Date: Thu, 29 Nov 2007 08:01:17 +0000
From: Chris Salter <chezmoi_ou_cheztoi@msn.com>
Subject: How I Met Jake: Chapter 42

If you're under the legal age, leave now. If it's illegal to view acts of
homosexuality, leave now. If it's offensive to you, leave now.

Disclaimer: I don't know Jake Gyllenhaal, nor do I claim to know his
sexuality or private life. This work is fictional.

Chapter 42:

"The suns going to be up soon." Jake whispered into Chris' ear before
kissing it. "We've been here all night."

Chris murmured something before leaning further back onto Jake. He was
obviously falling asleep.

Sitting there for a few minutes longer, Jake finally tried to get Chris to
stir. As much as he wanted to stay there with Chris forever, he was
absolutely freezing and wanted to go home. Alas, they had come in separate
cars, and Chris was obviously in no condition to drive. Jake kissed Chris
on the back of the neck again, causing him to stir. "Wakey Wakey, time to
go home."

"How am I?" Chris asked, beginning to wake up.

"Well." Jake replied. "You can either come back in my car and I will send
someone to get your car. Or you can follow me back."

Surrendering again to Jakes embrace, Chris finally agreed, "Take your car,
I can come back for mine later I guess." Being pulled to his feet by Jake,
Chris quickly grabbed Boo Radley and held him close to his body as the
couple stumbled their way across the beach, back to Jakes car.

Unlocking the doors, Jake quickly darted around to the right hand side of
the car and pulled the door open for Chris.

"Thanks." Chris murmured as he slipped into the seat along with Boo
Radley. Waiting for Jake to race around to the other side of the car, Chris
leaned his head on the window and began to doze off again.

Jake smiled as he had his man back in his car once more. Starting the
engine, he switched the headlights on and pulled out of the parking spot.

********** ********

Awaking a few hours later, Chris found himself still in the car, near his
apartment.  Stretching slightly and rubbing his eyes, he turned to Jake. "I
guess I have impeccable timing when it comes to waking up."

"Something like that." Jake replied playfully. Turning into the street, he
accelerated past the rows of cars towards the apartment.

Looking over at Jake, Chris pouted, "I'm really sorry about last night."

"I am too." Jake responded as he waited for the garage door to
open. Driving inside, he pulled up in his parking spot and switched the
engine off. "What do you want to do now?"

Chris popped the door open and smiled, "I think it's about time we went to
bed."

Following Chris, Jake stumbled up the stairs to the apartment. "When we get
our place together, we're definitely getting a place with an elevator."

"Aww." Chris murmured as he reached his landing and headed towards the
door. "I can't wait to get a place with you." Unlocking the apartment door,
he gently dropped Boo Radley on the ground and wrapped his arms tightly
around Jake, pulling him into an extended kiss.

Slipping his tongue between Chris' wet, full lips. Allowing his tongue to
slightly brush against Chris', Jake pulled off for a moment. "I can't wait
either." Planning to continue with his train of thought, he was interrupted
by a yawn. "Sorry." He apologized as he looked back at Chris. "I guess I'm
more tired than I thought."

Chris smiled innocently at Jake, "Let's go to bed then, it's
only...what....6:45?"

"Sounds good." Jake replied tiredly. Following Chris into the bedroom, he
stripped himself of his clothing but his underwear and slipped under the
covers while he waited for Chris to return wearing his signature yellow
pinstriped pajama bottoms. As Chris slid under the sheets, Jake immediately
pulled up behind him and wrapped his arm around Chris, securing him in
place. "Goodnight baby."

"You mean morning, right?" Chris asked in an equally tired tone. The
previous week's events were catching up with him. He was exhausted and
excited that it was the weekend.  Pushing back, he felt the familiar
warmth, combined with comforting feeling of Jakes soft chest hair against
his back made for an awfully tempting place to sleep.

*** ******* ******** ********** ************ ******** ************ ******

"What about this one?" Chris indicated as he turned the screen of his
laptop slightly. It was Saturday night and he was spending the evening
camped on the couch with the man he loved, searching for apartments.

Sliding over, Jake rested his head on Chris' shoulder and took his eyes off
the television screen. "It's kind of small, isn't it?"

Chris sighed, "The last one was too big, the one before that was in the
wrong neighborhood. What are you the Goldilocks of apartment buildings?"

"No, I just know what I like." Jake defended. "And I don't like that. I
think your wardrobe is bigger than that whole kitchen!"  Chris smiled at
Jake and tilted his head slightly so he could rest on Jakes. "It would help
if I had an idea of how much we were going to spend."

Jake closed his eyes and sighed, "You don't want me to pay for all of it,
do you?"

"Not really." Chris replied thoughtfully. He wanted it to be their place,
not his, not Jakes.  "I suppose the money from both of our places could
probably get something fairly decent."

Laughing from Chris' comment, Jake shifted so he could kiss Chris briefly
before resting his head on Chris' chest. Watching the various screens Chris
was clicking through he finally saw an apartment he liked the look of. "Try
that one."

"Okay, it's a bit old." Chris replied as he clicked the link. As the images
loaded, he saw how rundown the apartment looked, but with a lot of
renovation, it would end up a nice and cozy apartment.

Pushing his hand between Chris' back and the backrest of the couch, Jake
wrapped his arm around him and made himself more comfortable. "Look at the
size of it. It's perfect."  Jake whispered. "It's big enough to have people
stay with us, but it's not so big that I'd be lost for hours trying to find
you."

Chris smirked, "What makes you think I'd be letting you out of my sight?"
Clicking through the various photographs of the drab apartment, Chris
spotted the tired and dated kitchen with a magnificent view of the tree
lined street. "I suppose you could knock that wall down, and then have a
big open plan area and a big ol' kitchen for you."

"And you too." Jake commented. "It would be perfect." He paused for a
moment before admitting. "I'm going to New York in a few weeks before going
to Europe. You should come with me and we can check it out."

Groaning from the thought of losing Jake again, Chris finally
agreed. "Yeah, I will try and get a day off work, and then I can come with
you over the weekend or something."  Continuing to check through the rest
of the images, he nuzzled his nose back into Jakes hair. "So, this one is
on the short list then?"

"Mmm..." Jake moaned as he listened to Chris' quickening
heartbeat. "Definitely."

Chris couldn't believe it. He was actually looking for apartments with
Jake. The thought of not only moving across the country, but also moving
across the country with Jake sent his heart racing. He was completely
excited with the idea of setting up house with him.  He loved him and
nothing was going to bring him down from that high. "This is exciting
actually."

"I know." Jake replied in a nonchalant tone. He was secretly in fits of
giggles and excitement over the plan, but he wanted to play it cool for a
while. "Any idea of where you want to work?"

Shrugging his shoulders, Chris didn't really know. He didn't even know if
his skills would even be of any use in New York. "I guess if all else
fails, I could work for one of the universities."

Jake opened his eyes and kissed his way up Chris' neck until their lips
met. "I'm sure you will love whatever you decide to do. Just take your
time."

"And be the kept boyfriend of Jake Gyllenhaal?" Chris asked playfully. "I
think not."

"You're not." Jake replied. "I just want you to be happy, even if it means
you need to look around for a bit." Kissing Chris again, Jake smiled, "I
like the idea of having you around a lot more, but if you want to be
miserable in another job, fine with me."

Slamming the lid of the laptop shut, Chris placed it on the couch next to
him and immediately pounced on Jake, knocking him onto his back. "You just
want me around as your housewife, don't you?"

Jake chuckled as he wrapped his hands around the back of Chris' neck,
pulling him closer to his lips. "Okay, maybe partly. But I think you'd get
bored of me after a while."

"I want to work Jake." Chris replied between kisses. "I love working, I
just hate this job."

Smirking at Chris, Jake whispered, "Well, in a few months you can be rid of
it completely."

"Thank god." Chris muttered before allowing his arms to collapse so he
could rest his body completely on Jakes body. The steady heartbeat combined
with warmth of the body beneath him cause Chris to drift off to sleep
earlier than usual.

*** ******************************************* *************************

"You're not coming?" Jake asked as he straightened his jacket. He was
readying himself for the big press conference and wanted to look perfect.

Chris shook his head, "I wasn't invited." Helping Jake with the collar, he
kissed him briefly. "I think I would only be a hindrance anyway."

Jake sighed, "I guess you're right. I won't be able to concentrate knowing
you'd be out there surrounded by the media." Kissing Chris again, he smiled
innocently, "But we're still going out to dinner after, right?"

"Of course." Chris replied. "I'll drive there, so get your driver to take
you there."  Blushing slightly, he looked up at Jake, "That's if you're
coming back here after."

Wrapping his arms around his man, Jake enjoyed the feeling of Chris lips
for a moment longer. "Of course I'm coming home. But I need to go now."

Chris giggled, "Have fun tonight cutie."

"See you at 10." Jake replied as he ran his hands down Chris' arms to meet
his hands. "I love you." Turning to head towards the door, he was stopped
by Chris, who pounced on him once more.

"I love you too." Chris whispered as he kissed Jake on the cheek from
behind. Finally, allowing Jake to exit the apartment Chris smiled and
turned to find something to do in the meantime. Wandering through the
apartment, Chris made his way to the refrigerator to make sure it was
properly stocked. After feeding the animals, he then wandered his way
towards the door. "I guess I could go annoy someone for a while."

Heading downstairs, he headed towards the garage and jumped into his
car. Starting the engine, he pulled out of the parking spot and headed in
the general direction of Sarah's apartment.

As he pulled onto the street, he flicked through the iPod settings and
finally found the album he was looking for. Pressing play, he smiled as his
new Roger Cicero album serenaded him. Shortly afterwards he pulled up in a
parking spot near Sarah's place.

Switching the engine off, he jumped out and made his way to the
door. Knocking on the door, he waited for someone to answer. "Come on, come
on..." Chris mumbled as he looked around at the darkening street.

Finally, the door swung open revealing Sarah already dressed in her
pajamas. "Hey, what's wrong now?"

"Nothings wrong?" Chris replied in a confused tone.

Allowing Chris inside, Sarah explained, "Well you were pretty pissed off
the other night."

"Was I?" Chris shrugged. "I don't really remember, so I must have been
really annoyed."

"I guess everything was okay with Jake then?"

Chris nodded and smiled. "Yeah, he came and sat with me till dawn."

Sarah furrowed her eyebrows, "Where were you?"

"The beach." Chris replied. "In Santa Barbara."

"You really do get around, don't you?" Sarah joked. "So he sat with you on
the beach in the dark?"

Chris nodded again and took a seat on the couch, "Sat there for hours with
him just holding me. It felt good." He conceded. "I felt safe."

Sarah took a seat next to him and began flicking through the channels, "Why
aren't you with him now?"

"He's at a press conference." Chris replied.

"So what?" Sarah asked. "Why couldn't you be there with him?"

Chris sighed, "He said something about being distracted and wanting to
protect me."

Muting the TV, Sarah turned to look Chris in the eye, "He still should have
at least asked you. It was pretty rude to think you're just going to sit
back and take that excuse."

He was confused. Chris could understand where Sarah was coming from. As an
outsider, it would appear as though Jake was trying to shut him out of his
life and continue to keep him a secret, but he could also sympathize with
Jake. He knew Jake wanted to protect him as much as he could from unwanted
media scrutiny. "I can understand what he means, I'm fine not going. I
didn't really want to go anyway, but we're meeting for dinner later."

"Is that why you're here?" Sarah asked coldly.

Sighing again, Chris couldn't understand why Sarah was being abnormally
cold. "I wanted to hang out for a bit, but if you're going to keep acting
like this, I think I'll go."  He was getting sick of armchair relationship
critics. Standing up, he headed to the door, "I will speak to you later I
guess."

"Bye." Sarah responded coldly.

Heading out the door, Chris looked at his watch, it was only 8:30 and now
he had to find something else to do, he couldn't wait to see Jake at the
restaurant, but at the same time, he was worried about his relationship
with Sarah.

Unlocking the doors of his car, he quickly buckled his seatbelt, started
the engine, and pulled out into the street. Unsure of exactly what to do,
he decided to head towards the restaurant. There was bound to be a bar
either inside or nearby.

** **************************************************************** **

"Hey, I had a reservation under Salter?" Chris asked nervously. He always
felt nervous around restaurant staff for some reason. It didn't help that
he was over an hour early.

Flicking through the names the host finally found the name before
announcing in a gruff tone, "You're early, I'm afraid your table won't be
available for a while."

Chris sighed, "I know, but is there a bar or something I can get a drink?"

"Of course, if you'll follow me." The man responded as he led Chris through
the restaurant to the bar. It was quite busy for a Sunday night, full of
patrons. Reaching the bar, he turned to Chris, "When your table is free, I
will let you know."

Smiling nervously at the stranger, Chris straightened his jacket, "Thank
you." He whispered before taking a seat at the bar.

Not long after, the bartender arrived in front of him, "What can I get you
tonight?"


-43 soon-

Well, there we go, some sort of closure to that section, there's some more
interesting developments to come, so stick around!

I love hearing from you guys, you rock, assuming your emails actually get
through. I'm available at chezmoi_ou_cheztoi@msn.com if you wanna chat.

Love you all,
Chris