Since You've Been Gone. (boyxboy)

Chapter 28: Rivals

"You can only fool people for so long. Including yourself."

☆

Feathers... A place Jasper had frequented on and off over the years. Sometimes with like minded acquaintances. A few times with Ed and also alone. A place where he would get his kicks, sitting at a table amongst the shadows, alongside the fellow patrons as he looked up at the stage, alighted with purple, blue and pink spotlights. It seemed to showcase the dancing females to perfection, as they moved with sensual precision. There to entertain, to entice and for the right price, deliver. It was also a place where Ed had suggested they begin their evening and was for the first time ever, making Jasper feel uneasy. 

"Ed, are you trying to lead me astray?" Jasper half laughs as they both head towards the bar. 

"Of course not!" Ed says grinning. Maybe he was. Maybe he wasn't. Perhaps he was just there to set the scene. He turns to the bar. "What are you having?"

"Just a beer." Jasper responds as he scans the familiar setting. But he wasn't looking at the women whose job it was to entice, he was looking for Thomas who for some reason had agreed to join them. 

Jasper had deliberated asking Thomas. Wondering if they should continue with the distance they had created between them, though it didn't stop Jasper from thinking about him. But keeping up the pretence of being just friends to the ones closest to him was still at the forefront of his mind… at least until he could work out what the hell he was doing with his life. So he had asked him and to his surprise, Thomas had said yes, adding that as long as breasts didn't invade his personal space, he would be fine. 

"Hey," Ed calls, bringing Jasper's attention back to the bar. "You're already in deep. Which one is it?"

"I'm looking for Tom actually." Jasper corrects as a beer gets placed before him by a rather burley bartender. Jasper looks up. The guy's traps were bigger than his. He momentarily wonders whether he should ask the man's workout regime, when Ed pats Jasper on the arm. 

"Hey, isn't that your uncle?" 

"What?" Jasper quickly turns to see a man who looked like Jim, sitting at one of the tables. His gaze appeared to be fixed on one woman at the corner of the stage who seemed to be glad of his attention. "Shit! What the hell is he doing here?" 

"Enjoying the view." Ed laughs, but Jasper isn't amused. He grabs his pint from the bar and makes a direct line towards his uncle. 

As he gets closer, Jasper places the beer glass on the wooden table with a heavy hand. It pulls Jim from his trance. "Hey lad!" Jim says, sounding not so surprised to see Jasper as he had anticipated. 

"Uncle! What the hell are you doing here?" 

"Relax. I'm just babysitting." Jim tries to calm Jasper down with a wave of a hand. "And before you say it, Molly knows." 

Jasper sits next to Jim at the vacant stool. "What do you mean by babysitting? Did mum tell you to watch me?" Jasper's annoyance at his mother began to fester all over again in his mind. "She just can't keep her mouth shut can she." 

"Firstly. Watch your mouth. That's your mother, my sister you're talking about and secondly,...it's Tom I'm keeping an eye on." 

"Tom? He's here?'' Jasper again looks for him to locate the man. 

"Yes he is here and yes I do know everything. And I mean 'everything'." Jim's demeanour changes from cool calm and collected to an total look of disapproval.

"Fuck." Jasper utters under a breath. He turns to see Ed, thankfully still at the bar out of earshot. "Please keep it to yourself. Ed doesn't know, but I think he suspects." 

"He suspects right." Jim raises an eyebrow. "You can only fool people for so long. Including yourself.". 

"I know." Jasper looks at the beer in his hand. "So where is Tom?" 

"Ah there he is, the other end of the bar…."

… "Two pints please." Thomas puts in his order, appreciating the bartender's aesthetics in the process, as his muscular arms pulled down on the pump, with the slight peep of a tattoo emerging from the arm of the guy's fitted t-shirt. Maybe he could get his entertainment right here, propped up against the bar.  He briefly looks away to see who he thought was Jasper staring at him from the other end of the bar, only to soon realise that it wasn't, when the man approaches and his face is momentarily lit by a glowing spot light. 

"Thomas right?" Ed stops next to Thomas, his arm leaning on the bar. 

"Who wants to know?" Thomas stays guarded. Was this man a past conquest? There had been too many to count. 

"We've never met before, but I'm Ed. Jasper's best friend." Ed holds a hand to Thomas. Thomas takes on board the metal note of 'best friend' being pointed out.

Thomas meets him halfway. "Oh, right. You're the best man." 

"That's me." Ed grins as his eyes finally leave Thomas to take a drink. 

"How do you know who I am?" Thomas laughs, feeling a little awkward. It wasn't like Ed could look him up on social media. He hated that kind of stuff. The only thing he had online was his photography and that website desperately needed an update. 

"Because he gave it away." Ed chuckles, gesturing to Jasper who was staring intently at the pair. 

"Ah right." Thomas nods, accompanied with a grin. "You don't mind Jim tagging along do you? Mol insisted he needed a night out for some reason." Both the males' attention now turns to Jim, whose eyes were once again fixed on the stage. 

"Not at all. He seems well entertained. " Ed laughs. He turns to Thomas. "So, you've known Jas since he was 17 right?" 

"He was 18. He was just a kid then, well I used to call him a kid. It used to piss him off, " Thomas laughs. 

"He still is a kid sometimes." Ed laughs. "I've only known him for two years, since working at the gym, but technically I've known him longer." Ed's joking nature continues as he looks at Thomas. But Thomas could see what he was doing a mile off. 

"Well I guess you're right there, I only was 'technically' with him as you call it for six weeks. But believe me,  they were very intense weeks." 

"Why? What did you do exactly?" Ed looks at Thomas with that same false exterior, but Thomas wasn't going to bite. Not yet. 

"Well Ed, it was a farm. We worked almost every day together doing manual labour. We had to work, co-operate as a team." Thomas smiles as he takes a drink. 

"All work and no play? Surely you had a little down time." Ed wonders. "What would two young men do in the middle of nowhere for fun?" 

Thomas emits a chuckle as he looks down at his feet, taking a step forward before looking back up. He is now a few inches away from Ed. A smirk graces his lips as he sees the other male visibly swallow as his eyes widen a fraction. Ed was not expecting to meet his match.

Thomas bites lightly on his lower lip as he lets his eyes fall to Ed's tense lips, before his gaze again meets Ed's now panicked stare. "Well Ed." He utters in a deep voice.  "Would you like me to show you?..."