An Abundance of Fluff

The movie ended and Jaime looked at the clock, that now read 8 am. Tony and Vic would be up soon, so he got up to make some breakfast. They didn't have much pancake batter left, and that was the only thing Tony would eat, so he settled for some fruit salad that Tony had picked up at Kroger the night before. He grabbed two bowls and started to portion them out when he felt someone hug him from behind. He jumped, frightened, but relaxed when he found it was Mike.
"Oh! I didn't think it was you." Jaime said and turned back around to finish putting the fruit in the bowls.
"You're getting me some? That's nice of you." Mike smiled softly and let go of Jaime to go back to the living room. Jaime walked in with the fruit bowls shortly after and handed Mike his and a fork. Jaime sat down and stabbed a pineapple before shoving it into his mouth. Mike was eating slowly, picking at each fruit piece and chewing it softly.
It wasn't long before Vic woke up and flopped down on the couch inbetween the boys.
"Morning, y'all. How'd ya sleep?" He asked.
Jaime shrugged and Mike replied. "We didn't."
"Ouh, what were you guys up to then?" He winked and Mike blushed a little.
"Nothing, we watched a couple movies." He said and returned his attention to the fruit in front of him.
"How are you and Kellin doing?" Mike said, trying to change the subject.
"We're alright. He was pissed cause I was taking pics with some fans the other day. But he's okay now."
"That's good." Jaime said before putting a piece of watermelon in his mouth and sucking on it slightly.
"Yeah. Well, I'm gonna wake Tony." He said and jumped up towards the bunks.
There was a loud thud and an "unf." From that area, and Vic looked out at the two boys sheepishly.
"Vic, what did you do?" Mike asked and glared at him.
"Tony fell..." He said and turned to help his friend up. They went into the kitchen, leaving Mike and Jaime alone again.
"So Mike, since you asked me last night, I'll ask you right now. Anybody caught your eye lately?" Jaime piped up, and Mike blushed bright red.
"Uh, yeah, there's one person, but he doesn't... I mean... There's no way..." He mumbled and shrugged. He wasn't going to tell Jaime that he was in love with him, he just couldn't. Jaime couldn't love him back, there was no way.
"Oh, okay." Jaime said, shrugging and changing the subject. "Are we in Chicago yet?" He asked.
"Uh, let me text Casey. He's up front with the driver." He texted him and set his phone down on the couch. It lit up two seconds later.
"No, we're in Gary, Indiana. Wherever that is." He chuckled.
"Oh, my uncle lives here." Jaime said.
"That's cool. He lives in the middle of nowhere." Mike said and smiled.
"Yeah, he's my mom's brother, I never see him." Jaime said simply. "Wanna play 20 questions?" Mike asked him.
"Sure, why not?" Jaime replied.
"Okay, first off, favorite pizza topping?" Mike said. Jaime knew the simple questions wouldn't last long, and laughed at how silly Mike was being.
"Pepperoni. And yourself?"
"Dude, you know it's hot sauce." He said seriously.
"Hot sauce is NOT a pizza topping, but okay, I'll let that one slide." Jaime laughed quietly and Mike beamed at him like a five year old. "Your turn!" Mike exclaimed.
"Hmm, I dunno, uh... oh! If you could be anyone, who would you be?" Jaime asked. Mike was silent for a bit, hesitating. He didn't know what to answer. Saying 'the object of your affection' wasn't exactly kosher, because first off, it was cheesy and not at all what Mike would normally say, and second, Jaime would probably be weirded out and never talk to him again, ever.
Mike figured he should probably say something, Jaime was being fidgety and humming nervously. "Uh, I guess I would be like, Paris Hilton. Y'know, not have to do anything and still have the cash to do whatever I wanted."
"That's actually smart." Jaime replied and looked deep in thought. He snapped out quickly and said to Mike, "your turn." And smiled.
"Oh god, uh. The stupidest part of this game is thinking of questions." Mike pursed his lips. Jaime nodded. "Yeah, I know." He heard movement from behind him and turned around to see Vic and Tony coming into the living room with a huge stack of pancakes in their hands. They stumbled over to the couch sitting on either side of Jaime and started chowing down noisily.
"Guys, we're playing a game here... Can you atleast keep it down? We won't kick you out..." Mike whined and sat up.
"Mmf. I dunno Tony, should we?" Vic said with his mouth full. Tony shook his head and scrunched up his nose, then swallowed his food loudly. "Nope. I think we need to torture them. Nomnomnom." He said and shoved another pancake into his mouth.
"Mike, back room?" Jaime mouthed and Mike nodded fast. They ran to the back of the bus, but Jaime stole a glance at the other two members of their band. Tony was giving Vic a thumbs up and then they high-fived, and Vic mouthed the word "yes". Jaime didn't get to find out what they were celebrating about because Mike took his hand and pulled him to the back room.
"Anyways, after we got RUDELY INTERRUPTED," Mike shouted out so that the other two could hear. There were muffled replies from Vic, along the lines of "good luck" and "get it in". Mike laughed and scooted a little closer and he blushed in the dark light. Jaime's cheeks reddened as well and he turned to look at his feet.
"Mike, I have a question for ya." Jaime said and stuck his tongue out. He turned to face Mike and when he did their faces were inches apart. Jaime gasped and Mike froze, but the door swung open to reveal Tony. The two boys jumped back from eachother and looked at Tony.
"Dudes, we're in Chicago now. Let's go out into the city. Navy Pier anyone?" And he walked out of the room.
The two boys were too focused on eachother that they hadn't realized the bus was stopped and off. Jaime quickly got up, brushed his jeans off and walked fast out of the room without a backward glance. Mike came out two minutes later and joined Vic, Tony, Jaime, and Casey in the living room.
"Okay, so the gang's all here, let's go your Chicago! Woo!" Vic shouted. They all exited the bus and walked to the Navy Pier, which was five minutes away, thanks to the skillful parking job the bus driver did. Mike and Jaime didn't talk to eachother the entire way there. Instead, Mike walked behind the group with Casey in silence and Jaime and Tony talked quietly between themselves. Vic led the way until they got to the Pier, noticing the fair was back. Vic saw the Ferris wheel and he ran straight into the line. Tony pulled Jaime over to a cotton candy stand and Mike and Casey were left to walk around.
"Wanna go play a game? I'll win you a stuffed bear." Casey said and nudged Mike when they passed a basketball set.
"Sure, why not?" He winked at his best friend and linked arms to walk together.
"Gather round, shoot a basket, win a bear!" A big man was shouting near the hoops. He walked over to Mike and Casey.
"Hello gentlemen, would you like to try to win a bear for your special someones?" He said and smiled. Mike and Casey looked at eachother and shrugged.
"Well I'm single, so I'll probably just end up cuddling it." Casey noted, making the man chuckle.
"Well alright then. $2 a pop. Good luck!" We're his final words. He tossed Casey a ball after he paid, and he sunk the ball in one shot.
"Damn, son! Pick a bear!" The guy shouted again and Casey winked at Mike. Mike came over to where he was standing and looking at all the options.
"What bear do you want for Jaime?" He teased, nudging Mike playfully and winking at him.
"C'mon, man, we're not even together..." He grumbled. Mike saw a bright lavender bear with a sombrero and a mustache and started laughing. Casey saw what he was laughing at and started patting Mike on the back.
"Dude! You have to get him that one!" He laughed out and Mike nodded his head. He turned to the guy who was waiting patiently and said, "Can I get the Mexican purple one?" With the straightest face he could get. The guy grabbed a stick and knocked the bear down for Mike. He picked it up; it was an average sized bear, about a foot tall and 8 inches wide. Mike could hide it easily by putting it in his jacket.
The day turned into afternoon as the five boys became tired. They had a show tonight at 8 and they wanted to get ready soon. It was 2 pm and Jaime and Mike were both tired. When they got to the bus, they climbed into their respective bunks and took a nap, while Vic and Tony started getting their instruments to the venue.
Around 4, Jaime woke up and couldn't get back to sleep. He glanced over and saw Mike was still asleep. He grabbed his laptop and went on twitter, looking at some tweets from the fans. He rarely replied, but he liked getting that positive support, and laughing at the really awkward 'Let me have your babies' tweet. He glanced over at the clock and groaned. He really didn't want to go play at the show tonight. He had Mike on his mind, and he was really confused on what to do.
It was almost 5, so he figured he should wake Mike up.
"Hey, Mike," he called. "Gotta get up, it's 5."
"Ugh. So. Tired." Mike groaned from his bunk and Jaime heard a thud.
"Ow, fuck!" Mike yelled and Jaime laughed.
"Hit your head again?" He said between laughs.
"Fuck, that hurt..." Mike grumbled and got up. "Come on Preciado, what are you waiting for?" Mike said as he jumped down from his bunk. Jaime stood up and pulled his pants up.
"Fuentes, chill. I'm coming."
"Tony and Vic here?" He asked.
"No, they were here about an hour ago, they should be back any minute."
"Oh." Mike said and walked into the kitchen. He went into the cupboard and pulled out two cookies.
"Want some?" He asked Jaime.
"Suuurrrreeee." Jaime said and walked over to grab it. They are their cookies and walked outside to find the other band members. Jaime noticed Mike had a bag with him, which was weird because all his drum gear was with the set.
"Any reason for the bag?" Jaime asked.
"Not particularly." Mike replied.
"Can I see what's inside?" Jaime said with excitement.
"Maybe later, if you're good." Mike teased.
"Awe, I wanna see it now." Jaime pouted at Mike. He turned to face Jaime.
"Patience is a virtue." And he smiled the most gorgeous smile Jaime had ever seen. Jaime gasped and shook his head, trying to focus on walking to the show, but all he could think about was Mike.
They showed up at the venue and found Tony tuning his guitar.
"Vic?" Mike said and Tony turned, noticing we were there.
"Vocal warm-ups. Jaime, you wanna tune now or?" He said and looked at Jaime with urgent eyes.
"Oh, yeah sure." Jaime nodded and ran to sit down.
"So, uh... I'm just gonna go and, uh..." Mike said and walked slowly out of the room. Jaime sighed loudly after he left.
"Dude, so how was alone time with Mikey?" Tony raised his eyebrows at him.
"Nothing happened, nothing's gonna happen." Jaime grumbled.
"You never know." Tony smiled and Jaime leaned down to pick up Snoopy, his bass. His E string was really flat, so he got up to find his tuner. He couldn't find one, so he interrupted Tony.
"Gimme an E?" He said. They tried tuning Jaime's bass but they couldn't get it at first. After a while they figured it out and finished tuning up. Tony put his guitar on and they saw it was 7 o'clock. They had to run outside and get their picks, so Tony and Jaime decided they'd go since Mike and Vic were busy.
"Ready to see some crazy fans?" Tony asked as they jogged to the doors outside.
"Never will be." Jaime said.
"Okay... 3, 2, 1... Go!" Tony counted and they bolted out the door. They heard the faint screams of everyone and waved before sprinting back inside.
"Whoo! They always give me energy." Jaime said as they sprinted back to the backstage area. It was 7:30 and the doors were wide open. People were flooding in and Jaime was getting excited again. He almost forgot about not wanting to play the show tonight and focused instead on the energy coming from the fans.
The show was amazing. Everyone was on fire and Vic hit notes he had never hit before. Everyone played their heart out and the fans went crazy. Jaime's only problem was that he couldn't kiss Mike onstage to celebrate it. The boys weren't doing a meet and greet tonight, so Mike invited Jaime to go to go out and have dinner together, even though it was already Midnight. They hadn't eaten since the cookies they had before the show and they were starving. Mike found a sushi place and called in a reservation and something else, but Jaime couldn't hear what he said. Jaime got excited; they hadn't eaten restaurant food in forever. When the two of them showed up at the restaurant, they noticed it was pretty busy even though it was 12 in the morning.
"Hello," the lady said with an oriental accent. "Do you have a reservation?" She said.
"Yes, under Fuentes." Mike said quietly. She looked down the list until she came across the name, and then her eyes grew wide.
"Okay. Right this way." She grabbed two menus and motioned for the boys to follow her. They did in silence and she led them to a private room, with a sliding glass door.
"Please remove your shoes and enjoy your meal. Karin will be with you shortly." And she left without another word.
"Mike, a private room?" Jaime questioned. He was confused. Was this what Mike was saying earlier when he called?
"Gives us more privacy. And it's quiet. We can talk." He smiled any opened his menu.
"Well, I know what I want. Do you?" Mike looked over at Jaime who was still flipping pages. He twiddled his thumbs and waited for Karin.
"Yeah, I guess."
Karin walked in shortly after. "Hello, what would you boys like to drink and eat?"
Jaime spoke up first. "California roll, and can I have the Japanese sprite stuff?"
"Sure." Karin said and scribbled something fast on the paper. "And you?" She turned towards Mike.
"Spicy tuna roll, please. And water." He said and returned his attention to his hands. Karin walked out of the room and the boys were left alone again.
"Hey, Mike, you never told me what was in that bag." Jaime said after a while.
"Oh, this old thing?" He said and pointed to the bag. "Yeah, well, it was supposed to be a surprise after dinner, but I guess I can't wait any longer. I won something at the fair that I wanted you to have."
"Oh, really?" Jaime's eyes lit up and Mike couldn't help but smile. Jaime's eyes were gorgeous when he was animated like this. "What is it? Can I see it?" Jaime asked him fast and he became jumpy.
"Hold your horses, Himes. Gimme a second." He said and leaned down to pick the bag up. He unzipped it slowly, trying to draw out Jaime's attention and tease him a little.
"Mike, just show me!" He smiled excitedly.
"Okay, okay. So Casey and I played basketball there and we won a bear. And I saw this bear and thought of you." He pulled it out and handed it to Jaime, who instantly seized it and started looking it over.
"Mike, this is perfect!" He laughed and hugged the bear.
"I'm glad you like it." Mike smiled hugely.
"The maracas are so cute! Look! They're taped on kinda crappily though," Jaime exclaimed. Funny, there weren't maracas when Mike had first gotten it.
"What? Maracas?" Mike asked and held his hand out for the bear. Jaime handed it over and Mike turned it around. Sure enough, there were maracas, sloppily taped on with masking tape.
"Hangon..." Mike said as he tore them both off. He peeled the tape off and saw that one had 'Mike' etched into it and the other had 'Jaime' etched in. Mike looked his over, hiding Jaime's underneath the table. He gave Jaime back the bear and looked at the maraca that had his name on it with curiosity. There was a crack in it, with what looked like some paper. Should he open it up?
"What's this?" He mumbled and tore the maraca open. The paper was folded and written in sharpie. Mike unfolded it, seeing how it had bled through the back of the paper and started to read it. He saw that it was Jaime's handwriting, many many lines, crossed out over and over again. He tried reading through and there were a few he could read.
'Mike, I think it's time I told you I love you.' 'Nonononono'
'Mike, I don't know how to tell you this-'
'Mike, you're hot- too up front'
'I love you, Mikey, I truly do' 'not gonna work'
There was a little note at the bottom.
"You're welcome!! ;) -Tone"
Mike's eyes grew wide as he finally realized what the was. It was a paper Jaime had used to try and explain that he was in love with Mike. He had done this, he had tried to write a letter, but failed miserably. He left the paper in his pillowcase though, just incase he ever got the courage to give Jaime the letter.
"Oh my god," he said quietly and ripped open the maraca with Jaime's name on it. There it was, the letter he had written months ago. He smiled as his eyes welled up with tears.
Jaime had been silent, but he realized Mime was crying and became frightened.
"Mike? Is everything okay? What's wrong?" Jaime asked frantically. He started to stand up but decided it would be better if he stayed put.
"Jaime, do you know how long I've loved you?" Mike said softly and grabbed his hand without thinking. Jaime's face held shock. He was not expecting Mike to say anything along the lines of that.
"Mike, really? You do?" Jaime smiled his gorgeous smile and Mike nodded. He was at a loss for words.
"Oh my god, Mike, I love you, so much." He said and stood up.
"Where... Where are you going?" Mike asked, his grin dropping. It quickly returned when Jaime sat on his lap and seized his face in a slow and soft kiss. Mike kissed him back passionately and wrapped his arms around Jaime's torso. Jaime pulled away and smiled at Mike, biting his lip and blushing. Mike was blushing furiously and beaming; nothing could ruin this moment.
Except Karin opening the door and bringing them their food. Jaime hopped up and returned to his seat, leaving Mike with pursed lips. Jaime smiled sheepishly at Mike and put a sushi roll into his mouth, chewing quietly. Mike reached over and grabbed Jaime's hand and held it for the rest of dinner.
They finished their food and Mike offered to pay; Jaime declined and used money from their lottery trip yesterday. They put their shoes on and walked out of the restaurant holding hands and stealing glances at eachother when they thought the other wasn't looking.
Before they got on the bus, Mike stopped Jaime and pulled him to the side.
"Jaime, are we... Together?" He couldn't help but smile at the last word.
"Of course Mike, I wouldn't have it any other way." Jaime replied and kissed him. Mike bit Jaime's lip softly in response and their lips moved together for a few more seconds. They smiled at eachother and walked onto the bus. seeing Vic asleep on the couch and Tony watching Star Wars. Tony looked up at their hands, which were still intertwined, and squealed.
"Agh! My plan worked!" He grinned and woke Vic up.
"Vicky! It worked! I told you! Look!" Jaime and Mike groaned at eachother and went to turn to the bunks, but Tony pulled Jaime back by his unnocupied hand.
"Tell me everything!" He whispered into Jaime's ear. He laughed in response. "Tomorrow morning, okay? I think my boyfriend deserves some cuddles." And he turned to kiss Mike on the nose. Mike grinned and dragged him towards the bunks, where they cuddled together for the night and fell asleep in eachothers arms.