Date: Thu, 1 Feb 2007 15:52:25 -0800 (PST)
From: Kirk Landers <ilj4ever44@yahoo.com>
Subject: Phases- part 13

Copyright and Disclaimer:
1. This is a fictional story with fictional
characters.
2. No one is to steal this story under any
circumstances.
3. This story deals with relationships and not sex, so
if you're looking for a story with a lot of sex in it,
this isn't the story for you.


    I would again like to thank you all for reading
this story and I really appreciate all those who have
e-mailed me and sent me feedback, it really helps me
write so I can get a feel of the type of stuff you all
would like to read.  So thank you so much!   Here's
part 13 entitled, "Party Animal"


"PARTY ANIMAL"

    It's been five days since Leo vowed to start
living his life again and so far he's been keeping to
that promise.  He went back to the restaurant, he
luckily stayed on the managements' good side because
they gladly welcomed him back.  He even started
getting back into swimming, which was something he
didn't do for a long time.  Nick and Kurt were
impressed with him, he seemed to be heading down the
right path.

  It was a typical Wednesday morning, Kurt and Ryan
were both up by eight.  Kurt was reading a magazine
while Ryan was reading the newspaper.  Both had a cup
of coffee in hand and a bowl of cereal as they sat at
the kitchen counter together.  At around nine Leo
would roll out of bed and come out to go to the
bathroom and then went to the kitchen to join them for
breakfast.

"How'd you sleep?" Kurt asked handing Leo a cup of
coffee.

"Eh," Leo groaned. "Tossed and turned most of the
night."

"I'm sorry," Kurt said patting Leo on the back. "I'm
sure you'll start sleeping easier as time goes by."

"I hope so," Leo said rubbing his eyes, "I'm so
exhausted."

"Then go back to sleep," Kurt suggested, "You have the
day off of work right?"

"I can't," Leo said. "If I go back to bed then all
I'll do is think of him."

"You want to talk about it?" Ryan asked.

"It's just the same old thing," Leo replied. "I miss
him."

"I know," Kurt said.

"You're doing a lot better though," Ryan encouraged.
"You're out doing stuff again."

"Yeah," Kurt added, "And it's good that you started
swimming again."

"Too bad I'm not on the swim team anymore," Leo said.
"That always kept me busy."

"Well maybe you can find something else to fill your
time," Kurt suggested.

"Yeah," Ryan said, "We can do something together.  I'm
trying to find stuff to keep me busy as well."

"That's a good idea," Kurt said.

"That does sound good," Leo said. "Thanks Ryan."

"No problem," Ryan replied.

The guys were interrupted by a knocking on the door.
When Kurt answered it, he was facing a big bouquet of
roses.  He looked over the roses and saw a delivery
man hidden behind holding the roses up.

"Delivery for Kurt Parker."

"That's me."

"Sign here," the delivery man handed Kurt a clipboard
to sign.  Kurt signed it quickly and took the flowers.

"Thank you," Kurt called out as he closed the door.

"Another one?" Leo asked.

"Yeah," Kurt replied. "This is my fourth one I've
gotten in the last five days."

"Is there a card?" Ryan asked.

"Yeah," Kurt said picking up the white envelope
attached.

'My love for you grows stronger every day.' the card
read.

"My love?" Ryan asked.

"These aren't from you?" Leo asked Ryan.

"No," Ryan shook his head.

"We haven't used the big L word yet," Kurt said. "This
has to be some sort of mix up."

"Try calling the flower shop these were sent from,"
Ryan suggested. "And by the way, just because I
haven't used to L word yet, doesn't mean I don't feel
it."

"I think I will," Kurt replied.  "By the way, I feel
the same way too." His cell phone rang as he was
taking it out to call the flower shop.  It was Derek
from work.

"Hey Derek," Kurt answered.

"Okay, so I wanted to double check and see if you were
going to go to the party tonight," Derek said. "I know
you said no last time, but that was last week.  Change
of heart?"

"Still no," Kurt replied, "But thanks."

"All right," Derek said, "You'll regret it.  If you
change your mind call me before noon so I can get your
name put on the guest list."

"Okay," Kurt said, "Thanks Derek.  Have fun tonight."

"Was that Derek?" Leo asked.

"Yeah," Kurt replied.

"Who's Derek?" Ryan asked.

"He's this guy I work with who always gives everyone
at the magazine a heads up about big parties or club
and restaurant openings," Kurt said. "Somehow he's
always able to get people on the guest lists.  We used
to go to those a lot a while back."

"What's the party?" Leo asked interested.

"Some party for a designer at a place called The
Market," Kurt replied.

"The Market?" Leo asked excited.

"You've heard of it?" Kurt asked.

"I read about it in your magazine," Leo replied.
"That's the hot new club."

"Apparently," Kurt replied.

"I want to go!" Leo said.

"You want to go to this party?" Kurt asked.

"Yeah, I think it'll be good for me," Leo answered.

"I guess it could be," Kurt said, "Are you sure?"
Kurt remembers how crazy Leo used to get at those
parties, so he was a little apprehensive about letting
Leo go.

"Yeah, definitely," Leo said.

"Okay," Kurt said, "I'll have Derek put you on the
guest list."

"Thanks," Leo said, "You're not going to go?"

"No," Kurt replied.

"Please!"

"I'll tell you what," Kurt said, "If you can get Ryan
and Nick to go before noon, then I'll go too."

"Ryan," Leo said turning to him, "Please go."

"What is it?" Ryan asked.

"These parties that Derek finds are great," Leo said.
"It'll be so much fun.  Come on."

"Sure," Ryan said, "I have nothing to do."

"Ryan," Kurt scolded, "You were supposed to say no."

"Too late," Leo said, "He said yes."

"You still have to convince Nick," Kurt smiled, "He'll
never agree."

"Yes he will," Leo replied.

"Absolutely not," Nick answered when Leo went over to
his place to ask him.

"Why not?" Leo asked.

"Because you get out of control at those parties,"
Nick replied.

"I won't," Leo promised. "Remember how much fun we
used to have at those parties?"

"Yeah, when I was in my early twenties," Nick said,
"I'm twenty seven now.  I've gotten over that seen."

"It'll be fun," Leo said, "Please!"

"No," Nick answered.

"I'll tell you what, just go and if you're not having
fun after an hour you can leave," Leo negotiated.

"Half hour," Nick haggled.

"Forty-five minutes," Leo said.

Nick sighed, "Deal."

"Great!  I'll go call Kurt," Leo said giving Nick a
hug, "I'll see you later."

Leo headed out to go shop for something to wear to the
party.

Later that day Nick was on the phone with Kurt talking
about the party.

"Why did you say yes?" Kurt asked.

"Why did you say yes?" Nick shot back.

"Because I'm pathetic, what's your excuse," Kurt said.

"Leo just looked really excited about going," Nick
said, "It's the first time I've seen him excited about
anything in a while."

"He is excited," Kurt sighed. "But to go to one of
these parties is so lame."

"I know," Nick said, "I hate them too.  And I don't
like encouraging Leo to go to it because I get worried
about him in that scene, but maybe just one night of
fun will help him out."

"I guess," Kurt moaned.

"We won't stay long," Nick said, "We'll just go there,
have a drink and leave."

"Do you really think Leo will want to leave after just
one drink?" Kurt asked.

"He promised me that I could leave after forty-five
minutes," Nick said. "I'm holding him to that."

"Sounds like a plan," Kurt said. "So, have you talked
to Adrian lately?"

"No," Nick replied, "I actually haven't talked to him
since the day I got back from New York."

"Really?" Kurt asked. "How come?"

"Just been so worried about Leo lately," Nick replied.
"But I'm sure Adrian understands."

"So are you two a couple?" Kurt asked. "I've been
curious."

"We're dating," Nick said, "I wouldn't call us a
couple though."

"The distance thing is a problem huh?" Kurt asked.

"Yeah," Nick replied. "I would have no trouble
committing to him if he lived here, but since he's on
the opposite coast, it's hard."

"It's understandable," Kurt said, "It's hard to be
with someone when you can't actually be with them that
much."

"I do like him a lot," Nick said, "Possibly love him."

"Really?" Kurt asked. "Love?"

"Yeah," Nick answered. "Is that crazy?"

"Not at all," Kurt said, "It's really romantic
actually."

"But I've had no time lately to think about it just
because of Leo and then getting caught up with work,"
Nick said, "I need to turn something into my editor
tomorrow and I haven't written any responses to the
letters I've gotten since I've been back."

"I know, I need to work today also," Kurt sighed, "My
editor, Martin, has been trying to get a hold of me,
but I've sort of been avoiding his calls cause I think
he's going to yell at me for my last couple articles.
They weren't that good."

"Well, you go get to work and I'll get to work and
I'll see you tonight," Nick said.

"All right," Kurt said, "Bye."

The two hung up and then went to work.

Meanwhile, Leo was shopping on Melrose for clothes for
the party.  He just left Urban Outfitter when he heard
someone calling him.

"Leo."

He looked around him, but didn't see anyone.

"Leo."

He heard it again, the voice sounded familiar.

"Leo."

By the time he heard it a third time he knew who's
voice it was...Jesse's.  Leo rubbed his head and
closed his eyes, he knew it was his mind playing
tricks on him.  When he closed his eyes all he saw was
Jesse standing in that garden that he had seen in his
dream last week at the hospital.

"Leave me alone," Leo said quietly to himself.

"Leo."

"Dammit!" Leo shouted.  A few people starred at him as
they walked by, he turned beat red from embarrassment
and just started walking.  He stopped for a moment to
look at his reflection in the mirror and compose
himself, but when he did he saw Jesse standing behind
him.  Leo quickly turned around, but Jesse wasn't
there.

"Leo."  Jesse's voice echoed louder.

Leo looked across the street and saw a bar that was
open.  He quickly ran across the street and went
inside, if he couldn't drown out the voices by
himself, then he would do it with alcohol.

When Leo went inside the bar there were only a few
people inside, it was still early, only one in the
afternoon.  Leo went and sat at the bar.  The bar
tender, woman, thin, blonde, had the type of look that
made Leo think she was an aspiring actress or model
only working in the bar until she got 'discovered.'

"What can I get you?" bar tender asked.

"Vodka," Leo replied. "On the rocks."

"Twist?"

"Please."

Leo rested his head on the bar and closed his eyes,
but again, he saw Jesse standing in the garden with a
disappointed look on his face.  Leo quickly shot his
head up and opened his eyes, he didn't want to see
Jesse giving him that look.

"Here's your drink," bar tender handed him his drink
and Leo quickly took a big gulp not even wincing at
the strength of the vodka as it went down his throat.

"Rough day?" young guy sitting at the bar next to him
asked.  He was cute, about 6'2, light brown hair with
highlights in it, deep, piercing blue eyes, had a
goatee growing which gave him a rugged look.

"Little bit," Leo replied.

"Same here," he replied, "Otherwise I wouldn't be here
at one in the afternoon."

"Ditto," Leo said taking another sip of his drink.

"I'm Devon," he said extending his hand.

"Leo."  Leo shook his hand firmly.

"So what brings you to a bar so early?" Devon asked.

"Trying to forget things," Leo replied.

"Just break up with someone?" Devon asked.

"No, but I guess you can say we're not together
anymore," Leo replied.

"How come?" Devon asked.

"He's in a coma," Leo replied.

Devon was quiet for a moment, not too sure what to
say.

"I'm so sorry," was all he could muster.

"Thanks," Leo sighed. "But I'm trying to get over it.
So, tell me, what are you doing here?"

"Just broke up with my boyfriend," Devon said, then
corrected, "Well, ex-boyfriend now."

"So you come drinking on Melrose?" Leo asked. "If I
just broke up with my boyfriend, I'd want to be as far
away from a gay friendly place as possible."

"I like this place," Devon said.

"I see," Leo replied, "Well, sorry you and your
boyfriend broke up."

"It was coming," Devon said. "We fought a lot."

 "That's too bad," Leo commented.

"So tell me, what brings you out here today?" Devon
asked.

"I was shopping for a party I'm going to tonight," Leo
replied, "It's at The Market."

"Are you talking about the Patrick Willis party?"
Devon asked.

"Yeah."

"I'm going to that," Devon said surprised, "Wow.  This
party just got a little better."

Leo just smiled at the flirtation Devon was giving
him.

"So I'll see you tonight," Devon said slyly.

"I guess so," Leo replied downing the rest of his
drink.

"You want me to buy you another drink?" Devon asked.

"Sure, why not?" Leo replied, still not being able to
get the image of Jesse out of his head.

Meanwhile, Ryan was looking on the Internet at
possible job leads while Kurt was sitting a few feet
away on the couch writing on his laptop.

"How's the job hunt going?" Kurt asked.

"Well, I've been thinking," Ryan replied, "You were
right, I do like helping people.  I think cause I was
an orphan that I know what it was like to really be in
need of some guidance."

"So what are you thinking?" Kurt asked.

"Well, I have my credentials and everything.  I think
I'm going to try and get a job as a guidance
counselor."

"Yeah?" Kurt asked.

"Yeah, what do you think?" Ryan asked, "Does it sound
stupid?"

"I think," Kurt began, setting down his lap top and
going over to Ryan, "it's a perfect venture for you."

They kissed.

"Yeah?" Ryan asked.

"Yeah," Kurt replied, "Ryan, you are so good at
helping people.  You should definitely pursue that."

"Thanks," Ryan said kissing Kurt. "I love you."

Kurt paused a moment, realizing it's the first time
Ryan said that to him.

"I love you too," Kurt replied kissing Ryan some more.
 They were about to move the remainder of their action
into the bedroom, but were interrupted by the
doorbell.

"Dammit," Ryan said, "You want to get that or should
I?"

"I'll get it," Kurt said, "You just go get naked."

"Deal," Ryan said heading into the bedroom.  Kurt went
and answered the door, when he opened it up he was
once again facing a big batch of roses.

"Delivery for Kurt Parker," the delivery man said
behind the flowers.

"Another one?" Kurt asked.

"I just deliver them sir," the man said. "Sign here."
Kurt signed the receipt and then took the flowers from
him and closed the door.

"Who was it?" Ryan asked calling out from the bedroom.

"Flowers again," Kurt replied.

"What?" Ryan asked.  He quickly came out of the
bedroom wearing only his boxers. "Another one today?"

"Yeah," Kurt sighed.

"Did you call the flower shop?" Ryan asked.

"No, I forgot," Kurt answered.

"Better call them."

Kurt took out his cell phone and dialed the number
that was on the back of the card, which this time
read, 'I will love you forever.'

"Luscious Flowers, how may I help you?" a female voice
asked.

"Hi, my name is Kurt Parker, I've been receiving
flowers from your shop lately and was curious to find
out who sent them.  All the cards have been unsigned."

"Oh yes, Kurt Parker," she replied, "We get someone
calling in all the time to send you flowers."

"Can you tell me who?" Kurt asked.

"Sorry, no.  He asked to remain anonymous."

"Of course he did," Kurt sighed, "All right.  Thanks."

Kurt hung up.

"No luck?" Ryan asked.

"No luck," Kurt replied, "You know, something like
this just happened on an episode of 'Desperate
Housewives' and it turned out to be some weird freak.
What if I have a weird freak?"

"We'll deal with it then," Ryan assured Kurt. "Don't
worry.  I won't let anything happen to you."

Ryan leaned in and kissed Kurt.  Kurt quickly stopped
worrying and was eager to pick up where him and Ryan
left off.

"Bedroom?" Kurt asked.

"Bedroom," Ryan confirmed as the two rushed off and
closed the door to the bedroom.

That night Nick headed over to Kurt, Ryan and Leo's
place to go to the party.  When he got there Kurt and
Ryan were dressed and ready to go.  Leo, however, was
still not there.

"I don't believe this," Nick said, "We're going to
this dumb thing for him and he's not even here yet?"

"I know," Kurt sighed, "I tried calling, but he didn't
pick up."

"He better hurry," Nick said, "It's already nine.  I
don't want to stay out late.  I still have work to
do."

"I know, I didn't get much work done today either,"
Kurt said.

"How come?" Nick asked.

"Ryan and I got a little distracted," Kurt said
smiling at Ryan.

"Eww," Nick replied knowing what he meant.

Just then the front door opened and Leo happily walked
in holding a shopping bag from Kitson.

"Hey guys!" Leo said excitedly. "We ready to get our
party on?"

"You're in a happy mood," Kurt commented.

"I'm just excited!" Leo said loudly. "I just need to
change."

Leo was headed for his room when Nick grabbed his arm
and took a good look at him.

"Have you been drinking?" Nick asked.

"Just a bit," Leo replied, "But don't worry. I'm fine.
 Let me change."

Leo hurried into the bedroom to get ready.

"He's drunk," Nick said.

"He sure smelled like alcohol when he walked by," Ryan
noted.

"We're not going to this party," Nick said, "If he's
already drunk, God knows what he'll be like after we
get there."

"Nick, I know you want to be very protective of him
right now, but let him just have this one night," Kurt
sighed, "I don't like the idea of this anymore either,
but after all Leo went through, maybe a night of
partying won't be so bad."

Nick thought it over a for a minute, "I guess you're
right."

"Okay, let's go!" Leo said coming out of his room
wearing his new clothes.

The four grabbed their jackets and headed out to the
party.

When they got to The Market, there were photographers
all lined up outside the front waiting for celebrity
arrivals.  The four walked up the red carpet and a
couple shots were taken of Nick, him being a very
minor celebrity with his advice column.  When they got
to the entrance there was a bouncer and a very
beautiful woman, tall, red hair, light fair skin and
deep green eyes, standing dressed in a black designer
suit and holding a clipboard filled with names.

"Name?" she asked.

"Kurt Parker and guests," Kurt said.

She scanned the few pages before coming to his name,
"Perfect.  Go right on in."

"Thanks," Leo said giving her a big kiss on the cheek.

When they walked inside the music was loud, it looked
a lot like a warehouse, very simple decor, but
something about it gave the whole place a very trendy,
upscale look, it may have been the modern looking bar
with the mountain of bottles of alcohol behind it, or
it may have just been the fact that everyone inside
were all dressed to the impress.  If they weren't
wearing clothes designed by the guest of honor
himself, Patrick Willis, the hottest new designer,
then they were wearing clothes by Gucci, Prada, Hugo
Boss, Armani, etc.  It was definitely a party for the
A-list crowed.

"You used to go to these kinds of parties a lot?" Ryan
asked impressed.

"Yeah," Kurt unenthusiastically answered, "It's cool
at first, but believe me, the novelty wears off."

"This is awesome!" Leo shouted, "I'm going to go get a
drink."

As Leo walked to the bar he was admiring all the
people in their clothes, but was distracted when above
all the noise he heard Jesse's voice, "Leo."

Leo looked around and it seemed everywhere he turned
he saw Jesse looking at him.

"Not again," Leo said to himself and quickly made his
way to get a drink.

Nick, Kurt and Ryan were walking around and mingling.
Nick and Kurt got a lot of hugs from people they used
to always see when they went to these parties.  A lot
of "Where have you been?," "We missed you!," etc.  As
they headed to a less crowded area Kurt saw his
editor, Martin approach him.

"Shit," Kurt said turning to Ryan and Nick, "I didn't
think that Martin would be here."

"You've certainly been a tough cookie to get a hold
of," Martin said in his flamboyant glory.

"Yeah, sorry," Kurt lied, "I've been really busy with
trying to write and everything."

"Well, if you had returned any of my millions of calls
you would know that the editor of West Coast Style has
been interested in meeting with you," Martin said.

"What?" Kurt asked. "West Coast Style?  As in the
biggest fashion magazine not based in New York?"

"Yes," Martin said.

"Why would they want to meet with me?" Kurt asked.

"Probably try to steal you away from me," Martin
replied.  "I wasn't going to even tell you they were
wanting to meet you, but they kept pestering me and
really left me with no choice."

"Wow," Kurt said in shock, "I was not expecting that."

"Don't leave Update," Martin said, "You're one of the
best assets we have there."

"Martin, that's sweet," Kurt said, "But I should at
least go and see what they want at W.C.S., right?"

"I suppose," Martin sighed.

"Well, thank you for telling me," Kurt said giving
Martin a hug.

"It was the right thing to do," Martin sighed. "I'll
talk to you later."

"Okay," Kurt nodded, "I'll call you tomorrow."

Martin left and Kurt lost sight of him as he entered
the mass amount of people at the party.

"Can you believe that?" Kurt asked in pure joy to Ryan
and Nick.

"That's awesome," Nick said giving Kurt a hug.

"You're on your way babe," Ryan said giving Kurt a
kiss.

On the other side of the club Leo was at the bar
drinking with a few people he used to often run into
at these parties when Devon came up to him.

"Thought I might find you at the bar," Devon said
giving Leo a hug.

"Devon!" Leo said happily, "Good to see you here.
Come on, we're all going to do shots."  Leo was
holding a shot glass of tequila with five other people
around him with shots as well.

"All right," Devon said getting the bar tenders
attention and getting a shot for himself.

They all cheered and licked the salt off their hand,
took the shot and then sucked on a lime after.

"Big drinking day for you," Devon commented.

"Big party," Leo justified, "Just want to make sure I
have fun."

"I see that," Devon replied.

"You want to dance?" Leo asked.

"Sure," Devon replied.

The two went to the dance floor where the DJ was
playing top 40 tunes and the two began to dance
together.  Leo closed his eyes and just let the music
take him over, he danced with all his energy, bumping
and grinding his hips against Devon as they danced
together.  It became very hot and sexual between the
two, Devon was enjoying it, Leo didn't even notice, he
was too busy trying to get into a state of mind where
he could get Jesse out of his head.  Devon put his
hands on the side of Leo's face and leaned in to kiss
him.  Leo was ready to accept Devon's kiss but before
he did Jesse's face flashed in front of him.  Leo
quickly pulled away and continued on with just dancing
with Devon.

"So listen," Devon said leaning into Leo so he could
hear him well enough. "After this party some people
are going to come over to my house for a little after
party.  You down?"

"Absolutely," Leo answered wanting to do anything to
keep him from thinking of Jesse.

Back over where Nick, Kurt and Ryan were in the club
Nick was impatiently looking at his watch, when he
finally saw he'd been there for forty-five minutes he
was ready to leave.

"All right," Nick said, "I'm leaving.  You guys
staying or going?"

"I'm ready to leave," Kurt said, "You Ryan?"

"I'm good to go," Ryan replied.

"Lets find Leo and get out of here," Nick said making
his way through the crowed.  "I just want to go home
and go to-"  Nick found himself speechless when he saw
Leo on the dance floor grinding with Devon.

"Oh. My. God," Kurt followed in shock as well.

"I guess he's found a way to move on from Jesse," Ryan
observed.

"Or numb the pain," Nick said as he heading towards
Leo to break up the over the clothes foreplay that was
going on.

"Uh oh," Kurt said to Ryan, "I think Leo is going to
get yelled at."

"Should we wait outside?" Ryan asked not really
wanting to see Leo get lectured.

"Oh yeah," Kurt replied as the two hurried to leave.

Nick hurried over and grabbed Leo by the arm and
pulled him off of Devon.

"We're ready to go," Nick said.

"I'm not," Leo shrugged Nick off. "I want to stay."

"Leo, I think you had enough partying," Nick said,
"What are you doing grinding on this guy?"

"My name's Devon," Devon said trying to introduce
himself.

"Shut up," Nick said to Devon then turned his
attention back to Leo, "Leo, this isn't healthy.  You
need to come home now."

"No," Leo replied, "You need to lay off.  Go home, I
can take care of myself."

"Leo, you're not in the state of mind to take care of
yourself right now," Nick said, "Come on."

"Nick, I'm fine," Leo said, "Just leave me alone."

Nick looked at Leo in shock, in all their years of
friendship, Leo's never talked to him like that.

"Fine," Nick resigned, "But if you get in any sort of
trouble, don't expect me to bail you out."

"Fine," Leo shot back.

Nick then turned and left Leo with Devon.

When Nick got outside he caught up with Kurt and Ryan
who already had valet bring the car around.  Nick got
inside the car and angrily buckled his seatbelt.

"Leo is such a kid," Nick said angrily.

"Are we leaving with out him?" Kurt asked.

"Yeah," Nick said getting as he put the car into drive
and pulled out of the parking lot.

"Are you sure?" Kurt asked.

"Positive," Nick replied.

Kurt and Ryan both exchanged worried looks with one
another, both feeling uneasy for leaving Leo.

"How is he getting home?" Ryan asked.

"His little dance buddy," Nick replied.

"You're leaving Leo with a random guy?" Kurt asked.

"He said he could take care of himself," Nick said, "I
want to test that little theory of his."

"What if he gets in some trouble?" Ryan asked.

"Then I'll help him out, but not until he sees how
stupid he's being," Nick answered.

Kurt and Ryan both felt uneasy about leaving Leo at
that party alone, but Kurt also knew that Nick was
usually right and never let him down before.

When Nick dropped Kurt and Ryan off at their apartment
the two headed up to their place, when they got to the
front door they saw a bowl with fish inside with a
note attached.

"Someone sent us pets," Ryan noted.

"What is this now?" Kurt sighed looking at the card.
'Out of all the fish in the sea, you're the one for
me.'

"This is getting creepy," Ryan said looking down the
hallway of their apartment complex to see if anyone
was looking or watching them.

"Who could be sending these things?" Kurt asked
mystified.

"I don't know, but the next time someone sends
something I'm calling the police," Ryan said
protectively.

"That's sweet, but what are you going to say? 'Help,
my boyfriend is getting flowers?'" Kurt asked.

"There has to be something we can do," Ryan said.

"Whoever it is, will reveal themselves eventually,"
Kurt rationalized, "Until then, we just got to keep an
eye out."

"And you're okay with that?" Ryan asked.

"No, but it's the best we can do," Kurt replied.

As the two walked inside the apartment Ryan's cell
phone began ringing.

"Who'd be calling me at this time?" Ryan asked
confused as he answered his phone. "Hello?"

"Ryan, it's me," a female voice answered.

"Laurie?" Ryan asked. "What's wrong?"

"It's about your daughter," Laurie replied, "Can you
talk now?"

Ryan looked over at Kurt who was setting the bowl of
fish on the kitchen counter.

"Not now," Ryan answered. "I'll call you later."

"Please do," Laurie replied, "It's important."

Ryan hung up the phone and went over and hugged Kurt
from behind.

"Who was that?" Kurt asked.

"Oh, just someone I used to know," Ryan replied. "You
want to get ready for bed?"

"Yeah," Kurt replied as the two walked hand in hand to
the bedroom.

Over at Nick's place, when he finally got home he got
dressed for bed and sat down on his couch in the
living room to call Adrian.  Nick was pissed, he has
never been more angry at Leo before and at the same
time has never been more worried.  He dialed Adrian's
number and called him, even though it was now the
middle of the night over in New York.

"Hello?" a tired Adrian answered.

"I'm sorry, I know you were asleep, but I really need
to talk," Nick said apologetically.

"What's wrong?" Adrian asked hearing the upset in
Nick's voice.

"It's Leo," Nick replied. "He's been completely
immature right now.  I know it has to do with Jesse,
but he's just going downhill fast."

"Have you tried talking to him?" Adrian asked.

"Of course," Nick replied, "But he just pushes me
away."

"Well, I hate to say it, but maybe you should just
leave him alone," Adrian suggested. "Let him make his
own mistakes."

"Normally, I would," Nick said, "But in this case,
he's too unstable.  He needs me now, but he's just
numbing himself from feeling the pain."

"You can't help someone who doesn't want it," Adrian
said.

"It's just so frustrating," Nick sighed.

"Why don't you come with me to Paris in a couple
days?" Adrian asked, "I'll help you relax a bit."

"That's sweet, but I can't," Nick replied, "Not until
I know Leo will be okay.  Besides, I have work I
really need to do."

Adrian sighed, "All right, well I miss you."

"I miss you too," Nick replied.

"Do you really?" Adrian asked.

"Of course I do," Nick answered, "What kind of
question is that?"

"I haven't heard from you since the day you got back
from New York," Adrian brought up, "I tried calling
you, but you never called back."

"I'm sorry," Nick said, realizing how bad of a
boyfriend he's been. "It's just tough now with Leo."

"I understand that," Adrian replied, "If you don't
have time for me-"

"No," Nick interrupted, not even wanting Adrian to
finish that sentence, "I do, and I'll be better.  I
promise.  I'm really sorry."

"It's okay," Adrian replied.

"I should let you get to sleep," Nick said.

"All right, it was good talking to you again," Adrian
said sweetly.

"Thank you for listening to me complain," Nick
replied.

"Anytime," Adrian answered. "I'll talk to you later."

"All right, good night," Nick said hanging up the
phone.

Nick knew he had to be a better boyfriend to Adrian,
but at the same time knew he had an obligation as
Leo's best friend to make sure that he would be okay.

Later that night, Leo went with Devon and about six
other people to Devon's house.  It was a beautiful
house, hidden in the Hollywood hills.  Leo wasn't
surprised to see that Devon had such a nice house,
seeing as how he noticed him wearing D&G from head to
toe.  They were all sitting in Devon's living room
listen to music and drinking and some were smoking,
not Leo however, he did a lot of things, but drugs
wasn't one of them.  Leo however, was very big on
drinking, especially tonight.  At that point in the
night Leo was pretty hammered and was laying down
resting his head on Devon's lap.  Leo felt good
earlier in the night, he had stopped thinking about
Jesse after a few shots and too many martinis, but at
this point he was beginning to be disoriented and not
too sure what was going on.

"Do you want to go lay down?" Devon asked Leo.

"Sure," Leo slurred.

"Come on," Devon said helping Leo up and taking him
upstairs to his master bedroom of his four bedroom
home.  When the went to his room Devon eased Leo down
on the bed and took off his shoes for him.

"Thanks," Leo said curling up with one of the pillows.

Devon went and sat up on the bed with Leo and put his
arm around Leo.

"How you feeling?" Devon asked.

"Good," Leo sighed.

"Good," Devon whispered as he leaned in and began
kissing Leo.  Leo at first accepted the kiss and
wrapped his arms around Devon enjoying every second of
it, when Leo opened his eyes he saw Jesse in front of
him, he saw Jesse as the one he was kissing and Leo
melted into it, once again embracing the taste and
touch of the man he loves, he closed his eyes and went
with the kiss wanting it to last forever.  When Leo
opened his eyes again however, he saw Devon.  Leo
quickly pulled away.

"What's going on?" Leo asked.

"Aren't you enjoying it?" Devon asked. "Come on, let
me help you out of those nice new clothes of yours."

"No," Leo said trying to push Devon off.

"Come on," Devon said, "Just go with it."  Devon began
to unbutton Leo's shirt, but Leo squirmed beneath him,
not wanting to be there with him.

"I'm with someone," Leo protested.

"You're with someone?" Devon asked, "I thought you
said he was in a coma."

"Doesn't mean he's no longer the man I love," Leo
replied sobering up a bit.  He managed to push Devon
off and get out of the bed.

"What's one night?" Devon asked. "He's in a coma,
he'll never know."

"I'm leaving," Leo said putting his shoes on.

"Fine," Devon laughed, "Whatever."

Leo stumbled a little down the stairs, but was able to
get a good grip of the rail to make it the rest of the
way down.  When he reached the front door he realized
he had no way of getting home.  He took his cell phone
out of his pocket as he left the house, but then
stopped himself before he dialed Nick's number.  He
didn't want to call Nick, he was too proud too.  He
didn't want to call Kurt because if he called Kurt
then he would have to eventually tell Nick what
happened.  Not knowing what else to do, and too drunk
to even really care, he decided to just walk, walk the
ten miles to get home.  So Leo set off on his walk
home at three in the morning.  Half way down the drive
way Leo rushed to the bushes and threw up.  After a
few minutes, he wiped his mouth with the sleeve of his
new jacket and continued walking.  On the walk home he
began to sober up some, and when he sobered up, all he
could do was think of Jesse.  Leo thought back to a
time when things were really good with him and Jesse.
It was their one year anniversary and the two were
ecstatic to have made it a full year together.  Leo
had gotten the day off of work and Jesse only had one
meeting in the morning, but hurried over to Leo's
place after to spend the day together.  When Jesse
arrived at Leo's place, Leo had cooked lunch for the
two, a roasted chicken with steam asparagus.

"Happy anniversary," Leo said opening the door and
giving Jesse a kiss.

"Happy anniversary baby," Jesse said handing Leo a
small little wrapped present.

"What's this?" Leo asked. "I thought we said no
presents."

"I know, but I wanted you to have it.  Open it," Jesse
replied.

Leo hurried and unwrapped the box, when he opened it
up he found a silver band inside with Leo and Jesse
engraved into it.

"It's beautiful," Leo said putting the ring on his
right ring finger.

"This ring, is a promise ring," Jesse said.

"A promise ring?" Leo asked.

"Yeah, it's my promise to you that one day, I want to
marry you," Jesse replied.

Leo didn't say anything, he was speechless and in awe
that he had such a sweet and thoughtful boyfriend.  He
leaned in and kissed Jesse.

"Thank you," Leo said, "I have a little gift for you
too."

"Oh yeah?" Jesse asked.

"Yeah, but you have to come into the bedroom to get
it," Leo said leading Jesse into his room.

"What about lunch?" Jesse asked.

"It'll stay warm," Leo replied smiling.

The rest of the walk home back home, Leo replayed
memories of him and Jesse together in his mind.  And
with every memory, he wished that he could get Jesse
out of his head because it hurt too much to think
about him.  Leo didn't even notice that it took him
over three hours to walk home, he didn't notice the
sun rising at six in the morning, he didn't notice how
cold it was outside, all he did the whole walk home
was think and remember and wish he could stop thinking
and stop remembering.  Before he went up to the
apartment he stopped at a twenty-four hour liquor
store and bought a bottle of scotch, he realized that
the only time he could truly forget about Jesse was
when he drank, and so he did.  He went up to the
apartment and walked inside and headed straight to his
room and closed the door with his scotch in hand.

Kurt meanwhile, woke up to the sound of the door
closing.  He looked at the clock on the counter and
saw that it was half past six, he got out of bed and
walked outside of his room, but when he did he saw Leo
close the door to his bedroom.  Kurt went over and
knocked on the door.

"You okay Leo?" Kurt asked.

"Fine," Leo replied.

"You need anything?" Kurt asked.

"No," Leo answered.

"Did you have fun last night?" Kurt asked.

"It was the best," Leo lied. "Good night."

Kurt sighed, he didn't like that Leo got home so late,
but was relieved that he was home at least, so he went
back to his room and went back to sleep.  Back inside
Leo's room he was sitting on the floor leaning against
his bed drinking.  He drank by himself until he
finally got Jesse out of his head and was finally able
to go to sleep.



To Be Continued...

With any comments, questions, or feedback please
e-mail me at ilj4ever44@yahoo.com.  Thanks so much!