This story is a work of fiction. I do not claim to know Jesse McCartney (although I wish I did ;-D), nor do I know about his sexual preference (ditto). This story will contain some sexual content, and is about a relationship between two men. If this offends you, then I suggest you use that handy close button on your window. If it's illegal for you to be reading this, well then you shouldn't be here either, but you probably already knew that :- P.
And as always thanks to Kyle for proofreading/critiquing the chapters, and now I'd also like to thank my two new additional "editors", Ty and Wes, for proofreading and critiquing as well!
Chapter 8:
The next morning we all woke up on the couch, a little sore from the strange positions, but still pretty comfortable. Fortunately we made sure to take these pills that prevent hangovers called `Chaser Plus,' so we were hangover free, but still had to piss like a bitch, but with only one bathroom we had to wait a while. We ate some breakfast and just hung out a bit, watching TV, reading the paper, stuff like that. At around eleven o'clock I went to my place to take a shower and study and get some things ready for the night, mainly because Kyle kicked me out so he could get ready for his night with Brian. If Kirsten didn't live there he probably would have kicked her out too, but he had to settle for me.
At around six o'clock I heard the buzzer sound. "Yeah?" I asked, pressing the button.
"Hey, it's me!" I heard Jesse's muffled voice come out of the speaker. "Open up, it's freezing out here!"
"'K, c'mon up," I said, pressing the open door button, and opened the door slightly. He got up a few minutes later.
"Hey, you there?" he called.
"Yup, I'm in the kitchen." He came in, looking very cute in his beanie and winter coat, and lean against the door post. "What's up?"
"Not too much," he answered. He just stood there in his winter stuff. "So, are you gonna take my coat and stuff, or are you gonna just make me stand here like this?"
"Nah, I figured I'd get you all hot and sweaty. You smell really good when you're sweaty," I told him with a wicked grin. "But seriously, you'd better feel at home enough by now to put that stuff away yourself, cuz I sure aint doin' it for you," I winked at him.
"Yeah, you do gotta point there. You're just lucky that I don't feel so comfortable here that I just dump my stuff all over the place."
"Yup, guess I better count my lucky stars," I said as I walked over to him, put my arms around his neck, and gave him a quick kiss on the lips. "At least while you got all this melted snow on you."
"Yup yup," he said. "Speaking of which, I don't wanna get you all wet, so I better hang this stuff up."
"'K," I said. "So how'd everything go last night? Have fun?"
"Yup, it was cool, thanks, albeit a little bittersweet. First I hung out with my family a bit, we did stuff around town, like eat out and stuff. Then I went to hang out with a bunch of friends, which was a lot of fun. All in all, a good last Friday night in New York."
"That's good."
"Yup. How about you, how was your night with the two K's?"
"The two K's? You come up with that just now?" I asked with a chuckle.
"Yup. You like?"
"Yeah, it's cute."
"Mhm. Soo, how was it?"
"Very good, actually. We just hung out, doing in-house stuff. And there was alcohol involved, which's usually a plus," I said with a grin.
"Oh yeah, I'd say so. Just as long as you're responsible about it, right?" He told me with a slightly sad, thoughtful look on his face.
"Yeah, of course," I said, studying him slightly, but not pursuing it.
"So, whaddya got on the agenda tonight?"
"Well I was thinking we order in some Chinese and then have an all night movie night."
"Awesome idea!"
"I thought so. So, what do you want from Chinese?"
"Hmm...that's a very good question."
"Isn't it?"
"How about...hmm...beef lo mein..."
"Okay."
"And..."
"And?" I asked incredulously.
"Yeah, man! I also want some General Tsou, and also...shrimp tempura."
"Hungry much?" I joked.
"Just a little, I didn't really have any lunch."
"Oh, okay, so you're forgiven. Just make sure you leave room for movie snacks."
"Don't worry, that won't be a problem."
"Excellent. Now I think I'm just gonna get some sesame chicken and pick from your stuff."
"Okay, sounds good. Just as long as you don't take too much," he said with a wink. I ordered the food, and was told that it'd be here in about 15 minutes (gotta love New York City - never more than 5 minutes from a Chinese take out place). I went to the living room to get my high school senior sweatshirt that I always wear when I'm just hanging out at home; I usually just leave it on the couch. It's slightly oversized, extremely soft and comfortable and just makes me feel at ease, but Jesse took it out from under my hand just before I got to it.
"Hey!"
"What?" he said, putting it on over his head. "You know I love this sweatshirt, just the smell of it reminds me of you. Oh, and just so you know, this's going with me to California." I gotta admit that seeing him in it made me feel good.
"Oh really?"
"Yup, I'm gonna wear it whenever possible. And I'm also taking..." he trailed off as he ran to the bedroom, "...this!" he said as he came out of the room holding up my favorite cologne, Tommy.
I was chuckling by now, and said, "Fine, I'll just have to get another bottle."
"NO! I don't want you wearing any cologne while I'm gone. Your sexy hotness alone attracts guys and girls to you, I don't need a hot smell adding to the equation!" I would have thought he was being serious, and indeed my face must have shown that, if he didn't have a twinkle in his eye and started chuckling.
"Well if you're gonna be taking this stuff then I get to take something of yours when we go to your place, deal?"
"Deal," he said with a grin. Just then the buzzer rang, so I went over to answer it. I let the delivery guy come up and then gave him his money, and set the food on the table for us to devour. Jesse wasn't kidding, he really was able to eat the whole thing, with some help from me.
"That was awesome," Jesse said. "Definitely hit the spot."
"Yup. Just as long as we don't have to pump your stomach or anything. And I'd better not hear any `Blehhhh's coming from the bathroom!"
"Ewww. No way, I definitely ain't bulimic.
"Good, you better not be. So, wanna start the movies?"
"Sure."
"Any preference for movie?"
"Hmm...well what were you thinking?"
"Well, how bout a Back to the Future marathon?"
"Dude, you are a freakin genius! That is just the type of movie that I need right now!" He exclaimed and threw his arms around me, pulling me into a tight hug.
"So I did good?"
"You did very good," he answered and gave me a kiss.
"Okay, so you get a blanket and get all comfy, I'll make the popcorn and whatnot."
"Oooo, whatnot? I LOVE whatnot!!!"
"Oh shut up, you know you love all my expressions."
"Yup, I really really do, among many, many other things," he told me as he gave me another kiss. "Now you go and make that popcorn, mmmmmmmkay?"
"Hey, you got that from me!"
"Yeah, but you got it from South Park, so it's ok."
"Okay, fair enough." He went to get a blanket and settled himself on the couch, while I went to make popcorn and some hot chocolate and brought em out.
"Mmmm, hot chocolate! How is it that you know exactly what I'm in the mood for?"
"Well duh, I'm psychic."
"Oh really?" he asked with a smirk. "So what'm I thinking right now?"
"Ummm...spoon!"
He burst out laughing. "What?" he gasped. "Spoon?"
"Yup," I chuckled. "That line's actually from that 80's show, `Alf'"
"Alf?' I looved Alf!'"
"Yup, it was a great show."
"Mhm, although he wasn't exactly the sexiest of characters, as oppose to someone else I know...now get down here," he said, and pulled me onto the couch, then leaned into my arms. We started the first movie, and didn't stop until we finished all three. The "Back to the Future" movies have got to be some of the best movies to watch out there. There's comedy, action, adventure, drama, romance, and sci-fi, all rolled up into one, and you can watch them over and over again and still enjoy it every time.
After the last one was over, we just sat there with Jesse in my arms while the credits rolled. "Mmm...forget sex," he said, sighing, "this's what I'm gonna miss."
"Not that the sex isn't great, though, right?" I said, tickling his stomach slightly.
"Mm mm, nope, can't complain about that at all. Yeah, I'm definitely gonna miss that too," he replied, making us both chuckle a little. "But it's just being here with you...I feel so content, so comfortable and safe in your arms...it's just perfect for me."
"Yeah, same here. I dunno what I'm gonna do, not being able to just take you in my arms, feel your heartbeat against mine, rub my hands through your hair while just reading the paper..." I trailed off. I couldn't go on, I was already starting to get tears in my eyes. If I kept on talking I might have just started crying right then and there. Instead, we just lay there for a while, and eventually went to bed. We grinded each other slowly and gently, taking in the feel of each other's bodies, the smell of each other's sweat, the sound of each others' quiet grunts and moans, until we both peaked. I rolled off of Jesse, and then we just lay in each others' arms, trying not to think about how this was the last time we'd be falling asleep with each other for quite a while, eventually drifting off to sleep.
We slept in the next morning, not waking up until eleven-ish. Even after we woke up, we just stayed in bed for around a half-hour, not talking, just taking comfort in each other's warmth. Eventually we got up and got ready to go to Jesse's parents' place for lunch so we could get there at around one o'clock. Jesse ordered a limo (not stretch) so that we could have some privacy, and we were on our way.
"So...should I be nervous?" I asked.
"Nah, my parents are pretty cool, especially with friends of mine, and to them that's all you are. Just relax, be yourself, and I'm sure they'll love you."
"Okay, cool."
"Yup. I'm really sorry, by the way, that I can't introduce you as my boyfriend...I'm just not ready to come out yet."
"Jess," I said, putting my hand on his cheek, "like I've told you before, it's totally fine. You take as much time as you need. I definitely know that you need to come out in your own time, so you just wait until it feels right."
He turned his head slightly to gently kiss my hand, sighing contently. "Have I told you lately how lucky I am to have asked you for directions?" he asked.
"I think so," I answered with a grin, "but I can always hear it again."
"Okay, well I am extremely extremely EXTREMELY lucky to have asked you of all people for directions. Like, you have no idea how lucky I feel right now."
"Well if it's anywhere near as lucky as how I feel, then I think I have a sort of general idea."
We both grinned at each other for how lovey-dovey we were being, and then just rested in each other's arms, talking off and on about nothing in particular, but avoiding the topic of his impending departure.
"You know, I gotta admit, you look really sexy in my sweatshirt," I told him, rubbing the material over his chest slightly.
"Not nearly as sexy as you look in it. But it really is comfy, it makes me feel like you're wrapped around my body."
"I wouldn't mind doing that right now," I said with a devilish look in my eye.
"Ooo, me neither, babes," he replied and started kissing me. After a little while of making out, we just rested in each other's arms, and about a half hour later we got to his house, which is pretty nice. It's a typical suburban house, not huge, but not small either; it looks like it'd be a nice house to grow up in. Jesse took off the sweatshirt, since it'd look a little weird to Jesse's family if he came in wearing my high school sweatshirt. We squeezed each other's hands one last time, then I took a deep breath and got out of the car.
Jesse unlocked the door and shouted at the house in general, "Hey, we're here!" While waiting for a response, I glanced around quickly. It seemed to have a pretty general set- up, dining room to the right, living room the left, stairs going up straight ahead. There was hardwood flooring all over, which I thought looks very nice, adding to the homeyness.
After a few moments, a woman, who I presumed to be Jesse's mother, came down the hallway from what looked like the kitchen. "Hey Jesse," she said, reaching around him and giving him a quick hug and kiss on the cheek, "you got here right on time, lunch's just about ready. And I assume that this is your friend Nate," she continued, glancing at me with a kind face.
"Yup. Mom, I'd like you to meet Nate Thomas. Nate, this is my mom, Ginger McCartney."
"It's a pleasure to meet you, Nate," Lynn said, extending her hand.
"The pleasure's completely mine, ma'am," I answered, taking her hand. "And can I add that you look just as beautiful as Jesse told me; he was right - not a day over 30. You wouldn't happen to have any sisters, would you?" I said with a wink.
"Ooo, Jesse, I like him already," she cooed and rubbed my shoulder, making both of us chuckle. "Well I'll go into the kitchen and finish getting things ready, you boys can go to the living room and make yourselves comfortable."
"Thanks, ma'am," I said.
"Your quite welcome, Nate. And don't call me ma'am. Call me Ginger. If I look 30 then I should be treated that way, shouldn't I."
I laughed and said, "Definitely true, ma'...I mean, Ginger. Thanks." She smiled at me warmly and turned around to go to the kitchen while we went into the living room.
"Whoa, Nate, I knew you were a charmer, but not that much of a charmer," Jesse told me, smirking.
"Yeah, well, with mothers I try to add it on a little bit."
"Well I think it worked," he said with a smile. Just then a kid about 10 years younger than me came barreling into the room straight into Jesse.
"Hey Jesse," he shouted, landing on top of him.
"Hey yourself rugrat!" he answered, lifting him off and setting him down in between us. "How's it going? Anything exciting happen in the past couple of days?"
"Nope. Oh wait, ya. I think Lea's got a boyyyyfriend."
"Shut up, midget," a girl said, coming into the room and sitting in a leather chair. "He's not my boyfriend. He's just a...friend."
"Oh really," Jesse said. "Well what's this friend's name?" She rolled her eyes and didn't say anything. "Well?"
She rolled her eyes again and said, "It's Bobby. And that's just about all that you're getting out of me right now."
Jesse looked at me with an expression that clearly said `teenagers,' making me chuckle. "Well, I guess I'll take that for now. But this ain't over little sister."
"Yea yea," she answered, sticking out her tongue, and he stuck his right back at her, making me chuckle again.
"Oh, guys, this is my friend, Nate. Nate, this is Timmy and Lea."
"Tim!" Jesse's brother said.
"Oh, yeah, I forgot you're going by Tim now," Jesse said, smiling at me.
"Nice to meet you guys," I said.
"You too," they both murmured, a little shyly.
"Nate lives in the city," Jesse told them.
"Really?" Tim exclaimed, looking at me.
"Yup," I said with a smile.
"That's awesome! I love the city, that must be so cool to live there!" he said.
"Yup, it's pretty nice. It's just amazing to be just a subway ride from anything and everything."
"Yup, the subway's cool, too," Lea said. "It's awesome that for two bucks you can go anywhere in all of New York City. But the main thing is the shopping! There's anything and everything there!"
"Uh-huh," I said. "There's definitely no lack of stores there. Plus there're a ton of places to go to hang out, you're never bored."
"Yeah," Tim said. "Mom barely let's us go in though. She doesn't think it's safe."
"Well, that does suck a little, but she's right, to a certain extent," I replied. "If you're not careful, you could be a very easy mark for getting mugged or pickpocketed and you might not even know it."
"Yeah, but still, it sucks."
"Yeah," I chuckled, "it does. My mom also didn't let me go into the city a lot when I was younger."
"I thought you live in the city though."
"Well now I do. But my parents live in Queens, and while it's still part of NYC, it's just not the same."
"Yeah, I hear that," Lea said.
"Yeah, but looking back, I'm glad that my mom was a bit protective of me. After all, she was only doing it cuz she loves me. I'd be more worried if she just let me do whatever I wanted without caring at all."
"Well, yeah, I guess," they both murmured, making Jesse and me grin.
Ginger appeared in the doorway. "Hey guys, time for lunch." We all got up and headed for the living room. As I passed by, I saw her mouth to Jesse "I like him" out of the corner of my eye, which made me smile. She had obviously been listening at the door.
Jesse's dad came down the stairs, and immediately came over to me and shook my hand. "I'm Scot, Jesse's dad," he said.
"Nice to meet you, Scot, I'm Nate."
"You too. It's about time we meet the friend Jesse's been hanging out with so much since he got here."
"Yeah," I said with an awkward smile. This could start to get into bad territory.
"Well what do you want," Jesse said. "Nate just knows the city, and that's where it's at. Why'd I wanna hang out with you guys when I know someone who knows every in and out of the coolest city on the planet?"
"Well I guess you gotta point there, Jess. We are pretty lame, we know," Ginger said with a grin.
"Well as long as you realize it. Admitting you have a problem is the first step to recovery, after all," he replied, making us all laugh. We went into the dining room, which was set up with a bit of a buffet, with bagels and various toppings, eggs, fish, and salads.
"Wow, you didn't have to go all out like this," I said when I saw the spread.
"Yeah, Mom, I told you that we're going to eat dinner after this, we're not even gonna be able to eat that much."
"Yeah, but you're getting too skinny Jesse," Ginger told him. "Pretty soon you'll become a skeleton."
"Nah, Jesse eats," I said.
"I don't know whether to believe you," she replied. "Especially with how skinny you are. What do you do, eat some birdseed and call it a day?"
"Yeah, you never heard about it? It's called the avian diet. It's all the rage in Europe," I said with a smirk.
"Really? I'd better check that out then," she said with a chuckle. The entire meal went on like this, all of us cracking jokes and getting to know each other. By the end of it I really felt like I was just part of the family. I was even getting the feeling that they wouldn't mind at all if they knew that Jesse and I are a couple. It was definitely hard keeping that information to ourselves, though. The entire time, I had to practically hold my hands together to keep myself from reaching over and rubbing his thigh, or taking his hand in mine, or rubbing his cheek when he said something funny, and I could tell that he was having the same problem. We did make it through the meal, though, and his family didn't seem to have a clue, although I did catch Lea giving me a suspicious look every now and then when she thought I wasn't watching.
"Well, Nate, it was great meeting you," Ginger said, getting up from the table.
"Yes, it definitely was," Scot agreed.
"Thanks, guys, it was great meeting you too. I really had a great time."
"Good, I'm glad," Ginger said with a warm smile. "You should come here with Jesse more often. It'd be good to have someone here who understands all the kid lingo but doesn't have some feeling that if he tells us anything he'll burst into flames."
"Yeah," I said with a chuckle, "I'd like that. Thanks!"
"Your welcome."
"Well, we should go get my stuff," Jesse said. "Nate, can you give me a hand?"
"Sure, what'm I here for?" I followed him up the stairs to his room, which is pretty nice. It's decently sized, huge, but not too small either. Immediately to the right is his closet with the door slightly open, and next to that is his dresser. There was a desk along the left wall, and a flat panel LCD TV hanging on the wall next to the door. In the middle of the wall opposite the door was a queen-sized bed, which I immediately plopped down on, resting back on my elbows.
"That was nice," I said.
"Yup," he answered. "I gotta admit, I was kinda nervous, both about you all meeting, and keeping them from finding out, but I think it all went well."
"Very well," I said. Then I pulled him down into my arms and gave him a long, deep kiss. "I've been waiting to do that all afternoon."
"Mmm, me too." I continued kissing him for thirty seconds, until he pulled away and said, "Naaate, what if someone comes in?"
"Why'd they come in," I said in between pecks. Just then Lea burst into the room.
"AHA!!! I KNEW IT!" she yelled.
Jesse jumped off of me and said in a loud, harsh whisper, "SHHHHHHHH!!!!" and closed the door. "Lea!!! What the hell are you doing in here?"
"Just confirming my suspicions," she said in a bit of a bratty little sister kind of way.
"What? How'd you find out?"
"Oh come on. Anyone with half a brain can tell with how you were acting. Just the way you looked at each other gave yourselves away. I could tell from the moment I laid eyes on you guys. Besides, I've had my suspicions about you for a while, Jess."
Jesse groaned and put a hand through his hair. "Do you think anyone else found out?" he asked, looking at me.
"Are you kidding me," Lea said. "Tim's too young to realize, and Mom and Dad are too oblivious to stuff like that. They just think you guys are good friends."
"Lea," he said, looking at her with pleading eyes, "you can't tell anyone. Please, I'm begging you."
"Hmm..." she said, looking him over briefly.
"Lea, please!"
"Okay, fiiiine," she said. "But you owe me one."
"Okay, you got it." No one said anything for about a minute, we were all just standing around feeling a bit awkward. "So...are you okay with this?"
"Duh, of course I am, Jesse! You're my brother, and I love you, gay or straight."
"Well, actually it's bi," he said with a nervous smile.
She rolled her eyes. "Fine, so gay, straight, or bi, you're my brother and I love you no matter what."
"Thanks, little sister," he said, and walked over to her and gave her a hug, kissing the top of her head.
"Your welcome." She looked at me, and said, "So I guess that makes you my brother's boyfriend, huh?"
"Yup," I said, nervously.
"Well you'd better not hurt him, or it'll be your head on a stick outside my room!" she said with a stern look on her face.
"Don't worry, I got no plan to do anything that might hurt him," I said, and walked over to Jesse and gave him a light kiss.
"Awww...I gotta admit, you guys do look very cute together."
"Thanks," we said together with identical bashful smiles.
"Now come here and give me a hug, cuz I could tell that you've really been making my brother happy," she ordered, so I walked over to her and gave her a small hug, and she started rubbing my back. "Ooo, you're lucky big bro, he's all firm all over, very sexy," she said with a wink at me, making me blush and smile bashfully.
"Hey, get off him, he's mine!" Jesse exclaimed, and ran over and reached his arms around me from behind.
"Hmm...you wouldn't happen to have a brother, would you, Nate?"
"Actually, I do. Two actually. One of em's married though."
"Ohhhh really, now. So the other one's available, then?"
"Yup," I said with a smirk. "He doesn't really look like me, though."
"Well I doubt that he could have your genes and not be hot," she replied with a gleam in her eye.
"Ew, no comment!" I exclaimed, making both her and Jesse crack up.
"Actually, I've seen pics of him," Jesse said, "and he's cute and all, but nothing near my man. But then again, nobody could be near him," and he gave me a soft kiss.
"Awww. You guys are sooo cute together!!!"
"Thanks," we said with grins plastered across our faces.
"Okay, Jess, we'd better get your bags down before Mom and Dad think someone's been killed or something," Lea said to Jesse.
"Yeah, good point. More likely than not they'll think it's you," Jesse said with a wink, and he hefted a bag and headed to the door, with us following him.
"Well, it's about time you guys got down here." Scott said. "And what was all of that yelling, Lea?"
"Oh," she said, glancing at Jesse, who suddenly got a nervous look on his face. "I couldn't find my Dave Mathews CD and I figured Jesse took it, which he of course did. But I decided that since he's leaving so soon he's gonna need something to remember me by, so I let him borrow it."
"Well that was nice of you," Ginger said.
"What can I say, I'm just the bestest sister ever!"
"Yup, you're definitely up there," Jesse said, throwing an arm around her neck and giving her a small hug and kiss on the cheek.
After that they all hugged and kissed Jesse goodbye and told him to make sure he called when he got there, and Scott shook my hand, me and Tim pounded fists, and Ginger and Lea gave me hugs, Lea's being extra long. "Don't forget what I said," she said with a wink.
"Don't worry, I won't." We all said our goodbyes, and then Jesse and I left in the same limo as before that was waiting outside so we could go to meet my family at the restaurant.
When we got there, we were led to the back to a private room, where my parents were already waiting. "Hi honey," my mom said, coming up to me and giving me a hug, "how're you doing?"
"I'm good, thanks."
"Hey kid," my dad said.
"Hey," I replied. "So, private room, eh?"
"Yeah, that way we don't have to limit our conversation," my mom said.
"Thanks, guys!" I exclaimed.
"Yeah, thanks!" Jesse blurted out, then looked a little bashful.
I took his hand and said, "Mom, Dad, I'd like you to meet my boyfriend, Jesse McCartney. Jesse, these are my parents, Benjamin and Rebecca Thomas.
"Great to meet you, Mr. and Mrs. Thomas," Jesse said with a nervous smile, extending his hand.
"Well first of all, it's Ben and Becky. And secondly, that won't do at all," my mom said, batting his hand away and reaching around him, giving him a hug. "It's great to finally meet you, too, Jesse, I've heard so much about you. It's just a shame that it has to be right before you have to leave."
"Yeah, but what can you do? Gotta make the most of the situation you're in."
"Exactly," my dad said, shaking his hand. "That's a great attitude to have."
"Thanks, Ben. I just figure that if you're gonna gripe about anything bad about the situation you're in, then you're gonna miss the good parts."
"Definitely," my dad replied.
"So, I take it that the rest of the crew isn't here yet, right?" I asked.
"Well Jake's here, obviously; he's in the bathroom. Jon and Sarah called, they picked up Mandy and are looking for a parking spot," my dad said.
"Okay, cool," I said, sitting down at the table next to Jesse.
"Yeah, very coooooooooool," he replied, emphasizing the word `cool' as he always does, just to annoy me. All I did was roll my eyes, but Jesse chuckled.
Just then we heard a bunch of people going "Heyyyy!" outside the door, and it shot open with Jon, Sarah, Mandy, and Jake all bursting in, laughing.
"Hey guys," Jon said in between laughs.
"Yeah, hey," they all repeated, gasping for air.
"Hi," my mom and dad said, and Jesse and I got up.
"Hey guys, hey Sarah!" I said, giving her a long hug. "How was the flight?"
"It was good, I slept a lot." she said. "But you know me, I can sleep anywhere."
"True, true." I walked back over to Jesse and took his hand in mine and checked over Jon's shoulder to make sure that the door was closed. "Well, Jon, Sarah, Mandy, and Jake, I'd like you all to meet my boyfriend, Jesse McCartney." I said, pointing to each in turn. "Jesse, this is, well, everyone," I finished with a chuckle.
"Nice to meet you," they all said, giving him a quick hug. Mandy, though, couldn't talk, just clutched Jesse and refused to let go. I started snickering.
"It's okay, Mands, just breathe. He's just a regular guy," I told her, peeling her off him.
"Hey!" Jesse said, looking at me with a shocked expression.
"Oh! Well...you know what I mean," I replied, blushing a little.
"Yup, I do, I just wanted to see you sweat," he told me. "You do look very cute when you blush though," he continued, and went over to me and gave me a peck on the cheek.
"Awww," they all went.
"Yeah, yeah," I said, blushing even more.
"Awww," Jesse said, stroking my cheek.
"Yeah, yeah," I said again.
"Well, anyyyyway," Mandy cut in, "I'm suuuch a huge fan, and I think that it's so cool that you're going out with my brother. Annnd, ummm, well yea, it's just really cool."
I gave Jesse a `I told you so' glance, but he smiled at her, albeit a little awkwardly, and put his hand through his hair. "Thanks, that's awesome that you're a fan. And I do really love your brother very much..."
"WHAT?" Mandy, Sarah, and my Mom exclaimed together. "I didn't know you two were in love!" Mandy said.
"Yeah, guys, that's awesome!" Sarah told us.
"Aww, Natey!" was all my Mom could say; she had tears in her eyes. The guys just stood there looking a little awkward.
"Yeah," was all I could get out under all of their stares. "So, Sarah, how was Italy?" Not the best transition of subjects, I know, but it was getting a little awkward.
"It was great. I did the usual, hanging out with my parents and visiting relatives and such. My mom was her crazy self and my dad his overly submissive self, but what can you do?"
"You mean other than putting about five thousand miles between you? Not much," I replied.
"Well, yeah, that's true," she chuckled. "But you two aren't getting out of this that easily. Be prepared for some good old fashioned grilling."
"Aww, you suck," I replied.
"Hey, if Jon and I had to go through it, then you two also have to. Sorry, Jesse, that's just the way we roll," she said with a wink.
"Eh, that's okay. I came expecting something along those lines. Besides, I'm sure that after what the tabloids try to do to me, you guys'll be a cakewalk."
"Oh I don't know about that," I told him. "These people can be pretty intense."
"Oh, we're not that bad, Natey," my mom said.
"Yeah, it's not like we've ever reduced anyone to tears," Mandy put in.
"Well we were pretty close with your old boyfriend," I teased.
"Well first of all, that's one of the reasons I broke up with him. And secondly, that was mostly you, so Jesse's still safe on this one."
"Oh, yeah, that's true." I saw Jesse give me a suspicious look. "What? I'm not allowed to be a little overprotective of my sister? Besides, I can't wait to see how you handle that Bobby kid that your sister likes when you meet him."
"Okay, true," he said with a smile. "Ooo, that'll be funnnn," he continued and rubbed his hands together, making everyone chuckle.
"Okay," my mom said. "How about we all sit down, order, and leave the grilling to when we have some food in us?"
"Sounds good to me," I said, and led Jesse over to the table. We all sat down, and my mom pressed a button that signaled to the server to come in. It's pretty cool that they had that installed; it makes sure that the servers don't come in unless you need them, basically ensuring total privacy, which is exactly what we needed that night.
The server came in and took all of our orders, and we started chatting about various subjects. Jesse was meshing in pretty well, getting involved in the conversation and offering some good topics himself.
After we got past the various small talk type topics and asking Sarah about her trip, we got around to the inevitable subject of Jesse and me. Even though I'm very comfortable around my family and around Jesse, I gotta admit that I was a bit nervous about the combination of the two.
"So, Jesse," my dad said.
"Yes, sir?" he answered, with an understandable amount of nervousness on his face. I held his hand under the table, and we waited for what was coming.
"What are your beliefs on heaven and hell?" my dad continued, with a completely serious look on his face.
You should have seen the look on shock on Jesse's face; it was priceless. "Um, I, well, uh," We all just sat there for a moment watching him stammer, then started cracking up, and after a few seconds Jesse joined in, but nervously, and still looked around trying to figure out what was going on.
"I'm sorry, baby," I said, laughing and rubbing his cheek. "My dad likes to do that to all of our boyfriends and girlfriends. I wanted to warn you, but you gotta admit, it was pretty damned funny!"
"Not to me it wasn't!" he replied, but I could tell that he found it pretty amusing.
"Sorry, Jesse," my dad said with a smile, "but that's just my version of an icebreaker. Plus seeing you guys sweat just never gets old."
"That's quite alright, sir," Jesse said with a smile. "Now I just have to wait for my heart to realize I'm not running a marathon and I'll be fine."
My dad chuckled, and said, "Well okay, fair enough. But what'd we say before? It's Ben!"
"Oh yeah, sorry. Ben."
"Quite alright. So, anyway, on with actual questions..." my dad answered. The rest of the meal was spent on my family and Jesse getting to know each other. Jesse did awesomely, never losing his cool, being able to make witty responses, and just basically impressing everyone. I didn't even had to do anything more than your average amount of talking, I just sat back and watched him do his thing. It was such a great feeling to see him mingle so well with my family; I just had to take it in. Surprisingly, I was actually disappointed when it was time for us to go, although part of that was probably due to the fact that when we left it'd be to take Jesse to the airport.
"Well," I said after dessert was over, "I guess it's time for us to go. Jesse's gotta flight to catch."
"Aw, okay, Natey," my mom said. "Well, it was a lot of fun. It was great meeting you, Jesse," she told him, and gave him a hug.
"You too, Becky. It was a lot of fun, I can't wait to see you guys again."
"Aww, you're sweet," she replied with a smile.
Mandy walked over and gave Jesse a hug. "It was so awesome meeting you, Jesse. And before you ask, no, not because I'm a huge fan. It's just great to see how good you are with my little brother," she said, ruffling my hair, and I rolled my eyes at her.
"Well, he's just an awesome guy. How can I not be good with him?" She just smiled at him. "But thanks, it was definitely awesome meeting you too. All of you," he said, looking around at everyone. He got hugs from all of them, even my dad, who isn't the most hug-y of guys, and then we went to the car that was waiting outside.
"I don't know what you were so nervous about, Nate," Jesse said. "I really like your family, it was a lotta fun!"
"You really don't have to patronize me, you know," I said with a smirk.
"Oh shut up, you know that's not what I'm doing."
"Uh-huh, suuure." He gave me a big kiss, making me look at him with a suspicious look. "What was that for?"
"Cuz I know that there's nothing else that'll shut you up!"
"Well, you do have a point," I replied, and started the kiss back up. After a few minutes, we stopped and he turned around and leaned into my arms, pulling them around his body.
"I'm really gonna miss you, Nate," he said in a choked up voice, and I looked down to see a tear running down his cheek.
"Hey, none of that," I said, wiping away the tear. "Let's just be happy that we know that we have something this good waiting for when we see each other again. But yeah, I'm gonna miss you too, so so much, my Flashy baby." I heard him snort a little as he chuckled. "See, that's what I'm talking about!" We were both still very sad, and we didn't really say anything for the rest of the ride, just sat there in each others' arms, trying to take in our last moments of being together.
We got to JFK Airport with about a half-hour before Jesse had to board. We both sighed, kissed each other gently one last time, and got out. The driver took Jesse's bags out of the car. "Can you stay here and wait to take Nate back to the city?" Jesse asked the driver.
"What?" I said. "No, it's okay, you could go, I'll get a taxi back."
"C'mon, it's already paid for, go back in style. It'll make me happy," Jesse said to me with a puppy dog look on his face.
"Okay, if you're gonna use that card, then fine," I said with a smile.
"No problem, guys. Just call me when you're ready to go, Mr. Thomas," the driver said to me.
"Okay, thanks. And it's Nate." The driver chuckled and drove off, since he's not allowed to wait in front of the terminal. We put the luggage onto a cart, which reminded me of something, and I opened up one of the bags and started rummaging through it.
"What're you doing?" Jesse asked with an amused look.
"Looking for...this!" I answered, pulling out one of his favorite t-shirts that he'd probably wear practically all the time if he could get away with it. It's a little tight on him and makes him look awesome, meaning it'd probably be really tight on me, but as long as it'd make me feel close to him I didn't care. "...and this!" and I pulled out his cologne, Cool Water Deep, which just smells awesome, especially on Jesse. "You didn't think I'd forget, did you?"
"Nope," he said with a smile, "I was just seeing how long it'd take you." I stuffed the t- shirt into my back pocket and put the cologne in the front one, and, since Jesse had already done online check in, we just had to give in his luggage and head to his gate.
"So do you wanna get anything for the flight from any of the stores?" I asked. "Hmmm...well I guess we won't know until we check out what they have," he said, and we walked over to one of the many stores that were there. He ended up getting a few magazines and some M&M's and potato chips. After that, we sat down and spoke about what he was gonna do when he got there. We agreed that taking a shower would be the first thing (gotta get rid of that airplane feeling), followed by a few hours of sleep. After that he was gonna have to drink a huge amount of Starbucks' or Coffee Bean & Tea Leaf' coffee (whichever he finds first) and get to work. His dedication to his work is just awe inspiring, which I told him, making him give me one of his classic sheepish looks and million dollar grins.
Suddenly we heard "This is the final boarding call for United Airlines Flight 33 to Los Angeles International Airport. All passengers please report to Gate 4. Again, this is the final boarding call for United Airlines Flight 33 to Los Angeles International Airport. All passengers please report to Gate 4."
I sighed and said, "Okay, I guess that's you."
"Yup," was all he could say, looking at his feet. I walked him over to the security checkpoint, where only passengers could get past. We stood off a little to the side so we could say our goodbyes. Fortunately it was pretty crowded so no one was paying attention to us.
He looked like he was about to cry, so I gave him a big hug, rubbed his back a little and whispered in his ear, "It'll be alright, okay? We'll get through this. How about this, if you have no tears, then I'll have no tears, deal?"
He leaned back, looked into my eyes, and gave me a small smile. "Deal," he said, and wiped off his eyes. He gave me another hug and said, "I love you so much."
Tears sprang into my eyes, but I quickly blinked them away. "I love you more. You've given me some of the happiest weeks of my life, and I promise you baby, it's only up from here."
"I know, and I can't wait."
"Once again this is the final boarding call for United Airlines Flight 33 to Los Angeles International Airport. All passengers, please report to Gate 4. Again, this is the final boarding call for United Airlines Flight 33 to Los Angeles International Airport. All passengers, please report to Gate 4," we heard over the loudspeaker.
I sighed and pulled away. "Call me as soon as you get in. I don't care how late it is, call me."
"Okay," he said with a smile.
"Oh, and remember, no becoming a member of the mile high club. I don't care how hot those flight attendants are!"
He laughed and said, "Awww, okay, if you insist." We looked into each other's eyes for another second, and then he turned around, put his backpack on the x-ray machine belt and went through the metal detector. He got his bag, then started walking away down the long hall, turning around every so often to wave, and occasionally jump up and down waving like an excited schoolgirl, making me laugh. Then he turned a corner, and with one last wave, he was gone.
As I turned, an elderly woman looked at me, and said, "That's nice that you took your friend to the airport. It's too often that you don't see male friends do that for each other. You must be really close."
"Yeah," I said with a smile, tears coming up to my eyes. "We are. He's the best. Well, have a nice evening." I gave her a small smile, and then turned around to find a quiet corner and, a little unexpectedly, broke our deal. I sat down, put my face down in my arms, and quietly cried my eyes out.
There you go! Hope you guys enjoyed the chapter, and that everything's going well with all of you.
As always, your feedback is definitely appreciated, and I look forward to it, even when (or even especially) when it's from those who've already sent it in, so as always if you want to send your comments, critiques, and suggestions (or just to say hey) its at JesseandNate@gmail.com or JesseandNate on AIM. Thanks!
And as always, thanks for reading!