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Swellview High’s gymnasium has never looked so lovely. The lights are dim but colorful, stylish and somehow glowing tables are scattered near the walls and the dance floor is filled with trailing dresses and dashing suits. The laughter and conversation of Jasper’s classmates fill the space as the band plays some upbeat song Jasper doesn’t recognise.
To top it all off, his date is as gorgeous as ever; Charlotte’s gone all out and adorned her hair with glitter that matches the details in her flowy dress, but her radiant smile is what really makes her shine. It’s all platonic, of course, but Jasper’s glad that after all they’ve been through, all the times Charlotte tutored Jasper and Jasper joked with her during class, all the nights they anxiously waited for Henry’s safe return from work and grew closer for it, they’re spending this evening together. The feeling in the air is strange; this is it, one of the last steps to take before graduation. A last hurrah for high school.
It seems fitting in a terribly sad sort of way that Henry isn’t here to witness it with them. The crime rates have been up for almost a month now and Henry spends nearly all his time in the Man Cave; Jasper wonders if he even sleeps at home anymore. It stings to think that while he’s here enjoying a mocktail and getting used to the feeling that soon he won’t be here anymore, Henry is in all likelihood getting beat up as if he’s never known any different and never will again. Jasper worries for him, perhaps even more so than Charlotte. How he wishes that just this once, Henry would let himself relax and lose himself not in Kid Danger, but in being a teenager while he still can.
As he stares wistfully at the crowd of his dancing peers, imagining a carefree Henry among them, Charlotte taps his shoulder. He startles; Charlotte frowns. “Everything okay?” she asks.
“What? Yeah,” Jasper nods. “It’s just too bad Henry isn’t here.”
“Yeah.” There’s nothing more to say. The two of them have had many hushed conversations over the years about Henry’s destructive loyalty, the mask he can’t take off, but never quite knew what to do. Now, like so many times, they are simply left in a sorrowful silence. Charlotte finds Jasper’s hand and squeezes lightly.
They dance for a little while when a waltz is played. Jasper’s amazed by how well Charlotte leads. He has another mocktail and Charlotte talks animatedly with some friends Jasper doesn’t really know. Nine in the evening turns to ten, then eleven, and Jasper’s mind keeps going back to Henry. He loves Charlotte dearly, but he can’t remember a time without Henry. Prom without him feels almost hollow.
When by half past eleven the slight unease has escalated into a profound feeling of wrongness, Jasper decides he can’t take it anymore. He finds Charlotte in the crowd talking to a few girls from LIMP and tells her that he’s leaving early, met with a nod of understanding. “Do you think it’s okay if I stay?” she asks. “I miss Henry too, but I don’t know how often I’ll see everyone here again.”
Jasper assures her that it’s fine; out of the two of them she’s always been the one people stick to. She’s never tried to be all cool and popular like Henry used to, only ever kind but witty, which is probably why people tend to like her. It’s only fair that she’d spend the opportunity for one last night with them well.
Jasper breathes in the fresh air outside the school, feeling like he’s saying goodbye even though he has yet to return for graduation. Where to next? The Man Cave, he decides. In all likelihood Henry and Ray are still fighting crime and if not, Henry’s house isn’t too far away.
Once there, his prediction is confirmed by Schwoz and he decides to wait. It feels a little odd to watch Dog Judge in his suit and glittery bowtie but it doesn’t take long for the tubes to come down and Henry and Ray to emerge. Ray barely pays Jasper any mind, only grumbles something about the shower and heads off in that direction. Henry, however, stops in his tracks upon seeing Jasper.
“Hi,” Jasper says. It comes out far softer than he’d intended as he drinks in the sight of Henry, exhausted but unharmed.
“Hi,” Henry responds. “Wow, you look really - wow.”
Something warm takes shape inside Jasper’s chest. It’s one of those nights, then, when Henry’s tired enough for the mask to slip and his gentle heart to shine through. They’ve grown rarer and rarer through the years; Jasper treats every such night as a gift.
“Thanks,” he says, unable to contain his smile.
Henry’s brows crease when he connects the dots. “Aren’t you supposed to be at prom?” he asks as he absentmindedly takes a gumball from his tube before blowing a bubble. It’s always soothing to see his plaid shirt and messy hair, all the more after having missed him so.
“Yeah,” Jasper mutters once he snaps out of it. “Or I guess no. You weren’t there.”
Henry chuckles with a strange vulnerability. “Is that supposed to explain it?” Jasper can only shrug because yeah, it is. In the end, at Henry’s side is where he’s supposed to be. It’s been a comfortable truth that Jasper’s held in his heart for years, but he dares not say it for fear of scaring Henry off.
“Aren’t you missing, I don’t know, stuff?” Henry asks with that same uncertain chuckle, as if there’s anything Jasper could miss more than him.
“I’m just happy to see you all in one piece,” he says truthfully.
Henry nods. “Well, okay. I was going to go home, so-”
“We should dance!” Jasper blurts out, inspired by the night’s events and wanting to keep Henry a little while longer. Henry raises his eyebrows. “Dance?”
“Well, I mean, prom is happening right now,” Jasper rambles, “and we’re both not there, but we can still sort of be there if we dance.”
“Not sure if that logic makes sense. Besides, I’m not exactly dressed for it.”
“That’s okay, you always look amazing.” The words slip out carelessly as they always do, compliments like this being the only way Jasper knows to express his love without making Henry uncomfortable. How he yearns for more - but for now, seeing Henry’s dimpled cheeks as he smiles is enough.
Henry gives a small nod. “Okay.”
“Okay?” Jasper repeats.
“Let’s do it.” Henry sounds a little nervous, but Jasper can’t help a smile. The Man Cave isn’t nearly as pretty as the gymnasium is right now, and Henry not as finely dressed as the people in it, but his words are beautiful all the same.
They find an old CD of Ray’s stashed in a drawer with an old-timey cover and the promise of tunes to dance to. As the music fills the space and they turn the lights down, Henry’s eyes flash with emotion - doubt, excitement, bashfulness, happiness, insecurity and, when Jasper takes his hand, something very much akin to adoration.
It doesn’t take long to figure out that neither of them knows how to lead. Jasper reasons that he’s just seen Charlotte do it and really how hard can it be, and Henry’s hand has been on his shoulder before but now, like this, all hesitant and careful and very nearly excited, it makes Jasper feel like he’s floating. He gently places his free hand on Henry’s back and tries very hard to at the very least time his steps right with the music.
It’s difficult when he’s distracted by the softness of Henry’s hand in his own. No matter; they move slowly, Henry seeming lost and uncertain but his hand steady on Jasper’s shoulder. He’s not like Charlotte, who confidently led Jasper around the floor with all the right steps and sways. No, they’re both learning as they go, accidentally stepping on each other’s toes sometimes and sharing a quiet chuckle. Jasper can’t recall the last time he’s been this close to Henry and thinks he’s forgotten how utterly breathtaking he looks like this.
As the third song begins, a slow melody on the piano, Henry’s hand in Jasper’s shifts. For a second Jasper thinks Henry’s about to let go and it’s very much to his surprise that their fingers are slowly but surely intertwined as Henry resolutely looks down at the floor. It could be the low light, but Jasper thinks his cheeks are slightly reddened.
Neither of them speaks as Henry keeps gravitating closer to Jasper, accompanied by the gentle music. At one point he closes his eyes briefly and Jasper remembers how tired he must be and is quickly met with warm affection because despite his exhaustion, here Henry is, dancing with Jasper and holding onto him like a lifeline. He moves his hand up to the back of Henry’s head and slowly guides it to rest on his shoulder, the dance turning into a kind of swaying hug and their joined hands no longer held up, but rather hanging next to their bodies. Henry’s other hand moves from Jasper’s shoulder to his upper back, giving up all pretenses of a dance, but Jasper doesn’t think either of them minds.
He turns his head so that his cheek is brushing Henry’s hair, revelling in the closeness. This is just one night, he knows, one night of softness and intimacy, and then they’ll go back to being buddies. Still, it feels like something shifts between them when Henry nuzzles his head into Jasper’s neck and Jasper dares to press a featherlight kiss to his hair.
“Thank you,” Henry whispers, barely audible.
“What for?”
“Being here with me and not at prom.”
And Jasper knows he isn’t supposed to get all devoted and sentimental, knows it confuses the hell out of Henry, but he can’t help it. “I’ll always choose you, Hen,” he whispers back into Henry’s hair.
For once, there’s no scurrying away and denial, just a breathy chuckle and another whisper. “How do I deserve you?”
Jasper shrugs. “Well, you know.”
“What?”
“You know I love you. I always have.” He’s said it before, but never like this. Not with his fingers intertwined with Henry’s and while holding him like a lover. “You’re sweet, and funny, and kind, and so brave. What’s not to love?”
The music is the only sound for a very long time and their breathing the only movements. Then, just as the CD comes to an end, Henry speaks. “I’ve always loved you, too.”