Chapter Nineteen: Let's Mix It Up A Little
Marco
Rory called me from the hospital. Andrew was in trouble, and I was trying to get there as fast as I could. I got Remy and we hopped on the bus, taking it all the way there. In five minutes I was up in his room.
"What happened?" I asked, out of breath from running up five flights of stairs. Of course the elevator had to be broken the one day I needed to rush.
Andrew didn't answer me; he just looked out of the window. I turned to Rory for answers, and he motioned for me to follow him out in the hallway. Remy stayed behind, sitting next to Andrew's bed and trying to get him to talk.
Out in the hallway, Rory and I sat on a bench against the wall and he sighed.
"What's this all about?" I asked, worried by the look on Rory's face. It hurt me to be so close to him and not be able to hold him. I placed my hand on top of his, but he pulled away and began chewing on his bottom lip.
"Andrew...he had this idea…to do some weird 'blood brothers' thing. But I didn't want to. So he turned it into some suicidal thing. He slit his wrist both ways…God, I don't know how it all came to this," he said, leaning back against the wall.
"It's gonna be okay. At least he's alive and you got him here in time," I said, watching him. He was doing everything he could to avoid eye contact.
"You should go in and see him," he suggested.
"I think I'll let Remy visit for awhile. Besides, I want to talk to you."
"About what?" he asked, staring at the ceiling.
"This; us…" I trailed off. "Rory, are you okay?" I asked finally. He was still chewing on his lip, but now staring at the floor. At my question, he shrugged his shoulders; evading any real answer.
"Are you?" he asked instead.
"No, I'm not," I admitted. He sat up at that, and actually looked at me.
"What's wrong?" he asked, suddenly concerned.
"Can you really ask me that question without knowing the answer?" I asked, staring into his eyes. "Rory, it is absolutely killing me to be sitting right here next to you and not even be able to touch you. I just don't understand it; we have something! And you just broke up with me. Why?" I begged him for an answer, holding back tears. "You're breaking my heart," I confessed.
"Marco…" he said, leaning in a little. I leaned forward the rest of the way and our lips met, pulsing with hope.
But it was all crushed when he pulled back, ran a hand through my hair and cried.
"I can't do this," he whispered. "You're in love with Andrew," he said, standing up. I stood too, getting as close as he would allow.
"And so are you," I said finally, letting him know that I could tell. "We should get over him together," I whispered into his ear.
He kissed me then; hard and passionate, sucking on my bottom lip the way he knew I liked it. It was the best moment I'd ever had with him. We were both there, completely open to each other. But it lasted only a few seconds.
This time it was his mouth to my ear, his breath tickling me as he whispered the words.
"I want you to be with him."
And he walked away.
Images flashed into my mind: the first time we held hands, the first time we kissed, first time we had sex, everything that's happened, up until our last kiss.
That was what my last kiss with Rory was like.
Kelly
I led Theresa to the main doors of the building, no one was around, so I took the time to have a talk with her.
"How was the sex?" I came right out and asked.
"Excuse me?" she said, eyes bulging.
"Oh don't play dumb with me. I'm not an idiot," I said, grinning. "Anyway, I doubt your sex is as good as our sex."
"You're disgusting. I don't need to hear about you and your wife's sex life; and I'm not sure why you care about me and Remy," she said, trying to walk faster and get away from me.
I reached out and grabbed her arm, holding her back.
"I wasn't talking about my wife," I said. We were standing at the front entrance.
She had a look of confusion plastered on her face. I leaned in close to her and whispered in her ear.
"Your boyfriend and I have been fucking every night." I stepped back, watching tears fill her eyes.
"You're lying!" she protested, but I could tell that there was doubt in her statement.
"If I was lying, would I know that he has a heart shaped birthmark on his ass? Or that he has a scar on the inside of his left thigh from where he…" she interrupted me, still crying.
"You can tell him that it's over between us!" she yelled. "You nasty little fag." She ran off, pushing the doors open.
"Nice meeting you!" I called after her, smirking.
Perfect.
Andrew
Marco busted into the room, full force, tears streaming down his face. Remy politely excused himself, giving us time alone.
I held out my arms to him as he climbed into my bed, carefully avoiding my arm.
"I'm so sorry Marco," I whispered, stroking his hair. I had seen the Rory kiss him through the door, whisper something that must have horrified him, then walk off as if nothing had happened. He tended to do that sometimes. "Do you want to talk about it?" I asked him.
I felt him shrug his shoulders against my stomach, his head resting on my chest. I leaned down and kissed the top of his head. When I did, he sat up with a leg on either side, straddling me. He was sitting right on my…
"I think…I think he's right," he said, taking both of my hands in his.
"He usually is," I said, knowing he was talking about Rory. "About what though?" I asked.
"That I'm in love with you," he whispered before throwing himself on me and kissing me.
Now that was something I had been waiting for since I met him. I stuck my tongue in his mouth and started moving my hands down, playing with the top of his pants.
"I love you Marco," I said between kisses. Instead of saying anything, he pulled his pants off and turned around. I got on my knees behind him and simply pulled my gown up to give myself some room.
Rory
I watched them through the door, surprised, but at the same time, not surprised at how quickly they had sex. Guess his heart's not so broken after all. It was just lost for awhile.
I cried and smiled as I turned away. I was smiling because I knew I had just given both of them what they really wanted, and I knew that they'd be happy. That was very important for me. But I was crying because I knew that I had just lost both of them. And I felt so alone.
Rex
"How long do you think we'll last?" I asked Jesse. We'd just had sex yet again, and it was perfect.
"Why would you even ask that?" he said, turning around to face me. He kissed me hard, pushing my head back into the pillow. "We will always be together. As long as…you stay away from Alyssa," he added.
"You can't expect me to stay away from my daughter though," I told him, tracing my finger along his chest and kissing his shoulder.
"We can visit her together," he said. "That's the only way I'll accept it," he told me.
"That's fine with me; as long as you don't do shit with Marco," I said coldly.
"Don't worry about that; we're not friends anymore. I'm pissed at him." I smiled as I heard this news, and sat up, lighting a cigarette. Jesse moved into my lap, leaning back against my shoulder as I blew smoke past his face.
"Well, then you can move in here with me," I said, kissing his neck and nibbling on his ear. He moaned as I slipped my hand into his boxers.
"What about Nate?" he asked.
"I'm sure we can work something out," I said as I gripped his dick in my hand, and started moving it up and down.
He leaned his head back, kissing me while I pleasured him, my hand pumping faster.
Remy
"What did you say to her?" I asked Kelly when he walked into his room, ten minutes later. I went there and waited for him because I couldn't stand it.
"Nothing," he said, making a face. "Why would I say anything to her? I was just following procedure."
"Bull shit," I said, pushing him down onto the bed and standing over him. "You've been gone over ten minutes even though it's a two minute walk to the door!" I protested.
"Getting rough? You know how I like that," he said, grinning. "Just so you know; I really didn't tell her anything. I took so long because I was looking for you. I wanted to tell you that I was out of line with what I said earlier. I'm not in love with you Remy. It was just an act of lust, you know?" he asked me.
I narrowed my eyes at him, unsure of what to say. Was he telling the truth?
"Okay…" I trailed off.
"Are we good then?" he asked.
"Not really. Why didn't you tell me you had a wife?" I asked, angry.
"The same reason you didn't tell me you had a girlfriend," he said. "It sort of ruins the atmosphere. Besides, you probably feel the same way I do; thinking there's something really wrong with you when you can't decide if you like girls or guys better. Trust me, I've been dealing with it for a long time, and it doesn't get any easier."
He said it all exactly how I felt it.
"You're right," I sighed, shoving my hands into my pockets, not knowing what to do next.
"Come on, why don't you put those hands to work." He reached up, grabbing my arms, and pulling me down on top of him. Our bodies were pressed tightly together and I could feel his bulge against my crotch.
I kissed him, running my hands up his shirt, feeling his chest and his back.
We both reached for each other's belt buckles at the same time.
Thomas
It had been hours since Lindsey left to talk to my teachers, so he obviously went somewhere else after that. He finally came in around 1 am.
"Where have you been?" I asked him from my bed. I could tell he didn't want to answer.
"Don't worry about it," he said finally, pulling his shirt off and climbing into bed. He looked a little drunk; almost like he'd been drunk but it was already wearing off.
"Linds…do not tell me you were with her again," I sighed.
"Don't lecture me Thomas," he groaned. "It's illegal, blah blah blah…she's too young for me...yeah, I get it," he said. "I can't help it. I think I'm in love with her."
"As we both know, I don't really care much about the breaking the law thing…I just don't see why you'd be with that girl if she lied to you and all that shit. And I know that you do care about breaking the law. And her dad is psycho!" I added.
I lectured him anyway because I was worried about him. I'm not turning gay or anything, it's just that since Nate and Craig have gotten together, Lindsey has turned into my best friend. He's the only one who knows about my dad, and he's keeping my secret for me. So I'm trying to look out for him.
"Thomas, that's not really important. She was talking about Kate tonight. I gotta tell you something," he said.
"I don't want to have anything to do with that girl," I said. "So I don't even want to know."
"I think you should…" he trailed off.
I didn't answer him; instead I turned the light off next to my bed, hinting that I was done talking. But he didn't take the hint; he just didn't care.
"She's pregnant, man."
Craig
"Where have you been?" I asked Nate, worried as he quietly came into my room. It was nearly three am.
"Away from you," he said, sitting down on Remy's bed instead of mine. I stood up, walking over to him.
"Come on, don't be like that. I'm sorry," I said, sitting next to him. "I took my meds," I lied. I got closer to him and kissed his cheek before laying my head on his shoulder.
"You mean it?" he asked, picking my head up and looking into my eyes.
"Of course." I was only lying about the meds. I really was sorry. I didn't mean to lose my temper like that.
"I forgive you," he said, kissing me lightly.
"I love you," I whispered into his lips.
It was as though time stopped. We didn't move; our lips were still together, but we weren't kissing. Nate stared into my eyes, never looking away.
"I love you too," he finally responded, lips still pressed. We lay down together and our tongues met, and we started pulling clothes off as we made out, eager to keep our relationship going.
Rory
I waited until Marco was forced out by the nurses at three am. I was allowed to stay because I was family. I sat down on the edge of the bed, slumping my shoulders.
"Thanks," Andrew murmured, rubbing my back.
"Don't mention it," I said coldly, flinching at his touch.
"You have to tell me Ror," he said after a few minutes of silence. "You can't just unleash a huge secret on me like that and not explain."
"Fine, because you're my brother," I said, stressing the word, "I'll tell you. Right now. No interruptions," I added.
"That seems reasonable," he said, leaning back.
"It all started when my parents died and I was ten," I said; ready to finally tell my story. Even though Andrew had exactly what I wanted, I knew I could still talk to him about anything. "Remy and I were both put into an orphanage, or whatever they call it these days. Soon after that, we were put into separate foster homes. Apparently no one wanted twins.
I was bounced around for the next two years, getting the worst homes. I was hit at one, and forced to work at another…the point is that they were horrible. And to make matters worse, Remy was adopted by his first foster family; which happened to be yours. I didn't know where he was or how to get to him, so I ran away.
I basically lived on the streets, and found a group of kids to hang with. We lived in this unused subway tunnel. I felt more a part of a family than I had in the foster homes. I was with them all for three years, and sometimes I still miss them. We all did the same thing…sex for money." I paused, seeing that Andrew's mouth was hanging open. "You promised not to interrupt," I said. He nodded, still shocked, and I continued.
"There were all these guys…they were mostly scared, married guys who where hiding their homosexuality. I almost felt good that I could help them out; but of course I felt dirty too. But I needed the money, so I did it. That's where I got the HIV from. I never really paid attention to using protection because most of the guys didn't want it. I don't know who I got it from or when I did; all I know is that one day, after your parents adopted me, I went to the doctor and BAM…I was HIV positive.
Something happened there though. It's the reason why I always keep a pen in my pocket; if you ever even noticed…
I was in a hotel room with this guy. He was pretty big, and for some reason, I didn't want to have sex with him. I was having a bad day, and I just didn't want to. So I pushed him off and tried to give his money back. But he wouldn't take it. He pushed me up against the table and started to…" I trailed off, choking back tears.
Andrew silently pulled me into a hug, and rubbed my back again. I let him this time, and somehow found the voice to finish the story.
"He was raping me. And I wouldn't just stand there and let it happen. I saw a pen lying on the table and I grabbed it. When the guy paused for a second—I have no idea why—I took my chance and whipped around, stabbing him in the eye with it…" Andrew gasped, and I nodded my head.
"I ran off after that. I was running down the street, away from the guy, when Remy saw me, and stopped the car. And I met you."
I looked into his eyes and gave him a half smile. He wiped the tears off of my cheek and held me only like a brother could.
But it made me hurt even more. I was so close to him, and at the same time, so far away.
A/N: There you have it…one of my longer chapters. Now you know Rory's story…and does anyone get why Andrew gasped when he did? It's significant and has to do with chapter seventeen (hint hint). See if you can figure it out (if you haven't already). Andrew and Marco are now together…somewhat. And Rex and Jesse are good so far. Tell me what you think. Thanks for reading. The next chapter will take place a month later.
