Collide

10- Trust

"Be that as it may," Ryo said, "we don't have his number."

"We'll get it," Dee replied. "This Kyle guy is our only link to this disaster, and he may be the only one to make Drake see."

"So, how exactly are we going to find him? He doesn't know us, we don't know him. You've only heard one story about him--"

"Don't worry. We'll find him. You just need to trust me."

"I just need to trust you," Ryo scoffed. "Please, tell me how breaking into Drake's apartment makes me trust you."

"Would you shut up?" Dee hushed. He placed a finger on his lover's lips to silence him. Ryo rolled his eyes as Dee continued to pick at the door in front of them with some fancy gadget.

"I just don't understand why we have to break in. Why can't we just ask Drake?" Ryo muttered. "We're so going to get caught."

"No, we're not," Dee assured. "And to answer your question, I don't want Drake to find out about this." There was a soft click and he pulled back. "See? We're inside now." He pushed open the door and peeked inside to make sure the coast was clear. The apartment was motionless, so he stepped inside, pulling Ryo in with him.

"Where'd you get that…thing?" Ryo asked, motioning at the odd piece of equipment in Dee's hands.

"It's a street thing. Bikky got it for me," Dee answered while eyeing the hotel-like atmosphere carefully.

"That makes me feel so much better to know that it's illegal, and you got it from our teenage son."

"Let's just go and find it," Dee ordered. Ryo shrugged and started shuffling through any drawers nearby. Dee went into the bedroom and scrounged around. Both met in the living area empty handed.

"Alright, Mr. Smartypants, now what?" Ryo asked, very annoyed that this wasn't going as smoothly as he was told it was going to be.

Dee was in deep thought. But before he answered, voices could be heard from outside the front door. "Shit. They're not supposed to be back yet!" Dee looked around the small place for any sort of hiding place. He started to head for the closet, but Ryo dragged him in the opposite direction to what they supposed was the guest bedroom. As soon as they had closed the door, footsteps clicked around, indicating the people were inside, now lingering in the kitchen.

"What are we supposed to do now?" Ryo whispered. He really wanted to yell now, his lover's supposedly good ideas were getting on his nerves.

"We wait." Dee sat down on the carpeted floor Indian style. "And listen," he added with a wink. Ryo shook his head in disbelief at his lover's calmness, but sat down nevertheless.

"Hear anything?" Dee asked quietly. Ryo stared angrily at his lover and didn't bother to answer the obvious. Dee grinned widely and ruffled Ryo's honey-brown hair. As if Ryo had answered him, he said, "Me either." The half-Japanese just rolled his eyes in exasperation.

They had been in that room for what seemed like hours; however, only forty minutes had passed. Ryo got bored of trying to listen to silence and the buzz of a faraway tv, and went off to search for something more entertaining. Dee watched, not wanting to get up, either because he was lazy or just in case he heard something.

Ryo pulled open every drawer, finding himself looking at the bottom of each one. He muttered something unintelligible, and headed for the closet. Inside was a bunch of boxes and old clothes. "Woohoo," he expressed without any enthusiasm. He plucked off the top cardboard box and carried it over to the hotel-like bed. Ryo unfolded the flaps and peered inside.

"Nice," he muttered sarcastically. Dee lifted his head to see, but was too far away to catch sight of anything. Ryo tossed the top item across the room to his lover. Dee caught it with a crinkling paper sound. Dee studied the magazine that was thrown at him. When he read the title he had to stifle his laugh.

"Playgirl?" He grinned and flipped through the pages, occasionally stopping and giving Ryo suggestive looks. Ryo was undaunted and continued his scrounging.

There were a few more Playgirls, followed by old copies of news and music magazines. Ryo dug deeper and pulled out a Sports Illustrated. Ryo found that somewhat odd and out of place. His detective senses started up when he pulled out the next magazine with a cover that portrayed a half naked woman. First it was naked men, now it is women. Ryo's eyebrows knitted together in contemplation. It didn't seem like a woman owned these. If it was, she had weird tastes.

He held up the last magazine to show Dee, but found him too engrossed in the Playgirl he had thrown at him. Ryo rolled up the one in his hand and smacked his lover over the head with it. Dee almost let out a shriek, but remembered he was hiding, so he had to bite his lip to stop him from making any sounds. Ryo tore the magazine out of Dee's hands and chucked it across the room. He then unrolled the one in his hand, shoving it under Dee's nose.

"This was with that." Ryo pointed at the discarded magazine on the floor and then shook the one in his hand.

"Playgirl and Playboy," Dee confirmed. "Interesting. Someone's bi."

Both heard footsteps nearing, making them hold their breaths. Voices that were muffled, soon became clear and understandable.

"No! No! No!" A high-voice shrieked. Dee mouthed 'Cyndi' to Ryo. Ryo scowled, half-wishing he one the other side of the door to cuss her out; which would be more terrifying from him, since it would be very unexpected. "I don't think they should all be in the wedding. There's way too many." Her syrupy voice turned sour.

The couple heard their co-worker speak up in an angry tone, "You need to stop being prejudice or I swear I won't--"

"What? You won't marry me?"

"Yes. I won't marry you."

"I can't believe you Silly-Pee! You really wouldn't marry me because I don't want a bunch of fa--"

"Don't you dare say it!" Drake yelled.

"It's not natural! Why are you--"

"Just shut the fuck up! JJ, Ryo, and Dee will all be in the wedding. I don't care what you think about them. They're my friends, and if you don't like it, tough shit."

There was a scuffle of feet and a door slamming. Ryo glanced sideways at Dee. His lover looked simply livid. Ryo couldn't blame him, he was angry too at Drake's fiancé's intolerant ways. But he felt Drake had stood up for them nicely.

Dee twisted the doorknob and pulled the door open a crack. He peeked out the slit, hoping Cyndi was the one who had locked herself in the room. Ryo started shoving the magazines back in order and closed the box. He lifted it to it's previous spot, closing the closet door when he was sure that it looked like no one had touched the insides. Dee signaled that the coast was clear, and they both exited the room noiselessly.

Around the corner, they spotted their coworker lounging in a recliner absorbed in tv. The couple slipped passed him and managed to make it to the front door without alarming Drake. Carefully, Dee turned the handle and pulled. Unfortunately, he didn't spot that the chain lock was in place.

Drake jumped up at the noise of what sounded like someone breaking in. He flipped around in his chair and was astounded to see his two coworkers standing inside by his door. He stared at them in confusion, wondering how in the hell they were inside. "What are you doing here?" he asked.

Coming up with a quick excuse, Dee lied, "Looking at your new place. It's nice and comfy." He undid the chain lock and opened the door. "Well, we'll be going now."

"Wait!" Drake called. The two men stopped in the doorway. "How did you get in here?" Dee pulled out his special gadget and held it up sheepishly. Drake asked, "And why would you want to break in here?"

"To get a phone number," Ryo answered quickly. Dee glowered at him.

Drake looked baffled. "And why wouldn't you just ask me?"

Ryo gave a sideways glimpse at his lover. "It was his brilliant idea." Ryo had to laugh at the ridiculousness of the situation. "Can we have a phone number?" he asked.

"Of course. Whose do you want?" Drake questioned.

"Uh," Dee said, "Your high school friend, the one that's going to be in the wedding, um, Kyle…"

Drake's face told them he was utterly lost and confused. "What for?"

"Something that has to do with the wedding," Ryo answered somewhat truthfully. "But it's a secret so…"

"Ah." Drake finally like he was on the same page as his friends. He pulled out his cell phone from his pocket and started punching buttons. Then he reached for a pad of paper and pencil on a nearby end table. He wrote something down and handed the paper to his friends. "You should stay awhile," he offered.

"Nah, we gotta get home," Dee declined. "It's been a long day and Jake's probably about ready to piss all over the floor."

"Oh, okay." Drake gazed at them forlornly as if he wished they were staying.

Ryo and Dee started out the door again, but Drake stopped them once again. "Um, how's JJ?" Drake asked desolately.

"Not good," Dee answered. "I imagine he'll put a bullet through his head soon." Dee felt kind of bad for stretching the truth when he saw Drake's face plummet. He brushed it off, hoping Drake felt really sorry for what he started. "Well, bye!" He ran out with Ryo at his heels.

"Did that just happen?" Drake pinched himself and was rewarded with a sharp pain. "Oh, I wish I was dreaming."

Ryo watched with interest as Dee punched numbers on his cell. Jake pounced around on Ryo's lap, begging him for attention. Absently, Ryo scratched the puppy, whose foot started thumping wildly. He paid less attention to the dog and observed Dee as he placed the phone to his ear and waited for someone to answer.

"Hello, this is Dee Laytner," Dee addressed. "I need to talk to you about a friend of yours, Drake Parker." There was a brief silence, and Dee answered, "Oh, nothing. I work with him, and he's been a good friend of mine for years. He's mentioned you once before, and I wanted to see if you had anything to add to the story."

Ryo listened to the choppy conversation, wishing he could hear what Kyle was saying. Their puppy perked his ears up, seemingly interested in what his owners were up to. The dog wiggled itself on Ryo's lap and settled down, noticing his owner was busy.

"Of course you know about the wedding since you're in it," Dee continued. There was a very long pause and then he answered with a grin, "Oh, really? I thought so." He turned and winked at Ryo. "You see, I have this other friend, he's going to be Drake's best man….You've heard of JJ then? Well, he's madly in love with the groom-to-be…Uh huh. Yeah. I have a plan, but only if your willing to help…You will? That's great! Let me tell you what I have in mind."

Ryo couldn't believe his ears. Dee has never been real tactful, usually only acting on instinct. And now Dee sounded like he had thought long and hard about a good strategy that actually might work. After today's earlier disaster, that's saying something. But success would only come if JJ cooperated and if Drake reacted the right way.

Dee talked to his accomplice for over an hour. He felt fairly confident that this would work. But Ryo continued with the what-ifs.

"What if JJ doesn't tell him he loves him?" Ryo asked. "Then your whole plan is useless! Kyle may be able to set the stage, but if won't matter if JJ doesn't cooperate."

"He will," Dee assured.

"What if--"

"Ryo! JJ will pull through, Kyle will, Drake hopefully will--Trust me. This will work."

"You told me to trust you and then you go and break into Drake's apartment."

"Be a little more confident in me will you?"

Ryo shrugged. "I will when JJ and Drake are finally together."