Date: Thu, 4 Sep 2008 14:48:39 -0700 (PDT) From: gabriel blake Subject: In His Songs, Chapter 12 NOTE: I just wanted to give you a head's up since this chapter is, once again, like chapter 10, full of flashbacks. So if you see a ~~~ it means you're switching from past to present or vice versa. Hopefully it doesn't confuse you. Enjoy reading! His fingers moved across her cheek, slowly leaving his mark - a thin red line. He felt the cold air on his bare arms as he moved them from side to side, making sure he had the details right. He dipped his hand in once more and smeared the paint across her face until all that was left were her green eyes, piercing right through him. Andrew wiped his paint-stained hands on a washcloth as he stared back at the heavy canvas. She was looking at him with that blank stare. He could still feel the chill down his spine even though it happened more than a year ago. Andrew heard a knock on his door but didn't answer. He hadn't gone out of his room since the day before. He decided it'd be best, since Jessica might have something up her sleeve if I she spotted him elsewhere. He heard the sound of knob turning as he looked around to see who it was. "Hey," Andrew smiled as he saw Ally coming into his room carrying a tray of food. "Hey. Why are you locking yourself up here?" Ally stopped to see the painting her brother just finished and smiled, "You've got to be kidding me. You're actually painting again?" "What? You don't like it?" "No, I like it. It's just that. Well... you stopped painting a very very long time ago... This is good, a little violent, but good." Andrew smirked as he capped his paints and put them back in their case. Ally set the food down on her brother's bedside table before sitting down on the edge of his king-sized bed, "I brought you lunch. You haven't eaten anything the whole day." "Thanks," Andrew tore sat down beside her and grabbed a piece of bread and started eating. "Why've you locked yourself up all of a sudden?" Andrew swallowed the piece in his mouth, stood up and stared once more at his painting. "I don't think I got your eyes right." "My eyes?" Ally looked confused, "Wait, is that me in the painting?" "Yeah. It's been playing in my head all over again." Ally stood up and walked behind her brother and looked at the painting herself. "I remember seeing you on the floor. You were looking right at me." Ally looked at her brother, "You should stop thinking about that. It's not your fault. I was stupid. I should've never let him come in the first place." "I'm still gonna kill him if I see him," Andrew stared into the painting. "Don't say that. Besides, Peter won't even dare to go back here after what happened. Don't blame yourself okay? It's not your fault," Ally whispered and smiled as she hugged Andrew tightly around his waist. He had an arm around her, his gaze still set on those pair of eyes staring right back at him. ~~~ Andrew walked down the hall and handed his jacket to the maid standing by. "Would you like something to eat sir?" "No thanks. Is Ally still up?" "I'm not really sure sir, Ms. Jessica told us Ms. Allison didn't want to be disturbed." "Jessica? What time did she leave?" "At around ten. Ms. Allison's other guest left a few minutes ago." "Do you know who?" "It was Mr. Peter." "Peter? Peter Wesson?" The maid nodded. Andrew dismissed her and walked up the marble staircase up to Ally's room. He was still a bit buzzed from the bottle of wine he just drank but not as buzzed as the girl he left in the hotel. He walked down the hall and stopped by his sister's room. It was already a little past midnight but the lights from under her door were still on. He knocked on the door and waited for a couple of seconds. When he didn't hear a thing, he gently pushed the door open and peeked in to see her lying in her own pool of blood. Andrew instantly snapped out of his drowsiness and quickly knelt beside his sister, trying to see if she was okay. He pressed his head against her breast; her heart stopped beating. Andrew quickly ran out of the room and shouted for help. He grabbed his cellphone and made a call. Andrew was pacing impatiently outside the emergency room. He had his cellphone locked in one hand as he kept looking at his watch for the time. It was almost one in the morning but the doctors were still in there. "Andrew! What happened?" Andrew looked at his mother, running quickly to where he was. She was dressed in a flowing silk red gown clutching her Gucci bag tightly as she struggled to walk up to him in her high heels, "I got out of there once I got your call." "Where's dad?" "He's still at the party. He just needs to close the deal before he leaves." "That's typical of him," Andrew said bitterly. "There's no time for his right now. How is she?" "I don't know. I keep checking with the doctors but they're still in there," Andrew tried to keep a straight face but it was very evident he was afraid as hell. He loved his sister and didn't want anything to happen to her. Dina watched as her son kept pacing in front of the doors of the ER "Why don't you go back to the manor? Get some rest. Your dad will be here soon. We'll wait here." "No. I need to be here." "Well at least sit down." Andrew followed his mother's advice and sat down beside her. Dina put a hand on her son's back and rubbed it gently, a gesture she would've never done if it weren't for the circumstance. A couple more minutes passed as doctor finally came out and approached Andrew, "She's going to be fine. She hit her head pretty bad but we didn't see any major damage. We transfused some blood into her and we're going to run some tests once she's stable. I am a little concerned though, has your sister been taking illegal substances?" "What? No!" Andrew asked, surprised. "What's the matter?" Dina asked. "We found high traces of illegal substances in her bloodstream. It seems she'd been taking them before you found her." "You mean she took drugs?" Dina asked in a hushed voice, a little concerned about the possible scandal. "Can we see her?" Andrew interjected. "She's still resting. I suggest you get some rest and visit her in the afternoon when she's awake." Chapter 12 Family Man "Where is he?" Andrew shouted as the maid opened the door. "Where the fuck is Peter?" "What is this?" Mr. Wesson came down from his room, wearing his robe. "Andrew? What are you doing causing a ruckus this early in the morning?" "I want to talk to Peter." "He's asleep right now. Why don't you come back later?" "Get the fuck down here Peter!" Andrew shouted. "Stop shouting, goddamit. It's the middle of the night. What's the matter with you?" "Your son just fucking sent my sister to the hospital!" "Allison?" Mr. Wesson was confused. "What is it?" Peter went down the stairs, still a bit groggy from sleep to see what all the commotion was about. Andrew barged in and quickly ran up to Peter and punched him in the face, breaking his nose. "Get off him!" Mr. Wesson grabbed Andrew and pushed him away. "How dare you go into my house in the middle of the night and do this?" "You're fucking crackhead of a son almost killed my sister!" "And what proof do you have?" Mr. Wesson shouted at Andrew. "He did it. I know. He drugged her." "What the hell are you talking about?" Peter shouted as he held his bleeding nose. "My son does not do drugs! How dare you make that accusation?" Mr. Wesson shouted. "You don't know your son! He's a fucking-" "Enough! Get the hell out of my house. I'm calling the cops if you ever show your face to me again. Get out!" Andrew shot Peter a threatening stare, his eyes still full of fury, before he stormed out of the house. ~~~ Ally let go of Andrew's arm when they heard a car door slam shut from outside. Andrew looked out his window to see Jessica walking up the marble stairs of the manor. For a quick second she looked up to see him watching her. She had that two-faced smile on her face. Andrew turned around and looked at Ally, "Your friend's here." "I know. We're going out all afternoon." "Take care of yourself okay? Don't go with anybody you don't know." "I know already okay? You need to stop it. I'll be fine. You worry too much," Ally smiled and pinched her brother's cheek. Andrew smirked as he watched his sister walk out of the room. He grabbed his cellphone and punched a number. He waited for a few rings before the other guy picked up. "Mr. Musician. How are we doing today?" Kevin's breath fogged up as he walked down the busy street. Winter was coming quickly. He pressed his coat against his body as he quickly made his way to Vince's apartment. He turned the corner and spotted Xavier from across the street. He was wearing his favorite baseball cap which Kevin had given him back in high school. He was walking side by side with a girl he'd never seen before. Kevin quickly examined her from head to toe. She had blood red hair tied in a pony tail, a loose jacket with a hoodie, track pants and pair of what looked like overused boots. "Watch it!" a woman shouted at Kevin as he accidentally bumped into her. "Sorry," Kevin apologized as he kept on walking. Kevin went up a flight of stairs and stopped at Vince's door. He knocked a couple of times before the door finally opened with Vince's cheeky grin welcoming him in. "Hey there buddy," Vince smiled as he gave Kevin a quick kiss before letting him in. "What's that smell?" Kevin removed his coat as he followed Vince to the kitchen. Vince put on an apron and started stirring the pot on the stove. He took a spoon and had Kevin taste it. "Mmmm... what is that?" "Uncle Ronnie's Pumpkin soup," Vince grinned. "Good comfort food if you ask me. Wanna bowl?" "Sure." Vince ladled them two bowls and sat down beside Kevin on the couch. He handed Kevin his bowl as he put down his on the table. Kevin started on his soup and watched as Vince walked to the other side of the room. "Good?" Vince asked Kevin as he sat down in front of his brand new keyboard. "Yeah," Kevin smiled. Vince started playing the tune to Boston as Kevin continued eating. Kevin put down his bowl and realized something, "Where did you get that?" "What?" Vince stopped playing. "They keyboard. Did Lewis hook you up or something?" "No. I bought it," Vince grinned. "Where the hell did you get that much money?" Kevin walked over to Vince. "If I told 'ya, I'd have to kill 'ya." "I'm serious. Did they give you a raise?" "Nah. I quit my job." "Are you serious?" Kevin was a bit shocked. "Then where did you get the money? Are you dealing drugs or something?" Vince laughed. "No. I don't deal drugs, nor steal cars, nor smuggle firearms nor sell my ass on the streets... although I could," Vince winked. "Not funny." Vince laughed some more and smiled at Kevin, "It's a loan. I'm investing in what I really want to do, music. That's why I bought it. You don't have to worry, buddy. I'm one hundred percent fine and doing nothing illegal... So... what's going on? What's bothering you? Is it Xavier again?" "Jeez! How the hell do you do that?" "What?" "Read my mind?" Vince grinned, "You're not very hard to read... Now are 'ya gonna tell me? You know, we're in a relationship, and in a good relationship, we should both know these things so we can work them out, right?" Kevin sighed and sat down beside Vince behind the keyboard. "I'm jealous. I saw Xavier on a date with some girl... She's not even that pretty." Vince laughed, "I guess your friend finally discovered the wonders of the vagina." "Don't make pussy jokes so early in the morning," Kevin put on a straight face. "I don't know. It just doesn't feel right. He shouldn't be with her. He should be with-" "You?" Vince looked at Kevin who looked back at him. "I didn't mean it that way. He's my friend. I know him more than she does. It just doesn't feel right." "It'd be unfair for him, Kev. He wants to move on. Let him move on. As for you, you should do what you want. You should move on if you want to and be with me or you can come running back to him. It's your choice. If it were all up to me, I won't let you. I want you right here with me. I'm not letting you go," Vince grinned and started playing a tune on the keyboard. I cannot be without you, matter of fact I'm on your back, I'm on your back, I'm on your back If you walk out on me, I'm walking after you Vince stared in Kevin's eyes. He held Kevin's cheek and pulled him in for a kiss. Xavier was amused as he watched Michelle struggling with her chopsticks. She tried picking up the dumpling once again before it fell on her plate. Xavier laughed, "That's not how you do it. Here, I'll show you." Xavier picked up his pair and showed her the proper way of holding it. He picked up a dumpling and smiled. "Screw it," Michelle flung one chopstick away and skewered the dumpling with the other one. Xavier laughed as Michelle took a bite of her dumpling. She looked at him and asked, "What? It's easier this way." Xavier smiled and took a bite of his own dumpling. "You know, you should smile more. You look cute... like a little puppy." "I usually don't like being compared to a dog but I'll take it," Xavier smiled again. "It's amazing that you never had a girlfriend before." "Well, that's because I'm into guys," Xavier whispered. Michelle dropped her lone chopstick on the table and looked straight at Xavier. "What? You're shocked because I'm gay?" Xavier whispered again. "No! I'm shocked of the possibility you've never had sex with a girl before not to mention kiss one," Michelle exclaimed Xavier looked around the small restaurant to check if anyone heard her. "I've kissed girls before." "Really? Prove it. Kiss me now." "What?" Xavier asked a little surprised. "Do it. It's just one kiss. I don't have cooties. Here," Michelle drank down a glass of water and leaned towards him, "Kiss me." Xavier leaned forward and kissed her. He felt her soft lips against his. He opened his mouth and let her tongue find its way in. He kissed her for a good two minutes before breaking away. Michelle just smiled at him. "What?" "It's a shame you're gay. You're a good kisser," she sighed and went back to eating. "Do you do this all the time? Coaxing gay guys to kiss you?" "Nope. Just you." "Why?" "Because I think you're interesting." "Thanks," Xavier blushed. "But I don't think I'm crossing over to the other side." Michelle smiled, "No one's forcing you. To each his own, right?" Matt was sitting all alone in their room. His eyes were fixed on the thick text book he was reading but his right hand was lodged in the slit of his boxers stroking his thick long tool. He took off his glasses and sighed. He couldn't focus. All morning, his mind was racing with images of him in a teammate sandwich. He was fucking Keegan as he got nailed in the back by Chris. Matt felt weird about it at first but after months and months of getting boners just thinking about them, he decided to give in. He closed his textbook and removed his glasses. He moved his chair backwards and stretched his legs. He continued stroking his tool which was now sticking out through his boxers. He took a quick gasp of air as he felt the precum flow out of him. His left hand rubbed its way up his chest as his right continued its slow mission up and down his tool. In his mind, Keegan was moaning loudly as Matt's cock banged its way into his ass. Keegan's eyes were fixed on Matt's as he felt each thrust. Matt leaned down and gave Keegan a long wet kiss as he forced himself deeper into him. Matt moaned into Keegan's mouth as he felt Chris dig his fingers into Matt's side as he continued his barrage on Matt's virgin ass. Matt leaned back on Chris' chest; both of them already heaving and sweating. Matt was in a little pain, feeling Chris' tool inside him for the first time but that pain subsided as his own tool forced its way into Keegan's tight hole and his spot was continuously being hit by Chris' tool inside him. He felt Chris' teeth lightly sink into the side of neck as he moaned. Matt was getting close. Matt's strokes got faster and faster. He felt it surging through him as the door to their room swung open. Kevin walked in just in time for Matt to turn around in surprise and blew his load all over Kevin's pants. Matt was moaning in his chair as jet after jet of cum hit a very shocked Kevin. "What the hell man?" Kevin was still in shock. One leg of his pants was covered in Matt's cum. Matt was sitting back on his chair in his boxers, his sticky hand still on his throbbing tool as he gasped for air. His face was flushed red in embarrassment. "Uh... I'm sorry." Kevin took a tissue from a box on his desk and wiped the cum off him. He handed the box to Matt who quickly cleaned himself up and put his tool back in his boxers. "You better aim that thing somewhere else next time," Kevin joked, a bit turned on after what just happened. He wanted to jump Matt and screw him all over but he knew better. "Yeah. Sorry about that," Matt chuckled, still very embarrassed. "We need to set house rules for these kinds of things so we don't just go walking in on each other every time... not that it really matters, but we still need privacy," Kevin suggested. "I agree." "Um, let's see..." Kevin thought about it for a while. "Rule number one, knock first. If no one answers on the second knock, that means we can walk in. If anyone says 'wait a minute', that means we're all alone, jacking off and 'I'm busy' means come back in an hour or so. Got that?" "Comprende!" "What?" Kevin asked, a little confused. "I got it. It's Spanish. I had Spanish lessons when I was a kid," Matt smiled. "Oh, okay," Kevin just nodded. "So what've you been up to all morning? Aside from jacking off..." Matt blushed and moved back to his desk, "I've been reviewing like heck. Scott Turner Jr.'s coming next week and I'm taking in all the info I can so I can ask him something sensible." "Scott who?" "Scott Turner, you know? He's the youngest and only guy who won president in the Wisconsin Student Association and got a seat in the The University of Wisconsin Board of Regents and was a LaFollette Scholar at the same time." "LaFollette?" "Yeah. It's a very prestigious award handed out by the UW's poli-sci faculty added to that, he also briefly worked for the Wisconsin senate." "Hmmm... doesn't ring a bell." Kevin sat down on his bed and stared at the stains Matt left on his pants before deciding to take it off. "I can't believe you don't know him. This guy had one of the most controversial but most successful runs in student politics yet." "Sorry, I still don't know him." Matt sighed, "Well, anyway, he's coming next week with a few other current and former exemplary student leaders to do a series of talks on student governance. You should come." "I'll think about it," Kevin lied as he took one last look at the stains on his pants before putting it in the hamper. ~~~ Andrew was sitting beside his sister's bed, waiting for her to wake up. His dad arrived the previous night and spent it with his mother in the hospital. He told them to go home and rest and that he'd take over. He watched as Ally lay there, sound asleep. He looked up to see Jessica walk in with a bouquet of flowers. "How is she?" "She's fine. She's just sleeping. I'm hoping the doctors will have her cleared tomorrow," Andrew took the flowers and put them in a vase on the table. Jessica went over to the bed and looked at Ally. "I heard you were there before this happened. The maid said you, Peter and Ally were in her room. Do you know what happened?" "No," Jessica replied nervously. "I left both of them at around eleven. It was getting late." "Getting late? Coming from you, that's something new. Didn't you usually tell her to stay up 'til the next day? Why did you leave early?" Andrew asked suspiciously. "I didn't do anything," Jessica looked at Andrew who had closed the door to the room. "Peter doesn't do drugs. You do. You drugged her and left her with that maniac." "I don't know what you're talking about." Andrew quickly snatched Jessica's bag away and found a small packet of cocaine, "You fucking bitch. You did that to her just to get back at me! You fucking had her drugged then raped by that asshole!" "She deserved it." Andrew slapped Jessica on the face. "Don't show your fucking face around me again or I swear I'll kill you." Ally stirred on her bed and weakly opened her eyes. "Andy?" "Yeah," Andrew sat beside her and smiled. Ally turned her head and saw Jessica, "Hi!" "Hi," Jessica faked a smile. "How long have you been here?" "An hour or so. I need to go. I have an appointment." "Will you be dropping by later?" "Yeah," Jessica smiled. "Get back to sleep. You were up all night. You need your rest so we can get you out of here." "Okay," Ally smiled at her brother and closed her eyes. Andrew escorted Jessica out of the room, tightly grabbing her arm, "Do me a favor and don't come back. If you wanted to get even, you did it. You win. Just don't ever come back." ~~~ Andrew heard a knock on his door. He walked over and let Vince in. "Nice place you got here," Vince grinned as he took off his jacket. "We try to keep it nice," Andrew said as he walked to his desk. "Do you have them?" "Yup. The original and all the copies. What's so important about these anyway?" Vince handed over the tapes to Andrew. "I just need them." "You do know, stealing is a crime." "Like I said, you didn't steal anything for me. You were just taking back something stolen. Those tapes are mine." "Then why did you have them replaced with dummies?" "So that she won't think they're missing." Vince grinned as he rested his back against Andrew's door. "Pretty interesting secret you got there Mr. Gallagher. I watched the tapes. You seem like the ultimate playboy." "Who told you could watch them? I paid you to bring them back." "I needed to make sure I was really taking back something that belonged to you. Don't worry. Your secret's safe with me. You can trust me on that. But to tell you frankly, I don't think there's anything to be ashamed of. You are who you are." Andrew shook his head, "You have no idea what it's like being in a family like mine. We deal with different things here, nothing you can ever imagine. We need to cover a lot of things up just to keep our name clean. I need to protect my family." "You're right, I have no idea. It must suck being rich and famous. You lie to yourself everyday, but you know you can always be honest. If you can't be honest to yourself you should at least tell someone you can trust. Believe me, if you don't, if you keep it a secret, you'll break. Your secret will consume you." "Are you telling me that I should tell you?" "No. I'm telling you to be honest. Don't keep lying to yourself or your whole life will end up like a lie... My job here's done. I'll see you around Mr. Gallagher," Vince grinned and walked out. "My Burrito! My Burrito!" "Can you stop singing that song?" Matt chuckled as he walked down the street. "I can't. It's infectious," Keegan smiled as he took another bite of his burrito. "Let's sit down for a while." Keegan sat down on the nearest stoop. Matt looked at him as he held his own burrito, "Can we even sit there? I mean, people walk up and down these stairs. "Are you serious?" Keegan laughed. "I don't see anyone walking here right now. Haven't you seen TV shows or movies? People sit on stoops all the time." "Well I tried it once in Bordeaux and I ended up getting shooed away by an angry lady with a huge bucket of water." Keegan laughed, "I promise you that you won't get chased by an angry woman with a huge bucket of water." Matt sat down and started eating his burrito. "Bordeaux? Where is that? Canada?" "France. I lived there for a short while." Keegan shook his head. "I wish I was in your family. It'd be awesome to travel. I'd be out all day soaking in the sights... eating the cuisine... Man, I'd love some sushi right now." "My roommate took me out for sushi and I burned a hole in his wallet," Matt chuckled, "I looove sushi!" "I thought raw fish wasn't your thing?" Keegan looked at him suspiciously. Matt felt a lump on his throat as he quickly took a gulp of his soda. "Did I say that?" "Yeah. I remember. The last time we were talking, you know, when we got soaked and you crashed at our place for a while?" "Oh yeah... I kinda lied," Matt blushed. "Lied? Why would you lie about not liking sushi?" "I don't know. I thought it'd be cute... I mean-" Matt tried to recover from his slip but he was quickly cut off by Keegan. "Cute? Why would you wanna be cu- Are you into me?" Keegan looked at Matt suspiciously. "No!" Matt's face was redder than it had ever been. He didn't know how to react. He couldn't play cool and he knew he was caught. His heart beat quickly as he waited for Keegan's response. Keegan looked at Matt once more and just shrugged his shoulders, like nothing happened, before taking another bite of his burrito. "I wouldn't mind if you were gay. It'd be pretty cool." "Why?" "My family's full of homophobes so I grew up in a place where people thought gays were disgusting and dirty but if you're gay, that just proves my point that they're wrong." Matt's heart was about to blow out of his chest, "You don't have a problem with gays?" "Why would I? I mean, they're human too. We're all people. It's just that I like women, they like men... but I'm leaving my options open. I'm willing to try anything once," Keegan looked at Matt. Matt felt another lump on his throat and took a long sip from his soda, which really wasn't long since it ran out, making that noisy slurping sound. Matt shook his empty cup of soda, "I'm out." "Yeah, I'm still kinda thirsty. Let's grab a beer. Are you a drinker?" "I'm not gonna lie on this one. Yeah!" Matt chuckled. Xavier was leaning on the railing of the ferry looking at the Statue of Liberty as the sun set. "It's beautiful, isn't it?" Michelle was smiling as she looked at the figure standing in front of them at a distance. The wind was blowing at their faces as both of them looked on in silence. Xavier put his hands up, forming a rectangle with his fingers and made a clicking sound. "What did you just do right there?" Michelle smiled. "What? The hand thing?" "Yeah," Michelle nodded, still smiling. "I took a mental picture." Michelle laughed. "That's funny." Xavier laughed as well and took a 'mental picture' of Michelle laughing. They walked in and sat down at one of the empty benches. Xavier looked at the Hudson Bay as the ferry sped by. Michelle pulled her hair back and put on a plain black bonnet. She watched Xavier, peacefully looking out the window. "I still can't believe this is the first time you did this. Rich people usually go sightseeing when they get here." "Number one, no they don't. They sleep, then party. Number two, I'm not like most rich people." "I'll keep that in mind... so what do you do?" "I don't know. I'm more reserved, I guess. I usually go to parties only if I'm invited and I have someone to go with but I'm fine just staying at home, having a drink or two." "Drinker?" "I try not to be." "My mom's a drinker although she denied it all the time. She died of alcohol poisoning." "Sorry to hear that." "No, don't be sorry. She deserved it. She usually beat me to pulp when she got drunk. My dad walked out on us when I was a kid so basically I was this defenseless little girl." "Well I'm sorry about that then." "Why be sorry? It's not your fault. I mean, shit happens." "My dad's a drunk." Michelle looked at Xavier. "No one wants to admit it. He's a huge drunk. If it weren't for a few good men in my dad's company, we'd be bankrupt right now. It's one of the reasons why I'm studying business even though I hate it. I want to continue it for my dad." "Why can't they make more men like you?" Michelle pinched Xavier's cheek. "I'm fucking serious here," Xavier smiled as Michelle pinched his cheek again. "I'm just playing with you. You look cute when you're all serious." "Whatever." Xavier just smiled as he put his baseball cap back on before they stood up and got off the ferry. ~~~ "So, how're you doing?" "I'm doing fine. Stop asking me that? How's Europe?" "It could be nicer," Andrew smirked as he walked out to the balcony watching as people passed by the cobble street below. "You can never be satisfied." "So true," Andrew heard a giggle from his sister's side of the phone. "Who's there with you?" "You wouldn't believe this!" Ally said excitedly, "Jessica finally came back from boarding school. She's been here all day catching up. She's going to study in the university with me next week. Isn't that great?" "Yeah," Andrew's voice was pleasant but his eyes were cold as ice. "Great." ~~~ Andrew went to the fridge and grabbed the milk jug. He unscrewed the cap and took a sip before putting it back in. He walked barefoot around the kitchen, wearing his black robe and PJ's. He sat down on one of the stools and just watched the second hand of the clock tic away. 'It's too easy,' Andrew thought to himself. He walked up to his room and found the tapes Vince gave him. He popped one in the player and watched himself doing River. He shook his head and smirked and took out the tape. He turned on the fireplace and tossed the tapes in. He opened his secret stash and tossed them all one by one. With a sigh of relief and a smirk on his face, Andrew watched as every piece of who he was burn in flames. Matt pulled himself up the pool. It was getting late so he finally decided to give it a break and head to the showers. He turned on the water and started soaping himself up. He heard a set of keys rattling and figured it was just the janitor. He pulled off his trunks and started soaping his butt as the hot water cascaded on his lean, defined frame. "Remember I said I'd try anything once?" Matt quickly turned around to see Keegan smiling at him as he twirled the set of locker room keys on his finger. He had a tight tank top on and a loose pair baggy cargo shorts. Keegan put the keys inside his pocket and walked towards Matt who was still standing under the hot spray of water. Keegan walked under the shower, the water soaking his shirt, making the fabric stick to his skin. Keegan leaned forward and planted his lips on Matt's. Matt quickly woke up, his forehead covered in cold sweat as he gasped for air. Kevin was watching him from the other side of the room with a coy smile on his face, "Nice dream?" "Huh?" Matt asked. "You were moaning. You were fucking some girl?" Kevin smiled as he put the pencil he was holding in between his ear and hair. Matt smiled weakly and just shook his head. He got up and put on a shirt, making sure Kevin didn't notice his slowly deflating hard-on. He walked over to his roommate's table and saw a pile of crumpled papers on the table. "What're you working on?" "I tried writing again." "What's the matter?" "I can't really think of anything to write." "Lemme see that," Matt borrowed one of the papers Kevin was writing on. "This is good stuff." Kevin shook his head, "Good? Are you serious? I think it's crap." Matt laughed as he walked over to the other side of the room still reading, "Oh this is rich, you think we'd be better off conquered by the French than by the British." "I told you it was crap." "What is this for anyway? A paper?" "No. I just want to see if I can make it as a writer. There's this little magazine being circulated in New York and I wanted to try it out. I'm trying to write a creative piece to show who I am as a writer. Like I said, I don't know what to write about." "That's cool. Maybe you should right something that really interests you." "Like what?" "I don't know. I can't really answer that." "Why don't you try asking Vince?" "I will. Thanks." "Oh my god! Is that him?" Kevin listened curiously as he heard rumbling from the other side of the door. "Get outta my way!" He heard quick shuffling of footsteps and a lot pushing before the door finally opened. Deb's head was poking out, smiling at him, "Hi Kevin!" "Hi?" Kevin smiled at her, confused. "Is Vince there?" "Yeah," Vince pushed Deb aside and quickly closed the door behind him. "Hey," He grinned. "Who was that?" "That... was Deb." "Oh." The door opened a bit as both Deb and Lewis peeked from the inside. "And this is what it feels like when you have two pairs of nosy eyes staring at you from behind. The door quickly closed. Vince looked back at Kevin, "Wait here a minute, I'm just gonna get my jacket. Let's have coffee. It's kinda crazy here with those two around." "Sure," Kevin smiled as Vince walked back inside. Kevin waited quietly out in the hall when the door opened. Kevin looked puzzled as Deb walked around him in a circle as Lewis stood by the door. "Uh, You're Deb right? What're you doing?" "She's checking you out," Lewis smirked. "He looks okay," Deb put her hand under Kevin's chin and raised it a bit, "He's really cute. Honestly, I'm impressed. Our little Vincent did it right this time." "Uh? Can you get your hand off my chin now?" "Sorry," Deb smiled. "Hey! Get away from him you guys. You'll freak him out." "Relax, he's in good hands." "Yours?" Vince raised an eyebrow. "If that's good, I'm horrified to know what's evil." Both Lewis and Kevin laughed as Deb slapped Vince's arm really hard and walked back into his apartment. "You have to forgive her. She tends to get emotional at times. I'm Lewis by the way. Take care of this guy for us, okay? He's a piece of work." "I will," Kevin smiled as Lewis gave him a quick salute. Lewis turned to Vince. "We'll be out of your place before you guys get back. Be safe laddie!" Lewis tried his best Scottish accent. "Your accent still blows, lad. `Ya have to practice some more!" Vince grinned as he spoke with his accent. "Whatever," Lewis shook his head as he walked back inside and closed the door. "Are we good?" "Yep, let's go buddy," Vince wrapped an arm around his boyfriend as they walked down the stairs and out of the building. The diner was busy with people filing in for lunch. Vince sat across Kevin stirring his coffee. Kevin looked out the window as he tapped his fingers on the table. "Why don't you write about philosophy? That interests you." "Yeah, but that'd be boring." "Why do want a job at magazine anyway? I mean, you have all the money you need via your parents." "That's just it. I want to earn my own cash. I don't wanna be relying on my trust fund." "A job's a serious thing. It'll eat your time. If you're too consumed by it, you might end up quitting school." "About that... I'm not really sure I want to stay there longer." Vince looked at Kevin with a very serious look on his face, "Don't do that. You're doing awesome. You have good grades. Why would you wanna do that?" "I don't know." Vince stretched his hand and took Kevin's in his. "Look, Kev, I think you're thinking way too much about things. Stop being too serious, have fun with it. It's life. Continue school. Be happy with the fact that you have enough money and great parents supporting you. I know you want your independence and want out just to prove your point but take my advice and stay. It'll be good for you." "I hope you're right about that." "I am right." Kevin burst into a laugh, "You're still so vain." Vince took a sip of his coffee and smiled, "Damn right." "Wait a minute, you quit your job right?" "Yep." "So how're you paying for your rent and for college?" Vince put his coffee down and looked at Kevin, "If I told you, you promise not to get mad at me?" "What did you do?" "Andrew, Ally's brother, gave me an offer." "Which was?" "He gave me enough money to pay off my rent for the whole year, pay for the rest of my stay in college and buy that keyboard in exchange for stealing back some tapes for him." "What tapes?" "I can't tell you what's in them. I promised him I'd keep it secret." "I thought you said that we shouldn't keep secret between us." "I did but this is different. I promised." "You can't even tell me?" Kevin raised his voice. "You're stealing for some guy you barely even know and you can't even tell your boyfriend some stupid secret?" Vince closed his fist and raised it up to his lips as he looked at Kevin with sorry eyes. "I really can't. I don't break promises." "This is ridiculous," Kevin stood up and walked out of the diner. Vince quickly stood up and chased after Kevin. Kevin was making his way down the bust street and felt Vince's hand grab him by the arm. "I'm sorry okay? I promise I'll tell you, just not right now." Kevin stared at Vince, still hurt with the fact that Vince was keeping secrets from him, "Let me go." "I can't do that." "Vince, let me go. I don't want to fight you in the middle of the street," Kevin voice sounded cold. He tried his best to look at Vince and kill him with his eyes but he couldn't. He couldn't stand looking at the guy at that moment. Vince leaned forward and sung softly in Kevin's ear. I cannot be without you, matter of fact I'm on your back If you walk out on me, I'm walking after you Kevin smirked, "I hate you." "I know. I really am sorry. And I really promise to tell you, just not right now. There's something that needs to happen first before I can tell you. I do keep my promises and I promise to tell you. Forgive me?" "Okay," Kevin forced a smile as Vince hugged him in the middle of the sidewalk as dozens of busy people passed by. Matt put his things down as more students filed in the lecture hall. He looked around for Sarah but couldn't find her anywhere. He turned to the guy beside him, "Have you seen Sarah?" "Where have you been dude?" The guy smirked, "The girl's been pulled outta school by her folks." "Why?" "As it turns out she was caught by the campus security with drugs on her. She was arrested. It was huge scene actually. A cop went in and escorted her out. I think they charged her with drug possession." "That's impossible. She doesn't look like the type of person who'd do drugs." "Looks can be deceiving man," the guy laughed. "She should've been more careful with her stash. Matt shook his head in utter disbelief as the professor walked in. Jessica went in the restaurant and found Andrew sitting by the bar. She walked up to him and put her bag down before taking a seat beside him. Andrew looked at her with a smirk on his face before turning to the bar tender, "Give this lady a Cosmo. It's on me." The bartender went on to work as Andrew turned to face her. "Congratulations. Stealing is a crime but you pulled it off." "I have my ways." The bartender gave Jessica her drink. She took it in her hand as Andrew raised his drink to her, "Cheers!" They both drank up and looked at each other. "You do know that I'm not done." "I'm sure you aren't. I'll be waiting. It'd be best you'd try to outwit me than to pick on some poor soul." "I just did," Jessica smiled, "That bitch thinks she could steal my man? She doesn't know who she's dealing with." "What're you talking about?" "Just a little harmless prank," Jessica raised her eyebrow and smiled, "You know, I really missed this." "Is it the only thing you're missing?" "Don't fool yourself Andy. Unlike you, I don't use people for sex. I just use them, period." "Believe it or not Jess, people really do change. I know that's impossible for you, but for me, it is. I quit. I'm not playing this game anymore. It's way too tiring." "Are you accepting defeat?" "No. I'm stepping out of this but if you try to pull another stunt with me and my family, you can bet your life that I'll fight back and I'll make sure you will regret every minute of your waking life. I'd stay away from us if I were you." "I can't do that right now. Your mom invited me over for Thanksgiving," Jessica smiled, her eyes full of malice. "Then I'll be ready." Kevin walked up to their room and put his key in. He remembered the rule and knocked on the door twice. When he didn't hear and answer he walked right in just in time to see Matt naked with a raging hard on, quickly pulling his finger out of his hole and covering himself up with a blanket. Kevin laughed and quickly looked away as he felt a boner coming up, "I knocked." "I didn't hear you," Matt blushed as he stuttered. " Uh... I know it's kind of personal but I noticed you had a finger..." "I think I'm gay," Matt quickly blurted out. AUTHOR'S NOTE: Hello! I was supposed to send this update earlier but I had to do some packing and stuff plus the fact that I felt I needed to revise a lot of things. This is the second half of what was supposed to be an extremely long Chapter 11. I decided to cut it and edit it and I ended up with this. I'm calling this my 'make or break' chapter since I took a lot of risks on this one. I pushed the limits of reality on this and hopefully it worked. On almost all 11 chapters before this the story didn't deviate too much from reality but I finally decided that it's time to try something different. I also tried pushing the limits of you guys. Some of you have expressed your sensitivities and to some subjects and I finally decided to write about them here. If ever you liked them or not, I'm not really sure and I'd like to get your feedback on that. Narrative-wise, like I stated earlier, I put flashbacks in, just for this chapter, hopefully none of you got confused. I just wanted to flesh out Andrew's character a bit so that those of you who want to have him killed see where he's actually coming from. Lol! If there are any Scott Turner fans out there, you can pretty much bet that the next chapter will include input from him so watch out for that. If you haven't read his stories yet, they're on Nifty: Strange Bedfellows and Fork In The Road. Support other writers! That's it for now. I want to give a special shout-out to both Russel and Jian, my toughest critics. Thanks for helpin' me out with this chapter. I also thank those guys who write to me frequently (and I do mean frequently): Brad, David, Ryan and all the others who take their time to send me emails I couldn't type all your names in, sorry. I do read all of them and I do take them seriously. Thank you. I also want to thank Adriel who just floored me. Seriously, I thank you for giving your time to actually draw that. Thank you. If you want to write me about the story, send an email to zenlikewriter@yahoo.com It'll be much appreciated. Cheers from Paisley! -gabe