Combat (2/15)
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Scotty turned at the knock on his open door and smiled at Justin, who waved at him.
"Need any help packing?"
Scotty shook his head, folding a shirt and placing it in his suitcase. "Nope. Almost done. I don’t have a lot of stuff."
Justin walked over and sat on the bed. "You haven’t told me what your plans are."
Scotty sighed, lifting a hand to brush his hair back. He leaned forward for another shirt. "I gave up my place when I, uh, came here, so Ellen helped me find a cheap apartment. There’s a clinic nearby where I can get check-ups on my leg and pain pills when I need them. And...I have to find a job."
"Anything you want to do in particular?"
"Nah. Something flexible. And not too physical," Scotty added, looking down at his knee.
"Have you thought about going to school? I’m applying for the fall myself."
Scotty scoffed. "I used up the last of the money I inherited from my grandmother to pay for this place. Between doctors’ appointments and not ending up on the street in a cardboard box, I can’t afford tuition."
Justin shrugged and handed him another shirt. "Talk to the Army. You should be able to get money for education and health care."
Scotty smiled tightly. "Not if you’ve been not-so-honorably discharged."
Justin looked at him in surprise. "What? What happened?"
"Don’t ask."
Justin held a hand up. "OK. Sorry."
"No. I mean...don’t ask," Scotty said significantly.
"Wha - oh! Oh."
Scotty was silent as he leaned forward and zipped his suitcase shut. Turning away from Justin, he took a breath. "It’s okay if you don’t want to be my sponsor anymore."
"Huh?"
Scotty glanced at him meaningfully.
"No! Dude, my brother’s gay. It doesn’t bother me. I just kind of feel like a jerk, asking about girlfriends and stuff."
Scotty smiled shakily.
"Are you sure you don’t want a female sponsor? I think they’d probably make an exception."
And then Scotty, unexpectedly, laughed. "No offense, Justin. You’re not my type."
***
"Hi! Sorry I’m late!" Justin called out as he walked into the dining room. The rest of the family were already sitting around the table.
"Hi honey!" Nora said.
Justin took his seat quickly, and Sarah passed him the casserole. "Where have you been?" she asked.
"I was with Tyler, nosy."
"Oh, you should have invited her to dinner," Nora said.
"I did! She and her friends are having a girls’ night out tonight."
"Ooh, fun," Sarah said.
The others turned to look at her. "What?" she asked. "Do you know how long it’s been since I’ve been out on the town?"
Kevin nodded in commiseration, and Sarah glanced at the movement. "Kev, we should go out! You and me!"
Kitty and Tommy both laughed at the idea. Julia glared at her husband and turned to Sarah, "Or I’ll go out with you sometime, Sarah. We’ll make Tommy baby-sit."
Justin shook his head in amusement as he finished filling his plate. Just as he was about to take a bite, his phone rang. "Sorry, sorry," he said, fumbling around in his pocket. Pulling out the phone, he glanced at the screen. Scotty.
"You guys, I have to take this."
Justin quickly stood, walking into the kitchen. He pressed the button and leaned on the counter.
"Hello?"
"Sorry, are you busy?"
"No, man. What’s up?"
"I just...I-I just - "
"Look, where are you?"
"At my apartment."
"I’ll be right there."
Scotty thanked him, and Justin hung up the phone. He walked back into the dining room and grabbed the roll of his plate.
"Sorry, folks. I gotta go."
"What?" Nora exclaimed. "Honey, you just got here."
"Yeah, I know. That was Scotty."
They all stared at him blankly.
"My sponsee?"
"Oh!" Nora said in sudden understanding. She quickly stood. "Hold on one second - take your dinner with you."
"Mom, I - " Justin began to argue, looking at his watch.
"Oh, quiet. It’s not going to take that long. And bring something for him too."
Nora grabbed Justin’s plate and the casserole, disappearing into the kitchen. Justin looked at the others, rolling his eyes in exasperation before following her. Tommy smirked at Sarah.
"Nora Walker, mothering L.A.’s drug addicts since 2006."
Kevin snorted. "Please. Long before then."
***
"Scotty?" Justin called out as he knocked on the door. He waited a few moments, but there was no answer. Knocking again, he yelled louder, "Scotty? It’s Justin."
"Door’s open."
Justin reached down, twisting the knob and pushing the door open. The apartment was relatively dark and quiet, except for some soft music from the radio. He looked around and saw Scotty sitting in the corner, back against the wall, his good knee bent near his chest and the injured leg stretched out in front of him.
Justin sighed and walked over, putting the wrapped plates on the coffee table as he passed it. Turning around, he slid down the wall until he was seated next to Scotty.
"What happened?" he asked softly.
Scotty took a deep breath and began to speak quickly. "I applied at five different places today. Every one of them requires a drug test. Every one. Which...fine. I’m clean now, right? Except I’m not, because after walking around all those places, my leg was killing me. And I had to go to the doctor’s office for a freaking pill, because I can’t just have a bottle of them like a normal person, and I don’t have anyone who will hold onto them for me. I had to show them my I.D. and they watched me take it and I realized...I realized I can’t trust myself. Since I was 18, I’ve been on my own. If I can’t trust myself, who can I trust?"
"You can trust yourself, Scotty," Justin said forcefully. "I know it doesn’t feel like that right now, but you can. And you can trust me. You’re going to be fine. And your knee’s going to get better too, I promise."
Scotty sighed and leaned his head back against the wall.
"The guy working the desk at the clinic," he said slowly, "his name was Joe."
Justin sat quietly, confused. "OK."
Scotty leaned forward again, running his hand through his hair. "In Iraq, my...he was named Joe."
"Scotty," Justin said, turning to face him more directly. "Do you want to tell me what happened? It might make things...easier."
Scotty laughed ruefully. He cleared his throat, looking away from Justin as he began to talk. "I, uh, I don’t have much experience with guys, really. I dated this girl, Marie, all through high school, trying to convince myself that I wasn’t...that I wanted to be with her. I even slept with her a couple times. Let’s just say the earth did not move. And when I got to L.A., I finally...kissed some guys. A couple - " Scotty cleared his throat again. "A couple handjobs, and one guy went down on me."
Justin nodded, trying not to feel embarrassed. "OK."
"They were all one-time things. Joe was the first guy I ever really knew, you know? And I’m not even sure how it happened, but I fell for him. We were close. Good friends, but I just had this feeling that it was something more for both...one day, I took a huge chance and kissed him, and - and he kissed me back. Things happened pretty fast, but we never...I still have never..."
Scotty broke off, and Justin sat silently for a few moments. "What happened then?"
"We were off-duty one night. We snuck away - not too far away, obviously. We were making out, and our CO caught us."
"Crap."
"Yeah. We were in a convoy, getting trucked out of the camp the next day. The jeep we were in, we drove over an IED. Next thing I remember, I was in the hospital with my leg in traction."
"What about Joe?"
Scotty didn’t answer.
"Scotty, what about Joe?"
"He was killed," Scotty said in an emotionless voice.
***
Justin ran a hand up and down Tyler’s back slowly. The sun was starting to set and shadows danced across his apartment wall.
"That tickles," Tyler murmured.
Justin grinned and leaned over to kiss her shoulder.
"I have a favor to ask you," he said.
Tyler shifted, bringing her arms up underneath her pillow. "What is it?"
"Do you have any job openings at the hotel?"
Tyler looked at him, confused. "Not for me," Justin clarified. "For Scotty. He’s having trouble finding something that he can do with his knee."
Tyler was silent, thinking. "Does he know computers? I need someone in the office at least temporarily while we switch over the reservation system."
"I don’t know. I’ll find out. And I’m sure he could learn," Justin said excitedly.
"This isn’t a sure thing, Justin," Tyler said seriously. "He has to apply and interview just like everyone else. I’m not just handing out the job."
"I know," Justin said, sitting up. After a pause, he added, "One more thing."
Tyler looked at him, waiting.
"If - IF - he gets the job, would you be comfortable holding onto a bottle of pills for him?"
"Justin - "
"No, just hear me out, OK? Right now, he has to go to the clinic every couple hours to get a pill, because he doesn’t have anyone else who can hold onto them. I would, but obviously that’d be a dumb idea. If you’re right in the same office as him, then..."
Tyler sighed. "Fine. All right. If he gets the job and if he’s comfortable with it, I will hold onto the pills."
Justin leaned forward, kissing Tyler. "You’re the best girlfriend ever."
"Don’t you forget it."
***
"You didn’t have to come with me, Mom," Justin said, as he led Nora down the hotel hallway.
"Oh come on, sweetie," Nora said, laughing. "I’m supposed to just wait in the car? I want to see Tyler, and I want to see her reaction when you tell her about college."
"I can’t believe I got in," Justin muttered. "What were they thinking?"
"I don’t want to hear that kind of talk from you. They were thinking they’d be lucky to have you."
Justin shook his head, smiling, as he knocked quickly on the office door. At Tyler’s response, he opened the door.
"Hey hon."
"Justin, hi. What are you doing here?"
"Came to see how Scotty was doing," Justin answered, waving at the other man in the corner of the room.
"Great!" Tyler said.
Scotty laughed. "Yeah, great, I guess."
"Oh, you’re Scotty!" Nora exclaimed, quickly walking over to shake his hand. "I’m Nora, Justin’s mother. It’s so nice to meet you."
Startled, Scotty shook her hand. "Nice to meet you," he said, embarrassed. "Ah, thanks for dinner the other week."
Justin smirked at Scotty over Nora’s shoulder before turning back to Tyler. "I’ve got some big news."
He paused theatrically.
"What?!" Tyler asked, laughing.
"I got into UCLA."
"Oh my God!" Tyler said, hurrying around the desk to kiss Justin. "That’s so great. I’m so proud of you."
"That’s really great," Scotty added.
"So we’re having a celebratory dinner tonight. Be there at 7," Nora said. "Scotty, you too."
"What?" Scotty asked, surprised. "Oh, no. That’s OK."
"Do you have other plans?"
Scotty paused, but he found he couldn’t lie to her. "No."
"Then don’t be silly."
Scotty took a breath and said, shaking his head, "I don’t want to intrude."
Justin laughed. "Give it up, man. You’ll never win."
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Scotty turned at the knock on his open door and smiled at Justin, who waved at him.
"Need any help packing?"
Scotty shook his head, folding a shirt and placing it in his suitcase. "Nope. Almost done. I don’t have a lot of stuff."
Justin walked over and sat on the bed. "You haven’t told me what your plans are."
Scotty sighed, lifting a hand to brush his hair back. He leaned forward for another shirt. "I gave up my place when I, uh, came here, so Ellen helped me find a cheap apartment. There’s a clinic nearby where I can get check-ups on my leg and pain pills when I need them. And...I have to find a job."
"Anything you want to do in particular?"
"Nah. Something flexible. And not too physical," Scotty added, looking down at his knee.
"Have you thought about going to school? I’m applying for the fall myself."
Scotty scoffed. "I used up the last of the money I inherited from my grandmother to pay for this place. Between doctors’ appointments and not ending up on the street in a cardboard box, I can’t afford tuition."
Justin shrugged and handed him another shirt. "Talk to the Army. You should be able to get money for education and health care."
Scotty smiled tightly. "Not if you’ve been not-so-honorably discharged."
Justin looked at him in surprise. "What? What happened?"
"Don’t ask."
Justin held a hand up. "OK. Sorry."
"No. I mean...don’t ask," Scotty said significantly.
"Wha - oh! Oh."
Scotty was silent as he leaned forward and zipped his suitcase shut. Turning away from Justin, he took a breath. "It’s okay if you don’t want to be my sponsor anymore."
"Huh?"
Scotty glanced at him meaningfully.
"No! Dude, my brother’s gay. It doesn’t bother me. I just kind of feel like a jerk, asking about girlfriends and stuff."
Scotty smiled shakily.
"Are you sure you don’t want a female sponsor? I think they’d probably make an exception."
And then Scotty, unexpectedly, laughed. "No offense, Justin. You’re not my type."
***
"Hi! Sorry I’m late!" Justin called out as he walked into the dining room. The rest of the family were already sitting around the table.
"Hi honey!" Nora said.
Justin took his seat quickly, and Sarah passed him the casserole. "Where have you been?" she asked.
"I was with Tyler, nosy."
"Oh, you should have invited her to dinner," Nora said.
"I did! She and her friends are having a girls’ night out tonight."
"Ooh, fun," Sarah said.
The others turned to look at her. "What?" she asked. "Do you know how long it’s been since I’ve been out on the town?"
Kevin nodded in commiseration, and Sarah glanced at the movement. "Kev, we should go out! You and me!"
Kitty and Tommy both laughed at the idea. Julia glared at her husband and turned to Sarah, "Or I’ll go out with you sometime, Sarah. We’ll make Tommy baby-sit."
Justin shook his head in amusement as he finished filling his plate. Just as he was about to take a bite, his phone rang. "Sorry, sorry," he said, fumbling around in his pocket. Pulling out the phone, he glanced at the screen. Scotty.
"You guys, I have to take this."
Justin quickly stood, walking into the kitchen. He pressed the button and leaned on the counter.
"Hello?"
"Sorry, are you busy?"
"No, man. What’s up?"
"I just...I-I just - "
"Look, where are you?"
"At my apartment."
"I’ll be right there."
Scotty thanked him, and Justin hung up the phone. He walked back into the dining room and grabbed the roll of his plate.
"Sorry, folks. I gotta go."
"What?" Nora exclaimed. "Honey, you just got here."
"Yeah, I know. That was Scotty."
They all stared at him blankly.
"My sponsee?"
"Oh!" Nora said in sudden understanding. She quickly stood. "Hold on one second - take your dinner with you."
"Mom, I - " Justin began to argue, looking at his watch.
"Oh, quiet. It’s not going to take that long. And bring something for him too."
Nora grabbed Justin’s plate and the casserole, disappearing into the kitchen. Justin looked at the others, rolling his eyes in exasperation before following her. Tommy smirked at Sarah.
"Nora Walker, mothering L.A.’s drug addicts since 2006."
Kevin snorted. "Please. Long before then."
***
"Scotty?" Justin called out as he knocked on the door. He waited a few moments, but there was no answer. Knocking again, he yelled louder, "Scotty? It’s Justin."
"Door’s open."
Justin reached down, twisting the knob and pushing the door open. The apartment was relatively dark and quiet, except for some soft music from the radio. He looked around and saw Scotty sitting in the corner, back against the wall, his good knee bent near his chest and the injured leg stretched out in front of him.
Justin sighed and walked over, putting the wrapped plates on the coffee table as he passed it. Turning around, he slid down the wall until he was seated next to Scotty.
"What happened?" he asked softly.
Scotty took a deep breath and began to speak quickly. "I applied at five different places today. Every one of them requires a drug test. Every one. Which...fine. I’m clean now, right? Except I’m not, because after walking around all those places, my leg was killing me. And I had to go to the doctor’s office for a freaking pill, because I can’t just have a bottle of them like a normal person, and I don’t have anyone who will hold onto them for me. I had to show them my I.D. and they watched me take it and I realized...I realized I can’t trust myself. Since I was 18, I’ve been on my own. If I can’t trust myself, who can I trust?"
"You can trust yourself, Scotty," Justin said forcefully. "I know it doesn’t feel like that right now, but you can. And you can trust me. You’re going to be fine. And your knee’s going to get better too, I promise."
Scotty sighed and leaned his head back against the wall.
"The guy working the desk at the clinic," he said slowly, "his name was Joe."
Justin sat quietly, confused. "OK."
Scotty leaned forward again, running his hand through his hair. "In Iraq, my...he was named Joe."
"Scotty," Justin said, turning to face him more directly. "Do you want to tell me what happened? It might make things...easier."
Scotty laughed ruefully. He cleared his throat, looking away from Justin as he began to talk. "I, uh, I don’t have much experience with guys, really. I dated this girl, Marie, all through high school, trying to convince myself that I wasn’t...that I wanted to be with her. I even slept with her a couple times. Let’s just say the earth did not move. And when I got to L.A., I finally...kissed some guys. A couple - " Scotty cleared his throat again. "A couple handjobs, and one guy went down on me."
Justin nodded, trying not to feel embarrassed. "OK."
"They were all one-time things. Joe was the first guy I ever really knew, you know? And I’m not even sure how it happened, but I fell for him. We were close. Good friends, but I just had this feeling that it was something more for both...one day, I took a huge chance and kissed him, and - and he kissed me back. Things happened pretty fast, but we never...I still have never..."
Scotty broke off, and Justin sat silently for a few moments. "What happened then?"
"We were off-duty one night. We snuck away - not too far away, obviously. We were making out, and our CO caught us."
"Crap."
"Yeah. We were in a convoy, getting trucked out of the camp the next day. The jeep we were in, we drove over an IED. Next thing I remember, I was in the hospital with my leg in traction."
"What about Joe?"
Scotty didn’t answer.
"Scotty, what about Joe?"
"He was killed," Scotty said in an emotionless voice.
***
Justin ran a hand up and down Tyler’s back slowly. The sun was starting to set and shadows danced across his apartment wall.
"That tickles," Tyler murmured.
Justin grinned and leaned over to kiss her shoulder.
"I have a favor to ask you," he said.
Tyler shifted, bringing her arms up underneath her pillow. "What is it?"
"Do you have any job openings at the hotel?"
Tyler looked at him, confused. "Not for me," Justin clarified. "For Scotty. He’s having trouble finding something that he can do with his knee."
Tyler was silent, thinking. "Does he know computers? I need someone in the office at least temporarily while we switch over the reservation system."
"I don’t know. I’ll find out. And I’m sure he could learn," Justin said excitedly.
"This isn’t a sure thing, Justin," Tyler said seriously. "He has to apply and interview just like everyone else. I’m not just handing out the job."
"I know," Justin said, sitting up. After a pause, he added, "One more thing."
Tyler looked at him, waiting.
"If - IF - he gets the job, would you be comfortable holding onto a bottle of pills for him?"
"Justin - "
"No, just hear me out, OK? Right now, he has to go to the clinic every couple hours to get a pill, because he doesn’t have anyone else who can hold onto them. I would, but obviously that’d be a dumb idea. If you’re right in the same office as him, then..."
Tyler sighed. "Fine. All right. If he gets the job and if he’s comfortable with it, I will hold onto the pills."
Justin leaned forward, kissing Tyler. "You’re the best girlfriend ever."
"Don’t you forget it."
***
"You didn’t have to come with me, Mom," Justin said, as he led Nora down the hotel hallway.
"Oh come on, sweetie," Nora said, laughing. "I’m supposed to just wait in the car? I want to see Tyler, and I want to see her reaction when you tell her about college."
"I can’t believe I got in," Justin muttered. "What were they thinking?"
"I don’t want to hear that kind of talk from you. They were thinking they’d be lucky to have you."
Justin shook his head, smiling, as he knocked quickly on the office door. At Tyler’s response, he opened the door.
"Hey hon."
"Justin, hi. What are you doing here?"
"Came to see how Scotty was doing," Justin answered, waving at the other man in the corner of the room.
"Great!" Tyler said.
Scotty laughed. "Yeah, great, I guess."
"Oh, you’re Scotty!" Nora exclaimed, quickly walking over to shake his hand. "I’m Nora, Justin’s mother. It’s so nice to meet you."
Startled, Scotty shook her hand. "Nice to meet you," he said, embarrassed. "Ah, thanks for dinner the other week."
Justin smirked at Scotty over Nora’s shoulder before turning back to Tyler. "I’ve got some big news."
He paused theatrically.
"What?!" Tyler asked, laughing.
"I got into UCLA."
"Oh my God!" Tyler said, hurrying around the desk to kiss Justin. "That’s so great. I’m so proud of you."
"That’s really great," Scotty added.
"So we’re having a celebratory dinner tonight. Be there at 7," Nora said. "Scotty, you too."
"What?" Scotty asked, surprised. "Oh, no. That’s OK."
"Do you have other plans?"
Scotty paused, but he found he couldn’t lie to her. "No."
"Then don’t be silly."
Scotty took a breath and said, shaking his head, "I don’t want to intrude."
Justin laughed. "Give it up, man. You’ll never win."
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