Jasper
"No wait... Its alright!"
Jasper hopped onto the couch, face flushing out of frustration. Couldn't he make up his mind? She wondered, picking up the remote and flipping through the channels at a heated pace, not really paying attention to what was on. She didn't hear him saying anything else, so she finally decided to settle on a channel and tried to watch it. It was some sort of documentary on global warming.
"Global warming my ass," she muttered, "if the worlds heating so much, then why is it so bloody cold outside?" She began going through channels, again. So caught up in trying to find something to watch, she didn't hear Derek enter the room until he spoke up.
"I never had a mother. Not in the way you did anyways. She only fed me because she had to. She never actually took care of me, so when you were cleaning my face, I just found it really uncomfortable to have someone in my personal space..."
She inhaled slowly, shutting off the TV. "Look, you didn't have to tell me that. It-it's personal but.." She trailed off and stood up before walking over to him, sympathy flooding her earlier angry expression. She somewhat knew what he was talking about. After all, her father wasn't exactly 'father of the year'. Slowly and awkwardly, Jasper set her hand on Derek's shoulder, then, the other one as well, in an attempt to comfort him. "I know what it's like to have a parent who doesn't care. My dad would have traded me for a six pack of beer if my mom would've let him. But.. other people don't understand. They don't know what it's like... er... I guess what I'm getting at is, even if you're uncomfortable, people don't understand that, they just want to help because that's how they show they care. It might feel weird at first but... you have to let them in, even if you're not ready, not just to spare their feelings, but also, it'll help you get better. I guess." She looked around, her cheeks pink and her mouth shut tight. Jasper wasn't one for long, sappy speeches, but she did feel the need to share what Ron had taught her. She had tried to shut everyone out when her father began abusing her, but she later found out that she wasn't the only one hurting, she was hurting Ron and she was hurting her mother.
Jasper attempted to smile, but it looked strange and unauthentic. Slowly, she pulled Derek in by his shoulders and gave him a somewhat awkward hug.