A/N: Thanks for the reviews! Haha, everyone loves Ronen now. Only one more chapter after this one.

Dropping Off

By LQ Aredhel (cart wheeling through life)

Chapter 13

Friday – One day until the convention.

Jude woke up late Friday morning with his arms wrapped around Ronen. It was a change, but Jude barely noted it; he remained comfortably entangled in the other body and thought about the events of the last eighteen hours.

It was like a process that Ronen carefully administered to Jude, teaching him to keep his mind surface level by focusing only on the present, on what was happening to his own body. Everything else was pushed back, and any time Ronen saw in Jude's expression that his anxiety was moving to the front of his mind, Ronen created more contact, more skin on skin to overcome the demons.

By the time morning came, Jude was able to watch Ronen sleep and feel completely at ease. The soft peacefulness of the night was still with him as he slowly breathed in and out. He could hear Ronen's heartbeat. Jude wished he could stay there longer, but his bodily functions forced him to untangle himself and use the bathroom. When he returned, Ronen was reclining on his back, staring at him.

"Have a good sleep?" he asked, a smug little smirk across his face. He was completely naked. A few thoughts bubbled up into Jude's mind, causing him to blush and search the floor for his boxers. He also remembered that it was Friday, and he had been asked to pick up Connor at the hospital Friday. Thinking about Connor stung, but Jude found middle-ground by not reminding himself why Connor was in the hospital. He was able to maintain his relaxation as he pulled on his boxers.

"Good morning to you too," Ronen said groggily, stretching shamelessly across the bed. He rose and wrapped his arms around Jude's stomach, stopping him from gathering up the discarded clothes strewn across the floor. Jude didn't protest. Not even when Ronen turned him around and kissed him deeply, running his hands through his hair. Jude's whole body and mind relaxed into it. "Shower?" Ronen asked when they finally parted, both breathing heavily. Jude nodded.

Afterwards, while they're getting dressed, Jude finally spoke:

"I have to pick up Connor around two," he said quietly, calmly. "Can you give me a ride?" Of course, he'd already assumed the answer was yes, but asking was a formality.

"Sure," Ronen replied.

They both got some cereal and sat on either side of the table.

"Is this how you feel all the time?" Jude asked after watching Ronen eat for several minutes. "Calm and ... easy? Just ignoring everything bad?"

Ronen looked at him for a moment and put down his spoon. "It's better than being stressed out all the time, isn't it?" Jude shrugged, barely thinking about it. "Why worry about things that you can't control?"

Jude shook his head and smirked lightly. "Like grades?"

"Like grades," Ronen agreed, smiling.

What about the things I can control? rang through Jude's head, but he didn't think too deeply about it.

"Don't get me wrong," Ronen continued. "I like you when you're serious or angry. You're adorable when you're stressed out. But it went beyond that yesterday." He became serious. "You kind of scared me."

Jude nodded and stared down at his cereal.

They were on the road by 1:30. The campus was deserated compared to how it had looked earlier in the week; almost everyone had gone home for the summer. A few would remain for the convention, but even then, most people who attended it came from out of the state. Jude actually found himself looking forward to the convention. He wasn't a big fan of most anime, but being able to sit back and relax, moving discs back and forth, talking to unique people, and of course, the best part of any geek convention, seeing all of the insane costumes would be a good end to the school year.

As they exited the campus, it really hit him; the school year was over. No more papers, no more staying up all night, staring at the ceiling, thinking ridiculously hard about all of the intricate connections he could make in a single short story while still worrying about memorizing three pages of French vocabulary. It was finally over.

For the next three months, at least.

Connor was sitting crosslegged on his bed, playing Blokus with a nurse when they arrived. He was smiling before, but when he saw Jude and Ronen in the doorway his entire face lit up, causing the nurse to smile as well and move the game to his bedside table and leave the room.

"Jude, it's sooooo good to see you!" Connor announced. "I'm soooo bored in this place."

Jude remained unmoving in the doorway for only a moment before moving to sit next to Connor on the hospital bed.

"It's good to see you too, man," he replied, giving his friend an authentic smile. From the corner of his eye, he saw Ronen move around the room, patiently inspecting a rubber plant. "How are you feeling?"

Connor lowered his head to look at Jude through his lashes, then said secratively, "They have me pretty doped up, so I'm feeling quite nice."

"Should they even have you on painkillers?" Ronen broke in suddenly, walking up to the bed. "You only fractured your wrist, plus you have a concussion." Connor just stared up at him blankly, and Jude shrugged. "Well, doctors know best, right?" He patted Jude on the shoulder and wandered out of the room.

"He's so protective," Connor squealed happily as soon as Ronen was out of earshot. "What's up with that?"

Jude just shook his head, smiling. "So you're still okay to go home, right?"

Connor nodded. "I just have to wait for the doctor. And I think they're going to give me a nice big pile of painkillers, hopefully ones that don't taste like chalk like the one they made me take earlier, but they all work the same I guess."

Jude chuckled. "I guess."

"Alex visited yesterday."

Jude's head shot up, but he tried not to show the surprise in his face. "Oh yeah?"

"He apologized, and we talked for a while. He even stayed and played a game of chess and totally kicked my ass. In the game I mean." His face turned red and he chuckled as he stared down at the sheets. "Hmm, that came out wrong."

Anger was beginning to overcome Jude's peaceful mindset. He didn't want to hear about Alex, about how Connor would go back to him again after this. About how Connor still loved Alex despite what he did to him.

"I think...maybe you're right," Connor tentively confessed. "Maybe I should just break it off with him. Maybe it would be better that way."

Jude looked at him closely; he really was drugged. For such a big decision, he seemed very calm about it.

"I talked to a counselor here in the hospital," Connor explained. "She heard Alex say something to me about...me making him do things like this to me, and...I don't know, we just talked about it for a long time yesterday, and she made a lot of sense."

Jude couldn't help but be surprised. "This woman changed your mind? Just like that?"

Connor finally looked him in the eye. "I know I'm screwed up, Jude. And I'm perfectly aware that I shouldn't choose to be with people like Alex. But, I mean, it probably won't matter anyway because I tell myself every time that it will be different with the next guy and it never is." He leaned back against the headboard, suddenly appearing exhausted. "I just don't know how Alex will take it," he said, laughing slightly.

"It will be fine," Jude reassured him. "You can come home with me for the summer. He'll be over it by September."

"I can come home with you?" Connor's eyes were tearing up. "I was going to stay on campus for the summer, because I didn't want to see my dad."

"Yeah, you can stay in my brother's room. It's been empty since he got his apartment." Jude's heart jolted in his chest when he saw a tear slide down Connor's cheek. "What's wrong?" Jude asked, alarmed. "Connor, it's going to be okay, I promise."

"No, it's not that," Connor said, his voice wavering. "I'd love to come home with you for the summer. It sounds perfect. Thank you."

Before Jude could reply, a doctor entered the room, saw his alarm and gave him a sympathetic look.

"It's just the painkillers, nothing to worry about."

Connor giggled through his sniffling. Jude smiled.

Connor and a good-sized bottle of painkillers were discharged around 3:00. He wobbled out to the car and almost fell asleep in the backseat on the way back to campus. When they arrived home, Ronen practically carried Connor up to the apartment and he and Jude settled him into Erin's bed, closing the door softly behind them when they exited. Then Ronen chastly kissed Jude on the cheek and left to pick up some dinner.

His talk with Connor at the hospital had let a lot of anger into Jude's mind, so he attempted to empty it again by busying himself around the apartment. He did dishes, changed his soiled sheets, set the table for lunch, and gathered his remaining textbooks to sell back later in the day.

Just as he was putting away the cleaned dishes, Connor wandered out of Erin's room and sat down at the table. He looked exhausted, but interested in what Jude was doing.

"So what's up with you and Ronen now?" Connor asked. Jude furrowed his brows as he wiped down the counter.

"Uh...well, he's been really nice lately, helping me with some things." It was an evasive answer, but Jude really didn't feel like thinking about his relationship right now.

"I just don't know much about him, you know?" Connor explained. "Seems weird for you to always be with him when I don't even know him. What kind of things is he helping you with?"

Jude sighed and sat at the table across from him. "Well, he's been...helping me relieve some stress."

Connor looked confused for a moment, then his eyebrows shot up. "Should that send my mind straight into the gutter? Because it's there."

Jude blushed and gave a noncommittal nod.

"You mean you guys are, like, doing it...for fun?" Connor asked, looking thoroughly confused.

"You do that with guys all the time!"

Connor shrugged. "Yeah, but you don't. You told me in high school that you had to really like the person or else it was just gross to you."

"Yeah, well I really needed it this time."

"Why?"

Jude really didn't want to be having this conversation. "Because I've been really stressed out lately, and I just...needed a break."

"Now sex is a break?" Connor sounded skeptical.

"Why not?" Jude was beginning to get angry; he didn't want to explain himself to anyone, muchless Connor. Who was he to give Jude advise?

"Are you depressed?" Connor suddenly asked.

"No!" was the automatic reply. It was just stress.

"Because having sex won't get rid of the problem, it'll just cover it up, like using perfume instead of deoderant."

Jude frowned and stopped himself from saying anything further to Connor; he didn't want to upset his friend, especially when he was still emotional from his medication.

Ronen soon returned with two large pizzas, several 2-liters, and a box of cookies. They feasted happily, and watched TV afterwards. When Jude rose to check his e-mail, Ronen was watching MTV, and Connor was leaning up against him, fast asleep.

There was a message from Key, and before Jude can regain his calm, a great feeling of guilt washed over him for leaving his friend the long and whining message yesterday.

jude,

i'll be there around 7, don't do anything stupid asshole

key

Well, it wasn't the reply that Jude expected. He looked at the clock; it was already after 6, so Key should be there within an hour. Jude allowed himself to feel excited at the prospect of finally meeting face-to-face the person he'd been talking to for almost five years. But what had he meant by 'don't do anything stupid'? Jude shrugged it off and moved to sit next to Ronen on the couch when there was a knock at the door.

Seconds later, Jude was standing face to face with Key.

"You're okay!" Key shouted when he first saw Jude, and jerked forward to give him a tight hug. Jude was shocked. Key looked slightly different from his pictures; seeing him in person made Jude a little dizzy.

"Your hair is different," was the first thing that Jude said when they broke the hug. Key beamed and hugged him again. They parted again.

"It's nice to meet you, Jude," Key said, more formally. Jude was about to invite him inside when he noticed a young woman standing behind him.

"Nice to meet you too, Key," Jude replied, keeping his eyes on the girl.

"You can probably call me Andrew now." Key followed his gaze. "Oh, and this is my surprise." He pulled her forward by the arm and sheepishly explained, "This is Becka, my fiancee."

Jude nodded, shocked. So much for his fantasy slow-motion kiss. But he didn't feel bitter; he was truly happy for Key.

"Nice to meet you," Becka copied the boys and shook Jude's hand. Jude suddenly realized that Ronen had approached the doorway.

"I noticed a lot of hugging going on over here," Ronen explained, looking curiously between Key and Jude. Jude could have sworn for a moment that he was jealous.

"And this is my...friend, Ronen," Jude explained awkwardly.

After all of the introductions were made, Jude invited Key and Becka into the apartment. Everyone settled into the living room, careful to avoid a still-sleeping Connor, who never stirred.