emstrong[09/21, 10:13pm] RRH:/em/strong my like real name is almost unpronounceable seeing that it's Polish and stuff

emstrong[09/21, 10:15pm] RRH:/em/strongso I have a nickname

Jackson sighed in relief. It couldn't be Stiles, right? He'd never heard Danny say that it was a nickname and it wasn't unpronounceable. Why would it matter if it was Stiles though? Would that really be that bad?

emstrong[09/21, 10:18pm] RRH:/em/strong so, i'm Stiles form Beacon Hills California, nice 2 meet u :D

Well, shit.

Apparently it was.

What was he supposed to do now? Stiles really emis/em Danny's friend. That made the chance of seeing him in real life a lot bigger, along with the chance of emStiles not liking him/em. He wasn't afraid of Stiles using him, Danny wouldn't be friends with someone like that. But still, the other possibility was there. And if there's one thing Jackson didn't like, it was confrontation about his insecurities.

The problem was solved for him four days later, when Danny called. Jackson picked up and was about to ask why Danny called him when it was night at were he was, but he was cut off before he could even think of saying it.

em"You're an idiot and it physically hurts me to call you my friend."/em

Jackson was quiet for a couple of seconds before he scoffed, "Seriously, Danny? What the fuck dude?" He could practically hear Danny roll his eyes. em"I could ask you the same thing! Do you know how miserable Stiles had been the past few days all because you're an idiot?"/em Jackson took a sharp intake of breath.

It was quiet for a few minutes until Danny sighed. em"Well? Aren't you going to explain? Or at least beg me to help you fix this?" /em "It's too late anyway." em "It's never too late, Jackson!" /em Another scoff. "Easy for you to say, you already found the love of your life." He heard Danny sigh, em"I wouldn't be so sure about that, but we're not talking about me. We're talking about you now." /em "Fine," but don't think Jackson wouldn't ask about it later, "what do you want me to do? Send him flowers? Serenade him?"

He waited for Danny to react, em"Stop being so dramatic or sad. Skype me tomorrow and I'll tell you what to do, okay?" /em "Okay, thanks dude. Good night."

Jackson could hear the smile in his voice as Danny said, "Night Jackson." And hung up, leaving Jackson to stare at his mobile screen for a few seconds.

When Jackson woke up the next day, he was nervous. Sue him.

He knew he screwed up with Stiles and after four days of crying, eating, sleeping and working out vigorously he finally accepted that.

Sort of.

Maybe.

Who was he kidding, he totally hadn't accepted shit. He knew he had to do something, he just didn't know emwhat/em. Danny's call was a blessing in disguise. At least until he started yelling to him about the problem he wanted to forget. Luckily, Danny was on his side and wanted to help him.

To say that he was nervous the whole day before the call would be an understatement. While he looked forward to seeing Danny again, he didn't look forward to the talking. There was probably going to be a lot of it.

On the other hand, they were going to talk about Stiles. And even in this screwed up situation, Jackson could probably never get tired of talking about Stiles, though eh would never admit it.

When he came home from school, he quickly told his parents what was going on. Both of them frowned, but hugged him and told him that it would be okay, as long as he was sincere about his feelings and knew what he was doing. Jackson just nodded.

He started up his laptop, and saw that Danny was already online. This was it then. He took a deep breath to calm himself down and went for it.

emstrong Outgoing Skype Call to: Gaylifornian /em/strong

The first thing he saw was Danny's relieved smile.

em"I thought you were gonna bail on me."/em

All Jackson could do was let out a nervous laugh, "Sorry to disappoint buddy, but contrary to your belief, I really do want to fix this." Danny just smiled at him before looking up, to something on the other side of his laptop. Jackson narrowed his eyes as he heard some noise, but didn't know what it was. Danny glanced down to the screen and smirked at Jackson, but shook his head, em"Don't worry, I know how much you'd like to apologize."/em

Jackson sighed, scratching the back of his neck and mumbled, "I don't think just an apology is going to cut it this time, Danny." He looked up at the screen to see a surprised face. em"Why wouldn't it? What else could you possibly do?"/em He shrugged, "Maybe I really should serenade him or send him flowers. I don't know. Just, a little something more to show that I really mean it." Danny made a contemplative face, em"You could at least start with an apology? What would you say to him if he was here right now?"/em

Jackson sagged back in his chair and scrubbed a hand through his hair. What would he say indeed. What was there to say, really? Sorry that I'm such an insecure little asshole and broke your heart for four days? He looked towards Danny who was patiently waiting for him.

"I would- I don't know. I'm sorry? Then again, that shouldn't come out as a question, should it? I'm really sorry, Stiles." He looked towards his hands, "I'm sorry I was an asshole to you, and that you were so heartbroken for four days. I'm sorry that my insecurities got in the way of my- of your- emof our/em happiness. Because that's how I see myself when I'm with you. Happy. I can't really remember a time where I was as happy as I've been with you recently – no offense Danny – and I'd be stupid to give it all up. But like I said, I've got so much insecurities. You'd probably slap the back of my head if I told you that, but... but it's true." Jackson took a deep breath, "I want to try though. I want to try and be happy for you, with you. And I hope that you'll want to be happy with me too."

He closed his eyes and rubbed them, letting out a half sob, half laugh. What he didn't expect to hear was a sob on the other side of the screen. He slowly looked up to the screen, where another boy was sitting next to Danny. The boy looked lean, with wide brown eyes and an upturned nose. His hand was covering his mouth, but he had long fingers. A couple of moles dotted his pale face and hand. The messy hair that adorned his head was brown, and looked like said hand had run through them a couple of times. Jackson turned to look at Danny, who was smiling softly and nudged the boy's shoulder, but didn't say anything.

Jackson's attention snapped back to the boy when he heard a snort. The guy pulled his hand away, revealing two soft looking lips, threw his head back and laughed. And emgod/em was it a beautiful laugh. His whole body was shaking with mirth as he kept laughing occasionally gasping for air. Out of the corner of his eyes, he saw Danny rolling his eyes and also let out a snort. Jackson didn't know what to say, so he just sat there staring dumbly at the screen and waiting for some kind of explanation.

When the guy finally stopped laughing, he wiped his eyes and smiled softly. em"Sorry 'bout that,"/em he mumbled, em"it's just that you're even more ridiculous than I expected."/em

Jackson raised an eyebrow and scoffed, crossing his arms over his chest, "And who are emyou/em to judge emme/em?" Danny snorted at that and the guy's smile turned into a grin, em"I'm the one who would love to be happy with you."/em

Later, much later, when Jackson had time to think about it, he'd be embarrassed about how long it took him to realize what the guy - emStiles/em - just said. Because after staring at the screen without daring to breath and then suddenly taking such a sharp intake of breath that he almost toppled off his chair, wasn't really the first impression he wanted to make. It elicited another laugh from Stiles though, although softer, and after Jackson has regained his senses and can sit upright properly, he smiles back reluctantly.

All of this results in them staring at each other for a moment too long, seeing that Danny coughs and mumbles out an em"I'll give you two a moment of privacy"/em after which he stands up which leaves Jackson alone with Stiles.

Of all the things he expected, this definitely wasn't one of them.

Which would explain why, "You're a lot hotter than I expected, to be honest," is past his lips before he has time to really think about it. The gu- emStiles dammit/em- just grins wider, em"I could say the same about you. Aren't you supposed to be a model or something?"/em

It eases the tension. Jackson rolls his eyes but keeps smiling, mumbling, "Speak for yourself. I'm sure people would be all over you in seconds." em"The person I want to have all over me this second is halfway across the world though."/em "I'm sure said person could be persuaded to visit you some time."

Shit, maybe he went too far. Stiles stares at him for a moment, all crappy pixels still making him look calculating, and eventually says, em"Could said person also be persuaded to visit me some time as my boyfriend?"/em Which in turn makes Jackson stare.

It's not a hard question. Sure, long distance sucks, but they've already been flirting for at least 3 months and really, this just takes the worry away about all of it being one big joke.

"Shouldn't you still be mad at me for being an asshole though?" He regrets the words as soon as they leave his mouth. He really shouldn't be spoiling his own chances like that. But Stiles just keeps smiling at him, grinning toothily, em"I'm not sure anyone could stay mad at you after an apology like that. Though I am still expecting those flowers."/em

Jackson sighs in relief, "Consider that done. I would.. I'd like to be your boyfriend, if you'll have me." em"I waited this long, of course I'll have you. Only if you'll have me too, though."/em Jackson smiles a real smile for the first time in five days, "Of course I'll have you, I just got you back."

Stiles opens his mouth to reply, but before he can get any sound out Jackson hears Danny's voice muffled in the background, yelling, em"For God's sake, you both want each other and like each other, I think we've established that. Exchange numbers already so you can be dumb to each other without me close by!"/em

After Stiles left with the promise of definitely texting him tomorrow, seeing that that night was game night, which left Jackson to just stare at Danny who was smirking at him. em"Was that really that hard?"/em Jackson scoffed, "I can't believe you did that man, that's so not cool."

The fact that Danny just rolled his eyes but didn't comment told him that Danny knew exactly how much bullshit that was.

Jackson went to sleep that night with a much lighter heart and a smile on his face.