The Bodyguard

22.

They made it back to the table, but not before a heated make out session.

It would have to suffice until the next time they could hide behind their veil.

And Jasper would never admit it, but he craved Ace's touch; he craved being under his spell again.

Back behind that veil where only they mattered. Where outside influence could never penetrate.

He hated himself for it. Because he promised himself he wouldn't let anyone have such an effect on him.

Not after the last.

The two we're realizing what they did was a mistake.

A mistake, because now they've experienced what it felt like to have one another.

They could never go back to before. Going back to before each other's touch consumed them sounded like a territory neither of them had dared, nor wanted to travel to.

And if Karla were any less tipsy, she would've noticed Ace's slightly disheveled hair that he tried his best to fix, along with swollen lips as he sat down.

But like the rest of the table, she was occupied by lighthearted conversation and an endless supply of alcohol.

As soon as a glass was empty, it was like the waiter appeared out of thin air ready to serve.

Naturally, Jasper's eyes found Ace's from across the table. Subtlety was not working in his favor, but he still felt the softness of Ace's kiss on his lips.

So he watched. To feel closer.

To search for the remnants of himself he'd left somewhere on Ace's mouth. Pieces he'd never get back or feel for the first time again.

How did it fucking come to this? We're they really so starved for each other that longing looks across rooms had become almost as close as touching?

Jasper was amazing at hiding his emotions, but even he couldn't properly hide the longing behind his gaze.

At least not from Ace.

Ace could see him for what he was now.

Because the guard has studied every last expression. Every curve and taunt of his mouth, every furrow of his eyebrow, tint of his cheeks, pursed lips, clenched jaw, everything, everything, everything.

He felt he could read Jasper easier now. Ace no longer saw him as the shell of a human like he first thought they'd first met.

He saw him for what he was, or at least he thinks.

So what is he? Who is he?

If Ace could answer that, he'd reckon majority of his problems would be fixed. But maybe it was okay not to know. Maybe he didn't ever need to know.

All he knew in that moment is what it felt like to be wanted, no, needed by Jasper White. And was it a feeling.

Jasper looked away. He closed his eyes, took a sip of his drink and tried to drown out the voices around him.

He tried to focus on Ace's. Tried to remember what it was like to be touched by him. But to no avail.

When he opened his eyes again, he was snapped back into reality where everyone around him was full of joy, but he'd never wanted to leave a place more.

If he had been paying less attention to the opposite end of the table, he wouldn't have heard it.

A small chime of a ringtone sounded. Naturally, he looked toward Ace who fumbled on his phone before answering it moments later.