let them boys be

(it's the next logical step, isn't it?)

Summary: It was a spontaneous move on his part. But after all this, it's the next logical step, isn't it?
Tags/Themes: idiots in love. fluff. established relationship. timeline fic/relationship reflection??
Warnings: some boys just can't grasp romanticism. near 3k of pretentious lovey dovey bull. patience is a virtue, but forever is a long time.

(it's the next logical step, isn't it?) -  

He knew Gage from high school, but really knew him when evil Mr. Brenson decided to change the seating plan for no reason whatsoever and break Jackson apart from that hot redhead to sit him next to the gloomy kid in the corner.

Of course, after a few partner quizzes and boring-to-death lectures, Jackson learned that Gage wasn't gloomy at all. In fact, while he might be quiet and tended to keep his head down most of the time, the kid was anything but gloomy. He was soft spoken but amazingly witty, smart but kind, gentle but determined. He liked the same video games Jackson did and was even better at some of them. He read more books than Jackson could ever count, he could tell dirty jokes with the best poker face Jackson had ever seen, he knew how to cook, and most importantly, he had eyes that would look at Jackson like he was the only person in the whole wide world.

That was when they were both too young to think about the next day, let alone the future. That was when they were just two idiots that didn't know what path they should take so they made their own. 

Not much had changed since then.

("You play this, too?"

"Yeah. I just levelled up to 38."

"What? I'm only on 20, how??"

Gage smiled. "Patience, young grasshopper. That, and skill."

Jackson nudged him playfully. "Teach me, master.")

They ended up going to the same college. Gage probably could have gone somewhere farther and better, but for some reason he insisted on the one with Jackson on the rugby team. "They have a great teaching program," he repeated every time Jackson worked up the courage to try and persuade him to chase his happiness instead of staying for Jackson's happiness. Then Gage would give him that smile that could light up the whole of New York city and he'd forget about the whole conversation.

They rented an apartment three blocks from the main campus, and even though their classes were all over the place and it was hard to meet up during the day because duh, college is the time when they're given much more freedom than they know what to do with (yet still had to cram like hell to pass the courses), at least at the end of the day they could go back and see the other just like the old days.

Jackson was the slow type, despite being able to book it down the field with a stampede of terribly fit young males chasing after him. Gage was not, but his quiet disposition prevented him from making the first move. So it took a couple months of buying groceries together, calling the other to tell him if they're going to be home late, studying together, playing video games at three in the morning when they both don't have class the next day, and falling asleep on top of one another somewhere during the middle of a streak kill for Jackson to finally come to a realization that perhaps all this came just a little bit too naturally to them. 

Friendship was a very wide, very loose circle, but still, it can only stretch so far.

("Jackson? Wake up."

"Nngh," he groaned, shifting from his uncomfortable position on the couch. "What time is it?"

"It's almost seven. You have a class at eight, don't you?"