Ignite

To: Jack
From: Jaime

Hey, hope your day is going well. What are you doing tomorrow tonight? x

~

To: Jaime
From: Jack

Hey! My day is going okay thanks, hope yours is too. I was actually going to cook a shoulder of lamb I bought at a market at the weekend – did you want to come over for dinner? x

~

To: Jack
From: Jaime

Wow, you’re gorgeous and you cook, I’m a lucky guy! ;) I’d love to come over. My shift finishes at 7pm, so I’ll quickly get changed at work and head to yours for half 7? x

~

To: Jaime
From: Jack

Suck up. And that sounds perfect, I’ll see you at half 7 x

*

Jack had never been more nervous in his life. He’d never cooked a proper meal for anyone before, let alone a boyfriend, so he didn’t know what had been running through his head when he invited Jaime over. Seriously, what the fuck was wrong with him? He should’ve just said he was busy. That would’ve saved him all this stress.

He’d spent a fair amount of that afternoon searching the internet for a recipe, and he found one that he could do in time. As in, he needed to get up at 6am to get dressed and ready, before preparing the lamb to go into the oven at 7am. That way he’d be able to work all day, get back home at half 6, prepare all the vegetables (fennel, carrots, potatoes), ready for the lamb to come out at 7pm to rest, and then everything would be ready for half 7, when Jaime arrived.

Y’know, if nothing went wrong.

But while Alex teased him all day for stressing, not helping matters at all, Zack just stayed silent. Brooding and silent. Jack didn’t understand whether it was something he’d done or said, or whether it was because Alex had been talking about his personal matters in the work space, but Zack had barely spoken to him. Was it because of Jaime? No, it couldn’t be because of Jaime. Zack didn’t have a problem with Jaime, right? He’d only met the guy once.

Even so, Zack being grumpy didn’t help keep him calm, so it wasn’t until Jack got home and found that his apartment hadn’t burned down that he relaxed. The lamb smelled amazing, and he still had plenty of time to cook the vegetables. Quickly changing out of his work suit into a casual shirt and jeans, Jack finished off cooking dinner, even having time to clean up his tiny little apartment.

Hopefully tonight would go as smoothly as the preparation for it. It was normal to be nervous, right?

Right on half 7, the buzzer for his front door went, and he let Jaime up.

“Hey, I’m not late, am I?” Jaime asked, as he walked into the apartment.

“No, right on time,” Jack said, shaking head.

“Oh good. Estás hermoso,” Jaime said smoothly.

Jack blushed slightly. He actually knew that phrase - you look beautiful. And he blushed even more so as Jaime pressed a soft kiss to his lips. Why was this man so perfect?

“Thanks for inviting me over. It smells amazing in here,” Jaime grinned, shrugging off his jacket.

Jack barely failed to hide the grin on his lips while Jaime hung his jacket up. Thank fuck for that.

“Thanks. Dinner’s completely ready, so did you want to east straight away?” Jack asked.

“Sure. I hope this wine goes with it,” Jaime said, with an innocent smile.

“You didn’t have to bring anything,” Jack frowned.

Seriously. It wasn’t a prerequisite.

“I wanted to. Especially since it smells like you’ve gone to a lot of trouble just for me,” Jaime mused.

Well, when he put it like that…

“Um, okay then. I’ll grab some wine glasses, but make yourself at home. It’s, um, it’s not much of an apartment, like at all, but um…”

Fuck, why was he rambling? Yes, his apartment sucked, and now he was just admitting how embarrassed he was about it, but why did he have to ramble in front of Jaime?!

“Hey, I don’t care that your apartment is small. I think it’s pretty awesome just because you’re in it,” Jaime interrupted, hands gently placed on Jack’s hips to distract him.

Jack inhaled sharply, but smiled. How did Jaime always know what to say?

“You are such a sap,” Jack mumbled.

Jaime just grinned. “Maybe, but it’s true. I’m here for you, that’s all that matters. I don’t exactly live in the Taj Mahal myself,”

Jack couldn’t help but laugh, Jaime just grinning even more as Jack relaxed. Jack leant his head forward, so his forehead was resting against Jaime’s, looking down at Jaime’s hands on his hips.

“I’m glad you’re here,” Jack said softly.

“Me too. Shall we eat?” Jaime said, smiling.

*

The entire bottle of wine had been drunk between them by the time Jack and Jaime sat down on Jack’s sofa, Jack far more relaxed than he was earlier. Like he’d hoped, everything had gone perfectly tonight. The food has been pretty incredible, if he did say so himself, and Jaime was the perfect gentleman, as always. He honestly didn’t know how he’d been lucky enough to meet him. Maybe he should send Alex a bouquet of flowers in thanks, or something.

“You are an amazing cook, you know that?” Jaime said, smiling.

“I’ve only just started cooking for myself since moving here. I just follow a recipe,”

“Seriously? Well don’t tell Vic. He’ll be jealous of your skills,” Jaime grinned.

Jack just laughed. He was pretty sure Vic’s cooking skills majorly surpassed his own, but whatever. If Jaime wanted to flatter him, he wasn’t going to complain.

“Thanks for coming over. I was really nervous,”

“Why? It’s just me,” Jaime frowned.

“I don’t know,” Jack shrugged, “I just wanted to impress you,”

He blamed the wine for loosening his tongue. Damn it.

Jaime laughed softly, one hand rising to cup Jack’s jaw.

“You don’t need to try to impress me, Jack. I’m your boyfriend – I already like you,” Jaime mused.

Jack just smiled shyly, earning a bigger smile back, before Jaime leant forward and kissed him. Jack pretty much just melted into Jaime’s arms as he kissed back, earning a soft moan from the other man, his hands seeming to wander of their own accord over Jaime’s chest and up around his neck. Jack didn’t know what was coming over him, whether it was the wine or whether he just couldn’t help himself, but he didn’t hold back as Jaime’s tongue slid into his mouth, a moan of his own sounding as Jaime’s other hand slid to close over his ass.

Jaime slowly guided Jack to lay flat on his back, lips never leaving their kiss, Jack’s legs automatically parting to accommodate Jaime’s body. Jaime made a content noise of appreciation as their crotches pressed together, but it was this motion that snapped Jack out of his haze. He hadn’t realised how hard he was, how hard Jaime was. This was further than they’d ever gone before, and he didn’t know if he was okay with that. And it was as Jaime slid his hands up Jack’s shirt that Jack started to panic, remembering something that Alex had said earlier that day as they were coming back from lunch.

~

“So is tonight gonna be the big night then?” Alex asked with a grin.

“The big night for what?” Jack frowned.

Alex stared at him for a couple of seconds, before shaking his head incredulously.

“My God, you really are innocent. Cooking dinner? Probably drinking wine? Sitting on the sofa afterwards which will more than likely lead to making out? It’s practically a pre-cursor for sex,” Alex said, like it was obvious.

Jack’s jaw dropped slightly. H-He hadn’t even thought of it like that!

“So are you and Jaime going to bang tonight or what?” Alex prompted.

Someone cleared their throat, making Jack look up. Zack. Zack was standing there. And by the pissed-off expression on his face, he’d heard their conversation too.

“That is not appropriate, Alex,” Zack said bluntly.

“Sorry Mr Merrick,” Alex nodded.

But as Alex winked at Jack, Jack just filled with dread.

~

Alex had guessed how tonight would play out entirely. Down to every last detail. Was this what Jaime expected too? Did he think tonight was about sex?! And then there was Zack…no, he couldn’t be thinking about Zack right now!

“Hey, hey, what’s wrong?” Jaime frowned.

Jack hadn’t even noticed they’d stopped kissing.

“N-Nothing,” Jack choked, shook his head vigorously.

“Hey, calm down, it’s okay,” Jaime soothed, waiting for Jack to nod to continue, “You froze up. Like completely,”

Jack blushed heavily, shame filling his body. He couldn’t do this. He couldn’t go any further than this right now.

“I-I’m sorry. I can’t…I’m not ready…I…”

Jaime’s eyes widened and he quickly moved off of Jack, holding his hands up.

“I’m not going to push you into anything you’re not ready for, you know that right?” Jaime said seriously.

Jack swallowed heavily. Why was Jaime being so nice about this? Jack was refusing intimacy! He should at least be a little bit mad at him! The genuine concern in Jaime’s eyes didn’t make him feel any better. Jack basically just wanted to cry at how nice Jaime was being.

“I-I’m sorry,” Jack repeated, moving to sit upright.

“It’s okay. I’d rather you be happy and ready so we can both enjoy it,” Jaime said honestly.

Jack just nodded, hand sliding over Jaime’s knee to say thank you. He just needed to calm himself down, that was all. Why did thinking of Alex and Zack have to ruin everything?

“Do you want me to leave?” Jaime asked softly.

No. No, definitely not.

“No. Can you, um, can you just hold me?” Jack asked quietly.

“Yeah, yeah, of course,” Jaime nodded.

Jack buried his face into the crook of Jaime’s neck as his boyfriend pulled him closer, arms wrapped tightly around him. It took a couple of minutes for Jack to relax again, Jaime noticing this and kissing his temple.

“I’m sorry for being so stupid. I’m not saying never, just…not now?” Jack said.

“Whenever you’re ready,” Jaime grinned.

Jack blushed slightly, smacking his shoulder lightly, making Jaime laugh.

“Shall we watch a movie?” Jaime suggested.

Jack just nodded, turning on his small tv before sitting back next to Jaime, relaxing into his arms again. He wasn’t quite ready for Jaime to leave yet. And he was just glad that after his freak-out Jaime didn’t want to leave either. Tonight wouldn’t hinder their relationship, right? Everything would be okay from now on, right?