Twilight belongs to Stephenie Meyer

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Where the Lines Overlap

Season 2 - Looking Up

We're just getting started

"... And I'll start next week. It's been great so far." I assured with a broad smile playing on my lips.

"You're happy, aren't you?" She asked me with a joyful tone and I could almost see her smile.

"Yes, I am." I answered with a sigh. "What else would I wish for? I'm studying at an Ivy League university, I'm gonna play college basketball, I've just gotten a nice part-time job, I have the most perfect boyfriend, and, the best of it all, I live with him. I don't think it can get any better, Bells…"

She giggled on the other side of the line and I followed her, feeling so content for my new life...

And just as I opened my mouth to ask her about Emmet, my senses picked up on his presence.

"He's home." I whispered automatically, turning my head towards the apartment door.

"Oh, put him in, I wanna talk to him too." Bella urged.

I laughed a little.

"If you wait a minute or two, I'll do that."

"You're doing that thing again?" She asked funny. "I still can't understand how you know when he's close, Jay. I must admit it kinda creeped me out when you did this the last time we were together."

"I told you, I can feel his presence… I'm not sure how to better explain this."

Just then the knob turned and the door opened. I had a big smile plastered on my face as Edward came in.

"Hey, love." He greeted me with a matching smile before putting his keys on the bowl and his bag on the floor near the sideboard. "Who's on the phone?"

"Wow, I'm impressed once again." Bella said since she could hear Edward's voice.

"Bella. She wants to talk to you." I answered my boyfriend's question as he got closer.

Edward picked up the phone from my hand before leaning toward me and capturing my lips in his.

"I missed you." He murmured, planting another enticing kiss.

Then he sat on the couch by my side and held the phone between us before pressing the speakerphone button.

"Hey, sweetie." He started to call her by the nickname I gave her after he started spending more time with us, just a week and a half after we started dating. "I'm missing you here."

"Me too, E. How are things?" Bella's voice filled the room.

"Well, I think great is an understatement." He said while looking at me and smiling. "But I don't really know a word that can grasp how ridiculously happy I am."

We three laughed, and I leaned toward his face and placed a soft kiss on his cheek.

"Have you heard from the big guy? I haven't talked to him since we got here." Edward spoke without turning his eyes away from mine.

"Oh, yeah.. we've seen each other a couple of times after you guys moved." Bella stuttered subtly. Edward and I shared a knowing look. "He's fine but he's been really busy this week."

"With that internship in his grandfather's company, yeah?" I wanted to confirm.

"Uh-huh. He's been spending the whole day there and it seems this will be his routine until college starts on Monday. He said he wants to learn as much as he can, but I think he's also trying to impress his granddad." I could identify the smile in her voice, she was proud of him.

"It seems you've seen each other more than just a couple of times." Edward teased.

She just giggled.

"In case you see him this weekend, tell him to call me. I need to talk to him, I miss my buddy already."

Bella laughed a little like I did.

"Okay, I'll do that. And you boys be good. Enjoy this honeymoon phase." She hinted.

Edward and I looked at each other with a little mischief.

"We will." He affirmed.

"I'll talk to you both later, guys. Jay, don't forget to look for those books for me, okay?"

"I won't sweetie. I'll text you once I find them."

"Okay. Love you."

"Love you too. Bye."

"Bye, Sweetie." Edward added just before we hung up.

He dropped the phone on the couch and looked at me intensely.

"Hi." I said with a half smile on my lips before I raised my left hand to touch his face softly.

He smiled back at me, his gaze so loving I felt my heart warm up.

"Hi." He gave back gently.

"I missed you too." I replied to his earlier greeting, sliding the tips of my fingers along his flawless skin.

Edward put his hand over mine, holding it in place and leaning his face on my palm.

"I thought about you the whole day." He confessed in a murmur. "I don't know how I went through the classes and was able to do all I had to do, because I couldn't take you out of my mind."

I smiled broader.

"And what were you thinking about me?"

He got closer and placed a sweet kiss on the tip of my nose.

"The way your dimpled smile makes me weak on the knees…" He laughed softly and I followed him. He rested his forehead on mine. "How I miss feeling your scent surrounding me. How I miss your voice, your heat, your simple presence… your eyes on me." He backed away and looked at me again. "Am I getting crazy? Or worse, obsessive? I mean, we live in the same apartment now, I saw you in the morning, and, although it's been kinda insufficient, we've spent all our free time together since before we moved. Is it normal to feel your absence as soon as I leave you and until we're together again?"

I huffed a brief laugh and held his face in my hands.

"I think you're asking the wrong person, babe. First, because I have no idea of what is considered normal for two people in love to feel, and second because I feel the same way." I shrugged.

"Maybe we are getting crazy and obsessive. Together." He used his mocking tone and I immediately knew he wanted to lighten up the mood before we got too intense.

"Like everything we've ever done." I said in the same way. "We can't help ourselves."

He laughed a little.

"No, it doesn't seem we can."

"Well, at least now you can see that trying to run away to another country was a very idiotic idea." I teased him just a little.

He ran his right hand from my neck to my nape and tangled his fingers on the locks of hair there.

"Very idiotic and useless since I can't live without you." He whispered and his fresh breath, as his piercing eyes, enticed me to get closer. "I love you."

"I love you more…" I murmured over his lips just before he covered my mouth with his.

As the kiss deepened, and the feelings within me pulsed stronger, I thought about our present moment.

We'd been living in Providence for two weeks, and we had been together, as a couple, for more than a month. We were indeed, as Bella had said, in our honeymoon phase. That meant we were always eager to be together and always super content once we were.

Before we moved here, during the remaining three weeks before our departure, our alone time was cut short due to the preparations for our move and the time our families wanted us to spend with them to compensate for our imminent absences, so our romantic relationship was actually put on hold. We were not happy about it but we couldn't risk my father finding out, so we withheld our need to be together and waited.

We hadn't had much quality time since we moved, either. We were not alone for the first week and our routines started on the very first day that our moms left us. And considering that we were already a little busy with classes, even though we had practically just started, we'd been having very restricted opportunities to enjoy each other's company.

So, since Monday, most of our time together, which consisted of half an hour in the morning before going to class and one hour, maybe two if we weren't too tired, once we got home from university, we spent reconnecting and enjoying ourselves.

We'd been kissing and touching a lot. It was unavoidable, we couldn't help it. We needed to be in contact every time possible to assure ourselves that our relationship and our freedom to be together as we wanted were real. But, even though we'd already opened the door to physical intimacy, and to my slight discontentment, things were progressing slowly. We hadn't made out so far and I missed that connection.

Nevertheless, I was happy. So happy I couldn't disguise it. I was always smiling and sighing. I had this silly grin from the time I woke up till I went to bed. Every morning when I saw Edward I could feel my heart accelerate and my cheeks burn as my lips stretched broadly to greet his matching joyful expression.

We were happy. I couldn't envision myself happier than I was.

I sighed as the kiss got lighter. I trapped Edward's lower lip between mine and bit it softly. He hummed and slid the tip of his tongue along my upper lip. I moaned low. He ran his hands through my hair and tugged slightly on it, pushing my head away from his slowly.

"I love you more." He returned my previous statement emphatically.

I smiled in a silly loving way. It was frequent for us to exchange our "I love you more" vow but it still made me feel so special...

"Let's not argue." I provoked playfully. "I love you, you love me. We love each other. And we're together."

"And you're mine…" He played along with a goofy smile. "I am yours… and all this cheesy stuff." We laughed a little. "Can we be more silly than this?"

We laughed some more and kissed lightly for a brief while.

"I'm hungry." Edward whispered as we backed away from one another. "Do you wanna go out and eat something different?"

"I'd rather be alone with you here. I don't wanna go out and have to restrain my impulses when I want to hold your hand, hug, or kiss you." I answered kind of dejected.

Edward exhaled and arched his eyebrows before speaking.

"Well, you don't have to contain your will, love. We're not in Olympia anymore, there's no one here who knows us or your father so, we can go out and you can touch me whenever you want."

I heaved a weighed breath.

"I know but I still don't feel comfortable, E…" I explained. "You know that. Even though we're here, far away from my father's eyes and ears, I'm still not ready to come out. Not yet." I sighed, feeling like I was acting wrongly. "I'm sorry, I know that this is starting to bother you…" I shrugged.

"Just a little, but I understand." He assured me. "I had time to adjust, to accept myself as I am now. It took me more than two years… so, I know you need time too." He sighed and brought his hand to my chin, making me look at him attentively. "I'll wait for you, love. I'll wait till you feel confident enough not to let yourself be affected by how other people react to us." He let go of my chin and caressed my face with the back of his hand. "We can order some take-out. What do you wanna eat?"

"Can we order that Thai food you brought home on Tuesday?"

"We can order whatever you want." He answered touching the tip of my nose with the tip of his index finger.

I giggled and that made me feel silly and embarrassed, but I simply didn't care. Edward's gestures of affection always made me goofy. Especially when he touched or kissed my nose, which he loved 'cause he thought it was so adorable.

"You make the call, I'll take a shower." He defined it as he raised from the couch. "We can watch a movie or something. Do you have any classes early tomorrow?"

I took the phone and stood up to go to the kitchen, where I could find the endless list of take-out restaurants we had affixed on our fridge door. "Nope. My Saturday mornings are free till next month, and I only have practice in the afternoon. But I want to go early for my morning run, why?"

We walked side by side until we reached the hall. We stopped and he turned to me with a different glint in his grayish-blue eyes.

"It seems that since we arrived here we haven't had time for ourselves… real time, I mean. Our moms were here, then our routine started, and…" He sighed, interrupting his explanation. "I just want to stay up late with you." He shrugged. "I need…" He spoke in a grave slow voice as he approached me until he had me against the closest wall. "... some quality time with my boyfriend." He winked.

I felt my stomach flipping once I assimilated the suggestive tone he used.

"I think I need some of that too." My voice was ridiculously affected, I was aroused in a flash just by the intonation of his voice and the ideas that it planted in my head.

I leaned against the wall and he moved along with me, getting even closer to my body, our chests touching.

He smiled his deadly crooked smile, reading me through completely. He knew me damn well, as I knew him, so, he could identify the desire that was rising in me as I could notice his intentions, plainly written in his eyes.

"So, can we manage it for tonight?" I could taste his fresh breath in my mouth, which I hadn't even noticed that was ajar. "Of course we can postpone it for tomorrow if you think it will mess with your sleep and then your plans for jogging in the morning..."

I swallowed hard before I forced my voice through my constricted throat.

"Fuck jogging…" I kinda mumbled, a little lost in his fierce seductive gaze, and he chuckled lightly. "We can sleep as late as you want."

I didn't care about running or practice, or anything else when it came to being with my boy. I wouldn't trade him for anything. We could spend the whole night awake as long as we were together.

Hmm… The whole night… A lot of time to spend doing delicious things… The thought came to me out of the blue.

The anticipation was already killing me. I heaved a weighed sigh.

Edward just smiled a little more profusely, as if he had just read what passed through my mind, shook his head slowly, and touched my face with tenderness.

"Shower." He pointed to himself with his other hand. "Call." He pointed to me. "Okay?"

I only nodded, stupidly speechless.

Then I was looking at his back as he walked calmly to his bedroom at the end of the hall, feeling like tonight was an unusual night.

Okay, it wasn't so unusual for us to order take-out and watch a movie, we'd been doing this since Monday. But staying up late…

I bit my lips.

I wanted that so much that I was suddenly agitated. I'd been stupidly happy simply about us being together, and I'd enjoyed the tender chaste vibe and flow that our relationship had assumed till that moment. But having the chance to be intimate again was a thrilling perspective… my body had been piling up all the times I denied it some stimulus and relief, so for damn sure I was ready for more.

Of course, I didn't want to rush anything, we were both willing to allow the natural progression of our relationship to lead us to a more profound sexual contact. Although we had a pretty good idea about what would please us individually, Edward and I were both very inexperienced in the "guy-on-guy" area. Besides, if I was to be crudely honest, starting our intimate relationship, I meant really starting it, seemed to be a bit scary.

Sure, we'd had a great time the last time we made out for real, but the thing was, we didn't really do much beyond grinding and humping, much like hormone-crazed teenagers. The real stuff, like jerking off or blow jobs, or even seeing each other naked intentionally, was still to be tried. And the fact that I had never done any of those with a boy before definitely made me insecure.

I knew we should've already talked about all that but, I had to admit that I was pretty timid to approach the subject. How can you start a conversation about sex, between two men no less, with the boy you've just started dating? Who had been, as yourself, supposedly straight until you two fell in love with each other?

Yeah, I was fucking nervous…

My feelings for Edward were real and incontestable, which meant that I had no reservations concerning our relationship. I was open and ready for what would come regarding our future sexual life, even knowing everything would be a little difficult in the beginning. So, of course, I wasn't fretting about having intimate contact with his body. I'd never felt desire for a man's body before Edward, but he was my man, and I wanted everything with him. I was fretting over the fact that I had no idea where or how to begin and what exactly I should do...

Well, I guess I'll figure it all out soon enough… I thought.

I sighed heavily before walking the rest of the way to the kitchen assuming that, yeah, maybe this beginning would be a bit tricky indeed… but I was ready to try and learn…

.

.

.

MP3 connected to the sound system after I placed the dishes on the coffee table with silverware resting on them, two goblets by their left side. I had a bottle of Kritter Rosé sparkling wine in my hands, a bottle that Bella had given to me and Edward as a housewarming gift.

I had a funny feeling in the pit of my stomach but it was, somehow, pleasant.

The intercom buzzed and I hurried to answer it. After allowing the delivery guy to enter the building, I went to the door and waited. Five minutes later I was placing the boxes on the counter that separated the living room from the kitchen and then opening them when his scent, mingled with the aroma of his body wash, hit me just before I felt his strong arms sneaking around my waist and his chin resting on my left shoulder.

"It smells so good. I'm starving." He said.

I turned in his arms and wrapped my arms around his neck, forcing him to bend his head down a little, looking fiercely into the depths of his blue irises. His eyes had been mostly blue since we arrived in Providence…

"You smell good." I replied with a smirk and then I sank my nose in his skin, right under his left ear, inhaling deep.

His whole body shivered, I could feel it. And soon his hands were at the nape of my neck, fingers entangling with my hair.

All I needed to do was tilt my head up and we would be kissing… and that was all I wanted, but our stomachs growled audibly.

We laughed a little and got apart, but Edward held my right wrist before I could go any farther.

"We'll come back to this later." It sounded like a promise.

With a short nod, I agreed in silence and we proceeded to our dinner.

We were sitting on the floor side by side, our backs on the couch as we ate calmly, exchanging smiles and chaste kisses while we talked about our day. Sometimes we just looked at each other and said nothing, but I felt like we were communicating, nevertheless. Other times Edward snitched a vegetable from my plate and sneered at me, and I chuckled lightly while feeling that these small, simple gestures between us meant how comfortable and glad we were in each other's presence, how it was so easy and good to be together, to be just the two of us.

The food was great, but being with him in that cozy mood was the best thing. We were full and our faces were blushed because of the spicy food. I opened the bottle and poured us some wine, and we drank as we gazed lovingly into each other's eyes.

God! I was so in love with him!

After placing his goblet on the coffee table, Edward kissed my cheek and rested his head on my shoulder before sighing.

"I'm so happy that I'm kind of afraid…" He laughed softly.

I sipped the wine and put my glass beside his, then I leaned my head on his and sighed too, getting serious although I hadn't wanted to.

"I love you so damn much that I'm always afraid." I confessed.

"What you're afraid of?" He asked in a soft murmur without changing our heads' disposition.

I heaved a sigh while assimilating my biggest fear.

"Of losing you."

Edward moved his head slowly from under mine and looked at me. Our faces were close, our nose tips were almost touching, and it made his gaze more intense.

"You won't." He affirmed, his voice certain. "I'm yours."

I raised my right hand and cupped his left cheek, frowning against my will.

"I know…" I whispered. "But I'm always afraid regardless."

"How can I prove to you that I'm not going anywhere?" He asked softly.

I rested my forehead on his and shook my head slowly.

"You don't have to do that. I know I'm being silly, I just can't help it…"

"Listen, love," He asked in a slightly urgent tone, both his hands coming to my face and holding it firmly. "I know it's a little too soon to be even thinking about it, and we're too young to be sure of what will happen, but…" He heaved an audible sigh. "Jasper, I want to spend my life with you. My love for you, it... it gets stronger every day, hon. And, since immediately after I realized how I felt for you, even though back then I didn't have any hope you would love me back, I knew, deep down my soul, that this was something that happens only once in a lifetime. I know the love I feel for you is unique. I'll never love anybody like I love you." He was extremely intense in each word he was saying, and it made my heart swell so much that my throat constricted and my eyes filled with tears. "Do you get it? It's pretty hard for me to even conceive the possibility of not being with you." He exhaled heavily. "Even talking about it hypothetically hurts. I can't live without you, so how would I ever be able to leave you?"

"You almost did it once…" I reminded him carefully. "Not so long ago…"

"Because I thought we would never be together like this, I thought you would never love me like I do you, and I couldn't keep on hurting myself…" His words were saturated with remorse. "But we love each other, I finally have you, why would I throw this away?"

"I don't know…" I answered in a trembling whisper. "It's just... you mean so much to me…" My voice broke and I had to take a deep breath before continuing. "Edward… you're…" I exhaled. "You're kinda… you're everything to me. You've always been, actually, but now it's so different, so much more… and, I don't know… this is too big, way bigger than me, and too overwhelming… I've never felt like this, it's terrifying." He kissed my forehead and sighed, and I sighed too, before raising my head again to look back at him. "I know you love me as much as I love you, I don't doubt it for a second. And I feel exactly like you do about us, I want to spend my life with you, I feel this is forever…" He smiled so sweetly that I mirrored his gesture. "And I guess that's precisely why I'm afraid of losing you. 'Cause I know if I do, I'll be shattered."

He pulled my head slowly to his shoulder, and I let myself melt a little into his embrace. I could hear his heart thundering in his chest and notice his ragged breathing, signs of how affected he was, as I was myself, with all the truths we'd shared.

"I'm afraid of losing you too." He confessed in a soothing voice. "But I try to keep my mind in the certainty of our feelings for each other."

"I've always wanted to be as confident as you are." I said in a lighter tone.

He laughed lightly.

"You know that's just one of my walls…" His statement was placid. He wasn't worried about showing his true self to me. He'd never been. "You know well I'm not that confident."

I raised my head from his shoulder and pecked his lips lingeringly before backing away a little.

"But you're confident enough. It's more than I can say for myself." I replied seriously. "I know you're not a fortress, I know how vulnerable you can be, but you can hold yourself together pretty stably, while I am completely insecure… I'm a chicken shit."

He laughed for real this time.

"Hey, you're not a chicken shit, you're just…" He sighed lightly. "You're just fragile. And I love that about you."

"Have you ever noticed how you see me as a delicate thing?" I spoke in a provoking, almost joking tone. "I'm insecure, I admit it, but I'm not a china and I'm definitely not made of crystal. I'm not breakable, you know…"

He got his face closer to mine, smiling enticingly.

"Yes, you are. You're fragile, innocent, and sweet, and lovable…" His lips brushed mine subtly.

"That's just how you see me…" I tried to argue, just for the sake of keeping provoking him, but he cut me off softly.

"And I happen to be the person who knows you best, so…" I felt, more than saw, the movement of his shoulders while he shrugged.

I was going to reply, but my smart retort got lost in the feeling of his mouth covering mine as he kissed me. I felt my eyes close at their own accord, and I dived into the sensations of our contact.

His hand ran through my hair, entangling with the locks at the nape of my neck. I shivered with the simple touch and felt energy filling me in. He trapped my lower lip between his as I slid my tongue along his upper one. Then he granted me entrance, and our tongues touched. We sighed simultaneously, and my hands went to his face, softly holding him to me as we deepened the kiss.

Our tongues swirled together. Our mouths were locked. Even though my eyes were closed, I could see sparkling lights behind my eyelids… that was just how profusely he made me feel.

We kissed for a long time, I can't say how long. Then we broke it slowly, looked deep into each other's eyes, and hugged. We remained like that, simply rejoicing in the embrace. I had completely forgotten about the playlist I had prepared for our moment, which was all set in our sound system, waiting for me to press play.

I disentangled myself from him.

"Don't go anywhere." I asked him lovingly.

Edward seemed confused for a brief instant but then just followed my moves with his eyes. I stood up and went to our stand, pressed play on my MP3, and waited. Once the first chords from "My Heart", one of my favorite songs from Paramore, filled the room, I turned to him.

His eyes were so filled with love that my throat constricted again. I stretched my right arm and offered my palm to him. He easily understood what I was asking for and came to me. Once as he was right in front of me and held my hand, I pulled him closer.

"Hold me?" That was my whispered request.

Silently he did what I asked. I rested my head on his chest, closed my eyes, and soon we were slowly, slightly, moving to the melody.

My heart swelled once more. And when the first words of the perfect song were chanted, I raised my head to reach his ear in time to whisper "Stay with me, this what I need…" along with the lyrics.

We swayed a little more in silence, so slowly we were barely moving. At some point, I backed away a little and looked intensely into his eyes. His locked in mine, and soon we were deep-dived in each other's gaze, in each other's souls...

There was nothing else but us… The world around us disappeared.

Then he smiled at me, the perfect dazzling smile that made my heart race like crazy. I stopped moving and he followed me. I took his left hand from my lower back and placed it upon my heart.

We were still silent. The only sound filling the room was the sweet melody of the song… but I knew, by the sparkling glint in the crystal blue his eyes assumed, he was understanding perfectly what I was trying to convey.

He pressured his hand a little more into my chest, and I pressured mine over his, just for emphasis. His smile faded in the intensity of the moment… He was serious, but not sternly serious. He was deeply focused on me, as I was focused on him.

With his other hand, he pulled my head to his, sighed in my face softly, and then kissed me.

I could hear the lyrics of the song repeating "My heart is yours" over and over again, as my heart pulsed stronger as if wanting to beat out of my chest and fly to him.

"My heart is yours too." He murmured on my lips, joining our foreheads as our breathing evened.

Another song started to play, and for a while we just stood there, in the middle of our living room, foreheads together, arms around our bodies, eyes closed. I tilted my head to the side and touched his lips with mine again, 'cause I simply couldn't not kiss him when he was so close. But we didn't deepen it, we just exchanged many lingering pecks and then held each other once again.

"Sleep with me tonight." His subtle request reached my ear so low I almost missed it.

My heart jolted and I jerked my head back in surprise.

I wasn't against it, not at all, I was just fucking shocked and wanted to make sure I understood it correctly.

"Not like you're thinking, dickhead." Edward spoke pointedly with a scolding tone and hard smile, but then his face softened. "I just wanna fall asleep in your arms and wake up with you by my side. Like last time at the lake."

I sighed, somewhat relieved. There was only so much intensity I could put up with for one night. Then I nodded.

We started to reorganize the room. After Edward put everything in the dishwasher and I threw the boxes in the trash, we quickly turned off the lights and sound system and locked the door.

We walked silently to our bedrooms and stopped in front of the doors. I looked at him.

"Mine or yours?" I asked calmly as if my heart wasn't practically bruising my ribs.

"Whichever you think you'll be more comfortable."

I pulled him slowly into my bedroom after opening my door. We stood awkwardly in the middle of it, looking at my bed as I tried to figure out how to proceed.

I turned to him, letting go of his hand.

"I need to change and brush my teeth." I said awkwardly.

Edward arched his brows and widened his eyes as he nodded.

"Yeah, I need to do those too." He was as fidgety as I was.

It would have been comical if it hadn't been so tense.

"Okay." That was my so fucking smart reply.

He started to go to the door without another single glance in my direction. It made me feel even tenser.

"Babe." I called him urgently. He was already on the doorsill when he turned to me. "You'll come back." It wasn't a question or a request.

He nodded and went out, and I went into my bathroom, feeling tremors all over my body.

What's happening to me? It's not like we're doing something we've never done before. I thought reprehensibly.

We had already slept together so many times I couldn't even count. Or kind of…

Well, we'd slept in the same room a thousand times since we were kids, and we spent two nights together after we became boyfriends… but…

Yeah, it wasn't the same.

It was obvious something would happen once Edward came back, and I wanted that, he wanted that, I was sure of it. That was precisely why I was fretting.

I took a deep breath.

Everything was new and possibly a little overwhelming, but there was nothing I wanted more than to be with my boy at that moment.

The night was promising.

I smiled, pulled myself together, and went through my nightly routine.