Love Conquers All
by Flaming Matt
Chapter 20
November 2015
"Carter's with Tobias and Lily at her house, so he will be okay Mitch." Mike responds in a reassuring tone, as he gives his eldest sons shoulder a squeeze.
"I'm worried about Wesley though Dad, you didn't see him..." Mitch then begins to say in a worried tone, before looking at his dad in surprise as he interrupts him.
"Mitch, you can go and spend some time with him if you want to, but I'm worried about you and I want you to talk to me Mitch and not try and change the subject, you know it won't work on me." Mike states in a serious tone, although he continues to squeeze his eldest sons shoulder, just to let him know that he was just trying to help.
"He was my best friend Dad, I've known him my entire life and... and... Dad, it's like... how could he, I mean, I just... Dad he was always a bit of a dick, but this and everything he's done, it's like he's a different person." Mitch then says in a slightly frustrated tone, which changes to a sad and confused tone, as he realises just how much his former best friend had changed and what he had changed in to and it just unnerved him.
"Honestly, I would be lying if I said that I always liked Conner, but he was your friend and he was a decent normal kid and I wish I had some answers for you Son, but some people are just bad and I don't know what made Conner become what he has become and we may never know, but I need you to promise me Mitch, promise me you won't try and blame yourself..." Mike then starts to say in response. "Don't give me that look Mitch, I'm your dad and I know you more than you think I do and you will find a way to blame yourself and you know I'm right." He then says with a knowing look, after seeing his eldest sons expression and knowing exactly what he was going to say.
"Fine, but seriously Dad, how could he do it, I mean everything, the child porn, what he tried to do to Tobias and Wesley, then poisoning Matt and then... then... killing Jim, I mean why... it just doesn't make sense..." Mitch then says in an increasingly emotional tone, before trailing off as he looks at his dad almost pleadingly for an answer to make sense of it all.
"Honestly?" Mike then decides to ask, as he gives his eldest son a long look and while this might have not been the best time, he thought it might help and he couldn't help but want to see his reaction and whether he thought his theory held any weight or not.
"Please Dad, I just want to understand what happened to him." Mitch responds in an almost defeated tone, as he struggles to cope with everything that has happened recently and even the things that had happened earlier in the year and the year before to Matt, were starting to play on his mind again.
"I can't give you any answers about why he turned out the way he did Mitch, but I do believe that he didn't kill Jim on his own, it makes no sense for him to randomly kill someone, he was a paedophile, if he had lured a kid somewhere, then I think it would be understandable, but to lure someone Jim's age to a motel to kill him, that just doesn't make sense at..." Mike then begins to say, as he tries to explain his thoughts as clearly as possible, before finding himself being interrupted.
"You er... what?" Mitch quickly asks in a confused tone, as he looks at his dad and wonders what he was talking about and why he was saying it at all, because he was looking for answers about how his former best friend had turned into such a monster, not a conversation about how his friend was murdered.
"Mitch, you already suspect that Conner was involved with what happened to Alex and Peter, plus Simon being missing, so what if he is working for someone." Mike answers as he does his best to be as clear as he can again. "He poisoned Matt, but he didn't kill him, the doctors examined his medication Mitch and if Conner's intention was to kill Matt, then he would have changed all the pills and used the stronger ones, but he didn't and he confessed to killing Jim, these aren't the kind of things a piece of shit like Conner does or is even capable of and you know I'm right." He then decides to add in a serious tone, after seeing his eldest sons expression and again, just like earlier, he knew he needed a little more convincing.
"Why Conner though, surely they could have found someone better or more experienced, why some..." Mitch then begins to say in response, before trailing off for a few moments as he starts to think like a police officer, rather than just a normal person in this kind of situation. "He would be easy to control and would be expendable." He then says in a thoughtful tone, as he answers his own question and begins to try and work out what it could all mean and even though this wasn't what he was looking for from his dad, he had to admit that he had made a good point and it needed to be taken seriously, even if he didn't feel like thinking about it right now.
"Okay, now it's my turn to be confused." Mike then states in a slightly bemused tone, although the reality of what has actually been happening recently, stops him from actually smiling as he realises just how inappropriate that would be right now, given the circumstances.
"Let's say that you're right Dad, that there is a 'Someone' doing this, then Conner would be a good choice, he knows the family, he's young and I'm guessing despite his early release, his prospects weren't exactly great, so he would be easily manipulated and he's probably stupid enough to fool into thinking he was a big time player or something in what he's being asked to do, when in reality he was just expendable, because if he is caught or fucks up somehow, then it's not a great loss for whoever is in control and I would bet my life on Conner not even knowing what these people look like or even what they really sound like." Mitch quickly explains in a slightly excited tone, as his mind works overtime on piecing together everything and while it didn't reveal that much and he doubted it would lead to a breakthrough straight away, it could at least give them something more to go on and he was eager to get his team and boss looking into this and seeing what they could come up with.
"So questioning him isn't going to help us find out anything useful?" Mike then asks in a slightly disheartened tone and while he had thought talking about this was going to lead to a big breakthrough, it was looking less and less likely as he thought about his eldest sons words.
"I doubt we will find out who is behind all of this Dad, but I think he will give up everything he knows, he isn't completely stupid or naïve Dad, but he isn't exactly a genius either, so if he has something to do with Alex and Peter, then we will get it out of him, I just don't know how long it will take and whether he can give us anything about who might be behind it all." Mitch answers honestly and while he had been dismissive about everything being linked together, his former best friends actions seemed to have proven him wrong, even if he didn't see why Jim would have been targeted, because that didn't really fit into anything a far as he could work out.
"Whoever is responsible for this Mitch, we will find them and they will get what they deserve and we will all get past this." Mike then says in a reassuring tone, as he again reaches over and squeezes his eldest sons shoulder.
"I know I'm struggling Dad, but I'm worried about the boys and I don't just mean Ben, Matt and Tobias, but Carter and Wesley as well, especially Wesley and I don't think Carter's going to forgive him any time soon and I'm just scared for him Dad, I really am." Mitch then decides to admit, as he gives his dad an appreciative smile.
"Then go and see Wesley, you can spend a few hours with him and you have time, you said it yourself earlier that you won't be able to speak to Conner until later anyway, so go and be there for him Mitch, because Carter has Tobias and Jordan with him and Matt and Ben are still with Alex, so Wesley needs someone and you know how much he looks up to you." Mike then decides to suggest, as he thinks about the options and where everyone was and it did make sense for his eldest son to go, not just for Wesley, but also for himself and to get a break from Conner and being at the station for a while.
"Thanks Dad." Mitch responds with an appreciative smile, before slowly getting to his feet and stretching his legs a little bit.
"Just keep your phone on you and if you want to get him out of his house, then just take him to ours or somewhere you can talk alone, he might open up a bit more." Mike decides to suggest, as he sees his eldest son looking towards the hallway. "Yes, sometimes I get to be the wise one and you get to be my son sometimes Mitch." He then states in a slightly amused tone, after seeing him turning to him and looking surprised and quickly guessed what he was thinking.
"See you later Dad." Mitch then states with a shake of the head, before turning away from his dad and heading down the hallway and towards the exit.
"Eww, that's my bed." Alex states in a mock disgusted tone, after walking back into his bedroom after saying goodbye to his dad, who had been called into work and seeing his two friends laying on his bed and kissing each other. "Eww and get your hands out of each others shorts, that so fucking gross." He then adds with a smirk, before watching his friends quickly sitting up after untangling themselves and looking embarrassed.
"Oh shit, sorry..." Ben quickly tries to apologise, before looking at his friend in surprise as he grins and interrupts him.
"I'm kidding guys... well sort of, I mean it's my bed and I don't want you two having sex on it, I mean I have to sleep on it tonight." Alex quickly teases with a smirk, as he enjoys embarrassing his friends, while also wondering if he can get them to let slip about whether they were actually having real sex now or not, even if it was a little mean of him, he just couldn't help himself.
"Nice try Alex." Ben then states in an amused tone, as he figures out that his friend was teasing them and with what he had talked about when they had first come round, he was sure he was trying to get them to admit to having sex or something, but he wasn't going to fall for that.
"Nice try for what?" Alex quickly responds in a casual tone, as he tries to play innocent, even if his friend did seem to know what he was trying to do, he wasn't quite ready to give up just yet.
"Yeah, nice try Alex, but we aren't going to tell you about us having sex, that's..." Matt then begins to say, before feeling his fiancé's hand covering his mouth and being half bundled on to his side on the bed.
"Seriously Matt? Seriously?" Ben quickly asks in a less than impressed tone, as he looks down at his fiancé and shakes his head.
"Oh my god! So you have actually done it with each other? Like for real?" Alex then quickly asks in a mixture of curiosity and surprise, because even though he suspected it, it was completely different to have it confirmed or at least practically confirmed.
"And you tease Tobias about the stuff he tells people." Ben mutters in a slightly annoyed tone, as he lets his fiancé up and then looks over to their friend, who he could see was excited by his fiancé's slip up and while it was annoying and was personal, he was happy to see him smiling.
"Any chance of dropping this Alex?" Matt then decides to ask in a half pleading tone, after giving his fiancé an apologetic look and hoping that he wasn't really mad at him, even if this wasn't the first time he had made a similar slip up, as he thinks back to last year and how he had basically confessed some embarrassing and private stuff to Mitch.
"Sure, but er... can I ask er... well just like a couple of questions?" Alex quickly responds in a slightly hesitant and nervous tone, the last thing he wanted to do was upset his friends or cause them to argue with each other, but he was still curious and he wasn't sure if he would ever get this opportunity again or at least not for a long, long time.
"You so owe me later on." Ben whispers into his fiancé's ear and while he wasn't really that mad after thinking about it some more, he was going to at least try and get something out of it.
"It depends Alex, just don't expect us to answers anything you ask us." Matt responds to their friend, after giving his fiancé a measured look after hearing what he had whispered to him and while he thought it was a little cheeky, it was also a little sexy and he had something fun in mind already.
"Oh er... well I guess er... well does it hurt?" Alex then asks nervously, as he tries to pick questions he thinks his friends would answer, while also trying to get all his questions about sex answered as well and he knew he had to be clever about what he asked and the way he asked his questions.
"Yeah, well the first couple of times, even with lube, but er... well you have to spend time..." Matt begins to answers in an awkward tone, before trailing off and looking at his fiancé, after finding himself questioning how much information he should give away.
"Alex, you have to take your time and go slow and I mean really, really slow, otherwise it's painful and not really that fun at all, but it's worth it in the end and once you figure out how to do it and what feels good, it's really fun and feels really good." Ben then decides to say, as he sees the look on his fiancé's face and knew that he was worried about saying the wrong thing and even though he wasn't that confident himself, he decided to try his best to answer their friends question as honestly as he dared.
"Figure out how to do it? Don't you just stick it in and move forwards and backwards?" Alex quickly asks in a surprised tone and quickly pulls his desk chair out and sits in front of his friends, after realising that this was going to be helpful and something that he needed to know, because he could tell already that he obviously had no idea about this stuff and he definitely didn't want to talk to his dad about it.
"Ha!" Ben quickly responds in an amused tone, before frowning and rubbing his arm after feeling his fiancé punching him and realising that his response was a little harsh on their friend.
"Honestly Alex, we aren't going to tell you the stuff we do, but it's not just moving forwards and backwards and you definitely don't want to stick it straight in, trust me Alex, the best er... well the best advice is to talk to each other and really go slow, so er... well, look on the internet for help as well and er... well you know what an enema is right?" Matt then says as he tries his best to explain to their friend that it's a little more complicated than he thought it was, while not giving away anything too personal about his fiancé's and his sex life.
"Yeah, I mean well my dads a doctor, but what's an enema got to do with having sex?" Alex asks in response, as he looks at his friend in a mixture of confusion and curiosity.
"Think about it Alex and I mean, really, really think about it." Ben then states with a sly grin, which widens when he glances at his fiancé and sees him rolling his eyes at him.
"I still don't..." Alex then begins to say, although as he really does think about it, he can't help but trail off a little bit for a few moments. "Eww, seriously? Eww." He then asks in a slightly horrified tone and while he had thought about sex and what it entailed before, he had never given it that much thought and he definitely hadn't considered shit and he just couldn't believe he never thought about that, it was so obvious now and he couldn't help but be a little disgusted by the mental image that he now had inside his head.
"What did you think would happen if you put your penis in a bum Alex? That it would come out smelling like roses?" Ben quickly responds with a big grin and even when he feels his fiancé nudging him in the ribs, he couldn't help but chuckle at their friends expression.
"Okay, okay, but still that is kind of gross." Alex then says in a slightly awkward tone, as he wonders if he really wanted to get shit on his penis, even if it meant getting to have sex. "Okay, but er... what do you mean by er... well if you don't just go in and out, what are you meant to do?" He then decides to ask in an even more awkward tone and while he was still half thinking about the other thing and finally realising why his friends mentioned an enema, he was still curious about actually having sex and what you were meant to do.
"I'm fine, if you're fine." Matt then decides to say, as he and his fiancé give each other a long look and knew that they were both thinking the same thing and while he didn't want to go into detail, he was okay with helping their friend out, who he was starting to realise, probably had no one else to talk about this kind of stuff with, well he guessed he had his dad, but that would be super awkward and decided that it would be easier for their friend, if they talked to them about this and he was surprised to find himself okay with that.
"Okay, well Alex, there's like all these different positions you can do, you know like er... laying on your back with the other on top, so you can look into each others eyes, that's really special and we both like that one, or you could lay on your back while the other one sits on your er... well you know er... penis and I guess er... ride it and you can do that facing each other or facing the other way, both are fun, but tiring." Ben then says in as confident a tone as he can manage, before glancing at his fiancé and hoping he would carry on and not leave it all to him.
"You can get on your hands and knees and things like that too Alex, but that's not as good as the others Ben said, I mean it feels good and stuff, but well it's not our favourite, you can also like well spoon each other, you know like one behind the other while on your sides and do it like that, it's a little awkward and hard to do, but its quite romantic and kind of nice, I mean it doesn't feel as good as some of the others, but it just feels really nice and yeah, it's nice." Matt then adds to what his fiancé had said and while there was more and he wanted to help his friend, it was also getting a little weird and too personal and he wasn't really comfortable telling their friend everything.
"Oh wow!" Alex responds in an amazed tone, as he stares at both his friends with his mouth almost wide open. "So you've er... really like, well you've done this er... well you've really done those to each other?" He then asks in a nervous tone, as he knows he is close to crossing a line, but he just couldn't help it and was hoping his friends wouldn't get upset or angry with him for asking.
"Yeah, well he has er... well er..." Matt then begins to answer, but quickly trails off as he thinks about his fiancé and he definitely didn't want to upset him and make him feel like he was being selfish or something by not reciprocating and he definitely didn't want him to think that, especially since earlier in the day, he had said that he was almost ready.
"I've done it with Matt, but well I'm still a little scared and not ready to well er... I guess let him do it to me, it's just really weird to explain Alex, but I think I'm almost ready, if that makes sense." Ben then decides to just admit and while it was embarrassing and very personal, it actually felt good to admit to it and say it out loud, although as he really thought about what he had just said, he quickly felt his cheeks warming up.
"Oh wow! But er... isn't that like er... well I don't know, a bit unfair?" Alex then quickly asks in a hesitant tone, as he tries to put himself in his friends shoes and work out what he would do and think in that situation and realising that he would be a lot like Ben, which actually gave him a new found respect for Matt, especially after remembering what he had been through and he couldn't help but admire him even more now.
"I guess..." Ben then begins to say in a slightly down tone, before turning to his fiancé in surprise as he interrupts him.
"You should never ever make someone do something they aren't ready for Alex, especially when it comes to sex and everyone is different and well as for Ben, he wasn't ready and I was and we talked about it a lot and took our time, so it's not unfair and I know that he will be ready one day and it will be amazing, but at the same time, I really like what we do right now and I'm not complaining, it feels great and er... yeah, it might sound unfair, but it isn't Alex and er.. yeah." Matt states in a serious and firm tone, as he defends his fiancé and makes it clear that he was more than happy with how things were and that there was no rush or pressure on his fiancé to do anything he wasn't comfortable with.
"You guys are awesome, seriously, I know this is weird and stuff, but well thanks, I mean I don't have friends to..." Alex then begins to say in an appreciative and slightly emotional tone, before staring at his friends nervously, as he is interrupted and he couldn't help but think that he had gone too far or something to annoy them.
"You have friends Alex, we're here aren't we?" Ben quickly states with a friendly smile and while he could have let their friend continue, he wanted to make sure he knew he had friends and from the smile slowly appearing on his face, he knew that he made the right decision.
"Yeah Alex, you have friends and Tobias thinks you're awesome and Carter and Wesley both like you and there's Jordan as well, you pretty much have the same friends as us Alex, so quit thinking you're on you own, because you're not, you have all of us." Matt then decides to add to his fiancé's words and quickly reaches out for his hand and smiles when he feels him squeezing his in response.
"Fucking hell, you made me fucking cry you pricks." Alex then says with a smile, while wiping his eyes and just couldn't believe how his life had changed over the past few months and how much happier he was as a person now that he had accepted his sexuality and found himself some real friends and a boyfriend, although as soon as he thinks about Peter, his smile quickly drops and he couldn't help but start to sniffle.
"Oh fuck." Matt then says in a surprised tone, as he watches his friend breaking down and with his fiancé's help, they quickly get up and then pull their friend over to his bed and sit either side of him.
"It will be okay Alex, we'll find him, I promise." Ben then says in a comforting tone, as he and his fiancé both cuddle up to him and gently rub his back soothingly, as they fall silent and let their friend cry and get it out of his system.
"Look, I'm not defending him or taking his side Carter, but you love..." Jordan begins to say in a calm tone, before again finding himself being interrupted and has to try his best to hide his frustration, as they seem to be just going round in circles.
"Fuck off Jordan, who even invited you here?" Carter quickly states in an angry and frustrated tone. "Oh grow up Tobias, people swear, get over it." He then says in an almost venomous tone, as he turns to his other friend, before sighing in annoyance and crossing his arms in front of himself.
"You're being an idiot Carter, I'm not the one who needs to grow up." Tobias responds in a calm tone, after deciding to not rise to his friends attempts to provoke them, he had been around his brother enough to know what's going on and despite his friends current mood, it wasn't even close to being as intense as it was to be around his brother at his worst.
"Oh fuck off." Carter retorts weakly and turns away from his friend, only to see his other friend shaking his head at him.
"Very mature Carter." Jordan states in a serious tone, as he watches his friend staring at him and while he wasn't going to show it, he was surprised at just how angry and volatile he was right now, he knew he was feisty, but this was something else and despite the reasons why, he was actually a little impressed by it.
"I don't think you should be a doctor any more." Tobias then states in a serious tone, as he just stares at his friend in frustration, while both of his friends look at him in surprise.
"What are you talking about?" Carter quickly asks in a confused and slightly aggravated tone, as he stares at his friend and wonders what he was on about now, which normally would amuse him, but right now, he just wasn't thinking straight and his friend was just annoying him now.
"You're stupid and mean, so you shouldn't be a doctor, they're supposed to be nice and smart." Tobias answers in a serious tone, as he carries on staring at his friend and while he felt sorry for him and in a way understood why he was mad, he couldn't understand why he wanted to break up with his boyfriend and seemed to really hate him, it just didn't make any sense.
"Whatever, just shut up and leave me..." Carter then begins to say in a dismissive tone, before trailing off as he feels his arm being pulled and he couldn't help but look at his other friend in surprise.
"Don't tell him to shut up, if it wasn't for him, you would be sitting at home and having your parents bugging you about this and yeah, we might be annoying you a little bit, but you know it would be a hundred times worse with your parents." Jordan states in a serious tone, as he half glares at his friend and while he was sympathetic, he didn't like seeing him like this and was hoping to snap him out of it.
"I never..." Carter then begins to say, before feeling himself being pushed back on to the bed and he couldn't help but look at his friend in surprise and was about to get up, until he heard him beginning to talk and just ends up staring up at him instead.
"He got his girlfriend to let you come to her house and she is downstairs with my girlfriend keeping her parents company, while we talk to you, so the least you could do is be civil to us and stop treating us like pieces of shit Carter." Jordan states in a firm and serious tone, as he gives his friend a hard stare to go with it, in the hope again, that he snaps him out of it and stops acting like a prick to everyone.
"I never asked him to." Carter quickly protests half heartedly, as he looks at his friends and then to his feet and can feel himself starting to lose his composure.
"You're my best friend, I love you and I don't want you and Wesley to break up, you love each other and make each other..." Tobias then begins to say in a sincere tone, before looking at his friend sadly as he interrupts him and despite wanting to be annoyed, the look on his friends face was just too sad and he knew that he needed to not get upset by anything that he said.
"Well get used to it, he hurt me and I'm not forgiving..." Carter then begins to say, before glaring at his other friend after he interrupts him again and was starting to get really fed up with being interrupted and was close to just walking home on his own.
"Oh fuck off Carter, you're seriously going to break up with him because of that?" Jordan asks in a dismissive tone, as he shakes his head at his friend and while he really wanted to be sympathetic and understanding, he was finding it harder and harder to control himself.
"Because of that? Fuck off yourself Jordan, he called me..." Carter begins to answer, but pauses for a few moments when he notices the look on his friends face. "Stop fucking interrupting me." He then states in an almost sulky tone, as he starts to get more and more frustrated with his friends attempts to comfort him or whatever they were attempting to do anyway, because it was only making him feel worse.
"Stop being a fucking moron then, so fucking what if he called you a sissy boy, it's hardly the insult of the century Carter and you know..." Jordan then begins to say, before trailing off for a few seconds. "Wait, is this something to do with me?" He then asks in a curious and surprised tone, as he looks at his friend and thinks about what had happened between them before they briefly dated each other and when Mr Jones was still alive and abusing him.
"What?" Carter quickly asks in response, as he looks at his friend in confusion and could see his other friend being just as confused as he seemed to be, after glancing at him for a few moments and wasn't sure why he had said what he just did.
"I called you a sissy boy and it hurt you, it hurt you a lot because I was the only one who knew your secret and I said it to hurt you, because you defended Matt and took his side over mine and you were so mad at me, remember." Jordan answers honestly, as he explains what he meant and the more he thought about it, the more he thought he was on the right track. "You told me about it while we were dating Carter, so don't try and deny it, so is this what this is all about? Are you acting this way because he called you a sissy boy and said it to hurt you?" He then asks in a thoughtful tone, as he reminds his friend that he had told him about what had happened and how upset he was over what he had said and could see his friend thinking it over and took that as a good sign.
"I er... no, it's not... fuck off Jordan, just because I forgave you, doesn't mean I will forgive him, he has no excuse, not like..." Carter then begins to respond, before once again finding himself being interrupted and while he was still annoyed by it, he was getting tired now and he just couldn't be bothered to argue any more.
"No excuse, not like me? Seriously Carter, are you fucking serious right now?" Jordan quickly asks in an angry and irritated tone. "It's okay Tobias, I just want him to answer my question, that's all, I promise." He then says in a calmer tone, after seeing his other friend giving him a suspicious look and knew that he needed to let him know that it was okay, well it wasn't okay, but he wasn't going to do something stupid, even if his friend was being a pain in the arse.
"Okay." Tobias responds in a slightly suspicious tone, as he relaxes a little bit and goes back to listening to his two friends talk to each other, as he had no real idea of what to do or say right now and was really hoping Jordan would get through to their friend and fix whatever was wrong with him.
"You were confused and being abused Jordan, so it's different and he has no excuse." Carter then says in a serious tone, as he answers his friends question honestly and while he actually felt a little ashamed of himself for saying it, he was still angry and upset and wasn't sure what he was really feeling right now, because his mind was spinning and he just wanted it to stop.
"No excuse..." Jordan then mutters to himself and only just loud enough for his friends to hear, as he feels his anger building and quickly tries to calm himself down a little bit. "Carter, his brother was murdered, you were at his funeral for fuck sake and from what Tobias told me, Wesley overheard Mitch talking about how he blamed himself for Jim dying and he took that to mean that it was all Mitch's fault and you're honestly sitting there and telling us that Wesley had no excuse for lashing out and saying what he did?" He then asks in a disappointed and almost disgusted tone, as he stares down at his friend and has to try really hard to remember that his friend was going through a lot as well and that he was meant to be helping him, not judging him and trying to make him feel like it was all his fault.
"I... I... er... I don't... I need to er... Tobias, which room is the toilet, I need to go." Carter then asks as he repeats his friends words over and over again in his head and while he was still angry and right now he didn't want to speak to or see his boyfriend for a long time, he couldn't deny that his friend had a point and maybe he was being over the top, but right now, he just needed to be alone and not have his friends judging him or trying to make him feel better.
"Carter don't..." Jordan then begins to say in protest, before feeling a hand on his arm and turning to his friend in surprise.
"It's okay, sometimes we just need to be alone to think." Tobias says in a soft tone, before looking over to his other friend. "It's the second door on the right, there's a lock on the door and er... well don't be too long, just in case someone else wants to go and er... well you know, that might be weird and stuff." He then says in an understanding and friendly tone, as he smiles at his friend, who to his relief, actually gives him an appreciative smile and knew straight away that he had done the right thing.
"Okay." Carter responds in an appreciative tone, as he gets up from the bed and smiles at his friend, while trying his best to avoid looking at his other friend, before walking towards the door and leaving the room.
"I don't think we should have let him go Tobias, I was getting through to him." Jordan decides to say as soon as their friend had left the room, he was sure he had gotten through to him and he was worried that he would just come back acting like he hated Wesley again, once he had finished in the toilet.
"I think you got through to him, but he's really upset and mad right now Jordan, so it's good to give him space and he will be okay and he will forgive Wesley, he has to." Tobias responds in a confident tone and while he couldn't be one hundred percent sure, he wasn't far off and he was hoping his friend agreed with him.
"I guess so and I think er... well maybe we should back off a little and just be friends and maybe get Ashleigh and Lily to come up soon, they both like him and maybe they can help him get over this, girls are good at this sort of thing, I think." Jordan then says in response, as he thinks about their girlfriends and he was sure they could help or was at least hoping they could.
"Carter really likes Lily too, but he hasn't spent much time with Ashleigh, has he?" Tobias quickly asks in response, while also trying his best to hide the fact that he was getting a little hard thinking about his girlfriend and decides to sit down.
"He's spent time with us and they get along, although I think Ashleigh is a little intimidating for him, I mean she can be a little er... well I guess she er... well I don't know Tobias, but I like how she is and she is always pushing me and teasing me and I really like it." Jordan admits with a shy smile, as he decides to be honest about his girlfriend and how he feels about her and knew his friend would understand.
"Yeah, she's funny and mean, but er... good mean, like how good friends are and I like that too." Tobias responds with a happy smile. "I like how Lily asks me what I like and what I want to do and not just do girly stuff that she likes all the time." He then adds with a shy shrug of the shoulders, as his friend gives him a questioning look, but his friend had shared something personal and he wanted to do the same in return.
"You do need to be more assertive Tobias." Jordan responds with a happy smile, before seeing the confused look on his friends face. "You're fine Tobias and none of us want you to change, but that doesn't mean that you can't make more of your own decisions, because you do tend to let others decide what to do, rather than suggest something yourself and it's good that Lily is trying to encourage you to do that as well." He then says in a friendly and warm tone, knowing that his friend might get the wrong idea about what he was trying to say and was more than happy to reassure him.
"I want to and Mum and my brothers keep asking me what I want to do more, but I don't know Jordan, it's just weird and I get scared that I will annoy people and stuff." Tobias responds honestly and while he tried to be assertive and sometimes he was, it was hard to maintain and not just do whatever everyone else wanted to do, but he was trying his best.
"Tell you what, why don't you come up with a double date idea for you, me, Ashleigh and Lily and I will back you up, as long as it isn't a really crap or lame idea, what do you say?" Jordan then decides to ask with a smile, while looking at his friend and wondering what he would come up with, because while he was a little worried it could be something stupid, he hadn't forgot the fact that he had taken Lily on a picnic date at the park the not so long ago and that was pretty cool and romantic, so he was really hoping his friend would come up with something along those lines.
"I er... well okay, I can do er... well okay." Tobias then responds in a slightly awkward tone, before smiling as he thinks about it a little bit more and while he liked being around his brothers and other friends, it was nice to be with another boy/girl couple and while he was still finding girls a bit weird and hard to understand, he definitely enjoyed being around them, especially his girlfriend, who just made him all happy and tingly inside.
"I hope he's okay." Jordan then says as he stares at the bedroom door, after thinking about his friend again and finding himself worrying about how long he had been gone.
"He will be okay, he has us and we're really cool and awesome and stuff." Tobias quickly responds with a little smirk, which widens when he sees his friends expression, before they both fall silent and wait for their friend to come back from the bathroom.
"Peter?" Gordon couldn't help but call out in a surprised tone, as he sees him sitting in the room after walking in and he just couldn't believe what he was seeing, especially since he was annoyed to have been called in after a colleague went home ill and he was even less happy about seeing who was on his patient list, but now was just in shock and wasn't sure how to react.
"Oh er... hello Sir er... Doctor..." Peter quickly responds in a surprised and slightly startled tone, as he sees the doctor staring at him and he couldn't help but feel a little uncomfortable, even though he was sure he recognised him.
"Where have you been?" Gordon then asks in a stunned tone, as he continues to just stare at the boy and forgets about what he was actually in the room for.
"I er... Jarred?" Peter then says, as he turns to his friend in confusion and was hoping he could help him out, because it was starting to get a little weird with the doctor just staring at him like that.
"That's Alex's dad Peter." Jarred states in a neutral tone, as he decides to see how the other boy reacted, before working out how to handle this, he wasn't expecting his former best friends dad to come in and he was definitely wondering how it even happened, because he was sure it shouldn't be allowed, especially after Alex had been the one to put him in hospital in the first place.
"Alex's dad?" Peter quickly asks in response, before turning to the doctor again. "You shouldn't be here." He then states in an angry tone, as he thinks about what was going on and he may be young and not exactly over being hit over the head, but if Alex put his friend in hospital, then his dad really shouldn't be allowed to treat him, even he knew that shouldn't be allowed.
"Excuse me?" Gordon quickly asks in response himself, as he looks at his sons boyfriend in surprise and confusion at what he had just said and he couldn't help but but be a little worried.
"Alex hurt Jarred and you're Alex's dad, so you shouldn't be in here, it's not er... well it's not right or fair." Peter answers in a slightly nervous tone, but he was determined to return the favour to his friend for looking after him for the past week and wasn't going to back down.
"Alex didn't mean to do it and..." Gordon then begins to say before trailing off for a few moments. "Peter, where have you been, everyone's been looking..." He then begins to ask in an ever increasing worried tone, as he focuses on his sons boyfriend again and where he has actually been, because he seemed okay, well a little pale and tired looking with a cut across the side of his head, but he did look okay and he couldn't help but be concerned.
"Alex is a monster and he should be locked up." Peter quickly states in a firm tone, as he stares at the doctor confidently and even though he was scared and was shaking a little bit, he wanted to protect his friend and just because the man was a doctor, it didn't mean that he was a nice guy, especially since his son was horrible and nasty, he figured that he had to learn that from someone.
"What?" Gordon quickly asks in a shocked tone, as he tries to process what the boy had just said and he couldn't quite believe what he was hearing.
"He attacked Jarred and put him in hospital and two police people caught him doing it and he's mean and horrible, he should be arrested and put in jail, I hate him." Peter states in response as he steels himself for this confrontation, which was really starting to scare him, he had never talked to an adult like this before and there was something in the back of his mind, that was telling him to stop and think about everything, but he was too angry to listen to that voice and he just continued to half glare at the doctor instead.
"Peter, where have you been and are you okay, your head looks bruised." Gordon then decides to say in a calm tone, as he thinks about how to handle the situation, because there was clearly something going on here and the way the boy was talking, it was like he didn't even know who he was and that they've actually spent quite a lot of time together, which really started to concern him.
"I told you Peter, he doesn't even care what his son did to me, he hasn't even asked me how I'm doing, it's not hard to see why Alex is the way he is." Jarred then states with a calculated expression as he glances at his former best friends dad and can see that he was confused and also a little suspicious as well, but he didn't really care, he was just looking forward to when Alex tries to talk to Peter and could only hope that he got to see that himself.
"Jarred, shut up and..." Gordon quickly snaps at the boy, before being surprised to find himself being interrupted.
"Just like Alex." Peter states in an angry tone, as he stares at the doctor and again, despite something in the back of his mind trying to tell him something, he just ignores it and focuses on what's happening right now.
"Do you know what's wrong with him Jarred?" Gordon then decides to ask the boy, after being taken aback by other boys tone and expression and wondering if his sons former best friend had something to do with this and whether his son was right all along.
"You should worry about your psycho son, not him." Jarred quickly responds with a slightly amused expression and again can see the suspicion on his former best friends dads face and wondered how long it would take for him to lose his temper and just reinforce everything he had told the other boy about the family.
"He lashed out and made a mistake Jarred and I have no doubts that you've done worse to other and more than likely smaller kids than yourself." Gordon responds almost coldly, before mentally slapping himself for losing his cool so easily and while he was annoyed with himself, it actually gave him more sympathy towards his son for what he had actually done.
"Yeah, because he's never lashed out or bullied anyone before Gordon, at least I admit to being a prick and a bully, not like Alex, acting all innocent and like butter wouldn't melt." Jarred quickly retorts in a sarcastic tone, as he grins at his former best friends dad and can see him going a little red now and knew he was getting a little angry.
"He's not an angel, but he's changed, unlike..." Gordon then begins to say, as he loses his composure again, but it's the other boy that interrupts him again.
"He's a bully and he broke my wrist and he's done other stuff, so he should be locked away and never let out, he's a monster." Peter states in a firm and serious tone, as he holds up his wrist and freezes a little bit, as he notices for the first time that something was written on it, but before he can take it in, the doctors response gets his full attention.
"What are you talking about Peter, you broke your wrist in an accident, you're the one who told us what happened." Gordon quickly responds in a mixture of surprise and confusion, while also noticing Jarred trying to hide a smirk and while he knew he had no proof, he was now convinced that his son really had been right all along and he was trying his best to figure out the best way to handle this situation, because it was now obvious to him, that Peter was suffering from some kind of amnesia as a result of what he can only assume is from head trauma, judging from the cut and faded bruise on his head.
"He forced me to lie about it, he said he would hurt me if I told the truth." Peter then quickly states in a defiant and serious tone, before glancing at his friend and seeing him giving him an encouraging smile and despite feeling scared and confused, knowing his friend was there, just helped him relax enough to not let the doctor intimidate him.
"Look Peter, I don't know what Jarred has been telling you or even where you've been all this time, but I know my son and we didn't raise him..." Gordon then starts to state in a serious tone, after deciding to just be honest and try and nip whatever this was in the bud, but quickly frowns as he finds himself being interrupted again.
"Why don't you tell Peter where Alex's mum is Gordon." Jarred states in an almost smug tone, as he decides to stop his former best friends dad from trying to undo all his hard work and jog the other boys memory, because he knew it was possible and even though he knew that all his lies would be exposed soon anyway, he was going to do everything he could, to make sure Alex at least got to speak to Peter first and then enjoy showing his former best friend, why he had made a mistake in ditching him as his friend in the way that he did.
"Stay out of this Jarred, I will deal with you later." Gordon quickly states in an authoritative tone, before turning to the other boy in surprise, as he starts talking.
"Where is she?" Peter asks in a demanding tone, after getting an encouraging nod from his friend and while he wasn't sure if it really made a difference, he trusted his friend and knew that there must be a reason for him to bring it up and the doctors reaction was definitely strange and suspicious.
"Yeah Gordon, where is she?" Jarred decides to quickly add, in a slightly mocking tone and smirking slightly at his former best friends dad, after making sure the other boy wasn't looking at him.
"She's in prison Peter, you know this and you know why." Gordon eventually responds, after weighing up his options in his head and while he was tempted to walk out of the room and call the police, there was just something about Jarred's behaviour, that made him hesitate and not want to leave Peter alone with him for another minute, because right now, he was convinced that Jarred had at the very least, known where Peter has been all this time and been in contact with him.
"And why is she in prison Gordon? You know, just in case Peter doesn't know." Jarred then quickly asks in an amused tone, although he tries his best to not make it too obvious, but to his relief, the other boy is almost fully concentrating on his former best friends dad and not what he is saying or how he is saying it.
"That's enough Jarred, I don't know what kind of game you're playing, but it stops now." Gordon then states in a firm and authoritative, with a look to match it as he stares at the boy. "Peter, I need you to come with me, so we can get that cut checked out." He then states in a softer tone, as he turns to his sons boyfriend after deciding that he needed to separate the boys and try and figure out just what he had been through and where he has been all this time.
"No!" Peter quickly responds defiantly, without taking his eyes of the doctor even though inside he was terrified. "Why is she in prison and don't lie, you don't go to prison unless you deserve it." He then asks in a firm tone, while trying his best to hide the fact that he was now feeling very nervous, he was still angry and he wanted answers, but the adrenaline was wearing off now the the voice in the back of his mind, was getting a little bit louder, but not any clearer, which was just confusing him even more.
"We can talk about that later Peter and I promise to answer all your questions, but I want to get you checked out first and I will call your parents to come here as well." Gordon responds in the same softer tone, as he does his best to concentrate on his sons boyfriend, but he can see the other boy rolling his eyes and was struggling to stay focused.
"See, I told you what would happen Peter, he can't even answer a simple question and all he cares about, is getting you on your own." Jarred then states in an almost casual tone, as he gives the other boy a friendly smile, before turning his attention to his former best friends dad. "Alex's mum is in prison because she helped David Summers almost kill his son and your friend Matthew Summers, that's why she's in prison and that's not even the worst thing that she has ever done, is it Gordon." He then states in a confident tone, as he stares at his former best friends dad with a cocky smile.
"She tried to kill my friend?" Peter quickly asks in a shocked tone, as he stares at his friend in disbelief. "Like Alex tried to kill you and do the stuff that he did to me?" He then asks in the same tone, as he tries to process everything again and while his friend had told him a lot, it was now obvious that there was so much of the last few years, that he still didn't remember and that unsettled him again.
"Yeah and Gordon is trying to tell you that Alex is a good boy and that they brought him up to be a good boy, I mean come on, his mum is in prison and his dad can't even answer a straight forward question and just lies instead Peter." Jarred answers with a friendly smile, while enjoying the expression on his former best friends dads face and knew that if he hadn't already worked it out before, he surely had to realise now that he had something to do with his son being attacked and Peter going missing, unless he was as stupid as his son was.
"Peter, don't listen to him, you and Alex are boyfriends, you told me that yourself and you've talked to me about your feelings towards him, whatever Jarred has been..." Gordon then begins to say, as he decides to try and new approach and just try and get through to his sons boyfriend by being bluntly honest, but just like he had been a few times already, he finds himself being interrupted before he can finish.
"I'm not gay! And your son is a monster Gordon and he forced me to do that stuff, he broke my wrist when I tried to stop him and he's the one who hurt me, he attacked me and tried to kill me because I didn't want to pretend to be his boyfriend any more, that's what happened and I hate him and he should be in prison, just like his mum." Peter quickly states in an angry and almost desperate tone, as he tries to calm himself down, but he knew what his friend had told him was true now and even though he did have doubts, the way the doctor was acting and the way he kept avoiding answering questions, just made his friends words even more believable.
"What the hell have you done to him Jarred?" Gordon quickly asks in a slightly scared tone, after hearing his sons boyfriends words and the only way he could think that, is if someone has been telling him that and he was almost completely sure Jarred was responsible now and even though he knew what he should be doing in this situation, he was too worked up and angry to think clearly and just call the police and his sons boyfriends parents, which he should have done as soon as he saw Peter in the room.
"See Peter, he doesn't give a shit about you, he talks about calling your parents and checking your head, yet he's been in here for like a quarter of an hour and he hasn't done either of those things, all he's done is lie about his wife, lie about Alex and shouted at me." Jarred states in a calm and confident tone, as he looks at the other boy and quickly gauges his reaction. "He's just like Alex, all he cares about is himself, no wonder Alex is like he is, I almost feel sorry for him now." He then adds with a slight edge to his tone, as he looks over to his former best friends dad now and can see how uncomfortable and surprised he was at how this conversation had turned out and knew that he had no idea how to deal with it, especially since he was dealing with kids and not adults.
"I don't like you." Peter then says as he glares at the doctor and while he felt strange acting like this towards an adult and deep inside he felt that it was wrong, he couldn't ignore everything his friend had told him and he had now seen what kind of person Alex's dad was, so while he felt like he was doing something naughty, he thought that the man deserved it.
"I... I will... Peter don't go anywhere and Jarred, just stop it, whatever you're doing, stop it, I'm warning you... I will be right back." Gordon then states in a firm tone, as he pulls himself together and despite feeling ashamed and a little embarrassed about being outsmarted by a twelve year old, he knew there was no point dwelling on it and the best thing he could do, was leave the room and do what he should have done straight away and call the police and the boys parents.
"I'm sorry Peter." Jarred then says in the most convincing sincere tone that he could manage, after waiting for his former best friends dad to leave the room and while he was actually proud of himself for winning the exchange, he knew it would be short lived, which was becoming more and more scary as it drew nearer and the look on his former best friends face, when he realised what he had done, was all that was keeping him from really getting scared and trying to figure a way out of the plan, which he knew was impossible anyway.
"Huh?" Peter responds in a distracted tone, as he stares at the door the doctor had walked out of a few moments ago and despite believing everything that was said, he just couldn't shake a feeling inside his gut and despite his best efforts, he kept thinking about Alex and while it was confusing and unclear, it was starting to confuse him.
"I was being a bit of a prick and stuff, I mean he's still an adult and I think he would have checked your head and stuff, just to make sure you're really okay, but I kind of distracted him and er... well I'm sorry, I just got so angry at him trying to tell you that Alex was a good boy, I just couldn't help myself." Jarred explains honestly, well kind of honestly, as he is just thinking on his feet, to try and stop the other boy from remembering anything, the last thing he wanted was for the plan to fall apart now and get in trouble for nothing.
"Oh right, well er... you're a prick, so it's okay." Peter responds with a smile, before giggling at the look on his friends face, which had gone a little red and a little angry, which should have scared him a little bit and he thought that he should be scared, but this was his friend and the fact that he was now smiling, quickly made him relax and just enjoy his little joke.
"You know he's probably going to call Alex right?" Jarred then decides to say, as he gives the other boy and measured look after just about managing to control his anger over his words a few minutes ago, which he knew shouldn't have bothered him, but he was getting more and more nervous now that the end of his plan was coming soon and while he tried not to think about it, he couldn't help but wonder what would actually happen to him, the way Conner had made it sound, he would go to court after loads of police interviews and at worst get a warning or community service, which at the time hadn't sounded too bad, but it was definitely a lot more intimidating now that it was so close.
"What? Why?" Peter quickly asks in response, as he gives his friend a scared and insecure look.
"Because he thinks I did all this and that you and Alex are really in love and are boyfriends, he didn't believe a word you said, so he will probably call Alex and think he is going to be a hero or something stupid like that." Jarred answers as sincerely as he could manage, which was proving harder than he thought it would, after getting so much practice over the past week and a bit.
"Then I will tell them I don't want to see him, they can't make me and once I tell them the truth, they will take him away." Peter quickly responds in a more confident tone than he was really feeling inside, as the feeling of seeing Alex again was both scary and strangely at the same time, there was a tiny part of him on the inside that was excited, but he quickly ignored that feeling and concentrated on his friend.
"Do you trust me?" Jarred then asks in a half pleading tone, as he gets his head together at last and remembers his back up plan for this situation and knew that he had to play it just right.
"Yeah, you know I do, we're friends." Peter quickly responds honestly and despite being worried about the thought of seeing Alex again, he managed a genuine smile as he looked at his friend.
"Then you need to let Alex see you..." Jarred then begins to say, before holding up his hand as soon as he sees the other boy opening his mouth. "Trust me, just make sure that you tell them that you will only see him, if he comes in here and it's just the three of us and that they can watch from outside the room." He then states in a calm tone, as he stares at the other boy and wonders whether he had gone too far or if the slight gamble would pay off.
"But... but... but what if he hurts us?" Peter asks in a worried and unsure tone, as he looks at his friend nervously and while he trusted him, the thought of actually being in a room and practically alone with Alex, just filled him with dread and he wasn't keen on it at all.
"He won't be able to and his dad will be watching and the police and probably your parents, so even if he does try, they will come in before he can even lay a finger on either of us and I will be dressed and ready to help, just in case he tries to attack you, I promise." Jarred quickly responds in a calm and confident tone again and while he was trying to play down his former best friend attacking them, he was actually counting on him attacking him and for Peter to witness it, just to hopefully remove any doubt the other boy may have, about the kind of person Alex really was and of course, with the police being there, it would be an added bonus and his former best friend would be in even more trouble than he already was.
"But er... if Gordon is calling the police and my parents, won't they take me away before Alex gets here?" Peter then decides to ask and while he could see the brief surprise on his friends face, he was even more surprised by what he had asked and didn't know where that came from, as he wasn't thinking about that kind of thing at all.
"You got to do what they tell you Peter, even though I don't trust Gordon, the police are the police and your parents love you, so you got to listen to them..." Jarred begins to respond in a slightly hesitant tone, before pausing for a few moments to try and come across as reluctant as possible. "But you could tell them you want to speak to Alex in here alone first and I think they will let you, I mean it can't hurt to ask and if they say no, then you just go with them and it will be okay." He then says in a soft and as casual a tone as he could manage and while this part of the plan was completely out of his control, the way Conner had explained it to him at the time, it sounded like it was a sure thing and he knew there was no going back now.
"But er... well I... why though Jarred? Why should I talk to him and why in here?" Peter then asks in a confused tone, after thinking over his friend words for a few minutes and while he could tell his friend was getting a little impatient, he didn't think much of it, he was a self confessed prick after all, so to him, it was just his friend being himself.
"I don't know, I mean nothing could happen and er... well I don't know, I just have a feeling that no one will believe us about Alex, but if he comes in here and we're just talking to him normally and you explain how you really feel and he gets like super angry and stuff, then everyone will see and even his dad wouldn't be able to pretend Alex is a saint any more." Jarred answers in a slightly nervous and unsure tone, which wasn't completely fake, as he knew that anything could happen if he got the boy to agree to at ask and for everyone to even agree to let Alex in here, but like before, this was it now and there was no turning back and he desperately wanted to see his former best friends reaction to Peter not only rejecting him, but also being afraid of him and hating him.
"Okay, but after, I just want to go home and be with my parents Jarred, I miss them and I just want to be with them." Peter then says in a slightly emotional tone, as he starts to realise just how tired he was and also just how much he missed his parents, which he had done since he woke up and got his bearings that first day, but it was only now that he truly realised how much he needed them.
"He will never hurt you again, I promise Peter, trust me." Jarred then decides to say, after giving the other boy a few moments to settle down and while he found himself wanting to mock the pathetic boy, he wasn't going to let it show and decided to just concentrate on finally getting revenge on his former best friend.
"I do." Peter responds with an appreciative smile, before falling silent and just staring towards the door and thinking about his parents and what was going to happen when he finally got home with his parents.
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