Date: Sun, 4 Jan 2004 20:48:21 -0800 (PST) From: Kirk Landers Subject: Dating and the Single Life- part 10 Copyright and Disclaimer: 1. This is a fictional story with fictional characters. 2. No one is to steal this story under any circumstances. 3. This story deals with relationships and not sex, so if you're looking for a story with a lot of sex in it, this isn't the story for you. Well, it's back! Hope you all enjoy. Here's part 10 entitled, "The Kiss". "THE KISS" It had been three weeks since Christmas, three weeks since Kyle had seen David as well. He tried calling him, but he never returned his calls. Kyle had seen Randal and Marcus everyday, and he'd seen Tyler and Jake a couple times. He found it strange that he hadn't seen David at all. Kyle decided that after work he was going to go over and see him. So when he got off at five he drove to David's apartment. When he got up there he knocked on the door and Brett answered. "Hey Brett," Kyle said. "Is David here?" "No, sorry, he isn't." Brett replied. "Is he at work?" Kyle asked. "No, I don't think so," Brett answered. "Do you know where he is, by any chance?" Kyle asked. "I'm sorry Kyle. I really don't," Brett replied. "All right. Well, when he comes back can you tell him to call me please?" Kyle asked. "Of course," Brett replied. "Thanks, I'll talk to you later," Kyle said as he walked away. "Bye," Brett said closing the door. When Brett went back inside, David came out of the bedroom. "Was that him?" David asked. "Yeah," Brett replied. "What did he say?" David asked. "He just wanted to see you," Brett answered. "Oh," David said with a look of guilt. ******* Over at Tyler and Jake's apartment they were getting ready for work. "Does this shirt make me look fat?" Jake asked, looking at the clothes he had on. "Jake you sound like such a girl," Tyler said laughing. "You look fine." "All right," Jake said. "What about these pants?" "Why are you so paranoid about your clothes today?" Tyler asked. "We got a new line of clothes in at the store, so they want all of us to wear them to try and push sales. The only thing is, I don't like the clothes," Jake explained. "I see," Tyler replied. "Well, you look great." Tyler gave Jake a kiss. "Thanks babe," Jake said. "Well, I have to get going," Tyler said, looking at his watch. "I'll see you later." "Bye," Jake said as Tyler left. Jake went back to making sure he looked all right, then he got his things and went to work. When he got to the store he worked at, he went into the back room and ran into a new employee. When he first saw the new guy, he was a little mesmerized by the his looks. He was 6'2, with light brown hair, blue eyes, and a nice body. "Hi," the guy said looking at Jake. "Hey, are you new?" Jake asked, snapping back into reality. "Yeah, today's my first day. My name's Miles," he said, holding out his hand. "Nice to meet you Miles. My name's Jake." Jake replied, shaking Miles' hand. "Oh, so you're Jake?" Miles asked. "The manager, Stacy, was going to have you train me, if you were okay with it." "No problem," Jake replied. "Come on." They grabbed some clothes and went out to hang them up in the store. "The t-shirts you just fold and put them on the shelves," Jake explained, "but the button down shirts we put on hangers and hang them up." "All right," Miles said as he started to fold a t-shirt. Jake looked and noticed Miles didn't really fold the shirt very well. "Here," Jake said helping out Miles. "I'll show you how to fold it." Jake folded the shirt like a pro and when he handed it back to Miles the two touched hands and it sent a tingling sensation down Jake's back. "Thanks," Miles said as he folded another shirt. "Is that good?" "Yeah, that's great," Jake said smiling. "I'll be right back." "Cool," Miles said. Jake went into the back room to calm down. Thoughts of guilt ran through his mind, he couldn't allow himself to think that way of another guy when he was with Tyler. ******* Meanwhile, Randal was at the club. He was talking to the manager when there was a knock on the door. The manager opened it up and Kyle was standing there. "Kyle? What are you doing here?" Randal asked as Kyle walked in. "I'm going to get going. So can you lock up, Randal?" the manager asked. "Sure," Randal replied, as the manager handed Randal the keys. When he left, Randal and Kyle went over to the bar and sat down. "What's going on?" Randal asked. "Have you talked to David lately?" Kyle asked, curiously. "Yeah, I just talked to him yesterday," Randal replied. "Really? Did he say anything?" Kyle asked. "About what?" Randal asked, not understanding. "Well, it's just that I haven't seen, or talked, to him since Christmas. I tried calling him but he never returns my calls," Kyle explained. "Really?" Randal asked surprised. "David didn't return your calls? That's really surprising." "It is, right?" Kyle asked. "I mean, him and I used to talk all the time, and now I haven't talked to him in three weeks." "Three weeks?" Randal asked shocked. "You're kidding, right?" "No, I haven't talked to him since Christmas Eve," Kyle replied. "Did something happen on Christmas Eve?" Randal asked. "No, nothing," Kyle replied. "Do you want me to talk to him?" Randal asked. "Could you? That would be great," Kyle answered gratefully. "No problem," Randal replied. "So, how are you doing?" Kyle asked. "I'm doing all right," Randal replied. "It's weird though, doesn't it seem like we've all been going our own ways lately?" "I don't know. Maybe," Kyle replied. "I mean, think about it. The last time we were all together was Christmas," Randal pointed out, "and that was three weeks ago." "I guess, I mean, before all of us were single. Now Tyler and Jake are together and David is with Brett," Kyle said. "It's only natural we all separate a little because of that." "I know, and I'm not saying they should put their lives on hold to hang out with us, but it just seems that we're not as close as we used to be." Randal said. "In a way, we're not." Kyle said bluntly. "I mean honestly, we're not. Just look at me and David. We used to hang out all the time, now I haven't seen him in three weeks. Maybe we're all just starting to grow apart." "Maybe." Randal said, "but hopefully that trip Tyler and Jake are taking us on can help us all reconnect." "Yeah," Kyle said optimistically, "hopefully. Although it's probably best that we don't get our hopes up." "You're right. We shouldn't." Randal said. "But you know I'm always going to be here for you." Kyle said. Randal smiled, "Thanks. Yeah. You, Marcus and I are always the constant." "Yeah, and the other guys do the cameos here and there." Kyle said jokingly. "It's true." Randal replied laughing. "Oh well, you want to grab lunch?" Kyle asked. "Sure. Let's go get our partner in crime." Randal replied as they headed out to go get Marcus. Over at Tyler's work he was finishing up doing some paper work for the restaurant when his cell phone started ringing. "Hello?" Tyler asked answering. "Hey it's me." Jake said. "Hey babe. What's up?" Tyler asked. "Nothing, I just called to say that I love you." Jake replied. "I love you, too." Tyler replied smiling. "Yeah, I just wanted to make sure you know that." Jake said. "I do, but thanks for the reminder." Tyler said sweetly. "Anyway, I have to get back to work, my break's almost over." Jake said. "All right. I'll see you later." Tyler said. "Bye, love you." Jake said. "Love you, too." Tyler replied hanging up. When Jake got off the phone, he went back to work when the hot new employee Miles came up to him. "Hey, so what I do when a customer wants to return something?" Miles asked. "Uh..." Jake began nervously, "I'll show you." (You just used the wrong name here.) Jake went with Miles to the register trying to hold (Same thing.) back any attempts at flirting... Randal and Kyle got to Marcus's office to get him for lunch. "Hey," Randal said walking in. "Hi guys," Marcus said suprised. "What are you two doing here?" "We came to get you for lunch," Kyle said. "Sounds great," Marcus replied. "Let me just finish up signing these papers and I'll be done for the day." "Hey Marcus have you spoken with David at all lately?" Randal asked curious "No." Marcus replied "Kyle hasn't heard from him at all since Christmas." Randal said "Yeah, I know, the past couple weeks Kyle's been trying to call him quite a few times." Marcus said. "You told me you were going to go try and see him today right?" "Yeah, I tried, but he wasn't home," Kyle said. "Was he at work?" Marcus asked. "Brett told me he wasn't," Kyle replied. "Kyle, maybe he's just been real busy," Randal suggested. "He's never busy enough to keep himself away from Kyle," Marcus brought up. "That's true," Randal said. "Let's try calling him now." "Sure," Marcus said, picking up the phone. He called up David. "Hello?" Brett answered the phone. "Hey Brett, it's Marcus." "Oh, hey Marcus. What's up?" Brett asked. "Not too much. Is David there?" "Yeah, hold on," Brett said, setting down the phone. "He's getting David," Marcus said to Randal and Kyle. "Hello?" David asked, picking up the phone. "Hey, it's me," Marcus said. "Hey Marcus, what's going on?" David asked. "Why don't you tell me?" Marcus retorted. "What do you mean?" David asked, confused. "Are you avoiding Kyle again?" Marcus asked. David didn't answer. "You ass," Marcus said angry. "You're doing this again?" "No, it's not like that," David said. Marcus handed the phone to Kyle. "David?" Kyle asked. "Kyle!" Marcus said suprised. "You're avoiding me again?" Kyle asked hurt. "No... well, kinda," David replied. "Why? What did I do?" Kyle asked. "I'm fine with Brett, what is it?" "Kyle, you don't understand," David replied. "Well, then explain it to me," Kyle said. "I can't see you right now," David said. Kyle didn't even want to hear the rest of the explanation, he just got fed up. "Fine, well if that's how you're going to treat your best friend, then I don't want that title anymore," Kyle said. "Go find another best friend, and while you're at it, go to hell!" Kyle hung up the phone. "You all right?" Randal asked. "I'm fine." Kyle said taking a deep breath, "Let's go to lunch." "You sure?" Marcus asked. "I'm positive. Let's go," Kyle replied as the three of them left. ******* Over at the store, Jake was still having trouble trying to resist the attraction he had towards Miles. While the two were on a lunch break, Miles and Jake ate together. "Thanks so much for helping me today," Miles said. "No problem," Jake said smiling. "I was so nervous about today, but it turned out to be great," Miles said. "I'm glad. It actually is a fun place to work. All the employees are pretty nice," Jake said. "Especially you," Miles said sweetly. "Thanks," Jake said blushing a little. "So, how long have you been working there?" Miles asked. "About a year," Jake replied. "Cool," Miles said. "Yeah, so what made you want to work at the store?" Jake asked. "Well, to be really honest I know that the store gets a lot of gay guys," Miles revealed. "So I was kind of hoping it might be a good place to meet someone." Jake's heart started pounding. Not only was Miles great looking, but he was gay on top of it. "Well, you do meet some guys from time to time," Jake said. "Are you gay?" Miles asked. "Yeah," Jake replied. "I'm relieved," Miles said. "Why's that?" Jake asked. "Okay, I'm going to probably make an ass out of myself," Miles began, "but I've been checking you out the whole day." "Really?" Jake asked smiling nervously. "Yeah, I mean, when I first met you I was instantly attracted," Miles said. "Wow," Jake said. "I know, I'm sorry I shouldn't have said anything," Miles said feeling stupid. "No it's not that," Jake replied. "Believe me, I'm very flattered by what you said." "Really?" Miles asked. "Yeah," Jake replied. "I'd be lying myself if I said I didn't find you attractive also." "I have a feeling there's going to be a 'but'," Miles said. "It's just that," Jake began, "I'm seeing someone right now." "Oh." Miles said disappointed. "Is it serious?" "Yeah, it's pretty serious," Jake replied. "I see," Miles said. "Well, you can't blame a guy for trying." "I'm sorry," Jake said. "No, it's fine," Miles said. "Maybe if it was a better time." "Yeah," Jake said. "Well, I guess we should probably get back to the store," Miles suggested. "Ok," Jake said as the two went to the store. ******* Back at David's apartment, David was laying down in bed, miserable over the conversation he had with Kyle. He couldn't believe what Kyle said to him about not wanting to be his best friend anymore, although he knew it was his fault Kyle was angry at him. "What's wrong?" Brett asked, sitting down on the bed. "Just thinking," David replied. "Was it something Marcus said on the phone?" Brett asked. "No," David replied, "it was actually Kyle." "What?" Brett asked confused. "Marcus was on the phone, but then he gave it to Kyle," David replied. "So you talked to him?" Brett asked. "I didn't have much of a choice," David answered. "David, we talked about this," Brett said. "I know, I know," David said, "but I can't just cut him out of my life. He's been my best friend for so long." "Well, then we know where this is going to lead," Brett said. "Brett, just give it time. I'm still trying to get used to all of this," David said. "Fine," Brett said getting up, "but just remember it was something we both talked about, and both agreed on." With that, Brett walked out of the bedroom, leaving David thinking about the situation he got himself in. ******* At lunch Marcus, Randal, and Kyle went to a deli close to Marcus's office. "Kyle, maybe there's a good explanation to all of this," Randal said. "A good explanation?" Kyle asked. "No, there isn't a good explanation for him avoiding me." "He's just being an ass right now," Marcus said. "Just give it time." "No, I'm sick of him doing this crap to me," Kyle said. "He already did it once this year." "Yeah, but that time he was in love with you," Randal said. "Maybe he still his," Marcus suggested. "What?" Kyle asked, not sure if he heard right. "It's possible," Randal added. "He could still love you." Kyle looked at them, wondering if they might be right. "No," Kyle said dismissing it. "He's just not the best friend he used to be." Kyle looked down at his grandpa's watch, the one David had gotten fixed for him. "It's too bad," Kyle continued. "I thought things were finally getting back to normal between us." ******* Over at David's apartment, David was still lying in bed, looking at his teddy bear that Kyle got fixed for him. "I can't do this," David said sighing. "Hey babe, I'm going to go to work," Brett said, poking his head into the bedroom. "All right," David replied. "I'll see you later," Brett said as he left. David waited for Brett to leave before grabbing his keys and heading out. ******* Over at the store, Jake was finishing up his shift for the day... and so was Miles. The two of them decided to walk around for a little bit in the park that was a few blocks from the store. "So how long have you been seeing your boyfriend?" Miles asked. "A couple months," Jake replied, "but we've been good friends for a few years." "Oh, I see," Miles said. "You guys did the friends first, and casually moved into the dating thing." "Yeah," Jake said. "So what about you? When was the last time you were dating someone?" "A couple months ago," Miles replied. "We were roommates and we casually started dating. We were together for about two years." "Wow," Jake said amazed. "That's a long time." "Yeah," Miles answered. "How did it end? If you don't mind me asking," Jake said. "Oh, it's fine," Miles said. "We broke up because we just realized we didn't have much in common. He didn't have a lot of money, so whenever I bought him something nice he would get upset about it. My dad owns a chain of car dealerships, so he set me up financially, and my boyfriend always felt weird around me because of that, I guess." "How come you're working then, if you're well off?" Jake asked. "Well, I can't get places in life relying on my dad's money all the time. I wanted to be independent," Miles answered. "That's like me," Jake said. "My parents are pretty wealthy, but I just needed to go out on my own." "Yeah, I know what you mean," Miles said. "You feel constricted." "Exactly," Jake said, happy to know that someone was going through the same stuff as him. "What about your boyfriend?" Miles asked. "He's had a rough life," Jake said. "It's weird, him and I are really different. Our backgrounds are really different." "That's how it was with me and my old boyfriend," Miles said. "Yeah, but Tyler and I connect. We really understand each other. We may be a lot different, but it works for us," Jake said. "That's good," Miles said. "I guess it works for some people better than others." "Probably right," Jake agreed. "Too bad we didn't meet a while ago," Miles said. "It seems like we have a lot in common." Jake wasn't sure what to say, so he just smiled nervously. "Well, I should go. Tyler and I are supposed to meet later. So, I'll see you tomorrow?" Jake said. "Yeah, take care. Thanks for helping me out today," Miles said smiling. "No problem," Jake said as he turned to leave. ******* Later that day, Kyle and Marcus came home and were just watching tv when someone knocked on the door. "I'll get it," Marcus said, getting up to answer it. He went to the door and opened it up to see David. "David, what are you doing here? I thought you were avoiding Kyle." "I need to talk to him," David said. "Why? You've already hurt him enough," Marcus said defensively. "It's not like that Marcus," David pleaded. "I really need to talk to Kyle and explain." "Fine," Marcus said. "David, you're my friend and I love you, but if you hurt Kyle more than you already have, we're going to have issues." Marcus then moved aside and let David in. David walked into the living room area where Kyle was sitting. "Oh look, it's my best friend. The best friend who likes avoiding me," Kyle said sarcastically. "Kyle, I know you're pissed at me, and you have every right to be," David began, "but I really want to explain myself to you." "Why?" Kyle asked. "Why did you suddenly feel the need to explain yourself? I mean, if I hadn't spoken with you on the phone earlier today, I'm sure you wouldn't be here now." "I'm going to leave you two alone to talk," Marcus said, grabbing his jacket as he headed out. "You're right, I probably wouldn't be," David said, "and just thinking about that makes me realize what a bad friend I've been to you these past few months. I'm supposed to be your best friend and all I seem to do is hurt you. I really have to tell you what's going on." "Fine, tell me," Kyle said. "All right," David began, "it happened after leaving here on Christmas Eve." ****FLASHBACK**** When David and Brett got back to their apartment, the two went into the bedroom. "I'm so tired," David said, laying down. "David, we need to talk." Brett said. "About what?" David asked. "About you and Kyle," Brett replied. David sat up, wondering where this conversation was going to lead... "What is it?" David asked. "It's pretty obvious that you still love him," Brett replied. "Don't be silly," David said. "David, be honest with me here," Brett said. "I saw that you got his watch fixed, and that would cost a fortune to do. You still have feelings for him." David didn't know how to answer that, he just sat there speechless. "Yeah, that's what I thought," Brett continued. "Well, then you have to make a choice. Me or him, because this situation isn't fair to either one of us." "Brett, don't do this. You know how much I care about you. It's just that I've known Kyle longer, that's all," David said. "So what are you saying?" Brett asked. "I'm saying I want us to work," David replied. "Honestly, I do." "Really? Because you can't do this to me if you secretly would rather be with Kyle," Brett said. "No, I'm serious, I want you," David said, kissing Brett and hugging him. "All right," Brett said quietly, "but promise me one thing." "Anything," David said. "Don't hang out with Kyle alone anymore. It'll just make things more difficult for you to let him go," Brett said. ****END FLASHBACK**** "That's why I haven't been around you," David explained. "I see," Kyle said. "So do you understand now?" David asked. "Yeah," Kyle replied, "I understand." "Good," David said, relieved. "Let me just ask you something," Kyle said. "Sure, what is it?" David asked. "You could just easily drop our friendship like that?" Kyle asked, curious. "What?" David asked. "I mean, here you told me I was your best friend, and yet you were just able to drop me when Brett asked you to?" Kyle asked. David had no answer to that question. "Interesting," Kyle said. "Well thanks for explaining, but there's things I have to do. You know the way out." Kyle then got up and went to his room, closing the door. David got up and headed for the front door. He was about to leave, but he couldn't leave things between him and Kyle like that. He screwed over Kyle already, he wasn't going to walk away from it like an ass. He went and opened up the door to Kyle's room. Kyle was laying down in his bed, facing the wall. "I don't want to talk right now Marcus," Kyle said sadly. "It's me," David said. "Get out," Kyle said softly. "No, because if I leave with things bad between us then that will just make me a worse friend than I already am," David said walking towards the bed. "Kyle, if you only knew how torn I've been lately." Those words hit Kyle hard. He sat up and looked at David. "You said Brett wanted you to stop being around me because you still have feelings for me right?" Kyle asked. "Yeah," David replied. "And you still do?" Kyle asked. "Yes," David answered. "It's hard being with someone when the one you really love is around you all the time. And it's even harder knowing that you can never have him." "What if you could?" Kyle asked. "What?" David asked, not sure where Kyle was going with this. "What if I told you that you could have me?" Kyle asked. "But I thought you didn't want a relationship?" David asked. "I didn't," Kyle answered, "but a lot has changed." "Meaning?" David asked. "It was after Marcus got attacked, after we kissed that night. When you came to talk to me the next day, the words you said really affected me." ****FLASHBACK**** "David, I don't want to talk about it," Kyle replied. "You saw your old boyfriend in Thomas, didn't you?" David asked. "And that scared you because you saw that it can happen to you again." "David-" Kyle began, but David cut him off. "Just let me finish," David said. "Kyle, you're afraid that what happened to you last time will happen to you again, but this is me. I'm not going to do that to you. All I want is just to make you happy." "I'm sorry David," Kyle said. "I just can't." "You felt something when we kissed. I know you did. Are you willing to give up on that feeling?" David asked. "If it will keep me from getting hurt, than yes," Kyle replied. "But you're hurting yourself by giving up," David said. "I can handle hurting myself, I can't handle someone hurting me," Kyle said. "I would never hurt you," David said. "Like I said to you last week, you can't make a promise like that," Kyle said. "And like I said last week, I can." David replied. ****END FLASHBACK**** "I don't know, I guess after you left I really thought about it. I thought about how you promised to never hurt me," Kyle continued. "Then Marcus spoke to me later that day." ****FLASHBACK**** "Kyle, take my advice. Don't run away from David, because he's not going to leave you," Marcus said. "You don't want to wake up one day and realize you lost your chance at true love." ****END FLASHBACK**** "And as stupid as this sounds, I even had a dream that night telling me I should be with you," Kyle said. ****FLASHBACK**** That night at Kyle's apartment, Kyle was sitting looking at the picture of him and David together. He thought about what Marcus said to him, he did love David and David loved him. The only thing keeping him from being happy was himself. Kyle then fell asleep. ****KYLE'S DREAM**** Kyle was walking along the beach with David. "You like it here?" David asked. "It's amazing," Kyle replied. "Everything can be like this, you know," David said. "What are you talking about?" Kyle asked. "Just give us a chance, and you'll see that life can be this beautiful," David replied. "David, I don't know," Kyle said. "Kyle, don't give up so easily on the possibility of us." David said. "It could turn out to be everything you ever wanted." With that, David leaned in and kissed Kyle. ****END DREAM**** Kyle woke up and it was still night. He then realized that he could be happy with David, if he just put his fears aside and let David in. ****END FLASHBACK**** "That's when I realized how much I loved you. I was going to tell you Thanksgiving night, but you were busy with Brett," Kyle said. ****FLASHBACK**** Kyle went and headed to the backyard. When he got out there, he saw David and Brett kissing. "Oh God," Kyle said, shocked to see them going at it. "Kyle!" David said suprised. "I am so sorry," Kyle said, feeling embarrassed. "Do you mind?" David asked. "Oh, sorry," Kyle said, turning around and looking in the sky. "Kyle," David began, "the door." "The door?" Kyle asked, confused. After a beat he understood, "Oh! The door! Yeah, I'm going to use it now. Sorry." Kyle turned around, feeling like an idiot, and walked back inside. ******* "Kyle, can I talk to you?" Marcus asked. "Fine," Kyle said, as they went to Marcus' room. They sat down on Marcus' bed and talked. "You're starting to like David. Is that what's bugging you?" Marcus asked. Kyle sighed, "Yes." Kyle laid down on the bed. "Why didn't I realize this earlier?" Kyle asked. "Maybe it's not too late," Marcus said, laying down next to Kyle. "I think it is," Kyle said. "Why did I have to wuss out earlier when things were starting to come together between me and him?" "You were scared, it's understandable," Marcus said. "No, I hurt David in the process of me running away and now he's with someone," Kyle said. ****END FLASHBACK**** "That's my confession to you," Kyle said. "I never knew," David said. "If I did..." "I know, I didn't want to say anything when you got with Brett because I didn't want to hurt you more," Kyle said. "So I guess I'm the one who's been a bad friend lately, never telling you the truth." "No," David said. "You were being the caring person you always are. The person I fell in love with." "I love you David. It's always been you," Kyle said. "I should have seen it earlier. I tried to get over you, but then you fixed my grandpa's watch for me and it just made me realize even more how much I loved you." David didn't say anything, he just leaned in and kissed Kyle. It was a deep, passionate kiss. A kiss that showed their longing for each other, the love they shared, their friendship. It was a kiss that was filled with a million emotions. A kiss that was only the beginning... ****************************************************** To Be Continued... Hope you all enjoy. With any comments, questions or feedback please e-mail me at ILJ4EVER44@yahoo.com