So When Did You Fall For Me?
Fandom : Leverage/The Losers
Characters: Eliot Spencer/Jake Jensen
Written for the prompt : You had me at hello.
Disclaimer : All publicly recognizable characters, settings, etc. are the property of their respective owners. The original characters and plot are the property of the author. No money is being made from this work. No copyright infringement is intended.
So When Did You Fall For Me?
Jake had hovered, in and out of the kitchen all evening, watching Eliot cooking and then wandering away before returning again. He hadn't settled at his laptop or in front of the TV which was unusual. Even more noticeable was how quiet he'd been. Something was wrong and Eliot didn't know what, but he figured Jake would get around to telling him what it was and then they could figure it out together. He'd just have to wait.
They sat down for dinner and Jake put two beers on the table as Eliot set down their plates. They began to eat, still quiet and Eliot wondered again what could be so bad that Jake, the master of talking about everything under the sun, could be so quiet. Was he ill? Did he want to finish this thing between them? Eliot didn't know how, after all this time, he'd cope with either of those now. Jake was under his skin, in his apartment, their apartment. In his heart.
"Jake?" he couldn't stand the silence any longer or sitting watching Jake push the food around on his plate, instead of eating with the usual relish of a man who missed good homecooked food when he was away and living on MREs.
"Huh?" Jake looked up, clearly caught off-guard.
Eliot tilted his head and waited.
"Oh . . ." Jake said. "Sorry . . . guess I'm not good company. . . worse than usual."
Eliot raised an eyebrow.
"Do I talk too much?"
"Usually? What do you think? Today – definitely not."
Jake flicked a pea that had strayed off his plate across the table at Eliot who huffed in disapproval. "The others don't know why you'd put up with me, why you'd even like me at all."
"Doubt it. They put up with you, don't they?"
"Sometimes you're like Cougar. You don't say anything with words and then sometimes you're not."
Eliot frowned, but continued to wait.
Jensen sighed and finally began to talk. "Whenever I'm out with the others, there's always people hitting on them . . . never me. Not that I'd want to do anything with anyone, just you know . . . Cougar – well, girls are throwing themselves at him and Clay . . . he just – I mean the girls are crazy but they're there." He paused, "Pooch too – not that he would take anyone up on it, he's got Jolene. I've got you, I think. Haven't I?"
"Looks like."
"But do you want me? Really? Or are you just wishing I'd-"
Eliot cut him off, "I'm not wishing anything like that. Only thing I'd wish is that you weren't not here."
"So you like me?"
Eliot shook his head. "More than like you, Jake!"
"Since when?"
Eliot pushed back from the table and walked round to Jake's side. "Sometimes you're an idiot, you know that? Who cares whether anyone else hits on you? I'm happier knowing they don't. You don't want me to be unhappy, do you?" He leaned down and pressed a kiss to Jake's lips. "You had me at hello. I'm just glad it doesn't work on anyone else! You finished here?" He tilted his head back at the table.
Jake nodded and stood to go with Eliot.
Jake was asleep, head resting on the pillow beside Eliot, the two of them facing each other. Eliot brought one hand up and brushed Jake's hair back from his face. "You're an idiot sometimes," he whispered to the sleeping man. "How could you think I wouldn't want you? I lied, it wasn't hello. It was when I first saw you smile, when I saw your terrible moves on the dance floor, when I saw you fight. And you've got all of me."
