A word from Scoop: Chapter 10 left a few loose ends. In chapter 11 I'm going to attempt to tie them all together and keep the story moving along at the same time. Wish me luck...

Scoop
AIM: The Skoop
ICQ: 27497085

'Jon... the person that he gave it all up - lost it all - for. In Jared's mind, the question remained: he had lost everything else, did he really want to keep Jon?'

Beep! Beep! Beep! Beep! Be-

Jared turned off his alarm clock. Not like he really needed the alarm clock; he hadn't really slept all that much. He tried, but he didn't succeed. All he could think of was Jon.

He had pondered their relationship all night, tossing and turning as he tried in vain to get some sleep. Hell, he wasn't going to fool himself. Jared knew he wasn't trying to get any sleep. He needed to answer his own question, and it had to be done before the sun came up. He wasn't going to move into a house with anyone if he didn't want to be with them.

The sun was up.

He still hadn't made up his mind.

Jared looked at the alarm clock and saw...

"Seven I'll get up and go to the house. That way I can get my stuff there early and have most if it put away by the time you bring yours over after filming."

"OK," said Jon, "that sounds good. I should be out of the studio by eight tomorrow night. It won't take me too long to get everything ready to put in the moving van. I have most if it packed, it's only a few essentials that I have left laying around. I just hope I'm not too tired. I don't want to have to just leave the boxes there for the night. I want everything to be perfect for our first night in our house."

"Our house. Damn that sounds good."

"Yeah. Sounds perfect. Just like you." Jared blushed making Jon smile at him.

"I missed you so much while you were away. I wish I could have gone with you."

"I think it was a good thing that you weren't there."

"Why?"

Jared stared back at him for a few seconds. Jon got the impression that Jared was nervous about something. He seemed hesitant to answer the question.

"Everyone would have been bothering you all the time. You would have been driven crazy in a day or two. No rest at all. Besides, you were working on the movie."

"Hmmm, yeah I guess so."

"Does this tux look good on me? Feels kinda baggy."

"Don't worry babe, you look fine. You look better than fine. You look gorgeous."

"Thanks, you always did know how to make me feel better," said Jared smiling.

The phone rang and startled both young men. They were just starting to get that glassy, faraway look in their eyes as they sat and smiled at each other. Jon picked it up and spoke.

"Yes? OK. No problem. Which way? Um, whatever keeps us from being too late. OK. Yeah, sounds good." He placed the phone back in the cradle and looked over at Jared.

"The freeway is blocked up ahead so we're going to have to take a detour. Shouldn't cost us anymore than ten minutes."

"OK, no problem. More time for us." Jared got up from his seat and moved to sit with Jon, facing the back of the limo.

Jon wrapped his arms around Jared and kissed him gently on the lips. The instant they made physical contact, a shudder went throughout his body. He loved the feeling of Jared kissing him. Come to think of it, he just loved the feel of Jared period!

A horn could be heard outside the car, probably someone not happy with the increased traffic on a normally unused road. Jared stopped and pulled back.

"What's wrong?"

"I just can't. Not in the car."

"Why not?"

"I don't know. I heard that horn and I realized we're in a car with a driver in it and... I kinda freaked."

Jon laughed. "The glass is up, he can't see us."

"I know, but it just feels weird. I'm sorry."

"It's OK. Tomorrow night this time we'll be in our own house. "

Jared got out of bed and walked into the bathroom. He removed his boxers and shifted for comfort (ahem). He turned on the cold water and got in the shower. After gasping and swearing for a minute or so, he adjusted to the temperature and woke up completely. His shower was quick, mostly due to the cold water. Jared toweled himself dry and walked out to the kitchen in his birthday suit.

The refrigerator was bare except for a carton of milk. Jared pulled it from the fridge and shook it, hearing a clunking sound rather than the swish he was accustomed to.

"Ugh, I think I'll just leave that here for the next person to discover." He put the carton back on the shelf and closed the door. A quick look through the kitchen revealed nothing to eat that wasn't moldy or outdated: more presents for the next tenant.

"Looks like another morning that I stop into Dunkin Donuts for breakfast. At this rate I'm going to die of -

A broken heart? Why didn't he tell me, thought Jon. Maybe he didn't want me to feel bad. I know he realizes how bad I feel that his parents didn't take kindly to him being gay. It is my fault that they found out after all. Fuck, I was so selfish to do that. I didn't even think of what that would do to him. Stupid, just plain stupid.

A sudden though appeared to Jon and made his stomach turn. Oh god, what if he decides he doesn't want to live with me? Maybe he's lost so much that he hates me now. Oh god, what'll I do?

Wait a minute, there I go again, being selfish. Christ is that all I do is think about myself? Jared would be well within his rights to stop seeing me.

The idea sent another wave of nausea through Jon and he dropped his coffee. The idea of losing Jared was just not acceptable. I need to talk to him. Fuck work, I'm outta here.

"Jon?"

Damn! "Yeah?"

"We're going to have to stop production till around one. We need to get some new equipment to replace this crap." The director pointed at the lighting board which had wires spliced together with others just sticking out. Obviously someone had attempted to add new features to it, but failed miserably. "Sorry about this Jon."

"It's OK. I think I can find something to do."

"Good." The director turned to look at his production crew, "OK everyone, meet back here at one," then back at Jon, "Jon, maybe we could - Jon? Where'd he go so fast?" A few seconds later, tires could be heard squealing. Everyone spun around quickly to see the limo pulling away. The director turned back to his production crew. "Why can't the rest of you move that fast!?"

"Jared, you mind if I ask how your father died?"

Jared looked away from the window at Jon and took a deep breath. "He was away at work. He works at an underground research station in the US that does a lot of biological testing."

"Your father is a biologist? That's cool."

"Heh, actually no, he was a mechanical engineer responsible for keeping power and ventilation systems running."

"Oh."

"Anyway, there was a fire in the area he worked. The section had to be sealed off to keep other areas from being exposed to the smoke. Too much at risk, or so they said. Dad made his crew leave but stayed there and tried to put out the fire."

"He died in the fire?"

"Not quite. He was able to put out the fire. The crew came back to help him get power back. They found him laying on the floor struggling for breath. He was rushed to the medi-center. A few hours later... they thought he was going to be fine. He was breathing on his own and with little problems. Then... he just died. No explanation, or so they say."

Jon looked on as Jared finished his story. He could see the tears in his eyes, as of yet unshed. Jared's breathing was deeper and a little unsteady. A tear slipped down his cheek and he turned back towards the window and dried it away.

The car pulled to a stop and the driver could be heard getting out. "Come on... we're here."

Jon stepped out of the car and put on his sunglasses. It was only ten in the morning but the sun was bright and hot. It was going to be a hot day... a long, hot day.

"Come back and get me around twelve thirty or so."

"Yes sir."

Jon's heart was pounding: the moving van wasn't there. He didn't know if he should call for the limo and leave or go in anyway. One thing was for sure, standing there on the street wasn't a good idea. Sooner or later, someone was going to see him there and eventually figure out it was his home:forget getting any rest then.

I can't leave, he thought. I love him too much to just give up. But what if he has? What if he decided not to show up? No, I can't think like that, I just can't!

Jon took a deep breath and blew it out quickly. He's there, he has to be. With that he starting walking towards the house.

Jon opened the door and stepped into the house.

"Christ."

It was empty. There were no boxes laying about, no furniture, nothing. Jon took a few steps forward and heard the sound of his Lugz against the hardwood floor echoing throughout the empty rooms.

I can't believe it, he thought. He didn't show up. And I have no one to blame but myself. No, I can't do this, I can't blame myself for losing him. Yes I took a big risk doing what I did, but he knew the consequences as much as I did. He didn't have to take me back!

But I guess it was too late then to worry about it. I'd already exposed the two of us on national television, the damage was done. Good work Jonny: you risked it all and what happened?

"I ended up alone," he said allowed to no one except the empty building.

"You're not alone. Not anymore."

Jon spun around to see a silhouette standing at the door. The bright sun was making it hard to see who it was, but he knew.

"I uh, I was afraid you weren't going to show up."

Jared took a few steps into the house. Once he was in out of the sun, Jon could tell that he had been crying by how red and swollen his eyes were. "Me too."

"Oh."

"Yeah, the van wouldn't start."

Jon chuckled lightly."OK. But... I was just thinking that, um. I thought that - " Jon sighed deeply. He was getting overwhelmed with emotion. On one hand he was happy that Jared had showed up. On the other hand, he was scared to find out why he showed up. Maybe the truck did breakdown, but that wouldn't explain why he came over on his own. Or maybe he was there to tell Jon that it was over. To many possibilities for such a scary situation.

"You were afraid that, after what happened last night, I had given up on us."

"Well yeah, kind of."

Jared walked into the house and took a few steps around what would be the living room. His Nike Air basketball shoes making no noise against the floor. "Do we have enough stuff to fill this place?"

Jon looked back at him in confusion. Why was he asking that now? "Huh?"

"Well I was just wondering is all. I have all my stuff loaded in the van, which I think is out of gas. I'm not sure if they fixed the gauge on that thing or not. I don't have all that much stuff, and we have a few extra rooms."

"I, yeah I guess." Jon looked at Jared, more frightened than confused. Why was he saying all this now when their relationship was still hanging in the area of unknown possibilities?

He looked so tired. Jon could tell that besides having cried for a long time, Jared hadn't slept much last night, if at all. Then again, who was he to talk? He hadn't slept himself, and getting called at five in the morning for an unexpected early production time didn't help any.

"I did manage to get some of my stuff here though. The guy in the apartment next door loaned me his Dodge Ram for a few hours. I only got one trip done before he wanted it back though. I think it had something to do with the way his wife was looking at me as if she knew me. Or, was she scared of me? Anyway - come upstairs with me."

Jared started walking up the stairs, leaving Jon with a simple choice: stay or go. He followed, of course, but kept looking at Jared suspiciously. Somewhere in the back of his mind the phrase 'He's gone crazy' kept circulating.

Jared entered the master bedroom and sat on the big queen-size bed (the one thing they had bought for the place so far - had it moved to the house the day before Jared went back to his home town) to wait for Jon. Jon walked in through the door and looked around. There was an oak chest of drawers against the left wall, next to the door to the adjoining bathroom, the closet on the other side of the room was half full, and there was a big bed against the far wall with Jared sitting on it. He was impressed that Jared had been able to get the chest of drawers up the stairs by himself. He knew that he was in great shape, but that was still surprising.

Jon stood just inside the doorway and waited for Jared to make the next move. He was acting weird and Jon didn't particularly like it.

"You just going to stand there?"

"Uh, no." He walked over and sat down next to Jared. Jon looked him straight in the eyes as if they revealed the answers to his questions. In all actuality they revealed nothing. Whoever said that the eyes were the windows to the soul forgot to mention that they came equipped with blinds.

Neither of them said anything. Jon was looking at Jared with that same confused, worried look, and Jared looked like he was soaking up every detail of Jon, as if he was never going to see him again: this only added to Jon's worry. The silence, combined with his need to know what was going on, finally got on Jon's nerves. He decided that he had to ask Jared what he was going to do, or he would pop.

"Jared - "

"Shhhhh. Shhhhhh. Don't speak."

"But Jared - "

"Ah ah ah ah ah. Please, don't speak, just listen." Jared got up off the bed and began walking around the room. He walked over to the closet, then back to the oak drawers. Running his finger across the top, he glanced at it then chuckled.

"Could use some cleaning. But then so could some people."

OK, this was getting him nowhere. Jared was going around like he'd lost his marbles. Jared had told him to listen, but...

"What does that mean exactly?" Jared looked back at him and let out a quick snort. He walked back to the bed and stretched out across it on his back.

"It means, I need - or rather, I needed - to clean out my head. To get my thoughts together."

"Get your thoughts together. Thoughts about what?"

"Oh, about life. About the future, the past. About us."

Jon's heart rate doubled. "Did you succeed? Did you decide what you wanted to do?"

Jared looked up at the ceiling as if it contained a holy mural upon which he was fixated. Finally, after taking a deep breath, he answered, "Yes."

"OK." Jon couldn't bring himself to press for an explanation of 'yes' no matter how much he wanted to. Yet, after almost another minute of silence, he felt pretty sure that Jared wasn't going to volunteer the information. Just listening had become dentistry: getting Jared to speak had become as hard as pulling teeth.

"You going to let me in on what 'yes' means?"

"It means just that. Yes. Yes to this, to us."

Don't smile yet Jon. "Really?"

Jared sat up and looked hard at Jon. He quickly got up on his hands and knees and crawled the two feet to where he was sitting, watching him.

"Really." Jared sat on Jon's lap and placed his hands around his waist. He leaned forward, closing his eyes. Jon caught on instantly and repeated the familiar and welcomed actions.

They kissed.

The kiss was as much a release of stress as it was a symbol of love. There was a loud sigh that came from one of them, if not both - neither could tell. Both opened their lips to allow the other entry, but it was Jared's tongue that found it's way to Jon's first.

Jon laid back on the bed. Jared's hands went almost instantly from Jon's waist to his chest. He found Jon's nipples and began caressing them through the denim shirt that he was wearing - something from wardrobe Jared assumed: it wasn't Jon's style.

Jared moved his hands down over Jon's lean body slowly, carefully, as if cradling some precious material against his palms. Jon's response was very noticeable as he shuddered through their continuing kiss.

Air: both of them needed air. During the brief interlude, Jon took the opportunity to say the words he had been needing to say for a long time. "I love you Jared. I've loved you since the day you apologized to me at my old house."

Jared sat up a little. "That was... last year. We barely knew each other. I'd only seen you two or three times."

"I know. But, I knew that anyone who could apologize like that, even though what happened was basically not his fault... had to be worth holding on to. As soon as you asked to see me again... bang. I had to be with you."

"That's so sweet. I'd have to say that, I fell in love with you completely about a month in."

"It took you that long?"

"Well, Jon, you have to understand the situation. When I first met you I saw you as a celebrity. I was star struck. I could say that I fell in love with you the same day you mention, because I sort of did. But I had to keep telling myself otherwise until I could be sure that it wasn't just the whole 'he's a celebrity thing' I had going. I owed you that much."

Jon looked away for a few seconds then back at Jared with a big smile on his face. "You are just too damned good for me, you know that?" It was killing him not knowing what had gone through Jared's mind over the past 6 hours, but knowing that they were going to be together gave him the patience to wait.

Jared however, didn't have any patience. "Now I need to do something I've been wanting to do for quite a while."

"What?"

"You'll see, or rather you'll feel it in a few seconds."

Without giving Jon any time to ponder his last statement, Jared went down and undid Jon's pants and pulled them down to his ankles, along with his boxers. Jon's soft 3.5 inches lay before Jared, waiting for his actions. Jared took Jon's soft member in his right hand and stroked it a few times. The response was almost immediate. Jon's member started to jump to attention. Not wanting to wait, Jared engulfed the hardening penis into his mouth. He pulled back the foreskin and licked all around the underside of the head. Jon began to moan and wiggle but didn't move too much so as not to pull away from his beloved.

Jon's shaft had reached it's full 7.5 inches and the head was nestled nicely against the back of Jared's throat as he continued to stimulate his prize with his tongue. He got it very wet, tasting the precum as it oozed out of the slit. Jared swallowed as if it were his last meal.

"Oh god Jared, keep going. I'm getting close."

Jared stopped and sat up again. Jon looked up at him in disbelief. Jared answered the silent question by winking, then undoing his belt, followed by the buttons to his jeans. Standing long enough to take off his pants and his boxer briefs, Jared sat back down on Jon's midsection.

"Wanna go without the condom this time? Last time we started that you wanted to stop and put them on."

Jon didn't even think about it. "Ride me gorgeous."

That was all Jared needed to hear. He lifted up and took Jon's slick, hard shaft in his hand and guided it to his awaiting hole. He pushed down slowly at first, not knowing if there was enough lubricant. After the head had gone in, Jared felt it OK to proceed with a bit more haste and sat down completely. He moaned loudly at the mix of pleasure and pain while Jon nearly sat up right: Jon was trying his best to keep from cumming right away.

After a few seconds of adjustment time, Jared began a slow lift, then back down again...

"Jared?"

"Yeah baby?"

"I was wondering... well, I want to ask you - Ugh, damn." He couldn't do it. Jon couldn't bring himself to ask Jared what had gone through his mind over the last little while to help him make up his mind. He had just had one of, if not the, most intense orgasms of his life, and he didn't want to ruin the afterglow. Jared was rubbing his belly and the feeling of Jared's warm and rather large load being spread across his stomach was turning him on again. A quick glance at his watch told him that he had very little time left before the limo showed up again, and he didn't want to go through the rest of the day with that big a question looming at the foreground of his thoughts.

"Baby, you can talk to me. You can always talk to me, about anything."

Guess I'd be better of finding out the details of this morning than having a quickie. Plenty of time for that later. "I was just wondering how it was that you made up your mind. I wanted to know what lead you to making the decision to stay with me."

"Hmmm, OK. I guess I owe you that much." Jared continued to rub his cum into Jon's chest as he gathered his thoughts.

"Well when I got up this morning, I had no idea what I was thinking. I didn't sleep and I couldn't get my thoughts together at all. I didn't even know if I still wanted to move in here. But, I told myself that I might as well get everything into the van and come over here since I had it all packed into boxes anyway. So I had my shower and got dressed. After a few minutes of scrounging around the kitchen I realized I had nothing here so I decided it was just as easy to get something at Dunkin Donuts on the way.

"I started packing as much into the van as I could, which took quite a while since I had to take as much as I could out to the elevator, load it in, take it down stairs, unload it from the elevator and then carry one box at a time to the van. I must have looked like a zombie when I was doing it because my mind wasn't on it at all. The only thing I could think of was my family.

"My dad's face went through my mind a million times before I had the van loaded. I saw my mother yelling at me and telling me how my death was his fault. I kept seeing the looks of the people in town as I drove around in my parents car, and at the funeral when everyone talked to mom and no one talked to me."

"God Jared, I'm so sorry. I feel so bad."

"I know you do baby. And I appreciate it."

"But I feel like it's all my fault."

"And at the time, so did I. I kept thinking, Jon put us on TV, Jon told the world.

"Anyway by this time I was ready to drive over. I got into the cab and put the key in the ignition. I turned the key and nothing. I tried again and nothing. I tried again, and again, and again, but nothing. The I turned on the radio and it worked fine. The battery had to be working, but for some reason the damned thing wouldn't turn over.

"I got pissed. I was savage. I started pounding on the wheel and stomping my feet on the floor. I think I cracked the dashboard from hitting it so hard and so many times. Then, all of a sudden... I stopped. I stopped hitting and stomping and I just sat there. My heart slowed down and my breathing eased and... boom, I stayed motionless the whole time."

"What happened next?" Jon reached up and dried the tears that were running down his face.

"Next. Actually that's probably the weirdest part. While I was just sitting there, doing and thinking absolutely nothing, a commercial came on the radio. The announcer said 'Feeling stressed? Aggravated? Tired of being treated unfairly, but you're still at it? Why are you still doing it?' The commercial continued with some stupid jingle for a travel agency advertising a seat sale for flights to Hawaii, but the announcer had barely gotten 'Why are you still doing it' out of his mouth' when I just answered 'Jon.'

"I didn't even think about it, I just said it. All of a sudden it dawned on me. My mother, the people back home, my asshole boss, the people on the plane, my neighbors: none of them mattered. I did what I did because I was in love with you. I am in love with you. I will always be in love with you."

Jared was crying. He let the tears roll down his face unabated. He looked up at Jon and saw fresh tears falling down his face across the stains of the ones he had just shed. They smiled at each other through those tears. Jon reached over and took Jared into his arms. They rested their foreheads together and cried with each other in happiness and love.

"I love you too Jared. And I always will."

Several minutes later they heard a car horn beeping and knew that the limo had returned to pick up Jon and take him back to work.

"Heh, I think we should clean up a bit," said Jon, looking at the dried cum on his chest.

"Yeah, might be a good idea."

Five minutes later Jon walked out the door with Jared right behind him. They both got into the limo and it sped off down the road. The first stop: Jared's apartment so he could move the rest of his things. The mechanic had already been called from the department store's garage to look at the van.

As they sat in the back of the van holding hands, Jared and Jon knew that in a few short hours they would be living together; starting today, and never ending.

I am Scoop, hear me type. Well that was 11. It wasn't as bad writing it as I thought it would be. I still haven't decided what I'm going to do. Maybe you'll hear from me again, maybe not, but in the mean time...

Peace! and keep it real.

Oh and a quick word out to Eexodus99. A great author (Justin's Dark Angel (Read this story!!)) and a really nice guy.