Someone called Soul Mate - 2. Chapter 2

18 HOURS BEFORE THE DISASTER HIT…

Arkansas had always been closely connected to Kyle’s life. Things always seemed to just happen for him there - good or bad. It was his mother’s hometown and after a chaotic divorce with his biological father, he came here for the first time at the age of six. He met a kind and respectable man who wound up becoming his step-father after a couple of years of dating his mother. Graham Morgan was his mother’s – Alice’s – high-school sweetheart and they ended up marrying each other. Kyle didn’t mind it at all, because one, his mother seemed to be the happiest around the Morgan’s and two, he loved how great a father Graham always tried to be to him. His bio-dad was a jerk and he had hurt his mother so much that he didn’t want anything to do with him. So Kyle happily accepted to be adopted legally by Graham and suddenly, he was Kyle Morgan, with a mother, a step-father and a mischievous, yet sweet step-brother, Chris who was around four years elder than him.

There were many memories attached to Arkansas; like how he spent blissful days during vacations with his family. Although after the marriage, Graham and Alice decided to move to New York. The family would always come to Arkansas once every year for camping or whatever. It was one of those times during the next few years that his parents announced to Kyle and Chris that they were going to have a baby together. Chris was cool with it, but Kyle had thrown a huge tantrum. He still laughed every time he was reminded of what a pain in the ass he was for his parents back then. However, when his little sister Nikki came to the world, he forgot about all those insecurities he had felt in the past. He was eight at that time.

He still remembered the time of the year when he had sat everyone down around the fire and was pacing around vigorously. His parents had looked very concerned at that moment, while Chris – who he had already confided in – was gazing at him expectantly. Little Nikki, who was five or six by then, seemed like she was bored out of her mind. And then Kyle had told them. Loud and clear: “I am gay.” And he had felt a huge relief in his gut. It was a bit rocky after that, of course. His dad was okay with it but Alice acted like her son had contracted some disease and it was up to her to cure it. Eventually Alice came around after his father and Chris explained the facts to her.

Kyle had shared his first kiss ever with his best friend Gabe exactly a year after he came out. That was the time when his other sister, Kelly, was about to be born. Graham had cancelled their plans for going to Arkansas that year since Alice was advised not to travel but Kyle really wanted to go. His dad had allowed him to go off with Gabe just that once, and things had taken a different turn altogether. Life suddenly felt beautiful with a loving man by his side. It was like a dream come true. Kyle had had a crush on Gabe for a long time and he used to watch him for hours in school yearning to be something more in his life than being just friends. He credited Arkansas for bringing them together. There was something magical in the air – an invisible string perhaps that bound everyone in his life to him.

On the flip side, as everything began in Arkansas, things also came to an end in Arkansas. That one person he met there five summers back, also held one of the strings to his life; his heartstring, and he pulled it in such a way that everything that had sounded sane in his life before went berserk. Everything ended – some things forever, and some were broken too much to ever be repaired. He had blood on his hands from someone he loved.

Things were never the same after that and Arkansas was long forgotten. So when out of the blue, Graham came up with a plan to visit the place again and go camping, Kyle was surprised. It was a painful reminder of his past life – the one that he had finally been able to move on from. He had decided to tell his parents that he wasn’t going, giving them some work excuse but when Kelly had excitedly come up to him screaming about how it was going to be her first time visiting Arkansas, he couldn’t say anything. He kept his mouth shut, put on a fake smile and followed them to their favorite camping ground.

They were camping by the river just like the old times and everyone was cheerful about it. Graham and Chris were putting up the tents while Alice was showing Kelly around. That place today was totally different from what Kyle had remembered it to be. The land around the river was almost cleared out for campers like them to refuge. In his teenage years it was thick with several trees around the area.

Back then, Kyle and his father used to explore the amazing place, share blissful hours listening to the music from Chris’s I-pod and have fun with his little sister Nikki. Hanging out there, he’d dream, escaping his busy life in New York for a moment, making friends with fellow campers, and losing friends when the time came to return home.

As they say, old habits die far too hard, and even after years of not visiting the place, Kyle still loved exploring its beautiful areas, while humming his favorite songs and just enjoying the company of his sister Nikki and getting to know Chris’s fiancée Jessica. She was a tall girl who had blue eyes and dirty blonde hair. She had a funny nose but her looks were breathtaking and all types of guys; gay and straight, appreciated them. Kyle understood why his big brother had fallen for her. She was funny, sweet and very smart but she was a chatterbox. Kyle was amused how she could go on and on about nothing in particular, just rattling on, not paying attention whether it even made sense or not. His brother on the other hand, found it cute.

Another person who found pleasure in it was Nikki. She had now grown up into a gorgeous teen who was struggling to get through her sophomore year in high school. Nikki looked so much like his mom with her black hair and petite figure that it made Kyle smile in happiness. The only thing she had in common with Graham was that she had taken on his kind, brown eyes that squinted very cutely whenever they smiled. Nikki was all Kyle could ever wish for in a sister. They were each other’s best friends. Jessica had totally bonded with her as well, mainly because they shared many common interests. They would chat continuously about bands, music, fashion, and the only thing they talked about that Kyle found an interest in; boys - hot and sexy celebrities and hunks. Right now was no different. Nikki and Jessica were gushing over the Supernatural brothers and Kyle was all ears.

“Dean Winchester is way too alluring.” Nikki uttered in her almost dizzy state. “He should really do shirtless scenes more, you know?”

“So true...” Jessica agreed. “It would be hard not to faint while watching those scenes though.”

Kyle looked amusedly at her. “Thank God Chris is not here. He would get damn insecure if he heard that.” Nikki began to giggle looking at Jessica’s flushed face. “But you are right. Dean does put that spell on you.” Kyle opined, winking suggestively. “Although I like Sam more...with his longer hair and all.”

“Sam is yummy.” Jessica closed her eyes. “The way he calls out my name every time… mmm.” She looked like she had gone into her own wonderland, then she opened her eyes and laughed nervously.

Kyle stopped and made a face. “Okay, one – remember we are in a public place so don’t embarrass us please, and two – he doesn’t call your name. You just happen to share the same name with his first girlfriend. So, don’t flatter yourself.”

“Ouch!” Jess looked hurt but Nikki giggled again. “Oh well, a girl can always dream.” They resumed exploring again.

“Hmm… they have that kind of effect on people.”

“Jared and Jensen are unbelievably attractive.” His sister nodded in accord.

“Definitely! Jared is really awesome in Supernatural but he also looked hot as hell in Friday the Thirteenth. Although I was really busy gawking over that other guy ... um, I think Trent was his name in the movie?” Jessica wondered aloud.

“Yup, Trent,” Nikki had a sparkle in her eyes. “Definitely caught my attention! His real name is Travis Van Winkle.”

Kyle looked lost. “Hey, I haven’t heard of that name and I don’t think I watched the movie either.”

“Oh yeah, of course, I forgot you are terrified of horror movies.” She teased her brother. Kyle frowned and slapped the back of her head playfully. “Ow.”

Jessica gave out a laugh. “Oh, really Kyle? I didn’t take you as that type.”

“It’s not that I am terrified, I just don’t like to watch them. They happen to exaggerate things too much.” He cleared. “I watch Supernatural, don’t I?”

“Right; sure,” Nikki mocked seriousness and then burst out laughing again.

Kyle gave her a threatening glare before looking at Jessica. “So Travis ... tell me about him.”

“Travis is all man, a super hot thing when on screen. Have you seen Meet the Spartans?” Kyle nodded. “Then you might remember him from that movie or ... or from Accepted. He played the badass who exposed Justin’s truth to all.”

“Hey, I know who you are talking about. Man, that dude has great pecs.” Kyle perked up. “So that is Travis, eh? Interesting; he has the looks of an actor – even better than Justin I would say.”

“Oh come on, Justin Long is not that bad.” Nikki groaned. She liked Justin and it displeased her whenever she heard people talking low of him.

“But he is not good either.” Kyle countered, more teasingly.

Nikki was about go off on him when suddenly Jessica stopped in her tracks and screeched. “Oh my God!” Both Kyle and Nikki turned to her bewildered, and came to an abrupt halt as well. “Look!” She pointed ahead of them and their eyes followed in that direction.

And their faces lit up almost instantly. The place was filled with many crew members and filming equipment. The space was very quiet and far away from the main camping ground which is why no other camper had been there, save for Kyle and the girls. The three looked at one another with huge grins plastered across their faces and quickly moved closer to get a better look at all the activity.

Kyle especially couldn’t believe his eyes when he saw the actor. Dylan Carver was cast in whatever movie that was being shot. Dylan was a porn star and a personal favorite of Kyle’s. He was a big fan, in secret anyway.

He nervously looked to his side and found the girls looking right at him. If this was a porn movie, Kyle thought it was best that the girls didn’t stay for long. He looked back at Dylan and was a bit confused when he saw that all of his clothes were on. After observing for a while, he concluded that it was safe for the girls to stay. They were shooting a scene and they filmed the same sequence numerous times, even though they seemed to be no less than perfect from Kyle’s point of view. Maybe he was too excited after seeing the Carver man. Seeing the actor right now, reminded him of something from the past. “...Oh Kyle,” a manly voice whispered in his ears, “You are my Dylan Carver.” He remembered the moment and there he went strolling down memory lane again. Beautiful, desirous yet a painful memory; it all started shortly after that...

“Excuse me.” A man came up to them, “You are not supposed to be here. This area is off-limits for the campers.”

“We ... we are just watching. We promise we’ll just stay here and watch. Please ...” Before Kyle could even finish what he was saying Jessica had run off screaming and yelling Dylan’s name, and saying how much she loved him over and over again. It happened so quickly that nobody could stop her and she literally threw herself at the actor. “Oh fuck!” Kyle grunted as the man who had come up to warn them, sprinted towards her.

Other crew members gathered around Jessica and Dylan, trying to get the actor out of her grip. Nikki and Kyle looked at each other with worry. They knew they had to do something, but they dared not get closer

At that moment, Kyle heard a familiar masculine voice and his head briskly turned towards the crowd. “Please ma’am, I am afraid you’ll have to leave right away. You are interrupting our shoot.” He couldn’t see who the voice belonged to in the crowd, but the voice was quite recognizable. His heartbeat started to race. The past replayed itself in his mind reminding him of his lost love. “I love you, Kyle.” His lover begged, “I can’t live without you. Please don’t leave me.” Kyle closed his eyes shut for a minute and then blinked out of it. He had no time for it and probably, the voice and everything was just some trick his mind was playing on him, as usual.

Some major arguing went on between Jessica and the crew which Kyle couldn’t hear, and he saw his brother’s fiancée making her way timidly back towards them. Kyle smirked at her while he scanned the crowd from the corner of his eyes. “I think I am going to write a book on this – Jessica and her horrid encounter with Dylan Carver.” He heard his sister cackle beside him and guffawed as well. All Jessica could do was to turn red in embarrassment. “Seriously? Now you watch gay porn to satisfy your hunger?”

“No, I don’t,” Jessica gaped that Kyle would even suggest it. “But Dylan is Dylan. A friend told me about him and I Googled him. It is not my fault that he is so hot that I couldn’t get enough of him!”

In a typical scenario like this, Kyle would have embarrassed Jessica to death but his head was preoccupied with something else. The voice he had heard before didn’t stop. He would pick it up from somewhere and then it would die down again making him unable to see where it came from.

“Let’s get out of here.” Nikki said shaking her head. Dejected that he couldn’t spot the man he was expecting to be there, Kyle decided to give up searching. He shrugged and let his eyes wander once again through the crowd before turning to leave. Kyle almost didn’t notice him at first, but when his eyes caught up with the guy he stopped and turned back quickly.

The dark-haired guy slowly walked up to Dylan and began to say something to him apologetically. Kyle had instantly known it was him and only him when he had heard that voice. But a part of him tried to convince his inner self that it wasn’t. It was just that he didn’t want to peel away the outer layer of his soul and open it up to the harsh stinging touch of days gone by and regretful actions.

“Kyle, you are coming, right?” Jessica called behind him.

“I think he spotted some fresh meat there.” He heard Nikki giggle while his eyes were locked on his special someone.

Kyle gazed on just a few seconds longer before answering, “Nothing fresh there. It’s Riley.” He spared a look at his sister when he broke the news to her.

Nikki's eyes flicked over to the handsome brunette who was talking to Dylan Carver. “Oh... my... God!”

As Kyle turned to focus on Riley his mind flashed back to the most heavenly part of his past.

He had met Riley five years back when he had left his home in New York to go to Arkansas for awhile to move in with his grandmother. It was hell – he had gotten into a fight with his mother, who had wanted him to join Chris’s car rental business, but Kyle had different plans. He wanted to become a writer and his mother didn’t understand him back then. It was terrible with Gabe too – they had a break up over his family issues. Unlike Kyle’s parents, Gabe’s parents hadn’t taken his coming out well enough and his rich businessman of a father had threatened to cut him out of his will. It had gotten complicated since Gabe wanted to become a successful business person like his father and he believed that without his father’s help, he could do nothing. Kyle had tried to make him see that he was being delusional; that he was letting his parents control his mind but Gabe was too scared. Gabe believed he was just creating so much agony for his boyfriend, he decided it was best to break up with Kyle. He wanted to let Kyle go and that angered Kyle so much.

In Arkansas, Kyle remained grumpy all the time. His grandmother was so worried that she would keep checking on him to see if he was okay. When she had known what her daughter had done, she had taken the matters in her own hand and given Alice the third degree. Although it didn’t make anything better, it amused Kyle to see his Grandma Ellis going off like that. To show her support, she even contacted someone to let him in sit in during a writer’s workshop and Kyle couldn’t have been happier. He was also sure that it would be the best distraction from any relationship issues.

It was his first day at the university and he was running late. That is why the accident may have happened. Kyle would swear it wasn’t his fault because the stupid, but cute cyclist wasn’t looking where he was going…

“Oh shit!” Kyle swore behind the wheel and quickly got out of his car. He thought he had killed someone when the car made that horrible screeching noise. His black Mustang was pivoted weirdly on the road and a guy his age was lying just an inch away from the wheels. He was sprawled out on the dirty ground, shrieking in pain while his bicycle looked like a crushed tin. “Holy shit man! What the heck were you thinking?”

The man stopped shrieking and a frown appeared on his handsome face. “I should be the one asking that question to YOU! What the fuck were you thinking?” He yelled.

Kyle was trembling and looked around in an utter panic. There were a few people on streets who had stopped to look. An old man came forward and looked concerned. “Oh God!” He said and leaned down to the guy’s side. “Don’t worry son, I have called 911. They are on their way.” Then he stood up and gave Kyle a disapproving look.

Kyle looked at him, exasperated. “I didn’t do anything. He came in front of my car from out of nowhere.”

The man shook his head and in a second, the paramedics were parking their vehicle beside the Mustang. Two men came out to help and one of them asked him, “What is your name, sir?”

“Riley… Riley Gibson.” He moaned, writhing in pain.

The other one engaged Kyle in asking various questions about what had happened. They then strapped the injured guy Riley to a stretcher and placed him in the back of the ambulance. Kyle was asked to follow them to the hospital. He had no injuries but it seemed that Riley might have sustained a fractured leg.

The talk with the cops didn’t go very well at the hospital. The officer seemed pissed off and said he would have Kyle arrested as soon as Riley was able to give his statement. By the time the doctors were done treating Riley, Kyle had called his grandmother. “Don’t say a word, you hear me? My lawyer and I will sort this out. Oh Kyle, how can you get into so much trouble?”

“I am sorry.” Kyle had apologized timidly over the phone. He had done his share of crying in the restroom himself.

Grandma Ellis sighed. “Accidents happen, okay? I will be there as soon as possible. Just stay calm.”

Kyle paced the waiting room as the officers went in to talk to Riley and he was sweating profusely thinking about what was going to happen. This was a mistake, he concluded immediately. He wondered whether he should have never left New York. None of this would have happened. Even if he didn’t believe that the accident was his fault, a part of Kyle was feeling guilty for hurting someone, even unintentionally.

He was sure he was going to be arrested and was dreading thinking about what his mother would say when she’d find out, when the officers came in. “I am ready.” He said, swallowing all his fears down.

“Ready for what?” The officer looked clueless.

“To come down to the station with you.

The other officer patted Kyle on the back. “There is no need for it because Mr. Gibson is not pressing any charges. So, you are a free man,” he said. “We only came to tell you that he wants to have a word with you.”

Kyle nodded, stunned by what he was just told. In a robotic manner he made his way to the ER and found a pale looking Riley lying on the bed. His left leg was cast in plaster up to his knee and it was hooked on a chain, keeping it elevated. His palm was bandaged and there were red marks on his cheek. “Want to be the first one to sign the plaster?” Riley smiled weakly at him.

He tried to smile back but couldn’t. So he sighed and inched his way carefully up to the bed. “Why are you being so nice to me?”

“Shouldn’t I be?” Riley looked amused.

“No, you could have ended up dead today just because of me.”

Riley shrugged. “Accidents happen. And you did say it was my fault, so …”

Kyle couldn’t help the chuckle. “Dude!” he said. “Is that why you sent the cops away? Because I told you it was your fault?”

“Yes.” He said with a serious face.

“B-but I could have been lying.”

“You could be.” Riley shrugged again and then gave him a slight smile. “But I like to believe you weren’t.” It was the way he spoke those words; it gave Kyle a fluttery feeling in his stomach. His heart sped up so fast and he realized he hadn’t had these kinds of feelings since he had been with Gabe. He felt warmth all over. Kyle couldn’t pull himself out of it and he had drowned himself in the azure eyes which stared back at him. It was intense, it was breathtaking. And he had to tackle all kinds of urges building in him. Kyle looked away to stop himself from leaning down and kissing those sweet lips ferociously. It was unbelievable that such a short encounter with someone could make him feel something like that. Riley coughed. “Would you like to stay for a bit … Kyle, is it?”

“Yeah, but … I…my grandmother … she is… I-I better get going.” Kyle stammered and rushed out of the room. He was feeling suffocated in there, not only because of that distinct attraction he had felt so intensely for a stranger, but also because his mind was now starting to clog up with guilt. He had felt like he was betraying his ex-boyfriend by just looking at some other guy like that.

Unknowingly, Kyle’s feet started towards the man. Riley smiled at some point as he turned away from Dylan, speaking to a crew member, and the smile warmed Kyle’s heart instantly. It still had such a strong effect on him; it was amazing. Riley started to slowly retrace his steps and as he was almost past Kyle and gone, the blonde heard himself say out loud, "Aren't you even going to say hi now?”

Riley stopped and looked at him, too startled to take much in, but then his features softened as recognition showed in his eyes. "Kyle?" He was grinning by then. “Oh my God! Nikki?” He laughed looking behind Kyle.

Kyle felt a breeze as his sister ran past him to hug Riley. “Riley! It is so good to see you after so long. I have missed you so much.”

He stood coolly and shook the hand that Riley offered him. It was awkward. ‘When did things change so quickly?’ Kyle wondered.

“Wow, it's so cool to see you guys. It's been a long time. You look good, really good; all grown up, but looking good.” He was saying to Nikki, but his eyes were fixed somewhere else.

Kyle could feel the blue eyes running over his athletic build, pausing now at the bulge in his crotch. Kyle would have been embarrassed by that in a different situation, but at that moment, he felt rather good to be checked out after all this time. He didn’t want Riley to have the pleasure of knowing that though. ‘I might have not contacted him all this time, but he could have taken some efforts to see what was going on with me.’ He thought to himself.

They chatted for awhile, catching up and smiling while they remembered the old days. And then Jessica came up with measured steps and said hi to Riley. The brunette looked at her oddly. A laugh erupted out of Kyle and he introduced her, “Riley, this is Jessica - Chris’s fiancée ... and Jess, this is Riley. My ... uh ...my ...”

“He is family.” Nikki quickly came to his rescue because he was starting to sweat and stammer. Riley smirked at him and then offered his hand to Jess.

“Pleased to meet you, ma’am. Sorry if I was rude before.” He sincerely apologized.

“No, it was my fault. You just did what you had to.” Jess smiled. “I am not usually like that. But my God! It was Dylan Carver ... THE Dylan Carver! How can anyone ask me to keep my excitement to myself? But yes, I could have waited for the scene to finish. Damn, he pulled me towards him and I am such a huge fan. I was in California last year when he was filming some other movie and I missed out on that because I didn’t even know. Can you imagine? I was so depressed I couldn’t sleep for several nights...”

“Could you just shut up for a moment with all your rambling? Please?” Kyle cut her off and turned to Riley with an embarrassed smile. “What Jess means is that she is sorry for interrupting your activities and she understands why you did what you did, right Jess?”

“Right!” The girl blushed.

Riley chuckled. “Thank you for understanding.” He said to her and looked at Kyle again. The blonde had to quickly look away for fear of getting caught staring at Riley’s lips. He knew he shouldn’t be looking, but damn he missed the sight of them.

They were all getting on well and as the mood lightened, Kyle felt himself melting by the memory of all the feelings he had for Riley from years ago. Riley asked about Kyle’s parents and Nikki told him they were all here together camping by the riverside.

“Look, I’m really sorry, but I've got to get back.” Riley said and Kyle noticed his powerful arms and chest stretching the thin cotton shirt he wore as he turned to gesture the cameraman calling for him. Facing them again, he asked, “Are you all free tonight? We have a party planned once we are finished filming our last scenes today. Would you like to join us?”

“I dunno ...” Kyle looked between Nikki and Jess who looked more than happy to be invited. But he had to ask, “Will that be okay? I mean, wouldn’t the others mind having outsiders at their party?”

“Hey, nobody calls the director’s friends outsiders.” Riley smiled.

Kyle’s mouth hung open and he couldn’t stop grinning after hearing that. “Director... D-Director?” He couldn’t believe it. “Riley? ... Oh my God! Director?” He threw his arms around the man in ecstasy, not really having the sense of what he was doing. “That is such great news. When were you going to tell us?”

He felt the body around his arms getting stiff and then slowly warming up. That’s when he realized what he had done and he stepped back from the embrace quickly. “Um ... yeah. This is actually my first film.” Riley said; his face beet red.

“Uh ... that is great, seriously. Congratulations.”

Kyle felt a nudge and glared at his sister. She was grinning wide and wiggling her eyebrows at him. So irritating.

“So, will you be coming to the party?” Riley asked with a hopeful look.

Kyle smiled with a tender look on his face. “You bet I will.” He said just above a whisper.

“I will be waiting for you.” Riley grinned at him and then coughed, “... I will be waiting for you all.”

“Sure!” Nikki and Jess nodded vigorously and grinned.

"Great. It'll be good to catch up with you some more." It seemed a genuine offer, not just a line. “And I can’t wait to see the others too.” He waved and went back to directing the shoot.

Kyle watched his tight, denim-clad ass as he left, obviously not missing the real bulge when Riley stood with them. He tried to remember the good ole’ days. He certainly remembered the size and the feeling of Riley’s cock inside him and just the memory of that made him extremely horny.

Jess continued to talk excitedly about Riley, asking Kyle and Nikki more about him. Also the girls were extremely excited about going to the party where possibly they would be able to meet Dylan again. However, Kyle felt himself reminiscing about the past, wistfully thinking about what might have been, and wondering if he might just get another chance.

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