I stared at the cup in my hands trying to ignore the gaze of the boy seated across me.

I told him I needed a moment before he ended up following me all the way to Kaye's. The steam from my coffee had lessened- almost unnoticed. I had been staring at it since we came in, not uttering a single word. I knew he wanted to say something but held it back. I knew I was being totally selfish. He just confessed about his sister missing and I was being a diva by not talking to him and asking him to give me a moment.

I berated myself and glanced up to find him looking outside the park. It was almost 7 in the evening. We had both apparently decided not to have dinner today.

"Why didn't you tell me?" I started, softly. As though I was afraid of anything I would say. His eyes lazily move towards me and I hold his gaze as best as I could. I see him hesitate and somehow, I have never seen Jasper look so sad. I felt something twist inside me- guilt? Sympathy? Whatever it was, it did not feel too good. My eyes flicker briefly on his adams apple as it bobbed, like he was swallowing what he was going to say before heaving out a sigh.

He glanced down at his hands, spreading his fingers on the table between us, I watch him do all this, the grip on my cup getting tighter as the seconds tick by.

"I didn't know how," he began and our eyes meet again and for some insane reason, it was as if he was making me see it. See the truth inside his eyes. I blinked and looked down at his hands again and noticed he had nice nails. Clean.

"Rosemary disappeared years ago," he continued, this time his fingers were tapping on the wooden table. "I just- I didn't think it would have been something I needed to tell you right away. We had just come to terms with our...friendship and you're still heartbroken from Jasmine's disappearance and..." he trailed off. I felt his eyes on me but I focused on his hands, he had stopped tapping his fingers.

"I didn't know how to tell you without upsetting you further," he decided to end and this time, I do glance up at him with my emotions swirling inside of me.

"You should have told me," I said lightly. "Do you know what I thought when I found all those things in your room? I thought...I thought that-" I couldn't even bring myself to say it. I thought it was you. I thought you took her.

I felt his hands around mind and I discreetly suck in a breath. His hands were warmer than my coffee now.

"Patricia...," he starts and I never realized how much I had grown dependent on the fact that Jasper was there. That he was helping me find Jasmine. That I wasn't alone. I was scared, because if I had been right and Jasper had done something- this was the first time he had even said my name.

"That face again," he comments and my attention snaps back at him. There is a faint smile on his face that reminded me of something I can't quite remember. "I didn't want to tell you because I didn't know how and I didn't want you to lose hope...like I did."

"What happened?" I breathed as his hands slip away from mine. This time, his expression is of someone that was broken but his eyes were dark enough for me to know he was still angry about it.

"It happened just like this," he started, his fingers back to tapping. "Disappeared with no trace then a year after, a delivery of flowers."

"I tried so hard, you know. I tried so hard to look for her. Her disappearance took a toll on our parents. After a year and a half of trying to go on with our lives, my mother finally snapped. She lashed out on my dad and blamed him because Jasmine had been taken from our school. Dad was supposed to pick her up. I was out having fun with my friends."

"Their marriage failed and Dad started..." he paused, clenched and unclenched his fist. "Drinking too much. Mom left for my grandparents house and I was left alone to nurse my alcoholic father."

"Rosemary was the light of the family," I met his eyes and ushered him to go on, despite seeing the pain he held in them. "She was the one that always brought us together and when she was gone, everything started to fall apart. I missed classes. Dad didn't go to work. Then one night, he went home drunk and I heard him crying inside the bedroom. I walked in and saw him, a gun aimed on his head."

I tentatively placed a hand on one of his own, feeling the room shrink. I didn't know what else to do. His uncles words echo inside my head. He has been through a lot. Yet here I am demanding that he explain himself to me. I stare at him as he stares at our hands, as if fascinated by it.

"It was when I called the police," he continued. "They came just in time and ushered my dad out of the house. I was a kid," he laughed under his breath. A laugh that could break a heart. "The police told me to sit outside for a moment as they talked it over. I hadn't understood then what had happened. Turns out they had found Rosemary's body. I...I lost the stupid sick game. I lost Rosemary."

I squeezed his hand, wanting to comfort him as much as I was allowed to. As much as he allowed me. He shook his head then, closing his eyes and smiling as if he was embarrassed by all of it.

"Jasper..." I say before he opens his eyes again and looks at me, making me feel that unnerving feeling like he was really looking at me.

"They lost a daughter," he says in a harsh whisper. "They lost a family. They lost themselves. Mom wouldn't even come back and Dad...well, dad is in some facility now due to substance abuse and Mom only calls to say she'll be by to get me when she's feeling better."

"They found her body in a field," he says this now like it was the most amusing thing. "A field of Rosemaries."

I suck in a breath before we let the silence pass by us. My coffee was already cold. I stared at our hands that had somehow become intertwined during his tale. He stares at them too.

"I remember you," he starts quietly. "You were the first person to ever talk to me when I came to this town, aside from my uncle."

The memory hits me like a train. It had been years ago. How could I forget something like that, though? The green eyed boy under the rain. That familiar faint smile. I give him a slight nod, indicating that I remembered. This seems to bring a small smile on his face.

"I was riding my bike down the street and fell over," I said and he nodded. "I was trying to get home. To get away from the rain. You were sitting by the pavement, not even bothered by it."

"Then you said 'You there, don't you know you'll get sick if you stay out on the rain like that?'," he continued. "Then I glanced up and saw the scariest 13 year old girl I had ever seen. You were intimidating and I remembered you immediately. The tough girl in school."

I snort out a laugh, shaking my head. "You ran back inside that day and we never really talked again. Never really saw you in school either. Thats why I never realized it was you with Jasmine that day."

"I never really stood out before," he said quietly and I nod before the silence falls on us again.

"I'm sorry about Rosemary," I start and then, "I shouldn't have doubted you. I just-"

"You had every reason to doubt me," he says just as Nana comes by our table with two pieces of cake. I pull my hand away from Jasper as he slips his down back on his lap yet this does not escape Nana's eyes as she raises an eyebrow at me before turning to Jasper. I smile awkwardly when she left saying the cakes were on the house.

"I should come here with you all the time," I say as I take a bite of the cake. "I get free food." I smile at him and looked down immediately when he smiled back. Smooth, Pat. Real smooth.

"I never really found out why Jasmine liked you," I start absent minded. "I guess she really likes hanging out with people with bad pasts, huh?" He studies me for a moment until I felt queasy under his gaze and diverted his attention to the napkin holder.

"At least you were kind before and after she met you," I take one folded napkin out before taking another, not really knowing what I was planning to do with them.

"You were kind," he says then. "In your own way. Why else would Jasmine speak so highly of you?"

I roll my eyes at him. "Because I was that girl? I guess. A lot of girls were afraid of me but not Jasmine. She was..."

"Open minded? A saint?" He offers and I throw at napkin at him to which he evades.

"A saving grace," I state before we both smile. He opens his mouth to speak when my phone rings. It was Nathan. Suddenly the atmosphere around us changed as I swiped to answer it. When I put the phone to my ear, Jasper excuses himself.

"Hey," Nathan's voice sounded through the line.

"Arrived okay?" I ask, hearing the faint sounds of boys in the background. They were obviously getting ready to party. For a moment there was silence as I hear him shout over the phone at someone before everything turned quiet.

"Yeah," he sounded tired. I would have been too. "The guys are throwing a party and-"

"Have fun, its okay," I say before he could ask. I could feel his smile on the phone, making me smile too.

"I miss you," he says. I could hear him clearly now and something else.

"I miss you too," I say quickly, straining to hear the sound. "Where are you?"

"My uncles rest house, at the basement, why?"

There it was again. The faint sound of classical music being played. Why would they be playing classical music at a party? I shake my head, thinking of how Nathan would party. It wasn't far off.

"Just asking," I say and he pauses for a moment before, "And where are you this fine evening? Knowing there is no class tomorrow, and your parents are out of town, I would have expected you to be out and having a good time as well."

"Well I am out," I say, glancing at the park outside. "I'm at Kaye's. The coffee shop by the park. It's really beautiful-" I stop when I hear something crash and break on the other end. I hear Nathan curse before a faint chuckle escapes his lips. He sounded fairly amused.

"What was that? Are you okay?"

"Yeah, I have to go. I think one of the boy's broke something of my uncle's," he says. I furrow my brows. I swore it sounded close to him. "Bye, I love you. See you soon."

"Bye-" before I could say anything else, the line was cut. I sighed.

"I love you too."

I place my phone back in my bag and wait for Jasper to reemerge. After a few moments he does and he takes his back pack and turns to me. I stare up at him before realizing he was meaning for us to go.

"Oh," I say, glancing at the unfinished cakes on the table before Nana heads over, a small box in her hand.

"Here you go deary," she begins and I help her place the cakes inside the box before taking it from her.

"Thank you," I say and she gives me a mischievous smile before scurrying off with a pat on Jasper's elbow. We walk outside the cafe towards my car before I ask.

"Are we going somewhere?" I asked him and he glanced at me briefly before nodding.

"You did say you'd go with me as long as there is free food," he says and I cross my arms against my chest.

"Thats not what I said," I counter and he lets out a chuckle. Under the dim lights, his hair was darker but his eyes remained the same. Could still make a girl sin.

"I'll take my chances," he says and opens the car door for me as he dangles the key in front of me.

"You or me?" He asks and I take the keys from him, feeling excited despite myself.

"Me," I say as I slide into the drivers seat. "In case you decide to take us someplace I don't like."

"I think Jasmine made sure I knew the places you liked and didn't, blondie," he says as he slides into the passenger seat beside me.

"Oh yeah?" I backed out the parking lot before glancing at him for directions.

"First tacos," he says as he leans against the chair. "Then the beach."

"At night?" I ask and he glances at me briefly.

"Told you, I know you as much as Jasmine did. She made sure of that," he says and I can't help but roll my eyes at him instead of saying he was right. Maybe he did know me as much as Jasmine did.

And I loved Tacos by the beach.