Chapter 15 #2
Jasper automatically opened his mouth to say yes, but the word wouldn’t form. He wrapped his arms tight around the pillow instead and shook his head.
A moment later Vincent had closed the distance between them, the bed shifting as he sat and propped himself against the headboard.
Once he was settled, Jasper pushed the pillow away and replaced it with Vincent’s chest, pressing his face into the sleep-worn shirt.
Neither of them spoke, and he closed his eyes as Vincent stroked his hair.
He tried to go back to sleep so he could wake up and pretend to start the day over, but the silence finally became too much.
“She bought plane tickets,” he muttered.
“I saw,” Vincent said, still running his fingers through Jasper’s hair, his other hand resting on the arm thrown over his stomach.
“I don’t want to leave.”
“We don’t have to.”
He clutched Vincent’s shirt. “Really?”
Vincent paused his stroking and curled his fingers tight for a moment, tingles of pleasure sparking along Jasper’s scalp. “I can’t make this choice for you. Whatever you decide, I’ll support you either way. Even if it pisses off your family.”
Jasper swallowed hard. “You don’t think I’m being selfish?”
“No.” Vincent dragged his fingers to the back of Jasper’s neck.
“In my experience, selfish is a word entitled people throw around when they don’t get their way.
” He dug his thumb into a knot on Jasper’s shoulder.
“It’s not selfish to protect yourself. I don’t know anything about your relationship other than he was abusive. ”
Jasper blinked against the prickling in his eyes.
How was it fair that someone he’d only known a few months cared more about him than his own family?
He took several slow breaths until he didn’t feel like he’d shatter into pieces anymore, though it didn’t help the choking sensation from all the words trying to escape.
Talking about his father was the absolute last thing he wanted to do, but the day was already ruined.
Fuck, probably the rest of the week, and the rest of the vacation too.
How could he possibly enjoy himself now?
“He used to lock us in our room on the weekends,” he murmured.
“Said we were too loud. Then he turned up the TV so he couldn’t hear us.
” Vincent squeezed his arm but didn’t speak, and Jasper couldn’t stand the silence.
“Would punish Noah whenever he got bad grades. He broke Noah’s arm when he got an F, but then some woman came around and started asking questions, and he switched to the belt. ”
Somehow that had been worse, but then Noah took off the moment he graduated, and Jasper was left to deal with their father alone.
He’d been old enough by then he could mostly fend for himself, and a locked door was more a blessing than a punishment.
He’d expected to take his brother’s place with the belt and groundings, but he only ever caught his father’s attention when the bastard was drunk.
He’d chalked it up to the fact he’d kept his grades up and had learned to live silently.
It wasn’t until Noah called one evening needing bail money that he’d overheard his father tell Noah he wasn’t his kid and to never call again.
At first he’d thought that meant because Noah was an adult and not his legal responsibility anymore.
It was only later that Jasper realized he’d meant it as literal truth when his father was drunk and muttering about finally being rid of “that bastard’s bastard. ”
Exhaustion seeped through Jasper when he finished explaining all this to Vincent, though he couldn’t ignore the relief that came with it. He’d never told anyone about any of that before. He’d never even noticed the weight of the secrets until some of it eased away.
“You don’t owe it to him to be there,” Vincent said quietly when the silence stretched between them. “And you don’t owe anyone an explanation on why. But you do owe it to yourself to consider if there’s anything you want to say to him before you no longer have the chance.”
Jasper scoffed and burrowed closer. “Like what? Thanks for ruining my life, Dad?”
“If that’s something you want to get off your chest.”
“No….” He didn’t have much of anything he wanted to say.
He didn’t even care about the why. He vaguely remembered his parents before his mother died, and he preferred to think it was her death that changed him.
“I just don’t want to feel guilty for not going.
” Or to lose his home, but even he knew better than to say that aloud.
“Not sure I can help with that.”
Jasper groaned and crawled completely on top of Vincent. “What good are you, then?” he grumbled.
“Not much it seems.”
He grunted and bit Vincent’s shoulder, then let out a frustrated whine. “We should go back,” he muttered, but he made no effort to move.
“Is that what you want to do?”
“No, but Amber will be a bitch if I don’t.”
“Forget Amber for the moment.”
Jasper made a face and rolled off Vincent to stare at the ceiling.
“You don’t live with her.” Vincent’s curious hum almost distracted Jasper enough to get his hopes up, but he refused to stress about his living situation until he had to.
“We could… come back after?” he asked softly.
It was ridiculous to even think that was possible.
He didn’t know how much Vincent had already spent on this cabin or the tickets, but it was too much.
Before he could try to take it back Vincent replied. “We could. We still have the cabin for over a week.”
A different guilt twisted through Jasper’s chest, but he tried to shove it down.
Tried to tell himself this was his birthday gift.
That if Vincent wasn’t willing to spend the money on tickets, he wouldn’t have offered.
“I’ll pay you back,” he blurted, then winced.
He barely had enough money to cover emergency necessities as it was.
“It won’t cost me anything,” Vincent said, earning a sharp look from Jasper.
“Why won’t it?”
Vincent cleared his throat. “I requested to borrow my grandfather’s private jet in case you decided to go back. It’ll be here late this afternoon.”
Jasper pushed onto his elbows to stare at Vincent.
“You did what now? Wait, when did you find out?” The way Vincent refused to meet his eye probably should have been concerning, but Jasper was more interested in the fact that Vincent seemed nervous.
It was such a rare phenomenon he almost wanted to take a picture.
“About three this morning.”
“Why didn’t you wake me then?”
“Because it wouldn’t have changed anything aside from you not getting sleep. Even if you wanted to return today, the earliest flight we could have made is the one Amber bought tickets for this afternoon.”
“Have you been awake since three?”
“More or less.”
That wouldn’t do.
Jasper shifted back and grabbed the pillow to whack Vincent in the chest with. “Take a nap.”
Vincent slanted a bemused look at him. “I’m fine.”
“I don’t care. Nap with me.”
With an exaggerated sigh, Vincent stretched out on the bed, then turned to Jasper and raised an eyebrow in a silent Are you happy now?
Jasper tucked himself back in against Vincent’s side and willed himself back to sleep. It didn’t work, but at least he had an excuse not to do anything or even think for a while. Hopefully he’d know what to do by the time Vincent woke up.
IN THE end, Jasper caved.
As much as he had no desire to see his father, the guilt wouldn’t leave him, and Amber kept messaging Vincent demanding an answer.
Why she cared so much was beyond him. It wasn’t like he was invested much in the health of her parents.
He hadn’t even seen them since he was a kid.
If he only showed up for half an hour, he hoped that would still be enough that she would let him get back to his vacation and enjoy the next week in peace.
He insisted on leaving their things. More for a sense of conviction that they’d come back than for a reasonable excuse to leave home quickly, but there was that too.
For some reason he expected a small plane barely bigger than a helicopter that only seated a few people with no leg room. Instead he found himself sitting next to Vincent on a plane half the size of the one they flew in on. Plenty of room to move, and some of the seats even turned into beds.
His phone went off with a text alert, and as much as he didn’t want to read it, he pulled it up anyway.
The one-word text from Noah was a simple Seriously?
Not staying long
Just long enough to get Amber off their backs.
Whatever was followed a few moments later by Now she’s harassing me as the bad son so thanks for that
Jasper winced and typed out several messages but deleted each one.
Noah should tell Amber the truth, but Jasper couldn’t say that; he wasn’t supposed to know they were half brothers.
Hell, he didn’t even know for sure if Noah knew, or if he’d taken their father’s words figuratively too.
He couldn’t very well tell Noah to come, either, so he settled for what he wished he could do himself. Tell her to fuck off
Lol I might
When no more messages came through, he tossed his phone aside and stared out the window. “I can’t believe you really have a private plane.”
“It’s not mine,” Vincent replied without looking up from his phone.
Jasper rolled his eyes and leaned over to find Vincent reserving a rental car from the airport. He bit his tongue against the apology burning his throat, but he could only hold it back for so long. “Sorry,” he whispered when Vincent had paid and switched to his emails.
Instead of telling him it was fine—again—Vincent tipped Jasper’s chin up and planted a slow chaste kiss against his lips.
Jasper leaned into him with a long whine. “Why did I think leaving was a good idea?”
Vincent shook his head with a soft huff and turned back to his phone. “Should I tell the pilot to turn around?”
He whined again and flopped across Vincent’s lap. “No….” He could do this. Chances of his father even caring or wanting to see him were slim, and then Amber could see for herself how much of an asshole he really was.
BY THE time they landed and found the rental car it was getting late, and as much as Jasper wanted to go straight to the hospital so they could turn around and leave again, Vincent said the earliest time they could fly back would be tomorrow afternoon.
Instead of telling Amber to fuck off like he desperately wanted, he ignored her texts telling him his father was awake and to come despite the hour.
He’d barely eaten anything for lunch and still wasn’t hungry, at least until Vincent stopped to pick up food from a restaurant.
Jasper hadn’t even noticed him ordering food.
He sat holding the bag, breathing in the warm scent of tomatoes and garlic and basil.
His stomach rumbled and his mouth watered in anticipation the entire fifteen-minute drive to Vincent’s home.
Even though his nose didn’t lie, seeing the spaghetti when he opened one of the containers still made his chest squeeze tight. They could have easily picked up fast food, but he refused to read more into it than Vincent choosing decent food over a burger joint.
He dropped into a chair and dug in, all but inhaling the noodles and garlic bread, plus the extra piece Vincent dropped into his container at some point.
When he’d finished eating, he wasn’t quite as ready to bite the head off the next person who texted him.
“Thanks,” he said softly, “but it wasn’t as good as yours. ”
Vincent slanted him an amused look, and Jasper managed a cheeky grin even if it only lasted a few seconds. Once Vincent was done, Jasper gathered everything up to toss in the trash, then let Vincent tug him to the sofa, where he started a movie Jasper had added to their watch list.
Ten minutes in and Jasper slumped against Vincent’s side, blinking hard to stay awake. He didn’t remember losing the fight, but he woke up to Vincent nudging him.
“I can’t carry you up the stairs, pet.”
He grumbled in protest but stumbled up the stairs after Vincent, barely managing to get his pants off before face-planting on the bed.