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“Jack Zimmermann, you can’t possibly tell me that you of all people do not have an Instagram.” Bitty was leaning against Jack on his parent’s living room couch in Madison, having finally stolen some alone time with him while Bitty’s parents went to pick up his Moo Maw for that evening’s Fourth of July festivities.
Jack just huffed out a laugh and nuzzled his nose further into Bitty’s hair, relishing the novelty of their proximity after weeks of only being able to see Bitty over Skype. “I don’t know how you can be surprised at this point, Bits. It’s impressive enough that Shitty convinced me to get Facebook, let’s leave it at that.”
“But honey, Instagram is perfect for you! It’s all pictures! You don’t even have to put captions on them if you really don’t want to.”
As much as Jack wanted to just brush aside the suggestion, he was quickly discovering that he didn’t have it in him to deny Bitty anything. Besides, George had mentioned in one of their preliminary meetings that it would be a good idea for Jack to have some form of online presence for the fans to get involved with. Reluctantly, but still with a hint of a smile, Jack wrestled his phone out of his jeans pocket and handed it to Bitty. “Go ahead and set it up, but don’t expect me to use it very often, I’m not like you when it comes to this kind of thing.”
“Honey you take more pictures than I make tweets, don’t you start with me.” Bitty laughed, tapping away at the phone in his hand, and Jack watched in fascination as Bitty set up an account for him with practiced ease. He knew that what Bitty was saying was true, he had plenty of material to use, his resistance came more from all the variables involved in having a presence online. How much sharing was enough? How much was too much? What if people thought his photos were stupid? Or worse, what if people thought he was boring, just a ‘hockey robot’?
It seemed like Bitty knew just when Jack was letting his thoughts run wild, because he chose that moment to put the phone down on the couch next to them and slide fully into Jack’s lap, hands coming up to rest on the back of his neck. “Sweetheart, if this is too much we don’t have to do it today. Heck, we don’t have to do it at all if it makes you uncomfortable. But if you do want to do this, I’ll help every step of the way. You can even send me the pictures you want to post beforehand, I’ll be your Instagram editor.” Bittle smiled as he spoke, fingers carding gently through the soft hair at the back of Jack’s neck, and for what seemed like the thousandth time, Jack marvelled at just how quickly this boy had become one of the best parts of his life.
“I think that would help,” He admitted, hands coming up to rest on Bitty’s hips. “I know the team wants me more involved online, and I do like the idea of sharing my photos, it’s just a lot to adjust to. I’m not the best at sharing.”
Bitty shook his head with a small smile and dropped a kiss onto the tip of Jack’s nose before leaning down to pick up the phone again, but staying seated where he was, much to Jack’s relief. “Well that’s what you have me for, in case you haven’t noticed I’m very good at sharing.” He laughed, already focused back on the screen in his hands, and before Jack had a chance to chirp him for that comment, he added “Did you have any ideas for a username? I didn’t think you would want to go with Zimmboni or anything, I was thinking maybe just something simple, like ‘JLZ1’?”
The thought of how smug Tater would be if he used the nickname he had coined as a username was enough to have Jack shaking his head with a laugh. “That sounds perfect, Bits. No need to give Tater an ego boost, he’s doing fine on his own.”
After that, the conversation veered off into a rather involved discussion about which picture should be Jack’s first post, with him ultimately deferring to Bitty’s superior judgement. If it had been solely up to Jack, he would have been too tempted to post the picture he had taken of Bitty in the Haus kitchen while they were working on their final project together. The way Bitty had been beaming at him, eyes focused just above the camera and a smudge of flour on his forehead was too perfect not to share with the world, though Jack had to admit that he did like that he had that side of Bitty all to himself. In the end, they ended up agreeing on a picture from graduation that his mom had taken, Jack and Shitty in their caps and gowns, with Bitty sandwiched between them. And if it made both of them smile and flush thinking of what happened not an hour after that photo was taken, no one would be the wiser.
After that day, it became common practice for Jack to send Bitty a photo for approval in the middle of the day, or bring up his idea for a new post during their nightly Skype date. Unsurprisingly, under Bitty’s expert guidance, Jack quickly gained a pretty impressive following on Instagram, and for the most part people seemed to love the glimpses they got into the life of the mysterious Jack Zimmermann. It got to the point where George asked him one day if he had hired a media consultant, to which Jack replied with a laugh “I think he hired himself, actually.”