Marvel One Shots

gyllenholland-not allowed

"you can't tell anyone about your relationship."
jake's grip on tom's hand tightened. "why not?"
"most of his fans are girls. and those girls like him because they think he's hot. if you come out, they won't have those fantasies anymore."
"but i'm not even gay, i'm bi." tom's jaw clenched.
"and that will help his publicity because guys think he's hot, too."
tom's agent slammed his hand on the table. "you will NOT tell anyone."
jake jumped up. "that's bullshit!"
tom leaned his head back and looked at the ceiling. then he exhaled and looked back at everyone. "my fans already support us. most of them do, at least. and we already say we're in love and getting married anyway. it shouldn't be a big deal if we tell them all that it's serious."
his agent ran a hand down his face. "tom, i'm sorry. but you guys can't do this. not for real, and you can't joke about it anymore. your fans know something is happening and it could go wrong."
jake sat back down and started tapping his foot. tom watched him as he asked, "won't they find it weird if we just stop acting like we used to?"
"not if you do as we say. you should post something that tells them it was all just a joke and to stop calling you guys a couple."
tom felt his heart ache. "what if we don't?" his voice was quiet.
"then we'll make sure you guys never do a project together. and if we have to, we'll keep you both busy so you can't see each other outside of acting. you won't be able to date privately either."
tom looked down, trying not to cry. he didn't want to lose jake, but could they continue keeping their relationship private? it was already hard.
"we'll do it," jake looked at tom with a shaky smile.
tom nodded. "we'll tell them it's all a," his voice cracked, "joke."
jake's agent finally sat down and nodded, "good."
tom's agent sat down, too. "we do need you to do one more thing, tom."
"what?" doesn't he have to do enough already?
"have a fake girlfriend."
tom reaches for jake's hand. "o- okay. if that's what i need, then i-"
jake dropped his hand, moving both of his own as he talked. "tom can't do it. let me do it instead. if the media finds out it's fake, it could ruin his career. if it really is such a big deal that he's gay, then it's going to be even worse if he fakes being straight. if i do it, then it's okay. i've had a long run already, my career CAN be over. but tom's too young."
jake's agent sighed and shook his head. "it's not just because he's gay. if that was it, it'd be okay."
tom clenched his right fist and wrapped his left hand around it. "then what is it? tell us everything."
jake's agent glanced at tom's, "it's because of your age difference. we weren't going to tell you because we didn't want to upset you."
"so, it's my fault?.." jake rubbed his eye. "i should've known." he looked at tom. "it's not because we're gay obviously. i've played a gay character that was really controversial, so it definitely wasn't that. i'm too old for you, tom." his eyes watered. "i'll fake the girlfriend," he told the agents. "just don't make tom do that. please."
"jake," tom reaches for him and laced their fingers together. jake squeezed.
"let's go, tom." jake pulled him up. he looked at the agents. "send me the information for whatever i have to do."
tom and jake put their hats and sunglasses on as they got to the door. their hands were no longer connected.
tom wanted to grab jake's hand but knew he couldn't.