Unnatural History, "Courage in the Water" Maggie/Jasper, rated T

[paynesgrey]

Fandom: Unnatural History
Title: Courage in the Water
Author: paynesgrey  
Word Count: 1,980
Pairings/Characters: Jasper Bartlett, Maggie Winnock, Jasper/Maggie, mention of Henry
Genre: Romance, H/C
Spoilers/Warnings: No spoilers. Warnings for teenagers kissing. 
Notes: Written for hc_bingo 's May Amnesty challenge for a rare fandom. The prompt I used was "body image issues".

Links: AO3 | FFnet

Summary: Henry has been gone all summer, leaving them lonely without him. So Jasper convinces Maggie to go for a night swim. Suddenly, it’s much easier to confess like this.

Courage in the Water

Maggie took a deep breath. Her gaze swept over the dark lake and settled on the painterly white moon that rippled with the rolling waves. Her eyes made their way to the figure sitting on the edge of the dock, looking out at that same glowing reflection.

Jasper had left their encampment and followed a trail toward the lake without her, and the witching hour was fast approaching. She had sensed his loneliness, and felt even lonelier herself when she’d found him missing in the sleeping bag beside her in their tent.

Henry was still accompanying his parents on a dig in Argentina, and their summer had never felt emptier. Their little trio just wasn’t the same without him. They knew he’d return near the end of July, but still, time seemed to come to an excruciating crawl without him. Their senior year was coming up as well so they felt at a loss in not having the summer to hang out with him. Who knew where there life would take them after high school? Would they have that much time together next summer?

Jasper turned around to meet her eyes as her footsteps made a distinctive noise on the wooden planks of the dock. The moonlight gave his face a defined shape, and she saw his smile in the darkness.

“I was looking for you,” Maggie said, and she settled next to him, sitting beside him on the dock. She automatically dipped her toes into the cool water as he had.

“I couldn’t sleep,” he said within a sigh. In that sigh, Maggie could feel his frustration. He was missing Henry.

“It’s just not the same without him, is it?” she finally said. Jasper nodded.

“It’s boring. We should have gone with him,” Jasper bemoaned. They had certainly been invited on the dig too, but Maggie’s parents did not give permission, and Jasper’s father had lined him up with an internship that he couldn’t refuse. They knew that Henry was even looking forward to them coming with him, and he was crestfallen when they both had declined.

“I got another text from him,” Jasper said, and he scoffed. “He still has struggles with technology.”

Maggie grinned. “That’s our Henry.”

Jasper snorted and he looked into the lake, kicking up his foot and splashing a larger rise of water. Maggie felt some of it on her shin and giggled.

“It hasn’t been that bad without him, though,” Maggie said, leaning against Jasper and nudging his arm. “We have each other. No near death experiences or harrowing mysteries.”

It was true that they had still spent time together, though they didn’t get into nearly the same kind of trouble that they did when Henry was with them. They had tried, but no mysteries or dangers seemed to present themselves to them. Maybe it was Henry and he was a literal danger magnet.

Jasper laughed suddenly. “He would be so bored!”

“Yeah, and I can just seem him creating danger just to keep us busy,” Maggie said. “If it didn’t find him, Henry would find trouble himself!”

Jasper made a noise of affirmation, and then he suddenly went quiet. “Hey… that’s it! We need to create our own trouble.”

“Uh, what...” Maggie said, ready to disapprove of any idea he came up with. Really, Jasper didn’t have to channel his cousin. Maggie was content just spending a quiet moment with him on the dock at midnight.

She watched him as he jumped up and began removing his shirt. Maggie felt heat rush to her cheeks. “What are you doing?”

“Come on,” he said, and she squeaked when he removed his pants. She saw his legs shaking, and she didn’t know if it was from the cool air or nerves. Either way, Jasper was determined to go through with whatever scheme was forming in his head.

Maggie turned her head away when he’d began to pull down his light blue underpants. “Oh my God, Jasper!” Embarrassment warmed her whole body.

Jasper was getting naked!

Then, she heard a large crash into the water and a splash all over her. She sputtered and looked down at her legs and shorts, covered in lake water.

She dared a look to the source, and frowned as Jasper grinned at her. “Come in, the water’s great…” He waded around her expectantly, and he pushed his wet hair out of his eyes. He smirked at her, his eyes filling with mischief and impulsiveness.

He was also very naked swimming in that lake. And he wanted her to join him. What if someone saw them?

“You have to be joking!” she said stiffly.

“Come on! Jump in and swim with me! Do it in honor of Henry!” he urged her.

“If Henry was here…” she began, pondering out loud.

“He’d have been buck naked and whooping in the water hours ago!” Jasper said. “In broad daylight no less, and you know it, Maggie Winnock!”

“Okay, fine, fine, he totally would,” she said, instinctively hugging herself. She really did not want to get naked out here in the woods, not to mention with Jasper. Yes, they’d been friends for a long time, and had known each other longer. She knew he’d had somewhat of a crush on her, and though her interest was leaning more toward Henry lately… She’d also felt the Jasper was kind of cute too, and at least he was intelligent, and he was funny. Not to mention, he had really nice eyes…

But what if he saw her body and laughed? She had never gotten naked in front of a boy. She was a virgin of course, so why would she get naked in front of any boy? She’d had boyfriends before, but they’d never gotten as far as to see her in her birthday suit.

“Come on, Winnock. It’s lonely in the water,” Jasper said. She watched him as he swim around on his back, silence falling over them as the peace of the forest calmed her nerves.

“Oh, what the hell,” she said out loud, and he laughed at her. “Now don’t look and don’t laugh at me!”

“What? Why would I laugh?” he said. He rolled his eyes at her.

“Turn around!” she said, waving her arms at him, feeling her nerves tighten more and more in her body.

“Fine, fine,” he said, and he mumbled something under his breath when he turned. It sounded like “deprive a guy of the good stuff” and Maggie inwardly stiffened, feeling even more awkward that Jasper wanted to see her naked.

She didn’t know what to think about that!

Jasper said nothing while she removed her clothes quickly, and she gingerly placed them onto the dock. He kept his back to her like a gentleman, and the sound of the peaceful rolling waves filled up the silence between them.

Then, Maggie took the leap and jumped into the water beside him. Jasper whooped with glee.

Maggie hollered from how the cold water assaulted her bare skin. “Oh my god, cold, cold, cold…”

Jasper laughed. “Ha, you’ll get used to it soon.”

Maggie shot him a look, wiping wet hair and water from her eyes. He swam over to her with a grin, and she followed his eyes as he stayed above water. Smart boy. He better not even try to look under the waves!

She swam around, and soon they were dancing around each other. She began to splash him, and he splashed her back. They laughed, enjoying the water and peaceful glow of the moonlight.

Maggie was tempted to swim on her back, but knowing she’d be more exposed, she continued to doggie paddle around Jasper as he looked up at the sky.

“This is nice,” she said, feeling peaceful with Jasper like this. It was true they missed Henry, but being with Jasper this summer made her realize how amazing he was, and that just the two of them were great together too.

Jasper turned, coming closer to her in the water. They settled into a bright reflection on the water, and Jasper faced her. The daring mischief was gone from his eyes and he looked at her with a different expression. She felt trapped by his gaze. It felt like the water of the lake was drawing them closer to each other.

“Jasper,” she said, and she reached out a hand and gently pulled some aquatic plant off his head. He laughed.

“Maggie, there’s something…” His words halted on his tongue, and Maggie sprung forward, framing his face with her hands and pulling him into a deep kiss.

It was her turn to be daring. If he saw her body when she rose from the water to kiss him, well, it just didn’t matter anymore. She could handle it. They were both alone this summer, and here, in this moment, she’d never felt closer to him.

Perhaps it was the loneliness that motivated her to make a move, but she had to admit, she did want him. She only hoped this didn’t ruin their friendship.

He didn’t seem to mind the kiss. In fact, he responded heatedly to her touch, wrapping his arms around her as they bobbed in the water. She moaned in his mouth. He tasted like peppermint and spice.

When they broke from the kiss, Maggie exhaled deeply, feeling a little embarrassed by her own impulsiveness.

“Wow, I never thought… I mean, I always wanted to…” Jasper licked his lips and looked at her with a perplexed expression. She could see he was finding humor in the moment. “Did you just kiss me, Maggie Winnock?”

“Did you just kiss me back, Jasper Bartlett?” she asked with a coy smile. It was invitation enough for him to swim over to her and pull her close again. Her body shuddered with desire as he nuzzled against her. He pulled her into a warm embrace and kissed her neck. She arched for him, leaning back and opening herself to him. She felt his hot breath against her skin with each kiss, and even though the water was cold, Jasper was keeping them both warm together.

“Is this a good time to tell you that I like you and I hope this doesn’t ruin our friendship?” she asked him as he suckled on her pulse.

“Oh my God, yes,” he said, whimpering against her. “Maggie, you don’t know how long I’ve wanted this. How long I’ve wanted you.”

She pulled his face toward hers and kissed him on the lips again. She met his heated eyes, seeing desire swirling within them. He did want her, badly and deeply. Suddenly her loneliness had faded, and she wondered if it’d ever been there in the first place.

“I’m sorry it took me so long to say something,” Maggie said.

Jasper shook his head. “Forget about it. Just stay with me here,” he said, and Maggie nodded against him as they fell into another frenetic kiss. Her cares about him seeing her body also faded away as his hands roamed over her within the water, tracing the shape of her body.

The evening trailed on, and they enjoyed each other in the water, finding courage to confess their feelings under the inviting peace of nature. They knew that if Henry were here, this probably would have never happened. Maggie wondered if she’d even get this far with Jasper with Henry here, and now that they’d had a summer without his cousin, she realized she had gotten closer to Jasper because of his absence. She silently thanked Henry for leaving them and giving them this space, now feeling wholly differently about their summer without him.

She didn’t know how far she and Jasper would enjoy each other tonight, but Maggie was pretty sure she’d give Jasper all that he’d ask from her.

She’d even give him the moon.

END

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