Right Turn

((Holy smokes! This is what you get, sitting down and really focusing! I should have been focusing on my other stories, but this will do. It doesn\'t take as much energy. *L* Ben and Ky and Jack and Claire don\'t demand as much.

Story is now in present tense. We\'re catching back up with what was happening at the beginning of the story! :)

Earthgurl!!!!: You beautiful, marvelous woman! I\'m so glad to have you as a friend!!! And yes. Ky\'s leeetle seecret. Hee hee. Hope you like it!
Yue: *L* THIS is the last chapter! Sorry.. that was the beginning of a run to the finish line. :) And you ARE! Wow... like checking all the time! How nifty! (Well.. not counting the Pure Smut Epilogue - a piece which everyone wishes were there, yet not everyone needs! Hee hee)
Some Chick: Oooo! Woo hoo! I\'m so glad it made you happy! And YES! Things aren\'t yet figured out and so here\'s the conclusion, where All is Revealed! *grins* And I\'m sorry. Ben\'s pretty dense. He\'s been dense from the get-go, hasn\'t he?
Blou: *S* Oh hello! I\'m so glad you\'ve been enjoying it! And thank you so very much for leaving a note!

Thank you allll! And hope you enjoyed the ride! It was fun! Ja minna!

Just every left turn deserves a... ))

Right Turn

Kyler and Claire don\'t notice Jack coming around the corner, his guitar case over his shoulder. But then, neither of them have the sensitivity to Jack\'s presence that Ben has. Staring at the approaching Jack, Ben can\'t help but bounce again. Part of him is uncertain if the note crumpled now in his pocket is what he wants to hope it is. And truthfully, it just oversimplifies things that have happened over the last three months, doesn\'t it? Because life isn’t that simple. Everything had changed on Monday and it is Friday now; the first day back all week for Jack after his sister\'s giving birth and all that shit.

Jack smiles as he approaches Ben. A wave and he turns to say goodbye to the girls who stuck around with him. He\'s slightly breathless, looking pleased, red faced, and cute as hell. \"Hi.\"

That makes Ben’s memory snap back to that first letter he found three months prior and he has to work hard to control himself and keep himself from slamming Jack into a locker and stealing the beautiful boy\'s breath away. Instead, he just beams. \"Hi.\" He could live a lifetime on Jack\'s hi\'s.

Jack looks past him, at Kyler and Claire and blushes again. \"Hey, how\'re you guys?\" he asks. And it says a lot that Jack isn\'t looking as annoyed at Ben is. Kyler is in their space. Why can’t he just leave? But Jack was always more magnanimous, wasn\'t he?

Claire chuckles. \"Hey Jack. What\'re you gonna do this weekend? I was just telling these guys I\'ve got a date!\" Her smile turns into a mega watt beam.

\"That\'s what I heard!\" Jack nods. \"With Jennifer right? That\'s awesome, Claire. Hey, maybe you could make it a double date? I mean, would you mind if I came along?\" Jack grins, a sudden gleam showing in his eye.

Claire looks over at Ben with her eyes wide and questioning and then back at Jack. \"I don\'t know. I mean.. I\'d have to ask Jen.\"

Kyler moves slightly and clears his throat, looking around them. Ben glances at Kyler and grins, loving the look of discomfort on the other guy\'s face as he\'s trying inwardly to keep from leaping out of his skin. A double date! Him and Jack with Claire and Jen? Maybe it will work. It would seem honest to the rest of the world. Two boys, two girls.

Jack grins. \"Actually, I already asked her. She said it might be best. But I should ask you too. See, her sister has the car this weekend. I promise we won\'t be a problem. Maybe we could even lose you two in a dark movie theater?\"

Ben feels his feet lighten. Dark movie theaters. Jack. Double Date. Maybe even a Kiss? They\'d not done another of those after that first kiss in the dark more than three months ago. He\'s going to faint from delight here. And he glares at Claire as she gives him a worried look. She will not ruin this for him!

Claire gives a slight shake of her head and laughs. \"Umm, let me just... \" She grabs Kyler\'s hand and smiles tightly. \"Come with me, Ky,\" only Ben can tell from the way her teeth are clenching that she\'s not all that happy.

He smiles lightly at the boy beside him and watches at Jack drops his guitar case on the floor.

\"That was really mean of me, wasn\'t it?\" Jack asks.

\"Yeah, but she\'ll get over it. Did you really ask Jen?\" Ben inquires.

\"Of course! But I sort of shoved my way in. I\'ve been trying to get a date and I thought Claire would make it easier on him, you know?\" Jack smiles hugely and grabs Ben\'s arm. \"Okay, so do you think he\'ll pound me or do you think I’ve got a chance?\"

Ben feels the world fall out from underneath his feet. White noise surrounds him from everywhere. He\'s spent a lot of his last week in a constant state of confusion and right now, he realizes nothing has changed much. He\'s still really, really confused. \"Who?\" he asks dumbly.

\"Uh hello? Dude! Kyler, of course!\" Jack grins. \"This past month has been the best. You\'ve been so great, helping me get to know him. I thought I\'d never get a chance. But my sister, she graduated last year, she has this ability to tell who is gay and who\'s not? She saw him when I registered and I was all googly eyed over him. But who wouldn\'t be? I mean, he\'s gotta be the hottest guy I\'ve ever seen. Ah shit. What if she\'s wrong? Or if he says no?\" Jack\'s eyes dance, obviously not believing in such a possibility.

Ben licks his lips and closes his jaws tightly so he doesn\'t get physically ill. He blinks hard and with a sense of numb, pulls a note from his pocket. \"You ...\" and holds it out.

Jack, taking the note, peruses it slowly and frowns in confusion. \"Someone\'s gonna beat you up? Ben, you should have said something. We can\'t let this happen.\"

Snatching the note back, Ben finds himself holding it close to himself, smoothing it against his chest as if it were contaminated. \"No. No.. it\'s not that. It\'s.. umm...\" he stares. Same page, here. He needs the same page. \"You didn\'t write it.\" It’s a statement but a question too.

Jack looks at him funny and pulls out a piece of paper from his bag. \"This is me,\" and the handwriting is a scrawl. \"You need a decoding ring to read my shit. And I like pencil. Why? Did you think I wrote that?\"

\"Family? You gotta dog... big dog... likes to run outside and... call him Bradley?\" Ben feels he can only hold onto a few moments of fact at the same time.

\"Bradley?\" Jack laughs. \"No way. I really don\'t like dogs. Don\'t like animals much. What\'s wrong, Ben?\" Jack\'s face suddenly twists in concern. \"You feeling okay?\"

Ben shakes his head again, seems to be doing it dumbly, like he was a beast rather than a human. \"Look.. I... \" he turns and walks away, passing Claire, Jen, and Kyler as the three return. It\'s almost a good thing that they\'re all going to be there. He isn\'t sure he could stand talking to Jack now, telling Jack how he\'s been an idiot. He doesn’t know who he was talking to. The note says after practice. It is too early. It isn’t practice yet. But what practice? Track? Ben isn’t doing that any more. After someone else\'s practice? What the hell? After the practice for the graduation?

Dammit!

Running his hands through his hair, he goes to the gym room where they were supposed to assemble in a few minutes. Finding someone innocuous (Mickey, actually) he stays low so he can think. And because Mickey is currently trying to hit on some band girl, he really isn\'t too concerned about being found by whomever it is, following him.

But it would have had to have been someone he knew, right? He pours over the facts in his head. Step mom, mother elsewhere, father. Dog... smart, sweet, wants to be a teacher. Shit, has he been talking to a girl all of this time?

He almost leaps out of his skin when Kyler sits down next to him. \"You sure ran off fast.\" The larger boy presents a wall of sorts and Ben is tempted to lean into the warmth of his friend.

No, the person kissing him had been all male. He knows that. That’s a relief.

\"Bennn-jamin?\" Kyler\'s singsong gets the standard, \"Ben\" back in response but not much more and the larger boy jostles him. \"You okay?\"

\"I\'ve been so confused. Jack... well, I don\'t think it\'s Jack.\"

\"Don\'t think who is Jack?\" Kyler asks with a confusion on his face.

The name coming from Kyler\'s mouth causes Ben to connect some more pieces. \"You gay?\" he asks, eyes wide, sitting up straight and staring at Kyler.

Kyler blushes and swallows hard, looking away.

\"Fuck.. I can\'t believe it,\" Ben whispers and slumps again. \"Holy shit. You\'re gay. Real gay or just partly?\" but he can\'t quite look at Kyler, finding that his world is changing too fast for him to keep up with.

Kyler laughs low. \"All the way, true blue. Sorry for not telling you.\" He blushes again as Ben snuck a glance his way. \"I know. It\'s weird. But it is true. I\'ve always been, actually. Not many people know. Claire and now you. Jen does too and I think Jack does.\" He frowns. \"He was saying some weird stuff so I think he knows.\"

\"Yeah, he wants to ask you out,\" Ben puts his elbows on his knees and stares gloomily out into the crowd.

\"What? Me?\" Kyler laughs again. \"That would be weird. His dad is dating my mom. It\'d be like dating my brother.\"

\"Not really,\" Ben scuffles his foot some against the gym floor. He feels like he is twelve years old.

\"Well, it doesn\'t matter. I don\'t like him,\" Kyler shrugs and leans back slightly.

But any questions on who Kyler likes or doesn\'t like, are lost as the gathering moves into a quick rendition of what the final ceremony would be like come Saturday. And Ben walks through it, slightly dazed, not sure of how he\'ll manage to get up in the morning. Hell, maybe the fucking sun will have changed color for all he knows!

But when it\'s over and Claire and he walk back to this locker, he\'s sure he\'s got at least one person he can blame for all the shit that\'s happening.

\"You.\"

\"It\'s not all my fault, Ben\'oh,\" Claire snickers. \"But dammit, it\'s not like it\'s my secret to tell. Everyone has to tell on their own!\"

\"But .. what the fuck? You let me act like he\'s this huge asshole! I\'d have been nicer to him if I\'d known he was trying to come to terms with his sexuality and all that shit!\"

\"Ben, don\'t be a stuck up princess. For shit\'s sake! I told him that. But he was scared to death of you! You haven\'t made it very easy for him to get close enough to tell you, you know.\" Claire glares at him in warning. Then her finger comes up at the first sign of his mouth opening. \"Don\'t you even dare! I\'ve had to put up with your shit for months now! It\'s not my fault that you went off thinking you were talking to Jack online all this time!\"

Ben stares at her. \"Yeah.\" And he\'s shocked at her paling face. A keystone slips into place and he gags. \"KYLER?\"

Claire pulls back. \"I didn\'t say a thing!\"

\"Oh my fucking ... holy shit! That was KYLER?\" he grabs her shoulders, shaking her, feeling that things have just gone from a sun turning purple to now they\'re living under the fucking ground! \"You\'re lying, Claire. You\'ve gotta be fucking lying!\"

\"I didn\'t say anything!\" Claire tries to pull away. \"Shit, Ben, don\'t... don\'t jump to conclusions!\"

But it\'s too late and the way she\'s looking at him makes him realize this. She\'s told. And now that it\'s out there, this secret she was protectoress of, there is nothing she can do to get it back. Ben gets to his locker in silence and slumps down it to the floor. The hall is silent and distant voices of students leaving come down the hall after him.

\"I assumed before. I\'m not going to assume again. But you\'re going to leave and if I have some rabid rapist freshman girl come down here after me, then I\'ll have you to blame.\"

Claire, too ashamed to say anything, just sighs and is gone before Ben can think of something to call her, something to say to her, something to.. to...

Kyler? That is ridiculous. And besides, Jack likes Kyler.

\"Ben?\" Speak of the devil and… what do ya know? Jack\'s voice slips down and knocks against him, mocking what he\'s believed. \"Hey, you going home?\"

Ben shakes his head, waving his hand in a signal of \"not now.\" But it doesn\'t work and the guitar player approaches him and crouches next to him. \"Hey, what\'s wrong? You look like you\'ve gotten a bad smack by something stinky or... \" he laughs. \"I didn\'t ask yet, but I think he\'ll say yes.\"

Ben stares at Jack, realizing how much he doesn\'t recognize the other boy. \"Who?\"

\"Kyler, stupid ass!\" Jack grins. \"He blushed and all that.\"

Ben blinks owlishly at someone who knows him. But obviously doesn\'t know him that well either. Or he\'d have known that it was Ben who liked Jack. Not Kyler. Kyler liked...

\"Oh.\"

\"Oh? That\'s all you can say? Look, if we go out, you think I can borrow those really tight hip hugging jeans you\'ve got? I love them and I\'ve got this awesome shirt to go with it. Make me look... you know,\" and Jack waggles his brow in a way that makes Ben suddenly sick to his stomach; again.

\"Look, Jack, I can\'t talk. I\'m waiting for someone. Why don\'t you.. you know, just go?\" He hasn\'t time to take note if Jack is noticing that Ben is dismissing him or not. He hasn\'t time for anything right now. Hell, he hasn\'t even time to find out who it is. He stands and is dismayed as Jack stands with him and throws his arms around Ben\'s shoulders.

\"Thanks, Ben. You\'re awesome.\" Jack pulls back and beams at him. \"It was cool, cause us gay guys have to hang out together, you know?\"

Ben frowns. \"Didn\'t realize there was a club,\" is all he manages and then notices a dash of color beyond. Refocusing, he stares at a pair of silver eyes shrouded with hurt just before a tall young athlete blushes and slips out of sight.

Strange, how when you know the truth, things click into place. And how when one thing clicks into place, lots more follows and it starts to get to where there\'s more and more and more until you suddenly are in an avalanche of puzzle pieces, each one directing to the right place and clicking. And how overwhelming and how calming that can be at the same time.

Ben dances out of Jack\'s hold and not even knowing if he\'s said good bye to the brown haired boy, follows the shadow of hurt he\'d just seen.

Despite how fast he goes, however, he doesn\'t manage to catch up to Kyler until the parking lot. And even then, his shouts don\'t seem to make any difference because the taller boy is faster and just keeps walking. Ben is forced to grab a swinging arm and pull on it as hard as he can to slow the other boy down.

\"Dammit! Can\'t you hear me?\" he snarls as Kyler turns and glares at him. Oh yeah, that\'s a glower. Nice. \"Don\'t even look at me like that! I didn\'t know. If you\'d just fucking told me, Ky!\"

\"Yeah?\" The silver eyes were readable now that Ben knew what he was looking for. Jealousy, hurt, fear, ... emotions that he\'d seen in his own mirror a time or two. \"If I\'d told you? When was I supposed to have told you, Ben? Was I supposed to have told you before you called me an asshole or after? Do you know how we met? You want to know what it was like for me? I was a sophmore. I walk into a school, knowing that I\'m gay. I bump into this gorgeous guy, he\'s small but he looks like he could just about rip the heads off of bats and forcefeed them to me. He\'s got black makeup and these fucking black eyes and I stare at him because I can\'t think of a fucking thing to say! And you know what he does? He says to me, ‘What the fuck. Another asshole eh? Your kind are hanging out near the cheerleaders, babe. Go and get laid over there because you\'re getting none here.\' I watch him go away and can\'t think of a thing to say to defend myself. I just got called an asshole by the most beautiful thing I\'ve ever laid eyes on. And I\'m only fifteen fucking years old. What the fuck would you do, Ben?\"

Shaking Ben\'s hand off, Kyler jerks his car door open. He smiles painfully at the flabbergasted boy. \"Yeah, that\'s about what I said too. Now fuck off, Ben. I don\'t need your fucking pity and I\'m not part of your fucking gay pride good ol boys club. Go fuck Jack, since he\'s the one you want so bad.\"

Ben manages a \"wait\" in a whisper long after the car has left the parking lot. And he doesn\'t notice much more after that.

In fact, he still manages just about the same when he shows up Saturday and finds Claire and the back of a swiftly departing Kyler. Claire gives him a despairing look and tries to hug him. But Ben\'s whole body feels numb with confusion, anger, and hurt and he pulls away from her.

Somehow, he gets through the graduation and despite his smartest inner voices, even shows for Grad Night. It\'s all country music and red neck jokes and poker and Jack is there. The pair of them hang out for a few hours before Jack goes off to pretend to get drunk off of the Dr. Pepper while Ben fiddles with a thread that\'s come loose on his shirt. He just can’t manage to be the life of the party.

It\'s not that he\'s in love with Kyler, he muses. Its not that easy. But he is in love, he realizes, watching the white thread roll between his fingertips. He\'s in love with the boy online. And if that boy is Kyler, then he very well could be ... in love... with Kyler. That\'s a scary thought, he thinks almost as an instant reaction.

But is it? He sits quietly thinking about it. Kyler, the boy who has spent a lot of time keeping him and Claire free of the worse harassment. Kyler who has helped Claire out, who shovels feces and works when he\'s pissed off. Kyler who forgives Ben no matter what a shit Ben has been to him. Kyler who, when pushed to his limit, didn\'t lash out like Ben would have. If Ben had been as big, if their positions had been reversed? Ben isn’t sure he can say he\'d have acted as kindly.

The scrape of a chair next to him brings him out of his reverie and he looks in surprise, already having recognized the scent of red hots and vanila and musk and earth. \"Been mucking out stalls again?\" he asks weakly.

Kyler doesn\'t respond at first. Rather, he stares down at his hands and picks dirt out of his nails. \"No. I just went and did some work on my garden. Had to get my head on straight.\" Then, without waiting for a response, \"Claire told me I should talk to you. But I don\'t know that we have much to say.\"

Ben drops his gaze. He sighs. \"I\'ve been an asshole. I\'m surprised you stuck this long.\"

Kyler agrees with a silent nod at first. \"It wasn\'t easy. I think my mom got tired of me crying at night sometimes. She\'d tell me I should talk about it. And now that I think about it, we haven\'t really talked. I\'ve yelled and you\'ve yelled. But I don\'t know if I feel like I can talk right now to you. I saw you and Jack and...\" his voice drops off.

Ben turns in his chair, staring at the other boy. \"Jack and me? What do you mean?\"

\"Well, you guys were hugging and I\'m not going to go and ... I know how badly you\'ve liked him since he showed up,\" Kyler is stammering. He is blushing too.

It is cute, Ben realizes. Really cute. No wonder all of the girls follow him around. He\'s really gorgeous, like Jack said. And he\'s cute when he blushes. Only Ben\'s sure the girls haven\'t ever gotten to see Kyler blush before.

\"What college are you going to?\" he asks softly. \"I mean, you wanted to go for your teaching certificate and all that.\"

Kyler, confused but willing to leave behind the discomfort, still doesn\'t look up. \"Brown University. I\'ve been saving money since I was fourteen. It\'s weird, I know.\"

\"You are weird, so its not weird for you,\" Ben grins.

Surprised, Kyler glances up and then gives a shy smile. Ben feels his heart drop. Fuck. How could he have been around this boy for so long and not realized how... how...

How deeply in love he\'s been? Ben stares at the silver eyes across from him and realizes that he knows things about Kyler that he\'s never admitted to himself. Kyler likes to eat pepperoni off of his pizza before he eats the pizza. He\'ll lick his fingers after, all prim and sexy. And Kyler likes classical guitar over steel string. Kyler loves all animals. He talks about them all the time with Claire. He\'s talked about things with Ben too, when they\'ve had their short truces now and again. Kyler is protective and just a tad bit jealous at times. He writes well, loves teaching and giving report... he... he\'s a damn fine kisser.

And so Ben goes to remind himself. Leaning forward, he brushes his lips lightly across Kyler\'s and draws back. He even laughs when Kyler looks around in shock, making sure no one saw.

\"Do you really care?\" Ben asks.

\"How...\" Kyler breathes as Ben moves in close again.

\"I don\'t know if I love you,\" Ben murmurs. \"But I sure like you a hell of a lot. And I always have. I ... I thought about it and I remember meeting you. You scared me shitless. You were so fucking handsome. I was scared you\'d hate me and I didn\'t want to be another pathetic gay boy in love with a straight boy. I\'ve seen that often enough, read about it enough, had it happen to me enough.\"

\"So you pushed me away,\" Kyler smirks. \"Before I could get to you. Classic Ben.\"

\"Call me Benjamin,\" Ben smiles and goes in for another kiss.

~~~~~~

((Oh my gosh! I\'m DONE!!!! Epilogue is to follow for anyone who likes the smut stuff. Hee hee But for those of you who like pure Sap.. there you are! The story ... c\'est fini! Thank you SO much for all of your comments and your kindnesses! See you next time around! ))