New story!
Title: Things We Said Today (Pt.1)
Rating: PG-13 for language
Pairing: C/Z
Synopsis: Letting go and grabbing again.
Disclaimer: I never do this. Not mine. Nuttin' ever is.
Author's note: The scene at McD's is taken from a *real life story* of an old friend of ours that did this. he DID this. Read on... ;)
"Someday, when we're dreaming; deep in love, not a lot to say
Then we will remember... things we said today,"
~Beatles
“I’m in.”
Stan lowered his soda to his lap, looking to Zeke with a growing smile. “In what, Zeke?” he asked. Zeke smiled and put his leg up along the opened car door.
“Columbia.”
“Columbia??” Stan repeated, blinking in shock. “Holy shit!”
Zeke nodded, flicking ash onto the pavement in the parking lot where he and Stan ate a quick lunch. “It’s what can happen when you graduate a two year program as Valedictorian,”
Now Stan choked on air, his hands gripping the door and his seat. “Wha… Zeke…!”
“Yea, pretty much,”
“God damn… Zeke! That’s awesome!!”
“Tell me about it,” Zeke said, laughing as Stan began hitting his shoulder in glee.
“When did you find out??”
“This past Tuesday. Woulda told you yesterday after classes, but you seemed pretty busy,”
“So?? Hot DAMN!” Stan exclaimed, laughing. “So, off to New York then, huh? I’ll probably just go into the police academy once I’m done. My grades aren’t THAT bad, but I’m not gonna push it,”
“Yea… I’m gonna be selling my place and moving out there,” Zeke told him. Stan calmed a bit now, sobering with this next revelation.
“Like… for good?”
“Yea. Ohio isn’t… me.”
“Hah… you’re right there… geez,” Stan replied, sipping his drink. “You’d better have a kick ass going away party. Stokely will kill you if you don’t,”
“When does she come back from State?”
“Next Friday. Can’t wait,”
“Good; I won’t be gone yet then,”
Stan’s head whipped back to look at Zeke. “Wait… wait, wait, wait… Zeke, when are you leaving??”
“My trust fund opened on my twenty-first, three months ago. More than enough to get a good apartment in the city,” Zeke explained in a dry, blank voice. “Pro’bly a loft, near Central. Something. Once the house is sold I’ll be more than set. I’ve got a lot of leads on scholarships, might not have to pay much for tuition at all,”
Stan huffed out a breath, raising his eyebrows. “Damn, Zeke. Can’t say I’m completely thrilled… I mean awesome, you got in… you sure you aren’t moving too fast?”
“Yea, I’m sure,”
“We’re gonna miss ya, Zeke. I’m most likely heading up Stokes’ way to State. New York… that’s like a million miles away,”
“Naw- it’s only about a thirteen hour drive. I’ll make it in eight,”
“Yer gonna drive??”
“Of COURSE, geez,” Zeke said with a laugh. “I don’t care what I pay for parking; my baby comes with,”
“Hah, shoulda known,” Stan said with a smile; it faded quickly as he sighed, looking out the window. “’Guess everyone just leaves in the end. Something that scared the shit outta me in high school. First it was Del, then Case…” he went to continue, but paused. It became quiet a few moments as Stan turned to look at Zeke again. “You’ll miss him, y’now,”
“Who?”
“Casey. He’ll be coming BACK from New York while you’re moving,”
Zeke shook his head slowly as he took a sip of his drink. “No… he’s staying there the summer.”
“Oh…” Stan murmured, eyebrows crinkling. They eased as he nodded, another smile creeping onto his lips. “I see,”
The mysterious tone Stan used made Zeke look over at him curiously. “What?”
“Nothing… nothing,”
“No really- what?”
“Well… I’d think it’s obvious,” Stan said, breathing in deep and shifting in his seat. “I remember this past spring break; you were raving about him not coming home then, too,”
Zeke shrugged, staring at the bubbly liquid in his cup. “Well, I miss him sometimes. Me ‘n him were close ‘til he left for the city,”
“Yea, you’ve said. Many times. A whole damned lot, actually. Even Stokes asked if you two were dating,” Stan joked. “You can tell me, y’now,”
Zeke smiled a bit and rolled his eyes. “What can I tell ya, Stan?”
“Well… okay… you admitted you have a thing for him. I had to swear, what- Stokely? What was it I had to do if I told?”
“Sacrifice her to the Gods,”
“Uh huh, yea. Sooo… it’s only obvious that you guys have talked things out. Made things… comfy-like in NYC,”
“You’re always so far off the mark, Stan. So far off,” Zeke said, pulling out his pack of cigarettes and taking one out.
“Am I close, at all?”
“Just said you were far off,” Zeke said through pursed lips as he lit up.
“Then what? C’mon, you guys had to have talked,”
“Nope.”
Stan looked perplexed now. “Then- why the move?”
“Cos’ I told you… I hate Ohio,”
“But…”
“He’s taken, Stan,” Zeke retorted quickly, his smile gone entirely. Stan’s own smile disappeared.
“Oh.” He muttered. “So… you did talk,”
“Nope. Called his parents a few days ago to find out when he was coming back. And he isn’t.” Zeke said, blowing out a long stream of smoke. “They ain’t happy about it. There’s just a lot going on right now with Casey.”
“Ah… so that’s why you’re going.”
“Could say,” Zeke said, entranced by the movements of smoke just outside by the windshield. “Could say,”
Zeke had never talked much to anyone before the ‘experience’ with the attempted takeover. He’d never had the need of it; it was easier to brush everyone off, screw around, and skip classes when he wanted to- avoidance, all in Zeke Tyler format. Things were bad before his parents had gone, only making Zeke’s sense of reasoning and ideas MORE confusing and messed up after they’d gone, just a few weeks after his sixteenth birthday. It was his ‘time to grow up’ his father had said on the phone, calling from Brazil. The problem was that Zeke hadn’t been given any guidance in this venture, and was set off into a world of absolute responsibility for himself, by himself.
It didn’t help that his parents may as well have been children themselves as he grew up; instead of telling friends that they were parents and couldn’t go out to their parties, they continued their extremely busy social life with Zeke in tow. A good number of their friends were the same way with kids of their own, though it never mattered. High stakes poker games, loud 80’s music, dancing, hot-tubbing and spouse-swapping were main events at these functions. It was as if the parents there didn’t care if their kids came down from makeshift beds and sleeping bags for a drink of water, or crying that they couldn’t sleep, whatever reason- at age ten, this could be difficult for Zeke to comprehend.
Most of Zeke’s growth spurts occurred when he entered the teenage years; he’d been one of the smallest children there, and would get teased or outright beat up. It was New Year’s weekend, and Zeke was along for one hell of a ride. This party would last from Friday night to Sunday afternoon at the Parson’s, which ensured many crazed evenings between everyone. All the children were in top form; after being shuffled off upstairs in the large house, Zeke endured the usual bouts of fighting, teasing and wrestling that would start, something the Parson’s son Eddie loved. The kid was so damned hyper, made possible by parents who didn’t care what he did, ate, or breathed. Only one was a girl, Mary, and was completely excluded. He wished he could have been like her, reading in the corner silently, instead of being in the mix of rambunctious boys he couldn’t stand to be around. The oldest of them all was thirteen, Jay Strickland. He’d lead everyone into trouble many times, and was looked up to by the other boys. The only one who wouldn’t go willingly was Zeke, though in the end he wouldn’t have a choice. He’d always be the first picked for Jay to demonstrate wrestling moves on, always having Zeke end up on his face, hard, into the wooden flooring. Eddie would usually sit on his head and pass gas, making Zeke want to throw up.
The parents always seemed to assume that the children would go to bed at nine; that’s when the real partying would begin. If anyone did sleep it was miraculous, considering the noise downstairs. Whether it was music, yelling or fighting, no kid would be dozing off. In fact, it only interested them into sneaking downstairs or putting their ears to the floor to listen in. The clouds of steam from the hot tub outside was enough to fog up the windows upstairs, leading the boys to open them and watch. Zeke was trying to ignore them, opting to sit with Mary instead and ask about what she was reading. He was soon called over by the chuckling group, telling him that he ‘had to see this’. Zeke walked over and looked out, his face going frozen in shock.
His father and one of the single guys, Ted, were in that hot tub along with about four others; Zeke watched in mute horror as they kissed wildly, getting egged on by the others there. Ted was straddling his father’s waist and bucking into him, making Zeke swallow with confusion and bewilderment.
“Never said yer dad was a faggot!” Eddie cheered out, laughing wildly. No matter their difference in size Zeke snapped and went for him, grabbing his neck and shoving him onto the floor. For a moment Zeke had the upper hand, grabbing Eddie’s collar and banging his back and head into the floor. There was no stopping Jay however; without any warning Zeke was grabbed up with one hand by his jean loops and sent sprawling on his back.
“Maybe he’s a queer like his dad,” Jay said with a sneer. “Let’s see.”
Zeke had struggled like never before, but Jay’s wrestling moves were too much. Jay had him pinned at the waist and shoulders, his broad arm crushing into his windpipe. Everyone hooted and hollered as Jay managed to get Zeke’s jeans undone, shoving them down along with his underwear with his other hand. Zeke stopped struggling when a hand wrapped around his penis forcefully, painfully. It got quiet when Jay began doing this, everyone entranced in watching the scene. No one noticed Mary crying in the corner but Zeke. With a will he didn’t know he had he’d managed to stave off the usual reaction of getting aroused; he was still young but knew what could happen He wasn’t that young, to not have gained some insight to what happened when he was alone and his groin ached.
When Jay’s chafing movements had made him sore and damned near scream worthy in pain, Jay stopped and laughed. “Guess yer not!” he cheered. For whatever reason everyone clapped while Zeke worked desperately to put his clothes back together, not having any real idea to what had just happened.
There was only one person in the world that knew about this; a week before Casey was to set off for the city, he and Zeke enjoyed some television and chips together at Casey’s house. Casey’s parents were once again being strict about him going out, especially so close to him leaving for college. Since Zeke was better about following rules he didn’t push things with the Connors; any time spent with Casey was just fine by him. When an infomercial came on about hot tubs, Zeke’s throat tensed; he hadn’t really thought about his childhood in awhile, and had actually been riding a high on the accomplishments he’d made in graduating higher than he’d thought he would. He didn’t know why or where it had come from, but Zeke started telling the story out of nowhere in great detail. Casey simply sat and watched him speak, his entire body stilled. Zeke spoke like he was talking about the weather, but his insides felt differently. He could recall the pit in his stomach growing, realizing what he was doing. The ache in his head grew but he went on, telling the tale as if he’d recited it to many. It left Casey thin lipped and blank faced; Zeke would have left the moment he’d stopped talking if Casey hadn’t said anything, but he did.
“You okay?” he’d asked. Zeke shrugged.
“Just another day in the life.”
“Not really.”
Zeke had shrugged again; Casey’s head turned to the stairs. His parents were up there; probably watching the clock to make sure Zeke didn’t stay past ten. “C’mon,” Casey whispered, rushing to the front door and grabbing his jacket and camera. With a quick glance to the clock (reading 9:40), Zeke followed Casey out to his car.
If there was one night Zeke would describe as euphoria, this was it. Casey usually panicked when Zeke drove fast- he encouraged him to peel out of the driveway and get away as quickly as possible tonight however. Zeke had done just that, sending them off into the night as if both of them had taken three pens of scat. Casey giggled Zeke into going through a McDonald’s drive thru, where he leaned across Zeke to answer the question, “Welcome to McDonald’s, what would you like to order tonight?” with…
“One of everything, please,”
It was like a tennis match between Casey and the speaker, Zeke wide eyed and chuckling. The girl on the intercom didn’t believe them until Zeke pulled up to the first window and Casey confirmed it. It came out to $155, give or take a few bucks; Casey passed it to Zeke from his wallet, claiming he’d been wondering what to spend his birthday money on. Zeke never laughed so hard in his life as bag after bag went into the car, going into the backseat, the floor and their laps.
The next hour and a half was spent with half of Casey’s body out the window as Zeke drove carefully along the street near the sidewalks. “HEY!! You!! Want a hamburger??” Casey would yell to people passing by. Most people actually took what he’d offered up to them; one guy actually ran off in fear; making Zeke and Casey bellow with laughs. A large group of guys hanging out in front of a bar were more than happy to take loads of food, along with the bouncers watching the door. Some fought over the double cheeseburger, or argued with each other on who would get the medium chocolate shake. Casey took a few pictures of the guys in various poses, holding up their food as if they were King Arthur’s knights at the round table. They claimed Casey to be ‘the coolest fuckhead in the world’ when they drove off, most of the food gone by that one stop alone.
“You’re so fucked up,” Zeke had laughed out, stomach hurting. Casey started shoveling fries in his mouth, muttering ‘I was hunrry’.
Once the food was nearly gone Zeke stopped at the town’s shopping center parking lot and indulged in a vanilla shake and a chicken sandwich; he and Casey sat on the hood, Casey snapping pictures of storefronts, people walking by- whatever he saw fit.
“I don’t want to go,” Casey had said.
“Yea.”
“I wanted to take art and photography. My parents won’t let me,” Casey had explained as he snapped a picture of a moth on the pavement. “They want me to be a mathematician or… some shit like that,”
“Thought you liked math… you were always great at it,”
“I hate math. Just cos’ I’m good at it doesn’t mean jack,”
Zeke had shrugged and laid back, sighing. “Tell ‘em you ain’t going. Go with me to school here,”
“I’d rather, actually,” Casey had laughed out. “Who knows… I might like New York.”
“Maybe,”
The drive back home was spent laughing and talking about anything; anything they saw fit to fill the air with sound. Zeke had almost forgotten what had started it all until they drove up Casey’s street and to his house. Casey stared out onto the porch a few moments then looked at the clock; 11:39.
“My parents are gonna be so pissed,” he said, half smiling, half grimacing.
“Yea. Was it worth it?” Zeke asked, a narrow eyed grin on his face. Casey nodded and replaced the halfhearted expression with a fully toothed grin back.
“Yea,” he replied. His voice went soft as he went on. “Dunno if I’ll see you again. Gonna be really busy.”
“Yea.” Zeke said. They both sighed in unison; Zeke tapped his knuckles on Casey’s arm. “Good times, man. Good times.”
Casey looked over with the fondest of smiles, warming Zeke’s core. “Fuck yea,” he replied softly, closing his eyes. For whatever reason Zeke’s hand, with knuckles still clenched went to Casey’s cheek. He didn’t offer some friendly jab; his fingers were tracing around Casey’s jaw line, making Casey’s eyes open.
“Get IN this HOUSE, Casey,”
Both of them looked up onto the porch, seeing Mr. Connor standing underneath the outside light. Zeke could see how red his face was, even from the street. “Better go. I’ll call you sometime,” Casey rushed out with, opening the car door and getting out. Zeke didn’t wait to see whatever reaction Mr. Connor had in store; he pealed out from the spot and took off, more confused than he’d ever been.
That’s why he was driving right now, everything he’d saw fit to take with him in the trunk and backseat of the car. The moving company would be packing the rest over next week, sending everything to his new place out in the city. College was a mere formality; someone was in that city that Zeke needed, even if he couldn’t have him.