ｃｈａｐｔｅｒ ｔｈｉｒｔｙ－ｆｉｖｅ

Marlene rounded up her grandchildren with hurrying hands and a worried face. The oldest called shotgun with a smug grin as the youngest two moaned about wanting to sit there, but trudged their way to the backseats. Mikey leaned his seat back, purposefully hitting his brother's knees and laughing from their, "ow!"

While they were driving to their destination it was dark and cold outside. White puffs of air filled the sky when someone exhaled. Inside the car it was filled with arguing, music, and Marlene yelling at the ones fighting, which was all of the boys. Mikey was playing devil's advocate for both sides and it frustrated everyone. He got a laugh about it.

At the escape room, the Balms waited for the always extended invitee—Jasper. He was supposed to meet them there since he'd be getting off work around the same time they'd left the house and heading over right after. In fact, he pulled into a parking spot not even ten minutes later and let his boyfriend know. Each party congregated in the parking lot and the two boys heavily eyed the other.

Jasper was wearing a slightly baggy light orange and white striped button up shirt hallway tucked in, one side hanging out of his black skinny jeans, and the first button undone. His hair was messy and the look in his eyes when he met Mikey's eyes: tantalizing. His eyes dipped and he smirked.

Mikey didn't choose to dress up, though Jasper was for his job and couldn't help it, so all he had was a grey t-shirt, normal jeans, and his heavy coat. He had his hands stuffed in the pockets to keep their warmth, but they emerged to reach out and pull Jasper to him.

Yet, there was a quick forearm to stop him and he glared at Aiden. All the younger brother did was roll his eyes and stare pointedly at their grandmother a few feet away.

"Nanny is right there, idiot!"

Mikey raised both hands and stepped away, but once his family was in front of him he slung an arm around Jasper's neck and pulled him close that way; it would look like a best friend hug, though if one looked a little more they'd see Jasper's hand on the dip of Mikey's back, nearing his tailbone. It was a light touch, yet it burned through his heavy coat and warmed his skin.

They stepped up to the front desk, the boys lagging behind for purposes, and as Marlene was distracted by the receptionist Jasper leaned over to whisper, "do you care if I'd kiss you right now? Your grandma isn't looking."

Mikey didn't answer him verbally. His right hand that was resting on Jasper's chest reached up to keep his face in place, leaning into Jasper's lips. It was merely a peck, but his bones warmed and so did his cheeks. They stayed touching, an arm around one and a hand on the other's back. Mikey brushed away Noah's smirk and pushed his face away with his free hand.

While playing with the top button to the nice shirt, Mikey said into Jasper's ear, "you look hot in this shirt," getting a little too close in front of Marlene. But, she brushed it off and asked what they were whispering about. Mikey expertly lied, "I was telling Jasper –" there was a quick pinch on his arm, but he ignored it –"about how Aiden is still being a lil' bitch."

There victim scoffed but he kept quiet. He didn't have his Nintendo Switch to distract himself and Cadence still didn't answer him even if there were no texts sent between them, so Aiden stood up to walk over to the chess board. He aimlessly moved the pieces around before their group got called for the escape room.

.

..

...

"You're an absolute idiot!" Mikey whined about his best friend and rolled his eyes. Jasper laughs and went to jokingly comment, "but I'm your idiot," but a reminding stare from Aiden stopped him from doing so. He zipped his lips and walked over to the wall where the family could get their picture taken for completing the escape room. He stood beside Max and took out his phone to check the time.

Mikey walked beside his grandmother and Jasper couldn't help but snicker when he saw his cheeks flush. The piercing eyes bored into Jasper's for help, but the older of them simply looked away and over to Aiden.

He asked nonchalantly, "spoken to Cade yet?"

"Cadence, and no. He's seen my story on Snap, but doesn't text me."

Jasper pouted, honestly feeling bad and empathizing for the sixteen year old. He shouldn't have to go through that already. So, the twenty-one year old moved spots, pushing Noah to the side and wrapping an arm around Aiden's shoulders, patting his cheek. The Balm tried squirming away, but Jasper held onto him tightly. Jasper had the little Balm in a chokehold basically, but he didn't have his other arm supporting Aiden's head.

He said through a clenched jaw, "I'm not letting you go, Aiden, so calm down." Aiden halted and Jasper took that as a cue to continue speaking his mind, losing his hold. "If you really like the dude you just gotta go for it. I can't say anything too much because of Mikey and I, but I definitely should have sooner. If anything, you say the word and me and Mikey will beat him up."

Aiden rolled his eyes but shoved him off softly. He wasn't his usual closed-off self, but Jasper was happy to see the scowl that he also had on his face. He sighed and looked directly in Jasper's eyes, asking seriously, "do you think he'll even listen to me? It's been like a week of radio silence and I don't want it to hurt even more..."

At that moment Mikey decided to join them and he had a smirk on his face from seeing a vulnerable brother. He sang, "oh, is Aiden sharing his feelings?"

Jasper glared at him harshly, his boyfriend's eyes widening at the surprising look. "Shut up, Michael." Then he turned back to Aiden and said, "I'm not sure about Mikey, but I'll be there for you. Plus, don't you have other friends?"

Mikey butted in to add, "Mario or something. He's got black hair and glasses."

Aiden shook his head. "No, he's homophobic—I told him about you two being annoying and should have gotten together long ago, and he basically did the usual Christian spiel."

Jasper's heart felt pierced and his breath was lost in his throat. He was usually able to brush off whatever insulting comment was thrown his way, but this one hurt for some reason. There were some people in his family—an aunt and an estranged grandfather—who gossiped about Jasper when they learned of his fondness for boys over girls before he even explicitly told anyone. He didn't really try to hide it, but it still hurt to hear his relatives speak bad about anyone who wasn't straight or in the LGBT+ community.

There was a quick pinch on his shoulder and Mikey growled under his breath, breathing into Jasper's ear. The three didn't get to say anything else because Marlene was calling for them at the door. They made their way over and Jasper nudged Aiden.

"Talk to him. If anything, just be like, 'hey, Merry Christmas,' and if he doesn't respond or say anything in school, forget about him. You can find another cool, geeky dude in the high school."

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