Lucky Sparks.
one of one.
Jack makes a face when he wakes up and Chris isn’t beside him. He buries his face in the pillow that still smells of his younger boyfriend and sighs.
He knows that, yeah, he should be used to this by now, but he doesn’t think he’ll ever adapt. He thinks it’s stupid really; every other tour allows boyfriends, girlfriends, wives and husbands but the Glee tour strictly forbids them.
The door swings open and he knows it’s Alex, probably come to mope about how much he misses Dianna. It’s rough on him too, and Jack understands that, but at least they have someone to pine with.
“Hey, sulky. Get your ass up out of bed.” Alex says, sitting on the edge of Jack’s bed with a gentle thud. Jack grumbles into his pillow and doesn’t move.
“Did you eat today? Or yesterday?” Alex presses when Jack doesn’t respond. Jack shakes his head.
“I think Chris would kill me if I went anywhere near the kitchen.” Jack replies with a slight laugh.
“That’s true.” Alex smiles, helping Jack pull himself out of bed. “Oh, and I was told to give you this.”
He holds out a bright pink sticky note between his fingers and Jack takes it cautiously.
“It’s not going to kill you, Jack.” Alex comments with a slight smile.
137. Chris loves Jack because he puts up with his disinterest in guitars.
Jack reads it a few times, before looking up at Alex in confusion.
“I don’t know either. Dianna gave me it to give to you.” Alex shrugs. Jack frowns, and wanders over to the wardrobe, sticking the note on one of the doors.
A few weeks pass, and Jack keeps crossing off the days until Chris gets back on the calendar. He has a fair few of the sticky notes now, and he keeps finding them in completely bizarre places.
He’d opened a kitchen cupboard the day before, only to have about twenty of the blasted things fall on him; each with a different number and a different reason. They’d been stuck to the wardrobe with the others.
His personal favourites so far have been ‘69. Chris loves Jack because he, well, gives good head.’ (He’d laughed out loud at that one; Chris’ embarrassment was adorable) and ‘112. Chris loves Jack because the only thing he can cook is pancakes, and pancakes are always good.’
He’d even got some in the mail, sneakily stuck in between letters from his mom, or Zack, or whoever else Chris had employed to give him a note.
The wardrobe was now covered in sticky notes, and Jack and Alex decided to spend an entire afternoon organizing them all.
“I swear, if any of these are about your sex life...” Alex starts, eyeing the pile of notes warily. Jack laughs as Alex sits down beside him on the floor.
“Well, that’s adorable.” Alex comments, holding out a note to Jack. Jack takes it from him and reads it carefully.
144. Chris loves Jack because the butterflies in his stomach tell him it’s real. And after all, who can deny these butterflies?
Jack blushes a little and puts the note in the pile that’s numbered ‘100+’ before continuing to sort through all of the notes.
An hour or so passes, and Alex starts sticking the notes back to the wardrobe –in the right order this time.
“Some of these are so cute.” Alex comments with a smile as Jack passes him ‘17. Chris loves Jack because his laugh is amazing.’ Jack feels himself blush fuchsia and keeps his eyes on the floor as he passes Alex note eighteen.
“Seriously, Jack, you struck lucky with this one.” Alex says as Jack hands him the next note. “Don’t let him go without a fight.”
“I wasn’t planning on letting him go at all.” Jack replies, passing Alex another note. “I was kind of planning for long term rather than short term when we got together, you know.”
“Good,” Alex replies with a smile, “because he really loves you, you know. You can see it.”
Jack smiles, and gives Alex another note.
“This one’s very true.” Alex says with a laugh, as he sticks ‘21. Chris loves Jack because his baby photos are laughably adorable.’ to the wardrobe.
“Shut up.” Jack laughs, rummaging around for something to throw at the older boy.
A few more hours fly by, and there’s a wall of brightly colored post-it notes stuck to Jack’s wardrobe. There’s one missing in the bottom right corner.
“It must be around here somewhere.” Alex reasons, lifting up Jack’s quilt and shaking the pillows. Jack opens the wardrobe and starts throwing everything around in search of the note.
Within ten minutes, they’ve ripped the room apart and they still haven’t found it.
“It’ll turn up.” Alex sighs, and Jack pouts.
A few days go by and it’s not long now until Chris and Dianna come back home.
“Alex?” Jack says when he and the older boy are slumped on the couch watching made-for-TV movies. Alex makes a little noise in response.
“Alex? This is a serious question.” Jack frowns a little, and Alex sighs and turns to look at him.
“What? This better be good.”
Jack mumbles something, and his cheeks turn pink. Alex pulls a face at him.
“In English, please?”
“I said, is it too soon to ask Chris to, y’know... marry me?” Jack repeats, keeping his eyes down as his cheeks all but catch fire.
“Well, you’ve been together, what, almost eleven months now?” Alex asks, and Jack looks up in shock.
“I was expecting you to make fun of me mercilessly, but yeah, it’s been nearly eleven months.” Jack replies. Alex frowns at the younger boy.
“Why would I make fun of you? You obviously feel something for him that isn’t just a passing crush.” Alex says. “It’s pretty adorable, actually.”
Jack laughs a little, and the burning in his cheeks subsides.
“I think you should, yeah.” Alex responds. “Wait for a big significant date, or something like that. Like your anniversary or his birthday. It’s his twenty-first soon, isn’t it?”
Jack nods.
“You’re coming ring shopping with me, though.” Jack says. Alex laughs at him, but nods anyway and snuggles back down against him on the couch.
*
Jack has never been more overjoyed to be in an airport than he is right now. He and Alex are standing side by side, staring up at the ‘Arrivals’ board. The plane they’re waiting for landed twenty minutes ago. It’s only a matter of time before they get to see Chris and Dianna again.
As if on cue, two figures appear from the Arrivals lounge, and Jack and Alex barely get a chance to move before they’re jumped on.
“I missed you.” Jack hears Alex tell Dianna, but they’re at the back of his mind right now because Chris is there. The younger boy gives him a smile and holds out a bright pink post it note. Jack stares at it for a moment before taking it from the younger boy.
150. Chris loves Jack because he loves him back.
Jack smiles, and pulls Chris closer to him, pressing a kiss to the younger boy’s lips, because he really doesn’t want to have to wait any longer. He feels Chris smile against his lips and he pulls away, mumbling ‘I love you’ to the smaller male. Chris kisses him again before pulling away and lacing his fingers with Jack’s.
They say a quick goodbye to Dianna and Alex, who are too lost in each other to really notice.
It’s when they get back to the apartment and Chris sees the perfect rectangle of post-it notes, he watches with a smile as Jack sticks the last one into position.
“Alex helped.” He says, seeing Chris’ shocked expression. Chris laughs, kissing him again, pulling him onto the bed.
“Jack?” He says, as the elder buries his face in his chest, “I meant all one-hundred and fifty of them, you know.”
“I know.” Jack says, pressing a kiss to Chris’ neck, then his jaw, then finally his lips. “I love you.”
Chris smiles, wrapping his arms around Jack’s waist and kissing him again.
“I love you too.”
Jack grins and tangles their legs together, kissing Chris again, but with more passion.
Chris wakes in the morning feeling just a little bit groggy. He opens his eyes, then closes them again instinctively when his lashes brush against something bright green. He fumbles around until he can remove the offending object from his eyes. He opens them again and looks at the object between his fingers. A green post-it note.
Jack loves Chris because, well, he just does. There aren’t words in existence that even come close to describing how he feels about him. The world will end before Jack stops loving Chris. So, Chris, will you marry Jack?
Chris smiles to himself, sticks the note to his nightstand and rummages around in its drawer for his pad of neon pink notes. He writes one word on the top note, pulls it off and stands up, padding through the apartment to the kitchen, where he finds Jack making pancakes.
Jack smiles at him, presses a kiss to his forehead, before turning back to the pancakes cooking in the pan on the hob. Chris pouts a little, rests his head on the elder’s shoulder before sticking the note to Jack’s chest.
Jack looks at Chris, raises an eyebrow before plucking the note from his chest. He reads the word a few times, before looking over at Chris and grinning. He cups the younger boy’s face, pressing a kiss to his lips and it’s perfect –right down to the little flicks of tongues on lips and Chris’ fingers pressing at Jack’s hips.
The note sits forgotten on the counter top, its one word written in bold pen still resonating through Jack’s mind, as if he still can’t quite believe his luck. It’s circling in his mind, and no doubt Chris’ too, this one word that’s just changed their lives.
Absolutely.
He knows that, yeah, he should be used to this by now, but he doesn’t think he’ll ever adapt. He thinks it’s stupid really; every other tour allows boyfriends, girlfriends, wives and husbands but the Glee tour strictly forbids them.
The door swings open and he knows it’s Alex, probably come to mope about how much he misses Dianna. It’s rough on him too, and Jack understands that, but at least they have someone to pine with.
“Hey, sulky. Get your ass up out of bed.” Alex says, sitting on the edge of Jack’s bed with a gentle thud. Jack grumbles into his pillow and doesn’t move.
“Did you eat today? Or yesterday?” Alex presses when Jack doesn’t respond. Jack shakes his head.
“I think Chris would kill me if I went anywhere near the kitchen.” Jack replies with a slight laugh.
“That’s true.” Alex smiles, helping Jack pull himself out of bed. “Oh, and I was told to give you this.”
He holds out a bright pink sticky note between his fingers and Jack takes it cautiously.
“It’s not going to kill you, Jack.” Alex comments with a slight smile.
137. Chris loves Jack because he puts up with his disinterest in guitars.
Jack reads it a few times, before looking up at Alex in confusion.
“I don’t know either. Dianna gave me it to give to you.” Alex shrugs. Jack frowns, and wanders over to the wardrobe, sticking the note on one of the doors.
A few weeks pass, and Jack keeps crossing off the days until Chris gets back on the calendar. He has a fair few of the sticky notes now, and he keeps finding them in completely bizarre places.
He’d opened a kitchen cupboard the day before, only to have about twenty of the blasted things fall on him; each with a different number and a different reason. They’d been stuck to the wardrobe with the others.
His personal favourites so far have been ‘69. Chris loves Jack because he, well, gives good head.’ (He’d laughed out loud at that one; Chris’ embarrassment was adorable) and ‘112. Chris loves Jack because the only thing he can cook is pancakes, and pancakes are always good.’
He’d even got some in the mail, sneakily stuck in between letters from his mom, or Zack, or whoever else Chris had employed to give him a note.
The wardrobe was now covered in sticky notes, and Jack and Alex decided to spend an entire afternoon organizing them all.
“I swear, if any of these are about your sex life...” Alex starts, eyeing the pile of notes warily. Jack laughs as Alex sits down beside him on the floor.
“Well, that’s adorable.” Alex comments, holding out a note to Jack. Jack takes it from him and reads it carefully.
144. Chris loves Jack because the butterflies in his stomach tell him it’s real. And after all, who can deny these butterflies?
Jack blushes a little and puts the note in the pile that’s numbered ‘100+’ before continuing to sort through all of the notes.
An hour or so passes, and Alex starts sticking the notes back to the wardrobe –in the right order this time.
“Some of these are so cute.” Alex comments with a smile as Jack passes him ‘17. Chris loves Jack because his laugh is amazing.’ Jack feels himself blush fuchsia and keeps his eyes on the floor as he passes Alex note eighteen.
“Seriously, Jack, you struck lucky with this one.” Alex says as Jack hands him the next note. “Don’t let him go without a fight.”
“I wasn’t planning on letting him go at all.” Jack replies, passing Alex another note. “I was kind of planning for long term rather than short term when we got together, you know.”
“Good,” Alex replies with a smile, “because he really loves you, you know. You can see it.”
Jack smiles, and gives Alex another note.
“This one’s very true.” Alex says with a laugh, as he sticks ‘21. Chris loves Jack because his baby photos are laughably adorable.’ to the wardrobe.
“Shut up.” Jack laughs, rummaging around for something to throw at the older boy.
A few more hours fly by, and there’s a wall of brightly colored post-it notes stuck to Jack’s wardrobe. There’s one missing in the bottom right corner.
“It must be around here somewhere.” Alex reasons, lifting up Jack’s quilt and shaking the pillows. Jack opens the wardrobe and starts throwing everything around in search of the note.
Within ten minutes, they’ve ripped the room apart and they still haven’t found it.
“It’ll turn up.” Alex sighs, and Jack pouts.
A few days go by and it’s not long now until Chris and Dianna come back home.
“Alex?” Jack says when he and the older boy are slumped on the couch watching made-for-TV movies. Alex makes a little noise in response.
“Alex? This is a serious question.” Jack frowns a little, and Alex sighs and turns to look at him.
“What? This better be good.”
Jack mumbles something, and his cheeks turn pink. Alex pulls a face at him.
“In English, please?”
“I said, is it too soon to ask Chris to, y’know... marry me?” Jack repeats, keeping his eyes down as his cheeks all but catch fire.
“Well, you’ve been together, what, almost eleven months now?” Alex asks, and Jack looks up in shock.
“I was expecting you to make fun of me mercilessly, but yeah, it’s been nearly eleven months.” Jack replies. Alex frowns at the younger boy.
“Why would I make fun of you? You obviously feel something for him that isn’t just a passing crush.” Alex says. “It’s pretty adorable, actually.”
Jack laughs a little, and the burning in his cheeks subsides.
“I think you should, yeah.” Alex responds. “Wait for a big significant date, or something like that. Like your anniversary or his birthday. It’s his twenty-first soon, isn’t it?”
Jack nods.
“You’re coming ring shopping with me, though.” Jack says. Alex laughs at him, but nods anyway and snuggles back down against him on the couch.
*
Jack has never been more overjoyed to be in an airport than he is right now. He and Alex are standing side by side, staring up at the ‘Arrivals’ board. The plane they’re waiting for landed twenty minutes ago. It’s only a matter of time before they get to see Chris and Dianna again.
As if on cue, two figures appear from the Arrivals lounge, and Jack and Alex barely get a chance to move before they’re jumped on.
“I missed you.” Jack hears Alex tell Dianna, but they’re at the back of his mind right now because Chris is there. The younger boy gives him a smile and holds out a bright pink post it note. Jack stares at it for a moment before taking it from the younger boy.
150. Chris loves Jack because he loves him back.
Jack smiles, and pulls Chris closer to him, pressing a kiss to the younger boy’s lips, because he really doesn’t want to have to wait any longer. He feels Chris smile against his lips and he pulls away, mumbling ‘I love you’ to the smaller male. Chris kisses him again before pulling away and lacing his fingers with Jack’s.
They say a quick goodbye to Dianna and Alex, who are too lost in each other to really notice.
It’s when they get back to the apartment and Chris sees the perfect rectangle of post-it notes, he watches with a smile as Jack sticks the last one into position.
“Alex helped.” He says, seeing Chris’ shocked expression. Chris laughs, kissing him again, pulling him onto the bed.
“Jack?” He says, as the elder buries his face in his chest, “I meant all one-hundred and fifty of them, you know.”
“I know.” Jack says, pressing a kiss to Chris’ neck, then his jaw, then finally his lips. “I love you.”
Chris smiles, wrapping his arms around Jack’s waist and kissing him again.
“I love you too.”
Jack grins and tangles their legs together, kissing Chris again, but with more passion.
Chris wakes in the morning feeling just a little bit groggy. He opens his eyes, then closes them again instinctively when his lashes brush against something bright green. He fumbles around until he can remove the offending object from his eyes. He opens them again and looks at the object between his fingers. A green post-it note.
Jack loves Chris because, well, he just does. There aren’t words in existence that even come close to describing how he feels about him. The world will end before Jack stops loving Chris. So, Chris, will you marry Jack?
Chris smiles to himself, sticks the note to his nightstand and rummages around in its drawer for his pad of neon pink notes. He writes one word on the top note, pulls it off and stands up, padding through the apartment to the kitchen, where he finds Jack making pancakes.
Jack smiles at him, presses a kiss to his forehead, before turning back to the pancakes cooking in the pan on the hob. Chris pouts a little, rests his head on the elder’s shoulder before sticking the note to Jack’s chest.
Jack looks at Chris, raises an eyebrow before plucking the note from his chest. He reads the word a few times, before looking over at Chris and grinning. He cups the younger boy’s face, pressing a kiss to his lips and it’s perfect –right down to the little flicks of tongues on lips and Chris’ fingers pressing at Jack’s hips.
The note sits forgotten on the counter top, its one word written in bold pen still resonating through Jack’s mind, as if he still can’t quite believe his luck. It’s circling in his mind, and no doubt Chris’ too, this one word that’s just changed their lives.
Absolutely.
♠ ♠ ♠
Chris' full 150 reason list might get posted once it's completely finished, if anyone's interested.