Henry shuffles to the side, putting as much space between them as possible while mumbling, "You can push the button."

There's a brief moment of uncertainty in Jasper's eyes as Henry makes that offer when they'd usually fight over it.

He ultimately shrugs it off and presses the button with a single cheer, "Yipe."

The distance doesn't stop Jasper from clinging to Henry the second the elevator launches up like he's done a thousand times before.

Is Jasper even actually scared of the elevator, or has It always been an excuse to touch him? Henry can't tell.

It makes him tense under the feeling of Jasper's arms wrapping around his body, stilling the second his face buries into the crook of his neck.

Henry pats Jasper's head awkwardly once the door finally slides open, "Okay, buddy- time to let go- now- please!" He yells, not giving him enough time to pull away on his own before he pushes him off, "Get off me now!"

"Okay." Jasper mumbles, straightening up, then smoothing down his shirt, "Rude."

"It's just an elevator ride." Henry blurts, sliding out, "Stop being so scared of it, grow up."

"Well, maybe," Jasper starts, walking heavily as he follows behind Henry, "You should grow down?!"

Henry still doesn't look at Jasper as he bites back, "That doesn't even make sense."

"Well," Jasper retorts as they step through the beaded curtain, "You don't make sense."

"Ooh," Henry mocks, raising his hand in sarcastic surrender, "Good one."

Jasper gives an aggressive nod in agreement, "Thank you!"

Henry drops his hands in disbelief, "Dude, I was being sarcastic."

"Well, so was I," Jasper claims, crossing his arms, "….I recant my thanks."

Henry takes a deep breath, clenching his teeth as he tries to calm his reeling thoughts.

This is fucked, and not at all fair.

Jasper gets to walk away as if he never confessed, and Henry's stuck dealing with the fallout.

One of his best, his oldest, guy friends is in love with him? What the fuck is he supposed to do with that?

Confessions of love aren't even new to him. Among the hundreds of age-appropriate girls he actually interacts with, he's also being constantly pursued by blooming tweens, soccer moms, and middle-aged men.

If Jasper were just projecting his crush on Kid Danger onto him or solely attracted to the mask or something, he could understand, but Jasper loves Henry Hart, which somehow feels undeserving.

Whatever, this whole thing is stupid.

Henry wants to be mad- no, he deserves to be mad. Not even about the whole 'love' bullshit. He almost lost Jasper entirely. He almost died. That was partly Ray and Henry's fault; the other half was all Jasper.

It wouldn't have mattered what the secret was; Jasper shouldn't have been willing to die over it. Over what? Fear? How did he think Henry was going to react? He himself doesn't know how he's reacting.

Sure, if literally any other dude, He'd politely decline and just never talk to them ever again, but Jasper's not just another guy. He's too important.

Henry can't even remember a time of his life when Jasper wasn't a part of it; they practically raised each other… and the selfish dick almost flushed their whole lives together down the drain. If Jasper loved him like he claimed, then how could he be so willing to leave him like that?

So, yeah, He's pissed.

Henry nibbles on the inside of his cheek as he approaches the door, "Whatever."

"It's okay," Jasper forgives instantly, "Do you wanna talk about it?"

Henry steps out onto the sidewalk, "Talk about what?"

"C'mon, don't do the denial thing with me. You don't have to pretend to be all cool about all this." Jasper insists, following him out of the store, "It's normal to be nervous. Sex can be a big deal."

"W-what?!" Henry croaks, nearly tripping, "I'm not gonna have sex with you!"

Jasper looks just as startled by that statement, "Uh... I was talking about your date with Bianca. That's tonight, right?"

"Oh..." Henry realizes, pursing his lips, "Yeah, yeah, I do."

Henry had forgotten all about his plans with Bianca.

Which is wild because it's all he could think about a couple of hours ago.

He and Bianca had gotten back together for the fifth time this year. They'd been dating on and on and off again since they were freshmen.

They were gonna bone.

She'd been hesitant to go all the way with him- despite having done it with her ex-boyfriend Blake during one of their many splits because he was a blabber; Blake decided to share details and pictures of her in a group chat with his bros, and they spread around the school pretty like a wildfire.

That's why she came crawling back to Henry in the first place, and the only reason he started dating her again was because he knew she'd put out.

Which, she said she would, but it took a lot of convincing because she's afraid to be slut shamed again.

Henry swore never to tell anyone, and he didn't… except for Jasper, but best friends are the exception; that's like the unspoken rule.

Damn. Henry's been bragging about all of this to Jasper since they both hit puberty.

They've had years worth of bro talks, where apparently, Jasper has just been suffering in silence while He went off about whatever girl he's interested in at the moment.

How the hell was he supposed to know? Until today, he would've had absolutely no clue Jasper was gay for him. This fucks up a plethora of shit. Now, who is Henry supposed to talk to about this stuff?

There was no way he's gonna talk about this with Charlotte, and he tried bringing it up to Ray once, but the only thing that man takes seriously is sex.

Ray gave Henry this in-depth discussion on sex safety, then rambled on for hours about the implications of knocking someone up as Kid Danger. The whole conversation turned into a boring political lecture that he eventually tuned out.

In his defense, bro-talk is supposed to be mutual sharing of conquests. Henry would've been willing to listen to Jasper, too, if he was willing to share his sexual escapades. Henry asked once if he had any experience, and Jasper claimed that a 'gentleman doesn't bone and blab.'

At the time, Henry brushed it off as a sad excuse for being an incel instead of his clever way of hiding that he's gay. For all Henry knows, Jasper could've dicked down half the male Swellview High student body…

Ugh, he doesn't want to even think about that.

"I get it that I'm irresistible," Jasper claims, breaking his stupor as he throws his arm over Henry's shoulder, "But unfortunately for you, Honey Bucket, the J-Train don't ride that way."

Henry raises his brow skeptically, oddly irritated by Jasper's teasing. Especially now that he knows that the 'J-Train' would willing ride him any day.

Ew.

He immediately gags; that image makes him feel queasy and makes him react a little too roughly when he shoves Jasper off.

"How rude," Jasper huffs, arms crossing, "That's like the third time you've shoved me today."

"And that's like the millionth time you've clung to me today." Henry snaps, clenching his jaw, "I don't want to be grabbed all the time, jeez."

"Oh, okay…" Jasper murmurs, voice slightly strained, "I didn't realize you had a problem with it." He says sincerely, "My bad."

Henry takes one glance at Jasper's subtly sad expression and curses, "Damn it…" He groans, rubbing his forehead, "I didn't mean to snap at you. It's just- fuck." He hesitates, "Look, I care about you a lot."

Jasper's eyes get brighter, "Weird transition, but I like it."

Henry sighs, knowing Jasper won't like the rest of what he has to say, "I'm just so happy to have you as a friend." He emphasizes nervously, "I don't want things ever to change. I love you, bro. Platonically - of course- obviously, I don't know why I said that."

Henry hoped to be vague but also real enough for the message to get into Jasper's head. He knows blurting all that out was weird and sudden, but he just needed to say it after Jasper's unknowing confession.

Henry fidgets with his watch as he gazes at Jasper, not sure of what reaction he should be expecting. He really doesn't want to make him cry again, and just waits for him to do whatever someone getting rejected by the person they're in love with would do, yet he doesn't do anything.

In fact, Jasper barely blinked. His cheerful expression didn't crack once, masking his emotions with a smile. He smiles like nothing hurt; he smiles as if he wasn't breaking, and then he blatantly lies.

"Yeah, thanks, man." Jasper says, his voice sounding so deceitfully genuine, "Platonically. I love you too."

The lie in itself wasn't at all that surprising. Henry didn't think Jasper would outright admit that he is in love with him or anything, but he didn't expect him to lie so flawlessly.

Henry draws in a sharp breath, eyes squinting in shock, "Really?"

"You know I do." Jasper assures, "I'm pretty sure I've told you at least five times today. Like, in first-period when you let me copy the homework that you copied off of Charlotte's homework," He recalls, counting on his fingers, "Then I said it again when I forgot to pack a lunch, and you stole Ms. Shapen's bag of chips for me, and then I told you I loved you again when I found that cool shaped burnt chip. Then, just now…." He pauses, a distant look of confusion swarming in his gaze, "Huh? I guess I only said it four times. It feels like I've said it more…"

"Nope, that's all you've said!" Henry intensely assures, a shiver of panic running through his spine before he immediately changes the subject, "What did that chip look like again? That weird one you found."

"Oh, I can show you. I still have it on me!" Jasper exclaims, digging into the front pocket of his wacky overshirt before proudly presenting the vaguely bucket-shaped lint-covered potato chip to Henry. "See, it looks like a bucket."

"Wow, I'm surprised it's still in one piece." Henry states, forcing a smile as he glances between it and Jasper, "Why'd ya keep it? It's probably stale now, and you can't even eat it."

"Hmm," Jasper hums, spinning around in between his fingers, "Is that a dare?"

"Oh c'mon," Henry groans, "Don't do the dare thing right now."

"You're on."

"I did not dare you to eat that!" Henry insists, fingers wrapping around Jasper's wrist, pinning it into his chest to stop him, "Dude, it's got hair on it."

"I can't back down from a dare." Jasper argues, "I have to eat it!"

Jasper pushes forward, diving his face to try and catch the chip with his mouth, but they both shuffle back as Henry snatches it away from him.

"Jasp, no." Henry warns, imitating his best Charlotte scolding stare, "Don't do it!"

Jasper's hand slides up his arm, chasing the chip in his grasp, "Just try and stop me."

"See, now what sounds like a dare," Henry states, trying to hold Jasper back with his free hand, "You're not eating this chip." He challenges, pushing his arm back to keep it out of Jasper's reach, "Don't- I'm not gonna let you have it!"

Henry panics and does the only thing he can think to do. Henry pops it in his mouth, safe from Jasper's grasp.

Both their eyes widen as Henry forces himself to chew and swallow, failing to hide the regret that immediately washed over his face.

"You- You chip thief!" Jasper's mouth gapes open, voice cracking in shock, "Why would you eat my bucket chip!?"

"I dunno, I panicked!" Henry croaks out, "It was gross, and I didn't want you to put it in your mouth."

"That's ridiculous," Jasper argues, pulling back, "I've had gross-er things in my mouth."

"Oh?" Henry questions, nostrils flaring," What is that supposed to mean?!"

"You used to dare me to eat dirt in elementary school." Jasper says, probably pretending he doesn't realize how suggestive that sounds, "What else do you think I mean?"

Henry narrows his gaze suspiciously, "I think I know what you meant."

Jasper shrugs, "Sure."

Henry takes a second to recall all the other out-of-pocket and obliviously sexual things Jasper has said to him throughout the years and starts to doubt if he's just really that weird or if he has been coming onto him this whole time...

"I should get going." He states the second they approach the point where their paths are supposed to break off into different directions, "Ya know, Bianca might not be too happy if I'm late."

"Alrighty," Jasper sighs reluctantly. a second of sadness in his eyes before he blinks it away, "I'll see ya later."

Henry nods, waving Jasper off as he crosses the street. His gaze follows him until he is safely on the other side.

"Have fun~ "Jasper sings, turning around to shoot finger guns Henry's way, hollering loudly, "Don't forget to use protection!"

"Oh my god..." Henry mutters, running his fingers through his bangs as he lets out a frustrated groan, "Goodbye, Jasper!"

Half of Henry's challenge when it came to dating as a sidekick was simply not blowing chicks off, which, because of his Kid Danger duties, happens often. Hence, the reason he's been dumped multiple times. However, things had finally aligned this weekend. There are no emergency calls; Piper is at a sleepover, his parents are in Toronto for one of his dad's business things, and the house is empty.

There should be no more hang-ups preventing him and Bianca from getting it on. All he has to do is ignore this whole Jasper thing and have freaky fun.

Henry had given Bianca his house key and instructed her to wait for him there while he finished work. He kinda figured she'd just chill and watch a movie while biding her time. He didn't expect her to vandalize his living room with a rom-com setup like this.

The first thing Henry notices when entering his house is that the lights are off, leaving the room only lit by the candles. Which there are dozens of. Why are there so many candles? This is probably a fire hazard or something.

There are also rose petals, lots and lots of rose petals. It looks like a garden had been thrown up in his living room, and standing in the center of this whole mess is his girlfriend.

Bianca isn't wearing real clothes; instead, she wears a long, open satin robe and not much else. The only other thing cloaking her body is a thin layer of sheer lingerie, with dark black lace cups on her breast and matching lace underwear covering her bottom, but her torso is shown bare, draped underneath the flowy transparent fabric.

Nice.

"Woah," Henry says in shock, "This place looks great."

She looks down shyly, "D-Do I look okay?"

"Oh..." Henry breathes, forcing a nod, "Yup."

She flushes as she wraps her arms around his neck, "I've been thinking of you all day."

"Cool," Henry smirks, running his hands over her back, "Ditto."

A home is a place where you feel safe, but Jasper's home isn't a place; it's a person. The first time he ever truly felt safe was not in his 'house' or with his 'family' but with Henry.

He saved Jasper's life, and he doesn't even know it.

Another five-year-old was the only person to ever give Jasper a glimpse of kindness.

Jasper was this shy chubby loser that everyone made fun of. He didn't have any friends, much less a best one. He still remembers being super confused by Henry when they met because up until that point, all the other kids teased him.

His existence seemed to get him in trouble with his parents, so to survive, he learned to stay quiet, and the other kids thought it was funny that he rarely made eye contact with anyone and was always silent and shy.

Yet, Henry never cared about that, and because he was such a good person, he stood up for Jasper even before knowing him.

He jumped right into a fight to protect him from the class bully, Billy Brody- of course, they both ended up getting beaten up.

Jasper still doesn't know why Henry stood up for him, but in doing so, he gained Jasper's undying loyalty.

Though, they didn't have a clue then. They were just two oblivious boys, unaware of the future they'd have together, sitting outside the school office waiting for their parents to pick them up.

Until Henry turned to Jasper, wearing an excited expression; despite having a bruised cheek and a swollen lip. He gave Jasper the brightest teeth-baring smile he'd ever received.

"I'm okay!" He proclaimed, pointing into his chest with his thumb, "Just like Captain Man! I saved you and everything!"

Jasper shrunk back a little, forcing himself to speak, "C-Captain Man?"

Henry gave him a look of utter disbelief, "Ya know, he's- he's the coolest!" He exclaimed, jumping up in his seat, "He's like awesome and- and when the bad guys beat him up, he don't ever get hurt!"

Jasper's eyebrows darted up, "Never ever?"

Henry grasped his shoulders, voice sounding as serious as a five-year-old can express, "Never ever."

"Woah." Jasper breathed, "How?"

"Easy, all he's gots to say is, 'I'm okay!' and he is!" Henry answered, rummaging through his backpack, "It's his crapphrase. I can show you."

Henry pulled out a cheap plastic Captain Man figurine on a keychain; honestly, it looked like something that would come with a typical kid's meal, but to Jasper, it was the coolest thing in the world.

Other children were given things to play with, but Jasper only had this small rusty metal bucket that his mom used as an ashtray. He chiseled a smiley face on it with a rock and named it Mrs. BucketHead.

Before Henry, he considered it his first friend.

It's part of why he loves buckets so much; they provide the comfort that teddy bears and stuffed animals bring everyone else. His parents didn't like him to have fun things, so he never had a real toy or even seen one up close until that point.

Jasper's fingers trembled as Henry handed it to him with the simple instruction, "You gotta push the button on the back."

Once Jasper pressed the button, a voice played from inside, "I'm okay!" It proudly stated, making him squeal excitedly, and he rapidly clicked it repeatedly, "I- I- I'm- I'm- I'm- I'm okay!"

"Cool, right?" Henry asked, "Do you want to play heroes with me?"

A smile spreads across Jasper's face, nodding vigorously, "Yeah!"

In moments they were running down the hall, Jasper was the villain because Henry insisted on being the hero, but Jasper didn't care and played the part.

Jasper clutched the figure tightly against his chest as he booked it, running as fast as he could when Henry chased him, eyes focused back behind him as he dodged the 'blasts' from Henry's finger guns before he ran right into the wall.

Henry yelped loudly, trying to stop, but ended up tumbling forward and crashing into him. They both fall to the ground, landing side by side on the floor.

"Hey," Henry breathlessly called as they both turned on their sides to face each other, making their noses only inches apart and asked, "Are you okay?"

"I'm okay!" He answered in his best Captain Man voice, "What bout you?"

"Yeah," Henry nodded, mouth spreading open with a wide grin, "I feel gooood."

That was the first time Henry had ever said that iconic line, and to two five-year-old boys, it seemed like top-tier humor, making them immediately keel over, clutching their stomachs as they dissolved into a puddle of giggles.

Their laughter was silenced by the door to the office door swinging open. They both bolted to their feet when the principal began to scold them, "Boys, quiet down." She sighs before making eye contact with Henry, stating, "Hart, your mother is here."

Jasper immediately tensed and fled behind Henry when Mrs. Hart entered, expecting her to hit Henry as his mother would with him, but she didn't.

Instead, she approached them with a soft expression and carefully caressed Henry's bruised cheek.

"Sweetheart," She frowned, crouching to his level, "What happened? You know better than to be fighting."

"But Billy was a bully, mommy." Henry explained, pointing back to Jasper, "He was picking on him."

"Oh." nodded, the corner of her lips twitching, "In that case, I'm proud of you."

Jasper just stared between the two, confusion flashing over his features when Henry wrapped his arms around his mother; why would they do that?

Mrs. Hart returned his hug before pulling away, waving at Jasper, "Hi."

Jasper lowered his gaze, refusing to make eye contact as he forced out a meek "Hi."

"Are you a friend of my kiddo?"

"Yeah!" Henry answered, "He's... he's..." Henry's voice trailed off, nose scrunching up, "I dunno his name, but he's really cool."

"That's nice." Mrs. Hart said, turning to face Henry, "Why don't you ask him his name then?"

"Oh, yeah." Henry agreed, turning to face Jasper, "What's your name?"

Jasper nibbled on his lip, meekly stating, "I'm Jasper."

"Hi, Jasper." Henry said immediately, sticking his hand out for him to shake, "I'm Henry."

Jasper's head tilted, staring at Henry's hand in confusion. What was Henry expecting him to do? He tried his best to recall anything similar and slowly slid his fingers under Henry's palm, lifted it to his face, and placed a small kiss atop his knuckles.

The prince did this to the pretty princess in that book he'd seen.

Jasper smiled as he pulled away, proud of himself for remembering, but it fell the second he saw Henry's sour expression. Jasper wondered what he did wrong, face flush in embarrassment when Henry shook his head.

"No. no, no, not like that." Henry sighed, grasping Jasper's hand correctly, and squeezed tightly, "Like this."

"Oh." Jasper murmured as Henry enthusiastically shook their hands, "Now what?"

"Now," Henry answered, eyes crinkling as a crooked smile spread across his face, "You are my bestest- coolest- most awesomest bestest friend ever, and- and I'm your bestest- coolest- most awesomest bestest friend too."

"Okay," Jasper's face beamed, lighting as bright as the sun as he realized he had just made a friend, "Bestest friends!"

Henry let go of his hand, still smiling as he returned to his mom, "I got to go now."

"Wait!-" Jasper called, holding out the Captain Man figurine, "Your toy."

"You can keep it."

Jasper reeled it back to his chest, clutching it tightly against his heart, "Thanks."

"Hen," His mother suggests, "Your friend said thank you, shouldn't you say something now?"

"Oh, I know!" Henry's face lights up in realization, running back, "You welcome." He said, hugging Jasper, "Bye-bye."

Oh. Jasper thought as Henry's arms wrapped around him. Now, it made sense why Henry did this with his mom.

Being held feels nice.

Jasper was hesitant to return the embrace, but once he did, he didn't ever want to let go and clung to the other boy as tightly as he could.

"You squeeze too hard-" Henry strained to say, "You gotta let go now."

Jasper's face fell against Henry's shoulder, breath hitched and his head shaking, "Ple-please don't go!"

"I gots to go!" Henry repeated, looking up to his mom for help, "We can play tomorrow at recess. I promise!"

"No, no," Jasper pleaded, sobbing hard, "I don't wanna let go!"

He didn't let go, not because he wouldn't, but he couldn't. He had never felt this way before, and he never wanted it to stop. When Mrs. Hart finally eventually separated them, Jasper cried and cried very, very loudly.

It could seem like a tantrum to others, but he wouldn't categorize it as one. It was more like a desperate plea from a broken boy starved of love.

"Sweetheart," Mrs. Hart sighed, voice soft, "It's okay," She assured, crouching down to his side, "How about I make you a deal? Since you and Henry are friends now, you can stay at our house whenever you want."

Jasper looked up at her, eyes red with heavy tears rolling down his freckled face, "P-Promise?"

Mrs. Hart nodded and raised her pinky to him, "Pinky promise."

Jasper stared at her hand the same way he had stared at Henry's, face holding the same confusion. What was he supposed to do this time?

"It's a pen-key promise," Henry stated, face palming, "It means the promise that never ever gets brokeded; you keep it forever and evers." He explained, grabbing Jasper's hand and positioning the fingers for him, folding all but the pinky into his palm, "You gotta grab mommy's pinky."

Listening to Henry's instruction, he raised his pinky to and hooked them together, his voice shaking, "Pen-key promise?"

Jasper's not sure if Henry remembers this at all; neither of them has ever brought it up. It doesn't really matter that much if Henry remembers because at least did. She didn't realize then that 'You can stay whenever you want.' would be a never-ending promise that he would always hold her accountable for.

She may have gotten irritated by his constant presence, but she still never broke that promise. Even now, whenever Piper or Mr. Hart would beg her to make him leave, all he had to do was raise a pinky and remind her of their sacred promise, and she'd let him stay.

She started to regret that promise the second Jasper discovered he could just walk to their house and started inviting himself over all the time.

That's probably when Mr. Hart started hating him because eventually, Jasper started following every impulsive action or thought that crossed his mind. He stopped not holding back his voice and said whatever ridiculous thing he could think of.

Everyone thinks it's annoying, but for him, it's liberating. For the first time, he didn't fear a thing because no matter what he did or how stupid he sounded, no one there ever punished him for it. Henry gave him a place to be himself. When he is there, he gets to be free.

Their home and Junk-N-Stuff are his safe spaces or anywhere Henry is really because he's his home.

Jasper didn't know it was possible for someone to look happy to see him, to care about him, to want to protect him.

But then, Henry came barreling into his life and changed everything about the way Jasper existed in the world.

It suddenly didn't matter to him what anyone else but Henry thought, and it was okay if people were mean to him because at least he had one good friend.

Henry is the first good thing to ever happen to him, and he won't fuck up his friendship by confessing.

So, he stays silent, pain churning in his chest as he watches the boy he loves walk away, standing there and smiling like it doesn't hurt.

His gaze follows Henry briefly before he branches off, starting the long walk back to his house.