TJ

TJ

Chapter 3

"Hey there, Little Buddy. How are you?"

Those seven words broke my heart. No, that's not it, it wasn't the words; it was the look on Josh's face that made my heart shatter into a million tiny pieces. How fucking stupid could I have been? There were signs everywhere, written with big, bold, red letters, warning me to proceed with caution. He played football and baseball, he was going to be a senior, and he was nice as hell.

It was obvious that something was wrong. Josh had burst into the room like a little ball of energy, a smile plastered on his face. Suddenly, he got quiet and the smile faded. I was just sitting there, not moving or saying anything. What was I supposed to say? Finally, Josh managed to speak, "What?"

"I'm so sorry, Josh."

"Hey, what's up?"

Sean and my responses came out together. Sean looked at me with a smile and asked, "Why are you sorry?"

I lost myself in Sean emerald green eyes for a moment then swallowed hard. "I'm so sorry, Sean; but I can't do this. I didn't know."

The last part was said to Josh, who simply glared at me before he left. That glare told me everything I feared-Josh hated me right now. The next thing we heard was his bedroom door slamming shut.

Sean took a ragged breath and closed his eyes. "TJ, what do you mean you can't do this? What is it you can't do? And what didn't you know?"

"I swear I didn't mean to lead you on, but I can't do this."

Sean kept looking from me to the open door. It didn't take him long to figure out what was going on. After a few moments, he took my hand and asked, "Why can't you do this, TJ? You know it feels right. Please tell me why. Is it because you don't want to hurt Josh?"

I wanted to tell him yes more than anything, but this wasn't my secret to tell. I shook my head and said, "I can't tell you why Sean. Please don't ask me to. Could you just go before it gets too hard to let go of your hand?"

He whispered, "It already is."

He gripped my hand tighter. We sat there for who knows how long. Eventually, Robert knocked on the door. "Hey, are y'all doing okay in here?" He noticed our hands and grinned slightly.

I nodded and asked, "How is he doing?"

Robert smiled and said, "He's upset but okay." Then he looked at Sean and continued. "He wants to talk to you if that's okay."

Sean smiled and said, "That's fine. I'll go talk to him now."

I went to follow but Robert placed a firm hand on my shoulder and said, "Just Sean. We need to talk."

Sean and I looked at each other and he nodded to me. Sean headed to Josh's room and I started talking before he was out of the room. "Robert, you have to know that I didn't have any clue. I should've seen it, but Josh never told me his name. From the look he gave me earlier, he hates me."

"I just talked to him and reminded him who his best friend is. Josh loves you. Right now, he's telling Sean everything. He wanted me to tell you that if Sean makes you happy, then go for it. He just needs some space and time to get used to the idea. He'll be okay and I promise you'll have your best friend back in no time. Oh, yeah, he also said to tell you that if you try to do the noble thing and stop seeing Sean, he'll never talk to you again."

"I don't think Sean would let me stop seeing him, so we don't have to worry about that. I just wish that Josh hadn't been hurt. So, he won't talk to me at all right now?"

"He doesn't want to say anything to you that he might regret later. He just had his heart broken for the first time."

"So, you have another date tonight, huh? Who is she?" I asked, desperately trying to change the subject.

"Well, I don't want to say anything yet, because it's someone from work. If it doesn't work out, I don't want things to be weird for her. I promise if it gets serious, then you and Josh will meet her."

"Okay, I'll let it slide for now. But, I want to meet her eventually. Now, what's going on in there? Sean and I need get my tire fixed, then get my car back. Would you mind if I went out with Sean and then spent the night over at his place? Well, hopefully, that's what we're doing. I haven't told him what our plans are yet."

I went to get Sean from Josh's room. I cleared my throat to let them know I was headed that way. Sean met me at Josh's door, blocking any view of Josh I might have had. "Hey, I was just coming to get you. We need to go get my tire fixed and get my car if you don't mind giving me a ride."

"Of course I'll give you ride. We can go to my place and hang out. Bring your swimsuit and a change of clothes."

We got my car fixed and finally arrived at Sean's at about 2:30 pm. There was a note on the kitchen table from Sean's dad stating that he had to go to the office and he wasn't sure when he would be home. We were swimming when my phone rang around 6:00 pm. It was Robert. Before I could finish saying hello, he asked, "Are you coming home tonight?"

"No, I was going to call you in a bit and let you know that I'm spending the night at Sean's."

"Okay, good. That's fine."

I realized that meant Josh would be at home alone most of the night, so I asked, "Will Josh be okay by himself? I know he was pretty upset earlier."

"Jarrod and Mike came over and they're staying the night. Josh will be fine; you don't worry about him. Have fun and be careful."

Before I could say anything else, Robert hung up. I sat down on a patio chair and stared at nothing. Sean got out of the pool and sat in the chair next to me. "Is everything okay? Can you stay the night?"

"Yeah, I can stay tonight. And everything is fucking great. My brother hates me. I've lost my best friend."

Sean took my hand in his and waited until I was looking at him before he spoke. "Why do you think that? Josh doesn't hate you. I promise. He told me this morning. I know we've been avoiding this all day, but I think you need to talk about it. So, why do you think Josh hates you?"

"Well, let's see. He wouldn't look at me this morning. He's talked to everyone else but me. Robert and you did everything you could to keep me away from him this morning and today. The one time he did look at, he did nothing but glare.

"Josh and I have never fought, except that one time at the lawyer's office. I told you about the fight but I didn't tell you I called him a faggot. He forgave me then because he said that I was stressed and he knew I didn't mean what I had said. Why would he forgive me now? There's no excuse."

"Except you didn't know who I was. Josh told me he never told you my name, just that I played football and baseball."

"That should have been enough for me to figure it out. I mean, how many of y'all are there?"

"Four. Four of us play both football and baseball. So, even if you knew who we all were, there was only a twenty-five percent chance that it was me. Josh just needs some time to get used to us being together. This was all just a big coincidence; but, I wouldn't change anything about it. Besides didn't Mr. Kennedy tell you the same thing this morning?" He asked with a smile. That smile stirred feelings inside that I couldn't name, but I know I didn't want them to end.

"Yeah, but I'm hardheaded and needed to hear it again." I smiled back and leaned over and kissed him. Again, like our first kiss, neither of us tried to control it. It was perfect until we were interrupted by his phone ringing.

From his side of the conversation, it was his dad wondering if he should bring dinner home. Sean also told him I was there and asked if I could stay the night. He graced me with another smile after he got his answer. After deciding what his dad would bring us to eat, we went inside to watch TV. Being a Saturday night, I asked if it was okay if we watched Doctor Who.

He laughed and said, "Thank God, I thought I was going to have to beg you to watch it. I never miss an episode, if I can help it."

This guy was made for me. I think I'm falling for him, and I don't want this to stop. That's all I could think as I grinned stupidly at Sean.

We were sitting on the couch with Sean's arm around my shoulders and me leaning into his side when his dad came in. I went to move over, but Sean just pulled me closer to him. His dad smiled at us. "Hey guys, come and get dinner." When we reached the kitchen, he stuck his hand out. "Hello, I'm Jacob McNair."

I shook his hand and replied, "TJ Kennedy, nice to meet you, Mr. McNair."

"Nice to meet you too. Sorry about your parents. Hopefully, you're settling in okay."

That took me by surprise and I stammered out, "Umm, thank you. I'm settling in fine. If you don't mind, how did you know about my parents?"

He smiled and said, "I'm Robert's financial advisor. He came to me to invest his part of the inheritance."

I could see where Sean got his smile from, and although it didn't have the same effect on me, it did relax me.

"Oh, well, thank you, sir. And thank you for dinner."

"No problem at all. So, I guess I'll be seeing you around here? You and Sean looked pretty comfortable on the couch when I got here," he said with a wink.

I started to blush, but Sean saved me from further embarrassment. "Dad, be nice. You'll either see more of TJ or less of me, depending on where we go to hang out."

His dad nodded. "That's fine, as long as you're happy. So, I take it Robert is okay with what's going on?"

I answered him nodding. "Yes sir, Robert just wants us to be happy too."

We ate dinner, then watched some more TV. About 10:00 pm, Mr. McNair announced that he was going to bed. "Y'all don't stay up too late. Goodnight, I'll see y'all in the morning."

Sean and I sat on the couch for about thirty minutes. I tried to stifle my yawn, but Sean saw it. "Are you ready to go to bed? You can take the first shower. Come on, let's go upstairs."

His room was practically the whole upstairs. There was a small loft/game room area that led into his bedroom, which had its own bathroom. After the showers, we fell asleep exactly like the night before. It was fantastic.

I woke up Sunday morning when Sean came into his room carrying a tray full of food. "My dad made us breakfast, I thought I'd bring it up here to you. Hope you like eggs and bacon."

"Breakfast in bed? I could get used to this. Thank you. What are your plans for today?"

"I'm not sure, yet. My dad went to my Uncle Aaron's to help him with something. The Cowboy's preseason doesn't start until next week, so no football to watch. I guess I'll just be bumming around here." He paused for a moment. "I'm a little nervous. I'm supposed to meet up with my best friend for a bit. I need to talk to him anyways, I'm going to tell him about me. I'd like for you to meet him if everything goes smoothly."

"Are you sure? How would you want to introduce me?" I asked, barely able to take my next breath.

"Well, I was hoping to introduce as my boyfriend," Sean replied eagerly.

"I think I would like that. But, only if you're ready."

"I promise you, I'm ready. So, what do you have going on today?"

"I should probably head home and check on Josh. Hopefully, he's willing to talk to me today. You're not nervous about coming out to your best friend?"

"Not really. We've been best friends and teammates forever. He always said he would be my friend no matter what; so, I guess I'm going to put that theory to the test."

I realized something then. He was about to come to come out to one of his teammates. He had told me how important playing sports was to him, and he was about to risk everything. "You're willing to come out to one of your teammates for me? Isn't that a big risk?"

He looked me dead in the eye and said, "I plan on telling all of my teammates about you. I won't lie to my teams; I'm their captain. What kind of example would I be setting if I hid our relationship and it was discovered later? I would lose their trust and we have to be able to trust each other out on the field. Yes, it's a risk, but you're worth it."

"Wow, Sean. Thank you." I kissed him. Then I looked into his emerald green eyes. "Umm, is it too soon to say it? I've never told anybody but family so I'm not sure."

"You're not sure if you want to say it or you're not sure if it's too early?"

"Both."

"I don't know. I do know that I like you and I think I might be falling in love with you."

"I like you too and I think I feel the same way. I say we leave it there."

"Agreed."

After we ate, he brought our plates downstairs. He then joined me while I was brushing my teeth. When we went back into the bedroom, Sean pulled me into a tight hug and softly kissed my neck. "I think it's a good thing that tonight is a school night. I'm not sure if I could handle another night of just lying next to you. Do you have any idea what you do to me?"

The effect of his kisses became very noticeable in my shorts. My lips were placing kisses on his neck and chest had a similar effect on him. "Probably the same thing you do to me. I've been damning our sleeping shorts the past two mornings. I want to feel all of you." With those words, I placed my hand on his cloth-covered cock. It felt perfect. We were about the same length at seven inches; however, he definitely had me beat in girth.

He pushed me onto the bed and then laid on top of me. He pulled my shirt up and over my head. His lips brushed against my neck again, then he kissed his way down my shoulder to my chest. My lover took my nipple into his mouth and sucked on it for a few moments before kissing his way across my chest to the other. I felt kisses down my stomach to the waistline of my shorts. Sean's green eyes looked up at me and I raised my hips as he took my shorts off.

"Turn around, you're not the only one that gets to have fun." He laid on his side putting us in a sixty-nine position. I took off his shorts and admired the sight in front of me. I took the head into my mouth and sucked him down. This made him moan just as the head of my cock hit the back of his throat. The sensation nearly sent me over the edge. While his mouth was busy, Sean's hands kneaded my ass. Finally, one of his fingers lightly grazed my hole, causing my body to tremble. I encouraged him by pushing back. Soon, he was teasing my hole and I was losing my mind. I reluctantly reached back, spread his cheeks, and started playing with his hole. I pulled his dick out of my mouth and went down a little further.

He gasped when my tongue met the skin hidden between his firm muscular globes. After I got him nice a wet, I slowly pushed my finger inside of him. Sean started sucking me like there was no tomorrow. We were both rapidly approaching our climax. He pulled off my dick long enough to wet one finger and pushed it inside of me, then went right back to sucking me without missing a beat. As his finger was inside me, he found my prostate and pressed on it. That's all it took for me to explode. As I started shooting down his throat, he was pushed over the edge and came. I didn't think he would ever stop, but I swallowed every drop he gave.

We both rolled onto our backs, panting like we had just run a mile. After a minute, I turned so that we were face to face. He pulled me over on top of him and kissed me hard. "Damn, TJ. That was amazing."

I looked down at him and smiled. "You're amazing. I've never came that hard before."

"I don't want to let you go. I could stay right here forever."

"I could too."

Our paradise was broken when my phone started ringing. "I should get that; it's probably Robert wondering when I'm going to be home."

I scrambled to the nightstand grabbed my phone and answered without looking at the Caller I.D. I was shocked when I heard Josh's voice say flatly, "Teej, I think I'm ready to talk. When will you be home?"

I was so excited that I spoke before thinking. "Let me get dressed and I can be there in fifteen minutes." Open mouth, insert foot. I hurriedly spat out, "Shit, Josh. I'm sorry. I umm..."

Surprisingly, he cut me off with a chuckle, "Tell Sean you'll talk to him later and get your ass home please."

"Okay. Umm Josh?"

"Yeah?"

"You know that I love you, right?"

He sighed, "Yeah, I know and I love you too jerkwad. I'll see you when you get home. Bye."

I hung up the phone and looked at Sean. He smirked and said, "I'm not going to say I told you so, but..."

I kissed him before he could finish that statement. "So, I guess I should head home huh? I really don't want to leave you, though." I sighed and moved to get dressed.

"You know, you never made it to the mall. How about you go talk to Josh and I'll talk to Alex. Once we're finished, I'll come pick you up and we'll go to the mall."

"Sounds like a plan. I'll see you in a couple of hours." He walked me out to my car and gave me another mind-blowing kiss once I was behind the wheel. Then we went our separate ways.

When I arrived back home, Robert was sitting in the kitchen drinking coffee. He looked way too happy. "What's got you smiling so much this morning? I take it you had a good time last night."

"I had a wonderful time, and we're going out again Friday night. Well, actually, we're not going out, she's coming here for dinner with all of us. So, don't make any plans for Friday night. You can invite Sean if you want. I assume you're going to see him again, right?"

"Yeah, he's my boyfriend," I reply with the biggest smile in the world. "Hopefully, Josh will be okay with that."

"I'm fine with that," I heard from behind me. "When Sean talked to me yesterday, he told me that he has and will always see me as a little brother. I haven't seen him smile like that since before his mom died, except when he's on the field. You seem happy finally. I've been worried about you spending so much time alone in your room." He sighed and got a determined look on his face.

"I freaked out yesterday and I'm sorry about that. It was a shock to walk into your room and see you in bed with someone. When I realized it was Sean, I lost it. I convinced myself that you did that on purpose. Dad set me straight on that. So, did Sean. I'm sorry I wouldn't talk you, though; I couldn't. I was pissed at you. I knew that you didn't do it on purpose, but my emotions wouldn't listen to my head. I don't like fighting with you."

He crossed over and wrapped his arms around me tightly. I held him and said, "I'm so sorry Josh. If I had known..."

He cut me off before I could say more. "What? You know now, does it change anything?"

I hung my head. "No. I like him. He makes me happier than I can ever remember being. It just sucks that my happiness causes your sadness."

"Stop it Teej. You deserve to be happy. So, does Sean. I'll be fine. I mean come on. How many first crushes actually work out? Where is he anyways?"

"Coming out to his best friend."

"Really? That's cool!"

"Yeah. He wants to introduce me to him later if everything goes well. We're going to the mall later if you want to come with us. I'm sure there are some things you need for school."

"Are you sure you want me tagging along with you and Sean? Won't I be a third wheel?"

"Dude, we're just going to the mall. Go ask Jarrod and Mike if they want to go too. This is our last night before school starts." I give him my best puppy-dog eyes and continued. "Come on Joshy, come hang out with me. We haven't done much together this summer, and that's totally my fault. I spent the whole summer in my room. I'm finally out of my funk and miss hanging out with my best friend."

"Okay, I'll go. Just don't make out with him in front of me. Unless you find someone for me to make out with too. Or you can let me make out with Sean. I wouldn't mind him being my first kiss."

Robert spoke up after that. "Josh, I better not find out that you've making out with anyone." He was trying his best to keep a straight face.

"Oh come on Dad. You're no fun. I bet you kissed your date last night, didn't you?"

"Like I told TJ the other night, I don't kiss and tell."

"Hey, can we get back to the fact that Josh asked to kiss my boyfriend? So not cool."

"You're no fun either." Josh was sitting there with his lower lip jutted out and his arms crossed over his chest. He was doing a damn good job of pouting.

And that's when Jarrod and Mike walked in the room. Jarrod looked at Josh and laughed. "What did you do now TJ?"

"Me? I didn't do sh...anything. He's upset because I won't let him make out with my boyfriend." Then Jarrod and Mike did something the shocked the hell out of Josh. They got on either side of him and kissed him on the cheeks.

Robert busted out laughing. "Am I the only straight person around here?"

Mike chuckled. "No, Mr. Kennedy. Jarrod and I are straight. But Josh is so much cuter when he smiles. See those adorable dimples." He pinched Josh's cheeks forcing Josh to grace us with said dimples. I hoped Josh realized that he has two amazing friends that will always have his back.

I glanced at the clock and noticed that it was only 11:15 am. I had left Sean's a little over an hour ago and I already missed the hell out of him. I found myself checking my phone about every five minutes, looking to see if I missed a call or text from him. If somebody else had been acting like this in front of me, I would've given them hell about it.

Around noon, my phone vibrated and I heard a text alert. I hurried to check it, but it wasn't Sean. It was Verizon letting me know that my current bill is available online. Who gives a rat's ass? I started to wonder if everything was alright. I didn't want to call him because I didn't want to interrupt him if he was still talking to Alex. I thought about texting him, but talked myself out it. I didn't want to look clingy.

Honesty time.

If I haven't made it obvious yet, I have trust issues. Major trust issues. Given the events of the past seventeen years, is it really a surprise? That's why I'm going to therapy. My therapist has told me multiple times that I need to start trusting someone. I decided to start with Sean. He told me that when he finished talking to Alex, he would come pick me up. I had to trust that he was telling me the truth. That doesn't mean that it wasn't driving me crazy.

I was about to give in and call him when my phone finally started ringing at a quarter after one. "I was picking up my phone to call you. Where are you?"

"I'm pulling in your driveway."

I ran to the front door and opened it. I noticed that a Hispanic guy in the passenger seat, who I assumed was Alex. Sean barely had his truck in park before he opened his door and ran over to me. He wrapped his arms around my waist and rested his forehead on mine. I looked up at him and said, "Hey, I missed you. What took so long?"

Before Sean could answer me, I hear the guy behind me start talking. "After he told me, he insisted on telling my mom, my sisters and my Nana. They asked him a million questions about you. Then they got mad at him for not bringing you over to meet them. Good luck when that happens. My mom thinks of Sean as her gringo son. My two older sisters think of him as their brother. Nana made him call her that since we were five years old."

He slapped me on the back and laughed. "The one you're going to have problems with is my fourteen-year-old sister, Arianna. She's wanted Sean to be her boyfriend since she was seven. She isn't going to be happy to hear that he has a boyfriend now. And she's going to be a freshman this year."

I turned around in Sean's arms while Alex spoke to me. "Okay, that was a shitload of information. I'm TJ."

"You can call me Alex or Castro. I'll answer to either. So, how are you related to Mr. Kennedy and Josh?"

I groaned. "You didn't explain it to him before y'all got here?"

Sean laughed. "Nope, that's all on you. I want to see his face when you introduce Josh to him as your brother and then introduce Mr. Kennedy as your brother."

Alex looked like a confused dog, tilting his head sideways, before he finally said, "Huh? How?"

"It's a long story, I guess I need to come up with a shorter version before tomorrow. Okay, short version." I told him the Cliff's Notes version of my story.

Alex still looked confused for a few moments. "Wow, that sucks. Sorry about your parents."

We heard the front door open and Josh walked outside followed by Jarrod and Mike. "Hey, you finally made it. Hey, Alex." He looked around at everyone and continued, "Damn, there's not enough room in Teej's car for everyone. How are we going to get to the mall?"

He turned to Jarrod and Mike and looked at them. Jarrod spoke up. "You know, we can just head home, that's cool. We'll see y'all tomorrow. Come on Mike, let's go."

I couldn't let them walk away. I was finally out of the funk I had been all summer and making friends; people who were willing to stand by and support Josh, Sean, and me. "Hold on a second. Josh can drive the four of y'all in my car and I'll ride with Sean."

Josh looked at me with a broad smile. "Alright, let's go."

"Josh run and tell Robert we're leaving, we're not sure when we'll be home but it won't be late, and grab my keys from the kitchen counter."

Fifteen minutes later, the six of us were walking into the mall. There weren't many people out surprisingly. We went to the major anchor stores, where I tried on designer jeans that made my ass look amazing. The only problem was that they cost two hundred and seventy-five dollars. I reluctantly took them off and went over the Levi section.

The best thing was the fact we were all hanging out together, nobody was excluded, and everyone talked to everyone else. After a couple of hours of going from store to store, we were hungry. We decided to grab some food from the food court.

I'm not a big fan of PDA, there's no reason the whole world needs to see me kiss my boyfriend. However, if I want to walk through the mall holding my boyfriend's hand or with his arm draped over my shoulders, I'll do it. Sean didn't object when I grabbed his hand as we were walking towards the food court. He looked at our hands, then back to me and smiled. As we walked into the food court, he moved from holding my hand to draping his arm behind my neck, laying it across my shoulders.

Josh, Alex, Jarrod, and Mike went to use the restroom while Sean and I went to Sbarro to order a pizza. While we were waiting to pay, we heard a voice behind us. "Hey Sean, where's Alex? His mom said he went to the mall with you. And who are you?"

Sean looked at her and smiled. "I swear sometimes, you have a GPS chip somewhere on Alex. He's in the restroom. This is my boyfriend, TJ Kennedy. TJ this is Jenny Landrum, Alex's girlfriend."

She glared at Sean and growled, "He's your what?"

Sean repeated, very slowly, "Boyfriend."

"You're shitting me. You're gay and you never told anyone? So, that's why you broke up with Amber? Does she know?"

Sean shook his head. "No, not yet. I'm sure she suspects, but she's never asked and I've never had a reason to tell. Until now. But, please, let her hear it from me. I need to tell her myself and I want her to meet TJ. Let her see how happy he makes me."

"I won't say anything to her tonight. But you better tell her before tomorrow morning." She then turned to me and examined me. Robert and I look enough like our dad that you can tell we're related. "Kennedy? As in assistant principal Kennedy and his son Josh? How are you related to them?" There was venom in her voice. Her arms were crossed and she stood there glaring at me.

I couldn't hide the anger in my voice when I answered. "First off, who Sean tells about us and when he does it is our business, not yours. So, you don't get to dictate when anything happens. I don't even see how it would concern you at all. Second, how I am related to Robert and Josh is, once again, none of your business. So, do me a favor and get out of mine." I turned and grabbed the pizza. Before I walked away, I turned back and said, "Oh, and just an FYI, they're my brothers. Figure that one out, bitch."

I didn't wait for Sean. I just walked towards the nearest empty table I could find that big enough for all of us. I didn't expect to see a smiling Jenny following me. "You know, nobody's called me a bitch to my face and gotten away with it. I think I'm going to like you." I realized that she was trying to apologize.

"Yeah, and if that was an apology, it sucked."

She looked around and saw that nobody was there yet. "If you even tell Sean I said this I'll deny it and say that you're lying. I'm sorry."

I smiled. "Now was that hard? Now, sit down and claim a slice before the savages get here and destroy everything." She sat down next to me and we started eating.

"Are you going to tell me how Mr. Kennedy and Josh are both your brothers?"

"It's a long story, but Robert is my biological father," I started, and the told her the same condensed version I told earlier.

Just as I finished, everyone walked up to the table. Sean looked at Jenny and me and smiled. "I knew y'all were going to hit it off." He looked at Alex and continued, "You owe me twenty dollars."

I had a feeling I didn't want to know, but I asked, "Why does Alex now owe you twenty?"

Jenny picked up on my feeling I think, because she crossed her arms and glared at Alex. "Yeah, Alex. Why would you now owe Sean twenty?"

Our boyfriends had the decency to look sheepish at least. Sean mumbled, "We had a bet."

I suppressed my grin. "And what was that bet?"

"We bet on who would tell the other off first and who would be the first to apologize."

I looked at Jenny and smirked before looking at Sean. "If you bet that I would tell her off first and Jenny would apologize first you were only half right. So, Alex only owes you ten." I winked at Jenny and continued, "That bitch didn't apologize for shit."

Jenny smiled. "And I won't. So, you only won half the bet."

"Why don't y'all just give us twenty dollars each and keep your significant others happy."

"And when we're happy, life will be so much easier for you two," Jenny finished.

We both held out our hands and waited. Alex and Sean looked at each other and pulled out their wallets. They handed us twenty dollars each. By this time the others had already sat down and started devouring the pizza. Josh was snickering, while Jarrod and Mike were outright laughing. I looked at Jenny and asked, "Are you still hungry? I'm starving. You're buying. Let's go."

As we walked away, arm in arm, I heard Alex say, "Fuck bro, we're dating the same fucking person, aren't we?"

Jenny and I laughed. When we were finally away from everyone, I asked, "So, you're Amber's best friend?"

"Don't worry, she's going to love you. She's Sean's friend and wants to him to be happy."

"Okay, good. But, just for the record, I wasn't worried about that at all."

"Of course you weren't. I know."

We picked up a slice of pizza each and went back to the table. We didn't leave the mall until six and that was because it was closing. Jenny and I gave each other a hug and she agreed to meet me in the morning before school. She and Alex left together, Josh drove Jarrod and Mike home, and Sean drove me home.

We sat in his truck when we got back to the house and talked about nothing important. I didn't want to get out because I knew that meant I wouldn't see him again till the morning. About fifteen minutes after we arrived, the headlights of my car pulled in and Josh parked next to the truck. He smiled and waved at us as he passed.

I smiled and said, "I'm really happy he's okay now. He's a strong person. He is genuinely happy. He doesn't let anything keep him down." I paused for a few moments. "So, how are we going to handle tomorrow? I know that if I see you in the halls I won't be able to just wave and say hi. I would like to be able to give you a hug, but if you're not ready for that, that's fine. Part of me is scared shitless to start my senior year and immediately come out of the closet. But if the past three days have been an indication, we have to be touching each other if we're in the same room. I think we'll be pretty conspicuous sitting in the cafeteria holding hands."

Sean chuckled. "I've noticed that too. I'm not afraid to walk through the front doors tomorrow morning holding your hand. But before we do that, I need to talk to Amber. I'll call her on my way home and see if she'll meet me before school. I want you to be there. Will you meet me in the parking lot about 7:15 tomorrow morning? That will give us forty-five minutes to talk to Amber before school starts."

"Alright, I'll see you in the morning at 7:15. Call me before you go to bed."

"I was already planning on that. Bye babe." He leaned over and kissed me. The only thought in my head was This is going to be a great year. Nothing's going to change that.

Stupid me for me for thinking. I walked into the house to find Josh red-faced, crying and screaming at Robert. "This is such fucking bullshit, Dad. Why would Mom do this to me?"