More than Friends

Chapter Six

“Uh-um …” Gina trailed off, not knowing what to say to her brother for the first time ever.

Jason just stared back at her patiently, waiting for an explanation. He was also enjoying the novel feeling of putting Gina on the spot. This never happens, he thought with a snort. I may as well enjoy it while it lasts. He sensed Kevin next to him, awkwardly shifting his weight from one foot to the other as the awkward silence hung in the air. Jason was normally the calmest person in the room. That they would all suddenly worry about his temper amused him to no end.

“Well?” he prompted.

“I – uh,” Gina tried again.

“It’s mine,” Tanner finally said firmly.

“I figured that,” Jason rolled his eyes. “Why else would you be here?”

“Cut her some slack.”

“Are you all serious?” Jason smirked. “You’re actually worried about my reaction that much?”

“You’re … okay with this then?” Gina asked tentatively.

“I’m more than okay with it! It’s about time you had a real kid of your own to coddle and fuss over.”

“Watch it!” Her eyes narrowed playfully.

“Really,” Tanner grinned. “Take her advice. She just got through explaining hormones to me.” He shuddered playfully. “Scary shit!”

“So when’s the wedding?” Kevin asked excitedly.

“Oh … um.” Gina lost her confidence again. “You see …”

“See what?” Jason frowned, turning to Tanner. “You knock up my sister but don’t want to marry her?”

“Jason, no!” Gina exclaimed.

Tanner just smirked as the dark-haired kid glared at him. “Hey, if you can convince her to marry me, more power to you!” He crossed his arms and leaned back after the challenge. “I’ve tried … more than once.”

“I thought you weren’t mad!” Gina rounded on him, careful not to jar the baby in her belly.

“I’m not,” Tanner said turning his eyes to her. “But I think he needs to know that the no-marriage clause was your idea.”

“But …”

“Hey, I don’t want him thinking I’m going to leave you … for any reason,” Tanner explained. “And not knowing all of the facts of the case, counselor, will contribute to a skewed view of the situation, no?” He watched Gina’s cheeks turn a lovely shade of pink. “Sort of like a busybody mother who needs to be straightened out.”

Jason looked from one to the other while they talked trying to figure out what was going on. Kevin hung back and kept quiet, unsure of his own place in the conversation. While Gina had taken care of him during his final year in high school and was every bit as attentive to him as she was to Jason, she was still Jason’s blood, and not his.

“Mother?” Jason asked.

“Mine,” Tanner sighed.

“It’s not a problem,” Gina argued.

“If she’s making comments like you said, it is,” Tanner shot back. “I won’t have her upsetting you like that.”

“I’m not upset.”

“I am,” Tanner said, unmoved by her attempts to placate him.

Jason grinned broadly. “No need for me to worry then,” he laughed. “Tanner’s got things under control.”

“Hey!” Gina snapped.

“He means the situation,” Kevin hurried to clarify. “Not you Gina. No one has you under control.”

“Ain’t THAT the truth,” Tanner snorted.

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

Ryan followed Lee as they explored the area. Warren, Rhode Island had a small-town feel to it, though its population exceeded 11,000 residents. Lee took Ryan by his old high school and to some of the fast food places he hung around in when he lived there. They’d even stopped for a slice of pizza at Papa Gino’s.

“It wasn’t that bad,” Ryan chuckled.

“Pfft!” Lee replied. “It wasn’t as good as where you and I go.”

They were making their way down the sidewalk back towards their hotel when a shadow fell across the concrete. Ryan looked up and stifled the groan that threatened to pass his lips when he spied Danny. The golden-haired boy was leaning against the brick wall carelessly, watching them with an unreadable expression on his face. When Lee caught sight of him, he did groan, which gave Ryan some measure of satisfaction.

Hey, Lee,” Danny said smiling smoothly. “How ya been?”

“Better before I saw you.”

Ryan was forced to stand back as a spectator, knowing that any involvement he’d have with this conversation would definitely not work out in his favor.

“Can we talk?” Danny asked seriously, letting the smile fall from his lips. “Alone?”

“I’d prefer not to.”

Ryan took his lover’s response for permission to interact and he put a possessive arm around Lee’s waist.

“I don’t want any trouble,” Danny said. “I just need to talk to you.”

“You said everything you needed to last time,” Lee said flatly.

“You didn’t even give me a chance to say goodbye when you left!”

“You had the whole summer, Dan. You knew I worked in the bookstore every day. You even passed by there … often. Any goodbyes you needed to say could have been handled very easily.”

“How the hell was I supposed to know you’d leave early?”

“Like I said, you had the whole summer.”

Danny’s gaze evolved into a glare that he turned on Ryan, who matched its intensity as he silently lent his support to Lee.

“You’re my replacement, huh?”

“Danny!” Lee hissed.

“To be your replacement would indicate that Lee left you,” Ryan said in a clam tone. “That wasn’t the case, as I understand it.”

“It was a mistake.”

“The relationship?” Ryan asked. “Or you leaving him?”

Danny didn’t answer but the glare deepened and Ryan suddenly knew that the other guy wanted to cause trouble. He was obviously not over Lee. And yet, he’d been the one to leave. Curious, Ryan thought. And very unfortunate for him. Ryan stood his ground tightening his arm around his boyfriend.

“How’s Jessica doing?” Lee asked, the remains of the pain in his voice evident.

“I ditched her when I caught her fooling around with Rick Hayes,” Danny replied. “Not that we were doing much anyway.”

“Oh.”

Ryan wasn’t sure he liked the soft voice Lee was using, but he knew that whatever happened he had to trust him.

“And I’ve been trying to contact you ever since.”

“I’m not in the Witness Protection Program,” Lee sneered. “It’s not hard to fine me.”

That’s better.

“Your parents wouldn’t give me your number,” the blonde sighed. “Even though I pleaded with them. I really wanted to talk to you.”

“Look, whatever you wanted to say, it was already too late,” Lee grunted. “I met Ryan just after we started classes and we’ve been together ever since.”

“But …”

“I love him, Dan. Nothing you could have said would have made a difference.”

Ryan let out a silent sigh of relief, his heart warmed by Lee’s declaration.

“I see.” Danny shuffled his feet as he looked down at the sidewalk.

“Besides, I can’t keep myself closeted anymore. That’s why I had to come home.”

“Your parents,” Danny said as he looked up again. “They don’t like … this.”

“Whether I’m with Ryan or anyone else they wouldn’t like it,” Lee said as he rolled his eyes. “I’m not letting that become a problem.”

“I think they’d accept it a little more if it was with me.”

And there’s the challenge, Ryan sighed.

“But it’s not,” Lee said. “And it won’t be.”

“Okay then,” the blonde said nonchalantly.

Ryan wasn’t lulled into any illusions that this was over. Somehow he knew that nothing was a coincidence anymore. Danny apparently got the job in the bookstore because he wanted to encounter Lee there eventually. Though he had a bit of satisfaction in knowing his own presence was an unforeseen chink in Danny’s plans.

“So … I guess I’ll see ya around,” Lee said as he put his hand into Ryan’s.

“Oh you will,” Danny said with certainty. The malicious gleam in his eyes appeared so suddenly Ryan had to blink.

“Excuse me?” Lee asked, stopping to look at his former best friend.

“See me around,” Danny clarified. “You will.”

Ryan felt the undeniable foreboding sensation scrape at the inside of his stomach.

“Huh?” Lee’s head began to spin.

Why the fuck was he doing this? He’d told him their relationship was a mistake. Lee was moving on now. Things were supposed to be settled. Jesus! He’d just started becoming comfortable with his relationship with Ryan.

“I’m transferring to your school,” Danny said with a smirk.

And there it goes.

“B-but why? You never wanted to be a doctor!” Lee exclaimed. “And your grades wouldn’t get you in!”

“I changed my mind about science,” Danny shrugged. “And I used this past year to study and work my ass off to get the grades I needed.”

Ryan felt his eyes start to burn a whole in the guy as he glared. This can’t be happening, he shrieked inside. This asshole can’t be coming back for Lee!

“It also didn’t hurt that my uncle went to school there either,” Danny shrugged. He pushed himself off the wall and looked them over, resting his eyes back on Ryan meaningfully. “See you in the fall.” Then he walked away leaving the two stunned in his wake.