Bandaged & Damaged {BoyxBoy & FIN & EDITING}

chapter twenty

The side of my head was pressed against the window as the music played softly in the car. I glanced at the review mirror, and Pa's eyes were on the road. I almost wanted to say something, but if I said anything, it would break the tension that was slowly rising, and I didn't know what would happen next. Lately, I didn't know what to expect.

Pa stopped the car, and I slowly got out of the car, closing the car door behind me and walking the trunk. I opened the trunk and grabbed my suitcases and bags. I left Miles to get his stuff and walked to the only place that made me comfortable—home. I mentally sighed in relief and made my way inside. No more Easton and his beatings. No more awkward counters with Nixon and Dario. But then it slowly dwelled in my mind that I won't be seeing Junior and Kiel for a couple of months. No more Pierce. I touched my bottom lip and remembered when we had our first make-out session. It was a long time ago, so it probably meant nothing to him.

It probably meant something to me.

"Jasper?"

I quickly turned around and saw Ma and Pa standing at the doorway, staring at me. "We have to talk," Ma said softly. The tension started to increase. I nodded and placed my bag on the floor. We walked to the kitchen and sat on one of the stools. Miles followed after and sat next to me. I raised an eyebrow because he usually doesn't sit next to me. Ma and Pa glanced at each other, and Ma sighed. "Can I just say that I'm disappointed that not only Miles is suspended but Jasper too." Her eyes shifted to me. "What happened? I told you to watch Miles."

"Why would you tell him that?" Miles asked.

"Because the principal told us your past accidents and he was close expelling you. What were you thinking?"

Miles groaned. "I did a couple of things, but this isn't about me. It's about Jasper."

"We'll get to him in a second," Pa told him.

"Oh, now you want to care about me? Now you want to care about your son."

"Miles!" Ma yelled.

Miles slammed his fist on the table and stood up. "I'm so fucking done with this family. Nobody listens to me. If you want to know why we got suspended, it's because I was protecting Jasper."

"From what?" Pa said calmly.

"From his ex-boyfriend!"

"Ex—ex-boyfriend?" Ma stuttered. "You never told us you were gay."

I don't want to talk about it. "Miles please," I said softly.

Miles sighed loudly and looked away. The house was quiet. Ma and Pa stared at us, and they sighed. Ma walked towards us and hugged us. I could tell Miles didn't want to hug her because he was tense, but he slowly relaxed, and I did too.

"Whatever happened in that school, we will talk about it later, but for right now, you're both grounded, and you'll have to take college classes online," Ma said and let go of us.

Miles looked like he wanted to object, but I glared at him, and he sighed, nodding. Ma sighed loudly and walked out of the kitchen, Pa following behind her. A door closed, and I was left alone with Miles. "Why didn't you tell them?"

I shut my eyes and sighed. "Please, not right now."

"You have to tell them."

I opened my eyes and got up. "I will, soon. I don't know how to tell them."

"Why didn't you tell me?"

I stopped walking. I looked over my shoulder, and he was standing up now. His eyes looked sad and guilty. He was blaming himself when he shouldn't. "It wasn't your problem."