Anomalies ✔

Chapter Forty

CHAPTER FORTY: FIREWORKS

He has no need for faith who knows the uncreated, who has cut off rebirth, who has destroyed any opportunity for good or evil, and cast away all desire. He is indeed the ultimate man.
-Gautama Buddha

It being the night before New Years Eve didn't stop people from celebrating early, my family being part of that.

Since most of my older siblings drank and so did their partners, I was kind of the odd one out once my parents drove my younger siblings down to my Uncle Jem and Aunt Nell's house so they could celebrate together.

Being the only one in the house not willing to even have an eggnog made me an easy target for Noelle and Max, who were already well past the point of tipsy, and Nemesis who just genuinely liked to be annoying.

Jasper seemed to pick up on that easily, and though he kept his second eggnog, he did ask me to see the 'box somewhere with all my shiny things in them'.

Once I got away from the loudness, everything was fine.

So I got on my shoes, put my coat on over one of my boyfriend's sweatshirts and gloves, and watched Jasper do the same but keep just his normal sweatshirt on before giving me a thumbs up.

"All of your family is loud." Jaspers says after we step out from the house, one of his arms coming around my middle to pull me close to him. "Why are you quiet?"

"Oh," I pause, trying to think of a good way to phrase this. "They have better reason to speak, plus they're better at speaking."

After noticing his aversion to being touched first I thought I did way better at speaking out loud than using physical cues, but I know I slip up every now and again.

He's already seen that my family very verbally expresses their love, and they do it nearly constantly. I don't want him to think that I should be the same way when I'm not, or that I'm questioning anything.

Because I do love him, a lot.

"And I know I'm quiet, Jasper and sometimes that could be a problem, but there's a lot more ways I say I love you- -bit hot innit- -than just saying them out loud. I don't want you to forget that."

"I know that, Castor," Jasper, amusedly, pauses just as I do and bonks our heads together with a soft thud that I can't help but to huff at, holding back a laugh. "I'm good about reading you now, if I do say so myself, and know when you say I love you without actually saying it. Like my finger bop... but not, y'know, a finger bop. Or just one specific thing."

Though I don't think I really have any set thing like the finger bop like he said, I know that there's time where I just look at Jasper or do something with him and all I'm thinking is that I love him.

And I guess it really is that simple.

Moving on and focusing a bit more on myself to stop my blush, I nod and flick open the garage lock pad, entering Papa's birthday as the passkey to open it.

The garage door creaks open, the joints nearly frozen in position at the point and shows Mama's truck in one half of it but a freezer on the other half where we keep a shit ton of frozen mangoes and strawberries for smoothies, a corner of box's with my name on them as well as other boxes labeled things like 'floaties' and 'summer'.

Sighing, duck my head slightly as I walk away from Jasper, grabbing the box on top with a slight wince from my aching wrist before putting it on the ground.

Meeting Jasper's eye, his head tilted adorable at me and probably expecting this to start nicer, I can't help but to smirk before simply kicking it the rest of the way to him.