jealousy looks good on you
pairing: jeremy gilbert x female!reader
summary: jeremy tells himself he's not jealous. then some guy at the grill keeps flirting with you he isn't sitting right there.
warnings: jealousy, mildly possessive/protective jeremy, flirting from another man, established relationship, alcohol/drinking, light tension.
The rain had started sometime after sunset.
Not heavy enough to drown out the town, just steady, its endless tapping against the windows of the Grill that blurred the neon beer signs glowing near the front entrance. Every time the door opened, cold air slipped inside with whoever walked through it, carrying the smell of wet pavement and soaked denim into the warmth of the bar.
The place was crowded in the comfortable, messy way it always got on Friday nights. Someone had fed too many quarters into the jukebox near the pool tables, and an old rock song hummed low through the speakers while people talked over it anyway. Pool balls cracked somewhere in the back every few minutes. Glasses clinked. Chairs scraped against hardwood floors sticky from years of spilled drinks and bad cleaning jobs.
Matt was behind the counter tonight, drying glasses with a dish towel thrown over one shoulder while arguing halfheartedly with Tyler about some basketball game playing muted on the television above the liquor shelves.
You and Jeremy had claimed your usual booth near the windows almost an hour ago. Your jackets hung beside each other on the edge of the seat, both still damp near the sleeves from the rain outside. Jeremy’s hoodie was pushed up to his elbows, exposing the veins in his forearms while he absently rolled a beer bottle back and forth between his hands, the label already half peeled away beneath his fingers.
You sat sideways beside him with one leg folded underneath yourself, lazily stealing fries from the basket between you while telling him about something Caroline had done earlier that week. Jeremy looked like he was listening, mostly, but every so often his gaze slipped away from you to wander around the Grill. It followed the front door whenever someone came in from the rain, drifted toward the bar when laughter broke out, and lingered briefly on the couple arguing beside the dartboards before returning to you again.
“You’re not even listening to me,” you said eventually.
“You literally just nodded at nothing.”
Jeremy glanced back toward you, finally smiling a little. “No, I didn’t.”
You snorted softly and reached for his drink before he could stop you, taking a sip despite the face he made immediately afterward.
“It tastes like battery acid.”
Jeremy laughed under his breath, the sound quiet enough to disappear beneath the music before he leaned back further into the booth.
The overhead pendant light cast warm amber shadows across his face, softening the sharpness that had settled into him over the last couple years, but you still noticed the smaller things now. The way he scanned rooms automatically. The way he always sat facing the entrance without realizing it.
Outside, headlights slid across the rain-slick street and flashed briefly through the windows before disappearing again.
Then Matt called your name from behind the counter.
You looked over automatically.
“There’s a guy asking if this is yours,” he said, already grinning like he knew something you didn’t.
Jeremy’s fingers stilled against your leg.
You pushed yourself out of the booth, sneakers sticking slightly against the floor as you crossed the room. The warmth near the kitchen hit first, thick with the smell of fried food and grease, while cigarette smoke lingered faintly on the damp jackets people shrugged off after coming in from the rain.
The guy standing at the counter smiled the second you stopped beside him.
Not by much, but enough to carry himself differently. He leaned against the bar with an easy confidence, one elbow resting on the counter while he turned a cocktail napkin between his fingers.
“You dropped this,” he said.
There was nothing on the napkin except a phone number written in dark ink.
A laugh escaped you before you could stop it.
Behind the bar, Matt immediately looked away to hide his amusement.
The guy smiled wider. “So I’m guessing that means you didn’t actually drop it.”
Back at the booth, Jeremy watched the entire interaction over the rain of his beer bottle. The music shifted to something slower overhead while a group near the pool tables broke into an argument over a missed shot, but his eyes never left you.
You could feel Jeremy staring before you even turned back toward him.
The guy leaned slightly closer against the counter. “Can I at least get your name?”
You glanced back toward the booth.
Jeremy hadn't moved, but his posture had changed completely. His shoulders had gone tighter, fingers curled too firmly around the neck of the bottle while his eyes stayed fixed on the guy beside you. Whatever amusement had been there earlier was gone.
You smiled apologetically. “I actually have a boyfriend.”
The guy followed your line of sight toward Jeremy and hesitated for a second, which somehow made it worse.
“Seriously?” he asked, lowering his voice slightly. “Because he looks more like he wants to kill me than date you.”
You laughed despite yourself.
Back at the booth, Jeremy’s jaw flexed immediately.
You thanked the guy quickly before heading back toward your table, weaving around people standing too close near the bar while someone brushed your shoulder on the way past. A waitress carrying drinks muttered a distracted apology without slowing down.
When you slid back into the booth, Jeremy moved automatically to make room for you, but his arm didn’t settle around your shoulders this time. Instead, he leaned forward with both forearms on the table, staring down at the shredded remains of the beer label beneath his fingers.
“You good?” you asked carefully.
The answer came a little too quickly, too flat to be convincing.
You watched him worry at the edge of the cardboard coaster with his thumb. Across the room, the guy looked over again.
Jeremy's eyes lifted almost immediately.
“He keeps looking over here,” Jeremy muttered.
A smile threatened at the corner of your mouth.
“Well, you do look very scary right now.”
“You look one inconvenience away from homicide.”
For a moment it seemed like he was trying not to smile. The corner of his mouth finally twitched upward, reluctant but genuine, before disappearing almost as quickly as it had appeared when Matt stopped beside the table carrying another drink.
"A gentleman at the bar," he announced, setting the glass down in front of you with entirely too much satisfaction.
Jeremy stared at the cocktail.
Condensation slid slowly down the side of the glass before gathering near the base and dripping onto the table beside his wrist.
Matt wisely, didn't stick around long enough to hear whatever response Jeremy might've come up with.
A smile tugged at the corner of your mouth.
Jeremy leaned back into the booth, dragging one hand over his mouth before tipping his head toward the ceiling for a moment as though he were physically trying to gather patience.
“You’re enjoying this way too much.”
“I haven’t even touched the drink.”
The jukebox skipped songs again while somewhere near the entrance Bonnie laughed loudly about something, shaking rainwater from her umbrella onto the floor. Tyler complained the second he stepped in it.
Life in the Grill kept moving around you both without pause.
Jeremy looked back toward the bar just in time to see the guy stand from his stool.
You noticed the change immediately.
His shoulders straightened slightly. His hand left the beer bottle. Whatever distraction had been pulling at his attention vanished as his focus settled entirely on the guy across the room.
The guy grabbed his drink and started walking over.
“Oh my god,” you muttered, lifting a hand to your mouth.
Beside you, Jeremy exhaled slowly through his nose.
By the time the guy reached the booth, Jeremy had already shifted closer without seeming aware of it himself. His knee pressed against yours beneath the table, solid and warm, while one shoulder angled subtly toward you.
"Hey," the guy said casually. "I figured I should introduce myself properly since my first attempt apparently sucked."
You opened your mouth, but Jeremy spoke first.
The guy blinked once before looking between you both.
Jeremy finally leaned back then, one arm stretching along the back of the booth behind you before his hand settled against your waist, fingers curling lightly into the fabric of your sweater.
The guy's eyes flicked down briefly.
"So she said," he replied carefully.
Rain streaked down the windows beside the booth while voices rose and fell throughout the Grill, but his attention remained fixed on the guy standing beside your table.
If anything, it got quieter.
The guy lifted both hands slightly.
"Alright, man. Message received."
Jeremy didn't answer. He simply held his gaze until the guy finally backed away and disappeared toward the bar.
Only then did the tension leave his shoulders.
His grip loosened slightly against your waist.
You looked up at him immediately.
A smile was already threatening.
Jeremy groaned the second he saw it.
"That was not normal behavior."
He reached for his beer again, more interested in the bottle than looking at you. His shoulders had finally relaxed, but his thumb kept worrying at the peeling label wrapped around the glass.
"He was flirting with you right in front of me."
Jeremy rolled the bottle between his palms before glancing over.
For a moment, neither of you said anything.
Jeremy's gaze dropped back to the table. His thumb worked slowly at the damp edge of the peeling label while the Grill carried on around you, voices rising and falling between the tables, rain tapping steadily against the windows, Matt shouting at someone not to walk off with a pool cue.
When Jeremy finally looked up again, some of the irritation had faded.
"Especially when he acted like I wasn't even there."
You reached over and caught the sleeve of his hoodie between your fingers.
His eyes flicked briefly toward your hand before returning to your face.
"I've been dating you for two years."
A reluctant smile tugged at the corner of his mouth.
That earned a quiet huff from him.
You gave his sleeve another small tug.
For a second, Jeremy just looked at you.
The tension lingering around his shoulders eased.
Then he shifted closer, one arm tightening around your waist as he leaned down to press a lingering kiss against your temple. It lasted a second longer than it needed to.
"You know that, right?" you asked softly.
The answer came quieter this time.
Jeremy shook his head, the corner of his mouth lifting despite himself, before letting his forehead rest briefly against the side of your head.
Across the room, the guy glanced over one final time before turning back toward his friends.
Jeremy didn't even notice.
His attention had already moved elsewhere.
You stole another fry from the basket between you.
A second later, Jeremy reached over and took it right out of your hand.
Jeremy finally laughed, low and reluctant, before settling deeper into the booth with his arm still around your waist.
Outside, rain continued to patter softly against the windows while the Grill carried on around you, warm and crowded and familiar.
This time, Jeremy didn't look toward the bar.
He didn't look toward the door.
He just kept you tucked against his side while you reached for another fry.
a/n: this is very much season 4/5 jeremy because that man gets jealous over the dumbest things imaginable and then spends the next twenty minutes pretending he's being completely reasonable about it 😭
reblogs + comments are always appreciated <3
