Ted's eyes opened gingerly and he blinked a few times trying to focus them as his mind awoke and stated to stir. The previous night's events came flooding back to him and he turned his eyes towards his side, expecting to see Cody wrapped up beside him. His eyes landed on empty space and he groaned. There's nothing more he would've wanted than to wake up besides Cody with the younger man in his arms.

Ted sighed and sat up, stretching his arms over his head. He looked back down at the side of the bed and noticed a small piece of paper. He reached for it and saw Cody's sprawled handwriting on it.

"Had to run home and pack, Teddy. I leave today but will come back before heading to the airport.
Cody"

Ted sighed in frustration. He was leaving already. Just a day after having Cody in his arms, he was going to have to say goodbye to him for days. It wasn't fair. He stood and walked into the bathroom, stopping at the sink to stare at his face. Despite the frustration he felt at Cody leaving, he was as happy as he'd been for long as he could remember. No other person, man or woman, he'd ever dated made him feel the way Cody did. He was so thankful the younger man realized he felt the same way. If he'd needed to experiment with Will to come to that conclusion then Ted didn't care. Hell, it made him appreciate the guy from St. Louis.

Ted turned on the shower and happily whistled as he walked back in the room to grab some clothes. If today was going to be his last day with Cody before they went back to work, he was going to enjoy it with the man he loved.

"What do you mean, everything's wrong, Ran?"

Randy frowned and stood up. A sudden smile split his face. "It means I have a lot more to do today than I thought. How about you take Al and pick my ring on your own, OK? That's the way it's supposed to be done anyway, right? I trust your taste and I shouldn't see it till our wedding day anyway."

John frowned and looked up at the younger man. "The other day you told me the only taste I have is in my mouth. Now you trust me to pick out a wedding ring you'll like? What the hell happened?"

Randy smiled. "No, I was just joking then, baby. You're great and guess what? I've decided we can get married in Massachusetts!"

John laughed loudly. "OK, now I know for sure something's up! You would never agree to that unless you were trying to distract me from something."

He stopped smiling and stared at Randy from where he sat. He shrugged his shoulders and said, "Ran, just tell me whatever it is, baby,"

Randy sighed and sat down slowly. "Fine. Cody didn't go see Will last night to tell him how he felt for him. He went to see Ted instead."

John shook his head. "So what?"

Randy raised an eyebrow. "So, Cody has decided that he's going to be with Ted and they spent the night together. He didn't get into the specifics but I really don't wanna know anyway," He lowered his hand to his stomach and frowned.

John held up a hand. "Wait, wait, Cody and Ted? As in Cody wants to be with Ted in the way he was with Will?"

Randy nodded and John frowned. "But, Cody doesn't love Ted. You said he loves Will. I don't understand,"

Randy sighed. "Hence my everything's wrong statement from earlier,"

John stood up and began pacing the floor. "This is fucking ridiculous! Of all the stupid shit Cody has done I can't believe he would do this. Ted doesn't deserve to be played like this. And what about Will? Granted, yes, we barely know the kid, but this isn't fair to him either! What is going on in Cody's mind?"

Randy looked down at his fingers and shook his head. He blocked out John's ranting and mumbled under his breath, "This is all my fault."

John stopped in his tracks and looked over at Randy. "What?"

Randy looked up and shook his head. "Nothing," He stood and began to walk over to the stairs. "I'm gonna get Al down here so we can just go,"

John grabbed his arm and pulled him back. "No, that can wait. What did you say?"

Randy pulled his arm away and stared into John's face. "That this is all my fault. It is, John!"

John rolled his eyes. "Oh, come on. How do you figure that?"

Randy stalked back over to the living room space. "For years now I have been watching over Cody and guarding him so he doesn't get hurt by people who wanna take advantage of him; of how sweet he is and how fucking gullible he is. It hasn't always worked because that asshole Marshall was still able to find him but there I was, yet again, and took care of it. It was done and over and I ordered Cody to forget it. Like anyone could just forget being fucking raped,"

John walked over to him and reached for his hand but Randy pulled away. "No, John. I fucked up. Obsessing over Cody and always warning him of the doom and gloom that may find him; I did this! I fucked Cody's head up so bad that now when he's truly found love, he's scared to go for it. He wants to be with Ted because he knows Ted is like another you or me. He's someone who would never hurt him. Cody is willing to give up everything because he's scared and I did that. I did that to him."

John grabbed his arms and forced Randy to stop moving and face him. "Randy, stop. Just stop! You can't blame yourself for this. You never once told Cody to use Ted and that is what he's doing, plain and simple. He's using someone who truly loves him back. We just have to figure out how to get him to see that and stop,"

Randy shook his head. "No. How about we just don't interfere anymore, John? How about we try that?"

John lowered his arms and let them dangle at his side. He raised an eyebrow and said, "You want to do nothing? Is that really fair?"

Randy shrugged. "I don't know anymore, John. I just don't wanna make things worse."

John shook his head. "This isn't your fault, Ran. Get it through your head."

Randy rolled his eyes and John sighed in frustration. Once Randy got something in his head it was damn near impossible to shake it out. He took Randy by the hand and led him to the sofa. He wrapped his arm around his shoulders, turning his body so they stared into each other's eyes.

"Tell me what to do, Ran. Tell me what I have to do to fix this and get you to stop blaming yourself."

Randy shrugged. "How about you tell me what to do? That tends to happen more often and you're usually right."

John smiled. "Right now I think going with your idea of not interfering is good. I think that no matter how wrong we both think Cody is that we need to let him make his own decision here. If he asks us for our advice, then we can give it to him but other than that, we keep our lips shut. I just hate that Ted is going to suffer until Cody realizes his mistake,"

Randy nodded. "I know. We won't interfere, though, right?"

John nodded and looked at his face closely. "Now, tell me how to convince you that this isn't your fault,"

Randy shrugged. "John, I know you want to make me feel better but the truth is nothing will. I feel like I let Cody down. Didn't I teach him well enough?"

John smiled slowly. "Baby, you think you were in control of Cody's life? You weren't; none of us were! We handled something's for him because we felt like we were better equipped to but when it came down to it, Cody made his own decisions. If he listened to us at all he would've never gotten involved with Marshall in the first place. Cody is a grown man and we're kidding ourselves if we think we can tell him what to do. You taught him incredibly well. He's just choosing to ignore it."

Randy sighed and nodded. "I just can't believe he's capable of this, you know. I mean, I'm not a fucking angel but I would never tell someone I love them unless I really did." He stood up and shrugged his shoulders. "You know what? Fuck it. Fuck it all! Let's go shopping."

John stood slowly and smiled. "OK,"

He followed Randy as he began to make his way up the stairs but stopped halfway up, pulling on his fiancé's hand. Randy turned to look at him and John frowned.

"I know you're not over this and you're only going out with me to distract yourself from this. I'm not gonna force you to get over it, Ran. I want you to come to that realization on your own but I won't stop telling you what I do know and that is that this is not your fault,"

Randy lowered his eyes and nodded, gripping John's hand tightly.

Cody pulled up to the hotel, his stomach clenching with nerves. He took a deep breath and stepped out of the car. He didn't want to do this but he knew he owed it to Will. He had to let the older man go; not that it was going to be difficult. After last night, he probably hated him. That would make it easier, though. Will needed to hate him so he could begin to move on. Cody didn't care about himself. He would move forward with Ted and everything would be OK.

Before he knew it, he stood in front of Will's door. He knocked gently and took a deep breath. The door swung open and Cody gulped as Will's face appeared. The older man looked exhausted and he had dark circles under his eyes from what Cody assumed was a sleepless night.

"Hey,"

Will leaned on the doorway, his arms folded on his chest. "Hey, back,"

Cody shuffled his feet nervously on the floor. "Can we talk for little bit?"

Will nodded and moved his body back from the doorway, allowing Cody to enter the room. "Yeah, I think we need to talk,"

Cody walked over to the bed and began to lower himself onto the edge of the bed. Thinking it over quickly, he moved and sat on one end of the small loveseat in the corner of the room. Will followed him over and sat next to him, his stare boring a hole into Cody.

Cody gulped and raised his eyes to meet Will's, surprised not to see a bit of anger in them. "I owe you an apology,"

Will shook his head quickly. "No, you don't. It was too soon. It's all my fault."

Cody frowned and without thinking reached for Will's hand. Did he have to be so damn good and perfect...even now? "No, it's not your fault. You can't help the way you feel, Will. It's me; this is all about me and my faults."

Will stared at Cody's face, and shook his head slowly. "Cody, you don't have any faults that I can't live with; that I don't love.

Cody felt his eyes water and he looked down at his hand in Will's. This was pure torture for him and nothing less of what he deserved. He shook his head and sighed. "My God, don't say things like that."

Will held on to Cody's hand and moved his body closer to the younger man's. "Cody, I never meant to rush you into anything or move faster than you were comfortable with. I can wait for you. What we have is too good to throw away. Just forget last night and what happened. Let's make this work,"

Cody inhaled sharply as Will moved his face closer, their lips meeting softly. The initial soft press of lips became harder and a lick to Cody's lips made them part. Will plunged his tongue in Cody's mouth, the younger man moaning and deepening the kiss. Will curled his hand around the back of Cody's neck, massaging the nape gently. A loud beeping sound made them break apart and Cody immediately moved away, bringing his hand up to touch his lips. Will reached in his pants and sighed.

"It's my alarm. It's checkout time,"

Cody shook his head. "That was a bad idea. This whole thing was a bad idea. God, I'm a fucking moron,"

Will frowned as he looked up from his seat. "What are you talking about? We didn't do anything wrong. I thought we were gonna fix things…"

Cody shook his head. "No. No, I didn't come here to fix things, Will. I came here to make it clear to you that we're ending things. I don't love you. I love someone else and last night made me realize that."

Will's eyes shot open and he stood. "What are you talking about? Why are you lying to me?"

Cody shook his head and took a step away from Will. "I'm not lying. I owe you an apology. I knew I couldn't really fall in love with you and I used you. I'm sorry,"

Will narrowed his eyes and took one step closer. "Why don't I believe you, Cody?"

Cody moved around the coffee table and shrugged. He desperately wanted to get as much distance between his body and Will's. "I don't really care if you do believe me or not. It's the truth. I'm sorry,"

Will crossed his arms over his chest, his lips forming a smirk. "So, this is who you are now, huh; a cold, asshole that just goes around using people for the hell of it? Who uses people to test his feelings for another person? I don't buy it, Cody. That's not you,"

Cody laughed and shook his head. "You don't even fucking know me, Will. How do you know what I would and would not do?"

Will smiled back. "No, I do know you. You're a good, loving, brave man, Cody. You wouldn't do this to anyone. I'm not gonna pretend to know why you're lying to me, though. Is it fear? Are you giving in to..."

Cody stared at the older man, fury running through his veins. What more would it take? What did he have to say to break the older man and get him to hate him?

"My God, stop trying to analyze things and just accept them! It's over and no other explanation is needed! If it makes you feel better to think I'm lying to you, then by all means, go for it. If you wanna think I'm scared of something, then fine, go with that. Either way, you and I are done because we weren't ever that much to begin with. That's probably why it was so easy to sleep with Ted last night."

Cody laughed and turned to walk out of the room. His hand reached for the door handle but Will's shot out to grab it, causing Cody to angrily pull it away.

"Stop fucking touching me,"

Will's eyes shot open in disbelief and he held his hands up in defense. "I can't believe you. You slept with Ted? I can't believe you would do that. I truly cannot believe you're letting this happen to us,"

Cody yanked open the door and glared at him. "Well believe it. We're done,"

He let the door slam behind him and he fled down the hotel's hallway not bothering to wait for the elevator. He ran down the stairs and out the lobby, the bright sunshine burning him. He pulled on his sunglasses, hiding his tearing eyes from other people as he entered his car and sped off.

Cody drove down the familiar streets coming to a slow stop at a traffic light. He lowered his head to the steering wheel and let some tears escape the confines of his baby blues. He had never felt more alone. Randy would be furious with him after the argument they had and if Randy was mad, John was mad, too. He knew Teddy would love to see him especially after the way he snuck out earlier in morning but he wasn't ready to face him. A part of him was still mortified at what they had done last night.

A loud honk behind him startled him and he raised his head up to see the green light. He drove forward and turned the corner to Randy and John's home. Whether mad at each other or not, Cody had to return there anyway to pack for his flight later that evening. There was no way around that.

As he pulled into the driveway, he noticed Randy's car was gone. Cody breathed a deep sigh of relief and prayed that indeed he was coming home to an empty house. He had no energy left to go through another round with Randy and he couldn't deal with another look of disappointment from his best friend. It seemed all he had done today was disappoint those he loved.

Cody walked into the house, the silence thudding in his ears and walked up to his room. He threw his glasses on the bed and quickly pulled out his suitcases. Walking over to his closet, he grabbed his clothes and threw them on the bed, beginning the folding process slowly. Halfway done with the suitcases, he felt a pair of arms encircle his waist and he jumped up and around.

"Hi, handsome,"

Ted smiled as he pressed his lips to Cody's, the younger man standing stiffly in his arms, his heart still racing from the shock of seeing Ted.

"You said you were gonna come back but I got tired of waiting. Why did you run off this morning?"

Cody smiled and slowly lifted his arms, letting them rest on Ted's hips. "I had to run some errands before I leave tonight. I was just finishing packing and was gonna come right over."

Ted smiled and hugged Cody's body close to his. He lowered his lips to Cody's ear. "Last night was amazing. I can't wait till we can do it again,"

He felt Cody nod on his shoulder but got no reply back. He pulled back and stared into Cody's eyes, a small frown creasing his forehead. "Are you OK, Codes?"

Cody smiled and nodded. "Yeah, I just hate that I have to leave you now,"

Ted smiled with relief and kissed his lips gently. "I know. I hate it, too, baby. It's just for a little while, though. "

Cody nodded and pulled back slowly. He turned his attention back to the clothes as Ted plopped onto the bed to watch him. Minutes later Cody closed his suitcases and lifted one off the bed. He looked down at Ted and smiled. The older man looked up at him adoringly and Cody knew he had to give it his all. He had to make this work. This was the right choice.

"How about we go back to your place and have a late lunch? We can curl up together until you drive me to the airport. You're not leaving till tomorrow anyway,"

Ted nodded and bent to grab one bag. Cody took the other and followed him out the door, stopping at the entryway to look back at his room. He stared at the bed and an image of him and Will lying in each other's arms flashed through his head.

"Codes, you coming?"

Cody shook his head to clear his mind and followed Ted down the hall. As they descended the stairs the front door swung open and John walked in followed by Randy, who carried Alanna. John's eyes widened as he saw Cody and Ted and he turned to look at Randy. Randy had a smile on his face as he listened to something Alanna said. His eyes looked up momentarily and caught a glimpse of the two men on the stairs and his smile quickly dropped. Blue eyes that only moments before had been sparkling with laughter quickly darkened and narrowed and his lips curled into a smirk. Cody's breath hitched at the change in Randy's mood and he tightened his grip on the stair banister.

Randy put Alanna down and moved slowly into the room, sneer in place. "Well, well, well, if it isn't the happy couple…"