I was disappointed the next morning when I woke up alone. I had foolishly hoped that all of the previous day had been a dream and I was still at the loft in Roger's arms. I shook my head sadly as I sat up and got out of bed, getting dressed for the day ahead of me.

Down in the kitchen, the only people around were Bianca and Cindy, who had come to the house from the hotel my family was staying at for a home-cooked breakfast. All I saw of Bianca was her back to me as she hovered over the stove. The kitchen itself smelled delicious. "It smells amazing in here Bianca," I observed. She turned around and smiled at me, reminding me a bit of my mother when Cindy and I were growing up.

"Thanks Mark," she nodded, "It's pancakes, but if you want I can make something else. There's bacon on the table," she pointed to a plate piled with bacon sitting in the middle of the table, "And milk or juice in fridge. If you want coffee, it's over there," she pointed to the pot on the counter a few feet away from her.

"Umm, thanks," I smiled, laughing at the total change in her attitude from the night before, "Pancakes are fine."

"Alright then. Go ahead, sit down, relax. Cindy, can you watch the pancakes for a minute. I'm going to wake up my lazy brother." She laughed, walking out the kitchen momentarily. "Roger, if you don't get up now, I'm going up there with bucket of ice," I heard her call up the stairs. I laughed, thinking of what Roger had told him about mornings growing up.

"Bianca was always a morning person," he explained, "And I hated them. She never failed to come up with a new way of torturing me to wake up every day."

There was no answer, and Bianca reentered the kitchen, heading strait for the freezer. When she left the kitchen with a bowl full of ice, I followed her. This was something I had to see.

I stood outside Roger's door, watching Bianca stand over him with the bowl. "This is your last chance Rog," she warned. He grunted something, but it was unintelligible. Bianca and I exchanged one glance before she tipped the bowl, dropping the ice onto his bed. He bolted upright and stared wildly at a laughing Bianca. His eyes narrowed, and she stopped laughing. Before I knew it, she was dashing past me with him on her tail.

"I'm going to kill you!" he screamed. She just laughed.

"Gotta catch me to kill me," she taunted. I laughed even harder at how adorably immature my boyfriend was.

I followed them downstairs and into the living room. By the time I got there, Roger had Bianca pinned on the floor. "Roger!" she screamed, trying to squirm free, "Let me go!"

"Not until you apologize and admit that my awesomeness clearly surpasses you," he demanded.

"Not a chance. I'm not a liar."

Cindy walked into the living room and stared at Roger and Bianca suspiciously. "Alright children," she said after a minute, "Breakfast is ready. Go on and eat." The two siblings stood up and brushed themselves off before heading into the kitchen. I followed them and sat between Roger and Cindy at the table.

"So," Cindy started once everyone had food, "Did you all sleep well." The rest of us nodded and I heard a dull thud as- I assumed- Roger kicked his sister under the table. She bent down and held her shin for a minute, then kicked him back. I grabbed Roger's knee.

"Behave," I murmured sternly. He smiled at me and laughed gently.

"Alright," he said softly, "But only because you asked." He leaned over and kissed me. After a moment, he broke the kiss and whispered, "Shower?" into my ear. I smiled smugly and nodded.

"Roger!" Bianca exclaimed, "Really, did you need to ask that at the table?" I raised my eyebrows at her. "I have really sensitive hearing," she answered my unspoken question, "I can hear everything you guys say, and that wasn't something I needed to hear."

"Suck it up sis," he laughed, rubbing his hand up the inside of my thigh, "I can't help how sexy he is."

"Roger, shut the fuck up," she retorted. He just rolled his eyes.

Suddenly, there was a knock at the door. Bianca stood up and left to answer it. A few moments later, she called back into the kitchen. "Roger, it's for you." He stood up and walked out of the kitchen. After a few moments, I followed him.

Standing in the doorway was a man about my age who was smiling broadly. "Roger," he exclaimed girlishly, hugging him. I had a bad feeling about where this was going. Roger turned to me and gave me an apologetic glance.

"Hi Ricky," he said, trying to sound cheerful and unenthused at the same time.

"I heard you were in town and I just had to come and see how you were doing," the man continued, "It's been so long."

"Yeah," Roger nodded, "A few years."

"Ahem," I coughed, trying to remind Roger to introduce me.

"Oh, right," Roger responded picking up on my intentions, "Ricky, this is Mark, my boyfriend. Mark, this is Ricky, my ex-"

"-lover," Ricky finished. Roger blushed.

"Not exactly how I would describe what happened," he said, looking down.

"Oh come on, Rog. I was your first," he giggled.

"Ricky, shut up," Bianca snapped. I jumped, having forgotten she was there.

"Ahh, Bianca still angry I see."

"Yeah, and I could still kick your ass," she assured him. I nodded, knowing she was right and loving her even more for this.

"Ha, you think so?"

"I know so," she nodded.

"Would you two be nice?"

"Have we ever been?"

"No, and that's your problem."

Bianca rolled her eyes. "Come on, Mark," she beckoned, pushing me towards the living room, "We have things to discuss." I followed her, confused. She stood in the middle of the living room and faced me. "Ricky is a moron," she started in a tone barely above a whisper, "He was Roger's best friend until he came to terms with his sexuality. I was the only person who knew about the two of them, and obviously I hated Ricky. I still do, but that's beside the point. Anyway, the only thing Ricky was ever interested in from Roger was sex, but when Roger was planning on moving to New York, Ricky told everyone at their high school that Roger was gay. The story blew up, and before anyone knew it, Roger was being beat up nearly every day."

"Aww, that's terrible. Why would he even dream about doing something like that? He seems like he cares about Roger."

"He didn't want Roger to leave," she explained, "And it didn't occur to him that this might push him to leave sooner. I ended up kicking his ass for what he did to my brother. I can't believe he would show his face around here."

"Oh wow," I shook my head, "Kudos on the kicking his ass part, though."

"Ehh, I'll do it again if he tries anything this week. Hell, I'll do it if he doesn't try anything. There's nothing I'd love more than to kill that bastard." I laughed.

"Yeah, I got that feeling by your attitude towards him."

"What can I say? I wear my heart on my sleeve," she shrugged, waving me back towards the front hallway. She glanced over her shoulder and then almost pushed me back into living room, but not before I saw what she was trying to hide.

Roger had been pushed up against the wall, Ricky's tongue down his throat. I just stood there, silently furious. When what I had seen was finally completely set in, I felt tears sting my eyes. I turned on my heels and ran up the stairs to the guest bedroom I was staying in.

I wasn't up there for very long when someone opened the door and closed it softly. I didn't lift me head until whoever opened the door sat on the bed. Then I looked up to see Roger, who looked as though he might have been on the verge of tears. "Mark," he said softly, "Mark, please let me explain. What you saw was Ricky forcing his tongue down my throat. I hated it. He's a total jerk, and Bianca's down there kicking his ass for it." I just turned over. The part about Bianca kicking Ricky's ass was probably true based on what I'd heard, but I knew Roger too well to just accept what was probably a lie. "Mark, baby, please believe me. I would never even consider that. Ricky and I- we were a thing in high school, but that was high school. You dated that girl Nanette Himelfarb in high school. It didn't mean anything, did it?" I shook my head. "Exactly," he continued, "That's exactly how it is with him and me. Listen Marky, I love you more than anyone in the world. I would never even think about going back to Ricky."

I propped myself up on my elbows and smiled at him. "That's really good to hear, Rog."

"Ahh, there's the smile I've been looking for," he said kindly, leaning down and kissing me tenderly, "It's the most amazing smile in the world."

"I beg to differ," I murmured, "I'd say yours is the most amazing. Mine isn't that great."

"That's not true," he smiled, getting up on his knees and straddling me, "And your smile is very sexy, by the way."

"I like where this is going," I laughed as he started to undress me.