Explain to me how you're so damn naive

[apoorboy]

Who: Jesse and Rush
What: Coffee
Where: Downtown.
When: Sunday afternoon.
Rating: G for now

Comments

[beatingkeys]

Rush shouldn't have been nervous -- after all, just because it was one of his very first times hanging out with someone outside of school didn't mean that he needed to worry himself about it. Besides, nervousness was something that should occur only when necessary, which this situation certainly didn't warrant -- it was coffee, and with Jesse St. James, not-- the Pope, or something

[apoorboy]

Jesse simply blinked and stared at Rush, his confusion heightened. Rush was paying? That was ridiculous, Jesse had more money than he knew what to do with. His parents naively assumed that a healthy allowance compensated for their noticeable and continued absence in his life. Jesse would have explained all of this and paid for his own coffee if the prospect hadn't seemed so embarrassing and unnecessary. He simply shrugged and went to do as he was bade without a word.

As Jesse settled into in an ornately-carved wooden booth, a thought occurred to him at once terrifying and laughable. Was this- Had Jesse said anything to make Rush think that-

Jesse's thoughts were interrupted by Rush's arrival at the booth. The blond was all smiles, and despite his nagging doubts Jesse perked up. Rush's unassuming and friendly manner put Jesse instantly at ease, and he accepted his coffee with a polite "Thanks."

[beatingkeys]

"No problem," Rush said, reaching up to pat his hair down on his forehead. He slid into the booth as well, settling easily just across from Jesse and holding his coffee in front of him with both hands, fiddling with the dark red mug it had been poured into.

He found himself reaching for a topic of conversation; it seemed a bit cliche to begin talking about the piano, considering that's what the majority of their conversation at school already consisted of. And Rush knew the topics you were supposed to avoid in polite conversation; politics, religion... not to mention that Jesse probably didn't really want to discuss academics, considering he was a senior and practically out of there already.

"You don't really think anyone else noticed that mistake at rehearsal, do you?" he asked after a moment.

[apoorboy]

Jesse smiled in spite of himself, and said kindly, "No, I don't think anyone else noticed. I only noticed because I was the one singing. We'll be more careful next time. You're onstage; I can look to see when you're starting. Don't worry about it."

Having got that reassurance out of the way, Jesse took a long sip of his coffee as he stared determinedly at the patterns of wood grain on the table. The thought which had sparked in his head without any prompting continued to plague him, and Jesse avoided meeting Rush's searching gaze.

"It should be a good production, right?" he offered feebly after several moments of awkward silence. "Oliver, Charlotte, and I are old pros, of course, and the new girl, Berry, has a decent voice." "Decent" being the understatement of the century.

"I've sung with her a few times now, outside of rehearsal. She's almost as good as I am."

[beatingkeys]

Rush let out a long stream of breath from his mouth, relieved. He knew that everyone made mistakes, but he tried not to when it came to one of the only things he felt that he had legitimate talent for. But now that he knew Jesse would be able to pick apart his performance and point out every mistake in a gently mocking manner, it made him all the more determined to do well so that if there was any gentle mocking, it would go in the other direction

[apoorboy]

Jesse smiled at that; he truly felt that he and Rachel were evenly matched, but appreciated Rush's flattery nonetheless. He didn't know why the other boy seemed to have taken a liking to him, but to Jesse it felt rather like having a puppy follow you around, a puppy that would buy your coffee and tell you you were better than everyone else.

"I can only imagine how much your little club would improve if I joined," Jesse said pensively. He had, to his eternal shame, considered the idea briefly; it wasn't like Jesse to sit passively by while someone else got all the glory. And he genuinely did believe himself to be the best male singer in the school-it pained him to miss any opportunity to prove it.

"But rehearsals are keeping me busy enough, even though I'm only one of three leads. At least I know I'll be performing with competent actors. I'd be very surprised if Charlotte didn't already know at least half of her lines."

[beatingkeys]

"Yeah, probably," Rush agreed; of course he had only known (and using the word loosely, at that) Charlotte for a short while, but already her... strong personality had made its unique impression on him.

He looked down and swirled the remaining half or so of his coffee in his mug.

"Juggling both is difficult enough for me," he said, considering Jesse's comment. "And I don't even have to sing for either. I imagine you doing both would be a burden... especially if you're trying to keep your grades up to get out of here." Rush just generally assumed that everyone he spoke to wanted to get out of Lima. After all, he didn't exactly like it here either, although he didn't have the same hatred for it as many people seemed to.

[apoorboy]

"Maybe," Jesse answered noncommittally, seeming to brush off the concern as unimportant. Truthfully, Jesse's high GPA was something of a point of pride for him, and he had known from the time he was a freshman that he would have to excel to have any chance of getting into a reputable arts school. His parents' money could only get him so far.

Jesse continued to sip at his coffee, surprised to realize he actually liked the flavor of this particular variety. Rush had good taste.

"Besides, if I joined Glee club, I'd be seeing entirely too much of you," he joked, glancing to Rush briefly. He still had no idea why they were here.

[beatingkeys]

"Ha ha," Rush said sarcastically. "Your taunts don't effect me. I know I'm fantastic."

Well, that's what he said, anyway. The truth to that statement could be debated, but this really wasn't the place for a discussion of his self-esteem.

"But you..." he leaned forward and hit Jesse lightly on the side of the head. "Your big head can hardly fit into the practice room when it's just the two of us. Better that you stick to the auditorium, I think."

[apoorboy]

Jesse grinned and grabbed Rush's hand before he could pull it away. He tightened his grip and tried to playfully smack Rush's hand against his own head, laughing loudly when Rush tried vainly to resist. Finally he released Rush's hand and wiped his own, which was slick with perspiration, on one of his pant legs under the table.

"It's not egotism, it's confidence," he said slightly breathlessly. "I've only met one person who was truly better than I am at something I'm interested in. I'm sure you know him. He's a rude little practice room stealer with a bad dye job."

[beatingkeys]

Rush calmed his laughing into just a grin, taking another swig of his coffee. A few sips (and the dregs) still remained at the bottom, and he craned his neck to see how much Jesse had left.

"A bad dye job?" Rush asked incredulously, self-consciously pushing his fingers through his hair. "My hair is completely natural, thank you."

He resisted pointing out that he could prove it, guessing that that would be crossing some kind of male-bonding line.

[apoorboy]

"Sure it is," Jesse teased. He looked down to have something to do besides stare at Rush (and his excessively bright hair) and realized with slight disappointment that his cup was nearly empty, too. He shrugged and drained the rest of it, licking his lips and making a small, satisfied noise.

"That was good," he admitted in a tone of surprise. "I'm not usually one for coffee, but this place isn't so bad. Or maybe you just knew what to order."

[beatingkeys]

"I drink a lot of it," Rush admitted, shrugging. "Two cups in the morning, two in the afternoon... my mom doesn't really approve, but she doesn't do anything about it."

He finished what was left in his cup and set it down, spinning it slightly in place. He was thankful that their conversation had picked up somewhat, because otherwise he figured drinking the cup would have seemed to take quite a bit longer.

"Here, I'll get us refills," he said, and he scooped up both cups to take to the counter.

When he returned after a few minutes, he pushed Jesse's coffee in front of him. "I don't know if you're hungry, but I got you a scone too. I figured it would be rude to only get one for me..."

[apoorboy]

"You have to let me pay you back," Jesse said instantly, eying the scone hungrily while he reached for his coffee. He felt someone guilty that once again Rush was the one footing the bill while Jesse himself just sat and was served.

He leaned back slightly in the booth with a half-yawn and stretched his legs, freezing with a hand over his mouth when one of his legs made contact with Rush's. As far as Jesse could tell, Rush's only reaction was a slightly sheepish smile, and Jesse casually pulled away.

"I'm serious," he continued, as if nothing had happened. "I saw the prices out there; at least let me pay for the scones."

[beatingkeys]

Rush shrugged one shoulder noncommittally. Sure, he didn't have the most money in the world, but he got by easily enough.

He broke off a large chunk of scone and held it in his coffee for a few seconds before eating it, staring down at the crumbs.

"You can pay next time, if you want," he said quietly, tracing patterns in the wood (which made him look like a nervous wreck, although he hardly was). He wasn't sure that Jesse would still want to hang out after this, even though he thought it was going well.

[apoorboy]

"Next time?" Jesse echoed, raising an eyebrow skeptically. He observed Rush's suddenly shy demeanor, the way he timidly refused to look at Jesse and chose to study the table instead, and immediately that thought which Jesse had managed to suppress at the start of the meeting was back with renewed urgency.

"Rush, I'm not gay," he blurted out with uncharacteristic frankness. There. He'd said it. Whatever this friendship was or wasn't, at least Rush would understand that.