Chazz sits at the airport terminal Jesse was meant to be coming out from almost 3 hours ago, holding now cold orange chicken and bacteria-covered rice. Chazz had told him that it was a bad idea to pick the food up for him, landing times were always unpredictable, and tonight was a perfect example of that.
Sighing, he leans back and closes his eyes, deciding to nap while he waits for a text. Just as he does, someone plops down in the seat next to him and Chazz opens his eyes, hoping to see Jesse had miraculously arrived, but instead sees Jaden's dumb, grinning face.
"What the hell are you doing here?"
Jaden pouts, but doesn't hesitate to reach for the bag of Panda Express on Chazz's lap.
"You mentioned earlier you were gonna wait here for Jesse. Thought you'd want some company," he explains, as Chazz pulls the bag away.
"I don't." Chazz slaps Jaden's hand away as he reaches for the bag again. "It's been sitting out for three hours, it's not good anymore."
"Food is food, man, and I'm hungry."
"It's not even for you. If you wanted to keep me company, why are you here three hours after his flight was supposed to land?" Chazz asks, giving in and letting Jaden take the food, when he tries a third time. It's his stomach to ruin.
"I checked your house first," he explained between bites of chicken, "then I checked the flights and saw his got delayed. So I headed over."
"You can see him later," Chazz says. "Like, anytime after tomorrow."
Tomorrow being Valentine's Day, which is the main reason Chazz didn't want Jaden here right now. He wanted to greet his newly established boyfriend for their first Valentines together without his previous one there, noisily chewing and interrupting what is meant to be a romantic reunion.
"What, why?"
"Because I haven't seen him in a week-"
"Me either!"
"- and it's Valentine's Day tomorrow."
"Is it?" Jaden starts in on the fried rice. Chazz grimaces.
"Yes. Now go away."
"Oh, come on. You got all tomorrow with him. I can be here to say hi when he lands. He's my best friend, too, you know."
Chazz grumbles and sighs. He doesn't know that Jaden's barely heard from Jesse the past month, and that this was more about hoping an in person encounter would be less awkward than their last few texts seemed to be.
Thirty minutes later, an exhausted and slightly miffed Jesse exits the terminal doors with his carryon slung over his shoulder. His phone service went out at some point during his layover and hasn't returned. He doesn't expect Chazz to still be waiting, and is delighted to see him standing up as soon as he sees him.
Jesse smiles big, and he could and would absolutely kiss Chazz in this moment, but then he sees Jaden sitting just next to where Chazz was. His smile fades, but he manages to keep it from disappearing altogether.
"Hey, y'all," he says instead, crossing the rest of the distance between them as Jaden hops up as well.
"Hey, pal!"
Jesse returns Jaden's fist bump, but notices Chazz awkwardly sticking his hands in his pockets. The disappointment in Chazz's expression as he glances at Jaden is comforting, and his smile brightens again.
"Didn't expect you'd still be waiting around," Jesse says to Chazz, his tone clearly pleased by the fact that he is.
Chazz shrugs and smiles.
"Yeah, well, I said I'd be here when you got here."
"Bet you didn't expect me at all," Jaden says with a grin.
Jesse shakes his head. "Nope! What brings you out?"
"I haven't seen you in a while, so I tagged along."
"More like he just sort of showed up a half hour ago," Chazz explains. Jesse nods.
"Yeah," Jaden chimes in, "To see my friends! It's been over a month, I thought this would be a perfect opportunity to catch up."
Chazz refrains from taking the opportunity to remind Jaden that everyone's gone much longer without hearing from him.
"Surprising no one, he only learned tomorrow is Valentine's Day thirty minutes ago as well," Chazz tells Jesse, who just chuckles and nods. He's exhausted and not really sure how to reschedule with Jaden without sounding rude. So he does the opposite.
"Well, after the flight I've had, I'm so hungry I could eat the north end of a south-bound billy goat," Jesse says. "Why don't we grab a late supper?"
Chazz grimaces, still learning to find Jesse's more unusual turns of phrase as endearing as he does the rest of him.
"Oh, sorry, Jess," Jaden says, "I just ate Chazz's leftovers."
Chazz slaps him on the back of the head in response.
"They were not leftovers, I got that for him."
"It was cold! Why would you give him old food?"
"I got it before his flight got delayed. It was trash -"
"Then why didn't you throw it in the trash?"
"Alright, alright," Jesse says, placing a hand on each of their shoulders and directing them to turn and head for the exit. "You two can watch me eat, then. And we can catch up, as long as it ain't you two bickerin' the whole time. I would like to enjoy my meal and your company."
The bickering doesn't happen the whole time, but it still isn't Jesse's idea of a good time. Maybe he'd be less irritated by the both of them if he wasn't so jet-lagged. When they get out of the little 24 hour diner they'd found, Jesse calls for a cab and Jaden shuffles around awkwardly while he and Chazz plan to meet up for tomorrow.
"I'll be staying just ten minutes from you for tonight," Jesse says. "We can get together after I check out?"
"Sounds good," Chazz says, then Jaden leans in from behind him to interrupt.
"You aren't going over to Chazz's? Wouldn't that be easier?"
Chazz turns red and shoves Jaden's face away. Jesse shrugs.
"Can't say we've reached the sleepover part of this relationship yet, Jay."
Jaden looks absolutely bewildered, and shoves Chazz's hand away.
"What? Didn't you guys share a bed for like, two weeks?"
"That was different," Chazz snaps. "Why are you still here? Dinner's over."
Jesse is definitely ready for bed, and is pleased to see his cab pull up just in time to get out of listening to any more of their back and forth.
"I'll see you tomorrow," Jesse says, kissing Chazz briefly on the cheek. As he gets into the cab he waves and adds, "See ya later, Jaden."
Jaden waves back, a little disappointed that the night didn't go quite as well as he had been hoping. He turns to Chazz and grins.
"What?"
"It's just me and you then!"
Chazz's brow furrows. He's not entirely sure what that is supposed to mean.
"I'm going home to sleep," Chazz says, turning and heading for his car. Unfortunately, Jaden follows, falling in step beside him, grin still intact.
"Yeah, but we got the whole car ride to hang," Jaden says.
"Why would we? You have your motorcycle."
"That's at your place, so I gotta ride with you."
Chazz stops and glares at Jaden, hands on his hips. He hasn't felt this frustrated since last summer when they were still living together and Jaden was removing things from the entire apartment to make room for his silly trinkets and boxes full of cards. He had a stupid grin on his face then, too, as if to say Chazz was the one who was being unreasonable.
"Why would you leave your ride at my place? What is your endgame here, exactly?"
Jaden frowns. Chazz is glad to see he's finally catching up to the actual mood of the night.
"I don't know what you mean," Jaden says, genuinely confused. "I just thought we'd all be going to the same place. It seemed like a good chance to see the both of you…"
"You really have a way of showing up when you're least wanted, you know?"
Jaden's face falls. He shrugs and pulls out his phone.
"My bad. I'll call a cab-"
Chazz sighs and grabs Jaden by the arm and pulls him along.
"Oh, shut up and get in the car."
Jaden smiles, but it's a little less bright than it had been before. "Thanks. I'll head out as soon as we get there. Promise!"
Like most of Jaden's promises, in Chazz's experience, this is not one that he keeps. Halfway through the drive, Jaden starts feeling sick. By the time they reach Chazz's apartment, he says he'll need the bathroom just real quick. Two hours later, he's still there.
Chazz sleeps most of the night, other than when Jaden is waking him up to ask where basic household items are.
"Nothing has changed since you lived here!" Chazz yells before covering his head with his pillow. "Stop waking me up!"
Fortunately he doesn't hear from Jaden after that.
Chazz wakes up later than he means to, so he hurries in for the shower. He finds Jaden sprawled out on the floor half-dressed and asleep. It's kind of pathetic, and Chazz almost feels bad, but he reminds himself this was Jaden's own fault.
"Get up, idiot," he says, using his foot to shake Jaden awake.
Jaden groans and sits up slowly. He's disheveled and still looks like he's just barely holding back being sick.
"I need to shower, go lay on the kitchen floor."
Jaden nods weakly and pulls himself to his feet. He shuffles out slowly muttering something that sounds like a 'thanks' as he goes.
Chazz takes a quicker shower than usual and rushes through brushing his teeth and getting dressed. When he goes to get his phone from the bedside table, he can't find it. He's sure he left it there, so he starts to move things and look under the bed and behind it, but he doesn't see anything except dirty laundry.
When he stands up, he hears voices from the other room. Chazz knows it is foolish to hope Jaden had just turned on the television, but is still disappointed when he enters the living room to find Jaden and Jesse sitting on the couch.
He sees his phone on the coffee table and storms over to snatch it up, glaring at Jaden as he does.
"Hey, Chazz," Jaden says sheepishly. "Before you get mad-"
"Too late."
"Your text noise went off and then when I heard it ring I figured it was Jesse," Jaden continued, "and I didn't want him to think you were ignoring him, or like, dead or something. So I just told him to come meet you here, since you take like an hour in the shower."
Chazz is mortified by the entire situation. He glances over at Jesse who just smiles sweetly at him.
"Jay was tellin' me he got a little food poisoning last night, so I picked him up some saltines and green tea on my way over," Jesse says, gesturing to the grocery bag sitting on the couch between them.
Chazz tries to smile, because he thinks Jesse's very sweet, but he can't quite keep how irritated he is off his face.
"That's very nice, but Jaden has to go home now. Since he's alive enough to answer other people's phones and doors."
Jaden chuckles nervously and rubs his neck.
"I don't know, I think I'm still a little too queasy to ride my bike-"
"Then walk," Chazz snaps.
"Why don't we just give him a ride, since we're on our way out anyway?" Jesse suggests.
"What about my bike?"
"I'll make sure it's towed by some place cheap."
"I'll follow behind you guys on it," Jesse says, giving Chazz a disappointed look.
Jaden perks up at that.
"Fine," Chazz says. "Where are you staying?"
"Uh, Syrus' place," he says, but neither of them think it sounds like Syrus is aware of this.
Two hours and a confused interaction with Syrus later, Jesse and Chazz are finally alone and on the way back to Chazz's apartment because in the whole ordeal with Jaden, he'd forgotten to pack the picnic they had planned for lunch.
"I can't believe I forgot everything, I'm sorry-" Chazz is rambling, sounding more irritated than apologetic. Jesse chuckles and leans back in his seat a little.
"There's nothing to be worked up over," Jesse says. "We got the rest of the day to forget about this little detour."
"I just wanted to have everything ready for you," Chazz says with a sigh. Jesse reaches out to take Chazz's free hand, which turns Chazz's cheeks a little red.
"I think getting it ready together will be even more fun," Jesse says.
They see each other at least once a week after Valentine's Day, twice if their schedules allow it. They don't see much of Jaden. At least, not when they're spending time together.
That lasts only a month, though, and then it seems Jaden is popping in on their dates or evenings together more often than they even have them.
The first time it happens after the food poisoning incident is during a movie. Jesse is lying with his legs stretched out across Chazz's couch and feet in his lap. It's cozy and they're chatting more than they are actually watching the movie, when Jaden is suddenly coming through the door with a twelve pack of soda. Chazz's complaints go entirely ignored as Jaden moves Jesse's legs up and sits down on the cushion between them.
Jesse just smiles and starts making friendly conversation about the new cards Jaden has pulled out to show them. Chazz thinks that maybe he's too nice. He grumbles and turns up the movie, and ignores Jaden anytime he tries to involve him in the conversation.
This same sort of thing happens a few more times over the next few months, but except for the time Jaden showed up at Jesse's place while they were enjoying the kissing portion at the end of a date, neither of them can bring themselves to tell him he isn't welcome. Jesse doesn't want to be rude, and Chazz is afraid to assume Jesse isn't secretly relieved to have Jaden showing up.
When they aren't spending half their budding relationship with a third wheel, however, the next nine months just fly right by. Jesse is pretty sure they have reached the 'I love you' stage, but he doesn't want to say it before he knows that's where Chazz is at. Which, for him, means letting Chazz say it first. Jesse doesn't mind waiting, though. He's got all the patience in the world for Chazz, and it's not like it needs to be said to be true anyway.
Jesse has been out of the country for the past two weeks and told Chazz he'll come visit as soon as he gets back. His flight is meant to get in during the early afternoon, but after several delays and Jesse's phone dying, he ends up getting back after Chazz would normally be in bed.
As expected, Chazz's apartment is dark when Jesse hurries up the stairs to the front door. He checks the door before picking the lock, not wanting to wake Chazz by knocking or ringing the bell. He absolutely hates (and is highly unpleasant) when he's woken up by anything except his alarm.
It doesn't take Jesse long to get the door open. He sneaks in, gently closing the door behind him. However, that's the quietest he manages to be the rest of the way to Chazz's bedroom. He trips over his own shoes, falling back into the door, then he manages to hit every creaky floorboard all the way down the hall.
Despite an audible 'ow' as Jesse's shins connect with something near the bed, Chazz doesn't stir. Jesse tosses his bag into the corner of the room and hobbles over to the bed. He crawls under the covers and buries his face down in the pillow, where he falls asleep within minutes.
After everything, it's the sound of Jesse's soft snoring that wakes Chazz.
Chazz decided not to wait up when Jesse's flight was delayed, so he'd just assumed Jesse would have gone home and they would meet up later the following afternoon. They hadn't actually discussed anything else, especially since Jesse has never actually slept over before.
But as Jesse rolls over and curls up against his side, Chazz can't think of any reason to complain about the surprise. His apartment is much closer to the airport, after all, so it really just makes more sense. So he smiles to himself and shifts a little to pull Jesse closer, before quickly falling back asleep.
Somehow Jesse is out of bed before Chazz. It's barely past ten in the morning when Chazz rolls out of bed, not quite awake. He briefly wonders if he'd dreamt Jesse came in last night, until he finds him on the couch. Jesse grins at him over a cup of coffee, his hair damp and wearing Chazz's pajamas.
"There's food on the stove," Jesse tells him.
"Why are you in my clothes?"
"Mine are dirty," Jesse explains. "I started a load of laundry, so don't worry, I won't leave without changing." He gives Chazz a thumbs up. Chazz shrugs and heads into the kitchen.
He has never kept much of anything in his fridge, so he's surprised to find a full freshly-cooked breakfast waiting for him. Chazz doesn't make a plate, however, just pours himself a cup of coffee and goes back out to the living room. Jesse frowns when Chazz sits down on the couch beside him.
"You're not hungry?" he asks.
"I don't eat breakfast." Chazz shrugs, leaning back to get comfortable.
"That's silly," Jesse says. "Breakfast is the most important meal!"
"I've survived this long without it."
"You'd probably be less grouchy if you started the day off with a proper meal," Jesse says.
"I'm not grouchy."
"Of course not, you got to wake up to me! But you sure do scowl a lot," Jesse says, poking Chazz between his eyebrows. Chazz does his best to keep his expression neutral as he swats Jesse's hand away.
"I'll eat it because you made it for me," Chazz says, setting his coffee down on the table and getting back up.
"I reckon I'll just have to make you breakfast every morning, then!"
"That's ridiculous, you live an hour and a half away."
"You're right," Jesse says, pursing his lips and tapping his chin thoughtfully. "I guess I'll just have to stay over more."
"Starting tonight?" Just as he finishes saying it, Chazz realizes it sounded more like a suggestion than he had meant for it to. Jesse shrugs and smiles.
"I got nowhere else to be."
It has been nine months since they started dating, eight since they labeled it a relationship, but sleeping over hadn't come up once in that time. Chazz is suddenly anxious, though he isn't entirely sure why.
"I have to work tomorrow," Chazz says, trying not to sound like he's taking back the invitation. He can hear the slight panic in his tone, but Jesse doesn't seem to notice.
"That's ok! I have stuff to do, too," Jesse says. "But it can be done anywhere. I can just hang around here until you get back."
"Oh," Chazz says, unable to think of any other issue with the idea. "Well, if you want to."
Chazz knows the expression he's making is not the smile he was going for. Embarrassed and suddenly aware that he's just standing in front of the couch, he turns and goes into the kitchen to get breakfast. He groans quietly when he hears Jesse's footsteps following behind him.
Jesse stops next to the stove, leans against the counter and folds his arms. Chazz avoids eye contact as he reaches around him to grab a plate.
"Would you rather I didn't?" Jesse asks. "We can just make plans to go out when we're both free, I don't have to stay-"
"No, I want you to," Chazz says quickly. "You just never have before. Excluding last night, I guess..."
Chazz knows it shouldn't be something to fret over. They've been dating for almost a year. Yet these facts don't ease his anxiety.
"You seem uncomfortable," Jesse says.
"I'm not! I want you to stay over," Chazz insists, because he does. He's pretty sure he does, at least, and that's good enough as far as he's concerned.
Jesse doesn't say anything for a moment. He has a feeling he knows what Chazz's problem is, but anytime the topic comes up, it never goes in a productive direction.
"We don't have to do anything," Jesse says, deciding that maybe today was the day.
Chazz frowns, not quite sure what he means. "What?"
"If you're worried about sex-"
Chazz turns red. "I'm not!"
Or not. Jesse starts to say something, but changes his mind. They'll have to talk about it eventually, but he doesn't mind waiting for Chazz to initiate the conversation, so he doesn't push it.
"We'll have fun," Jesse says with a smile and bumps Chazz's hip with his own. "You're not busy today, right?"
"No," Chazz says, relieved by the subject change. "I made sure my day was cleared for you."
Jesse whistles and gives Chazz a quick kiss on the cheek. "Let's go out! I have some fun ideas." Jesse heads back into the living room with a bright smile.
Chazz is left alone with his half-full plate. He finishes getting his breakfast together then joins Jesse in the living room.
Jesse places his legs over Chazz's as soon as he sits down, and Chazz feels a little silly for worrying. Jesse holds his phone and scrolls with a very serious expression.
"Did you get this email?" Jesse says, showing Chazz his screen. "It's an invitation to a tournament."
"Cool," Chazz says, skimming through it. "It looks like they're putting us on teams."
"Maybe we can be on the same team! I wonder how signing up for that works. Who else do you think was invited? I'm going to call people!"
Jesse starts to sit up, but Chazz puts his plate down on his legs before he can move.
"Calm down, it's six months from now. Weren't you coming up with ideas for today?"
Jesse snaps his fingers and leans back against the cushion and closes his email.
"How about horseback riding?"
Chazz almost says no. He's not a big fan of horseback riding, but Jesse looks excited by the idea and it's been probably twelve years since Chazz has been on a horse, so he shrugs and says sure.
How Jesse manages to get a same-day time slot with a horse ranch to go on a trail ride is a marvel. Chazz figures it was his sunny disposition. Something that is definitely never the case for Chazz. Service workers are never delighted to speak to him. Jesse's incessant optimism is both annoying and endearing to Chazz. It leans more toward endearing the more time they spend together, though.
On the way to the ranch, Jesse talks the whole way about how excited he is, which rubs off on Chazz, who finds himself excited as well. That excitement wanes, however, as the first thing he does when they're in the barn is begin sneezing.
"Well, shoot," Jesse says, "I guess I didn't account for allergies. Why don't we go outside to get the horses ready. It'll be less stuffy."
Chazz sneezes again, and Jesse pats him gently on the shoulder.
"Yeah alright." He looks at the horse he's been assigned. "You ready for a fun day?" The horse replies with a soft snort.
Jesse chuckles.
"I reckon he likes you."
Jesse's own horse nickers and nudges at his shoulder. He laughs and pats the horse's head.
"Easy, girl, we gotta get ya groomed and tacked up first."
Brushing the horse was easy enough, but when it comes time to clean the hooves and get the saddle and bridle on, Jesse takes over. Even more embarrassing for Chazz, is needing Jesse's help to get into the saddle.
Once seated, he watches Jesse gracefully swing up onto his horse.
With a click of his mouth and a gentle kick of his heels, Jesse starts the ride. Chazz tries to emulate, but kicks harder than he means to. The horse shoots past Jesse with Chazz barely hanging on.
"C'mon, girl," Jesse calls, urging his horse to a full gallop. He catches up to Chazz and grabs the other horse by the reins, calling out a gentle "whoa." The horses settle and Chazz is still gripping the saddlehorn for dear life. He looks over at Jesse, who's smiling at him.
"You okay, Chazz?"
Chazz cautiously sits back up on the horse and nods his head. Trying not to look too embarrassed, he gives a short laugh.
"Saved by a real life cowboy."
Jesse laughs with him and turns around to where they came from. Between Chazz sneezing and nearly falling off the horse, he gets the sense that if they stay it will only be because Chazz doesn't want to be the one to end the activity early.
"I think we may have had enough adventure for today," Jesse says. "Let's say we head back and then go out to eat."
"That sounds great," Chazz agrees, and follows Jesse, nudging the horse more gently this time.
He watches the way Jesse starts surveying the area, still ever confident on the horse.
"Jesse, if you try to make dueling on horses a thing, I'll never speak to you again."
Jesse laughs, but doesn't respond to the comment.
"I'm thinking sushi for dinner."
Chazz just shakes his head, glad this part of the day is over.
That night after an allergy pill and a shower, Chazz sits in bed, starting to get anxious as Jesse finishes up his own shower. When Jesse finally comes out, Chazz presses his face into his pillow and shuts his eyes. Jesse flops down on the bed beside him. He lightly taps Chazz's temple until he opens his eyes to see Jesse smiling at him.
"Goodnight," Jesse says, planting a chaste kiss on Chazz's lips before rolling up against his back to get comfortable.
"'Night." Chazz smiles and closes his eyes again. He doesn't know why he got so worried, but as they lay there, he feels a lot more relaxed than he had been afraid he'd feel. He definitely wouldn't mind sleeping next to Jesse more often.
The following night, however, kissing and cuddling quickly turns into something more heated and just as Jesse's hands start making their way under his shirt, Chazz pulls away.
"I think my phone is ringing," Before Jesse can say anything, Chazz hurries out of the bedroom.
Jesse doesn't hear anything. He considers going after Chazz, but he doesn't want to make him feel like he has to talk about something before he's ready to, so instead he waits. After about ten minutes, Chazz still hasn't come back so Jesse decides to just go to sleep.
Chazz sneaks back in when he notices the lights in the room have been turned off. It takes him over an hour to fall asleep, worrying what Jesse might say in the morning about his behavior.
The next morning, Jesse comes into the living room dressed for the day and carrying his mostly packed bag.
"I have to prepare to for my first ice duel-"
"I forgot you were doing that," Chazz says, frowning. He thinks ice skating and dueling is a silly concept, and he doesn't really understand how Jesse made it pick up traction after it failed in its first few attempts.
Jesse rolls his eyes, sure that Chazz's complaints about it are rooted solely in never quite getting the hang of skating.
"If you drive me home," Jesse says as he gets his things together, "we can spend a little more time together before I have to fly out."
It doesn't take Chazz long to be convinced. The drive is long, which he hates, but he isn't ready for Jesse to leave. Especially after the previous night, it eases his anxiety to know that Jesse isn't ready to be away from him.
The drive is a little over an hour. They don't talk much, mostly listening to music and holding hands occasionally whenever Jesse isn't fiddling with the radio stations.
As soon as they reach the apartment, Jesse hurries inside, leaving Chazz to carry his belongings for him. Chazz grumbles the whole way up the stairs. When he finds Jesse inside, chatting with his fish as he feeds them, his annoyance disappears.
"Too bad you live all the way out here," he says, setting Jesse's things down near the door.
"If you stay you won't have to miss me," Jesse says as he puts away the fish food.
"You're not sick of me?"
"Nope."
Chazz feels like he should question that, but he also hasn't gotten sick of Jesse, so there's not much he can say even if it sounds absolutely unbelievable to him.
"I'd still have to leave eventually," he says as Jesse pulls him close and kisses him.
"Not necessarily."
"You don't have enough room for me here," Chazz says. He hadn't been expecting the topic of living together to come up. Was nine months long enough? He likes the idea though, especially with how their schedules usually work against them spending much time together.
"True," Jesse says with his same smile, but Chazz is pretty sure he can see disappointment hiding behind it.
"And I don't have room for your fish at my apartment."
"I suppose not." Jesse pulls back, but Chazz moves with him and wraps his arms around his waist.
"I didn't mean I was ready to leave. You know, my lease is up soon."
"Yeah? How soon?"
"Two months," Chazz says, pleased to see Jesse's expression brighten up. "Maybe we can look for something with room for the both of us?"
"I like the sound of that!" Jesse says, then kisses Chazz again.
Jesse is back at Chazz's within the week, and the inconvenience of having to say goodbye again in less than a day dominates most of their conversation. They spend most of the evening cuddled up on the couch or in bed looking for places to live together. They settle on a few places that they plan to call in the coming weeks, before laying down to sleep.
Chazz wakes up the next morning before Jesse and decides to head to the kitchen to make him breakfast. On his way, he hears noise from the living room. Worried about finding an intruder, he grabs a candlestick from the surface where he usually keeps it and sneaks down the hall, only to find Jaden sprawled out and snoring on his couch.
Chazz sets the stick down and marches across the room. Snatching a pillow from a chair on his way over, he uses it to slap Jaden directly in the face. Jaden startles and sits up, nearly tumbling off the couch.
"Hey Chazz," Jaden says, rubbing his eyes and yawning. "What's up?"
Chazz swings the pillow at him again, but Jaden covers his face just in time.
"What are you doing here?" Chazz demands, as Jaden pulls the pillow out of his grasp.
"I got bored at Syrus's. There's always something happening, and it's rarely ever dueling," he says, giving Chazz a sleepy smile. "And I don't have any money for a hotel."
"So you just broke in?"
"Of course not," Jaden says with a laugh. "I have a key."
"You were supposed to give me that key back."
Chazz had completely forgotten Jaden had a key, it had been so long since he's used it.
"Why?" Jaden wrapped his arms around the pillow and leaned back. "What if you're not here and I need to get in?"
"Why would that ever be the case? You don't live here."
"But-"
"Why haven't you found your own place yet?"
"It's much cheaper to just hang out with you."
"You can't stay here."
"Aw, Chazz," Jaden whines, grabbing Chazz by the hand with both of his. "Pleeease?"
Chazz glares at him for a long, silent moment, before sighing.
"You'll do chores," Chazz tells him as he pulls his hand out of Jaden's.
"Hey Jaden!" Jesse's cheerful voice comes from the hall behind Chazz, startling him. "What are you doing here?"
"Moving in!"
Jesse's smile disappears instantly, and he gives Chazz a confused look.
"No!" Chazz says, holding his hands up defensively. "You're just staying while you find somewhere to live."
"Should you really be living here?" Jesse asks, and Chazz notices the emphasis on the last word.
"Why not?" Jaden doesn't seem to notice, as he puts the pillow down and lays back trying to get comfortable again.
There's a brief pause and Chazz glances at Jesse, who still looks uncharacteristically serious. This isn't his usual expression when interacting with Jaden, for sure. Chazz even thinks that he seems to be annoyed.
"I think you should find a different friend to stay with, Jaden."
Jaden stares up at Jesse. Finally noticing the mood, he frowns and sits back up.
"I don't understand. Chazz doesn't mind, though. Right, Chazz?"
Chazz shrugs. He sort of does mind, but he's already given in and if it was only for a few days, a few weeks at most, he could deal with it.
"Okay," Jesse says, sighing a little right before putting a friendly smile back on his face. "Jaden, can we talk outside?"
"Okay…" Jaden gets up and glances at Chazz, but he's too busy watching Jesse head for the door as he walks past.
"Jesse-"
"We'll be right back," Jesse interrupts and holds the door open for Jaden to walk out first. He smiles at Chazz and closes the door behind him.
"What's up?" Jaden leans against the railing across from the door.
"You need to find somewhere else to crash while you're lookin' for your own place."
"What? Why?"
"Look, I know you don't really get it, but it's not really appropriate to move on to your ex-boyfriend's couch, especially when his current one doesn't even live here."
"Chazz doesn't mind-"
"But I do."
"Oh."
The look on Jaden's face is hard for Jesse to read, but he wishes he'd been a little more gentle. They haven't talked too much since Valentine's Day, and when they do it's always a little stilted, as if something has changed. Jesse isn't quite sure how to talk to Jaden anymore, in fact. Not without awkward pauses or, in this case, hurting his feelings somehow.
"I'm not trying to be mean, Jay-"
"It's fine," Jaden says, raising his hands and making an expression that may have been intended as a smile, but just makes him look irritated. "I'll go."
"I'm not telling you to leave, Jaden. We can still hang out-" Jesse says, taking a step forward, but Jaden turns and starts heading for the stairs.
"No. You're right. I shouldn't keep barging in. I'll see ya later."
Jesse sighs, rubbing the back of his neck as he watches Jaden disappear from sight. He considers following after him, convincing him to stay a while, but he isn't sure he actually wants to do that. After a moment, he heads back inside and finds Chazz fidgeting anxiously with a piece of toast in the kitchen.
"Where's Jaden?"
"I'm not sure, he didn't say."
Jesse sits down across from Chazz, and leans on his hands. Chazz frowns and pushes a plate with a second piece of toast on it over to him.
"What happened?"
"I told him he shouldn't live here, and he just took off."
"I only said he could because-" Chazz begins, but Jesse raises a hand to cut him off.
"I'm not jealous."
"Okay. Then-"
"Jaden doesn't have boundaries," Jesse explains. "And you aren't used to saying no to him."
"I know how to say no."
"Should I have not said anything?" Jesse asks. "I might be able to catch up with him-"
"No, that's not what I meant."
"Jaden has enough friends' couches to stay on," Jesse says, but he reaches out and takes Chazz's hand as he talks, feeling a little guilty now. "Considering everything, it just seems a little… inappropriate. I haven't had him show up looking for a place to stay since before Christmas- but he's always poppin' in over here. I- Did I overstep?"
Chazz shakes his head and sighs.
"No, you're right. I didn't want him to stay anyway, and I should've just told him that."
Jesse smiles softly. As he begins to feel just a little better knowing Chazz really didn't want Jaden to stay, he realizes that maybe he was feeling a little bit jealous. He pushes the toast into the middle of the table and stands up.
"Let me treat us to a real breakfast," he says, tugging on Chazz's hand to get him to stand as well. Chazz looks at the toast he'd been holding, and considers mentioning that he had actually planned to make something more elaborate. But he doesn't actually feel like cooking, so he just shrugs and agrees.
They go to the same place Jesse picks every time they go out for breakfast, and spend most of it talking about and narrowing down their apartment choices a little bit more. There's back and forth on whether a washer/dryer combo in the house is necessary, or if it can be in a communal room. Jesse ends up winning the argument that it doesn't matter, and they settle on a few more to check out.
On the way back home that night, while Jesse heads inside, Chazz takes a minute to check the mail. The only thing there other than junk, is an unmarked envelope with Jaden's key inside. He frowns, wondering how long it'll be before they'll hear from Jaden again after this.