Date: Sat, 18 Aug 2007 11:31:45 +0000 From: Chris Salter Subject: How I Met Jake: Chapter 8 Same story again, if you're underage, it's illegal in your country/prinicipality/planet for view anything involving 2 males, or the notion makes you beat yourself or feel ill, don't read anymore. Everyone else, enjoy... Disclaimer: I don't know Jake Gyllenhaal. I don't wish to imply his sexual preference, it's really only his business. This work is entirely fiction. Before I begin however, I wish to apologise for my absolute meat-headedness in the previous chapter. I fubarred on the continuity part and some of you picked up on it, I could go into details, but long story short, I didn't pick up on it until I re-read it AFTER it was posted. Sorry guys! Hope you still like it. On with the chapter now, Chapter 8: Chris remained motionless, held in place by Jake's soft hands, as well as the intoxicating smell of Jake's cologne against his skin. The feeling of Jake's facial hair against his chin sent shivers up his spine. Slowly but surely, Jake lowered his hands away from Chris' face and returned to his seat on the coffee table. "Wow," Chris said softly, still shocked by the moment that had just passed. Jake looked down at his hands, they were still shaking slightly. "I thought that would be the best way to get my point across." Jake joked. "I had no idea you felt that way." Chris replied as he began recounting the past weeks activities in his head trying to figure out if there had been any other signs. "I didn't even think you were into guys?" Jake smiled nervously and placed his hand on Chris' knee. "I've always been open to the idea, but I hadn't met a guy I've been interested in.." The touch of Jakes hand on his knee sent a tingle up Chris' spine once more. "What now?" He asked as he began to yawn. Jake thought for a moment, he didn't want to rush things. "I suppose we could try a date?" "That would be great." Chris placed his hand on Jake's and began to stroke it gently. "Great! I will make a reservation tomorrow and give you a call, is that okay?" Jake asked as he began to stand up. Chris slowly got to his feet and followed Jake slowly to the door, "I'm home all day, so just give me a call." He replied in a groggy tone. "I'll see you tomorrow." Jake stated as he moved in closer and kissed Chris softly once again. He then opened the door headed outside. Chris watched Jake begin to bounce down the steps before turning to wave. He returned the wave and smiled. He then closed the door and headed to his bedroom where he collapsed immediately on the bed. Chris thought it was slightly odd that Jake had made the reservations for the restaurant under Salter. However, guessing this would attract less attention, Chris didn't really mind. He was about fifteen minutes early when Chris' taxi finally pulled up outside the restaurant. After paying the fare and stepping out, he straightened his jacket and began to walk towards the doors. "Wow," Chris muttered to himself as he approached the large and slightly intimidating doors. Through the doors, he could see a large room lit only by lamps on the tables and a few strategically placed light sculptures. Everything in the entrance was white and brown, from the small leather ottomans, to the flower arrangements in crystal vases. He felt slightly nervous, but he couldn't work out if it was the environment or his stomach doing the conga at the thought of being on a date. Biting the bullet he slowly walked up the steps and through the doorway. "Can I help you sir?" Came a derisive voice from behind a small podium. Chris rolled his eyes at the self-entitled hostess and walked towards the podium, "Yes, I had a reservation at 7, for two." "One moment sir," the woman responded distantly. She slowly began checking through the reservation book for the name. "Ah yes, table for two, a request for a table towards the back." She closed the book and picked up two menus. "You're the first to arrive. Follow me please." Chris laughed to himself at the coldness of the young woman's voice, "Yes Ma'am." He replied as he continued to amuse himself in annoying the woman more than was required. Unmoved, the hostess led Chris through the restaurant quickly like a hamster in a maze looking for looking for its meal. Once she came to a stop, Chris finally caught up and the hostess finally spoke up again, in her derisive tone, "Someone will be with you in a moment, excuse me." "Okay, thank you, I guess.." Chris responded, equally as distant. He watched the woman scuttle back to the front. Chris, figuring Jake would want to sit facing the wall, decided to take the seat that was against the wall. After a few minutes, a waiter finally made his way over to the table. "Good evening, my name is Craig; can I get you something to drink?" Chris looked up from the tablecloth to see a young blonde haired man dressed in an ill- fitting white dress shirt and tight black dress pants. "Uh yeah, can I get a Martini, 6 to 1?" "Sure, not a problem," Craig replied as he quickly wrote down the order. He then hurried off to the bar. Chris looked around the dimly lit restaurant. The majority of the d‚cor followed the same trend as the entrance, with shades of brown making up most of the d‚cor, broken up by bright white light sculptures and the white tablecloths. He then noticed the bottled water already on the table. Quickly he poured himself a glass and whipped out his antibiotics. As he finished downing the glass, he looked up to see two figures walking towards his table. He then heard the familiar cold tone of the hostess. "Here you go; someone will be with you shortly." Chris squinted through the dim light to see Jake's familiar figure approaching, he stood up and made his way to greet Jake with a hug, pausing to think of whether this would be appropriate. Deciding against it for now, he decided to shake Jake's hand instead. "A bit formal isn't it?" Jake laughed as he reciprocated in the handshake. He then sat down in the empty seat and made himself more comfortable. Chris admired Jake for a moment, dressed in a pair of dark grey dress pants a white t-shirt and a black formal jacket. "I wasn't sure if it was appropriate or not," he apologized. Jake smiled and looked up at Chris, who was smiling nervously. "It's okay, you could have hugged me. For all anyone knows, we're just friends who haven't seen each other in a while." "Maybe later then." Chris replied as Craig returned with his drink. "Here you go," He said as he placed the drink on the table in front of Chris. Craig then looked towards Jake, trying to figure out who it was. "Can I get you something to drink?" Jake thought for a moment before replying, while looking at Chris the whole time, "Uh, white wine please, something decent, doesn't matter what." "Not a problem," Craig said before scuttling off once more. Two duo sat for a moment without speaking before Chris finally broke the ice, "So, why this place? It seems so.....cold." Jake smirked and leaned towards Chris, "Well," he then looked down at table and began running his index finger around the knife. "Everyone is too worried about themselves. It's the kind of place for a first date, it's low key and quiet." Jake looked up and admired Chris', who was wearing a slim fitting white dress shirt with the top two buttons undone, a small black tie which was loosened around the open part of the shirt. Jake noticed Chris' jacket was leaning over the back of the chair. "Have you been here before?" Chris asked as he picked up the menu. Slowly Jake closed his eyes, reliving the last time he was here. "I think it was a couple of years ago, when Kirsten and I started dating." Chris looked up from the menu to see Jake grimacing at the thought of a past love. Deciding to change the subject, Chris enquired, "What's good here?" "You know, it's been a while." Jake said as he picked up his own menu. He quickly perused the listings and replied, "To be honest, I'm really not sure. It's probably all edible though." To which both he and Chris laughed. A few moments later Craig returned with Jake's drink and then prepared to take their meal orders. "I guess I will get the uh................Marinated Chicken Caesar." Chris responded while still examining the menu for something. "Excellent, and for you?" Craig asked, while looking at Jake. Jake continued to glance through the menu to try to find something; he was beginning to regret making the reservation at this place. "I guess I'll have the garden salad." "Excellent choice, I'll be back shortly with your meals." Craig said as he shot off back towards the kitchen. Making sure Craig was out of hearing distance; Chris leaned across the table towards Jake, "Not hungry?" Jake also leaned forward and said quietly, "I'm starving, but I couldn't find anything worth ordering." Sure, no one was near them; Jake quickly brought his hand out and placed it on Chris'. Chris jumped slightly as he felt Jake's warm hand on top of his; he then blushed slightly and smiled. "Thanks," Jake commented softly. Chris looked confused for a moment before enquiring, "For what?" "For agreeing to go on this date with me." Hearing a commotion walking out of the kitchen door, Jake quickly took his hand away and returned to tracing the outline of his knife. "Why would I say no? I like spending time with you; you're fun to be around." Ceasing his tracing session, Jake looked up at Chris, "I don't know, I thought you still affected by Danny." Chris laughed softly and put on a weak smile, "Well, yeah, but it's over, I might as well move on..." As Jake was about to comment, Craig suddenly appeared behind him with their meals. Placing the plates on the tablecloth, he then disappeared once again without saying a word. "How rude," Jake scoffed. Chris let out a chuckle, "I know! What about the hostess?! I felt like I was asking to take her life. Make a mental note; never go back to this place." "Tell me about it," Jake agreed, as he picked up his fork and began moving useless pieces of garnish aside. Eventually reaching the questionable food, he stabbed tomato and shoved it into his mouth. "This your last day of freedom?" he asked. Chris was also pushing the wilted greens aside to find the 3 pieces of chicken. Eventually finding a diminutive piece, picked it up with the fork, "Yeah. Luckily, I'm working the 9 - 5 for the next six months or so, so no weekend or late night shifts for me. Which is good I suppose?" "I remember when I worked weekends and strange hours when I was a bus-boy. It wasn't the best time." Chris laughed and looked towards Craig, who was now nonchalantly throwing someone else's meal onto the table. "I hope you were better than that." Jake turned his head to see what Chris was seeing, after he did he snorted and agreed, "God yes, I was great at it." "I think we've all had shit jobs, well....most of us..." Chris commented, "I worked some horrors, and some great ones in my time." Jake, spearing another tomato looked up and asked, "What else did you do for work?" Recalling his previous occupations, Chris replied, "God, ages ago I did work experience for a travel agency, I spent most of time reading the brochures and wishing I was dead." Chris looked up to see Jake smiling, "My first paid job however was working at McDonald's, I hated it so much, spent about a year there working crap hours like 5am starts and 1am closes. I worked in a gas station for 2 days before I quit, then I focused back on my studies, after that I worked in a store selling TV's, computers, ovens and such, that was pretty good actually. Then I worked in a couple of labs, and then I got the job here working at a research lab. After they moved locations I got the job at the crime lab." "Two days at the gas station?" Jake laughed, "It was that good?" Chris rolled his eyes, "It was grand. I loved the notion of Working for 10 hours without a toilet break, a seat or any kind of nourishment. None of which I'm sure is even legal." Sticking the second piece of chicken his mouth, he swallowed before enquiring about Jakes past careers. "I've worked in a few places; the bus-boy thing was okay, great life experience. I was a lifeguard once; I had to pee on someone once." Chris laughed, "I'm sure there would be some people who would find that erotic." Jake shot Chris a coy smile, "And you're one of them?" "Me? God no. Eugh. Nothing healthy about that whole kind of thing in my opinion." Chris defended himself, blissfully unaware of Jake's humor. "That's good to know then." Jake replied. Chris harpooned the final measly piece of chicken and threw it in his mouth, "How on Earth did we get to this topic..." Jake let out a small laugh and picked up his glass of wine, "I really have no idea..." "Can I ask you something Jake?" Chris asked, desperately searching through the wilted leaves to find something worth eating. "Of course," "Why me?" Chris paused for a moment and after seeing Jakes puzzled look, decided to elaborate. "I mean, you're one of the most desirable people on the planet, you could have anyone you wanted, why ask just a lowly science nerd when you could have had like, I don't know, some actress or actor, or some model?" "I suppose it could have been anyone, but really. I'd always been open to the idea of guys; I'd just never met one worth opening up to as I said last night." He continued, "But why you? Well I like your sense of humor, you offering to help me that Saturday night and I guess I like the way you were so comfortable with yourself to open your emotions to someone you barely knew, last Sunday for example." Jake then went quiet for a moment before continuing once more, "I guess the frosting on the cake was yesterday, you were trying so hard to make me feel comfortable with your friends...." He then smirked, "I guess it also helped seeing you fresh out of bed." Chris was practically gushing from hearing what Jake had to say. He thought over a few things in his head to say back to Jake; however, the only thing he could muster was, "Awww..." He paused for a moment and said softly, "Well, it's official." "What?" "This place sucks, the food really sucks, the people really really suck, but the date is fantastic." Chris blushed and continued to smile, then out of the corner of his eye he noticed Craig picking up a piece of food from empty table, and placed it in his mouth. "Okay, I think we have a wiener." Jake slowly turned his head to catch the end of what Chris had just witnessed. "Okay I think we're done here." He then began to stand up, "I'm going annoy the stick insect and pay at the door, I wouldn't trust her with my credit card." Chris laughed as he stood up and put his jacket back on, "Well, you can be sure she won't spend it on food, or friends." Jake laughed and the pair headed towards the door. Jake paid the bill and they made their way out into the street. Chris was beginning to look up and down the street for a taxi before Jake interjected, "Come on, I'll give you a ride home." "Okay, thanks!" Chris responded in a chirpy tone. As Jake lead the way to his car, Chris followed him slightly behind due to the fact he wasn't sure where Jake had parked, but for the ulterior motive of check out Jake's body as he walked. Several minutes later they arrived at Jake's Lexus. "You got a car for everyday or something?" Chris asked as Jake unlocked the doors. "No No, just the two." Jake laughed as he jumped in the drivers' seat, followed by Chris who jumped into the passenger seat. Once buckled up, Jake started the engine and made his way out of the parking space. The journey back to Chris' apartment took about 20 minutes. Occasionally Jake would look off the road and would lock eyes with Chris in the streetlight. As Jake came to a stop at a red light, he slowly took his hand off the steering wheel and gently placed it on Chris' leg. Chris responded by slightly stroking Jakes' hand until he noticed the ring on Jake's finger. "What's that?" Chris asked. Jake released Chris' leg from his grip and quickly took the ring off to hand it to Chris. "My mom gave it to me; it means the world to me." Chris reached up to turn the reading light on so he could examine it closer. He then noticed an inscription on the ring, ""Mine the darkness and see by the path you leave behind." Chris smiled as he read it, "What nice words. She must be a great mother." "She's the best." Jake commented as Chris handed the ring back for him to replace on his naked finger. Chris continued to smile and looked over at Jake, whose attention had returned to the road. "Can I ask you something?" "Sure." "What were you doing with Amy last night?" Chris asked. Jake paused for a moment, thinking of how to explain it to Chris. Finally, he replied, "I was talking about you." "About me?" Chris asked. "Well, I needed to talk to someone about it, but at the same time, I didn't want to appear as if I was muscling in the replace Danny like that," Jake snapped his fingers. "What did she say?" Chris asked, genuinely curious. "Well, she wasn't surprised. She guessed I liked you from the moment I rescued you from her inquisition. She said it was more like a ploy to see what I'd say." Jake indicated to make a right turn, "She basically told me that she thought of you like a brother, she was disappointed in Danny, and that I should be open with you about my feelings." Jake turned to see Chris staring at him, "Why, what did you think we were doing?" Chris laughed to himself, "To be honest, I thought you were getting...intimate with her or something, that's why I was slightly annoyed. I thought it was inappropriate of you two to hook up after having just met." Eventually Jake pulled into Chris' street and switched off the engine. He hopped out of the car at the same time as Chris and walked around to the passenger side. "I have to be at work early, I'm sorry." Chris apologized. Jake looked at his watch, it didn't feel like it was 11:45PM. The time with Chris seemed to go so fast. "That's okay, but can I at least come inside the gate?" Chris giggled at Jakes eagerness, yet finally agreed. He then made his way over to the gate and unlocked it. He stepped through, closely followed by Jake. "I hope you enjoyed yourself tonight Chris" Jake said as he made his way closer. "With you? Of course I did." Seeing Jake approach caused his heart to skip a few beats. Jake slowly put his arms around Chris' body and hugged him closely. "I had a great time with you too. We have to do this again." Chris returned the favor by tightly hugging Jake. "Definitely." Slowly but surely, Jake moved his lips closer to Chris', gently kissing him once more, the moment causing a tightening in his pants. Chris smiled as he kissed Jake, noticing the growth belonging to Jake. Finally, they broke the kiss in unison. "I'd better get to bed." "Okay, goodnight Chris." Jake said as he softly kissed Chris on the cheek. He was slightly embarrassed for allowing his body to be overcome so easily. Chris quickly hugged Jake and then watched him make his way awkwardly out the gate. As the gate closed, he quickly waved at Jake before beginning to make his way up the stairs and into his apartment. Once inside Chris kicked off his shoes and padded his way into the bedroom. Making sure the air-conditioner was set to his usually sub-arctic temperature, he then made his way into the bathroom to dispose of his clothes. He then padded back into the bathroom dressed in his pajama pants. He pulled back the sheets and slid into bed, greeted shortly after by Fergus who promptly jumped on the left hand side of the bed to curl up and sleep. Chris followed soon after. ---Chapter 9 Coming soon--- I hope you enjoyed this chapter. I do sincerely apologise for the previous chapter, but I need to build a bridge and get the hell over it! Thanks for the emails of support guys, I really appreciate it. If you have any comments,queries or wish to pick up on any more of my grammatical nightmares, drop me a line on chezmoi_ou_cheztoi@msn.com I'm always open for a little chat too. It's been great talking to some of you guys. Especially the ones that are overly fun. The next chapter should be up in a few days, so I hope you enjoyed it! Chris.