The Heroes

Chapter 4

"Xander," Jasper whispered, his voice unsure. This had never happened before, he wasn't quite sure what he was supposed to do. He left the light turned off but walked over to the bed, standing in front of where Xander sat. Jasper awkwardly wrapped his skinny arms around Xander, who tensed upon contact before reciprocating the hug and wrapping both of his arms tightly around Jasper. His head was buried between Jasper's shoulder and neck and his body trembled as small sobs broke through him.

There was a moment of silence between the two males, the only sounds heard being the occasional sniff or sob from Xander.

Xander melted into the touch and Jasper kept his arms wrapped tightly around Xander's body. He rocked them both gently back and forth, resting his head on top of Xanders. Jasper quietly started humming, still not sure of what else he could do. It was a soothing lullaby he vaguely remembered his mother singing when he was a small child curled up and clinging to her, similar to how he and Xander were sitting now.

They stayed in this position for somewhere between a few minutes and a few hours. Nobody was counting. It felt late though, and when Xander yawned, Jasper decided it was probably time for him to leave so that they could both go to bed. They both needed sleep, it had been a long and tiring day for the both of them.

But, as Jasper went to stand up and leave, Xander latched onto him like a leech, pretty much preventing him from moving an inch. It seemed he wasn't going anywhere. 

"Don't leave me," he mumbled, already sounding half asleep.

"Fine, but don't kill me for this tomorrow," Jasper muttered, half to himself, before pulling off his top and climbing into bed beside Xander. He half considered undressing Xander too, but Jasper decided he didn't really want to die yet.

Soon enough Xander fell asleep, his soft snore filling the room. He was lying almost on top of Jasper, with Jasper's arm underneath him in a way that just about prevented Jasper from getting up without awakening him. Jasper smiled slightly.

Xander just looked so peaceful while asleep, he was like a completely different person to who he was during the day. In a way, he was different. He smiled slightly in his sleep, Jasper noticed. He looked calm, peaceful, rather than numb and emotionless and cold. Perhaps, Jasper mused to himself, behind his scary mask, was a real person with real feelings after all.