Love Me 7

I want to thank everyone who has read the story. I also want to thank those who have emailed. It means a lot hearing from you. Please continue reading! There is a lot more to come. I own all rights to this story.

If you don't like this type of story or you don't agree with the issues in this story, then please feel free to read elsewhere.

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None of the characters are based on real people nor are they meant to resemble any living or dead people.

This story contains some adult language as well as sex, or some hints of sex. I cannot promise that there will be sex in each chapter, but if you find my writing to be offensive or distasteful in any way, you're visiting the wrong website and need to move on.

No doubt about it, I have shed more tears on Love Me than I have with any other story. Guys, I know that the way Riley's injuries and recovery are portrayed are not realistic as far as time goes or in many other way. I took a little break to remind myself of where I might want to take things. I am not a doctor, I don't know anyone who has suffered through a T.B.I. (Traumatic Brain Injury) nor have I suffered through one myself. Please don't hate on me too much.

Love Me

Chapter 7 – One of Many

A month has finally come and gone and for Riley, the time to go home has finally arrived. Riley and Caden are excited. Riley will still have to have follow-up appointments and physical therapy appointments, but he will no longer need to stay in the hospital. From now on the only bed that he'll be sleeping in will be his own. Caden was going to ask Ethan to ride up with him so there would be an extra set of arms to help catch Riley, should he stumble, but he knew better than to ask. Instead of asking Ethan and becoming upset when he refused, Caden called Jared. Jared jumped at the chance to come along and help. Jared will meet him at the apartment just long enough to get Riley inside. Caden is realizing that somewhere in their relationship Ethan took a wrong turn. He is also realizing that he is not innocent either.

A nurse walks into Riley's hospital room and smiles.

"Hi Riley, hi big brother! Riley, I am going to remove the IVs and remove the monitor pads from your chest."

"O-okay!" Riley is excited.

It didn't take her very long to remove everything, and she says, "All done. I'm going to miss you Riley. She smiles as she looks at Caden and says, "You take care of my boyfriend."

"I will; no worries."

She pulls out a bag from the closet that has everything that Riley was wearing on the day that he was admitted. She leaves the room for a few minutes and then comes back with the discharge papers.

"Fill out these papers and then hand them in at the nurse's station on your way out. Doctor Nichols will be in to see you in just a minute or two."

"Thank you."

Caden just wants to get of the hospital. Riley is getting anxious to leave as well. Once he's home, Caden can figure out the rest of his stuff. The nurses and tech people are busy cleaning and removing machines from the room. Just as they clear out, Doctor Nichols enters.

"Good morning, guys! Are you ready to go home Riley?"

"Ye-Yes!"

The smile on Riley's face left no doubt about his readiness to get out of the hospital.

"I'm going to listen to your heart for a second."

Riley was quiet while the doctor checked him out.

"Everything sounds okay. How are you feeling?"

"Go-good!"

Riley doesn't want to talk. He wants to leave.

"C-can we go ho-home no-now?

"You can go home once your brother fills out the paperwork."

Riley looks at his brother as if to say, `Hurry up!'

"Hold on, I'm almost done."

Riley smiles. Caden finishes with the papers and looks at Riley. He forgot that the boy needs to get out of his hospital gown. Caden closes the door and helps his brother get dressed. It wasn't fun for Caden having to help to dress his brother, but it's something they both have to get used to... at least for now. Riley seemed to understand and he took it in stride.

"Okay, Riley, we're all done. You need to hang tight until I get back."

"Ju-just hur-hurry Caden, I wa-want to-to go home."

Caden walks out of the room and heads to the nurse's station. When he gets there, he hands the nurse on duty Riley's discharge papers. She calls for an orderly to go to Riley's room. Riley hears the announcement and his excitement level grows. He's ready to take off walking.

The orderly shows up with a wheel chair. He smiles at Riley.

"Are you ready to get out of here?"

"Ye-yes, I-I'm re-ready."

Caden thought he saw Riley checking out the orderly.

`Good to know that Riley is still Riley.'

Caden was scared that with the injury, parts of him, those things that make him Riley, might be gone.

"Let's get into the wheelchair."

Riley gets up from the bed and, with some support from the orderly, he's able to sit in the chair. Caden has everything else that needs to be taken home.

The orderly looks at Caden and says, "I'll let you lead you the way."

"Sounds good to me, are you ready to head home, bro?"

"Ye-Yes, I-I'm ready."

Caden is surprised by his brother's attitude. He gets to the elevator first and holds it open for Riley and the orderly.

On the ride down, Caden says to the orderly, "You know what? I'll bring the car around so you don't have to walk so far."

Caden knows this guy spends a lot of time on his feet so maybe he'll appreciate Caden's gesture. Riley is getting excited and impatient. He wants to get away from this place. Being stuck in the hospital was not much fun and there is a lot of stuff to get caught up on, and he can't wait to get to it.

Luckily, it didn't take Caden very long to get the car. He pulls up in front of the hospital exit. He gets out of the car and comes around and opens the front passenger-side door. Caden watches as the orderly moves Riley and the chair closer to the car.

"Okay, Riley, I'm going to help you stand up," the orderly says.

Even Caden noticed, `Hmm... this guy is cute and polite,' But he is most grateful for the orderly's politeness. The hospital staff has gone out of their way to make Riley feel good about himself and to make him feel comfortable. The orderly, Jason, helped get Riley to his feet and then made sure that Riley made it safely into the car. Caden reaches across Riley and gets his seat belt on him. After closing the passenger door, he walks around to the driver's side and gets into the car. He closes the door, pulls the car out of the parking place and heads home.

"Are... are we... going to our house?"

Caden isn't sure which house Riley is talking about, so he decides to be cautious.

"We are going to my apartment."

Riley and Caden have already had this conversation, but he also knows that Riley has some memory issues.

"Why?"

"It's complicated, buddy, but let's just say that no one is home at Mom and Dad's house."

"Oh."

Riley looks down at the mats in the car, and at the same time the questions quit coming. A few minutes later, the car pulls into the apartment complex. Once the car is parked and the seat belts are off, Caden opens his door. As he comes around to the other side, Jared gets out of his car.

"Are we ready to get him out and into the apartment?"

"Yes, he's ready to rock and roll."

Caden opens the door and Jared stands ready to assist. Caden reaches out his hand to Riley to help him get out of the car. Riley pushes his brother's hand away.

"I-I can do-do this... myself."

"Okay." Caden has to let him try to do things on his own. When does he step up to help Riley is the big question. Riley swings one foot around and places it on the ground and then he swings the other foot around and onto the ground. Ever-so-slowly, he pulls himself up and out.

"I-I told... you, that... that I could do it."

"Awesome job, bro!" Caden gave him a high five and was reminded of something... Riley doesn't have great balance. He needed a little help getting his equilibrium getting out of the car.

"Riley, Jared and I are going to walk with you until we get to the apartment."

Riley didn't want the help from his brother or from Jared. He wants to prove that he can do this without any help. The problem is that they're not giving him a choice. Jared and Caden are on either side of Riley. They're ready to grab him if he starts to fall. Caden wants his brother safe. Luckily, there aren't any stairs to deal with. Caden uses his key to enter the building. Together, they walk to the apartment, where Caden unlocks the door.

"Here we are; home, sweet home."

Caden stops and lets Riley enter the apartment first.

"Where... where is my room?"

"It's down the hall and to the left."

Riley smiles.

Jared taps Caden on the shoulder and says, "I'm going to head out."

"Thanks, Jared. I really appreciate you coming out."

"No problem."

Caden wishes that Jared would stick around for a bit, but he understands Jared's crazy work schedule. He may work from home, but he still has deadlines to meet, so he stays plenty busy. Riley is looking around the living room and just taking in the apartment.

= = =

Caden wants to get the rules taken care of now.

"Riley, I need you to sit down for a second, okay?"

"Okay.

Riley sits down on the couch and Caden sits next to him.

"Everything okay, little brother?"

"Yeah." He's still taking in the apartment.

"Cool. Well, I need to go over a few things with you."

Caden paused to make sure that Riley is taking everything in. He was advised to take things slow at first. It seems like pretty good advice."

"Bedtime is ten o'clock; no discussion. You can go to bed at 11:00 or 11:30 on the weekends."

"Okay, Caden, I'll be... be good."

He won't have much of a choice, since Caden will be home most of the time. He's still hoping that Ethan will turn himself around and help him out.

"You have to knock before opening the bathroom door or my bedroom door."

Riley chuckled.

`It would be funny, if I caught Caden with his pants down,' he thinks to himself.

Caden hopes that Riley won't barge in on Ethan; that would not be good. Caden is actually really worried about Ethan and Riley.

"Stay away from Ethan, okay?"

Caden wants to limit any chance of issues between his brother and his boyfriend.

"Who's E-Ethan?"

"Ethan is my boyfriend."

"Oh!" Riley seems surprised at the boyfriend thing, but it's something Riley should have already known.

"Is E-Ethan me-mean?"

"Yeah, he has been lately."

Riley doesn't want to upset Ethan. Caden hopes that Ethan will choose to be nice. At the same time, Ethan had better realize that Caden will defend his brother.

"What do you want to do?"

Riley thinks for a second.

"I want to watch tele-television."

Caden hands him the remote. Riley looks at the remote and then at Caden.

"Help me!"

Caden turns on the television.

"What do you want to watch?"

"I wan-want to wat-watch Spi-Spider-Man."

"It's not on right now, but maybe this will help."

Caden turns on the game system and gets to the video section and opens into his video streaming package and brings up Spider-Man, the movie.

"Wrong... wrong Spider-Man; I-I want a car... toon."

"Okay, okay. So you're looking for a cartoon?"

"Yes, I want the cartoon."

In a flash, Caden had what he thought his brother wanted to watch.

= = =

When Ethan arrives home, he sees Riley and proceeds to the bedroom. Caden sees his behavior and just shakes his head in disbelief. Riley just looks at Caden.

"Is that you-your boyfriend?"

Caden hangs his head down in shame. He's embarrassed at the thought that he could be a boyfriend to someone so rude.

"Yes, that was my boyfriend, Ethan. Riley, stay here, okay? I'm going to talk with Ethan."

`Watch him blow up at me, and all I want is to keep this nice.'

Walking down the hallway, Caden comes to the door of their bedroom. The door is shut and the television is on. He opens the door and walks into the room. He gets on the bed and tries to cuddle with Ethan. His attempts to be romantic get ignored. Ethan isn't in a cuddling mood at the moment.

"I thought you had a shoot today."

"I was supposed to, but someone forgot to tell the stupid cameraman to have a backup camera. His one and only camera had a malfunction, so here I am."

`It feels good to having polite conversation with Ethan. Where did my old Ethan go?'

"You know, you could have said hello to my brother when you came in."

Ethan gives Caden a stern look. He really doesn't want to have this conversation right now. All he wants to do is talk about anything besides that boy in the living room. Apparently, Caden just doesn't get it. Instead of replying, Ethan continues to watch television.

= = =

It's okay for Ethan to upset Caden, but it's not okay for him to upset Riley. Somehow, he needs to get Ethan to understand that Riley doesn't need to be upset. Knowing him the way Caden does, it's just a matter of time before there is a confrontation.

"Ethan, if you want to ignore someone or hate someone, you can do it to me. All I ask is that you don't hate on Riley."

If Ethan wasn't hot before, he is now.

"Look, you didn't ask my opinion on any of this Riley stuff, and when I did mention something, I was wrong. You really have no clue, do you, Mr. Boyfriend?"

Caden is a little taken aback by what Ethan said.

"Ethan, you never once asked me anything about him or his health status. When I tried to mention something, you seemed more interested in confronting me than talking to me. All I ask is just don't be rude to him."

Ethan stared at Caden. He isn't sure if he wants to say anything in response. At this point, he doesn't want to be involved at all.

"You want me to play nice and not be rude to him? Then keep him away from me."

At this point, all Caden can do is try to keep the peace.

"I'll try, but you have to give a little bit."

Ethan just shrugs his shoulders. He has no intention of giving even a little bit. Caden can see that he's getting nowhere, so he walks out of the room.

= = =

Caden is at the dining room table, and doesn't see Riley get up to use the bathroom. He slowly makes his way to the door. Finding it shut, he knocks and then waits for an answer. Ethan is in the bathroom and doesn't hear the knocking at the door because he's listening to his MP3 player. Riley opens the door and catches Ethan in the act. He's holding his penis and peeing into the toilet.

"GET OUT!" Ethan screams at Riley.

All Riley can do is blush and turn to leave. "Sorry!" Riley is embarrassed and upset. He walks out of the bathroom so fast that he almost trips. Riley is afraid that Ethan will be angry, but that isn't the case. Ethan is just as embarrassed as Riley is, so he's choosing to ignore it for the most part. He thinks his partner should hear about it though. After washing his hands, Ethan approaches his boyfriend.

"I want you to know that your brother walked in on me while I was pissing. I'm surprised you didn't come running when I yelled at him to get out. In case he says something, all I did was raise my voice. This time it was my fault for not locking the door. Believe me; I'll make sure the door is locked next time."

Caden wants to laugh, but he holds it in so he doesn't make the situation worse.

"Thanks for telling me."

Caden is actually impressed with the way Ethan handled the situation. It could have been a lot worse. Now he needs to turn to his attention to his brother. Walking over to him, he tries to choose his words carefully.

"Riley, Ethan told me what happened."

Riley's face instantly turns bright red. He's not only embarrassed, but now he's a little worried.

"Am... I-I... bad?"

It took Riley a few seconds to get the words out. The words, "Am I going to be punished?" just wouldn't come out of his mouth.

"No, you are not bad. Did you knock?"

"Ye-Yes, I-I... knocked."

`Well that's good. I wonder why Ethan didn't respond.'

"As long as you knocked, then you did the right thing."

Caden's words make Riley feel better.

= = =

A little later, Riley is feeling tired. He walks up to Caden to let him know that he's tired. Caden's not surprised. It's been a busy day.

"Do you want to lie down?"

Riley yawns and Caden smiles.

"I'll take that as a `yes'. Your room is across from the bathroom, remember?"

Caden stayed at the table working on a project, so he wasn't watching to see where Riley went. By the time Riley got to the bathroom, he's confused. Ethan walks by Riley. He can see the lost expression on Riley's face, but he does nothing to help. Ethan walks away leaving Riley standing there. Luckily, Caden comes down to the bathroom and finds his brother just standing there.

"Riley, what are you doing? I thought you were taking a nap?"

"I... I got lost."

He's feeling more and more frustrated with his new life.

"Did you forget where I told you to go?"

Riley nods his head affirmatively.

Caden points across the hall from the bathroom. "It's right here, buddy, remember?"

He opens the door to the room so Riley doesn't have to mess with it. Riley slowly makes his way towards the room. Caden stays and watches to make sure that Riley makes it to the bed okay. Once his little brother gets to the bed, Caden goes into the bathroom.

At around 2:30 PM, Caden receives a call from his boss to come into work for a short meeting.

`Great, who is going to watch Riley?'

The more he thought about it, the more he feels that Riley would be better off coming with him. His brother might be bored up there, but at least he'll be looked after. After all, it's not an option to even ask Ethan. Riley comes out of the room after a good hour's nap and is now eyeing the game console.

"Riley, I have to go into work today and you're going with me."

Riley's expression is priceless. He has no interest in going with him, but he goes anyway. Riley stands up and Caden walks over to him; together they walk out to the car. Caden opens the car and unlocks the doors. Walking over to the passenger side, he helps his brother get into the car.

"What... what are... we... doing?"

"Remember, we're going to my work. I have a meeting."

Caden helps Riley with the seat belt, and then closes the passenger side door. Walking back around, he gets in, puts on his seat belt, and starts the car.

"Off we go!" Caden smiles as he takes off. As they move towards the shelter, Riley's anxiety level rises. He's worried about how people will treat him. He wants people to like him. Caden can see the worry on his brother's face. Now he just needs to calm him down.

`I forgot to let Mr. Pierce know that I'm bringing Riley with me.'

"Call Boss."

The phone calls his boss.

"Mr. Pierce speaking, how can I help you?"

"Hi, Mr. Pierce, Caden here. I know you want me to come to work for that meeting, but I don't have anyone to stay with Riley, so I'm bringing him with me. Is that okay?"

"No sweat, Ryan is here today. I'm sure he'll be willing to spend time with your brother."

Now Riley is even more nervous.

"Thanks, Mr. Pierce, I'll page him when I get to my office. Thanks again."

"You're welcome, Caden. I'll see you when you get here."

Mr. Pierce ends the call, as does Caden.

"My boss has a friend he wants you to meet. What do you think?"

Riley isn't sure that he wants to meet anyone. Caden is hoping that Ryan will distract Riley. Ryan might be a new friend; something Riley needs. Last thing he needs is to slip into depression. A good friend will help keep that from happening.

= = =

The car pulls into the shelter's parking lot. Caden stops the car, undoes his seat belt, and then gets out of the car. Walking around the car, he opens the door for Riley.

"Riley, can you get the seatbelt?"

Riley reaches with his left hand to push the button. He pushes the button and the seat belt comes off, but he can't get untangled.

"Help... me Caden."

"Okay, Riley, give me a second."

Caden carefully lifts the seat belt out of his brother's way.

"Let's get inside the building."

They start walking towards the building. Letting go of Riley's hand, he opens the doors to the shelter.

"Can someone hold the door for me?" Caden asks, to no one in particular.

"Sure, I can get it for you."

A young girl who can't be much older than Riley steps up to help out.

"Thank you."

Going back to his brother, Caden reaches out a hand to him.

"Let's walk, Tiger!"

Riley didn't want to hold hands with his brother, but Caden was not giving him any other option. Together they walk into the building.

"Thanks," Riley said to the young lady holding the door. Riley turned to his brother gave him a very concerned look.

"You... you didn't say... than-thanks."

"Riley, I did say `thank you' to her before I came back to you."

"Oh." Riley felt bad for saying anything. They walk down a long hallway until they come to an office. The first thing that Caden notices are the flowers on his desk. Riley walks up to Caden's desk and looks at picture sitting on it. He studies the picture, but only recognizes Caden and him.

"Is... this... our... family?"

"Yes, it is our family."

Caden watches as he looks over the picture. He tries to name the people in the picture but he can't. The frustration shows through again, but this time Caden can't see it.

"I need to make a phone call and relax for a second."

Riley carefully lowers himself to the floor.

"Can I draw?"

His brother doesn't answer him. Instead he simply puts a finger to his lips.

"Ryan Mitchell, come to room 8. Ryan Mitchell, come to room 8."

"Well, that's done. You want to draw, right?"

"Yes!"

Caden grabs several sheets of paper from his printer and hands them to Riley, along with a pencil and notebook. Instantly, Riley begins to draw. None of the lines are straight, so Riley erases more than he draws. In less than a minute, Riley is done.

"I don't want to draw."

Riley is upset and all he does is stare at the mess on the papers.

"Looks good, bro!"

Caden's words only frustrate Riley even more. Somewhere amongst his stuff are drawings from school that have won art fairs. An unfished piece is sitting in the school's art room. Riley wants to draw, but his hands just aren't cooperating. He hands the paper back to his brother.

= = =

While Riley's head is turned, in walks Ryan. Ryan Mitchell is a hard guy to figure out. Ryan enjoys all kinds of sports, but he is far from the usual jock. He's never bullied anyone; instead he watches over the kids who are friendless. They may not even know it. He'll make impressions on their bullies. He has the muscles to back him up if he needs to. This young man is proud of his reputation as a nice guy. He came out to the world two years ago when he found out his favorite teacher is gay. Finding out gave him a big push to take that leap, so he took it. He's never looked back on that day either. Ryan is busy showing the world that stereotypes are stupid. Now he hopes that he's an example to others. Ryan started volunteering here when he was 13 years old. He loves the kids who reside here, and even though he's cried his eyes out on occasion from hearing their stories, he keeps coming back. He plays with, talks with, and listens to the kids. Today looked as if it might be boring, but then, suddenly, someone caught his eye. His favorite staff member is back. Caden wasn't alone though. He wonders who this person is, and why Caden never mentioned him before.

Caden looks up from his desk when he hears Ryan come into the room.

"Ryan, you are blessing in disguise. Can you hang out with my brother?"

Riley doesn't want a babysitter, but when he sees Ryan, he suddenly doesn't mind so much. Ryan is over 6 feet tall, has brownish blonde hair, and has brown eyes. Riley can't take his eyes off the muscles. Riley is a crushing on an older guy. Ryan is 17. Riley hopes Ryan agrees to stay with him.

"Sure, no probs, Caden, I can stay with him."

Ryan's smile lit up the room. Something about him feels familiar, but Riley can't place him.

"Ryan, can I talk to you for a second?"

Caden gets up from his desk and leaves the room and Ryan follows behind him. They close the door to keep their talk private. Caden tells how Riley got hurt and ends with Ryan saying, "I'll be okay, and so will your brother."

Riley is starting to worry about what Caden and the hunk are talking about outside. As Riley worries about the conversation, Ryan smiles at him through the door's window. His worries melt completely in the instant that the hot teen gave him a smile. Riley is so happy right now.

= = =

The door opens and Caden and Ryan step back into the room.

"Riley, I want you to meet Ryan. He works here at the center."

Riley looks up at Ryan and smiles.

"Hi Riley!" the older teen says. Riley attempts to get up from the floor, but he's having trouble.

"No need to get up, I can come to you."

Ryan softly sits down in front of Riley. His action puts a smile on Riley's face. It made Riley feel good that someone close to his age was willing to hang with him. There were kids who came to the hospital, but he didn't remember them (and still doesn't). Ryan could end up being a good friend for him.

"I have to go see my boss for a little bit, so you guys enjoy your visit."

"K!" It was all Riley could get out of his mouth. He wants Ryan to talk to him. Riley would chat with him, but he doesn't know what to say. For now, they're just sitting here. Ryan can't stand the silence anymore.

"Do you have hobbies?"

"I-I used... to... draw but now I-I... can't."

Riley looked down at the floor.

"Okay, so what do you like to do?"

"T.V."

He doesn't do much of anything else right now.

"Wha-what do... you... like... to... do?"

Ryan smiles.

"I love television too, but I also like video games, sports, hiking, reading, photography, and whatever else catches my eye."

The fact that he likes video games makes Riley's attraction even stronger.

"Games?"

`I hope he likes me.'

Only time will tell if Riley will get his wish. As Riley sits looking at Ryan's face, he remembers something that he likes to do.

"Sk-ate... board, I like... it."

Ryan has never touched a skateboard in his life, but it gave him an idea. He needs to talk it over with Caden.

"Have you been on a board since you got hurt?"

Riley's head just dropped.

"No!"

He didn't mean to upset Riley, but he wanted to know.

`Cool!' he thinks to himself. Ryan's plan is forming in his mind. He could borrow his brother's board and let Riley practice with it, and then walk with him while he is up on the board.

"Are... are... you... my... friend?"

What he is really asking is `Were you my friend?' Riley doesn't remember him coming to the hospital, so does Ryan know him from school? Riley's memories of friends from school are still really bad.

"`Course, I'm your friend."

A smile creeps across Riley's face. He has a friend and now he isn't alone.

"Do you have a girlfriend?"

In a strange way, Ryan is hoping Riley's answer is no.

"No... do-do... you?"

Ryan looks down at the ground and then back up at Riley.

"No, I don't have a girlfriend either."

Riley is happy that Ryan does not have a girlfriend. He hopes that his new friend is gay.

***

Hey, Chuck here, if you liked this story (or even if you didn't like this story), feel free to email me at: Hnstskr4@aol.com. I will do my best to answer all emails in a timely manner. Remember, if you liked this story, please contribute to the Nifty Archives so you that you can continue to read all my stories, and all the other stories on Nifty, for free.

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