Chasing Rusty Parker – Ch. 56
By Laura S. Fox
Copyright © 2023 Laura S. Fox
All Rights Reserved
Gay Erotica
Intended for Mature Audiences Only
This story will contain graphic depictions of sexual intercourse, strong
language and it is not meant for readers who are less than 18 years of age.
Consider making a donation to Nifty by clicking the little blue button
on the front page, as they help us all enjoy so many great stories, while
aiding authors like me to display their work.
~
Chasing Rusty Parker is the sequel to my story Good Guys Don't Date Bad
Boys that you can also find here, on Nifty.
Chapter Fifty-Six – The
Ones We Leave Behind
Silence stretched between
them, but it was the kind of companionable silence that wouldn't make either of
them uncomfortable. Rusty kept his eyes on the road, but there was melancholy
in there, something Matty respected and felt like aching for, as well. They
would meet Roy at the new facility and then they would visit Rusty's mom as she
was already there.
"I'm thinking about
selling that house," Rusty said suddenly.
Matty pondered over the
strange sentence. Was Rusty thinking that his mom wouldn't come out of her
coma, ever? It didn't sound like him. There had to be something else.
"Once she's awake, of
course. I didn't like her there, and she didn't like it much, either. I think
that in a different place, she might feel better."
"You will no longer be
neighbors with Maddox's family," Matty reminded him.
"Yes, I know," Rusty
said, letting out a breath. "But the chick needs to fly the coop someday,
right?" He turned slightly to offer him a smile, and Matty took it at face
value.
"I believe we're here,"
Matty said as Rusty turned down a winding road, per the GPS instructions. "I
think it's a good place. Quiet."
"My dad chose it." Rusty
didn't add anything, but it was clear that he was thinking that he did trust
his old man with this sort of things.
Matty took Rusty's hand
without thinking as he noticed Roy Parker waiting in front of the white
building. What sort of confrontation could he expect? No matter what anyone said
to reassure him, he was a tad nervous about this meeting. He didn't imagine Roy
to be the kind to start a scandal in a place meant for patients who needed the
quiet more than anything else, but since he knew so little about the man, the
scenarios he kept playing in his head tended to become muddled and complicated.
He had said nothing about
it to Rusty, as he didn't want to add more stress on top of what had to be a
trying experience for his fiancé. One thing was sure; he wasn't expecting Roy
to receive him with open arms.
However, once they
approached and Rusty greeted his dad, Matty was surprised to see the man
stretching out his hand.
"Hello, Matthew."
"Hello, Mr. Parker."
A nod followed. It could
mean anything. Maybe not absolute acceptance, but it wasn't rejection, either.
So far, so good, Matty thought and kept back while Roy told them that he would
lead the way so that they could see Rusty's mom.
"Her situation is
unchanged, but anything can happen, any day, according to the doctors," Roy
said, his voice tired and sounding as if it came from somewhere far away. "I
will leave the two of you with her. Let's meet up outside once you're done
here."
Matty wasn't surprised to
see Rusty's mom lying on the hospital bed. He had expected that much. But what
did surprise him was the striking resemblance he could see between mother and
son. It was easy to tell that in her youth, she must have been a real beauty.
Maybe that was why he had seen so little of Rusty in Roy. His boyfriend took
after his mother, looks wise.
Rusty walked over to the
bed and sat on a chair beside it. He took one inert, thin hand in his and
caressed it with the other.
"I'm not sure if you can
hear me, mom, but some people think that patients in a coma can still be aware
of what's happening around them. For the sake of what I'm about to tell you, I
hope that's true. I'm sorry that we fought so bitterly the last time. I should
have let you win, although I've never known what that meant."
Matty felt his heart
squeezing in his chest as he heard Rusty's grave voice. How many people could
say they truly knew the king of Sunny Hill when they had never heard him speak
like that? This was something meant only for him to see, at this very moment.
So, he walked closer, too, stopping only inches away from the foot of the bed.
"Hello, Ms. Wilder," he
said.
Rusty turned his head and
smiled gratefully. His eyes said that he knew that he and Matty were in this
together, now and always.
"Mom, this is Matty. I
know you might scoff at me for using clichés, but he's the best thing that has
ever happened to me. We're going to get married, and there's nothing more I
wish than for you to wake up so that you can attend the wedding."
Matty moved round the bed
and put one hand on Rusty's shoulder. "You two look so alike. You're handsome
like your mom."
"Don't worry, Matty. Feel
free to call us beautiful. We're not the kind to mind."
Matty sat by Rusty's
side, pulling up another chair. "That's interesting to know. What else can you
tell me about the two of you?"
Rusty's face turned into
a tender smile, and, as his lips began to move, memories of the good kind began
spilling out, like a torrent that couldn't be stopped. Matty listened, not
because he had nothing to add, but because seeing Rusty like this made him all
the more real with each word he said. Real in a way that he would be only for
him and him only.
Maybe he was selfish like
that, but he was grateful that despite the others' offering to come along, he
had been the one Rusty had chosen. They were closer than friends and
boyfriends. They were family, and that really moved his heart.
"And you might even like
this," Rusty continued as the flow of beautiful recollections turned into a
quiet moving river, "but now I'm taking singing seriously. I should have told
you about it the last time I was home, but I don't think now is too late. I'm
going to be a star. Mrs. May says so when she wants to motivate me. I'm still a
bit of a slacker, but I'm working on it. You'll hear me sing one day."
Matty searched Rusty's
face. "How about you sing to her now?" he suggested. "Or is it against the
rules? This place is really quiet."
"That's a great idea,
Matty," Rusty said excitedly. "I'll sing sotto voce. There's this one song she
loves so much."
Rusty leaned over and
began singing in a breathless whisper, while Matty watched him in amazement. It
became clear at that very moment he would never tire of watching and listening
to Rusty sing. Mrs. May was right; he was on the path to become a star. There
was so much joy on his face as the harmonies poured out of him, even in that
quiet voice. He loved music.
And he loved Matty. There
was no doubt that Matty loved him back. He leaned back into his chair and
listened to the beautiful music. He'd definitely convince Rusty to sing in
front of his parents, too. It would be the easiest way to make them fall in
love with him, and Matty didn't mind things being
easy from time to time.
***
Rusty closed the door
behind them with infinite care. He felt clean like he had not felt in ages. A
part of him had expected anger, mostly at himself, once he got to see his mom
in that state. But he had a feeling that things would get better now, maybe an
irrational hope that the only way was up, and his mom would not lie in a coma
forever.
He was at peace with
everything now, and he had Matty to thank for it. As their fingers entangled
and they walked down the silent corridor, that was one solid truth he knew. He
was no longer alone, and there was someone who had his back.
His dad was waiting for
them outside, his eyes looking off into the distance as if he was deep in
thought.
"Dad," he said gently.
"Thank you. It looks like she's being taken good care of. It's a good place for
her."
A small nod was the only
indication that his gratitude was acknowledged. That was typical of Roy Parker,
so Rusty wasn't surprised. From now on, he was determined that doing his part
would be enough. And his part involved letting his dad know that he appreciated
what he was doing for his mom, even though she and Roy had separated a long
time ago.
"Let's walk for a bit,"
Roy suggested.
They left through the
main gate that separated the building from the grounds and, for a while, they
walked in silence, side by side. Rusty was waiting. Whatever his dad had to
dish out to him about Matty, he was prepared to face
it with maturity.
"Matthew," Roy began, "is
it true what Rusty is telling me?"
"About what, sir?" Matty
replied politely.
It was obvious what Roy
was hinting at, but that didn't mean that Matty would make it easy for him, nor
that he would act as if he was embarrassed about the whole thing. That made
Rusty so proud of the one he'd chosen to be with for the rest of his life.
"Rusty tells me that you
and he are going to get married," Roy said after a short pause, during which he
must have been expecting Rusty and Matty to become nervous about their
announcement. Nothing worked like that anymore.
"Yes, it is true."
"What do your parents
have to say about this?"
"They can barely wait to
meet Rusty," Matty replied promptly.
Roy appeared to ponder
that bit of information as if there were something beyond the immediate and
clear meaning of those words for him to examine. Rusty kept silent. He wouldn't
give his dad any reason to accuse him of being immature ever again. Since it
had been his choice to talk only to Matty, he would get some uncomfortable
truths and answers from another source than his son. Rusty felt that he was
completely okay with that.
"Do they know who he is?"
"I'm afraid you will have
to be more specific than that," Matty replied,
perfectly capable of holding his own in this little confrontation. When Roy
said nothing, he continued, "They do know that he is a student at Sunny Hill,
just as I am. They also know that he has a wonderful voice as I sent them a
video of one of Rusty's performances. And they know
that he's a great person."
"And how do they know
that? Since they have never met him?"
"Because I told them. And
they trust me."
Roy let out a deep sigh.
Rusty steeled for what was to follow. His dad hadn't ever minced words when it
came to pointing out his first son's flaws. Unlike before, Rusty promised
himself that he wouldn't let those touch him.
Therefore, he was taken
aback by Roy's words. "All right, then."
The silence that stretched
between them after that was getting stranger by the moment.
"What? Is that all?"
Rusty asked out loud. "I thought you were going to ask us both if we're on
drugs."
Roy shook his head. "No,
I will not say anything of the kind. But since you're so keen on hearing my
opinion again, here it is. I cannot condone this. I believe that both of you
are making a mistake, but you're grownups. Even if I said anything, it would be
like barking up the wrong tree. Even a parent's obligations have limits."
Rusty forced down the
wave of anger rising in him. As always, the things left unsaid were the ones
that hurt the most.
Roy stopped and turned
toward them. He put a hand on Rusty's shoulder. "I wish you well. Matthew, you
seem like a good person. Take care of him. And yourself."
They watched Roy as he
walked back, while they remained standing in the middle of the path.
"Mr. Parker," Matty
called out to the man's retreating back, "we will send you a wedding invitation
as soon as we know the date!"
Roy didn't turn. He just
waved, in that way of his that said `don't bother'. Rusty had a mind to explain
that to Matty, but it looked like his fiancé had a different take on the whole
thing.
Matty turned toward him
and smiled. "He'll then know for sure that we're not on drugs."
Rusty pursed his lips, as
laughing under the circumstances seemed out of place. Still, the laughter
bubbling in his chest got the better of him. Good thing they were quite far
from the main building and the personnel wouldn't hear someone laughing like a
madman so close to their facility.
"Matty, you're so awesome
I don't know where to start."
"I'll take that. Tell me
more about my awesomeness. By the way, you do realize what just happened,
right?"
"Um, my dad being my dad?
I mean, it might seem like a novelty to you, but I'm pretty used to his special
brand of putting people down."
"Well, allow me to
enlighten you. Do you know how the bride is walked down the aisle by her father
and then transferred into the groom's waiting arms?"
"Yeah, where are you getting
with this?"
Matty gestured with both
arms, as if he were part of an aircraft carrier crew on the job. "We walked
down the aisle together. Okay, so that bit is off because I was supposed to
wait at the end of the thing. But he did transfer you to me and told me to take
care of you. That's what happened."
"So, we're already
married?" Rusty joked. "I thought a wedding came with a lot more headache than
this. It happened so fast. How am I supposed to remember this emotional moment
in my life thirty years from now? And transfer? Really, Matty? Like I'm
property or something?"
"But you are," Matty
argued right away. "You're mine. You belong to me. I'll say it as many times as
it takes."
"As it takes to what?"
"To realize." Matty
stopped and grabbed Rusty's hands. He brought them to his chest. "Jokes aside,
thank you for bringing me today. I'm happy I met your mom. And your dad gave us
his blessing, in his own unusual way."
"You just think that
because you're the strangest optimist I've met in my life. He's going to throw
that invitation in the trashcan."
Matty shrugged like such
things were of no consequence for him. "It doesn't matter. We will send it
anyway. That's our part."
Rusty stared at his
fiancé in pure astonishment. "That is exactly the kind of thing I've been
thinking, Matty. That the only thing I have to do is my part. And now, you just
said the same thing. Does that make us soulmates?"
"Without a doubt," Matty
replied and pulled him along so that they could walk back.
Rusty took one deep
breath. "Is it really all right? To let him leave like this?"
"His choice," Matty said
promptly. "Don't you think so?"
"I do. I so totally do.
Some people we just leave behind." His mind drifted to memories from childhood,
the happy times. His decision was made, and the simple fact that there was no
turning back gave him a joy like no other he had ever experienced. With
newfound courage, he continued. "Not with the intention of forgetting about
them forever, but their place is simply in the past, with the good and the bad.
And then, there are others that we will only leave behind in body, because they
are always with us in our hearts. We can come back to visit them, and it's
always with joy and pleasure. Like we will surely visit the Kingsleys
even if I won't have a home close to them anymore. Do I sound too philosophical
right now?" He had no idea if his ramblings made much sense, but the ideas were
crowding his head, wanting to get out, all at the same time.
Matty
made their clasped hands swing between them, as their steps became light. "Not
at all. You're just as I imagined you were, Rusty Parker. You have layers."
Rusty grinned and wiggled
his eyebrows. "Like an onion?"
"That's a cool Shrek
joke. So, I feel compelled to say. Not like an onion, but like a parfait."
Matty wiggled his eyebrows, too.
"So, I'm sweet."
"Of course, you are. I've
tasted you often enough to know."
"Now, that was pretty
dirty, Matty."
"Do you really mean that?
Wow, to receive such a compliment from the king of kinksters.
I feel honored."
"As you should. And you shouldn't
think that I'd just allow anyone to tutor me, right?"
Matty laughed, the
carefree sound touching Rusty in the deep recesses of his heart. "Come on,
let's go. Something tells me your dad may come around one day."
"Hopefully that day will
happen while he's still alive," Rusty said with a shrug. "But, you know what?
It no longer matters like it used to. I mean, not that it wouldn't make me
happy if he were satisfied with my choices for once in a lifetime. But I can
live without his approval. What the hell am I even saying? I am so completely,
utterly happy, no matter what he says or does, that I'm afraid I might end up
flying."
"No way. You're not
flying away from me." Matty pulled at his hand energetically to make a point.
"Aww, don't tell me you've
seriously gotten into your ball and chain role."
"Ball and chain? I like
that. Yeah, that's totally me."
"Great, because I mean it
from the bottom of my heart. Keep me with you, Matty." Rusty stopped only so
that he could hug his guy. Matty was his, and that possession thing went both
ways. That meant they would only choose to be happy, no matter what happened.
***
The first person to greet
them at the house upon their return was, unsurprisingly, Zoey, who was much
better now and quite busy tasting whatever Jonathan was cooking.
"That cake was," she said
and offered a thumbs-up, "but this is chef's kiss," she added as she pointed at
the different dish samples on the table.
"I have discovered,"
Jonathan said as he pushed another small dish toward Zoey, "that your bestie,
Matty, is the perfect guinea pig."
"Yeah, totally," Zoey
said as she dug into the food and tasted it carefully. "Yeah, this is perfect."
"Great, I'm glad to see
that you guys are making such an awesome cook-tester team," Matty said, "but
what's with all this food?"
Zoey stopped, her fork in
mid-air. "Jonathan is thinking of buttering up the audience for your big
showdown with Connor."
"So, is it going to be
like a party with punch and pie?" Matty asked, feeling a bit out of the loop.
Rusty was busy joining Zoey in testing Jonathan's creations, and they were now
engaged in a battle of forks, while pushing each other. It was obvious to
anyone looking on that Rusty wasn't using all his strength, but that didn't
keep Zoey from giving her all to come out on top.
Jonathan smiled and
offered him a small cake in a pretty ruffled paper. Rusty and Zoey both stared
at him with hunger in their eyes. Matty grinned at them and bit down on the
sweet confection only to let out a sound of delight. "Jonathan, this is
incredible. What's the latest on Connor? You guys seem to know a lot more than
we do."
"As you might expect,
Connor is on the move, energizing his fan base. They have already started
spreading this announcement all over campus." Jonathan turned and picked up a
sheet of paper from the counter to hand it to Matty.
"Implacables, unite!" Matty read out loud. "End
Preston's rule of terror!" He stopped for a moment. "Terror? Show me one
person who has ever been terrorized by our dear Dean of Students, and I'll eat
my hat and everybody else's, too."
"He can be pretty
insistent with that tea," Rusty said and snickered. "I bet that the Implacables are not tea-lovers. Not one of them. They're
tea-haters. Read on, Matty."
"Uphold real values! Fight for justice! Join us to bring down the false
king of Sunny Hill... I'm literally dying, which is of course, an inane thing
to say, but this guy is totally nuts, so I can't have a normal reaction to any
of this. Don't tell me he's already established what the confrontation will be
all about."
"I'm afraid so," Jonathan
explained. "He wants to gather a crowd and have a debate."
"Well, we're not scared,"
Rusty said with a shrug. "It only means that we'll have to prepare, too. By the
way, do you know what that asshole asked for? Not that he's going to win, I'm
not going to let him, but he's one crazy scumbag."
Matty waved, trying to
stop him, but Rusty continued.
"He wants a date with
Matty."
Jonathan and Zoey were
both surprised to hear that.
"Does he have the hots
for you?" Zoey asked, throwing Matty a sympathetic look. "Oh," she exclaimed,
"that must be why he's keeping poor John around him. He wanted the deets on you, partner." She shook her head to show her
disbelief at what some people got up to.
"It's nothing like that,"
Matty hurried to explain. "He thinks he can convince me--"
"Brainwash you," Rusty
said pointedly. "He thinks Matty is cockwhipped because of me."
"He didn't say it like
that," Matty clarified for the sake of their shocked audience. How could
Jonathan and Zoey still be taken aback by all this with friends like him and
Rusty was beyond understanding. "He is just so
delusional and he believes he's so right that everyone else should give up on
having their own thoughts and just bow to his superior intellect. I have no
idea why he's so bent on me, though."
"He's envious,
obviously," Zoey said. "You're engaged to Rusty, which means that he no longer
has a chance."
"Zoey, the guy has zero
romantic interest in me. Actually, I think he's not interested in that way in
anyone. He just loves himself too much, and there's no room for another person
in his mean little heart."
"I can see that,"
Jonathan agreed. "I mean, last year, when I tried to get to know him, he struck
me as pretty self-absorbed."
"I still can't get over
the fact that you let that guy slip you the tongue, Johnny boy," Rusty said.
"All the while Maddox was drooling all over his pillow and whining about not
having you."
A prompt smack upside the
head made Rusty drop the morsel on his fork.
"Who was drooling and
whining, bozo?" Maddox growled at his bestie and then sauntered over to his
boyfriend to kiss him and accept a small sweet offering in the shape of a cake similar
to the one Matty was still only half-way through.
"Don't worry, Rusty,"
Jonathan said. "Connor never got that far with me."
"Really? Not what I
heard," Rusty replied.
Matty watched the
exchange between the best friends, trying his best not to laugh.
"Rusty, Maddox and
everyone else are already on board. We have your back."
"I also need to energize
my fanbase," Rusty replied. "Connor's not the sheriff in this town, and he
never will be."
"No need for underhanded
tactics, though," Jonathan warned him.
"You're cooking... I don't
even know what these are called. And you're talking about underhanded tactics?
You plan on getting everyone sweet on us for this thing with Connor," Rusty
pointed out.
"They are called
madeleines and a bit of sweetness never killed anyone."
"Keep telling yourself
that, Johnny boy. But I'm sure this is a Hamilton thing. I bet your mom would
approve. She's all sneaky like that, too, but direct at the same time."
"I'll take that as a
compliment," Jonathan replied. "What are your plans, Rusty? How are you going
to take down Connor?"
"Using what I'm best at,"
Rusty said with aplomb, pulling out imaginary suspenders with both hands. "I'll
show Sunny Hill their true king. Also, my royal consort will play an important
role. By the way, Matty, I think the new cat boy suit is already upstairs."
"What? When did it
arrive?"
"Details don't matter,"
Rusty said a bit evasively, which made Matty narrow his eyes. "I think you need
to try it on. How about now? Hamilton here is going to kill us with kindness
and madeleines if we're not careful."
That was a cue. That and
Rusty's big knowing grin.
***
Of course, he planned on
telling Matty the truth, but not in front of everyone. He was well aware that
his fiancé was right behind him, so he made a little show of stopping only so
that he could push his butt back a little and shake it.
A rewarding slap followed
promptly. "Weren't you in a hurry for me to try on the cat boy suit?"
"Yeah, but I'm insecure.
I need a daily tushie slap or I might start to think
that you don't like me anymore."
"That's never going to happen,
but thank you for letting me know. I'm going to slap your butt daily until I
turn it red."
"Good. That's what I
wanted to hear."
"You might not be able to
sit. It will hurt."
"Stop teasing me
already," Rusty joked. He sprinted ahead and opened his bedroom door.
Matty threw him a pointed
look before going inside. And then, he sat on the bed and watched as Rusty
pulled various pieces of clothing from his carefully curated collection.
"I think I recall this
crop top," Matty said. "Wait, did you have another cat boy suit all along,
Rusty?"
"Not exactly. But I
wanted to ease you into your cat boy persona, before I discovered that you were
actually very well acquainted with this sort of kinky activity."
"The pants are all right,
but this top is going to leave my midriff a little bare, isn't it?"
"I'm counting on that,"
Rusty said promptly. "You need an upgrade, cat boy. It's
war, and you have to up the ante. You know, become sexier."
"For Connor?" Matty
teased.
Rusty let his face fall
for a moment. "You know, there are two types of people in this world. The ones
that get so jealous that they don't want anyone else to look at the one they
love, and the ones that don't mind showing that person off for the world to
see. I belong to the latter category."
"I see. Maybe I should
try facing the Implacable crowd in the nude then. Well, I'd wear the cat boy
tail, don't worry, and the wig with the ears."
"Let's not go that far,"
Rusty suggested promptly. "There is only this much showing off I am willing to accept."
"Tyrant," Matty accused
but with the hint of a smile. When Rusty jumped on him to tickle him, he gave
up easily and began giggling. "Okay, okay, you're the boss. Since Connor has a
bone to pick with you, you must establish how we're going to go about it."
"Before that, however, I
think there's something else we need to prepare for. I mean, I have to prepare
for, because you've known your folks all your life."
"Oh, right. They'll love
you. You only need to be yourself."
"What if being myself is
not enough?" Rusty asked, and this time, his question didn't sound like a joke.
Matty picked up on it
right away. "Rusty, I'm the guy marrying you, not them. To put your heart at
ease, in the wildly impossible off-chance that they don't like you, I'm ready
to elope. All we need is our love and our alter-ego suits. Slicky
and Rybalt will take the world by storm."
"Correct," Rusty said
with enthusiasm and smooched Matty loudly. "That means that Connor is no match
for us."
"Don't tell me you ever
doubted it."
Rusty grinned ear to ear.
"Never. As long as I have my Slicky, nothing and no one can stand in my way.
That said, I will have to prepare my number."
"And what will I do?
Shake my tail to the beat? I don't think that would work too well, and let's
keep the twerking for the bedroom."
His fiancé. Always
thinking of every angle. "Don't worry about a thing. You're the support
character in their eyes, but you're the main protagonist in every story of
mine."
"Wow, that was such a
sweet thing to say, Rusty. That still means I will have to come up with a
number for myself, as well."
"As you wish. Now put on
your cat boy suit because I so need to see you in it."
TBC
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