Date: Fri, 7 Dec 2007 00:39:02 -0800 (PST)
From: Kirk Landers <ilj4ever44@yahoo.com>
Subject: Phases- part 45

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 45 entitled, 'The Missing'

"THE MISSING"

Two weeks have passed since Thanksgiving and Jesse
still hasn't heard from Mark.  He's called his cell
phone constantly, checked in with his parents, even
filed a missing persons report, but had no luck.  It's
all he's been able to think about since he woke up the
day after Thanksgiving to find Mark and all his things
gone.  Once again, Leo's had to take a backseat to
Mark, but at least Leo knew it was for good reason
this time.  He was worried about Mark as well and
wondered why Mark left when he had such a good thing
going for him by staying with him and Jesse.

"Well please call me as soon as you here anything,"
Jesse said talking to the police station.  He's gotten
into the habit of calling them every day.

"Jesse, the police will call you if they find him,"
Leo said putting his arm around him. "You have to stop
getting yourself all worked up."

"He's my little brother," Jesse said, "And he's
missing.  How can I not worry?"

"I'm sure he's fine," Leo said optimistically.

"You don't know that," Jesse replied. "What if
something happened to him?"

"You have to stop thinking so negatively," Leo said.
"Why don't you go into work?  You haven't been into
the office for two weeks."

"I won't be able to concentrate there," Jesse said.

"Well you have to," Leo said. "Do you want to add
finding a new job on that list of worries?  Because
that's what will happen if you continue to not go into
work.  They'll fire you."

"Do you not understand how upset I am right now?"
Jesse asked.

"I do," Leo replied. "But you need to try and carry
on.  Mark will be found when he wants to be."

"You're right," Jesse sighed, "I know that."

"Good," Leo said. "Now go get ready for work."

"Okay," Jesse said giving Leo a kiss, "Can I talk to
you about something real quick though?"

"Sure," Leo replied.

"Leo, until I know he's okay I can't think about
planning our wedding," Jesse said taking Leo's hands
in his. "Is it okay if we put it off a little longer?"

Leo sighed knowing that was coming sooner or later,
"Sure."

Jesse gave Leo another kiss and then went to get ready
for work as Leo sighed, not being able to help but
feel a little disappointed.  He then put on his jacket
and left for work.

Meanwhile, Kurt was at the hospital spending some more
time with Josh.  Something he's been doing practically
everyday.

"Do you not have any healthy people to talk to?  Is
that why you decide to come down to the hospital and
find a sick person to talk to?" Josh joked.

"I do, but I feel by me coming here and talking to you
then I'm fulfilling my good deeds for the year," Kurt
retorted.

"Oh, ouch," Josh feigned being hurt.

"Do you not like me coming here?" Kurt asked.

"No, I do," Josh replied. "Probably more then I
should."

"What do you mean?" Kurt asked.

"Well, you shouldn't be here flirting with a sick guy
like me," Josh said. "You should be out at the clubs
or at the bars hitting on healthy people."

"None of them seem to interests me the same way you
do," Kurt smiled sincerely. "I like spending time with
you.  You make me feel good."

"I feel good when I'm with you too," Josh replied.
"Sometimes I even forget I'm sick."

"How about we go on a date?" Kurt suggested.

"A date?" Josh asked. "Explain to me how we're going
to go on a date when I'm staying here?"

"I'll come by later and we can eat in the cafeteria,"
Kurt said.

"Wow, some date," Josh sighed wishing he wasn't sick
and could take Kurt out on a real great date.

"It sounds like a good date to me," Kurt said. "As
long as I'm spending time with you, anything we do
will be a good date."

"Kurt, I want you to think really carefully first,"
Josh said. "Do you really want to get romantically
involved with someone who might not even live to see
next year?"

"I do," Kurt said. "If there's one thing I've learned
is that life is precious and you have to make every
second count."

"Are you sure?" Josh asked.

"I'm positive," Kurt replied getting up, "I'll be by
around six.  See you later."

"Bye," Josh smiled impressed by how open Kurt is to
dating him.

Over in Newport Beach, Ryan took the day off of work
and was spending some time with Gordon.  The two were
at Fashion Island eating at Cheesecake Factory.

"So you grew up in Newport?" Ryan asked as they were
eating their food.

"Yeah, born and raised," Gordon replied.

"And what do you do for a living?" Ryan asked.

"I'm a partner at a Law Firm," Gordon replied.

"So are you busy a lot?" Ryan asked.

"Actually not that much," Gordon said. "It's been a
while since I've seen the inside of a court.  One
thing we often do in the cases we get is settling.  We
get through twice the amount of cases by settling then
if we take it to court."

"And do you have a family or anything?" Ryan asked.

"I used to be married," Gordon replied. "But we
divorced ten years ago."

"And kids?" Ryan asked.

"You do have three siblings," Gordon confirmed.

"Wow," Ryan said taking it all in, "This is
unbelievable."

"What is?" Gordon asked.

"Well, I go one day with out any family then suddenly
I meet my birth father and find out that I have
siblings," Ryan replied.

"Is that a good thing?" Gordon asked hopeful.

"It's good," Ryan replied. "It's just going to take
some getting used to.  Your my father yet I don't
really know you at all."

"Ryan, I want you to know something," Gordon said.
"Had I known you existed I never would have let you be
taken away from me."

"You say that now," Ryan said, "But who knows if
that's really what you would have done?"

"I know there's no way of knowing," Gordon said. "But
the more I think about it, the more I truly feel that
I never would have given you up."

"Why did my birth mother?" Ryan asked.

"I think she felt that she didn't have the means to be
a good mother," Gordon replied. "She was captain of
the cheerleading squad, the prom queen, she was going
to go to Harvard for college.  Her parents wanted
those things for her.  I think her giving you up was
more their doing than hers."

"Really?" Ryan asked.

"Yeah," Gordon replied. "You need to know that your
mother isn't a bad person.  She's a great lady and
when she told me about you she said she regrets it
every day of her life."

"Regrets having me?" Ryan asked.

"No," Gordon said. "She regrets giving you up."

"What's her name?" Ryan asked.

"Lyla," Gordon replied.

"Where does she live now?" Ryan asked.

"I don't know," Gordon said gently. "After she told me
about you she seemed to have disappeared."

"Oh," Ryan said feeling his heart tighten knowing
he'll never know his birth mother, a secret hope he's
carried all his life. "When?"

"About a year ago," Gordon replied. "I'm sorry."

"It's fine," Ryan said pretending that it didn't hurt
to hear that it looks like he'll never get the chance
to meet her.

"Yeah, but still-" Gordon replied, but Ryan quickly
cut him off by changing the subject.

"So tell me about your kids?"

Jesse didn't go into work like he told Leo he was
going to.  He ended up going over to his parents'
place to see if they heard anything.  But they had no
news either, and it was worrying all of them.

"Leo thinks that he's fine," Jesse said. "He said that
Mark will be found when he wants to be."

"That's probably true," Darryl said hopeful.

"It's all we have to go on right now," Helen added.
"But it's not enough for me."

"I know Mom," Jesse said giving his mom a hug. "I wish
I knew where he was."

"I just don't understand what happened, what prompted
him to leave?  Last time we saw him things were
starting to calm down," Helen said.

"I don't know," Jesse said. "I've been trying to
figure it out myself."

"Did you two have a fight or anything?" Darryl asked,
"Was he having troubles he didn't tell us?"

"There was one thing," Jesse replied, "But him and I
were going to figure it out together."

"What was it?" Helen asked desperate.

"I can't say," Jesse replied not wanting to spill more
of Mark's dirty laundry.

"You need to tell us Jesse," Darryl said.

"But it shouldn't be me telling you," Jesse said. "If
anyone should say it, it should be Mark."

"Well he's not here," Helen said. "Please Jesse.  Tell
us."

"Fine, but please don't freak out," Jesse said.

"Just tell us son," Darryl said.

Jesse sighed, hating that he has to tell his parents
this, "Mark might have a kid."

Darryl and Helen both were speechless, not knowing how
to take that bit of news.

"He found out a few weeks ago," Jesse said. "But we're
not positive it's his.  We were going to have him take
a paternity test to be sure."

"But it's possible that Mark has a child?" Helen
asked.

"Yeah," Jesse sighed. "I'm sorry to tell you both like
this."

Helen and Darryl both looked at each other, still
trying to process that information.

Meanwhile, Leo was at work on his computer when he saw
an e-mail from a small production company he had sent
his resume and a brief synopsis of his script to.  As
he was reading the e-mail Kurt came into his office.

"Hey Leo," Kurt said sitting down in a chair across
from Leo's desk.

"One second," Leo said reading the e-mail.  After he
finished he quickly jumped up in excitement.

"What's going on?" Kurt asked.

"I got a meeting with Golden Treasures Productions,"
Leo replied.

"What's that?" Kurt asked.

"It's this small company," Leo replied. "I applied for
an internship and sent in an outline of the script I
wrote and they want to meet me."

"Leo that's great!" Kurt said giving him a hug. "I
didn't even know you applied for an internship."

"I didn't want to say anything in case I didn't get
it," Leo replied, "But I got an interview, that's a
good sign, right?"

"That's a great sign!" Kurt said. "Leo, this is
excellent.  You're finally starting to take the right
steps to do what you want to do with your career."

"I know," Leo said, "I should call Jesse."

"How's he doing?" Kurt asked.

"Not good," Leo replied. "He hasn't been into work for
the past couple weeks."

"You're kidding," Kurt sighed, "Poor Jesse.  If you
guys need anything, let me know."

"We will," Leo said. "What are you doing here anyway?
Did we have plans?"

"No, I just was on my way home from the hospital and
decided to stop by," Kurt said.

"The hospital?" Leo asked, "Were you visiting that one
guy again?"

"Yeah," Kurt replied. "Josh is a really great guy Leo.
 In fact, him and I have a date tonight."

"What?" Leo asked surprised. "You're going on a date
with a guy who's at the hospital?"

"Yeah," Kurt replied. "What's wrong with that?"

"Where are you two going?" Leo asked.

"We're going to stay at the hospital," Kurt replied.

"Oh," Leo said, "Well isn't that what you two have
been doing for a while anyway?"

"Yeah, but this time it's a date," Kurt smiled.

"You really like him, huh?" Leo asked.

"I do," Kurt replied.

"Well I'm glad," Leo said. "It's time you dated again.
 But aren't you worried about the fact that he's
sick?"

"It sucks, but I don't really care," Kurt said. "I
know that there's a chance he won't live, but there
are advances in medicine every day.  And maybe while
I'm with him they'll find some way to help him."

"That's true," Leo said. "Just be careful, okay?"

"Always," Kurt said giving Leo a hug, "You have a good
day.  I'm going to go shopping for my date."

"Maybe I'll leave work early today and go with you,"
Leo said. "I can shop for clothes to wear to my
interview."

"Sounds like a good idea," Kurt smiled. "Come on."

The two then headed out to shop for their big events
ahead.

 Later that night, Kurt was getting dressed when Ryan
knocked and entered
the room.

"Can I talk to you for a minute?" Ryan asked.

"Sure," Kurt replied. "What's up?"

"It's about my dad, or Gordon, I'm not even sure what
to call him," Ryan sighed. "This is something I never
expected to happen."

"But isn't it a good thing?" Kurt asked.

"I guess so," Ryan replied. "It's just weird having
him in my life all of the sudden."

"Well it's obviously going to take some getting used
to," Kurt said. "But eventually it'll get easier."

"It's just that, he's my father, but he's a complete
stranger to me," Ryan said.

"That's why you need to just spend time with him, give
each other a chance to get to know one another," Kurt
said. "Ryan, you are the type of person anyone would
be proud to call their son."

"You think so?" Ryan asked.

"I wouldn't have fallen in love with you if I didn't
think so," Kurt smiled.  The two took a moment to gaze
at each other, both having so much history between
them, so much history that was taken away from them.
Ryan quickly changed the subject by commenting on how
dressed up Kurt was.

"Well I'm kind of going on a date," Kurt sighed.

"A date?" Ryan asked stunned. "With who?"

"You know that guy I've mentioned at the hospital?"
Kurt asked.

"The guy who's dying?" Ryan asked. "You're going on a
date with someone who's dying?"

"Don't say it like that," Kurt replied. "He's not
dying, he's just sick.  He's a great
guy who I get along with."

"But he's dying," Ryan said. "How could you even think
about dating someone who might possibly die soon?"

"Ryan, I appreciate the concern, but it's fine," Kurt
said. "Do I realize that he may not be around for much
longer?  Yes, but he's a great guy and I want to do
this."

"I don't think it's a good idea," Ryan said.

"Well I do," Kurt said. "I'll be okay Ryan."

Kurt then grabbed his coat and headed for the door.

"Go see your dad tonight," Kurt suggested.

"I can't," Ryan said. "He's having dinner with your
mom tonight."

"What?" Kurt asked stopping in his tracks. "It's not a
date, is it?"

"I don't think so," Ryan said, "They just got
along well on Thanksgiving and wanted to spend some
time together."

"Interesting," Kurt said not sure what to think about
that.

"So you're going on your date now?" Ryan asked.

"Yeah," Kurt replied.

"Where are you going to go for your date?  The
hospital cafeteria?" Ryan asked with a hint of
judgment in his voice.

"Enough," Kurt sighed, "I'll talk to you later."

Kurt then headed out for his date, leaving Ryan who
was slightly jealous.

When Jesse got home that night, Leo was waiting for
him in the living room.

"Where were you?" Leo asked.

"Work," Jesse lied.

"Oh yeah?" Leo asked.

"Yeah," Jesse said, "Why?"

"Because your boss called today," Leo replied. "He
said you missed an important meeting with some new
clients."

"Oh," Jesse said sheepishly.

"So tell me where you really were," Leo said.

"I went to my parents place and then drove around
looking for Mark some more," Jesse admitted.

"Jesse, you have to stop doing this," Leo said.

"Doing what?  Caring about my brother?" Jesse asked.

"No, you have to stop putting your life on hold in
order to help your brother," Leo replied. "Like it or
not, Mark is a grown man.  If he's going to do
something then that's his decision to make, not yours.
 He left at his own free will, you can't blame
yourself for that."

"Yeah, well it's a little late for that," Jesse said
defeated. "I failed him."

"No you didn't," Leo replied quickly.

"Yes I did," Jesse said. "I promised him that I would
help him get his life back together."

"You did everything you could," Leo said comforting
Jesse. "You gave him a place to stay, you gave him a
chance to start again."

"It wasn't enough though," Jesse said. "I should have
done more."

"You know what?  If you're just going to beat yourself
up over this, fine.  I don't know what more I can
say," Leo said grabbing his car keys and heading for
the front door. "I'm going to go over to Kurt and
Ryan's for a bit, because I'm not going to just watch
you sulk over something that isn't even your fault."

Leo then left frustrated at how Jesse was treating
himself.

Over at the hospital when Kurt got there he helped
Josh into a wheelchair and took him to the cafeteria
where they got sandwiches and milk.

"Classy date, huh?" Josh asked.

"It doesn't matter where you go, only about the
company you have," Kurt replied.

"Very true," Josh said.

"So, can I ask you something?" Kurt asked.

"Of course," Josh replied.

"How is it that you have such a good sense of humor
through all you're going through?" Kurt asked.

"Well, what's happening to me isn't anyone's fault,"
Josh said. "I guess I see no reason to be angry."

"You see no reason to be angry?" Kurt asked. "You live
a perfectly healthy life and then suddenly you get
cancer, that's not a reason to be angry?"

"I guess if you look at it that way it is," Josh said.
"But from the way I look at it, I've lived a great
life.  I have no complaints, I have no regrets, if I'm
going to die young, I feel pretty luck to die knowing
I've lived a full life."

"Then why even stay at a hospital if you're so content
with dying?" Kurt asked.

"I was rushed here in and out so much with medications
that I needed that the doctors figured it would be
easier to monitor me if I stay here," Josh replied.

"You're a remarkable person," Kurt smiled.

"I'm starting to feel the same way towards you," Josh
replied.

Over at Kurt and Ryan's place, Leo came over and
forgot that Kurt was on his date.

"Is it okay if I hang here for a bit?" Leo asked Ryan.

"Of course," Ryan replied. "I could use the company."

"Oh yeah?  How come?" Leo asked.

"Kurt's on his date and it's making me feel pretty
miserable," Ryan replied.

"What's making you miserable?  The fact that Kurt's on
a date or that he's dating before you?" Leo asked.

"The fact that Kurt's going on a date and it's not
with me," Ryan replied. "I guess a part of me still
feels like Kurt and I are supposed to be together."

"Well, if you ask me, Kurt isn't over you either," Leo
said.

"He's on a date with someone he says he really likes,"
Ryan replied. "I'm pretty sure he's over me."

"No he isn't," Leo said. "Ryan, why would Kurt pick a
dying man to start dating?  He knows subconsciously
that this new relationship with Josh won't last long
and I think that makes it safer for him.  It makes it
okay for him, otherwise he wouldn't be dating someone
either."

"You think?" Ryan asked.

"I think so," Leo said rubbing Ryan's back.

"Thanks," Ryan sighed giving Leo a hug. "So what's
wrong on your end?"

"It's Jesse," Leo said. "He's full of all this guilt
about Mark."

"Why?  It isn't his fault that Mark ran away," Ryan
said.

"That's what I'm trying to tell him," Leo said. "But
he swears that he could have done more to help him."

"Impossible," Ryan said. "Jesse went above and beyond
for Mark.  Obviously he's going to feel upset because
it's his brother, but he can't blame himself."

"I know that," Leo said. "I just wish he did."

"You've been having a lot of problems with Jesse
lately, huh?" Ryan asked.

"Yeah," Leo sighed. "I just wish I knew what to do.  I
feel like I never can say or do anything to help him."

"He's lucky to have you and I'm sure he knows it,"
Ryan pointed out.

"Maybe you should try telling him that," Leo joked.

"I'm sure he knows that," Ryan said. "If I had a
boyfriend as good as you I would make sure you knew
just how special you are."

"Yeah?" Leo asked.

"Absolutely," Ryan replied.

"Thanks so much for that Ryan," Leo said giving Ryan a
hug, "You're going to find someone great, because you
deserve it."

"Thanks," Ryan said giving Leo a kiss on the cheek.
"And Jesse will start to appreciate you again.  I know
it."

"I hope so," Leo replied.

   Over at the hospital Kurt was back in the hospital
room with Josh.  The two were sitting back and playing
cards together.

"So how does this night rank over all the first dates
you've been on in your life?" Josh asked.

"All the first dates?" Kurt laughed. "I've only been
on a few in my life."

"You're kidding," Josh said. "A great guy like you?"

"I can count the number of men I've dated on one
hand," Kurt said.

"That's it?" Josh asked. "Why's that?"

"I don't like putting myself out there if I think I'm
just going to get hurt," Kurt replied.

"Then why are you dating me?  You know I'm going to
die," Josh said bluntly.

"I guess," Kurt replied, "Some people are worth taking
the risk over."

"Come here," Josh said gesturing for Kurt to lean
closer to him.  Kurt leaned in and Josh leaned in the
rest of the way and gently kissed Kurt.

"Wow," Kurt said after the kiss.  He knew he liked
Josh, but after that kiss he didn't realize how hard
he starting to fall for him.



To Be Continued...

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