Date: Sun, 4 Nov 2007 21:09:44 -0800 (PST)
From: Kirk Landers <ilj4ever44@yahoo.com>
Subject: Phases- part 41

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.

Welcome back everyone.  Hope you are all doing well.
Here is part 41, entitled "Phase Four."

'PHASE FOUR'

Kurt and Leo were hanging out at a gay bar.  Kurt was
drinking a beer while Leo was sipping on a club soda.

"See that guy across the bar?" Leo asked motioning
subtly to an attractive man in his mid-twenties who
was glancing over at Kurt.

"Yeah," Kurt replied.

"He's been checking you out the entire night," Leo
said.

"Not my type," Kurt said.

"Not your type?" Leo asked. "When did cute become 'not
your type'?"

"Leo, for the past month you've been pointing out guys
you think I should get with," Kurt said. "Can't you
just let me grieve a little?"

"You've grieved long enough," Leo said. "It's time to
get back on the saddle."

"Leo, a month ago I just broke up with the love of my
life," Kurt said. "I think a little alone time is in
order."

"You know what would help both you and him move on a
lot faster?" Leo asked.

"What?" Kurt asked.

"If you two didn't still live with each other!" Leo
exclaimed, "How is that helpful to either one of you?"

"We make it work," Kurt said.

"How?" Leo asked.

"It's financially easier for him to just stay at the
apartment with me," Kurt replied. "He lives in the
other bedroom so it isn't really a problem."

"Not yet," Leo said. "But what about when he comes
home with a date or you come home with a date.  How do
you think the other will react to that?"

"We'll worry about that later," Kurt said not wanting
to even think of the idea of Ryan dating someone else.

"It's going to happen eventually and I think you two
need to realize that," Leo said.

"Thank you Dr. Phil," Kurt joked.

"Joke now, but you're going to be at my doorstep
crying when you come home one night and find Ryan on
the couch making out with some hot guy," Leo said.

"Okay, I thought the whole point of tonight was for
you and me to go out and have a nice time together,"
Kurt said. "Why are you trying to bring down my mood?"

"I'm just trying to help you realize that you're
setting yourself up for more hurt," Leo said.

"Leo, I love you and I appreciate your concern, but
please just let Ryan and I deal with this situation in
our own way," Kurt said.

"Fine," Leo resigned.

"How are things going with Mark?" Kurt asked.

"Don't get me started," Leo sighed. "He is a nightmare
to live with."

"He's still partying all the time?" Kurt asked.

"It's been non-stop since he got here," Leo replied.
"At first I thought he was just re-connecting with old
friends he left here in California when he was in New
York, but it's constant.  I haven't gotten a good
night's sleep at all since he showed up."

"What does Jesse say?" Kurt asked.

"Jesse does nothing," Leo replied. "And it's really
pissing me off.  I didn't get engaged to him to just
get pushed aside the moment his brother shows up."

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

"Yes," Leo said. "And he just says to give it time.  I
think I've given it enough time."

"I'm sorry to hear that," Kurt said rubbing Leo's
back. "I know this isn't exactly how you wanted to
spend your first month as an engaged couple."

"You know what?  I don't even want to think about it
right now," Leo said changing the subject. "Are you
still coming to the gala in a couple days?"

"Yeah," Kurt replied.

"How about Ryan?  Is it okay if I ask him to go?" Leo
asked.

"Sure, why not?" Kurt asked.

"I don't want it to be awkward between you two," Leo
replied.

"It won't be," Kurt replied. "I'm fine."

"So, you say that you're holding up fine through all
of this, how's Ryan been holding up?  I haven't seen
him for about a week now."

"He seems all right," Kurt said. "We don't really
interact much."

Later that night, Kurt was in his room laying in bed
when Ryan walked in.

"Hey," Ryan said.

"Hi," Kurt replied. "I was wondering if you were going
to come in tonight."

"I wouldn't pass it up," Ryan said as he leaned down
and began kissing Kurt passionately.

"Just so we're clear," Kurt said breaking the kiss
momentarily, "We're still broken up."

"I know," Ryan replied, "We both want different
things.  This is nothing, but break-up sex."  He's
clearly said those words many times before tonight.

"We've been doing a lot of break-up sex lately," Kurt
said as Ryan began kissing Kurt's neck.

"But it's so good," Ryan said between kisses.

"I lied to Leo," Kurt said. "He doesn't know about
this.  Have you told Jesse?"

"No, we agreed not to tell anyone remember?" Ryan
asked.

"I know, but I just wanted to make sure you didn't let
anything slip to Jesse," Kurt replied.

"I didn't," Ryan said. "Enough talking, lets have
sex."

"Okay," Kurt replied. "It's just if Leo found out we
were doing this, he would flip out on me."

"Do you not want to?" Ryan asked.

"No, I do," Kurt said pulling Ryan back in to their
kiss.

The next day Leo was woken up at five in the morning
to the sound of music blaring from the living room.
It was Mark, he obviously got his second wind for the
night with his friends and was blasting the stereo.
Leo looked over and saw that Jesse was sleeping
through the whole thing, he wanted to let Jesse sleep,
but he was too pissed off.  Leo grabbed a pillow and
smacked Jesse with it, causing him to jolt up in bed.

"What is it?!" Jesse asked panicking.

"Jesse, it's five in the morning," Leo replied. "Do
something!  He's your brother."

"What do you want me to do?" Jesse asked. "Kick him
out?"

"No, but he has to learn some basic courtesies," Leo
groaned. "I haven't gotten more than four hours of
sleep a night since he got here."

"I'm sorry babe," Jesse said giving Leo a kiss. "It'll
settle down.  I promise."

"You said that last week and the week before that,"
Leo pointed out.

"I just want to try avoid talking to him as much as
possible," Jesse said.

"Why?" Leo asked.

"It's a long story," Jesse replied.

"Well I'm awake now," Leo said. "You want to talk
about it?"

"No," Jesse said giving Leo a kiss on the forehead,
"Not right now.  Lets try and get back to sleep."

"With the music blaring I doubt that's possible," Leo
groaned.

The next morning Kurt was in the kitchen eating a bowl
of cereal when Ryan came out of his room dressed for
work.

"Hey," Ryan said as he entered the kitchen.

"Morning," Kurt replied.

Ryan then came up from behind Kurt and wrapped his
arms around him and gave him a kiss on the neck.

"What are you doing?" Kurt asked, trying his best to
resist Ryan's kisses.

"Just saying hello," Ryan replied.

"We can't do this," Kurt said. "We're not together
anymore remember?"

"I know," Ryan replied as he still proceeded to kiss
Kurt on the neck, "But isn't this nice?"

"Yes," Kurt sighed, "But we agreed only to break-up
sex."

"Fine," Ryan said as he let go of Kurt. "I should get
to work."

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

"Bye," Ryan said quietly as he headed to leave.

"Ryan, wait," Kurt said as Ryan opened the front door.
 Kurt quickly ran up to him and kissed him. "I miss
you."

"I miss you too," Ryan said.  The two then exchanged a
sad look, both wanting to be with the other so badly.

Back at Leo and Jesse's place, Leo's alarm went off
for him to get up and ready for work.  Having gotten
no sleep he could hardly get the energy to get out of
bed.  He looked over on Jesse's side of the bed and
saw that he was already up.  When Leo finally rolled
out of bed he went into the kitchen and saw five of
Mark's friends passed out in the living room.

"Of course," Leo sighed in annoyance.

"Morning," Jesse said as Leo entered the kitchen.
Jesse was cooking breakfast for the two of them.

"Hi," Leo groaned. "You know, we should start charging
these guys rent.  They pass out in our living room
every night."

Before Jesse could respond Mark walked out of his
bedroom and joined the guys in the kitchen.  Mark had
Jesse's good looks, they both had the same defined
cheek-bones, the small little cleft in their chin,
both had similar hair cuts too, Mark had wavy hair
that was able to pull off that simple, messy and sexy
look when he didn't do it, it naturally looked great
all the time, while Jesse's hair was similar it was
shorter to have a more professional look when he was
at work.

"Hey guys," Mark said still obviously buzzed from the
night before, "Too bad you guys didn't join the party.
 It was awesome."

"Oh we heard," Leo said.

"Sorry about that," Mark said. "We'll try to keep it
more low key next time."

"Next time?!" Leo asked beginning to get pissed.

"You're having another party?" Jesse asked calmly as
he put his hand on Leo's shoulder to calm him down.

"Yeah, tonight.  Just a few of us are going to hang
out," Mark said. "You guys should join us."

"No thanks," Leo glared as he poured himself a cup of
coffee and went into the bedroom slamming the door.

"Wow, Leo is not a morning person," Mark commented.

"Mark, you know when we agreed that you could come
stay with us we didn't really go over any ground
rules," Jesse said gently.

"Ground rules?" Mark asked.

"The whole point of you being here is so you can prove
to mom and dad that you can be mature and make it with
out their help," Jesse replied. "Have you once gone
out looking for a job?"

"Jesse, I just got back from New York," Mark said.
"Don't you think it's okay for me to spend some time
and catch up with my buddies before I go out and get a
job?"

"Sure, but-" Jesse began, but Mark cut him off.

"Great, well I'm going to go get some sleep.  I'm
still feeling a little buzzed," Mark said with a laugh
as he patted Jesse on the back and went back to his
bedroom.

Later that day Kurt was in his office writing the book
he'd always dreamed of writing.  For the past month
he's started to write on the side while he wasn't
doing anything else at work.

"Kurt, have you finished your piece with Callista?"
Claudia asked walking in to his office unannounced.
Kurt quickly closed the file he was using for his book
and quickly flashed his latest article on the computer
screen.

"Yeah, I'm printing it right now," Kurt replied.

"Good," Claudia said. "You know, I must say I've been
impressed with you lately."

"Thank you Claudia," Kurt smiled.

"I've been deciding who to move up around here and
you're definitely on the list," Claudia said.

"Oh, wow.  Well thank you," Kurt said shocked as he
handed Claudia his piece.

"Keep up the good work," Claudia said leaving the
office.  Kurt sat at his desk, he was happy to hear he
was being considered for a promotion, but at the same
time wasn't sure if it's what he really wanted with
his life.

Meanwhile, Leo was in his office at the Gay and
Lesbian Center nearly falling asleep when Ryan walked
in.

"Leo?" Ryan asked seeing Leo doze off at his desk.

"Huh?" Leo asked barely able to open his eyes.

"Hey, you awake?" Ryan asked.

"Yeah, yeah," Leo groaned. "Just haven't gotten much
sleep lately."

"Cause of Jesse's brother?" Ryan asked.

"You guessed it," Leo replied.

"Still partying all the time huh?" Ryan asked.

"Yup," Leo replied. "So what's up?  Haven't seen you
for a while."

"I know," Ryan said giving Leo a hug, "I've missed
you."

"Missed you too," Leo replied. "You doing okay?"

"It gets easier," Ryan replied. "So why did you want
to talk to me?"

"Well, tomorrow we're having a charity gala at the
Performing Arts Center," Leo said. "And Kurt's already
going, and I want you to go to, but I want to make
sure that you and him will be all right going to this
thing."

"We live together and manage," Ryan said. "I think
we'll be okay at a gala."

"Great," Leo said. "Well it's a black and white event
so dress accordingly."

"All right," Ryan said. "Is that it?"

"No, I actually wanted to talk to you about your
situation with Kurt," Leo said.

"What about it?" Ryan asked.

"How is it living together?" Leo asked. "I don't mean
to pry, but your both my friends and I don't want you
guys to get hurt."

"Honestly?  It's not bad," Ryan said. "We make it
work."

"Really?" Leo asked.

"Really," Ryan confirmed.

"What about when the two of you start dating other
people?" Leo asked.

"We'll worry about it when we get to that point," Ryan
replied. "But right now it's fine."

"Okay," Leo said. "I just wanted to make sure."

"Thanks for the concern," Ryan said giving Leo a kiss
on the forehead. "I have to get back to work.  I'll
talk to you later."

"Okay," Leo said. "Take care."

Ryan then headed out as Leo went back to trying to
stay awake and work.

Over at Jesse's office he was on the phone with his
mom talking about Mark.

"Mom, he has no goals.  Wasn't the whole point of him
staying with me to teach him responsibility and to get
him to grow up?" Jesse asked.

"Your father tried talking to him," Helen said. "But
you know Mark."

"Mom, if he doesn't shape up then I'm going to have to
ask him to leave," Jesse said. "He's not only ruining
my life, but Leo's too."

"Oh poor Leo," Helen said. "I feel so bad he has to
get caught up in our family drama."

"Me too," Jesse said. "It's killing me.  Leo's hardly
getting any sleep because Mark is having parties all
the time and Leo's such a trooper because he hardly
complains."

"Just tell Mark he can't have parties there anymore,"
Helen said.

"Mom, if he goes somewhere else to party who knows
what trouble he could get in to," Jesse said. "At
least with him partying at our place I can keep an eye
on him."

"But if it's ruining your life and Leo's then you have
to put a stop to it," Helen said.

"I think that you and Dad just need to sit him down
and talk to him," Jesse said. "He won't listen to me.
I'm just the brother who saved his ass from going to
jail."

"Honey, you're eventually going to have to let that
go," Helen said. "I know you did a really great thing
to protect him, but it's been six years."

"Mom, he almost ruined my life," Jesse said. "And now
he's doing it again."

"Your father and I will talk to him," Helen said. "Why
don't you bring him over for dinner tonight?"

"I'll ask, but I think he's having another party,"
Jesse said bitterly.

"Well tell him to cancel," Helen said. "We're in
obvious need of a family meeting."

"Okay," Jesse said. "We'll see you later."

"Bye sweetheart," Helen said before hanging up.

That afternoon back at Leo and Jesse's place, Mark was
sitting in the living room talking to his
ex-girlfriend, Nancy, on the phone.  All his other
friends who stayed the night all went home to nurse
their hangovers.

"Does Bryce know I'm back?" Mark asked a little
nervously.

"No, not yet," Nancy replied. "But if you keep having
those stupid parties of yours he will.  It's only a
matter of time before news of you being back in town
gets to him."

"He can't know I'm back here," Mark said, "I went to
New York to stay away from him.  If I'm back he'll
want me to help him out again."

"I know that," Nancy replied, "You have to lay low
Mark.  Stop being stupid."

"I'm not being stupid," Mark shot back.

"Getting kicked out of NYU for having sex wasn't
stupid?" Nancy asked, almost a little jealous.

"That was just funny," Mark laughed.

"Sooner or later all of the things you left behind
here are going to catch up to you," Nancy warned,
"Your lucky your brother took you in.  If I were him,
I would have turned you into the police."

"Well, luckily you aren't Jesse," Mark said.

"Yeah, I'm just the girl you left behind," Nancy said.

"Please don't start with the guilt trip," Mark sighed.

"You have no idea the mess you left behind," Nancy
said.

"Yes I do," Mark replied. "I know what I left Jesse
with to clean up."

"I'm not talking about Jesse," Nancy said. "I'm
talking about me."

"I told you that I was sorry for having to leave,"
Mark replied.

"If you only knew," Nancy sighed.

"Then enlighten me," Mark said. "Tell me what I did
that I already don't know."

"You really want to know?" Nancy asked. "Really?"

"Yes," Mark replied. "Tell me."

"About a month after you left, I found out-" Nancy
began saying, but then stopped herself.

"What?" Mark asked.

"Never mind," Nancy sighed, "I have to go.  But do
yourself a favor, lay low."

Before Mark could say anything Nancy hung up the
phone.  Mark set the phone down and laid back on the
couch trying to figure out when exactly in his life
everything seemed to go wrong.  He couldn't
contemplate it for long though because Jesse soon
walked in.

"Hey," Jesse said taking off his jacket. "Have you
been here all day?"

"Yeah," Mark replied. "Had a bit of a hang over from
last night."

"Oh," Jesse said.

"Yeah, so I think I'm going to cancel that party I was
going to have tonight," Mark said. "I'm not really up
for it."

"Good," Jesse replied. "Because you and I are going to
see mom and dad."

"What?" Mark asked, "Why?"

"Because they're our parents and we should go see
them," Jesse replied. "What other reason do you need?"

"But I don't really feel like it tonight," Mark said.

"Mom really wants to see us," Jesse said.

"But I have a headache," Mark complained.

"Take some aspirin," Jesse retorted.

"And dad is just going to lecture me and I'm not in
the mood for a lecture tonight," Mark said.

"Tough," Jesse said getting tired of Mark complaining.
"Listen Mark, after everything you've done to me and
to mom and dad the very least you can do is to try and
make a little more effort."

"Whatever," Mark sighed, "I'll be in my room."

"We're leaving for mom and dad's at six," Jesse said.

"Fine," Mark replied going into his room.

Jesse sighed, not knowing what it's going to take to
get Mark to shape up his attitude.

Meanwhile, Leo was done with work and went over to
Kurt and Ryan's place to have some time to rest with
out any interference from Mark.  When he got there,
only Ryan was home.  Knowing how tired Leo's been Ryan
more than willingly let him rest for a bit.

"You want to rest in my room?" Ryan asked.

"No, I'll just sit on the couch if that's okay," Leo
replied.

"That's fine," Ryan said. "You need to tell Jesse to
talk to Mark."

"I know," Leo sighed, "But I have to have strength to
be able to do that.  Right now I'm running on zero
energy."

"It's really that bad?" Ryan asked.

"It's worse," Leo replied. "Ryan, I feel like Jesse
and I are being torn apart because of Mark."

"What do you mean?" Ryan asked.

"We haven't had sex since Mark came," Leo mentioned.

"Really?" Ryan asked.

"Yeah," Leo replied. "And I want it so badly, but at
the same time I have no energy to have sex."

"Jesse never mentioned any of this to me," Ryan said.

"Well, that would involve Jesse caring," Leo sighed.

"Jesse cares," Ryan stated.

"Well he's not showing it," Leo replied. "Ever since
Mark's shown up I've just become an after thought."

"That's not true," Ryan said. "I'm sure you're still
number one in Jesse's life.  He's just having a hard
time adjusting to Mark being here."

"I'm so unhappy," Leo revealed.

"It's really that bad?" Ryan asked, surprised to hear
Leo actually say he wasn't happy anymore.

"I don't know anymore," Leo said. "But I need sex.
You know that feeling when you just have to have it?"

"Yeah," Ryan replied, it's the feeling he gets
whenever he sees Kurt.

"I just miss having Jesse on top of me and our sweaty
bodies just rubbing against each other, you know?" Leo
asked.

"Oh yeah," Ryan said getting horny.  He wished Kurt
would hurry home.

"I miss sex and I miss sleep," Leo sighed.

"I can't help you with the sex, but I can help you
with the sleep," Ryan said, "Go into my room and
sleep.  Stay the night."

"I don't want to impose," Leo said.

"It's fine," Ryan said. "I'll call Jesse later and
tell him you're here."

"Are you sure?" Leo asked.

"Positive," Ryan replied.

"Thanks," Leo said as he headed into Ryan's bedroom
and closed the door.  As soon as he did Ryan flipped
open his cell phone and text Kurt.

Kurt was in his office writing some more of his book
when he got a text from Ryan. 'Want to have some fun?'
the text simply read.  That's all Kurt needed to read.
 He quickly packed his things up and rushed out of the
office.

Later on, Jesse and Mark went over to their parents'
place for dinner.  When they got there Helen gave them
both a big hug, happy to have the whole family
together.  Their dad, Darryl, gave Jesse a hug, but
was a little more stern with Mark and just patted him
on the back.

"Good to see you too Dad," Mark said sarcastically.

"Watch your tongue," Darryl replied. "I heard you've
been partying non-stop."

"Really?" Mark asked giving Jesse a cold stare, "I can
only imagine who told you that."

"Now don't go blaming your brother," Darryl said,
"After all, if it wasn't for him you wouldn't have a
place to stay."

"Yeah, because my own father wouldn't let me come
home," Mark retorted.

"How about we eat dinner before we kill each other?"
Helen asked trying to diffuse the situation.

"Sounds like a good idea," Jesse said grabbing Mark by
the arm and pulling him into the dinning room.

"I barbequed some steaks," Helen said as they all sat
at the dinner table.

"They smell great," Jesse said looking at the steaks
sitting on the table along side garlic mashed
potatoes, asparagus, and a fruit salad.

"Do you have any alcohol?" Mark asked, "I know I'll
need it to get through this dinner."

"So how's work Jesse?" Darryl asked ignoring Mark's
last comment.

"It's going great," Jesse replied. "I'm head of this
advertising campaign for this new athletic gear
company."

"That's great," Darryl said proudly, "You always were
a hard worker."

"Thanks," Jesse said.

"And how about you Mark?" Darryl asked, "Been looking
for a job?"

"No, I've been getting drunk every day," Mark replied
with a big smile.

"I don't doubt that," Darryl said. "So when do you
plan on looking for a job."

"Eventually," Mark said.

"How about tomorrow?" Darryl asked.

"How about when I feel like it?" Mark asked.

"Dammit son!  When are you going to be more
responsible and grow up?" Darryl asked.

"I don't know," Mark replied. "When are you going to
stop comparing me to Jesse all the time?"

"Your father doesn't compare you two," Helen said
trying to calm Mark and down, "We know you two are
different from one another."

"Yeah, I'm the screw up and he's the golden child,"
Mark said, "Well, maybe not so golden because he is
gay after all, but we'll keep that little flaw hidden
from our friends."

"We are not ashamed of Jesse being gay," Darryl said.

"Then tell me why not one of our relatives know he's
gay?" Mark asked. "Why do none of your friends know?"

"Because being gay doesn't define who I am," Jesse
said defensively, "And it's none of their business."

"Oh please," Mark said, "Jesse, you know that's just
the party line that Mom and Dad dish out so you don't
think they're ashamed of you.  Well they are, trust
me."

"Mark!" Helen barked, "What is the matter with you?"

"Nothing," Mark replied. "I'm just a little sick of
you and Dad trying to pretend we're this perfect
little family.  Tell me, what will you say to your
friends when they find out I'm not at NYU anymore?"

"Would you rather we tell them that you were caught
having sex in the science department?" Darryl asked,
"Rather then know that you were so stupid that you
blew a great opportunity to get a first-class
education and decided it would be more fun to get
caught having sex?"

"Why not?" Mark asked, "It would probably be the first
honest thing you said to your friends.  Tell me, what
did you say was the reason why you had me go to school
on the East coast?  Did you tell them about what I did
that forced you guys to ship me across the country?"

"Mark," Jesse said sternly, "Drop it!"

"No," Mark replied. "I want to know how they covered
up the incident I was involved in.  The incident you
had to take the blame for because Mom and Dad knew you
would be smart and find a way to clean up the mess I
made."

"How could you be so ungrateful?" Helen asked in
tears, "Your father and I went above and beyond to
help you every way we could.  Every mess you made we
helped you get out of and now that we decided to have
you show some responsibility, you lash out at us and
say we are horrible parents?"

"Apologize to them, now!" Jesse said through gritted
teeth.

"Don't bother," Darryl said getting up from his chair,
"He wouldn't mean it any way.  I was hoping it didn't
have to come to this, but obviously we just babied you
too much and now we have to put a stop to it.  Mark,
your mother and I are cutting you out of our will
until you can prove that you are responsible and that
you can appreciate the family you have."

"Well since you're kicking me out of the family I
guess I should go," Mark said getting up from the
table and storming out of the house.

"I'm going to go after him," Jesse said. "I'll call
you guys later.  Sorry this evening turned out so
horribly."

Jesse then ran out of the house after Mark.

Back at Kurt and Ryan's place, Ryan was pacing back
and forth waiting for Kurt to come home.  After a few
more anxious moments Kurt came racing in and
immediately started kissing Ryan.  Not being able to
hold out any longer they started undressing each other
as they made their way towards Kurt's bedroom, before
they could make it in Leo walked out of Ryan's room
and was shocked to see the two of them kissing and
undressing each other.  Kurt and Ryan didn't even
notice Leo, they were too busy focusing on each other,
they then closed the door to Kurt's room.  Leo walked
out into the living room facing the closed door to
Kurt's room, not quite sure what to make of what he
just saw.

"What the hell?" Leo asked puzzled.

Meanwhile, Jesse was walking around his parents'
neighborhood looking for Mark.  He remembered a little
park the two used to play at when they were younger
down the street and made his way towards it.  When he
got there he found Mark sitting on the swings by
himself in tears.

"Thought I might find you here," Jesse said.

"Well you found me," Mark sighed, "Congratulations."

"You made quite the spectacle at dinner," Jesse said.

"I know," Mark said. "I'm just angry."

"So are they," Jesse said. "Why are you trying so hard
to make them the bad guys?"

"I'm not, I was just taking my anger out on them,"
Mark replied.

"Then what are you angry at?" Jesse asked.

"I'm angry at myself," Mark replied.

"What?" Jesse asked.

"You think that you and mom and dad are the only ones
ashamed of me?" Mark asked. "I am too.  I hate the way
I turned out."

"Really?" Jesse asked.

"Yes," Mark replied.

"Then why have you been partying non-stop since you
came back?" Jesse asked.

"I figure that if I am drunk and around people like me
then it would make my shame a little easier to live
with," Mark replied.

"Well, if you want to change then you have to make it
happen," Jesse said. "I'll help you."

"Why would you want to?" Mark asked. "After what I put
you through before I went to New York?"

"I'll admit that I'm still angry about that," Jesse
replied. "Being accused of manslaughter isn't exactly
a fond memory of mine."

"I'm sorry," Mark said genuinely.

"What did you say?" Leo asked shocked, "I think that
may be the first time you ever apologized to someone
before."

"I mean it," Mark said. "I'm sorry."

"There might be hope for you yet little brother,"
Jesse said with a smile. "Come on, lets go talk to Mom
and Dad."

"No," Mark said. "Not tonight.  They're right.  I need
to prove that I can make changes in my life.  Once I
do then I'll go back and talk to them."

"Okay," Jesse agreed, "Then lets go home."

The two headed back to Jesse and Leo's place together,
giving Jesse the slightest bit of hope that maybe Mark
would in fact turn his life around.


To Be Continued...


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