[ h u g o ]

But seriously, even when Hugo was 18 Jackson struggled to make the kid eat his damn vegetables.

When Hugo finally climbed off of him, Jackson was able to get a quick view of his apartment. Everything still seemed to be in tact…at least at a quick glance. It’s not like he’d spent very much time there lately. Since coming home Jackson only stopped by his apartment whenever he needed some more clothes…or his Star Trek dvds.

"You’ve been here the whole time?" he repeated in disbelief, watching as Hugo picked up the bags. Jackson wasn’t entirely sure how he felt about this. Of course Hugo was more than welcome to stay there, Jackson had told him so right before he left, but…had he really been here on his own this entire time? The thought wasn’t a comforting one. It’s not that Jackson didn’t trust Hugo but…seriously, how had the kid survived on his own for five years??

Despite the fact that the boy was legally an adult, Jackson couldn’t help but see Hugo as the same kid who had stumbled onto his and Toby’s couch all those years ago. The vampire had always felt a certain responsibility over Hugo and being away from five years hadn’t seemed to change a thing.

Shit. This parenthood thing was no joke.

He took a seat at the kitchen table, looking around the apartment almost sheepishly. "Well, I mean, yeah..." he shrugged, as if it wasn't a big deal. "I mean, I'm not always here, and a lot of the times I wasn't, Hax or Claire or sometimes even Toby were usually here..." Though he really did do his very best to keep Claire and Hax out. He slept here, too. "Don't act so surprised, man," Hugo finally laughed, rubbing at the back of his neck before taking a drink. "This is one of the only places I've ever really felt at home." Scratch that, this was the only place. But for risk of sounding too gay (said the dude with the vampire boyfriend) and overemotional (that shit was all Toby), Hugo left it at that. To say Hugo was relieved when Jackson extended his home to him once more would be an understatement.

"Well that eliminates me having to make you and Toby move all of my stuff out," he cheesed up at him, baring a toothy grin. In all honesty, Hugo was really, really glad to have him back. Of all the Belfronts, Hugo had always felt closest to Jackson -- not even a few years and some odd days could change that. And, okay, maybe Hugo was definitely better off having someone around to keep him from doing anything stupid. Not that he usually did, but hanging out with Dean and Claire and occasionally Deanna when she wasn't trying to murder him was bound to get him in some trouble sooner or later. "Bachelor pad 2.0!"

He grinned cheekily, tilted his beer at him in cheers, and tossed it back before chucking the empty into the sink, in total bachelor pad style.

"Oh, I'm still dealing," Hugo moved on, very nonchalant as he yawned. Hugo had been dealing drugs since high school, it would almost be a sham if he just up and quit after all these years, obviously. "Not V!!" he clarified quickly, his eyes widening in alarm as he looked up at Jackson, almost nervously. He knew all about how V was taken and distributed, as if he wanted any part of that."Nothing illegal, either!" Weed was still very much illegal in the state of Mississippi, but whatever. "And, occasionally Toby bugs me about working for him, but I would rather shave the hair off my balls and glue them to my eyes." It was probably too much to share that he was also a part time stripper.

"Seriously, best welcome home greeting so far," he chuckled, wrapping his arms around Hugo. Goddammit, he had missed this kid. As much as Hugo enjoyed pissing everyone off, Jackson knew that deep (way deep) down the kid wasn’t half bad. Sure he was a pain in the ass but that made him all the more Belfront. And in a sense, Hugo had sort of helped Jackson grow up. Sort of. Yeah, his and Tobys cat mysteriously disappeared but Hugo was still alive and kicking. So that had to count for something, right? Especially now that Jackson was a father, and Toby would shortly follow. 

Jackson knew he made a huge mistake in trusting Hax and Claire to watch his apartment while he was gone. In his defense, he was still completely drunk the morning he caught his flight to Germany. He’d called Toby (obviously) as soon as he landed and after some quick rearrangements, was dubbed the one to keep an eye out on Jacksons precious bachelor pad. Toby assured him that Hugo would take great care of it.

In all honesty, Jackson wasn’t entirely sure how Hugo Stirling had managed to play such a huge role in the Belfronts lives. Maybe because the kid never bothered to leave their couch even after Toby had moved out. Or maybe because Hugo was just as screwed up in the head as the rest of them, that the family welcome him with open arms. Either way, it came Jackson the roommate he didn’t want but definitely needed before leaving Oxford.

 It had been two years since Jackson had seen his so- Hugo. While he was off learning the ropes of vampirism with his maker, Jackson constantly found himself wondering how Hugo was doing. Where was he staying? Did he shower on a daily basis? Did he ever go back to school? Was Toby feeding him the right kind of potatoes? Much to his disappointment, Hugo was MIA when Jackson finally returned home. His whereabouts were unknown, even to the rest of the Belfronts. At least until today.

Or, you know; he had a beer with Toby, Hax, and Rory in the parking lot of the airport and then they went and threw some rocks at some trains.

Still, Hugo liked to think (or rather hope) that Jackson would like who Hugo had become while he was away. Hugo liked to think he was a man of many talents, and whenever anyone that wasn’t a Belfront asked what he was doing with his life, Hugo told them that he was in sales. Illegal sales in the state of Mississippi, but sales all the same, and being in a college town meant business was booming.

Also, Tobydad had assured him more than once that he wouldn’t bail him out of jail if business went south, but Hugo would always have a job with him if he wanted it. Hugo didn’t want it, but he appreciated his dads for always looking out for him. That was the thing about Jackson and Toby; he’d been a wart on their asses since he was 14 and yet they were the closest thing to family he had. He was a wart, for sure, but Hugo had been very respectful to the sanctity of Jackson’s apartment and had been sure to chase Hax and Claire out whenever they came around.

But Hugo hadn’t seen his Jackson yet. He worked most nights and when he wasn’t working he was sleeping and if he wasn’t sleeping he was usually confused about what time of day it was — and to be honest, he had been hoping he would catch Jackson in his apartment, but the vampire had yet to make an appearance. Hugo had missed the Belfront dinner when he heard everything had kind of gone to shit and Claire had informed him that Hugo was gonna have to have two Christmases because he was now a child of divorce. And then he had heard his parents had gotten back together and Hugo had hoped one or either would make an appearance then… to no avail.

Dean sat comfortable on one of the countless benches in the middle of town square, his blue eyes roaming the crowds of passing people. He took another bite of his pink cotton candy as he eyed a woman yelling loudly on her cellphone as she walked by. The looked delicious. TruBlood was unfulfilling and while Dean couldn’t actually digest cotton candy he really did like the way the stuff melted in his mouth. He’d been addicted to the thing ever since Poppy had dragged him along to the town fair a couple months ago.

Cotton candy was seriously the high light of this dump of a town.

A saddened expression made it’s way onto the vampires face as he realized he was down to the last few bites of his precious dinner. Claire was supposed to have shown up an hour ago so they could do whatever it was they did, which thankfully included actually dinner for Dean and maybe a squirrel for Claire if she was in wolf form. Letting out an annoyed breath as he finished the last of his cotton candy, scratching his head through the dumb beanie he was wearing courtesy of his date. It’s not that Dean was afraid of her, he really wasn’t, but she had worked so hard to get those three dollars to purchase this hat at the local good will store.

Growing bored, and even hungrier, Dean stood suddenly and flicked the empty cotton candy holder in the crowd. He smiled to himself when he heard a man nearby curse after having been hit in the back of the head with it. It wasn’t until the man-boy turned around that the smile was quickly wiped off the vampires face. “Little buddy,” the vampire spoke, his eyes widening in awe. Dean knew that face, he would know it anywhere. That face was his friend!