Part 14

Justin paced in his room, practically vibrating with rage. Tyler stood there, watching him curiously.

"Okay, would you like to stop pacing for a moment and tell me what the hell happened?" Tyler asked, getting up from his bed and grabbing Justin by the shoulders.

Justin took a deep breath and looked at Tyler. "Do you know a guy named Andrew Poston?"

Tyler immediately paled and began to shake. "Oh, my God." He whispered. "I thought I saw him. I tried to tell myself that I was just hallucinating, but he really was here. Please tell me that he didn't touch Josh. Please." He gripped harder at Justin's shoulders, looking for reassurance.

Justin shook his head. "No, he didn't. I made sure of that. But that's not the worst part. Lance and Kevin invited him here."

Tyler looked at him curiously. "Why would they do that?"

"To break us up. Andrew threatened to do to me what he did to Josh unless…." Justin choked on the words. Tyler nodded, understanding the words that were unsaid.

"God, Kevin is supposed to be his friend, his best friend. And hell, Lance is supposed to be our friend. I remember the summer after Josh's seventh grade year, after he started dating that monster. He would jump at every unexpected sound, and we learned to not sneak up on him, because he would lash out, like we were trying to hurt him. Then I came here, and I met Andrew, and I saw what my brother was so afraid of. He even tried to tie me down once, but thankfully someone heard me yelling and scared Andrew away. Why would anyone want to put Josh through that again?" Tyler asked, his voice coming out in hitched sobs.

Just then there was a knock on the door and Lance stuck his head in. "Hey, anybody up for pizza?" he asked. Before anyone knew what was happening, Tyler leapt forward, grabbing Lance and throwing him to the floor, pinning the boy with his knee.

"How dare you? How dare you act like you're my friend when you tried to get my brother raped? I should kill you for that. I really should." Tyler said menacingly, his hands gripping Lance's hair tightly.

Lance looked at Justin for support, but found nothing but a cold stare. "Don't even look at me like you expect me to be on your side. Tyler's right. We should kill you for what you did. I ought to gut you like a fish, you bastard. Why? I know that you hate Josh but to bring a guy here to rape him? That's insane."

Lance's eyes narrowed. "I was just trying to help you," he spat out, "I know what Joshua Chasez is capable of and he deserves every bit of pain life gives him. I knew that once you got rid of him you could see that you and I deserve to be together."

Tyler and Justin both looked at Lance incredulously. Tyler pulled him to his feet and pushed him out the door. "Get out. Just get out. I want to beat you up but the sight of you makes me nauseous."

Lance however didn't heed the warning. He walked up to Justin, face determined. "I wouldn't be so quick to dismiss me if I were you. After all, your father does work for mine."

Justin's mouth fell open. "You would actually sabotage my father's job because I'm in love with someone else? How sick are you?"

Lance smirked at Justin until Tyler stepped in. "I think that you forget how powerful a person my father is, Lance. And that my father has a multimillion dollar contract with your father. I doubt your father would be happy about losing all that money because of something his son did against the Chasez heir. If you do anything to Justin's father, I promise you that your father won't be able to find work as a shoe salesman."

Lance turned red and opened his mouth to retort, but closed it again when he realized that the threat was valid. He turned away and walked out the door.

Justin sighed a big breath of relief. "Thanks for having my back on that, Ty."

Tyler shrugged his shoulders. "No problem. I mean, you're one of my best friends and my brother's boyfriend. You know that I'm on your side. But damn, I really wish I would've kicked the shit out of him now."

"Nah. No use getting expelled for him. But I'm telling you, twelfth grade, last day of school, it's on." Justin offered. Both boys began laughing at the thought of kicking Lance's ass on the last day of school.

_ _ _

Josh was sitting in his room, finishing his research paper for English, and wondering what he was going to do when he saw Kevin. The man had been his best friend since sixth grade, and now he had done something to him that Josh wouldn't even wish on his worst enemy. He felt betrayed.

A soft knock on his door brought him out of his thoughts and he opened it to find Kevin there. He had thought that when this confrontation came that he'd be angry and upset, yelling at Kevin and maybe even fighting him. But now he realized that he was just hurt. Too hurt to even fight properly.

"So, I guess you've heard about what I did, right?" Kevin asked, his hands jammed into his pockets. Josh nodded.

"Part of me really wants to kick your ass. Maybe even put a hit out on you. But another part of me keeps seeing my best friend and wondering why. I mean, you were there when I was with Andrew. Why would you want to put me through that again? I know that you hated Justin, but I never thought that you hated me."

Kevin sighed wearily. "I was jealous. I was so jealous of Justin, and I wanted to have you at any cost, even if it meant hurting you. I still want you. No one besides you and Carter has ever said no to me, and it eats away at me."

"Fine, if you feel that way, then why didn't you pursue Nick? If you hurt him, you're not ending a six year friendship. And this is way past normal jealously, Kevin. You sent Andrew after me. That's just…it's crazy. You're crazy if you think that your actions were justified." Josh was yelling now, the anger that he was surprised to not feel coming to him in spades. He clenched his fists, willing himself not to lash out. "Do you not care about what you did to me?"

Kevin didn't say anything. They stared at each other for a few minutes before Kevin sighed. "I love you. And I know I was wrong for what I did, but that kid isn't right for you. He'll never understand you like I do. You're not a good person, Josh. And neither am I. The kid is. Sure, he'll make you feel loved and everything, but he'll never understand the type of person that you are. And one day he'll realize that you're not a good person and leave you."

Josh's eyes narrowed. "Go to hell, Kevin. Our friendship is over."

Kevin sighed and walked out the door, leaving his words heavy on Josh's brain.

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