Date: Mon, 29 Oct 2007 02:37:21 +0000 From: Chris Salter Subject: How I Met Jake: Chapter 32 Underage? Illegal? Offended? LEAVE NOW!! That means if you're under the legal age, homosexuality is offensive, or its illegal in your area,say adjö and leave. Disclaimer: I don't know Jake Gyllenhaal, nor his sexuality, private life or sexual prefernce. This work is fiction. Chapter 32: Chris quickly pulled the letter out of the envelope and surveyed it. He smiled proudly as he reread the letter to himself. "Chris, Four hours have passed and I miss you. I've been thinking of this moment for a while, and how to word it. I want to get a place together, our own place. It doesn't matter where, as long as it's with you. I want to talk about this in person but I wanted to put the idea in your head. Love you with all my heart, Jake." "What is it?" Michael asked, wondering why Chris was still silent. Smiling proudly, Chris folded the letter up and placed it on the table. "Uh, never mind." He then stared at his man for a few seconds longer before looking back at Michael, "So, where did you want to go tonight?" Confused by Chris' sudden turn, Michael decided to shrug it off. "I don't mind really. Maybe a movie?" As Boo Radley came trotting into the room, he immediately began barking and sniffing around Michael. Chris in turn leaned over and cuddled the Puggle close to his body, "It's okay honey, Michael is just a friend. He's not trying to replace Jake." "Who's this then?" Michael asked. Smiling and holding the adorable canine face up, Chris explained, "This is Jakes dog, Boo Radley." Michael let out a laugh, "You mean from To Kill a Mockingbird?" "Yeah, it's his favorite book." Chris replied. "So a movie, yeah that sounds okay." Michael beamed, "Great, but can I grab shower first? I came straight from work." Standing up to direct Michael towards the bathroom, Chris showed him the way before heading back to grab the photo frames. Heading into the office, he hung the remaining frames on the hooks and then padded his way to the bedroom. His two favorite photographs under his hand, Chris padded towards his side of the bed and cleared a spoke between the alarm clock and lamp. "That's much better." He muttered to Fergus as he exited the room. After slipping his shoes on, Chris sat down and watched the last few minutes of the red carpet recap. Grabbing his mobile, he entered the text screen and quickly tapped in his message to Jake. "Hey poppet, you looked really great on TV, I just got your letter, I really love the idea, and I love you." Sending the message, Chris threw the phone on the coffee table and waited for both a reply, and for Michael to finish in the bathroom. Luckily for him, Jakes reply came first. Leaning over again to pick the phone up, Chris read the message. "Was a blast! I'm at a party right now, I wish you were with me though. I just feel like hugging you all night. How are you feeling?" Changing screens to reply to the message, Chris finally typed in the message. "I wish you were home, Michael is in the shower, but we're going to movie soon. I haven't told him who you are yet. I feel kind of off, but I'm okay, just lovesick." Sending the message, Chris saw Boo Radley jump up as Michael stumbled his way out of the bathroom. "Hey you ready to go?" "I think so," Michael responded, fixing his shirt. "You have a really nice place." Standing up, Chris grabbed his belongings and shoved them into his pockets. "Yeah, it's not bad, you wanna buy it?" Directing Michael to the door, Chris quickly followed and locked the apartment up. "Are you moving?" Michael asked as he waited for Chris in the dim light outside the apartment door. Locking the door, Chris turned around. "Apparently I am." He then started to head down the steps with Michael close behind. "Jake wants us to move in together, so I guess one of us will have to sell." "Or both of you," Michael continued as he followed Chris. "You could get a new place together, that way it's yours." Following Chris along the pathway to the garage, he enquired, "So you're actually moving in together?" Reaching the garage, Chris led Michael through the parking lot towards his car. "I don't know, I love the idea, but it's a big step." Unlocking the doors, he jumped inside, quickly followed by Michael. "If you love them, it shouldn't be that hard," Michael commented as he looked lovingly at Chris. He still had a crush on him, even if Chris was gloating his relationship with Jake in his face. "Should it?" Chris smiled and started the engine, "I guess not, it's just scary, ya'know?" **** *********** ******************************************************** "Well that movie sucked!" Chris groaned as he stepped outside onto the street. Michael, following close behind as usual, agreed, "One of the worst movies I've ever seen." Looking at his watch, he smiled at Chris, "So, what now?" Shrugging his shoulders, Chris looked around the vicinity; around the theatre were a few bars and clubs as well as the obligatory teenage oriented attractions. "Drink?" Michael shook his head. "What about clubbing?" Chris grimaced, hoping to hell Michael would say no. Michael shook his head once more. Chris smiled in relief. He was tolerant of most music, but the incessant thumping in his head left him with nothing more than a headache. "What about that place then?" Chris asked, pointing at the arcade. Nodding his head excitedly, Michael agreed on the arcade, "Let's try and win crappy merchandise!" "Okay okay, god I feel like I'm out with my teenage daughter." Chris grumbled playfully. Crossing the street with Michael by his side, the duo entered the arcade. Unsure of where exactly to go, Chris followed Michael to one of the various games. Several hours, three hot dogs and a plethora of cheap stuffed animals later, Chris and Michael emerged from the arcade and waddled back towards the car. "That was pretty exhausting actually," Michael commented as he checked for oncoming traffic. Crossing the street with a waddle, Chris agreed, "Yeah, I think I wanna go home to bed." Reaching his car, he unlocked the doors and popped the back door open, revealing the cargo area. Dumping the various prizes with Chris, Michael smiled, "Yeah, that couch is looking might inviting right now." ***** ********************************** ******************************** Pushing the apartment door open, Chris was immediately greeted by Boo Radley, who once around started bouncing around his legs. "Hey baby I'm home now!" Dumping the stuffed animals on the ground near the door, Chris checked to make sure Michael was inside the door before kicking it shut and leaning down to pick the dog up. "Did you miss me?" "He may be Jakes dog, but he seems to love you!" Michael commented with a cheesy grin. Chris smiled, "I guess I just love him, he's so fucking adorable, like his Dad." Navigating his way past the toys on the ground, Michael continued on his way into the apartment. Dumping his own winnings on the ground near his bag, he turned to Chris with a confused look, "Doesn't Jake Gyllenhaal have a dog named Boo Radley?" Chris trusted Michael, but he really didn't want to let the information slip just yet, he was tired and not really in the mood to talk about Jake, it just caused him to miss him even more. Instead he chose to play dumb, "Does he? That's pretty ironic, maybe that's why my Jake named him that." "Maybe." Michael replied as he sat down on the couch and pulled his shoes off. "So, what time do you usually wake up on Saturdays?" Rolling his eyes, Chris stuck his tongue out at Michael, "Breakfast won't be served at 8am and the newspaper won't outside your door in the morning, if that's what you're thinking." "That's not what I was getting at." Michael defended. "I just wanted to know if you were going to wake me up at 6am or something......" "Are you kidding me?!" Chris exclaimed. "I plan on sleeping till about 10 tomorrow. I'm so tired." He then padded his way towards the small hallway towards the office. Grabbing his laptop and charger, he then padded back towards the couch. "I might let you have some privacy; I'll see you in the morning and don't steal anything." "Rats! My secret plan is out!" Michael teased as he threw the pillow in Chris' general direction. "Thanks for letting me stay." "It's no trouble, seriously." Chris replied. "Tomorrow I might go look for a new bed, then you can help me move mine into the spare room." Michael smiled warmly as he began to peel his shirt off, "Goodnight Chris." "Sleep well Michael." Pushing the door of the bedroom open, Chris looked around the living room and called out, "Animals! Come hither!" Immediately Boo Radley came trotting into the bedroom and jumped up on the bed, followed by Fergus, who slowly wandered his way into the bedroom. Closing the door, Chris placed the laptop on the bed and popped the lid open before pulling the blanket back for Boo Radley to make himself comfortable on Jakes side of the bed. Leaning down to kiss the dog on the head, Chris whispered, "You're just as adorable as Jakeyboy." After ruffling the short hair, he then padded his way into the bathroom to change into his pajama pants and freshen up while the laptop loaded. Freshened up, Chris then padded his way back to bed and slipped under the covers. "Let's see if I have any messages." Chris muttered as he stroked Boo and held Jakes pillow close to his body. Logging onto the server, Chris awaited the familiar tone. "You're got mail!" Chris suddenly began bouncing for joy when he read the list of emails he had received since he had last logged on. One however caught his attention. Directing the cursor towards the email entitled 'Missing you', he clicked it and waited for it to load. Immediately an image began to load. Chris smiled as he admired Jake sitting on the bed of his hotel with a small sign made out of paper with the words "I Miss You!" written in large bubble letters. He then turned his attention to the message in the email. "Chris, I had fun tonight, but I wish you were here with me. Hope you had fun with Michael, Love Jake." "I miss you too....." Chris whispered to himself before quickly tapping in a reply. Saving the picture as his desktop background, Chris then closed the lid and placed the laptop on Jakes side of the bed, and pulled the pillow close to his body. Smelling the faint smell of Jakes shampoo on the pillow, Chris closed his eyes and eventually drifted off to sleep. *********** *********************************************************** It was around 2am when Michael suddenly awoke, realizing he needed to use the bathroom. Throwing the blanket off his body, he padded his way through the dark apartment and with one eye open, he turned the door handle. As he switched the light on, he realized he'd gone too far. Instead of being in the bathroom, Michael found himself in what appeared to be the office. Leaving the light on so he could navigate to the bathroom, Michael located the right door and emptied his bladder before flushing, washing his hands and then switching the bathroom light off. "Should I?" Michael asked himself as he headed back towards the office. Deciding to snoop around a bit, he quietly padded his way past the threshold of the room. Looking around nervously, he spotted a wall full of photographs. Walking towards the wall, Michael smiled as he witness various photographs of Chris with friends until something caught his attention. Approaching the photograph that peaked his interest, he admired the picture of Chris fast asleep on a mans chest. Looking at the photo even closer, he tried to think of where he knew the other man from. Suddenly it came to him. It was Jake Gyllenhaal. --- 33 soon --- What good is a story without a good dramatic cliffhanger? You know I have an affection for them by now. I hope you all like where this is going. It's got some more interesting developments, but I don't think I plan on quitting anytime soon. Love hearing from you guys, even though some of you have been a little silent lately. chezmoi_ou_cheztoi@msn.com is where I'm at. Also the group. It's bundles of fun with all the silence! But hello to all those who do participate! Anyway, thanks for reading guys, I still love you all. Chris