It got ugly. I mean I cried. Actually only I cried. The three of them were having fun at my expense. Jason joked that even an Indian bride wouldn't cry this much. I knew I was only moving two streets away and will see them everyday in school and we would still hang out together all the time and I was overreacting just a tad too much, but it hurt.

Brad had borrowed a truck for one of his friends and transferred all my boxes to the new place. I was not much help. I was only getting in the way. His words. So I excused myself and carried on with the farewell rituals. Now Brad had come back for the last few boxes and ofcourse me. With a heavy heart, I hugged them again one final time and followed my boyfriend to our new home.

I kept quiet the entire way and Brad tried to raise my spirits by reiterating the facts that we were going to meet them for dinner in like fours hours and they are going to be spending a lot of time with us, helping us set up the new place, and how much fun it is going to be living together and how happy he is that I decided to move in with him.

I looked at him. He really is an angel. I told him that even though I am looking forward to living with him, it might take a couple of days for me to warm up. He was being very understanding. I put my hand on his thigh and said a "Thank You." He just smiled at me.

We were home. The drive took exactly three minutes. I felt a little silly about how much fuss I made, but hey, I am gay, I am young. Valid excuses I guess.

As we entered the house, I saw that my 4 boxes and 3 bags were neatly laid down near the door. Beyond that, the living room was filled with boxes of all sizes. Then there were a few trash bags, which were bursting at their seams, so to say, containing more stuff. And the disaster was that they didn't have any labels. How the hell did he manage to keep this much stuff in his dorm room!

"Brad, how do we put these away? How do we know which goes where?"

"Who says we need to put these away. We have the one thing we need."

"And what might that be?" I was expecting him to say something philosophical or romantic.

Instead he blindfolded me with his hands and took me toward the bedroom. Like in one of those "Design in a Dime" shows.

"Wow." It was beautiful. It was a bedroom from the IKEA catalog - a double bed, side tables, lamps and dresser with a mirror. The whole nine yeards.

"Brad, it's beautiful. But how in the world am I going to afford..."

"Now stop. It's from me. Shall we kick-start our live-in relation?" He winked.

"Right now. You must be kidding me."

"C'mon. I'll make it your treat." He turned on his charm and ofcourse he won. It was great.

"Welcome home, partner", he said, as we lay on our bed in the afternoon glow.

* * *

The stupid phone rang and it was Lei and Jason. I guess I didn't need two days to warm up. I had already forgotten them, sort of.

"Hey, what's up?" I asked feeling suddenly embarrassed and pulling the blanket over myself and hoping my breath had returned to normal and they don't suspect anything.

"Lifting boxes are you?" Lei yelled into the microphone.

"Umm. Umm. Yea." I stammered.

"It's fuckin hard!" Brad yelled into the phone, making me almost choke.

"So we decided to bring dinner over to your place so that we can save your hard workers a drive. How does that sound?"

"Hang on." I looked at Brad for his opinion and he preferred food coming to him than he driving to it.

"We'd like that. That'll be great."

"Look at you, like a married couple. Oh, this is so sweet."

"So, I'll see you at 8?" I tried to change the subject.

"8, it is. I am sure you've built up an appetite."

"What do you mean?" I blurted without thinking.

"Lifting all those heavy boxes, cleaning up..."

"Oh yea, yes. I know." I guess I blushed.

* * *

"They think we've been unpacking. Get cracking. We can clean up the living room by the time they get here." I ordered Brad as I put my clothes back on. I almost stormed off to the living room without waiting for him.

I stood there surrounded by boxes trying to figure where and how to start. "Move all boxes away to one corner, set up the couch and table and find the plates and spoons...and the microwave. Oh God there is so much to do." I blabbered to myself and started moving the boxes to a selected corner of the room.

"Hey, relax. Does it matter how it looks. It's only Lei and Jason."

"And Dae"

"What's your point?"

"Oh, forget it, just help me move these boxes."

The poor guy helped me out without further questions. Just as I plugged in the microwave, there was a knock at the door and Brad opened it.

"Welcome to Brandies. May I take your coat?"

"Brandies? Oh, that's so cute." Lei was amused.

"Brandies?" I asked again.

"Yea, we're neither Taylors nor Romans, so I came up with Brandies."

"It's prefect." Jason shook hands and gave Brad a straight-brothers-hug.

"Where's Dae?"

"Oh he had to finish his homework for tomorrow."

"Oh" I gave Lei a hug and directed them to the couch.

"Is that a hickey?"

Oh God!

"Well, you boys didn't waste any time, did you?" she tortured me more.

"We'd still be at it, if you hadn't called." Brad added.

"Why don't we all sit down and eat. And talk about something else."

"Good idea." Brad was the first to go settle down. Lei and Jason followed him, dumping the two bowls in my hands.

"I could use some help here." No response. Not even a reaction.

I reheated the food, fetched plates and cutlery and placed them on the table.

"Sweetie. Could you get me a beer?"

"Hey! You can't order me around. Why don't you go get it yourself?"

"Because I take care of you and you do the chores." He was trying to be funny.

"Yea right! I should thank my stars for a husband like you."

"You bet. Think about it. If it were not for me, you'd still be single."

"Think about this...if it were not for me, you'd still be straight." I said trying to come up with something equally mean.

"And I thank my stars for that. Everyday." He pulled me down onto the couch and into a hug.

As it became clear that it was all just a joke, Lei and Jason loosened up and started laughing at our weird humor.

* * *

"Brady, where do these things go?" I yelled to him from the living room.

"What things?" he yelled back from the bathroom.

"These heavy metal things."

"They are dumbbells you doofus." He came wiping his face with a towel. "Put them right here" he said, pointing to the couch.

"Don't you think the sun-room might be a better place?" I suggested.

"If you knew, why did you ask? Put them here. I use them while I watch TV."

* * *

I remember another funny incident. The following weekend morning I was deep asleep, trying to catch up on all the lost hours from the week. I felt Brad shaking me, urging me to wake up. It's 8 am on a Sunday morning. I mumble something in reply and continue to sleep. Then he shook me so violently that my head bounced off the pillow. I sat upright and blinked at him. He was excited like a kid going to Disneyland.

"What?"

"Let's workout."

"Honey, we just worked out last night. I am too tired. Go use your right hand." I let my head drop back on the pillow and tried to slide back into the joy of sleep.

"No that you dummy. Come on, get up" he yanked my arm.

I whined but he won and dragged me to the bathroom. He almost brushed my teeth for me driving any sleep that was left and helped me change from pajamas to shorts. He then dragged me to living room and handed me the dumbbells.

"This is heavy!" I declared.

"That's the whole point. Build some biceps. I am tired of sleeping with a skeleton."

"Fuck off" I think I learnt a few nasty things from Brad. Oops. But he forced me to workout and after a few days I started feeling good about myself and didn't need too much coaxing. Pretty soon, I started to see the changes. I was always lean, but could feel my muscles becoming more toned and hard. I am particularly proud of how flat my stomach looks now.

* * *

In the weeks that followed, we started learning more about each other's habits, likes, dislikes, wants and needs. Everyday I learnt something new. Some I liked and most I didn't. The bottom line was I loved the guy. I also realized that there was no need to mould him into my clone. The dumbbells are still in the living room, but next to the couch under the side table. So I guess, we learnt quickly to work things out.

Our days involved waking up together, showering together, then running short of time, rushing through breakfast and running off to work or class. Well, Brad drove me, so there was no actual "running" involved. Lei and Jason joined us at lunch and again in the evenings. Most of the days we had dinner together. And then we started our session of passionate lovemaking - after Lei and Jason left, ofcourse - which extended long into the night until we exhausted ourselves to sleep.

I did miss the good old days, but it was a lot of fun living with Brad. He came up with pranks all the time and was always full of life. Except may be when he received a call from his parents. They always called him over the weekend without fail - in the last six weeks atleast. He talked only when he was having too much fun to notice who was calling before he answered. The talk would last a few minutes with mostly silence being the response from his end. Those were the only times I found him down. He would be upset for a couple of hours before he bounced back to his normal self. And as always he could never be forced to share his feelings. He only did when he felt he needed to. I tried to keep my nose out of his business at such times.

"I hate when they call me" he said one day, slamming the phone on the mattress.

"You obviously love them enough to talk with them." I said seeing that he had decided to discuss this, or atleast tell me about it.

"And, they love their money."

"I think every parent does what they think is the best for their kids."

"Well, mine screwed up." He could very well be talking to a wall. His eyes locked on it, his face lifeless and his words dead with no emotion whatsoever.

"Brad, do you hate them because you think you're gay because of them?"

His was still. His face flushed in anger. Tears started flowing down his eyes. He neither answered nor moved. I pulled myself close to him and put my arm around him.

"I don't know." He whispered to the wall.

"Do you wish you were straight?" I thought crying this one out might help him overcome his childhood trauma and move on.

"I don't know." He said, his tears flowing freely now.

That came as a total shock. I've heard the same thing from him before, but hearing it now, scared me. I felt selfish. My eyes welled up for him and for myself.

"But I do love you. I really love you." He buried his head in my chest. Well, that was some consolation.

* * *

Sunrise. Sunset. Sunrise. Sunset. Before I knew it, it was February and almost Valentine's Day. It's strange that everything has happened so suddenly and so quickly. Last Valentine's day, I was with Ed. I didn't even know a soul named Brad existed until later that month. Funny eh?

I wanted to buy him something. Unfortunately I was never good at buying gifts. Even when I had to shop for my cousins back home, I depended on my brother Vijay. Ooh, that reminds me, it's been weeks since I called him and I need to call him sometime soon. Also, like a lot of students, I was totally broke. Roses were the answer. What's more romantic than a bunch of red roses tied together with a yellow satin ribbon?

When I went to the shop, I found flowers are sometimes more expensive than a decent gift. I settled for 6 roses and a card. It seemed so little. So cheap. So I decided to supplement it with food. I had to prepare something that Brad liked. And nothing was dearer to him than meatballs. I browsed the Internet for recipes. Ground beef? There was no way I could handle beef. I mean seeing meat on the dining table is different, but touching raw meat was out of question. So I sought Lei's help. I know that it is not the same, but something is better than nothing.

Valentine's day arrived and as luck would have it, it was a Saturday. I didn't have to go to the library until noon. I woke up pretty early and Brad was lying all wrapped up in the blanket. I moved closer and put my arm around him. He was in deep sleep. I slowly turned him toward me and moved the blanket away from his face. No sign of him waking up.

"Hey" I ran my finger over his cheek. He was sleeping like a log.

I moved closer and pulled him into a hug. His body heat warmed me up and the smell of musk turned me on. I moved down. Luckily he sleeps in just his boxers. I pulled it down and took him in my mouth. Slowly I started working it to an erection.

I started hearing soft moans of approval. And then suddenly two hands grabbed my hair and urged me to go faster. Not that I needed any encouragement. He bucked every time he was on the verge and I slowed it down just a tad to prolong the feeling, until he finally he couldn't. It was intense. I pushed myself up and lay next to him. He naturally pulled me into a passionate kiss and climbed on top of me.

When we broke the kiss, he looked into my eyes. "What's with the special today?"

"Do I hear a compliant?"

"No. I say we start every day like this."

"Yea, you wish"

I rolled him off of me and got out of the bed.

"Stay...two more minutes."

"I'll be back. You stay there." I gave him a big smile and went to the kitchen where I had hidden the chocolates and the roses. That's one place he doesn't use in the house except when he is getting himself a beer or a snack.

* * *

"Ta-da" I surprised him with the red roses first. Handed him the chocolates and climbed into bed with him.

"Ta-da what? What's with the flowers...and the chocolates?"

"You better be joking Brad."

"No, really, is isn't my birthday!"

"It's Valentine's day. Our first. You mean, you forgot?"

"Oh shucks. Is it? I am sorry, I forgot."

It would be understatement to say, I was disappointed. In a matter of two seconds, he flushed down my two weeks of planning and preparation, excitement and happiness as if it were a dead gold fish.

"I am sorry. Here, a rose from me." He pulled out of the flowers and handed it to me. "And an éclair." He tried to feed me one.

"Thanks. But I don't like chocolates." I got off the bed. "I'll see you later. I got to get ready for work." I tried to cover my disappointment but failed miserably.

He grabbed my hand as I tried to leave. When I turned around I saw a goofy smile on his face. Although he looks very cute in that smile, especially when he is shirtless, it didn't cheer me up today.

"Come back. Get into bed." He pleaded.

"I have to go Brad."

"I know you don't have to go until after noon. We've been living together for over a month, remember?"

"I remember. It's you who forgets."

"Boy, you ARE mad. I think it is not wise to keep the secret anymore."

"So you remembered." My face brightened up. I jumped back into the bed.

"Ofcourse I remembered. I wasn't going to tell you until evening, but then I can't bear your donkey-ass face any more."

"Oh! Shut up. Give me my gift."

"Ta-da" He mimicked me.

"What's this?" I took it from his hands and opened it.

"Two roundtrip tickets to San Francisco. Spring break weekend."

"San Francisco?" I asked in surprise. My mouth and eyes, both wide open.

"Yea. One whole week. We'll hang out with your brother and his girlfriend."

"And you can meet your parents."

"Yea, that too. If you'll go with me."

"Sure."

The fight was quickly over and we were a happy couple again. I had already started planning all the things we were going to do, much to the dislike of Brad.

"Now this is the reason, I wanted to keep this a secret and you sprang that silly Valentine Day on me."

"Well, you should have been smart enough and given a box of chocolates or something and kept your stupid little secret a secret."

"Oh, so this vacation is stupid?"

"Yea, when Valentine Day could be stupid."

"Oh! Shut up."

Such fake fights happened all the time, only to be ended by a hug, or a kiss, or more if the timing was right. So that's how the Brandies lived.