fic: an unusual arrangement (andrew/jesse, prompt 14) 1 of 4
Title: An Unusual Arrangement
Recipient: andhereiam17
Prompt Number: 14
Characters/Pairings: Jesse/Andrew, Emma Stone, Carey Mulligan plus appearances from other TSN cast members
Rating/Warnings: NC-17 and no warnings
Word Count: 35,614
Disclaimer: This fanwork portrays fictional representations of real actors involved in The Social Network. These are not true accounts or meant to imply anything about these real people.
Summary: Jesse's parents have always told him he would have to marry someone they picked out for him one day. So, when he lands the role of a lifetime right after they pick his life partner he insists on being able to take it. They agree with one condition: he must live with his fiancé for the duration of filming.
Jesse was sitting in his old room at his parent’s house when Hallie Kate came in and flopped down on his bed, letting her head hang off the edge and looking over at him upside down, “So, are mom and dad seriously making you go through with this arranged marriage thing.”
“Yeah, they said he would be good for me, and that I should give it a try, but I mean it’s totally ridiculous. Who ever heard of an arranged marriage between two guys? But mom and dad made it pretty clear they’d be disappointed if I didn’t go through with this. I mean, I know that it's an important part of our religion for me to get married to a person that our parent's picked for me, but it's weird” Jesse said letting his head fall back against the wall. “I just don't understand. If they're so concerned with following religion why aren't they making me marry a girl?”
“I think that the way they look at it is they want you to at least have a chance of being happy with this person. So, while they still want to follow religion as close as possible, they also aren’t going to a force a girl on you when they know there’s no chance of you being happy with that,” Hallie said shrugging her shoulders a bit and very nearly falling off the bed.
“It’s nice of them to consider my preference when forcing a life partner upon me, I guess,” Jesse said his voice dripping with sarcasm.
“They mean well, and hey you might end up with someone you end up really liking. I saw the guy the other day and he is actually really hot, you should be excited,” Hallie said with an evil grin.
“You got to see him before me? That’s not fair,” Jesse said a pout taking over his features.
“It was an accident. Mom and I ran into him at the store, and she recognized him from the pictures” Hallie said at the same time Jesse’s phone started ringing. He nodded his understanding at her and answered the phone.
“Hello.”
“Jesse, darling, how are you doing?” his agent asked from the other side of the line.
“I’m okay. Have you heard from them?” he asked, panic rising in his chest. He really wanted this part. It was the last movie he would have a chance to do before the marriage.
“I just got off the phone with them,” she said and then paused for dramatic effect.
“And?” Jesse asked, quickly losing patience.
“You got the part.”
Jesse let out a sigh of relief a smile breaking across his face, he discussed the rest of the details about when rehearsals and filming were going to start with her and then got off the phone.
“I take it you got that part you wanted,” Hallie said grinning at him, “Are you going to tell mom and dad now?”
“I guess I kind of have too. They are going to be mad, though. I’m supposed to be getting to know my fiancé, and instead I’m going to be busy filming,” he said. He was actually a little afraid his parents might make him pull out of the movie. But, they knew how much acting meant to him, and this was a really good opportunity, it was a David Fincher film with a script by Aaron Sorkin, he would never get this opportunity again. He hopped up off the floor, “I guess I’m gonna go tell them.”
Jesse headed downstairs in search of his parents and found them both already sitting in the living room, he lingered in the doorway for a second before speaking, “Hey, I need to tell you guys something.”
“Come sit down,” his dad said motioning toward a chair. Jesse walked over and sat down and his mom and dad looked at him expectantly, after a pause his father spoke up, “You were saying?”
“Oh right,” Jesse started his stomach twisting with worry, “Okay, I know I’m supposed to be getting to know my fiancé and everything over the next few months but I landed a really good role. It’s in a David Fincher film and Aaron Sorkin wrote the script and there are some just really incredibly talented people involved and I really don’t want to pass this up.”
His parents exchanged a look that Jesse couldn’t quite read and then his mom asked, “You said it was a David Fincher film?”
“Yes, uh why?” Jesse asked and his parents shared another meaningful look.
“I was just checking…well you really can’t pass that up. How about we compromise? We’ll have to talk to the Garfield’s and see if this arrangement works for them, but how about you go ahead and take the role, but maybe you guys can live together while you’re filming so that you’ll get to know each other.”
Jesse was a little thrown by how well his parents had taken this. He had expected to have to fight with them for a long time in order to be allowed to do the movie. It was also very weird to him that they had suggested he live with his fiancé while filming. Living with someone before you were married to them wasn’t exactly following religion very closely. But he really didn’t want to press his luck so he didn’t question it, and instead agreed quickly, “Fine,” he said moving to give his parents hugs before heading back upstairs to tell Hallie Kate how it had gone, even though Jesse suspected she had probably been listening in from the top of the stairs anyway.
The next week passed in a haze of packing and learning his lines and before he knew it Jesse was packing his car to head for the airport. He was going to the first table read as soon as he got into town and then he was supposed to be moving in with his fiancé later in the day. After Jesse placed his last bag in the car he waited outside for Hallie Kate, who was supposed to be driving him there.
She pulled up a few minutes later and they piled into his car. Jesse looked out the window drumming his fingers nervously against his knee while she pulled out of the driveway.
“So, how are you feeling about meeting your fiancé today?” Hallie Kate asked.
“Ugh, not good. What if he hates me?” Jesse said
“He’s not going to hate you.”
Jesse rolled his eyes. She had no way of knowing that, and he hated empty reassurances. He settled back in his seat, leaning his forehead against the window.
“Jesse, seriously you’re fantastic and if this guy doesn’t like you I will drop by and knock some sense into his head,” Hallie Kate said.
Jesse grinned but he still wasn’t feeling very well about this. He still thought it was insane that in this day and age he was technically engaged to someone he hadn’t even met before. Jesse changed the subject to the movie and Hallie Kate started raving about how she couldn’t believe her big brother was going to be in a David Fincher film and he settled back and chatted comfortably with her about the movie for the rest of the drive.
When they made it to the airport she pulled into the drop off area and leaned over to give him a giant hug, “Good luck…with everything. Call me if you need anything.”
“Thank you. I’ll see you in a few months,” Jesse said hugging her tightly.
***
Jesse made it to Boston a little later than he was supposed to and rushed over to the rehearsal space. He was one of the last people there, so he took one of the last available seats, apologized for cutting it so close and opened up his script. At the exact time they were supposed to start a tall skinny guy with brown hair that was sticking out all over the place rushed into the room apologizing for running late and shaking everyone’s hand. He sat down at the last chair and David spoke up saying they should all go around in a circle and introduce themselves. Jesse went first and then zoned out too worried about how he would do during the read-through to listen to anybody else introduce them self. Before he knew it all the introductions were done and he had missed almost everyone’s name. He felt kind of guilty about that, but he had a lot of things he was thinking about.
After all of the introductions they started their read through and Jesse lost himself in the character. This was what he loved about acting. He was always able to completely escape the world through whatever character he was playing.
A couple of hours later they had made it through the majority of the script and David announced that they should break for lunch and come back in an hour. Jesse stood up and went to exit the room behind everyone else but before he could get very far the guy who had made it in last (who Jesse had learned was playing Eduardo) pulled him aside. Jesse assumed he probably just wanted to talk for a while since they’re characters were best friends, which is why he was so thrown off by what he said.
“Hey, it’s so great to finally meet you. My mom has told me so much about you, based on what your mom has told her,” he said smiling shyly.
“What are you talking about?” Jesse asked, his brow furrowed in confusion, “Your mom knows my mom?”
“Wait, do you not know?” Andrew asked his grin suddenly changing to a more uncertain expression.
“Know what?” Jesse asked
“I’m…did you happen to catch my name?” Andrew said and when Jesse’s only response was to furrow his brow Andrew continued, “I’m Andrew. As in Andrew Garfield.”
Well this was weird. Jesse’s new costar was apparently also the man his parents were forcing him to marry. His whole world seemed to go a little wobbly and he decided he might need to sit down. He collapsed back down in the chair and Andrew looked at him with concern, “Are you okay?”
“Yeah, yeah, I just… I was not expecting this. You’re seriously my costar?” Jesse asked. He kept trying to draw a breath but it was like there was some kind of blockage in his throat that wouldn’t let the air in.
“Did your parents not tell you I was in this movie as well?” Andrew asked, “It’s kind of crazy how it worked out like this.”
“No, they probably didn't want me worrying about it, since they knew I would already be worried enough about the movie. This makes their reaction when I told them I got this movie a lot easier to understand though,” Jesse said, “But, yeah, pretty big coincidence that we’re in the same movie.”
“It really is. It’s pretty cool too though, right?” Andrew asked shooting Jesse a small smile. Jesse hadn’t really noticed it till now that it was just the two of them talking, but Andrew was really stupidly attractive. Which just made things worse. Andrew was completely out of Jesse’s league, he had no idea what their parents were thinking. Andrew was still looking at Jesse with his huge brown eyes waiting for some kind of response, so Jesse nodded his head and tried to speak coherently.
“Yeah, I guess it’s pretty cool,” he said smiling shyly, “Uh, you mentioned something about grabbing lunch?”
“Oh right, right,” Andrew said, “Yeah, I, uh, thought we could go get some lunch or coffee or something.”
“Coffee sounds good. I think I saw a diner down the street on my way in,” Jesse said.
“Well, lead the way,” Andrew said grinning broadly at Jesse and nudging him with his elbow. Jesse ducked his head in response and headed for the door with Andrew falling into step behind him.
Once outside they headed down the street in the direction Jesse thought he remembered the diner being. Andrew kept looking over at Jesse and grinning and it was making Jesse feel self conscious, “What are you looking at?” he asked finally.
“Nothing,” Andrew said but he continued looking over at him and Jesse blushed slightly at all the attention. Jesse saw the diner he had passed by that morning a little way ahead of them so he pointed it out to Andrew and they walked through the door a few moments later. They headed for the counter and Andrew ordered a tea and a bagel and Jesse got a plain black coffee with a cookie. Once they had their drinks they sat down at the counter and for a few moments they just sat there quietly enjoying their food. Andrew finally broke the silence after awhile though, asking Jesse if he was excited about moving into their house after the table read.
“I’m mainly nervous. Not that I think you’re scary or anything, I just get weirded out by new situations,” Jesse replied picking at his cookie, crushing it into pieces between his middle finger and his thumb.
“Yeah, I can definitely understand that,” Andrew said, “I’m a little nervous too,” he admitted taking a bite out of his bagel after he finished spreading cream cheese on it.
***
That night, after Jesse had taken Andrew to pick up his stuff he had shipped over from London, he walked through the door of the house, moving through the hallway and standing in the entryway to one of the bedrooms awkwardly. What if Andrew was expecting them to sleep in the same room? Should Andrew be expecting that? They were technically engaged; maybe they should be getting used to it. Andrew walked up next to him and knocked his hip against Jesse’s, “Do you want that room? I can take this one across the hall,” he said pointing to another door with his elbow.
Jesse breathed out a little sigh of relief and nodded his head, “That sounds good,” he said and Andrew smiled at him, his brown eyes sparkling. Jesse set the box he had been carrying down and headed back outside for the rest of his stuff.
A few hours later while Jesse was unpacking the rest of his stuff Andrew stuck his head inside Jesse’s open doorway, “Hey, I made some dinner. Do you wanna come eat in the living room with me? We can watch whatever you want on TV.”
“Oh, um, I’m sure whatever you cooked is delicious, but I’m a vegetarian,” Jesse admitted sheepishly. He probably should have told Andrew that before, but he hadn’t expected him to cook dinner.
“I know,” Andrew said and when Jesse’s brow knitted in confusion he opened his mouth to explain, “Oh, uh, Hallie gave me a call earlier to tell me I better treat you right. And I told her I intended to, and then said I was going to cook you dinner and asked what you’d like, and she let me know you were a vegetarian, so I made macaroni and cheese.”
“Oh,” Jesse said, his cheeks flaming in embarrassment at the fact his little sister had talked to his fiancé about him, “Uh, yeah, I guess I’ll come eat.”
“Great,” Andrew said grinning at him broadly and ducking out of the room. Jesse followed behind closely and when they got to the kitchen Andrew dipped them both out some macaroni and cheese and Jesse got himself a glass of milk and headed into the living room, plopping down on the couch, and sending a text to Hallie Kate, “You little sneak. I can’t believe you called my fiancé. Officially disowning you as my sister.”
She responded almost instantly with, “You know you love me. Besides, I’m just looking out for you. Now, go cuddle with your fiancé.” Jesse decided to ignore her after that and Andrew sat down on the other side of the couch and picked up the remote.
“So, what do you want to watch?” Andrew asked.
“Oh, uh, it doesn’t matter,” Jesse responded taking a bite of the macaroni and cheese. It was surprisingly delicious and Jesse wondered if Andrew had made it from scratch.
“Have you ever seen the TV show Merlin?” Andrew asked. When Jesse shook his head no, Andrew said, “Well, that won’t do. We have to fix that now,” and started pressing buttons on the remote. He pulled up the first episode on Netflix and hit play, settling into the couch. Jesse was still really uncertain about the arranged marriage, but so far Andrew seemed really nice and fun to be around. Maybe this wouldn’t be so bad after all.
Andrew kept moving around on the couch while they ate and before Jesse knew it Andrew was pressed up against his side. He moved a little in the opposite direction but Andrew followed, so Jesse decided to just let it go. It wasn’t that big of a deal to sit so close and Andrew felt pleasantly warm pressed against his side anyway. Not too much later though, Andrew went to put his arm around Jesse, and Jesse squirmed away throwing Andrew’s arm off his shoulder. The corners of Andrew’s mouth flickered up into a smile, and Jesse assumed he was probably relieved by the fact Jesse obviously wasn’t expecting anything physical out of this. He didn’t move away though and Jesse surprised himself a little by being relieved that he stayed so close by.
After they ate they stayed up late talking, using more episodes of Merlin as the backdrop to their conversation. As it got later, Jesse found himself lulled to sleep by the low rumble of Andrew’s voice and when he woke up the next morning he discovered that Andrew had moved him into a more comfortable position and got him a blanket and a pillow. He walked into the kitchen and discovered Andrew in there making chocolate chip waffles.
“Hey, thanks for covering me up last night,” Jesse said stifling a yawn and sitting down at the table.
“Not a problem. I would have moved you to your bed but I didn’t want to accidentally wake you and I wasn’t sure how you would have felt about that anyway,” Andrew said stirring the pot of syrup.
“Do you need any help?” Jesse asked.
“No, I’m almost done with this. Thank you for the offer though,” Andrew replied moving away from the waffle maker so that he could grab some plates and glasses out of the cabinet and set them on the table. He grabbed the plate of waffles and the pan of syrup and set them down on the table as well along with some forks. Andrew sat down across from Jesse and stabbed one of the waffles with his fork, moving it onto his plate.
Jesse did the same with another one, ladling some syrup over the top and then speaking up, “So, how do you feel about David and Aaron?”
“They seem cool, and they really know what they’re doing, you know? I’m really excited that today we’re doing smaller read-throughs with just whoever is in each scene so that we can focus more on what exactly the characters are feeling,” Andrew said.
“Yeah, I agree, that’s gonna be helpful. But, I’m also excited to go back to the full table reads in a couple of days and see how much better a grasp everyone has gotten on their characters,” Jesse said taking a bite of the waffle.
“Oh, yeah, that will be really cool. Unless I’m the only one who hasn’t improved then it would suck,” Andrew said a tiny frown crossing his features.
“You already read your part so well though,” Jesse said, “I originally thought about auditioning for Eduardo and I never would have thought about reading some of his lines the way you did, but the way you did them was so great and funny.”
“Thank you,” Andrew said, “And for the record you did your part really well, too.”
“There’s so many scenes that I need to work on,” Jesse said cringing.
“Oh, you’re one of those people,” Andrew said grinning at Jesse from behind his fork.
“One of what people?” Jesse said.
“One of those people who are completely unaware of how incredible they are. So, I’m gonna take it upon myself to remind you every chance I get,” Andrew said. Jesse looked away, not quite able to meet Andrew’s eye anymore and blushed furiously.
“Well, I have to finish getting ready,” Jesse said pushing his chair back from the table and standing up.
“Okay, well while you’re getting ready, remember that you’re incredible…and adorable,” Andrew said. Jesse rolled his eyes, acting as though he didn’t believe what Andrew was saying, but really it was nice to hear.
***
After Jesse finished getting ready he went into the living room, “Andrew, are you ready?” he asked.
“Yeah,” Andrew replied coming into the living room as he pulled a shirt over his head, “Let’s go,” he said grabbing his battered copy of the script off the coffee table.
He opened the front door for Jesse and Jesse walked out the door and down the sidewalk to the car getting in. Andrew got in as well and started flipping through his script while Jesse turned the car on.
“Did you write in your margins?” Jesse asked glancing at the script.
“Yeah, I just…I wrote little notes about what I think Eduardo was feeling or the motivation behind the scene. Is that dumb?” Andrew asked.
“No, not at all, I do that too,” Jesse said grinning at him.
“Oh, cool,” Andrew responded a grin that looked entirely too big for his face spreading across it.
When lunchtime rolled around David called for a break and Andrew approached Jesse. “This movie is so emotionally draining. Do you want to go get something to eat with me to refuel.”
“Sure,” Jesse replied falling into step behind Andrew. When they exited the building Andrew shoved his hands into his pockets, heaving out a sigh, “Can we walk somewhere. It’s such a pretty day, and I could really use the fresh air.”
“Yeah, let’s just go to that diner we went to yesterday. I think they had some sandwiches and stuff.”
“Okay,” Andrew said strolling down the road. Jesse walked beside him silently. It seemed like Andrew needed to clear his head, and Jesse couldn’t really blame him they had just read through some really heavy scenes. After a while of walking in silence though Andrew nudged Jesse’s side with his elbow.
“What are you thinking about?” he asked.
“Our characters. I just, I feel like Mark is going to be so misunderstood. Your performance is so powerful and so emotional that I think people are going to automatically side with Eduardo without stopping to consider the fact that Mark really isn’t an asshole. He’s someone who was scared he was losing the only person who had ever wanted to be around him all the time and he fought back the only way he knew how,” Jesse said.
Andrew grinned over at him, “I don’t know. I’m so much in Eduardo’s head while I’m playing him that I don’t always see that myself, but I really think other people will. Your performance is great as well and you give so many emotions through your eyes that I think people will know that Mark doesn’t always mean what he’s saying. I think they’ll get that he’s not a robot and he does have feelings- he just doesn’t always know how to properly express them. I think you’re underestimating your performance if you don’t think people will sympathize with Mark as well. Plus, even I can see that Eduardo did make mistakes and that he wasn’t as dedicated to Facebook as he always should have been.”
They ducked into the diner ordering their food and then sitting down at an open table, “I really liked how today in that scene where your lawyer brings up the chicken thing you reached out and kind of tapped him,” Andrew said eating a french fry. “It made it seem like you were trying to stop him from bringing it up. I thought it made it feel like Mark and Eduardo are still trying to defend each other.”
“I’m glad you noticed that. I thought it might have been too subtle,” Jesse said.
“No, it was perfect, and when you did it David and Aaron looked at each other like hiring you was the best decision they ever made,” Andrew insisted, “See, they think you’re incredible and amazing as well!”
Jesse grinned shaking his head slowly, “No, I’m pretty sure you’re the only person who thinks that.”
“Trust me, I’m not,” Andrew said, grinning right back.
***
A couple of days later they went back to table reads with everyone. When Jesse and Andrew walked into the room Armie approached them, “Hey, some of us are going out for drinks tonight. Do you guys want to come with us?”
“I’m down,” Andrew said, and then looked back at Jesse, “How about you?”
“Yeah, sure, I’ll go. Sounds fun.” Jesse replied.
“Okay, great. I’ll text you guys the info,” Armie said.
“Sounds great,” Andrew said flopping down in a seat and pulling out the seat next to him motioning for Jesse to sit down. He did, and then David came in silencing everyone and sitting down at the middle of the table. He opened by telling everyone that he really liked where things had gone in the individual read throughs but that he was glad to have everyone together again and then they started.
They had finished one read through by lunch, but David said he wanted to do it one more time after a lunch break. So, everyone stood up and Jesse and Andrew automatically headed toward the diner. It had kind of become “their spot” and Jesse couldn’t help but feel marginally disappointed when Joe decided to tag along today.
“So, how are you guys feeling about this movie?” Joe asked once they were all sitting down.
“I’m feeling like it’s going to be the best thing I’ve ever been involved in,” Andrew answered, taking a bite of his sandwich.
“Me too,” Joe agreed.
“I still can’t believe I’m even in this movie with all the other people that are involved,” Jesse admitted.
“Jesse, this is your daily reminder that you are an incredible person and you have massive amounts of talent,” Andrew said.
“I don’t think it counts as a daily reminder if you say it more than once a day,” Jesse countered.
Joe watched them go back and forth with a small smirk forming on his face until Jesse changed the subject back to the movie. They discussed it until their lunch break was almost over and they had to get back to the rehearsal space. When they got back Andrew pulled out Jesse’s seat for him, “Have a seat, my lovely fiancé,” he said. Joe looked over at them both in surprise, eyes widening with shock. He opened his mouth to say something, but before he could get it out David came in and started rehearsals back up.
That night shortly before they were supposed to be leaving to meet everyone for drinks Andrew came into the living room where Jesse was curled up reading. “Hey, does this look okay?” he asked. He was wearing a black button up shirt with the sleeves rolled up and a pair of tight blue jeans.
“Yeah,” Jesse said, “You look great.”
A grin broke across Andrew’s face, “Thank you, so do you,” he said, and he sounded so sincere it made Jesse blush.
“Are you ready to go?” Jesse asked.
“Yeah, let’s walk though, it’s not far and that way we won’t have to worry about driving back.”
“Okay, lead the way,” Jesse said getting up and following Andrew out the door and down the sidewalk. They walked quietly for a while, but eventually Andrew spoke up breaking the silence, “Are you okay? You seem nervous or something.”
“Oh, no, I’m fine. Bars and drinking aren’t really my thing, but I usually go anyway if people ask me to because it’s a good way to get to know people,” Jesse said.
“Oh, well if you want to leave at any point because you don’t feel comfortable or you’re bored or anything, don’t hesitate to let me know. We don’t have to stay if you don’t want,” Andrew said.
“Thanks, but you wouldn’t have to leave I could just take a taxi home,” Jesse said.
“I wouldn’t mind leaving. I would want to make sure you made it home okay,” Andrew said.
Jesse grinned slightly, “That’s really sweet,” he said nervously. Andrew grinned back at him for a second before speaking again, “I think the bar is right around this corner,” he said. They turned the corner and headed in the bar looking around for the group. Armie was easy to spot, even sitting down he still towered over everyone else. So, they headed to the back corner where he was.
“Hey, I’m glad you guys made it,” he said as they sat down. Brenda, Joe, and Rooney were sitting around the booth as well. “Here, have some drinks,” Armie said, shoving some shot glasses across the table to them. Jesse picked his up, drinking it quickly and Andrew followed suit.
“So, Joe told me you two are engaged. Is that true?” Armie asked flagging down the waitress to order another round of shots.
“Well, I mean, technically yes,” Jesse said, “We’re having a good old fashioned arranged marriage.”
“That’s so interesting,” Rooney said, “I’ve never met someone who was actually having an arranged marriage. I didn’t realize they existed anymore.”
“Well,” Andrew started, “We can’t be completely forced into it. We’re free to say no, but our families would be really disappointed. Besides Jesse’s so adorable why would anyone not want to marry him?” Andrew reached over and tapped Jesse on the nose and Jesse shifted uncomfortably his ears going red. At which point the waitress finally stopped by.
“Can I get you guys some more drinks?” she asked, her eyes never leaving Jesse, even though it was Armie who answered they’d like a few rounds of shots.
“And what about you?” the waitress asked leaning toward Jesse and smiling at him flirtatiously, her blue eyes sparkling, “Would you like anything special?”
Jesse shifted uncomfortably looking away from her and mumbling, “No, no, I’m fine.”
“Are you sure there isn’t anything I could get you?” she asked reaching down to brush her fingertips against his arm.
“He said he was fine,” Andrew said, unexpectedly moving closer to Jesse, leaning across him to stare daggers at the waitress. “We’d really just like our shots,” he finished his voice suddenly gruff.
The waitress glanced between Jesse and Andrew suspiciously for a few seconds before seeming to give up. Her expression shifted into something unreadable and she spun on the balls of her feet, heading off back toward the bar.
“Well, that was interesting,” Joe said smirking at Andrew.
“She was making him uncomfortable. I was just trying to help,” Andrew said relaxing back in his seat, but settling slightly closer to Jesse than he had been before.
Rooney and Brenda smiled at them both while Armie mumbled something that sounded like, “Of course you were,” and shared a glance with Joe. Jesse ducked his head, trying to fight back a smile. Andrew was surprisingly cute when he got protective.
A different waitress brought them their shots and Armie passed them out to everyone insisting that everyone seemed like they could use a few more drinks. Jesse picked his up, drinking it down quickly with a grimace as the alcohol burned his throat. By this point he was already beginning to feel pretty buzzed, and he thought Armie had maybe misjudged how little alcohol it takes to get Jesse drunk. A few shots later and Jesse was properly wasted.
“So, I don’t know if this is an appropriate question or not so feel free not to answer, but when did you guys realize you were gay?” Joe asked, slurring his words a little but looking at Jesse and Andrew in earnest.
“Well for me, I was 14 and I was starring in this play at a community theater,” Jesse started, leaning back against the booth, “and there was this guy who I was infatuated with. It didn’t really hit me at first that I had a crush on him, but I just kept wanting to talk to him all the time.”
Joe nodded his head to show he was still listening and Jesse continued, “Then, one day he asked me if I wanted to go get coffee with him and half way through drinking it he leaned over and kissed me unexpectedly. It was a horrible kiss because neither of us knew what we were doing. But, I liked it despite that and that’s when I realized what my feelings toward him actually were. We broke up after the play though. It was just one of those stupid childhood relationships,” Jesse said leaning heavily against Andrew.
“Do you ever see him around town or anything when you’re home?” Andrew asked looking kind of forlorn.
“I believe Andrew is jealous,” Joe said playfully shoving Andrew, moving him and Jesse even closer together.
“Aw, don’t be jealous. I have no feelings for him whatsoever, anymore. I was pretty much a kid back then and we’ve both changed a lot,” Jesse said reaching for Andrew’s hand and leaning his head against his shoulder. He was always the type to lean all over people when he was drunk and this apparently went double for people he was forcefully engaged to.
“I’m not jealous,” Andrew mumbled his ears going red, “But to answer your question, I’m one of those people who has just always known,” Andrew said with a shrug.
Joe nodded, “I just get so curious about that, because I don’t feel like there was a time when I realized I was straight and I don’t know if it’s because the majority of people are straight so you just don’t think about it or what.”
“Yeah, I mean asking when we realized doesn’t offend me. It’s when people ask when we became gay that offends me. Because, yeah I do think it’s kind of a hard process for most people to realize they’re gay. I think it’s hard for a lot of people to know whether they’re feelings for the same sex are just normal friendship feelings or if they’re something more,” Andrew said.
They kept talking for awhile and Armie kept ordering shots and Jesse kept drinking them despite how drunk he was already feeling. After awhile, Jesse leaned heavily against Andrew, “I am so drunk,” he announced.
“I think maybe we should go home,” Andrew said, “We’ve got an early day tomorrow and I don’t want David thinking we aren’t taking this movie seriously.”
“Aw, are you sure?” Brenda asked frowning slightly.
“Yeah, we’ve really gotta go,” Andrew said standing up and dragging Jesse with him. Jesse clung to Andrew’s side, afraid that he wouldn’t be able to stand up on his own and together they headed for the door.
“There is no way you can walk home. Wait here while I hail a taxi,” Andrew said leaning Jesse against the wall and then heading for the edge of the sidewalk flagging down a taxi. Eventually one stopped and Andrew came back for Jesse and they walked to it together. They slid into the back seat and Jesse leaned against Andrew, his eyes sliding shut. The next thing he knew Andrew was shaking him gently.
“Hey, Jess, we’re home,” Andrew said opening the taxi door and getting out before reaching in to help Jesse out. Jesse leaned against Andrew heavily and together they walked unsteadily to the house. Andrew walked Jesse into his room and helped him lie down, covering him with the blanket, and smoothing his hair down. “I’m gonna move your trashcan over here because I have a feeling you’re gonna need it.” Andrew said grabbing the trashcan and setting it down beside the bed, “Okay, I’ll see you in the morning.”
Jesse woke up the next morning with a splitting headache, but he was glad to see he hadn’t thrown up at any point in the night. He did unfortunately remember clinging all over Andrew. That was so embarrassing, Andrew must think he is some kind of freak now. He was going to have to face him at some point though, so he went ahead and got up, getting ready and heading into the kitchen.
“Hey, I made you some scrambled eggs and cheese, classic hangover food,” Andrew said pointing at the plate across from his own. Jesse flopped down pouring himself a glass of orange juice.
“Thank you for this,” he said, “So, how embarrassing was I?”
“You weren’t embarrassing at all,” Andrew said, “You were actually really adorable.”
Jesse looked away shyly, “If this is a part of your whole ‘tell Jesse he’s incredible everyday even though he’s not’ thing you really don’t have to, you can tell me the truth.”
“Jesse,” Andrew began seriously, “I swear on my life that I am telling you the truth. You were not embarrassing and you were incredibly adorable.” A small grin spread across Jesse’s face he still wasn’t sure he believed Andrew, but it was nice to hear nonetheless.
***
That night Jesse walked into the living room and Andrew turned around to look at him when he heard him come in, “Hey, do you want to come watch with me?” he asked. He was slouched down on the couch watching another episode of Merlin.
“Sure,” Jesse replied coming further into the room and sitting down beside Andrew on the couch. They sat in comfortable silence for awhile watching intently until Andrew broke the silence with a loud sigh.
“Ugh, just look at them!” he said, motioning toward the TV screen where Merlin and Arthur were currently sharing a significant look. “They love each other so much,” he said, “Why don’t they see that?”
“You are ridiculous,” Jesse said, but he couldn’t help the grin that spread across his face.
“Look at them, and tell me they’re not in love,” Andrew said, his eyes growing bigger as he watched them forlornly.
“I can’t,” Jesse admitted, “they do seem pretty gay for each other.”
“Right?!” Andrew exclaimed running his hands through his hair in frustration.
“I’m gonna go get something to eat. You want anything?” Jesse asked, pushing off the couch and heading for the kitchen.
“Maybe some popcorn, if you don’t mind,” Andrew replied.
“Okay, I’ll be right back.” Jesse walked into the kitchen putting a bag of popcorn in the microwave for Andrew and fixing himself a salad while it popped. Once it was done he poured the popcorn in a bowl and went back into the living room handing it to Andrew and then sitting back down beside him.
“Hey, uh, Jess,” Andrew started, glancing over at him with an oddly nervous expression, “I would really like to take you out on a date tomorrow.”
“What, why,” Jesse asked choking a little on the bite of salad he had just eaten.
Andrew sighed heavily, “Because we’re supposed to be getting married when filming ends and we haven’t been on a date yet.”
Jesse flushed a brilliant crimson, “We don’t… I mean, I’m not… Listen, I’m not expecting you to try and woo me or anything.”
Andrew reached out to grab Jesse’s hand and Jesse pulled it away causing a hurt expression to flicker briefly over Andrew’s features before he could manage to pull a smile back together, “Jesse, I’m trying to be a proper gentleman here. Please, just let me take you out.”
Jesse considered it for a moment. He didn’t want Andrew to go out of his way for him, but he seemed to really want to do this. And they were going to have to be together for the rest of their lives, so they might as well get to know each other and make the best of it.
“Fine,” he finally answered with a resigned sigh, causing a brilliant grin to break out across Andrew’s face.
“Great, we can go when filming is done for the day tomorrow. It’s supposed to be a bit of an early day.”
“Okay, sounds fine,” Jesse said he ate the rest of his salad in silence before taking his bowl back into the kitchen setting it in the sink and then heading for his room to call Emma. He dialed her number and it rang a few times before she answered saying his name happily.
“Emma, help me, Andrew wants to take me on a date tomorrow. How do you act on a date with your future husband?” Jesse asked, panic rising in his throat.
“Unfortunately I wouldn’t know,” Emma responded with a brief chuckle.
“Emma, I’m serious. Help me, please,” Jesse said.
“Jesse, just be yourself, and act like you would on any other date. You’re going to be fine, I promise,” Emma said patiently.
“No, I’m not,” Jesse sighed.
“You really will. Hey, they’re calling me back on set. If you need to talk more you can call me back later, but you’re going to be absolutely fine and there’s nothing I can say that’s going to make you completely stop worrying.”
“Alright, thanks for listening. Good luck with filming,” he said before hanging up the phone and flopping down on his bed. He fell asleep like that waking uncomfortably the next morning with one half of his body hanging off the bed and every muscle aching.
He dragged himself up and into the bathroom stumbling into the shower and letting the warm water work out all the kinks in his muscles. He stumbled back out a little while later and pulled on some clean clothes, heading into the kitchen to grab some breakfast. Andrew was already in there, leaning over the stove with an apron tied loosely around his waist.
“Hey there, good morning. I made some pancakes if you want some,” Andrew said flipping the one that was still on the stove and then pointing with his elbow toward the plate with the rest of the ones that were already made.
“They smell delicious,” Jesse noted walking across the kitchen to the cabinet, “I’ll set the table so I don’t feel completely useless.”
Andrew grinned at him happily, stirring the pot of syrup he had made. Jesse grabbed two plates and two glasses out of the cabinet and set them down across from each other at the table, before grabbing forks and knives as well. They were starting filming today so they were both more nervous than usual.
“Jess, this is your daily reminder that you are incredible, okay? So, please don’t worry about filming,” Andrew said taking a bite of his pancake.
Jesse rolled his eyes, “Are you really going to keep this up everyday?”
“I haven’t decided yet,” Andrew said, “I don’t want you to think I’ve stopped because I stopped believing it, but I also don’t want it to become annoying.”
“I’m pretty sure someone would have to be insane to be annoyed by someone calling them incredible everyday,” Jesse replied, and Andrew grinned at him.
***
That night when it was almost time for their date, Andrew appeared in the doorway of Jesse's bedroom wearing a pair of tight black pants, a white v neck, and a grey cardigan. Jesse groaned, “I’m totally underdressed,” he said moving to look through his closet again.
Andrew walked across the room and wrapped Jesse up in his arms, kissing the top of his head, “Stop it, you look lovely.” Jesse squirmed around and ducked out from Andrew’s arms but grinned despite himself.
“Well, I guess we should get going. We don’t want to be late,” Andrew said holding out his hand for Jesse to take. Jesse ignored it stuffing his hands in his pockets instead and headed for the door feeling a little bit like a jerk. Andrew seemed nice enough but there was no need for them to get carried away. This whole arranged marriage thing was ridiculous and they didn’t have to get cozy just because their parents thought they would be good together. Andrew didn’t seemed discouraged though, he just grinned at Jesse fondly, opening the front door for him.
“Where are we going?” Jesse asked his curiosity getting the best of him.
“It’s a secret,” Andrew replied in a sing-song tone of voice, heading for the car.
“How exactly are you planning on surprising me when I’m going to have to be the one who drives?”
“I’m going to tell you where to turn,” Andrew explained opening Jesse’s door for him.
Jesse blushed at the open door and mumbled, “I’m not a girl you know.” Andrew just grinned and retorted, “Thank God for that,” and Jesse couldn’t help the bark of laughter that escaped his lips in response.
Jesse slid into the driver’s seat and waited for Andrew to get inside beside him before turning the car on and backing out of the driveway.
“You’re gonna take a left out of the driveway,” Andrew said leaning forward and fiddling with the car stereo. He found a station that was playing some song Jesse had never heard before but that Andrew apparently liked and stopped playing with the dial, sitting back in his seat and drumming his fingers against his knee.
“And then you’ll take a right here at this stop sign,” Andrew said smiling to himself and bobbing his head. He really was fun to be around and Jesse felt almost lucky that this was the person his parents had picked for him.
“Our first destination isn’t too far away,” Andrew said, “We should be there in about five minutes.”
“Okay, well I hope our first destination is food because I’m hungry.”
“It might be,” Andrew said a smile flickering across his features before he leaned forward to mess with the stereo again, “What kind of CD do you have in here?” he asked hitting play.
Jesse cringed a little in embarrassment as it started playing, “It’s, uh, the soundtrack to--” he started but Andrew cut him off.
“Oh my god, is this Oliver? My mom used to listen to this all the time when I was kid. My grandparents live in a town about 30 minutes from mine and sometimes my mom would drop me off there so they could watch me while she worked, and she’d always play this soundtrack on the drive.”
“Oh wow, really? Yeah, my mom played a lot of Broadway music when I was a kid, so it’s still pretty much the only music I listen to,” Jesse said.
“It’s all you listen to?” Andrew asked his face crinkling up in a mixture of confusion and shock.
“Pretty much,” Jesse confirmed, feeling suddenly self conscious.
“Oh, that’s kind of cool actually,” Andrew said shooting him another small smile, “Take a left here at this light,” and then after a brief pause he added, “Maybe you could broaden my horizons a bit. I only really know this one and then Avenue Q.”
Jesse couldn’t help the grin that spread across his face and he promptly began singing one of the only songs he knew from Avenue Q, “If you were gay that’d be okay, I mean ‘cause hey, I’d like you anyway, because you see if it were me, I’d feel free to say that I was gay”
Andrew took over from there belting out the next part, “If you were queer I’d still be here, year after year, because you’re dear to me, and I know that you would accept me too.” He finished with a flourish of his hands and dropped back against the seat a grin plastered across his face.
Jesse couldn’t stop smiling and he found himself saying, “I mean, if you’re really interested, yeah, I could introduce you to some other Broadway soundtracks.”
“That’d be nice,” Andrew said, “And, hey, maybe I could introduce you to some music that isn’t showtunes.”
Jesse bit back another grin, “Yeah, that sounds like fun.”
“Good, good… Well, our destination is on the left up here so just find us a place to park.” Andrew said. Jesse pulled into a small lot and they got out of the car. Jesse immediately stuffing his hands in his pockets so that Andrew wouldn’t reach for him. Andrew smiled and said, “So, your hopes and dreams are coming true already, our first destination is food.” He headed inside a building with Jesse following close behind and told the woman at the hostess stand that he had a reservation for two under the name Garfield. She took out two menus and led them to a table. They sat down across from each other and when the hostess left Jesse looked up at Andrew and grinned.
“I love Italian food,” he said picking up his menu and looking through it.
“Awesome, I was hoping you would like it. I called around asking different places how many vegetarian option they have and this place seemed to have the most,” Andrew explained picking up his own menu.
“You didn’t have to do that. I can usually find something anywhere,” Jesse said but he secretly felt a little pleased that Andrew had gone to such lengths to make sure he would have a good time on the date.
“I didn’t mind. I wanted you to have lots of things to choose from,” Andrew said. The waitress came by and took their orders and then they fell into silence. Andrew eventually broke it as usual, “So, do you ever feel like The Social Network is this big angsty love story?”
Jesse laughed, “You mean, do I ever get the feeling that maybe Mark and Eduardo were more than friends, or maybe that they wanted to be more than friends and neither of them could find the words to say it?”
“Yeah, I feel like they both just wanted each other so much but it just never happened” Andrew said, as the waitress came back setting down their food.
“Thank you,” they both said, and then once she was gone again, Andrew started talking again, “I mean, I just feel like there has to be a reason that Eduardo got so mad that he sued him and I think it goes beyond them just being best friends.”
“Yeah, I can definitely see what you’re saying,” Jesse agreed, “Plus, even at the depositions they’re still defending each other. Especially Eduardo. I mean, there’s that part where you say that the Facebook really didn’t have much to do with the Winkelvoss’ site. So, even after everything, and you being so mad that you sued me, you’re still defending me.”
They continued talking about their characters and their possible love for each other until they were done eating. At which point Andrew asked, “Are you ready for phase two?”
“Yeah, let’s go,” Jesse said flagging down the waitress and asking for their check. He insisted on splitting the check with Andrew, and Andrew only agreed as long as Jesse would let him leave the whole tip. They stood up after they had paid and headed back to the car. Andrew opened Jesse’s door for him again and Jesse just mumbled thanks and climbed in clumsily.
Once Andrew had climbed in on his side Jesse turned the car on and asked Andrew which direction they were headed.
“Take a right up here,” he said pointing, “And then it’s a straight shot to where we’re going so I’ll just tell you when to park.” Jesse pulled out of the parking lot and headed in the right direction. Andrew settled into his seat and asked Jesse if he had liked his dinner.
“Oh yeah, it was great,” Jesse replied grinning at him slowly. He had actually had a surprisingly fun time at dinner, and if Andrew had been someone he was just dating instead of his fiancé he would really be looking forward to their next date.
“Good good, I’m hoping you’ll really like this next place. I’m really excited to show it to you, and I hope you haven’t already been here before,” Andrew said.
“I haven’t done much exploring around Boston yet, so I probably haven’t been wherever we’re going,” Jesse said.
“Okay, great - park in this lot over here,” Andrew said and Jesse pulled in to park and they piled out of the car. Andrew reached for Jesse’s hand and Jesse was having a good time so he went ahead and let him hold it for a little while. They headed together for a small strip of stores and Andrew pulled Jesse toward one called Oh, The Places You’ll Go.”
They went through the door and Jesse looked around. He saw a lot of globes sitting around in the corners and then there was display case after display case all full of maps. Most of them were wrinkled and yellowed, and some were bent and torn at the edges and Jesse eagerly walked toward the closest case.
“Is this store seriously just full of antique maps?” Jesse asked an excited grin spreading across his face. Andrew moved close behind him and nodded his head, “Yeah, I noticed all of the maps in your room so when I drove by this place one day I thought this might be something you would find interesting.”
“Absolutely. I’m a little obsessed with maps. I know that’s really lame and boring, but I find it fascinating to compare old maps to the way the world looks now. All of the countries that have changed into other ones or the ones we didn’t even know existed before. It’s just something I’ve always been really interested in,” Jesse said he was flushing a little out of nerves that Andrew would think he was being ridiculous about this, but he was really pleased by how much Andrew seemed to get him already. “Wow, this one is really cool,” he said leaning closer to the display case he was looking at and studying an old map of the United States.
Andrew leaned down beside him, “That is pretty awesome,” he agreed. “You should get it.”
“I think I will,” Jesse said, “But, I’m gonna look around some first. He walked slowly past all of the display cases, studying all of the maps. They were all really interesting but he was still drawn to the map of the United States that he had seen first so he tracked down a worker and asked them to get it out for him, and then he headed up to the front of the store to pay. Andrew followed him up there and once Jesse had paid they left, getting back in the car and driving home. When they got out of the car back at home, Andrew took Jesse’s hand and they walked into the house.
“I’ll walk you to your room,” Andrew said grinning hugely, he kept a hold of Jesse’s hand and they walked together to Jesse’s doorway.
“I actually had a really great time tonight,” Jesse said, leaning against his doorframe.
“Good,” Andrew replied, he leaned forward slightly and Jesse knew he was moving in for a kiss so he turned his head slightly so that Andrew’s lips landed on his cheek instead.
“I’ll see you in the morning,” he said ducking into his room and shutting the door behind him awkwardly.
***
Continued
Recipient: andhereiam17
Prompt Number: 14
Characters/Pairings: Jesse/Andrew, Emma Stone, Carey Mulligan plus appearances from other TSN cast members
Rating/Warnings: NC-17 and no warnings
Word Count: 35,614
Disclaimer: This fanwork portrays fictional representations of real actors involved in The Social Network. These are not true accounts or meant to imply anything about these real people.
Summary: Jesse's parents have always told him he would have to marry someone they picked out for him one day. So, when he lands the role of a lifetime right after they pick his life partner he insists on being able to take it. They agree with one condition: he must live with his fiancé for the duration of filming.
Jesse was sitting in his old room at his parent’s house when Hallie Kate came in and flopped down on his bed, letting her head hang off the edge and looking over at him upside down, “So, are mom and dad seriously making you go through with this arranged marriage thing.”
“Yeah, they said he would be good for me, and that I should give it a try, but I mean it’s totally ridiculous. Who ever heard of an arranged marriage between two guys? But mom and dad made it pretty clear they’d be disappointed if I didn’t go through with this. I mean, I know that it's an important part of our religion for me to get married to a person that our parent's picked for me, but it's weird” Jesse said letting his head fall back against the wall. “I just don't understand. If they're so concerned with following religion why aren't they making me marry a girl?”
“I think that the way they look at it is they want you to at least have a chance of being happy with this person. So, while they still want to follow religion as close as possible, they also aren’t going to a force a girl on you when they know there’s no chance of you being happy with that,” Hallie said shrugging her shoulders a bit and very nearly falling off the bed.
“It’s nice of them to consider my preference when forcing a life partner upon me, I guess,” Jesse said his voice dripping with sarcasm.
“They mean well, and hey you might end up with someone you end up really liking. I saw the guy the other day and he is actually really hot, you should be excited,” Hallie said with an evil grin.
“You got to see him before me? That’s not fair,” Jesse said a pout taking over his features.
“It was an accident. Mom and I ran into him at the store, and she recognized him from the pictures” Hallie said at the same time Jesse’s phone started ringing. He nodded his understanding at her and answered the phone.
“Hello.”
“Jesse, darling, how are you doing?” his agent asked from the other side of the line.
“I’m okay. Have you heard from them?” he asked, panic rising in his chest. He really wanted this part. It was the last movie he would have a chance to do before the marriage.
“I just got off the phone with them,” she said and then paused for dramatic effect.
“And?” Jesse asked, quickly losing patience.
“You got the part.”
Jesse let out a sigh of relief a smile breaking across his face, he discussed the rest of the details about when rehearsals and filming were going to start with her and then got off the phone.
“I take it you got that part you wanted,” Hallie said grinning at him, “Are you going to tell mom and dad now?”
“I guess I kind of have too. They are going to be mad, though. I’m supposed to be getting to know my fiancé, and instead I’m going to be busy filming,” he said. He was actually a little afraid his parents might make him pull out of the movie. But, they knew how much acting meant to him, and this was a really good opportunity, it was a David Fincher film with a script by Aaron Sorkin, he would never get this opportunity again. He hopped up off the floor, “I guess I’m gonna go tell them.”
Jesse headed downstairs in search of his parents and found them both already sitting in the living room, he lingered in the doorway for a second before speaking, “Hey, I need to tell you guys something.”
“Come sit down,” his dad said motioning toward a chair. Jesse walked over and sat down and his mom and dad looked at him expectantly, after a pause his father spoke up, “You were saying?”
“Oh right,” Jesse started his stomach twisting with worry, “Okay, I know I’m supposed to be getting to know my fiancé and everything over the next few months but I landed a really good role. It’s in a David Fincher film and Aaron Sorkin wrote the script and there are some just really incredibly talented people involved and I really don’t want to pass this up.”
His parents exchanged a look that Jesse couldn’t quite read and then his mom asked, “You said it was a David Fincher film?”
“Yes, uh why?” Jesse asked and his parents shared another meaningful look.
“I was just checking…well you really can’t pass that up. How about we compromise? We’ll have to talk to the Garfield’s and see if this arrangement works for them, but how about you go ahead and take the role, but maybe you guys can live together while you’re filming so that you’ll get to know each other.”
Jesse was a little thrown by how well his parents had taken this. He had expected to have to fight with them for a long time in order to be allowed to do the movie. It was also very weird to him that they had suggested he live with his fiancé while filming. Living with someone before you were married to them wasn’t exactly following religion very closely. But he really didn’t want to press his luck so he didn’t question it, and instead agreed quickly, “Fine,” he said moving to give his parents hugs before heading back upstairs to tell Hallie Kate how it had gone, even though Jesse suspected she had probably been listening in from the top of the stairs anyway.
The next week passed in a haze of packing and learning his lines and before he knew it Jesse was packing his car to head for the airport. He was going to the first table read as soon as he got into town and then he was supposed to be moving in with his fiancé later in the day. After Jesse placed his last bag in the car he waited outside for Hallie Kate, who was supposed to be driving him there.
She pulled up a few minutes later and they piled into his car. Jesse looked out the window drumming his fingers nervously against his knee while she pulled out of the driveway.
“So, how are you feeling about meeting your fiancé today?” Hallie Kate asked.
“Ugh, not good. What if he hates me?” Jesse said
“He’s not going to hate you.”
Jesse rolled his eyes. She had no way of knowing that, and he hated empty reassurances. He settled back in his seat, leaning his forehead against the window.
“Jesse, seriously you’re fantastic and if this guy doesn’t like you I will drop by and knock some sense into his head,” Hallie Kate said.
Jesse grinned but he still wasn’t feeling very well about this. He still thought it was insane that in this day and age he was technically engaged to someone he hadn’t even met before. Jesse changed the subject to the movie and Hallie Kate started raving about how she couldn’t believe her big brother was going to be in a David Fincher film and he settled back and chatted comfortably with her about the movie for the rest of the drive.
When they made it to the airport she pulled into the drop off area and leaned over to give him a giant hug, “Good luck…with everything. Call me if you need anything.”
“Thank you. I’ll see you in a few months,” Jesse said hugging her tightly.
***
Jesse made it to Boston a little later than he was supposed to and rushed over to the rehearsal space. He was one of the last people there, so he took one of the last available seats, apologized for cutting it so close and opened up his script. At the exact time they were supposed to start a tall skinny guy with brown hair that was sticking out all over the place rushed into the room apologizing for running late and shaking everyone’s hand. He sat down at the last chair and David spoke up saying they should all go around in a circle and introduce themselves. Jesse went first and then zoned out too worried about how he would do during the read-through to listen to anybody else introduce them self. Before he knew it all the introductions were done and he had missed almost everyone’s name. He felt kind of guilty about that, but he had a lot of things he was thinking about.
After all of the introductions they started their read through and Jesse lost himself in the character. This was what he loved about acting. He was always able to completely escape the world through whatever character he was playing.
A couple of hours later they had made it through the majority of the script and David announced that they should break for lunch and come back in an hour. Jesse stood up and went to exit the room behind everyone else but before he could get very far the guy who had made it in last (who Jesse had learned was playing Eduardo) pulled him aside. Jesse assumed he probably just wanted to talk for a while since they’re characters were best friends, which is why he was so thrown off by what he said.
“Hey, it’s so great to finally meet you. My mom has told me so much about you, based on what your mom has told her,” he said smiling shyly.
“What are you talking about?” Jesse asked, his brow furrowed in confusion, “Your mom knows my mom?”
“Wait, do you not know?” Andrew asked his grin suddenly changing to a more uncertain expression.
“Know what?” Jesse asked
“I’m…did you happen to catch my name?” Andrew said and when Jesse’s only response was to furrow his brow Andrew continued, “I’m Andrew. As in Andrew Garfield.”
Well this was weird. Jesse’s new costar was apparently also the man his parents were forcing him to marry. His whole world seemed to go a little wobbly and he decided he might need to sit down. He collapsed back down in the chair and Andrew looked at him with concern, “Are you okay?”
“Yeah, yeah, I just… I was not expecting this. You’re seriously my costar?” Jesse asked. He kept trying to draw a breath but it was like there was some kind of blockage in his throat that wouldn’t let the air in.
“Did your parents not tell you I was in this movie as well?” Andrew asked, “It’s kind of crazy how it worked out like this.”
“No, they probably didn't want me worrying about it, since they knew I would already be worried enough about the movie. This makes their reaction when I told them I got this movie a lot easier to understand though,” Jesse said, “But, yeah, pretty big coincidence that we’re in the same movie.”
“It really is. It’s pretty cool too though, right?” Andrew asked shooting Jesse a small smile. Jesse hadn’t really noticed it till now that it was just the two of them talking, but Andrew was really stupidly attractive. Which just made things worse. Andrew was completely out of Jesse’s league, he had no idea what their parents were thinking. Andrew was still looking at Jesse with his huge brown eyes waiting for some kind of response, so Jesse nodded his head and tried to speak coherently.
“Yeah, I guess it’s pretty cool,” he said smiling shyly, “Uh, you mentioned something about grabbing lunch?”
“Oh right, right,” Andrew said, “Yeah, I, uh, thought we could go get some lunch or coffee or something.”
“Coffee sounds good. I think I saw a diner down the street on my way in,” Jesse said.
“Well, lead the way,” Andrew said grinning broadly at Jesse and nudging him with his elbow. Jesse ducked his head in response and headed for the door with Andrew falling into step behind him.
Once outside they headed down the street in the direction Jesse thought he remembered the diner being. Andrew kept looking over at Jesse and grinning and it was making Jesse feel self conscious, “What are you looking at?” he asked finally.
“Nothing,” Andrew said but he continued looking over at him and Jesse blushed slightly at all the attention. Jesse saw the diner he had passed by that morning a little way ahead of them so he pointed it out to Andrew and they walked through the door a few moments later. They headed for the counter and Andrew ordered a tea and a bagel and Jesse got a plain black coffee with a cookie. Once they had their drinks they sat down at the counter and for a few moments they just sat there quietly enjoying their food. Andrew finally broke the silence after awhile though, asking Jesse if he was excited about moving into their house after the table read.
“I’m mainly nervous. Not that I think you’re scary or anything, I just get weirded out by new situations,” Jesse replied picking at his cookie, crushing it into pieces between his middle finger and his thumb.
“Yeah, I can definitely understand that,” Andrew said, “I’m a little nervous too,” he admitted taking a bite out of his bagel after he finished spreading cream cheese on it.
***
That night, after Jesse had taken Andrew to pick up his stuff he had shipped over from London, he walked through the door of the house, moving through the hallway and standing in the entryway to one of the bedrooms awkwardly. What if Andrew was expecting them to sleep in the same room? Should Andrew be expecting that? They were technically engaged; maybe they should be getting used to it. Andrew walked up next to him and knocked his hip against Jesse’s, “Do you want that room? I can take this one across the hall,” he said pointing to another door with his elbow.
Jesse breathed out a little sigh of relief and nodded his head, “That sounds good,” he said and Andrew smiled at him, his brown eyes sparkling. Jesse set the box he had been carrying down and headed back outside for the rest of his stuff.
A few hours later while Jesse was unpacking the rest of his stuff Andrew stuck his head inside Jesse’s open doorway, “Hey, I made some dinner. Do you wanna come eat in the living room with me? We can watch whatever you want on TV.”
“Oh, um, I’m sure whatever you cooked is delicious, but I’m a vegetarian,” Jesse admitted sheepishly. He probably should have told Andrew that before, but he hadn’t expected him to cook dinner.
“I know,” Andrew said and when Jesse’s brow knitted in confusion he opened his mouth to explain, “Oh, uh, Hallie gave me a call earlier to tell me I better treat you right. And I told her I intended to, and then said I was going to cook you dinner and asked what you’d like, and she let me know you were a vegetarian, so I made macaroni and cheese.”
“Oh,” Jesse said, his cheeks flaming in embarrassment at the fact his little sister had talked to his fiancé about him, “Uh, yeah, I guess I’ll come eat.”
“Great,” Andrew said grinning at him broadly and ducking out of the room. Jesse followed behind closely and when they got to the kitchen Andrew dipped them both out some macaroni and cheese and Jesse got himself a glass of milk and headed into the living room, plopping down on the couch, and sending a text to Hallie Kate, “You little sneak. I can’t believe you called my fiancé. Officially disowning you as my sister.”
She responded almost instantly with, “You know you love me. Besides, I’m just looking out for you. Now, go cuddle with your fiancé.” Jesse decided to ignore her after that and Andrew sat down on the other side of the couch and picked up the remote.
“So, what do you want to watch?” Andrew asked.
“Oh, uh, it doesn’t matter,” Jesse responded taking a bite of the macaroni and cheese. It was surprisingly delicious and Jesse wondered if Andrew had made it from scratch.
“Have you ever seen the TV show Merlin?” Andrew asked. When Jesse shook his head no, Andrew said, “Well, that won’t do. We have to fix that now,” and started pressing buttons on the remote. He pulled up the first episode on Netflix and hit play, settling into the couch. Jesse was still really uncertain about the arranged marriage, but so far Andrew seemed really nice and fun to be around. Maybe this wouldn’t be so bad after all.
Andrew kept moving around on the couch while they ate and before Jesse knew it Andrew was pressed up against his side. He moved a little in the opposite direction but Andrew followed, so Jesse decided to just let it go. It wasn’t that big of a deal to sit so close and Andrew felt pleasantly warm pressed against his side anyway. Not too much later though, Andrew went to put his arm around Jesse, and Jesse squirmed away throwing Andrew’s arm off his shoulder. The corners of Andrew’s mouth flickered up into a smile, and Jesse assumed he was probably relieved by the fact Jesse obviously wasn’t expecting anything physical out of this. He didn’t move away though and Jesse surprised himself a little by being relieved that he stayed so close by.
After they ate they stayed up late talking, using more episodes of Merlin as the backdrop to their conversation. As it got later, Jesse found himself lulled to sleep by the low rumble of Andrew’s voice and when he woke up the next morning he discovered that Andrew had moved him into a more comfortable position and got him a blanket and a pillow. He walked into the kitchen and discovered Andrew in there making chocolate chip waffles.
“Hey, thanks for covering me up last night,” Jesse said stifling a yawn and sitting down at the table.
“Not a problem. I would have moved you to your bed but I didn’t want to accidentally wake you and I wasn’t sure how you would have felt about that anyway,” Andrew said stirring the pot of syrup.
“Do you need any help?” Jesse asked.
“No, I’m almost done with this. Thank you for the offer though,” Andrew replied moving away from the waffle maker so that he could grab some plates and glasses out of the cabinet and set them on the table. He grabbed the plate of waffles and the pan of syrup and set them down on the table as well along with some forks. Andrew sat down across from Jesse and stabbed one of the waffles with his fork, moving it onto his plate.
Jesse did the same with another one, ladling some syrup over the top and then speaking up, “So, how do you feel about David and Aaron?”
“They seem cool, and they really know what they’re doing, you know? I’m really excited that today we’re doing smaller read-throughs with just whoever is in each scene so that we can focus more on what exactly the characters are feeling,” Andrew said.
“Yeah, I agree, that’s gonna be helpful. But, I’m also excited to go back to the full table reads in a couple of days and see how much better a grasp everyone has gotten on their characters,” Jesse said taking a bite of the waffle.
“Oh, yeah, that will be really cool. Unless I’m the only one who hasn’t improved then it would suck,” Andrew said a tiny frown crossing his features.
“You already read your part so well though,” Jesse said, “I originally thought about auditioning for Eduardo and I never would have thought about reading some of his lines the way you did, but the way you did them was so great and funny.”
“Thank you,” Andrew said, “And for the record you did your part really well, too.”
“There’s so many scenes that I need to work on,” Jesse said cringing.
“Oh, you’re one of those people,” Andrew said grinning at Jesse from behind his fork.
“One of what people?” Jesse said.
“One of those people who are completely unaware of how incredible they are. So, I’m gonna take it upon myself to remind you every chance I get,” Andrew said. Jesse looked away, not quite able to meet Andrew’s eye anymore and blushed furiously.
“Well, I have to finish getting ready,” Jesse said pushing his chair back from the table and standing up.
“Okay, well while you’re getting ready, remember that you’re incredible…and adorable,” Andrew said. Jesse rolled his eyes, acting as though he didn’t believe what Andrew was saying, but really it was nice to hear.
***
After Jesse finished getting ready he went into the living room, “Andrew, are you ready?” he asked.
“Yeah,” Andrew replied coming into the living room as he pulled a shirt over his head, “Let’s go,” he said grabbing his battered copy of the script off the coffee table.
He opened the front door for Jesse and Jesse walked out the door and down the sidewalk to the car getting in. Andrew got in as well and started flipping through his script while Jesse turned the car on.
“Did you write in your margins?” Jesse asked glancing at the script.
“Yeah, I just…I wrote little notes about what I think Eduardo was feeling or the motivation behind the scene. Is that dumb?” Andrew asked.
“No, not at all, I do that too,” Jesse said grinning at him.
“Oh, cool,” Andrew responded a grin that looked entirely too big for his face spreading across it.
When lunchtime rolled around David called for a break and Andrew approached Jesse. “This movie is so emotionally draining. Do you want to go get something to eat with me to refuel.”
“Sure,” Jesse replied falling into step behind Andrew. When they exited the building Andrew shoved his hands into his pockets, heaving out a sigh, “Can we walk somewhere. It’s such a pretty day, and I could really use the fresh air.”
“Yeah, let’s just go to that diner we went to yesterday. I think they had some sandwiches and stuff.”
“Okay,” Andrew said strolling down the road. Jesse walked beside him silently. It seemed like Andrew needed to clear his head, and Jesse couldn’t really blame him they had just read through some really heavy scenes. After a while of walking in silence though Andrew nudged Jesse’s side with his elbow.
“What are you thinking about?” he asked.
“Our characters. I just, I feel like Mark is going to be so misunderstood. Your performance is so powerful and so emotional that I think people are going to automatically side with Eduardo without stopping to consider the fact that Mark really isn’t an asshole. He’s someone who was scared he was losing the only person who had ever wanted to be around him all the time and he fought back the only way he knew how,” Jesse said.
Andrew grinned over at him, “I don’t know. I’m so much in Eduardo’s head while I’m playing him that I don’t always see that myself, but I really think other people will. Your performance is great as well and you give so many emotions through your eyes that I think people will know that Mark doesn’t always mean what he’s saying. I think they’ll get that he’s not a robot and he does have feelings- he just doesn’t always know how to properly express them. I think you’re underestimating your performance if you don’t think people will sympathize with Mark as well. Plus, even I can see that Eduardo did make mistakes and that he wasn’t as dedicated to Facebook as he always should have been.”
They ducked into the diner ordering their food and then sitting down at an open table, “I really liked how today in that scene where your lawyer brings up the chicken thing you reached out and kind of tapped him,” Andrew said eating a french fry. “It made it seem like you were trying to stop him from bringing it up. I thought it made it feel like Mark and Eduardo are still trying to defend each other.”
“I’m glad you noticed that. I thought it might have been too subtle,” Jesse said.
“No, it was perfect, and when you did it David and Aaron looked at each other like hiring you was the best decision they ever made,” Andrew insisted, “See, they think you’re incredible and amazing as well!”
Jesse grinned shaking his head slowly, “No, I’m pretty sure you’re the only person who thinks that.”
“Trust me, I’m not,” Andrew said, grinning right back.
***
A couple of days later they went back to table reads with everyone. When Jesse and Andrew walked into the room Armie approached them, “Hey, some of us are going out for drinks tonight. Do you guys want to come with us?”
“I’m down,” Andrew said, and then looked back at Jesse, “How about you?”
“Yeah, sure, I’ll go. Sounds fun.” Jesse replied.
“Okay, great. I’ll text you guys the info,” Armie said.
“Sounds great,” Andrew said flopping down in a seat and pulling out the seat next to him motioning for Jesse to sit down. He did, and then David came in silencing everyone and sitting down at the middle of the table. He opened by telling everyone that he really liked where things had gone in the individual read throughs but that he was glad to have everyone together again and then they started.
They had finished one read through by lunch, but David said he wanted to do it one more time after a lunch break. So, everyone stood up and Jesse and Andrew automatically headed toward the diner. It had kind of become “their spot” and Jesse couldn’t help but feel marginally disappointed when Joe decided to tag along today.
“So, how are you guys feeling about this movie?” Joe asked once they were all sitting down.
“I’m feeling like it’s going to be the best thing I’ve ever been involved in,” Andrew answered, taking a bite of his sandwich.
“Me too,” Joe agreed.
“I still can’t believe I’m even in this movie with all the other people that are involved,” Jesse admitted.
“Jesse, this is your daily reminder that you are an incredible person and you have massive amounts of talent,” Andrew said.
“I don’t think it counts as a daily reminder if you say it more than once a day,” Jesse countered.
Joe watched them go back and forth with a small smirk forming on his face until Jesse changed the subject back to the movie. They discussed it until their lunch break was almost over and they had to get back to the rehearsal space. When they got back Andrew pulled out Jesse’s seat for him, “Have a seat, my lovely fiancé,” he said. Joe looked over at them both in surprise, eyes widening with shock. He opened his mouth to say something, but before he could get it out David came in and started rehearsals back up.
That night shortly before they were supposed to be leaving to meet everyone for drinks Andrew came into the living room where Jesse was curled up reading. “Hey, does this look okay?” he asked. He was wearing a black button up shirt with the sleeves rolled up and a pair of tight blue jeans.
“Yeah,” Jesse said, “You look great.”
A grin broke across Andrew’s face, “Thank you, so do you,” he said, and he sounded so sincere it made Jesse blush.
“Are you ready to go?” Jesse asked.
“Yeah, let’s walk though, it’s not far and that way we won’t have to worry about driving back.”
“Okay, lead the way,” Jesse said getting up and following Andrew out the door and down the sidewalk. They walked quietly for a while, but eventually Andrew spoke up breaking the silence, “Are you okay? You seem nervous or something.”
“Oh, no, I’m fine. Bars and drinking aren’t really my thing, but I usually go anyway if people ask me to because it’s a good way to get to know people,” Jesse said.
“Oh, well if you want to leave at any point because you don’t feel comfortable or you’re bored or anything, don’t hesitate to let me know. We don’t have to stay if you don’t want,” Andrew said.
“Thanks, but you wouldn’t have to leave I could just take a taxi home,” Jesse said.
“I wouldn’t mind leaving. I would want to make sure you made it home okay,” Andrew said.
Jesse grinned slightly, “That’s really sweet,” he said nervously. Andrew grinned back at him for a second before speaking again, “I think the bar is right around this corner,” he said. They turned the corner and headed in the bar looking around for the group. Armie was easy to spot, even sitting down he still towered over everyone else. So, they headed to the back corner where he was.
“Hey, I’m glad you guys made it,” he said as they sat down. Brenda, Joe, and Rooney were sitting around the booth as well. “Here, have some drinks,” Armie said, shoving some shot glasses across the table to them. Jesse picked his up, drinking it quickly and Andrew followed suit.
“So, Joe told me you two are engaged. Is that true?” Armie asked flagging down the waitress to order another round of shots.
“Well, I mean, technically yes,” Jesse said, “We’re having a good old fashioned arranged marriage.”
“That’s so interesting,” Rooney said, “I’ve never met someone who was actually having an arranged marriage. I didn’t realize they existed anymore.”
“Well,” Andrew started, “We can’t be completely forced into it. We’re free to say no, but our families would be really disappointed. Besides Jesse’s so adorable why would anyone not want to marry him?” Andrew reached over and tapped Jesse on the nose and Jesse shifted uncomfortably his ears going red. At which point the waitress finally stopped by.
“Can I get you guys some more drinks?” she asked, her eyes never leaving Jesse, even though it was Armie who answered they’d like a few rounds of shots.
“And what about you?” the waitress asked leaning toward Jesse and smiling at him flirtatiously, her blue eyes sparkling, “Would you like anything special?”
Jesse shifted uncomfortably looking away from her and mumbling, “No, no, I’m fine.”
“Are you sure there isn’t anything I could get you?” she asked reaching down to brush her fingertips against his arm.
“He said he was fine,” Andrew said, unexpectedly moving closer to Jesse, leaning across him to stare daggers at the waitress. “We’d really just like our shots,” he finished his voice suddenly gruff.
The waitress glanced between Jesse and Andrew suspiciously for a few seconds before seeming to give up. Her expression shifted into something unreadable and she spun on the balls of her feet, heading off back toward the bar.
“Well, that was interesting,” Joe said smirking at Andrew.
“She was making him uncomfortable. I was just trying to help,” Andrew said relaxing back in his seat, but settling slightly closer to Jesse than he had been before.
Rooney and Brenda smiled at them both while Armie mumbled something that sounded like, “Of course you were,” and shared a glance with Joe. Jesse ducked his head, trying to fight back a smile. Andrew was surprisingly cute when he got protective.
A different waitress brought them their shots and Armie passed them out to everyone insisting that everyone seemed like they could use a few more drinks. Jesse picked his up, drinking it down quickly with a grimace as the alcohol burned his throat. By this point he was already beginning to feel pretty buzzed, and he thought Armie had maybe misjudged how little alcohol it takes to get Jesse drunk. A few shots later and Jesse was properly wasted.
“So, I don’t know if this is an appropriate question or not so feel free not to answer, but when did you guys realize you were gay?” Joe asked, slurring his words a little but looking at Jesse and Andrew in earnest.
“Well for me, I was 14 and I was starring in this play at a community theater,” Jesse started, leaning back against the booth, “and there was this guy who I was infatuated with. It didn’t really hit me at first that I had a crush on him, but I just kept wanting to talk to him all the time.”
Joe nodded his head to show he was still listening and Jesse continued, “Then, one day he asked me if I wanted to go get coffee with him and half way through drinking it he leaned over and kissed me unexpectedly. It was a horrible kiss because neither of us knew what we were doing. But, I liked it despite that and that’s when I realized what my feelings toward him actually were. We broke up after the play though. It was just one of those stupid childhood relationships,” Jesse said leaning heavily against Andrew.
“Do you ever see him around town or anything when you’re home?” Andrew asked looking kind of forlorn.
“I believe Andrew is jealous,” Joe said playfully shoving Andrew, moving him and Jesse even closer together.
“Aw, don’t be jealous. I have no feelings for him whatsoever, anymore. I was pretty much a kid back then and we’ve both changed a lot,” Jesse said reaching for Andrew’s hand and leaning his head against his shoulder. He was always the type to lean all over people when he was drunk and this apparently went double for people he was forcefully engaged to.
“I’m not jealous,” Andrew mumbled his ears going red, “But to answer your question, I’m one of those people who has just always known,” Andrew said with a shrug.
Joe nodded, “I just get so curious about that, because I don’t feel like there was a time when I realized I was straight and I don’t know if it’s because the majority of people are straight so you just don’t think about it or what.”
“Yeah, I mean asking when we realized doesn’t offend me. It’s when people ask when we became gay that offends me. Because, yeah I do think it’s kind of a hard process for most people to realize they’re gay. I think it’s hard for a lot of people to know whether they’re feelings for the same sex are just normal friendship feelings or if they’re something more,” Andrew said.
They kept talking for awhile and Armie kept ordering shots and Jesse kept drinking them despite how drunk he was already feeling. After awhile, Jesse leaned heavily against Andrew, “I am so drunk,” he announced.
“I think maybe we should go home,” Andrew said, “We’ve got an early day tomorrow and I don’t want David thinking we aren’t taking this movie seriously.”
“Aw, are you sure?” Brenda asked frowning slightly.
“Yeah, we’ve really gotta go,” Andrew said standing up and dragging Jesse with him. Jesse clung to Andrew’s side, afraid that he wouldn’t be able to stand up on his own and together they headed for the door.
“There is no way you can walk home. Wait here while I hail a taxi,” Andrew said leaning Jesse against the wall and then heading for the edge of the sidewalk flagging down a taxi. Eventually one stopped and Andrew came back for Jesse and they walked to it together. They slid into the back seat and Jesse leaned against Andrew, his eyes sliding shut. The next thing he knew Andrew was shaking him gently.
“Hey, Jess, we’re home,” Andrew said opening the taxi door and getting out before reaching in to help Jesse out. Jesse leaned against Andrew heavily and together they walked unsteadily to the house. Andrew walked Jesse into his room and helped him lie down, covering him with the blanket, and smoothing his hair down. “I’m gonna move your trashcan over here because I have a feeling you’re gonna need it.” Andrew said grabbing the trashcan and setting it down beside the bed, “Okay, I’ll see you in the morning.”
Jesse woke up the next morning with a splitting headache, but he was glad to see he hadn’t thrown up at any point in the night. He did unfortunately remember clinging all over Andrew. That was so embarrassing, Andrew must think he is some kind of freak now. He was going to have to face him at some point though, so he went ahead and got up, getting ready and heading into the kitchen.
“Hey, I made you some scrambled eggs and cheese, classic hangover food,” Andrew said pointing at the plate across from his own. Jesse flopped down pouring himself a glass of orange juice.
“Thank you for this,” he said, “So, how embarrassing was I?”
“You weren’t embarrassing at all,” Andrew said, “You were actually really adorable.”
Jesse looked away shyly, “If this is a part of your whole ‘tell Jesse he’s incredible everyday even though he’s not’ thing you really don’t have to, you can tell me the truth.”
“Jesse,” Andrew began seriously, “I swear on my life that I am telling you the truth. You were not embarrassing and you were incredibly adorable.” A small grin spread across Jesse’s face he still wasn’t sure he believed Andrew, but it was nice to hear nonetheless.
***
That night Jesse walked into the living room and Andrew turned around to look at him when he heard him come in, “Hey, do you want to come watch with me?” he asked. He was slouched down on the couch watching another episode of Merlin.
“Sure,” Jesse replied coming further into the room and sitting down beside Andrew on the couch. They sat in comfortable silence for awhile watching intently until Andrew broke the silence with a loud sigh.
“Ugh, just look at them!” he said, motioning toward the TV screen where Merlin and Arthur were currently sharing a significant look. “They love each other so much,” he said, “Why don’t they see that?”
“You are ridiculous,” Jesse said, but he couldn’t help the grin that spread across his face.
“Look at them, and tell me they’re not in love,” Andrew said, his eyes growing bigger as he watched them forlornly.
“I can’t,” Jesse admitted, “they do seem pretty gay for each other.”
“Right?!” Andrew exclaimed running his hands through his hair in frustration.
“I’m gonna go get something to eat. You want anything?” Jesse asked, pushing off the couch and heading for the kitchen.
“Maybe some popcorn, if you don’t mind,” Andrew replied.
“Okay, I’ll be right back.” Jesse walked into the kitchen putting a bag of popcorn in the microwave for Andrew and fixing himself a salad while it popped. Once it was done he poured the popcorn in a bowl and went back into the living room handing it to Andrew and then sitting back down beside him.
“Hey, uh, Jess,” Andrew started, glancing over at him with an oddly nervous expression, “I would really like to take you out on a date tomorrow.”
“What, why,” Jesse asked choking a little on the bite of salad he had just eaten.
Andrew sighed heavily, “Because we’re supposed to be getting married when filming ends and we haven’t been on a date yet.”
Jesse flushed a brilliant crimson, “We don’t… I mean, I’m not… Listen, I’m not expecting you to try and woo me or anything.”
Andrew reached out to grab Jesse’s hand and Jesse pulled it away causing a hurt expression to flicker briefly over Andrew’s features before he could manage to pull a smile back together, “Jesse, I’m trying to be a proper gentleman here. Please, just let me take you out.”
Jesse considered it for a moment. He didn’t want Andrew to go out of his way for him, but he seemed to really want to do this. And they were going to have to be together for the rest of their lives, so they might as well get to know each other and make the best of it.
“Fine,” he finally answered with a resigned sigh, causing a brilliant grin to break out across Andrew’s face.
“Great, we can go when filming is done for the day tomorrow. It’s supposed to be a bit of an early day.”
“Okay, sounds fine,” Jesse said he ate the rest of his salad in silence before taking his bowl back into the kitchen setting it in the sink and then heading for his room to call Emma. He dialed her number and it rang a few times before she answered saying his name happily.
“Emma, help me, Andrew wants to take me on a date tomorrow. How do you act on a date with your future husband?” Jesse asked, panic rising in his throat.
“Unfortunately I wouldn’t know,” Emma responded with a brief chuckle.
“Emma, I’m serious. Help me, please,” Jesse said.
“Jesse, just be yourself, and act like you would on any other date. You’re going to be fine, I promise,” Emma said patiently.
“No, I’m not,” Jesse sighed.
“You really will. Hey, they’re calling me back on set. If you need to talk more you can call me back later, but you’re going to be absolutely fine and there’s nothing I can say that’s going to make you completely stop worrying.”
“Alright, thanks for listening. Good luck with filming,” he said before hanging up the phone and flopping down on his bed. He fell asleep like that waking uncomfortably the next morning with one half of his body hanging off the bed and every muscle aching.
He dragged himself up and into the bathroom stumbling into the shower and letting the warm water work out all the kinks in his muscles. He stumbled back out a little while later and pulled on some clean clothes, heading into the kitchen to grab some breakfast. Andrew was already in there, leaning over the stove with an apron tied loosely around his waist.
“Hey there, good morning. I made some pancakes if you want some,” Andrew said flipping the one that was still on the stove and then pointing with his elbow toward the plate with the rest of the ones that were already made.
“They smell delicious,” Jesse noted walking across the kitchen to the cabinet, “I’ll set the table so I don’t feel completely useless.”
Andrew grinned at him happily, stirring the pot of syrup he had made. Jesse grabbed two plates and two glasses out of the cabinet and set them down across from each other at the table, before grabbing forks and knives as well. They were starting filming today so they were both more nervous than usual.
“Jess, this is your daily reminder that you are incredible, okay? So, please don’t worry about filming,” Andrew said taking a bite of his pancake.
Jesse rolled his eyes, “Are you really going to keep this up everyday?”
“I haven’t decided yet,” Andrew said, “I don’t want you to think I’ve stopped because I stopped believing it, but I also don’t want it to become annoying.”
“I’m pretty sure someone would have to be insane to be annoyed by someone calling them incredible everyday,” Jesse replied, and Andrew grinned at him.
***
That night when it was almost time for their date, Andrew appeared in the doorway of Jesse's bedroom wearing a pair of tight black pants, a white v neck, and a grey cardigan. Jesse groaned, “I’m totally underdressed,” he said moving to look through his closet again.
Andrew walked across the room and wrapped Jesse up in his arms, kissing the top of his head, “Stop it, you look lovely.” Jesse squirmed around and ducked out from Andrew’s arms but grinned despite himself.
“Well, I guess we should get going. We don’t want to be late,” Andrew said holding out his hand for Jesse to take. Jesse ignored it stuffing his hands in his pockets instead and headed for the door feeling a little bit like a jerk. Andrew seemed nice enough but there was no need for them to get carried away. This whole arranged marriage thing was ridiculous and they didn’t have to get cozy just because their parents thought they would be good together. Andrew didn’t seemed discouraged though, he just grinned at Jesse fondly, opening the front door for him.
“Where are we going?” Jesse asked his curiosity getting the best of him.
“It’s a secret,” Andrew replied in a sing-song tone of voice, heading for the car.
“How exactly are you planning on surprising me when I’m going to have to be the one who drives?”
“I’m going to tell you where to turn,” Andrew explained opening Jesse’s door for him.
Jesse blushed at the open door and mumbled, “I’m not a girl you know.” Andrew just grinned and retorted, “Thank God for that,” and Jesse couldn’t help the bark of laughter that escaped his lips in response.
Jesse slid into the driver’s seat and waited for Andrew to get inside beside him before turning the car on and backing out of the driveway.
“You’re gonna take a left out of the driveway,” Andrew said leaning forward and fiddling with the car stereo. He found a station that was playing some song Jesse had never heard before but that Andrew apparently liked and stopped playing with the dial, sitting back in his seat and drumming his fingers against his knee.
“And then you’ll take a right here at this stop sign,” Andrew said smiling to himself and bobbing his head. He really was fun to be around and Jesse felt almost lucky that this was the person his parents had picked for him.
“Our first destination isn’t too far away,” Andrew said, “We should be there in about five minutes.”
“Okay, well I hope our first destination is food because I’m hungry.”
“It might be,” Andrew said a smile flickering across his features before he leaned forward to mess with the stereo again, “What kind of CD do you have in here?” he asked hitting play.
Jesse cringed a little in embarrassment as it started playing, “It’s, uh, the soundtrack to--” he started but Andrew cut him off.
“Oh my god, is this Oliver? My mom used to listen to this all the time when I was kid. My grandparents live in a town about 30 minutes from mine and sometimes my mom would drop me off there so they could watch me while she worked, and she’d always play this soundtrack on the drive.”
“Oh wow, really? Yeah, my mom played a lot of Broadway music when I was a kid, so it’s still pretty much the only music I listen to,” Jesse said.
“It’s all you listen to?” Andrew asked his face crinkling up in a mixture of confusion and shock.
“Pretty much,” Jesse confirmed, feeling suddenly self conscious.
“Oh, that’s kind of cool actually,” Andrew said shooting him another small smile, “Take a left here at this light,” and then after a brief pause he added, “Maybe you could broaden my horizons a bit. I only really know this one and then Avenue Q.”
Jesse couldn’t help the grin that spread across his face and he promptly began singing one of the only songs he knew from Avenue Q, “If you were gay that’d be okay, I mean ‘cause hey, I’d like you anyway, because you see if it were me, I’d feel free to say that I was gay”
Andrew took over from there belting out the next part, “If you were queer I’d still be here, year after year, because you’re dear to me, and I know that you would accept me too.” He finished with a flourish of his hands and dropped back against the seat a grin plastered across his face.
Jesse couldn’t stop smiling and he found himself saying, “I mean, if you’re really interested, yeah, I could introduce you to some other Broadway soundtracks.”
“That’d be nice,” Andrew said, “And, hey, maybe I could introduce you to some music that isn’t showtunes.”
Jesse bit back another grin, “Yeah, that sounds like fun.”
“Good, good… Well, our destination is on the left up here so just find us a place to park.” Andrew said. Jesse pulled into a small lot and they got out of the car. Jesse immediately stuffing his hands in his pockets so that Andrew wouldn’t reach for him. Andrew smiled and said, “So, your hopes and dreams are coming true already, our first destination is food.” He headed inside a building with Jesse following close behind and told the woman at the hostess stand that he had a reservation for two under the name Garfield. She took out two menus and led them to a table. They sat down across from each other and when the hostess left Jesse looked up at Andrew and grinned.
“I love Italian food,” he said picking up his menu and looking through it.
“Awesome, I was hoping you would like it. I called around asking different places how many vegetarian option they have and this place seemed to have the most,” Andrew explained picking up his own menu.
“You didn’t have to do that. I can usually find something anywhere,” Jesse said but he secretly felt a little pleased that Andrew had gone to such lengths to make sure he would have a good time on the date.
“I didn’t mind. I wanted you to have lots of things to choose from,” Andrew said. The waitress came by and took their orders and then they fell into silence. Andrew eventually broke it as usual, “So, do you ever feel like The Social Network is this big angsty love story?”
Jesse laughed, “You mean, do I ever get the feeling that maybe Mark and Eduardo were more than friends, or maybe that they wanted to be more than friends and neither of them could find the words to say it?”
“Yeah, I feel like they both just wanted each other so much but it just never happened” Andrew said, as the waitress came back setting down their food.
“Thank you,” they both said, and then once she was gone again, Andrew started talking again, “I mean, I just feel like there has to be a reason that Eduardo got so mad that he sued him and I think it goes beyond them just being best friends.”
“Yeah, I can definitely see what you’re saying,” Jesse agreed, “Plus, even at the depositions they’re still defending each other. Especially Eduardo. I mean, there’s that part where you say that the Facebook really didn’t have much to do with the Winkelvoss’ site. So, even after everything, and you being so mad that you sued me, you’re still defending me.”
They continued talking about their characters and their possible love for each other until they were done eating. At which point Andrew asked, “Are you ready for phase two?”
“Yeah, let’s go,” Jesse said flagging down the waitress and asking for their check. He insisted on splitting the check with Andrew, and Andrew only agreed as long as Jesse would let him leave the whole tip. They stood up after they had paid and headed back to the car. Andrew opened Jesse’s door for him again and Jesse just mumbled thanks and climbed in clumsily.
Once Andrew had climbed in on his side Jesse turned the car on and asked Andrew which direction they were headed.
“Take a right up here,” he said pointing, “And then it’s a straight shot to where we’re going so I’ll just tell you when to park.” Jesse pulled out of the parking lot and headed in the right direction. Andrew settled into his seat and asked Jesse if he had liked his dinner.
“Oh yeah, it was great,” Jesse replied grinning at him slowly. He had actually had a surprisingly fun time at dinner, and if Andrew had been someone he was just dating instead of his fiancé he would really be looking forward to their next date.
“Good good, I’m hoping you’ll really like this next place. I’m really excited to show it to you, and I hope you haven’t already been here before,” Andrew said.
“I haven’t done much exploring around Boston yet, so I probably haven’t been wherever we’re going,” Jesse said.
“Okay, great - park in this lot over here,” Andrew said and Jesse pulled in to park and they piled out of the car. Andrew reached for Jesse’s hand and Jesse was having a good time so he went ahead and let him hold it for a little while. They headed together for a small strip of stores and Andrew pulled Jesse toward one called Oh, The Places You’ll Go.”
They went through the door and Jesse looked around. He saw a lot of globes sitting around in the corners and then there was display case after display case all full of maps. Most of them were wrinkled and yellowed, and some were bent and torn at the edges and Jesse eagerly walked toward the closest case.
“Is this store seriously just full of antique maps?” Jesse asked an excited grin spreading across his face. Andrew moved close behind him and nodded his head, “Yeah, I noticed all of the maps in your room so when I drove by this place one day I thought this might be something you would find interesting.”
“Absolutely. I’m a little obsessed with maps. I know that’s really lame and boring, but I find it fascinating to compare old maps to the way the world looks now. All of the countries that have changed into other ones or the ones we didn’t even know existed before. It’s just something I’ve always been really interested in,” Jesse said he was flushing a little out of nerves that Andrew would think he was being ridiculous about this, but he was really pleased by how much Andrew seemed to get him already. “Wow, this one is really cool,” he said leaning closer to the display case he was looking at and studying an old map of the United States.
Andrew leaned down beside him, “That is pretty awesome,” he agreed. “You should get it.”
“I think I will,” Jesse said, “But, I’m gonna look around some first. He walked slowly past all of the display cases, studying all of the maps. They were all really interesting but he was still drawn to the map of the United States that he had seen first so he tracked down a worker and asked them to get it out for him, and then he headed up to the front of the store to pay. Andrew followed him up there and once Jesse had paid they left, getting back in the car and driving home. When they got out of the car back at home, Andrew took Jesse’s hand and they walked into the house.
“I’ll walk you to your room,” Andrew said grinning hugely, he kept a hold of Jesse’s hand and they walked together to Jesse’s doorway.
“I actually had a really great time tonight,” Jesse said, leaning against his doorframe.
“Good,” Andrew replied, he leaned forward slightly and Jesse knew he was moving in for a kiss so he turned his head slightly so that Andrew’s lips landed on his cheek instead.
“I’ll see you in the morning,” he said ducking into his room and shutting the door behind him awkwardly.
***
Continued