What Happens with Jasper

This is a looong one! I thought about breaking it up into two parts, but I think they would end up in different categories, so I nixed that idea. If you just want to get to the hot parts, go towards the middle, around the February 2025 heading is when it starts picking up in the sexy parts. So a bit of a slow burn, but there's some cute Fred and Aaron stuff. Along with insight into Aaron's college days and his relationship with his friend Jasper. I hope you enjoy it!

November 2024

Aaron couldn't watch Fred work out. He would go to the gym with him nearly any time he would ask, but ever since their honeymoon and the incident at the golf course he simply couldn't watch Fred work out. He couldn't even think about Fred working out in mixed company, the effect it had on him was too swift and way too obvious.

He had told Fred this of course. He had laughed, kissed him and teased him about it endlessly. But he respected Aaron's boundaries and always went to the other side of the gym when the two would go work out together.

Today Aaron was focusing on cardio while Fred worked his arms. Aaron quickly pushed the thought of Fred's arm workout from his head as he bumped up the incline on the treadmill he ran on.

Fred's arms were one of Aaron's major weaknesses, and he just couldn't think about them if he wanted to stay composed. If there was one place, he didn't want to make questionable decisions at, it was the gym.

Metal music blasted in his ears, an apt distraction as he again, pushed up the stupid incline of the stupid treadmill. Cardio days were his least favorite days as he found most of the machines boring. The rowing machines were alright, but they were all being used when he came in. So, it was a stupid treadmill for him. Ten more minutes, then he could slow to a short cool down, and grab dinner on the way home with Fred.

Once Aaron had finished his circuit, he stopped the treadmill and gulped down some water from his water bottle before he took a few minutes to stretch his leg muscles. When he finished, he looked over at where Fred worked his arms and hooked a thumb towards the locker rooms. Fred gave a quick nod from the machine he sat at, legs spread, arms rippling with the weight he pushed forward.

Aaron looked away quickly and gave his head a quick shake. Fred made him such a horndog. He didn't think he'd felt this turned on by...well fucking everything since high school. He clicked the volume of his music down as his breathing started to slow and even out. There was a lull of silence as the song he was listening to ended.

"Aaron?" he heard in the lull.

Aaron tugged an ear bud out of his ear and turned toward where the voice had come from.

"Jasper?!"

A man, shorter than Aaron, with electric blue hair and dark blue eyes stood just outside the locker room. He wore a tank top wet with sweat and a pair of fitted shorts. Creeping out from the sleeves of the tank top was an intricate back tattoo that twisted over both his shoulders and down his upper arms.

"Yeah!" the man confirmed.

"Holy shit! What are you doing here?" Aaron asked, he leaned forward arms outstretched.

Jasper accepted the gesture, and the two men embraced.

"I moved here for work. Jesus, it's been so long! How're you doing man?" Jasper asked.

He thought his voice sounded weirdly high, like he was nearing hysterics. He'd been shocked to see Aaron here after all this time. He knew he was back east, but he wasn't sure where exactly and he hadn't bothered to ask any of their mutual friends.

Aaron was about to answer Jasper's question when he felt a firm arm snake around his waist. He turned and glanced at Fred by his side. Jasper took in the figure of Fred and raised one eyebrow, his mouth dropping open slightly.

"I'm great," Aaron said. "This is... uh, this is my husband, Fred. Fred, this is Jasper. We went to undergrad together."

Both of Jasper's eyebrows shot to his hairline as Fred held out his hand.

"Oh, Jasper! Aaron's told me a little about you," Fred said with a charming smile.

Jasper shook Fred's hand. He glanced between the two men and a grin formed on his face.

"Aaron," Jasper put his hands on his hips. "Man, you could have said something. We would have been cool about it."

Aaron's face flushed a bit, and Fred pulled him closer squeezing him reassuringly.

"Yeah, I know." Aaron rubbed a hand at the back of his neck. "It was just... I had a lot of work to do on myself. I was..."

Aaron shrugged. Jasper grimaced a little.

"I mean, Aaron... we sort of knew anyway," Jasper said slowly.

"How could you know?" he asked surprised. "I barely acknowledged it."

"Sasha sort of called it the very first day she met you," Jasper said.

Fred shifted on his feet. He remembered what Aaron had said about Jasper while away on their honeymoon. He knew that there was history there, things they might want to talk about privately. But he didn't want to abandon Aaron if he needed him. He also didn't want to cramp whatever reconnection was happening here.

"Baby, I might go rinse off..." he paused catching Aaron's gaze, giving him an out.

Aaron nodded his acknowledgement. Fred slid his arm from his waist and took his husband's hand.

"I'll catch up with you in a sec, Freddie," Aaron said squeezing his fingers quickly.

"Good to meet you, Jasper."

Fred nodded at him and went into the locker room.

"So, did you move here with...anyone?" Aaron asked.

"No, it's just me. Still single," Jasper said with a quick shake of his head.

"I see. Well, you seemed to do OK, at least back in college you were..." Aaron paused.

Jasper laughed a little.

"It's OK, you can say it. I was a huge slut," Jasper said with a wicked grin.

"You were...free spirited," Aaron said. "Didn't you and Sasha date, what, our senior year?"

"We did, but I was sort of a shitty boyfriend," Jasper said.

"Were you?" Aaron asked. "You guys were still together when I came back east right?"

"Yeah, for a hot minute. Sasha broke up with me because she caught me with Conner," Jasper said sheepishly.

"Holy shit! You hooked up with Conner. Man, that guy was hot!" Aaron said.

"That's about all he had going for him," Jasper said.

"How disappointing," Aaron replied.

Jasper shrugged.

"I guess so. I swore to Sash that it was just a one-time thing, but then I hooked up with Kerrie, then with Travis... the list is sort of long and embarrassing and a total cliché about bi people being sluts. I mean I was being a slut but not because I'm bi." He raised his eyebrows at Aaron.

"But enough about my tragic romantic history." He blushed briefly. "What about you? Married? To a really, really hot guy I might add."

Aaron flushed and laughed but nodded.

"Yeah, it's sort of wild. I still hadn't come out to anyone. I was forty years old and was still trying to date women." Aaron pushed his hand through his hair and Jasper looked empathetic.

"I went on a Las Vegas trip with a couple of buddies, Mark and Fred. We've been really close friends since we were kids and as I was watching Fred golf...I dunno something just suddenly clicked into place. I somehow thought it would be a good idea to tell him and surprisingly he was open to the idea. We hooked up that night in Vegas and then we sort of fell for each other."

"That is wild," Jasper said. "That doesn't fucking happen. Your life is like a movie or a dirty romance."

Aaron laughed.

"God, it's really good to see you Jasper," Aaron said. "Are you done here?"

Jasper nodded.

"Yeah, I was about to go hit the showers when I saw you," Jasper said.

Aaron thought for a minute.

"Fred and I usually grab some dinner after the gym. Do you want to join us? I'll run it by Fred, but I'm sure he'd be fine with it," Aaron said.

Jasper hesitated for a moment.

"I don't want to crash a date night or anything. I'm pretty sure your husband can kick my ass," Jasper joked.

Aaron chuckled.

"Not a date night, just a thing we do. I need to rinse off quickly. Why don't we meet out front in like ten minutes?" Aaron said.

Jasper regarded him for a second.

"Well, alright. But if I'm imposing, please don't hesitate to tell me to fuck off," Jasper said.

"Oh, believe me, Fred won't," Aaron laughed.

~~

"You really don't mind?" Aaron asked quietly, not sure if Jasper was nearby, not wanting him to overhear.

"Not at all. I'm interested to see how you interact with him. See if you're any different with your college friends."

Fred bumped his hip against Aaron's, who rolled his eyes.

"He thinks you're hot," Aaron said quietly, a small smirk tugging up the corners of his mouth.

Fred chuckled.

"Well, baby, that's because I am."

Fred pulled a comb through his wet hair splattering little drops of water onto his t-shirt. Aaron snorted and shook his head.

They met Jasper outside of the gym and gave him directions to the restaurant they were going to. Fred and Aaron liked to go to a small family run place near their townhouse. The owners of the restaurant, a tiny older woman, Rita, and her huge bear of a husband, George, loved Fred and Aaron. They stayed open an hour later Monday, Wednesday, and Friday specifically for the two men.

"Hey boys!" Rita beamed when they walked in with Jasper. "Got a friend tonight!"

She grabbed menus and led them to their usual booth in the corner. Aaron had always wondered why she sat them at the largest booth when there was always only two of them.

"Thanks Rita, you're a gem," Fred said.

She ruffled his still damp hair causing it to stick out in odd directions, but he didn't seem to mind.

"Boys!" George bellowed from the kitchen. "How ya goin'?"

Aaron and Fred shouted their greeting across the empty restaurant.

"There's no one else in here," Jasper observed.

"They stay open for us. They're closed for everyone else," Fred said.

"Wow, that's nice," Jasper said.

"I was coming here for years before Fred and I got together. Now that he's keeping me on a more normal gym routine, we're here a lot more," Aaron said.

Fred planted a kiss on Aaron's cheek. Jasper watched them with a wistful look in his eyes.

Rita bustled over to their table, with three light beers and took their order guessing at what Aaron and Fred would have.

"And you sweetie?" she asked, turning to Jasper.

"I'd love the club sandwich, no tomatoes," he said.

"Fries, potato salad or green salad?" Rita asked.

Jasper glanced at Aaron and Fred.

"Potato salad," Fred said. "It's the best I've ever had."

"That then," Jasper said handing Rita the menu.

"You got it boys!"

Rita started to make her way to the kitchen shouting their order to George who was banging around in the kitchen already.

"So," Fred began. "You moved here for work?"

Jasper nodded and told them a little about his work with government agencies and oversight.

"I thought for sure you'd end up in the theatre in some capacity," Aaron said.

Fred raised an eyebrow.

"Pardon me? You two did theatre together?" Fred asked. "How have I never heard about this?"

"Oh yeah! Aaron was great! He was in almost every musical the university put on," Jasper commented.

Aaron's face blazed red, and he glared at Jasper, who shrugged apologetically.

"Care to do a little performance baby?" Fred asked.

"No, I do not," he said, crossing his arms. "It was just a fun thing to pass the time. My regular classes were intense, and I knew I wanted to take the law school track. I just wanted to have something that was fun."

"He really was great, Fred," Jasper said. "I'm pretty sure I still have a recording of a couple of the shows he was in."

Aaron put a hand on his forehead.

"Oh my god, you still have those?" he asked.

"I do! They're on VHS though," he said, with a quick nod.

"If you get them here, I will find a VCR and we will watch the shit outta those things," Fred said, leaning forward towards Jasper a twinkle in his eye.

Jasper tapped the side of his nose.

"I've gotchu Fred," he said with a laugh.

"Sasha will be on those tapes too huh?" Aaron asked.

He still spoke to Sasha very occasionally...he wondered if maybe he was just not very good at being a friend.

"Oh yes, she's actually working in the theatre these days. Although I think she's more administration," Jasper said. "She also sells ceramics on some website."

"I still can't believe she ended up with Greg," Aaron said. "He was so boring. I didn't even know he was on her radar."

Jasper blushed a little.

"I think she needed boring after being with me and well... her dad too. I think she just wanted the stability." Jasper sipped his beer. "I thought you might be at their wedding. I was disappointed you weren't."

It was Aaron's turn to blush. He had purposely skipped Sasha and Greg's wedding, guessing that Jasper would be attending. He had started therapy at that point but still hadn't dealt with his own feelings of insecurity around his sexuality, on top of which he had just started trying to medicate his anxiety and he was quite a mess while he navigated that tangled web.

"Yeah, it was... well it wasn't great timing for me," Aaron said, sipping at his beer.

Jasper's eyes darkened a little, while he fought off the eye roll that desperately tried to manifest. Aaron was sweet, but the fact remained that he had ghosted him for some unknown reason going on twenty years ago. The sting of that betrayal still felt so fresh and was only made worse watching him with his ridiculously hot husband.

"I see," Jasper said carefully, trying to keep his voice level.

Their food arrived and Jasper was grateful for the distraction. After a lull while the men ate the conversation began again on more neutral topics.

Aaron and Jasper eventually fell into a familiar camaraderie, as if they hadn't been separated by an entire country and twenty years; as if Aaron hadn't stopped answering his calls and emails. Fred nestled in easily, laughing at their college stories, teasing each man good naturedly causing them both to blush many times. After Rita brought each of them a large slice of pie, Fred excused himself to the restroom.

"He's great, Aaron, you're really lucky," Jasper said, his eyes taking on the melancholy look from earlier.

"Thanks Jas. I think so." Aaron studied Jasper's face. "Are you...alright?"

Jasper sighed.

"I'm just discouraged man. I'm 41 and I've got no one. I've got twice the options as most people and I've got nothing," he said barking out a laugh trying to make it a joke, but his eyes were glassy.

"Aw, Jas, you're great, you'll find someone," Aaron said.

Jasper cradled his chin in his hand and stared out the big corner window.

"I dunno, people always like to say that." Jasper sighed. "It's been so long since I've met anyone."

Aaron reached across the table and gripped Jasper's hand briefly.

"You just moved here, give it time. I can introduce you to people," Aaron offered.

"Even just someone to hook up with would be..." he paused barking out another quick laugh. "It's just been a really long time. I'm surprised my right hand still has skin on it to be honest." Jasper smiled sadly.

Aaron laughed and shook his head.

"I'm sorry, Jas. That really, really sucks," Aaron said. "I bet we can find you someone."

Jasper didn't know why he was confiding in Aaron. He was still hurt, still angry, but being around Aaron again reminded him of how they were when they were friends. He had fallen back into that old familiar friendship so easily. Jasper didn't have anyone here yet and he was desperately lonely. But that aching hurt still tugged at the back of his mind.

"Hey man, can I...can I ask you something?" Jasper asked and rubbed the back of his neck.

Aaron felt a sense of foreboding. He thought he knew what was coming.

"Yeah, Jas, of course," Aaron said slowly.

"Why did you cut me out? It was so instantaneous. I thought we got close over those four years. I mean I would have..." Jasper paused and looked down at his hands shaking his head. "It was just so fast. You just stopped talking to me. I know you kept in touch with other people, Sasha and Greg but you never --" Jasper's voice hitched, and he rubbed a finger under one eye.

"Fuck, Jasper, I know. I'm...I'm sorry," Aaron said, his cheeks blazing red.

"Why'd you just cut me out?" Jasper asked, swiping a hand over a rolling tear.

Aaron's heart twisted in his chest.

"God, I was so shitty. I was just fucking scared of fucking everything. I...I felt really... strongly about you Jasper," Aaron said.

Jasper pulled a grimace.

"Aaron, I think...I think I loved you man," Jasper said.

Aaron sighed feeling his eyes prick.

"Fuck," he whispered. "Yeah, I... I loved you too. I think I realized it at that frat party, where you almost fucking died."

Jasper stared at Aaron.

"Aaron, that was freshman year. You loved me for almost four years, and you didn't say anything." Jasper said it as a statement not a question.

"I was...I had such bad anxiety. I was certain that if I came out, I'd get the shit kicked out of me, I was just so scared," Aaron said.

"Why the fuck would you think that, Aaron? You were surrounded by queer people, and nothing happened to us!" Jasper shouted.

Rita glanced over quickly.

"Boys, all OK over there?" she asked.

Fred and Aaron had argued here once or twice, but Rita didn't know this new guy and she didn't like the tone he took with her Aaron.

"Yeah, Rita. Sorry, we're fine," Aaron said.

Jasper had closed his eyes and scraped one hand down his face.

"I'm sorry," he said. "I shouldn't fucking...invalidate how you felt. It's just..." He paused and stared out the windows again. "It sucks is all. We could have been together Aaron. That would have been..." Jasper blew out a breath.

"Yeah, I know," Aaron admitted.

"But I guess then things wouldn't have gone the way they did. You wouldn't be with your hot hubby," Jasper said bitterly, poking his pie with his fork.

"Jasper," Aaron started. "I am really sorry. I wish that I had had the courage back then to just be myself. But I didn't have it then."

Jasper nodded and swiped under his eyes again.

"Thanks, OK yeah. This is probably not the best time to talk about it, when Fred is in bathroom," Jasper said tightly.

Aaron shook his head.

"I've told Fred a little bit about you. About my regrets, he and I have talked it through. It's only fair that I talk it through with you too," Aaron said.

Jasper crossed his arms over his chest, feeling freshly betrayed by the fact that the situation had been assessed and discussed by someone he'd only just met, before he'd even been given the chance to do so.

Fred returned from the bathroom, noting the heavy atmosphere and sharp glare that Jasper cut across the table towards Aaron. The entire mood was so different from what he had left behind.

"What's going on guys?" Fred asked, sliding back into the booth next to Aaron.

"It's just...regrets is all," Aaron said quietly.

He caught Fred's eye for a second. Fred looked toward Jasper who swiped under his eyes with his thumbs roughly.

"Yeah, you know, I should get going. Thanks guys, so great to meet you, Fred. Um, Aaron, I'll find you on Venmo so I can reimburse you for the food," Jasper said, grabbing his hoodie quickly.

"Jas, come on, you don't have to go," Aaron said.

"I'm fine, it's fine Aaron. Just be sure you reply to my friend request, huh?" he spat.

He turned on his heel and left. Fred's eyes darkened.

"Damn, that was...bitchy," Fred growled.

Aaron sighed and pinched the bridge of his nose.

"No, it wasn't at all. It was warranted."

Fred ran a quick hand over Aaron's spine up and down once.

~~

Fred was curled around Aaron in their bed. They were panting and exhausted from their secondary workout. Fred lazily kissed the crook of Aaron's neck as the two men caught their breath. His hand stroked his naked hip.