Stepping Back

Things had been going pretty well. But, well… You know… Sometimes, things happen and the ugly comes out of us all. And, well… That massage chair… It did something to them, to him. Jasper wanted it. He couldn't think of anything that he had ever wanted more in his entire life. Charlotte learned that the hard way.

"Well, Henry missed his turn. We know what that means," she said, heading for the chair.

Jasper cut her off and suggested, "That means it's my turn."

She cocked her head back and looked him up and down, "How do you figure?"

"Because you've been in it and I haven't!"

"I outsmarted you and you helped Henry forcibly remove me!"

"I was under pressure!"

She smiled and adjusted the collar of his shirt, "I get that, I understand pressure. That's why I need to experience the chair, right now. Don't I deserve to?"

Jasper smiled, and almost agreed, but then something occurred to him, "Wait a minute! Are you using my feelings against me? You're taking advantage of my big heart!"

"I could have done worst," she said, backing away a little, and rolling her eyes.

"I can't imagine that you could."

She pulled out her laser, "Well, I can. Step back, Jasper. Don't make this uglier than it has to be."

He pulled his out too, now. "It pains me that it's come to this Charlotte…"

"It doesn't pain me. But, if you keep going near that chair; it'll pain you…"

Honestly, things went wild.

Whenever Ray pit them against each other in the challenge, she had to admit that if he wasn't competing against her, she would have admired Jasper's tenacity. He was in the freakin' lead! He was seriously dusting her and Henry. The guy had nothing to lose, apparently, because the death snake was an automatic no for her and Henry, but fortunately, none of the other events were nearly as dangerous. Schwoz offered him an antidote for the venom, but the side effects were severe sickness and possible blackouts. He didn't want to blackout, so he held off on the antidote and put it in his pocket, in case of near death. While that was completely insane, Charlotte couldn't resist being impressed by his sheer will to win. She was also impressed by him in a tight body suit throwing a huge bag, but she wasn't gonna tell anybody that one! Then, he had the audacity to hit a few manly poses. Who the heck did he think he was? She wondered, checking him out. Jasper had levels that she absolutely wanted to investigate further… you know, some time after this stupid competition. This stupid competition that none of them wound up even winning!

They would have done it all over again, but Jasper looked deeply ill and Charlotte forced him to finally take that antidote. Having him in that condition, she felt guilty about proceeding herself, and said, "Guess it's all you, Hen." She had an arm around Jasper to help him walk and said, "I know that your house is closer, but I think you should come to mine, in case you have side effects from the antidote and need assistance."

"You can come to my house, for a change," he said, slurred.

"No. Your mom is there," she said and grabbed the handles of the Hart's wheelbarrow. They wouldn't miss it for a night.

"Yeah, and she's always gonna be…"

"Sit in the barrow," she ordered. He frowned. "It'll be uncomfortable, but you literally battled a death snake today. I think that you can handle it." He sat down and she pushed.

"I feel like I should clarify something. I opened up to you about some things and I didn't really expound. I love my mom. She's not perfect. She hasn't always done the right thing, but she's my mom. I'm not trying to leave her behind or even escape from her. Most importantly, she's not trash, to me." Jasper couldn't seem to stop himself from talking. He felt like maybe either the venom or the medicine had his inhibitions down.

Charlotte nodded her head as she struggled to push his weight forward, "I never should have said that. I'm sorry. I just think about you being neglected and traumatized and I hate that. As your friend, I hate that someone has the power to harm you without opposition..." Jasper blacked out. "Okay… Great." She was a little glad that the conversation was over and hopefully, he wouldn't even remember it. He was kind of out of it whenever he began talking.

But, as she neared her walkway, he started talking again, like there hadn't even been a break! "I didn't tell you about my mom as an attack on her or to take away anything from her. I said it for growth and because I trust you. I defend you when she says things about you and I'm gonna defend her when you say things about her. She's my family, and you're my friend. I can't do life without either of you." How the heck did he just resume things after a blackout?

She helped him out of the wheelbarrow and told him, "You won't have to do it without me. Sorry if I hurt your feelings."

She reached up to hug Jasper and of course, he was accepting of that gesture. He held tightly and admitted into her soft skin, "There's nothing in the world that I wouldn't forgive you for." She let out a breathy whimper and melted against him. He rubbed his face against her jaw and squeezed tightly, realizing that her shirt had ridden up a little and he was touching her actual skin on her waist. She didn't have those handles there, just tight, firm, smooth skin. She was skinny, and he guessed he'd imagined that meant she might be hard to the touch, but it was the opposite. She was extremely supple and delicate. He accidentally let out a moan and within the heartbeat, Charlotte gently broke contact with him, gave him a friendly grin and patted him on the chest.

"Let's get you inside."

.

Jasper used her bathroom and changed into his tight suit, because he'd kept it and she couldn't get any of her dad's clothes without notice tonight. She stayed outside of the room to make sure that he didn't pass out or something, then helped him into bed and spent some quality time in the bathroom herself. Her body was aching from having things thrown at her, falling onto a pile of her friends, and just general shenanigans. Wtf were they thinking earlier? All three of them had lost their everloving minds over a chair! But, if that last challenge wasn't so open and ridiculous, Jasper would have won. Good on him. Jasper wasn't a huge winner, but she appreciated seeing that inside of him. It was kinda hot.

She came out of the bathroom, clean and somewhat relaxed, moisturized, with her hair set, and… Jasper was in her bed. She sighed. From the way he was positioned, he probably blacked out again. She adjusted his body to where he was laying comfortably and helped to get him under the covers. He was much heavier than Henry the few times she tried to move him. Jasper was thicker and more solid. "Thicka than a snicka," she said and giggled to herself.

"Thank you," he mumbled and she dropped the cover and clutched her heart. She leaned to try to see if he was awake and he turned over. Thank God. How mortifying that could have been! "Charlotte?"

"Huh?" she asked, keeping her distance. But, he didn't say anything. He must've been talking in his sleep. She set the room right, air, diffuser, night sounds, lights… She looked at the spare bed and the beds were identical, but this one was slept in less. She went to lock her bedroom door, in case her mom cheerfully came to wake her for breakfast or something and she climbed into her own bed, justifying it because it was hers and it wasn't like she was gonna take advantage of him or something! She settled in. This was weird. Maybe she should get in the spare, instead. Yeah, this wasn't right… Jasper's arm wrapped around her and pulled her closer to him. This… was right. This was good. It was nice. She was asleep within moments and whenever she woke up, still there, she smiled. Jasper was snoring, but she guessed she missed it with the bear hug, the night sounds, and general tiredness. Maybe she had just gotten a little used to it because he slept over a lot lately.

She was probably laying there for a good half hour before he woke up and jumped up, kinda startled, apologizing. "I must've wandered here from the bathroom or something!"

"Hey. It's fine. You blacked out on my bed and I didn't want to sleep in the spare. It's all good, Relax." He sighed, relieved, but then got up and grabbed his clothes from the night before. "Jasper…"

"I don't think that I told my mom I'd be out. She's gonna flip!"

Charlotte checked her phone and said, "She called Henry last night and he told her that you were sleeping over and had already fallen asleep. He even added, 'Charlotte's not here, though,' for good measure." She climbed out of bed and he watched her turn off her various devices. "He had your back."

Jasper didn't comment on the emphasis that she had put on "your." But, maybe Charlotte and Henry were fighting or something? He nodded and said, "I'll just put these on over this." He began to get into his old clothes and she snatched her phone, grabbed a hanger with an outfit on it and went into the bathroom.

Henry: Heads up! Jasper's mom called late last night to see if he was here. I covered for you. Said that he was here but already asleep and it was just us guys. Dude… Whatever you're doing with Jasper, I hope you realize that he's sensitive, okay? So, I mean, it'd be cute, if I thought you were actually into him, but we both know that's not the case. Be careful with him.

She fumed and snatched off her pajamas.

Charlotte: Wow. Okay. That's all fine and well, but I don't recall asking you. For your information, Jasper and I are just friends and if we weren't, it wouldn't be any of your business, tbh.

Henry was almost ready for work whenever he got Charlotte's response and he was taken aback by it, to stay the least.

Henry: Why are you being so salty? Are you actually catching feelings for him? Because, I just can't imagine it. But, if I'm wrong and you're gonna do right by him, then congrats. If not, it's kind of my duty to make sure everyone is okay…

Charlotte: It's really not. It's not your business. If I like Jasper or not, that's between Jasper and I. The way that you automatically assumed that I wouldn't even like Jasper is indicative of how YOU perceive him, not me. Stop projecting. You think that Jasper's not good enough, so you're saying I'm not going to see anything in him and that's insulting to both of us.

Henry: That's not what I meant. I meant that you're very conceited about a lot of stuff and so I didn't think you'd see Jasper for the good guy that he is.

Charlotte: Maybe I should show him this conversation and see how he sees it.

Henry: Quit! Call me.

Charlotte: No.

She didn't show Jasper, and she didn't keep.arguing with Henry. But, she did take a step back from Jasper. Because… what if Henry was right? Who knew her better than he did? What if she needed to reassess and be realistic? What if realistically… that would never work? Then, she might hurt Jasper and at this point, she wasn't willing to do that. Not this way. So, she tried to just go back to normal. Just… let things be. Hopefully, that was the right thing to do. For everyone.