"You can't be serious." Chip wandered over to Jeff, who was sitting down on the couch to their apartment with whiskey in hand, watching some NCIS re-run. "It's your birthday, and you're spending it like this? Come on, that's not the man I know." He sat down beside him and toyed with his hair. "I'll probably go out later to some bar and just get drunk; I don't know," Jeff responded with a shrug.
Chip's face twisted into a look of concern and disgust at the same time. "It's not too late, why don't we go out to dinner?" he suggested hopefully. His boyfriend shook his head no and finished off what was left in his glass. "How about I treat you to an amazing night here then?" Chip purred, but got denied again. "Just stop it, alright?"
"Only if you tell me what's wrong," he pressed, putting on a sympathetic face. "Nothing's wrong. It's just… birthdays. I'm another year older and not any wiser." Chip laughed once and put a loving hand on his leg. "You're doing just fine, I promise. You're not only a great boyfr—" He was cut off. "I don't care! That doesn't matter, this doesn't matter, nothing. I'm just so over this." Jeff was mad, something that he actually hadn't seen in a while. But he had no regard for Chip's hurt expression and no regard for that little voice in his mind telling him that'd he'd already gone too far.
"I can't go out and just fuck women all day. Instead, I'm either out on the road with three other dudes or at home with my fucking boyfriend." His brain might have been affected by the alcohol, but this wasn't just something he was saying because of that. It'd just brought it out, which might have been for the worse.
Neither one of them knew what to say, because what was there to say after something like that? Taking that as a cue, Jeff stood up. "I need more to drink," he said and poured the Daniels. He waited for Chip to say something back, but he was completely silent, if not stunned. After finishing the contents of his cup, he took another glance over. Seeing him bite his trembling lip reminded him of why he was so damn attracted to him in the first place… but there was no going back now.
Chip had no clue that he'd felt this way after all this time. This is just like Patty all over again. I can't go through that again. He took a deep, shaky breath and attempted to speak. "Jeff, if you want to have sex with other people, go do that," he muttered.
"What?"
"If you wanna have sex with someone else, fine. I'll be here if you change your mind." Now it was Jeff's turn to be speechless. Unfortunately, his brain took over for him and didn't let him filter any thoughts. "There you go again, always being so self-sacrificing. No one likes a martyr." Chip tried to keep what little composure he had, but that wasn't easy. "So no matter what I do, I'm always wrong?" he asked sarcastically.
Jeff wanted so badly to say that it wasn't his fault, but found himself grabbing his wallet and heading for the door. "You're always going to be wrong, because everything you do is so damn right. I'll be back whenever; I don't know." Just as he turned around, he heard, "I bought pineapple today."
He looked back at the older man and was confused, put off by the statement. "I bought pineapple today. Just for you." Then it hit him. "That's the fruit we had to use in our first improv skit together."
Chip smiled, loving that he remembered. "We were rehearsing right before going on and—"
"We had to think of as many little bits to do with that idea. And at the end—"
"You asked me out. That was 3 years ago."
Both of them had a reminiscent grin on, forgetting everything else. "Can we talk about this over some pineapple?" Chip meekly asked. Jeff's anger seemed to be gone almost as quickly as it had come. "Sure, why not?"
Chip got out a container filled with the freshly-cut fruit and set it down in between them. After a moment, he finally spoke up. "If you were getting sick of me, you only had to say. I mean, I get it." Jeff's eyes instantly shot up. "I'm never going to get sick of you. I just… I don't know."
"Technically, this is your place. You paid for most of it, so I can move out, if you want me to," Chip said, voice low. "I don't want you to move out. I don't want to think about the fact that I'm 38 and haven't ever really been married. All I want is to not think, at all. I just don't care at this point."
He knew that those words meant something, and used them truthfully. He didn't want to worry about all the stresses of a real relationship, especially one that was so easily damaged. "Jeff, I…" Chip's voice trailed off as he was pulled into his boyfriend, their lips locking and tongues toying with each others. Everything had changed just as quickly as it had begun.
Jeff's fingers ripped at the buttons to Chip's shirt, and while confused, he still managed to take off his younger counterpart's suit. As they both kissed and nipped every bit of skin, the feelings they had when they first started dating all came flooding back. The excitement, the love, the lust, just everything about it was more than enticing. After a ruthless amount of teasing, they finally stopped for a brief second. "This has been the weirdest fucking birthday ever," Chip commented. "You used a pineapple to stop me from leaving!" Jeff retaliated with a laugh. "I'm glad it did, too."
The lovers shared a passionate kiss and became enveloped within the other. "I really do love you," Jeff said. Chip smirked and kissed the top of his head. "I know. I love you too."
