An Innocent Man

Jake Puckerman hated to admit it, but he felt extremely nervous as he started to get ready for the double date Ryder had arranged for them with Matt and his boyfriend. Sure, Ryder was completely right, meeting the guy could help calm down his feelings of jealousy... or it could just make them worse. And it was stuck in that mindset that the young dancer found himself right now. He hoped for the best, but was expecting much less. He bit down on his lip as he came out of the bathroom. "I'm... ready whenever you are." He said, trying to play off his anxiety.

Ryder texted Matt to get the name and address to the nearby restaurant. He sat in his desk chair, his legs bouncing as he waited for Jake to get ready. "Uber's almost here, babe," he called towards the bathroom down the hall. Ryder stood up after a moment and grabbed his jacket to pull on, walking out of their bedroom and closing the door. When he turned and saw Jake, his eyes lit up. "I'm a lucky man," he grinned, walking over to give Jake a few kisses. It was obvious his boyfriend was nervous. "If you ever want to bail, just signal me and we can come up with an excuse," Ryder said, turning to lead the way downstairs. "Alright, guys, we're out of here," he called to the few brothers around the house. 'Don't do anything we wouldn't do.' 'Wear condoms!' Ryder rolled his eyes at that, "Come on, babe."

Jake tried his best to calm himself down and just focus on the positive. Like how good Ryder actually looked all dressed up in fancy clothes. He quickly pulled him into a hug, kissing him. "Got it." He declared, trying his best to sound confident. He couldn't help but smirk at the advice Ryder received. "They've got a point you know, condoms are important." He said, giving the boy's hand a firm squeeze. "So... you ever met Matt's boyfriend? I mean, longer than just to pose for that one picture?" He inquired.

Ryder "They'd be important if we were going to have sex with other people tonight, but we're not going to," Ryder said firmly. He led the way out onto the drive for them to wait for the car. "I've met him, but it was just long enough for that picture," he shrugged. When the car arrived, Ryder stepped out to open the door for Jake. "Why?"

Jake chuckled. "Hey relax, I wasn't talking about an orgy or anything. Just... they're a useful invention." He said. "And I like orgies just as much as the next guy living in frat house full of hot dudes..." He said. "But you're right." He said, standing next to Ryder, tapping his foot on the ground. He got into the car, smiling as he buckled himself up. "Just curious baby."

Ryder figured Jake had asked to see if he had two men to be jealous of. He rolled his eyes, but was smiling as he got in. "Hi, can you take us to the House of Thai on Lexington?" he asked, buckling in. Looking at the woman who was their driver, Ryder hesitated in reaching over to take Jake's hand like normal.

Jake didn't even catch his boyfriend's eye roll and just stared out the window, as he nonetheless linked his fingers with the other male's, like normal. "Look... you were right. I'm sure tonight will help." He said. "And for the record... you clean up well." He chuckled.

Ryder tensed slightly but was relieved when the driver didn't seem to care or notice. Any time they went off campus as a couple, Ryder got a little jumpy. "Sorry, could you say that first part again? I want to record it for the future," Ryder grinned. At Jake's compliment, Ryder squeezed his hand. "So do you. I like you in a button up shirt."

Jake raised an eyebrow high in the air. "You were right?" He deadpanned. "Well you know, that's gotta happen sometimes... it rains in the desert, sometimes you know?" He teased, with a smirk on his face.

Ryder scoffed at that, knocking his shoulder against Jake's. "I'm right a lot of the time," he pointed out. "So.. have you ever had thai food?"

Jake chuckled. "Not as often as I am." He argued back before shaking his head. "No... no. I mean I've slept with a girl who referred to herself as such but... I don't think that counts." He shrugged. "Have you?"

Ryder raised an eyebrow at Jake in a warning look. "Eating out a girl who called herself Thai does not count," he said. "I haven't either. I don't even know if Lima had a Thai place. But when I googled it, the pictures looked good," he shrugged, turning to look out of the window.

Jake lowered his head. "Then no, no I haven't." He said. "But hey the new experiences I've had in college so far have all worked out for the best so hopefully this does too." He said, knowing this was a bit of a flirty line.

Ryder looked back at his boyfriend, unable to keep from smiling at the puppy dog eyes he saw. He leaned over to press a kiss to his cheek. "I'm sure it'll be great. Good food, good company," he said. When they got to the restaurant, Ryder saw that Matt and Tyler were waiting for them. "Are we late?" he asked. 'No, not at all,' Matt said, 'We came early.' 'A rare problem,' Tyler joked. Ryder laughed and then pulled Jake forward. "Jake, this is Matt and his boyfriend, Tyler. Guys, this is my guy, Jake."

Jake remained silent at the last comment, not wanting to start anything. For now, he was giving Matt and his boyfriend the benefit of the doubt for Ryder's sake. He got out of the car once it came to a stop and paid for their ride quickly before joining Ryder and his friends, waving a little when he was introduced. "It's great to finally meet you guys. Ryder's spoken a lot about you." He said as he shook their hands, making his best effort to stay polite.

Ryder smiled proudly at Jake, both because he was getting to show off his boyfriend and because of how well he was doing. 'Half of our tutoring session is spent telling Ryder he's got to stop talking about you,' Matt chuckled, shaking Jake's hand. 'Don't worry, it's all good stuff.' A hostess came to their group holding menus, 'If you'll just follow me, your table is ready.' Ryder took Jake's hand again and followed the guys back towards their table. "So how'd you guys find this place?"

Jake grinned. "Sounds like a productive use of your paid time, babe." He said, towards Ryder before he simply followed the group to their table, sitting down next to his boyfriend, facing Matt. "Oh we've been semi-regulars here for a while. We just kinda happened upon it one time and now it's kind of our go to place." Tyler nonchalantly explained. "I understand you both are pretty new in town still?"

Ryder took his napkin to place in his lap before opening up his menu. "Yeah, we're new to Washington in general. And we don't really get off campus much," he shrugged. "Where are you from, Tyler?" 'I'm from California, actually. Getting used to the rain up here was definitely hard for me. How about you guys?'

Jake nodded. "Such is the life of a freshman student." He declared, dramatically. "We're both from Ohio, pretty small city, really so getting used to a bigger place certainly has been a bit of a culture shock." He said. "It's not all bad though... I mean we were more or less in the closet back home." He said, continuing with the cover story they'd given the ASS brothers.

Ryder turned as the waitress came to their table and ordered his drink before looking back to the group. "Right, we were in the closet, but now that we're here, it's a whole different story," he smiled. 'Do your families know?' Tyler asked. Matt shot him a look, 'Ty.' 'What? I'm just curious.' "No, not yet," Ryder admitted. "But we're working on it."

Jake wasn't sure what to make of the exchange. "Yeah let's just say Lima..." He shook his head. "Openly gay kids got tossed into dumpsters." He said, thinking back on stories he'd heard from Puck about Kurt. "Just wasn't the best place overall..." He said as he focused on his menu, suddenly finding it fascinating.

Ryder reached his hand over under the table to squeeze Jake's knee. "Matt, did you guys ever go see that Face Punch movie?" he asked, steering conversation away from anything awkward. Throughout dinner, he did his best to include Jake in the conversation. Things went about as well as he'd expected, but he was just glad they did well.

Jake calmed himself down slightly as he felt the other's touch, thankful for the change of topic. The food turned out to be better than he'd expected too, and Matt and Tyler were pleasant enough. Jake couldn't even bring himself to dislike them.

Ryder sat back as he swallowed his last bite, setting down his fork. "Peanut chicken is awesome. If I could actually cook, I'd learn how to make this," he grinned. 'You should see about taking one of the cooking classes the school has. I think it counts as an elective,' Matt suggested. 'Thank you guys for coming out with us tonight. My students always think I'm some sixty year old guy, but I'm just a grad student. I eat too,' he laughed. "We're glad it worked out too," Ryder said, looking to Jake.

Jake laughed for a moment. "Hey you make the best mac'n'cheese out of a box I've ever eaten." He joked, casually before Matt piped in. "Y'know, that idea actually has some merit Ry. One of us has to know how to cook and I'm... y'know, the type to set fire to a glass of water." He said as he finished his own plate. "How could anyone think you're sixty man?" He challenged.

Ryder "That's true," Ryder cracked up. "Jake in the kitchen is a dangerous thing, but I could take a class." When Jake asked Matt who could think he was sixty, Ryder smiled seeing them getting along well. 'That's what I've been saying! But it's like back in elementary school when you used to think teachers lived in their classrooms.'

Jake nodded. "It's better that I stay away from it though. I'd flunk it for sure." He said, with laughter. "Well I mean I get it, but we were little kids back then... college students, even if they're freshmen, should be able to tell that you can't possibly be that much older than us man." He noted. "I mean... you're a grad student like you said, but we're still getting along." He pointed out. Still though, the older man was unknowingly helping Jake's jealousy go down by creating this divide between them. "So... no offense Ryder, but some of your students have got to not be the sharpest crayons in the box."

Ryder "Hey, as long as you don't put me in that box, you won't have to sleep on the couch," Ryder said. 'I wouldn't say that. I mean, they're trying,' Matt shrugged. 'They're just young and ageist.'

Jake chuckled. "We live in a frat house Ry. We don't *have* a couch." He pointed out. "Yeah I suppose... still you guys are pretty fun to hang out with." He admitted. "Anyone want to order some dessert?"

Ryder Tyler held up his hands in protest, 'No way, man. I couldn't eat any more.' Ryder reached for the dessert menu and perused it quickly before shrugging. "We've got ice cream at home," he said. "Besides, you've got rehearsal tomorrow. And no one wants to see you empty your stomach on stage."

Jake was about to protest when Ryder took the dessert menu away. "Spoilsport." He accused, though he was being playful. "Fine, fine. No dessert." He relented.

Ryder stuck his tongue out at Jake as he put the menu back in its place on the table. 'Young love,' Matt chuckled from across the table. 'More like young stomachs,' Tyler sighed. "A little bit of both," Ryder grinned. "Matt, you'll have to give us a list of local places to try out around here." 'I could suggest a few, but half the fun is walking around and coming across some place random.'

Jake chuckled. "My mother says I'm still growing and need to eat." He argued, casually laughing along. "The idea has merit, unfortunately I don't know how much exploring we'll get up to, classes are keeping us pretty busy. That and you know, frat activities too."

Ryder 'How are you guys liking the frat?' Matt asked, taking a drink. 'ASS has some rumors that have followed it around,' Tyler chuckled. "Well, I don't know about the rumors, but the house is great. It's a lot like when I was on the football team, that kind of friendship between everyone."

Jake leaned in, actually interested. "What kind of rumours though?" He inquired. "But yes... it's just, well this is gonna sound cliche, but it's a brotherhood. We get along with everyone fairly well." He said, enthusiastically nodding. "Pledging was a last minute decision for us but I don't think we'll ever regret it."

Ryder Matt and Tyler shared a look at Jake's question, before Tyler sat forward. 'That the house has orgies out in the backyard in the pool. That the guys in the house have more sex than the rest of Greek Row combined.' Ryder looked to Jake, subtly shaking his head, "If the house was really like that, there's no way we'd be there. That's just a porno stereotype."

Jake had to fight to keep a straight face, but managed to do so. He caught Ryder's subtle signal too. "I can tell you that I haven't witnessed any orgies. Scout's honor." He lied, but then again he had never been a scout. "Although I don't know about that second part... I guess I'd need to know how much sex the rest of Greek Row is having to comment." He shrugged. "I did hear some crazy jokes about a goat though, back when I was a pledge... and while I can't discuss hazing specifics, I can definitely tell you no goats were involved."

Ryder "Definitely no goats involved," Ryder nodded. "There was a cat though," he laughed, not explaining what he meant even when Matt and Tyler asked. "Really, being in a frat is just about a bunch of guys surviving college together."

Jake doubled over in laughter when Ryder brought up the cat. "Sorry guys, we're sworn to secrecy." He said. "But yes... I feel like these guys are people we'll stay friends with long after we graduate." He said. "Plus have you seen the mansion? It's even better on the inside guys."

Ryder "Oh, totally. That's why we decided to pledge in the first place. If we hadn't, we'd be living in one of those tiny dorm rooms in Smith," he explained. 'Smith? I lived there when I was a freshmen, but they only had one student per room. Damn,' Tyler said, shaking his head.

Jake raised an eyebrow. "Wow... I knew they had to be ripping us off somehow. You know... that room wouldn't be so bad if it was for a single student." He mused. "Me and Ry kept walking on each other's toes though... and we're boyfriends. I can't imagine how someone who gets randomly paired up with a guy he's never met before would fare..."

Ryder "For a single person, it would've been fine," Ryder agreed. At Jake's comment, Ryder chuckled, glad that there room now wasn't like that. It helped that they shared a bed to save on space too. When their waitress came back with the check, Ryder took out his wallet and put in his card with Matt's to pay. 'I'd offer to give you guys a ride back, but we live on the other side of town,' Matt said. "Don't worry about it. We'll just take another Uber."

Jake was glad to see the get together actually had been fairly pleasant. He extended his hand towards both of the older men once more. "We'll have to do this again some time." He said, politely, before throwing an arm around Ryder's shoulders. "You guys have a good night." He added, as Matt and Tyler quickly said their goodbyes and departed. "Okay so... this wasn't that bad." He said towards Ryder. "But had he truly been 60, I would've never been jealous." He added.

Ryder After the check had been paid, the couples walked outside and said their goodbyes in front of the restaurant. 'This was a great idea, Ryder. Jake, it was good meeting you, man,' Matt said. The older men turned and left, while Ryder turned to face Jake. "I think that went great," he said. "Isn't George Clooney 60?" he teased.

Jake narrowed his eyes. "Yeah? So? I wouldn't do him. Puck's the one who's into MILFs." He said. "Who knows he might be into DILFs as well." He paused. "You're a RILF. A Ryder I'd like to fuck."