Date: Mon, 11 Aug 2003 12:48:22 -0700 (PDT)
From: JMH <trandar2002@yahoo.com>
Subject: Re: Wedding Ring/Wedding Ring 13

Ok... we are now at the half way point and as with most of my stories this
means a big change in the story.  While this chapter will have alot of
action in it, it will be the later emotional effects that will shape the
rest of the story.  I hope you enjoy and tell me what you think.

Again, this is a story about gay relationships so 1. if you are
breaking the law, underage, or just hate gay stuff don't read any further.
The World Wide Web is a big place so you can find something else. 2. The
story is not based on any real person place thing, or another person's
idea.  So any similarities are pure chance.  3.  Since this story is of my
own creation, I have the copyright to it.  No other postings, except at
nifty, are allowed. Nor is the selling of the story to others permitted.
Any questions about the above, please write.

    JMH
   trandar2002@yahoo.com

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

Everyone had a partner in bed that night; Thomas (who finally moved in)
with Tara, Darren with a worried Will in his arms and Chris with Jacob
(they were taking it slow, so no real sex had occurred yet).

The only person who did not have anyone was Mrs. Hiller.  She did have her
half burnt cigarette in her hand.  It was near the middle of the night when
it dropped from her hand onto a pile of used tissues that lay on the dry
rot wood floor.  She did not wake up.

It had been on the list of repairs, but as of yet the fire alarms were yet
to be installed. They all might have died in their sleep if it had not been
for the cries of baby John.  Tara had awaken first, responding to these
cries, not noticing the smell of smoke, but when she reached for the
doorknob and felt her hand burn her mind cleared with sudden realization
that the house was on fire.  Due to her mother's instincts she didn't
follow good judgment and opened the door causing a burst of flames to jump
at her as the oxygen rich air ran out of the room.  Tara screamed, waking
Thomas, who saw her running around the room, her hair on fire.  He quickly
took the quilt from the bed, tackled her to the ground and smothered out
the flames.  By this time the room was starting to fill with smoke.  With
the flames out, Thomas took the blanket off Tara's head, pointed to the
bathroom and helped her crawl over to it, keeping their heads below the
black smoke.

When Jacob heard his sister scream he had awaken with a jolt, knocking
Chris off his chest. He noticed the smell of smoke at once and ran to the
door.  He tapped his hand against it and felt the cool metal.  With a sigh
of relief he went back to the bed and woke Chris up.

"Hon... we need to get out of here!"

"What's wrong?" Chris asked groggily.

"The house is on fire!"

"What!" Chris said as he jumped up.

"Hurry," Jacob said as he went to the bathroom.  When he came back with two
soaked towels he found Chris sitting on the bed slowly getting dressed as
if he were getting ready for Sunday church.  "What are you doing?"

"Getting dressed."

"No time for that, this is not a meeting we are late for.  THE HOUSE IS ON
FIRE!"  Jacob yelled frantically as he took the watch Chris had in his hand
and threw it against the wall.

"Hey... it's a Rolex!"

"You'll live... if we are lucky," Jacob said as he put the wet towel on top
of Chris' head.

Jacob cracked open the door slowly and saw some black smoke enter the room
from the top.  He then got on his knees as he dragged Chris down as well
before sticking his head out.  The main hall was already on fire, blocking
their path to the main stairs, but Jacob's room, which was located right
over the kitchen, was across the hall from the servant's stairs.

"See if you can get out through the kitchen door," Jacob told Chris. "I'm
going to see if the others are ok."

"But what if you pass out from the smoke... who will save you?  I'm coming
with you."

"Ok..." Jacob said as he squeezed Chris' hand, taking strength from it.

"Ok... I'll go see Darren and Will.  You go find your sister."

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



Will was jolted awake when he head the bedroom door burst open, revealing a
red light and a figure whose head was covered.

"Wake up!  We have to get out of here!"  The figure shouted.

"Chris?"  Will said sleepily.  But Darren was already out of the bed
running for the hallway.

Chris ran into the bathroom to wet more towels while Will called 9-1-1.
When both had finished they went out to see where Darren had gone off.
Both he and Jacob were down the hall near the main stairs, but a burning
wood pillar blocked their path to both Tara's and the baby's bedrooms.
Both of them paced back and forth like a pair of caged animals, panic in
both their eyes.

"We have to get out of here!" Chris insisted as he passed the towel to
Darren.  Just as he said that there was a loud cracking sound as the grand
stairway collapsed.

Darren took the towel, twisting it in his hands.  "Take everyone out," He
told Will with a dead serious tone.

"Not if you are not coming with me."

Darren grabbed Will and pushed him against the wall.  "Get them out of
here, Will."

"Ok... but I'm coming back for you."

"Ok."

"Darren don't do this," Jacob said as he grabbed him.

"I have no choice," Darren said in a fatalistic tone.  "Don't let Will back
in."  He whispered.  Darren took the wet towel and wrapped it around his
head.  He gave them one final wave before ducking under the wood pillar and
disappearing into the flames.

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

Jacob led the four of them down the servant's stairs and out of the house.
He told Chris to watch the door as he made his way to the back of the house
where he saw two crumpled bodies on the lawn, below where Tara's bedroom
was.  When he reached them, both of them were blacken by soot except for
several cuts around their bodies.  Thomas held Tara's hair-burnt head as
she cried.  Seeing a piece of glass sticking out of Thomas's leg, Jacob
looked up and saw the second story windows were smashed.

Jacob, not knowing what else to say asked what he felt later was a stupid
question.  "Are ya'll alright?"

Thomas nodded his head yes, but Tara wailed.  "It's John... he's still in
there."  Thomas said as he continued to comfort Tara.

Jacob almost told them that Darren was as well... looking for them... but
at the moment that did not seem to be the best thing to say.  "We need to
get you away from the house," he said.

Jacob left them for just a moment to bring Will and Chris over.  Jacob was
able to lift his sister on his own but it took the other two to carry
Thomas. Just as they had brought the two of them to the front of the house,
two fire trucks, an ambulance and two police cars raced in.  As the
paramedics took care of Thomas and Tara, Jacob began explaining things to a
fireman.  He did not notice that one of the people listening in was Philip.
Nor did he notice that Will was gone.

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



  Darren, who was burned in several places and coughing from the smoke,
gave up on trying to reach Tara's room as it had already been engulfed in
fire.  It was gut wrenching but he made his way further down the hall to
his son's room. John was still alive but his face was bright red from all
his crying.  Darren took the towel off his head and wrapped it around his
son.  He then crouched down, in an attempt to avoid the thickening smoke,
but when he had his way back to the kitchen stairs he found that parts of
the ceiling had now collapsed blocking his path completely.  Now panicking
Darren made his way deeper into the house hoping that another pair of
stairs would magically appear but he did not have any such luck.  By this
time the smoke was getting too thick; Darren could not see if a stairway
was now available let alone a door.  He lowered himself flat on the ground
and saw the crack of a door.  He reached up and opened it and found himself
in the library... not a window in sight.
 Darren closed the door and unwrapped the towel from around his son so he
could stuff it under the crack of the door.  He was trapped.

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

The police set up lights on all the windows in hope of seeing a sign of
life but so far they had had no luck.  Jacob hopes rose when two of the
firemen came out carrying a body, but after he got a good look at him he
saw that underneath all the soot covering his face was Will. Then a stream
of firemen came out of the house almost at a run just as there was a loud
cracking noise.

"What's happening?"  Jacob asked one of them.

"The second floor is collapsing.  We have to get out men out of there."

"But there are still people in there!"

"There is nothing we can do.  The whole place is falling apart."  The
firemen said as a police officer approached him.  "What is it?"

"I think you need to see this."

"Ok."  He replied as the officer led him away.

Jacob still wanting answers followed them to one of the trucks were a man
stood unconscious and stripped of his uniform.

"How the hell did this happen?  The fireman asked just as the fire truck
engine turned on with life and drove off, slamming through the backyard
gate.  Police and firemen ran chased after the rogue truck only to find an
man in a fireman's coat on top of the roof of the truck taking an ax to the
window.  Before anyone could reach him, he had jumped in to the second
story window.

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

Darren took his son over to the far corner of the room thinking this was
how they would be found after the smoke over took them.  Taking off John's
shirt Darren wet it with the little spit he was able to produce and began
washing his son's face of the soot.  He did not know why that was important
to him right then, but it was something he felt he had to do.  He had just
given his son what he thought would be a final kiss when the door burst
opened showing a man with a gas mask and yellow coat.  Looking around the
room for a brief second the man turned to leave.

"We are here!"  Darren shouted as he stood up from behind the bookshelves.

The man in the yellow coat turned back and ran over to Darren, pulling off
the mask as he came over... showing Philip's face.

"Philip!"  Darren said surprised.

"Darren... I though I lost you!"

"Lost me?"  Darren asked confused.

"Darren, I love you... well I think I'm falling in love with you.  I could
not lose you.  When I heard they order the firemen to call off the search I
had to do something.  I took this uniform and the truck.  I'll be arrested
but I had to find you."

Darren did not know what to say.  He had not known Philip had fallen for
him.  Darren thought Philip was good enough of a fellow, but he was sure he
did not have romantic feelings for him.  The problem was Philip had risked
his career and life out of love.  Now was not the time to tell him he did
not share his feelings.  "We need to get out of here."

"Ok... I brought an extra mask."  Philip said excitedly as he handed it to
Darren.

Darren took it and first tired to put it over his son's head but it was
just too big.

"Darren you have to use the mask on yourself."

"But the smoke."

"Darren... I can't carry both you and the baby.  We will be able to get out
of here faster if you are able to breath.  It's a risk but not as big if
you fall unconscious."

"Ok."  Darren said and made to put the mask over his head.

"Wait..." Philip stopped him.

"What?" Darren tried to ask but was stopped when Philip reached in for a
hard kiss.  Darren felt a tongue press against his lips so he opened his
mouth letting Philip in.  He saw Philip's eyebrow rise and his cheeks lift
as a grin grew on his face.  Darren had seen women whom he had dated get
this look. It worried him, but not wanting to hurt his rescuer's feelings
he worked hard to make the kiss as good as possible.

When he finally released the kiss Philip had to hold back a giggle.  "Just
as I remembered it."  He sighed feeling he was not making a mistake.

"We need to go now."

"Alright but you have to promise to me a weeks worth of fucking after we
get the out of here."

"Ok ... but right now I want to get out of here and get my son to a doctor.

"Ok... hold my hand.  Its pitch black out there."

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

Half the house had collapsed so far sinking Jacob's hopes of ever seeing
Darren again.  He fought between staring at the window the rogue
firefighter had gone through to looking over at the spot where the
ambulance had been; it had left a few minutes ago with Tara and Thomas.  A
second one was on the other side getting ready to take Will.  It was near
the moment when the fire crews were going to pull the truck away from the
burning house when a flash of yellow showed up at the open window.

"They're there!"  Jacob shouted as he saw a flash of once white boxers
climb down onto the roof of the truck.  Jacob ran over and had to be held
back as the two men and the baby made their way down.

Darren handed his son over to the paramedics as soon as his feet touched
the ground and was rushed by Jacob who was finally let go.

"You're alright!"  Jacob said as he wrapped his arms around Darren.

Darren pulled off the mask so he could be heard.  "I'm alive at least."

Jacob saw several burns on Darren's body and so got off him.  "Is John ok?"

"Yes... he saved us.  We were trapped in the library but he saved us."

"Who saved you?"  Jacob asked as he saw the man in the yellow jacket being
handcuffed.

"Philip... he's in love with me."

"Oh..." Jacob said seeing the worry on Darren's eyes.  "You're in love with
him as well?"

"No... I barely know him."

"Well don't worry about it right now... Lets just get you to the hospital,"
Jacob said as a stretcher was brought over.

"Where's everyone?"  Darren asked as he felt an IV poke him in the arm.

"I made Chris go with Tara and Thomas and Will..."

"Tara and Thomas are ok!"

"They survived... they jumped out the second story window."

"Oh gosh... I thought they were dead when I saw their room on fire," Darren
said, clearly upset.

"It's ok, Darren.  They are going to be alright."

"Ok... what about Will."

"They had to send him to the hospital as well."

"Is he ok?"

"Yes... don't worry about it," Jacob said as Darren was lifted away.

As the two of them left Philip grinned.  He had not heard what Darren had
said, but he thought he noticed his name being mentioned.  He felt he now
had a bond to Darren.  The two of them had gone through a life changing
experience.  It also did not hurt that both of them knew that Darren owed
his life and the life of his son to him.  Philip was sure that with his
uncle's support and Darren's testimony he would be given a medal instead of
a prison sentence.

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



Besides the burns, Darren, Will and John suffered from smoke inhalation.
For both Will and Darren the treatment was a simple oxygen mask but for
John, he had to undergo HBO (hyper-baric oxygenation) to minimize nerve
damage from carbon.  Tara gave up on saving her hair so she had it cut very
short.  Thomas was left with a broken arm.

After being treated the doctors decided to keep Will and Darren over for a
night.  Jacob offered to get them into a room together, but Will... fearing
Darren's anger for risking his life, turned him down.

Darren, hating the fact that he found himself back in a hospital flipped
through the TV channels when there was a knock on his door."

"Yes?"

"Darren Goodman?"  A man around his fifties said as he came into the room.

"Judge Kamp."

"Oh..." Darren said recognizing the name.  You're telling us that we can't
rebuild the house in time?"

"No... that matter is now closed.  With the house and Mrs. Hiller
gone... the bank can finally sell the lot.  By tomorrow Chris Lambert will
own the land but don't worry about that.  I've seen him with Jacob.  He's
no longer interested in revenge.  No... the reason I'm here is about my
nephew."

"Your nephew?"

"Philip."

"Oh..."

"I just paid his bail... He'll be here soon to see you."

"At this hour?"

"The hospital staff knows who I am and that he's my relative.  They won't
give him any problem."

"Ok."

"Do you love him?"

"No."

"That's what I guessed.  I know you are a good man Darren... can I call you
that?"

"Sure."

"I know you are a good man, Darren.  I have talked to Jacob about you and I
know how Philip feels about you.  I also know that you risked your life to
save your son.  I also know the story about you and Will.  That's why I
feel bad in asking you to..."

"Yes?"

"I want you to take care of Philip.  You are his first love."

"How do you want me to take care of him?"

"Love him as much as you can."

"I don't know if that will be enough."

"That is why I think it can work.  I did not think you and Philip could
work until I saw Jacob with Chris."

"I don't understand."

"You see... Jacob really loved you, but he was able to find Chris.  My hope
is that while Philip loves you, he will in the end find a man just for
himself."

"So you want me to be a hold over... until he finds Mr. Right."

"I WANT you to be his FRIEND.  His happiness is important to me.  My
brother was gay and he was miserable only because he could not find anyone
to love him.  He went from guy to guy never having a boyfriend because none
of the guys he went after were interested in the long term.  After he
became infected... after AIDS, he just gave up.  Philip is going down the
same path... never sticking with anyone for long.  You're his first crush,
which means he will want to stick around you for a while.  Teach him what a
relationship means... make him want to be in one.  He might come off as
cocky but he is still a child in these matters.  If you break his heart he
might never risk it again."

"Ok... but he needs to understand that he is not my boyfriend.  I have a
husband."

"But you sleep with Jacob."

"Yes but that's because both me and Will agreed to this.  You're asking me
to do this without his input."

"Ok...talk to Will," Mike said as he handed Darren the phone.

"Right now... with you present?"

 "Yes... I'm not leaving until I know what I have to do."

"Which is?"

"If you can't love my nephew I will let him go to prison."

"What..."

"Better that he lets his obsession burn out behind bars then out in the
open."

"You're a hard man."

"Yes... I'm a judge.  I have to make the hard decisions."

Darren nodded his head that he understood.  Judge Kamp was no fool.  The
threat of sending his nephew to prison was not directed at Philip but at
him.  Philip had saved his life and that of his son.  If he did not agree
to take Philip in to his family he would be responsible for sending the man
to jail.  Darren picked up the phone and dialed Will's room.

"Hello?"  Will's voiced said from the other end.

"Its me, Will."

"Darren!  Want to sneak over here and have some fun?"

"No... we need to talk about something serious."

"Ok...  What about?"

"Philip..."

"Oh..." Will said in an empty tone.

"He's in love with me."

"I guessed that... and you?"

"He saved my life." Darren replied.

 `So I guess he's important to you."

"Yes."

"So I guess you want to bring him into the family."

"Is that ok?"

"It's fine with me... as long as the two of you agree to limit your orgasms
to three a day."

Darren felt his heart drop.  He knew what Will was referring to.  "You know
that was all a joke.  We really didn't mess around that much."

"Ok."  Will said in a disbelieving tone.

"Really... we only did it twice."

"Darren... I saw you two going at it."

"What..."

"You're in love with him... its ok.  Just please remain my friend please."

"Will!"

"Goodnight."

"Will!"

"..."

Darren hung up the phone and looked down for a long while before he spoke
to Mike.  "You will send your own nephew to prison."

"Yes... if you don't take care of him I will let the system do it."  Mike
replied with dead seriousness.

"Alright... I'll take care of Philip."

"Good!"  Mike said as he went to the door opening it to show Philip holding
a bunch of roses.

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

Ted kept looking at the newspaper photo still not believed what he saw.
There was his brother wrapping his arms around Jacob Hiller during the
funeral of his mother. When he had first learned that the old Hiller place
had burned down he had called his brother to congratulate him.  He had been
certain that Chris had to have had the fire set.  Instead, his brother had
hung up on him and ignored his other calls.  It had been the funeral photo
that had explained the charge in his brother's attitude.  Jacob, the slut
resting his head on his brother's shoulder.  Ted was half convinced that if
he looked hard enough he could see Jacob looking into the camera with a
smirk on his face as if he were daring Ted to try to stop him from turning
his brother into a fag.

Ted did plan to stop him.  Stop him for good.  He was going to have a long
talk with his brother and if that did not stop things right there then he
had something in his glove compartment that would do the trick.

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

The whole family moved into Chris' house as he had plenty of room.  Chris
even offered to get rid of his old furniture to make Jacob more
comfortable, but he would hear none of that.  Will, still feeling rejected
regardless what Darren told him had wanted to move into a small room to be
alone, but regardless where he tried to sleep Darren would sneak into his
bed.

Philip... Philip was in heaven or at least what he pictured it to be.  He
could now go home and have someone he loved hug him on entering.  He did
not know that his uncle had blackmailed Darren into it.  He was in
relationship bliss and even though Darren made it plain that Will was his
husband.  Philip did not have to give up his weekend trips to the clubs.
But he wanted more.  He already had a silver ring on his right hand. He now
wanted a gold one.

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

Darren was at his wits end.  Whenever he tried to become romantic with
Will, he would shrug Darren off saying the meds were affecting him.  Darren
had already given up trying to explain what really happened that day in the
bedroom with Philip... it would just end up into a shouting match.  Now
that the charges against Will had been dismissed, Darren had wanted to call
things off with Philip but it was so hard to do.  Will was avoiding him and
Jacob was busy trying to build a relationship with Chris.  The only person
who seemed to want to talk to him was Philip... and he seemed to be so
happy just being with him.

Not since that one time had he and Philip had sex.  In fact, not since the
fire had Darren gotten off.  Going without sex made Darren agitated, as he
knew that no one else was going without.  Chris and Jacob were busy in the
bedroom.  Thomas and Tara were working hard for a baby.  Will and Philip
had even done a repeat, which had surprised everyone and had been a major
blow to Darren, which everyone felt, was the point.

Will in his pain, was not trying to patch things up with Darren, but to
actually push him away.  He felt ugly... mentally slow... and a failure.
It should have been him who saved Darren and John, not Philip.  He had
failed at what he felt was his role as a husband... to protect his mate.
In Will's eyes... Philip was handsome, smart, and the man who saved
Darren's life.  If anyone deserved Darren it was Philip.

Will knew that his rejection of Darren was hurting both of them, but he
hoped it would all be over.  Soon Philip would be Darren's husband.  Will
could then go back to being the quiet friend, watching from afar.  He just
needed to find one final push.

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

Darren had woken up around 2:00 in the morning, his stomach growling, so he
left Will's side and made his way downstairs to the kitchen.  He was half
way down making a sandwich when he heard the front door open.

Not knowing who would be coming in at this hour, Darren left and went to
the main hall, flipping the light switch.  As soon as he did he saw a man
in a black mask swing a gun toward him and fire.  The bullet grazed his
arms just as he ducked back into the living room.  Darren then heard
running from upstairs.

"Will... don't come down!"  Darren shouted.

The man in the mask ran over to the stairs.  Several shots were fired as
Darren remained on the floor and two bodies came tumbling down the stairs.
One of them was the mask man.  The other person was Will.  A third person
came down the stairs... it was Philip, carrying his police issue handgun.
He knelt down next to Will, taking his pulse.

"Is he all right?"

"Yeah... He's still alive.'  Philip said, surprised to see Darren on the
ground nearby.  "You ok?"

"Just a near miss."  Darren said to his bleeding arm.

"Glad I shot this bastard then."  Philip said as he kicked the masked man.

"Who is he?"

"If I had to guess... Ted."  Philip said as he tore off the mask showing
the dead face of Chris's brother.