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Eric laid on the kitchen counter with his hands folded over his stomach.
He let his head dangle over the edge as he stared at nothing in particular, deep in thought. So deep, he barely noticed the door to the apartment open, nor Jack Hunter walking in with his bag slung over his shoulder.
It had been a week since they had begun living together, but they already had a few shenanigans to share between them.
“It looks like you’re getting comfortable.” Jack chuckled, standing in front of Eric’s distant face that was at stomach height.
“When do you think a stick was first called a stick?” Eric pondered aloud, not facing his new roommate.
Jack’s brows lifted, but he thought for a moment. “Probably when a branch hit the ground? And some guy went, “well that didn’t stick”.”
Eric finally turned his head sharply to him, eyes refocused despite the strange angle. “You’re so smart Jackie!”
He didn’t know at what point that week he began using that nickname but it quickly entered Eric’s lexicon.
It probably happened around the same time he started thinking about how cute Jack looked when he was grumpy, or confused, or excited. Eric just thought Jack was cute really.
Eric kicked himself in frustration since he first had that thought. Of course he latched onto whatever pretty person was standing in front of him at any given point. Since he was a preteen, Eric had been falling for girls who dumped him two weeks later. In his late, experimental teens, he spent a lot of time with guys who always said they “didn’t swing that way” in public.
Jack would just be the next in Eric’s long list of mistakes through no fault of Jack’s own. Eric could see it in his head already; he would pine and make a fool of himself with how obvious his crush was, Jack would be too straight to handle it but too polite to say anything so they would just become uncomfortable and distant until one of them moved out.
That or maybe they would try to make something work but then Jack would get sick of Eric, say he was too immature or “cuckoo” and call the whole thing off.
That was how it typically went for Eric, so that was the only possibility he could think of; that it wouldn’t work. He wouldn’t say he was jaded, just that he accepted his reality, so he didn’t want to subject those very lovely possible suitors to the heartache.
Especially not Jack. Not just because he was Shawn’s brother, but Jack was a really nice guy and they had a lot in common.
So Eric’s plan was to ride out his crush as least obnoxiously as possible until he got over it and he and Jack could just be friends. They had the potential to be really good friends and Eric didn’t want to ruin it before they even got the chance.
Unfortunately for him, Jack looked at an upside down Eric through his lashes with an impossibly fond smile and a blush at the praise. He shook his head and chuckled.
“Yeah, maybe you should keep me around.” He walked away to his room and left Eric to his suddenly very alert thoughts.
No, no, no, no, no, no!
Eric had seen that mushy face and head shake before. Jack could not be into him! At least not yet. Because when he inevitably figured out how messed up Eric was, it would make everything so much messier. It would be easier to part ways if they were just college roommates.
But if Jack liked him, or hell, fell in love with him, that would destroy both of them. Eric didn’t exactly make it easy for his partners. While, in his mind, he was easy to push aside when you were done with him, the heart break would be doubled when they fell out of love with him.
Couldn’t Jack wait a bit? At least one more week to really get to know Eric before getting attached?
But maybe Eric was just freaking out and was making a big deal out of nothing? Wasn’t it a bit full of himself to assume someone’s feelings towards him? He didn’t actually know Jack that well, so maybe Jack blushed and giggled around all of his friends? Or was he too warm from being outside? Maybe the blood was rushing to Eric’s head?
So Eric took a breath, settled his mind down before Jack came back in. Said roommate filled a glass at the sink, and just brushed past Eric’s knees.
“How was your day man?”
“No!” Eric sat up, which made Jack jump. “No…thing exciting. You?” Eric leaned back on his hands, completely casual and absolutely not freaking out. “What about you?”
Jack paused to stare at Eric in confusion. After a beat, he shook his head again. “Fine. It was nice to not have a camera in my face.”
“Yeah, Cory’s sorry about that. It was a missed opportunity though, Mr Photogenic.” That somehow sounded less flirty in Eric’s head. Jack’s blush deepened and Eric could have kicked himself again. Why did he say that? He was meant to keep it low key, not be too obvious. But the damage was done, if the blush that bloomed hotter on Jack’s cheeks was anything to go by.
“You weren’t too bad yourself.”
Shit! He flirted back. Eric's brain went haywire, and shouted ‘Abort! Abort! Abort!’ In his skull a dozen times. He scooted off of the bench and started towards the door, where he hurriedly collected his jacket, keys and wallet on the way.
“Sorry to love you and leave you, but I have to go… walk my squirrels.” Eric stopped to face Jack with wide eyes to wait for his reaction. Infuriatingly, Jack was unphased, and only raised his brows.
“Squirrels? Like, more than one?”
Why was that the only question he had? Eric waited for his brain to load fully so he could talk.
“Yep. For you see, I am the king of the squirrels, and my kin need me! Goodbye Jackie!” He ran out of the door before he could say anything else more bizarre.
“Have fun!” Jack smirked as he called out after his new roommate.
With that, the panicked Eric was gone, so Jack was alone in the apartment. Eric didn’t know how endearing Jack found his quirks and eccentricities. Tiring at times? Yes. But he found himself looking forward to what else they would get up to together.
Eric also didn’t know that he started to call Jack “Jackie” on their second day in the shared space.
Jack noticed, and his heart danced around his chest every time he thought about it.