Living Years

Disclaimer: The following story contains activity that would be considered of homosexual nature between consenting college students. While none of it crosses into a gratuitous nature, if such material is offensive to you or you are not of the legal age to read such material in your area, please do not. Other than that, please enjoy the story!

The Living Years

Chapter 24 "Over Great Leaps and Bounds"

"Hurry up before she comes back."

"Why do I always have to-"

"Because you're better at it."

Trey just sighed as he reached first into Noah's pants with one hand while trying to undo the zipper with the other.

The two of them were sitting on a small loveseat in Noah's room as Noah tilted his head back, closing his eyes and letting out a deep sigh as Trey lowered himself down.

This was actually one of the very few spare moments either of them had been able to grab what with everything that had been going on the past week. Between Jeremy going back to his 24/7 room inhabiting ways to Grace deciding that Noah and Trey were going to be permanently attached to her hip, there had been few to no chances for them be alone together. They were actually starting to feel like they never would be. Which was why they were going to take what little time they could get to themselves to do what they could with whatever time they had.

Trey for the most part had grown comfortable with being the one to do all the servicing. It had come to the point where they were fine making out but when it came to anything more, Trey usually was the one to do it. Aside from the one and only time they'd had sex, there really wasn't much love making going on between the two of them.

Trey had just managed to get Noah fully hard before he felt his left pocket vibrating. Noah, who was totally consumed by the moment previously, groaned as he tilted his head forward.

"Just don't answer it," he mumbled.

"It's Grace," Trey sighed. "She might need me."

Even though Trey felt like his friends treated him like he was the younger brother that needed protection, when it came to Grace, he felt like, especially lately, that he needed to protect her. And after letting her run off with the same stalker lunatic that had also planted a camera in Amber's bedroom, he felt like he needed to be around for her more than ever.

Noah just sighed, frustrated yet sympathetic at the same time.

"Yes love of my life?"

"What are you doing?" Grace asked.

"Nothing now."

"Good, cuz I need to talk. What if that nigga killed me, Trey? What if I was dead now?"

"Grace," Trey sighed, propping himself back up on the couch. "We've been over this. It was a week ago. He didn't kill you and you're fine."

"Come check my room again. What if his ass put a damn camera in here since the last time you checked?"

"Two hours ago, Grace? Come on!"

Trey looked over at Noah, who'd already zipped up his jeans and had started to put back on his t shirt, before sitting up on the couch and getting himself into a better position to listen to Grace.

"I just feel like a target," Grace continued. "Lord knows that Amber girl is dumb as rocks so no wonder that shit happened to her but I started college as a sophomore. I'm supposed to be smarter than that."

"Grace, you ARE smarter than that. Maybe you just need a project. Something to take your mind off of what happened."

"Trey. Boy, do I LOOK like a need a project to you?"

"Grace-"

"No, you know what? I don't even know why I'm wasting my time talking about this to you. You obviously don't understand. You probably just wanna get back to sucking Noah's dick some more."

Trey looked over a fairly annoyed looking Noah, feeling embarrassed that Grace knew him so well before sighing and tilting his head, as he tried to figure out how best to handle her next.

"Grace..he...hello? Grace...she hung up!"

"Good," Noah quelled, turning around from facing the window. "Now she can stop obsessing over something that didn't happen to her and finally leave you alone."

"I'm still gonna be worried though," Trey replied, as Noah, facing him, wrapped his arms around him and lifted him up, placing him on the small coffee table in front of them and taking his spot on the couch. "I mean, she's just so fragile right now. And the smallest little things set her off."

"I know. My favorite was when she gave Shawn that black eye when she thought he was calling her fat," Noah chuckled, rubbing Trey's legs.

"Noah, I'm being serious here. I feel bad that we haven't had any time for us but I really think I should be worrying about Grace right now. I mean, I don't want her to do something stupid like hurting herself or something."

"You really think Grace would do something like that?"

Trey thought about it for a moment.

"Probably not. But still, I don't wanna take any chances."

Noah decided that he was gonna play dirty and decided to flash Trey the cutest baby face he could muster. Trey, deciding that he wasn't going to fall for it, looked away. Noah in turn placed a hand to Trey's chin, facing him towards his face as he leaned in for a kiss. Not wanting to fight him, Trey gave in, falling backwards as Noah's hands started travelling over his body.

The two of them had gotten themselves so wrapped up in their little impromptu make out session that they'd completely missed Jeremy's return to the room, who'd actually stopped to watch for a few moments before deciding it was too weird to keep watching and interrupted.

"Porn. Who needs it when my two roomies have the sex drive of three million jack rabbits," he spoke, backpack dropping to ground. "And what's with the light? I thought we decided darkness was our friend."

"Jeremy," Noah spoke, climbing off of Trey and straightening himself up. "Aren't you supposed to be visiting your cousins in Tampa?"

"No, because if I was visiting my cousins I would be totally missing this...wait, what is this?"

"I should probably go find Grace," Trey spoke, standing up.

Noah, once again annoyed, sighed, rubbing the back of his neck as he tried to keep his cool as he watched his boyfriend leave.

"What?" Jeremy asked noticing Noah's look. "When adding to the roommate spectrum, seniority rules."

Noah grunted in semi confusion.

"I was here first?"

"He's my boyfriend. He doesn't have anywhere else to stay. Where else are we supposed to...you know?"

"Can I just say that I'm probably the only one within a two hundred mile radius with the kind of setup I have that allows me to do the kind of serious gaming that I do, which yes, does require the use of the room my parents are paying six hundred bucks a month for."

Noah sighed as he grabbed his jacket and started towards the door.

"What?" Jeremy asked turning around. "I'm just saying."

"You know, I can easily change my mind about my obviously insane decision to have breakfast with you," Jesse spoke, as he stared at Amber eating eggs in front of him, mouth wide open.

The two of them were at Jesse's apartment, eating breakfast as his housekeeper worked around them, getting the place clean.

For the past week, Amber had been stuck to Jesse like glue. At first he'd found it amusing. He took every opportunity he could to get Amber to do things, including pointless and menial fetch quests just because he knew she would. It was like she was on a mission to repay him for being her brave and fearless savior. That much he was okay with as it gave him the perfect opportunity to enact a few revenge plans he'd worked up without much a fight from Amber. What he wasn't okay with was her complete and utter devotion to him, almost like his slave or something. It was one of those things where the idea seemed much better than the reality turned out to actually be.

Needless to say he was no spending the majority of his time trying to figure out how to get rid of the same girl he's wanted to get revenge on so badly.

"This is really good Jesse. And I never even liked eggs before because of how they smelled. But these one's don't smell like eggs."

"Really," Jesse spoke, semi amused. "And what exactly do `these' eggs smell like?"

Amber continued chewing for a few seconds as Jesse wondered if she'd even heard the question before she swallowed and titled her head to the side.

"I don't know," she replied. "Just not like eggs."

Jesse wasn't the least bit surprised with the answer he'd received before deciding to go back to reading the paper he'd been looking over.

"So, what are we gonna do today?" Amber asked.

"You mean before or after we attend the days courses?" Jesse asked.

Since the whole camera thing, not only had Amber been permanently attached to Jesse's hip, but she also had refused to sleep in her own room or bed, deciding that sleeping at Jesse's in his bed with him was much safer.

Jesse, who never minded another girl in his bed, had decided to humor her for the time being but was even starting to tire of that. To go along with the always being at his side thing was her always wanting to go out and do something that she deemed safe and fun. Between taking random day trips to the beach to spending entire days at the movies, it seemed like as long as she was with him and not at school learning, which again didn't surprise Jesse, she was happy.

It was strange but yet not strange that Amber actually had him missing school. He was actually at the point where he'd jump at the opportunity to do something with the people he'd been working to avoid befriending the entire year.

Anything to get him away from Amber even for just a little while.

"You do remember school, don't you, Amber? The place where through some miracle you actually managed to get into?"

"Hey, I'm smart. I know lots of things. And besides, I'm not ready yet."

"Amber, what happened to you had nothing to do with school. I don't see why we can't just-"

"Because I said I'm not ready damnit!" Amber shouted, standing up as she screamed the words.

Jesse stared at her incredulously, wondering if she thought he was supposed to care that she was so upset before turning his attention back to his newspaper as Amber quietly sat back down.

"Sooner or later we're going to have to rejoin everyone else in the world I like to call reality and get back to doing all the things that make living life so hard."

"Yeah, my vote is for later," Amber replied, mouth full of food.

Jesse side-glanced Amber before signing and going back to reading his paper, wondering exactly what it was going to take to get rid of Amber.

"Okay, now I'm confused. What is this place?" Zoey asked looking around as if she'd stumbled upon some unruly third world country.

Trey and Noah each stepped up beside her looking around, also confused.

When Grace had called Trey, sounding like the Earth would shrivel up and die if he didn't meet her as soon as possible, Trey had gathered Noah and Zoey as fast as he could and had rushed out expecting to meet her at the quad, like normal.

Instead, the place she'd needed them to get to so fast looked like an abandoned gym. Like the kind of place that people forget about when something bigger and better is built to replace it. The floors were peeling back. The walls looked like they were once white but only if you squinted hard enough. The ceilings looked so bad Zoey was a little nervous they'd collapse on top of her and the smell was somewhere in between that of a moth ball and old mop water.

Things weren't entirely out of place, however. Scattered throughout the gym were several small clusters of people all talking quietly amongst each other. While some looked happy to be there, others looked like they were angry at something. Ready to take action for something. And then there were the few, Trey noticed, that looked like they'd be the perfect companions for Jeremy, Noah's roommate.

"Come on," Trey spoke, sounding confused yet afraid at the same time. He had no idea that a school as uppity as his was that they'd have a place laying around that looked so bad. He almost felt like he was in the ghetto somewhere.

Noah, feeling like he needed to be on his guard, took Trey's hand as Zoey followed along behind them. Trey started scanning the room for Grace but wasn't prepared for who his eyes happened to spot. Noah, however, was the first to comment on it.

"What's HE doing here?"

Trey felt the same way he'd been feeling whenever he saw Shawn around lately. Like he had a lot of things he wanted to get off his chest regarding him but knew that he'd never be able to say without getting to upset and ruining everything. This isn't to say that Shawn hadn't done such a good job of that himself, ruining things between them.

"Can we go?" Noah asked impatiently. "Now. Please?"

"Noah.." Trey strayed.

"What you don't like it here? I personally think it reminds me of my own private Idaho."

"THAT, was an absolutely rubbish movie if I do say so myself," Jesse surprised everyone from behind.

Noah turned around, sighing.

"Exactly what we need right now. A jackass named Jesse," he spoke.

"Well as long as we're going with the pseudo movie theme, how about a line involving an American asshole? Sound about right for you?"

"Okay, okay, can we please simmer down with all the male testosterone and avoid sticking out in this of all places?" Zoey asked, jumping in between Jesse and Noah.

"I don't get it..." Amber strayed, twirling her hair as she looked around. "You said we were going to the movies."

"This not entertainment enough for you now is it, Amber?" Jesse asked, not caring the least little bit. "You could always detach yourself from my hip and sod off."

Everyone looked over at the two of them, feeling just slightly uncomfortable.

"Well I can't exactly have you following me around the rest of my life now, can I? Next thing you know we'll be sharing a churro while you offer to braid my hair."

"Silly little Jesse. You mumble in your sleep you know," Amber replied, taking a seat in one of the wooden foldable chairs setup in the middle of the court like floor.

"What?" Jesse asked, after flashing Noah and Trey nervously confused glances.

"Let's just say that I know more about you than you do right now," Amber replied, a coy smile sitting snidely on her petite face.

Unsure of how to respond or what to say to the statement, Jesse just took a seat next to Amber, confusion very evident on his face.

"Hey guys!" came the greeting of Sierra from across the room as she made her way over to everyone else.

"Jesus, okay let's go," Noah spoke, grabbing Trey's hand.

Trey let go as Sierra finally reached everyone, looking around.

"God, it's like someone had a blackout in here, huh?" she said.

"Yes well you would know plenty regarding the subject wouldn't you?" Jesse mumbled, still looking over his newspaper from earlier.

"What are you doing here?" Amber asked, distaste evident in her tone.

"What are you talking about? I always help these guys out around campus. I'm very pro homosexual."

"Because you're very anti sexual, correct?" Jesse mumbled.

"What is this place again?" Zoey asked.

"Has anyone seen Grace?" Trey asked.

No one really knew exactly what they were doing in such a jacked up place but the one thing they did know was that they were now all a mixture of pissed and confused.

"You all came!" Grace exclaimed, flying over to hug Trey.

Trey returned the hug but couldn't take his eyes off of who Grace had dragged along with her. Trey could tell that Shawn could tell they were thinking the same thing right now. Shawn almost looked a little apprehensive to be there. That and a little bruised from the black eye Grace had given him a week ago.

Things between everyone quickly grew quiet as they all settled into thoughts about why they could possibly have been there and what the place was as Grace looked them over.

"Well damn ya'll, don't look so dead," she mumbled, crossing her arms angrily.

"Grace," Trey started sympathetically, walking over to her so that he could be the only thing she saw. "Why did you want us all to meet you here?"

"Because, I needed a project and I didn't want to get involved in this on my own," she replied.

Trey frowned.

"Trey, you're the one that said I should find something to keep me busy and I found it!"

Everyone looked around again.

"What exactly is, `it', love?" Jesse asked.

"A campus youth group!" Grace exclaimed, as if she were unleashing some happy surprise.

It was then that everyone decided to give closer looks at the people already in the room. While they did look like an odd bunch of students, from Goths to straight up geeks, there did seem to be one common thread between the majority of them that was only just now starting to make sense to them all.

"What kind of campus youth group, Grace?" Trey asked apprehensively, already fearing that he knew the answer.

"Well duh, an LGBT youth group!"

Jesse was almost certain that his mouth had fallen open for a moment as everyone else registered the shock on their faces before he decided he was absolutely in the wrong place at the wrong time.

"Okay, time to go," he spoke standing up.

"Yeah, I actually think I have somewhere else to be too," Ben spoke as Shawn grabbed his arm.

"Ben..."

"Guys, come on. I figured ya'll would understand since half of you fit right in," Grace started.

"Grace, there's a guy over there with piercings in his eyelids. Eyelids, Grace! Fitting in isn't exactly the-"

"Okay look, these people need my help. I think I can get them recognized. Understood. Taken seriously."

Trey looked over at Noah who seemed to be highly annoyed while everyone else was half deciding whether Grace was serious or not and whether they would need to find a better excuse to leave.

"Grace, you can't turn these people into your project like they're these helpless aliens that need saving. They have feelings you know. I think they realize they're..."

"What? Outcasts? Misfits? Yeah, they know Trey. And how do you think that makes them feel?"

"God, had I known Oprah moments would have been on the menu I'd have phoned the woman myself. At least let HER do her own thing," Jesse mumbled.

"Shut up boy," Grace snapped.

Trey turned his attention back to Grace. He knew that what that Josh guy had put her through some pretty intense times but he had no idea that he'd done this much to her. It was almost like she'd lost her mind.

"Grace...if you need to talk, about what happened...I'm here for you-"

"Naw boy," Grace spoke, interrupting Trey as she moved past him. "What I need is for us to figure out how we're gonna turn these misfits into students people take seriously around here. I think we need a real project."

"You mean doing the impossible isn't project enough for you?" Jesse asked.

"You'll see," Grace started. "This is gonna be good for us."

Everyone exchanged looks, the one thing they shared between them being that they all felt this to be a really bad idea.

"What is she thinking?" Noah asked, tearing his roll apart before biting into it aggressively. "I mean, I'm not sure, but I almost think some people can't be helped."

"Did you see that...I wanna say guy with the-"

"Yeah...all I have to say on that is, how?" Zoey asked, cutting Trey off.

They were at dinner back at Statham Hall. After managing to come up with decent excuses as to why they couldn't help Grace right away with her new project, Grace had decided their avoidance was a good thing as she needed more time to figure out what her first big step would be as newly elected president of the Pink Panthers.

Which left everyone else free to pick apart the inner workings of Grace's obviously fragile mind.

"When she said she didn't need to talk after what happened, I believed her cuz she's Grace and she's my friend and she's strong. But this is stuff she has going on now is so beyond anything I would have thought she'd come up with."

"Well in her defense, Trey, it's not like she went off and started hurting herself. It may be off color for her but it could be a good thing."

"In what universe is hanging around with a bunch of fourth class losers a good thing?" Amber asked, taking a seat as she and Jesse joined the three at dinner.

"Great, you tracked us down," Zoey mumbled, completely aware of the fact that them being here wasn't random. In fact, for some reason, Jesse had been following them around all day, claiming that he needed not be alone with Amber for fear of what she might do to him.

Jesse took a seat beside Zoey, the only seat left on the side, forcing and obviously annoyed Amber to take a seat across from him next to Noah.

"I know people who aren't weird," Amber spoke, shaking her bottle of flavored mineral water. "People that throw parties I can get us invited to."

"We know people like that," Noah started, Trey stopping before letting him finish the rest of the statement he knew was coming.

"Your friend has gone some kind of coocoo hasn't she?" Jesse asked, looking over the cafeteria food he'd actually decided to purchase. "It's like she can't even function on that of a normal level."

"She functions just fine thanks," Trey spoke breathing through his nose, slowly getting peeved as he took offense to the things that were being said about his friend.

"Well if she needs a guy to get over that guy-"

"So your video hit number one on Youtube fast. Got over THAT yet?" Trey interrupted.

Everyone grew quiet, Jesse waiting in anticipation over what Amber's response would be. Amber, for her part decided to ignore to comment, instead turning to her vegetable lasagna.

And things pretty much stayed quiet between all of them for a little while before Grace broke the silence as she approached everyone.

"There you guys are, I've been looking all over for you," she spoke, as if she literally had been looking all over for them.

"Yeah because we've only been eating here the past two weeks," Zoey mumbled, deciding not to say anything more after catching a sharp glance from Trey.

"I figured it out," Grace spoke, pushing Amber out of the way to take a seat next to Noah.

She'd come with pamphlets, brochures and notepads full of information, the likes of which didn't seem would be very interesting at all.

For Grace's sake, Noah, Zoey and Trey all decided to feign interest while Amber, who had yet to pick herself up from the floor checked a text message and Jesse scanned the room for good looking girls.

"Grace, don't stress yourself out with this club now," Trey started.

"I told you, they're called the Pink Panthers. And they're the only thing keeping me from thinking about how I almost became the internets black Paris Hilton. Now shut up and listen to me boy."

"Yes ma'am," Trey mumbled, straightening up as Grace sprawled all of her information out over the table, which actually managed to catch Jesse's attention.

"I believe all the learning is done with for the day," he spoke sarcastically.

"So Hurricane Katrina sucked ya'll. Bush pretty much said fuck all ya'll poor negros for living there and did jack shit," Grace started.

"Evidence enough that America needs a total revamping of it's governmental system," Jesse mumbled.

"I mean, we still got people running around homeless. That's why I was thinking we could help build some homes for the families that were victims of the storm. You know, charity work?"

"I'm sorry did you say charity?" Jesse asked, sounding disgusted with the thought.

Everyone exchanged yet another one of their shared glances as they thought over Grace's words. Grace for a her part looked everyone over, a large smile on her face as she figured everyone would be jumping all over the opportunity.

"Oh come on, I didn't ask ya'll to help me sell crack on the streets or anything," Grace defended herself.

"Yes and thank god for that because fake hood thug wouldn't look very convincing for me," Jesse spoke, sounding relieved.

"Plus this shit looks good on a resume ya'll," Grace continued. "I was talking to Sherry.."

Everyone but Trey moaned and sighed. For the past week Grace had been talking nonstop with the school counselor about her feelings and her future, coming to the conclusion that she just needed more to do with her time. And she'd been telling everyone all about it. As if the fact that she was taking seven classes wasn't a good enough way to pass the time.

"She says companies like people who've experienced being in different scenarios."

"When you say scenario-"

"Scenario Amber, god, don't get yourself over involved in something stupid. Again," Jesse sighed, stopping Amber from making a fool of herself before she started.

"Look, ya'll is supposed to be my friends and friends support each other with all their shit. Now I'm asking ya'll, please, just do this for me. Please?"

Everyone exchanged looks once again. There was no denying that Grace a hard person to say no to but when it came right down to it, each person saw a different reason for wanting to do this for her, everyone if they were all just a little bit jaded at the thought.

And this was something that Grace could tell as a smile formed over her face and she settled herself a bit at the table, realizing that the hard part of her night was over.

"So, what were we talking about before I showed up?" she asked.

"Amber's stalking me-"

"Please Jesse, get over yourself. Do you even KNOW what stalking is? Because we all know I know about it."

"Yes, in every sense of the word, Amber."

"Moving on!" Trey spoke, raising a hand.

"And I try and I try and I get nowhere," Shawn complained, as he replaced a pillow cover and tossed it atop the bed roughly. "I don't understand it."

Ben sighed, annoyed as he looked away from his computer in another attempt to pay attention to his friends sorrows.

"You know what I don't understand? Why your entire world has to revolve around some guy," he replied.

"He's not just some guy, Ben. He's THE guy. The only guy that I've ever been attracted to and probably the reason why I am the way I am now."

"Yeah, yeah dude. Three shades self absorption and jealousy. Really looks good on you."

"Hey, I am NOT self absorbed. I just have a problem. A really long lasting, crucial problem but a problem all the same."

Ben watched, half amused as Shawn changed the sheets to a bed that he had never slept in and turned around in his chair, tossing a football above his head.

"You know you wouldn't be having this problem right now if you'd have just pledged a fraternity like me," he stated.

"Ben, where do you think we are? You stay in Ark Hall, like me."

"Yeah but in the good, non crispy part. Besides you know as well as I do it's only because the rents, and by rents I mean mom, paid for an entire year of dorm living up front."

"Aww, she wants her little baby to succeed in life. If only she could see what was hanging on your wall right now. Or what was on your computer last night."

"Which reminds me, I need to take a trip home one of these days, pick up some forgotten porn and bongs I left."

"Nothing smarter than leaving incriminating evidence around for your parents to go nutso over," Shawn spoke before sighing and falling back on Ben's bed.

Realizing that his friend really needed to talk, Ben decided to switch the focus back over to Shawn.

"Look, maybe we just oughtta find you a hot chick. Or wait...dude. Sorry, still not used to that," he started.

"I told you, Trey is the only guy I wanna be with and even if that weren't true, what makes you think I can't find a guy on my own?" Shawn asked.

"The fact that you can't break away from looking so needy-"

"Hey, Shawn White is NOT needy," Shawn objected, sitting up quickly.

"Then prove it," Ben replied, a smirk on his face.

Shawn stared back at his best friend wondering how exactly he was going to prove to his friend that he was fine while simultaneously getting Trey to consider the two of them as a couple.

"Don't tell me, you two are gonna sleep together again," Jeremy spoke from his computer desk as Trey and Noah tried to finish changing the sheets to a bed they'd been working on for nearly half an hour.

"Actually I was thinking we'd put the beds together, have ourselves a nice three way spoon session," Noah giggled before kissing over Trey's neck, who slapped Noah with a pillow and moved to the other side of the room, Noah following behind.

"Nice try, jackass. The bed's a bunk," Jeremy mumbled. "Which, all rhymes aside, puts me in a funk like you wouldn't believe. I'm not a big fan of the top, ceiling slash claustrophobia causing bed."

"You were in the room before me Jeremy. As in, you picked the top," Noah laughed as Trey kept Noah's shirt from him.

Jeremy rolled his eyes and sighed, annoyed as his roommate and his roommate's boyfriend continued to be their usual blissfully in love selves while he did what he usually did and tried to ignore them. The problem was, it was getting harder to ignore people who were obviously falling deeper in love with each passing day.

"Yeah well that was when I thought I had the room all to myself since the first three didn't work out," Jeremy replied.

"First three?" Noah asked, curiously.

"I don't wanna talk about it," Jeremy replied annoyed. "Pretty much done with that though so don't worry about it."

Noah and Trey exchanged what were at first worried glances before each cracking a smile that led to full-fledged laughter with Noah tackling Trey to the bed before tickling him furiously.

"Gee, what happened to getting plenty of rest for tomorrow?" Jeremy asked.

Noah tried to catch his breath before sitting up, Trey first to beat him to it.

"No, he's right," Trey started. "Grace wants us there at 9 tomorrow. I don't think my body can handle getting up early for something that isn't school."

"Sure that's the only reason?" Jeremy mumbled.

"Jeremy..." Noah sighed, before standing up and walking over to his sink to start getting ready for bed.

"So what exactly are you doing tomorrow anyway?" Jeremy asked, turning his attention away from his game.

"I don't know," Trey started, as he peeled off his socks. "Grace won't tell us. Which isn't exactly a good thing."

"She probably wants us to gather homeless people on the street and take them to soup kitchens or something," Noah spoke, rubbing shaving cream over his face. "Which has nothing to do with those freaks in the club but whatever."

"Noah, don't call them that-"

"Eyelid piercings, remember?"

Trey figured Noah had a point and decided not to comment further.

"Well then," Jeremy started. "Sweet dreams then. Oh and by that I mean lets have some actual dreams tonight instead of all night long make out nightmare inducing sessions."

"What do you say babe?" Noah asked, shaving the left side of his face.

Trey sighed before crossing his legs Indian style atop the bed.

"Something tells me I'm gonna need my energy for tomorrow so yeah, that's fine," he replied.

Jeremy smiled to himself, happy that he'd have a normal roommate for the night. Albeit one that just happened to be bunking with another guy.

Trey smiled to himself knowing that even if he was expecting the worst for tomorrow, he'd still have Noah by his side there to help him through it.

Noah however did not smile. He wasn't a complete idiot. He knew the real reason why Jeremy wanted them to use the literal meaning of the term `sleep together'. All he knew was that he needed some serious alone time, away from Grace, away from Jeremy, away from everyone, with his boyfriend soon.

Jesse liked his bedroom to be a very distinctly and original way. He liked his sheets to be turned in, out and over exactly three times, three times a day. He liked the room to smell faintly like cinnamon, enough to where he'd know it was there, but not so much to where he'd always know. He wanted it to surprise him sometimes.

He liked his curtains pulled up a certain length, only so much that the moon would be able to shine through at night so that he could see it but not so much it would keep him up at night.

He liked it to be no less than 60 degrees at night and to counter that temperature he liked to have only the thickest, most expensive Persian bed covers, three to be exact, to cover him at night.

He liked all that but what he enjoyed the most was sleeping alone. He'd never actually `sleep' sleep with anyone if he could help it. He liked the feeling of having an entire king sized bed to himself. He liked knowing that if he ever somehow managed to get hot in bed that all he'd have to do is roll over to the other side and cool off.

Sleeping alone suited him.

Sleeping with Amber, however, did not.

"No, absolutely not!" Jesse exclaimed. "You're the one who agreed to volunteer for the insane idea to waste an entire Saturday helping the school's most reckless band of miscreants and if I'm to do that, I'm going to need my sleep."

"So get your sleep. I'll just keep you company," Amber giggled, trying to crawl into Jesse's bed as Jesse did his best to keep his tightly packed blankets from allowing Amber any room to do so.

"Amber, you have a room. And a bed. You could try sleeping there and leaving me the hell alone."

"You're cranky when you're tired. Let's turn the lights out now."

Jesse watched as Amber tried to crawl into bed from the bottom. Realizing things were slipping south fast, Jesse decided to turn out the lights, preventing Amber from seeing anything.

The room grew quiet and still for a moment as Jesse decided to just listen for Amber's breathing. When she didn't move for several moments, he sat up and looked around only to be knocked backwards a moment later when Amber made her way up to the top of the bed.

"My bloody nose! Jesus now I'm going to need a plastic surgeon!"

"You're supposed to be the guy in this relationship. Quit bitching."

"What relationship? And as long as we're calling a bitch a bitch-"

"Jesse, it's almost midnight. I think we should save this conversation for the morning. I need my beauty sleep."

Jesse sat in the dark speechless. He hadn't felt this helpless and taken advantage of since his brother. He didn't know what to do. On the one hand he couldn't stand Amber's presence. But on the other, he had to realize that he actually liked all the attention Amber was showing him despite the way he was treating her. It made him feel almost like he had a reason to call himself special. A reason more valid than all the other reasons.

"You think you could move over some? You're taking up all the cool spots," Amber yawned before turning around to face the other way.

But then she'd open her mouth, Jesse thought, and the status quo would rebuild itself just as fast as it had diminished.

Getting Amber off his back was apparently still priority one.

Trey knew that Grace was obviously still trying to get over the idea of being the eye of some perverted losers affections and almost allowing herself to become one of his helpless little victims, but he had no idea that she'd completely gone and lost her mind.

Because when Grace said she wanted to help the poor and build a better image for The Pink Panthers, he had no idea just how big of an understatement she was making.

"I'm sorry, you want me to what?" Jesse asked for the third time in under two minutes.

Everyone stood in one semi aligned line staring at the frame of what was obviously eventually going to be a home. A home that Grace apparently wanted them all to build themselves.

"Ugh, why ya'll gotta act like I just told you when you was gonna die?" Grace asked, a hint of utmost positivity in her voice. "We only building a house."

"Only?" Trey scoffed. "I can't even change a flat tire. What makes you think I know anything about building a house?"

"What makes you think any of us know anything?" Grace retorted. "Trey, I already told you, were doing this to help spread more campus awareness about the Pink Panthers and all the good the club can do."

"We should listen to the girl," Jesse spoke while simultaneously lifting and examining a nail gun with curiosity. "A little self promotion never hurt anyone."

"Yeah well it's not self promotion I'm worried about," Trey mumbled before turning and noticing Shawn staring at him from the corner of his eye.

As soon as Noah noticed it he walked over and obstructed their view of each other, crossing his arms as he looked over some blueprints for the house.

"Grace, this isn't something we can do in a couple days in our spare time," Trey started. "This kind of thing takes months. And dedication."

"Which I'm hoping you're all willing to give me," Grace replied. "You know it's for a good cause."

Trey looked around at the house site before catching Shawn's eye again.

"I'm not so sure about that," he mumbled as Grace started past him and made her way into the center of a large group.

"Alright everyone," she started. "I think if we're gonna spend the next three months working together..."

"Three months!" Jesse gasped, sounding ready to die from the thought alone.

"Yeah boy. This ain't Extreme Makeover: Home Edition. I ain't building no damn house in a week. Anyways, I think we should get introductions outta the way before we do anything. Now, you all know me already. Somebody else go."

Everyone looked around at each other, some doing their best not to make eye contact with others, everyone feeling just a bit too nervous to introduce themselves.

"I'll go!" Amber exclaimed.

"What...Amber, no, Amber!" Jesse spoke in high whisper before noticing the mean glare of a few of the Pink Panther members and backing down.

"I'm Amber. I'm in a sorority. I had a 3.5 last semester. And I'm dating Jesse Yorkshire. A celebrity. Yes, you can be jealous."

A few people clapped awkwardly as Amber, obviously proud of herself started away from the center and back over to Jesse, who was beginning to think she'd lost her mind and decided to go next to debunk her statements.

"Why yes it's true I'm a celebrity," he started. "The fact of the matter is I am not now, now have I ever-"

"You're all gay right? You'd completely understand kissing other guys right?" Amber spoke aloud, no one but Jesse quite sure of what she was even talking about. "Well, except for this one. She's a closet lesbian."

"Thanks Barbie," Zoey started in a faux cheery voice. "And now for a bit of truth. I'm Zoey, NOT a closet lesbian despite what this pinheaded moron wants you to think, and I think this is gonna be a neat little experience."

With no one volunteering to go next, a random guy from the group spoke up.

"I'm not sure if I can top everybody else but I'll go anyway," he started. "Uh, I'm Dylan, I'm a freshman new to the whole gay friendly thing-"

"Me too!" Ben spoke out. When he noticed several of the guys were looking enticingly at him he decided to clarify. "My best friend's new at it. I'm new to dealing with it...I'm not gay. Not that there's anything wrong with being gay. Did I mention my best friend is gay?"

"Uh, thanks Ben," Shawn spoke, sounding slightly embarrassed. "It's true, I'm gay. But it doesn't really matter right now since the guy I thought I was in love with is kinda being an asshole and not talking to me."

"Hey, I'm Noah. Boyfriend to the asshole in question, no offense Trey. And just wanted to mention there's a reason why no one wants to talk to you. Bet you were gonna leave that part out huh?"

"Oooh, are we playing two truths and a lie again?" Amber spoke up. "Because that game was fun. I learned a lot that day."

"Really? Only just that day?" Sierra asked sarcastically.

"This one is the whore of the group," Amber spoke up. "You know, the real life leave your money on the dresser, fuck a whore-"

"Shut up bitch!"

"Okay, introductions over!" Grace shouted. "Now, building a house. Let's consult the how-to guide shall we?"

It took nearly two hours to figure out what step one and two would be, but once they started, everyone really got into their work. They'd figured out that it was really going to take at least three months for them to build the house and that was if everything went according to their plans, but things seemed to be going fine.

They'd been working in tandem since about noon, only stopping briefly for a lunch break around three. As it was getting close to sundown, everyone was beginning to feel the strain of building a house.

"Ugh, this much physical labor and I'm not even getting paid?" Jesse groaned as he reached behind and grabbed his lower back. "And why do I feel like such complete shit?"

"That's called working harder than you're used to. Or at all," Zoey replied, tossing down a hand saw. "Get used to it. Apparently this place owns our souls the next three months."

Amber giggled while Jesse groaned once again. Zoey stood by idly before noticing one of the lesbian members of the group, Ginger, eyeing her with lustful eyes. Cringing a little, Zoey walked off, passing Trey who was hard at work separating pieces of alike wood into their rightful piles.

"You okay?" Noah asked, walking up behind Trey.

Trey lifted another piece of wood, a bit angrily, and tossed it into a pile to which it didn't belong.

"Almost fifty degrees outside and he feels the need to be outside shirtless?" was Trey's response.

For the past four hours, Trey had been watching Shawn flirt with nearly every cute guy in the Pink Panther's. And while there weren't many of that variety, one especially, Dylan, seemed to be the one Shawn was flirting with the most. He'd even convinced Dylan to work shirtless outside in the middle of January.

"Stupid," Trey mumbled.

Noah looked over and watched Shawn laughing at something with Dylan, noticing how obvious it was that he was trying to get Trey's attention before looking back over at Trey who was still angrily tossing planks of wood into the wrong piles.

"Here, babe, maybe you should let me help you with that," he said.

"No, see I can handle this. Not like Shawn who has to get every guy here to do stuff for him. Even Jesse's been doing his own work, even if it is for just five minutes at a time!"

Trey's words had been spoken a little loudly and had been heard by Shawn, who briefly looked over at Trey, before turning his attention back to Dylan's chest which he was now stroking idly.

"You know what gets me is how we're supposed to be building a home for charity and yet everyone is treating it like a means to a stupid end," Noah spoke.

"Not everyone's doing that Noah," Trey replied. "Some of us aren't afraid of hard work. Some of us actually know what we're doing."

"Yeah? Then why are you tossing that wood into the wrong piles?"

Trey stopped working and looked down before sighing and taking a seat on the damp, recently snow covered ground.

"Look, maybe we should take some time for just us," Noah started, taking a seat next to Trey. "Take your mind off...of everything."

Trey wasn't really sure he was ever going to not be able to think about Shawn in one way or the other. But he did know that he at least owed it to his boyfriend to try to put more into their relationship than he was giving. He already felt guilty enough as it was.

"What do you have in mind?" he asked, trying his hardest to focus only on Noah.

"Well," Noah started, wrapping his arms around Trey and slowly rocking him in his arms. "I was thinking a nice dinner, away. Downtown or something. Maybe some dancing-"

"Dancing?"

"Dancing. And a nice walk in the park. It'll be good for us."

Trey wasn't so sure but he had to admit that the allure of the night did sound really tempting.

"Okay," he replied. "Let's sneak out of here before Grace has us building into overtime hours."

Noah laughed before helping Trey up as they tried to slip away unnoticed, completely unaware that someone had noticed and was now quite upset.

"I hope they aren't dead," Amber spoke. "They make a cute little couple. They should have their own show."

"Naw they ain't dead girl," Grace replied, shaking a mountain of salt over her fries. "Ugh, why the hell you eating with us anyway? I don't need your motormouth shit tonight."

Realizing that Trey and Noah had snuck out on her, Grace had decided to call it a day early on and had convinced that local school restaurant to treat everyone to dinner. Granted it was an all you can eat buffet that catered to nearly everyone with the least amount of money, but everyone was feeling like they could eat for days after the amount of work they'd done. Plus, Grace figured it gave them all a great opportunity to do some bonding.

"Because Sheniqua-"

"Say what!?"

"Tonight, is all about bonding. I mean, we're supposed to be about unity. Peace, love and understanding!"

"I'ma knock the peace, love and spit out yo mouth if you don't shut up talking to me girl-"

"Okay, Grace, let's calm down. We have enough food here to last us an eternity and everyone seems like they're in a good mood, which is surprising considering the amount of face jewelry that had to be put back in."

"Thank you Ellen," Amber spoke cheerily. "One of these days you'll have to introduce us to your girlfriend. I bet she's hot."

Zoey clenched her teeth together ready to strike any second now.

"Amber, I believe that tort was made for your mouth. Why don't you invite it inside and leave the chit chat to the grown ups, okay?" Jesse spoke as if he were speaking to a three year old before practically shoving food into Amber's mouth.

"Thank god," Sierra started, swirling around her spaghetti with a fork. "Ironic it takes food to shut the elephant up."

Amber was responding with some kind of remark but couldn't be really made out with the amount of food in her mouth and therefore was not paid much attention to.

"So where ARE those two gorgeous friends of yours?" Sierra asked.

"Who knows," Grace sighed.

"Or cares," Jesse asked just for the sake of things.

"Off fucking like little rabbits, I hope," Sierra replied. "I mean can you imagine what their kids would look like if they could have any. Oh. My. God."

"Well we've certainly seen the depths of which your mind will travel," Jesse replied. "I'd ask if anyone was willing to put up with more sophisticated dinner affair but considering the place you've all chosen to eat I'd say sophistication is off the table."

"Speaking of tables, what kinda wood ya'll think this thing is made out of?" Grace asked, suddenly inspecting the table they were eating at. "It'd make a good front door for the house don't ya'll think?"

"You mean the house that's three months away from even needing any doors?" Zoey asked. "I think we should just focus on the here on now. Everyone remembers school right?"

"Don't remind me," Sierra mumbled. "We're only three weeks in and I already hate all my classes."

"I can assure you I have more reason to hate them based on classmate selection alone," Jesse replied, referring to the fact that the two of them shared every single class they had together.

"Ya'll think this table cloth is real silk?" Grace asked, now inspecting the checkered red and white cloth covering the table.

"Yes, I believe the blood stains under my plate are authentic as well," Jesse spoke with distaste.

"Let's just try to aim for normal for time being, okay Grace?" Zoey asked.

Grace barely paid attention to Zoey before she looked up and noticed herself on the television screen above her head on the opposite side of the wall. She didn't pay much attention to the fact that everyone else at the table was on screen as well. All she saw was herself and all she could think about was how she almost became some Internet slut. Some helpless little victim.

"Turn that off," she mumbled.

Everyone exchanged glances.

"What...Grace...what are you-"

"Turn that shit off!" Grace shouted, loudly this time before standing up and walking straight out of the restaurant, leaving Zoey to follow.

"Well, that'd be an ace way to get out of paying a bill if we had one to pay," Jesse mumbled.

"Does this mean we don't get free ice cream now?" Amber asked, serious with her question.

"Ugh, like you need any more food," Sierra replied before promptly stuffing some pasta into her own mouth.

"So this is nice huh?" Noah asked again for the second time in ten minutes.

They were together, he knew that but for some reason he felt strangely. He thought a nice relaxing date with Trey at a semi expensive restaurant would cheer him up and take his mind of off that loser Shawn, but apparently he was trying too hard. Or not hard enough, he hadn't figured it out yet. Regardless of what he tried, he couldn't seem to get the momentum of their date in order.

"Yeah," Trey replied with a beaming smile on his face. "This is a really nice place. I hope you're not spending too much.."

"Oh no. No, it's fine. My parent's send me more than enough hush money every week. So long as they get to keep on keeping on, I get to keep spending their money."

Trey, having come from a home with one parent with two jobs, money was a big concern of his and really saw their date at a place that he didn't even think fit the two of them well as wasteful. But Noah was his boyfriend and he'd vowed to make more of an effort to appreciate and pay more attention to him, even if there was always something to distract him.

"Uh, so, we should probably figure out what we're gonna order huh?" Trey suggested.

"Oh, yeah, right," Noah said nervously grabbing a menu and looking it over.

While Noah wasn't thinking twice about the prices, Trey was cringing at the prices of the items. Even the appetizers were more expensive than he figured they'd be. He was almost tempted to just order a milkshake and call that dinner. But again, he was all about the trying and the trying to be a better boyfriend far outweighed the ridiculous prices of the food on any menu any day.

Trey smiled at Noah again to which Noah returned the smile, staring deeply into his boyfriend's eye before noticing that someone was calling his name.

He wasn't sure he'd head the name right. Maybe it was something else. Maybe it was another Noah. When he heard it again, this time the voice accompanying the name sounding familiar as well, every part inside him sunk so far into himself that he felt like he'd melt right in his chair.

Not here, he thought. Not now.

He decided that he'd just pretend to ignore it while figuring out how to get himself and Trey out of the restaurant as quickly as possible.

"You know what, you're right. This is a little much. Why don't we go try JoJo's down the street."

Noah had only managed to fold up his napkin and stand, Trey halfway there as well before he felt a hand on his shoulder and a presence behind him, already knowing who it'd be before he turned around.

"Baby bro, what are you doing here man?" came the overly loud greeting of his older brother Bryce.

Trey, a little confused forced a smile as he looked between Noah, the guy who was obviously Noah's brother and the girl he was with.

Noah sighed and turned around to face his smiling brother, who took a hold of him and hugged him tightly.

"This is awesome huh? Us here at the same time. What are the odds?" Bryce spoke.

Apparently against him, Noah thought as he forced a smile.

"Oh, this is Sara. My date," Bryce spoke as Noah put out a hand for the obligatory handshake. He already knew without further introduction that Sara was the latest in a long line of `date's Bryce had racked up since graduating. It was always the same. Find someone rich that can pay your way through life so you don't have to work. Those were words Bryce had actually spoken to him. Words he'd uttered while he was still in high school. Some motivating role model his brother was.

"Who's this?" Bryce asked a hint of suspicion in his voice.

"Nobody, a friend...look, we're done here so we're just gonna go-"

"There's no plates. You haven't even ordered," Bryce spoke, looking over the table. "If you're short on money, I'm sure Sara could lend you some."

"No actually I think we're just gonna go," Noah replied, motioning for Trey to start towards the door. "But it was nice to meet you Sara. Uh...good to see you Bryce. See you around Easter, or something."

And that was all Noah would allow out of the situation as he started towards the exit wishing that he'd never even thought to have a date night.

"It's like a bad dream I keep on having," Grace started.

Now suited comfortably in her pajamas and in the comfort of her own dorm room, Grace and Zoey were sitting atop Grace's bed, bowls of untouched ice cream in hand and the gorgeous faces of McDreamy and McSteamy dominated the television screen in front of them.

"We have sex, I end up with some nasty ass STD and that fool ends up with a video of me getting the STD for the world to see," she continued. "I don't tell Sherry this you know. She's too nice. Too happy. It makes me wanna be nice and happy but it don't make me wanna talk about this stuff."

"Which is what we've been trying to get you to do," Zoey spoke comfortingly. "We all can tell how stressed out you've been. I mean, taking over the Pink Panthers and plans to build a house for charity..."

"Are good ideas," Grace finished. "Just because something terrible almost happened to me doesn't mean I have to let it get to me. I ain't dead or anything. I can do this shit."

"I know you can, I just think you should slow down some. Don't let it get to you as much."

Grace sighed and looked down at her melting ice cream.

"When I saw myself on that television, I thought, that could've been me, you know? It's not scary that it almost happened. It's scary that I almost let it happen. I thought I was smart, you know?"

"Grace, you know you're smart. Look at you, a sophomore in college in your first year. Six classes a semester. 3.9 GPA last semester. You're definitely on your way to becoming somebody. And I have to say, this house building thing, not such a bad idea."

"Really?"

"Demanding, tiring and almost impossibly insane, but it'll be worth it once we get it all finished. Plus it's gonna look good on a resume."

"Hey!"

"You said it not me," Zoey laughed.

Grace turned her attention to the television.

"Ugh, please tell me I didn't just come off as being as whiny and self absorbed as that bitch," she asked. "Shit, don't nobody care about her. I'm cuter than her."

"And just as damaged," Zoey replied before catching a pillow in the face from Zoey.

"And the look on his face was priceless!" Shawn spoke as he paced shirtless around Ben's room.

"So is this gonna be our new routine?" Ben asked from his computer desk. "We go work out and you come back and go all Days of Our Gay Lives on me?"

"What? I have problems, you're my best friend. It's called listening."

"I'm a guy. You want somebody to listen to you go find a chick. Or better yet go find a boyfriend or something. Me? Not really into the whole let's make this guy jealous scenario."

"But you agree, I made Trey jealous today right? I mean, you saw the way he was looking at me today right?"

"I think you're missing the entire point of our friendship. Remember vagina? Pussy? Remember how I'm into that and you're not? Remember how I'm NOT Mandy Moore?"

"Fine, whatever," Shawn chuckled before finally tossing himself back on Ben's bed. "I can't believe we're building a house."

"I can't believe I agreed to join a gay club. The things I do for my best friend."

"Because you love me," Shawn chuckled.

"Baby steps man. We'll get there when we get there. In the meantime I think you should save this entire conversation for somebody who gets it."

And that was what Shawn suddenly realized. Sure he was a popular guy with plenty of people he talked to but not any of them were truly his friends. His friends had been Trey, Grace and Zoey and now with things so weird between himself and Trey, it was almost like his only friend was a guy who embodied everything he used to be in every sense of the idea.

He really had no one else to talk about these things with and it disturbed him so much he felt a shiver run down his back.

It wasn't for lack of trying, however. He wanted to put his life in order and had to try repeatedly with Ben but he finally reached an understanding with his best friend. Which gave him hope for things to come regarding himself and Trey.

Of course, things to come weren't things now. And right now he wished that there was at least one other person he could talk to about what he was going through.

"Soo..." Trey started.

After what seemed like endless moments of silence between them, which started after Noah's rushing the two of them out of the restaurant and out into the streets of downtown, Trey finally decided that some talking was better than nothing.

"Wanna go see a movie?" he asked, trying to sound as upbeat and happy as possibly.

But it was almost like speaking to a brick wall for him. He knew that obviously there was some serious family history between Noah and his brother. He just didn't want to be shut out. The last thing he wanted were more excuses as to why the two of them shouldn't be together and boyfriend with some serious baggage was starting to look like it'd make it's way pretty high up that list.

Noah hadn't responded. When Trey looked over at him it was almost scary to see the look on his face. He looked angry enough to push someone into the way of a car speeding down the street if they got in his way and even that probably wouldn't make him feel any better.

Trey wanted to help but he literally hadn't the slightest idea how to go about trying to help with the absolute lack of information he had regarding the situation.

So he decided that just walking downtown along with his boyfriend was fine for the time being and took a hold of Noah's arm, clenching it tightly and resting his head on Noah's broad shoulders. He knew absolutely no one he knew would be around to see him and even if they were, chances are those people already knew he was gay.

That was the thing he loved about the place. There wasn't the slightest chance that he'd have to worry about running into someone he knew since he didn't know enough people to count with both hands.

Almost immediately after the thought had simmered into his mind did he feel like wishing he could zap it from his mind completely once he saw one of those few people he happened to know. One that he had hoped to never see again in his entire life.

Trey decided to do some fast thinking and without alerting Noah whatsoever, he turned the both of them around and started them in the opposite direction, without any comment from Noah regarding the entire incident.

It was what Trey wanted. No questions, so that he could sink out of the place and be on his way home. Hopefully the potential nightmare that could arise from the situation could be avoided.

Of course it was his hoping for the best that seemed to get him into trouble once again as he soon heard his name being called behind him.

Trey ignored it and Noah hadn't seemed to hear it so the two of them kept walking. They kept walking about as much as they could before there were promptly two tall hulking figures standing in their way.

And this seemed to be the thing that brought Noah back into the world of reality.

"You two assholes wanna get out the way?" Noah asked, gruffly.

"Naw, naw sure thing. Wouldn't wanna interrupt your date," Dro directed his comment exclusively to Trey, looking only at Trey.

Noah looked between the two guys he'd never seen before and his boyfriend before pulling Trey closer to him.

"That shit is fucking messed up dog," the one Trey had never seen before spoke. "They gay ain't they."

"Naw man, cuz we do that shit all the time huh?" Dro spoke. "Course these is some punk ass faggots."

Noah started towards Dro but Trey held him back.

"Let's just go," Trey spoke, for some reason almost in a whisper.

"What I don't get an introduction to the boyfriend?" Dro asked. "I thought me and you was boys man."

Once again Noah looked between Dro and Trey, this time more confused than cautious.

"Trey...what's going on?"

"Bet mommy don't know about you over here getting ass fucked by some white ass cracker do she?"

Trey was going to see exactly how long he could get away with pretending he didn't know Dro before the entire situation blew up in his face before he realized that it was too late and the entire situation had already become way out of hand.

"Look, just leave me alone alright. I don't want any trouble," Trey spoke in a low growl.

"I don't want any trouble," Dro mocked. "This ain't about you boy. I ain't concerned with you and yo shit, even though it is some interesting shit."

Even though Dro had left him for dead once before, the thing that worried Trey the most at the current moment was what Dro had seen and how big a mouth he had. The last thing he wanted to do was break his mother's heart.

"Dro-"

"Dro? Grace's Dro?"

"Please, just go away," Trey spoke, this time more pleadingly.

Dro chuckled before rubbing his hands together and looking Noah and Trey over.

"Aight," he responded. "I got business to take of anyway."

Trey didn't resume breathing until he could no longer see Dro or his friend. He didn't even look over at Noah even though he knew Noah was staring at him, waiting for some sort of explanation.

"As in the guy that tried to kill you, Dro?" Noah asked, once again sounding highly pissed. "Explain please?"

"You first," Trey retorted, feeling a bit fed up as well.

Noah started but stopped and sighed before looking back over at Trey, crossed arms, foot tapping and all and looking away at the brightly lit, pedestrian covered streets.

"Looks like we have some issues to work out," he spoke simply.

"Yep," Trey replied, neither bothering to look the other in the eye.

Yahoo Group featuring advanced chapters of the story and other works by me:

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Personal email: sidewaysfictionman@yahoo.com Feedback always welcome.

Copyright 2007