Kaden followed Jeff as he walked up the sidewalk leading up to the Chi Delta house. He didn't know why he was even going. He hated it, and every time he went over there, it just reaffirmed how much he did not like any of the guys in that house.
It had been over two weeks since he, Troy and Ryan had returned from their little vacation to the beach, and Kaden couldn't help but wish he was still there. He went out with Tyler and had a great time. They went to a few bars, met some of Tyler's friends and then went out to a bonfire on the beach. It was probably the most fun he'd had in a long time, not to mention he probably gave Ryan and Troy some alone time themselves.
Tyler was quite the charmer, too. He was so thoughtful and sweet. He'd introduced Kaden to all of his friends without any hesitation, he'd offered Kaden his jacket when he noticed the blond was cold and he always tried to include Kaden in the conversation.
But Kaden had been good. He'd resisted any kind of urge to do anything that could even be remotely construed as "cheating." Even when Tyler had made to give him a hug goodbye, Kaden had been able to dodge the chaste kiss the brunette had been aiming for his cheek. Anyone would want Kaden as his boyfriend.
It just didn't seem like Jeff realized that so much. He still refused to so much as acknowledge his relationship with Kaden whenever they were around anyone else other than Troy and Ryan. And then that was taken to an extreme whenever he was around his fraternity brothers. Kaden didn't even know why he bothered coming to Jeff's house with him; he was probably in for an hour or more of being ignored.
"Are we going to be here for very long?" Kaden asked as the two reached the door to the house.
Jeff turned around and smiled at Kaden lightly, apparently oblivious to his boyfriend's discomfort. "I don't know," he said. "We probably won't be too long. I don't really have anything important to do."
Kaden rolled his eyes as Jeff turned back around to unlock the door. 'If you don't have anything to do, why are we here?' he thought to himself, following his boyfriend through the threshold.
The two walked through the entryway and down to the stairway leading toward the basement, where they were sure to run into some of the guys who were skiving off classes for the day.
They walked into the basement, seeing several guys standing around the pool table. A majority of them, however, were seated on a couch near a big screen television all engrossed in one of the latest and greatest video games.
"Joy," Kaden muttered to himself at seeing how he would be spending the next hour. Jeff turned his head and frowned confusedly, having heard Kaden say something, but the blond just shook his head, waving off his boyfriend.
Jeff walked up to the couch and said hello to his fraternity brothers and Kaden soon stood right next to him. They stood, watching the game progressing on the screen for some time. Kaden wasn't really paying much attention to anything going on around him; he was just trying to pass the time as quickly as he could. And that meant he was thinking back to his spring break adventure.
The thought of him hanging out with Troy, Ryan and Tyler for the whole week brought a smile to his face. He didn't have to worry about anything or anybody ruining his good mood during that week away from school. The only down side to it was that Jeff had not been there to have fun with them.
Kaden was so lost in his thoughts that he didn't hear as one of the Chi Delts, having noticed his far away look and goofy smile, started making comments to him.
"What's with that doofy look on his face?" the guy asked. That caused Jeff to look over at his boyfriend and elbow him softly in the side, bringing Kaden out of his reverie.
"Huh?" Kaden asked, looking around the room. He looked toward the couch and saw several of the guys snickering to themselves, even as they continued playing their game. Jeff shot a look to Kaden urging him to either pay more attention or that he was embarrassing him, Kaden couldn't really tell.
They all went back to staring at the television screen, blowing things up and whatnot, until one of the guys was killed for good, or at least, that's what Kaden gathered from the way he threw his controller on the floor.
The guy in question, sent a nasty look at the blond, as if blaming him for his untimely on-screen death. "Why is he always standing so close to you," the guy said, noting Kaden's positioning at Jeff's side. "He's like that whenever you two come over."
"Yeah," another guy from the couch piped in, stealing a quick glance away from the TV screen. "You'd think he was trying to get in your pants or something, Little Strong."
At that, Jeff turned to look at Kaden, a somewhat frightened gleam in his eyes. He noted that Kaden was indeed standing closer to him than any other guy was to anyone else in the room and then gave Kaden a shove to widen the gap between their two bodies.
Kaden hadn't been expecting that and shot Jeff a hurt look. He never really thought Jeff would just admit that they were dating to anyone in the house, but he never expected to be rejected in such an open and public way like he just had.
"Oh, look," one of the guys from the couch said, seeing the expression on Kaden's face. "Seems like you hurt the poor fag's feelings."
Kaden's mouth opened in an awkward gape, his brows furrowing. He hadn't expected his visit to the Chi Delt house to be pleasant, but he sure as hell wasn't expecting anything like this. The guys were being nastier than usual and Jeff wasn't doing anything about it. In fact, he seemed to be adding to it what with his shove and all. Kaden couldn't really tell if he wanted to stick around to see what would happen next, but his feet were still grounded to the floor.
Jeff then turned his head again to look at Kaden. He made a face that was sure to convey the message that Kaden need to cut out whatever he was doing as it was attracting unnecessary attention to them.
"Someone should let him know he's come to the wrong place if he's looking for some action," another one of the guys said. They all started laughing at that, including Jeff.
"Seems to me that Little Strong just keeps the guy around because it means he knows he could get it from whoever he wants, man or woman," another one said.
After that, everyone on the couch turned to look expectantly at Jeff, as if he was supposed to either confirm or deny their accusations. Jeff looked back at them, not really knowing what to say or how to respond. He looked back at Kaden and then back to his brothers on the couch. It appeared as though he was going to bolt from the room, when all of a sudden he squared his shoulders and sent a devious smirk over his shoulder toward Kaden, which didn't leave the blond with a good feeling at all.
"Well," Jeff said to his friends, his voice sounding cold, nothing like what Kaden was used to, "Why else would I keep him around? It's not like he's stimulating company or anything." Then he turned to look at Kaden again. "Silly, little faggot."
Kaden stood there in shock, trying not to believe he'd just stood there and been insulted like that by his boyfriend. He was trying to wrap his brain around it when the laughing coming from the couch brought him back to the moment.
He looked over at Jeff but found no sympathy in his gaze. He felt tears begin to prick the side of his eyes and took in a deep shuddering breath before quickly turning on his heal and running straight out of the basement and then out of the house. He didn't even take a look back, not wanting to see any of the sneering faces laughing at him. But most of all he didn't want to see the look on Jeff's face. He didn't want to see Jeff at all. What he needed was to get away, and get away fast.
But he needed to talk to someone. So he pulled out his cell phone and dialed the only number he could think of.
---------------------------------------------
Ryan flipped through another page of his intro to fiction writing textbook, but was unable to really focus on what he was seeing. The reason for that being Troy who was currently running his hands up and down Ryan's back underneath his shirt.
The two were sitting on Ryan's bed. They were supposed to be studying for their upcoming tests, but with Troy's wandering all over his boyfriend's body, not much work was being accomplished. Ryan had tried his best to keep his mind off Troy's fingers, but he just could not keep his attention focused on his study material. Dialogue tags be damned, he wanted some of Troy.
"You do know that we eventually have to pass these classes, don't you?" Ryan asked as he closed his book and turned around to face Troy who was basically spooning against the blond's back.
"Well," Troy began, "think about it my way, the longer I make you stay in college, the longer I have to do things like this with you." He finished by wrapping his arms around the smaller boy and pulling him closer.
"Yes," Ryan said, speaking slowly as he ran his hands up and down Troy's firm arms, "but the sooner I graduate, the sooner I won't be forced to choose between you and homework."
Troy furrowed his brow in thought for a moment before releasing his boyfriend and forcing him to turn away and back toward his book. "What are you waiting for," he said. "Get to studying. Waste not want not. A penny saved is a penny earned."
Ryan just laughed and turned back to facing Troy. "What are you talking about?" he asked.
"I don't know," Troy replied. "Those are just things that sound like they'd motivate someone to take something seriously, and now I need you to take your studies seriously"
"And what about you?" Ryan asked. "It won't do me much good if I'm all graduated and you're not. I might just have to find someone to keep me company during the long days that you'll be stuck in class."
"You wouldn't," Troy said, running his hands down Ryan's side and behind his thighs to rest on the underside of his boyfriend's behind.
"You have no idea what I would and wouldn't do," Ryan said as he wriggled himself closer to his boyfriend and leaned up to place a sweet kiss on his lips before turning back around and opening up his book.
The two went back to studying. At least, Ryan did. Troy was still too preoccupied with watching his boyfriend's prone form. He was never going to get anything done at this rate and yet he still could not take his eyes away from the blond beauty lying next to him.
Everything had been going great for the couple ever since they returned from their spring break trip. They were sickeningly sweet with each other. Leslie refused to be around both of them when they were together; she said it gave her a headache.
Meg couldn't have been happier for the two of them. It had been quite a while since all things had been going well for all of them, and even though Ryan still wasn't sold on Jeff and Kaden's relationship, he had to admit that things were going reasonably well for the two of them. Troy just hoped the two of them would come to terms with their relationship and Jeff wouldn't keep holding Kaden at arms length whenever they were in public.
All thoughts of other people escaped him, however, as soon as he felt Ryan's behind pressing into his crotch. Troy responded with a gentle thrust.
"You're distracting me again," Ryan said in a singsong voice.
"You're the one who started it," Troy replied in an equally saccharine voice.
This would have continued and progressed on to something not suitable for children, but it was quickly put to a stop by Ryan's cell phone.
"Dammit, Ry," Troy said, letting go of his boyfriend and allowing him to reach for the offending object. "That thing always finds a way to ruin a perfect moment."
Ryan shot his boyfriend a look before checking the caller ID and flipping his phone open. "Hey, Kaden. What's up?" he asked.
Troy asked as his boyfriend's brows furrowed and his expression changed from beaming smile to deep frown. He didn't know what caused the sudden change, but he was sure to find out in the following moments.
"Wait," Ryan said, pulling away from Troy and sitting upright on his bed. "Slow down, Kaden," he continued. "Okay … just wait there. I'll come get you."
With that, Ryan flipped his phone closed and moved to get off the bed. Troy, still having no idea what was going on, grabbed Ryan's body and held him still. "What's going on?" Troy asked.
"I don't know," Ryan said, struggling against Troy's hold. "I couldn't get anything out of him. It was almost like he was hyperventilating or something. I'm going to go out and get him, see if I can bring him back or something."
Ryan's voice was hitting a high pitch, by the end of his statement. Troy could tell he was worried for his friend and let go, allowing Ryan to get off the bed and run around the room gathering his things so he could go outside. He then started getting off the bed as well, moving to grab his shoes.
"What are you doing?" Ryan asked.
"I'm going with you," Troy said. "If Kaden's really in trouble, I'm not going to let you go out there by yourself. You said yourself that you don't even know what's wrong with him."
"No," Ryan said as he threw his jacket over his shoulder.
"What do you mean 'no'?" Troy asked.
"I mean, I don't know if Kaden is going to wait for me out there or not, and if he comes back here before I get to him, I want you to be here so you can look after him until I get back," Ryan said, panic still lacing his voice.
"But—" Troy started.
"Look," Ryan interrupted him. "Please, just do this for me. I need to go find Kaden. I've never heard him like this before. Please just stay here. If I need you, I'll call you."
Troy didn't look pleased, but he stopped moving. Ryan took that to mean that he would be staying put until he heard anything else from him. Ryan then walked over to where Troy was still sitting and leaned over to place a chaste kiss on his lips. "I love you," he said. And with that, he was out of the room.
-------------------------------------------
'Shit! Shit! Shit!' was the only thing running through Jeff's mind as he left the Chi Delta house. It had been a little over 15 minutes since Kaden had run out and Jeff knew he had done wrong.
As soon as he exited the old brick house, he pulled his phone out of his pocket and dialed Kaden's number. It rang and rang and then went to voicemail. Kaden's usually cheery voice greeted him and Jeff couldn't help but wish that the recording was really Jeff and that the whole ordeal was just an awful, awful dream.
Obviously, however, it was not and Jeff needed to figure out how the hell he was going to make everything right. He was sure, though, that he would have more trouble proving himself to Ryan than he would to anyone else. It seemed that Ryan never really trusted him that much, and now it was beginning to dawn on him why exactly that was the case.
Ryan was Kaden's friend. He was always looking out for the tall blond and apparently he had seen something he didn't quite like in Jeff, which, he had to admit, he was beginning to see himself.
He tried dialing Kaden's number again and when it went to voicemail, yet again, he scrolled through his phonebook until he came to the only other person he could talk to when it came to matters concerning boyfriend.
Troy picked up on the third ring. "Hello?" he asked.
"Troy," Jeff said, exasperatedly. "Have you seen Kaden at all?"
"Ryan just took off looking for him," Troy said into the phone. "He said Kaden sounded near hysterics. What the hell is going on?"
Jeff sighed and lowered his head. "We were at my house and, you know how the guys are with him, and we got into a disagreement," Jeff said, bending the truth. He didn't really want everyone to know what a monumental ass he had been. "He ran out and I've been trying to get a hold of him, but he won't answer his phone."
"Well," Troy said. "I'm waiting in his room right now. Ryan said he'd call me when he found out what was going on. You can come back here and wait with me to see if Kaden gets here before Ryan finds him."
Jeff shuddered at the thought. He really didn't want Ryan finding Kaden at all. He didn't even want to think about the screaming match he'd be in for if Ryan actually found out what he'd done. But it looked as though going back to the dorm room was going to be his best option. Maybe he'd be able to get to Kaden before Ryan and then he'd be able to apologize and keep him from telling anyone about what had happened.
"I guess that's the best thing," he said into the phone. "I'll be there in a few minutes. Will you come down to let me in?"
"Sure," Troy said. "I'll see you in a few."
Jeff hung up and put his phone back into his pocket. He didn't know what he was going to do, but he did know that he was going to have to think of something quickly. Then again, maybe he was just thinking the worst of the whole situation. Maybe it would all just blow over and nothing would come of it.
That's when he realized he was being more than just a bit delusional. He shook his head and began jogging to Kaden's dorm while also keeping his eyes peeled for his boyfriend. If he could really even call him that anymore.
-------------------------------------------------------
Ryan had been walking quickly through campus keeping his eyes peeled for his friend. He wanted to find Kaden soon as it was getting dark, and he didn't want to battle the dark as well as his raging emotions right now.
He knew Jeff was behind all of this. No one could get a reaction out of Kaden like Jeff could, and in Ryan's mind, something this bad could only have been caused by the confused brunette. If he ran into Jeff before he found Kaden he would … well, he didn't so much know what he would do … but it wouldn't be pretty.
He walked through a clearing leading into the quad and looked around. Not seeing anything right away, he continued walking, sweeping his head from side to side until he spotted a mop of blond hair over by one of the benches lining a building. He picked up the pace and began jogging over to where the person was sitting. As he got closer, he could tell that it was definitely Kaden, and that Kaden was definitely upset. He came to a swift walk as he came up to the bench.
"Kaden?" Ryan asked as he approached the bench.
At hearing his name called, Kaden turned his tear-stained face toward his friend and gave a watery half-smile to his friend, which soon turned into another round of sobs. Ryan walked up and sat down next to Kaden, putting his arm around his roommate's shoulder.
"Hey, hey," Ryan said. "It's okay." With that, Kaden turned and buried his head in Ryan's chest.
Ryan let him cry for several more moments before the sobs began to subside. When he felt that Kaden would be able to speak, he pulled gently away from his roommate and ducked his head to get a look a the other blond's face. "Do you want to tell me what happened?" he asked.
Kaden looked back up, his expression one of a broken man. "Jeff," he croaked out. Ryan's expression darkened at that and his grip around his friend's shoulder tightened.
"What did he do?" Ryan asked, now certain he was going to put Jeff in his place the next time they saw each other.
"He—he," Kaden stuttered, "we were over at his fraternity house and I don't know what was going on but—but," he trailed off again.
"You know you hate going over there," Ryan said. "I don't know why you always let him talk you into going with him. But that's beside the point. You need to tell me what happened so I can help."
Kaden looked back up at Ryan's face and continued. "Some of the guys started making fun of me and then Jeff pushed me away. The next thing I knew, they were saying Jeff just kept me around because I made him feel good about himself. Then—then Jeff, he—he called me a faggot."
Ryan gasped at that. "He didn't."
Kaden could only shake his head sadly. "He said the only reason he kept me around was because it meant he could get some action from whoever he wanted. Then he called me a silly little faggot."
"Oh, you just wait until I see him," Ryan said darkly. "I'm going to tear him a new one and then shove my foot up it." He was cut off when he felt a hand on his knee. He looked over to Kaden who was smiling at him.
"You don't have to worry about that," Kaden said. "I don't need to put up with this anymore, and I'm not going to. I might have if it had happened before break, but after that time we spent at the coast and with those people, I know I deserve better."
"You always have," Ryan said.
"Yes," Kaden agreed. "I guess I just didn't realize it. But I don't want to spend anymore time with someone I always have to be on edge with. I don't want to have to worry about whether or not he's going to acknowledge me when we're around other people or if he's going to say something offensive to me just because he needs to keep up his reputation in front of his friends."
"Well," Ryan sighed. "I'm glad to hear you saying that, but don't you think we should be getting out of here. I don't really feel like hashing everything out on a park bench, do you?"
Kaden smiled, a real smile. "No, you're right. We should get going."
"Good," Ryan said, getting up from the bench and holding his hand out to his friend. "Troy's back at the room waiting for us. I made him stay there just in case you made your way back before I found you."
"Well you just thought of everything, didn't you?" Kaden asked, grabbing Ryan's hand and getting up from the bench.
"It's what I do," Ryan said, smiling. "Now, let's hurry up and get back. I got a new box of those tomato-basil Wheat Thins we can dig into."
The two roommates began walking away, elbows linked. Kaden felt much better and Ryan was just glad that they had gotten things taken care of. The only thing that stood in the way now was Jeff and the confrontation they were all sure to have.
It was now dark enough outside that the street lamps had turned on as the two continued walking toward their dorm. A slight noise caught their attention in front of them, though they couldn't really make out where it was coming from and therefore decided to ignore it and continue walking. That is, until they were called out.
"Hey fags," a vaguely familiar voice yelled across the quad. "What are you two doing out here all by yourselves?"
Both Ryan and Kaden looked to where the voice was coming from, a feeling of dread welling up in the pits of their stomachs.
A/N: Oh my gosh, I'm so sorry that it took me so long to update. It's been a hectic few weeks with the semester coming to the end and I flew out to the west coast and back. So … yeah. It should not take me nearly as long to update the next time. I'm planning on being able to update once a week until the story is finished, which means the story should be complete before the end of the year. Exciting? I hope so. Anyway, I hope you all enjoy this chapter. Things will continue to get very interesting. So … read and review!
Shadow Cat17: I totally understand about school taking top priority. That's why it took me so long to update. And I think Kaden is beginning to realize exactly that he deserves better than what he's been getting.
hsmloverer: I'm sorry. I'm sorry. Here's an update to satisfy you addiction. I hope you enjoy it.
Charlz: I'm glad you liked the ending of the last chapter. I hope you like this one, too.
Krystalviera: That's quite an interesting plot line you have going there. I have a somewhat different way to tie up this story … I hope you like it anyway. And I think it's safe to say that things are going to be just fine between Troy and Ryan.
WriterOnWheels: Haha … all good things come to an end, right? And you can blame me all you want for getting you hooked on this. I'm glad my story was good enough for you.
Dodecahedron: I'm glad you liked the non-drama. I hope you enjoy the drama just as much.
uberpsi: Ah! I'm so sorry I haven't updated before now! I hope you haven't gone insane. Hmm. And I haven't really given much thought to who I would cast as the characters, but maybe I'll put something together for the last chapter. It could be a lot of fun.
just-nikki: Haha, I'm glad you loved it. I hope you love this one, too.
OC4life: I don't exactly know what my plans are for after this story is finished. I have some ideas both continuing this story, but also other ideas that have nothing to do with it. We'll see what happens.
BluePuppeta.JAA: I'm always trying to keep you on your toes. I hope this sheds a little more light onto what was actually going on with Kaden in the last chapter.
ellbtvsvm: I hope you're not too upset, but here is an update and a promise to not keep you waiting so long for the next chapter. I hope you enjoy this!
EnvoyOfWater: Kaden didn't do anything he'd regret … but Jeff sure did.
bobrabbit100: Hmm … you're catching on. Maybe Jeff and Kaden aren't meant for each other. I like to think that Kaden's innocence is what draws other people to him and that's why every boy in creation tends to go after him. It's also fun writing it that way. I hope you enjoy this chapter.
TragedyInTheMaking: I don't think there's anything to worry about with Troy and Ryan, and I don't think Kaden is anywhere near as stupid as it would take a person to be to mess with them both. I hope you enjoyed this chapter … the drama is here!
fieryflame: Only four more chapters left after this one ... I hope you enjoy. And I think Kaden is adorable, too. I picture him as a kitten or something, you know? He'd look so cute playing with a ball of yarn.
Phoenix II: How was that for Jaden interaction? I hope you enjoy this chapter even though it was definitely not one of the most upbeat.