Second Shot - 33. Chapter 33: What Are Best Friend For

Checking the clock for the hundredth time, Jason knew he was getting impatient. They hadn’t been there that long, but he already wanted to go. As much as he liked having Dean around, he wondered if inviting him to stay was a mistake.

“Why don’t you go?” Darryl said. “I’ll make sure Dean stays out of trouble.”

“I can’t leave him.”

Darryl snorted. “C’mon, Jase, you’re so quiet it’s almost as if you’re not even here. He’s doing fine and will continue to do fine if you go see Pete.”

“Yeah, but I need to make sure he stays okay.” He felt guilty when he realized Darryl’s assessment of his presence was accurate. Right now he was about as much fun to be around as a head cold.

Darryl made a face. “Dean will be fine, but I’ll watch him just to be sure. Christ, he was around us so much when we were kids, he feels like my little brother too. I won’t let anything happen to him.”

Jason thought it over. He really did want to go see Peter and knew Darryl would be as protective, or more so, than he would. “Let me ask him if it’s okay first.”

“No, I’ll do that.” Darryl stood up, pushing Jason back into his seat.

“Hey, Dean,” he called across the table. Everyone stopped talking. “Jason’s gonna cut out to go see Pete. You’re with me till he gets back. Okay?”

Dean shrugged, “Yeah sure, if it’s okay with Jase.”

“See?” Darryl sat back down. “Problem solved.”

“Thanks, D, still got my back I see.”

“Always.” They shook hands, bumping shoulders as Jason got up.

“Figure out something we can do later - something that won’t get Dean hurt.” He didn’t want a repeat of last night.

“You got it, bro.” Darryl winked. “I’ll text you later.”

“See ya, Dean.”

Dean surprised him by getting up and hugging him. “You want me to come with?”

“Nah, this is better,” Jason assured him. “Enjoy yourself. I’ll catch up with you later.”

Looking a bit unsure, Dean nodded. “Ok.”

“Thanks guys.” Jason gave his friends a wave. “Catch you all later.”

The hospital seemed unusually empty to him as Jason made his way out. His visit had been completely uneventful. He was so upset and frustrated his stomach hurt. Amanda had gone home before he got there. It took the combined efforts of Tom, Erin, the nursing staff and Peter’s doctor to persuade her she needed to go home.

Carrying the ball back to his car, he stared at the signatures. He smiled, still amazed at how much support he received from his teammates.

Setting the ball on the back seat, he felt his phone vibrate. Darryl took Dean back to their apartment for an impromptu ‘gathering.’ Half the team was there, playing Guitar Hero and hanging out. Hopefully Dean gave up his quest to get shit faced, but he suspected one of the seniors bought beer. At least they were at his place, not walking around campus. Even if his brother got drunk, it would be somewhere he wouldn’t get arrested.

Not that he was glad everyone was in his apartment. Right now he wanted to go to sleep, not put on a good face and answer the endless questions about how Peter was doing. He knew they meant well, but each time he talked about it, his stomach constricted and his lungs didn’t seem to work. What he really wanted was some quiet time alone with his thoughts.

“Should have thought about that before you invited Dean to stay over,” he said out loud to his empty car.

Vibrating again, his phone brought him back to reality. Seeing Wendy’s name, he answered it.

“Hey, Wendy.” He was genuinely happy to hear from her. Unlike his teammates, he didn’t need to pretend around her.

“Heard you were quite the stud today,” she said. “But then I always knew that.”

“Usually you reserve such comments for when others are around so you can watch me turn red.”

“Bet you’re red now.” She couldn’t stifle a small laugh.

“You win that bet. Is that why you called?”

“No handsome, just seeing how you’re doing.” When he didn’t respond she added, “Darryl said you went to see Peter. Any change?”

“No.” Her question made his stomach hurt again. “Same as yesterday.”

“What are you doing now?”

From the sound of her question, she either knew or suspected what he was doing. “Leaving the hospital. What about you?”

“Nothing.”

From her silence Jason knew she wanted him to invite her to do whatever he was doing or about to do. “Want some company doing nothing?”

Wendy laughed. “That sounds so exciting.”

“Hey, you’re the one doing nothing. I’m just asking if you want some company.”

“Shouldn't you be heading home?” she asked.

So she knew where everyone else was, but somehow didn’t feel welcome. “Truth? I’m not up for Guitar Hero right now. I feel like I’m going to puke.”

“Wow, Jason, that’s not good. Did you ask the doctors if you’re sick?”

More explaining. Maybe he should just tell people not to ask about Peter, directly or indirectly. Suppressing a sigh, he said, “Unless they can make Peter wake up, I don’t think there’s anything they can do for me.”

“Sorry, Jason.”

He didn’t want to talk about it anymore, but he knew if he didn’t change topics she would keep asking him how he felt. “If you want to come over, I can pick you up on the way.”

“Thought you said you didn’t want to play.”

So now what was she getting at? Did she want him to take her out, just the two of them? “I would rather play Guitar Hero then talk about how I feel. Besides, we don’t have to play just because we’re there.”

“That’s true.”

When she didn’t add anything else, Jason started his car. “Be there in five minutes. Make sure you’re ready.”

“I didn’t say I was going.”

“Nope, you sure didn’t, but I’m picking you up anyway.” Pulling his earphone/mic out of the center console he plugged it in so he could drive. “You’re wasting your five minutes girl. If you’re not ready when I get there, I’m going to drag you out no matter what you’re wearing.”

“What happened to gay boys being fashionable?” Was she teasing or stalling for time?

“Have you ever been impressed by my sense of fashion?”

Laughing, she fired back, “What’s the use having a gay best friend when he can’t help you dress for a night out?”

“So, now I’m useless? That’s cold, Wendy.”

“I’m not sensing the hurt feelings, Soccer Boy.”

Ow, that hurt. Why’d she have to use of Peter’s nickname him? Telling her would only make her feel bad. Worse, she would try to make up for saying it. “Four minutes.”

“Enough with the stop watch.”

In the background he could hear her moving around, no doubt getting ready before he got to her building.

“Fine. But you won’t have any warning when I barge in, toss you over my shoulder and drag you out.”

“That’s an image.” She laughed.

“What?” He stopped at a light and adjusted his ear piece.

“Jason Tellerman, gay caveman.” She laughed harder.

“It’s not like there weren’t gay cavemen, you know.” He tried not to laugh. “Who do you think did all those artsy fartsy cave drawings or made the first bear skin outfit?”

Jason could hear her muffled laughing on the other end. She must have put the phone against her clothing. When she finally came back on, she was still snickering. “Okay, Cave Boy, you win. By the way, I’m ready, two minutes early.”

“Impressive. Let me hang up, I will be there in a minute.”

As he expected, Dean was drunk when they got there. “Hey Brother!” he yelled when they walked in.

He rolled his eyes as Wendy snorted. “You called it.”

“Sorry, Jase.” Darryl apologized when Jason glared at him.

Jason shrugged then stared down his nose. “He pukes, you clean it up.”

Darryl looked around the room for Dean. “Is he a light weight?”

“Yup.” Jason gave him a wicked grin. “And tomorrow he’s gonna whine about how his head hurts and it’s your fault. I’ll make sure he whines outside your door.”

“Damn, you’re harsh.” Darryl frowned, looking around again.

Jason grabbed him around the neck. “What’re best friends for?”

The threat of being on clean up detail was enough for Darryl to cut Dean off. Wendy grabbed a beer that Jason opened for her. He decided on a soda given the state of his stomach.

“Light weight.” Dean chugged the last of his beer as Darryl watched anxiously.

“I’ll remind you of that statement tomorrow little brother.” Jason took the empty beer bottle dangling from Dean’s hand.

Matt and Carlos were in a heated battle in front of the TV as a couple others cheered them on. “Did you want to play?” he asked Wendy.

“No way, but I wanna see you play.” She smiled. “Darryl says you are good.”

“He lies.”

“No, it’s true,” Darryl cut in. “He has the top two scores on the machine.”

“C’mon, Jason.” Wendy’s pleas were enough to get the others to join in.

“Okay,” he finally said. “One song.” He knew he would be stuck for several as everyone challenged him until he lost.

Matt kept his guitar indicating he wanted to go head to head. “Pick your song,” Jason told him as he adjusted the guitar.

“What level?” Matt asked.

“Expert, man.”

Halfway through the song Matt got flustered and lost his focus. “C’mon dude, keep up,” Jason coaxed even as his fingers flew across the neck of the controller. The final score was so lopsided, Matt groaned.

“Okay, who wants to take my place?” Jason held out the guitar hopefully. Predictably, no one would let him go, forcing him to take on each of them before he was allowed to stop.

Before he sat down, he set a new high score and now had three of the top five.

“How much have you practiced?” Wendy asked when he was done.

Jason laughed. “Darryl and I played so much last year we broke four controllers. These two are only a month or so old.”

Darryl plopped down next him on the couch. “We need to do Guitar Hero war again.”

Jason shook his head. “Won’t change things man, you can’t beat me.”

“Hey hey hey,” Darryl objected. “If I weren’t buzzed, I would have creamed you. I got better since you and Pete started getting tight.”

The smile left Jason’s face as he felt guilty again for having fun. Darryl didn’t catch on to his slip up right away. “Just wait, you’ll see.”

“Shut up, Darryl.” Wendy gave him a withering glare.

“What?”

“Nothing.” Jason shook his head at Wendy. “You’re on, D.”

Searching for his brother, he found Dean half asleep in a chair in the kitchen. “I probably should put him to bed,” he told his friends.

“Dude, what if he yaks in your bed?” Carlos asked.

“Dean’s the only person Jason won’t kill for messing up his stuff.” Darryl told their friends. “Deanie weanie can’t do no wrong in his big brother’s eyes.”

Everyone laughed at Darryl’s nickname for Dean. “Just be glad he didn’t hear you,” Jason warned.

“Or what?” Darryl puffed out his chest. “I don’t sweat him.”

“That’s because you never had a knockdown, drag out fight with him when he’s really mad like I have.” Jason smirked. “But you know how those went.”

Darryl looked carefully at Dean. “Yeah, I do. Don’t tell him I said that, okay?”

Ignoring his best friend, he turned to Wendy. “Do you want me to take you home? No one else looks safe to drive.”

“Please.” She quickly got her coat.

When she walked away Darryl turned to Jason. “Damn, she’s eager to go.”

“Probably because of me.” He watched her leave the apartment. “I think she still has moments when my being gay bothers her.”

“Oh yeah.” Darryl nodded slowly patting him on the back. “I’ll make sure Dean gets to bed.”

****

Unlike his prediction, Dean did not get sick, but he woke whining about his head. Jason did not make good on his threat to have Dean annoy Darryl. Instead he found the Advil, tossing the bottle to his brother as he made them breakfast. “Drink lots of water.” Dean grunted something unintelligible, but accepted the offered glass of water.

“Eggs, oatmeal or cereal?” Jason asked. “Or do you want to go to the diner down the street.”

“If it smells as bad as the place back home, I don’t want to go there.” Dean wrinkled his face. “It might be hard to keep down breakfast there.”

“Okay. So back to the original question, eggs, oatmeal or cereal?”

“Cereal sounds best right now.” Dean pulled out a chair and dropped onto it.

“Did you have fun last night?” Jason put a hint of sarcasm in his voice.

“C’mon, bro, don’t bust me right now.”

“Why do you think getting drunk is so great if you wake up like this?” Jason collected the bowls and cereal.

“It seems like a good idea at the time.” Dean managed a small smile.

“Fair enough.” He gave his brother a box of granola and some milk.

“What’s this?” Dean stared at the box in his hand.

“Granola. It’s good for you.”

“What happened to the Fruit Loops or Frosted Flakes?” Dean kept turning the box over in his hand as if expecting to see something new.

“Pete . . .” He stumbled for a moment. “Pete doesn’t eat junk food. He’s got me eating better.”

“Is this really all you have?” Dean tried to hand him back the box.

Jason pressed the cereal back. “Try it. If you hate it, I’ll go get you something else.”

Jason dumped some blueberries in the bowl before his brother poured the cereal. Dean looked up suspiciously. “They’ll help with the hangover.”

Despite his reservations, Dean didn’t complain once he began eating. Grabbing a second bowl, Jason made his own breakfast.

“Got anything you want to do today?”

His spoon in his mouth, Dean looked at his brother. “Yeah, I figured we would go to the library all day and stuff, how about you?”

Jason rolled his eyes. “Funny guy. Where are your books?”

“Darn I forgot them at home.” Dean tried to act serious but he couldn’t stifle a laugh. “Guess we’ll have to just chill instead.”

“I see.” Jason nodded thoughtfully. “So when Mom and Dad ask what we did today, I guess I better not say, ‘not much, Dean was too hung-over from all the beer he had Saturday night.’ Is that right?”

The smile disappeared as Dean’s expression turned serious. “That’s not funny, Jase. Do you know what they will do to me if they find out?”

“Hmm, let me think.” Jason pretended to think about the consequences. “They took my car away for two weeks last year just for trying to cover for you being drunk, so I’m guessing at least month.”

“Exactly.” He gave Jason a pathetic look. “I can’t go without driving for a month. How will I get to see Emily? Get to practice? Go out with my friends?”

“Chill, Dean.” Jason put a hand on his brother’s shoulder. “I was kidding. Go lay down after you eat if you’re not feeling well. Otherwise, I won’t have to say a word for them to figure out you were wasted last night.”

Jason poured himself a mug of coffee and left a second one in front of his brother. “Just in case you want some. I’m going to go study for a bit.”

Jason straightened the sheets marginally before grabbing his biology book. Laying on the bed, he didn’t get past the first page when he heard Dean shuffling back.

Coffee in hand, his brother walked slowly into the room. “Mind if I lay down? Eating helped my stomach, but my head still hurts.”

Jason moved over to make room and Dean laid down, sinking back into the soft pillows.

After reading another couple pages, Dean’s restlessness had Jason concerned. Was he really sick? “You doing okay?”

“Yeah, just not feeling great.” Dean had his arm over his eyes as if that could keep more light out.

“Why don’t you take a shower? That always helps me.”

Dean didn’t answer, leading Jason to wonder if he fell back asleep. Moving his arm suddenly, Dean said, “Sounds like a good idea.”

Jason found a towel in his pile of clean clothes. Dean had his tee shirt and boxers off before Jason found the towel.

“Soap and shampoo in the net hanging from the curtain are mine. The rest is Darryl’s and you know how he is about his beauty supplies.” Dean laughed as he walked slowly toward the bathroom. “Shout if you need something.”

“I’m sure I won’t be shouting anytime soon.”

When Dean had been in the shower for a bit, Jason decided he would go next. Standing in the bathroom doorway he said, “Yo Dean, you bout done? I’m gonna hop in after you.”

“Coming out in second bro.”

Mindful Darryl might want to use the bathroom soon, he washed quickly. Not sure whether to shave, Jason opted do to it quick. This turned into a mistake when he cut himself twice. Back in his room, Dean’s seemed much improved.

“So what are we gonna do the rest of the day?” Dean asked.

“Would you mind terribly if we went to Pete’s apartment, so I can check on his plants and stuff?” Jason didn’t want to drag his brother to the hospital, but he really wanted to check on Peter.

“I figured we were going to go the hospital for a time,” Dean answered. “Can’t believe you waited this long to go.”

Jason wasn’t sure how to take Dean’s words. “Not the best trip to your brother’s college was it?”

“Hey, don’t worry about it.” Dean flashed him a reassuring smile. “I got to play pool with you and D, got to hang out with your teammates and your friends. What’s not to like? Feels like old times again.”

Shaking his head, Jason said, “You left out, ‘got drunk off my ass.’ I know you’re gonna tell your friends all about that.”

“Nah, I’m practicing leaving that out for when I tell Mom and Dad what we did.”

“Good call.” Seeing Dean smile back at him, helped dull the pain of what was coming next. Today was going to be hard. There was nothing to distract him; no games, no practice, no parent suddenly talking to him again. Sure his brother was here, but without anything specific to do, his thoughts were going to be on Peter.

Sorting through his stuff, he found clothes for his brother to wear. As soon as they were dressed, he motioned to his brother he was ready. Dean followed Jason out, putting on a pair of sunglasses he found in his bag.

“D,” Jason waited until they were almost to the front door before calling out, “We’re going. Be back later tonight.”

“Okay, see ya.” Darryl called out, sounding miserable. Dean tried to stifle a laugh, as he walked out of the apartment.

“What?” Jason demanded. Dean knew something he didn’t.

“While you were showering . . .” Dean touched a nick on Jason’s face. “. . . and shaving badly, I could hear him. He sounds worse than I feel.”

“That’s it?” Jason thought he had some good dirt, not that Darryl was hung over.

Dean’s mirth deflated, “Yeah. I thought it was funny.”

Shaking his head, Jason put his arm around his brother. “Keep it quiet. Darryl could get in way more trouble than the loss of driving privileges for a month. Besides, he’s had to cover some embarrassing moments for me, so I owe him.”

Dean raised both eyebrows. “Sounds like a story there.”

He laughed, knowing he already looked guilty. “Yeah there is, but it’s one I won’t be sharing.”