Date: Sun, 18 Dec 2005 14:34:04 -0800 (PST) From: Kirk Landers Subject: Dating and the Single Life- part 25 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 and I hope you continue to enjoy. Hope everyone has a Happy Holiday season! All my best! Part 25 "Holiday Wishes" Randal, Stanley and Faith were at the mall doing some Holiday shopping. They were now in Saks Fifth Avenue looking at women's clothes. "Don't you love shopping for the holidays?" Faith asked looking at scarves. "I can't believe tomorrow is Christmas eve already." "Yea, it's great," Randal sighed. "Are you doing shopping for other people or is this all for you?" "What are you talking about?" Faith asked. "I'm shopping for mom." "You're buying her stuff from Saks?" Randal asked. "Yea, I always do," Faith replied. "I feel bad that she won't get this until after Christmas, I'm so behind this year." "Okay," Randal said feeling cheap since he can't really afford to buy his mom nice stuff like that. "What did you get mom?" Faith asked. "A frame," Randal replied sheepishly. "I'm sure she'll love it," Faith said patting Randal on the back. "Yea," Randal replied. "How's your holiday shopping going Stanley?" Faith asked. "It's pretty much done," Stanley replied. "I only have to get one more gift." "Wow, you got most of it done already?" Faith asked. "I'm impressed." Faith then went and looked a suede jacket that she thought her mom might like. "I like her," Stanley whispered to Randal. "You've only known her a couple weeks," Randal replied. "And she's been great," Stanley said. "She hasn't been mean or judgmental or any of the things you said she was like." "Just give it some time," Randal said. "She has some motive for being here and I'm going to find out what it is." "Randal, would you just give it a rest?" Stanley asked. "She may just want to be here to be with her brother." "I doubt it," Randal replied. "What do you guys think of this?" Faith asked holding up the suede jacket. "Do you think mom will like it." Randal went over and looked at the price tag. "Yea, I'm sure she'll love a $900 dollar jacket just as much as she'll love my $40 dollar frame," Randal said then walked away. "I'll be doing some shopping." "Why does he always do that?" Faith sighed. "He's always acted like him and I are in some kind of competition together." "He just wishes he could get expensive gifts like you can," Stanley reasoned. "He'll never learn," Faith sighed, having been through this with Randal way too many times. Over at Marcus's place him and Trevor were in his living room wrapping presents up. "I can't believe that it's Christmas already," Trevor commented. "I know, it goes by so fast," Marcus said. "But what I'm most excited about is that I have a boyfriend for the holidays." "I know, it's great isn't it?" Trevor replied. "I always hated being single this time of the year." "Me too," Marcus said as he finished wrapping his gifts. "So are you sure it's okay that my friends spend Christmas with you and your friends?" Trevor asked. "Yea, it'll be fine," Marcus replied. "Okay, it's just that Miles might be there and I don't want to bring about an uncomfortable situation," Trevor said. "Tyler and Jake have been doing really well lately," Marcus noted. "So I'm sure it will be fine." "You sure?" Trevor asked. "Positive," Marcus answered. "Okay," Trevor said. "Thank you." "No problem," Marcus said giving Trevor a kiss. "I forgot to ask," Trevor remembered, "How did the trial go today?" "It was fine," Marcus said not wanting to admit that he lost another case. "Anything exciting happen?" Trevor asked. "Nope, just a standard trial," Marcus answered. "Nothing special." However, this trial was just the final straw for Marcus's future at the company he worked for. He was now part of the unemployed world, a world that he didn't want to tell anyone he was in. Marcus quickly changed the subject. "I hope that David joins us for Christmas," Marcus said. "Have you talked to him lately?" Trevor asked. "No, haven't heard from him at all," Marcus replied. "How's Kyle doing?" Trevor asked. "He's hanging in there," Marcus replied. "He's doing the best he can. He still feels pretty guilty over what happened." "Are they still a couple?" Trevor asked. "I really don't know," Marcus replied. "I don't even think they know." "We just have to count our blessings and be lucky we're all right," Trevor said. "Yea, I agree," Marcus said. "Let's promise each other that we won't keep stuff from each other," Trevor said. "Promise," Marcus agreed feeling guilty because he still couldn't bring himself to tell Trevor about losing his job. Over at Kyle's apartment he was putting up a little Christmas tree that he bought and was decorating it with ornaments. The guys decided to have Christmas dinner at Kyle's place this year so Kyle got all of the groups' ornaments to hang up. He had all of their ornaments up when he picked up one last one and read '2003' and underneath it had the name 'Brett.' Kyle took a moment to remember when he gave that ornament to Brett. ****FLASHBACK**** "Here Brett." Kyle said handing Brett a gift. "Thank you Kyle." Brett said gratefully, he opened it up and took out a Christmas ornament with the year 2003 on it. "We all have certain Christmas ornaments on the tree." Kyle said pointing to the Christmas tree, "And since this is your first one with us, I think you deserve one too. You're a part of us now." "Thank you." Brett said truly touched. ****END FLASHBACK**** Then Kyle just thought about the bad stuff that Brett had put him and Kyle through. Kyle got up and went to the kitchen and dropped the ornament in the trash. "Oops," Kyle said sarcastically to himself with a smile and then went back to finish decorating the tree. As he was finishing up he couldn't help but wish that David was with him decorating. Both of them love the holidays and Kyle really wants to spend it with David this year. He went and picked up his cell phone and called David. Not surprised, he got David's answering machine. "Hey David, it's me," Kyle sighed. "I don't know what to do. I'm so sorry David. I shouldn't have pushed you away and decided to move out with talking with you first. If I could take it all back I would and I can't tell you how badly I feel that I hurt you. I just hope you can forgive me and I hope we can hopefully be together for Christmas. I miss you and I really want you with me. I love you and again, I'm so sorry." Meanwhile, over at David's apartment, David just finished listening to Kyle's voicemail, he was still adjusting to the emptiness in it since Kyle moved out. He was sitting on the couch looking around at how empty it all looks, he still had all his furniture and all his photos up, but just the fact that Kyle was gone gave it an empty feeling. He really wants to be with Kyle, but at the same time he's still hurt from everything that had happened. He knew Kyle had good intentions, but he just wasn't ready yet to see him. Before he could think anymore of Kyle his phone rang, he let the machine get it as he's been doing since he came back to the apartment. "David, it's me," Jake's voice said on the answering machine. "Look, I know you're there just pick up. David, come on, you haven't talked to any of us in weeks, don't do this. I know you're in there, I'm right outside your door now so just open up." David's eyes widen as he heard Jake say he was right outside. David got up and opened the front door and sure enough Jake was there on his cell phone. "Nice to see you again," Jake said coming into the apartment. "What are you doing?" David asked closing the door. "I came to see you," Jake replied. "It's not unusual for friends to see each other. Especially since they haven't seen one in another in weeks." "I know, I'm sorry," David said. "I just wasn't ready to talk about Kyle or anything yet." "We don't have to talk about him," Jake said. "We can talk about other stuff." "Okay," David said walking into the kitchen and getting a couple beers from the refrigerator. "So how have you been?" "I've been doing really great," Jake said taking a beer from David. "Tyler and I have been doing really well." "Good," David said. "I'm glad to hear it." "How have you been doing?" Jake asked. "I thought we weren't going to talk about it," David replied. "I didn't say we had to," Jake said. "I was just wondering how you were doing." "I'm all right," David replied. "See, that's all," Jake said taking a sip of his beer. Him and David got quiet for a minute. "Okay, I lied, we do need to talk about you and Kyle." "Jake," David sighed. "No, David, listen to me," Jake said. "You don't want to let time divide you two even further. Take it from me, Tyler and I had this huge wall between us over stuff that we didn't say to one another. If you still want Kyle then go talk to him and try and work this stuff out." "Jake, really I just-" David began, but Jake cut him off. "No," Jake interrupted. "Kyle wants to talk this out with you and he wants to apologize to you for what happened, but he can't do that unless you see him. You spent so much time and energy getting Kyle, are you really prepared to just throw it all away?" David didn't say anything, all he could do was think over all he and Kyle had been through. "I know you like to run from your problems," Jake continued. "But don't run from Kyle, you two belong together and he is really sorry for everything that happened." "Is he really?" David asked. "He's not mad at me?" "No, he's not mad at you at all," Jake replied, then he realized, "Are you avoiding Kyle because you're upset with him still or because you think he's mad at you?" "Honestly," David began, "I thought he was mad at me." "Why would you think that?" Jake asked. "He went to you the other week to apologize to you." "I know, but I thought that since I didn't go back with him that he might have gotten mad at me in return," David replied. "David, really you need to talk to Kyle," Jake sighed. "You two have way too many communication problems. The only way to grow as a couple is to communicate with one another and listen to each other." "You've been going to therapy way too long," David joked. "Well I've been learning a lot," Jake said. "Maybe you and Kyle should think about couple's counseling." "No, I'd rather us try and work it out by ourselves," David replied. "Well, you're not making a very good start if you are avoiding him," Jake pointed out. "I know," David said. "I'll figure something out." "What do you mean?" Jake asked. "It's Christmas," David replied. "I'm going to figure out a surprise for him." "I think just showing up and forgiving him will be a good enough surprise," Jake replied. "Maybe that's a good enough surprise any other time of the year, but not on Christmas," David said. "It's Kyle's favorite holiday." "You're a true romantic," Jake laughed. "Always," David answered with a smile. Meanwhile at the restaurant Tyler was going over some shipment papers when Kim came up to him. "Hey Tyler," Kim said putting some glasses away. "Hi Kim, how are you?" Tyler asked friendly. "I'm good," Kim replied. "How have you been?" "Great," Tyler replied with a smile. "I can tell," Kim said. "You've been in a really good mood lately." "What do you mean?" Tyler asked. "Don't take this the wrong way, but for a while you were really cold," Kim replied. "You weren't the happy and friendly Tyler we all know and love." "I'd been going through a lot of stuff then and I apologize for taking it out on you guys," Tyler replied. "But that's all behind me now." "What happened? If you don't mind me asking," Kim said. "All right well you know Jake right?" Tyler asked. "Yea," Kim replied. "Well, him and I have been a couple for over a year now and had a real rough patch for a while," Tyler began, but then Kim cut him off. "Wait, you and Jake are a couple?" Kim asked surprised. "Yea, why?" Tyler asked. Kim didn't say anything, she just thought about the bad stuff she had said about Tyler to Jake never having the slightest idea that they were in a relationship. "Oh my God," Kim sighed embarrassed. "What?" Tyler asked. "Oh, nothing," Kim lied changing the subject. "I'm just really glad that you two worked everything out." Kim then walked away quickly. Tyler just shrugged it off and went back to work. He then went through his pocket and pulled out a little ring box and smiled to himself. Back at the mall Randal was looking at the movie store shopping for Tyler, he was in the classics section since Tyler loves old films. He was looking at getting Gun Crazy when Faith and Stanley came into the store looking for him. "There you are," Stanley said coming up to Randal. "We've been looking all over for you." "Well I just thought I should do some shopping that I could afford," Randal grumbled. "Randal, will you cut it off?" Faith asked. "What?" Randal asked. "This whole money thing," Faith replied. "It's never been a big deal to me who makes more money then who, so why should you care either?" "Obviously you don't care when you're the one who's making more and who has the love and admiration of our parents," Randal replied. "They love you too," Faith said. "Why are you always in competition with me?" "Don't act all innocent," Randal replied. "You started this whole competition between us." "Yea, maybe when we were kids, but I've grown up," Faith lectured. "You should too. I came here to spend the holidays with my brother and to find some comfort from you." "Comfort from what?" Randal asked. "Colby and I separated," Faith replied. "What?" Randal asked shocked. "Colby and I split up, I'm pregnant and I just wanted my brother to help me through all this, but I obviously don't have a brother who will do that," Faith replied in tears and then walked out of the store. Randal stood there in shock not sure what to do. Stanley then sighed looking at Randal with disappointment and then ran after Faith. Elsewhere in the mall Kyle arrived with Trevor and Marcus to do some last minute shopping. "I thought you two got all of your shopping done already," Kyle said as they walked pass the masses of people dashing from store to store. "Most of it," Trevor replied. "I just need to get a couple more things for my friends." "And I need one more gift," Marcus added. "Okay, well I just have to pick up one more thing for David and a couple things for Tyler and Jake," Kyle said. "What did you get David?" Marcus asked. "Okay, don't laugh because it sounds stupid," Kyle warned. "What is it?" Marcus asked as the three of them went into a frame store. "I have been working on a painting for him secretly for a while. I finished it, but then put it away when things were getting weird between him and me, but after everything that has happened I decided I want to give it to him so I went and finally got it framed," Kyle replied. "You paint?" Trevor asked. "A little, I used to paint a lot when I was in high school," Kyle replied. "I didn't know that," Marcus said. "Just a little hobby I do from time to time," Kyle said. "I'm not that good at it, but this one painting I'd been working on for David for a while and hopefully he'll like it." Kyle went up to the employee behind the counter. "I have a picture to pick up, the name is Kyle Garrett," Kyle said. The worker went in the back and a few minutes later brought out the picture wrapped up in brown paper, she opened it up for Kyle to see to make sure it looked alright. Trevor and Marcus looked at the painting in awe. "Oh my God," Trevor commented. "It's beautiful." "Kyle, I can't believe you never told us you could paint like this," Marcus noted admiring the painting. "It's not that great," Kyle said humbly. "No, it really is," Trevor said. "It's great, the technique is incredible." "You can really tell you were in love when you were painting this," Marcus noted. "I just hope that David will be around for me to give it to him," Kyle sighed. "Don't worry, I'm sure everything will turn out fine," Marcus said patting Kyle on the back. Over across the mall Stanley caught up with Faith who was sitting at the food court. "Are you okay?" Stanley asked. "I'm fine," Faith replied wiping tears out of her eyes. "Do you want to talk about it?" Stanley asked. "You're sweet Stanley," Faith said. "Randy's lucky to have you." "I know," Stanley joked. "I don't get how my own brother could hate me so much," Faith sighed. "He doesn't hate you," Stanley said. "Well, either way he obviously doesn't want me around," Faith said. "Maybe I should just leave." "No, you can't," Stanley said. "If you leave then you and him will never resolve anything." "I don't know," Faith said. "It's been like this for as long as I could remember, I don't think he'll ever change." "No better time for a miracle then Christmas," Stanley noted. As they sat there Kyle, Marcus and Trevor walked by and spotted them. "Hey," Kyle said coming up to their table. "Hey guys," Stanley said. "Faith?" Kyle asked hardly recognizing her. "Hey Kyle," Faith said getting up to give him a hug. Kyle looked down and saw her pregnant stomach. "Oh my God, you're pregnant!" Kyle exclaimed smiling. "Yea," Faith replied giving him a hug. "Good to see you again Faith," Marcus said hugging her, "It's been too long." "Way too long," Kyle added. "This is my boyfriend Trevor," Marcus said introducing Faith and Trevor. "Nice to meet you and congratulations on the baby," Trevor said as the two shook hands. "Wow, Marcus you have quite a hottie here," Faith teased. "I know," Marcus replied. "Come on, sit down you guys," Faith said. "Let's catch up." "So how's Colby?" Marcus asked. "Oh," Faith replied frowning, "Well, him and I split up." "Oh my God," Kyle said. "I'm so sorry." "It's okay," Faith replied. "We weren't happy for a long time, it's just hard with the baby now and all." "Yea, well if you need anything just let us know," Marcus said. "Thanks Mar," Faith replied. "Where's David at?" "Well, we haven't seen him in a while," Kyle answered. "Why's that?" Faith asked. "He's avoiding me," Kyle replied. "He's mad at me." "What happened?" Faith asked. "Him and I got together a while ago and to make the long story short, we got in a rut, I didn't handle it well, David got mad at me and left," Kyle explained. "Have you tried apologizing?" Faith asked. "Yea, but I hurt him pretty bad," Kyle replied. "I'm sure he'll come around," Faith said. "There you guys are," Randal said coming up to the table and then noticing Kyle, Marcus and Trevor. "Wow, all of you guys are here." "Hey Randal," Marcus said. "Faith, can I talk to you for a second?" Randal asked. "Sure," Faith replied getting up from the table. The two then began walking around the mall together. "I'm sorry I've been a jerk this whole time you've been here," Randal began. "I guess I just never got over the fact that you've always been better then me." "Randy, I'm not better then you," Faith replied. "You know what I mean," Randal said. "You've always gotten better grades, were more popular, had more money, it's just hard living in your shadow." "Randy, you have so many qualities that I wish I had," Faith replied. "You've always been more independent then me, you never needed anyone in your life to be happy, you were brave and moved down here from Seattle by yourself, you have a lot of free spirit and energy that I wish I had." "Yea, those traits were cool once but I'm twenty-three now," Randal replied. "I need to start getting into a position of leading an adult life. That's why I'm opening up a club." "You're opening a club?" Faith asked. "Yea, I decided that this is what I want to do," Randal replied. "Randal, that's great," Faith said. "You'd be awesome at that." "So what happened with you and Colby?" Randal asked. "We've been having some problems for a while," Faith replied. "Then one night I walked in on him sleeping with his secretary." "What?" Randal asked appalled. "Yea," Faith replied. "So I kicked him out of the house." "Good," Randal said. "I just hate that it's happening right when I'm pregnant," Faith said. "Well, I'll be here to help you out," Randal offered. "Really?" Faith asked genuinely touched. "Faith, do you think we can just kind of start this whole visit of yours over?" Randal asked. "I realize I've been a jerk and I don't want to be a bad brother anymore." "I'd like that," Faith replied as they hugged. That night Marcus, Trevor, Randal, Stanley, Tyler and Faith met up at Kyle's place to set up for their annual Christmas eve dinner then next day. Marcus had given Kyle his present early, a nice dinner table, he knew that Kyle would be needing it for the dinner. "Thanks again for the table set," Kyle said giving Marcus a hug. "It's perfect." "Of course," Marcus replied. "Nice to have a successful friend to spoil us every once in a while," Tyler quipped. Marcus gave a little smile, not wanting to let on that he was out of a job. "Where's Jake?" Randal asked as him and Stanley were putting of some Christmas lights around Kyle's window. "He should be here soon," Tyler replied. "What's he been doing today?" Kyle asked. "We haven't heard from him at all." "I don't know, he just said he had some stuff to do," Tyler answered. "Oh Tyler, I wanted to ask you something," Trevor said putting down some of the plates he brought out of the cupboard. "What's up?" Tyler asked. "Tomorrow my friends might come here," Trevor replied. "Okay," Tyler said not really seeing the importance of why Trevor was telling him specifically. "Miles might be here," Trevor said making it more clear for Tyler. "I just wanted to see if it was all right with you. If not, then I won't have them come." "Don't worry about it," Tyler said. "It'll be fine." "Are you sure?" Trevor asked. "I'm positive," Tyler replied. "Besides, I have something I want you all to be apart of tomorrow and it'll probably be even better if Miles is here." "What's that?" Stanley asked confused. "You'll see," Tyler answered cryptically. As Tyler finished talking the door opened and Jake walked in. "Hey guys, sorry I'm late," Jake said taking off his jacket. He then spotted Faith. "Oh my God, hey Faith!" "Hey Jake," Faith said giving him a hug. "How are you?" "I'm great," Jake replied. "How are you?" "Pregnant," Faith said pointing to her stomach. "Yea, I see that," Jake said. "What are you doing here?" "She's going to spend some time out here with us," Randal said. "Awesome," Jake said happily. Jake then went over to Tyler. "Hi," Tyler said happily. "Hey," Jake replied giving Tyler a kiss. "How are you?" "I'm good," Tyler answered. "How was your day?" "It was good," Jake replied. "I missed you today." "I missed you too," Tyler said giving Jake another kiss. "Okay, we're glad you two worked things out, but we still have work to do," Marcus said taking charge. "We have a lot of stuff to get done still." After they all finished decorating and setting up for the dinner they were sitting down and talking when they suddenly heard some music playing very loudly. They all looked at each other curiously as they listened to the music, it was the song "All I Want For Christmas Is You." "Where's that coming from?" Randal asked. "I don't know, but if it's one of then neighbors they're probably going to get kicked out soon if they play their music this loud," Tyler commented. "It's coming from outside," Kyle said as they all headed to the window and looked outside. When they looked out they saw something they didn't expect to see... "Is that David?" Trevor asked. "Oh my God," Jake laughed. "Has he seen Say Anything one too many times?" "He did it cause he knows it's one of my favorite movies," Kyle said smiling. Kyle was entranced as he saw David looking up at Kyle's apartment holding a stereo over his head playing the song. David and Kyle both smiled at each other. "I'll be back," Kyle said as he quickly grabbed his jacket and ran out of the apartment. The guys and Faith watched from the window as Kyle quickly ran out to where David was standing, David set the stereo down and the two kissed like they've never kissed before, full of passion, love and forgiveness. "I'm so sorry," Kyle said breaking the kiss, "This whole situation was my fault and I'm sorry I hurt you." "It's okay," David said with a smile. "This has to be the best Christmas gift I could ever receive," Kyle sighed as he rested his head on David's shoulder, "Thank you so much and again, I'm so sorry. I just freaked out when things weren't perfect between us like they used to be." "You don't have to apologize anymore," David said giving Kyle a kiss. "I forgive you." The two held each other tightly, neither one wanting to let go. The guys and Faith watched from above smiling at the sight of the two reconciling. "Come on guys, let's watch a movie," Tyler yelled down to them. "We'll be right up," David said as him and Kyle walked hand in hand into the apartment complex. The next day Randal, Stanley, Marcus, Tyler, Jake, Kyle and David gathered in the morning at the diner. All of them were dressed and ready for one last day at work before Christmas. "Where's Faith?" Marcus asked. He himself was dressed in his work clothes, despite not working there anymore. "She wasn't feeling good this morning," Randal replied. "She said though that she just entered her second trimester so the morning sickness should disappear soon." "I still can't believe she's pregnant," Jake commented. "Especially since Colby and her split up." "He was such a nice guy when we met him," David said having gotten caught up on Faith's situation the night before. "Yea, he was especially a nice guy to his secretary," Randal deadpanned. "I can't believe he did that," Tyler sighed. "So has she thought about what she's going to do when the baby arrives?" "No, Stan and I talked and decided that she should stay with us until the baby is born and then we'll see where it goes from there," Randal said. "That'd be great of you guys," Kyle said. "I'm especially glad to see that you and her made peace." "I am too," Randal said. "You were right Kyle, I was mad at her for a stupid reason." "Yes you were," Kyle quipped. "But we all do our share of stupid things." "Yep," all of the guys replied in unison, knowing full well that they've all done their share of stupid things. Meanwhile, over at Trevor's place, Trevor, Luis, Zack and Miles were eating some cereal and talking about dinner at Kyle's that night. "Tyler actually said it was okay for me to be there?" Miles asked. "Yea," Trevor replied. "But you have to promise me that you'll be on your best behavior. I know you're not going to give up on trying to get Jake, even though I think you're wasting your time, but you have to restrain yourself for tonight at least." "Trevor," Miles sighed. "Listen, if you can't do that, then you can't come tonight," Trevor said. "I don't want you ruining their night." "Fine," Miles said taking a bite of his cereal. "Miles, won't you please just give up on Jake," Luis pleaded. "Yea, I have a couple great guys that I can set you up with," Zack suggested. "Not this again," Miles groaned. "Miles, Jake and Tyler are really happy together. They've spent a lot of time and energy working things out between them and now that they've worked it all out I really don't want to see you cause them to fall apart again," Trevor tried reasoning. "For the last time guys," Miles said. "I'm not going to give up on Jake until I know for sure that there's no chance for us. Now, can we please talk about someone else's personal life for once?" "Fine," Luis said giving up. "So Zack, how are things in your love life?" "Non-existent," Zack replied. "I hate being single." "Yea, me too," Luis replied. "Trevor, why couldn't you date someone who had single friends?" "Sorry guys," Trevor said smiling, "But I'm sure you guys will meet some nice guys soon." "I don't know," Luis said. "It's getting to be pretty slim pickings out there." "I was actually thinking of trying the online dating thing," Zack said. "Really?" Luis asked. "Yea, thought I might give it a try and see how that goes," Zack replied. "Want to do it with me?" Luis thought it over, "Well, it's not like I have anything holding me back from it. Sure, sounds good." "I can't believe you two are actually going to try online dating," Trevor commented. "Why?" Zack asked. "It seems a little desperate," Trevor replied honestly. "Well, at this point, we are a little desperate," Luis replied. "You two have a lot going for yourselves," Miles said. "You don't need to do the online dating thing, you can go out in the real world and meet plenty of great guys." "We've been doing that for the past three years of our lives and have nothing to show for it," Zack said. "Luis and I are almost 25 years old now, our twenties are half-way over." "Besides, it'll be kinda interesting to see who we might meet," Luis suggested. Miles and Trevor both smiled, knowing that the odds of them meeting some interesting people are very good. Back at the diner the guys had finished eating breakfast and were heading out to go to work. "All right, well let's just get through this day and I'll see everyone tonight," Marcus said. The guys all headed in their different directions, Randal went off back to the apartment to check on Faith, David and Kyle headed off to their jobs, Tyler and Jake headed to the restaurant, and Stanley and Marcus headed to...Stanley's job. "So you still haven't been able to tell the guys you don't work at the law firm anymore?" Stanley asked as the two walked together. "I don't know how to tell them I got fired, it's so embarrassing," Marcus said. "They're your friends," Stanley pointed out. "They won't judge you." "It's just that, I've always kind of been the one they knew they could turn to," Marcus explained. "I'm the oldest, so in a way I feel like I'm the one who needs to set the example and help them out and be there for them." "Just because you're the 'big brother' to all of us doesn't mean that you can't have a time when you need the support and guidance," Stanley replied. "I know," Marcus replied. "It's just that when I had that whole situation with Thomas, I got to a real vulnerable place and the guys really had to be there for me. I don't want them to have to do that again." "They'll gladly do it because they're you're friends," Stanley said. "You don't have to tell them right away, but you do need to tell them." Marcus sighed, "I know." "So what are you going to do today?" Stanley asked. "I think I'm just going to head home, watch TV, try and do things the un-employed do," Marcus replied. "Don't worry, you'll find something," Stanley encouraged. "Thanks, I'll talk to you later," Marcus said as he dropped off Stanley at work. Over on the other end David and Kyle were walking together. "So how long are you working until?" David asked. "Two," Kyle replied. "All right, want to come by my work and then we can leave together and head to your place?" David asked. "Yea, sounds good," Kyle answered. "David, can I ask you something?" "Of course," David replied. "Are you okay with me living on my own?" Kyle asked. "I know that we had our big fight based on me not talking to you about moving out. But we still never talked about the me actually moving." "It's tough," David replied. "I look around the apartment and I just miss you so much. But at the same time, I do think you were right." "About what?" Kyle asked. "We were taking each other for granted," David replied. "I think this way, we'll learn to appreciate each other more and the time we have together." "I hope so," Kyle agreed as they stopped in front of David's store. "All right, I'll see you after work," David said giving Kyle a hug. "I love you," Kyle said. "I love you too," David replied. David headed into the store as Kyle headed off to work. Randal meanwhile, went home to hang out with Faith. "Faith?" Randal asked knocking on the bathroom door. "Yea," Faith replied groggily. "You okay sweety?" Randal asked. "Oh yea, I'm fantastic," Faith answered sarcastically. "Do you need anything?" Randal asked. "Yea, I need it to be nine months already so I can push this baby out," Faith replied. 'Is it that bad?" Randal asked. "Yes, and I don't get it," Faith replied. "I should be done with all of this morning sickness." "Well, maybe this is the last day," Randal said. "It's got to end sometime right?" "Do I look as bad as I feel?" Faith asked opening the door. "You look fine," Randal lied as he pushed some of Faith's matted hair away from her washed out face. "I'm going to go lay down," Faith said as she slowly walked into the guest bedroom. "All right," Randal said. "I'll bring you in some food later." "No food," Faith said disgusted. "Can't stand the thought of it now." Randal shook his head and smiled, he couldn't help but be amused at the situation even though he felt bad for his sister. He decided to go in and sit with her for a while. "So, how have you been handling all this pregnancy stuff?" Randal asked. "I've had my bad days and my days that aren't so bad," Faith replied sitting up a little in the bed. "How are you going to handle this?" Randal asked. "I mean, I know we talked a little and decided that you should stay here for the remainder of your pregnancy, but what are you going to do then? You have your career and everything, how are you going to factor in a baby?" "Tons of other women have done this and handled it fine," Faith said optimistically. "Faith, this is me you're talking to," Randal said. "You don't have to put up a cover with me, are you scared?" "Terrified," Faith replied nodding. "But there isn't anything I can do about it. I just have to face this as best as I can." "This isn't fair," Randal said. "You shouldn't have to do this alone." "I'm not," Faith said holding Randal's hand. "I have my brother with me." "Always," Randal smiled. Later that night the guys all finished up their days at work and doing their certain tasks and plans and met up at Kyle's for dinner. Trevor's friends had just arrived when they all headed to the table to eat. "Everything looks great," Zack commented. "Glad you guys could come," Kyle said. "How you doing Jake?" Miles asked. "I'm fine," Jake replied leaning into Tyler for support. "How are you Miles?" Tyler asked. "I'm good," Miles answered. All of the guys shifted eyes with one another before averting their attention to the food. "So how are you feeling Faith?" Marcus asked trying to change the focus of attention. "I'm feeling a lot better," Faith replied. "Good," Marcus said. "So what have you been up to Jake?" Miles asked looking fondly at him across the table. "Just work and spending time with Tyler," Jake replied nervously. "You okay?" Miles asked. "You seem a little off tonight." "He's fine," Tyler replied putting an arm around Jake as he glared slightly at Miles. "So Tyler," Luis breaks in trying to lighten things up, "Trevor tells us that you are a manager of a restaurant." "Yea," Tyler answered. "That's cool," Luis replied. "Zack is a cook at a restaurant." "Yea, I remember him telling us that the last time we saw you guys," Tyler said smiling at Zack friendly. "How do you like working in the restaurant business." "Tiring," Zack replied. "Tell me about it," Tyler answered. "Poor Jake, I think it ended up being a lot more work then expected huh?" "Yea," Jake answered. "You're in the restaurant business now?" Miles asked confused. "No, I work with Tyler at the restaurant," Jake replied. "Oh," Miles said. "You two work together?" "Yea, we do everything together," Jake replied. "I see," Miles said going quiet. The room became silent as everyone looked around not sure what else to say, Jake reached over under the table and grabbed onto Tyler's hand who squeezed it reassuringly. "So, I have some news," Marcus said breaking the silence. "This isn't how I had wanted to tell you guys, but seeing as how no one else is saying anything I feel I better just say it." "What's up?" David asked. Marcus sighed before he began, "I no longer work at the law firm." "What?!" Randal, Jake, Tyler, Kyle, Trevor, Faith and David said in unison. "I kind of got fired," Marcus said quietly. "What happened?" Jake said. "It was a lot of things," Marcus replied. "It happened today? They fired you the day before Christmas?" Kyle asked appalled. "No, it actually happened a couple days ago," Marcus admitted. "Whoa," Tyler said shocked. "We're just finding out about this now?" "Did you know the whole time?" Randal asked Stanley. "Yea, but it wasn't my place to tell you guys," Stanley answered. "I didn't know how to tell you all," Marcus said. "Come here," Trevor said giving Marcus a hug. "Are you okay?" "Yea, I just don't know what I'm going to do anymore," Marcus replied. "You'll think of something," Trevor replied. "I'm so sorry," Randal said. "That really sucks to have this happen during the holidays." "I know, but I'll be fine," Marcus replied. "You will, you'll find something else," Tyler encouraged. "Sorry, I know this was kind of a weird time to bring this all up," Marcus said. "Actually it probably was the best time to bring it up," Jake said. The guys finished the rest of their dinner with out anymore awkwardness of Miles trying to talk to Jake. After dinner everyone got some more drinks and were hanging out through out the apartment. Luis and Zack were talking with Randal and Stanley, Marcus and Trevor were with Kyle and David, Tyler and Jake were with Faith and Miles was off by himself thinking of a way to approach Jake. Finally he decided to just go for it and went up to him, but before he could Tyler began talking. "Can I have everyone's attention," Tyler announced to everyone in the apartment. Everyone looked over at Tyler's direction. "What's going on?" David asked wrapping his arms around Kyle. "I want to do something and I'd like you all to be here to witness it," Tyler said. He then reached into his apartment and brought out the ring box he was looking at in the restaurant. "Oh my God," Kyle said quietly. "Jake," Tyler began as he went down on one knee. "Our relationship has been a real roller coaster ride. I know there have been times we both thought it wouldn't last, but I'm glad we've been able to survive. I know we've had our ups and downs, but since working things out I've never been more sure and more certain that we belong together. I want to spend the rest of my life with you. I love you, we belong together. Will you marry me?" Jake just smiled, "Are you serious?" "I've never been more serious before in my life," Tyler said. "Nothing would make me happier," Jake beamed. "I love you so much and I want to spend the rest of my life with you. My answer is 'yes.'" All of the guys cheered as Tyler slipped the platinum band on Jake's finger. He got up off his knee and Jake threw his arms around Tyler and kissed him passionately. Kyle, David, Randal, and Stanley ran up to the two of them and gave them all huge hugs. Miles stood there in shock not believing what just happened, he then shook his head in sadness and walked out of the door and left. The night continued and they all exchanged gifts with one another, the whole time Tyler and Jake just held each other and smiled fondly at one another, they both have never been happier. David opened up his last present which was from Kyle and was in awe at the painting. "You did this?" David asked. "Yea," Kyle replied. "It was just something I'd been working on for a little while." "It's incredible," David said. "That's what we told him," Trevor said as he and Marcus rested on one another. "I love it," David said kissing him. "You should paint more, you're a great artist." "I'm no artist," Kyle said shaking his head. "It's just a little hobby." "Either way, you should continue it," David said. All the guys then looked over at Jake and Tyler who were in their own little world. "We're so happy for you guys," Randal said. "Thanks," Tyler replied. Over at Miles' apartment, Luis and Zack stopped by to see how he was doing. "You all right?" Luis asked. "No," Miles replied. "Before they got engaged I felt I at least had a chance." "Miles, they are really happy together," Zack tried reasoning. "There's nothing you could have done." "Him and I had a connection with each other," Miles said. "Miles, you two barely knew each other," Luis said. "You'll go out and you'll meet someone who's more suitable for you." "I want Jake," Miles said. "But you can't have him," Luis said. "He's engaged to Tyler now," Zack said. "You can't change that." "Maybe I can," Miles said. "What?" Zack asked. "Maybe there is some way I can break them up," Miles replied. "No," Luis said. "You can't do that, that's out of line." "All is fair when it comes to love," Miles said. "We're begging you Miles," Luis said. "Don't do this." "I have to," Miles replied determined. "Him and I belong together." **************************************************************************** To Be Continued... Hope you all enjoyed, as you can see there are some big things coming up. With any comments, questions or feedback please e-mail me at ilj4ever44@yahoo.com Thanks!