Listen to the Thunder

“JALEX! GET YOUR CLOTHES ON AND YOUR SHIT TOGETHER!”

I pushed Alex off my lap and jumped to my feet, ignoring his whine of protest as I ran out of his bedroom. Today is the day we’re going home for Spring Break, and instead of getting a Greyhound, Rian is picking us up in his car! Rian and Caleb, that is. Pat and Zack travelled back yesterday with a work colleague of Zack’s, so we’ll just be meeting them back home. I don’t know what Kyle’s doing for Spring Break, but I assume he’s making his own way home.

“Rileb!” I squealed.

Rian laughed as I leapt towards him, catching me in his arms as I hugged him tightly, squeezing my legs around his waist. It has been far too fucking long since we last saw each other, that’s for sure. Once Rian dropped me to my feet, I did the same to Caleb, although he couldn’t hold me up – meaning we fell to the floor.

“Well, I know you’re a sexy ginger, but I’m pretty sure I’m not your type,” I grinned, thrusting my hips forward before standing up.

“I don’t know about that – Caleb came out as bi to me this morning,” Rian smirked.

Well that makes my thrusting a little awkward.

“Dude! You know I was going to wait until the whole group was together!” Caleb whined, standing up too.

Wow, he actually looks upset. Did he think we’d turn him away, or something?

“Caleb, you know this changes nothing. You’re still our best friend, no matter what,” I said seriously.

“Yeah, now we’ve just got to corrupt Rian to the homosexy side, and it’s a full house!” Alex grinned.

Finally, he leaves his room. That was the quietest he’s ever jerked off.

“You guys really don’t mind?” Caleb asked shyly.

“Nah Caleb, we’re proud of you for being honest. Besides, now you get the best of both worlds,” I grinned.

“True that,” Caleb smirked, wriggling his eyebrows.

“Okay, okay, let’s just get your shit to my car before this turns into an orgy,” Rian chuckled, rolling his eyes.

*

It took us over two days to get home. Yeah, over two days. A straight drive would’ve taken 1 day and 18 hours, but we stopped to eat a couple of times, as well as get gas for the car. And then we took the wrong turning and had to double back. But what the hell, we ended up back home and that’s all that matters! Rian and Caleb did the driving in shifts, leaving Alex and I to provide the entertainment in the back seat. No, not free porn. Perverts. It was just nice to have the banter that we had for so many years as a group, even if a few of us were still missing.

The first thing we all did was dump our luggage at our separate houses. The next thing was we each took a quick shower. While we were showering, Rian made strong coffee, so that’s what we drank next. And then we went straight to Zack’s.

“Holy shit, you guys looked wrecked,”

Gee, thanks Zack.

“We have been travelling for over two days,” Rian chuckled as we walked into the house.

“Shit, two days? That’s rough man. I didn’t expect you to come by straight away,” Zack mused.

“We figured we might as well, seeing as most of our parents are at work still. Is Pat here?” Caleb shrugged.

“Yeah, he’s in the kitchen I think. He’s been so excited all day, like a little puppy. Bless him,” Zack said with an affectionate smile.

I squealed internally. I really am so happy that they’re dating now! I know they practically were before, but now it’s all official and everything!

“PATTY!” Alex called happily, running ahead of us, flailing his arms in the air.

“LEXY!” Pat called back.

I laughed as we walked into the kitchen, watching Alex spin Pat around in happiness until Pat went a strange green colour. Well that’s not good.

“You’re not pregnant are you? Morning sickness is apparently really shitty,” Caleb teased.

“No, we just ate a load of cookies this morning. And pancakes. And doughnuts. And cake,” Pat retorted, blushing slightly.

“Shit, that’s crazy,” Rian snorted, nudging Zack with his hip.

Zack nudged him back, laughing, before pressing a kiss to the side of Pat’s head.

“So, uh, where’s Kyle?” I asked softly.

I know I shouldn’t really be asking, but I made my choice, didn’t I? I chose Alex. So there’s no reason why Kyle and I can’t be friends.

“I don’t know, actually. Hang on, I’ll text him,” Pat murmured.

The rest of us fell into easy conversation while we waited for Kyle’s reply. But the reaction on Pat’s face when he did get a text wasn’t what I expected.

“Kyle’s not coming home for Spring Break,” Pat mumbled, quickly texting a reply back.

Explosion. All of us started shouting and yelling, trying to figure out what the hell is going on, until Zack whistled sharply, making us fall silent.

“What did Kyle say?” Zack asked Pat quietly.

Shit, I didn’t even think about how Pat would feel about all this. After all, Kyle’s been his closest friend for years.

“He said he’s visiting Nick’s family in Massachusetts for Spring Break. So I texted back ‘why?’ and I’m now waiting for an explanation,”

This time we all waited in silence. No pretence of small talk. Not long after, Kyle replied. And Pat only looked sadder.

“Kyle didn’t originally plan to go to Nick’s. Apparently he wanted to come home but Nick persuaded him to go to Massachusetts instead,”

“I think we all know what persuasion that was,” Caleb muttered.

I think Caleb’s wrong.

“No, it wasn’t sex,” I murmured.

Everyone turned to look at me, and I cringed. Alex especially looked confused.

“I just think I saw a different version of Nick being persuasive. That’s all,” I defended.

“What do you mean persuasive?” Zack frowned.

How do I phrase it? Should I just say what I think? Or should I sugarcoat it, for Pat’s sake? The frowns on everyone’s faces helped me make up my mind.

“I’m pretty sure Nick abuses Kyle,” I blurted.

The silence in the room was deafening. Eventually Pat broke it.

“W-What?”

“I’ve seen him with split lips before and the occasional bruise, but Lex and I were at a p-party a few days ago, and I was talking to him. I noticed some strange bruise-like marks on his neck, but I didn’t mention them. He said he didn’t want to come but Nick made him, and he rubbed his hand over the marks. And they definitely weren’t hickeys. And I think Kyle’s too scared to fight back,” I explained, glancing at Alex.

He’d paled a little, which confused me. It’s not like he was close enough at the party to see the marks, was he? Pat just looked upset, while Rian, Caleb and Zack looked furious. Oh good, they don’t actually hate Kyle. That would destroy everything we’ve all had as friends.

“I can’t believe he hasn’t said anything to me! Why does he put up with it? Why doesn’t he just break up with Nick?” Pat wailed.

“He’s Nick’s dorm mate – without Nick as a boyfriend and Nick’s friends as his friends, Kyle would have no-one. You know he’d rather have a scrap of something than be alone,” Rian sighed.

Alex and I glanced at each other; Alex looked as guilty as I felt. So we’re the reason Kyle puts up with his possibly-abusive boyfriend. We’ve alienated him, so this is all that he has. Shit, we fucked up. Big time. But what can we do?

Apparently I said this out loud.

“There’s nothing we can do unless Kyle comes to us. You know he’d deny it all if we pressured him about it. We’ve just got to wait,” Rian said.

Everyone nodded, although I knew we were all reluctant to agree. Shit, this guilt really is starting to sink in. Why do I feel so bad after everything that Kyle did to me? Because I still love him. Because he’s one of my best friends, no matter what.

“Come on, it’s Spring Break – let’s go and have some fun, yeah?” Caleb urged, breaking the heavy silence.

That’s more like it.