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Holding Like a Prison Cage

Chapter Text

The first time they sleep together is just an attempt to de-stress. A distraction from knowing and not being able to change anything.

Living so close to Grace and not being able to talk to her was driving Jefferson to the edge. After all that he had given up for Regina to have her father back, everything he had given to her in the past she had taken away the one thing good in his life and dangled it right in front of his face. Day after day he was forced to see another family live the life he used to have with his daughter. Before this place.

Then August came to town. August’s arrival alone would have been enough to ping Jefferson’s interest, however, as soon as August arrived he immediately honed in on the one person who could break the curse: Emma. Jefferson knew it wasn’t a coincidence because there were no coincidences here. Everything was set up by Regina. Everything.

Jefferson waited a full three days before going to talk to August. He had, of course, immediately seen the wood that had started replacing August’s flesh and bone.

“You can see it then?” August asked quietly. “You remember…”

“I remember everything,” Jefferson replied bitterly.

“What did she take from you?” Regina took something from everyone. The unfortunate few who remembered couldn’t afford not to share their burdens with each other.

“My daughter,” Jefferson replied. “I can’t… She’s with another family.”

August grimaced. Whatever Jefferson did to upset Regina in their world must have been bad for her to get so personal with his Storybrooke punishment.

“How… Where were you… Before?” Jefferson asked.

August paused. He didn’t know how much he should reveal to this stranger right away, but he desperately wanted to share his burden with someone.

“I was already here when the curse was placed,” he replied vaguely. Thankfully Jefferson took it for the olive branch that it was and left it alone.

This one meeting was enough for them to get caught up in each other’s orbits. Was enough for them to fall into bed together time and time again. To try to forget what they could remember but couldn’t do anything about.

Like Jefferson, August was no stranger to having a family member in Storybrooke who didn’t know him. The only plus side was that August could go and talk to his father and help him out around the shop without accused of pedophilia or something equally as heinous.

Family wasn’t August’s true burden though. Unlike Jefferson, August doesn’t really have anything waiting for him in their realm. He had his father, but after spending 28 years living as an orphan the only thing August can really remember clearly about him was that he was kind and that he burdened August with saving their world by keeping Emma safe.

He had failed miserably. He probably wouldn’t have been able to keep her close to him even if they hadn’t landed themselves in an orphanage that thrived on abuse. How was a seven year old kid supposed to take care of both himself and a baby? How were they ever going to get placed together in a home?

Despite how hard he tried, was still trying, to keep Emma safe he was still getting punished for his failings. The stiffness that first resonated in his legs was starting to spread throughout his body. It left him weakened and eventually unable to visit his father at all.

Without his physicality he was trapped inside his own mind and on his darker days August willed the wood to spread faster across his body. To take over his body and mind completely so he could be free.

Since meeting Jefferson those days became fewer and fewer. Now August had someone other than himself to care about saving from this curse. Someone worth saving.

More than anything August wanted Jefferson to be happy. Even if returning to their world meant that Jefferson was going to have his daughter and forget all about their time here. Would forget all about August.

Chapter Text

Although technically August was still staying at the town’s inn, in reality he had moved in with Jefferson. It had been pure dumb luck that he had actually been at the inn the few times that Emma had come looking for him.

Now that the curse was broken August thought it would be best to leave Jefferson’s home and move back to the inn. How was Jefferson going to explain a strange man living in his house to his daughter? If it was anything other than the truth it would be an insult to both August and Grace, but there was nothing for Jefferson to actually tell Grace about beyond the sleeping together thing.

In the end all they really were to each other were means to an end. Well, to Jefferson at least.

August never really formed attachments before Storybrooke. He only really ever had Emma and even then he never really had her. He had responsibilities to her and she never knew who he was until Storybrooke.

Then he met Jefferson and his loneliness had gradually disappeared and left his carefully constructed walls crumbling beyond repair.

Now he desperately needed them to move on, but he was too vulnerable to recreate them.

“What are you doing?” a voice interrupted his self loathing.

“I um…” August looked at Jefferson with wide, unsure eyes. Like he had no idea that he was getting ready to leave.

“Why are you leaving?” Jefferson demanded angrily.

“You’ve got Grace back,” August replied. “I didn’t... I don’t…”

He braved a look at Jefferson’s face and was shocked at how much hurt was there under all that anger

“I don’t think you understand how this works,” Jefferson said dangerously. “I don’t let just anyone into my life or talk to them about Grace. Not unless I want them there.”

August swallowed.

Jefferson tugged August’s suitcase out of his hand and let it drop to the floor. He crowded August up and onto the bed before August even knew what was going on.

Jefferson made quick work of August’s shirt before delicately taking off his scarf. August had always been easily mesmerized by the rough scar trailing around Jefferson’s neck, but tonight his eyes were locked with Jefferson’s.

There was an intensity there that would have scared August if he didn’t know Jefferson as well as he did. August felt completely idiotic for thinking this man was going to let him leave without a fight.

August almost moaned when the silky smoothness of the scarf was wrapped tightly around his wrists and the headboard.

“Do you understand?” Jefferson whispered against August’s beard.

August thought he was hard before but the contrast between the smoothness of the scarf around his wrists and the roughness of Jefferson’s own scruff roughness of Jefferson’s own scruff rubbing against his Adam’s apple made his dick throb.

Jefferson grabbed August’s sides roughly, squeezing them before gently releasing. “Do you understand what I am telling you, August?”

August nodded. “Yes,” he replied roughly. “I do.” August knew that his verbal acceptance was only a temporary place holder for the conversation they were going to have, should have had earlier, but it was enough for this.

Chapter Text

The transition back to their world was not as difficult as they thought it would be. Luckily August did not revert back to his seven year old self when they returned. His heart clenched painfully at the mere thought of Jefferson returning to his lonely, isolated cabin with his daughter while August went through the painful process of growing up again.

 

August did not even want to think about the other possible outcomes of their return to the Enchanted Forest. Neither forgetting his relationship with Jefferson nor remembering it and being unable to do anything about it seemed like a particularly desirable life to live.

 

He figured that he owed Baelfire some kind of life debt or something because there is no way that Mr. Go… Rumpelstiltskin would have made things easy for August and Jefferson when they returned without his intervention. Unless Jefferson’s involvement in the reuniting of Belle with Rumpelstiltskin had gained them his favor.

 

August didn’t know if it was due to the long period of time they spent living in another world or the defeat of Regina, but he noticed that other things were… different when they came back.

 

Jefferson’s giant mansion had made the trip back, albeit in an altered state. Instead of a two story mansion with tendencies towards the creepy and the gothic, it had transformed into a larger than normal house that looked more like a mountain lodge than a log cabin. It made Jefferson rather endearingly embarrassed to own such a house now that he had both the people he loved in his life again.

 

August’s love for Jefferson increased when, without August having to ask, Jefferson offered up space for Geppetto to move in. Things had been a bit awkward between August and his dad when they returned because the last memories Geppetto had of August were of him as a seven year old wooden boy called Pinocchio.

 

Grace did a lot to help ease the awkward tension between them with her mere presence. It was hard for Geppetto to feel like he missed out on his son’s life when he still had his son and his son’s… family in his life.

 

They meet up with the others once a month to have dinner and catch up. Some of the ones who crossed over and back didn’t attend. They wanted to forget their time away from the Enchanted Forest in a way that wasn’t realistic for those who were at the center of most of Regina’s dark schemes.

 

Those ones chose to make the most of the friendships they would not have had without the aid of Regina’s spell.  To them it was important to remember the positives of their ordeal by cherishing what they gained rather than focusing on what was taken away, even temporarily.

 

Jefferson and August knew this all too well.

 

Though. Jefferson was having an easier time letting go of their time in Storybrooke than August was, despite actively grieving for his daughter for 28 years.

 

When August allowed himself to think about it, to poke at the aching spots he received in the other world, he attributed Jefferson’s ability to let go to the fact that Jefferson got to go back to where his life had paused while he was in Storybrooke. His daughter hadn’t aged, hadn’t really remembered her time there, and Jefferson was able to let go in order to move on.

 

August, however, never really had anything in either world. He had more of a life there than in the Enchanted Forest, but it was empty. The only thing he had there was his travels and his writing until he met Jefferson.

 

Now that they were back in the Enchanted forest he was at a loss for how to spend his days. So he spent a lot of time tucked into empty rooms of the house and writing.

 

“There you are,” Jefferson’s warm voice interrupted August’s reverie. August had holed himself up in one of their lesser used rooms, tucked up on a window seat so he could watch Grace play while he wrote.

 

August smiled up at him. They were doing a lot of that now that they were back. It was great to see Jefferson finally get to be happy. It made August love him more.

 

“Here I am,” August replied. Jefferson drew him into a kiss that got dirty fast. August managed to move his typewriter before Jefferson straddled him, pressed his back into the window while Jefferson mouthed along his neck. Nothing got August hotter than Jefferson’s mouth on his beard and nothing got Jefferson hotter than August’s beard’s existence.

 

When Jefferson started punctuating his mouth’s movements with harder thrusts against August’s groin August decided that that they needed to get rid of their pants.

 

He skimmed his hands down to cup Jefferson’s hips underneath his pants before skimming them across Jefferson’s stomach to undo the tie that kept them up.

 

Jefferson arched up and August was able to push his pants down past his ass. Jefferson pushed his shirt up and over his head before he moved off of August. He kicked his pants off quickly before tugging on the ties to August’s pants. August quickly pushed his pants down his hips and onto the floor as Jefferson started unbuttoning his shirt, punctuating each open button with a lick or a kiss to August’s exposed skin.

 

August was panting by the time his shirt was eased down his arms and onto the bench and Jefferson lowered himself to straddle August’s thighs again.

 

“Do you have…” August started, but Jefferson just guided August up and into his already lubed up hole. August groaned at the thought of Jefferson fingering himself to get ready for this and then walking through their house to find him.

 

August’s hips stuttered helplessly up into Jefferson until Jefferson took control. He pressed August back into the glass by the shoulders and used him for leverage.

 

August spread his legs a little wider, forcing Jefferson to do the same and causing Jefferson to take him deeper.

 

Jefferson slowed for a few thrusts, as if relishing the feel of August that much more inside of him before he speed up again.

 

August could feel himself getting close so he moved his one of his hands away from their grip on Jefferson’s ass to stroke Jefferson’s cock in time with his thrusts.

 

Jefferson let out one long moan before he was coming over August’s hand and chest. August waited until Jefferson was spent before grabbing his hips and thrusting up into him until August came hard.  

 

“I really hope nobody was looking up here,” August mused.

 

Jefferson smirked at him. “Maybe I want people to know that you are mine.”

 

“I was thinking more along the lines of not wanting your daughter and my dad watch us have sex.”

 

Jefferson laughed. “They went out walking with Henry and Emma before I came up here.”

 

“Mmm” August hummed. He was happy he could enjoy this moment with Jefferson without worrying.

 

“Come on,” Jefferson said, hitting August’s side gently. “We need to clean up before they come back.”

 

August groaned as Jefferson pulled off him. He could feel his cum getting dragged along his softening cock and it twitched in interest. Jefferson smirked at him again before pressing a messy kiss against his lips.

 

August responded by running his finger along Jefferson’s crease and then fingering him gently.

 

Jefferson moaned but pulled away. “No time for that. They’ll be back soon.”

 

August pouted but let himself be led to their makeshift washroom. One of the things he actually missed about the other world was running water. Buckets and rags didn’t quite do it for him like a hot shower, but the Enchanted Forest did have its payoffs.