Archive of Our Own ^beta

It was the first Friday of September and Nick and Gatsby were headed to the local fair about an hours drive away from Long Island. They had left early in the evening so by the time they arrived at the fair it was only six. Though it was September the air still had that fresh August wind that blew in their faces and carried the wonderful scents of the fair with it.

Jay parked his car in the dirt lot and got out, "I don't think I've actually ever been to the fair you know." He said, looking at Nick as he got out and joined him on his side of the car. "Never had enough money for it back when I was a kid."

Nick frowned softly and fought back the urge to grab Jay's hand in public. Instead he gently brushed their fingers together for just a moment, "Well then I hope that we can have a memorable experience tonight. I'll do everything I can to make sure you have fun."

Jay smiled at Nick, "I can assure you, Nick, I'm having fun just being with you. The fair is just a bonus."

With a soft laugh, Nick nodded and together he and Jay walked over to the ticket booth where Jay insisted he pay for their tickets. After a small, unserious argument of who would pay, Nick finally gave in and let Jay buy 20 bright yellow tickets from a very tired looking man. "So, what do you want to do as your first ever fair experience?" Nick smiled, watching Jay fold all of the tickets into one.

"Hm," Jay bit his lip and looked around at all the booths, stalls, rides, and all else the fair had to offer. "How about we try out the game section?" He asked, pointing to a long line of game booths with very colourful stuffed animal prizes. "They look pretty easy!"

Nick inhaled a breath through his teeth, "You sure about that?" He followed Jay through the line of games, each with a vendor trying to convince them to play their games. "I've never been able to get the big prize at any fair game. Everyone says they're rigged."

"You've just had a bad run is all, these things can't be rigged!" Jay turned around and smiled at Nick. "I mean, why would people play them if they're rigged? It doesn't make a bit of sense." With a shake of his head he suddenly stopped at a game. It was one of those 'strong man' sort of games where you were given a mallet and supposed to send a puck flying upwards with enough force to ring the bell at the top. "Like this, it can't possibly be rigged! Look how easy it is, Nick." 

"Yep, it's certainly not rigged." Said the man running the game. He was sitting on a wooden stool under the shade of a tarp where many prizes were housed. "And with that in mind, why don't you give it whirl?" He smiled. "You look strong enough to ring the bell, mister."

And before Nick could talk at least a little sense into Jay, the other was ripping off a single yellow ticket and handing it to the fair worker. "Watch and learn, Nicky." Jay grinned, picking up the big wooden mallet.

"I'm watching." Even though Nick already knew the outcome of the game, he smiled. All that mattered was that Jay had fun.

Jay raised the mallet above his head and quickly brought it down at the center of the game. A loud ping sounded and Nick could visibly see the mallet vibrating in Jay's hands. The puck shot up nearly two feet, at least ten feet short of hitting the bell.

"Aw, too bad, mister." The fair worker shook his head. "Wanna try again?"

"Uh-," A blush darkened Jay's ears and he handed the mallet back to the worker. "Maybe later, there's still a whole fair to do you know." He turned back around to Nick and grabbed him by the elbow, pulling him away from the game. "Maybe you were right.. that thing had to be rigged. I'm much stronger than that."

With a laugh, Nick nodded. "I know you are, Jay. Don't let your confidence take a dive, we're just here to have fun after all."

"Yeah, yeah of course.. Is there anything you'd like to do? It's your turn?"

"My turn?" Nick hummed, letting Jay aimlessly lead him around the fair. "I know we just had dinner not too long ago but I'd love a candied apple."

"Then let's find the stand that sells the best candied apples! My treat."

"Oh geez, Jay- You know you don't have to buy every single thing right?" But Nick's words were wasted as Jay pushed him over to a sweet smelling stand. "I'm perfectly capable of buying my own things you know, and you already paid for the tickets."

Jay just rolled his eyes, "But it's nothing to me, Nick! What's the use of having money if you don't have someone to spend it all on? I promise that this will be the last thing I buy you today."

With a tired smile Nick nodded, "Oh alright, but I'm holding you to your promise you know. I always feel so awkward when you spend so much on me."

"I don't know why, there's nothing invalidating or awkward about accepting gifts." With a shrug Jay turned to the woman running the stand. "Two candied apples please! The finest ones you have." He placed two quarters on the stands edge.

The woman grabbed the money and put it into a big pocket on the front of her apron. "Well they're all fine, mighty fine if I do say so myself." She said, turning around and reaching for two of the many treats behind her. She turned back around with a candied apple in each hand and handed them both to Jay. "But of course I'll leave the tastin' up to you two gentlemen."

"Thanks very much," With a smile Jay handed one of the apples to Nick. They both ambled away from the stand to nowhere in particular. "You know-," He whispered. "I've never actually had one of these things." He eyed his candied apple curiously then glanced at Nick who was already biting into his apple.

Through his mouthful of caramel, apple, and peanuts Nick made a confused face. He chewed as quickly as he could and swallowed what he had in his mouth, "Jay, you can't be serious."

"Hate to say I am," Jay took a small bite of his apple and smiled widely. "But this thing is delicious! I will have to get some more of these before we leave." He took a second, bigger bite and Nick just sighed besides him.

Sometimes being with Jay made Nick feel like he was babysitting the world's largest child, but he didn't mind. He didn't mind because he loved Jay and because he knew that sometimes he just didn't know any better. "You're going to get sick if you eat seven of these before the day is through, I don't want to drive you home while you hang out of the car sick again."

"Oh don't bring that up again!" Jay licked away a coat of caramel on his lips and rolled his eyes. "That was one time I got sick on chocolate strawberries and you haven't let me live it down since."

Nick smiled softly, "I don't know what you're talking about, Jay, until you brought it up I had completely forgotten about that." They walked in aimless circles around the fair as they ate their apples, talking about things that really weren't important but enjoying themselves nonetheless. As they walked however Nick noticed just how much Jay seemed to be drawn to the games, how his gaze would stray to the prizes and how he would accidentally separate from his side for a closer look.

"You know.." Nick started, throwing the empty stick of his candied apple into a nearby trash bin, Jay had finished his own a few minutes before. "It wouldn't hurt to play a few more games if you really want to. Even if they are rigged there's still fun in them." He smiled. "It's your turn to pick again."

"Ah great!" Jay beamed, suddenly changing their direction over to a balloon popping game. "Because I was just thinking, really all the games can't be rigged they just can't! So I thought that maybe I could play them all until I find out which ones are rigged and which ones aren't."

"That's going to take a lot of tickets," Nick laughed, "Think we'll have enough for that?"

"I'll just buy more. Can't take it with me so I might as well spend it on something fun, right?" Jay turned from Nick to the woman in charge of the booth and slapped two tickets on the counter from the pocket. "Two rounds please!"

While the woman in charge turned around to get their darts Nick spoke, "I think this is one of the few games that's actually not rigged. Not that I've ever been any good at it though."

"I'd sure hope that this wouldn't be rigged, how would they even do it?" Jay grinned. "Solid plastic balloons?"

The woman who ran the booth dropped ten red and black darts in front of them. "You're not too far off there," With a wink she leaned across the counter and pointed to the very end of the line of games. "Down there's Stevie, does exactly that." She pushed herself off the counter and straightened her blouse. "Okay boys, you each get five darts. All you have to do is pop two of the balloons to get a prize. But if you pop five- all of the same colour might I add you get any prize in this whole booth." She raised her hands and spun in a slow circle, gesturing to stuffies big and small. She then looked at them with a smile, stepping out of their way, "Good luck."

Nick and Jay both grabbed up their darts, casting each other sideways glances.

"You first, Nicky."

Nick rolled his eyes, his smile still evident. "Fine, but I really am horrible at this."

"I won't believe it until I see it!"

With a sigh, Nick chose a random dart and pulled his arm back. Odd bare spots stood out on the board of balloons and he hoped he could manage to hit at least one balloon. He threw the dart and it popped a single pink balloon. In an instant Jay grabbed his shoulder and was shaking him. "See you're not all that horrible!"

"Geez, thanks!" Nick laughed and gently shoved Jay off of him. "I still have four more tries to be horrible, don't underestimate me."

And to his surprise, Nick managed to pop four more balloons all of which were different colours and warranted him a medium sized prize. He picked a red money, and as the lady handed it to him Jay was shaking him again. "You need to have more faith in yourself you know, you're great at this!"

"Thanks- but I'm sure that you wouldn't say that if we played a game of real darts." He smiled and thanked the woman when she gave him his prize. "Here," He turned around and handed the monkey to Jay. "It's for you."

Jay took the stuffed monkey and gazed at it for a second before looking back at Nick. "I'll cherish it." He said, and Nick knew he meant it. "Now just you prepare for me to win you a prize in return!" He stuffed the monkey under his arm and selected a dart. Then in just a minute he popped five green balloons.

"I guess we found your game," Nick laughed as Jay selected his prize, a giant stuffed bear with a bow-tie.

"Knew there had to be something that wasn't rigged," Jay grinned, giving the bear a squeeze before handing it to Nick. "There! Now we both have a prize."

Nick struggled to look around the bear at Jay, "One considerately bigger than the other though. How on earth am I going to lug this guy around for the rest of the evening?"

"We could put him in the car I suppose but I don't think he'll like being left alone."

"What if we leave your monkey with him then?"

"That'll work."

And so together the couple headed back to the car to deposit their stuffed winnings before exploring the rest of the fair.