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When was the last time someone saw Henry for everything he was and told him they were proud? And so genuine, too. A smile, a hand on his shoulder, looking into his eyes like he knew just how important it was. You've always been a good friend to me, Kid Danger. I'm proud of you. It's been an hour and the moment is still playing on a loop in Henry's mind. He doesn't think he's ever loved Jasper more.
"I almost let Ray erase your memory," he mumbles to himself.
"What was that?" Jasper asks. After Ray and Charlotte left, Jasper said he should probably be heading out, too. Henry doesn't know why but he invited Jasper to stay the night. Like when they were kids having sleepovers. Sometimes he wishes he could go back to that time before Kid Danger, when it was just him and Jasper and Charlotte and Captain Man was just a celebrity, and who better to go back with than Jasper? Jasper, who he came so close to losing.
Henry shakes his head. "Nothing," he says.
Jasper scrutinises him. "Come on, what is it?"
Henry sighs. "I almost let Ray erase your memory."
Jasper nods.
"I'm sorry," Henry offers, but it doesn't feel nearly enough. "Really sorry. I just - I thought I had no other option, and-"
"I get it," Jasper says with that kind, understanding smile of his. Rather than it washing over him comfortingly like usual, Henry just feels worse.
"But you shouldn't," he says. "You wouldn't have remembered anything, Jasp. You wouldn't be you anymore. It would've been like killing you, and I was going to let it happen."
"But you didn't," Jasper says gently.
"I was going to. I was going to let Ray use that stupid memory wiper and - and erase nine years of our friendship. Erase you. How can you look me in the eye after that?"
"What changed your mind?" Jasper asks.
"What?"
"You were going to let Captain Man use the memory wiper. But you didn't. What changed your mind?"
The answer leaves Henry's mouth without his permission. "You said you were proud of me." God, he sounds pathetic. But Jasper's face is open and trusting and Henry can't help but return the favor as he gazes into it.
"You just found out I'd been lying to you for two years about this huge part of my life, and you weren't angry. You're so good, Jasper, you know that? You just told me I was a good friend, and you saw me, I mean really saw me for the first time in years, and the first thing you said was that you were proud. After that, I just - I couldn't do it. I couldn't destroy you like that. And I hate that for a little while, I was going to." He feels tears pricking at his eyes and blinks rapidly, but it doesn't stop his eyes from getting wet. He sniffles. Suddenly Jasper is standing in front of him and has his hand on his upper arm.
"Of course I'm proud of you," he says softly. "You've been protecting this town for two years, and you have always been a good friend to me. Including today. You're amazing, Hen. I wish you weren't so hard on yourself."
Suddenly Henry is filled with all this love and he doesn't know where to put it and all he can do is pull Jasper close and hold him as tightly as he can, hands pressing against Jasper's back and his face into his shoulder. Immediately Jasper's arms encircle him and now there's really no stopping the silent tears. He doesn't remember the last time he felt this safe, this seen. He can't stop thinking I love you, chanting the words in his head even as he can't bring himself to say them. Does Jasper know, though? Henry came so close to losing him forever; if he had, would Jasper ever have known how much Henry loved him?
When they separate, Henry puts a hand on Jasper's shoulder near the base of his neck; Jasper doesn't comment on the intimacy. He just smiles at the contact. Henry's fingers act of their own accord when they curl tighter around Jasper's shoulder and make the smallest caressing motion. He can't believe he almost lost his best friend. He loves Jasper's smile and his curls and that open, understanding look in his eyes that never wavers. There's the giddy revelation of love that makes Henry feel like he's floating, then there's the guilt and what-ifs and a weird feeling of reluctance that pull him right back down. Henry needs to sit down.
Jasper sits with him on his bed. The silence feels awkward, heavy with things unspoken. "I'm still really sorry. About everything," Henry says, it's all he feels capable of saying and it needs to be said, anyway. "Even though your brain didn't get erased, you still spent two years in the dark. You didn't deserve that. And we wanted to tell you, but-"
"I told you, I get it," Jasper tells him.
"Yeah, but that doesn't make it right. From now on, we're never going to leave you out again. No more secrets. Okay?" If Jasper notices the tonal shift of the conversation from the sentimental to the concrete, he doesn't show it. Some tension inside Henry dissipates now that they're back into the easy territory of action instead of feeling, but it somehow feels like he missed something. Like waking up in the morning and learning that there were shooting stars while he was sleeping.
Jasper says, "That sounds good," and he sounds so fond and warm it pulls Henry away from any more complicated thoughts. He still thinks he's going to be haunted by nightmares for weeks to come and something doesn't feel quite settled but this look of contentedness on Jasper's face is stilling his thoughts at least for now and stirring up a soft warm feeling in his chest. Jasper's smile is enough, it's everything.
"I'm really glad your memory didn't get wiped," he says and he doesn't think he's ever meant anything quite like this. "I hope you never change." Jasper beams and it feels like forgiveness and like a promise.
"Even if I do," Jasper says, "I'll always be there for you. And I'll always be proud of you."
Henry chuckles in amazement and rests his head against the wall. "I don't deserve you, man," he mumbles. Jasper is quiet for a few seconds.
"You deserve the world," he says softly then and there's nothing but truth and love in his eyes. Just for a moment, Henry feels like he does.