"Jason, honey, I talked to your father today and we both agree that regardless of whether you have your homework done or not, you should go be with your boyfriend this weekend. However, that doesn't mean that it shouldn't be done, so if you promise to do it when you are with Jon, you can go."

You couldn't have erased the smile from my face if you had tried. I was so worried that the extra bit of homework that I was assigned because of being late for my first class would have delayed my seeing Jon today. I hugged her tightly and told her that I loved her. When we separated I noticed that she had tears in her eyes, but I didn't mention it to her as I'm sure she noticed that I also had tears in mine.

I opened the bag she had prepared for me and put my homework inside. I then made a bee-line dash for the phone and dialed up Jon's number. After a couple rings I heard the boy that I loved answer the phone.

"Hello?"

"Jon, it's me," I said into the phone.

"Me who? I know lots of people named 'me'," Jon replied, the obvious sound of giggling escaping from his lips.

"It's Jason silly!" I answered. "Guess what? My parents are letting me go to your house as soon as you say it's okay to come over. I have to bring my homework there, but since we only have that English assignment to do and the reading for Monday to finish, it should take us no time to get it done and then the whole weekend is ours!"

"Thats great! Listen, my mom is really looking forward to seeing you this weekend. Actually, she and your mother made arrangements to go out for some lunch to get to know each other tomorrow. That means we'll have some time to ourselves for a while."

"Cool!" I replied.

"Listen, Jay. I know something happened to you and I know you don't want to talk about it, certainly not over the phone, but whatever it is, my feelings for you won't change. There's nothing that you could say to make me feel differently about you..." Jon said softly.

"Thanks Jon. It really does mean a lot to me to hear you say that. I just don't know if I can. I want to have a good time and forget about yesterday," I told him.

"Alright Jay. I love you, and we will talk about this some more, but you are're right, I want us to have a great time together this weekend. There is so much I want to show you."

"I look forward to it Jon," I said.

"Me too. Anyway, enough of this!" Jon exclaimed. "Get your butt off the phone and get over here."

Chuckling a bit I answered, "Alright babe. I already have my bag ready to go. I just have to say good bye to my mom and I'll head on over."

"Good. I'll be waiting for you. Talk to you later Jay. I love you."

"I love you too Jon. Bye!"

"Bye."

I hung up the phone, a smile on my face, as I thought about the weekend I was about to have with my boyfriend. My mother was at the kitchen sink, washing some vegetables for the dinner she was preparing.

"You're heading out now then dear?" my mother asked, looking at me.

"Yeah Mom, I can't wait to be with Jon this weekend," I replied.

My mother turned off the water, dried her hands, and pulled me into one of her hugs. "You take care of yourself Jason. Have fun, but be careful."

"I will Mom," I said as she let me go to pick up my bag. I was excited, but nervous too. This was the first time since I was a little kid that I had slept over at anyone's house, and it was the first time that I would be sleeping with my boyfriend.

I looked back at my mother, smiled and said, "Bye Mom."

"Bye dear, I'll probably see you on Saturday. I'm going to be having lunch with Jon's mother."

"Okay Mom. I'll see you then. Thanks," I said as I opened the door and walked outside, closing it behind me.

I was thinking of taking my bike, but I wanted some time to think before I got to Jon's house, so I decided to walk instead. I mean, it isn't as if I didn't want to get to Jon's place as fast as I could, I did, but what Paul did to me the other day was still weighing heavily on my mind. Try as I might, I couldn't get it out of my head. The feelings of terror had long since gone, replaced now with an overwhelming sense of anger and the need to see him pay for what he did. I couldn't do this alone I knew, I had to tell Jon. I just hoped he could still love me knowing what happened.

The walk to Jon's house was uneventful. It took me maybe fifteen minutes to get to his house, and when I arrived, I stood at Jon's door. I didn't knock, or anything, I just stood there. To say I was nervous would have been an understatement. I knew what I had to do, but I couldn't get my body to do it. Shaking my head, I raised my hand and knocked on the door.

What seemed like eternity, but was in actuality most likely only a few seconds, the door opened and there standing before me was the most beautiful sight I had ever laid my eyes on... my boyfriend. No words were exchanged but we immediately grabbed each other into a tight hug and kissed. Not a soft gentle kiss mind you, I'm talking about a full-on passionate kiss. As my lips touched his I could feel his lips part, giving my tongue access to this hot cavity. My tongue found his as we embraced and they danced together, a dance so loving it could have brought about world peace, or so it seemed.

A noise behind Jon broke us out of our passion and we reluctantly let each other go, looking at one another with love in our eyes. "Well, it's so sweet how much you boys have fallen in love with each other, but shall we go inside or would you rather we sell tickets for the neighbors?"

Immediately both of our faces turned crimson as we looked at Jon's mother standing behind Jon. There was a quivering smile on her face and a sparkle in her eye. She was trying really hard to not burst out laughing, but didn't succeed. I didn't think I could blush any harder than I was at that moment, but I did. Looking at Jon, I could see that he was the same way.

"Mom! Please!" Jon exclaimed.

"I'm sorry dear. I couldn't resist, but don't you think you should invite your boyfriend inside? You can't spend the whole weekend at the door locked at the lips you know," she replied.

"I know Mom, Jay, this is my mom, Sarah Fisher."

"Hi Ms. Fisher. It's nice to meet you."

"Hello Jason. I'm glad to see you feeling better. Come inside, I'm just about ready to take supper out of the oven. I hope you like lasagna," she said as we walked into the house and to the kitchen.

My mouth was already beginning to water. "Ms. Fisher, I love lasagna!" I exclaimed.

"Easy there babe," Jon giggled.

I closed my mouth quickly in embarrassment, I'm sure my face was turning a deep crimson that would have made Rudolph's nose seem dull by comparison. "Um, do you need help with anything Ms. Fisher?" I asked her.

"Thank you no, Jason. You and Jon go into the living room and watch some TV for a few minutes. Dinner will be ready as soon as it has had a chance to cool down some," she responded.

I could tell by the look on Jon's face that he'd rather go some place else besides the living room right about then, but we both headed to the living room. As soon as I saw the equipment Jon had in there I stopped in my tracks and my jaw hit the floor, I'm sure literally. The set up was, to put it mildly, breathtaking. While my parents made do with our 27" RCA TV which I had thought was pretty big, and a VCR, Jon had a huge projection screen TV set. It must have been at least a 50". Sitting beside it in a beautiful black entertainment center sat his VCR, CD player, stereo, and even a Nintendo game system.

"Impressive isn't it?" Jon said to me quietly behind me.

All I could do was nod my head in agreement. "You never told me you had any of this cool stuff," I said finally, turning my head slightly towards him.

"Yeah, well, I don't like to brag," he said. "My mom's not rich or anything, she won the TV on some contest and we already had the rest of the stuff. We used to have a 27" TV before."

"Cool!" I exclaimed. "That's what we have at home, and I thought that was big. But this is like, huge!"

"Wanna see what it looks like?" he asked me.

"Hell yeah!" I said.

Jon picked up a remote from the coffee table, which was sitting in front of a three-seater couch, and turned the TV on. There, on the screen, was one of my favorite shows, Star Trek, and it was like being in a movie theater.

Suddenly, from the kitchen we heard Jon's mother calling for us, letting us know that dinner was ready. The TV already forgotten, I quickly went to the kitchen with Jon. The smell of lasagna permeated the air in the kitchen as the cover was taken off of it. While I was admiring the equipment in Jon's living room, Ms. Fisher had already set the table, two plates side by side and the other on the opposite side of the table. I started to make my way to the lone place setting thinking that Jon's mother might want to sit beside her son, but she quickly stopped me and told me to sit beside Jon. I smiled and sat down in the seat beside my boyfriend while she brought the lasagna over.

"Go ahead Jason, dig in. Cut out as big a piece as you want. If you are anything like Jon, I'm sure you'll be taking a decent sized helping."

Well she wasn't wrong about that. I was hungry, and I love lasagna. We each helped ourselves to the lasagna, and I must say I was impressed. When my mother makes lasagna, she tends to go a little light on the meat and cheese, but Jon's mother made sure there was plenty of both. I was surprised it could still fit in the pan she used. I must have finished the piece in record time and she noticed that as she handed me the pan for me so I could take some more. Who was I to argue? I took another helping and dug into that like I hadn't eaten in days.

"So Jason," Jon's mother started, "what happened to you the other day? Both Jon and I were worried about you."

I looked at my plate, poking my lasagna with my fork. Suddenly it didn't look too appetizing. "Nothing," I mumbled.

Jon and his mother looked at each other. Jon, I noticed, had also stopped eating.

"May I be excused? I have to use the bathroom," I asked

"Of course, upstairs at the end of the hall," she answered.

I left the table and went up the stairs to the bathroom. Once there, I sat on the toilet and began to cry. I didn't want to face this now. I wanted to have fun with Jon. All I kept asking myself was... why? Why did this happen to me? I don't know how long I sat on the toilet crying, but next thing I knew, I had a hand on my shoulder and a soft voice talking to me.

"Babe, it's okay. Whatever it is, we'll worth through it together," I looked up to see Jon kneeling down, the look of genuine concern on his face. "Please tell me what happened Jay. I want to help if I can. I love you. No matter what it is, my feelings for you will never change."

Tears were running down my cheeks, my sobs becoming less intense, I simply looked at him and asked, "How can you say that? No one could love me like that now."

"No matter what babe, I mean that, " Jon said, gently squeezing my shoulder with the hand that he still had there.

"If I tell you, you won't feel that way about me anymore and then I'll lose you," I said, looking away from him. I could feel my tears beginning to well up in my eyes again.

"Jay, we've only known each other for a short time, but in that time I have come to love you like no other person. Whatever it is, believe me, my feelings for you will never change," Jon said reassuringly.

I don't know what came over me, all the pain, the anger, everything I felt since that day came out in a single outburst. I looked at Jon again and I shouted, "HE RAPED ME!" after which everything when black.

* * *

"Mom we have to do something! I know who did this to him," Jon cried. He was sitting with his mom at the foot of his bed. I learned later that it was Jon who put me on the bed after I had fainted in the bathroom.

"Who honey? Who would have done this to Jason? I can't believe he's been able to function at all," Jon's mother said, looking at me as I lay there unconscious.

"It was Paul. I know it was! He's always been after Jay, and from what I learned, he's been getting worse."

"You mean that kid who you told me was picking on Jason at school?" his mother asked.

"Yeah. He got suspended and I bet he did that to Jay to get back at him."

"Honey, we don't know that for sure, and unless Jason tells us who did it, we can't accuse people without proof."

"So what can we do Mom?" Jon asked his mother.

"The only thing we can do, you are going to stay with him and let him know he's not alone. I have a phone call to make, and I'm not going to enjoy this one bit." The anger in her voice was unmistakable. Jon told me later on that he had never seen his mother that upset before.

When his mother had left his room, Jon got up and sat down beside me, his hand rubbing my arm.

About that time I was beginning to come around. When my eyes opened and I saw Jon sitting beside me, rubbing my arm, I began to cry again. Jon stopped rubbing my arm and lay down with me, facing me. I just melted into him, grabbing a hold of him and burying my face in his chest as I cried.

Downstairs, meanwhile, Jon's mother was on the phone. As it turned out she had called my home and my mother had answered the phone.

"Yes Karen, I'm as shocked as you are. I knew something was bothering Jason, and I asked him about it. Actually, I feel a little guilty about it because he was really enjoying his meal I had to go ruin it for him by bringing this up," she said.

"It had to come out sooner or later. My God! He has to be hurting right now. My husband and I are on our way right now, we'll be there in a few minutes," my mother on the other end of the phone told her.

"Okay, I'll see you in a few. I wish we could meet under better circumstances. Jon's with Jason right now, I don't think we'll be able to get Jon to leave Jason at all. He really loves him."

"Are you okay with that Sarah?" my mother asked her.

"It has nothing to do with me. I'm not happy about it, but I love my son and I know that this is who he is. No matter what I'll support him. I'm just scared for him because I know he'll face a life of discrimination from people."

"I know what you mean. My husband and I wish Jason wasn't gay, but what he needs most is support and love, and we love him so much that that is exactly what we are going to give him. Okay, we are on our way over right now. I'll talk to you in a bit. Bye."

"Bye," Jon's mother said and hung up the phone. She then headed up the stairs to her son's room where she saw the most loving sight she had ever laid her eyes on. There was her son, in bed, with his boyfriend, holding him tightly as Jason wept into his chest. Jon heard her, and looked at her standing in the doorway, a frightened look on his face, and yet Sarah could also see the anger that was building up behind those eyes. She knew that both Jason and her son were going to have a tough time with this. Truthfully, she was just as angry. Angry at a school system that didn't do more to prevent things like this from happening, angry at the person who did this to him, and even angry at herself for causing this to come out now when Jason was having a wonderful time before.

The sound of a car pulling into the driveway snapped Sarah out of her thoughts and concern for Jason and made her way back downstairs to open the door for Jason's parents. She had barely opened the door when both of them walked right into the house.

"Where's my son?" asked my father.

"He's upstairs on Jon's bed with Jon," Sarah answered.

Without any hesitation, my father raced up the stairs and looked for Jon's room. Finally finding it he walked right in and looked at the two of us. "Jon," he said.

Jon got off the bed and hugged my father, who, after hesitating for a second, returned the hug. Jon began to cry into my father's chest. "Why? Why would he do something like that to my baby?"

When Jon began to calm down, my father pulled away from him and looked into his face. "I don't know Jon. Some people like to feel in control and have power over people. My son, your boyfriend, did nothing to deserve this. It wasn't his fault Jon," my father said reassuringly.

Jon wiped away the tears that streaked his face. "I know. I'm so sad for Jay. I love him, and it hurts to see that he is in pain, and I feel angry. I want to get the person who did this to him."

"I know Son, I feel the same way too, but Jason is going to need us to be there for him and the last thing he needs, is for us to get into trouble ourselves. The person who did this to my son will be made to pay for what he did, but we will let the proper authorities handle it. Now, I need you to leave me alone with my son for a minute." Jon started to speak up, but my father interrupted him, "I know you want to be with him, and trust me, normally I would, but I need to speak with my son alone. When I am done, you can be with him. Don't worry Son, all I'm going to do is see if there is anything I can do for him."

Jon reluctantly agreed and walked out of his room and closed the door. He refused to budge from the spot where he was sitting just outside the door in the hallway.

My father sat on the bed beside me. Since he had come into the room, I hadn't said a word. All I wanted was my boyfriend with me, to hold me and make this pain go away. It was just him and me, and I was scared. I didn't want my parents to know what had happened to me. I guess my father saw the fear in my eyes as he gently began to rub my back like he used to do when I was a kid. All the while he kept whispering softly, "It's going to be okay Son. Your mom and I are here. We love you." I gave in and sat up and hugged him, once more crying, but this time on my father. He hugged me back and kept telling me that everything was going to be okay. I wanted to believe him; I just didn't see how it would be.

Downstairs my mother was sitting with Jon's mother. Jon's mother had prepared some coffee and the two of them were now discussing things about me.

"I just can't believe it!" my mother said loudly. "Who would do that to my son? He's never done anything to anyone before. Granted he's a typical teenager who gets into mischief every once and a while, but he's never done anything to hurt anyone, so why would they want to do that to him?" My mother's hands were shaking a bit as she held her cup to her mouth to take a sip.

"I don't know how you can do it Karen," Jon's mother stated. "If that was my son upstairs I'd be right there with him."

"Don't take this the wrong way Sarah because I love my son with all my heart. This is something that my husband and I agreed on before coming here. I want to be up there so badly but we both felt that it was best not to crowd him. Once my husband has had a chance to talk to him, and maybe get him to calm down a bit, I'll go see him. Right now, the less people that are there with him, the more comfortable he'll be. You have to understand Sarah, I work with people who have been taken advantage of, and some of them have been raped."

"I'm sorry Karen," Jon's mother said. "I didn't know. I guess there is a lot about each other that we don't know." As she said this she walked behind my mother and put her hands on my mother's shoulders, giving them a gentle squeeze. My mother smiled at this, and reached for one of the hands and held onto it.

"Don't worry about it Sarah," my mother said. "That's what tomorrow was supposed to be about. But I guess Murphy interfered once again." Both my mother and Jon's mother had a laugh over that statement. Iit didn't last long though as both of them were very worried about me.

Upstairs I had finally calmed down enough to be able to look at my father. I noticed that he too had been crying a bit. My father was always a strong, proud man and I would never have mentioned it except right at that moment. "Dad, why are you crying?" I asked him.

"I'm sad because someone hurt you, Son," he answered me. "But I'm also angry." I guess he saw me flinch at those words because he immediately followed up by saying, "No, not at you. I'm angry at the person who did this to you."

"I didn't want him to, but he made me; told me he would hurt me real bad if I didn't do what he told me to do. I was so scared dad!" I cried.

"I know Son. Anyone in your position would be. It wasn't your fault. You hear me? You did nothing wrong. The only person to blame is the one who did this to you. Now, I know this is going to be tough, and we have a long road ahead of us to help you get through this, and we'll all be here for you. Your mom and me, your boyfriend; who I can see loves you very much, and his mother. We're all going to help you with this, son."

"Thank you, thank you, thank you," I kept repeating as I hugged him tight and cried.

"It's okay Son. Now, I need to know something. If the police are going to be able to catch this person we need to know as much as possible about him that you can remember. Can you do that for me?" my dad asked gently, my head still resting on his chest.

"He told me he would hurt me more if I told anyone dad. I'm so scared!"

"Son, no one is going to hurt you again. I'm going to make sure of that. Jon is going to make sure of that too. Trust us. Can you do that for us?" my father asked me.