Wayward People

Disclaimer: The usual rules apply here. If you aren't legal in your area to be reading material(non erotic, mind you) about homosexuals and the activities they may or may not participate in, then please don't read. This story has been copyrighted and is not to be used elsewhere in any way without the express permission of the author (that would be me). For everyone else, enjoy!

Wayward People

Chapter Three "Second Chances"

It had been exactly one hour since I'd thrown Troy Hamilton out of my house and I found myself thinking about my actions more than I wanted to.

I was right to throw him out. Wasn't I?

Yes.

I was totally right to throw him out.

The guy was a prick. A fucking asshole who rivaled Evan when it came to being the bigger dick to me.

He deserved to be kicked out. And I could do it too. I DID do it.

So why did I feel almost.....regretful for doing it?

"I had to do it!" I found myself exclaiming as I heard the front door opening.

"Okay....," Max said, looking at me strangely.

His hair was wet and he looked like he'd been in the water for quite sometime, which he had considering the fact that he had been at swim practice for the past two hours.

"Oh, Max....sorry," I mumbled, looking around.

Not sure why I was so surprised. He normally got home around this time. Why was I so jumpy?

I watched as Max put his stuff down on the living room floor and went over to the fridge, looking inside it.

"Hey, so where's Troy?" Max asked. "I wanna kick his ass again in Tekken."

What was I supposed to say to that? The truth? That I had kicked his ass out because he'd gotten on my last nerve?

"Uh....."

"Oh nevermind," Max said, opening a bottle of water. "I think he said something about going over Evan's later."

"Oh.....right," I said, bitterly.

Max must have noticed my foul mood.

"Look I'm not exactly fond of Evan after what he did to you last week, but Troy does have a right to make his own friends."

Like to see him try and make some now!

Max started digging through the fridge and I was still feeling a bit shaky after my experience just a little while ago, so I went up to my room.

But not before I stopped at the guest room first. It looked like it did just a few days ago, before Troy had occupied it. Roomy, but otherwise empty. Troy's stuff was gone. Troy was gone. And I felt, somehow, like that actually meant something.

Whatever. The guy was more trouble than he was worth. He certainly didn't deserve me thinking about him like I was right now. No, that would be much too good for him.

But if only I could stop.

I had to take my mind off of him somehow, so I did what I loved doing whenever I wanted to get away from everything.

Write.

I left the guestroom and went into my own room, shutting the door behind me. Even though all the doors in the house had locks on them, I never had to lock the door to my room. My parents and brother respected my privacy and usually knocked before entering.

Still though, that didn't mean that I did....certain activities while in the confines of my room.

But now though, I found myself being pulled to a story I had started a few days before all the talk of Troy coming to stay with us even first popped up.

It was actually about a guy secretly in love with another guy, but the first guy couldn't tell the second guy because the second guy was kind of a bully.

Don't even start thinking the story has anything to do with me and my life. It's entirely fiction, although, my recent real life experiences had caused me to start believing that fiction would always be just that, fiction.

I daydreamed all the time before Troy came. I couldn't wait for him to arrive. I kept thinking, this is just like one of my stories. I, the lonely loser, will find someone at last. And he;d be the perfect guy. And the two of us would be the perfect couple.

Didn't turn out like that though.

Instead it was the lonely loser's life got turned upside down, made worse by the fantasy crush. But he was gone now. I could go back to being the guy no one talked while Troy.......could go to hell as far as I was concerned.

"So you say Troy is at that boy Evan Parker's huh?" my mom asked while passing my father the mashed potatoes he's asked for.

"Ah, I guess," I replied. "I mean I don't really-"

"Maybe we shouldn't talk about Evan," Max cut in, obviously aware of how tense I was feeling.

I always loved he was usually able to read me so well.

My mother and father exchanged brief glances before either one of them decided to change the subject.

"So how are things go with you and Troy, sweetheart?" my mom asked.

"Me and Troy? There's no me and Troy," I replied, defensively.

Maybe I was being a little jumpy, but it was because of Troy that I was. So I blamed him.

"Well sweetheart I just meant how are things in general? Are you two getting along?" my mom clarified.

I'd say the farthest thing from it, actually.

"Uh...."

This was hard enough as it is, the lying to my parents thing. But it was getting worse, and not having to lie to my parents too much, it was starting to show.

"I'm sure they are," my dad spoke. "Troy's a good kid."

"Yeah," my mom replied.

Max continued to give me that look that he gave me whenever he wanted me to tell him what was wrong with me.

"Why don't you call him and ask him to come home for dinner?" my mom asked. "I think we might actually have the Parkers' number-"

"Troy's not coming home," I said.

Boy did things grow unnervingly quiet after those words had left my mouth. That and everyone was staring at me to go with the silence.

"Michael, hun....what are you-"

"I threw him out."

Everyone continued to stare at me.

"You...threw him out?" my mom asked.

I could tell she was trying to remain calm, they all were. But any minute now, they'd all erupt.

"Mike, man, why?"

"Because Max....the guys an.....a bad guy," I replied, stopping my own self from getting too upset talking about him.

My mom looked as though she was about to pop a nerve.

"Why on EARTH would you do something so rude!"

Now she was upset.

"Evelyn-"

"No, Peter, this....this is beyond comprehensible!" my mother exclaimed, getting out of her chair.

"Wait a second....so...so Troy never was with Evan was he?" Max asked.

Hell I know. For all I know, Evan could have been the person he went to after I threw his ass out.

"When did you do it?" my mom asked, glaring at me.

"What?"

"When did you kick Troy out, without my or your fathers permission mind you."

"It was.....around, six, I guess," I replied.

I couldn't remember anymore. I did know, however, that I was starting to regret what I did. Not because of Troy. But because of my fear over what my mom was going to do to me.

"Oh goodness, the poor boy has been out there all alone for an hour and a half!"

"I'm sure he's not alone," I replied. "He's got plenty of friends, right Max?"

Max crossed his arms and glared at me.

"But why son?" my dad asked, finally getting involved. "Why did you kick Troy out?"

Must I keep going through this? I didn't want to talk about Troy anymore. I just wanted to forget about him.

"Because.........." I started.

But...what was I supposed to say? That the reason I wanted Troy out of my life was because he embarrassed me a couple of times? It was more than that to me obviously, but to anyone on the outside looking in, it would more than likely seem like I had acted indecisively, kicking Troy out for selfish reasons.

And deep down inside myself, I knew that I had kicked Troy out for petty reasons. But so what. If I wanted to kick him out, I would, end of story. I didn't ask for much. Wasn't a temperamental person. Didn't get into many arguments. So I should have been at least able to want Troy gone, the way I saw it.

"It doesn't matter WHY Peter," my mom spoke. "You have to go find him, Michael!"

"What? No!" I shouted.

I threw him OUT, remember? You don't go digging through the trash you toss out once it's out and you don't go finding homeless jackasses once they've overstayed their welcome.

"Excuse me young man? You will do as I say."

"I threw him out because-"

"I don't CARE!" my mother exclaimed.

Yep, she was upset alright.

"What kind of example are you setting for our community? For the church?" my mom spoke, a lot more calmly than before. "How do you think you look in God's eyes right now?"

Well I was already a sinful homosexual. There was always time to add to my list of reasons why I was going to hell.

"Look, I'm not gonna go look for him. He's just gonna have to find someone else to stay with the rest of the year," I said.

I made up my mind. I wasn't going to look for the bastard.

"Michael you are gonna go look for Troy because your mother and I say so!" my dad exclaimed.

Ugh. God, don't you just hate that? When you're having a scuffle with one parent and the other one decides to get involved? It's like, mind your own damn business, you know?

Still though, if there was one thing that all dad's on the planet had in common was that whatever they say goes.

And my dad was no exception to that rule. He was usually pretty laid back and easy going. But when it came time to lay down the law, he was tough.

"Dad-"

"What did I say, Mike?"

I looked over at Max who looked a mixture of upset and disgusted with me.

I guess he would be. Troy was a part of the in crowd Max was so involved with. That and he knew me better than anyone. He probably knew there had to be more to the story and was upset that I hadn't talked to him about it before I decided to take matters into my own hands.

"Fine," I said through gritted teeth.

My mom was staring out the window in front of the kitchen sink while my dad just had a stern look on his face.

"I'm coming with you," Max said, getting up.

He walked straight past me and up to his room. I guess to get his jacket or something.

My parents weren't saying much and I definitely didn't want to stay with them any longer than necessary, so I started upstairs to grab my own jacket and keys.

"Oh and Michael," my dad said as I had just was about to leave.

I turned to face him.

"Don't come back without Troy."

The car ride thus far had been unnervingly quiet. Max sat in the passenger seat with his arms crossed, silently fuming.

I didn't know what to him. Sure he and I got into our fair share of sibling rivalries, but we never stayed mad at each other longer than twenty or thirty minutes. And we at least talked, albeit screaming and shouting, but talking nonetheless.

Now....now things were just silent. And I didn't like it. I had to do something.

"You know, I didn't just kick him out," I said.

Max looked over at me.

"Really?"

The way he'd said that.....he was pissed.

"It was never gonna work out," I replied.

"And how did you come to that conclusion Mike, huh?" Max asked. "Is it because he's friends with Evan? I'm friends with Evan? You gonna kick me out on my ass next?!"

"Max, Troy...he...."

I didn't know what to say. For the same reason I couldn't quite explain to my parents why I kicked Troy out was the same reason I couldn't tell my own brother.

I hated that I couldn't tell my brother my deepest secret. I felt like I was lying to him in a way. A lot worse than I felt right now.

"Hey, let's try Evan's house first," Max said.

"What?" I asked, slightly shocked.

"They're friends, remember?" Max asked.

And with that, he sat back and looked out the window.

I knew how to get to Evan's house only because I'd had to pick Max up a couple of times from there.

And I also knew that Max would talk to me when he was less angry with me. He was wise that way. He always tried to avoid confrontation if possible. But as we all know, its not always that easy.

We reached Evan's house in no time. He didn't live that far away from us and judging from the complete darkness the house seemed to be drenched in, it didn't seem as though anyone was home, let alone Troy.

"Max, I don't think," I started as I parked the car. "I mean..."

"Just come on," Max said getting out of the car.

All those times I'd picked Max up, I'd never actually gotten out of the car. I always honked once I got there and Max came out.

I felt like I was in some horror movie with the idiots that always go IN to the creepy dark mansion rather than AWAY from it.

Evan's house was the mansion, although it wasn't a mansion but it was still creepy to me, and Evan was the killer, although I'm sure he wasn't a killer either.

Well....probably not. I hope not.......

I stood by nervously as Max rang the doorbell. Despite the situation or lack thereof, he looked very calm. Not nervous at all.

We waited for a few seconds before we were greeted by someone I definitely wasn't expecting to see.

"Max? What are you doing here?"

"Hey Sienna," Max greeted. "Is Evan around?"

I don't know why I was so shocked to see her. She was after all Evan's girlfriend and this was Evan's house.

I could only imagine what had to have been going on before we arrived, since all the lights had been off.

"Uh, yeah," Sienna replied, moving to the side to let us in.

Max walked in without giving me a second glance and walked straight to living room while I lingered at the front doorstep.

"Mike, right?"

"Yeah."

Sienna had an unreadable look on her face, but I wouldn't have been able to tell what she wasn't thinking anyway as I had yet to understand the female psyche.

I walked inside while Sienna shut the door behind me.

"Kinda dark, don't you think?" I asked.

"Oh, Evan and I were watching a movie," Sienna said as she led me to the living room "Evan likes all the lights to be out."

I wish I could have at least been able to see how nice or untidy the house was, but it was too dark to really be able to tell.

When we reached the living room, Evan looked a little surprised to see me, one he turned on a light. But the look soon turned to one similar to the one I'd been getting from Max all night.

"You threw him out?" Evan asked, obviously keeping his cool since Max was here.

"Threw who out?" Sienna asked, taking a seat on the couch.

I stood as far away from everyone as possible without being overly rude.

"Look have you seen him tonight or not?" I asked.

I really didn't want to get into any discussions involving decisions I had made regarding Troy when frankly, they were none of Evan's business.

"I'm still trying to wrap my head around this one," Evan started. "I mean, I always knew you were weird, but stupid....I never thought that about you."

"Wait, you threw out Troy?" Sienna asked, looking at me.

Surprisingly, she didn't possess the look of complete anger like Max and Evan did. Instead she looked slightly confused but concerned nonetheless.

But the silence that followed was more than enough to make up for it.

Max sighed angrily and crossed his arms while Evan flashed me a disgusted look.

"I figured he'd be okay, what with Max being around and all," Evan said. "But you've always been kind of out there."

"Hey," Max warned.

Even though he was pissed at me, he still managed to be the protective younger brother when being threatened.

"Um...Mike, do you mind if I talk to you for a sec," Sienna said.

Evan looked over at Sienna with a confused look but Sienna just pulled me away from him and Max and out into a dark hallway out of earshot of them.

"Um...." I started.

I couldn't really see Sienna and it didn't look as though she were about to do anything to change that.

"I know you and don't really run in the same circle," she started.

Well that was a huge understatement but I decided not to comment on it. I was confused enough as it was.

"That night when we talked at the park.....I got the feeling that you wanted things to work out with Troy. Like you really wanted to get to know him."

How she interpreted that from our two minute little conversation was beyond me.

"So why would you throw him out?" she asked.

This was beyond insane. Was Sienna Carpenter, girlfriend of the most popular guy in school and most popular female herself, actually trying to get me to confide in her after spending a grand total of three minutes alone with her in my lifetime?

"Look, you're right," I started. "We don't run in the same circle. So I don't really think-"

"Sienna!"

Evan was calling her.

I couldn't see her that well but I could tell she was staring at me. She stood there for a good ten or more seconds before finally leaving to attend to her boyfriend.

I was too shaken up by this point. I hadn't expected Sienna to want me to confide on her. It seemed like everyone but me wanted Troy back. And if that's what they wanted, then I might as well give them their happiness and my misery back.

I took a quick glance back in the dark before I quietly made my way out of the house and back outside to the car. If Troy wasn't at Evan's it could only mean one thing. He was trying to leave. Planes were too messy this time a night and on such short notice. Which meant he had to be downtown waiting for a charter bus.

Deductive analysis. I'd always been good at that. I just hoped that I was right this time.

Troy stood in line behind a few other people paying for a ticket. He was nervous actually.

He'd never been on a bus like this one before. This one was going to take him all the way back home. A long time to be on a bus. But what other options did he have?

Mike threw him out.

He'd had some time to think about what he'd done to cause him to snap and he realized that he had been a little rude to Michael.

But it was like he told him, he was nervous. For so many reasons. But the most obvious one was.....well.......

He didn't want to admit that though. Because if he did, then.....he'd be admitting that he was one of them. He didn't want to be one of them.

And leaving was for the best. Because if he stayed, Mike might have brought his hidden thoughts and forbidden feelings to the surface. And then he couldn't guarantee that he wouldn't cause him any more trouble than before.

"Next!"

Troy jumped back a little at the loud call of the ticket taker, but quickly recovered walking up to him.

"I need one ticket for the next charter bus to Ontario," Troy said.

The ticket taker typed something in the computer while Troy stood by idly.

"The next bus leaves in half an hour," the man spoke. "And its gonna be one fifty total."

Troy thought the price was kind of steep, but considering that he was going to be traveling from one country to another for several hours, it was understandable.

Lucky for him he hadn't had time to spend any of the money he brought from home. He had quite a bit as he had been saving a lot for weeks. It was the only way he'd get any money because his parents certainly weren't going to give him any. They were good for nothing idiots.

"Here you go. Have a nice night," the ticket taker spoke, handing Troy his ticket.

Troy smiled unevenly and took the ticket.

Now all that was left was to wait. To wait and to forget about his time spent in Wayward, Nevada.

"That brother of yours, I swear, I'll like never understand him," Evan said as he took a seat next to Sienna.

Troy still had his arms crossed and was standing near the Parker home fireplace, which at the moment was providing the only light in the room.

"I don't really know Mike, but it just doesn't seem like he's the type of person to be bold enough to throw somebody out like that," Sienna said.

"So what happened? Did they get into a fight or something?" Evan asked.

Max had no idea what had happened. As far as he could tell, Troy had been nothing but wonderful in his short amount of time staying with them. There didn't seem to be anything wrong with him, that and, he didn't seem to be some kind of bully. And there hadn't really been time for either Troy or Mike to develop and bad feelings toward each other. They weren't around each other much for one thing.

But something occurred to Max while he was thinking about it all. If he wanted to know what was wrong, all he had to do was just ask his brother.

"Hey Mike!" he called out.

There was silence in the room as Mike didn't answer his brother.

"Mike?" Max said, heading towards the front.

He looked out one of the large windows near the front door.

"Shit."

He was gone! Mike just up and left without him.

"What's wrong?" Evan asked, once Max had rejoined he and Sienna in the living room.

"Mike is gone," Max replied while taking out his cellphone. "I don't believe him."

His brother had been acting strangely ever since Sunday morning and throwing Troy out had to be the most outlandish he had ever seen his brother behave.

But now? Now he was adding to his list of unusual behavior by taking off without him. And to who knows where, too.

"He's not answering it," Max said as Mike's phone just continued to ring.

Max just hoped that wherever Mike was going, that he would be okay.

If someone were to ask me if I cared about Troy Hamilton at all, my answer would be simple. One, I didn't know him. And two, I didn't want to know him.

So no, I didn't care for Troy.

Some could rationalize that I wasn't giving him a fair chance. But those people would be the ones who speak without having the things happen to them that they criticize others for. They were worse than hypocrites.

My mom and dad. My mom and dad were so angry with my decision to throw Troy out that they didn't even stop to consider what would make their usually calm and well behaved oldest child act in such a unheard of manner. No, instead they figured that I couldn't throw someone out because it was ungodly. God forbid I throw someone I actually liked out.

Who said I was wrong anyway. Sure, I'll be the first to admit that throwing Troy out was probably the wrong thing to do. At least throwing him out without telling anyone anyway. I still would have thrown him out, AFTER everyone knew.

He just couldn't stay. And nothing said he had to.

Not any paper written rules. Not any physical attraction I might have had to the guy. Not any attraction he might have had to me.........

Not that he did. At least I was 99% sure that he didn't. It was better to think that I didn't have a chance with Troy anyway. That way I'd be able focus on hating him. I seemed to be good at that anyway.

Before he came, I'd spent all my time fantasizing about what he would be like and what his arrival was going to do for my life. And I'd definitely received my answer alright.

Troy wanted to ruin my life. And for what reason exactly? Not sure why but Troy certainly seemed to know why.

Maybe I'd ask him that when I found him. It wouldn't matter what the answer would be. I considered Troy to be a thing of the past. Nobody I had to worry about anymore, regardless of whatever he had to say to me.

Troy looked down at his watch.

The bus he was waiting for would be arriving within the next few minutes. He was ready.

He'd had a lot of time to think to himself about what went wrong while he was here. And he'd figured it out exactly.

What happened was that he had fallen too hard for someone he wasn't supposed to. Someone from the same sex. Someone who he was supposed to be living with for the next year. Those were all mistakes that he had made. And his hostility towards Mike had nothing to do with him so much it had to do with his own self. And his own feelings.

But that's just the kind of person he was. He'd never been able to express his feeling properly. Things usually ended up in disaster and he usually ended up alone in the end.

He'd hoped for things to work out in Wayward. He just wasn't expecting to actually have feelings for the guy who was supposed to be hosting his stay in town.

And that would be the only time that he admitted that. Because he definitely did not want to be considered gay. That was another reason why he'd been so hostile towards Mike. Because he didn't want him to think he was gay. True, he more than likely hadn't 'acted' like however it was that gay people acted. But he still didn't trust himself not to. So he was overly masculine and cocky and rude. It was easy to act that way once he started hanging around Evan, who knew how to be all three of those things rolled up into one mean-ass package.

He didn't mean to hurt Mike. But he did. And he understood that he had to go now. He'd made a horrible first impression. Again. And now he had to deal with it.

He looked around one last time before he gathered his bags and stood in line with the other people waiting for the bus.

The bus station was for some reason crowded. That was weird to me but understandable. People were always in a hurry these days.

But it was frustrating because it made it that much harder to locate Troy. And I had to find him. Otherwise I wouldn't be able to even go home.

Another reason to hate the guy. Not hate. Dislike. I didn't know Troy enough to have a real reason to hate him. But a serious dislike I could and did have.

"Can I help you sir?"

"Yeah, uh....is there a bus going out to Ontario tonight?" I asked.

Unlikely, but still very possible. Wayward was like an inch away from Las Vegas. People from all around took a bus to get here which meant that we had to have that many more buses ready to go all over.

"Yes, actually it's boarding as we speak."

"Thanks," i said, turning to head for the direction the ticket taker pointed me in.

"Hey wait, you cant get on without a ticket!"

I turned back around.

"I don't need a ticket," I replied. "I'm looking for someone."

"Even still, you can't get pass those gates without a ticket."

The guy seriously wanted to irritate me further than I already was, didn't he.

"Fine," I replied, pulling my wallet from my back pocket. "How much?'

"To Ontario? One hundred fifty dollars."

"What?!"

The ticket taker seemed to take some kind of sick pleasure in seeing me react the way I had. Fortunately for him, I had a job. Which meant that I also had a credit card.

"Here," I said, reluctantly handing him what was sure to be the worst spent one hundred fifty dollars in my entire life.

I made a mental note to inform my parents of how much I had to pay for a ticket I wouldn't even be needing to use.

"Here you are sir."

I took my ticket and rushed back to the revolving gates. I handed the long ticket to a man standing behind the gates, who tore it in half and instructed me to give the other half to the bus driver once I got on.

And I did as instructed and immediately began searching the large bus over for Troy.

I found him after a few seconds, seating near the back of the bus. Obviously he hadn't seen me. And if he had, it just further proved how much of an arrogant idiot he was.

"Okay, come on Troy," I said, as I approached him. "Time to go home."

Troy looked shocked to see me on the bus. He looked behind me and out the window as if he were expecting me to be with other people before he refocused his attention back to me.

"What are you doing here?" he asked.

"Making sure I get to come home," I replied.

This wasn't about Troy. It was about me being able to come home. That's it.

"Oh," Troy replied, sounding a tad hurt. "Well I guess you'll be going without me."

"Troy why do you have to be such a dick?" I asked, taking a seat next to him.

I saw no legitimate reason for his rude behavior towards me. None at all. And it just seemed to be only me he behaved that way towards as well.

Troy didn't seem to want to answer me because he started looking out the window.

"Well, it doesn't matter anyway. I'll just take you back with me for tonight and then tomorrow we can get you someone new to stay with."

Troy turned back to me.

"Sorry, but I'm going home."

The two of us just stared at each other for the longest time.

"Troy you don't understand. I-"

I stopped short when I realized that the bus was moving. We were leaving!

"Troy, come on, we have to go," I said, pulling at his jacket.

"Get off of me. I told you, I'm going home."

"Now is not the time to play super asshole."

"Well if you weren't such a prude to me......."

That right there got me thinking. Had I, in any way shape or form, been a prude towards Troy? I couldn't have been. I mean, I wanted to get to Troy and it was obvious that he hadn't wanted to know me. I wasn't mean to him.

But then...maybe......maybe he knew. Maybe he knew I was gay. That would explain everything.

But I couldn't think about all of it right now. I had to get off the bus.

"Troy, look...I understand that you don't like me and to tell you the truth, I don't really like you much either-"

"Well good, something we can agree on-"

"But we cant stay on this bus!"

"And why not?" Troy asked. "I mean, I know why you don't wanna stay, but since it is gonna be taking me home, then I don't see why I should get off."

I just stared at Troy dumbfounded.

I understood that my father had been completely serious earlier when he told me that I wasn't to come home without Troy. Granted, he would more than likely allow me to come home without him. But he'd know if I had tried everything in my power to bring him home. And right now, I wasn't really trying.

At least...not for the right reasons.

"Troy.....please...."

Troy turned to look out the window.

"I hope you like the snow."

Max had long since stopped being angry with his brother. Now he was just worried. He had no idea where Mike was and he couldn't contact him because he had turned off his cell phone.

And he couldn't call his parents. That was out of the question. Mike was already in enough trouble with them and he didn't want to make it worse for him by telling them that he had taken off without him and had been gone for over two hours.

"Maybe you should call home and see if-"

"Can't," Max said, cutting Sienna off.

Sienna clenched the pillow in her lap tighter.

"Where did you say your folks were again?" Max asked.

"Church benefit in L.A.," Evan replied. "They wont be back until tomorrow night. So if you want, you can totally crash here for the night."

Max knew that without his brother or Troy in hand when he showed up back at home, he would definitely have to take Evan up on his offer.

"So you really don't have any idea of why....uh..Mike, would wanna throw Troy out?" Evan asked.

Max glanced at Evan before looking back over at the fireplace.

"No. I don't," he replied.

"Huh...well-"

Evan stopped when the phone started ringing.

"Probably the rents checking in on me again," Evan replied, getting up to answer the phone in another room.

Sienna looked over at Max.

"Are you really sure? Because I'm here if you wanna talk to someone," she replied.

Max looked up at her.

"Earlier...when you were talking about Mike.....about him not seeming like the type of guy to throw someone out.....what did you mean?"

Sienna sighed before replied.

"I don't know.....your brothers always been so shy.....I guess its that and knowing him since kindergarten-"

"Know him? What is it you think you know about him?"

Max wasn't trying to be and ass be he found it amusing that Sienna thought she knew his brother, even though clearly, she didn't.He'd never seen her or Mike talk, ever. In fact, he wasn't even aware she knew he had a brother, even though he'd mentioned Mike quite a few times to her.

"I'm not just your typical dumb cheerleader, you know," Sienna replied. "I notice people too."

Max didn't say anything further and instead turned back to the fireplace.

There was that feeling again. The one where I felt like I wanted to hyperventilate. I'd been feeling that way a lot lately and being on a bus going to another country was making me feel that way again.

Canada? Canada? What the hell was I supposed to do once I got there? Troy wasn't going to take me in after what I'd done to him. Not that I'd want him to anyway.

And how exactly was I supposed to explain to my parents that the reason why I didn't come home tonight, or probably even tomorrow night, was because I was in another country entirely?

I wasn't, that's how. I just had to get Troy to come home with me somehow. Even though we had been on the bus for well over an hour now. And if I couldn't do that, then I wanted to at least get a better answer than the one he'd given me before about why he was so...uneasy to get along with.

"Troy..."

We hadn't spoken to each other since the bus had taken off, but I was starting to panic now and when that happened, I was a lot unlike how I normally was.

"What?"

It was evident in the way he said that that he was agitated.

But I ignored it.

"If you're going home anyway, I just wanna know why you.....well...why you were he way you were to me."

Seemed like a pretty fair question to ask considering the circumstances.

Troy turned from the window to look at me. And he just stared at me for the longest amount of time before he responded.

"You wouldn't understand..."

The way he said it this time....it was a lot less angry and more.....sad.

I felt compelled now. I wasn't sure what it was but Troy sure was making it easy for me to start liking him again.

"Would it help if I told you that I'm willing to listen?"

"What does that matter? I'm going home anyway."

"But you don't have to......we....I don't want you to."

For some reason, I actually meant that. I didn't want Troy to have to go home because of his bad experience with me. He should be able to stay with someone else and finish the year.

"Really?"

He was giving me this meaningful stare. One that looked as though he were trying to peek into my soul.

It was so powerful I had to look away.

"But...I don't know what'll happen if I come back with you," Troy replied, looking ahead, not at anything or anyone.

"What do you mean?"

He turned to me.

"I was nervous...being around you...it was like.....it was like....I couldn't stop myself from being a dick," he replied.

I wasn't sure what he was getting at, but I could feel something behind those words. It was almost like real emotion.

"Troy-"

"I never wanted to be so mean to you. And I'm sorry that I was.....but if I go back....." he looked me straight in the eyes. "I cant guarantee that something else won't happen. Something worse."

Something worse? But....but it seemed to me like he was actually afraid for that to happen. I thought before that he was mean because he enjoyed it. But now...now it seemed like he hated it and that he was terrified that he'd do it again.

"Troy....I can't say that I understand what you're talking about....but maybe you just need some time," I started. "Time to get use to me...to everything."

"I don't know......"

"Just try it out. I promise that I'll forget about what you did if you just come home with me," I started.

The Troy I was talking to now seemed like an entirely different person than the one who I'd met just a few days ago.

This Troy seemed a lot more down to Earth. Like the guy I had been dreaming he'd turn out to be from day one.

Like the guy that I wanted the moment I saw him.

Like the guy I was starting to want again.

"Mike-"

"Just come home with me," I replied. "We can start over."

"Start over?"

"It'll be like a second chance for the both of us to get to know each other," I replied.

I'd already given Troy a chance. But everyone deserved a second one. Third chances, however, were out of the question in my book.

And if he screwed up again..........

"Okay," Troy smiled. "We'll start over."

We could do that, but we had to get off this bus first. We were already a couple of hours away from home.

"Yeah, but how do we get off of this bus?" I asked.

Troy looked up.

"Don't worry, I'll handle this one," He spoke.

I watched him as he grabbed his stomach and started groaning as if he were in pain.

"Oh....oh my god, that poor child!" an older woman from a few seats over started screaming.

Panic was slowly uprising on the bus and it was obvious what Troy was trying to do so I went along with it.

"Somebody stop the bus!"

Not more than ten seconds after I'd said it did I feel the bus completely stopping.

"Come on, I'll get you to a hospital," I said, leading Troy off, who was still acting as though he were in great pain.

Once we were off the bus I led Troy over to a bench near the side of the road.

"I give that performance two thumbs up," I replied.

"Why thank you my good man," Troy replied.

I hoped that our new beginning would be completely different than how the old one started.

That was going to take work on both of our parts, I knew that. But I really was willing to try this again.

"Okay, so...how do we get home now?" Troy asked.

I looked back at the empty road behind us.

"Good question."

A/N

The response I've gotten from this story thus far has been that of tremendous support and I apprecite all of you who have either sent me a private email, which can be sent to: crossingboi2004@yahoo.com, or joined my Yahoo Group at: http://groups.yahoo.com/group/JoJoPresents-GayFiction/. Any feedback at all goes a long way towards helping me through this dull summer and is always appreciated.

Copyright 2005