Work Text:
JB could hear the clock on the wall ticking quietly. Each tick echoing louder and louder in her head, making the passage of time seem even slower. She glanced over to the boy sitting on the bed, grossly engaged in the book across his lap. He seemed so focused on the story and she felt tired just looking at him, so she shifted her attention to the other boy sketching on the floor next to her. She stretched her neck slightly trying to sneak a peek at whatever he was working on, but was denied as he shifted his sketchbook out of sight. She leaned back and sighed loudly hoping that she could get her dissatisfaction across towards the others. When she didn’t get a reaction, she leaped up from her spot and made her way towards the bed.
“ Enough is enough, how long do you two plan on sitting here in silence?” she asked, pulling the book out of Jeremy's lap. He didn’t even make a move to snatch it from her as he leaned back against his pillows. Pran didn’t even bother glancing up from his work as she set the book on the desk beside him.
“We told you that you wouldn’t want to come. Not our fault that you ignored us.” Jeremy replied. “This is what we do on weekends.”
JB pulled herself up onto his bed, ignoring the grimace on his face as she leaned against him. “Exactly that’s what you two do on weekends together, but now this twosome is a threesome. It’s time to change things up.” It was so rare that she found time to hang around both of her boys at the same time, and she certainly wasn’t going to let that time go to waste.
Jeremy sighed, scooting himself slightly on the bed to put some space between himself and JB. “I don’t want to do anything else.” he sighed. “Do you even have anything in mind?”
“You honestly wouldn’t like any of my ideas on how to waste time” she replied with a smirk. It wasn’t like she had anything crazy in mind, but a girl alone in a room with her boyfriends? The possibilities were endless. Except for Jeremy’s aversion to her touch, Pran’s unwillingness to cooperate and the fact that Mrs.King seemed to pop her head in every couple of minutes to see if any snacks were needed. She glanced around the room searching for something that could save her from another torturing moment of silence, when she eyed a stack of movies on his desk.
“Okay, how about a movie?” she asked as she headed over toward the desk, carefully stepping over Pran’s legs. “It can be an animated movie so Pran can appreciate the “art”, and it’ll be dark so you can fall asleep Jerebear.” She clutched one of the movies to her chest and smiled at the two boys.
“What’s in it for you?” Pran asked looking at her suspiciously. She gasped, turning her head to the side in mock hurt.
“Can’t I do something for my two favorite boys without benefiting in any way?” she asked looking at them with a pout on her face. She could tell immediately that neither Jeremy nor Pran were falling for this. She sighed and gave up the charade, leaning back on the desk. “Alright fine, I benefit from this because literally anything is better than sitting in this room in silence. Also I can’t think of anything better than curling up with you guys and watching a movie.”
“You think that’s the best use of our time?” Jeremy questioned pulling his legs so they dangled on the side of his bed.
She smiled at him, “ I could think of some worse things if you’d like.”
His only response was a simple, “eugh” and a blush before he grabbed the DVD case from her hands and headed out the door. Since it seemed that Jeremy was at least on board for now, she turned towards Pran still sketching on the floor.
“Come on, I’m not going to watch the movie without you Panda.” she said. “It won’t kill you to step away from the sketch book for a couple hours.” She made a move to grab the book from his hands, but he held tightly to it and glared up at her.
He shut his sketch book and placed in on the floor beside himself. “I’m not going.”
“Yes you are, I don’t want to watch a movie without you.” she replied sitting down in front of him. “Plus it’s kind of a crappy thing to do to send Jeremy off to watch a movie on his own.”
He shrugged and leaned his back against the bed. “I don’t care.”
JB sat back for a moment trying to analyze the situation when it dawned on her. She smiled at Pran, placing her hand lightly on his outstretched leg. “Oh Pran, if you wanted some alone time with me, all you had to do was ask. You didn’t have to go through all the trouble of seeming uninterested in the movie.”
He looked at her confused, and she took this as permission to continue. “ I mean I never knew you were into something like this. Fooling around when at any moment Jeremy could walk in an-” she stopped mid sentence as Pran stood up from the floor and headed out the room. She poked her head out to make sure he was headed to the living room before she let herself smile, it was almost too easy.
Still she knew they would probably start without her if she didn’t hurry, so she rushed out to follow them. She found Jeremy in the kitchen attempting to reach a large bowl from the top shelf in the cabinet. She slipped into the space beside him and effortless obtained the bowl placing it on the counter in front of him.
He sighed, before turning to her. “ I could have grabbed that myself you know.” He busied himself opening the bag of popcorn and placing it into the microwave.
JB simply smiled at him, “I just like helping my darling boyfriend”
“Yeah, whatever.” he replied entering the time into the microwave.
“Speaking of my darling boyfriend” she leaned over toward the sink turning on the faucet. “ I think I should probably scrub my hands real clean. Making sure those germs are long gone.” She glanced over at him and smiled. “Are you catching my drift?”
He shook his head and smiled at her ridiculous antics. “Yeah, sadly.” Just then the microwave went off, pulling his attention to the other side of the room.
JB grabbed a fresh towel off the roll to dry her hands, and handed the bowl on the counter to Jeremy. “So I’m not hearing a rejection, does that mean I have the okay?” she asked hopefully.
He dumped the contents of the bag into the bowl, gnawing slightly on his lip as he thought of his answer. “Alright fine. Only for the movie.”
“Works for me, come on Jerebear, I doubt Pran appreciates having to wait so long for us.” she said, reaching over and grasping his hand. She dragged him down the hallway towards the living room where she saw the DVD had already been set up.
Jeremy leaned over and set the bowl of popcorn down on the coffee table before taking a seat on the couch. JB eased into the spot between the boys, reaching for the blanket draped on the back of the couch. Once she managed to get the blanket situated comfortably across all their laps, she reached over and linked her fingers with Jeremy's and shifted her weight to press comfortably against Prans side. Feeling him tense up she smirked up at him and asked in a teasing tone, “You don’t care right?”
He kept his eyes on the screen, but relaxed his posture slightly as he slipped his arm to rest on the back of the couch. JB smiled to herself at her new situation. Was their relationship perfect? No. But it was certainly interesting and she was willingly to put up with every quirk they had just for moments like these.
Her thoughts were interrupted as Mrs.King entered the room wielding a camera in her hands. “I know you kids wanted some privacy, but I couldn’t help but walk past. And you three look so adorable, I can’t let this moment go to waste.” The room was then filled with the sounds of the flashing camera and Jeremy's protests as JB leaned back and laughed.
Yeah. She lived for moments like these.