#too nervous to talk to anyone and too impatient to linger anywhere or enjoy anything

[fingertipsmp3]

Also I can’t figure out if my life genuinely does suck or I’m just having an existential crisis because my period starts in approximately 48 hours

[terrifictomholland]

changing the rules - tom holland x reader

Word count: 4.5K

Warnings: SMUT! Curse words - I think that’s it? If not please let me know! 

Summary: You and Tom have been sleeping with each other for a few months now, is that all you'll ever be or will the two of you be more? Featuring a side dish with Tom in a hoodie and backwards cap.

A huge, huge thank you to @worldoftom​ for helping and editing with this tiny beast! Your work doesn’t go unnoticed  ♡  and to all of you who have been so kind and wanted another part to this story - this is for you and I hope you enjoy it.

This story is 18+

                                                       ～ ♡ ～

It had been a few months of you and Tom hooking up and you were now dancing along the very precarious line of what the hell are we doing? You knew, in your heart of hearts, that you were slowly but surely developing feelings for him. 

Tom with his quick wit, sharp tongue yet silky smooth with his words and touches. His passion and ambition to be the best he could be. But what truly captured you was his heart - he had a heart of gold with a generosity and compassion unlike anyone else you’d ever met before. 

He made you want to be the best version of yourself always, to always strive to be just that little bit kinder to strangers, to reach out more frequently to your loved ones and to check in on them. 

He brought out the best in you and you could only hope you brought out something similar in him. 

Neither of you had breached the topic of what you were, but the last few times you’d hooked up, you just knew he felt it too. But you were both too scared on how to bring it up, too scared of rubbing this balance and this friendship you’d built up in fear of ruining it all. 

Your phone buzzed in your pocket, bringing you back to the present. You pulled up to the frat house where Tom lived with his friends, then opened a text from him.

Tom: Where are you? 😘  

You: Coming now! Will you be the one doing the keg? 😘 

Tom: Ha ha, hilarious. Get your ass inside I wanna see you!  

Your face burned reading that, but it made the butterflies in your stomach flutter around in there and in a way that calmed you down. 

You: Nah, I think I’ll just stay out here - the view is much better here anyway 😉

Tom: Come inside and I’ll be the judge of that - bet you’re looking all kinds of gorgeous tonight babe 😘

You grinned to yourself and amped yourself up before you walked up the pathway to the front door, giving yourself one final inward pep-talk before you opened the door. 

In there, you were greeted with throes of bodies, undulating to the rhythm of the music, the bass loud enough to reverberate through your whole body. Swarmed by the smell of all of the alcohol. Red paper cups wherever you looked. 

You greeted a few people you had started getting to know lately, a few of your study buddies were there too which put you at ease. Before long, you’d gotten out into the kitchen where it was less crowded and you could actually hear your own thoughts again - but alas, it was a frat house and you’d seen at least four different couples making out, verging on having sex in plain view. 

You let your eyes linger on one of those couples now before you finished mixing your drink. Taking a sip to see if it was perfect, you felt the hair at the back of your neck stand up. 

Tom.

 You could feel his presence behind you and the familiar scent of his cologne, even from a slight distance. The smile formed on your face before you even turned around to face him as he leaned against the counter, his own drink in hand. 

“See I was right,” he said and you took another sip of your drink. 

“About?” 

“That you’re looking gorgeous.” He pushed himself away from the counter moving closer to you and you couldn’t help the smile that spread across your face when he got inside of your personal space. His body pressing up against yours, feeling his heat radiate into your own.

“Hey.” His fingers slid under your top, caressing your bare hip - such a gentle yet intimate touch that made you crave more.

“Hey you.” You grinned up at him before he closed the gap kissing you, lips slotting seamlessly against your own. No real heat or anything behind it, simply a really fucking nice kiss.

“I’m glad you came.” He broke the kiss and you kept smiling. 

“I’m glad I came too - which, I’m hoping I’ll get to do a lot of tonight,” you said cheekily, and it didn’t take him long to catch on to what you were insinuating.

“You will, don’t you worry - I always take care of you, don’t I?” 

“You do,” you agreed as heat rose to your cheeks as you remembered just how well he took care of you. He laughed seeing the way you went flustered, no doubt thinking back on your good times together. 

“So you know how we’ve been talking about stuff we wanna do right?” he ventured, meeting your gaze looking a little nervous.

“Yeah?” 

“How would you feel about a little… exhibition?” Your heart swooped down to your stomach hearing that and the blood rushed to your ears seeing the way he licked his lips. 

“How do I feel about it? I say it’s a huge turn-on - you know it is.” You glowed and he smirked.

“Wanna go?” 

“Where to?” Your hand slipped into his hand immediately, letting him know you’d follow him willingly anywhere. 

“You’ll see.” He was already dragging you toward the door. It made you even more intrigued and just that little bit more turned on the further you got from the frat house.

“Tom, where are we even going?” you asked exasperated once the two of you had been walking for a good ten minutes, making idle conversation as you went.

“So impatient, aren’t you, hm?” He chuckled, making you pout and also feel that stir of something electrifying run inside of your veins hearing that teasing lilt to his voice.

“Yes!” 

“Well, we’re here,” he said and promptly stopped outside of… the football pitch?

It only took you a few seconds to gather why you were there and you gaped at him. “Tom…” You began feeling all sorts of things, mostly the rush of adrenaline and the thought of being here now, for anyone to possibly walk by and catch the two of you. 

“Hmm?” He wore a shit-eating grin on his face pulling you into him as he led you further out on the pitch.

“No one’s gonna be here - they’re all at the party,” he assured, placing his hands on your hips and leaving soft kisses all along your jaw.  “Relax.”

You sighed  feeling his talented lips on your jaw move further down to your neck. Lips skimming over your pulse point making it jump as he bit down and a soft moan fell from your lips. You threaded your fingers in his hair, gently pulling on it.

“Take me, Tom.” 

“With pleasure.” He smirked against your skin. It wasn’t long before your clothes were shed on the ground and Tom began lifting his hoodie up.

“No, that stays on,” you said as you brought your hand out, placing it on his chest to stop him from removing it further. 

He looked down at your hand. “We’re doing this again?” He chuckled in a raspy voice and it was doing things to you. 

“I haven’t been able to stop thinking about it,” you admitted, watching him with a sultry look. He sucked in a breath when he saw your gaze and felt your fingers run up and down his clothed chest. 

“What the lady wants,” he said at last, making you grin and lean in to kiss him deeply. Lips moving together and tongues battling, it was turning up the heat real fast between the two of you. 

In no time he had you pinned underneath him. Your wrists in his hold, way above your head as he grinded into you. A soft moan leaving your lips when you felt his cock poking against his sweats, lining up against your wet entrance.  Your body arched up into him, letting your fingers dig into his shoulders.

“Take off your fucking sweats, I wanna feel you,” you moaned, running your hands from his back down to his ass, giving it a squeeze hearing him let out a muffled laughter. 

“Oh so you want me out of my sweats at least?” 

“Tooom.” 

He chuckled hoarsely and quickly shucked off his sweats and boxers. You glanced down and ran your tongue over your lips seeing his hard cock already leaking.

“Take a picture, pretty girl, it’ll last longer.”

“I’ll do no such thing. What I will do however, is put that inside me,” you blinked your eyelashes at him innocently, watching him clench his jaw and his eyes darken. 

“Giving me lip, are we, pretty girl?” A grin formed on your face as he uttered those words.

“What are you gonna do about it if I am?” 

“You’ll see soon enough.” His hands moved to your thigh, hiking it over his hip. Hand resting on the curve of your ass and thigh before he squeezed it causing you to moan and buck your hips against his. Both of your moans blending together at the friction.

“That’s - fuck,” He cut off when you did it again and you pulled his head in close using the strings of the hoodie to pull him down, crashing your lips against his. 

“Condom,” you mumbled against his lips and he tore away from your lips with a groan. You both knew it was in his sweats which were by his feet so he broke away, efficiently removing his body from yours and it made you pout and shiver. 

“Hurry up,” you urged, giving him an incentive to come back to you faster by playing with your own nipples. That always got you worked up, playing with your nipples so the moans and sighs that tumbled from your lips couldn’t be helped no matter what.

“Oh my god,” you heard his pained voice say and you opened your eyes seeing him frozen, eyes rapt on you and your every move. The small foil package in hand but forgotten as he drank you in.

It made you feel powerful as you did this in front of him, you’d never done this for anyone else, but you trusted Tom and you wanted to do this for him as your hand moved lower. 

The first touch against your pussy made a whimper fall past your lips and your hips bucked against your finger as you spread your juices all around it. Slowly sinking your finger inside of yourself, you glanced at Tom and it looked like he’d stopped breathing all-together what he was witnessing.

You moaned his name as you let another finger join your other one already inside of you. That seemed to jolt him into action as he tore the foil and rolled the condom on.

“You think you can just get away with this little performance hm?” His voice had a slight edge to it that sparked a rush of excitement and you couldn’t help but to shiver. 

“‘m sorry Tommy,” you breathed right before removing your fingers and licking them clean explicitly for him to see, a small smirk playing on your lips as his eyes focused on your mouth and fingers.

“Oh you’re in for it now,” he warned, and you couldn’t help your shit-eating grin now, hastily getting up on your hands and knees - tauntingly wiggling your ass in his face.

The loud echo of the slap shouldn’t have come as a surprise to you but it did, coming as a shock to the system. A surprised cry left your mouth and you glanced over your shoulder meeting his gaze.

“What? You didn’t think I wouldn’t punish you somehow after pulling that right now?” His gaze was full of mirth and it made you swallow thickly as you felt his hand on the back of your neck pushing your front down so that you were ass-up. You let out a small moan feeling the grass against your nipples as yet another smack was dealt out on your ass making you shut your eyes.

“Count em’.” 

“Two,” you breathed as he laid another one into you and you felt that smack harder than the previous ones, but it hurt in the best way possible.

“T-three--” Your voice was already becoming laboured and uneven by the pleasure this was causing you. Your pussy was starting to throb more and more with each slap he gave your ass. Sometimes it wasn’t even your ass he smacked, it could be your lower thighs too, or where the curve of your ass was.

“Six - ah, fuck. Oh god Tom,” you moaned, feeling him deal out two consecutive slaps and his free hand started rubbing your pussy.

“Goodness me, you’re like a fountain, pretty girl. Soaking wet for me, all from this?” His voice had dropped and you whined hearing that, knowing he was just as turned on now.

“Please,” you gasped when he pushed another finger in, the breath being effectively knocked out of your lungs as he began fucking them in and out of you. 

You felt your knees give out, but he held you up.

“I make your knees weak, huh?” The smugness could be heard in his voice and it just made you that much more turned on, but you wouldn’t let him have the satisfaction of knowing just how right that statement was.

“Is that the best you can do?” you sassed and you let out a yelp feeling his thumb press down on your clit, adding a delicious pressure on it. That was right before he started unrelentingly rubbing your clit in quick back-and-forth movements that made you forget your own damn name.

“I- ohmygod,” you cried out, feeling your stomach tighten and your legs shake. He knew exactly what you liked and how you liked it. You were moments away from cumming. He knew your body well enough by now to tell that as well. 

“Didn’t think I’d let you cum that easily, now did you?” He smirked, removing his fingers from your pussy and making a show of licking them clean. First, you gasped, then you let out a frustrated groan being so close to that orgasm that you could practically taste it, heavy on your tongue.

“No pretty girl, you’re gonna work for it.” He smirked, leaning back on his arms, lazily stroking his cock. When you turned around, you admired his figure, still clad in his hoodie and with his cap on backwards. Your throat went dry at the sight.

You didn’t waste a moment before you saddled up, straddling his hips and holding the base of his cock as you slowly sunk down on him.

“Fuck,” he punched out, gritting his teeth as your walls engulfed him. You let out a shaky breath taking a moment to adjust to him. 

“Tom,” you moaned, throwing your head back with your hands on his shoulders as his hands moved to your hips to stabilize and help you bounce on him.

“Taking my cock so well,” he grunted, moving forward so that he could press kisses all along your neck and collarbone. You began rocking your hips, feeling bursts of pleasure through your whole body.

“Such a gorgeous neck - kinda wanna choke you when you cum all over my cock.” That drew a nothing short of pornographic moan from your lips when his words registered.

“Please, please,” you whimpered, rocking your hips desperately against him, taking him further. He let out a curse and gripped your ass helping you move as he started thrusting his hips and all you were able to do now was hold on and enjoy the ride - literally.

“Oh fuck yes, right there Tom!” you cried out when he angled his hips and thrusted particularly hard, finding your spot and your eyes rolled back in pleasure.

“You’re amazing, feel so tight all around my cock,” he grunted and you moaned louder, nicking his cap off of him to put it on your own head - backwards of course.

The corner of his mouth lifted up in a smirk seeing you in the cap. “Looks so much better on you, pretty girl - next time, maybe it should be you wearing my hoodie and cap when we fuck.” 

“Next time, hm?” 

“You bet your ass there’s gonna be a next time.” It made those damned butterflies come swooping in your belly at the prospect of doing this again with him.

“Aw hell yeah.” You grinned leaning forward to kiss him fervently as he held you tightly onto his chest. His hips never stopped, set on a maddening pace so that all you could do was cling to him even tighter as he rocked your world.

“I-I’m- oh fuck, I’m close,” you moaned when his hand left your ass and sneaked to your front, rubbing your clit. This was all too much for you, the edging from before, the way he was filling you up and the noises he was making. It was only adding to your eminent orgasm, just waiting to engulf you like an open flame. You felt it in the way your stomach tightened and clenched, the way your thighs were shaking.

“Cum for me pretty girl, want to feel you cum all over my cock. I wanna be the one to make you cum so good no one else will ever be good enough,” he growled in your ear, and you cried out feeling one of his hands come up to your neck and give it a light squeeze. 

You let out a choked out sob as your toes curled and you came like a fucking rocket. It was all white-noise by this point as sweat covered your entire body in a thin sheen as you squeezed down on his cock, body shaking from the force of your orgasm. 

“Fuck me, you’re so gorgeous when you cum,” he grunted and you could feel his sloppy thrusts before he came with a loud moan, which just sounded oh-so sexy coming from him. 

“Mmh, fill me up Tommy,” you moaned as you bit down on his earlobe hearing him groan-giggle.

You removed your face from his neck staring at him completely exhausted with an amused look, “That tickles,” he laughed, collapsing on the ground and you snorted laying down on top of him, propping yourself up on your elbows with him still inside of you.

“That was… out of this world,” you sighed happily staring into his eyes. 

“It was pretty fucking incredible.” He smiled, wiping his forehead from the sweat. He was about to say something else entirely when the sprinklers came on, setting a fire underneath both of your asses in collecting your clothes and belongings.

“Fuck!” he shout-laughed as the two of you got dressed. You couldn’t help but to laugh your ass off as the two of you got more and more soaked by the second.

“Oh my god, what if someone saw us,” you giggled, slapping a hand over your mouth as you looked around, just as he took your hand breaking out into a sprint. 

“No one’s seen us,” he snorted as you made your way back to the frat house, quickly and sneakily heading into his room to grab some clothes before the two of you snuck into the bathroom across the hallway.

“Please lock the fucking door,” you panted as you regained your breath. He grinned locking the door so that you could hear it. “Thanks.” 

“Do you uh - wanna go first?” he asked, turning shy and awkward for the first time tonight. You felt your own cheeks heat up.

“Why don’t we just… go together? Not like we’ve not seen each other naked before...?” You trailed off feeling very shy suddenly. He gave you a shy smile as he nodded.

“Sounds reasonable, and an environment-friendly solution.” He winked, making you giggle as the two of you stripped out of your drenched clothes. 

“Are you always such an idiot?” you asked once the two of you were in the shower, the warm water coming in and pouring down over the both of you.

“I try to be.” 

You snorted and put your head against his shoulder shaking it back and forth in exasperation. 

“I can’t deal with you,” you giggled as he started to laugh at that.

“Why not?” The mock-hurt in his voice only sent you giggling even further. “I’m so cute.”

“If that helps you sleep at night, bubs.” 

“A night of fucking you helps me sleep at night,” he countered with a cheeky smirk which made you squeak.

“Tom!”

He laughed loudly at you seeing the indignant look on your face. “What? It’s true!”

“Shut up and wash my hair for me.” You turned around to hide your flush. A grin crossed your face when he sighed, but soon you felt him lather shampoo into your hair and giving you the best head massage you’d ever gotten. 

“What hair style have you given me?” You laughed feeling him play around with your hair. 

Tom giggled. “One you’ll never know.” 

“Rude.” You couldn’t help your giggles when he sounded so happy and pleased with himself. You always indulged him, he was your weak spot and so whatever he wanted he mostly got. 

“You look snazzy.” He grinned before he gently tipped your head back to rinse it out of your hair for you. Taking care as to be as gentle as he could and making sure that you didn’t get any shampoo or water in your eyes. 

“You’re awfully gentle,” you noted as you turned around looking at him seeing the way his cheeks turned pink.

“I didn’t want you getting anything in your pretty face.” You melted hearing those words come from him so you did the only thing you could. 

You stepped closer to him under the spray of water and placed your hands on his shoulders, gently kissing him, feeling his arms go around you instinctively as he kissed you back, just as sweetly. 

“C’mon, let’s go have a cuddle,” he murmured as he broke the kiss and you were quick to agree. He got out first, rummaging around for a moment to retrieve two towels for the two of you.

“M’lady,” he courteously offered as he handed you a pair of his boxers and a sleeping t-shirt. You couldn’t help your fond grin as he goofed around like that, all while you got dressed. 

“Why thank you, kind sir.”

The two of you made sure the coast was clear before you snuck across the hall and into his room, making sure that the door was firmly locked before you crawled into bed. 

You were used to sleeping in his bed from all of your sexcapades, but this was bordering on something un-chartered. You’d never spent the night just sleeping in it before.

“Do you, uh - wanna spoon?” he asked whilst rubbing the back of his neck, a nervous tick you’d noticed.

“Only if you let me be the little spoon,” you admitted just as shyly  giving him a small smile. He let out a little laugh, getting comfortable and opening up his arms for you to get situated. Which you easily did, feeling so safe and protected in his arms.

You ran your fingers along his arm, seeing the tiny goosebumps appear on the skin making you smile.

“Hey Tom?” 

“Hmm?” You turned around in his embrace so that you were face to face. 

You took a deep breath, feeling like you were about to throw up from nervousness and the amount of butterflies that were flying around in your tummy right now.  “I...I don’t think I can keep doing this,” you started, feeling your heart up in your throat, about to make its way out of your body.

“What? Why?” he asked, voice changing from something inexplicably soft to ...hurt? You stared at his bare chest, unable to find the courage to look him in the eyes at what you were about to say next.

“I… I- fuck,” you started, desperately trying to keep the tears at bay, but it was useless as you felt them pool. “I like you Tom, more than being just your fuck buddy.” 

There. It was out, too late to take it back. All you could do now was wait for what he’d say and hope he’d let you down easy. 

“Pretty girl…” he started and you couldn’t hold it in any longer as an ugly sob tore from your throat, hands coming up to cover your face and it just made you cry even more when he wrapped his arms around you and held you even tighter. Hands gently stroking up and down your back. It wasn’t fair - it really fucking wasn’t. 

“You’re gonna make someone so happy Tom, a-and she’ll be the luckiest girl o-out there,” you sniffled as your lip wobbled, doing your most valiant effort to be happy for him whenever he found that someone special. 

“I’ve already got her.” 

“H-huh?” You hiccuped trying to make sense of his words. Had he already met someone whilst he was fucking around with you? 

“It’s you, silly, I don’t know how much more obvious I can make it that I’m tits over arse for you.” He chuckled and for the first time you looked up at him. He gently wiped your tears away grinning down at you.

“O-oh, you fucking wanker!” you nothing short of wailed at him. Normally, you weren’t a violent person, but this was warranted a tiny slap on his chest for putting you through that.

“What?” He laughed pressing a kiss to your temple, unable to contain his laughter. 

“My poor fragile heart can’t handle shit like this - I swear to god, Thomas, sleep with one eye open,” you sniffled as a smile spread on your face at the fact that he did feel the same. There was no elation quite like it. 

“I’ll happily sleep with one eye open if you’re the one sleeping beside me.” He smirked and you gently touched his face.

“Do you really though?” you asked in a whisper, not trusting your voice quite yet. 

“I really like you, yeah - have from the start, I just didn’t know how to tell you… not really. I didn’t want you to think that I was only in it for the sex. I mean… At first it was, but then we got to know each other and everything just… changed, for me at least,” he explained, stuttering through his words, and you knew that there was nothing you could say to top that, so you kissed him.

You poured everything you had into that single kiss - every ounce of love and emotions was poured into that kiss, hoping it would be enough to convey what you felt for him. 

“I really, really like you too, Thomas, if you couldn’t tell,” you whispered against his lips, pulling him on top of you, letting him crush you with his weight as he deepened the kiss.

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strike-through means I can’t tag you :(

[jasperdunlop]

The Difference Between a Dream and a Fantasy

Henry decides to confront Charlotte about why she’s been avoiding him. Meanwhile, Jasper has an accidental heart to heart with Ray and Schwoz.

Word Count: 2058

Note: look at me i’m actually writing! this was an idea i came up with for the end of the next ep! i wrote the outline before the promos came out so if it doesn’t totally match up, that’s why. i also wrote this kinda quickly so it’s not my best but i wanted to post it before the ep and i hope y’all enjoy it

Dedications: i’m not sure how many of you like to read fics or if you’d be interested in this one specifically, but i’m gonna tag a bunch of friends and if you don’t want to read it you totally don’t have to! also lord knows i take forever to read fics so absolutely no rush lol @cactus-con @xanderdewitt @ciara-knightly @up-the-tube @youngbloodthekilljoy @ginger--binger @gwendastacy @max-thunderman @jelenarulestheworld

~~~~~

"I think I'm gonna, uh, work up in Junk N’ Stuff today, call me if you need anything," Charlotte tells the group as she speeds into the elevator right as Henry walks out of it.

Henry barely has time to process what Charlotte said before the elevator door is starting to close. "Wait, Char! I wanted to talk to you about-"

Charlotte gives him an exaggerated shrug as the door closes between them. Henry scoffs and turns to face Jasper, Ray, and Schwoz on the other side of the Man Cave. "What is her deal? She's been super weird around me all week. Did I do something to her?"

The three others share a hesitant look. Charlotte told them about her dream the day before, and they all promised to keep it a secret from Henry while she got over it.

Henry notices the look and squints at them. "Wait, do you guys know why she's being weird?" When no one answers, he takes a step towards them, "Come on guys! If I did something then I wanna know so I can apologize!"

Jasper sighs and walks over to him, putting a sympathetic hand on his shoulder. "You didn't do anything, alright? Something… weird happened and Char just needs a little bit of space."

Henry tilts his head at the vague explanation, "Are you sure? I mean, maybe I should go talk to her or something." He turns slightly to look back at the elevator, considering the idea.

"You can if you want to, but I promise she's fine," Jasper responds as he lets his hand fall off of the other boy’s shoulder.

Henry glances back at Ray and Schwoz, and they both give him a half shrug in agreement with Jasper. Henry takes a long breath in, considering whether he should follow Charlotte or not. After a second of thinking, he turns around and walks to the elevator, pushing the button as he says, "I'm gonna go talk to her, I'll feel better hearing all that from her." The others nod at him in acknowledgement as he gets into the elevator and heads upstairs.

The second the elevator door is closed, Ray turns around and pulls up the video feed of Junk N' Stuff on the monitor, currently showing Charlotte sitting alone behind the counter. Jasper knows that there's no way he can talk Ray out of this, so he figures he may as well watch too. Plus, he can't say he's not interested in how the conversation between his best friends will go.

While Jasper casually lingers a few feet behind Ray, Schwoz eagerly rushes to the man’s side, practically bouncing with excitement. "Do you think they're finally going to date?"

"Oh, definitely. They've liked each other for years," Ray casually responds, eyes glued to the screen as he waits for Henry to appear.

Jasper chuckles slightly at their excitement and a second later they see Henry walking through the bead curtain and towards the counter of Junk N' Stuff. Charlotte awkwardly greets him as he stands across the counter. “Hey,” he responds. “I asked Jasper and he said you weren’t, but are you mad at me?”

She basically repeats the same thing Jasper told him earlier, that she just needs a bit of space, but that doesn’t seem to be enough for Henry.

"But what happened that made you need space? I must have done something, and I wanna fix it," he says, desperation clear in his voice.

Charlotte smiles at his dedication. "Seriously Henry, you didn't do anything wrong! It's really not a big deal."

The two go back and forth a few more times, Henry insisting that she tell him, and Charlotte insisting that he doesn't need to know. Even Ray and Schwoz seem frustrated by the aimless exchange.

Luckily, Charlotte eventually relents. "Fine! I just had a... weird dream about you and I guess it freaked me out a little bit."

Henry pauses for a second, clearly not having expected that answer. Once he's taken a moment to absorb the information he asks "So, what happened in the dream? It must've been pretty crazy if it freaked you out that much."

It's barely noticeable on the tiny screen, but Charlotte's eyes widen at the question. "Oh, uh, it was dumb, don't worry about it," she stutters.

Henry giggles at her sudden shyness. "Oh, come on! Just tell me." Charlotte shakes her head and gives him a firm look but he pouts in response and adds a "please" just for good measure.

For a second Jasper thinks she isn't going to give in and tell him, that she really is way too embarrassed about it, but it only takes a few seconds of Henry's pout for her to crack. "It's not a big deal, okay? But uh, I fell into the lion's exhibit at the zoo and couldn't get out. Then you showed up as Kid Danger-"

"As I do sometimes.”

"-and you pulled me out. So, we were standing close, you were uh, holding me, and since you had just saved me you looked so... heroic."

Henry has his elbows on the counter now, leaning forward slightly in interest. Charlotte hesitantly continues, "We were just staring at each other, and we were so close that we both started... leaning in. And we were about to uh," she pauses again, her eyes looking anywhere but Henry, "about to kiss. And that's when I woke up."

Henry's eyebrows shoot up at the word kiss, but nothing else on his face reveals his thoughts on the dream.

Charlotte laughs awkwardly, put off by the lack of reaction. "Pretty weird, right? So I figured that if I was around you too much I might accidentally try to... you know... kiss you." Jasper has never seen Charlotte stutter this much before, she's rarely ever nervous when talking to people.

She stays quiet for a moment, now staring intently at Henry, whose face still hasn't changed, making it impossible to gauge any sort of reaction. "Henry?" she finally says, her tone begging him to say something.

The tension in the Man Cave is just as thick, everyone leaning forward and intensely focused on the screen, like if they stare hard enough they can make something happen by sheer brain power alone.

Without a word, Henry pushes himself off of the counter and walks around it to where Charlotte is standing. "Uh, Henr-?" he cuts her off by pressing a kiss to her lips, catching her off guard.

Ray and Schwoz immediately explode into cheers and grins, while Jasper’s jaw drops in shock. Ray turns to high five him, but isn’t met with the enthusiastic reaction he was expecting from the boy. Once he realizes Jasper isn't going to return the high five, he slaps a hand on the boy's shoulder instead. "Son, come on! Those two finally got together, this is awesome!"

Schwoz grins and nods behind him, finally tearing his face away from the screen to look over at them. Jasper tries to wipe the shocked expression from his face and give them the smile they want, but it comes out forced and insincere. Ray takes his hand off of Jasper's shoulder as his eyebrows scrunch together in confusion. Schwoz walks a few steps closer to them and says "Come on Jasper! Isn't this exciting?"

Jasper lets the fake smile drop as he looks at the ground, kicking his foot slightly. "It's... it's hard to be excited when your best friend and your crush are kissing," he cautiously responds, voice wobbling a bit on the word crush. He had no plans to share his feelings with anyone, ever, but something about actually watching the two kiss made him just vulnerable and heartbroken enough to do so.

Ray and Schwoz share a wide eyed look, and Ray turns back to him with pity in his eyes. "Oh wow, kid. I had no idea, you never said anything," he says gently, like he's worried he'll hurt Jasper even more if he's not careful. Jasper shrugs a bit, still avoiding eye contact. "How long have you liked Charlotte?" he uses the same gentle tone, but he asks the question so quickly that Jasper can tell he's dying to hear the answer.

Jasper fixes his gaze even further into the Man Cave floor, biting his lip and staying completely still. After a couple moments of Ray waiting impatiently, Schwoz speaks up, words gentle but deliberate, "How long have you liked Henry?"

Jasper glances up at Schwoz for a second, a soft and knowing look on the man's face. Who knew Schwoz of all people would be the one who could read him the best?

Ray spins to face the other man, an incredulous look on his face. Jasper doesn't see the face Schwoz gives in return but Ray slowly turns back to him, realization dawning on him as he takes in Jasper's expression. "Oh."

As much as he wants to never speak again, Jasper knows he needs to say something, otherwise this horrible silence will go on forever. He decides to answer Schwoz's earlier question, "I realized it a few months ago, when Henry lost his powers. But I'm pretty sure I've liked him a lot longer than that."

"Oh," Ray repeats, still not having fully processed this whole conversation. Schwoz just gives him a tight lipped smile, and unfortunately for Jasper, the silence returns.

He can tell neither of the men want to push him on the subject, and aren't sure what to do in this moment. Jasper can't handle it, so he speaks up again, "Guys, it's not a big deal, okay? He's still my best friend, and him and Charlotte clearly like each other a lot, so I'm not gonna get in the middle of that."

That seems to snap Ray out of his funk, because he gets his fervor back as he says "But your feelings still matter!" He bounces back and forth on his feet, like he's trying to physically force an idea into his head. "There's gotta be something we can do, right?" he asks as he waves his hand, gesturing to nothing in particular. He suddenly snaps his fingers. "Schwoz, could you make some sort of reverse love potion? Something to get Jasper to stop liking Henry?"

Schwoz opens his mouth to respond, already nodding slightly, but Jasper cuts him off before he gets the chance. "No! Dude, I don't need a reverse love potion. It's a crush, it'll go away eventually. It sucks for now, but I can deal." Ray and Schwoz share an unsure glance. "I'm serious! I don't need you two to alter my brain chemistry or whatever. I'll be fine," he states firmly. Ray and Schwoz seem to accept it this time, but they still look at him sympathetically.

Jasper glances back at the screen and sees Henry and Charlotte now holding hands and heading towards the elevator. "They're coming back downstairs. Not a word, okay? Neither of them need to know about this." Ray and Schwoz both nod and Jasper sighs in relief just as the elevator dings and the doors begin to open.

Luckily, Ray and Schwoz's excitement about the kiss did not fade after their conversation, and as soon as Henry and Charlotte walk out of the elevator saying that they have an announcement, they start jumping happily and yelling about how they saw the whole thing on the monitor. Jasper approaches them too, giving them the most genuine smile he can muster, hoping that it’s more convincing than the one he gave Ray and Schwoz earlier.

Once everyone calms down slightly, Jasper finally speaks up. "So, should we call you guys Chenry from now on?" he asks, a teasing tone in his voice. Henry and Charlotte both roll their eyes but grin all the same, and Henry claps a hand on his shoulder as he slips the other hand around Charlotte's waist.

Ray and Schwoz continue to prod the new couple with overly personal questions while Henry and Charlotte gag and refuse to answer. Jasper can't help but smile genuinely as he watches his friends joke around casually. He still isn't exactly happy about what unfolded today, but if even Ray can support him no matter what, then maybe he can be happy about it someday.