Date: Fri, 11 Nov 2005 22:06:56 -0800 (PST) From: Kirk Landers Subject: Dating and the Single Life- part 22 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. Thanks again to everyone for reading! Hope you enjoy! Part 22 "Tell Me About Your Relationship" Friday morning and Jake and Tyler are getting ready to go for their first session with a relationship counselor. Jake is anxious to go and solve their problems, but Tyler is very hesitant, at first he thought it would be a good idea, but as the day finally arrived he's nervous to spill his most private and intimate feelings to a stranger. "Are you sure you want to do this?" Tyler asked. "Yes," Jake replied. "I think we need to do this, otherwise we'll lose each other." "But talking to someone we don't even know about our love life is kind of creepy," Tyler said. "Tyler, she's a professional," Jake countered. "She's not going to judge us, she's just going to listen and help us." "Well, I'm still not sure," Tyler said. Jake sighed, "Look, if you don't want to do this you don't have to. But I think that this is our last shot at saving our relationship and I don't want to pass this opportunity up." Tyler seeing how passionate Jake is about this nods his head. "Okay, we better get going then." "Thank you," Jake replied. The two of them then grabbed their jackets and headed out. The other guys meanwhile met up at the diner for breakfast. They all took their orders and were hanging out and talking. "Tyler and Jake are seeing a therapist today," Randal brought up. "Oh yea," Kyle remembered, "I hope it goes well." "The whole incident with Miles showing up last week really resurfaced a lot of issues between them," Marcus noted. "Maybe it's a good thing Miles showed up though," David floated. "Why do you say that?" Stanley asked. "I mean, obviously Tyler was repressing a lot of feelings towards that whole incident still," David replied. "Maybe having those feelings come out will help strengthen them." "I never thought of it that way," Randal said. "Sometimes though repressing feelings and emotions like that save people from going through a lot more pain," Kyle replied, having some repressed feelings of his own. "Yea, but that just builds up and eventually you have a breaking point," David replied. "Not always," Kyle retorted. David and Kyle both exchanged a look. "Well, in any case, Tyler and Jake will hopefully work things out," Marcus said. "So how are things with you and Trevor?" Stanley asked. "Okay," Marcus replied. "Just okay?" Randal asked. "What happened? Last week you two were crazy about each other." "It's nothing big," Marcus replied. "Well, it kind of is, he said 'I love you.'" "Whoa," Kyle said. "Yea, but then we both kind of agreed for him to take it back," Marcus said. "Is that a good thing?" Randal asked. "I don't know, I mean, him and I haven't known each other long so when he said it, I was really surprised by how soon it was," Marcus said. "But at the same time I kind of wish that he didn't want to take it back." "Do you love him?" Stanley asked. "I don't know," Marcus replied. "Then it's probably best he took it back," David said. "I mean, it'll be better when he can say I love you and you can say it back to him." "That's true," Marcus agreed. "He just said it so out of the blue that I wasn't able to process if I loved him." "If you have to think about it then you probably don't," David said. "Not yet at least." "Well, either way things have gotten a little weird between us since and I don't know what to do," Marcus said. "Try talking to him and see if maybe you do love you," Randal suggested. "There will always be that little bit of tension there until you can feel the same way towards him." "Just give it time," Kyle said. "When you love him, you'll know." There food then came and the guys began to eat. "Hey Stan," Kyle said after swallowing a bite of his pancakes. "Yea?" Stanley asked. "Are you doing all right?" Kyle asked. "I'm okay," Stanley replied. "It's only been a week so it's going to take some time," Kyle said. "I know," Stanley said. "At least you got a chance to meet your son," David said trying to look at the positive. "You're right, and Randal took a picture of him and I together so I'll always have that," Stanley said not wanting to reveal the true pain he's in. "Just know that we're always here for you," Kyle said. "Thanks you guys," Stanley replied. "You've all been really great friends through all of this. I've never had good friends like you guys before." "You're family now," Marcus said. "We're always there for each other." Stanley gave a grateful smile. Randal squeezed Stanley hand to reassure him that he's always there for him. After the guys finished eating they paid and went outside to head to work. "We hanging out tonight?" Marcus asked. "I'm working at the club tonight if you guys want to hang there," Randal suggested. "Sounds like a plan," David said. "Come to our place at eight," Randal said. "See you all then," Kyle said. They said their goodbyes and headed off to work. Over at the therapist's office Tyler and Jake were sitting in the waiting room looking through magazines when the receptionist came up to them. "Dr. Waissman will see you two now," she said. Tyler and Jake got up and followed the receptionist to Dr. Waissman's office. When they got there they opened the door and spotted Dr. Waissman sitting at her desk. She was very beautiful in a earthy sort of way, her long dark hair was gathered up in a bun and she was wearing glasses over her blue eyes. She got up and greeted Tyler and Jake very friendly. 'Hi, it's nice to meet you both, I'm Dr. Waissman," she said shaking their hands. "Hi," Tyler and Jake both said. "Please have a seat," Dr. Waissman said directing them to the couch. "Wow, I didn't think therapists actually had couches for their patients to sit on," Tyler joked. "Well, it's important that you are always comfortable," Dr. Waissman said. "So how are you two?" "I'm fine," Jake replied. "I don't know, I'm still not sure if this is a good idea," Tyler said. "Why is that?" Dr. Waissman asked. "Because, I've never been to a therapist before and it just seems like we're jumping the gun by deciding to see one over the type of problems we're having," Tyler answered. "What kind of problems are you two having?" Dr. Waissman asked. "It's complicated," Tyler said. "How about you two tell me about your relationship," Dr. Waissman said trying a different approach. "Well, when we started out it was great," Jake said. "We first just were friends with benefits and then moved on to dating." "And what happened?" Dr. Waissman asked. "There was this guy at my work who I was attracted to and kissed," Jake admitted. "Tyler and I then broke up and I moved to New York, but then Tyler came to New York and we made up and I thought things would be great again, but still there seemed to be this wall between us." "Do you think it's because the issue of you kissing someone else hasn't been resolved yet?" Dr. Waissman floated. "I think so," Jake answered. "And then it just got worse after that guy I kissed showed up in our lives again." "Tyler, how do you feel towards Jake?" Dr. Waissman asked. "I don't think I fully understand the question," Tyler replied. "How do you feel about Jake?" Dr. Waissman asked. Tyler took a few moments to really think about what he was truly feeling inside. "Well, I love Jake," Tyler answered. "I do, and I want to be with him, but I still don't trust him." "Do you feel you can still be with him if you don't trust him?" Dr. Waissman asked. "I don't know," Tyler replied. "I'm hoping that one day I can trust him again, but trust is such a fragile thing and I wonder if I could ever truly be able to again. I look at Jake and I see someone I love more than anything, but at the same time I also see someone who betrayed me. I don't know if I could ever open back up to him again." Over at the toy store Kyle was working the register when David stopped by. "Hi," David said coming up to him. "Hey," Kyle replied. "What are you doing here? I thought you were at work." "I was, but I wanted to come talk to you," David answered. "Tony's there so he's taking care of the store." "So, what did you want to talk about?" Kyle asked. David was about to say something, but then..."No, it's not important." "You sure?" Kyle asked. "Yea, I'm positive," David replied. "I should be getting back to work." "All right," Kyle said. The two were quiet for a second. "So are we okay?" David asked. "Yea, we're great," Kyle replied. "Okay," David said relieved. "Well, I better get back to work. I'll see you later." "All right bye," Kyle said. "Love you," David replied. "Love you too," Kyle answered as David walked out the door. After David left Kyle started thinking over what it was exactly he was upset about, he couldn't really figure out why he was still holding a grudge towards David when he's long gotten over it. Why are those feelings resurfacing? When him and David first got together he couldn't think of a flaw or find any fault in David, but then suddenly he's noticing things that have been bugging him that once didn't and finding old issues that upset him when he knows they shouldn't. That's when Kyle came to the realization, David and him were no longer in the "bliss" period of their relationship. The beginning feelings and attitudes people have when they first get together, the natural high they get just from being with each other, all those things that make up the "bliss" period of the relationship are no longer there for David and him. Never having been one for relationships Kyle now wasn't sure where it was going to go from there. While Stanley was at work he was filing some papers for Marcus when he suddenly got very emotional. Nothing really triggered it, but he suddenly started thinking about his son and how he'll never see him again. Stanley walked quickly to the bathroom and went into one of the stalls and broke down. After a minute there was a quiet knock on the stall door. "Stan, you okay?" Marcus asked. "I'm fine," Stanley said trying to sound calm and collected. "Sorry, I was just walking to my office and I saw the look on your face and then you quickly came in here," Marcus said. "Want to talk about it?" "Actually, it's better if I don't," Stanley replied. "If I do then I'll just become more of a wreck." "It's okay to be a wreck now," Marcus said. "You just did a very difficult thing." "I knew it would be hard giving up my son, but I didn't expect to feel like this," Stanley said. "I mean, I never saw him before last week, I never even knew of him until last week, but since I signed those papers and when he left that night I felt as if I lost a huge piece of my life." "I know," Marcus said. "But you just have to remember that Doug is going to be fine, his mom loves him and her finacee is a good dad to him I'm sure. You at least know he's in good hands." "I guess," Stanley said. "Just the thought of not seeing him ever, it's a lot." "Yea, I know," Marcus sighed. "You want to come out of the stall? We can go get some coffee and talk some more." "Actually," Stanley said opening the stall door and walking out, "I should get back to work and just try and focus on other things." "All right," Marcus said. "Well if you need me, you know where my office is." "Thanks Mar," Stanley said giving Marcus a hug. The two then headed out of the bathroom and went back to work. Over at Dr. Waissman's office, Jake and Tyler were getting a little deeper into their session. "Now Jake, how do you feel about all of this?" Dr. Waissman asked. "After Tyler and I had broken up I felt like my world here was over," Jake began. "So, I packed my things and I left and moved to New York. I figured I'd start a new life and make a fresh start, but then Tyler flies over and tells me that he loves me. He made this big grand leap of faith for us and when he did I felt that things would be perfect again. For him to travel all that way for me, he obviously loved me and forgave me. We went back to California and things were okay, we were living together again." "So you felt that things would go back to the way they were," Dr. Waissman observed. "Yes," Jake answered. "But then I realized that he wanted me to work at the restaurant with him because he didn't trust me which I completely understood. I realized I had to earn his trust back, but then the night Miles showed back up again it seemed like everything we had worked so hard to fix just fell apart in a second. And now I don't know where we stand." "Tyler, did you truly forgive Jake when you had flown over to New York to get him back?" Dr. Waissman asked. "Yes, I did," Tyler replied. "Well, at least I thought I did." "So why did you go to New York if you didn't truly forgive him?" Dr. Waissman asked. "I thought love was enough," Tyler answered simply. "I thought that love was all I needed to keep this relationship going." "Are you saying there isn't enough to keep the relationship going?" Jake asked turning to look at Tyler. "I don't know Jake," Tyler said quietly. "I honestly don't know." "I see," Jake replied nodding his head slowly. "I just need to use the restroom real quick, I'll be right back." Jake then got up and went out the door, he walked quickly down the hall to the bathroom. Once he closed the door he bursted into tears. Jake came to the sudden realization that not only was he slowly losing his boyfriend, but his best friend as well. Back in Dr. Waissman's office, Tyler was thinking about everything him and Jake have gone through and wondering where it's going to go. "Tyler," Dr. Waissman said getting his attention. "Yes?" Tyler asked. "Maybe it'll be easier to answer this question with Jake not here," Dr. Waissman began, "Do you really want this relationship to last?" Tyler took a deep breath, not sure how to answer that question. Over at Marcus' office he was sitting at his desk, ignoring the files of paper work he has to get through, instead he was just thinking over his situation with Trevor. As he was thinking it over his cell phone rang. Marcus looked at the caller ID and say it was Kyle. "Hey Kyle," Marcus said answering the phone. "Hey," Kyle replied. "How are you?" "I'm okay," Marcus answered. "Are you busy?" Kyle asked. "I should be, but I haven't really been paying attention to my work today," Marcus answered. "Can we talk?" Kyle asked. "Of course," Marcus replied. "What's up?" "I just wanted to see how you were doing," Kyle said. "With the whole 'I love you' thing between you and Trevor." "I was actually just thinking about that," Marcus replied. "You wish you said it back to him huh?" Kyle asked. "Yea," Marcus confessed. "He just said it out of the blue and I was so overwhelmed by it that I didn't stop to really think if I loved him too." "Do you?" Kyle asked. "Yea," Marcus replied. "I do." "Then what are you waiting for?" Kyle asked. "Tell him." "But I just had him take it back," Marcus countered. "So?" Kyle asked. "Doesn't mean you can't tell him you love him." "Don't you think it's bad timing now though?" Marcus asked. "Things are so odd between him and me now." "All that awkwardness and confusion will go away once he knows you love him too," Kyle replied. "Just because you had him take it back, doesn't mean he doesn't love you. He's just waiting for you to tell him that you love him." "You think?" Marcus asked. "I know," Kyle replied. "You know, I think you're right," Marcus said. "Thanks Kyle." "No problem," Kyle replied. "So how are things with you?" Marcus asked. Kyle debated telling Marcus about the resurfacing resentment against David, but decided to just keep it to himself. "Things are great." Kyle replied simply. "Good," Marcus said. "Everything is all right with you and David?" "Yea, things are perfect," Kyle lied. "That's good," Marcus said. "You know who's not good? Stanley. Poor guy, he had a break down today." "Is he all right?" Kyle asked concerned. "I went and talked to him," Marcus replied. "He decided to just focus on work though and not try and think about things." "Well, at least he's keeping himself busy," Kyle said. "Yea, but we should take him out this week," Marcus suggested. "Cheer him up a bit." "Sounds like a good idea," Kyle replied. "Well take him out to dinner." "Yea, oh and speaking of dinners, what should I do tonight for Trevor?" Marcus asked. "I should try and make it a special occasion." "Make him a real extravagant meal," Kyle suggested. "Set the mood so it's really romantic and then just tell him you love him." "I won't have time," Marcus said. "I don't get out of court until five." "Well, I get out of work in a few hours so I'll cook the dinner," Kyle said. "Just come and pick it up after work okay?" "Would you really do that for me?" Marcus asked. "Of course," Kyle replied. "This is a big event for you two and I want this to be perfect for you guys." "Thank you so much," Marcus said gratefully. "No problem," Kyle said. "What would I do with out you?" Marcus asked. "Suffer endlessly no doubt," Kyle joked. "Well I have to get back to work so I'll talk to you later okay?" Marcus said. "All right, see you later," Kyle replied as they hung up the phone. Over at Dr. Waissman's office Tyler was still pondering her last question. "Do I want our relationship to last?" Tyler asked. "Yes, it really comes down to that," Dr. Waissman said. "I can't help you two if the answer is no." "Do you?" Jake asked, afraid of what the answer is going to be. Tyler thought over everything him and Jake had been through, the good times, the bad, everything, but through it all there was only one answer that he could come up with. "Yes," Tyler replied. "Yes, I want us to last. I may not know a lot of things regarding us and our future but I do know that I want us to last." "All right," Dr. Waissman said nodding. "But as much as I want us to last, I don't know exactly if we can," Tyler added. "We've been through so much, how will we be able to move past it?" "That's why I'm here," Dr. Waissman said. "To help you both find a way to move past all of this." "So what do we do first?" Jake asked. "You let it all out," Dr. Waissman simply said. "Let out all of your pent up angers and resentments." Tyler and Jake both nodded slightly understanding. "Jake, why don't you go first," Dr. Waissman said. Jake was silent for a moment, he then took a deep breath and let it all out. "I've done everything I could possibly do to make our relationship work," Jake began, "I've apologized hundreds of times, I started working at the restaurant so you can keep an eye on me. I'm with you 24/7 just so you know where I am all the time so you won't have to worry that I'm with someone else. I can only do so much to re-assure you." "Fine," Tyler replied. "Obviously it's not fine if you're still mad at me," Jake said. "Maybe I'm just apologizing for the wrong thing, what is it you're really mad at me about?!" "You just left," Tyler finally said. "What?" Jake asked confused. "You just left," Tyler repeated. "After I broke up with you, I don't know, I guess on some level I was hoping you would fight for me. But you didn't." "I don't understand," Jake said. "You wanted me to fight for us so you broke up with me?" "I broke up with you because I was mad at you," Tyler said. "But at the same time I wanted to see if you really did care about us and fight for us, I figured it's the least you could do after betraying me like that." "Now we're getting somewhere," Dr. Waissman said. "How could I have fought for you?" Jake asked. "You wanted nothing to do with me." "We both used to say how you and I are going to last forever," Tyler said. "If that was the case then I thought maybe you would have fought to keep us together. I knew we were supposed to be together so I was the one who had to go after you, why is that?" "I don't know," Jake said. "How is that fair that you can cheat on me and yet I still have to be the one to bring you home," Tyler asked. "I didn't know how to deal with it," Jake replied. "I didn't know how to deal with you and everything. I thought you hated me, I thought I was giving you what you wanted. I wanted you everyday we were apart, but I didn't think you wanted me." "I did want you," Tyler said. "I wanted you to fight for me." Both grew silent to absorb everything that had been revealed. "Well I think we definitely have some things to work out," Dr. Waissman concluded. "The good news is that I definitely see a solution to both of your problems. So how about we meet once a week for now and see how things go?" Both just nodded quietly knowing that this is going to be a tough battle. That night Marcus had gotten off of work and picked up the food that Kyle had made and went home. He called up Trevor to have him come over and began preparing the table setting. He lit some candles through out the room and put on a romantic cd. He then got dressed and right when he finished the doorbell rang. Marcus opened the door to Trevor who smiled a little nervously, still not sure how things were after they left the awkwardness a week ago. "Come in," Marcus said taking Trevor's hand. Trevor walked in and was in shock at the romantic setting. "What's all this?" Trevor asked. "I thought it would be nice for us to have a candlelit dinner tonight," Marcus replied. "Sounds good to me," Trevor said. "Wine?" Marcus asked. "Please," Trevor replied as Marcus handed him a glass of white wine. "Here's to us," Marcus said. "To us," Trevor agreed as they clinked glasses. They both took a small sip. "So how are you doing?" Trevor asked. "I haven't talked to you for a couple days." "I know, I'm sorry," Marcus replied. "I just had to sort some things out." "I see," Trevor replied. "So is everything all right?" "Yea," Marcus answered. "In fact, everything is perfect." Good," Trevor said. "Let's sit down and eat," Marcus said as they walked over to the table to sit. "Wow, the food looks great," Trevor said as he looked at the salad, shrimp scampi pasta, bread sticks, and steamed vegetables. "Thank you," Marcus replied. The two sat down and Marcus raised his glass again. "I'd like to make one more toast." "Okay," Trevor said lifting up his glass. "Trevor, what you said last week I will admit shocked me," Marcus began. "And I know I didn't handle it as well as I should have. I guess it was because I was so caught up in the excitement of just seeing you and being with you that I didn't really take the time to figure out what all that excitement was coming from." "Where was it coming from?" Trevor asked. "I realized that I don't want you to take back what you said last week," Marcus continued. "In fact I want to take this time to say that I love you too. I love you so much." "Yeah?" Trevor asked with a growing smile. "Yeah," Marcus replied. "I love you." "I love you," Trevor answered. "Cheers," Marcus said with a smile still holding up his glass. "Cheers," Trevor answered setting his glass down, leaning over the table and kissing Marcus. Later that night Stanley was lying in bed looking at the picture of him and his son. Randal got in to bed and put his arms around Stanley. "You okay?" Randal asked. "I don't know," Stanley replied. "I think I am one minute, then the next I feel like I'm falling apart." "It's going to take time," Randal said. "But you will get past this, just remember that he is going to be safe and loved." "I know," Stanley replied. "I just wish I was the one loving him and keeping him safe." Stanley then began to cry again. "Babe, it's okay," Randal said holding Stanley tighter. "You're going to be okay. Is there anything I can do?" "Just hold me," Stanley said quietly. "Always," Randal answered as Stanley leaned against his chest in tears. Over at David and Kyle's apartment the two were in bed. David was reading a book while Kyle was watching tv, both of them were a good distance apart from each other in the bed. After a few more minutes Kyle turned off the tv as David set down his book. "Well goodnight," Kyle said. "Goodnight," David replied as him and Kyle gave a quick kiss and then turned off the lights. They both rolled on their sides facing away from each other and fell asleep, still keeping the distance between them. **************************************************************************** To Be Continued... Thank you all again for reading, sorry this one took a while to come up. Any questions comments or feedback please e-mail me at ilj4ever44@yahoo.com. Thank you!