FAKE Ficlet: Is It True?
Title: Is It True?
Fandom: FAKE
Author: badly_knitted
Characters: Ryo/Dee, JJ.
Rating: PG
Setting: After Vol. 7.
Summary: JJ needs to know if he really has lost all hope of ever winning Dee’s heart.
Word Count: 500
Written For: Prompt 470: Past Prompts Revisited 161-200, using 167: Eagles Song Titles - Is It True? at slashthedrabble.
Disclaimer: I don’t own FAKE, or the characters. They belong to the wonderful Sanami Matoh.
“Is it true?”
Ryo turned to look at JJ, a puzzled expression on his face. “Is what true?”
JJ checked to make sure nobody else was in earshot. “You and Dee. That you’re… together.”
Ryo was torn. He and Dee were supposed to be keeping their relationship quiet; getting romantically involved with colleagues, especially your partner, tended to be frowned upon by the brass, but if he denied their relationship, he’d just be fuelling JJ’s false hopes of winning Dee’s heart. “Yes.”
“That’s what I thought.” JJ’s shoulders slumped.
“I’m sorry, JJ. I know you have feelings for Dee, but…”
“It’s okay, you don’t have to say anything else. He never felt the way I do, I just kept hoping he’d come around eventually.”
“You can’t make someone love you, JJ. Love doesn’t work that way.”
“Doesn’t it? Dee made you love him.”
“No, he didn’t, not like that. I… I guess I started falling for him the moment we met, I just didn’t want to admit it to myself because that would mean I’d have to accept that I’m gay, and I was too much of a coward for that.”
“You’re not a coward,” JJ denied, not sure why he was defending the one responsible for stealing the man of his dreams. “Who’d want to open themselves up to all the intolerance and discrimination, the verbal and physical abuse, if they didn’t have to? You just needed to find someone who was worth whatever you had to put up with to be with him. My bad luck it wound up being Dee.”
“I wish you didn’t have to be hurt for me to find happiness though.” Ryo was completely sincere and JJ knew it. That was half the trouble for him. He would have liked to hate the man he’d always seen as his rival for Dee’s affections, but Ryo made that impossible by being so nice, kind, and decent. How do you hate someone like that without turning yourself into the villain of the piece?
“Can’t help who you love, right? That’s as true for you, and Dee, as it is for me. Just, please be good to him and don’t break his heart, because I couldn’t stand to see him hurt. I know how it feels when the one you love doesn’t love you back, and I wouldn’t wish it on anyone.”
“I promise. You’re a good person, JJ, a good friend, and I really hope you find someone who’ll appreciate you and love you the way you deserve to be loved.”
JJ gave a watery little laugh. “I wish you weren’t so understanding so I could hate you.”
“Would it make you feel better if I was mean to you?”
After a moment’s consideration, JJ shook his head. “No, because I’d know it was just an act. But if you do ever hurt Dee, I’ll kill you. Well, not kill because then I’d have to arrest myself, but… I’ll make you sorry.”
Ryo nodded. “I know.”
The End
Fandom: FAKE
Author: badly_knitted
Characters: Ryo/Dee, JJ.
Rating: PG
Setting: After Vol. 7.
Summary: JJ needs to know if he really has lost all hope of ever winning Dee’s heart.
Word Count: 500
Written For: Prompt 470: Past Prompts Revisited 161-200, using 167: Eagles Song Titles - Is It True? at slashthedrabble.
Disclaimer: I don’t own FAKE, or the characters. They belong to the wonderful Sanami Matoh.
“Is it true?”
Ryo turned to look at JJ, a puzzled expression on his face. “Is what true?”
JJ checked to make sure nobody else was in earshot. “You and Dee. That you’re… together.”
Ryo was torn. He and Dee were supposed to be keeping their relationship quiet; getting romantically involved with colleagues, especially your partner, tended to be frowned upon by the brass, but if he denied their relationship, he’d just be fuelling JJ’s false hopes of winning Dee’s heart. “Yes.”
“That’s what I thought.” JJ’s shoulders slumped.
“I’m sorry, JJ. I know you have feelings for Dee, but…”
“It’s okay, you don’t have to say anything else. He never felt the way I do, I just kept hoping he’d come around eventually.”
“You can’t make someone love you, JJ. Love doesn’t work that way.”
“Doesn’t it? Dee made you love him.”
“No, he didn’t, not like that. I… I guess I started falling for him the moment we met, I just didn’t want to admit it to myself because that would mean I’d have to accept that I’m gay, and I was too much of a coward for that.”
“You’re not a coward,” JJ denied, not sure why he was defending the one responsible for stealing the man of his dreams. “Who’d want to open themselves up to all the intolerance and discrimination, the verbal and physical abuse, if they didn’t have to? You just needed to find someone who was worth whatever you had to put up with to be with him. My bad luck it wound up being Dee.”
“I wish you didn’t have to be hurt for me to find happiness though.” Ryo was completely sincere and JJ knew it. That was half the trouble for him. He would have liked to hate the man he’d always seen as his rival for Dee’s affections, but Ryo made that impossible by being so nice, kind, and decent. How do you hate someone like that without turning yourself into the villain of the piece?
“Can’t help who you love, right? That’s as true for you, and Dee, as it is for me. Just, please be good to him and don’t break his heart, because I couldn’t stand to see him hurt. I know how it feels when the one you love doesn’t love you back, and I wouldn’t wish it on anyone.”
“I promise. You’re a good person, JJ, a good friend, and I really hope you find someone who’ll appreciate you and love you the way you deserve to be loved.”
JJ gave a watery little laugh. “I wish you weren’t so understanding so I could hate you.”
“Would it make you feel better if I was mean to you?”
After a moment’s consideration, JJ shook his head. “No, because I’d know it was just an act. But if you do ever hurt Dee, I’ll kill you. Well, not kill because then I’d have to arrest myself, but… I’ll make you sorry.”
Ryo nodded. “I know.”
The End