Author's Note: I got the idea of Drake and JJ as a couple from a fantastic fic that I read a while ago. The title is "La Vie en Rose", and if any of you are fans of Drake and JJ, READ IT. Read it even if you aren't, because you'll become a DrakexJJ fan. I really like the fic, and as I thought about it, the chemistry between them became clearer to me. I didn't want to post this without giving credit to my inspiration, so here it is! This fic would never have been written if not for you ^.^. Thanks a lot.
Onto the fic. This takes place after the events in "Like, Like, Love." Ryo and Dee are living together, JJ and Drake are partners, and Diana and Berkeley Rose are getting married.
The Learning Curve Chapter One
On a crowded street in New York City, there is a little cafŽ often frequented by police officers from the nearby precinct. Late one evening in August, one man sat alone, sipping coffee and staring out the window at the people passing by. It seemed to him that he was surrounded by love everywhere he looked. His commissioner was getting married, two of his friends were moving in together, even the strangers on the street seemed to all have someone. Yes, everyone in the world except Drake had someone else to hold onto, to love...well, everyone except Drake's partner JJ.
Drake sighed and dropped his head onto his hand at the thought of his partner. JJ had seemed to be happy lately, ever since their talk on the roof of the police department, but every once in a while he let his mask slip, and the pain that had built up throughout his many years of carrying an unreciprocated love shone through. Drake sympathized with his partner, but he couldn't understand him. Drake was the kind of man who loved a girl passionately while the relationship lasted, and he mourned the loss of each girl with equal passion, but he had never been stuck on one person for years at a time when it was obvious that the other person just didn't feel the same. He couldn't imagine having to live with that kind of burden all the time. Bad enough when yet another girl dumped him because he was too devoted to his work, or they didn't share enough common interests, or because she met someone else, but to love someone who wouldn't even acknowledge your feelings? Drake raised his head and shook it slightly in self-recrimination. It wasn't that Dee wouldn't acknowledge JJ's feelings, it was that Dee didn't understand that JJ was serious. Dee was so occupied with his own love that he did not see that JJ was miserably in love with him. Drake could sympathize with that sort of blindness: he had, after all, completely missed the growing relationship between Ryo and Dee himself, and it took JJ to make him notice.
But Drake wasn't always so oblivious. Case in point: JJ. Drake could see beyond the hyper front to the serious and devoted man JJ wanted no one to know about. He saw how it hurt JJ each time Dee hid behind Ryo, each time someone else laughed about JJ's manner of chasing after Dee. And Drake knew that JJ could see beyond Drake's forced ennui to the longing that he rarely admitted to himself he had. He wanted, more than almost anything in the world, to have a lasting relationship. He joked about being dumped by each of his girlfriends, he laughed when the pain of being rejected again receded enough, and he used his tough-guy, "nothing-shocks-me" front to keep a distance between himself and the rest of the world, but deep inside, so deep he almost forgot about it for weeks at a time, was a longing for someone to love him as he was. Yes, he wanted someone to stay with him for once, to try to work through any problems instead of just tossing their hands up and leaving. The problem was, he wanted his work even more. Most people couldn't get close enough to Drake to understand that, as much as he longed for personal happiness, he could not justify neglecting his work for himself. What he did was important, far more important than any one person. Far more important than his own happiness. He helped people! He saved lives every day, with each criminal he put behind bars, and he could not just stop doing that because one person demanded a little more attention and threw a fit when he couldn't give it.
So there he sat, at a loveless little cafŽ table in the middle of a love-struck city, sinking deeper and deeper into his own depressing thoughts because he didn't know if he could bear to start another relationship with the knowledge that it would never work. He sighed again and slumped even deeper into his seat, hanging his head.
"Hey, Drake! You look down. What's wrong?" A cheery voice interrupted his thoughts.
Great, Drake thought gloomily. Just who I wanted to see while I was in this mood. My fellow loser-at-love. He forced a smile onto his face and met JJ's curious gaze.
"Hi, JJ. I wasn't really thinking about much, just-"
"The girl who dumped you?" JJ interrupted. He looked slightly concerned. "You're dwelling on her longer than you usually do with your failed girlfriends. I thought we had decided to live looking forward?"
Drake grimaced. "I wasn't really thinking about her so much as the whole situation. I mean, not the individual situation with her, but with all women. I know I said I didn't need a woman, and that may be true, but I want one, for God's sake!" He sighed and slumped again, then waved a hand at the chair across the table. "Sit down, JJ. Get yourself a coffee or whatever."
"I can't, I've gotta run. I just saw you in here looking so depressed and thought I'd see if I could do anything to help."
Drake quirked an eyebrow at JJ. "Have to go, hmmm? Hot date?" He waited for the emphatic denial, the exclamation of his love for Dee, and was surprised when nothing was forthcoming.
JJ blushed slightly. "I wouldn't call it a 'date', exactly...just sort of a 'get-to-know-you' type of thing." Drake stared at him, open-mouthed. JJ was going on a date? Because whether or not JJ called it date, that's what it was.
"B-but I thought-" Drake started.
JJ looked at his watch, then glanced out to the street. "Oh, he's here. I'm sorry I couldn't help more, Drake. I'll talk to you tomorrow, okay? Good luck with thinking things through." He hesitated, bit his lip, then bent down and gave Drake a quick hug. "Maybe that'll make up for not staying longer. Bye!"
Drake couldn't do anything but shake his head in bewilderment as he watched JJ dart out of the cafŽ and run across the street to a tall blond man who smiled warmly at him. JJ was a bouncy as usual, though he kept a physical distance between himself and the other man. They talked animatedly for a few minutes, then started to walk down the street, still not touching.
Suddenly JJ turned back to the cafŽ and opened his mouth wide, then pushed his jaw up with one hand while giving Drake a significant look. Drake blinked, then realized that his mouth had been hanging open as he watched the little scene. He closed it, shook his head yet again, and returned to his cold coffee and cold thoughts.
The Learning Curve Chapter One
On a crowded street in New York City, there is a little cafŽ often frequented by police officers from the nearby precinct. Late one evening in August, one man sat alone, sipping coffee and staring out the window at the people passing by. It seemed to him that he was surrounded by love everywhere he looked. His commissioner was getting married, two of his friends were moving in together, even the strangers on the street seemed to all have someone. Yes, everyone in the world except Drake had someone else to hold onto, to love...well, everyone except Drake's partner JJ.
Drake sighed and dropped his head onto his hand at the thought of his partner. JJ had seemed to be happy lately, ever since their talk on the roof of the police department, but every once in a while he let his mask slip, and the pain that had built up throughout his many years of carrying an unreciprocated love shone through. Drake sympathized with his partner, but he couldn't understand him. Drake was the kind of man who loved a girl passionately while the relationship lasted, and he mourned the loss of each girl with equal passion, but he had never been stuck on one person for years at a time when it was obvious that the other person just didn't feel the same. He couldn't imagine having to live with that kind of burden all the time. Bad enough when yet another girl dumped him because he was too devoted to his work, or they didn't share enough common interests, or because she met someone else, but to love someone who wouldn't even acknowledge your feelings? Drake raised his head and shook it slightly in self-recrimination. It wasn't that Dee wouldn't acknowledge JJ's feelings, it was that Dee didn't understand that JJ was serious. Dee was so occupied with his own love that he did not see that JJ was miserably in love with him. Drake could sympathize with that sort of blindness: he had, after all, completely missed the growing relationship between Ryo and Dee himself, and it took JJ to make him notice.
But Drake wasn't always so oblivious. Case in point: JJ. Drake could see beyond the hyper front to the serious and devoted man JJ wanted no one to know about. He saw how it hurt JJ each time Dee hid behind Ryo, each time someone else laughed about JJ's manner of chasing after Dee. And Drake knew that JJ could see beyond Drake's forced ennui to the longing that he rarely admitted to himself he had. He wanted, more than almost anything in the world, to have a lasting relationship. He joked about being dumped by each of his girlfriends, he laughed when the pain of being rejected again receded enough, and he used his tough-guy, "nothing-shocks-me" front to keep a distance between himself and the rest of the world, but deep inside, so deep he almost forgot about it for weeks at a time, was a longing for someone to love him as he was. Yes, he wanted someone to stay with him for once, to try to work through any problems instead of just tossing their hands up and leaving. The problem was, he wanted his work even more. Most people couldn't get close enough to Drake to understand that, as much as he longed for personal happiness, he could not justify neglecting his work for himself. What he did was important, far more important than any one person. Far more important than his own happiness. He helped people! He saved lives every day, with each criminal he put behind bars, and he could not just stop doing that because one person demanded a little more attention and threw a fit when he couldn't give it.
So there he sat, at a loveless little cafŽ table in the middle of a love-struck city, sinking deeper and deeper into his own depressing thoughts because he didn't know if he could bear to start another relationship with the knowledge that it would never work. He sighed again and slumped even deeper into his seat, hanging his head.
"Hey, Drake! You look down. What's wrong?" A cheery voice interrupted his thoughts.
Great, Drake thought gloomily. Just who I wanted to see while I was in this mood. My fellow loser-at-love. He forced a smile onto his face and met JJ's curious gaze.
"Hi, JJ. I wasn't really thinking about much, just-"
"The girl who dumped you?" JJ interrupted. He looked slightly concerned. "You're dwelling on her longer than you usually do with your failed girlfriends. I thought we had decided to live looking forward?"
Drake grimaced. "I wasn't really thinking about her so much as the whole situation. I mean, not the individual situation with her, but with all women. I know I said I didn't need a woman, and that may be true, but I want one, for God's sake!" He sighed and slumped again, then waved a hand at the chair across the table. "Sit down, JJ. Get yourself a coffee or whatever."
"I can't, I've gotta run. I just saw you in here looking so depressed and thought I'd see if I could do anything to help."
Drake quirked an eyebrow at JJ. "Have to go, hmmm? Hot date?" He waited for the emphatic denial, the exclamation of his love for Dee, and was surprised when nothing was forthcoming.
JJ blushed slightly. "I wouldn't call it a 'date', exactly...just sort of a 'get-to-know-you' type of thing." Drake stared at him, open-mouthed. JJ was going on a date? Because whether or not JJ called it date, that's what it was.
"B-but I thought-" Drake started.
JJ looked at his watch, then glanced out to the street. "Oh, he's here. I'm sorry I couldn't help more, Drake. I'll talk to you tomorrow, okay? Good luck with thinking things through." He hesitated, bit his lip, then bent down and gave Drake a quick hug. "Maybe that'll make up for not staying longer. Bye!"
Drake couldn't do anything but shake his head in bewilderment as he watched JJ dart out of the cafŽ and run across the street to a tall blond man who smiled warmly at him. JJ was a bouncy as usual, though he kept a physical distance between himself and the other man. They talked animatedly for a few minutes, then started to walk down the street, still not touching.
Suddenly JJ turned back to the cafŽ and opened his mouth wide, then pushed his jaw up with one hand while giving Drake a significant look. Drake blinked, then realized that his mouth had been hanging open as he watched the little scene. He closed it, shook his head yet again, and returned to his cold coffee and cold thoughts.