Chapter Text
"Where are you right now?" Jon asked.
"Huh? What?" Fred looked up at the other man, he didn't really register what Jon had said, too lost in some thought inside his mind. He just looked at the dark haired man in front of him, looking confused and slightly embarrassed.
Jon chuckled a bit, "Am I boring you that much?" he asked in a joking manner, he seemed oddly joyful.
"What- no, of course not. Was just thinking." Fred smiled.
"About what?" Jon asked with curiosity, smiling at Fred as he continued to roll the joint carefully between his slender fingers.
"Nothing, just- I don't know," he sighed, "Guess I'm just tired," Fred replied, rubbing his face a bit in an attempt to rub some of that tiredness away too.
Touring was fun but also excruciatingly exhausting after a while. They didn't really plan it but their Tour schedules matched up in this one place, Korn had started their tour just a week before Limp Bizkit and Jon seemed as chipper as ever despite playing shows almost every day. Fred couldn't figure out how the other man did it, staying so full of energy between the long drives and endless parties. Sleeping in tour buses wasn't exactly relaxing either.
"Stop worrying about shit, man." Jon said, pulling Fred out of his thoughts once again. Despite the unbothered tone of his voice, Fred felt like he was being rude for spacing out while the other had invited him over, even offering him some weed.
"My bad." Fred apologised, leaning his body against the sink in the small kitchen of the bus, watching Jon roll the joint so skillfully before he brought it to his lips and ran his tongue along the paper...
"Thanks, for having me over." Fred said, watching the other maybe a bit too closely, but Jon didn't notice. At least he believed Jon didn't.
Jon finished the joint, holding it up with a triumphant grin on his lips, as if he was showing off.
"Guess you're the one that always has to roll them for everyone, huh?" Fred smiled, it definitely was a well made joint, better than Fred would’ve managed to do it anyway.
"Yeah, but at least I can impress." Jon grinned, he liked impressing people, even if it was with rolling joints which isn't the most redeemable skill to everyone, but oh well, he didn't care about impressing everyone.
Jon grinned at Fred for another second before placing the joint between his lips and patting the pockets of his tracksuit…
"Guess you're also the one that always loses his lighter." Fred chuckled, pulling a black zippo out of the pocket of his cargo shorts. Jon rolled his eyes with a smile and leaned forward a bit, gesturing for Fred to light it for him.
The small flame lit up Jon's face for a moment and those dark brown eyes looked up at Fred. If he didn't know any better he'd think Jon was flirting with him, but he figured those were just his stupid tired thoughts. Still, that look in Jon’s eyes did have an effect on him...
With a nod Jon leaned back, taking the first drag and promptly exhaling before taking a proper one. He leaned back against the countertop opposite to Fred. Still, the bus wasn't that big, they were only an arms length apart and their feet could easily touch if one decided to annoy the other with it.
Fred looked at the dark blue carpet underneath his dirty sneakers, wondering who the hell had the idea to put carpet in this shit, just gets dirty anyway. Did whoever made this decision really think that anyone would bother taking their shoes off in here? Then he thought about the hassle of cleaning it and how disgusting it probably was.
"Man, I thought you were more of a talker, Mister Durst." Jon mumbled in a teasing way.
Fred looked up at the other man again, just as Jon offered him the joint. He took it with an apologetic look.
"That carpet has seen worse days, I think." Jon spoke softly, joking around.
"Yeah, I'm sure." Fred laughed, taking a drag. Jon was right, he usually was a big talker, but not after two weeks of touring and partying with two more weeks to go, but he tried to cheer up anyway, the weed was definitely helping. He smiled at the other.
"When I asked you if you wanted to hang out I didn't actually think you would, to be honest." Fred said, passing the joint back, the other chuckled with a confused look on his face.
"Why wouldn't I?" Jon asked genuinely with furrowed brows like Fred had just said something ridiculous.
"Didn't think I'm your type." Fred replied jokingly instead of naming the actual reason. His body leaned a bit more relaxed against the sink, trying to look casual. Jon laughed.
"Sure you are, frat boy."
"I ain't no fucking frat boy!" Fred laughed, putting on a semi-offended face. "Get your facts straight!"
"Ok, sorry, skater boy then." Jon replied with a cheeky smile while taking another puff.
Fred laughed, but paused for a second, looking back at the ground, "I'm sure you hated dudes like me with a passion back in school, huh?" he asked, somewhat sarcastically but the hint of genuine curiosity was also there.
"Sure did, bunch of posers." Jon replied, they both laughed. Jon passed the joint back to Fred again.
"No, but seriously, didn't expect it." Fred said after a moment, sounding a little too serious. "No secret I ain't too popular in this scene." he added, somewhat absent mindedly while observing the tip of the joint, lightly blowing on it to watch the burning ash light up.
Fred could feel Jon's eyes linger on him, the pause seemed slightly too long and made Fred regret bringing this up. He was about say 'forget about it' to drop this topic, but Jon cut him off before he even started.
"Who fucking cares what others think? Maybe I wanted to find out for myself if you really are a jerk or not." he finally replied, starting to grin half-way through his sentence.
"Hope you leave a review after you find out." Fred joked back, passing the joint and Jon cackled, it was oddly cute. But Fred shouldn't think about that.
"Definitely, you're already getting minus points for that god awful cap." Jon smiled again, nodding towards Fred’s red cap.
"Bullshit, my cap is great, it should be bringing me plus points if anything." Fred replied, pointing at his red snapback he wore way too often these days.
"Mh, I'll think about it." Jon said while putting on a face, pretending he was thinking really hard about it. Then he laughed, blowing out the thick smoke through his nostrils. Fred wasn't sure if it was the weed slowly getting him high or something else, but he just watched Jon like he was hypnotized and couldn't seem to take his eyes off of the other man.
But Jon surely noticed, he must have. Fred wasn't very subtle about his absent staring. The bus filled with white smoke and the smell of weed, it made Fred's already hazy mind just blur even more, but it felt good and he felt relaxed despite neither of them saying anything right now.
They passed the joint back and forth and Fred couldn't help but watch the others face and hands every time Jon took a drag, then watch the smoke escape his lips and nostrils. Maybe it was the weed, but he thought Jon was pretty. Pale skin and dark eyelashes, a few long messy strands of dark hair falling into his face and onto his shoulders, mixed with dreads in-between. That's pretty much everything Fred concentrated on anytime Jon would bring the joint to his lips and look down or close his eyes as he took a drag.
Fred knew this feeling all too well, it was clear to anyone who was somewhat close to Fred that he was quick to crush on someone, quick to fall head over heels for someone. Maybe this is why relationships never worked out, though he would try over and over.
But not with Jon, not with a guy. He barely knew him and yet it felt so oddly familiar being with him. Stupid thoughts. Stupid feelings. It must be the weed and tiredness.
Fred took another drag.
The Joint was pretty much done for, Jon had definitely smoked a bit more than him and on his last drag he looked straight at Fred instead of the smoke or ground, it was a look Fred couldn't quite decipher the meaning off and it gave him a weird tingle in his stomach.
Jon finished his drag, slowly pushing himself away from the counter he was leaning on and closing the small distance between them. Then Jon stood in front of him with that same look and Fred looked back at him, dumbfounded, even holding his breath. Then, when Jon exhaled, the smoke hit his face softly, making Fred blink.
"May I use the sink?" He asked in a sarcastically polite but soft tone, pointing behind Fred who was blocking said sink. He didn't know what he expected, but somehow it wasn't this.
"Wha- yeah, sure. I mean- sorry, my bad." He replied, somewhat awkwardly shuffling to the side with Jon standing right in front of him with a smile,
Jon turned on the sink and stumped out the half burning joint, just leaving it in there with some other stumped out ones.
Fred's eyes followed as Jon walked back to the fridge, opening it to grab two beers. He still held the door open as he turned to face Fred, holding both bottles up "You want one?"
"Nah man, I'm good," Fred replied, not being a fan of combining alcohol with weed, not right now anyways.
Jon shrugged, putting one back before closing the fridge and opening his bottle.
"Man, aren't you playing in a few hours?" Fred asked, rubbing his face again.
"Yeah, and? Just getting in the mood," Jon replied, trying to sound casual but the annoyance at Fred's question was shining through a bit.
"Alright. Well, you're gonna give me that tour you promised?" Fred asked, trying to change the subject. It seemed to work, because a smile spread across Jon's face once again.
"Oh yeah, I almost forgot. The only reason I brought you here was actually just so I could brag." Jon replied with a toothy grin, before turning around, taking a swig of his beer.
He theatrically spread out his arms, bottle in hand. "This-" he stated loudly, turning back to Fred "-is the kitchen. As you might have noticed." he said in a quieter voice like he was putting on a dramatic performance, while actually just blatantly stating the obvious. He even did a little bow and Fred couldn't hold back a snort.
"Oh wow." Fred said, acting really impressed.
"And what do you do in the kitchen?" Fred asked back, emphasizing his words in the same dramatic way as Jon did before.
"Nothing, we order take-out." Jon simply replied, making them both laugh.
Jon turned on his heels, walking over to one end of the bus and stopping in front of a door before turning back around to Fred with a sly smile, hands behind his back.
"That's the bathroom and I bet it's nicer than yours," he said, confident in his words.
"Not sure if it still is after you guys have used it."
Jon wanted to reply something smart, but honestly couldn't really protest too much against that statement. But he opened the door anyway, taking a peek inside before letting Fred take a look. Their bathroom was indeed much nicer and notably bigger than the one Limp Bizkit had in their tour bus, it looked relatively tidy too, despite some clothes and towels that were scattered on the ground.
"Alright, maybe I'm a tiny bit jealous."
"You should be." Jon replied, "But don't worry, if our schedules allow it, I'll let you use it, maybe even show you how great the shower is." Jon smiled at him a bit differently now and Fred chuckled at the joke. Which... was a joke... right? Fred felt a bit flustered for a moment.
Jon gestured that he wanted to move on, so Fred took a few steps back, letting Jon close the door. Instead of telling Fred to move, he just kind of pushed past him, walking back to the kitchen while taking another big swig from his beer, emptying it just like that. He put it on the counter before grabbing the second one, he offered Fred earlier.
Fred was seriously surprised that Jon would already get so wasted before his show, but it was none of his business, so he wouldn't mention it again.
Jon walked to the other end, turning around to check on Fred who just stood there.
"Come on, man. Tour ain't over yet." Jon called for him, taking another swig as he waved for him. So Fred walked over, ending up in front of another door.
Jon opened it without saying a word or even a smile this time, letting Fred step inside first. The bedroom, or well, bunk beds. Jon closed the door behind them.
"Man, I thought you'd save the best for last, but you also just got those boring bunk beds." Fred laughed, turning to Jon who softly smiled now.
"Mh, yeah." he said, walking over to one of the untidy beds, placing his hand on the frame "But I bet they are still nicer than yours.”
"They look the same to me." Fred tilted his head a bit, trying to expect it closer but the bunk looked just the same as his'.
"Look, yeah. Feel?" Jon said, patting the mattress of the bed below. "Come on, try it."
"Man, I believe you, no worries." Fred replied, reluctant to just randomly go lay down in Jon's bed, which just seemed kinda awkward honestly. Even though he was super fucking tired, he didn't plan on taking a nap right here, right now.
"How am I supposed to properly brag about it if you don't try it, man?" Jon said, his voice was different than before. Less sarcastic, more soft. Fred felt some heat rising to his face. How was he gonna turn down Jon's offer now?
"Alright, alright. Since you insist on getting your bragging rights-" Fred replied in a joking manner, putting his hands up in defeat and hoping Jon wouldn't notice how he got flustered. He sat down on the bed, bouncing up and down a bit in the soft mattress, well, as much as he could in that little space.
"Yeah, it's great." he stated. Jon leaned down a little to get a better look at Fred, hair falling into his face which he tucked behind his ear.
"You gotta lay down, idiot." Jon pushed further. Fred sighed with a defeated smile. He thought it was weird that Jon was so pushy about it, but whatever. Fred was too high and tired to protest.
"Alright." He said more to himself than Jon, kicking off his shoes before swinging one leg half up on the bed and plumping down on his back. Laying in someone else's bed while that someone else was standing right next to you was kinda awkward, but the bed was actually nice.
It smelled surprisingly nice too.
"Yeah, might actually be better." Fred said, one leg still hanging off the side, like some safety measure against the awkwardness of this situation,
He saw Jon take another swig, though his upper body and face was mostly hidden by the bunk bed above this one, so all he had in view was just his lower body. Then Jon's face peaked down with a devilish grin.
"You like it?" he asked, looking high and well on his way of being drunk too.
"Sure." Fred replied. The soft mattress under him mixed with his general tiredness today and the effects of the weed almost immediately made him want to fall asleep, though he tried his best to not do so.
Jon didn't say anything, his face hidden again by the frame above and with each second Fred just felt his eyelids getting heavier, eventually just closing them. At least for a few seconds, he thought...