Chapter 11


It ended up being a very busy summer for Jeff. He worked as many hours as they would give him at the poultry processing plant. And what few hours off he did have were spent helping his dad around the house, giving father and son a chance to bond and get re-acquainted after Jeff having been gone in the Marines for four years. Jeff wondered if possibly his father knew or at least suspected something. On several occasions his father started to say something, but stopped before getting anything out. Jeff did manage to run a phone line to his bedroom so that he could have an internet connection for his new laptop so that he could exchange emails with Damon. But with the way Damon was traveling he didn't get to an internet connection very often during the first half of the summer. But as the summer progressed and they chatted more and more, the more solid their relationship became. Jeff also noticed his sister Jennifer was over the breakup with Damon real quick, he wasn't sure if she was dating Steve or not. They were around each other quite a bit when he first got in from California for the summer. But she seemed to brush him off and didn't want to be around him. She did seem to spend a lot of time on the phone with what he thinks were long distance calls. 

As planned Damon, his parents and his grandmother spent the first three weeks of June in Europe. He hated not being able to keep in touch with Jeff while out of the country. But he also knew this would possibly be the last time he took a vacation with his family.

After Europe Damon drove to Florida and spent two weeks painting and performing a few other chores at his grandmother's condo. She had become a `snowbird' in recent years spending her summers in the North, but her winters in her condo near Boca Ciega Bay. And for the last few summers Damon has spent time in the condo where he could enjoy the Florida summer between performing maintenance tasks for his grandmother. It was perfect symbiosis, he had a free place to stay, and she had free labor. During this summer he went to the beach a few times, and hung out with a few friends he had made in years past, but his heart just wasn't in it. As much as he enjoyed looking laying on the beach and watching the eye candy in years past all he could think of was Jeff. So in mid-July once he finished his projects he closed the condo and headed home. 

Both men would have liked to get together over the summer but it just wasn't possible. While Damon was free to come and go, Jeff didn't have it so lucky. While he wasn't `restricted' it was more like he felt he was under a microscope. When he wasn't working his mother was always trying to match him up. Damon going to Jeff's house was out of the question, too many questions to answer. Damon volunteered to pay for a room at a local motel but Jeff nixed the idea. Not that he didn't like as much as he knew it was a small town and that somebody was bound to see them together. And since Damon had met half the town that weekend during the wedding somebody would recognize him and it would get back to the family who would then wonder why he was there. 

Damon spent the next few weeks just hanging out with childhood friends. Many of which were straight and he wasn't really into their scene anymore. Most of his gay friends wanted him to go to the bars and hang out at the gay cruising areas. Even though the previous summer he had done those very same things, in the past few months his life had changed to the point he no longer felt comfortable doing so. 

As the summer was winding down Jeff stated that he did not want to live on campus. Normally being a freshman and from out of town he would be required to live in a dorm. However, due to his being older, and per a loophole which states that if a student lived with a relative who was an upperclassman they could be excluded. 

Even though Jen was a year younger she was going to be a senior that year so that would satisfy the upperclassman rules. In a surprise move their father announced he would pay their rent if they wanted to share an apartment. They wondered where the money was coming from since he always acted as if the family was broke. They found a two bedroom furnished apartment in the upstairs of a converted Victorian about two blocks from campus. It had simple furnishings, a couch and a chair in the living room that were several years old and didn't match. And the two end tables and coffee table were all three different. There was a small dining area off and even smaller kitchen. It was a simple kitchen area with a small refrigerator that hummed loudly. Although it did have a relatively new glass top stove. Of the four chairs surrounding the 1950's diner style table no two matched. It had two relatively large bedrooms that were about the same size, each having a double bed and a dresser. The bathroom was older but had been as well maintained as had the kitchen. For Jeff the primary selling points were the bed and shower. They had looked at several others that all had twin beds and a tub only. For Jen it was the central air. While that didn't bother Jeff, Jen would much rather be in the air. But it still didn't matter because she planned to spend the majority of her time at the sorority house or sorority functions anyway. Jeff liked that idea since it meant he and Damon would have more time to their selves. 

Their parents helped them move over the weekend before school was to start. Their mother made sure they had sheets, plenty of towels and more then enough dishes for the two of them. She also used this as an excuse to buy a new microwave for the house and `donated' the old one to her kids' apartment. Jeff and Jen would have been happy being left alone in their new apartment to get settled themselves. But their mother insisted on hitting the grocery to help them stock up, then spent the better part of a day cooking meals that she could freeze and they could microwave as needed. 

Their move was coordinated to be on the same night as a mixer between several fraternities and sororities. Even though Jeff was not in a fraternity and not sure he wanted to pledge he went along with Jen. Of course his main motive was that Damon was going to be there! He had not seen his lover since the spring when he helped Jen move back home. They arrived early and Jeff was introduced around but stopped when they got to Damon.

"Of course you remember Damon." Jen said, remembering to call her ex-boyfriend by his given name. 

"Sure do how's it going?" Jeff smiled as he extended his hand. At this time he didn't know whether to acknowledge that they've been keeping in contact with each other or not.

"Awesome, you going to school here?" Damon followed Jeff's lead and put on a show. He already knew the answer to the question.

"Gotta go somewhere," was Jeff's reply.

The boys continued with some small talk. Once Jen realized they were hitting it off and leaving her out of the conversation she took advantage and quietly walked away then joined some of her friends. During the exchange Jeff and Damon were both careful not to reveal any info to indicate they had been staying in contact over the summer. With the number of people present at the party someone was always close by so they had to keep their conversation cordial. Damon took Jen's role and continued to introduce Jeff to his friends, and others that Jen hadn't gotten to. Jen made occasional appearances and joined in the conversation for a few minutes here and there before moving on taking on her role as social butterfly. 

"How are the two favorite men in my life?" Jen asked once as she walked up behind and put her arms around both their shoulders. They just looked at each other and wondered if she knew.

As much as the boys wanted to spend the night together they knew better. However meeting up at the mixer and the two showing they were friends in front of the group gave them an not only a reason to be around each other, but an excuse to be seen together. Down the road people wouldn't think anything of it if Damon was at the apartment or Jeff at the frat house. Overall it was an enjoyable evening for them both. Damon was getting re-acquainted not only with Jeff but with old friends as well. In watching the crows the one thing that they both noticed was that while Jen was spreading herself around the crowd. She was spending more then a little bit of time with one of Damon's frat brothers, Brian Flynn.

After a couple hours the party broke up and everyone went their separate ways. Damon said that he had things to do in the morning and will give Jeff a call in the afternoon. As Jeff and Jen walked the two blocks back to their apartment she was questioning him as to if he had a good time and what he thought of several of the people he met. What neither of the siblings knew is that they both had plans in the following days, and how much their lived were about to change. Both had a difficult time falling asleep that night.

*******

After the party when Damon returned to his room at the frat house his roommate still hadn't moved in. He wondered who it would be, or if he would have one. When he checked in he was told to use the same room so he never saw a print out of who was where. Chad had graduated so it wouldn't be him again. Damon was informed of the mixer the Day before as he was unloading his car. Rather then unpack he just threw his stuff where he landed and left it there. He then ran to grab a bite at the Student Union then returned to the frat house with intentions to unpack and settle in. But when he looked around at all the boxes and at the mess he had created he thought "fuck it." So instead he changed from his shorts and t-shirt to slacks and a polo shirt and headed to the commons room in the frat house where he watched TV and chatted with a few of his fraternity brothers. All of them were sharing stories of their summer and bragging of their conquests before they all left for the mixer as a group. 


Damon woke up early, especially after the late night at the party. He lay in his bed for several minutes counting the cracks in the ceiling and listening to the limb on the Oak tree scraping against the building as the wind blew. He decided there were no time better then the present to jump right back into working out. He had used his dad's equipment over the summer. But that was far from gym quality. There was a fitness center in the Physical Education Department that was open to all students that he had used the previous years. He forced himself out of the bed and made his way to the bathroom to relieve his bladder. When he returned to his room he did a few stretches and warm-up before dressing in his old comfortable shorts and a sleeveless shirt with the school mascot emblazoned on the front. He slipped on his Reebok's and grabbed his MP3 player and an energy bar then headed out the door. He was not surprised that none of his fraternity brothers where yet stirring. He built up to a light jog as he crossed campus on that that warm late August morning. He gets to the Fitness Center which like the rest of campus looks deserted for this time on a Saturday morning. Unfortunately it was locked. "Of course," he thought, "school doesn't start until Monday." With that be began to walk around the building to the school's track. He figured he could at least get a jog in today to get him back in the spirit. Just as he was about to corner the building he heard his name being called out. He turned around to see Tina Biggerstaff motioning him back to the door. He was unsure of whether this was a good idea or not since she had been chasing him the year before and only barely slowed down her obvious advances while he was dating Jen. Tina called out that she was just opening the place and that he could go in if he wanted. Through casual conversation he found out she was a student trainer for the girls basketball team and had a key to open the gym. He spent thirty minutes on the treadmill and another forty-five on the weight machines before jogging back across campus. Taking advantage of the moment to multitask and mentally put together a to-do list for the next couple days. While his class load was going to be a little easier then the previous year he still had supplies to be bought.

Life had returned to the frat house. When he walked in a couple of the guys were sitting around, obviously nursing hangovers. He walked in his room and was surprised to see Brian Flynn unloading boxes.

"Oh, Damon, hi!" Brian said turning around with a crooked smile on his face. Damon noticed Brian addressed him by his real name rather then the nickname his frat brothers normally use.

"Brian! How's it going? I was wondering if I was going to have a roommate." Damon tried not to show his surprise. "You're just now moving in? I thought I saw you at the mixer last night."

"I got in just before it started so decided to wait until this morning," Brian explained.

"Where did you sleep last night?" Damon asked as he slipped the sweat drenched shirt over his head. He grabbed a dry towel from one of his own boxes and began drying himself.

"I went ahead and crashed at the TKE house. It was late and they had a spare bed." 

"Oh," Damon responded. While it was not unheard of for people of different fraternities to mix in such a way it was not the norm. 

"Look dude," Brian said getting serious, "we need to talk." He placed the books he was holding back in the box and sits on his own bed looking right at Damon. 

"What's up?" Damon sat up just enough that he could prop himself on his elbows so that he could make eye contact with his roommate. He wondered to himself how this was going to work, being in the same room with a man he had lusted over in the past.

"I didn't know you were going to be my roommate or I would have requested another room."

This got Damon's attention and he immediately became concerned as to why Brian wouldn't want to be his roomie. In a split second multiple thoughts ran through his head. Perhaps Brian had seen him concealing his erection in the showers before. Or maybe he was aware that Damon had gone back to his room after said shower and whacked off with the image of Brian's nude body still fresh in his mind. "Why is that Brian?" He finally was able to ask with true concern and just a hint of a crack in his voice, "I thought we got along fine, did I do something?" He wasn't sure he wanted to know the answer and was already running scenarios through his mind of how he was going to explain this to his dad. 

"No my friend you didn't," Brian said casting his gaze to the floor rather then look Damon in the eyes. "But I did."

Instantly Damon's concern was replaced with curiosity, "what?"

"I just figured you would be mad that I'm dating Jennifer Schultz."

"Oh!" That was all that Damon could think to say. This bit of news was definitely not what he was expecting to hear. "When did this happen?"

"That's why you're going to be mad Deej. We actually first hooked up last year." It only took a split second for Damon to do the math and realize the implications of what Brian had said and look him directly in the eyes. "That's right."

"This comes as a surprise."

"Look, Dude, I didn't mean for it to happen. It just did. We were in a class together, and when we worked on a project we just clicked. Then over the summer we talked quite a bit. And, well, now that we're back we plan on dating."

Damon couldn't be mad even though he knew he was supposed to be. On one hand he felt a little humiliated that Jen had done this to him and wondered if he had been the butt of any jokes. But on the other hand he couldn't blame Brian for breaking them up. And he knew there was no way that he and Jen would have ever lasted anyway. On top of all of that Brian was a friend, one of the few guys in the fraternity that he honestly liked. He was sure they could get past this. Besides, Brian just wasn't too bad to look at. "No, no problem dude. I mean we broke up. If you're dating her now why should I have a problem?" He finally managed to say.

"Sure?" Brian still had a look on his face that said he wasn't sure.

"You need any help with this stuff?" Damon said with a smile as he stood and grabbed some books from a box. He hoped the change of subject would lighten the mood. Brian let out a sigh of relief as he returned the smile.

The roommates spent the next couple hours unloading their boxes and finding homes for their belongings while making light conversation. They managed to catch up on the events of the summer and get to know one another better. 

"I hear you and her brother have become buddies." Brian threw in at one point.

Damon smiled to himself before responding "Yeah, Jeff's pretty cool." He decided it was prudent to downplay how well they knew each other.

"Is he like, as bad as she says?" Brian asked.

"What do you mean?"

"She told me about when you first met him, how he practically bit your head off."

"Oh yeah I remember that day well. But we ended up getting along fine."

"Is he as mean as what she says? I know he's a Marine, but I mean we like well," Brian stumbled of his words not sure how to say it.

"You want to take your relationship to the next level?" Damon said letting his friend off the hook.

"You got it."

"Well," Damon said, "Jen and I never made it to that level so I can't tell you from personal experience." 

"Sorry dude I didn't mean to intrude. It's none of my business."

"No it's cool. As far as Jeff, I think you'd better warm him up to the idea, you know let him get to know you first. You're a good guy, once he gets to know you I'm sure he'll be fine." Damon was already thinking to himself of a way to bring up the subject to Jeff. But he also knew that his situation with Jeff was rather unique. And that their problem was regarding their relationship and Jeff thinking Damon was using his sister.

"Not much time for that."

Why's that?"

"We sorta have plans for tonight."

"What?" This revelation caught Damon off guard.

"Like I said we've been in contact all summer. And well, I have tickets to the concert tonight. And I've already reserved a hotel room."

"Way to go big guy!" Damon said with a smile. He stood and went to his friend and gave him a pat on the back hoping the gesture would break the tension and to put them both at ease. His mind was already racing a mile a minute thinking about the possibilities. 

"Do you think it will be all right?"

"From what Jeff says she may be living with him at the apartment but she's still planning on spending quite a bit of time at the sorority house. So he may never know."

"Brian just smiled, but it slowly changed to a serious look before he asked, "Don't tell him, OK?"

"No problem, I don't guess it's anything that will come up. I guess what he doesn't know don't hurt you!" 

"That's not very reassuring!" Brian responded as they both busted out into laughter.

As they were finishing with the unpacking the growling in Damon's stomach reminded him that he hadn't had anything to eat other then the energy bar when he worked out. And that had been several hours before. Brian said he had some errands to run to get ready for the evening as he grabbed his keys and quickly left. As the fraternity brothers said their goodbyes Damon headed across campus to the Subway where Jeff had the same idea at the same time.

"So what's your plans for the rest of the day?" Jeff asked between bites.

"I have a few things to get done to be ready for class on Monday."

"What about later?"

"Nichts." 

"So what ya say we get together?" 

"What'cha have in mind?"

"Well, I thought maybe a movie, dinner then possibly go out dancing."

"Well Mr. Schultz, it does sound to me like you're asking me out on a date."

"That's because I am." Jeff looked embarrassed by the accusation.

"Then you know I'm going to accept."

"What time do you think you'll be ready?"

"It's just past Noon now," Damon looked at his watch and made some mental calculations. I could be ready by, lessay four thirty."

"How about I pick you up at five then?"

"You got a date." Damon resisted the urge to reach across and hold hands. 

- - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - 

To those who have been following this story I do apologize for the long delay.  There is one chapter remaining that I hope to have finished and posted soon!  As always, I love hearing from fans so feel free to write me at: jakeadams@verizon.net