Fic: Said and Done (10/25)

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Said and done

Synopsis: Graduate students Edward and Jasper feel the connection, but is it enough to overcome their differences? (E/J slash, vamp/human, comedy/romance, rated NC-17)

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Chapter 10: Helping a brother out


A/N: Thanks to TwilightMundi for betaing this and every chapter. Thank you for reading.

Disclaimer: All copyrights, trademarked items, or recognizable characters, plots, etc., mentioned herein belong to their respective owners. No copying or reproduction of this work is permitted without express authorization.

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Chapter 10: Helping a brother out

Jasper peppered me with questions while we sat in the meadow.

"How did you become a vampire?"
"Have you ever turned someone into a vampire?"
"Does it hurt to be in the sunlight?"
"How long have you been a vampire? ... Seriously? You're old!"
"If you and your family are vegetarians, does that mean that there are others that… aren't?"
"I kind of like garlic. Will that be a problem?"
"Are your family members all vampires?"
"Would they mind if I have garlic breath?"

The questions kept coming after he got cold and we began to head back down the path to my car.

"Do you like being a vampire?"
"Are you like, really strong? Can you smash this rock for me?"
"Can silver bullets hurt you? How about regular bullets? Grenades? Atomic weaponry?"
"Do you have other normal—err, human—friends?"
"Do you want to drink my blood?"
"Do vampires go to the bathroom?"
"Can you do that Michael Jackson Thriller dance? Oh, wait, never mind. Those are zombies. Wait, are they real too?"

And during the drive home.

"Do you ever watch vampire movies?"
"Did you look the same when you were human?"
"Does your hair grow?"
"Can you swim?"
"Can anyone become a vampire?"
"How was the first vampire created?"
"How many of you are there?"
"You can't fly, can you? No? Don't laugh at me! I just thought that maybe since bats can fly… No, right, you said that."
"I didn't see a coffin in your bedroom when I was there. Did you hide it? No? Then where do you sleep? Dude, that's weird. Wait, so you don't have a bed? Then where do you… eh, never mind."

When I pulled up in front of his house, however, I decided it was my turn to ask a questions.

"Jasper, why are you so calm? Why aren't you scared of me? You should be," I asked before he could finish his latest question, which was whether capes came in different sizes or were "one size fits all."

He hesitated. "Well, I wasn't calm when I first found out. I mean, I freaked out pretty hard. Wouldn't you?"

I raised my eyebrow at him.

"Right, well, yeah. So I did when I first found out, but then I remembered that when you freaked out, we talked through it, so maybe I could do it too. And then when I was with you, I wasn't scared anymore," he explained.

I understood what he was saying. When I was scared I held onto him for dear life and he just hugged me and then took me to the movies. I wondered if I should hug him from my place in the driver's seat. But then the rest of his words sunk in.

"Wait. You said 'when you first found out,' but wasn't that just now?" I asked.

"Uh, yeah, no. I found out this morning, a few hours before we got together. I was going to call and cancel but then I figured you wouldn't hurt me, so… here we are."

"You found out this morning?" I asked, stunned.

He nodded.

"Then why did you keep asking me when you already knew?"

"Well, for one, I had to hear your side of the story, which I have to admit, is surprisingly similar to what I learned this morning. But most of all, if you couldn't trust me enough to tell me who you are, then it didn't matter; it wasn't going to work anyway," he replied.

"Just a second. You didn't figure it out this morning, you learned this morning?" I confirmed, sensing my body begin to tense in reaction to this new discovery.

"Yes," he whispered, looking down.

I looked at him. "Exactly how did you did you learn this?"

"Mmtesmt mmsge" he mumbled.

"Jasper?" I asked again, my voice strained. "How did you learn what I am?"

He sighed. "Text message."

Text message? Who? What? Why? Who? Why? Who? And more importantly, who? And WHY?

He dug around in his pocket and pulled out his phone. I tried to be patient while he slowly opened it, pulled up the message, and then showed it to me.

The message had just one word: Vampire.

"Yeah, I don't know who sent it. I don't know the telephone number, but I got it around 8:30 this morning. And I Googled 'vampire' but it didn't really coincide with what I knew of you, so I thought I'd better hear the truth from you."

I heard Jasper talking, but barely registered his words in the back of my mind.

Who had sent that text? There were only five possibilities. And only one was remotely likely. Alice.

She was so inexplicably excited about the presence of Jasper in my life, that she betrayed my trust and meddled in my affairs in a way that could have meant disaster to our entire family.

I took a moment to calm down and steady my voice before asking to see Jasper's phone. I had to see that Alice was the one who sent the text message.

He hesitated but eventually handed it to me. I clicked the button that would scroll down through the message and allow me to see the sender's phone number at the bottom. As I suspected I would, I recognized the number instantly. Except it wasn't Alice's.

Emmett?

XXXXX

I pulled my car into our driveway and was out of it before the engine had the chance to come to a complete stop.

"Emmett!" I bellowed.

"Shhh! For god's sake!" Emmett said, instantly at my side. "Be quiet or Rosalie will hear you!"

I was crouched to attack, but his words stopped me short.

"Wait. Rosalie doesn't know?" I asked.

"Uh, yeah, right, like she'd understand," he replied.

I stood up. "Understand what? What the hell were you thinking?"

"Dude! Relax, man! It's not like you were steppin' up to the plate. Someone needed to help you," he said.

"Help me what? You're insane!" I was furious. "How could you tell him?"

"Edward! Geez, I thought you'd thank me. I was trying to help you! Since you didn't have the balls, I decided to intervene. My god, you wore makeup today. No brother of mine is going to wear Revlon if I have anything to say about it. So I texted him while Alice was applying that shit to your face," he explained. "And clearly he was fine with it because you were gone all day on your little date. I've seen the way he looks at you—he wasn't going to say anything. It's time, man, you gotta move forward, and I just gave you two a little push. So there, you're welcome."

"Emmett, you had no right to tell him," I growled.

"Well, you weren't gonna score until he knew, and you've been shut out for 90 fucking years. I was just trying to help a brother get laid!" he replied testily.

And at that moment we heard a screech followed closely thereafter by an impressive string of obscenities coming from the direction of Emmett and Rosalie's bedroom. She'd heard him.

"Shit." Emmett cursed. "I try to do you a favor and now I'm the one who is fucked."

XXXXX

Whether Jasper knew it or not, he was the cause of many Cullen family meetings, and the latest was no exception.

Fortunately for me, Emmett's revelation seemed to place him in the hot seat. Yet every time Rosalie glared at him, or we considered difficult decisions that would affect all of our lives, the guilt weighed heavily on my shoulders. After all, I'd revealed the unmentionable as well, and we would never have been in this mess to begin with had I never befriended Jasper. But each time I opened my mouth to try to take my portion of the blame, Emmett kicked me underneath the table.

After the fifth time, he discretely leaned over and breathed, "Don't worry, I got this one. She'll get over it."

Of course, he whispered it in Pig Latin, but who was I to complain? I shot him a grateful look and mouthed my thanks.

During the meeting it was decided that a sudden relocation on our part was no longer an answer. Even if Jasper swore never to tell our secret, we couldn't ensure that he would keep that promise. And if we disappeared suddenly, he might have even less incentive to keep silent. Rosalie made sure to remind us that even with the best intentions, Jasper might share a little too much unintentionally under the influence of alcohol considering we already knew that the beverage tended to embolden him.

There was also talk of "eliminating" the problem by a small yet vocal minority. I was glad that this option was dismissed rather abruptly.

My family eventually came to the conclusion that for the time being at least, the best we could do was carefully monitor the situation and let Jasper's actions guide our own. And because Jasper and I were due to return to campus within the next 48 hours, it would be up to me to ensure Jasper's silence once we got there. And I would do so through near-constant surveillance. All of my standard tasks, from homework to showers to hunting, would need to be done as he slept. The rest of the time, I was to be listening intently while remaining hidden in his shadow.

While I thought that this was a bit unnecessary, I found I was pleased to have the excuse to constantly keep watch over Jasper.

I was downright insulted, however, by the suggestion that I should undergo training from my siblings on how to effectively monitor the man who was already becoming the new center of my world. Unfortunately, my protests were overruled by Carlisle, who went on about how it wouldn't hurt me to learn a few things about subtlety.

I don't know what he was talking about.

XXXXX

By the time our meeting was over, it was late afternoon and I was restless. I needed space and the opportunity to consider the surprising events of the day. So as soon as I was able, I took off for the hills.

Emmett caught up with me only a mile or so from our house. As we ran through the forest together, I thanked him again for taking more than his share of the blame for our family's predicament.

"Hey, man, no problem. I wanted to help, and I know you don't believe me, but that's why I sent the original text message," he said as he reached over and punched my shoulder. "Besides, now Rosie is pissed and I fucking love angry sex," he explained.

That was Emmett alright, ever the epitome of subtlety.

"You had to go there?" I asked

"I'm always there," he laughed as he dodged a large spruce. "I just hope you get to visit soon too."

I shook my head as he grinned and waved goodbye before turning and heading back toward home. For my part, I continued my journey, running toward the place that now called to me now more than ever.

XXXXX

I soon arrived in my meadow for the second time in a matter of hours.

I sat on the ground and leaned against the fallen tree where Jasper had sat earlier that day. It was now sunset, but his scent was still embedded in the wood and wafted lightly in the air around me. I rested my cheek where he'd sat, and took a deep breath, enjoying his particular bouquet. I could almost feel the heat where he'd warmed the now lifeless tree as he sat and questioned me.

I replayed the reactions I'd seen on his expressive face. He'd been surprised at times, concerned at others, but never scared, and never filled with the hatred or disgust I deserved to see in his features.

Instead he sat in this place, matching the glorious scenery around us point for point with his own strength, beauty, and understanding beyond my wildest imagination. But while I'd sat with him today I had been so focused on answering his questions that I hadn't reveled in the vision before me. Now I reached back for the images I'd carefully cataloged.

I remembered his blue-gray eyes lit with wonder as they reflected the prisms of light bouncing off my cold body.

I saw him as he had sat on the log with the sunlight streaming through his blond curls, the amber waves perfectly framing his ruddy cheeks. What was it about him that was so golden, so full of unending light?

The setting sun cast its own warm light across the frozen land, yellow dancing and sparkling across cold, hard crystal blues. The effect was mesmerizing. Light reflected and multiplied while the ice remained unyeilding. Was the connection I felt with Jasper the same as the visual image before me? Did I merely crave an impossible thaw, or could I actually multiply his light, and somehow be good for him for as long as he crossed my path while personally remaining forever frozen in time?

I tilted my head to the sun and felt it warm my face as it sped to the horizon. I wanted to chase it, running west, as fast as I could, to stay within the reach of the golden rays. It was the closest approximation I had to actually touching Jasper.

Suddenly feeling the sun on my face seemed ridiculously insufficient. I burned with a sudden desire to feel it's golden warmth everywhere on my body.

I thought for a moment. Why not?

I stood up and glanced around. It was needless; my mind unconsciously monitored all life within a five mile radius, but the reaction was instinctual.

After verifying I was alone but for a few small rodents and one rabbit, I carefully reached to remove my jacket, which I folded and placed on the fallen tree behind me. Next, I slowly pulled my sweater and placed it neatly with my coat. I was rewarded when I felt the warm sun hit my now-exposed forearms. I decided to continue by removing my t-shirt, and soon I added it to the growing pile of discarded clothing.

I felt the rays of light now spread across my bare chest, all the sweeter for its infrequency. For ones such as myself, brazen exposure was a rarity indeed. I basked motionless in the golden warmth.

But still, it wasn't enough.

I decided to further bare myself to the light, wanting it to blanket me from head to toe. I removed my pants and shoes and placed them with the other clothing.

I hesitated. WWCD, I wondered. What would Carlisle do? Should I remove my last article of clothing?

I decided that I could. Slowly, more slowly than even a human, I took off my boxers and placed them with the others.

And then I stood and faced the setting sun, watching the rays reflect off of the angles and planes of my body, scattering light in all directions.

I moved back to lean against a tree that Jasper must have brushed against, for his scent clung to its branches. Being mid-winter, there was no shade from this elm, but neither did I wish there to be.

I urged the sun to touch me, cover me with warmth and light.

I closed my eyes. The beauty of the sunset was no match for my Jasper, whose face was a thousand times more brilliant in my memory.

A slight breeze tickled across my naked form, cooling my skin where the sun dared to warm it the slightest degree. The wind's gentle caress woke my nerves, however, and in combination with the scent Jasper had left behind, and the images of him that I played behind my closed lids, I felt my body responding.

And I wanted to know.

So I slowly ran my hand down my chest, and refusing to think of anything but Jasper, continued moving it further down to my hip and then in to where I was most sensitive. I gasped slightly as I ran my palm gently, experimentally, along my length for the first time.

Instinct warred with my early-20th century sense of propriety.

But as it turns out, propriety be damned. Once is not enough. I did it again.

And again.

And again.

And a thousand times more.

Soon, I was stroking myself rhythmically as images of the human danced across my mind.

I experimented with angles, pressure, and speed as I replayed scenes of my time with Jasper. My hand moved languidly when I recalled seeing him in the firelight at my house while he wore my sweater. When I remembered how he'd licked the blueberry juice off his lips in the diner, however, my movements sped up. And then, when I'd put my head to his, smelling his breath and feeling his warmth while he dozed, well, the memory pulled at my heart as I uncovered the secret pleasure of a slight tug provided by my left hand in conjunction with the activity of the right.

I discovered one of my favorite images was that of Jasper's lips. I had known this previously, of course. But I soon learned that extended thoughts of his mouth in my vulnerable state caused me to moan aloud.

And I learned that with increasing speed, came a pressure that rose steadily in my abdomen, threatening to overflow, but held in check with a slower speed and a lighter touch.

But it was when I began to wonder whether Jasper had figured out this type of pleasure as well that the pressure boiled over.

And I came.

And my toes learned to curl. My hips, to thrust. My back to arch, and my muscles to clench in a rhythm older than the oldest.

And then it was over.

I opened my eyes after a moment. The sun had set and I realized I was in darkness. I realized I actually felt a bit silly. With no sun to warm me, being naked in a meadow, dripping venom, seemed foolish.

It could be argued that the act was completely necessary. Certainly it was not unpleasant. But as my orgasm drained me of some tension, it also left me emptier than before.

And I didn't want to be empty for Jasper.

I wouldn't do it again, I vowed. I would not focus on self-pleasure, but on his.

I threw on my clothing, and took off running toward a house that wasn't my own, knowing full well I'd be spending the remainder of the evening perched motionless in a large evergreen. Surveillance, it seemed, would come naturally. I yearned to see him.

I knew now that it was more fulfilling just to be in his presence than to try to make due with a substitute. Even a glimpse of Jasper was worth far more than memories mixed with the caress of sunlight on my skin.

The rest of the world could revolve around the sun, but nothing less than Jasper himself would be the center of my existence.

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A/N: I'm sad to report that Emmett didn't get any when he got home from running with Edward.

After all, Rosalie knows damn well that Emmett likes angry sex. And this wasn't exactly a "Fuck you, Emmett, you said you weren't thirsty then you drank half of my grizzly, you lazy ass" situation, for which the easy solution was that Emmett would make it up to Rosalie by satisfying her in many other ways for the next four to six hours or until she no longer cared about the bear, all the while proving he wasn't a lazy ass.

No, this was more of a "Fuck you, Emmett, you could have just destroyed my family, my security, and my chance to live forever with your stupid ass, because you wanted my brother to get laid" situation.

So when Emmett offered to make it (up) to Rosalie, she simply explained that if he brought his fucking cock anywhere the fuck near her, she'd fucking rip off his hairy-ass balls and shove them where the sun don't fucking shine, which could have technically been just about anywhere in Forks, but Emmett was quite sure the location she envisioned was within arm's reach, and so he decided to back the fuck off and try again later.