realmofthemuse - 15.A.4
Talk about someone who is/was an adversary or enemy that you respect and/or admire.
Andy.
Our friendship was anything but friendly. I wouldn't have even pegged him for a friend, or even an acquaintance. He felt threatened by me and then I felt threatened. And, well, I tend to become confrontational when I feel like someone's got it out for me. We had our share of fights. Verbal, mainly. I don't think it it ever escalated to anything physical -- I reserve that kind of behavior for the real scumbags of the world.
It started with Lauren proposing we all have a threesome. I'm not one to shy away from anything sexually adventurous (almost anything, anyway). Besides, I've always wanted to try a threesome, as most guys have, I think. Granted, I had always hoped for a two-girls-and-me kind of situation, but like I said: I don't typically shy away from sex. After a little bit of coercion from Lauren, I was onboard and ready to go. After all, I was single and in the midst of my one-night-stands-only period. This was the perfect scenario.
Not for Andy, though. He and Lauren were dating at that point, and since he already felt threatened by me, the idea of me having sex with his girlfriend, even if he was involved on the action, made it worse. And .. in retrospect, I understand why. I don't know how calm and collected I'd be if .. I don't know, say if Mark wanted to have a threesome with me and Ava. Especially given their history together. Of course, I tend to be stupid and all-around inconsiderate at times, and I didn't understand why Andy was getting so upset about the whole thing.
We called it off. No threesome for us. Lauren and Andy had their own issues to work out and me being in the middle, literally and figuratively, was just the lemon juice in the wound. Andy and I exchanged words .. the not-so-nice kind. We each said our peace and left it alone, figuring we had bigger fish to fry. I didn't want to cause them more drama, so I dropped it.
But the feelings of intimidation didn't go away for Andy, not for a while. I don't know what eventually turned it around, but we came to a point where we just .. respected each other. I told him about my childhood and we discovered that we had really similar experiences at the mercy of other kids. We'd both been the awkward child, the one who got picked on consistently by the bigger kids, the ones who were labeled "outcasts," the ones who had trouble trusting people because of it. No one had ever really understood that part of my past before, and for me, that was when I knew that I could trust him. Unlike most people I'd come to know, I could trust him -- and I knew he wouldn't judge me.
It's just grown since then. After we got passed our initial bump in the road, it was like we'd been friends from the very start. We're Bromates now. We've gotten tattoos together (not of the same thing, but simultaneously), we've smoked pot together and gone apeshit, he made me his Best Man at his wedding .. and when I eventually get married, I'll be returning the favor.
And I don't know if I've ever explicitly told him how much I admire him. I admire him for a lot of things, actually. For following his heart even when idiotic people called him foolish, for standing up for his beliefs, for defending the woman he loves, for marrying her, for talking things out with me whenever something was bothering him, for being one of the best friends I've ever had. For being him.
If you'd asked me, when I first met him and the fighting started, if we would ever be friends? If we would ever be able to talk without one of us getting pissed? I would have laughed in your face. I would have said, "Never in a million years." And for once? I'm unbelievably thankful that I was wrong.
James S. Carlisle
Original Character
681 Words
Andy.
Our friendship was anything but friendly. I wouldn't have even pegged him for a friend, or even an acquaintance. He felt threatened by me and then I felt threatened. And, well, I tend to become confrontational when I feel like someone's got it out for me. We had our share of fights. Verbal, mainly. I don't think it it ever escalated to anything physical -- I reserve that kind of behavior for the real scumbags of the world.
It started with Lauren proposing we all have a threesome. I'm not one to shy away from anything sexually adventurous (almost anything, anyway). Besides, I've always wanted to try a threesome, as most guys have, I think. Granted, I had always hoped for a two-girls-and-me kind of situation, but like I said: I don't typically shy away from sex. After a little bit of coercion from Lauren, I was onboard and ready to go. After all, I was single and in the midst of my one-night-stands-only period. This was the perfect scenario.
Not for Andy, though. He and Lauren were dating at that point, and since he already felt threatened by me, the idea of me having sex with his girlfriend, even if he was involved on the action, made it worse. And .. in retrospect, I understand why. I don't know how calm and collected I'd be if .. I don't know, say if Mark wanted to have a threesome with me and Ava. Especially given their history together. Of course, I tend to be stupid and all-around inconsiderate at times, and I didn't understand why Andy was getting so upset about the whole thing.
We called it off. No threesome for us. Lauren and Andy had their own issues to work out and me being in the middle, literally and figuratively, was just the lemon juice in the wound. Andy and I exchanged words .. the not-so-nice kind. We each said our peace and left it alone, figuring we had bigger fish to fry. I didn't want to cause them more drama, so I dropped it.
But the feelings of intimidation didn't go away for Andy, not for a while. I don't know what eventually turned it around, but we came to a point where we just .. respected each other. I told him about my childhood and we discovered that we had really similar experiences at the mercy of other kids. We'd both been the awkward child, the one who got picked on consistently by the bigger kids, the ones who were labeled "outcasts," the ones who had trouble trusting people because of it. No one had ever really understood that part of my past before, and for me, that was when I knew that I could trust him. Unlike most people I'd come to know, I could trust him -- and I knew he wouldn't judge me.
It's just grown since then. After we got passed our initial bump in the road, it was like we'd been friends from the very start. We're Bromates now. We've gotten tattoos together (not of the same thing, but simultaneously), we've smoked pot together and gone apeshit, he made me his Best Man at his wedding .. and when I eventually get married, I'll be returning the favor.
And I don't know if I've ever explicitly told him how much I admire him. I admire him for a lot of things, actually. For following his heart even when idiotic people called him foolish, for standing up for his beliefs, for defending the woman he loves, for marrying her, for talking things out with me whenever something was bothering him, for being one of the best friends I've ever had. For being him.
If you'd asked me, when I first met him and the fighting started, if we would ever be friends? If we would ever be able to talk without one of us getting pissed? I would have laughed in your face. I would have said, "Never in a million years." And for once? I'm unbelievably thankful that I was wrong.
James S. Carlisle
Original Character
681 Words