American

[Brackie]

"So, tell me about yourself, Jasper"

"Well, I'm Seattle born and raised. Parents were in the military, work in finance now. Played football in high school, wrestling team as well, and I was one of the charter members of our school's Gay-Straight Alliance."

"Oh, wow, I didn't take you for that kind, that's fantastic."

"Eh, it was a space that needed filling."

"..."

"Pretend I worded that better."

He laughed.

"Okay then. So what brought you to Pennsylvania?"

"Well I was originally going to Ohio State, but I twisted my ankle pretty badly just around the time the scouts were checking out the school, so I fell back on business after a year's break. Spent the time traveling, checking things out, meeting new people, you know? Wish my high school life was more interesting, but that's pretty much it, y'know."

"Yeah, I totally get that."

"What about you?"

--

"You come here a lot, Jasper?"

"Nah, not anymore, too busy with classes now. Stir is for special occasions only."

"Oh, am I special now?"

"Hah. Don't get too cocky, I've seen your Grindr profile."

"...I thought I deleted that weeks ago."

"Screenshots last forever."

He laughed again.

"So where are we headed next?"

--

The phone hummed and flashed on the nightstand, and a few seconds later Jasper Rourke's hand groggily reached over to answer it. His other hand lay crushed by his companion's sleeping body.

"Hello?"

...

"Mom, you know it's like 11 over here, right? I'd just fallen asleep."

Jasper wiggled his hand out from under the sleeping body and got up from the bed, phone in his hand.

"Nah it's fine, mom, just...yeah."

Jasper reached around for the nearest towel without a cracked stain. He found one over by the closet mirror, plucked it from the floor, wiped himself down, flipped it inside out, then wrapped it around his waist as he rushed into the hall.

"Anyways, what's up? Dad okay?"

Dad was in hospital. Heart attack at 48, what were the odds on that? Thank god for private health insurance.

"Great, that's great. Lemme know. How's Bianca doing?"

Chad and Bianca were finally married. Six month anniversary was in a few days.

"Send them a football or something from me, Teagan might enjoy that."

He wandered into the apartment kitchen, the only visible light being the microwave clock. He fumbled around for the switch, eventually finding it in its home beside the pantry.

"Everything okay with you though?"

Jasper opened the fridge and pulled out his newest bottle of scotch. He felt around the cabinet for a tumbler, held it against the Ice Maker and dispensed the layer of frozen cubes.

"That's good. I know it's been rough, but I'll visit in a few weeks. Just need to get through final exams."

...

"Love you too, Mom."

And that was it. The moment he hung up on the call from Seattle, he poured a hefty layer of scotch into his tumbler and started chugging. Once he was done with his first mouthful, he filled it up again.

--

Pennsylvania was warm enough that night that Jasper didn't even need to put on proper clothing as he lingered on his apartment balcony. His laundry was drying by an almost silently running air conditioning unit, but Jasper was still enough that it might as well have been the only sign of life at the ledge of his home. Sure, the balconies above and around him were teeming with various signs of life, from arguments to parties and even a dumb hipster playing guitar despite the arguers and the partiers asking him to shut the fuck up, but Jasper didn't even really register any of that. It would have been a miracle if a sudden cold breeze could break him from what he was doing.

Jasper stared at the snapshot on his phone. It was the guy's profile. Whatever his name was, he don't think he even asked. He'd seen in a few months ago but waited a while to make the first move. His profile name was a set of emojis, something which Jasper found normally repulsive but instead only added to this guy's allure. The profile itself was disgustingly forward as well, talking about positions and kinks which Jasper had little to no interest in in the porn he watched, let alone acting out in real life, but in spite of that he still made contact via a completely different application suited more for straight people than gay.

Why was he laying in his bed, and why was Jasper providing breakfast in the morning?

He looked at the photo for a few minutes more, sipping his daily scotch as he did so. Jasper had a type, a type to which this guy did not apply even in the slightest. A type which usually benefited him as much as it did the other guy, although not normally in the same ways. The only reason he'd ended up in this building in the first place was because of a good word on his behalf not from his family, but from someone he met on Grindr. It was the kind of risky social risk he liked to take, he'd liked to take that sort of thing a lot in the past few years. He'd never lose as much as he lost on trip day.

As Jasper finished the scotch in his glass and took an ice cube into his mouth to swish around until liquid state, he finally realized why he'd taken a shine to this guy. But lo and behold, it became nothing of a comfort to him in any way. Jasper sighed and swiped. The screenshot was deleted. This wasn't healthy.

In the morning, he'd make up an excuse. Like hell he was giving away a free breakfast.

Jasper leaned back from the balcony and walked back inside. The guy could stay the night, but he was making up an excuse in the morning. It wasn't normal procedure for this sort of thing, but exceptions existed for a reason.

The boy sleeping in his bed?

He looked just like Brian.