Date: Sat, 8 Dec 2007 05:56:26 +0000
From: Chris Salter <chezmoi_ou_cheztoi@msn.com>
Subject: How I Met Jake: Chapter 46

If you're under the legal age, homosexual acts offends or it's illegal in
your area to view such events, leave now.

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

Now, onward we forge...

Chapter 46:

Letting out a small stream of tears as he finished unpacking the small box
of photographs and other various trinkets, Chris had forgotten he'd brought
all the photographs of Jake with him to New York. "I suppose I should get
rid of these."

Looking over at Fergus who was staring out the window observing the New
York nightlife, Chris smiled weakly. "Look at me, I've lost the best thing
in my life again and once again I'm talking to the cat in a lonely
apartment."

"I just can't do it." He muttered as he quickly closed the box and made his
way through the fully furnished apartment towards the bedroom. Luckily, for
him he knew someone with an apartment that was ready to move straight in
with only a carload of boxes. He didn't know when his stuff from LA would
arrive, but for the meantime he was stuck living out of his few meager
possessions.

It had only been a few days since he ended it with Jake. As soon as Jake
left the apartment, Chris quickly stuffed everything he could into his car
and left town in the middle of the night. Unfortunately, in his haste, he'd
left town without his phone charger, and his phone had died days earlier.

He hurt inside, he hurt outside. Aside from leaving the apartment briefly
to buy food, he'd spent the past two days inside hiding on the off chance
someone spotted him.  Unfortunately that had convicted Chris to being
surrounded by everything that reminded him of Jake, from his boxes of CD's,
to the bedding, anything and everything caused Chris to collapse into fits
of tears thinking about how much he loved and trusted Jake.  Even his
beloved cat reminded him of Jake.

Grunting out a sigh, Chris picked up the remaining box and shuffled his way
into the temporary bedroom. Everything in the apartment screamed of show
room, and it left him feeling uncomfortable and unable to relax. Although
he had nothing to relax about, he was without a home, on the other side of
the country and only four people knew of his existence. To add to his
stress levels, he had stupidly agreed to meet with his new boss later in
the week. Carefully unpacking the final box, he made sure the photographs
were safely stored on the shelf in the wardrobe before folding the shirts
and sweaters. Placing them one by one on the shelves, his stomach suddenly
started doing back flips as he encountered his black Prada sweater along
with something he was sure he'd gotten rid of long ago, Jakes sweater that
he practically lived in when Jake left for the Toronto Film Festival.

Carefully folding the sweater, Chris placed it next to the box of
photographs and closed the wardrobe. He was truly alone and he hated
it. His attention was suddenly attracted to a soft tap on the door. Making
his way over, he looked through the peephole to see who it was.

Leaning his head against the door, he accidentally made a sudden thud,
alerting the guest to his presence.

"Come on man, I promise Jake doesn't know I'm here."

"Eugh," Chris groaned as he unlocked the door and allowed Peter
inside. "What's wrong?"

"He's on a massive hunt to try and find you." Peter replied. Looking around
the apartment, he smiled weakly at Chris' attempt to make the place look
homely.

"Are you going to tell him where I am?" Chris asked nervously.

Peter shook his head, "I know what he's like when he's on a mission."

"So do I." Chris sighed. "That's why I'm hiding." Indicating for Peter to
sit on the couch near him, Chris took a seat.

"Well," Peter continued as he looked Chris in the eye. "I'm not going to
tell him, but he keeps asking us if we've seen you."

Chris sighed again.  "I plan on letting him know where I am eventually; I
just can't deal with him right now." Smiling at Peter, he decided to
enquire, "Not that I don't enjoy the repartee, but was there a reason for
stopping by?"

"Maggie wanted to see how you were, but she couldn't leave incase Jake was
around and followed her." Peter replied. "And I wanted to give you this."

"Thanks a lot!" Chris beamed as Peter handed him a charging kit for his
phone. He wanted to be in contact with people again. "You and Maggie have
been so good to me. I don't know how I can repay you."

Standing up, Peter quickly pulled Chris into a hug. "He was out of
line. He's my brother in law, and my best friend. But I would have done the
same thing as you."

Walking with Peter back towards the door, Chris swallowed nervously, "Has
he said what he was protecting me from, or has he given up that excuse?"

"Actually," Peter replied softly. "I believe him about that."

"So do I actually..." Chris conceded. "I still feel betrayed though."

Turning to hug Chris quickly again, Peter patted him on the back and headed
out the door. "Give it some time. But you need to let people know you're
okay."

Chris nodded in agreement, "I'll send everyone a text tonight, let them
know I'm alive."  "Try and cheer up Chris."

"I will." Chris replied. "Have a good night, and say hi to Maggie for me."
Watching Peter head down the hallway, Chris closed the door and secured the
lock again. He felt like he was being watched, so he wanted to be back
inside as fast as possible.

Heading into the small kitchen, Chris pulled out a few vegetables and began
making dinner. All he felt like was soup, so it was the only thing he was
going to make.

"Going to have some dinner?" Chris asked as Fergus immediately jumped up on
the counter and following him around the kitchen. Heading back to the
fridge, he pulled out a can of cat food and emptied it into the small bowl
before returning his attention to his own meal. His heart stopped for a
moment when he suddenly heard a knock on the door.

Quietly shuffling his way to the door, Chris carefully looked through the
peephole.  Relaxed to see who is was, he unlocked the door.

Danny smiled, "Guys night in?" Leaning on the doorframe, he held a bottle
of wine up to Chris' eyelevel.

"Come on in." Chris smiled as he held the door open. Once Danny passed
through, he closed and locked the door. "It's wine, so isn't it more like
Girls night in?"

Danny let out a stifled laugh. "Are you accusing me of something"

"Not at all." Chris replied as he grabbed two large wineglasses from the
cupboard. "How is life up on the 25th floor?"

Shrugging, Danny smiled at Chris. "It's lonely, how's life on the 12th?"

"Not so lonely." Chris commented. "4 people know where I am, and I've been
visited by 2 in less than half an hour."

Pouring the wine into the glasses, Danny enquired, "So, who was it, me and
I'm guessing someone to do with Jake."

"Peter actually." Grabbing the wineglass, he took a sip. "I was about to
make some soup for dinner, do you want some?"

Danny stood up and made his way around to the other side of the bench,
"What kind are you making?"

"Minestrone I think." Chris looked at the various vegetables that were
already sitting on the counter. "I was kinda making it up as I went along."

"Then yes," Danny smiled. "I'd love some, as long as I can help."

Letting out a hefty sigh, Chris indicated towards a small clump of
vegetables. "You can cut those up."

Grabbing a knife out of the drawer, Danny followed the instructions,
occasionally glancing over at Chris. "Are you okay?"

"Not really." Chris admitted. Looking over at Danny, he revealed his true
emotions. "I feel so alone."

"Sarah has been asking me if I had seen you." Danny replied, placing his
arm around Chris' waist. "I think you need to let people know where you
are. I think you should tell Jake, he's worried sick about you."

Chris wiped the tears away from his eyes, "I know what you mean. I still
love him, it's just so hard facing him."

Gently squeezing Chris, Danny continued, "You're going to have to see him
eventually."

"I know." Chris sighed. "Just not right now, okay?" He thought for a moment
before continuing, "You're about the only person I trust with everything
right now. Will you be there with me?"

"Sure." Danny replied softly.

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

"If you're reading this, you've obviously got back into my apartment. I've
gone to New York, I don't know if I will see you again." Jake whispered as
he slid the note over to Sarah. "I found this the other day, everything was
there like he'd just picked up in the middle of the night." Glad that he
was wearing his sunglasses, he managed to hide his tears from both Sarah
and Amy, as well as the rest of the patrons in the caf‚.

"Have you tried asking Danny?" Amy asked as she gently stroked Jakes
trembling hand.  "I'm sure if Chris was going to run off somewhere, he
would tell Danny."

"Do you know something I don't?" Sarah asked as she stared at Amy and then
back to Jake.

Amy shrugged her petite shoulders, "He said he saw Chris, it kind of
slipped out."  Looking over at Jake, she leaned in closer. "I think you
need to call your sister."

"Why?" Jake asked. "Has she seen him?"

Realizing she'd gone too far to backpedal, she decided to explain. "He's in
New York, living near your apartment." She let out a deep sigh, "I've
probably just lost both Chris' and Danny's trust, but the only people who
know where he is, is Danny, Maggie, Peter and myself."

"Where is he?" Jake insisted in a slightly panicked tone. He was excited
that he'd finally been able to track him down, but he knew Chris obviously
didn't want anything to do with him anymore.

"I can't say Jake." Amy replied. "I'm sorry."

Jake groaned and ran his fingers through his hair. "I miss him so much,
I've completely blown it."

Sarah shook her head, "I think we all did. But I wouldn't give up on him
yet, he's just hurt."

"I know," Jake replied solemnly. "I think he feels like everyone has
abandoned him. You should have seen him the other night, he was so hurt. I
wanted to hug him but he pushed me away."

"I can't say," Amy repeated, "But if you were to wander around the
neighborhood you bought the place in, around Danny's apartment building,
I'm sure you wouldn't run into him."

Jake smiled for the first time in days, "I understand."

Amy continued, "Good luck in New York, even though you won't run into him."

"Thanks," Jake replied. "I get the point."

 Preparing to stand up, the group was suddenly interrupted when their
phones simultaneously alerted them to an incoming message.

Pulling his phone out of his pocket, Jakes heart skipped when he saw the
message he had received was from Chris. Opening it, he felt terrible when
he read the message.

"Friends and family, I apologize for hurting you all so much by
disappearing for so long.  I want you all to know I'm safe and being cared
for. I will talk to you all soon no doubt."

Amy looked up at Jake, "You got that too huh?"

"Yeah," Jake sighed. "I wish I could say he went out of his way, but I
think he just sent it to everyone." Suddenly only his phone began
chirping. Flipping the screen open again, his heart stopped again as he saw
it was from Chris.

"Daniels apartment, Sunday morning, please be there."

He froze for a moment; he couldn't actually believe Chris wanted to see him
again. The message seemed so formal though. He was terrified, but deep
down; he knew he had to go.

After quickly excusing himself from the girls, he ran to his car and jumped
behind the wheel. Heading to Reese's, he gathered what he needed to show
Chris and began organizing the flight details.

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

"I've sent him a message." Chris whispered as the waiter approached the
table where he, Peter, Maggie and Danny were seated.

Grabbing the plates, the waiter disappeared without interrupting them.

Peter raised his eyebrow; he was surprised Chris wanted to see Jake so
soon. "Where is he meeting you?"

"Danny's place." Leaning in closer, "I miss his face, but now that I'm
calm, I want to hear what he has to say."

"Will you take him back?" Maggie asked, hopeful that he'd say yes.

Chris thought for a moment before replying. "I don't know. I really don't
know."

Placing her hand on Chris', she gently stroked it. "I hope you do, I miss
having you in the family."

Blushing profusely from her statement, Chris allowed a tear to creep out of
his eye. "You considered me family?"

"Of course we did." Peter responded. "You were, and I hope you will be
again, the most important thing in Jakes life. I don't know what he thought
he was doing, but he had better have a good reason."

"I hope so too." Chris sighed. Looking at his watch, he decided he needed
to head home now before it got too dark. "He should be here in the morning,
so I will let you guys know what happens, okay?"

Standing up with Chris, Danny hugged Chris, "You sure you don't need me to
walk you back?"

Chris shook his head, "I need some space, thanks for the offer though."
Kissing Danny briefly, he then made his way over to kiss Maggie before
making his way out of the restaurant.

Stuffing his hands in his pockets, he started off down the street towards
the apartment building. Even though this was now home, he still didn't feel
comfortable, most likely because he knew deep down he couldn't do this
without Jake by his side.

He didn't know why, but something compelled him to walk past the apartment
building they'd bought. If things were truly over, how was he going to get
the money back from Jake? He didn't want to involve lawyers, he loved Jake
still, and it would only make it to the press.

Reaching the building, Chris decided to lean on the large tree on the
sidewalk and stare up to the forth floor. Hearing a taxi pull up behind
him, Chris quickly looked down to the ground, trying to go unnoticed.

"Chris?" Came a familiar soft voice followed by a thud from the car door
closing. "What are you doing here?"

Wiping the tears of his cheek, he turned around and smiled weakly.


-47 soon-

Oh noes, I did it again, curses me and my cliffhangers!!! Who was it that
stepped out of the taxi? Stay tuned to see!

Anyway, I promised I'd upload this after my exam, and here it is. Let us
never speak of that exam EVER again. Bad bad bad bad.

Thanks for the comments on the group and in emails! I didn't mean to break
your hearts, sorry!

I hope you like where I'm going with this, one thing the story was missing
was a dark side, and this will become evident in some future
chapters. Anyhoo, thanks for reading guys! You rock!

Chris