Date: Thu, 24 Jun 1999 00:57:04 CDT From: Jason Randall Subject: JC and Jas Disclaimer: I am not assuming anything about the lives of anyone in this story. Many may wish things to be true, but who knows so don't be offended, just enjoy. If you're over 18, stop reading this, and all that other legal stuff. This is my first attempt, and I know this story lacks sexual adventures, give it time, I want them to get to know eachother first, okay? Jason slowly rolled over and squinted at his alarm clock. As he realized the time he groaned and leaned over to wake his boyfriend up when he realized he wasn't there. `That's odd' Jason thought, `Alex always sleeps later than I do, and today it's REALLY early?' He got out of bed and decided he better drop by the bathroom before he went out to join Alex for breakfast. As he walked into the bathroom he noticed that Alex's razor wasn't out, and his clothes had been picked up off the floor. `Wow, he musta really been up early to pick up, too!' Jason laughed to himself. As he wandered into the kitchen, he realized something was out of place, he didn't smell coffee. The kitchen looked exactly as it did last night, except for two things, Alex wasn't there, and there was a piece of paper laying on the coffee machine. Jason picked it up and began to read: Jason, You know I would never want you to be hurt, but I can't help what's happened. When I went away last weekend to see my family, I ran into my ex Dustin, and we made up. I can't bare to think of you hurt, so I figured it's best to just leave while I struggle to see who I truly desire. Just remember you will always have a place in my heart, and I love you? Alex By the time he was finished, Jason was sitting on the kitchen floor, rocking back and forth as he cried harder than ever before. "How can you do this to me?" he screamed, not caring about anyone who could hear. "You said we were meant to be! You said it was forever. You said you LOVED me!!!" He continued to cry as he heard the pounding on the door. "Jason? It's me, Sarah? Jason, I can hear you screaming and crying, what's wrong sweetie? Just open the door??" Sarah was Jason's best friend, and also his neighbor. She'd been reading the paper when she heard his screams and had rushed right over. "Come on Jay, ya know I have a key. If you don't open up I'll do it myself." Jason knew she wasn't kidding, but he just didn't care right then. He was too upset to move, let alone answer the door. Less than a minute later Sarah had the door open and was running in. "OhmiGod, Jay, sweetie, what happened?" she screamed as she saw him curled in a ball by this time on the floor. She couldn't get a response, but just then she saw the note stained with tears that he had clutched in his hand. "Oh no," was all she could get out as she read the letter. "Oh hun, I'm SO sorry!" she said as she gathered him in her arms and hugged him. Jason finally realized she was there and broke down even harder in her arms. "WHY? HOW?" he screamed. "How can he do this to me? Why is he doing this to me?" He began to shake even harder. After an hour and a half, Sarah finally noticed he'd cried himself out and was just shaking in her arms. She slowly got up and helped him into bed, and then laid down and cradled him in her arms as he fell asleep. When Jason woke up two hours later he saw Sarah sitting next to him, reading the paper, and tears streamed down his face. "Is he really gone?" "I'm afraid so, sweetie." She said as she placed her hand over his. "No," it was barely a whisper as he laid his head on the pillow and let the tears come. Eight days later Jason was still a mess. Sarah had finally gotten him to eat after day three, but then on day five he'd gotten a call from Alex and went right back into his slump. She was trying so hard to get him through it, but every time she made progress, something set them back again. At least she'd gotten him eating yet again. He was 5'11" but only weighed 162 pounds so if he lost too much weight he'd look sickly. As it was, his short brown hair lay limp on his head from malnutrition and his green eyes had lost their sparkle, aside from the sparkle made from the constant tears there now. Day after day Sarah constantly tried to get him to go out with her but the only time he left the apartment was when he was called into work. His parents owned a highly successful software company, and so he didn't really need to work, but they had him entertain business clients and such, and handle many of the overseas dealings. Although he was only 19 he was trilingual and had great people skills. When it was an important client, his father insisted on Jason handling it. Finally, 11 days after he'd gotten the letter, Sarah was shocked when she called Jason from work to ask if he'd join her for lunch to find that he'd be "delighted to". Jason hung up the phone and went to get ready to meet Sarah for lunch. He said he'd meet her at 12:30, and although it was only 11:20, he needed a shower and the ride there was long. As he passed by the mirror, he smiled for the first time in almost two weeks. `It's about time,' he thought to himself. `You made the right decision last night. No more of this depression mode. If he didn't want you, something was wrong with him. Isn't that what Sarah's been saying these last few days? Something like that at least. Well it's true, you can do better! Now just go out and enjoy your lunch with your best friend in the whole world. The sooner you start acting normal again, the sooner your life can get back to normal.' He smiled to himself again. This was going to be hard, but he knew he was right. At 12:15 he was already at the restaurant and he knew Sarah had a tendency to be late. He checked in with the waiter to get them a table, and decided to go for a walk instead of waiting. As he walked around, he passed a park him and Alex had gone to many times. `There's only one way to get over this,' he thought, and he went right onto the basketball court that they'd shared so many games on. He got to the court and then he lost it. He broke into tears and sat down right in the middle of the court. As he sat there he lost track of time, it felt like hours had passed but it'd only been minutes. As his tears slowed to a steady stream, he looked up as he heard voices joking and laughing as they approached. "Yeah Scoop, whatever ya say! You know I'm gonna beat the crap out of you today!" "Sure thing Curly, ya don't stand a chance against me and JC!" "Oh ya really think so?" "Know, I know." They stopped their little argument as they realized they weren't alone. Jason looked up and then realized he must look like a total loser. "Um, sorry, I was just leaving." He said quickly, as he turned to go. "No wait!" all three of them said at the same time. Jason turned around to see what was wrong. `This is just great, get down in this bad neighborhood and start crying like a baby. Just pray they only make fun of you rather then beat the hell out of you!' he thought to himself as he instinctually put a hard look on his face. "Look guys, I'm on my way out, I didn't mean to get in your way." He said, while looking at them for the first time. Two of them had blonde hair, but the third one had short brown hair like his, and the deepest blue eyes. As he stared into these pools, he realized one of the blondes was talking. "Hey man, is everything ok?" "Yeah, I'm sorry, I didn't mean to be any trouble," Jason said as he came out of his spell. "It's no trouble at all. We don't own the court. In fact, just cuz we showed up doesn't mean we deserve it, you were here first!" "No, no, I was just leaving anyways." Now the other blonde was speaking, "Hey man, why don't you stick around for a while? I could use some help beating these two losers in a game of 21? You any good at basketball?" "No, well I mean, yes I'm good, but no, I couldn't possibly." Jason stuttered. Suddenly the one with the deep eyes spoke, "No, I insist, you must stay. Then we won't feel so bad when WE beat HIM, because it will have been fair and even." He said with a killer smile. Jason suddenly smiled himself. "Well, if you insist, maybe a quick game." "Oh good!" all three of them said at the same time as Jason laughed. "Ok, so I'm Justin, this is Lance, and Josh." He said pointing to the other blond and then the guy who Jason was finding himself staring at again. "I'm Jason," he said as they all shook hands. He shook Josh's hand last, and it seemed, the longest. He looked up in his eyes as they shook, and he just winked at him. Jason could've sworn he was blushing but he quickly started talking about the game to hide it from the guys. They started playing and as they did, Jason noticed how close the guys seemed. They all joked among one another but you could tell each time they did so it was with love. They were like 3 big kids, constantly trying to out do one another. Jason couldn't tell if it was because he was there or just because they were like that. After the game was finished (Justin and Jason won, Jay had played varsity b ball all through high school, and was even offered a scholarship to play in college, but he didn't accept it.) Jason heard Lance call his name. He looked over to see him showing off and doing a stunt with the ball when Justin came and took it from him, doing a quick lay- up. Josh and Jason both burst into laughter, and sat down on the bench. "Smooth move there Lance, even Josh coulda grabbed that from you, and he could barely keep up during the game!" Jason joked. "Very funny," Josh said as he punched Jason in the ribs, "and by the way, no one calls me `Josh', call me JC will ya?" "Sure thing." Jason replied as he looked into JC's eyes once again. He realized someone was talking again and broke the stare with JC yet again. "Hello? So are ya guys up for some food or not? I so need to eat right now." Justin was saying. Everyone replied yes and they started heading out of the courts. Suddenly everyone but Jason stopped. "So where we going guys?" Jay asked as he realized they had stopped. "I have NO clue, we're not from around here." Lance replied, laughing. "Oh, well that explains why I've never seen ya. Ok, follow me, I know a good little caf‚." As Jason approached the caf‚ once again and looked at the waiter he swore under his breath. "What's wrong?" JC asked, grabbing his elbow. "I was supposed to meet my friend here for lunch," he paused, checking his watch, "over an hour ago!" "Here," JC said, reaching into his gym bag, "use my cell." "Thanks," Jason replied as they were led to the table. On the way, the waiter looked at the three guys weird and was about to say something when Lance grabbed him and pulled him aside. Jason, JC, and Justin all sat at the table while Lance talked to the waiter. When they returned the waiter asked them to follow him. "I'm sure you guys will be much happier with this table?" he asked, as he showed them to a secluded area, behind some fake trees. "Yes, this will be fine, thanks." Lance said as he slipped him a tip. "What was that all about?" Jason asked, puzzled. "Oh nothing, we just don't want to really be around people right now, after we've been playing basketball and are all sweaty." Justin replied quickly. "Oh," Jason said, "I never even thought of that, I must look like crap." "Not at all, " JC said quickly, and then he lowered his eyes as Lance shot him a look. "Well, I'm gonna call Sarah and apologize." Jason said as he started dialing. "Hi, don't be mad. . Yes I know I was supposed to meet you for lunch but I didn't ditch you on purpose, and it may make ya feel better to know that I left the apartment. . Yes I will explain, quit interrupting. I was early so I went on a walk, and ended up at that park down on 2nd, ya know? . Exactly, so I was there, well just there, and these guys came up, and we started talking so I played a game of b ball with them. . How can you ask me that so soon? . I know, I'm sorry, too, I didn't mean to get mad. . Ok, so anyways, I'm sorry, but we're eating lunch now, so I just called to explain so you didn't hate me. . I know, love you too, I'll call you tonight. . Alright, bye!" Jason hung up the phone and went to hand it to JC, but he just got up and excused himself to the rest room. `Hmm, wonder what's with him?' he thought as Justin started talking. "I don't mean to pry, but was that your girl?" "Nah, Sarah's my best friend, known her since I was 3! Besides I'm not.I'm single right now." `Why didn't I just tell them I'm gay?' "Oh, I was just curious, excuse me, think JC had the right idea." He said as he headed to the bathroom. Justin walked into the bathroom to find JC sitting there looking very upset. As JC looked up he turned his head away. "Wow, you've got it bad already, huh guy?" Justin said. "What are you talking about?" JC said, not even trying to convince Justin that he didn't know. "What's going on Josh? The way he looks at you, I think he's got a thing for you." "Oh yeah, that's why he just used my cell to call his girlfriend?" "Is that what this is about? That was his best friend, I asked." "Well, still, guys like that aren't into me the same way I'm into them." "Come on bro, he's interested in being your friend at least, can't we just go enjoy lunch?" "Yeah, I think that's best, come on. And Just?" "Yeah bro?" "Thanks." "Not a prob," he replied, giving JC a hug. They returned to the table as Lance and Jason were getting into a discussion about the restaurant decor. "Oh, ya guys are back, ready to order?" Lance asked. Through the rest of the meal they sat and goofed off, finally Jason remembered what he was going to ask earlier. "So what brings you guys to Minnesota?" as he took a bite of his hamburger. "Business." Lance replied as he gave a look to the other two guys. "Oh, cool, how long's your stay?" "Six days, so that gives you plenty of time to show us the high points." "Well, there's really only one high point that overlooks the Mississippi, but I guess I could take ya there." "Shut up ya jerk, ya know what I meant!" Lance said as Jason laughed. "Of course. So which hotel you guys in?" "Embassy Suites down by the mall. Which reminds me, our other friends are still there, crap! They're gonna be mad we grabbed lunch without em." "Oh no," Justin replied, "that's right. We promised to go back and get em for lunch. We better go." "Oh, alright," Jason said, slightly disappointed. `Get over it,' he told himself, `they said they want to see the high points and expected you to show them, so ya'll see him again. Them again, see THEM again. What's wrong with me? It hasn't even been 2 weeks since Alex.no, not now.' "I don't wanna go back yet. They chose to skip out on b ball, they can wait for us." JC said as he looked over at Jason. Jason looked upset and JC gave him a weird look. "Something wrong, man?" he asked, genuinely concerned. "Nah, was just thinking of something, anyways, why don't I get this so you guys can go ahead and get back to your friends?" "Oh, it's cool Jason, we can pay for it." Justin said. "No, by all means, let me." Jason said, looking into JC's eyes yet again. `Oh god, what's going on?' "It's no big deal. The least I can do considering you guys let me join ya for b ball. Been a while since I've had a great game like that." "Well, you ready to go home yet? Cuz if you're not, maybe you can show me around town a bit?" JC asked with a small smile. `YES!' "Sure thing man, I'm never in the mood to go home." He said, returning the smile. "Alright, JC just give me a call on my cell later and we'll tell ya the plans for tonight. Chris was saying something about clubbing?" Lance said as he and Justin walked towards the park again while JC and Jason got into Jason's car. "So where to?" Jason asked. "I dunno, you're the expert, remember?" JC said with a kidding smile. Jason smiled back and started driving. "Well, let's just see where the road takes us, huh?" and he turned the radio on as JC nodded. As they drove they both talked about their pasts. Everything from childhood injuries to the time Jason had ran away from home. They drove past a zoo and JC suddenly wanted to stop. "I love animals," he said, somewhat sheepishly. "That's cool, so do I, and I haven't been here in forever." They pulled into the zoo and started wandering all over. After so much walking, they got thirsty and Jason got them two cokes while JC found an open bench. They sat down in the shade and sipped their drinks. "Hey Jason?" "Yeah?" "Can I ask you a question?" "Shoot." He said, looking over only to get lost in those eyes again. "Ya remember back at the court? Um, why were you crying?" "Oh, that." Jason thought quickly, trying to get an excuse. "Well, you see, I.oh screw it. I recently got out of a relationship and I had a lot of memories on those courts. I guess they got to me." "Oh, I'm sorry, I didn't mean to upset you," JC replied quickly, touching Jason's hand lightly. "If you want, you can tell me bout it. Sometimes it's easier to talk to someone ya don't know that well?" Jason looked away from his eyes and just watched people walk past. `You may as well just tell him. You've never had a problem telling people you were gay before. Why is he so different?' He looked back over to see JC staring intently at him. "Thank you, let's go over there where it's a bit more private." And they walked over to an area inbetween some bushes where there was a picnic bench. They sat across from eachother and JC looked at Jason intently. "It's ok." JC said again, as he grabbed Jason's hand. Jason just stared at JC's hand on his, and felt his heart sway. `Cut it out, you barely know this guy.' "Well you see," he started, "I woke up about two weeks ago to find a note telling me they had left." A tear started to form in Jason's eye as JC just gripped his hand harder. "What was her name?" JC asked. `Here we go,' Jason thought to himself. To Be Continued. So there ya go, it's a start. Please send all comments to jas_stories@hotmail.com. Just don't complain about the no sex thing, it will come eventually, I promise.