Work Text:
Collect calls were expensive.
Eric had laughed himself out. “Yes,” he whispered.
Silence, then Jack asked, “Will you write me this time?”
And Eric could only utter the same word again. Yes.
***
They wrote novels. Eric sent an email two days after their call, catching up Jack on everything from the last nearly eighteen months of his life. He sent stories of babysitting for his nephew, and photos from his graduation, holding up his degree proudly, “wish you had been here to see it”, he had typed, and it was vulnerable in a way his emails were not.
He continued working at the daycare, a small pay raise now that he had the degree, and he shared stories of the kids. Jack asked if he knew how to Skype. I’ll learn, Eric had sent back. The first time they videoed, they stared at each other for nearly two hours, just breathing, drinking one another in.
“My term ends in two weeks,” Jack mentioned casually on their third call.
“Yeah?”
“Yeah. Would you,” Jack rubbed at the back of his neck, “would you want to see one another?”
“Like in person?”
“Yeah, Eric. Like in person.”
He nodded unable to speak.
***
They met three weeks later when Jack came by Eric and Sean’s apartment. “I’ll just be going,” Sean said, after hugging his brother. He was dialing his phone even as he grabbed his keys. “Hey, Ang. I’m coming over, Jack just got here.”
He closed the door behind him. Eric stared at Jack. “You’re here.”
“I’m here,” Jack confirmed.
He was tanner than he had been. His hair lighter. Carried himself a little taller. “I’m sorry,” he said quietly.
Eric startled. “Why are you sorry?”
“For leaving. For not understanding. For --”
“No,” Eric shook his head, interrupting. “You have nothing to be sorry for, Jackie. I’m the one who didn’t email you for months.”
“But-”, Jack started, only for Eric to blurt out: “I’m bisexual” at the same time.
Jack shut up. “What?”
“I wasn’t that drunk, Jack. Not that night. Two beers tops, that’s it. I - I pretended. Because if I didn’t, it would hurt too much.”
Jack opened, then closed his mouth, gaping for words. “I - I thought it was just me. It was always girls with you.”
Eric shook his head. “First time? Mitchell. That barista I dated briefly? Guy. I had an unrequited crush on this guy in high school, but he was kind of a jerk so I never pursued it. There was that one night stand, actually two of them, but.”
“But?” Jack prompted, finding his voice again.
“They were one night stands.”
“Right.” Jack sighed. “Rachel and I slept together once early in our term, I think we were both lonely, but it didn’t mean anything. I think she knew. There was this guy in our group I saw for awhile, but I think he figured it out.”
“Figured what out, Jack?”
“That I liked someone else.”
Eric stared at him. Blinked. “I’m going to hug you now.”
“Please,” Jack breathed, even as Eric was crossing the distance between them, and wrapping him in his arms. He pressed his face into Eric’s shoulders, arms circling Eric’s back, and he breathed in again. He felt more than saw Eric’s lips in his hair.
“I missed you, Jackie,” he murmured.
“I missed you too,” he echoed. He looked up. “I - I-”
But perhaps somehow, some of Eric’s future-telling ability lingered because Eric’s lips were covering his, and he sighed, deepening the kiss.