The standard disclaimer stuff:
All work on the following pages are fiction. Any similarities to real people, living or dead in almost completely unintentional (those that aren't, you know who you are.) The work is copyrighted 1998 by Corey Phoenix, and may not be re-posted without my express written consent. Enjoy! :- P
Jared and Christian Part IV: Morning, July 11th
"Good morning, Mrs. Christy!" Jared shouted as he opened the front door, walked into the living room of Chris's house and threw his gym bag on the couch. Mary had given him a key when he and Chris had finished their junior year. Even though it was barely seven o'clock in the morning, Jared knew that Mary would be awake, having just gotten James, Chris's dad, off to work. Chris, on the other hand, seemed inclined to sleep in as late as possible, wasting valuable ninety degree temperatures. By noon, it would be over a hundred and any sort of physical activity except swimming would be out of the question.
"He's still asleep, Jayzee," a male voice came from the kitchen. Billy was home, for once. "Go ahead and wake up the lazy bum. I tried to get him up for breakfast, but he mumbled something about partying too hard, then threw a shoe at me."
Jared turned the corner to the kitchen and saw Billy sitting at the table reading the paper and Mary washing the dishes. "Partying too hard? He had two beers. He doesn't know what partying is."
Mary poured a glass of orange juice, which she handed to Jared. "Do you two have time for breakfast?"
Jared gulped down the juice and shook his head. "No. I got to get his lazy butt out of bed, then down to Metrocenter. Air Skate's doing a photo shoot for it's new skateboard. I'm going to be in every skating mag in America!"
"Cool!" Billy said.
"Well, I better get Chris up."
"I don't think that's going to be a problem," Mary said. "Chris is always 'up' whenever you're around."
"Aw! Mom! That's gross!" Billy groaned.
Jared laughed, then went down the hall to Chris's room and went in without knocking. Chris was sprawled out on his stomach, a light sheet circling his waist, but entirely naked other than that. Quietly, Jared went over to the bed, climbed on and laid on top of Chris.
Chris sighed contentedly, moving slightly to settle Jared into a more comfortable position. Jared just lay there, enjoying the feel of Chris's body under his. Finally, he kissed Chris's ear. "Time to wake up, sleepy head." he whispered.
Chris groaned and rolled over, sending Jared sliding off and into the wall. "Um. What a way to wake up," Chris answered, his voice blurred with sleep. He turned over on his side facing Jared and hugged him. "We should do that more often."
Jared answered him with a kiss, which Chris pulled away from. "Don't do that. I haven't brushed my teeth yet."
"I don't care." Jared felt Chris's hand running down his back. "You better not do that, or we're going to be late."
Reluctantly, Chris let go. "Late? For what? It's summer. We don't have to go anywhere."
"I've got that photo shoot this morning, remember? Up at Metro." Jared got up and started going through Chris's dresser. He pulled out a pair of socks and smiley face boxers, then opened his shirt drawer and pulled out a white sleeveless t-shirt and tossed them to Chris. Then he went to the closet and pulled out a pair of jean shorts.
"Oh, yeah. I forgot." Chris got up and stretched, while Jared admired his hard naked body. Then he slipped on a ragged pair of cut-off sweat shorts that barely covered anything. "I'll just shower. Give me ten minutes."
Chris walked out and into the bathroom. Jared followed him out, then headed for the livingroom. Grabbing the cable remote he sat down on the couch and started cruising through the stations. He finally stopped on the X-Men. Even though he'd never told anyone, he had a crush on Cyclops. He could just hear Chris making jokes about him being in love with a cartoon. But he had to wonder about the people who drew them. Almost every cartoon hero wore tights and showed a large bulge to let you know they were super men in more than one way.
Jared got so engrossed in the cartoon, that he didn't hear Chris enter the livingroom. Chris paused in the doorway and stared at Jared. He couldn't believe how lucky he was. Jared was 5'7", three inches shorter than he was, and their bodies fit together like two pieces of a puzzle. Jared's platinum blond hair was starting to get longer. He needs a hair cut, Chris thought. Jared's gray eyes were a mirror that Chris could get lost in forever, when he wasn't distracted by Jared's cute little pug nose, high cheekbones and full ruby red lips. And since they had started working out together, Jared had put on some weight, all muscle, so he no longer looked like a gangly boy who had grown too fast. Chris felt the tell-tale movement in his jeans and decided to do something about it. Sneaking up behind Jared, Chris crouched down behind the couch, then sprang over the back and landed with his head in Jared's lap, staring up into those gray eyes, a huge smile on his face.
"Hey, good looking," he said in his most seductive voice.
Jared had jumped, startled out of his intense concentration of the cartoon. When he had regained his composure, he smiled down at Chris.
"Hey yourself, gorgeous." Then he bent over and kissed Chris's lips. Chris responded by forcing his tongue into Jared's mouth and wrapping his hands around the back of Jared's head. They were both so caught up in their mutual lust that neither heard Billy walk in.
"Can't you two control yourselves?" Billy asked sharply, but with a hint of teasing. Immediately, Jared stood up, blushing a bright crimson. The sudden movement caused Chris to roll off the couch and land on the floor. Pulling himself off the floor, Chris glared at Billy.
"Like I never caught you at least fifty times making out with Judy White."
It was Billy's turn to blush. Chris had surprised him a number of times while he was making out with his girlfriend. And even though Chris had never said anything, Billy was sure that Chris had caught them doing more than making out on a couple of occasions.
"Whatever. Mom wants me to pick up a couple of things from Metrocenter, so I'll drive you there. Hurry up and get in the car or I'm leaving you behind."
The drive up to the mall was filled with Jared going on about how cool the photo shoot was going to be and some of the more wild things he had attempted while skating. Billy was interested in it, being a skater himself, and kept asking Jared questions, while Chris leaned his head against the window and yawned. Finally, they pulled up in mall parking lot. Billy started to ask Jared where the shoot was going to be held, but stopped, whistling.
"Oh, man! Is all that for you?"
Chris looked over to where Billy was pointing. Half of the parking lot by the food court was taken up by several tracker trailers, a half-pipe, quarter-pipe and street course. It looked to Chris like it was going to be another competition. Jared nodded.
"Yeah. When Air Skate goes out, they really go all out. But I'm sure that if you want to try it, I could talk them into letting you."
"That would be so cool, but I can't. I really need to get this stuff done for Mom." Billy pulled up next to one of the trailers and let Chris and Jared out. As soon as Jared was spotted, he was immediately surrounded my people. Once he was sure that Jared was out of earshot, Chris leaned back into the car.
"Thank's for doing this, Billy. It means a lot to me." Chris fished in his pocket, pulled out a folded sheet of paper and handed it to Billy.
Billy shrugged and took the paper. "No prob, bro. You'd do the same for me. How long do you think this is going to take?" He gestured to the circus that was starting, with Jared in center ring.
"I have no idea. Think an hour and half will be enough?"
"Should be. But to be sure, I'll park down my Macy's, then meet the two of you at the food court when I'm done. If I'm not done before Jared is, just wander around the other end of the mall for a little bit, then check the court."
Chris smiled again at Billy. "Thanks. I owe you one."
Billy laughed. "You owe me a whole lot more than one, bro. But I'm not counting." Then he pulled away.
The shoot only lasted an hour. Jared had spent twenty minutes on the different courses, doing some very dangerous tricks for the camera. Chris had counted that the photographer had changed film at least ten times. For his part, Jared had a perfect skate, never bailing once. When the photographer decided that he had enough shots, he let Jared go.
Jared walked over to Chris, panting and carrying the new board that Air Skate had given him. He put the board down, wrapped his arms around Chris and gave him a kiss, then pulled back. He lifted an arm and acted like he was smelling his pit, then wrinkled his nose. "Oh, man. I stink. Why don't you go ahead inside? There's a shower in one of the trailers. I'll get cleaned up, then meet you at the bakery."
"Okay."
Jared grabbed his gym bag and entered a trailer as Chris headed up the parking lot of the mall entrance. Once he was inside, he looked around for Billy. Billy wasn't there yet, so he walked over the bakery and ordered two coffees and two muffins. Once he got his order, he sat down and waited for Jared.
Ten minutes later, Jared walked in, dressed in his usual baggy jean shorts, torn up t-shirt and baseball cap turned backwards. He sat down across from Chris.
"Thanks, I'm starving!" Jared said as he took a huge bite out of his muffin, then swallowed about half of the cool coffee. "I guess Billy's not done yet."
Chris shrugged, trying to act indifferent. "Guess not. After you're done eating, why don't we check out Van's Skateshop. I've been thinking about learning to skate, if you'll teach me?"
A huge smile ran across Jared's face. "That'd be awesome. But you should have said something earlier. I could have gotten you a board for free during the shoot."
"I just remembered." Actually, Chris had no intention of trying to learn to skate. He had gotten on Billy's board once and just couldn't find his balance. He was sure there was no way he could do it. But Van's was at the other end of the mall from the stores that Billy was at.
Jared finished his breakfast and they got up. On their way to Van's, they stopped at the book store so Chris could pick up a couple of the books that were going to be assigned reading Senior year. As they walked close together, Jared would "accidently" rub up against Chris, or their hands would meet, and they'd hold hands for a brief second before letting go so no one would notice.
Once they got to Van's, Jared started showing Chris the different boards, describing the pros and cons of each board. This one as only good for street skating, this one was a good demonstration board. That one just sucked all around. Chris did his best to look interested. Finally, he shook his head.
"I don't really like any of these. Maybe we should check some of the other skateshops later."
"Okay."
Christian looked at his watch, they still had ten minutes before Billy said he'd be done. He looked across the balcony and saw a coffee shop. "Why don't we get another coffee and hang out for a few minutes?"
They went into the shop. As Chris ordered for both of them, Jared started looking at the different shaped mugs they had on display. Chris was pulling out his wallet to pay, when someone bumped into him hard and he lost his grip on the wallet.
"I'm so sorry," the man who bumped him said as they both knelt down to pick up the wallet. When Chris touched the wallet, the man put his hand on top of Chris's. "Billy's done," he whispered quietly. "Meet him at MacD's in five minutes." Then he let go of Chris's hand and walked out.
Chris stood up and paid for the coffees. Getting Jared's attention, he handed one cup of Jared, then they walked out.
"Let's head back to the food court. Billy should be done by now." Chris told Jared. The boys started back the way they had come, taking their time.
When they reached the food court, Chris and Jared looked around for Billy. Jared spotted him talking to a guy who looked like he had just gotten out of high school a couple of years ago. Jared pointed them out to Chris. They worked their way through the lunchtime crowd to the table where the two men were sitting.
"Hey, Chris! You remember Corey, don't you?" Billy said as they walked up. Chris looked at the man that Billy gestured to, the same one who had told him that Billy was ready when he bumped into him in the coffee shop. He looked to be in his early twenties. He had sort of olive tanned skin that made him look either Hispanic or Italian, Chris couldn't tell which. Corey's hazel eyes were magnified in thick glasses. He had short black hair that was all but hidden under a Diamondbacks baseball cap that was signed by Travis Lee, and several days growth of stubble. In his right ear, he wore a gold hoop through the cartilage and a ruby stud in the lower part, then his left ear had it reversed, with the stud in the cartilage and the hoop in the lower ear. He was wearing khaki shorts and a Phoenix Coyotes t-shirt.
Chris shook his head. Corey looked familiar, but he couldn't place where he'd seen him before. "No. I can't say that I do."
Corey smiled. "I didn't really expect you to. The last time I saw you, you were only four."
That brought it back to Chris. "Uncle Corey?!" He jumped forward and hugged Corey in a tight bear hug.
Corey's smile widened. "So, you do remember."
Jared looked confused, he thought he had met all of Chris's family. "You never mentioned you had an uncle Corey."
Chris laughed. "He's not a real uncle. He lived in the same apartments that you live in a long time ago. He was walking down to the Circle K one day and saw me trying to play soccer with Billy. God, I sucked. I tried to kick the ball around Billy, but instead launched it straight at Corey's head. He caught it, laughed and offered to teach me how to play. Mom and Dad liked him since he was the only one who was able to bring me out of my shell. You were what? Twelve at the time?"
"No. I was eighteen."
Jared's jaw hit the table after doing the math in his head. If that was twelve years ago . . . "Then you mean you're thirty?"
Corey laughed at Jared's disbelief. "Yeah. I'm thirty. I know it's hard to believe, but looking younger runs in the family. My Mom still looks like she's in her early thirties and she's almost fifty, then my younger brothers look like they're fifteen and thirteen, instead of twenty-one and eighteen."
Chris sat down at the table. "You just disappeared a few months later. What happened? What are you doing now?"
"Whoa! Whoa! Slow down, Christian. One question at a time. I joined the Air Force and got stationed in Germany, then I bummed around the States, doing some writing here and there. Never got anything major published, though. Just a couple of poems, and an article or two for a newspaper. Then I came back here. I ran into Billy at Macy's. God, I thought he was your dad, until I realized he was too young."
Billy smiled. "Yeah. I couldn't believe it. It's so cool to run into him."
A light went on in Chris's eyes. "Why don't you stop by the house later, we can catch up?"
A looked passed between Corey and Billy. Corey smiled. "Sounds like a plan. Besides, Billy's already invited me . . ."
"Jayzee!"
All four of them turned around at the shout. Jared was the first one to spot the person who had shouted. It was Gordie!
"Gordie!" Jared took off and ran to where Gordie was standing. They hugged.
Chris felt an unfamiliar feeling gripping his heart. He turned to Billy and Corey. "Excuse me!" A grim expression on his face, he caught up with Jared, who had just pulled away from Gordie. Chris put his arm around Jared's shoulder. "Why don't you introduce us, babe?"
"Sure," Jared said. "Christian, this is Gordie Billingford. Gordie, this is my friend, Christian Christy."
Gordie put out his hand to Chris. Slowly, Chris took his arm away from Jared's shoulder and shook it. "Nice to meet you finally, Chris. Jayzee's told me a lot about you."
"Yeah. He's told me all about you, too." Gordie winced at the coldness of Chris's voice and the implied threat.
Through all of this, Jared was oblivious to everything but the fact that Gordie was there. "When did you get to Phoenix? How long are you here for?"
"I'm down here for a month. I told C.J. and everyone that I was going to Europe for the summer."
"Great!" Jared exclaimed. "Chris has an old friend of his coming over this evening to talk, so why don't you come over too?"
Chris let go of Jared and walked out the door. When Billy saw Chris storm out of the mall he followed him. Billy caught up with Chris, grabbed his shoulder and spun him around.
"What's wrong, bro?"
"Him! Gordie!"
"What's wrong with him?"
Chris sat down on the bench. "Gordie's Jared's boyfriend."
Billy sat down next to Chris, a confused look on his face. He was surprised to see tears in Chris's eyes.
"I thought you were his boyfriend."
Absently, Chris wiped his eyes and sighed. "Gordie was his boyfriend back in Indiana. They broke up when someone found out that Jared was gay."
"Hey, now," Billy said gently, "you don't have anything to worry about, then. Gordie's his ex. It's natural that you feel a little jealous of him. I felt the same way when I first met Judy's ex-boyfriend. But once I got to know him, he was a pretty cool guy."
"But did you see the way Jared ran up to him and hugged him? What if Gordie came down here to get back together with him? And Jared invited him over tonight."
Billy hugged his brother tightly. "Don't worry, Chris. Everything's going to work out okay. I promise you."
Okay - I'm gonna stop guessing when the next part's going to be ready. I guess I just don't work well under a deadline, even a self-imposed one.
What's Billy and Chris being so secretive about? You'll find out soon enough. :- P Does Jared still have feelings for Gordie and why is Gordie in Phoenix? I don't know yet. Gordie's appearance was as big a surprise to me as I hope it was to you. I'd hate to think that I'm getting predictable in my writing. And before anyone complains about the lack of sex in this part, just remember "Make up sex is the best sex." Now, are Chris and Jared going to make up, or is it Jared and Gordie? Besides, to me this story has become more than just something to get people off. I hope it's a good love story, and love isn't just about sex, even though it is a part of it.
So until next time, take care. As always, comments and suggestions are welcome at jayzee711@hotmail.com. Flames will be ignored.
Corey