Valentine
by Jessica H.
"Well,
buddy, how do you feel?"
"Nervous. Excited."
"I can tell."
"He'll say no. I know he will."
"No you don't. You don't know at all, and you know it."
There was a pause. "Right." The older man
said sarcastically.
The younger man shrugged. "You never know."
"Stop it with the word know."
"All right."
"You're such a pal."
"I know."
********************************************************************
"He won't ever feel that way about me."
"How can you be sure?"
"He's...older than me."
"Not by much."
"Yeah, but...I'm not his type."
"He's only had about three unsuccessful relationships with men, how can he
have a type?"
"Well...I don't know. I can just tell that he's not interested in
me."
"Go ahead to your dressing room. You need to warm up for today."
"Thanks, man."
"No problem."
*********************************************************************
"Do you think he got them?"
"Of course. You had the flower guy deliver them
to his dressing room personally."
"You're right."
"You are such a worry wort."
"You think I don't know that?"
"Hmm." For once, the younger man was stumped
for an answer.
"He's only two years younger than me. He knows I just...converted, so to
speak, so he might not be interested in me, seeing as he's been homosexual all
his life..."
"Slow down. It'll be fine. Even if he's not interested, you at least got
your feelings out in the open, right?"
"Right."
***********************************************************************
He opened the door to his dressing room, and stepping inside, saw an array of
flowers in various vases spread throughout.
"Oh my God."
He found an envelope among the throngs of red roses, tulips, daffodils,
daisies, and carnations. Opening it
carefully, he saw a baby blue piece of paper with dark green leaves and vines
twisting around the border. He read the message out loud.
"Dear Greg,
I can't hide it anymore. I've had feelings for you for a long time. I just
can't go taping after taping with you and have that feeling bottled up inside.
This has taken a lot of guts for someone like me to admit. Please take these
flowers as a symbol of my feelings for you.
No matter how you respond, we'll always be best friends. (Ryan would
kill me for that line.)
Love, Sincerely, whatever,
Colin.
Dear sweet Jesus..."
There came a knock on Greg's door. He opened it slowly to see Ryan there.
"Whoa, I see you got the flowers."
"You knew?" Greg took off his glasses and rubbed his nose. Putting
them back on, he looked up at the taller man.
"Of course I knew." Ryan smiled warmly.
"Why did I even ask?" Greg sat down on an empty chair and ran his
hand through his hair. "How long has he...liked me in that way?"
"You were the reason he became gay."
The bespectacled man stared at his friend, his mouth and eyes wide open.
"No...f'ing...way..."
Ryan laughed. "It's true. Everybody thought that it'd be me, but it was
you. Go figure, eh?"
"Yeah, go figure."
"So, what are you going to do, Mr. Proops?"
"I'm going to tell Colin the truth." Greg had a defeated tone to his
voice, so Ryan sighed.
"So that's it, just crush the man's hopes and dreams, why don't you..." He started to walk away.
Greg smiled as he let out a barely audible sentence..."I love him
back."
Ryan turned around and let out a huge grin. The two men came together in a
friendly embrace. Ryan had tears in his
eyes as he pulled away. "I'm so proud of you. My baby Colin is growing up
so fast..." He walked out, leaving
Greg to just smirk at his back.
*********************************************************************************
"You, Greg's dressing room, now." Ryan gave Colin a shove
towards the door. Without wondering why his friend was acting weird, for he
knew he must have a reason, he knocked solidly.
"Hi." Greg's voice cracked as he spoke.
"Hi." Colin smiled at him.
"Come on in." He shut the door behind the balding Canadian, feeling
his stomach get tied in knots. His heart
felt like it was going to burst out of his ribcage. He wanted to make love to
Colin right then and there.
As soon as the door was shut, Colin laid it down..."Do you love me the way
I love you? I need a straight
answer...no pun intended."
"Of course I do. I have for a while I just never got the courage to tell
you."
Not wasting any more time, Colin softly kissed Greg. They broke apart, but soon
were kissing each other again. Greg
explored every corner of Colin's mouth, slowly tasting him. He then broke the
kiss apart, going for Colin's ear. He slowly worked his way down his neck and
back up to his mouth. The world wasn't important...all that mattered was that
this was a Valentine's Day neither of them would ever forget.
THE END