Disclaimer:
After a hiatus of sorts, I am back with another story! Yay! Anyway, due to personal problems, I've been unable/unwilling to write much of anything for a long time. Here is a new story from me to you. For those of you who know my style and enjoy it, you should really like this one. Like I said, though, I haven't written anything for a while, so I may be a bit rusty. For those who don't know my style, I tend to use a lot of build-up and "storyline". So, if you came on to find a story for a quick jack-off, then this probably ain't for you. However, if you want to take the time to read a beautiful tale of young love, then sit back, take a sip from your glass of wine, and enjoy!
And remember...Always stand up for what you think is right, don't listen to bullshit, no matter who is saying it, and always speak with your fists and swear a lot to be heard!
Part 36:
As it turned out, gay marriage was not legal in Calgary. However, it didn't mean that they couldn't live together, even though Alberta didn't officially recognize gay common-law status either.
The news was taken very well by David's mother. In fact, her actual words were, "You're moving out? Well, that's good, because I would have kicked you out sooner or later anyway."
Aaron's father took it a lot less gracefully. He argued with Aaron, telling him that he was wasting his life by leaving Cegep and that, if he couldn't find a job in Calgary, he'd be on the streets. Aaron had become a very reasonable and rational person over the years, but in this case, he was adamant about wanting to follow his desire to move to Calgary with his boyfriend and start a new life. It wasn't a very good time for either of the two boys. Aaron didn't feel right going, unless he could leave on good terms with his family, and David didn't know what he would do if Aaron couldn't go. He could go himself, he guessed, but David didn't think he had the drive to succeed in such a new environment, unless he had Aaron beside him.
Several very tense weeks went by, and David wasn't sure what to do. He sat at home a lot, got a lot of heat from his mother, about how he was not welcome back, if things didn't work out in Calgary. It was a miserable time, in which David's only pleasure was going on the Internet and checking "Yahoo Travel" for ticket prices for two people from Montreal to Calgary. A round-trip ticket was cheaper than a one-way ticket, even though David had no intention of ever returning to Montreal, a city of nothing but bad memories and misery for him.
It was the middle of September and the school year had already gotten started. David hadn't heard from Aaron for over three weeks and he was beginning to get very worried. Again, he wasn't sure what he would do in Calgary, without Aaron, but now he had no choice but to go.
It was on September nineteenth, 1999 that there was a knock at the door. David was sitting in his room, playing `Ruthless.com' on his computer. He was too involved in the game, so his mother went and got the door. He paused the game, when he began to hear talking from the direction of the vestibule. After listening for a few seconds, David slowly got up and opened the door of his room. He couldn't believe it; Aaron was standing there in the hallway, holding a two suitcases in his hands, talking to his mother.
He quickly walked over to them and David asked, "What's going on?"
Aaron looked over and smiled at David, then said, "My father and I just aren't agreeing on the matter of me going, so I left. I was going to simply stay with Alex, but I decided to see if I could possibly stay with you, until we go. I do spend most of my time here anyway."
David turned to his mother and shot her an inquisitive look. His mother responded by nodding her head and replying, "Aaron can stay you, until you go. He can sleep on the couch, if he wants."
Aaron smiled and replied, "Actually, if you don't mind, I think I'd prefer to sleep with David."
She nodded and smiled too, "Of course."
And so Aaron moved in with David. As far as David was concerned, things were finally looking up in his life. He now had the pleasure of waking up every morning and going to bed every night with the boy of his dreams and, in a little while, they would be alone in their own place.
The days went by quickly for David, with Aaron being around. They went to the park a lot and saw movies, then, at night, they would lie in bed together and talk about what their future would be like. David talked about how sure he was that he'd be able to work and go to school in Calgary and how great it would be to live together. Aaron even mentioned possibly seeing about adopting a child in a few years. It all seemed so perfect for David. Too perfect, and he couldn't help but feel that the other shoe was going to drop anytime now. He now fully trusted Aaron, but he didn't trust fate and so, with that doubt in the pit of his belly, he had a lot of trouble sleeping.
One night, he actually dreamt that Aaron had been out the night before, and had gotten killed in a car accident. He dreamt that he was woken up early in the morning by the sound of the phone ringing. He lazily got out of bed and picked it up. It had been Aaron's father, frantically explaining that Aaron had been driving home with a bunch of people at about four am and some fucking drunk driver had hit the car and smashed it up against a wall. Aaron and the driver had been killed instantly and another guy had died before the ambulance arrived. David had felt all the blood drain from his body when he heard the news. He had asked a bunch of meaningless questions, before collapsing on the floor in tears, the phone left hanging from the bureau. It was like one of those Road Runner cartoons, when the coyote is cutting a hole around the road runner, but instead of the part that the Road Runner is on falling, the whole cliff falls and the small part of the cliff with the stupid bird is left floating in the air. David's whole world had collapsed around him and all meaning was sucked out of his life, like a super powered vacuum. He had gone to the funeral and just cried a lot. Nobody cared, it seemed, as much as him. Nobody could have understood just what Aaron had meant to David. Aaron had been more than David's safety blanket. He had been the only person he'd ever truly loved and the last person that David would ever truly love. Aaron's death had caused a very large part of David to be sliced clean off and tossed in the grave alongside the casket. Aaron wasn't just a person to David...He was his life. He was his life, and his meaning, and his justification for opening his eyes every morning to greet the day. He was the spring in David's step, the smile on David's face and the twinkle in his eye. With Aaron, David was something, but without him, he was less than a zero. David just went into a downward spiral from there. He went to Calgary without Aaron, stayed there for a grand total of three days, before being coming back, unable to cope with being alone in the strange new city. True to her word, David's mother did not allow David back into her home, so he had to rely upon the generosity of the father who abandoned him, in order to pay for an apartment. From there, unable to find work and unable to do it, even if he could, David had gone on Welfare and spent the next seven months sitting in his tiny little hole, playing computer games, growing thin from lack of food, and contemplating death on a daily basis. Some days, he wouldn't even get out of bed. He'd just lie underneath the covers and cry on and off until bedtime, intermingled with stumbles to the bathroom. He grew ever more thin, ever more depressed and, eventually, when the police came to forcibly evict him from the apartment after two months of not paying rent, they found his dead corpse. He had finally succeeded in overdosing on sleeping pills, but in reality, he had died of a broken heart.
On another night, he had dreamt that Aaron had broken up with him. This time, for good. They had been lying in bed, snuggling, just like they did almost every morning. Suddenly, Aaron had sat up and slid out of the bed, shaking his head. "What's wrong?" David had asked. Aaron turned to look at him and, a sad look on his face, Aaron had said, "I just can't do this anymore, David." Again, David had replied, "What's wrong?" Aaron sat back down on the bed and said, "David, I've been with you for several months now. I care a lot for you, but...jesus christ, I see you spending your days sitting at home and doing nothing. You don't even try to find any work!" David looked down at his feet and mumbled, "You know I can't do it, Aaron." Aaron shook his head and replied, "Exactly! I've tried to be here for you and, dammit, I've been nothing if not patient. I've been an amazing boyfriend, I feel. I've listened to you complain about your worries and I've been very sympathetic! I've always hoped that, somehow, my words of encouragement would instill in you the ability to succeed at work, at school...hell, at anything, except sitting on your ass, day after day. You've been going to a therapist for quite a few months now and how has it helped you, hmm Dave? What progress have you made?" David shrugged, totally submissive under Aaron's verbal attack, "I think I'm almost ready to try work or school again." Aaron smiled, but shook his head, "You're not, Dave. You know you're not. That wouldn't be too much of a problem, except that you're not making any progress with therapy and you got us going to Calgary now. What'll happen when we get to Calgary, Dave? Tell me that? Are you going to be able to work? I know that I can, but can you? Can you work the hours it'll take to pay to live there?" David shrugged, "I dunno." Aaron stood up again and said, "Well, I can't do it, Dave. I've stuck by you for a while now, but I'm just not feeling secure, knowing that when we arrive in Calgary, I'm, most probably going to have to do all the work and support both of us. I can't do that, Dave." "So we won't go to Calgary." David mumbled. Aaron smiled and shrugged, "What does it matter where we are, Dave? If I go back to Dawson now, I might have a chance at a future and, I'm really sorry Dave, but it doesn't look like you're part of it. I need a boyfriend who will offer some give, as well as some take, but so far all you've done is take all I've been able to give. I really wanted this to work, David, but it doesn't look like it's going to." David sniffled, tears flowing down his face, and hiccupped, "So, you're breaking up with me again?" Aaron sighed and said, "I'm really sorry, but, yeah, I am. Also, I think it would be best if we just broke clean away. I don't think I could be your friend again. Not after everything we've been through." David nodded. And so, Aaron packed what little things he had brought, said goodbye to David's mother and left David's life. David had been miserable. Of course, he had gone to Calgary alone and, just as Aaron had predicted, he was unable to work, so he had to return to Montreal. Of course, his mother had been telling the truth about him not being allowed back in her house, so he ended up getting some money from his grandmother to rent an apartment. Once he got on Welfare, he continued his therapy in the hopes of trying to find and keep a job someday, but so far it didn't look good. He would see Aaron on the bus about twice a month. Sometimes, he'd be alone and sometimes he'd be with Alex. David would say hi, but neither Aaron nor Alex even acknowledged his presence with so much as a look. They had advanced in their lives. They had finished Cegep and gone on to Concordia University. Meanwhile, David still didn't have the sanity to attend a single class at Cegep and, due to a recent fondness for rats, he now smelled like wood chips and rat turds. He was beyond a nobody. He was a failure and he deserved death, but he was too much of a chicken to even attempt suicide anymore.
David had woken up from those dreams in a cold sweat, with tears streaming down his cheeks. He was filled with misery, until he turned his head and saw Aaron sleeping peacefully beside him. He had gently poked Aaron until he woke up.
"Yeah?" Aaron inquired in a tired voice.
Sniffling back the tears from his nightmares, David asked, "Do you love me?"
Aaron smiled and replied, "Always, sweetie."
Swallowing hard, David asked, "Would you ever leave me, because you gave up on me and thought that I would never be able to work when we get to Calgary?"
Aaron reached up with his hand and stroked David's wet face. Through sleepy eyes, Aaron replied, "You're going to do fine in Calgary, sweetie, and if you have any panic about working and you just can't do it, then we'll think of something, I promise. Don't worry, baby. I won't ever give up on you."
That response had just made David cry harder and Aaron had reached over and wrapped his arms around David's body and hugged him. "Don't worry." Aaron reassured his sobbing boyfriend, "You'll do just fine. I believe in you."
The weeks continued to pass, until winter came again. The two boys had planned on leaving the evening of December twenty-fifth; Christmas Day. The whole day was spent packing and saying final goodbyes to people. David's mother had agreed to pay for shifting the furniture from his room to Calgary. Aaron had made his peace with his father before he went, as well.
The plane trip was uneventful. Slightly turbulent. Food was good. Aaron and David sat next to each other and held hands the whole flight. It had taken almost five hours, due to good wind. It was late when they arrived, though, so they stayed over in a hotel for the night and decided to explore the city the next day.
David was confident, though, because with Aaron beside him, he could do anything he wanted to.
EPILOGUE:
The next two months of Calgary were very productive. New Years Day 2000 had been an incredibly fulfilling experience for David. He was free, finally. Finally, he was free. Soon, Aaron got a job in an office downtown, doing general office stuff, like filing and such. David had been nervous at first, but eventually, Aaron's confidence allowed him to get a job too, at a Subway Sandwich shop downtown. It wasn't the most glamourous work, but David could do it. Sure, he felt panicky sometimes, but he just had to keep in mind that there was no pressure to succeed. Aaron would be proud of him, whether he did the job or not and, somehow, that made him work harder and be able to succeed. They had an apartment in a fairly poor area, but David had his furniture and he had his Aaron, so he was happy. With the money they earned, they bought a few more things to decorate the apartment with. Calgary was truly a beautiful city too. David and Aaron both got their licenses, but couldn't afford cars just yet, so they were content to ride on the ample public transportation there. In May, they both enrolled in school for the fall. David was nervous at first, but he would be going with Aaron, so everything was going to be just fine.
THE END