Jason and You Makes Two

A/N: Yo. I finally crawled out of my sick bed and accomplished something. Being down w/ multiple infections for weeks on end is not fun. Pneumonia isn't fun either. I don't recommend it! lol Anywho, was working on an AC chappy b4 the last relapse. Wasn't quite up to finishing that just yet so figured JYM2 could use some love. Hope you guys enjoy it. Laters.

Thanx go to Lisa for proofing and I appreciate the ones who reviewed last time. *huggles*

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Chapter 23

Simon sighed and tapped his finger on the table impatiently as he looked around. It was a fairly small, French restaurant, off the beaten path with a cozy, private feel. It would’ve made a perfect place to bring Mark for an evening out. Well, at least if the sexy redhead weren’t so stubborn about paying his own way. It was also the perfect place to meet for a quiet chat when you didn’t want to be seen or overheard. Unfortunately, he was here for the latter reason.

Why was he even doing this? Mark would be completely pissed at Simon if he found out. Then again, Mark wouldn’t know because Mark was at his apartment for the night working on a presentation for one of his classes. Again, Simon tapped his finger before reaching to grab the wine glass in front of him and taking a sip. And again, he asked himself why he’d come.

Things had gone pretty well for him lately. His sister was doing great and her pregnancy was healthy. His family was bubbling over with excitement, making plans for the new arrivals. Things at work were going smoothly, despite the recent increase in contracts and the occasional out of town job. Mark was doing great with school and feeling confident about his upcoming finals. The used car his lover had bought on a whim seemed to be working out just fine too.

On top of that, they’d finally been spending more time together like Simon wanted. Sometimes it was just the two of them having dinner together at Simon’s house after work, sharing a quiet weekend at home, or hanging out with Tim. When Mark could afford it, they’d even met up with some of Simon’s other friends at a bar or to go bowling. For whatever reason, Mark hadn’t taken to them as quickly as he had Tim. Still, it was nice, and Simon was happy spending more time with Mark, even if it was just watching quietly while Mark did his homework. And the sex…Oh God, the sex...

A shiver ran down his spine every time he thought about the way Mark’s tight ass squeezed him. Perfection. Sheer Perfection. And that night they’d dressed as a cowboy and Indian…Simon’s cock perked up at images of Mark tied to his bed, so he quickly pushed them aside for another time.

While it was true that Mark still wouldn’t let Simon help him with the big things, the handsome redhead had at least started to ask Simon to answer a small question here or there when he got stuck on a project or paper. Turns out, Mark didn’t have the best grasp on grammar. It was a start. He hadn’t expected Mark to dump all of his problems into his lap after their little disagreement. The fact that he was trying was enough.

They’d talked about it several times since then, and it seemed like Mark had always been very self-reliant. He claimed his parents had hammered that characteristic into his head from the time he was old enough to walk. According to them, a real man didn’t take handouts; he stood on his own two feet and solved his own problems. Apparently, in Mark’s family at least, asking for help or favors was a show of weakness. It was kind of warped in Simon’s way of thinking, but explained a lot about Mark’s need to do everything himself.

Either way, Simon was pretty happy. Mark was pretty happy. His family was very happy. Sure, they still had things cropping up from time to time, like flies in the ointment, but that was normal for any couple. Well, maybe not all couples…Straight couples didn’t have the whole, ‘Who’s going to top this time?’ issue to deal with. Honestly, Simon hadn’t expected to either.

He’d assumed Mark preferred to bottom. Then Mark had dropped hints that Simon had purposely ignored, until Mark had flat out asked for it. Talk about awkward. Simon had always been a little embarrassed about that. Sure, he’d heard that somewhere between 10 or 15% of gay men felt only pain while receiving, but why’d he have to be one of them? Luckily, Mark had let it drop and hadn’t brought it up again once he’d explained that he’d tried a few times but it hurt too much.

The biggest issue seemed to be with Mark’s living arrangements. He was quickly becoming more and more uncomfortable living with Chandra and Kevin. He’d finally let it slip that he’d walked in on the two of them the afternoon of the Halloween party. Apparently, the two lovebirds had been acting even more restrained than they had before, to the point they’d either cut back on sex at nights, or were going out of their way to keep quiet. Simon couldn’t blame Mark for feeling awkward and in the way. He probably would have too.

It had occurred to Simon several times to invite Mark to move in with him, but he’d managed to keep his mouth shut up till now. Knowing Mark the way he did, his lover would probably take offense and turn him down out of pride.

The other day, he’d stopped in at the main office of Wyatt Construction and had found Mark there on a break, browsing through the ads for apartment rentals. That had bugged him. A lot. While they’d been fixing dinner later that evening, he’d asked Mark why he hadn’t mentioned moving before. Mark had shrugged it off and said that he would have eventually, but that it hadn’t seemed important because it would be months before a move was even possible. For now he was just scoping out the market, trying to figure out what he could afford. Once again, Simon had been tempted to make Mark the offer, but had held back. Before he did that, Simon knew that he needed to find the right angle.

Despite those few snags, and the four days he’d been forced to go out of town for work, Simon couldn’t think of anything that would have made the last month more perfect. They’d had a great Thanksgiving with Simon’s family and Mark had really hit it off with Simon’s sister. Unfortunately, his brother and his family hadn’t been able to come, but he held high hopes for Christmas. Mark had already agreed to spend the holidays with him to give Chandra and Kevin some privacy, and Simon was looking forward the extra time alone with his lover.

Just last week, Mark had spent five out of seven evenings at his house, although he rarely stayed over without some reason or excuse. Maybe Simon had jinxed himself by thinking things were going smoothly, not that he was an overly superstitious type. Still, it seemed like, no sooner had those thoughts gelled in his mind and he’d decided that everything would work out, he’d gotten the call.

Simon took another sip of his wine and looked around the restaurant before glancing at his watch. He’d arrived ten minutes early, which was probably a bad idea since it would give his nerves more time to build. He’d hated the thought of being the last to arrive, though. Maybe it was a proprietary thing; the assumption that if he got there first and got settled, he would feel like they were meeting on his turf.

A smirk spread across his face at that thought as the waiter once again stopped by the table to ask if he needed anything or would like to place his order. Simon sent him on his way, telling him it’d be a few more minutes. Then he settled back to wait a while longer. Jason would be there any minute now.

To say Simon had been shocked when Jason contacted him would’ve been the biggest understatement in the history of man. He still wondered if the guy had some alternative motive.

Jason had claimed that he just wanted to talk about Mark - to find out how he was doing, and make sure that his ex was okay after the breakup. Something about needing to finding closure with the whole thing. He’d also sworn he wasn’t up to anything, and that the reason he hadn’t contacted Mark himself was because he didn’t want to interfere with Mark’s new life.

It had surprised Simon even more to hear that. At that point, he’d felt so sorry for the guy that he’d actually suggested that Jason just contact Mark himself. Disturbingly though, Jason had admitted that he still didn’t think he could meet Mark in person without wanting him back.

Simon wasn’t thrilled with that idea, at all. He knew without being told that, even after all those months apart, Mark still missed Jason and thought about him. Of course, he didn’t tell Jason that. That would’ve been kind of stupid on his part. He was fairly confident that Mark wouldn’t change his mind and go back to Jason at this point. He was even more confident that Mark wouldn’t cheat on him with Jason.

At first, Simon had just tried to give Jason the brush off, then a vague assurance that Mark was doing fine. Jason hadn’t been willing to accept that and had continued to insist that they meet in person, saying that he wouldn’t be able to rest until he could look Simon in the eyes and see that what he said was true. When Jason had continued to pressure Simon to meet up with him, Simon had grudgingly agreed. Two short and awkward phone conversations later and here he was.

In a way, he felt bad for Jason. Or maybe guilty was a better word. Well, that wasn’t exactly right either, but…it was hard to define, really. Another sigh escaped him as he leaned forward to prop an elbow on the table, playing idly with the red, cloth napkin bundled around his silverware. Then he checked his watch again.

It was now two minutes past the arranged meeting time. Impatiently, he glanced around the dining room for his dinner companion and finally caught site of the man being led to the table. Much to his chagrin, Simon’s heart rate picked up a little bit at the sight of the guy. He was still as beautiful as Simon remembered. His body long and lean. Those hazel eyes were just as intense as they had been the day Simon had left him crying in his townhouse. The man’s hair was slightly longer, brushing his ears and the chocolate waves shining like silk.

Simon’s cock twitched in reaction, and he felt like cursing as their eyes met and recognition lit up in Jason’s multicolored gaze. The dark grey rings around the irises of his eyes seemed even more pronounced because of the dark charcoal of his shirt, and the green seemed more prominent today, whereas the golds and browns had taken precedence at their last encounter. He suddenly wondered what color they would be darkened with desire, but quickly pushed that thought away as he stood and thrust out his hand in greeting.

“Hi, Jason. How’ve you been?” he asked as he took Jason’s smooth, slightly damp hand into his own. The poor guy was apparently as nervous as Simon was, although he hid it well. He seemed like a completely different man than the one Simon had met months before.

Jason smiled and pulled his hand away after a second or two. Then he settled his tall frame into the chair across from Simon as he replied, “As well as can be expected. You?”

It struck Simon as odd that the two of them were sitting there, across from one another, and pretending to be so civil. A common bystander would never guess that they’d once been rivals in love.

‘You still are,’ Simon reminded himself firmly. ‘If this guy ever decides he wants Mark back, you’d better bet he’ll give you a run for your money.’

Pushing that thought aside, Simon picked up the menu he’d been ignoring until now and cleared his throat. “I’ve been okay. Life can be busy. You know how it is.”

Jason nodded without comment before picking up his menus as well.

There was an awkward silence between them for several minutes as they both pretended to study the menu while they waited for the waiter to come for their order. Every now and then, Simon would peek over the menu at his dinner companion and find the other man staring at him intently, like he was trying to figure something out. When Simon met his gaze, Jason would quickly look down at his menu again, as if it were the most interesting read.

By the time the waiter did arrive, Simon was seriously doubting his own sanity for putting himself in the situation, and had no idea what to order since he’d only been looking at the menu instead of actually reading it.

After another quick glance at the menu, he gave up and looked up into the waiter’s expectant face. The poor guy had been standing there patiently for a bit and Jason had long since placed his order, although Simon hadn’t heard it over the mess that was his brain. Finally he just shrugged and said, “I’ll have what he’s having, please.”

“So, Lapin fermier à la moutarde for you as well, sir?” the waiter asked.

“Sounds good,” Simon replied, wishing there was some way to keep the guy around even longer without being too obvious that he was stalling. As it was, he was fighting back the urge to glance over at Jason. He could feel the guy’s piercing eyes on his face, studying him again like he could see into Simon’s soul.

“Excellent choice,” the waiter announced before finally taking their menus and moving on to deliver their orders.

When Simon had no choice but to look back at Jason, he found a pleased smile on that handsome face. “So, you like rabbit too, huh?” Jason asked, and Simon’s eyes felt like they might bug out of his head.

“Rabbit?” he stammered in shock. He’d never had that before, and had honestly never had the desire to. For that matter, he’d never even considered that it might be on the menu. Still he was lucky he hadn’t ended up with snails when it came down to it.

Jason cocked his head to the side, an amused grin spreading across his lips. “You had no idea what I ordered did you?” he stated flatly. “Want me to call the man back so you can change it?”

That was sweet of him, but Simon was already embarrassed enough at that point. “No thanks. I’ll just have to learn to live with the fact that I killed the Easter Bunny,” was his off-handed reply. “Hopefully my unborn nieces and nephews will forgive me someday. I’ll just go buy one of those horrendous, emasculating costumes and bounce around for them when the time comes.”

Jason choked on the sip of wine he’d just tried to swallow as he let out a strangled laugh. Once he’d managed to swallow it the right way, he let his head fall forward as he continued to chuckle - a deep, rumbling sound that made Simon’s pulse race - and dabbed at his eyes with his napkin. Simon let out a little chuckle of his own, although it had a nervous, breathless sound to it that drew Jason’s attention back to him. The second their eyes met, Simon felt drawn into Jason’s gaze again.

“Sorry, didn’t mean to choke you up,” Simon said with a grin, trying his damndest to hide the effect Jason was having on him. It was no wonder Mark had had such a hard time leaving the guy. Hell, Simon already knew that Jason was trouble, and he was still having problems remembering that fact.

“I’m fine,” Jason replied, the moisture in his eyes making them sparkle in the dim light of the room. “You’re a funny guy. I can see why Mark likes you.”

“Thanks,” Simon said with a blush, not quite sure where to look. Within seconds, his eyes were drawn right back to Jason’s again. “I just hope the food’s good. I’m starving. Haven’t eaten since lunch and it’s been a long day.”

Jason nodded at that as a smile lit up his face. “Yeah, I know what you mean. I spent half the afternoon in conference calls. The only thing worse than a client who wants you to work for nothing is one who can’t make up their minds. The last little account I took on started out asking for a small ad, you know the type they stick along the sides of webpages online?” When Simon nodded that he did, Jason continued. “Well, he originally asked for something cute, like a simple one with baby animals, because his company retails grooming products. By the time it was finished, he’d changed it several times, and we ended up with a much larger ad depicting huge mastiffs kicked back poolside with martinis and dog treats. It was bizarre.”

“Sounds like it,” Simon shot back with a laugh. “Actually, I think I saw that ad the other day on some site or other. Did one of them have a cat in a bikini pawing at its back like it was giving a massage?”

“That’s the one!” Those amazing eyes seemed to glow with excitement as Jason dropped an elbow on the table and leaned forward, like he was sharing a secret. Simon’s eyes immediately dropped to those full, luscious lips still damp with wine. “I almost ate my ass on that one,” he explained in a conciliatory whisper. “Had to redo it from scratch seven times and spent way more time on it than expected. Unfortunately, the contract was set up in such a way that I had to live with it. Lesson learned.”

Simon couldn’t help but grin at that. Well, that or the almost boyish excitement on Jason’s face. He wasn’t sure which. Maybe the poor guy was just lonely. Either way, Simon really hadn’t expected him to be such a chatter box. “We had the same problem last year. We put a bid in on a construction project down south, around the state line, and it should’ve made us a pretty penny.”

“What happened?” Jason asked, real interest lighting up his eyes.

Simon shrugged and looked down at the crumpled napkin in his hand before releasing it and beginning to smooth it out again. “What can I say? Mother Nature can be a real bitch. It should’ve been an easy in an out job, no more than a few weeks in duration. An early snow storm put things on hold, then local flooding cost us three or four days. Add in another heavy snow…By the time we wrapped things up, we’d run over schedule by nearly six weeks and were in the hole by over five thousand dollars.”

“Ouch,” Jason murmured as he winced. “That had to hurt.”

“My dad wasn’t thrilled about it, that’s for sure,” Simon replied with a grin. Man had Nathan been pissed over that. Not that he’d taken it out on anyone. Those were just the breaks sometimes when working in construction. “That’s one nice thing about running a company that size, though. You can take a small loss here and there and not feel it too badly, as long as it doesn’t become an everyday thing. In the end, we just wrote it off as a loss for tax purposes and moved on.”

“Luckily, I don’t have any employees right now,” Jason admitted before taking another sip from his wine. “That’s probably a good thing. That way, I don’t feel like I’m letting someone else down by cutting hours if there’s a lull in business.”

“Have you ever thought of expanding?” Simon asked curiously. He didn’t know a damn thing about Jason’s line of work, really, but he’d enjoyed the ad he’d seen. Well, at least enough that he’d gotten a laugh out of it and remembered it. That normally wasn’t the case at all.

“I’ve thought about it a few times,” Jason murmured, a cute blush of color spreading across the hard planes of his cheeks. The man really could have been a model with that handsome, firm jaw and high cheek bones. He had the strangest urge to reach across the table and brush a thumb across one of them, but Jason's voice quickly pulled him back. “I probably will eventually, but for now I’m just paying my dues, building up clientele and getting some more experience under my belt.”

Simon couldn’t deny that he was impressed. Most people wanted it all today. Jason was apparently a pretty levelheaded guy when it came to business concerns. It was a shame that levity didn’t carry over into his personal life. “You ever decide to take the plunge, give my dad a call,” Simon announced with a wink. “We’re always looking for something to build. It’s what we do. You also won’t have to worry about getting screwed in the process.”

The drink Jason had been taking suddenly went down the wrong way and, for the second time that evening, he choked on his wine. His cheeks flushed bright pink as he fisted his hand and covered his sensuous mouth. Then, when he could take a breath again, he let out a delighted laugh and shook his head. “Well, that’s good to know I suppose.”

Simon grinned over at him, admiring the dimple making itself known on the left side of Jason’s cheek. Apparently choking looked good on Mark’s ex. Simon had to fight back another grin at his less than generous thought as he once again started fooling with the napkin on the table in front of him.

He needed to get his head back into the game. Somehow he’d managed to forget, if only for a few minutes, that he and Jason were definitely not friends. His weird attraction to the guy he could pawn off to his looks. That he’d so easily been drawn in by Jason, or that the two of them could slip into such a comfortable place so quickly, was something he wasn’t okay with at all. For that reason alone, Simon quickly started throwing up walls between them. After putting on a more composed face, he straightened in his seat and met the man’s gaze with a serious one of his own.

“So, what do you want to know about Mark?” Simon asked abruptly, cutting to the chase. “I’m honestly not sure what I can say to ease your mind that we didn’t talk about on the phone.”

Jason stared at him for a second, clearly confused by Simon’s sudden change in attitude. Then he cleared his throat and squared his shoulders ever-so-slightly. “Well, the thing is…I’m not sure what to ask now that we’re sitting here.”

The poor guy looked kind of lost and completely earnest. Simon sighed and shrugged his shoulders. “You already know he’s in school now. He’s doing well there, fitting in. He has a few friends that he talks to on campus. None that he hangs out with outside of school, though. He works a lot, studies a lot, and we go places occasionally when he has free time. Most of the time, we just hang around at my house and watch TV, have dinner, play pool…things like that.” Simon paused to give Jason a chance to speak, but the man was hanging on his every word and didn’t look like he had anything to say at the moment. “Mark’s car finally gave up the ghost. He bought a used one from Chandra’s boyfriend’s brother. It’s working out too.”

At the mention of Chandra’s name, Jason frowned deeply. “I’ll never understand what he sees in her. That woman is pure evil,” he grumbled as he picked absently at his fork.

Simon wasn’t sure what to say to that. Before he could think of anything, the waiter stopped in to drop off some bread at their table. Finally, Simon managed, “I’m not sure what you have against her. I’ve met her several times and she seems like a good person.”

“She hates me,” Jason announced with a sigh as he plucked a roll from the bread basket and set it on his plate. “I’ve never done anything to the woman. What I don’t get, though, is why did Mark go running to her when he left? I offered to help him out…You know? Give him some cash to set up his own place and get a better car? But he turned me down flat. Said he didn’t want my money. But hers was good enough. He was broke when he left, so I know she must have kept him up, at least that first week.”

It was hard to miss the resentment in the man’s tone. Still, it was pretty obvious to Simon why Mark would feel that way. “Well, you were his ex at that point, Jason. I mean, think about it. If one of your exes had offered to support you like that, wouldn’t you have felt like they were trying to buy you off, or like you would owe them something in return later? He probably just didn’t want to have that kind of thing hanging between the two of you.”

“Is that what he told you?” Jason asked, his eyes snapping to Simon’s face in what Simon thought at first was anger, but Jason’s next words belied that impression. “Because that’s not true. I owe Mark a lot. You’ll never know how much. And he had every bit as much right to some of that money as I did. He half supported me through college, did you know that?”

“Yeah, I think you mentioned it before, Jason,” Simon murmured as he leaned forward, placing a comforting hand on Jason’s and rubbed his thumb soothingly across the man’s knuckles. Jason’s eyes widened slightly at the gesture but he didn’t move to pull away. “Look, Mark didn’t say anything like that. That was just my take on the situation, how I might’ve felt. I agree with you here, but we both know that Mark’s too stubborn for his own good sometimes. He’d have rather slept in his car than take a handout from you at that point.”

Jason hmphed, a small, sentimental smile quirking the corner of his plump mouth as he looked down at where Simon’s hand still covered his own. Simon quickly pulled it back to his side of the table. He’d forgotten it was even there, and he wasn’t sure whether to be surprised or embarrassed by that fact. Jason watched Simon’s hand retreat, a sad expression on his face, like he regretted the loss of the comfort Simon had offered. Then he shook his head, as if to clear it, and smiled again.

“Yeah, I know how he is,” Jason said quietly as his attention returned to the roll in front of him, picking at it rather than eating it. “I tried to get it through his thick skull that we were supposed to be a couple, you know? As in together through thick and thin? Richer and poorer? All that crap? But he never seemed to understand. We had separate bank accounts. Separate insurance policies. Separate vehicles. Even the bills had to be separated out to nearly the dime. For that matter, we could hardly ever go anywhere because he always wanted to pay his own way. I had to push and push and push before he would give in. I guess it eventually became a habit and I took it too far.” A pitiful sigh escaped Jason as he paused like he was lost in his own thoughts and finally took a bite of his abused, now-misshapen roll.

Simon left him to it, not saying a word as their meal arrived. Even after their waiter had come and gone, he waited until Jason searched him out again with those intense eyes. Once he did, Simon tried to ignore the draw he felt as he picked up his fork and murmured, “I really am sorry that things didn’t work out between the two of you.” And the saddest thing was that he really meant it. Of course, that didn’t mean that he was going to toss Mark back into Jason’s lap. He loved the man too damned much to ever do that willingly.

“So am I,” Jason said, his voice heavy with emotion and his eyes sad. “I really didn’t deserve him, though.”

Simon didn’t know what to say to that either, so he didn’t say anything at all. The more time he spent with Jason, the more he understood why Mark had held on so long before giving up on their relationship. If anything, it sounded like most of their problems had stemmed from a twisted mixture of Jason’s insecurities and Mark’s stubborn ego. Again, he was forced to doubt his own judgment where Jason was concerned. None of the assumptions he’d made seemed to fit the man sitting across from him. It puzzled him, because he was normally a good judge of people. While it was true that Jason was undergoing counseling, that wouldn’t turn a frog into a prince anymore than it would turn an abusive bastard into the perfect partner.

‘You passed judgment before you ever met the guy,’ a little angel sitting on his shoulder chimed in accusingly as Simon took a cautious bite of the food now in front of him. ‘You were also hot for his lover, so you could have been a little biased and hasty.’

‘To hell with that,’ the fat little devil on the other side growled. ‘The guy’s probably just putting on a good show, trying to fool you with a nice guy act. The second your back’s turned, he’ll stab you with a knife.’

‘Doesn’t seem like an act from where I’m sitting,’ the angel shot back with a hmph. ‘Besides, he seems so sweet and earnest. Not to mention good looking.’

The little devil flew the angel the bird and crossed his arms across his chest stubbornly. ‘You’re such a sucker. Just go to hell.’

“Everything okay?” Jason asked suddenly, pulling Simon out of his delusions with a worried look on his face.

Simon let out a startled laugh at his own expense and shook his head. “I’m fine. Why do you ask?”

“You had an odd expression on your face, so I thought maybe you didn’t like the meal,” he explained as he turned his attention back to his own and took another bite.

“No, it’s fine,” Simon assured him with a sigh before taking another bite. It tasted a bit odd, but it was definitely edible. Things were feeling really awkward again and he suddenly couldn’t wait for this meal to be over. The way Jason was wolfing down his food and avoiding looking at Simon anymore than he had to, said that he was feeling the same way. It was just as well since they couldn’t really be friends. Right?

Simon’s initial instincts had been right. He shouldn’t have come here. Now he was just as confused as ever where Jason was concerned. Maybe more so. One thing had come from it at least. He was now pretty sure that Jason didn’t have some horrible scheme running through his mind. In a way, the other man seemed kind of relieved. Maybe his only motive had been to make sure Mark was okay, like he’d said on the phone? After all, in the months since the break up, he’d never once tried to contact Mark. He’d also kept it to himself that Simon had come to his home and demanded that Jason step aside and set Mark free.

Apparently Mark hadn’t been lying when they’d first met. At that time, he’d told Simon that Jason had some redeeming qualities, but it had been so easy for Simon to just condemn the man and be done with it. Not that he regretted anything he’d done up till now. He still held firm to the belief that Mark and Jason’s relationship had gone sour and needed to end. The only difference now was that he understood a little more about why. In a way, it was good he’d had this talk with Jason.

By knowing where Jason and Mark had messed up, he could avoid stepping into the same traps in the future. Simon and Mark also had one thing in their favor that Mark and Jason hadn’t. When Mark had been with Jason, he’d been bogged down in his own misfortunes and was on a track to nowhere. Now he had so many things going for him. Eventually, Simon and Mark would be on the same footing financially, and with Mark’s ego, that might be the one thing that made all the difference. If Mark had taken Jason up on his offer to help him return to college, things might have turned out so differently for the other two.

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Reviews would be appreciated. *hugs*