CHERRY. [JESS MARIANO]

You Cannot Tell Anyone

"Yeah, he is cute." My mum agrees. She looks over at the clock on my desk that read four-forty p.m. We still had a few more hours before we had to leave for the airport. "Hey, why don't you go to Luke's? Grab a bagel or something?"

If it was any other day I would've asked my mum to go instead since I was lazy. She and Luke had resolved their huge argument and were now back to their petty arguments. Which included which one of them got to shout at Taylor that day.

But today wasn't any other day, today Jess was back. So I immediately agreed to go. "Alright, what do you want?" I tried not to show how happy I was that I got to go to the diner.

I stood up from my place on the floor as my mother answered me. "Just get me a coffee and some donuts." Walking over to my bookcase, I pick out a book I was supposed to give to Jess. "What's that for?" She asked me.

"Just thought I'd read incase I had to wait or something," I lied. Man, I was doing a lot of lying today. It's for a good cause so I got an excuse. I walked over to her and kneeled down before pressing a kiss against her cheek.
"Bye!" I bid before heading downstairs and out the door.

~~~

"Hey, Luke." I greet as I walk into the diner. The place wasn't full but wasn't empty either. It was in that little grey area in between. I was surprised to see Kirk sitting with this girl at one of the tables. Go Kirk.

I took a seat on one of the stools at the counter. Luke didn't look up at me as he tended to someone else's meal. "Hey," he said cautiously.

"You gonna look at me or keep having a staring contest with that ham on rye?" I asked sarcastically. When he didn't look up at me again I got concerned. "You okay?"

He finally looked up at me warily as if he had some kind of bad news. "Listen, I got something to tell you-"

I cut him off when I realised why he was so worried. "I know, he's back".

"You know?" He repeated with his head tilted down I was afraid that his baseball cap would fall off.

"I know," I confirm.

"And you're okay with it?" He looked at me with a slight frown. Truth be told, I was a lot more okay with it, but I couldn't tell him. So I just nodded at him. "How do you know, by the way?"

I shrug as I answer him. "I saw him at Sookie's wedding."

Luke looked at me with eyes so wide I was afraid they'd pop out of his sockets. "He went to the wedding?"

"No, I meant-" I gave up when I saw Luke was not listening to me. "Never mind."

"Is that why you came here? To see him?" Luke asked me with narrowed eyes.

"Actually, mum sent me here to grab some food." I explained which wasn't a total lie. So one point for me.

Luke nodded as he listened to me while I listed off the food that we wanted. Once I was done I just sat there for a moment with the book in my lap, I didn't know whether I should just go up there or not. Maybe I should ask Luke.

None of that was necessary however when Luke noticed me sitting there uncomfortably. He sighed before sending me a knowing look. He was packing up some food and coffee when he spoke. "He's upstairs."

The corners of my lips turned up slightly as his words. I got up out of my seat and dashed towards the stairs. Not before sending a quick 'thanks' Luke's way.

I knocked on the door of the apartment as I waited anxiously for it to open. After hearing a few shuffling from behind the door, it opened to reveal Jess standing there. He looked the same as how he did at Sookie's wedding, except that his hair was slightly messier. It was cute.

"Hi," he said with a smile on his face. He opened the door wider for me to get inside. "I thought you had to leave for Washington?"

"I don't have to be at the airport till six," I tell him as I stand in the middle of the room awkwardly. I didn't really know what to do with myself so I just handed him the book. "Here."

Jess took it in his hands with a small' thanks'. He walked over to his small bookcase and took a book from it before handing it to me. "To Have and Have Not," he read out the title.

In that moment, I decided that I was going to have it. I walked towards him and pressed a soft kiss on his lips. This one was very different from our first kiss. This one was soft and sweet since we knew that we would have time when I got back.

I wrap my arms around his neck with the book in one hand as his hands go around my waist. We would've kept on going if it weren't for the loud distraction coming from the stairs.

Both of us sprang apart just in time for Luke to open the door. He had a wild look in his eyes that said he suspected what was going on. He eyes the small distance between Jess and I with a frown.

To make things easier, Jess moved away by a few steps. He cleared his throat before he spoke. "Need something?"

Luke pointed a thumb towards the door. "The food is ready," he tells me.

"Great, I was just, uh, dropping something off." I say awkwardly as I hold the book up in my hand.

"You know, you should get back to your mum. You wouldn't wanna miss your flight." Luke sort of kicks me out while he sent a pointed look towards Jess.

"Yeah, alright." I turn to Jess as he looks at me, expecting some form of hug as a goodbye. Deciding that it wouldn't be the best idea, with Luke standing there watching us like a hawk. I walk over slightly to Jess. "See ya," I try to say casually as I held up my hand for a high five. It was like I was just watching me make a fool out of myself.

Jess looked at me with a slight frown, not knowing whether to laugh or not. He reluctantly slapped our hands together, saying a quiet 'bye'.

I make my way towards Luke. "Bye," I tell him as I try not to notice the tension in the air. Since I was on a roll of humiliating myself I just went for it. I gave Luke a punch on the shoulder. But not like a punch, it was like those punches that lumberjack dads would give to their son after catching a fish. It's was like a bro punch.

He just looked at me with a frown on his face. "Yeah, bye."

I walked out the door and closed in behind me, thankful to get out of that situation. Now, onto the main problem. A punch and a high five? I might as well dig my grave on embarrassment now. What the hell was wrong with me?