I'm Not Okay

Chapter II. Anywhere but Here

The chaotic Tommy energy didn't stop there and by the time Christmas actually rolled around, it had magnified ten fold to a point where Bobby was continuously telling him off. The group really started to worry when Jimmy didn't show up for the Christmas party, and Bobby and Johnny both were getting uneasy feelings at the knowing look Tommy gave them as Dutch started opening the large present with no tag on it except for Dutch's name. The box was huge and Tommy grinned gleefully as Dutch opened the top of the box... he opened the top of the box to find a ribbon covered Jimmy wrapped up in tinsel and multicolored tissue paper and wrapping, a bow over his lips. Jimmy spitting tinsel at him as he undid the bow a little. 

Dutch and Jimmy just blinked at each other while Tommy grinned and gesticulated at the box "Ta da, I got you what you really wanted," Dutch looked over in shock "I I wanted a motorbike man... not a a — did he agree to this?" From the look on Tommy's face, he decided that the boy in the box had definitely not agreed to it. 

Dutch rescued Jimmy from the box while Bobby went into his outright lecture mode and Johnny slapped Tommy's head with a smirk. 

Dutch took the mortified boy into his room and started the laborious adventure of unraveling the Christmas decorations from his friend, first he took the bow off his mouth and waited for a tirade of angry words, but Jimmy only stayed silent till he smirked a little "Merry Christmas Dutch... you get everything you wanted?" Both bursting out into laughter, it didn't die down till Jimmy was almost completely free of the Christmas bindings. 

"Holy shit, that's how this happened?" Dutch whistled gently and untied Jimmy's wrists which were held back by a large amount of silver and gold tinsel "Sooo Lemme get this straight, last night Tommy asked to talk to you for a minute, then basically ambushes you and gets you in the box after a karate battle? What the," he smirked despite himself "I mean, Tommy's pranked us before, but never this bad," he chuckled and raised an eyebrow playfully "He must really want us to get together or something, man," he laughed and Jimmy wished that he could be anywhere but there as he chuckled softly 

"You know what would really knock him on his ass?" 

Jimmy grinned "A beer or two, yeah," 

Dutch snickered "No man... if we actually pretended to be a thing..." 

yeah... Jimmy completely wanted to be anywhere but where he was... seeing Dutch's chaotic look... he just kinda laughed a little awkwardly "Huh huh, yeah, yeah, cool, cool, coooool," he muttered and Dutch grinned "That'd really get him back for this prank... oh, ya got tinsel in your hair man..." if Jimmy leaned into his hand a little as Dutch gently pulled the tinsel from his hair, he didn't notice 

"So what you say?" 

Jimmy looked startled and confused mixed with sad "What?" 

"We pretend to be a couple when we're around Tommy, we play act, man... it'll knock him off his ass in surprise and it'll be funny..." 

"oh... Dutch I don't know... I mean, okay..." 

So that's how Jimmy found himself pressed close in Dutch's arms, his own closing over the other's shoulders as they pretended to kiss, with Jimmy pretending and trying to not be too into it... by the end of it, Dutch was smirking and called him babe, while Bobby, Johnny, and Tommy were all staring at them with different versions of shock on their faces. 

"That really showed them man, huh?" Dutch stated later as he cleared the dishes from the table and hurriedly and roughly wiped his lips of the last dregs of the kiss. 

Jimmy was just kind of - not in his head and was staring at his reflection in the polished wood "Uh what?" He asked as he looked up, wishing what had happened earlier had been real.