The City of Rossford

[ChrisGibson]

Oh no. I was just asking in general: what is hope?

 

[CharmedFan28]

I guess hope to me is thinking that it will always get better no matter what you are currently dealing with.

 

[ChrisGibson]

I feel the same way. I want to fet a little fancy because last year I heard this quote from this Icelandic author and she said: "No matter how dark it might seem, the light is always present, one way or another," and that's sort of the theme for Rossford Christmas this time around.

 

[ChrisGibson]

SEVEN

CHRISTMAS CONTINUED



“Yes, yes,” Fenn reflected while the children were screaming and playing around them, “it is sad. But it’s something I don’t much care to keep talking about.”
“Maia, put that down!” Tara shouted, turning from the conversation while Paul and Kirk’s eyes followed her, looking after their children.
“Fenn, it’s a lot of breakable shit in here.”
“It’s only breakable when Maia’s over,” he noted.
“She was the best idea you and Todd ever had,” Kirk reflected.
“She’s the only idea Todd and I ever had,” said Tara. “My eggs were hitting the expiration date. I had to use it or lose it and Todd wanted kids, so…
“But back to what I was saying. I can’t imagine wanting to end your life so bad you’d walk out on train tracks.”
Fenn looked at her, with a long steady gaze.
“Okay,” she admitted. “That’s a damn lie.”
“I think that if we reflect for just a second,” Fenn said, “all of us can think of a time when taking a ride on the train didn’t seem like such a bad idea.”
“But speaking of the good idea,” Paul said after a solemn moment.
“Yes?” Fenn said.
“Everything’s ready.”
Kirk nodded, happily.
“Layla’ll be so surprised.”


“He’s really torn up,” Casey said. His legs were planted wide apart and he sat across from Keith McDonald, who was watching him.
“So…” Keith began, his finger making a slow circle on the glass tabletop beside him, “This… lover of yours.”
“He’s a lover,” Casey acknowledged, hearing the question in Keith’s voice. “That’s an accurate description.”
“Yes,” Keith said, somewhat shortly. “He knows you do movies.”
Casey looked at the priest. “Yes. Of course he does. He works for me. You know that. I told you.”
“Yes,” Keith remembered.
Casey continued, “But he’s alright with it. He lets me be me.”
“Part of love is not always insisting on you being you.”
Neither one of them said anything.
“This isn’t about us,” Keith said, at last.
“No,” Casey said.
Then Casey said, “The two of us were happy. We were happy for a long time.”
“We were happy for a little time,” Keith amended, stretching, and affecting to look at the medieval painting of the Madonna that hung over the fireplace.
“Well, now I’m happy again.”
“With this… person you won’t tell me about.”
“Can’t tell you about. It’s risky. It’s dangerous.”
“Says the pornstar who used to be lover to a priest.”
“It’s way more dangerous than that.”
“Do you love him?”
Casey blinked. Keith himself was surprised by his own question.
The clock chimed and Keith said, “Look, I gotta get ready for the midday service.”
“Yes,” Casey said as Keith stood up.
Keith looked down at him.
“Yeah, I love him.”
“More than you loved me?”
“Different than I loved you,” Casey said, quickly. His brow furrowed. “And that’s not fair of you.”
“Maybe not.”
Keith went for the door into the foyer, and then he turned around and said, “You know something, Case? When I came back here I thought…
“Well, you know what?” he shook his head. “Never mind.”
“What?” Casey said, jamming his hands into his jeans pockets. But the handsome priest shook his head and said, “It’s almost time for Mass. I gotta go. You can show yourself out.”
“I guess,” Casey muttered, but by then Keith was already gone. His cell phone buzzed and Casey answered it.
“Yeah?”
Then: “Chay,” he said in a quieter voice. “You’re supposed to be in school…
“No, I won’t come get you now. You can stay there. You’re not gonna be a drop out because of me. Look,” he said in a sterner voice, turning his face to the window and putting his hand over the phone. “I know you’re sad, but she’s dead and you’re still alive and you have to go on. I’ll be there for you. I’m always there for you. You fucking know that. But for now you have to be there for yourself. And what that means is going on, and going on back to class.”
He took a deep breath.
“Yes. It’s the last night of school. Christmas is on Friday. Yes.” He was quiet, feeling his next answer thrum through his body. “We can be together tonight. I want you to stay with me too.”


The first day Sheridan woke up to go work at Casey’s, it was a Saturday and he wondered if the conversation between him and Casey had really taken place. He wondered if Casey Williams really had given him a job. He replayed it in his head and, deeming the memory to be reliable, showered, got dressed and drove over.
When he’d been dressing he wondered what he should put on. He thought of a shirt and tie, black pants or chinos, but it only took a moment for this to seem senseless. He wore what he usually wore, in the end, and showed up in a Starter jacket and ball cap.
. “Sheridan,” Casey said cheerily. And this was a good sign, for Sheridan had wondered if Casey would resent him for how he had gotten the job. But Casey seemed to be in a very good mood, and there was Chay, at the computer, working with some graphics for a film. Sheridan remembered that before, Chay hadn’t been allowed to see the actual movies. Now, perhaps because Casey was having sex with him, it didn’t matter anymore. Carefully Chay was touching up a scene where Casey’s hair was being pulled back, his face flushed in terrified ecstasy, while a very big, very black man with a tight sable behind was fucking him in the ass.
“We have to…” Chay murmured, licking his lips, “bring out the muscletone a little better in Casey’s thighs.”
Chay turned from the computer to Sheridan and continued, “You see, the whole thing is, all of these additions aren’t showing you what isn’t there. They are, believe it or not, telling you what really is there. With a regular camera and no make up, you could never see what the cameraman or anyone else filming is seeing.
Sheridan thought for a minute about how Chay genuinely did not seem to care that the man he was sleeping with, his lover, had sex with other people for a living.
“Is this what I’m going to be doing?” he half shouted to Casey, who was on the other side of the room, and seemed to have forgotten him.
“Wha?” Casey had on his black rimmed spectacles, and pushed them up a little.
“Oh, that? Oh… no. Follow me.”
Sheridan followed him up the stairs. He’d only been on the first floor, which looked like a ramshackle old farmhouse with bedrooms, a kitchen, front and back porches and this large area, formerly a den and solarium, where Casey and now Chay, worked on the computer. Now he ascended, with shock, into a thoroughly modern area of white walls, modern plants and carpet. They were in what looked like a very large bedroom. What, Sheridan realized, was a bedroom large enough for the cameramen and for the naked guys who were being oiled and rubbed and brushed, and there was one who, even though he was in jeans and a tee shirt as simply as Sheridan’s, was also being groomed immaculately.
Sheridan craned his head. Beyond was another similar set up. A living room, and its white carpet was coated in plastic. Cameras were set up and five or so naked men were milling about in there. Upstairs, in what would have been the attic, he heard the shower running and down the hall there were other showers. There was a good looking boy in jeans and a polo shirt, a little bit like Paul Anderson, with a ring in his left ear, smoking what smelled like a joint, bored.
“Alright, folks,” Casey said in a mellow voice. “Let’s do this shit.”
With little adjustment, they set to work, and the two men who had been dressed up came to sit down on the sofa. Sheridan had never been so surrounded by good looking and obviously sexual males. They were all only a little older or no older than himself.
“So,” Casey began. “What are we gonna see today?”
The one with bright brown eyes and shiny lips who had a diamond stud in his ear chewed his gum and said, “I’m thinking I might go down on this one.”
He pointed to the blond boy beside him, and gave a mellow laugh. “Make him moan a little bit, and then see what happens. But… I definitely plan on getting fucked in the ass before the day’s over. You know?”
Beside him, the blond one cackled and said, “I will be all too happy to destroy Tyler’s ass on film.”
“Don’t destroy it,” the one called Tyler said, “But definitely fucking rock it.”
The two of them sat there quietly and then, suddenly, they just started making out. Sheridan didn’t really know why he was here. Chay was the only boy he knew personally that was gay. Of course he knew Chay’s parents, and he knew Brendan and Kenny and Fenn and Todd and well, there were just really tons of gay people he knew. But they weren’t boys his age. They weren’t like him. He knew that Noah Riley really was young, and had done this, but there was a great difference, in Sheridan’s mind, between thirty and his seventeen. He knew about the kids at Rossford who probably were gay. They weren’t cute. They were Beta males or whatever came after Beta. They were sullen, overweight, flamy, achnied or, as Mathan called them, achnified. These guys who began tearing each other’s shirts off, these guys with their earrings and their well combed hair and their shiny lips and their goatees and their chests and their strong hands pulling now at each other’s belt buckles were not straight, were not anything he’d ever seen. But they were masculine, like Casey, like the first time seeing Casey had stirred up lust in him, and now, watching them, Sheridan was completely uncomfortable, completely excited and erect in his pants.
The blond one with green tattoos running up and and down his corded arms went down on Tyler, and then he began to rim him, his face between his ass cheeks, and Sheridan gave a shudder. The blond one’s large penis lay between Tyler’s cheeks and then, gently, he began to push in and Sheridan gave a little start, ready to touch himself, stopping, looking around. No one seemed amazed. No one seemed fazed. Cameramen were moving in. Casey was nodding in approval of a job well done.
And then Tyler, his knuckles white and his hands gripping the sofa’s edge, was being fucked steadily, and his face looked like he was being drained. He was moaning and Sheridan closed his mouth, wondering if he had been moaning too.
And then, just like that it happened.

“OH FUCK!”
“Crap!”
There was an explosion.
Tyler looked back, embarrassed. The other one came out in shock while Casey handed Sheridan a towel and said, “Wipe him down.”
Sheridan did, quickly, before slipping and regaining his ground.
He toweled the blond one off quickly, who shrugged with a grin and then Casey said, simply, “Resume.”
When Sheridan came back with the brown towel, Casey pointed to the mess on the floor the camera was not filming. Now the two were moving to fuck on the bed and Sheridan opened his mouth to say: “What was…?”
“It was ass water,” Casey explained.
Sheridan blinked.
“When you fuck a guy in the ass in a porn… or real life, really, he douches or enemas or whatever to get cleaned out. If all the water doesn’t get out by the time we’re ready to shoot,” Casey shrugged and pointed to the mess on the plastic covered floor, “that’s what you get.”
“Oh, God,” Tyler was screaming in the background. “Fuck me. Oh, oh, God! Logan. You’re just too good. You’re too fucking good...”
“Now,” Casey continued, “Go over to that corner. Get a mop and bucket and clean that up. That’s your job.”

 

[CharmedFan28]

That was an interesting portion. Good to read some more of Sheridan. Pity about the job he got but I guess that was to be expected. I hope Chay is ok. I know he will be sad for a while but I hope he makes it through it. I still don't know what to think of Casey and Chay together but I guess I will have to wait and see how it turns out. Great writing and I look forward to more!

 

[ChrisGibson]

That was an interesting portion. Good to read some more of Sheridan. Pity about the job he got but I guess that was to be expected. I hope Chay is ok. I know he will be sad for a while but I hope he makes it through it. I still don't know what to think of Casey and Chay together but I guess I will have to wait and see how it turns out. Great writing and I look forward to more!

That is a great compliment, the not knowing how you feel about certain situations. The more ambiguous you feel, the better. Thank you for reading and I'm glad you enjoyed

 

[ChrisGibson]

SEVEN

CHRISTMAS CONTINUED

As Saturday was coming to an end and Sheridan found himself on hands and knees, roling up plastic from a carpet and glad that he hadn’t worn a shirt and a tie, or even very nice clothes. He heard footsteps and looked up.
“Hi.”
Sheridan, who was so shocked by so many things recently, was surprised by how this new boy looked to him. He had a mischievous smile and dirty blond hair that shone out from his backward turned baseball cap, and Sheridan could not stop grinning at him.
“I heard you up here and thought you could use a hand.”
“Uh…” Sheridan shook himself from his reverie.
“Thanks.”
He got down on the floor and began rolling up plastic too.
“So, Casey’s got you on ass duty. You must have really pissed him off.”
Sheridan didn’t know how to answer that, and then the guy laughed.
“I’m just fooling. Someone’s always on ass duty. Ass duty is where it begins and ends. Maybe that’s why you got it your first day. None of this is very glamorous for long.”
He coughed, and then he said, “By the way, my name is Logan.”
“Logan…”
“I’m friends with Chay.”
“Oh, okay,” Sheridan lifted the rolled pile of plastic and carried it to the bin and then came back to help Logan with his roll.
“No,” Sheridan said.
“Huh?”
“That’s not how I knew you. You were… the guy in the video this morning.”
Sheridan felt himself turning red and Logan said, “Yes, I was the guy that put Tyler’s ass water on the floor.”
“And then you all just kept going at it.”
“You have to,” Logan said. “That’s what I mean. This is work. Half of it is powering through. It’s like any other job except, I think, better.”
Logan dumped the plastic into the bin with a loud crinkling noise.
“None of the bullshit,” Logan was saying. “Everywhere else you are, people want to pretend they’re better than they are. They go home, or shut up their offices, and watch us. We are what you watch when you’re being your dirty old self. All that pretentious shit is gone. That’s why you started out with ass water. It’s all ass water. No one here is convinced they’re someone they’re not. You know, Sheridan, you’ll never have to wonder what I look like naked!”
Logan gave him a bright grin.
“Everything here is exactly what it is.”

Downstairs, they joined Chay and an expressionless Casey who put his hands together and said, “Everything clean?”
“Yup,” Logan said before Sheridan could.
“Well, then,” Chay said to Sheridan, “Monday afternoon? When you get off of school?”
“Uh… yeah,” Sheridan said.
“Great,” he patted Chay’s shoulder and shoved him gently beside Sheridan, “See you guys later.”


“YOU LOOK NICE,” Dan said.
“Are you hitting on me, Daniel?” Fenn said as he shut the refrigerator and came back to the kitchen table with a bowl of potatoes.
“I dunno.”
Fenn looked at him, but only for a second.
“Maybe. Probably.” Dan shrugged. “I don’t know myself these days.”
“Well, I’ll answer for you. The answer is no. It’s twenty years too late for that foolishness.”
Dan grinned and Fenn, who was busy peeling potatoes, said, “I don’t really have the time to look at you, and I can’t really be bothered enough to ask if anything’s wrong. I mean, clearly something is because you’re flatly being bizarre.”
“It’s just… Well, listen,” Dan said.
“I’m listening,” Fenn said. “I’m just not looking at you. I can’t bleed into the potatoes because of the trials of Dan Malloy.”
“I… uh, I was talking to Keith. He was talking to me, really. About the love of his life.”
“Love of his life?” Fenn said in a faint voice that was more concerned with potatoes.
“Yes. I… He was talking about how he would never be with him, and how it would work out and… I don’t know how it made me feel.”
“Did it make you feel like you should be the love of his life?”
And then when Dan said nothing, Fenn put down the knife and looked at him.
“Dan?” Fenn said, sharply.
“It made me feel like he can have a love of his life.”
Fenn said nothing. He went back to the potatoes, resituating the large bowl closer to him.
“Well, you had a love of your life once, too.”
Neither one of them said anything for a long time.
“When I was twenty,” Dan said, “I felt like I needed to be a priest.”
“And now, twenty-seven years later you don’t want to be anymore.”
“That’s not quite true.”
“It is,” Fenn said unrelentingly. “It is a little.”
“I want to… be intimate.”
“You always had a difficult time with straight talk.”
“You want me to be crude?”
“It’s a day before Christmas and you’re upset because you want to fuck, and you can’t.”
“That is so crude.”
“But is it true?”
“I’m not you.”
“What the hell is that supposed to mean?”
“Just…” Dan began, suddenly regretting his outburst. “I only meant that… Well, I don’t want simply sex.”
“Simply sex is exactly what you want,” Fenn said. “And in case you haven’t noticed it, this house, a husband and two kids sort of points to the fact that I do actually have more that simply sex.”
“I’m sorry,” Dan said. “You’re right. “I’m sorry. I didn’t mean to offend.”
“You weren’t being offensive. You were being stupid. Clapping yourself on the back for being a good boy when you’re really not that good after all.”
Fenn said all this simply, without a change in tone, and not even turning his eyes from the potatoes he peeled.
“What if people just admitted what they wanted?” Fenn continued. “The curse of Christianity is people pretending they’re far better than they are, talking about ‘I don’t want sex. That’s so shallow.’ When what they really mean is, ‘I shouldn’t want sex.’ And why shouldn’t they?”
Dan didn’t say anything and Fenn said, “I’m sure the reason you come to sit around my table is because you know I will say things no one else will.”
“I’ve talked to Frank Slaughter.”
“Bryant’s uncle?”
“Yes. I’ve talked to him about my feelings.”
“And…”
“I said I feel old. I feel… I don’t know how I feel.”
“I think it’s much less complicated.”
Fenn dropped the potato in a new bowl of water.
“I’ve known you for thirty years, and your life has always been this drama out of a saints’ book. Everything that happens to you is so epic. You’re so different from everyone else.”
“That’s not true.”
“But it is,” Fenn said. “And the truth is you’re confused about something which is very simple. If you were a secretary or a school teacher and you wanted to switch jobs, well, then, it would be simple. But you’re a priest… who no longer wants to be a priest. So you’ve made it hard.”


“You need another drink, my friend,” Dan said, pouring bourbon into the tumbler.
Keith McDonald looked around the old rectory of Saint Barbara’s.
“I miss this place,” he said. “I’m becoming more and more convinced I didn’t know what the hell I was doing when I left the Catholic Church.”
“You were following your heart,” Dan said, loftily, his drink lifted a little.
“I was following Casey and now Casey is gone.”
Dan’s face changed. He made a low noise.
“He finally found someone who would put up with his craziness.”
“Who?” Dan sounded like an owl.
“I don’t know,” Keith said. “He won’t say. But he has found someone that’s okay with him doing what he does, doing porn, having… escorts, I guess you call em.”
Dan took a deep long breath.
“What?”
“But, you would have been okay with it.”
“I tried to be,” Keith admitted. “I thought I might be.
“When I came back to town, I was ready to make another go of it,” Keith confessed. “I was going to try. And then he does this.”
Dan watched him for a long time. Dan said nothing. He had been drinking too much, he knew.
“I regretted being a priest today,” Dan said.
Keith nodded.
“I told Fenn Houghton I regretted it. I regretted being… celibate. Sometimes I think I’ll die… I think there’s no point. If I never… If I’m never with a man again.”
“They ought to have something,” Keith said. “Like… the opposite of nuns. Or monks. People who just give their bodies to you. When you wish for it. When you want it.”
Neither one of them said anything for a long time and then Dan said, “I can’t believe I just said what I said.”
“I can’t believe what I said,” Keith said. He yawned. “I need to go to bed. I’m so tired. A little drunk. Not too drunk to drive.”
“I’ll drive you,” Dan began to stand up.
“No,” Keith shook his head. “You’re even more plowed than me. It’s only a few minutes to my house.”

 

[CharmedFan28]

Great portion! Looks like Sheridan is learning that porn isn't as glamorous as he thought it was. I feel sad for Dan that he feels he has missed out on a lot in life. I hope he can remedy that. Excellent writing and I look forward to more soon! I hope you're having a great week!

 

[ChrisGibson]

Oh, thank you. It's Thanksgiving week in the States and I'm having a lovely time, though I've got a bit of a late autumn cough.I think things which were starting to bother Dan in the last book are finally coming to the fore in this one, and we'll just have to see what course of action he takes. Sheridan, in the early part of his life, finding out what porn really is, seems to sort of be in the very opposite place.

 

[ChrisGibson]

SEVEN

CHRISTMAS CONTINUED

Sitting on his bed, Keith McDonald frowned. He folded his hands together and perched his chin on his praying fist and then he sat up, reached into his back pocket and pulled out the card Casey had given him. There was his number. He reached for the old rotary phone, which was charming and irritating all at the same time, and began turning out the phone number, whistling a little tune to himself and tapping his foot.


THE WEEK OF CHRISTMAS was his first full week of work. It was more than ass water. Ass water didn’t happen all of the time. The job was decorating the rooms and learning lighting. It was answering phone calls as Sheridan remembered that Casey ran an escort service. He was not allowed on the computers to do editing. That was Chay’s job. And Chay edited the blogs.
“Blogs?”
Chay nodded.
“A lot of guys who get on Casey’s site like to feel close to their stars. And a lot of porn stars keep blogs. And then there’s also this sort of ongoing commentary under the porns by the people who watch them.”
“Are you serious?”
“Yes,” Chay said with not an entirely raised eyebrow. “Watching porn is like Lifetime movies for some men. Honestly, I know you’re supposed to be out and proud and all that but really, if you can hang it, I would just say stay in. I would say stay away from men. They’re all so fucking confused.”
Sheridan tried to laugh it off. But he felt fucking confused.
“How’s Shelley?”
Why’d he have to say that?
“I haven’t actually seen her,” Sheridan admitted. “Not this week. Not since the night Robin died.”
“Did you stay with her that night?”
“I stayed a little bit,” Sheridan said. He didn’t want to talk about that. He said, “This place is so incompatible with talking about me and Shelley.”
“It’s a lot of guys who come here, sit around on the second floor smoking and drinking—drinking water or sports drinks—and talking about their girlfriends.” Chay chuckled. “And then they fuck each other. But you can tell by the looks on peoples’ faces there’s a line drawn. All the guys here who are definitely gay get a little ticked off with the guys who are talking about being bi. Logan won’t get with any of them but to fuck them. Then he does it as hard as possible.”
“Guys!” Logan was coming down the steps.
They looked up, and speak of the devil there was Logan Banford.
“How would you all like to go to a nice restaurant tonight, one that’s not on the Dorr Strip, but a real decent one out on Tangerine or some shit like that?”
Chay looked at him and said, “What for?”
“Why?” Logan said in a chipper voice. “Because we like you.”
And then he resumed, “And… because Old Dude over here,” he touched Sheridan on the shoulder, “has been cleaning ass water and being a house bitch for the better part of the week, and its Christmas Eve. Also, because tonight I got a job that’s going to PAY—ME—WELL!”
“Do you need us to go with you?” Chay said.
“Naw, Short Man, I’m safe. He’s a minister or something. But,” Logan put a finger to his lips and grinned mawkishly, “we mustn’t give away people’s secrets.”

To the east, where city grew scarce ran Tangerine Trail and Main. There were already two Main streets in Rossford, but this Main belonged to Willmington. Once Tangerine had cut through farmland; now on either side of it were all the shops that mattered, the Barnes and Noble, the luxury hotels where travelers came to stay, the Hospital that “was too far away from the city to help people who needed it,” Logan noted, and the Target and the Wal Mart and the Meijers and the Menards and the fancy restaurants. There was the Bed Bath and Beyond and the hull of the old Linens and Things which was folding over.
“Linens and Things… Things. See,” Logan noted, “they weren’t specific enough. That’s why they’re closing.”
He was in a bright mood, and he took them to the Seafood Shack. He had suggested the Steakhouse at first, but Chay insisted on fish.
The waitress brought them waters and asked what they wanted to drink. Logan said a pitcher of beer for himself and lemonade for Chay. There was no way to pass Chay off as twenty-one. He was so gracious with the waitress, flirting with her. She was halfway in love, and when Sheridan said it Logan grinned and told him, “I think I’m halfway in love with her too. And her sweet little ass.”
He blinked at Sheridan, “I love women, man. My mom’s a woman.”
Sheridan felt himself on the verge of asking something stupid. So he did.
“Do you… I mean, do you consider youself straight?”
“Do you consider yourself straight?” Logan mimicked in what would have been a mean tone if he wasn’t grinning.
“Shit’s not simple like that,” Logan said in a conspiratorial tone. “And you know it.”
He murmured more to himself than anyone else. “Anyone can stick his dick and a chick. But… to love women… Man, if this world only had dudes it would be a sad place. A sad place where everyone was terrified.”

First came the basket of steaming garlic biscuits, crusty and flaky, greasy on the fingers, and then the soups and the salads. Outside, while cars rolled by on Main, a light snow was falling, and when Chay got up to use the restroom after finishing his beer, Logan looked after the boy and said, “That’s the end of his drinking. He gets… one beer.”
“What about me?” Sheridan said. He felt like he was flirting.
“You’re a big boy, Sheridan. You can have what you want.”
Sheridan blinked, and his face went red.
“What made you ask Casey for a job?”
“I don’t know.”
“At a gay porn studio? For an escort service?”
“I…” Sheridan began. “Curious, I guess.”
“Chay told me you kissed him once.”
“A long time ago,” Sheridan said. “I’m straight, you know?”
“I know,” Logan said, beneficently. “I just don’t know why.”
That sounded so strange. Usually people had to justify the other way around.
“I mean, it’s not like you’re some lonely kid who doesn’t know anything about… well, the other side. So it’s sort of confusing, you see, that you… fuck all these girls? Right?”
“Well, you fuck all these guys, right?”
“But I like it,” Logan said.
“You do? You like it all the time?” Sheridan said. “You fuck the straight guys and you do it hard as possible cause you hate them? And you like all the guys you… do stuff for when you’re working?”
“Hey,” Logan said, putting a mellow hand up.
Sheridan looked around. He hadn’t realized how he’d risen out of his chair, or how his voice had risen. But there was lots of noise around him, anyway. So it hardly mattered.
“You got a point,” Logan said. “And just for the record, that last part…. When I’m working as an escort, that’s one thing. I’ve laid off of the whole hatefucking thing. I really don’t like myself when I do that. It just makes everything so bitter. It makes the videos violent too. It just… it sends out a lot of bad karma. If I don’t like a guy, we don’t do stuff together. I know it’s hard to believe but you can still make love—in a way—when you’re on camera with a guy who is just your work buddy. There’s affection in it. And there’s respect too. It’s complicated.”
Chay was coming back from the bathroom. He had on a deep yellow tee shirt and the bomber jacked Noah had bought him last Christmas was halfway hanging off his shoulders. His chocolate colored hair was tousled, and Sheridan wanted to brush it out of the way, the way he would do if they were alone.
Now he realized that Logan was looking at him looking at Chay, and Sheridan reddened.
“Shit’s complicated,” he mumbled to Logan.


When the knock at the door came, Keith’s heart trembled. It was knocking hard at his chest and his foot was doing that tapping thing. He put down the rosary, looked around his room and then left. He came down the hall, trying to be quick, but not before another knock came. And then he opened the door.
There he stood, tall, despite the cold, his jacket off so you could see his chest through his wife beater and the fine muscles of his tattooed arms. He had bright blue eyes, a wicked smile and a baseball cap turned backward as he chewed on his gum.
“You’re Keith?” he said, coming into the little house while Keith shut the door behind him.
“Yeah,” Keith said, nervously.
“I think I remember you. I remember you from a while ago. You still look good, man. I’m Logan.”
Keith thought he should be less nervous. After all, he used to do stuff like this all the time.
“Well… great,” Keith McDonald said.
“Yeah,” Logan agreed, slipping his jacket on the floor. “I don’t usually get to mix business with pleasure.”


Ten minutes later, Logan Banford’s jeans were around his ankles, his underwear around his knees, his tee shirt and jacket on the floor. Both men fucked with mouths open and eyes closed. Sweat ran down Logan’s back and beaded on his brow while he planted the bases of his hands against the coffee table. Keith McDonald’s black hair stood up on end as he gripped Logan’s hips and fucked him like a piston.


The lights in the church dimmed, and Meredith’s voice came from the choir loft, high and sweet.

Silent as a snowflake in the night
Holy is the spirit of this night
All the world is bright and peaceful
All the world is calm and joyful.
Spirit of love
And child of peace
Love unending
Which shall not cease
Peace my children
Of good will
Peace my children peace be still

On his lap, Dylan squirmed and put his arms around Fenn’s neck, half asleep. Sprawled out across Todd and Tara was Maia, her feet on her mother, her head on Todd’s lap.
Fenn looked about. Next to him, Tom was touch, touch, tapping Dylan’s head, lightly and Lee was whispering something to Danasia.
Fenn felt a tap on his back, and he turned to see Paul, a broad smile on his face.
“We’re all here,” said Paul. “Well, almost all of us. We’re all here.”
“Look,” Kirk pointed.
Through the church doors came Will, with Layla beside him. They were not touching, but they came down the aisle together, Layla looking around as the choir started singing:

The angel Gabriel
From heaven came
His wings as drifted snow
His eyes as flame
“All hail,” said he, “thou
lowly maiden Mary,
Most highly favored lady,”
Glo-oooria!

Fenn watched while Layla and Will came up the aisle and settled down in the row before them, with Adele and Simon who were sitting by Nell and Bill.
“Todd, get Nell,” Fenn said.
Todd tapped his sister and his sister turned around.
“Tell her to get Layla.”
Todd whispered this. Nell tapped Bill, Bill tapped Justin, Justin tapped Adele and finally Adele touched Will, who touched Layla.
“Fenn?”
“When are you going to start holding that boy’s hand?” her uncle demanded.
Behind him Paul laughed.
“Everyone knows you’re together. When are you going to make it official?”
Layla frowned at her uncle, and then she sighed and said, “Well, I guess you just made it official, didn’t you?”

 

[CharmedFan28]

That was interesting to hear Logan's perspective on his work and life. He seems like a good guy. I am glad Layla and Will are official again. After this portion I am questioning Sheridan being completely straight. It will be interesting to read what happens with him in the future. Great writing and I look forward to more soon! Have a great Thanksgiving!

 

[ChrisGibson]

thank you for your holiday wishes! Each of the characters who has been in sex work is really different from the other because I didn't want there to be one pornstar who stood for all of porn and Logan is different from all of them. He's one of my favorite characters. Sheridan, on the other hand, is someone with layers and layers and we're getting ready to see some more!

 

[ChrisGibson]

CHAPTER SEVEN
CHRISTMAS
CONTINUED

The bells began ringing. First gently, and then more insistently, jangling. The lights of Saint Barbara were flipped on, section by section, until the altar and the gleaming candlesticks and the white cloth and the red carnations and the figures of the crèche were all illumined.
“Wake up,” Fenn whispered to Dylan. “It’s here.”
Dylan knuckled his eyes, and shaking his head he said, “I wasn’t asleep.”
“I know.” Fenn told him, lifting the boy off his lap and standing him on his feet while he dusted off his little suit.

The trumpets blared and programs ruffled. A thrill ran through the old church as everyone gathered their voices to sing:

OH COME, ALL YE FAITHFUL…

While they sang, James Lewis, who was managing the lights, stood with his program, more watching than singing while the procession, led by a little girl carrying the Christ Child entered Saint Barbara’s from the vestibule. Beside him sat Noah, with Claire and Julian Lawden.
“You guys go and get a seat,” he told them while the singing children in white entered. “I’m going to join everyone soon enough, anyway.”
“Well, we’ll join them when you join them,” Claire said.
Noah’s head moved around Claire to Julian.
“Is it just me or is she really, really watching me lately?” Noah whispered. “I feel like I’m on deathwatch.”

Come and behold him
Born the king of angels
Oh come let us adore him
Oh come let us adore him…

“You’ve been looking a little preoccupied, my friend,” Julian told him.
“See?” said Claire.
“It’s Chay is all.”
“He’s a kid,” Claire shrugged it off. “Just being a kid.”
“I think he’s a kid in trouble, and I don’t know what kind of trouble,” Noah said.
Claire didn’t say anything. Julian touched her hand.
“We had teenage years where we were just being kids. Noah’s just being a kid was different.”
“That’s right,” Noah said, looking at Julian with appreciation. “My mind is filled with all the things that can go wrong. Especially being with Casey.”
At the altar Dan said: “Merry Christmas, everyone. Let us begin this midnight Mass in the name of the Father, the Son and the Holy Spirit…”
Unconsciously, they all crossed themselves while speaking, and Claire continued, “Casey and those guys are the safest people to be with. They won’t let anything bad happen to him. They’re like you.”
“I know,” Noah said.
“No, that’s not what I meant,” Claire said. “I mean, when I met you, you were so protective and good because… you hadn’t been protected, and you’d seen so much badness. You were a little guardian angel.”
“Little?”
“Well, you are little,” Julian noted.
“You’re both missing my point,” Claire said. “My point is nothing bad’s going to happen to him with those guys.”
It was Nell Reardon—no, Nell Affren, who stood up to do the first reading. They were quiet while they listened to the clicking of her heels. The whole church was so still and so peaceful, and Claire thought that everything would be alright. The baby under her heart would be alright.

“The people who talked in darkness
have seen a great light,
upon those who dwell in the land of
gloom
a light has shone
you have brought them abundant joy
and great rejoicing
as they rejoice before you at the
harvest
as people make merry when dividing spoils
For the yoke that burdened them,
The pole on their shoulder,
And the rod of the taskmaster
You have smashed as in the day of Midian…

“You ought to talk to Casey,” Claire whispered. “He is an old friend. If something troubles you, then you ought to just go to him.”

“The word of the Lord,” Nell declared.
And the congregation rumbled: “Thanks be to God.”
As the organ started up above them, Noah’s face went quiet, and then he looked peaceful. He said:
“Yes… Thank you, Claire.”


When Mass was over, Fenn handed Dylan over to Tom and moved out of his seat to find his niece.
“Come with me.”
Layla thought about asking if it could wait, but Fenn had never brooked waiting, and suddenly Paul and Kirk were behind him, looking eager.
“Right now?” she said, looking at Will.
“Bring him too,” Fenn said non-chalantly. “But we have to go. Now.”
“Well, alright then.” Layla looked back at her mother, but Adele shrugged.
“We can take Todd’s car,” Fenn told her.

Todd drove. Neither Fenn nor Layla were used to cars. About them the streets which had been clear earlier were now white with blowing snow. Behind them traveled Paul and Kirk and Layla said, “Are we going home with them?”
“Well, sort of,” Fenn allowed.
Sure enough, five minutes driving brought them to the white house where Paul lived with Kirk, but the car moved on. It stopped in front of the unlit, seemingly empty house next door, and Fenn said, “Here we are.”
They climbed out of the car, Will coming out first and then rounding it to open the door of the Jeep for Layla. The two of them began heading toward Paul and Kirk’s house, but Paul said, “Nope. Nope.”
“Come on,” Fenn said a little impatiently. He was already going up the walk.
“What are you…?” Layla began.
And then Fenn put his key in the door, and to Layla’s surprise, he opened it.
“What the…?” she began.
But as she joined her uncle, and Todd walked in flipping on the light, Fenn said, “Merry Christmas? Will this be alright? You think?”
She looked at him. She looked to Will, and to Todd, and as she stepped into the house, peering around the walls in disbelief, she looked at Kirk and Paul who were entering the house.
“Are you serious?” she began, breathlessly. “Are you… for real?”
“What kind of uncle would I be if I didn’t do what I could for my niece?”
“Oh, Fenn…” Layla said, not looking at him, but touching his cheek. “Fenn.”
“We’ve been putting a little furniture in it,” Todd said. “Not a lot. That’s your job. Just enough so that… if you want to hang out here, you can. And it’s not a big house or anything. It’s just.”
Layla nodded her head. Her eyes were wide, and she didn’t trust herself to say anything.
“You should have something of your own,” her uncle said, simply.
“I think,” Kirk said, rising on the balls of his feet, and pressing his fist into his palm, “we should all go and let Layla enjoy her new home.”
“I’ll drive her back,” Will volunteered when Todd opened his mouth.
Smiling at Will and ushering Todd out, Fenn said, “That is a wonderful idea, William.”
Fenn kissed his dazzled niece on the cheek.
“Merry Christmas,” he said. “Don’t be late for dinner tomorrow. And, goodnight.”
And then they were gone.
Layla stood there, and then she looked at Will.
“We could… make coffee or… something,” Layla shook her head, trying to shake herself awake.
“Stay up all night?”
“In my house,” Layla said. Then she repeated. “In my house!”


As they were leaving church, Sheridan said, “And are you going to Casey’s?”
Chay looked at him.
“I don’t think Dad would like that. Either one of them. Noah’s getting really uneasy about everything.”
Sheridan nodded.
“Well, I’m a little uneasy myself,” he said.
“I can’t even believe you just said that,” Chay shook his head and chuckled. “Do you have any idea what you sounded like when you said that?”
“Come back with me. Stay the night,” Sheridan said. “Like when we were kids.”
“Alright,” Chay said. “Cool. Let me tell my folks.”
Sheridan waited while Chay threaded his way through the church, and Meredith came up to him, hugging him from the side.
“Merry Christmas, Sheridan.”
“Yeah, right? Can you believe it? With everything.”
“I’m going to the Netteson’s tomorrow,” Meredith began. Then, at the look on Sheridan’s face, she said, “Relax. I wasn’t trying to get you to come along. I was just saying.”
“That’s good of you, Meredith,” Sheridan said. “You’re a lot better than the rest of us.”
“I hate it when you make fun of me,” she said, though she smiled a little.
“No, Mare. No one’s making fun of you.”
Chay came back, his hair bouncing over the collar of his black suit.
“Alright. Let’s go.”
“Go where?”
“Slumber party. Boys night,” Chay said. “But it can be girls if you come along?”
“No,” Meredith shook her head and yawned. “It’s well past one. You all do… something guys night for me. I’ll see you tomorrow.”
“Merry Christmas, Mare,” Sheridan said after her, and then he looked at Chay and said, “Well, let’s go.”


Will was blinking, and his hair stood on end. He massaged his scalp and Layla yawned too, saying, “It’s time to call it a night.”
She got up and crossed the empty room to turn off the tinny little stereo Will had brought over. Their used coffee cups were on the floor along with a plate of cookies, and Will looked up and said:
“So now?”
“Now what?”
“What do we do?”
Layla looked down at Will, wonderingly. And then she sat on the little sofa, leaned across it, caught his face in her hands and kissed him.
“Now,” she said, “you take off your clothes.”
He blinked, coming back to life.
“Take off your clothes,” she said, already fidgeting with her gown, “and then you can help me take off mine. And we can christen this little house.”

THERE WILL BE A FRIDAY PORTION THIS WEEK

 

[CharmedFan28]

Great portion, I did not expect you to post because of Thanksgiving so it was a good surprise! Fenn is so generous! I am glad Layla and Will now have their own place. Noah is going to hit the roof when he finds out what Chay has been up to with Casey. It's going to be interesting to read what happens next. Great writing and I look forward to more! Hope you had a good Thanksgiving.

 

[ChrisGibson]

I had a great Thanksgiving, and realized there was really no reason NOT to post tonight, but a double post wouldn't be happening. Fenn has a heart of gold, and don't forget all that money from ten years ago. Dylan's his kid, true, but Layla was the closest thing he had to a daughter for years and he wants her to have her life. Noah will be aghast, but there is so much that is about to happen even before this chapter is over. There is so much that's going to happen tomorrow night!

 

[ChrisGibson]

CONCLUSION OF CHAPTER SEVEN

As they were leaving church, Sheridan said, “And are you going to Casey’s?”
Chay looked at him.
“I don’t think Dad would like that. Either one of them. Noah’s getting really uneasy about everything.”
Sheridan nodded.
“Well, I’m a little uneasy myself,” he said.
“I can’t even believe you just said that,” Chay shook his head and chuckled. “Do you have any idea what you sounded like when you said that?”
“Come back with me. Stay the night,” Sheridan said. “Like when we were kids.”
“Alright,” Chay said. “Cool. Let me tell my folks.”
Sheridan waited while Chay threaded his way through the church, and Meredith came up to him, hugging him from the side.
“Merry Christmas, Sheridan.”
“Yeah, right? Can you believe it? With everything.”
“I’m going to the Netteson’s tomorrow,” Meredith began. Then, at the look on Sheridan’s face, she said, “Relax. I wasn’t trying to get you to come along. I was just saying.”
“That’s good of you, Meredith,” Sheridan said. “You’re a lot better than the rest of us.”
“I hate it when you make fun of me,” she said, though she smiled a little.
“No, Mare. No one’s making fun of you.”
Chay came back, his hair bouncing over the collar of his black suit.
“Alright. Let’s go.”
“Go where?”
“Slumber party. Boys night,” Chay said. “But it can be girls if you come along?”
“No,” Meredith shook her head and yawned. “It’s well past one. You all do… something guys night for me. I’ll see you tomorrow.”
“Merry Christmas, Mare,” Sheridan said after her, and then he looked at Chay and said, “Well, let’s go.”


Will was blinking, and his hair stood on end. He massaged his scalp and Layla yawned too, saying, “It’s time to call it a night.”
She got up and crossed the empty room to turn off the tinny little stereo Will had brought over. Their used coffee cups were on the floor along with a plate of cookies, and Will looked up and said:
“So now?”
“Now what?”
“What do we do?”
Layla looked down at Will, wonderingly. And then she sat on the little sofa, leaned across it, caught his face in her hands and kissed him.
“Now,” she said, “you take off your clothes.”
He blinked, coming back to life.
“Take off your clothes,” she said, already fidgeting with her gown, “and then you can help me take off mine. And we can christen this little house.”


Sheridan yawned, and then he turned out the light and lay out on the floor.
“I’ll take the pallet,” Chay said. “Then you can have the bed.”
“Don’t be silly,” Sheridan’s voice came from the floor.
“I invited you here. Why would you come to my house and then sleep on the floor.”
They were quiet a long time and then Sheridan said, “This is like the old days, you know?”
“Yeah,” Chay agreed.
“I’m glad Meredith didn’t come. I love Meredith, but… I’m glad it’s just us.”
“I invited her because she’s a friend,” Chay said. “I wanted it this way too. I think she knew that. She’s no dummy.”
There was a shifting on the ground and then Sheridan said, “Did I tell you I did what Robin asked me to do?”
“No.”
“I did it. I did it, and then she got up and killed herself. The night I came to tell you I found you with him. Casey. So I went to Shelley’s. But it wasn’t like you and Casey.”
“You watched?” Chay’s voice changed.
“Yeah. I came in the house. I saw. It wasn’t like me and Shell. I… kept trying to be with her, after I did it with Robin. I couldn’t even get it up. But then that night I went back to her, and it was just quick and hard and, you know, I came. I came real hard, but I knew it wasn’t what I wanted. I knew it never was.”
Chay sat in bed feeling cold and a little exposed. He didn’t know what to say.
“I’m so confused,” Sheridan lamented in the dark. “I’m so fucking confused, and I don’t know what I’m doing.
“I… I go to Casey to threaten him. To threaten him for being with you. But… what I end up doing is making him give me a job. Cause I’m alive when I’m there. I’m on fire and… a lot of the time I’m cold.”
“With Robin?”
“It was awful. And now she’s dead. And… I don’t want to talk about it.”
“What about with Shelley?”
Sheridan didn’t say anything.
“Sher?” Chay said.
“I’m thinking about it.”
“No, that’s not it.” Chay put his hand out from the bed. “Touch my hand.”
Sheridan’s hand was in his. It was larger. But it was long and thin and his grip wasn’t as strong as Chay imagined it would be.
“Don’t be on the floor. That’s stupid,” Chay said.
After a moment, Sheridan clambered onto the bed and he said: “I’m the one who’s supposed to protect you.”
“Well who made up that rule?”
Sheridan chuckled a little and said, “I think it was me.”
“You’re shaking.”
“Because I’m nervous.”
“Of me.”
“No,” Sheridan shook his head in the night. “Me. What I want. I want to be held.”
Chay’s arms went around him.
“No,” Sheridan said, weakly. “It’s no good. It’s not right.”
Chay didn’t say anything.
Sheridan’s eyes had been open in the darkness. He shut them tight now and pressed his back into Chay’s chest, feeling the other boy’s small arms tighten around him. It was like when he’d seen him with Casey, when Casey was giving himself. Sheridan had never given himself, not really. He couldn’t have this with Shelley.
He turned around slowly and Chay’s mouth was waiting for him. He kissed him for as long as his mind would let him, and then he said, “We have to stop.”
“Why?” Chay sounded like an irritated child, just asked to wake up.
“Why?” he said. “You did that to me before.”
“I know, I know,” Sheridan said, “And it was bullshit. I said it was a gift to you and that was bullshit.”
Chay kissed him this time, and Sheridan moaned, putting his hands into Chay’s hair, pressing his body against him.
“Mom and Dad would be so mad if they knew we were doing this,” Sheridan worried. It made Chay want to laugh, but only a little.
“I don’t wanna use you,” Sheridan said, his breath catching as he undressed Chay, as he struggled to pull off his pajama pants. “I don’t… I don’t want to ever hurt you.”
His heart was pumping so hard he thought it might explode and his mouth was all over Chay.
“I’m so sorry. I don’t want to…”
Sheridan pressed hard against Chay, ans moaned at the feel of Chay’s mouth on his throat.
“Oh… God. Oh, shit!” Sheridan murmured. His dick was so hard. Chay’s mouth was traveling down his throat, to his sternum. He didn’t dare ask, but he wanted his dick sucked so badly. He pushed his groin against Chay more and more fiercely.
“God!” his breath caught as Chay went down on him.
For a long time Chay was there and Sheridan’s neck arched up, his eyes open, his fist clenched on the pillow, breathing heavily.
Chay stopped. They were both quiet. Sheridan’s breath steadied, but he wanted Chay’s mouth on him again. Chay’s head lay on his stomach.
“I’m so tired,” Chay said, at last, his hand making Sheridan moan with pleasure as it caressed the other boy’s scrotum, “of people trying not to hurt me.”


The organ music moved through the church, and above them the bells were ringing vigorously. Below the choir loft, Saint Agatha’s was bustling with Christmas well wishers. Chad stood beside the organ while Sean played on, and as the members of the choir dispersed in their red and white robes, suddenly Sean began to leer at Chad while he played the organ. A huge grin like the devil’s stretched across his face.
“What?” Chad mouthed.
But Sean played on and on, smiling.
When he was done, he rose up and came to Chad.
“What?” Chad repeated while the church bells rang.
“What do you mean ‘what’?” Sean said.
“I mean… the way you’re looking at me.”
“It’s Christmas. Bryant’s still at Saint Barbara’s. He’s probably going to his friend Fenn’s house.”
“Right?” Chad said. “And I’m going to join him.”
“Don’t join him yet. Come back with me.”
Below them, though it was one in the morning, though darkness blackened the windows of the church, noise still filled the nave.
“I’m not.”
“Come back with me,” Sean whispered. “And go to bed with me.”
Now Chad stood up, frowning.
“I wish you’d stop that.”
“Why?”
“Whaddo you mean, why?”
“I wish… you know why!” Chad said, frantically. He moved away from him. He grabbed his coat.
“I try to be your friend. I try to just be in a room with you,” Chad said, hastily putting on his coat. “I try, but you won’t let me.”
His gloves were in his hand. His scarf was undone. But he was afraid, and he moved down the steps in a hurry, taking the turret stairs as quick as possible, a little afraid of tripping as he went in circles.
He came into the nave, but went out on of the side doors to avoid the crowd. He turned around the church and walked along its side. Across the street the houses were silent and dark in the night, and Chad wondered how safe he was. He went through the chain link into the parking lot that was more empty than he thought it should be, and went to unlock the doors. He was shutting the door when he heard his name.
“Chad!”
He was startled, but he knew it was Sean. He didn’t want to wait. He just turned on the car and shut the door, adjusting the heat and the seat, turning on the radio and searching for a station.
Sean was at the window, thumping on it, and then he opened the door, and climbed in.
“Why are you doing this?” Chad demanded.
“Why are you doing what you’re doing?” Sean flung back at him. “Why are you pretending you don’t want to be with me? Why—? You know what? Fuck it.”
He turned away from Chad a moment while Chad looked at him, and then Sean turned back and said: “It’s wrong of me. I know. To do what I do to you. To come on so strong. I don’t mean it. I don’t mean to be a predator. I don’t mean to make you afraid.”
“I’m not afraid.”
“You are. You are now. Of me. And of you, and what we might do.”
“I’m not.”
“Look,” Sean caught his hand. “Just… look at me.”
Chad turned, and he looked at him.
“I… I know you love Bryant. I don’t want you to leave him. But… I know you love me too. Don’t you?”
Chad didn’t say anything.
Sean said, “It’s alright. I understand. Don’t answer. Only…” he held his hand firmly. “I just want to be with you. Just tonight. Alright. I feel like I’ll die if I’m not with you tonight.”
Chad got ready to say, “You will not die,” but instead what he said was, “I know.”
Sean looked at him.
Chad repeated: “I know.”
Sean’s hand was going to Chad’s leg, but he pulled it back. He sat beside him, looking at him with a face full of light.
“Can we go back to my place?” Sean said. “It’s just for tonight, if that’s how you want it. But I know you want it. I know…” Sean started over. “I know it’s not cause I’m so great. But we were great. When we were together and… I’m not in lust. I mean, I am, but there’s more. I love you, Chad. I can’t… I can’t think about not being with you again. That’s the truth. I can’t be happy knowing we can’t… sleep together again. I…
“Can we go back to my place?”
Chad’s face was red, and heat prickles were all over it. He didn’t look at him. He just said: “Yes.”

CHRISTMAS MORNING, CHAY LAY in the bed and watched Sheridan dress. He’d been awake for some time. It was the best waking because Sheridan’s body had been pressed into his, his head in the crook of Sheridan’s neck. He didn’t wake him. He let him stir, and then he watched him dress, first the white briefs, then the undershirt. But when he fumbled around and pulled on his dress pants from the night before, Chay said, “Sheridan?”
Sheridan turned to him.
“Hey…”
“Why are you getting dressed?”
“You gotta get dressed too,” Sheridan said, trying to sound pleasant.
“Why?”
“I have to take you home.”
Chay sat on the bed, confused. Sheridan shook his head rapidly as he approached.
“Look, I knew I would do the wrong thing. I knew one day I would,” he said, shaking his head.
“What are you talking about?”
“You gotta go,” Sheridan said. “I gotta take you home and—”
“Last night—”
Sheridan put his hand quickly over Chay’s mouth.
“It never happened,” Sheridan said.
“I was lonely. I was afraid. I was an emotional wreck. It should have never happened.”
Chay opened his mouth, but Sheridan put a hand over it and said, “Now get dressed. And let’s go.”

There was a knock on the door.
There was another knock.
“We should get it,” Will said.
Beside him in the little bed, Layla said, “No, we shouldn’t. And who in the world would know we’re here?”
The knock came again.
“Damnit,” Layla said, rolling around.
“Don’t worry,” Will took his arm from around her and prepared to climb out of bed.
“I got it.”
He climbed out of the bed naked and pulled on trousers and a tee shirt, sweeping his hair out of the way and coming out of the little bedroom where they had spent the night. Will opened the door without looking through the peephole.
A moment later, he shouted back, “Layla! It’s Chad.”
She had already struggled into her clothing sans bra, and entered the living room, yawning and pulling her hands through hair that stuck up in the morning.
“I’ve been… I called Claire to find out where you all were.”
“Why?” Layla said. “Did something happen to you?”
“Yes,” Chad said at last.
Layla looked to Will.
Will said, “Should I get coffee? Do we need to sit down?”
Numbly, Chad nodded his head.
“Sitting down would be a good idea.”

 

[CharmedFan28]

You were right that was an eventful conclusion to the chapter! I thought something might happen between Chay and Sheridan and I was right! I am even more curious now to read what happens next between them. I wonder what Chad's news is. I am guessing it's something involving Sean. Great writing and I look forward to reading whatever happens next!

 

[ChrisGibson]

Oh, so much has happened, but so much more is about to happen. Some of you it you may have guessed. Other parts you can't even imagine!

 

[ChrisGibson]

PART
THREE

DAWN



EIGHT


THE ONLY WAY TO KEEP
FROM GOING CRAZY


“SO YOU’RE LIVING WITH WILL?”
“I’m not living with Will,” Layla explained, unconvincingly. “I’m living in the house, and Will’s living in the house. It didn’t make any sense for him to keep living with his parents. So he’s more like my roommate.”
“Kenny’s my roommate,” Brendan announced, grinning and jerking a thumb at his boyfriend.
Layla gave him an inscrutable look and Dena said, “So… your boyfriend… is your roommate?”
“Exactly.”
Radha opened her mouth, and then closed it.
“What?” Layla looked at her.
“Nothing,” said Radha. “And when do classes start?”
“They start tomorrow.”
“She’s going to class with me,” Brendan said.
“But not to the law school, cause I can’t do law.” Layla specified.
“I’d like to think we’re all doing law all the time,” Brendan said, pressing his fingertips together.
Milo looked at him.
“It’s what Professor Bartridge says,” Brendan explained.
“And what does it mean?”
“It means… ”
“Here he goes,” Layla murmured.
“It means that… we’re always making laws… In little and small ways…”
“If this is the best they can do in Valpo.” Milo said, “before I commit a crime I’m going to make sure I know a Notre Dame graduate.”
“Oh, that’s harsh,” Brendan said as the door opened and Will Klasko came in.
“Well, now we’re all here,” Kenny declared, getting up and helping Will with his coat.
“How’s life at the lab?”
“It’s life,” Will shrugged. “At the lab. You know.”
“Actually no,” Brendan said. “None of us does.”
“He works late nights,” Layla said. “So he’s coming into the house when I’m going to sleep. I went to visit once. They make them where rags on their heads and shit.”
“To keep our hair out of… all the chemicals.”
“Well, you’ve got some lovely locks going on,” Milo noted. “You’re looking pretty shaggy.”
“You’re going to talk about uncut hair?” Dena looked at her husband.
“No,” Milo corrected. “I’m going to talk about Will’s shaggy hair.”
“Is it too much?” he asked generally. But after he’d spoken, he looked directly at Layla, and sat down.
“I think it’s fine,” she said, only sparing him a glance, but her hand remained in his hair.
“That’s the way it should be,” Kenny said to Brendan, and Brendan nodded sagely before noticing the time.
“I gotta go. I’m going to be late.”
He looked at Layla, “In a few days you’re going to find out just what it means to be in a hurry for Valpo.”
There was a knock, but only a very precursory knock on the door, and then it opened and Chad North came into the house, startled by everyone.
“Ey, Chad,” Brendan said, breezily. “Sorry we missed you. Kenny, you ready?”
“Yeah,” Kenny said, waving at Chad. “See you later guys.”
“You know where the food is,” Layla told Chad. “Help yourself.”
Chad stood there a moment, and then nodded and as he headed in, Will said, “How’s Rossford City High School?”
“It’s pretty—” Chad made a noise and, smiling, Dena asked, “Did he say ‘blech’ or ‘bleh’?”
“Blech,” said Milo. “Definitely ‘Blech’.”
Radha lifted a finger. “I’m… going to help Chad,” she stood up.
“Maybe you should too,” she told Layla.
“What for? He’s just getting a sandwich.”
“He might need help getting the sandwich.”
“That’s silly. He—”
“Get up!” Radha said, and went to the kitchen.

Layla, considerably chastened, joined them in the kitchen where Radha was saying, “I don’t think Chad expected Dena and Milo to be here.”
Layla wised up and said, “Is there something you want to tell us?”
“Not now,” Chad said. “I want to work my way to it.”
Radha tossed her hair out of her way and crossed her arms over her breasts asking, “Is it about Sean?”
“Of course it’s about Sean,” Chad said, irritated.
“Well,” Layla decided. “I think its time to bring in the big guns. I think its time to call in Claire and Julian.” She looked at Radha. “Maybe Paul and Noah?”
“No!” Chad moaned.
“I’m calling my brother,” Layla said. “He and Claire should be here.”
Radha handed Layla her cell phone and Layla said, “Just go sit in the living room. Dena and Milo are about to leave anyway. By the time you’re ready to unburden yourself, they’ll be gone.”

“Oh, shit,” Claire Lawden said. She looked at her husband for confirmation and said, “This is an oh shit moment, right?”
“It kind of is,” Julian said, still staring
“I wish you wouldn’t look at me that way,” Chad said. “You all are supposed to be my friends.”
“Of course we’re your friends,” Julian said. “But…”
“But you think what I’m doing is wrong.”
“And you don’t?” Julian said.
There was a knock at the door. Layla muttered a curse and got up to answer it.
“It’s just that for so long I wanted to be with him. And then on Christmas I was. I was with him that whole night—”
Chad cut himself off as Paul came into the house.
“Is that my sister? That’s my sister. I thought I saw her car. My sister with the bun in the oven, and the baker who put it there.” He winked at Julian and came toward Claire.
“Paul, I love the hell out of you,” Claire began. “But—”
Paul looked around.
“I should come back, shouldn’t I?”
Chad looked deeply uncomfortable and Paul said, “I’ll come back.”
He was walking backward toward the door. “I’m leaving. I’m leaving.”
He opened the door and backed out. “I was never here…”
And then he closed the door.
Chad resumed: “That whole night we were together, and-”
The door flew open.
“AND NOW I’M GONE.”
Claire took off her shoe to throw it at him, but the door closed.
Chad remained quiet, waiting to see if Paul really was gone and then, finally he spoke in a rushed string of words.
“And then I was with Bryant on Christmas. And it was better than ever, and…”
“And so,” Claire said, dragging this out, “you are now, currently, fucking both of the Brothers Babcock?”
Chad looked at her wiltingly.
“Well, when you put it that way…”
“It’s really no other way to put it.” Radha noted, and the look between she and Claire spoke of old best friends.
“Sean knows,” Chad said. “He knows I won’t leave Bryant.”
“Does Bryant know you’re screwing his brother?” Layla said, darkly. “Not that I can feel too sorry for him. Given the history.”
“Maybe…” Chad began, choosing to ignore about fifty percent of what Layla had just said, “If I… told it to him, he would understand.”
“What man would understand it?” Julian said.
“But maybe he should.”
They all looked at Radha.
“Look, my grandfather had four wives. And Mark… his mother’s family was Mormon. It was either his great-grandfather or his great-great… But he had six. And he loved them all. And my grandfather and Matt’s…whatever, were very religious men. I think… I think maybe we try too much to put love in a box. And why should something be sacred and right just cause it’s the way we do it in America? And,” she said looking at Chad, “for that matter, why should gay men act like straight people? It’s ridiculous to think that only one person should always be your everything. Or that you can only love one person. Maybe there’s some sense to what Chad’s saying.”
Chad looked only a very little hopeful. Layla looked put out, and she said, “Would you let Mark bring home another woman?”
“Hell, no,” Radha said, and then she reached for a chip. “But I do make a good case.”
“If only Brendan was here,” Will said. “He could take a lesson.”
Then Julian said, “Ohhhh,” and they all looked at him.
“What?” Chad said, wishing to divert attention from his situation.
“I forgot.”
Julian touched Layla’s hand. “I got big news.”
“Bigger than Chad’s foray into polygamy?”
Chad gave her a fierce look that almost made her quail.
“Yes, actually,” Julian said while Layla raised an eyebrow.
“We’ve got another sister.”

 

[CharmedFan28]

A great start to the new chapter! Chad has got himself into quite the situation. I don't think Brian is going to understand about Sean but I guess I will have to wait and see what happens. So Julian and Layla have another sister! A lot going on in this story at the moment. Excellent writing and I look forward to the next portion!