The Wedding Night

Jesse and James opened walked through the door of their new apartment. "Hey," said James, "The boss did have all our stuff moved in like he promised."

"He'd better have, after what he put us through! When he said we were going deep undercover as a married couple I thought I'd live, but having to go to a judge and pretend to get married? That was too much! Couldn't he have just bribed someone in the records office?"

"I guess not. The truth is I have no idea what he's up to. He won't even tell us the rest of the plan yet, he's so afraid we'll blow our cover. And we can't afford to get on his bad side."

James began to wander around the apartment. "Those idiots, they put my Ranma videos in the wrong order..." After a few minutes he picked one out and put it in the VCR.

"Oh great," said Jesse. "I get to watch my groom drool over Shampoo again."

"I do not drool. And the way you act whenever Mousse has his glasses off, I should be the one to complain."

Jesse finally started to smile. "O.K., I guess I'll phone for some take-out."

"Jess, I can take you out to dinner if you want. The boss gave us an advance. He must be pretty desperate for this weird plan of his to succeed."

"That's O.K. I need to relax a little."

James looked at her for a moment. "Jesse, I'm really sorry you're so upset about this."

"I'll get over it. It's a downer of a wedding night, that's all, watching videos, and not even a kiss." Jesse was smiling, but she actually sounded bitter.

"Well, if that's how you feel about it," said James. He leaned over and kissed her briefly on the lips. Jesse looked shocked for a moment, then began to kiss him again. The kiss became more and more intense. Finally Jesse pulled away and said "James, you do realize I do not think we are really married."

James began to choke. "Jesse, I wasn't intending to... I mean, you didn't think I expected..." He couldn't finish the sentence. "Anyway, it's not like you'd really marry me, even if you did kiss me."

"It's not like you'd ask me!" retorted Jesse.

"That's not fair, you don't even act like you like me half the time."

Jesse sighed. "I thought you knew how much I care about you. I've been trying not to be so bad lately James."

James looked sad. "I know. I did notice. But... I don't take care of you the way I'm supposed to."

"I've been taking care of myself for years, James. What I need you to do is love me."

James was silent. "I'm sorry," said Jesse. "Are you that shocked? I don't know why I'm telling you this now, I guess I'm more upset than I thought."

James had tears in his eyes. "I've been loving you for years."

Jesse's voice was calmer now. "And I love you, James."

James began to speak very softly in a scared voice. "The boss really did give us a lot of money. We could take a little vacation somewhere, and have whatever kind of wedding you want."

"What if he found out?"

James shrugged, "Well, he told us to get married. I'm sorry; I'm not doing this right, am I? I do want to marry you, Jesse."

"I can't imagine ever being with anyone else, James. Why do you think I was so upset about having a fake wedding? But... I do need to think about this, O.K.? I can't make up my mind right this second. Do you understand?"

"Of course," said James. "We can just sit here and, um, watch T.V."

They both laughed nervously, and James turned the T.V. on. But soon Jesse was sitting in his lap, and they were kissing much too often to pay any attention to Shampoo and Mousse.

The End

Authors note: My other Rocketshippy fic that I promised never to mention again (I lied) is still over at Fan Fiction, probably on page 2 by now. And my new Mondo and Duplica fic is there too.