Title: Complicated

Author: Xtreme17nc13

Disclaimer: Don't need one! It's all mine! Bwahahaha!

Summary: Andrew has been through a lot in his life and is the happiest person alive when Salice comes along. Then someone else enters the picture and things just get more complicated for him. Will have Slash, which is boy-on-boy. Don't like? Don't read!

Warnings For This Chapter: Language, Sexual Situations

Author's Note: Thanks to wacky-tarz for looking this over. She's the greatest cheerleader ever!

Complicated

Chapter XV

Katherine talked me through everything that night. I was very grateful that she was always there to talk to. It was a reassurance that help was just one phone call away. I got through it with a minimal amount of tears. The pain I experienced from thinking about it was pretty horrifying. Katherine said it was all part of the healing process.

So, now that I'm partially 'healed' again, and Friday night, I decided that I needed to take my mind off everything. I started chewing on my straw as Salice fumed next to me. She wasn't as happy as I was about tonight. She was pissed that Shaughn invited himself as the fifth wheel on our double-date. At first, the five of us: Jake, Tamara, Salice, Shaughn, and I, all started the night off getting pizza. Shaughn, Jake, and I all payed for it. Then, we went out for a few games of bowling. Somewhere in the fifth frame, Jake and Tamara went into the bathroom. We're halfway through our third game and they still haven't turned up.

"Ha! Another strike, bay-bay!" Shaughn pumped his fist into the air, seconds after his red bowling ball crashed into the pins.

"That's five in a row!" I exclaimed as I went to take my turn.

"Isn't he just Mr. Perfect," Salice grumbled into her Dr. Pepper.

Shaughn scowled at her and plopped into the seat opposite her. I chose to ignore her grumpy attitude and take my turn. I heaved the fourteen pound ball and awkwardly tumbled it down the well-oiled lane. The blue sphere swerved to the right and crashed into the gutter. I groaned and waited for my ball to come back to me and repeated the motion. Only this time, it swerved left before it crashed into the gutter, "I give up! I suck at bowling!" I huffed as I slumped into the plastic chair between Shaughn and Salice.

"Well, I guess it's my turn," Salice sneered. She got up and I had a perfect view of her denim clad behind. I could even see the top of her black thong with how low they were riding on her hips.

Shaughn gave his sister a brilliant smile, "That it is, Sister of mine!" he stood up and gave a sweeping bow, presenting the entire floor to his angry half.

"I swear, I fucking hate you..." I barely heard it, but I visibly flinched once I caught it.

Shaughn rolled his eyes towards the cieling, "Women, I swear they all need a hit of Prozac or something. Theysa ca-waaaayzie!!" he added in an indescribable accent.

I let my lips twitch for a whole two seconds before I laughed so hard tears were streaming from my eyes, "Oh, god! You're insane!" and I laughed some more.

"What's so funny?" Salice questioned pompously.

"Nothing," Shaughn replied, "You wouldn't get it."

Salice crinkled her nose and glared at the both of us, "Are you calling me stupid?!"

"You said it, not me," he got up and went to take his turn.

Salice continued to glare at me, "What?!" I broke the tense silence.

"Nothing," she snapped, "I don't want to play anymore," she took her seat and started chewing on the inside of her cheek.

Shaughn joined us once again and noticed the obvious unease at the table, "Uh, Andrew? Its your turn..."

"No," I answered quickly and stood up. Running a hand over my head, I continued, "Go see if you can get Jake and Tamara out here. I'll put everything away. I think I've had enough bowling for tonight."

Shaughn glanced at Salice and then back at me, "Right... Okay..." he strolled towards the bathrooms and I went down to the lane and put all five balls away in their correct places. I went back to the table and grabbed Salice's rented shoes and slipped my own off. The front counter was empty and I decided to pay for all three games since it didn't cost too much.

Shaughn walked out of the bathroom, literally falling to the floor laughing. Jake and Tamara emerged a few seconds later. Tamara had a deep flush on her cheeks and Jake had a cat-got-the-cream expression. One look and you knew what they were doing. I felt my face color just thinking about it.

"Hey, Salice. So, were leaving already?" Tamara attempted to act casual.

"Yeah, I'm so over this place. Rented shoes are just disgusting."

Tamara giggled, "I totally agree with you, hun."

"Jake, honey? You'll drop me off on your way home, right?" the self-proclaimed blonde-bombshell asked.

"I can take you home, but I'm not going home yet. I kind of wanted to go out to get a burger. I'm starved!" Jake replied with his million-dollar grin.

"Hey, Jake? You mind if I tag along? I'm kind of hungry myself," I asked from the back of the circle.

"Sure, man. Anyone else want to go?" he asked.

"No, but I'll give Tamara a ride when Shaughn and I go home," Salice replied.

"No, Salice, you won't," Shaughn gave his sister a pointed look before turning to Jake, "A burger sounds awesome."

"Cool. We'll see you ladies later," Jake leaned in and kissed Tamara as I kissed Salice. As I kissed her, my thoughts strayed to how Shaughn must feel, being a fifth wheel and all, so I ended the kiss before it could go any further.

"Let's go, Tam," she grabbed her purse off the table and started towards the door.

"Bye, baby!" Tamara called over her shoulder as she caught up with her friend.

"What the hell crawled up her ass and died?" Jake asked with a jerking motion over his shoulder.

"Emus. Evil things that they are!" Shaughn stage-whispered.

"I was going with bunnies, but emus are evil..er..?" I added with an awkward glance.

"Yeah, you lost, Andrew. Come on! I'm starved!"

"Hmm, I wonder why?" I tapped a finger against my bottom lip in mock thought.

"Ooohhh yeah! And it was hot! Any of you ever done it in a bathroom?" Jake raised his eyebrows in a suggestive manner.

"No," I answered quickly and followed Jake to his car.

Shaughn had a wistful smile on his face, "I have. It was really dirty and I'm not talking about the bathroom..." he nodded his head and bit his bottom lip as he recalled the event.

I gave him a sideways glance, "I don't wanna know..."

He let out a short laugh, "Probably not," was his terse reply.

"You're a whore, man!" Jake all but screamed as he slipped the key into his car door.

"No," Shaughn corrected, "I'm a man-whore."

I laughed, "What's the difference?"

The brunette gave his trademark shrug, "Maybe you'll find out one day. Once you drop Salice and start having fun, of course."

Jake and I looked at each other. That conversation was officially over, "McDonald's?" the blue-eyed man asked.

"Uh, yeah," I agreed.

Shaughn had an evil grin on his face as he slid into the backseat of Jake's car.

-x--X--x-

"Five."

"Two."

"Fifteen."

"Fifteen?! As in fifteen different people?!" I exclaimed a little to loudly.

"Yes. Fifteen different people," Shaughn replied to my outburst.

"Well, Andrew, looks like you're the innocent one amongst us. Two people," Jake tried not to laugh.

I threw a french fry at him, "I'm sorry, but I don't feel the need to fuck anything with two legs!"

"Neither do I!" Jake held up his hands to defend his face from my french fry ambush, "That's Shaughn over there, apparently!"

"I don't fuck anything with two legs!" Shaughn claimed, "They have to have working body parts, as well!"

"You're disgusting!" I stuck my tongue out, trying to show how 'disgusted' I was.

"Yeah, whatever! You just wish you could fuck that many people," Shaughn replied with confidence oozing from every word.

"No way! I don't think I could do that to fifteen different girls. I would get attached too easily," Shaughn gave me a look that I didn't understand. Jake wasn't even paying attention anymore.

"Fifteen different people isn't that much compared to some people I know. It's different where I'm from. I could still be considered a virgin there."

I chewed a bite of my cheeseburger thoughtfully, "Where are you from?"

"A suburb of Detroit. It sucks there. I don't ever want to go back..." he replied quietly and drug a few of his fries through the container of Sweet-n-Sour sauce.

I looked him straight in the eyes, "Why not? What's so bad about Detroit?"

"Nothing but gangs and wanna-be's. Its hard to find where you belong."

"Oh, I'm sorry," I stopped and bit my lip, "Are you going to be started school with us next semester?" I asked quietly.

Shaughn stared into my eyes, "No. I dropped out of school just before my sophomore year. I needed a full-time job and school was just getting in the way. I figure its to late to go back now. I'll just get my G.E.D. when I turn eighteen."

I took a drink from my Coke and sighed, "But don't you think a real high school education would be better?"

His chestnut eyes flashed, "I don't care about what's better. All I care about is what's right for me. I've gone too long doing what other people wanted. This is what I want and no one is going to change that!" he snatched a fry off his make-shift plate and bit it in half.

"Sorry, I was just trying to make a point..."

He ran a hand through his shaggy, brown hair, "I know, I'm sorry for snappin' on you li-" Shaughn suddenly lunged half-way across and grabbed something out of Jake's hands, "I can't believe you!"

"What?!"

"You're texting Tamara!" Shaughn laughed.

I hid my smile in my Coke, "I was not!" Shaughn looked at the phone and raised his eyebrows, "Okay, so I was... What's that matter?!"

Shaughn smiled, "Guys' Night Out, Jakey-boy," and he slipped the cell phone into his slightly baggy jeans.

Jake's eyes went wide, "You asshole," he muttered.

"You're welcome to try and get it," he replied with a straight face.

Jake narrowed his eyes before he started laughing. The laugh was contagious and we were all joining in before long. Neighboring tables looked at us like we had just escaped from the local mental institution. Jake sobered quickly, "Man, I'm tired. You guys ready to go home?"

I let out a yawn, "Yeah, I'm ready."

"Me too," Shaughn yawned as well, "Damn, Andrew. Yawns are contagious, don't you know that?"

I smiled, "Yeah."

-x--X--x-

"Damn, I gotta take a leak! I'll be right back," I got out and Shaughn climbed out of the vehicle and started towards the gas station.

"Hey!" Shaughn stopped and Jake slapped a twenty into his hand, "You can pay for gas while you're in there."

"Ha!" and he strode off. Jake still had the twenty in his own hand.

Jake was inserting the nozzle into the hole as I sidled over and leaned against the pumps, "What's with this place?"

His eyes met mine, "What do you mean?"

I sighed and rolled my shoulders back, "These pumps take forever. Its the only place I've ever been to that takes at least five minutes to put in twenty bucks worth of gas. What's with that?"

"Tanks are underground and the pumps are old," Jake creased his brow, "Well, that's what the manager told me when I asked. All I got from that is 'The place could blow at anytime'," he scoffed and shook his head, "Isn't that reassuring?"

I shifted my weight over to my left foot and muttered, "Very."

We stood there in an awkward silence until Jake broke it, "Why do you think Salice and Shaughn fight so much?" For some reason, the question made me feel uncomfortable. I opened my mouth a few times, but nothing came out. Why do they fight all the time? "Maybe it's because they're both Scorpio's. I read once that people with the same Zodiac signs don't get along very well. Think that could be it?"

"You read horoscopes?"

"Yes," Jake replied. His blue eyes boring into mine. At that moment, I felt like he could see everything. Of all times, it was when we were talking about Zodiac signs. Go figure.

I kept my eyes locked with his, but broke away as I answered, "Well, I never thought of that, but that's a reasonable enough explanation. What's your sign?"

Jake gave his lopsided smile, "Andrew, that pick-up line is so old, Mother Theresa was picked up by it."

"Mother Theresa was a saint..."

He waved me off, "Details, details... Anyway, I'm a Pisces. What are you?"

"Cancer. What does Jake the Psychic know about that?"

He sighed and licked his lips, "You like a good, balanced, stress-free life. Family is important to you and you're very compassionate. Your best match is a Scorpio, which explains Salice," Jake paused and glanced at the meter on the pumps, "If you care to know, my sign is a mixture of the eleven others. I'm empathetic and I hate conflict. I'm the ultimate water sign, so I prefer peace and tranquility. I'm supposed to be with a Cancer or Scorpio, so its a damn good thing Tamara's birthday is in July," he trailed off with a wistful smile but snapped himself back into the conversation and I raised my eyebrows, "Sorry I don't know more about your sign, but I only know that much because its Tamara's too."

I grinned at him, "Quite alright. What about Scorpio? Do you know anything about it?"

Jake's expression changed from gentle to slightly predatory within seconds, "Scorpios are sex. Don't look at me like that! They are! They're ruled by their sexual organs and exude sex appeal. They're wild, but grounded and need another water sign to keep them in check."

I was still gaping, "Ruled by sex? Wow, I wonder how that feels."

"Wouldn't know, I'm ruled by my feet," Jake clicked his heels together twice.

"Why are you so easy-going?" I asked randomly.

His shoulders tensed, but he answered me anyway, "I've dealt with a lot in my short life."

"Like what?" the question was barely above a whisper.

Jake exhaled slowly, "Well, in a nutshell, I watched my father walk out the door after he accused my mom of being a whore, I've watched my mom go from job to job just to keep food on the table, my brother came out to me two years ago and came out to everyone else last year, and stuff like that. Nothing big, but enough to remind me not to sweat the petty things."

"Your brother's gay?" of everything I could say, the worst question popped out.

He chuckled, "Yeah, and I here I was thinking that everyone knew," Jake stopped the flow of gas from the nozzle and pulled it out, "All done. Go pay for this and find out what in the hell is taking Shaughn so long," I grabbed the twenty for his hand and went inside.

"Twenty on pump five," I said once I reached the counter. The older man took the money and I went towards the restrooms. I opened the door marked MEN, "Hey, come on. We're ready to g- OH MY GOD! Sorry..." I backed away from the door as Shaughn tucked himself back into his jeans. No boxers.

He washed his hands quickly, "No big deal, Andrew. Damn, you're a dude. How in the hell do you piss if that freaked you out?"

Still wide-eyed, and now blushing, I mumbled an answer, "Yeah, but when you shake it more than twice..."

Shaughn slung his arm over my shoulders, "Yes, but Rosy is a talented one."

My cheeks were stained red, "You're such a slut."

"I know, but I'm sure Jake is getting annoyed so let's get our asses out there," he led my out the door. Arm still slung over my shoulders.