Disclaimer: This is a work of fiction. I do not claim rights to any of the characters and am not making any money. Alas.

Nothing Else

Jasper's fingertips seared hotcold on his skin, undoing everything that had kept him together until now. The world shrunk to a tiny pinpoint of brightness that made him squeeze his eyes shut and cling hopelessly to the body above him. The silence of the room magnified the harshness of their breathing until it became a cacophony of sharp intakes and soft hisses. Breathing wasn't necessary but it was natural. And it made him feel alive even when his heart laid perfectly still.

"Don't do it because you pity me."

"I don't. I won't."

He started off wishing, hoping, pretending that what he felt wasn't a betrayal. When he saw Alice and her lovely smile, he would try to forget the part of him that wanted to say, I think I'm in love with Jasper and I don't expect you to forgive me. But wishing, he found out, only wounded the heart. Even when there was no more beating, no more blood rushing through to tell him what pain was. So now all he had was need and it didn't hurt any less, just differently. It traveled through him like poison, not delicate and insidious like the kind that changed him, but heady and overpowering and much too much like bloodlust.

"I'm sorry."

"For what?"

"For being weak."

Jasper's lips closed over his again, tongue tracing everything close enough to taste. The need was diluted now, trickling quietly and flaring only where their bodies didn't meet. The moment was slower, softer than before, but his muscles felt tense and harsh, ready to either carry him far away or secure him to the only thing he was afraid to lose.

"Will you forget by morning?"

"Do you want me to?"

"I don't know."