Date: Wed, 22 Nov 2006 18:52:27 -0800
From: qwb <qwb@san.rr.com>
Subject: Stonegate Stables chapter 26

The contestants rode in reverse order in the final round
which meant Cody went next to last, so we didn't need to
hurry in the morning, which was a damn good thing cause I
was slightly hung over and exhausted from a long weekend of
late nights, too much booze, hot sex with large cowboys, and
everything else we'd been up to.

We met up with Levi as we found our seats and he sat with us
for a while.  He was still the irrepressible character we'd
met the first day, and we had a good time as he pointed out
little insider things about the contestants, their horses,
and the event in general.  He'd rodeoed most of his life and
knew something about everything and everyone.

Five days of competition was taking its toll on man and
horse and most guys didn't do as well as they had the first
couple days, letting steers by or having trouble getting
them cut from the herd in the first place.  By the time Cody
came into the arena, it was down to him and the guy who
would ride last.

Cody's first steer was a dud, so he let it go early and
picked another who was tough to cut, but worked really well,
giving Queenie a serious workout.  He had time for a quick
run at another steer before the buzzer sounded, and we all
crossed our fingers that it had been enough.

The final rider was a guy from back east somewhere.  Levi
spat into the aisle in disgust.

"Oughta have to be from west of the Rockies, at least," he
growled.

Apparently, they knew how to cut cattle just fine east of
the Rockies because this guy rode his chestnut stallion
well.  He had us worried until his horse zigged when he
should have zagged, the steer ducked around, and it was
over.  He knew it, backing his horse off, and tipping his
hat to Cody when the announcer called him into the arena to
accept the big trophy and an even bigger check.

We were going crazy in the stands, whooping and hollering as
Cody grinned like a fool, patting Queenie while he circled
the arena in a victory lap.  Winning the cutting horse World
Finals was no small feat, so Cody had every right to be
proud.  Wade pushed his way down to the front row, and Cody
stopped for a hug, almost pulling Wade over the rail when
Queenie wanted to keep going.

We watched the trophy presentation, and then hurried to the
barn to celebrate, swarming over Cody and Queenie with
kisses and carrots.  Adam and I unsaddled Queenie, got her
washed off, blanketed, and fed, then joined the party.
Katie and her folks were excited to be stabled next to the
World Champion and helped us celebrate, as did Del and Levi.

Katie gave Matt a hug and kiss on the cheek, which he
returned a little shyly, but willingly enough.  It gave me
an odd feeling in the pit of my stomach to see him with a
girl, his hands on her small back as he bent to her.  He'd
said she was going to tell her parents we were all gay, but
if she had, they were cool with it because I detected no
difference in their behavior toward us.

The whole crowd of us went out to dinner.  When the owner of
the restaurant discovered he had the newly-crowned World
Cutting Horse Champion, the AGA Grand Prix winner, and the
runner-up guzzling down beers in his bar while waiting for a
table, he opened the private back room for us, and said
everything was on the house as long as he could send in a
photographer.  We didn't give a damn, so the entire event
was nicely documented on film, including the part where Cody
made a speech while standing on the table, his dusty boots
planted firmly around a platter of nachos.  That photo
didn't make it in to the next day's newspaper, but a couple
others did.

We quieted down a little when the food arrived.  Levi
disappeared for a few minutes and came back toting a guitar
he'd borrowed from the band that was going to play later.
He pulled a chair back a bit from the table and proceeded to
treat us to one lovely western melody after another.  His
voice was sort of Willie Nelson-ish, gravelly like his
speaking voice, but strong and true.  We all fell silent as
he sang a cowboy favorite.



Cowboys are special, with their own brand of misery from
being alone too long.
You could die from the cold in the arms of a nightmare,
knowing well that your best days are gone.
Picking up hookers instead of my pen, I let the words of my
youth fade away.
Old worn out saddles and old worn out memories, but no one
and no place to stay.

My heroes have always been cowboys, and they still are, it
seems.
Sadly in search of and one step in back of themselves and
their slow-moving dreams.



It was a great time, and we swapped phone numbers with Jack
and Paula at the end of the night.  They were thinking of
relocating, and promised to visit Stonegate soon.  Katie was
dying to see it and wanted to fly home with us, but all the
adults vetoed that, and Matt looked relieved.

As we walked back to the hotel, TJ and Del fell back a
little, and I figured they were both in for a treat when
they got each other in bed.  I knew Adam and TJ were sharing
a room and wondered what Adam was going to do with himself,
but that question was answered when Adam stayed in the
elevator with us as his floor came and went.  He smiled a
silent goodnight at me, and followed Matt into his room.  I
stared at the closed door until Vincent grabbed me by the
arm and shoved me into our room.

Thank God the walls were fairly soundproof because I damn
sure didn't want to lay there listening to Adam and Matt
whooping it up next door.  Vincent distracted me anyway by
stripping me naked and molesting me in the shower, something
I always enjoy.  All that steamy water splashing down as I
add my own splashes is too much fun.  Afterward we snuggled
up in bed with the TV on low, and talked for a while.

"Aside from the mind-blowing sex, how did you feel about us
being with Del?"  Vincent's voice was low and soft behind my
ear as I leaned against him.

"It was fun.  Not something I'd want to do often, but as a
special occasion type of thing, it was great.  It didn't
bother me that we didn't know him.  I thought it might
because I didn't know if I'd be relaxed enough with a
stranger to enjoy it, but that wasn't a problem.  In fact,
it was kind of liberating since I figured I'd never see him
again.  And it wasn't weird when I saw him the next day at
the auction."  I stopped and thought for a minute.  "So .  .
.  for me anyway, I think it really depends on who it is as
to whether or not I'd want to do it again."

Vincent was nodding as I spoke.  "Yeah, I know what you
mean.  He'd been eyeing us from the bar for a while before I
went to piss, and when I saw him up close, I thought you'd
like him.  I know you get a kick out of Wade's muscles, but
the dimple is what did it for me."

I chuckled.  "I loved the dimple, too.  I kept wanting to
poke my tongue in it."

He wrapped me up close as we drifted off to sleep.  It had
certainly been a different sort of weekend, but I'd be happy
to get back home.


I think Vincent and I were the only couple who didn't have
sex that night.

Cody and Wade were late for breakfast, and when they did
show up, they sat at a table on the other side of the room
and stared into each other's eyes as they nibbled on fruit
and muffins.

TJ wandered in with a dreamy look on his face, and when I

asked how he'd slept, he replied, "Del."

"Excuse me?"

"What?"

"I asked how you slept."

"Oh. Well. I slept well, thanks," he mumbled, and wandered
off for orange juice.


Matt came in without Adam, who joined us about ten minutes
later, kissing the top of Matt's head as he went by to the
buffet.  He sat next to Matt, and they ate off each other's
plates like newlyweds.  I stared at them for a minute, but
they were oblivious.


I slid my eyes to Vincent, but he refused to meet my gaze
and got up for more toast.  I gave up, sighed heavily, and
finished my breakfast.  Matt's relationship with Adam was a
good thing.  It was just vaguely uncomfortable to watch it
develop right in front of my face.  And I had begun to
wonder whether Adam was as interested as I'd first thought,
considering his fling with Cody and Wade.  Matt hadn't
discussed any of it with me, but he didn't seem unhappy with
the current state of things, so I left it alone for the time
being.


Our flight home was quiet.  Wade had opted to share the
drive with Cody, so Adam was on the jet with us, sacked out
on the couch with Matt under his arm.  Vincent was chatting
with Jesse and Ben, so I joined TJ in the seats just behind
the cockpit, leaned mine back all the way, and promptly fell
asleep.

Gabriel met us at the airport with the big Stonegate van,
and ferried us all home.  Jesse had parked his truck at my
place, and he and Ben left for home as soon as we got there.
Gabriel and TJ came in for a few minutes because I wanted a
brief run down of what had happened around the barn while I
was gone.  Gabriel's list went like this:

* Calvin kicked a bucket clear across the yard when he was
startled by Kukla's heehaw, narrowly missing Madeline's
brand new Mercedes, but ruining a wheelbarrow it hit.

* Teresa broke her wrist falling out of the horse van when
the sun got in her eyes and she thought she had one more
step to go.  She'd be in a cast for three weeks, but was
working one-handed.

I stopped him at this point, asking if anything good had
happened, or if this was going to be a disaster recitation.
He laughed, and said he was saving the good stuff for last.
As he talked, TJ watched him, running his eyes over
Gabriel's face, and grinning when he laughed.

* A check for $17,254 had finally arrived from a delinquent
client who had departed in a huff a few months ago.  I had
turned him over to Jesse.  It wasn't really his line of
work, but he had apparently convinced the guy to pay.

* The earth moving at the new show grounds was finished, and
work had begun on the buildings.  It looked like we'd be
ready for an April debut.

* Gabriel had noticed that Fran the donkey was getting fat,
so he had Sam check her over before he cut her feed.  Fran
and Kukla had apparently been up to no good before we got
them, and Fran was due to foal in about two months.  Great
more donkeys.  I made a mental note to tell Sam to castrate
both Kukla and Ollie pronto.

After Gabriel and TJ left, I wandered around the house for a
while.  It felt great to be home, but it was so quiet after
the non-stop activity of the past five days that I didn't
know what to do with myself.  Matt went off to his room to
download all the pictures he'd taken, and Vincent ran over
to the restaurant to check up on things.  I told him to
bring home dinner, and then went into the den and fell
asleep on the couch.

It was a peaceful evening, something we all needed if we
were going to be even remotely productive tomorrow.  Vincent
came home with an assortment of pastas and a big salad,
which we ate in front of the TV in the den while watching
the slide show that Matt had put together from his photos.
I hadn't realized how many he'd taken as shot
after shot rolled across the screen.

The one of Katie hugging Queenie was beautiful.
Her arms were around Queenie's neck with
Queenie's big old head draped over her
shoulder, eyes closed, lower lip drooping the
picture of equine contentment.  They were
standing in shaft of sunlight in the barn, dust
motes forever frozen in a faint haze around
them.  Matt had given the photo a sepia
wash so that all the colors were dulled, and you
focused instead on the girl and the horse.

Vincent poked me with his foot at the one of me
staring at Del with a rapt expression on my face
and my mouth hanging open.  I looked like an
infatuated teenager, and it made me blush even
as it chubbed up my dick a little, thinking back
to what had followed that meeting.

Cody hugging his trophy while Wade hugged him
was wonderful. Cody was looking at the camera,
wrinkles fanning out from the corners of his
eyes as he grinned his delight.  Wade's forehead
was pressed into the curve of Cody's neck, and
you could just see the corner of his smile
because the big mound of his shoulder blocked
the rest of the view.   Matt said he was going
to print a large one to have framed for them.

Matt caught Levi with his head thrown back in a
big laugh, and it made you chuckle just to look
at him.  Levi was an interesting guy, and I'd
grown fond of him as the weekend had gone on.
He'd promised to visit the next time he had an
event nearby -- said he wanted to see my `sissy
horse farm'. I'd put him on Calvin over a six-
foot fence and show him 'sissy.'

The one Matt took of Queenie in full tilt boogie
on a steer gave you a real feel for the action
of the cutting pen, and I requested one of those
for my office at Stonegate.  Her ears were
pinned flat along her stretched-out neck, Cody's
hat was yanked tight down on his head, the steer
had just kicked up a fountain of dirt clods that
were caught in midair, and you could practically
smell all three of them.


A few days after the World Finals, Amanda and I
were in my office discussing the Foundation and
whether or not she would campaign a horse on the
Gran Prix circuit next season, when Adam walked
in.

After greeting us, he got to the point.  "I'm
not going to compete next year."  That certainly
got our attention.  "I was thinking with the way
you're expanding everything around here, and
with the GP title under my belt, I'd like to
start a high level training center."  He paused
before making his real pitch.  "Considering the
set-up you're working toward, I'd like to do it
here at Stonegate.  Whaddaya think?"

"Ya know, you'd be fuckin' good at it!"  Amanda
exclaimed.

Her language always gave me a chuckle.  "I like
the idea, Adam, and I agree with Amanda -- it'd
be a good business addition to the farm too."  I
was all for it.  Having Adam around was a
pleasure, and I knew Matt would miss him
terribly if he was gone competing for months at
a time.

"Until I've got a few clients on board, I'll
work with those two young horses I bought from
Maddie.  They show a lot of promise and I think
they could become good competition stock."

"How about using Calvin as a school horse?  You
know how to handle him as well as I do, and he
sure would impress potential clients.  I'll
lease him to you."

"Hey, if those two horses turn out anywhere near
as good as Calvin, I'd be interested in ownin'
them," Amanda offered.

That brought a smile to Adam's face and our deal
was sealed.

Adam continued to come by the house for dinner a
couple times a week, and took Matt out
occasionally, but I couldn't see a whole lot of
progress in their relationship since Amarillo.
Matt also went out with TJ and Vincent's cousin
Eddie now and then.  I wasn't sure if he was
sleeping with either of them, but he seemed
happy enough so I tried not to think about it.


A few days after that, Gabriel pulled into the
yard with the back of his truck full of
furniture and garbage bags.  He was moving
slowly as he parked and got out, stretching his
arms over his head before looking around.  He
came straight over to me.  "Can I talk to you
for a minute?"

As we walked to my office, I noticed he was
grimy and looked exhausted.  "What the hell
happened?"

"My goddamn apartment building burned down early
this morning.  It started about 2am, and I had
thirty minutes to get stuff out before it got
too hot.  I got most of my clothes and personal
stuff, and a few pieces of furniture." He heaved
a big sigh.  "Just when I was getting back on my
fuckin' feet."

I looked him over, taking in the sandy hair
raked back from his forehead with a sweaty hand,
and the dark hazel eyes, now smudged with
fatigue.  He'd been a model employee, taking on
more than his share of the load, and showing a
real aptitude for working with the Foundation
horses (and donkeys) that TJ kept bringing home.
He looked really depressed, standing there with
his hands on his hips, staring dejectedly at the
floor.

"Stay here a sec."  I walked outside to dial
TJ's cell. "Hey.  Whaddaya think about a
roommate?"

"Who?"

"Gabriel.  His apartment building caught fire.
He's upset and tired, and needs a place to call
home for a while.  You guys seem like you get
along okay around here."

There was silence for a moment.  "Sure, there's
plenty of room and I'd enjoy the company."

I walked back inside.  "You know the house west
of here, out by the road where TJ's living now?"
He nodded.  "Head on over there and get settled
in.  Take a shower and a nap, and come back
after lunch."

He stared at the floor before glancing up at me.
"How long can I stay there?"

"Long as you need to.  If it works out, you can
stay permanently.  It'd be handy to have you
close by."

"What's the rent?"

"No rent, but you're on call 24/7 with every
other weekend off.  That's not as bad as it
sounds since Tommy and Alejandro are here most
of the time."

He looked at me for a long moment, his eyes
roaming over my face.  I let him look, meeting
his gaze calmly until he finally spoke.  "Why
you doin' this?"

I shrugged.  "Why not?  You're a decent guy, and
you're doing real well here.  The fire wasn't
your fault, and it looks to me like you could
use a break."

He absorbed all that, looked back down at the
floor for a moment, then walked over and
surprised the shit out of me with a big hug.  It
took me a split second, but I hugged him back,
giving him an extra squeeze before letting him
go.  I took a key off the rack by the door,
handed it to him, and he left without another
word.  I watched him walk to his truck, pleased
to see that his shoulders had squared up a
little and his step wasn't dragging as badly as
when he'd arrived.

I was riding Cal in the arena around 2pm when he
came in on Barney.  I gave him a smile and a
wink when he tipped his chin at me.  He rode
pretty well, moving easily with the horse, never
asking too much, just bringing him along. Barney
had stayed sound so far, no sign of a limp from
his bowed tendon, and we were working him a
couple hours a day on the flat, either in the
arena or out on trail.  Once we got him back in
condition, we'd see if he could still jump well
enough to be a school horse, or maybe a junior
hunter for one of the owners' kids.


About a week later, TJ found me in the tack room

and came in, closing the door so we could have

some privacy.  He looked pretty serious, so I

sat down to hear what he had to say.

"What can you tell me about Gabriel?"

"He's a great employee, good with both horses

and people."

"I mean personally.  What was he in prison for?"



I looked at TJ more closely, recognizing his
expression. "Something happening between you
two?"


"Not yet, but maybe.  Before I get something
going, I wanted to make sure you don't have a
problem with it since we're both working for you
now."


"Jesus, I'd be out of business if I had a rule
against employee relationships.  We've already
got Tommy and Alejandro, and Teresa and Sam, and
probably a couple stable boys I don't know
about.  Knock yourself out.  You sure he's gay?"


"Yeah, pretty sure.  We talked about it a little
when he came to help me with the donkeys, and
he's friendly at the house.  Not grabbing me,
but not backing off when we get close in the
kitchen or something.  And he gives great
shoulder rubs."


TJ walked over and looked out the window,
fiddling with the latch as he spoke.  I watched
him, thinking that I'd miss him if he settled
down and didn't want to play around anymore.
Then I scolded myself for being so damned self
centered, and hoped that it worked out however
TJ wanted it to.

"Huh .  .  .  Well, good luck.  Let me know how
it goes."

"I'll do that.  Thanks."

He went back to work and I sat there for a while
longer, staring at the wall, the bridle I'd been
adjusting lying forgotten across my knee.
Vincent and I seemed to be the only constant any
more.  Dylan and Adam were done.  Adam seemed to
like Matt, but hadn't really pursued it much
past having dinner with us a couple times a
week.  Cody and Wade were back on track it
seemed, but now TJ had the hots for an ex-con.
Life was just too strange sometimes.


Matt's preliminary sketches for Amanda had so
far resulted in a charcoal portrait of the dogs
playing in the barn aisle, tugging on either end
of a rope.  She was thrilled with it, and when
she showed it off to her horsey pals, Matt got
three more calls with offers of work.  He was
very organized about it, keeping his contacts in
a small leather notebook.  Amanda paid him $200
for the charcoal of the dogs which I thought was
fair since it wasn't even a piece she'd asked
for, just something she saw in his sketch book
and had to have.

He bought some larger paper and an easel, and
got ready to do some real work.  He'd become
very fond of David, his artistic mentor, and
brought him and Bonnie home for dinner most
Wednesdays.  We learned that David's partner had
died several years before from a heart condition
and that they'd been together nineteen years.
He seemed content with his dog and his cabin in
the woods, but more than once, I caught him
watching Vincent and me with a wistful smile.

One evening David was helping me clean up after
dinner, humming along with the Vince Gill CD
Matt had put on the stereo.  Every now and then,
he'd sing a line or two in a soft, clear voice.
I glanced at him a few times, but he was drying
dishes and tapping his foot, lost in his own
thoughts.

When the song was over, I patted him on the back
as I walked by to the fridge.  "Nice voice."

He smiled a little and shook his head.  "Sorry.
You should've kicked me or something."

"No, I'm serious.  I always wished I could carry
a tune. Vincent won't even let me sing in the
shower."

He chuckled.  "Well, thanks.  Bonnie doesn't
howl at me, at least.  I play music almost all
the time at home and sing along a lot."

Bonnie looked up when he mentioned her name, her
tail thumping softly on the tile.  When he
leaned down to give her a scratch, she closed
her eyes blissfully and the tail thumps shifted
into second gear.  Learning more about him had
made me wonder what my life would be like if
Vincent died before me.  David gave me hope that
I could carry on and have a decent existence
without a partner.  Lonely, maybe, but still
good.  He glanced up at me and must have seen
something in my face.

"Sean, I .  .  .  I appreciate the dinner
invitations, and I just wanted to say that you
and Vincent did a really good thing with Matt."

I stepped closer to him and looked into his face
for a moment before putting my arms around him.
He hugged me loosely at first, then more
intensely for a few seconds, and I wondered when
he'd last been held by another man.  Too long,
I'd bet.


By early March, Matt had completed his portrait
of Amanda with her hounds, and showed it to me
before driving it to her house.  In it, she was
sitting in the grass laughing, leaning back on
her hands with one dog in her lap and the other
on his back next to her leg.  She had her cowboy
hat on, and a soft curve of breast was visible
in the V of her denim shirt.  He'd done it in
pastels, which lent it a dreamy quality, and it
was simply lovely.  It captured Amanda's
personality and I knew she was going to flip
when she saw it.

I invited myself along, enjoying the drive out
to her place at the north edge of the county.
She'd built a sprawling ranch house that managed
to be comfortable despite the ridiculous amount
of money she'd spent on it.  She answered the
door in faded jeans, a man's white shirt, and
bare feet, hugging Matt and me warmly.  We went
to her library, a dark masculine room that
suited her no-nonsense approach to life, where
she flopped down on a couch and waved us into
chairs.

Matt put the portrait in a chair opposite
Amanda, and nervously unveiled it.  Having seen
it already, I watched Amanda's face as it went
from a smile of anticipation to a stunned
realization of what Matt had created for her.
One hand rose slowly to lie against her chest,
and her mouth fell open slightly as she rose to
come forward for a closer look.

"Dear God in heaven," she breathed, turning to
Matt.  "I cannot fucking believe how perfect
this is.  It's exactly what I wanted without
even knowing it.  It looks like how I feel -
alive and happy and beautiful."

Matt turned eight shades of red when she grabbed
his face in both hands and planted a big wet
kiss on his mouth.  It seemed to be his year for
getting kissed by women.  She kissed me, too,
just for the hell of it I guess, since I had
nothing to do with the portrait, and then went
back to admire it.  After she had inspected it
carefully, she pulled her checkbook out of her
purse and looked at Matt.

"What do I owe you?"

Matt turned to me with a 'oh, fuck' look on his
face, so I spoke up.

"Why don't you pay him what you feel it's worth
to you, since he doesn't have any past sales on
which to base a fair price."

She tilted her head to the side and chewed on
her bottom lip as she eyed Matt for a moment,
then began to write.  She ripped the check off
with a flourish and held it out to him. He
shoved it into his pocket without a glance,
thanked her, and we made our exit.

We were back in our own driveway before Matt
pulled the check out and unfolded it.  He made a
choking sound, and mutely handed it to me.
She'd paid a thousand dollars for an 11x17
pastel chalk drawing by an unknown, eighteen-
year-old artist.  I smiled at him.

"Not bad."

He still couldn't speak, so I just handed him
back the check and went in the house.  He
trailed in a while later with a thoughtful look
on his face.  At dinner, he shoved his spaghetti
around on his plate so much that it began to
make me ill.  I finally took it away from him
and replaced it with a salad and a roll, which
he proceeded to tear into little bits.

"Something on your mind, Matt?"

He jumped and glanced at me, then looked away
across the kitchen.  "Do you think I could be a
real artist?  I mean, make a living at it?"

"Do you think you'd like to do that?"

"Yeah.  It's the one thing I've always loved to
do.  I get sort of lost in it, you know?  Like
the world could end, and I wouldn't care as long
as I could keep drawing.  I love it," he stated
again.

"Well, you're very talented, and it wouldn't
surprise me if you could make it a career,
especially with customers like Amanda.  Have you
contacted the other people who called you? Her
friends?"

He nodded.  "I told them I needed to get this
first one finished, and then I'd be in touch."

"Why don't you do a couple more, and see how it
goes.  You didn't feel pressured drawing what
someone else requested instead of whatever you
wanted?"

"No, I actually liked that aspect of it -
knowing that what I was doing would please
someone."

Over the next couple of days, he visited two of
Amanda's society pals, and booked jobs with
them.  One wanted a picture of her daughter on
her pony, and the other asked for `just a nice
horse picture,' and didn't really care exactly
what it looked like.  Matt worked on them during
daylight hours, and studied in the evenings,
pounding the books so that he could take the GED
exams as soon as possible.


Dylan's birthday was March 12th.  He'd called me
a couple times since our aborted dinner in
January and we'd had lunch once or twice, but
something was different between us and I began
to realize that our earlier relationship was
over.  My childhood pal and teenage lover had
become a bit of a stranger.  He hugged me when
we met for lunch, but I felt the distance in
him.  I made a few attempts to get him to talk
about it, but he kept the conversation light and
I finally gave up.  When we said goodbye I
kissed him, saying, "You know I'll always love
you, right?"

He looked at me then, smiling a little.  "I love
you, too, Sean.  I don't know what's the matter
with me lately.  I just feel like I need to get
away from here and do something different."

I nodded slowly, although I didn't really
understand what he was looking for.  I made him
promise to keep in touch, and we went our
separate ways.  It bothered me that he wouldn't
confide in me, but I realized there wasn't much
I could do about it.  Dylan was an adult with a
life of his own, in which I apparently no longer
played much of a part.

That saddened me, and by the time I got home
that night I was depressed and moping.  Vincent
let me wallow in it for a while, then took me up
to the shower and pried the story out of me
while he scrubbed my back.

He was silent for a few minutes after I
finished.  "It's not gonna happen," he said to
my left hip as he squatted to scrub my leg.

I looked down to see him staring up at me.
"What's not gonna happen?"

"Nothing like that's gonna happen to you and me.
It's not even a possibility.  For that to
happen, one person has to give up on the
relationship, and that's just not gonna happen,
is it, Sean?" he asked me with an intent look.

I shook my head 'no' as he hugged me to him and
turned the water off.  We stood there in the
steamy shower stall, silent now except for our
breathing and the drip-drip-drip of water off
our bodies.  Vincent was right - it wasn't going
to happen to us.