Date: Mon, 16 Oct 2006 01:06:01 -0700 (PDT)
From: Kirk Landers <ilj4ever44@yahoo.com>
Subject: Phases- part 2

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.


Hope everyone enjoyed the first installment.  Here's
part 2 entitled "Easier to Lie"

'EASIER TO LIE'

    It's been one week since the break up between Leo
and Jesse.  Since the break up Leo has been a wreck,
today he didn't even want to get out of bed.  He laid
in his room looking at a picture of him and Jesse in
happier times when he heard a rapping on his door.

"Leo!" he heard Nick's voice yell, "Kurt and I are
here."

"Get up," Kurt said pounding on the door some more.

Leo just sighed and ignored them.

"We have a key you know," Kurt yelled.

Leo then got up and opened the door for them.

"You have a key to my place?" Leo asked.

"No," Kurt replied walking in, "But we needed to say
something to get you to let us in."

"Guys, I'm really not in the mood," Leo sighed.

"Leo, we've given you a week to sulk and morn the
relationship," Nick said. "Now it's time to get up and
get your life back in order."

"Yeah," Kurt added, "Besides you're going to lose your
job if you keep calling in sick."

"I don't care," Leo sighed.

"You won't be saying that when you get evicted from
this place for not being able to pay rent," Nick said.
"Now get dressed."

"For what?" Leo asked.

"We're going out," Kurt replied.

"Where?" Leo asked.

"Don't ask questions and just get dressed," Nick said.

"Fine," Leo sighed as he went in his bedroom to
change.

"So where are we going?" Nick asked Kurt quietly.

"I thought you had a plan," Kurt replied. "You're the
one who made a career of helping people through
emotional stuff like this."

"I didn't make a plan cause I thought you had one,"
Nick said. "You said, 'let's get Leo and go out and do
something.'"

"Yeah and it was your job to figure out something for
us to do," Kurt said.

"We'll just wing it and figure something out," Nick
suggested.

"Sounds good enough for me," Kurt replied.

twenty minutes later Leo came out of his room dressed
and ready to go.

"All right," Leo sighed, "Let's go on with this fun
day you two have planned."

"Yeah," Nick said nervously, "Let's get this fun day
we have planned started."

Nick and Kurt both exchanged worried looks as they
left, both trying hard to figure out something to do.

They went down and got inside Kurt's car and headed
out on their day.

"So where are we going?" Leo asked again.

Kurt sighed and decided to come clean and tell Leo
they didn't really have a plan for today, but Nick
quickly thought something up before Kurt could tell
him.

"We're going to go to the beach," Nick said.

"The beach?" Leo asked pessimistically.

"Yeah, what's wrong with that?" Nick asked, "You love
the beach."

"It's fine, I'm just not really in the mood to go
anywhere today," Leo said.

"Well you've been doing it all week and it's not
healthy," Kurt said.

"Leo, trust me," Nick added in, "I get letters all the
time from people who have been going through what
you're going through and all the time they write me
back telling me the advice I gave helped them out."

"And what advice is that?" Leo asked.

"You have to go through the steps of a break-up," Nick
replied.

"What steps?" Leo asked.

"Step one is mourning the loss of the relationship,"
Nick replied. "Which you've been doing non-stop for
the past week.  You've grieved for so long and so
content in staying in this period that it's keeping
you from living your life.  So now it's time for step
two, which is accepting the break-up."

"Which is why we're taking you to the beach," Kurt
said. "The ocean can be very metaphorical for what
you're going through."

"Metaphorical for what?" Leo asked.

"You'll see and I'll explain it when we get there,"
Nick replied.

A half hour later they finally arrived at the beach
and took a walk down to the shoreline.

"So what is this big metaphor your trying to explain
to me?" Leo asked.

"Look at the ocean," Nick said.

"Okay," Leo replied.

"See the waves crashing down and all the noise and
chaos they make?" Nick asked.

"Yeah," Leo said.

"Look out further," Nick said pointing out to sea,
"See how eventually the waters calm down and become
peaceful?"

"Where are you going with this?" Leo asked.

"Right now, you're in that chaos stage," Nick said.
"You're lost, you feel destroyed.  You're like the
waves here, but trust me, eventually you'll feel the
calm."

Kurt looked over at Nick in shock over how well he put
the beach and wave metaphor together.

"Thanks," Leo said understandingly. "Mind if I take a
walk for a little bit by myself?"

"No, go ahead," Kurt said. "We'll be right here."

"Thanks guys," Leo said as he walked off.

When Leo reached out of hearing distance Kurt turned
to Nick.

"How the hell were you able to pull that off?" Kurt
asked.

"I totally winged it," Nick revealed. "I just made all
that up as I went along."

"Damn, you're good," Kurt laughed.

"I know," Nick joked.

The guys spent the next two hours at the beach, Leo
felt better having his friends by his side.
Afterwards Nick had Leo spend the day with him while
Kurt went back to the apartment to work.

Kurt was in the kitchen typing on his laptop when Ryan
came home.

"Hey Kurt," Ryan said walking in carrying a couple
boxes with him.

"Moving in more stuff?" Kurt asked.

"Oh no, this is stuff for the center, that I'm working
on," Ryan replied. "I'm putting together an art
program for some of the young teens that come to the
center, let them use their creative juices."

"That sounds like a great idea," Kurt said.

"You working?" Ryan asked.

"Yeah, trying to anyway," Kurt replied.

"What are you writing about?" Ryan asked.

"Something I don't know that much about," Kurt
replied. "Relationships."

"What are you talking about?" Ryan asked. "All the
stuff I've read of yours are about relationships."

"I know, but this article is different," Kurt replied.
"It's not about finding a relationship, it's about
maintaining one."

"So?" Ryan asked.

"So, I don't really know how to maintain one," Kurt
replied. "I've been with Scott for like six months
now, but I don't think it's been me maintaining it.
I've just been going along for the ride, it seems more
like Scott who's been keeping us together."

"Are you not really into your boyfriend?" Ryan asked.

"I don't know," Kurt replied. "He's a good guy,
everything I could ask for, but something's off with
us.  How is it with you and Craig?"

"We have our moments," Ryan said. "There are times
when I just feel like giving up and moving on, but
then there are those times when I just look at him and
see one of the sweetest guys I've ever met."

"So how do you two maintain it?" Kurt asked.

"Lots and lots of work," Ryan replied.

"Do you see him and see someone you want to be with
for the rest of your life?" Kurt asked.

"I don't know about forever," Ryan replied, "But I see
someone who means a lot to me."

"So you don't see Craig as the person you want to
settle down with?" Kurt asked.

"I honestly don't know," Ryan said. "He's great, but I
don't know about forever with him.  Whenever I thought
of the perfect person for me, I always thought of
someone who I could just talk to easily and reveal
things to that I've never revealed to anyone else.
Kind of like this right now, I talk to you really
easily.  I always imagined it would be something like
that."

"Yeah," Kurt sighed.  The two grew silent as they
looked into one another's eyes and saw something that
they both hadn't seen before and felt something they
both haven't felt before.  Kurt's cell phone then rang
ending the moment they were sharing.

"I should get to work on these," Ryan said quickly,
picking up his boxes. "I'll talk to you later."

"Yeah, I should get this," Kurt said trying to cover
up for the moment they shared, and looked at his
caller ID, "Oh, it's Scott."

Ryan took a breath as he closed the door to his room
not to sure what to make of what that was out there he
felt with Kurt.

"Hello?' Kurt asked answering the phone.

"Hey babe," Scott replied.

"Hi, what's up?" Kurt asked.

"What are you doing?" Scott asked.

"Just doing some work," Kurt replied.

"Sounds good," Scott said. "Do you want to grab lunch
today?"

"Yeah," Kurt replied. "Sounds good."

""All right, when do you want me to pick you up?"
Scott asked.

"I could take a break for this in about an hour," Kurt
replied.

"All right," Scott said. "See you then."

"Bye," Kurt said hanging up.

Kurt then went back to work to try and get some work
done.

Over at Nick's place he and Leo were sitting down and
going over some of the letters Nick was responding to.

"Leo, see how others are going through so much of what
you're going through?" Nick asked. "And they all get
through it, and you will too."

"It's not that I think I won't get through it," Leo
replied, "It's that it felt so safe for me to have him
in my life and now that he's not there it's
uncomfortable."

"Yeah, but eventually you'll meet someone who will
fill that void," Nick said.

"But when?" Leo asked, "How long will I go on feeling
this way?  How long until I feel safe again with
someone."

"Leo, can I give you my two cents?" Nick asked.

"Yeah," Leo replied.

"I think you got too dependent on him," Nick said. "It
seems it got to the point where you can't be
independent and on your own."

"I can be independent," Leo retorted.

"Oh yeah?" Nick doubted, "If so, then why do you not
feel safe to be single?"

"It's not that I don't feel safe being single, it's
that I don't feel safe with out Jesse," Leo replied.

"Which is being dependent," Nick said. "Leo, learn to
do some things on your own.  Learn to be single."

"Not all of us have had that much practice being
single like you," Leo said getting upset at Nick.

"Don't try and turn this around on me," Nick shot
back. "If you don't want to hear my advice then just
say so."

"Fine, I don't want to hear it," Leo said.

"Tough, I'm going to anyway," Nick ignored.

"I'm leaving," Leo said getting up.

"For God's sake Leo, I love you.  You're like a
brother to me," Nick said.

"You love me?" Leo asked turning to face Nick, "Then
be a friend to me.  Don't psychoanalyze me!  I need a
friend, not a shrink."

With that Leo turned his back on Nick and left the
apartment.  Nick sighed in frustration, knowing that
he pushed Leo too much in trying to get over Jesse.

Later that day Kurt having lunch with Scott at a
trendy, little cafe.  Sitting on the outdoor patio
overlooking the ocean, Kurt couldn't help but let his
mind wander as Scott was talking to him.

"Did you hear me Kurt?" Scott asked getting Kurt's
attention.

"Sorry, what?" Kurt asked.

"I asked if you liked your lunch," Scott said, "You
haven't eaten much."

"Oh yeah, it's good," Kurt replied taking a bite for
proof.

"You okay?" Scott asked, "You seem a bit distracted."

Can I ask you something?" Kurt asked.

"Of course," Scott replied.

"Have you ever seen something and didn't really think
much of it, but then for a moment you saw it as
something else and you then saw it in a new light?"
Kurt asked.

"I'm not sure I follow," Scott replied.

"Take a rose for example," Kurt said pointing at the
rose in the little vase in the center of their table,
"You first may see it and it's just a rose."

"Okay," Scott said trying to follow.

"But then, you take a chance to really look at it and
admire it and suddenly see how beautiful it really
is," Kurt continued. "Do you know what I'm talking
about?"

"Seeing something differently?" Scott asked.

"Yes, exactly," Kurt replied.

"All right, so you're seeing things differently?"
Scott asked.

"Yes," Kurt replied, but then quickly changed his
answer to cover, "Well, I don't know.  It was just
something that was running through my mind."

"I see where this is going," Scott said
understandingly.

"You do?" Kurt asked feeling busted.

"Yeah, you're trying to get some information from me
for your next article huh?" Scott asked. "You want to
know how I felt when you and I stopped being just
friends and moved on to becoming a couple."

"Oh," Kurt said a little put off by that response, but
decided to go along with it to save him some trouble,
"Uh yeah, you sure got me."

"To tell you the truth it was kind of surreal when I
first started liking you," Scott said.

"Oh yeah?" Kurt asked.

"Yeah, I remember when I used to work at the magazine
that I would see you come in and out once or twice a
week and you'd come up and talk to me over the article
you wrote.  We'd always critique it together and fix
things and change things up a bit, but then one day
you brought in a paper that I could tell you just put
your full heart into and had such passion for it and
it showed in your eyes and that's when I knew," Scott
said.

"Knew what?" Kurt asked.

"I knew I was falling for you," Scott replied.

Kurt smiled, deeply touched by what Scott said.  He
reached over and squeezed his hand.

"Thank you for that," Kurt said.  He then wondered if
maybe he was selling Scott a little short, maybe he
could be with him and have a future with him, sure he
felt a slight spark with Ryan, but why go for a little
spark, when you have a bright future with a great guy?

Leo got home, upset over his fight with Nick.  He was
about to call him when he walked to his front door and
saw Jesse knocking on his door.

"Jesse," Leo said getting his attention.  Jesse turned
around in surprise.

"Oh hey," Jesse said.

"What are you doing here?" Leo asked.

"I uh, think I left my black jacket here," Jesse
replied.

"I gave you your stuff back already," Leo said.

"Oh yeah," Jesse said rubbing his head "Forgot about
that."

"Jesse," Leo said.

"Yeah?" Jesse asked.

"What are you really doing here?" Leo asked.

"I came to see how you were doing," Jesse replied.

"Want to come in and talk?" Leo asked.

"Yeah," Jesse replied.

Leo unlocked his door and the two went inside.

"Do you want a drink or anything?" Leo asked
nervously.

"No, I'm okay," Jesse replied equally nervous.

"Want to sit down?" Leo asked as they entered Leo's
living room.

Leo and Jesse sat down quietly, they both shared an
awkward beat.

"So how have you been?" Jesse asked.

"Good," Leo replied, then after a beat, "Okay, well,
I've been better.  How are you?"

"Same," Jesse said. "What have you been up to?"

"You don't want to know," Leo replied, not wanting to
confess how miserable he's been.  "How about you?"

"Been keeping busy," Jesse said. "Distracting myself
with work."

"Jesse, can I ask you something?" Leo asked.

"Of course," Jesse replied.

"People always says love conquers all," Leo began,
"But we loved each other a lot, so why didn't we make
it?"

"That's a question I've been asking myself every day,"
Jesse replied.

"Have you found an answer?" Leo asked.

"I think that maybe we just stopped putting the time
and effort into it that we once did," Jesse replied.

"Then couldn't we fix that?" Leo asked hopeful.

"I don't think it's that simple," Jesse replied.

Leo sighed, "Yeah, you're probably right."

"You know I love you," Jesse said.

"I know," Leo replied. "I love you too."

"I should probably get going," Jesse said getting up.

"Okay," Leo replied as he walked Jesse to the door.

"I'll see you," Jesse said giving Leo a hug.  He
started to walk out the door when Leo stopped him.

"Jesse wait," Leo said.

"What?" Jesse asked.

"Do you think we could try to be friends at least?"
Leo asked.

"I'd like that," Jesse replied with a smile.

Leo and Jesse shared a smile as they both relished in
the idea of keeping each other in their lives, even
though it may be on a less intimate capacity.

Needed to talk a walk and settle down after his fight
with Leo, Nick found himself walking in the park and
letting the fresh air calm him down.  He felt so
horribly over the fight.  The two have never fought
before, and he knew that he pushed too hard to try and
get Leo over Jesse.  However, he couldn't see why it
was so hard for Leo to get a little independence back
and realize life goes on after a break-up.  However,
just as he thought those things he stopped in his
tracks and lost his breath as he found himself looking
at his ex walking with the man he dumped Nick for.
Not wanting to be seen he quickly went and hid behind
a tree to catch his breath.  Seeing his ex all those
feelings of heartache came back, his ex was the reason
why Nick was now so picky in finding a man.  He then
remembered what it was that Leo was going through and
knew he had to see him.  He took out his cell phone
and called.

"Hello?" Leo asked answering.

"Hey, can you meet me at the coffee shop by your
place?" Nick asked.

"Yeah," Leo replied.

"All right I'll see you then," Nick said hanging up.

 Over at Kurt's place he just got back from lunch with
Scott and went back to work on his article when Ryan
came out of his bedroom.

"Hey," Ryan said. "You're back."

"Yeah, had to get back and finish my work up," Kurt
said.

"I'm just about to head out," Ryan said.

"Where you going?" Kurt asked.

"I'm going to go see Craig," Ryan replied.

"Have fun," Kurt said.

"Will do," Ryan said as he was about to head out, he
then turned back to Kurt. "Hey, Kurt."

"Yeah?" Kurt asked.

"Earlier today when we were talking," Ryan began.

"Yeah?" Kurt asked intrigued, wondering if Ryan felt
what he had felt.

"Did you-" Ryan said, but was then cut off by his cell
phone.  He picked it up answering, "Hello?"

"Hey it's me," Craig said.

"Hey, I was just about to leave," Ryan said.

"Cool," Craig said, "I wanted to catch you before you
left."

"What for?" Ryan asked.

"I wanted to see if you wanted to stay over," Craig
replied. "So if you need to pack anything."

"Sounds good," Ryan said.

"Great," Craig said. "So I'll see you later."

"All right, love you," Ryan said.

"Love you too," Craig replied hanging up.

"So what were you going to say?" Kurt asked.

"Oh, it's nothing," Ryan replied. "I'll see you later
okay?"

"All right, have a good time," Kurt said as Ryan left.

Kurt then sat back and thought about both Ryan and
Scott.  Here he was with Scott, a great, charming,
loving man, but then there was Ryan, someone he felt
something towards that he never felt before.  He
sighed as he realized he was going to be getting
himself into a sticky dilemma.

Later on, Nick arrived at the coffee shop and saw Leo
sitting down in a booth waiting for him.

"Hey," Nick said as he sat down.

"Hi," Leo replied. "I'm sorry about earlier."

"No," Nick said, "I'm the one who should apologize.  I
saw Luke today."

"You did?" Leo asked surprised, "What did he say?"

"He didn't see me," Nick replied, "I saw him and
quickly hid behind a tree.  Pathetic."

"No, you're not pathetic," Leo said. "He hurt you a
lot."

"Yeah, years ago," Nick said, "And still I hide when I
see him.  I forgot how hard break-ups were.  I guess I
just got so used to giving out advice that I forgot
what it's like to actually be in that position."

"It's tough," Leo sighed.

"I know," Nick said. "So just take all the time you
need.  Just trust me when I say you'll get over this."

"Thanks," Leo said.

Before they could continue Nick's cell phone rang.

"It's Kurt," Nick said looking at the caller ID.
"Hello?"

"Hey what are you doing now?" Kurt asked.

"I'm talking with Leo," Nick replied.

"Perfect," Kurt said, "I need to talk to you guys.
Want to meet for Chinese food?"

"Sure, we'll be right there," Nick replied hanging up.

"What's up?" Leo asked.

"Kurt wants to talk to us about something," Nick
replied. "He wants to meet us at that Chinese
restaurant we always go to."

"Okay," Leo said getting up.

Twenty minutes later Nick and Leo met up with Kurt at
the restaurant.  After they sat down and ordered the
two turned to Kurt to spill what he wanted to talk
about.

"What's up?" Leo asked.

"I'm having issues and needed to talk to you guys,"
Kurt replied. "I think I'm falling for Ryan."

"We tried warning you," Nick sighed.

"But it gets worse," Kurt said, "I'm finally starting
to feel something towards Scott."

"Oh," Leo said understandingly. "So what are you going
to do?"

"I don't know," Kurt sighed, "I just feel so confused
right now."

 "If you stay with Scott, you know you'll be with
someone who is great," Leo pointed out.

"But if you decide to pursue Ryan, you might get
something you always wanted," Nick added.

"Yeah, but he might not," Leo replied.

"You're right," Kurt said, "I might not get anything
from Ryan.  Ryan might not even feel anything towards
me.  So why am I even thinking about this?"

"Exactly," Leo said. "If you ask me, it's safer to
just stay with Scott."

"Safer doesn't always mean better," Nick countered.

"No, but it's less of a risk," Kurt said.

"Sooner or later you're going to have to make some
risks to get the things you want," Nick said.

"I don't want to hurt Scott, but what if Ryan is the
one?" Kurt asked.

"Kurt, you're always on this quest to search for 'the
one,' but maybe you should just take the time to see
where life takes you," Leo replied.

"Exactly," Nick followed. "You're only twenty four.
You have plenty of time to find Mr. Right."

"I've been dating since I was sixteen," Kurt sighed,
"It's always been one person after another and I'm
tired of it.  It's getting frustrating, I want to meet
'the one' because I just don't want to deal with it
anymore."

"I know what you mean," Leo sighed. "I think that's
why I didn't want to see the problems I was having
with Jesse.  I just wanted that search to be over."

"But I think it's better for him to be out of your
life," Nick said.

"I saw him today," Leo said.

"You did?" Nick asked. "When?"

"Right before you called me," Leo answered. "He
stopped by."

"What did he want?" Kurt asked.

"He wanted to see how I was doing," Leo replied.

"That's nice of him I guess," Kurt said.

"Are you okay?" Nick asked.

"You know, I actually am," Leo said. "We decided to
try and be friends."

"Friends?" Nick asked.

"Yeah," Leo replied.

Nick and Kurt both exchanged concerned looks.

"Do you think that's the best thing so soon after the
relationship ended?" Kurt asked.

"Why?" Leo asked.

"If you already try hanging out and being friends it
might be tough," Nick said. "Feelings don't just go
away."

"I know," Leo said, "But I really can't imagine him
not being in my life in some way."

"Well, good luck," Kurt said, "We're here for you."

"Don't worry," Leo said. "I think it will be okay."

After dinner the guys opened up their fortune cookies
they got with the check and read them.

"You have everything you want," Nick read aloud.

Leo thought over his situation and decided the best
thing to do was to lie to himself that he could have
an easy friendship with Jesse.  Nick thought over his
situation and decided the best thing to do was to lie
to himself that he enjoyed being single.  Kurt thought
over his situation and decided the best thing to do
was the lie to himself that he doesn't have feelings
for Ryan and can have it all with Scott.

"So do we have everything we want?" Nick asked.

"Yeah," Leo lied.

"Yeah," Kurt lied.

"Yeah," Nick sighed.

***************************************************************************

To Be Continued...

With any comments, questions or feedback please e-mail
me at ILJ4EVER44@yahoo.com.  Thanks!  All My Best!