Brian and Me

Hello all :)

If you've been checking my site (and by the look of it, a lot of you have been doing so), you've already heard my sob story for why I'm posting this late. If you haven't already heard, just chalk it up to my being a slacker.

That's not the reason, but it's just easier to go with that. :) As usual, I totally blame Matt. I'm not sure how it's his fault, but I figure it has to be somehow. :)

The formalities: None of this story is true. It's not meant to imply anything about anyone, and if you haven't caught onto that by now, I'm very disappointed in you. :) But, if you shouldn't be reading this, then you probably shouldn't read this. If you can, then you should. 'Nuff said?

'Nuff said. :)

As usual, my thank yous are plentiful. But, considering how late this is, and how limited my online time is at the moment, I'm going to leave them all unsaid. All the people I normally love and admire and respect and all that jazz, I still love and admire and respect and all that jazz. :)

The thanks go unsaid, but one thing doesn't: SHMILY, sweetie.

Oh, and a big, blanket thank you to everyone who filled my inboxes with birthday wishes and Ecards. I didn't realise so many of you knew when my birthday was, but it was a nice surprise. :)

As always, there's an HTML copy of this installment and all of the previous ones on my website (dls-stories.homepage.com), as well as all of the released installments of my NSYNC story, "I'll Never Stop," which I assure you I'm working on. :)

And yes, I'm shutting up now. :)

Enjoy!

PART 118

"Come on, sweetie," Brian purred. "It's our last morning here."

"Brian-"

"Please? For me?" He ran his hand up my leg until it was resting on my hip, then turned me toward him and kissed me. "Please?"

"I told you. We can't."

"I'll make it worth your while." His teeth closed on my earlobe.

I closed my eyes and relaxed beside him, enjoying the sensation as his hand slipped to my stomach. It was getting harder to concentrate on turning him down, which was exactly what he had intended, combining the ear and the stomach assaults. When I sighed, he knew he was winning me over.

"Sweetie, you know you want to. I can see it in your eyes."

"My eyes are closed."

A second later, his fingers descended on my eyelids, pulling them open.

"Oh yeah, that's the way to get me to agree, pookie," I laughed, trying to blink but unable to. "I'm so in the mood to see you naked now." Brian laughed and released my eyelids. I blinked several times, then raised my head to look at him. "You've got a hell of a way of convincing someone."

"I didn't think you'd require this much convincing. It's not like you haven't done it before, you know. And as for seeing me naked..." Brian pulled the blankets off of both of us and wrapped his leg around mine. "That's relatively easy to accomplish. It's getting you to do anything fun while we're naked that's proving to be difficult."

"I just don't think-"

"But I wanna! You know you'll love it, and it's something we've never done together."

I had to laugh. "There's a whole lot of things we haven't done together. Though the list of naked things is shrinking."

"Then come on! It'll be fun, I promise. Where's your adventurous spirit?"

"It's still sleeping."

"Then wake it up." Brian rolled over and sat up, straddling my waist. He began tracing circles on my chest with his finger. "For me?"

I smiled up at him and knew I was going to cave. But at least I could milk it for everything it was worth. "I might need just a little bit more convincing, pookie." I pouted and reached up to tap my extended lower lip. Half a second later, Brian was latched onto it as he laughed.

"Leave your clothes," Brian whispered, pulling me from the bed. "It's not like you're going to need them."

"What about after?"

"We'll come back up!"

"What if they're already awake?"

"Then it's not like they're going to see anything that they couldn't see the other day with us sprawled naked on the deck, is it?"

Sighing, I gave up my hold on the sheets and let him pull me to my feet. "Just remember what I told you."

"I will. Don't touch your bottom."

"That's not quite right."

Brian laughed and grabbed my bottom. "Just wanted to hear you say it was okay."

"Whenever you want. Now can we get to this? I'd like to be done and back before Tweedle Dee and Tweedle Dum get up."

"Well, if you'd stop talking, we'd be doing it already."

"Then you won't hear another peep."

"Aw," Brian pouted. "I like it when you make noise."

"Get moving," I said, smiling and rolling my eyes as I pushed him out the bedroom door and into the hall. We crept past the other bedrooms and down the stairs into the living room, then Brian slid open the glass doors to the deck.

"Come on, sweetie," he whispered comically, taking my hand and pulling me outside.

It was way too early to be conscious. The boards of the deck had a wet feel to them from the moisture that had accumulated during the night, and the mist was still heavy on the lake. I grimaced at the thought of stepping through the high grass below the deck, but knew it was too late to turn back. "Don't suppose you want to carry me, do you?"

"Sure," Brian laughed, starting for the stairs. "But do you want me to carry you? Through this slippery wet grass, down this steep hill?"

Muttering, I nudged him down the stairs and decided to brave it myself. Brian caught my wince as we stepped off of the fieldstone patio at the bottom of the stairs and into the knee-high grass. "You know, you're a real pansy sometimes."

"I'm not a pansy," I argued, smacking him. "I just happen to find the feeling of having the scraggly pieces of dewy grass scraping across my calves to be a rather unpleasant one."

"Whatever. Pansy." Brian laughed and took off running, going as quickly as he could while still maintaining his footing. Reaching the bottom of the hill, he walked quickly out onto the shore of the lake and stuck a toe in. I saw him shiver, then turn back to face me with a grin as he waved for me to follow.

Picking my way much more carefully than he had, I made my way down after him and tried not to repeat the pansy-like wincing. When I finally got to the bottom and out to where he was, Brian put his arms around me and kissed my forehead. "Thanks, sweetie."

"You don't need to thank me. I just don't want you sinking out of sight on me."

"No touching bottom. I got it," he assured me, looking out at the lake. Releasing my body and taking my hand again, he started to walk out onto the dock. While the lake wasn't really very good for swimming, it was large enough to make taking the canoe or rowboat out for a spin enjoyable.

"How cold is it?"

"Not too bad. For the end of the summer, at least."

I smiled and stuck my own toe in the water. Retracting it immediately, I stepped back into the centre of the dock. "Shit!" I said, louder than I intended. "That's freezing!"

Brian wasn't watching me, though. He grabbed my arm and shushed me. "Quiet, sweetie. Look over there."

I followed his gaze and squinted, trying to see whatever it was that he had seen. After a moment, I spotted some movement further up the shore of the lake, and another moment later I managed to identify what it was that had moved. "Moose."

"That thing's huge!"

"Mmm hmm," I said quietly. "I've been told that if you're in a small car and run into one, you're liable to do more damage to the car than you are to the moose."

"I can believe it."

We watched as the moose stepped closer to the shore, being careful not to actually step into the water. It wandered for a few seconds, and then settled on a spot. Lowering its head, it proceeded to drink while Brian and I stood frozen watching.

"Come on," I whispered, sitting down on the edge of the dock facing where the moose was standing. Cringing for a moment, I slipped my feet into the water and let them soak up to my knees in the lake. Brian silently dropped down beside me and did the same, then put his arm around my shoulder. I could feel the goose bumps breaking out on both of us.

Brian seemed mesmerised by the moose, barely taking his eyes off of it when I leaned over and started to kiss his neck and shoulder. "You know," I whispered, "a friend of mine once told me a story about a moose."

"Yeah?"

"Yeah. It seems he was hunting in upstate New York, and he shot a moose. So, he tied it to his car hood, like in the cartoons, and started for home..."

I turned around in the water and saw Brian making his way to the dock. As I watched, he crossed his arms over the boards and held himself there, taking a breather and scanning the shoreline. Probably trying to spot another moose.

The one we had been watching had finally finished his drink and moved back into the trees that surrounded the lakeshore. As soon as it had disappeared, Brian slipped off of the dock and into the water, grabbing my foot and tugging until I went in after him.

Smiling, I dipped under the water and swam the distance between us. Breaking the surface right behind him, I planted a kiss on the back of his neck and wrapped myself around him, letting him keep me above water.

"Hi," he said gently, taking one arm off of the dock to wrap it around behind his head and hold me there.

"Hi," I whispered back, kissing his neck again. "You tired?"

"Nope. Just figured that if I stopped, you would."

I smiled. "Is that so?"

Bringing his hand back around, he took one of my arms from his waist and set it on the dock, then did the same with my other arm. Once I was holding the dock, he pushed himself up out of the water more, and spun around to face me. On his way back down into the water, he put his arms around my neck and wrapped his legs around me. "That's better."

"Sure. Now I have to do all the work."

"You complain an awful lot," Brian chuckled, kissing me.

Folding my fingertips into the space between two of the boards, I pulled us against the dock, pressing him against it while I kissed him back. There was a metal runner along the end of the boards, the side of which was where the floats supporting the dock fastened to it. He gasped a little when he made contact with the cold metal, but didn't pull his lips away.

"Do we have to go home today?" he half-sighed as he rested his chin on my shoulder. His fingers began tracing little circles on my back.

"No, we don't have to, but there's going to be a lot of people wondering where you are when the other guys show up in Dallas."

"Maybe we could convince the rest of the guys to come here instead," he laughed. "If we don't answer the phone, management will never find us. You and Erron can go into town to do the shopping, and we'll all hide out here."

I bit his shoulder. "Mmm, sounds like a plan, as long as we get the big room to ourselves. The rest of them can fight over the other rooms."

"What am I going to do without you beside me in the mornings?" His voice was muffled by my neck, but I heard him clearly enough to know that he was seriously wondering, and not just being sweet.

"You'll get up and go talk with Kevin or Nick, or one of the other guys. And then you'll call me. I won't be gone long."

"But I don't want to sleep alone. I hate sleeping alone." He pulled away so that I could see the smile forming on his face. "Make Andy come to us."

I smiled back and kissed him. "I'd like to, pookie, but it's not just Andy. There's Mom and Dad, too. I want to see them for a few days. But, I'll be back."

"When?"

Laughing, I squeezed him tighter against the dock. "As soon as I can. I don't like sleeping alone anymore than you do."

"We should have gone there this week instead of here. Or last week instead of Memphis. That way we could have been together."

"But if we had gone this week, we would have missed the time here, and you seemed to need that time. And if we had missed last week, neither one of us would have met Matt, or had all the fun we did."

"It wasn't all fun."

"No, but most of it was. And the part that wasn't didn't hurt us in any major way, right?"

He sighed and unwrapped his legs. "Right. But it'd be nice if I could go with you to LA."

"Yes it would, but you had to go and make yourself a big recording star, so you can't do that. You should have been a loser author like me so you had more mobility, my dear."

"Should have been, I guess." He put his forehead against mine. "I've had enough swimming for now, sweetie."

"Me too."

He pulled his arms from my neck and braced them on the dock, then pulled himself up until he was sitting on the end of it, looking down at me. Before he could stand and get out of my way, I launched myself out of the water as well, kissing him.

"Come on. A warm shower sounds good right about now." He smiled as I pulled my head away. Pushing me back into the water, he stood up and offered me his hand.

I contemplated pulling him back in, but the warm shower did sound good, so I let him help me out of the water. Keeping my hand once I was on my feet, he led the way back up to the cabin.

"Mmm."

I turned from the closet just in time to see Brian's feet disappear under the blankets. He wriggled for a minute before his head appeared at the top of the bed.

"Come on, you," I laughed. "Get up."

"No."

"Get up and get packed."

"You pack. I'm tired." To prove his point, he nestled his head into the pillow further and sighed.

"I'm not the one that wanted to be up at the crack of dawn," I argued, hitting his feet. "I seem to recall being tired and comfortable and having you drag me out of the bed."

"Well, now I want to be in bed. Try and keep up, sweetie."

"Fine. You just go back to sleep, and I'll do all the work and get us packed. But you have to unpack us when we get to Dallas. No weaselling out of it. Deal?"

"Yep."

"No, I want to hear you say it. Deal?"

Brian sighed heavily and shifted around, bringing his arms out from under the blanket. "Deal. I'll unpack us when we get to Dallas."

"Fine." Kneeling down, I grabbed our bags from under the bed. "There's just one more thing."

Another sigh. "What's that?"

"You have to deal with me packing on top of you," I laughed, slapping my suitcase down on his leg.

"Hey!" Laughing, he rolled to the other side of the bed, where he was met with his own suitcase landing. He continued to laugh as he flailed his arms and legs, kicking the suitcases to the floor.

I stepped back to avoid having mine land on my foot, then jumped onto the bed and sat on him, stopping his movements. Leaning forward, I put my hands on his shoulders and pressed them to the bed until he stopped and looked up at me, grinning like a fool.

"You're being difficult."

"What are you going to do about it?" he asked, his arms closing around my neck.

I leaned in to kiss him and then backed away again. "I'm going to finish getting us packed, and then I'm going to go and get some breakfast."

"What are we having?"

"No way," I laughed, sitting up again. "You're having whatever you feel like getting ready for yourself."

"Nate, we both know you're going to make me breakfast."

Smiling, I brushed his hair away from his forehead. "Not going to happen."

"We could make it breakfast in bed," he said temptingly, running his finger down my arm.

"Well, since you'll be making it, I guess you can eat it wherever you want, pookie," I laughed, patting his stomach through the blanket and moving so that I was sitting on the edge of the bed.

"You're absolutely no fun this morning."

I stood from the bed and picked up my suitcase. "I'll be sure to remember that the next time you want me to go skinny-dipping with you," I smiled as I set the case back on the bed, next to him this time. "Maybe you can take Nick. Or Kevin."

He had been about to smile at Nick's name, but stopped when he heard me say Kevin's. "That's just not right."

Opening the suitcase, I turned to the closet again. "Oh, I don't know. Skinny-dipping with Kevin could be lots of fun. I bet he looks great naked."

"I really don't need to think about that, you know."

"Of course I know. Why do you think I brought it up?"

I pulled a shirt off of a hanger at the same moment I heard a thump from behind me. Turning around, I found the suitcase closed and Brian's leg returning to its position behind it. He arched his eyebrow playfully at my silent question.

"Must have been the wind."

Shaking my head and rolling my eyes, I folded the shirt and opened the suitcase to put it in. "Yeah, that gale that's coming through the closed window must have done it."

"Must have," he agreed with a smile.

I put the shirt in and turned to get another one from the closet. Immediately, the suitcase thumped closed again. "That better be open when I turn back around," I threatened, trying not to let him hear the smile that was on my face. I folded the shirt and set it on the dresser, deciding to take a stack to the suitcase if he was going to be difficult, instead of taking them one at a time.

"And just what are you going to do about it if it's not?" he challenged.

"We'll just have to see." I added the shirt to the one on the dresser, and took out another one. I ignored Brian's smart-ass comments for a couple of minutes while I folded a few more shirts, and then turned to find the suitcase had disappeared. In its place was a covered lump. Brian's blanketed feet were resting on top of it.

"You know, if I can't get us packed, we can't leave."

His smirk greeted me from the stack of pillows under and around his head. "Then I guess we're staying."

Setting the shirts on the bed beside the case, I grabbed Brian's feet and lifted them enough to open it. Resting his feet back on the lid to hold it open, I set the stack inside and started back to the closet. "That's fine with me, but you'll be the one explaining to Erron why he's out of a job for missing work tomorrow. And you're definitely going to be dealing with Kevin, not me."

"Kevin's a thousand miles away. He doesn't scare me anymore than you do."

I heard him shifting on the bed, but refused to turn and see what he had come up with this time. Instead, I folded some pants and stacked them on the dresser just as I had done with the shirts.

When I finally did turn to put them in the suitcase, I found it still open, and balanced precariously on the end of the bed. Brian had his feet uncovered so that I could see his toes resting just under the lip of the case. "Don't you dare," I warned.

"Or what?"

"Or there'll be hell to pay."

"Is that so?" Brian twitched his toes enough to have the suitcase wobbling.

"That's so. I thought you were going to go back to sleep and stop bothering me."

"Changed my mind. This is much more fun."

"Oh yeah, tons of fun. Now move your foot."

"Like this?" He twitched his toes again.

"No, not like that," I said, unable to keep from smiling. "Move your feet back away from the suitcase."

"I've got a better idea," he said mischievously, continuing to smirk at me.

"I just bet you do."

"Why move my feet away from the suitcase when it's just as easy to move the suitcase away from my feet?"

"Because one of those options is liable to get you a beating."

"Which one?" He asked, lifting his head to turn his full smile on me.

"For me to know, pookie."

"Well then, let's find out." Before I could move, he brought his foot up, spilling the suitcase off the end of the bed, and sending folded clothes across the floor. He was still laughing when I jumped on him.

"You packed up?"

I shook my head in answer as I passed Nick in the kitchen. He was sipping at a cup of tea. "Nope. Brian's doing that while I get us breakfast."

"He volunteered to pack?"

"Not exactly, no. But we sort of worked out a trade for it."

"Do I want to know the details of the trade?"

I smiled. "Probably not. You hungry?"

"Erron and I already ate."

"Okay. What did you have?"

Nick started laughing. "I scrambled some eggs. Erron's really is totally useless."

"When it comes to cooking, yeah he is. He can usually handle toast, though."

"That's what he made this morning," Nick nodded, sipping at his mug again. "What does he do when you're not around to cook for him?"

"He mooches off of Jeff and Cindy when he can, " I smiled. "And he's got a very limited repertoire of dishes that he can make. Mr. Noodles, hotdogs and Kraft Dinner..."

"Kraft Dinner?"

"You guys call it Kraft Macaroni and Cheese. Up here it's Kraft Dinner."

"Damned Canadians."

"Speaking of which, were is Erron?"

"Down at the dock. He said that since he figured you two had so much fun down there this morning, he'd check it out."

Blushing, I looked out the window that faced the lake. I could just make out the top of his head sitting at the end of the dock. The rest of him was obscured by the railing on the deck. "How did he know we'd been down to the water?"

"I'm not sure," Nick smiled, leaning against the counter while I poured my coffee. "It could have been the wet footprints on the floor from the door to the stairs. Or the wet footprints on the first couple of stairs. Or the trail you two crashed through the grass out there."

"Okay, I get the idea," I laughed. "We went for a swim."

"Without towels, apparently."

"Without pretty much everything. That's why you guys weren't invited."

"After last night, you might as well. I've seen pretty much all I need to see of the three of you."

Adding milk and sugar to my coffee, I smiled. "That's fine for you, but I have no desire to see any more of Erron than I did. And I'm just as happy with you being a mystery, too. No offense."

"Bitch."

"Hey, I said 'no offense'."

"I'm taking offense anyway."

"Can't, Nicky." I pulled the fridge back open and started getting out breakfast stuff. "It's against the rules. Besides, it wasn't a planned trip. Not by me, at least."

"Brian's idea."

I nodded. "He woke me up at dawn. Don't know how long he'd been wanting to do it, though."

"You don't seem like you're too into it."

"I wasn't at first," I admitted. "I was tired and warm and comfortable where I was. But, I have to admit, I enjoyed it."

"Gee, naked wet Brian, or naked dry Brian. Yeah, I can see where you had a horrible set of options there."

I stopped where I was and turned my head toward him, arching my eyebrows.

"What?" he asked, seeing me looking at him.

"Just sounds like you didn't exactly hate the mental images you were creating there, that's all."

He blushed and drank some more. Deciding that he'd rather not continue with the conversation, I just smiled and turned back to breakfast.

"Well, it's not like he's not attractive."

I looked back up to see him watching me over the rim of his mug. "It's not like that at all. I just never expected to hear that coming from you."

"If you tell him I said it, I'll kill you."

"My lips are sealed, Nicky."

"I'm not going anywhere near that one," he laughed. He was quiet for another moment, and then spoke again. "Brian was my first crush."

That stopped me in my tracks again, and I turned my smile on him. "Is that so? Well, this just got a lot more interesting."

"Nothing big. I didn't even think of it as a crush at the time."

"I wouldn't think so, no," I said, sitting on the counter and deciding that breakfast could wait a few more minutes. "And I can't say I'm all that surprised. You're insanely close to one another, and he is damned good-looking. Not to mention that you're not that distant in age. Though I guess if we were going with age as the only thing, you'd have been after AJ."

Nick chuckled. "AJ was in there, too."

I watched him for a minute while the blush deepened on his face, then started to laugh. "They've all been in there, haven't they?"

He didn't say anything right away. He smiled at me for a second, then took a long sip from his mug. "No comment," he said finally.

"Fair enough," I conceded, since it was obvious that I was right. "Though it's not like you would be the first male admirer any of them had."

"I could be. I knew them before everyone else did, remember."

"True. But I'd bet at least one guy had checked them out before that. You're included in that group, too."

"Me? No way. I was way too young."

I arched my eyebrow. "You're telling me that you don't think that it's possible that there was some guy out there who had his eye on young Nicky Carter as he ran shirtless across a Tampa beach?"

"Some dirty old man, maybe," Nick smiled, shuddering at the thought.

"Noticing doesn't make someone dirty," I laughed. "But what about other guys your age? Of all of the kids on the beach, don't you think it's possible that just one noticed you and liked what he saw?"

"Not with all of the other guys that were running around shirtless," Nick answered slyly.

I slipped off of the counter as I shook my head. "Oh please. I remember what the 'We've Got It Going On' Nick looked like, and he would have turned heads. Hell, he almost gave Erron whiplash."

Nick's smile turned inward slightly. He looked pleased with himself. "Well, maybe a few heads."

"You're hot, Nick," I grinned, cracking the first egg. "You're just going to have to deal with it." We both laughed, and then he fell silent again, watching me as I made breakfast. I was almost finished when Brian came walking into the kitchen with our suitcases.

"No thanks, I don't need any help," he grunted, dropping the bags at the end of the island.

"None was offered," I smiled from the stove. "That didn't take you long."

"I work fast," he returned, then immediately slapped Nick in the stomach to keep him from making the joke.

"Yeah, well I better not have to iron when I get home."

"Have a little faith in me." He came around to where I was standing and kissed my cheek, resting his hand on the small of my back.

"I might be able to manage a little faith."

"Very little," Nick put in.

Brian's hand went further up my back, rubbing between my shoulder blades. "Didn't we bring Erron so that he could entertain Nick? Where is he?"

"He's communing with nature." I indicated the window and Brian stepped over to look out. "It's a rare occurrence, so I figure we may as well leave him alone."

"So we're stuck with Nick?"

"I've got to pack anyway," Nick huffed, pretending to be hurt.

I slid the eggs out of the pan and onto our plates. "Just ignore the little man, Nick."

"Is that what you call him?"

"No, he calls me 'sir'," Brian grinned. "Now get your ass over here with breakfast." He sat down at the table, then looked back at me and snapped his fingers.

"Uh, yes sir."

Nick laughed and grabbed a chunk of egg from one of the plates as I passed him and popped it into his mouth. I smiled as I put that plate in front of Brian.

"Hey! This one had Nick's grubby fingers on it!" He tried to switch plates with me, but I slapped his hand away as I sat down opposite him.

"You had his tongue in your mouth last night, pookie. I hardly think his fingers are any more germy." I smiled and lifted a piece of toast from the stack between us and listened to the 'ugh' my comment brought from both of them. "Now eat your breakfast and shut up. Sir."

"I'm going to start a list of things to make you and Erron do next time, just to get back at you for making us do that," Nick said, putting his mug down long enough to jump up onto the counter.

"I don't remember promising to play again."

"You've got to!"

"I don't have to do anything," I said, taking a bite of my toast. "And now that you've already warned me that you'll be gunning for me and Erron, we'll both be coming up with things of our own. You might not want us to play again."

"Nothing's worse than kissing Nick," Brian put in, stealing my coffee instead of getting his own.

"Oh yeah, like kissing you was the highlight of my day," Nick argued, balling up a napkin and tossing it at Brian. "I'm still trying to get the taste of Nate out of my mouth."

I choked on my eggs while Nick laughed at the expressions on our faces. Brian smiled at me, and then threw the napkin back. "Let's just agree that it wasn't good for either of us."

"Fine," I agreed, going back to eating after giving Nick a dirty look that he smiled through. "Then next time, we'll have to come up with someone else for you to try. I wonder which one of the other guys that could be."

Brian stopped with his fork half-way to his mouth. "No way."

"Kissing cousins." Nick dropped to the floor again. "I like it."

Brian took his bite, then pointed at me with his fork. "You'd be sleeping alone for a month."

"Pookie, it just might be worth it."

"Might be? We could sell tickets to something like that," Nick laughed, grabbing Brian's piece of toast and starting for the door. "I'm going to go get packed up."

"You wouldn't," Brian said confidently, drinking from my mug again.

"All's fair in Truth or Dare."

"But the game has to end sometime, and you know you'd be in trouble."

I shrugged while I chewed. "Then I'd just have to get someone else to make the dare for me. I'm sure I'd have no trouble finding volunteers."

His foot appeared on my knee, then ran up my leg and worked its way under my shirt, his toes grabbing at my stomach. "But you might have some trouble finding volunteers for all that I do for you."

PART 119

"Are we ready?" Erron stood in the doorway to the garage and looked us over. "No one's forgetting anything?"

"Not that I can think of," Brian answered, looking around.

There wasn't really anything more than what we had brought with us. We were leaving all of the food that we had bought and not eaten. The caretaker was going to take care of that for us after we left. I had double-checked our room after breakfast, and hadn't come up with anything that Brian had missed.

"Then let's get on the road. The sooner we get going, the sooner we're home."

"Home," Nick mused, lifting his suitcase. "I remember having one of those."

"Oh yeah," Erron said, rolling his eyes at Nick. "It must be horrible having to stay in nice hotels all the time."

"Trust me, it's not all it's cracked up to be," Nick returned. I passed him another of his bags, which went over his shoulder, and then he took the third and started toward Erron, who already had his things packed in the Jeep. Erron took the larger suitcase from him as he passed through the doorway, and they both headed into the garage, still arguing about living in hotels.

"You think we could come back here sometime?" Brian asked, grabbing my arm before I could pick up my suitcase. "Just us?"

"I don't see why not," I told him, straightening again and looking him in the eye. "I don't think Jeff and Cindy would mind, since they don't get up here much. You think you could manage a week with just me?"

"Well," he smiled, putting his arms around my waist. "Maybe not a whole week. We could try a few days, though, and see what happens."

"With this unscheduled two week break, you're not likely to have a whole lot of free time for a while. I'll mention it to Jeff and Cindy, and then when you know when you have some time off, we'll straighten it all out."

"Promise?"

"Promise. But you get to tell Nick and Erron that they're not invited next time."

Brian smiled. "I think I'll wait as long as I can on that one."

"Good move."

Pulling away again, Brian glanced around us. "What about your computer? I thought you were reading on the way."

I grabbed my suitcase and lifted it from the floor. "I am. Erron put it in when he packed his."

"I hope he packed it so you have to pay attention to me all the way home."

"No such luck," I laughed. "He said it's on the back seat, just waiting for me."

"Damn."

"I'll read as fast as I can," I promised, nudging him.

He got his suitcase as well and we started for the door. "Take your time, sweetie. It's all part of what you do. You wouldn't ask me to blow off a concert or rehearsal."

"Actually, this isn't really work-"

"Quit while I have myself convinced, sweetie."

Smiling, I fell silent. I held the door open for him, and then pulled it closed behind me, making sure it locked. Nick and Erron were already standing at the side of the Jeep, waiting for us to throw our bags in. Once that was accomplished, we climbed in and got ready for the ride.

As promised, my computer as sitting on the seat, waiting for me. I lifted it and set it on my lap as I sat down and buckled my seatbelt. Brian dropped into the seat beside me as Erron finished buckling up and started the engine.

I switched the power on the computer, and then turned to Brian. "Oh, one more thing before I get into this?"

"What's that, sweetie?"

He barely had the words out before I was kissing him.

"What are we doing for dinner?" Erron asked, raising his voice to be heard over Brian and Nick's laughing. They had been telling jokes for at least an hour. Unfortunately, they were the only ones who seemed to find them especially funny.

I looked up from the computer and noticed that we were almost back to the city. "I don't know, Erron. You feel like making KD for four?"

Erron's hand left the wheel long enough to give me the finger. "I was asking because I figured we could stop and get it while we're already out."

"Vote for pizza and I'll make it worth your while," Brian whispered directly into my ear before nipping at my earlobe.

"I vote for pizza," I said immediately, making Brian laugh. "But we can order it whenever we're hungry. Let's just get back to the apartment."

"How much further?" Nick asked, sounding every bit the child. "I have to go to the bathroom."

I looked around again, then back to Nick. "About half an hour or so. You need to stop before that?"

"Nope. I'll hold it."

It seemed like the entire vehicle silenced for a few seconds to wait for Erron to make a comment about holding it, but he managed to restrain himself. The moment passed, and we went back to discussing dinner plans. Erron voted for Vietnamese, but Nick's vote for pizza put it over the top.

With that settled, I went back to the story on the screen. It was the last of the ones that Brad had sent for me to look at, and it was pretty good. I had barely read a sentence when Brian's hand fell to the back of my head, his fingers playing with my hair.

"How's it going?"

"Good. I'm almost done with them. This is the last one."

"How are they?"

"All in all? Pretty good. There's one that I don't like at all, really. And there's a couple that are good but could be a lot better with some changes. The first, fourth, and sixth ones are really good, though."

"I'm sure he'll be happy to hear that. Though you might want to think of a way to make 'I don't like this one at all' sound a little more positive, sweetie."

I laughed, reclining my head until Brian was holding it, his fingers still moving. "I'll see what I can come up with. People tell me I have a way with words, you know."

"Do they?"

"They do," I smiled as I leaned in toward him.

"Hey! You two cut it out!" We both turned to look at Nick, who was grinning back at us. "Nate, get back to work so we don't have to put up with Brian's whining when we get to the apartment."

Looking at each other again, I smiled when Brian's winked at me. "You know, I am almost done."

"Then hurry up," he said, stealing a quick kiss. "And we'll pick this up where we left off."

"Hopefully out of my line of sight," Nick added.

"Get him, pookie," I whispered, slipping my hand to my side to undo his seatbelt. "Smack him once for me."

I turned back to the computer as Brian launched himself at Nick.

"Here we are," Erron announced, turning into the parking garage for the building. "Home sweet home."

I shut down the computer and looked around as we entered the gloom. I was finished reading, and had just been jotting down my notes for my email to Brad. Brian had spent the last ten minutes with his head on my shoulder looking at what I was writing, since he knew I wouldn't let him read Brad's stuff without getting permission from Brad.

"You finish, Nate?" Erron asked, looking at me in the rear-view mirror as he pulled to a stop in the parking space.

"Just about, yeah. Maybe fifteen more minutes should get it done. I'll finish it up and send it off in the morning before we leave." I slipped the computer into the bag and zipped it up while Brian unbuckled his seatbelt and opened his door.

"You want me to wake you up before I leave, just to make sure?"

"I think I'll be fine saying our goodbyes tonight before bed, thanks," I answered, releasing my seatbelt and leaning forward to flick him in the back of the head.

"Suit yourself."

I smiled and got out, stretching as I slammed the door behind me. Once I had managed to get the kinks out of my back, Erron and I headed around to meet Brian and Nick behind the Jeep to get our bags.

"It's going to take a couple of trips," Nick said, pointing to the box that we had liberated from the storage space before heading to the cabin. "I'll come back down with you to get that one, Nate."

"Thanks, Nicky," I smiled, slinging a bag over my shoulder and grabbing for a suitcase. The three of them split the rest of the luggage, and we made our way to the elevator and up to the apartment.

"Just drop your stuff here," Erron said, indicating the hall outside the elevator. "You two go back down for the box, and Brian and I will take this stuff inside.

Nick and I did as we were told, and then I pushed the button to go back to the parking garage. It took a few seconds to get it out of the Jeep and carry it back to the elevator, but we managed easily enough. By the time we got back to the apartment, the hallway was clear and the door had been left open a crack so that we wouldn't have to put the box down to get into the apartment.

"Hi honey, we're home!" Nick called as he kicked the door and started inside. Turning his grin on me, he lowered his voice. "I've always wanted to say that."

"You're a freak," I laughed, pushing the box so that it hit his leg and almost tripped him. "We might as well take it all the way down to the bedroom. I'm just going to put it in the corner and worry about unpacking it when I've got time to go through it all."

"You're the boss."

"And don't you forget it."

As we passed through the living room, I saw Nick's bags sitting in one of the chairs, which answered the question that I had been avoiding asking. It looked like Nick was staying on the couch. Erron was in his room, unpacking his things. He smiled as we went by, but didn't offer to help.

Brian was sprawled on my bed, the bags forgotten on the floor at the foot of it. "Hi."

"Hi," I smiled back, setting the box down in the corner. "Thanks, Nick."

"No problem." Brian and I both looked at Nick, but he didn't seem to be in a hurry to leave. He did seem to know that it was what we were both waiting for. "Oh," he said finally, grinning. "Did you two want me to leave you alone?" He dropped onto the end of the bed.

"Not at all," I told him. "You just stay as long as you want."

"Reverse psychology. Nice try."

I started to try again, when Brian put his hand out toward me to get me to stop. "Nate's right. Stay as long as you want. But I would have sworn you said you needed to pee," he said dismissively, falling back and staring at the ceiling.

I watched as the reminder sank in. Nick's indecision showed for a moment, stuck between staying to torment us and finally making it to the bathroom. It was only for a moment, though. Then he smacked Brian in the shoulder and headed into the hall.

Brian raised his head far enough to look at me, then lifted his hand and curled his finger in invitation. "C'mere."

"And just what is it that you want?" I walked over in front of him, standing between his shins where they dangled over the side of the bed.

"You've got a horrible memory," he laughed, sitting up and pulling my shirt out of my pants. "Though I guess we shouldn't get too carried away. The door's still open."

That was easily fixed, and I told him so as I leaned down to kiss him and begin unbuttoning his shirt.

"You know they wouldn't leave us alone, sweetie." He didn't stop my hands, though. "Besides, it's our last night with Erron."

"True. We should probably make the most of it, eh?"

"Eh?"

"Shup," I laughed, pushing him back on the bed. He shifted around so that his legs weren't dangling anymore, and I lay down beside him. Slipping my leg between his, I buried my face in his neck.

He started laughing. "What happened to not getting carried away?"

"This is nothing they haven't seen before," I answered, pulling away just enough to get the words out. His only argument was a low moan.

"So what do we do now?" Erron asked, stretching out on the couch.

"Eat," Nick and I said together.

"Who's calling?"

"I'll call," Brian offered, seeing that no one else was going to. He pulled out his cell phone. "What's the number?"

Erron and I rhymed it off immediately, drawing looks from Brian and Nick. "It used to be part of their commercial jingle," I explained with a smile as Brian shifted on my lap and started to dial. "It's burned into our brains forever."

"What do we want?"

We quickly discovered that it would be easier to get four medium pizzas than to get us to agree on toppings, so we each gave our orders separately, while Brian passed them along to the woman on the other end of the line. Once he was finished, he fell silent while she read it back to him.

He confirmed the order, then told her he wanted to pay by credit card. I smiled, figuring that it was his way of making sure that he was the one that paid for dinner, but the smile faltered when he inched his hand under me and took out my wallet.

After giving her my number and name, he waited while she confirmed it all, then gave him an ETA for delivery. He thanked her, gave her the address and hung up, handing me back my wallet. I took it and tossed it onto the coffee table. "Want to explain that?"

He laughed and kissed my forehead. "I couldn't use mine, sweetie. What if she recognised the name? It doesn't really matter if people know we're in town, but she'd actually have the address of where we'd be staying. If she did recognise me and told anyone, we could have a mob downstairs."

"So I wind up paying for everything."

"And don't think we don't appreciate it," Erron laughed.

"I wish I'd known Nate was paying. I would have ordered more." Nick grabbed my wallet. "Think of all the things we could order over the phone after he goes to bed."

"I have been wanting that 'Lean, Mean, Fat-Reducing Grilling Machine' thingy," Erron smiled, indicating the TV. "I see it all the time on The Shopping Channel."

"You don't cook," I pointed out. "I doubt George Foreman designed it for KD."

"But it would look good on the counter."

"Right up until all of that dust built up on it."

"I'd use it! It's supposed to be fool-proof. Even I couldn't screw it up."

"Oh, I'm sure you'd find a way."

"Bitch."

"It doesn't really matter," I told him. I held my hand out to Nick, and he tossed my wallet over to me. "I"m not buying you the Foreman Grill. You'll just have to make-do with the primitive utensils you've already got."

"Then you'll have to keep cooking for me."

"Sorry, he's out of here tomorrow," Brian laughed, rubbing my shoulder. "You'll be on your own for meals again."

Erron sighed and pouted dramatically. "I've got to get me a man who can cook." He looked back at me. "I shouldn't have let you get away."

"Yay for me," Brian said softly, just before biting my ear.

"Why didn't you just have Nate teach you?" Nick asked, propping his feet up on the coffee table.

"He tried," Erron laughed. "I'm just not cut out for it."

I rested my head against Brian's shoulder. "You weren't that bad. You just need to work on your attention span."

"I burn most things," he elaborated for Nick and Brian. "I forget they're on the stove. Which is why that grill is so perfect! It's so fast I won't have time to forget."

I rolled my eyes.

"Hey." Brian's hands closed on my stomach as his chin landed on my shoulder.

"Hey." I put my hands over his, but didn't turn from the window.

"What's on your mind?"

"Nothing specific, I guess."

"Thinking about the book?"

"It's somewhere in the jumble," I answered, smiling.

"What else is in the jumble?"

"Lots of stuff." That was certainly true. After we had finished eating, I had gotten up to get myself a drink. Rather than sit back down, I had wandered over to the window, looking out at the city that I had grown up in.

Thoughts about that were certainly going through my head, but they were more of an undertone than a major theme. That was the way it usually was, actually. There were very few moments when my past wasn't on my mind at least on some level. I tried to keep them from the forefront, but I couldn't obliterate them entirely.

As usual, a part of my mind was following my book, letting different characters interact and seeing how I liked the results. If I thought there was something to the interaction, the idea got set aside for later. If not, it was dropped in order to make way for the next.

Kevin and Kathy - and the situation that they now found themselves in - had been going through my mind as well. At the same time, I envied and felt almost sorry for the both of them. Having a child certainly wasn't a horrible thing for either of them, but the timing and circumstances left a little to be desired. They both had some huge changes coming to their lives, as did everyone around them.

Rounding out the chorus were random thoughts about several other issues that had been floating around my head lately. Paying a visit to Jeff and Cindy to say goodbye, calling Andy to let her know that I would be going to LA for a visit, calling Mom and Dad for the same reasons, calling Carrie to see how she was holding up. Probably the biggest of these, though, was my curiosity about what was going to happen with Nick and Erron after we left the next morning.

And Brian was there, as always. Even more so with him holding me.

"Anything we need to worry about?"

"I don't think so, pookie," I told him. "Just assorted stuff. Nothing really pressing."

"Then I'm allowed to try and take your mind off of it?"

I laughed. "Do your worst."

"If only we had more privacy," he whispered suggestively, squeezing me tighter for a moment. While I nodded, he raised his voice and continued. "You need a balcony on this place."

I had to laugh again. He had just mimicked a thought that I had had many times since getting the apartment.

"My old place had a balcony," Erron pointed out from behind us.

"Your old place had burglars, too," I told him.

"Just the once, though."

"Being burgled once is probably more than enough, don't you think?"

"Is 'burgled' even a word?" Nick asked, muting the TV.

"It is," I answered, turning Brian and I around to look at them. "Trust me."

"You're the writer."

I smiled, taking Brian's hand and pulling him back into the living room. The pizza boxes were piled on the coffee table, each still containing half of a pizza. I dropped down onto the couch, Brian landing on me immediately, and turned my attention to the TV, where one of the Much VJs was talking.

"We should call them," Nick said mischievously.

"Call who?" I asked, looking over at him.

"Whoever the hell that is." He pointed at the screen. "Just to see what they do."

"That's Rick," Erron told him. "And they'd likely think you were lying and hang up on you."

"I could convince them."

"Don't you dare," Brian said, levelling a finger at him. "We don't need anyone knowing we're even in town, if we can avoid it."

"You said it didn't matter if the pizza lady knew."

Brian raised his head to get a better look at Nick. "The pizza lady is a little bit different than calling the local music station-"

"The nation's music station," Erron interrupted with a grin.

"The nation's music station, then," Brian continued, rolling his eyes. "Even better. There's a big difference between one lady and the entire audience of MuchMusic."

Nick sighed and sank back in his chair. "You get more like Kevin every day."

"Ooh, them's fightin' words," I laughed.

"Laugh all you want, Nate, but a couple more years, and you're going to be dating Kevin."

I reached up to brush Brian's hair behind his ear. "Hmm."

His hand immediately covered my mouth. "If you say one word about how sexy Kevin is, you're definitely sleeping alone tonight."

"Maybe the two of you could actually get some sleep," Erron laughed.

"What fun would that be?" Brian returned, lowering his head to my chest. His hand made its way up my side, under my shirt, as he moved his leg in between mine.

"Hey, Erron?"

"That's me," Erron said with a slight smile. He had his head reclined on the back of the chair and was staring at the ceiling. He didn't bother to look over at Nick to answer him. "What is it?"

"How did you manage to get Nate?"

"That's a question for Brian. I never got to get him."

I laughed. "I think he wants to know how a lame-ass bitch like you managed to snag a hottie like me."

This time he did turn his head to look around the room, his eyes finally falling on me. "Were you not paying attention? I just said I didn't get to snag you."

All three of us sighed. "There was no one thing, Nick. We met, started to hang out in the group, then eventually started to hang out just the two of us. It evolved from there," I said, answering the question rather than let Erron continue.

Erron apparently hadn't had enough yet. "Bull," he laughed, sitting up in his chair. "I unloaded my 'A' material on you, and you couldn't help but fall in love."

"That was your 'A' material?"

"Got you, didn't it?"

"Got me to laugh, yeah," I grinned. "You're just lucky I'd known you for a while by then. I knew you were a freak already."

"And just what was this material?" Nick asked, sensing a story.

I raised myself up on my elbows. "Well, we were in a bar one night. The night we all finished Christmas exams."

"Keep in mind that we were all drinking," Erron added.

"That we were," I conceded. "Anyway, I was standing off to the side while everyone was out dancing. Erron came up behind me and ran his hand down my shirt sleeve to get my attention. When I asked him what he wanted, he smiled, winked at me, and said 'I like your shirt. It'll look great in a ball at the foot of my bed.'"

Nick and Brian groaned and laughed at Erron. "And you fell for that?" Brian asked, giving me a disbelieving look.

"Of course he did," Erron bragged.

"Not specifically for that, no," I explained. "It was more that he wore me down over the course of the night. Every time I turned around, he was there with another line. Trust me, it's much cuter when you're drunk."

"I can see Erron being cuter if you were drunk, yeah," Brian agreed. "I'm surprised you didn't hear any of his lines this week, Nick."

"Laugh if you must," Erron grinned, getting up and heading for the kitchen, "but it worked. I got what I wanted."

"Not all of what you wanted," Nick pointed out.

"Everything I wanted that night. I really did like Nate. I wasn't looking for just a one-night thing."

"He got me," I admitted. "If I hadn't already known him, I likely would have just laughed it off and gone home. I almost did that anyway, until I realised that he really was being half-ways serious. After I realised that, and had a talk with Andy, he got me."

"You had to talk with Andy?" Erron called from the kitchen. I heard the fridge door close, and the thud of a glass landing on the counter. "You never told me that."

"I figured two drunk people could make a better decision than one," I laughed. "Remember I danced with her near the end of the night?"

He came back into the room with a glass of water, nodding. "I remember how surprised everyone was to see it. I just figured it was because you were too far gone to put up much of a fight about it with her."

"Well, partly that and partly my wanting to talk to her about you. Not that she was all that much help. All she said was 'don't get carried away, but go for it.'"

"So?" Nick prompted. "What happened?"

"You know what happened, Nicky," I told him. "Erron and I were together for a while, then broke up."

"I mean that night."

"His shirt wound up in a ball at the foot of the bed," Erron said importantly, grinning at me.

Brian and Nick both raised their eyebrows and looked at me.

"And his pants stayed securely on his body," I added. "Everyone crashed at my place that night. It was walking distance from the bar, so it was the most logical place. You should have seen their faces when Erron left my room in the morning."

"Something like the looks on the guys' faces that night you fell asleep in my room?" Brian asked, nuzzling my neck.

"Something like it, except that I don't remember anyone scowling as much as Howie was that morning. There was lots of shock, but no scowling."

"Jeff and Cindy must have had a fit."

"They weren't there to see it. They lived in the same building, remember. They didn't crash at our apartment."

"They still had a fit, though," Erron pointed out. "They just had to wait until later in the day.

"Jeff had a fit," I corrected him with a grin. "And you helped him along with it quite nicely. Cindy never really said much about it."

"He shouldn't have said anything, either."

"Probably not," I conceded. "But it doesn't really matter now."

"Hmph."

I caught the curious look from both Brian and Nick but shook my head, and they kept silent. Erron went back to studying the ceiling.

I was quiet for a moment, thinking about the night that Erron and I had gotten together, and all that had come after. Chuckling, I kissed Brian's temple. "Do you have a mirror in your pocket?"

"What?" Brian asked with a smile, looking me in the eye.

"Because he can see himself in your pants," Erron elaborated, looking over at us. He winked at me and started to laugh.

"Another one of your lame lines?" Nick asked, getting a nod from both Erron and I in response. "I can't believe you fell for them, Nate."

"I told you, it wasn't the lines, it was the whole night. The constant barrage of tacky lines was actually one of the few things that made me second guess getting involved in the first place," I laughed.

"Give us some others," Brian prompted, looking from me to Erron and back again.

"Is your momma a baker?" Erron asked me.

I smiled and answered. "Because you've got hot buns."

Nick and Brian groaned.

Erron grinned at the two of them, then started again. "Are you tired?"

"Because you've been running through my mind all day," I responded.

"You must have a lot of overdue library books."

"Because you've got the word 'fine' written all over you."

"Do you believe in the hereafter?"

"Then you must know what I'm here after."

"Is your father a thief?"

"Because he stole the stars from the sky and put them in your eyes."

"Nice hair."

"It'll look great on my pillow."

Brian sat up while he and Nick laughed. "You guys are like a bad comedy routine."

I pulled the back of Brian's shirt out and looked at the tag. "Just as I thought. Made in heaven."

Erron jumped out of his seat to whisper something in Brian's ear. Brian frowned for a minute, then started to grin, turning his attention back to me. "You've got the whitest teeth I've ever come across."

I started laughing, falling back against the arm of the couch. "Oh, you must have been just bursting at the seams to be able to use that one on me," I grinned, looking at Erron.

"Never got the chance, though," he agreed. "It's nice to see it finally getting used, even if it's not me using it."

"You're all sick," Nick laughed, leaning forward and stealing Erron's glass from the coffee table. After a drink, he smiled at me. "He got you with the lines."

"Eh?"

"You didn't have to talk it over with Andy, did you?" he continued, looking very sure of himself. "It was the lines that got you. They're exactly the kind of thing that you'd fall for."

"He's right," Erron added knowingly.

"Yeah," Brian agreed, putting his hand on my knee. "You'd think they were cute more than tacky. Or cute because they were so tacky. If you already liked him, that would have been all you needed. You probably just ran it by Andy to double-check you weren't making a mistake, not because you needed her to help you decide. I bet you'd already decided when you talked to her."

They were right, but I wasn't going to admit it. Not that I had to, considering who they were and how well they knew me. "I have no comment," I said finally, relaxing back on the couch. "I stand by my version of the story."

"Of course," Erron laughed. "Can't have you admitting that you were wrong."

"That's not true. I fully admit that having anything to do with your sorry ass was as wrong as I could possibly be," I smiled. "Now shut up before you tell them something you shouldn't."

"Oh?" Brian perked up again, looking at Erron. "He's got more secrets?"

"Probably," Erron answered, taking his glass back from Nick's side of the table. "I don't know what all he's told you, but I'd be willing to bet that there's a few things that I could fill you in on."

"Remind me to get your email before we leave."

"I've got it," Nick put in.

"Excellent," Brian grinned, drumming his fingers together.

I sensed trouble. Boyfriends talking to friends could be embarrassing enough, but boyfriends talking to ex-boyfriends could be downright dangerous. Especially if I wasn't going to be allowed to be there to referee. "I don't suppose I get a vote in whether the two of you get to talk privately, eh?"

"Sure you do, sweetie." Brian leaned over and kissed my cheek. "But it's a silent vote. Shhh." He put his finger to his lips, patted my cheek, and turned back to Erron.

"Can I ask you something?"

"Of course." I slipped my shirt off and sat down on the end of the bed. Brian was already in his boxers, and came to sit beside me.

"What did Jeff say?"

"What?"

"Earlier, Erron said that Jeff shouldn't have said anything when you and Erron got together. You said that he probably shouldn't have, but that it didn't matter now. What did he say?"

I sighed, and dropped back on the bed, throwing my arms out above me. "Nothing good. Not about Erron, anyway."

Brian arched his eyebrows but didn't say anything, waiting for me to continue.

"He gave me a run-down of Erron's history with guys. As much as he knew of it, anyway."

"How'd he find out about it?"

"In case you haven't noticed, Erron's not exactly shy. He told Cindy. Naturally, it bothered her, and she unloaded it on Jeff, making him swear not to tell anyone."

"She shouldn't have said anything to Jeff."

I smiled. "I know she shouldn't. Believe me, Erron lit into her for it when he found out what Jeff had done. And then he lit into Jeff, and Cindy lit into Jeff. And that was after I lit into him for it. He was getting it from all sides for a while there."

"So he was just trying to scare you?"

Nodding, I pulled him down beside me. "And he did, a little. Erron was hardly new to the concept of being with guys."

"He's been with a lot of guys?"

I weighed that in my mind for a moment. "Not a lot, really. Quite a few, though. And when you haven't been with anyone, it seems like a lot more than it really is. It sort of freaked me out for a little bit."

"Which is exactly what Jeff wanted."

"Yeah. It worked for him, but then it all fell apart. I don't think he thought it through much. He just wanted to get me away from Erron. Partly because he didn't like Erron, but partly because he was just uncomfortable with two guys being together. And like I said, it worked. The problem was, even if Erron and I weren't together, we'd still be hanging around with each other."

"And you were bound to tell him what happened."

"And he would be bound to tell Cindy, and then it would all come back to him. And that's what happened, except that Erron and I talked before we wound up breaking up. Whatever little bit of good-will Erron had for Jeff went right out the window."

Brian was quiet for a moment, and then rolled over on top of me, his hands pressing my shoulders down. I thought that we were done with the talking, but then he started again. "Can I ask you something else?"

"Okay."

"Do you like Jeff?"

I blinked, the question coming seemingly from left field. "Of course I do."

"Are you sure?"

"Well, I don't like him, if that's what you mean."

Brian smiled and backed off of me, standing up. "That's not what I mean."

"Then yes, I like him. Of course I do."

"Why?"

"Why not?"

"That's not an answer."

"I don't know how to answer. Do I like him? Yeah. I just do."

"Okay." He sat down beside me again as I sat up. "Can I ask you something else?"

"You're right full of questions tonight," I smiled. "You better not be about to ask if I like you."

Brian thought about it for a second, then started to grin. "In a way, I guess I am."

"I like you," I half-whispered, leaning in to kiss him.

"But is there anyone you don't like?"

I backed away again with a frown. "Of course."

"Name one."

"My Uncle Graham. Or my Uncle Tommy."

"That's different. You've got specific reasons not to like them. They were assholes to you. I meant, have you ever met someone and just not been able to stand them?"

"Sure."

"I'm just trying to figure out this group of friends. You all seem to get along really well - with the exception of Jeff and Erron - and it's kind of strange. It doesn't seem like you and Erron have friends separate from the ones that you share with Andy and Jeff and Cindy. The same with Andy. It's like there's this core group, and that's it."

I was finally beginning to see what he was getting at. "It's not just the core group, but I can see where it would seem like that. If you think about it, it's pretty strange that the group of us are so close, isn't it? Like you said before, Jeff and Cindy aren't exactly the couple that you'd expect to find hanging out with Andy. And Erron and Jeff don't get along. Cindy's uncomfortable with a lot of things. Andy sometimes gets a little bit too blunt and straightforward for my tastes. And Erron is a little more flamey than I tend to be able to tolerate in most people."

"I've noticed," Brian grinned. "All of that. Nick and I have talked about it off and on since we met Andy, and especially after I met Erron, Jeff and Cindy. So why are you friends?"

I shrugged and took his hand, pulling him to his feet and leading him to the head of the bed. Pulling back the sheets so we could get in, I explained. "I guess it was just similar circumstances. We were all there, and we all adjusted to university and everything together."

"But why stay together now that you're out of school? Especially with two of you not liking each other and two of you not even living in the country anymore."

Getting in beside him, I put my head down on the pillow as the blankets settled around us. "Probably for the same reason that you'd stay in contact with AJ if the group broke up tomorrow. You've shared a lot with him, and that's linked you. You might never have become friends if you hadn't been in the group, but you did and you are."

"That's true, I guess."

"Does that clear everything up?" I asked, rolling to my side and putting my hand on his stomach.

"Some of it. But I'm still wondering why you don't have friends outside of the group."

"I do. Some, at least. None of them as good as Andy and Erron, though. How many friends do you still have from before you left Kentucky?"

"A few. The really close ones."

"Exactly. But I didn't have a lot of really close friends before I met Andy, remember? I had some friends from my later high school years, but I went out of my way to keep them from getting too close. We lost touch after I started university. I have a few friends from university that never really fit in with the others. We keep in touch through email mostly anymore, and it's not that regular."

"What about Erron?"

"Oh, don't get me started."

"Come on," he urged, taking my hand. "I really want to know about this. I've been wondering."

"Okay. Let's just say that, outside of the selected few that you've met, Erron and I have totally opposite criteria for friends."

"You don't like his friends?"

"Pookie, I hate most of them. I don't like the rest."

"That bad?"

I smiled, going through the mental list of people that I had met through Erron. "That bad, yeah. They're all nice enough, I guess. They just tend to really annoy me. I'm pretty sure that the feeling is mutual."

"That's pretty odd. I mean, for you two to get along so well, and you to dislike his friends that much."

"I guess so, yeah. Erron's outgoing and a lot of fun. He tends to draw people to him, and he's got a lot of friends, but I never really clicked with any of them. If you think Erron is flamey, you should meet a few of his friends. I went out of my way to get along with them when Erron and I were seeing each other - and they did the same, I'm sure - but after we broke up, it was just understood that he kept us separated from each other."

"Is that why you two broke up?"

I thought for a second and then shrugged. "It was on both of our minds, I'm sure, but it's not the reason. We just worked as friends better than we did as a couple."

"What about Andy's friends?"

"Andy doesn't have a whole lot of friends. Same as me."

"Same reasons?"

I laughed. "No, I don't think so. She just doesn't seem to want all that many. She's got several close friends, and that's enough for her. There are some guys that she dates casually and stuff like that, and people that she likes, but she doesn't actively look for friends. She's happy with what she's got. I know most of her friends, but I don't hang out with them. They're part of her world."

"So are you."

Nodding, I rested my head on his shoulder. "I am. And I'm a bigger part than they are. That's enough for me. I don't need to know everyone she does, and we need to be away from each other sometimes."

"I can understand that."

"Have I answered your question?"

"Yep," he answered, then chuckled. "Have I been asking too many?"

"Not if you still have some left."

"I think I'm done for tonight," he laughed, "but I reserve the right to ask later."

"You got it," I smiled, slipping my leg over his and biting his shoulder. He smiled up at me as I shifted my weight so that I was kneeling over him. "One last thing."

"Shoot, sweetie."

I dropped my head so my mouth was right beside his ear. "If I told you you had a beautiful body, would you hold it against me?"

To Be Continued...

Thanks for reading! :)

~D~