Summary: A new girl comes to Eden Hall, befriending Adam. He's able to tell her anything he wants to. Except for one thing. She's falling in love with the guy he's falling in love with. *SLASH*
Author's Note: This is my first shot at MD slash so please bear with me here.
This is slash so if you don't like it…DON'T READ IT!
Disclaimer: I only own Kori, Shane, and Jordan. I probably own Fulton's girl too, but she's not really featured in this story.
Adam
***
Silence. That's all there was; absolute silence. What was Portman going to do to me? Frantically searching the room for some sort of escape, I jumped up from the floor and raced for the door. I yanked it open and slammed it behind me. Impulsively, I raced towards Charlie's room. 'No, stupid. What are you going to tell him?' Turning around, I ran towards Kori's room. 'Now what are you going to tell her?' I was stuck. There was nowhere I could possibly go without letting my secret out. I needed to get to a phone. I had to tell my brother what was going on; he'd know what to do. It was a good thing no one was out in the halls because they would have seriously considered calling in the people with the straitjackets to come after me. I quickly dialed my brother's dorm room up at his college campus.
"Hello?" someone picked up.
"Hi, is Brad there?" I asked shakily, hoping the person on the other end didn't notice.
"No he's out for the night. Who is this?"
"It's Adam."
"Oh, hey Adam! It's Nelson." Nelson was Brad's best friend and room-mate.
"Hey. Could you tell Brad to get back to me?"
"Sure, are you okay dude? You sound a bit distressed."
"I'm fine, I have to go." We hung-up and I recklessly ran through the halls. Where was I running to? The only thought that raced through my mind was what Portman must have been thinking. My legs led me to Kori's dorm again, where she conveniently opened the door at the exact moment I passed by.
"Adam?" she asked.
"Hey, what's up?" I tried being calm, but you tell me how you can be calm when you're biggest secret had just been uncovered and it was a Bash Brother that uncovered it.
"Are you alright?"
"Y-yeah I'm fine." I ran my hand through my unruly hair over and over again, a nervous habit that I had yet to break. Without saying a word, Kori pulled me into her room and shut the door.
"No, you're not fine. Tell me what's wrong." She sat me on her bed.
"Nothing, really. I'm fine."
"Uh-huh…sure…"
"Please, Kori. I'm fine!"
"Listen Mr. I'm always fine, I know something's bothering you and as a friend, I want to know what. I'm really worried about you, Adam."
"Everyone's worried about me, but really, I'll be okay. You don't need to worry."
"Yes I do! Charlie told me about how you hid your sprained wrist from everyone during the Junior Goodwill Games and what makes you think that I don't think you'll do it again?" There was his name. Charlie. It was all that echoed through my mind. I had to get out of there or I'd slip. Big time. And I couldn't do that, especially not in front of Kori.
"Look, you're one of my best friends, Kori," I told her, "And you're right. I'm kind of upset about something. But trust me, if I could tell you, then I would." Before she could say anything, I raced out the door.
"Aren't we the speedster tonight? You might have to strip Luis of that title," Portman chuckled as I flew out of Kori's room.
"Portman! Hi…what's…up?" I asked him, trailing off and shrinking back against the wall. Luckily, Kori was still in shock after what I told her so she didn't open the door. Portman gently pushed me in the direction of our dorm, "I'm not going to do anything, calm down."
"Are you sure? Because I'm ready…"
"I'm positive. We just need to talk."
"We do?"
"Yes, we do." I was starting to get paranoid. What was he going to say to me? My life was over! I'd have to switch schools, maybe move out of town. I wondered if Brad could hide me in his dorm until my dad calmed down. That would probably take a long time…
"ADAM!" Portman yelled as he sat me down on my bed.
"What?!" I jumped, startled.
"Sorry, dude. You were zoning out on me."
"It's okay…"
"I'm not mad, if that's what you're thinking."
"Oh no, I wasn't thinking that! Not at all!" But I was.
"Okay…listen, do you need to drink something?"
"No, I'm fine." I noticed that Portman had turned the movie off, but the popcorn was right where we'd left it. Or at least where I left it. He sat down on his bed, facing me.
"I just wish you'd told me sooner."
"You do?" He was taking this a lot better than I'd expected him to take it. Maybe it wasn't so bad after all. I freaked out for no reason. Thinking back on it, my little crazy spell was kind of stupid. Portman was my room-mate and friend; why would he beat me up for being gay? He may have been a Bash Brother, but he was no bigot.
"Yeah," his voice snapped me back to reality, "It would have made things a lot easier, you know. So who do you like?"
"You promise you won't tell?"
"I promise. Let's see…is it Scooter?"
"No…why would I like Scooter?"
"I don't know, I thought maybe your stint on Varsity got you closer to Scooter."
"He's cute," I admitted, "But we were friends. Besides, he kept talking about Julie."
"It's a good thing Julie doesn't know about you, she'd be so disappointed. Anyway, is it Fulton?"
"No."
"Luis? Averman? Goldberg? Dwayne? Jesse? ME?!"
"No, no, definitely no, no, no, and NO!"
"Then who?"
"The only male you haven't guessed yet."
"Charlie?" he asked in a small voice. I couldn't respond; I just nodded. Portman let out a breath.
"That's a tough one," he agreed, "You're best friends with Kori and she likes Charlie."
"Charlie likes her too. That's what makes this whole thing even harder. Kori's a great friend and I love her like a sister. It's just that she really likes Charlie and Charlie really likes Kori too. It's pretty obvious he's in love with her. I can tell Kori everything, things that I wouldn't even tell Jesse and things that only Brad would know. Everything except this. I can't stand to break her heart and I don't want to lose her friendship." I let out a breath I didn't know I was holding. It wasn't so bad to talk about this once you got started.
"But if Kori's really your friend, she wouldn't care that you were gay," he pointed out.
"That's not what I'm afraid of. I'm afraid that if I tell her, we'll get into competition for Charlie. And I know she'll win because Charlie likes her a lot."
"You don't know that."
"Yes I do! She's the only thing that he talks about whenever I'm with him and there are so many times when I just want to scream my confession to him. But I never do. I just want Charlie and Kori to be happy. And if the love of my life and my best friend will be happy together, I guess I could live with that."
"You couldn't," Portman spoke my inner feelings, "I can see it in your face. You love him that much. I think you should tell Kori first if anything. She deserves to know the truth and you deserve to let her know." He had a point, but what was I going to say to her? Oh yeah, I happen to be in love with the same person you're in love with! I'm sure that would go over real well with her.
"Don't worry about it. You look like you need some sleep. Go to bed, we'll talk in the morning," Portman advised. I nodded and got under the covers.
"And Adam?"
"Yeah?"
"My lips are sealed." He repeated from before. I smiled slightly, "Thanks."
"That's what friends are for." And I thanked God that Portman was my friend.
*~*~*~*~
The next morning, I woke-up feeling a tiny bit better than I had the day before. The heavy feeling in my heart was still there, as it was every morning. Now I knew what it felt like to be heartbroken. The movies didn't portray it even half as bad as it really was, but then again, I guess they weren't supposed to. Slowly crawling out of bed, I noticed that the bathroom door was closed, which meant that Portman was already up. I stumbled to my closet and pulled out khaki pants and a regular blue t-shirt. The team was in for a surprise today; I didn't feel like buttoning up shirts or dealing with the collar of polos. Instead, I snagged a flannel shirt from the hangers and slipped that on over the t-shirt.
Portman gave me an encouraging nod when Kori knocked on the door. I knew why she was there and I knew she'd be pissed off that I snapped at her the night before. Cautiously and with some fear, I opened the door. Sure enough, there was Kori. But she wasn't as pissed as I expected her to be. When she saw me, she punched me, not hard, in the stomach.
"That was for worrying me last night, you asshole," she told me calmly closing the door behind her, "But since I love you so much, I'll try not to hurt you."
"Sorry," I told her sheepishly.
"I don't mind. Just never ever pull something stupid like that before. I thought you had a life-threatening disease or something! You don't, do you? Are you okay?"
"I'm fine. I was just freaking out last night." Kori hugged me fiercely, tears dropping onto my shirt. I felt really bad for scaring her like that.
"Don't do stuff like that, Adam! I thought you were dying and I was hysterical crying all night. When Yolanda came back from her date with Fulton, she thought I'd hurt myself or something. She called Fulton who called Portman and said you were sleeping soundly. I wanted to kill you and kiss you at the same time!"
"I'm sorry," I took in the scent of her hair. I wished I had a sister like her, that cared like she did.
"That's what happened to my brother," she whispered, "He told me something quickly over the phone and then hung-up. Two hours later, the police called and said he was dead. You remind me so much of my brother. I can't let you do that to me or yourself. I'm here when you need me, Adam."
"I know," I pulled away from her, "I think I'm ready to talk. It's really hard for me. Can we go somewhere private?"
"Yeah, of course." We left my room, Portman giving me a secret thumbs-up before I shut the door. This wasn't going to be easy and I hoped that Kori would understand.
*Thanks for the reviews! Please review this one!*
Spaz-chick99: hehe, does that answer your question about Portman?
Vinnies-Angel: lol, well ff.net never works with me! I tried reviewing your story like 50 times before it finally got through…grrr…well I hope this is soon enough for you; I tried very hard!
Chelsea: You are definitely on a roll, girl! I have never had anyone quote from my stories…I have to say it's really amusing to read. Thanks!
Geometrygal99: I wrote as fast as I could, between homework and swimming and piano. Dude…I'm proud of myself! Lol, I hope you liked this chapter!
WeBuiltThisCityOnRockAndRoll: I know! His bro is my dream bro…that's why I made him up =)
Thanks to everyone else who read my story and couldn't review or anyone who did review and it didn't show up yet!
Huggs and Kisses,
Crazy4nc128