Luke

Copyright and Disclaimer: 1. This is a fictional story with fictional characters. 2. No one is to steal this story under any circumstances. 3. This story deals with relationships and not sex, so if you're looking for a story with a lot of sex in it, this isn't the story for you.

`Tell Me Your Fantasy'

Ford woke groggily woke up. Another day. He opened his tired eyes to look at his clock. 10:00 AM. "Shit!" Ford cried out as he jumped out of bed. He was late for work again. He ran to the bathroom to get ready. When he came out he looked in his bed and noticed he had someone sleeping in it. "Oops," Ford said quietly. He completely forgot he had someone staying over. He nudged the guy awake. "Wake up."

"What is it?" the guy asked.

"You need to leave. I'm late for work," Ford replied.

"What time is it?" his bed friend asked.

"It's past 10," Ford said as he started to get dressed for work.

"Fuck!" the guy said as he quickly jumped out of bed.

"Late for work too?" Ford asked.

"No," he replied. "Late to meet my boyfriend for breakfast."

"You have a boyfriend?!" Ford asked as he buttoned up his shirt.

"Yeah," he replied. "Sorry, but when I met you last night. It was just a fantasy I had to live out."

"A fantasy?" Ford asked.

"Yeah. Everyone at The Hole knows about you," he said. "You're known as the best lay in the city."

"Really?" Ford asked. "Interesting."

"You should be proud of it. You live a life gay men dream of," he said as he tied his shoes. "It was great last night. I'll see you around."

"Yeah. See ya," Ford said as the guy rushed out of the apartment. Ford knew that the guy meant his comments to be a compliment, but it made him feel weird. It made him feel dirty. He shook out of his thoughts and looked at the clock and quickly rushed out of his place.

Ford rushed into work and tried to sneak into his office with out his boss, Lyle Wellington, seeing him. But when he walked into his office, Lyle was sitting at his desk waiting for him.

"Lyle!" Ford said in surprise. "What are you doing in my office?"

"I'm waiting for you," Lyle said unhappily. "Do you know what time it is?"

"I might be a little bit late," Ford replied.

"A little bit late?" Lyle asks as he got up from Ford's desk. "You are three hours late!"

"I'm sorry Lyle," Ford said. "It won't happen again."

"This is the third time it's happened in the past two weeks," Lyle said as he ran his hands over his baldhead in frustration. "Let me remind you that I made you the food editor of the paper because of how good you usually are. You always showed up on time, you were organized, you wrote well. What happened to that? What happened to that Ford? Because that's the one I want on my staff!"

"It's still me," Ford said trying to defend himself.

"Is it?" Lyle asked. "You have me fooled. You've been acting like you don't even care. You aren't taking this job very seriously. I have to ask, do you even care anymore?"

"I do care," Ford replied. "I want to be here." Truth of the matter is though, Ford was no longer sure how he felt about his job.

"Then start acting like it," Lyle warned.

"I promise," Ford said. "I'll get my act together."

"Okay," Lyle headed to leave his office. "But if this pattern keeps up I'm going to have to let you go."

"I understand," Ford nodded.

Lyle left while Ford went to his desk to get to work, relieved he dodged that bullet. He didn't understand what happened lately. He used to love his work, but somewhere along the way he began to feel restless, he began to wonder if his life would be anything more than what it is now.

Over at the San Diego Bulletin, Shane was busy working in his office approving some pieces for the paper.

"This one looks good," Shane said to his assistant, Darla. "Take this to layout with the other pieces for the Sports section, please."

"No problem," Darla replied.

"Before you go, can you bring me Jackson's review of the new play at the Looking Glass," Shane said before Darla left.

"Of course," Darla said leaving.

Shane went to looking at some other pieces for the arts and leisure section of the newspaper when he got a knock on his open door. He looked up and saw Jackson Hunter standing at the door holding up his review. Jackson Hunter was 35 years old, good looking in an intellectual way. He wore glasses, which only added to his sex appeal and always wore wrinkled shirts. His disheveled look was part of his charm. He flashed Shane a smile before coming in, but Shane barely acknowledged him as he entered.

"You wanted the review?" Jackson asked walking in.

"Yeah. Set it on my desk," Shane replied indifferently, he didn't even bother to look Jackson in the eyes when he spoke to him.

"So how are you?" Jackson asked.

"I'm fine," Shane replied.

"We haven't talked in a while," Jackson said. "What do you say we go out for a drink tonight?"

"No," Shane said quickly.

"Are you even going to bother to look at me when I'm talking?" Jackson asked.

Shane sighed as he set the piece he was reading down to look up at Jackson. He forgot how attractive Jackson was. "What is it?"

"I'm just wondering if you're going to ever talk to me the way you used to talk to me," Jackson said.

"That answer would be no," Shane said.

"We used to be friends," Jackson said.

"We were never friends," Shane replied. "We were a mistake. Now please leave me alone. I have a lot of work to do."

"Fine," Jackson sighed. "But you can't deny what we had. You like to think it's nothing, but it was something. It was definitely something."

Jackson left Shane's office and closed the door behind him. After he left, Shane looked up at the closed door and thought about the biggest mistake he ever made.

FLASHBACK

Jackson and Shane made their way to the front door of Shane and Luke's apartment. Jackson leans in and kisses Shane.

"Didn't you say you have a boyfriend?" Jackson asked between kisses.

"He's always busy," Shane replied. "He won't be home until late."

"You sure we should be doing this?" Jackson asked. "I don't want to get between anything."

"You like me, right?" Shane asked.

"Yeah, of course," Jackson replied.

"Then shut up and kiss me," Shane said as he unlocked the door to the apartment. The two went inside and made their way to the couch in the living room where they proceeded to make-out with one another. Truth is, Shane didn't know when Luke would be home. He could be home any minute and a part of him is hoping that he would be. He wanted something to get Luke's attention. Shane has missed the intimacy between the two and this was his last resort to try and get things back to where they used to be. He hated to use Jackson this way, because there is a part of him that's very attracted to him. But when it came down to it, he would choose Luke in a heartbeat and he's hoping that this will get his attention and let him know that there are problems between them that can't be avoided.

"Should we go into the bedroom?" Jackson asked.

"No, let's stay out here," Shane replied. He wanted to make sure they were in view of the front doorway. Jackson took off his t-shirt to reveal his very fit body underneath. "Wow."

"Thanks," Jackson smiled as he went back to kissing Shane. Shane was about to take off his shirt, but then he got hit with a wave of guilt. This wasn't right and he knew it. He was just trying to hurt Luke and he was using Jackson. He had to stop it. Shane stopped kissing Jackson and pushed him off. "What's wrong?"

"I'm sorry Jackson," Shane said. "But this can't happen. You need to go."

"What?" Jackson asked confused.

"I don't have time to explain. Just get your shirt on and please leave," Shane said apologetically. "This isn't right. You don't deserve this and neither does Luke."

"Luke's your boyfriend?" Jackson asked.

"Yeah," Shane nodded.

"I see," Jackson replied. "That's too bad, cause I really like you." Jackson leaned in and gave Shane a gentle kiss on the lips. Shane wanted to pull away, but his attraction to Jackson kept him still to accept the kiss. Right as their lips touched, Luke walked through the front door.

"Oh my God," Luke said in shock.

"Luke!" Shane yelped. "This isn't what it looks like."

"You're kissing a shirtless guy in our apartment," Luke said. "What is it supposed to look like?"

"I should go," Jackson said.

"You think?!" Luke barked. "Get the fuck out of my home!"

Jackson quickly put his shirt on and rushed out of the apartment. Luke and Shane both stared at one another, neither one knew what to say. Shane knew however that the problems between him and Luke he wanted to resolve were only going to get worse because of his poor judgment.

END FLASHBACK

Shane sat quietly at his desk as the guilt from that night came back to him.

Meanwhile, Luke went to a nearby coffee shop his and Shane's home so he could work. Every so often he stopped by the coffee shop for a change of scenery while he worked. He ordered himself a coffee and sat down at a table to set up his laptop so he could write his blog. As he was writing he looked up from the computer screen and noticed an attractive man sitting at a table across from his. Like him, he was working on his computer as well. He had dark features and Luke noticed his piercing blue eyes when he looked up and glanced at him. Luke gave him a half smile before looking back down at his computer screen.

"Is this seat taken?"

Luke looked up to see the guy he made eye contact with now standing at his table gesturing to an empty chair.

"I'm sorry?" Luke asked confused.

"Is this seat taken?" he asked again.

"Oh, um, no," Luke replied.

"Thanks. I'm Michael." Him and Luke shook hands.

"Luke."

"Very nice to meet you Luke," Michael said.

"You too," Luke replied.

"So are you doing work as well?" Michael asked.

"Yeah," Luke replied. "I got tired of working at home so I thought a change of scenery would be nice."

"I know what you mean," Michael said. "I used to think people who came into coffee shops with their laptops were always so pretentious, but it's actually kind of nice."

"Yeah, it's quiet and you always have caffeine at your disposal," Luke added.

"Exactly," Michael laughed. "So what kind of work do you do?"

"I'm a writer," Luke said. "I write columns for different magazines and write a blog for the San Diego Bulletin."

"Wait a second, you're Luke Grayson?" Michael asked. "I'm a big fan of your blog."

"Really?" Luke asked surprised, "Thank you."

"It's really great," Michael said. "I always agree with your views on culture and politics."

"That's so nice to hear. Thank you," Luke smiled. "What do you do?"

"I'm a product manager for Fine Line Clothing," Michael explained.

"Seriously?" Luke asked impressed. "This shirt I'm wearing is Fine Line."

"I noticed," Michael said. "Why do you think I came over here to talk to you?" The two of them both shared a light laugh at his joke.

"So what does a product manager do exactly?" Luke asked.

"I research the demographic for the company's cliental, develop product and seek out locations to carry our line," Michael said.

"Impressive," Luke smiled.

"Sounds a lot more important than it really is," Michael replied. "So what are you writing about?"

"The affects that the war has had on veterans once they've come home," Luke replied. "I saw this news segment about a veteran who had so much rage that he killed his fiancée. I thought it would be interesting to explore. I found some really interesting articles on the internet."

"See, this is the reason why I like your blog so much," Michael said. "You don't write about celebrities and the hot clubs they go to. You write about news and sociological issues."

"Thank you," Luke smiled. He always prided himself in that he didn't become a TMZ or Perez Hilton type of blog, he felt there was enough of those blogs around and wanted to write about real issues affecting real people.

"Can I comment on something about your blog?" Michael asked.

"What's that?" Luke asked.

"You often used to write about relationships, what happened?" Michael asked.

"Long story," Luke replied, not wanting to get into it.

"That's too bad," Michael said. "Maybe you just need someone to show you a good time again."

"Maybe," Luke shrugged.

"Maybe I can," Michael smiled charmingly.

"Are you hitting on me?" Luke asked. He couldn't help but smile a little bit at the flattery.

"Depends," Michael answered.

"Depends on what?" Luke asked.

"If you'll agree to go out with me or not," Michael replied with a cute wink.

Luke smile nervously, mostly nervous because a part of him wanted to accept the date, if he did, he would be doing the same thing Shane did to him. "You know, I have to go." Luke quickly closed his laptop and got up from his seat. "Sorry, I forgot there was something I had to do."

"Oh, that's too bad," Michael said disappointed. "Well here." Michael took out his business card and handed it to Luke. "Call me, anytime."

"Thanks," Luke said nervously taking the card. "Bye." Luke then left the coffee shop. Things between him and Michael got a little too intimate for him.

Ford was sitting at his desk when he came across some old pieces of his on the computer. They were pieces that he'd written when he was a food critic. From the writing he remembered not only how much he enjoyed his job, but also how much he enjoyed his life at that time. Sure there were parts of it that were tough, but for the most part he loved life. He began to think about himself now and how he lives his life. Everything about him is not who he used to be. His attitude and work ethic are just a few of the ways he's not acting like himself. He knew exactly when he changed. He wished it was something he never found out about. He remembered that day so clearly. It started out as a great day and turned into the worst.

FLASHBACK

Ford had just completed his first week as the newly appointed Food Editor and he loved it. He felt completely in his element. Before he always took direction and was told what to do, now he was in a place where he could make decisions and give people assignments and places to visit. He was slowly working his way to becoming like his idol, Craig Clairborne. He wanted a career just like his and being food editor was a great stepping-stone in following in his footsteps.

To celebrate his successful first week, Ford stopped by Fashion Valley Center to do some shopping. While he was shopping around, he saw Patrick walking out of the movie theatre. He wanted to try and avoid him, but Patrick already spotted him.

"Hey," Patrick smiled walking up to him.

"Hi," Ford replied. There were still so many feelings there for Patrick and he didn't know how to act. He just smiled as politely as he could. "How are you?"

"I'm doing good," Patrick replied. "How about you?

"Great," Ford answered. "I was just made food editor at work."

"Wow," Patrick said. "Congratulations."

"How about you? Are you still a lifeguard?" Ford asked.

"No," Patrick answered. "I'm an intern right now at Water Bistro."

"That's great," Ford said. "That place is amazing."

"Yeah," Patrick smiled. "I mean, it's just an internship."

"It's still really good," Ford said. "You should be proud."

"I know. I like it," Patrick said. "I mean, it's not as financially beneficial as being food editor, but it works."

"You have to start out somewhere," Ford said. He remembered how much Patrick wanted to be a chef and knew working at Water Bistro was a great place to start.

"So, you doing some shopping?" Patrick asked.

"Yeah," Ford replied. "I thought I would buy myself a little present after my first week as food editor."

"Must be nice to be able to do that," Patrick said. He was a little envious that Ford was able to do those sort of things.

"Are you here at the movies alone?" Ford asked.

"Yeah," Patrick replied. "Does that make me a loser?"

"No," Ford replied. "Not at all. Do you want to grab something to eat?"

"I can't," Patrick sighed. "I should get going."

"Oh okay," Ford answered. "Well, it was nice running into you."

"Yeah," Patrick said. "You too."

Ford was about to walk away, but he had to say one last thing to Patrick. "I miss you."

Patrick smiled, "I miss you too."

"Are you sure you can't grab a bite to eat?" Ford asked. "We can catch up." Ford wanted nothing more than to have a second chance at reconnecting with Patrick.

"Ford, it's complicated," Patrick said.

"What are you talking about?" Ford asked.

"There's something that you don't know," Patrick replied.

"What?" Ford asked.

"I'm going to be completely honest with you," Patrick said. "Because you deserve to know the truth. You're a great guy and I have felt horrible about keeping this a secret."

"Okay," Ford said, he wasn't really sure of what Patrick was talking about.

"The whole issue of you being rich and the incident about my mom and Chandler wasn't the reason I broke-up with you," Patrick said.

"It wasn't?" Ford asked.

"No," Patrick replied nervously. He then proceeded to tell Ford something that he never even suspected, something that changed his whole view on how he trusted people, on how he trusted love. That one moment changed him completely.

END FLASHBACK

Ford deleted the whole pieces of his on the computer. He suddenly felt consumed with anger. He always felt that way every time he thought about what happened.

To clear his head from his encounter at the coffee shop, Luke went to the beach to regain some of his thoughts. While he sat watching the waves crash into the sand his mind wandered to thoughts of Michael. He began to wonder what it would feel like to have his lips on his neck and feel his tongue enter his mouth. He fantasized about the feel of the muscles in his back tighten as his hands wrapped around his body. Luke closed his eyes and laid back in the sand as he imagine the feel of Michael's body underneath his. It's the first time Luke has felt sexual in a long time. After fantasizing some more about Michael, Shane's face flashed into his mind. Luke opened his eyes and sat up trying to shake off the sexual fantasy he just had. He pulled out his cell phone and immediately called Dr. Campbell.

"Dr. Campbell, it's Luke Grayson," Luke said when Dr. Campbell answered the phone. "I need to see you as soon as possible."

"You and Shane have an appointment scheduled for Friday morning," Dr. Campbell replied. "Can it wait until then?"

"I don't want Shane with me. I want to see you one-on-one," Luke explained.

"I see," Dr. Campbell replied. "Well, I had a cancellation today can you be here in an hour?"

"Absolutely," Luke said. "Thank you. I'll see you then."

Over at work, Shane was in his office approving some final layouts for the next day's front page of the newspaper. After he approved the front page he gave it to Darla to run to press. After she left, Shane stood up and went to the doorway and looked over at his old desk where Jackson now sits at. He smiled to himself as he looked over at Jackson. Jackson was busy writing on his computer, he didn't notice Shane staring at him. As Shane was watching him, he thought about the first time he acknowledged his feelings towards Jackson.

FLASHBACK

It was another late night for Shane at the office. He was busy doing some last minute changes to the next day's paper when Jackson came in. Jackson had just started at the paper and brought in his first piece for the newspaper for Shane to approve. Shane took the paper from him as they sat next to one another to go over it.

"This looks really good," Shane nodded as he read it over. "You did a great job."

"Really?" Jackson asked. "I was really nervous that you would hate it."

"No, it's good," Shane assured him. "You did good Jackson."

"Thank you," Jackson smiled.

"So how was your first week?" Shane asked.

"It was stressful," Jackson replied. "I've only worked at smaller papers before, so this one is a lot different."

"Yeah, it gets pretty busy," Shane said. "But you did really well. A lot better than me when I first started."

"I did?" Jackson asked.

"Yeah, I was a total screw up when I first started," Shane replied. "The old editor, Farrah, would be yelling at me every single day. I thought she was going to murder me."

"Well that was the problem," Jackson said. "You didn't have as good of an editor as I do."

"Well thank you," Shane smiled at the compliment.

"Can I take you out for a drink?" Jackson asked. "It's the least I can do for being so good to me my first week."

"I'm not sure," Shane said looking at his watch, "It's kind of late."

"Come on. One drink," Jackson said.

Luke knew it was late and he should be heading home to see Luke, but a part of him really wanted to go out for that drink. Despite his better judgment, he answered, "Yeah. Okay. One drink."

"Great," Jackson smiled. The two got up and headed for the door. As they were about to walk out of the office, Jackson stopped and turned to face Shane and boldly leaned in and kissed him. Shane enjoyed it at first, but he pushed away because of Luke.

"I'm sorry," Shane said. "I have a boyfriend."

"You do?" Jackson asked disappointed. "I'm so sorry. I just thought that since you agreed to drinks that maybe-"

"I know," Shane cut him off, "I apologize if I led you on. It's my fault. I'm sorry. I think I should just go home."

"Right," Jackson nodded. "Yeah, you're right. Okay. Well, have a good night."

"You too," Shane said. He saw how embarrassed Jackson felt at that moment. They both left the office and went their separate ways.

END FLASHBACK

Shane had been lost in his thoughts for so long that he didn't realize that Jackson was staring back at him. Jackson gave him a sincere smile, Shane nodded at him and went back into his office closing the door behind him.

Over at Dr. Campbell's office, Luke is sitting on the couch across from her and telling her about Michael.

"I just met this guy and then twenty minutes later I'm having sex fantasies about him," Luke explains. "How fucked up is that?"

"So this man wants to go out with you?" Dr. Campbell asked.

"Yes," Luke replied. "He gave me his phone number."

"Luke, what about Shane?" Dr. Campbell asked.

"That's why I'm here," Luke replied. "I should be having these fantasies about Shane, but things are just so complicated with him."

"I wonder if that's the reason you are having these thoughts and flirting with this new man," Dr. Campbell said.

"What do you mean?" Luke asked.

"I think you're attracted to Michael because of how much simpler things would be to start something up with someone new," Dr. Campbell explained. "Maybe you're attracted to the clean slate."

Luke thinks about that, he feels that Dr. Campbell may have a point. It would be nice to not be in something as complicated as his current relationship with Shane. He thought that the reason he began going to Dr. Campbell was so he could uncomplicated things with Shane and make things good again, but maybe he's seeing Dr. Campbell to realize that maybe him and Shane just shouldn't be together right now.

Luke took Dr. Campbell's words and thought about them on the way home. When he got home he poured himself a glass of wine and sat down in the living room. As he was thinking his cell phone rang, it was Shane.

"Hi," Luke answered.

"Hey. I'm going to be home late," Shane replied.

"Of course you are," Luke said rolling his eyes.

"Sorry," Shane said.

"Whatever," Luke replied before hanging up the phone. After he got off the phone, he reached into his pocket and pulled out Michael's business card. He saw that Michael had his cell phone number written on the card. He decided to give him a call.

"Hello?" Michael asked answering the phone.

"Hi, Michael?" Luke asked.

"Yes," Michael replies.

"It's Luke. We met at the coffee shop today," Luke said.

"Hey," Michael said happily. "I'm surprised to hear from you. You left in such a rush today."

"Sorry about that," Luke said. "I guess I'm just not used to being hit on."

"I have a hard time believing that," Michael said. "Good looking guy like you."

"It's complicated," Luke replied. "Listen, I was wondering if you wanted grab a drink tonight if you were free."

"Tonight?" Michael asked.

"I know its last minute," Luke replied. "If you can't, I understand."

"No, it's fine," Michael said. "I'll meet you in half an hour?"

"Sounds good," Luke replied. "How about we meet at Q?"

"See you there," Michael said before hanging up.

Shane sat his desk pissed for the way Luke acted on the phone. It wasn't his fault that he had to work late. It was out of his control. Shane looked outside of his office and noticed that everyone was gone except for Jackson, who was still writing at his desk.

Shane got up and went out to his desk to talk to him.

"Hey Jackson," Shane said as he approached him.

"You talking to me again?" Jackson asked.

"I'm sorry for being a jerk earlier today," Shane replied. "There's just a lot going on right now."

"Shane, I've noticed how unhappy you've been lately," Jackson pointed out. "Don't get mad at me, I'm not trying to interfere with your personal life, but if you're so unhappy, why are you still in this relationship?"

"It's not that simple," Shane said. "I've been with the same man for seven years. There's a lot of history between us. Besides, if I lost him, I would also be losing my best friend."

"I understand," Jackson replied.

"Listen, since things can't happen between us, how about we become friends?" Shane asked.

"I thought we couldn't be friends," Jackson said.

"Well I want to work on that," Shane said. "What do you say?"

"Okay," Jackson replied shaking Shane's hand, "Friends."

Shane smiled, a part of him knew it was dangerous to be friends with Jackson, but it was part of the reason why he liked it.

When Ford got home from work that night he decided to relax with a cup of hot tea and watch a movie. He looked at his DVD collection to pick out a film and noticed how the majority of his DVD's were romantic films. One film after another was another romantic drama or romantic comedy; When Harry Met Sally,' An Affair to Remember,' Gone with the Wind,' Latter Days,' 'A Love Story,' `The Notebook,' and it goes on and on. He remembered how much he used to love those type of movies, he lived by them. He used to navigate his relationships by them. He was going to pick out a non-romantic film, but he decided it would be nice to watch one of those films again, he hoped it would help him to get back to who he used to be. He picked out 'Latter Days' and went to turn it on.

Later that night, Luke and Michael were having a good time talking to one another. It felt nice for Luke to be able to talk to someone so easily without the presence of problems or betrayal or any of the bad stuff that was between him and Shane. It felt like a weight was temporarily lifted off of him and he could just have a good time and have a good conversation with an interesting man.

"So, since we're out for a drink right now, can I assume you're single?" Michael asked.

Luke took a deep breath, he had a feeling this question would inevitably come up, but he hoped it wouldn't. "It's um..."

"Let me guess, `it's complicated.' Am I right?" Michael asked.

"You've heard this before, huh?" Luke asked.

"It's the phrase that guys in relationships use when they want to cheat on their boyfriends," Michael replied. "I should tell you now that I'm not the kind of guy who would participate in anything like that. If you're with someone then I should just go." Michael was about to get up to leave, but Luke stopped him.

"No, wait," Luke said grabbing Michael's hand to stop him. Michael looked at Luke's hand holding his and he slowly sat back down. "It really is complicated. Yes, I'm with someone, but there are a lot of problems between us."

"What kind of problems?" Michael asked.

"Him and I haven't been happy for a long time," Luke replied. "We've been in therapy for a while and instead of bringing us together it's been proving to me that maybe him and I shouldn't be together."

"But you two are still together now?" Michael asked.

"Yes," Luke admitted. "I'm sorry, you probably think I'm some manwhore."

"No," Michael shook his head. "I think that you obviously are in a tough situation right now and are conflicted."

"Yeah," Luke sighed.

"Well, it's probably best if you go back home to your boyfriend," Michael suggested. "But if things ever get uncomplicated, call me."

Luke got home about twenty minutes later, it was almost 11:30 PM and Shane still wasn't home yet. He went and took a shower and got ready for bed. He then got into bed and sat up to wait for Shane to get home. A little before midnight, Shane finally came home.

"Hey. You're still up," Shane said walking into the bedroom.

"Yeah," Luke replied. "I wanted to talk with you."

"About what?" Shane asked.

"Us," Luke replied.

"Do we have to do this now?" Shane asked. "It's late."

"I need to get this out," Luke replied.

"Fine," Shane sighed sitting down on the bed to listen to Luke. "What is it?"

"Do you think those sessions with Dr. Campbell are helping us?" Luke asked.

"I don't know," Shane shrugged.

"Be honest," Luke pleaded. "Do you think they're helping?"

They both knew the answer, however neither one wanted to acknowledge it before. Shane let out a deep breath before answering, "I guess not."

"I think that the problems between you and me are ones that can't be fixed by a therapist," Luke said. "I mean; you didn't cheat on me just to get my attention. Be honest, you did it because a part of you isn't happy in this situation."

"So what are you saying?" Shane asked.

"I'm saying that you and I both deserve to be happy," Luke replied. "Right?"

"I guess so," Shane said.

"Well, we haven't been happy in a long time," Luke said. "I think it's time we change that."

"You think we should break-up?" Shane asked.

"I don't know if we should break-up or maybe just take a break for a while, but whatever it is, we need to focus on what makes us happy as individuals and not worry about `us' for once," Luke said.

"I think you're right," Shane nodded in agreement.

"Okay," Luke replied.

"Tomorrow I'll stay at a hotel," Shane said.

"All right," Luke said.

"You know, I really did my best with us. It's the hardest I've worked at any relationship in my life," Shane said.

"I know you did," Luke said. "And I love you for that."

"So what happens between us now? We just stop talking?" Shane asked.

"No," Luke replied. "We go try to go back to being friends. We can do that, right?"

"I don't know," Shane said. "I hope so."

"We'll just take it day by day and see where things go," Luke said. "Maybe one day it will be right for us again."

"Just not right now," Shane added.

"Yeah," Luke nodded. The two sat quietly for a minute to absorb the reality of the situation. Even though they were both saddened by the end of their relationship, they also felt a huge relief; the weight of their relationship was no longer pushing them down. For the first time in a long time, they could breath again.

After Ford was done watching the movie, he turned off the television and sat alone to think about himself and who he is. He had to start working towards who he used to be again and he promised himself that he would start making some changes in his life. Before he could think of how to go about being the person he used to be there was a light knock on his door. He looked at the clock and saw how late it was and went to answer the door cautiously. When he opened the door he felt his body freeze. He had no idea what to say or how to react. He could only stare into the eyes of the one person he used to know so well.

"Benji," Ford said slowly.

"Hey Ford," Benji replied with a nervous smile.

To Be Continued...

With any comments, questions, or feedback please e-mail me at ilj4ever44@yahoo.com. Thanks so much for reading!