A/N: Good morning, lovelies. Let's get down to it.

"Ugh. I'm sick."

Jasper clucked his tongue. Alice did sound miserable, but that didn't mean he couldn't tease her about it. "Are we talking about sick in your head, because that's not news to me."

"Dick," Alice said. She sniffled. "You need to still hang out with Bella and Edward."

"What? Why?"

"Because Bella needs you there."

Jasper chuckled. "I know it defies all logic, but Bella actually likes Edward. He's good for her."

"I like Edward too," Alice said. "But Bella and Edward have the same problem. They can get too intense. You should be there to remind them both to keep it real."

"Well, when you put it that way, how could I refuse?"

"Simple. You don't. It's your duty as a Big Brother to make me happy."

"And it would make you happy if I hung out with Bella instead of you. Jeez, kiddo. You're easy."

"I've heard that before," she said, her voice cheerful.

"Ah, people are dumb, Al. Don't let it get you down."

"I don't." She burst into a coughing fit, and groaned at the end.

"Okay, okay. You don't have to put on a show. I'll go entertain Bella for you."

~0~

Edward's place turned out to be exactly what Jasper expected. It was in a nice suburban neighborhood with kids scooting off the street, out of the way as he drove up. The houses were nice and neat. Edward's house was among the smaller-a one story with a neat lawn. Exactly the kind of place a plain, uptight guy like him would live in.

Jasper strode up the short walk and knocked on the door. He flashed a grin at the nosy neighbor who stared at him-ripped jeans, leather jacket, long, scraggly blond hair-with obvious disapproval. Her eyes went wide, and she hurried into her own house.

Oh, yeah. Edward was right at home here.

The door opened, and Bella appeared. Her wide smile faded to a look of confusion when she saw him standing there alone. "Where's Alice?"

He put on an affronted look. "Hey. It's great to see you too, kid."

Her cheeks went pink, and she took a step forward, wrapping her arms around him in a quick hug. The streaks in her hair were dyed teal today, he noted. Alice's favorite color of the moment. "Sorry," she said. "Hey, Jay."

He ruffled her hair. "Alice is sick."

"Oh. Oh, no. That sucks."

Bella looked so concerned that Jasper had to laugh. "She's not dying, Bell. She just has a bad cold." He draped an arm around her shoulder as they walked forward into the house. Ducking his head, he spoke quietly into her ear. "Don't worry. She sent me over specifically because she was worried about you."

"Worried about me?" Bella's cheeks were pink again, a small smile playing at her lips. Obviously, she liked the idea Alice had been thinking about her.

"She seems to think you won't have as much fun if I'm not around," Jasper said, waggling his eyebrows.

Edward came out of what Jasper could only assume was the kitchen then. He was such a precious sight, Jasper had to laugh. There was a tray of cookies in his hand, straight from the oven if the bright green mitt was any indication. He looked over at Jasper and Bella with furrowed eyebrows. "Where's Alice?"

"Come on, Betty Crocker, don't pretend you're unhappy to see me," Jasper said, flashing Edward the same grin he'd bestowed on his neighbor.

Edward's answering expression was cool, but Jasper would swear he raked his eyes quickly up and down his body. "Hello, Jasper. Where's your Little Sister?"

Spoilsport. "She's feeling a bit under the weather, but who can resist a Star Wars marathon?" He strode toward Edward, letting his arm slip away from Bella as he pinned the other man with his eyes. "And you baked, too. Look at that."

He reached forward, nimbly breaking off a bit of fresh baked cookie. He kept his eyes on Edward's as he bit into it and licked a bit of chocolate off his fingertip. His eyebrows quirked up. "Mmmm," he said.

Edward's eyes had dilated. His gaze flicked down to Jasper's lips, and he watched Jasper dart his tongue out to lick away the last of the chocolate. He gulped and took a deliberate step backward. "No patience. Don't you know you have to let cookies cool?" He retreated into the kitchen, calling over his shoulder.

"Oh, yeah. I'm a huge fan of rules. Besides, who can resist them when they're all gooey like that?"

"You could have burned your fingers."

Jasper looked at Bella and rolled his eyes. She just smiled. "Come on, man," Jasper called back. "Some things are worth getting burned for."

Edward came back into the hall and thrust a large bowl of chips at Jasper. "Take this into the living room, and we'll get started."

"I'll bet we will," Jasper said under his breath.

"Come on," Bella said, waving him forward.

The living room wasn't what Jasper expected. It was no surprise that it was neat. What was a surprise was the setup he had going. Jasper spotted several gaming systems, a kick-ass set of surround-sound speakers, and a large TV. Further than that, the decor in the living room wasn't standard yuppie; it was more like a gaming room-posters of movies Jasper actually liked and a map of Westeros. A cabinet next to the TV was open. Jasper saw a number of games he played there.

Edward came into the room with salsa in one hand, dip in another. He set them down and raised an eyebrow at the look on Jasper's face. "What?" he asked.

"You're a closet gamer dork."

Edward scoffed. "There's nothing closeted about me. What, you think you know me because you've spent maybe eight hours total with me?"

"Well, you just keep unfolding like an onion, don't you? Layers and all that."

Bella giggled and quickly clapped her hand over her mouth to cover the sound. She flashed Edward an apologetic smile, but his eyes were soft when he mock-glared at her.

Hands on his hips, Jasper surveyed the room. "Gamer dork, fair taste in movies, and you can bake?" He looked to Edward and smirked. "You're going to make some guy very happy some day."

Edward rolled his eyes and sat down on the couch. "Pizza will be here in a minute."

Rather than take the armchair, Jasper flopped down on the couch beside Edward. He grinned at the other man's disconcerted expression. "You know… they say the way to a man's heart is through his stomach."

Edward managed to look both disconcerted at his nearness and unamused by his less than subtle flirtation. "This was for the two teenage girls, remember?"

Bella snorted and shoved at Jasper's shoulder until he scooted over. She slid in between them giving Jasper a look. "You're kind of a brat."

"That is what they tell me."

Bella looked uncertain. "Alice said you've been to jail."

Jasper huffed. "Hardly. I mean, it was just like five days. It was kind of a scared straight routine the judge was trying out." He waved a hand.

Truthfully, though, jail had scared the crap out of him. Though his voice was even as he talked about it, his heart had begun to pound out of control. He hated his stepfather-who had been the one to convince the judge to do it-even more every time he thought of it. He hated remembering the way he'd cried into his pillow each of the four nights he'd been there.

"Did it work?" Edward asked, and there seemed to be a shrewd look in his eyes. Jasper felt certain, for one second, that he could read his thoughts.

Defensive now, Jasper sat up. "It's like they think we're stupid when they do shit like that. I was seventeen, and it was petty garbage. They're not going to lock me up for the rest of my life. Assholes. And it was jail, not prison. Not even as gritty as Orange is the New Black."

"So you kept on getting into trouble," Edward said. "What kind of trouble?"

Jasper's eyes flicked to his, and he crossed his legs. "Well, that's not something you want to make me say out loud in present company." As he spoke, he ran one leg over the other, down below his knee and up again. "Let's just say you might have been one of my customers, eh?"

Edward's eyes were dark and dangerous, but Jasper was distracted by Bella's horrified gasp. "Jasper, you didn't-"

He laughed, knowing she'd understood what he was suggesting. Clever girl. "No, I didn't. I told you, it was petty stuff. I liked to steal." He looked back to Edward and winked at his disapproving frown. "But I'm reformed now. That's what all this started as." He looked back to Bella. "Don't get me wrong, kiddo. I'm glad I'm here now, but any of the Big Brothers my age are here because they're being forced to be here. Part of us being reformed bad kids, eh?"

"That's why they paired you with Alice," Bella said, putting pieces together. "She's gotten into trouble. I haven't."

"Which means you get shiny, squeaky clean Edward as a Big Brother, and Alice gets me to tell her what not to do with her life," Jasper said, nodding.

Edward scoffed and rolled his eyes, but he didn't argue. Bella tilted her head, considering Jasper another moment. "But Alice told me your family is rich."

"So?"

"So why steal stuff?"

"Because fuck 'em all, that's why." Jasper shrugged.

"You know, maybe the consequences weren't so serious for you, but that doesn't mean it's the same for everyone else," Edward said, and Jasper recognized the angry edge to his tone.

Jasper narrowed his eyes. Fucking asshole. Just like his stepfather and all the rest of them. He thought he had Jasper pegged; had thought that since the day they'd met. "I never said it was a smart thing to do. It was a dumb fuck thing to do. I did a lot of not-so-smart things." He looked to Bella. "You know what I did was dumb, right? I mean, I didn't need to explain that to you."

She looked torn between amusement and discomfort as she looked back and forth between Edward and Jasper. "Stealing things isn't a great idea. I think I already had that down."

"Right," Jasper said. He glared at Edward. "And for your information, the reason Alice knows all that was because I was honest with her. Heaven for-fucking-bid you give these kids any credit for being smart enough to know better."

"You weren't."

Jasper scoffed. "Sure I was. I did it anyway," he said with a drawl. "That's just the kind of guy I am."

"Hey," Bella said, raising her voice to catch their attention. She looked more annoyed now than apprehensive. "Can we watch Star Wars now?" She got up and moved to the armchair, leaving them alone on the couch.

The atmosphere was somewhat awkward at first, but Star Wars soon got the better of them. They'd started with the original trilogy, choosing to watch them in the order they'd been made at Bella's insistence. "Carrie Fisher said to watch all the ones she was in first, and the others didn't matter," she'd said, Carrie Fisher being one of her idols of the moment.

"Well, there are a lot of reasons that's a better idea," Edward muttered under his breath.

"Do you remember when A New Hope came out?" Jasper asked, batting his eyes innocently.

Edward made a face at him, but it wasn't quite as severe as it could have been. "I was born three years after Return of the Jedi came out."

"Don't lie about your age, Edward," Jasper said.

The pizza came, and they all gorged themselves. Jasper, for once not doing it on purpose, let out a pornographic moan at the taste. Bella laughed, and he saw Edward glance away, running a hand through his hair.

A New Hope was easily the least action-oriented of the Star Wars movies, and Jasper had seen it a thousand times. As such, his mind began to wander.

Given that the man was only a few feet from him, it wasn't exactly a shock that it was Edward Jasper's mind ran to. He kept glancing out of the corner of his eyes, enjoying the view.

Well, what? Jasper had eyes and a penchant for men. Edward was a good looking man. Not only that, but Edward wrapped up in one of his favorite nerdy movies was a sight to see. He had one leg up on the couch, and his head resting on his knee. His eyes flashed with excitement as he watched the movie. Jasper had to smother a laugh when he saw the other man purse his lips to make the lightsaber noises.

Of course, he knew the guy was a wet blanket. That should have stopped Jasper from imagining what it would be like to kiss him, to touch him. Yeah, that would be particularly satisfying, wouldn't it? Guy looked down on him, wanted to think he was scum? What would it be like for someone so low to make him scream? And Jasper bet he could do it. Guy like that probably didn't get much action once he opened his mouth. He'd be begging Jasper in-

"Are you even watching the movie?"

Jasper jumped, but Edward wasn't looking at him. He'd paused the movie and was looking across the room at Bella. Now that Jasper thought about it, Bella was looking distracted. She had drawn both legs up to her chest and even as she looked over at them, her stare was almost vacant. She had a thumb at her mouth and was tearing at her thumbnail one bite at a time.

"What's wrong?" asked Edward.

"Nothing," Bella said quickly, averting her eyes.

"Not nothing. What were you thinking about? Were you bored, or-"

"Not bored. I like Star Wars. I've always liked Star Wars. You know that."

"But you're distracted," Edward pressed. When Bella only bit her lip, he prodded gently. "It's okay. You can talk to me." His eyes flicked to Jasper. "To us."

"Yeah, Baby Bell. What is it?" Jasper asked, leaning forward.

She crossed her arms over her chest and slunk down in her chair. "It's dumb, okay?"

"Eh. Most things are, really," Jasper said. "Don't worry about that."

Her cheeks turned bright red. "It's just that I was thinking, I've got no...game, or whatever."

"You've got no game?" Edward asked, sounding confused.

Jasper laughed, shaking his head at Edward. "She means she doesn't know how to get her flirt on." He looked to Bella. "You like Alice, don't you?"

"No," Bella said quickly. She covered her face with her hands. "Yes? Maybe? I don't know. Gah! What do I do?"

Jasper stroked his chin, thinking. He looked over to Edward and found he too was struggling for words. He figured it'd be better for Baby B if he said just about anything before Edward could. It was lucky for him that Edward was so attractive. He probably didn't have to open his mouth to get laid. The man would probably still be a virgin if he had to rely on his own smooth talk.

"Okay, so the first thing is, you just gotta remember you're hot, and you're awesome, and anyone would be lucky to have you," Jasper said.

"Yeah, right," Bella said, clasping her arms tighter over her chest.

"Hey." Jasper tilted his head and waited until Bella looked up at him. "Seriously, B. You're all kinds of pretty. You're smart, and you know how to fight the good fight." He grinned at her. "Like you listened to all those movies and books about people who stick up for the little people. Good guy stuff."

That made her smile. She ducked her head again, but this time she looked pleased.

"So let's try that again," Jasper said. "You remember you kick ass, and anyone would be lucky to have you. Got it?"

She nodded, only a little hesitant.

"Then, the second thing you remember is that the worst thing that should happen is you get turned down," Jasper said.

"Which, you gotta remember that all that means is that the person doesn't have an interest," Edward said. "There's nothing wrong with that, you know? There are a lot of awesome people you have no interest in, right?"

Bella nodded again.

"Right," Jasper said, taking over again. "Now, it's true too that sometimes people are jackasses. If that happens, you thank your lucky stars because damn, you dodged a bullet, right?"

Bella giggled. She sat up straighter, arms still crossed but ready to open up a little. "I mean, I know all that. Technically. I just don't know what to do. Where do you even start?" She threw her hands up in the air dramatically. "Is there a book on this stuff? Argh." She hid her face in her hands again.

"Hmm." Jasper thought for only a fraction of a second before he slid over on the couch. Beside him, Edward started.

"What are you-" Edward began, but Jasper cut him off.

"Practical demonstration," Jasper said. He looked to Bella. "Pay attention, okay?"

Jasper turned back to Edward. For a fraction of a moment, his head swam. He was thrown by the other man's nearness, and his pretty face. He really was gorgeous, and Jasper felt his heart pick up a quick rhythm as he started to speak. "The most important thing is the eyes."

Edward's eyes stared back at him, green and wide. Jasper wondered if he was acting for Bella's benefit, or if he really was as thrown as he looked. "Confidence is never not appealing," Jasper said. "So you look them in their eyes. Maybe you do a little head tilt." He tilted his head down. "And you look at them from under your eyelashes. You got pretty, long lashes." Edward's eyelashes were ridiculously long-again, pretty. "Looking up like that is sexy. Don't ask me why. It just is."

Amusement tugged at the corner of Edward's lips at Jasper's words. It might have been Jasper's imagination, but he could swear the older man's skin had flushed. His lips were parted ever so slightly as he looked back.

Jasper had to swallow hard before he could speak again. "So, this next bit is only if you're familiar with the person. But if you are, if you know them a bit, you can touch them. Just a little bit. A touch to the arm like this and linger." He pressed his palm lightly to Edward's arm; he'd be lying if he didn't admit he'd wanted to touch him here, feel the strength of his defined bicep. Jasper had a thing for arm muscles. He swallowed hard again, keeping himself from squeezing. "Or a tap on their side to get their attention or emphasize your point." He moved his hand to Edward's side tapping him once there. "And even when you don't know them well, you lean into their personal bubble a little, see if they cringe away or if they let you invade their territory.

Edward didn't move a muscle when Jasper leaned in. They were close now. Almost too close.

"Okay," Bella said, but Jasper didn't turn to look at her.

He was frozen; his eyes still on Edward's. Though he was doing nothing but staring, Jasper had the odd sensation that the tables had been turned somehow. It sent a chill down his spine

"The words...that depends on the person. Like this guy"-Jasper pointed at Edward with his chin- "is a dirty mother fucker, and he likes the double entendres."

Another smile tugged at the edge of Edward's mouth. He ducked his head, and looked at Jasper from under his eyelashes.

Fuck.

The look in Edward's eyes had gone straight to his dick. It was just the proximity. They were two attractive men staring at each other. Of course, he was going to want to do something about it.

But they weren't there for him. Not right now. Jasper continued. "While you're talking, you maybe draw attention to your mouth." He raised his hand to his chin and pressed his thumb to his lips. Even though he'd narrated the move, Edward's eyes still darted down to catch the movement. He licked his lips, and Jasper had to swallow a groan.

It took an incredible effort, but Jasper managed to turn back to Bella, shifting so his body was angled forward again. He smiled at her. "Flirting 101," he said, his voice maybe just a little strained.

Bella scoffed. "You make it look easy."

"It's not hard. Well." He smirked at her and turned over his shoulder to wink at Edward. "I guess in our case it is. Really, kiddo. Alice is a bit oblivious, but she likes you. I think you'll be fine. Just gotta take that first step."

"You've always been fearless, Bella," Edward said. "Alice isn't so scary."

Bella snorted. "Obviously, you haven't seen her when she's bartering for the best price." Her eyes went wide. "She actually did that. Like it was ye olden days or something."

Jasper snickered. "Ye olden days." He laughed again. "You'll be fine. Promise."

Bella got to her feet and stretched. "Well, as long as we've got it paused, I'm going to take a bathroom break," she said and headed toward the back of the house.

Almost as soon as she'd walked away, the air in the room seemed to get heavy and hot. Jasper's skin crawled, though not in the creepy sense. No, he was hyperaware of the heat of Edward's leg. He was so close to Jasper-almost touching. Jasper felt strangely afraid to turn his head or say anything. He rubbed his leg to keep from bouncing it.

"Well," he said after a few awkward moments. "I could use another soda." He leaned forward and took the glass off the table. "Do you want-"

But as he said the words, he had turned toward Edward. When he did, Edward reached out and cupped the back of his head, pulling him in the final few inches and pressing their mouths together. Jasper dropped the glass, and heard it bounce on the thick carpet, but the sound may as well have been miles away. He closed his eyes, tilting his head, kissing Edward back. His thoughts spun. His hands scrambled at Edward's sides, unsure of what to do, before he splayed his palm wide over his back. Their kiss was fevered and hungry, lips smacking between tiny gasps and coming back together again and again and again.

As soon as it had started, Edward pulled back. Jasper opened his eyes and blinked, stunned. Edward's face, mere inches away still, was flushed. They were both panting. Edward licked his lips. "That was a kind thing you did." He swallowed audibly. "What you did for Bella, I mean."

"Uh. Yeah," Jasper said. A fog had settled over his thoughts, and he couldn't seem to shake it.

They stared at each other, neither of them moving. Jasper had never wanted anything as much as he wanted to kiss Edward again, but he was annoyingly confused by the idea. It was messing with his head that Edward-uptight, asshole Edward-was looking at him like maybe he wanted to press him back onto the couch and give him a much more thorough kiss. And fuck if Jasper didn't want exactly that. In fact-

The slam of a door in the back of the house made them both jump. Bella was on her way back to the living room. Jasper grabbed his glass from the floor and grabbed Edward's glass too before he headed for the shelter of the kitchen. He set the glasses down and opened the fridge. He stuck his head in, letting the air cool his super-heated skin.

What the fuck was that?

A/N: Next chapter should be interesting. ;)