A/N: I am so freaking sorry that this took so long, but I have been positively swamped! School’s a bitch. -tear- Anyways, if you want a quicker update, you’ll have to review for me, dears! Otherwise, I’ll lose my motivation and won’t be able to write for long periods of time.

Chapter One

Neither of us was in a particular mood for partying, but we didn’t want to admit it either; each of us was thinking that all the other needed was a party so that they could forget about the letter, but a part of us knew that that wasn’t happening. All the same, however, we continued on to the Halloween party as if everything were perfectly fine.

When we entered the campus commons, several people turned and stared. Whistles from both males and females were heard all around.

I plastered on a grin and turned to Mikey, seeing that he had done the same.

“Looks like your costumes really are as amazing as I said; that means I win our little wager--you owe me a kiss when we get back,” I said lightheartedly, though I was anything but.

“Why should we wait?” Mikey said before grabbing my face and pulling it closer to his; I didn’t fight.

“Everyone’s watching,” I said.

“I know,” he replied, kissing me full on the lips.

I reached around Mikey’s waist and pulled him even closer, my other hand snaking into his hair and grabbing a wad of it, tugging lightly. His hair wasn’t as long as it used to be (he had gotten it cut asymmetrically so that the right side was longer than the left, the longer side reaching just past his shoulders), and he had it styled like Sweeney Todd, but I was still able to manage to get my fingers intertwined in it; besides, I knew how much he liked it when I did this.

As we kissed, it was almost possible to forget, if just a moment, all about the letter--almost.

When we parted for much needed air, there were cheers all around, which surprised me. Mikey and I hadn’t kept our relationship a secret and had suffered a lot of verbal abuse for it. I guess that when people talk shit all the time, you tend to believe that everyone is of the same negative opinion of you; apparently, that wasn’t the case.

Smiling, this time for real, I took Mikey’s hand and pulled him clumsily onto the dance floor. Several people we had befriended in the time we’d spent attending the university joined us moments later.

One of these such people was a girl by the name of Giselle, and I had grown especially close to her.

She was a girl of mixed heritage, being part Filipino and part African-American, and she was really small; I often thought of her as a little sister to me, even though she was a year older than I was.

Presently, she was dragging a good-looking guy unwillingly onto the dance floor, shouting to him in what was presumably their own language. When she saw me looking at her, she grinned. “Jayde, meet my cousin! His name is Bayani.”

Bayani nodded bashfully and gave his cousin a glare. She just rolled her eyes and went about trying to teach him to dance.

I blinked in confusion and felt Mikey tug lightly on my hand. I turned to face him, and he smiled brightly. “Let’s dance.”

“As you wish,” I replied and positioned myself.

As the dance began, Mikey and I moved as one despite my obvious handicap, what with my bad leg and all.

Mikey spun into me and then away and I grinned as I continued to try and lead, stumbling only a few times when too much weight was put on the left leg.

“Ohh…” said a voice to my right. “Who knew that Jaydey and Mikey-poo couldn’t dance!”

“Fuck off, Giselle,” I said, jokingly, then took in the way Bayani stumbled, trying to avoid stepping on his cousin’s feet. “And it looks like we’re doing a much better job of it than yourself.”

Giselle pouted. “You‘re such an ass,” she stated and then pulled Bayani along as she danced away from me.

Mikey laughed and I turned back to him. “What’s so funny?” I said, pulling him into me so that our noses were almost touching.

“Nothing; I just find it incredibly sexy when you’re being mean.”

“Oh, really? Maybe I should do it more often,” I said, spinning him away again before pulling him just as close as before.

“Hm…No! I think I’d prefer it if it remained a rare occurrence; if it happened all the time, it would lose its charm,” he said.

“Whatever you say, doll; Now, shut up and start dancing!”

“So domineering…”

“Hush; you know you like it.”

“Can’t deny that.”

With that, we both quieted and went back to our dancing, laughing rather often when one of us messed up.

About an hour later, both of us were completely exhausted. The letter was far from forgotten, but it was certainly off our minds temporarily, the physical strain and excitement of dancing having all but forced it from us entirely. I sat comfortably on a chair with Mikey precariously perched on my right knee, his arms thrown around my shoulders.

Giselle was tossing cherries from her dessert at her cousin, who tried in vain to catch them with his mouth; me and Mikey occasionally laughed when one of the red berries popped him in the nose and/or eyes.

By the end of the night, Mikey and I had relaxed considerably. It looked as if the party had been a good idea after all and I honestly didn‘t want the fun to end; as we stepped out of the Campus Commons and began heading towards our dorm, I stopped short and pulled Mikey to a halt as well. He turned to me with a look of concern in his dark eyes.

“Is something the matter, love?” he asked me.

I smiled. “Of course not. I just don’t really feel like going back to the dorm; Why don’t we just go out someplace?”

“Okay. Where?”

“Hm…I dunno; You choose.”

Mikey rolled his eyes. “You can’t just say ‘let’s go somewhere,’ and force me to choose; you suggested it, therefore you decide.”

“Fine. Let’s go to Nephrite’s,” I suggested.

Mikey’s eyebrows knitted together in confusion. “Nephrite’s? Isn’t that a gay club?”

“Yeah; what of it? Is there something wrong with that?” I said.

“No, no. You just never showed an interest in going to a gay club before,” Mikey replied quickly.

I shrugged nonchalantly and began walking in the direction of our car (well, really, it was Lori’s car, but she had told us that it was ours as long as we took care of it. She’d called it a ’get well’ present after my accident, and I thought she was terribly witty for coming up with a car as a get well present for someone who’d been in a car accident) pulling him along with me; I had seen the anticipation in his eyes and knew he was really happy I’d suggested Nephrite’s.

“Besides,” I piped up a moment later. “I heard you talking to Reggie about how much you wanted to go.”

Mikey blushed a bit at this. “You don’t have to take me there just ‘cause I said I wanted to go,” he mumbled shyly.

“Well, I want to. And I figure that I’m gay, too, so I might as well get myself integrated into the scene a little more.”

Mikey quickly crushed me in a bear hug and then skipped off in the direction of the parking lot, me following behind him at a slower pace.

Mikey made sounds of delight as he hopped into the driver’s seat of the car and I went around to the passenger’s side; Mikey did all the driving in this relationship, and that was totally alright with me. I didn’t ever want to get behind a wheel again if I could help it and used my bum leg as an excuse, since I didn’t want to seem like a coward. I’m sure everyone knew the real reason behind it, but they were all polite enough not to call me on it.

When we stepped inside, my jaw nearly dropped. I had never seen so many men in drag and leather in all my life, all of them dancing together in an incredibly provocative way. Mikey was silently surprised beside me as well, but that quickly faded into excitement.

“Oh, my God, Jayde. Do you see what I see?” he asked, looking at me with his eyes sparkling.

I held back a laugh. “I do, indeed, love; and I’m starting to have second thoughts about coming here,” I stated.

“Why?” Mikey asked me, panic in his voice.

“’Cause it seems you find these strangers far more exciting than boring old me; how do I know you aren’t going to run off with one of them and leave me here?” I joked slightly; a part of me was seriously worried.

Mikey quickly moved in front of me and grabbed my hands. “That wouldn’t happen. I’d never do that to you; I’d be sure to ask you if you wanted to do a threesome first,” he said.

This time I couldn’t help but laugh out loud. “Wow…Seriously?”

“No, silly. Now, c’mon. Let’s dance!”

“What? We’ve been dancing all night! Can’t we get a drink first?” I groaned.

“No,” Mikey said matter of factly, taking my hand in his and joining the crush of men’s bodies on the dance floor.

After a few songs, I literally couldn’t go on much longer. “Mikey, can we please get something to drink now? I think I’m dying!”

“Fine, fine! I’m starting to get a little thirsty myself. But no alcohol.”

“You serious?” I asked in surprise.

He gave me a look like that was the dumbest thing I had ever asked him in my life, and I rolled my eyes; such a kill joy.

We sauntered over to the bar and took seats. The bartender, who was an All-American boy with tanned skin, blonde hair and blue eyes and the body of a seasoned athlete, quickly noticed us and made his way over, ogling us up and down; I felt like a slab of beef.

“Can I help you boys with something?” he said. Something about his voice made my skin crawl; I was sure he meant more than just something to drink.

Mikey seemed oblivious. “Yes! We’d like two Coca-Colas, please. No alcohol; we’re only eighteen.”

The boy was visibly surprised by that statement (people in clubs didn’t usually admit that out loud), but he got us our Cokes anyways and skipped off to flirt with some other, probably far more willing, men than ourselves.

“Isn’t this just amazing? How exciting is this!?” Mikey said, sipping at his Coke.

“Yeah. I’ll say. Did you see the way that guy was looking at us?”

“What do you mean?”

“You seriously didn’t feel as if he was undressing you with his eyes?” I asked dubiously.

Mikey shrugged. “Oh…Well, that’s to be expected.”

“What!? That doesn’t make you feel uncomfortable at all?”

“Jayde, you forget; I’ve been gay all my life. I am certainly no stranger to undressing other boys with my eyes. Besides; I can’t help it if I fuel young boys’ deepest desires; And usually, that’s something to be proud of,” Mikey said.

I shook my head and took a sip of my Coke, turning around in my stool and looking at the other men there. Quite a lot of them were attractive, but none compared to Mikey. I guess it was because Mikey was the only male lover I’d ever had; I’m sure he found a lot of the guys there better looking than me.

“Hey, Mikey, I’ll be right back. I need to go to the bathroom,” I told him after we’d spent a while in silence, just taking in our surroundings.

Mikey made sounds of understanding and continued to stare at all the guys there; one of them actually stopped dancing and came over to talk to Mikey. I rolled my eyes and went on my way to the bathroom.

As I stepped inside, I could hear snorting sounds coming from one of the stalls but tried to ignore it and get on with my business.

I finished and was washing my hands when the stall door opened and a man stepped out, wiping his nose. He was tall, with straggly brown hair that fell to his shoulders, a bristly beard and the eyes of a wolf. He took one look at me, gave a devilish smile and stepped next to me.

I glanced at him sidelong and he continued staring at me. It was a predatory look, but wasn’t the same as the one the bartender had given me; I didn’t know how to take it and tried to maneuver around him. He reached out and grabbed my arm, pulling me back.

“Want to try this?” he said, holding up a bag of white powder. I looked at it doubtfully; I’d already had a really bad experience with drugs and knew they were no good. I glanced back up at him.

“How much do I gotta pay?” I asked.

“Nothin’,” he answered.

I chewed my lip. I knew this was a bad idea. But if I didn’t make a habit of it, and just tried it occasionally…what could it hurt? Besides; he was offering it for free.

“The whole thing?”

“Yep.”

I couldn’t help it; he had dangled the bait before me, and I’d bitten.

A/N: I know you all are probably tired of Jayde and drugs, but seriously, folks: He’s an impressionable college student, who already had a great time with Ecstasy until he got caught, add in his recent scare and all the ingredients were there--and the new drugs were free. How could he say no to that? Well, anyways, tell me if it was any good. -smile-