Jasper tried to smile, he didn't want to concern her. "Nothing." Though he knew she would never believe it. Ever. He still hated being reminded of what had happened, and he fought back tears again, but it was useless. They streamed from his face, and he folded his hands on the table, resting his head. He gave a small chuckle. "I'm such a baby. I shouldn't be crying after all these years. " He didn't bother to wipe at the tears, just stared at the polished table, thinking. He looked up at her, noting her worried ex
pression, her voice had no hint of laughter. She was serious.

He wondered if he should tell her, after all, they had been friends for a while. He pondered the idea, and decided if she asked again, he'd tell her. After years of supressing the memories, it had taken one trip to a small island to do so much damage to him. To make everything resurface, to make the web tangle again. Stupid boats, he thought to himself. They ruin everything.

"Jasper?" Her ex
pression darkened, though not with anger- rather, it pained her to see Jasper like this. His tears were flowing freely now, and if he had made attempts to hide it before, he didn't now.
Something had happened to him. Something before she met him. She wondered if she should ask about it- it was his business, and something as painful as this shouldn't be forced out of others.
She would never understand if she didn't ask, though.
Seth glanced away. "I hate this." She admitted. "I can't... I can't stand it. What happened, Jasper?" She looked up to meet his eyes. "I don't want to be left in the dark."

Jasper sighed. "When she died. It was my fault." His voice broke, saying the words outloud. "Everyone as.sured me it wasn't my fault, but it was, it always will be." The tears fell faster, just thinking of it made him tremble. He took a breath before continuing. "Three years ago, my family and Lafayette's went on a vacation. We headed towards the beach, then went out on my dad's boat. One of my closest friends, Penelope Anderson, was with us. It started out great, until we started coming ashore."

Jasper paused, drinking some liquid, then resumed his tale. "My dad hadn't docked yet, the anchor had gotten caught on something. Me and Penelope thought we could help, and jumped off the side, swimming under the boat to help. We saw the problem and fixed it. I resurfaced, and my dad saw me, and started the engine. He didn't know Penelope had followed me, and she hadn't come up. I screamed, trying to tell hi mshe was still under the boat. The blades-" He gasped, chocking on the words. "The blades killed her. it was my fault, I didn't tell him she was under there." He put his head onthe table and sobbed.

Jasper himself was shocked that he said everything so quickly, but he had been supressing everything for years, so it felt good to let it all out. He studied the pattern his tears made on the table, and shook his head. "I knew you would say that. They all do. But I still feel it was my fault. Will always be my fault." With that, he chugged the rest of the liquid and swallowed, then his face tinted green.

He stood, and went to the trashcan, heavy the whole mess. Afterwords, he grabbed paper towels, wiping his mouth and then washed it out with water. He stood, leaning over the sink, his hair falling over his face. He brushed it aside, not looking at Seth. "I forgot what drinking so much of this makes you do. Sorry." With that, he filled a glas.s with water, and went into the living room, where he sat in a chair, and closed his eyes, thinking.

((Short post fail. ;c))