"Bare: Story Two" – Part 4
Summary and additional notes for this story are in Chapter 4.
Author's Note: Thanks for the reviews! I revised the terminology used in the last part. This is a long chapter. I consider breaking it up, but eh!
Disclaimer: I do NOT own Degrassi!
-oOo-
He probably hadn't said more than 5 words to Eli in the three hours he had been here. Adam was completely immersed in the world of Halo. He took out his aggression on the other players.
"And your team wins again," Eli said bored.
Adam jumped up. "Boo yah!" he yelled.
Eli laughed. "Never gets old does it?"
"Nope," he retorted.
"Oh wow. He speaks!" Eli said half joking, half serious.
Adam sighed. "Sorry man. Nothing personal."
Eli looked at him curiously. "What's wrong?"
Adam frowned. "Why do you assume that something's wrong?"
Eli stared him down. "Out with it!"
After a long moment Adam cracked. "I got to tell Drew."
"You didn't tell him yet?" Eli questioned.
"No. Yesterday when I got back Drew and Mindy were there. So was Fiona. I wanted to spend time with her, but Mindy roped us into going to some beach party."
"And you went?" Eli said not following.
"It would have been really awkward explaining why I didn't want to go," Adam told him. "Anyway, this morning I woke up late and showered. When I came out, Mindy was there sans Drew."
"Adam…"
"Can you stop looking at me like that?" Adam said annoyed. "She made it plain she wants to hook up."
Eli jumped up impassioned. "You need to tell Drew – NOW!" he demanded. "I don't know why you're waiting. This chick is a threat to your relationship with Fiona. Unless you like her, I don't get it."
Adam narrowed his eyes. "I don't like her!" Again, he felt guilty for his earlier arousal.
"Then help me understand," Eli pleaded. There were times when he didn't get his best friend at all. This seemed very black or white.
Adam took a deep breath. "Drew is my brother. He's always been there for me. Every since we met as kids, we've always been close. In a few weeks he's going away to University on the other side of the country. He's excited yet slightly nervous about it. But right now, he's happy."
Eli waited for him to go on.
"He's been my biggest supporter since the day I told him I was transgendered. I know he accepts me as a guy but… there are some things that are difficult to accept. I think that fact that his beautiful girlfriend that he has hours of enthusiastic sex with, and who told him that he was the best lover she ever had, wants to cheat on him with his FTM little brother is one of those things."
Eli wasn't sure what to say.
"Actually, I'm positive it's one of those things. Being cheated on is kick to the gut, and for guys it makes us question our ability to please a girl. He's not going to take it well that his girlfriend made a play for me. It's a terrible way to end the summer that was going so well," Adam finished.
"Adam, I agree with everything you're saying. But if this girl is doing all that you say she did, you have to clue him in," Eli protested. He added, "I can't believe I am saying this about Drew, but she doesn't deserve him."
Adam laughed. After a long moment he grew thoughtful. He wanted to ask Eli something that had been bugging him.
"Hey, why did you assume I cheated on Fiona?" he asked bluntly.
Eli sighed.
"I know I messed up with Bianca, but that was last year. You don't think I really love her?" Adam questioned.
"No, that's not it," Eli said quietly. "I know you love Fiona. Everyone knows that, even this Mindy chick."
They chuckled.
"From a hormonal standpoint, I've been a guy much longer than you have. I know what temptation feels like, and how hard it can be turn down a girl when she's throwing herself at you," Eli told him.
Adam struggled to control his anger. "So you don't think I'm real guy? I've always been male, Eli," He argued.
Eli shook his head. "No, that's not it. Of course you've always been male between the ears. But having male hormones has been a fairly recent addition. You can admit that changes things?"
"Of course," Adam responded. The introduction of testosterone didn't just change the body. It also altered neural pathways in the mind as the male mind he was born with adjusted to male hormones.
"I'm just saying, as a guy I've had more years to master the art of saying 'no' despite raging hormones. This is still new to you, so that's why I'm concerned about this sleazy Mindy chick. You and Fiona have a good thing and you have to fight for it," Eli explained.
"I know that. And I do," Adam told him.
Eli nodded. "Then you shouldn't take it personal when I remind you of that," he smirked.
Adam smiled at him, finally understanding where his friend was coming from.
-oOo-
"She WHAT?" Drew yelled.
It was the evening. They had already had dinner. Adam knew that Drew would be alone in his room. He knocked on the door and here they were.
Adam nodded. "I was uncomfortable, so I left."
Drew rubbed his chin. "Adam, you know that doesn't mean anything. Maybe she was just trying to get you to open up. You guys haven't talked that much."
Adam rolled his eyes. He had just told Drew about the kitchen incident. He was hoping that would be enough. Now he knew he would have to disclose what happened this morning.
"Look, maybe you wouldn't have felt so weird if you had buttoned up your shirt," Drew offered.
Okay. Now was time to take off the kid gloves.
"Something else happened this morning," Adam blurted out.
Drew looked at him with distrust. Adam had been gone almost all day. After he came back from his run Mindy had joined him in the shower. They had sex until the early afternoon. He loved how she would scream out his name when he really got her going. There was no way his girl was interested in Adam.
"You were barely here," Drew said annoyed.
Adam sighed. "I woke up late and took a shower. When I came out Mindy was in the hallway."
"Yeah, she wanted to take a nap," Drew said impatiently.
"I headed back to my room and I was shirtless. She commented on my scars—"
"Well of course, it's hard not to notice them," Drew interrupted.
Adam gave him a pointed look but continued, "She said she thought it was brave. Then she touched my chest!"
Drew's eyebrows shot up. Fine, that was little weird. But then again, it could be curiosity. "That doesn't mean anything."
"Andrew!"
"Adam, so what? It's not something you see every day. She was probably just curious. I think you're reading too much into it," Drew refuted.
"I told her that wasn't cool and she just smiled at me. Like a flirtatious smile," Adam revealed. "Then she went on to say she thought I was interesting and thought that I found her interesting."
Drew wasn't sure what to say. None of this made sense. He knew Mindy was into him. To be crass, he knew she enjoyed riding him and when he pounded her deep – neither which Adam could provide. However, he didn't think his brother would lie about something like this. His mind told him that he should just trust Adam, but his ego wouldn't let him. There had to be an explanation and he needed to hear Mindy's side.
"Get out," Drew told him flatly.
Adam threw him a quizzical look. "What?"
Drew looked at him hard. "I mean it. I don't know what to believe… just go."
Adam was hurt. "How can you say that?"
"Why would my girlfriend be interested in you, Adam?" Drew blurted out. It was on the tip of his tongue the whole conversation, but he had managed to hold it in for this long.
Adam went from hurt to angry in an instant. "Maybe for the same reason Fiona is," he threw back. "I'm not an invalid, Drew. I keep Fiona very happy and you know that we have sex all the time." It was juvenile to gloat, but he had to put his brother in his place.
"Well, I know that Mindy likes dick," Drew spat out. The minute he said it, he instantly regretted it.
Adam's face was the oddest mixture of pure anger and agony. He paused for several seconds, battling the conflicting urges to run out of the room or knock Drew to the ground. He took an additional moment to steady himself.
"Mindy also would like to cheat on her boyfriend with his brother," Adam said in an even tone. "His younger FTM brother."
He then walked out of the room without a backwards glance.
.
tbc
A/N: Just wanted to clarify, the narration shifts with what the characters are thinking or feeling. We can clearly see that Drew's thinking is flawed to say the least!
A/N #2: At the moment the site is being a bit wonky. The story traffic section has been down since last night, so aside from reviews I can't tell if anyone is reading (the number of hits reads zero even though there are new reviews. Very odd). Anyway, in light of this, hearing feedback on this chapter would be greatly appreciated :D
Either way, thanks for reading! FYI, there are two more chapters to go before this story ends.
