Oops, I broke the car…

Adorable in a lemon yellow blouse with tiny ruffled sleeves, Thorny sits in the driver’s seat of the family car. He is confused and frustrated. Picking up his cell phone again, he discovers it is no longer being charged by the car. With mounting concern, he now calls his husband to confess.

“I think I broke the car.”

There’s a judgmental sigh. “What’d you do?”

“I didn’t DO anything.”

“Step-by-step from the moment you approached the vehicle.”

Thorny huffs. “Oh don’t get all Law & Order on me. I’ve literally just been sitting here.”

“Then what’s wrong with the car?”

“It won’t start.”

“Try again and let me hear what it does.”

Thorny turns the key even though… “It doesn’t make any noises at all. It’s just like it’s dead.”

Another sigh. “Seriously, honey. What have you been doing in the car?”

“Sitting here, I swear! I’ve just been charging my phone and chatting and I rolled down the window and that’s it.”

“So it was running and then it died? Wait. Wait.” Jazz sighs heavily. “You turned it on but didn’t start it. Am I right?”

“Well, yeah. I just wanted to charge my phone and it was hot in here. I didn’t want to waste gas.”

A bearish grumble. “How long have you been sitting there?”

“Why are you using that tone? I didn’t do anything.”

“Because you drained the battery and now I’ve got to get someone to come give it a jump.”

“Oh. Um. I was talking for maybe…an hour.”

A very long groan and then some knocking noises. Oh dear. He was either hitting his head on his desk or tapping the phone on it.

“So that drains the battery,” Thorny said, learning this new car lesson.

“Yes. Yes, it does.”

“Sorry.”

“I know.” A not-so-frustrated sigh. “Remember the car care talk? Remember the section on the battery?”

Thorny’s makes a goofy sound and his eyes glaze over. “The things we did to each other on the car that day… Mmm… That was… Yeah…”

Jazz snorts. “Before that part.”

“You mean before we played wicked mechanic and stranded motorist just desperate for a quickie lube?”

“Yes.” He clears his throat. “Before that.”

“Before that was a lot of boring car talk. But I remember you had on a white t-shirt and those jeans that are practically a thread and a prayer.” He pauses to remember them fondly. “Do you still have those?”

“Honey, we’re talking about the car.”

“Fine.” Thorny refocuses on the giant paperweight he’s sitting inside. “So what do I do to jump it? Don’t I need another car?”

“Call Alec. I think he has the cables.”

“Um.” Thorny pauses to bite his lip. “You call him.”

“Why?”

Thorny sighs for having to admit… “I called him before I called you because I wanted to fix it on my own, but all he did was laugh.”

Jazz laughs too now. It’s muffled, like he’s covering the receiver, but he’s definitely laughing.

“Jasper, shut up.”

“I love you. I really do.”

Thorny raspberries him, only to realize he’s just spit all over his phone.

“Okay, if you don’t want Alec, how about your dad? Does he have jumper cables?”

“I don’t know. How come you don’t have them?”

“Because this has never happened to me before. We’ll get some on the way home, though.”

“I won’t do it again!”

“I’m sure you won’t, but now we’ll be prepared.”

Thorny mumbles, “See if I let you lube my quickie ever again…”

More laughter, but Thorny’s smiling too. It is kind of funny. Kinda.

In the end, Jazz calls Alec back and then Alec shows up to “jump Thorny.” Alec thinks that’s hilarious and suddenly he and Thorny are playing at having a secret rendezvous without their husbands knowing. Then Alec gets all blushy and shy since he’s the one who just called Carter his husband and he’s never done that before. Thorny just beams in utter delight while Alec goes back to fixing the car.