The Chronicles of Trey

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Written by: Nicky Smith Edited by: JD Kaster

CHAPTER NINETEEN: THE PASSAGE OF TIME

TREY'S POV

JANUARY

"5, 4, 3, 2, 1, Happy New Year!" we all said. We were at Sean's house bringing in the new year. Bear grabbed me and laid a big kiss on my lips. Sean and Justice kissed as well. So did Dale and Miriam, Marcus and Wayne, Veronica and Jessica teamed up and kissed Calvin and Alex. They must have been good kissers because they seemed to blow the boy's minds.

By 2 A.M. most everyone was knocked out but I was still awake. I was standing out in the garden when two huge and familiar arms wrapped around me from behind and pulled me toward a massive body.

"This is a new year for us baby. The first true year that we will spend together," Bear said next to my ear which sent shivers all over my body.

"Bear, are you happy, I mean really truly happy?" I asked him.

"I'm over the moon ecstatic right now baby," he murmured into my ear as he nuzzled my neck.

"I'm right there with you big guy," I said.

"What do you say that we go inside and I make you even happier," Bear said as he licked and nibbled on my earlobe driving me insane.

"You keep doing that and you'll have to show me right here," I said.

"That's fine by me," he said as he reached around and grabbed my now hard dick in a tight grip which caused me to moan kind of loud.

"When did you become an exhibitionist?" I asked between ragged breaths.

"Ain't no shame in what I got Trey and from what I know you shouldn't have any either," he said then slipped his hand into my pants and gripped my dick in his big hand while grinding his huge hard meat into me from behind.

I was moaning and breathing heavy and Bear wasn't going easy on me as he continued his slow jacking while he kissed, licked and sucked on my neck. He was hitting all the right notes and it occurred to me that it was 43 degrees outside yet I was burning up with sweat forming on my skin.

"Bear, we gotta stop, I'm gonna cum," I said near breathless. I was steadily in awe of how much this man could turn me on and set me off.

He stopped and pulled his hand out of my pants and I thought that he was gonna do what he had said earlier and take me inside and make me happier, but he surprised me by pushing me against one of the large posts of the house and quickly dropped to his knees and undid my pants and pulled my drooling dick out. He then licked the head, cleaning it off before he took most of it into his mouth. He hadn't learned how to deep throat me yet but he was getting there.

He worked the head of my dick with his tongue and worked the underside while he used his hand to assist him. He had gotten really good at this for being a formally straight guy, although I had nothing to compare it to, nor did I want anything to do so.

He pulled back and smiled big at me before he licked the entire length of my dick from base to tip. He did this a few more times then he reached up and started tweaking my right nipple and then licked the length of my dick again and this time lingered on the head and I almost collapsed as my knees went weak.

I heard him chuckle then he took me back in and went to work vigorously on my dick. I was moaning quite loudly at this point and I was worried that someone in the house would hear me but Bear was making a strong case for me not to care.

I looked down at him on his knees in front of me and seeing that sight turned up the heat in a flash. He then reached up and began tweaking and rubbing my erect nipples while he worked on my dick and I reached the finish line.

"Bear, I'm gonna cum," I warned him, but he just kept up his pace on my dick and my nipples and I couldn't hold back anymore. I erupted into his mouth and he drank my seed down as it pumped out. Once I was spent, he cleaned me up and put my softening dick back in my pants and fixed me back up.

"Was that to your satisfaction, my love?" he said in a very deep tone as he gazed into my eyes intensely which made me feel a whole assortment of feelings too varied to describe so I just pulled him to me and shoved my tongue into his mouth.

Tasting my seed on his tongue heightened the kiss to a new level and I was clawing at him at that point. We were both moaning and he went rigid for a few seconds, but then picked back up where he was. I had to stop the kiss because the feelings I was experiencing were getting to be too intense so I pushed him back with a bit of force and stared at him wide-eyed while I caught my breath and he did the same.

"Damn, what was that?" he asked with wide eyes still catching his breath.

"I... don't know," I managed to get out between breaths.

"It was... so intense. It was like... I was... consumed by all these feelings," he said while taking huge gulps of air.

"Yeah, me too. You want me to take care of you?" I asked finally managing to calm down.

"No need. I... kinda already finished," he said with an astonished laugh.

"What, when?" I asked surprised.

"During that crazy kiss," he said as he grinned at me. I'm not gonna lie, hearing that made me feel all kinds of confident in my sexual prowess. The fact that I was able to give Bear so much pleasure with just a kiss that he came in his pants was a great confidence boost, although that wasn't an ordinary kiss.

We kissed again, though it was a tame one, and headed back inside. Bear went to take a shower and I got the bed ready and stripped down to my underwear. He came back and kissed me before we both got into bed.

The next morning we found out our outdoor sexual escapade was indeed heard by others. Sean teased us relentlessly about us getting some loud new years nookie.

Every time one of the girls looked at us they blushed, and Bear didn't make it any easier as he winked at them whenever they looked at him. I knew they were having a hard time trying not to picture us doing what we were doing the night before.

We were back in school a few days later and it seemed things had cooled down some with gay-gate. We still got glares, but nobody was fool enough to mess with Bear because he was easily the biggest student at our school. He was a hugely muscled guy who was also taller than the tallest student at our school.

I had also gotten a don't-fuck-with-him reputation since I had punched out a popular baseball jock. I didn't delude myself to think that Drake was just gonna let that go, but it seemed that things were going good for me and Bear.

Bear, Jessica, Sean and I were at my locker looking over our new schedules for the new semester. I was happy that I had 2 classes with Bear again, one of which we shared with Jessica and Sean. I also had one other class with Jessica and 2 others with Sean, both of which were AP classes with him.

"So what classes do you all have," we heard in a familiar voice.

"Liberty, what the hell are you doing talking to us?" Jessica asked when we turned around and saw who it was and I almost laughed. Bear was also glaring at her.

"Justice, what the hell are you doing here?" I asked amused.

"What?" Bear and Jessica said. I looked over and saw Sean with a goofy smile on his face so he had to know what was up.

"Wow Jessica. All the time we've spent together and you still can't tell me apart from Liberty?" Justice asked.

"Well you're dressed just like her and have her hair. What was I supposed to think?" she said still looking her over and I had to admit she was kind of right.

"You haven't seen her yet have you? Yeah Liberty is blonde now so I decided to adapt her old style now that I'm a commoner," she said flipping her hair.

"What are you talking about, and I'm not a commoner," I said.

"Well I go here now. It was supposed to happen for Senior Year, but since Trey needs me so much since he no longer has... Liberty, I moved it up," she said with a smile and I just had to love her.

"Thank you for being here in my time of need Jus," I said with a smile.

"Oh don't mention it babe," she said nonchalantly.

We all talked a bit more and then the bell rang. We split up and headed to our homerooms. Things were even better with Justice around at school now. There were many people during that first week that said that they had seen Liberty with blonde hair and then with black hair and we just laughed. By the second week people pretty much knew that Justice was on the scene.

She was being courted for the power squad which was now the new cheerleading squad since there had supposedly been a coup which ousted Alicia Lake and her co-captain Danica Freeman graduating in May. I had seen Liberty around school but she would try her best to avoid us.

One strange thing that happened was that the football team seemed much more friendly towards me ever since the party. They spoke to me in the halls and had no problem with me hanging out with them. I'm not saying that all of them were like this, but enough were that the few that had a problem with me were a very small minority.

Bear and I never kissed in front of them though as I didn't want to rock the boat, but we did stare at each other a lot and touch intimately. I still had second lunch during second semester so the players that had lunch then sat with me.

The power squad members that had second lunch did as well and they were all over me to tell them what Bear was like in bed. I was confused by this behavior as Bear had bedded quite a few of them but one of them shocked me by telling me they wanted to know what he was like in bed, with another man.

I thought guys were sex-crazed but girls took the cake. I gave them just enough to wet their appetites without giving too much away. Besides, I didn't want to torture the poor girls who didn't get a chance to get up close and personal with my man's anaconda, and now never would. I did have a heart after all. There were even a couple of the guys who were more interested in this information than I thought they should be. I filed that knowledge away for use at another time.

January was not all good though as Zane finally decided to cooperate with my parents in regards to the men that molested him and Dad reported them. They were arrested and 10 other guys, varying in age from slightly older than Zane to the same age as my sisters came forward to make statements about being abused. From what I heard they were keeping it out of the press and in exchange the coaches would plead guilty and go to prison.

They did and were sentenced 15 years each. I didn't think it was enough but at least they wouldn't be hurting any other boys for 15 years and they would learn what it was like to be forced to suck dick because strangely, prisoners didn't take kindly to child molesters. Zane seemed to take it well, but he could have just been holding it in like he had for so long.

One day near the end of January I was home alone as Mom and the girls were gone somewhere with April, and Dad was apparently inking some deal with a friend of Sean's dad to build his new hotel. Calvin was with Alex and they were at another of their friends houses which left me time to think which I surprisingly didn't mind doing on this day.

The doorbell rang and I hoped it was Bear coming over. I hadn't talked to him since the day before after we left school as he was doing something with his father. I wanted to see him because, well I needed to taste those lips of his and feel his hands on me.

I headed to the door and opened it without asking who it was and regretted it immediately. There stood my father's brother Peter looking supremely pissed off. I was delighted that he was angry, for a second, then I realized that I was all alone at home.

"What are you doing here?" I asked as I held the door.

"This is all your fault. You're the one who got in Zane's ear didn't you?" he asked in return.

"Yeah I did. I made him tell me why he would hurt me and he did," I told him boldly.

"Just because your little secret was spilled you have to go ruining things for everyone else. If you weren't a little faggot this never would have happened," he said getting more angry, but I didn't care. I was done listening to this.

"Look I don't have time for you so goodbye," I said closing the door, but he pushed the door hard and I had to jump back before it hit me. He walked in and I instinctively backed up.

"You just had to go sticking your nose into what wasn't your business. Now thanks to you and those two queers, the police are looking at me," he said and I don't know why, but I knew he was talking about the guys who had molested Zane.

"Tell me Peter, why are they looking at you? Did you do something that these guys would tell the cops?" I asked as I thought back to my mother's question the night they found out about Zane.

"Listen you little bastard," he said, but I cut him off.

"No see that would be you. My parents were actually married when I was born unlike what I heard about you," I said briefly thinking that I shouldn't be antagonizing him like this as I was there alone.

"You little shit, this isn't funny," he said and I could tell that he was getting way too pissed, but I didn't care.

"No Peter this isn't funny. It isn't funny that your nephew comes to you and tells you that two men had been molesting him and you tell him that he "should feel honored to be chosen?' To be chosen by two perverts who thought it was a good idea to force a 7 year old to suck their dicks? Why were you so sympathetic to them anyway?" I asked because the thought was now alive and I couldn't let it go.

"You better watch what you're saying," he said through gritted teeth and I knew I was going too far but hearing Zane's story in my head again, seeing his face and hearing how emotionless he sounded as the story went on spurred me on.

"Are you a child molester like those two fucks? Is that why you could sympathize with them so easily? Do YOU have any `chosen ones' out there Peter?" I asked and I wasn't prepared for his reaction. Before I knew what was happening, he backhanded be so hard I fell to the floor. It hurt like hell and briefly took me back to that day, lying on the floor while Zane was kicking me.

"Now you listen to me dammit," he shouted and looking into his eyes there was real anger and hatred there, but there was also panic there. I knew then that I had hit the mark and that thought sickened me more than I expected. "You shut your filthy-" was all he was able to get out before a large arm wrapped around his neck pulling him into a choke hold.

"Now you listen to me, because I'm only gonna say this once. Stay away from this house and anyone in my family, or I will fuck you up, and just so we're clear on this, that includes Trey and his family. They are my family and if you hurt any one of them it will be the very last thing you do in you pathetic life," Bear said in a clear but very dangerous tone that practically had me shitting my pants.

Bear let him go and he stumbled to stay upright. He glared at Bear until Bear stepped toward him. He then looked afraid though he tried to hide it. He glared at me one more time before he speedily headed toward the door. I heard it slam and then Bear was next to me helping me up in a second.

When I was standing he pulled me into a tight hug and just held me. Feeling him there made me feel better, but I was still worried about what I had just discovered. It again made me feel sick, especially since this man was my father's brother.

"Are you okay baby?" he asked as he pulled me back and ran his fingers gingerly over my cheek where I was sure I had a bruise now because he had hit me hard enough.

"Yeah I'm fine, but I think I'm gonna be sick," I said. He asked me what had happened and I told him what the whole confrontation was about and he agreed that my deduction was probably correct.

I asked him how he knew to come "rescue me" and he told me that he had told Jeremy to be on the lookout for Peter's car and to call him if he ever saw it over here. Thankfully for me Jeremy had been outside when Peter showed up so he got to Bear immediately.

He insisted that I tell my parents about what had happened, and I reluctantly did just that. Dad predictably went through the roof and tried to leave to hunt down his brother, but Mom was able to calm him with the threat of Bear subduing him.

They instead called my mom's cousin who was a lawyer, and he said he'd do everything he could. What we didn't know was that he had been very recently appointed ADA and he went to work and before we knew it he was calling to say that Peter had been arrested for child molestation.

Apparently he was abusing the little girls who were in the community center program he was volunteering for. That made me sad, especially for my dad and uncle Eric who had to find out something like this about their big brother. I guess we all had "big brother fallen from his pedestal" syndrome.

A few days after we had gotten the news the phone rang at home. It rang a few times and I picked up figuring no one else was free to get it. I was about to say hello when another line clicked on and Dad answered.

"Hello," he said.

"So your kid is a fag I hear," the voice said. I muted the handset so they wouldn't be able to hear me breathing on the phone.

"Who the hell is this?" Dad asked explosively.

"This is your father Evan and watch your mouth when you talk to me," grandfather said. It hurt to hear him say that about me.

"You call my house calling my son a fag and you expect me to `watch my mouth'?" Dad asked.

"You're dammed right I called him a fag. You let your sissy boys send your brother to prison for some made-up bullshit and you got that wife of yours to get her cousin or whatever the fuck he is to help `em? You've got some family loyalty on ya there Evan," my father's father said.

"I do have loyalty to my family. My wife and my kids are my family. My little brother is my family. Who isn't my family is a perverted child molester who knew about my son's abuse and wouldn't tell me. Who isn't my family is a man who would take the side of a man accused of child molestation over a son who's just trying of take care of his family," my dad said and he continued to surprise me with how loving and supportive he was.

"Don't give me that. I don't believe for a minute that your brother did anything to those kids and as for your son, he probably wanted it. You know since you already got one fag there, I wouldn't be surprised if they weren't taking up for each other," he said and I was struggling hard to keep myself from un-muting the phone and telling the old fucker where he could get off.

"What did you just say?" Dad asked. He sounded calm, but I could hear the threat in his voice.

"You heard me. I wouldn't be surprised if Calvin turned out to be a little sissy too. This never would have happened if Athena was still alive. I'll bet she's turning over in her grave right now watching what you've let her son become. I never did like that Olivia and look what she did. She birthed you a sissy and turned Athena's kid into one too," that man who I used to call grandfather said and that was my breaking point.

"You listen to me you old motherfucker! You bad-mouth my mother again and I'll make you regret it and as for your precious Peter, he's nothing but a disgusting pervert. You call here calling me a fag like it's a horrible thing but I'd rather be gay than a person who steals a child's innocence.

Your precious sainted Peter found out that his brother's son had been molested and told him that he should have felt honored to be chosen by two perverts to satisfy their disgusting urges, and of course he would say that when he was doing the same thing only to little girls," I finished and I was so angry that I had a headache.

"You lying little sissy," my dad's father shouted.

"No I'm not lying! I was there and he hit me when I said it. I looked into his eyes and I saw the panic in them as he knew that someone had figured him out. If Bear hadn't showed up who knows what he would have done to me to shut me up. I bet you wouldn't have cared though if he had done something like killed me or something. Just another dead faggot right?" I said getting louder and louder as I went on, until I felt my dad's hand on my shoulder.

I looked over and saw him with a serious, but sad look on his face. He pulled me to him and took the phone from my hand and hung the phone up. He pulled me into a hug and held me tight. It felt calming to know that he was there for me like a real father should be. He was truly a real dad, unlike his own father who would dare call his son's house and badmouth his wife and sons.

"Listen to me right now father," Dad said as he put his headset back to his ear while he continued to hold me. "My kids and my wife are everything to me. Athena was a great mother who loved her son so much she decided that his life was more important than hers. Olivia though is an angel because she met a man who was buried deep in depression and brought him back to life.

She loved him and his son and treated his son like her very own, so for you to talk shit about her makes me so very angry. It really makes me angry that you would stick up for Peter after hearing about what he's done yet call my sons horrible names. I'll tell you what old man, don't call my house again unless you can do so without being an old bitch," Dad said and then ended the call. I could hear his father explode on the phone before he turned it off.

He pulled back from the hug a bit but kept his arm around my shoulders. He smiled and led me out of the family room into the kitchen and pointed to the counter where I took a seat on the stool. He reached into the fridge and pulled out two beers and handed me one. I was surprised as he didn't let me drink and I was about to turn him down when he gave me a pointed look.

I just took a drink and despite what I thought it didn't repulse me. We just watched each other in silence for a while as we drank our beers. After we were both finished he put our empties in the trash and walked over to the counter and looked at me in the eyes for a moment before he said "Don't talk to your grandfather like that again." He then smirked and walked out of the kitchen after he patted my shoulder.

************ FEBRUARY

"I don't get why you guys are getting so stressed. It's just the S.A.Ts," Justice said. We were sitting in Sean's living room and most of our group were a little worse for wear. Justice looked fresh as a daisy though and I have to admit that I felt fine as well.

"Screw you Justice," Jessica snapped. Her eyes were blood shot and her normally flawless blonde locks were strewn around her head. Even my normally handsome Bear looked ragged, but still handsome.

"Yeah not everybody is a genius like you are," Veronica said sounding grumpy.

"Hello, hello people," Marcus said sounding very upbeat as he walked into the room. He was very chipper lately what with being a new dad. The birth mother had given birth to their new son about a week before and they had been so happy. They named the baby Zander after Alex which pissed Sean off, but the guys were redeemed when they named Sean the godfather.

"Shut the hell up," Sean snapped.

"Yeesh I recognize all this, S.A.T. time right?" Marcus asked.

"Wow, you figured that out all on your own, amazing," Sean said sarcastically. A sleep deprived Sean was not a happy Sean it seemed.

"My, my what crawled up your ass?" Marcus asked amused.

"Why don't you ask your husband that," Sean replied and I could see he was really punchy.

"Sean, don't talk to your brother like that," Justice admonished.

"Thank you Justy. You'll make a wonderful sister-in-law," Marcus said with a toothy grin aimed at her.

"Sister-in-law?" Sean asked suddenly more alert.

"Yeah of course. Alex will be coming into his own within a couple of years and a smart lady like Justice could use a trophy husband," Marcus joked. He had sit down on the arm of the chair that I was sitting in at that point.

"Screw you," Sean said.

"I'm sorry but I'm not into that sort of thing. Maybe you can find some guy at school that can help you out with that," Marcus said with a smirk. Sean glared at Marcus for a few seconds before he looked briefly to the right then smiled.

"You know, if I were you I wouldn't be acting all comfortable and relaxed, especially where you are right now," he said.

"Oh come now little bro. You're much too exhausted to do anything to me, not that I would be worried if you weren't," Marcus replied.

"Yeah, I wasn't talking about me," Sean said with a smirk of his own, and somehow I knew he meant Bear. I looked toward him to see him glaring at Marcus with dangerous intent. A sleep deprived Bear was apparently a grouchy dangerous Bear.

"Aw is Beary weary jealous?" Marcus asked mockingly in pseudo-baby talk as he moved closer to me. Bear let out a low growl in return. "Wow did you just growl? I thought that was just an intimidation tactic for the football field. I must say, that was hot" Marcus said and that officially ended my secret "love affair" with him.

"Wow you really aren't bright are you?" Sean asked amused.

"What are you talking about?" Marcus asked.

"You done fucked up," Veronica interjected.

"Look I told you that they are so exhausted that they can't do anything to me," Marcus said confidently.

"Maybe they are too exhausted, but Trey isn't," Veronica responded.

"What're you talking about? Trey isn't gonna... yikes!" he said jumping up as he looked at me. I must have looked pretty pissed off.

"Satisfied?" Sean asked.

"Trey look dude you know I was just kidding right. I'll never call Bear hot around you again," he said and I glared hard at him. "Alright jeez, I'll never call him hot period. You all have no sense of humor," he said leaving as he said the last part.

"You feel better now that you've slayed the might Marcus?" Justice asked.

"Definitely," I said with a smile.

A few days later we took the S.A.Ts and I have to admit that they were a bit challenging, but they didn't really phase me like I expected. I wondered, not for the last time if I were a freak of nature or something. Aside from Justice and I, our group struggled on the S.A.Ts, from studying to actually taking the test.

I also wondered if I would ever get a real challenge in school work. It bothered me that nothing ever seemed even close to hard when it came to school. Justice told me she felt the same way until she went to Whitewood. I asked her why she came here, but she didn't answer.

I was at my locker one day later that week when a hand slammed down hard on the locker beside mine startling me. I looked up to see Drake glaring at me. I looked around and there wasn't anyone else around which worried me slightly.

"Hey fag," he said with a sneer.

"Hey back bitch," I replied not knowing when to shut up.

"You got a real smart mouth. How about I drive my fist into it. That'll teach you a lesson," he said with a smug look on his jerky face.

"You sure that's what you want to drive into my mouth Drake?" I asked with a cocky grin.

"What?" he asked looking pissed.

"I think he means that you spend so much time seemingly antagonizing him that he's wondering if you have a secret crush on him Franklin," Carter asked walking up and stepping in between us.

"I ain't no fag. See unlike you football queers, baseball players are real men," Drake said smugly.

"Yeah you guys are totally straight, what with all the balls you guys handle and boy do you guys know how to hold a hard stick just right," Carter said mockingly and I couldn't stop myself from snickering. Drake looked pissed off for a second then got a calculating look in his eyes.

"You speaking from experience there Matthews?" he asked with a smirk and I noticed Carter tense up. I decided to deflect Drake's attention.

"Geez Drake what's your problem? You trapped in some kind of gay hysteria where you see gay people everywhere?" I asked, but he continued to look at Carter while only sparing me a brief glance.

"Hm, very interesting," he said then walked away. I didn't like the way he was looking at Carter.

"You alright?" he asked though I could tell that Drake had rattled him.

"I'm alright, but what about you? I hope you don't let Drake push your buttons because he doesn't know anything," I said trying to ease his mind.

"Yeah you're right. Well I'll see ya," Carter said as he walked away. He tried to sound upbeat but I could tell he was still rattled and I really hated Drake.

"1740?! What the absolute fucking hell!?" Sean shouted. We had gotten our S.A.T scores back and he apparently wasn't happy. I was kind of surprised given he took 2 AP courses.

"Sean it's fine. That's a perfectly respectable score," Justice said trying to sound comforting but it came out a little condescending.

"Shut up Justice," Veronica said not happy with her 1910. Bear had gotten an 1830, Dale a 1790 and Miriam a 2080. Those were great scores, especially compared to what the maximum used to be.

"Veronica you mustn't be angry. Not everyone can get high scores," she said again sounding a tad bit condescending.

"Justice, please stop talking," I tried to tell her.

"No Trey, don't try to help her. Why don't you tell us your score smarty pants," Veronica said and I knew this wouldn't end well.

"Well all right," she said and then opened her paper and smiled. "I got a 2260," she said with a proud grin and everyone groaned and grumbled except me.

"This is just great. I take 2 AP courses and I get a fucking 1740? That's the lowest score out of all of you all," Sean grumbled some more.

"You don't know that babe. Jessica still hasn't told us hers," Justice said and I started to warn her again about the gloating, but Jessica got a sinister smirk on her face and I knew something bad was about to happen.

"Well if you must know, Justice, my score is... 2230," Jessica finished and everyone looked at her with shock.

"Say what now?" Justice said as she snatched the paper from Jessica's hands. "What. The. Hell?!"

"You mean to tell me that Ms. Smarty Pants only got a score that was 30 points higher than Jessica's?" Veronica said, then busted out laughing.

"Aw come on Justice. It's not so bad that Jess is almost as smart as you are," Bear teased.

"No she is not!" Justice proclaimed, and everyone laughed at her.

"Well as fun as this `S.A.T Show' has been, I think we need to be getting to class as the warning bell is going to ring in a few minutes," I said as I started to get ready to leave.

"What a minute now. Hold up Trey... what's your score?" Miriam asked and I had wanted to get away without having to reveal this.

"Yeah Trey, you never told us," Bear said.

"It's not that important," I said trying to deflect.

"Damn dude, what happened that you don't want to show us?" Sean asked and I looked at all of them stalling. Dale's eyes went wide and I guess he figured it out.

"Maybe we should be getting ready for class," he said but nobody moved as they all stared at me.

"Come on Trey we all shared, now pony up," Justice said. I pulled my paper out of my pocket and Justice snatched it before I could react. She looked at it and her eyes widened. "Oh hell naw!" she said loudly drawing more attention to us.

"What?" Veronica asked as she took the paper and she too looked shocked.

"Well what is it Ronnie?" Sean asked.

"He got a 2390," she said.

"That's 10 points off from a perfect score. That's awesome Trey," Jessica said smiling.

"I can't believe this. Well I guess I can believe it from you," she said pointing at me. "As for you, all that stuff with Bear's dad makes perfect sense now. You are like a sleeper genius or something," Justice said to Jessica.

We all talked for a few more minutes and then headed off to class. Throughout the week I got the feeling that something was up with Bear. He was kind of silent and distant and I'd finally had enough of it by the end of the week.

"Alright big guy, tell me what's up?" I asked as I cornered him at his locker.

"I don't know what you mean. Nothing's up baby," he said then kissed my cheek, but his scratchy beard wasn't gonna distract me.

"Come on Bear. I know something's wrong. I thought the days of secrets between us were over?" I said playing him just right. He was silent for a minute then decided to speak.

"I don't deserve you," he said sounding so serious.

"Well no duh big guy, but you mean I don't deserve you. We make it work though even though you have lowered your standards," I said in a kind of joking manner.

"It's not funny Trey," he said forcefully which made me pause. "Why do you put yourself down so much when you clearly are the superior one in our relationship?" he asked and I was so confused. Didn't he realize how wonderful he was.

"Bear I'm not superior to you," I tried to convince him but he wasn't having it.

"Trey I am so far out of your league that it's not even funny. You are SO smart that it scares me. For you to be so smart and me to not be anywhere near that makes me feel so inferior," he said and he was serious which was blowing my mind because this guy didn't know what he was talking about.

"Bear I think we both need to realize that neither of us is too good for the other. I need to do that and you need to do that now. We both have qualities about us that make the other feel inferior, but we're supposed to be proud of those qualities. I should feel proud that I have such a big, strong, athletically gifted guy and you should feel proud that you have a smart guy like me," I said with a smile.

"Nice self compliment there," Bear replied with his signature grin that made me weak in the knees.

"Thank you, it's a gift," I said

We stood there for a minute just looking into each other's eyes. I loved doing that because I could see so much of him when I did that and it made me feel loved that he would allow me to see the depths of him with no hesitation or resistance. He then gave me a quick kiss before he took off for his next class. The PDAs weren't worrying me as much anymore but I did see a couple of guys glaring at me when I looked around after he left, but I decided to ignore them.

************ *MARCH

March started out okay I guess. Zane had finally started talking to me like we used to around February but he was still sort of reserved. That changed completely by March when he told me that it was time for operation get Nicole back.

This call from him happened to come while Bear and I were engaged in a pretty heavy naked make-out session. He bluntly told me to get my ass up off a Bear's dick and meet him at the park. I asked him what made him think Bear was even there and he responded by telling me he knew I was supposedly home alone and that he could tell by the heavy breathing I was doing that I was engaged in sexual activity.

I told him to kiss my ass and he asked me if I wasn't satisfied with Bear doing it. Bear heard this and laughed before I could stop him and I could hear the "I told you so" in Zane's voice as he again told me to get my ass up off old Bear's dick and meet him at the park. I vowed to punish him for that.

Bear and I got dressed and headed for the park, but when we got there I found not my brother but Nicole. I was thinking of things to do to my brother to torture him but then he texted me and told me to get to work. I asked where he was and he said he was watching me.

Bear and I walked up to Nicole. She looked at us and first was shocked then she looked pissed at Bear before finally looking at me with pity. I didn't want her pity but I didn't comment. I just sat down at the table she was at and Bear took a seat on the other side.

"Hey," I said tentatively.

"What did you want to see me about?" she asked and I looked confused as did Bear.

"Um, what do you mean?" I asked in return.

"I mean why did you ask to meet me here... and you have no idea what I'm talking about do you?" she asked and our clueless expressions must have tipped her off to something. "Zane did this I bet," she said then started to stand, to leave I guess.

"Wait, let's talk," I said deciding to go ahead and try to patch things up between them.

"Before you start I'm pretty sure I can figure out what's up here. Your brother guilted you into coming here to get us back together. I have no desire to patch things up with a homophobic gay-basher," she said and I was about to speak when I remembered the guy from my brother's dorm who had definitely flirted with me.

That guy, Marty, was definitely gay and my brother's neighbor said he was friends with Nicole so I wondered if this was the cause of her reaction to this news about Zane. If he would do what he did to his own brother, what would he do to her friend.

"Marty," I said simply and she looked shocked for a moment.

"How do you know about him?" she asked.

"Well I saw him a few months ago and he flirted with me," I said and Bear snorted angrily. I cut him a look and he looked apologetic for it.

"Yeah he does that. I've told him to watch that stuff because one of these days the guy was gonna be pissed and kick his ass or worse. He said he can tell a gay guy from a straight guy and that he'd be fine," she said sounding a bit annoyed but also worried about her friend.

"Yeah I can relate to having a friend that thinks he knows everything," I replied thinking of Sean, although Sean wasn't gay. Then I thought about it and it was weird that Sean and Marty had a slight resemblance to each other.

"Yeah, but I worry about him and that's why I can't trust your brother. Marty means a great deal to me and knowing what Zane did to his own brother makes me nervous about when he finds out about Marty," she said and I could agree with her but she didn't have all the facts.

"Zane didn't guilt me into coming here. We actually kind of made up back in December and he asked me to help him patch things up with you. There are things that happened that you don't know and I hope you two talk about but I will say that you are the first girl that I have seen my brother be so invested in so I think you two should try to work things out," I said hoping she would listen.

"I don't know," she said unsure.

"Look I know how difficult it could be to forgive Zane for what he did. He did this to Trey and Trey has for the most part forgiven him and I'm working on doing the same because even though he hurt the guy I love very much, to hear his reasoning behind why he snapped like that made me seriously think," Bear said and I couldn't help the prideful smile that broke out on my face. My big Bear was such a wonderful guy.

"Wow you two really are the real deal, huh," she said looking at us. I guess sometimes we got distracted with the long gazes.

Bear smiled a huge smile and I knew I wasn't gonna like what he said. "He put a ring on it," he said with a huge grin as he showed Nicole the ring. She grabbed his huge hand and looked at the ring like most women did when they saw an engagement ring.

"That's a great ring, but I guess I would have thought that, you know..." she said trailing off likely trying not to sound insulting but I knew what she was inferring and wasn't insulted by it at all but I didn't tell her that.

She told us about how her and Zane had met in class and Zane had told her that he liked her that first day and that they were gonna be a couple. She was naturally resistant but he has worn her down and won her over.

She told me that she thought that she loved him but she was unsure of how to progress going forward. I told her that I thought that he was genuine with regards to his effort to accept that I was gay and that it wasn't gonna change. She said she'd just have to talk to him to see how things went.

Bear and I got up to leave and she surprised us by hugging each of us. Bear then spilled the beans about Zane lurking around here somewhere and she said she wasn't that surprised judging by what she already knew about him. We left and as we walked away I sent Zane a text that he could come over and talk to her and he thanked me and said he loved me which brought a smile to my face.

It was spring break and we decided we wouldn't do anything special. We were supposed to be having a party at Sean's place later that week and we were at my place making plans for what we would do. Sean wanted us to have a costume party which I thought was lame but that's what he wanted.

They had just arrived and were talking when Jessica's nose zeroed in on the smell of fresh baked goods. My mother had been up all night baking pies and other pastries for some charity event that she and April did. She walked into the kitchen and turned into Homer Simpson.

"Pie," she said with wide eyes as she make Homer's famous drooling sound.

"Whoa, that's a lot of pie. Is your mom opening a bakery or something?" Veronica asked.

"Naw she's doing this for some charity event with Bear's mom," I told them.

"Wow that's so awesome," Justice said then walked over and sniffed one of the blueberry pies hard.

"Justice stop getting snot all over the pies," Veronica said singling Justice out even though I was pretty sure Jessica was drooling over a tray of apple pastries my mother had made.

"I'll have you know I've never snotted over anything," Justice said, incensed.

"Yeah whatever," Veronica said dismissively. They really got into bickering lately. I went to the fridge to get Jessica a slice of pie that mom made for me before she drooled over everything, or her eyes popped out from being opened so wide. I gave it to her and she actually licked the whole pie so I just gave it to her.

"Hey dude you just gonna let Jess do that?" Sean asked but I just shrugged because I had hidden two more of the pies and the apple cake that mom had made. She made another when I lied and said I saw Zane sneak it out of the house when he left the night before. I helped her though because I felt guilty.

We all talked about the party and Jessica stuffed her face with my pecan pie. I looked longingly at it but she just smiled and kissed the piece she had on her fork before she continued eating.

We decided that we weren't gonna do the costume party, for this time at least and Justice said it was just as well because Veronica's costume was a disaster waiting to happen. Veronica then said that Justice's hair was a disaster that had already happened. Sean tried to mediate between his girlfriend and his cousin unsuccessfully.

They went back and forth and I also tried to make them shut up because they were giving me a headache. The next thing I knew Justice had picked up one of the cream pies and flung it at Veronica and we all stared at her stunned.

"I cannot believe you did that," Veronica said wiping the pie off of her face.

"Wow Veronica that's a good costume for you," Justice said smugly. Then Veronica moved quickly before I could stop her and picked up a blueberry pie and flung it at Justice hitting her square in the face.

"Oh! You stupid bitch," Justice said before she picked up another pie and flung it at Veronica again but Veronica jumped behind Jessica and she got the brunt of the pie.

"What the fucking hell Justice?!" Jessica exclaimed. She then picked up a pie and threw it at Justice who pulled Sean in front of her and he got the pie to the chest.

Then he picked up one as did the girls and I jumped in and tried to stop them before they ruined all the pies but that was a mistake because I got hit by four thrown pies. I don't know what happened then as I was pissed that I was covered in 4 pies and my friends were messing up my mom's kitchen and her hard work.

I didn't consider that I was about to do the same as I threw one at each of them and it turned into a mass pastry war. There was pie and pastries flung all around the kitchen but Jessica was trying to eat the stuff as she was throwing it. It ceased being so malicious but that didn't end the war.

"What the hell!?" I heard my mom shout which stopped all the flinging pie.

"Um hey Mama," I said trying to diffuse the potentially volatile situation.

"Are you all crazy?! What the hell happened in here?!" Mom asked loudly.

"Uh, Mrs. Healey, this isn't what it looks like," Justice said trying to calm the situation.

"Really Justice? You mean it isn't the fact that my kitchen is a mess and all the pies I stayed up all night baking for that dammed charity event are ruined?"

"What the fu- I mean hell is this?" Bear asked walking into the kitchen, his booming voice echoing around the room.

"Mrs. Healey, I think-" Jessica started, but was interrupted.

"Girl, I wouldn't," Mom warned.

"Come on Mama don't you think you're overreacting?" I asked and regretted it immediately.

"Boy don't you even try to downplay this. Now I want all 5 of you to clean up this kitchen NOW!" Mom ordered and then started out of the kitchen.

"Don't worry Mrs. H. I'll be sure they clean it up to spotless," Bear said kissing up hard and I gave him the stink eye and he frowned at me in return.

"Thank you Bear. At least one of you is a good kid," Mom said and then had the nerve to kiss his cheek. She then turned to glare at us again before departing the kitchen.

"Thanks a lot you two. This is all your faults," Jessica said talking to Veronica and Justice which was the truth.

"Me, this is all her fault," Veronica responded referring to Justice.

"My fault. If you weren't so-" Justice countered but then her and Veronica went back and forth bickering again. Sean made the mistake of jumping into it.

"Well it was kind of your fault babe" Sean said which was the wrong thing to say.

"What!? How are you gonna take her side. I'm your girlfriend," Justice said.

"Well I'm his cousin," Veronica responded.

"So what?" Justice asked.

"So I've been his cousin a lot longer than you've been his girlfriend," Veronica said.

"Alright that's enough dammit! Stop all this back and forth and clean up this dammed kitchen, now!" Bear ordered and was he serious?

"Ooh dude, that was a mistake. You just order 3 girls, not to mention your fiancée to do something. That's not a wise thing to do," Sean said as I glared at him and I noticed the girls were as well.

"Does it look like I'm scared?" Bear asked in a low snarl as he slammed his hands down on the counter.

"I think we better start on the kitchen," Justice said.

"Yeah you're right. I suddenly feel like cleaning up a kitchen," Veronica seconded.

"Ooh yeah, nothing like cleaning on spring break" Jessica said and they started to move along with Sean to clean up but I was distracted and mesmerized by the gorgeous hunk of man standing not that far from me.

Bear was so hot standing there barking orders at everyone that I just couldn't help staring at him or stop the woody that was forming. I looked at him and he looked at me and I knew he was thinking the same thing because I saw his eyes glaze over and the corner of his mouth quirk up a bit. The moment was dashed however when I was hit in the face with more pie.

"Stop flirting with Bear and help us clean up," Veronica said.

"I know you didn't just do that," I said in a low tone.

"Yup," she replied. I jumped at her, but Bear was there grabbing me up before I knew it.

"Don't think I won't hit a girl," I warned.

"Really, because your pissed off mother is right in there. I can just go in there and tell her you just threatened to hit a girl," Veronica said smugly which dashed cold water on my white hot fury... well it was really only lukewarm to start.

"I'll be good," I said humbly.

"Will you be good?" Bear asked still holding me under his right arm like it was nothing.

"I'll be so good," I said as I smiled sexily at him and he set me back down on the floor and surprised me by licking my face from the bottom of my jawline up to my temple, licking up the pie left on my face. It sent shivers all over me and I heard at least two loud gulps from elsewhere in the room.

"You were right, you're definitely good. Now get to work," he said, swatting my butt with a bit of force as he finished.

We got to work and Veronica and Justice worked surprisingly well together. Sean took a finger and gathered up a bit of the cream pie still on my shirt and put it in his mouth and exaggerated "Mmm" which he aimed at Bear. Bear responded by tripping Sean who landed flat on his back in a pile a pie.

Sean retaliated by taking off his shirt and deciding to work awfully close to me. I was kind of weirded out by the fact that Justice didn't object but rather was eyeing Sean very intently. Bear gave Sean a look that I couldn't decipher but it made Sean step up off me quickly enough and get back to work.

It was Monday the week after the end of spring break and a lot of the students were still dragging after partying all last week. Sean's party lasted all weekend with his parents away and Alex staying at my place. I abstained from alcohol but my fellow school mates didn't do so. A lot of the people at school were like I said dragging, especially my friends and fiancée.

I was fine though and took delight in being bright and alert while the others were hungover and bleary-eyed. I made it a point to mess with them, especially Bear all day Monday until they started ignoring me and avoiding me.

I admit that I probably shouldn't have done that because it left me wide open for surprise. I was walking down the hall when I saw Drake standing in my path with a smirk on his face.

"What is it now Drake?" I asked tired of his bullshit.

"Today's the day fag," was all he said.

"The day for what?" I asked but he was silent. He just started walking toward me with that creepy smirk on his face. I backed up and he changed his direction forcing me to back up into the alcove at the entrance.

It was at this point that I realized that the halls were mostly empty except for a few people... who I realized were Drake's teammates. They then joined him in backing me up into the alcove.

"Now I know you didn't think that you'd get away with what you did to me, did you?" he asked with anger on his face.

"Look dude I was pissed and you were pissing me off even more and-" I said but he cut in.

"I don't wanna hear your stupid backtracking. You were bold before so stand for what you said and don't be a little bitch," he said walking toward me.

"Fuck you," I said and before I could register it he slammed his fist into my gut and I flashed back to Zane and I dropped to the floor. I couldn't stop it but I heard myself saying "no don't" as I curled up into a ball.

"What the fuck? Man you really are pathetic," Drake said. I saw him draw back to kick me and I knew it was about to happen again, only I likely wouldn't survive this time with 6 guys instead of one.

The kick never came though as I opened my eyes which I had shut tightly and saw Drake being slammed into one of his teammates. I looked up and saw that it was Carter who had done this. Two others came after him and one grabbed him while the other tried to hit him but he used the one holding him as leverage to raise his feet up and kick the other guy. Then he used his greater weight to break free and punch the guy who was holding him in the gut.

The last 2 helped the rest up and they took off. Drake being last he glared at the two of us before he too booked it. Carter then came to help me up and I just couldn't deal so I took off. I ran to the boys restroom and looked at my terrified expression in the mirror. I could see that day in my mind's eye and I hated that I was so weak that I couldn't forget it.

"Trey are you okay?" Carter asked as he came into the restroom and startled me.

"No I'm not okay. What the fuck is his problem? Why won't he leave me alone?" I asked getting more and more pissed off.

"It's gonna be okay," Carter said trying to reassure me.

"No it's not Carter," I said harshly not willing to listen because I was so pissed that Drake wouldn't let this drop.

"I know Trey, I get it," Carter tried again but again he was wrong.

"No you don't get it. You aren't out," I said more harshly than I intended to.

"I know Trey. It's bastards like Drake that make me not want to come out. I know that people don't wanna accept that a guy might be gay. Guys on my own team are like that and that's why I don't want to be out. It sucks that you are though and guys like Drake won't let it die," he said and his words cooled my anger.

"I'm sorry I snapped at you. It's not your fault that Drake is a major douchebag," I said and Carter chuckled and I joined him after a second.

I told him exactly how Drake had discovered me and Bear and what had happened with Liberty. He told me that he had known that he was possibly gay ever since he was 14. That he had become sure over the previous summer. He said he was worried about every one in his life, but especially his father finding out.

I told him I had the same worries and that my father was possibly my biggest supporter among my family members. I thought about him and smiled as that was truly a pleasant surprise in all of this. He didn't usually shy away from talking about the serious stuff involved with having a gay son and I loved him for it. I told this to Carter and I hoped that he had a similar experience whenever he decided to come out to his family.

The next day I stopped by to pick up Jessica and Justice as Justice's dad was having her car, which was his old car detailed that day. I had asked Justice one day if her parents didn't think it was weird that they both went to the same school now but they took separate cars and she said they did talk to them about it but neither of them spoke much about it so they just let it be.

We arrived at school and walked in and immediately I knew that something was wrong. I don't know why but I just felt it. I then saw Drake and he looked at us and smiled a sinister smile as he walked toward us. "What the hell do you want? Isn't it enough that I have to see you at my house, now I have to see you at school too?" Justice said.

"This is my school Justice. If you don't like my face, you can return to your stuck up little geek factory," Drake said smugly.

"Leave me alone Drake. I don't have time for you," I said as I started to walk away but he stopped me.

"Hold up Trey. I think you want to stay right where you are," he said then one of his teammates handed him a speaker which he hooked up to his iPhone to amplify the sound. "Every one, can I have your attention please," Drake said loudly as he walked into the alcove.

"What are you up to Drake?" Bear said harshly as he and Sean walked up.

"Bear you're just in time. I have some interesting information for everyone and I wouldn't want you to miss hearing it first," he said and I was very wary of what he was up to.

"What's going on?" Veronica asked walking up with, surprisingly, Carter pulling up the rear.

"Carter the superhero, it's perfect timing. Wow I didn't think I'd get you all here," Drake said.

"What are you doing man? Why are you such a jackass?" Sean asked.

"Because he was born that way," Justice added and the two of them laughed and high-fived each other.

"Real cute but you won't be high-fiving after this," Drake said then hit a button on the speaker and then did something with his phone.

I heard my voice come over the speaker and was confused for a second before my heart dropped into my stomach. "It's gonna be okay," I heard Carter's voice. I knew that it was from the day before in the boy's restroom.

"No it's not Carter," I heard myself say and it made me remember that feeling.

"I know Trey, I get it," Carter said and I knew what was coming next but I couldn't move to stop it and as I looked at him neither could Carter.

"No you don't get it. You aren't out," I heard myself say and I truly hated Drake. I hated myself more though because I didn't think to check the bathroom before saying that. Drake must have retreated to the bathroom and when he heard us he started recording in hopes of getting something incriminating.

"I know Trey. It's bastards like Drake that make me not want to come out. I know that people don't wanna accept that a guy might be gay. Guys on my own team are like that and that's why I don't want to be out. It sucks that you are though and guys like Drake won't let it die," Carter's voice said and it had the opposite effect that it did the day before and it ignited my anger.

"There you have it folks. Carter Matthews, big butch football player is a fag, and for those of you keeping count, that's two football jocks now that have gotten close to Trey Healey that have been revealed as a fag. So you fellas should ask yourselves... do I wanna go from straight to a cocksucker?" Drake said proudly and I wanted to truly hurt him.

What I wondered even more was that how could Liberty continue to stay with someone like this? He had nearly destroyed my life and now he was aiming to do the same to Carter. I looked at Carter and he looked sick. He then took off out of the school and then came Dr. Meadows.

"Franklin, Healey, to my office now!" he demanded.

I was so pissed off that I was afraid that I would explode. It was one thing to have to listen as Drake outed a, I guess friend, of mine, but then I had to sit in that office and listen to Drake tell all kinds of lies. It was in one way fortunate that Dr. Meadows didn't buy any of his crap. On the other hand he blamed me for this fiasco too.

He had the nerve to tell me that my "lifestyle" was disrupting his school. I told him that I doubted that I was the only gay kid at this school as it was just proven. He then told me that they had the good sense to hide it and Drake laughed.

I told him that I would have been more than happy to hide it and that I was doing just that but Drake ended that and he laughed again but stopped when Dr. Meadows glared at him and told him that he had detention for the next month on Saturdays. Drake didn't like that and he glared at me as Dr. Meadows pronounced that Bear and I weren't to be seen performing any acts of PDA and Drake snickered. I told him that the straight couples were doing it too. I then told him that he probably wouldn't want it to get out that he was discriminating against his LGBT students and that shut him up and pissed off Drake too.

He sent us off with the warning that there better not be any trouble between Drake and any of my friends or we would all be suspended. He made sure that I knew that he knew who my friends were and he was indeed correct. I got up and stormed out and Drake came behind me but I was already halfway down the hall before I looked back and saw him coming out of the office.

I went to my locker and I was conflicted to see Bear and my friends there waiting since we had been in Dr. Meadows' office all of homeroom period. They looked at me but especially Bear looked at me.

"What did he say?" Jessica asked. I told them all about what he had said and they were predictably pissed.

"Who the hell does he think he is?" Sean asked and that was the general consensus.

"How long have you known that Carter was gay?" Bear asked out of the blue and that seemed like a good question because everyone looked at me wondering as well. I stalled for a few seconds before I finally just spilled it.

"I found out while we were separated by your dad," I said to Bear.

"That long? Trey how could you keep this from me?" Bear asked and while I understand that he was mad that I had kept this from him I wasn't in the mood for it.

"Bear I had my reasons, now please drop it?" I asked as politely as I could.

"What reasons. Why would you keep this from me?" Bear asked but this time his voice had an edge that pissed me off.

"Bear dude, maybe you guys should talk later," Sean said likely trying to cool down an intense situation.

"No Sean, I think Bear wants to speak," I said glaring at him.

"Trey, maybe you should-" Jessica tried but I cut her off.

"Stay out of this," I snapped at her not meaning to but I was a bundle of emotions these days and I found it hard to control my mood swings of late.

"Don't get mad at her because you were keeping secrets from me. You know I never thought I'd say this but Drake was right. You can't tell the truth to save your life," he said and he couldn't have said anything more hurtful to me in that moment. I guess he realized it because he got a regretful look on his face and took a step toward me but I stepped back.

"How could you say something like that to me, especially today of all days," I said my voice really raising. I was aware we were drawing attention to ourselves but I didn't really care at that moment.

"Trey I'm sorry," Bear said calmly likely trying to appease me but I wasn't having it.

"No you're not sorry. Nevermind the fact that it wasn't any of your dammed business or anybody else's for that matter that Carter was gay, but that's not even what you're pissed about," I spat angrily.

"Trey honey, of course it is," Justice said coming to his defense but that huge jackass could take care of himself.

"No it's not is it Bear? You don't wanna know why I kept Carter's secret a secret. You wanna know if I'm fucking him, don't you?" I asked much too loud as I'm sure almost everyone around us in the hall had heard me.

"Trey..." was all he said and that was enough for me. I turned and started to walk away but he grabbed my arm. I looked at it and then at him and he flinched back as if I had hit him. He let me go and I stalked away.

I had avoided Bear and everyone else for the rest of the day but I did run into Carter. People were talking about him all day and were looking at me. It was like they were listening to what Drake had said because guys were suddenly giving me a wide berth.

I hated, I mean truly hated Drake at that point. I mean what kind of person could be so heartless as to spread potentially deadly information about people around? I just couldn't figure out what was his deal that he felt the need to hurt me. Now he was hurting Carter just to hurt me too.

Carter was quiet when I found him out on the secluded part of the field that people rarely went to. I sat down and was quiet with him for a minute. Then I don't know what came over me but I took his hand in mine and held it. I didn't think he would let me but he did.

"This is the first time I've held hands with a guy. It feels different, but good," he said then sighed.

"You think that's good wait until you feel a real man's hand," I said with a wink.

"I think the hand I have is manly enough. You don't think a lot of yourself do you?" he asked so bluntly that it cut deep.

"I guess I don't and I don't really know why. Nobody ever told me that I wasn't good enough. I wasn't verbally abused or anything, so I don't know why exactly," I said truthfully.

"I get it. You probably hated yourself for something you couldn't control for so long that it's hard to like yourself and think about yourself in a good light," he said reading me like a book.

"Is that how you felt?" I asked thinking he had read me too well.

"Not felt, it's how I feel. I find it kind of hard to like myself sometimes," he said sounding kind of distant.

"Yeah," I said sounding distant myself.

"I heard that you told Bear you were fucking me," he said with a mischievous smirk.

"No I didn't. I asked him if he thought I was fucking you," I said correcting the rumor mill.

"Well I have to say that the thought has crossed my mind," he said with a wistful smile.

"Yeah well I would love to but I happen to be engaged to an giant jackass jock," I said still pissed he would think such a thing even though he never said so out loud.

"Not to mention that you love him," he said with a small smile.

"Yeah, yeah, whatever..." I said before trailing off into some muttering.

He went on to tell me that he worried about his dad finding out. I pointed out that his dad didn't have to know just because he was out at school but he said his cousin was a freshman here and that he had a big mouth. I offered to occupy his mouth and that got a jolly laugh out of Carter.

I found that I liked talking to him. He wasn't the extroverted jubilant type of guy that Sean was, or the fun-loving outgoing guy that Bear was. He was more introverted like me and I liked that. I also liked it because while he was like me in some ways, I liked to talk and he seemed like a good listener. A guy of few words but that his words would hold substance.

I didn't see any of the gang for the rest of the day but I did make plans to hang out with Carter that weekend. I was sleeping when something told me to wake up. When I opened my eyes I heard something tapping on my window. I ignored it at first but then it grew more insistent.

I was worried, for about 5 seconds before I realized that I was on the second floor and there was no trees or anything outside my window. I went to check anyway and when I pulled back the curtains there was a large person outside my window I jumped back and ran to get the bat I kept in the corner of my room.

I then thought of Drake and dropped the bat. It was stupid I know but I wanted nothing to do with anything that would remind me of Drake. I grabbed Bear's football trophy that he had given me the year before when he had won the championship and headed for the window. I pulled the curtain back and looked again and it was Bear.

"What the hell are you doing out there?" I hissed as I let up the window.

"Help me in," he said struggling to hold up.

"What the hell Bear? How did you get up here?" I asked as I looked a him.

"I climbed up the trellis and scaled along the moulding," he said like that was an everyday activity.

"What the hell? Are you Spider-Man or something?" I asked.

"No, I'm super in other areas though," he said smugly. I thought about closing the window but decided that we needed to talk. I helped him in through the window and he sat down on my bed to rest. He was likely tired from lugging that big body of his up the side of a house.

"What are you doing here at... 2:17 am?" I asked after looking at my clock. I didn't think it was so late when I woke up.

"I couldn't sleep without seeing you. I feel horrible about how things were left with us," he said looking so humble that I almost dissolved into mush. I managed to hide that though.

"You could have waited until morning Bear," I said steeling myself against his good looks.

"No I couldn't. Seeing your angry pissed off look today hurt me. I knew I had fucked up with mentioning something that jackass Drake had said. I just couldn't believe that you knew that Carter was gay and didn't tell me all this time," he said and I know he was trying to apologize but I could still hear the accusation in his voice, intended or not.

"Bear I'm sorry I didn't tell you but it wasn't any of your business until Carter decided to tell you. You know how hard it was for me to come out with the truth, so imagine that for him being a jock," I said hoping to get through to him and cut through his obvious jealousy.

"I do get that baby. I may not be gay, as you keep saying, but I'm at least bi leaning towards gay, so I do get the whole gay jock thing," he said and I didn't fight him on it.

"I'm sorry I went crazy on you. I was not having a good day what with Drake and then that jackass Dr. Meadows," I said and he just smiled and nodded.

"Apology accepted and I hope you accept mine, because I can't stand having you mad at me," he said ending with a slight pout that totally won me over.

"Okay," I said. "Bear, I want you to do something for me," I said as I took ahold of his big hands.

"What would that be?" he asked while pulling me towards him and trapping me with his legs and aiming that irresistible grin of his at me.

"I want you to be nice to Carter. He's one of us now, he's family," I said with conviction. I did want to be there for Carter, especially if he wasn't fortunate like I was in the father department.

"Yeah he's part of the `Outed by Drake Franklin club'," he said sardonically.

"I wonder what our club t-shirt should be?" I asked jokingly.

"A huge boot kicking Drake off of a cliff," Bear replied and I liked it.

"Or someone shoving a huge dildo up his ass," I said and Bear smiled sinisterly.

"Ooh I like that one. When did my boy get so evil?" Bear asked.

"I'm just a product of my experiences big guy," I said and I didn't like how jaded I sounded. Apparently Bear didn't either because he looked sad then pissed off. He hid it quick enough though.

He pulled off his shirt and got into my bed and pulled me down with him. I thought to ask what he was doing and didn't he have to get back home before his parents got up but decided against it and just climbed into bed with him. He pulled me toward him and wrapped me up in his arms spoon-style and it felt incredible. I fell back asleep quickly enough feeling so safe in his arms.

************ APRIL*

LIBERTY'S POV

What was I doing with my life. Here I was sitting and watching my boyfriend talk and carry on with his friends while I was bored out of my mind. Furthermore I hated myself. I was here while the people who used to be my friends were on the other side of the cafeteria.

It was lunch obviously and I saw that Trey still had second lunch. I would have figured he would have done everything to get that changed so he could be with Bear.

That was one thing I still couldn't figure out. Bear was a vagina hound of the highest order and now he was totally into a guy, going so far as to publicly kiss him. That was really crazy, especially having to see it.

I just couldn't get over the fact that Trey was gay. Bear being gay was astounding to say the least but Trey was... I don't know how to explain it. I guess there had been signs with how close those two were and had been ever since I had known them. Then there was the fact that Trey had never dated anyone, as far as I knew anyway.

That day almost 6 months ago was a huge shock, and things afterwards happened so quickly that I couldn't get a grasp on it. I was so angry that Trey was gay and that he didn't tell me that I walked away from him. It was one of the things that still plagued me.

Then there was the way that Drake had went about trying to destroy Trey. I had deep down known that he really didn't like him but I guess in one way I couldn't see how anyone could hate Trey and so I just put it out of my mind. I was also blinded by my feelings for Drake to the point that I overlooked the signs that he hated Trey.

The way he maliciously outed Trey was one thing but then the lies he told about Bear to his dad and then students at school were enough to make me not like Drake very much. Now here we were and he had yet again outed someone and I just couldn't take it anymore.

"So babe, what do ya say that we get together tonight and... do that dance we do?" Drake asked thinking he was being sexy but in reality he was pissing me off.

"I can't, I'm busy," I said in a disinterested tone.

"Oh come on, you're always busy. Whenever I want us to spend time together, you're busy," he said sounding exasperated, but I found myself not really caring.

"Yeah well," I said dismissively.

"Look, I want us to spend some quality time together," he said and he was really pissing me off just by being near me at the moment.

"No what you really mean is you want us to fuck tonight," I snapped before I knew it. I was just thankful that we were relatively alone then and that I hadn't said it too loudly.

"Wow, what's stuck in your craw?" he asked with a frown.

"Nothing, I just have some things on my mind. I'm just gonna go," I said getting up and gathering my garbage to throw away.

"Well I'll see you later then," he said then tried to kiss me, but I turned my head and he kissed my cheek instead. I looked over at Bear and the others before I left the cafeteria.

I was sitting outside on Saturday of that week avoiding my cell phone. Drake had been calling but I just couldn't talk to him right then feeling the way I was feeling. I had hoped the feeling would pass but I just couldn't get past everything he had done.

"What're you doing out here?" Justice asked as she walked out of the door. She was likely heading over to Sean's as I had overheard her talking to him earlier. That was another relationship that had surprised me, but nowhere near as much as Trey and Bear.

"Just sitting outside now that it's not so cold," I said even though that wasn't the truth.

"Well your phone was ringing for like the 5th time so I answered it, and your jackass boyfriend said he'd be over in a little while," she said sounding so disgusted with Drake.

"Yeah..." I said with a sigh.

"What, no witty remark? No defending your asshole of a boyfriend?" Justice asked as whenever she or anybody had said something abut Drake before I would have indeed defended him.

"Hm," was all I said.

"Well I'm out of here because I definitely don't want to be here when `Sir Jackass' arrives," Justice said and then headed for her car. I knew that she hated Drake, even before any of this stuff had happened. I should have listened to her as she was always smarter than me.

I sat there thinking of how I had gotten to this place in my life. I had turned my back on my oldest friends for a guy who didn't even care about anyone else's feelings aside from his own. I was now stuck with him because I couldn't just leave him because what was left for me?

Then there was the fact that I still remembered the cuts on Trey's face. Jessica hinted that something had happened to him and he had confirmed that indeed his brother had done something. It hurt to know that I couldn't be there for him but I just couldn't get over Trey being gay.

I looked up and saw Jessica come out of her house and go to the mailbox. She got the mail and was headed back toward her house when she looked over and saw me looking at her. She stared for a minute and then headed for her house again. I dropped my head and started to remember what it used to be like. I was so far in my thoughts that the sound of someone talking startled me.

"What?!" I said as I jumped at the sound of the voice that I discovered belonged to Jessica.

"I said you look awfully down," she said and while there wasn't any animosity in her voice, there was no friendliness there.

"Yeah," I said. I found that I didn't talk as much lately. I guess since I only had Drake now I had nothing really to say.

"Where's... Drake? Shouldn't you be with him?" she asked even though I knew she couldn't care less about Drake. I decided to hit her before her walls against me went up.

"What happened to Trey?" I asked and I could tell that I had startled her.

"What do you mean?" she asked obviously trying to stall.

"What happened to Trey?" I repeated the question.

"I already told you not to worry about it," she said with a slightly bitter tone so I guess the cordial part of our conversation was over.

"Well I am worried so tell me," I demanded.

"Are you ordering me?" Jessica asked and I guess I deserved her ire.

"Please Jessica, just tell me what happened," I asked more humbly this time. She looked at me with a hard stare for a full minute and I met her stare.

She finally took out her cell phone and I was wondering if she was about to call Trey to ask his permission. She instead pulled up something on her phone and handed the phone to me. I hesitantly took the phone and what I saw both sickened and enraged me.

I scrolled through the pictures until I came to the end and in those pictures was a person who looked like Trey. That person in those pictures though had a bruised, swollen, and bloody face. He had a torso that was all kinds of shades of purple and red. I couldn't fathom what kind of monster could do this to Trey.

"Your boyfriend caused that you know," she said finally.

"How is he not dead?" I asked in a stunned whisper.

"We thought he was," she said kind of quietly as she took a seat next to me on the bench I was sitting on.

She then did what I had asked, but came to regret doing so. She told me everything that had happened that day after Drake and I had left. I listened in horror and anger at the things I had heard and I have to say one good thing happened. I saw my sister in a new light. She had defended Trey like I should have. I was his best friend but she had done what needed to be done.

One other thing that happened was that I became even more ashamed of myself for what I had done. For walking out on my best friend with the guy who had revealed his deepest secret to his family. I had stayed with him all this time while knowing what he had done to Trey and Bear. Jessica then decided to tell me about how she had found out about Trey and Bear.

Hearing how things happened from her point of view was okay for the moment but I should have heard this from Trey. I knew though that he probably didn't want to talk to me and that thought hurt but I deserved it.

"Will things ever be the same again?" I asked Jessica.

"No," she said simply and I knew she was right. She stood and looked at me and after a few seconds started to walk away, but then she stopped and turned back towards me. "That doesn't mean that something new can't be formed," she said wisely. Then she really did walk away and that gave me something to think about.

I must have been crazy, but I had to try something. Here I was sitting outside Bear's house and his truck was right there. Trey could have been in there with him at that moment, but I just couldn't wait. I had to talk to him to get a closer perspective on things.

I finally got up the courage to get out and walk up to the door. I rang the bell and his sister opened the door. I hadn't seen her for a while and she had grown. It also seemed she had been told of the rift between the others and me if the cold look that came over her face as she saw it was me was any indication.

"Hey Stephanie, is Bear home?" I asked. She looked me up and down for a full minute in a harsh manner before she spoke.

"Yeah sure, I'll get him," she said in a cold tone and turned to leave me there without another word. I have to admit the cold shoulder was particularly chilly.

"I have to say that I thought Steph was joking, but here you are," Bear said as he arrived at the door. He looked at me with such contempt that I definitely wasn't used to. This big guy had been in my life just as long as Trey and now standing there before his massive frame was intimidating.

"Hey Bear, how are you?" I asked nervously. I had no idea what was wrong with me. Suddenly being near Bear was strange as I was seeing him in a way that I hadn't before and I became pissed at Trey again. This sudden realization was startling.

"What do you want Liberty?" he asked and I was at a loss for words. I couldn't think of anything to say.

"Um, well..." I tried.

"I haven't see you up close nor heard from you in five months, but now you've showed up all of a sudden. Why are you here?" he asked again and again I was speechless. After about a minute of silence between us, with him glaring at me and me trying to think of something to say I finally decided to just say the first thing that came to my mind.

"Have you always been this hot?" I blurted and I'm sure I would have been blushing if my skin color was lighter.

"What now?" Bear asked with a look of confusion on his beautiful face. I just couldn't understand what was happening to me.

"I-I'm gonna go now," I said as I turned and tried to walk away.

"Trey misses you," he said and I stopped and turned back to him. It was a mistake though because from where I was standing I got a full view of him. What he said though shut down whatever bizarre feelings I was having.

"He does?" I asked and he looked at me for a few seconds before sighing. He opened his door and extended his hand in invitation to come in. I hesitantly went in and he led us to the living room where we took a seat, sitting across from each other.

"He tries to hide it from me but he does. Almost every eventful thing that comes up reminds him that you aren't there and it hurts him. Aside from his family, we were the two most important people in his lives Liberty," he said and I was thankful that he was being honest, but also calm.

"I know that Bear. He was very important to me too," I said hoping he believed me because it was true.

"You didn't act like it. We were there before anything that came after us existed. He had always been there for us in a big way. Do you remember how he always did what we wanted even if he didn't agree with it or it scared him?" he asked and I did.

"I remember that you talked him into climbing that tree that he fell out of," I said remembering how scared I was that day.

"Well I remember you telling him that he didn't wanna get shown up by a girl and that he should follow us," he said and while I did remember that I wasn't gonna give him the satisfaction.

"Yeah whatever," I said dismissively.

"My point is that he genuinely cares about people. He even cared about Drake and we see where that got him. He cares about Carter even though he barely knows him," Bear said and I knew he was right. I had always known that Trey was a caring guy.

"Yeah I heard about that whole Carter thing," I said feeling like it was partly my fault because I was with Drake, even though that had nothing to do with his behavior.

"I'm just surprised Liberty. Why would you stick by Drake as he did the things he's done?" Bear asked and the question hurt not just because he asked but also because I could see the disappointment in his eyes.

"I love him, at least I did. I can't even stand to be around him these days though, especially with what he did to Carter," I said and I knew that he was probably thinking `why was Carter my breaking point and not him or Trey?'

"Well then what are you going to do about that? Just because you messed up Liberty doesn't mean you can't fix it," he said and I really hoped he was right.

"If I apologized to you, would you forgive me?" I asked because I really need to know before I tried with Trey.

"No, but try and let's see," he said with a slight smirk.

"I'm sorry about the way I behaved and how much I hurt Trey. I know he's as much a factor in this for you as anything and I'm sorry that I hurt him. Could you find it in your heart to forgive me?" I asked in as heartfelt a manner as possible.

"I'll try is all I can promise right now," he said honestly and I took it.

We talked for a little while and he told me what he had went through with his father and what Jessica and the others had tried to do to help him and Trey. I was impressed and saddened that I had missed helping them. I had missed so much. I had a lot of thinking to do

Well the day had arrived where I did what needed to be done. It was a week after I had talked to Jessica and Bear and I had made up my mind even though it hurt me to do so. I had called him and asked him to meet me at the park because I didn't want to do this at either of our houses.

I had been at the park for about an hour waiting on him to decide to come to meet me and I have to admit that it settled some things for me but I was still nervous about doing this. I saw him get out of his car and head towards me and I was really nervous now.

"Hey babe," Drake said as he reached me and leaned in to kiss me but I turned my head and he just got my cheek. I saw a weird look cross his face but he shrugged it off quick enough. "So what brings us here? I would have much rather us be alone at my place," he said and I had to stop myself from rolling my eyes.

"Yeah I know," I said feeling a bit uneasy with what I was about to do.

"What's up babe?" he asked as he looked at me. I guess he could tell something was up.

"I'm in love Trey," I finally said after a minute of silence. It was followed by another brief silence before he eyes grew cold and I knew I had gotten to him.

"I know that. Why do you think I tried to take you and Bear away from him?" he asked and it was just like Trey said.

"What did you say?" I asked to try and get more out of him.

"I hated that fucker from the moment I laid my eyes on him and I saw how much you and Bear adored him. That's why I had to take you two away from him, although had I known that either of them was a fag then, I would have outed them back then," he said with no remorse and I had my answer.

"Thank you Drake, now I have something to say. One; I lied about being in love with Trey. I used to think I was in love with him but after thinking about things I realized that it just wasn't true. Second; I'm breaking up with you," I said as I stood.

"What? You can't be serious?" he said like I was crazy to want to break up with him after all he had just said.

"Drake, I don't know what to make of you. I know that I loved you very much, but right now I can't even look at you, let alone touch you without becoming ill," I said, in all honesty and his face became twisted with anger.

"Are you fucking crazy? You're breaking up with me over a couple of fags?" he asked loudly.

"No, I'm breaking up with you because you are an evil human being who doesn't even care who he hurts. You don't care that you outed Bear and he had to go through hell with his father. You don't care that you outed Trey and his brother beat him up really badly. You don't care that you outed Carter and who knows what will happen to him," I said to him but just like I thought but hated to see he didn't care.

"So what, you're just gonna leave me and try to get back with people who dropped you just because you dared to have an opinion that was different than theirs?" he asked harshly and I just couldn't believe I could love someone as heartless as this boy.

"Of course nothing I said registered any reaction with you," I said getting tired of this conversation. I thought I could handle it but it made me look like such a fool that I wanted it to end.

"You think they're gonna take you back? You went against the all-important Trey and his subjects can't have that. They won't invite you back into the court of King Trey just because you dumped me, because you chose me over Trey and no matter what you do that will always be the case," he said and it saddened me because it was true, well that last part at least.

"You're right Drake but you know what? At least I can now say that I'm not with you any longer and feel good about that," I said and weirdly, hearing that brought a smile to my face.

"Do you think this is over? That I'm done with you?" he asked as he grabbed my wrist kind of tightly. I guess he though I was afraid but I really wasn't.

"Oh I know that I'm done with you, because trust me when I say that, you don't want to mess with me boy," I said as I looked into his eyes to make sure I conveyed the proper weight behind my words.

He looked at me for a minute before he let my wrist go. We then entered a stare-off which I won. I then smiled at him and walked to him and gave him one final kiss on his cheek before walking away. I was sad and happy to say that I was done with Drake Franklin.

TREY'S POV

"So what do you think about this?" Jessica asked as she held up yet another magazine. We were both at my locker after second period. It was the last week of April and I was happy that Junior year was almost over as I would have the whole summer with Bear... oh and my friends of course.

"It's a dress..." I said as I went back to looking in my locker. I couldn't remember what I had done with my Calculus book.

"Is that all you have to say? I swear I don't know why women go on about their `gay best friends' when to me they're completely useless."

"Well honey, I may be gay but I'm still a man," I interjected.

"Yeah, you're a man," she said with not a little amount on spite.

"Why you gotta say it like that? Men are great, really great," I said, then smiled.

"For certain things anyway," she said as she rolled her eyes.

"Honey, I may be gay but I'm afraid that you're gonna have to look elsewhere for the type of gay that will squeal at some pretty dress or that fabulous pair of shoes," I said then I kissed her cheek to let her know I was kind of joking.

"Whatever. I'm gonna go and find Carter and train him before he turns into one of you," she said with a sneer before turning to walk away.

"One of what Jess?" I asked amused.

"A man," she said bitterly.

"Oh he's already a man honey. In fact he's the worst kind, a jock," I said as she walked away. She stopped before letting go with a frustrated grunt then continued to walk away.

I laughed and went back to looking for my book before I remembered that it was in Bear's room. We were supposed to be studying last night but things got kinky, then we ended up trading blow-jobs. I smiled at the memory before I was jolted from that memory by someone slamming my locker shut.

"I hope you're happy," Drake said looking more pissed off than I had ever seen him.

"Why yes I am if I do say so myself, but why specifically am I happy right now?" I asked mockingly which pissed him off even more.

"Liberty broke up with me," he said and I couldn't stop the smirk that appeared on my face. "Oh you find that funny?" he asked and I couldn't stop myself from gloating.

"Not funny, but I do find it satisfying that this has happened to you," I said honestly.

"So I guess you're gonna go running off to have some big reunion with her now, huh? Well just so you know, no matter what happens now you will have to live with the fact that when push came to shove, she chose me over you, and you'll never be able to erase that fact," he said but he wasn't getting to me at all like I'm sure he thought he was.

"Are you done?" I asked and he nodded with a self satisfied smirk on his face. "Good because there are some things I need to say. No I won't be running off to make up with her because as you said, she chose you over me and no matter what she's done now, that fact still remains. I do feel good about the fact that she dropped your ass though like she should have in the first place," I said and his grimace that started to show up during my speech deepened when I finished.

"Do you think this is over?" he asked and he was starting to piss me off.

"Yes, I do because I'm done with you Drake. It's all over now, you're done. You have no other way to hurt me," I said and his eyes grew calculating but I wasn't phased.

"Is that what you think?" he asked through gritted teeth as he stepped up to me threateningly. I looked him up and down with a look of disgust on my face.

"I think you wanna step your ass up off me before I make you regret the day you were born," I said just as threateningly.

"Look who's trying to act all big and bad, but if I were you I'd shut my dammed mouth, because look around... there's no Bear, no Sean, and no Carter to rescue you like the little damsel-in-distress you are," he said smugly and before I knew it my hand was reaching up and I had his throat in a vice grip and I slammed him into the locker with the back of his head hitting pretty hard.

"Stay away from me. Stay away from my friends and stay away from Liberty. Leave me alone before you make a fatal mistake you braying jackass," I seethed as I held his throat in my surprisingly strong grip. He tried to pry my hands from around his neck but he wasn't able to do so. I saw the panic in his eyes and I let him go then and he crumpled to the floor. I stared down at the pathetic loser on the floor before me and felt pity for him.

"Trey, are you ok?" I heard Bear ask as he and Sean came rushing toward me.

"Yeah I'm just disposing of the trash," I said before walking away. I heard Bear and Sean follow a few seconds later. I hoped Drake listened to me as I was beyond tired of him, but from experience I had learned that Drake wasn't one to learn a lesson.

************ MAY*

"Prom time bitches," Jessica said loudly. It was funny that we were in school at the time and her history teacher was walking by at that moment.

"That's detention for you Ms. Martin," Mr. Hollis said as he stood before her.

"But..." she tried but was silenced by a held up hand of Mr. Hollis. He then walked away and we all snickered.

"Aw Jessie. You have detention, and we were gonna go and shop for dresses after school weren't we girls?" Justice asked the girls.

"Yup," Veronica and Miriam said in unison.

"But you can't. I will cut all of you," she threatened as she pointed at the girls. She looked convincingly enough that I wouldn't have wanted to cross her.

"So baby girl, who are you going with?" Bear asked. I had asked him where this `baby girl' nickname for Jessica came from and he said it was a badge of honor for all she had tried to do for us and I thought it was so sweet.

"Oh I don't know. Nobody's really asked me," Jessica said as she held he hands up to her face in a shy manner. She was blushing so hard that I thought she was turning into a tomato.

"You mean Alvis hasn't asked you?" Miriam asked imitating Jessica down to the starry-eyed expression.

"Who told you about Alvis?" Jessica demanded with a finger pointed at Miriam.

"Eep," Miriam said and I saw Justice give her a subtle nudge with her elbow.

"It was you, wasn't it?" Jessica asked Justice.

"I've said nothing to no one," Justice said pleading innocence, but I wasn't buying it.

"Yes you did you filthy liar," Jessica said now pointing a pissed finger at Justice.

"Now mama, I can't have you menacing my lady," Sean said coming to Justices defense.

"Well then I'll menace you," she said poking Sean in the chest. "And I'll have you know that this can be done with a steak knife".

"Honey, don't you think you're overreacting?" I asked.

"I... maybe a little bit," she said cooling down.

"Well I can pump Zane for info and see if he can suggest to Alvis to ask you," I offered.

"No thanks. I don't want your brother telling Alvis to ask me to my junior prom," she said and I could see where she was coming from a little bit. Plus I knew that she as well as the others were all still a little hesitant in accepting that Zane and I were rebuilding our relationship as brothers.

"Well I can bite the bullet and just take you too mama," Sean said as he put his arm across her shoulders.

"What makes you think you'll be alive long enough to accomplish this particular goal?" Justice asked in a sweet tone that was all hogwash as anyone who was listening could hear the threat.

"Sorry dear," Sean said as he extricated his arm from Jessica.

"Uh huh," Justice said.

"Henpecked," Bear coughed but it was obvious what he had said behind the cough.

"Well you're rooster-pecked," Sean countered.

"Dude, no I'm not," Bear said but I gave him a pointed look with my arms crossed. "Okay, maybe I am, but my rooster has a huge-" he started to say but I stopped him with a quick hand to cover his mouth. They were all now either looking intrigued or shocked at me.

"Mind your own businesses," I said dismissively. I swear I couldn't take my big ape anywhere. "C'mon you, we're gonna have a talk," I said dragging him away.

"Yeah, we're gonna `talk'," Bear said to the others and I could hear the amusement in his voice that I was gonna make him pay for.

I was a bad boy, a very bad boy. After out departure from our friends the day before I took Bear to the bathroom and did what he had alluded to the others I would do. I gave him a blow-job... until I knew he was about to blow then I stopped and told him we had to get to class.

He begged me to finish him off but I told him that we had about 2 minutes to get to class and I kissed him hard. He tried to press me up against the wall to get some friction but I wouldn't let it happen. I then gripped his dick in a tight grip and licked the head before I left him to fend for himself.

He didn't speak to me for the rest of the day, but we did have phone sex that night and he was very vocal. I was glad that he wasn't in my room or my whole family would have known something was going on. I was walking to my car after school when I saw a girl leaning against it. The girl was familiar as I had just seen her twin a few minutes earlier. Liberty looked up and saw me walking towards her and my car and I could see the nervousness in her eyes.

"Hello Liberty," I said as detached as I could even though I wanted to reach out and hug her. I looked at her and she looked at me for at least a few minutes before either of us did anything.

"I'm sorry," she said in a whisper with an emotion choked voice. A tear fell from her eye followed by a stream from both eyes and I broke, dammit. I rushed to her and she did to me as well and we hugged each other tight. I let loose a couple of tears but she was whimpering and sniffling.

"Liberty, it's okay," I said trying to hold myself together.

"No it's not. I abandoned you when you needed me the most. I hate myself so much and I hope that one day you can forgive me. I'm so sorry Trey," she said all that while blubbering. I held her for a minute before I pushed her back to arms length.

"I don't know Liberty. I am still so angry with you and I know that I lied, but you should have talked to me about it instead of walking away," I said surprisingly holding strong.

"I know and I'm so sorry. I feel so ashamed that I stayed with Drake so long after what he did to you and Bear. After Carter, I truly saw that there was nothing redeemable about him and I hated that I was so stupid as to fall in love with him," she said and I felt sad for her.

"No don't do that. You can't control who you love and you can't make them a caring human being just by loving them," I said sagely.

"Yeah I know that now. I know that this doesn't fix us but I just wanted to say that I was sorry and that I hope that one day you can forgive me," she said so earnestly that my heart went out to her.

"I will forgive you Liberty. It'll just take some time like it did with my brothers," I said and she didn't react so I guess Jessica had been telling the truth when she had told me that Liberty had talked to her and that she was coming around.

"I'll be waiting until you do. Take your time, please," she said then she kissed my cheek before she left after giving me a long look and a smile which I returned.

"I'm glad you two are working on things," I heard in that familiar voice which brought a smile to my face. I turned to see my smiling Bear standing there looking at me with glistening eyes which meant that he had seen/heard a big part of that.

"Yeah we are, but I don't want her feeling ashamed for loving Drake. It's not her fault that he turned out to be a total douchebag," I said as I leaned against my car and Bear joined me.

"I'm sorry that he wasn't the guy you wanted him to be either," Bear said and it was only then that I allowed myself to feel that. I had wanted Drake to be my friend from the moment I laid eyes on him but some time after befriending him I noticed that things with him weren't as they should be. I lied to myself for a long time just like Liberty did, like everyone else did.

"Yeah, well I had two of the best friends a guy could have for a long time. I now have a great group of friends and an awesome fiancée so I'll be fine," I said and he took my hand in his and I was instantly comforted by that connection to him. It was a connection that I hoped we shared for the rest of our lives.

I guess I had known that Dr. Meadows wasn't too keen on me and Bear but I guess I didn't expect it to be that bad. I was on my way to lunch the next day which was Friday when he stopped me in the hall.

"Mr. Healey, may I have a word with you in private please?" he asked and I immediately became suspicious.

"About what sir?" I asked because I wasn't gonna give in too quickly.

"In my office, please," he said it like a question but I understood it for the demand it was. I followed him to his office and he took a seat at his desk after I was seated in one of his comfortable leather chairs which were way out of place in a vice-principal's office.

"What's up sir?" I asked and he was silent for a minute before he decided to speak.

"Are you planning on attending the junior prom in a couple of weeks?" he asked and I had no idea why, but I answered anyway.

"Yes I am, why do you ask?" I asked him.

"Who will you be asking to the prom?" he asked and then it started to sink in what he was wanting to know.

"I will be going with my fiancée, Bear Davidson," I said truthfully and boldly. I saw his eyes go wide at the mention of fiancée so I guess he hadn't seen the video.

"Well that's going to be a problem. See we've gotten requests from parents that we not allow you and your... significant other to attend the prom. Now I have to honor their requests, but I can allow you two to attend the prom just as long as you have separate female dates and that neither of you participate in any of the prom activities together," he said and I was stunned.

"You've gotta be kidding me? You don't want me to go to the prom with Bear?" I asked still trying to get a grasp in this situation.

"I have to consider the parents of the students that go to school here," he said and I was appalled.

"What about me and Bear? Don't we deserve to go to our prom? Because we happen to be a gay couple we don't have any rights?" I asked getting louder and standing.

"Mr. Healey do I need to ask you to sit?" he asked in a stern warning but I wasn't having it.

"Don't worry Dr. Meadows, you couldn't pay me enough to go to your dammed prom," I shouted and then stormed out of his office to his and his secretary's objections.

"You have to be kidding?" Dad said and he was pissed off.

"Trey maybe you heard him wrong," Mom said ever the optimist.

"No I didn't hear him wrong," I told them again. I was in my kitchen at home along with my parents and my very silent Bear. He hadn't said anything and that worried me ever since I had told him the day before. He made me tell my parents but then had been very quiet afterwards.

"I am going to kill that bastard," Dad said loudly while slamming his fist into the counter he stood next to.

"We are not going to kill anyone. We're going to think calmly and rationally. Then we're gonna go and make him pay," Mom said and I was proud that they were my parents, and worried for Dr. Meadows.

I was truly worried when on Monday morning I was marching into school along with my parents and my mom's cousin Asher. He was a lawyer and he was very intimidating when he wanted to be. People were looking at me and when we got to the school doors I saw Bear there along with his parents. We looked very imposing with the seven of us marching towards the principal's office.

When we walked in his secretary looked up and her eyes went wide momentarily before she asked what we were there for. Asher told her and she went into his office. She came back out a minute later and led us into Dr. Meadows' office where he had us sit. Our moms and Asher took the available chairs while me, Bear and our dads stood behind them.

"Now what can I help you all with today?" Dr. Meadows asked in a calm, confident manner though I could see the nervousness in his eyes.

"We're here because-" my mom started but Asher quieted her with a firm touch to her forearm.

"We're here in regards to the fact that my client was told by you that he wasn't allowed to bring his male partner to the prom. Is that statement true Dr. Meadows?" Asher asked and I was finding it hard to keep a straight face because Dr. Meadows looked extremely worried when he heard the word `client'.

"Client?" Dr. Meadows asked.

"Yes, Trey Healey if my client. My name by the way is Asher Moore Esq.," Asher said in that professional tone that lawyers used. It seemed to carry a lot of weight.

"Um, yes. Well, we received requests from parents that they were uncomfortable with a same sex couple participating in prom alongside their kids," Dr. Meadows said repeating that same bullshit he had tried to shine up my ass.

"That's bullshit," Lawrence said in an outburst.

"Lawrence," April said in reprimand.

"No, my boy has helped this school get 3 championship trophies and I'll be dammed if he can't go to his prom with who he wants," Lawrence said and we all were shocked at his words, none more so than Bear and I.

"Now Mr. Davidson-" Dr. Meadows tried to say but my dad cut in.

"No Lawrence is right. My son deserves to go to prom with whoever he wants. He has rights too," Dad said.

"Yeah, my son is very smart and has brought your school a lot of academic acclaim so it would be a tragedy if his senior year was spent at another school," Mom added.

"And I'd like to see how your star quarterback stands up with his personal guard gone from this school," April threatened. Bear looked at me and winked and I slyly shook my head at our parents.

"People please. Now I hear what you are saying but I have to listen to the other parents too who have said they don't want their kids exposed to a same-sex couple at their prom. Some of these students will be at their senior prom since both proms are combined. I have to listen to the other parents too," Dr. Meadows said.

"I'm glad you brought that up Dr. Meadows. I took the liberty of having my secretary call every parent who has a kid that goes to this school over the weekend, and she had some interesting things to tell me," Asher said and Dr. Meadows' eyes went wide momentarily. I was surprised as was everyone else in the room as I gathered that he hadn't shared this with them either.

"Really, what things?" Dr. Meadows asked with a very noticeable nervousness in his voice.

"I'm glad you asked Doctor. She found that while there were some that had an objection to their kid or kids going to school with an out homosexual couple, that since one of them was Bear Davidson they could try to overlook it. Also I was surprised to find that not one single parent called in to voice any objections to their kid taking part in a prom where an out homosexual couple would be in attendance," Asher said and I was shocked.

"Wh-What exactly are you saying?" Dr. Meadows asked getting flustered.

"What I'm saying is that the only one who doesn't want a same-sex couple participating in prom is you Dr. Meadows," Asher said and that just riled up the good doctor even more.

"Who do you think you're talking to like this?" Dr. Meadows asked as he stood up. I guess he was trying to be intimidating but nobody looked intimidated.

"I'm talking to you Dr. Meadows. I also took the liberty of calling a few people myself and I learned that you're not known for your tolerance of gay people. I will say to you though that the next time you try something like this, that you keep your job security in mind as I wouldn't want to report you to the superintendent. Also if you try and discriminate against my client again, I will be bringing a law suit against the school board and I'd like to see how long you keep your job after that," Asher said as he stood and squared his shoulders.

They squared off in a staring contest that Asher apparently won as Dr. Meadows dropped his head. Asher thanked him for his time and then told us to follow him. We all did and after we got outside the office we thanked him for his help and he told us it was no problem and then he left after giving my mom a hug because he had to be in court.

Bear and I went to class and after school we recounted the whole ordeal for our friends and they were impressed and pissed that Dr. Meadows was trying to discriminate against us.

Sean and Justice came up with an idea that our group would boycott the prom. I was strictly against it since we didn't have to, but they thought it would send a message that his behavior wouldn't be tolerated.

So that's what we did. We had a prom party at Sean's place and I was surprised that a lot of the football players and their dates came to the party, even some of the seniors. We danced and had a good time and I felt great that I was able to be free with my feelings for Bear and that we had so many people who supported us. It was a great night that I will never forget.

************ JUNE

"Are you serious?" I asked Bear because I couldn't believe this was happening.

"Baby, I know that you don't want this and believe me I don't either. I need to do this though because next season it's serious. Football coaches will be recruiting during next season and I need to get myself in shape," Bear said.

He had come to me with this thing a few days ago as just a possibility but now it was certain that in a few days he was shipping out to football camp along with Sean, Dale and Carter and some of the other players. I was pissed to say the least.

"I know all that but this was supposed to be our first summer as a couple. I wanted to do all the couple-y things that couples do during the summer," I said with a slight pout.

"You look cute when you pout," Bear said with a smile then he leaned over and kissed me briefly.

"Don't try to butter me up. I'm mad and I'm gonna be mad for a while," I said and this time I was really pouting and slightly whining.

"For how long?" Bear asked.

"For about a week after you leave. Then when you call me I'll be happy to talk to you and be totally over my anger," I said and he laughed.

"Wow, that was awfully specific but I guess I'll take it," he said then he pushed me down on my bed and started kissing me. We got pretty hot and heavy and then got down to a mutual blow-job. We finished just in time to get ourselves put back together before my mom came walking into my room. She walked in without knocking with an basket full of clothes before she came to a complete stop. She looked at the two of us looking very awkward then dropped the basket in the chair in my room and booked it out of the room after apologizing for barging in. I was sure she was blushing.

A few days later I saw Bear off for his trip to the camp and we made out in his truck for a good twenty minutes. I didn't want to see him go but I knew that he wanted to play college ball and he needed to be good enough to be recruited. I already thought he was the best but I was also biased.

We finally said goodbye and he started his truck and blew me a kiss which I thought was majorly cheesy but I would take. He then waved as he drove away from my house and I bid adieu to my Bear for a while. I would see him again and when I did I would be different. I would be stronger and I would stop relying on him for protection, because I was almost a man now and I had to stand on my own two feet. I would learn to do so while he was gone and when he came back I would show him. Until then, there was a summer I had to try and enjoy.

The End... of Part One *****************************************************************************

Author's note:

The seond school semester ticks by and a lot of interesting things happen from the hilarious to the sad. As Trey continues to grow, he also grows more cynical towards the world in a way that he wasn't before. Will he ever be the same?

Liberty hias finally dumped Drake and make a tentative start at patching things up with her friends. What about her sister though. Will they ever be able to co-exist?

Carter is now out and Trey has officially inducted him into the group. What will he add to the dymanic of the group and is there a guy waiting just around the corner for him?

Will the Healey family be able to return to a true loving family dynamic that was present before the secrets started coming out? Find out the answers to these questions in Book 1 Part 2.

I hope you all enjoy this chapter and forgive the very long delay. I had some family issues to deal with but things are getting back on track. Check out my Blog at nick-s-world-blogspot.com and you can send me an email about how you liked this chapter at thestoryguy9783@gmail.com. *****************************************************************************

Editor's note:

Time moves on and the guys move on to their summer, and Bear is going away to football camp, no idea how long those camps run for but I'm sure the boys will still have some summer fun.

Now on to the chapter, First off Peter showed back up and we learn some secrets about him and then Grandpa Healey calls causing a ruckus, will there be more from him.

Drake continues to try destroying people's lives, first Trey and Bear, now he is doing it with Carter. Liberty finally does what she should have done a long time ago and gotta say better late then never. Will there be more from Drake next year.

Now the Vice-Principal is showing some problems with Trey and Bear trying to stop them from going to Prom. But Trey and the others had a great idea for the boy-cott of the Prom. Will Dr. Meadows be another problem for the boys next year.

Hope you all enjoy this long chapter that was really like a 2-in-1 chapter. Let us know how we are doing on this, and hope you are all looking forward to part 2 of book 1. You can reach me at jd.kaster1987@gmail.com.