOU THINK HE'S THE DEVIL INCARNATE, YOU SHOULDN'T FUCK WITH THINGS THAT DON'T CONCERN YOU. YOU'RE MY FUCKING BROTHER FOR CHRIST'S SAKE, YOU'RE SUPPOSED TO BACK ME UP, NOT HIJACK MY LIFE. YOU'VE A LOT OF NERVE BUTTING IN AFTER ALL THE TIMES I'VE COVERED FOR YOUR RECKLESS ASS. I SHOULD TELL MOM AND DAD ABOUT PANAMA JUST TO EVEN OUT THIS SHIT. YOU'LL BE LUCKY IF I EVER SPEAK TO YOU AGAIN AFTER THIS STUNT. NATIONAL TELEVISION, EMMETT. THIS IS MY LIFE. MY LIFE THAT YOU'VE PUT UNDER THE MICROSCOPE. WHAT HAPPENS IF I HAVE TO TESTIFY? DID YOU EVEN THINK FOR ONE SECOND BEFORE CHARGING IN LIKE A BULL IN A CHINA SHOP? STAY THE HELL OUT OF MY BUSINESS, EMMETT. I'M SERIOUS."
Emmett waited for a moment, wondering if the rant was finished. It wasn't.
"I DON'T EVEN WANT TO KNOW HOW YOU SET ALL THIS SHIT UP. YOU'D BETTER NOT HAVE BROKEN ANY LAWS THIS TIME, OR DAD IS GOING TO KILL YOU. SHIT, EMMETT, WHY DIDN'T YOU JUST GO PARASAILING OR DEEP SEA DIVING. STOP TRYING TO GET YOUR KICKS BY PLAYING HERO. I DON'T WANT IT, AND I CERTAINLY DON'T NEED IT. MY LIFE IS JUST FINE THE WAY IT IS, THANK YOU VERY MUCH, AND IF IT WEREN'T I'D FIX IT MYSELF."
The sounds from the other end of the phone receded to heavy breathing and growls. Emmett brought the phone back to his ear, "Eddie! You called! I was beginning to think I'd have to come down to Texas and beat you over the head with a computer before you actually checked your email." Edward growled loudly into the earpiece and Emmett thought he heard the word 'castrate', "Now now, little bro. I've got your back; the least you could do is be grateful. After all, you did owe me for the whole 'not telling me you were gay' secret keeping business. As repayment for being a terrible brother and not telling me all your secrets, I've ferreted out the most gruesome and I'm making sure that justice is served. Alice is with me, by the way. I thought you would have caught that from the email address, but I guess you were too distracted."
Emmett heard a pronounced growl and eyed the phone. He held it gingerly away from his ear in case Edward exploded again.
"Emmett, who the fuck told you?" Edward was deadly calm, a striking counterpoint to his previous lack of restraint.
"Well, if I let you in on that, you might not ever speak to them again, which would hardly be fair. Let's just say that it was someone as concerned for your welfare as I am and once you've cooled down, I'll tell you where to direct the fruit basket thank you gift." Emmett thought his reasoning was perfectly logical.
He heard a broken breath from the other side, "Why did you… how?"
"Little brother, I know you as well as anyone, and I know when your reactions are reasonable, and when they cross the line. You were mad at more than just Jasper when you unloaded on me the other day, and I took the matter in hand. I'm not going to yell at you for keeping things from me, because after hearing the story, I'm pretty sure most people in your situation would have done the same." Edward's breathing deepened and evened out, "Alice and I will keep your secret, but we won't let these assholes get away with ruining your faith in love, especially when a great guy like Jasper is waiting for you in Seattle. It's time to let go, let us take care of these morons, and start living your life again."
Edward sucked in a careful breath, "You should have asked me, Em. Maybe I wouldn't have told you, but you had no right to go behind my back, and you absolutely had no right to share this with Jasper."
Emmett winced, but retorted hotly, "I have every right to protect my family, and I don't care who I have to protect them from. You've been standing in your own way for far too long, Eddie, and I don't care how many Jameses have to fucking face the music to make sure that you don't suffer any more for their indescribably shitty behavior. Don't lecture me, Edward Cullen. I'm doing this whether you like it or not, so you might as well suck it up and thank me."
"You're lucky that I told Jasper about James before he found out from your little stunt, Emmett…" it seemed like the lecture might continue, "Tell Alice I said 'hi'… and Emmett?... Thanks."
The line went dead and Emmett snapped his phone shut, grinning like an imbecile. He knew Edward would look like he was sucking a lemon when he apologized, but it was sweet how he understood that Emmett was awesome.
By the time that Jasper knocked on his door the next morning, Edward had gone through both the video and his conversation with Emmett twenty times in his head. On the one hand, his meddling brother was both infuriating and way out of line with how much information he had gathered and shared, but on the other hand, the delivery of comeuppance had been so spectacularly done that Edward had found himself almost completely devoid of any lingering angst concerning James.
Simply the fact that he hadn't been the only one mistreated by James restored a good deal of self-esteem. For years, Edward hadn't questioned the fact that James had simply used him and moved on to girls. In perspective of the email, he was also very glad that he hadn't convinced Jasper to stay the night, because he felt awkward that Jasper knew as much about his encounter with James as anyone. It would have been ten times worse if they'd slept together while Jasper had information that Edward had not yet gotten. When Jasper knocked on his door at 5:45, Edward yanked it open and pulled the unsuspecting blond inside, slamming the door behind him. He jumped onto the blond and wrapped his legs around Jasper's waist, furiously assaulting the taller man's mouth. Jasper swayed under the unexpected weight, but as soon as he comprehended what was happening, he gave in and his hands found their way under Edward's ass, supporting him as they dueled for dominance of the kiss.
When Edward felt satisfied that Jasper was his, he let go and slipped to the ground, "I take it by your enthusiasm that you still like me, even after the email?"
Edward stepped away toward the table and nodded, "Not your fault that Emmett is a meddlesome brother," he reasoned, motioning for Jasper to follow him to the table, "I made breakfast… biscuits and gravy…"
Jasper grinned and joined Edward at the table, "I don't suppose you have any of that amazing cornbread left somewhere?" he inquired. Edward pointed to the table, indicating that there were, indeed, leftovers. Jasper hesitated, "I guess it wouldn't hurt if we're a few minutes late, I am the boss after all, and you went through a rigorous and traumatic experience yesterday. I think you should come into work a half-hour late today, just to make sure you don't overdo it." Edward nodded his approval of the suggestion.
"I think you're right, Mr. Whitlock, and I seem to remember that I promised to obey you from now on, so I wouldn't even think of stepping out of line." Jasper's eyes darkened at the innuendo.
"I'm glad to hear that you've decided to control yourself, Mr. Cullen. Maybe later, we can see how much you've progressed in that department." Jasper grazed the side of Edward's leg with one foot and Edward jerked involuntarily at the contact. Jasper smirked and Edward looked carefully away, trying to control his impulse to jump the blond and tie him to the bed to keep him from going to the site. Jasper continued to tease Edward with 'accidental' grazes of his legs and hands. He complimented the food as he had the night before, and they talked about innocent things. For the first time, there was no doubt in either of their minds that they were making progress.
By the time they were finished eating, both men were breathing a little harder than normal, and both needed a moment to themselves to wrestle their libidos into submission. When the table was cleared, Edward pulled Jasper in for another searing kiss, desperate to maintain the momentum they had established. Jasper responded as eagerly as he could without completely losing control. Both men were reluctant to pull back, but they had to get to work. Edward led the way out of the room, giving Jasper ample opportunity to ogle his assets.
Edward was wearing jeans that were much more practical, but were so worn that they nearly had holes in the knees. They also had a rip in the back right pocket just large enough to confirm what type of underwear Edward was wearing. Jasper bit back a groan as he trotted to the truck to hop in. He pulled out of the lot, seeing Dmitri disappear into Edward's room as he drove off. He assumed the bodyguard would sleep during the day since he had to be vigilant at night. Jasper was a little surprised when Edward snuck his hand on top of his, but the blond smiled and twined his fingers with the younger man's.
When they arrived at the lot, there was a knot of reporters standing by the fence, trying to catch the attention of someone inside. All the volunteers ignored them. When Jasper parked in the lot, the gaggle of newspersons descended on the truck and Edward rolled his eyes, letting Jasper's hand go and leaning in for a quick kiss before anyone got close enough to capture the moment on film. The smaller man hopped out of the truck and made a brief statement concerning his health, once again admonishing the press to respect his privacy when they started asking questions about Jasper.
Jasper reached the lot long before Edward, but instead of waiting for the younger man to make it to the gate; he walked quickly to the building, ducking indoors and taking the stairs three at a time to search out Joe. Nobody outside the press had batted an eye at the late arrival of their resident celebrity or their foreman, well... nobody except the documentary crew. Jasper pinched the bridge of his nose, grumbling to himself about the nosy documentarian and his fascination for Edward. The building was taking shape, and the task for the day was to weatherproof the outside, finish the roof, and make sure that everyone could work indoors if the weather turned sour, as it was threatening to.
Jasper thanked Joe for keeping an eye on things and sought out the roofing experts among the volunteers to help him with the job. As Jasper climbed the ladder to the roof, he noted that Edward had started to help seal the siding and coat it with water-repellant stain. He surveyed the younger man's work for a moment until the man behind him cleared his throat and asked him to get a move on.
Jasper was up and down the ladder all morning, passing by Edward frequently. The press had dispersed, leaving only the tenacious few along with Seattle's finest, but Edward seemed to take it in stride. Every time Jasper passed, he would make offhand comments that got the older man worked up. He also bent over a lot. Jasper hissed at him to stop teasing on one occasion and Edward simply laughed. The documentary crew had only spent a few minutes hounding Edward about his 'injury' the previous day. Edward downplayed it, indicating that it had been entirely his fault that he hadn't taken a break. Jacob seemed disappointed that Edward wouldn't allow the blame to be placed on anyone else, but reluctantly retreated to the tent as the morning heated up.
At lunch, Edward flirted outrageously with everyone at the table, causing Jasper to glare pointedly at several innocent bystanders. Edward was only doing it to be able to throw suggestive glances at Jasper without anyone noticing. People noticed.
Shortly after lunch, Jasper was on the roof when a shout was heard from the other side of the building. He slid down the ladder as quickly as possible and sprinted around the building. Edward arrived at the scene moments before Jasper and took charge. Jamison, the man who was measuring and sawing siding, had gotten his shirt-sleeve caught in the saw, and had a large gash on his upper arm. It oozed blood sluggishly, and the area was sprayed with splotches of red. One of the female volunteers had been a nurse and wanted to know where a first aid kit was. A boy about 19 took off running toward the shed to retrieve the kit. The woman fretted about blood loss and asked if anyone had something to use as a temporary bandage until the kit was retrieved. Edward pulled off his shirt and handed it to her. She wrinkled her nose and dipped the shirt in water to clean it, but pressed it to the wound.
"The ambulance will be here in ten minutes," one of the volunteers disconnected from the 911 call and the nurse relaxed visibly.
"He should be fine as long as we get the bleeding under control. The gash doesn't seem like it goes deep enough for significant nerve damage, thank god." Jasper sighed in relief, wiping sweat from his brow with one arm. Edward rocked back on his legs, back rippling with the motion. As the adrenaline faded from Jasper's body, arousal set in. He silently berated himself for being a horny bastard, but Edward without a shirt was entirely too distracting.
Jasper asked the nurse to stay, but told everyone else to give them space, and Edward and the others returned to work. The boy who'd gone running for their first aid kit returned and deposited the box next to the nurse before returning to his own work. Everyone was buzzing with speculation about the injury and sympathetic support of each other as they recalled stories about Jamison.
By the time the ambulance arrived, news crews had once again started to flock around the gate to the compound. Jasper barked at them to move and allowed the ambulance to drive onto the lot. Jamison had recovered from the shock of the injury and joked about paid vacation as he was loaded into the vehicle. Jasper hopped in and instructed the man to get better quickly. Jamison saluted with his good arm and Jasper reluctantly left the ambulance, knowing that he couldn't take another day off and expect to maintain his scheduled completion date.
Of course, the fact that he'd escorted Edward to the hospital the day before only gave more fodder to the gossip mill. Reporters openly speculated on why Mr. Whitlock wasn't escorting this injured man when he had done so the day before. Jasper scowled at the cameras, "I wouldn't have escorted Mr. Cullen to the hospital if he had consented to an ambulance. Given the apparent fixation with his private life, I now realize sedating him and loading him into the ambulance would have been a more acceptable approach. Don't you people have anything better to do?" He slammed the gate behind the ambulance far more forcefully than necessary and stalked off in the direction of the shelter.
Jasper was frustrated. Not only had he lost one of the more skilled laborers, which meant that Joe had to train someone who was a novice to measure and cut the siding, but Edward was working just beneath him, with no shirt on.
It was bad enough when he'd been merely teasing, but now every movement was seductive and Jasper's peace of mind was completely gone. Edward had asked one of the women on the site to help him with sun block, since his shirt was blood soaked and thoroughly unusable. He was taking breaks twice as often to avoid Jasper's wrath. Jasper growled as he saw Edward reach for his tub of stain, back stretching and recoiling. It was ten times worse than the last time, because now it was a constant show.
Jasper finally lost control when Jacob came over and started filming Edward at work, casually bumping into the other man a couple times. Jacob also seemed to be undressing Edward with his mind, and his hands were fidgeting as if he was considering some sort of action to go along with his impulses. Jasper tromped down the ladder, far more agitated than if he was just a foreman. He looked around where Edward was working, looking for some unseen hazard the documentary crew was causing that he could use to force Jacob to back off. The only possible hazard was the cord from the sound equipment, which had bunched up in front of a doorway. It was a minor issue at best. Jasper cursed under his breath, pissed that Jacob was evidently following safety instructions.
Jake brushed against Edward again and the redhead jerked away from the contact once more. Quil and Embry were just about fed up with Jake's obsession, rightly concluding that people would notice, and reasonably annoyed that he was endangering their gig. Embry and Quil called Jake over just as Edward noticed Jasper. The blond was fuming, and Edward shook his head forcefully, warning Jasper to drop it.
Embry pulled Jake up close, "Listen, man. If you want to mack on Cullen when you're on downtime, be our guest, but you're coming across as completely uncool on film. We need this gig, Quil and I both. Don't fuck this up for us, man. Based on the footage we have, the Cullens could demand a different crew and they would have every right." Quil nodded assent.
Cutting Embry off, Quil continued the intervention, "Jake, back the fuck off or we'll get fired. God only knows what the fallout would be if you released any of the footage where you're in the frame ogling him. Fuck man, you're practically stalking him. If you didn't notice, he isn't into you."
Jake scowled at the two men, hackles rising. He flung his hands up in the air, "Fucking pricks, I'm not being fucking unprofessional, and besides, we can edit out whatever we want. He just thinks he's better than me, fucking stuck up ass." Quil and Embry exchanged a worried look. Jake's obvious irrationality was putting them all on thin ice. Jasper argued with Edward quietly, trying to resist pulling the other man into a claiming kiss. He knew that with the documentary crew hanging around, as well as the ever-present brunet clicking away with his camera, any action he might take to get Jake to back off could be correctly interpreted as Jealousy.
A thought struck him, "Jake," he called out, causing the crew to turn and face him, "I just realized that you probably haven't gotten much footage of volunteers being trained. I think it would be a good idea for you to go film Joe while he teaches Arthur to measure and cut siding. The filming day is almost up anyway, and Edward was just about to go on break."
"I was—" Edward trailed off as Jasper focused on him and glared possessively, "just going to do that. Jake, he's right, you've got plenty of footage of me… nobody wants to watch paint dry, that's as boring as… well what do you know?" He grinned, hoping that his quip would cover the hesitation from before. Quil and Embry both looked relieved and practically hauled Jake off around the building.
"Mr. Cullen, can you join me inside for a moment?" Jasper spoke quietly, but kept it professional in case anyone was watching. Edward stretched and Jasper's mouth dried out instantly, "Now?" the request came out far too desperate for Jasper's taste. Edward smirked and rolled his shoulders, walking into the building as he stretched. He turned into one of the rooms that was lacking only flooring and wall covering and turned just in time for Jasper's mouth to collide with his. Edward squeaked as he was pushed against the wall. Jasper's hands were all over him, gliding over slick skin, teasing taut flesh. Edward whimpered into the kiss, warring with himself. His impulse to see what would happen fought his fear that they would be caught. Impulse won by a landslide and suddenly his hands were in Jasper's hair, pulling at Jasper's shirt, fumbling with Jasper's belt.
"Have… to stop…" Edward panted as Jasper worked his way to the graceful arch of a collarbone. Edward moaned and Jasper released the sensitized skin.
"You shouldn't have teased me all day if you didn't want this to happen, Edward. I can't…" He dove back to Edward's lips, slipping his tongue easily into the younger man's mouth. Edward clung weakly to Jasper, rapidly losing all reason and sense that he shouldn't be doing this. Before either man came to his senses, Jasper was dropping to his knees, wresting Edward's belt off and popping the button of his jeans. The pressure was too much and Edward bucked his hips forward as Jasper yanked down the zipper. His hands splayed on the wall, leaving traces of moisture and oil. Edward's back rubbed against the drywall, friction adding to the heady muddle of lust overpowering Edward's mind. Jasper kissed Edward's hip, tugging down one side of his boxers as the happy faces beamed up at him, "Fuck, Edward. I've been seeing those goddamn happy faces all day long. You wanted this," he accused, returning to his ministrations.
"Yes… fuck yes," Jasper drew nearer to his goal and Edward's hands braced against the wall harder, fingernails scraping along the surface as he sought purchase on the smooth surface. He writhed as Jasper pulled his boxers completely off. Edward's hips bucked once more and suddenly he felt the moist warmth of Jasper's lips surrounding his throbbing penis, teasing the quivering length, "Jesus, Jasper, oh god I …" Jasper gazed up at the wanton sight above him, the toned torso showing the first faint tan. Skin glazed with moisture, hair in perpetual disarray. Edward was out of control, and Jasper had never seen anything so beautiful. He swirled his tongue around Edward's head, tasting and probing. The younger man was flushed from the roots of his hair to the top of his torso, He bucked against Jasper's lips, the need for release pushing him, forcing him to seek friction of any sort.
Jasper relaxed his jaw and allowed Edward's length to slide past his waiting lips. Edward's lips parted in a silent scream as Jasper took in his entire length. His knees buckled and only his arms braced him against the wall. Jasper saw and pushed forward, holding Edward up as he suckled on the engorged cock. Jasper's pants were undone and his hand fisted his own erection as he pushed Edward ever nearer to the release they both needed.
"I'm … Jasper I can't hold on… I'm going to…" Edward bucked forward one last time, and Jasper's nose brushed against the bronze curls at the root of Edward's cock just as the younger man bit his lip to keep from screaming Jasper's name. Edward's cum coated the back of Jasper's eager mouth as he released spurt after spurt. His chest heaved with passion as Jasper licked him clean before releasing him. Jasper's own cock was softening, and he wiped the remains of his own release on his t-shirt as he gently tucked Edward's softened length into his boxers and did up the younger man's pants. Edward panted as he leaned against the wall. A euphoric haze covered both men as Jasper started to chuckle.
Jasper stood and leaned next to Edward, linking their hands together as both men calmed down and collected themselves. On impulse, Edward turned and pushed Jasper into the wall, claiming another kiss. Jasper slipped both arms around Edward, pulling the redhead's own hand behind his back as he deepened the embrace. They stood there for a few minutes, matching heat for heat, the tender moment eliciting strong emotions from both men. Neither would admit the depth of their feelings, both were exploring and testing.
Suddenly, there was a flash from the doorway, and Edward turned, lips bruised and swollen as the camera clicked once more and blinding light seared through his vision.
A/N I know I'm evil, but I had to have Alec show up sometime, just be glad he didn't interrupt them a few minutes earlier. Now, about the next outtake. What do you think Felix's punishment should be, public humiliation? Private embarrassment/ruin? Death by syphilis? Should Emmett be dressed in drag at any point in the next outtake? Tell me your thoughts, I want to know.