Okay, new chapter! This story will be short but I'm going to make the best of it! So here's chapter two with a major boat of Jadam (see what I did there? I made the James x Adam crossover pairing name! Well, an attempt to it anyway!) to enjoy! Oh, who is James going to choose? The question is riveting! Disclaimer: I don't own Lab Rats or Big Time Rush! Just the idea of this crossover story/love triangle!
"One Merry Berry smoothie, this one's on the house." James looked up from his book to see a tall cup (eco-friendly!) filled with a thick, sweet-smelling dark purple whip of smoothie in front of him on the counter, the employee for the afternoon slot (nametag read Ben) throwing a cheeky grin the brown-eyed brunette's way.
James let out a slight chuckle and stuck the bendable straw between his lips, eyes glazing over as he tasted the fruity treat. "Hmmm, a smoothie always helps me think! Thanks Ben, but why on the house? I have money you know", He pointed out; he did get eight bucks an hour as a campus English tutor.
Sure he was only a freshman, but he knew his stuff.
Ben shook his head and held up a hand when James pulled out his wallet. "Dude, don't really. It's on the house for two reasons: you give wicked awesome tips when you do pay, you're one of the day-to-day customers who helps keep this gig alive; it being free for one day won't hurt business and two because you look out of it. Got a problem or something man, want to talk about it?" Ben asked his golden-green cat-like eyes soft.
James sighed, pushing his thick, whole-rimmed glasses (he took his contacts out after walking Quinn to the girls' dorm) further up the bridge of his nose. "You know, class stress mixed with sports stress and relationship stress: typical college kid hassle.
Ben reached over and patted James on the shoulder, fixing his Fruity Heaven purple-and-green employee hat over his tousled tumbleweed brown locks. "Dude, I think I know what's going on: you're in a love triangle."
"How did you…?" James trailed, surprise clear in his voice and on his face. Ben smiled weakly.
"Dude, word gets around fast in the school's grapevine. So, Kendall and Adam right? Kind of assumed the situation since I'd always seen them tagging after you, working in the best, not to mention only, smoothie stand on campus lets a guy know where the gossip train is heading."
"You mean, everyone knows?" James said mortified, running a hand through his hair; it was just as messy as his appearance, not gelled up from the quick shower he took earlier and looking windswept from having the hood of his black jacket up over his head.
Ben began wiping down the counter, James picking up his smoothie cup to not cause an obstacle. "Well, maybe just the juniors and freshmen with a little mix of seniors, Adam is one of the most popular guys on campus and he's on the swim team. I'm in guitar club with Kendall and he can work the strings real good, both got some leverage in this place."
"Well that sucks for me", James said with another sip from his smoothie between a groan, "I don't know what to do, you're right I'm in a love triangle and all I want to do is get out of it but I have no clue who I want to date and I hate the idea that I'll ending up hurting one of them, the one I don't choose."
"You like them both." Ben said; it wasn't a question but a solid statement.
James looked up sadly from his straw. "Yeah, I do; Kendall's awesome but Adam is too and I don't know who I like even more and they both asked me out earlier today and oh man! I'm in a deep ditch here…!" The pretty boy moaned, getting up from his seat and making sure he had all his stuff with him; when a smoothie didn't get his crash attitude back, he always went to the school pool, which was always open for recreation or extra swim team practice.
Ben shook his head, shooting James a bright smile. "Hey dude, don't look on the negative ends just yet! This is…a big issue sure, but who knows you might just get your answer in the next few days! Keep going for the cause, dude!" James chuckled at this, managing a faint smile back.
"Ha, thanks Ben. See you same time tomorrow, crash smoothie as usual", James responded, using his word for almost everything he liked.
Ben gave him a wave before he went back to wiping the counter, some other customers at the picnic tables not far from the stand and minding their own business; James shrugged on his book bag and started for the Gym, hoping some chlorine can help clear his head.
/
James pulled himself from the clear, makeshift waves of the large, rectangular-shaped pool and wrapped his towel around his neck, his green swim shorts sagging around his hips from the wet.
The pool was completely empty, the setting sun pouring streams of purples and pinks and oranges through the windows; it was all quiet and peaceful, the smell of chlorine surprisingly soothing.
'Please pool, my smoothie rush didn't help so please use your mystical powers and help me figure this mess out…!' The pretty boy ranted in his head, pulling on his jacket after properly drying his body and hair; he swirled his toes in the cool water, shoulders slumped and a heavy sigh leaving him.
"I suck, big time."
"You may suck, but you are still really cute." James blinked his eyes and looked up, the strobe-like lights overhead nearly blinding him; Adam Davenport, in nothing but a pair of sweatpants and white muscle shirt with a hoodie over it, soon sat down next to him, shoes off and feet in the pool.
James rolled his eyes at the comment, smiling a little though. "Well I must look drop-dead gorgeous right about now because right now I'm on a major sucky roll." Adam laughed.
"Yeah you're beautiful but you're also pretty smart and sweet and nice, so you're not so bad." The older boy replied, James' smile faltering a little.
"I'm sorry about…you know, what went down earlier. I was just shocked; you two sure know how to knock a guy into zombie mode."
"Wait, you're a zombie?! No, don't eat my brains!" Adam exclaimed, making growling noises and throwing his hands out; James yelped with a fit of snickers when the older boy began tickling him, tears filling his eyes in a matter of minutes.
"Hahahaha, Adam stop tickling me! I-I can't take it, ha! I'm no zombie, s-stop!" James pleaded, trying to catch his breath.
Adam smiled and kept the tickle fight going for a few minutes more before he finally stopped, both of them clutching the forming stitches in their sides.
"You're a jerk, Davenport."
"Hey you laughed out loud, Diamond; that's what I was going for!" James punched Adam in the shoulder with a grin; they were now quiet as they watched the water slosh and splash at their toes.
"Look, can I just tell you something? About, what I said earlier today?" Adam said humor still there in his expression but with a touch of serious now; James swallowed the lump in his throat, words stuck so he nodded back.
Adam shifted a bit so that his upper body was tilted toward James, deep and smoldering dark brown eyes piercing into the pretty boy's own light hazel.
"James, I'm not here to tell you to choose me, to give me a chance and reject Kendall; I'm not the type of guy to go possessive over someone who isn't mine to be possessive over, that's not how I was raised and you're not some trophy but a great guy, someone who I think knows me better than anyone I've met", Adam began, his words striking James deep though the other managed a neutral face.
"When I met you, I don't know why back then but I just got drawn to you; you seemed like a nice and cool guy, not to mention really cute, and I was right and wrong: you are nice and cool and cute, but also really smart and sensitive, someone who is amazing but just needs to be reminded of that every now and again. I like hanging out with you because even though I'm not the…sharpest pencil in the shed you don't hold that against me like my other friends do sometimes; you like some of the things I do, like video games and sports, but we're still not the same-keeps the relationship interesting. You and I can talk about secret-agent gerbils taking over the world with celery magicians or about our English papers and I would not get bored once; you make everything fun for me, even school!" James chuckled at the part about the gerbils, Adam's smile fond and affectionate.
"So what I'm trying to say is…I don't know if I can make you happy because only you know who's right for you, me or Kendall. I don't know if I'm the one, if I'm the one who has the chance to be with you and make you happy…but I know one thing: you're very important to me, I care about you a lot, so much you can't even imagine how much, and if you choose me…I'll spend all my time, all the time we have together to make you feel loved. I'll do whatever I can to make you happy, I'll respect you and treat you right and always try to do the best for us, for you. I think I'm in love with you, James and I want you to choose who makes you happy and no matter what, I'll always be there for you, no matter what I promise…" Adam finished with a soft whisper, he and James unknowingly leaning closer to each other.
James' eyes were brimming with tears, cheeks flushed and heart pounding.
Adam Davenport may not be Einstein-genius like his baby brother Chase, but when it came to certain things like video games and his feelings, he was way brighter than he let on.
And from the look in his eyes, all he just said was dead sincere and trustworthy.
"A-Adam, I-" James' words died on his tongue as his lips slowly met with the older boy's, tears trailing down his cheeks as he closed his eyes and just let the well of emotions bomb him big time.
Adam was gentle, not taking hold of the other's face or hands and letting his lips do the talking (so to speak), mouth warm and soft as he lightly pressed his bottom lip to James' top one, breathing uneven as he felt the blood rush to his cheeks.
He's kissed before, a crush or two and a girlfriend he had in high school but none of them have felt this good, this at ease and content.
Maybe because James wasn't just some crush or tenth grade fling; he was serious about the pretty boy.
It wasn't before long that the two broke apart, James gasping for breath while Adam tried to cool the heat burning his face.
"I'm sorry, but I've wanted to do that for a while now." Adam whispered, James' tears still flowing.
Adam kissed him; Adam kissed him and he kissed back, because he wanted to.
And now, James was more confused than ever about his feelings, for both Adam and Kendall.
