The Chronicles of Trey

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Written by: Nicky Smith Edited by: JD Kaster

CHAPTER TEN: THE PASSAGE OF TIME PART 2

TREY'S POV

JANUARY

The first thing I became aware of is that the world was loud. I heard things I hadn't ever heard before and I started to wonder if I'd actually somehow acquired super powers. Once my brain managed to remind me that I was living in real life and not a comic book, I realized that my head was killing me.

I tried to open my eyes but the assault of light was way too much so I slammed them shut. This turned out to be a bad idea though as a sharp pain radiated through my head. As the immediate pain started to subside I remembered that I saw a figure sitting next to me when I'd opened my eyes. I opened them again and saw that the figure was Bear.

"Morning drunky. Happy New Year," he said with a teasing grin.

"What happened?" I asked in a scratchy voice.

"You got drunk silly," he said sounding so annoyingly amused that I wanted to hit him. My body wasn't cooperating though.

"No, I swore this wouldn't happen again. I swore I'd never drink again," I said while trying to slowly move my body.

"Well, that's the difference between you and me. I knew you were lying," he said while still grinning that annoying grin at me.

"What-" I started to object but he interrupted me by putting a finger to my lips to silence me.

"Maybe I should have said that, I knew you weren't serious," he said before removing his finger.

"Well, you're certainly smug and sober this morning," I said. I closed my eyes for a few seconds before that thought finally registered as wrong with me. "Wait a minute... why are you so sober?" I asked after recovering from raising my head too fast.

"That may be because I wasn't drinking," he said even more smugly.

"That's bullshit. Every time I saw you, you had a bottle in your hand," I said while looking at him suspiciously. If it were even possible, he got even more amused.

"That's true. I did have a bottle in my hand every time you saw me. I drank one beer and whenever I got thirsty, I got a soda and filled up the same bottle with it," he said looking pleased with his imagined genius.

"Son of a bitch. That's how you do it. That's how you don't get drunk at parties," I said before falling back onto my back. He let out a deep chuckle which made me feel even more stupid.

"Aw, don't beat yourself up Trey," he said as he rubbed my stomach. It was weird but also kind of soothing as my gut was kind of churning.

"How can I be so smart and so stupid at the same time?" I asked offhandedly. I didn't expect an answer but Bear gave one anyway.

"Well, everyone has to have something they're not good at. Yours just happens to be not thinking in the long run sometimes," he said and chuckled again when I knocked his hand away from my stomach. I sat up and after getting my bearings I looked around the room. The first thing I saw was Dave laying on the floor. When I focused I saw him spooning with someone.

"Is that Dave and... Christian?" I asked after I made out who it was.

"Yup. You're gonna have to tell Liberty she's gonna need another boyfriend," Bear joked.

"She's already looking," we heard in a sleepy voice. I looked over to see Liberty stumbling into the room. We were at Bear's place after celebrating New Years Eve. We would have usually have been at Sean's place but with his family still grieving we didn't think it was a good idea.

We did all go and hang with Sean the whole day and Justice and Veronica stayed over with him choosing to forego the party. Dave came down to party with us. I know he was probably hoping to see Veronica again because of the brief look of disappointment that crossed his face when he found out she wasn't coming to the party but he quickly got over it and seemed to hit it off with Tina Sharp.

"Dude, you'd better wake up. There's a dude attached to you," Dale said to Christian as he poked him with a finger.

"Huh," Christian said groggily as he came to.

"Did you switch teams while I was away?" Dale asked him.

"What?" Christian asked. He looked around and finally his eyes landed on Liberty. He smiled at her until I guess he realized that someone was holding him but it couldn't be Liberty as she was currently sitting in a chair fighting off a slight hangover from the looks of it.

"Morning dear. You might wanna wake your new boyfriend up," Liberty joked. Christian's eyes bucked wide and his head twisted around to Dave holding him in a tight spoon.

"What is this?" He asked but he didn't seem to be in a hurry to move.

"You should have seen it. You two were wild last night," Bear said with a huge grin on his face. He was joking, at least I think he was as I couldn't remember much.

"Quit lying. I know this dude was all over Tina Sharp last night," Christian said.

"Well obviously he traded up for you," Dale said with an highly amused expression.

"Shut up, I'm trying to sleep," Dave mumbled. "Also, he'd be lucky if we slept together," he added before letting go of Christian and turning over away from us.

"Morning all," Jessica said as she made it into the living room followed by Miriam and Tina.

"Your new boyfriend got himself a boyfriend last night," Liberty said to Tina.

"I know," Tina said as she sat down on the sofa opposite the one I was crashed on.

"Nothing happened," Dave mumbled and we all laughed.

"Sure it didn't," Liberty joked.

"What happened?" Jessica asked looking confused as did Miriam.

"Dave took my man last night. They woke up all cuddled up together this morning," Liberty said and while Miriam's eyes went wide, Jessica didn't even react.

"Oh, is that all?" She said as she trudged over and dropped down beside Tina.

"Dude, what's with the smells? They're doing things to my nose and my belly," Dale said as he sniffed the air. Of course Jessica joined in.

"That's Carter and Sed. They're cooking breakfast," Bear said. At that moment I realized that I was hungry, but then my stomach rebelled and I jumped off the couch and rushed to the bathroom and just made it before emptying my guts into the toilet.

Bear showed up about a minute later and grabbed a face towel and ran it under the water. When I was sure my stomach was done flipping around I stood and Bear washed my face with the cold wet towel. I grabbed one of the spare tooth brushes from under the sink and brushed my teeth with a lot of tooth paste and used a lot of mouth wash to get the taste of vomit out of my mouth. When I was done I was minty fresh and Bear took advantage by giving me a kiss.

We then headed out of the bathroom and to the kitchen where everyone was standing or sitting chowing down on what looked like scrambled eggs with cheese, bacon, sausage, toast and orange and apple juice. I headed for the food but Sed shoved a plate of dry toast and some slices of honeydew melon in my face and pointed to the table.

I grumbled but took the plate and went to grab a seat. It was probably a good thing that I didn't eat any of the other food as the toast wasn't sitting all that well either. Jessica filled her fork up with eggs and stuffed them in her mouth trying to mess with me but ended up almost choking on them. I smiled at the instant karma as I tried to eat some of the melon.

We hung out for a while talking and clowning around. Around late afternoon we went over to see Sean. He was for the most part doing better. His mother's cousin's son was there and he was doing that watching me thing again. At first I started thinking that maybe I was imagining it or something until Dave asked me about it. That made me wonder if Bear had seen it.

I didn't wonder for long though as I saw Sean and Bear have a brief but serious talk. Then Sean called his cousin over and after saying something to him his cousin became scarce for the rest of the day. Normally you could just say that Collin made this choice on his own but the cautious look he gave Bear as he left the room was a dead giveaway. The rest of the day was mostly enjoyable after that.

January went by pretty uneventful other than the fact that after we returned to school Sean still kept mostly to himself. Even when we would manage to get him to hang out with us he was really quiet and reserved which was as far away from the old Sean as you could get.

I did finally find out though the answer to a question I'd had for a while regarding Lane and his dad. It was after a tutoring session one day late January when I finally asked. He had been more eager than usual around then to learn all he needed to know so my curiosity finally got the better of me.

"Lane, can I ask you something?" I asked as he was putting his books back into his bag.

"Sure, I guess," he said noncommittally. I think he was waiting to see what I'd ask before answering.

"Why are you so gung-ho about studying now?" I asked and maybe I asked that in the wrong way as his eyebrows shot up.

"Excuse me?" He said. I could hear a hint of him being offended in his voice.

"I don't mean to be rude. It's just that you didn't seem interested for a long time to learning things but all of a sudden, this year you want to buckle down and learn. It's just a little suspicious," I said and immediately wished I hadn't. He looked at me for what seemed like forever before a small smile appeared on his face. There was something about the smile though that I didn't like.

"You noticed that huh," he said before taking a heavy seat.

"Forget what I just said. You don't have to answer," I said. I thought he'd do just that but started talking after a minute of silence.

"My dad is sick. He doesn't look it but he's not well. Pretty soon, he's gonna have to take a step back from running his company and it's gonna be my responsibility to step up and take his place," he said with a sad smile.

"I'm... I'm sorry," I said. I couldn't stop Marcus from coming to mind. Life sure sucked sometimes.

"He's not dying, not yet. He has a rare degenerative brain disease that apparently runs in the family. They don't think I have it, but that's a small relief when I know that he still does," he said, the smile now gone completely.

"I'm don't know what to say," I said. I hated these situations because unless you were really close to the person you didn't know what to do. Even then you could still trip up and make a mistake.

"It's fine, really. I- we both appreciate you helping out with this and I hope you can appreciate that this situation requires discretion," he said and I understood.

"No problem. Glad to help," I said, especially with this new information.

"I have to admit, I expected a different question from you," he said now with a small smile.

"Like what?" I asked as I couldn't think of anything else to ask him.

"I thought you'd at least wanna know how I knew so much about Bear," he said and while I'd been curious before. I'd just assumed that he'd did his research.

"I just figured you looked into me," I said but he looked like there was more.

"Well, yes and no. See, I already knew who Bear was before this whole thing even came up," he said and I was immediately curious. At first I wondered if he'd at any point gone to our school, but then I dismissed that thought. While it was true that there were quite a number of wealthy kids that went to our high school, Lane didn't strike me as the type to have done so.

"How?" I asked. I was starting to get slightly paranoid because I felt that I should know who this guy was.

"Well, I happen to have a cousin named Jerry that happens to be friends with Bear's brother. That's how I knew about you and where Bear went to school," he said and I couldn't stop the thoughts that were going through my head. I wanted Bear to play college ball and hopefully get drafted into the pros because that's what he'd always wanted.

I already felt guilty because I felt that because I'd told Bear about how I felt about him that he'd been forced to realize his own feelings and thus jeopardized his chance to play ball because of the atmosphere that a gay athlete would face in the sports world. I had a hope that maybe he could fly under the radar in college even with our very public high school relationship because I hadn't seen anybody that I'd gone to high school with on campus other than my friends, at least not yet.

Already though too many people at my school knew who Bear was and it was unknown if they knew that he was on the football team at his school. I didn't consider all of the people that we went to school with and who generally knew of our relationship prior to college still actually existing in the world and that they could blow things up at any time.

"Oh," I said which was all that I could get out because of my hyperactive brain.

"Dude, you need to stop over-thinking things. Everything will work out the way it's supposed to," he said and I guess he'd figured what was going on in my head.

"Sorry," I mumbled feeling a bit embarrassed. He just smiled though. He gave me a quick pat on the back before picking up his bag and telling me he'd see me later.

I tried to stop thinking about what my mind seemed to be intent to be focused on but I couldn't so I called Bear and talked to him about it. At first he annoyed me with how unconcerned he seemed with this new development but what did I really expect? He explained that this was better than most other alternatives to how Lane could have known about him so thoroughly.

When he said it like that I calmed down some, before another thought popped up. How long would it take before Bear got fed up with my more than occasional neurotic attacks. I didn't realize that I'd voiced this out loud until I heard his deep laugh over the line. He then told me that I wasn't gonna run him off with a little neurotic behavior. I wished I could see him then and regretted not calling him over Skype.

He must have read my mind somehow because he wanted to Skype which I did. I didn't know why he wanted to but I was pleasantly surprised when the call connected that I got a full frontal nude view of him. He proceeded to perform for me over the camera and I must say that was the hottest Skype session I'd ever had. He had to go shortly afterwards but we made plans to do that again with it being my turn to perform for him. I didn't believe that I could compete with him but he made me promise so I did. The rest of January went by without incident for which I was glad.

FEBRUARY

February saw snow and cold, lots of snow and cold. I started to get busy with a lot of things. I guess having a lot of irons in the fire had been my mode of operation for the last couple of years so in a way I was happy. I had a big course load, I was still tutoring Lane, and I had duties with the GSA with Liam and Angel seeing fit to give me some important things to do since I'd basically done this before.

What I didn't think about was that it was easy to get run down with all this stuff to do and the ease with which a weary body could get sick, especially during the cold and wet winter. It came on suddenly and I wasn't prepared. I was walking into the lobby of the dorm and I felt lightheaded but shook it off.

"You look like hell," Liberty said as I walked up to her and Light sitting on a sofa in the lobby.

"Thank you so much," I said before letting loose a hacking cough that came out of nowhere.

"Trey, are you sick?" Light asked. Now a smart person would have seen that I was sick. A smart person would have also known that they were sick as well so I guess both of us weren't smart in that moment.

"No. That was just a tickle in my throat," I said before another bout of hacking coughs hit me. I took a seat after that because I was suddenly tired.

"Well whoever's tickling your throat better stop before you cough up a lung," Liberty said in her way.

"I'm fine," I said stubbornly.

"No you're not. You need to go to a doctor," Liberty said before holding a hand to my head.

"Does he have a fever?" Light asked looking worried. I was getting annoyed with both of them fussing over me like this.

"Trey, you're burning up," Liberty said but I didn't want to hear that. I still had two papers to do and to review some material I was gonna go over with Lane.

"I said I'm fine," I said as I brushed her hand away. I stood up defiantly and felt really lightheaded before everything went black.

I don't remember what happened after that but the next conscious thought I had was waking up in a room with bright lights. Upon inspection I had to be in a room in a hospital emergency room.

"What the hell?" I said as I started struggling to sit up.

"Stop that," I heard. I looked up and saw Liberty coming back into the room.

"What am I doing in here?" I asked maybe with a bit of gruffness.

"Well Mr. Grumpy, you passed out on the lobby of the dorm," she said and that's when I remembered everything up until that point.

"I feel horrible," I said before a big coughing fit. Liberty handed me some tissues. I noticed that my chest and sides hurt and my cough now sounded really congested.

"I know. They think you might have the flu or even a bit of pneumonia," she said and that's not what I wanted to hear.

"How did I get sick so fast?" I asked to nobody in particular.

"They don't think you did. They couldn't tell me a lot since I'm not family but from what I was able to overhear when they were talking to your mother, you may have walking pneumonia," she said and that took the wind out of my sails. I had gotten caught in some freezing rain about a week earlier and I didn't pull off the wet clothes and get warm afterwards.

"I'm an idiot," I said as I settled back down into the uncomfortable bed.

"I would agree with you but since you're sick, I'm just gonna... touch your forehead with my finger," she said saying that last part as she stood back far from me likely trying to keep from getting sick.

"Trey sweetie, I'm here," my mother said as she burst through the door. I looked at her before glaring hard at Liberty feeling very annoyed. I knew what I was in for with my mother while being sick. She took all the fun out of it.

"Hey don't blame me. Your man made Jessica call her," Liberty said with a shrug.

"And I'm glad he did. I always liked that boy. As for you, you can just leave," Mama said to Liberty. I was shocked she talked to her like that and it appeared Liberty was too.

"What did I do?" Liberty asked after she recovered from her brief shock.

"You weren't gonna call me," Mama said as she stared her down.

"You don't know that," Liberty argued.

"Girl, don't test me," Mama said.

"But-," Liberty tried to get out but was cut off.

"Go on now, git," Mama said waving her off.

"Trey, I'll talk to you later," Liberty said through gritted teeth before stalking out of the room. I was a bit stunned because if I didn't know any better, I'd just witnessed an argument between a mother and her own daughter, not her son's friend.

"When did you adopt Liberty?" I asked while I was in a slightly joking mood.

"Be quiet. Now, the doctor tells me you've been sick for a while," she said as a statement so I didn't have much to add.

"I didn't know I was sick," I said which didn't seem to please her. She just gave me a stern look.

The doctor came in and told me that I did indeed have a very bad case of the flu. That didn't sit well with me, especially when talk started about me coming home to recuperate. I wasn't down with that but I didn't really have a choice.

After giving me a few shots and some prescriptions I was discharged into my mother's care. I told Liberty and Jessica to tell Scotty about what had happened and have him get in touch with my professors. I'd do so myself but I wanted the extra insurance that they knew I was serious even though they had no reason to doubt me. I wasn't a flake by any means.

Mama was in her element doting on me and by the third day at home with her smothering me, I suddenly understood why Liberty chose to come to school while she was still not feeling well during our senior year of high school.

"Mama please, would you stop. My bed is as straight as it's gonna get," I said as she was trying to get the covers just right.

"I'm sure it is," she said with a smirk.

"Very funny," I said through a cough.

"You said it, not me," she said before walking over to my dresser and getting my cough medicine. I could take it myself but she was determined to "take care" of me. I know a lot of people would love to be catered to the way she was doing but I wasn't liking it all that well.

After she was sure I'd taken all my medication to her specifications, she straightened up my room some more even though there was nothing out of place. She then went to get me a pitcher of water and juice before finally leaving me alone. I texted with Bear before the medications started working and I drifted off to sleep.

I woke up a little while later and noticed it was getting dark outside. I looked at my phone and saw that it was 5 in the afternoon. I then noticed that I wasn't alone in my bed. I smiled because I just figured that Bear had taken off from school to come and check on me. I turned over and saw not Bear but Sean sitting with his back against my headboard looking at his phone.

"You finally woke up. I thought you'd sleep all day," he said without looking away from his phone, but he did have a slight smile on his face.

"What are you doing here?" I asked not that I wasn't happy to see him.

"Why do you think I'm here?" He asked sounding slightly offended.

"Sorry," I said. I felt kind of bad that I would question why he'd show up when I was his best friend.

"Don't worry about it," he said brushing it off. He then got a mischievous look on his face that I missed seeing and dreaded seeing at the same time. "You thought I was Bear didn't you?" He asked and of course I couldn't let him know he was right.

"No," I lied.

"Yes you did. You were about to roll over and start some freaky stuff with me thinking I was Bear, weren't you?" He asked while looking highly amused with himself.

"You need to stop imagining stuff," I said before turning over in a huff.

"You know, I wouldn't be averse to it if you wanted to fool around a little bit," he said while leaning in really close to me and talking huskily into my ear. I knew he was messing with me so I decided to return the favor.

"Okay hold up a second. Let me text what you just said to Bear. I'm sure he'll have some input," I said as I held my phone before I pretended to do just that.

"Don't be lying. I was just joking," he said as he moved back as far away from me as he could without falling off the bed.

"No don't go. Wait just a second until I finish this text," I said before taking his picture. "There, now Bear has a text and a visual to stew over. I'm ready now," I said while pretending to send at text to Bear.

"You don't play fair," he said in a pout. I just smiled and laid back on my bed. He returned to his place rested against the headboard of my bed. It was great to see Sean joking again, but I wanted to know how he was really doing. I didn't want him putting on a brave face for me.

"Sean, how are you doing?" I asked after a couple minutes of silence. He didn't answer right away so I knew he knew what I'd meant.

"I'm okay right now. I wasn't good for a while but it's getting a little better. I still catch myself about to call him so I had Justice delete his number from my phone two days ago. I couldn't bring myself to do it," he said and hearing that made my heart hurt more for him.

"I still can't believe he's gone and we'll never see him again," I said and immediately regretted it. I felt it sure, but it probably wasn't what he needed to hear at the moment.

"Me either. It's hard looking in the mirror and at Alex sometimes because we all looked so much alike," he said which was true. The three Mellow brothers definitely shared a strong resemblance to each other down to their eye color. My brothers and I didn't follow suit, mainly because Zane had a different birth mother than Calvin and I and that I was the only one to inherit Dad's grey eyes and lighter skin color while Calvin was a bit darker like Mama.

"I missed you," I said out of the blue. Sometimes it really surprised me how much Sean meant to me. He had become so important to me in just the few years I'd personally known him. It was weird considering I didn't really like him before I got to know him.

"I know. I missed you too. All of you," he said as he took hold of my hand.

He laid down next to me and turned to face me. I wasn't worried about him getting sick because while I was still sick, I was almost positive I wasn't contagious. We talked about a lot of stuff and I found that I really had missed this Sean. I wasn't a fool to think he was back to his old self and I didn't expect him to be. All I knew was that I would wait for him because that's what a good friend does.

I was better and back to school after another week. I did see a revolving door of my friends, Bear, and even at one time his dad. I woke up the day after Sean's visit after taking a nap on the couch to find him sitting there staring at me. I was creeped out as he seemed to be studying me, but I got over it. He told me that he'd come over to check on me and Mama had let him in on her way out to run some errands.

It went mostly like all of the other times, rare as they were, when the two of us were alone together since Bear and I had been outed as a couple. It did make me realize though that we'd probably never be the best of friends as he wouldn't be able to completely get over the fact that the son that he never expected to be anything other than heterosexual just wasn't.

He did take interest in my life though asking how school was going and asking what I wanted to do after I got out of school. For a long time I thought I'd want to go into a science and/or technology field but as my freshman year in college was getting close to ending, I was thinking of more a business route. I told him so and he actually seemed to like that answer, probably because that was what he'd done.

We talked for a little while longer with long periods of silence before he said he had to go. I thanked him for coming by and wondered if there was ever gonna be a chance when I'd be able to have a relationship with him like I had with Bear's mom. Maybe it was easier for his mother to have a relationship with me than his dad because there was already something there between April and me whereas with Lawrence we were mostly starting from scratch as I'd never been that close to him even before Bear and I were outed.

I know that at one point I'd hated this man with a passion but I hoped that one day we could have something even somewhat similar to the relationship between Bear and my dad as he was Bear's father and in my mind it didn't feel right to not be at least kind of friends with the father of the man I was going to marry one day.

MARCH

"I can't wait for Spring Break. I'm gonna chill and relax the whole time with nothing to do," Light said with a far off look in her eyes.

"I wanna go to the beach," Jessica said and that idea wasn't that bad of an idea. That was one thing Bear, Calvin and I didn't do on our trip to Florida over the previous summer so it would be good to go.

"I don't care what we do as long as I can sleep. I feel like I'm sleep deprived," Liberty said.

"Me too," Christian said and I tried to keep a straight face at the thoughts that went through my head.

"Hm, that seems rather suspicious," Carter said while gripping his chin like he was deep in thought. I snickered along with Jessica and Light. Liberty just rolled her eyes

"Hey guys," Maria said as she walked up to us as we had gathered in the small garden area that we had frequented before winter had arrived. It was warm out so we were gathered there again.

"What's wrong with you? You look like you saw a ghost," Liberty said which was kind of off the mark. Maria did look it though.

"I could have sworn I just saw you walking into the dorm just now when I passed it," Maria said while looking back towards our dorm.

"You're imagining things. That's what you get for living in the sorority house. That hive mind mentality is starting to affect you," Liberty said.

"Why are you in the sorority if you talk about them like that?" Sean asked which was a good question. Liberty was prone to make little comments like that about the sorority that she was supposed to be apart of, but then again, she was that way about most other things.

"Hey guys, look who I found," Dave said as he walked up with... Justice. It was funny to see Light and Maria do a double take and look back and forth between Liberty and Justice.

"I know you said you had a sister but damn. That is freaky," Light said.

"I knew I wasn't crazy," Maria mumbled.

"What are you doing here?" Liberty asked in that way she had of talking to Justice most times.

"I can't visit my only twin sister at school?" Justice asked hamming it up with the innocence.

"Don't tell me you're transferring to this school now," Liberty said.

"Don't be silly. Why would I transfer from Carnegie Mellon to... this school?" Justice asked.

"What's that supposed to mean?" I asked. I was kind of offended because this was a great school.

"You know what I mean," she said trying to brush it off.

"No, I don't think I do," I said with a bit of an edge but it was mostly for show.

"Nice going sis. You upset the only person that actually likes you," Liberty said with a smirk.

"My boyfriend is right here," Justice said gesturing to Sean who didn't look very much like he wanted to dispute Liberty's claim.

"I meant what I said," Liberty replied.

"So, you're like this with everyone, including your sister," Light said and I barely managed to stop from laughing at Light's correct pegging of Liberty's surly attitude.

"Shut up," she said proving Light right.

"So Justice, what are you doing here out of the blue?" Jessica asked which was a good question. I would have thought that she would have classes now so a spontaneous trip to her sister and boyfriend's school was out of character for someone as focused on school as Justice was.

"I have a project that I'm doing in one of my sociology classes and I came to recruit some subjects," she said which intrigued me.

"Like who?" Sean asked.

"You of course dear. Also I'll be needing you Carter and Trey, I'll be needing your man," she said and for some reason that irked me.

"Why don't you ask him? He's his own man," I said which was true. I wasn't Bear's keeper.

"Yeah right. You know he does everything you tell him to do," Liberty said

"He does not," I argued even though deep down I know I was somewhat lying to myself.

"Don't front. You know you control his world and that's good," she said, I glared at her. I hoped that wasn't the case as I didn't want to be a puppet master guiding him along by strings.

"Ask him Justice. Don't listen to... that," I said gesturing towards Liberty at the last bit.

"What do you want us to do?" Carter ask as Justice busied herself likely pulling up Bear's number on her phone.

"Just a social experiment. Shouldn't take that long," she said as she looked to be typing a text.

"When?" Sean asked.

"A week from today," Justice said as she finishing typing her text. She received a notification about a minute later which I guess was an answer to the text she'd send to Bear, at least I supposed that's who she was texting at the moment.

"What about me?" Christian asked.

"And me?" Dave chimed in.

"First, I barely know you," she said pointing at Dave. She'd only met him over New Years which was the only time she'd seen him until now. "Second, you're not the right type for this experiment," she said carefully to Christian.

"A'ight, I see how it is. It's cause I'm black ain't it?" He asked and I wanted to laugh.

"Are you blind? I'm black, and so is Carter," she said with a slight look of annoyance etched on her face. She really was becoming too much like her twin.

"Oh right, I forgot," he said and I stifled a snicker.

"I must be doing this whole "being black" thing wrong if it's that easy to forget that I am," Carter joked which brought a little laughter.

"What about me. You're a bit darker than me so I definitely have to be doing it wrong if you are," I said adding to the now weird conversation.

"So Justice," Light said choosing to ignore us. "Tell us everything about Liberty," she finished with a mischievous gleam in her eyes.

"If you couldn't get anything out of my friends, what makes you think you'll get it out of my sister, my twin, my other half?" Liberty asked obviously, at least to me anyway, trying to butter Justice up. From the look on Justice's face, it looked like it worked.

"Yeah, what she said," Justice said trying to hide how choked up she was at what Liberty had said.

"Oh my God! I can't believe you let her manipulate you like that. I'm embarrassed to know you right now," Jessica said with a mock scowl.

"Shut up blondie. That was all truth," Liberty said trying to sell it.

Justice joined us and hung out for a while before she said she had to get back to school. She made a plan with Sean and Carter to meet her before Sean walked her to her car. He came back after about 20 minutes with a smile and most everyone clowned him over it. I was just happy that he seemed happier. He was letting us in again and that made me feel that he would be alright.

Spring Break was upon us and I was happy. I wasn't one in the past to be that happy about missing school, but I was happy about this Spring Break in particular because Bear and I would be together. This whole long-distance relationship was really getting on my nerves but I had the will to see it through.

"Sean is still mad because everyone thought he was gay. I'm still laughing. I'm never gonna let him forget it," Bear said as we drove over to Sean's place. His parents were out of town and Alex was staying with Wayne. Wayne and Sean had decided that the parents needed some time away and came up with the plan which left him the house to himself. Bear and I planned to stay with him over the break.

"Well, he is kind of the preppy frat boy type which screams closet gay," I joked. We were talking about Justice's social experiment which Bear had said had been kind of boring until the last part when Justice had thrown the curveball. The class was supposed to guess which one of them was gay. I didn't see what it was supposed to be for but it was her social experiment that she wouldn't explain to me so whatever.

Bear and Carter laughed telling me that the class had almost overwhelmingly chosen Sean as the gay among them. I thought it was funny that presented with three choices of men and having to pick out who was gay among them that the class chose the only straight one among them.

"Yup. Aren't you glad that you have a real man over that?" Bear asked looking especially smug.

"Are you trying to make me drive off the road at the absurdity of what you just said?" I asked as glancing at him in between keeping my eyes on the road.

"What's absurd about it. He's a boy and I'm... all man," he said making sure to lean over next to my ear and say the last part in a deep husky tone that sent a jolt straight to my dick.

"Do you want me to pull this truck over and give you the blowjob of your life?" I threatened even though it was far from a threat.

"Is that supposed to be a threat?" He asked with an amused expression. I didn't miss the slight lustful tinge that look also contained though.

"Yes, a sexy threat," I said unable to hide the smile that come on.

"Well then feel free to sexy threaten me anytime," he said before talking my hand in his and giving it a kiss.

We arrived at Sean's place a few minutes later and saw that there were a few cars parked in the circular driveway. I parked and we hopped out of my truck to see Dave get out of his and Light and Maria get out of Maria's car. I didn't know that they'd be here but the more the merrier. This was Light and Maria's first time to Sean's house and I was curious what they thought.

"What up peeps," I said as I approached them.

"Nothing much man," Dave said as Bear and I reached them.

"This is a palace," Light said as she looked around the property. She was exaggerating a little bit but not by much.

"It's not all that special," Bear mumbled. I managed to refrain from laughing at his apparent jealousy.

"Yeah. Just wait til you see the inside," Dave said to the two of them. He had seen it when he'd been here over New Years.

Just then we noticed more cars pulling up. Liberty and Carter pulled up and parked their cars. Liberty had Justice, Jessica, and Miriam with her and Carter had Christian and Dale with him. They all got out and headed towards us.

We all greeted each other and I introduced Light and Maria to Miriam and Dale. Dave had already met them at Bear's New Year's Eve party. We then headed to the door and Bear started to ring the bell before the door opened.

"Hey you all. Come on in," Veronica said looking us all over. I noticed her eyes briefly stopped on Dave who was standing next to me. That was interesting. I filed that away for a later time and followed her into the house. I introduced her to Light and Maria on the way in. I made sure to introduce Dave and Veronica just to keep up the pretense that they didn't know each other.

"Welcome. Mi casa es su casa," Sean said in greeting with arms outstretched. He sounded really upbeat and I hoped that it was real and he wasn't just putting on a show just for us.

"Whoa! Your house is crazy and amazing," Maria said as she looked around with wide eyes.

"Yeah, it's like something you'd see in Beverly Hills or something like that," Light said.

"My house is nice too," Bear mumbled as he pouted again about the praise Light and Maria had about Sean's house. I thought it was funny and adorable at the same time.

"Yes it is babe," I told him as I rubbed his back.

"You really like my house?" Bear asked with that grin that he knew got to me.

"Yeah I do, whenever Brian isn't there anyway," I said which was true. I liked being at Bear's house, especially since I knew the rest of his family liked me and was mostly accepting of our relationship. Well, his mother and sister liked me and his father was tolerant of me.

"Who's Brian?" Dave asked. He'd been fortunate enough to not have to see Brian at New Years. I briefly wondered where he'd been until I decided that I didn't care.

"My brother," Bear answered sounding disgruntled and I could understand the feeling.

"Don't tell me, there's bitter feelings because you used to date Brian and now things are awkward," Maria said and I had to stop myself from vomiting at the thought.

"Yuck, that's disgusting," I said truthfully.

"Not really Trey. I mean, he is Bear's brother," Justice said teasing me but I was not in the mood for that kind of teasing.

"Don't do that, please don't," I said as I tried to fend off all kinds of horrific images.

"Yeah, they are brothers and they look alike too" she continued and continued to annoy me.

"Justice," I said in warning.

"Yeah, I mean Bear's hair was brown like Brian's before he dyed it, and they have the same eyes. Its like you're having sex with Brian. That's all you're gonna be able to think about now when you're with Bear... sex with Brian," she finished and she actually had me worried that it would end up happening.

"Justice, that was so evil," Liberty said sounding shocked at her sister, before a smile broke out on her face and I wanted to hurt her too. "I'm so proud of you. You are my sister now," Liberty added before they high-fived each other.

"Good, then I can kill the both of you," I said through gritted teeth. Bear leaned close to my ear and I could feel his breath on my neck which started to get to me.

"Trust me when I say that when we're together and I'm drilling you, Brian is the very last thing you'll be thinking about," he said low and husky which caused my to shudder involuntarily.

"What was that?" Jessica asked sounding amused.

"Nothing," I lied and Bear wasn't helping any with the shit-eating grin on his face.

"I don't know Trey. That looked like you heard something very good," Light said joining in on the teasing.

"Light, don't let these people corrupt you," I pleaded.

"Oh please. She was corrupted long before we met you all," Maria said which brought some laughs.

"Don't listen to her, she's jealous," Light said before striking a glamour pose.

"Alright, let's take this thing on out to the back. I got to get the grill ready," Sean said.

We followed him on out to the big patio area where there was a big table set up with plates, buns, cups, bags of chips and cookies and several 2 liter bottles of soda. I noticed the two bottles of Coke and couldn't stop the smirk at Sean always finding a way to have a Coke. He must have noticed because he smiled and gave me a wink.

He went to check on the grill and told us to get comfortable. Maria and Light decided that they wanted to get into the huge pool and it was decided that we all would jump in the pool. Bear and I had brought a bag each because we were planning to stay with Sean over the break but it seemed that everyone had brought a bag of clothes

Everyone went to change into swimwear and then we got into the pool. We splashed around for a while before Dale brought out a football and the guys tried to play a game of water football while the girls lounged around the pool. I got tired after a little bit and took over the grill for Sean so he could get wet a little bit.

"How is he doing?" Justice asked as she walked up to me. I knew who she was talking about and what she meant.

"He seems to be doing okay," I said as I removed some burgers from the grill and added more.

"Yeah. It was bad at first. I wasn't used to him being so sad and withdrawn but I don't blame him. I don't even wanna even imagine what it'd be like if I ever lost Liberty," she said and I agreed with her. Her case would be especially bad because twins are supposed to have this strong bond that regular siblings don't usually have.

"Yeah, me too," I said as we looked over at the guys in the pool playing kind of rough with each other. "I'm glad to see a smile on his face, but I just hope it's real and he's not just faking it for us."

"Me too," she said. She stood there for about a minute before returning to her seat.

Sean came back up after about 10 minutes to check on the food which was just about done. When everything was finished everyone dived in on the food like they hadn't eaten anything in weeks. Everything was good though and everyone ate to their fill.

Once the food was taken care of we sat around the pool and talked to each other. I noticed that Dave and Veronica, mostly Dave, kept glancing at each other. Normally this wouldn't be all that important but the way they were doing it was very noticeable.

"What's up with you two?" Jessica asked while looking between the two of them. I guess it was very noticeable.

"What?" Dave said while looking way too shifty.

"What's up like what?" Veronica asked. She did a better job of looking innocent.

"You and Dave have been eyeing each other on the sly ever since you got here that's what," Justice said and yeah I guess they had been too obvious.

"It's nothing," Dave said.

"I don't know what you mean," Veronica said at the same time. All attention was on them then and I wanted to say something to remove it but I didn't get the chance.

"You two slept together," Liberty said and damn. How did she do that? I would have just guessed they liked each other.

"Don't be silly. They just met," Sean said and technically that was right. Veronica hadn't come over on New Years Day until after Dave had left. Sean didn't know about their encounter though so of course he'd think that.

"I know what I know. With the way they acting, they slept together," Liberty said.

"You don't know anything Liberty," Veronica said but she was avoiding everyone's eyes. Liberty grasped her chin and turned her towards her and looked into her eyes for a few moments.

"Don't tell me I don't know what I know. You slept with him," Liberty said with a smug look on her face before she let go of Veronica's chin.

"Ronnie?" Sean said looking at her.

"Leave her alone man. They can do whatever they want... if anything happened," I said making sure to quickly add the last part.

"You knew about it," Liberty said pointing at me.

"When did you turn into The Amazing Kreskin?" I asked.

"Who?" She asked looking confused.

"Alright fine. We did it," Dave said as he stood up. He had a serious blush going on.

"Nice job," Veronica said to Dave.

"When did this happen?" Jessica asked with wide eyes.

"I can't believe you slept with my cousin man. That was crossing boundaries," Sean said to Dave who was still blushing a serious red.

"I didn't know she was your cousin until Trey told me later," Dave said and everyone looked at me. I just rolled my eyes because it wasn't any of their business, not that that mattered with our group.

"It's none of your business anyway jackass," Veronica said with annoyance clear in her tone.

"I guess he got to experience the talented tongue," Bear said to Dale who snickered.

"Excuse me?" Veronica said and the look in Dale's face dropped and he gave Bear a shot to the side with his elbow.

"Uh, nothing," Bear said trying to deflect.

"No, I want to know how you know I'm supposed to have a talented tongue and what Dale has to do with it," Veronica said.

"Yeah, what do you have to do with it?" Miriam asked and with the way she did it, I guess that that answered my question on if they were still together.

"It's nothing, alright," Bear said a bit forcefully trying to end it. I wanted to know too what the deal was but Veronica was kind of ticking me off with her grilling of my man the way she was doing.

"No it's not alright. You'd better tell me," she said.

"Or what?" Bear asked.

"Well I'm gonna take your pretty face over there and shove it into the still hot grill," she answered and I had to respond to that.

"I'm sorry but that's is not gonna be happening any time ever," I said getting between the two of them.

"Keep out of this. This is between me and him," she said. I was about to respond not kindly when a glance at Bear told me not to.

"This is getting good. I wish we had some popcorn," Light said.

"I know right," Liberty said. They looked way too into this like they were watching the Kardashians or something.

"I'm waiting," Veronica said with a very serious stare. Her and Bear squared off for about a minute with all of us watching before Bear broke.

"Alright, damn. Dale told me that you had a "very talented tongue"," Bear said putting quotes around the very talented tongue part

"Aw man," Dale grumbled in disappointment that Bear had sold him out.

"Why would you care about that?" I asked as more of a joke than anything.

"It was back in the day, back when I was-" Bear said before being cut off.

"Straight?" Veronica said finishing his sentence but not like I'm sure he was about to.

"Yeah, back in the day when we both were "straight"," he said more forcefully between the two of them. The pissed off look on her face softened some after that.

"Wait, you're a lesbian?" Maria asked Veronica.

"What about it?" Veronica asked not nicely likely choosing to direct that annoyance she felt towards Bear and Dale at Maria.

"I was just asking for clarification standards," Maria said quickly.

"She's bi," Liberty said to Maria and Light too as she looked interested.

"Wait, how the hell do you know she had a very talented tongue?" Miriam asked Dale who was looking everywhere but at her.

"Yeah, how do you know that? I've never slept with you," Veronica said and Bear and Carter both looked at Dale I guess because he'd told the both of them that he had.

"That's not what he said," Carter said joining the conversation.

"You two were talking about my cousin like this behind my back?" Sean asked.

"No, I just overheard Dale talking to Bear one day," Carter said while holding up his hands. Most everyone erupted with a chatter giving their opinion about something that wasn't their business.

"Alright now chill out!" I said forcefully and that shut everyone up.

"Excuse me?" Liberty said and I should have known she'd do so.

"No matter if they did or didn't sleep together. It's none of our business," I said. That seemed to effectively quiet the "discussion" on the matter. Veronica and Dave mouthed thank you to me which I answered with a slight nod.

Once the excitement of the big Veronica/Dave revelation was over talk turned to the summer and what plans there were. Bear had already told me that he had training over the summer and I figured that Sean, Carter, and Dale did as well. They of course confirmed it so everyone else made plans while I briefly lamented my choice to take up with a football player.

Dave, Light, and Maria decided to stay in town for the rest of the break. Dave chose to stay over at Sean's with the rest of the guys who all decided they would stay as well. I think he thought that Veronica was staying over but she went home a bit after dark. The rest of the girls stayed over though and we all split between two guest rooms.

I woke up later that night and after taking a quick trip to the bathroom I decided that I was thirsty so I went in search of a glass of water. I was headed downstairs when I saw that the door to Marcus' room was open and the light was on.

I hesitated before walking down to the open door. Inside the room Sean was seated on the floor with his back to the foot of Marcus' bed looking in what looked like a photo album. His eyes were shiny from unshed tears and he had a faraway look on his face which broke my heart for him again.

"How long are you gonna stand there watching me?" Sean asked which startled me because I wasn't prepared for him to speak. I didn't know he'd noticed I was there.

"I'm sorry," I said apologizing, for what I wasn't sure.

"Come on in," he said. I again hesitated for a second before walking over and taking a seat next to him on the floor.

"What are you doing up at this time of night?" I asked stupidly. I knew what he was doing but I felt I needed to ask something.

"I think we should have had this little get-together over to Bear's house," he said and I was surprised that he'd be so honest.

"Why have you been faking being better?" I asked because it was kind of obvious now that he had been.

"I figured I'd try the "fake it `til you make it" mantra," he said and I understood it because I'd done it lots of times.

"You don't have to fake it with us Sean," I told him and he nodded. I laid my head on his shoulder and he rested his head against mine.

"There's so much that I feel wasn't said. Then there's the fact that his son is gonna grow up without him," he said and that definitely got to me.

"You will be there for him. Let him know everything you can about his dad," I said and he looked to be thinking on what I'd said.

"I'm gonna make sure I'm the best uncle I can be. I'm gonna do my best to help Wayne make sure he never wants or needs for anything," he said with determination which made me smile.

"I'll do what I can to help and I'm sure everyone else will feel the same way," I said and he nodded with a smile.

"Thanks for talking to me," he said before standing up and I joined him. "I'm gonna head on to bed. Good night man," he said before giving me a pat on the back and walking out of the room.

I looked around at a room that contained a lot of reminders of Marcus. While looking around I noticed something. I walked over to his dresser and I saw something that I didn't know he had. It was one of those double picture frames which contained two pictures of me. They were both from graduation day. One was from the trove of pictures that the parents had taken of us and another was later at the party.

I hadn't even been aware that anyone was taking pictures there but apparently there had been because it was a high quality picture. I was very surprised that he had pictures of me. I then noticed the book that Sean had been looking in lying on Marcus' bed. I went and picked it up and looked in the cover to see it said "My Family" on it. I knew it was Marcus' handwriting.

Looking through the book seeing all the family pictures tugged at the heartstrings a lot until I came to another picture of me. I couldn't tell when it had been taken but it was there. I looked through the book some more to see a few more pictures of me.

When I got to the end and closed the book I saw a tear fall from my face and I looked up and at the mirror on the dresser to see my eyes were red and wet and that I had twin trails of tears on my face. It was such a touching thing that he thought of me as family that I had to stop myself from crying more tears. I put the book back on the bed and stood up.

"We miss you Marcus," I said out loud because I felt I needed to. I looked around one more time before heading out of the room. I turned off the light on my way out and closed the door.

APRIL

"What are you gonna get dad for his birthday?" Calvin asked. I was talking to him on my cell while I was typing a paper while sitting on my bed.

"I'm not telling you so you can try and outdo me," I joked. Dave who was sitting at his desk doing something snickered.

"That's not what I was doing," Calvin tried unsuccessfully to get me to believe.

"Uh huh," I said not believing him.

"Listen, I've got something to tell you," he said and I didn't like the way he sounded.

"What is it?" I asked. I subconsciously rubbed one of the scars from when I was shot as I didn't have my shirt on. I found that I did that sometimes when I was nervous.

"Granddad is coming to the party," he said carefully.

"Okay... What's the big deal? I don't get it," I said because why would Gramps coming to Dad's party be important.

"Wrong side of the family dude," he said and I was briefly confused until it dawned on me. It was no secret in the family that Dad's father and I weren't fans of each other. I hadn't even heard from either of my paternal grandparents since that day that I went off on my Dad's father.

"What the hell is he gonna be there for?" I asked and I guess the tone of my voice warranted a look since Dave looked over at me.

"Grandma was invited and she said she wouldn't come if he couldn't," he said and I rolled my eyes.

"So what if she doesn't come," I said getting more angry.

"Come on Trey. He wants to see his mother," Calvin said but I chose to ignore it.

"And I guess nobody cares how I feel about this," I said and I tried to also ignore how whiny I sounded.

"It's his birthday man," he said and like it or not he was right.

"Fine," I said in a bitter tone that I didn't regret. Then a thought occurred to me. "I can't wait to come to the party," I said and I saw Dave's eyebrows rise. He was likely curious about the abrupt change in my tone or possibly the sinister smile I was sure was on my face.

"What are you gonna do?" Calvin asked sounding worried.

"Don't worry about it. Later dude," I said. I could hear him talking to me as I ended the call.

"What up?" Dave asked carefully. I guess he wasn't sure if he should stick his nose in my business but I didn't care all that much.

"Just somebody coming to my Dad's party that I don't wanna see," I said as I went back to my paper.

"Trey, can I ask you a question?" Dave asked. When I looked up he looked unsure if he should be asking me whatever this question was.

"I guess," I said and I again rubbed one of the scars on my chest.

"What are those?" He asked as he pointed to the scars. I wondered why he'd taken so long to ask.

"I was shot over a year ago," I said and his eyebrows shot up again.

"I was thinking that was what that was but then I thought that there was no way that could be it," he said and while I could take offense to what he was saying I decided not to.

"I wasn't in a gang," I said simply.

"I never said you were. The thought is kind of funny actually because your kind of too straight laced to have been a gang banger".

"Thanks, I think," I said unsure of how to take what he'd said.

"How did it happen if you don't mind my asking," he said and I thought on how much I would tell him.

"A guy who lived across the street from me didn't take too kindly to finding out a gay guy lived across the street so he decided to fix that," I said while obviously choosing to omit the meat of the story, including my rape.

"Damn, that's so wrong," he said looking deep in thought.

"Yeah it was. At least I survived. Another guy who was there and saved my life lost his," I said and he shook his head.

"I see now why you kept you and Bear a secret from most everyone here at first," he said and I just nodded. He then looked like he remembered something and said that he'd heard about me on the news but didn't put together that I was the guy who survived when we'd first met.

We talked a bit more before I got back to my paper. I was also thinking about what I could do to irritate my Dad's father who his mother insisted come with her to the party. I hadn't heard from her either since the truth about me came out, even when I'd woken up from a coma so I had to figure she agreed with him in regards to me. That was fine though because I had a set of grandparents that did love me no matter what.

"Hurry up and get dressed before we're late," Bear said before he gave me a kiss. I was over to his house which is where I'd arrived when I'd gotten to town a few hours earlier.

"You're not gonna stay in here and watch me?" I asked in a teasing tone.

"No. If I stayed, things would get started once I saw you naked and we don't have time for that," he said before giving me another peck on the cheek. He gave me a swat to the behind and told me to hurry up before leaving the room.

I pulled my clothes from the bag that I'd just bought before coming here and I had to snicker at my deviousness. I looked over what I planned to wear and I thought it was funny. A tight white tee that said "Boy Toy" in rainbow colors, a tight light pink pair of jeans, fuchsia colored shoes, and a hot pink belt. I would definitely be a spectacle.

I put on my clothes and topped the look off with my rainbow bracelets and some purple sunglasses. I looked in the mirror and I was set. I'm sure my parents would be pissed at my obvious act to try and incite my grandfather to anger, but I was still pissed at him and I wanted to piss him off too, and I'm sure my fabulous outfit would do it.

"Are you really wearing that?" Bear asked as he stepped into his room.

"Yup," I said.

"Trey, don't you think it might be a mean to do this?" He asked, which briefly ticked me off, but I held my temper.

"I remember you ogling me the last time I dressed similar to this," I said and he smiled briefly.

"I did and do think you look hot, but you know that it's wrong to go home dressed like that just to rile up your grandfather. He's a bastard, but you don't have to stoop to his level. Besides, it's your Dad's birthday," he said making sense. Damn him.

"I hate you so much," I told him and he chuckled.

"Yeah, I'm sure you do," he said before walking over and wrapping his arms around me from behind. I looked in the mirror at us and was amazed at how good we looked together.

"I'll change," I said reluctantly. Bear smiled and kissed me behind my ear.

"Good boy," he said with a smirk.

"Hey, watch it," I told him as he started laughing before letting me go and heading out of the room again.

I took a selfie of myself before I took off my clothes to change. I'd find some way to use that selfie on my grandfather. I pulled together what I thought was a pretty decent look and changed into it. I looked myself over in the mirror again and I liked what I saw. I took another selfie before heading downstairs to meet up with Bear.

"Okay, how is this?" I asked Bear as he stood up. He looked at me with a stunned look. After about 30 seconds I tried again. "Bear," I said and I snapped my fingers.

"Huh? Oh yeah, that's fine," he said before he cleared his throat.

"Yeah, that was real smooth Bear," Steph said as she stepped around him and headed toward me.

"Shut up," Bear said to his sister.

"Listen Trey, are you sure you're gay, because you could be with me. I'm a Davidson so you'll still have that," Steph said seductively as she rounded me. She had learned very bad things from her brother.

"Step off harlot," Bear said as he walked over to me and shooed her away. Steph looked aghast at her brother before turning toward the entrance to the living room as April walked in.

"Mom, Bear called me a harlot," Steph whined.

"Mom, Steph was all up on my man," Bear whined in retaliation.

"Bear, don't call you sister a harlot. Steph, don't be all up on your brother's boyfriend," April admonished.

"Fiancée Mom," Bear corrected. She corrected herself and asked if that appeased him and he said it did.

"Now, have any of you seen a blue folder," April asked as she looked around.

"Oh, here it is," I said as I picked it up off the end table and handed it to her. She thanked me before doing a double take.

"Trey, when did you get so handsome?" April asked as she looked me over really carefully.

"Trey, let's go before I have to have a `discussion' with the women in my family," he said before grabbing my hand and pulling me along behind him.

"We know where he lives Bear, and you're nowhere around to stop us," April said after him and I heard Steph laughing.

We hopped in my truck and headed over to the house. I asked Bear if his family were coming to the party. He said that his mom and sister were waiting for his dad and I nodded. He took ahold of my hand and kissed it. I had to smile because it still touched me how sweet and loving he was. These little things that he did with me that I never saw him do with the girls he'd been with made my heart soar.

We arrived at my house I saw that my real grandparents were there along with Zane, Ivy, and what looked like my mother's sister's SUV. I parked behind Ivy's car and we hopped out of the truck and headed up to the house. We walked in but I didn't hear anything that would make it sound like a group of people being there. I did see the Grands though.

"Hey Grams, Gramps," I said as I walked into the living room and saw them standing and looking at the pictures on the wall.

"Hey baby," Grams said as she rushed over and swept me into a tight hug.

"Hey there kiddo," Gramps said as he too gave me a slightly less crushing hug.

"It's great to see you two again," I said and I meant it. I tried to squelch a rising lump in my throat.

"You too sweetheart," Grams said as she pulled me down slightly to give me a kiss on the cheek.

"Bear, come on over here and greet us," Gramps said and I turned to see Bear headed toward us. I'd thought he was right behind me but I guess I was wrong.

"Hello sir and ma'am," he said being very proper. I had no idea why he was always like that with them.

"Oh get on with that sir and ma'am nonsense," Grams said before pulling him into a hug similar to the one she'd given me.

"Goodness boy, you get bigger every time we see you. You're gonna be The Incredible Hulk after awhile," Gramps joked and Bear blushed big time.

"Well sir, you're not exactly small yourself," he said referring to my grandfather's still good build for being an old guy.

"Yeah, but it's nothing compared to you," Gramps said and I swear Bear preened just a little bit. I had to nip this in the bud before he got even more full of himself.

"Gramps, would you please stop flirting with my boyfriend," I said and he laughed.

"I thought he was your fiancée? Did something change?" Grams asked looking curious.

"Yeah, that too," I mumbled.

"He forgets to use the fiancée part. I just let him have his way," Bear said and I rolled my eyes.

"Oh no honey. You never let them have their way," Grams said and Bear turned to grin a sneaky grin at me. "I'm sure you have `ways' to get what you want," Grams said not being subtle at all.

"Grams!" I exclaimed and she had the nerve to giggle.

"What do you say Trey? Do I have `ways' of getting what I want?" Bear asked with air quotes around the word ways.

"You certainly do not," I said as stiffly as I could to get across my... shock at my grandmother alluding to certain... things.

"I think I have ways of getting what I want," that big idiot Bear had the nerve to move closer to me and say in a husky tone. I tried with everything I had in me not to throw a boner in front of my grandparents while simultaneously plotting the deaths of both my grandmother and the big ox I had the misfortune... at the moment... of being in love with.

"Don't worry Trey. He'll come to you before you go to him. Us Moore men got it like that," Gramps said and I just had to laugh.

"Oh I know," I said before winking at Bear. I saw him swallow hard and the Grandparents chuckled. I was pleased with my work.

"Where's everyone?" Bear asked after he recovered from my flirting with him.

"They're out back. I suspect Evan and Douglas are arguing about how best to light the grill," Grams said. I just shook my head because of how territorial my dad was about his grill.

I headed on out back with Bear and the grandparents following along. When we arrived out back Dad and Uncle Douglas were indeed arguing about the grill along with Zane. Grams and Gramps just shook their heads and walked on outside.

"Hey everyone," I said as I followed them.

"Hey sweetie," Mama said as she came over from the table she and Aunt Janice were setting up. I hugged her and gave her a kiss on the cheek before Bear did the same.

"Hey Trey. Looking good kid," Aunt Janice said as she gave me a pat on the back.

"Janice, he's not a kid anymore," Mama said and I was shocked because she'd been very resistant to admitting that fact a year ago.

"He knows what I mean," she said before dismissively waving her sister off.

"Trey, you got some good things going on here," Ivy said as she walked up to me.

"What are you talking about?" I asked because, huh?

"This. Looking good cuz," she said while gesturing towards what I was wearing.

"Oh please," I said feeling a little bit embarrassed.

"He think he's ugly," Bear said and I rolled my eyes. I didn't think that. I just didn't buy into what Bear said about how good I looked. He was just biased or just trying to make me feel better about my looks.

"Nonsense. Moore men are never ugly," Gramps said sounding a tad bit cocky. Grams rolled her eyes at him on the sly.

"And don't forget that Healey men are far from ugly as well," Dad said sounding just as cocky as Gramps.

"I can attest to that," Mama said and I had to keep from rolling my eyes.

"See. Between the two of them you're hot," Bear said with that grin that I couldn't ignore.

"Would you all stop before you give me a big head," I said and they laughed. Bear looked like he was about to say something embarrassing and when I thought on what I'd said I pointed at him to make him keep his mouth shut.

"I don't think you need our help for that dude," Zane said and I should have known he'd pick up Bear's slack.

"Huh?" Mama said and I was glad she didn't get it.

"Nothing," I said hoping it would stop there. I should have known better.

"Ooh! I think I know what you mean," Ivy said before her eyes bucked wide and she looked at me in shock.

"No you don't," I said. Everyone was quiet then as they seemed to get what Zane, my idiot brother, was saying.

"Well, he is my grandson," Gramps said and Grams slapped him across the arm.

"Daddy, that TMI," Mama said while pinching the bridge of her nose.

"How big is it exactly?" I heard Douglas whisper to Zane while making brief glances at me.

"You'd be shocked," Zane stage whispered back.

"Let's talk about something else," I said as I turned my back to them to keep them from looking at my crotch because there'd been more than one subtle glance in that direction since Zane had brought this up.

"Where's Calvin and the twins?" Bear asked and I said a silent thank you to him which he answered.

"They went to the store with Nicole to get some stuff that we forgot," Mama said just before they walked through the back door to the yard.

"Bear," my sisters yelled as they ran up to him and hugged him completely ignoring me.

"Hey bro," Calvin said as he walked up to me. We fist bumped before Nicole stepped up and gave me a hug which I returned.

The ladies and Calvin finished setting up things while Dad, Zane, Gramps, and Uncle Douglas fussed over the grill. Mama drafted Bear to help when there was some things that needed moving. There was nothing for me to do so I just sat down for a few minutes.

After a few minutes I remembered that it was Dad's birthday so I went over and ordered him away from the grill and took his place fussing with the other guys. He just laughed as he sat down and watched as everyone was doing this and that.

Things were going good until about an hour later. I don't know why but I just had this weird feeling. This was followed a few minutes later by Uncle Eric walking through the back door with a weird look on his face.

"What is it?" Dad asked as he got up and walked over to Eric.

"I got `em," is all he said before they walked out of the door. Alice and Henry Healey looked, well they looked like grandparents. Much more so than my mother's parents.

"Hey ma," Dad said as he walked over to her.

"Hey baby. Happy birthday," she said as he hugged her. She hugged him back so that was something.

"Son," Henry said kind of stiffly.

"Father," Dad said to his father in a similar tone.

"Gramma," said the twins as they went to her. Bless their heart that they didn't know what their grandparents were like, or maybe they did because they seemed to ignore Henry.

"Hey girls. You're getting so big," Alice said as she hugged them.

"Yeah and so pretty too," Henry said and I rolled my eyes. He seemed to forget that they were the daughters of my mother, the one who he was talking crap about.

"Hello Alice... Henry," Mama said as she walked over to them. I didn't miss the drop in temperature when she said Henry's name and neither did he.

"Hello Olivia," Alice said before she tried to give Mama a hug that she didn't return.

"Hello Alice... Henry," Grams said as she also stepped toward them. I almost laughed at the almost identical way to Mama that she'd greeted them. The way the two of them were standing was also almost identical and it was easy to see that Natalie Moore and Olivia Healey were mother and daughter.

"Natalie, Anthony, it's been too long," Alice said trying for upbeat but the stony body language Mama and Grams were displaying didn't change.

"Yes it has," Grams said in an icy tone. Alice looked toward Gramps but he just nodded a hello with no words. I guess she saw that she wasn't getting anywhere with the icy wall of Moore so she looked in our direction. Calvin, Zane, and I happened to be near the grill so she had to take all three of us in.

"Aren't you boys gonna come and greet your grandmother?" She asked but I knew she wasn't taking no for an answer. Zane and Calvin headed towards them. I was gonna hang back but Bear walked over and gently shoved me forward. I looked back at him but he just winked with a small but reassuring smile.

"Hey grandma," Zane said as he hugged Alice.

"How is being a policeman going?" She asked after their hug ended.

"It's going good," he said. I wondered if Mama or Dad had told him about what his grandfather had said about him, well about all us boys. He was being a bit standoffish toward Alice and neither he nor Calvin had even looked at Henry so I was curious.

"And Calvin, you've gotten so big. You're taller than Zane," she said. I noticed that she didn't mention me.

"He gets that from me," Gramps said with his chest puffed out a bit to which Grams shook her head with an amused expression. He was right though as Calvin was already taller than all the male members of the Healey family which meant he got those genes from Gramps who was also taller than us.

After Alice finished gushing over Zane and Calvin she finally looked at me. I watched her carefully and she didn't seem to have any evidence of disgust towards me on her face unlike what was clear and present on her husband's face.

"Hey grandma," I said as I stepped up to her. She surprised me by hugging me.

"Trey, look at you. You're so handsome," she said and I was surprised.

"He gets that from me," Gramps said again sounding way too cocky. I almost laughed until I saw the look on Henry's face.

"What else does he get from you?" Henry asked with a sneer.

"Henry!" Alice said sharply as she slapped his arm.

"What? It's a good question," he said with a smirk. I saw Dad start toward him but Mama grabbed his arm.

"Alice, Henry, you remember my sister," she said as she gestured to Aunt Janice who was looking at Henry with a similar look to Grams. "This is her husband Douglas, his kids Monica and Miles, my cousin's daughter Ivy, and this is Zane's girlfriend Nicole," Mama said making a point to emphasize the part about Nicole being Zane's girlfriend which confirmed that Dad had indeed told her about the "talk" we'd had with his father.

"Girlfriend huh," Henry said as he looked her over. The old bastard actually had the nerve to look shocked that Zane had a girlfriend, like he actually believed his whole BS about Mama making Zane gay like she had supposedly done to me.

"Surprised old man?" Zane asked with a smirk.

"Zane," Nicole hissed.

"What?" He asked while not taking his eyes off of Henry.

"Nice to meet you two," Nicole said after giving Zane a sharp look. She actually looking pleased to meet them and I had to struggle to not roll me eyes at Nicole as I liked her now.

"You too sweetie," Alice said as she took her hand and gave it a pat.

"So Trey, where's your "girlfriend"?" Henry asked with a smug look on his face while putting air quotes around the word girlfriend.

"Henry," Alice said again in the same tone she'd used before complete with the same arm slap.

"What? It too is a good question," he said with the smugness never leaving his face.

"Hello ma'am, sir," Bear said with hard emphasis on the word sir as he stepped over to us. I'm not gonna lie about the fact that I took great pleasure in the shocked looks on their faces at Bear's size. It had to have been at least 4 years since they'd seen him and while he had been big at 15, he was huge at 19.

"My goodness son, you are certainly a big boy," Alice said and I heard Zane trying to hold in a snicker.

"Him too?" I heard Uncle Douglas whisper to Zane after stepping up to him.

"Yes he is grandma," I said after stepping over to him and taking his hand in mine. He had been tense and glaring at my paternal grandparents but when I took his hand he loosened up and hit me with that smile that I loved. "And to correct you Henry, Bear is my boyfriend and one day he will be my husband. I love him very much and he loves me just as much," I said and watched them carefully. Alice looked almost proud while Henry deep scowl and a sneer.

"Ma, I have to admit that I had problems with gays but after seeing my son and the boy who he grew up with as a couple, I no longer see anything wrong with gay people. Couldn't imagine any girl would be as good for Trey as Bear is," Dad said and I couldn't stop the smile that spread on my face.

I noticed that he addressed his mother only and not his father and I could understand. Henry was a closed door but if the proud look that appeared on Alice's face was any indication, she was open to the idea of Bear and me.

She walked over and hugged dad and kissed him on the cheek. She then looked me and Bear over and looked at our still joined hands for a few moments before a small smile appeared on her face. She stepped over and hugged me and then hesitated before she hugged Bear too. He didn't return her hug like I had but he did hug her a little.

Things seemed to calm and thaw slightly after that. Grandma, which I'd decided to call her again sat down and talked with Nicole while I went to the grill with Bear in tow. Henry sat a distance from everyone and I caught him a few times scowling in my direction. He could go fuck himself though as this was my parents' house and nobody told him to come here if he hated me so much.

Bear's parents and his sister came over after a bit and were introduced to everyone they didn't know, which was really just Douglas and his kids. They'd met my other grandparents before so they didn't have to meet them, but I noticed that after talking with my mother, grams, and aunt, April started shooting Henry subtle hostile looks. Lawrence started doing it too after a brief private chat between him and his wife so I figured that they'd been given the dirt on Henry Healey.

"My parents are plotting the death of your granddad," Bear whispered in my ear about 5 minutes after I'd noticed all of this.

"You saw that too huh?" I said trying to hide my amusement at the situation.

"Yep," he said. I looked over and saw Henry aiming another scowl in my direction. Bear saw this too and looked at me, smile and winked, and kissed me full on the mouth. I heard my grandmother gasp so I know she must have seen it too.

"That was mean," I said after he'd pulled back from me.

"I know," he said with a smile that brought out my own.

"You okay there Grandma?" I asked.

"Um, yeah... sure," she said trying to play it off. She didn't look disgusted by what she's obviously seen though so I looked away from her and to her husband who definitely did look disgusted. I just rolled my eyes and went back to the chicken that needed to be turned.

After about a minute though another thought struck me. I couldn't recall if Lawrence had ever seen us kiss like that before. I chanced a look in their direction but they both looked like they were trying to keep a straight face but failing. In fact, almost everyone else there looked like that.

"Nice play," Zane said as he walked over with a pan to put the chicken in and a tray of uncooked burgers ready for the grill. I went back to cooking the food and the mothers and grandmothers made sure everything was set up on the tables for easy access. I was just taking the last meat off the grill when Sean walked around the house.

"Hola Healeys, Moores, and evryone else," he said in that boisterous way he had. I hoped he wasn't just putting on again but he seemed to be doing better with that after our talk.

"Hello Sean," most everyone said.

"Happy bday Mr. H," Sean said as he walked over to him with a small wrapped box.

"Thanks Sean, and you didn't have to get me anything. My kids didn't," he said to Sean before shooting each of us a mock glare.

"What more can you need other than the love of your beautiful and youthful wife, and your wonderful children?" Calvin said and I had to agree, after I got eye surgery for how hard and far I'd rolled my eyes.

"He's my favorite," Mama said with a cheesy grin while gripping Calvin's shoulder.

"Hey," Carly and Cara said at the same time before then turning to glare at each other because I guess each one thought that they were they favorite.

"Well I don't have a favorite," April said very dramatically.

"Oh please," Bear grumbled.

"Do you have something to say dearest son?" April asked still being dramatic.

"That I'm your favorite. It's okay to say it. He knows," Steph said and she definitely had inherited her mother's flair for the dramatic.

"Sure sweetie, whatever you say," April said unenthusiastically. Bear snorted beside me and Steph narrowed her eyes at her mother. The good vibe was ruined, at least for me with the sound that came from the side of the house.

"Happy birthday old man," I heard in a voice that I wasn't expecting. Stepping through the gate into the back yard was my Dad's oldest friend Taylor Williams. I hadn't heard from nor seen him since before I'd been outed by Drake. It was stupid to expect him to not know about me. He looked the same as I'd last seen him.

As I looked at him, I couldn't stop the words to that conversation between him, my dad, and his brother from playing in my head. Those were words that had plagued me for so long and were responsible for so much of the self hatred that I was still dealing with sounded in my head and I couldn't stop it.

"You okay?" Bear asked with a strong grip on my shoulder. It was then that I realized that I was gripping the tongues that I'd just used to get the last food off the grill with in a vice grip so tight that it hurt my hand.

"Yeah," I said after I'd dropped the tongues.

"What are you doing here?" Dad asked as he walked over to his old friend. I noticed that he didn't look all that excited to see Taylor given that he was supposed to be his closest friend.

"Well I was headed out of town before your dad called me and told me that the family was throwing you a big birthday party and that I'd better be here. I kicked myself for forgetting it and changed my plans," Taylor said. I looked over and saw Henry with a smirk on his face.

"Well it's good to see you," Dad said before the two of them shared a brief dude hug. He looked happy to see Taylor but I could tell the smile on his face was fake as hell. Mama seemed to be able to see it too if the look on her face when I looked at her was any indication.

Taylor spoke to Dad's parents first before going around and greeting everyone else. And getting introduced to Douglas, his kids, Ivy, Nicole, and Sean. I stayed back near the grill and tried to shake the conversation between my dad, uncle, and Taylor from almost 10 years ago.

That conversation was responsible for so much of the hatred and loathing that I'd felt toward myself over the years. I was disappointed that with all the progress I'd made in trying to reinvent myself that the old Trey could so easily be dragged back out. Even Bear's strong comforting grip on my shoulder wasn't working. In fact, it was making things worse and I mentally slapped the shit out of myself when I found myself shrugging his hand off of me.

"I'm sorry," I said after I turned and saw that he was working hard to hide how that had made him feel.

"It's fine," he said with a forced smile.

That was the final straw. I knew that my father's father had done this to cause some kind of drama to happen. I don't know what exactly he expected but this show was gonna go the way I wanted it to, not his way. I took Bear's hand in mine which shocked him for a second before he gave me the smile that always would be my strength. I looked over at Henry and gave him a smile and a wink before heading over to where Taylor was talking to Zane.

"I still can't believe that little Zane grew up to be a cop. I know Athena would be proud of you," I heard Taylor say and that made me rethink what I was gonna do for a second. I remembered Dad saying how hard Taylor had taken Athena's death as they had been close friends. In fact, Taylor is the one who had set the two of them up.

"Hey Trey. I see you finally decided to come out of the corner and speak to me," Taylor said and I was again held back because he sounded genuine with what he was saying.

"Um, yeah. Nice to see you again too," I said as I stuck out my hand for him to shake. He surprised me by pulling me into a hug. It was the standard guy hug but it was shocking nonetheless considering the way he felt about gay people and there was almost no way he couldn't know that I was gay.

"Bear, I saw some of your games this past season. I thought that the TV was exaggerating but damn, you're huge," he said while he had a tight grip on Bear's hand. I briefly wondered if he was trying to prove that he was stronger than Bear but Bear had height, weight, and youth on his side.

"Uh, thanks..." Bear said sounding and looking just as confused as I was. In fact, we weren't the only ones who looked confused.

I guess that he could be different now. I mean my Dad had been nothing but accepting and supporting of me and while I hadn't really sit down and talked to him about it, Uncle Eric was accepting as well and they'd both been a part of the same conversation that plagued me to this day. It was possible that Taylor had changed his view on gays like my dad and uncle had.

One thing for sure was that Taylor's non reaction to seeing me again did not make Henry happy as he was now back to scowling at me and Bear. I just aimed a smile and a wink at him which pissed him off even more. I decided I was fine with that.

With the last minute potential drama out of the way, we all dived in on the burgers, hotdogs, chicken, ribs, grilled corn and potatoes. The spread was delicious. I'm sure it was because of my superior grilling skills. With everyone sitting around the table talking and laughing at one thing or another, the day was great, aside from Henry sitting there with a permanent scowl on his face. I liked that part too though so that was great.

A while later I had to go to the bathroom. Bear whispered in my ear that he'd sneak in when nobody was looking and I told him that he would regret doing so as I wasn't about to get up to anything with him with everyone outside. Inside though I thought that I would probably not have the willpower to resist him if he did try something. I finished and was headed back outside when I was intercepted in the living room by Taylor.

"Hey Trey, can we talk for a sec?" He asked and at first I was wary, but his behavior throughout the time he'd been here didn't really deserve such wariness so I dropped my guard.

"Sure," I said and we moved to the family room.

"I just wanted to talk to you alone and ask why you're doing this to your father," he said and the good mood I was in dropped instantly.

"What am I doing to him?" I asked defensively, my guard immediately coming back up.

"This... homosexual thing," he said trying his best to hide the obvious distaste he had for the word but failing.

"So, all that out there was an act?" I asked him while trying to keep my cool but I was failing too.

"I didn't want to start anything out there like I'm sure your granddad wanted," he said and at least he knew why he was invited and chose not to play along.

"I'm not doing anything to Dad. He told me he loves me no matter what," I said but some part of me wondered why he was doing this. Maybe my dad had told him otherwise.

"I'm sure he did. He'd rather suffer with having a... a son like you rather than tell you the truth of how he feels," he said and I was losing my battle with trying to keep my cool.

"And what exactly would that truth be?" I asked and the sharp edge of my voice was unmistakable.

"No father wants this life for their son. To live with a man like he should be living with a woman. It's unnatural and the Evan that I've known most of my life isn't down with it," he said and that was the last of my patience.

"Excuse me for saying it like this, but you don't know a fucking thing about what my dad is "down" with," I said and I didn't regret the tone or language I'd used.

"There's no need to speak to me like that, especially since I'm an adult and you're a child," he said and I didn't miss the hint of condescension.

"I'm sorry, but I think you missed the part where I'm 19 which means I'm a grown ass man," I said and I enjoyed the slight widening of his eyes at my tone. It disappeared quickly though.

"I wouldn't go that far," he said with a slightly smug look on his face.

"What's that supposed to mean? I'm gay so I'm not a man?" I said and he opened his mouth about to say something but seemed to think better of it.

"Look Trey, we're getting away from what I wanted to talk to you about," he said sounding like he was concerned about me but I knew that wasn't the case.

"I don't care what you have to talk to me about because I can pretty much figure out what you have to say," I said not bothering to reign in my anger.

"Well I do. That man is my oldest friend and I've had to listen to him talk about what he feels about this whole thing. I know he's too chicken to tell you how he really feels but I'm not because I care about him," he said and that took the wind out of my sails.

If what he was saying was true, my dad had been talking to him about me and apparently he was voicing his disapproval of me to Taylor. What he was saying didn't gel well with Dad's actions ever since I'd been outed by Drake. He was the first one in my family that had made me feel accepted and loved just the way I was. That just couldn't be a lie, or could it?

"Look Trey, your dad has done everything he could to give you, your brothers and sisters everything you ever needed or wanted. Now you need to think about how you can repay him for all the hard word and sacrifice he's done on your behalf," Taylor said. He gave me a long look before heading back outside while I just stood there unable to move.

When I thought about it, so much of my sense of self came from my father's seeming love and acceptance of me being gay and my relationship with Bear. The thought that it had been a lie was like a hard blow to the gut. Maybe all of my family felt the way Taylor said my dad did and was just putting on a show for my benefit. Maybe they got together behind my back and griped about how hard it was to pretend to tolerate the fag in the family.

"Hey you," Bear said startling me. I focused and saw him standing in front of me trying to hide that he was concerned about me.

"Hey," I said trying to put on a fake smile. He must have seen through it though because he pulled me to him and wrapped those comforting arms around me. At that moment I needed them and him desperately.

"What's wrong," he said while he rubbed his hands up and down my back.

"This day has just been a lot with Henry and Taylor," I said choosing to not elaborate.

"Well, at least Taylor turned out to be okay," he said a he continued to hold me. I stiffened and I know he felt it.

"Yeah," I said and cringed at the far-away sound to my voice.

"What happened," he said with a noticeable change in his tone and his hug tightening. I was silent for a minute or so deciding if I was gonna tell him or not. I decided that I would. I told him everything that I could remember that had been said between the two of us. After I finished he was silent and I could feel his body stiffening and his muscles flexing. I guess he was trying to keep his cool.

"Bear, are you gonna say anything?" I asked and cringed again because it was a stupid thing to ask. It was probably best he wasn't talking.

"I'm gonna stay here and continue holding you because if I let you go, I'm gonna go out there and wreck up the place," he said in a chilling tone, but something about it made me laugh.

"Is that so?" I said while trying to keep from laughing again.

"Nice to see you think this is funny," he said not finding it funny.

"I'm sorry but it was kind of funny, especially the visual of you doing just that," I said and I felt him trying to hold in a chuckle.

"It's not funny," he said as he pulled back a bit from be but still held me in his arms.

"You sure about that because I felt you trying not to laugh," I said and he cracked a slight smile.

"Whatever," he said trying to play it off.

"Come on. Lets go make out in front of everyone," I said as I took his hand and started tugging him back outside.

"Trey," he hissed, I put on a sinister grin and turned back to him.

"Fine. I'll just suck your dick then," I said and his eyes went buck wide.

"When did you get so freaky?" he asked looking way too shocked.

"Learned from the best, now come on," I said before I started pulling him outside with me.

We went to a corner and at first hung out alone. We were soon joined by Sean, Calvin, Zane, Ivy, Nicole and Steph. The "adults" kind of congregated to the other side of the yard and Henry sat alone again. Several times I caught Bear glaring at Taylor and I made sure to distract him when he did by blowing in his ear or whispering something dirty to him.

The party broke up sometime after dark. Taylor was going to stay at a hotel but Dad in his infinite wisdom decided that Taylor would stay the night at the house. Both sets of grandparents were also staying with Mama's parents in Zane's old room like always and Dad's parents in Calvin's room with him bunking with me. Taylor would sleep in the family room on the pullout sofa bed.

This was agreed to by him and I was considering staying over with Bear or even Sean. I almost told my parents this but chickened out for some reason so I decided instead to hide up in my room while Dad, Eric, and Taylor chose to move their mini party to the family room.

Bear left around 11 along with Sean and I was left alone with my thoughts about exactly what my Dad felt about me. He was hanging out with his best friend and little brother just like they were that day that changed a lot of things for me and I had to consider that Taylor was probably telling the truth. My dad had been lying about how he felt about me all this time and that thought hurt more than I thought it should.

I woke up after a restless night of sleep, especially with Calvin hogging most of my bed with his big ass body. I swear I didn't know he'd gotten that big until I had to share a bed with him and unlike with Bear, there was no fun to be had with having a big man in my bed.

I got up and made sure the bathroom was free before I went in and took care of business and then deciding to take a shower. I enjoyed the spray which helped ease some of the tiredness from my body. I hopped out of the shower and regretted not checking to see if the door was locked when it opened and there stood my mother's father.

"Gramps, get outta here," I hissed as I tried to cover my dick and balls with my hands but it was a no go.

"Uh..." he droned out with his mouth agape and eyes bucked wide.

"Gramps, close the door," I hissed again feeling especially embarrassed.

"Oh right," he said after another few seconds of looking shocked. He did what I'd said, but not the way I'd expected or wanted.

"Dammit Grandad, I meant with you on the other side," I said through gritted teeth. I reached as quickly as I could to grab my towel and wrapped it around me also as fast as I could. It was moot though as he had gotten a good look at the family jewels.

"Where did you get all that?" He asked looking shell-shocked. I guess I didn't get it from him either.

"I'm not answering that question," I said trying to hide how annoyed I was with him.

"You're not using one of those pump things from one of those magazines to plump up your johnson are you?" He asked and it was my turn to look scandalized.

"Gramps, please leave," I said while trying desperately to keep my cool with my favorite grandfather.

"Okay, okay," he said while holding up his hands. He backed up and headed out of the door. Before he left though he looked back at me and let out a whistle before closing the door. I just shook my head and started brushing my teeth. I checked my hair and saw that I'd need to get it tightened up before leaving for my room to see Calvin gone.

I started to get dressed before I looked at my bag that I'd stashed the outfit that I'd initially planned to wear in. I thought for a minute before I went about putting the outfit back together and putting it on. I looked in the mirror and smirked at myself.

"Whoa!" Calvin said as he entered the room and closed the door behind him.

"What?" I asked innocently. He took a minute before answering.

"I'm surprised you didn't wear that yesterday," he finally said.

"I was going to but Bear made me wear something neutral," I said while rolling my eyes.

"What do you think he'll say about you wearing it now?" Calvin asked and he had a point but I didn't care at the moment.

"He won't find out, especially from you otherwise I might have to let slip to Anika a wee little story from our trip last summer," I said and he looked confused at first before his eyes bucked wide then narrowed.

"Whatever will I do?" He said before he pulled out his phone and in the blink of an eye he snapped a pic of me. "Oh, I know, I could send this to him," he said and I rushed at him to grab the phone but wasn't successful. Damn him and his height and long arms.

"Give it here," I said as I struggled with him.

"Just a sec," he said and did something on the phone. "There, sent," he said with a smug smile.

"I don't believe you sent him that. I'm not a stranger to fake texts," I said, hopeful I was right. I didn't wanna deal with Bear being holier than thou at the moment.

"Let's wait and see," he said as he leaned against the door and never losing the smile. About a minute later my phone starting ringing with Bear's ringtone.

"Dammit," I said and Calvin laughed. I flipped him off before answering the phone.

"Hey sexy," I said in a husky tone trying to distract him. I heard Calvin snort behind me and I turned and shot him a glare.

"No," Bear said sounding serious and commanding.

"No what?" I asked innocently.

"Take it off Trey," he said and I decided to try and tease him again.

"My Mr. Davidson, my brother is in the room. I can't possibly get up to anything with him in here," I said strangely in a fake southern accent.

"I mean it Trey. You don't wanna stir up drama," he said and that pissed me off for some reason.

"Well maybe I do. That old bastard who's supposed to be my grandfather had the nerve to come to my parents house and act like I was putting him out even though I fucking live here. Then Taylor had to say that shit. I'm doing it and you can't stop me, especially when you're not here," I said and regretted the tone I was taking with Bear but I hoped he knew it wasn't directed at him.

"What did Taylor say?" Calvin asked reminding me that he was still in the room.

"Nothing dude. Give me some privacy," I said making sure to sound cordial. He looked at me for a second before he nodded and left the room.

"Baby, just think about it. If after you've thought about it you still wanna stir up trouble, then by all means go right ahead and strut your stuff," he said and I told him I would before I told him I loved him and ended the call. I thought about it for a minute before deciding that I was a drama queen and that I was gonna do it.

I headed downstairs and the first person I ran into was Gramps. He did a double take then tried to stifle a laugh. I just winked at him and he gestured toward the kitchen likely figuring out what I was up to. I headed that way and met Grams on her way out. She looked me over a few times before shaking her head and walking past. She had a small smile though so I know she didn't find it distasteful.

"Trey," Mama said in a gasp as I entered the kitchen. Dad, his parents, the twins, and Taylor were seated at the table while Calvin was at the fridge getting a glass of juice.

"Morning everyone," I said making sure to put on an innocent smile.

"Trey, what are you wearing?" Dad asked as he stood up. He looked stunned to see me dressed like this and I guess that kind of confirmed what Taylor had said. He was fine to pretend like he supported me as long as I still looked the part of straight.

"Just some clothes," I said acting like nothing was up. I headed over to the counter and picked up a piece of the mango that Mama was gonna add to the fruit salad she was making as part of breakfast.

"I can't believe you actually came down here like that," Calvin whispered to me as he got close to me. The look on his face was unreadable and it fed into the thoughts that I'd had about them talking about me behind my back.

"Don't you think that's a little much?" Mama asked and I added her to that list.

"Trey, maybe you'd like to go and change," Dad said and I felt my eyes narrowing at him.

"No, I don't think I will," I said with a noticeable edge.

"Do you see what happens when you allow this kind of thing to go on under your roof?" Henry said to Dad.

"Girls, go to your room," Mama said real quick and while I wanted to roll my eyes at her wanting to get Carly and Cara from around me, it was probably better that they didn't hear this so I waited until they left the room to say anything.

"I don't see. Tell me what happens Henry," I said directing that same tone I'd used on my Dad at his father.

"You will watch your tone when you talk to me," he said as he stood up to try and intimidate me I guess.

"Henry," Grandma said but he didn't listen.

"No Alice. Look at how this... boy, is done up. He looks like he's going to one of those sex clubs that his kind traffic in," he said with a sneer and a scowl.

"Dad...," my dad said to his father in a kind of defeated tone.

"Don't "dad" me. This boy is disrespecting you in your own home flouncing around here dressed all sissified," he said sounding downright disgusted with me. I noticed that neither of my parents were saying anything in my defense. I glanced at Taylor and he shot me a look like "I told you so" which was accompanied with a smug smirk.

"Dude, maybe you need to go change," Calvin said and that was the final straw.

"Yeah I'll bet you want me to change. I'm sure you ALL want that," I said loudly.

"Trey," Dad said sounding and looking shocked.

"What's going on in here?" Grams asked as she and Gramps rushed into the kitchen.

"Well, your daughter and her husband were finally letting me know how they really feel about me being a fag now that they have those fuckers here to side with them," I said sweeping the table and unfortunately tagging my other grandmother.

"Trey! You watch you mouth!" Mama said sternly. I just rolled my eyes.

"No I will not!" I said mocking her tone which shocked her.

"Trey! You will watch the way you talk to me, your mother, and your grandparents. You will respect me in my house!" He said and I guess he'd told me all I needed to hear.

"I'll do you one better. I'll leave your fucking house and I won't come back! That way you won't have to keep going and crying to Taylor about how much of a burden it is to pretend to tolerate your gay son!" I said before I turned and headed out of the kitchen. Grams and Gramps followed me and tried to stop me but I ignored them. I'd almost made it to the stairs when the booming voice of my father stopped me in my tracks.

"You stop right there!" he shouted and I stopped. I didn't drop the pissed off look on my face though.

"What do you want Evan?" I asked through gritted teeth. His eyes widened as I'd never spoken to him like that before, or really most of the way I'd spoken to him today. He recovered quickly though.

"First of all, you don't talk to me the way you did in there, ever. Second, I've never told you anything but the honest truth about how I feel about you," he said but I just rolled my eyes.

"That's not what your friend said," I said just as everyone else came in from the kitchen.

"What are you talking about?" He asked looking confused. I looked to Taylor and he looked like he was trying to keep his face unreadable.

"He said that you'd been talking to him about how much you hated me and that you were just pretending to accept the fact that I was gay just to keep the peace," I said and everyone turned to Taylor.

"I didn't say that," Taylor lied.

"Well what did you say?" Dad asked in a tone similar to the one I'd used on Taylor the day before. It was yet another indicator of me being his son.

"Nothing," Taylor lied again.

"You went into the house for a while yesterday," Mama said as she looked at him with a look that said that she was about to nail him.

"Yeah, and?" He asked looking a bit flustered.

"What were you doing?" Mama asked him.

"What do you think I was doing?" He asked trying to imply that he was using the bathroom.

"What did you say to my son?" Mama asked as she folded her arms and narrowed her eyes at him. He looked between her and Dad before finally letting out a sigh.

"Fine. I told him what you two wont. He's disrespecting you by carrying on like he is. You heard your dad. He's right you know," Taylor said and I rolled my eyes again.

"Okay, let me tell you both something. That's my kid. He's the firstborn of my children with Olivia and just for that I cherish him. Other than that though, he is my son and I love him, just like I love my other sons and my daughters. I'm proud of the man that he's growing up to be and the fact that he loves another man doesn't matter to me."

"What does matter to me is my so-called father coming to my house and treating my son like he's a piece of garbage. What does matter to me is my so-called best friend is trying to convince my son that I don't love him unconditionally, which I do," Dad said and I had to swallow a lump of emotions in my throat.

"You can't be serious. That boy is a disgrace parading around and done up like some disgusting sissy," Henry said but that was all he said before he was slapped hard by grandma.

"That is your grandson. How can you speak so cruelly and heartlessly about your own flesh and blood and do so right in front of him like he was nothing?" She asked him and it kind of broke my heart because I could see tears in her eyes.

"But Alice, he-" Henry started but was cut off.

"You don't ever talk about him like that again or so help me you will regret it Henry Healey!" She said leaving no room for argument. He stared at her for about a minute before he sighed and walked away and over to the couch and took a seat. Grandma then walked over to me and hugged me and whispered "I love you no matter what, and I'm sorry I didn't say before now" in my ear before joining Henry on the couch.

"Now you," Dad said pointing at Taylor.

"You know what, don't. You've changed man," Taylor said looking at Dad like he was a stranger.

"You're right, I have changed. I used to think just like you and my father about gays, until I saw my son with the boy that I came to realize he's loved since before he could even understand what that was. He loves Bear and Bear loves him just as much if not more. I couldn't imagine a better person for my son because I know that he'll never want for anything and he'll always be loved," Dad said and I felt guilty for doubting him.

"I can't believe you're condoning this," Taylor said and I had a flash of memory of my father's brother Peter saying the same thing.

"And I can't believe you had the nerve to bring your ass up in my house and try to convince our son that we secretly hated him. I think you'd better go before I forget my manners," Mama said and her intent to follow through with her threat was clear.

"I feel sorry for you two," Taylor said before shaking is head and walking toward the door. He turned back and looked at Dad and then at me before walking out of the room. I heard the front door open and close a few seconds after that.

"Olivia and I need to talk to Trey. Give us the room," Dad said after a deep sigh.

The grandparents and Calvin cleared the room. Dad gestured to the couch and I hesitated before going over and taking a seat. He and Mama joined me and for a minute there was silence and I was curious what was going through their heads. I again felt guilty for thinking the worst about them but they hadn't exactly helped themselves in the matter.

"How could you believe that your mother and I don't love you?" Dad said sounding disappointed in me. My mind wanted to believe that it was because I was gay but I shut that down.

"I don't know. I guess I thought that since you said all those things when I was younger that maybe Taylor was right. I guess it didn't help that the three of you were together again like you were when I overheard that conversation when I was 10," I said and he again had a pained look on his face at the fact that I'd heard him say that.

"Trey, I want you to listen to me," he said and took a deep breath. Mama who was sitting on the other side of me took my hand in hers. "I haven't talked to Taylor since before I found out about you," he said and I found that hard to believe.

"What?" I asked because it sounded weird that Taylor would show up here like nothing had changed after not having spoken to Dad in over 2 years.

"Well, I should say that I've only talked to him twice. They were very brief and it was never about you. I guess I thought that as long as I didn't talk about you with him, I wouldn't have to choose between you and him because I knew, based on what I knew about him, that I would have to and it kind of pained me that I'd have to lose a long time friend as there was no way I was gonna choose him over my son," he said and he sounded so genuine that I had to believe him. I then started to feel guilty for my part in him losing his friend.

"I'm sorry," I said as I dropped my head. He grasped my chin though and made me look back up at him. It reminded me of the day that they'd found out about me and I again felt guilty for doubting him because his words that day were heartfelt and real. They weren't a put on and I was an idiot to believe Taylor that they were.

"There's nothing for you to be sorry about. I guess it's my fault because I didn't shut my father down, but I was trying to keep the peace. I guess I was being selfish in that I wanted to keep things free and easy," he said and I just nodded because I couldn't talk right then.

"I know what you're thinking too and I wanted you to change because I knew what you were up to and what would happen. I didn't wanna go off on anybody which is why I held my tongue," Mama said and I guess that made sense.

"We didn't react like we should have and we're sorry that we made you think we don't love and accept you," Dad said and I had to struggle to keep my emotions in check.

"I should have listened to Bear when he told me not to wear this stuff. He said it would cause trouble and I ignored him because I guess that's what I wanted. I'm sorry I messed up your birthday weekend," I said but Dad just shook his head.

"Don't be sorry. You be you and don't worry about what anyone else thinks or says. That goes for me and your mother as well," Dad said, I thought that I couldn't have gotten better in the parents department.

We talked for a few more minutes before Dad signaled the "all clear" for everyone to come out of hiding and stop pretending they weren't listening to our conversation. Grams and Gramps both hugged me and told me they loved me no matter what as did Grandma Alice again. Calvin apologized for making me think he thought like Henry and Taylor.

My friends and Bear came over in the afternoon to wish my dad a happy belated birthday. Jessica of course wanted to sample some leftovers and was fully stocked with an entire tupperware bowl full of chicken, burgers and ribs. She was in heaven as she chowed down. She still had room though for the dinner of fried chicken, green beans, mashed potatoes and gravy, and homemade rolls that my grandmothers made. She was finally too full though for the peach cobbler that my mother had made so they gave her a helping to go along with some for her family.

Henry seemed to keep to himself and at first I wondered if he was doing so for Grandma Alice or if it was just that I repulsed him so much that he stayed away. Then I decided that I didn't care as I didn't have time in my life to spend obsessed with what people like him were thinking about me. By the time I went to sleep that night, I was feeling good about things within my world again.

MAY

May rolled around and now that I was almost done with my first year of college, I found myself looking back on things that had happened. It started off good aside from the separation from Bear for long periods of time. I had been eager to get to college, but things got complicated fast.

First I had to deal with my first encounter with racism very early. Then I was outed and the crazy drama that came from that. The fallout from that didn't last near as long as it did in high school though and for that I was thankful. My tutoring with Lane had wrapped up a few days ago and after calculating all the money I'd made, I imagined I could get through life with a job this lucrative.

By far the most memorable thing that had happened this year was that Marcus had died. I still found myself wanting to call him and talk to him about things going on in my life or in my head. I didn't realize how important he had been in my life until he was gone from all our lives.

Now here I was with my friends and I felt like things were good with them. There just seemed to be something nagging at me that if I examined closely, I'd see it was that I wasn't fulfilled in school. This year had been full on the non-academic side, but on the academic side, things were kind of boring. I wondered, hopefully for the last time, if there was any hope that the next year would bring some kind of challenge.

"You are a fool because there's no way I'm doing that," Liberty said to Christian.

"Oh come on. It'll be fun," he pleaded with puppy dog eyes.

"There's no way I'm spending my summer stuck in an RV. I think being around all these white people has corrupted you," she said with a scowl. I loved how surly she was most of the time, well sometimes I did.

"It'll be fun if you stop looking at it like you look at everything," Christian said bravely.

"And how is that?" Liberty asked with the amount of attitude I expected.

"With those cynical glasses you wear 24 hours a day," Christian said and that's what I liked about him. He wasn't afraid to tell Liberty where to get off when she needed it. She needed someone to challenge her sometimes because she had a very strong personality.

"You're lucky that I love you right now otherwise you'd be on fire right now," Liberty said with a mostly serious glare aimed at Christian. He didn't look the least bit worried about his safety though.

"Oh yeah, that reminds me. I learned something about love," Light chimed in.

"What would that be?" Liberty asked a tad bit condescendingly. Light just rolled her eyes though before continuing.

"Well, they say that love doesn't really exist and that the feeling that people feel is really called Limerence," Light said and I had to join Liberty in the way that she was looking at Light like she was crazy.

"What the hell is Limerence?" Liberty asked after a few seconds. I had heard of the word before but had never thought it was connected to love.

"Well, it's supposed to be the feeling you feel when you're infatuated with someone. That's basically what "love" is," Light said being all blasé but I didn't like it.

"Listen... you, I KNOW what I feel for Christian isn't some infatuation and definitely ain't some "Limerence" or whatever the hell that is you're talking about," Liberty said in a way only she could.

"Aw babe, you really love me," Christian said kind of jokingly but I could tell he was touched by Liberty's surly declaration of love.

"Don't go getting a big head about this," Liberty said likely kicking herself for her unintended declaration.

"I have to agree with Liberty although not the way she chose to say what she did," I said with a smile towards Liberty. She just rolled her eyes before she started talking to Christian about the summer again. Light was adding her two cents but for some reason my mind started turning on this whole thing.

I found myself pulling out my phone and searching Limerence. As I read about it, I saw a lot of myself in this word and Bear as well. As I continued to read about it, I started to wonder if my relationship with Bear was real or if it was just an infatuation that would end once the infatuation faded.

"Trey, are you in there?" Liberty asked waving a hand in front of my face.

"Huh?" I said as I was coming out of my obsessive thoughts.

"What are you so focused on?" She asked as she looked at me worriedly.

"Nothing," I said as I quickly tried to close my phone. She saw thought and grabbed it before I had the chance. She looked at what I'd been reading before looking at me with a frown.

"Really Trey," she said sounding disappointed.

"What?" Christian asked. Light also looked interested .

"I was just looking at it," I said not convincingly.

"I know you Trey. I can see what's going on in that head of yours right now," Liberty said which was probably true.

"I don't know what you're talking about," I lied.

"So you're not thinking right now that your relationship with Bear is just this Limerence thing then?" She asked and I couldn't answer.

"Trey, I was just bringing up something interesting I had heard about. I didn't mean for you all to think that it applied to you," Light said but I couldn't shake what I'd read.

"What if it's true? What if Bear and I are just experiencing Limerence and we'll break up in a year or so?" I asked and Liberty just shook her head.

"Trey, you can't believe that," she said but I could, at least I couldn't stop thinking it.

"I gotta go. I'm got some stuff to look over," I said as I jumped up. Liberty tried to stop me but I put her off and headed to my room.

Once in my room I paced around and tried to get my mind to stop working. I hated when I got something stuck in my head that wouldn't leave. My control over my thoughts in these situations was near zero and I hated that.

I went over every interaction that I could remember having with Bear since we'd gotten together. I analyzed every word I could remember. After five minutes of this I realized how crazy I was being and I considered calling Dr. Manning, but then a thought that someone had said to me came to me out of the blue: Bear would do anything for me.

Now in hindsight I could see that no matter how much a guy cared for his guy friend, he'd never let that friend fuck him just to be a good friend. That logic wasn't easily accessible at the moment though. Thankfully my mental torture was postponed by my ringing cell phone. I looked and saw that it was Bear and briefly wondered if he knew I needed to hear his voice just then. I shook that off though and answered the phone.

"Hey handsome," I said making sure I sounded upbeat.

"Limerence?" Bear said not sounding at all happy.

"Damned Liberty," I mumbled not sparing her any of my annoyance with her as I knew it had to be her that had told him.

"Yeah, she just called me," he said even more angry, but obviously trying to hold some back.

"Now look," I said, but I never got the chance to finish.

"You know what, get on Skype. I'm gonna need to be looking at you while I give you this ass chewing," he growled.

"You're gonna chew my ass?" I said trying to diffuse the situation with tasteless humor.

"No joking. Get your ass on Skype now!" he ordered before the call ended.

I just sat there staring at my phone for the longest. I couldn't believe he talked to me like that. I mean, sure, I'd talked to him like that plenty of times, but that was my way. I decided to do what he'd said though all the while plotting on how to dispose of Liberty's corpse. I never intended for Bear to learn of this little freak out.

"Hey, big guy," I said kind of flirty after Skype had connected to him. He looked really pissed and I wanted to try and distract him from that, but I had obviously failed.

"Shut up," he said forcefully and that was the last straw.

"Excuse me? Who do you think you're talking to like that?" I asked him with the appropriate amount of attitude.

"I'm talking to you," he roared and I finally took notice of his anger. It was different than any other time before.

"Bear, it's not what you're thinking," I tried but he wasn't hearing any excuses.

"I don't get you. You are constantly degrading and belittling my feelings for you. I don't get why you can't believe that I honestly and genuinely love you. What's so damned special about me, or so horrible about you that you think I can't possibly be capable of loving you, or you deserving of my love?" he said in an aggressive tone, but I took note of the hurt also present in his voice.

"I'm sorry Bear," I said as I couldn't think of anything else to say.

"I don't know if I believe you. It just seems like no matter what I do, you are always trying to find some reason why I shouldn't love you, why our relationship can't be real," he said, finally in a calmer tone, but the hurt was still there.

"I don't do it on purpose," I said as humbly as I could.

"Don't do it at all Trey. I'm no prize. I'm not some unattainable dream guy. I'm a flawed human who makes mistakes just like everyone else," he said and he spoke the truth. There was an odd note to his statement but I chose to put it aside for the moment. My recent encounter with my dad's father and Taylor had obviously stirred up some of my old insecurities.

"I know what you're saying and I'm sorry. I don't know why my brain goes in weird directions that I can't control," I said and he sighed.

"Just talk to me about it. I wanna know when you're feeling insecure about things. I want you to feel safe enough with me to be vulnerable and trust that I'll take care of you just like I know you'll do the same for me," he said and it was like healing wind blew over me. I closed my eyes and I could feel the smile spreading on my face.

"I love you so much," I heard myself say before I knew it. I opened my eyes and saw the biggest smile on his face.

"I love you too and I want you to believe that it's real and not some infatuation that will fade," he said which made me feel so good.

We talked for a few more minutes before we decided to end the call as I did have some things to do. I was initially pissed with Liberty for telling Bear about what was going on with me but it turned out to be just what I needed. It seemed that Bear was the only one to calm my raging mind when even I couldn't do it. Just for that reason he was perfect for me. I just had to make sure that I remembered that.

Finals were over and I was glad for that as I was sure that Liberty, Light, and Maria were becoming unbearable. The guys managed to keep themselves from going off the deep end, but Dave's all-nighters were getting to me. I wasn't stressed at all about finals which added to the stress of my friends and roommate as they saw that as me not being serious.

The fact was that the only one of us that didn't seem like they were being serious was Jessica. She had been preoccupied with something lately and being kind of secretive. I was curious and almost called Alvis to see if he knew anything but decided that it wasn't any of my business until she decided that it was.

"Hey guys," said the subject of my thoughts walking in with a big dish wrapped in aluminum foil and a plastic bag that turned out to have paper plates and plastic forks.

"What's that that smells so good?" Dave asked while doing a good impression of Jessica sniffing the air.

"Something that I cooked over at Liam's place," she said as she sat down. She put the bowl down on the table, removed the foil to reveal a mouth watering lasagna.

"That smells so good I wanna bathe in it," Light said as she eyed the lasagna with wide eyes and a drop of drool on her lips.

"Help yourselves," she said as she handed out the plates and forks. We dived in and it tasted absolutely delicious.

"Damn, this is good," Liberty said with her mouth full.

"Mm hmm," Christian said around the fork in his mouth.

"Jess, this is delicious," I said before putting another forkful in my mouth.

"Thanks," she said shyly. "Liam has been helping me work on it for weeks until I got it just right," she added.

"Well you two did good work cause this is great," I said with my mouth full.

"Better than your mother's?" She asked with a teasing smile.

"I plead the fifth," I said as I ate some more.

"Damn, we're attracting attention," Christian said as he looked around. We did as well and there were several people watching us. Scotty was also headed our way not even bothering to disguise his hunger for what we were eating.

"Hey you guys. What's going on?" Scotty said as he reached us. He kept glancing at the dish of lasagna being way too obvious about it.

"Is there something you need, Scotty?" Light asked with a smirk.

"I uh..." he said before he seemed to lose his train of thought as he gave up the pretense and just stared at the lasagna.

"You can get some," Jessica said with an exasperated smile.

"Thanks. It's been a while since I had some home cooking," he said as he grabbed a plate and got a small piece of the lasagna. He put a piece in his mouth and closed his eyes as a smile spread on his face.

"You okay there?" Dave asked him.

"Yeah, just fine," he said before eating some more.

"Come on," Jessica waved at our dorm mates that were still watching us. They didn't even wait for another second before they came over.

"Jessica!" Liberty said as she gave Jessica a small shove.

"I'll make you some more," Jessica said looking proud as the big dish of lasagna was emptied by our dorm mates.

"You'd better," Liberty said before she went back to her seconds. Once Jessica had dished the last piece to the last person, I looked at the empty dish and was sad for some reason.

"Oh Trey, I did have a real reason for coming over here. I have to tell you something," Scotty said after he'd finished eating.

"What?" I asked as I put my empty plate down.

"Dean Billings wants to see you tomorrow morning. He said to tell you to be at his office by ten," Scotty said and the way he'd said it made it seem serious. Although, any meeting with the Dean of Students should be serious.

"Did he say what he wanted with me?" I asked as worry started to creep in. I couldn't think of anything I'd done that would warrant a summons from the Dean of Students but there had to be something.

"All he said was that there was something very important that he needed to discuss with you," he said not easing the tension I was feeling.

He thanked Jessica for the lasagna and told us to make sure we cleaned up to make sure we didn't get any ants, bugs, or other pests. Everyone made sure they put their trash in a bag and Jessica wrapped the dish up in another bag to return to Liam while I was busy thinking what the Dean wanted to see me about. Liberty told me not to worry but with my luck anything could happen.

I got up early and got showered and changed. I made sure I was put together really well and brushed aside the brief thought that I was doing too much. Dave laughed at me and said that I was acting like I was going to an important job interview. Once he said that though, the thought did occur to me that maybe Lane or his father had said something and that the Dean wanted to put me on the payroll next year for tutoring. It didn't sound like a bad idea if it was anywhere near as lucretive as it was with Lane.

I checked myself again, made sure I had my keys, phone, and wallet, and left the room. I headed for the administration building to see the Dean. When I made it there, I saw Professor Westley leaving the building. He smiled and gave me a thumbs up as he passed me on the way out which only served to confuse me further.

I headed up to the receptionist and she directed me to a seat and told me to wait. I was about 10 minutes early so I guess he was still taking care of some business. That gave me time to think about what he could want. The only other thing that he could have called me about was the incident with Trevor and Donny from my first semester.

"Mr. Healey, the Dean will see you now," another woman said shaking me out of my thoughts.

"Thank you," I said as I stood. I walked to Dean Billings' door and started to knock before the lady that had come to get me told me to just go on in.

I walked into the large ornately decorated room that Dean Billings was in along with two other men dressed similarly to him. Dean Billings was a white man who looked to be in his late 50's or so with salt and pepper hair. One of the other two men was also white and looked around his age while the other one was black and a bit younger, maybe in his early 40's.

"Mr. Healey, Trey, come on in and take a seat," Dean Billings said as he gestured to the chair between the two occupied ones.

"Yes sir," I said before walking in and taking a seat. I took a quick look around and they seemed to wait until I was done. When I looked at Dean Billings he had a smile his face but that didn't do anything for my nerves.

"Trey, I've invited you here to talk to you about an opportunity, or as I should say, these two gentleman here have an opportunity to discuss with you," he said and I looked at him for a few moments before looking to my right and then left. These two men looked all business but they also gave off an air of approachability.

"Trey, my name is Marty Hastings and this is Mitchell Wallace," the white man said introducing me to himself and his companion.

"How do you do," I said as I made sure to shake both of their hands. They both looked slightly impressed with my manners. Maybe the dreads kind of threw them as to the kind of person I was, I don't know. Maybe they expected a thug when I showed up, maybe not. I didn't let anything of my thoughts show on my face. I tried my best to project an air of confidence and professionalism, even if I wasn't feeling all that confident.

"I'm the Dean of Admissions at Penn and Mitchell here is the Dean of Students," Mr. or I guess I should say Dean Hastings said and that definitely raised my eyebrows. Had they found out about me and Bear and were here now to pay me off to go away? After all, they couldn't afford to have some scandal involving a player on their football team. College ball was a big deal.

"Oh," was all I was able to say.

"Trey, we've heard some things about you," Dean Wallace said and that further made me think that they were here about Bear. "Some good things indeed and we'd like to make you an offer," he continued.

"Oh really?" I said and winced because there was a slight edge to my voice. I didn't want them to get offended if this had nothing to do with Bear.

"We've talked to several of your professors and after a rather... enthusiastic reference from an old friend of mine, we'd like to offer you to come to Penn in the fall," Dean Hastings said and that shocked me.

"Uh, I applied to Penn and was turned down," I said before I could stop myself.

"Yes, I did discover that when looking into admissions and rejection records," Dean Hastings said. This couldn't be real, could it.

"Trey, what we want to offer you is something that is rather ambitious," Dean Wallace said and something about the way he'd said that had me wanting to hear him out. "We should tell you now before continuing that what you will have to do, it's not in the least bit easy. It will be the hardest thing you've done," he continued and he was definitely piquing my interest. There was some part of me that was almost vibrating at his words.

"What would I have to do?" I asked quickly. The three men in the room chuckled at my obvious enthusiasm.

"Have you ever heard of a student doing their undergraduate and graduate work at the same time?" Dean Wallace said and I did recall hearing something about it but it wasn't much.

"I think I have," I said and Dean Wallace smiled.

"That's what you will have to do. This plan we have for you will have you receive your Master in Business from Wharton after 3 years as your credits from this year will carry over," he said and I couldn't stop the excitement building inside. I just knew this was what I had been waiting for, a challenge that I just knew I was gonna except. I couldn't let that show though.

"So I will have a Masters in just 3 more years?" I asked as I tried to keep the smile from my face.

"Yes you will. You will have a lot to do so we need you to be sure before you agree to this," Dean Wallace said and I nodded.

As I sat there trying to keep my face neutral I listened to them tell me that I'd been taking the perfect classes during my freshman year and that for my sophomore year, I'd be an undergraduate business major at Penn. They'd start my transition into my more difficult course load during my second semester and I'd start the full course load during my junior year.

After everything was discussed and I agreed to think about it before committing, Dean Billings saw me out of his office. As I walked out of the building I remembered seeing Professor Westley and finally got what the thumbs up was about.

I got outside and before I did anything else I sent Bear a text to make sure he was free to talk. He told me to give him about 30 minutes. He called me back 20 minutes later though and asked what was wrong. I asked him what he was talking about and he said he had a feeling that something was amiss.

I stopped for a moment to wonder what was the deal with him as he could tell something was different even through a text. I brushed it aside though and told him the good news. I could hear the smile on his face over the phone but he did a convincing job of sounding neutral when he spoke again after I was finished.

He asked me if I was sure I could handle it and I assured him I could. I could just feel that this is what I had been waiting for and I was almost giddy. Bear told me that I'd better talk to my parents and that brought me down a bit. They would almost certainly try and talk me out of it once they learned all it entailed. I told him I would and we said our I love yous before we ended the call.

I called my parents and asked if they were busy. I told them I had something to talk to them about and they of course wanted to know what it was over the phone but I wasn't giving it up that easily. They said they'd be waiting at home for me and I told them I'd see them soon.

As I pulled up to the house I tried to get my excitement under control. Ever since they'd told me about this whole thing, I'd been excited for more than one reason. The most obvious reason was that I'd no longer have to have a long distance relationship with Bear as I'd be on the same campus with him.

As I thought on it though, Bear shockingly wasn't the deciding factor in this. I would have accepted it even if he wasn't there. This was like an answer to my longing to be challenged academically. I'd been waiting most of my life for this and I could feel that this was what I had been waiting for.

I got out of the car and waved at the neighbors as they were heading in their house. I headed for the door and was about to insert my key into the lock to unlock the door when it abruptly opened in my face and both of my parents were on the other side.

"What is it?" They both asked and I barely managed to keep from laughing at them.

"Hello mother and father. It's good to see you two," I said while keeping my face as neutral as possible. I planned to mess with them a bit.

"You didn't answer our question," Dad said with a worried frown that was shared by his wife.

"Are you two gonna move so I can come in?" I asked while still keeping my face neutral which I'm sure was pissing them off. They moved though and I walked through the door. I headed for the family room and they followed me. I took a seat and sighed a deep sigh. I almost laughed at my performance.

"Will you please tell us what's wrong!" Mama said in a rushed shout.

"What makes you think something is wrong?" I asked and I almost lost the façade.

"You call the two of us in the middle of the day and tell us that you have something to tell us and you can't do so over the phone. Of course we're gonna think something is wrong," Dad said sounding very upset. It was time to end the game I was playing with them.

"Nothing is wrong," I said this time with a smile to put them at ease.

"Then what is it?" Mama asked as she took a seat on the couch beside me. Dad sat next to her with the both of them angled towards me.

I took a deep breath and told them everything I'd been told and everything that was discussed with the Deans earlier. As I told them they flipped the script on me and affected the same unreadable expression that I tried to project to them. When I was done, they were silent for a few moments.

"Well, that's something," Dad finally said.

"It certainly is," Mama agreed.

"That's all you have to say? This is great news," I said as I stood and spoke excitedly.

"Do you really wanna hear what I think?" Mama asked and I almost said no, but I needed to hear it.

"Yeah, I do," I said and I prepared myself to counter whatever she said.

"Trey, I don't think you should do this," Mama said like I kind of expected. I couldn't let them stop me though.

"But I want to. This is a great opportunity," I said but they didn't look convinced.

"Trey, I just don't know if you'll be able to handle this," Dad said. I could handle this and I was gonna make them realize it.

"I want to do this. For so long I've wanted a challenge from school and I just haven't gotten it. When I was in elementary school I felt that need but I figured I'd have to wait until junior high to get it. Then I thought that I'd need to wait until high school to get it. Then I finally got there and still nothing. Even when I tried the AP courses there was nothing."

"I could have done the whole AP train like Miriam and Justice and it still wouldn't have done anything. I could have even done college courses and I could have done this stuff in my sleep because here I am near the end of my freshman year of college and still nothing," I said and I hoped they were listening because even though I'd said this stuff to Bear before, I'd never said it to them.

"Trey sweetie, that's all because you're smart," Mama said and that wasn't good enough.

"It's not fair though. It's not right that other people have to study and try and struggle just to keep their heads above water when it comes to school yet I've just been coasting by all these years. It makes me feel like I'm not normal." It felt good to finally tell them about this.

"Trey, why do you have to be normal? You've never been one to want that before," Dad said and he was wrong, at least somewhat.

"Yeah I have," I said.

"You know what I mean," he said getting what I meant about me not wishing I was normal in regards to my being gay but that was very wrong as I'd wanted to be normal for a long time.

"Yeah I do Dad," I said. Mama looked deep in thought but Dad didn't look ready to surrender just yet. Ever since I'd heard about this it's all I'd been able to think about and I was going to convince them.

"Trey, I've done a bit of research into this and I'm worried. Quite a number of people attempt this but not that many are able to handle it. We're just worried about you Trey," Dad said and I was touched by how much they cared. Yeah I know that they're my parents, but still. It's nice to see these things, especially for a gay guy.

"You did research into this very thing?" I asked because it seemed like such a random thing to research, for him at least.

"I was worried about this very thing happening. That you would want to do something like this and I wanted to know what was involved in it," he said with a concerned frown etched into his face. I wanted to hug him but things weren't settled yet so that could wait.

"I know you're worried and I'll admit that I am a bit worried too, but not enough to not do this. I want to study long and hard. I want to pull an all-nighter. I want to go to class the next day and actually worry if I studied enough to actually pass the test or complete the exam, and yes that may make me sound strange, but as you pointed out, I've never been too concerned with being normal about certain things." I finished my impassioned plea and I hoped that it had worked.

"Trey, how much of this has to do with Bear? Do you just want to do this so you can go to school with him?" Dad asked and it was a fair question I guess.

"I'll be honest and say that he is a factor in this. I will also say though that even if he wasn't there, I'd still do this because I want this so bad I can taste it. I want to finally dig my claws in and do some work and no longer coast by," I said. I was done and I just hoped that they listened.

"I've never seen you so passionate about anything before, aside from Bear that is. I want to say no very much but I have a feeling that you wouldn't ever let us hear the end of it," Mama said and she was right.

"No I wouldn't," I said truthfully but I smiled to try and ease the tension.

"Bud, I guess you're gonna do this. If this gets to be too much, you'd better tell us," he ordered and I just nodded. He pulled me into a hug which I returned. Mama came up and joined us and I was excited and worried about my decision and thankful for my parents at the same time.

I made the decision to do it and I informed the admissions department of both schools. The two Deans from Penn seemed especially excited to hear about my decision. Dean Hastings then told me a surprising bit of information. It seems that the "enthusiastic reference" he'd mentioned had been Bear's father. That shocked me and I wanted to ask him about it but Bear told me that it was probably best that I didn't. He didn't say he was gonna do it so I should pretend like I didn't know.

I told my friends and they of course were shocked at first. Once they got over it then of course they had to put their two cents in. Justice was the biggest shock though and we actually had a little argument about it. It was mostly just her version of what my parents were worried about and I mostly managed to put her at ease. At least, I did enough that she didn't talk about it anymore.

Jessica then surprised us too when she announced that she wasn't gonna return to school in the fall because she was enrolling in culinary school. She told us that she had been thinking about it for a while and finally decided to go for it. Her parents weren't happy about the wasted one year of college but they were still gonna support her.

Liberty then started bitching about how we were leaving her all alone. Christian reminded her that he would still be there along with Sean and Carter as well as Dave, Light, and Maria, but she just waved him off. With everything set I was excited for the fall.

"Well, that's the last of it," Dave said as he finished packing up his stuff. It was his last day on campus until the fall and my last day ever. He had to pack all of his stuff because our dorm was only for freshmen and he

"Yup, me too," I said as I stuffed my last shirt into one of my duffel bags.

"Hard to believe the year is already over," he said before taking a seat on his bed.

"Yeah but so much happened, at least to me it did, that it feels like it should fill a year or two," I said before cracking a smile. He did too.

"It's not gonna be the same without you around man," Dave said and that made me sad. I really was going to miss him.

"Just because we're not going to be going to the same school anymore doesn't mean we can't still be friends," I told him which was true. I still saw all of my old friends from high school that I didn't go to school with plenty.

"You'll meet new people and have a new roommate in the fall. You won't have time for me," he said but he was wrong.

"I still see and keep in touch with all my friends from high school so I'll do the same with you," I said but he didn't look convinced.

"That's different. You have many years and history with them. We've only known each other for 8 months, he said and while that could be true, it wasn't with me.

"I never forget my real friends no matter how long I've known them. You have my number and I have yours. We'll call each other and I'll see you whenever I come here to see the rest of my friends," I told him and I was being honest. I didn't plan to just write off the people I'd met here at this school.

"Look at me over here being all emotional like a little girl," Dave said and we both laughed. I got up though and pulled him into a hug. He was surprised at first before he hugged me back.

"Yo dude, it's time to get you loaded up," Christian said as he and Carter barged into the room.

"Where's Sean?" I asked as it was weird he wasn't here to help.

"Light had him taking something to her car. I think she's stealing," Carter said.

We all pitched in to get both of our stuff loaded up into my truck and Dave's car. Light did look kind of suspicious when Sean came out to her car carrying something wrapped in plastic. Liberty joked it was the body of that guy that they'd killed back in September to get into the sorority. Everyone laughed but it was slightly plausible with Liberty.

When everyone had all of their stuff loaded up we looked at each other for a few moments. I looked around campus and took everything in as I wouldn't be seeing it everyday come fall. We said our goodbyes for now to Dave, Light, and Maria before the left. We all then got into our vehicles and left school behind for the summer.

JUNE

Our first year of college was over. It'd had it's ups and downs but I did learn some things. I was excited for the fall, but not so much for the summer because Bear, Sean, and Carter had summer training to do so they were gonna be busy. Sean came up with the idea though to throw a big bash before they got busy so that's where I was headed.

I pulled up to Sean's place and there were already quite a few cars out front. I hopped out of my truck and could already hear the music. As I approached the door, I saw why as it was standing wide open. I walked in and saw several people dancing. I recognized some of the people there as people we'd gone to school with. A few of them waved to me and I waved back.

"Hey Trey," Jeremy said as he ambushed me by throwing an arm around my neck.

"Hey Jeremy. How've you've been," I said after I recovered.

"Been doing good man," he said. He looked happy and I could see why as Kelly strolled up.

"Hey Kelly," I said with a teasing smile aimed at Jeremy. He blushed a little.

"Hey Trey, I see college is doing you good," she said with a smile of her own.

"It has it's good and bad, just like anything really," I said choosing to be diplomatic in my description of college seeing as they'd both be attending college in the fall. Didn't wanna scare 'em.

As we talked I found out that they were going to be going to Veronica's school. I told them about me and Jessica and Jeremy told me that Jessica had already told him about her but congratulated me and wished me luck and I returned the sentiment to them.

I went and spoke to Sean and Veronica who were still setting stuff up while Justice was just there watching. I could tell that Veronica was annoyed by it because she kept shooting her glares but she didn't say anything which was strange.

Bear arrived after a bit and I wasted no time "greeting" him. It lasted for about ten minutes but it was time well spent as I wasn't gonna have very much time with him come the next week. I spent most of the time at the party glued to Bear and was happy that he didn't have a problem with it. In fact, he would pull me closer whenever he felt that I was straying too far.

We did split up after a while though and I chilled with some of my friends including Sean and Carter who I made sure to spend time with as they too were gonna be busy with summer training. I noticed that Sean's cousin Collin was eyeing me quite a few times and it still made me feel uncomfortable. Which is why I was especially put off guard when he walked up with two cups of something.

"Hey Trey, are you enjoying the party?" He asked. I observed him carefully and he didn't seem to be eyeing me like before. He looked at me normally like I'd been wanting him to all the rest of the time.

"Yeah, it's cool," I said but still watched him warily.

"Yeah, I don't usually get to party so I was glad when Sean invited me," he said and he sounded so humble that I was starting to feel guilty for the way I was regarding him.

"Well, I hope you're having fun," I said trying for cordial.

"Yeah, I am actually," he said with what I felt was a genuine smile. So what if he likely found me attractive? I needed to stop judging people without getting to know them.

"Good," I said having run out of things to say.

"Hey, I got this for Sean but he's content with his beer. Why don't you take it," he said before he gave me the cup. It looked like a Coke and of course that's what he was gonna give Sean. I took it and he smiled before giving me a nod and walking away.

I just couldn't get a read on that guy. One minute he was eyeing me like he wanted me in the worst way and the next he was being nice with no noticeable interest in me in that way. I decided to stop over-thinking things and was about to take a drink of the drink he'd given me when I smelled something off.

"Smell that," I said to Justice who had just walked up to me.

"What is it?" she asked, but took the cup. I turned so to block Collin from seeing this.

"Sean's cousin gave me that," I said. She frowned slightly but didn't say anything. She smelled before her nose crinkled.

"What's in here?" She asked though I didn't know.

"I thought I was imagining things," I said . She smelled it again and again her nose crinkled. She looked in thought for a few seconds before she pulled in Jeremy who was walking by.

"Hey Jeremy, go distract Sean's cousin. Don't let him look over here," she said while discreetly gesturing toward Collin.

"Uh, okay," Jeremy said looking confused but he did what she said.

"What are you doing?" I asked. I didn't know what was going through her head.

"Pretend like you're drinking that, but don't drink any," she said before holding up her finger indicating for me to wait a minute and walking away.

"I wasn't going to," I said to myself before taking a fake drink from the cup. I was curious what was in this cup. It looked like a Coke but the smell was obviously not Coke.

"Here," Justice said giving me a cup exactly like the one I had gotten from Collin. I looked inside and saw the same color liquid as was in the original cup. I sniffed and it smelled like Coke. She took the original cup.

"What are you going to do?" I asked as I dared a taste of what she had given me and it was indeed coke.

"I think he spiked this with something. Drink that and pretend to get drunk and see what he does. I'm gonna go test this," she said before starting to walk away.

"With what?" I asked but took another swallow of the coke.

"I got something in my car," she said before walking away. Leave it to Justice. She probably had a lab in her trunk. She walked up to Jeremy and Collin and whispered something in his ear. Jeremy then left and went somewhere and Justice walked out of the door. Collin made a beeline for me then.

"So, how are you doing?" He asked. It was a weird question to ask when we'd just seen each other a few minutes ago. That made me think that Justice was right.

"I, I'm feeling a little woozy. I only had two beers though," I lied. I hadn't had any, but I needed him to believe whatever his plan was had been successful.

"Come on, let's get you somewhere so you can relax," he said as he started guiding me. I thought he'd head for the living room but he was guiding me toward the stairs.

"Where're we going?" I asked and made sure to slur.

"Just somewhere quiet so you can relax," he said and I fought to keep from rolling my eyes at how cunning he was sounding.

He continued to lead me up the stairs and down the corridor to a guest room that I guess he was staying in. He opened the door and gently pushed me in before following. He then looked down the corridor in both directions before closing the door. When he turned back around I started swaying and I stumbled a little. I wondered if he was buying my drunk/drugged act. He confirmed he was when he smiled that creepy smile again.

"Come on Trey, let's sit down," he said as he slid his arm around me and lead me to the bed. I fought hard to restrain myself from gut punching him right then.

"Where are we?" I asked with a slur as we dropped down on the bed.

"Just somewhere quiet," he said in my ear. Again, I had to fight to keep from hurting him. This bastard had tried to drug me and now that he thought he was successful, he was planning on having sex with me. That was obvious at this point.

"I want Bear," I slurred again. I meant what I said this time though. I was starting to regret this as it was bringing up memories of what had happened with Kent even if the situation was different.

"Shhh, it's gonna be okay. You'll enjoy this," he said as he pushed me back on the bed and laid down next to me. He then actually caressed my cheek and if he wasn't about to force himself on me while I was drugged, and I was actually into him, I would have found the move sweet.

"Enjoy what," I slurred but he put his finger to my lips again to shush me before I got the chance to say anything else.

"I'll treat you good," he said before he climbed on top of me. He ran his hand down my body before leaning down to kiss me. That was my breaking point. I knew now what he was up to and it was time to break this fool. I grabbed his nuts hard and tried to ignore the fact that his dick was hard or else I would be tempted to break that fucker in half. His scream almost made me smile.

"You must be out of your fucking mind of you think you gonna fuck me tonight motherfucker," I said maybe going hard on the F word, but I was beyond pissed.

"OW! Let me go! Let me go!" He shouted and this time I did crack a smile.

"Did you actually think I'd drink that shit you gave me?" I said through gritted teeth before giving his nuts another hard squeeze which caused him to scream again.

"What's going on in here?" Sean said as he burst into the room followed by Bear and Carter.

"Trey, what's going on?" Bear asked when Sean turned on the lights and he saw us on the bed.

"You wanna tell him what was going on bitch?" I asked Collin before I squeezed his nuts again and he screamed again.

"Please stop," he begged in a strangled voice.

"Trey, I found out what it was," Justice said as she entered the room along with Liberty and Jessica.

"What what was?" Bear asked in a menacing tone as he stepped toward the bed.

"Well, Collin here gave me a cup on something that smelled strange so Justice took it to test and see what it was. We had a pretty good idea what it was so I pretended that I had been drugged and this bastard... played into it and led me up here and actually thought that he was about to fuck me," I said making sure to squeeze his balls again while I was talking. He was whimpering by this point and there were tears in his eyes.

"Is that a fact?" Bear said in a snarl that had me worried about Collin's safety, for about 5 seconds before I didn't care anymore.

"It was some kind of drug similar to GHB but whatever it was it was mixed wrong so you could easily smell it where you aren't supposed to be able to smell GHB," Justice said.

"You asshole! You drugged my friend so you could try and rape him!?" Sean asked way too loudly. I didn't want anyone else hearing that part and I had been specifically avoiding using or even thinking that word.

"No! No! It wasn't r-" he started but I squeezed his balls again and that shut him up.

"You drugged him and planned to have sex with him without his consent. That's rape fucker," Sean said still too loud. I gestured to Liberty and then to the door with my eyes. She picked up on what I was indicating and she walked over and closed the door. I looked at Collin and he'd seen that too. He must have taken it the wrong way because his eyes got even bigger and I saw terror in his eyes. Good.

"I'm sorry. Please don't hurt me," Collin pleaded. A tear leaked out of his eye and I wanted to feel sorry for him but what he'd tried to do to me and the memories it brought back up prevented that.

"Tell me why I shouldn't?" Bear snarled at him near his face. He looked truly terrified now.

"I'm so sorry. I just, I've never been with a guy before and when I saw you I couldn't stop thinking about you and wanting you," he said and Bear actually growled.

"That's supposed to make this okay?" I asked not nicely. I almost gave his nuts another hard squeeze but managed to restrain myself. It was starting to feel uncomfortable to still have ahold of his nuts in this situation, or really in any situation.

"My parents are not accepting of homosexuals at all and my house isn't the best environment to be myself. I have to make sure I'm on my guard all the time and don't slip up," he said and while his words struck a chord with me, I wasn't ready to forget what he'd tried to do.

"Let him go Trey," Sean said and everybody looked at him like he was crazy, including me.

"Are you out of your mind?" Bear asked and he left no question that he was pissed and not about to do that.

"Just let him go," Sean said and after fighting to find my better self, I released my tight grip on his nuts. He breathed a sigh of relief. He got off the bed and started stepping very gingerly.

"Thanks man," he said to Sean. How do you like that. The bastard drugs and tries to rape me, I let him keep his nuts and dick intact and he thanks Sean?

"If I ever hear about you doing anything like this again, you'll be in jail so fast your head will spin. I doubt you'll find a lack of sex in there," Sean said and Collin looked shocked before nodding. He started to walk away but Justice pulled him to her and whispered something in his ear. His eyes shot open wide in terror before he backed away from her a little bit. He then looked around the room before booking it out of there.

"What did you say to him?" I asked as I climbed off the bed.

"I just told him to drive carefully," she said with a too innocent smile.

"Uh huh," Liberty said before she left the room followed by Jessica. Justice followed a few seconds later along with Carter.

"Are you okay?" Bear said as he pulled me to him gave me a crushing hug.

"I'm fine big guy," I said and he sighed a deep sigh. I started feeling guilty because I always managed to find myself in some sort of situation that brought worry on him. I wondered when he'd get fed up with me and my drama and leave me.

"Stop thinking stupid thoughts. You're never getting rid of me," he said and I stiffened because I wasn't prepared for his reading my thoughts.

"Stop doing that," I said but I didn't mean it.

"Never," he said and I'm sure he meant it.

When we separated we saw that Sean was still in the room. He was smiling and shook his head at us. Bear asked what had happened and I told them about what had happened from when Collin had came up to me until they'd come into the room.

Sean said that they'd heard Collin screaming all the way downstairs and the three of them happened to be together so of course they went running. Bear said that he wanted to kill Collin and I agreed. I told Sean that I was mad at him for telling me to let him off the hook. He asked me to understand what he could be going through but I told him I didn't care at the moment about that. I probably would with some time to cool off and think.

Sean made a joke about Veronica being right that the gay gene was on his mother's side of the family and I guess she was right. Deanne had a gay son, her sister has a bisexual daughter and now their apparently homophobic cousin has a gay son. Those were some weird odds but the fact that Collin's parents were homophobic seemed to fit, at least with Collin's mother.

I chose to stop thinking about him though and concentrate on the rest of the party and enjoying it with my friends and my Bear before he got busy for most of the rest of the summer. The rest of the party was good especially since I didn't see Collin again. I hoped I'd never have to see him again, but I knew that was probably impossible, or maybe not. That's a story for another time.

To be continued....

**************************************************************************** Author's Notes:

Here we are at the end of another chapter of The Chronicles of Trey.

In this chapter things progress through the gang's second semester in college. Everyone, especially Sean, is still dealing with Marcus' passing, Trey is still trying to get out of his head and stop caring what others think about him and Bear is still the same loving guy he always is.

Important things that happened are that Trey finally finds out the mystery of behind Lane Prescott, he finally faces his paternal grandparents and his father's friend Taylor, and things with Sean's cousin Collin come to a head.

In other events, Trey is offered the opportunity to do some challenging school work and as a added bonus it's at Bear's school so no more long distance relationship. There are many more interesting things to come for Trey and his friends, including a very serious issue between him and Bear that is coming very soon and that will have a very real impact on their relationship.

Stay tuned...

I want to thank everyone who has read and is reading my story. I want to apologize for the long delay for this chapter. I wanted to get this chapter out before two months had passed but there was some problems that came up with my family. I'm still dealing with them but for now I'm gonna put some focus on writing these chapters and getting them out quicker like I used to. I hope you forgive the delay and remain a bit patient. Please send any comments to thestoryguy9783@gmail.com.

Until next time... Nicky Smith. **************************************************************************** Editor's Notes:

Hey guys, sorry for the wait on this chapter, but I feel it was well worth the wait. Gotta keep in mind patience's is a virtue. Anyway we have another time skip and a jump. After New Year's we learn what is up with Lane and his father's health. We finally get to meet Evan's parents and even his now former best friend, wonder if this will be the last we see of him.

Sophomore year and beyond should be interesting for Trey, with not only the work load that he has been waiting for all his life but he will be with Bear and not having to go though a long-distance relationship. What will happen when the guys are now at the same school and what will happen when Bears roommates from Freshmen year find out.

As always guys hope you enjoy this chapter, let Nicky and I know your thoughts. You can reach Nicky at the email above the page, and you can reach me at jd.kaster1987@gmail.com.

Until the next chapter guys,

JDK