Written by G8rguy
Connor hadn't made much progress on finding the perfect house/condo front but he had seen some great places. Last weekend he had been over to one of his teammate's apartment building and he was seriously reconsidering talking to Jude about moving there and renting for a bit more. The apartment was in a luxury building with a lot of amenities and it was amazing and while not as big as they were thinking, it would work for a few years, maybe. One of the big benefits was the security at the door to keep non-residents out.
Thanksgiving at Jude's moms' house had been as crazy as they predicted with all the teasing and joking about Connor's appearance in the Body Issue but he was really proud of it and Jude had confessed to being REALLY happy about it. He had even managed to have a poster sized version of his favorite pose framed for their place and gave it Connor at Christmas, much to Connor's embarrassment.
The Padre's season was going amazing and the team was really happy with Connor's performance. He was fairly certain he would get asked back to the All Star game this year and he was really happy about that as he had enjoyed last year's game so much that he was looking forward to going back. The Padres were doing well, but Connor didn't have any illusions that they were going to make it to the Series this year. But they were getting better he thought. The team was struggling with a number of issues and after three of their players had gotten minor injuries, they were struggling to maintain their momentum, let alone surge ahead in the rankings.
Connor had also seen a huge spike in interest in him for endorsements after the Body Issue came out and they offered him some really good money. He had even been signed to model and endorse a new line of men's swimwear for a new line called Hermosa Beach that was affiliated with Speedo. The company like his "Southern California" look and so he was working with modeling both the swimwear as well as casual wear they were selling.
He had even picked up calls for magazines including a cover for Men's Fitness and piece in GQ and he was getting recognized a lot more often than ever before. Tanisha had managed to handle that whole "why doesn't he date" with the piece in GQ. He was profiled and talked a lot about his hectic schedule and although he didn't mention it, the writer had mentioned Adam's recent death. Overall it was very well written, according to Jude, and seemed to explain his focus on career.
Tonight he had stayed late at the stadium working with the conditioning coach on his legs and, exhausted, he had called in his and Jude's dinner order at their favorite restaurant after calling Jude to make sure he hadn't planned anything. Luckily Jude hadn't as he was "in his zone" and had been writing up a storm so he had lost track of time. Connor smiled thinking about Jude's breakthrough.
Jude had written a piece on the foster system based on several of the people that he and Callie knew from their time and it had been picked up nationally and generated serious attention. Jude had been asked to write a piece on social issues for O magazine that was focused on young women in the foster care system and several of the former Girls United friends of Callie had been interviewed by Jude.
The stories had really gotten Jude some attention and after meeting with a publisher, he had been contracted to write his and Callie's own story from entry to adoption and he had been working hard at it in between writing articles for his paycheck. Connor was so proud of him and what he was accomplishing.
Walking in to the familiar restaurant he nodded at Melissa who was working at the hostess station. She went to get his order. He didn't even have to give his name to her as he was such a regular there. Connor loved the place because it was close to home and the food was very healthy and locally sourced which fit his nutrition plan.
Paying, with a generous tip, Connor got back in his truck and headed home without noticing the plain blue sedan that was following behind him. He pulled into the garage for his building and grabbing the food and his bag, he headed towards the entrance of the building.
"CONNOR STEVENS!" a voice called out surprising him. Connor turned and saw a guy running towards him with a camera. He started taking pictures and Connor stepped back in surprise from the flashes.
"Excuse me?" Connor said stepping back.
"Are you seeing someone tonight? Got dinner for two?" the guy asked continuing to take pictures "are you dating someone? Who's the lucky lady?" the guy continued and Connor realized he was having a paparazzi moment. Instead of answering, Connor frowned and turned around and headed for his building's entrance while the guy continued taking his picture as he chased after him. Connor entered his building and the guy tried to follow him in but Connor stopped him at the door and wouldn't let him in. This wasn't funny and it was getting serious.
"This is a private building" Connor said and blocked the man's way. "Leave or I will call the police" he said to the guy who was still taking pictures.
The guy stepped back a bit and that allowed Connor to close the door and it locked when it did. Connor headed in but the guy was still taking pictures so he avoided the elevators and went to the stairway going to the second floor where he called the elevator to ride it up to his floor. Looking out carefully when the doors opened, the coast was clear so he dashed for their apartment and slipped in, quickly shutting the door and locking it behind him.
"Connor" Jude said looking at him nervously as he walked over to Connor. "Everything okay?"
Connor looked up and took a deep breath before looking at Jude's worried expression. "This paparazzi jumped out at me in the parking garage and followed me to the building door. He was taking pictures and asking who I was meeting since I bought dinner for two" Connor's words were spilling out and Jude could see that now that he was home, he was getting mad. "I had to block him from entering the building so I could lock the door…he was really crazy."
Jude came over and grabbed the bag with dinner and set it on the counter and then helped move Connor to the couch, setting his equipment bag down. Connor flopped onto the couch, shaking, and Jude held onto his boyfriend as he started shaking and stammering. This wasn't the first time that Connor had gotten surprised by photographers but before it had always been at events or places where it was kind of expected. This is the first time someone had followed Connor home and Jude saw how disturbing it was for him.
"All I could think of was what would have happened if you had been in the car" Connor finally confessed. "He would have been doing that to you and I am pretty sure I would have snapped Jude." Connor was shaking. "It was so hard not to punch the guy out with all the comments he was saying and how he was just so relentless and all I could think about was what if someone did that to you…" Connor trailed off.
Jude pulled Connor in tighter. He was ashamed to admit, even to himself, that when Connor first started talking he thought Connor was scared of being seen with Jude, of being caught with another guy, of being outed. Hearing Connor confess his fear for Jude's safety made him want to smack himself for doubting the man in his arms.
After he managed to get Connor calmed down they managed their dinner and were trying to relax when Connor got a call and looked down to see Tanisha's name on his phone. Sighing he answered the phone and hit the speaker button "Hey T. What's up?"
"Are you okay?" Tanisha asked quickly.
"Yeah" Connor replied uncertainly and looked at Jude with a question on his face.
"There are pics online of you walking into your apartment building on a couple of websites with notes that you had dinner for two with you from Emeliano's" Tanisha tells him.
Connor is shocked. It's only been about two hours since the incident and it's already online?! "How did they move that fast?" Connor muttered.
"Connor, these paps are willing to do anything for a shot of a star and you are now a star" Tanisha sighed. "Look, if everything is okay, just stay in, curtains closed and batten down the hatches. The problem is that now the paps know where you live and they are going to start staking out your place to get pics. Can you come to the office tomorrow morning?" she asks.
Jude nods sadly. "Yes" Connor agrees slowly.
"I think it would be better if you and Jude leave and travel separately. Have Jude go first. Hopefully no one will connect him with you and will leave him alone. Then you can head out and if they are there, then they won't get pics of the two of you together" Tanisha tells them carefully.
Connor looks at Jude and they agree with the plan and hang up. The rest of the night doesn't go as either of them were hoping and they end up turning in early and lying in bed together with Jude wrapped tightly in Connor's arms. They didn't talk much because Jude was truly afraid about what was going to happen tomorrow. He was afraid that things were coming to a head and Connor was going to have to make a choice and the only choice that made sense would destroy Jude's world.
Jude walked off the elevator on Tanisha's floor and walked in to the office. Walking up to the secretary he told her he was here and she asked him sit down in the waiting area. Jude grimaced and walked over with a bit of frown. Every time he had been there they had walked right in but since Connor wasn't here yet, it seemed that he was being made to wait. Not really a surprise he thought. Looking around the office he noticed the people working and he started drafting the idea for a story about how agents and managers of athletes control their talents and he wonders what kind of information he could find if he did some digging.
About twenty minutes later Connor steps off the elevator and walks into the office. The secretary picks up her phone and suddenly Tanisha is coming out. Yep, no one was in her office. Jude decided to wait to see what would happen when Connor headed towards the office and Tanisha followed him in without looking in Jude's direction.
Connor walked into the office and looked around but didn't see Jude anywhere. He should have beaten Connor here and he turned around to look at Tanisha "Is Jude here yet?" he asked worriedly.
"Yes he is, but I wanted to talk to you for a minute alone" Tanisha said sitting down in her chair.
Connor was still standing looking at her uncertainly. "If this is about our relationship Tanisha, then it affects both of us" Connor says unhappily.
"Connor I understand that the two of you are together, but do you realize the danger that Jude is now in?" Tanisha asks looking up at him.
Connor sits down and looks at her. "What do you mean?" he asks.
"Connor" she sighs heavily. "They know where you live. They are going to start trying to get in the building. Talking to your neighbors. They will start following people to figure out why you are there. Even if we go with the idea that he's just a roommate, which we can do, they are going to start digging into him and he isn't exactly in the closet. You living with a gay guy…Connor it doesn't take a genius to ask why a millionaire athlete, who is never seen with a woman as a date, is living with a guy for several years instead of in a bachelor pad or house, and figure out that they are more than roommates." She shakes her head. "Best case scenario we lose a couple of sponsors, Padres don't get too upset, but now Jude is going to be a target for crazy fans who don't like gays" she looks at him carefully. "Do you want that for him?" she asks.
Connor shakes his head. "No…I just want him to be safe" he says.
"Then I think you need to get your own place" Tanisha tells him. "We just have to find the right place that will allow you more security and safety."
Connor sits quietly as Tanisha gets up and walks to the door and calls for Jude. Connor looks up as he walks in and Connor can see the stress and fear in Jude's face and he stands up to reach for Jude's hand. Tanisha goes over the situation and again and Connor can tell Jude is angry. Tanisha and Connor had promised that they wouldn't do this to them and now they were sitting here telling him that they couldn't be together.
Tanisha starts telling them about some of the bad experiences other players' families have had that have really shook them as well as the consequences of Connor's outing.
"Not that things are all bad" Tanisha says wistfully as she walks over to her desk and picks up a stack of papers and walks over to hand them to Connor.
"What's this?" Connor asks looking at her.
"Nike is really happy with your endorsements" she says with a smile. "They would like to extend your contract three years."
Connor looks at Jude and smiles a bit and sees the pride in his boyfriend's eyes.
"They are offering five million a year" she adds and laughs at the shock on both of their faces. "I told you Connor that it was only a matter of time with endorsements. You have the look, you are an amazing player, great personal story, and you are the All American Boy. Your work modeling and in magazines, not to mention the buzz from the Body Issue, has made a lot of people notice you and this is just the beginning" she says with a sad note.
"There isn't an out, active, major league baseball player and you could definitely go that way" she tells them "but I don't know whether things like this" she points to the contract "will still come your way if you do."
Jude is sitting on the couch watching Connor pack the last of his stuff in the boxes that he is moving to his new apartment. He had rented a place in a building not too far away that several of his teammates lived in and had protected parking and a manned front door. There would be no paparazzi getting in there. Connor had seen several people taking his picture when he had left to go to Tanisha's and in the two days since but luckily it seemed that Jude was still an unknown.
"Well, I think that's everything" Connor said and looked over at Jude and froze. The hurt on his face was clear for Connor to see and he hated this. He rushed over and wrapped Jude in his arms. "This isn't permanent" he promises Jude. "It's just for a bit and we can still be together a ton. You can come over and I can sneak here too" Connor assures him.
Jude wants to stop the tears flowing but he can't so he just holds onto Connor tightly. He feels that this is something they have to do but he also feels that this might be the end of them. They have been together since Connor's apartment burned down, only sleeping apart when Connor was on the road. Every year Jude had come with Connor to Spring Training even. Now…they would be sleeping apart and he didn't know how they would manage it. No more dinners, or breakfasts, or movie marathons. Jude loved the man holding him but he knew he couldn't destroy Connor's career and life. He was making millions doing what he loved and it could all go away in an instant if he pushed.
They stayed there for another hour before Connor had to head out to training. The movers came about an hour later. Tanisha had arranged to have someone in her office to meet the crew at Connor's new place so that they would not see Connor in either location. Once they were gone, his place looked so empty and there was nothing left of Connor there. The picture he had framed was packed and on the way to his new place. Only Jude's copy of the "Best Butt in San Diego" picture was left and Jude broke down and wept.
