Chapter Text
NOVEMBER, 1999 (AGE 5 and 3/4)
Jasper Jordan met Monty Green when they were both 5 years old. Jasper was wandering around the playground at break time when he saw a small boy with big brown eyes and floppy black hair from his class being pushed around by a group of older boys.
Jasper watched as the older boys pushed the younger boy over and laughed when he started to cry. Jasper hated bullies. He stormed over and stood protectively in front of the younger boys. “Leave him alone” he said. He tried to sound tough but his voice shook.
The leader, who Jasper thought was called Cage, smirked. “Or what?” he challenged.
Jasper looked uncertainly at the boy behind him. He was staring up at Jasper with a look of hope of his face and tears clinging to his eyelashes. Suddenly the solution dawned on him. “Or I’ll tell Bellamy” he said triumphantly.
Bellamy Blake was his friend Octavia’s older brother. Everyone respected Bellamy. No one wanted to be on his bad side. Cage and his friends looked suitably scared. “Come on guys” Cage said, “we don’t want to be around the babies anyway.” They stalked away and Jasper knelt down next to the boy.
“Hi” he said. “I’m Jasper, what’s your name?”
“I’m Monty” the other boy sniffed, wiping his nose with his sleeve. “Thank you for making those mean boys go away.”
“That’s ok” Jasper smiled. “Are you ok?”
Monty looked down at his grazed knees and his bottom lip started to tremble again. “My knees hurt” he said in a small voice.
“I’ll take you to the nurse” Jasper decided. He held out his hand and Monty took it, offering Jasper a quivering smile as Jasper pulled him to his feet. Jasper kept hold of Monty’s hand and carefully guided his new friend towards the school. “Wanna be best friends forever?” Jasper asked, flashing Monty a toothy grin.
Monty’s smile grew wider, making Jasper feel all happy and warm inside. “Forever and ever” he replied solemnly.
Jasper was thrilled. He’d never had a best friend before and he already liked Monty a lot. He squeezed Monty’s hand already planning games for them to play. The inseparable duo of Monty and Jasper was already forming.
MARCH, 2011 (Jasper’s 17th birthday)
Jasper and Monty were drunk. In an unlikely turn of events it had been Monty’s idea for them to buy fake IDs and to sneak into a club on a school night. Jasper hadn’t needed much persuading; he was the one who usually got them into trouble but today was his birthday and Monty had wanted to do something special (and illegal). Admittedly, the IDs were pretty terrible but they’d chosen a club were the bouncer barely checked.
A number of beers and shots later, the two boys were sitting on extremely high and wobbly bar stools, leaning into each other and giggling. At some point Jasper found himself staring at Monty.
“You have really pretty eyes” he slurred. There was some sort of weird ache in his chest. A tiny voice at the back of his head noted that Monty was looking particularly hot tonight. Jasper vaguely wondered if the voice was the result of the alcohol induced fuzz that seemed to have taken over his entire body. Part of him wasn’t so sure.
Monty was smiling his beautiful, dazzling smile. “You’re not too bad yourself” he joked. There was a silence as they looked at each other and the next thing Jasper knew he was leaning towards Monty and their lips were touching and Monty tasted like beer and spring and sunlight. It felt good.
Then the bar stool tipped forward and Jasper fell, smacking his head off the bar as he went. He heard Monty calling his name and then everything went black.
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Having his stomach pumped was not an experience that Jasper ever wanted to repeat. It was the afternoon after the fateful birthday night out and several hours after Jasper’s Dad had driven him home from A&E. Jasper was lying in his bed feeling particularly sorry for himself. Not only did his stomach ache, but his head ached from a mixture of the fall and a wicked hangover.
He heard the door bell and then Monty’s voice. He could tell that Monty was apologising and he sighed. None of this was Monty’s fault. Jasper hadn’t needed to drink as much as he had. There were footsteps on the stairs and then Monty’s head popped round the door.
“Your Mum is furious” he said with a grimace.
Jasper laughed, instantly regretting it as it only made the pain in his head intensify. “I know, I might be grounded for the rest of my life.”
Monty smiled sympathetically as he perched himself on Jasper’s bed. “How are you feeling?” he asked.
Jasper groaned. “Horrible. I’ve never felt this ill in my life.”
“I’m glad that fall didn’t do any damage” Monty said seriously. “I’ve never been so scared.”
Jasper patted Monty’s hand soothingly. “I’m sorry.”
They sat in a comfortable silence for a few minutes before Monty spoke. He was twisting his hands nervously and Jasper wondered what was bothering him. “Do you remember last night?” he asked.
Jasper was actually more than a little fuzzy on the later events of the evening. He couldn’t quite remember how he’d fallen off his stool. He concluded it was probably something embarrassing. Maybe Monty had dared him, that could be why he was looking so nervous. “God I don’t even want to think about it” he said. Even thinking about how much he’d had to drink was making him feel queasy. “I just want to forget everything.”
Something that looked like hurt and disappointment flashed across Monty’s face for a second but before Jasper could ask what was wrong Monty had reached out to ruffle his hair. “Maybe we should take a break from alcohol for a while?” he suggested.
Jasper closed his eyes. “That sounds like a good idea” he said weakly. They lapsed back into silence and as Jasper began to doze off he heard the sound of Monty getting his homework out of his bag before settling down beside him. He smiled sleepily. He really was lucky to have a friend like Monty.