I'm not sure that this is exactly how I wanted this to come out, but I still like it, I guess. Anyways, enjoy!


Part 2

"Doug? Holy shit, is that you?" Harry asked me in disbelief, his eyes wide.

"Last time I checked," I joked with him. "Nice to see you dude," I smiled, giving him a reunion fist bump.

"You too. Jesus, you've grown into quite the man," he told me, lightly tapping my cheek.

"Have you seen yourself lately, handsome?" I chuckled.

"Every ten minutes. Are you kidding?" He threw back.

"So how've you been, man?" I questioned him.

"Been working here since after high school. I've got a wifey," he explained, holding up his hand to reveal his wedding band.

"This babe have a name?" I asked curiously.

"Izzy," he said simply, raising an eyebrow.

"She sounds pretty. Congrats dude," I smiled.

I chatted with Harry for a while before deciding to venture home for the night. People glared at me as I got up from the bar and headed toward the door.

As I was walking out, Harry called after me, "Oh! And Doug, talk to Dan. He's not been the same since you left!"

I sighed and nodded to him. "I was planning on it."

I got home and knocked on the back door of my home. I had bought a bouquet of flowers for my mother.

I stood at the door for some time before getting anxious. I reached out and turned the door knob, finding that the door was unlocked. I opened it and heard it creak open. I walked inside, finding my mother in her living room, talking with Tom.

The first thing I heard was Tom ask, "really?! I mean, I suspected they were good friends, but lovers? Wow."

They didn't see me peeking around the corner and I listened in to their conversation, hearing my mom explain to Tom that I had been in love with Danny throughout high school.

"How did you find out?" I interrupted, not able to listen to anymore of the conversation.

"Oh Dougie! How long have you been standing there?" My mom yelled, surprised.

"Long enough. How did you find out?" I asked again.

"Look who's visiting! I bet you haven't seen Tom in a while!" She dodged my question.

Tom waved and greeted me, "hey Doug."

I looked over briefly, annoyed, and replied, "Hi Tom."

"Come and sit down. Tell us how you've been," my mother insisted.

"I don't want to! Just tell me how in the hell you found out about me and Danny!" I screamed at her.

"Everybody knows, Dougie. I was gonna tell you before you came. A lot of the town thinks you're a disgrace. They don't want you here. It's the same with Danny. Ever since people had found out, he hasn't left his house," my mother explained to me.

"Why didn't you tell me?!" I yelled at her.

"You wouldn't have come to visit me If I did tell you," she confessed.

"I can't believe you!" I screamed, livid at her actions.

"Doug," Tom started, getting up and hugging me.

"Let go of me," I cried, pushing him away and storming out of the house.

I didn't know where I was going or what I was going to do. I came to the one place where the majority of the residents hate me.

I started wandering, just going through all of my thoughts. I looked around and realised where my feet had brought me. It was the one place in town that made me feel safe and at home, Danny's house.

I was scared to approach him, but I had to do it. I tapped on his front door, hoping he would answer it for me.

"I told you all! God can not 'save' me from the way I have chosen to be! I love Dougie and I don't care what you think!" I heard him angrily yell from in the house

"Dan. I-it's me," I confessed through the door.

"Who?" He asked, opening the door.

He gulped when he faced me through the screen door. Both of us had wide eyes as we inspected each other for the first time in 6 years.

"Hi Dougie," he grinned, not sure what to say.

"Hey Danny," I replied, so excited to see him.

"Will you come in?" He asked me, opening the screen door for me.

"I'd love to," I told him, walking through the doorway and into the familiar living room.

"You can sit down," he insisted, motioning to the couch.

That couch... It held so many memories. Times of sadness, times of comfort, times of excitement, and times of, well... arousal.

I sat down on the end and he took a seat on the opposite side. It had all become awkwardly silent. I looked over at him and he grinned at me, unsure of everything.

We looked away and I sat there, fiddling with my fingers, uncomfortable with the situation.

Then the four words I hadn't wanted to say to him right away slipped out,

"I still love you."

He looked at me, saddened, and swallowed. "We can't," he started.

"Be together? I already know," I sighed, looking down at my lap.

"I love you too," he admitted. "Every day since you left, I waited for someone to assure me that you always would."

"Of course I would," I promised him, moving over on the couch closer to him. "There's never been anyone else, Danny."

He turned to face me and smiled his classic reassuring smile that I had missed over the years.

I kissed him and felt everything I had let slip away from me all those years ago. All the things I missed came back at once and I knew everything was going to be fine since Danny was here to love me.

I remembered everything I ever did with him, all the cold winter nights when we would go to get warm in his room, the hot summer days when we would swim together in the creek deep within the forest behind his house, those quiet spring days when we would sit beneath the trees to cuddle and watch the flowers grow, and who can forget the chilly fall nights when we would escape to the fields to mess around within the tall corn stalks.

I wasn't going to let go of him again. I couldn't go back without him.

He pulled his lips apart from mine and laid me down on the couch with him like that first night when we had come home drunk from the bar.

"I missed you," I mumbled into his chest.

"I missed you too," he replied, hugging me as tight as he possibly could in fear that he might lose me again if he didn't.

"When I leave, I'm taking you away from all of this too," I promised him.

"I can't leave," he sighed.

"Well you are. I'm not letting you stay here where you're lonely and nobody loves you," I said with an element of finality.

"What about the farm?" He asked me, worried.

"Well decide that when the time comes. I'm not leaving you to be in the hell we were both living in without each other," I declared.

We snuggled together close and fell asleep with each other.

I was awoken an hour or two later by the smell of smoke and Danny shaking me awake. "Doug! Doug, get up!" He yelled, pulling me up.

"What is it?" I asked, half asleep.

"The house is on fire! Get up! We have to get out!" He instructed me.

I about passed out there, but Danny scooped me up into his arms and rushed me outside, laying me down on the ground.

He frowned then bolted back to the house.

"Danny! What are you doing?!" I screamed at him.

"I have to get something that means everything to me!" He answered, rushing inside the flaming house.

At that point, the front porch collapsed and everything was engulfed in flames.

"Danny!" I yelled at the top of my lungs, tears streaming down my face at the thought of him being gone forever.

I fell back onto the ground and stared at the sky, noticing the grey smoke beginning to haze my view. My vision became blurry because of the tears filling my eyes.

"Dougie! Help!" I heard Danny yell for me.

My eyes lit and I jumped up, seeing him on the roof with something in his arms. I hurried over to him, scared something would happen to him.

"Help me down!" He asked, also scared.

"Jump," I instructed him, throwing my arms up to him.

"I'll crush you," he argued.

"God dammit! Just jump already, Jones!" I screamed at him.

He was hesitant at first, but then decided to leap from the second floor roof. I grabbed onto him as he fell and we both tumbled to the ground, rolling down the hill the house sat atop.

We stopped in the ditch at the bottom of the hill and sat up, dazed. I looked into Danny's eyes to find him crying, but also chuckling. I lightly laughed along before leaping at him and pulling him into a hug.

"Why did you go back in there?!" I yelled at him.

"I needed something," he told me, revealing the item in his hands.

It was a framed photo, broken into three panels. The first picture was the night we had first met at the diner, the second after the night at the movies, and the third being of us sitting on that couch, me placing a kiss on Dan's cheek.

I pulled him into a kiss and when we pulled away, we were both laughing.

"I guess I'm all ready to go then," Danny chuckled, taking my hands.

Epilogue

After figuring out that the angry townspeople were the reason for the fire, Dan and I hadn't been hesitant to get out of that place.

We currently are living in our luxury Manhattan apartment together, happier than ever.

It took a little while for Danny to get used to it all, but I think it was a bit easier when I had Harry ship us the one thing that was able to be salvaged from the fire...

That one of a kind, yellow, beat up couch that we both knew so well.


You guys like? I hope so. I didn't expect it to be up today, but I got bored so yay! Well, if you liked this, I recommend checking out my other stories please, The Unsolved Puzzle and Bound By Hateful History! They're Flones and Pudd. pleas do check them out and reviews are greatly appreciated. Love y'all! :D -Sam