Date: Sat, 14 Jul 2001 05:05:11 -0000 From: Jessica Haynes Subject: my only love 7 My Only Love Part 7 Hey everyone. Finally, I've written the 7th chapter of Chris and Eric's life. I hope it meets with everyone's expectations. I'm not going to do the whole disclaimer speel this time around. You all know the drill. I won't insult your intelligence by telling you things you already know. I want to thank my very best friend, Jeffery, for reading the first draft of this chapter, telling me it sucked and making me re-write it. He was right, and this draft is much better than the orginal! Okay, enough rambling! On to the story! Chris: For as long as I can remember, football has been just about the biggest part of my life. My father had gotten me involved in the peewee league when I was only 5 years old. Since then, I have played every year. And, unlike some of my teammates, I didn't play because it was expected of me, or because I wanted to be adored. I played football because I love the sport. I love everything about it. I am happiest when I am on the football field. And tonight was no different. When I put on my red and gold Griffins jersey, and ran onto the field, I didn't notice the screams of the crowd, or the shouts of support from my teammates. I only felt the rush of anticipation and joy to be playing football again. It is just about the best feeling in the world, the absolute excitement I feel just before a game. I scanned the crowd, and almost immediately I saw Eric, right there in the second row, his parents and sisters beside them. I decided to take a risk, and blew him a kiss. It was funny, because the girls sitting behind him (I think they were freshmen) thought that I was blowing THEM a kiss, and just about fainted. I also looked for my parents, but I didn't see them. Not that I was holding out hope that they would be there. But I wouldn't have been upset if they had shown up. Forcing thoughts of both Eric and my parents from my head, I joined my team in the huddle. "Ok men, this is going to be a hard won game. But I know that we can do it. Let's get to it." Our coach was a short man, about 50 pounds overweight and a full white beard. But he was our rock, and a few quiet words from him, and everything was all right again. "Our teams are perfectly matched. It's going to be like you are playing against yourselves. But don't get caught up in that. Just go out there and play your hearts out." Soon the game was underway. Coach had been right. This team was going to be hard to beat. WE would gain 10 yards, then lose them, gain 10, and lose 10. When we finally got a touchdown, we were ecstatic. Then it started all over again, with us on the defense and the Eagles on the offense. The game went this way for the entire first half. I was beginning to think that we were too similar to ever gain an edge. As half time finally drew close, we were tied at 21-21, and it didn't seem as if we would be getting another touchdown, without them getting another touchdown. It was really discouraging. With 5 minutes left in the 2nd quarter, the game took a nasty turn. The Eagles started pulling every dirty trick in the book. Luckily, before any one got hurt, the quarter ended, and we all left the field. But I had a feeling that we wouldn't be so lucky in the second half. In the locker room, the team was furious. They were all shouting, and banging on the lockers. Robby and Mac were red-faced, and I knew it wasn't from the exertion. "Shit, Chris. What are we going to do? We can't hold out against the tricks they are pulling. How are we going to win?" asked Gary. He was a running back, and a good friend of mine. There were shouts of discontent from all around the locker room. I looked around at all my teammates. They were looking tired and defeated. This wasn't a good sign. "I'll tell you what we are going to do," I began. "We are going to go out on that field, and kick the Eagles ass. We are not defeated yet." No one looked convinced. So I tried a different approach. "We are not going to loose to a bunch of bullies. Coach told us before the game that these guys were our equals. Well, they aren't. We are far superior to them. Our talent may be similar, but we have more honor, more courage, and most of all, more heart! Now, are we going to go out there and just give up?" I didn't wait for them to reply. "Hell no we aren't. We have faced harder tasks then this. We have overcome injuries, losing players, illnesses, and better teams. We haven't come this far to give up now! We are the best team this school, no this STATE has ever seen. We deserve to win." I paused a moment for my words to sink in. "Now, are we going to go out there and give up?" "NO!" the team shouted. I smiled and shouted, "ARE WE GOING TO GO OUT THERE AND WIN?" "YES!" We were all shouting at this point. We had our spirit back, and we knew we were going to win. "Ok, team, it's time. Let's go out there, play our hearts out, and this time next month, we will be at the state championships!" We all ran out to the field, with more energy and spirit than at the beginning of the game. The crowd was screaming and shouting. I could hear the strains of that "We will, we will rock you," song blasting from the sound booth. I would even swear that I heard my father's voice above the crowd, but when I looked for him, I couldn't see him. It must have been my imagination. The game started, and the Eagles were right back to their old tricks. But this time, we gave as good as we got. I'm not saying that we were playing dirty, but we didn't back away from them either. Finally, we got another touchdown. We were now ahead of the other team by 7 points. All we had to do in the 4th quarter was to keep them from getting another touchdown. WE knew that wasn't going to be easy, but we knew we were up for it. And we did it! And even managed to score one more time in the last 10 minutes of the game! We won, 35-21! We were off to states! The crowd went wild! My team and I were practically dying from excitement! Coach was crying! I put my hand to my face, so was I! As our fans poured on the field, I looked for Eric. There he was, a HUGE smile on his beautiful face. Suddenly I didn't care that 200 of my peers and their parents were watching me. I made my way to Eric, took his face in my hands, and kissed him for all I was worth. Eric stood still in my embrace and I whispered, "Relax, baby! I love you and I want the world to know!" Eric melted against me, and threw is arms around my neck. We stood in the middle of the crowd, but no one even noticed us. WE pulled apart, and smiled at one another "I am so happy right now!" I said to him. "Me too. Happier than I have ever been in my life." He told me. Suddenly, I felt a hand on my shoulder. I looked behind me and saw my father there. I'm sure my face must have showed my surprise and shock, because my father took a step toward me and said, "Yes, it is really me, son. We are both here. Can we talk?" I looked at Eric, who smiled and motioned for me to go with my father. I mouthed, "I love you" and then followed my father. He led me away from the crowd, to where my mother was waiting for us. "Oh, Chris! I am so sorry!" She exclaimed, before bursting into tears. I crumbled as soon as my beautiful mother started to cry. I ran to her, and threw my arms around her. "I love you, Mama. I could never stop!" "Oh, Chris, I love you too. When I think back on this past month, and see how badly I've treated you, I don't know how I can call myself a mother." "Mom, it's ok. You are here now and that is all that matters!" My mother only cried harder and practically fused herself to my uniform. I looked over to my dad, to see if he could help me disentangle my mother. But I was shocked to see that he was crying too. I did the only thing I could. I waved him over, and the three of us stood in a tight embrace for what seemed to be forever. When we finally broke apart, I could see in their eyes that I had my parents back. My loving, open-minded parents were back. But would they stay once they knew that I was involved with Eric? I had to know. I didn't want my parents to come back to me, only to adandon me again, once they found out whom I loved. So I took a deep breath, and looked my parents in the eye and said, "Mom, Dad, I have something to tell you. I don't know how you will take it, but it is too much a part of me to keep inside." "Chris, before you say anything, just let me say, that we know, and we are okay with." My father smiled slightly and continued. "I just wish that we could have been there for you when you made this momentous decision." I was in shock. Hell, that seems to be the state of mind that I am in most of the time lately. "You know? How could you possibly have known?" My mother came close to me again, and hugged me around the middle. "Chris, do you honestly think that we wouldn't notice how you look at that boy? Even if we haven't been there for you in this last month, we could hardly help but notice how you just sort of glowed when Eric was around." "It just took us a while to become accustomed to the idea of you being gay. But we are fine with it now. Your mother and I had a long talk last night, and well, we have accepted it as fact." "And you have to know that it doesn't change how we feel about you, or the fact htat you are our pride and joy. You always have been, and you always will be." My mother was crying again, and I could tell that my father was close to tears as well. Hell, so was I come to think of it. "Mom, Dad, I don't know what to say!" I was really crying now. "It means so much to me that you don't care that I am gay. I was so afraid that I would loose you again, and I didn't want that to happen." My parents and I embrace again. Over my father's shoulder, I could see Eric and his family looking at us from across the field. I beckoned to them to come over. I wanted our two families to get to know one another. I just had a feeling that my mother and Eric's would become best friends, and that our father's would hit it off as well. And I knew that my mother would adore the twins. She had always wanted a daughter. When Eric and his family reached us, I pulled away from my parents, and walked over to Eric. I took his hands and brought him over to my parents. "Mom, Dad, this is the love of my life, Eric Harrison." My father and Eric shook hands warmly, and my mother gave him a big hug. "Welcome to the family," I heard her whisper in his ear. My love blushed and smiled, shyly returning my mother's hug. I quickly introduced the rest of Eric's family, and I could see that I was right. Our parents got along famously. And Annabel and Isabel had two more adults to fawn over them. They were all happy. I went over to Eric, and circled his waist with my arm. He rested his head on my shoulder and we gazed in joy at our burgeoning family. We knew that this was a sight we would see for the rest of our lives. My life was perfect. ************************************************************************* He watched from a good distance as HIS Christopher hugged that slut, Eric. He was furious. Chris was his. Chris had always been his. Chris WOULD always be his. His eyes narrowed, and if anyone had bothered to spare him a glance, what they saw would have frightened them. But he was so insignificant, that the people just seemed to flow around him, not realizing that he was even there. After almost 19 years of living, he was used to it by now. In fact, he relished the fact that no one ever seemed to know that he was there. It gave him the perfect cover to watch. And watch he did. "You will be mine, Chris. And that slut boyfriend of yours will be mine too." He thought. "It won't be long now, my love, before we are together, forever." It's me again, the brains behind it all! As you can see, the story took a twist here at the end. Let me know what you think at gibsongirl101@hotmail.com. I love to get e-mails from you readers, so I know if you like what I'm writing and all. I promise that I'll write back! Well, I'll guess I'll catch ya on the flip side! Later!