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    Mark Arbour
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Stories posted in this category are works of fiction. Names, places, characters, events, and incidents are created by the authors' imaginations or are used fictitiously. Any resemblances to actual persons (living or dead), organizations, companies, events, or locales are entirely coincidental.
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9.11 - 44. Chapter 44

Inside Brad's mind...

September 15, 2001

 

“I hope you don’t mind driving over with me,” I said to Will as we motored down I-280 in the Ferrari convertible Robbie had bought me. I was getting immune to these constant reminders about him, probably because they were everywhere.

“No, it’s cool,” he said casually. “I ride in this car a lot.”

“In this car? In my Ferrari?” I asked him, pretending to sound outraged, when I was only joking.

“Yeah,” he said with a shrug. “It’s cool, and I figured it might piss you off if I put some miles on it.” That actually made me laugh.

“Nope. You’ll have to try something else to piss me off,” I said. “If it gets too cold, we can put the top up.”

“No, leave it down,” he said. It was 70 degrees and sunny, and we were both wearing long sleeves. “May be colder in Santa Cruz. It’s definitely wet suit weather.”

“No shit,” I agreed. “The weather report says it will be sunny, but only about 60.”

“Doesn’t matter as long as the waves are good,” he said. We drove on for a while, neither one of us saying anything.

When we took the exit for I-880/Highway 17, I spoke again. “So how was Marie?” That reminded me of Robbie, and how when we were having an intense conversation, he’d wait until we got to an intersection before he’d bring up a new topic.

“Fine,” he said casually. “How was your doctor’s visit?”

“Fine,” I responded in the same tone. “Gave me some pills. Wellbutrin.”

“Let me know if they help,” he said, as if he wanted some.

“So Marie was better?” I asked, again. I really was worried about her. He didn’t say anything, which made me feel like shit for prying.

He finally turned to look at me, and even though my eyes were on the road, I could see him looking at me with my peripheral vision. “I’m trying to figure out how to deal with you.”

That surprised me. “You’re trying to figure out how to deal with me?” I asked.

“Yeah. I’m trying to decide if I open up and tell you what’s going on, you’ll try to run my life and control me, or if you’ve gotten over that,” he said. At first that pissed me off, but then I calmed down, and decided that I was lucky he was being this open with me.

“I can see that,” I said.

“And the second thing is that you want me to tell you what’s going on in my world, and my mind, but you’re not telling me what’s going on in yours,” he countered.

“So what you’re saying to me is that you’re wondering why you should trust me to talk about things, when I don’t trust you enough to tell you my thoughts,” I said, summing things up.

“That’s what I’m saying,” he said, and sat back in the seat, leaving the ball squarely in my court. And there I was, at the wall, with a pretty solid choice to make. I was going to have to open up to him, and tell him what my issues were, if I wanted him to feel comfortable talking to me.

“Have you talked to Dr. Anderson lately?” I asked him, referring to his psychologist.

“Not since…not recently,” he said. “I have an appointment set up on Monday after school. We talk on the phone. It works.”

“I talked to my psychologist this morning, after the appointment with the psychiatrist,” I told him. “That’s why we’re running behind schedule.”

“We’re doing fine,” he said. “That was more important.”

I sighed, letting him see my frustration. “Robbie and I were having issues before he…” I paused, almost unable to say the word, and then I did. “Died.”

“I’m sorry,” he said earnestly. “I never meant to cause problems between the two of you.”

“That’s not how it was,” I said, now even more frustrated, because we’d gone off in a direction that I didn’t want to take. I didn’t want him to feel guilty. “If anything, it was those issues that helped make our problems worse.”

“What issues?” he asked.

“After that whole nightmare with Carson, I told Robbie that I’d rather have him fuck a guy he was attracted to rather than let him get under Robbie’s skin like Carson did,” I told him. “I thought that would be better than having him become obsessed.”

“That makes sense,” he said, just to urge me on.

“Robbie was working with this guy, and he was pretty into him,” I told him.

Will’s eyes flashed fire now, because he was angry. “Was this another twink?”

“No, it was with Alex Danvers,” I said.

“The guy he wanted to appoint to take over the company?” he asked me, shocked. “What if this guy’s as big of an idiot as Carson was?”

“He’s not,” I said calmly, and that slowed him down enough to listen to me. “Robbie took me out to dinner after we got back from Claremont, from the Fourth of July thing, and told me that he was really attracted to Alex.”

“What did you say?”

“I agreed with him. Alex is really handsome, and really smart. I actually was happy that it wasn’t some twink, but a guy in his early 30s. I don’t know why, but it seemed better.”

“If you say so,” Will said. “I’m not sure why it’s better.”

“I’m not sure either,” I admitted. “It just seemed that way. Kind of like he found a friend with benefits, and the fact that the guy was less than ten years younger than Robbie made me think that maybe he was over the mid-life thing.”

“So he wanted your permission to fuck this dude?”

“Yes,” I said. “I didn’t freak out like he thought I would, I actually took a day to think about it. But in the end, I really didn’t feel like I had much of a choice but to agree to it. I mean, if I said no, he’d either fire the guy so he wasn’t around, and that wasn’t fair, or he’d fuck him anyway, and then I’d really lose my mind.”

“I can see that,” Will said.

“So I told him I was OK with it. The next day, I got a call from Alex.”

“What did he want?” Will asked, pissed off again.

“He told me that Robbie had asked him out, and let him know that his interests weren’t just professional. He said that he thought Robbie was really sexy, and he was tempted to take him up on the date, but he wasn’t going to do it unless I was OK with it,” I told him.

“That’s a pretty classy thing to do,” Will said. “I wish I would have done that with Erik.”

“Live and learn,” I told him. “It was classy. He said that he wasn’t dating anyone, but he didn’t want to come between us. He asked me to call him if I got annoyed with them hooking up.”

“So Pop started banging this dude,” Will concluded.

“He did. It was only once or twice a week,” I said, like that made it any better.

“I can’t believe Pop did that to you!” he said, all pissed off.

“He didn’t do anything wrong. He handled things just like he was supposed to. He asked my permission, and Alex even made sure everything was good,” I said emphatically. “And I told him it was alright.”

“You were backed into a corner. You had no choice,” he said.

“I had choices,” I said. “I could have put my foot down and said ‘no’.”

“He would have done it anyway,” Will argued.

“Maybe. Maybe not,” I said. I paused to get myself together, and he gave me the space to do that. “I think that Robbie was one of those guys who needed some excitement on the side, something new every once in a while. It wasn’t about me; it was just something he craved. And when he got it, we were actually better together.” I mentally noted that I was talking to Will about my sex life and it wasn’t bothering me.

“That sounds like what Wade went through with that deal with Matt,” Will said. I nodded, because it was very similar, and that made me reflect briefly on how much alike Matt and Robbie were. “Wade wasn’t very happy with that either.”

“I think Wade dealt with it just fine,” I said.

“Right,” he said, challenging that. “Wade puts up with it. Just like you did.”

“It started to really bother me around the beginning of August,” I told him. “I decided that I’d talk to Alex about it, so I asked him to meet me for lunch.”

“How did it go?”

“It was nice,” I said, then swallowed hard. “We had lunch, then went to the Beverly Hills Hotel, got a room, and fucked all afternoon.” He laughed about that.

“Is he a top or a bottom?” Will asked, joking to try and help me stay calm.

“He’s versatile,” I said, remembering how sexy he was, and how he moved his body with the skill of a professional. He was actually a lot like Cody in bed, only with a smaller dick.

“What did Pop say about that?” Will asked.

“Well, he wasn’t all that happy about it, but he was smart enough to try and hide it from me,” I told him with a grimace. “So things went on, and we were both seeing Alex on the side. I mean, we have other guys we can do that with, like Cody, but somehow this was different.”

“You were into him too?”

I shook my head. “I think I was just having sex with him to stay involved in his relationship with Robbie.” I sighed. “Toward the end of August, we decided to try a threesome.”

He could tell by my tone that didn’t go well. “Not good?”

I shook my head. “I think sex with multiple people only works if the people are all into each other. When we were having sex, Robbie really didn’t pay much attention to me.” That had shaken me to my core, and it was inevitable that a tear fall out of my eye.

“So those two were all into each other, freezing you out?” he demanded, all pissed off.

I shook my head, and almost chuckled. “No, Alex was into me. And I was just annoyed and upset about the whole situation.”

“You know what I think?” he asked rhetorically. “I think that all of our fighting just made things that much worse.”

“You’ve got it all wrong,” I told him. “I didn’t really get that until today.”

“What do you mean?”

“Sometimes you can really love someone, they can love you back, but they can be really bad for you,” I told him.

“You’re saying Pop was bad for you?” he asked, really upset now.

“Sometimes, I think he was,” I admitted. “I love him, I really do,” I said, noting even as I did that I used the present tense.

“But?”

“But he had this wild side, this need for his freedom, and I tried to deal with it, but I never could,” I admitted, even as I wiped a tear away. “It’s as much my problem as it was his.”

“I’m not seeing that,” he said. “He’s the one who had to go find new meat all the time.”

“Yeah, but I knew that he needed that, and I gave him permission,” I argued, defending him.

“Bullshit,” Will said. “You were backed into a corner, and we both know it.”

We paused to let our emotions calm down a bit. “My doctor thinks that his fling with Alex, and my knowledge that this would probably happen again, fueled my insecurities. He thinks that I saw this thing as a competition, and when Robbie was with Alex, I was losing. I don’t like to lose.”

He laughed at me. “No shit.”

“Even back in high school when we dealt with this shit, I told Robbie that it bothered me most because it made me feel like I wasn’t good enough for him. It was like he needed more than I could give him, and that meant I was a shitty lover,” I said, pouring my heart out to my son.

“Do you really think that?” he asked. “Shit, Wade was ready to dump Matt after you rocked his world.” I felt myself blushing, and that made him giggle. But I really appreciated the shot to my self-confidence he’d given me.

“Having Alex be more into me than Robbie was a huge ego boost,” I admitted. “And it was pretty satisfying to know that Robbie got it too, even if he didn’t admit it, and to know that it must have bugged the shit out of him.”

“Tie this in with you and me,” he said, evidently tired of my rambling.

“My doctor pointed out to me that you and I had our biggest blow-ups around the times that I was dealing with this thing with Alex. I thought about it, and I was reminded of your mother, and how she dealt with you right before she had Maddy,” I told him.

“That was a rough time for her,” he said somberly, remembering his mother.

“It was,” I agreed. It had been a tough time for me too. “I mentioned that, and how she had demanded that you be around her, and had become pretty unhinged about you and your brothers leaving. He said it was probably similar. He said that I was probably feeling very insecure, and my foundations were crumbling, so I was grabbing for those I loved most and trying to control them.”

“Wow,” he said, getting my epiphany. “Dude, I’m fucking confused about all this. You must be losing your mind.”

I laughed at that, and it felt good, so good I kept on laughing, until it got a little weird. “It’s not easy.”

“So that’s how you left things?” he asked. “That’s what was going on when he died?” He used the “D” word and freaked out about it a bit, but I hurried to answer his question and take away the stigma.

“No. We got home from your mother’s house and argued for about an hour. I told him that I was done with this, and that when we got back to Malibu, I was moving out.”

“Shit. You were going to divorce him?”

“More or less,” I admitted. “The whole thing was just fucking with my brain. I told him that I couldn’t be in a relationship with someone who wasn’t happy with me, and only me. I told him that it had never worked before, and it wasn’t working now.”

“What did he say?”

“He finally seemed to get where I was coming from,” I said, and found myself pissed off at Robbie once again for being so thick-headed that I had to threaten to dump him for him to actually listen to me. “He told me that he was sorry, and that he fucked up, and that when we got back to LA, he’d dump Alex and that was that.”

“Did you believe him?” he asked.

“Yeah, I did,” I said. “I think he would have had a hard time with it, but he would have done it.”

“I don’t think he would have,” Will said.

“What?” I asked angrily, but settled down pretty fast. Will was used to that, and didn’t let it bother him.

“I think he would have been working with the dude, and would have been tempted to do something with him,” Will said. “And I think that you may have been tempted to do something with Alex too.”

“No I wouldn’t!” I vowed. We said nothing for a bit. “What makes you think that?”

He smiled at me, and my erratic behavior. “To reward him for liking you best.” I stared at him, stunned at how well he knew me, and how well he’d read me. And at how he was probably right. “Doesn’t matter anyway.”

“No, it doesn’t,” I lied. “So we had a really nice night, and had great make-up sex.” I didn’t go into all the details, about how that was the last time I’d fisted Robbie, and how I used that to remind him of our connection.

“I didn’t know you were dealing with all that shit,” he said. “No wonder you were acting like a crazy bastard.”

“You didn’t know because I didn’t tell you, and I didn’t tell you because you and I were fighting and it didn’t seem appropriate to share it with you, and we were fighting because I was crazed from dealing with Robbie,” I said, acknowledging all the underlying issues.

“I can see that,” he said. “Robbie accused me of doing things just to piss you off.”

“When did he say that?” I asked.

“When he was up at Escorial. We really had a nice time.” He told me about the dildo Robbie had left him, and the note, which cracked me up. And he told me about how he’d sat with Robbie and looked at his spreadsheets, and they’d talked about the business. “He said that some of the things I did, like buying that house without even talking to you, must have seemed pretty antagonistic.”

I smiled at his use of a big word, marveling at the influence Dad had over him. “What do you think?”

“I think that maybe there was something to that,” he said. We both laughed at that.

“My big fear in telling you all this is that it would make you mad at him,” I said.

He nodded. “He did stupid shit, and so did you. I guess I always thought that as long as I loved someone, and he loved me back, that was the most important thing. It’s more complicated than that.”

“It is,” I said. “I think that with Robbie, the biggest problem I had was that he just fueled my insecurities. I could never really be completely confident in us.”

“Maybe you fueled his too,” Will said.

“What are you talking about?” I asked, a little too nastily.

“Does he have a lot of cash?”

“Cash?”

“Yeah. Does he have a lot of cash?” Will asked.

“As a matter of fact, he does,” I said. I’d noticed that when I’d looked at his accounts. “Why?”

“He told me that he wasn’t going to be in a position where if he felt he was right about something, he’d have to let you and Stef bully him. He said that if he had enough cash built up, he could do his own thing if he had to,” Will said.

“He was planning to leave Anders-Hayes?” I asked, completely flummoxed.

“No, he was making sure he had options,” Will corrected.

“So you’re saying that because we had those shares of stock to hang over his head, we made him feel insecure too?” I asked.

“Maybe,” he said.

“Maybe that’s why he felt the need to be with Alex,” I mused out loud, remembering that he’d felt similarly with Carson. Then I got flustered. “See, this is what I’m talking about. It’s like we loved each other, but we were just toxic for each other.”

“Or maybe you just didn’t talk about shit,” he said, putting it so succinctly.

“Maybe you’re right,” I agreed. “He made me promise to find someone new.”

“Are you going to do that?” he asked.

“Maybe,” I said. “If I do, I’m not going through this shit again. I’m going to find someone who is stable, and won’t fuck me up like this.”

“I’m guessing you’ll turn into a total slut. You will have one hell of a time giving me shit after that,” he said, enjoying my potential dilemma.

“Look, having sex with all kinds of guys when you’re under 18…”

He cut me off, with fire in his eyes. “Stop! Don’t even go there. I told Aunt Claire and Uncle Jack last night that they should learn a lesson from us.”

“What lesson was that?” I asked with dread.

“I told them that no dude is going to put up with his parents telling him what he can and can’t do with his dick. Uncle Jack wouldn’t have, and you wouldn’t have. So knock it off.”

“Well…” I began.

“I’m serious,” he said, almost a yell. “Knock it off. You are not allowed to comment on who I fuck, how I fuck them, or how many times I fuck them. First time you do that, it’s the last time I talk about my sex life in front of you.”

“Fine,” I agreed grumpily.

“So now you have the control. You like that,” he said, trying to joke to make the conversation less confrontational.

“So what happened with Marie?”

“She was all whacked out because she fell in love,” he told me. He paused for effect. “With me.”

“She’s in love with you?” That freaked me out on so many levels, but I didn’t say anything more, I just processed it.

“Why is that hard to believe?” he asked with faux cockiness.

“So that’s why she was acting so weird,” I mused. People in love do stupid ass things, as I’d just pointed out.

“That’s why,” he said.

“So are you guys alright?”

“She said she was sorry, we fucked, and now we’re good,” he said.

“You fucked her?” I asked, and then forced myself to calm down. He was testing me with this, waiting to see how I’d handle it.

“I did,” he said.

“Aren’t you worried that will just make her love you more?” I asked. That question blew him away, because he was expecting a diatribe from me.

“So you think that if I sleep with someone, I’m so awesome, they’re bound to love me?” he joked, cracking both of us up.

“That’s how it works for me,” I said, making us laugh even more.

He got serious and looked at me, even as I turned into our driveway at Santa Cruz. I paused after I went through the gates to look back at him. “You know, it seems to me that’s exactly what happens.”

“Not all the time,” I said with a smile. “But thanks.”

“You know, when you guys were giving me all this shit about sleeping around, and I almost believed you were right, I actually felt bad that I was good at sex. And that’s bullshit. Being good in bed is something to be happy about,” he said.

“Yes, it is,” I agreed, and opted to leave the moralizing behind.

 

September 17, 2001

 

“Good morning,” Grand said to me as I came into the kitchen.

“That remains to be seen,” I said glumly.

“Is there a problem? It seemed like you had a restorative weekend,” he said.

“I think this weekend was about as good as it could be under the circumstances,” I said. I’d had an amazing time surfing with my father. It had been windy and cold, but that didn’t matter, because the waves rocked. Then it got chilly in the evening, so we had all relaxed by the fire and had a mellow evening. And every so often, Jeff and I, or Dad and Cody, would vanish for a while to fuck. I smiled at that, at how Jeff played my body like a flute.

“But you are worried about school,” he said.

“I’m bummed because Jeff went back to LA with Cody, but you’re right, I’m nervous about school,” I said. “Everyone’s going to be asking me about the towers. I don’t want to talk about it.”

“You are not required to talk about it, and no one can force you to,” he declared. “If you have problems, call us.”

“Thanks,” I said. My phone buzzed, which was my signal to go out front to meet the car. It pulled up and I opened the door myself and hopped in. I was surprised to find Aunt Claire there with John. “Good morning,” I said to them cheerfully. I was determined to be upbeat, even though I hadn’t been that way with Grand.

“Good morning,” Aunt Claire said. John just nodded at me, which was fine with me.

“Is there any news on Marie?” I asked.

“They are almost nervous because she is doing so much better,” she said. “You two must have patched things up.”

“We did,” I said, but didn’t expand on that. “When does she get home?”

“Sometime later this week,” she said. “I think she is planning to return to school next week.”

“That’s great,” I said. John looked at me dubiously, but said nothing. We didn’t really talk about anything substantial on the way to school. The driver stopped the car and we hopped out, then the car sped off. I stood there, staring at the school, filled with dread.

“It’s going to be OK,” John said. “Come on.”

“Alright,” I said, and walked with him toward my locker.

“Dude, what’s the deal with Marie? You guys are cool?”

I couldn’t tell him that I had fucked his sister, and that she’d thought she was in love with me. “She apologized to me for all the shit she did, and I believed her,” I said. That was true, that just wasn’t the whole story.

“I hope she’s figured shit out,” he grumbled. We saw Noah off to the side. “Look who’s here.”

“No hate today,” I said to John, and walked up to Noah. I could see him bracing himself, literally clenching his fists, wondering what the fuck I was going to do to him. “Marie has been pretty fucked up by the attacks. She’s out this week. She should be back next week.” He just stared at me blankly, while John and I walked off.

“Dude, you blew his mind,” he said.

“I’d rather blow you,” I joked, whispering that in his ear, and making him chuckle. We got to my locker and I froze. It was covered with paper.

“What the fuck?” he asked.

“I think that’s my line,” I said. I walked up to my locker and found that the paper was actually a bunch of notes taped to my locker. It was like everyone, or at least the people I knew, took the time to write a note and tape it on my locker. “Dude, that was a really nice thing to do.”

“No shit,” John said. He helped me pull all the notes off, and I put them in my backpack to read later. When I opened my locker, I found more of them, the ones that wouldn’t fit on the locker, and had been stuffed through the ventilation holes. “I gotta run.”

“See you at lunch,” I said. The notes were really nice, but in a way, they kind of sucked, because when people stopped to talk to me, I felt obligated to be nice to them. I’d planned to be aloof today, to shield myself, but now I couldn’t do that. I braced myself and walked toward homeroom, but no one said anything beyond “hi” or “glad to see you back”. Blaine Ledington just said “dude” and hi-fived me.

Things were going pretty well until I got to Algebra. I walked in a little late, like maybe a minute at most, because I’d been talking to my last teacher about my homework and a make-up quiz. “I see you’re back, Will,” Mr. Colston said. He was this goofy, nerdy guy who could be funny or mean: those were his two modes.

“Yes, sir,” I said politely.

“You missed a quiz, so that will hurt your grade.” I stared at him, stunned that he’d talk to me about that in front of the whole class.

“I have an excused absence. I was hoping to make that up,” I said.

“Where exactly were you?” he asked. I wondered if he didn’t know, or if he was just being a dick.

“I was in New York City, then in Virginia,” I said with no emotion. I must have sounded like a robot.

“Was this a pleasure trip or a business activity?” he asked, grilling me. Surely he couldn’t be that obtuse that he didn’t know what happened to me? I mean, shit, there were notes all over my locker.

“I have a note,” I said, trying not to get pissed off. I was losing that battle. “That should explain it.”

“And I want to know why you missed class,” he said.

“I don’t want to talk about it,” I said, clenching my teeth. I really wished I could get my anger under control. This was going to be a problem.

“Well I don’t want to administer a make-up quiz,” he said in a smarmy voice.

“You want to know what I did in New York?” I asked loudly.

“If you want me to let you make up the quiz,” he said.

And then I lost it. I walked up to his desk, leaned over it so I was only a couple of feet away from him. “I was on the observatory of the South Tower when the second plane hit. It was in between us and the ground, so we had to go down the one stairwell that was passable, if you could call it that. We had to go down thirty floors in the dark, and it was fucking smoky and hot as hell.” I was yelling by now, and he was not a little surprised by that, and by my language. “We got down to the 80th floor and it was like an inferno. It was so smoky, we had to get down on our hands and knees and crawl down. I was carrying my sister, who’s one year old, and I had to hold a wash cloth over her face because the smoke was so bad. We finally made it to the bottom, and escaped from the tower before the building collapsed. Only my mother, my step-father, and my step-mother didn’t make it out, and were crushed when the fucking building fell on them. We barely managed to get out of New York after that, and the dust cloud from the collapsing building was so thick it covered everything in my mother’s house. We couldn’t get a flight home until Friday, because every plane in the goddamn country was grounded. So that, Mr. Colston, is why I was in New York City and not sitting in my fucking chair in your class taking your fucking quiz!”

“I think your language is inappropriate,” he said, being bitchy again.

“And I think you’re a complete asshole,” I said. Everyone in the class was just staring at me, stunned that I’d go off on a teacher like that. It was totally unlike me. It was totally unlike any of us. I decided to leave while I was behind, to beat a retreat, so I tossed my backpack onto my shoulder, and walked out of the room. I went out into the courtyard and called my father.

“Hello,” he said as he answered the phone.

“I fucked up,” I said. “I may need your help.”

“What happened?” he asked. I told him the whole story, trying to remember my rant word for word. He said nothing until I was done. “Just go to your next class and don’t worry about it.”

“I’m sorry. You have enough on your plate right now,” I said, feeling guilty for bugging him.

“Not really,” he said. “Just go to your classes, and work with your other teachers.”

“Alright,” I said. I hung up the phone and sat there in the courtyard, with a whole period in front of me with nothing to do. I pulled out the notes from my locker and started reading them. They all pretty much said the same kinds of things. They told me they were glad I was alive and proud of me for carrying my sister out of the building. So it wasn’t the content that made them special, it was the fact that they did it. Shit, even Ferris and Noah left me notes.

“Hey,” I heard a voice say, and looked up in time to see Jackie taking a seat next to me.

“Hey,” I said. “Aren’t you supposed to be in class?” She was in Colston’s Algebra class too, and she’d witnessed our confrontation.

“I had to go to the bathroom,” she lied, cracking me up. “I’m sorry he was such an asshole.”

“I shouldn’t have lost it like that,” I admitted. “Sometimes I get so pissed off that this happened, and I just lose it.”

She put her arm around my shoulders, and it felt nice. “Dude, it’s not you. It’s Colston. He’s probably shitting a brick right now.”

“Why?”

“Did you call your father?” she asked.

“Yeah.”

“That’s why,” she said.

Copyright © 2014 Mark Arbour; All Rights Reserved.
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Stories posted in this category are works of fiction. Names, places, characters, events, and incidents are created by the authors' imaginations or are used fictitiously. Any resemblances to actual persons (living or dead), organizations, companies, events, or locales are entirely coincidental.
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Great chapter. Halle-fucking-luiah a real conversation between Will and Brad and finally some insight to what's been causing Brad to behave so extremely. It's not surprising, Robbie has always been the one person who could decimate Brad's esteem with a stray look in the twink direction.

Surprised about Will's teacher's behavior, seems unusual, but it dramatically it works and I think Brad needs to work off some aggression and this guys as good a target as any (not that I condone going off on teachers) :lmao:.

 

Thank you for your awesomeness!

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Brad will probably never stop loving Robbie but, the truth is ultimately the truth. No running away from it. I'm just glad we didn't witness a divorce between Brad and Robbie. So babsically Robbie was insecure because he felt like Brad was calling the shots and he (Robbie) didn't have that much say and Brad was insecure because Robbie wasn't stable and retaliated? Match made in Limbo bit, with a lot of love. That's why they lasted so long. deep down there was nothing but pure love there. I have to admit as much as I'm loving how Brad is drawing so much strentgh from Will, I can't wait to see how he deals with other two, individually. I'm gonna have a blast when it comes to JJ though that's still probably far in the story. Thanks Mark, this (for me) was probably the most important chapter in the story because it made me realise how we forgot all else and tend to focus on only the good of someone once they pass away, which isn't healthy. Great chapter.

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Thank you, thank you, thank you, thank you. Did I say thank you yet.

Honesty time. Over the past couple of days I was thinking about dropping CAP from my reading list. I had gotten tired of and frustrated with the way you were just recycling some of the conflicts between all characters and specifically Will and Brad. You may have noticed that I tried to nudge you with forum posts about how to solve their issues.

And then you go and blow my fucking mind by producing a chapter that seems to be as close to perfect as it could be. You have a gift for making characters shine with the dialogue you write and that drive in the Ferrari was you at your best. And THAT my friend is pretty awesome.

So, I think you're gonna have to put up with my bovine excrement a bit longer because you just reignited my interest. The teacher, the school and the entire CAP universe better watch out because that father and son duo can move mountains when working together.

I'll let others dissect the specifics except for saying that Robbie's death became more palatable and hope Brad can find that one man that can love him and make him feel worthy.

:worship::hug::worship:

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Hurrumph....... took your own damn sweet time posting this last chapter Arbour! I spent the whole weekend staring at my tablet waiting for an update to pop up.... didn't eat.... didn't sleep.... didn't shower lest I miss it!

 

But lucky for you it was worth the wait! :lmao:

 

Great chapter, but I will admit I kept getting confused between Brad thoughts and Will dialogue.... interesting that all that back story was going on, but it does bring out a point I've discussed before and that is that we see very little of the actual lives of the character, just minutes here and there and there are whole sale parts of their lives we never see.

 

I get the device of the teacher, but at a school like Menlo, it is not only unlikely that any teacher would be unaware of what happened with one of their students, but that the school would have actually spoken with Will's teacher before school and other kids at Menlo who might have been effected. But it was a nice way for Will to get his story out publicly, all at once and the story should spread like wildfire throughout the school. Maybe philosophy teacher/ water polo coach Jack Bowen can be the teacher on campus who hunts Will down and talk to him.

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Once again you take us off to another angle of this complex family. Waited all weekend for this post and it was worth it.

 

 

Perhaps the teacher deliberately provoked the outburst. Now the whole school knows and can leave the poor kid alone.

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I can't wait to see what happens when Brad handles the teacher! I know how I would have reacted if a teacher had been so ill behaved with my daughter, and I am not prone to over reacting the way Brad has been lately.

 

I have to agree, its nice to see Brad and Will actually talking to each other instead of at each other.

 

As usual, you evoke all the strong emotions. Thank you.

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Well. finally Brad and Will can talk. The shouting has stopped. For once in a long time we get to see what they are really thinking. How this situation is not simple, just like real life is not simple. Long ago back in Man in Motion, Brad had a choice between Max the safe pick and Robbie the challange. He went with Robbie and knew it would be a ride. Just like surfing clam seas aren't always the best. So many times in this saga it is the simple parts that have the greatest meaning. This is one of them. Two people setting in a car driving down a road they must have done a hundred times. Getting to know each other again. Talking to each other not at each other. Sharing the deepness thoughts. Being real with each other. One of those priceless moments.

 

Will has been dreading school, he wants to forget what has happened, but how can he? When he is confronted with this teacher. I wonder if this was not planned, to help Will deal with it. This was not something teacher or kids wound not know about? We will have to wait to find out about.

 

Ever since 9 11 real time I wonder if you have a real life Mark. You have written so many chapters in the short time. Not only that but I believe your best work. You have dealt with one of the hardest times in the history of this country and of this family with care, and thought that brought the day alive again. Showed us the loss, forced us to feel the loss, and helped us get over the pain, So many times in this sage I believe you have given us lessons in how to live our lives. These lessons are not forced upon us but given to us through these characters which you created. All of them broken in some way, but not defeated. Now in this greatest time of need, you have given them to strength rise up and carry on. These chapter from 36 on have become my favorite chapters, not because of the horror, which is great or the loss, but sometimes through those things we see the greatest of the human spirit and that is what you are doing here Mr. Arbour

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I agree with the others---it's nice to have a better understanding of Brad and how is mind has been working. It is really a shame in a relationship that 2 guys can't be totally monogamus with each other and happy. Hell, if one or the other has the need for sexual thrills outside of the relationship, then what is the purpose of settling down in the first place anyway? Being gay myself that is one reason I'm really not in favor of gay marriage. I mean if the 2 people involved can be monogamus and true to each other then it is fine and dandy; if either feels the need to stray then it is making a mockery of saying they love each other. Now please, no grandstanding by anyone saying that it brings people closer together if they play on the outside---that is just a crock of b/s as Brad finally came to realize.

Yep, Will's teacher's attitude was a shocker. BUT, I have a feeling the biggest surprise is going to be when Robbie's will is read and find out who he left is fortune and stock to!!??

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On 10/01/2013 08:07 AM, Miles Long said:
Great chapter. Halle-fucking-luiah a real conversation between Will and Brad and finally some insight to what's been causing Brad to behave so extremely. It's not surprising, Robbie has always been the one person who could decimate Brad's esteem with a stray look in the twink direction.

Surprised about Will's teacher's behavior, seems unusual, but it dramatically it works and I think Brad needs to work off some aggression and this guys as good a target as any (not that I condone going off on teachers) :lmao:.

 

Thank you for your awesomeness!

Thanks Miles. I really do think that Brad and Robbie are that classic couple with an almost fatal attraction, where they love each other so much, but they're really not good for each other.
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On 10/01/2013 08:17 AM, T.O. said:
Brad will probably never stop loving Robbie but, the truth is ultimately the truth. No running away from it. I'm just glad we didn't witness a divorce between Brad and Robbie. So babsically Robbie was insecure because he felt like Brad was calling the shots and he (Robbie) didn't have that much say and Brad was insecure because Robbie wasn't stable and retaliated? Match made in Limbo bit, with a lot of love. That's why they lasted so long. deep down there was nothing but pure love there. I have to admit as much as I'm loving how Brad is drawing so much strentgh from Will, I can't wait to see how he deals with other two, individually. I'm gonna have a blast when it comes to JJ though that's still probably far in the story. Thanks Mark, this (for me) was probably the most important chapter in the story because it made me realise how we forgot all else and tend to focus on only the good of someone once they pass away, which isn't healthy. Great chapter.
A good summary of Brad and Robbie, but remember that Robbie's mode of retaliation was to fuck other people, and that's bound to fuel Brad's insecurities. He's never been able to handle that. I wonder if he could handle it if he was with someone besides Robbie?
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On 10/01/2013 08:31 AM, Carlos Hazday said:
Thank you, thank you, thank you, thank you. Did I say thank you yet.

Honesty time. Over the past couple of days I was thinking about dropping CAP from my reading list. I had gotten tired of and frustrated with the way you were just recycling some of the conflicts between all characters and specifically Will and Brad. You may have noticed that I tried to nudge you with forum posts about how to solve their issues.

And then you go and blow my fucking mind by producing a chapter that seems to be as close to perfect as it could be. You have a gift for making characters shine with the dialogue you write and that drive in the Ferrari was you at your best. And THAT my friend is pretty awesome.

So, I think you're gonna have to put up with my bovine excrement a bit longer because you just reignited my interest. The teacher, the school and the entire CAP universe better watch out because that father and son duo can move mountains when working together.

I'll let others dissect the specifics except for saying that Robbie's death became more palatable and hope Brad can find that one man that can love him and make him feel worthy.

:worship::hug::worship:

Thanks Carlos. I recognized that the Brad-Will conflict was becoming tedious, but I think it was necessary as a precursor to the 9-11 attacks, and it also makes sense, since these two are very strong characters, and it is likely that they will butt heads throughout their lives. They are learning to do that in a better way.
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On 10/01/2013 08:58 AM, PrivateTim said:
Hurrumph....... took your own damn sweet time posting this last chapter Arbour! I spent the whole weekend staring at my tablet waiting for an update to pop up.... didn't eat.... didn't sleep.... didn't shower lest I miss it!

 

But lucky for you it was worth the wait! :lmao:

 

Great chapter, but I will admit I kept getting confused between Brad thoughts and Will dialogue.... interesting that all that back story was going on, but it does bring out a point I've discussed before and that is that we see very little of the actual lives of the character, just minutes here and there and there are whole sale parts of their lives we never see.

 

I get the device of the teacher, but at a school like Menlo, it is not only unlikely that any teacher would be unaware of what happened with one of their students, but that the school would have actually spoken with Will's teacher before school and other kids at Menlo who might have been effected. But it was a nice way for Will to get his story out publicly, all at once and the story should spread like wildfire throughout the school. Maybe philosophy teacher/ water polo coach Jack Bowen can be the teacher on campus who hunts Will down and talk to him.

LOL. Thanks for the review. I hope you've showered now. I've been trying to keep up a posting schedule of every 4-5 days, while still maintaining a real life. So far, I'm on track.

I agree with you about how Menlo would probably handle things, but then again, teachers are individuals, and individuals are unpredictable.

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On 10/01/2013 09:37 AM, davewri said:
Once again you take us off to another angle of this complex family. Waited all weekend for this post and it was worth it.

 

 

Perhaps the teacher deliberately provoked the outburst. Now the whole school knows and can leave the poor kid alone.

Thanks for the review, and I'm glad you liked the chapter. I don't think the teacher deliberately sparked the outburst; that would be a little raw. But it's an interesting idea.
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On 10/01/2013 09:57 AM, KevinD said:
Well worth the wait… Have been looking for this since Saturday!

 

:read:

I'm so glad you weren't disappointed! Thanks for the review.

 

Damn, you guys are a demanding bunch. :-)

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On 10/01/2013 10:03 AM, Kitt said:
I can't wait to see what happens when Brad handles the teacher! I know how I would have reacted if a teacher had been so ill behaved with my daughter, and I am not prone to over reacting the way Brad has been lately.

 

I have to agree, its nice to see Brad and Will actually talking to each other instead of at each other.

 

As usual, you evoke all the strong emotions. Thank you.

When my son had issues at school, I was usually the one who went ballistic. He hated to call me when there were problems. Then again, so did the administrators. :-)

 

But you're assuming that Brad is the one who confronts the teacher. ;-)

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On 10/01/2013 12:12 PM, rjo said:
Well. finally Brad and Will can talk. The shouting has stopped. For once in a long time we get to see what they are really thinking. How this situation is not simple, just like real life is not simple. Long ago back in Man in Motion, Brad had a choice between Max the safe pick and Robbie the challange. He went with Robbie and knew it would be a ride. Just like surfing clam seas aren't always the best. So many times in this saga it is the simple parts that have the greatest meaning. This is one of them. Two people setting in a car driving down a road they must have done a hundred times. Getting to know each other again. Talking to each other not at each other. Sharing the deepness thoughts. Being real with each other. One of those priceless moments.

 

Will has been dreading school, he wants to forget what has happened, but how can he? When he is confronted with this teacher. I wonder if this was not planned, to help Will deal with it. This was not something teacher or kids wound not know about? We will have to wait to find out about.

 

Ever since 9 11 real time I wonder if you have a real life Mark. You have written so many chapters in the short time. Not only that but I believe your best work. You have dealt with one of the hardest times in the history of this country and of this family with care, and thought that brought the day alive again. Showed us the loss, forced us to feel the loss, and helped us get over the pain, So many times in this sage I believe you have given us lessons in how to live our lives. These lessons are not forced upon us but given to us through these characters which you created. All of them broken in some way, but not defeated. Now in this greatest time of need, you have given them to strength rise up and carry on. These chapter from 36 on have become my favorite chapters, not because of the horror, which is great or the loss, but sometimes through those things we see the greatest of the human spirit and that is what you are doing here Mr. Arbour

Thank you so much for this review. It was very nice, and very thoughtful. Sometimes I wonder how I do this and have a real life.

Brad always narrowed his choices down to Max (the safe bet) or Robbie (the fun thrill with gain and pain). For him to grow, he's going to have to see that there are other options out there, and that not everyone is that extreme. But his love affair with Robbie has been pretty obsessive for both of them, and it's good for him to realize there were both positives and negatives to that.

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On 10/01/2013 12:15 PM, GregNJ251 said:
I agree with the others---it's nice to have a better understanding of Brad and how is mind has been working. It is really a shame in a relationship that 2 guys can't be totally monogamus with each other and happy. Hell, if one or the other has the need for sexual thrills outside of the relationship, then what is the purpose of settling down in the first place anyway? Being gay myself that is one reason I'm really not in favor of gay marriage. I mean if the 2 people involved can be monogamus and true to each other then it is fine and dandy; if either feels the need to stray then it is making a mockery of saying they love each other. Now please, no grandstanding by anyone saying that it brings people closer together if they play on the outside---that is just a crock of b/s as Brad finally came to realize.

Yep, Will's teacher's attitude was a shocker. BUT, I have a feeling the biggest surprise is going to be when Robbie's will is read and find out who he left is fortune and stock to!!??

See, I look at this differently. I think that people can define their relationship in terms of what works for them. Stef is a good example. With Greg, he needed to be monogamous, but with JP, they are both fine with a more relaxed approach. I don't think it cheapens things, I think it is just different. I think in relationships that are more open, it works best where the emotional bonds are strong, and the trust is complete.

So I think it is probably accurate to say that for Brad and Robbie, an open relationship didn't work, any more than it would have for Stef or Greg. That's not to say that Brad couldn't actually have that kind of relationship with someone else (an open one), but i tend to think it's unlikely.

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Well I asked for a chapter with some insight into Brad's psyche and you said I'd called it.

 

This chapter took me back to when Brad and Robbie were going through the whole Carson thing and then I thought over their entire relationship and I should have figured out stuff was still going on and that was the cause of Brad's being so obtuse in his relationship with Will. I really was having a hard time understanding how Brad was being so terminally stupid regarding his dealings with Will. And then you wrote this chapter and tied it all together for us in a neat little package.

 

On top of that, you came up with a scenario (albeit somewhat unlikely as others have remarked) where Will had to announce to his whole class just what he went through in New York. You must have really hated algebra. Math was never my strong subject but I never met a math teacher that disliked giving make-up tests. As I recall, they loved to give tests and couldn't understand why most of the class didn't think math tests were fun.

 

Looking forward to the next chapter late Thursday or Friday afternoon.

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On 10/01/2013 02:18 PM, Daddydavek said:
Well I asked for a chapter with some insight into Brad's psyche and you said I'd called it.

 

This chapter took me back to when Brad and Robbie were going through the whole Carson thing and then I thought over their entire relationship and I should have figured out stuff was still going on and that was the cause of Brad's being so obtuse in his relationship with Will. I really was having a hard time understanding how Brad was being so terminally stupid regarding his dealings with Will. And then you wrote this chapter and tied it all together for us in a neat little package.

 

On top of that, you came up with a scenario (albeit somewhat unlikely as others have remarked) where Will had to announce to his whole class just what he went through in New York. You must have really hated algebra. Math was never my strong subject but I never met a math teacher that disliked giving make-up tests. As I recall, they loved to give tests and couldn't understand why most of the class didn't think math tests were fun.

 

Looking forward to the next chapter late Thursday or Friday afternoon.

You are hilarious. Yes, I hated math. It was my worse subject. English and history were the best. Yet now I'm relatively good at math, so go figure.

 

It's interesting that these last few chapter have exposed two root causes of problems. Without the 9-11 attacks, we wouldn't have gotten them out, at least not so cleanly.

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Another excellent chapter, Mark.

 

I loved the math teacher’s reaction. Every once in a while everyone bumps into a teacher who, while an incredible expert in their field and a great explainer of the subject matter, is just absolutely clueless when it comes to handling people. The cliché interpretation is that people who are great at mathematics or the physical sciences are out of touch with human emotion; however, I have found it to be the case that they are no more likely, or less likely, to be good at dealing with people. Rather, we as a society are a lot more tolerant of people’s personal interaction flaws who are great at explaining a difficult subject (and want to do it) than those who are not. I am sure you have noticed that, while it is a lot more common to find a completely out of touch science or math teacher (as opposed to a liberal arts teacher) at the high school level or below, that it completely evens out at the college level. Also, as a personal note, the first Algebra teacher I had was such a complete asshole of a human being (people would laugh, in the worst way teenagers treat each other, when you said you had him), that I can totally picture this from personal experience as well.

 

To echo what somebody else said, never the less, it was probably an unasked for, and unintended, gift, to let Will just get everything out there like that.

From personal experience, let me say that one thing that you did in this chapter deserves special mention for having been done exceptionally well-the conversation between Brad and Will on the way down to SC. There are two things that you did there that I think should be highlighted. The first is the courage and strength Brad showed by being able to take an unvarnished look at his relationship with Robbie. To paraphrase Nietzsche, to truly love somebody, authentically, you must love not just that which you like about them, but that which you despise. The only authentic love for another is honest love for the authentic person, not an image of that person you create. Understanding that, and confronting it, is one of the most difficult aspects of dealing with trauma. The second thing is, while we did not see the therapy session itself, we got to see the motivation. What gave Brad the strength to take such a deep look, so soon, was his need to have the conversation that he did with Will. It is very easy to see Brad saying to himself, these are the things I need to say to Will, and I need to be able to say them clearly, and to be able to answer questions about them. And I need help to figure out exactly what those things are, to fully understand them. If Will had not been there, if Brad were removed from having that overwhelming responsibility as a care-giver, it is easy to see him keeping that pain bottled up and unexamined for years, the way JP did with his own tragedy (and Brad’s experience with that being another, obvious, motivating factor).

 

All the Best,

Jason

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On 10/01/2013 03:08 PM, said:
Another excellent chapter, Mark.

 

I loved the math teacher’s reaction. Every once in a while everyone bumps into a teacher who, while an incredible expert in their field and a great explainer of the subject matter, is just absolutely clueless when it comes to handling people. The cliché interpretation is that people who are great at mathematics or the physical sciences are out of touch with human emotion; however, I have found it to be the case that they are no more likely, or less likely, to be good at dealing with people. Rather, we as a society are a lot more tolerant of people’s personal interaction flaws who are great at explaining a difficult subject (and want to do it) than those who are not. I am sure you have noticed that, while it is a lot more common to find a completely out of touch science or math teacher (as opposed to a liberal arts teacher) at the high school level or below, that it completely evens out at the college level. Also, as a personal note, the first Algebra teacher I had was such a complete asshole of a human being (people would laugh, in the worst way teenagers treat each other, when you said you had him), that I can totally picture this from personal experience as well.

 

To echo what somebody else said, never the less, it was probably an unasked for, and unintended, gift, to let Will just get everything out there like that.

From personal experience, let me say that one thing that you did in this chapter deserves special mention for having been done exceptionally well-the conversation between Brad and Will on the way down to SC. There are two things that you did there that I think should be highlighted. The first is the courage and strength Brad showed by being able to take an unvarnished look at his relationship with Robbie. To paraphrase Nietzsche, to truly love somebody, authentically, you must love not just that which you like about them, but that which you despise. The only authentic love for another is honest love for the authentic person, not an image of that person you create. Understanding that, and confronting it, is one of the most difficult aspects of dealing with trauma. The second thing is, while we did not see the therapy session itself, we got to see the motivation. What gave Brad the strength to take such a deep look, so soon, was his need to have the conversation that he did with Will. It is very easy to see Brad saying to himself, these are the things I need to say to Will, and I need to be able to say them clearly, and to be able to answer questions about them. And I need help to figure out exactly what those things are, to fully understand them. If Will had not been there, if Brad were removed from having that overwhelming responsibility as a care-giver, it is easy to see him keeping that pain bottled up and unexamined for years, the way JP did with his own tragedy (and Brad’s experience with that being another, obvious, motivating factor).

 

All the Best,

Jason

An incredibly insightful review, Jason. I especially liked your remarks about the conversation between Brad and Will. When I wrote that, I hadn't clearly thought about what Brad was doing, but you're right. In order to communicate what was going on effectively to Will, he had to communicate those same things effectively to himself.
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Maybe I'm reading too far into things or analyzing far beyond the author's intent, but I couldn't help but feel extremely sad by the end of Brad and Will's conversation. It almost sounded like Will was sadly musing over the fact that whenever Brad sleeps with someone they immediately fall in love with him (i.e. Max, Cody, etc.). But Will has never had that luxury and will probably have to deal with it more in the future. Speaking of which, I wonder where Kai and Tony are in all of this and if they have tried to contact him at all?

Great chapter. I'm liking this Alex character *wink*

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Mark,

Discussion

  • Car- Why is it that Will and Brad have a more open discussion while either surfing or riding in Brad's car? For example previously they opened up more after Will's runaway attempt while surfing in Santa Cruz and when driving the rode where Brad proposed to Robbie. I am glad they discussed what was on their minds, but I am just wondering how the setting affects them.
  • Will- He was right to call Brad out for his lack of trust in letting Will into his mind while seek Will to give in first. It is also a preventive attempt. Will wants to talk with Brad, but if he does he wants Brad to be more objective and not overly protective/judgmental. However that goes both ways and Will showed that he can handle Brad's thought objectively (to a degree) as long as it does not infringe on his freedoms.

Brad

  • Wellbutrin- I have to comment on this first. Personally I have tried Wellbutrin. It did not work for me, but that was probably due to not being on a mood stabilizer with it. However, back to Brad. Wellbutrin is funny because it has been called the "happy, horny, skinny pill". This is because unlike other SSRIs and SNRIs it does not lowered sex drive effect. It has been noted to actual increase sexual drive. However it can be used recreational for lowering appetite and weight loss. Those with eating disorders have to avoid it. It is also on of the few antidepressant that can kill with an overdose.
  • Alex- I was surprised, but understood the issue Brad had over Robbie's need for Alex. I was mainly shocked that Brad slept with Alex as well. However I understand Robbie and Brad's reasoning.
    • Robbie- He seems to need a little something extra. He wants to know that he is just as sought after as Brad so I guess he took it hard that Alex wanted Brad more. That would have fueled his insecurities. Robbie saving money makes more sense now that Brad admitted they might have divorced. He did not want Stef or Brad to punish him at his company (although I doubt Brad would have). Honestly I agree with Will. I don't think Robbie would have broke it off with Alex even at the threat of divorce. He just would have hid it the best he could.
    • Brad- I guess his use of Alex is not really odd. I remember he sought after Robbie's other flings as well (minus Carson). Dan and the football team come to mind during their teen years. His fight with Will makes more sense now. Brad was losing control of his relationship with Robbie and so he was trying to control others to replace that loss. The foundation was the same as Robbie's college and Carson fling. He pulled a corner of Brad foundation out and Brad sought to pull Will in to hold up the part Robbie took. However, Will was right. Brad was kind of put into a corner. He is just trying to rationalize by saying he agreed to it. But he had to or he thought he would lose Robbie again. Brad loves Robbie, but he has to get over the bad/flaws first to really get over the grief period. If not he may end up blaming Robbie for his negative thoughts on their relationship

School

  • Locker- That was sweet of the students to write notes for Will. It probably helped him out. It allowed him to know that he was not alone and possibly lessen the amount of people poking into his wound.
  • Teacher- That was hilarious. While I can agree that his language was inappropriate, Will was in the right to call the teacher out. First of all if all of the students knew what had happened I highly doubt that the faculty would have not been notified beforehand. Will probably lashed out because he (a) did not want to discuss the issue and (B) he needed someone to outlet his anger out. He does not want to fight with his family so a teacher/adult was probably the best substitute.
  • Call- Brad should be both angered at the teacher, but also happy that Will sought him out for help. It showed him that Will is letting him into his life more than just discussing thoughts. It also give Brad an outlet for anger as it was for Will.

Cannot wait for more,

Kody

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On 10/01/2013 08:43 PM, MaxomeFoe said:
Maybe I'm reading too far into things or analyzing far beyond the author's intent, but I couldn't help but feel extremely sad by the end of Brad and Will's conversation. It almost sounded like Will was sadly musing over the fact that whenever Brad sleeps with someone they immediately fall in love with him (i.e. Max, Cody, etc.). But Will has never had that luxury and will probably have to deal with it more in the future. Speaking of which, I wonder where Kai and Tony are in all of this and if they have tried to contact him at all?

Great chapter. I'm liking this Alex character *wink*

I think that Will actually has a pretty realistic view on things, but he was trying to boost Brad's ego, and he was trying to insert a little humor into a tense conversation. When he wants to, he can really manage his father well.

We'll go on the assumption that Will has talked to Kai, and we'll see more when Will visits him in Hawaii (even though I haven't written that yet). I'd expect Tony to show up soon.

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