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“And, uh, Hen?” Jasper says quietly right when Henry thinks he’s about to leave. Henry can’t remember the last time Jasper was quiet of all things and is immediately overcome with worry for his friend.
“Yeah?”
Jasper swallows, his eyes flickering from Henry’s mom’s phone in his hand to the ground. “I’m sorry for failing you.” Henry would laugh if Jasper didn’t sound so genuinely upset, so sorry, convinced he needs to apologise. The notion that an apology would be necessary for such a simple mistake to make when faced with Piper’s wrath is almost ridiculous, and yet Jasper clearly believes it. If anything, it looks like Henry failed him somehow.
“What?” he chuckles, hoping it’s not true. Maybe Jasper’s just joking. Surely nothing has gone quite so wrong that he thinks something as small as this means that he’s failed Henry? That it’s reason to be all small and quiet and guilty?
“I didn’t get the right phone to Junk-N-Stuff. I failed you,” Jasper says without looking Henry in the eye. His voice is tinged with bitterness; anger, almost, but not towards Henry.
His concern only grows. “Alright, come on, we’re going to my room.”
“But-”
“Don’t worry, I’ll protect you from Piper.”
They make it to Henry’s room; Henry asks Jasper to sit down on his bed while he paces around, deeply disturbed by Jasper’s remorse.
“What is it?” Jasper asks, still so unnaturally quiet. As if he’s afraid. Henry stills.
“You didn’t fail me,” he says, loud and clear. “I mean, Piper was chasing you, those phones were right next to each other - you did all you could to help me, you always do. You’re always there for me no matter what and today was no exception. Why would you think you need to apologize for any part of that?”
“Because you said that if I ever cared about you even a little bit I’d get Piper’s phone to you. And I didn’t, and obviously it was really important to you, and - I didn’t get it right. And now you think I don’t care about you, and I do! I care about you so much!”
“I know,” Henry cuts him off, unable to listen to what his poorly chosen words in the heat of the moment have done to Jasper. “Look, I was just stressed, alright? I said something stupid, but of course I know you care about me. Just the fact that you immediately did what I asked, even though it was pretty weird, and did everything you could to help me, proves that. It doesn’t matter if you made a tiny mistake. Of course I know you care about me.”
“Really?” Jasper looks hopeful now and the thought that he was really under the impression that Henry’s belief in him was so easily weakened hurts. Henry sits down next to him.
“Yeah. You show me all the time. You’re a great friend. Why was it so easy for you to believe I thought you didn’t care? Why are you so worried about this?”
Jasper shrinks in on himself and shifts a little, away from Henry. What is he so afraid of? The thought that he might somehow be afraid of Henry is unbearable.
“It’s just,” Japer begins hesitantly and Henry tries to project an air of supportiveness and apparently it works because he continues, “you and Charlotte have been hanging out a lot without me. I mean, I know you work together but I barely even know what you do. And at this point, I spend more time with Piper than with you guys. I just thought maybe you’re getting tired of me, or you don’t like me anymore, or you don’t think I’m a good friend, and you don’t want me in your lives anymore. So I really needed to show you that I try to be a good friend, and that I really care about our friendship.”
This is exactly what Henry and Charlotte were worried about all those months ago. Henry knows better than anyone else that Jasper hasn’t exactly had many friends over the years. He needs to know that the friends he does have truly like him and want to spend time with him, that they’re here to stay. The last thing he needs is to be left out and made to feel unwanted.
He slowly puts a hand on Jasper’s shoulder, relieved when he doesn’t flinch away. “I know you care. And Charlotte and I both still like you and want to hang out with you, I promise.” The question in Jasper’s eyes is clear, along with the confusion and the fear that still hasn’t left.
“It’s just - there’s a lot of stuff going on at work that we can’t tell you about. We both want to tell you, so bad, but we can’t. But that has nothing to do with you. We still want you as our friend, you’ll never have to worry about that.”
“Really?” Jasper asks again, like he really can’t believe it.
“Yeah, of course. You know what, if you want, we could set a few hours aside every week where we’ll always hang out with you. We’ll tell our boss not to call us, it’ll be just the three of us. That sound good?”
Jasper just nods.
“And you didn’t fail me. I know you care. You never have to be afraid that I won’t like you anymore, especially not over something that small. Okay?”
“Okay.”
He’s still strangely subdued. For all the times Henry’s thought that maybe Jasper is a little much, he misses his usual energy that means he’s happy and comfortable. Jasper is still a little scared, still uncertain of his friendship with Henry.
Henry uses the hand that’s already on Jasper’s shoulder to pull him closer and when Jasper doesn’t protest, he pulls him into a hug. Jasper rests his chin on Henry’s shoulder and lets out a deep breath and holds him tight. “Thank you for being my friend,” he says softly and Henry hates that Jasper thinks that’s something he needs to thank him for.
“Thank you for being my friend. And a great one at that,” he says, trying his very best to reassure him through the hug as well as his words. Jasper squeezes a little in response and Henry almost falls on his bed with the force of the hug. Looks like Jasper really needed this.
When they separate, Henry says, “Just tell me if you ever worry about something like this again, okay? I don’t want you to feel all bad and scared we’re going to abandon you or something.” He means it in a light-hearted way, but Jasper doesn’t laugh. Henry winces at again having said the wrong thing.
“I’ll always be here for you,” he tries to salvage the situation. “And I’m sure that goes for Charlotte, too.”
Finally, Jasper smiles. “Okay,” he says. Henry can’t wait for the day when he can finally tell Jasper everything.