Littlelovestories

“Thanks for what you said back there. I should’ve known there’d be photos and I should’ve been more prepared…” Jasper starts, but Ryan lets go of his hand and turns to him with crossed arms now that they are in the privacy of their practice room again. Jasper rubs his hand, missing being held as Ryan takes one step away from Jasper. The space between them is cold and thick with tension as Jasper waits for Ryan to speak. The silence as Ryan stands before him, lost, is agonizing. Finally, he

“Jasper, you were doing so well. You haven’t been late in weeks,” Simon calls out as Jasper and Ryan walk in more than an hour late to band practice that morning. “Guess I’m nothing but a complete disappointment to everyone, then.” Jasper heads straight to the piano. “I’ll be sitting here expressing feelings all day. Nobody talk to me.” Everyone looks from him to Ryan for answers. “Did I hit a nerve?” Simon asks. “His parents are visiting us today. He’s stressing in advance,”

“Ryan,” Jasper calls in a singsong voice as he peeks into the bedroom, regretting his life choices as he sees his boyfriend relaxed on the bed, wearing nothing but a towel wrapped around his waist, immersed in something on his phone. The scent of aftershave and body wash is so delicious it’s difficult to control himself. “Is Blake gone?” Ryan places his phone on the bedside table and pats the bed beside himself, inviting Jasper over with a sly smile. Every part of Jasper wants to join

“What do you think?” Ryan steps towards a fancy-looking white car and presses a key. The lights of the car flash, and Ryan pulls open the door. Jasper figures it’s an expensive one, judging by the upward-opening door and the sleek leather seats inside. Unable to think of a single other thing to say to show interest in it, he nods and says, “Nice.” Ryan either doesn’t notice or doesn’t let Jasper’s lack of interest dim his excitement. While Jasper gets in, Ryan lists off the features as

Ace watches out the window as the man he came to college for, and is leaving because of, loses all the aggression in his stride at the sight of karma awaiting him. The door opens so gently it’s almost as though Leo’s trying to sneak in, though when he turns his attention to Leo, the door is closed just as softly. “Hi.” Ace fakes a smile at Leo. Leo fakes one back. “Hi.” “Want to watch my abuser get arrested with me?” Ace extends a hand to Leo, needing his comfort right now mo

“Carter, get out,” Leo cannot believe who is waiting for him in the lounge room of the frat, surrounded by every other member of the house. “I have something for Ace,” Carter says. “He’s not here,” Leo says, walking right past him and heading up the stairs. For someone feeling so lonely, he cannot wait to finally be alone today. “That’s your problem, not mine. He fucked around and found out. Threw his future down the drain and dropped out because of you. The least you could do is

Even though Leo had believed Ace meant it when he promised to still be here in the morning, the empty bed is exactly what Leo expected the moment Ace fell asleep in his arms last night. Leo’s not even upset to sit up and find Ace’s bags are gone, along with all the belongings he’s been getting used to seeing around his room. The room seems emptier than it’d been before Ace even begged his way into it. There’s a lot more that is left emptier than it’d started, but there’s no point in dw

Jasper slips into a seat in the back row of the auditorium and waits. It’s been difficult to keep Ryan’s upcoming audition from the band for the past month, so he’s hoping it won’t be much longer before they have a better idea of what is going on with Ryan’s career. He has every intention of being impartial, as a fellow professional in the entertainment industry, about the other auditions. All the auditions are incredible, but he hates every one of them because it seems impartiality isn’t someth

Over the next month, Simon, Luke, Blake, and Jasper work hard on producing at least one of their singles each, getting ready to put more music out and get their comeback under the new label underway. Ryan continues working with them, helping wherever he finds an opportunity. He’d chosen not to tell the rest of the band he’s planning to follow his dance career and take his chances with this Broadway opportunity. The audition day is fast approaching and the only thing keeping him from c

Jasper walks into the bedroom, intending to keep walking and force Ryan to stare at him naked all night, except there’s a suit bag hanging on the mirror that steals his attention. On the front of the bag is a sticky note saying, ‘wear me’. Jasper unzips the bag and touches the dark blue velvet suit. “I need you to keep yourself busy for a while,” Ryan says, walking out of the bathroom in black suit pants, buttoning up his white dress-shirt. The sight of him alone is a challenge to Jas

“Hey. You’re home.” The tenderness in Ryan’s greeting melts through Jasper, making Jasper realize he’s missed this more than he thought. Coming home to Ryan is the first time he’s felt like he’s truly come home in all these months. That voice. The soft love carried through his tone. It envelops Jasper, and he never wants to live without it again. Jasper bites his lip to suppress the grin crossing his face. His cheeks are starting to hurt from all the smiling he’s done today. “Hey yourself.

Ace has never been more grateful for an entire weekend. Two whole days without having to leave the frat could not have come at a better time. Because outside the frat is an entire campus who saw the video. Better still, two whole days not having to leave Leo’s room. Because outside Leo’s room is an entire frat who saw the video. It’s bad enough sharing the room with someone who has not only seen the video, but has heard Ace break down the trauma of what he brought up in the video. The embar

Collecting his clothes from the floor and the bed, Jasper shakes off the rose petals and gets dressed, turning to the mirror to tidy his hair. He’s surprised by how nothing looks or feels different. He’s not sure what he expected really, but he’d had it in his mind this milestone would change him somehow. After a lifetime of hearing how sacred sex is, the act of doing it out of wedlock, with a man no less, has left him buzzing. “Do you think the guys will know?” he asks, knowing it’s a dumb

The Obsolete returns to the music scene as an unstoppable force. With Ryan back, Jasper’s determined to cement their status as a power couple. But things have changed. Ryan’s career is at a crossroads. Jasper puts on the performance of a lifetime to convince everyone he’s fine. And an invasive media debacle sends the band into a fight for their personal privacy once more. When Ryan takes the stage with the bravest solo of his life, will it be enough to reassure Jasper they can really have it all?

“What are you doing?” Ryan asks as Jasper opens the passenger seat door. “Coming home with you,” Jasper says, climbing into the rental car before Ryan can question him further. He’s buzzing with excitement. The difficult part of the day is over, and now he’s ready to relax and enjoy having his boyfriend home. He can’t wait to see Ryan’s reaction to the way he’s decorated their place. Ryan gets in the car, but doesn’t speak the entire drive home. “I know you’ve said that it was just a f