A/N: Hi everyone! Well, everyone who was willing to wait through the two months it took for me to get this chapter out. Sorry about that. If you're interested in knowing why, I have a brief list of my hold-ups on my profile page. Otherwise, I'm sorry, and hopefully it won't take me as long to get the next chapter out.

Well, that's enough from me! Thank you all for your wonderful reviews! I read all of them, and even if I don't get a chance to respond, please know that I love them all and greatly appreciate hearing from you.

Enjoy!

Disclaimer: The Twilight Series and all recognisable characters belong to Stephanie Meyer. No money is being made and no copyright infringement is intended. Only this rather lame plot is mine.

Chapter Three: Understanding

Edward shot a worried glance at the big lump on the bed next to him. It had been several hours since Jasper had gone into his odd 'daze-state', and Edward was beginning to wonder if he should try to wake Jasper up. Carlisle had told him once that, under extreme circumstances, a vampire's body could potentially shut down so attention could be paid to healing and repairing damage. Edward had never seen it though, and watching it happen to Jasper was eerie. Slowing his wounds were healing, though the bite marks left behind scars that seemed to glimmer in the sunlight.

Edward tried to read a book, but he was only able to get a few sentences in before his attention would be drawn back to Jasper. Every time Jasper would whimper in pain or shift slightly, Edward's book would drop to the ground and he would race to Jasper's side to look for any sign that he was waking up.

But every time he was disappointed.

At about three in the morning, Edward realised that Jasper would need something to eat when he woke. He knew that Jasper would be expecting human blood – but even though that would heal him faster, Edward wasn't willing to lure a woman back to his hotel room for Jasper to snack on. Jasper would just have to settle with animal blood.

And if that meant he would have to stay with Edward a bit longer while the animal blood took its sweet time working…. Well, Edward thought with an impish smile, that would just be a sacrifice he would have to make.

Edward didn't want to take the time to hunt some big game, especially because there was the possibility that Jasper would wake while he was gone and decide to leave before Edward returned. So he went to the local butcher. Half in hour later – and needing a new pair of clothes – Edward was carrying several bags of ice and containers filled with the blood of every animal that hadn't already been drained in the shop. For compensation, Edward put some money on the table, and was off before anyone could see him.

He slipped into his room and noted with relieved worry that Jasper was still out of it, and headed to the bathroom. He filled the tub with ice-cold water and dumped the ice into the cold water before covering the blood with the ice. Cold blood wasn't as good as warm, fresh blood, but he wasn't sure when Jasper would wake, and he wasn't going to have containers of blood sit out in the Texas heat.

A moan of pain shot out from the other room, and the last bag of ice slipped from Edward's hands and fell into the tub as Edward raced to Jasper. He froze in the doorframe as he watched Jasper slowly lift his head and look around. He rubbed his brow and slowly began to sit up, wincing every once in a while. Edward could see the confusion in Jasper's face, and his stomach dropped when it became obvious that Jasper couldn't remember showing up at his doorstep.

Jasper tried to stand, but his legs gave out beneath him, and Edward ran to him to catch him from falling. As soon as he touched Jasper, Jasper tensed, but he allowed Edward to push him back onto the bed.

"You shouldn't move yet," Edward said. "It's too soon, and your body is still weak."

"I'm fine," Jasper said, his voice raspy from disuse.

"Sure you are. Stay there, I have some blood for you."

Edward went back into the bathroom and got one of the bags of blood from the tub. He used his fangs to open a hole in the bag, and walked out to hand it to Jasper. Jasper took it, gratefully, and brought it up to his mouth to drink.

Then he stopped, sniffed the blood, and winced at the smell. "What is this?"

"Blood."

"Not any blood I've ever had."

"It's animal blood. That's what I drink. Human's aren't the only source of blood out there, you know." Jasper rolled his eyes and took a tentative sip. He scrunched up his nose at the taste, and Edward had to stop himself from leaping across the room and kissing the cute expression off his face.

"It tastes odd. And flat. There's something wrong with it."

"No there isn't; Animal blood tastes different than human blood. It's not as strong, and you need more of it before you feel satisfied."

"Then what's the point?"

Edward raised an eyebrow. "The point is that, this way, no one dies. You may sacrifice taste, but you aren't killing someone."

Jasper muttered a vulgar response, but he shut up and finished off the packet of blood. As soon as the last drop was drained, Edward pushed another packet into Jasper's hands. Jasper didn't say anything, but he was thankful for it.

Once he was done with his second packet, and steadily starting in on his third, he took a good look at the motel room. "Where am I?"

"You don't remember?"

Jasper shook his head. "Did you bring me here?" Jasper asked, suspiciously. His eyes flashed a dangerous gleam, and he sat up a bit straighter as he narrowed his gaze on Edward. "Did you get pissed off at me and drag me here?"

"You came to me!" Edward scoffed. "I have better things to do than track you down and drag you here."

"You are the one stalking me," Jasper stressed. "Of course I'd suspect you."

"You just showed up, completely torn apart, on my doorstep. I didn't do anything to you except clean your wounds and give you food," Edward defended, slightly hurt that Jasper couldn't remember wanting to be at his place.

Jasper's face turned stony as he thought, and only the slightest twitch of his lips gave him away. "Oh," he said simply. "Yes, I suppose I did."

"What happened?" Edward asked, hesitantly. He didn't want to upset Jasper further, but he thought he deserved to know what exactly had happened to Jasper to put him in that condition.

Jasper shook his head and tossed the empty blood bag onto the bed. "I need to go. I've been gone too long, someone's bound to report me."

"I'm not letting you go until you tell me what happened to you," Edward said, raising his voice so Jasper knew he was serious.

Jasper cocked an eyebrow. "I'm not telling you anything." He moved to the door, but Edward rushed forward and blocked his path.

"No, I deserve to know. I took care of you, I deserve to know what happened."

Jasper growled and tried to step forward, but Edward held his stance. They silently battled for dominance, neither one willing to step aside. Finally, Jasper lost his patience and swore.

"Get the fuck out of my way."

"No."

"I'll hurt you," he threatened.

"I'd like to see you try."

Edward knew he was winning, if only because Jasper was still too weak to really fight him. He just had to make sure that Jasper didn't get to the door. If he reached the door, then he would leave.

As if reading his mind, Jasper launched himself at Edward, but Edward easily grabbed hold of his arms, turned him around, and managed to lock Jasper tightly against his body so he couldn't move.

"You can't go, Jasper. You're much too weak. I don't know why you came here, but you did. So I'm responsible for you."

"Fuck off, no one's responsible for me but me."

"No, I'm responsible for you and I won't let you leave," Edward said firmly.

Jasper tensed in his arms, and Edward prepared himself for another battle, but Jasper's muscles gave way, and his legs buckled. Edward quickly caught him before he hit the ground, and dragged him back over to the bed.

"Do you believe me now?" He asked, trying very hard not to sound like he was scolding him. "You're in no condition to leave. At least not right now. You're still recovering." He started to go back to the bathroom to get another packet of blood, but Jasper's soft, gruff voice stopped him.

"You don't understand," he whispered. "I need to go. It's bad enough I've been gone all night long. I need to report for duty before they come looking for me."

"Surely they will think you are recovering from your injuries? They won't miss you for one day."

"I am a soldier," Jasper repeated in a monotone voice that told Edward this was not the first time Jasper had said these words. "A soldier does not show pain. A soldier does not show weakness. A soldier does not rely on anyone but himself."

Edward frowned at Jasper. "I don't understand what that means."

"I means I need to go because I am not allowed a day of recovery."

"Well, unfortunately for you, that's exactly what you're going to get. What could Maria possibly do?"

"Kill me," Jasper said bluntly.

"But you sound too valuable to her," Edward argued. "You control the newborns! How many people can do that?"

"So I'm only good for my abilities?" Jasper countered.

"To her, yes. But to me, Jasper…" Edward started, but Jasper groaned and put him off from whatever embarrassing thing was about to come out of his mouth.

"I'm sick of this and your stupid little declarations," Jasper snapped. "Look, I get that I make you feel happy. I make you feel like you like me. But I'm sick of the games. You only feel this way because I'm making you. I don't know why I'm making you feel this way – I must be doing it subconsciously or something. But the important thing is that you don't really feel this way. So now that you know, I'd like you to fight it and stop pretending you care."

Edward blinked in confusion as he tried to figure out just what Jasper was trying to tell him. He normally tried not to read Jasper's mind, but he had managed to catch some thoughts over the several times he had seen Jasper. They were mostly memories or little snips of words, but all of them had something to do with managing and controlling emotions. Edward had just assumed that Jasper was trying to work on his own. But this revelation brought forth another possibility, and Edward opened his mind to Jasper to see if he was right.

As soon as he allowed himself to fully enter Jasper's mind, Edward learned one important thing: Jasper felt emotions more fiercely and intensely than anyone he had ever met. There was no middle ground for emotions for Jasper. There was no happy or sad, it was jubilation or depression, intense love and intense hatred. Anything else in between was the result of Jasper suppressing or ignoring his instincts. And, Edward learned, Jasper had gotten very good ad suppressing anything other than hatred. Jasper was absolutely correct when he said that his hatred kept him alive. It was the only thing keeping his talent intact.

"So you control the emotions of the newborns to make them amenable to your will?" Edward asked. He tried to keep the disapproval from his voice – really he did. Edward knew that, it in the same situation, he would never have survived. Edward didn't disapprove of Jasper, and he never wanted Jasper to think that. But he did disapprove of Maria and how she had corrupted Jasper and his gift to suit her. Jasper's gift was something beautiful, but Maria had turned it into something evil.

"If, by those fancy words, you mean that I fuck with their heads and emotions until they do what I want, then yes," Jasper said with a snort. "How'd you catch on so fast? Most people need me to spell it out for them. Well, those I tell, that is."

Edward tapped his head and said, "I told you when we first met that I can read minds."

"I forgot," Jasper muttered. "I've never met anyone else who had a gift, too."

"Me neither," Edward admitted. He sat down on the bed next to Jasper, but made sure not to touch him so Jasper wouldn't freak out. "Do you really think I'm interested in you because of your gift?"

"It's the only explanation," Jasper said, stubbornly. Edward had to clench his fists so he wouldn't point out that it wasn't the only explanation. Instead, he decided to force Jasper to see the truth.

"But for it to be a result of your gift, you'd have to want me to feel this way. Do you want me to feel this way?" Edward asked. He desperately hoped for an affirmative answer. If it was, then that meant there was hope for him.

Jasper furrowed his brow as he thought – a gesture that scrunched up his whole face, and reminded Edward of a child trying to imitate a parent's thoughtful expression. Edward found it incredibly cute, though he would never say that to anyone. Especially not to Jasper. Jasper knew how to kill people, after all.

"I said that, yes I must subconsciously want you to like me."

"So then what's the problem? I imagine you're lonely. People probably don't want to buddy up to the person who commands them. I'm willing to listen and not judge you. What does it matter if it's your talent or not, when I can't tell the difference?"

"Because it's not real!" Jasper shouted. "I don't want fake friendship or forced companionship. I'd rather be alone than force myself on someone." He ended his tirade and took a calming, yet shuddering and completely unnecessary, breath.

Edward was silent as he let Jasper calm down, and then he spoke. "Do you want to know how I know that I care about you by my own free will?" Jasper looked up at him, but Edward didn't give him a chance to say anything before he continued speaking. "You have your gift because, despite what you do to suppress them, you feel emotions greater than anyone I know. But your gift only works when you don't shut yourself off from it. You've shut away all your emotions related to anything but hatred. I think that right now you would find it impossible to affect anything other than hatred, resentment, or any other negative emotion. You can't cause me to feel friendly to you, because you've so completely shut off that emotion, that you'd have no idea what it even feels like."

"I don't think –" Jasper interjected, but Edward raised his hand to cut him off.

"I'm not done," Edward said firmly. "If you don't buy that – and granted, it is just a hypothesis that Carlisle and I have been working on – my final reason is my gift. Just like you have a better handle of emotions than most do, I have a better understanding of the mind. Your gift may control the body, but the hormones you control are regulated by the mind. Everything you do is controlling what and how the mind responds to each circumstance. I would know if you were affecting my mind. And while I'm sure you can affect my emotions, I would never allow you to when I barely know you, and you'd never be able to do it without my knowledge."

"So, you're saying…"

"I'm saying I want to know you because I want to. It has nothing to do with you using your gift."

Jasper still looked unconvinced, and Edward knew there wasn't anything he could say that would convince him if he didn't want to be convinced. So instead, Edward jumped on the one positive thing Jasper had revealed.

"So now that you admit that you want to spend time with me…"

"I never said that," Jasper protested. "I said, maybe subconsciously."

"But it's not so subconscious that it doesn't keep you from admitting that you never wanted my interest to be fake, even though that would have solved all of your problems."

Jasper didn't have a response to that, and Edward didn't force him. Jasper was stubborn, but bright, and pushing him into a decision he would rather make on his own would only infuriate him.

"So you really do want to get to know me?" Jasper asked softly and with a great deal of confusion still evident on his face.

"Yes."

"But why? If it's not my gift, than I don't understand why you'd want to. You called me a butcher. I can hear the horror in your voice whenever you mention what I do. I disgust you."

All thoughts of safe boundaries left Edward in that moment, and he didn't care about keeping away from Jasper if it meant that Jasper would get the wrong idea about him. The only thing that mattered was making Jasper see the truth. He knelt down in front of Jasper and cupped his face between his hands, forcing Jasper to look at him.

"You could never disgust me. Never. What disgusts me is what others force you to do against your will. I know you don't want this Jasper, but you feel like you have no choice because this is all you've known. That disgusts me. And I'm horrified that your gift, which is a testament to how caring you really are, has been manipulated into something evil. But none of that is you.

"I want to help you find the person that Maria has broken. I want to get you away from here so you can live the life you want. I want to give you the opportunity to use your gift for good, so you can see its beauty."

"I still don't understand why, though."

"I don't think there's anything I can say that will completely convince you," Edward said, honestly. "I think you just need to trust me, and see that I'm telling the truth."

Jasper looked away from Edward and he seemed to sag under the weight of his decision. Finally he spoke and Edward was slightly disappointed by the change in topic. "I still need to leave before Maria sends someone out looking for me."

"No, not yet," Edward insisted. "She'll already be upset; one more night won't make much of a difference. And in this condition, you'll never stand a chance against her. Wait and get better."

Jasper closed his eyes and buried his head in his hands. When he released a loud, guttural groan, Edward couldn't control himself any longer. He delved into Jasper's mind and heard him warring with himself as he vacillated between his training and experience, and his desire for rebellion and control over his own life.

When he looked up, a fierce rebellious fire was burning in his eyes.

"Can you give me some of that blood?" He asked. "If I'm going to be staying here another night, I might as well gorge myself on some unappetising animal blood."

Edward did a happy dance in the bathroom before he brought a bag back to Jasper, and opened another one for himself.

A/N: Yes, it's short, (certainly shorter than I hoped to put out for you all, especially considering the wait-period) but it kind of just naturally ended here.

Also, I should say that I have no idea when medical research began work on hormones and the impact the brain has on regulating them. If it is after the time period I have my story set... Well, Edward's supposed to be really smart and educated, right? Plus he fancies himself a 'mind expert' because of his gift? So surely he'd know what goes on in there? Yeah, we'll go with that.

Thanks for reading! I'd love to hear what you thought of it! ~AJ Kelly