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It's been a few months since Jimmy and Joel had become official.
3 months, 2 weeks and 5 days, not that Jimmy was counting at all.
And it was perfect.
Jimmy had never thought that his pining would lead anywhere. But it had! Jimmy got to message Joel good morning and good night. Every movie and tv show was accompanied with Joel's hands in his own. Occasionally, the two would even make out, hands never trailing much further than belt-height.
Well, call Jimmy clingy, but he wanted more.
Jimmy's good morning texts were replied to with 'what do you want's. Joel refused to do much more than holding hands outside of the comfort of one of their homes.
Which was fine. It was just slightly mildly torturous.
But he's settled for what he can get from Joel, and hey. The relationship was still new, maybe these things come with time.
When Joel asked for a lift to and from his wisdom tooth removal, Jimmy jumped at the opportunity to help and be around his boyfriend. The dentist's waiting room chairs were uncomfortable, but the blond refused to come back later, just in case Joel needed help.
His boyfriend liked to act big and strong, but Jimmy knew how long Joel waited to make this appointment, putting it off at every available instance.
He was scared.
Jimmy had brought a little book of sudoku to keep him entertained, but it didn't take long before he - inevitably - started scrolling on SocialGram. Jimmy found himself scrolling through people's reactions of the drugs taken during wisdom tooth removal.
Drowsiness, weakness, heightened emotions, reduced inhibitions.
It made him wonder what Joel would be like? He couldn’t imagine that his boyfriend could be more touch-adverse, but that was always a possibility.
Despite being friends long before their romantic relationship, Jimmy still felt – no, knew - that there was more to Joel than the other man was letting on. The shorter man was more private and guarded. Even when Joel slept, there was always some part of him that seemed tense.
Maybe this will let Jimmy see another side of him.
Jimmy was invited back to one of the spare rooms by a nurse - Sarah, where Joel was sitting down on the dentist's chair and....
Jimmy had never seen him so loose.
In public, Joel always looked tense. Jaw locked, and a forced disinterest that Jimmy could always spot a mile away. At home? Joel was still soft with him, but he had always felt that he needed just that little bit more to unwind. Even in his sleep, Joel's eyebrows were furrowed.
"Jimmy! I missed you," Joel cried, doing his best to give Jimmy a big smile with the gauze still in his mouth.
"I missed you too. How are you feeling?" Jimmy asked.
Joel showed off the needle still going into his hand, "Look what they did to me!"
"I thought you knew that was going to happen."
"No, they were going to do it here!" Joel rolled up the sleeve of his jumper to show a purpley-blue bruise in the crook of his arm.
"The anesthetist couldn't find a vein there, so he went in through the hand," Sarah explained.
Jimmy nodded.
"Why don't you settle the bill and bring your car to the front. I'll get Joel ready to go," the nurse suggested.
At the word "bill", Joel was already getting out his wallet and holding it out towards Jimmy.
A not-unsubstantial amount of money later, Jimmy was hand in hand with Joel, keeping him steady, as he loaded his boyfriend into the car.
Joel clung to his hand the millisecond he was allowed to, as Jimmy half-dragged him to the car - the other man unsteady on his feet.
As Jimmy loaded Joel into the passenger seat, Joel refused to let go of his hand.
"Promise you'll stay with me."
"Always," Jimmy says, "But I need to let go for a minute so I can drive you home."
"Home?"
"Yeah, home."
Joel reluctantly let it go. However, it's doesn't last long, as the drive home was filled with Joel trying to grab onto his hand again.
Thank void he drives an automatic.
Jimmy had to stop by the pharmacy to pick up Joel's painkillers.
This was only unfortunate due to the mini-tantrum Joel threw - begging to be with his boyfriend.
With nothing being able to distract the other man, Jimmy found himself with a koala-like Joel clinging to his side.
Jimmy could hardly complain. It was nice to feel wanted. Needed. Butterflies danced in his stomach at the thought.
The conversation with the pharmacist assistant was slightly awkward, but when Jimmy mentioned the words ‘wisdom tooth’, she nodded like she understood.
“I’ll try and get these done quickly. I'll be ready in about 10 minutes.”
“That’s fine, thank you,” Jimmy adjusted his hold on Joel, who was slowly loosening his grip – the medication and pain likely starting to affect him more. Behind them were two seats. When picking up other things, Jimmy had commonly spotted older people sitting and waiting in those seats. Seeing no one else was using them, Jimmy led Joel to one of them while they waited for his scripts to be filled.
“My face is all swollen,” Joel murmured. A lot of his fight had drained now, his body demanding rest after a gruelling experience. Because of this, Joel was pleased enough to simply hold Jimmy’s hand instead of his previous koala-like behaviour.
“It is," Jimmy admitted, "Do you want to see?”
At Joel’s nod, Jimmy pulls out his phone and turns it around for Joel to look at the front-facing camera. On the side Joel’s tooth was extracted, his cheek was slightly drooped, creating an unnatural, rectangular look to that part of the face.
“It looks like I have mumps!” Joel cried.
“You look like a Minecraft man,” Jimmy snorted.
“A sexy Minecraft man?”
“A very sexy Minecraft man.”
“That’s good,” Joel tried to smile, but he quickly stopped and cradled the swollen cheek.
The pharmacist's assistant called out Jimmy's name.
"Come on, let's drug you up and take you home."
Joel was in Jimmy’s bed.
Joel was in Jimmy’s bed and beckoning him to cuddle in bed.
Although it was a lot less alluring than expected and with a lot more whining and grabbing.
“I need to get some old towels for you,” Jimmy started.
“No you don’t. It’s nap time,” Joel pouted.
“You’re going to drool everywhere."
"No I don-,"
"Yes you do," Jimmy interrupted, "and do you know what else you’ll drool out? Blood. And it’ll stain.”
“Ew, gross,” Joel made a face at that.
“You’re gross.”
“No, you’re gross.”
“No, you’re gross.”
“No, you-”
“Joel, I promise, I’ll be right back,” Jimmy interrupted.
“Fine,” Joel turned to lay on the other side, crossing his arms as he settled.
Jimmy snorted at the man's ridiculousness. He rummaged through cupboards until he found an old tea-towel - while he had promised Joel a towel, he only had the two used for showering. Surely a tea-towel counted, right?
He came back to Joel in the same position, although softer and looser. His breathing was also a lot more even than it was when Jimmy left.
Kneeling over his boyfriend, he cradled the other's head and lifted it up, so the tea towel could be placed underneath. Joel moved with Jimmy's adjustments pliantly.
Jimmy went to leave, when Joel mumbled, "You said you'd stay with me."
He paused. He did say that. And who was Jimmy to turn down some more cuddle time.
"Alright, scootch over a little," Jimmy said. Joel made a valient attempt, but he only moved an extra inch or so. Still, there was plently of room for Jimmy to lay alongside him, his hand resting on Joel's hips. From there, Joel grabbed it, as if using it like a stuffed animal.
"Goodnight," Joel mumbled, shifting to get comfortable again.
"Goodnight."
"There's even a blummin' bruise on my neck!" Joel cried a few days later. "And not even one of the nice ones from you."
Jimmy's face was surely bright red, if the heat coming off it was any indication. Smoothly, he ignored the second comment, "You could always say that you won a fight."
Joel turned his head, preening in front of the mirror like a bird, "That could work. I could even make up a story about how it was Scott who did this to me."
"I still have no idea what you have against him. He's nice," Jimmy said, placing his chin on top of Joel's head and wrapping his arms around the other man.
"He needs to be taken down a peg, that's what," Joel patting his arms around him, leaning further into them.
It was like the sedation had awoken something within Joel. Like he had finally gave himself permission to touch Jimmy and express love. It also helped that Jimmy and Joel had expressed their feelings and thoughts surrounding their relationship to each other a few days earlier.
Who knew that the secret to a healthy relationship was communication.
Jimmy kissed him on the head, "I love you. Do not say it was Scott."
"No promises. I love you too."