Date: Fri, 27 Apr 2007 18:19:06 -0700 (PDT)
From: T Storm <melonpie@verizon.net>
Subject: Turn of Events 15

Disclaimer: This story deals with homosexual men. If it offends you, X out
of the story and read something else. If you are not 18, do not read. And
if you want a fast fuck story, go elsewhere; this is not a fast sex story,
but more of a love story. If that does not interest you, do not waste your
time reading. Otherwise, enjoy. Email me for any kind of comments.

Sorry for the long delay. Sometimes it takes forever for me to be inspired
to write or for the ideas to come to me. Just recently it all hit me at
once. Go figure. I have two papers that I haven't even prepared for and a
final exam that needs cramming, but NOW is when the creative juices start
to flow again. So in the event I fail my classes, all you readers better
enjoy this chapter! And there will be only one more posting after this, and
it should be posted within the next few days. Happy reading. Oh wait, one
more thing. I wrote this kind of fast, so it there are any typos and
whatnot, I apologize in advance. Ok, now happy reading.


Turn of Events: Chapter 15

Someone once told me that life is always changing. That it never stays the
same. And fuck, I hated that fact. I wondered who told me that? Or maybe I
already knew all that, considering how my life had been like a maze, full
of unexpected twists and turns.

After Halloween passed, the rest of the fall semester of junior year passed
quickly. Thanksgiving came and went and then December was upon us. With
December came the excitement of Christmas and winter break, as well as
cramming for finals and all that last minute preparation that
procrastinators like myself, always scrambled to do.

I had thought winter break would be more relaxing, considering there was no
school. I thought maybe I'd have a chance to sleep in, lay in bed until
noon, lying beside a naked Grant after having an all night sex
marathon. But sadly, that was not the case.

In fact, winter break was insane. Right after finals, the holidays were
riding on our asses. Hence, there were Christmas parties with Julie's
family, Danny's family, and me and my grandmother, as well as Grant
attended everything. So that was a whirlwind in itself. And that was just a
warm up!

After Christmas Eve and Christmas Day, David and Blair finally came to
visit. I was excited to see David, but indifferent towards seeing
Blair. But I loved Grant and Grant, for whatever the hell reason, wanted to
see Blair, so if you love someone enough, well you make sacrifices. Even if
that meant spending an entire week and a half with a fathead idiot!

Blair, for his part, was considerably more mellow and nicer. I like to
think that's why we seemed to get along better during his stay. And when I
say get along better, I mean there were no flying insults. Ok, maybe some
insults, but I think they were in jest. Well, I hope. Either way, Blair and
I were in a festive mood, and had an understanding that we would make
things work for Grant. Plus, maybe Blair was more open-minded than I had
initially given him credit for, although I'd never admit that to
him. Perhaps Blair just needed a breather from Texas and was in a way,
repressed himself. As in not free to think outside the box, especially with
that psycho mother of his! Now that he was in New York, he was more
accepting and fun. We came across numerous gay couples, male and female,
and Blair maybe stared a bit longer than necessary, but didn't say anything
or have a nasty expression on his face. Which I was glad for. I was a
reactive person and could be explosive at times. If I felt I was attacked,
I'd go in offensive mode or defensive mode. Whatever.

While Blair and David stayed, we did things as a group, like watching the
ball drop in Times Square. Having dinner together, shopping, ice skating,
sometimes seeing a show with Julie and Danny, stuff like that. But on many
other occasions, we split into pairs. Grant and Blair would spend time
alone, catching up, like any best friend duo would. I didn't want to
intrude on their time. Perhaps that is the real reason why Blair resented
me in the beginning, besides not knowing we were a couple.

While they went off and did their own thing, David and I would hang out,
which was good. At first, when I met him, I was totally gung-ho about
disliking David, ignoring him in Texas, and then moving back to New York,
never seeing him again, but David was a wormer. He wormed his way into my
heart and he really grew on me. Sure I hadn't known him long, but I really
did feel as though I loved him as a father. He was a good man. Ok, he was
an idiot when he was younger, but who wasn't? That's what being young was
about. Being a total idiot and kind of getting away with it just because
you were young. I think it had something to do with discrimination through
ageism or something. I considered myself super smart, but even I had my
dumb moments. Plus, making mistakes when you're young is the time to make
mistakes. That way you can fix them when you're older. And that's what
David was doing. Our relationship just seemed to get better over time.

David also broke the news to me that he and Kelly had officially filed for
divorce. Their relationship was definitely over.

"I'm sorry to hear that," I said.

David cocked his head at me, as if he didn't believe me. He took a long sip
of his coffee and I smiled.

"Ok, fine, you got me. I'm not sorry you split with her. She always struck
me as a little not all there, you know what I'm saying. But I am sorry you
split and you're unhappy about it, as I can tell," I said sincerely.

David laughed. "Alright, that's believable."

"So, obviously, attempts at trying to work things out didn't go down well?"
I asked.

He sighed and ran his fingers through his dark hair. "Yeah. I tried. I'm
not sure if she tried. Well, that's not true either. We just didn't see eye
to eye on everything and it's not something you can try to change. I mean,
people have their beliefs and ideas and when it's engraved in your brain^Å"
he trailed off. "We just couldn't come to terms with our differences,
that's all," he finally finished, with some difficulty. "I'm sad, but it's
for the best."

"Differences? Meaning, me?" I asked quietly. "And Grant?"

David sighed again and paused. "Yes," he admitted.

I looked into my lap.

"Pete."

I looked up at him and he smiled reassuringly. "I don't^Åwell, I don't
regret any of this. And I'm not bitter or whatever towards you. I'm more
mad at myself and especially at Kelly for being so bigoted. So full of hate
towards good people. You're a good kid. You've got a mouth on you, but
you're still a good kid. And Grant. Well, Grant, she's known forever! To
ditch him just like that? That's horrible. She just^Åhas no character or
real morals. And she claims to be God-loving and all that. God loves all
people, for he created them, right?"

I nodded, a small smile on my lips.

David turned serious. "You have to make sacrifices sometimes, when it's the
right thing to do. Or for someone you love."

I averted my eyes, still uncomfortable with this whole father-son, loving
thing. I was getting there, ok? Give me some time!

"I thought I knew Kelly. I fell for her, but I guess I didn't know her
completely. I don't think you ever really know someone, or the real them,
until a time of crisis. Only in the face of adversity, does a person's true
colors come out," he said in a soft tone.

There I was, feeling uncomfortable again. I understood what he was saying
and he was being wonderfully profound, but what do I say to that?

"It's for the best," David repeated. I looked at him sympathetically,
knowing this was probably killing him inside. "I'll be ok. In time."

I smiled at him. David shook his head and his expression visibly cleared.

"So, I think we should visit this teahouse of yours. You're always talking
about boba. What's that like? What is boba exactly?" he asked, looking
slightly perplexed.

I grinned.

*********

After Blair and David left, Parker and his girlfriend came for a few
days. They were doing some sightseeing throughout the northeast coast and
didn't plan on spending all their time in New York.

Then when they left, Grant and I had a few days to calm down before it was
time to buy books and get back into the swing of things for the spring
semester. That time was spent doing laid back things with Julie and Danny,
especially Julie, before she shipped back off to California. And during
this little free time, Grant and I had sex. A lot of sex. With everyone
visiting, our sex life had either gone out the window or had become
quickies in hidden places, like the shower or something. It would be
awkward to have sex loudly with David and Blair hanging around. Having sex
with my Dad around, yeah, not cool. And I don't think Grant wanted to freak
out Blair.

I did get to see Jet briefly, because she was visiting her mother in
Connecticut and could easily drive to see me. But it was understood that I
would visit her in Texas over the summer. And now that David and I were on
better terms and he had his own house, I had more of a reason to stay
longer in Texas.

Yet all good things had to come to an end and before I knew it, in a blink
of an eye, it was the first day of classes. Those were usually ok, but I
hated when the semester really got rolling, because that meant work, and I
admit, I had my lazy moments. I was having a case of senioritis and I
wasn't even a senior yet! But being a junior in your spring semester, when
the weather was getting warmer, and having a hot boyfriend that you wanted
to have sex with all the time, well, that meant senioritis for me!

But I trudged through it all. January passed. February passed. March came
and Spring break came. The only bad part about spring semester was that
Grant and I were so busy. This was our busiest year, considering we were
juniors and were taking all our important classes, prior to senior
year. Not to mention our schedules were complete opposites of one another,
like last year, and we had trouble spending quality time together. Between
meetings, projects, seminars, appointments, studying, classes: Grant and I
barely saw one another. And I noticed something else. Grant had become
distant sometime around February and it lasted all throughout Spring Break
I couldn't pinpoint when exactly in February this change occurred, but it
did. It wasn't that he was busy, but he wasn't all there. We would be
relaxing on the couch, both exhausted and too tired to do anything, but I
felt like he wasn't even in the room with me. I never brought it up,
because I figured he was just busy and tired like I was, so why bother
prying? Or maybe it was because I didn't want to know if there was a
problem. I feared change, remember?

In the middle of March, over Spring break, I did ask if he was ok. I
casually threw it into the conversation and he said he was fine, just
overworked. So I let it slide. We went out together, made love, so I
figured we were good. Our lives had become so routine and we were like an
old married couple anyway. How exciting could things be, right?

Well that all changed in April. Grant had become even more distant and
seemed to be avoiding me. He was never around anymore and it was getting
harder and harder for me to brush that fact aside. And my fear and paranoia
was growing everyday and I was almost thankful when Grant broke the surface
and told me mid- April that we needed to talk and he had something to tell
me.

"So, what's up?" I asked. For some reason I was nervous and I felt like I
was about to get into trouble. My body was tense on my couch as I sat
there, with an unnaturally straight back.

Grant looked nervous and sick to his stomach as he rubbed his hands
together. His forehead was sweating slightly. "Umm^Å"

I waited.

"There's^Å" he hesitated.

"Grant, you know me right? I'm not a patient person. Spit it out," I
said. I tried to keep my tone light, but it came out more of bark. I was
just too nervous.

"There's this guy^Å" he began in a whisper.

I stopped breathing. A lump formed in my throat. My heart started
racing. There was a tightening in my stomach. It took a great deal of
effort on my part to get rid of that lump lodged in my throat.

"Yeah?" I asked in a controlled tone, praying this wasn't going in the
direction I knew it was going in.

"His name is Thomas Kim," Grant whispered in an ashamed tone, avoiding my
eyes. We have a class together. I never noticed him before," Grant said
haltingly. "But I was having trouble and after the first exam, well, I did
really badly and he offered to help me. We started getting together to
study. At first it was once a week, then a couple times, before we were
getting together practically everyday."

He finally looked up at me. His blue eyes were filled with guilt and I was
tempted to cover my ears so I didn't have to hear what was coming next.

"Well^Åthe more we started spending time together, the less we were
studying," Grant continued.

I tried to stay calm. "Ok^Å" I drawled out, not sure what else to say. I
just didn't want to sit there like a silent idiot though.

When Grant didn't seem like he was going to go on, I cleared my
throat. "And?"

A few more tense seconds passed and it felt like I was in France waiting
for the guillotine to drop over my head and kill me. Well, if it were pre
-1980.

"And^Å" Grant hesitated again, but I looked at him hard. "We were having
dinner together, hanging out after school, and^Åuh, well, umm, Thomas, he,
well, he kissed me and^ÅI^Åwell, I kissed him back," he said guiltily.

Grant peeked at me and I felt a sudden pain in my chest. It hurt so bad and
it radiated throughout the entire top half of my body.  I swallowed hard
and gripped my shirt with my fists. I glanced at Grant and my heart
broke. He was just so beautiful, with the way he was looking at me, his
blond curls hanging over his forehead, shading his bright blue eyes. How
could something so beautiful hurt me so badly? How? How did this happen.

I cleared my throat again and looked at my hands. They were white and I
couldn't help wringing them together, pulling at my fingers.

"When did all this start?" I asked. "The hanging^Åout?"

"Since the end of February," he answered quietly.

"When did you kiss?" I asked. Oh, there was that chest pain again. After
this little talk, I might have to check myself into the ER.

"In March, right before Spring break," he replied.

It all made sense now. Grant become more distant over time during the
beginning the of the semester, and becoming even more withdrawn over
break. He was feeling guilty and was avoiding me as a result of that guilt.

"That's why you were so weird all this time," I muttered.

"He just^Åwell, he kept going after me. He kept asking me to go somewhere
over break."

"So it wasn't a one time kiss?" I spat out angrily. "It must have been a
lot of secret kisses if he was asking you to go away with him!" I started
sweating and I felt like I was going to explode my brains out with
anger. "How long have you two been fucking dating?" I hissed.

Grant cringed. "We're not dating."

"Not dating?" I demanded. "You're not only a fucking cheat, but a fucking
liar!" I yelled. "Dinner?" I spat out. "Hanging out everyday, kissing. What
else did you guys do? Did you fuck him? I'm sure he offered you his
scrawny, pale ass!" Then a thought hit me. "Did you let him blow you?" For
some reason I had a feeling Grant had done more than just kissing.

"He went down on me. Once, right before break," he whispered. "I did try to
stop him."

"Well, obviously you failed!" I shouted, jumping up. I started pacing the
room, tugging at my hair, breathing hard. "Deep breaths Pete. Deep
breaths," I said under my breath. "Can't afford anger management classes,
Pete, or jail time. NYU tuition is expensive. Fucking breathe Pete!"

That was some hell of a pep talk. And completely useless. Because I was
still fucking pissed.

"Pete, I'm so sorry," Grant choked out. "I fucked up. I fucked up
bad. Please forgive me."

I didn't answer.

Grant stood up as well as I continued to pace the living room.

"I'm so sorry. You have to believe me. It all happened so fast. Thomas
doesn't mean anything to me. He went after me^ÅI just had a moment of
weakness. I was confused. He was confusing me!" Grant rambled desperately
as I remained silent, fuming. "I love you so much. You have to know
that. You're my whole life. Please forgive me. I love you," he begged,
tears in his eyes.

I whipped my head around to look at him and he flinched. I could feel the
strain of my facial muscles and knew I was probably glaring at him.

I paced back and forth, tugging on my hair. A few more tugs and I would be
a bald man. What a waste of perfectly nice hair that would be. Ah well, it
was hair. It grew back!

Grant tried to approach me and the hairs on the back of my neck stood up as
I sensed his presence. I spun around sharply and held up my hand.

"Don't!" I ordered. He stopped in his tracks. "Don't touch me. Don't come
near me! I'm fucking serious, Grant. I need space and you're going to give
it to me. A kiss, cuddle, or fuck won't make up for any of this! I'm not
that easy, you know, unlike some people," I said eyeing him up and down
purposefully.

Grant had no words to say, but his blue eyes were glistening with tears.

"I need to figure this out," I mumbled. "It's April already. School's over
in the beginning of May. Until then^Å" I said to myself.

Grant looked confused. "Until then what?"

I made a decision and looked him square in the eyes. "I'm gonna move into
Danny's until school's over. I can't fail my classes and neither can
you. And I can't concentrate if we're living in the same house after all of
this," I said pointing between the two of us.

He opened his mouth as if he wanted to protest, but looking at me, he
seemed to change his mind.

"I'll leave. You shouldn't leave. This is your house," Grant said looking
dejected.

"Don't be an idiot. Where will you go?" I snapped. "Rent an apartment? It`s
too damned expensive. I just have to go," I said and with that I walked
with long purposeful strides into our bedroom.

I ran to my closet and pulled out a large duffel bag.  I felt a surge of
energy to get away from here, away from Grant. I haphazardly began grabbing
at hangers and throwing in sweaters and jeans into the bag, not bothering
to fold them. Then I rushed to my dresser to get some underwear. I packed
what I could but knew I could always come back to get more. But I preferred
not to. I didn't want to run the risk of bumping into Grant. Then again, if
he was never around, that wouldn't be a problem?

"Pete, please," Grant interrupted my thoughts. "Can we talk about this?"

"We just did!" I yelled over my shoulder as I stuffed my bag to the max and
tried to zip it up quickly. "Fuck, come on!" I shouted at the bag and
finally, it closed. I heaved it over my shoulder and started to walk out
the door, but lost my balance slightly, due to the heavy weight of the bag.

Grant ran in front of me, blocking my path. "You told me to come to you and
tell you the truth if I was ever attracted to another guy. I did and now
you're moving out? I only did what you asked me to do! And now you're mad!
How fucked up is that?"

I only heard one part of his sentence.

"Attracted to him? You're attracted to him?" I asked, dropping the bag onto
the floor, which nearly severed my shoulder, or popped it out of its
socket.

Grant's eyes grew wide and he stepped back. "Umm, well."

"You like him?" I asked quietly, feeling like I just got punched in the gut
and the wind was knocked out of me and I had trouble forming words. "I
thought you were just tempted for some variety and some sex. Maybe you were
feeling a little stifled with our situation but I didn't know you actually
had real feelings for him."

"I don't!" Grant exclaimed. "Not like that. I was just confused. He was a
friend, that's all. A friend who was so flirty and it just got me^ÅI don't
know, confused. I don't see us going anywhere or being anything. I know I
love you and only you!"

"I have to go," I said picking up my bag again and making for the door, but
Grant mimicked my movement and blocked me once again.

"Pete," Grant said, grabbing my shoulders and stopping me.

"I need to think about all this. It's all too much," I said seriously,
looking him in the eyes. I kept my face neutral, or tried to, but I
couldn't stop my lips from trembling slightly and I swallowed hard. I think
Grant saw through my game face as he stared into my eyes. If he looked at
me any longer tears would start to pour out. And I really didn't want Grant
to see that. I wanted to preserve a small shred of dignity.

Grant slowly let go of my shoulders and his hands dropped to his sides. I
hoisted my bag a little higher and walked past him. Grant remained frozen
on the spot.

I continued walking. This time he didn't stop me.

I trudged across the street, the bag feeling heavy, my heart feeling heavy,
my feet feeling heavy.  I knocked on Danny's door and a minute later I came
face to face with my best friend. He instantly smiled, but it quickly faded
away into a look of worry.

"Hi^Å" he trailed off. "What's wrong?" he asked taking in my expression.

"I need to crash," I said in a tired voice. I looked at him and he seemed
to sense that I had no strength to explain the situation. He nodded and
opened the door wider for me to come through.

I walked right into his room, waving off his mother, and chucked my bag on
the floor. Then I flopped onto his bed and closed my eyes.

I heard Danny shuffling around the room, and vaguely remembered him pulling
the covers over me, but with the tears falling onto the pillow, and my
breathing constricted by my crying, I couldn't focus on anything else. It
felt like seconds, but was probably longer than that- I fell into a deep
sleep.

*********

I took a deep breath. It was now or never.

For the past five minutes I had sat hunched in my chair in the coffee shop,
feeling depressed and resigned, knowing I had to do what I was about to
do. For Grant's part, he looked nervous and tense, fidgeting nonstop.

I took another deep breath and steeled myself. "We need to take a break," I
blurted out. I looked into his eyes and awaited his reaction.

Tears immediately pooled in his eyes. "What?" he croaked out.

Grant and I had been apart for over a month. As I predicted, we were both
so busy and had different schedules, that it was easy to avoid one
another. Over that time I did a lot of thinking. As much as I tried to
focus on my schoolwork and work, thoughts of Grant always filtered into my
head at any given moment. Like, if I paused to rest my eyes when I was
studying late at night, I'd see Grant and visualize him kissing some short,
Korean dude. Thank God I never saw this Thomas Kim, otherwise, I wouldn't
be held accountable for my actions. I guess I could always plead insanity,
but I was far too intelligent to even act like a loon. Thus, avoiding Grant
and his little friend was in my best interest.

"I thought you moving out was our break," Grant said, a quiver in his
voice.

"I did a lot of thinking while we were apart," I explained, forcing myself
to remain strong and my voice even, "I don't hate you. I have forgiven you,
for you know. I even still trust you because I know you didn't cheat out of
spite or horniness, but because you were pursued. I can't blame you
really. You've done a lot in the past few years. You came out, you moved
far away from home. You're so confident and it's so sexy and everyone can
see it. You're just^Åfinally, acting on being gay. You're coming into your
own, embracing your sexuality. You're taking a chance to experiment with
the many hot men of New York, although I doubt Thomas Kim holds a candle to
me," I said, laughing dryly. It was my poor attempt to make light of this
very sad situation.

"Pete," he said in a trembling voice.

I ducked my head. "Please don't make this harder than it already is. I love
you Grant. You're my unexpected love, a surprise. You're someone I don't
regret. But if we ever have a real, solid chance in the future, we need to
be apart. We need this break," I said firmly.

"Why?" Grant asked. "I know I want you. There is no one else. I only want
you. How can I prove that?"

"Grant, please. You need to get, I don't know, exploring other men out of
your system. That way you can come back to me and only me. Until then,
well, we shouldn't spend so much time together. Maybe for next semester,
apply for last minute housing. Meanwhile, I'm heading away for the
summer. Going to Texas to spend time with David, and everyone else."

"Exploring?" he demanded. "You didn't explore, if I remember correctly."

I looked at him, shaking my head. "You're right. But I was out for years
and have allowed myself to be attracted to other men, to make out with
them, to feel comfortable with them in my own skin. But we both need this
break. You can explore. I can explore. It will only make our bond stronger
in the future."

"Why are you doing this?" Grant asked, almost angrily. "You want me to
date? I want you!"

I could tell he was getting angry now. His voice was growing louder and was
attracting some attention within the coffee shop.

"I'm doing this for us," I said. "You'll see," I said quietly. "It's for
the best."

"Are you trying to convince me or yourself?" Grant asked just as quietly.

I stood up and started walking away from me. Without looking back, I called
out over my shoulder, in a soft tone, "I love you."

"I love you," he whispered back as I walked further and further away.

The pain of walking away from Grant, leaving him for the second time in my
life, was the most painful experience. I was becoming an expert on
pain. And that fucking sucked. Big time.

************

"Why are you running?" Danny asked.

I was in his room, on his computer, looking up flights to Texas. I was
planning on getting away from Grant, from New York, and all those negative
memories that happened so recently. I wanted to spend some time with David,
Jet, Lawrence, Parker, and Stacey and feel good again. Perhaps just enjoy
being single and being happy without Grant. I had been in a relationship
for years. Since high school. A serious relationship no less. Grant and I
both didn't have a chance to grow as individuals. Instead we just somehow
became attached. I couldn't depend on Grant for my happiness. No one should
hold that kind of power over me. I didn't want that. I think that was my
biggest mistake.

"I need to leave Danny. I can't be here this summer. I see Grant
everywhere, even if he's not around. He's in my head constantly and hanging
around here, pretending to be happy, well, it won't do me any good," I said
honestly. "And it's good for me to spend time with David and my friends."

"What about me?" Danny pouted. "And Julie?" he said making a sad face.

I laughed. "I love you man, but no worries. You know we'll still see each
other all the time. We're like brothers."

"But how will we get to hang out? We've been so busy all year long and
you're all up in Grant, until recently. Plus, I'll be in California for a
large majority of the summer. So how can we hang out? Especially if you're
spending all your time in Texas?" Danny exclaimed dramatically with a
slight grimace when he said Texas.

I looked at Danny and smiled. "Well, aren't you leaving to see Julie soon?"

"Yeah, she's doing an internship, designing, and met a friend for some
fashion stuff," he paused. "Hey! You should come!"

"What?" I asked. "Be with you two lovebirds while I'm single and
miserable. Umm, yeah, I'll pass."

Danny rolled eyes. "No seriously. Just stay for a little while. Like a
month," he suggested.

"I don't know," I said.

Danny got on his knees and I laughed.

"What are you doing?" I snorted.

"Please!" Danny pleaded. "I barely saw you this year! And Julie misses you!
She tells me all the time!"

"Liar!" I scoffed, but I couldn't stop smiling. "Fine," I grunted. "Let me
check out the flights now," I said and Danny started jumping up and down,
bouncing on his bed.

I shook my head and smiled. I knew I would cave. He knew I would cave. In
truth, I missed Danny and Julie. Being with Grant, I did end up neglecting
my two best friends, even if it wasn't intentional. I couldn't blame it all
on schoolwork.

I guess I would be heading to California as well as Texas this summer. Look
at me, the world traveler.

*********

"Julie. Julie, seriously, I can't breathe."

Julie pulled back, giggled, and kissed my cheek. "I can't help it. I missed
you so much! We don't hang out enough!"

"I know," I said. "But I'm here now."

"After I twisted his arm," Danny input.

"Ouch!" I grabbed my side where Julie had pinched me.

"Twisted your arm? To see me?" Julie demanded with her hands on her hips.

"Calm down," I said holding up my hands. "I'm a guest! Don't make me regret
coming here. Ouch!" I cringed as I was cuffed upside the head. I shot her a
dirty look causing her to giggle more.

"Come," she said, grabbing Danny and me. "Come meet my friend. The one I'm
working with over the summer. He's really good at fashion stuff. I told him
we'd have dinner together."

The entire ride to downtown LA to the restaurant, the three of us talked
nonstop, trying to all talk at once, trying to catch up. There was so much
to say. I refrained from talking about me and Grant, deciding not to ruin
the joy of my arrival. I wanted to just enjoy being with my friends,
reminiscing on the good times and knowing what good things were
happening. It was nice to see Julie so happy. At least someone was
happy. Yay!

We walked into the restaurant and I instantly noticed an average sized guy
standing by the host area with his back to us.

"Hey home boy!" Julie sang out cheerfully in greeting.

The brunette guy turned around and out eyes met.

My mouth fell open as I stared into a pair of dark brown eyes, brimming
with emotion.

"Doug!" I nearly shouted.

His grin widened. "Pete."

"You two know each other?" Julie asked, looking genuinely perplexed.

I pointed to Doug, feeling his eyes on me. "It's Doug. We dated," I told
her. I looked at Doug and shook my head, smiling slightly. "It's my Doug,"
I murmured under my breath.

"This is a pleasant surprise," Doug said inching closer. "Nice to see you
again, Pete."

"You too," I said, unable to keep the smile off my face.

Danny and Julie just stared back and forth between us. Julie looked
confused. Danny looked worried. But Doug and I didn't notice their looks.
We were just lost in each other's eyes.