Date: Mon, 20 Nov 2006 00:00:33 -0800 (PST) From: Kirk Landers <ilj4ever44@yahoo.com> Subject: Phases- part 7 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. Well, hope you are all still enjoying the story and the direction it's taking. Here's part 7 entitled "Giving Thanks" 'GIVING THANKS' One week had passed since the incident at the bank. Everyone has seemed to move on from what had happened, except for Kurt who has been numb since seeing the hostage, Mary, get shot and killed. Ryan has been trying his best to try and cheer Kurt up, but Kurt's been to numb to even notice. He still hasn't noticed that Ryan broke up with Craig for him. Today was the day before Thanksgiving and it was the day of Mary's service that Kurt was attending. When Kurt came out of his bedroom Ryan was in the kitchen reading the newspaper. "Hey Kurt," Ryan said looking up from the paper. "Hi," Kurt replied. "Where you going?" Ryan asked. "It's Mary's service today," Kurt replied. "What time?" Ryan asked. "Two hours," Kurt answered. "Can you wait for ten minutes to let me get dressed, and I'll go with you," Ryan said. "You don't have to," Kurt said. "I know, but I want to," Ryan responded. "Just give me ten minutes." Ryan then went into his room to get dressed. Kurt sat down on the couch and waited for Ryan, the whole time he sat there, the memory of Mary's death kept replaying in his mind. ****FLASHBACK**** "You blew it," the robber said, "You have to see how serious I am and how I better expect a car to show up soon." The robber gave the other a gesture to grab one of the hostages. The second robber turned and headed towards Kurt. "Oh my God," Kurt said as the robber was approaching him. He quickly looked over at Leo who's face turned white with fear seeing the robber go up to his best friend. The robber reached down and grabbed Mary by the arm and pulled her up. "Get over here," the robber said grabbing Mary. "No!" Mary screamed. "No! Let go of her!" Kurt screamed. "Don't let them take me Kurt!" Mary screamed. "My kids!" "Please, please, don't take her!" Kurt screamed, holding on to her as tight as he could. "Please!" Mary screamed. Kurt held onto Mary as much as he could to try and keep the robber from taking her. The robber then took the handle of his gun and smacked the side of Kurt's head with it. Kurt fell to the floor forcing himself to let go of Mary. "Kurt! Help me!" Mary screamed. "Shut up!" the robber yelled. Kurt was still laying down groggy from the blow to the head. When his blurred vision gained focus again he saw Mary sitting on her knees in front of the robbers. "What's going on?" the officer asked. "Sorry man," the robber said. "You brought this on yourself." "Wait!" the officer yelled, but before he could say anymore a shot was fired. Kurt looked and saw Mary's body fall to the floor, blood pouring out from her head where she was shot. ****END FLASHBACK**** Kurt buried his face in his hands trying to hold back the tears and the guilt he was feeling. "Kurt?" Ryan asked coming out of his room dressed. He saw the tears in Kurt's eyes. He quickly ran over to him to try and comfort him. "You okay?" "I'm fine," Kurt lied as he stood up from the couch. "You ready to go?" "Yeah," Ryan said as he put on his jacket. "Okay, I'll drive," Kurt replied. "I'll drive," Ryan insisted. "Great, thanks," Kurt said as he opened the door to leave. "Wait a second," Ryan said taking Kurt's hand. He then pulled Kurt in and wrapped his arms around him tightly. Kurt resisted, not wanting to break down in front of him. "Kurt, you don't have to put up a tough act. Let me be there for you." "You don't have to," Kurt said. "I'm sure Craig wouldn't be too pleased about it." "Kurt," Ryan began, "Haven't you noticed that Craig hasn't been around at all? I broke up with him the day the incident happened at the bank." "You did?" Kurt asked surprised. "Why?" "Kurt, I've told you all this already. Don't you remember?" Ryan asked. "No, sorry I don't," Kurt said. "I remember watching the coverage on the news when you were trapped in the bank," Ryan began, "And I remember thinking how much I would regret it if anything happened to you and we never admitted how we felt towards one another. I know we agreed to just let fate decide, but when you were in there, that was fate telling me to not waste another second. So I broke up with Craig and that's when I hurried over to the bank to be there for you and that's why I'm here for you now and why I always want to be here for you." "I didn't realize," Kurt sighed. "So let me be there for you," Ryan said. "I want to. I want you to let me in." Kurt didn't say anything, he just wrapped his arms around Ryan and buried his face on his shoulder. Ryan in return held Kurt tightly wanting to give Kurt that reassurance that he's safe in his arms. Over at Nick's place, Nick and Leo were setting the table up for Thanksgiving dinner the next day. "So how many of us are going to be here?" Nick asked. "It's I think it's just the three of us right?" Leo asked. "What about Ryan, do you think he'll come?" Nick asked. "I invited him, but he said that Kurt's been so out of it that he doesn't even know that Ryan broke up with his boyfriend for him," Leo replied. "He said he'll come if Kurt wants him there." "Which I'm sure he does," Nick said. "We all know how much he likes Ryan." "I know, but after what happened at the bank, Kurt hasn't been himself," Leo said. "True," Nick agreed. "So how have you been?" "I'm doing good," Leo replied. "I mean, it was absolutely horrible seeing that woman get shot in the bank, but it was ten times worse for Kurt because he had been bonding with her through out the whole time we were trapped in there." "Have you spoken to Jesse since that day?" Nick asked. "No," Leo replied. "Really?" Nick asked. "I'm kind of surprised." "Why?" Leo asked. "Jesse didn't talk to you that day?" Nick asked confused. "Talk to me about what?" Leo asked. "What did you two say to each other that day?" Nick asked. "I told him that I finally had to let him go," Leo replied. "And that I shouldn't see him anymore." "You did what?" Nick asked shocked. "Why do you seem so upset?" Leo asked. "I thought you of all people would be jumping up with joy over that." "Not after what he told me that day," Nick sighed. "What did he tell you?" Leo asked getting worried he made a huge mistake. "Well it doesn't really matter after what you said to him," Nick replied. "Nick, tell me," Leo begged. "What did Jesse say?" "He told me he still loved you," Nick replied. "I think he wanted to try and work things out." "He told you he still loved me?" Leo asked sadly. "Yes," Nick replied. "Do you still love him?" "You've seen me ever since the break-up, of course I still love him," Leo sighed. "What about you wanting to move on from him?" Nick asked. "That was when I thought he didn't care anymore, but he does!" Leo said. "Then you better go talk to him," Nick said. "Now." "You're right," Leo said taking his phone out and quickly called up Jesse. "Hello?" Jesse asked answering the phone. "Jesse, it's me," Leo replied. "Hey Leo," Jesse said. "Hey, are you busy tonight?" Leo asked. "Kind of," Jesse said. "I have a date." Hearing this stopped Leo cold. "What?" "I have a date," Jesse repeated. "He has a date!" Leo snapped at Nick while holding his hand over the phone so Jesse wouldn't hear. "So what?" Nick asked, "It's just a date. He's not getting married." "Hello?" Jesse asked not hearing anything on the phone. "Hey sorry," Leo replied, "Can I talk to you tomorrow maybe?" "Sure," Jesse said. "Great, did you have any plans for Thanksgiving dinner?" Leo asked. "No," Jesse said. "Well you do now," Leo said. "Want to come over to Nick's place?" "Nick's hosting Thanksgiving again?" Jesse asked. "Yeah, want to come?" Leo asked. "Sure, I'll see you then," Jesse replied. "Great, see you tomorrow," Leo said. "Okay, bye," Jesse answered as he hung up. "I can't believe you didn't tell me this earlier," Leo said giving Nick a playful push. "I thought he told you," Nick defended. "If he told me don't you think I would have said something to you?" Leo asked. "I don't know, I thought you two might be trying to keep things quiet," Nick replied. "If this date he's going on tonight goes well for him, you owe me a boyfriend," Leo scolded. "Yeah, I'll get you a boyfriend from that long list of guys I have," Nick said sarcastically. Later that day, Kurt and Ryan arrived at the service for Mary. There were around 50 people at the church. Kurt looked in the front and saw two kids and a man, he assumed those must have been the family Mary wanted so eagerly to get back to while they were in the bank. Seeing them sitting there and staring at the casket of their wife and mother was too much for Kurt to handle. "I have to get out of here," Kurt said to Ryan. "But we just got here," Ryan said. "No, I can't be here. This was a mistake," Kurt said backing away. "But Kurt-" Ryan said. "Ryan, I can't. Let's go. Please," Kurt begged. Ryan saw the look of fear in Kurt's eyes and knew how serious he was in not wanting to stay. "Okay." Ryan put his arm around Kurt as the two walked out of the church and back to Ryan's car. "Can I take you somewhere?" Ryan asked turning on his car. "Where?" Kurt asked. "You'll see," Ryan replied as he pulled out of the drive way and onto the street. The two drove quietly for a few minutes until they reached the beach. Ryan and Kurt got out and walked towards the shoreline. "What are we doing here?" Kurt asked. "I thought this might be nice," Ryan replied. "It's where we came the first time we hung out. I thought this could be our spot." Kurt smiled, touched by all the effort Ryan's doing and feeling completely guilty that he's been so of it while Ryan's been trying his best to help him. "I'm sorry," Kurt said. "For what?" Ryan asked. "I know that I've been all messed up this past week," Kurt replied. "It's just really hard." "Just talk about it," Ryan suggested, "It might help." The two sat down together on the sand looking out at sea. "I mean, I was right next to her," Kurt said, finally beginning to open up about what he was feeling. "Her and I spoke together, we comforted each other during that hold up. And then she just got taken and i did my best to try and save her, but before I knew it I was knocked down ont he ground and when I opened my eyes it was just in time to see her get shot." "I understand how hard that must have been for you to witness, but why are you being so hard on yourself?" Ryan asked. "Because I told her she would be fine," Kurt replied. "I told her that she would make it out and get home to her family. And she didn't. I feel like I broke a promise to her." "You didn't," Ryan said. "You couldn't control what those guys were going to do. It wasn't your fault." "Then today, when we walked in the church, I saw her family sitting in the front row together," Kurt said beginning to cry. "They'll never have her again. It was too much for me to handle, that's why I had to leave." "Hey," Ryan said comforting Kurt, "None of this is your fault. You wanted to believe she'd make it in time to see her kids and you wanted to believe everything would be okay, but sometimes things just don't work out that way. It wasn't your fault. And you've been holding all of this inside for so long that it's time you just let it out." "Ryan," Kurt said. "Yeah?" Ryan asked. "Hold me," Kurt replied. Ryan wrapped his arms around him and Kurt started to cry and let all of the emotions he was feeling out. That night over at Nick's place, he had called Kurt and invited him and Ryan over to hang out and cheer Kurt up. When they got there Leo was pacing back and forth stressing over the date Jesse was going on that night. "Hey guys," Nick said opening the door for Kurt and Ryan. "Hey Nick, nice to finally meet you," Ryan said shaking Nick's hand. "It's great to meet you. I've heard a lot of great things about you," Nick said as they walked into the apartment. "Hey," Kurt said giving Nick a hug. "How you doing?" Nick asked. "Better," Kurt replied. "Ryan helped me out a lot." "Glad to hear it," Nick said. The three of them looked over in the living room and saw Leo pacing back and forth and talking to himself. "What's wrong with Leo?" Ryan asked. "He's having a nervous break down," Nick joked. "Hey buddy," Kurt said as they walked into the living room. "...but if he liked the guy a lot could he really just lose feelings for me that quickly and want to be with this guy right away? On the other hand, what if he likes him so much that he cancels on me tomorrow and never finds out that I'm still in love with him," Leo said to himself not even hearing Kurt greet him. "Hey, psycho!" Nick yelled. "Huh?" Leo asked stopping in his tracks. He then noticed that Kurt and Ryan were there. "Hey guys!" "Hey, what's with the pacing back and forth and talking to yourself?" Ryan asked. "I just blew all chances of getting back with my ex," Leo replied. "Jesse?" Kurt asked. "No my other ex," Leo said. "Of course Jesse!" "I thought you were finally getting over him," Kurt said. "Yeah, when you and I were at the center the other day you said you were ready to move on from him," Ryan added. "Well that was before Nick informed me that Jesse told him that he was still in love with me and wanted to work things out with me," Leo said. "Leo is choosing to blame me if Jesse's date tonight goes well," Nick said. "Jesse has a date tonight?" Kurt asked. "Yeah, and he's supposed to come over tomorrow so him and I could talk, but we might not get a chance to if this date goes well," Leo said. "I should sabotage it!" "No!" Nick, Kurt and Ryan said in unison. "Don't even think about it," Nick said. "If it's meant to be with you two then it will be," Kurt said. "But what if he falls for this guy?" Leo sighed. "Then you can do what you planned to do before you found out about this. You can move on," Nick said. "I need to call him," Leo said taking his phone out. "Give me the phone," Nick said trying to grab the phone from Leo. "No, get away from me bossy," Leo said trying to hold the phone away. Kurt looked over at Ryan who was clearly amused at what was going on. "Sorry, my friends aren't normally this crazy," Kurt said. "It's fun to see," Ryan said. "It's been a while since I've had friends to be around with." "Leo! This is the first time we're all hanging out with Ryan and you're acting like a freak," Nick said wrestling Leo on the ground trying to grab the phone. "Don't let Ryan think we're all psychotic and embarrass Kurt!" "Then get off me!" Leo said holding onto his phone for dear life. "Not until you promise me you're not going to call him!" Nick said sitting on top of Leo. "Fine!" Leo said. "I promise!" "Okay," Nick said getting off of Leo. The two of them got up and brushed themselves off. "I lied!" Leo said as he bolted to the bathroom and locked the door with his phone. Kurt and Ryan looked at the locked bathroom door and back over at Nick who was trying to catch his breath from wrestling with Leo. "If you couldn't tell, Nick is the bossy one," Kurt pointed out. "I am not," Nick defended. "Yes you are," Kurt replied, "But I wouldn't want you any other way. You've always been the big brother to us." "Well thank you," Nick said. "Now go in the kitchen and eat. I'm sure you haven't eaten much today." "Okay," Kurt said heading into the kitchen. "You too Ryan," Nick said. "Go eat. I'll be there shortly. I just have to kill Leo first." "Okay," Ryan said with a smile, clearly loving Kurt's friends. In the kitchen Kurt took out some plates from Nick's cabinet and went to the stove where there was chicken and vegetables to eat. "Here's a plate," Kurt said handing one to Ryan as he walked in. "Thanks," Ryan said. "You're friends are great." "Yeah, I love them a lot," Kurt said. "I used to have a couple good friends like that," Ryan said. "So what happened?" Kurt asked curious. "Well, they didn't care for Craig much and Craig didn't like them," Ryan replied. "So it came to a point where I had to choose. I made the wrong choice." "Don't worry," Kurt said. "My friends would love it if you hung out with us now. It can be a chance for you to finally have that type of friendship with people that's so important." "Yeah, maybe," Ryan said. Kurt grabbed some food and headed to the kitchen table to eat. After Ryan got his food he sat down next to Kurt and held his hand. "Are you doing all right?" Ryan asked. "I am," Kurt said. "You really helped me today. You let me get those emotions out that I've been trying to keep hidden this whole week." "I'm glad," Ryan said. "I'm glad you were there," Kurt said. "Me too," Ryan replied. In the bathroom Leo was on the phone calling Jesse. After the third ring Jesse picked up. "Hello?" Jesse asked picking up. "Hey Jesse it's me," Leo said. "Now's not really a good time," Jesse said. "I know you're on a date, but there's something I wanted to tell you," Leo said. "What?" Jesse asked. "Leo open up!" Nick yelled from the other side of the door. "Shut up!" Leo yelled back. "Excuse me?" Jesse asked. "No, not you, that's not what I wanted to tell you," Leo said. "Well what is it?" Jesse asked. "Don't have a good date," Leo replied. "What?" Jesse asked confused. "I know that sounds horrible of me, but please don't," Leo replied. "If you do then it would make you coming over here tomorrow pointless." "What are you talking about?" Jesse asked. "I don't want to talk about it on the phone," Leo said. "Just don't have a good date and it will all make sense when we talk tomorrow. Thanks." Before Jesse could reply Leo hung up the phone and walked out of the bathroom. "Leo," Nick said getting ready to give Leo a lecture. "Nick, I love him and I can't just give him up if I know he might still love me," Leo said. Nick sighed, as much as he wanted to protect Leo and be there for him he realized he had to let Leo do what he wanted here and not intervene. "Okay," Nick said putting an arm around Leo. "Let's go in the kitchen. Ryan and Kurt are already eating." Nick and Leo headed into the kitchen and got their food and sat down at the table with Kurt and Ryan. "You okay Leo?" Kurt asked. "No, but nothing more I can do about it tonight," Leo replied. "So Kurt, you never told us what your editor said about your short story," Nick said. "He loved it," Kurt replied. "It will be out in the anniversary issue in a couple of weeks." "What's the short story about?" Ryan asked curious. Nick and Leo both shot Kurt a look wondering what Kurt would say since the story was about Ryan, Scott and him. "It's a story about a guy having to decide if he should stay with the guy he's with or if he should see if something can happen with another guy he's interested in," Kurt said praying that Ryan would put two and two together. "Cool," Ryan said. "I didn't know you were doing a short story. I'm looking forward to reading it." "Oh, you wouldn't want to read it," Kurt said. "Why not?" Ryan asked. "You wouldn't like it," Kurt replied. "Why do you say that?" Ryan asked. "Because it's about you," Leo scoffed. "It is?" Ryan asked. "You punk," Kurt said throwing a piece of the bread he was eating at Leo. "Well he's going to find out eventually," Leo said laughing. "That story was about me?" Ryan asked. "Maybe," Kurt replied. "Am I the reason you broke up with Scott?" Ryan asked. "Partly," Kurt admitted. "See how perfect this is?" Leo said. "You both broke up with your guys' boyfriends for one another." "Leo," Nick said. "Yeah?" Leo asked. "Shut up," Nick replied. "Right," Leo said. Kurt and Ryan both exchanged a smile with one another, knowing that this was the beginning of something great. "So are you two a couple?" Leo asked. Nick slapped Leo on the arm. "What? I want to know," Leo said. "Not yet," Kurt said. "But we'll get there soon," Ryan added. Nick and Leo both smiled as Ryan and Kurt gazed at one another, glad that Kurt is finally getting what he deserves with Ryan. That night after the guys were done hanging out Leo was walking on the street when he passed by a restaurant that him and Jesse used to go to all the time. When he walked passed the window he looked in and found himself staring at Jesse and his date. He couldn't help but stop and look at the two of them together. As much as he hated to admit it, his date was really good looking. However he was more upset when he saw that the two of them seemed to be having a good time together, they were laughing, smiling at one another and touching one another's arm as they spoke. Leo sighed, feeling defeated. He lowered his head and slowly started walking away. As he was walking away Jesse looked up and saw for a split second as Leo walked passed. He felt his heart drop, hoping that Leo hadn't seen him. At Nick's place he was finishing setting the table in his dining room for Thanksgiving dinner the next day. After he was done he was going to start working on the pie he was making when his phone rang. "Hello?" Nick asked picking up the phone. "Is this Nick?" "Yes," Nick replied. "Nick, it's Adrian." "Adrian! Hey!" Nick said excited to hear from him, "It's so good to hear your voice." "You too," Adrian replied. "What's going on?" Nick asked. "I was calling to tell you that I was going to be in town next week," Adrian replied. "Really?" Nick asked. "So will I get to see you?" "I hope so, that's why I'm calling," Adrian replied. "Are you going to be busy next week?" "No, not at all," Nick said. "Great," Adrian said. "Well I hope we can spend some time together." "I can't wait," Nick replied. "So how have things been?" Adrian asked. "Really good," Nick replied. "Been seeing anyone since I saw you?" Adrian asked. "No," Nick replied. "You?" "Nope," Adrian answered. "So we'll both be single when you come out," Nick hinted. "Looks that way," Adrian said. "Well maybe we can go on a second date," Nick said. "Sounds like a good idea to me," Adrian said. The two of them both enjoying hearing the sound of one another's voice talked the rest of the night. Meanwhile, over at Kurt and Ryan's place the two were laying on Kurt's bed facing one another and talking. "So how do we go about this?" Kurt asked. "What do you mean?" Ryan asked. "I mean, should we go on a date sometime?" Kurt asked. "It's just kind of different because we already live together and all." "I know, it's not very conventional," Ryan replied. "No it's not," Kurt said. "So how do we do this?" "Well, let's just do this our way," Ryan suggested, "Not worry about what's conventional and just do what feels right for us." "Sounds like a plan," Kurt said. "Can I ask you something?" Ryan asked. "Of course," Kurt replied. "Would you mind if I gave you a kiss?" Ryan asked. Kurt smiled, "No, I wouldn't mind." "Good," Ryan said as he leaned in and lightly and very tenderly kissed Kurt on the lips. Kurt then wrapped his arms around Ryan and began to kiss a little more as the two enjoyed their first kiss together. The next day Ryan, Kurt and Leo arrived at Nick's place around four o'clock. Ryan and Kurt brought over the side dishes such as the mashed potatoes, and vegetables. Leo brought over a salad and some wine and Nick had the turkey cooking in the oven. "Hey guys, happy Thanksgiving," Nick said opening the door to the three of them. "Happy Thanksgiving," they replied as they walked in. "It smells great in here," Ryan said smelling the turkey cooking in the oven. "Can we help you out with anything?" Kurt asked. "No, I think I'm good," Nick replied, "turkey is in the oven, the pies are cooling off and Adrian called me last night." "He what?" Kurt and Leo replied at the same time. "Who's Adrian?" Ryan asked confused. "He's this guy that we met in Las Vegas and Nick and him hit it off," Kurt replied. "Oh," Ryan said. "But he lives in New York," Leo added. "Oh," Ryan sighed. "But he's coming out here for a business trip," Nick said. "Oh?" Kurt asked. "And we're going to go on a second date," Nick said. "Oh," Leo smiled impressed. "Well congrats," Ryan said. "Thank you," Nick replied. "This calls for some wine," Leo said holding the bottle of wine he brought up. "I'm going to open this up." "Should we wait for Jesse?" Nick asked. "I don't care," Leo said going into the kitchen, "I don't even know if he's coming. In fact I hope he doesn't." Just as Leo finished talking there was a knock on Nick's door. "Must be Jesse," Nick said smiling at Leo. "Wow, talk about perfect timing," Kurt said. "Why don't you go answer the door?" Nick asked Leo with a smile. "Why don't you wipe that smile off your face?" Leo retorted with an equally annoying smile to match the one Nick had on his face. "Why don't you stop being so immature and face Jesse?" Nick asked. "What happened? Yesterday you were so eager to talk to him and now you want to avoid him." "I saw him on his date last night," Leo said. "And him and his date seemed to be having a really good time." "Oh Leo," Kurt sighed, "I'm so sorry." "Hello?" they heard Jesse's voice yell from the other side of the door. "Should I answer that?" Ryan asked. "Do you want him here?" Nick asked. "Yeah," Leo sighed, "It's fine." Nick went over and opened the door to Jesse. "Hey Nick," Jesse said giving him a hug, "Happy Thanksgiving." "Happy Thanksgiving," Nick replied. "Good to see you." "You too," Jesse replied as he walked in. Nick and Jesse walked in the kitchen to greet the other guys. "Jesse!" Kurt said happy to see Nick, "I haven't seen you in forever!" "Hey Bug!" Jesse said giving Kurt a big hug. "Bug?" Ryan asked Nick. "He calls Kurt 'Bug?'" "It's a long story," Nick replied. "Jesse, this is Ryan," Kurt said introducing the two. "Nice to meet you," Ryan said shaking Jesse's hand. "Nice to meet you too," Jesse replied. They all looked over at Leo who was busy trying to ignore Jesse by pouring wine for everyone. "Hey you," Jesse said gently trying to get Leo's attention. "Hi," Leo replied not turning around to face Jesse. "Happy Thanksgiving," Jesse said. "Yeah, you too," Leo sighed. "Can we talk?" Jesse asked. "What's there to talk about anymore?" Leo asked. "You seemed to be having such a great time on your date last night." "Ryan, have you seen the view from my balcony?" Nick asked hinting that they should leave Leo and Jesse alone to talk. "No, but I would love to," Ryan said picking up on the hint. Ryan and Nick started walking off, but they noticed Kurt wasn't moving. "Kurt, want to come see the view?" Nick asked. "I've already seen it," Kurt dismissed, not picking up on the hint Nick was giving him. "Why don't you see it again?" Nick asked. "Why? It's just a view of the park," Kurt replied. "Would you just get your ass over here?" Nick said pulling Kurt out of the kitchen to leave Jesse and Leo alone. "So you saw me on my date last night?" Jesse asked. "Yeah," Leo replied. "And I can't believe you took him to 'our' restaurant." "I'm sorry you had to see that," Jesse said. "Did you have a good time on your date?" Leo asked. "No," Jesse replied. "Well it sure looked like you did," Leo said. "I was just being polite," Jesse said, "But everything there just reminded me of you. It being our place and all." "Then why did you take him to that restaurant?" Leo asked. "I guess a part of me wanted to make sure I was thinking of you the whole time on that date," Jesse said. "Then why even go on it?" Leo asked. "Well, you told me last week at the bank that you wanted to move on from me," Jesse replied. "So that didn't leave me much of a choice but to try and move on from you." "I don't anymore," Leo said. "What are you talking about?" Jesse asked. "Nick told me what you said to him at the bank last week," Leo revealed. "He did?" Jesse asked. "Yeah and I never would have said I wanted to move on from you had I known that you still loved me," Leo said. "Of course I still love you," Jesse said. "But I don't want us to get together if we're only going to fall apart again." "Maybe we don't get back together right away," Leo said. "Maybe we just take it slow." "Yeah?" Jesse asked. "Yeah," Leo replied. "Last week I wanted to see if you would be interested in going out on a date sometime," Jesse said. "I want to try and ask you again. Will you go out with me sometime?" Leo smiled, "Yes, of course." "So we're going to do a second first date," Jesse said. "I think so," Leo replied. "Should we hug this out?" "I think a hug is in order," Jesse answered. The two moved close to one another and hugged, at first gently and uncomfortably, but then they both remembered what it felt to be in the arms of one another and how good it felt and the two held each other tighter both loving every second they were in each other's arms. "We're not interrupting are we?" Nick asked walking in with Ryan and Kurt. "No, we're done," Leo said breaking the hug. "And are you guys okay?" Kurt asked. "Yeah, we're good," Jesse replied. "So are you back?" Kurt asked hoping. "Maybe," Jesse said. "We're going to work on it," Leo said. "Yay!" Kurt said happily giving Jesse a hug. They were all enjoying the moment when the oven timer went off. "Turkey's done!" Nick said. The guys got things ready to eat. Nick carved the turkey and everyone went and sat at the table. Leo brought them all a glass of wine and they started to pass the food around. "Before we eat I would like to make a toast," Nick said raising his glass. "It's been a roller coaster for all of us the past couple of months, but fortunately I am glad to be able to say that everyone of us here seems to be having work out in a way that is making us all happy and content," Nick said. "Even though I realize the happy times aren't going to last forever for us, I'm glad that we're in a good place for the holidays. Happy Thanksgiving, thanks for being here." "Happy Thanksgiving," they all said as they clinked their wine glasses with one another. The guys then all proceeded to have a great dinner together and great night enjoying each others company and looking forward to what the future might hold for one another. **************************************************************************** Hope you all have a happy and safe Thanksgiving! With any comments, questions or feedback please e-mail me at ilj4ever44@yahoo.com. Thanks so much everyone!