Chapter Text
“Oh, Jean!” Jeremy sang, dragging out every syllable as he bounced across the room to his (favorite) grumpy teammate. “Humor me for just a moment and listen.”
Jean slowly spun around in his desk chair and raised one dark eyebrow at his roommate while Napoleon, his service dog, bounded towards Jeremy to greet him. He bent down and ruffled his golden ears in greeting. Jeremy took Jean’s attention as a “Yes, I am listening,” and began to speak.
“So, you know how in the past all the Trojans usually go somewhere for Spring Break? Well, this year everyone wanted to fizzle out and go see their families and…” Jeremy trailed off looking at Jean’s face.
“And…?” Jean said, leaning back in his chair as he studied Jeremy who chuckled nervously. Napoleon got up from where he was sitting at Jeremy’s feet and trotted back to his owner.
“wellItoldmyfamilyIwasinarelationshipandtheywanttomeetsaidpersonbutsaidpersonisfakesocouldyouhelpmeoutbybeingsaidfakeboyfriend?” He spoke so quickly that Jean barely understood a word he was saying. His eyes were darting around, willing to look anywhere besides Jean’s face.
“That is a lot,” Jean said in a low voice.
“It’s fine if you don’t want to!” Jeremy exclaimed quickly. “I can just tell them the truth and come up with an argument to defend my honor. Or I can just say he’s sick or with his family. I mean, it’s not li–”
“Jeremy,” Jean interrupted. “I will do it.”
His jaw practically hit the ground in shock before his face lit up with relief. “Thank God for you! I’m taking you to dinner tonight and paying.”
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USC’s captain (and resident sunshine impersonator) sat across from USC’s toughest (and tallest) backliner at The Cal Zone. It was an Italian-American casual restaurant that served the best calzones in South California, hence the name. Napoleon was sitting by their table obediently, looking stunning as always. Jean poured some of his water into his dog's portable water bowl. Jeremy drank his iced sweet tea with a straw as he pondered on how he should tell Jean the exact depth of their situation.
Finally, Jean sighed and broke the silence. “I can hear your thoughts from here, so you might as well say them out loud.”
Jeremy had been thinking about what to say all day, but he still had no clue how to go about explaining this mess. “Okay,” he started. “Basically, my family thinks I have a boyfriend. Now you’re probably like ‘ Jeremy, how the fuck do you end up getting your family thinking you have a boyfriend?’ Well, I have a great answer. As you are aware, I have five siblings. The problem is that every one of them has something going on in the romance department besides me.”
“Why is that a problem?” Jean asked.
“This is a problem because when they asked me about it over Christmas, I may have freaked out and said that I have a boyfriend.”
“And instead of telling them you guys broke up, you just kept going with it?”
“Precisely.”
Jean shrugged. “Okay.”
“Okay?!” Jeremy exclaimed, bracing himself on the edge of the table. “That’s all you have to say?”
“Yes. When do we leave?” Jean said before he took a sip of his water.
“Tomorrow morning.”
Jean almost choked on his drink. “Tomorrow?”
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At eight the next morning, Jean and Jeremy stuffed their bags into Jeremy’s beat-up car, with Napoleon’s help of course.
“Why can we not take my car?” Jean complained. “I am not concerned about the engine failing every thirty minutes.”
“Why would we not take mine?” Jeremy responded as he closed the back. “Just look at this beauty.”
Jean stared at him with no emotion. “This beauty looks like it has been through hell and back.”
With his hands on his hips, Jeremy stood back and took in the sight of his beat-up yellow jeep-like car. It really did look like it had been through hell and back. “Learn to appreciate it.”
Jean rolled his eyes as they both sat in the front. Napoleon hopped in through Jean’s side and made his way over the console to the back. He stuck his head in between their two seats and huffed in the new spring heat. After they both buckled up, Jeremy put his key in the ignition and turned it. The engine rumbled for a total of eight seconds before stopping.
“You jinxed us,” Jeremy accused.
“Try to start it again.”
He took the key out, put it back in, and rotated it once more. His car was dead.
“No!” Jeremy moaned as he slid down in his seat. “My car…” He stayed in the driver's seat while Jean got out of the car and messed with the engine.
Jean opened Jeremy’s door. “We need to take it to an auto mechanic.”
“We don’t have time for that!”
“We can do that when we get back. Let’s put our stuff in my car and go.” Jean clucked his tongue and Napoleon bounded out of the car after him.
Jeremy got out and grabbed his bag while Jean grabbed his. “My poor car,” Jeremy mourned as they walked to Jean’s car.
The two of them dumped their things into the back seat of Jean’s sleek black Mercedes-Benz. Who would have guessed that he would have a thing for cars? Jeremy definitely hadn’t, and neither had anyone else on the team. He had to say that Jean looked pretty
sexy
cool getting out of that car. They settled into the front, and Napoleon into the back, and took off.
“Where am I supposed to go?” Jean asked.
“Oh!” Jeremy hadn’t even told Jean where his parents live. “Here, if you give me your phone, I can type it into google maps. They live just outside of Sacramento.”
“That is a six-hour drive!”
“It would be if you weren’t driving.”
Jean shrugged. What could Jeremy say, the man drove fast. He handed Jeremy his phone and he typed his parents’ address in.
After an hour of driving in relative silence, Jean pointed out the fact that he pretty much knew nothing about Jeremy’s family. This was true. The only things he knew about them were when they got a new dog or a car and what they looked like due to the pictures of them Jeremy had on his photo wall.
“Well, my mom owns a flower shop and my dad mainly runs the farm. My oldest sister, Jade, is married to Maxwell and they have two kids, Harper who is four, and Piper who is two. Jade is almost twenty-nine and she is a third grade teacher. Then we have Micheal, who is twenty-five and in his second year of medical school. He played exy in high school, fun fact. I also have three younger siblings–”
“Wait wait, let me catch up,” Jean interrupted. “There’s Jade, who is the oldest, who is married and has kids, and then there’s Micheal who is in medical school. Is everyone going to be there?”
“They won’t be there the whole time. Jade lives about an hour away with her family so they might spend the night once or twice, and Micheal has to go back to school on like Wednesday to help his roommate finish moving in. Then the other three who are younger than me still live there.”
“Okay…”
Jeremy’s heart beat a little faster. “You can still back out if you want!” He exclaimed. “I totally understand, it’s a lot.”
“No, no. I am just making sure I am on the same page.”
“Oh, okay. Just tell me if you get unsure or anything I mean–”
Jean reached over and stopped Jeremy’s bouncing leg. He completely froze under Jean’s touch, but his heartbeat definitely didn’t slow down.
“I am sure,” Jean reassured him. He put both of his hands back on the steering wheel and left Jeremy staring ahead, doing his best to not turn and make moon eyes at Jean. “Tell me about the rest of them.”
“Yes, uh, Carly and Caleb are twins and they are seniors in high school. They both run track and cross country. They’re probably going to get a scholarship to USC for running during this season. Then, there’s Marlee. My parents adopted her five years ago when she was seven, so she is twelve now. She’s the sweetest, but she can get wild.”
Jean hummed, showing that he was paying attention. “I had siblings back in France.”
“Really?!” Jeremy shot up from his slouch and turned to face Jean, bracing his hands on the console in between them.
“No, I just made that up,” Jean said, rolling his eyes.
Jeremy rolled his eyes right back at him and fell back into his seat. “If you ever want to talk about them, I’m all ears.”
“I am not ready to yet, but maybe sometime soon.”
He nodded quickly. “Yeah, take your time.”
Napoleon leaped onto the console and panted as he sat there, staring out the window. Jeremy reached over to pet the dog’s back without looking. His hand touched Jean’s, who was also petting Napoleon, and he almost jumped. He withdrew his hand and stared out his window until he fell asleep.