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It was late, when Jesper shoved Wylan out of the house, the sun slowly starting to dip towards the horizon and the light dipping the tops of the roof in a hazy gold.
"Come on, quickly!" He hissed, dragging Wylan along after him, "we'll miss it."
"Does it really matter?" Wylan huffed, hurrying to keep up with him, "I'll most likely see it at some point."
Jesper pulled Wylan with him into a side alley, ducking out of the way of casual passerbys. The alley was long and steeped in dark shadows. There were a few bags of rubbish spilled on the street by their feet, most likely pulled apart by foxes or stray dogs. "You will see it at some point," Jesper said when Wylan pulled up beside him, running a hand over the dirty brick wall in search of the footholds that Inej had told him about, "and that point is in about five minutes-- ah here we go!"
Grabbing hold of Wylan's hand, Jesper bent his fingers until they fit into the foothold, "use that to pull yourself up, there's more the whole way up the wall." Wylan blinked at him, blue eyes swimming with the hazy golden light, "you want me to what?"
"The best view is up on the roof," Jesper said with a blinding grin. He could see the gears turning in Wylan's brilliant mind, before he eventually settled on resignation, sighing deeply. "I can't believe you talked me into this," he grumbled, hoisting himself up. Wylan had told Jesper once that he had never climbed anything before, but based on the way he scaled that wall, clumsy yet still efficient, Jesper wasn't inclined to believe him. It really was moments like this that reminded him how little he truly did know about Wylan.
Although, he thought grimly as he followed Wylan up the same footholds, it's not like he knows much about me.
Him and Wylan were masters at being able to talk for hours while really talking about nothing at all. It only made that need to know more about him burn all that harder.
Standing beside Wylan on the roof of his neighbourhood's local butcher's, Jesper realised he'd made a grave mistake. Wylan always looked beautiful in Jesper's totally unbiased opinion, but there was something... special, about how he looked now. His feet were braced on the very edge of the roof, eyes closed and face turned to the setting sun, he looked simply breathtaking. His wild red hair looked to be dipped in molten gold, while blurred lines of deep orange and soft pink decorated his face.
All saints, Jesper really was falling hard for his best friend.
"Enjoying yourself?" Jesper asked carefully, sitting down on the edge of the roof, feet dangling in the cool air. It was the height of summer, but today had been blissfully cool, allowing Jesper to feel the light breeze stinging his exposed skin. Wylan dropped down beside him, "maybe you were right," he admitted.
"Don't give up so easily!" Jesper grinned, nudging him with his shoulder, "you haven't even seen the sunset yet." Wylan shrugged, his face carefully blank in a way that made Jesper feel slightly uneasy, "I mean, you were right about getting me out of the house. I think it was making me go a little stir crazy." Wylan laughed softly, but it was humourless and sour, and Jesper never did like hearing him laugh like that.
He loved Wylan’s laugh, the bright, infectious sound of his giggles that he always tried and failed to stifle. But this was a laugh that Jesper didn't like quite as much, because he knew by now it was not the one Wylan did when he was happy. And he rather liked Wylan being happy.
It had been Jesper’s idea to invite Wylan round to his house for the night. His best friend had just gone through a lengthy court battle that finally exposed his father as the abusive assehole that he was and his mother was given full custody of him for the first time singe he was eight. It had been a difficult and emotional process, but everyone had pulled through in the end.
Still, it seemed that Wylan had a hard time realising he was finally free and kept refusing to leave the house every time he was invited. Almost as if he was afraid that if he stepped out that door, he'd come back to things being the way they used to be.
If Jesper could shoot Jan Van Eck in the head and get away with it, you bet your ass that he would have done it by now.
"I told you it would do you some good," he said lightly, not willing to intrude on whatever Wylan was thinking. "Some fresh air, a change of scenery, wonderful company." He said the last part with a smirk, knocking his shoulder against Wylan until he forced a scoff to leave those perfect lips. "I think that whether or not said company is good is a rather subjective opinion," Wylan said with a sniff, but the corner of his lips quirked up slightly, so Jesper took it as a win.
"Yeah, but your opinion is the only one that matters," Jesper replied softly, "so, is it?"
"It's alright, I guess." Wylan’s eyes sparkled as he spoke, a deep, endless blue, as perfect as a sunlit ocean. And oh hell, Jesper really, really was falling hard, wasn't he.
The sun was starting to dip further into the horizon, turning everything it touched a deep, rustic orange. The sky was a mottled mixture of gold, orange and pink, and Jesper just knew that if he turned to look he'd be forced to give in to that ever insistent urge to just bloody kiss the hell out of him.
So he didn't, he kept his gaze locked on the buildings in front of him, on the golden light, on the faint mountain slopes visible just on the edge of the horizon.
Beside him, Wylan shifted slightly, and almost out of pure instinct Jesper turned his head slightly to look at him.
And oh dear lord above, Jesper had been right.
He didn't think he'd ever seen Wylan looking quite so ethereal as he did right then. He was like a painting, perfect and beautiful and bathed in a dreamy gold. He didn't look real, sat there by his side. When Wylan turned his head to look right back at him, boundless blue eyes fixed onto his own, Jesper felt like the world slowed to a gentle pause.
He swallowed. It was a risk, but, well, Jesper had always been a boy open to every gamble. The worse the odds, the better he played.
"Wylan," he said gently, unwilling to pierce the comfortable silence that had descended upon them. Wylan blinked, smile softening, so Jesper continued. His voice dipped and wavered with the force of his nerves, like the gentle tide on a summers day. "There's this coffeehouse on the outskirts of town, its supposed to be like, really good." He inhaled, exhaled, forced his gaze to stay locked on Wylan's. "If you want, we could go there, one day. After school or something."
His stomach felt like a tumble of nerves, twisting and knotting like the laces of his shoes. His heart was thumping in his chest so loud he spared only a moment to wonder if Wylan could hear it too.
There was a brief beat of silence, before Wylan was nodding, "Yeah sure. Sounds nice. I think I've actually tried every other coffeehouse around so it'll be a nice change," Wylan mused, already turning away to look back at the horizon.
A small laugh escaped from Jesper’s lips, bless Wylan and his oblivious mind. "No, I mean -" he cut himself with a frustrated sigh, eyes glancing up towards the heavens as if he could find the words he needed up there, oh saints this is embarrassing, "I mean as a date. If you wanted." The words left his mouth in a rush, and really it would be impressive if Wylan could decipher it.
Wylan blinked, his eyes widening, lips forming a tiny 'O'. A light pink blush spread over his freckled cheeks, as easy and beautiful as the gentle sunlight. Then he smiled, breathless, almost disbelieving, his eyes sparked with something that made Jesper’s heart leap. "You mean it?" He asked breathlessly, as if what Jesper had just said was something akin to a mound of glistening gold. It made Jesper’s heart do something funny at the thought.
He nodded, swallowing again. "Yeah, I do. I mean-- if you want to, of course. I know we're friends and all, but I've liked you for a long time, and if you don't feel the same, that's fine, but mmhf--"
A single press of warm lips over his was all that was needed to cut off Jesper’s rambling. It was like honey dipped in pure gold, a refreshing drink on a sweltering summer day, the cold side of the pillow when he couldn't sleep. Wylan’s mouth on his, soft and slightly clumsy, felt like the answer to every wish he'd ever cast.
Jesper had kissed a handful of people before, but this was Wylan, and something about that knowledge made everything so much more special.
When he pulled away, Jesper chased the feeling of Wylan’s lips, and the soft giggle he got in return sent a breath of hot air across his own.
"Yes, Jesper. I'd love to go on a date with you," Wylan said with a small laugh, pulling away just enough so that he could look Jesper in the eye. Jesper nodded, and grinned, mind turning to mush at the remembered feeling of Wylan's mouth on his.
"Cool," he said, feeling decidedly not cool at all.
When Wylan kissed him again, under the easing gaze of the setting sun, Jesper couldn't help but feel that if he could only do this for the rest of his life, it would be a life fulfilled.