Bombastic Love:A Love For All Seasons

Karasu November 2008

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Chapter Fifteen

I arrived at the park with Saber and Evan in tow around six o’clock that evening. I had called both Macy and Jackson as well (even though I don’t guess I was speaking to either one), but neither answered (with good reason, of course). But I left messages, apologizing about fighting with them, and telling them I hoped that they would show.

As soon as we got to the park, we saw Autumn sitting at a picnic table.

We met eyes as I walked up to him. My breath hitched in my throat as Autumn stood, smiled to me, then ran across the park and jumped into my arms.

“You’re heavy,” I joked as he wrapped his skinny little bird-legs around me. He tangled his hands in my hair, not bothering with witty banter before he bent his head and kissed me.

And, yes, it was one of those mind-blowing, over-the-fence- home-run, seeing fireworks kinds of kisses. If you were wondering.

When we were done kissing (there were little kids around and I didn’t feel like scarring them for life, of course), I set him down gently and laced our fingers together. Saber and Evan made little gagging noises at us, but I knew they were just jealous. Or happy for us finally getting together.

One of the two.

All of us sat down at the little picnic table Autumn had saved for us (he said he had to fight of a mother of twins, which I thought was pretty selfish and badass; besides, what kind of mother takes her twins out to the park in the middle of goddamn winter, am I right?), ordered hot dogs and hot chocolate, and sat down to wait for Macy and Jackson to show up.

We chatted for a little while, talking about everything and nothing. Autumn regaled us with his side of the romance story that was our lives, which I found to be very interesting. We talked about times past, telling embarrassing stories about Autumn (which made him “relive” them all over again; also, have I ever mentioned how cute he is when he blushes?).

Then Autumn got the bright idea to ask Saber and Evan how they managed to be brought together.

Evan actually laughed out loud, “You wanna know mine and Saber’s story?”

Autumn nodded, smiling to them.

“Hey, yeah, on second thought, I don’t think I’ve ever heard this story, either,” I cocked my eyebrow at them. “So do tell.”

“Well, uh, to put it simply, Saber and I met at the skate park. Back when I still skated, of course,” Evan grinned to his lover, and I could tell that it was one of those “d’awww weren’t we sweet back then?” kinds of smiles. “We hung out for about a week before he finally got up the courage and asked me out on a date.”

“It was a tough decision, too,” Saber cut in, nodding. “I wasn’t sure if Evan was gay, because all he talked about was his life and the things in it. Never really anything about himself.”

“Oh, you liar,” Evan punched Saber’s arm, which elicited a laugh from Autumn and I. “I told you plenty of personal things. Where I liked to shop, what TV shows I watched, what my first trick on a skateboard was. All of those things.”

“But you never let me know if you were gay or not.” Saber rubbed his arm, hurt.

“That’s not the kind of thing you just outright tell people. I don’t let it define me. I don’t immediately say ‘oh, hi, I’m Evan del Venion and I’m out and proud!’ It’s just not what you do.”

Saber rolled his eyes, smirking, “At least I’m up front with my sexuality.”

“But what if you run into someone who thinks being gay isn’t normal or whatever. What then?”

“I’m not gay, Evan,” Saber looked appalled that Evan would say such a thing. I raised my eyebrows at him as Autumn and I listened to their banter. “I’m pansexual. There’s a huge difference.”

I was curious, “Like what?” I had heard of being hetero, being homo, and being bi, but pansexual was a new one. Macy had a weird orientation as well. She was ambisexual. I had to have her explain that she falls for people because of who they are and not what they look like, what gender they are, or anything like that. She says she has to have a deep spiritual and mental bond to like them.

“Being pansexual means he’ll screw anything with a hole, basically,” Evan shot his own smirk to Saber, who was quick to correct him.

“Not anything. I have my personal limits. But no, I don’t object to women, men, transgender people or transsexuals. Just not… animals. Or mentally handicapped people. Not that I have any problem with them… but sexually, they do nothing for me.” Saber held up his hands.

I shrugged, “I think I’ll stick to being just plain old bisexual, thanks. I don’t think I could deal with the emotional or mental stresses.”

But I was still glad I asked. Now I can add a word to my dictionary.

“Autumn, have you sat down to think about your orientation since your accident?” Evan didn’t seem… vengeful or spiteful. Curious, really. And I had to admit, I was as well.

I’ve said before that Autumn was vehemently straight before the accident, but now… Even I was confused about what he thought.

He straightened up, blushing a little. “Well, I know that over the course of time I’ve spent with Summer, I’ve grown to love him. And I have no shame in saying that. I guess I’m gay now, but, honestly, I’m a little wary to label my feelings for Summer.”

I scrunched my eyebrows together, confused. Shouldn’t, in theory, Autumn have the same likes and dislikes now as before the accident? Shouldn’t he still be straight?

Not that I was complaining, of course. I loved finally being with him. Loved. But it just made me nervous, you know? To think that… what if he found a woman he was fond of? What if they fell in love? What if he really was still straight, but was just confused because of the accident and all?

It was kinda like Evan’s dad. Mel was married for years, then he was with Travis. So was he really in love with Kim, Evan’s mom? Or was he gay all along and hiding it because that was “what he was supposed to do”?

All of these what ifs… they made me really uncomfortable.

But Evan seemed to accept the answer. He nodded, and continued on with his story as if we didn’t just have a giant digressing party in the middle of it.

“So Saber and I went out. We had a great time, went out to a nice little French restaurant in the next town over. He was a complete gentleman. And he impressed the fuck out of me when he started talking in fluent French,” Evan laughed. “It seems silly now.”

Autumn and I shook our heads as Saber pulled Evan close, “Nah, everyone’s impressed with the French, bien sûr.” He leaned in close to Evan’s ear, whispering, “Right, mon amour?”

Evan tried to hide the shiver that shook him, but couldn’t fight the fact that he blushed.

And, even though he was embarrassed by it, I thought it was adorable.

Evan cleared his throat, shoving Saber away just a little, “Anyway, Saber and I went out a few more times after that. I even took him home to meet Dad.”

I knew that talking about his dad was a tender subject for Evan, so I placed my hand on his.

“Dad disapproved, of course,” Evan smiled at the memory. “And that was when Saber had all blonde hair, too. I’m kidding, honey. Besides, it wasn’t the hair or the skating or the piercings. It was the age difference. I was fifteen, Saber was eighteen. Statutory rape, you know.”

Saber snorted, “We’re lucky he didn’t find out about that…”

Evan’s eyes widened as he looked at Saber, his jaw dropping.

“Whoa, wait.” I held up my hands, shocked beyond anything. Evan was the baby of our group, and we all used to watch out for him when we were younger. “Our little Virgin Mary had sex!”

“You say it like it’s a fucking crime, Summer.” Evan was uncomfortable and I loved it.

“It is, when you’re talking about our little baby!” I batted my eyelashes at Evan, who flipped me off. He was just a year younger than I was, and even though he was always acting like my goddamn mother, I was still overprotective of him like he was my little brother.

“Can I continue with my story, please?”

I grinned to Evan’s snarky little smirk. “By all means.”

Evan cleared his throat again, “Long story short, Dad told me to have a platonic relationship with Saber until I was eighteen. That was too long for me, as I had already started falling in love with my sexy French boy. I basically told my dad to fuck off and die… and he did.”

Saber swooped in, laying a comforting arm around Evan’s shoulders. “I’ll be fine,” Evan whispered to him.

I… never knew. I mean, I knew about Mel’s battle with HIV and everything. But I didn’t know that Mel had died while he and Evan were fighting. Wow. No wonder Evan got all worked up this time of year.

It was silent for a while. Uncomfortably so. Until Saber decided to try and lighten the mood a little.

“Well, we’ve been out here for almost an hour and a half, in the freezing cold snow, without one word from Macy or Jackson. How’s about we go back to mine and Ev’s, grab some hot chocolate, and call them to meet us there, huh?” Saber stood , rubbing his hands together.

It was rather chilly (not to mention that it had been steadily snowing). I wondered why I said “hey, why don’t we meet at the park?” in the first place. But I chocked it up to my desperate attempt to make things go back to the way they were (the park was a huge hangout of ours, of course).

We all agreed, and Saber called both Macy and Jackson as we were on our way to his and Evan’s apartment.

I only hoped that maybe they would answer his messages.

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“Ah, it was a good idea to come back here,” Autumn sat back on my lap, a cup of hot cocoa clutched in his hands. “I was getting a little cold.”

“Why didn’t you say anything, Au? I would’ve suggested we come back here a lot sooner,” I trailed kisses down his neck and across his shoulder. I was strictly a tea-drinking kind of guy, and since Saber and Evan didn’t have any in their apartment, I was left using Autumn as a personal heater.

Which I didn’t mind, of course.

“Well, Evan was in the middle of a very sweet story and I didn’t want to interrupt,” he grinned to me, and I just had to lean in and steal a kiss. Autumn tasted like old hot chocolate (which is, like, the nastiest taste ever), but I didn’t mind. Hell, even his morning breath wasn’t that bad, it seemed.

Now that was love.

“How sweet of you,” I smirked to him. “Speaking of the lovebirds, do you know where they are? I haven’t seen them in a while.”

“Evan said he was going to go change into his pajamas. Maybe take a shower…”

Autumn didn’t even have to finish his sentence before I rolled my eyes. “Those ding-dongs. They ditched their company to go have sex.”

It was amusing to watch Autumn’s face morph from surprise to disgust and finally to one of those “I just really don’t want to think about that” faces.

And, yeah, I know it sounds insensitive of Saber and Evan to leave their guests unattended while they had a romp in the sack. But they did it all the time. After the initial shock of the first time, it doesn’t even phase you anymore. It’s like “oh, Sabe and Ev are going at it again. Whatever. I just won’t go into their room for any reason whatsoever.”

At least they have the decency to close the door.

I must say that.

“Well,” I sighed, holding Autumn tighter to my chest, “at least I have someone to not be alone with.”

He smiled down to me, then set his hot chocolate on the coffee table. Autumn turned around in my lap to where he was straddling me. We shared one of those cheesy little shit-eating grins before ensuing in a passionate make-out session.

I know we sound like one of those annoying, perfect couples you read about in best-sellers. But that’s because we were like one of those annoying couples. So far.

Evan once said that relationships go in stages. Stage one was the “Learning Stage.” You just started to be really together. Learning what your partner’s favourite things were. How they liked to be touched. All of that.

Stage two was the “Blissfully Unaware Stage.” It was that stage where you love to be so alike. You love sharing that last bit of ice cream from the tub. Love watching the same movies together. Laughing about all of your similarities.

Stage three: the “Okay, Now What? Stage.” You’ve learned all there is to learn. Nothing your partner does can surprise you anymore. You’re finishing each other’s sentences and it’s not really that cute anymore. This is where you hit your first rough patches.

Then comes stage four, the “Now We’re Practically Married Stage.” It’s still not cute to finish each other’s sentences. You’re still not surprised by anything your loved one does. And now you’re fighting like an old married couple about everything. Hell, you don’t even have to be nitpicky to find something to argue over anymore. It’s like the marriage without the license. And it sucks,

Hopefully, something will come along to renew that first stage again. Sometimes it happens. Sometimes it doesn’t.

Sometimes, you just realize that the term “ignorance is bliss” exists for a damn good reason.

But I digress.

I don’t want to think about mine and Autumn’s relationship ending before it even started beginning.

So where was I?

Ah, our make-out session on Saber’s and Evan’s nice white couch. (Oh, it was just asking for trouble, that couch. It looked nice and all, but flip over the cushins and you’d see that whole other side that white couches have.)

So we were sucking face and all (and it was good) when what happens? We get goddamn interrupted. By Saber’s cell phone. (What the fuck? Didn’t he take it with him?)

I parted from Autumn long enough to reach over and press that stupid green button. I didn’t even bother looking at the caller ID because I was a little pissed off at being interrupted?

Someone was about to get an earful of “please don’t call again, you little shitmeister.” But I was stopped. By Macy’s frantic sobs.

“Saber, I just wanted to let you know that Jackson won’t be over tonight… he killed himself earlier this evening.”

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Author's Note: Lots of things happening in the story. And we're no where near done yet. XD Thanks to everyone who has reviewed, really. (heart) I hope that you haven't given up hope on this story, even though I suck at updating regularly. XD;;

I'm also currently working on my JulNoWriMo novel~ I'm on the second day, around 6,700 words in, and it's going pretty good. Like my last JulNoWriMo, it's more of a science fiction/fantasy piece with steampunk elements. 8D It's called F.O.D.D.E.R. and it's a rewrite of a short story that I wrote for my 12th grade Creative Writing class (that I had posted up on fictionpress, but have since taken it down, I believe). Look for it on August 1rst, if you like those kinds of stories, haha~ /pimping