Nick and Jimmy

"Nick and Jimmy" By The Goblin

Nifty Archive: Gay Male: Celebrity

This story is fiction and is not intended to imply anything about the true sexuality of Nick Robinson or Jimmy Bennet or any personal knowledge about their private lives.

Please support the nifty archive and help keep this great resource available for many years to come.

Feedback: thegoblin312@gmail.com

Chapter 16

I pulled the car over into a parking spot. "Are you sure? We'll be gone for a week and a half."

Jimmy looked out the window, then back at me. "Yes."

Just then my phone rang. It wasn't a number from my contacts and normally I wouldn't have answered it but I kind of recognized the number from somewhere.

"Hello?"

"Nicholas Robinson?"

"Yes?"

"My name is Judy Westfall..."

Then I knew who she was.

"...I thought we had an appointment this morning for a viewing."

"Shit. I mean yes. I'm sorry I completely forgot."

"That's okay. I'm here at the house now, we can reschedule for..."

"You're there now?"

"Yes."

"If you're available now I'm only five minutes away."

"Now?" Jimmy asked.

I nodded at him while waiting for Judy to respond. I could hear paper shuffling on her end while a few cars passed us on ours.

"You're five minutes away? That would be fine."

I nodded at Jimmy. "Thank you Judy, we're on our way."

When we got out of the car I noticed that this cold December day was becoming warmer. The black iron fence looked even taller and stronger. In the light of day it seemed more fortified than it did the night before. I tried the handle on the gate but it was locked and barely moved. I looked at the door and tried the gate again.

Then I called out, "hello?"

Jimmy laughed at me then shook his head.

"What?"

He reached up passed my face to push a button attached to an intercom on my left.

"You didn't see that?" He asked.

I smiled. "See. I need you here already."

"Uh huh!"

"Yes? Hello?"

"Hi Judy." I said out loud before remembering to keep a low profile. "Nick Robinson." I said a little quieter.

The door made a clicking sound that caught me off guard. It sounded like it was having an electrical malfunction.

Jimmy smiled again and turned the nob to hold the door open for me. "Have you ever seen a buzzer before?"

"Yes but not on a house."

"Really?"

I smiled at him. "I'm not a city boy like you."

He looked up at the house then around at the neighborhood then smiled back at me. "You are now."

Jimmy let the gate shut itself and it wasn't really loud but the metal on metal reconnection did send off a noticeable loud vibration to the rest of the fence.

"I bet you can hear that gate closing from inside the house." I said.

"Are you getting paranoid?"

"No!"

We both turned back to the opening door. Judy was not at all what we expected. She was a young beautiful woman dressed in tight designer clothes. I think they sent her on purpose to try to seal the deal, but on her first greeting with us I think she caught on right away that all the skirt shaking in the world would be useless.

We all walked in and were hit with the smell of dust.

"This three bedroom two bath bungalow was built in 1942."

We walked through the living room. Jimmy's eyes were affixed to the outdated wall paper.

"It is notable to mention that until her death in February this was the California home of singer Lesley Gore."

Jimmy looked away from the old carpeted floor. "Who is that?"

"She was mostly famous in the sixties. She sang It's My Party."

"I don't know that song." Jimmy said.

I sang, "It's my party and I'll cry if I want to, cry if I want to."

"Really?" Jimmy asked.

"Yes." Judy said.

He made a face but still looked around. "Where did she die?"

"New York."

We walked towards the back.

"The bedrooms and baths are down that hall but straight ahead is the eat-in kitchen."

Jimmy walked to the kitchen and right away I could see the face he made at the older appliances and fixtures.

"When was the last time this place was remodeled?" He asked.

Judy smiled, almost in defeat. "Not since the early nineteen eighties."

Jimmy nodded making a face. He looked at me with tons of skepticism then back at the falling apart building.

"What's out there?" Jimmy asked looking at sliding glass doors in the rear of the kitchen.

A smile grew on Judy's face. "That's the best part."

"Oh yeah?" Jimmy smiled.

He wasted no time and walked to the doors. He struggled getting it open and it took my extra strength to get the old door to slide on its track. An unexpected warm breeze greeted us.

"It's nice out." I said.

We down three stairs onto a brick patio. There were weeds and grass growing between the bricks. The back yard was fenced in. The grass was dying, the patio furniture was dirty, and there was a small but efficient in-ground swimming pool that was mostly drained. The small puddle of water at the bottom of the five foot pool was a mixture of black and green.

"This is the best part?" Jimmy asked.

"Look around." Judy said.

Jimmy looked at the dying plants in the corner by the fence.

"No." Judy said. "Look up. What do you see?"

Jimmy kept his skeptical demeanor. "The side of a house."

"And on the other side of the yard? What do you see there?"

Jimmy shook his head in confusion. "Um. Another side of another house."

I think I started to catch on to what Judy was getting at.

"Boys look around, and tell me how many windows, how many other back yards can you see?"

"None." I said with a smile.

"Which means they can't see you either. This is a rare thing in this area as one of the few houses that has a completely private outdoor area."

Jimmy nodded as he looked around, probably trying to prove her wrong. Then he turned around and noticed that there was a window at the ground level.

"There's a basement?" He asked.

"Yes."

"Is it finished?"

She shook her head. "Come see the bedrooms."

She led us to the hall off the living room.

"The three doors to the right are the two bedrooms with the first bathroom between them."

The two smaller bedrooms were also dusty and had old paint or wall paper. The bathroom fixtures and tiles were over thirty years outdated.

Then we walked into the master bedroom. It was large and had a large window that over looked the back yard. The window faced east so I knew that the sun would shine in the morning.

I smiled. Jimmy noticed.

The walk-in closet was three times the one that I had and the master bathroom had a separate shower and large claw foot tub.

"That's a huge bath tub." Jimmy said.

Judy walked towards it. "It's the original that was put in here when the house was first built." She turned on the water. "It has been well maintained."

"The one thing." Jimmy said.

"Well they kind of had to since the bath was installed before that wall was up and if you wanted to take it out you would have to have it broken into pieces since it wouldn't fit into any of the doors."

"Really?" Jimmy asked.

I smiled again.

Judy shut the water off. "So what do you guys think?"

Jimmy held up his finger for a moment then sneezed. "I think it needs a lot of work."

"Give us a moment." I said.

"Take all the time you need." Judy said as she left for the living room."

Jimmy looked at me and smile. "You like this place don't you?"

"You don't?"

"Everything's falling apart."

"Good."

"Good? What do you mean good?"

I walked towards the window and looked out at the back yard. "It's easier to fix what's broken than what isn't."

"What?"

I shook my head. "I know exactly how this place will look when it's done."

"When it's done?"

"When it's remodeled. When the backyard is landscaped. When the basement is finished."

"You know how to do all that?"

"No. Not all of it. But Peter does and he can help."

"And he already agreed to this?"

"No he had no idea, but I'm sure. And whatever he can't do, we can just hire people."

"Listen to you money bags."

"No. Not really."

"How can you afford all this?"

"The house is listed very cheap, I think at this point they're just trying to get rid of it."

Jimmy nodded and joined me at the window. We both looked out to the quiet back yard. I looked at him and from his side profile could see the light reflecting through his greens.

"Besides how could I pass up the chance to see this light shine through your eyes?"

He made his skeptical face again.

"But this is the first house you looked at."

"I know that."

"Don't you want to see what else is...?"

"...I've driven by this place every day for two weeks. I spend about an hour a day looking at its pictures and planning out where everything would go. I researched the history, the taxes, and the neighborhood. I'm sure this is it."

"You're certain?"

I walked away from the window and smiled at the rest of the room. "This is home."

"Where have you guys been?" Steve asked as we walked in the front door.

Jimmy looked at him than at me.

I smiled. "Tomorrow Jimmy and I are leaving for Fiji so you get the house to yourself for a week and a half. Try not to burn the place down...well I guess if you did it wouldn't matter because I'm buying a house and we'll be moving after New Year."

Steve looked confused. "Wait...what?"

"Yeah." Jimmy said. "Nick bought a house.

"Buying." I corrected him from the bathroom. "I don't own it yet."

"And you guys are going to China? Tomorrow?"

I walked out of the bathroom drying my hands. "Fiji isn't in China, it's a country."

"Close enough."

"Not even, two different continents separated by thousands of miles."

"Well...whatever. What brought this on? Why so soon?"

I looked at Jimmy, then back at Steve, then down to the floor. "Things are about to get a little crazy."

"Oh Yeah. Right."

I opened my laptop to buy the plane tickets and make reservations at the small island resort.

I looked at Steve. "Dude. Seriously. I'm trusting you here. If anything crazy happens I'll be an eleven and a half hour flight away."

"Eleven and a half hours?" Jimmy asked in disbelief. "Holy shit."

I smiled at him. "Is that too much?"

"Well...I mean...I guess we'll be fine."

"I'm glad you say that because after our first flight we have another forty five minute flight from the mainland."

"You couldn't find anything non-stop?" Jimmy asked.

"No. Something about landing a huge jet on a small grass strip."

Jimmy held up his hand. "Wait...wait...wait. How small is this airplane that's going to fly us to this little island?"

"Well it fits four people..."

"Jesus. I'm going to die."

I laughed. "You are going to die." He looked at me with surprise. "But not any time soon."

I clicked confirm through about twenty screens while Steve played on his phone and Jimmy watched me.

"What?" I asked him.

"Nothing."

"Why are you looking at me like that?"

He started biting his nails. "You do realize this will be the third time we've flown together?"

"No only twice."

He smiled and I hit the final conversation.

Then he said, "You're forgetting about the weekend we met."

"Oh yeah. New York City to LA."

He smiled. "Yeah that was totally weird. What are the odds of that happening?"

"What happening?" Steve asked.

I looked away from my laptop. "We met in a bathroom on..."

"Uh huh." Steve said.

"Not like that. It was at a party. We didn't even really say anything to each other." I looked back at Jimmy but still spoke to Steve, "The next day, our seats were next to each other on the same plane."

Steve stood up then gestured with his hand. "How long has this been going on anyway?"

Jimmy looked at me then at Steve. "A couple of months."

"THAT'S IT?"

"What the fuck?" I asked.

"Seriously? You guys act like Romeo and Juliet and this has only been going on for a few months?"

Jimmy laughed. "Bad example man."

"Sorry Juliet, but it's true."

"Hey now." I said.

"What?" Steve said. "I mean the girls talked about it before and Nick you're Romeo and he's Juliet."

I bit my lip. "Well tell the girls that I was Juliet...once or twice."

"Dude. Eww."

I looked at Jimmy. "It was actually pretty good."

Steve held his hands over his ears and called out, "lalala vagina lalala," as he walked away.

Jimmy pinched my thigh. "Tell the neighborhood."

I raised an eyebrow and corrected my posture. "I speak the truth."

"Right. You're so noble."

"And humble."

He knocked his knee into mine and I almost slid a little on my stool.

"So what are we doing tonight then?" Steve asked.

"Stay home?" I said. "Watch a movie?"

"Hell no."

"Why not?" Jimmy asked.

"Because you'll be gone for eleven days."

"Aww Steve." Jimmy said. "Are you going to miss us?"

"Come on. We all are."

I looked at him.

"Haven't you guys noticed? You're kind of like the centerpiece that holds this weird make-shift group together."

"No way." I said.

"Honestly, not only is it going to be crazy quiet here, but I don't know what we're going to do without you."

"So what do you suggest?" I shrugged my shoulders.

"We pull that grill and fire pit out of your shed and put them to use tonight. Call Kayla and Jake, Peter, oh and Chloe."

"Oh and Chloe?" Both Jimmy and I said at almost the same time.

Steve looked back and forth at us both. "Yes...freaks."

"I'm starving." Jimmy said.

"Didn't you guys just get back from eating?"

"We never made it." I said.

I didn't want to go into the full story. It was getting tired and hard to regurgitate over and over again.

Steve looked at Jimmy. "You should just make a sandwich or something, me and Nick still have to go to the store."

"And I'll stay home because I can take a hint." Jimmy said. "What are you grilling anyway?"

"Well obviously I'm going to make you the best chicken ever, but I'm also going to make steak and cheese burgers."

"Eww."

"And I'll keep it separate."

Jimmy smiled at Steve. "I'll deal with it."

Steve looked at me. "Are you ready?"

"Now? We're going now."

"Yeah let's get this over with."

I shut the lid to my laptop. Jimmy stood up with me and I kissed the back of his hand. "Can you call everyone and ask them to come over?"

"Really?" Jimmy asked.

"Hey I'm the taxi driver."

"Fine." He faked being annoyed.

Steve didn't say much in the ten minutes it took us to get to the store. True to who he was as a person he waited until we were again in a public place before he started talking about serious things. I pushed the cart.

"So you seriously haven't known each other that long?"

"Seriously."

The produce section had that leafy green smell. He carefully picked out the best tomatoes.

"And you really do love him?"

An elderly woman made a face at Steve and myself as she walked between us.

"I do. A lot."

Steve spun through the heads of lettuce. "So what does this mean?"

I laughed. "Honestly. I have no idea."

"Really?"

"Really."

"But you guys are already living together."

I didn't have an answer for that. "We pretty much are."

"Nah dude. There's no pretty much." Steve nodded and smiled. "You two live together."

Then he checked a package of fresh Portobello mushrooms.

"You're right."

"So back to my original question. What does this mean?"

"I don't know. I don't. It's the craziest thing. I can't see the future. Have no fucking idea where that is going to lead. But now is good. What we have in the present is great." I pointed to the tiled floor. "This is what I want."

"Chill the fuck out."

I straightened my collar and bulged my eyes at him. "I am."

We didn't say anything while he bagged some potatoes.

He looked at the shelf above the potatoes. "Don't we have garlic?"

"I wouldn't know." I said with a laugh.

He squinted his eye trying to remember. "I think we do."

He smelled the bulb then held it towards me. I just held up my hand to turn it down. Then he wrapped that in plastic too.

At the meat section he looked with distasted at all of our options.

"What's the matter?" I asked.

He picked up a package and smell that too. Then he pulled it away with a bad look on his face. He looked over the shelves again. "This is all bull shit."

"Oh yeah?"

He looked around. "Where's the butcher?"

I watched as he argued his way to fresher cuts. I knew it would come at a higher price but I also knew that he was going to cook the hell out of dinner tonight. In his own way this was how he showed us love.

On the way to the bread aisle Steve said, "I guess I'm just kind of jealous."

"Oh what?"

"I don't know...it's dumb."

"Tell me asshole."

"Sometimes I'm just kind of lonely. And I get homesick."

"I know how you feel."

He rolled his eyes.

"No really. I've been alone until now. All this looks great but it's fucking scary as hell man. And not just the whole gay thing, but acting. Going to parties. Movie premieres. It's exciting, and it's scary as hell. And any minute now, all of it can be over. Gone before it really got started."

Steve looked down as we walked. The cart rattled its way towards the buns and rolls.

"I'm sorry." He said.

"No. I didn't mean that. Don't feel sorry for me. I just wanted you to know that I know you're going through a lot of shit, but you're not alone."

Steve laughed.

"What's so funny?"

"I'd hug you if you weren't a dude."

My face grew angry. "Fuck you," I said as the same elderly lady walked up and hugged him anyway. Steve patted me on the back with an awkward smile and nodded at her.

Her jaw dropped, she turned around and walked back where she came from.

"You know I don't want to sound like our mom's but you probably wouldn't be so lonely if you..."

"If I what..."

"Weren't so much like you?"

"Damn that's harsh."

"I don't mean it like that. Maybe just think sometimes before you say things. Maybe then she'll pay more attention."

"She?"

"Don't make me say her name."

"Why not?"

I looked around in fake fear. "Where ever she's at she'll probably hear me."

Steve laughed.

"Seriously Steve. You might have a chance. A very, very, very small chance. Just clean it up a little."

"I'm not going to quit smoking."

I rolled my head to the side. "Not talking about that."

"Then what is it?"

"I don't know. Just try not to be so...out there."

"Dude that's my natural charm."

"And do something with your hair."

Steve laughed. "You're one to talk."

"It's for the role. Besides it looks great no matter what."

"Right."

Jimmy opened the front door for us as I fumbled for my keys.

"Kayla and Jake should be here in about an hour, Peter is already on his way but he needs one of us to go with him to get alcohol."

"Steve?"

"Yeah I'll go if you pull the grill and the fire pit out. What about Chloe."

"Obviously she's coming with Peter. She's pissed though because she had to cancel plans to, and I quote, "Say bye to you little assholes."

Steve smiled and walked for his bedroom.

Jimmy filled a glass of water then joined me in the back yard to pull out and clean up the fire pit and grill. I used the hose and a wire brush to get the dust off the grates. They both were pretty much unused.

I had to kneel on the ground to wipe down the outside of the grill. Jimmy watched me and quietly drank his water.

I stopped for a moment and wiped my face. "Can I have some of that?"

He smiled and handed me the glass. "You have something on your face."

I wiped my left cheek. He reached up and wiped the right. Then I took off my sweatshirt and went back to wiping down the outside of the grill.

"It's nice out today." Jimmy said.

"Just wait until we do this in our new back yard."

"Our new backyard?"

"Yes." I shrugged my shoulder. "We are living together."

He looked down then back up as a smile grew on half of his face. Those forest greens looked so dark in the scarce evening sun.

"We are." He said.

I leaned against the grill to get the back of it. When I finished I turned back towards Jimmy and reached for his glass.

"You look really hot all dirty and sweaty."

I looked down and realized I got charcoal soot on the front of my shirt. I took a drink of his water and some dribbled down my chin to my shirt.

Jimmy smiled and pointed at me, "The master at work."

"I'll show you master." I said then squeezed his inner thigh.

"Boys...boys." Peter said as he made his entrance. Or exit.

I quickly released my grip. "How did you get in?"

"You left your front door unlocked." Peter said.

Jimmy looked worriedly at Peter.

"What the fuck is wrong with me." I said out loud as I stood up.

"Whoa I was kidding. Steve let me in. He says he's going with me."

"Yeah. But totally bad timing on the whole door unlocked thing."

"I see that."

"Where's Chloe?"

"Did I just hear my name?" She came out followed by Steve.

I looked at Steve and smiled and he caught on as he remembered what I said at the store. I noticed that he was wearing a different, nicer shirt and that he shaved. Also his hair was combed. He actually looked good. Very Presentable.

"What's the occasion?" Peter asked.

"What are you talking about?" Steve said.

"You. You're looking good tonight."

"Thanks."

"Chloe, did you notice how good Steve looks tonight?"

She half turned around to look Steve up and down. "Oh yeah. You bathed."

"And I put on a clean shirt."

Chloe smiled but looked down right before she thought anyone would notice. We all did of course. All of us except Steve who was completely oblivious to everything.

After Steve and Peter returned with the alcohol, Kayla and Jake arrived. Steve got to work right away playing grill master while Peter and Jake argued about the best way to build a fire.

Jimmy and I sat quietly and watched our friends. I hadn't eaten since breakfast so everything from the grill was starting to smell very good.

Everyone was becoming good and buzzed but instead of joining in we mostly just watched the random conversations.

After we ate Jimmy got up and walked to Steve by the grill. Without warning he wrapped his arms around him and gave him a big hug.

"Twice in one day." Steve said with an awkward look on his face.

Jimmy let go. "You're right. That was the best chicken ever."

Kayla sat down next to me. "You know, I don't know how he can eat so much and not get fat."

"Tell me about it."

"Nick can I ask something?"

I smiled. "You don't have to ask to ask."

"Is everything okay with you two?"

"Yes. Of course."

"Because you both seem kind of distant tonight."

"I know. We just got a lot on our minds."

"Yeah Jimmy told me on the phone all about it earlier."

"It's been crazy."

"You know, I didn't like that girl for some reason, but I never imagined..."

"It's my fault. For letting it happen." I looked towards Jimmy who was talking to Chloe and Steve.

"You can't save him from everything you know."

I smiled back at Kayla and took another drink from my bottle. "I can try."

We sat quietly for a few moments.

"Can I ask you a question Kayla?"

"You don't have to ask, to ask." She smiled before taking a drink.

"What do you and Jake do?"

She laughed, "What do you mean?"

"Where do you guys work?"

"We don't. Were both full time students. Jake tried fitting in a part time job but it was too hard for him to handle both."

"Your parents pay for everything?"

"Mine do, but his could barely afford to house him at home let alone this far away."

"Where is he from?"

"Texas."

"Really?"

Another few moments of silence where we watched the fire crackle.

"Why do you ask Nick?"

"I don't know. I guess I was just curious about how you guys are able to drop everything to deal with our inability to plan ahead."

She laughed. "I'd do anything for him."

I raised an eye brow.

"I've known him since we were thirteen and I love him to death. He's pretty much the closest thing I have to a best friend."

"Did you ever have feelings for him?"

She laughed again. "I don't know if I can share that with you."

I smiled back. "Come on."

She took another drink. "I did. When I was still a little girl. But it was after the first year that I realized..."

I waited but she stopped there.

"What did you realize?"

"That people with penises where more his type."

"What? You've known that long?"

"Yeah. I think I figured it out way before he did."

I watched Jimmy who was eating another piece of chicken again.

"That boy and food. I think he has a high metabolism."

"He's very active."

I threw a stick into the fire. "Not lately."

She looked at me.

"Lately he rarely even wants to leave the house anymore."

"That's so not him."

"Tell me about it."

"No seriously Nick. He's usually the type of person who is always surrounded by people. He always brings home new friends and is always looking for something to do."

I looked down. "I took that away from him."

"No you didn't."

I took another drink and nodded.

"No. He's different now. But that's a good thing."

Jimmy looked over at us and realized we were talking about him. He started to walk over.

"Why is that a good thing?"

"He's happy here with you. He doesn't need his traveling circus anymore."

"The circus is in town?" Jimmy asked.

"No." I looked up at him with a soft smile.

"Good. They mistreat their animals."

"Did you get enough?" Kayla asked him.

"Yes. Those appetizers were good, when is Steve making dinner?"

"I heard that." Steve called out.

"Kidding."

"Duh."

"So you guys are going to be gone for a week and a half?" Chloe called out in front of the group.

Everyone looked at me.

"Yes."

"Well try not to get kidnapped."

"They do that there?" Jimmy asked.

I shook my head. "I don't think so."

"You never know." Chloe said.

"Wishful thinking?" Steve said.

She turned around quickly. "NO!" Then she walked over to Jimmy to squeeze his cheeks. "His face is just to pretty to have a train run on it."

The look on Jimmy's face said it all and I couldn't help but laugh out loud. The look was then directed at me and I put an arm around his back.

I whispered into his ear. "Sorry. I couldn't resist."

Then I said to the rest of them, "I promise to not let the locals run a train on Jimmy."

Everyone else laughed too.

"And..." Chloe said.

"To remember to brush my teeth?"

"No. We're going to miss you fuck faces. You gotta leave us with more than that."

I stood up with a sigh. The smell of the fire's smoke hit me right away.

"Three months ago most of us were perfect strangers, but tonight I can say that I love you all."

"Aww." Steve said.

Chloe turned around and smacked his upper arm.

"Anyway," I continued, "On New Year's Chloe and I have to do this thing in Chicago and we're working it out with our agents so that all of you can come with us."

"I don't think we can afford that." Jake said.

"Don't worry about it." I looked down at Jimmy. "We just want all of you there."

"Of course." Kayla said.

"But the Chicago thing might not happen." I said.

Confusion grew on everyone's face.

"We have a lot to deal with, shit's about to get crazy, and my presence might not be needed after this bomb finally blows up."

Everyone broke eye contact with me.

"But we didn't bring you all here to bring up the bad. We just wanted you guys to know that we're going to miss you, and that you're not allowed to hang out with any other famous gay couple's while were gone."

"Not even Ricky Martin?" Steve asked.

I sat back down as Chloe said, "Like you know Ricky Martin."

Jimmy leaned in and whispered into my ear. "You said it."

"Said what?"

"The g word. You said it out loud."

I continued to look at him in confusion.

"Gay."

I smiled as I didn't even realize how comfortably I labeled myself.

"I guess I did."

Jimmy rested his chin on the side of my arm and cuddled up to me. I looked around to our friends and realized how comfortable in front of them I was. I put an arm around his back to hold him tighter, then kissed him on the top of his head.

We didn't get to bed until midnight that night which wouldn't have been so bad if we didn't have to be up by three thirty in the morning to pack and stop by Jimmy's parents' house to get his passport.

We arrived at the airport two hours before takeoff and it took us that long to get through all the security and check our bags.

The flight took off at exactly 10:05am and before long the land mass that is the United States was long gone and we were over the blue vastness of the Pacific Ocean.

...to be continued...

Feel free to provide feedback: thegoblin312@gmail.com