Date: Tue, 22 Aug 2000 22:31:57 -0400 From: James C Harrison Subject: BoysLife Episode Three Well, this one took a little longer than I had expected, but I think it is a good episode. I really do appreciate all the comments and suggestions they mean a lot... Well I don't really have much to say about this one... read it and let me know what you all think :) Enjoy! -JCH BoysLife - Episode Three Trevor Keiser opened his eyes to the sound of thunder. He glanced over at his desk clock. It read 6:14 AM. He had to get up in about an hour or so to start getting ready for work, and he would need this extra hour of sleep. Trevor rolled onto his side, and found himself looking at his boyfriend, Jason Harmon. Jason slept peacefully, but if he would have known there was a storm raging outside, he would be at a window watching it. Jason loved storms. Trevor reached over a put an arm around Jason, snuggled up close to him, and tried to get back to sleep. But after laying there for about ten minutes, he could not get to sleep. He decided to go downstairs and get himself a glass of milk. He slipped out of bed quietly, as not to wake Jason. He grabbed his shirt and boxers from where they had been thrown to the floor the night before, and put them on. As he walked down the hall past his roommate Perry Adamson's room, he could not help but notice the door hanging slightly open. He peeked in and saw Perry and Wade, a guy whom Perry had brought home the night before, laying in Perry's bed, arms around each other, and also naked, as Jason and Trevor had been. Trevor gently shut Perry's door, and crept quietly downstairs. He went into the kitchen and poured himself a glass of milk. Then he went into the living room and sat on the recliner, where he could see the storm out of the French doors leading outside. As he sipped his milk, he heard footsteps coming towards him, and a moment later Josh Maxwell came into the room. Josh was Jason's cousin and their other roommate. "You couldn't sleep either?" Trevor asked Josh as he laid on the sofa. "No, I didn't really get any sleep last night at all," Josh said. "I kept tossing and turning, for hours it felt like." "I'm sorry to hear that," Trevor said. "I slept all right, but I woke up to all this thunder." "Yeah I'm surprised Jason isn't awake yet," Josh said. "Oh don't worry, he will be," Trevor said. "He won't want to miss something as exciting as a storm." He smiled. "He's always been a little stupid." "Yeah," Josh said with a small laugh. "I guess so." Trevor stood. "Well I'm going to go back upstairs and rest a little bit before I need to get ready to go to work." "I think I'll just curl up here and watch some television," Josh said. Trevor went back upstairs and into his bedroom. Jason was still asleep, sprawled out all over the bed. Trevor sat down next to him, putting his hand on Jason's chest. Jason began to stir, and then opened his eyes. "I was just dreaming about you," Jason said in a small voice, moving to allow Trevor to lay down beside him. "Really?" Trevor asked. "I'm surprised you slept through this storm this long." Jason paused, and there was a boom of thunder. "Hang on a sec," He said to his boyfriend, jumping out of the bed, and running to the window, still butt naked. Trevor laughed and went to join him at the window. "You're too funny for words Jason Harmon," Trevor said, wrapping his arms around Jason's waist. "But I do love you." "I love you too," Jason said, as a flash of lightning illuminated the sky. ***** Perry Adamson had never felt like this before. As he woke up, feeling the warmth of Wade Zimmerman's body next to his, his heart swelled with joy and happiness. And remembering what they had done the night before, and how good it had been, Perry couldn't help but smile. He got up out of his bed and put on his silk robe. As he did, he noticed a picture of Josh he had sitting on his dresser. He knew Josh really cared about him, and he felt bad about not telling Josh about Wade when the two of them had first met. Perry had met Wade about six months prior to moving in with Josh, Jason and Trevor. The two of them had hit it off rather well, but at the time, Wade was already dating someone else. So they became close friends, but then Wade started to drift away. During that time, Perry had gotten kicked out of his house, and lost his job. It wasn't until recently that the two of them began speaking again, and then the other night when they had went out to the mall together, Wade asked Perry to be his boyfriend. And Perry had said yes. And now he was happy, for a change. He had a boyfriend, one that he felt very close to. He knew he could have had Josh, but something inside of him had held him back. And if he had agreed to get closer to Josh, he would have never been able to date Wade. This was what he wanted. Perry went downstairs to get some food for his and Wade's breakfast. He was going to make a tray and take it upstairs for a romantic breakfast in bed. When he got into the kitchen, he was met by all three of his roommates. "Good morning guys!" Perry said to them, as they sat at the table, eating. "Aren't you a little late for work today Josh?" "Perry it's Saturday," Josh said. "I have off today." "Oh, okay," Perry said, opening one of the cabinets and pulling out a small tray. Then he opened up the refrigerator and pulled out some fruit. "What are you doing?" Jason asked, coming up behind Perry to put some dishes in the sink. "I'm getting some food for Wade and I," Perry said. "Oh," Jason said, holding out the word and nodding his head slowly. "I see." He went back over to the table. Perry got his food, picked up the tray and left the room. "Breakfast in bed," Trevor said. "How come you never do that for me Jay?" "You're too messy of an eater," Jason said. Trevor slapped him playfully on the arm. "Sorry!" Jason said with a laugh. "It's the truth!" "You guys are just like an old married couple," Josh said, shaking his head in despair. "Yeah and we're not even married," Trevor said, getting up out of his chair and pouring himself another cup of coffee. "What shift do you work tonight, Jay?" He asked, taking a sip. "I close," Jason said. "Four to Twelve." "Ouch," Josh said. "I would hate that kind of a shift." Jason shrugged. "It's all right I guess. I can handle it." "I have to go into the studio for a little bit today," Trevor said, walking over to stand behind Jason. "And I can't guarantee I'll be awake when you come home." "That's okay," Jason said, leaning back into his boyfriend. "Well, I'm not sure what I'm going to do today," Josh said. "I might go out and visit Grandma." "Yeah, she'd like that," Jason said. Josh nodded. "I don't think I want to be here with Perry and Wade though. I don't think I like that guy." "Because he's dating Perry?" Trevor asked. "No," Josh said. "That has nothing to do with it. There's something else about him that I don't like." "Well, we need to at least give him a chance," Jason said. "For Perry's sake." "Yeah," Josh said. "I guess you're right." ***** Perry and Wade did not even get through their breakfast before they were in each other's arms again, making out and having sex. After they were finished, they both laid down and fell asleep. Perry woke when he heard soft knocking at his door. He got out of bed and opened it a crack, it was Jason. "Hang on a sec, Jay," He said. He grabbed a pair of shorts and threw them on, then went out into the hall, where Jason was waiting for him. "Sorry," Jason said. "I didn't mean to disturb you." "No, it's all right," Perry said. "What's up?" "I just wanted to tell you that I'm getting ready to head off to work, and that you and Wade will have the house to yourselves," Jason said. "Where's Josh and Trevor?" Perry asked, crossing his arms over his bare chest. "Trevor had to go into work for a little bit, and Josh went to visit our grandmother," Jason said. "I'm not sure when either of them are getting back." Perry nodded. "Okay," He said. "Thanks Jay." "I'll get off at midnight, so I'm not sure if I'll see you tonight or not," Jason said. "You two make sure you don't burn the house down or anything," He said with a smile, going downstairs. Perry heard him grab his jacket and go out the door. Perry went back into his room and sat down next to Wade on the bed. Wade stirred, but did not open his eyes. Perry sat there, listening to the rain softly beating on the roof now, as the storm was coming to an end. He decided to let Wade sleep some more and to get a shower. He gathered his clothes and went into the bathroom. As he was rinsing the soap off his body, he saw a figure come into the bathroom through the frosted glass shower doors. He saw the person come to the shower and open the doors. "Hey sexy," Wade said, stepping into the shower, and wrapping his arms around Perry's wet body. "Hi there," Perry said. "I didn't think you'd wake up." "I'm surprised you didn't ask me to join you," Wade said. "Something about a hot shower with you really turns me on." He pressed his lips to Perry's and they kissed fiercely, their hands running all over each other's bodies. Wade kissed down the side of Perry's neck and Perry sighed in pleasure. The ecstasy of the kissing, the water and Wade's naked body were almost too much for Perry to handle. He felt his knees going weak. As Wade moved his mouth down Perry's chest, the phone rang. Perry moved to get out of the shower. "No," Wade said, kissing Perry's neck again. "Let it ring." The phone rang a few more times, and then Perry broke away from Wade and hopped out of the shower. "It could be important," he said to Wade, picking up the portable phone (he had brought it into the bathroom before his shower). "Hello?" Perry said. "Hi," A soft, muffled voice said. "Is Trevor there?" "No," Perry said. "He's not here." "Oh," The person on the other end said. "Do you know when he's going to be back?" "He went to work for a little bit," Perry said. "I'm not sure when he's coming back. Do you want me to take a message for him?" "No," The person said. Then there was a click as they hung up. "That was weird," Perry said, pushing the power button on the phone. "What did you say?" Wade asked from in the shower. "Nothing," Perry said, a little bit louder so that Wade could hear him over the running water. "You go on and get your shower without me okay?" "All right," Wade said. Perry got dressed and then went back into his bedroom. He wondered who had called for Trevor. Perry couldn't even tell if the person had been a male or a female, the voice was so soft and muffled, the connection was very bad, and there was a lot of background noise, like the person was calling from a pay phone. He decided it was not worth worrying over. He went downstairs to wait for Wade to get out of his shower. ***** Later on that evening, when neither Josh or Trevor had returned, Wade suggested that he and Perry go out. "Where did you want to go?" Perry asked. "Who knows?" Wade asked. "But it's boring sitting around here. Let's just go, and we'll think of someplace to go." "Okay," Perry said. He ran upstairs and grabbed his wallet and keys. Then he ran a brush through his hair, put his shoes on, and went back downstairs to Wade. "I'll drive," Wade said. Perry followed Wade out the door, making sure to lock it. Then he got into Wade's car and they were soon driving towards the town. "You wanna stop in at The Pub?" Wade asked. The Pub was a local bar/club/hangout. "That sounds better than sitting at the house," Perry said. He wasn't too fond of The Pub, but he'd go there to be with Wade. They got to the pub, parked Wade's car, and went inside. The music was blaring and the place was packed. Wade saw some people that he knew at the pool tables, so Perry followed him over there. "Hey guys!" Wade said to a group of three guys. He introduced them to Perry as Pete, Aaron and "Spike". Perry gave them a small hello. Within minutes Wade had began a game of pool with Spike, and soon after that he began drinking. Perry stood by Wade's side for a while, not really sure what to do. He finally decided to go get a drink, since Wade's friends had not offered to get him anything. As he was making his way up to the bar, he heard his name being called, and before he could find who it was, a hand grabbed his shoulder. "Hey there Perry!" Sabrina Harmon said, turning him around to face her. She gave him a hug. " I didn't think I'd see you here." Perry smiled sheepishly. "I could say the same about you." Sabrina laughed. "Yeah, I'm not much of a bar chick. But a couple of my friends and I needed to get out, and we decided to come here, be a little different for a change. I'm getting ready to leave actually, we're going over to see Jason at work." "That sounds fun," Perry said. "Are you here by yourself?" Sabrina asked, just as the music started playing again in the next room. She grabbed Perry's arm and the two of them went outside. She repeated her question. "Nah, I'm here with..." Perry paused. "I'm here with my boyfriend Wade." "Wow!" Sabrina said, with a smile. "Is this something recent?" Perry nodded. "Yeah we've only been dating since last night actually." "That's great!" Sabrina said. "I'm so happy for you!" "Thanks," Perry said. "I should introduce you to him, but he's engrossed in a game of pool right now." Sabrina laughed. "That's all right, I'm sure I'll meet him sometime." Just then some girls came out of the building and came up to Sabrina. "There you are," One of them said. "We thought we had lost you!" "No, I'll be over to the car in a second," Sabrina said, and the girls walked away. "Your friends?" Perry asked, raising an eyebrow. "Yeah, that's us!" Sabrina said. "Well, it was great seeing you Perry, I'd better get going." She gave him another hug. "I'll see you later." "'Bye!" Perry called after her as she ran across the parking lot. Then he turned and went back into the building. He went to the bar and got a beer, and then went back to the pool tables and Wade. "There you are babe!" Wade said, pulling Perry in for a sloppy kiss. "I missed you." "Thanks," Perry said, wiping his mouth with his sleeve as soon as Wade turned away from him. Something about this situation made him uncomfortable. But he didn't want Wade getting angry with him, so he decided to stay a little bit longer. Wade and his friends played about five more games of pool, drinking and carrying on the entire time. Perry saw some girl he used to go to school with and started talking to her, as Wade was about on his third game. When Wade had finished playing, he came over to Perry and pulled him into the music room. "Come on, let's dance," Wade said, pulling Perry right into the middle of the dance floor, into the middle of the crowd. Perry felt uncomfortable, and asked Wade if they could leave. "Leave?" Wade asked loudly. "Come on baby, we're only getting started!" "Wade please," Perry said firmly. Finally Wade agreed and the two of them went out to his car. "I wish we could have stayed, it isn't even nine yet," Wade said. "I wanted to be alone with you," Perry said, It wasn't exactly a lie, he did want to be alone with Wade, out of the bar, but he did not want to be alone with Perry when he was drunk. "Will you let me drive?" Perry asked. "I want to drive you car." Wade shrugged and tossed Perry his keys. The two of them got in the car and drove out of the parking lot. Perry had a feeling it was going to be a long night. ***** "Let me go see if Jason's got any tables open," Sabrina said, leaving the girls and going up to the hostess. "How many?" The hostess asked. "Um, four," Sabrina said. "Is it possible for you to seat us inn Jason's section?" The girl looked at her chart. "Yeah, he's got a table open," She said. "Let me go check and see if they cleared it yet." "Thanks," Sabrina said, as the girl walked away. She came back a moment later and let them to the table. As they were walking back, they passed Jason, carrying an empty tray, heading towards the kitchen. He stopped and gave his sister a hug. "Hey girlfriend!" He said happily. "It's good to see your pretty face in here tonight. You sitting in my section?" "Always!" Sabrina said. "I'll be there in a sec," Jason said, walking off. Sabrina went and sat with her friends, and Jason came almost right behind her. "Hey girls," He said. The girls greeted him. "You all want something to drink?" He grabbed his pad out of his apron. He wrote down what they wanted, and then and got the drinks. "I saw Perry at The Pub tonight," Sabrina said, as he gave them their sodas. "You all went to The Pub?" Jason asked in surprise. "Well, yeah," Sabrina said. "We wanted to do something different and so we went there for a little while. And as we were getting ready to leave, I saw Perry." "He must have been there with Wade," Jason said. Sabrina nodded. "Yeah that's what he said." "That's cool," Jason said. "So what kind of pizza are you ladies having tonight?" They chatted for a moment and they finally decided on a cheeseburger pizza. "All right," Jason said. "I'll go put that order in right now." "And some of those really good cheese breadsticks," Sabrina put in as he started to walk away. "Sure thing," Jason said, heading over to another table. ***** Josh noticed that Wade's car was still in the driveway when he got home. He also noticed that Trevor was still not home, which meant it would just be him, Perry and Wade. He went in the house, and was surprised to find Perry sitting on the couch alone, flipping through the channels on the television. "Hey man," Josh said, hanging up his coat and going into the room. "Where's Wade?" "He wasn't feeling well," Perry said. "So he went to bed early." Josh sat down on the recliner. "Uh, Perry, doesn't Wade have his own place?" "Yeah," Perry said. "He said he wasn't feeling well, so I let him sleep in my bed. He'll probably leave tomorrow morning." Josh nodded. "I'm not trying to kick him out or anything, but if he's moving in here, he had better start paying rent." He laughed lightly. "I guess that would make our bills smaller." "I suppose," Perry said. "But you don't have to worry about it Josh, Wade is not moving in here." Josh stood. "I think I'm going to go grab a soda." He went into the kitchen. He was a little surprised when Perry followed him. "So how's your grandmother?" Perry asked, as Josh took a can of soda out of the refrigerator and opened it. "She's all right," Josh said. "I love going to visit her, but she gets this sad look on her face whenever I have to leave." Perry laughed. "Aww, that's sweet!" "Yeah," Josh said with a smile. "But she's a great woman, and she insisted on cooking me this huge dinner, which was kind of nice." "It does sound nice," Perry said. "I'm glad you had a nice visit." "What did you and Wade do all day?" Josh asked, leaning back against the counter. "Nothing much," Perry said. "We went out tonight for a while, but then Wade started..." He paused. "He started not feeling good, and we decided to come back here and he got worse, so I sent him to bed." Josh nodded. "Well, I can understand that then." He looked at his watch. "Has Trevor been in yet?" "Nope," Perry said, shaking his head. "I guess he's still at work." "Probably," Josh said. "Well, I think I am going upstairs to see if I can find anything interesting on the Internet." "I'm sure you can find something," Perry said. "There's always something interesting." "Yeah, that's for sure," Josh said, walking out of the kitchen and going up the stairs. ***** Jason was surprised to see his bedroom light on when he pulled into the driveway. The thought of Trevor waiting up for him made him smile. He hurried inside and upstairs to the bedroom. When he opened the door, he saw Trevor laying on the bed, asleep, a book on his chest, his clothes all still on. Jason quietly took of his shoes, sat next to Trevor on the bed and kissed him lightly on the cheek. Trevor jumped, his eyes open. "Oh Jay, you scared me." He sat up and rubbed his eyes. "I guess I must have dozed off." "Yeah, it looks like that," Jason said. "Were you waiting up for me?" Trevor nodded. "Yeah I needed to talk to you." "Oh?" Jason asked. "What about?" "Well, something really serious came up," Trevor said. "I have to go to Chicago for a week." "What?" Jason asked in surprise. "What do you mean?" "I talked to my Grandmother today," Trevor said. "She's going out to visit my Aunt Martha, and she doesn't want to go all by herself." "So what does that have to do with you?" Jason asked. "Let me finish," Trevor said. "She offered to pay my way, if I would go with her to visit." He paused. "I haven't seen my Aunt Martha and her kids for a while now, it would be great for me to go." Jason laid down on the bed. "So you're going then?" He asked, as Trevor laid down next to him. "It's only going to be for a week," Trevor said. "I'm sure we can handle that much time apart." "Yeah, but I'm going to miss you like crazy," Jason said, rolling over to face him. Trevor stroked the side of Jason's face with his hand. "I'm going to miss you too baby, but my Grandma is set on taking me out to Chicago with her to visit Aunt Martha." "I know," Jason said. "I want you to go, but I don't want us to have to be apart." Trevor gave Jason a soft kiss. "I can't imagine life without you." He paused. "But at least you'll have Josh and Perry here." "Yeah," Jason said. "And I'm sure Sabrina will stop in and keep me company if I want her to." "See, there you go!" Trevor said with a big smile. "And I will have my cell phone with me so you can call up and leave me sexy messages." Jason smiled. "Yeah, I'll do that." And then they kissed again. ***** The next morning when Jason went downstairs, Perry was coming inside. "Where were you at?" Jason asked as the two of them went into the kitchen. "I was just telling Wade good-bye," Perry said. "Oh," Jason said. "I heard you guys were at The Pub last night." Perry rolled his eyes. "Sabrina told you, didn't she?" "Yeah," Jason said. "I can't believe either of you went there, it's such a low life place." "I went because Wade wanted to go there," Perry said. "And it wasn't that bad." Jason gave him this weird look. "Oh okay, fine. It was pretty bad." He let out a small laugh. "But the only thing that matters is that we spent time together." "That's the truth," Jason said. The two of them poured glasses of juice and sat at the table. "I have a job interview today," Perry said. "At a grocery store, can you imagine that?" Jason smiled. "Well, yeah, I think you'd be a great cashier. You have a really nice personality." "Thanks Jay!" Perry said, standing up. "I think I'd better get going, I have an hour to get ready before this interview thing." "Good luck!" Jason said, as Perry left the room. "Thanks!" Perry called back. Jason sat at the table alone, sipping his juice and looking out the window. After a minute or so, Trevor came into the room. "Good morning Jay-Bird!" Trevor said. "How is my boy toy this morning?" "I'm fine," Jason said. "I think I would have slept a lot better if you'd have waited to tell me about Chicago." "Yeah, I'm sorry," Trevor said. "But I couldn't wait to tell you this morning, I wanted to talk to you about it last night." "I understand," Jason said. "Do you know when she wants to leave?" "I think the plane tickets are for Tuesday afternoon," Trevor said. "Oh shoot," Jason said. "I have to work Tuesday afternoon. I wanted to take you to the airport and all." "Actually I think my Grandma is just going to leave her car at the airport," Trevor said. "Since we're only going for a week." "I'd still like to come," Jason said. "Yes, but you know how hard it is to rearrange your schedule," Trevor said. "I'll be fine. Don't worry about it. Some things we have to do on our own." He kissed Jason on the forehead, and sat down next to him, a piece of toast on a napkin in his one hand. "I still think I am going to go crazy this week," Jason said. "It would have been better if she would have let you know sooner." "Yeah, I know!" Trevor said. "I think one of my cousins was supposed to go with her or something, but I guess they canceled on her, or else she wouldn't be begging me to go." "Well you are the perfect grandson then," Jason said, smiling as he got up from the table. He put his empty glass in the sink and sighed loudly. "Well, today is going to be laundry day for me. It's my week to do it." "Have fun!" Trevor said, as Jason walked out of the room. ***** That evening, it was just the four of them, eating dinner together at the house. Trevor had popped two frozen pizzas in the oven, and they sat on the floor in the living room, playing Monopoly, and eating pizza together. "You know I think this is the first time it has just been the four of us," Jason said. "I mean, we've all been so busy I don't think we've actually gotten the chance to do this before." "Yeah, I think you're right," Perry said. "It's kind of nice." "It is," Trevor agreed. "I've kind of missed you guys, we've all been so busy." "Well aren't you kissing up tonight Trevor!" Josh joked. "It must be because you're going away." "Don't remind me!" Jason said. The phone rang, Trevor answered it, and disappeared out of the room. "Maybe it's his Grandmother," Jason said. The three of them decided to wait on Trevor to continue with the game. "I think I got that job today," Perry said. "Really?" Jason asked, moving up to the sofa. "Yeah," Perry said, nodding. "The lady there really seemed to like me, and she seemed to be eager to hire me. She said she'd let me know as soon as possible." "That's great Perry," Josh said. Then an awkward silence filled the room. After a moment, Perry got up and went into the kitchen for another can of soda. "So much for a normal conversation," Josh said, laying down on the floor. "Why do things between Perry and I feel so tense right now?" "Josh it's going to take some time," Jason said. "I don't think Perry thinks of you any less than he did before. But he doesn't want to hurt your feelings, so he's being careful." "But it seems like he's being distant," Josh said. "Like I said," Jason said. "Give it some time." Trevor came back into the room then. "Guys I hate to do this," Trevor said. "But I need to go meet my Grandmother to get some things settled about this trip." Jason stood up. "Do you want me to come with you?" "Nah," Trevor said, shaking his head and giving Jason a hug. "She's not really in that great of a mood, and it's going to be majorly boring." "What time do you think you'll be back?" Jason asked, following Trevor out the door. "I'm not sure Jay," Trevor said, walking to his car. "She's having some trouble with the airlines and stuff, she needs me to help her out." "Oh okay," Jason said, wrapping his arms around his body. Trevor kissed Jason on the cheek. "I'll see you when I get back." "Be careful," Jason said, shutting Trevor's car door, and turning to go back inside. "Is everything okay?" Josh asked, as Jason went back inside and into the living room. "Yeah," Jason said with a sigh, sitting back down on the sofa. "Problems with the airlines, he said." "Well, it's awfully nice of him to go help his grandmother like that," Josh said. Jason nodded. "Yeah, he's a sweet guy, always wanting to help." He paused. "I'm not really in a game mood anymore, would you guys mind if we quit now?" Josh and Perry both said no, and the three of them cleaned up the game. Then Jason went into the kitchen and fixed himself a bowl of ice cream. "So much for a nice evening all together," He muttered to himself, sitting alone at the table. ***** Jason was unsure when Trevor came in that night, but when he woke up in the morning, Trevor was hurriedly getting ready for work. "This trip really throws a kink into my schedule," Trevor said, as Jason sat up in the bed and said good morning. "The studio is going to go nuts without me." "I'm sure they can survive one week without you," Jason said, getting out of bed. "Well, they're going to have to now," Trevor said. "I think they understand." "I hope so," Jason said. He went down to the kitchen with Trevor to get something to eat. They were alone in the kitchen as they ate bagels and fruit. "Well, I need to run," Trevor said, giving Jason a hug and a quick kiss. "I'll see you when you get home." "All right," Jason said, watching Trevor rush out of the house. He heard the door open and close once, and then again. He thought perhaps Trevor had forgotten something, so he went into the hall to check on him. When he got to the doorway, he almost collided with his sister. "Hey there!" Sabrina said, grabbing hold of him to stop them from bumping into each other. "I just passed Trevor on his way out." "Yeah," Jason said, going back to the table with her. "Did he tell you he's going away to Chicago for a week?" "No!" Sabrina said in surprise. "When did this come up?" "Just the other night, in fact," Jason said. "He has to go with his grandmother to visit his aunt. Obviously one of his cousins backed out on his grandmother and she has the ticket and she's set on him going with her now." "Oh wow!" Sabrina said. "Are you going with him?" "No," Jason said. "I couldn't afford that. And he didn't even ask me to go." Sabrina didn't say anything right away. "Well, maybe it is a family issue or something," She said. "We know all about those." "That's for sure," Jason said. "So what brings you by today?" "Nothing in particular," Sabrina said. "I am going to meet Mother for lunch and I was wondering if you'd like to come with us." "That would be nice," Jason said. "I don't have to work until four today, so I think I can do that." "Great!" Sabrina said. "I think Mother will be thrilled. I was going to ask Josh if he wanted to go too." "What about Josh?" Josh asked, coming into the room. Jason and Sabrina laughed. "Hey there girl," Josh said, leaning down to give Sabrina a hug as she sat in the chair. "What's going on?" "Not much," Sabrina said. "I was just saying to Jay that I wanted to ask you if you would like to go to lunch with the two of us and Mother." "Well," Josh said slowly. "Yeah I think so. I work evening tonight, and it would be great to see my aunt again." "That's wonderful!" Sabrina said. "Oh I know Mother is going to be so surprised to see you two." "Hopefully it'll be a good surprise," Josh said, sitting down with them. "I think it will be," Sabrina said. "Well I'm going to run and get in the shower," Jason said, standing. "Are you staying here until we meet Mother?" He asked his sister. She shrugged. "I might as well." "All right," Jason said. "I'll be down in a little bit then." "Sounds good to me," Sabrina said. ***** Josh followed Jason and Sabrina into the restaurant. His Aunt Bonnie was already there, Jason had spotted her car in the parking lot as they were walking in. For some strange reason he felt a little bit nervous. "Oh my gosh!" Bonnie Hammond said as they walked into the restaurant. She jumped out of her seat and threw her arms around her son, and then her nephew. "It's so good to see you Josh," She said. "It's good to see you too Aunt Bonnie," Josh said, hugging her back. She let go of him and wiped her eyes. "I'm glad you guys came." She looked at Sabrina. "Did you set this up young lady?" "Yeah, it was my fault," Sabrina said, hugging her mother. "You can blame this one on me." "Oh let me go tell them I need a table for four now," Mrs. Hammond said, rushing over to the hostess. She came back and told them they had just a few minutes to wait. They had a wonderful meal, laughing and talking the entire time. "I hope you boys know that I do love you," Mrs. Hammond said, as they had finished their meal and were waiting for dessert. "I may not agree with your choice to be gay, but I still love you." "I know that Mother," Jason said. "And I love you too." Mrs. Hammond smiled. "So Josh, how do you like your living arrangement?" "Oh I like it," Josh said. "I wasn't sure if I'd be able to put up with Jay at first..." "Hey!" Jason said, cutting him off. Josh, Sabrina and Mrs. Hammond laughed. "Nah, Jason's great," Josh said. "It's cool living with him and the guys." Their desserts came, and they ate them. After that, Jason and Josh had to go back to the house, since the two of them had driven together and Josh had to get ready to go to work. "It's been great spending time with you guys like this," Mrs. Hammond said, as they walked out to their cars. "I hope we can get together again soon." "That would be great!" Josh said. "Hey maybe I'll get brave and have everyone over for dinner at my place," Sabrina said. "Now you're talking sis!" Jason said. "We'll see you all later!" He got into his car, and Josh got into the passenger seat. "That was fun," Josh said. "I'm glad I came." "Yeah," Jason said. "It feels nice to be accepted by my mother again." ***** "Hey guys!" Perry said to Jason and Josh as they came in the door. "I got the job!" "That's awesome Perry!" Jason said. "Yeah, I start on Friday," Perry said. "I'm really excited." "That is some good news," Josh said. "Good for you." "Thanks," Perry said. "Oh yeah, Josh some girl named Amy called for you, she left a number, I put it on your bed." "A girl?" Jason asked, raising his eyebrows. "Yeah," Josh said. "She's this new girl that started working for us the other day, and I've been training her, she's really nice." "Oh okay," Jason said. He walked down the hall, into the kitchen. Josh went upstairs to his room, and picked up the piece of paper with Amy's number on it off his bed. He picked up the phone and dialed it. "Hello?" Amy answered. "Hi, Amy this is Josh," Josh said. "Oh hey Josh, what's up?" Amy asked. "Nothing much," Josh said. "I just got back from going out to lunch with my two cousins and my aunt." "That sounds nice," Amy said. "Yeah it was," Josh said. "So what's up? Did you need to talk to me about something?" "Not really," Amy said. "I just wanted to call and talk, see how you were doing. I don't think I work with you again until Wednesday night." "Really?" Josh asked. "Well, I'm sure we'll have a good time Wednesday night." "Yeah," Amy said. "It's been kind of busy I thought. I mean, there's only two weeks or so before schools start back up, or at least the colleges anyway." "Boy am I glad I'm through with that!" Josh said. "You go to the community college right?" "That's the one," Amy said. "I don't take too many classes, they're so expensive!" "I know," Josh said. "So you'll still be able to work for us while you're in school?" "Mostly evenings," Amy said. "But yeah, I'll still be able to work!" "That sounds great," Josh said. "Well listen Amy, I need to go get ready to go in today. I'll talk to you Wednesday, okay?" "All right," Amy said. "Thanks for calling me back Josh." "No problem," Josh said. "See ya later." "'Bye," Amy said. ***** That night, Josh came home from work to find only Perry and Wade at the house. "Hey guys," He said to them as he hung up his jacket. They were coming down the hall, looking like they were getting ready to go out. "Hey Josh," Perry said. "Wade and I are going over to Sports World to do some ice skating." "Ice skating?" Josh asked. "I didn't know you guys did that." "We don't," Wade said. "I just thought it might be something neat to try." "Oh," Josh said. "Well, you two have a good time then," He went up the stairs. Perry and Wade went out to Wade's car, and got in. Wade reached in the backseat and pulled a can of beer out of a box. "Would you like one Perry?" Perry shook his head no, and Wade popped the lid on his can, and took a big gulp. "You might need something to keep you warm on that cold ice." "I think I'll be all right," Perry said, as Wade started the car and pulled out of the driveway. By the time they had reached Sports World, Wade had drank 3 cans of beer and was working on a fourth. "Come on babe," Wade said, as he parked the car. "Let's go have some Fun!" "Yeah," Perry muttered. "Fun."