Date: Sat, 15 Feb 2003 19:23:26 -0800 (PST)
From: Kirk Landers <ilj4ever44@yahoo.com>
Subject: Relationships- 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.

I will be writing the story a little differently now,
instead of going from one person's point of view to
the next, I'm just going to write it as a normal
story, instead of going from one person to the next.
Tell me which format you like better. Thanks. Hope you
all enjoy. Also, I've been looking over past chapters
and I am noticing some confusing word mix-ups in the
story.  There are words in some places of dialogue
that I did not put in there, causing it to not make
sense, so if you all have questions about a certain
line in the story ask me and I'll straighten it out
for you.Thanks!

PREVIOUSLY ON "RELATIONSHIPS":

"But anyway.  Do you have a boyfriend or anything?"
Ray asked

"No. I've never had a boyfriend before." Alex said

"Really?" Ray asked

"Yea, well, I'm still in the closet about being bi,
well except for a few close friends, so I don't really
seem available to guys or anything." I said

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

"Jeff, let me tell you somthing.  I don't know what
you came here for.  I don't really care why you came
back into Ray's life.  I don't know you well, but I
know you well enough to know that you have somthing up
your sleeve.  And I know you're trying to hurt Ray.
So, as any good boyfriend would say to protect the guy
he loves, I am going to fight you.  I am going to do
whatever I can to make sure that you stay out of our
way." Alex stated

"Is this the part where the drums of war start playing
and I should be running away in fear?" Jeff asked

"If you're smart." Alex replied

"Well, let me tell you this.  You don't scare me.  You
don't intimidate me.  You don't even have enough
effect to make your stupid little speach you just made
cause me to get shivers." Jeff began "So, if it's a
war you want.  Believe me, you'll get it."

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

"So, let me get this straight Taylor.  You are not
going to pursue Alex anymore?" Jeff asked

"No." Taylor replied

"I see, and may I ask why not?" Jeff asked getting
angry

"Because, him and Ray made up right? So what would the
point be? I'd just get turned down." Taylor answered

"Listen Taylor, I'm paying you good money to do this.
So, don't even think about backing down now." Jeff
said

"But-" Taylor began but I cut him off

"No buts." Jeff said "Just do it."

"Fine." Taylor replied "But if you ask me this is just
going to be a waste of time. He won't give in to me
now."

"I know that, but I have some other thing planned.  I
just need you to keep pursuing him now to keep him
side tracked." Jeff said

"What do you have planned?" Taylor asked

"You'll see." Jeff replied

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

"Listen Jeff!" Ray said grabbing Jeff by the arms
"Don't test me."

"Get off of me!" Jeff yelled and pushed Ray away.

Ray threw a punch at Jeff.  He hit him in the stomach
and he bent over for a second, then Jeff recovered and
threw a punch back and hit Ray in the face before he
could get out of the way.  Ray stepped back a minute
then hurled himself at Jeff.

"Get off of me!" Ray called out and threw JEff off of
him.

     Jeff fell back on the couch and Ray launched
foward at him.  He then punched Jeff and then Jeff
punched Ray back.

"Ass!" Jeff said as he shoved him off.

Jeff tried to get up, but Ray grabbed him and threw
him against the wall. Jeff then just collapsed from
exhastion.

"Consider this a warning." Ray said and then headed
towards the door. "If you want to go a couple more
rounds I'm right next door."

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



     Jeff was on the phone in his new apartment
calling up an aquantence of his.

"Harvy Lewis?" Jeff asked on the phone "Yes, this is
Jeff Morales....I know it has been a while....No, I'm
calling because I have a job for you....I need you to
give me any information you can about a guy named Alex
Grant....yes that's right.....He's a senior in high
school....Why do I want information on him?  Harvy,
why ask questions if your getting paid?  Just do
it....all right....goodbye."

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

"Well, I looked up your friend Alex Grant." Harvy
began "...I found out that he had a previous
boyfriend."

"So?" I asked

"Well his ex-boyfriend's name is Dean Horowitz." Harvy
said "And he's in jail."

"What?" I asked suprised

"Yup." Harvy replied "... he's in jail on charges of
being involved in a gang related crime."

"When will he be released?" I asked intrigued

"Next month."Harvy replied

"Listen, when this Dean Horowitz gets out of jail I
want you to get me a location of where I can contact
him at.  I have some business to discuss with him." I
said smiling

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

And Now An All New "RELATIONSHIPS"

"JAIL DATE"

Ray was just getting back from his morning jog just as
Jeff was heading towards the elevator with a bag.

"Hi Ray." Jeff said in a ver monotone way.

"Jeff." Ray replied "Where you going?"

"I'm going to be gone for a couple of days.  I'm going
to go stay at a hotel and just take it easy." Jeff
lied.

"I see, well take your time." Ray said

"Don't worry.  I'll be back soon." Jeff retorted and
then left.

****ALEX'S WORK****

Alex was working at the video store like he does every
weekend, and like every Saturday morning there is no
one there...well there was one person, a woman in her
mid 40's, she was just finishing up checking out some
video's with Alex.

"Okay so that's three videos that will be $10.50."
Alex said kindly, as he was checking out some videos
to her.

She gave him the money and he then handed her the
tapes.

"These tapes are due back Thursday before midnight."
Alex said with a smile on his face, like any good
employee should do.

Then she left and Alex went back to putting some
returned tapes back on the shelves.  While Alex was
busy putting some tapes and DVD's back Ray walked into
the video store and went up to him quietly and then
grabbed his shoulders.

"Holy Crap!" Alex yelled tossing a few DVD's up in the
air.

Ray started laughing when Alex turned around to see
him.

"You ass." Alex said punching Ray playfully in the
arm.

"Sorry, but it was too perfect of an opportunity to
pass up." Ray said smiling.

Alex picked up the DVD's he threw and handed them to
Ray.

"Here, you put them away." Alex said

"Hey! I don't work here." Ray said trying to hand the
DVD's back to Alex.

"Well, for being such an jerk, and scaring me half to
death that's what you deserve." Alex said smiling

"Fine, you win." Ray said smiling his million dollar
smile and then started to put the DVD's away for Alex.

"What are you doing here anyway?" Alex asked sitting
down on the ground watching Ray work.

"I came to see you, but if I knew I'd have to work I
would have skipped coming here." Ray said laughing a
little.

"You came to see me?" Alex asked feeling pretty
flattered that his fella came out just to see him.

"Of course." Ray said

Ray then finished up wtih putting the DVD's away and
he followed Alex back to the front desk area.

"So are you going to come over tonight?" Ray asked

"Do you want me to come over tonight?" Alex asked
playfully.

"No, because I'm going to be having some hot affair
tonight so I just want to make sure you won't walk in
on us." Ray said jokingly.

"Oh God forbid I walk in on you cheating on me." Alex
said smiling.

"I know." Ray said leaning in towards Alex. Ray was
about to kiss him, but he stopped just inches away
from his face because he wasn't sure if anyone was in
the video store.

"No one's in here." Alex said

"Good." Ray replied then he leaned in further and
started to kiss Alex.

Alex slowly slid his tongue in Ray's mouth and Ray
then gently began to reciprocate, and then Alex's
favorite part of the kiss was when he felt Ray's warm
breath lightly on his mouth as they kissed.

"There's a little sample of what you'll get if you
come over tonight." Ray said breaking the kiss.

"I'll get more of that?" Alex asked "Well, then I
better not come over tonight."

"Hey!" Ray said pretending to be offended and he
playfully gave Alex a little push.

"Alex, you have to come over tonight because Jeff is
out of town somewhere and he won't bug us at all
tonight." Ray said

"You just said the magic words!" Alex said smiling.
"Where did he go?"

"I don't know.  I just saw him with a bag and he said
he would be gone for a couple of days." Ray replied

"So, we can have a full night together with
re-assurence that the night won't get spoiled by
Jeff?" Alex asked happily

"That's right." Ray replied also happy about Jeff
being gone.

"Well, I have to work a little late tonight, but I'll
be at your place around 11:30 all right?" Alex asked

"I'll be up and waiting." Ray answered

"I'm sure you will be." Alex replied smiling

"Hey Alex, can I ask you a question?" Ray asked
getting serious.

"Yea, sure. What is it?" Alex asked

"Well, I was wondering.  Tonight, do you think tonight
might be...the night?" Ray asked

"What do you mean?" Alex asked a little confused.

"I mean that you and I have never consemated this
relationship." Ray said

"Oh." Alex replied a little suprised that Ray was
suggesting this.

"Do you want to?" Ray asked

Alex hesitated for a minute thinking of a good answer,
but couldn't...

"Look at the time!" Alex said looking down at his
watch "It's going to start getting crowded soon, I
better get back to work."

"But-" Ray began

"We'll talk about it later." Alex replied and then
took a bunch of videos and left to go reshelve the
tapes.

Ray looked at Alex a little confused, but then decided
to leave.

     Meanwhile, Jeff went to the LA County Jail to
make a visit to Alex's ex-boyfriend, Dean Horowitz.
He was going to wait until Dean got out of jail, but
was too excited so he had to go and meet this criminal
ex of Alex's.  Jeff sat down at a table with a glass
window in the center that seperated him from the
prisoners and then he saw Dean sit down in front of
him.  Dean was about 6'2 piercing blue eyes, dark
hair, had that dangerous good looking thing going on
for him.  Jeff and Dean picked up the phones to
communicate on and Jeff began the conversation.

"Hello Dean." Jeff said calmly

"Who are you?" Dean asked

"My name is Jeff.  I know an old friend of yours."
Jeff replied

"Who?" Dean asked suspiciously

"Alex Grant." Jeff answered smiling in that evil way
of his.

Dean's face turned from bored to a look of concern.

"You know Alex?" Dean asked "How is he?"

"He's fine." Jeff replied cooly

"Did he send you here?  Where is he?" Dean asked
hopeful

"Mr. Horowitz, I didn't come here to get drilled by
questions from you regarding Alex.  I have questions
of my own that I would like answered." Jeff retorted

"Fine, ask away." Dean said

"All right.  First question, how long were you and
Alex seeing one another?" Jeff asked curiously

"Well, we got together when he was fifteen and I was
seventeen and then we broke up two weeks after he
turned seventeen." Dean answered "So, about two
years."

"I see." Jeff replied "And, why did you two break up?"

"Let's just say some bad stuff happened." Dean replied
cruelly "Listen, I don't know what you're after here,
but-"

"Listen Dean, I can arrange a reunion between you and
Alex once you get out of here, but you have to
cooporate with me here." Jeff snapped

"He wouldn't want to see me.  Not after what
happened." Dean said

"I have a feeling that Alex is in need of you." Jeff
replied

"In need of me?" Dean asked "For what?"

"We'll go over all that later." Jeff said "Tell me, is
the reason you and Alex broke up have anything to do
with why you're here?"

"Yes." Dean replied bluntly

"I see, and why are you here?" Jeff asked

"A friend of mine was in a gang and well, he tried to
get out of the gang, but you can't just ask permission
to leave a gang.  So, I went with him and he faced
them and-" Dean said, but then stopped abruptly.

"And what?" Jeff asked curious

"All hell broke loose." Dean replied "My friend got
killed and they were going to kill me, but the cops
came."

"So, Alex just broke up with you because you ended up
in jail?" Jeff asked

"No, it's more than that.  He asked me if I was
involved with that gang and I said no.  Then when I
got picked up for being in a fight with that gang,
Alex didn't believe me anymore and that's why we broke
up." Dean said "And, I can't blame him, I mean he
thinks I lied to him."

"I see." Jeff said absorbing in what was he was just
told.

"So why does Alex need me?" Dean asked curiously

"He's in a relationship with an aweful guy.  This man
he's with can come off as nice and friendly, but
that's hardly the case.  He will hurt Alex, if Alex
makes even the slightest mistake in their
relationship." Jeff said, acting very sincere.

Dean looked at Jeff, not quite sure how to take this
all in.

"The only question is 'do you still love him'?" Jeff
asked

****ALEX'S WORK****

    Alex was finishing up putting videos away when a
familier stranger came up to him.

"Hey." Taylor said walking up to him.

"Oh. Hi." Alex replied not exactly thrilled to see
him.

"So, how have you been?" Taylor asked

"Fine." Alex replied quickly and heading back to the
front check out counter.

"Are you mad at me?" Taylor asked curiously

"Depends.  Why are you here?" Alex asked

"What if I said 'I wanted to see you'."? Taylor asked

"Then I would say, 'Yes, I am mad at you.'" Alex
replied

"Why?" Taylor asked

"Because, I've explained to you that I'm seeing
somebody." Alex replied a little pissed

"Doesn't mean I have to stop trying." Taylor replied
smiling

"Yes, actually it does." Alex said

"Hey, I never give up until I get what I want." Taylor
said still smiling a cocky smile.

"I have to get to work." Alex replied

"Alex, like all Saturday afternoons in this place,
there is no one here." Taylor said

"Look, Taylor you are really beginning to piss me
off." Alex said

"Well, at least I'm leaving some kind of an impression
on you. It's only a matter of time now." Taylor
replied heading for the door. "I'll see you."

****RAY'S APARTMENT****

Ray poured himself a glass of vodka and sat back and
watch TV.  However his mind was focussing more on the
fact that Alex seemed so evasive about having sex.  He
thought that Alex would want that to happen.  To Ray,
this seemed like the next step in their relationship.
But he didn't want to pressure Alex into doing
something he didn't want to do, so he decided that
whether Alex wanted to have sex or not, he would be
understanding about it.

****LA COUNTY JAIL****

  "Well?" Jeff asked "Do you still love Alex?"

"How do you expect me to answer that?" Dean asked "I
hardly know you."

"Yes, well I'm the one who can get you two back
together.  All I need to know is if you still want
him?" Jeff asked smiling his devilish smile.

"You said he's in a relationship with a bad guy?" Dean
asked

"Yes, and I believe that you can redeem him." Jeff
replied

Dean thought it over for a minute.

"All right.  When I get out of here, I'll go to him."
Dean said

"Great." Jeff replied

****RAY'S APARTMENT****

Alex was over at his place talking about his day at
work.

"And then this really old guy came in asking 'Do you
have this one movie, with that one guy with the dark
hair?' and I just thought, 'Well that narrows it down
to about a million movies'." Alex said laughing

"So what did you do?" Ray asked

"Well, luckily, Debbie, who takes the shift after mine
was there so I told him to ask her." Alex replied

"Poor Debbie." Ray said

"Yea, well, be thankful I did that or else I would
probably still be there." Alex said smiling

"Oh, then I'm glad you did that." Ray said giving Alex
a kiss

     Ray then wrapped his arms around Alex and started
to rub his hands up and down Alex's arms slowly.

"So did you think anymore about what I asked earlier?"
Ray asked curiously

"I don't know Ray." Alex said turning to face him.

"Why not?" Ray asked "Do you not trust me yet?"

"No, it's not that. Alex began. "It's just that, I
don't know if I'm really ready for that yet."

"I understand." Ray said a little dissapointed, but he
didn't want to make Alex feel bad or guilty about it.

"You're mad." Alex replied

"No, I'm not." Ray said giving Alex a hug. "That
doesn't matter, you matter and if you're not ready
then it's okay."

"You sure?" Alex asked

"Positive." Ray replied smiling. "So, what else went
on today?"

Alex sat back for a moment debating whether to tell
Ray about Taylor or not.  If he told him he knew that
Ray would get upset and he doesn't want to ruin this
night, so...

"Nothing." Alex replied smiling a bit nervously.

     Alex and Ray spent the rest of the night talking
together and enjoying a quiet night with out Jeff.
Jeff, however was smiling from ear to ear when he went
to the hotel that he was staying at.  When he got back
to his room he called up Taylor on the telephone.

"Taylor? It's Jeff." He said

"Oh hey.  What's going on?" Taylor asked

"Alex's old boyfriend is going to be making him a
visit once he gets out of jail." Jeff said smiling

"Jeff, you're really putting a lot of effort into
this.  Why do you care so much about getting Alex and
Ray apart?" Taylor asked

Annoyed by that question Jeff replied; "Do, I have to
remind you what Ray did to me?"

"No, but it was a long time ago." Taylor said

"Let me ask you something Taylor.  Are you starting to
wuss out on me?" Jeff asked

"No, it's just-" Taylor began to say, but Jeff cut him
off.

"Good, because I have no interest in working with
wimps." Jeff replied "Just do what I told you to do."

With that Jeff slammed the phone down.

****RAY'S APARTMENT****

"You want a drink?" Ray asked Alex, who was sitting on
the couch watching tv.

"No thanks." Alex replied

Ray went into the kitchen and brought out a bottle of
vodka and poured himself a glass.  After that he went
back into the living room and sat down with Alex.

"So, anything good on TV?" Ray asked taking a sip of
his drink.

"Nope." Alex replied "Pretty boring night for
television.  But, have no fear because I brought over
some movies from work."

"Cool." Ray replied

Alex got up and went to his back pack and pulled out a
few movies and then put on one of the comedies he
brought.  He then sat back on the couch with Ray.  He
was trying to get comfortable,but he was still feeling
guilty about not telling Ray about Taylor so he
decided to come clean.

"I have to tell you something." Alex said

"What is it?" Ray asked

"This guy who comes to visit me at work from time to
time, he keeps hitting on me." Alex said

"Well, then that guy has good taste." Ray said giving
Alex a kiss

"No, but I told him about you and he still keeps doing
it." Alex said

"You want me to beat him up?" Ray asked jokingly.

"No, I'm serious.  I told him that I was seeing
someone and he says that he'll just keep trying
anyway." Alex replied

"Alex, if it's bugging you that much then just tell
him." Ray said

"I have." Alex said "There's something wierd about
him, this guy is a little too persistent."

"Well, why don't you ask him about it?" Ray replied

"You think I should?" Alex asked

"Yea, if you think something wierd is going on then
you should ask him about it." Ray said

"All right." Alex replied feeling relieved he told Ray
about it.  Ray, however was feeling a little uneasy
that some guy keeps hitting on Alex.  He quickly
finished his drink and then went into the kitchen for
some more vodka.

****LA COUNTY JAIL****

Dean was sitting in his cell and thinking about Alex.
He loved him and is determined to save him from this
bad relationship he's in once he gets out of jail.  As
he was thinking about Alex he was remembering how they
first got together....

****FLASHBACK****

Dean was a junior and Alex was a sophmore in high
school.  They were in the same class for biology and
were partners for the labs they did in that class.
One day Alex and Dean were working on disecting a
frog...

"This frog smells." Alex said

"What do you expect?  It's dead." Dean replied

"you must be used to it.  I'm sure your girlfriend
smells the same." Alex said jokingly

"Ass." Dean replied smiling "Besides, I don't have a
girlfriend."

"Oh, then your boyfreind smells the same." Alex said
still joking.

"You got me there." Dean answered "Now, hurry up, we
have to finish this assignment.  It says on this sheet
we have to locate the heart."

"I wasn't paying attention when Mrs. Rodick was going
over the assignment, what does the heart look like?"
Alex asked

With that the bell rang for the end of the period.

"Crap, we have to turn this paper in tomorrow and this
was the last time we are able to work on these frogs."
Dean said

"Well, we can meet after school and look up the rest
of the stuff in our bio books." Alex suggested

"All right.  I have a car so meet me after school and
we'll head over to my place all right?" Dean asked

"Sure." Alex replied

After school Alex met up with Dean and they got in his
car and headed to his place.  When they got to his
house no one was home.  They went up to his room and
got their homework sheets out.

"Damn, I forgot my biology book." Dean said

"That's cool. We can share mine." Alex said moving
closer to Dean so they could both look at the book
easily.

Alex and Dean started to do the homework sheet.
Between questions while Alex was looking through the
book for some of the answers Dean would pretend he was
looking at the book too, but he would casually look up
so he could watch Alex for a little bit as he
concentrated.

"Okay, I found the answer to number sixteen." Alex
said pointing to a section in the book.

"Cool." Dean replied looking at the book where Alex
was pointing at.

They wrote down the answer and then Dean looked up at
Alex.

"So, do you have a girlfriend?" Dean asked

"No, but that doesn't have anything to do with our
assignment.  Maybe we should finish up our homework
k?" Alex asked wanting to finish up with the homework
so he could get home.

"Oh, sure.  Sorry." Dean replied

"It's no problem." Alex answered "Okay, question
number seventeen.  During the disection process did
you notice any- Wait, why did you want to know if I
had a girlfriend?"

Alex was a little curious why Dean would ask such a
random question.

"I was just curious." Dean replied

"Okay." Alex said looking at Dean a little strangely.

"Can I ask you a question?" Dean asked

"What is it?" Alex replied

"Have you ever thought about-" Dean began, but he cut
himself off.

"Thought about what?" Alex asked

"I'm going to say something, and it will probably come
as a shock to you, but I just have to say it." Dean
said

'What is it?" Alex asked

Dean was quiet and didn't say anything.

"Okay, you're acting weird. Maybe I should just go.
I'll see you tomorrow." Alex said packing his stuff up
and getting up.

"But we didn't finish the assignment." Dean said

"I'll finish it tonight and you can look at my sheet
tomorrow." Alex said heading to leave.

"Wait!" Dean said

Alex stopped and turned around to look at Dean.

"What?" Alex asked

"Aw hell." Dean said deciding to go for it, he went up
to Alex, leaned in and kissed him.

"Whoa!" Alex said shocked "What was that?"

"Damn, I knew you were straight.  I'm so sorry, please
don't tell anyone about this." Dean said

Alex turned around with out saying anything and headed
to the front door and then he left.

"Dammit!" Dean said feeling humiliated. "If he says
anything about this tomorrow my reputation is ruined."

Dean laid down on the couch to calm down a little, but
there was a knock on the door.  He got up and opened
the door and Alex was standing there. Dean was hoping
that Alex had a change of heart or something...

"I forgot my folder." Alex said

"Oh." Dean replied dissapointed. "I'll go get it."

Dean went to his room, got Alex's folder and headed
back to the front door where Alex was standing.

"Here you go." Dean said handing Alex the folder.

"Thanks." Alex replied

Alex turned away about to leave, but then he turned to
look at Dean again.

"Hold on one second." Alex said closing the door.

"What is it?" Dean asked

"Be quiet for a second." Alex said, he then leaned in
and gave Dean a kiss.

Alex then looked at Dean.

"Dammit!" Alex said

"What is it?" Dean asked

"I think I might like guys too." Alex replied,
discovering that he's bi.

"Do you like me?" Dean asked

"I don't know.  I've never really thought of guys that
way before and then you go and kiss me and suddenly
everything goes crazy." Alex said

"Can I kiss you again?" Dean asked

"No." Alex repled "Well, fine, yea go ahead."

Dean leaned in and gave Alex another kiss.

"You're a good kisser." Dean said

"You are too." Alex replied "You turned me into a
fruit!"

"I'm sorry." Dean answered and gave Alex another kiss.

"Damn that's good." Alex said and kissed Dean again.

****END FLASHBACK****

Dean sat thinking about that happier time in his life.

"I'm going to get you back Alex." Dean said to himself
more determined than ever before in his life.

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

TO BE CONTINUED....