Here's the talk! Hope you enjoy. Read about my struggle with this chapter below.

~oOo~

The next morning, AJ pulled into Dalton's parking lot at 7:00 am. He killed the engine and sat quietly for a minute, knowing that he'd truly blown it and that he had amends to make. He gathered his stuff and began walking towards the front door.

After signing himself in, he began walking towards the dining room. Scanning the tables, AJ found Gavin, sitting alone, eating and going over notes for a class. "Hey," AJ said quietly, slipping into the seat across from Gavin.

Gavin looked up from the papers and said, "Hi. You made it." His voice was quiet, not like it usually was, with a laugh ready to burst right below the surface.

"Yeah. It's amazing how light traffic is at five o'clock in the morning!" AJ said, trying to coax Gavin into smiling. "Gavin, I'm so sorry. I'm going to make this up to you and I promise I won't back away like that again, okay? It's really not like me. I mean, my dads are the kings of talking everything out. I'm not sure what came over me."

"I know," Gavin said. "Are we still on to talk this afternoon?"

"Yes!" AJ replied. "I have the perfect place for us to talk. I'll stop by your room after class, okay?"

"That's fine," Gavin said.

"Okay, I'm going to go grab some breakfast and I'll be right back, okay? Or am I disturbing your studying? I can sit somewhere else."

"Please, sit with me," Gavin said, looking AJ in the eye, and smiling, for the first time.

~oOo~

"It's just up here," AJ said to Gavin, as they tromped across the grounds of Dalton.

"You didn't say I'd need hiking boots," Gavin said. "How'd you find this place anyway?"

"I hid here in a massive game of hide-and-go-seek during freshman orientation. No one found me and I've never told anyone about it. I figure we can talk here and we won't be disturbed."

Moments later, the boys stood before a ring of trees. In the middle were two white marble benches, sitting face to face. "I always thought this would be the perfect place to have a conversation," AJ said, ushering Gavin into the circle and brushing off a bench so he could sit. An awkward silence developed when both boys were seated.

"Hi," AJ said, dipping his head to catch Gavin's eyes.

"Hi," Gavin said, relaxing a little and grinning.

"So, about the last few days…" AJ started.

"Please don't apologize again. I forgave you on the phone, so what's done is done. When I said we needed to talk, I wasn't asking for explanations. We're finished with that. What I think we need to do is figure some things out," Gavin said.

"I agree. I talked to my grandpa about all of this and after he told me I'd been a real jerk to you…"

"He said that?" Gavin asked.

"Well, not in so many words, but he did send me off to call you to apologize right after we finished talking. Anyway, he thought that we should talk and come up with some kind of game plan, sort of a way to see where we stand and what we are that makes both of us feel comfortable."

"I couldn't agree more," Gavin said, visibly relaxing.

"So…" AJ said

"I…" Gavin said at the same time.

"You first," Gavin said, gesturing to AJ.

"Okay." AJ took a deep breath and gathered his thoughts. "Gavin, I like you. I mean I really like you, a lot. The way I feel a bout you is totally different than how I've felt about other people. I think what made me so scared is the how intense these feelings are. And they are crazy feelings, like happy and comfortable and terrified and warm and frightened and elated all at one time! But I'll tell you what I told Grandpa: my biggest worry in all of this is that I'll mess up and lose your friendship. I could never forgive myself if something I did caused you to never want to see me again. I just…I don't want to screw this up, that's all. Does that make sense?"

Gavin sat quietly for a few moments, drew in his own deep breath and began. "I really like you too. AJ, I've never done this before. I have no clue what is what. Our friendship is terribly important to me. I'm not sure how we became friends so quickly, but it just seems that things between us clicked right away. I know that when I'm with you, I'm totally at ease, I can say whatever is on my mind, and we never seem to run out of things to talk about. I love spending time just hanging out, playing soccer, or studying. What I'm trying to say is that this is all so easy, and that is what scares me most. I don't want us to jump into something more…committed without being careful and thoughtful. I feel like I'm rambling. Sorry."

"No! What you are saying makes perfect sense. When my dads tell me the story of how they met, they always emphasized that a solid friendship is the strongest foundation for a relationship. They'll be pleased to know that years of beating that message into my head has been fruitful," AJ s said, laughing.

"They are right, you know." Gavin remained serious. "That's why I think we should continue being friends for right now, knowing that the possibility for a more committed relationship is there. Let's take the pressure off ourselves and just enjoy each other's company for now."

AJ looked a bit unsure. He looked Gavin in the eye and said, "Are you sure you aren't just letting me down gently? If you don't want to..."

Gavin reached down and took both of AJ's hand in his. Finding AJ's eyes, Gavin said, "I'm not sure you know this about me, but I mean what I say. I can't stand people who play mind games, so I strive to be very clear in what I mean. If you agree, I fully intend to move towards a more committed relationship with you. I just think there needs to be a little more time to build that foundation your dads have stressed with you."

"Well, I'm just going to say it: I hope that's where we end up. All I know is that I'm happy when I'm with you. It's like we are the same, but we're totally different. None of what I'm saying is making sense! Auuuugh!" AJ ran his fingers through his hair and started to laugh.

Gavin started laughing too. "It's okay. I get what you mean. One more thing. No matter what, will you promise to be honest with me? I have to know that you'll say what needs to be said so that I can do the same. Friends or more, will you be truthful with me?"

"Totally. Even if you wear jeans that make your butt look huge or if you have food in your teeth or if you snore really loud through movies," AJ said.

"Hey, lay off my movie issues. No fair bringing that up!" Gavin said. Both boys laughed and the tension that was present at the beginning of their conversation was gone.

Standing up and offering a hand to AJ, Gavin asked, "So, are we good?"

AJ stood up and wrapped Gavin in a hug. "We're better than good." The boys stood there in silence, happy to be in each other's good graces again. They drew apart and began the trek back to the school.

"So, I'm thinking I'm going to have to tell Michael and Jacob about us. I can't see living with them and not letting them know," AJ said. "Is that okay with you?"

"That's fine. How do you think they'll take it?"

"I'm pretty sure they'll take it in stride. They've been coming home with me since freshman year. They love my dads, so I don't think they'll be all that surprised. I'll tell them after dinner tonight. Want to be there?"

"I think it should be just the three of you. I'm not sure why, but it just feels like that's how it should be."

"Fair enough," AJ said. "So, tonight I'll share how we've declared our intense 'like' for each other. I'll let you know how it goes.

~oOo~

All three boys in 208 were at their desks, studying for the next day's classes. At 10:00, Jacob slammed his math book shut and said, "I'm pooped. Anyone else ready to sleep?"

Michael followed by shutting his history book and picking up his lacrosse stick. "I'm done too. Man, I can't wait for our match later this week. We are going to cream Southside Prep with our secret weapon…"

"Hey guys, I have something I want to tell you," AJ said. Michael and Jacob turned and looked at their roommate. He cleared his throat and began. "I'm not quite sure how to say this, but I want you to know that Gavin is gay and that he and I might be pursuing a relationship."

Michael and Jacob were quiet for a few seconds. Jacob broke the ice and said, "Well, when you have two gay dads, I guess that's always a possibility. Good by me!" He got up from his bed and reached for his pajamas and started getting ready for bed.

"Gavin, huh? He's a nice guy. Cool! Hey, want to know what the secret weapon is for our next game? Monster masks! We're going to wear them under our lacrosse helmets to scare those Southside preps. Want to see one?" Michael asked.

"Do I have a choice?" AJ asked.

"Nope. Check it," Michael said, holding up a gory rubber mask, complete with a dangling eyeball and fake blood.

"Yeah, that ought to do the trick!" AJ said.

When all three boys were in bed and the lights were out, Jacob yawned and said, "Hey, I want the credit."

"Credit for what?" AJ asked.

"For setting you and Gavin up."

"Wait…what?"

"Yeah, for setting you up. Remember in the hall that day, when we were coming back from breakfast, having the 'soccer vs lacrosse' argument, and I said you two should get married because you were a couple of soccer pansies? That was me, setting you up!"

"Oh, I see. First, nowhere near getting married or even dating for that matter. Second, the credit is all yours, Jacob. If I ever marry Gavin, you can be the best man and we'll make sure everyone knows you were our matchmaker," AJ said.

"Hey, no fair. He had no idea what he was doing in the hall that morning. He's just using a coincidence to make it look like he was setting you up. I hardly think that makes Jacob best man material," Michael said.

"Okay, okay, fine. Two best men. How's that?" AJ asked.

"MUCH better," Michael said.

"Okay by you, Jacob?" AJ asked.

"Yup."

"Okay, we can all sleep now. Night boys."

"Night!"

AJ took out his phone and sent a quick text off to Gavin.

"Told the boys. Fine, as I suspected. Hope you don't mind, but I've assigned the jobs of best men for our wedding. ~AJ xxoo

Moments later, a text returned. "What the what? And 'men' instead of 'man'? What gives?" Gav xxoo

"I'll explain later. Sleep well." AJ xxoo

"You too." Gav xxoo.

~oOo~

Okay! On the road to recovery! Those of you who read Daddies can see where all of this fits in with AJ and Gavin's visit with Kurt and Blaine over Thanksgiving.

My struggle in writing this chapter is that the boys are coming off as really grown up, which I know isn't always realistic for juniors in high school. But we all know that AJ has been your not-so-typical kid all along, so the whole processing and talking through works for his character, right? Right? Reassure me here, dear readers!

Have a pleasant and sunny day!

GirlFromTheWest xxoo