This story contains male-to-male consensual sexual relationships, so if this is illegal for you to read, please adhere to whatever laws you abide by.
This story follows a previous story of mine called Wade & Christian, which you can find in the high school section of this fine archive. I suggest you read it first. BUT, if teen angst and ultradrama romance is not your thing, this story does stand alone.
For my fans, this story is mighty different from Wade & Chris and The Prick, it is about a conflicting relationship and the power of true love. So, if you are looking for any of my previous stories regurgitated, you will be sorely disappointed. This story will run about 10-15 installments. It will also feature the characters of Wade & Christian quite prominently, so let's enjoy the ride, shall we?
Don't forget to e-mail and encourage me, I could use it!
virtualinsanity78@yahoo.com
Mannie lit a cigarette and put it up to his lips, taking a long, drawn out puff. He was sitting on Wade and Christian's back porch. It was the coward's way, he knew, but Reggie and Kiesha were over for dinner and he had taken one look at her and the big, burly guy and been sick to his stomach.
Mannie had never been able to make Kiesha happy. She'd probably spent the most miserable year of her entire life hooked up with him. She did everything she could to make him happy and he had never even given her half a chance, spending most of their time together telling her about his latest fuck or the next guy he'd get. The fact that she loved him was obvious, but he never let it matter all that much to him. She was the only person who could listen to him without judgement, the only person that he could count on to be there and accept him for who he was, never wanting to change him.
From the very beginning, he was aware of the fact that she was too good for him. She was one of those do-gooder types who wore her heart on her sleeve, even though she tried to pretend that she was tough. In the end, he hadn't been able to love her the way she needed to be loved. Reggie could do that. Mannie had to let it go. He didn't really have a choice in the first place. She was engaged to the guy and pregnant with his kid. Reggie was making her happy.
Mannie leaned against the stair rail and blew smoke rings. He stared up at the sky. It was dark blue and one of the things he actually loved about Michigan was that each and every star was was bright and easy to make out. He tried to recall a little of his astronomy class, but could only come up with the big and little dipper. When he stopped trying, a car pulled up at the curb and parked.
Mannie made out the shadowy figures in the car. Jon and some chick. She was blonde and kind of pretty from what he could see. She leaned over and hugged Jon, kissed him on the cheek. Then, Jon opened the door and got out of the car. He stood on the corner waving as she drove away. Mannie wondered how the guy managed to look good in the ridiculous, bright orange Taco Fiesta uniform. Jon turned and started up the walk. Mannie could feel his heart nearly jump out of his chest as Jon came toward him. Shit.
"What's up?" Jon asked, a little smile on his face. He sat down on the steps near Mannie. Mannie pressed himself against the railing as far away from Jon as he could get.
"Nothing," Mannie said, taking another puff and then putting the cigarette out on the cement.
"Then why you sitting out here?" Jon asked, looking up at Mannie and Mannie could almost curse at the innocence he could see on Jon's face. The guy may have tried to kill himself, but he was just about a fucking saint. They couldn't be friends.
"I'm sitting out here because Wade and Christian have company," Mannie said quickly, in a clipped kind of way that he hoped Jon caught. Jon didn't.
"Man, they're just like family around here," Jon told him. "You don't gotta sit outside cuz of them."
Mannie sighed.
"Kiesha's my ex," Mannie said shortly. Jon looked around for a moment, his nose scrunched up.
"I thought you were gay," Jon said, almost breathless.
"Gay, bi, confused," Mannie waved his hand and looked away. "I like dick, alright?"
Jon sat there, real quiet for a moment, then caught Mannie's shifting eyes and held them.
"So, are you like Wade and Chris or not?" he asked. Mannie shifted uncertainly.
"What do you mean?" Mannie asked.
"I mean like do you...you know...love other guys?" Jon asked. "Or do you just wanna fuck 'em?"
Mannie blinked. He thought about Kiesha. Could he have loved her and treated her the way he had? Wade had given up so much to be open about his feelings for Christian. Jon had been ready to give up his life rather than live without the girl that he loved. What had Mannie ever been willing to do for Kiesha?
"I guess I've never been in love before or anything," Mannie told him.
Jon put his hand on Mannie's shoulder, making sure that he caught Mannie's eye and that Mannie was listening to him.
"Love is this wonderful thing, man," Jon told him, enthusiastic. "It makes you do some crazy shit, I've gotta tell you. But it's good too. Especially when she loves you back. Or I guess he, for you, maybe."
Mannie laughed.
"I'll take your word for it," Mannie said. "So, are you in love with the girl that dropped you off?"
Jon laughed. "Nah, but she wishes I was," Jon said. "Trina's my boss at work. I guess she might kinda have a thing for me cuz she always takes her breaks when I take mine and tries to get me to ride home with her."
"She's kind of cute," Mannie told him, but felt a tug inside when he did.
"Yeah, just not my type, I guess," Jon shrugged.
"What's your type?" Mannie asked.
"Red hair, about five eight, freckles," Jon said with a smile that slowly faded. "Named Shannon. What's your type?"
"The type I could fall in love with?" Mannie asked and Jon nodded. "I don't know. Somebody that could put up with all my baggage, I guess. Somebody nice. Somebody that likes to fuck. Like Wade said at breakfast, I'm not real picky."
"You should be more picky," Jon told him.
"Nah," Mannie said, but Jon shook his head.
"You should," Jon said, a little forcefully. "You got some issues with the cutting and stuff like that, but you're real easy on the eyes like this skin you've got is nice. It's like almonds or cocoa butter or some thing and you're body's real nice. Not a lot of people are tall like you and you're not skinny either. Just the right amount of muscle. But you've got killer eyes. You know like when you look at somebody, it just makes them want to stop in their tracks and stare cuz they're so brown and...kinda deep, you know? Like you could stare into your eyes for a long time and never get to the bottom."
Mannie was stock still as Jon stared at him. He wanted to reach over and kiss the guy, just take those pink lips and smash them with his. Anything to get the guy to shut up. Anything to get him to stop making Mannie feel the way that he felt.
"Anyway," Jon cleared his throat when Mannie looked away. "Don't let anybody get down on you cuz you're not bad at all. You could get anybody you want."
Can I get you, Mannie wanted to ask, but he stopped himself, stood up and hopped off of the steps. The guy was in love with a dead woman and straight as an arrow. If he hadn't shot out half of his brain, he probably wouldn't be saying half of the stuff he'd just said.
"Maybe I'll find somebody in the future," Mannie tried to be nonchalant. "In the meantime, I'm going to go and find somebody who wants what I want."
"And what's that?" Jon asked, standing up.
"To fuck," Mannie said and started down the stairs. "Tell everybody not to wait up for me."
The guy Mannie found was about twenty and had already been around the block at least a dozen times. He was sitting at the bar in the small city's only gay club and sipping on a glass of clear liquid, probably vodka. Mannie chose him because his head was shaped a little like Jon's.
It didn't take a Phd for Mannie to figure out what road he was heading down, but he couldn't seem to put on the brakes. He was on a one-way trip to falling in love with a terminally straight former jock, who was in love with a ghost. Mannie could almost laugh at himself if his chest didn't already feel like someone had poured acid all over it.
Jon watched as Wade, Christian, Reggie and Kiesha played an animated game of scrabble. It had taken him months to convince them to go ahead and play without him. He just wasn't all that good at putting words together anymore. They were all sensitive about it, but Jon usually could make them feel okay about it if he stuck around and laughed at them.
They always wanted to include him, to look after him like he was a little boy, even Christian from time to time. But he had to admit that if Christian hadn't stepped in when he and Wade bought the house, Jon would have gone mental. Wade was tense and unsure about everything that Jon did and questioned him like a father would. Christian had somehow managed to balance the situation and for that Jon was grateful.
There had been a time when Jon would lose track of everything, his surroundings and just panic, but it had been over six months since he'd had to call home and have someone come and find him. He was beginning to feel more independent.
Still, this night he was distracted. He didn't catch half of the jokes they were throwing his way and he was ruining the game for them because Wade kept looking over at him to see if he was alright. Jon tried to focus on what they were doing, but he just couldn't. His mind was restless, it was traveling a course the way it used to when he would sit back and relive the accident over and over...except he wasn't thinking about the accident.
He was thinking about Mannie.
It had been over two hours since Mannie had left. So, he must have found his guy. For some reason the thought bothered him. It would just be better if Mannie could sit there with them in the living room and play scrabble the way that they all were. For some reason, Mannie not being there was a big thing.
Jon stood up.
"I don't feel like scrabble tonight guys," he told them and Wade stood up, his eyes locked on Jon's, assessing.
"You're not mad about this morning?" Wade asked him and Jon shook his head. "I'm sorry I said all that shit, but Mannie just gets to me some time."
"He's not a bad guy," Jon said.
"He's trouble, Jon," Wade told him. "Take my word for it."
"No," Jon said, after a moment. "I like him. I think we'll be good friends."
Wade rolled his eyes.
"You don't know him," Wade said.
"Christian likes him," Jon pointed out.
"Christian feels sorry for him," Wade returned and Jon turned to Christian.
"You feel sorry for him?" Jon asked.
"He's been through a lot," Christian said. "Yes, I feel bad for him at times, but I like him, too. He's gonna be a good guy when he sorts everything out."
"He almost broke us up," Wade said to Christian. "Am I the only one that remembers that he tried to fuck you behind my back?"
"How many times do I have to tell you that he didn't even know that you and I were together?" Christian asked, exasperated. "You normally give people the benefit of the doubt."
"He's in a lot of pain right now," Kiesha said from her seat next to Reggie. "I know I'm don't live here and I don't really have a say in any of this, but I know Mannie better than any of you. I spent the most time with him. He's a good guy. He just has a problem with using sex to forget his problems."
"He almost died fighting for our country," Reggie put his two cents in.
"A country that won't even let me marry the person I love," Wade threw out in defense.
"I don't see you trying to move," Jon pointed out.
Wade shook his head. "Okay, okay," he relented. "Fine. If everybody thinks that we should give the guy a chance, we'll give the guy a chance. But the minute he fucks up, he's out."