side job

7

Ezra had arranged for the pair to move to a new home. He used up a bunch of his savings to find them a home, one with a finished basement and a fenced-in backyard.

When Jonathan first entered the home, he was practically jumping for joy. Ezra was grinning as he jumped into his boyfriends arms, kissing him in proper celebration. The taller man spun him around, still kissing each other with little kisses escaping their lips.

Jonathan couldn't imagine being so happy, literally ever. He felt like they connected more, and like all that hurt only made them stronger. That helped him forget easier.

He had spent his days decorating everything and putting everything together. Pictures of them littered the walls, which meant every corner of the room was filled with happy memories. Ezra said he appreciated that a lot, and would help him in the future if he ever felt upset.

The couple was currently sitting on their brand new couch, cuddling and watching Letterkenny. Jonathan had practically abandoned his phone, and it was mostly on do not disturb during the day.

He had turned it off every now and then, weaning his way back into normal life. His bit of depression was slowly going away, but he still didn't feel like going to work. All he wanted to do was be with Ezra and think about Ezra.

Even when the shorter boy had to leave for work, he'd just spend his time scrolling through their texts, private social media, and camera roll. It was a bit obsessive but it really filled his heart with joy.

Jonathan's phone vibrated, and his heart sank at the caller id. Ted flashed across the screen and Jonathan's worried eyes met with Ezra's.

Ezra had snooped and found a flurry of angry messages from Ted once he found out their situation and how they handled it. Jonathan apologized profusely, saying he didn't want to deal with it so he just read it and ignored it, but that didn't satisfy Ezra.

So Jonathan let Ezra type out a lengthy paragraph telling Ted he didn't need relationship advice and that if Ted couldn't accept their relationship, that he didn't want to be friends anymore.

Ezra shook his head, "Answer it, baby. If he tries anything nasty hang up on him."

Jonathan kissed Ezra before taking his phone and leaving the room, wanting a bit of privacy. He would hang up on Ted like Ezra said, but he didnt want Ezra to hear anything negative.

"Hello?" Jonathan answered, nervousness eating away at him.

"Oh my god, Schlatt! I've been worried sick about you, are you okay?" Jonathan rished. Jonathan hadn't answered any texts or calls for about a week after that message Ezra had sent. He was too afraid of conflict.

"Yeah, I'm great actually. We bought a house, been busy putting it all together." Jonathan explained proudly. He waited for Ted to answer, who seemed to be picking his words wisely.

"I'm not criticizing you at all here when I ask this, but are you sure everything is alright? I'm worried about you." Ted said, making Jonathans heart drop.

Why couldn't the man just forget about it too? It was Jonathan's relationship, and he got to dictate how they handled things.

"Ted, I get you just want the best for me, but this is the best for me. Ezra is everything I've ever wanted in life. I'd be nothing without him, man." Jonathan gushed.

He smiled at a picture of himself setting up their filming room in the basement. Ezra had joked that it could be their sex dungeon.

"I just want to make sure you're happy in the long run. Have you talked about everything yet?" Ted asked, avoiding being too happy for the couple.

Jonathan sighed, "I'm not ready yet. Everything is going so well and I'm so fucking happy right now. I just want everything to stay this way."

"I hope it stays this way too. When are you coming back to work? We've had to push back so many people, and some of them won't be available for months now." Ted explained, sighing in a bit of hidden frustration.

Jonathan had been skipping out on podcasts. He got the brilliant idea of pretending he had come into contact with someone with covid, so he was quarantining until he felt comfortable to leave his home.

Jonathan hummed. "I dunno. Do you think I could bring Ezra with me? I hate leaving him. I just wanna be near him all the time."

"Is that because you love him or because you're scared he's going to cheat on you if you leave him alone?" Ted asked bluntly before he could even think.

Jonathan inhaled slightly in surprise. He knew there was a little bit of truth in that statement, but Ezra's his boyfriend. It's normal to be attached like this.

"I think that was a little rude of you to say. I said I wasn't ready to handle it and you should respect that. Why would I want to work with you when you're being too pushy about this? How would you feel if you wanted Shae to attend and I openly hated her and disrespected her despite your love for her?" Jonathan ranted.

"Schlatt I didn't mean it like that. I just wanted to ask, make you think a little and make sure you're doing the right thing. I trust you whole-heartedly." That seemed to relax Jonathan a bit.

Sighing, Jonathan shook his head. How could Ted not understand how happy they were? They have a home together now, and Ezra rarely left for work.

Jonathan had almost completely convinced him to basically be a stay at home boyfriend. Ezra complained that he'd be bored and feel bad for using all of Jonathan's money, but Jonathan knew he had more than enough for a whole family.

After making some terrible small talk, Jonathan said goodbye. Things were still pretty awkward, but they were trying pretty hard to keep things peaceful.

The man explained the whole call to Ezra, whose eyes narrowed as Jonathan talked. Jonathan could tell the man didn't like Ted, and it made the man feel bad.

"Maybe you should stay away until he's more accepting. I'm your priority, remember?" Ezra asked.

Jonathan quickly nodded his head, his eyes staring into his boyfriends. "I always remember, Ez. You're the only thing that truly matters to me."

"Remember this, Jonathan. None of those people love you and care about you nearly as much as I do. You're my everything, my world. I couldn't live without you, baby." Ezra replied, kissing Jonathan's lips in between sentences.

Every worry or doubt Ted planted in his mind was washed away by Ezra's loving words.

---

a/n: that was a really fun chapter to write. i feel like this and the last chapter were some of my best works so far and im really proud of them.

how do you feel about ezra right now?

do you trust him?

thanks for reading, n let me know how you feel about the chapter always!