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Landslide
by bigboobedcanuck

Chapter Seven

Thanks again for all the enthusiasm and support for this series, you guys are the best. :)

[ * ]

Bright looked up from the comic book he was reading to find Colin standing in the doorway.

“Hey.” Colin’s hands were jammed in his pockets and he shifted his weight from side to side.

“Uh, hey.” Bright sat up straighter on his bed.

“How’s it going?”

“Um, fine. You?” Bright tried to hide his puzzlement. He and Colin had barely acknowledged each other since the incident in the alley when Colin tried to beat up Ephram.

“Great. What you reading?”

“Just a comic book.” Bright tossed it aside. Ephram had given him a collection of old issues that he said Bright absolutely had to read. Much to his surprise, Bright found he was actually enjoying them.

“Those the kind Brown reads?”

“Yeah, he lent me a few,” Bright said, and he felt his face flush. He cleared his throat. “So, Amy’s not here. Sorry.”

“I know, I was wondering if you wanted to play some ball.” Colin fidgeted nervously as he spoke.

Bright blinked in surprise. He had no idea what to say. Part of him wanted to tell Colin to just fuck off, but another part…another part couldn’t help but be happy to see him. It was hard to look at his face and not be. “Uhh…”

“Look, I know I’ve been a real jerk.” Colin looked at Bright solemnly. “I’m really sorry. It’s been hard, getting used to everything. And I know that’s no excuse. But sometimes I get really mad, and I can’t control it. It’s like…I don’t know; it’s hard to explain. My shrink says I need to ‘work through my anger,’ whatever the hell that means.”

“You’re seeing a shrink?” Bright couldn’t hide his surprise.

“Yeah, I wanted to talk to someone who wasn’t biased, you know? Someone who didn’t know me before.”

“Right.” Bright chewed his lip. “Look, I’m sorry if I put pressure on you or anything. It’s just weird having you back, because you’re…not really you. Him. I mean…I don’t know what I mean.”

“No, I get it.” Colin looked down at his shoes. “I know we used to totally be best friends and that’s just not how it is now.” He looked up at Bright again. “But that doesn’t mean it has to stay that way; even if its not how it used to be, we can at least be friends, right? I’m going to be back on the team this year, and we’ll be seeing each other a lot at practice. I don’t want it to always be weird. You’re a good guy, and I’m trying to be one, too. I’ve been so angry, and I’m just…tired. I don’t why I act the way I do sometimes, and I don’t want to be like that anymore.”

Bright looked at Colin’s earnest expression and at that moment he would have agreed to just about anything. He’d tried not to think about how much he missed Colin, but it was a losing battle. It would never be the same, but for the first time in a long time, Bright felt like maybe there some part of their friendship that they could salvage.

“Of course we can be friends.” Bright smiled at Colin, whose face flooded with relief.

“So, you wanna shoot some hoops?” Colin grinned.

“Yeah, we’ve gotta beat Coleman into a pulp next week.” Bright grinned back and hopped up off the bed. He couldn’t help but feel a bit of extra spring in his step as he and Colin headed outside.

---------------------------

When the phone rang, Ephram was trying not to fall asleep as he watched The Lion King for what was possibly the one billionth time.

“Ephram, the phone,” Delia said, from her position lying down on the couch.

“You know, it’s your arm that’s broken, not your legs. And I’m not deaf,” Ephram said with a long-suffering sigh as he got up to grab the phone in the kitchen. “Hello?”

“Hey. It’s me.”

“Hey.” Ephram’s stomach did a strange little flip-flop at the sound of Bright’s voice and he rolled his eyes. He was acting like such a girl.

“So, all ready for school tomorrow?”

“No. You?”

Bright chuckled. “No. But I don’t think we have a choice.”

“Doesn’t look like it. You do anything tonight?”

There was a moment of silence before Bright spoke. “Nah, nothing much. Just practiced ball some more. You do anything fun?”

“Aside from waiting on my sister hand and foot? Not really. My dad’s out with the Reverend, though, so I have to stay with Delia. I was thinking we could go for a drive later, but I don’t think my dad will let me. It’s a school night now.”

“Yeah, summer’s officially over, dude.” Bright sighed heavily. “But I’ll see at school tomorrow. We can go for a drive after.”

“Sounds like a plan.” Ephram curled the phone cord around his finger and he bounced a bit on the balls of his feet in anticipation.

“Ephram! I need more juice!” Delia’s plaintive voice carried into the kitchen.

Ephram sighed. “I’ve got to go, the princess needs another beverage. I’ll see you tomorrow, okay?”

“Yeah, tomorrow. See ya.”

“Bye.” Ephram hung up the phone and stood for a moment in silence. He’d wanted to tell Bright that he was thinking about him and that he missed him, but the words just hadn’t come out. He shook his head in exasperation and got the juice from the fridge. He’d seen Bright yesterday, and he was definitely acting like a total girl.

He headed back into the living room and put Delia’s juice on the table beside her before slumping into the armchair.

“Thanks, Ephram.”

“You’re welcome. Now don’t ask for anything else,” Ephram grumped.

A little while later Simba’s father was getting killed, and Ephram could hear Delia begin to sniffle. He rolled his eyes yet again and looked over at her. Tears rolled down her cheeks, and he could tell that she was trying not to make any noise, probably hoping he wouldn’t see. He’d teased her earlier about how the movie always made her cry and she’d insisted that this time it wouldn’t.

Ephram got up and stood beside her. Without a word he cautiously sat her up, taking care not to jostle her broken arm. He settled down on the couch and then rested her head in his lap. He stroked Delia’s hair softly and let her cry.

-------------------------

The next morning Ephram struggled to keep his eyes open in Mr. Rinaldi’s math class. He had no idea why the school thought he needed to know about parabolas. Or why the SATs insisted on having a math section. It really wasn’t fair at all. The first day and he already had homework.

After class he stopped by his locker to pick up his history textbook. He’d just dumped his math book on top of his gym shoes when he heard raucous laughter from down the hall. He recognized Colin’s laugh and steeled himself for another confrontation. He hadn’t run into Colin yet, and he wasn’t looking forward to it.

Ephram shut his locker and squared his shoulders. He turned to look down the hall and sudden nausea blossomed in the pit of his stomach. Bright was with Colin and the other jocks, laughing and joking around.

For a moment, Ephram felt like he had stepped into a time warp. Ephram stared at them, not moving. Colin said something and Bright high-fived him.

Finally Ephram turned on his heel and went the other way. The sound of Bright’s laughter mingling with Colin’s was giving him a headache.

-----------------------------

Bright tapped the steering wheel anxiously. He hadn’t seen Ephram at lunch, and so far he was nowhere to be found after school, either. After the last bell, Bright had hurried out to his truck, eager to see Ephram and head out onto one of the back roads. He examined the stream of students flooding out of the front doors, waiting for him to appear.

The school was practically deserted when Ephram finally walked out. Bright grinned, relieved. But his smile vanished when Ephram walked in the other direction, away from his truck. Bright tapped the horn lightly, but Ephram didn’t break his stride.

Bright turned the engine over and pulled out of the parking lot. Ephram walked quickly along the sidewalk. Bright rolled down his window and called out, “Ephram! Hey!”

Ephram kept walking, his head down. Bright’s heart began pounding. Something was definitely wrong. He hit the accelerator and drove a bit further up the road before putting the truck in park and hopping out.

He made it to the sidewalk just as Ephram tried to speed by.

“Hey! What’s going on?” Bright reached out for Ephram’s arm.

“Don’t touch me!” Ephram spat as he took a step back.

“Why?” Bright had no idea what was happening and he felt like things were tilting crazily out of control. “Ephram, what happened? What did I do?”

“You lied to me. You said you weren’t going to be friends with them anymore. With him. Sure didn’t look that way to me today.”

Oh. That. Bright had wanted to tell Ephram on the phone about Colin’s visit, but for some reason he hadn’t. He and Colin had had a great game of basketball, and there were a few moments when Bright could believe it was like old times. Like he’d never taken those keys, never had the sickening sound of twisting metal and breaking glass permanently etched into his memory.

“Look, I wanted to talk to you about that. I couldn’t find you at lunch, where were you?”

“Does it matter? You’ve got all your old pals back.” Ephram’s jaw clenched and he looked off into the distance.

“What? Ephram—”

Ephram shrugged, still not looking Bright in the eye. “What do you need me for? You’re king of the castle again, right?”

Bright couldn’t believe that after all that had happened, Ephram wouldn’t…what? Believe in him? Trust him? Anger swelled and snaked its way through him. “I wanted to explain, but if that’s what you think of me? Forget it.”

“Well, what am I supposed to think? Suddenly you’re all buddy-buddy with those assholes again? With Colin?”

“He’s trying to change, okay? He came over last night. We talked. It was…good. He’s not a bad guy, not really.”

“Oh? Gee, I’ll have to remember that next time his fist is coming towards my face.” Ephram had dropped his knapsack on the ground and was gesturing angrily.

“He wants to change, Ephram. And I want to help him. He’s my best friend!”

“No, he’s not! Your best friend’s gone, Bright!”

Bright’s eyes prickled and moistened. “You think I don’t know that? I miss him everyday. You know what it’s like seeing him around, knowing that it’s not really him anymore? Knowing that I killed him?” Bright stopped and gulped for air. “I hate it, Ephram. And if there’s some way that I can have even a little piece of him back, then I want it. Because Colin was my best friend practically my whole life and I want him back.”

Ephram’s hands flopped to his sides and he looked at him sadly. “Bright—”

“I want him back.” Bright realized that tears were dampening his cheeks, but he didn’t care. “I want him back.”

Ephram’s gentle hands grasped his shoulders. “Bright, it’s okay. Everything’s going to be okay. Come on, get in.” Ephram propelled him towards the truck, opening the passenger door.

Bright climbed in and watched in a daze as Ephram picked up his bag and walked around to the driver’s side. He slid behind the wheel.

“Let’s go to the lookout up the street, there shouldn’t be anyone up there on a weekday.” Ephram turned the key and the engine roared to life. He put the truck in gear and cautiously made his way up to the secluded road. Bright knew he should have insisted on driving, but he remained silent and leaned his head against the window.

When they were safely parked at the deserted lookout, Bright closed his eyes and pressed his face against the cool glass. After a moment he felt Ephram’s fingers stroke his cheek lightly.

“I’m sorry,” Ephram said softly.

Bright sat up straight and looked at Ephram. “No, I should have told you last night that I was talking to Colin again.”

“Why didn’t you?” Ephram’s fingers brushed through Bright’s hair while he spoke.

“I was afraid of what you’d say. And I was afraid…I was afraid that I’d jinx it, or something. It just felt so good to be hanging out with him again. So normal.”

Ephram snatched his hand away and gripped the steering wheel. “I’m glad. You know, that things are working out with Colin.”

Bright shifted in his seat and turned towards Ephram. “No you’re not.”

Ephram leaned his head back and took a deep breath. “Fine, I’m not. If you want things to be normal again, where does that leave me?”

“What do you mean?” Bright rubbed his face tiredly. Why didn’t Ephram understand? “Listen, this whole thing with Colin, it’s got nothing to do with you.”

“Yeah, right.” Ephram wouldn’t look at him.

“What, are you jealous or something?” Bright couldn’t help but laugh. Ephram’s lips tightened into a thin line and he shot Bright a look that stopped his laughter in its tracks. “What? Why? There’s nothing to be jealous of.”

Ephram snorted incredulously. “Are you serious? There’s everything to be jealous of. You care about him maybe more than anything and he’s gorgeous and athletic and you guys have everything in common.”

Bright mulled this over. “So, you think that if Colin and I become friends again we’re suddenly going to start getting it on and I’ll forget all about you?”

“Yeah, pretty much.” Ephram examined the dashboard intensely.

“That’s so retarded.”

“It is not!” Ephram sat up straighter and his eyes flashed with indignation.

“Ephram, what I want from Colin is to have my best friend back. And I know I’m never going to have that, but I’ll take what I can get. It’s got nothing to do with how I feel about you. Like, what, I can’t have any other friends if we’re together?”

Ephram looked out the window. When he looked back, his anger seemed to have drained away. “No, of course you can have other friends. At least one of us should.”

Bright felt a flicker of guilt. Of course Ephram would be jealous, it wasn’t like he had anyone else to hang out with. “I’m sorry.”

“You shouldn’t have to be sorry for not being a loser, Bright.”

“You’re not a loser!”

“Yeah, I am. And I’m fine with that. I’m a geek who plays the piano and reads manga and doesn’t mesh with the kids at school. But you’re not. Seeing you and Colin together today just reminded me of that. You guys…go together. You fit in with other people around here. I don’t.” Ephram’s tone was resigned, weary.

Bright thought for a few moments, trying to figure out the right thing to say. “School, and the guys on the team, even Colin…those are one part of my life. But not the part that means the most.” Bright struggled to find the words to make Ephram understand. “I do care about him. And being friends with him again, it makes me feel better. Like something isn’t missing as much. But if I didn’t have you…Ephram, don’t you know that you fit in with me?”

Ephram swallowed hard, and said nothing. Bright slid his hand behind Ephram’s head and pulled him close. He kissed him softly, then pulled away and looked into his eyes. “No one else understands me like you do. I don’t know why, but you do. I don’t care if you suck at basketball and read comic books. You fit.” Bright kissed him again, slipping his tongue between Ephram’s parted lips. He ran his fingers up Ephram’s spine beneath his shirt and Ephram shivered and moaned into the kiss.

Their tongues stroked and their hands caressed and he shifted closer. How could Ephram ever think that they didn’t fit together? Bright loved the smell of him, the taste of him, the feel of him.

Bright pushed him back on the seat and quickly undid Ephram’s jeans. Ephram lifted his hips up as Bright pulled down his jeans and boxers. He slid onto the floor on the passenger side, his bulk barely squeezing in between the seat and the glove compartment.

Bright looked up at Ephram’s face as he took him in his mouth and felt a thrill at the expression of pure pleasure he saw. Ephram moaned and his fingers curled into Bright’s hair. Bright licked and sucked Ephram’s cock hungrily. He loved the way Ephram panted; after a while it was like music.

Bright sucked Ephram’s balls into his mouth and pumped his cock with his hand. Ephram’s fingers tightened in his hair, and Bright knew he was close. Usually he would have tried to drag it out, but this time he licked up the underside of Ephram’s shaft and his mouth was around the head just in time to swallow his come.

Ephram closed his eyes and caught his breath while Bright got settled in the passenger seat again.

“God. That was amazing,” Ephram said as he pulled his pants back up. He looked at Bright with a strangely shy smile. “You’re amazing.”

Bright was about to respond when he saw something moving outside. He grabbed Ephram’s head and yanked him down into his lap.

“Ow! I’m going to return the favour, you don’t have to—”

“Shh! Someone’s out there. Just stay down.” Bright watched the man walk across the lookout, a dog yapping at his heels. After a minute, they were out of sight again. Bright heaved a sigh of relief and released his grasp on Ephram’s head.

Ephram sat up with a scowl. “You could have just said someone was there instead of pulling my hair out. And I'm the one in the driver's seat, you're the one who should be ducking.”

“I didn’t really hurt you, did I? Shit, I’m sorry.” Bright peered at Ephram anxiously.

Ephram softened. “No, you didn’t hurt me. I’m just being a drama queen.” He smiled crookedly.

“Well, I guess we’re even, then.”

“What?” Ephram furrowed his brow.

“Uh, I kind of lost it before. On the sidewalk.”

“It was nothing. Don’t worry about it.” Ephram scooted close and put his arm around Bright’s shoulder. “Hey, remember, I’m the one who had a grand freak out in your bedroom.”

“That’s true. I guess it was just my turn,” Bright said with a smile.

Ephram squeezed his shoulder affectionately. “Yeah. I guess we do fit together.”

Bright felt a warm rush of happiness and he kissed Ephram again. “So, everything’s good, right?”

“Yeah. Look, I’m sorry I was such a jerk about Colin. It must be really hard for you to have his doppelganger walking around.”

“His what?”

“Doppelganger. It’s a German word for someone’s mysterious, evil identical twin. Apparently that’s a big problem over there, they have a word for it and everything.”

“Colin’s not evil.” Bright couldn’t help but bristle.

“I know, I didn’t mean it like, literally.” Ephram got a faraway look in his eyes. “It must be weird. I mean, if my mom had gotten hurt like Colin did and she was still around, but was different and didn’t really know me? I can’t imagine how awful that would be.”

Ephram’s voice had gotten low and slightly shaky, like it usually did when he talked about his mom. Bright put his hand on Ephram’s thigh and squeezed.

“Thanks for understanding, Ephram. And don’t ever think that anyone else is more important than you, okay?”

“Okay.” Ephram leaned over and kissed Bright, and his tongue slowly explored Bright’s mouth. After a minute, he pulled back. “So, I was thinking about school. Look, I think it’s better if you hang out with Colin and the guys there and we just see each other after and on the weekends.”

“Wait…why can’t you hang out with us, too? They’re not that bad, honestly.”

“I know. It’s just that…when I’m with you? I want to do things like this.” Ephram slowly licked his way up Bright’s neck and Bright shivered. “And I don’t think the guys on the team will understand, you know?” Ephram nipped at his earlobe and Bright’s dick jumped in his pants.

“You’ve got a point.” Bright took a deep breath and shuddered as Ephram sucked the special spot just behind his ear. He pushed Ephram back gently and looked him in the eyes. “It’s fine with me if we keep our distance at school, just as long as everything’s cool between us. And even if we’re not hanging out, I still want to say hi to you in the halls and stuff, I don’t want to pretend we don’t know each other.”

Ephram smiled. “Deal.” They kissed again, lips softly tasting and tongues probing.

“So, about returning the favour…” Bright raised his eyebrows suggestively.

Ephram playfully licked his lips and unzipped Bright’s pants. “Try not to pull my hair out this time, okay?”

“Okay, DQ.” Bright smirked.

Ephram, who was about to take Bright’s cock in his mouth, sat up suddenly and swatted him on the arm “Don’t call me that, you jerk.” His head descended again, but just as quickly came back up. “Oh, and one more thing: I don’t suck at basketball.”

“You’re absolutely right, I’m sorry,” Bright said, with what he thought was a remarkably straight face.

“You’d say just about anything right now, wouldn’t you?”

“Yeah, pretty much.” Bright said and Ephram rolled his eyes. Bright thought about what Ephram had said before, how he was ‘amazing’. It made him feel good, all warm and tingly inside. Then Ephram’s hot mouth was on his cock, and that made him feel even better.

-----------------------------

Ephram was about to slam his locker shut when Colin’s voice cut through the din of the crowded hallway.

“Hey, Brown.”

Ephram tensed, despite himself. He pivoted around to find Colin standing a few feet away. “Hey, Colin. What’s up?”

Colin shuffled his feet and looked around with a fake casualness. “Nothing. How you doing?” Ephram could tell he was nervous.

“Couldn’t be better. It’s the first week of school and I’m already up to my eyeballs in homework.”

“Yeah, me too.”

An awkward silence settled in and Ephram waited for Colin to get to the point. But it didn’t appear that it was going to happen anytime soon, so he said, “Well, I’d better get to lunch.”

“Um, yeah. Look, Ephram, I just wanted to apologize.” Colin’s feet were still shuffling and he had his binder in a death grip.

“For what?” Ephram couldn’t help it; he wouldn’t make it easy for him.

“You know, for being a massive jerk. I’m sorry for everything that happened. For hurting you those times and being such a prick.” Colin looked at him with an earnest expression.

Ephram remembered Bright with glistening eyes and a trembling mouth, and he smiled reassuringly. “It’s cool, Colin. Apology accepted.”

Colin brightened. “Really? You mean it? That means a lot to me, Ephram.”

Ephram was surprised to find that he really did mean it. “No problem, Colin. Everyone screws up sometimes. I know it’s hard to believe, but I’m actually not perfect myself.”

Colin laughed. “Really? I guess there’s hope for me yet.”

“Yeah, there is.” Ephram was about to turn back to his locker when he heard Bright’s voice.

“Hey guys. What’s up?” Bright wore a goofy grin that made Ephram’s stomach do that flip-flopping thing.

“Hey man,” Colin said as he reached out his arm, slapping Bright on the shoulder. “Ephram and I were just talking. Hey, Ephram, you wanna have lunch with us?”

Ephram looked from Colin to Bright and smiled. “Nah, I just got the latest manga and I’m dying to read it. You guys go ahead. I’ll see you around.”

“Okay, man. Don’t be a stranger, and…thanks.” Colin extended his fist and Ephram awkwardly bumped his knuckles with Colin’s . From the corner of his eye he could see Bright biting his lip, trying not to laugh.

Colin started off down the hall, and Bright lingered for a moment. “See you after school, right?”

“Count on it,” Ephram said. Bright smiled his thousand-kilowatt grin and took off after Colin. Ephram shut his locker and checked his watch. Only three hours, fifteen minutes, and twenty-three seconds to go.

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