A Study in Music Theory (Wesper AU)

Epilogue

Fun fact: This story is longer than the first Shadow and Bone book. I'm literally a senior in high school taking classes at my local community college — I have NO clue how I managed to write a book 10,000 words longer than Shadow and Bone but okay. Whatever. Anyway, cheers <3

There had been a time in Jesper's life when all he would do was count. Jesper would count how many times he'd "accidentally" brush knuckles with Wylan in a day, or how many times he could get away with sitting arm to arm with Wylan before the Merchling noticed. He often kept a tally of how often Wylan blushed in front of him or tried to hide his smile.

'He smiled at me three times today,' Jesper would think to himself when he'd leave the Van Eck house. 'That's certainly some improvement.'

At first he wasn't entirely sure why he was keeping count. He had thought it was because Wylan had been so adamant about hating him at first. But if Wylan initiated these signs of familiarity, then that must mean he saw Jesper as a friend, right? Never mind the fact that he was far too good for Jesper; for an hour a day, Jesper had all his attention, and he would certainly make it worthwhile.

Maybe Jesper had fallen first; maybe Wylan had. Jesper had honestly been too stuck-up to even notice the very apparent signs. Maybe if he hadn't been so keen on hiding all his secrets, he would have noticed the way Wylan had reacted to his dirty jokes. Maybe he would have noticed the glare Wylan gave to the girls Jesper would flirt with.

Eventually Jesper had stopped counting. There really was no need to when the boundary between friends and lovers disappeared. Jesper couldn't imagine counting the times Wylan touched him now — whether that was on the arm during breakfast or his fingers pulling at Jesper's hair in the dark of night. He knew that no number could describe how many times Jesper fell in love with Wylan in a day, no matter how hard he tried.

So numbers had gone out of style. They even stopped counting their relationship by months as spring turned into summer, then summer into fall. Together they learned the names of their neighbors and the way they liked their tea. They visited old friends of Jesper's and made new friends of their own, even starting a monthly book club with the Havi family a couple miles away. They were known as "Colm's boys" and happily accepted into the community.

And for the first time in his life, Jesper could genuinely consider himself a lucky man.

Wylan yawned and stretched from underneath Jesper's arms. He slowly opened his eyes and smiled.

"Good morning, love," Wylan said, his voice rough from sleep. "What time is it?"

Jesper craned his neck to look behind Wylan at the clock on the nightstand.

"Nine bells," Jesper answered.

Wylan pulled the blankets off of his scrawny body and tried to pull himself away. Jesper groaned and held him even tighter, burrowing his head into Wylan's chest.

"Please don't go," Jesper said. "Just tell them you're sick or something. Stay in bed."

"I can't miss this rehearsal," Wylan answered, trying (and failing) to push Jesper off of him. "We perform in less than a month now!"

"So?"

"So they need me to be there." Wylan ran a hand over Jesper's hair before planting a kiss on his head. "It'll just be a couple hours, I promise."

"It's still too long."

"Someone needs to start the day."

Jesper looked up at Wylan and frowned. "Don't turn my own words against me."

"Someone has to." Wylan finally managed to wriggle out of Jesper's grip. He swung his legs to the side of the bed and stood up.

Jesper couldn't help but watch Wylan. He had the perfect view of his strangely long and slender legs, his skin a porcelain white against a solar system of freckles and hair. All he wore was his blue boxers and slippers, but he was still a sight for sore eyes. Jesper let himself ogle at him as Wylan pulled out one of Jesper's shirts from his dresser.