Yours (on TikTok) - Rob Jetten x Jesse Klaver

ONE

Hi Besties! This story is set in an alternate universe where coronavirus doesn't exist and monogamy is more optional. I'm Australian and have never been to the Netherlands. I only learned about these two gentlemen last week. Enjoy this dumb and happy story.

—

It starts, as almost everything does, with the buzz of his phone. Jesse looks up from his laptop, the half-written document has been taunting him for the past hour; he just can't seem to find the right words to express the Dutch risk of sea level rise without sounding like he's repeating himself for the eight hundredth time. His entire career, sometimes, feels like it's just this. Mastering this same argument, pressing this same point again and again. When will he find a way to express it so his colleagues see? So that the people see! Their watery fate looms in the future with no rescue in sight.

He sighs, pushing his laptop aside. He needs a break anyway, the speech is going nowhere. He unearths his phone from the sea of briefing notes and paperwork. His desk was tidy yesterday but this always happens when he's writing. He forgets about anything else, pulling out notes and references, shoving other papers aside until his desk is a sea of chaos. He peers down at the screen of his phone. Eight messages on Instagram? He runs a hand through his hair, pushing the errant curls to the side, out of his eyes. What's this about, then?

—

Rob has never felt so embarrassed. He thought he was being subtle. Ever since he found out that Jesse Klaver's marriage wasn't quite as 'traditional' as he'd assumed, perhaps even before that, he's carefully let his interest show. A smile here, a wink there, nothing obvious. Well, not until some people on TikTok put all those moments together in a series of mortifying montages of one sided flirtation with a soundtrack to underscore the point. What had he been thinking?! He's an idiot. He pulls off his glasses and presses his palms over his eyes with a groan. He thought his 'robo Rob' persona was hiding it. Put together, upstanding, well-dressed and intelligent. Obviously not. He needs to go for a run. Get the energy out. He can't.

What does he do, now? The videos have gone viral. Not just here, but worldwide. Does he just- go with it? Laugh along? What will Jesse think? If he-

He nearly drops his phone when it buzzes in his hands. He fumbles and answers it, lifting it to his ear before he even sees who it is.

"Hello?"
"You're in trouble" comes the amused voice of his partner, Sjoerd. "Married men now, is it?"
Rob has to chuckle at that. Sjoerd was sleeping with a married man when they first met.
"No," says Rob. "Well," he pauses, "no," he repeats with a small shake of his head. "I'm so embarrassed."
"Why? He's very good looking. And passionate- about the carbon emissions cap, at least".
"I thought I was being subtle".
"Subtle as a brick going through a window!" laughs Sjoerd.
"If that brick had a piece of paper tied to it that said 'I heard your wife sleeps with other women, do you want to sleep with me? Y/N' then you're probably right."
"Does she!" Gasps Sjoerd, in mock-scandal. "Well now it all makes sense. You've always enjoyed a challenge."
"Ugh" says Rob. "I feel mortified."
"Only if he rejects you," chuckles Sjoerd.
"He will. He's never shown an interest in me."
"Are we watching the same videos? Because, to me, it looks like he's flirting right back."

—

Rob makes a hasty retreat back to his flat as soon as he can. When parliament is in session, he stays nearby. He used to share the flat with one of his D66 colleagues but after the election and his colleague meeting a new girlfriend, he has suddenly found that he has it to himself. It's good, he enjoys time alone and he needs to think.

He reaches his door and stops. There's a bunch of garden flowers wrapped in craft paper sitting on the door mat, waiting for him. Is this Sjoerd teasing him again? They don't have much of a flower garden but maybe- Hesitantly, he picks them up. There's a tag attached, crisp green cardstock. 'Green-Left' green cardstock, his mind supplies, unhelpfully. He turns it over and reads the words Yours (on TikTok) -Jesse.