Jasper slowed his pace when he reached the top of the stairs to the floor where his apartment was located, as he became lost in thought.

Perhaps the call from his mother was a bit of a wakeup call for him, perhaps he was blinded by the excitement of the first few days, or perhaps he always knew it from the moment he met him. Max wasn't the kid he would have chosen to adopt.

Jasper could not deny that he would have preferred a different kid. He had always wanted a child, but he wasn't certain if he had what it takes to be a father to Max.

It was a secret Jasper would take to the grave. Because Max was here now, and he was Jasper and David's son no matter what anybody said.

Jasper was sure his attitude would change for the better once he got to know the boy better and built a better relationship with him. However, at the moment bonding with Max was a slow and tedious process.

Jasper had always wanted a child of his own, one to raise with David, for many years now. Now that his wish was granted, he wasn't going to screw it up.

He was sure Max's old parents felt that Max was far too much work and they had wished they had a different child. Jasper would be better than them, he promised to himself. He and David would give the boy a better life and raise him right.

Jasper had reached the front door of the apartment. He leaned against the door frame and took a deep breath, then let it out.

He had a month or so to become a better father and teach Max better manners. He wanted to prove to his parents that he wasn't too young and inexperienced for this, that he could handle the responsibility.

Max was a badly-behaved child with a terrible attitude, that was true, but these past few days hadn't been too bad, Jasper thought.

Max had been rude and disrespectful, but Jasper was sure that he had been trying at least a little bit to meet him halfway, which meant that Jasper's efforts weren't going completely to waste.

In his mind, he put his darkest thoughts to the side and shoved them down to think of more positive things. David and Max would be back from school, and Jasper was excited to ask Max how his day went.

He pushed himself off of the wall, put a smile on his face and opened the door. Inside he saw Max watching TV while David sat at the dining table with his laptop. David looked up with a beaming smile.

"You're home!" David declared in a cheerful manner. Max looked up at him with a blank stare before returning his attention back to the TV. Jasper nodded in response.

"Sure am, Davey," Jasper replied, trying to match his mood. He walked over to David and leaned down to give him a peck on the lips. "How was your day, Davey? The usual first-day stuff?" Jasper asked after pulling back from the kiss. David cheerfully nodded.

"Sure was, Jas. And yup, it was the usual first day. It's nice to be back at school." Jasper nodded back at him, expecting that answer. He was sure school didn't match the fun David had at camp, he thought, somewhat bitterly.

Jasper gave himself a quick smack at his forehead. He had to forget about thoughts like that. The call from his mother was putting him on edge. It was so silly; there was no reason to think so negatively.

"You alright, Jas?" David asked curiously, with a look of slight worry. Jasper quickly nodded with a reassuring smile.

"I'm fine, Davey." He'd talk about his worries later tonight with David when they're alone, not in front of Max.

On that note, Jasper turned towards the couch where the boy was sitting and made his way over to lean himself against it. He looked down to see Max still engrossed with what he was watching on TV.

"Hey, little man. How was school?" The boy in question groaned in irritation and fell into a heap onto his side on the couch as he continued watching TV.

"It was boring as shit. Just as I thought it would be," he said tiredly. Jasper leaned his crossed arms on the couch to get a bit closer.

"Make any friends? Do anything interesting?" he asked for the sake of conversation. Max stared at him from the corner of his eyes.

"No, it was just like every other first day back at school. Nothing happened, just introduced each other." He glanced back at the screen for a moment before looking back at Jasper.

"I… might have made a friend? I dunno, we just talked for a second. We sat next to each other in class and when we had lunch," Max said. Jasper smiled at that.

"Sounds radical, little dude. It's wicked that you're getting along with someone." Max hummed in agreement at that, seemingly rather lethargic.

Jasper chuckled; he's sure the boy cannot be that tired from a simple first day of school. "What's your teacher like?"

"Ugh, she is totally bossy. Just because I took longer than five seconds to get out of my chair to join in on her stupid introduction thing. She fucking glares at me and says, ' Maxwell, you need to participate as well '," Max finished off his rant with an unflattering mockery of his teacher.

Jasper frowned slightly, it's entirely possible that Max's story was a bit biased, but the man wouldn't question it for now. What Jasper certainly would question, was what comes out of the boy's mouth next.

"Pretty sure the teacher is an absolute cunt," the boy said in a caustic tone. Jasper's jaw dropped slightly and he glared at Max, who was too busy watching TV to notice.

Jasper turned his head to look at David, who had stopped working on his laptop and was giving the back of the couch a stern frown of disapproval.

Jasper thought that if he came home from school and told his parents that his teacher was a cunt, they'd smack him upside the head, or ground him, or even more likely, both.

It felt wrong that Max thought this is okay to say to them. If David and Jasper were going to start somewhere with Max's attitude, they might as well start here.

Jasper gave a pointed look at David, cleared his throat and gestured to Max with a tilt of his head.

His boyfriend got the signal and stood up from his chair to stride over to where Jasper was standing. He came to a stop at the couch with his hands on his hips and looked down at Max.

"Max," David begins in a stern tone of voice. Max glances over to see the two men standing near him. He pushed himself up to send a confused and suspicious look at them.

"What do you two want?" he asked in a combination of confusion and annoyance. Jasper's frown deepened at this, but David wasn't deterred.

"You shouldn't be calling your teacher something like that," David said with a waggle of his finger.

"I think we can let the other swearing go, but we don't want you saying that word, especially not to describe your teacher," Jasper reprimanded, to reinforce what David was saying.

He'd rather not let the other swearing go, but it would most likely be easier to start small, rather than all at once with this.

Perhaps it was just because it was hammered into him as a kid, but he had always thought that word was the worst of the lot.

Even today when he swore freely, he'd never say that word in front of his parents, even if they themselves were no stranger to using curse words.

Max frowned at them in irritation and crossed his arms. He then smirked. "What word? You mean cunt ?" he said snidely. David flinched slightly at this, but otherwise, his demeanour remained unchanged.

Jasper massaged his temples. David decided to speak up.

"Max, work with us here. It's just one word. We aren't asking you to stop swearing altogether." Jasper firmly nodded at this.

"Yeah, little dude, be a team player," Jasper said in his best lecturing voice, a tone he hadn't used since David told him he was going to camp again this year.

Max rolled his eyes and sighed dramatically. "Okay, whatever. Just one word. I promise I won't say cunt ."

David rubbed his forehead in exasperation, but he began to smile again. "Good boy, kiddo. Just please stick to your promise," David said sincerely.

A short huff of laughter escaped Jasper's lips. "Thanks, for being cool, little man," Jasper said encouragingly. He might as well congratulate the kid for not being difficult about it. Max narrowed his eyes at him.

"For not saying a word? Alright," he said in total deadpan. The kid had a fair point with his reaction, it was a pretty small thing to get happy over, but Jasper wanted him to know that he appreciated it.

Jasper grinned cheekily in David's direction, who returned it with one of his own. Mission accomplished.

Fifteen years ago...

Jasper stretched his arms out as he pushed through the opening of the tent. Today had been an exhausting ordeal, and it was only just late in the afternoon!

The campers had gone on a nature hike, after being split into the two different groups, Gregg and Darla taking one-half of the campers each.

It really sucked that he and Davey were in separate groups. It was by unluckiness of the draw from a hat, but he still felt somewhat annoyed by the counsellors separating them, if only by chance.

It was the first time the two of them had been apart for so long in the past six days since they had become best friends.

He threw himself onto the bed and laid back, staring at the ceiling of the tent, wondering when Davey would return from his hike.

Not two minutes had passed when he heard the ruckus of returning campers from outside his tent. Jasper pulled himself up from his bed with a grin, eagerly waiting for his friends return.

It was another two or so minutes when Davey pushed through the door of the tent. Jasper jumped off the bed to meet him with a cheery smile.

"Davey, you're back!" he exclaimed with glee. Davey peered at him with a small smile.

"Yup, I'm back, my hippy," he responded, sounding worn out from the hike he had done. Jasper gave him a second look over and noticed something very off.

Peeking out from under Davey's short sleeve were bandages wrapped securely around the upper part of his arm, and he clearly had an expression of repressed pain, along with very red eyes, as if he had been doing a lot of crying.

"Davey, what happened?" Jasper questioned with concern. He then, using a finger, pushed Davey's sleeve up to see that the bandages had blood seeping through. The blonde gasped in shock.

David swatted the other boy's hands away and glared at him.

"It's nothing, okay?" he said with frustration. Jasper shook his head insistently.

"It doesn't look like nothing," Jasper said persistently. David growled in irritation.

"Fuck off. I said it's nothing, hippy," he said irritably. "Nothing could ever happen to me at the wondrous Camp Campbell," he finished sarcastically.

"Davey, come on, man. Tell me what happened," Jasper said, pressing the issue. However, Davey didn't take the prodding very well.

"Why are you getting all fucking nosy!?" Davey shouted at him in irritation.

Jasper froze and looked back at him with wide eyes at Davey's response. "Why are you getting angry? I'm just worried. I'm your best friend remember?" he said imploringly.

Davey took a step back, looking almost like an angry wild animal. "That's right. You're my friend, not my mother!" he replied with a yell. He then said in a more subdued voice, "I'm going for a walk." He then walked out of the tent at a brisk pace.

Jasper could do nothing but stare in confusion and concern at the display. He didn't understand what he had said to upset Davey.

"But you just got back," Jasper said in a small voice, with nobody but himself to hear it.

He wandered back over to his bed and let himself drop down to a sitting position on the cot and pulled his knees up to his chest. It was like when they first met all over again.

He wasn't sure what to do.

Jasper stared at himself in his bedroom mirror, sans shirt, and traced a finger down one of the scars on his chest.

Max had gone to sleep a short while ago; surprisingly, it wasn't too hard to get him to go to bed at a reasonable time tonight. Jasper wasn't sure how long that'd last. David was behind him getting dressed for bed.

Bringing the law down on Max today wasn't too hard he supposed. He wasn't sure how long the boy would keep his promise though.

He was aware that it wasn't always going to go as smoothly as it had done today all the time. He could anticipate major arguments with the kid in the future.

There was no denying it or avoiding it, especially when he starts going through puberty. Jasper shuddered at the thought of a teenage Max. He couldn't just be a friend to Max, he had to be a parent first.

Nervousness came over him at the thought of trying to keep Max in line when David wasn't around to help. Jasper was sure Max would have just told him to fuck off if he tried to tell him not to say that word if David wasn't around.

Jasper couldn't deny that it hurt that Max clearly preferred David over him by a large margin. He knew he was being irrational in his hurt. Max only just met him while he has known David for a little while already.

He ran his hands through his sandy blonde hair anxiously. He knew raising a child would be hard, but not this hard. Raising Max as their son was going to be highly challenging, mentally and emotionally.

That was a terrible thought, he felt. Max would clearly be going through an even worse time considering he had been abandoned by his parents.

Such a tragic thing to happen had to have an effect on the kid. To feel unwanted by his birth parents would be a horrible feeling.

He seemed well adjusted so far, minus the bad attitude of course. Maybe he had come to grips with the situation during his time at camp after he heard the news.

But he's only ten years old of course, such a traumatic event will likely have long-lasting effects on him. He must be good at hiding how it affected him.

He bit his lips, hard. He needed to stay positive. He just had to stay determined in his attempts to build a better relationship with Max, to show him that he has good parents now, parents who love him and accept him.

He was interrupted from his thoughts by arms snaking around his torso. David's head appeared over his shoulder. He was about an inch or so taller than Jasper, so he leaned forward to place his head onto Jasper's shoulder.

"Something wrong, Jas?" David asked curiously, with a slight bit of worry. Jasper smiled at his boyfriend's reflection in the mirror.

"Just thinking, Davey. Raising a kid is gonna be pretty hard, huh?"

David let out a giggle at this and nodded against Jasper's neck. "Yeah, but we'll be doing it together, Jas. We're a team," he replied confidently. "Max can be a bit difficult, but he's really not a bad kid."

Jasper cocked his head at David. "I don't think he's a bad kid either, he's just got a bit of an attitude."

David hummed at this. "He does."

"Were you going to let him get away with calling his teacher a cunt?" he asked curiously, voice devoid of any accusation.

Jasper didn't think David was a pushover or anything, he just wasn't sure if the other man was ready to start on the boy's behaviour.

David's eyebrows rose at the question, and he cringed slightly. "No, I was going to step in. I was a bit surprised he said it, that's all."

Jasper gave a quizzical look at him. "Really? You're surprised the foul-mouthed kid said the C-word?" Jasper asked with a soft chuckle. David laughed at this as well.

"He's always had a penchant for bad language, but I've never heard him or any of the other kids say that word." David rubbed his chin in thought. "I've only heard his friend Neil use the word actually."

"Huh," Jasper replied in a somewhat nonplussed tone. "We're gonna have to start on his behaviour sooner rather than later." David nodded as he said this.

"I think it's best to start slow. We got him to promise to not to say, ' that word '. I'd like to work on him promising not to swear at us in anger next, it's flat-out disrespectful."

Jasper very much agreed with this idea. "Yeah, he swore in public when he got annoyed with me, and this old lady near us just gave me this utterly appalled look." He placed his hands on his face at the memory.

"Oh, Davey, it was embarrassing. It's pretty whacked when I see kids swearing at their parents when I'm out and about, and now our kid is doing it," Jasper said in a self-conscious tone.

David gave a look halfway somewhere between sympathy and second-hand embarrassment. "Yeah, that's not on. He needs to mind his language. It'd be super if we could get him to stop swearing altogether actually, but I don't see that happening anytime soon, or perhaps, at all. But yeah, using such bad language at us when he's annoyed needs to stop ASAP," said David.

David then gave a curious hum, and then an amused grin appeared on his face.

"What brought this bout of responsibility on?" David asked. "Thought I'd be the first one to start in on it."

Jasper snorted, but his face arranged into a more serious one. "Mom called, she wants to see him as soon as she can, so she can welcome him into the family. I'm sure dad and my sister have the same plan," Jasper told him, with a tone of subdued worry.

"And I really don't want to hear a lecture about how he behaves. It'd be embarrassing on its own if Max does something really rude in front of them, much less be given a scolding over it. Might have to resort to bribing him again, not sure how effective it'd be though," Jasper finished with a sigh.

"I was already thinking about that. She always calls after I get home," Davey replied.

Which was true, Jasper's family and his boyfriend got along quite well. Jasper always wondered what it would be like if they met him before David's behaviour did a one-eighty. Not well, he'd guess.

"Yeah, I kinda forgot about it, Davey," Jasper responded with a nervous laugh.

David nuzzled his head against Jasper's cheek. "There's no need to worry, Jas. We'll sort it out, we always do," David said in a reassuring voice.

Jasper gave him a warm smile. "I know, Davey. I can always count on you to help," he said while turning around and grabbing his boyfriend's hand in his own.

His eyes looked over David, he was just in his pyjama pants without his shirt. Once upon a time, David wore the full pyjama ensemble to bed, but Jasper couldn't let that continue of course, he recalled with great amusement.

David was still as lanky as he'd always been. Jasper had a bit of muscle to himself but not that much more than David.

He always thought David would come home from camp looking a bit more muscular but to no avail. That's quite a thought, however, David with a six-pack. The idea did things to him.

Not that he thinks David wasn't manly or attractive enough or anything like that. But it wouldn't hurt if David had more muscle.

He trailed his fingers down his boyfriend's chest which elicited a small giggle from David. Jasper looked up with a mischievous grin.

"Still so ticklish, Davey."

"No tickling, Jas, c'mon," he said pleadingly, but he had a grin to match Jaspers.

"Alright, Davey, I promise not to tickle," he said in a cheeky tone, as he looked down at David's hand while bringing it up to his face. "But only because I…" Jasper drifted off as he saw something strange on David's hand.

There was a pale line on the back of David's hand. His mouth opened slightly in a gasp as he looked up to inspect it and noticed it was a scar.

"Jas, is there something wrong?" David asked curiously. Jasper turned his boyfriend's hand over in his own hands to see another matching line on the redhead's palm. Jasper had a look of growing horror.

"David, what is this?" he asked in total seriousness, as he looked up at the other man.

"What do you mean?" David replied in confusion. Jasper gave a small grunt of frustration.

"What is this, David? On your hand. This is a scar. I've never noticed it 'till now," he said with confusion and some impatience. David's eyes widened as Jasper continued his interrogation

"This? It's nothing to worry about, Jas," he said in a rush, attempting to placate the blonde. Jasper narrowed his eyes at him.

"If it's nothing, then you'll tell me how you got it," he said irritated, trying to keep his voice down so as to not awake Max from his sleep.

His eyes subconsciously drifted to David's other hand to see that he had the same scar on the other hand. Jasper gasped in shock.

"It's on both of your hands!" Jasper exclaimed in a whispered yell, his impatience and worry rising with every second.

"It looks like you were fucking crucified," Jasper said as his eyes quickly moved to see if there were also scars on David's feet, although he saw none.

David has never had scars before now, making them stand out all the more. How had Jasper not noticed them until now?

David shifted anxiously on the spot and waved his hands in a placating manner.

"Calm down, Jas, no need to blow it out of proportion. It was fine, Gwen helped bandage me up." Jasper gave him a venomous glare.

"So, it happened at Camp-fucking-Campbell, but you're not going to say anything because that camp is everything to you!" he said, his eyes becoming wet.

"Jas, please, you and Max are everything to me. It was an accident. I didn't want to worry you, okay?" he said in a rush, distraught at the accusation.

"How did it happen? Tell me," Jasper beckoned, with no room for argument. David let out a sigh.

"Okay, I had a fall while out hiking, I put out my hands and they got stabbed by some sharp rocks," he explained.

Jasper placed a hand over his mouth and gasped at the mental image of David in pain from such an accident.

"Oh my god, David. You would have been in so much pain. You must have been bleeding so much, you could have died!" Jasper said, his voice becoming hysterical with distress.

Jasper then glared and gritted his teeth in anger. "Fucking Camp Campbell, it's a fucking cursed shithole. I don't want you or Max going back there again."

David's reaction was immediate, with a sudden look of horror at this statement. "What? Jasper, it was an accident. I wouldn't have died, the cuts weren't even that big. I love working there, please don't say this," David said, clearly upset. "This is why I didn't tell you, I don't want you to worry."

"I have to worry because you certainly don't! I don't want to lose you! What if you fell off a cliff, or got mauled by bears, or-" Jasper was cut off as he let out a choked sob.

He was quickly pulled into a tight hug by David. "Shhh, it's okay, Jasper. There's nothing to worry about, everything is fine."

Jasper pressed himself against David's chest, David tucked Jasper's head under his chin.

For the next few minutes, they stood holding each other, the silence only being broken when Jasper let out another quiet sob.

After a few minutes of being held by David, Jasper let out a shaky sigh. This was an old song and dance they had every year before David went off to camp, but this was the first time they had this argument after he had already come home.

They rarely argued in general, but this was the one thing they had always well and truly opposed each other on.

Jasper closed his eyes tightly for a moment before opening them again to look up at David in defeat. "Do you promise to be more careful?" he asked unsurely.

"Mm-hm," David said in a reassuring tone. "I promise I will be very careful, Jas. I've been going there for three years and we went there as kids as well. It was just a little one-off accident. Don't worry so much, okay?" Jasper let out a short sigh.

"Alright. I guess you're right, they aren't-" He looked down at David's hands. The sight of them still made him cringe. "-that big, I suppose." David nodded appreciatively in agreement.

"Let's go to bed, Jas. It's late and we're both pretty tired I think." Jasper hummed in agreement.

"Alright," Jasper said tiredly, suddenly giving a yawn at the thought. "Let's go to bed, Davey," David then grabbed his hand, led him over to where they slept, pulled him down with him and tucked them under the covers.

David wrapped his arms around Jasper and gave him a short squeeze, before letting his grip around him slacken. "Nighty-night, Jas. I love you" A small smile came to Jasper's face.

"Nighty-night, Davey. Love you too," he replied with a feeling of exhaustion. Sleep came easily to him, something David was always good at helping him with, and he drifted off peacefully.