Jason and Shaun Chapter 33
If you don't agree with guys being in love with guys, then you need to find someplace else to spend time.
Okay, these characters are not meant to resemble any living or dead persons.
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Jason and Shaun
Chapter 33
New Friends; Grant and Jeff
Jason and Shaun have days off together, but it feels rare to them. Today, they are doing something that they have done several times together. They are checking out the neighborhood they live in, and this trip around the block will be most enjoyable. Their world here in Utah is about to grow a little larger and a lot brighter. They are away from their friends and the family they formed back in Indiana. They are taking in the flowers in all the yards and the different landscaping styles in each yard. They take notes on things that they can do for next year. On the next block of their street, they come across a house that is decorated to perfection, but something else stands out to them.
***
A two-story house on the block is very different from Jason's and Shaun's house. Whoever lives here doesn't seem to care what other people think of them.
"Jason, do you see what I see?"
He points to the house, and what is on the flagpole has caught Shaun's attention. Jason immediately looks at where Shaun is pointing. On the flagpole, there is a pride flag flying in the wind.
"I wonder who lives here. It would be cool if they were gay and close to our age."
Jason says as they walk past the house. They can't help but wonder about the occupants of the house. It's good to see either members of the LGBT+ community or allies here in Utah.
"Maybe, we'll have to take walks to see if we can catch the people home."
Shaun says to his husband, and then they head home. They can't wait to see if they can touch base with the people. Hopefully, the people who live at the house aren't a bunch of jerks. Once they are home, the guys relax a little before starting dinner.
***
Tonight, they will be eating fried chicken, mashed potatoes, white gravy, corn on the cob, and salad. They work together to make the meal. They enjoy cooking together and working together on the meals. After dinner, they again get a chance to just relax. They are enjoying a movie in bed. The next day, the guys are working, and they will be busy. This feels good. They genuinely enjoy peaceful moments when they can sit back and relax together.
***
It's around 4:00 pm when Shaun gets home, and as soon as he is changed from his work clothes to his comfy home wear, he decides to go for a run. As he is running around the block, he passes by the house from yesterday. He manages to see the guys who live there. After getting home, they are out in the yard from being out and about. The two guys are dressed in jeans and button-ups. He glances at them one last time. He's then moved on from there to finish off his run. By the time he gets home, Jason is home. He heads into the house, ensuring that Jason knows that he's home.
"I'm home, Jason."
Jason is in the bedroom stripping down. He wants to get into some comfortable clothes. Jason leaves the bedroom and joins his husband in the living room when he is done changing.
"I saw the guys from the "Pride Flag" house. They look to be around our age. I think they were just coming home."
Jason looks excited. He wants to see for himself.
"Did they look friendly?"
Jason asks out of curiosity. Shaun can't say either way about the guys. Still, they decide to head out and take another walk.
"Why don't we go out for a walk tomorrow after work?"
Shaun likes Jason's idea, and he is all for getting out of the house with his guy. The guys kiss briefly, and then it's time to make dinner and eat. The guys will then spend some relaxing, and then it's off to bed.
***
The next day after work, true to their words, the guys head out for a walk. They want to see if they can catch their neighbors down the street outside in the yard. Before they reach the neighbor's house, the guys take each other's hands. They want to signal the neighbors that they aren't alone in the world. As they walk by the house, the guys exit the house.
"Hey, hold on a second!"
One of the dark-haired guys yells out to the guys. Jason and Shaun are stunned by the fact that they've been spotted by guys. Jason and Shaun pause right there and wait for their neighbors to approach them. The dark-haired one speaks first.
"I saw you yesterday out walking, and you sort of paused in front of the house. I didn't think anything of it. Now, I see you walking down the street and holding hands with another guy. I'm Grant, and this is my husband, Jeff, and you are?"
Grant is curious about the guys standing out in front of their house. He wonders what their story is and where they live. They must live close by them. Grant also notices that the guy are hot, but he's not going to hit on them because Jeff keeps him satisfied beyond belief and not just in the bed.
"I'm Shaun, and this is my boyfriend, Jason. We have been here for **** months for work. Jason works at the zoo, and I work for one of the newspapers."
The guys exchange handshakes. Grant and Jeff whisper to each other and then look at Shaun and Jason.
"We have a few friends here in Utah, but none that live close by. We'd like to get to know you if that is okay?"
Grant speaks to the couple and asks them a question. Shaun nods his head.
"We were actually kind of excited to meet you. I saw your pride flag hoping that whoever lived here was gay or maybe bi. I went home and told my husband about the flag. We decided that we would see if we could catch you guys home, and here we are."
Shaun tells the other couple. Grant and Jeff quietly talk amongst themselves. They want to speak with Shaun and Jason a little bit more. They aren't sure that the guys will want to spend more time with them. Little do the neighbors know that the other couple would love to get to know them.
"Well, I am glad that you took the time to try to find us out and about. It made it a little easier to meet each other. So...I know it's a tad bit early, but would you like to come over for dinner tonight?"
Shaun and Jason whisper amongst themselves. They are trying to remember what they have going on tonight. They reach a decision.
"Sure, we would love to come for dinner."
You can tell that Grant and Jeff are excited that they accepted their invitation for dinner.
"We'll see you later tonight then."
The guys again exchange handshakes, and they say goodbye. Shaun and Jason return home, and Grant and Jeff head inside to make dinner.
***
At home, Shaun and Jason are happy to have met their neighbors. They liked that they live reasonably close by, among other things. Finally, they have people to talk to who aren't family or co-workers.
"So, what did you think of our neighbors?"
Shaun asks Jason. Shaun knows what he personally thinks of their neighbors.
"They seem nice, and I can't wait to see what the evening brings."
They will find out that they might have more in common with them than they could ever imagine. Dinner may be shocking in a good way. Not having to prepare and cook dinner frees them for a bit of relaxation. Today's preferred method of relaxing is listening to music and, for the other, a short nap. They take a quick shower together and then change for dinner.
***
They leave the house and walk down the street together. When they get to their neighbor's house, they knock and then wait for the answer. The door opens, and the first thing that hits their senses is the smell of spiciness and then the smile on Grant's face.
"Hi, Guy's come inside!"
Then they notice that there is a dog in the house. They can't see the dog, but they can see the chew toys sitting in a basket in the living room.
"What type of dog do you have?"
Jason asks as he looks at Grant.
"We have a 5-month-old Boxer named Rocky. I think he's in his kennel taking a nap. Otherwise, he would run at you with his tail wagging while he did all he could to get you to pet him and cover in puppy kisses."
Jason is all about it, and thanks to Jason's love for animals, Shaun is okay with it too.
"Cool!"
Grant invites them to sit down and relax a little before Jeff calls everyone to dinner. Shaun notices a map of Indiana that has been framed, and it's hanging on the wall. It makes Shaun wonder what the story is behind it. Most people wouldn't hang a map of Indiana in their house for decorative purposes.
"Did you come from Indiana?"
Shaun asks Grant. Grant shakes his head no and then points towards the kitchen.
"Nope, I am actually from right here in Utah. I am from Sandy, Utah. It's Jeff, that is from Indiana. My family moved to Indiana when I was 16. I ended up meeting Jeff and a couple of other guys who were friends with him. Ended up falling in love with him, and here we are. I wanted to be away from my family. They kind of gave up on me so, when all was said and done, one of my friend's parents put me up for the rest of high school."
Jeff steps into the room. He smiles and then looks at Grant.
"You didn't tell me that we had guests already. I was just coming out to see if they were here."
Grant looks at his husband with "sorry" on his face. Jeff comes around and shakes his guests' hands.
"I was just telling the guys the condensed version of our lives. Shaun asked about the Indiana map. He wanted to know if I was from Indiana."
Jeff looks at his babe with a smile.
"Nopes, he was born LDS, and I corrupted him..."
Grant immediately interrupts him.
"No, he did not."
Jeff continues from where he was interrupted.
"I was born in Indiana, not far from Chicago."
Jeff leaves it at that, and then he remembers that dinner is ready. He stands up and then looks at everyone else.
"I almost forgot that dinner is ready. I apologize. We are having Chicken tortilla soup for the main course."
Jeff leads the way into the dining room. He directs everyone to their chair, and then he sits down too.
"So, where are you guys from?"
Jeff asks his guests.
"Well, Shaun is from Utah, Salt Lake City to be precise, and yes, he is LDS too, and I am from Indiana. We met during my freshman year in college. I was actually his roommate, and one thing or another led us to being friends, boyfriends, and then husbands."
Jason answers his host's question. Jeff and Grant seem a little shocked by their neighbor's words. Shaun jumps in to share more of the story.
"My dad and my step-mom and Jason's family are fully supporting us, but my mom has basically disowned me. We hardly hear from her, but I keep hoping that she'll come around. I graduated from college first, and then shortly after Jason graduated, he started looking at work, and then I started looking for work. We ended up in Salt Lake City because this is where we found jobs. I am an editor at one of the newspapers, and Jason works at the Memorial Zoo."
Grant and Jeff forgot to tell what they do for a living, so one will see that it's remedied.
"Jeff and I came back to Utah for college, and we never left. I am a member of a dance troupe. Jeff works as a software engineer. It's weird how Shaun and I are both LDS, and our spouses come from Indiana. What are the chances?"
It is pretty amazing. It's absolutely amazing the way their lives worked out. It's okay, though.
"We were thinking the same things."
Jason said, and it gave them much to think about. Their meal ended a little later, and the guys continued talking for a brief time. Jason and Shaun say goodbye and then head for home.
***
While Jason and Shaun walk home, Grant and Jeff begin cleaning up the table. As they do the dishes, Grant talks about their meal with their neighbors.
"So, what did you think about our neighbors?"
He wonders what his husband thinks about Jason and Shaun. He hopes that he'll want to continue their friendship. Grant believes there is room for a new friendship in their lives.
"You know, I see a lot of us in them. Maybe, it's the fact that Jason echos my life, and Shaun and you are both LDS. I think they would fit in well with our friends. I mean from what we know of them anyway."
It's true, they don't know much about them other than a bit of their parents, where they grew up, or what they do a living. They don't know about Jason and Shaun's friends back in Indiana, but then they didn't tell them what Indiana was like for them.
"You know we were supposed to have a movie night with Carl and David, so why don't we invite the guys over tomorrow?"
Grant and Jeff have all the plans pieced together, and all they have to do is invite them. They are hoping it's not too early to do the movie night.
***
The next day, the guys have work. Jason and Shaun have a full day of work. When Shaun arrives home, he finds a note taped to the front door.
"Jason and Shaun, we are inviting you out to our house tonight at 5:00 pm for movie night. You don't need to bring anything with you just, bring yourselves."
He immediately texts his husband to see what he thinks about the invite. He's not sure what all is on the calendar for tonight. He knows that his family isn't scheduled to come over, and they don't have any appointments that he remembers anyway. Jason is pretty quick to respond.
"Sure, Babe, let's go over."
Now all Shaun has to do is figure out how to let them know they're interested. He decides to just walk down and tell them. He walks down to see them. He knocks on the door. Grant is quick to answer the door.
"Hey, Shaun, what's up?"
Grant is happy to see Shaun.
"I just wanted to tell you that we'll be coming over tonight."
Grant's face lights up with the news.
"Cool! We'll make up popcorn and have beverages of some kind."
Shaun nodded his head and said goodbye. The door is shut, and Shaun heads home.
***
After the movie night, Jason and Shaun come home and get busy. They walk into the pet room and get busy feeding every living thing in the room. When the animals in the room are provided with food, they feed Nyx and Sasha and make sure there is water. Having eaten popcorn over at their friend's house, they decide to have light dinner. They talk a little as they get ready for bed. Tomorrow is another day where they get to sit back and relax.
***
The next day, the guys work around the house. There is laundry that needs to be done. Some of the rooms in the house need a bit of cleaning. The pet room needs to be touched up. Some animals need to be fed, and everyone needs to be watered. Some parts of the yard need to be touched up as well, and Shaun heads out to do it. It doesn't take him long to wrap up the outdoor work. They get their recycling put out, and their garbage is out too. By the end of the night, the guys are good, and they relax in their bed for a while before falling asleep.
***
Before Shaun falls to sleep, he gets out his journal. He grabs his pen and begins to write about their new friends.
"The other day, Jason and I were out for a walk in our neighborhood, here in Salt Lake City. As we were walking, we came across one of our neighbor's homes displaying a pride flag on a flag pole on the side of their home. A day later, we actually met the people in this house. We met Grant and Jeff. They are a couple who live down the street from us. We've been to their house, and they are amazing. Grant is from Sandi, Utah, and he moved to Indiana with his family. His husband, Jeff, is Indiana-born and raised. I can't believe how much their relationship, at least on the surface, mirrors our relationship. I know, I was impressed with them, and I think Jason was also impressed with them. We had dinner with them and had a movie night. Hoping to get to know them a little bit better."
He puts his pen away for a second and then stares at his writing. He reads what he's written to make sure it makes sense. He wants to make sure that it makes reads well so that when he reads it at some later time. He then puts his journal away next to his husband's journal.
***
Jason is at work doing his thing with the animals. He can't keep his mind off of their new friends. It's a bit dangerous, considering he needs to keep his mind on the animals. He really needs to keep himself safe. He wonders what the world would think of the friendship they formed over the past couple of days. He doesn't want to destroy what he has with Grant and Jeff. It's all good, though. Hopefully, they can move through life with these guys as their friends. Jason ends his day doing some training with some parrots, and then it's time to go home.
***
The next day, Shaun is on his lunch break and texts Jason. It's not uncommon for Shaun to text Jason some cute little text just to cheer him up a bit.
"Hey Babe, hope your day is going good? I'm on lunch, so I thought I would text you to see if you're okay. Sorry, Babe! I hope you are doing okay? I love you!"
He never knows what his husband might need to hear during the day. Lately, it seems like they are thriving on each other's little sweet gestures. This one hits a little close to his husband's heart.
"I needed this today, Shaun. I am having a rough day today seems like everything I do is wrong. I am staying safe but just making stupid mistakes. I just want to be in our spot."
Shaun looks at his message but can't do anything about it till he is off of work. He sends Jason and simple heart emoji. Seeing that little heart made Jason smile, and it was enough to help him on his way home.
***
Again Shaun is home before Jason, so he writes a quick note telling him that he is going to walk down to see Grant and Jeff.
"Hey Jason, I am walking down to see Grant and Jeff. If I'm not home, I'm down there. Love you!"
Shaun tapes the note to the front door, then locks it up and closes it. He heads down towards the house. When he gets down there, Jeff is outside with Rocky.
"Hey, Jeff!"
Jeff looks over at Shaun and walks over with Rocky's leash in his hand. Shaun stood still for a second.
"Oh, he won't bite. The leash is to keep him from jumping all over you and anyone else who walks by the house."
Shaun moves towards Jeff and the pup. He greets Rocky and then greets Jeff after a few licks.
"I just thought I would come down; things were quiet at the house. Not a huge fan of being in the house by myself, not that it's haunted or anything,"
Jeff can understand that; he went through some of that himself. He still does, and maybe it's anxiety leftover from high school. It doesn't matter because it's behind them.
"It's super quiet here too, and that is why we decided to get Rocky. He helps to keep some mild anxiety away."
Shaun can understand how Rocky could help keep anxiety away as well. Sasha and Nyx do the same for Shaun though he may not admit it to him or anyone else. He loves all of this.
***
When Jason gets home, he sees the note but goes inside to change really quick before going to Jeff's. He knocks on the door and waits for the door to be answered. Jeff answers the door and invites Jason indoors. He doesn't seem to care about Jeff being in the room; he walks up to his husband and gives him a kiss. He needed to feel his husband's presence in his arms. He just needs his babe's arms around him. Jason follows the guys into the living room, where they all sit down in the living room.
***
The guys want to talk to shed light on their time in Indiana. Shaun and Jeff have had their own unique experiences in Indiana that carry emotional energy.
"So earlier Shaun and I were talking before you got here, Jason, and I mentioned that we got the dog because of my anxiety. There was a guy in high school who gave us some headaches. He was involved in me getting jumped and many other issues, too. Because of him, I have massive anxiety even today. For sure, Rocky helps with the anxiety. Shaun, what gave life to your anxiety?"
Shaun thought for a second about what might have sparked that knot of emotion inside of him.
"As you know, I am LDS, and my mom was and is strongly homophobic. She went as far as to have a woman call the house and see if she could start dating me or maybe be the cause of our breakup. She didn't come out for our wedding. Now before I met Jason, I had a roommate named Payton. I had a crush on Payton, and it was pretty strong. One day, I came out to him and announced my crush. He got super angry at me and started to bash me. He was cussing, throwing slurs at me, and striking me. A friend of mine called the police, and he got me pretty good. In the end, he was very sick, and he came back to me to apologize to me. I accepted it just so he wouldn't die with that on his mind."
You could see the sympathy on Jeff's face. He felt terrible for Shaun having to go through that mess. Shaun felt terrible for Jeff too. He doesn't know what Jeff went through other then what he mentioned already. Jeff, Shaun, and Jason sit around and talk for another fifteen minutes before Shaun and Jason leave to head home.
***
After they get home, Trent calls his brother's house.
"Hey Shaun, would it be okay if I came over tomorrow?"
He wants to visit with Jason and Shaun and maybe have dinner with them. He doesn't want to just show up unannounced.
"You know, you're fine to stop by anytime you want to."
Trent can't wait to visit with his brother, and he can't wait to see Jason. He just to see what is going on with them. He's heard stuff from his parents about what's going on in the house. The next day after the guys come home, Trent shows up at the house.
***
Trent did his brother and brother-in-law a favor and bought pizzas to share with them. He knocks on the door and waits for them to answer. Jason opens the door and invites Trent into the house.
"I hope you guys are hungry. I bought 3 pizzas."
He didn't want to come over without something in his hands to share.
"Thanks, bro!"
Jason says that as he takes the pizzas away from his brother-in-law, they walk out to the living room. Jason and Trent sat in the living room while Shaun came out of the bathroom. They all want to talk amongst themselves, but they decide to eat dinner. They catch up with each other. In the end, they call it a night, and Trent goes home.
***
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