Chapter Text
"I love you."
The words fell off of his lips, so clumsy that he almost worried they'd get lost on their way to the phone. He mentally chastised himself, but could he really be blamed? In all of his years, Caesar had never said those words to a lover. He hadn't been sure he ever would, and yet here he was. He stared at his apartment's heinous popcorn ceiling, acutely aware of the silence getting longer by the second.
Desperate and self conscious, he forced himself to fill the dead air.
He cleared his throat. "So, well, there you have it. I've told you how I feel. But I swear on my life if you try to make me regret this I'll-" He sighed sharply. "Whatever. Just. That's all I wanted to say, okay? And I want you to come home. Come back, I mean. Or-"
He was interrupted by a short tone. 'End of message. To delete, press 7, or hang up to send message'
Well, he certainly couldn't send that. He sounded like an absolute mess. Luckily he could simply try again. Caesar took a breath, squared his shoulders, and pressed the seven key on his phone. He was just nervous the first time. This time, he would get it right.
The tone played again, and his mind went blank. "Hey, Jojo!" He said, sounding far too eager. "I guess I missed you. Missed you on the phone, I mean. Not that I missed you here. I- I mean, I suppose I do miss you, here, but that's not-" Caesar groaned.
7. Delete. Abandon ship. Third time's a charm.
"Hey Joseph, I just realized we haven't talked in a while and I just thought that I might drop a line and see how you were doing. Give me a call when you get a chance, yeah?"
Perfect. Nice and casual, no stumbling over words. He felt completely confident.
Delete.
"Hey, you're not mad at me, right? I mean, I know I didn't leave things on the best note, but-"
Delete. He stood, beginning to pace around his apartment.
"-I was just caught off guard! I mean, I feel like I had a right to act rashly, with you just leaving out of nowhere-"
Delete.
Delete.
Delete.
"-And you do you think you are, anyway? Not so much as calling for this long?! I thought you loved me!"
He stopped in his tracks and let out a deep sigh, feeling suddenly very drained.
"I thought you loved me."
Caesar fell back against the cushions of his couch, deleting the message and finally ending the call. He tossed his phone aside, wishing for the hundredth time that night that this task wasnt so impossible. He'd spent at least an hour arguing with himself about whether he should call in the first place, not even considering how hard it would be to actually talk to the man.
But he knew that he couldn't abandon the task ahead of him. No matter how grueling, it simply had to be done. He dialled the number again, mentally preparing himself to leave one last message.
"Caesar?"
He froze, voice getting lost somewhere between his head and his heart.
"Hey," he breathed.
Jojo chuckled on the other end of the line and God, Caesar felt his heart fluttering again.
"Didn't know if I'd hear from you again," he said, and Caesar could hear the way Jojo was smirking to himself. "Seems like its either a mile a minute or radio silence with you."
"Well, to be honest, I wasn't sure if you were going to either." He sighed. "Listen...I'm sorry. For how I acted when you left. I just...I don't know, I wasn't thinking clearly. I think I let myself forget that all this was temporary. But that wasn't your fault and it was immature of me to act like it was."
Jojo made him wait for a beat. Let Caesar anticipate the other shoe dropping and crushing him.
But when he answered, it was in that same bemused way he always spoke to Caesar.
"You know, that's the only time I've ever heard you apologize for anything."
Caesar let out a nervous laugh. "Yeah, well. Don't get used to it."
"Fine by me, just means I won't have to get used to forgiving you."
Caesar's heart skipped a beat. "S-so you're not mad at me?"
"Oh, I'm furious. Do you have any idea how bored I've been, hanging around my grandmother's house with no one to bother?"
Caesar was relieved this was a phone conversation, so he didn't have to explain away his delighted expression. He cleared his throat, trying to play cool.
"What a shame, I'll have to find some way to make it up to you."
"I'm sure I'll have plenty of ideas by winter."
"Winter?" He echoed.
His eye caught the movement of a moth as it circled the light on his kitchen ceiling.
"I was thinking you might like to spend Christmas abroad this year. Granny's already been drowning me with questions about this summer, she'll be foaming at the mouth by December."
"Jojo..."
"We could spend new year's at our villa in Venice, you'll be so sick of the Joestars by then. Well, with one exception, hopefully."
"You know-" Caesar interjected. "All this hardly sounds 'temporary', does it?"
Jojo's voice cracked a fraction when he spoke. "Well, 'temporary' isn't exactly a set duration. Maybe this one is just longer than others."
Caesar chuckled. "Well...," he hummed, dragging it out despite his joy at the proposition.
"Hey, I'm willing to come to you if you'd prefer it. Just thought you might appreciate a free vacation, but-"
"Venice it is."
Jojo laughed on the other end of the line, Caesar already counting the days until Christmas in his mind.
"Hey," Jojo said after a moment. "I'm serious, you know that right? Like, cutting the bullshit, I really want to see you again."
Caesar wasn't thrilled about the idea of a long distance relationship, but for Jojo, he may be willing to try.
He felt the urge to make another snarky comment, a new jab in their neverending match.
"I'm serious, too."
.............
"Can I have this back?"
Jojo frowned at Caesar before following his gaze down to his own hands. Caesar was fiddling with the long ribbon of fabric wrapped around Jojo's wrist, gently tugging at it with long fingers.
"What? No way, you gave it to me!"
Caesar's eyes flicked up to meet his, still as disarming as the day they'd met.
"And? I change my mind, I want it back."
"You can't just change your mind about a gift, that's nonsense."
"Well, I could take it with me for the spring, and give it back to you when you leave at the end of the summer."
Jojo smirked at him from across the table. "You want joint custody on a headband?"
"No. I want full custody, but im willing to compromise."
Jojo rolled his eyes, pulling his hand away from Caesar's to take another sip of wine. Caesar glanced around the restaurant, face shifting to slight annoyance.
"The service here is terrible. We ordered ages ago. The waiters aren't even looking at us."
"I don't think you're in any place to judge."
He feigned offense. "You've seen first hand that I have excellent customer service skills!"
"You have excellent service skills, at least. Dunno about when customers are involved though," He said, winking at Caesar.
Caesar started to respond, then simply shook his head and laughed. "You're so stupid."
"Love you too."