Date: Tue, 10 Apr 2007 23:31:08 -0700 (PDT)
From: Kirk Landers <ilj4ever44@yahoo.com>
Subject: Phases- part 20

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.

Here's part twenty entitled "Showdown."

'SHOWDOWN'

After Kurt looked through Reese's computer he printed
some stuff out and quickly went back to Reese's place
to get his cell phone and made up a lie that Nick
needed him and quickly left and headed over to Nick's
place.  When he got there Nick was wearing his pajamas
and was surprised to see him there.

"What are you doing here so late?" Nick asked.

"You're not going to believe what I just found out,"
Kurt replied walking in and sitting down at the
kitchen table.

"What's wrong?" Nick asked.

"Look at these," Kurt said handing Nick the papers he
printed out.

"What are these?" Nick asked looking them over, "It
looks like pay outs and statements."

"Yeah," Kurt replied, "I got them off of Reese's
computer at work."

"I don't follow," Nick said.

"Look at what they pay outs are for," Kurt said,
"There are bills he paid to Luscious Flowers florist.
That's the place that kept sending me all those
flowers."

"Oh," Nick said, "So it was him?"

"Yeah and that's not even the worst one," Kurt said,
"There was a deposit he made into Laurie Covington's
checking account.  He gave her twenty thousand
dollars."

"Who's Laurie Covington?" Nick asked.

"The mother of Ryan's kid," Kurt replied.

"I don't understand," Nick said, "Why would he give
her twenty thousand dollars?"

"Why do you think?" Kurt asked, "Put it all together,
the flowers, Ryan going away, leaving me single for
him to be with.  Don't you get it?  He paid her to get
Ryan to leave me."

"Oh my God," Nick said, "What are you going to do?"

"I don't know," Kurt said.

"You need to tell Ryan," Nick said.

"You think?" Kurt asked.

"Of course," Nick replied, "He needs to know."

"And then tell him to pack up and come back home with
me?" Kurt asked.

"Why not?" Nick asked.

"Because it's not just him I have to consider here,"
Kurt replied, "What about his daughter?  He's gotten
to develop a relationship with her and become a
father."

"Well at least give him the option to choose," Nick
said, "He has a right to know what's going on.  And
then after that let him decide what he wants to do."

"That's not fair to him," Kurt said.

"None of this is fair to you either," Nick pointed
out.  "You owe it to yourself and to your relationship
you had with Ryan."

"I'm just still really overwhelmed by all of this,"
Kurt said, "I mean to find out that the person who has
been freaking me out with those flowers and who ruined
my last relationship is the person I'm dating now.
It's a lot to process."

"I never would have thought Reese would do something
like that," Nick said.

"I know," Kurt replied, "He never came across as the
psycho type.  A little aggressive at getting what he
wanted, but never to the point where he would do
something like this."

"So what are you going to do about him?" Nick asked.

"I don't know," Kurt said, "Do I confront him right
away?  Or should I wait until I talk to Ryan?"

"You have to be careful Kurt," Nick warned, "Besides
him being capable of some very dangerous stuff, you
also could be out of a job."

"I can't lose that job," Kurt sighed, "It's the best
paying job I've ever had."

"So you have to be smart," Nick said, "Lets look over
these papers you brought over and see if we can find
anything."

"Okay," Kurt said sitting down with Nick as they began
to carefully examine what they have.

The next day Leo was busy packing his things up while
Tristan was in the room with him.

"I'm so proud of you," Tristan said, "You get to go
home tomorrow."

"Yeah, it's been a pretty big roller coaster ride,"
Leo sighed, "I'm really glad I came here though."

"Me too," Tristan replied giving Leo a kiss. "So
promise me you'll call after you get settled in at
home."

"Of course I will," Leo replied. "But don't worry
about that now.  We still have one more day here
together."

"And then hopefully I'll be able to get out of here
and maybe we can see where that takes us?" Tristan
floated the idea.

"I definitely see potential," Leo smiled kissing
Tristan some more.

"Come to my room," Tristan said taking Leo's hand, "I
have something for you."

When they got to Tristan's room he went to his bedside
table and opened up a drawer and took out a bottle
cap.

"Here," Tristan handed the cap to Leo.

"What is this for?" Leo asked.

"That bottle cap is from the last drop of alcohol I
ever drank," Tristan explained, "When I first got here
I was a mess and whenever I felt the urge to drink I
would hold on to that bottle cap and remember why I'm
here and what I have to get through.  I want you to
take it, so that way, if you ever feel the need to
drink or anything, just hold on to it and remember all
the progress you made and all the progress we made
together."

Leo was touched, knowing the story behind that bottle
cap and how priceless it was. "Thank you so much
Tristan."

"Although, there is one rule," Tristan said.

"What's that?" Leo asked.

"When I get out of here we're going to have to share
that bottle cap," Tristan said.

"Deal," Leo said giving Tristan a hug.

"Come on," Tristan said, "Let's go take a walk
together."

"Sounds perfect," Leo said as the two headed out.
When they walked outside it was a beautiful day, the
perfect last day for Leo to be there. "It's amazing."

"What is?" Tristan asked.

"When I first came here I was a wreck," Leo replied.
"Everything I did before I couldn't do with out
alcohol in me.  It was every day, I couldn't go with
out a drink.  I had to be high all the time."

"Do you understand why now?" Tristan asked.

"I understood then," Leo said, "I just didn't want to
face the world.  It was all too much for me.  At the
time I couldn't stand to be in a world that Jesse
wasn't a part of."

"And how do you feel now?" Tristan asked.

"Like for once since the accident I have a reason to
smile and be happy," Leo replied.

"I'm glad," Tristan said holding Leo's hand.

"I am a little scared though," Leo sighed. "I don't
know how well I'll do in the real world.  I felt so
safe here, you know?"

"You'll be fine," Tristan said.

"How can you be so sure?" Leo asked.

"Because I know you pretty well now," Tristan replied,
"And if there's one thing I've learned is that you're
very dedicated to something once you set your mind to
it.  If you want to succeed then you'll succeed."

"Thanks," Leo said giving Tristan a kiss.

Over at his apartment, Kurt was packing up a bag when
his cell rang.  It was Reese.

"Hello?" Kurt asked trying to play it cool.

"Hey, what's up babe?" Reese asked.

Kurt cringed, he couldn't stand the sound of Reese
calling him babe, the sound of his voice in general
made him want to throw up.

"Nothing," Kurt replied, "I can't really talk now."

"Is everything okay?" Reese asked, "You left in a
hurry last night."

"Yeah, I'm fine," Kurt said, "I'll talk to you later."

Kurt then quickly hung up before Reese could say
anything.  He then proceeded to packing some things up
and then he gave Nick a call.

"Hey," Nick answered.

"I'm going to Florida," Kurt said.

"What?" Nick asked, "Now?"

"Yeah," Kurt replied, "I need to talk to Ryan.  You
told me to remember?"

"Yeah, but I didn't think you'd hop on a plane to
Florida right away," Nick answered. "Why not just call
him?"

"Because I need to see him," Kurt said. "I miss him.
All this just makes me realize even more how much
better life was with him."

"When are you leaving?" Nick asked.

"As soon as I can get a flight," Kurt replied. "I
don't know yet how I'm going to confront Reese, but I
know that I need to see Ryan."

"How do you know where he lives?" Nick asked.

"One of the e-mails I printed out from Reese's
computer was from Laurie and on it she gave Reese
Ryan's address in case he wanted to keep an eye on
him," Kurt replied. "Can you believe how sick these
two are?"

"Be careful okay?" Nick sighed.

"Of course," Kurt replied. "I'll talk to you later."

"All right," Nick replied, "Call me when you get
there."

"I will," Kurt answered. "Love you."

"Love you too," Nick replied before he hung up.  After
Nick hung up he got a call from Luke.

"Hey," Luke said when Nick answered the phone.

"What's up?" Nick asked.

"I was just wondering how you were doing," Luke said.

"I'm fine," Nick replied, "Still really confused."

"Nick, I am sorry for everything," Luke said. "I'm
also sorry for storming in on your date last night.
Did I ruin things for you and that guy?"

"You mean Stanley?  Yeah, he's not talking to me
anymore.  I called him earlier today and told me that
I obviously have baggage that I won't be able to get
rid of."

"I'm sorry," Luke said. "But have you thought anymore
about what I said?"

"Luke, I only had a night to think about this," Nick
said, "I still don't know what I want."

"Nick, I was an idiot for not fighting for us before,"
Luke said, "I'm not going to do that again."

"You can't just expect to pick up where we left off,"
Nick said, "You can't just say sorry and expect things
to go back to the way they were."

"I know," Luke said, "And I'm going to do anything I
can to make this right."

"Don't say that," Nick said, "People say they'd do
anything, but in the end they never mean it."

"I do," Luke affirmed, "I will do whatever it takes."

Although Nick wanted to stay angry, he couldn't help
but be impressed by Luke's response.  Was he really
willing to do what it takes to get a relationship
back?

"One dinner?" Luke asked. "Please?"

Nick sighed and thought it over a bit before
answering, "Fine.  You can pick me up at seven."

"Perfect," Luke said, "I'll see you tonight."

"Bye," Nick said hanging up.  Nick then thought back
to when him and Luke first became interested in each
other.  It was four years ago.  Nick was fresh out of
college and just got a job at LA Weekly, he started
out as a basic writer who wrote about whatever
assignment he got.  Luke also worked there at the
time.  The two had known each other from high school,
they were both on the school newspaper and were
surprised to see each other again at LA Weekly.  They
were friends, but were never really close during
school.  One night Nick was writing in his cubicle
when a crumpled piece of paper hit him in the head
before landing on his desk in front of him.  He looked
up and saw Luke smiling at him from another cubicle,
he then picked up the paper and un crumpled it and
read 'Hi Nick!' written on it.  Nick smiled and wrote
'Hi Luke!' on the paper before crumpling it up and
tossing it back at Luke.  Luke then wrote something on
it and threw the paper over at Nick again.  Nick
unfolded the paper and read 'Do you want to grab
dinner after work?'  Nick looked up at Luke and gave
him a thumbs up.  Luke smiled and went back to work,
Nick smiled also and went back to writing and until
the time they could leave for the night they kept
exchanging glances back at one another, silently
flirting with one another.

Nick was shaken back to reality when his phone rang
again.

"Hello?" Nick asked answering.

"Hey, it's me," Leo replied.

"Hey you," Nick said, "What's up?"

"I was just wondering if you were going to be able to
pick me up tomorrow," Leo said.

"Pick you up?" Nick asked confused.

"Kurt didn't tell you?" Leo asked. "I can go."

"Really?" Nick asked happily. "That's great!"

"Yeah, I'm surprised Kurt didn't tell you," Leo
replied.

"Well, he's going through some stuff right now," Nick
said.

"What's going on?" Leo asked concerned.

"Remember those flowers that he had been getting?"
Nick asked.

"Yeah."

"Turns out, they were from Reese," Nick said, "And it
turns out Reese is the reason why Ryan left."

"I thought it was because of his daughter?" Leo asked.

"Yeah, but Reese paid the mom off to have Ryan come
down to Florida," Nick explained.

"You guys just found this out?" Leo asked in shock.

"Yeah," Nick said, "Kurt's on his way to Florida now
to talk to Ryan."

"Oh my God," Leo said, "I can't believe this.  So
what's going to happen when Kurt confronts Reese?"

"I really don't know," Nick replied, "We looked
through some of the files and e-mails that Reese had
on his computer at the office and found some stuff
that will hopefully help Kurt out."

"How is Kurt?" Leo asked.

"He's holding it together," Nick replied, "Hopefully
it will all work out after he talks to Ryan."

"Do you think Ryan will come back here?" Leo asked.

"I don't know," Nick said, "He has his daughter there
in Florida you know?"

"Yeah, but it's Kurt," Leo said. "The two love each
other."

"We'll see," Nick said.

"So how are you doing?" Leo asked.

"Little stressed myself," Nick replied. "I'm having
dinner with Luke tonight."

"Luke?" Leo asked confused, "I've obviously missed out
on a lot.  When did Luke come back into the picture?"

"Yesterday when I met him for lunch," Nick replied.

"Why did you have lunch with him?" Leo asked.

"Because of what you and Kurt told me," Nick said,
"You both said I was a commitment-phobe because of
him.  So I met with him to try and get over
everything.  I thought I did, but then he showed up
last night while I was with Bradley and told me he
still loves me."

"Well it's a little late, right?" Leo asked.

"I don't know," Nick sighed.

"Are you seriously thinking of getting back with him?"
Leo asked.

"A part of me never got over him," Nick replied. "I
don't know.  I know it's crazy and I should just move
on from him, but I still have feelings for him."

"After what he did?" Leo asked.

"I know," Nick sighed, "But you remember how happy I
was when I was with him?"

"Yeah, and I also remember how miserable you were
after he left you for someone else," Leo replied.
"Nick, you can't be serious about getting back with
him."

"It's crazy I know, but I still have feelings for him.
 I think I still love him," Nick said.

"You still love him?" Leo asked. "He's an ass."

"He said things will be different," Nick replied.

"Nick don't do this," Leo said. "He's just going to
hurt you again."

"You don't know that," Nick replied. "Maybe it will be
better this time."

"Nick," Leo sighed.

"Leo, the way I felt about Luke was how you feel about
Jesse, how Kurt feels about Ryan," Nick explained,
"Don't you think I at least owe it to myself to meet
with Luke and see what might happen?"

Leo sighed, not liking this one bit.

"All right, but if he messes up again I'm going to
kill him," Leo said.

"Thanks," Nick replied. "I'll see you tomorrow okay?"

"All right," Leo replied, "Thanks.  I'll talk to you
later."

"Bye," Nick said hanging up.

Later that day after a long five hour flight Kurt
arrived in Florida and didn't waste any time.  He
quickly got a taxi and went straight to Ryan's place.
When he got there he looked around the place, it was a
beautiful apartment complex, very warm and welcoming,
very Ryan.  When he got to Ryan's door he knocked, but
there was no answer.  He looked around and decided to
just sit and wait for Ryan to show up so he went out
front of the complex and took a seat on a bench that
was near the entrance, it was the perfect spot to sit
and wait, he had a view of the parking lot so he would
see Ryan when he drove in.  When he sat down he took
out his phone and called Nick.

"Hey, I just got to his apartment," Kurt said.

"How's it going?" Nick asked.

"He's not here," Kurt answered, "I'm waiting for him
to come home."

"You okay?" Nick asked.

"Yeah, I guess," Kurt replied. "I don't really know
what I'm going to say when I see him though."

"I'm sure the words will come to you," Nick said. "I'm
glad you got there all right."

"Thanks," Kurt said, "So what are you up to?"

"I'm actually getting ready to go to dinner with
Luke," Nick said.

"Whoa what?  You met with him for lunch yesterday and
you're meeting him for dinner tonight?" Kurt asked.
"Why didn't you tell me about this before?"

"Well psycho boyfriend kind of trumps ex-boyfriend,"
Nick replied.

"So is this a date?" Kurt asked.

"I think so," Nick replied. "You don't have to say it,
I know it's stupid of me, but I still care for him."

"I wasn't going to say that," Kurt said.

"You weren't?" Nick asked surprised.

"No," Kurt replied, "Nick, if he makes you happy and
if you still care about him, then that's all that
matters."

"Thanks," Nick replied, "Leo doesn't want me going out
with him."

"He's just worried for you," Kurt said.

"I know and I appreciate it," Nick replied.

"I do hope you two can work things out," Kurt said, "I
know you really care about him.  Even if you didn't
want to admit it over the years."

"We'll see," Nick said, "Right now we're just
talking."

"Well good luck," Kurt said.

"You too," Nick replied, "I'll talk to you later."

When Kurt hung up he saw headlights and saw a car pull
into the parking lot.  He looked carefully at the
driver and saw that it was Ryan.  Kurt's heart started
beating faster, and a smile instantly went onto his
face.  He got up and brushed his clothes to make sure
he looked okay.  He was going to head over to the car,
but he stopped when he saw Ryan get out of the car and
go into the back seat and help his daughter out of the
car.  Kurt could see the big smile on Ryan's face as
he lifted his daughter, Sydney and held her tightly in
his arms.  She wrapped her arms around Ryan and gave
him a kiss on the cheek as she giggled.  As they
started to head towards the apartment building Kurt
quickly hid behind a corner of the building, when they
got closer he could hear the two talking to one
another.

"You have fun today?" Ryan asked.

"Yeah!" Sydney replied, "Thank you daddy."

"Anything for you my sweet," Ryan replied giving
Sydney a kiss. "I had a great day too."

"What are we going to do now?" Sydney asked.

"It's late honey," Ryan replied, "We're going to get
you ready for bed and then I'll read you a story
okay?"

"Okay," Sydney answered.

The two then walked inside the apartment building.
Kurt then came out from where was hiding and watched
the two go into his apartment.  As much as he wanted
to see Ryan and as much as he wanted him back, he
couldn't take him away from his daughter.  Kurt
realized that it was done between him and Ryan.  He
loved Ryan with all his heart, but he knew he had to
let him go.  Kurt slowly walked away from the
apartment and went to go find himself a taxi to take
him to the airport.

Back in California, Nick and Luke were sitting down at
a restaurant they always used to go to when they were
together.

"You chose this place huh?" Nick asked looking around
the place.  He hasn't been back to this restaurant
since they broke up.

"Yeah, I thought it would be nice," Luke replied,
"Like old times."

"I see," Nick said, "I haven't been here in forever."

"Me neither," Luke replied. "I only came here with
you."

"It hasn't changed a bit," Nick observed.

"Kind of wish all things could be the way they were,"
Luke said.

"Luke, I still don't know what to think about
everything," Nick said.

"Well, it really only comes down to one question,"
Luke said. "Do you still care about me?"

"Of course I still care about you," Nick said, "I
wouldn't be here if I didn't.  It's other things that
are holding me back."

"Talk to me," Luke said.

"How do I know you're not going to up and leave
again?" Nick asked.

"Because I'm not the idiot I once was," Luke replied.
"I made mistakes in my life, and I know there are
mistakes I'll make in the future, but the biggest
mistake I ever made was walking out on us."

"I don't know Luke," Nick sighed, "I still have a lot
of anger towards you."

"I know and I know I don't deserve a second chance,"
Luke said, "But I'm asking for one, please Nick, give
me a second try to make it right."

"Give me three good reasons to why I should," Nick
said.

"Okay." Luke said before thinking it over a bit before
answering, "Well, one, I love you.  Two, I'm smarter
now and won't mess it up again.  Three, I think
somewhere deep inside you still might have room in
your heart to love me again."

"I'll be honest with you," Nick said, "A part of me
never stopped loving you.  But as much as I've wanted
to let it go a part of me has never stopped hating you
either."

"Is there anything I can do to change that?" Luke
asked.

"Lets just take things slow," Nick suggested, "And
we'll see how things go."

"Okay," Luke replied with a hopeful smile. "Thank
you."

Kurt got a flight home and sitting on the plane all he
could do was think of Ryan and all the times they had
together and the times they'll never have again.

****FLASHBACK****

Over the next
two and a half hours he had about six interviews, all
horrible, they ranged from being a homophobe to one
who arrived drunk.  At around 12:30 his phone rang.

"Hello?" Kurt asked exhausted.

"find a roommate?" Nick asked.

"No," Kurt replied. "If I interview one more freak
then I am just going to try and suck it up and pay for
this apartment on my own."

"You can't afford to live at that place on your own,"
Nick pointed out.

Before Kurt could reply there was a knock on his door.

"Oh, that's my last interview for the day, I wonder
what will be wrong with this one," Kurt said. "I'll
see you guys soon."

"Bye," Nick said.

Kurt hung up and answered the door.

"Hi, I'm Ryan," he was about 6'1, very handsome,
wearing a nice leather jacket, jeans, and a blue
button up shirt.

"I'm Kurt, nice to meet you," Kurt said shaking Ryan's
hand. "Come on in."

"Thanks," Ryan said as he looked around the apartment.

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

"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."

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

"You're leaving?" Kurt asked.

"Yeah," Ryan replied softly.

"Let me get dressed and I'll take you to the airport,"
Kurt said beginning to get up, but Ryan stopped him.

"No, just stay in bed," Ryan replied. "I'll get a
cab."

Kurt sighed looking sadly into Ryan's eyes.

"I'm going to miss you," Kurt said.

"I'm going to miss you too," Ryan replied.

"No one will ever compare to you," Kurt said tearing
up.

"I love you," Ryan said.

"I love you too," Kurt replied.


****END FLASHBACK****

When Kurt got back to California he was filled with so
much hate and anger towards Reese that he knew he had
to confront him right away.  He quickly got in his car
and drove to Reese's place, when he got there it was a
little after one in the morning.  He banged on the
door loudly until Reese answered it.

"Kurt," Reese said, "What are you doing here so late?"

"You son of a bitch," Kurt said charging into the
apartment.

"What's wrong?" Reese asked.

"What's wrong?" Kurt mocked, "Don't try to play the
innocent card here.  I know what you did."

"What are you talking about?" Reese asked fearing that
Kurt knows.

"The flowers, I know they're from you," Kurt said.

"I just thought you would like them," Reese said, "I
was going to tell you it was me eventually."

"When?  After you were sure that you got rid of Ryan
for good?" Kurt asked.

"What are you talking about?" Reese asked playing
dumb.

"Drop the act," Kurt said, "I know you were
responsible for Ryan leaving."

"I don't know what you're talking about," Reese said.

"Then why did Laurie call you last night?" Kurt asked.

"What?" Reese asked.

"Remember when I took your phone by accident?" Kurt
asked, "Well she called you.  It got me curious so I
looked through your computer and came across some
interesting things."

"You did what?" Reese asked.

"Don't even try to throw this on me," Kurt replied,
"You paid Laurie to get Ryan to go out to Florida.
Just admit it.  I found everything on the computer,
all your files and bills you paid and money you spent.
 You hired a private investigator to find out that
Ryan has a daughter, you tracked her down and paid the
mom to get Ryan to leave here and leave me alone."

"So what if I did?" Reese asked. "You going to tell
Ryan?  All that would do is put him a position where
he would have to choose between you or his daughter.
He's not going to pick you."

"I'm not going to put him in that position," Kurt
replied, "But you can sure as hell trust that you and
I are over."

"Kurt, don't you realize I did all this because I love
you?" Reese asked.

"You messed with our lives," Kurt retorted. "There is
nothing okay about what you did.  You ruined my
relationship with someone I love more than anyone."

"But what about all those times we had before in the
past?" Reese asked, "We were always flirting with one
another."

"Flirting isn't love," Kurt said, "You're sick and I
want you to leave West Coast Style."

"What makes you think I'm going to leave?" Reese
asked.

"The fact that I found that you were using company
funds to pay off Laurie," Kurt replied, "You think you
won't be fired immediately once that's discovered by
corporate?"

"Kurt, please, don't do that," Reese begged.

"Then leave," Kurt said, "Pack your shit and get the
hell out of here.  I don't want you anywhere near me
or anyone else I care about again.  You destroy lives.
 I want you as far away from me as possible."

"Kurt, I love you," Reese said.

"And I love Ryan," Kurt replied heading towards the
door, "We can't all be with the one we love."

Kurt then left and slammed the door behind him. He
drove to Nick's place and knocked on the door.  Nick
opened the door and saw Kurt standing there looking
completely worn out and with the saddest look on his
face.

"Hey, you're back from Florida already?" Nick asked
rubbing his eyes.

"Yeah," Kurt sighed.

"How did it go?" Nick asked.

"It didn't," Kurt replied sadly.

"Hey, come here," Nick said wrapping his arms around
Kurt.  He missed Ryan so much and wanted him back so
badly.



To Be Continued...

With any comments, questions, or feedback please
e-mail me at ilj4ever44@yahoo.com! Hope to hear from
you!  Thanks again!