Date: Tue, 24 Apr 2007 00:36:38 -0700 (PDT)
From: Kirk Landers <ilj4ever44@yahoo.com>
Subject: Phases- part 22

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.

Hey all!  Hope everyone is doing well!  Here's part 22
entitled "Forgive Me"

'FORGIVE ME'

    Three weeks have passed.  All the guys were doing
well.  Kurt was thrilled when he came to work two days
after his encounter with Reese and found Reese's
office empty and hasn't been heard from since.  Today
he was to meet his new editor-in-chief.  Nick and Luke
have been sticking to their plan of taking things
slowly.  They were talking a little every day and had
gone on a few lunch and dinner dates together.  He was
beginning to see what he fell in love with the first
time him and Luke were together.  Leo has gotten well
adjusted to life out of rehab.  The Gay and Lesbian
Center was glad to see him back and offered him a job
to talk with troubled teens and be in charge of the
mentor program they had there.  He felt really good
about this new job, he was able to help teens and
convey his experience with them and let them know that
no matter how low you may get, you can always rise
back up.  It just takes work.

Kurt was just arriving at the office for work when the
receptionist, Frank quickly flagged Kurt over to talk
to him quietly.

"The new editor is here," Frank whispered. "Her name
is Claudia Doherty."

"How is she?" Kurt asked.

"Did you see the Devil Wears Prada?" Frank asked.

"Yeah," Kurt replied.

"Think Miranda Priestly, only worse," Frank said.

"Oh crap," Kurt sighed. "She wants to have a meeting
with all the writers and columnist individually, so
she'll probably want to meet you today."

Before Kurt could continue he saw Reese's former
assistant heading towards the elevator crying.

"What's wrong Cindy?" Kurt asked.

"Claudia just fired me," Cindy replied. "She said I
was too incompetent for this job."

"You're kidding," Kurt said in shock someone would say
that to another human being.

"She's a bitch," Cindy said. "Good luck you guys."

Cindy entered the elevator and left West Coast Style.

"I guess I better get to work," Kurt said heading
towards his office.  Before he could even reach his
office he spotted Claudia Doherty.  She was an
amazingly gorgeous woman.  She seemed to be in her
mid-forties to early fifties, but her looks would
easily surpass that of most twenty-something runway
models.  She had white, delicate porcelain looking
skin, deep green eyes that gave Kurt a chill when she
starred him down.  Her lips were the deepest shade of
red and her hair was pulled back to showcase her
perfect cheek bone structure.  If Kurt were to ever
turn straight, this would be a woman he would turn
straight for, she had the looks of a goddess.

"You're Kurt Parker?" Claudia asked giving him an icy
stare.

"Yeah, hi," Kurt said extending his hand to shake
hers, but she made no attempt to accept the friendly
gesture.  She remained poised with her left hand on
her hip and her right hand touching her gin as she
looked Kurt up and down, probably making sure he had
the right look for West Coast Style.  Seeing as how
she didn't fire him on the spot she must have
approved.

"Come to my office," Claudia said as she turned and
headed into her office.  The office was completely
different from when Reese was there, for the past two
weeks there were people working really hard to fix the
office up for her.  The walls were white and the floor
was black carpeting with white designs to give it an
abstract look.  She sat down at her desk which was
bright red, the chair she sat on looked terribly
uncomfortable, but looked like a piece of art that
seemed to belong in the new office.

"So what exactly is it you do here?" Claudia asked
flipping through the past issue of West Coast Style
and opened it to Kurt's article.

"I guess you can say I give my opinion on what's hot
in fashion right now," Kurt replied. "I look at looks
that are popular on the west coast and suggest ways
for the average person to get them with out spending a
lot, or I write about upcoming lines from designers."

"So pretty much the last editor let you write whatever
you wanted," Claudia said flatly.

"I wouldn't say I write exactly whatever I want," Kurt
tried to defend, but Claudia cut him off.

"What is it you want to do?" Claudia asked.

"What do you mean?" Kurt asked confused.

Claudia rolled her eyes, she obviously hated having to
explain herself, "Is this what you want to do as a
career?  Or is there a higher goal you would like to
achieve?"

"Well, my original plan was to be a novelist," Kurt
said.

"A novelist?" Claudia asked, "What a dreadfully boring
job."

Kurt didn't say anything, he didn't know how he was
supposed to react.

"Well it is quite obvious you don't want to do this
forever because looking at your last article it seems
like you'd rather have a root canal than write for
West Coast Style," Claudia said.

"That's not true," Kurt said, "I love working here."

"Then you're going to have to prove it," Claudia said.
"From now on I want you to write strictly about men's
fashion.  Looking at your last article it shows you
have no clue about women's fashion.  I want to see
passion in your writing, what you gave here is nothing
but words."

"Okay," Kurt said.

"What are you working on now?" Claudia asked.

"I'm writing about what will be hot for the summer in
fashion," Kurt replied.

"Well I'm going to give that to someone else I want
you to write about something else," Claudia said.

"Okay," Kurt said, "What do you want me to write
about?"

"I already told you," Claudia said.

"You did?" Kurt asked.

"Kurt, if you want to continue working here you are
going to have to learn to listen," Claudia replied, "I
specifically told you I want you to write about men's
fashion."

"What about it?" Kurt asked.

"I have a lot more people to meet with, please don't
ask such ridiculous questions," Claudia replied. "I
want a first draft of your piece on my desk by the end
of the day.  Now go to work."

Kurt got up and quietly and quickly left her office
and went to his where he sat in his chair clueless
about what to write.

Meanwhile, at the Gay and Lesbian center, Leo was in a
little classroom with some boys and girls in their
teen years talking to them about his problem with
alcohol.

"Anyway," Leo said finishing up his talk with the
group, "I know it may seem like an easy solution now
to go out and party all the time and drink and do
drugs and do all of that to numb the pain you might be
feeling, but trust me it isn't.  You only end up
hurting the ones you love even more.  I regret every
day what I put my best friends through and I'm lucky
that they still love me no matter what because I
wouldn't be here today if it weren't for them."

The group was really interested in what Leo was
telling them, they all were listening very carefully
and taking in every word he said.

"Are there any questions?" Leo asked.

"Mind if I ask a personal question?" a young teenage
boy who seemed to be around 16 asked raising his hand.

"Not at all, go ahead," Leo replied.

"What would happen if Jesse wakes up?" the boy asked,
"What would you do?"

"I'd be ecstatic," Leo replied.

"But what would you do about the guy you met in
rehab?" the boy asked.

"You know, I never really thought about it," Leo
replied feeling uncomfortable talking about that. "I
guess it would just depend on the circumstances.  Does
anyone have any questions regarding alcohol abuse?"

"Is it hard not drinking now?" another teen asked.

"It is," Leo replied. "Every day it's a struggle.  I
think that I can have just one, but I always have to
stop myself before I do.  I know if I have one then
I'll just lose it and have another and another.  My
best advice, if you drink be smart about it.  Don't
think that the numbness you feel is good because when
you start to depend on it is when it will really hurt
you in the end."

Leo looked up and saw his mom, Clair, waiting by the
door to the room for him.

"All right," Leo said, "Thank you guys for coming in
and hearing this.  If you are interesting in the
mentor program please come see me this afternoon
between two and four."

Everyone started exiting the room as Clair entered
giving Leo a hug.

"It's so good to see you doing this," Clair said. "I'm
very proud of you."

"Thanks mom," Leo replied. "What are you doing here?"

"I just thought I'd come and see this new job of
yours," Clair replied. "It seems you're doing really
well here."

"Yeah," Leo replied, "I like being able to help out
other people."

"I'm glad," Clair said. "So this is the Gay and
Lesbian Center huh?"

"Yeah," Leo replied knowing his mom was still getting
used to everything. "I'm glad you came down here.  I
know it took a lot for you."

"Honey, I'm here because I want to show you that I
support you no matter what," Clair said.

"Thanks mom," Leo said, "That means a lot."

"So how have things been?" Clair asked.

"They've been going well," Leo replied, "I'm glad I
got this job here.  It keeps me busy."

"That's great," Clair said, "And the last time we
spoke you were telling me about someone you met up at
rehab. How's that?"

"We talk when we can," Leo replied, "He's doing well.
He'll probably be leaving rehab soon."

"And will you two begin dating then?" Clair asked.

"We'll see," Leo replied, "We like each other a lot.
Are you sure you want to be talking about this mom?"

"Yeah," Clair said, "I want to know what's going on in
my son's life."

"Well how about I tell you about it over breakfast?"
Leo asked, "Have you eaten yet?"

"Not yet," Clair said.

"Perfect," Leo replied, "Come on, there's a diner
right around the corner from here."

The two then headed out to get breakfast together.
When they got to the diner they ran into Nick eating
breakfast with Luke.  This was the first time Leo has
seen Luke again and even though he promised Nick he'd
be supportive, he still didn't like Luke.

"Hey Leo," Nick said getting up and giving him and hug
and then hugged Clair, "Nice seeing you Clair.  How
are you?"

"Good, thanks Nick," Clair replied.

"Clair, this is Luke," Nick introduced.

"Nice meeting you Luke," Clair said shaking his hand.

"Nice meeting you too," Luke replied as he politely
got up from his chair and shook Clair's hand, he then
turned to Leo and was about to give him a hug, "Great
seeing you again Leo."

Before he could give Leo a hug though, Leo quickly
held out his hand to shake Luke's hand, not wanting to
get a hug from him.

"Hi Luke," Leo replied flatly.

Nick could see the tension building up between Leo and
Luke and quickly began to talk.

"So what are you two up to?" Nick asked Leo and Clair.

"Just hanging out with my mom," Leo replied. "You?"

"Having an early date with Luke," Nick replied.

"I see that," Leo replied un enthused.

"Leo," Nick warned.

"I know," Leo replied getting the hint, "Well, have
fun.  I'll call you later Nick."

"Bye," Nick said giving him a hug as Clair and Leo
went and sat down at a table across the room.

"Is everything okay?" Luke asked sitting back down.

"Yeah it's fine," Nick sighed taking a bite of his
eggs.

"Nick, come on, you can tell me," Luke said.

"Don't take it too personal, but Leo just isn't a very
big fan of yours right now," Nick replied.

"Oh," Luke replied a little sad, "Well, I guess I
deserve it."

"Just give it some time," Nick said.

"I think it'll take more than that," Luke sensed. "Him
and I used to be really close."

"I think that's part of the reason why," Nick replied.

"I get it," Luke replied. "You think I should go talk
to him?"

"Not now," Nick said, "It would be weird for his mom.
Maybe later."

"I forgot that it's not just you I have to make things
up to," Luke replied.

"Don't worry," Nick said, "Kurt and Leo got along with
you really well before, I'm sure they will again."

"Hope so," Luke replied.

Across the diner, Leo was sitting with Clair and kept
looking over at Nick and Luke.

"What's wrong?" Clair asked noticing how distracted
Leo was.

"It's just that guy Nick is with," Leo replied.

"Luke?  He seemed like a nice young man," Clair said.

"He's not," Leo replied, "He was Nick's ex.  The two
are trying to work things out again.  I don't know
why, Luke is such an ass."

"What's wrong with him?" Clair asked.

"He dumped Nick for someone else," Leo explained, "And
when he realized no one is as good as Nick, he thinks
he could just come back into Nick's life."

"Well Nick seems like a smart man," Clair said, "Why
don't you just let him deal with it himself?"

"Because I'm his best friend," Leo said, "He doesn't
see how stupid this is for him to give Luke another
shot.  Luke is just going to hurt him again, it's his
pattern."

"His pattern?" Clair asked, "Has he done that to Nick
before?"

"No," Leo replied, "It's complicated, but I just know
he'll do it again."

"Leo, if he really wants to be with him, then let him
be with him," Clair said.

"But mom," Leo began, but Clair cut him off.

"No Leo," Clair said, "Take it from me, I wish I had
been supportive of who you dated and your lifestyle
instead of trying to change you.  It took away so much
time that we could have had together.  Trust me Leo,
just let Nick be."

Leo took a moment to think about his mom's words.  As
much as he hated to admit it, she was right.

Later that day over at West Coast Style, Kurt was
sitting in his office writing when he saw two more
employees heading to the elevator with tears in their
eyes.  It appears that Claudia Doherty was making a
lot of changes at the magazine.

"Oh crap," Kurt said seeing how many people were
getting fired. He then quickly began writing as much
as he could, hoping he could write something good
enough to secure his job at the magazine.  He knew she
wanted him to write about men's fashion, but what
about it?  As he looked at what he was writing he
realized he was writing nothing but meaningless words.
 He didn't know what to do.  Before he could scream
out in frustration his phone rang, it was Nick.

"Hey Nick," Kurt sighed.

"Uh oh," Nick replied, "What's wrong?"

"The new editor is a nightmare," Kurt replied.

"How bad?" Nick asked.

"Think about that teacher we had in tenth grade," Kurt
said. "Now times that by ten."

"Ouch," Nick said, "That's bad."

"She wants me to write a piece on men's fashion and
have it turned in by the end of the day," Kurt said.

"What's wrong with that?" Nick asked.

"I don't know what to write about in men's fashion,"
Kurt replied, "She just said to go write about it, she
didn't give me anything more specific."

"Write about your thoughts and ideas for men's
fashion," Nick suggested. "Write about your outlook,
the style now and what can improve and what looks good
now.  Add your voice to it."

"Add my voice," Kurt repeated to himself. "Okay, I
think I can do that."

"Good," Nick said.

"I'm sorry, I just rambled on," Kurt said, "What did
you call for?"

"Leo," Nick replied.

"What about him?" Kurt asked, "Is everything okay?"

"Yeah, he's fine," Nick said, "It's just I ran into
him today while I was having breakfast with Luke."

"Oh," Kurt said knowing what that meant, "He gave Luke
the cold shoulder I'm guessing."

"Yeah," Nick replied. "Kurt, I don't want one of my
best friends to hate the guy I'm seeing."

"I know," Kurt said.

"You don't hate Luke, do you?" Nick asked.

"I hate what he did," Kurt replied, "But he obviously
seems to want to make it right and I respect that."

"Thank you," Nick said. "I just really think he's mad
at Luke because the two were so close."

"Could be," Kurt said, "They did become really good
friends with each other.  It makes sense if that's the
reason he's mad."

"I guess I should talk to Leo," Nick said, "Luke wants
to talk to Leo too and apologize to him."

"Impressive," Kurt said, "He does seem to be a new and
improved  Luke."

"I think so," Nick said.

"How are things between you two?" Kurt asked.

"Improving more and more each day," Nick said.

"Great."

"I find that I'm beginning to let go of a lot of my
anger," Nick said.

"That's good," Kurt said, "So things are definitely
headed in the right direction."

"Yeah," Nick said, "And it really helps that we're
taking it slow."

"Well I'm glad to hear it," Kurt said, "And don't
worry about Leo, he'll come around."

"Hope so," Nick sighed. "I'll let you write your
article, just remember to put your voice in it."

"I will," Kurt said, "Thanks.  Love you."

"Love you too," Nick replied before hanging up.

Kurt then began to write his article, only this time,
he put his voice in it.

Meanwhile, Nick was at his place working and answering
letters.  When he came across one particularly
familiar.

'Dear Nick,

     My best friend has begun dating his ex-boyfriend
again and I hate seeing him with such a jerk.  My best
friend is an amazing smart, successful ADVICE
COLUMNIST and can do so much better.  I want to let
him know that this guy isn't right for him and that he
should look for someone else, but I don't want him to
hate me.  What should I do?

Sincerely,
Worried in LA'

Nick couldn't help but laugh at Leo's not so subtle
effort to try and voice his opinion about Luke.  He
picked up the phone and called him.

"Hey Nick," Leo answered.

"Got the letter you sent," Nick said.

"Oh you did?" Leo asked, "Sorry, it was the only way I
could think of to really voice my opinion.  Even
though I've promised a hundred times to stay out of
it, I just want to make sure you know you can do
better."

"Leo," Nick began, "I'm getting the impression that
this has more to do with you than with me seeing him."

"What are you talking about?" Leo asked.

"Leo, you and Luke were really close when I was with
him," Nick said, "The two of you became really good
friends and I think you felt betrayed in a way when he
left me.  You felt that he left you too.  Am I hitting
a nerve?"

"I just hope he doesn't expect to ever be my friend
again," Leo replied, not wanting to admit that, that
was the reason he resented Luke so much. "To me he is
nothing more than the guy you're dating and I want to
keep it that way."

"Leo," Nick sighed, "I know you don't mean that."

"I do," Leo replied, "But I promise, I will do my best
to stay out of your guys' relationship."

"Okay," Nick said, "Thanks."

"I got to go," Leo said, "Sign ups for the mentor
program is going on right now.  I'll see you later.
Love you."

"Love you too," Nick said before he hung up.

Later on, Leo was finishing the last of the sign ups
for the mentor program when he saw Luke come into his
office.

"Hey, can I come in?" Luke asked waiting by the door.

"I guess," Leo sighed, "I am kind of busy right now
though."

"I won't take up much of your time," Luke said as he
sat down by Leo.

"What are you doing here?" Leo asked.

"I wanted to come talk to you," Luke said.

"Shouldn't you be talking to Nick?" Leo asked cooly,
"He's the one you have to kiss ass too."

"Nick's not the only one I need to apologize too,"
Luke replied. "I need to apologize to you and Kurt
also."

"Well, why don't you go talk to Kurt," Leo said, "He's
the nice one, I'm sure he'll let you right back in."

"And you won't?" Luke asked.

"Luke, I don't have time for this," Leo said not
wanting to get into it.

"Tell me why you're mad at me," Luke said.

"You hurt my best friend," Leo said, "What more reason
do I need?"

"I think you're mad because I betrayed you too," Luke
said. "I ruined the friendship we had."

"Whatever," Leo dismissed, "The only friends I need
are Nick and Kurt.  They are the ones I can depend
on."

"And you're mad at me because I used to be one of
those people you could depend on," Luke said.

"Luke, you didn't see how Nick was after you left him
for someone else," Leo shot at him, "You didn't have
to see an amazing person fall apart right in front of
you.  I was there Luke, I saw how hurt he was and that
you were the cause of it.  No friend of mine would
ever do that to him, and you'll never again be a
friend of mine because it's only a matter of time
before you do it again."

"I know how much I hurt Nick," Luke said, "And you
have no idea what it's like for me knowing that I put
someone I love like that through so much hurt.  I feel
guilty about it every day and I have to live with
that, but I'm going to do whatever it takes to prove
to you and him that things will be different."

"Good for you," Leo said sarcastically, "Hope you
don't strain a muscle."

"It's more than that though," Luke sensed.

"I don't know what you're talking about," Leo lied.

"Yes you do," Luke said. "It's because it was deja vu
all over again, wasn't it?"

Leo didn't say anything, he just remained with his
eyes fixed on the papers he had in front of him.

"You were living it all over again," Luke said, "What
I did to you, I did to Nick.  I can only tell you how
sorry I am for both cases.  But it will be different
this time."

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

"God, you're still the most stubborn person in the
world," Luke said.

"Yeah I am," Leo said, "So it's obviously a waste of
time for you to even be here."

"We will be friends again," Luke said getting up,
"Because believe it or not I do feel horribly for the
damage I caused.  And I'm going to find a way to make
it up to Nick and to you."

"Good luck," Leo said.

Luke got up and left Leo's office, knowing he had a
lot of work to do to get back Leo's friendship.

That afternoon Kurt finished his article and went to
Claudia's office to get her take on it.  He knew that
she may not like it, but the one thing she couldn't
doubt was that he put his voice into it, he made it
more than just words.  He was proud of it and that's
all that mattered.

"I have my article, Claudia," Kurt said walking into
her office.

"Let's see," Claudia said putting her reading glasses
on and taking the article from him.  She read it over
and was completely silent, she made no remarks and her
face remained featureless.  Kurt didn't know if she
liked it or hated it.  When she was done she set the
article down and took off her glasses slowly before
she looked up from her desk at Kurt.

"What do you think?" Kurt asked.

"It needs a lot of work," Claudia replied. "But, it
does seem to have more substance then your last
article."

Kurt would soon realize that this was the closest
thing she would ever give to a compliment.

"Thank you," Kurt replied nervously.

"I'll have my notes on it tomorrow," Claudia said and
then went back to what she was doing before Kurt came
in.  Kurt quietly left the office feeling relieved
that he still had his job.  To celebrate Kurt went to
a little restaurant nearby to take himself out for a
nice dinner.  He was a little nervous going in though,
it was the first time he's ever eaten alone in a
public restaurant, but he felt it was something he had
to do.  He was determined to try and embrace being
single.  He brought no books or other material with
him to distract him, it was just going to be him by
himself, with out any protection during the dinner.

"How many?" the hostess asked as Kurt walked in the
restaurant.

"Just me," Kurt replied a little nervously.

"All right, just follow me," the hostess said as she
lead him through the restaurant to a small little
table with two place settings.  She took one of the
place settings as Kurt sat down and gave him his menu.

"Enjoy your dinner," she smiled sweetly.

"Thanks," Kurt replied.

He looked around and noticed everyone was sitting with
at least one person if not more.  He was the only
party of one in the place, he couldn't take it and
quickly got up to leave.

Later on, Nick was at Luke's place watching a movie
with him.

"I went and saw Leo today," Luke said.

"You did?" Nick asked. "How did it go?"

"Not very well," Luke replied. "I don't know if he'll
ever forgive me."

"Just give it some time," Nick encouraged.

"Nick, I really want you to know that I won't screw it
up again," Luke said.

"Luke, you've said all this to me before," Nick
replied.

"I know, but I just can't express how sorry I am,"
Luke said. "I want so much for this to work between us
and I want you to know that you're it for me.  You're
the one I want and I can only hope that one day you'll
love me enough to feel the same."

With those final words, it was all Nick needed to hear
to let go of his anger and truly believe that Luke was
truly genuine with his promise to not mess things up
again.  The fear he had been having has subdued and
was replaced completely by the love for Luke he always
had.  Nick slowly began to kiss Luke.

"You're it for me too," Nick said kissing Luke
tenderly.

With those five words Nick and Luke went from taking
it slow to taking things seriously and became a couple
again.

Over at Kurt and Leo's place the two were sitting and
talking about their day.

"I just don't know what Luke expects," Leo said, "Does
he really think we're going to forgive him so quickly
for what he did to Nick?"

"Leo, he seems to genuinely be trying," Kurt replied.
"Why don't you cut him some slack?"

"Because he doesn't deserve it," Leo said.  He was
going to dig into Luke some more, but saw a sad look
cross Kurt's face. "What's wrong?"

"It's nothing," Kurt replied. "I just see Nick and
Luke working things out and you're going to have
Tristan when he gets out of rehab.  And I am so happy
for you both, don't get me wrong.  It's just that I
have no one for once."

"Is that a bad thing?" Leo asked.

"I know, I need to learn to be single for once," Kurt
replied, "I've always been in relationships."

"Yeah, maybe it'll be good for you," Leo said. "Give
you time to reflect on yourself and think about what
you want out of your next relationship."

As they were talking there was a knock on their door.

"Or who knows," Kurt said getting up to answer the
door, "Maybe I'll just end up being one of those old
bitter people who stays single forever."

"Oh shut up," Leo said.

Kurt laughed it off then opened the door and found
himself frozen in shock when he found himself looking
right at...

"Ryan," Kurt said as the two came face to face after
three months of being apart.



To Be Continued...

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