Rimnerel: Okay, I got a little lazy, sorry everyone.
Tala: A little lazy?
Rimnerel: Okay, so I freaking got ultra lazy, sue me! But I'm back now and would like to thank everyone for being patient with me. This will be a two part chapter since I obviously don't have much left to write about, but need to span things over this time to make it seem a little bit easier.
Kai: You should write a great chapter, after making them wait so long.
Rimnerel: I said I'm sorry! (takes a deep breath) I would like to thank KageTTTK, russle, B. Tiamat Atardecer, Chaco and Lily, The-Dark-Fire-Elf, SelenaWheeler, FREAK014, Cat in the web, Dark-Mage-Quisits, and Midnight Insanity for all the reviews and I will get to work now.
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Kai found his cousin sitting outside under a tree, staring at the morning sun rising. As quietly as possible so not to disturb the red head, Kai crept past the tree. It was going to be his idea to take a morning ride in order to clear his mind of things. To his surprise his cousin was up this early.
"Where do you think you're going so early in the morning?" Kai froze, turning his head towards Tala who was looking at him, a cigarette hanging from his mouth. But it remained unlit. "It's not normal for you to be up this early in the morning."
Kai turned to his cousin, walking over to the tree and flopping down. "You know, I could say the same thing about you."
"I couldn't really sleep," Tala shrugged, casting his eyes back to the glowing orange, yellow, and red ball of light rising from the horizon. The sky was wrapped in colors of pink, gold, light blue, and violet, a flock of birds flew overhead, signaling morning's arrival.
"I wanted to take a morning ride," Kai smiled. "I've had a lot on my mind as of late, you know what I mean."
"Yeah..." Tala didn't say much for a moment then let out a sigh. "I told."
"Huh?" Kai turned his eyes to his cousin, giving the teen a funny stare. Tala didn't pay any attention to him as he leaned his head back against the tree and closed his eyes. "What are you talking about?"
"I told him, Kai. I told him about it," Tala repeated. "I told Kenny about my past."
"And?" Kai held his breath, needing to know the outcome. Hoping that finally Tala could rest the burden of things off his shoulders and seek comfort in someone that accepted him for everything.
"He told me that he didn't blame me for any of it. He said that he understood, and that he still loves me," Tala said quietly.
"That's great," Kai grinned.
"How can he really love me that much? With everything that I've done, how can he love me enough to say that he doesn't care about the past now that he knows it. I don't understand it," Tala admitted.
"Maybe it's not meant for you to understand, just accept that there's one person in the world other than your parents that could open their heart to you without turning away disgusted," Kai said. Thinking about it, he reached into his back pocket to pull something out. "Here, I found this."
Tala opened his eyes to see what Kai had in his hand. His azure eyes widened seeing the picture of his parents in Kai's hand. "Where did you get this from?"
"Remember when Judy sent me to get you some things from the house. I went to find your wallet for you, but I don't know where it is. But I found this in the back of your drawer. I thought you might want to keep it close to you."
"I thought I lost that picture," Tala mumbled, taking the picture from Kai and running his thumb over it.
His eyes softened, staring at the picture. He remembered before they died, back when he was still able to smile and laugh without inhibitions. If he closed his eyes, he could still remember what his mother sounded like singing him lullabies. The strong laughter of his father when he first learned his numbers and missed over six, seven, and eight and his father telling him he almost had it.
"You miss them now, don't you?" Kai broke into Tala's thoughts. The red head looked up, seeing the sadness in his cousin's eyes.
"Kai..."
"You're not alone, I miss them too. I miss Aunt Alexial wiping away my tears when I had nightmares. I miss Uncle Mikhail teaching me to swim. I miss them both telling me how wonderful I am and I will grow up to be so many amazing things."
"I..." Did Tala really miss them as much as Kai?
"You probably miss them more, they were your parents after all. I doubt the pain I feel comes close to the pain that stilled your heart for so long."
"I...I don't know. I remember things about them, I do...but I don't know if I miss them as much as you do. At times I feel anger because I was left in this situation. My feelings are twisted, I don't really know what I should and shouldn't feel."
"Well, I guess it's expected, after all, you've had to deal with a lot. Well, I still want to go on my morning ride, I'll be back in a few, okay?" Kai got up from the ground, brushing off his dew-covered pants. "So, one question before I get going."
"What?"
"Now that you told him, things are going to change, huh?" Kai shoved his hands in his pockets. Tala thought over what he cousin just said.
"Not really, things will still be like they once were."
"No...I was wondering, now that you told him, will you stay open to him about yourself. That's all I've ever wanted for you Tala. Since the time we were small, I knew that I would never be able to get you to smile like he has, but I've stuck by you until you were able to find him. He loves you, and I'm sure that you love him too, so it's okay to stop hiding behind things," Kai voiced before walking off to hop on his bike. Tala remained silent, thinking about it. Were things really going to change now?
----------------
Kenny turned over on his side, his eyes beginning to flutter open when he felt a finger trace over his nose. A sleepy grin rose to his face, allowing the person to continue to draw circles lightly on his cheek, eyelids, and nose. Opening his eyes, he found Kain's face inches away from his grinning like a maniac. "Morning sunshine."
"What the fuck—"Kenny pushed himself away from Kain enough to swat him with a pillow.
"What was that for?" Kain whined. "I just came as wake up call."
"You didn't have to wake me up like that," Kenny flushed, sitting up and glaring at Kain. "What if I had kissed you or something? You want me to ruin my lips on the likes of you!"
"What the hell would I want to kiss you for anyway?" Kain said.
"What the hell would anyone want to kiss you?" Kenny countered. Kain glared at the teen in bed before pouncing on him, smacking him with the pillow. Kenny's screams were muffled as Kain continued his action. The two didn't notice Rei until the pillow was taken from Kain's hand.
"Hey, I was using that," Kain pouted.
"I don't think we should kill him yet," Rei smiled.
"He started it."
"Oh, you're the one trying to kiss me," Kenny stated. "That hot for me, huh?"
"Shut your damn mouth, you little bastard! You wish I was," Kain growled, moving from over top of Kenny. "Why the hell are you in such a good mood this morning? When we last left you, your ass was moping around like you lost your best friend. What the hell did you do when we left?"
"Nothing," Kenny grinned.
"Look here, Mister Sunshine, what the hell are you so happy about? Did you do something that we should know about?" Kain raised a brow.
"Nothing really big. I just had a talk with someone last night, about two in the morning, that's all," Kenny replied.
"You mean...that bastard called you back!" Kain inquired full of surprise. "After making you cry like that, he had the nerve to call back. What, did he expect you to be in bed with me or something and for me to answer the phone and curse him out?"
"He apologized, you can call back your hounds of hell," Kenny laughed.
"I think this has more to do than with him apologizing, doesn't it?" Rei inquired.
"Actually, it does," Kenny sighed happily. Falling back on his pillow, Kenny stared at the ceiling, a huge grin spreading wide. "He said it."
"Said what?"
"He told me that he loved me. I didn't have to say a word he said it on his own. He told me he loved me and wanted me to live with him when I graduate high school in two years. He told me about his past and that I was the greatest thing to come along in a long time in his life. You have no idea how that made me feel last night. It makes me fall more in love with him."
"I'm happy for you, Kenny," Rei smiled softly.
"Yeah, so am I," Kain added in. "I didn't feel like kicking ass anyway."
"You're getting soft Culbert," Kenny smirked.
"You know...get out of bed, we're heading down to the mall. We will leave you. Your mom said she should be back by five, so I figured that you didn't have anything to do but mope. Now get your ass out of bed."
"All right then, I'm going," Kenny said, pushing the covers to the side to get out of the bed. "So, what are we planning to do down at the mall anyway?"
"Well, the intentional plan was to hang out, but then Miriam and that pest of a best friend that won't leave me alone for the damn world said that they wanted to triple date. Something about a friend they wanted you to meet. Since they had six tickets for a free movie, I thought what the hell," Kain shrugged.
"Is that the case?" Rei said in a slightly upset tone.
"Rei...you know that it's not like that...it's a free movie and..." Kain tried to explain.
"And you're sacrificing me to see it, huh?"
"Looks like someone is about to get themselves in trouble," Kenny said.
"Rei...you know that I love you and that I would never just..."
"But you want to see that free movie, right?" Rei narrowed his eyes.
"Come on...just this once, I promise to make it up to you," Kain whined. Batting his eyes, Kain gave his boyfriend that sad puppy dog treatment, only to have Rei turn around and walk out the bedroom. "Rei! You know it's not like that!"
"You might want to go after him, before he decides that he doesn't want to give you any in a long time," Kenny grinned. Kain turned his eyes to Kenny with a 'shut-your-mouth' glare.
"Go get dressed, about time you finish I should have been able to talk Rei into the idea," Kain remarked before heading out the door. Shaking his head, Kenny climbed out of bed. He hoped that he and Tala wouldn't be like that. Well...with Tala the way he is, he doubted that, the male wouldn't hide their relationship unless he felt he needed to. Which would not be often.
So...he had two years to figure out how to tell his parents he was gay. Okay, that shouldn't be so hard. Heck the worst they could do was, try to commit him into a mental institution and disown him. That wasn't too bad, he would still have Tyson on his side at least. As long as he could be with Tala, he figured that he could overcome anything. He would still have Rei and Kain also.
"If Rei doesn't kill Kain first," he chuckled. So, maybe he could do it. He may loss some, but he would have gained a lot.
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Judy was surprised when Tala walked into her office and sat down in an empty chair, giving her a serious look. The woman set her pen aside, giving the teen her full attention. "Is there something you need Tala?"
"I plan to go get my stuff today," he said.
"Your stuff...you don't mean," Judy started.
"Yeah. I'm only going to take what I need and leave the rest of it there. I think it's best we do it before he comes back for me," Tala nodded.
"Do you want me to go with you, just in case..." Tala shook his head to her request. "But why? You know how your uncle will be if he finds you there. I won't be able to stop him while I'm here."
"Whose to say that you'll be able to do something if you're there. Kai and I already made a plan. He plans to arrive 15 minutes after I came to make sure that everything is cool."
"Why are you taking such a big risk now? I thought you weren't planning to leave until the end of the summer?" Judy said. The woman watched a strange smile cross the red head's lips. "Tala?"
"I think I might take a trip northwards to check out the housing there. I think I figured out where I wanted to live now," Tala said softly.
"What...?"
"I told him Judy."
"You told...you mean...you told Kenny?" Judy leaned forward in her chair, staring at the teen with wide blue eyes.
"I told him about my parents dying, about my aunt, and that I loved him. He told me that he doesn't blame me for things. That he understands that it isn't my fault. He told me...he still loved me the same," Tala confessed.
"That's great!"
"I want to move up there and wait for him. I want us to be together. Kai told me that he wants me to stay this open with Kenny. I want to try. I really want us to work out. I...do I should like I'm crazy to you?"
"No. You don't. You should like you're finally waking up from a bad dream. A very bad dream, you've been asleep to for way too long. I think that things can really work out for you if you work hard at it."
"Do you really think so?" Tala looked up at her with hopeful eyes she hadn't seen since the first time they met so long ago. He really was coming along just fine. It was a shame that his parents weren't there to help along this process of healing.
"Yes, I believe so."
"And this is the right choice? I'm not going to regret this, am I?"
"I doubt you will and I doubt you believe that. You're just a bit scared moving on your own for the first time. You have nothing to worry about. I'm positive that Kenny will help you along and you two will be happy no matter what," Judy assured.
"Thank you...Judy...for everything. For coming back and...still believing in me." Tala stood up from his chair.
"I told you, you're like a second son for me. I want your happiness, the same as for Max, just be careful Tala. I don't want anything to happen to you or Kai. Be as careful as possible."
"I promise we'll be careful. And...thank you again, for everything." Judy watched the young man leave, praying that the angels would watch over him and his cousin both. She didn't want anything to happen to them. They were finally ready to take steps out of the darkness after years of stumbling around without direction.
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Rimnerel: Okay, that was part one of the ending. It was strange because of the stupid factors that surrounded me today. The next chapter should be out in a week's time. I have to figure out what exactly do I want happening. Until next time everyone!
Tala: A little lazy?
Rimnerel: Okay, so I freaking got ultra lazy, sue me! But I'm back now and would like to thank everyone for being patient with me. This will be a two part chapter since I obviously don't have much left to write about, but need to span things over this time to make it seem a little bit easier.
Kai: You should write a great chapter, after making them wait so long.
Rimnerel: I said I'm sorry! (takes a deep breath) I would like to thank KageTTTK, russle, B. Tiamat Atardecer, Chaco and Lily, The-Dark-Fire-Elf, SelenaWheeler, FREAK014, Cat in the web, Dark-Mage-Quisits, and Midnight Insanity for all the reviews and I will get to work now.
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Kai found his cousin sitting outside under a tree, staring at the morning sun rising. As quietly as possible so not to disturb the red head, Kai crept past the tree. It was going to be his idea to take a morning ride in order to clear his mind of things. To his surprise his cousin was up this early.
"Where do you think you're going so early in the morning?" Kai froze, turning his head towards Tala who was looking at him, a cigarette hanging from his mouth. But it remained unlit. "It's not normal for you to be up this early in the morning."
Kai turned to his cousin, walking over to the tree and flopping down. "You know, I could say the same thing about you."
"I couldn't really sleep," Tala shrugged, casting his eyes back to the glowing orange, yellow, and red ball of light rising from the horizon. The sky was wrapped in colors of pink, gold, light blue, and violet, a flock of birds flew overhead, signaling morning's arrival.
"I wanted to take a morning ride," Kai smiled. "I've had a lot on my mind as of late, you know what I mean."
"Yeah..." Tala didn't say much for a moment then let out a sigh. "I told."
"Huh?" Kai turned his eyes to his cousin, giving the teen a funny stare. Tala didn't pay any attention to him as he leaned his head back against the tree and closed his eyes. "What are you talking about?"
"I told him, Kai. I told him about it," Tala repeated. "I told Kenny about my past."
"And?" Kai held his breath, needing to know the outcome. Hoping that finally Tala could rest the burden of things off his shoulders and seek comfort in someone that accepted him for everything.
"He told me that he didn't blame me for any of it. He said that he understood, and that he still loves me," Tala said quietly.
"That's great," Kai grinned.
"How can he really love me that much? With everything that I've done, how can he love me enough to say that he doesn't care about the past now that he knows it. I don't understand it," Tala admitted.
"Maybe it's not meant for you to understand, just accept that there's one person in the world other than your parents that could open their heart to you without turning away disgusted," Kai said. Thinking about it, he reached into his back pocket to pull something out. "Here, I found this."
Tala opened his eyes to see what Kai had in his hand. His azure eyes widened seeing the picture of his parents in Kai's hand. "Where did you get this from?"
"Remember when Judy sent me to get you some things from the house. I went to find your wallet for you, but I don't know where it is. But I found this in the back of your drawer. I thought you might want to keep it close to you."
"I thought I lost that picture," Tala mumbled, taking the picture from Kai and running his thumb over it.
His eyes softened, staring at the picture. He remembered before they died, back when he was still able to smile and laugh without inhibitions. If he closed his eyes, he could still remember what his mother sounded like singing him lullabies. The strong laughter of his father when he first learned his numbers and missed over six, seven, and eight and his father telling him he almost had it.
"You miss them now, don't you?" Kai broke into Tala's thoughts. The red head looked up, seeing the sadness in his cousin's eyes.
"Kai..."
"You're not alone, I miss them too. I miss Aunt Alexial wiping away my tears when I had nightmares. I miss Uncle Mikhail teaching me to swim. I miss them both telling me how wonderful I am and I will grow up to be so many amazing things."
"I..." Did Tala really miss them as much as Kai?
"You probably miss them more, they were your parents after all. I doubt the pain I feel comes close to the pain that stilled your heart for so long."
"I...I don't know. I remember things about them, I do...but I don't know if I miss them as much as you do. At times I feel anger because I was left in this situation. My feelings are twisted, I don't really know what I should and shouldn't feel."
"Well, I guess it's expected, after all, you've had to deal with a lot. Well, I still want to go on my morning ride, I'll be back in a few, okay?" Kai got up from the ground, brushing off his dew-covered pants. "So, one question before I get going."
"What?"
"Now that you told him, things are going to change, huh?" Kai shoved his hands in his pockets. Tala thought over what he cousin just said.
"Not really, things will still be like they once were."
"No...I was wondering, now that you told him, will you stay open to him about yourself. That's all I've ever wanted for you Tala. Since the time we were small, I knew that I would never be able to get you to smile like he has, but I've stuck by you until you were able to find him. He loves you, and I'm sure that you love him too, so it's okay to stop hiding behind things," Kai voiced before walking off to hop on his bike. Tala remained silent, thinking about it. Were things really going to change now?
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Kenny turned over on his side, his eyes beginning to flutter open when he felt a finger trace over his nose. A sleepy grin rose to his face, allowing the person to continue to draw circles lightly on his cheek, eyelids, and nose. Opening his eyes, he found Kain's face inches away from his grinning like a maniac. "Morning sunshine."
"What the fuck—"Kenny pushed himself away from Kain enough to swat him with a pillow.
"What was that for?" Kain whined. "I just came as wake up call."
"You didn't have to wake me up like that," Kenny flushed, sitting up and glaring at Kain. "What if I had kissed you or something? You want me to ruin my lips on the likes of you!"
"What the hell would I want to kiss you for anyway?" Kain said.
"What the hell would anyone want to kiss you?" Kenny countered. Kain glared at the teen in bed before pouncing on him, smacking him with the pillow. Kenny's screams were muffled as Kain continued his action. The two didn't notice Rei until the pillow was taken from Kain's hand.
"Hey, I was using that," Kain pouted.
"I don't think we should kill him yet," Rei smiled.
"He started it."
"Oh, you're the one trying to kiss me," Kenny stated. "That hot for me, huh?"
"Shut your damn mouth, you little bastard! You wish I was," Kain growled, moving from over top of Kenny. "Why the hell are you in such a good mood this morning? When we last left you, your ass was moping around like you lost your best friend. What the hell did you do when we left?"
"Nothing," Kenny grinned.
"Look here, Mister Sunshine, what the hell are you so happy about? Did you do something that we should know about?" Kain raised a brow.
"Nothing really big. I just had a talk with someone last night, about two in the morning, that's all," Kenny replied.
"You mean...that bastard called you back!" Kain inquired full of surprise. "After making you cry like that, he had the nerve to call back. What, did he expect you to be in bed with me or something and for me to answer the phone and curse him out?"
"He apologized, you can call back your hounds of hell," Kenny laughed.
"I think this has more to do than with him apologizing, doesn't it?" Rei inquired.
"Actually, it does," Kenny sighed happily. Falling back on his pillow, Kenny stared at the ceiling, a huge grin spreading wide. "He said it."
"Said what?"
"He told me that he loved me. I didn't have to say a word he said it on his own. He told me he loved me and wanted me to live with him when I graduate high school in two years. He told me about his past and that I was the greatest thing to come along in a long time in his life. You have no idea how that made me feel last night. It makes me fall more in love with him."
"I'm happy for you, Kenny," Rei smiled softly.
"Yeah, so am I," Kain added in. "I didn't feel like kicking ass anyway."
"You're getting soft Culbert," Kenny smirked.
"You know...get out of bed, we're heading down to the mall. We will leave you. Your mom said she should be back by five, so I figured that you didn't have anything to do but mope. Now get your ass out of bed."
"All right then, I'm going," Kenny said, pushing the covers to the side to get out of the bed. "So, what are we planning to do down at the mall anyway?"
"Well, the intentional plan was to hang out, but then Miriam and that pest of a best friend that won't leave me alone for the damn world said that they wanted to triple date. Something about a friend they wanted you to meet. Since they had six tickets for a free movie, I thought what the hell," Kain shrugged.
"Is that the case?" Rei said in a slightly upset tone.
"Rei...you know that it's not like that...it's a free movie and..." Kain tried to explain.
"And you're sacrificing me to see it, huh?"
"Looks like someone is about to get themselves in trouble," Kenny said.
"Rei...you know that I love you and that I would never just..."
"But you want to see that free movie, right?" Rei narrowed his eyes.
"Come on...just this once, I promise to make it up to you," Kain whined. Batting his eyes, Kain gave his boyfriend that sad puppy dog treatment, only to have Rei turn around and walk out the bedroom. "Rei! You know it's not like that!"
"You might want to go after him, before he decides that he doesn't want to give you any in a long time," Kenny grinned. Kain turned his eyes to Kenny with a 'shut-your-mouth' glare.
"Go get dressed, about time you finish I should have been able to talk Rei into the idea," Kain remarked before heading out the door. Shaking his head, Kenny climbed out of bed. He hoped that he and Tala wouldn't be like that. Well...with Tala the way he is, he doubted that, the male wouldn't hide their relationship unless he felt he needed to. Which would not be often.
So...he had two years to figure out how to tell his parents he was gay. Okay, that shouldn't be so hard. Heck the worst they could do was, try to commit him into a mental institution and disown him. That wasn't too bad, he would still have Tyson on his side at least. As long as he could be with Tala, he figured that he could overcome anything. He would still have Rei and Kain also.
"If Rei doesn't kill Kain first," he chuckled. So, maybe he could do it. He may loss some, but he would have gained a lot.
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Judy was surprised when Tala walked into her office and sat down in an empty chair, giving her a serious look. The woman set her pen aside, giving the teen her full attention. "Is there something you need Tala?"
"I plan to go get my stuff today," he said.
"Your stuff...you don't mean," Judy started.
"Yeah. I'm only going to take what I need and leave the rest of it there. I think it's best we do it before he comes back for me," Tala nodded.
"Do you want me to go with you, just in case..." Tala shook his head to her request. "But why? You know how your uncle will be if he finds you there. I won't be able to stop him while I'm here."
"Whose to say that you'll be able to do something if you're there. Kai and I already made a plan. He plans to arrive 15 minutes after I came to make sure that everything is cool."
"Why are you taking such a big risk now? I thought you weren't planning to leave until the end of the summer?" Judy said. The woman watched a strange smile cross the red head's lips. "Tala?"
"I think I might take a trip northwards to check out the housing there. I think I figured out where I wanted to live now," Tala said softly.
"What...?"
"I told him Judy."
"You told...you mean...you told Kenny?" Judy leaned forward in her chair, staring at the teen with wide blue eyes.
"I told him about my parents dying, about my aunt, and that I loved him. He told me that he doesn't blame me for things. That he understands that it isn't my fault. He told me...he still loved me the same," Tala confessed.
"That's great!"
"I want to move up there and wait for him. I want us to be together. Kai told me that he wants me to stay this open with Kenny. I want to try. I really want us to work out. I...do I should like I'm crazy to you?"
"No. You don't. You should like you're finally waking up from a bad dream. A very bad dream, you've been asleep to for way too long. I think that things can really work out for you if you work hard at it."
"Do you really think so?" Tala looked up at her with hopeful eyes she hadn't seen since the first time they met so long ago. He really was coming along just fine. It was a shame that his parents weren't there to help along this process of healing.
"Yes, I believe so."
"And this is the right choice? I'm not going to regret this, am I?"
"I doubt you will and I doubt you believe that. You're just a bit scared moving on your own for the first time. You have nothing to worry about. I'm positive that Kenny will help you along and you two will be happy no matter what," Judy assured.
"Thank you...Judy...for everything. For coming back and...still believing in me." Tala stood up from his chair.
"I told you, you're like a second son for me. I want your happiness, the same as for Max, just be careful Tala. I don't want anything to happen to you or Kai. Be as careful as possible."
"I promise we'll be careful. And...thank you again, for everything." Judy watched the young man leave, praying that the angels would watch over him and his cousin both. She didn't want anything to happen to them. They were finally ready to take steps out of the darkness after years of stumbling around without direction.
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Rimnerel: Okay, that was part one of the ending. It was strange because of the stupid factors that surrounded me today. The next chapter should be out in a week's time. I have to figure out what exactly do I want happening. Until next time everyone!