Date: Thu, 24 Mar 2011 22:22:28 -0600
From: Daniel Summers <danielsummers1219@gmail.com>
Subject: Welcome to My Life: Chapter 11 (Revised)

Disclaimer

You should know the drill by now, so I'm going to start leaving it out. As
always I love feedback and I can be reached at: Danielsummers1219@gmail.com

I received lots of feedback! Thank you!! Several things were brought to my
attention so I'll address them here. Some of my readers had a little
difficulty determining who was speaking at a particular point in the story
so from now on I will put a little note clarifying who is speaking. If
there is no note then the main character (Peter) is speaking. Some felt
they needed to point out my "terrible grammar and spelling" skills. I do
ignore a lot of my grammar issues, but I'm a stickler for spelling! To all
you American readers please know I am Canadian, so plenty of words are
spelt differently; but they are correct.

November Update:

I wrote the above about... two months ago. It has taken me this long to
write this chapter do to school, work and laziness. I did however go back
and update all the previous chapters so for that reason and to refresh your
memories, I suggest you go back and read all the previous chapters.

And now, Chapter 11!!

P.S. There is one part in here near the end that one of my friends got
confused with as an incest reference. This is not so! Please read it
carefully!!! :-)

-----------------------------------------
**Last Chapter**
	"Bryan," I began my questions as I switched to the other foot,
"mind if I ask you something?"

	"Anything you want."

	"That Special Forces uniform in your closet, is it yours?" He sat
up to look at me.

	"Yes. They paid for Medical School. In return I have to serve for
at least two years."

	"So what do you have to do?" I was kind of scared to be honest.

	"Well right now I'm working in the infirmary at Fort McCain
Airbase. But I do whatever I am needed to do. I might even have to deploy
to Afghanistan sometime." I looked at him. I don't think I'd even been this
scared. Not even when I found out he was in a coma. This time I knew that
if he went, he wouldn't return the same. If there was one thing I had
learned, it was that war changes people. It changed my grandfather, he was
never the same.

	"I hope you don't ever have to go." I confessed.

	"Come ere'."  I crawled over to kneel down beside him. "Me too."
His lips kissed mine. I felt safe again.




Chapter 11 – Surprise

	Bam! Boom! Crackle! Pop! My body shot up off the mattress. Bam! The
thunder rumbled as the storm raged on in the city. I glanced over at my
clock; 6:45 am. What a wonderful start to my birthday eh? My
birthday... dear lord I can't believe I had forgotten today was my
birthday. September 15th had finally come. I laid my head back down,
snuggling into my pillow. Crack! Another set of thunder rolled through the
sky. My heart raced, beating faster and faster. My hands started to vibrate
with fear. I am scared of many things, but the one thing that got me the
worst was thunder storms.

	I looked back at my clock. 6:47 am. No way in hell was I going to
get back to sleep. Throwing the covers back, I got up and reached for my U
of S sweater hanging on my chair. Slipping into the hallway and into the
living room, I really realized how big this house was. My eyes swept the
room, taking in everything. I felt so alone, all this space and no one to
share it with. I know I had Bryan, almost losing him really brought things
into perspective... but we have only been together for a little over a
week. I was still trying to get used to this. I'd never been in a
relationship; this was just all so new to me!

	Hopping the stairs up to my office I settled at my PC. Facebook, no
birthday wishes. Good I liked it that way. Email, message from my professor
saying he needs to speak with me before class this morning. Wow did I do
something wrong, I mean I expected at least a Happy Birthday from my lil'
man, but nothing. Oh well, Welcome to My Life... right?

	I left my computer and sped into the kitchen, what I really needed
was some Java! Bam! The storm continued to rage hell in the
atmosphere. Holy shit I hate storms. I turned on the TV in the kitchen,
flipping to the weather channel I poured myself some coffee. Beep! My phone
went off.

<Lisa: Pete, I'm out of town for a couple of days so I'll have to give you
your present later.>

	No I love you, no happy birthday. Boy was I ever feeling low
today. I turned my attention to the Weather Network... just dandy, rain all
day. I sighed to myself thinking at the long day I had in head of myself. I
walked into my room to get dressed. After a long look in my closet and
drawers, I decided upon a pair of jeans and a white t-shirt with a simple
jacket. I looked over at my clock once more. 7:30 am. Half an hour until
class started.

	"Ahh Peter, just the person I wanted to talk to." My professor
stood up from his desk. I smiled at him. "I was looking threw some of your
records, and I see you have exceptional skills in breaching firewalls,
decryption and the concept of K.I.S.S." I laughed at that.

	"Yes sir, I try my best." I took a seat in the front row.

	"Well I have something I need you to do in class; just don't be
shocked when I ask." I looked at him, burrowing my eyebrows
together. "Don't look so confused my friend. Everything will become clear
shortly." He turned around and went to sit at his desk in the corner of the
room. I really did love this classroom. A giant screen hung in the front to
demonstrate various things, a big ass projector hung from the ceiling and
rows of chairs with flip able arm tables for computers and such lined the
back.

	My fellow students started flooding in the room, quickly taking
their seats in anticipation of today's lesson. Professor Girn always made
out lessons exciting, but valuable. "Good morning." He greeted the room
with a warm smile. "For our next subject, you will have a different
teacher, someone with more... talents, in this field." He made sure to look
at everyone's faces. His eyes passed mine and gave me a little wink. Oh God
no, I can't do this! I'm a terrible teacher, public speaker and I hate
being in front of people. "Encryption Algorithms, firewalls and breaching
is our next task. Peter, come up here please." Without realizing it, I
found my feet towards the front of the room. My whole body turned to
address the class.

	"Umm... Well I'm not exactly prepared." This elicited a chuckle
from each of the students. I looked at everyone one of them. Everyone was
looking at me, but one girl caught my attention. She wasn't just looking at
me; she was plain out staring at me. I looked to my left; Professor Girn
turned and walked over to his desk. "Does everyone know the basics of each
thing? It would make things so much easier if you did. –But if you don't
I can try my best to teach you." I quickly added. The girl who was still
staring at me raised her hand. "Yes miss?"

	"Angela. Since you're the expert, I was just wondering who taught
you." She questioned.

	"Well Angela, no one. I guess you could call me a natural." Shit,
my ego was kicking in. At least I could feel the nervousness leaving my
body. "Is there any other questions?" I asked the room. "OK then let's
begin!" I smiled.

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

	"Hey Peter can I ask you something?" I turned to see Angela walking
down the steps of the room.

	"Umm, sure go ahead."

	"I'm just going to come right out and say this. You're like really
cute." She made sure to emphasize cute. "And a really great teacher, I was
wondering if you wanted to grab a coffee some time." She asked with a big
smile on her face. This caught me totally off guard! No one had ever asked
me out, I mean not counting my current love of my life. Am I even allowed
to call him the love of my life? We've only known each other a few weeks,
and been dating for a little over one week. "Peter?" Her voice brought me
back to reality.

	"What? Oh yeah. Like a date?" I asked wearily.

	"Yes, exactly like a date." I looked at her for a second. How could
I break this to her?

	"Listen Angela, you seem to be a great girl, but I already belong
to someone else." I turned to pick up my book bag.

	"Belong to someone else? Well who ever she is, she is really
lucky. I've never heard a guy say they belong to someone else." She smiled
at me and left.

	I walked out of the doors to the university. The storm still raged
on with plenty of thunder and lightning. I quickly glanced at my watch,
11:30am. I didn't have class for the rest of the day. I took of running
towards my car, not wanting to get totally soaked. Within seconds I found
my car, just as I was about to reach the door I slipped and fell backwards
on the pavement. "Ouch." I moaned quietly. Zzt, zzt. Sparking noises
emanated from my back pocket. I got up and reached into my pocket with my
hand to pull out what was left of my crumpled up phone. Shit. I threw my
bags in the passenger seat of my car and hopped in. Turning on the car, and
spiking the heat, I drove off towards the mall to buy a new phone.

	"Hi can I help you?" The clerk behind the till asked.

	"Yes please. I kind of fell running to my car, and well my phone
got squished in the process." We had a little laugh.

	"Well what kind of phone are you interested in buying today?" He
asked, intent on selling something.

	"I'm interested in a 4G phone." We browsed through the available
phones. In the end I bought a 16GB iPhone.

	I walked the halls of the mall, paying no attention to the people
around me. I really hated my birthday; it didn't mean anything to
me. People celebrated it, but to me it was just 365 more days that I was
alive. But finally, finally I was not alone! My mind was lost is constant
thoughts, I didn't even notice the warm hands that enveloped me from
behind. "Hello Birthday boy." And they kissed the side of my head. I smiled
big.

	"And hello to you Matt!" I turned around to give him a huge hug. My
eyes settled on the shorter guy he was with. "Oh I'm sorry Jesse." My
cheeks flushed all color from them. He really seemed to hate me, and I felt
guilty because some part of me felt like I had stolen some small part of
his head. I was ok with that, I don't think Jesse was. Matt hugged me tight
and close.

	"It's been what, a week buddy? That's too long if you ask me!" I
had to laugh at that.

	"Well I do have a life bud. Now to the big question, how the hell
do you know it's my birthday, it's not exactly the type of thing I
advertise." I raised one eyes and stared at him.

	"Umm..." He stammered, "Facebook? Yeah Facebook." He smiled
nervously at me.

	"Yeah, Facebook alright." I sarcastically commented. He stepped a
pace back and took Jesse in his arms. If you saw them, you could not resist
but smile.

	"Oh crap!" He suddenly exclaimed throwing his hands in the air!
"You two go get a seat at Starbucks or something, I have to run for a
second."

	"Ok babe, hurry back!" Jesse turned around and kissed the side of
his face.

	"K, behave you two." He smiled and Jesse and stuck his tongue out
at me. Quickly he turned around and bolted down the floor. I glanced
nervously at Jesse, I knew from previous experience that he didn't like me
too much.

	"So umm Jesse how you've be-" I didn't even get to finish my
sentence before he grabbed my forearm and squeezed.

	"Listen, I'm going to tell you this again. Stay away from Matthew;
you have your own boyfriend so stop trying to get with mine!" He spat the
last words from his mouth.

	"Let go of me..... Now!" His grip only tightened. "I'll give you
one more chance, I've had to fight off bigger guys then you." He glared
angrily at me. "Alright you asked for it." I wound my other arm back and
swung forward! Just as it was about to make contact with his face, he
caught my fist with his hand. I smiled and snapped my head backwards then
quickly forwards, head butting him square in the face. Jesse let go
immediately to cradle the pain in his face with his hands.

	"Now listen to me. You guys found me here, not the other way
around. My boyfriend is none of your concern, and Matt is just my
friend. You can either deal with that or fuck right off!" I bent down,
grabbed both of his arms and heaved him up. "Come one; let's go before he
gets back and finds out about this little fight."

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

	"Here you go." Matt slid a receipt across the table.

	"What's this?" I asked picking it up.

	"Just read it." I looked at the paper in my hands, reading each
line.

	"Oh my god, thank you Matt!" I got up and gave him a hug.  "How did
you know I love Assassin's Creed?" I looked at the receipt for Assassin's
Creed Brotherhood.

	"A little birdy told me." He smiled slyly at me.

	"Hey. Surrreee." I looked down at my watch. "Crap guys, I got to
go. I'm having dinner at my parent's house." I got up and gave Matthew
another hug. "Thank you again."

	"It was no problem." We released each other and stepped back.

	"Bye guys!" I waved and turned to leave. After finding the exiting
the mall and running to my car to avoid getting soaked I dialled my
parents.

	"Hey were not in right now, please leave us a message." My mother's
voiced sounded over the phone.

	"Hey mom, I am just about to leave so see your guys in an hour and
a half." I started the car and began my journey home. As I drove through
the city, my mind began to wonder. Had it been a weird day? Yes it had
been. I tuned my radio into my favourite station and relaxed in my seat. My
eyes drifted to the sideways motion of the wiper blades, brushing the rain
of the windows.

	I turned my head to look at my new phone sitting in the seat behind
me. The black screen might as well have said `looser', no messages had been
displayed. I mean it was my birthday, you would think someone might wish me
a happy one! My mind drifted to the thought of Bryan. Picturing him in my
mind made my heart skip a couple beats.

	A solid hour and a half later I pulled into my hometown of
Gorgeville Saskatchewan. As I drove down the streets I noticed nothing had
really changed in these last few months. Mr. Parker's Jewelry shop still
held its place on Main Street, the post office still held its brick outside
and the streets still held their rough pavement. I pulled into the driveway
of my home, and shut the car off. The rain had slowed a little, but it
still poured. I got out and ran to the door, trying not to get soaked by
the never ending supply of rain that fell from the sky.

	I opened the door to a dark house. "Mom?" I called out. "Dad?" I
ventured again. "Anybody home?" I took off my wet coat and hung it on a
hook beside out door. Thank god I was wearing a bunny hug, for it kept me
very warm. Being naturally cold really can suck! I dropped my keys on the
kitchen table and began to explore the house. Where the hell was ever body
today? I walked into the living room, and flipped on a light to illuminate
the pitch black.

	"Surprise!!"

	"Ahh!" I screamed and fell backwards. I looked around the room and
noticed all the faces.

	"Happy Birthday!" A big smile formed on my face.

	"I hate every single one of you." I said half laughing. Everyone in
my family was here! Aunts, uncles, brothers, nephews, and most
importantly... Bryan. Bryan walked over to my and helped me up. I reached
for his hand and he heaved me off the ground. His head leaned over and into
the side of mine.

	"Happy Birthday baby." He leaned back and winked at me. My big
smile got even bigger.

	"I knew something was up!" I went over and gave Lisa an elbow to
her side. "When everyone is either not answering or telling me something
has come up, see you later, it is kind of hard not to get suspicious!" My
brothers converged on me. I looked and the expressions on their
faces. Behind them my older cousins followed with the same look. "Oh no you
don't!" My face dropped and I took off running down the hall.

	"Get back here!" They all yelled. Just as I reached the one room in
the upstairs that was lockable, their hands grabbed my from behind and
dragged me into the open area of the living.

	"No please don't!" I begged. My oldest brothers Kevin got a
devilish smile on his face.

	"Birthday Bumps!" He roared. The guys grabbed each of me limps and
heaved my body into the air.

	"One!" They chanted as my body was flung into the air and brought
back down again.

	"Two!" The continued on.

	"He- lp!" I heaved out while my altitude changed. I looked over at
Bryan to see him laughing. "I'm going to kill you guys!"

	"Ten!" And finally after a few more seconds of torture they made it
to eighteen. They gently set me down and scurried in fear that I was
retaliate against them. I simply laid on the ground, trying to catch my
breath and let the blood on my body settle.

	"You ok?" My cousin Lucy asked.

	"Just peachy." I half whispered.

	"Here, let me help you up." She offered her hand. I took it and
dragged her to the floor. I maneuverer myself on my side and gave her a
giant hug! "Peter!" She screamed!

	"What?" I defended myself. "Can't a guy hug his absolute favourite
cousin in the whole wide world?" I hugged her tighter for a quick second
longer and let her go.

	"Love you too Pete."

	"So where's the husband of yours?" I asked getting back up on my
feet.

	"Jackson is..." She paused to look around the room, "over by the
closet."

	"Oh cool, so wh-"

	"Come on guys, supper is ready!" My mother announced to the crowd.

	"Wait!" I yelled, "birthday boy first!" Everyone
groaned. "Actually..." I said to no one in particular. I roamed the crowd
looking for my target, and finally found her. "Grandma, come on I was you
to eat first." She smiled at me and took my arm. We crossed the living room
into the kitchen to eat.

	I sat down on the couch beside Bryan and began to eat. He still
hadn't gotten anything so I teased him. "Look at all this good food. Yumm!
Tastes so nummy." I smiled at him. His fingers came over and stole my piece
of chicken. "Hey I complained!"

		"Love means sacrifice, not selfishness." He stuck his
tongue out and popped the food in his mouth. "Oh so good! Nummy." He tried
imitating my voice. I offered my plate in his direction for him to steal
from, I actually liked having someone to steal from me, made me feel
important or something.

	I finished eating and set my plate in the sink. "Mom?" I asked
walking back into the living room. "I left a couple sweaters at home, any
idea where they are?"

	"Probably in your room sweetheart."

	"Thanks mom." I walked into the kitchen just in time to see my
father trying to sneak out of the house.

	"Dad," I started, "if you want to go out into the garage and drink
with your buddies it's ok, you don't have to sneak out."

	"Derek is out for a couple days."

	"It's fine. You don't need to defend yourself." I walked past him
and started down the stairs. After years of my dad letting me down, I
expected as much to happen today. The worst part was, I barely the sting of
hurt anymore. I opened the door to my room, to old memories, to tear
stained pillows, to the old me. I searched my drawers for my warm
sweaters. The city was cold compared to home. There was nothing there to
keep me warm. I turned around and jumped! Bryan stood in the doorway.

	"Jesus Christ! You scared me!"

	"Sorry." He apologized.

	"What are-" I didn't even get to finish before his lips were
attacking mine! He devoured my lips with a hunger I had never seen. He
pulled back just a second to speak.

	"Happy Birthday Peter." And his lips were on mine again. My pulse
raced, and my brain blacked out.

	"Bryan please stop." Those words brought back some not to pleasant
memories. He pulled back with a hurt look on his face. "No it's not because
I don't want to. Everyone is upstairs and I don't want them to know yet."

	"Ok." He leaned in and gave me a less passionate peck on the
lips. The brush of skin left me wanting more. "Let's go upstairs, I think
they are about to serve cake!" We ran back upstairs and into the living
room.

	"I was told we were almost ready for cake?" I said in a demanding
tone. Everyone laughed. A few minutes later my brothers brought in a huge
cake smothered in icing.

	"Happy Birthday to you! Happy Birthday to you!" Everyone began to
sing. "Happy Birthday dear Peter, Happy Birthday to you." I drew in a huge
breath and released, trying to extinguish each candle. My lungs heaved out
their last breath, and one candle remained lit.

	"Looks like you have one girlfriend!" Jayden laughed. They really
had no idea!

	"Oh har har. As tradition goes, the birthday person gets to cut the
cake. My mother and I took the cake into the kitchen to begin cutting.

	"Peter..." She paused.

	"Yes mom?" I grabbed a knife from the drawer.

	"There's something I need to tell you."

	"Ok, shoot." I traveled over to the cupboard and retrieved the
plates.

	"You know how your uncle Michael didn't send you anything at your
graduation?" Now that she had mentioned it, I didn't receive anything from
him. My Uncle Mike had always been my favorite. I spent many summers with
him, his wife Lori and their daughter Tessa in London. We weren't related
by blood, I just grew up calling them uncle and auntie; our families were
just the close. "They actually did."

	"Ok?" I questioned. I started cutting the cake into even squares.

	"Before you read it, there is something I want you to know."

	"What is it mom?" I asked getting a little frustrated

       "Your Uncle Mike is your real father!"

       "Son of a bitch!" I cursed as the knife slit my finger wide
open. "God dammit!" I rushed to grab a towel to soak up the blood that was
pouring from my finger.

       "What's wrong?" asked several people as they crowded into the
kitchen. Bryan took one look at my finger and went into doctor mode.

       "What happened?"

       "Sliced my finger open on the knife."

       "Here let me see." He grabbed my hand and removed the towel. Blood
soaked my skin again.

       "Crap. That's going to need stitches." He covered my hand back
up. "Lisa, go out to my car and grab my med kit please." She took off
running outside. Bryan led me to the bathroom to tend to my wound. "Do you
have any alcohol wipes?"

       "Left drawer." I answered quickly. My finger was pulsing in
pain. "Frick it hurts!" I had never been good with any kind of pain.

       "I'll get it all fixed up for you." Lisa returned a couple minutes
later.

       "You ok hun?" She asked worriedly.

       "Fuckin' peachy." I answered flatly.

	"This is going to sting, a lot." Bryan warned and closed the door
to the bathroom. He cracked the seal on one of the alcohol wipes, took out
the cloth and swabbed my bloody wound. I screamed out as the cleansing
sting rung through my hand. He retrieved a needle and some thread from his
kit and stitched up my finger one swipe at a time.

	"All done." His hand came to my chin and lifted it up. "Feel any
better?" I leaned in and gave him a kiss on the cheek.

	"Yes, thank you." He smiled and leaned in to kiss my forehead.

	"Peter how did you manage to cut yourself? You are like pro at
using knives." Lisa asked from her position on the toilet seat. My mind
kicked in, finally realizing what my mother had said. My uncle Michael was
my father? I jumped off the edge of the counter and ran for
outside. Slipping into my shoes I ran for the garage. I threw open the door
and began my yelling streak.

	"Why the hell didn't you tell me `dad'? " I sarcastically spoke his
title.

	"What the hell are you talking about?" His two drinking buddies
stared at me.

	"Oh gee, let me see... how about the fact that you're not my real
father!" I screamed.

	"Wow Jay. Your boy wines like a queer." I looked at the man that
had spoken.

	"You know what? Maybe I am queer, did you ever think about
that. Yeah dad, did you hear that? Your son is a homo!" I lashed out. He
walked over to me, raised his hand and brought it down across my face.

	"Get the fuck out!" He roared in a drunken anger!

	"With pleasure!" I left and went back to the house. I opened the
door and shook off the excess water in my hair, I was soaked.

	"Peter I am so-" My mother tried to speak.

	"Don't you even dare!" I interrupted her before she could even
finish. "Eighteen years. You lied to me for eighteen years. Did you once
ever think I might want to know something like this?!" I screamed.

	"Peter, I'm-"

	"Sorry? What about all those times that man out there made me feel
like crap? What about all those times I felt like I was just a burden to
you guys. Least now I know why he hates me, now I know why Keith is the
favorite." She reached out to grab my hand. "Don't touch me!" I pushed past
her to grab my keys on the table. A crowd had gathered to see what the
yelling was about. They all looked at me with shock in their eyes.

	"Peter, I'll drive you home." He said as he placed his hand over
top of mine and my keys on the table. I looked up at him and gave a tiny
nod. His head turned to look at Lisa and she gave a little nod. We grabbed
out coats, started my car and starting our drive home. "Are you ok?"

	"Fucking perfect." I said with mock enthusiasm. I turned my head
away from him and closed my eyes. This actually made perfect sense! Uncle
Mike had treated me more like a son that my own father had. I mean Justin,
I mean- god this was so confusing.

	I walked in the door to my apartment, Bryan set the car keys on the
counter. "Good night." And he turned to leave.

	"Wait!" I said rather loudly. "Please," I spoke nervously, "stay."
He looked at me for a second.

	"OK." I led him to my bedroom, dressed in pyjamas and climbed into
bed. He stripped down to his underwear and wore a pair of sleep pants I
gave him. He slowly crawled into bed next to me.

	"Bryan could you um," I hesitated, "could you please hold me. I
really need someone to do that after tonight." His body crept closer to
mine, and finally he wrapped his arms around me. I sighed and pulled him in
closer to my back. Tears lightly crept from my eyes, I brushed them away
just as quickly as they appeared. I grabbed into Bryan's arms, for comfort,
for stability, I don't know. "Bryan?" I spoke again. "I love you."

	He kissed the back of my head. "I love you too." I closed my eyes
and drifted into the blissful unawareness of my subconscious.

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

Kk guys, I'm seriously so sorry this took so long! But here it is, next
chapter is going to be an important one and hopefully it won't take me
another 3 months.