Lunch on the Green (Open)

[Jade Edwards RCO]

Jade was relieved to hear the bell go for lunch, as he packed his things into his bag as best, he smiled at his translator before saying good bye and heading out the door, his shoulder was giving him jip by the time he reached his locker, he was glad that he had his pain medication in his locker. It was with great pleasure that he grabbed his lunch bag and headed out of the school in search of the green.

The heat of the day hadn't disipated and most of the people in the school were making use of it by the looks of things as he threw a blanket down on the grass before planting his backside on it. He slipped his arm out of its sling so he could use both to sort out the pots of food the cooks had put together.

From time to time he would ask the staff to put something together something for lunch, he had planned to make use of that to surprise Jeremy with lunch. He wouldn't cook food, it wasn't that he didn't think it was something he should do, it was that he couldn't cook not to the degree the staff could anyway. This was why they lived on take aways when their parents weren't home, and they didn't have the staff.

[Jere Warner]

Jeremy usually didn't have a hard time concentrating in school but today was different. It perturbed him to see Jade talking to Mike, who was apologizing about his actions. Mike had to be up to something, something that would put Jade against Jeremy.

At last the bell rang for lunch. He loaded up his arms with his morning books and headed to his locker. Along the walk he kept thinking how he would ask Jade about his feelings. He didn't want to be blunt but he also didn't want to pussyfoot around. He reached his locker and made the exchange in books then headed over to get the bottles of water for he and Jade.

He looked around the lunch room and didn't see him. Jere figured he had headed outside, as did a few more students. Who could blame them, it was a very warm day and the heat of the crowd wasn't helping matters any.

Jere headed outside and looked around. He saw Jade out on the school's lawn setting something up. "Hey whats all this?" he asked as he approached him.

Hopefully this time he hadn't startled him to the point of scaring him.

[Jade Edwards RCO]

Jade looked up with a smile, "I think this is what passes for a light lunch in my family, freshly baked soda bread, don't asked me why pots of god only knows what." Jade said as he looked up at the boy as he retrieved a pair of sunglasses and placed them on his face. "Pull up a piece of the blanket, I had to smuggle most of this past Alex this morning, or we'd be left with nothing but the bread." Jade said with a grin.

"When in doubt hide the food from the bottomless pit that is Alex." Jade said to him. "I'd try to take credit for the food, but I can just about boil an egg without burning the house down, which is why we have cooks. Our parents don't really have time to cook, and the rest of us can't, so you can thank them for the food I think." Jade said to him as he looked at the other boy across from him. "You wanted to talk, not exactly the private mecca I was looking for but this will have to do, its to hot to stay in the school at the moment for anything other than classes." Jade said to him which seemed to be quite the understatement even by his standards.

[Jere Warner]

Jeremy pulled the legs of his jeans up slightly before sitting down. He shook his head and sighed, Jade was doing it again. He couldn't bring himself to say anything just yet except, "It looks like your staff out did themselves."

He felt his hunger starting to get the better of him, although what he wanted to talk about could spoil everything. Jeremy laughed lightly. "Well at least any left overs wouldn't go to waste."

He needed to get serious. "Yes I did say I needed to talk to you," he swallowed. "Jade I think you are a great guy. Lately though you said a few things that were hurtful to me but then tried to cover it with money." Jeremy felt himself shaking nervously even though he was sitting down. "Then Mike comes back on the scene and Julia told me everything, which included you kissing him." He felt frustration. "I guess I just don't know how you see me. Like am I some kind of charity case to you?"

He got it off his chest, and now it could either way. Get dumped and have a new one chewed out or kind words and a kiss and hug saying the truth.

[Jade Edwards RCO]

Jade took his time, the boy was someone he cared about a lot, he had never hidden any of the feelings he had for Mike, ort the fact that they had been an item. The fact that he had almost dumped Jeremy to go back to Mike was not lost on him either, Jade had long ago given up trying to make sense of his less than stella choices in the world.

"Being involved with any one in my family has consequences." Jade said ignoring the Mike statement, though the idea that Julia and Jeremy knew something he didn't about him grated on his nerves just a little bit, it was well hidden from view. "I play for keeps, and I wouldn't be involved with you if I wasn't serious about us its as simple as that." Jade said reaching over and taking the boys hand. "If you want some declaration of undying love for you though, that isn't going to happen, we've been going out for a while and I feel deeply for you, I'm just not ready to use that word. To many people throw it around like its something disgusting or means absolutely nothing." Jade said to him with a smile. "When I say it to you, I want to make sure you know I mean it when I say it." Jade said to him.

"As for what I do with money, I can't hide who and what I am, I'm used to getting what I want when I want it. That I guess is defined as being a spoiled brat. But I have never tried to hide any of that side of my life to you, I don't buy you expensive presents which I guess I could do if I wanted to make your parents and you overly uncomfortable." Jade said to him. "I can't change who I am, maybe cool it of a tad so you don't think I'm determined to buy everything or pay for everything, or buy your love or what ever else has crossed your mind, I'm trying to do." Jade said to him deadly serious.

"Mike and me is never going to happen again, you weren't my first choice but you could be the last choice if you let it get that far. Mike and I had an intense relationship if you can call it that, I'd also be lying if I said I don't still feel for him, and lying if I said I didn't know that there was something more to it besides the idiotic drug taking and binge drinking. There is only so many times you can offer to be there for someone, and Mike has made sure to burn most of his bridges." Jade said to him. "Did I kiss him and almost call us of to go back with him, in the early days of our relationship yes, Mike has a special hold on people he laughingly calls love or cares about." Jade said to him.

Jade took a mouthful of food while taking time to consider what was happening, he would rather not have this conversation on school grounds. Far to many people he didn't want to hear his business or private life.

"What happens next is down to you, I care about you a lot and I want to make this work. I won't drop people from my life, Mike is probably going to need people to get him through what ever the hell he is going through. You want to stay no matter both our histories with Mike, your going to have to deal with the fact that I'm not going to drop that friendship until he proves that he can't be trusted, which could take days to prove that he can't be trusted." Jade said to him.

"To assume I view you as a charity case would be just the wrong side of way to harsh for me, I don't think of you as a charity case never have and never will." Jade said to him. "Just for the record though, if you asked me to help you with something, I'd move heaven and earth to get it done, and my family would do exactly the same. Putting my ass of a father aside for a moment, every one likes you, as for the ass of a father, no guy I date will ever be good enough for me. He hasn't been able to accept that I am bisexual, he tolerates it because he has no other choice, mainly because he knows my mother would kill him if he spoke it out loud with me in ear shot." Jade said to him with a small quirk of the lips.

"My parents didn't want us coming back here, and I got to tell you I was sorely tempted to say okay sure show me the better options. Today hasn't been particularly easy for me, thus why I am here on the green rather than in the cafeteria, walking past that place was enough to get me hearing the gunshots, and made me want to run screaming from the building asking for my mommy." Jade said to him.

What he didn't add was the annoyance he felt for Julia never bothering to ask for his side before going to Jeremy with a one sided version of Mike and him. He was pretty sure though that his irriitation would at some point be pointed out to said girl if he saw her before he calmed down.

"And next time I say something that hurts you or annoys you, don't bottle it up tell me. I can't do sod all about offending you or hurting you if you don't tell me your hurting about something I said, or that I bothered you." Jade said to him. "Nothing is going to happen between me and Mike, besides the chance for him to have a friend that will be there when his ready to actually talk about what ever the hell is going on with him." Jade said to him. "With the Mike situation, it comes down to how much you trust me, because if you dont trust me, we have nothing to fight for." Jade said his tone deadly serious.

[Jere Warner]

Jeremy kept his mouth shut as Jade talked about them. No Mike and you and me, just Jade and Jeremy. Though to say he was relieved was an understatement. "I don't expect to hear the words from you, not yet anyway. You know when the time is right." He smiled gently, feeling the touch the boy's hand.

"I should have known but well, I dunno, I guess I was just felt insecure about everything. Your the first guy thats been interested in me rather than just getting in my pants." Past experience told him that first with Mike then with Donovan. "I guess I was raised frugally, enjoy what you earn but don't flaunt it. Sure my family has been to Hawaii a few times or we go all out at Christmas but we know when to hold it back." He stopped for a moment to look into Jade's eyes. "We've been exploring your world yet we haven't gone through mine."

Jade didn't see him as a charity case, that was a huge weight off his shoulders. I know who to call though if I need something." Yes it would be a dire emergency when he would do it. "I'm not worried about what your father thinks. I know I could get tickets when my mom appears on stage somewhere or with the symphony, but I know I'd be the guy trying to steal his son away."

"Trust me, there isn't much more unless you want to go with the parochial look," he smiled and nearly laughed. "Granted you'd look hot in the uniform."

"I just never knew how to say how I was feeling, not without sounding mean or like some big ol' possessive queen." He moistened his lips. "I trust you with everything I have."

[Jade Edwards RCO]

Jade smiled, "Your world huh, well sure I can do that, not sure I can pull of being a normal guy for a few hours but I'm game to try anything out once." Jade said with a smile. "I love that your the normal one in this relationship, and that you some how manage to keep my feet on the ground. Normal isn't the right word, grounded is probably better than that." Jade said to him with a quirk of the lips.

"What I am trying to say is this, anytime you want to show me your world then I will happily walk through it with you." Jade said to him. "We have to find some kind of medium for us both right, I mean your probably never going to be entirely happy living the life that my family does, not entirely anyway, same as I don't think I could give up my lifestyle entirely if at all. So what we need is to find some where between the two where we can meet and find a happy place." Jade said to him leaning over to kiss him on the lips.

"Thank you Jeremy." Jade said placing his hand on his boyfriends face. "Trust is a big thing for me, I can rarely trust my own father to allow us to have privacy in my private life. I'll try to keep your exposure to that side of my life to a minimum, but as we progress you may not be ablee to avoid it." Jade said to him.