A/N: Hello everyone! I was originally going to wait and post this over the weekend, but it's been a long day and I'm in a posting mood, so... here we are!

Before we get started, I would like to thank everyone that read last chapter! I would also like to give a huge thank you to winterschild11, Guest, Side1ways, and RainbowDiamonds for reviewing!

I hope you all enjoy!

It had been almost three weeks since we'd returned from the cabin, and I hadn't seen Kendall in more than two. We'd spoken almost every day, a quick phone call to say hello and update the other on what was going on, but we'd both been so busy with work that we hadn't been able to match up our schedule long enough to see each other face-to-face.

I missed him, but mostly, I was fucking confused about where we stood. The few times I'd brought it up, Kendall had changed the subject, and the longer it got left, the more it began to fester.

I hated this uneven ground we seemed to be on. There was nothing wrong… not technically, anyway, but it wasn't right, and I had no idea what to do about it.

I'd spent a good couple of days moping around my house, feeling sorry for myself and generally wallowing in self-pity until I got so sick of my own company, and sick of feeling like I was waiting around for someone else to make a move.

I was in charge of my life, and it was time I started acting like it, so I went in to work on my day off, dragging my laptop with me.

Lucy, my favorite barista, looked up when I walked through the door.

"Shouldn't you be… I don't know… anywhere but here?" She planted her hands on her hips. "Or did you miss this place so much when you went MIA that you need to spend as much time as you can here, even when you aren't being paid to do it?"

I shrugged. Lucy knew that I'd been going through some personal stuff, but I hadn't given any of my coworkers an explanation as to where I'd been other than that I'd gone out of town with a friend for a few days. I wasn't ready to delve into the details of my confused little world with anyone but Kendall and Stephanie yet.

"Nowhere else to be today, but I have some things to take care of, and we have the best tiramisu in town."

"It's only the best when I make it." She grabbed a plate and pulled the dish from the case. "Go ahead and sit. I'll bring it over."

"Thanks."

My favorite table, the one in the corner near the bookshelf, was vacant, so I sat and booted my laptop up. I needed to find a new place to live. I couldn't stay in the same house forever, partly because there were too many memories embedded into every fucking surface, but mostly because paying the rent on a single income-and a barista's income at that-wasn't going to work for long.

I searched for apartment rentals in the same neighborhood. I'd known Seattle wasn't the most affordable, but I hadn't realized quite how far out of the realm of possibility single-guy housing fell. I would need either a second job or a roommate unless I wanted to sleep in a cardboard box underneath Ballard Bridge.

Trying to keep calm and deciding I'd deal with one problem at a time, I kept my search to a walkable radius to the university, thinking maybe student housing would be less expensive than other areas of the city. Besides, I still hadn't decided whether or not I wanted to go back to school.

Right now, working at the cafe wasn't making the most of my degree, but even with the education I did have, I would be hard-pressed to find something that paid better than my current job.

The market for fresh grads with nothing more than a bachelor's degree and no actual experience wasn't as welcoming as it had been twenty years ago. Even thinking about what my future held left me feeling a little lost.

A Lucy-shaped shadow fell across the table, and I looked up to see her standing over me, holding a plate with a giant piece of tiramisu. I slid my laptop over to make space.

"Thanks." I said as she set it down. "Do you want some?"

Before I'd even finished the sentence, she'd pulled out the chair opposite me and was digging a fork from the pocket of her apron.

"Whatcha looking at?" She asked, leaning over to see my screen as she dug into the dessert.

"A new place to live."

"What's wrong with your place?" She shoved the forkful into her mouth, but that didn't keep her from continuing to talk. "Don't tell me Stephanie's preggo. You need more bedrooms for a nursery or something?"

"Uh, no." I took a breath. I wasn't going to be able to dodge the subject forever. "Stephanie and I broke up."

She set the fork down on the side of the plate and stared at me. "For real?"

"Yeah."

"Shit. I'm sorry. That sucks." The look she gave me was one of true sympathy. "You need me to cut a bitch?"

I laughed. "No. Thanks for the offer, though." I took another breath. "It was my choice."

"Why?" Her eyes met mine, and I could read the surprise there. Apparently, I'd done such an amazing job at playing the doting hetero boyfriend that no one had noticed my heart belonged to someone else. She waved the fork through the air. "Sorry. That's none of my business."

I could have shrugged it off or given some vague response or even lied, but I realized suddenly that somewhere in the last two years, I'd come to consider Lucy my friend. More than that, this was who I was.

The night I'd told Stephanie the truth was the night I'd inadvertently set in motion my own sort of revolution. Coming out would be a slow process, and maybe not every time I told someone I'd be accepted with open arms, but this was me, and I wanted people to know that. Especially those people who were close to me.

"It's okay." I told her, picking up my fork. The motion was casual, even though this was anything but. "I'm gay."

My heart was in my throat, pounding so hard that even if I could have taken a bite, there was no fucking way I could have swallowed it. Time stretched out, the ten seconds it took her to react seeming like a week instead.

Finally, she smiled. "Yeah, I can see how that might put a wrench into the relationship."

I blew out a long breath, willing my pulse to slow.

"If you're looking for a place to move, my brother is looking for a roommate. His buddy moved out last month, and he hasn't been able to find any non-psychos yet. I can give you his details if you want."

Relief washed through me. "Yeah. That'd be great, actually. He lives close by?"

"Right off campus. He's got two years left of undergrad. Criminology major." She paused. "And LGBT-friendly." She paused again, a little longer this time. "And he's single."

My head snapped up. "What?"

She lifted her hands in a defensive gesture. "Just mentioning it. You know, just in case."

"Your brother's gay?"

"Bi."

"Hmm."

"Hmm, like, you're considering making sweet, sweet love with him?"

I couldn't help but laugh. "I've never met the guy, but I'm gonna guess he wouldn't appreciate you pimping him out to anyone with a dick."

She grabbed my chin and squeezed gently. "Yeah, well you're not just anyone." She dropped her hand. "And if you happened to be my brother-in-law someday, I gotta say, I wouldn't be all that upset about it. You're a hell of a lot more charming that the guy he brought home for Thanksgiving last year. My mom about had a stroke."

"What happened?"

"The guy showed up almost an hour late, drunk off his ass. Sat down to eat and somehow managed to pile the entire bowl of mashed potatoes on his plate. No one else got any. At this point, my mom is keeping her cool, but after dinner, he gets up without saying anything, goes out to the back porch, and lights up a joint. Smokes the whole thing with the smoke wafting in through the kitchen window."

"Okay, yeah. That's pretty bad."

"Yep. Now my mom won't allow the name 'Brian' to be said in our house. She calls Justin's ex Cheech."

"That's both horrible and hilarious."

She shrugged. "Our mom has high standards when it comes to dosing out her approval of the people we date. At least she has a sense of humor about it, though."

"And you think I'd make the cut?"

"In a heartbeat. You're good people, James. Of course you would." She dug into her pocket and retrieved her phone. After swiping the screen a few times, she turned it so I could see. "That's my brother."

I had to admit, he was attractive. Brown eyes like his sister, but his hair was blonde as opposed to Lucy's red-streaked black, and he had one of those smiles that belonged in glossy magazine ads.

"Interested?"

I laughed. "In him as a roommate, maybe. Anything else, probably not. Not that he's not attractive."

"The only possible explanation for you not wanting to hit that is that there's someone else."

"Do you always talk about your brother like that?"

"Nice try changing the subject. Is it Kendall?"

For the second time, my head whipped up. "What?"

"I've seen him. Shirtless, in fact. If you're not in love with that man, there's something seriously wrong with you."

"When the hell did you see him shirtless?"

"Last summer at that fundraiser for the burn unit at the hospital. All the firemen. Washing cars. Shirtless. Fuck, dude, I think about that day constantly."

"He does look pretty good without his clothes…"

Lucy smacked me. "I knew it! Wait. You've seen him naked? Tell me you have pictures." She leaned in closer. "Tell me there are pictures, James."

"Sadly, there are not."

"I hate you a little bit."

I shrugged. "Nothing I can do about that."

"What do you feel like doing today?" James asked.

I buried my face against the curve of his neck, inhaling as I curled my arms around his waist and pulled him harder against me. There was still something faintly outdoorsy about the way he smelled, as though he'd been visiting the lake without me while I'd been at work.

It was my first day off in what felt like months, and the first full day I'd been able to spend time with James since we got back from the cabin. I'd woken up before the sun, impatient to get over here, to forget about everything else for a while and just be with James.

Standing there with him, my body wrapped around his, even though we'd barely made it six steps into his house, was the best I'd felt in ages, like his very presence was enough to soothe away any of the stress that had built up since I'd seen him last.

He was another world to me, this dream-like world where, the second I was with him, I was transported away and it was him and me and nothing else mattered. I never wanted to leave.

"I can think of some very creative ways to spend our time." I murmured against his skin, and he shivered as I slipped my fingers beneath the waistband of his shorts.

"That sounds-"

I kissed him hard, cutting him off because I knew he felt the same way I did. "First, I'm gonna feed you, because you're going to need all the energy you can get for the rest of the day."

"Are we going out?" James asked, his voice hopeful.

"Out?"

"Yeah. Breakfast at Dixie's or something?"

I exhaled, stalling for a second while my brain launched into overdrive. A date. In public. With James.

Ice flowed through my veins just thinking about it. What if Jo saw us? Or one of the guys from the station? I wasn't ready to have that conversation with them. Maybe that was insane. I'd been out with James for breakfast a thousand times, but I couldn't shake the idea that people looking at us would just know.

"We could stay in if you don't feel like going out." James offered, giving me an out. "I'm pretty sure I've got stuff here to make something. I just thought you'd be tired from work and wouldn't want to mess around with cooking."

"I don't mind cooking." I said, giving James one last quick kiss before heading to the kitchen. I could hear him following behind me, and I was so relieved he hadn't pushed the idea of going out.

I couldn't hide away with him forever, I knew that.

I also didn't know what the fuck I would do when it came time to actually take our relationship out of the house.

I was so fucked.

But that was something to worry about later. It wasn't a problem until it was a problem. For now, we could keep things quiet, keep things between us, until I had a chance to figure out how to move things forward.

I ducked into the fridge and grabbed all the stuff I'd need.

"Omelets okay?" I asked, piling the ingredients next to the stove.

"Sounds perfect."

James boosted himself up onto the counter next to where I was going to work. I stepped over to him and pulled his shirt off over his head before leaning in to kiss his stomach. I liked this angle, with him almost a head higher than me. It brought different spots into reach. I snaked my arms around him and tilted my face so he could lean in and kiss me.

It brought back memories of the kitchen at the cabin, and I was hard in less than a heartbeat.

"I did something big yesterday." James said, gasping quietly as I licked a path down his chest.

"What's that?"

"I came out to Lucy."

I froze and looked up at him, his eyes meeting mine. I could read the excitement there, but all I felt was a cold wash of dread.

"What did she say?"

"She wants to set me up with her brother."

"What?"

James shrugged. "Apparently he's bi and he's single and she thought we'd hit it off."

There was a fragment of my brain that struggled to be jealous. The idea of James with anyone else made me seethe, but at that particular moment, the jealousy was strangled out by the dread welling up in my chest.

"And what did you say?"

"I told her I wasn't interested."

"Did you tell her about us?" I tried to keep the panic out of my voice, tried not to let James know that the idea of people finding out about us had my stomach twisting into a cold knot of terror.

"No. I don't think so."

"You don't think so?" I swallowed and tried not to panic. "How are you not sure?"

"She knows I have feelings for you. It was one of the first questions she asked. She told me that if I didn't want you, there was something wrong with me."

"But you didn't tell her we were together?"

"Jesus, Kendall, no." He glared at me. "But if I did, would that really be the worst thing? I'm not saying put an ad out in the Seattle Times, but would Lucy knowing be so bad? She knows about me. Her brother is bi, for Christ's sake. Obviously, she's not fucking homophobic, and I know she wouldn't say anything to anyone."

"Doesn't matter who they are. I don't want anyone to know." I blurted before I could stop myself. "I'm not ready for that."

I dropped my hand from where it rested on James' hip. It was such a small movement, but I might as well have pushed him clear away from me. His face fell, and I knew something bigger was happening.

"Kendall?"

"I don't know." My head was spinning. "When we were at the cabin… I don't know. It was different up there. I didn't realize how much about our lives we ignored when it was just you and me, but being back home, we don't live in a bubble. There's real-world stuff that gets affected by this, real-life people."

"What are you saying?"

"I don't know."

"Is this… are you…" He huffed a frustrated sigh. "Do you want to keep doing this?" He gestured between us, and I felt like I was going to be sick. I didn't have an answer for him because I had no idea what I wanted.

The mood between us shifted. I could feel it, and I knew James could too. I ran my fingers through my hair, my heart pounding. "I don't fucking know, Jay. I don't know what to do about any of this. I can't upend my life to be with you. It's not like flipping a light switch. 'Ta-da! I'm gay now.' It's not that easy."

James hopped off the counter and turned, the curve of his naked back vulnerable. "I'm aware, Kendall." He pulled his shirt back on. It felt like the end of something, and I found it hard to swallow around the lump in my throat.

"Look, James, I'm sorry."

I wanted to pull into my arms, to erase everything I'd said. It was stupid. He was everything to me, but things in Pine Bluff had been so much fucking simpler, and being home… it was more than I could deal with. So instead of holding him, instead of kissing away everything I'd said, I froze.

"I should go."

"Kendall, wait."

"I'll call you later." And like a coward, I slunk from the kitchen and out the front door.

Done! So...yeah. Looks like things have come to a head and are kind of rocky between Kames at the moment. But on the bright side, James came out to Lucy, who was completely okay with it!

I'd love to hear your thoughts on the chapter, as well as if you happened to have a favorite part/moment!

The next chapter will more than likely be up sometime this weekend. If not by the weekend, then it'll be up early next week for sure!

Until then!

-Epically Obsessed