Date: Fri, 21 Jul 2023 00:35:20 +0200
From: Ryan White <liciousryan@gmail.com>
Subject: Dude, What The Fuck, Chapter 10

DUDE, WHAT THE FUCK
CHAPTER TEN


"Why won't they give us any God damn answers! They all just rush past here
and don't even give a shit about us waiting here on the outside!"

"Chad Raymond Tucker! You calm down this instant! I am not having us thrown
out of here like a pack of dogs by the hospital security! Now you listen to
me..."

Mrs Tucker took hold of her distraught son's hand and pulled him aside as
yet another patient laying on a stretcher was brought past them in straight
into the Casualty ward, quickly making space for the workers to come
through as fast as they could, before the doors were once more closed, and
yet again, they were nowhere near to even knowing what was happening with
Jeremy.

Mrs Tucker once more closed her eyes and begged from the Guy Upstairs for
some much-needed wisdom and strength in order to calm her son down, which
she knew was downright impossible, since Jeremy Greenwood was the love of
her son's life. She knew it...he didn't even have to come out and admit
it...she had never, ever seen Chad so incredibly concerned for any other
human being in her life, her sixteen-year-old son was going ballistic at
her side and for a good reason.

According to Chad, both himself and Jeremy had fallen asleep in Jeremy's
bedroom and the following morning, Jeremy simply did not wake up. When he
checked for a pulse, it was there, but very faint, and the poor teenager
was as cold as ice. Together, mother and son worked together to get an
ambulance to the Greenwood home, and they brought the unconscious boy
straight here, only they haven't heard anything or from anyone since. No
news was good news, some said. But did it have to take so long?

"Chad...you need to stay calm, okay? Technically, me and you, we shouldn't
even be here. We are not blood family of Jeremy! Please...I'm sure the
doctors and nurses are doing everything they possibly can to figure out why
he wouldn't wake up...but please my boy...please just TRY and relax for a
bit!"

Chad didn't even notice the tears rapidly streaming out of his eyes until
it was way too late, until they were already forming a kaleidoscope of
watery substance underneath his chin, dripping down onto the cold, tiled
hospital floor. His mother didn't see Jeremy...she didn't SEE him! He
honestly looked like he had died...and that scared Chad beyond any sort of
belief he still had that the boy...the boy he loved with all his heart,
would be okay, even after all of this.

He nodded at his mother and together the two of them sat down in the
waiting room once more, desperate to hear any sort of news about him. This
was not normal, this was so weird, it wasn't actually funny at all...a
teenage boy, a HEALTHY sixteen-year-old teenager simply does not fall
asleep and then doesn't wake up the next morning!

That and more was all of the nasty shit that was going through Chad's mind
at that point and time. His heart ACHED knowing that Greenwood...as he
always affectionately called him, was inside one of those rooms, all on his
own, with so many fucking tests and shit being done on him while himself,
Chad, was breaking his ass outside waiting for any sort of answer.

Please God...I just found him...please, please don't take him away from
me...Chad wasn't a religious person by any sort of means, but if there was
any time to actually ask the Guy Up there for a favour, it would be
now. Fucking hell. Jeremy...just please be okay.

An hour or so passed, and in said hour, only once did a nurse come out and
ask for any relatives of Jeremy Alan Greenwood, with Chad as well as his
mother rising up like they were one person...now Chad knew his mother was
weary of lying to these people...saying they were directly family of
Jeremy, but to hell with that. He was Jeremy's boyfriend for fuck sake! He
was allowed to fucking know what was going on!

And after all of that...that INCESSANT WAITING...all that the nurse was
saying was that Jeremy still hadn't woken up, and that he was critical, but
stable, and that the doctors were doing some more tests...ARE YOU FUCKING
KIDDING ME?

"Samantha is okay, says Aunt Muriel. I told her not to tell her anything
about what's wrong with Jeremy, you know how much she loves him...with the
murder case and everything I don't wanna upset your sister any further,"
Mrs Tucker replied as she came back from the payphone outside the hospital
a few minutes later.

As Chad sighed once more and asked his mother whether or not she wanted any
more tea from the vending machine out front in the waiting room, he noticed
that two adults had marched their way into the waiting room. He stared at
these people in awe, both of which simply seemed to SHINE with riches and
money...their entire way of doing things just sprouted of the fact that
they were most probably loaded with cash, even the way that the man was
talking to the lady at the reception desk screamed of sheer royalty and
entitlement.

"Rich bastards..." Chad murmured underneath his breath and got the okay and
the money from his mother for the tea that he had offered to get for her,
when he froze...as the words that the man was saying...or at that point and
time...screaming at the poor, by now frightened worker behind her desk.

"I DON'T CARE! I WANNA KNOW HOW MY SON IS, RIGHT NOW! I WAS TOLD HE WAS
BROUGHT HERE TO THIS WARD! NOW...DO YOUR DAMN JOB AND TELL ME WHERE HE IS!
TYPE `JEREMY GREENWOOD' INTO THAT PATHETIC EXCUSE FOR A LAPTOP! WHAT ARE
YOU WAITING FOR?"

One look towards his mother, and Chad swallowed...very slowly. Jesus...he
had never seen Jeremy's parents up close before, once or twice at a school
function if he had to be honest, but wow...he could now see why Jeremy was
so afraid of coming out...why he was so terribly nervous to be who he truly
was. Would people like these ever accept their child being gay? Regardless
of their gender?

Mrs Tucker stood up gingerly, her eyes flickering over towards Jeremy's
parents, before she placed a gentle, yet firm hand on her son's shoulder.

"Let's go, my boy...and no matter what happens, you keep your head up" she
whispered urgently, and even Chad was stunned at the sudden fire in his
normally docile, mother's eyes.

Together both Chad and Mrs Tucker slowly made their way over to where
Jeremy's parents were, and it was Veronica Greenwood, who had noticed
mother and son first, signaling to her husband that they had company.

"Mrs and Mrs Greenwood, I presume?" Mrs Tucker asked...and Chad was amazed
at the sheer level of calmness to which his mother had spoken. God knows,
he himself was just a little more than terrified right now.

Mitchell Greenwood ogled his nose towards Mrs Tucker, as if he was smelling
something bad when he laid eyes on her, but he kept his cool, and
frowned...before Veronica Greenwood eventually went ahead and took the
initiative.

"Yes, we are Veronica and Mitchell Greenwood...for some reason I don't
think we have ever met...I'm one of those people who never forgets a
face..." she said, with a small smile etching around her lips.

Mrs Tucker stretched out her hand towards the woman, and the two women did
a quick handshake, before she stretched out her hand towards Mitchell as
well, who scoffed at the kind gesture.

"Look, what do you two actually want from the two of us, we are waiting for
any updates on our son...if the idiots around here would just fucking DO
THEIR JOBS...Veronica darling, you better go and wash your hand before you
touch anything or give these beggars money, you don't know where these
people have been..."

Chad's hands were balled up in solid fists. Until this point and time, he
had been quiet as a mouse, willing to allow his mother, the adult in all of
this, take the lead and do the talking, but seeing the HURT, the stab of
sadness in his mother's eyes at the sound of those words...after EVERYTHING
that his abusive father had put them through, he had hoped to God, that
they were FINALLY rid of all of that...all of the insults, the mental
anguish...the beatings that both himself and his mother had coming to them
every single damn time that Jonathan Tucker had laid his dirty hands on
them.

Fuck this shit.

Chad cleared his throat and looked Mitchell Greenwood straight in his
eye. Without any sort of fear or retribution. What he was doing, what he
was doing right now, he was doing for that boy laying behind those doors!
That boy which he had fallen in love with, with EVERYTHING that he had
inside him! It was time...it was high fucking time that the Greenwood's
heard what HE...Chad Tucker, had to fucking say!



**



"You will NOT talk to my mother like that!"

"Chad! Behave!" Mrs Tucker whispered frantically, her eyes nervously
glancing towards the Greenwood pair, before Chad shook his head, and
pointed his index finger directly towards both Veronica and Mitchell.

"It's YOUR fault that Jeremy is laying in there! You even realise that? My
mother...this DIRTY, SMELLY woman that you have JUST insulted have been
more of a mother, more of a fucking PARENT to him that either of you!"

Veronica swallowed, her eyes flashing dangerously over towards Chad,
whereas Mitchell simply folded his arms before his chest and looked at Chad
as if he was the biggest pile of crap underneath his shoe, that he had ever
managed to gather.

"Who...who do you...you people think you are to talk to me and my wife in
that tone...?" he finally asked, his voice as cold as his son was when Chad
had discovered him that very morning.

"You dish it out, but you can't take it?"

Chad's heart was beating so fast, so rapidly inside his sixteen-year-old
chest, that it rivalled that of a garden mouse, but he wasn't scared
anymore. All that he could think about was Jeremy...alone in that huge
mansion of a house that he called home...all alone while he was fighting
all his demons...and that were just the ones which Chad KNEW of...all on
his own in that big house...with nothing and no one to support him whilst
his parents, the people who were biologically fucking programmed to look
after him, to love him, gallivanted all over the world whilst their only
offspring suffered in mental exhaustion back home.

Chad stood upright, nearly reaching the height of Mitchell himself, before
he blinked once, and spoke his peace.

"Do you, either of you, actually have ANY idea what Jeremy has been
through? While you were surfing all over the globe, his BEST FRIEND DIED
last year!"

"Just wait a minute here, if you are talking about David Gallagher, we know
about his unfortunate death, so you can save your accusations, he has been
our son's best friend since they were six..." Veronica started to say, but
there was no way that Chad was going to let the woman off THAT easily.

"Oh, right! Did you also know, either of you, that his brain refused to
accept that had happened? That his mind was so fucked after the death of
his BEST FRIEND that it created a fucking David ALTER...one that only he
could see? One that only HE could talk to? One that he had on fucking
standby for a year, and would have still not realised David was dead,
before I showed him the memorial dedicated to David at the school! WHERE
WERE YOU!? WHERE?"

Veronica reached out with her hand and covered her mouth in total and utter
shock, her eyes widening with every syllable and word that came out of
Chad's vicious mouth. Mitchell blinked a few times, at the sound of Chad's
words, however, unlike his wife, he didn't seem fazed, at fucking all.

"That's a total and utter fabrication! If my son was suffering from some
mental illness after the death of his friend, then WE would have known
about it!"

"HOW COULD YOU? YOU'RE NEVER HERE!"

"Chad, that's enough!" Mrs Tucker hissed towards her son, and finally, the
penny seemed to have dropped for Mitchell as he realised who and what this
little upstart before him really were...

"Chad...Chad Tucker? The boy that I specifically told my son to STAY THE
HELL away from? Wait, now this...this little drama actually makes sense!
You and your...excuse for a mother want to come and lecture ME on how to
raise MY CHILD? Thanks to you and your piss poor family, my son ended up in
jail! How DARE you lecture ME on what is good for MY son?"

Chad smirked at the man, and couldn't help to notice that Jeremy's mother
was hardly even moving. All that she was doing was staring at the floor of
the waiting room, her hand still covering majority of her face.

"My piss poor family at least were THERE for Jeremy when he needed
us...where the hell were YOU?"

"I brought him back the latest iPhone from South Korea to make up for us
not being here..."

Chad nearly exploded.

"THAT'S JUST IT! Useless presents! He needed YOU! Thank God, he had ME! I
was there for him! I LOVE him way more than YOU do!"

Stunned...morbid silence immediately filled the hospital waiting room, with
the visitors and even the EMT ambulance guys standing around and watching
the drama play off in front of their very eyes. Chad shivered...he knew he
had gone too far...he knew he had just blown his and Jeremy's cover. The
look on Mitchell Greenwood's eyes said it all. His eyes bulged, his chest
was heaving up and down ever so slightly, as if he was doing a superhuman
level portrayal of someone who just HAD to keep his cool under all
circumstances.

"You...you...LOVE my son?" Mitchell whispered underneath his breath, his
eyes frowning explicitly as he refused to take them away from the boy
before him.

Before Chad or anyone else could reply, the inward doors of the Casualty
ward finally opened, and the same doctor which had taken Jeremy in when the
EMT's had brought him, appeared out in the waiting room, a clipboard held
tightly inside his hand.

"Family or relatives of Jeremy Alan Greenwood?"

"This isn't over...boy..." Mitchell sneered towards both Chad and Mrs
Tucker, before he urgently grabbed his wife's hand and made their way over
to where the doctor was.

"Chad! Come back here!" Mrs Tucker yelled after her son, but there was no
way that he would listen to his mother at this point. They were finally
getting news about Jeremy after all this time, and there was no way he
spent all these hours in this God forsaken room waiting only to go home
empty handed.

"Are we all here?" the doctor asked, the moment that Chad rushed to the
side of Jeremy's parents.

"Now, we are..." he breathed in and out as the doctor looked at him, most
confused.

"Doctor, can I ask you to get me your best troop of security guards in
here, and get rid of this boy? I don't think you want to be seen allowing
BEGGERS in here, do you?" Mitchell said as loudly as he could, but to
Chad's surprise, it was Veronica Greenwood, who slightly pulled at her
husband's arm, doing her best to get his attention. The woman, by now, was
as pale, as white as snow.

"Darling...just...just stop. Our son needs us...just stop this...he
obviously cares about Jeremy...please Doctor...just tell us how Jeremy is!"
she whispered with a hoarse throat, the tears falling from her eyes just as
fast as she was talking.

Mitchell sighed, and ran his fingers through his hair, before he looked at
the Doctor with defeated eyes.

"Fine. Doctor, I'm afraid that we have been overseas for some time, so we
don't know what has happened with our son...we only heard from the
ambulance services that he had been brought in for some kind of
treatment...what can you tell us?"



**



The doctor took off his glasses and sighed as well, before he gave
Veronica, Mitchell as well as Chad a sad smile.

"Mr and Mrs Greenwood...I'm afraid that your son has a very small tumor
growing at the back of his skull. It has obviously been there for quite
some time, but luckily for him, we are in a position to remove it. How
much, we can remove, I cannot say until we actually GET into his brain
itself. I need your permission to operate to remove it, however, as Jeremy
is under law, still a minor."

"A...a brain tum...Oh God..." Veronica Greenwood finally managed to utter
as the silence was deafening, the look on Mitchell Greenwood's face a sight
for sore eyes. Gone was the shrewd business man in a sheer blink of an eye,
and a small piece of humanity seemed to swim upwards to the surface...he
cleared his throat and took his wife's hand inside his very own.

"Doctor, what...I mean...the dangers of doing this, of actually
operating...surely there must be something else that you can do? Radiation
therapy?"

The doctor sadly shook his head, and his eyes fell onto Chad...who was
still total and utterly statuesque at the hearing of Jeremy's diagnosis.

"I'm afraid not...the positives on this particular case are that Jeremy is
young, he is fit and he is healthy, he has way more going FOR him, than
against him in this place and time, however, I must state, and this is with
sheer urgently, that if we don't remove the tumor, or at least TRY and
remove it, it will grow...and it will continue to grow. That's the
unfortunate overwhelming negative in all of this. Mr and Mrs Greenwood...do
I have your permission to operate on your son?"

Mitchell suddenly sunk to his knees, completely and clearly against his
normally overpowering nature, as the reality of the situation finally
seemed to sink in. Veronica somehow kept standing...and looked over towards
Chad.

"He never said anything to you? You didn't notice anything?" she asked, her
voice drenched with finality and defeat.

Chad slowly shook his head, and swallowed...his throat as dry as the South
African summer in the Karoo.

"His headaches...he complained so many times of his migraines but he always
said he could...he could handle it. That's why...the David alter...it's
been there ALL this time?" Chad finally uttered, clearing his throat as he
finished.

Veronica nodded, all the while looking at her husband, still in a somewhat
catatonic state after hearing that his son's life was in real, very real
danger, before she glanced towards the doctor.

"You do whatever you can for him. If we need to sign papers or anything,
you bring them to me. But in return, you save my son's life..." she said in
a straight, calm voice, that completely dwarfed her miserable stature.

The doctor nodded in return, before he noticed Chad, still planted firmly
on the same spot where he had been ever since he had heard his boyfriend
had a dangerous brain tumor growing at the back of his skull.

"I take it you and Jeremy Greenwood are friends? Best friends?" softly
asked, noticing that both Greenwood's were now busy signing the forms that
needed to be signed for the operation to go ahead, quickly placing his hand
on Chad's shoulder.

"Maybe a little more than that?"

Chad looked up into the kind older man's face, before he nodded slowly, the
tears once more dripping from his face.

The doctor smiled, and stood closer to Chad, where only he would be able to
hear him.

"When I was in school, my boyfriend...yes, boyfriend...was in a massive car
accident with his family. I was in the same position as you...only I wasn't
allowed to say anything back then. I was forced to keep quiet, and to keep
my pain...my worry to myself. I promise you, young man...that I will do
whatever I can for Jeremy. Unfortunately, a craniotomy can take up to three
to five hours and that includes pre and post operation, but don't you dare
go anywhere...I'm sure your boyfriend would wanna see you when all this is
over."

It was only after the doctor had gone back into the theatre ward that Chad
seemed to finally register what the latter had tried to tell
him. Jesus...he wiped his eyes and glanced across the room where he saw his
mother once more speaking to someone at the pay phone. Must be about
Samantha...she needed to go home. Samantha needed her. Just like Jeremy
needed him.

"Mom, apparently it takes a while to do this kind of operation takes hours
so I think you need to go home and take care of Samantha. I'll stay here
and wait until everything is over...gonna be the longest few hours of my
fucking life..."

"CHAD! LANGUAGE!"

"Sorry...totally wasn't thinking."

Mrs Tucker grimaced and sighed.

"I hate being poor...but every half hour that Sam stays with Aunt Muriel
she is charging us money...which we don't have. Okay...against my will,
I'll go home, but even if I need to bring Sam with me, I'll be back
later. Chad...Chad, look at me."

Chad willed himself to look at his mother, his worry, his emotions, his
complete and utter BEING felt like it was being advertised for all to
see. He had nothing left...he only had himself to give. What if that wasn't
enough to save Jeremy's life?

"You are in love with him, aren't you?" Mrs Tucker asked gently, reaching
up with her hand, cupping her son's face like only a mother could.

What was the use of hiding it anymore? Jeremy could DIE if things went
south in that operating room; he had enough wisdom on his side to fucking
know that. Suddenly Chad realised why people always said that life was way
too short...he never REALLY understood the MEANING behind it until
now. This time tomorrow...Jeremy Greenwood could be dead. Fucking hell
man...it was WAY too short.

He looked down at his shoes, and nodded, his entire body wreaked with
sudden sobs and he finally allowed reality to sink in...if Jeremy died on
that operating table, he didn't know how he could even go on...his life
would literally have no meaning without the dude he loved more than his own
life. When and where it had happened...Chad still wasn't sure, and if
Jeremy could speak, he would most probably say the same...

...but somewhere in between all this chaos, all this insanity...The David
Alter, the Estrada twins breaking Jeremy's leg, his father being murdered,
the same twins lying to the police saying that they had seen Jeremy enter
the Tucker home on the morning of the murder, Jeremy being arrested for
said murder, only for both boys to realise that the one who had murdered
Jonathan Tucker was actually nine-year-old Samantha Tucker...

...and now this...now this devastating medical diagnosis of which the boy
he so deeply loved could actually die from.

"I'm sorry...Mom, I really...I dunno why...I'm so sorry...I'm sorry..."

"What for, baby?" Mrs Tucker asked, her voice warm and homely, just like it
had always been, even during those times where his father had attacked and
hit her so badly that she had to have been in copious amounts of pain, but
there wasn't a single night...not ONE night, in which Chad had grown up,
that she didn't tuck him in, and hadn't read him a bedtime story.

A mother's love, was indeed unconditional.

"For being gay...for being a fucking homo...I swear I tried to fight it...I
dated girls...I tried to be normal!" Chad uttered, his voice raw with
emotion, clinging to his mother as if he was afraid, she could vanish into
thin air, if he didn't.

For a while, Mrs Tucker allowed her son to get out, what he needed to,
before she finally loosened her grip on him and held his face between her
hands.

"Now you listen to me...you are as normal as any living, breathing person
out there. Whether you like boys, or you like girls, that part doesn't
matter to me, nor should it to anyone! You say it and you say it
PROUDLY...because so you are, so you're not...so what? You're still
YOU. You're still my son! And you mean the world you me, you and Samantha!
Never, ever doubt that, ever again, you hear me?"

Chad wiped the last of his tears, before he gave his mother another deep,
firm hug, as he got her belongings, and with a last caress of his cheek,
she blew out some pent-up breath and finally left the hospital, leaving
Chad on his very own.



**



"You really love my son, don't you?"

Chad shook with fright as he suddenly realised that Mitchell Greenwood was
standing before him, complete with a steaming cup of coffee from the
vending machine in his hand. Funny...all the money and power this man
seemed to have, but in here...when your family's lives are in
danger...you're worth nothing more than a simple cup of coffee from a cheap
vending machine...

"I don't wanna talk about this, please Mr Greenwood..." Chad softly said,
still angry as hell over how this man treated him and his mother several
hours ago.

Mitchell sighed and took a sip of his coffee, pulling a right ugly face,
and tossing the still full cup away in the trash beside Chad. He grimaced
at the taste, before he focused firmly on his son's boyfriend.

"How much do you want?"

Chad's eyes looked up in total confusion.

"How much...what?"

Mitchell rolled his eyes, very much like his son Jeremy sometimes did when
he was angry or irritated. Even Chad was amazed at how much father and son
seemed to look alike in that moment. It was almost like Jeremy was standing
here right beside him, him...and not his dad.

"Don't bullshit a bullshitter, I wasn't born yesterday, boy..."

"Sir, with respect, I told you, my name is Chad. Chad Tucker."

"Yeah, whatever. Listen, I have been in the land of the living far too long
to be messed around...I know your game...people like you, are all the same,
aren't you? Give you a pinky and you wanna take the whole damn
finger. Well, if I have to pay to get you out of my son's life, then so be
it. I'm asking again, how much?"

Chad's mouth literally FELL open. He couldn't...he knew what he had heard,
but it was like his own brain didn't wanna register it...he knew what was
happening, my God, he wasn't deaf...

...but this was insane. This wasn't happening. Please God, let this just be
one of the illusions that Jeremy had of David Gallagher...please don't let
this be happening.

Mitchell smiled...and Chad knew the man had hit his weakness, and so it
proved, as the man placed his hand on his shoulder.

"I did a bit of a background check on you. Mother, a seamstress, father was
a security guard with an intense love for the bottle and to abuse his
family...yeah Chad Tucker, I have been busy and I know it all. You think by
claiming to love my son, that my family would welcome yours into our
home...free to use our money, our resources, to build yourselves a better
life than the shitshow that you have done with your own..."

"Mr Greenwood, I have NO...NO interest in any money..."

"Oh, come on, be real here, Tucker! Look...how much will it cost to get you
and your mother and your murderous kid sister out of town and OUT of my
son's life? R100 000? R200 000?"

"Jesus, Mr Greenwood, stop this now, please..."

"R500 000? That's half a million...in case you can't count!"

Fucking hell. He never had much more than a R200 in his own wallet before!
What the fuck, dude? He tried to calm down as he saw Mitchell Greenwood's
smile get wider and wider by the second, but he shook his head. No way. No
fucking way.

"So...how much? I can do an internet transfer right here and now...my
associates will even help you pack up and move."

Chad swallowed...and he stepped away from his boyfriend's father, the
moment that he saw Veronica Greenwood approach them with pure excitement in
her eyes. Mitchell turned around and rushed to his wife, taking both of her
hands inside his own.

"Honey?" he asked, kissing his wife forehead as his eyes were wild and
untamed.

Veronica smiled happily, before she turned towards Chad...as if to somehow
include him, in what she had to say.

"He's out of the theatre...they managed to...Oh God, it seemed they managed
to get every last bit of the tumor out of his brain...he's stable and he's
out of danger!"

"FUCKKKKK..." Chad gasped out of his mouth before he could stop himself,
earning him a stern and disgusted look from Mitchell Greenwood.

"And THIS...is the type of person YOU want our son to get mixed up with?
Honestly, Veronica..." he muttered before he turned his attentions back
towards Chad.

"Think about what I said. You won't get a better offer anywhere...and I
also think you owe it to your mother and sister, to give them a better
life...all those court costs for young Samantha killing her father...must
be thousands by now..." he said, grinning as he did.

Veronica was left alone with Chad as Mitchell marched on to where his son
was in recovery, and she seemed to hesitate before slowly making her way
over towards Chad. Not really fully recovering from the insanity that had
just occurred minutes before, Chad's eyes must have given away that he was
afraid of another blow, but Veronica, amazingly, smiled assuringly at him.

"I don't know what my husband told you...but you don't need to be afraid of
me. I've been meaning to come and talk to you and your mother sooner
but...with everything going on..."

"It's okay, Mrs Greenwood. It's hard for all of us..." Chad breathed as he
still eyed the woman suspiciously.

Veronica shook her head and placed her hands together in a solid fist in
front of her stomach.

"I'm ashamed to admit that I have a confession to make...when you and your
mother spoke earlier...and you told her how you felt about my son...I
couldn't help but to overhear what you said."

Chad froze. Jesus...he didn't quite know what was worse...that Veronica
knew he was gay, or how he felt about Jeremy. Either way, it...didn't
really seem like she was angry...at least, not on the outside.

Veronica looked up at him, before she looked back at the theatre, and
finally back at Chad.

"He's awake...he couldn't speak, because he had a tube down his throat, but
I give you my word...once he is fully recovered, I will make arrangements
for you to see him."

Chad blushed suddenly, his cheeks becoming fiery red, and at an alarming
pace at that. He wanted to say thanks...say that he appreciated it...just
fucking SAY anything...the words just didn't seem to wanna leave his
mouth. Tears once more escaped both of his eyes, rolling down his red,
blushing cheeks. It was then, that he saw Jeremy's mother's eyes soften, as
she nodded at him, wiping away tears of her own.

"I love my son...even though my actions might not always show it. And if
he...if he really wants to be with you, and if he loves you, as much as you
clearly are in love with him...then I give you my blessing. I'm a mother
after all...the bond we have with our boys...NOTHING can break that!" she
whispered, before she smiled at him one final time, and left for the
recovery ward.



**



In the days that followed, Chad seemed to live in a dream world.

Veronica had taken his phone number before he eventually, finally agreed to
leave the hospital as Jeremy needed to recover, and quite frankly, the
further he was away from Mitchell Greenwood, the better he felt. The guy
was an absolute jerk. To keep it mildly. In her own way, she kept him
updated as much as she could, always saying that Jeremy was getting better
and stronger by the day, that his speech was improving, his mobility was
getting more and more efficient, and he was starting to ask after all his
friends from school.

It seemed like Jeremy's dad was ALWAYS there...around him like a fucking
shadow, making it impossible for poor Chad to actually get to see
him. However, there was an upcoming business trip, which Mitchell had over
and over stated that he CANNOT postpone, so it was agreed that Veronica
could stay with Jeremy this time, and Mitchell would be back as soon as he
can.

Even when his son had been at an inch from death...money and power was all
the fucking man could think about...Chad sighed.

He had told his mother about Mr Greenwood's offer, and she straight out
told him that he did the right thing. That was NOT the kind of people they
were! The Tucker family might have been poor, but they had their decency,
if nothing else.

He shook with nervous tension as he heard his phone beep and saw that he
had a message from Jeremy's mom. He hovered over the message, before he
actually opened it.

"Mitchell has gone to the airport, won't be back until the weekend. You're
welcome to come and see him."

Jesus...finally. Fucking finally.

Chad smiled...probably for the first time in days as he remembered the last
time that he physically spoken to Jeremy. It was weeks ago, after they had
sex in his bed for the first time. It was that night, when Jeremy had came
inside of him and kissed him and had told him he loved him...

...that night he knew, if he didn't before.

That he wanted to spend the rest of this fucking life with Jeremy Alan
Greenwood.

And at their tender ages, who knew whether or not it would even last...but
Chad was sure...no matter where the world took them or who they would end
up meeting...he would and could NEVER feel for anyone...with the intensity,
the level of love and lust that he had for Jeremy. There would never be
someone else for him. Maybe...maybe not. But THAT was what his
sixteen-year-old brain was telling him.

As he arrived at the hospital, he quickly rushed towards the elevator and
pressed the numbered buttons frantically, to be taken upwards to the
recovery wards of the hospital. As the doors opened, in typical teenage
fashion, he was at first afraid that he was totally on the wrong floor, but
when he saw Veronica sitting on one of the waiting room chairs, he somewhat
relaxed. Even though this woman had helped him and had been kind to him, he
still found it difficult to actually trust her.

"Chad, you came!" Veronica said softly as she stood up and seemed to glance
over towards the room where Chad assumed Jeremy was in, before she turned
back to him.

"Is he...is he okay?" Chad asked, confused by the sudden concern on the
woman's face.

Veronica nodded, and smiled towards him, but Chad wasn't born
yesterday...something was wrong...something she clearly wasn't telling him.

"Can I see him? Please?" he asked, his eyes full of hope and anxiety, as he
did so.

Veronica pursed her lips for a second, before she cleared her throat.

"Chad...forgive me...this is so hard for me to even ask...but I'm gonna
have to see some sort of proof that you even know my son, let alone dating
him."

Chad nearly sunk to his knees, just like Mr Greenwood did the other
week. What...what was going on here?

"Mrs Greenwood? I don't understand..."

Veronica grimaced slightly and surprisingly took both his hand in her own.

"Please Chad...anything...a photo, a voice note from WhatsApp...anything!"

Was she totally setting him up? Was Mitchell Greenwood in there with the
cops or something? Fuck this, he didn't do anything wrong!

"Please..." Veronica muttered.

Still weirded out, Chad nervously took his old phone from his pockets, and
he scrolled to a photo of himself and Jeremy, holding each other, posing
for a photo outside the Tucker home, which he showed to Veronica. She
seemed somewhat upset at first, looking at said photo, but then, it was
like...acceptance...was starting to shine across her face? Acceptance, but
to what exactly?

"There's also loads of voice notes if you wanna hear it..." Chad said
melancholically, before taking his phone and choosing a random voice note
between them that Jeremy had sent, having no idea of what it even was, and
pressing play.

"Hey Tucker! Look, rugby practice has drained me but you're welcome to come
over later...can't wait to see you. Already fucking counting the hours
here. I love you!"

Veronica shook her head after the voice note ended, her eyes in complete
serene grace.

Chad still was none the wiser...he had a bad feeling in the pit of her
stomach.

Veronica finally sighed, and stood up, and placed her right hand over where
her heart was, as if to forced herself to calm down.

"Come with me...okay?" she whispered, before she walked into the room where
Jeremy was.

Chad followed her, and as his boyfriend became visible, inch by inch,
centimeter, by centimeter, it was like a day of a new dawn.

He hardly recognized the boy that he loved so much at first...his head was
totally shaved...his jet-black hair that he was always so proud
of...completely gone. He also had lost an immense amount of weight, his
big, bulky rugby exterior now meek, mild and lanky. He was so skinny, that
Chad's eyes couldn't help but widen at the sight...this was not his
boyfriend. This was not Jeremy...and yet it was.

"Baby...look who's come to visit you! It's Chad! Chad Tucker? Aren't you
happy to see your boyfriend?" Veronica said cheerfully, making sure into
keeping a safe distance between the two boys.

Chad's eyes watered down as he came closer to Jeremy...yes, the changes
were huge but he was STILL JEREMY...he was still his Greenwood. He came to
a standstill next to the boy that he so loved, and he slowly placed his
hand on the lily-white hand of Jeremy.

"Hey Greenwood...fuck...tearing up here...Jesus, never give me a fright
like that ever again! How you doing?" Chad asked, squeezing Jeremy's hand
as he did so.

Jeremy's eyes glanced up and down Chad's entire being, before he glanced
back at his mother.



"Sorry dude...but...Mom, who the hell is this?"



**



No.

No...come on, not this.

Jesus, after ALL that they have been through...anything but this.

There wasn't a God Up there which could possibly be THIS cruel!



"Honey...don't you remember Chad? Chad Tucker?" Veronica softly asked, in
fact Chad had to force his hearing to actually get a grip of what she was
saying.

Jeremy once more looked a devastated Chad up and down, before he frowned
and laid his head back down on the cushion behind.

"I don't know...should I know him?" Jeremy asked, once more his eyes
flickering curiously over Chad.

Chad swallowed...or at least, he tried to. This...why...why NOW!? Jeremy
had brain surgery after all...obviously it was always a possibility that
something like this could have happened, but WHY NOW?

"Do...you...really...not remember me?" he croaked towards Jeremy, who in
turn, etched a little further away from Chad, further breaking the latter's
heart. Chamber, by chamber.

"Dude, what the fuck, get away from me...Mom...get him out of here...why
would you even bring a stranger in here to see me?" Jeremy hissed, his eyes
full between a mixture of terror and confusion.

Chad turned around...physically unable any longer to see this...whoever
this was before him for a second longer, running out of the hospital room
as fast as he could.

That's why...my God...that's why Jeremy's mom wanted to see a
photo...anything that proved they knew each other! She obviously told him
that he was coming and she KNEW...SHE KNEW he didn't recognize him! And she
STILL allowed him to go in there and SEE him and have his heart broken!
WHY? THE BITCH! THE TOTAL BITCH!

The tears flowed before he even reached the elevator. Jeremy didn't
remember him. He didn't remember him at all.

Honestly...Jeremy has been awake for several weeks now...maybe if he could
have gotten to see him when he had woken up, but of course Mitchell
Greenwood would never have allowed that. If...if Jeremy had been awake for
all this time, and he STILL didn't know who he was...FUCK!

Where the hell do they go from here?



**



December.

The most wonderful time of the year, supposedly.

It was the final week of school, and Chad for one, was happy as fuck that
this year was over.

It would be his seventeenth birthday on the twenty-fourth...the day before
Christmas, and although his mother had gotten a huge bonus at her job, and
Samantha had been exonerated from killing her father in self-defense...Chad
just couldn't stomach being at school for one more second.

Having to watch Jeremy prance around in school with Leyla Harding on his
arm was asking too much...way too much.

Oh...yeah, Jeremy remembered everything and everyone...except HIM and their
time together. It would seem that the only thing he had forgotten, was
Chad. He had made a full recovery in the past few months since the
operation, and although at first, Chad had tried his level best to try and
get Jeremy to remember, by secretly going over to his house when his
parents were, yet again, away on business, showing him countless photos,
videos, playing him all the voice notes Jeremy had ever sent him as proof
of what they had...

...it was all worthless.

Jeremy did physically not remember him. He didn't know it from Adam, any
more.

To him, and to his mind...there was never a Chad Tucker. Whether it had
anything to do with the fact that Chad's face was the last thing he saw
before he fell into that coma all those months ago...he would never
know. He had even taken his mother as well as Samantha to see Jeremy to try
and push his memory...and all that achieved was the crying image of a
devastated nine-year-old girl, who's beloved crush and friend, didn't even
know who she was.

It was the unfairness of it all, it seemed, that was the worst. Only four
months ago, he was more happy than he EVER thought was possible. Jeremy was
his, and he was Jeremy's. How quickly times could change.

His heart ached as he saw Jeremy give Leyla a quick kiss before the bell
rang for the final period of the school day. He scoffed at her...Jeremy
might not be able to remember her cheating on him with one of the guys on
the rugby team, but SHE damn well knew! Like she was ever gonna tell
him...geez.

Fucking hell, Tucker...you gotta try! You gotta at least try ONE more time!
The fuck you gonna give up as easy as that, and have that slut have him!

After school, Chad rushed home, the insanely hot South African summer
nearly burning him to a crisp, changing into a shirt and shorts, before he
looked at himself determinedly in the mirror. Today was the day that he was
gonna MAKE Jeremy Greenwood fucking remember him and their time together,
what they had and shared. Jesus man...he HAD TO!

Making his way over towards the Greenwood mansion, he wondered
absentmindedly if he would even be allowed inside...after all it was
December and Jeremy's parents would probably not be doing business at
Christmas...but sure enough, the front gate opened as soon as he pressed
the intercom.

Once at the front door, he didn't even have to knock, it was immediately
opened by Mitchell Greenwood.

"Young Mister Tucker! Welcome! Wanna come inside?" he asked, the smile
around the corners of his mouth, not quite reaching his eyes.

Chad's heart was beating a million times a minute, but he did come to see
his boyfriend...or former fucking boyfriend, there was no pretending
otherwise. As he was inside, Mitchell turned towards him, almost with utter
glee, before he casted his eyes upwards.

"You see to see my son, I gather?"

Chad could only nod.

"If that is okay with you..." he muttered underneath his breath.

Mitchell gave out a right bark of a laugh, before he once more placed his
hand firmly on Chad's shoulder.

"Of course, it's okay! Take all the time you need up there! Hey...have you
given any more thought at that offer I made you months ago?"

Chad rolled his eyes and gripped his backpack over his shoulder even more
fierce that what was necessary.

"Thanks for the offer, Mr Greenwood, but like I said...we may be poor, but
we aren't for sale. Can I please go to Jeremy's room now?"

Mitchell was quiet for a mere moment, before he nodded, and shrugged his
shoulders.

"Just remember...the offer is there...no matter what the cost. You never
know what might happen to change your mind."

Dude...what the fuck? Was that a threat? Man, what was WITH this guy?

Quickly Chad made his way up to Jeremy's bedroom and took a few seconds to
compose himself...he HATED this...he HATED all of this, Jeremy not being
able to remember who he was entirely. Why couldn't he have forgotten Leyla?
Or the fucking Estrada twins? Or even his damn father? No...he had to
forget him, and only fucking him. Sigh.

Opening up the door to Jeremy's bedroom, Chad kinda knew what he could find
in there, before he even saw it...and now he suddenly understood why
Jeremy's father was so keen to actually get him up here.

"What the hell? Dude!" Jeremy shouted, frantically trying to cover up his
naked, hard, red, solid cock which was sticking upwards like a fucking
flagpole, looking as angry and as pissed as its owner. Chad didn't know
where to look...he just wanted to get the image of Leyla...LEYLA OF ALL
PEOPLE with Jeremy's dick stuffed down her throat OUT of his mind as fast
as he could.

He made way for the stairs leading downstairs, but not before he was
cornered by Jeremy himself. He had bulked up quite a bit since the
operation, and although not as huge as he had been before, he was more than
a match for Chad. Jeremy blew out some pent-up breath, before he frowned at
the boy before him.

"Look, dude...I have tried to be patient. I'm not a fucking violent
person...but I'm seriously gonna lose my cool with you. I have told you,
over and over and OVER...I DO NOT KNOW WHO YOU FUCKING ARE! Stop ruining my
fucking life! Just...just get away and STAY away from me! Please...I don't
know how much clearer you want me to say it!" he yelled out of sheer and
pure frustration.

It was then...at that moment...that Chad had no choice, it seemed, that to
actually and truly admit defeat.

It has been months. MONTHS.

If he had hoped Jeremy's memory would eventually come back...all hope was
now lost.

He couldn't even blame anyone...because there was no one TO blame.

Jeremy didn't remember him...he sure as hell wouldn't like it too if some
stranger kept forcing his way into his life either.

Chad gripped his backpack, and took one last look at Jeremy.

"Do me a favour, would you, Greenwood?" he asked quietly, staring deep into
his former boyfriend's eyes.

Jeremy crossed his arms in front of his chest and rolled his eyes.

"And what would that be?" he asked, clearly irritated and clearly wanting
to have those female lips back locked around his cock.

Chad bit his lip, turning towards the stairs to go back down.

"Just be happy...just be you...be Jeremy Greenwood..." he said, before he
slouched downwards.

Behind him he could have sworn he heard the latter mumble something like
"Dude, what the fuck" underneath his breath.

"Going home so soon?" Mitchell Greenwood asked as he descended the last of
the stairs, but Chad didn't even as much as look at him.

All he wanted to do now, was to get home.



**



Why Samantha had to choose THIS park, close to Jeremy's mansion, he would
never know.

Poor kid...he knew she missed him. She even committed murder for him...at
least, they were trying their best to forget THAT incident ever happened.

Laughing and giggling as his kid sister always did with the neighbourhood
kids around her, Chad smiled reluctantly...he couldn't help but. He looked
down at his backpack...which contained fresh fruit and water that his
mother had given them for when they got hungry, as well as the Christmas
present that he had gotten for Jeremy months ago. The old Jeremy, that was.

Tomorrow, it would be Christmas. Today, was Chad's birthday. He was now
officially seventeen years old. So much for a birthday...not that he minded
taking Sam to the park. But having next to no friends, the Estrada twins
making sure of that...he just wanted this fucking day over with.

He flinched as something smashed into his ankle from behind, looking over
he saw a young boy running over towards him, an an even bigger teenage boy
calling out after him and who honestly looked like...oh Jesus. Why now, why
fucking HERE of all places?

"Hey dude, be a pal and kick that ball back here...oh...its...it's you."

Grimacing as he did so, Chad turned around and picked up the rugby ball
that was laying behind him from where he had crashed into him, and doing
his best impression of a rugby forward pass to give it back to the boy.

"Same old Jeremy...haven't forgotten that you live and breathe for Rugby,
have you?" he dared to say, and to his amazement, Jeremy actually smiled.

"Yeah...that's Leyla's little nephew. They're visiting for Christmas. The
girls have all gone out to getting dresses for tonight's fancy dinner we're
having at our house, and I'm stuck looking after him. Good fun all
around. What are you doing here, then?"

Chad pointed over to where Samantha was before looking back at Jeremy, who
nodded.

"Anyway...you...you doing good?" he then asked. Chad sighed, and crossed
his arms.

"You want the truth or..." he asked, his eyes looking miserable as sin.

Jeremy looked backwards to where Leyla's nephew was playing with a bunch of
other boys, before he shook his head and slowly moved forward to Chad.

"You're getting too close, dude...you sure I'm not gonna throw myself at
you?" Chad joked, but he saw at once that Jeremy wasn't in the mood to
laugh.

"Look...what's your name again?"

Chad could swear that he actually FELT that imaginary stab deep inside his
stomach at the hearing of those words.

"It's Chad."

Jeremy sniffed.

"Right...Chad. Anyway...look, Chad, I don't wanna think that I'm a guy who
goes around and hurts people...and apart from some of the soccer geeks at
school, I don't really HATE anyone...but I can't just start something up
with you...friendship or whatever, when I don't fucking remember you."

Chad shrugged his shoulders. He prayed that Samantha would get tired soon
of playing because WOW...he needed to get the fuck outta here. Like right
now.

"It's okay, Greenwood. I get it, okay? I've fucking made peace with it, and
I'm leaving you the hell alone, like you asked."

Jeremy smiled sadly and looked at Samantha when she noticed him and
excitedly waved at him.

"Your sister is a cutie."

"Thanks, you won't remember this, but you're kinda her hero, even more than
me."

Jeremy flickered his eyes towards Chad, and sighed.

"Look...my mom has sat me down like LOADS of times and tried to get me to
remember...and even though I hated it at first, I was kinda curious to be
honest, I mean you showed me those photos and everything and I KNOW it's my
face AND my voice...but Chad...dude, I'm...I'm STRAIGHT, man! I have
seriously loved pussy my whole life...the idea of sucking a dick or fucking
a guy...I just CAN'T, man! I don't wanna hurt you, I really don't...but
perhaps its better that I can't seem to remember..."

Okay...that was it.

THAT...WAS IT!

"SAMANTHA! COME ON, WE GOTTA GO!"

Totally ignoring the hate that his kid sister was throwing at him, Chad
gathered his backpack and Sam's belongings, before he stopped...hesitated,
only to close his eyes and turn back towards Jeremy.

"Look, not to freak you out here, like you said you don't know me...but
respect the fact that I know YOU. I got you this...I meant to give it to
you for Christmas this year before everything happened but...whatever...but
I want you to have it anyway."

Handing over the gift to Jeremy, his eyes were over the place...making sure
Leyla's nephew was still doing okay, like any curious teenager, he checked
the giftbag with sheer teenage excitement, only to withdraw a rugby ball
from it.

"Holy fucking shit..." Jeremy whispered in awe, as he realised just what
Chad had given him.

It was a rugby ball indeed, with the names of the current Springbok Rugby
team signed all over it in permanent ink. Blinking a few times, Jeremy at
first, couldn't get the words out to actually say anything. He looked over
to Chad, as if he couldn't understand how a perfect stranger would even
KNOW to get him...THIS.

"How...how did you even know...I've wanted something like this for ages?"
Jeremy whispered, returning his eyes to the ball as soon as he could.

"We saw it once in a window at the mall...the Boks was going to come and
sign autographs there in September and you BEGGED me to go with you
before...before everything turned to shit...but like I said, it's not your
fault you can't remember. I was really kinda hoping that you would remember
me by now...whatever, I still want you to have it...SAMANTHA COME ON!" Chad
yelled out, as the tears threatened to overcome him.

This was so unfair...this was FUCKING unfair. He did NOTHING wrong. They
had a love so pure, so great, so MASSIVE...and it was RIPPED away from him
for God knows what reason. To hell with this, to hell with everything.

"SAM!"

"You must have queued for fucking hours to get this..." Jeremy said, still
blissfully unaware of the trauma that Chad was going through.

"Yeah well, you fucking do that for someone you...nothing man, I'll see you
around," Chad nearly misspoke, before he saw Samantha finally come running
over towards them and to his utter surprised, and ran straight to Jeremy
and nearly flattened him with one of her signature bear hugs.

"I missed you! When are you coming to visit us again! Are you and Chad
still dating?" she asked, in pure innocent nine-year-old fashion.

Jeremy smiled...and finally looked up at Chad.

"Well, I'm starting to think we can maybe be friends at least, or try to
be...if that's gonna be enough?" he said, his eyes blinking.

Chad took Samantha's hand inside his left, before he slowly nodded and
stuck out his right hand, towards Jeremy.

"For what it's worth...Merry Christmas, Jeremy Greenwood..." he said
softly.

Jeremy shrugged his shoulders.

"Yeah, what the hell, one can never have too many friends..." he said, and
took Chad's hand in his own.



**



The moment that his hand touched Chad's, he felt it.

Flashes...images...conversations...

...memories as far and as wide as the eye could see.



"Jeremy? You okay, dude?" Chad asked as he saw Jeremy was sort of fazing
out from where he stood...he didn't move an inch.

Jeremy refused to let go of Chad's hand, even though the latter tried to
withdraw it...it felt familiar, it felt like coming home. It felt like he
never wanted to let it go.

Chad finally managed to take his hand out of Jeremy's kung-fu grip and with
a frown, he signaled at Samantha for them to walk the way home, before he
heard it...

...clear as day.



"TUCKER!"



Chad turned around, so fast, that he nearly ended up with whiplash. He
walked over to where Jeremy was still standing, and looked him in the eye
in sheer disbelief.

"Jeremy? You...called...me...Tucker..." he whispered.

Jeremy's eyes rolled back in their sockets, before returning to normal, his
face was distorted as he remembered the pain, the agony, his constant
rejection of this wonderful guy before him...what he must have gone
through...he remembered the night before everything changed...he remembered
telling Chad he loved him, he remembered them finally having sex, he
remembered feeling the HAPPIEST that he had EVER felt in his entire life.

Most of all...he remembered how much HE loved Chad Tucker.



"Chad...Chad.... Oh god...oh Chad..." Jeremy whispered...and in front of
ALL the people that was currently inside the park area, in front of his
girlfriend's nephew...in front of his boyfriend's kid sister...

...he grabbed Chad and frantically kissed him.



Chad wasn't made of stone either...he too, realised what had to be
happening...WHY else would Jeremy kiss him and call him TUCKER?

The two boys clung to each other like they were afraid they might fly away
if they let go, kissing each other with so much passion, so much velocity
that they were out of breath before they even knew it. Even when they had
finally let go of the other, they didn't let up...they HELD each other so
tight, some might think they were Siamese twins.

"I love you...I love you...I love you...It's a fucking Christmas
miracle...OH MY GOD...dude...its...it's your birthday..." Jeremy whispered
over and over towards Chad, who was currently incapable of actually
speaking, yet again.

All that he knew was, that he had his boyfriend back. The love of his life,
and he sure as hell was never gonna let him out of his sight ever again.

What Jeremy was gonna have to tell Leyla, and his parents, they could have
to figure out at a later time.

Right now...

...all that mattered, was the two of them.

Together.



**



*ONE YEAR LATER*



"I knew I would find you here."

Jeremy turned around and smiled happily as he saw his boyfriend inch ever
closer him. He reached out and hugged Chad to him and kissed his forehead
as the two held each other, whilst looking down at the gravestone before
them.

"I wish I could go back to that night...not just in my mind, but actually
for real...I wish I knew how he felt, how he really felt, you know? I wish
to God that I just KNEW who's God damn foot got onto that fucking
accelerator and made our car crash into..."

Chad hugged his boyfriend tighter as he couldn't finish his sentence, the
tears streaming down Jeremy's face.

"It's better, I think...that you don't know who actually caused it. Neither
of you wanted the other to get hurt, did you?"

Jeremy sniffed, reading the words on the grave for what felt like the
millionth time.



HERE LIES DAVID JAMES GALLAGHER

GONE TOO SOON

REST IN ETERNAL PEACE



This is where it all started, two fucking years ago. When his brain started
to go mental. When he didn't know or couldn't understand why he was ALWAYS
having headaches, the severest of migraines sometimes.

He survived. He made it. Even though someone had to perish to do it.

"You exited for Uni next year?" Chad asked.

Jeremy giggled, before kissing Chad on his lips.

"What the hell was that for?" Chad asked, laughingly.

Jeremy's eyes sparkled.

"Guess who's coming with me to Uni..."

Chad shrugged.

Jeremy giggled again.

"I'll give you a hint...he's tall...he's super skinny...he's sexy as hell
and I love the shit outta him..."

Chad's eyes narrowed...and stood away from Jeremy a little.

"Dude...what the fuck? You know I have to go and get me some kind of
job...I don't have the money to go studying!"

Jeremy winked at his boyfriend, before he logged into his bank account on
his mobile phone. He turned the phone towards Chad, who nearly fainted when
he saw how much was in there.

"Wait...where did you...how much...how? Wait, that is a money market
account...that's not even YOUR account...Greenwood, what the hell did you
do? Did you rip that off from your dad?"

Jeremy shook his head, and swiped into the gallery on his phone, showing
Chad the video they had made of the Estrada twins fucking each other in the
locker room more than a fucking year ago.

Chad was speechless...he couldn't believe what he was seeing!

"Jeremy...I thought there was no copies left of this..." he whispered in
awe.

Jeremy hugged the boy to him, and smiled happily.

"I got someone to hack both Michael and Miguel's phones. Michael deleted it
for sure, but Miguel didn't...I dunno what sick game he's playing with his
brother, but I think he's got it bad for him. He kept a copy on his phone
that the guy managed to actually retrieve...and I anonymously threatened to
post this all over social media if they did not give me the EXACT amount
that you would need to come with me to Uni!"

Chad stared at his boyfriend to the point where Jeremy actually held his
stomach in sheer laughter.

"After that they had done to us...I can't think of ANY one that deserves
that more than them!" he said, his eyes not leaving Chad's for even a
second.

Chad released Jeremy from the hug...and a smiled as broad as the day was
long, stretched across his face.

"You mean...you really mean...I can come with you?" he asked, holding his
breath.

Jeremy got serious for a moment, before he took Chad's face inside his
hands.

"Dude...if we can survive being enemies, being lovers, seeing dead people,
being accused of murder, being treated like shit by all our so-called
friends, a brain tumor and me not fucking remembering you...then I scheme
we can handle being roomies...what do you say?"

Chad looked down...smilingly and shook his head.

"You know what, Greenwood?"

"What, Tucker?

Chad paused for a moment, before he placed both arms around Jeremy's neck.



"I know Samantha always says that you are her superstar...you're her hero."



He leaned in...and kissed Jeremy with so much love and passion that it
nearly skyrocketed both their teenager dicks.



"You might her hero...but you sure as hell are my superstar..." he
whispered, closing the gap between their lips once more.



And if both boys would have had eyes for anything else than each other,
they would have totally noticed that a shadow, a memory of a young boy, who
had just turned fifteen, and would forever stay that age, with a big, giant
smile over his face, his young teenage heart full of love for his best
friend and his happiness, watching them from afar...

...before he would be once more swept over the wind acres and drifts of the
summer views.



He would wink at the name on the grave before the two lovers...

...and he gave them his blessing.



**



THANKS FOR READING!

HOPE YOU ENJOYED THE ENDING! MAN...THAT TOOK A LOT OUT OF ME!!

Please be so kind as to send me some feedback on the final chapter...I love
hearing from you as you well know xx



THANKS for sticking with this story until the very end.

Love,

Ryan

liciousryan@gmail.com