Disclaimer: I do not own Home Improvement, nor am I affiliated with Matt Williams, Carmen Finestra, or David MacFadzean in any way. I do own the original character(s) featured in this story.

Author's Note: The story takes place in modern 2008-2009, but Brad is eighteen years old, Randy is sixteen, and Mark is fourteen. The setting is still the same apart from the year change.


1/

The sun rose quietly and expectedly over the suburban area of Detroit, Michigan. The Taylor Household was woken up by the sunlight and the sound of alarm clocks throughout the house. The kids of the family, Brad, Randy, and Mark got up and dressed for school. Tim Taylor, the father of the house, was in the garage working on his sacred hot rod by the time everyone else was out of bed and downstairs for breakfast. Jill, Tim's beloved wife and mother of the three boys, was in the kitchen making breakfast for everyone.

"Morning mom", the boys greeted, almost in unison.

"Morning, boys", she replied, "Tim, breakfast is ready!"

Opening the garage door, Tim washed his hands, greeted everyone, and kissed Jill on the cheek, taking his plate and sitting at the table. Breakfast was eaten in silence that morning. When it came time, Brad drove himself and his brothers to school in his dark blue 2006 Ford Taurus. Randy sat up front with Brad, Mark in the back staring out the window. The drive would have also been a silent one had it not been for Brad's iPod plugged into the car playing Face Down by the Red Jumpsuit Apparatus.

Randy sighed and looked at himself in the mirror. He wore dark blue skinny jeans, high top checkered Vans, the pants tucked behind the tongues of the shoes, a tight-fit black shirt with a skateboard company's logo on it, and a silver ring on the middle finger of his left hand. He recently turned "alternative" as it was the style he found most comfortable. Brad stayed preppy casual; pleated jeans, sweater vests, and short sleeved undershirts that showed off his muscles perfectly. Randy wasn't a self-conscious person, and boy did he have a body, but was reluctant on showing it off unlike Brad who let the whole world see. He'd go to school in his boxers had the boy been given the chance.

Mark dressed how he wanted; no apparent style. One would think it was a mix of alternative and casual, but the average person would say he was normal, like everyone else. Define normal.

Brad pulled into the student parking lot of the high school and went his separate ways, as did Mark. Randy headed to his locker and then homeroom as the bell rang. Sitting in his usual seat, he stared out the window onto the street where cars passed by. He heard someone sit next to him and turned to see his best friend Matt on his left.

Randy was rather fond of Matt, and when I say 'rather fond of', I mean 'rather fond of'. When Randy was fourteen, he figured out that he was bisexual, but was more straight than gay. A year later, he realized he was more gay than straight. He never understood where he got it from; not a soul in the Taylor family was gay or lesbian before him. There's a first time for everything, no doubt.

Matt was a handsome guy. Sixteen years old, approximately five feet nine inches tall - about two inches taller than Randy - short dark brown hair that was combed forward and spiked in the front, dark blue eyes, brilliantly white teeth, a marvellous smile. From what Randy imagined, and the clothes that Matt wore, he had a very well defined body. Matt was a Hollister boy, and Randy found that attractive on other people, but not on himself. He preferred his look to anything else on him.

"I saw Tool Time last night", he smiled, "Very funny prank your dad pulled on Al."

Randy suppressed a laugh. "Thanks?"

"You're welcome."

Matt flashed another smile at him making him blush a little. Randy prayed Matt hadn't noticed. Thank God, he didn't. Randy felt as though any troubles in his life that hurt him, being around Matt would send them on a permanent vacation. The two are inseparable best friends who "tell each other everything". Randy feared that if he told Matt he liked him more than friends, that everything would be awkward between them, especially if Matt didn't feel the same way. Hell, Randy knew he wouldn't feel the same way - he was straight after all - and he didn't seem the least bit gay or even bisexual for that matter. But to Randy, Matt was the perfect guy for him and sooner or later, he would tell Matt his feelings. As a matter of fact, Randy had planned on doing it the next time Matt came to his house. That was today.

When the school day ended, Brad drove the four of them home, completely exhausted from all the tests he had in his classes. He went straight upstairs to sleep, Mark walked over to his friend's house, Jill was out of the house with her friend, and Tim was in the garage working on the hot rod. When Matt and Randy headed inside, Tim was grabbing a soda from the refrigerator. "Hey Randy. Oh hey there, Matt. Haven't seen you in awhile."

"Hey Mr. Taylor. What's up?"

"Not much, just working on the hot rod. Care to see it? And I told you, call me Tim", he smiled.

"Sure."

The three headed to the garage and beheld what was the glory of Tim's sacred hot rod. It was coming along quite nicely. He had just put the engine in and was getting the body together. Matt complimented it before he and Randy went upstairs. Since last year, Brad thought he should have his own room since he was the oldest, so Randy shared a room with Mark. Randy told his parents that he was sick of bunk beds, so out they went. Randy's bed was furthest from the door, closest to the window. Mark's was on the opposite side of the room.

You could tell the room was a teenage boy's room; video game systems, flat screen television, next generation computer, shelves of video games, DVDs, and surprisingly, a stocked bookshelf on the wall next to the door. No one would think Randy was much of a reader, but the past summer, he read eight books total. He always had a look around the room whenever he set foot in it. It seemed different to him, but he shook the thought from his mind.

Sitting on the bed, he smiled faintly as Matt sat in the office chair and made himself at home by kicking off his white sneakers and logging onto the computer. "I love how you act like you live here", Randy laughed. Matt turned his head and stuck his tongue out. A sexual thought wrapped itself around Randy's brain. Shaking his head, he kicked off his own shoes and mentally yelled at himself. He decided to tell Matt everything. Starting with his sexual orientation.

"Hey Matt?"

"Yeah?"

"Come here, I want to talk to you for a second."

"Okay", he said, sitting on the bed next to Randy, "What?"

"You're my best friend, right?"

"Of course I am. Why would you ask?"

"And we tell each other everything, right?"

"Yeah, Randy, why, what's wrong?"

Randy sighed and thought about it one last time. I don't have to tell him. I can lie and say never mind. I don't have to. Just keep it a secret. For a little longer? No, I have to tell him now. It'll kill me otherwise. "Matt, I'm bisexual."

He laughed, "Is that all? That's no big deal."

"I wasn't finished. I'm bisexual, and I like you. Scratch that--I love you."

He wrinkled his forehead. "What do you mean you love me? Like, want to marry me?"

"Well, I guess eventually--I mean, I didn't jump straight to marriage, I just--"

"Randy, I know what you mean. But, why do you love me?"

"I think you're an amazing guy. I mean, you're incredibly smart, funny, insanely handsome, I love your voice, your eyes are amazing, you--"

"Okay, okay", he interrupted, "I don't need you getting all orgasmic over telling me and I don't wanna end up getting raped."

Randy laughed. Matt laughed. Randy stared into his eyes for what seemed the longest time. "So, you wouldn't like me the same way, by any chance, would you?"

He sighed, "I don't know, Randy. I have a lot to think about and--"

"Matt. It's okay. I understand."

"You're not mad?"

"No, why would I be? I mean, I'm upset, but it's not your fault you don't feel the same way."

Matt nodded. Randy could tell he was thinking about something. After what seemed to be five minutes, he exhaled. "Do your parents know?"

"No", Randy answered quickly.

"Are you going to tell them?"

"What, tell my dad, Tim the Toolman Taylor, the manliest man of Michigan that his middle child is bisexual and loves his best friend?"

"That sounded better in my head", Matt laughed.

Laying on the bed, his head on Randy's pillow, Matt stared at the ceiling. Randy wanted so badly to lean over him and kiss him as hard as he could. He wanted to feel Matt's body under his, to run his hands through his hair. Even just touching his hand would make him incredibly happy. But Randy thought about it, and how he wished he hadn't told Matt yet. Now, no doubt they wouldn't play-fight or wrestle as often, now that Matt knows about him. Hell, it'd be a miracle if they even touched at all, innocently or otherwise.

"Why don't you tell me exactly how you feel about me?", Matt suggested.

Randy laid next to him and stared at the ceiling as well as he explained his feelings. "I could have the worst day of my life, and just looking at you would make me feel like I haven't a care in the world. Your smile makes me want to melt into a puny little puddle and sometimes freeze over, depending on if it's cold outside. I think about you day and night, right before I go to bed, praying that I have a dream about you. Every time I have a dream about you, I wake up frustrated that it was only a dream. I thank God everyday that we're best friends because I get to see you more than anyone else."

"Randy, are you sure you're in love with me? I mean, you might just be confusing it with infatuation. I mean, they're commonly confused. You're sixteen. Maybe you're too young to know what love is. I don't even know what it is yet."

"Matt, I may only be sixteen, but I know what feelings I'm having. I'm smart enough to know that about my heart."

He nodded. "Say I did like you and we ended up going out--"

"Don't tempt me like that", Randy interrupted.

Matt laughed, "If we ended up going out, who would you tell?"

"No one."

"Why?"

"Because I don't want people knowing about me. I only told you because you're my best friend and I love you, and I might tell Brad but make him promise not to tell my parents, and I don't need the entire school knowing about me. Or us, if we did go out."

"Okay."

"Is that all you wanted to know?"

"Mhm", he nodded.

"So, you're okay with me liking you? It won't be awkward or anything around us?"

"Nope", he said, shaking his head.

Randy exhaled. "That's good to hear. Makes me feel a lot better."

Matt smiled and playfully elbowed him in the arm.


Chapter One completed! Chapter Two is on it's way - let me know what you thought of this one by leaving a review! I made a quick update to this story. I decided to make it so they don't go out straight away.