Obligatory author's note time! I'm actually astonished I've gotten any response at all after such a short amount of time!

This chapter will be the last upload till Friday, because I don't know if I'll have time to write with school being so hectic at the moment, and I don't want to post all my pre-written chapters and leave you with nothing. Just be let you know, this whole story is un-betad, so any mistakes lie solely on me. Fee free to let me know if there are any mistakes. :)

Disclaimer: If I owned the rights to Twilight, my friends would probably answer my texts, because I'd be rich. But alas.

Enjoy!

Chapter 3

JPOV

Driving down the sleepy road, I glance at the illuminated clock on the dash. 3:16am. 3 hours, 46 minutes. That's the longest I've stayed asleep all week.

Somewhat nervously I dare a look at Edward's face in the drivers seat. I could see his worried expression clear as day, despite the moon providing the only light to the car. I hated that I worried him. This is my burden to live with, he shouldn't have to stress about what was going on in my head.

Yet, despite that, I couldn't bring myself to shut him out completely. He cared. That was more that I can say for a lot of people in my life over the years. As much as I want to just not talk about anything to anyone, I know I can trust Edward, and I owe it to him to try.

"Where are we going?" looking around, I realise that I'm not entirely sure whereabouts in Forks we are. Having not been paying attention, I don't remember which roads Edward had taken; all I knew was that we were heading out of town.

"You'll see." There was something tight in his voice that I couldn't quite place. There was a tension in the car that clung in the space between us. I'd upset him. That much I was sure of. But it was more than that. It felt as if I'd made him angry, but he was trying to hide it. Unfortunately for Edward, he isn't quite as good at hiding his emotions as I am.

Soon the car was pulling in to a small shoulder of the road that looked like it had been used as a makeshift car park a few times. There was no one else here, not that I expected anyone to be. Silently, Edward killed the engine and stepped out of the car. Assuming he wanted me to follow, I stepped out into the night. Standing at the edge of the forest with only the moon illuminating a small man made dirt path in front of where Edward was, the entire world felt like it was asleep. I glanced at Edward and he met my eyes briefly, before beginning his way down the path and into the moonlit forest. Eager not to be left standing alone on the side of the road, I hurried to catch up to Edward's silhouette walking in front of me down the path. He made quick strides, but it didn't seem as though he was in any hurry. I knew from being invited on family hiking trips with the Cullen family\

that Edward loved nature. He loved plants and animals, which fit nicely with the fact that his house was built right into a natural forest clearing with a stream running past. When I'd first befriended Edward, he and I spent hours on end 'adventuring' through the greenery near his house. Being from Texas, I wasn't used to lush green forest, and Edward took delight in showing me the places he went to be alone. This felt different to those times though. The fact that we were out here - wherever here was - in the middle of the night changed the feeling I had about this whole thing.

After about five minutes of walking in silence, I was itching to ask what we were doing out here the in amongst the dense trees. Just as I opened my mouth, Edward stepped aside in front of me to reveal the open night sky, no longer obstructed by a canopy of trees. The forest ended abruptly on to hard, flat rock that dropped off to a steep cliff face down to the black ocean below. Edward looked at me as if he was judging my reaction. I didn't quite know what to think… Why did he bring me to a cliff? There was only about ten meters of space between where we were standing at the path and the edge of the cliff. I wouldn't say I was necessarily scared of heights, but it made me nervous to be so close to a cliff face in the middle of night, with no one knowing where I was. That being said, I was taken aback by the beauty of being out here. Walking forward, I could see the starlit sky reflected on the glass-like water that extended out to the horizon to join in the middle like one enormous mirror. It was breathtaking.

"What do you think?" I was startled by Edward's voice right behind me. Being caught up in taking in the sight before me, I hadn't realised he had moved forward from his position at mouth of the path.

"I… wow." I couldn't put into words what I was feeling right now. Being here, under the watchful stars, the whole world felt like it was asleep except for the two of us.

"Yeah, it's a bit like that." I could hear the chuckle in Edward's voice, and I turned to look at him.

"Why did you bring me here?" He didn't answer right away, instead he walked forward and sat down on the rock in front of me and looked down at the calm waves.

"I dunno. I come here when I need to get away and you were upset. I thought maybe if I brought you here, it might distract you." Sitting down next to him, I could hear the tension that laced his voice. Dammit. I'd done it again.

"I'm fine ya'know…" I don't think I could convince anyone with the way my voice shook as I lied. What was wrong with me lately?

"Bullshit, Jasper. Complete and utter bullshit, and you know it." His voice didn't change any and he just kept staring out into the night.

"I know…" I figured there was really no point lying anymore. To Edward, at least.

There was a few minutes silence before he asked, "Was it the same dream?"

Shuddering, I involuntarily recalled the nightmare that had woken me up. "Yeah, the one with the knife." Over the years since moving into my brother's house away from my mum, I'd had what my therapist referred to as 'repressed traumatic memories' manifest themselves as nightmares. Edward had witnessed the same thing as tonight many times. I don't know what brought this one on, but it was the first one in about two months. I really thought I'd beaten them…

"You're not taking your meds again." It wasn't a question. Shit.

"I thought I was strong enough not to need them… I really just wanted it to be over, Edward…" My words were barely above a broken whisper and I could feel the telltale sting of tears welling up in my eyes. "Of course I'm not strong enough… I'll never be strong enough…"

Suddenly Edward's arms were around me and I could hear his voice in my ear. "Listen to me Jasper. You are strong. One of the strongest people I know, actually. I don't think I could've been through everything you have and still be half as functional as you."

I was struck by his words. I'd heard doctors say the same thing, but somehow, sitting here, it meant so much more. I had to try. For Edward. He'd put up with too much of my crap for me to just sit here, a pathetic fucking mess.

I don't know how much time passed as we sat there in silence, waiting for me to regain some semblance of composure, but Edward didn't say a thing the whole time. He just sat with his arms around me, and I felt like he was literally holding me together, stopping me from slipping down into the darkest depths of my mind. I felt like it should feel weird, the fact that I was curled into his body for the second time tonight, but above all, it felt… right? I felt safe, like as long as I stayed close to him, I would be okay. I hadn't felt this way in a long time, and honestly, I liked it.

I could feel my eyes starting to get heavy, and I realised just how exhausted I was. I guess not having a full nights sleep for over a week now was finally catching up to me. I hadn't been able to sleep lately, and spent most of my night tossing and turning, eventually giving up and spending my nights drawing or something until daylight. It was becoming harder to stay awake when Edward pulled back to look at me.

"We should head back. You're tired."

He started to stand and pull me up with him, as I mumbled a lame "I'm not that tired," that was punctuated with a yawn. Laughing under his breath, Edward took my hand and started to lead me back down the path toward the car. His hand felt warm in mine and my heart felt like it was skipping beats, but I was too tired to trust anything my body was telling me right now.

I'd worry about it later.