The Fight

"Hey, Stacy," Ronald greeted the woman who approached him as he and James were engaged in idle chatter at the military-held ball.

"Nice to see you again!"

"Nice to see you, too!" Stacy said with a smile.

"I missed ya," Ronald emphasized, drawing Stacy into a hug.

"Aww, I missed you too," Stacy murmurs, pulling back from their hug after a moment. 

James gawks at him before quickly schooling his expression back to neutral. No one seemed to notice. How dare Ronald just play cutesy with someone else like it was no big deal! It's not like they're a couple or anything... he knows Ronald but still, this was uncalled for!

"Hey, can I talk to you?" he asks casually once Stacy leaves.

"Sure," Ronald replies easily, although confused by James' barely concealed pissed-off look.

They manage to find a secluded place in the busy large room. It's rather loud, but James doesn't even hear it with how angry he is.

"You do know we're dating, yeah?" he practically snarls.

"Uh, yeah...?"

"So why'd you just hug her like that?"

"Like what-" Ronald starts to ask, before his eyes widen in realization, "Oh my god. You're jealous!" He starts to laugh, "It's just a hug."

"Just a hug? No, it's not just a fucking hug! I saw how you looked at her!"

"Shhh!" Ronald warns, they've kept their relationship secret this long, he'd rather not lose it over one stupid fight.

"You know what, fine, I will. But we will talk about this later," James grunts, before walking away.

Later on, after the party they manage to find a secluded place to talk. James is still pissed.

"Look, I've put up with a lot of shit from you. But to say that that was just a hug is bullshit and you know it!"

"James, we've been over this already. You're overreacting."

"I'm overreacting? What does that make you then? I should've known you're still a womanizer."

"Womanizer? Please, now you're just throwing words around!"

"No, I'm serious this time."

"This time? You saying you've lied to me?!"

"Don't try to turn this on me!"

"You're turning this on me! All I did was hug her, that's it. If you think there's more to that, then that's your problem."

"Me, me, me, the blame's always on me. Would you take responsibility for a change?"

"Fine, I'm taking responsibility. And my responsibility is pointing out that you're really, really overreacting and I'm sick of it. Just let it go."

"I won't let it go until you apologize."

"I won't apologize for you getting offended over nothing."

"Fine, if that's how you want to play it." James sighs, stomping off.

"You've got to be kidding me," Ronald mutters to himself once his boyfriend is gone. The whole argument was ridiculous, why can't James see it? 

A few days later once James has finally cooled off, he asks Ronald to meet with him where they'd had their last argument. Expecting yet another, Ronald reluctantly agreed.

"Ronald," James greets when he sees him. His face is blissfully neutral, and Ronald has a sinking feeling it's going to end in another argument.

"James," he replies after a moment's hesitation.

"I know the last time we were here I was having a hissy fit. You were right. I was jealous. I'm really sorry for overreacting."

"It's okay," Ronald replies quickly.

"Is it?" James asks hesitantly, "I mean I did say some petty shit to you."

"Really, it's fine." Ronald smiles, "I promise."

"Okay," James says after a relieved sigh. "So, should we establish some ground rules?"

"Mhmm; first rule: no hugging other people?" Ronald jokes.

James lightly punches him in the arm. "This is serious, I don't want another argument over one of us getting jealous!"

"Okay, fine. What were you thinking?"

"No... hugging other people?" James asks sheepishly after trying to think of something else for a few moments.

"I just said that!"

"I know, I know, sorry!" James squeaks out with a blush.

"It's okay," Ronald repeats. "How about... no raising voices when talking about us in public places?"

"Oh my gosh! I could've gotten is caught! Yes, that's a good idea!"

"It's alright. You were just angry. And jealous," Ronald says with a smirk.

"Jealousy is not my brightest moment."

"Yeah, you could say that again," Ronald mutters, before his eyes widen and he quickly adds, "But really, don't beat yourself up for it. You're not the only person who makes mistakes."

"Uh-huh," James says though it's clear he still blames himself for the incident.

"Seriously, I could go on and on about the dumb shit I've done. One little mistake isn't going to ruin what we have between us."

"I know, it's just..." James sighs, "I hate it when we argue."

"I know, me too. But we're human. We're gonna fuck shit up sometimes. And really, that's okay. We can handle it."

"We?"

"Of course. We're a couple, you don't have to handle everything on your own anymore."

"Aww, I didn't know you were so sentimental!" James gushes.

"I am not sentimental!" Ronald replies hastily, "Just being honest."

"I much prefer the honesty over the bickering."

"Me too."

"So... are we cool?"

"For now."

"Until we get into another hissy fit?"

"Mhmm."

"Well I'm always here for ya, even when you are an asshole."

"Likewise."

"So... until the next argument?"

"Until the next argument," James replies with a hearty laugh. "I'll love you no matter what."

"Me too... now you're getting sentimental!"

"Ugh, remember what I said about arguing?"

"Right, right. Just fucking with you!"