Small World
Title: Small World
Characters: Jude/Max
Fandom: Across the Universe
Rating: PG-13
Table: 11
Prompt: 42, Rome
Author's Note: This is entirely a product of imagination, and I do not own Jude Feeny, Max Carrigan, or any of the other characters depicted in the film Across the Universe.
"Is that somewhere you'd like to go?" Max asked, his breath warm against Jude's neck as he bent down to press a kiss against his boyfriend's shoulder. Jude was looking at a magazine that depicted the sculptures of ancient Rome, set against a backdrop of red velvet.
Jude nodded, glancing up at his lover as Max went across the room to disappear into the kitchen. He was lying on his stomach on the couch, idly flipping the magazine's pages, taking in all of the beautiful artwork that was like manna from heaven to him.
"I'd love to go and see all of this," he said, raising his voice slightly so that Max could hear him from where he was in the kitchen. "All this antiquity, all this classic art. It's beautiful." He wondered if Max appreciated the art in the same way that he did, or was just making conversation.
"You know I don't know all that much about art," Max told him, appearing in the kitchen doorway with a cold beer in one hand, holding another out to Jude. "But I like what I see there. A few years ago, I'd have said it looked old and dusty and boring. Now I think it looks interesting."
"That's what you get for living with an artist," Jude said with a laugh, taking the beer from his boyfriend as Max sank down onto the floor next to the couch in a cross-legged position. "If nothing else, I can at least say that I've given you an appreciation for classic art."
"Hey, I always had an appreciation for it!" Max protested, laughing and shaking his head. His blond hair fell into his eyes, and he pushed it back impatiently in the gesture that Jude had come to love. "I just didn't know anything about it until I met you."
"Do you think going to Rome would be a cool trip for us to take?" Jude asked, knowing full well that they'd never do anything of the sort. He didn't have a passport; he was in this country illegally. There was no way he would be going to another country on a pleasure trip.
"Sure, it would be," Max said, looking up at him before taking a swallow of his beer. "But it wouldn't be cool for you to end up in an Athenian prison. Or an American one. And it definitely wouldn't be cool for you to end up back in Liverpool and away from me."
Jude nodded, sighing softly and closing his eyes. Maybe it had been foolish for him to leave his home city the way he had; he should have waited until he could save up the money for a passport so that he could be here in the States legally, with no worries about being sent back.
But if he'd waited until then, he would never have met Max. This man probably would have found someone else to be with by then -- and he could even be hiding behind the veil of respectability that his family would have forced on him, and be married to some horrible woman.
Jude shuddered at the thought; Max saw the movement, and reached out a hand to his boyfriend. His soft fingertips stroked Jude's cheek; their gazes met and held, before Jude finally dropped his eyes to look at the pictures in the magazine again.
"We'll never be able to go to a place like Rome," he said quietly, shaking his head. "We'll never really be able to go anywhere that's outside of the States. Not as long as I'm here illegally. We'll have to be careful of any place we try to go. And that's my fault."
Max shook his head, negating Jude's words. "It's not your fault, babe," he said softly, his hand still resting on Jude's cheek, then moving to stroke through his hair. "If you hadn't come here illegally, you might not have been able to do it for years."
Jude nodded reluctantly, knowing that the words were true -- hadn't he been thinking the very same thing himself, only moments before? If he had waited until he could afford to come to the States, he'd probably have been an old man by then, and his father would have been long dead.
Not that the whole plan of looking for his father had accomplished much of anything, he thought with an unaccustomed rush of bitterness. He had thought that he would find someone who could give him closure; instead; all he'd found was a mere mortal with feet of clay.
Maybe he shouldn't have expected so much of his father, he told himself. His mother certainly hadn't; she was the one who'd been the wiser of the two of them. He'd held on to dreams that never should have existed, living in a house of cards that had come tumbling to the ground.
He'd lived in that house of cards for so long that it had been one of the hardest experiences in the world to let his dreams of actually having a father in his life go. But he'd done it after he was faced with a man who had left him and his mother behind long ago.
Of course, his father hadn't even known he existed. His mother had been nothing more than a fling to the man -- but Jude couldn't bring himself to hate the man who was a part of him. He could pity that man, but he couldn't hate him. He had, after all, been part of bringing Jude into existence.
And if he hadn't gone back to America, then Jude would never have gone there himself -- and he wouldn't have a wonderful man like Max Carrigan in his life. He wouldn't have found true love, and known the pure and utter happiness that it could bring.
His father obviously didn't have that kind of love in his life. He might have a family, but he wasn't even close to having the kind of love that Jude had. And that was yet another reason to pity the man. He could have had so much more than what he did, but he'd thrown it all away.
His father would never go beyond the little world he'd created for himself -- and world that Jude and his mother were no longer a part of, if they ever had been. But Jude knew that there were bigger and better horizons out there for himself and Max.
One day, he would be able to travel to faraway places like Rome. He and Max would see the Parthenon, and all of these works of art that for the time being could only be pictures in a glossy magazine for him. One day, their world would grow and change.
Jude didn't know how or when that would happen, but he knew that he had to have faith that it would. He wasn't going to settle for the small, restrictive world that his father lived in; he wasn't going to hold himself back and say that he couldn't do all of the things that he wanted to do.
That would be a self-fulfilling prophecy. He'd seen it happen with his mother, and several of his friends back in Liverpool. It wasn't going to happen to him, he told himself fiercely. He and Max had their whole lives ahead of them. And they were going to live those lives to the fullest.
"We might not ever be able to go to Rome," he said softly, facing Max and looking directly into that intense blue gaze. "But you know something? Even if we don't, I'm happy just being here with you and living our lives together. I don't need to be anywhere else."
Max leaned forward and brushed his lips against Jude's, the kiss a gentle promise for their future together. Within moments, Max had gotten up off the floor and was on the couch, the two of them melting into each other and creating their own small world where only the two of them existed.
Characters: Jude/Max
Fandom: Across the Universe
Rating: PG-13
Table: 11
Prompt: 42, Rome
Author's Note: This is entirely a product of imagination, and I do not own Jude Feeny, Max Carrigan, or any of the other characters depicted in the film Across the Universe.
"Is that somewhere you'd like to go?" Max asked, his breath warm against Jude's neck as he bent down to press a kiss against his boyfriend's shoulder. Jude was looking at a magazine that depicted the sculptures of ancient Rome, set against a backdrop of red velvet.
Jude nodded, glancing up at his lover as Max went across the room to disappear into the kitchen. He was lying on his stomach on the couch, idly flipping the magazine's pages, taking in all of the beautiful artwork that was like manna from heaven to him.
"I'd love to go and see all of this," he said, raising his voice slightly so that Max could hear him from where he was in the kitchen. "All this antiquity, all this classic art. It's beautiful." He wondered if Max appreciated the art in the same way that he did, or was just making conversation.
"You know I don't know all that much about art," Max told him, appearing in the kitchen doorway with a cold beer in one hand, holding another out to Jude. "But I like what I see there. A few years ago, I'd have said it looked old and dusty and boring. Now I think it looks interesting."
"That's what you get for living with an artist," Jude said with a laugh, taking the beer from his boyfriend as Max sank down onto the floor next to the couch in a cross-legged position. "If nothing else, I can at least say that I've given you an appreciation for classic art."
"Hey, I always had an appreciation for it!" Max protested, laughing and shaking his head. His blond hair fell into his eyes, and he pushed it back impatiently in the gesture that Jude had come to love. "I just didn't know anything about it until I met you."
"Do you think going to Rome would be a cool trip for us to take?" Jude asked, knowing full well that they'd never do anything of the sort. He didn't have a passport; he was in this country illegally. There was no way he would be going to another country on a pleasure trip.
"Sure, it would be," Max said, looking up at him before taking a swallow of his beer. "But it wouldn't be cool for you to end up in an Athenian prison. Or an American one. And it definitely wouldn't be cool for you to end up back in Liverpool and away from me."
Jude nodded, sighing softly and closing his eyes. Maybe it had been foolish for him to leave his home city the way he had; he should have waited until he could save up the money for a passport so that he could be here in the States legally, with no worries about being sent back.
But if he'd waited until then, he would never have met Max. This man probably would have found someone else to be with by then -- and he could even be hiding behind the veil of respectability that his family would have forced on him, and be married to some horrible woman.
Jude shuddered at the thought; Max saw the movement, and reached out a hand to his boyfriend. His soft fingertips stroked Jude's cheek; their gazes met and held, before Jude finally dropped his eyes to look at the pictures in the magazine again.
"We'll never be able to go to a place like Rome," he said quietly, shaking his head. "We'll never really be able to go anywhere that's outside of the States. Not as long as I'm here illegally. We'll have to be careful of any place we try to go. And that's my fault."
Max shook his head, negating Jude's words. "It's not your fault, babe," he said softly, his hand still resting on Jude's cheek, then moving to stroke through his hair. "If you hadn't come here illegally, you might not have been able to do it for years."
Jude nodded reluctantly, knowing that the words were true -- hadn't he been thinking the very same thing himself, only moments before? If he had waited until he could afford to come to the States, he'd probably have been an old man by then, and his father would have been long dead.
Not that the whole plan of looking for his father had accomplished much of anything, he thought with an unaccustomed rush of bitterness. He had thought that he would find someone who could give him closure; instead; all he'd found was a mere mortal with feet of clay.
Maybe he shouldn't have expected so much of his father, he told himself. His mother certainly hadn't; she was the one who'd been the wiser of the two of them. He'd held on to dreams that never should have existed, living in a house of cards that had come tumbling to the ground.
He'd lived in that house of cards for so long that it had been one of the hardest experiences in the world to let his dreams of actually having a father in his life go. But he'd done it after he was faced with a man who had left him and his mother behind long ago.
Of course, his father hadn't even known he existed. His mother had been nothing more than a fling to the man -- but Jude couldn't bring himself to hate the man who was a part of him. He could pity that man, but he couldn't hate him. He had, after all, been part of bringing Jude into existence.
And if he hadn't gone back to America, then Jude would never have gone there himself -- and he wouldn't have a wonderful man like Max Carrigan in his life. He wouldn't have found true love, and known the pure and utter happiness that it could bring.
His father obviously didn't have that kind of love in his life. He might have a family, but he wasn't even close to having the kind of love that Jude had. And that was yet another reason to pity the man. He could have had so much more than what he did, but he'd thrown it all away.
His father would never go beyond the little world he'd created for himself -- and world that Jude and his mother were no longer a part of, if they ever had been. But Jude knew that there were bigger and better horizons out there for himself and Max.
One day, he would be able to travel to faraway places like Rome. He and Max would see the Parthenon, and all of these works of art that for the time being could only be pictures in a glossy magazine for him. One day, their world would grow and change.
Jude didn't know how or when that would happen, but he knew that he had to have faith that it would. He wasn't going to settle for the small, restrictive world that his father lived in; he wasn't going to hold himself back and say that he couldn't do all of the things that he wanted to do.
That would be a self-fulfilling prophecy. He'd seen it happen with his mother, and several of his friends back in Liverpool. It wasn't going to happen to him, he told himself fiercely. He and Max had their whole lives ahead of them. And they were going to live those lives to the fullest.
"We might not ever be able to go to Rome," he said softly, facing Max and looking directly into that intense blue gaze. "But you know something? Even if we don't, I'm happy just being here with you and living our lives together. I don't need to be anywhere else."
Max leaned forward and brushed his lips against Jude's, the kiss a gentle promise for their future together. Within moments, Max had gotten up off the floor and was on the couch, the two of them melting into each other and creating their own small world where only the two of them existed.