Sara (![[personal profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/silk/identity/user.png)
scripted_sra) wrote2009-03-03 05:14 am
scripted_sra) wrote2009-03-03 05:14 am
Fake News (FPF) | A Need For Reassurance | PG-13 | Jon/"Stephen"
Title: A Need For Reassurance
Fandom: Fake News (FPF)
Rating: PG-13
Pairing: Jon/”Stephen”
Content: References to a D/s-style relationship.
Summary: Stephen’s jealousy can occasionally get out of hand.
Word Count: 2,484
Disclaimer: All copyrighted material referred to in this work, and the characters, settings, and events thereof, are the properties of their respective owners. This work is not created for profit and constitutes fair use. References to real persons, places, or events are made in a fictional context, and are not intended to be libelous, defamatory, or in any way factual.
A/N: What can I say? Their relationship is oh so much fun to write. Thank you for the beta, Kelly.
Stephen was suspicious.
Jon’s new assistant was pretty—very pretty. The sort of pretty where, had Stephen and Jon not finally gotten together, he might have hit on her in order to overcompensate. (Jon had explained that that was why he had been harassing his interns. He’d then made him apologize to them and promise he’d never do it again.)
She was also very efficient, if the way Jon had marveled over her during lunch was any indication. (“My office is organized, Stephen. My office. Can you believe that?”) That had been unsettling.
Then, when he’d met her, Stephen very clearly saw how the young woman looked at Jon. It was evident: she wanted him. When you spent the last ten years, more or less, with that exact same expression on your face, you knew how to recognize it. He didn’t like this at all.
Jon had explained to him that he was bisexual—that he liked both men and women. Stephen still didn’t really think this made any sense: if you liked women, why would you bother with men? Besides, it seemed to him to be some sort of wishy-washy, liberal fence-sitting. They were at war; you had to pick a side. If Jon really was bisexual, what if he picked the other side? What if he decided putting up with Stephen wasn’t worth it anymore?
The thought kind of made Stephen want to cry.
He needed Jon. He loved him. Jon took care of him, helped him, made sure he didn’t get too out of control—it’d taken forty-four years, but Stephen was finally, actually, truly happy.
He’d be damned if he let some stupid little assistant ruin all that.
*
“Oh, Mr. Colbert!” said the assistant, surprised, as she walked into Jon’s office. “You scared me.”
Stephen was sitting at the desk, and he narrowed his eyes at her. “You have a key to Jon’s office?”
“Um, yeah, he gave me one so I could keep everything organized. Are you waiting for him? It’ll be about an hour.”
“I can’t believe he gave you a key. You’ve only been working here three weeks! It took years before he gave me a key!”
“Uh, why did you need a key? Didn’t you have your own office? And now—you work in another building entirely.”
“I just did. It’s not your job to question that,” Stephen snapped.
“I’m sorry,” she said. “I was just curious.”
“Listen, Angela—”
“It’s Amanda, actually.”
“Whatever. Listen to me. I know what you’re after, what you’re trying to do. You won’t get away with it. I won’t let you.”
Amanda blinked. “Mr. Colbert, I don’t—”
“Oh, don’t play innocent with me! I see how you look at him!”
“What?” Amanda asked, confused. “Look at—”
“Just back off, or you’ll regret it.” With that, Stephen stood up from behind Jon’s desk, glared at Amanda, and stalked out of the office.
Amanda stared after him for a minute, shaking her head.
*
“So can you get me a copy of—” Jon hadn’t even finished his sentence and Amanda was holding out a bundle of papers. He smiled. “Thanks.”
“No problem,” she said.
“Jon?” asked a voice, and he turned to see Stephen.”Are we having lunch?”
Jon blinked. He and Stephen normally only had lunch once a week, but this was the third day in a row that Stephen had dropped by the studio. “Uh, sure,” he said. “Meet me in my office?”
“Of course.” Jon blinked when he kissed him quickly. Stephen was usually a little more discreet about public displays of affection. “You won’t be long?”
“About five minutes,” Jon told him. He frowned when he saw the unpleasant look Stephen was shooting Amanda.
“All right. I’ll be there.” Stephen kissed him again before walking away.
“That was…odd,” Jon said aloud, confused.
“I...don’t think he likes me very much,” Amanda said.
Jon just shook his head. “I wouldn’t worry about it. Stephen can be…difficult, at first. I’m sure it’s nothing personal—he just doesn’t know you.”
Amanda didn’t look like she totally believed that, but she nodded. “If you think so.”
“I’m sure that’s what it is.” At least, he hoped.
*
“Do you not like Amanda?” Jon asked Stephen as they were having lunch.
Stephen didn’t meet Jon’s eyes. “Why wouldn’t I like her?” he asked.
“I don’t know,” Jon said. “That’s why I’m asking.”
“Do you like her?” Stephen asked, apparently trying for casual.
“Of course. She’s good at her job, and she’s very intelligent.”
“How much do you like her?” Stephen asked.
Jon frowned. “What do you mean, Stephen?”
“Like, if I asked you to, say, fire her, would you?”
“You want me to fire her?”
“I didn’t say that!” Stephen said hastily. “It was just a hypothetical question.”
“She thinks you don’t like her. Is it true?”
“I like her just fine, Jon.” He was still avoiding Jon’s eyes. “Since you apparently like her.”
“Stephen—”
“Did you see the new segment we started?” Stephen asked suddenly.
Jon frowned but let Stephen change the subject. He made a mental note to ask Stephen about this again sometime.
*
“Jon, can you—” Stephen stopped when he realized who was in Jon’s office. “Oh. It’s you.”
“Jon’ll be back in a few minutes,” Amanda told him.
Stephen gave Amanda an annoyed look. “What have you been telling Jon?” he demanded.
“What?”
“He told me you told him that you don’t think I like you.”
“But...you don’t like me,” Amanda said, looking confused.
“You’re not supposed to tell him that!” Stephen glared. “You’re just trying to come between us, aren’t you?”
“Mr. Colbert, I—”
“Save it,” he snapped. “Why are you still here?”
“I’m in the middle of—”
“Not in this office. Here in general. Why haven’t you just quit already?”
Amanda blinked, looking even more confused, if that were possible. “I...like this job. I like everyone who works here. And Jon’s a great boss.” She smiled.
Stephen glared. He didn’t like the way she said Jon’s name. “No one likes you. You should just leave.”
“What?”
“You heard me. No one wants you here. Least of all Jon.”
“But—Jon said—”
“Oh, and just what did Jon say?” Stephen snapped. “Jon’s too nice to tell someone when he doesn’t want them around. Why don’t you just take your long hair and perfect breasts and get out!”
He tossed one last glare at her before turning on his heel and storming out of the office.
*
“Stephen!” Jon stalked into Stephen’s office, clearly Not Happy. Stephen winced. “Did you try to fire my assistant?” he demanded.
“…yes,” Stephen admitted.
Jon gave him an incredulous look. “Why?”
“She’s not good enough, Jon! You just don’t see it!”
“Stephen, she’s an excellent employee! More to the point, she’s my employee! You have no hiring or firing power over her! What even possessed you to do something so ridiculous?”
Stephen looked down. “You’re mad at me.”
“Yes, I’m mad! I thought we’d established awhile ago that you couldn’t fire my employees!”
“I’m sorry, Jon,” Stephen said, chancing a look up. He gave Jon a wide-eyed, apologetic look. “Am I in trouble?”
“Yes,” Jon said decisively. “You know better than this. I’ll work out your punishment when we get home.”
Stephen nodded meekly. “I’m sorry.”
“So you said. That doesn’t change the fact that you really upset Amanda. What did you say to her?”
Stephen hesitated. “I don’t remember.”
“You’re lying to me now,” Jon said. He sent him a look. “Apologize to Amanda. After that, you’re not to talk to her again. Understood?”
Stephen gulped. Jon was using that tone. He nodded.
Jon sighed, shaking his head. “I don’t understand why you’re behaving this way, Stephen,” he said as he left.
*
Stephen’s behavior continued to confuse Jon over the next couple weeks. He continually made excuses to be around the TDS studio; he was constantly, well, clinging to Jon; and while he listened to Jon about not talking to Amanda, he still glared intensely at her whenever he saw her. Jon was used to Stephen’s neediness, but this was something else entirely.
The most frustrating part was that Stephen wouldn’t tell him what was wrong. He’d tried asking him multiple times, in a myriad of ways, but he always managed to avoid the subject. Jon was used to Stephen telling him everything; this was perplexing and even a little worrying.
“Hi, Jon,” Stephen said, walking into his office for lunch—fourth day in a row. He sat down on the couch next to him, curling around him almost possessively.
Jon took out Stephen’s sandwich, looking curiously at him as he passed it to him. “Stephen, why won’t you tell me what’s wrong?”
“Nothing’s wrong, Jon.” Stephen busied himself with unwrapping his sandwich.
“First you exploded at Amanda. Now you’ve started spending inordinate amounts of time over here. Something’s wrong and you’re not telling me what.”
“Maybe I just want to spend more time with you.”
“Stephen, we live together. We work five minutes away from each other. Why the sudden need to spend every second with me?”
“Are you saying you don’t want to have lunch with me anymore?” Stephen asked, eyes wide.
“No, and you know it. I just want to know why—”
He was interrupted by the door opening—Amanda.
“Don’t you knock?” snapped Stephen. Jon sent him a sharp warning look, and he muttered an apology. “She should still knock,” he said under his breath, his grip around Jon becoming distinctly possessive.
Jon rolled his eyes, giving Amanda a reassuring look. “I told her she didn’t have to bother knocking.”
Stephen gave him a betrayed look. “I thought I was the only one who didn’t have to knock!”
And then, suddenly, it clicked—had he been a cartoon character, he was sure a light bulb would have turned on over his head: eureka! Stephen’s behavior now made perfect sense to Jon. He was jealous. How had he missed it? “What did you need, Amanda?” he asked.
“Just wanted to give you these copies,” she said, setting them down on his desk.
“Thanks,” Jon said gratefully, and Amanda nodded back, quickly leaving the room.
“Stephen, are you jealous of Amanda?” Jon asked once she’d shut the door behind her.
Stephen pulled away from Jon, crossing his arms and looking down. “No.”
“Stephen.”
“Yes, okay? Yes! She’s cute and smart and wants you and you still like women and I’m me and what’s to stop you from getting tired of putting up with me and moving on to her?” He said this all in one breath. “I need you, Jon. Please don’t leave me!”
“Um, whoa, okay,” Jon said. “Stephen, first of all, please calm down. I love you. I’m happy with you. I don’t want anyone else, and I’m not going to leave you. Second, Amanda’s just my assistant. She doesn’t look at me as anything other than her boss.”
“Please, Jon,” Stephen said, rolling his eyes. “You never notice when people are interested.”
“I noticed that you were interested.”
“It took you ten years!” Stephen looked up at Jon, eyes hopeful. “You’re really happy? With me?”
“Of course I am, Stephen,” Jon said, pulling him close. “Why didn’t you just tell me you were jealous?”
“I don’t know,” Stephen said. “I thought it’d be easier to just scare her off.” He looked directly into Jon’s eyes. “I can’t lose you, Jon. I need you too much.”
Jon rubbed Stephen’s back soothingly. “You’re not going to lose me. I love you.”
Stephen clung more tightly to Jon. “I love you too.”
*
Amanda started when she saw Stephen walk into Jon’s office. Stephen gave her a guilty look. “I’m not supposed to talk to you, but I need to say something. Don’t tell Jon?”
She was wary, but there was something about the tone of his voice and his expression that made Amanda nod slowly. “Okay. As long as you don’t yell at me again.”
“I won’t. I just—you’re attracted to Jon, aren’t you?”
“Oh,” Amanda said, turning red. “Am I that obvious?”
“Just to me,” Stephen said quietly. He looked down at the bracelet on his wrist, toying with it. “We’re together. I’m his.”
“I know,” she said, her gaze following his. “Is that why you’ve been—because I have a crush on him?”
“Yeah,” Stephen admitted. “I just—I need him so much. I couldn’t bear the thought that—well, you’re young and pretty and—I’m sorry I was so mean to you.”
Amanda blinked. He actually sounded sincere. “Uh, thanks,” she said, offering him a small smile. “Look, Mr. Colbert—I think Jon’s great and everything, but it’s obvious that he’s completely in love with you. I wouldn’t ever try to mess with that. And it wouldn’t work even if I did.”
“How do you know?” he asked.
“He’s crazy about you,” she said, amused. “He talks about you all the time. I don’t even think he notices that he does it.”
Stephen smiled at that. “He does?”
“Yep.”
“I—” Stephen was interrupted by the door opening and Jon walking in.
Amanda saw Jon give Stephen a stern look, and she spoke up, “Stephen and I were just talking. It’s okay.”
“I wanted to—explain, and say sorry. For real,” Stephen said to Jon, and Jon nodded. “I’ll go now.”
“You don’t have to, Stephen,” Jon said, kissing him quickly. “It’s almost lunch time anyway.”
Stephen smiled widely, kissing Jon back. Then he turned to Amanda. “Do you want to eat lunch with us?” he asked.
“Oh,” Amanda said. “Thanks, but that’s okay. I usually eat with the interns.”
Stephen nodded, and Amanda felt that she should take her exit as quickly as possible. Considering the way the two men had been looking at each other, she had a feeling they would be wanting some privacy.
*
“I’m proud of you, Stephen,” Jon said, pulling him close. “You came in here and explained and apologized—thank you.”
Stephen smiled, leaning into Jon. “I was right, though. At least partially.”
“What do you mean?”
“She does want you.”
Jon blinked. “She does? No she doesn’t.”
Stephen sighed, rolling his eyes. “Jon, you’re attractive. When will you stop with this humble act and just own up to it?”
“It’s not an act, Stephen,” Jon protested, and then shook his head at Stephen’s expression. “It doesn’t matter if she finds me attractive, anyway. I already told you—you’re the only one I want.”
Stephen cast a sly look over at Jon’s couch. “Really?” he asked.
Jon kissed him deeply, backing him up toward the couch. “Really.” He kissed him again. “Want me to reassure you?”
Stephen sunk down on the couch, pulling Jon over him. “Please.”
Jon proceeded to spend the next half hour doing just that.
Fandom: Fake News (FPF)
Rating: PG-13
Pairing: Jon/”Stephen”
Content: References to a D/s-style relationship.
Summary: Stephen’s jealousy can occasionally get out of hand.
Word Count: 2,484
Disclaimer: All copyrighted material referred to in this work, and the characters, settings, and events thereof, are the properties of their respective owners. This work is not created for profit and constitutes fair use. References to real persons, places, or events are made in a fictional context, and are not intended to be libelous, defamatory, or in any way factual.
A/N: What can I say? Their relationship is oh so much fun to write. Thank you for the beta, Kelly.
Stephen was suspicious.
Jon’s new assistant was pretty—very pretty. The sort of pretty where, had Stephen and Jon not finally gotten together, he might have hit on her in order to overcompensate. (Jon had explained that that was why he had been harassing his interns. He’d then made him apologize to them and promise he’d never do it again.)
She was also very efficient, if the way Jon had marveled over her during lunch was any indication. (“My office is organized, Stephen. My office. Can you believe that?”) That had been unsettling.
Then, when he’d met her, Stephen very clearly saw how the young woman looked at Jon. It was evident: she wanted him. When you spent the last ten years, more or less, with that exact same expression on your face, you knew how to recognize it. He didn’t like this at all.
Jon had explained to him that he was bisexual—that he liked both men and women. Stephen still didn’t really think this made any sense: if you liked women, why would you bother with men? Besides, it seemed to him to be some sort of wishy-washy, liberal fence-sitting. They were at war; you had to pick a side. If Jon really was bisexual, what if he picked the other side? What if he decided putting up with Stephen wasn’t worth it anymore?
The thought kind of made Stephen want to cry.
He needed Jon. He loved him. Jon took care of him, helped him, made sure he didn’t get too out of control—it’d taken forty-four years, but Stephen was finally, actually, truly happy.
He’d be damned if he let some stupid little assistant ruin all that.
“Oh, Mr. Colbert!” said the assistant, surprised, as she walked into Jon’s office. “You scared me.”
Stephen was sitting at the desk, and he narrowed his eyes at her. “You have a key to Jon’s office?”
“Um, yeah, he gave me one so I could keep everything organized. Are you waiting for him? It’ll be about an hour.”
“I can’t believe he gave you a key. You’ve only been working here three weeks! It took years before he gave me a key!”
“Uh, why did you need a key? Didn’t you have your own office? And now—you work in another building entirely.”
“I just did. It’s not your job to question that,” Stephen snapped.
“I’m sorry,” she said. “I was just curious.”
“Listen, Angela—”
“It’s Amanda, actually.”
“Whatever. Listen to me. I know what you’re after, what you’re trying to do. You won’t get away with it. I won’t let you.”
Amanda blinked. “Mr. Colbert, I don’t—”
“Oh, don’t play innocent with me! I see how you look at him!”
“What?” Amanda asked, confused. “Look at—”
“Just back off, or you’ll regret it.” With that, Stephen stood up from behind Jon’s desk, glared at Amanda, and stalked out of the office.
Amanda stared after him for a minute, shaking her head.
“So can you get me a copy of—” Jon hadn’t even finished his sentence and Amanda was holding out a bundle of papers. He smiled. “Thanks.”
“No problem,” she said.
“Jon?” asked a voice, and he turned to see Stephen.”Are we having lunch?”
Jon blinked. He and Stephen normally only had lunch once a week, but this was the third day in a row that Stephen had dropped by the studio. “Uh, sure,” he said. “Meet me in my office?”
“Of course.” Jon blinked when he kissed him quickly. Stephen was usually a little more discreet about public displays of affection. “You won’t be long?”
“About five minutes,” Jon told him. He frowned when he saw the unpleasant look Stephen was shooting Amanda.
“All right. I’ll be there.” Stephen kissed him again before walking away.
“That was…odd,” Jon said aloud, confused.
“I...don’t think he likes me very much,” Amanda said.
Jon just shook his head. “I wouldn’t worry about it. Stephen can be…difficult, at first. I’m sure it’s nothing personal—he just doesn’t know you.”
Amanda didn’t look like she totally believed that, but she nodded. “If you think so.”
“I’m sure that’s what it is.” At least, he hoped.
“Do you not like Amanda?” Jon asked Stephen as they were having lunch.
Stephen didn’t meet Jon’s eyes. “Why wouldn’t I like her?” he asked.
“I don’t know,” Jon said. “That’s why I’m asking.”
“Do you like her?” Stephen asked, apparently trying for casual.
“Of course. She’s good at her job, and she’s very intelligent.”
“How much do you like her?” Stephen asked.
Jon frowned. “What do you mean, Stephen?”
“Like, if I asked you to, say, fire her, would you?”
“You want me to fire her?”
“I didn’t say that!” Stephen said hastily. “It was just a hypothetical question.”
“She thinks you don’t like her. Is it true?”
“I like her just fine, Jon.” He was still avoiding Jon’s eyes. “Since you apparently like her.”
“Stephen—”
“Did you see the new segment we started?” Stephen asked suddenly.
Jon frowned but let Stephen change the subject. He made a mental note to ask Stephen about this again sometime.
“Jon, can you—” Stephen stopped when he realized who was in Jon’s office. “Oh. It’s you.”
“Jon’ll be back in a few minutes,” Amanda told him.
Stephen gave Amanda an annoyed look. “What have you been telling Jon?” he demanded.
“What?”
“He told me you told him that you don’t think I like you.”
“But...you don’t like me,” Amanda said, looking confused.
“You’re not supposed to tell him that!” Stephen glared. “You’re just trying to come between us, aren’t you?”
“Mr. Colbert, I—”
“Save it,” he snapped. “Why are you still here?”
“I’m in the middle of—”
“Not in this office. Here in general. Why haven’t you just quit already?”
Amanda blinked, looking even more confused, if that were possible. “I...like this job. I like everyone who works here. And Jon’s a great boss.” She smiled.
Stephen glared. He didn’t like the way she said Jon’s name. “No one likes you. You should just leave.”
“What?”
“You heard me. No one wants you here. Least of all Jon.”
“But—Jon said—”
“Oh, and just what did Jon say?” Stephen snapped. “Jon’s too nice to tell someone when he doesn’t want them around. Why don’t you just take your long hair and perfect breasts and get out!”
He tossed one last glare at her before turning on his heel and storming out of the office.
“Stephen!” Jon stalked into Stephen’s office, clearly Not Happy. Stephen winced. “Did you try to fire my assistant?” he demanded.
“…yes,” Stephen admitted.
Jon gave him an incredulous look. “Why?”
“She’s not good enough, Jon! You just don’t see it!”
“Stephen, she’s an excellent employee! More to the point, she’s my employee! You have no hiring or firing power over her! What even possessed you to do something so ridiculous?”
Stephen looked down. “You’re mad at me.”
“Yes, I’m mad! I thought we’d established awhile ago that you couldn’t fire my employees!”
“I’m sorry, Jon,” Stephen said, chancing a look up. He gave Jon a wide-eyed, apologetic look. “Am I in trouble?”
“Yes,” Jon said decisively. “You know better than this. I’ll work out your punishment when we get home.”
Stephen nodded meekly. “I’m sorry.”
“So you said. That doesn’t change the fact that you really upset Amanda. What did you say to her?”
Stephen hesitated. “I don’t remember.”
“You’re lying to me now,” Jon said. He sent him a look. “Apologize to Amanda. After that, you’re not to talk to her again. Understood?”
Stephen gulped. Jon was using that tone. He nodded.
Jon sighed, shaking his head. “I don’t understand why you’re behaving this way, Stephen,” he said as he left.
Stephen’s behavior continued to confuse Jon over the next couple weeks. He continually made excuses to be around the TDS studio; he was constantly, well, clinging to Jon; and while he listened to Jon about not talking to Amanda, he still glared intensely at her whenever he saw her. Jon was used to Stephen’s neediness, but this was something else entirely.
The most frustrating part was that Stephen wouldn’t tell him what was wrong. He’d tried asking him multiple times, in a myriad of ways, but he always managed to avoid the subject. Jon was used to Stephen telling him everything; this was perplexing and even a little worrying.
“Hi, Jon,” Stephen said, walking into his office for lunch—fourth day in a row. He sat down on the couch next to him, curling around him almost possessively.
Jon took out Stephen’s sandwich, looking curiously at him as he passed it to him. “Stephen, why won’t you tell me what’s wrong?”
“Nothing’s wrong, Jon.” Stephen busied himself with unwrapping his sandwich.
“First you exploded at Amanda. Now you’ve started spending inordinate amounts of time over here. Something’s wrong and you’re not telling me what.”
“Maybe I just want to spend more time with you.”
“Stephen, we live together. We work five minutes away from each other. Why the sudden need to spend every second with me?”
“Are you saying you don’t want to have lunch with me anymore?” Stephen asked, eyes wide.
“No, and you know it. I just want to know why—”
He was interrupted by the door opening—Amanda.
“Don’t you knock?” snapped Stephen. Jon sent him a sharp warning look, and he muttered an apology. “She should still knock,” he said under his breath, his grip around Jon becoming distinctly possessive.
Jon rolled his eyes, giving Amanda a reassuring look. “I told her she didn’t have to bother knocking.”
Stephen gave him a betrayed look. “I thought I was the only one who didn’t have to knock!”
And then, suddenly, it clicked—had he been a cartoon character, he was sure a light bulb would have turned on over his head: eureka! Stephen’s behavior now made perfect sense to Jon. He was jealous. How had he missed it? “What did you need, Amanda?” he asked.
“Just wanted to give you these copies,” she said, setting them down on his desk.
“Thanks,” Jon said gratefully, and Amanda nodded back, quickly leaving the room.
“Stephen, are you jealous of Amanda?” Jon asked once she’d shut the door behind her.
Stephen pulled away from Jon, crossing his arms and looking down. “No.”
“Stephen.”
“Yes, okay? Yes! She’s cute and smart and wants you and you still like women and I’m me and what’s to stop you from getting tired of putting up with me and moving on to her?” He said this all in one breath. “I need you, Jon. Please don’t leave me!”
“Um, whoa, okay,” Jon said. “Stephen, first of all, please calm down. I love you. I’m happy with you. I don’t want anyone else, and I’m not going to leave you. Second, Amanda’s just my assistant. She doesn’t look at me as anything other than her boss.”
“Please, Jon,” Stephen said, rolling his eyes. “You never notice when people are interested.”
“I noticed that you were interested.”
“It took you ten years!” Stephen looked up at Jon, eyes hopeful. “You’re really happy? With me?”
“Of course I am, Stephen,” Jon said, pulling him close. “Why didn’t you just tell me you were jealous?”
“I don’t know,” Stephen said. “I thought it’d be easier to just scare her off.” He looked directly into Jon’s eyes. “I can’t lose you, Jon. I need you too much.”
Jon rubbed Stephen’s back soothingly. “You’re not going to lose me. I love you.”
Stephen clung more tightly to Jon. “I love you too.”
Amanda started when she saw Stephen walk into Jon’s office. Stephen gave her a guilty look. “I’m not supposed to talk to you, but I need to say something. Don’t tell Jon?”
She was wary, but there was something about the tone of his voice and his expression that made Amanda nod slowly. “Okay. As long as you don’t yell at me again.”
“I won’t. I just—you’re attracted to Jon, aren’t you?”
“Oh,” Amanda said, turning red. “Am I that obvious?”
“Just to me,” Stephen said quietly. He looked down at the bracelet on his wrist, toying with it. “We’re together. I’m his.”
“I know,” she said, her gaze following his. “Is that why you’ve been—because I have a crush on him?”
“Yeah,” Stephen admitted. “I just—I need him so much. I couldn’t bear the thought that—well, you’re young and pretty and—I’m sorry I was so mean to you.”
Amanda blinked. He actually sounded sincere. “Uh, thanks,” she said, offering him a small smile. “Look, Mr. Colbert—I think Jon’s great and everything, but it’s obvious that he’s completely in love with you. I wouldn’t ever try to mess with that. And it wouldn’t work even if I did.”
“How do you know?” he asked.
“He’s crazy about you,” she said, amused. “He talks about you all the time. I don’t even think he notices that he does it.”
Stephen smiled at that. “He does?”
“Yep.”
“I—” Stephen was interrupted by the door opening and Jon walking in.
Amanda saw Jon give Stephen a stern look, and she spoke up, “Stephen and I were just talking. It’s okay.”
“I wanted to—explain, and say sorry. For real,” Stephen said to Jon, and Jon nodded. “I’ll go now.”
“You don’t have to, Stephen,” Jon said, kissing him quickly. “It’s almost lunch time anyway.”
Stephen smiled widely, kissing Jon back. Then he turned to Amanda. “Do you want to eat lunch with us?” he asked.
“Oh,” Amanda said. “Thanks, but that’s okay. I usually eat with the interns.”
Stephen nodded, and Amanda felt that she should take her exit as quickly as possible. Considering the way the two men had been looking at each other, she had a feeling they would be wanting some privacy.
“I’m proud of you, Stephen,” Jon said, pulling him close. “You came in here and explained and apologized—thank you.”
Stephen smiled, leaning into Jon. “I was right, though. At least partially.”
“What do you mean?”
“She does want you.”
Jon blinked. “She does? No she doesn’t.”
Stephen sighed, rolling his eyes. “Jon, you’re attractive. When will you stop with this humble act and just own up to it?”
“It’s not an act, Stephen,” Jon protested, and then shook his head at Stephen’s expression. “It doesn’t matter if she finds me attractive, anyway. I already told you—you’re the only one I want.”
Stephen cast a sly look over at Jon’s couch. “Really?” he asked.
Jon kissed him deeply, backing him up toward the couch. “Really.” He kissed him again. “Want me to reassure you?”
Stephen sunk down on the couch, pulling Jon over him. “Please.”
Jon proceeded to spend the next half hour doing just that.
no subject