Three Roads

This story contains adult and sexual situations between males. If this is not to your liking....well you know the drill.

Three Roads Chapter 34: Where Do We Go From Here?

Everything he passed seemed to be a huge blur, but for some reason his sister's tickle me Elmo stuck out to him as he moved as quickly as he could, darting and hopping over various obstructions in his path. He made it to the bathroom precisely at the moment he was sure he couldn't hold it in any longer. He dry heaved for several minutes after he had thrown up everything that was in his body. He was sitting now on the cold bathroom floor, grasping on to the toilet bowl in front of him; he wasn't worried about passing out, but for some reason it was comforting for him to be able to hold on to something. He wasn't sure what time it was, but judging from the sunlight and the numerous groups of children he saw walking to school he guessed that it was around seven a.m. He wanted nothing more than to go to his room, crawl into his bed and disappear beneath the covers, but he knew that wasn't possible. His parents had posted his bail and now they wanted answers. He heard a light knock at the door, "Are you ok?" He heard his father ask.

"Yeah, I'm ok."

"Can you come down to the den? Your mom and I want to talk to you."

"Just give me a few minutes."

He heard his dad's footsteps as he walked away. He leaned his head against the bathroom wall and closed his eyes. He was hoping that when he opened his eyes, that he would be somewhere else, if for no other reason than he wouldn't have to face his parents. He even went as far as to pinch his right arm, and the pressure he felt there solidified the fact that this was not just a bad dream. He finally managed to stand up and rinse his mouth out at the sink. He looked at himself in the mirror and was surprised that he looked better than he imagined. A fleeting thought ran through his head that he needed a haircut, but he kind of liked his hair longer like this, he liked being able to tuck it behind his ear. He smiled at himself in the mirror and was glad that he could still smile. A few seconds later he was honoring his father's request and making his way towards the den. His father was standing patiently with a plate in his hand while his mother paced around the room. He locked eyes with his mother when he entered, and she stopped moving for a fraction of a second and stared back intently at him before shaking her head and continuing to pace around the room. His dad walked forward, "I figured you were hungry, so I made you a sandwich."

Tim was starving, he hadn't eaten since breakfast the previous morning, "Thank you." he said taking a seat on the couch.

"Well at least he's grateful for something." His mother said.

"Tina..." Tim's father Tom started.

"No, we allow our son to live here rent free and we pay for his schooling and we have always given him everything he needed, and he decided to repay us by getting arrested for breaking in to an office? It just doesn't make any sense to me. Did you do it?"

Tim timidly took a bite of his sandwich. He wasn't sure he could say it aloud so he nodded his head. Tina scoffed and through her hands in the air and began to pace around the room even faster.

"Tim, why did you do it? You know if you needed money or anything you could always come to us?"

"I know, I didn't need money."

"Ok...so then why break into an office?"

"I did it cause I wanted to help Toby."

It took both parents a few minutes to remember who Toby was and that he and Tim had broken up last year.

"Are you talking about that boy you brought here?" Tina asked her son.

Tim nodded and Tina once again seemed to be in disbelief, "What does he have over you?"

"Nothing," Tim said quickly, "I did it cause I love him."

Tom put his hand over his face and Tina stared hard at her son, "You love him? Enough to do something stupid like this. I hope that love keeps you warm in jail."

"Tina! That's enough." Tom said looking at his wife. She knew she had gone too far in her last remark and she nodded towards her husband, "I'm sorry, but I'm having a hard time understanding why my son is willing to risk so much for this boy."

"I love him."

Tina laughed, not maliciously, but she was reminded that her son was still very young, "Tim, I know the break up was hard for you, but you are not in love with him. And doing these kinds of things only hurts you, obviously."

"You don't understand..."

Tina turned to her husband, "He says I don't understand when I've been married for over twenty years, how long you been married?"

"Tina..." Tom stared again.

"No, my son is throwing his future away for a boy he doesn't want him and he tells me I don't understand?! I can't do this now. I'm tired because I was at a police station all night trying to bail out my son." She walked out of the den and the click clack of her heels could be heard on the hardwood floors.

"Dad, can you talk to her?"

"Of course I will, but Tim we're all a little disappointed in you. You did a very silly thing."

"I know."

Tom took a deep breath, "Finish your sandwich and then go to bed. We all could use some sleep."

Tim was oddly comforted by the fact that his dad had just given him a command, it made him feel like a little kid again, when his dad could fix any problem for him, "Thanks dad."

Eric could feel the sunlight on his face and he swore he had remembered to close the blinds before climbing into bed. He thought maybe Cooper had opened them when he woke up. He quickly opened his eyes and looked to the extra bed in his room. The bed had been neatly remade and Cooper was nowhere to be found in the room. Eric sighed half relieved, half disappointed that Cooper had gone. He was very thankful that he and Cooper had decided not to talk once they had all gotten back to the dorms. They were both wiped out from the night's events and talking then probably would have done more harm than good. He waited around to see if Cooper had just gone to the bathroom, but after almost an hour, he was sure that Cooper wasn't coming back to the room anytime soon.

"Hello?"

"Hey," Eric said into the receiver of his cell phone, "How's it going?"

"Oh, you know," Michael said, "Can't complain."

"You sound like you're in a good mood."

"That's because I had really good sex last night."

"With who?"

"Eh, some guy I met at the club. That's something we need to do the next time you're down here."

"Uhhh...."

"You're going and that's final. How did that porn ever work out for you that day."

Eric took a deep breath, "Umm...it was good I guess."

"What's wrong?"

"Nothing." "Ok, just making sure. Let me tell you about the guy."

Michael blabbed about the guy he had slept with and Eric listened patiently.

He was waiting for Michael to pause, even if for a second, so he could interject, but Michael had an uncanny ability to talk endlessly.

"Michael!" Eric finally interrupted.

"What?"

"Something is wrong."

"I could tell. What happened?"

Eric had debated about whether or not to tell Michael about what he had done in the cruising spot on campus, but decided that would be a discussion for a later time, "Apparently, Cooper is in love with me."

"The tall Asian guy?"

"Yeah."

"Score! He's hot."

"That's not funny."

"I'm not trying to be funny. He's a good catch."

Eric was silent so Michael spoke up again, "You don't like him?"

"I don't know."

"Eric, you know whether you like someone enough to go out with them. Just tell me what you're thinking."

"He's a nice guy and all..."

"Cut the shit. This isn't a stranger this is someone you've been friends with for two years."

"Ok, ok. I guess now that I can finally admit I like guys, like I have this image of what my perfect guy is."

"And?"

"And it's not Cooper. He's an incredible guy and he makes me laugh and I love being around him, but I'm not in love with him."

"You don't have to be in love with him to go out with him. Why not just go out on a few dates to see what happens."

"I couldn't do that to him, cause what if I didn't feel anything."

"Then you'd tell him so."

Eric scoffed, "What does that accomplish?"

"You know one way or the other if you like him."

"I don't want to send out the wrong signals."

"Cooper's a big boy, he can handle it."

"Not Cooper, to Jon."

"Eric!"

"What?! Why does everyone act that way when I talk about Jon?"

"Because he's made it clear he's moved on. You should too."

"Whatever. Look I have to go."

"No you don't, you're just mad."

"No, I really have to go," Eric lied, "I'll talk to you later."

"Go out with Cooper!" Michael yelled before the call ended.

Toby and his parents had long since cleared out of Cooper's room to go back to the police department. He was glad because he really needed to be alone with his thoughts. So much had happened in the last twenty four hours that he wasn't sure he had even processed everything. There was a knock at his door and his heart immediately speeded up as he stared at the back of the door. He walked to the door and his hand lingered over the door knob. This had been put off long enough in his opinion so with a final intake of breath he opened the door.

"Oh, good," Cooper smiled, "It's just you."

"Just me?" Joey said annoyed, "Who's better than me?"

"How many people are on the planet?"

"Not funny," Joey said walking past Cooper into the room, What happened?" He said jumping on the balls of his feet.

"Nothing." Cooper said.

"Nothing? Wait, you guys didn't fuck?"

"Of course not?!"

"Well, sorry, but he had already blown a stranger, I thought jumping into bed with someone he knew was a no brainer."

"You need to shut the fuck up now." Cooper said glaring at his friend.

"Sorry. So...how did he react?"

"Surprised. I don't think he had any idea that I felt that way about him."

"Is he blind? Everyone and their mom thinks you two should be together."

"Really?"

" I think lots of people assumed something was already going on or that it eventually would." "Well, they'll be disappointed. He doesn't feel the same way."

"Did he say that?"

"No, but I could tell."

"How?"

"By the look on his face when I asked him if he loved me too."

"Oh my God, Cooper you can't ask somebody that."

"Why not?"

"Because...imagine if I had asked you if you loved me after we had sex in the shower."

"Uhhh...."

"Exactly, and you two didn't even have sex!"

"Wait, back it up...You love me?"

"Nooooooo! Totally missing the point here. You can't put someone on the spot like that, especially after you just dropped a bombshell like that on them."

"Ok, it was a stupid thing to do. But honestly, I'm glad I did it. I have some closure now."

"Closure? It's not over yet, give him some time to think."

"No, if you would have seen what I saw, you would know there's no chance. I'm glad I finally told him though. I can move on now."

"Cooper..." Joey started.

"No, really. I went down that road with Kevin and he's probably gone forever. For the sake of keeping Eric in my life, I'm going to force myself to move on and forget about the last couple of months. I'm just glad it's all out there, you know. Everyone's shown their cards and now it's just how we're all going to deal with."

"Well, as long as you're happy." Joey smiled.

"I'm getting there."

"Well, I'm heading to the dining commons. Want to go?"

"Naw," Cooper said, "I already ate. Thanks though."

"No prob." Joey said as he walked to the door. He stopped for a moment and turned, slightly apprehensive, towards Cooper, "Don't get the wrong idea, but I do love you...as a friend."

Cooper smiled widely, "I love you too kiddo."

"Thanks, that really means a lot. Catch ya later."

"Richard?" Bliss said knocking lightly on his dorm room door.

Richard leaped off the floor and briskly made his way to the door, "Bliss, what are you doing here?"

"Oh come on, you and Toby broke up I'm sure you are heartbroken. I needed to see that you were ok."

"Yeah...how did you know we broke up?"

"Facebook said you were now listed as single. And then there was like a broken heart."

"Oh."

"What happened?" She asked as she walked in.

"He cheated on me Bliss, with Tim."

"No way! Why?"

"Does it matter?"

"I guess not."

"I feel really stupid, you know. I gave up some of the things that were important to me for him and look what happened."

Bliss shrugged her shoulders, "I wish I was in love with someone enough to do that."

"Loved. Past tense."

"Oh you still love him."

"No, I don't."

Bliss gave him a doubtful look, "How can you love and hate someone at the same time?" Richard sighed.

"I don't know," Bliss said, "Do you think there's a chance you guys might get back together?"

"I don't even want to think about it. I haven't seen him since."

"Where's he been?" Bliss asked curiously.

"I don't know. I'm not his keeper anymore."

"Did you sleep on the floor?" Bliss asked looking at a bundle of sheets on the ground.

"Yeah, I couldn't sleep in that bed."

"Oh my God, they did it here?!"

"No, but still...it smells like Toby."

"Richie...I don't know what to say."

"Join the club."

"So how are you guys going to do the whole roommate situation?"

"I don't know, I haven't thought that far ahead. But there's no way we can stay here together."

"Yeah, probably not."

"Thanks for coming over Bliss, I really appreciate it."

"Well an unhappy Richie makes for an unhappy Bliss. Plus, nothing cheers you up like these." She said moving her behind her ear so that her chest was exposed.

Richard laughed, "I'm so glad I met you."

"I'm glad you met me too."

The doorbell awoke Tim and he lazily turned over to see how long he had been asleep. He was surprised to see that he'd been asleep for several hours, but his mind and body felt like he hadn't been asleep at all. He could barely make out the voices of his mother and father talking, but there was a third voice he couldn't make out. He sat up in bed and tried to concentrate so he could hear better. He started to get nervous, what if it was the police coming to arrest him again? He picked up his cell phone, not sure who he was going to call, but he felt like he needed to get out of his house. He thought about calling Toby, but thought it might be better to see him instead. He was wondering how he was going to get past his parents when he heard a light tapping on his door. Tim froze. He wasn't sure if he should say come in or try and climb out of his window, but he figured he was in enough trouble already so he very hesitantly said, "Come in."

Dr. Taylor crept into the bedroom and smiled weakly as she saw Tim sitting on the bed, "I'm glad you are awake. Your parents told me you were sleeping the last time they came up here."

"They've been checking on me?" Tim said with an accusatory tone.

"Yes, they're worried about you."

"And what I might do?"

"I don't know, do they have a reason to worry about that?"

"No, I mean...I understand I did something stupid, but it doesn't mean I'm all crazy now."

"So you did do it? Wait, don't answer that. I don't need or want to know."

"It's all over school now, huh? What I did."

"Among most of the administration yes, but by the time everyone comes back for spring break, I'm sure most everyone will know."

"Ugh, I can never go back there, I'd be so embarrassed."

"Tim, you're probably never going back to Sunnydale University. I'm sure that if they haven't already started, they will very soon request a hearing to get you expelled from the university."

"Are you serious?"

"Yes, very serious. You're being accused of something very serious, Tim. That's about the most the university can do, but you will have to eventually face a judge."

"For what?!"

"You had to have known this. You've been arrested and the charges haven't been dropped. At the very least you'll have to be arraigned and plead guilty or not."

Tim very badly wanted to tell Dr. Taylor that he was only nineteen, but even if he knew how ridiculously childish that would sound to her, "I don't know what to do."

"It's kind of why I'm here, I'm going to try and help you. Vanessa, my partner knows the law pretty well so she can help you on that front, and I'm going to try and pull a few strings around the community and see what we can come up with, ok?"

"Ok," Tim said trying not to cry, "How much trouble am I in?"

"A lot, but you've got a lot going for you that helps."

"Like what?"

"We'll get into that later, cause I need to go, but I wanted to stop by to see how you were holding up."

"Thanks."

"Stay positive ok?"

"I'll try."

"I'll be in touch soon." Dr. Taylor said as she walked out of his room.

Eric shuffled through his closet, trying to reach a pair of dirty jeans from the back of his closet. Cooper quietly walked in and smiled as he saw the lower half of Eric's body sticking out from the closet. He looked away quickly when he saw that Eric's shirt was beginning to rise up his lower back. He cleared his throat and Eric quickly retreated from the closet.

"Oh...hi. I forgot I left the door open."

"What are you doing?"

"Packing."

"So you are going home for the break?"

"At least for some of it. I can't avoid my mother anymore. Plus, I could use a home cooked meal or two. What about you?" "I'll be here. Just hoping to sleep most of it away.'

"Sounds good."

"Yeah...look, just forget about what I said the other day about being in love with you. I was just joking."

Eric smiled sympathetically, "I think we should talk about it."

"I don't. As long as I know me and you are cool. I'm fine with whatever."

"Please, let's just get it out of the way so we don't have to ever talk about it again."

"Ok," Cooper said plopping down on the bed, "Go ahead."

"You can't be mad at me..."

"I'm not."

"Let me finish. You can't be mad at me for not knowing or realizing you had those feelings for me all these months. It's not fair to me."

"I'm not mad at you."

"Good. And I think we should just be friends. Don't get me wrong, you're unbelievable and as much as I complain about this school, it's worth being here everyday because of you and your friendship. And you've been there for me and helped me so much."

Cooper nodded, but didn't say anything.

"So are we ok?"

"I tried to say that before you got all mushy, but hey you're really coming into your inner homo. That was a nice speech."

Eric smiled, but stayed the course, "Really, if there's anything you want to get off your chest, now's a good time so we don't have to revisit this in the future." "I think I'm good. Is there anything you want to say?"

Eric thought back to his talk earlier in the day with Michael, and how his friend had encouraged him to at least go out on a few dates with Cooper because no harm would be done. But as Eric considered it, he looked at the boy in front of him, who despite what he said, had the slightest look of hope that somehow Eric might give him a chance, "No, I've said everything I needed to say."

"Ok," Cooper said hiding his disappointment, "Now that that's settled...why don't you give me a call or something before you leave, so I can say goodbye."

"Will do." Eric said, trying to read Cooper's facial expressions, but there wasn't anything to read. As Cooper retreated back to his room, he smiled, but was a little frustrated with himself for already going back on the promise he made to himself that he would move on from Eric. When Eric hesitated a few minutes ago in the room, Cooper thought he might actually have been considering a relationship with Cooper, but to no avail. Friendship was fine with Cooper, he loved just being around Eric, and that would have to be enough.

Toby froze in his tracks as he made eye contact with Richard. He had stayed away from the room all day, mostly because he had been at the police station, but he needed to get a few things for the trip home. He was disappointed despite expecting Richard to quickly turn away and not acknowledge his presence. They had put their two beds next to each other, so that they could sleep together, but Toby noticed that the beds were now on separate sides of the room. It looked as though Richard had separated their belongings with his on one side of the room and Toby's on the other. As much as he wanted to object, he knew he had no right too, he was the reason Richard was acting this way.

Toby cleared his throat, "Umm...I just wanted to let you know that you don't have to worry about us sharing the room."

"I wasn't worried." Richard said not looking at Toby.

"Oh, good."

"Yeah, I figured that I wasn't the one who made this situation impossible so you should be the one to leave." Richard said.

"Well, it's not an issue anymore."

Richard didn't respond and turned his attention back to his computer. Toby glanced at him every few moments or so as he moved around the room. After several minutes, he stopped and looked at his ex boyfriend, "Don't you wanna know why it's not an issue anymore."

"Not really."

"Ok." Toby said zipping up a suitcase full of clothes he had quickly thrown in. He looked around for anything else he might need over the next week and couldn't find anything, "I'm not coming back." He blurted out. Richard acted as if he hadn't heard him.

"I talked to my parents and uh...we think it's best if I take the rest of the semester off and kind of recuperate back home."

"See ya." Richard said, giving a sailor's salute to Toby.

"Um, my dad's gonna be up here a week or so after, so he's going to pick up the rest of my stuff...ok then." Toby said looking hard at Richard. He didn't look for too long though. He had numerous pictures and memories of Richard that he knew he would never forget. He turned to walk away, but Richard's voice made him stop.

"I guess everything is ok with the police then?"

Toby was relieved that Richard was talking to him in an even tone, there was even a hint of concern in his voice, "Yes and no. I didn't do anything illegal, so I won't be charged with anything it looks like, but I might have to come up here a time or two if they need to question me again. Once it gets out, I'm sure everybody will think I'm an asshole anyway, so it'll be good to get out of dodge for a while."

"Yeah, everyone probably will think you're an asshole...if they don't already."

Toby nodded and turned to leave before Richard got heated again. He was disappointed when Richard didn't stop him, but he made his way down the hallway and peeked his head in Eric's room, "Hey."

"Hey," Eric smiled, "You all packed up to leave?"

"Yeah. My parents left about an hour or so ago."

"So everything's taken care of?"

"For now, I guess."

"Yeah, and I guess they can wait until you come back from spring break if they have any other questions."

"Yeah." Toby said simply. Cooper and Eric had done so much for him this past day that he didn't know how to tell them that he wasn't going to finish the semester. He swore to himself that he would call both of them once he got home, it'd be easier over the phone.

"I'll walk with you out." Eric said.

"You don't have to."

"I know, I want to."

They walked outside, making small talk along the way. Toby saw Cooper standing on the sidewalk looking up at the sky. Toby pointed him out to Eric and they both headed towards him.

"What are you looking at?" Eric said as they neared.

"Look, there's a rainbow in the sky."

"Where," Eric said, "I don't see it."

"That's cause there isn't one, fag."

Toby and Cooper laughed, but Eric rolled his eyes, "That isn't funny."

"Oh it is." Cooper smiled.

"Really though, what were you looking at?" Toby asked curiously.

Cooper shrugged, "Just looking up, wondering what's out there."

"More than probably any of us want to know."

"Very true." Eric agreed.

Cooper smiled, "So have we all made up now?"

Toby and Eric exchanged a smile, "I think so." Toby said.

"I'd agree." Eric followed.

"Good, it's about damn time, bitches."

And that wraps up Season 2. I want to thank everyone who took the time to read the story over these last few months and to tall those who took the time to comment. I'll be taking a little break from the story, but I look forward to posting more chapters in the near future. Feel more than free to fire off an e mail to tenniswiz12@msn.com over the next few weeks. I'd love to hear from you guys and what you're thinking about the future of the story. Again, thank you all for taking the time to read Three Roads and I'll see you all in the new year! Happy Holidays!!!!!!!