Date: Sun, 7 Oct 2007 05:37:16 +0000 From: Chris Salter Subject: How I Met Jake: Chapter 26 If you're under the legal age in your area, homosexuality offends or it's against the law in your area. Please leave. Disclaimer: I don't know Jake Gyllenhaal, nor do I wish to imply his sexuality, relationship status or sexual preference in this work of fiction. Chapter 26: Closing the door behind them, Jake led his mother into the lounge area. "Mom, I need to talk to you..." "What is it Jake?" Naomi asked lovingly. Jake swallowed nervously, "You love me, right?" Naomi laughed, "What a stupid thing to say." She then looked at her son who was sweating a bit, "Of course I do, why would you say that?" "I know, but Mom," Jake thought for a moment on how to word it, "I've kind of met someone, but I'm not sure how you will react." "Jacob Benjamin Gyllenhaal you're my son," Naomi continued, getting slightly irate at Jake, who was stalling, "I love you no matter what, you could be dating a man and I would still love you." "Wait here." Jake replied as he raised his hand quickly to indicate he would be back shortly. He then quickly raced into the kitchen and grabbed Chris, who was standing near the refrigerator, listening in on the conversation. Chris was sweating like he was in the tropics. He had never been so nervous in his whole life. At least with Danny's mother, she knew he was gay. Looking nervously over at Jake, he asked, "How is it going?" Pulling Chris into a quick embrace, Jake kissed him quickly before intertwining his left hand with Chris' right. "Come on," Jake whispered. Slowly following behind Jake, Chris entered the lounge area to see Jakes mother standing near the couch. He hesitated briefly before following Jake any further. "What's going on Jake?" Naomi asked, noticing her son lovingly holding the young man's hand. "Mom," Jake swallowed nervously once more. "This is Chris." He then saw his mom was still looking at him with a confused expression. "Nice to meet you," Chris said shyly. He felt extremely self conscious, Jake had still not properly introduced him and it was making the situation slightly more tense. "It's nice to meet you Chris, but who are you?" Naomi responded, still confused. Jake finally broke the moment, "Mom, this is Chris. My boyfriend." Suddenly he felt more nervous than he had ever felt before. He watched his mother's expression, trying to gauge her reaction. "Mom, you okay?" Sitting down on the couch, Naomi was slightly stunned. She was always open to the idea of her son being gay, but she hadn't had to deal with the situation before. Noticing Jake was trying to get her attention, she quickly looked up at the boys, "I'm fine Jake, just shocked." She then looked over at Chris, "It's nice to meet you." Sitting down on the coffee table opposite his mother, Jake dragged Chris down with him. He then looked over at his mother who was focused on their hands, "There's more Mom...." "What else is there?" She asked, concerned about what else Jake might have been hiding from her. "Well Mom," Jake paused, looked over at Chris and slowly brought his hand up to his mouth to kiss it. "I love him Mom. I love him so much." Standing up slightly, Naomi shuffled towards the nervous boys and brought them both into her arms, "I'm happy for you Jake. As long as you're happy, then I am happy too." Ecstatic from his mother's response, Jake immediately began beaming and leaned over to kiss Chris on the cheek, causing Chris to blush profusely. "I love you both." Chris continued to blush as he looked over at Jake's mother. "Jake." Naomi said softly as she looked at her son, "I smell something burning." Suddenly Jake jumped up and bolted towards the kitchen, "Crap! Hang on." He then passed the doorframe, leaving his boyfriend and his mother alone. "I don't smell anything..." Chris said softly as he watched his man desert him. Suddenly his hand was grasped by Naomi's, leading him to sit next to her on the couch. Laughing at Chris' naivety, Naomi whispered, "It got him out of the room. Now I can talk to you properly." Chris swallowed nervously, "Oh, okay. About what?" "I'm not going to tell you to leave my boy alone, if that's what you're thinking." She replied. After seeing Chris smile nervously, she continued, "Do you love my son?" "More than anything in the world." Chris replied immediately and proudly. Naomi smiled as she saw Chris' expression, "And you don't mind that he's famous?" Chris shook his head, "Not really. I love him for who he is, not what he is." Jake smiled as he listened in on the conversation occurring in the lounge. Pulling the tray out of the oven, Jake rested it on the stovetop before returning his attention to the conversation. "We've been through a lot in a short time, I guess it was some kind of test, but I think I could be with Jake for the long haul. I don't know." Thinking about his surprise later in the night, Jake smiled and continued to listen. "No, I wouldn't ever consider releasing anything to the media; I don't think I would want the attention, let alone Jake." Chris defended. Rescuing Chris, Jake entered the room, "Dinner's ready. If you want to go into the dining room." Chris stood up, "I just need to wash my hands, I've been playing with your dog." "There's soap in the kitchen, or there's the bathroom under the stairs." Jake replied. He then watched Chris disappear into the kitchen while he spoke with his mom. Walking over to her, Jake warmly hugged her. "What do you think?" "As long as you're happy, then I'm happy." Naomi commented softly as she walked with Jake towards the dining room, "Just make sure he doesn't hurt you." Jake smiled, "I'm sure he won't, but do you like him?" Naomi nodded and took her place at the dining table. "I do, he's a nice boy Jake. Good for you." Beaming from joy, Jake kissed his mother on the cheek before excusing himself into the kitchen to grab the food. "Does she like me?" Chris asked nervously as Jake walked up to him. Wrapping his arms warmly around Chris, Jake kissed him on the cheek, "She hates you. She wants you to leave, now." Chris froze, he was sure he had made a good impression, but he had been fooled before. Dejected, Chris replied, "I guess I will see you later then." He then broke free of his boyfriends grip. Chasing after Chris, Jake grabbed him and pulled him back into his warm embrace, "I was joking Chris," He then kissed him before continuing, "She loves you." Jake then looked lovingly into Chris' eyes. "Trust me, she does." Still trembling from Jakes statement, Chris slapped him playfully. "You're a bastard." "Ouch," Jake laughed, "Play nice, go and take a seat." "Fine," Chris replied as he disappeared quickly to grab the bottles of wine he had brought. He then disappeared into the dining room. Tending to his culinary duties, Jake grabbed three plates from his cupboard before heading back to the oven. He carefully placed the meatballs on the plate along with the vegetables that had been prepared earlier. After carefully lining up the food neatly on the plate, Jake then picked up all three plates masterfully and carefully made his way towards the dining room. As he walked in, he found his mom sitting on the left side of the table, with Chris on the right side. Making his announcement, Jake gently placed the plates in front of the guests before taking his seat. Nervously, Chris grabbed the bottle of wine and immediately poured a glass for Jake; he then replaced the bottle onto the table and looked at his man. Suddenly Jake realized he was being rude. Picking up the glass, Jake looked lovingly at Chris and toasted, "To family." The statement caught Chris completely by surprise. He knew Jake loved him, but he wasn't aware that Jake had considered him family. Completely gushing from the statement, Chris let out a small tear before looking over at Naomi. "Sorry, I guess I'm a bit emotional." He apologized. "It's okay," Naomi responded. "I'm happy for you two." She then looked down at the food on the plate, "What have we got here?" Jake shrugged, "Some Moroccan thing, I loved it when I was over there. I finally bugged the chef to tell me how to make it." He then looked at the two people he loved, "I hope you like it." Waiting for Naomi to begin eating first, Chris finally picked up the utensils and carefully cut the meatball into pieces. He then watched as she carefully put the piece into her mouth. Not wanting to look like a pig, Chris picked up the smallest bit with the fork and carefully put it into his mouth. He then smiled and looked lovingly at Jake, "I love it. It's great." Breathing a sigh of relief, Jake smiled and finally began eating. "What do you do for a job, Chris?" Naomi asked as she grasped the stem of the wineglass. Jake beamed, "He's got the best job..." His mom then suddenly interrupted him. "Jacob, I was talking to Chris." Naomi responded before looking back at Chris. Giggling inside from hearing Jake being disciplined by his mother, Chris finally explained, "Oh I work at the crime lab, it's nothing special really. Just collect evidence, look at stuff under microscopes. It's not as glorified as people make it out to be." Grabbing another sip from the glass, Naomi again enquired, "Do you like what you do?" Chris shrugged, "It's okay I guess, just like any job. Parts of it I really hate, I liked the old lab, but this new one, I'm a bit worried about. My friends are all split up now." He then looked over at Jake, "There are some days which are fairly good though, when you meet some nice people." "What do you mean?" She asked. "That's kind of how we met," Jake replied. "Remember that shooting I saw?" Naomi looked at her son, "Yes, what about it?" "Well," Jake continued, as he placed his hand on Chris', "He pretty much rescued me afterwards. He was working on the scene." **** ************* *************************************************** Once the meal was over, Chris helped Jake clear the plates before Jake disappeared out the front door to bring in Naomi's luggage. Waiting for the others to return inside, Chris scrapped the remaining food into the soiled oven dish before rinsing them off and placing them in the dishwasher. A few minutes later, Jake joined him. "You didn't have to do that." Jake commented as he walked up behind Chris and wrapped his arms around his waist. "I would have cleaned up." Turning the water off, Chris smiled, "It's the least I could do." Suddenly, he felt extremely self-conscious, "Where's your mum?" "Upstairs," Jake replied, "She's gone to bed, the flight really drained her." He then turned Chris around so he could kiss him. "I think it's time we went to bed too." Jake immediately grabbed Chris' hand and began to lead him back towards the staircase. "Jake..." Chris whispered, as he didn't want Naomi to overhear anything. "I'm pretty tired, so I really don't feel like sex." Turning slightly on the staircase, Jake laughed, "What makes you think you're getting any?" Chris shrugged and continued to follow Jake up the staircase. Walking across the landing towards the door, he waited for Jake to open it before being led inside. The room looked similar to the way it was when Chris arrived. The bed was neat, and the little box was taking its place once more and there was another, slightly larger box sitting nearby. Eventually Jake dragged him back into the bedroom and closed the door. "I've got something for you," Jake whispered as he gently kissed Chris behind the ear. He then wrapped his arms around Chris, sliding his hands under Chris' shirt. "Oh yeah?" Chris asked. He always preferred to be the one giving the gifts, rather than the one receiving them. Waddling with Chris in his arms, Jake pushed him onto the bed, "Well, two things actually." He then kissed Chris briefly, pushing him back onto his elbows before grabbing the larger box. Leaning back, Chris rested on his elbows as Jake dropped the box onto his lap, causing him to jump slightly. "What's this?" He then sat up slightly to open the box. "It's not much," Jake replied as Chris lifted the lid. "I felt bad that your sweater got ruined at the lab..." Throwing the lid to the side, Chris smiled as he pulled out the black Prada sweater. It was exactly the same as the one that was ruined. Lifting it up to his nose, Chris smelled the pleasant smell of new clothes before looking lovingly at Jake, who was leaning on his side. "I love it, thank you!" He then leaned down and kissed Jake quickly. Quickly turning over to grab the smaller box, Jake then sat up on the bed, crossing his legs and looked at his boyfriend, "I got this for you too, I hope you like it." He paused for a moment before finally handing the box over, "It's probably the wrong thing to do this soon, but I saw it and immediately thought of you." Chris joined Jake in the same seating position as he took the box, "This feels like my birthday or something, but it's not May..." He then began to pull the small bow off the top of the box, "What have we got here now?" "I dunno, I hope you like it." Jake replied. "You don't have to accept it if you're uncomfortable with it." He then lightly grasped Chris' free hand. Lifting the lid of the box, Chris examined the contents, inside where two ring boxes. Immediately his heart began to race. He loved Jake, but he wasn't really ready to make that kind of commitment, nor did he want to be the subject of a publicity scandal. Releasing his hand from Jakes grip, Chris pulled the blue ring box out and lifted the lid. Admiring the white gold ring, which was segmented into jigsaw pieces, Chris looked nervously at Jake, "I don't know if.....what does this mean?" Jake smirked, "Don't worry, I'm not proposing to you." He then grabbed the ring and handed it to Chris, "It's just something so you always have a piece of me with you." Taking the ring from Jakes hand, Chris examined it. Noticing an inscription on the main band, Chris angled it, so he could get a look at the writing. Chris began to get misty eyed as he read the line out loud, "I wanna seem myself with you, you let me be who I am." "Do you like it?" Jake asked as he grabbed the other box. Inside it was a matching ring with a slightly different jigsaw pattern. "They're made to be interchangeable, that way I have a piece of you with me, and you have a piece of me with you." Chris bounced up to his knees and immediately wrapped his arms around Jake, knocking the wind out of him in the process, "I love it, I think it's the most romantic thing anyone has ever given me." He then passionately kissed Jake before grabbing Jakes ring. "Won't you get unwanted attention with this ring?" "If you're that worried about it," Jake continued as he pulled the ring apart. "When I'm at important things, I will keep you close to my heart." He then pulled Chris' ring apart and exchanged the pieces. "I love that idea actually." Chris beamed, "It's so cute." He then grabbed Jakes ring and read out the inscription, "You make me feel I'm the best, baby please let me be with you." He then looked up at Jakes steel blue eyes, "Where have I heard this before?" Slowly placing the ring on Chris' middle finger, Jake then kissed him briefly, "It's the song we were listening to." Chris furrowed his eyebrows, "When?" "The day I met you, silly." Jake laughed. "When you were driving me to my car, it came on your radio." He then kissed Chris again, "I remembered the name Blue Cafe. It took me a while to hunt the song down, but I managed to do it." Pouncing on Jake, Chris pinned him to the bed and slathered his face in kisses. "That's the most adorable thing I've EVER had anyone do." He then kissed the tip of Jakes nose before smiling, "I love you." Jake chuckled from the oral assault on his face, "I love you too, you little minx." *** *** *** *** Ahem, because I'm a sucker for pouting and whinging and puppy dog eyes, especially from the south! Here we go! I love hearing from you all. chezmoi_ou_cheztoi@msn.com is where I'm at! Don't forget to check out my group! Which is where most of you are at now I imagine. Anyway, it's great talking to you all! Peace and Love Chris