Disclaimer: This story is fiction. It makes no claims to the true personality and sexuality of anyone involved. You already know if you shouldn't be reading this.
------------------ Just Together by jm_stories@yahoo.com ------------------
Chapter XV - Jonah Original post 7 Feb 2002 Revised 6 March 2002
It was an uneventful drive back and we got home around midnight. Michael was already in bed and sound asleep. I cleaned up and joined him.
*** [ Wednesday, Aug 15 ]
"Hey, babe," I heard Michael say softly and give me a gentle kiss. I slowly opened my eyes to look him straight in the eyes and smiled.
"Morning," I said just as softly and kissed him back.
"What time did you get in?"
"Around midnight. What time is it?"
"4:00," Michael smiled.
"What?" I groaned.
"Gotta be on set by six and it's way uptown."
"That sucks. Are you gonna have time to take a nap before the performance tonight?"
"Nope. I get off at five."
"I'll meet you there with dinner and a whole pot of coffee," I smiled.
"Thanks. I'm gonna need it. Shower with me?"
"Okay, but then I'm going back to bed."
"I would, too," Michael said and rolled out of bed, pulling me with him.
"Hello."
"Hey, Jonah. It's Lance."
"Hey, man. What's up? How's the tour going?"
"The tour's going well. What was up when you called on Sunday? Can you talk now?"
"Yea, I can talk. Sunday... Well, we took Jonny back on Sunday."
"He's not going to stay with Josh, is he?"
"No. We picked up a kid hitch-hiking to him just outside of Youngstown. Charlie and I didn't even notice him, but Jonny noticed and made us stop."
"So'd you take him down to Cincinnati?"
"No. We dropped him off at the bus station and Josh bought him a ticket."
"Oh. Okay. So how'd things go with Jonny?"
"Good and bad. Tommy is doing much better."
"That's his brother, right?"
"Yea. His father...well, let's just say that Tony is as much of an asshole as a person can be."
"That bad?"
"You tell me. Jonny's 16th birthday was Monday..."
"Oh, man. I wish I knew. Remind me to get his address so I can send him something," Lance said.
"Okay. So we were having a birthday party cookout for him. About half-way through it Tony came stumbling in drunk off his ass and disowned Jonny before verbally attacking him and intimidating him into a corner."
"Shit. What'd he do?"
"Once Jonny was cornered he didn't have much of a choice. He lashed out and started kicking Tony's ass."
Lance laughed.
"Yea. It was anything but funny when it was happening."
"I can imagine. I'm just thinking of the shock on his father's face when Jonny fought back."
"I don't know about that, but he did have a few bruises," I smiled.
"Good. So how was Jonny after that?"
"As you can imagine. Pissed off. Hurt. He ran off after that. I had to leave to cool off. I was so pissed off at Tony that I was ready to shove all his empty beer bottles up his ass and then hang him from a tree by his balls."
Lance laughed. "So you DO have a violent side."
"Yea. Why do you say that?"
"I'm just kidding, Jonah. I've just never seen you really pissed off before."
"I try to control it now. I used to be really bad and got in fights all the time."
"Seriously?"
"Seriously."
"That's weird. I can't see it. Anyway. Continue. Where'd Jonny go?"
"Well, after I stormed down the lake shore and had a hard swim, Charlie and I went to a coffee house I used to hang out at when I lived there. We found him there without even having to look."
"Just like it was meant to be."
"Maybe. We talked a while and then took him home."
"What do you think is going to happen? How's he gonna be?"
"I think he'll be alright as long as he stays away from his father. It's gonna take some time, though. It was hard to say goodbye. Even Charlie was grumpy."
"Speaking of Charlie. I hear you two are having an affair," Lance teased.
"Obviously you've been talking with your psycho boyfriend. He made some comments and we decided to play it up to bug him. Worked too well, I guess. Now he won't believe otherwise. He's really been kinda pissy. You need to visit him soon and fuck some sense back into him."
Lance busted up laughing. "I'm sure someone's said that about me, too. He'll be better after this weekend. So will I."
"You stopping by?"
"Nope. He's coming here. Don't you guys talk anymore?"
"Nope. Like I said, he's been pissy. Where are you at?"
"We'll be in Kansas City. Danny's flying out tomorrow morning and going back Monday morning."
"Good. Try to convince him to chill, or keep him there."
"If it were possible, I would. So what's up besides that?"
"Nothing much. Michael's started 'Yellow Bird', so he's gone by 5AM. Charlie and I went swimming and then I've been reading. Relaxing. I wish Michael was home more, but at least he's in our bed at night."
"Yea. That's gotta be nice. Even if you don't have time together, you still have each other at night. I really miss that."
"Amazing how quickly you get used to it, huh?"
"Yea," Lance sighed. "Hey. I gotta go. Someone's screaming for me. Talk to you later."
"Okay. Thanks for calling. Later," I said and we hung up.
"Lance?" Charlie asked from across the room where he was playing some shooter game on his PowerBook.
"Yea. He's flying Danny out for a fuck tomorrow," I answered as I picked my book back up.
"Good."
*** [ Thursday ]
"Hey. Just wanted to let you know that I'm going to visit Lance for the weekend," Danny said.
"I know. I talked with him yesterday."
"Yea, I know. Um, sorry if I've been being difficult about you and Charlie and all," Danny kinda mumbled.
"Okay. Just get over it. I've had as much sex with Charlie as you have."
"Does that include dreams?" Danny smiled.
"Nope. Just reality."
"Okay. Well, see ya later. I'll be back Monday."
"Later, and remember that Lance has a show that he has to dance in. Be gentle," I teased.
"That's his problem," Danny laughed as he left.
*** [ Friday, Aug 17 ]
"Hello?" I said, picking up the phone just as we walked in the door.
"May I speak with Jonah Mars?"
"This is."
"Mr. Mars. This is John from MasterCard. We have a charge for $600 at Victoria's Secret and wanted to verify the charge. We didn't know you'd become a big drag queen," the guy said, barely holding back a laugh.
"Who is this?" I said and tried to recognize the voice.
"Oh, come on. You don't recognize my voice? It's only been three years. Think. Think being arrested," the guy teased.
"I've only been arrested once... Oh. My. God. Zack?"
"In the flesh, or voice, as the case may be."
"Shit. How the hell are you and where the hell have you been?"
"I'm doing great. Just got back a few days ago."
"You've been in the middle of nowhere all this time?"
"Well, not the same nowhere, but yea. I take it you haven't gotten any of my letters?"
"I got one a few months after you left, but nothing since then. I figured you made some smart-ass comment to a cannibal and became lunch," I laughed.
"Nah, still too skinny."
"So you're back in Chicago?"
"Yea. Just got back Monday."
"Shit. I was just there. If I'd known..."
"You would have run?" Zack teased.
"Like the wind. So what's up? Are you done or joining again or what?"
"Done. I want to go to uni and live the civilized life for a while. What about you? What's going on in your life?"
"Tons of stuff. After this year I'll have my BFA. I've got a great boyfriend. Some good friends..."
"You finally got a boyfriend?" Zack teased.
"Good things come to those who wait."
"Then I'll have to meet him."
"Absolutely. What are you doing now? The next week, I mean."
"Just getting back to life."
"Anything really pressing?"
"Not really. If it's survived three years... Why?"
"Come up to New York for a couple days."
"Um...well..."
"Come on. Stop stalling. You know you're gonna come."
"Okay. Fine. What the hell. I won't be able to come until next week."
"Perfect. A show I directed closes Saturday night. If you're here after Wednesday you can see it, and meet my man."
"I couldn't meet your man unless I saw the show?"
"Probably. He's in the show, and shooting a film during the day, so he's really busy right now."
"Ah, okay. So you're dating an actor?"
"Yep. Michael. He's great. So...wow. I can't believe you called. We've got three years to catch up on, but you're gonna be here next week, so..."
"Yea. I gotta go, anyway. I'll give you a call when I know my schedule."
"Okay. I've got plenty of room for you to stay here, so don't even think about staying somewhere else."
"Okay. I'll let you know by Monday. Good talking with ya, Jonah. Later," Zack said and hung up.
"Long lost friend?" Charlie questioned.
"Pretty much. He joined the Peace Corps and got sent to some wasteland. I haven't heard from him in at least two years -- since I got his last letter."
"Someone from Chicago?"
"Yep. He lived down the street from me. We knew each other for a while -- we were both in the same Tae Kwan Do class as kids -- but he went to a different school and I mostly hung out with Joey and Tommy and people I went to school with. We became friends the summer before my Junior year of high school when we met at a Screeching Weasel show."
"Screeching Weasel?"
"Punk rock band."
"Uh, okay. I just can't see you as a punk rocker," Charlie smirked.
"I didn't do the whole punk rock look. I just enjoyed the music and the scene. Well, I guess I did punk out enough when I went to see a show that Gma would look at me and roll her eyes," I smiled at the memory.
I got to the theater at 5:30 with dinner. Michael was already there and sound asleep on the sofa in the Green Room. I got some coffee from across the street and let him sleep until six.
"Time already?" Michael groaned as I rubbed his back to wake him.
"Yep. Come on. Sit up," I said and handed him his coffee as soon as he sat up.
"Thanks," he said softly and took a big drink.
"How was filming?"
"Good."
"A friend may be visiting next week."
"Who?"
"Zack. We were friends in high school. He just got back from a three year stint with the Peace Corps. I haven't talked with him in forever. He just called out of the blue this afternoon."
"K," he said and started eating his sandwich.
"Still monosyllabic?" I smiled.
He nodded and gave an exhausted half-smile.
"I hate that you're not getting enough sleep," I said and gently rubbed his back.
"I'll survive. It'll pass."
"Multiple syllables. Longer sentences," I smiled.
"Food good. Make strong," he grunted and took another bite.
"Hey, babe," I said as I walked up to Michael and gave him a kiss while he was still changing.
"Hey," Michael sighed sleepily and started putting his shoes on.
Charlie was already dressed and sitting on the sofa, about to fall asleep.
"Okay. I'm ready. Let's go," Michael said and stood up.
We were all silent as we rode the train home. Michael was slumped on my shoulder with his eyes closed. Charlie was leaning against a pole the same way. We got to our stop and walked home.
"You sleeping with us?" Michael asked Charlie as we walked in the door.
"Huh?" I asked.
"Danny's gone. This weekend is as good a time as any for the group thing -- though not until Sunday," Michael said.
"Okay."
"You still okay with it and want to?" Michael asked me.
"Yea, I think."
"You know you want to," Michael smiled sleepily.
"Maybe, but right now I just want to take a shower and cuddle up with you."
"Good. We can do that, too. So, Charlie, you sleeping with us or not?"
"Sure," Charlie mumbled from the sofa. "Hurry up with your shower so I can get in."
Michael and I went to our room and dropped our clothes before going to the bathroom.
"What's wrong?" Michael asked as I washed him.
"Nothing."
"Do you not want to do stuff with Charlie?"
"Yes and no. Yes, for obvious reasons. No, because we haven't had much time alone together recently."
"I know, but he'll be in LA by the time we have free time."
"You really want to that bad?"
"Not with Charlie, but I know you do."
"I don't..." I started.
"Don't worry about it. I know you haven't done anything and wouldn't do anything. It's kinda funny," Michael smiled.
"What?"
"Just that when it was Charlie and Justin we were each attracted to a different person of that couple."
"So you do have the hots for Justin," I smiled.
"I think he's sexy," Michael shrugged with a grin. "He's very shagable, as Charlie would say. I could never date him, though."
"'Cause he's too much in love with himself?"
"Yep, and I could never get excited about his work -- or even be able to stand it, for that matter. Besides, after all the fake sex scenes Charlie and I have done it'll be nice to actually get off," Michael smiled.
"Hurry up," Charlie yelled as he walked into the bathroom.
"Keep your pants on, man," I said.
"Too late. Come on. You've been in there fifteen minutes and I'm about to drop," Charlie whined.
"I hope you're not this whiney in bed," Michael teased as he pulled back the curtain and stepped out. I was right behind him.
"Can't whine with a dick in your mouth," I added.
Charlie just grunted and got in the shower that I left running.
"Why's he so tired? He didn't do anything all day," Michael asked me.
"I got him up earlier than usual and made him go swimming. He did as many laps as I did and is probably feeling it."
"How many?"
"Just fifty."
"My man is gonna be so buff," Michael smiled and started brushing his teeth.
"Nope. Just toned."
We finished up and went to our room as Charlie was getting out. Michael grabbed his alarm clock and reset the alarm for 8:30AM.
"You don't have to be on set tomorrow?" I asked.
"Yea, but not 'till ten. Get to sleep in a little."
"Good. I don't want you dropping from exhaustion," I said and turned on the fan in the window.
"Me neither," Michael said and laid down.
I crawled over him to the middle of the bed, kissing him as I did. He rolled on his side and I spooned up to him and held him. Charlie came in and flipped off the light before dropping onto the bed behind me.
"Night. Love you," Michael said.
"Love you," I said and kissed the back of his neck.
"Night, Charlie," Michael said.
"Night," Charlie mumbled and spooned up behind me, putting his arm around both of us.
Right now I don't care if we never have sex with Charlie. Being sandwiched between two sexy guys is damn nice. I was asleep in minutes.
*** [ Saturday, Aug 18 ]
"How do you think we should start tomorrow?" I asked Michael as we laid in bed after the show.
Michael smiled sleepily. "Let's just make a day of it. Do what we want when we want -- qualifications in place, of course."
"A whole day. You'll be dead on Monday," I smiled.
He shrugged. "Worse ways to go."
"Who's going?" Charlie asked as he came into the room, fresh from his shower.
"We were talking about how to start tomorrow," I said.
"I think we should just make it a day of sex. Do whatever whenever instead of trying to build it into an event. Just do what you feel like all day," Michael explained.
"Sure. That sounds good. Should make it easier," Charlie said and laid down.
*** [ Sunday ]
It was almost nine when I awoke. Charlie was on his back facing away from me, and Michael was half-draped across me -- just where I like him to be when I wake up. Much better than waking up with him gone. He was hard, so I knew he'd be awake soon. Charlie was still flaccid. I decided to fix that.
I know we'd decided and agreed on everything, but it still felt a little wrong, and a lot exciting, as I slowly slid my hand down Charlie's stomach and started playing with his flaccid penis. The foreskin fascinated me. I wish I still had mine -- or even had a choice in the matter.
Charlie slowly started to rise as I gently slid his foreskin back and forth. Michael licked my nipple to get my attention before he leaned up.
"Having fun?" Michael smiled.
"Yea. I wish we still had foreskin."
"Too late now."
"Yep. Wanna get something for breakfast?"
"Yea," Michael said and rolled off the bed. I let go of Charlie and followed him to the bathroom.
We did our business and went to the kitchen -- not bothering with clothes. I put on a pot of coffee and Michael decided he was going to make omelettes for breakfast.
"Why don't you go wake up the Brit," Michael said as the first one was cooking.
I went to our room. Charlie was still in the same position and had gone back down to half-hard. A couple thoughts ran through my head on how to wake him. I decided on the better-than-an-alarm-clock way. I sat on the edge of the bed and leaned over his penis. I slowly licked up the back and then took the head in my mouth. My tongue ran along the head just under the foreskin. Charlie's hips bucked a little and he let out a sigh, but didn't wake up. I took him in down to the base and slowly pulled back, sucking hard and licking as I did. This time he did wake up.
"Damn. That's a nice way to wake up," Charlie sighed with a sleepy smiled.
"Thought you'd like that. Breakfast is almost ready," I smiled.
"Are you having me for breakfast?"
"Nope. Michael's making omelettes," I said and gave him pat on the belly before walking away.
"Bastard. You could have at least finished," Charlie laughed.
"Later." I went back to the kitchen and stood behind Michael as he cooked, with my hands on his hips.
"Not while I'm cooking. I don't want to get hard," Michael said and pushed me away.
"You'll just have to stand a bit further from the stove."
"I think you have some sort of cooking fetish."
"How could I not when I see your cute butt wiggling back and forth," I smiled.
"It's gonna be a long day," Michael sighed, then turned around with a big grin and added, "I hope."
Charlie walked in and dropped down at the table. He grabbed his coffee cup and looked at me and Michael. "I think I'm gonna like this day," he smiled, probably at the fact that none of us were clothed.
After breakfast we went to the living room. I pushed Michael back onto the sofa and laid on top of him, grinding into him and kissing him. A few seconds later I felt Charlie straddling me and kissing my shoulders as his hands roamed both me and Michael. I reached one hand back and stroked Charlie's growing erection until he'd moved too far down for me to reach. He got up off me and stood next to us. Next thing I felt was Charlie pushing his erection between Michael's mouth and mine as we kissed. We continued to kiss over and around his erection as he slowly slid it back and forth.
Michael turned a little and took it into his mouth. I pulled back and kissed my way down Michael until I was sucking him.
"Let's lay down so everyone can get some," Charlie suggested after a few minutes.
We laid down on the floor in a triangle. This time with me sucking Charlie, Michael sucking me and Charlie sucking Michael. Hot doesn't begin to describe how I felt. We switched off after a few minutes so Michael was sucking Charlie, I was sucking Michael, and Charlie was sucking me. After a few more minutes of this I had to pull back.
"I'm really close," I said, breathlessly.
"Yea. Me too," Michael agreed.
"Third," Charlie added and rolled back to cool off.
"I want to 69 with Charlie while you fuck me," Michael said after a few minutes.
"Let's do it on the bed," I said.
We went to our bedroom and got on the bed. It took a bit of figuring to work out how it would work before deciding on laying on our sides. Charlie and Michael were going at it as I slowly slid into Michael. Michael moaned and pulled Charlie into him more. I could feel him shaking with pleasure. Every pleasure spot attended to -- well almost. I started rubbing his nipples and his chance of lasting a long time were significantly reduced. Only a few minutes later he pushed Charlie off before he came in his mouth. I pumped his ass like a piston and Charlie jacked him off as Michael started what appeared to be an overpowering orgasm. His whole body shook and twitched as he moaned and shot against Charlie's chest, while still jacking Charlie off with uneven strokes. I lost it just as Michael was coming down and slammed into him. Charlie started just after me and sprayed Michael's chest. We all stopped and rested where we were.
"Daaaammnnn," Michael sighed after a few minutes. "That was great. You've gotta be in the middle next time," he said to me.
"Absolutely."
"What about me?" Charlie asked.
"You gonna let us fuck you?" Michael teased.
Charlie thought for a minute. "I'm probably gonna regret this -- you're both much bigger than J -- but...yea, okay. I want to be in the middle more than I'm worried about not being able to walk," he smiled.
"So who's gonna fuck you?" I asked.
"We both will. He'll be last, so we'll have plenty of time," Michael smiled wickedly.
"Oh god, I know I'm gonna regret it," Charlie laughed.
"Good thing there's no show tonight, huh?" I teased.
"Let's take a shower," Michael said.
We all got in the shower and took turns washing each other. By the time we were done we were ready to go again. Well, at least we were all hard again. We didn't bother getting dressed and went to sit in front of the TV. Michael laid back and pulled me against him. Charlie laid back against me and we held each other as we watched some movie.
About an hour later, Charlie rolled over and began kissing me. After a few minutes he broke off and kissed Michael behind me while I rubbed his ass. He started to go back to me, but I pushed him onto his back and went straight to his nipples. Michael went straight to Charlie's cock. He had to push us off after a few minutes so he could cool down, so I turned my attention to Michael's erection. Charlie moved over to take care of Michael's nipples.
"You ready to get fucked, Charlie?" I asked after Michael pushed us off to cool down.
"I thought I was going to be last."
"I've got a different idea. I want to fuck you while Michael fucks me."
"Cool," Michael smiled.
"Okay, just remember to take it slow. It's been a while, and J was smaller."
"He's good, Charlie. You'll love it," Michael said.
"Thank you," I smiled and gave Michael a deep kiss.
We went back to the bedroom and Charlie laid on his back and raised his legs. I slowly and thoroughly lubed him while Michael lubed me.
"Let me enter Charlie first, then you can enter me," I said to Michael as I rolled on a condom.
I leaned over Charlie and kissed him as Michael positioned my cock. Very slowly, I eased into Charlie. Wonderful.
"How's that?" I smiled at Charlie after I was all the way in.
"Fantastic. Just hold still for a bit."
"My turn," Michael said and wrapped himself around me before slowly entering me. It felt incredible to be in Charlie as Michael entered me.
"That's fantastic. I can actually feel you," Charlie said to Michael.
"Cool. Now how do we get the rhythm right?" Michael asked.
"How about I'll pull back, then you pull back. You push forward, then I'll push forward," I said.
"Let's try it."
It took a few times to get it going smoothly, but after that it was great. A nice slow fuck. I started kissing Charlie again. Michael was kissing my shoulders and rubbing any nipple he could get to. After a while of this our strokes started getting faster and more erratic. Michael stopped and pulled out.
"Let's switch off before we're too far gone," Michael said.
Michael and I switched places, put on new condoms, and resumed.
"Fuck, yea," Michael hissed as I slid into him.
"Pretty cool, huh?" I smiled and licked his ear.
He just growled and thrust his hips, attacking Charlie's lips with his own. Charlie was pretty much reduced to grunts and moans. Our speed picked up again and I was pretty much controlling everything by hard and quickly I slammed into Michael, which slammed him into Charlie. Charlie was the first to go and he let out a huge moan as his back arched off the bed and he squeezed Michael tight to him. Michael was only a second behind him, which set me off. Fucking intense. We collapsed to the side as we were coming down.
"That was fucking incredible -- no pun intended. That's the first time I've copped-off just being fucked," Charlie said.
"Really?" Michael asked.
"Yea."
"Jonah is the same way. I usually have to give him a helping hand," Michael smiled and gave me a quick kiss.
"Not all of us are so lucky to be a sex machine like you," I teased and kissed him back.
"I think I've reached an epiphany," Charlie announced.
"Which is?"
"As much as I love women, if I were going to be with a man for the rest of my life, it would have to be two men," Charlie said seriously, and then busted up laughing.
"You could get by with one guy and one woman -- at least with what we just did," I said.
"No. Not the same. Women are softer."
"Just find a female body builder," Michael suggested.
"That's vile," Charlie said and made a face.
"What? You've got the hard body and the woman parts."
"Yea, but parts aren't parts. Guy parts belong with a guy and girl parts belong with a girl. I don't want them mixed. It's like it dilutes what makes the gender. I don't like effeminate men, or masculine women."
"I don't know about anyone else, but I'm ready for a nap," I said.
"After a shower. I'm sticky again," Charlie said and rolled out of bed.
We all showered together again. Although we were hanging heavy, none of us got hard. After our shower we changed the sheets on the bed and laid down together for a nap.
I woke up a couple hours later. Charlie was gone and Michael was still snuggled up to me, but was awake.
"Charlie's making dinner," Michael said softly as he saw I was awake.
"What? We'd better go stop him or we'll be eating haggis or something," I said in mock panic.
"He promised he'd make something good," Michael smiled and held me tight.
"What are you thinking about?" I asked.
"Just how much I love you."
"That it's not as much as I love you?" I smiled and gave him a quick kiss.
"I don't think that's possible. Mostly I was just thinking about today. How it's been weird, but it hasn't. If I think about it, it's like: 'I've just had incredible sex with two people at the same time. That's wrong.' If I just accept it, it's like: 'I've just made love to my wonderful boyfriend and shared it with our mutual good friend.'"
"I like the second way better."
"Me too. I guess I'm just trying to justify it. I know I don't need to justify it..."
"But your mind wants to."
"Yep... Do you think we're gonna get bored with sex now when it's just the two of us?"
"I thought about it. I don't think so. It's different when we make love. This was great as far as sex, but it's not the same. If we do ever start to get bored we'll just have to try something new."
"Like what?" Michael smiled.
"Um... I don't know. Like...doing it in the kitchen, or on the fire escape. I know one thing I want to try..."
"Bondage?" Michael teased.
"Maybe some light stuff, but no, that's not what I was going to say. I want to try delaying our orgasms when we make love until the last possible second. Make it so we can make love for hours and only cum once at the end. It's supposed to make your orgasm much more intense."
"Do you think you have the will power?"
"If you help. It'll be fun trying, even if we do slip up and cum too soon."
"Maybe we can try to stretch it out for days. Make it so that when we finally cum we orgasm for ten minutes and then pass out from the pleasure."
"I don't think it's possible for a man to orgasm for ten minutes, but I'm willing to try," I smiled.
"Nothing ventured, nothing gained."
"Dinner is served," Charlie said and walked into the room with a half-dozen bags of Chinese carry-out.
"Thank god!" Michael and I exclaimed.
"You're that hungry?" Charlie said, confused.
"No, that you didn't actually cook," Michael said.
"I was going to. We need to go to the market and I didn't feel like getting dressed."
"You answered the door like that?" I asked.
"Yea. The delivery guy just about had a heart attack," Charlie smirked.
"Great. Now they'll be sending us coupons all the time," Michael said and grabbed one of the bags.
"Let's eat in the kitchen, or at least the living room. I don't want the bed any messier than it already is," I said and gave Michael a light shove to get up.
"J's gonna be so pissed if he discovers we left him out," Charlie stated while we were eating.
"Then don't tell him. Or anyone," I said with a forced smile.
"Well I wasn't planning on taking out a bloody advert to announce it to the world," Charlie smirked.
"But you'll probably be using today for your regular jack-off fantasy for a while," Michael teased.
"No more than you," Charlie countered.
The phone rang and Michael grabbed it.
"It's for you," he said and handed me the phone.
"This is Jonah."
"Hey, man. It's Zack."
"Hey. Got your schedule?"
"Yea. How does Thursday sound? I need to be back by Sunday evening."
"That'll work great."
"I don't remember. How long was the drive there?"
"Ten hours or so. Ready for directions?"
"Shoot."
I gave Zack directions and we hung up.
"When's he coming?" Michael asked.
"Thursday night and probably leaving Sunday morning."
"Good. I might just get to meet him while awake," Michael smirked.
We didn't have sex again the rest of the night, but we did sleep together -- hopefully to be up before Danny got home. As it turned out, he went straight to work from the airport and we didn't even see him at all that day.
*** [Tuesday]
"Hey, man. How was your trip," I asked Danny as he walked into the kitchen.
"Fine," Danny said sharply.
"Uh, okay. Something wrong?"
Danny just gave me a nasty look, finished pouring his cup of coffee and went back to his room, pushing past Charlie, who was walking into the kitchen.
"What's up with him?" Charlie asked.
"I have no idea," I shrugged.
"You would have thought he'd be in a better mood after his weekend with Lance."
"Maybe they had a fight."
"Seems more like he's on the rag."
"Well, if I find tampons in the bathroom I'm gonna have him talk with my uncle."
"So what are we doing closing night?"
"I haven't planned anything. We should probably have a wrap party, huh?"
"Yea," Charlie said like it should have been obvious.
I gave him a one finger salute.
"I'm number one," Charlie smiled.
"Yep. I don't want to have it here. Maybe at a diner or something. Everyone can eat and then Michael and I can split early so he can go to bed."
"He doesn't have to film on Sunday."
"I know. It'll depend on how tired he is."
"Won't your friend be here?"
"Oh yea. Hmm. I'll have to talk with Michael about it -- see what he'd be most comfortable with if he's gonna fall asleep."
"You two are so together it's sickening sometimes," Charlie smirked.
"What?"
"I'm joking. Actually, I'm envious. You have something incredible. I hope you realize that."
"Yea, of course. You already know I think he's da bomb," I goofed.
"He's nothing special alone. Neither are you. It's together that you two are great."
"Aww. You're being all sentimental," I teased and gave him a quick kiss on the forehead.
"I can be when I want. Just don't let that get out."
"Oh, since you reminded me that Zack will be here, is it okay if he sleeps in your room?"
"Is he cute?"
"He's okay, but he's straight. I meant in the other bunk bed."
"I've heard that one before," Charlie laughed.
"I didn't hear you complaining before," I teased.
"My mouth was full," he smirked.
"Of course. So?"
"Yea. No problem."
"Thanks."
*** [Thursday]
There was a message on the answering machine from Zack when I woke up. The psycho had left at 6AM. Charlie and I went swimming and then grocery shopping. I was playing my keyboard and Charlie was playing online when the door buzzer went off around 4:30.
"Yea?"
"Jonah? It's Zack," blared through the little speaker.
"Come on up. 3C," I said and buzzed him in. I opened the apartment door and waited. I almost didn't recognize him as I saw him coming up the stairs.
"Hey, man," Zack smiled and pulled me into a hug.
"Hey. Man, you look different. What happened to the hair?" I said and ran my hand over his buzz cut.
"I know, but it was easier in the middle of nowhere."
"Come on. Come inside. How was the drive?"
"Nice, actually. I've missed driving on real roads."
"That'll end when it's rush hour, snowing and you're stuck on the Dan Ryan."
"Eh, I'll just get out and make a snowman or two," Zack smiled.
"Zack, this is Charlie. Charlie, Zack," I introduced.
"Hey, man," Zack said.
"Hey, mate."
"English?"
"What gave it away?" Charlie smirked.
"You can put your stuff in here," I said and lead Zack to Charlie's room. "I'm making dinner and then I need to go meet Michael. Do you want to come with me, or take a nap? I should be back by seven."
"I'll go with you. No sense coming all this way to sleep."
"Okay. Bathroom is that door," I said and pointed to it. I left Zack to get settled and started making dinner. He came into the kitchen a few minutes later.
"You have anything to drink?" He asked as he opened the refrigerator and looked.
"What do you want?"
"Never mind. Got it," he said as he grabbed a bottle of Pete's Wicked Ale.
"Starting a bit early, aren't you?" I teased.
"Oh, well," he shrugged with a smile. "So how's life been treatin' ya?" He asked as he dropped down in a chair.
"Pretty good. Very good, actually. Doing great in school. This will be the last year."
"What about grad school?"
"I want to. Haven't really decided in what, yet, though."
"Not design? You drop that?"
"No, I'm still designing. I've been getting into directing and am pretty good at it, so I've considered that as well."
"You're good at everything you try," Zack teased.
"Yea, right," I snorted. "Anyway. Michael and I started dating just after Christmas last year and it's going great. Got some great friends. It's been a good summer -- even if it was weird as hell."
"How weird?"
"Have you heard of 'NSYNC?"
"The name sounds vaguely familiar," Zack said seriously.
"You must have been in the middle of nowhere," I laughed. "They're a fairly popular pop boy-band. Anyway, one of them is dating Danny, my other roommate, and two of them helped me on the show with choreography and music. I'll let you catch up on pop culture events to find out what happened."
"Thanks. You know how much I love reading People and Teen Beat," Zack said sarcastically.
"You're welcome," I smirked. "Oh, do you remember Tommy Mathias."
"The prick? Of course."
"Yea -- well cosmic justice and all that -- his little brother, Jonny, is gay."
Zack burst out laughing. "Poor kid."
"Yea. He was, too. He stayed with me this summer."
"Tommy?"
"No. Jonny."
"I can't believe Tommy would have let him stay here."
"He wasn't given a choice in the matter. He seemed to be doing a bit better when I took Jonny back. At least he's making an attempt. Jonny's living with my aunt and uncle. He's a great kid. I don't know how that happened with the father and brother he has."
"Evolution?" Zack smiled.
"You may be right," I laughed. "So that's basically been my summer. Now what's been happening to you since the last letter I got two plus years ago? Are there no phones in the middle of nowhere?"
"Of course there are phones, it's just really expensive and the quality sucks -- especially on long distance calls. I did write, but since you haven't received anything, I guess you understand how unreliable the mail system is."
"When it absolutely, positively has to be somewhere, sometime," I smirked.
"Mmm. I don't think they can even make that guarantee. Anyway, nothing really big happened. Just daily stuff. Do things. Teach people to do things."
"Yea, okay..."
Zack shrugged. "What? That's what I did. Teach people about cleanliness. Farming techniques. Irrigation. Basic civilization type things."
"Those are good things."
"Are they?"
"What do you mean?"
"I mean these people have lived the same way for thousands of years. Don't you think that if they were meant to be modernized that they would have learned to on their own? What right do I have to force them into the modern world?"
"You're not forcing them into the modern world. You're giving them skills to thrive. You said that, yourself, at one point."
"Yea, well I've reconsidered my position. If they've survived for thousands of years the same way, they must be doing something right."
"Surviving. What about thriving?"
"What's thriving? Urban environments? Poverty? Pollution?"
"Being able to live without worrying about surviving from day to day."
"What's wrong with that? It's worked for millions of years. Progress has made modern man the useless slug he is. Take anyone in a city and put them in the jungle or the desert. They wouldn't survive a week."
"And the opposite is true, as well."
"Yes, but the wild has only the most basic of needs. Survival. Modern society has many needs. Consumerism. Selfishness. Grab all you can and hold it for yourself so someone else doesn't get it. That doesn't exist in small tribes where everyone depends on each other for survival. Modern society destroys community and places the individual as the most important."
"Damn, I've missed your philosophical tirades," I smiled. "Let's continue this after dinner. It's time to go."
"Where are we going?"
"We're going to meet Michael at the theater and have dinner. After that we can come back here or hang out in town until the show is over."
As expected, Michael was sound asleep on the sofa when we got to the theater. I got some coffee and spread everything out before waking him.
"Hey. You must be Zack. I'm Michael."
"Hey," Zack said and shook his hand. "You know, somehow I expected you to look different."
"Huh? How?"
"Well, you know, someone who looks like an adventurer. I mean, you are dating Jonah," Zack laughed.
"I keep it camouflaged," Michael smiled.
"Like you can talk," I said to Zack. "How's your love life?"
"Sadly, it fell off from lack of use," Zack sighed.
"You didn't teach that as well?" I teased.
"Let me paint you a picture. Woman who bathe less than most people wash their cars. Saggy tits. Piercings that you don't even want to know about. Disease. Insects..."
"Thanks. You can stop now," I interrupted.
"We're trying to eat," Michael groaned and made a face.
"Since it fell off anyway, you should have just used it. Better for it to fall off from use than from disuse," Charlie said.
"If you saw some of these women you wouldn't think that way."
After dinner Zack and I went over to Beowulf and caught up. We were still talking when Michael and Charlie walked in to remind us of the time. We went home and Michael went straight to bed. Charlie, Zack and I went out on the fire escape to drink beer and shoot the shit.
"So, Zack, let's hear some dirt about Jonah," Charlie prodded.
"Didn't you get enough from my cousin?"
"Never enough. Zack?"
"Give me a sec to think of a good one... Oh, okay. This was our junior year. Amy Smithfield had a total crush on Jonah."
"Oh, god," I groaned and snagged a cigarette from Charlie.
"Anyway. She was always following him around..."
"I told her I was gay. Numerous times."
"Yea, but get this. She offered to sleep with him to convert him. As long and as many times as it took."
Charlie laughed. "Not a very bright girl, was she?"
"Beautiful, but dim. So, anyway, after a few months of this she finally gave up and started dating Scott Pearson, who was the guy that Jonah had a crush on," Zack laughed.
"Strange little love triangle," Charlie laughed.
"I did not have a crush on Scott Pearson. It was purely lust," I protested.
"Yea, right," Zack smirked.
"Okay, what about you and Christie Jones and the accident you had?" I teased.
"Don't you dare," Zack warned.
"Dare. Dare," Charlie coaxed.
"We were double-dating and went to some concert in the park."
"If you're gonna tell it, at least get it right. We were on the lake front during the Chicago Blues Festival."
"Was it in a park? Was it a concert?"
"Technically."
"Then don't interrupt," I smirked. "So, anyway, we're sitting on a blanket on the sand. Me and my first date with this guy named Brian, and Zack and Christie. So Brian and I are talking and listening to the music. Zack and Christie are making out like the end of the world. We're really trying to ignore them, but it wasn't easy. So, anyway, suddenly they stop at the end of a song. It's quiet so we turn around to see what happened. Christie is comforting him and Zack is sitting crouched over. We see why when he excuses himself to go to the bathroom. Huge wet stain where he came in his pants."
"And after that Brian wanted me instead," Zack groaned.
"That's got to be an odd occurrence. A gay and straight double-date," Charlie said.
"I'm a confident heterosexual," Zack said. "No big deal. Besides, Jonah would never go out on a date without me there to prod him. Hell, I'd have to tell him when some guy was hitting on him. He's so totally dense about that stuff."
"That hasn't changed," Charlie smirked.
"You all are wacked. No one has hit on me in ages."
"Sad, really," Charlie sighed. "Do you remember the club we went to a few weeks ago?"
"The MTV one?"
"Yea, I guess. You got hit on all night long."
"It was you they were hitting on."
"Some, but you as well."
"Give it up. We'll never convince him," Zack laughed.
"I know. It's strange that he can be so observant when it comes to other people, but not with himself," Charlie said.
"Yep. Kinda like that thing he does where he gets you talking and suddenly you're spilling your guts."
"Absolutely!" Charlie cried. "So he's done that for a while?"
"As long as I've known him. I've told him a thousand times that he's never going to get a date if he keeps doing that. People see him as a confidant, not a fuck toy."
"Um, I'm still here. Stop talking about me in the third person," I protested.
"Did you hear something?" Zack joked.
"I can still kick you ass," I threatened.
"Still? When was the first time?" Zack laughed.
"On, come on. Back when we were in Tae Kwan Do. I always won when we sparred."
"Convenient memory. It was 50-50."
"50-50, my ass! More like 80-20, my favor."
"Hardly. Anyway, you were an angry little bastard back then. Been in any fights recently?"
"Nope. I'm doing much better now."
"Although he was about to beat the shit out of Jonny's father," Charlie laughed.
"But I didn't. I walked away and cooled off."
"What about you, Charlie? Much of a fighter in your younger days?" Zack asked.
"Constantly. I was quite the little hellion. Skipping school. Smoking."
"And what changed it?"
"Grew up. Got a career. Couldn't afford to do that anymore," Charlie shrugged.
We continued talking until 2AM, and then went to bed.
*** [Friday, Aug 24]
Charlie, Zack and I were just about to head out to the university pool when the phone rang. It was Michelle.
"Hey, wench. What's up?"
"Wench?"
"Wench. Noun. A girl or young woman. Wench. What's up?"
"Freak. Is the play still playing tomorrow night?"
"Yep. Closes tomorrow. Last show. You coming up to see it?"
"That's the plan. Just can't pass up the chance to see Michael's white butt on stage," she teased.
"I know. I think it's pretty nice, myself. So you heading up today? Anyone coming with you?"
"Yea. We should be there around midnight. So far it's just me and Kerr. I'll ask around before we leave. How much room do you have? Still have people staying with you?"
"There's plenty of room for a couple people as long as no one minds sleeping on the floor."
"Alright. See ya around midnight."
"Later," I said and hung up. "Michelle's coming up tonight to see the show," I announced.
"She going to sleep with you and Michael, again?" Charlie asked me.
"So far only Kerr is coming with her, so she may get the sofa."
"Wait. Did I hear this correctly? Jonah has slept with a woman?" Zack joked with mock shock.
"He's slept with women more than I have this summer," Charlie teased.
"Now if she slept with you you'd have to be as disinterested in her body as Michael and I are, and I don't think you can do that," I countered.
"You're probably right."
"So who is Michelle?"
"Do you remember that TV show 'Dawson's Creek'?" I asked.
"Um, vaguely."
"She's an actress in that. Kerr is, too. Michael and I met when we were both working on it."
"It's still on?"
"Yep."
"You know, it's sad how little has changed in the time I was gone. TV is exactly the same. Water, water everywhere, and not a drop to drink," Zack babbled.
When we got home after the performance, Michelle, Kerr, Katie and Josh were sitting on the stoop waiting for us.
"It's about time," Michelle said and got up to give me a hug.
"Sorry. You said you'd be in at midnight. It's ten 'till," I said.
"Josh drove most of the way," she said.
"I made great time. Hi, Mikey," Josh said and gave Michael a pat on the back.
Michael just grunted and headed upstairs.
"Jeesh. What's up with him?" Josh said.
"He's been up since 4AM filming all day and then the performance," I answered.
"Oh."
"Hi, Charlie. I didn't know you were here," Katie smiled.
"You know each other?" We all asked.
"Yea. We're going to be doing a film together," Charlie said.
"You are?" I asked. "When did this happen?"
"The audition was a while ago. Found out about it a few days after getting the 'Undeclared' job. It's not shooting until December," Charlie explained.
"Okay. Well, let's head up. Oh, this is Zack, a friend of mine from Chicago. Josh. Michelle. Kerr. Katie," I introduced. "Let's head up."
We headed upstairs. Michael was already in the shower.
"Hey. Nice place," Josh said.
"Thanks. So who wants to sleep where?" I asked.
"I guess I'll sleep with you guys," Michelle said.
"You know you're not gonna get any with them, don't you?" Josh smirked.
"Yep. They're as safe as you are," Michelle countered.
"Safer," Kerr said. "At least where I'm concerned."
"In your dreams," Josh said.
"Yep. The kind you wake up from screaming and covered in sweat," Katie teased. She and Kerr gave each other a high-five.
"Come on, Josh. I'm waiting for the come back," I prodded.
"What can I say? She was screaming and sweaty," he shrugged and smiled.
"We were talking about Kerr, though," I corrected.
"He was, too. So what are my sleeping choices?"
"Is everyone going to sleep right away?" I asked.
"I'd like to have a drink and relax for a little while," Michelle said.
"I could go for a drink," Josh agreed.
"I'm dead," Kerr said.
"I'm easy," Katie said, and slapped Josh on the back of the head before he could get the words out.
"Ow! What was that for?" Josh whined.
"Just to stop the comment," Katie said with a stern look.
"Okay. I guess you can have the floor in my room, Kerr," I said and handed him a sleeping bag. "That leaves the sofa, the flip-n-fuck and the living room floor."
"Okay. Night," Kerr said and went to my bedroom.
"So what do you have to drink?" Josh asked.
"We've got tequila, cognac, and I think we have a beer or two left."
I got everyone something to drink. I kissed Michael goodnight and tucked him in before joining the others. We sat in the living room talking about nothing in particular. Zack was kinda quiet, but seemed to be enjoying the banter -- or at least staring at Michelle. I left them talking and went to bed about an hour later.
*** [Sat, Aug 25]
I felt Michael crawl out of bed and head for the bathroom. I stretched and then joined him in the shower.
"Mornin'," I said as I got into the shower behind him.
"Mornin'," he smiled. "Sorry about last night."
"Sorry about what?"
"Just ignoring everyone and going to bed."
"Don't be. Everyone understands. How are you feeling?"
"Awake. I think I'll be fine to be out for a little while after the show tonight."
"Good. It wouldn't be any fun without you."
"So?" I asked Zack after the show was over.
"A bit risque, don't you think?"
"It's not that bad."
"It would be rated X if it were a movie."
"Nah. Rated R. There's stuff on TV more graphic than this."
"Well, I guess something on TV has changed, then."
"So?"
"It was a good show. Kept my attention. Though it would have been better with better music."
"Like what?"
"Anything else. Punk could have been fun."
"Except there wouldn't have been a show. A punk rocker would have just said, 'I'm a fag. If you don't like it, go fuck yourself.'"
"That's true."
"Michelle?"
She burst out laughing.
"What?"
"Does he masturbate in EVERYTHING he does?" She laughed.
"Huh?"
"He did in 'Birdy'. He did in 'Hedwig'. He does in this."
"Masturbation Mikey," Josh laughed.
"I don't think I've ever seen you in a sex scene, Josh -- even with yourself. Why do you think that is?" I smirked.
"No one wants to see his white belly," Katie laughed.
"Or saggy ass," Michelle added.
"Hey. I'm Canadian. It's not flab. It's insulation."
"You haven't lived in Canada for years," Kerr countered.
"Well some of us aren't gym bunnies."
"Okay. I'm getting out of this. I'm surprised you guys can shoot a single episode with all the banter," I said and went to the dressing room.
As soon as everyone was changed and cleaned up, we went to a diner for some food, and then out to a club. Michael danced a little, but ended up sleeping with his head on the table. Zack and Michelle hit it off even more and were together the whole night. We got home just before five.
*** [Sunday, Aug 26]
I woke up around eleven. Michelle was gone and Michael was wrapped around me and gently rubbing my chest.
"Morning," I said softly and turned to face him.
"Morning," he smiled and gave me a quick kiss.
"You want to go out for breakfast, or try to feed people here?"
"Let's go out. What time are they leaving?"
"I don't know. Probably in the next couple hours."
"Know what I want to do today?"
"Sleep?"
"Yea, but before that. After everyone goes I want to curl up with a book, eat dinner, take a short walk, and then go to bed."
"Sounds like you have your day all planned out."
"Yep. Nice and relaxing."
We got up and took a shower. Everyone else was already up. We went out for breakfast -- even though it was lunch time. The DC gang left from the restaurant. Zack headed out as soon as we got back to the apartment -- all smiles because he and Michelle had exchanged numbers.
"Hey. Got an email from Jonny," Charlie said as he lounged on the sofa with his laptop.
"I haven't checked my email yet today. What does he have to say?"
"Uh...he's got a new friend...auditioned for 'West Side Story'...doing okay... Have you talked with him since we dropped him off?"
"No. I wanted him to get settled first. If I kept calling to check up on him he'd continue to think about being back here."
"I guess that makes sense in some weird way."
"Look who it's coming from," I smirked.
"Point taken."
"It's been just over two weeks. I'll probably give him a call before classes start."
*** [ Monday, Aug 27 ]
Charlie and I were walking down the sidewalk heading for the train station after swimming when he was recognized. The guy was cute, with short blonde hair and a scruffy blonde goatee. His eyes got wide as he walked past us.
"Oh, no," Charlie sighed.
"What?" I asked.
"I've been spotted. Keep walking."
"Excuse me," the guy said and ran to stand in front of Charlie and me.
"Can I help you?" Charlie said politely in his American accent.
"Um. Hi. You're Charlie Hunnam, aren't you?" The guy asked, but seemed pretty sure and was at full flirt.
"Sorry. I get that all the time," Charlie apologized.
The guy smiled. "Don't bullshit me. I'm Randy. Randy Harrison."
"Apparently he's very randy," Charlie smirked to me.
"You don't recognize me?" Randy asked, confused.
"Should I?"
"Well, maybe not, but I thought you would. I play your character in the Showtime version of 'Queer as Folk.'"
"Haven't seen it."
"Oh no. The world is going to end. Two versions of the same character running into each other. Matter and anti-matter," I laughed.
"Thanks a lot. I was almost out of this," Charlie said to me though a forced smile -- his natural accent back.
"Look. I'm not trying to harass you or anything. I know how that is. I just wanted to say 'hi.' I mean, I totally loved you in the original version and had to play that part in the Showtime one. What are you doing in New York?" Randy started calmly, and then got more excited as we went on.
"I was doing a play."
"Really? That's great. I didn't know you did stage work as well. What's the show? Where's it running?"
"First stage show, and it just closed."
"Yep, you missed seeing his cute butt singing and dancing -- not to mention the hot sex scenes," I teased.
"Fag," Charlie teased back.
"Oh, I'm so sorry I missed it. Are you two...together? A couple?"
"No way. His boyfriend would kill me," Charlie smiled.
"Yea. I can do way better than him," I said with a disgusted face and motioned towards Charlie.
"Not to mention that I prefer someone with tits," Charlie added. "We're just friends."
"And I directed the play."
"Oh, you're a director? What's your name? What have you done?"
"Jonah Mars, and this was my first."
"He was fantastic," Charlie moaned orgasmically. We got strange looks from people around us.
"You keep that up and you're gonna be recognized by more than your past-life doppelganger," I said.
"Hey. I'm running late for a lunch meeting, but I'd like to hook up again and talk. You have a tape of the play, don't you?"
"Yep," I answered.
"Okay, so maybe tonight? We could even do dinner."
"Um..." Charlie started.
"Don't turn him down. You were just asked out on a date," I teased.
"Oh, no. I realize you're straight. Just to talk and watch the tape of the play. Both of you, and your boyfriend, if he's free," Randy said quickly.
"Sure," Charlie said hesitantly.
"Seven okay?"
"That should be fine," I answered.
"Great. I'll bring dinner. Anyone vegetarian or allergic to anything?"
"No red meat."
"Okay. So, here's my cell number," Randy said as he pulled a piece of paper out of his bag and scribbled on it. "Can I get a number so you can give me directions later?"
I gave him our number. He thanked us and ran off with a huge grin on his face.
"Have you actually seen the Showtime 'Queer as Folk' series?" Charlie asked me after Randy had run off.
"No, you know I haven't. Haven't seen the UK one, either."
"Then how do you know he is who he says he is?"
"Um, hadn't considered that. I'll look up the info online when we get home."
"Yea, well, just make sure you do that before you give him directions and invite him in."
"I'm sure it's fine."
"Probably, but no sense taking chances. You need to be more cautious. People will try to use you to meet Michael or Danny, or even you when you become a famous director. I know you realized that when J and Lance were here, but not all psycho fans are screaming teen girls," Charlie lectured as we continued our interrupted trip to the station.
"I know that, but he seemed sincere."
"You mean he was cute."
"No, I mean he seemed sincere. I'll just check his sincerity when we get home. So you thought he was cute?" I hinted.
"Yea, of course he was cute, but don't even think it. I'm going to LA. Remember?"
"I remember. You could probably shag him, though. He is quite 'randy' for you."
Charlie rolled his eyes. "No. I'm not gonna do it. I've been way too queer this summer."
"Way too queer?"
"Besides, remember that I said I could only be with two men at a time now. You and Michael spoiled one-on-one gay sex for me," Charlie whispered in my ear.
"Yea. Uh, huh. We'll see how long that lasts."
Charlie shrugged. "It's the thought that counts."
I checked out the info for Showtime's QAF when we got home. There was an actor named "Randy Harrison" and he appeared to be the same person in the photos.
"Jonah. Can we go to the post tomorrow?" Charlie asked as he walked out of his room.
"The Post?"
"Post. Mail..."
"Ah, okay. Yea, sure. What for?"
"I've collected so much crap while I've been here. I want to just ship it instead of fighting with a dozen cases and boxes on the plane."
"If they'd even let you take that much. You probably want to send it UPS or Fedex so you know when it'll get there and can track it."
"Yea. That sounds good. Do you have any empty boxes?"
"I don't think so. I had some in the basement, but they were destroyed when we had all the water from the hurricane."
"I should have started this sooner," Charlie muttered to himself. "Where can I buy some boxes?"
"We need to go to the grocery. We can stop by a box store on the way."
"That'd be great."
We went shopping and I spent the rest of the day being domestic while Charlie got his stuff to mail packed. Michael got home around six.
"Hey, babe," Michael said and gave me a kiss.
"Hey. Good day?"
"Yea. It was. You?"
"Not bad. In fact, we have a dinner guest coming tonight -- with dinner."
"Who's bringing us dinner?"
"Charlie's doppelganger."
"Huh?"
"The actor who plays the Showtime version of the character I played in 'Queer as Folk,'" Charlie said.
"Name?"
"Randy Harrison."
"I don't think I've heard of him. How'd you meet him?"
"He recognized Charlie on the street when we were coming back from swimming."
"He was a bit excited," Charlie added.
"So why is he coming over? You two going to shag?" Michael asked Charlie.
"As much as I'm sure he'd like to, NO," Charlie answered.
"He just wanted to talk with Charlie and watch the tape of the play. He kinda invited himself, but...he's bringing dinner," I said.
"Okay. Gay?"
"Quite," Charlie smirked.
"A queen?"
"Not that bad. He's got a little bit of flame in the way he talks, but not camp."
"Good. Damn it feels good now that the show is closed," Michael sighed and snuggled against me on the sofa. "I get to go to bed early."
"Yep, and actually be coherent when you get home," I said just as the phone rang. Charlie grabbed it.
"Mushi, mushi," Charlie answered. "I'm sorry. I don't speak English... Yea, okay. Ready to write it down..."
"Does Charlie have a problem with this guy?" Michael asked me while Charlie was giving Randy directions.
"I think it's the whole 'Queer as Folk' thing. You know how annoyed he gets with that."
"He just needs to do something else high-profile so people can remember him from it," Michael said loudly. Charlie answered him with a single finger.
"He'll be on time. I'll eat dinner, talk a little, and then disappear. I don't want to watch the video and I don't want to be around when he does," Charlie stated.
"Afraid he'll jump your bones?" I teased.
"I'm sure the thought will occur to him to jump at least one of them," Charlie smirked.
"Well, I'm gonna take a shower before he gets here," Michael said and stood up. "Care to join me?"
"No thanks," Charlie smiled.
"Sorry, Charlie. I wasn't inviting you," Michael countered.
"Remember. You've been much too queer this summer," I smirked at Charlie as I pushed Michael towards our room.
"What's the 'much too queer' comment from?" Michael asked once I closed the bathroom door.
"Just something Charlie said to try to convince me that he wasn't going to shag Randy -- even though he said he was cute. He also said that we ruined one-on-one gay sex for him."
"Who knew that we were the cure for homosexuality?" Michael laughed.
"Only one-on-one homosexuality. Group sex, apparently, is still an option."
"Well, I'm not giving up this one," he said as he wrapped his arms around me from behind.
"We've got time," I hinted.
"You talked me into it."
We were getting dressed when Randy arrived. Charlie let him in and they went to the kitchen. Michael and I joined them a few minutes later.
"Hey, man. What's for dinner?" I asked as I walked into the kitchen. "Pizza," I laughed.
"Hey. Pizza is okay, isn't it?"
"Charlie's favorite. I'm Michael."
"Hey. Randy. I know you from somewhere... Oh, I know. You're Michael Pitt, right? God, I loved 'Hedwig and the Angry Inch.'"
"Thanks."
"Something else I haven't seen you in," I said to Michael.
"We'll see it someday."
"You're Jonah's boyfriend?" Randy asked Michael.
"I'd better be, or his boyfriend is gonna be totally pissed off that I've been sleeping with him for the past eight months," Michael smiled.
"Eight months. Wow. That's great. How'd you meet?" Randy bubbled.
"While I was still doing DC," Michael answered and grabbed a slice of pizza.
"That's cool. I could never date anyone I was working with -- and not just because most of them are straight," Randy laughed.
"We didn't, either. Just met there," I mumbled with a mouth full of pizza.
"It took six months and a little drama for us to stop the denial," Michael smirked and gave me a greasy kiss on the cheek.
"Ew. Pizza grease," I groaned and wiped my cheek off with a napkin.
"So what are you in New York for?" Charlie asked Randy. "I thought they were shooting in Toronto."
"I thought you said you haven't seen it before?"
"Haven't. We did some research this afternoon to see if you were who you said."
"Oh. I guess that makes sense. Okay. Anyway, I've just been hanging out. A few meetings. A little time off before we start the second season."
"You're from New York?" Michael asked.
"No, just like it here. Well, I've only been here a few times, but it's always been fun. So, I decided to spend a few days of vacation here."
"It did well enough that you're running a second season?" I asked.
"It did very well."
"Good and bad, isn't it," Charlie stated.
"Yea, I guess. That's kinda what I wanted to talk with you about," Randy said to Charlie.
"Let me guess. You've got tons of producers and directors lined up to give you a private audition. You get tons of fan mail -- probably most of it from teens who think of you as a hero. You have people coming on to you constantly and they all think they're deserving..." Charlie listed.
"All the above. I figured you'd gotten it, too."
"In abundance. Now you understand why it makes me uncomfortable. It was just a role. Am I going to be damned to have people keep reminding me of it forever?"
"It's also a little weird to know that anyone who has seen your work has seen you naked," Randy added.
"That, too."
"So how do you deal?"
"Just do. Acknowledge it, and then change the subject. I'm starting a new sit-com, so hopefully I'll be in the public eye as a different character. I mean, I don't regret doing 'Queer as Folk.' It was ground breaking, had a great script and got me noticed. I wouldn't have the offers I have if I hadn't gotten that exposure. I'd just like to move on."
"I can understand that. It wasn't a very long series. The one I'm part of is a regular series. Nine months out of the year. Steady work and good pay, plus three months to do other things."
"How are the people you work with?" Michael asked.
"Great. No big ego problems. Lots of laughing -- especially if Hal is on set. I also have the benefit that Gale is much easier on the eyes than Aidan."
"Gale plays your Stuart?"
"Renamed Brian. All of the characters are renamed. You have incredible acting skills to have been able to kiss Aidan," Randy laughed.
"That was good, actually. Never had to worry about something coming up," Charlie smiled.
"Oh, god. I've had a few of those problems. Everyone has. Unavoidable, I guess. At least it's not live and on stage."
Michael and I burst out laughing.
"What?" Randy asked.
"You can tell him, Charlie," I offered.
"Fine. I have gotten an erection on stage. No. Nobody but my twat of a co-star saw it," Charlie sighed.
"That would be me," Michael smirked.
"So if you don't want people to think of you naked, why did you do this play? I assume you get naked in it, from the things you've said."
"It was a good script, a good cast, and a good director. The nudity and sex weren't gratuitous. Anything that wasn't necessary, the director kindly cut or changed."
"That would be me," I smirked.
"I also took it because it helped develop my acting skills. Jonah auditioned me as just another actor. He hasn't seen QAF or read much about it. I earned the role from my skills, not my reputation. He even cast me for a different role than the playwright intended for me because he was thinking about the play, not about how best to show me off."
"Wow, Charlie. And here I thought it was just because you were drunk when I gave you the contract," I teased.
"I didn't sign it until I was sober. Anyway, my sexuality never came up..."
"So to speak," Michael interrupted.
Charlie reached over and clamped his hand across Michael's mouth. "Anyway. My sexuality didn't even enter the picture until after I was cast, and even then just out of curiosity, not out of whether or not to cast me or how to get me into bed. These two have been great friends and great to work with," he completed and let go of Michael. "Sorry, I'm leaving in a few days and getting sentimental," he groaned.
"You're not getting rid of us that easily," I said.
"That's right. We have your new address AND expect to be given a place to stay when we're out there next month," Michael added.
"So let's watch this play," Randy announced to break up the possibility of melancholy.
"That's my cue. Thanks for dinner and nice talking with you, Randy," Charlie said stood up.
"You're not going to watch it?"
"I've just spent the past three months with that show. Hell no."
"I agree. I'm gonna go to bed. Nice to meet you, Randy," Michael said as he stood up.
"Is the party breaking up?" Randy said a bit uncomfortably.
"I've got to be up at four, or I'd make fun of it with you. Sorry," Michael said.
"And I've got packing to do and don't want to see that play for at least a year, if not longer," Charlie said.
"Okay. Well. Nice meeting both of you. Maybe we can get together again sometime," Randy said.
"Night. Love you," I said to Michael and gave him a quick kiss goodnight.
Charlie started cleaning up the mess. "You probably want to have him out of here before Danny gets home. I'm sure he knows who he is," Charlie warned.
"I doubt he'd even notice with the way he's been," I countered. "Anyway, you want a beer or something?" I asked Randy.
"Sure. A beer would be great."
"We're out. Forgot to get some. Only cognac left," Charlie said as he was walking out with the trash.
"Cognac?"
"Sure."
I poured us each a glass -- which finished off the bottle -- and we sat down to watch the video of the play.
"Take off your shoes and get comfortable. We're very relaxed here," I said as I pushed the tape in.
"Okay. Thanks."
I sat on the other end of the sofa and hit "play."
"I have no idea if it taped well or not. I only checked that something was there," I said as the stage appeared on the screen.
"That's alright. It's a tape of a play. Can't compare to the real thing no matter how well it's taped."
I fast forwarded to where the house lights went down -- rather than watch the audience talking for ten minutes. The tape turned out to be pretty good. They took the sound feed from the board instead of just using the camera microphone. Made a huge difference. Randy was paying full attention.
"That was great. I'm so sad I missed it. When did it close?" Randy asked as the tape ended.
"Saturday."
"Fuck. I got here Saturday. I would have gone to see it if I knew."
"That's always the case. We ran for two months."
"If I had known... Who's the playwright?"
"Edward Furlong."
"The actor?"
"Yep."
"Is he gay?"
"A big queen, actually," I laughed.
"You're kidding?"
"Okay, he's not that bad most of the time, but he has his moments."
"Star studded -- pun noted," Randy laughed.
"Yea, I guess."
"Do you actually like boy-band pop?"
"Not even slightly."
"Well, you or your musical director did a good job. I'd totally believe they were an 'NSYNC clone -- especially with the lead character's name."
I busted up laughing. "E protested that he wasn't thinking about 'NSYNC when he wrote it."
"So did you choose to do that style, or were your musical director and choreographer fans of 'NSYNC?"
"Lance Bass did the music and Justin Timberlake did the choreography."
"You're kidding?"
"Nope. I asked Lance and he accepted. Justin just kinda got roped into it."
"So they're friends of yours?"
"As long as you're not going to start jumping up and down and squealing like a little girl: yea, we're friends."
"It would take a lot more than 'NSYNC to make me jump up and down and squeal like a little girl."
"Like Charlie lying naked on your hotel room bed?" I teased.
"Oh, I think that would do it," Randy smiled slyly.
"Just don't let him know that. My other roommate, Danny, has been none too subtle about his lust for Charlie, and you can see how uncomfortable it makes him. Fortunately, he isn't home very often."
"Problems?"
"Oh, it's a long and sordid story. Boiled down, Danny thinks Charlie and I are having an affair -- and doing it just to spite him."
"Sounds like a jealous drama queen."
"Exactly, if he was a queen. I don't know what his problem is. He has a great boyfriend -- even if it is a long distance relationship most of the time."
"So how about you and Michael?"
"We're great. He's the best partner a guy could ask for," I smiled.
"Sap. He probably says the same about you."
"Probably. We're good together. What about you? Seeing anyone?"
"No. I'm single. I've been on a few dates, but it's difficult to be in a relationship when I'm working all the time, and with the scenes I do. Most guys would get really jealous. How did you handle directing the scenes with Michael and Charlie?"
"It was difficult at first. Not really jealousy, though. We laughed and joked a lot to ease any tension. I think the weirdest thing wasn't just watching them do it, but telling them what I wanted them to do, and then making sure that the audience wasn't getting cock-shots."
"You didn't use socks?"
"Socks?"
"Well, they're not really socks. We have these black nylon pouches to stuff ourselves in for some scenes."
"Never heard of that. Wouldn't that kinda squeeze enough to cause something to come up?"
"At first, yea. I wore mine around for a couple days to get used to it. After that I hardly even noticed it."
"Hey, you want a cup of coffee or something, or do you have to get back?"
"Sure. Coffee would be great. I don't have to be anywhere. I'm on break."
"Okay. Come on in to the kitchen. We should probably talk in there to keep the noise down," I said and lead the way. I put on a pot of coffee and Randy looked out the window.
"Is the fire escape safe?"
"Yea. We're out there all the time. Go ahead."
"It's finally cooled down. It feels great out here."
The coffee had enough to steal two cups. "You take anything in your coffee?" I asked.
"Black is fine, thanks."
I poured two cups and climbed out. Randy was stretched out and enjoying the cooler night air. He sat up as I climbed out.
"Thanks. So what is your next production? Have anything lined up yet?"
"Nothing until next year. Classes start next week and I won't have the time."
"You're still a student?"
"Yea. Last year at Tish. Probably grad school, if I can get in anywhere."
"It'll probably be difficult. There aren't many openings for directing."
"So I've heard. I may just end up going for lighting design. Who knows? It's a year away before I have to make a decision. What's your school background?"
"BFA from CCM. I might decide to get a master's, but not anytime soon. Not enough time with how well my career has been going," he said a lit up a cigarette.
"Michael's in the same boat. He took a couple classes this summer, and I think he plans on taking at least one first semester, but he wouldn't be able to work if he went full time. At this rate it's gonna take ten years for him to get his BFA."
"I feel old. Here I've been out of school for a couple years, you're on your last and Michael is barely in his first."
"How old are you?"
"Twenty-four."
"That's not old. Charlie and I are 21 and Michael is 20."
We sat up talking all night. We went back inside after the first pot of coffee was gone and munched on cookies and drank more coffee. He was easy to talk with and fairly intelligent. We didn't even realize we'd talked all night until Michael stumbled into the kitchen naked.
"Here you are. Still talking," Michael mumbled, almost sleepwalking, and went to pour himself a cup of coffee.
"Is it four already?"
"Four-twenty. I'm running late. Morning, Randy. Morning," he said and gave me a quick kiss before stumbling to the bathroom with his coffee.
Randy turned to me and smiled after Michael left. "Wow. Talk about an eye-full," he teased.
"Yea, something else full, as well. So, I really need to go to bed. You want to just crash here. You can take the sofa or the top bunk in Charlie's room."
"Which bunk is he in?"
"The one you can't take."
"Fine. Shoot me down," Randy sighed dramatically.
"Hey. If you want to be punched, go right ahead."
"That's quite alright. I think I'll just crash on the sofa. Less temptation to stare."
*** [Tues, Aug 28]
"Time to wake up," Charlie said loudly and repeatedly shoved my shoulder.
"Go away," I groaned.
"Come on. Lots of running to do today, and your guest is still here."
"Yea, I know. It was late."
"Then get up. I've got coffee made," Charlie said and pulled my pillow and sheet away, dropping them on the floor as he walked out.
"Twat!" I yelled as he snickered on his way out. I looked over to see Randy in the doorway and Charlie just behind him sticking his tongue out at me.
"Morning," Randy smiled and left.
"Fair is fair," Charlie smirked and left.
I pulled on some clothes, did my business in the bathroom and then went to the kitchen where Charlie and Randy were talking. I smacked Charlie in the back of the head as I walked by to get my coffee.
"You know, I usually know people a little longer than 24 hours before having seen all of them naked," Randy smirked.
"You've seen Danny as well?" Charlie asked.
"No. I forgot about him."
"We were out on the fire escape when he got home," I said.
"And Michael?"
"Michael stumbled through this morning while we were still talking," Randy said. "Not to mention the play."
"Let's not," Charlie smirked.
"Don't be like that. It was a good show and a good performance. You should be proud," Randy said.
"Thank you. I am proud of my performance. I'd just like to keep the drooling to a minimum."
"Ego. Ego," I coughed.
"Piss off."
"Have I drooled once? No, I don't think so," Randy said.
"Anyway, we need to get going. I need you to take me to send out my boxes," Charlie said to change the subject.
"I guess that's my cue to get lost, huh?" Randy asked.
Charlie smiled.
"How long are you in town?" I asked Randy.
"Until September 7."
"Okay, then maybe we can hook up again sometime before you leave."
"Sure. That'd be great."
"Excited about the show and the move?" Michael asked Charlie as we were eating dinner.
"Excited about starting work on the show. Annoyed with having to move and learn everything all over again."
"Yea, but you said you've been to LA quite a few times, so you should have some sense of getting around," I said.
"I was visiting so I didn't bother remembering street names I didn't need. I'm also going to have to get a car. Shit. I've got so much to get done in the next couple days," Charlie sighed.
"I'd go help you, but classes start Monday."
"No, that's alright. It's all stuff I have to do myself -- unless you want to buy me a car and furniture for my flat..."
"Ah, no. I wouldn't want to deprive you of the satisfaction," I smiled.
"Oh well. I tried," Charlie shrugged.
"I've gotta get to bed," Michael said as he stood up. He pulled Charlie up and hugged him tightly. "Beware of la-la-land syndrome, man, and you're always welcome here. We'll see you in a month." Michael pulled back and gave Charlie a quick kiss on the forehead.
"Don't make me get all sappy. Thanks. For everything," Charlie said softly and kissed Michael back on the cheek.
"Okay. Enough of that. I'm going to bed," Michael stated and went to the bathroom.
"This part sucks, too," Charlie grumbled as he dropped back into his chair.
"Goodbyes?"
"Yea. Nothing good about them."
"Yea."
*** [Wed, Aug 29]
"Okay. What am I forgetting?" Charlie asked himself as he stood in the middle of the living room with two suitcases, his PowerBook case and another carry-on bag.
"Did you get all your stuff from the bathroom?" I asked.
"Yea. I think I've got everything. Let me say goodbye to Danny and we can go," Charlie said and walked over to Danny's door and knocked.
"Yea?" Danny said as he opened the door and stood in the doorway.
"Hey. Just wanted to say bye. I'm leaving now," Charlie said.
"Okay," Danny dismissed and shut the door in his face.
"Asshole," Charlie yelled at the door and turned around. "If you ever find out what crawled up his ass and died, let me know."
"Yea. I'm pretty sick of him as well. Okay. Let's go," I said and grabbed a suitcase and the PowerBook.
Despite traffic wanting us to be late, we made it just as they were announcing the first boarding call.
"Well..." Charlie said.
"Well..." I echoed, and then pulled him into a hug. "Take care, my friend," I said as I held him tight.
"You, too. See you in a month," Charlie choked out and held me tighter.
"Now go convince them they should shoot the show in New York," I smiled as we separated.
Charlie just gave a teary-eyed grin, grabbed his carry-on bags and boarded the plane.
Comments welcomed and encouraged. jm_stories@yahoo.com