Too Late - A Jossell Fanfiction

I Remember You

May 12th. The night that went so right, then so, so wrong.

Jon knew it was a bad idea to go to the party. It was a social situation, and he was bad at those. None of his friends would be there, and though that sounded childish, he knew it would be awful without them. But he forced himself into it. And that was the first mistake of the night.

Russell looked into the mirror and practiced his charming smile. He adjusted his tie and smoothed his hair. A tie. Ugh. He never thought this day would come. On second thoughts, he'd ruffle up his hair. There, that was better. He hated formal events, so it was best to make himself look as INformal as possible. He looked into the mirror again and decided to enjoy the party as best he could. Perhaps that was a mistake too.

At 8 o'clock exactly, Jon set off for the party. It was a celebration of some sort, for the BBC, though he wasn't exactly sure what he had been rather hastily invited by a sort-of-friend of his, most likely as an afterthought. Walking along the road that lead to the train station, he sighed and looked at his watch. 8:03. With any luck, his train would extremely delayed and he'd completely miss the whole thing; although, knowing his luck, it would be the only day in the history of the London train service that it arrived on time. Approaching the station, Jon felt a shudder of nerves shake through his body. he had no idea why; he'd been on TV countless times and he'd never felt as angsty as he did now. As he stepped into into the practically empty foyer, he straightened his tie and approached the platform.

By the time Russell got to the party at 9:30, it was already in full swing, and everyone seemed to be having a great time.

"Champagne, sir?" a smiling waitress asked him, offering him a flute of the bubbling liquid.

"Er... Sure." said Russell, grinning back slightly nervously. He didn't really like alcohol, and all champagne did was get up his nose and make him feel dizzy; but of course, he didn't want to seem rude.

Walking through the crowded hall, Russell struggled not to spill his drink on himself or anyone else, and after a while, found a few comics he knew, and relaxed a bit knowing that they felt just as awkward as he did.

Across the hall, Jon leant against a wall, trying to blend in. People kept stopping by him, acting like they knew him, trying to interact with him- one women even attempted a hug. Did none of these people know what personal space was? Couldn't they tell he wanted to be alone? Just then, he noticed something- or rather someone. Someone he hadn't seen in a very long time. He tried to stop his mouth from opening gormlessly, but it was no use. Because across the hall...

Was Russell Howard.

Jon blinked again to make sure he wasn't hallucinating- after all, he had had quite a lot to drink, which was yet another mistake. But no, it really was him! Excitedly, Jon made his way carefully over, bumping into a few people. Some tried to start conversations with him, but he just blanked them and kept walking. He approached Russell awkwardly, feeling like a stalker. As nonchalantly as he could, Jon lightly bumped against him, trying to make it seem accidental. Russell turned around.

"Sorry mate, I..." his voice trailed out when realised who it was he had bumped into.

He stared at Jon for a while, almost as he didn't believe what he saw. Then his face cracked into a grin.

"I remember you." he whispered, almost laughing with joy.

Jon grinned back, for the first time in a while genuinely happy. There were tears in his eyes, and he could see Russell was on the verge of crying too. They suddenly embraced, virtually clinging onto each other, as though they never want to let go.

That hug sparked something in both of them, something that Jon was all too familiar with and that Russell had never experienced before, and didn't realise was... love.

Unfortunately, it was that hug which was the fourth mistake of the evening, and what set off a chain of events which no one could have forseen. But at that time, it was just a symbiol of reunion and joy, not of irreversible heartache.