Rehabilitation was kicking my ass but my friends were making it a little better. Lionel was sending me flowers all the time with little notes attached. Henry managed to intercept a few of them, but I was able to keep most of the notes by hiding them in my drawer with all the cards from well-wishers. My mother tried to convince me to go to the hospital near our home, but I wanted to stay close to campus and to a certain degree, close to Lionel. Henry was only telling me basic information and refused to pass any messages directly between me and Lionel. I tried to get a couple of the guys on the basketball team to give Lionel a message from me, but they all refused. I called Lionel a few times, but I couldn't find the words to speak to him, so I hung up after he answered the phone. The truth was that I just wanted to hear his voice.
I was sitting in my hospital room preparing to embark on my return to college. I had my clothes on and a smile on my face when Troy walked in.
"Why are you smiling?" he asked.
"I'm going home today."
"No you're not. You're going to Michael's apartment. Your home is thousands of miles away."
"Don't try to be funny, Troy."
"Okay, a smile on your face and testy at the same time. Are you ever going to be easy to read?"
"I've never been easy," I teased.
He looked to the side like he was thinking and then he said, "Well, that's true. I've been trying to get in your pants for two months now and you still won't give me any play." I knew I was blushing. He reached out his left hand and stroked my cheek. "Stop blushing."
"I'm not blushing."
"Yes you are. You can't even deny it, but don't worry," he leaned down to my ear and whispered, "I won't tell anyone."
A tingle went through me. He always flirted with me and I tried my hardest not to flirt back and lead him on, but sometimes I wondered why I was fighting it so hard. I couldn't think of a good reason not to give him a chance. The only thing holding me back was the hope that Lionel would somehow be fixed and we would get together and be happy, but I found myself losing a little more hope each day.
"Stop hitting on me," I told Troy as I pushed him away.
"You know you love it," he said then he put his arms around me, pushed me back on my hospital bed and climbed on top of me.
I knew I should push him away, but I missed intimate contact so I let him stay there for a few seconds. "Ouch you're hurting me," I said.
"No I'm not. The doctor said you're mostly healed and the only hurt you're feeling is that hardon in your pants." He ground in to me. "And I can help you with that if you let me."
I laughed. It came out a little girly, but I was nervous. He laughed with me and then he abruptly stopped laughing. We were face to face and I knew what he was about to do, but the only thought running through my mind was why I was about to let him do it. His face came closer to mine and then our lips made contact. All of his flirtations and all of my denials crashed together and as his tongue pushed in to my mouth, I knew he had won. I kissed him back without intending to do it at first. After a few seconds, I gave up my mental battle and gave in to the physical pleasure. I put my hands under his shirt and rubbed his bare skin and he started moaning in to my mouth as he pressed in to me harder.
Someone whistled and I pushed Troy away. We both looked over and Michael and Henry were standing in the doorway. "Looks like we're interrupting," Henry said.
"Shut up," I told him as I sat up on the bed.
Michael glared at Troy. "So how's it going Troy?"
I looked at Troy and he blushed. "Everything is great Mikey. In fact everything is better than I expected." He turned to me and smiled.
"How many times do I have to tell you, it's Michael or Mike, but never Mikey!"
"Aww, come on Mikey, lighten up," Troy said. He and Michael had an interesting relationship and I still wasn't sure what was going on with them. Henry said they were both being bitches to each other because they both wanted me.
"Whatever Trevor." Michael rolled his eyes and looked at me. "So I see you're ready to go. Did the doctor sign your discharge papers yet?"
"No, I'm supposed to tell the nurse when you get here so he can give me the forms."
"I'll go tell him," Henry said, turning around in a hurry. The rest of us all smiled. We knew Henry had a thing for the nurse. I tried to explain to him that the nurse wasn't gay, but he told me that I was wrong and he relentlessly pursued the nurse since the first day he saw him. I had to admit that the nurse did seem to smile more when Henry was around but I couldn't tell if it was because he was flattered or because he was interested.
"When are those two going to get together?" Michael asked.
"They're not," I told him.
"How much do you want to bet?"
"Dessert for a week?"
"You're going to be dessert for a week? Is that your offer?"
"Stop playing. I meant I'll make us dessert for a week if I lose and you can do dessert for a week if I win."
"Oh, okay. I guess that could work, too. How long is this bet for because I don't want to give Henry too long."
"How about a month? Henry may move on by then."
"Move on to who?" Troy asked.
"Some girl, some guy, who knows with him, he likes them both."
"He's bisexual?" Troy asked in surprise.
"I thought you knew that," I said.
"No, he always struck me as just gay."
"Well he's not."
"Why do you care, anyway?" Michael questioned as his eyes threw daggers at Troy.
"I don't. I was just asking," Troy responded.
"Whatever," Michael said.
"Whatever, yourself," Troy told him in an irritated voice.
"Okay you two." I warned them. They both seemed to back down and neither said anything else. I wondered how Michael and Troy were going to get along once I was moved in to Michael's apartment. I kept telling Troy he didn't have to wait on me for a week, but he insisted and he managed to convince Michael to let him move in for a week so he could make sure all of my needs were met. Personally, I thought Troy either paid him or threatened him, but I wasn't sure which one.
Henry walked in with the nurse behind him. I signed my discharge paper and spoke to the doctor about my medications, then I was in the passenger seat of Michael's new car and Troy and Henry were in the backseat.
"I can't believe your parents didn't come back to see you released from the hospital," Michael said.
"My mother is still pissed that I didn't go back there and my father, well, you know how he feels about this situation. He didn't even say goodbye to me before they left, but what more can I expect from him? At least he was honest about how he felt."
"I was honest about how I felt," he glanced at me, "and still do about your fascination with Lionel, but I'm still here supporting you. There's no excuse for him abandoning you and forcing your mother to go back home when she wanted to stay here and take care of you."
"She didn't want to stay here. She wanted to take care of me at home," I corrected him.
"She would have stayed if he didn't push her. You should have seen the argument they had in the lobby."
"I definitely wouldn't have wanted to see that," I told him as I bit my lower lip and looked out the window. I closed my eyes and prayed that the tears would not fall and luckily, they didn't, but the pain jabbed at my heart. I wanted my parents to be with me through my rehabilitation and my release, but my father had other plans.
We got to Michael's apartment and they led me to the bedroom. I smiled when I saw that Michael and Henry had brought a lot of my things. "Your clothes are in the top two drawers and in the closet," Henry told me. "We tried to get as much stuff as we could get while Lionel was at practice."
"Don't say that name here," Michael warned.
"Sorry, I forgot. Should I call him `he who must not be named?'"
Michael laughed then he said, "No, that's wasting too much breath on him and we all know he's not worth it."
Michael and Henry laughed together and I ignored them. Troy interrupted them when he said, "I have to go get my clothes and my sleeping bag, so I'll be back in about an hour."
"No need to rush," Michael told him. Troy winked at him and then left. "I don't know why you spend so much time with him, Lucas. He's so annoying."
"He's not that bad."
"Is that why you were kissing him?" Michael asked.
"I was wondering when you were going to get to that," Henry told him. Then Henry turned his attention to me, "So why were you making out with him on your hospital bed? How long have the two of you been messing around?"
"We're not messing around. It just kind of happened, but it was nothing. You know where my heart is."
"It looked like your heart was trying to suck out Troy's," Henry said.
"I don't know how that happened. One second he was flirting with me, the next, he was shoving his tongue down my throat."
"Stop putting it on him, you liked it," Henry told me.
"I didn't like it," I protested, even though I knew I had enjoyed the kiss as much as any with Lionel, if not more. Troy seemed much gentler than Lionel and surer of himself.
"Yes you did," Henry teased.
"He said he didn't so just drop it," Michael said as he walked towards the bed. "So how are you feeling Lucas? Are you hungry?"
"I'm fine and I'm not hungry yet," I told him, "but thanks for asking."
"Are you thirsty?" he asked.
"I guess I could drink something."
"Okay, I'll go get you some water." Michael left the room and Henry sat on the bed next to me.
"You still don't think Michael's in love with you?"
"He's my friend."
"And? Does that mean he can't be in love with you?"
"Well I guess the two don't have to be mutually exclusive but he doesn't love me that way. He loves me like you love your dog or your mom."
"You don't dream about kissing your dog or your mom. At least I hope not." He chuckled and I gave him a light push.
"I still say you're wrong."
"I'm right and I know it. I wish I could be a fly on the wall with the three of you here. Oh goodness, it's going to be priceless."
"Don't start with me Henry."
"Okay, I won't, but I do have one question for you."
"What?"
"How did you feel when you were kissing Troy and don't say you didn't feel anything because I know you felt something."
"I didn't feel anything." I told him.
"Yes you did. The sexual tension between the two of you has been getting thicker for weeks now."
"There is no sexual tension. We kissed and that's it."
"So you don't want to kiss him again?"
I smiled, "I didn't say that."
"You do, don't you?"
"I don't know, maybe. It did feel kind of nice."
"Good for you," he said.
"What's good for him?" Michael asked as he walked in with a glass of water.
"You didn't offer me anything to drink," Henry said.
"You know where the kitchen is," Michael told him. "Now what are the two of you talking about? What's good for Lucas?"
"Troy," Henry responded.
"Troy? What because they kissed? That's nothing. Lucas and I have done much more than that."
"Okay, Michael, that's nice." Henry's tone was patronizing, but Michael ignored him and handed me the water.
Michael quickly changed the subject and we played a few card games until Troy came back with his clothes, pizzas and movies. The pizza tasted great, but the company was even better. I was really enjoying hanging out with all of the guys but I found myself being drawn to Troy. I went to bed early and Troy was even in my dreams. I woke up the next morning and Troy was on the floor while Michael was in the bed with me. I imagined Troy was the person cuddled up behind me. I wondered if I was ready to move on with anyone, then I thought about Lionel and realized he wasn't the person I wanted to hold me anymore. I closed my eyes and cried as I worried what that revelation meant for our relationship.
c Lustyville 2006 Please send comments to lustyville@yahoo.com and check out my yahoo group at: http://groups.yahoo.com/group/lustyville.