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Chapter Text

“Give it up to our next performer, Wylan Hendricks!”

The audience applauded politely. Wylan climbed onto the stage of the Crow Club. The place was one of those bars that always had live music and tonight was an open mic night. Wylan waved awkwardly and took a seat in front of the piano. It was the first time in forever he was performing in public and he was even more nervous than he had been anticipating. He had been practicing this song for weeks, he wanted to do this, he reminded himself. Wylan took a deep breath and started playing. His fingers flew on the keys, soft, melancholy melody filling the room. When he started to sing he was delighted to find his voice not breaking. He only dared to look at the audience when he had finished the song. There was excited applause and a few people even cheered. Wylan felt his face heating up. He smiled and bowed his head a little. 

“Thank you!” he mouthed before hurrying off the stage. He headed to the bar and tried to steady his breathing. He sat down on one of the tall bar stools at the counter and wiped the nervous sweat on his forehead with a napkin.

“Hey, relax sweetheart. You did great”, the bartender flashed him a smile and winked. This did nothing to help calm down Wylan’s heartbeat. The man behind the bar was a tall and lean zemeni with beautiful eyes and the most perfect lips Wylan had ever seen. 

Wylan cleared his throat. “Uh, thank you”, he said.

The man handed him a laminated list with pictures of brightly coloured drinks. “First drink of the night is free for the performers”, he said, “these are our specials, what can I get you?”

Wylan put the menu down without looking at it. “I'll just have a vodka cranberry, please.”

“A man who knows what he wants. I like it. I’ll get that for you right away.”

While he worked on the drink and took orders from a couple of other people, Wylan checked his phone which had started buzzing. His father was calling him. Wylan frowned. He didn’t want to talk to him right now, not when he was having a good time for once. He turned his phone off. He could deal with that later.

“Here you go”, the bartender was back and handed Wylan his drink, “can I get anything else for you? Are you here with someone?”

“No, it’s just me”.

“On a Saturday night? A pretty guy like you?”

Wylan raised his eyebrows. “Sell a lot of drinks with that line?” he snorted. Still he couldn’t help the blush spreading across his cheeks.

The guy shrugged. “Maybe. Is it working?”

Wylan took a sip of his drink mostly to avoid coming up with a response.

A group of girls came to place their orders and kept the bartender busy for a couple of minutes. Wylan used this time to look at him some more. The man really was good looking. He was wearing a black t-shirt with the bar’s logo on it and a pair of purple high-waist trousers with a decorative chain belt. His curly hair was messy in a “I want you to think I just woke up like this but it actually took a lot of work” kinda way. He handed a redheaded girl a pink cocktail and smiled brilliantly as he said “Here you go, gorgeous”. The girl giggled before going back to her friends. Wylan rolled his eyes.

The bartender turned back to Wylan. He rested his elbows on the counter and leaned closer.  “So can I buy you one then?”

“Huh?”

“A drink. Can I buy you a drink?”

“You mean it’s one the house? That seems like a bad business strategy”, Wylan noted. 

The man laughed. “Let’s make a deal. If you can wait….” he glanced at the clock on the wall behind him, “fifteen minutes ‘till my shift ends, I’ll buy you another drink with my own money, and then you will owe me a dance.”

Wylan considered it. It wasn’t like he got offers like this every day, he didn’t go out much. And he could use some fun.  “You know what, sure. What do I have to lose?” he said.

“That’s the spirit”, the guy chuckled.

Twenty minutes later the bartender had changed out of his work shirt and sat down next to Wylan. Now he was wearing a purple button up shirt that matched his trousers. He held out his hand.

“Hey, I’m Jesper Fahey. And you are?” he smiled.

Wylan shook his hand. “Wylan…Hendricks.”

Jesper brought Wylan’s hand up to his lips and brushed a light kiss against his knuckles. “Pleasure to meet you, Wylan Hendricks”, he said. 

A storm of butterflies danced in Wylan’s stomach.  “Aren’t you a gentleman”, he managed to say. 

Jesper winked and turned to the girl now working behind the bar, “Inej, darling, can you get him a refill. And I’ll have a whiskey.” 

Inej raised an eyebrow. “Don’t you have an essay to do by morning?” she said. 

Jesper waved his hand dismissively at her. “It’ll be fine, I can miss one deadline if I need to”

“But it’s not just the one is it?” Inej muttered, but started working on the drinks.

“You’re in university?” Wylan asked.

“Yeah, the bartending gig is to pay for it. Inej goes there too, actually. AND she’s my roommate! Which means we get a ton of quality time together!”, he beamed at Inej who handed them their drinks.

“Lucky me”, she rolled her eyes, but there was a smile tucking at her lips.

Jesper took a sip of his drink before continuing. “What about you? University? Or are you focusing on the music thing?”

Wylan sighed. “Music is the dream, but no. And I haven’t gotten into university yet, but I have been taking some classes they offer. Mainly chemistry and mathematics.”

Jesper whistled. “Pretty and smart! Aren’t you a package.” 

Wylan was starting to get embarrassed by how much Jesper made him blush. Perhaps it was the time to return the favour. He took a sip of his drink and licked his lips before placing a hand on Jesper’s knee.

“Are we gonna sit here talking, or am I going to get that dance you promised?” he slid his hand up to Jesper’s thigh. Even if Jesper wasn’t blushing, Wylan considered the hungry look on his face a win. He got up and offered Jesper his hand. “Shall we?”

Jesper took his hand and Wylan led him to the dance floor. The guy on the stage was playing an uptempo folk-rock song. Jesper pulled Wylan close and placed his free hand on Wylan’s waist. Wylan cupped a hand behind Jesper’s neck and together they started to move. Jesper was a great dancer and he took the lead. Wylan lost track of time or how many songs had passed, all that registered to him were Jesper’s body pressing against him, his own wild heartbeat thundering in his ears and the smell of Jesper’s skin. Jesper’s eyes never left Wylan’s face. Finally he couldn’t take it anymore. 

“Wait, stop”, Wylan said, out of breath.

“You OK?” Jesper asked.

“Excellent”, Wylan said. He wrapped his arms around Jesper’s neck and kissed him. Jesper didn’t miss a beat before responding eagerly. He placed his hands on Wylan’s hips and pulled him closer. The music, the entire room, fated around Wylan as Jesper deepened the kiss, lips soft as silk. Wylan shivered under his touch.

Someone in the crowd wolf-whistled.

“Get a room!” someone else yelled. Wylan was pretty sure it was Inej.

Jesper laughed against Wylan’s mouth. “You wanna get somewhere more private?” he whispered.

Wylan swallowed. Did he? He had never kissed a stranger before, let alone hooked up with one. Then again he had never met anyone like Jesper. 

“I actually live right around the corner from here”, Jesper said.

“Um…” Wylan tried to form a sentence, to form a thought. They were still pressed against each other, neither of them letting go.

“I promise I’m not a serial killer or anything” Jesper said and finally took a step back. He took Wylan’s hand, “I would love to take you home, but I get it if that’s too much.”

Wylan considered this. “How do you know I’m not a serial killer?”

Jesper laughed. “Optimistic?”

Wylan looked at him. Then he kissed him again, but only shortly.  “OK”, he said.

“Yeah?” Jesper smiled.

Wylan nodded. “Let’s go.”

Jesper wrapped an arm around Wylan’s shoulders and led him out of the bar. The cold night air hit them, fresh and prickly. Wylan shivered in his denim jacket and was grateful for Jesper’s warmth beside him. Luckily the walk wasn’t long. They arrived at a tall apartment building made of worn red bricks in less than five minutes and Jesper took out a key from his pocket. He opened the door and let Wylan enter first. The corridor was narrow and one of the lights was broken. Jesper nodded towards the stairs. “Second floor”, he said.

They climbed the stairs and stopped at a door numbered six. The letter box had three names on it but Wylan was way too nervous to try to read them. Jesper noticed him looking. “Both of my roommates should be out. You met Inej, and Kaz is out of town this week.”

Wylan nodded. “Good to know” 

Jesper let them into the apartment. Wylan took a look around while Jesper closed the door behind them and turned on the lights. The room was an open concept, kitchen and living room occupying the same space. There were piles of books and papers on the coffee table and empty coffee mugs on the kitchen counter. The furniture was miss-matched and a lot of it looked second-handed. The room smelled like spices and some kind of floral scent.

Jesper kicked off his boots. “Don’t mind the mess. You want something to drink? We probably have some tea or wine…”

Wylan shook his head. He took off his shoes and placed them neatly next to Jesper’s. Then he put his hands on Jesper’s shoulders. “Kiss me?” he said.

Jesper didn’t hesitate to comply. He wrapped his arms around Wylan’s waist and pressed his mouth to his. Wylan moved his hands to cup Jesper’s face and kissed him back over and over again, both of them getting increasingly breathless each time. They stumbled across the room until Wylan’s back was pressed against a door. Jesper placed his hands against it on either side of Wylan’s head and leaned closer. He traced his lips along Wylan’s jawline until his mouth was next to his ear.

“That is my bedroom”, he whispered, “you want to go in?”

 “Yes”, Wylan breathed.

Jesper reached behind him and pushed the door open which made Wylan stumble backwards. Jesper caught him by the arms. “Sorry”, he snickered.

“Why do I have a feeling you did that on purpose?", Wylan grumbled and straightened himself. He tossed his jacket on the floor and pulled Jesper closer by the belt loops of his trousers. Jesper just shrugged and pushed Wylan towards the bed. The room wasn’t big and Wylan only had to take a couple of steps back before his legs hit the edge of the bed. He fell on his back on the mattress and Jesper climbed on top of him, straddling his hips. Wylan grabbed him by the front of his shirt and pulled him in. Jesper kissed him like he was running out of time, his lips travelling impatiently from his mouth to his jaw and onto his neck. Wylan shivered and sighed. He ran his hands down Jesper’s back and tucked at the hem of his shirt.

“You want it off?” Jesper muttered into Wylan’s skin.

“Yeah”, Wylan said.

Jesper sat up to undress and threw the shirt onto the floor. He smirked at Wylan when he noticed the look on the man’s face. “Like what you see?” he asked. 

Wylan swallowed. He brushed his fingers along the smooth skin of Jesper’s chest and stomach. He lifted his eyes to meet Jesper’s. “You’re no doubt the most beautiful man I have ever seen. Now will you please go back to kissing me?”

Jasper was struck speechless only for a moment. “Yes, sir”, he said then, and leaned back down. 

Just like before, when they had been dancing, they moved together easily as if to a beat only they could hear, bodies pressed tightly against each other. Jesper slid his hands under Wylan’s shirt pushing the fabric up…

“Wait”, Wylan said suddenly. 

Jesper immediately pulled away. 

“What is it?” he asked, out of breath. He sounded concerned, not impatient or even annoyed. It made Wylan feel some kind of way he wasn’t ready to acknowledge. He cleared his throat. 

“Uh, is it OK, if I - I keep my shirt on?” Wylan blushed harder than he had the entire night.

Jesper blinked. 

“Yeah, of course!” He said, “Don’t worry about it. Sorry, I should have asked.”

“Are you sure? I mean, I asked you to take off yours.”

“I offered to take it off!” Jesper corrected. “It’s absolutely fine!”

“OK”, Wylan said. Then, before he could lose his nerve he added: “However I would very much like it if you took my jeans off.”

“I am so glad you asked”, Jesper said before kissing Wylan once again. 

Chapter Text

Wylan woke up in an unfamiliar bed. It took him a couple of seconds to remember where he was and his half-asleep mind almost panicked before he saw the man laying next to him and last night came back to him in a rush. Jesper was fast asleep, breathing softly. Wylan moved to lay on his side to look at him. Without thinking what he was doing he reached out and ran his fingers through Jesper’s hair. Jesper sifted and Wylan quickly whitdrew his hand as if afraid of being caught doing something he shouldn’t but the sleeping man didn’t wake up. 

Wylan sat up and picked up his pants from the floor and dug out his phone to check the time. It was four in the morning. No wonder it was so dark outside. Wylan’s heart dropped when he noticed how many missed calls he had. All of them were from his father. The room got a lot colder suddenly as Wylan realised what had happened. He had completely forgotten his father had been expecting him home for some fancy dinner he was hosting for his business partners. He had insisted for Wylan to be there, something about opportunities and meeting the right people. It had slipped Wylan’s mind, due to the fact that he didn’t give a damn about his father’s business. Wylan’s fingers were shaking when he checked his voicemail. The messages started off quite normal with “you’re late, where are?” and “answer your phone!” but quickly proceeded to “you better be dead in a ditch somewhere or otherwise you’re in big trouble!” Jan van Eck was a lot of things but patient was not one of them. Wylan felt ill. He needed to get home. He never wanted to go home again. 

Wylan got up quietly and got dressed. He turned around to look at Jesper one more time. He really was stunning. It was hard to imagine someone like him would want anything more from someone like Wylan. It’s better to just cut my losses now, he thought.

Wylan snuck out of the room and softly closed the door behind him. He moved through the dark apartment as quietly as he could and headed to the front door.

“Hello”, said a voice from the shadows.

Wylan jumped, startled. A light turned on. Inej, the bartender/roommate, was standing in the kitchen leaning on to the sink, a glass of water in her hand. She was still wearing her work clothes, so she must have just gotten home. She raised her eyebrows at Wylan. “Are you leaving?”

“I, uh, yeah”, Wylan said.

Inej tilted her head. “There’s no need to sneak out. I’m sure he’ll attempt to make you breakfast if you stay. I can’t promise you it’ll be edible though”, she said.

“No, it’s just…I have to go.” Wylan put his shoes on.

“Well, be careful. This side of town isn’t exactly the safest this time of night”, Inej said.

“Oh”, Wylan said. Great, he thought, with my luck I will actually end up dead in a ditch. That would at least save him the trouble of facing his father.

“Take the bus”, Inej advised, “or better yet call a cab if you can.”

Wylan nodded. “Thanks, I’ll do that.” He had hoped to sound none-shalant but his voice betrayed him. Inej frowned. She pulled something out of her pocket and tossed it to Wylan. It was a small can with some kind of liquid inside. Wylan tried to make sense of the label in the dim light.

“It’s pepper spray”, Inej said. 

“I, uh…thank you”, Wylan said.  

Inej shrugged. “Don’t worry about it.”

Wylan gave her one last nod before getting out of the door.

*****

Jesper woke up six hours later that morning to find the bed empty. He hadn't been expecting that and he was surprised to find how disappointed he was by it. He got up and put sweatpants on before heading for breakfast. 

Inej was sitting on the couch with her laptop and a pile of books. Jesper poured himself a cup of coffee before joining her. 

“Morning”, he said and took a sip from his mug. Inej glanced at him and smiled quickly before returning her attention back to whatever she was doing. She always worked hard on her studies, unlike Jesper who wasn’t as motivated as she was. Inej was a psychology major and her grand plan was to become a therapist and specialize in sexual health and trauma. Jesper knew she had some personal experience dealing with the subject but Inej had never told him the details and he respected that. 

“I saw that guy of yours last night. The one from the club”, Inej said. “He seemed to be in a rush to leave. Did something happen?” 

Jesper gasped, mock-offended. “Hey, I am a gentleman. I don't kiss and tell!” he said. “But no, nothing ´happened´. We had a great time. Obviously”, he winked.

“I’ll have to take your word for it, fortunately I didn’t have to hear any of it this time”, Inej said, shaking her head. They sat in silence for a moment.

“So…did he say anything before he left?” Jesper asked.

“Not really, just that he had to go. He was nervous so I gave him pepper spray.”

“OK…? Did he at least leave his number?” 

“Did you ask for his number?”

“No…”

“That’s what I thought. But if you want to see him again, we should have his contact info at the club. He was one of the people who performed last night, right?”, Inej said.

“Now, I am fairly confident that’s considered stalking”, Jesper pointed out.

Inej just shrugged. “Maybe he’ll show up to another open mic night then.” She put her headphones on and started typing again, which Jesper took as a sign that the conversation was over. He got up and headed to the kitchen to make something to eat. 

When Jesper was sitting at the counter with a bowl of cereal he pulled up his phone and googled the name “Wylan Hendricks” hoping to find some kind of social media. No such luck. Which was odd, who doesn’t have social media? Maybe he had remembered the name wrong? Or maybe it wasn’t the guy’s real name. I really shouldn’t care this much anyway, he thought. If Wylan wanted anything more than a good time for one night, he would have stayed or asked for Jesper’s number. Jesper wasn’t even sure if he wanted anything more. Last night had been great for sure, but Jesper wasn’t usually the type to get attached. Still, there was something about the guy that Jesper couldn’t quite shake. Maybe it was the simple sincerity with which he had called Jesper beautiful and taken Jesper’s breath away. Or the vulnerability Wylan had sang with, that had drawn Jesper’s attention in the first place. In any case, it seemed he would have to wait for his mystery man to make an encore. 

*****

Fortunately Wylan hadn’t run into his father when he had gotten home the previous night. He had headed straight to bed and hoped somehow everything would look better in the morning. Now it was two o’clock in the afternoon and he hadn’t dared to leave his room yet. He was laying on the floor in his bedroom going through his music notes. He had been preparing for an audition for a music school for months. He hadn’t told anyone about it. Not that he had anyone to tell to. The only person who had ever cared about his music or his art had been his mother who had passed away years ago. He didn’t really have any friends and there was no way in hell he was telling his father. Jan Van Eck considered music to be a waste of time and not a respectable career. And the man didn’t waste anything. The only reason Wylan was still staying in this house was that he hadn’t been able to get a job and his father refused to pay for an apartment for him when he could “live home for free and save money”. His plan was to get a scholarship and hopefully a job too, study music and to never have to depend on his father again. 

Eventually hunger got the better of Wylan and he had to leave his room even with the risk of running into his father. He planned to get into the kitchen as fast and quiet as possible, grab something to eat and retreat back to his room. He passed through the empty hallways of the mansion with expert caution, familiar with every squeaky floorboard. However,  he must have done something to anger whatever entity controlled luck because just as he thought he was in the clear his father’s voice called from the living room.

“Get in here, son.”

Wylan stopped in his tracks. He allowed himself a few seconds of deep breaths before entering.

Jan Van Eck was seated on one of the design couches, a newspaper in his lap and a cup of tea in hand. He was wearing a green sweater and casual trousers. His hair was slicked back but not styled. He was the perfect image of a relaxed father enjoying his free Sunday afternoon, but Wylan knew better. He bit his lip to keep it from trembling. 

Van Eck sighed and folded his newspaper. He fixed his cold eyes on his son and simply raised his eyebrows, silently telling him to defend himself.

“I’m sorry, father”, Wylan squeaked. He immediately loathed himself for how pathetic he sounded.

“For?” his father pushed.

“For missing the diner. I should have let you know I couldn’t make it.”

Van Eck slammed the newspaper against the coffee table so hard the glass figurines placed on it jingled. “You should have been there, is what you should have done! When you make a commitment you follow through with it! Haven’t I taught you anything, have you no respect? Or do you just enjoy embarrassing me?” He demanded.

“I’m sorry! I - I forgot!” Wylan tried to defend himself.

“Forgot? I knew you were thick headed but this is a new low even for you. Do you have any idea how hard it was to set this dinner up in the first place? And I did it for you, so you could make connections, since you keep failing to get into higher education on your own!”

Wylan frowned. “There were university people here? You didn’t tell me that. I thought it was just your work thing.” As soon as he had finished the sentence he knew he had made a mistake. His father’s face darkened. Van Eck got up from his seat slowly. “So this is my fault now, is that it?” he said, voice dangerously low.

Wylan shook his head swiftly. “No, no I didn’t say that, I’m sor-”

His father raised his hand to quiet him and Wylan flinched. 

“The thing I want to know is, what could you have possibly been doing all evening and night long that was more important? In the Barrel of all places? And don’t try to deny it, you know I track your phone, it’s for your own good.”

Wylan’s face heated as images from last night flushed his mind. “I, uh, I stayed with…a friend”, he managed to get out.

His father studied him with his iron gaze. His eyes stopped at Wylan’s neck. Wylan’s stomach dropped as he realised what he was looking at and his hand flew up to cover the marks Jesper had left on his skin. Van Eck was in front of his son with a few wide steps and before Wylan could say anything the back of his father’s hand had connected with his cheek. Wylan’s head was still ringing when his father grabbed him by the chin.

“You dare lie to me, boy?” he hissed.

Wylan yanked himself free. He wanted to hit his father, he wanted to scream and tell him he hated him, that he wasn’t a kid anymore and that he couldn’t treat him this way. But the truth was that he could. Wylan had nowhere to go and no one to tell to. When you had as much money and influence as Jan Van Eck nobody was going to believe -or care- that you were abusing your useless son.

“Go to your room and stay there!” Van Eck spatt out.

Wylan stumbled out of the room and hurried back upstairs. 

“And you better not be having relations with some Barrel rat, or I’ll make you wish you had never been born!” his father bellowed after him.

Hours later Wylan was lying in his bed still steaming with rage, tears tracing his face. His phone buzzed with a notification. It was the counter he had set on his calendar to keep up with the days left before his audition. Three weeks to go. Maybe a week after that to get the results. A month. One month till he would find out if he would get the chance to change his life.