Date: Mon, 30 Apr 2007 13:43:48 -0700 (PDT) From: Lost Cause Subject: The Beginning Of The End 3 COPYRIGHT: 2007 by Clitoris (Mike) all rights reserved DISCLAIMER: The following story is Fictional. It contains descriptions of homosexual activities. If you are not over 18 years of age, or if you find this type of story offensive, or viewing this material is illegal where you are, then please DO NOT READ IT! If you choose to read it, then - I hope you enjoy it! Want to read more stories by me? Then join my Yahoo group. http://groups.yahoo.com/group/LCStories Thanks for Proof Reading Barry And remember send all feedback to L0st_cause@yahoo.com thanks. The Beginning of the End, Chapter 3 _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ ***** Sometime during the party I seemed to have lost Clay so I spent the rest of the time looking for him. Just as I went looking someone else got my attention. "Hey Josh," came a voice I knew none other than Megan. Megan is on the cheerleading squad with Caitlin. She is very attractive and much so available. "Hey Megan," I said as I looked over the crowd for Clay but could not see him anywhere. "Are you looking for someone?" She asked raising an eyebrow. "Yeah, I was just looking for Clay" "Oh I just saw him. He was with Jamie" "Ah figures. So, what's up?" "Well, I just came by to ask you if you wanted to dance," Megan said and she winked her eyes at me. "No thanks, I have to find Clay." I said as Megan frowned. I didn't really feel like dancing with anyone. "If I didn't know any better I'd think you two were a couple or something," Megan said as she walked away from me giggling. I stood there for a moment thinking about what Megan said. For some reason I was beginning to wonder why I was acting like this, I mean Clay's just my best friend, so why am I going insane looking for him? I started walking again until I ran into Jacob. "Hey Jacob. You having a good time man?" I asked as I got closer to him. "Yeah, Johnny's back there drunk as hell. It's some funny stuff man," Jacob said as he gave me a brief smile. "Sounds like Johnny to me. So did you happen to see Clay around?" "Speaking of Clay, he was just looking for you too, but then Ryan found him and they went somewhere quiet to go talk. So I'm guessing they went upstairs." Jacob said as he waved to me and went back to the party. "He was looking for me too?" I wondered to myself. I went back inside Caitlin's house. I made my way up the stairs to see where Clay was. Caitlin's house was very big and she had about four different rooms just upstairs, so they could have been in any one of them. I opened the first few doors and only found a few people making out or a group of people talking. Finally when I opened the last door, the room was empty. So I tried to call Clay's cell phone, but it was turned off. I started to get worried; I closed the last door and made my way downstairs fast. I looked all over her house and found no sign of Clay. This isn't like him at all. I was just about out the door when I saw Jamie. I quickly made my way over to her. "Hey Jamie, where's Clay?" I asked in a very polite manner. "Hey Josh, I was just looking for you, Clay left with Ryan. He wanted me to tell you he would see you later tonight." "Oh ok, thanks Jamie," I said in a hurtful voice. I walked away from Jamie, and made my way to the door. "Hey Josh." "What's up Jacob?" "You headed home already?" "Yeah I don't feel too good," I lied. "Oh alright well take care man I'll see you later." "Thanks. Have fun man," I said as I headed out the door to my car. I turned the engine on and headed home. As I got there I noticed both my Mom and Dad's car was in the driveway. I parked mine next to theirs. As I opened the front door and walked into my house, there was a lot of screaming and yelling going on. "You asshole" My Mom screamed. "Shut up you bitch" My Dad Screamed back. I quickly ran up the stairs to where all the screaming was coming from, I walked over to my parents bedroom, where all the screaming seem to be happening and silently stuck my head through the small opening to see once again my mother and father fighting. This seemed all too common in my house. This is mostly one of the reasons I stay with Clay at his house a lot. I mean I love my parents but they can never get along and when my dad drinks he gets very abusive. I quietly made my way to my room. As I got there I noticed a lot of my things out of place and that someone's been going through my stuff. This was also very common in our house. Mom always thinks I'm doing drugs or that I'm not "normal" because I never have a girlfriend. I took a few things that I would need from my room and quickly left to go to Clay's house. But I didn't quite make it out. "And where do you think you are going?" My mother asked as I was just about to open the back door. "I'm going over to Clay's house mom," I said as I turned the knob for the door. "If I didn't know any better I'd think there was something going on between you and Clay..." mom said as she gave me a stern look. "What?" I said as I put on a fake angry face, "I told you many times, he's just my best friend mom. I'm going now bye," I said as I quickly got out and ran over to Clay's house. I used my key and opened the back door. I walked in and heard the sound of a TV. I made my way to the living room to see Alex and Tommy on the couch with Tommy's head nestled on Alex's shoulder. I stopped and watched them for a few seconds, just seeing how cute they are. But as I watched a picture came into my head. It was the same position Alex and Tommy were in only instead of Alex and Tommy it was Clay and I, with Clay laying with his head on my shoulder. I was quickly pulled out of my thoughts when Alex called my name. "Josh?" "Hey Alex." "Hey, is everything okay?" Alex said as he carefully eyed me. "Yeah, great. Is your brother around?" "No, he didn't come home yet," Alex said still watching me. He must have noticed the hurt look on my face when he said that, because he pulled away from Tommy and walked over to me to give me a hug. "Are you sure everything's okay?" He asked as he looked up at me. "Yeah perfect. Do you guys mind if I keep you company until Clay gets in?" I asked. Alex looked over at Tommy and they both looked back at me nodding. Alex and I walked back over to the couch and I sat next to Alex as Tommy rested his head on Alex like before. About an hour later, the movie the two boys and I were watching came to an end. I heard the sound of a car pull up in front of the house. Then I heard the sound of a door closing and some whispering. Then I heard the sound of the car driving off. I quickly glanced at the two boys and they already separated. I watched the door as I heard the sound of keys ruffling and finally the sound of the door opening. I walked into the kitchen to see Clay. He didn't seem to notice me as he walked towards the fridge and got out a can of soda. "Hey," I said quietly. He jumped and ended up dropping his soda on the floor. His eyes quickly met mine as he looked at me. "Oh god, don't scare me like that," he said as he picked up the soda and put it in a glass. "Sorry, I though you saw me," I said as I took a seat in one of the three chairs at the kitchen table. "It's okay, so what are you doing here? I figured you'd still be at the party," Clay said as he took a seat across from the one I was in. "Yeah, well I was looking for you, but when I Jamie told me you left I figured I'd do the same," I said as I looked down away from his gaze. "Oh, you were looking for me?" Clay said with a surprise expression crossing his face. "Yeah, once I saw you weren't anywhere near me," I said quickly causing him to look at me in disbelief. He didn't reply and we sat there silent for a few minutes. "So what are you doing here anyway?" Clay said as he stared down at his now empty glass. This caused me to look up at him in shock. He never once asked me why I was at his house as I never really needed one, but now I did... "Um, I just wanted to hang out," I said. "But I can leave if you want me to," I added quickly not knowing what was with his sudden question. "No it's fine," Clay said as he looked up at me and gave me a smile. I breathed a sigh of relief. I wanted to spend time with Clay and besides I didn't want to be home. "Oh so what did you and Ryan do?" I said as I remembered they went off somewhere. Clay gave me an odd expression but quickly replied, "Nothing really. We just went driving and talked some," he quickly looked away from me. I knew he was hiding something from me, but I didn't pursue it. Instead I nodded in agreement and walked over to the living room where Alex and Tommy were watching a show on the TV. Clay joined me a few minutes later and sat down right next to me. He leaned into me and rested his head on my shoulder. He looked up at me and noticed the smile on my face, as I noticed the same smile across his. ***** Ryan leaned in and placed his lips on mine. I felt his tongue rub against my lips, but before we could get any further, we both heard the sound of someone clearing their throat. I immediately pulled back and turned around, to see Jamie standing there with a weird expression on her face. I looked back at Ryan and I couldn't tell what he was thinking his face seemed calm but a little shocked at the same time. As for me I started to shake. Jamie just saw everything and now she knows the truth about me. I began to panic I opened my mouth to say something anything, but nothing came out. "Ryan can you give Clay and I some time alone please?" Was all Jamie said, but it wasn't an angry voice nor was it a sad voice. It was more of a worried tone that I noticed she used. Ryan stared at her for a few moments then looked back at me. I gave him a slight nod letting him know I would be fine and he mouthed the words "I'm sorry" as he left the room. Jamie closed the door behind her and locked it as soon as Ryan left. Jamie then made her way to the single bed that was in the middle of the medium sized room and patted the side next to her as in asking me to sit. But instead I just stood there still very worried and panicking. She noticed how worried I was and stood up and took me in her arms. I was surprised to say the least. I thought maybe she was going to slap me and tell me how wrong I was or anything but this. "Clay, please don't be scared. It's okay," Jamie said in a very calm and reassuring voice. I pulled back from her and looked into her eyes. "You are not mad at me?" I said barely getting the words out of my mouth. "Why on earth would I be mad at you Clay," Jamie said clearly hurt. "Because I'm ... well" "Because you're gay?" She said in a whisper. I nodded in agreement and looked down, not being able to face it. "Clay, I've known about you for a while now" Jamie said as she lifted my chin so my eyes would meet hers. "You have? But how?" I said even more shocked. I mean it's not like I would look at every guy who passed me by. But at the same time I was still very confused. "Well for one, you're very attractive Clay, yet you have never had a girlfriend. And well I'm always sending you signals but you never seem to notice or seem interested." Jamie said in a soft hurt voice. "But I think what really gave it away was you and Josh," as she said Josh name my eyes went wide and I started to shake once more. Jamie seemed to notice this fast because she then added, "Don't worry Josh doesn't know about you." "Am I that obvious?" I said now in a calmer tone. "Clay, I'm one of your best friends. I notice the way you look at Josh. A lot of people may see it as a very good friendship, but I can see it as something more. You two are pretty close," Jamie said as she once again led me over to the bed to have a seat. "Jamie you are so calm about this. Why?" I said not quite sure why I even asked the question once it slipped my mouth. Jamie was always the acceptable type. She is always very kind and honest, but she is also a great listener and more importantly a great friend. "You know how I feel about you Clay, so what if you rather date guys then girls; you are still the same person you have always been. You are still the same Clay that you will always be. I am your friend Clay and I will always be," Jamie said in a whisper as she didn't want anyone besides us to hear what she said. I was speechless. I always knew Jamie to be a good friend but I also always thought she had a thing for me. I always worried that if she found out she would hate me. I was wrong big time. "Thank you Jamie, for being so understanding. You know... you're the only person who knows," I said not thinking that maybe she already told someone else. But just as I was going to say something else she beat me to it. "Yup, it's our dirty little secret," She said as she gave me a playful wink. " So what is going on with you and Ryan?" Jamie said giving me another wink. "I really don't know. I mean I do like the guy a lot. But I am still really much in love with Josh," I said softly not wanting anyone else to hear our conversation. But as I mentioned Josh's name Jamie frowned and tried to hide it, but I noticed right away. "What?" I said giving Jamie a serious look. "Nothing," Was all Jamie could say. I knew something was up but I figured if it was important enough she would have told me, so I just let it go. Just as Jamie was about to say something there was a soft knock on the door. Jamie and I exchanged quick glances until she decided to stand up and open the door. Ryan walked into the room with a very worried expression. He looked at me without even saying a word to either of us he walked towards me and sat down next to me. "Is everything okay?" Ryan whispered to me. "Everything is fine," Jamie quickly stated. "I'm going to head back out to the party so you two have fun. Clay, I'll call you tomorrow morning. Okay?" Jamie said as she made her way to the door, but stopped at it and turned around, waiting for my answer. I nodded and gave her a smile. She smiled back and opened the door, but right before she left, something came to me. "Jamie Wait," I said quickly. Jamie turned around and gave me a questioning look. Ryan also had the same look on his face. "If Josh asks for me tell him I left with Ryan okay?" Jamie raised her eyebrow, but nodded and made her exit. It's been about fifteen minutes now since Jamie left Ryan and I alone in the room. And ever since she left not a word was spoken from either of us. "Hey, did you want to get out of here and maybe go get something to eat? Or just talk," Ryan asked quietly. "Sure," I said as we both stood up and headed for Ryan's car. As Ryan started to drive we decided that we weren't really hungry after all and ended up at a beach. It was about 8:30p.m. So the beach was pretty empty. We walked on the sand and sat down close to the water on the sand. Once again nothing was said between us. I was too nervous to say anything and Ryan, well, he seemed to be in deep though, so I decided to just stare out at the ocean, watching as the stars and moon reflect onto the ocean. I could stare at this forever. The water is so clam and peaceful. The stars are bright and very nice to see. The moon is just amazing. Looking at all these things got me thinking of Josh. How everything I just described was Josh. Am I this much in love that now everything I do will make me think about Josh? And what about Ryan... I mean he kissed me, so this has to mean he's gay right? I turned my head, so I could look in Ryan's direction. As I did this I found him looking right back at me. His face began to move closer and closer, until I felt his soft warm lips connect with mine. For a few moments I didn't respond. I was too scared. But finally I started to kiss back, but just as I did Ryan pulled away. "I'm sorry," He said as he quickly turned away from me. "Don't be," I said without even thinking. He quickly turned back around to face me. I could see hope in his eyes, but they were hidden behind all the sadness and fear. But I wondered why there was sadness in his eyes. "Ryan, what's wrong?" I said as I studied his face. Ryan closed his eyes for a moment then returned them to my eyes. "Nothing," he said as he looked down at the sand, but I knew he was lying. I could see it. "I'm sorry," I said again without thinking. He looked up at me and studied me for a few moments. "Why are you sorry?" He said in a confusing tone. "Because you are sad and I know it has something to do with me. I don't want to make you sad..." I said looking down, I couldn't look at him. I felt his hand rest on my shoulder and quickly move to my chin. He lifted it up and our eyes met once again. "Clay you have nothing to be sorry about. It's me Clay, I'm scared," He said still looking straight into my eyes. "Scared? Scared of what?" I said confused about his comment. "About a lot of things Clay, for one I don't want to hurt you and I don't want to be hurt," He said as his eyes softened I could see that he was scared, very scared. "I would never hurt you Ryan, I'm just so new to this and well, I'm not going to lie to you Ryan. You know I like you, I like you a lot, but I also have deep feelings for Josh," I said as I watched him turn away from me again. There was awkward silence between us as we both sat there. "Did you really mean that?" Ryan suddenly said taking me off guard. "What?" I asked clearly confused at what he was talking about. "That you like me," He said still looking away from me. "Yes, I really do like you Ryan," I said giving him a smile when he finally turned to look at me. He let out a small smile. "But..." I started, but was interrupted. "Oh here it comes," Ryan said giving me a playful grin. "I'm being serious here jerk!" I said in a playful way. I smiled again and continued "But, I'm not ready. I need to figure out what I want, before I do anything that may ruin something great," Ryan nodded at me. "I understand, and thank you," Ryan said. "For what?" I said wondering what he meant. "For thinking about my feelings and not just using me like a lot of other people would have," he said as he glanced at the sand underneath us then back at me. "You are welcome," I said letting out another smile. "You should do that more often, your smiles are beautiful," Ryan said with a grin on his face. I don't know why but I had a question pop into my head and it started to bother me. "Ryan, can I ask you something?" "Of course, what's up?" "Well I was just wondering... I mean how did you know I was? ... well you know," "Gay?" "Yeah, how did you know?" "I don't know really. I think it was just the way you kept looking at me and you always seemed to be either helping me or wanting to know me," He said as he blushed a little. "Wow! I guess I'm that obvious," I said as I let out a little sigh. "You will only notice if you really pay attention," Ryan said. "So you were paying attention to me?" I asked as I started to blush now. "Well to be honest, at first I was scared. I thought maybe you were going to get close just to find out the truth and out me or something, but I know better now," he said softly. "I guess I can understand that, but how do you know I won't do that now?" I said as I raised an eyebrow at him. He gave me a quick questioning look then leaned in and kissed me again. I smiled but that went away when he pulled back. "That's how," he said as he returned my smile. We sat there for about an hour, staring out into the beach, talking about ourselves, how we knew we were gay and other things of the sort. I looked at my phone and saw that I had about ten missed calls from Josh. I looked at the time and it was about 9:00 p.m. As much as I wanted to stay and get to know Ryan more I knew it was time to go. Ryan agreed and dropped me off at home. I asked him to call me when he got home and he agreed. He even offered to walk me to the door, but I told him it wasn't necessary. We waved as I got to my door and he drove off. I stood there for a moment and watched as he drove off. I thought about all the things that happened today. I looked across the street and saw Josh's car in the garage. I started to wonder what Josh was doing. I walked around to the back of the house and went in through the kitchen. As I walked into the house I went and got a soda, but as I turned around I saw a shadowed figure staring at me. I panicked and dropped my soda, but as I looked closer I saw the figure's eyes and knew it was Josh. I yelled at him for scaring me and he said sorry. I started to wonder what he was doing her. I mean I figured he would still be at the party. So we talked for a bit until we ended up going into the living room where Alex and Tommy were cuddled up together. It was one of the cutest things I had ever seen. I ruffled my brother's hair as I walked past him and gave him a big smile. He looked up at me and smiled back. Josh took a seat on the couch next to the one Alex and Tommy was on and I sat next to him. I felt really tired so I leaned onto him and rested my head on his shoulder like I always did. I know a lot of people would think, wouldn't Josh know you are gay if you are always hanging onto him? And I wondered the same thing. I always hide myself to everyone, but when it came to Josh it was like I didn't have to be this different person. I could be myself, no matter what. I looked up at him to find those light blue eyes staring back at me. I smiled and turned my head back to the TV. We stayed this way for another hour or so until Tommy announced it was time for him to go him. Josh offered to take him home. As Josh and Tommy left, Alex and I cleaned up the mess we made and took showers. As I closed the house up and went back to my room I found Josh sitting in my bed staring at me. "Hey," He said softly. "Hey" I said a little surprised. "That was quick." "Yeah he doesn't live too far," Josh said as he kept his gaze on me. "Yeah thanks again for taking him home man," I said as I walked over to Josh and sat down next to him. "Hey! Anytime," Josh said as he wrapped an arm around me. I looked over at him and smiled. "Well, I'm beat. You sleeping over?" I asked. "Do you even have to ask," Josh said causing us both to laugh. "Alright well goodnight," I said as I laid down on the right side of the bed. Josh walked to my door and closed it, and then he turned off the lights and got into bed with me. "Clay." "CLAY!" "What?" I mumbled as I looked at the cloak to see it was once 8:00a.m. "Get up!" Josh said as he threw a pillow at my face. "It is Sunday go away!" I screamed as I slammed my face back down into the pillow. "Dude, we are going to the Water Park so get your ass up or I'll make a ride out of you and yes I will use COLD WATER," Josh threatened. I looked up at him and found his eyes connected to mine. I looked deep into his eyes and smiled. "Fine, but I swear if you ever wake me up this early again I'm going to..." I began but Josh quickly cut me off. "You are going to what?" Josh asked with an amused look on his face. "This!" I said as I leaped off my bed and tackled him straight down onto the floor. I took him by surprise so I quickly pinned him down. My arms held his arms and my legs held his down. I looked straight down at him and he looked up at me. But then he leaned up and gave me a kiss on my cheek. I suddenly froze and the next thing I know he was now on top of me with this big shit eating grin all over his face. "What the fuck was that!" I demanded still not clearly away of what just happened. "What? I flipped you over and pinned you..." Josh said in his most innocent voice. "No you, you... kissed me," I said just barely getting the words out of my mouth. "Prove it!" Josh said still with a big grin plastered across his face. But just as I was about to say something we were both interrupted by the sound of someone clearing there throat, we both turned around to see my Dad and Alex, both laughing at the position Josh and I were in. "Boys as much as I would like to watch and see what happens next, if you two are going to make it to the Water Park on time you better start getting ready," My Dad said as he left the room. Josh let me up and we went to go get ready. Before I knew it we were in the car on our 50-minute drive to the water park. Josh offered to drive and I took shotgun while Alex and Tommy cuddled in the back together. Josh and I would look back at the two of them and smile towards each other. The drive seemed to go by pretty fast as Josh and I talked about regular things: our upcoming football game, school, the usually stuff. As we drove into the parking lot, Jacob and Jamie greeted us. "Hey guys!" I said as I got out of the car. "Hey!" came both there replies. "So you guys ready for some fun?" Josh asked as he got out a bag from his trunk. "I think I'm just going to watch you guys and try to get a tan," Jamie said as she walked over into my direction. "You're not going to ride with us?" I asked confused. "Are you kidding? And mess up my hair.... I don't think so," She said flashing a big smile at me. Josh and I looked at each other, then shook our heads saying *Girls*. "Hey! I heard that," Jamie protested. I shot her a wink and we all headed towards the gate. Just as we were about to go in Jamie stopped us. "Wait we are waiting for two more people," Jamie said, looking straight at me and throwing back my wink. I wondered what that was about. "Oh, who is it?" Josh asked, while Jacob and I looked just as confused. But before she could answer, a blue 4 door BMW pulled in and parked next to Josh's car. Both Josh and Jacob were staring at the girl who got out of the driver's seat. But my eyes were focused on the guy in her passenger seat. He was a little shorter than I and about 20 pounds less. He was wearing these Hawaiian print surf shorts and a slim white shirt that showed off his body. As he turned around I recognized him immediately. "Ryan?" I said what I thought was to myself but somehow said it loud enough to get his attention. He looked over at me and gave a big smile. I smiled back and when he turned away to get his stuff, I looked in Jamie's direction, giving her "THE LOOK". She quickly looked up acting innocent. I walked over to her and grabbed her arm as I pulled her a bit away from the group. "You invited him?" I asked clearly confused. "You like him don't you?" She said giving me a very serious look. "I...I don't know," I said still very confused. She noticed the worried look in my eyes. "Relax will you? You acting like I just asked him to marry you or something. It's just the water park Clay. And he is here with my friend Ashley," She said in a very calm tone. I looked over at Ashley and then I knew where I met her. She was in my last class with Jamie and Ryan. "So just relax and have fun okay?" Jamie said as she studied my facial expression. "You are right, it's just the water park, what could go wrong," I said as we walked back over to the group. "Welcome back you two... so what were you two talking about?" Josh said as he stared straight at me looking into my eyes. "Nothing," I stated as I kept my eyes from looking into his. Ryan was talking to Jacob and my little brother. He looked at me for a second and smiled, then looked away. We finally started towards the gate again and paid for our entrance into the Water Park. Alex and Tommy wanted to go just them too so I let them but I told them to meet us back at the gate in four hours and to be careful. They nodded and took off into the park. "Your brother is cute," Ryan whispered into my ear. "Eww! Were you like, checking him out?" I ask trying to fake a serious face, but we both broke out in laughter. "I was surprised to see you today," I said back in a whisper. "I know! Jamie called me a few days ago and asked if I wanted to come along," He said smiling at me. But suddenly I felt guilty, "He is probably wondering why I didn't invite him," I thought to myself, but he seemed to catch that because he said," Oh don't worry about it Clay I understand," he said calmly. He started to move away from me but I caught him by his arm and pulled him back. "No wait that came out wrong... I'm really glad you are here Ryan it is just I am a little scared. I know Jamie and Jacob know about me, but Josh doesn't and I guess I was just scared that maybe if I'm with you and him I might do something by mistake and he will find out, you know?" I said, but I still felt bad. "No Clay I understand really... but we don't have to do anything, let's just have fun... like friends would do," Ryan said with that smile crossing his face once more. "That sounds great to me," I said as I gave Ryan a warm smile. We caught up with the others and headed off to some of the rides. Most of the rides we went on I ended up sitting next to Josh, which I didn't mind at all but I kind of wanted to ride something next to Ryan, but I guess maybe next time. As we met Ashley and Jamie we went on a few rides together and finished the day at the park. We all got changed and headed back to the gates where my brother and Tommy were suppose to meet us, only neither of them were to be found. We waited around for about thirty minutes and then I began to panic. Both Alex and Tommy knew they were supposed to be here and Alex is usually always good about things like that. Finally we all decided to split up and look for them. Jamie and Jacob stayed at the gate, in case they came back, Ryan and Ashley went one way to circle the park. Josh and I went the other way. Both Josh and I were screaming Alex and Tommy's name. We ran around the park about four times and still nothing. I called Ryan's cell phone while Josh called Jacob; neither of them has yet to find them. "God. I'm so fucking stupid. I never should have let them go off on their own," I said as I put my face into my hands, and began to sob. "Clay it's going to be alright. We will find them come on," Josh said trying to lift me up but instead I pushed his hands away. I was pissed at myself for letting this happen and I was about to take my anger out on him. "We already looked all around this fucking park. They aren't here...FUCK," I screamed causing most of the people left in the park to look at us and stare. But then Josh did the unthinkable, instead of yelling back at me he pulled me into his arms and held me tight, while whispering "We will find them Clay please, just get yourself together and lets go," in to my ear. I sobbed on his shoulder for a few seconds until we overhead a couple talking. "Yeah but did you see that poor boy, he didn't stand a chance against the bigger kids." "I know, you would think his parents would have been more responsible to watch him, and they can't even find his parent's I swear." I quickly ran after the couple. "Excuse me, I'm so sorry to bother you but I overheard your conversation, where is this boy you mentioned?" I asked as I wiped the remaining tears from my eyes. The couple gave us a strange look until the man began to speak. "They took him to Kapolani hospital back in town son. He was pretty beat up. They say he might not make it. Poor thing too he was only a little teenager," the man said as he turned around and left me standing there with new tears running down my check. Josh grabbed me again but this time I pulled away. "No, we have to go we have to get to the hospital," I said quickly but Josh grabbed my hand and looked me right in the eyes. "Clay we don't know that's him for sure... what if it isn't and we all leave, then he's stuck here," "AND WHAT IF IT IS HIM, YOU HEARD THE GUY HE SAID TEENAGER... ALEX IS A TEENAGER. DO YOU SEE HIM ANYWHERE AROUND HERE?? I DIDN'T THINK SO. NOW I'M GOING WEATHER YOU COME WITH ME OR NOT!" I said very loudly still crying. I ran as fast as I could towards the gate, as I got there Jacob and Jamie both gave me questioning looks, but I ran right past them straight towards Josh's truck. But as I got to Josh's car I realized I didn't have his keys. I cursed to myself and headed back towards the gate, when at the corner of my eye I saw two boys sitting down on a curb. I stopped in my tracks and made my way towards the two boys and saw it was Alex and Tommy. They were sitting on a curb outside the gate, playing some kind of hand game with each other, smiling and laughing away. I ran straight to him and I grabbed him. "I thought I told you to meet us at the gate, where the hell were you," I screamed at him, while crying uncontrollably. There were so many emotions going through me at once I didn't know what came over me. "We got tired of waiting so we came out here to sit and..." Alex said, as he started to shake and look extremely scared. "NEXT TIME I TELL YOU TO WAIT FOR US SOMEWHERE YOU WAIT THERE... DO YOU KNOW WHAT YOU JUST PUT ME THROUGH??? WE WERE LOOKING ALL OVER FOR YOU TWO AND THEN WE HEARD SOME KID GOT HURT BAD AND WENT TO THE HOSPITAL AND I THOUGH IT WAS YOU AND..." But before I could finish Josh and Jacob grabbed me and literally threw me the other way. I landed hard on my ass. Just as I got up Josh grabbed me again and held on to me tightly. There were a lot of tears running down my face and I finally gave up and sobbed all over Josh. I rested my head on his chest and let it all out. He held on to me and rubbed my back saying, "It is okay. Everything will be okay now," and he was right. Alex was safe and so was Tommy. They both seemed fine. After I calmed down I looked over and saw Alex who was on the curb crying with Tommy next to him trying to comfort him much like Josh was doing for me. Jamie was sitting next to my brother and Jacob and Ashley were close by me and Josh talking. Knowing that I caused my brother that much pain made me feel like a complete asshole. I was just so worried so angry, but I never should have taken it out on my brother even if he did not listen, it's not like he did it on purpose. I quickly pulled away from Josh and thanked him. I ran over to Alex and pulled him into a big hug. He hugged me back and cried on me. After a few minutes he calmed down. I let him go and looked him straight in the eye. "Alex, I'm very sorry I screamed at you like that... It's just," I stopped for a moment to think of what I was going to say and started again. "I was scared Alex, scared that something happened to you and Tommy. Then I heard these people talking about a boy who got sent to the hospital and I thought it was you. But I'm so sorry I yelled at you like that Alex. I just love you so much bro, if anything ever happened to you, I don't know what I would do," I said feeling the tears in my eyes starting to fall again. Alex ran back into my arms and I held him for another few minutes. "I'm sorry too Clay. I should have waited where you told me too. I'm sorry," Alex said very meekly. His eyes were as red and water as mine were. "It's okay bro. Just please make sure you try to call me or something next time you cannot meet me where I told you too. Okay?" I said as I finally stopped crying. "Okay." "I love you Alex," I said as I let him go. "I love you too Clayton" Alex said, as he began to smile knowing that he just used my full name and I hated it. "I'll let it go this time, but the next time you call me that I swear I'll," I said but got interrupted. "You will what CLAYTON!" Josh yelled from behind me. I turned around to see that shit eating grin over his face and noticed he was beaming. "Was I talking to you JANET?" Josh's jaw flew wide open and his eyes nearly popped right out of his head. 'WHO TOLD YOU THAT?" Josh threatened, "YOUR SO DEAD ANDERSON!!" He started to chase me, but I already started to run after I said that name. See back when I just met Joshua, his mom tried to make me feel better about losing my mom by telling me all kinds of stories about Joshua, one being that he was dressed up as a girl for Halloween and named Janet. His mom took pictures and everything, and that was the funniest/ cutest thing I have ever seen in my life. Up until now he never knew I knew about things like that. I mean he knew but I guess he thought I forgot. How silly of him. We ended up running in circles until finally we both got tired and gave up. Everyone including my brother and Tommy were giving us confused looks. I ended up telling them the story and then ran for my life again. We all had a good laugh at Josh's expense. As the park started to close we finally said our goodbyes and started to get into our cars to go home. Before we left I walked towards Ryan and motioned for him to follow me someplace a bit more private. "I'm so sorry about today," I began but he stopped me. "Don't say sorry Clay you may have been a jerk to your brother, but I most likely would have done the same thing. It is nice to see how much you care about your little brother. That is really sweet," Ryan said giving me one of his many warm smiles. "Thanks for understanding and thanks for coming even if I didn't invite you. I was really glad you. Maybe next time we can hang out just you and me?" He made a face like he was thinking about it and then imminently said yes. I was glad. We made plans to hang out sometime that week and then he got into Ashley's car and I got into Josh's and we went our separate ways home. The whole way home I thought about the whole day and what had just happened. I looked behind my seat and saw Alex's head in Tommy's lap. They were both sound asleep. I glanced at Josh and noticed he kept looking over in my direction. "What?" I asked softly "Nothing," He replied simply. "Thanks Josh," I said suddenly. He looked confused for a second, but I cleared that up for him. "Thank you for being a great friend. I do not think I could have asked for anyone better then you," I said staring at him while giving him my warmest smile. "You really scared me today Clay. I've never seen you like that before. But I can understand what was going through your head. And don't mention it. He is like my brother too Clay. I would do anything for you two," Josh said as he looked at me and smiled. I smiled back and looked outside my window. The sun was just starting to go down and it was reflecting over the ocean. It was just beautiful. ___________________ To be continued... Thank you for reading my story and I really hope you enjoyed it. Please send all your Comments, Concerns, Questions, Advise, and Pictures. Anything but flames and hate mail to. L0st_cause@Yahoo.com Also join the yahoo group at http://groups.yahoo.com/group/LCStories