ｃｈａｐｔｅｒ ｔｗｅｎｔｙ－ｅｉｇｈｔ

Jasper knew Mikey had to work, but he had gotten off and was bored at home. His sister was with her boyfriend, his roommates from college were at home with their own families, and the twenty-one year old didn't want to bother them. So, he made his way over to Miley's house to annoy that family.

He had a grin on his mouth as he parked his car against the curb, a couple inches from the cement, and walked to the front door. Like usual, Jasper waltzed right in like it was his own home and looked for one of the Balm brothers to annoy. It didn't really come to Jasper that it was before school let out—it was only around one p.m. and the brothers had until a quarter until three until the last bell rang at the schools.

So, when he came up empty in the house he went to big the next best Balm, Marlene Balm. She ended up in the bathroom and walked out to find Jasper standing at the fridge. She gasped when she saw a person in her kitchen, but when Jasper turned to smile at her she calmed down.

"Jasper," she chided, "you scared the hell out of me! Don't do that again."

"Sorry." The bored college student pouted and took out the lock-'n-lock container of edible cake batter, along with a spoon. He explained as he took a seat at the table, "I got bored at home, so I came over to bug one of the boys, but I didn't realize they don't get off school until like two forty-five. So, now I'm here to accompany you, Marlene."

Jasper grinned prettily and Marlene rolled her eyes playfully. She joked about not wanting to be around him, but she told him she was joking and joined him in eating the cake batter.

Marlene ended up asking, "do you want come with me to go shopping? I was going to go to the farmer's market happening about thirty minutes from here soon anyway."

He shrugged and agreed, there was nothing better he had to do and he liked hanging around Mikey's grandmother. They finished their snack and the two got in Marlene's car. She drove them to the farmer's market, Jasper playing music from his phone. The Balm's grandmother found the music hilarious—Jasper specifically chose songs that would get a laugh from her. They pull up to the market with the music blaring and people looking their way. Neither cared and continued to sing to the song until it ended. Then, Marlene turned off the car and stepped out.

They shopped, buying locally grown vegetables, milk, and other small items. Jasper ended up buying a leather-woven bracelet for two dollars, and two pizza slices (one for Marlene) for eight dollars. The two shopped until Marlene was satisfied with the amount of food she had bought.

As they are walking back Marlene turned to Jasper and inquired, "so how is college going for you? Or your Christmas break I should say."

"Good. I've been hanging with Mikey whenever I can so I'm not bored. I got a job as some businessman's personal assistant, but he's chill and only has me working in the morning half the time."

Marlene smiled and congratulated him. She pursed her lips before asking, "how's Mikey been? Like you said you two spend a lot of time together; I barely see him."

His cheeks reddened, but he looked to his right—away from Marlene's sight—and shrugged. "Not sure. He seems fine to me."

"What have you two been up to? I can only assume trouble with youse."

Jasper peeked at Marlene and saw her with a reminiscent smile and look in her eyes. He went along with her assumption and acted like her grandson and him weren't dating. He'd love to tell her, especially since she's been all too accepting of him just popping in whenever and liking him as he was. The woman couldn't have a hateful bone in her body if she tried even with her older age. But, Jasper didn't speak of the relationship and let Marlene think whatever she pleased.

As they are driving back Mikey texted Jasper.

👕

Aiden says you're at the house??

Yea I was bored at home and was gonna bother one your brothers, but I forgot they had school until 3, so now I'm hanging with your g-ma

Jasper sent a picture of him and Marlene in the car over Snapchat and received a picture back of Mikey's face and placed over his face: where did she make you go? He explained he went willingly and the destination they had fun at.

At the house Mikey's brothers said their hellos while Jasper and Marlene brought in the bags. The college student noticed the extra person following Aiden upstairs, so Jasper chose to call out jokingly,

"Don't forget to lock the door!"

Aiden flipped Jasper off and the older of them laughed from his reaction. Cadence glanced over his shoulder and politely nodded to Jasper. Then, they disappeared in the shared room and Jasper dropped onto the couch in the living room, sprawling out on it. The youngest of Mikey's brother, Max, chilling on the recliner across the room.

.

..

...

Around the time Mikey got off of work, seven o'clock, Jasper was sleeping on the couch. He'd been watching Pacific Rim with Max, Aiden, and Cadence, but almost towards the end he fell asleep. Aiden and Cadence had kicked Max off and were sharing the recliner, practically sitting on the other's lap, and looking at Cadence's phone. Max resided to laying on the floor and left when the movie ended.

When Mikey pulled up to the house he saw that Jasper's car was still outside and he smiled affectionately. He change out of his work clothes and into sweats and a long sleeve, sliding his feet against the flooring all the way to the living room where he assumed Jasper would be since he wasn't in the room.

Finding his boyfriend sleeping on the couch, on his back, but also his brother and his friend on the chair, Mikey threw out the idea of hiding his relationship. Aiden already knew he liked Jasper and didn't say anything, so it wouldn't even matter if he knew they were finally dating. Plus, Mikey was sure Aiden wanted them together.

So, the younger of the two best friends stood next to the couch and looked down at the sleeping body, then lowered himself onto Jasper's body. Mikey could feel the eyes of his brother, but he didn't care—he only wanted to feel the warmth from Jasper after a crappy day at work. He molded his body against his boyfriend's, who opened his eyes a bit to see who it was, then positioned them to be more comfortable.

Jasper was still on his back with Mikey fitting the curves of his body. They were chest to chest, and Jasper's arms were around Mikey. The college student hummed at the contact and Mikey breathed out slowly, his grip tightening around Jasper's ribs. Their legs were alternating and Jasper's that was against the back of the couch folded up and pressed into the deep cushion.

The two laid like that until both fell into a deep slumber. Aiden quickly took a picture of the two, adding it to his story with, 'wE'rE nOt DaTiNg!', at the top of the picture, starting questions from all Balm boys.

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I love having Marlene Balm and Jasper interact. I felt like it's been some time since they did, so that's why the first part is basically a filler. I was going to have her ask about Jasper and Mikey, but then I remembered she was sort of dense with them so I didn't do that.

I can never wait until Saturday, I just get bored with myself during my winter break with college. I go back in like a week and I have no qualms with going back or not; it's been a nice break for me. Though, I could go for earning money even if there are some restrictions in my state because of covid. Oh also, happy new year, I'm not jinxing 2021 by staining anything else.

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