csi_sanders1129: (beach)
[personal profile] csi_sanders1129
Title: Sink or Swim
Chapters: 6/7
Author: csi_sanders1129
Genre: Romance. Angst. Hurt/Comfort. Drama.
Ratings: T
Word Count: 2,309/15,750
Pairings/Characters: Michael Woods/Jake Hunter, Tommy Biggs. [Jumping Ship (2001)]
Synopsis: It starts on Day 8. Jake can't take the staring anymore.
Comments: Okay, I know. Another fic for another fandom that no one is interested it (barring the friends I forced to watch the movie while I was writing this (to whom I owe thanks)). And yeah, the three main actors are all played by the Lawrence brothers, but they're not playing brothers, so ha! Not weird. Goes AU after Day 8 on the island. The movie is up on youtube, if anyone is interested in watching it. Comments are awesome, characters are not mine - do enjoy!


Chapter 1 | Chapter 2 | Chapter 3 | Chapter 4 | Chapter 5 |

Overcast by a veil of awkward silence, the five of them are circled around the table at some fairly upscale restaurant just a few blocks from the hotel. The meal is almost over and while Michael has shared the good news about the reward with Tommy and the others, the issue of Michael and Jake's relationship has yet to come up. Perhaps intentionally.

That isn't a particularly good thing, either. Michael has only succeeded in pushing his food around his plate and the nervous bouncing of his leg and the anxious twitching of his fingers suggest the waiting isn't doing much to calm him down. Jake reaches out to cover Michael's hand to stop the compulsive movement. It works - Michael stills, looks to Jake in a desperate sort of pleading glance before he heaves a resigned sort of sigh and says, "Alright, let's talk about this."

"Yes," Mr. Woods replies, "let's. How serious can you be about this relationship, Michael? I've never seen you give up much of anything for any of the plethora of girls you've brought home, and now you want to get involved with someone who lives on the other side of the world?"

"Either Jake comes back to California with us or I stay here with him. I don't care which, but that alone should show you how much I want this to work out, how far I'm willing to go. With the reward money, we have enough to get by for a while, either way. I'm not asking for your permission on this, Dad. I'm 23, I don't need it. But I would like your approval."

Mr. Woods looks about as thrilled with Michael's ultimatum as Frakes had when he was bargaining Jake free - but as least he isn't armed. "Michael," he sighs, an irritated, parental sounding noise that's dripping with displeasure, "you've only known him for two weeks."

"And in that two weeks he risked his life to save both Tommy and myself," Michael defends, raising a valid point. "And in all fairness, eleven days on a deserted island feels a lot longer than eleven days."

"It really does," Tommy cuts in to add.

His father does not look amused by the comment, though Michael wasn't necessarily going for funny. "I understand that, I do, and I'm glad you all got out of this relatively unharmed. But, really, if either of you are considering moving to another country for a relationship that just started, what you are is naive, not serious."

This is not going well, Jake realizes. Mr. Woods has raised some valid points, but none of them changes the feeling of right that comes every time he looks at Michael, or talks to him, or kisses him or anything else. They might be jumping into this way too fast but then there's been a lot of impromptu jumping all around their relationship and that's all turned out okay, so why not this, too?

Michael's looking a little on the despondent side with the way this conversation is going, head hung low and all tensed up as he waits for another verbal blow from his father.

"Then give us a chance to prove you wrong," Jake suggests. "I want this, Michael wants this. If you're right, then we'll mess it up sooner or later, but if you're wrong..."

Jake doesn't quite miss the way Tommy elbows his mother into the conversation, slowly breaking her out of her silent observation as the conversation progressed. Now, she joins in. "Now, Glen, I recall that several family members were wary of yours and Lisa's rather rushed courtship, too. What was it, three weeks before you got engaged? And how has that turned out for you? Your 25th anniversary is coming up soon, yes?" Now that he looks appropriately chagrined by her reminder, she adds in, "So perhaps criticizing speedy relationships isn't quite the way to go in making your point with the boys..."

Mr. Woods is then the definition of defensive. "Okay, that was not the same at all. The situation was..." he trails off, changes direction, "And it was more than three weeks! We'd known each other before and...." another switch and now he's glaring at his sister-in-law for letting him dig himself deeper into this hole.

"Three weeks, Dad?" Michael asks, a curious eyebrow raised at the surprising information he has somehow never heard before. It does seem to relax him a little, though.

"Fine," his father gives. "Look, alright, maybe I'm wrong. But, Michael, you're not known for making particularly informed decisions or thinking through the consequences of your actions. You've jumped into decisions before and you've crashed and burned or given up," Michael seems like he wants to argue at this point, but he starts listing off examples to counter any oncoming protests, "That whole month you were determined to become a guitarist? Your pilates phase? The three changes in your major while you were in college? Forgive me, son, for thinking that this is just another phase. So, if you two insist on doing this, then it's going to be by my rules. If," he says, stressing the word, "If Jake is willing to come to California, then he can stay in the pool house. You will be working at the law firm, reward money or no. We'll see where it goes from there, okay?"

"It's not a phase, Dad, I swear. You can't justifiably compare a couple of hobbies to this," Michael says, letting his fingers curl around Jake's. "But you do have a deal. I'll do whatever it takes to prove it to you." His gaze lands on Jake, because it is up to him to agree, "As long as you're in, too?"

It's not even really a question. Even if Jake were opposed to the idea of going back to the States, he wouldn't have much of a choice given that he no longer has a boat - and by proxy, a home - and if he did, he wouldn't be able to work it very well with the healing wound in his shoulder. Still, it's Michael that drives his answer, a quick and unhesitant, "Yeah, yeah, I'm in," that makes Michael grin.

"Then California it is," Mr. Woods agrees. "We'll leave as soon as Jake's able to."

***

That's not right away, though. While most of Jake's possessions had been aboard the Tiffany, luckily most of the important documents and some belongings have been stowed away in a storage unit. They plan to ship whatever they can back to California, but that, along with the other items on the lengthy list of things to do before they can leave, will wait until morning.

After dinner ends, a lengthy affair that continues much more amicably once the conversation regarding Jake and Michael concludes, they all go their separate ways. Tommy and his mother to their room, Mr. Woods to his own, and Michael and Jake retreat back to theirs.

Jake's bordering on exhausted again, the combination of the stress of the discussion and the pain medication in his system drawing him toward the bed. "Mm, night," he mumbles, stifling a yawn, but he finds his plans thwarted when Michael steps between him and the impending comfort of the cushiony mattress.

"Hey, let me change your bandage first, okay?" he says, "We need to make sure no infections set in."

"Alright, yeah," Jake agrees, though he still moves to sit on the edge of the bed. Michael goes to fetch the necessary supplies and wash his hands, reappearing with another dose of Jake's medications and some water, both of which Jake obligingly swallows down. The shirt he wore to dinner - one of Michael's, some nice, light dress shirt like the one he'd cut the sleeves off of - comes off smoothly, Michael's hands easing it off his shoulders and tossing it aside. He sets to work then on the bandage, carefully plucking at the surgical tape holding it down until it gives and comes up easily. Jake winces a little, but it's over soon enough. There are lingering traces of the antiseptic used during the surgery, staining his skin a strange brownish-yellow color and there are some remnants of dried blood, as well. "Look okay?"

"I have to say," Michael starts, using a washcloth wet with warm water to clean the area around the stitches, which look neat and show no indication of any redness or irritation that would suggest infection, "This looks much better than the bullet holes did."

Jake laughs, "I would hope so." He stays perfectly still as Michael pats his shoulder dry and then as he applies a bit of antibiotic ointment to the wounds, now that they're as clean as they can be. His mind wanders back to the island, where Tommy said something that he's been meaning to question. "Tommy said you were pretty freaked out about it, when you two were waiting out the pirates."

"Well, yeah," the older boy responds, intently focused on the bandage he's applying so he doesn't have to watch Jake as he explains. "For all I knew, it was worse than we'd thought and you'd bleed to death on the boat before we could do anything to get you back. And, I might've been worried that they'd make that happen, too. Which I guess I was kind of right about - like you said, if they didn't know you'd work as leverage..." The thought of that leads to thoughts of his nightmare, which leads to the overwhelming desire to be as close to Jake as possible as quickly as possible. "I don't even want to think about that."

Jake seems surprised by the out of nowhere move Michael makes that results in that start of a rather passionate kiss. He's bone tired, but he still gives into the movement, kissing back as his good hand settles on Michael's chest, pulling him down as Jake falls backwards slowly, always careful of his shoulder. Michael moves over him, braces himself with one arm, and lets the other drag over Jake's bare chest as his tongue explores Jake's mouth. His lips move to press along the line of Jake's jaw and then down his neck, where the steady beat of his pulse seems to relax Michael somewhat. "You're not the only one having nightmares, you know. Watching Frakes shoot you again and again and again..." Another kiss, this one as long and drawn out as possible. "Pretty much everything I was afraid was happening when Tommy and I were down in the caves happens in the nightmares and they feel so real, Jake."

"I know," Jake says, fighting for the words as contentment combats conscious thought, "but - like you said, it's not real. I'm right here and, well, relatively undamaged. But I can do this," he leans up to kiss Michael this time, lets his hand slide under Michael's shirt and pushing at the fabric, dragging it up until Michael's forced to move to allow him to get it over his head. He tosses it aside and adds, "so I'm clearly not dead, yeah?"

"Yeah," Michael laughs. Another quick kiss and he's smiling as he pushes the nightmarish vision away and focuses on Jake splayed out under him, all flushed and relaxed and his. "Yeah, you're right," he says, sitting up. His hands move to Jake's pants, which are also technically Michael's, but that hardly matters because if he gets his way they're coming off.

Jake arches up off the bed and into Michael's touch as the pants get shucked aside and hands continue to explore, but he's forgotten his injury and he yelps in surprise as the pain flares in his shoulder. Michael halts immediately, a worried, "You okay?" spilling from his lips even as he helps Jake sit up so he can make sure of it himself. "I'm sorry, I didn't mean to hurt you, I just-"

"No, not your fault," Jake assures him, as the pain starts to fade again. He rolls to his side, so he doesn't have to risk pressure on the tender wound, and leans into Michael when he curls up behind him, an arm circling around to keep him close. "It's better, but can we maybe not take things any further for now?"

"Of course," Michael agrees, though he can't resist leaning in close enough to press a soft kiss along Jake's neck again. "Nothing else," he promises, "not until you want it."

Jake doesn't look quite ready to fall asleep yet, the spike in pain having forced him back into consciousness a little more than he'd realized, so he opts for talking instead. "California'll be okay, right?"

Michael nods, a move which Jake feels more than he sees. "Yeah, I'll work with my Dad, you can go to school, like you wanted. There's still time to get in before the Fall semester starts, I think. Or wait and start in the Spring, give your arm some time to heal," he says, leaving kisses along the edge of the bandage on Jake's bad shoulder, "and there's a marina about thirty minutes from home, if you want to stick with boats. We could even come back here in the summers. The pirate's boat is going up for auction, we could probably make an offer on it beforehand and get it for a good price, call it the Tiffany II? That sound good?"

Jake nods, the ideas flowing through his own mind, too, now. Summers spent teaching Michael the finer points of running a boat, getting back to classes at college, spending time with Michael. "Yeah, sounds great," he answers, letting himself drift off to sleep with those images in mind to displace the always lingering traces of half-formed nightmares that he already knows won't reach him or Michael tonight.



This account has disabled anonymous posting.
If you don't have an account you can create one now.
HTML doesn't work in the subject.
More info about formatting

May 2021

S M T W T F S
       1
2 3 4 5 6 7 8
9 10 11 12 13 14 15
16 17 18 19 20 21 22
23 24 25 26 27 28 29
3031     

Most Popular Tags

Style Credit

Expand Cut Tags

No cut tags
Page generated Jul. 4th, 2025 11:34 pm
Powered by Dreamwidth Studios