AN: Er… random vignettes. These are different from the Life Lessons series… I’m not quite sure how yet, but give me a few minutes, and I’ll surely come up with a reason ;;;

…

Okay, these are written off the top of my head and pretty much unedited O.o; since most of my stuff is unedited except for the grammer and stuff, well, that hopefully doesn’t make too much difference to the story. Life’s Lessons are written by hand before I type them out, and then I check them a couple of times before posting. These will probably just be short, idiotically fluffy one shots, written straight onto the computer with no actual idea as to what happens in the story.

There! I thought up a reason!

So, enjoy these O.o; cuz there will be more (half my one shots out of life lessons could fit in well here… like Empty… and stuff. I tend to write off the top of my head pretty often, actually XD)

So, read, enjoy, and please review!!

Ja ne!

"After I'm done with you, you’re never gonna want to let me go."

I could only stare at him blankly when he said that. For once, he looked completely serious, his eyes blue gray and utterly resolute, his mouth unsmiling, his entire face determined.

I gave a nervous laugh. “You don’t mean that, Pat. Come on, you know you’re not gay!”

He tossed his head, plainly unamused. “I know nothing of the sort,” he told me firmly. “And if I’m gay, you’re going to be my boyfriend.”

I was beginning to feel a little angry. He had no right to decide something that without my say so or permission. “Pat, you’re being ridiculous. Stop it. I’m not gay, even if you are, which I still doubt. There is no way in hell I’m going to be your boyfriend.”

He stares at me silently, and I find myself wondering if he even heard a single word I just said.

His next words confirm my guess that he hadn’t been paying attention at all. “Now that I think about it, you’d make a very good boyfriend. You always treat your girlfriends well.”

“Patrick! Girlfriends! Do you understand the significance? I. Am. Not. Gay!”

He doesn’t listen. “See, the way I see it, you fall in love with your best friend or your worst enemy, right? I don’t have a worst enemy, so that means I should be in love with you.”

I bury my face in my hands and groan in despair. I don’t think I’m getting through. It’s true though, when he says he has no worst enemies. He is, quite possibly, the most friendly guy I know. Except when he’s being stupid, like now. “Patrick, that isn’t a good reason to make your best friend your boyfriend. What about al that love and stuff? Don’t you want that?”

He examines his nails absently. “Well, yeah, that’ll be nice to have, I guess. But we kind of love each other already, don’t we? We wouldn’t be best friends otherwise. So what’s a bit more?”

I roll my eyes, knowing he won't be able to see it, but expecting the slap he gives me anyway. “Patrick, don’t hit me. And I can’t love you like that because I am still not gay!”

“You shouldn’t roll your eyes then,” he retorts, calmly ignoring the last part of my statement. “See what I mean? I can tell you’re rolling your eyes, right now in fact –“

I promptly stop.

He continues. “You see how well we know each other? We’re meant to be together.”

“Pat,” I grumble into my palms, “if you dare spout off some mushy stuff to me, I’m walking out of here right now.”

“Cam,” he manages to make it two syllables, drawn out in a patronizing tone. “Listen to me. I won’t need to persuade you, because once we’re together, you won’t be able to let go.”

“And if that really does happen – and I’m not saying it will – and we break up, I lose the supposed ‘love of my life’ and my best friend? That’s not fair, Pat.”

He pauses, and I begin to hope that he finally had paid attention to me, and I look up again. The hopes are dashed when he merely shrugs. “I’m not going to break up with you.”

“And you know this how?” I inquire dryly. I don’t believe him at all…

He rolls his eyes skyward. “Look, do you want to or not?”

My heart jumps into my throat. “No! I do not want to! At all! Ever!”

He gives me a slightly hurt look. “I don’t think I’d make that bad a boyfriend. I’d love you and stuff…”

I drop my brow into my hand again. “It’s not about that! I’m sure you’d be a great boyfriend to whoever, it’s just that I’m not gay!”

He narrows his eyes at that. “What will your mother say?”

Time freezes. I look up, my own eyes narrowed to slits and glare at him as dangerously as I know how. “What did you tell her?”

He inclines his head sideways and a little back, looking up at the ceiling again. “I told her that you were finally ready to embrace your true sexuality.”

“I am!” I yell, jumping to my feet. “For fuck’s sake, Patrick! Now she’ll be all disappointed and stuff with me, and I’ll have to put up with both her and my father for ‘breaking’ your heart and not dating you!” It’s almost insane how much my parents love him. Second son, I am, and if I hadn’t had an older brother, Patrick would have been first instead. It’s not that I mind. My family gets pretty crazy. But they can pull guilt trips worthy of… I can’t even think up a comparison. All I know is that they’ll make me feel worse and worse until I finally give in…

His brows furrow and tilt upwards a little, plainly upset now, although his eyes are still narrowed too much for me to see if it’s genuine or not. “Is that your only problem? That you’re not gay?”

“Yes!” I yell at him. Then pause. Hang on a minute there…

He’s beaming again. “So you’d date me if I were a girl? Or if you were one?”

I groan and fall back onto the bench again. “If you’re suggesting a sex change, the answer’s no.”

“But you love me,” he prompts softly.

I scowl and look away. “Yea, all right, fine. I love you, you bloody prick, but not enough to get a sex change.”

“Enough to become gay?”

I shake my head at that. “No, Patrick. I’m not going to be gay just for you.”

“You won't regret it,” he coaxes, sitting down next to me. I give him a suspicious look. “Honest, I won’t let you.”

“Like that’s going to change my mind,” I mutter, looking away. And for reasons I can’t imagine, my heart leaps into my throat when he rests a hand on my shoulder. Now that I think about it though, he was always trying to touch me whenever he could…

“I told you,” he whispers softly. “Once I’ve got you, you won’t ever want to let go. And neither will I, I promise.”

He knows me too well. Absolutely, definitely, without a doubt. Otherwise why else would he talk in a voice that makes me feel like I really would break his heart, even if he isn’t in love with me.

I sigh, and look at him. “I hate being a pushover,” I mutter. “But fine. I’ll pretend to be gay, and you can take me out once, and we’ll see how that goes before we do anything else.”

The smile he smiles is so brilliant, it almost convinces me that he is in love with me…

And I push the thought away, because I don’t want to think about it. If I realize that he’s really in love with me, I might start returning the favor.

And I meant what I said.

We’ll take this one step at a time, and if we’re in love with each other before even the first date is finalized…

Well, that’s going too fast.

If, however, we find we love each other during or after that first date…

I think he’s right.

After he’s done with me, I’m never going to want to let him go.