Dust to Dust

19

Charlotte was so close to reaching them and breaking them up, but was too late before Jasper shoved Asher to the ground and an actual crack was heard. It sent a shudder down Jenny's spine but she still managed to run up to the scene. Charlotte bent down beside Asher, trying to see where he had been hit. Jenny turned to Jasper who could do nothing but stare, looking slightly regretful. He must have, after hearing something break. She knew he didn't like the guy, but never thought he would have gone this far.

"Jasper, what the fuck did you do? What's going on here?" He turned to her like she was insane for lashing out at him.

"He's been pissing me off ever since you went to go see him that night! I know this shady motherfucker is up to something! And if he ever tries to lay those filthy hands on you again I'll do worse!"

He had gone way, way too far. All she could do in the heat of the moment was slap him clean across the face. "First of all, I can make my own goddamn decisions! And second, you could have split his fucking head open! What is wrong with you? What happened to the guy who brought me here, so optimistic about literally everything? You've been acting weird too, and you know it. I know you're a good person, Jasper. So what the fuck happened here?"

He looked taken aback. He knew she was right but wasn't going to say anything. "He started talking to me about how you'd been meeting up with him at night. That's not normal. He'll tell others to either piss off or only stick to small talk. Why is he so fixated on talking to you? I can't help but be worried!"

She did notice he had taken an odd liking to her aside from everyone else at camp, but that was no reason to get in a fight with him. It felt wrong speaking for someone who was bleeding on the ground, and as much as she didn't want to stand up for Asher after what happened, she had just finished talking to Charlotte about it, and couldn't help but defend him, since he was the one injured. "He's not fixated on me! We were just talking-"

"Yeah and what if I hadn't stepped in that night? What would have happened to you, what would he have done? Can you blame me for being concerned?"

He was interrupted by Eren who had suddenly come up from behind him. They grabbed the side of his face, pulled it towards them and punched him right in the jaw. Not hard enough to seriously injure anything, but enough to get their point across. He jerked back, holding the spot that had just been punched and stared at Eren, mouth sealed shut.

Eren pointed a finger at him. "You listen here, asshole. Asher's done more for us than we could have ever asked for! So to almost break his fucking skull is bold, even for you! Get out of here, Jasper. I don't want to see your face back in our cabin tonight begging for forgiveness. Get fucked." They pushed him aside, looking down at Asher. Jenny was shocked that Eren could be that straight forward. And they were right. He owed Asher respect after everything he was going through to keep everyone alive. Even if he had his tendencies, Jasper was jumping to conclusions. He was sick, anyone with eyes could see that, unless he had been hiding it. Therefore, he was right to be suspicious, but punching him was another step when he hadn't done anything to blatantly cause problems. She shook it off and eyed Asher, still on the ground. Charlotte was propping his head up and another adherent had stepped in as well. They didn't look panicked, so it probably wasn't over the top serious. That would be the case if Asher wasn't knocked out and there wasn't blood all over their hands.

"Jesus fuck, is he okay?" Eren asked, crouching beside Charlotte. He really did look really bad. Blood was staining his bright blonde hair, and dripping down his neck. Because of how pale he was, the blood just looked darker. That was going to need bandages and maybe even stitches as soon as possible. But what was strange was that he didn't even try to fight back when Jasper attacked him. And if he provoked him to the point of getting badly hurt, it seemed like he literally wanted to get punched. The way Charlotte was looking at him proved her point further. This had most likely happened before, considering the look on her face. She softly said something to the other adherent, and then turned to Eren. "There's a slight break. He's going to be fine, but we'll have to keep him contained for a while. Someone please get Jasper out of here, this is unacceptable."

It was good to hear he was alright, but still. He was badly hurt and it was all because Jasper lost his cool and got all possessive. Jenny looked back at him, he was still rubbing his face and unsure what to do or say. She stood up, frustrated, and grabbed his wrist way too tightly, starting to walk behind one of the cabins.

"Jen, not so hard, Jesus!" she just gripped tighter at that. "Ow, fuck! You're going to tear my fucking hand off, what are you doing?"

She pushed him against the back wall of a cabin and stared at him with an attitude. "You're lucky I'm not going to hit you again! I get that you're frustrated with him, but doing that? If you're pissed about me spending time with Asher or some shit, fuck you! You know we aren't doing anything! So why are you so jealous of me being around other people?"

Jasper looked like his brain was going to burst. "Because I get attached okay?" he shouted. She had never heard this tone from him before. It was angry, but jumpy, like he was going to start crying. "Back when everyone was still alive, I had nothing! My family was neglecting me all the time, none of my friends stuck around long enough to even get to know me, I had no girlfriend, life sucked! Then everyone died, and I felt like I had a new purpose! Like this is what I had been living for! When I found Asher, I knew! When I found you, I knew! God Jen, getting to know you felt like a dream! I feel needed around you, and seeing you with that psycho just makes me want to... I don't even know! I don't want to be a jerk, but I care about you! I want you... to be safe. You chose to be around me. Nobody's really done that before. I love having you here. I feel like I'm supposed to know you and I just... I don't want to be alone again..." he trailed off and wiped his foggy eyes. It was at that moment she realized that she really didn't know anybody here. Or she didn't know them well at least. Jasper has his own issues, mostly attachment ones, but they were bad. She couldn't exactly blame him for them, but it wasn't an excuse to lose himself. They hadn't known each other for an extremely long time, but she knew him the best out of everyone, or she thought she did anyway. Now it made sense why he was sneaking to her cabin every night.

Jenny folded her arms. "You've got issues too. So you need to think about Asher's for a second. You two aren't that different."

"I'm nothing like that prick-"

"Let me fucking finish."

He closed his mouth immediately.

"You've got problems. Just not the same ones he has. He has tendencies to go overboard with his emotions and boundaries. I'm coming to terms with that, and you need to too. But you can't take out your problems on others. Asher is not going to hurt me. And if he ever did, or if I thought he was going to, I'd tell you, and we could get out of here with the others. But I'm choosing to trust him. I think you should too considering you've been here longer than me. I get that you care about me, Jasper. I care about you too. In fact I might even say that I love you for taking me here and being the sweetheart you are after everything that's happened. But you can't do that again. Have some faith in the guy who's the reason why we're all alive and sane."

Jasper's eyes were huge. They got that way specifically after the 'I love you' part. Knowing that pissed Jenny off because he was missing the point.

"You... I mean... I-I'm sorry, Jen. My problems aren't an excuse. You're right." he laughed at himself "You're always right. And I'm a dumbass. That's just how we are."

Jenny smirked. "Hell yeah you are. Now I expect an essay of an apology to both me and Asher for being a possessive asshole. I understand your feelings, I just need you to work through them, okay?" she reached her hand out for him, and he shakily took it.

"C'mere." she pulled him closer to her, taking him into her arms. For once, she felt like she was the one making the other feel safe, because the way Jasper held her back was so unsure, but she just needed him to know that while she was being rough, she was here for him. Simply returning the favor for all the times she'd been struggling and needed someone around. He was always there, so now it was her turn.

"I'm gonna help you with whatever you're feeling, okay? You need the support, so stop acting like this cocky piece of shit. I know you just need someone to talk to. You hear me?" she broke away from him and he just stared at the ground, ashamed of what he just did.

"Yeah. Okay. Thanks, Jenny." they started to walk to the front of the cabin together, hand in hand.

"Ew, that's weird, don't call me that."

"I thought you hated when I call you Jen!"

"I do hate it, but when you do it, it's okay."

"Aw... you do love me, huh."

"I hate you."