what the water gave me, (2/?)
Title: What the Water Gave Me
Author: sparrabethx
Pairing: Jesse/Andrew
Rating: PG13
Summary: High school cruise ship AU
They weren’t even on the ship yet and Andrew was beginning to regret rejecting his mother’s offer to pack for him. He hadn’t known what to bring (he never does) and his parents didn’t really help. Oh, it’d be cold on the boat, but it’d be well over 100 degrees on land, so there you go, figure out a wardrobe from that. So he’d basically packed his entire closet, barring some really embarrassing stuff (“Someone who loves me lives in Los Angeles!”). He had included his Hawaiian shirt, because what the hell, it was a cruise. It wasn’t like he was going to see anyone he knew there, although he was genuinely worried about how he would convey the seizure warning that came with the shirt.
Anyway, his suitcase weighed an estimated fuck-ton, and he’d never been much of a heavy lifter (in gymnastics he’d really focused on more core-oriented workouts, not that he would ever admit that to anyone). The 45-degree ramp onto the ship wasn’t really helping either.
“Come on, Andrew, you’re holding up the rest of the line!”
“Thanks, dad!”
When they’d gotten past the procedural pat down and “Do you have any alcohol on you? Are you sure?” stages, they headed to their room (326). As they walked through the ship, Andrew saw lots of people his own age, and more than one was wearing a Hawaiian shirt, which both comforted him and, well, didn’t.
When they reached their room, before they opened the door, his mother and father turned to him, and they had their we know something you don’t know looks.
“What is it?” he asked, fully prepared to spend the next two weeks on a leash or sharing a room with two other families or something.
“Well, we know that this wasn’t exactly your idea of the perfect spring break,” his father began.
“So we got you your own room! Right across the hall!” his mum exclaimed, handing him a room key. “You don’t have to sleep with boring old mum and dad, and you can have girls-people over! Whenever you like!”
She was beaming, and his father looked rather proud, and Andrew really did love them, even though his dad was right, this was about the opposite of how he’d like to be spending his time. He reached out and pulled both of them into a hug. “Thanks, guys. This… is really sweet of you. Really. Thank you.”
“We knew you’d like it,” his mother said as she kissed him on his cheek.
He couldn’t help smiling. “Thanks, mum.”
xoxo
Andrew had been settled down for about an hour and was flipping through the channels of the TV that was in the wall of his little room. Well, ‘little’-it had a queen bed with two nightstands on either side, two closets, a small bathroom, and drawers in the wall below the TV. It was much more than he needed, but he had too many clothes anyway, so.
“Thank you for sailing with us!” the default cruise channel on the TV said to him for the forty-second time.
“You’re welcome,” he muttered as his stomach let out an ungodly noise. “My tummy is talking to me,” he told the people on the screen. They didn’t care.
He decided he would test out the ship’s “ethnic buffet”, which he was pretty sure would consist of: an Italian bar (pizza), a Chinese bar (noodles) and an American bar (deep-fried everything). Slipping on his teal Vans, he grabbed his room key and let his parents know he was going to get something to eat.
As he made his way down the hall, he saw an open door and heard sounds of struggle. “Come on, Hallie Kate, you’re supposed to be the strong one,” someone said.
“I’m nine!”
Approaching them, he tried to suppress a giggle. A slight, sort of twitchy boy with curly hair was trying to pull a suitcase the size of Montana into his room with the help of a tiny girl with equally wild hair-Hallie Kate, he presumed.
“Can I-do you guys need some help?” he asked.
Hallie Kate turned around and promptly dropped her end of the suitcase. “Oh my gosh, I’ve never met anyone with a British accent!”
“Shit!” the boy swore loudly. “Hallie, now is not the time to fangirl. He is not going to be your Mister Darcy or-or your Heathcliff or Rhett Butler or-”
“Rhett was from Charleston, Jess.”
“Whatever.” He turned to Andrew. “To answer your long-since-asked question, yes, we would love some help.”
Andrew smiled, and he found it was a genuine one. “Brilliant.” There was something about this-this Jess who didn’t know his Mitchell from Austen. Rolling up the sleeves of his flannel like he had actual arm strength, he took over Hallie Kate’s end of the suitcase. “I’m Andrew, by the way.”
“Jesse.”
They set the suitcase down at the foot of the bed. Looking around, Andrew noticed that Jesse’s room was almost identical to his own.
A sudden growl worthy of a bear or a honey badger or something interrupted his thoughts. As he felt his stomach, he realized it wasn’t his. He laughed. “You starving too?”
Jesse nodded. “I-yes, I’m hungry, yes.”
“I was just heading to get some food… do you wanna come?” What Andrew was doing he wasn’t sure. He chalked it up to making a friend, something he might need if he were going to survive the next two weeks. Also, something was different about this boy. Andrew liked it.
Jesse seemed to be scanning Andrew’s face. He shrugged. “Sure.”
Andrew smiled. “Great.”
“Can I come?” Hallie Kate piped up, and Andrew had honestly forgotten she was in the room.
“No. Go read more Victorian literature,” Jesse said. She pouted.
xoxo
On their walk to the dining room, Andrew found out lots of things about Jesse. For example, he was from New York, he could play the overture to My Fair Lady on the piano while blindfolded, his family owned thirteen cats, and he wanted to go to school to write screenplays. He was growing to be one of the most fascinating people Andrew had ever helped carry a suitcase (it was a short list).
They arrived at the buffet, which was surprisingly more extensive than Andrew previously thought. He almost squealed when he saw how much fried chicken they had (his absolute, no questions asked, uncontested forever and always favorite food), much to Jesse’s quiet amusement.
After they scoured the food selection and made their picks, they sat down in a little booth next to a window overlooking the port (dock? Andrew didn’t know.) Jesse had gotten himself a peanut butter and jelly sandwich and some cheese pizza. Andrew made a mental note that this boy was 5 years old. And he, with his fried chicken, small plate full of Jell-O, and blue Kool-Aid, was a 50-year-old black woman.
“So what kind of TV do you watch?” Andrew asked halfway through a leg. “I like LOST.”
Jesse shrugged. “I don’t really watch TV. We don’t have one.”
Andrew cocked his head. “I don’t… understand.”
Jesse just stared at him. “I’m-I’m not sure how I can phrase it more clearly.”
“You don’t have a TV?”
“No.”
Andrew gave a short laugh. “You’re some sort of unicorn, aren’t you? Parading as a human.”
“Yes. Although I get more stares when I’m like this than I do in my horse-ly form.”
He did have a point. It wasn’t that Jesse was bad-looking or unattractive at all, he wasn’t, but Andrew had noticed that he had this… way. It was like wires were running under his skin, and they had been stripped. He was a little twitchy, a little jerky, and his long, piano fingers were always drumming on or playing with something. His bottom lip was raw, probably from chewing (a thought that Andrew quickly shied away from due to the weird stirring it gave him in his stomach). The Gap hoodie he was wearing itself wore multiple stains, presumably from multiple foods, giving the "I don't own any other clothes" look. He was like a creature that would be locked away in a zoo if discovered. This made Andrew feel slightly proud.
“You’re like my zoo animal,” he observed as he took a bite of Jell-O.
Jesse’s brow furrowed. “I didn’t know I was your anything.”
Andrew immediately wanted to jump out the window and drown himself. What had gotten into him to possess him to say that? Why was he more interested in this boy after an hour of knowing him than he was in Shannon after knowing her since primary school? He looked down at his food and stirred his Jell-O with his spoon.
“Right, I mean, I didn’t mean it like that-”
“Right.”
There was a sudden voice over the intercom and Andrew could have sworn it was God, swooping in to save his ass. “This is your captain speaking, we are about to depart from port. I hope your trip with us is pleasant, and happy sailing.”
chapter i chapter ii
Author: sparrabethx
Pairing: Jesse/Andrew
Rating: PG13
Summary: High school cruise ship AU
They weren’t even on the ship yet and Andrew was beginning to regret rejecting his mother’s offer to pack for him. He hadn’t known what to bring (he never does) and his parents didn’t really help. Oh, it’d be cold on the boat, but it’d be well over 100 degrees on land, so there you go, figure out a wardrobe from that. So he’d basically packed his entire closet, barring some really embarrassing stuff (“Someone who loves me lives in Los Angeles!”). He had included his Hawaiian shirt, because what the hell, it was a cruise. It wasn’t like he was going to see anyone he knew there, although he was genuinely worried about how he would convey the seizure warning that came with the shirt.
Anyway, his suitcase weighed an estimated fuck-ton, and he’d never been much of a heavy lifter (in gymnastics he’d really focused on more core-oriented workouts, not that he would ever admit that to anyone). The 45-degree ramp onto the ship wasn’t really helping either.
“Come on, Andrew, you’re holding up the rest of the line!”
“Thanks, dad!”
When they’d gotten past the procedural pat down and “Do you have any alcohol on you? Are you sure?” stages, they headed to their room (326). As they walked through the ship, Andrew saw lots of people his own age, and more than one was wearing a Hawaiian shirt, which both comforted him and, well, didn’t.
When they reached their room, before they opened the door, his mother and father turned to him, and they had their we know something you don’t know looks.
“What is it?” he asked, fully prepared to spend the next two weeks on a leash or sharing a room with two other families or something.
“Well, we know that this wasn’t exactly your idea of the perfect spring break,” his father began.
“So we got you your own room! Right across the hall!” his mum exclaimed, handing him a room key. “You don’t have to sleep with boring old mum and dad, and you can have girls-people over! Whenever you like!”
She was beaming, and his father looked rather proud, and Andrew really did love them, even though his dad was right, this was about the opposite of how he’d like to be spending his time. He reached out and pulled both of them into a hug. “Thanks, guys. This… is really sweet of you. Really. Thank you.”
“We knew you’d like it,” his mother said as she kissed him on his cheek.
He couldn’t help smiling. “Thanks, mum.”
xoxo
Andrew had been settled down for about an hour and was flipping through the channels of the TV that was in the wall of his little room. Well, ‘little’-it had a queen bed with two nightstands on either side, two closets, a small bathroom, and drawers in the wall below the TV. It was much more than he needed, but he had too many clothes anyway, so.
“Thank you for sailing with us!” the default cruise channel on the TV said to him for the forty-second time.
“You’re welcome,” he muttered as his stomach let out an ungodly noise. “My tummy is talking to me,” he told the people on the screen. They didn’t care.
He decided he would test out the ship’s “ethnic buffet”, which he was pretty sure would consist of: an Italian bar (pizza), a Chinese bar (noodles) and an American bar (deep-fried everything). Slipping on his teal Vans, he grabbed his room key and let his parents know he was going to get something to eat.
As he made his way down the hall, he saw an open door and heard sounds of struggle. “Come on, Hallie Kate, you’re supposed to be the strong one,” someone said.
“I’m nine!”
Approaching them, he tried to suppress a giggle. A slight, sort of twitchy boy with curly hair was trying to pull a suitcase the size of Montana into his room with the help of a tiny girl with equally wild hair-Hallie Kate, he presumed.
“Can I-do you guys need some help?” he asked.
Hallie Kate turned around and promptly dropped her end of the suitcase. “Oh my gosh, I’ve never met anyone with a British accent!”
“Shit!” the boy swore loudly. “Hallie, now is not the time to fangirl. He is not going to be your Mister Darcy or-or your Heathcliff or Rhett Butler or-”
“Rhett was from Charleston, Jess.”
“Whatever.” He turned to Andrew. “To answer your long-since-asked question, yes, we would love some help.”
Andrew smiled, and he found it was a genuine one. “Brilliant.” There was something about this-this Jess who didn’t know his Mitchell from Austen. Rolling up the sleeves of his flannel like he had actual arm strength, he took over Hallie Kate’s end of the suitcase. “I’m Andrew, by the way.”
“Jesse.”
They set the suitcase down at the foot of the bed. Looking around, Andrew noticed that Jesse’s room was almost identical to his own.
A sudden growl worthy of a bear or a honey badger or something interrupted his thoughts. As he felt his stomach, he realized it wasn’t his. He laughed. “You starving too?”
Jesse nodded. “I-yes, I’m hungry, yes.”
“I was just heading to get some food… do you wanna come?” What Andrew was doing he wasn’t sure. He chalked it up to making a friend, something he might need if he were going to survive the next two weeks. Also, something was different about this boy. Andrew liked it.
Jesse seemed to be scanning Andrew’s face. He shrugged. “Sure.”
Andrew smiled. “Great.”
“Can I come?” Hallie Kate piped up, and Andrew had honestly forgotten she was in the room.
“No. Go read more Victorian literature,” Jesse said. She pouted.
xoxo
On their walk to the dining room, Andrew found out lots of things about Jesse. For example, he was from New York, he could play the overture to My Fair Lady on the piano while blindfolded, his family owned thirteen cats, and he wanted to go to school to write screenplays. He was growing to be one of the most fascinating people Andrew had ever helped carry a suitcase (it was a short list).
They arrived at the buffet, which was surprisingly more extensive than Andrew previously thought. He almost squealed when he saw how much fried chicken they had (his absolute, no questions asked, uncontested forever and always favorite food), much to Jesse’s quiet amusement.
After they scoured the food selection and made their picks, they sat down in a little booth next to a window overlooking the port (dock? Andrew didn’t know.) Jesse had gotten himself a peanut butter and jelly sandwich and some cheese pizza. Andrew made a mental note that this boy was 5 years old. And he, with his fried chicken, small plate full of Jell-O, and blue Kool-Aid, was a 50-year-old black woman.
“So what kind of TV do you watch?” Andrew asked halfway through a leg. “I like LOST.”
Jesse shrugged. “I don’t really watch TV. We don’t have one.”
Andrew cocked his head. “I don’t… understand.”
Jesse just stared at him. “I’m-I’m not sure how I can phrase it more clearly.”
“You don’t have a TV?”
“No.”
Andrew gave a short laugh. “You’re some sort of unicorn, aren’t you? Parading as a human.”
“Yes. Although I get more stares when I’m like this than I do in my horse-ly form.”
He did have a point. It wasn’t that Jesse was bad-looking or unattractive at all, he wasn’t, but Andrew had noticed that he had this… way. It was like wires were running under his skin, and they had been stripped. He was a little twitchy, a little jerky, and his long, piano fingers were always drumming on or playing with something. His bottom lip was raw, probably from chewing (a thought that Andrew quickly shied away from due to the weird stirring it gave him in his stomach). The Gap hoodie he was wearing itself wore multiple stains, presumably from multiple foods, giving the "I don't own any other clothes" look. He was like a creature that would be locked away in a zoo if discovered. This made Andrew feel slightly proud.
“You’re like my zoo animal,” he observed as he took a bite of Jell-O.
Jesse’s brow furrowed. “I didn’t know I was your anything.”
Andrew immediately wanted to jump out the window and drown himself. What had gotten into him to possess him to say that? Why was he more interested in this boy after an hour of knowing him than he was in Shannon after knowing her since primary school? He looked down at his food and stirred his Jell-O with his spoon.
“Right, I mean, I didn’t mean it like that-”
“Right.”
There was a sudden voice over the intercom and Andrew could have sworn it was God, swooping in to save his ass. “This is your captain speaking, we are about to depart from port. I hope your trip with us is pleasant, and happy sailing.”
chapter i chapter ii