Learning to Fly Chapter 16

Learning to Fly

A story by Jesse James (JesseJamesNiftyEmail@Gmail.com) © 2019

Disclaimer: This story, at points, involves sexual acts between minors. If this is illegal wherever you live, please stop reading now. I, nor Nifty, are responsible for any legal ramifications if you continue. You’ve been warned.

I would like to make a special shout out to XPud for helping me with formatting, editing and suggestions as well as being a truly great mentor.

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Chapter 16

All Hallows Eve. Satan's night. A time for debauchery and horror... Wait, hold on, narrating the wrong story there. Let's try that again.

Halloween is here. Which means Rhett's party is here. The party I so don't wanna go to because, once again, I don't do this stuff. But, naturally, Caleb talked me into going (without even being joined by Rhett) utilizing excessive amounts "please" and "I promise you'll have a good time" along with "I'll owe you sooooo big if you go" sprinkled generously with "I love you so much, babe". The power of "no" my ass...

Ok so it's not actually Halloween yet. Since it falls on a weekday this year, Rhett is throwing her big Halloween party on the Saturday before. And somehow her parents were out of town. Because of course. I had hoped I could get out of it by using Jordan. I was SURE that after what happened at the school dance, which was being chaperoned by TEACHERS, that he would give me a straight "Hell no!" and I would be free and clear. But no. The jackass failed to come through for me and gave the ok in one of the greatest upsets of all time... You know what? I'm now thinking he may have done it because he knew letting me go was actually more torturous than having me miss it. That mother...

I'm just going to move on.

So, my evil mastermind of a brother and Charlie, whose favorite holiday is Halloween as it turns out (more on this later), took me to Party City Friday night so I could get a costume for the party. My initial plan of going as "me" was taken down like Sully was by those radical terrorist Canadian Geese and I promptly found myself in the cowhide leather back seat of Charlie’s truck. I'm still not certain exactly how I got in there. But I'm rambling again. Focus, me!

After spending about an hour or so at the store I finally settled on a pretty cool Grim Reaper costume complete with a badass plastic bone scythe where the front of the blade was a vampiric looking skull with a long, jagged bone-blade sticking out the back. But most importantly it had a mask. I could hide behind a mask. Spare me the metaphors.

So here it was, 6pm on Saturday, and I was in my room watching Big Mouth on Netflix (fucking brilliant by the way) with Phillip cuddled up next to me, resting his stupid cute head on my shoulder and occasionally giving me a warm puppy kiss on usually my ear. I was waiting for the boyfriend to show up because we were going together (big shock) and he had the adorable idea of waiting to tell the other what we were going as and us changing into our costumes together so we could find out then.

I was about halfway through episode 6 at the point where Nick and Andrew inexplicably run into Coach Steve at Patrick Ewing's bar in New York City when I heard the doorbell ring. Feeling pretty confident that it was Caleb, I gently moved Phillip's head off my shoulder and shut my laptop, getting off my bed and made my way over to my door to go greet Caleb. I reached for the knob and as soon as I was about to open it my door flew open and whacked me right in the face.

"Jesse! I is... HOLY HELL ARE YOU OK!?"

"Peachy," I replied sarcastically as I held where my hairline was, thankful I had happened to tilt my head forward a second ago, so my nose didn't get the brunt of the door.

"Christ babe I'm sorry! I didn't expect you to be literally behind the door! Lemme see."

Caleb moved my hand out of the way and inspected the area, tenderly feeling it,

"OUCH!" I shouted. Obviously, it wasn't tenderly enough.

"Sorry! But good news is you already had brain damage, so this shouldn't cause you any long-term issues!" he joked, a cheesy grin forming on his face as he said it.

I stared at him for a second before replying with, "I'm not blowing you for a week."

Caleb's eyes widened. "Now hold on just one second! That's just uncalled for, sir!"

I gave him a sly smile. "Hey, you can still blow me if you want."

"Oh. I see what you did there!" he replied as he wiggled his eyebrows.

Cue my playful eyeroll followed by him leaning in to kiss me. As he did so, I couldn't help but notice the distinct smell of garlic on his breath. But I went ahead and returned the kiss, adding some tongue too, upgrading it to a full on make out session which lasted not as long as I intended because goddamn did he have strong garlic breath!

I broke the kiss and pulled away, playfully wafting the air in front of me and commenting, "Did you eat the whole clove of garlic before you came over?" with a chuckle at the end.

Caleb giggled before explaining, "Mom made roasted garlic chicken and vegetables for dinner. I may have eaten a few pieces of garlic spread over some bread."

"And you didn't think to brush your teeth or at least warn me before I kissed you?"

"Nope."

I just chuckled at him and shook my head knowingly for being, well, him and gestured to his overnight bag he at some point must have set down on the bedroom floor.

"I'm assuming your costume is in there?"

"Yep! Ready to see? I can't wait to see yours!"

I replied with a simple "Sure" and went over to my closet to grab my costume, taking it off the hanger and grabbing the mask off the shelf. I walked out of the closet to see Caleb proudly holding up his costume.

"You're going as a fucking priest!?"

"Yep!" he replied excitedly. "I'll be appearing a Father O'Caleb! I'll be there to both bless and molest!"

I am about to go to prison for domestic abuse. I'm seriously gonna slap the shit out of him.

…​was what any normal human would think. My demented ass cracked a goofy grin and busted up laughing.

"Bless and molest? Oh my god dude way to channel your inner Spivey!"

Caleb had already been laughing as well but paused at this point to reply to me.

"Yeah after hearing all the Spivey stories you and Jordan have told me I decided to play `What Would Spivey Do?' and this just seemed too perfect! Also, since my name's Caleb and I'm a priest, it's a fun little Buffy the Vampire Slayer reference!"

"Just... wow babe," I said as I finished laughing.

"Sooooooo... Whatcha goin' as?" he asked me.

I held up my costume and mask so he could see.

"Grim Reaper. Classic. I like the mask. You totally should have gotten one of the ones where you can squeeze the heart and let the fake blood run down it or the rib cage. Ya know what I'm talking about?"

"Eh. Didn't wanna deal with it."

Caleb smiled and shook his head and asked, "So are we gonna change or what?"

"Yeah we can change. But there will be no funny business with Jordan and Charlie here!"

"But I want a protein shake!" Caleb playfully whined.

"Oh my god you know damn well we are gonna mess around later tonight after we get home! Patience is a virtue!" I playfully chided him.

"Not right now it isn't!" he cheekily replied.

"Uh huh, you'll live," I told him as I started removing my shirt.

We both stripped down to our boxers, each taking a moment to look the other over and give the "Yeah I'd fuck that" look before we each put on a simple white t-shirt and some basketball shorts (it was gonna be in the low 70's tonight. We mistakenly believed.) and slipped into our costumes.

Once I had placed my Reaper robes on, I looked over at Caleb who had just finished draping the scarf thingy priests wear around his shoulders and over the gown. Not gonna lie, he was a hot as fuck priest. He could molest me any day.

"Like what you see?" he asked with a knowing smile as he caught me staring.

"I am about thisclose to letting you touch me in inappropriate places," I replied as I held my thumb and index finger almost together to signify.

"Well we could possibly bless you with my holy water, and by holy water I mean saliva," he teased as he walked over to me and leaned in to kiss me.

"Ah ah! Garlic breath!" I reminded him as I held a finger up in front of his lips.

"Fine, I'll brush my teeth!" he declared as he turned and left for my bathroom. And just because someone's gonna ask, Caleb actually started keeping a toothbrush over here a long time ago.

As he did that, I went back into my closet and grabbed my awesome scythe and waited for my sexy priest boyfriend to finish brushing. Once he did, I finally allowed him to kiss me again and we headed downstairs with Phillip in pursuit.

As we got to the bottom of the stairs, I was surprised to find Charlie and my brother in the living room also all dressed up in their own costumes.

"What's going on here? Please god tell me you're not going to crash Rhett's party and ruin my non-existent social standing!" I asked/pleaded.

Jordan, who was dressed like Russell Crowe from Gladiator, turned to look at me and replied, "Oh did I forget to mention Charlie and me are going to a Halloween party ourselves?"

"Um, yes."

"Ah, well we are. Spivey is throwing one."

I glanced over at Charlie who was dressed up like Zoboomafoo (Yep, I remember that show, or at least the reruns) and without even looking at Caleb, knew he was absolutely thrilled by this.

"OH MY GOD YOU'RE DRESSED AS A LEMUR!" he practically screeched, causing me to wince. He loves lemurs. Also, potbellied pigs. Tried to talk his parents into buying both at one point.

Charlie and Jordan both got a pretty hearty laugh out of that; Charlie even covered her mouth she laughed so hard. Caleb, giving zero fucks as usual as to what people think of him, ran over to Charlie and began studying her costume in detail, especially the tail.

I walked over to my brother and we both watched Caleb inspect a highly amused Charlie.

"You couldn't have waited till after we got dropped off to have her dress up?" I asked him.

"You know, I really didn't expect him to do... that. Plus, if you think about it, we did you a solid."

"Besides getting to watch Caleb act like a five-year-old, how you figure?"

"I've delayed your trip to the party by precious seconds, if not minutes. So you will be forced to interact with people for that much less time!" Jordan explained, smiling as he did.

"Okay, I'll give you that."

"Damn right you will." He then turned his attention to Caleb. "Ok my simple-minded priest!" Caleb, surprisingly knowing he was being addressed (yes, surprisingly), dropped Charlie's tail and looked at Jordan. "It's time to load up. We all have parties to get to and I want to be drunk by 10pm!"

I gave Jordan a look that screamed "Really?" and in return he smirked and said, "I'm closing in on 30. I can do whatever I want. You don't get to judge." Ruffling my hair affectionately at the end as he turned and headed for the door.

"I'll judge you if I damn well please..." I mumbled to myself.

"I heard that and no you won't!"

Goddamn super hearing!

I looked over at Charlie and Caleb who were both just grinning at me. I gave them a glare and dramatically pointed to the door, which only succeeded in getting a laugh out of both of them. Well, they did then walk past me and to the now-open front door (Jordan had apparently picked up Phillip at some point), but I don't think what I did really spurred them on...

We all piled into Jordan's truck and out of the brisk October air, him and Charlie in the front with me and Caleb in the back, and I wasted no time reaching into the front seats to grab the auxiliary cord that was plugged into the dashboard, plugging my end into my phone so I could DJ this trip.

"Alright DJ Jesse IN DA HOUSE!" Charlie said as she did the "raise the roof" motion, deepening her voice at the end.

"Whatcha got queued up for us there, bud?" Jordan asked as he fired up the truck.

"Please God just no Nickelback," Caleb chimed in, groaning as he did.

So if any of you fine folk remember from the beginning of this little tale, I wore a Nickelback t-shirt on my first day of school because they are indisputably awesome. Caleb, though, didn't get the memo. He hates Nickelback because he has no taste in good music... minus all the great music he likes but that's beside the point! And we sometimes fight over this. This was not one of those times. This was one of the times I just gave him an evil smirk and hit play on the first Nickelback song I found.

As "This Afternoon" began playing through the trucks audio system, Caleb very audibly went "Ugh!" and I watched as his head fell back and an annoyed look cover his face.

"You know, if you hadn't've said anything, I wouldn't have played this awesome music. But thanks for the suggestion!"

Caleb glanced over at me disapprovingly before swatting at me, though the smile that crept onto his face betrayed his true feelings. I laughed and swatted back at him while Jordan gave me a well-deserved "congrats" for that masterful burn.

Charlie then began singing along to the lyrics and was quickly joined by both me and Jordan, amplifying Caleb's torture while he put both middle fingers up and began moving them between the three of us.

Jordan dropped us off in front of a nice two-story house very well decorated for Halloween. Lights, statues, gravestones, spooky sounds, fog machine. This family went all out. We could see from the lights on that there were already plenty of people at the party and it was going strong already. After saying goodbye to my brother and Charlie, I put on my mask and me and Caleb made our way up to the front door.

"Babe, these are some bomb-ass decorations. This is haunted house worthy!" Caleb remarked as his head swiveled around to look at everything.

"Yeah it's pretty legit..." I said with a shiver as I noticed it had gotten unexpectedly colder, then smacked my masked forehead in remembrance. "SHIT! I totally forgot to have Charlie show you the pics of her Halloween decoration (Here's that "more on that later" moment I promised you)! Caleb I shit you not, that place could be a haunted house!"

"WHAT!?" he exclaimed. "What the hell babe! I would have loved to have seen that!"

"Ugh I know," I groaned, my voice slightly muffled by the mask. "Remind me next time she's around and we can fix that ok?" I told him as we reached the door. "Ok about to ring the bell, so no more b..."

Before I could finish reminding Caleb to refrain from any boyfriend related nicknames at the party, the door flew open, just barely missing me (Christ almighty I cannot believe that almost happened twice in one evening!) and a VERY excited Rhett was standing there dressed as Morticia Addams, party music playing loudly in the background.

"There you two are! I was wondering if I was gonna have to hunt you down, Jesse! Caleb, love the costume!"

"What do you mean, `hunt me down'!? What about Caleb!?"

"Oh I knew he would show for sure. It was just you I was worried about."

"Don't worry, Rhett, you can always count on me to force Jesse to do things he doesn't want to! And thanks! I love your costume too!" said a not very supportive Caleb.

Rhett cocked her head and smiled at Caleb, placing her hand on his shoulder and saying, "I'm so glad to know I can count on you. Hopefully I can train G to be this reliable."

Oh poor, poor Grant.

Speaking of him, as Rhett beckoned us inside, I saw him leave the kitchen down the hall and to the left carrying a pair of red solo cups filled with mixed "drank" as Caleb's mom would call it. God I love her accent.

He was dressed up like Gomez Addams because Rhett was already forcing him to match outfits with her. Because he was already whipped that bad. Straight people are weird.

He was clearly looking for Rhett, apparently he had been a good boyfriend (probably told to be) and had gotten her and him a drink. He turned his head in our direction and saw us, the smile that was already on his face getting bigger, and headed over to us as we approached him.

"Hey!" he said over the music, "You made it Jesse! At least, I assume that's you," I nodded to let him know it was me. "I was afraid Rhett would drag me with her to hunt you down!"

"HEY! I agreed to come, so I came! What's so shocking about that!?"

"Honestly, I figured you would tell Jordan exactly what kinda party this was when you asked permission to go, hoping he would forbid it and put you in lockdown after what happened at the dance," Grant reasoned.

How the fuck do people know me so well!?

"I did no such thing."

Caleb gave me a sideways glance and a smirk.

"Uh huh, suuuuurrrrrrreeeeee you didn't."

I turned my head towards him and glared at him through my mask.

"The power of Christ compels you!" I stated ironically as I threateningly pointed my scythe at him.

This got a hearty laugh out of everyone. Grant then handed Rhett her drink, which she happily accepted and took a drink, before telling me and Caleb where all the snacks and drinks were as well as the location of the bathrooms and which rooms were off limits.

We both told her we understood and watched as she dragged a smiling Grant off to the living room where most of her guests where so she could entertain. I then looked at Caleb and asked him what he wanted to do know.

"Well, how's about's we go get some refreshments? Ease you into the party scene?"

"Define `refreshments'," I asked warily.

"Well that depends on what kinda sinful concoctions we can come up with!" Caleb grinned mischievously.

"Ok, not drinking, last time went terribly, and do you want Jordan to ground me until forever!?"

"First, I'll be with you. So you won't get anywhere near as trashed as the dance. Second, how's he gonna find out?"

"He's fucking Jordan! He knows everything!"

"He doesn't know about us," Caleb pointed quietly out, me barely able to hear him over the music, as he made his way to the kitchen, me right behind him.

"You know, I sometimes wonder dude," I replied as we entered the kitchen.

"What do you mean by that?" Caleb asked as he stopped and looked at me quizzically.

I glanced over at the group of people standing around the kitchen table that was covered in soda, liquor and snacks before looking back at Caleb and saying, "I'll explain later," nodding towards the partygoers as I did.

Caleb looked at me for a moment longer before nodding and continuing over to the table, saying hi to several people he apparently knew from school as he did and grabbed a cup, filling it with ice from the cooler beneath the table and then scanning his choices of liquor. He settled on a bottle of Malibu and poured some into his cup before grabbing a two-liter of coke and pouring it the rest of the way.

Once he finished, he set the drink down and grabbed a second cup and repeated the process. I knew what he was doing and sighed, not wanting to get into a fight with my boyfriend at a crowded Halloween party. As he finished the second drink, he picked both of them up and walked over to me, offering me one expectantly.

"Caleb I really don't want to get in trouble," I whined.

"Jesse, I promise I won't let you. Maybe we get a little tipsy to loosen you up, but I swear you won't be getting drunk. And we will sober up well before Jordan arrives to get us ok?"

I looked at Caleb, then the cup, and then back to Caleb before I decided for better or worse to trust him and relented, grabbing the cup and lifting my mask enough to allow me to take a drink, bringing a big smile to my boyfriend's face.

"Alright Jesse! Now let's get this party started!" Caleb declared giddily as he took a big swig of his drink and immediately recoiled in surprise. "Woah! That is strong! And different. Does all alcohol taste like this?"

"Of course not!" I scoffed. "Forgetting the fact I drank Crown Royal at the dance and it tasted nothing like this, why would all alcohol taste like coconut?"

"Iunno," Caleb shrugged as he took another, smaller, drink. "Also, I just now realized I never asked you what it was you were drinking at the dance."

"Caleb..." I smiled and sighed. "You know what? It's a damn good thing you're a handsome fella."

Caleb gave me his classic grin and replied, "Maybe a little," giving me a wink before being distracted by something shiny. "Oh I see where everyone's dancing!"

"Caleb where the..." and with that he was off to be a social butterfly and apparently dance, Me begrudgingly in pursuit.

As we reached the living room, which had apparently seen all the furniture moved against the walls in order to provide a dance space, I took a moment to take another sip of my drink and figure out the best way to not embarrass myself out here, and also to wonder what in God's name possessed me to even be out here.

Fucking liquor. I take one drink and I'm already compromising my morals and values, I told myself. Because blaming my two small sips was convenient ok?

Caleb, who had worked his way through the large group of people I didn't care to know, had managed to link up with Grant and Rhett, cheers'd them, and had begun dancing like a super-sexy priest. Because he was one. Minus that small detail of not really being one.

I joined them, much to Rhett's delight who gave a very excited "Yay!", drawing the brief attention of other party goers, and against all my good judgement, attempted to dance. I don't know how many of you people have ever seen Seinfeld, but my dancing can be described as "Elaine-like". So, god-awful and absolutely hysterical to anyone watching.

Caleb, who had seen me dance before, did his best not to laugh but, ya know, he did.

"Ok, I'm done dancing!" I declared as I stopped and turned to leave, figuring I'd grab snacks, before I felt Caleb grab my shoulder. I looked back at his grinning face and asked, "What?"

"Oh come on, you know it's funny! Also, now that I realize it, how were you so much better at the homecoming dance?" he asked, causing me to wonder that as well.

"I honestly don't know? Blame it on the a a a a a alcohol?" I said/sang, flashing Caleb a self-satisfied smile at my awesome song drop.

Caleb wasn't the only one who laughed, Grant and Rhett had apparently noticed my attempt to abort and had heard what I said, both laughing at the reference with Rhett actually being impressed I knew the song (and more impressed than I was that they knew it. Or, at least Rhett. Grant does love rap).

"Nice reference Jess! A bit dated, but I certainly appreciated it!"

I gave her a smile and a small, awkward laugh and replied, "Yeah, sometimes I know things."

"Well good for you! Now, about..." she gestured at me with both hands, "whatever that was, we are gonna fix it, my delicate little flower."

So from there Rhett and Caleb tried to fix my dancing. They didn't get very far. I'm hopelessly bad and after 20ish minutes, Rhett threw up her hands and declared she needed a drink. Odd lack of patience there. Caleb was determined to keep helping me, but I also wanted another drink (What? I like the taste. Shoot me) and convinced him, for now at least, that I was a lost cause.

I left Caleb on the dance floor and made my way back to the refreshment table. As I walked up to it, I noticed there were some new people around it, as well as some I thought I recognized from the last time I was here. I didn't see Rhett and briefly wondered where she had gone, but I figured I should just accept that as a good thing, for reasons I'm sure you fine readers can figure out, and just make myself a new drink.

I made another scan of my options, I don't know why, I was going to choose between Crown or Malibu because I knew I liked them, and refilled my cup with ice before settling on making a Crown & Coke because Malibu was a teensy bit on the sweet side.

I made my drink and lifted my mask up so I could enjoy it, turning around and checking out people's costumes as I did. You had all the standards; clowns, witches, vampires, zombies, etc., you also had some really creative ones. One kid had an absolutely killer Two-Face costume from The Dark Knight. Really was jealous of his.

I was about to pull my mask back down and return to my baby when I heard a terrifying voice yell out,

"Jesse! There you are!"

I sighed and looked at Rhett who was excitedly hustling over to me, pulling an admittingly very pretty, though rather tall, thin girl with long dirty blonde hair behind her.

"Yes Rhett?" I asked, knowing I was in some way not going to enjoy this. And I was right, in the worst possible way.

"So glad I found you! G went to the bathroom and I need a quick answer from someone who would know. Caleb, he is single right?"

Fuck no he's not bitch and you better respect that!

"Yeah he is, why?" I asked carefully, a bad feeling forming in the pit of my stomach.

"Oh good!" She said excitedly, clapping her hands rapidly as she did. "I thought he was but just couldn't believe a catch like him hadn't been snatched up yet! This is excellent!"

He is taken you fucking witch! What god did I piss off to deserve your meddling!?

"So, again, why are you asking?" I asked again, even though I already knew where this was going.

"Oh! Right! Jesse dear thing, this my friend Allie. Allie, Jesse." I looked at Allie who smiled at me and gave a small wave, saying "Hello" as she did. Way too cheerfully, I might add.

I didn't really say anything back, as the terror of what Rhett was about to do occupied my mind. This prompted Rhett to chime in, "Oh don't mind him, he's as shy as can be! Anyway, Jesse, Allie here finds Caleb incredibly cute and I wanted to make sure he wasn't already taken before I introduce them!"

Thinking quickly, albeit a bit panicky, I said, "Um, yeah Caleb isn't `looking' right now I don't think. Dating isn't..."

"Oh please," Rhett dismissed, waving me off. "We will fix that policy promptly!"

And before I could provide any further objection, Rhett was off, Allie in tow.

I felt my face go pale as every worse case scenario of Rhett's actions went through my head.

Oh my god, what if he actually does like her!? Because of course she's going to like him! Who wouldn't like Caleb!? No Jesse, don't think like that. Caleb loves YOU. He's had SEX with you for crying out loud! And liked it! Believe in your boyfriend!

I took a couple of deep breaths and calmed myself down, taking a large drink to help. I felt the rush of the liquor as it began to hit me harder, the warmth I remember from the dance building.

That's better, I thought.

I took another drink and relaxed some more, pulling my mask down and heading back to the living room to find Caleb and make sure that Allie bitch didn't get any funny ideas with my boy.

I reached the kitchens exit where it meets the main hallway, briefly stopped and stepping to the side to let a group of kids pass by on their way to the refreshment table, and stepped into said hallway, turning towards the sound of everyone who was dancing and heading that way.

As I stepped into the living room, and for some reason just now bothering to notice how big it really was (god I'm so oblivious sometimes), I began searching for Caleb. It took a moment to locate him through the crowd, but once I saw that sexy priest shaking his butt to the lyrics of "Apple Bottom Jeans," I began making a beeline towards him. But as I got nearer, some more dancers parted, and my heart stopped. There was Caleb, my Caleb, dancing with Allie.

I stopped dead in my tracks and watched as a visibly joyous Caleb was clearly dancing with her. Not happening to alongside her, but legitimately with her. I felt my throat muscles constrict around my airways and my heart beating faster.

Caleb... How, how could you? Rhett's trying to HOOK YOU UP with her and you still agree to dance with her? While I'm here? I thought... was I wrong? No. Don't do this to yourself. I'm sure he doesn't realize what Rhett is trying to do.

I tortured myself for a few moments longer watching Caleb enjoy himself with Allie when I decided enough was enough and marched over to him, reaching him just as he happened to turn and look at me. For a brief moment his smile got a little bigger but when he noticed the look on my face his expression turned to one of confusion.

"Caleb? Could we, could we go somewhere? I uh, I don't like being alone here," I asked him pleadingly.

"Jesse I'm dancing right now. Can you give me a little?"

"Please?" I asked again, lightly touching his hand as I did.

Caleb pulled back slightly, giving me a look that said "not here" before replying, "Jesse, I'll join you in a few ok? I wanna dance with Allie here..."

I was taken aback by the comment, the sense of betrayal striking me like a dagger. I felt the all-too-familiar burn of tears as they began to form and before Caleb could say anything more, I turned and left.

I thought I heard Caleb call after me, and I'm sure he did, but it was hard to be sure over all the noise of the party and all the thoughts racing through my mind. I wasn't even sure where I was going. All I knew was that I had to get away and it couldn't be outside because I knew it was cold as hell out.

How could he? I thought as I pulled my mask down to conceal my tears. How could he choose a girl over me?

I tried to turn down a hallway only to find it blocked off by some chairs. Undeterred, I began to, clumsily, climb over them to reach the other side.

"Hey bro I'm pretty sure you're not supposed to go back there..."

I ignored the random partygoer and I was about to finish making my way over the chairs when the bottom of my costume caught on something and I fell forward, landing flat on my face and sending my scythe and drink flying.

"Bro you ok!?"

Despite being in a rather large amount of pain and ignoring both him and my now sore knee, I picked myself up and stumbled down the hall, checking doors as I did. I opened one and saw what appeared to be a spare bedroom and locked myself inside. Having done so, I sat down against the bed and pulled my knees up into me and just sat there, pulling my mask off and letting my tears silently fall as I angrily chided myself for ever letting myself think that I was good enough for Caleb.

I'm not sure exactly how long I sat there like that. Honestly, doesn't really matter. After some amount of time passed though, I heard a knock on the door followed by a familiar voice.

"Jesse? Are you in there?" Caleb asked through the door.

When I didn't respond I heard him jiggle the handle and when he realized it was locked, he knocked again, knowing for sure I was inside now.

"Come on Jesse I know you're in there. Please open up."

"Go away," I told him bitterly.

"Go away? What the hell for? Earlier you were trying to get me to be with you! What gives!?" a very confused and frustrated Caleb asked.

"Yeah, I did, but you wanted to dance with Allie. So why don't you go back and do that!"

There was a moment of silence before Caleb responded by saying, "Allie? Wait, are you upset because I was dancing with a girl? Ok, Jesse, open this door because we need to talk right now and if you don't, I will find Rhett and have her force it open!"

Ok, so there's a fate worse than death. You win this round Caleb.

I wiped my eyes and picked myself up and walked over to the door, unlocking it and slowly opening it up just enough for an annoyed, yet also concerned, Caleb to hurry into the room, holding two drinks, as I shut the door behind him.

"Brought one for you..." he said, trailing off at the end as he extended one of the cups out to me.

I looked at it and decided "what the hell," grabbing it and taking a big gulp before stupidly remembering that alcohol burns going down. I gagged slightly and made that face people make when they don't like something and kinda stick their tongue out.

Caleb gave me a small smile and said, "Sorry, I figured you would assume it was alcoholic."

"Yeah, well, I guess I should have," I replied as I took another, much smaller, drink.

"Anyway, so what's wrong babe? Why are you upset I was dancing with Allie?"

I felt the swell of emotions begin to build again as I looked down to the floor.

"You chose her over ­_me_. Rhett's trying to set you up with her and you still decided to dance with her and when I asked you to be with me you told me no because..."

"Jesse," Caleb interjected. "I had no idea Rhett was trying to `hook me up' with her. All she asked me was if I minded keeping Allie some company at the dance while she went to find Grant."

"You didn't?" I asked perplexed.

"Of course I didn't! If I did why would I agree to dance with her? Plus she's a girl! As in, no penis! Kinda defeats the purpose of being gay dontcha think?"

"I mean, I guess I... Uh, I don't um, I don't have a good response to that..." I admitted as I felt my cheeks flush.

"Jess look at me," Caleb said softly, using his fingers to gently lift my chin so I would look at him. "I love you. I meant that 1000% the first time and every time since then. I'm not leaving you for anyone. Especially a girl. I mean, what does she have on you?"

"Well, she is pretty. No hetero," I said with a small smile.

Caleb grinned at me before replying, "Maybe. Buuuttttt... I'd say you got her beat handily babe."

He then leaned in and kissed me, which I happily returned. And all my unfounded fears and paranoia melted away like ice in a mug of hot chocolate.

The kiss started becoming more passionate (I'll gladly take the blame for that) and we both paused only long enough to set our drinks down before we embraced and resumed smashing our lips together, working our way towards the bed like the dumb, buzzed, horny teens we were.

As we reached the edge of the bed, we began making one last assault on each other's mouth before one of us pushed the other onto said bed, but yet wanting to make the kiss last as long as possible when suddenly the door swung open.

"Rhett why are we stepping away from the party again?"

"Because I wanna vape and it’s colder than the devil's tits outside..."

Me and Caleb both turned and looked in horror at the sight of Grant and Rhett standing there in the doorway, staring back at us dumbfounded.

After a few of, at least at the time, the longest moments of my life, Rhett (because of course it would be Rhett to speak first) exclaimed, "OH. MY. GOD! YOU TWO!" she took her two index fingers and connected them.

As Caleb uttered a panicked "Shit!" and I prepared to die because of a list of reasons I have not the memory on my computer to contain, Grant quickly pushed Rhett into the room and shut the door behind them.

"HEY! What the hell G?" she asked, visibly annoyed at him.

"Um babe, I don't think they need the whole world hearing the bombardment of questions you're about to ask."

Before Rhett could say anything to Grant, Caleb quickly stepped towards her and grabbed her hand, causing her to whip her head around to face him.

"Rhett, please, don't say anything to anyone. We aren't ready to come out yet. I'm begging you. Especially for Jesse's sake," Caleb pleaded with her.

"Uh, hey now, I ain't no snitch bitch! But you better believe I do have questions!"

While Caleb breathed an audible sigh of relief, I remained frozen in place. The shock and fear of the consequences of us being found out paralyzing me to the point I was forgetting to breathe. And then, when I finally remembered to, I began hyperventilating. I could feel my heart pounding, my head becoming light. The room itself almost beginning to spin.

Caleb immediately realized what was going on and turned around and practically leapt over to me, firmly placing both hands on my shoulders and soothingly telling me, "Jesse calm down babe its ok, she's not going to tell anyone ok?" He then pulled me into an embrace and continued soothing me as Grant asked,

"Jesse you ok?"

"Yeah, he will be. Just got overwhelmed by the shock of the moment," Caleb responded for me as I began to calm down somewhat and my breathing returned to normal, a full-blown panic attack being averted thankfully.

I glanced over at Grant and gave him a small nod to confirm what Caleb said, and since the secret was out and I had nothing to lose, I wrapped my arms around Caleb and returned the embrace, burying my face in the crook of his neck.

Of course, with Rhett in the room, every decision is somehow the wrong decision because I immediately heard her swoon.

"Aaaaaaaawwwwwwwww! It's so cute! OH. MY. GOD. I get to be a fag hag now! Best birthday EVER!" she gushed, completely incapable of holding her excitement.

"Rhett! Really!?" Grant asked in disbelief as I wide-eyed her in terror.

"What!?"

"Is this really the time?"

Rhett looked at him and then back at us, definitely at me, and seemed for the first time in her life realize this little thing called tact.

"Oh shit. Sorry guys..." she apologized... actually sincerely.

Caleb broke our embrace and turned to face both of them, grabbing my hand in the process and squeezing it.

"Well, clearly you're cool with us Rhett. Grant?" he asked, looking at our mutual friend hopefully while I looked at the ground.

"Of course I'm cool with you guys. I've always been cool with you guys."

This caused me to immediately look up and at Grant, a quizzical look across my face, and asked, "What do you mean by that?"

"Well, I mean, haven't you guys been together this entire time?"

"This entire time?" me and Caleb both asked, very confused.

Rhett, who was looking at us curiously now, decided to chime in saying, "Wait, how long have you two been together?" Pointing back and forth between us.

Me and Caleb glanced at each other before Caleb rubbed the nape of his neck and admitted, "Since the day after the homecoming dance."

Rhett simply said, "Huh," which was the most unexpected thing I'd ever seen or heard from her, while Grant mouthed "Wow."

"How long did you think we'd been together?" Caleb asked him.

"I honestly assumed you guys had been together for at least as long as I've known you," Grant revealed.

"Wait. So, you've known we were both, ya know, all along? And you never said anything?" Caleb followed up, while I meanwhile started getting fearful of who else could have figured it out.

"I wasn't for me to say anything. I figured you guys would tell me when you were ready."

"How did you figure it out," I asked with more dread than inquisitiveness in my tone.

"How you guys acted, really. The way you guys always hang out, the way you guys fought. Honestly you're kinda like an old married couple."

My eyes flew open wide at that. Jordan said that exact same fucking thing. Oh shit tell me he doesn't know...

"Jesse what's wrong?" I heard Caleb ask concerned.

I gulped and glanced over at him saying, "Jordan told me the same thing about us acting like an old married couple. Fuck, Caleb, what if he knows?"

Caleb let out a long, slow breath before replying, "Well, if he does, we gotta assume he's ok with it, right?"

"Or he's just ignoring it, telling himself we are just really good friends and nothing more. Fuck fuck fuck FUCK!" I said near panic-stricken as I began pacing rapidly back and forth, sweating from sheer nervousness. "First Austin, now Grant? Were so fucking obvious he has to know!"

"Wait... first Austin?" Caleb asked, turning back to me with a very confused look while Rhett and Grant simultaneously asked "Austin?"

Oh shit this is not how I wanted to tell him...

I gulped, knowing full well this probably wasn't going to go over well. I really had intended to tell him already, just, I never found the right moment or way to do it.

"Austin," I looked at Grant and Rhett, "the guy who helped me at the dance," They both silently went "Oh" upon remembering, "saw us together in the parking lot after the dance, and after waiting on us at IPIC he assumed we were a couple and mentioned it to me while you were in the bathroom after the movie and I kinda, maybe, sorta confirmed it," I finished meekly.

"WHAT!?" yelled a now irate Caleb. "He told you he knows, and not only did you confirm it you never bothered to tell me!?"

I looked away, feeling ashamed because even if he was being overly upset, he did have the right to know and I just didn't tell him.

"I'm, I'm sorry Caleb... I was going to tell you but there just never seemed to be an appropriate time..."

"You should have told me then! And why was he asking, is he into you or something!?" Caleb demanded to know.

I looked at him like he was crazy. "Into me!? Where did that come from!? He just asked if my boyfriend WAS IN THE BATHROOM, not if I was looking or something like that! Why would you even fucking think that!?"

Caleb made a face like he was gonna say something else but instead held his tongue and took a deep breath (Honest to God it was pretty impressive self-control on his part considering how worked up he was). He then sighed and said, "Jesse I'm sorry. That, that was uncalled for. Maybe you were right not to tell me if I'm just gonna blow up like that..."

"You're right, that was definitely uncalled for," I said pointedly, "But, I am sorry for not telling you sooner. You're also right that you deserved to know then."

He nodded and replied, "Thanks babe."

"What for?"

"Just, being better than I deserve," he answered with a small smile.

"Well, you are pretty good in bed... oh fuck."

I had honestly forgotten who was in the room with me. As I began to die of embarrassment and fear of Rhett's reaction, Caleb looked at me like he couldn't believe I had just said that while out of the corner of my eye I saw Grant actually smirk while Rhett... Rhett had the worlds biggest grin.

"YOU GUYS HAVE BUMPED NASTIES!?"

"Ok Rhett I love to embarrass Jesse as much as the..." Caleb tried to say before Rhett just talked right over him.

"Oh my god tell me all about it! Wait, forget that can I watch!?" she asked with a level of excitement and hopefulness that was beyond absurd.

"YOU WILL NEVER DO ANYTHING OF THE SORT NOR WILL WE EVER DISCUSS WHAT WE DO IN THE BEDROOM WITH YOU!" I shouted with more authority than I knew I had, surprising everyone.

"Fine! Be a poor sport!" Rhett huffed as she crossed her arms, stomped her foot and gave me the stank eye.

"Damn babe that was kinda hot," Caleb told me as he gave me an impressed grin.

I felt my face flush (again) and mumbled, "Yeah, well, that's also uncalled for!" causing Caleb to snicker.

"Ok everyone how about we get off this topic now, keep private things private and such?" Grant, our group's apparent voice of reason, asked.

"I think I speak for me and Jess when I say `agreed,'" Caleb concurred. "Anyway, circling back to your bro..."

I sighed and rubbed my eyes with the palms of my hands, trying to keep myself from getting worked up and paranoid again about him possibly knowing.

"I don't know Caleb. I really don't. I just... ugh," I groaned.

"Is your brother really that closed-minded fam?" I heard Rhett ask. "Because he seemed genuinely caring about you at the dance."

I looked back over at her and Grant, the ramifications of either of them slipping up and telling the wrong person now racing through my mind. "Rhett, Grant, I'm begging you, SWEAR to me you will keep this a secret. Jordan CAN'T know. I can't risk losing him. He's my only family."

I was practically groveling, hands clasped together as I gave them both my most pleading look. I know Caleb already swore them to secrecy, but I had to make sure they knew how serious this was for me. But then Rhett did something that just seemed so... subdued for her.

She stood there, giving me this almost sideways look as if she was unsure if this was all this secrecy about someone's sexuality was really still a thing in the 21st century. I was about to beg her again while Grant looked at her in probable surprise that she hadn't said anything yet when she at damn near the speed of light came over to me and wrapped me up in a tight embrace and assured me,

"I swear Jesse, your guys' secret is safe with us. And if your brother does find out and is a totally d-bag about it? I'll kick him in his goddamn taco!"

The absurdity of what she said caused me to get over the weird mix of fear about Jordan and the surprise of the hug, causing me to crack a small smile and chuckle slightly as I returned the hug.

"Um, Rhett?"

"What up fam?"

"I don't know how you're doing in biology, but Jordan doesn't have a taco."

This caused Rhett to cackle with laughter before replying, "He will when I'm done with him!"

We all shared a laugh over that as me and her ended our hug. Grant also confirmed (again) he would never betray our secret to anyone. Not that I really thought he would. I'm sure it's pretty obvious my biggest concern was Rhett. But after that moment we had, I didn't feel worried. Somehow, I knew she was dead serious, and she had me and Caleb's back, no matter what.

After that we went back out to rejoin the party. And you know what? I actually had a great time.

More and more people are finding out about the boys! Wonder how long till Jordan does? =P (It won’t be next chapter…​if it hasn't happened already >:D )

Please email me anytime at JesseJamesNiftyEmail@Gmail.com and I'd be more than thrilled to respond to any and all comments, questions and yes, constructive criticism!

-- Jesse