Master, my Master | boyxboy | [alternate happy ending]

XIX - Return

The jolly mood in the room was replaced with frustration and a demand for answers. "What is he doing here?" he just about panicked.

Darcy jumped at the infuriation in Jasper's voice, and looked to Eli for verification on the matter.

"I don't know," Eli answered, "But he's all too eager to see you."

"No!" Jasper shouted, his cheeks turning red, memories of his last confrontation with Edmund coming back. He could feel the wind being knocked out of him again, remembering how he'd been thrown back on a bed, pinned down and nearly violated by the seventeen-year-old. He would be eightteen now.

"I don't want him here!" Jasper's once chipper face had morphed into an expression that bellowed hatred and rage. "Send him away!"

Eli, shaken by the fury in the Young Master's voice, hurried for Jasper, placing his hands on his shoulders. "Calm down," he soothed, glancing over toward Darcy and then back. "I tried speaking with him already, but he wouldn't give me a moment."

"I am NOT going down there until that fiendish wretch is off this property!"

"Jasper-."

"I mean it."

Eli sighed, beaten.

He turned his back on Jasper. "Lady Darcy," he said, "Would you be so kind as to give me a moment alone with Jasper? Juliette is down in the servant's quarters having breakfast, and should be up to greet you in a couple minutes."

Darcy nodded, "I'll just give myself a warm bathe for the time being, then."

When she disappeared into the bathroom, the door latching behind her, Eli faced Jasper again, but the small seventeen year old was gone.

Eli spun around, catching the Young Master hurriedly pulling on his day clothes. "Jasper, wait. Please."

"No, I must tell my father Edmund isn't welcomed here."

As Jasper buttoned his blouse, missing a few of the holes, Eli grabbed the boy's trembling hands. "Jasper, listen to me," he kept his voice low, just in case Darcy could hear through the wooden door. "I am just as upset as you are, if not more, but speaking up about the incident will only cause undesired attention. I want Edmund thrown out of this manor as well, but unfortunately we both hold secrets dire for the other if ever discovered."

Jasper's hands continued to tremble in Eli's grasp. The red haired boy was right, though. It didn't seem to matter if either of them spoke of the attempt at molestation, or the fact that Jasper was in an intimate relationship with Eli, either way both parties would be punished to some extent.

Veiling his frustration with the lot of the dilemma, Eli sighed and kissed the back of Jasper's hands. As much as he wanted to comfort his love, he honestly didn't feel like dealing with this right now. Ever since his short escape back home, nothing seemed to be going right anymore. They'd had five months of pure unadulterated peace, living and loving happily until...Silas.

He was already having issues of his own when it came to accepting his loss of the boy with crooked glasses; the last thing he needed were more problems on his plate. And given it was Edmund, made it a whole lot worse because he knew too much.

"His intentions are undoubtedly impure," Eli said, "But he should know he's putting all of us at stake with whatever he's doing here." After kissing Jasper's hands again, he pushed a curly blonde lock behind the boy's ear. "I came to warn you, but I must get back to work now. The dinner last night prolonged cleaning the entire manor. I'll try to finish my household duties and return to you as fast as I can."

Jasper didn't want to see Eli go but let him, watching his tailcoat vanish with the closing of the door. He took a seat at the end of the bed, slouched over as though conquered by the mere knowledge of Edmund's presence.