#jake is abrasive ON PURPOSE when hes trying to make a point so even if he is being pushed away. hes just gonna push back

[lesbiradshaw]

blah blah blah something about bradley shoving a hand at jake’s chest to push him away during a moment of provoked grief and anger blah blah blah something about that connecting to the moment at the end of the film where jake taps his hand over bradley’s heart right after he’s saved his life and they’ve taken the first steps towards peace with each other

[datingintampafails]

Chapter 26: Jake* Part Four

Starting to go Sour.

He blows me off for a couple of days, he’s feeling crappy. Regardless, we are still texting each other throughout the day about this and that, and I am continuously checking on him. Trying to be upbeat or at least funny about it. He has a dark sense of humor and has joked about probably having a tumor, as he does later say he has to see a doctor at some point to make sure he isn’t having, as he said, a “brain stem problem.”

One can assume his boos are his own dogs, but for a second I thought he was talking about me and my dog. We continue to talk, I try to figure out when I will see him again. I’m just a bit attached. 

He gives me more details the next day about more health issues. He now has to have his wisdom teeth taken out.

I ask him why he thinks I won’t like him anymore, asking if it’s because he will be grumpy. Seeing as the current pain medicine makes him disgruntled and non-communicative, this is why I assume that that would be his expectations. He says that is why.

Although we chat every day, it isn’t until Friday, when I finally have a day off work that he subtly asks me to come over. That is, he asks if I am working, which is an indicator that he wants to spend time together. I have a couple of errands to run, but I tell him I will come over after that. I beat him to his place and had to wait for him in the driveway. I was hanging out with a friend that night for dinner, so I was going to hang out until more or less my friend was ready to hang out. 

Jake* excuses himself to the bathroom, rather, he tells me rather explicitly he needs to go take a shit. I’m sitting on the couch waiting for him to be done, he’s taking a bit. My friend texts me and says she is ready so I need to go. I give him another minute or so and when he doesn’t emerge, I say I gotta go, but he doesn’t hear me. I text him “Byeee” instead and he yells out “BYE!”  from the bathroom. As I leave, I send him a kiss emoji and say that I wouldn't kiss him goodbye on the toilet, to which he responds “smart.” We talk just a little the rest of the night, as he too is over at a friend’s house.

The next day, I am going to the beach with Ethan*, as I still owe him taking photos for his dating profile(s). Jake* more or less wants me to bail, not because of the history with Ethan*, but he wants to spend time with me instead. He has a couple of friends sleeping on his couch, so despite me saying I could come to see him before and after the beach, he says no since they’re still sleeping. While I’m on the way to his from dropping Ethan* back home, Jake* tells me that he wouldn’t be available now until 5 pm. This is a little irritating given I bumped up my beach trip so I could spend more time with Jake*, but I am understanding.

While I am driving, I have Apple Carplay, so Siri is reading me the texts. He does some dirty talk, and I ask him if he’s doing it on purpose because he knows I’m using Siri to text. He then just gets silly.

Honestly, though, this is the kind of energy I’m looking for in relationships. Just good fun. I get home and take a shower, he arrives maybe half an hour before 5. I don’t remember what happened that night.

In the early morning, this is Sunday now, we have a direct conversation. 

He must have been over very briefly because I sent him a text a couple of hours later, but only said two things, got a short answer back, and I gave a one-word text back to that one-word text. Four hours after that, I let him know I was playing Among Us. He is much more involved in this conversation and asks a lot of questions and asks for me to show him how to play. I say I will show him, but I never get a chance to. We then get into a conversation about Nintendo Switch. He says he wants to get one. I let him know I just bought one.

The prime word here, I think, is “we.” This for whatever reason is a woah moment for me. He is talking about a “we.” This moment, mixed with how things start to go in the not too distant future from here, utterly confuses me, as, at this time, he is using specific language indicating he sees a future. A “we should” do this or that, indicates it is for us both. A lot of planning goes into the games we are going to buy as well, where to look, etc. 

I’ve also mentioned a few times with him that I would like our dogs all to meet, mostly so that theoretically in the future we could not leave our dogs alone and just have them together when we are staying the night, etc. I am surprised to still be getting tepid responses. 

The next day, we are hardly talking. I am making efforts, but not getting much back. He has had more dental work and is taking a lot of naps. I am starting to go back to trivia nights with friends, and I invite him to join us. 

He responds “yeah true.” The trivia ends up being canceled because of the World Series while my friends and I are there but I hang out anyway. I mention Jake* to this group of friends for the first time, as I haven’t seen them since he and I started talking. My friend says him not wanting to come to trivia is a red flag, I become a little defensive at the moment, though in the end, I tell her she was right after things ended. 

Since there is a stolen base at the world series that night, Jake* tells me that Taco Bell is gonna have free Doritos Locos Taco. This turns into him saying he will bring me lunch the next day at work. He follows through, I give him my order, then I step away from work to be with him. He ordered a crunch wrap supreme, which they had sour cream on, even though he asked without due to his dairy allergy. He is a little bummed but eats his other taco without issue. Lunch starts nice, I’m happy to see him and cozy up to him when I’m done eating. We watch an episode of Legend of Korra on his phone. 

I am touching him and laying my head on his shoulder. Suddenly he blurts out, “why do you do that,” in a rather abrasive tone. I ask him what he’s talking about. He is saying that I am fidgety, anxious, all the time. “I don’t even know I’m doing it,” I responded. We had this conversation once before, but this time he seems more irritable about it. All I am doing is stroking his arms with my finger, something I have done with other men in my past, where it has never been a problem if anything something they liked. 

“So like I’m like this,” he demonstrates, leaning over staring forward, completely still, for a few moments. “And you are like,” he demonstrates shifting a few times, jittering. I am starting to tear up a little bit. I only have a few more minutes left on my break, and I hate to leave back to work in this state. I am no longer touching him and crossing my arms in the passenger seat, watching his phone, and more or less waiting for the episode to end so I can leave. As it is time to go and I’m leaving the car, he is upbeat as if he didn’t just yell at me. He says “see you later?” and I’m caught off guard, “are we going to see each other later?” I asked. “Yeah depending on work,” he replies. “Uh okay. Talk to you later.” I return to work, still misty-eyed, still hurt by him talking to me the way he did. 

He is acting as nothing happened and is debating eating his crunch wrap, I tell him not to. He says he is wanting dinner with me and wants to take me to one of his favorites around town. One which he had sent a menu of me to before. I pick him up on the way to my house and we go get ramen. It’s delicious. He has a few drinks since I am driving. We shared some sake, it was also delicious, and I have a jello shot drink. 10/10 would go again. Afterward we go to my place. I know I am going to need to get it off my chest how I feel about earlier today, and that it hurt me. 

[swimmingnewsie]

Cookies and Coffee (Chapter 3)

Hi guys! Half of this is in fact a reupload. The other half was going to be its own chapter until I realized that the two worked better as a whole chapter. So like Sonic 3 and Knuckles, I put the two together in a comprehensive pair. So if you read the last chapter and felt it a little incomplete- this should be the remedy to that!

Please enjoy!

Link to Chapter 1 Link to Chapter 2 Link to AO3

---"...And she's taking her to dinner tomorrow night! I told you they would be perfect for each other!" Anna gloated. 

Kristoff gave her a half-smile. "Alright, you were right. Now scrub up and send Jake home. He's on drive-through."

"So you admit it! Ha!" Anna smiled back at him before giving him a fake salute. “To drive-though! Sir, yes, sir!” 

Kristoff's smile remained as she ran off, sending her co-worker home. Soon enough her voice rang through his headset. "Afternoon, everyone! How is it going?" She was always so kind and sweet to everyone, even if they didn't deserve it, standing up to the meanest customers with the kindest smiles. She would make a good trainer one day or even a shift manager if she wanted it. 

"Can I get a 10-4 from everyone here?" Kristoff asked over the set after Anna's question was generally answered. Slowly the four other employees chimed in, ready for instructions. "Everybody okay where they are right now?" There was another set of agreements. "Alright, hold down the fort, I'm gonna count tills and the do food pull. Kirsti, if front isn't busy, knock out some of the dish pile. Call me if it gets desperate."

"10-4!" Anna cheerfully said before responding to the order in the headset. "Thanks for choosing Mermaid's Siren! What can I get started for you today?"

Kristoff couldn't help but blush as he walked to the back. Even with the most basic script, her voice was melodic, dragging him in like the siren they worked for. He shook his head, redirecting his attention. He couldn't let himself think of her that way, not right now. Not only would it be an HR paperwork disaster, but it wasn't the right time. It was far too soon.

It had barely been four months since Elsa called him in desperation for him and his truck. He thought she was insane. She had asked him to drive with her to Denver- twenty hours of driving straight. Why would any person make a twenty hour drive that could easily be done in a two hour flight if she only waited a few days? The answer: Anna was in danger. Elsa couldn’t wait three days.

She had received pictures from her sister obviously hiding in a closet, a gun visible on the floor. Another photo of her bruised and bloodied face. Then a video with Hans yelling loudly, asking where his dumb slut of a fiance was and how he was going to kill her for what she did. Anna couldn’t call the cops- Hans was one of them after all. They would never believe that he was capable of such violence.

Elsa had called cops a county over, praying for the best and texting her sister the entire time. But the faster she got there the better. Twenty hours of driving was faster than three days of waiting, uncertain of her sister’s safety. She couldn’t lose Anna. Not again. 

They were there in sixteen hours.

When they pulled up to the house, cops from several counties over were still there investigating and talking. Some defended Hans saying that Anna was being dramatic and that he wouldn’t shoot the gun in her house on purpose, while others remained impartial and stuck to the facts they knew: there was a gunshot, there was a bloodied and panicked woman inside, there were previous reports of potential domestic violence from this house. The foreign officers won out, sending Hans to the police station and away from the house. Kristoff was forever grateful for those cops who fought for her. They were the reason she was still with them.

He doesn’t even want to imagine a future where Hans had been allowed to reenter the home. 

The next two days were a blur of courtrooms, attorneys, and judges. Anna had been granted a temporary restraining order. This wasn't the end, but it was enough. They grabbed as many of her possessions as she could fit in his truck. It was a haphazard job, but that didn’t matter. Anna was safe. Anna would be okay.

Kristoff shuddered, remembering that awful day. The feeling of fear, the scent of blood on Anna’s clothes, the panic in Elsa’s eyes. And for as much as it affected him, he knew it was a thousand times worse for Anna. Though she was bubbly now, he remembered the ghostly look in her eyes the first few weeks, the way she wouldn’t let anyone aside from Elsa touch her for a month. 

This wasn’t the time for romantic gestures.. He couldn’t do that to her. She was hurt and needed to heal. She trusted him, and he was not about to take advantage of that trust. Anna was his friend above all else, even if his own feelings were squashed in the process.

So he would keep quiet, let other romantic interests pique his curiosity. 

And Ryder certainly did that. Whenever the young man came in after his workouts, Kristoff couldn’t help but stare at him, muscles swollen and flexed. He was handsome, and Kristoff would be lying if he said he didn’t think about him outside of work sometimes: kissing him, touching him, holding him. Even beyond the physical, his love for animals and beautiful craftsmanship made him weak in the knees. Last Christmas, he had made all of the baristas small wooden trinkets as gifts. He made Kristoff a bear and irony aside it was his most prized possession.

Maybe he should take a page from Anna’s book a leave his phone number on his cup. He laughed softly to himself; he had even thought of a cheesy pickup line to go with it. “This drink is sweet, but you’re even sweeter.” He never understood the man’s fascination for the sweet frappes- he was a bodybuilder after all; shouldn’t that conflict with everything he did? But day in and day out, he was still glad to see him even if he had questionable taste in “coffee”. His golden smile could perk up any rough shift.

Kristoff felt himself drift into his thoughts again. Visions of the two of them dancing passed by. The lighting was soft and the music even softer. Some old folk song from his parents’ time played, and they swayed. Their dogs were lying on the couch, Sven happily watching while Nokk slept on like the tired bastard he was.

“Kristoff, I need you.” It was almost like he could actually hear Ryder saying it.

His heart warmed, and he imagined Ryder kissing his lips softly, imagined what he might taste like, imagined the way their skin felt against each other.

“Kristoff, I know you’re counting money, but we need you pronto!”

... except that wasn’t Ryder speaking. That was Anna.

Shit.

He shook his head and reoriented himself. He was at work. He was counting the day’s money. His crew was getting slammed out front. 

“I’m on my way.”

There would be time for dreaming later. 

---

Clunk!

A few days later, the sound of metal being dropped in front of him pulled Kristoff out of his stupor. The cafe had been quiet tonight, allowing some down time. They were caught up on tasks for once: no dishes needed doing, all the registers they could count were counted, and the bar was clean. In that time, Kristoff had caught himself watching the customers in the cafe. Well one particular customer: Ryder.  

“Anna, what are you doing?”

She had that glint in her eyes that he didn’t trust in the slightest. A french press was pushed in front of him, along with an array of snacks.

“I’m not doing anything,” she said, adding coffee grounds to the pitcher. “However, you are giving a coffee tasting. Here is your blonde roast. Here are some lemon bars. I’ll finish up the dark roast. All you need to do is grab some pumpkin loaf and bring it to your boy over there.”

“What on Earth are you talking about? Ryder hates coffee. You know that. I know that. He's going to hate it. I don’t think that man’s ever ordered anything with less than 20 grams of sugar here.”

“And you are about to fix that. And your customer-connection score.” Those stupid scores that their district manager Yelena was obsessed with. It made him fume. Even if he didn't have the lowest individual score in the store, he would have thought they were stupid. He was the fastest barista; he could get all his tasks done far ahead of schedule of the other closing team. Why did matter how frequently smiled at customers or made eye contact? Eighty percent of them were just hoping he’d mess up so they could yell at him and get a free drink anyway.

Kristoff sighed. “But Ryder already tolerates me? What’s the point?”

“You need practice. Go. Make a coffee lover out of that boy.” Anna shoved her finger into his back, pushing him towards the cafe. “Or a regular lover,” she said under her breath. 

“Says the girl whose only coffee tasting was her first day of training.” He gave her a good hard eye roll, but it made her grin seeing him sigh once again before taking over the tray. “This isn’t going to work.” He wandered over to Ryder’s table anyway.

Anna was happy he was trying again. She had known about his less than pleasant dealings with love before they met. She had heard the stories in passing from Elsa when she talked of their early friendship. The girls who wouldn’t give him a chance because they thought he was secretly gay. The boys who turned him away for “actual gay men”. The woman he had been with for three years before deciding that he wasn’t enough for her. It broke her heart.

That’s why she wanted this so badly for him. 

Kristoff deserved love, no matter what he said. And just like with her sister, all he needed was a little push. If she was lucky, then Ryder could give that to him.

He could give it to her in a way she couldn’t.

Kristoff was wonderful. He was sweet and kind, even if he could be abrasive with customers. He was a no nonsense kind of guy. The kind of guy that the old Anna could have fallen in love with in a minute’s notice.

But that’s how Hans had been too, and look how that turned out. 

Anna couldn’t let herself be vulnerable, not again. It had nearly gotten her killed last time. So no matter how nice Kristoff was or how good he was with his dog or how well he took care of her, she couldn’t let herself love him. Not now. 

But finding him someone in Ryder? It felt right.

Anna halfway watched the coffee tasting, the other half keeping her focus on the occasional order that came in. She giggled silently to herself as Kristoff told him of the prospect of drinking coffee black. It was something that almost made her gag her first day too. But it was quite the exercise in taste, one that was easily bonded over. Ryder played along nicely it seemed. She didn’t seem him spit out any of the coffee, timidly drinking it to appease Kristoff. It was cute. 

A small rush pulled her away from the scene before she could see the ending of their tasting. But when Kristoff came back, there was certainly something different. He wrote out a medium cup and added it to her queue before taking over the registers for her.

“Raspberry mocha for Ryder!” 

He did it. Anna didn’t think it made Ryder a coffee lover yet, but this was the first time he ever ordered actual coffee. She didn’t get to ask Ryder himself about this particular decision, but she couldn’t help but wonder what he did to get from the scrunched up face to a full on espresso beverage.That must have been one hell of a coffee tasting.

“I’m assuming by the latte, the tasting went well,” she asked teasingly. 

Kristoff ignored her, shaking his head. Then he pulled out a note from his apron. It was a phone number and a quick message.

If I have to try your coffee, you’re coming to play ball at the gym with me. Friday - 7PM. 

XOXO 

Ryder

Anna was two for two now, and she couldn’t have been happier.