Chapter One #2
Archie glared at his phone as he locked the screen and flopped back onto the bed. He loved working with his best friend, but sometimes, he wished he didn’t have to get out of bed.
“You should get up,” Jasper said.
“I had plans.”
“Did those plans include getting out of bed?”
“Not really.”
“Then it’s not a problem for you to postpone them.”
Archie sat up. Jasper was picking up his clothes from the floor and dropping them onto the bed, clearly ready to get dressed and leave.
Archie didn’t want him to, but he knew that he wouldn’t get Jasper to stay in his apartment even if he asked.
They both had stuff to do, and Archie couldn’t protect Jasper from the rest of the world, no matter how much he wanted to.
He couldn’t even protect him from his nightmares.
“Do you want to talk about last night?” he asked because no matter what was happening at his job, Jasper would always come first.
“It can wait. Go find that kid.”
“I will. I just want to be sure that you’ll be okay.”
Jasper had been reaching for his t-shirt, but he stopped and smiled. “Of course I’ll be okay.”
“Will you truly be okay, or are you just saying that to make me happy?” And to get him to stop asking questions. Archie didn’t say that, though. He didn’t want Jasper to feel called out, even though that was what he was doing.
“Nightmares aren’t going to stop me. You don’t have to worry about that.”
“You’re my boyfriend. I’m going to worry whether you want me to or not. I’m sure you worry about me, too.”
“I do,” Jasper admitted. “I’ll be fine. You don’t know that this kid will be, though, so you need to go.”
“We will talk about this eventually, Jasper. I hope you realize that.”
Jasper grimaced. “Unfortunately, I do. I know I need to talk about it. I promise you that we will, but not right now.”
Because right now, there was a kid in danger, and Archie needed to go.
As much as he knew that Jasper was using the kid as an excuse, he also knew that Jasper cared.
He wouldn’t want anything to happen to the kid, and neither did Archie.
He wasn’t sure there was anything he’d be able to do, but he was going to try, and he couldn’t do that from his bed.
There would be plenty of time for Jasper and Archie to talk once this was dealt with.
“Go,” Jasper said with a smile. “My problems aren’t going anywhere. Nothing’s going to change if we wait to talk until tonight or tomorrow, or even next week.”
“I’ll remind you that you said that when you have another nightmare.”
Jasper rolled his eyes. “Whatever makes you feel better. Now go. People are waiting for you.”
Archie wanted to tell him that he didn’t care about those people, even though part of him did.
It wouldn’t change anything, though. Jasper was still dealing with what he’d learned about himself, and Archie couldn’t help him unless he let him in.
That wasn’t going to happen this morning, and it probably wasn’t going to happen tonight.
But eventually, Archie would get Jasper to talk about it. It was the only way forward for Jasper. He couldn’t ignore the fact that he wasn’t human for the rest of his life, especially not considering his upbringing as a hunter. He might want to, but that wasn’t how things worked in their lives.
And Jasper knew that better than Archie.
* * * *
JASPER WAS STARVING by the time he walked into the apartment he shared with Corey and Kerry.
Luckily for him, someone had to be cooking because it smelled good.
His stomach growled, and he quickly shed his jacket and shoes before heading to the kitchen.
He wasn’t surprised to find Kerry at the stove, and she smiled when she saw him walk in.
“I didn’t expect you to be back for breakfast. Doesn’t your man feed you?”
Jasper stole a piece of bacon from the plate she had on the counter. “He would’ve fed me if he hadn’t had to go to work.”
“New case?”
“Yeah. Missing kid.”
Kerry grimaced. “Okay, I get why you didn’t have time to eat. Instead of stealing from the plate, though, why don’t you set the table and call Corey?”
“Yes, Mom,” Jasper said, sliding out of the way when she tried to whack him with the wooden spoon she was holding. He laughed and opened the cupboard to grab plates.
He loved Archie and staying with him, but he also loved the feeling of family he always had when he was at the apartment with his two best friends.
They’d never made him feel different, not even after finding out that he wasn’t who they thought he was.
They didn’t care that he wasn’t human. It hadn’t changed the way they behaved with him or what they thought of him.
To them, he’d always just be Jasper, and when he thought about it too hard, it made him want to cry.
He was grateful to have Archie in his life, but he also never wanted to lose Corey and Kerry.
They were his family in a way that his parents had never been, and he knew they’d support him, whatever he decided to do next.
He thought as he set the table. Part of him wanted to find out what had happened and how he’d ended up with hunters, but another part of him was afraid.
What if his biological family hadn’t wanted him?
He thought he could deal with knowing that they’d died, even though he didn’t understand why his parents had taken him in since they were hunters and he wasn’t human, but he didn’t know what he’d do if he found out that he just hadn’t been good enough for his biological family.
Not that it mattered. It had been years, and what was done was done. Still, he suspected that he’d always wonder where he’d come from and that eventually, he’d want to find out. Why not do it now?
He was still thinking about it as he and his best friends sat at the table.
He wasn’t sure where to start since asking Leroy wouldn’t help.
There was no way Jasper’s father would answer any of his questions when it came to this.
Jasper wasn’t even sure Leroy would want to talk to him.
There was no way that he hadn’t known what Jasper was, which might explain the way he’d treated Jasper, but now that Jasper knew, he expected Leroy to keep his distance.
He wouldn’t want to have to explain himself.
Jasper didn’t think he wanted to know what Leroy had to say.
There were other ways for him to find the information he was looking for, or at least, he hoped so.
He’d try everything else before he even considered talking to Leroy.
There had to be some records of him somewhere, and if there was, he’d find them.
The best way to do that was to go to the monster district and ask questions.
It would be like looking for a needle in a haystack, but it was better than doing nothing on his day off.
He normally would’ve spent it with Archie, but Archie was working, and that was okay. Jasper could do this without him.
Even though he didn’t want to.
Leroy would hate how reliant Jasper had already become on Archie, which was probably one of the reasons Jasper liked it so much.
Or maybe he felt like Archie loved him in a way that not even his parents had been able to.
It made more sense now that he knew he wasn’t actually their son, but at the same time, he hated having confirmation of what he’d known all along.
His parents didn’t truly love him.
Corey laughed loudly and threw a piece of bacon at his sister’s head.
Jasper smiled, knowing that whatever happened, whatever he found out about his biological family and his past, it wouldn’t change this.
It wouldn’t change his relationship with Corey and Kerry, or the one he was building with Archie.
He was loved, no matter what and who he was.
That was what mattered the most.