Chapter Text
Jake was bored. His life was boring.
It sounded sad, and it was. He was a best selling author, he should be basking in his fame. Jett setting with the A list celebrities that he met while touring for his newest book or out partying with the award-winning actors they got to star in those tamed down adaptations of his books. That would be his life if he didn't write under a pen name.
His writing wasn't ever about fame, just a hobby. He never thought it would actually amount to anything, hell he was horrible with grammar and autocorrect saved his ass on more than one occasion. It was in his senior year of high school that his English teacher, Mrs. Thompson, suggested he submit some of his works to be published.
He'd only done it in hopes to get a little extra money and was surprised that they liked his work and requested more, with the condition that he either got better at proofreading before submitting anything else. Thankfully for Jake, his best friend Ryan had a knack for that stuff and only asked for a bag of Funyuns as payment. Nowadays he gets paid way more than that but he does a bit more than just editing, "more like managing your whole career," as Ryan would put it.
He continued his short stories through college, he had every intention of becoming an English teacher himself, hoping to inspire teens the way his teacher had done for him. He had happily published those stories under his real name but those weren't the ones that gave him all those zeros in his bank account.
It had been for car, he can't remember what kind of car it was because it was sold before he got the check. The ad was in the back of some porn magazine his dorm mate had left laying out. Some days he wishes he'd have just jerked off like he planned and not get sucked into one of the erotic stories, which led him to the contest. $1000 for first place 500 for second and 250 for third for the best erotic short story, requirement between one and three thousand words. He had written the story in two days, it was some crap about a freshman in college getting some "extra credit" from his hot older professor. It was one of the oldest tropes in the book but he won, with comments from a judge saying his description of the woman's body had him "rock hard in less than 30 secs". He only won second place, Ryan to this day says Jake would have one first place if he hadn't been too chicken shit to allow Ryan to proofread it.
But that one story had spawned requests for more and erotica paid way more than the respectable publications. So he gave himself the pen name Quentin Beck and switched to writing full time. The exploits of that young college freshman and his adventures in the bedroom became his most popular series. He had a publisher reach out to him asking if he'd be willing to put all those stories into a novel. It had spiraled from there. One book deal led to the next, led to writing for porn shoots and then finally a major studio wanted to take his erotic novel series and turn it into a movie. A 50 shades for college kids. He didn't understand it and to be honest he isn't sure if he wanted it but the money was huge. Ryan said he'd be an idiot to turn it down. He never did finish that degree.
So here he sits pushing 40 with no degree, enough money he could live 3 lifetimes and still have some leftover and he is bored. He doesn't want to write erotica anymore, he wants to publish a novel under his real name, one that his niece and nephew don't have to be full-grown adults to read it. He would like to date and meet someone who doesn’t balk when they find out what he does for a living or freak out at all the different kinks he has written about. He hasn't done most of what is in his stories but he has a healthy imagination and there are plenty of ways to research.
He hasn't published anything in over 2 years and it's starting to irk him. He's taken classes in not just writing but art, history, acting, hell he took a fucking economics class just to stir things up (big mistake). He has a schedule he follows to keep himself active and not get stuck in a rut but still every day when he sits down to write he spends the time staring at the blinking cursor like it's mocking him.
So really it's no surprise when his sister calls him up and asks if he'd watch her kids for the summer. "Peter's mom broke her hip," "and his sister just had the baby," and finally, "Oh god Jake what am I gonna do? We both have to work." He had offered her money but she had refused, stating they needed their jobs longer than she would require their help and also something about some family coming from out of town and them all sharing shifts. What they needed help with was someone to watch the kids. John (5) and Kate (8) were too young to be alone and unfortunately with their Grandma being injured their parents wouldn't be able to enjoy the summer with them. So she asked Jake if he would house them for the 2 and a half months of their summer vacation. He had said yes immediately, one of the upsides to the money he had was that he bought a decent-sized house. 3 bedroom 2 bath and an office, well technically the office is a dining room but the kitchen has a breakfast nook which works perfectly well for all his meals.
Even though the guest bedrooms have beds, he doesn’t have much for kids to do when they are here. When his sister visited in the past, they'd usually brought their toys or books but the visits were never more than five days, they surely couldn't pack enough toys and games to play with for 2 months. He didn't spend much longer on the phone with Maggie, she had phone calls to make and she said she'd text him the flight details, so he’d know when to get the kids from the airport. Once finished, he decided it might be best to get a few things for the kids before they arrived.
Navigating the big box store is easy enough, signs and arrows pointing the way. What is not so easy is figuring out which action figure would be best for his nephew. Was he more of an Iron Man or a Captain America kinda guy? Thor’s always good too and he has a hammer. Or does he like Batman?
He's got the four characters lined up along the shelf, debating the merits of each and holding their ideals up against what he knows about John and what Maggie would want to be taught to her son. They aren't expensive and he could easily afford all of them but that just seems wasteful.
A pale slender arm slips past him and places a red and blue box next to his line up, "I'm partial to Spider-man myself but to each their own, I guess,” a soft British accent floats up from behind him.
Jake turns just in time to catch the tail end of a one-shouldered shrug accompanying a coy smile and the first thing that pops into Jake's mind is, "Cute, the kid is fucking cute."
Jake lets his eyes flit briefly over the kid, he’s just a few inches shorter than Jake, slimmer too and his face is so smooth that he couldn’t be older than 16. Jake’s stomach gives an uncomfortable twist, he hates being attracted to people underaged, he doesn’t mean to be and he’d never act on it but some are just unfairly attractive and this guy, kid, boy, whatever is one of those. He sighs internally to himself, responding dumbly, “huh?”
The kids eyes go wide for a moment, before he starts rambling, “I just mean, I overheard you which I know is very rude by the way but I couldn’t help it and you seem so invested in the Avenger pick for your son,” the small smile that had been forming at the kids words drops slightly and Jake opens his mouth to correct him but he just bulldozes on, “or daughter! I should say, I mean gosh do I feel bad about that. I am sorry. I shouldn’t just assume, considering, what I plan to do for a living. I’m trying to be better about stuff like that but it’s hard, you know.” He ends his little speech with another shrug and Jake is smitten. He’s sure everyone can see it on his face and he expects at any moment the cops are gonna jump out and arrest him.
“Oh I’m Tom by the way,” the boy says, holding out his hand.
Jake reaches out to shake it and it takes all his willpower to ignore how his hand just engulfs the younger man’s, “Jake and it’s my nephew, not my son or daughter.”
At that they both burst out laughing, it’s so weird and awkward but the laughter eases the tension, once they’ve calmed down.
The kid, Tom, slides his hand out from Jake’s and says, placing his hands on his hips, “Well I can still help, I suppose. Honestly, any of them are good but Batman is DC, not Marvel. If your nephew is a big fan you may never hear the end of it if you mix them up.”
“Duly noted,” Jake responds, grabbing the Spider-Man off the shelf and putting it in the cart, he doesn’t miss the large smile on Tom’s face when he makes his choice. He wants to talk to the kid more but he knows it’s a bad idea, he starts to say thanks and walk away but the boy pipes up.
“So is it his birthday or something?” his hands are stuck in his back pocket when he asks, the toe of his white sneaker scuffing against the linoleum. He sees the hopeful look in the kid’s brown eyes, he looks a bit like a puppy and Jake’s a bit of a goner on the kid.
“Uh, no,” he answers pushing the brim of his thick-rimmed glass back up his nose, “he and his sister are staying for the summer. I thought it’d be a good idea to get some stuff for them before they arrive.” Tom bites his lower lip while Jake talks, his brown eyes flitting up and down Jake’s body. He wants to puff out his chest, smooth down his oversized blue sweater so Tom can see he’s trimer in the waist than he appears, he tightens his grip on the plastic handle of his cart instead.
“That’s cool,” he says brightly, “is she a Marvel fan like her brother?” he points to the wall behind Jake’s head, “cuz Carol Danvers is pretty badass.”
Jake can’t help the smile on his face when he responds, easily getting sucked into talking about his two favorite people, “No, she’s more into Lego’s and art. She builds circles around me, I’m lucky if I remember to add windows to a damn square house. Kate, that’s my niece, is over there building a 2-foot tall robot with lasers and shit.”
“Oh man, she sounds like she’s mini Tony Stark, you might want to grab her one of those as well,” he’s smiling and chuckling along with Jake.
Jake raises a skeptical eyebrow at the guy, “What, do you work for them or something? Sneak up on unsuspecting customers and find ways to lure them to the dark side?”
Tom’s full-on laughing now, “What!?! No, I swear and that’s Star Wars.”
“See! You know way too much about this stuff kid,” Jake giggles, he literally giggles and he hasn’t done that in years, his heart feels so light and it’s so wrong.
“Oh my god,” Tom groans, clutching his side, fight back his own set of giggles, “I’m 23 for fucks sake!” he says rather loudly, getting cut off by an older woman scoffing at them and giving them a disgruntled look, pulling her small child away to the next aisle, It sets them off laughing again. The age revelation would have registered more if he hadn’t been focused on the woman’s scowl, the child’s shocked face and Tom’s flaming red one.
Tom calms himself down enough to finish, “I’m 23 for fu-freaks sakes,” catching himself just in time, adorably smacking a hand over his mouth, both sharing a smile over the almost slip, “I’ve been growing up, on them for the past ten years. I know enough.”
Jake grins, amping up to start quizzing the kid, guy. It hits him that he might have a chance and that this guy is an adult. And the thing is, he wants to talk to Tom, he’s standing in the middle of a giant warehouse store and he doesn’t want to leave. He’s so easy to talk to, face tipped up towards Jake’s, brown eyes soft and open, mouth pink and inviting, he could dive right in. He feels his fingers twitch to get at a keyboard or a pen, hell he’d take a pencil and a napkin right now to get this feeling on to paper.
Then two things happen at once his phone beeps and a blonde headed kid comes zipping by, “Excuse me, mister,” he says, reaching around Jake’s leg to grab a Thor off a metal hanger. And reality comes crashing back onto him and he has to get going. His phone was probably his sister with the flight details, he still has to get stuff for Kate and buy snacks, maybe some movies and games. When he focuses back on Tom, the guy’s looking at him with concern, “You alright there mate? Your face did a funny thing all of a sudden.”
It surprises a laugh out of Jake, “I”m sorry, I just remembered I have so much to do before they get here.
Tom’s eyes widen, taking a step back, “Oh right, of course. I’m, uh, sure you have a lot of shopping to do.”
Jake nods his head but he can’t get his legs to move, his mind replays their interaction all while telling himself, “he’s 23, 23 23 23 23.”
They both open their mouths at the same time, “do you wanna….?” “do you mind......?” They share matching smiles when they both say, “go ahead.” They start laughing again. Jake feels ridiculous. This can’t be real life right now. He bites down on his tongue to get himself under control.
“Tom, go ahead, please,” he keeps his teeth on his bottom lip to keep himself from laughing at the faces Tom makes while trying to control his own laughter.
“I just was asking…if I could tag along while you shop,” he bites his lip, hand rubbing the back of his neck, all laughter washed away by the onslaught of his nerves. Jake must take too long to respond because he begins to explain himself, “I mean I know a lot about Legos too and art supplies.” He trails off at Jake’s raised eyebrow.
He pushes his cart towards the Lego section without answering Tom’s question just lets the guy catch up to him, “Eh, you might be of some help,” he says as Tom comes to stand next to him. He surveys the selection adding, “I mean you're closer to their ages than I am.”
Tom scoffs, holding a hand to his chest, “I am offended, I can’t possibly be that much younger than you. Wait how old are you?”
Jake cringes, he walked right into that one, “Uh 38.” He pretends to look at a Lego City box set while watching for Tom’s reaction out of the side of his eye.
“Huh,” is all the reaction he gets, “Well it's not that big of a difference and besides age is just a number.” He picks up a set based off ninjas, flipping it over but it seems forced in the same way that Jake was just a moment ago.
He decides to skate over the subject for now, not sure if he’s more worried about being rejected or accepted at this point, “Anyway you’re still closer to their ages than mine.”
Tom nods his head, “True,” he says, “but I’m actually doing this to get to know their Uncle.” he reaches down and tickles the inside of Jake’s palm with the tips of his fingers, it sends a shock wave up his arm and his eyes bug out of his head, mouth gaping open like some dumb fish. At his reaction, Tom’s fingers slip away and he takes a step to the side, putting some space between them.
Jake grabs him quickly by the wrist, stopping him from going any further, “No it’s okay, I’m glad. I just was shocked. I want to get to know you too.”
Tom beams up at him, “Really?”
Jake hasn’t stopped smiling since they met and the smile on his face doesn’t seem to be going anywhere anytime soon, “Yeah really, I've been trying to figure out how to get your number without sounding creepy.”
Tom chuckles, “Don’t worry I’ve already got a new contact open and ready to go.”
Jake can feel the blush on his face, chuckling as well, giving the younger man’s wrist a light squeeze before letting go, “Alright, let's finish this and then exchange numbers. It’ll give me some motivation to quit goofing off.”
“Yes let's stop goofing off so we can get off,” Tom ventures, doing an obnoxious eyebrow wiggle.
Jake busts out laughing at him, “Oh my god,” he says, shaking his head at the younger man.
Tom visibly cringes, “That was bad, wasn't it?”
Jake still laughing at him, “Yeah, yeah it was.”
“Man, I’m sorry,” he apologizes, curling his lip in embarrassment.
Jake claps him on the shoulder, squeezing the muscle, “It’s okay, I like the sentiment, just wasn’t expecting innuendo in the toy aisle.”
“Yeah okay, I’ll lay off, for now,” he responds, nodding his head.
“At least until we’re done looking at toys for my niece and nephew,” Jake jokes with a grin, giving the man’s shoulder one more squeeze before dropping his hand.
Tom scans the rows of Legos while trying to wipe the smile off his face with his hand, “So, when do they arrive?”
“Well, honestly I'm not sure,” Jake answers, digging into his pocket, “It was sorta sudden. My brother-in-law’s mom broke her hip,” he finishes, pulling out his phone to check his messages.
“Oh man, that’s awful. I hope she’s alright.” Tom finds an interesting box of Lego’s with fighting robots on the front.
There aren't any from her so he puts it back in his pocket, “I think so, at least she didn’t sound too worried when we spoke. She was in a rush trying to get things sorted. She asked if I could take the kids and I did.” he shrugs, upturning his hands as well.
“That’s really nice of you and you’re going out of your way, getting them toys and stuff.” He holds the box out for Jake to inspect.
“I guess,” Jake says with a shrug, taking the box from Tom’s hands and reading the description “it’s not like it’s a hardship, I've got the time and the room at my place. It’s the least I can do.” He tosses the box into his cart, smiling down at Tom, “That one was perfect, nice pick, thanks.” Jake takes note of the blush of Tom’s cheeks at the praise.
“Come on old man,” he says, tugging at the sleeve of Jake’s sweater, “I’ll show you all the cool snacks us kids love nowadays.” Jake glowers at the back of Tom’s head as he walks off towards the grocery section. When Jake doesn’t immediately follow, Tom turns back to look at him, “Hurry up, this place gives out free fruit, you can watch me eat a banana,” he calls with a wink.
“We are still in the toy aisle,” Jake scolds, pushing the cart toward him.
“You are but I am not,” he says, pointing up at a sign over his head that says housewares.
Jake rolls his eyes at him, pushing the cart past the guy, turning it toward the fresh fruits and vegetables, “Come on kid, you can watch me eat a banana and I’ll swallow it all.”
Tom makes a noise of excitement, “Now that’s more like it!”