“What is it?” he asks, catching me grinning.
“It’s just, I remember when you parked on the curb.”
“Oh yeah?”
“Yeah, it was like you were afraid to come in.”
He nods, taps his fingers on the steering wheel. “I was.”
I turn to him completely, reaching out for his hand. “Will you come in tonight?” I ask, suddenly scared that I’m making a mistake, taking too big of a risk. Suddenly desperate for Jasper to hold me like he’ll never let go.
His eyes travel up and down my face, seeing the fear there. “Whatever you need.”
My parents are in their room as we slip down the hall and into mine. Jasper and I have hung out here lots of times, but he’s never stayed over. A combination of not wanting to share a bed this close to my parents’ room and us not being in the same location has made it hard to steal a private moment here. But tonight we get into bed together, our arms wrapping around each other, our legs tangling together like roots.
“You won’t be gone that long,” Jasper says, stroking my hair behind my ear. I haven’t said anything to prompt this comment, but even without using the mind-link it’s like he knows what I’m thinking.
“I don’t know,” I say, leaning into his touch. “Somehow this feels different than when we’ve said goodbye before. It feels bigger.”
He steadies his hand on the side of my head. “I’ll always be with you, in here.”
Then he kisses me gently, and a single tear rolls from the corner of my eye, soaking into the pillow. All night we stay wound up tightly, our faces close enough to feel each other’sbreath, and while I know I should rest, I find it hard to sleep. In a beam of moonlight stealing through the gap in my curtains, I watch Jasper as he sleeps. He always looks so young when he’s asleep, all the stoic-ness, the adult seriousness he carries in his face melts away and he looks at peace. I hope one day soon, he can find this peace while he’s awake.
Eventually, the sun rises, and I know it’s time to go.
Jasper watches me from the edge of my bed as I pack my bags, and hand in hand, we head downstairs. Mom and Dad are in the living room, Mom with a mug of coffee balanced precariously on the armrest of her chair and Dad biting into a piece of toast while playing word games on his phone from the corner of the sofa.
“Morning, you two,” Mom says, a whole lot less shocked to see Jasper than I expected.
“Big day,” Dad says, putting his phone away. “How did you sleep?”
“Fine,” I say, eyeing them curiously. Shouldn’t they be making a bigger deal about me having had a boy stay over? Sometimes I think I need a mind-link to know where their heads are at.
Taking one last sip from her mug, Mom, thankfully, places the coffee on a level surface then comes to give me a hug.
“What was that for?” I ask when she finally releases me, though not completely, as she still holds my shoulders with talon-like claws.
“You’re all grown up.”
Dad stands and moves to us, rubbing Mom on the back and smiling his lopsided smile at me. Suddenly, I’m being hugged again, this time by both my parents.
“Get on in here,” Dad says, waving Jasper into the family hug. He’s hesitant but eventually relents and joins.
It’s nice being hugged on three sides by the most important people in my life, though with no end in sight, I start to feel a little claustrophobic. That is, until the doorbell rings.
“I’ll get it,” I say, eagerly breaking away from the emotional clump.
“Ready to go, Cuz?” Omar asks when I open the door.
Behind me, I can sense Jasper’s feathers ruffling. He’s not all too happy about Omar coming with me, but Omar knows where the rogue leaders are, and he’s my best in with them. It makes sense.
I told Jasper he should be happy I’ll have someone there to protect me, but he only rolled his eyes and growled a little. “Why does it have to be him?” he asked, pouting.
“Because it does. You’ve got to trust me,” I said, and he told me he did, so it was settled.
We all head outside, where Omar has a car waiting.
“Uh-uh,” Jasper says, stopping halfway down the driveway. “No way. You’re not going in that thing.”
