Date: Tue, 28 Sep 2004 15:44:32 -0700 (PDT) From: Virtual Insanity <virtualinsanity78@yahoo.com> Subject: Mannie the Marine 7 This story contains male-to-male consensual sexual relationships, so if this is illegal for you to read, please adhere to whatever laws you abide by. **** This story follows a previous story of mine called Wade & Christian, which you can find in the 2004 high school section of this fine archive. I suggest you read it first. BUT, if teen angst and ultradrama romance is not your thing, this story does stand alone. For my fans, this story is mighty different from Wade & Chris and The Prick, it is about a conflicting relationship and the power of true love. So, if you are looking for any of my previous stories regurgitated, you will be sorely disappointed. This story will run about 12 installments. It will also feature the characters of Wade & Christian quite prominently, so let's enjoy the ride, shall we? Started a Group for easier updates, check it out http://groups.yahoo.com/group/storiesvi/ ******************************************************************** Mannie leaned against the side of the brick wall that made up the front of the leather bar and waited as Jon caught up with him. Mannie slid his hands into the pockets of his jeans, his eyes full of a hurt sadness, and locked on Jon's face. Jon's face was pale and clenched with emotion when he came flush with Mannie. Mannie stood and they started walking back in the direction of the house. Mannie kept his head down, watching the cracks in the sidewalk as they swept over them and the tops of their feet as they walked. He would move out. He made the decision then and there. He would go with the crummy motel or rent a room or a trashy studio apartment in the ghetto until he had enough money saved up to get out of Michigan. He would find somewhere to go, somewhere where nobody knew him or cared what he did...somewhere far away from Jon. He would pack up his shit as soon as he got back and just disappear. He was figuring out the ways and means of it when he heard Jon sniffling next to him. Mannie cast a dark eye over at Jon. His face had gone from pale to searing red and there were crocidile tears on his cheeks, dripping off of his chin. His face was sopping. Mannie's heart wrenched. "Are you in pain or anything?" Mannie asked quietly as they walked. Jon shook his head, but continued to cry. "I'll leave," Mannie said, after awhile. "I'll rent a room somewhere or something. You won't even have to think about me. I'll fucking disappear." Jon stopped walking, his face pale again. "That's just it, I can't fucking stop thinking about you," Jon railed at him and Mannie turned around to look at him, his own face going white. "I'm not like this." "Like what?" Mannie asked, dreading hearing the words. The straight guy gone gay and the trauma that came with it. "Like this," Jon said, gesturing erractically. "I don't follow people around late at night and scream at them. With Shannon, there was none of this." Mannie shifted from one foot to the other. "You're in here," Jon said, jamming his finger against the side of his head and then pounding his chest, "and here. I have f-feelings for you. I don't even think about Shannon anymore. I've never felt like this. I don't know what the fuck I'm doing anymore." Mannie walked towards him. "I should have died...on that fucking highway," Jon said, extremely agitated. "Or on that hospital gurney. What the fuck am I doing here...thinking about you sucking my dick? I was f-fucking All-American, in the top fifty high school football players, do you hear me? I was going to go pro and m-marry Shannon and have k-kids. I'm not...I've never been gay." Mannie put his arms on Jon's shoulders, trying to calm him. "It's cool, Jon, I'll go," Mannie told him soothingly. "Calm down, babe. I'll leave." "I don't want you to go," Jon told him brokenly, fixing his eyes on Mannie's face, piercing him. "I don't want you to." Mannie hugged him tightly, pressing his hands against Jon's back, soothingly, simply wanting him calm again. He could feel the tension in Jon's back, the tightly held sobs he was holding back. Mannie sighed shakily. "I fuck up everything I get near," Mannie told him quietly. "This is me, totally, it's not you." "You don't," Jon told him, pulling back to look at Mannie. "I...I hate it because I love the way being around you makes me feel. I told myself that I was gonna love Shannon my whole life. There wouldn't be anyone else. Now, there's you." Mannie pulled him back into the hug, afraid to listen to what Jon was saying, scared to take it in for fear that he might actually start to believe him. "I remember her," Mannie told him quietly. "I had her in a science class, freshman biology. I had to take it twice because I was too high to pass it the first time. She sat next to me and we had to use colored pencils to fill in some diagrams of leaves or something and she was just so meticulous about it, not a line out of place. It was like a Picasso or something when she was done." Jon pulled back and grinned at Mannie. "That was Shannon," Jon told him. "Perfection. Did you know she got into an Ivy League college? She was ready to give it all up so that I could play football for State." "I would see you two around in the halls sometimes before I graduated," Mannie said. "You two looked real good together. I was always a little jealous of her." "Why's that?" Jon asked. "Because she had you," Mannie said, his hands still on Jon's shoulders. "You were the hottest guy in the school and you were so devoted, you didn't even look at other girls." Jon looked down, his slow smile fading. "Maybe it was so easy because I'm not as attracted to girls?" Jon asked. Mannie shrugged awkwardly. "What do you mean?" Mannie asked. "I mean, I've never been attracted to anybody the way I'm attracted to you," Jon told him. "And it scares the shit out of me. Because I can't control it and what do I know about it? Zilch, fucking nothing. I can't compete with the guys you know -" "There's no competition," Mannie cut him off. "Jon, shut up, okay. You don't know what you're saying. You're...hysterical or something." Jon started to laugh at that when a car horn blared at them and they both jumped completely apart and looked out into the street. Underneath a streetlight, Wade's truck was idling and his face peered lividly from the window. "Shit," Mannie said lowly. "What the fuck are you doing?" Wade asked as he got out of the car, and hurried across the semi-busy street. Mannie stood back. Wade went straight to Jon, taking in his blotchy tear-streaked face. "What the hell is going on, we've called the police," Wade said and when he saw Jon's eyes, so red, he turned to Mannie. "What the fuck did you do this time, you sonofabitch?" Wade was pointing his finger in Mannie's direction and Mannie tried to back up, putting his hands up in an act of innocence, but Wade wasn't having it. Wade quickly threw a hard punch, cracking the side of Mannie's face so hard that Mannie went crumpling to the ground. "Wade, stop," Jon yelled and pulled at Wade when he would have gone on hitting Mannie. "You stupid motherfucker, stay the fuck away from him." Jon shoved Wade hard away from Mannie and went down on his knees at Mannie's side. "You okay?" Jon asked and Mannie was sitting up, cupping his jaw with his hand. He stretched it tentatively, his eyes shooting daggers at Wade. "If you hit me one more fucking time, Wade, I swear I'll kill you," Mannie told him in a deadly tone. "What are you doing out here?" Wade wanted to know. "What did you do to Jon?" "I didn't do anything to Jon," Mannie said, allowing Jon to help him to his feet. "I came out here on my own." "I came after him," Jon said. "We're hanging out." "What the fuck, Jon, you disappear out of the fucking house and I don't even know where the hell you are," Wade raged at him. "Christian's sweating bullets. We have t he police looking for you." "I'm not a kid," Jon exclaimed. "I'm a grown man!" "You have a fucking disability, Jon, even if you don't wanna admit it," Wade informed him. "You can't do this kind of stuff - and Mannie, you've lost all of my respect for having him out here like this. It's fucking inappropriate, you hear me? You bring your ass out here if you want to, but you leave Jon the hell alone." "You're an asshole, Wade," Mannie told him. "I'm leaving before this gets out of hand." Mannie turned and started walking down the street in the direction of the house. Jon started after him, but Wade put a hand on his shoulder, effectively stopping him. *** Mannie walked into the house, his jaw aching terribly. He had spotted Wade's truck parked in the driveway and he knew that they were back and probably sitting around talking about him, but he was doing everything he could to convince himself that he didn't care. Coming back to Michigan had been a mistake from the start. There had never been anything but grief and pain in his home state, which was why he had made the decision to leave in the first place. Why he'd thought he could come back and pick up the pieces, he couldn't really fathom. The first thing he was going to do was pack his bags and get the hell out of there. The things that Jon had said were beautiful and more than anything he wanted them to be true. He wanted to believe that there was some kind of happy ending in store for him, but when had thinking that way ever benefited him? Not a single time. He walked into the house and peeked in the living room. Sure enough, they were all there, seated in the living room, talking, even Kiesha and Reggie were there, probably putting their two cents worth in. Jon sat in the middle of them all, shrouded on either side as if he needed to be protected. Mannie's insides ached. He wanted to scoop Jon up and take him away, somewhere where just the two of them existed, where they might actually have a chance to mean something to each other. "Hey, guys," Mannie said in a subdued tone and they all looked up at him, silent now that the object of their conversation was staring them in the face. For one sickening moment, Mannie was sure that they had convinced Jon that he was some type of monster...maybe they had discussed the blowjob in the alley? Then, Jon's head came up and his eyes met Mannie's and he could feel Jon's hunger, almost as strong as his own radiating towards him, drawing him. "I'll be out by the end of the week," Mannie told them quietly. Jon's face stilled and became blotchy and Mannie looked away. "It just seems like the best thing to do." "You don't have to leave," the voice that protested, surprised Mannie, it was Wade's. "I know, it's been up and down having you here, but...you're welcome to stay as long as you want." Mannie could see that it was hard for Wade to get the words out, but there was something different about the way that Wade looked at him. The hostility and indifference was gone. "I'm sorry about hitting you earlier," Wade added. "Sometimes, I don't think." Mannie nodded slowly, flexing his jaw slightly. Jon popped onto his feet suddenly, moving towards the kitchen. "You need to put some ice on that," Jon told him and waved for Mannie to follow him into the kitchen. Mannie moved uncertainly after him and through the swinging door and into the relative privacy of the kitchen. Jon went to the fridge and took out an ice pack and held it up. Mannie walked over to him and allowed him to press the cold pack against his jaw, wincing slightly. "It's gonna swell," Jon told him and Mannie stood stiffly, very aware that they were within kissing distance of each other and that the others were only a few feet away. "What did you tell them?" Mannie asked, his eyes on Jon's face. Jon shrugged slightly. "I told them that whatever happens between us is between us," Jon said quietly. "They were questioning me about you and I just said that my parents live at 982 Lane and if I have to answer to anybody, its to them." Mannie cracked a grin at him, then winced when the pain hit his jaw. "What turned Wade around?" Mannie asked. "Kiesha," Jon said and looked down. "What did she say?" Mannie wanted to know. Jon shrugged. "She went to battle for you," Jon said. "I think Reggie got a little jealous." Jon laughed a little. Mannie smiled. "Did he?" Mannie asked. "Yeah," Jon said. "She was pretty fierce, defending you. I got a little jealous myself." Mannie's eyes caught Jon's and held them. "Jon, I am over Kiesha," Mannie told him in a flat tone. "I know, I know," Jon assured him quickly, moving the cold pack away from Mannie's jaw when Mannie pulled back. "Are you really moving?" Mannie looked away. "It would be easier for all of us," Mannie told him and Jon stepped back a bit. "Sometimes, the harder things are, the better the outcome," Jon told him. ******************************************************************** Short and not exactly what I wanted to write, but I'm tired of being blocked, so what you see is what you get! Maybe I'll be more inspired next time, hmm? Faster updates are available via my new Yahoo group: http://groups.yahoo.com/group/storiesvi/ Let me know what you think!