Date: Sun, 8 Jul 2001 14:04:49 -0700 (PDT)
From: J X <xxx_supafly@yahoo.com>
Subject: Love Takes Time (Revised)

My normal speel: This story cannot be used on any
site without my consent.  If you wish to use it please
contact me at XXX_Supafly@yahoo.com.  This and all my
other stories can be found on my website
http://www.angelfire.com/mi3/TripleX

Disclaimer:  This story features sex of the gay kind!
If this scares you, run!!  For you brave individuals
still here, I hope you enjoy.  I'm really not sure
about this story, so comments will be majorly
appreciated with this one!

**********************

"I know this will make me come off like a huge
asshole; but you are the one that I want,"

'But you are the one I want.' Those words alone sent
my world into a tailspin. Sent my mind into a thousand
different directions. And ripped my heart straight in
half. I might as well start at the beginning, in this
straight out of a soap opera tale of love, and the
shit that comes along with it.

I'm Tyler, but my friends call me Ty. And about two
years ago, I realized I was in love with my best
friend, Draven. Only one major problem with that, he
was straight. And just happened to be dating my other
best friend, Korin. Pretty shitty way for my newly
accepted homosexuality to start out. But I managed to
shove all those feelings deep down inside. Hey, If I
could hide my homosexuality for 15 years, I could hide
this too.

Eventually, however, I met Jamie. Jamie was this
incredibly gorgeous man: 6'5, 200 lbs (Of solid muscle
I may add.) The most beautiful red hair I had ever
seen, complimented perfectly by his shimmering green
eyes. I fell instantly head over heels. But always in
the back of my mind stood Draven.

When I was with Jamie I managed to convince myself
that my attraction to Draven was simply physical. I
mean, who honestly would not be attracted to Draven?
6'2, 180, built like a Greek God. (Especially his
arms.) But those were hardly his most beautiful
characteristics. For me, it was the eyes. His eyes,
were probably the lightest shade of brown I had ever
seen in someone. They were mesmerizing. His hair, I'll
say, is what gave him character. His dark brown hair
had a slight cowlick right in the front, which always
made his bangs stick straight up. We used to pick on
him about it when we were kids. But as we became
teenagers, that cowlick became much cuter. It was hard
to believe that the man my brother had called the
"Scrawny little pale white boy" growing up, blossomed
into this incredibly sexy man.

I myself was going from ugly duckling to swan. I
ditched the same boring hair cut I had had for years,
and decided to spike my dark black hair. I dropped the
few extra pounds I had kept on over the years. And
lastly rounding out my changes, I decided to get a
little sun. I was hispanic after all, so my skin
should at least try to look the part.

Perhaps I never should've done that though. It was
after my new look that I met Will. Who was Will you
ask? I wish personally I didn't know. He was able to
convince me that I didn't need Jamie, and that I
should date around. So I broke up with Jamie. And
dating around didn't go very far, as Will asked me out
a couple days later.

I was stupid, and went out with Will. I put myself
into this mind frame that Will was perfect, and would
never hurt me. Ha! I found out about 4 months after we
were going out that he had been cheating on me for
pretty much the entire time. Needless to say I broke
up with him, by giving him a black eye. But after
that, it was simply heartbreak for me. I was now
finally able to realize how hurt I was to not have
Jamie. Heartbreak set in, and I locked myself in my
bedroom. Then enter my comforting shoulder to cry on,
Draven.

* * *

"You need to get out of the house Ty. Its not good to
stay cooped up in here all the time," Draven spoke to
me, sitting down next to me on my bed.

"Easy for you to say, you still have Korin. And a much
easier STRAIGHT life might I add," I said, sniffling
slightly at the finish of my statement.

"Oh come on Ty. Gimme a break. Being Gay has nothing
to do with this, you heart probably would've gotten
broken with a woman too,"

Ah, simple simple Draven. If he ever knew when to say
the right thing, he sure had never showed it. But
that's my best friend for you. His attempts at
comforting turned into humor, which in turn cheers you
up. So, I guess it was just the Draven System of
Comforting.

"You'll never understand D. You and Korin are
perfect," I said, sniffling again.

"Please Ty. You know what we're like together,"

"Yeah, but so what. When it all comes down to it, you
and Kor will live happily ever after. With the white
picket fence, a dog, and 2.3 children,"

With the last statement, I broke down into tears.
Draven pulled me up and hugged me close to him. I
collapsed into his arms and sobbed uncontrollably. It
was stuff like this that made me love Draven even
more. Not many straight guys would let their gay best
friend cry against their chest. He held me close to
him the entire time I was sobbing. As my tears began
to cease, he hugged me tightly to him and let me lay
back on my bed once more. I reached over and grabbed a
tissue from my desk and wiped the snot away from my
nose. Draven still sat on the edge of my bed, rubbing
my knee slightly, in his attempt to comfort me more.

"You feel better now?" He asked

"No," I said, blowing my nose and tossing the tissue
at the garbage. "This sucks D. I don't want to be Gay
anymore,"

Draven took his hand from my knee and brought it to
his chin. He scratched it lightly, as if to appear he
was in deep thought. He looked me in the eye, and gave
me one of the sternest looks I had ever seen come from
those gorgeous brown eyes.

"Don't ever say that Ty. Being Gay is who you are. You
can't change that. And besides, if you weren't Gay, I
wouldn't be able to do this,"

If my mind were at all operating right at the time, I
would've noticed Draven leaning in to kiss me. But I
didn't notice until I felt his lips lightly grazed
mine. I felt my heart leap up into my throat. But then
my conscience hit me, and jammed it violently back
into my chest. I pushed him away and gave him this
best look of disdain my face could manage with
bloodshot eyes and a runny nose.

"What the fuck are you doing?"

"I'm sorry," He said, sounding almost as if he was
going to start crying. "Its just......Its just," He
trailed off.

"Spit it out Draven," I said, unusually cold.

"Its just that I've wanted to do that for a long
time,"

He spoke the words quickly, and dropped his eyes away
from mine. I continued to stare at him, completely
expecting to wake up from this confusing ass dream.
But nothing came of that. I paused to reflect on what
had just happened. Draven, the man of my dreams for
these past two years had kissed me. And said that he
had wanted to do it for a long time. But why would he
pick now to tell me this? Where was he two fucking
years ago? And how could he do this to Korin?

"What do you mean you've wanted to do that for a long
time?" I asked, unsureness evident in my voice.

"Its hard to explain," He replied, still looking at
the floor.

"Draven, look at me," I ordered, nudging him in the
leg with my foot. "You can tell me, I'm your best
friend. And I have a right to know, it does involve
me," I said, in my best diva like attitude.

"Okay," He chuckled lightly. "Well.....When you came
out to me, I got really excited inside. But I didn't
know why. I thought maybe it was just the trust that
you had shown me by telling me first. So I just forgot
about it,"

He paused for a second, giving me the chance to absorb
what was said. I was dangling on the edge of the
confusion cliff before he started speaking, I had
fallen off now. I had absolutely no idea where this
could be going.

"But after you met Jamie, that feeling kinda came
back. And I found myself incredibly jealous of him,
because he occupied most of your time. I thought it
was just because he had my best friend. But it was
really because he HAD my best friend that gave me that
feeling,"

"What does that mean?" I asked, still not grasping
what exactly he was trying to say.

"It means that......That....."

"Draven, spit it out,"

"It means that I love you. In the boyfriend type way,"


As he finished speaking he looked up into my eyes. I
saw tears forming in the corners of his beautiful
brown eyes. I could not believe my ears. After years
of silent hoping, Draven had finally said he loved me.
But why had he said it now? And what about Korin?

"Draven," I started, but then stopped and took a deep
breath. "I have waited for two years to hear you say
that. But you should know, I would never, ever do that
to Korin," I explained calmly.

"Oh God Ty, I know," Draven replied, silent tears
running down his face. "But you have to understand
that the love I feel for Korin is only a tenth of what
I feel for you. I love you Tyler, and it frankly is
scaring me out of my mind,"

He was sobbing quite uncontrollably by this time. So I
did the same thing he had for me, I pulled him close
to me and let him sob til he felt the need to stop. As
he sobbed against my chest, my mind still tried to
make sense of everything that had been said. I had
waited for so long to hear him say the words. But I
could never betray Korin. Especially take Draven away,
because I knew how much she loved him. But I had
thought the same thing about Draven. And now he had
claimed he loved me even more. I had no idea what to
think. As I sat there, holding Draven in my arms, the
tears slowly crept back to me.

The two of us sat there, both of us crying like babies
for at least a half hour. Eventually however, the
tears ceased, and Draven and I stared at each other,
silently. My mind had still not comprehended
completely what had just occurred. Draven had said he
loved me. But perhaps at the worst time he could've. I
was so confused. I just wanted to dig a deep hole and
bury myself in it. To stop me from having to think at
all about what had happened to me these past days. But
that was not possible. Draven was still here. And I'm
not really sure where my dad kept the shovels.

Draven sat up and reached for the kleenex. He wiped
the snot from his nose, then stared at me once more. I
felt this incredible feeling take me over as his eyes
met mine. In an instant the sadness that had ruled me
for these past days was gone. And in place of that
sadness, was this incredible feeling of warmth, and
acceptance. I felt Draven's hand lightly grab mine,
and noticed the usual fire return to his eyes. The
feeling once again overtook me. But this time I
realized what that feeling was; happiness.

Draven took a deep breath and squeezed my hand
lightly. I squeezed in return, and then he spoke. "I
love you Tyler,"

At that point, I needed to be picked up from the
floor. Well not actually, but thats the way I felt.
Those words had instantly melted every part of me. I
had dreamed about this day for the past 2 years. But
still in the corner of my mind stood my conscience,
and the feeling of betrayl towards Korin.

"I love you too Draven. I have for the past two years.
But how can we do this? What about Korin?" I asked,
feeling the tears slowly creep back.

"Don't worry about Korin. I'll tell her everything. I
love you Tyler, and I'll do anything to be with you,"

That was all the convincing I needed. I reached slowly
across the bed and pulled his lips to mine. I felt
like I had never felt before as our kiss continued. I
knew I had loved Jamie, but it felt nothing like this.
Draven's kiss awoke feelings I never knew existed. I
loved this man so much. I never wanted that kiss to
end.

But all good things come to an end of course. We
parted our kiss, and sat silently once more, just
staring at one another. My mind still couldn't grasp
fully what had happened today. All I knew is that my
dreams had come true. My feelings for Draven had
finally been returned. As shitty as my life had been
leading up to that; I don't think I had ever been
happier.

* * *

But I knew tough times were ahead. Before I allowed
anything to happen between Draven and I, I made it
known in no uncertain terms that he must tell Korin.
Just the thought of that conversation made me
incredibly nervous. Korin had been my best friend for
the better part of 12 years. I don't think I have a
memory from childhood that didn't involve Korin in
some way. And now I was risking the chance of losing
her. But I knew, as much as I felt like I was
betraying my best friend, I would be betraying myself
more if I didn't let it be known what I felt for
Draven.

But Draven insisted he would tell her on his own. And
that he planned on doing it as soon as possible. Which
meant the next morning. I could hardly sleep at all
that night, with the nervousness of this situation
eating at me all night long.

Somehow, though, I managed to drift off to sleep. I
was awoken at about 7:30 by the telephone. I rolled
lazily over to the phone, and took a glance at the
caller ID. As I expected, it was Draven. He was the
only person brave enough to call me this early.

He explained to me he was leaving for Korin's right
then. He only called to tell me, in case he wasn't
heard from again. Korin had been known to pack a
rather leathal left hand. Product of two older
brothers, and constant torture growing up from Draven
and I.

I was a bundle of nerves while waiting for Draven to
arrive. I paced nervously around my bedroom,
constantly checking the clock. I tried anything
possible to get my mind off of the situation. But
alas, nothing worked. I was much more content to sit
there and stare at the clock.

Eventually, Draven arrived. He walked in and instantly
threw his arms around my neck, and pulled me in for
one of the most passionate kisses we had shared. From
the feel of that kiss, I took it things went well!

"So what happened?" I asked excitedly as we reached my
bedroom.

"She wasn't really upset. She just said that if you
were who I wanted to be with, then I should be with
you," He replied, tossing his jacket on the back of my
computer chair.

"God Draven, that is so great," I said, grasping his
hand in mine.

"I know,"

The thought had been wandering my mind for the past
day. I had heard enough stories from Korin to know
this was REALLY something I wanted. I had to make my
move.

"I think we should celebrate," I said, in a
flirtatious tone.

"Okay," He said, completely missing any flirting I had
done. "What'd you have in mind?"

I caught myself saying "Simple Simple Draven" in my
head. This boy definently didn't understand
subtleties. Well, I guess that just meant I had to get
right to the point.

"This,"

With the finish of my statement, I pulled him to me
and kissed him with all the passion I could muster up.
Our kisses continued as I lay back on the bed. My
kisses began to travel down to his neck, nibbling
lightly at his collar bone. He let out a soft noise
which sounded somewhat like "Mmm." I just took that as
a good sign, and continued my work. I continued my
attack of his collar bone, as my hands began to graze
the buttons of his shirt. He brought his hands to
mine, and grasped them lightly. I brought myself from
his collar bone, and looked deep into his light brown
eyes. It was hard to believe he was real.

"Are you sure?" He asked, heartfelt concern evident in
his voice.

"More sure than anything I've ever done before," I
spoke in return.

"Okay," He said lightly, then began to kiss me again.

He released my hands and I quickly began to resume my
removal of his shirt. As I undid the last button, he
quickly shucked it to the floor. Draven was very proud
of his body, so it was often that he walked around
with his shirt off. Which made me drool he was so
beautiful. And now that beautiful torso was above me.
I felt him shudder as my fingers connected with his
skin. I was in heaven. His kisses began to drift
slowly down my jawline. His fingers meanwhile fumbled
nervously with the buttons on my shirt. I took pity on
him and undid the buttons for him. He slowly pushed
back the fabric, and his kisses began to drift down my
chest.

He paused at my nipples and began to lick lightly at
them, coaxing a contented moan from me. I began to
graze my hands slowly across his back, savoring the
feeling of his skin beneath my fingertips. A feeling I
had longed for for so long, finally becoming a
reality.

His kisses then drifted down my stomach. His tongue
lightly traced the outline of my abs. His hands
quickly found their way to my jeans. The nervousness
he had shown while unbuttoning my shirt had ceased as
he undid my jeans with one hand. He yanked both jeans
and boxers down in one motion. I kicked them to the
floor as Draven began to lick further down my stomach.


I was now trembling with anticipation as Draven's hand
began to graze up my leg. I let out a low moan as I
felt his hand grasp my balls. He began to squeeze them
softly as his tongue found my cock head. He licked
cautiously at the dripping pre cum. He then did the
unexpected, and took my cock into his mouth. I could
feel him attempting to deep throat my hefty 6 inches,
but each time being met with a gag. I began to run my
fingers through his silky brown hair and then spoke.

"Don't force it, you're doing great," I moaned,
tightening my grip in his hair as I felt my cock slip
further down his throat.

He did not respond, but increased his suction. For a
first time cock sucker, Draven was doing a wonderful
job. He began to run his hand up my chest, massaging
my nipples lightly. I let out a moan, and tightened my
grip on his hair again. I could feel one of his hands
drifting beyond my balls, towards my anus. I moaned
out slightly, giving him the go ahead.

He drug his finger lightly across the opening, then
drove it in quickly. I moaned out loudly, and thrust
up into his mouth. I could hear him moan over my cock.
He seemed to be enjoying himself just as much as I. He
continued his massage of my anus, tapping my prostate
lightly each time. He must've sensed my nearing
orgasm, as he increased his suction on my cock. I
could feel him sliding in a second finger. That pushed
me over the edge.

"I'm cumming," I moaned out loudly, burying my hands
into the sheets.

I completely expected him to remove his mouth from my
cock as I started to shoot. But much to my surprise,
he stayed on for the entire load. As I felt the last
drip of cum leak from my cock, he removed his mouth.
He licked up what cum was left, then crawled up and
kissed me.

"That was amazing," I said out of breath.

"I know," He said, collapsing onto my chest.

He started to kiss lightly at my chest once more. I
could feel my cock rapidly starting to stir. I pushed
Draven onto his back and started sucking at his neck.
He began to run his hands slowly down my back,
stopping at my ass and running a finger slowly down
the crack. I shuddered, and felt a million sensations
go through me at once. I knew exactly what I wanted.

"Make love to me Draven," I begged, looking deep into
his gorgeous eyes.

"Are you sure?" He asked, making my heart melt from
the look in his eyes.

"Absolutely,"

"Okay," He said, looking suddenly excited.

He pushed me onto my back and reached down to the
floor. He grabbed his jeans and ripped a condom from
the pocket. (I loved men who came prepared) He slipped
it on quickly then positioned himself at my opening.
He leaned down and kissed me softly, lovingly. I know
I've over-used this statement, but I melted. He just
had that affect on me. Those of you who have been in
love know exactly what I'm talking about.

He brought his kissing down to my neck, as he started
to slowly push himself into me. I wanted to scream out
in pain as his throbbing hard 8 incher pushed slowly
in. He must've noticed the look in my eyes, because he
brought his kissing once more to my lips. I relaxed
slightly, enough for him to bury the remaining inches
into my anus. I put my hand on his stomach, signaling
for him to stop and let me get used to him being in
me. Once I became accustomed to his penis, I gave him
the go ahead, and he started to slide slowly in and
out of me.

The feeling of his cock slowly pounding me was beyond
description. With each thrust in, his cock pressed
against my prostate, sending jolts of pleasure all
through me. My own cock was painfully hard, leaking
pre-cum against Draven's stomach as he continued
pounding me slowly. He leaned down and began to lick
my nipples, making my cock ache even more. With the
feelings being generated from his cock, and his tongue
on my nipples, I knew I was only minutes away from
cumming once more. But Draven, too was nearing orgasm
as his pumping speed began to increase. His long, slow
strokes turned into quick thrusts. And his tongue
travelled from my chest to my mouth once more. His
tongue darted quickly in and out of my mouth, as his
pumping speed increased even faster. Seconds later he
was screaming out his impending orgasm.

I felt his cock throb with each shot of cum he
deposited into the condom. That pushed me over the
edge for the second time that day, and I came against
his stomach. As I felt the last throb from his dick,
he collapsed against my chest. I began to run my hands
slowly through his hair as he nuzzled his face against
my neck.

"I love you Tyler," He murmured

"I love you too," I said, yawning slightly.

I was completely spent from the escapades we had just
experienced. This was the most amazing day of my
entire life. I had never been happier. I hugged Draven
to me, as my eyes started closing almost
involuntarily. I heard Draven murmur "I love you"
again. That was the last thing I heard before I
drifted off to sleep.

* * *

I had never been happier. I was living in this perfect
little life. And it seemed to me that it couldn't
possibly get any better. I could've lost everything,
but as long as I still had Draven, I would've been
happy. My dream had come true.

But come Monday, my dream didn't seem quite the way I
had imagined it. Draven was still walking with Korin
from class to class, as if they hadn't broken up. That
was when it hit me, he hadn't really told her about
us. I was instantly heartbroken. Instead of waiting
for Draven at my locker when school let out, like I
usually did, I exited the building quickly and went to
my car. I couldn't believe all this. This was the last
day of school. I had envisioned this whole huge fairy
tale of Draven telling everyone he and Korin were
over, and that he was now with me. But none of that
had happened. So much for the whole "Dreams really do
come true" theory.

I sat in my car and waited for him to walk out. He
eventually did, with no site of Korin, which was a
first for that day. He walked right up to my car and
got in the passenger side. I turned and looked at him,
and as hurt as I was, couldn't help but smile as my
eyes connected with his. But I still had to know what
was going on.

"D, what's the deal?" I asked, switching off the car
radio.

"What do you mean?"

"The whole thing with Korin today? You guys sure
didn't look broke up to me,"

"Oh that. I can explain that. Kor and I are broken up.
But when I told her all this that day, I also asked
her something,"

"And that would be?"

"I asked her to keep pretending to be my girlfriend,
for my the sake of my image,"

"Your image?" I said, in an utterly pissed off tone.
"Coming out did absolutely nothing to my image. I'm
just as popular now as I was then,"

"Yeah....But,"

"But nothing Draven. If you really wanted to be with
me, you would want everyone to know about it,"

"Its not that easy for me Ty, you know that. My
parents would fucking flip out,"

"I knew something like this was going to happen. It
just seemed to perfect,"

"So what are you saying?"

"I'm saying I don't know how you can expect me to just
fade away in the public eye. For the sake of your
'image'."

"I'm sorry Ty. I know I shouldn't do this, but I just
couldn't deal with coming out right now,"

"I understand that D. But expecting me to live with
this charade is something I can't do. You really have
some thinking to do. So I think we should just not
hang out for awhile," I said, starting my car.

"Your breaking up with me?" He said, sounding almost
as if he were going to cry.

"No. You just need to think about what exactly you
want out of this. And until then, it wouldn't be smart
to see each other,"

The look in his eyes almost crushed me. But I knew I
had to be strong. I know it made me the jerk. But
there was no way I could pretend this was okay. I
wanted what Draven and I had to be real. Not just
something we kept behind closed doors.

He exited the car and shut the door behind him. He
stuck his head back in the window, and looked at me
with hurt, puppydog eyes. I could see the glisten of
tears building up in his eyes. I felt as if my heart
had been ripped to pieces. But I knew I couldn't just
let this go.

"Tyler. I do love you, you know that right?"

"After today Draven, I'm not quite sure,"

With that, I put my car into reverse and left the
parking lot. Those words hurt me to say. But my heart
had been broken. And underneath that heartbreak, was
obviously anger. I loved this man. More than anything
in my life. But there was no way I could allow myself
to be pushed back into the closet, after I had fought
so long to get out.

On the drive home, I started to think that maybe I was
a little hard on him. But then another part of me
would spring up and say "No, you did what was
necessary," All I knew was that I was hurting. And
that I really wanted to escape all this for a few
days. So I gave my aunt who lived a few towns over a
call, and asked if I could stay with her for a few
days. She said yes, and that she would clear the stuff
out of my usual room. I hung up the phone and started
packing a bag.

My mind continued to mull over the happenings with
Draven throughout the entire time I was packing. I
kept thinking to myself 'Maybe I was too hard on him.'
But always popped up the little voice saying 'No, you
did what you had to,' I didn't know what to think. All
I knew was that I wanted to get out of here, and not
think about this for at least a few days.

After I had finished packing my bag, I walked over to
my answering machine. I switched it onto automatic
pick up, then pressed the record button.

"Hey y'all, its me. I'm going to stay with my Aunt
Betty for awhile. If ya wanna get ahold of me, the
number is 555-7890. Or email me, whatever. Later,"

I released the record button and allowed the message
to play back. It sounded to my liking, so I left it. I
grabbed my bags then locked up my bedroom. I thought
about leaving a message for my parents, but just
decided I'd call them when I got to Aunt Betty's. I
picked up my car keys from the kitchen table, and
exited my house. Where hopefully my problems would
stay, while the rest of me could get some time away.

* * *

My problems did stay there. For three months. I had
went to Aunt Betty's with the intention of only
staying for a few days. But a few days quickly turned
into a few months, as I wound up staying the whole
summer. I went down there, and things seemed so much
easier. I didn't have to deal with the whole
Draven/Me/Korin sitiuation, or even anything closely
resembling that. I was able to just go down there and
spend the summer with my cousins, and the friends that
I had there. And I got to enjoy a much less
complicated life. But every single day, Draven crossed
my mind. But it wasn't really heartbreak, it was just
kind of missing the friendship, I suppose. I had heard
it through the grapevine, that he had gotten Korin
pregnant. Guess he'd made his decision on what he
wanted, and I wasn't it.

I too, though, had moved on. As the summer neared an
end, I met an incredibly handsome guy named Vince. We
hit it off immediately, and started officially dating
the day after our first date. And, as luck may have
it, he was from the same town as I. He too was just
down in Brickwood (Where my aunt lived) visiting
family. So when I returned home at the end of summer,
I wasn't leaving behind a boyfriend.

I was rather excited to return home. I really had
begun to miss my friends. And I was starting my senior
year in High School. And my boyfriend lived just a few
miles away. So needless to say, I was happy to return
home.

I had really fallen quite hard for Vince in just the
short month we'd dated. He made me feel so wanted, so
needed. None of my exes had ever made me feel like
that. Especially Draven. That was the only thing I was
nervous about returning home; seeing Draven. I hadn't
seen, nor even spoke to him since that day in the
parking lot at school. I was seriously hoping what we
had had did not affect our friendship. Because even
more than being with him, I missed the friendship we'd
had. I didn't see it having too much of an effect. We
had both moved on. He had gotten back with Korin, and
I had Vince, so we were both happy. Even though I
thought that, I was still too nervous to call him the
day I returned home. I waited for the following
Tuesday, when we returned to school.

* * *

Much to my suprise, that Tuesday morning I was awoke
by a phone call. And you guessed it, it was Draven. We
said the things expected to be said from friends who
hadn't spoke to each other in three months. "I missed
you, how you been, etc." We were starting to chat when
he said we could continue this conversation when he
came over. I became instantly nervous. The last time
Draven and I had been alone at my house, it had ended
in amazing sex. 'No way' I told myself. 'He has Kor,
you have Vince. Nothing's gonna happen' I seriously
hoped that would be true. I didn't need all that
confusion my second day home.

Luckily, nothing happened. We just talked like we used
to, before anything had ever happened. Draven was, is,
and always will be the best friend I've ever had. He's
always been a person I can depend on when something
goes bad in my life. And I love him for that.

We wound up driving to school together that day. We
filled each other in on our summers. I even told him
about Vince. He seemed genuinely happy for me. We
continued chatting the entire way to school. But there
was one subject he never spoke of. No, not he and I,
though there was no mention of that. I'm talking about
him having Korin pregnant.

"So what's the deal with you and Kor?" I asked as we
pulled into school.

"Not much to explain really. We're stupid, and didn't
use protection," "Not much to explain really." I had
heard that a billion and a half times from him. Thats
his nice way of saying "I don't want talk about it"
without having to say it. Since it was only our first
day speaking again, I decided to drop the subject. If
I wanted any more information, I would just ask Korin.


Once I stopped to think about it, I was hardly
interested in hearing about Korin and Draven's
miraculous reconciliation. Don't get me wrong, I was
extremely happy for my friends. And extremely happy
that I'd get to be an uncle. But I really didn't want
to hear about how happy they were together, or
anything like that. I had him, but I blew it. I almost
felt as if I had pushed him back to her. Maybe that's
what I meant to do in the first place? Who knows? 'Oh
well' I told myself. 'If you can't have him, at least
he's with someone who treats him good. And at least
he's happy'

I constantly told myself that, but I knew deep down I
didn't believe it. I still wanted him. Even at night
when I would curl up in Vince's arms, I still thought
about Draven. And as much as I was starting to love
Vince, I still thought about Draven. As hard as I
tried, I just couldn't vanish him from my mind.

But what I could do, was shove the feelings back down
inside me again. I had done it for 2 years, I could
keep on doing it. And if I had lived with him and
Korin the first time, I was sure I could handle them
this time around. And besides that, I had Vince. So
everything was basically the same as it had been
before Draven and I. Or at least, I could pretend it
was.

And pretend I did. Draven and I went on just like the
boyhood friends we were. Never even a mention of what
had occurred between us. To this day only three people
knew about us; Myself, Draven, and Korin. With no one
around asking "What happened with you and Draven?" I
could pretend nothing had ever happened much more
easily. I had perfected the pretending. I hardly ever
thought about Draven in a sexual way any more (Except
of course when he took his shirt off.) I was perfectly
content with my life now. I'd had no confusion at all.
Everything was perfect for me. Until February rolled
around.

* * *

I'd have never thought when this month had started
that by the end of it my entire life would be turned
upside down. And it all started with what I thought
was an innocent phone call.

"Hello?" I said, not even thinking to look at the
caller ID.

"Hey Ty. You wanna come over, I kinda need to talk to
you,"

It was Draven. And he sounded upset about something.
My first guess was that he and Korin were fighting
again. I usually got a call like this anytime they had
an arguement.

"What's wrong?" I asked

"I'd rather not say over the phone," (Typical Draven,
avoiding the subject)

"Okay, I'll be over in 10,"

"K. Later,"

"Bye,"

I switched off the phone and deposited it back on the
base. I grabbed my coat and tossed it on, then dug in
the pockets for my car keys. After I found them I
quickly exited my house. On the entire drive to
Draven's house, I was expecting to console him after
another fight with Korin. Their arguements had
increased by like 150% since she'd become pregnant. So
I was getting used to dealing with this.

When I walked in, I walked straight back to Draven's
room, where I knew he'd be. As usual for Draven bad
moods, he lay on his bedroom floor with Mariah Carey
blasting through his stereo. He didn't look like he'd
accomplished too much that day, as he was still in his
boxer shorts. I was seriously hoping my hormones could
control themselves. I didn't really think it
appropriate to be comforting him if I couldn't stop
staring at his crotch.

"So D," I said, plopping down onto the floor beside
him. "What's wrong?"

"Oh God," He said, sounding incredibly depressed.
"Where to begin?"

"Start from the beginning,"

"Okay," He said, sitting up and taking a deep breath.
"You remember that day in the parking lot? Before
summer?"

I was shocked at first. It had been over 9 months, and
not even a mention of that day in the parking lot. And
now, after all those months, he was bringing it up. I
was absolutely bewildered on where this could be
going.

"Yeah....What about it?"

"Well you know how you told me that I needed to think
about stuff?"

"Yeah...."

I was still completely lost at this point. I don't
think for even a second my mind could've believed what
was about to happen.

"Well, I've been thinking this entire time. And I know
this is going to make me come off like a huge asshole,
but you are the one I want,"

At that exact moment in time, my entire world froze. I
couldn't believe what my ears had heard. After 9
months, of not even a mention of "us", Draven just
comes out of no where and tells me I'm the one he
wants. What was he on? Did he really expect me to just
drop Vince and just go running back to him? I didn't
know if I loved Vince, but I might have. And what
about Korin, again?

But then it struck me like a bat to the head. This is
what I wanted to happen 9 months ago. I wanted to just
take the originally planned 3 days in Brickwood, and
come back to Draven, with him having realized I was
the one he wanted. But that didn't happen. He waited 9
months. After I had already met a new boyfriend, who
was absolutely wonderful. And he had Korin pregnant!
And now he decided he wanted to be with me. If I
didn't know it was Robert, I would've sworn Draven's
middle name was Confusion.

"What?" I stammered out, sounding as confused as I
felt.

"You are the one I want. Not Korin, not anyone else.
You Tyler,"

When I looked into his gorgeous brown eyes, I could
feel myself breaking down. Even after the 9 months
apart, I still loved this man so much. But in the
corner of my mind was Vince. I cared for Vince so
much. He made me feel like no man had ever made me
feel, not even Draven. I had absolutely no idea what
to do.

"Draven," I started, but then paused to take a deep
breath. "If you had said this to me 9 months ago, I
would've been the happiest person alive. But
now....I....,"

I couldn't finish. Probably because I had no idea what
I even wanted to say. I was more confused now, at this
exact moment in my life that I had ever been before. I
was torn. And I had no idea what to do.

"I'm not saying this to you to get you to dump Vince.
If he's what makes you happy, than I'm happy for you.
But I had to tell you this, for my own sake. Seeing
you with Vince, just tore me up inside,"

I could feel the tears welling up in my eyes. I was so
utterly confused. Here was Draven. The love of my
life. The man who I loved for 2 years. But I could
think about nothing but Vince. I felt as if my chest
had been opened up, and both Vince and Draven had
taken half of my heart. And the only way I could keep
on living, is if I made the decision. But to make that
decision, I had to know what I wanted. And I didn't,
not in the least.

"Draven. I could say right now no, no way there'd ever
be a chance for us again. But that would be betraying
myself. Because I don't know what I want. I don't know
if I want you or Vince. You've given me alot to think
about,"

"I'm so sorry Ty. But I just had to tell you, it was
eating me up inside,"

"I understand D. But now I'm the one who needs to do
some thinking. I'll see ya later,"

I stood up from the floor and quickly exited his
bedroom. When I reached my car I sat there for
minutes, replaying in my mind what had happened. 'How
could one little statement turn my entire life upside
down?' I asked myself. Why couldn't he have said this
9 months ago? Why did he have to wait until now?

The tears were silently flowing now. I wiped my eyes
on my coat sleeve and started the car. The song on the
radio was just beginning, so I upped the volume more
to hear it. When I finally recognized the song being
played, it made me cry even more. My Everything by 98
Degrees, a song that had become my and Vince's song,
made me think more of Draven. I shut the radio off and
started my drive home. I was becoming quickly
depressed. I could hear the Mint Chocolate Chip
calling my name.

* * *

As soon as I got home, I grabbed the pint of Ice Cream
and retreated to my bedroom. I too, like Draven felt
the need for Mariah Carey when I was in a less than
great mood. I put on her Butterfly CD, and plopped
down onto my waterbed with my ice cream. Just looking
around my bedroom, I was torn between the two of them.
On one side of my room, there were pictures of Draven.
On the other side, were pictures of Vince, albeit not
as many as the Draven side. Could that tell me right
there what I wanted? 'No way in hell things will be
that easy' I told myself.

"This sucks," I said aloud, spooning down a bite of
ice cream.

I continued to mull over my choices, all the while
eating my ice cream. At the finish of the pint, I was
no closer to deciding what I wanted than when I had
left Draven's house. I was torn straight down the
middle. Anytime I would think of something good about
Vince, I would think of something good about Draven.
Same way for the bad things. The whole pro/con idea
was getting me no where. I had absolutely no idea what
I wanted. Maybe if I hid in my room long enough,
people would forget I existed.

But that of course didn't work. As I got up to throw
the empty ice cream container away, the phone rang. I
walked slowly over to it, and glanced quickly at the
caller ID. As I dreaded, it was Vince.

"Hey," I said, trying to disquise my somberness.

"Hey. We need to talk," He said, sounding much like
me.

"What about?" I asked, not thinking for a million
years we could be upset about the same thing.

"Korin told me about Draven,"

In an instant my entire body iced over. I was planning
on telling Vince myself, but after I had made the
decision. But Korin had beat me to it. Things had went
from bad to worse.

"Oh," Was all I could manage to say.

"And I've made a decision. I want you to go with
Draven,"

Those words stunned me they were so unexpected. My
mind tried desperately to decipher what had just been
said. Vince had decided HE wanted ME to go with
DRAVEN. How could he decide that? I wasn't even sure
that was what I wanted.

"What?" I asked, still quite dumbfounded from his
statement.

"I want you to pick Draven. I mean, come on Ty, you
know deep down that is what you want,"

"No, I don't," I replied, swiping the tears from my
eyes.

"Well you should. I've seen the way you look at him.
The way you talk about him. Answer me one question Ty.
Has there been a day since you two broke up that you
haven't thought about him?"

That was the question right there. Thats not something
I really wanted to tell my boyfriend. But I'm sure
already he knew the answer.

"No, I guess not," I replied

"Well then you know what you want. You and I had a
great thing together. But you and Draven, thats love
Ty,"

I paused for a second to process the goings on. Vince
had just basically broken up with me, and told me to
go back to my ex boyfriend. All because that was what
made me happy. I was so touched that he could care
about me so much. The decision I had dreaded having to
make, was made for me. I realized at that moment what
a great friend Vince really was.

"Ty? Are you okay?" Vince asked after I had been
silent for close to 5 minutes.

"Sorry. This is all a little much for me to process
quickly. Are you sure Vince?"

"I'm sure. I know that he is really what you want. And
if I were to try to keep you for myself, it would be
depriving you of true happiness,"

"You are so amazing Vince,"

"I know. Now stop yaking with me, and go see Draven.
And then call me with details," He chuckled.

"Okay,"I laughed back. "Talk to you later. And Vince,"


"Yeah?"

"Thank you more than you'll ever know,"

"Don't mention it. Bye Bye,"

"Bye,"

I switched off the phone and then just stared at it. I
found it all hard to believe. Vince was a truly
beautiful human being. He cared about nothing but
seeing me happy. I felt as if my heart were whole
again. And even though I didn't realize, that whole
belonged to Draven. I was just glad Vince had made me
see that. Vince spoke very true of our relationship.
We had had great fun together. But once I stopped to
think about it, it really was more like a close
friendship than that of a relationship. I was truly
blessed to have a friend like him. And whatever man
Vince wound up with was truly lucky to have such an
amazing man.

I fought with my mind on whether to call Draven, or to
just go over there. I won the battle, and decided on
going over there. But I would wait until the next
morning. I was too nervous to do it tonight. Hopefully
some sleep would help me get the guts. But all I could
think about that night was Draven. Finally, my dream
had actually come true. It took quite a different road
to get there. But in the end, everything turned out
the way I wanted it to. I could not stop smiling as
the sleep began to slowly take me over.

* * *

When I awoke the next morning, I was still incredibly
nervous. But I knew that it had to be done. I hopped
quickly into the shower and got ready for the day
ahead. After I looked to my standards, I exited to
house to brave the Icy winter weather. After I had
warmed up my car, I put it in reverse, but held my
foot on the brake.

"Here goes nothing," I said aloud.

With that I released my foot from the brake and
started my drive to Draven's. I kept taking deep
breaths the entire ride there, attempting to tell
myself everything would be okay. I just hoped I wasn't
lying to myself.

When I arrived at Draven's house, his mother told me
he was at the pool. So I took the stairs down to their
pool room, and noticed him sitting in a chair with his
arm over his face. 'Perfect' I thought. 'I can sneak
up and he'll never notice,'

And I did just that. I walked up to him as quietly as
I could. He was either asleep, or just completely
zoned out, because he didn't even budge as my
footsteps approached. I took a deep breath, and then
spoke.

"Is this seat taken?" I asked, being as sappily
romantic as I could at the moment.

He removed his arm from his eyes then sat up and
looked at me. There was a look of question in his
gorgeous brown eyes. Almost as if they were asking me
my decision without him actually uttering a word. I
wanted this to turn out like my dream. So instead of
speaking, I kissed him lightly on the lips. As our
kiss parted, I looked deep into his eyes. I couldn't
help but smile when I saw the happiness emblazed in
them. He leaned in and kissed me once more, but this
time with incredible passion. My heart was on fire,
but in the good way.

"I Love You Tyler," He spoke, grabbing my hand in his.


"I love you too Draven," I spoke in return, squeezing
his hand.

We kissed one final time and then he pulled me next to
him. It was so amazing to be wrapped up in his arms,
to be cuddling with the man of my dreams. I knew that
there were rough waters ahead for us. But I was sure
it wasn't nothing we couldn't handle, together. My
dream really had come true. It took almost 3 years,
but I could not complain. I had him now, and I would
not let go this time. I guess that old saying really
is true, Love Takes Time.

*******************************************************

AUTHOR'S NOTE:  At the time I wrote this, I did not
know if an "update" on the characters would be
necessary.  This is a one shot story, which means
there will be no sequel.  But from the comments I have
recieved already today, only being the first full day
it was posted, I see that an update, so to speak is
necessary.

I by no means wanted to reader to think that an arbortion
occured with Korin and Draven's baby because of the ending
point of the story.  As I have stated on my site,
the events in this story acctually happened to me.
And in real life, the best friend in which Korin was
based on had the baby back in April.  And she and the
best friend which Draven was based are raising the
child together, they are just not together.  The
person which Draven is based on and I are still very
much together.  And we are both a very big part of the
baby's life.  Today, (7-08-01) in fact the baby is
celebrating his 3rd month birthday.  I did not for
even a second anticipate the reader would think an
abortion ocurred.  I just thought I should tag this
little note on to let the readers know that everything
really did turn out okay, "Korin" gave birth to the
baby (Which she named Xander) on April 8th.  He
weighed in at about 7 lbs 2 oz. if my memory serves
correctly.  The frienship between myself and "Korin"
remains just as solid today as it did before anything
occured between "Draven" and I.  I am sorry if I
offended anyone before this note was tacked on, but I
did not anticipate the reader thinking to the degree
that an abortion occured.   And thank you to those of
you who emailed me your comments/concerns about the
ending of this story.

Triple X