Title: All We Ever Needed
Rating: T for language and slash
Pairings: Javid, Blush
Summary: AU Slash. David, left temporarily homeless, is generously invited to stay with Jack, his sister's new boyfriend. Things, as they sometimes do, get extraordinarily complicated [Javid, Blush
Disclaimer: None of these characters belong to me. Don't sue.
A/N: Outside of schoolwork, this is my first time writing anything for about a year, so please forgive me if this stinks on ice. This is also my first time writing Newsies, but I've seen the movie enough times and read enough fic that hopefully I've got everyone down. Feedback is greatly appreciated!
Chapter One"Uh, hi, I'm supposed to be meeting someone here."
"Of course, and what name would that be under?"
"Jacobs."
"One moment, please."
The hostess's practiced smile disappeared as she scanned what David could only assume was a seating list. A few seconds later, she marked something on the list, grabbed a menu, and bestowed her blinding smile on David once more.
"If you'll follow me, sir, your table is already waiting."
As he followed her through the winding maze of tables and chairs and people, David couldn't help but wish she would slow down. He hadn't had time to properly process what he was about to do. When he talked to his sister earlier today, he didn't think she'd suggest meeting for dinner tonight. With such short notice, he hadn't had time to think about how he was going to approach this. Even the cab ride to Manhattan was short, which was beyond bizarre considering it was New York. And now, with the hostess being Speedy Gonzales in disguise, it was apparent that fate was determined to force David into this situation completely unprepared.
As they reached the back of the restaurant, David's eyes met the familiar face of his sister. She looked a little different from the last time he saw her, her hair a little longer and her smile a little wider.
"David!" she exclaimed as soon as she noticed him approaching the table. She stood up and immediately engulfed him in a bone crushing hug. David couldn't help but smile.
"Hey Sarah," he said as she finally released him. Out of the corner of his eye, he saw the hostess place the menu on the table before taking off without a word.
"I feel like I haven't seen you in forever, let me get a good look at you."
"Okay, Mom," David said with a roll of the eyes, but he was still smiling.
"Yeah, yeah," Sarah replied and held him at arms length. She gave him a once over and clicked her tongue. "You're looking a little thin, David. Are you sure you're getting enough to eat?" David narrowed his eyes.
"Did you invite Mom here? Is this a surprise attack?" Sarah laughed.
"I'm only teasing. You look great," she said honestly. She rounded the table back to her seat. "Now sit down and tell me how you've been."
David sat down in the seat across from her, hoping he didn't look as nervous as he was beginning to feel. He unraveled his silverware and placed the napkin on his lap.
"I've been good. Work's going great, actually."
"How about your love life? How's that going?" Sarah asked with another teasing smile. David cleared his throat awkwardly.
"Uh…it's not going," he said tentatively, looking down at his hands. "I've been pretty busy with work, so uh, I haven't really seen anyone since Todd."
Uncomfortable silence filled the air and David wondered what on earth ever possessed him to call his sister. Since graduating college, he made it a rule to only contact family on holidays and special occasions. Talking with his family only lead to them asking questions and him feeling self conscious. He'd expected Sarah to inquire about his love life, but it didn't make him feel any less pathetic. He cleared his throat again.
"Anyway," Sarah said finally, sensing David's uneasiness, and gave him a serious look. "What do you need?" David raised an eyebrow.
"What?"
"What do you need, David? Are you in trouble?" David let out a high pitched laugh that he thought, in retrospect, couldn't have sounded very attractive.
"What, you think I only called you because I needed something? Come on, Sarah, what kind of brother do you take me for? Can't a guy call up his sister because he misses her?"
"Oh please, David, I know your rule," she replied with an amused smile. "You only come to visit on Hanukah and Passover, and sometimes you'll call on my birthday, if you remember. Now, quit being a goof and tell me what you need." David scratched his cheek nervously.
"Well, see, the thing is…" he trailed off. Before he was able to think of a way to intelligently put his situation into words, he noticed his sister's eyes focused on something behind him. Without turning around, he could see someone approaching the table from out of the corner of his eye. Sarah beamed at the figure.
"I hope you don't mind that I invited my boyfriend to join us," she said as the man took the seat in between them. "David, this is Jack. Jack, this is my brother, David."
David turned his head to look at Jack and was immediately taken aback by how ridiculously attractive he was. Perfect teeth, tanned skin, beautiful brown eyes, and floppy hair that was somewhere between brown and blonde. Yes, he was the very definition of gorgeous, and David was not the least bit surprised that Sarah was dating him. She had acquired a long list of extremely good looking boyfriends in her lifetime and this man was certainly no exception. Unfortunately, David found, they all turned out to be extremely dumb, as well. And even though Jack was far more striking than any of Sarah's old boyfriends, David calmed his fast beating heart by telling himself that more likely than not, this painfully beautiful man had the personality of a brick.
"Hey Dave, it's great to finally meet you," Jack said with a New York twang. David shook the hand Jack extended and hoped that his hands weren't sweaty.
"Uh, yeah, you too," he replied, ignoring the fact that he didn't even know Sarah had a boyfriend until just now.
"So who was on the phone?" Sarah asked, turning her head towards her boyfriend. Jack smirked.
"Ah, just Tony trying to con me into babysitting tonight," he leaned back in his chair and put his hands behind his head. David tried not to salivate. "I told him to try Kid." Sarah giggled. David didn't get it.
"Anyway," Sarah said once the giggles stopped, "what is it you were going to tell me, David?"
He looked at Sarah, then Jack. Well, this wasn't good at all. Not only did he have to ask his sister for this monumentally pathetic favor, but he had to do it in front of her gorgeous new boyfriend. Gorgeous boyfriend that's probably a complete imbecile, he reminded himself. He shook his head, trying to clear his thoughts.
"Well, the thing is, uh…" David paused, trying to think of how to word this. Looking at the expectant faces of Jack and Sarah, David shrugged suddenly. He was going to sound pitiful no matter how he spun it. "I just got a promotion, actually, and they're relocating me here in Manhattan. The commute is too far from where I live now, so I'm moving into a new apartment here."
"David that's great!" Sarah said, reaching over the table to pat his hand. "Mom will be at your door everyday now that you're living so close." David forced a smile.
"Yeah, probably."
"So what do you need? You need someone to help you move?" she asked. David shifted in his seat.
"Uh, no, actually, I won't be able to move into the apartment for another four weeks. But, uh, that's the thing. I must've got the dates mixed up or something because my lease runs out this weekend and I have to be gone by Monday," he said quickly, breathing out a sigh of relief, glad that he finally got it all out. Then he remembered the situation he was in and the relief was gone. Feeling very self conscious, he babbled on, "I can't believe I screwed up with all the times. Usually I'm really good with keeping track of dates and papers, I don't know what happened."
"Hey, don't feel bad Davey, it happens all the time," Jack said suddenly, surprising David. "It's the landlords, making everything so goddamn confusing. Bastards."
David watched as Jack took an angry sip of his water, getting the feeling that Jack probably went through something similar. And the knowledge that Jack had been through apartment hell strangely made him feel a little better. Not a whole lot better, but a little bit.
"So where are you going to stay?" Sarah asked, worry etched on her face.
"Actually, uh," he started nervously, "that's what I wanted to ask you. I was wondering if, uh, maybe I could stay with you, just until I can move into my new apartment." He forced himself to look up at his sister's face and inwardly winced when he saw she was frowning.
"Oh, David…" Sarah started and that was all David had to hear.
"Hey, forget it. It's fine, I shouldn't have even asked. You stopped having to live with me years ago, I don't know why I thought you'd want to deal with me again. I'm really, really sorry..."
"No, David, you don't understand," Sarah interrupted. "I would love to have you stay with me. As much as I complained about it, I really do miss living with you and Les. It's been weird living someplace where no one corrects my grammar or throws paper planes at my head. So don't apologize for asking. It's just I don't have any room at my condo. My room is being painted and refurnished right now so I've been staying in Kelly's room and Rachel's two cousins and boyfriend have been crashing at our place for the past two weeks. I'm so sorry, I'd let you stay in a heartbeat if we had any room at all."
"Don't worry about it," David said with a forced smile. He paused as his sister continued to look at him apologetically. He cleared his throat, feeling awkward. "Anyway, enough about me and my apartment woes. What are you guys getting for dinner? I was thinking the 'Penne Alla Vodka'?" Anything with 'Vodka' in the title sounded pretty good at the moment.
"Why don't you stay with Mom and Dad?" Sarah asked, completely ignoring David's blatant subject change. "You know they'd love to have you back at home." David snorted.
"Thanks, but I'll pass," he said and Sarah gave him a look. "What? You know how awful that'd be!"
"Yeah, I can attest to that," Jack suddenly piped in, speaking for the first time in the conversation. "After having dinner with Mommy dearest, I don't even want to imagine living with her. Cruel and unusual punishment that is." David felt a smile tugging at his lips as Sarah glared at her boyfriend.
"Hey, watch what you say about Mommy dearest," she said, slapping him lightly on the shoulder as he grinned at her. She turned her attention back to David and said with concern, "So what are you going to do?"
"I don't know," David said and it was the truth. "But I'll figure something out." Hopefully.
"Hey Dave, why don't you stay with me?" Jack asked and David almost choked on the water he'd mistakenly taken a sip of. He turned his focus over to his sister's boyfriend and found that the boy was leaning over his side of the table, completely invading David's personal space. He put a hand on David's shoulder and continued, "My roommate just moved out and I've been living by myself for the past week. Where'd you say your new office is?"
"Uh, West 57th Street," David managed to choke out through his disbelief.
"That's only two blocks from my apartment building," Jack said with a smile. "The apartment's kind of small, only one bathroom, but the bedroom's completely furnished. So what do you say, huh?"
"I-I couldn't, I don't want to be a bother…" he stuttered, but Jack waved him off.
"Trust me, it's no bother. It's kind of creepy up there in that apartment all by myself, I need someone to keep me company. And who better than my girlfriend's baby brother?" And now Jack had completely slung his arm around David's neck.
"Uh, I don't really have a lot of money right now. The rent here is a bit more expensive than what I'm used to," David tried, but Jack once again waved him off.
"Don't even worry about it, rent's not a problem. You know how to make pancakes?" David nodded dumbly. "Make me pancakes on Sunday mornings and all expenses will be considered paid for. How about that?"
Jack dropped his arm and looked at David expectantly. David sputtered. It was a nice offer and he felt bad rejecting it, but he didn't want to live with his sister's boyfriend. It was…weird, especially considering the fact that he just met him. Unfortunately, Jack didn't seem to be taking no for an answer. David looked over to his sister for help, but found she was too busy staring at her boyfriend adoringly. Probably marveling at the fact that Jack was so generous and giving and incredibly good looking…David shook his head. He had to focus.
"I'm gay," he blurted out suddenly. Jack raised an eyebrow and David felt like the biggest moron on the planet. "I just, uh, didn't know if you were okay with that." Jack laughed.
"Oh, no, it's fine. My ex-roommate's gay and he's one of my best friends, so yeah, I'm totally cool with it," Jack said with a shrug. He looked at David seriously and said, "Come on, Davey. Keep me company for a few weeks, huh?"
This was crazy. This man he just met not even twenty minutes ago was inviting him to live in his apartment and talking to him as if they were old friends. For all David knew, Jack could be a serial killer who wanted to chop him up and parade around wearing his decaying body parts. He could be cannibal! An extremely attractive cannibal, but a cannibal nonetheless. There was absolutely no way he was going to agree to this insane offer.
"Uh…" David started eloquently. He cleared his throat and for some reason he couldn't even begin to comprehend, he forced himself to look up at Jack's face. Jack was smiling at him and he almost melted. Those cheekbones. Those lips. Those eyes. "Uh, when can I move in?" Jack's smile grew wider and David had to force himself not to get up from his seat, break through the window, and throw himself into oncoming traffic.
"How about this Saturday? I can call up some of my buddies and we can help you move all your stuff."
"Great," David muttered through clenched teeth. Stupid Jack. Stupid cheekbones. Stupid lips. Stupid beautiful brown eyes. Stupid, stupid David.
"See, David! Now you don't even have to stay with Mom and Dad," Sarah said with a grin. "Now that that's taken care of, let's order. I'm starving."
David watched helplessly as his sister and his soon to be roommate discussed what they wanted to order. This was a bad idea. He never should've called his sister. He never should have broken his rule. He knew there was a reason he always followed rules, even when he was younger. Because when you break rules, you end up living with your sister's gorgeous, maybe serial killer, boyfriend.