Take Me From This Pain, Kevin's story

\"Kevin, I don\'t think this is a good idea,\" Jason said for the hundredth time that day as he pulled out a tee shirt to get ready for the evening. \"It\'s not fair to Brian or Trent!\"

\"What do you mean not fair to Trent?\" The small blonde was pulling his hair back into a neat ponytail while he spoke.

\"I meant not fair,\" Jason repeated. \"Brian obviously going to blow Trent off when he figures out he\'s after him. You know how nervous he gets around strangers.\"

\"It\'s cool. I told Trent not to be obvious.\"

\"Kevin!\"

\"Kevin!\" Gina called from downstairs. \"Brian\'s on the phone!\"

\"Coming! See, Jay, no worries!\"

The tall Dark haired teen frowned at him as he flounced out of the room. When Kevin left the room, Jason quickly flipped open his cell and speed dialed Trent.

\"Hello?\"

\"Trent, listen closely, \'cause I don\'t have much time.\"

\"Jay?\"

\"Yeah.\"

\"Um. Okay.\"

\"I don\'t know what lines Kev\'s been feeding you, but you can\'t chase Brian.\"

\"Is this about Matt?\" Trent huffed from the other side of the line.

\"It\'s more than Matt,\" Jason sighed. \"It\'s Brian himself.\"

\"Kev said he used to beat Matt.\"

\"Yeah, I guess you could say that.\"

\"Well, then he doesn\'t deserve Brian.\"

\"This is beyond that. Did Kevin tell you what happened to Brian?\"

\"That his stepdad beat him?\"

\"It was much worse than that, Trent. Much, much worse.\"

There was silence from Trent\'s side of the line as the older boy digested that. Jason only hoped it would be enough to stop this crazy plan.

\"Well, I wouldn\'t hurt him.\" Trent finally said.

\"Neither would Matt.\"

\"He already has!\"

\"That was the past,\" Jason sighed. \"Listen, Matt and Brian bonded over this. He\'s not going to leave Matt for you, Trent.\"

\"How do you know?\"

Jason took a deep breath. He didn\'t want to have to tell this story again. It wasn\'t that he was ashamed. But he and Trent had fallen into an easy friendship, one that Jason had never had before. There was a quiet understanding that each was aware of the other\'s sexuality but they never needed to discuss it. This would probably put a strain on it, and that made Jason a little sad.

\"I know because I\'ve been there,\" Jason whispered.

\"You what?\"

\"You heard me.\"

Trent was quiet for a few minutes and Jason worried that he\'d just destroyed things between them altogether.

\"When?\" Trent asked softly.

\"Years ago.\"

\"Your dad?\"

\"And my mom let him,\" Jason sniffled. \"My sister fought like hell to save me.\"

\"Son of a bitch!\"

\"Trent . . .\"

\"Jay, I\'m not mad at you,\" he quickly said. \"I\'m mad at your freaking father! You didn\'t deserve that.\"

\"I know that now, but it took a while to get to this point.\"

\"I can only imagine.\"

\"I just wanted you to understand that Brian\'s in no shape to be pulled away from Matt,\" Jason wiped his eye. \"He\'s too vulnerable and Matt makes him feel safe.\"

\"But is he, Jay?\"

\"Absolutely! I wouldn\'t have left him there if he wasn\'t!\"

\"Okay, okay,\" Trent soothed. \"No problem. I won\'t do anything, I promise.\"

\"Thanks, Trent,\" Jason said gratefully. \"Could you also not mention this to Kevin?\"

\"You never told him what happened to you?\"

\"Oh no, not that. I told him before we left Cali. I mean about not going after Brian. He has it in his head that this is the right thing to do and I can\'t talk him out of it. I figure it\'s easier if you just pretend to go along with it and, I don\'t know, fail, I guess.\"

\"Sure,\" Trent said and Jason could hear the grin in his friend\'s voice. \"He\'s got you whipped you know.\"

\"Tell me about it.\"

\"Jay?\"

\"Yeah?\"

\"You know you can tell me anything, right?\" Trent asked hesitantly. \"I mean I know we didn\'t click when we first met. But we\'re good friends now, right?\"

\"Definitely.\"

\"See you later, Bud.\"

\"You, too.\"

Jason put his cell down and finished putting on his tee shirt and jeans. Kevin came bounding into the room just as he pulled up his zipper.

\"Rats, too late!\" The small blonde chirped, dropping onto the bed and looking up at the ceiling.

\"Brian okay?\"

\"Oh yeah,\" Kevin smiled. \"Guess what! Matt\'s dad has a husband!\"

\"Does he now?\"

\"Yeah! Brian says he\'s really nice, and so\'s Matt\'s dad.\"

\"That\'s good.\"

\"I guess.\"

\"Something wrong, Kev?\"

\"Huh?\" Kevin looked up in surprise. \"No. I\'m just wondering how Brian will react to Trent tonight.\"

\"About that.\"

\"I know, I know,\" Kevin rolled his eyes. \"You don\'t agree.\"

\"No, I don\'t.\"

\"Duly noted. Can we get going now?\"

\"Sure,\" Jason sighed again as he picked up his keys. \"By the way, are you going to tell Brian about Marly and Cindy? They\'re going to be there and it is a public place.\"

Kevin slapped his forehead. \"Crap! I hadn\'t thought of that!\"

\"So I gather,\" Jason suddenly looked amused. \"Tanya and/or her friends might be at the mall, too.\"

\"Damn it!\" Kevin growled. \"I guess we\'ll have to tell him.\"

Jason smiled as he followed Kevin out the door.

---------------------------------------------------------

\"Kevin, I can read your brother\'s mind from here,\" Jason whispered to the small blonde as Cindy turned away to talk to one of their other friends. \"He looks like he\'s going to make a scene.\"

\"This is Brian,\" Kevin whispered back. \"He\'ll wait until we\'re alone. I\'m sure of it.\"

\"Um, I don\'t think so. You should have told him when we got here.\"

\"Jay, I\'ve known him all his life. He\'d do anything to avoid attention.\"

\"Yeah, maybe before he hooked up with a big, blonde bodyguard,\" Jason retorted. \"But you didn\'t expect him to practically kick your ass yesterday when he found out you hadn\'t told him about . . . you know!\"

Jason looked over Kevin\'s shoulder to see Marly reattach herself to the small blonde\'s side after coming back from the restroom.

\"Don\'t worry,\" Kevin replied just a few seconds before Brian approached them.

\"Hey!\" Brian called. \"You haven\'t introduced me to these friends yet.\" He looked pointedly at the girls and waited.

\"Uh, uh, Marly, can you excuse me for a second?\"

\"Sure,\" she smiled and pecked Kevin on the cheek before he moved away.

\"Brian, can we talk over here?\"

\"Your cousin looks so much like you,\" Marly giggled.

\"Yeah, I know,\" Kevin smiled and turned to pull Brian to the side.

Matt followed behind and winked at Jason, who shrugged. Jason couldn\'t think of an excuse to join them so he stayed with Cindy and waited for Trent to arrive.

\"What the HELL is going on here?\" Brian growled. \"Who is that girl with you? Who is the one with Jason? Why are you two pretending to be straight?\"

\"Slow down!\" Kevin hissed. He was afraid someone would over hear them. \"One at a time! Yes, we\'re pretending to date these girls.\"

\"I KNEW it!\" Brian seethed. \"Why?\"

\"They were our dates to the dance last fall and they were both being bothered by this cheerleader bitch.\"

\"Go on.\" Brian was now tapping his foot impatiently.

Kevin wasn\'t sure what to make of Brian\'s demanding façade. Then he wondered if it really was a façade after all. The Brian he\'d left behind wasn\'t this confident, and would have died before making a scene. This new Brian wasn\'t afraid of drawing attention to himself. And he was pissed as all hell that Kevin had neglected to tell him another detail. It wasn\'t as if Kevin didn\'t trust Brian. It just didn\'t seem important enough to mention to him since he was all the way across the country.

\"Trent\'s sister is an evil bitch!\" Kevin grunted.

\"Trent?\" Brian raised a brow. \"As in \'my good friend can\'t wait to meet you, Brian\' Trent?\"

\"Huh?\" Matt suddenly assumed a wary expression.

Oh, crap! Now he would be suspicious of Kevin\'s motives before the plan could unfold. Kevin had been counting on Matt\'s obliviousness to pull this off. Well, it couldn\'t be helped apparently.

\"Yeah, but he\'s not like that. In fact, he knows about me and Jay.\"

\"HE knows, but I DIDN\'T?\" Brian shrieked.

Kevin looked around nervously and shushed Brian. People were beginning to glance at them and that would ruin all of Kevin\'s secrets. \"I promise, we\'ll tell you everything later.\"

\"You bet your skinny little blonde ass you will!\" Brian seethed and stalked away.

Matt gave Kevin a smug but guarded look before following. What the hell had gotten into Brian over the last few months? He\'d never spoken to him like that before.

\"You okay?\" Jason asked when Kevin made it back to him.

\"Yeah.\"

\"That didn\'t seem to go well.\"

\"Let\'s just say Brian\'s a little tired of finding out things I neglected to mention to him.\"

Jason nodded in amused understanding.

\"Hey, guys!\" Trent grinned as he and Joey sauntered into the food court. \"Where\'s your infamous \'cousin\'?\"

Kevin looked up at him and smiled. \"Hey, Trent,\" he greeted. \"Joey. Right this way.\"

Kevin led them over Brian who stood stewing next to Matt. He turned a glare at Kevin then a questioning look over to the two behind him.

\"Hey, Bri, I\'d like you meet my friends Trent and Joe,\" he pointed them out. \"Guys, this is Brian . . . oh, and his friend Matt.\"

\"Nice to meet you,\" Joe said grasping Matt\'s hand.

\"Yeah,\" Trent said looking over the small blonde discreetly. \'Damn, too bad I promised Jason.\"

\"Yeah, nice to meet you, too,\" Brian replied with a smirk. \"This is actually my BOYFRIEND Matt. My, uh, cousin hasn\'t quite come to terms with it yet..\"

Kevin gasped, while Trent and Joe looked completely taken aback. \'What the hell is going on here, Bri?\' he mentally projected to his brother as he openly gaped at him. Brian just smiled benignly back at him.