One Hot Summer (boyxboy)

Chapter 13: Just desserts

"Aah! You did that on purpose!"
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It didn't take too long to figure out exactly how to fathom the quad bike and after detaching it from the trailer, Jasper was revving its engine and racing through the clearing towards the dirt track. 

He had only one thing on his mind. To get as far away from Thomas as possible. Since Jasper had set eyes on him, Thomas had been nothing but a huge complex ball of confusion to Jasper. He hated how Thomas had gotten him questioning himself. His sexuality. Teasing him to the absolute brink. Humiliating him. Thomas thought he was so big and clever and the thought of it even now, replaying in Jasper's mind made him so enraged. More so because he now knew that he did in fact want Thomas. Not only had he admitted it to himself, he had openly admitted it to Thomas too. 

Jasper now has a crazy notion. He was going to leave. Take this quad bike and make his way to the city. But he wouldn't go home...no he would stay with friends. Jasper begins to slow his quad bike down, remembering how he had no friends. How if he ever did get close to such a thing, he'd mess it up somehow, either by getting into a fight with them or sleeping with their girl. 

Jasper stops the bike now altogether. He sits back on the hard plastic seat and runs his fingers through his sweaty black hair and maybe for the first time in his life, he feels a wetness in his eyes. Jasper is crying. He comes to the realisation that he isn't a nice guy. His own mother despised him. His dad probably left because of him, his uncle probably only tolerates him at best, as a favour to his mother. The only person who Jasper felt like gave a damn about him was Molly. Maybe he deserved what Thomas dished out. Maybe it was part of the plan. To get him to this point of realisation. 

Jasper uses his hands to push the tears from his face before deciding to head back to the trailer, pick up the logs and head back. He was yet to work out in his mind just how he would tackle seeing Thomas again, but he would deal with that when he got there. 

Jasper again revs up the engine and makes a 'u' turn back up the beaten track. He hasn't gone too far when he sees something lying in the road. Jasper momentarily thinks it might be a fallen deer or something but as he slows down on the approach, he sees it's a person, but not just any person...it's Thomas!

He is lying face down in the dirt. Jasper turns off the quad bike and dismounts it, hurrying to where Thomas was laying on the ground. As he squats down by his side, Jasper can see the side of his face where he had hit him. It now looked all puffy and swollen, so much so, Jasper could hardly see Thomas's left eye. 

Jasper reaches out a hand, placing it on Thomas's bare shoulder, giving it a small shake. "Tom, Tom! Can you hear me?" Thomas doesn't respond. Jasper tries again, this time using both hands to shake Thomas' shoulders more vigorously. "Wake up!" Jasper says in a slightly louder voice. 

Thomas slowly begins to move his shoulder and head, omitting a groggy groan. "Get up. Get up Tom!" Jasper shouts. He couldn't deal with this. He needed Thomas to get up and be ok. Jasper didn't know what to do. 

"My...head." Thomas groans in a lazy voice as he tries to push himself up, with his hands, he eventually gives up and rolls onto his back. He tries to open his eyes, finding it difficult with both the sun shining bright above him and the fact that the swelling was now invading his eye space. "J...Jasper. Come to end me, have you?" He lets out a dry laugh before quickly replacing it with another groan. It even hurt to smile. 

Jasper now stands up, leaning over Thomas, his eyes momentarily scanning the man on his back, looking a sorry sight. "I should...but your sister would kill me and I like her so…" he holds out his hand for Thomas to take, which he feebly does, with Thomas slowly but surely being brought to his feet. 

The sudden rush of blood to the head causes Thomas to stumble forward, he holds out his free arm to try to keep balance. Jasper, quick to act, holds out his other hand and places it on Thomas's chest, stopping him from falling forward any more. He then wraps the connected arm around his own shoulders before removing his hand from Thomas' warm chest and wrapping it around the back of Thomas' waist. "I'll dump you in the trailer and drive you back." He adds, with Thomas nodding wearily as they make their way back into the woods where the trailer still sat, where they'd left it. 

As they approach the trailer's side, Jasper unwraps his hand from Thomas's waist and pushes him gently towards the side, with Thomas holding onto the edge. Jasper then takes the wrapped arm from his neck and pushes the arm towards the trailer. "Get in while I get the bike!" He orders. 

Thomas looks at the trailer a minute before sighing and pouting like a child. "I can't, I'm too weak." Jasper looks back at Thomas looking all pathetic and snorts a laugh at how the roles between them had suddenly been reversed. 

"You need help huh? You need help?" Jasper says. His tone laced with sarcasm. He grabs Thomas' thigh and carelessly lifts it, making Thomas topple over the edge, just as Jasper had done, only this time, the trailer is laiden with logs and he falls straight onto a rough tree trunk. 

"Aah! You did that on purpose!" Thomas groans, feeling now even more sorry for himself.

Jasper shrugs walking off to get the bike. "So what if I did. You deserved it!" He shouts over his shoulder. Thomas doesn't say anything because he did. He deserved it all.