Stacking Questions

~James~

I woke up the next morning with the worst hangover I'd ever had. My head pounded and my eyes burned in the lights. My stomach swayed and my balance was pathetic. I looked over to the bed where Rick slept to see it was empty. Memories of last night came rushing back. Memories of meeting Will, of trying to get a girl for Rick, of him coming out, of how badly I took it, of . . . of kissing him, of ruining it all over again, and of feeling like shit. Now I was in physical and emotional pain.

Great.

I stumbled out of bed and into the living room. I opened the door and blinked in the morning light. Lyn was in the kitchen making breakfast. He seemed completely fine after last night. He said that he wouldn't drink last night and he stuck to it. I looked around the rest of the living room/kitchen area and sighed.

Rick wasn't there.

I walked over to Lyn and we exchanged curt 'good mornings' as I looked over his shoulder. He was making what looked like too many sausage and eggs for two people. I mean, I knew we could both eat. A lot. But this was ridiculous. We could never eat that much food. Well, we could, but it would take not eating a lot before and then begin really hungry.

I was about to ask about the serving sizes when someone shouted from the couch, "Mind hurrying up there, Lyn? I'm starving."

I looked toward the voice and saw Will's annoyed and sleepy face poking out from the top of the couch as Lyn called out to him, "Must you always be so impatient?"

Will flopped on the couch with a groan, "Morning, Jim. Hurt I had to say it first."

I scratched the back of my neck, "Sorry, Will. I didn't know you were here."

His head poked up again, "You're too nice."

He flopped back down after giving me an eye roll and I walked over to Lyn. I stood close to him and spoke in hushed tones so Will wouldn't hear, "Why is he here?"

"Last night all three of you were so painfully drunk I couldn't just let you go home," Lyn said very matter-of-fact and at a normal volume, "So, I took you all here."

I looked frantically at Will before continuing to whisper, "Keep your voice down, but do you know why Rick has never had a girlfriend?"

"Because he's gay?" Lyn suggested still at a normal volume.

I jumped up and looked at him with wide eyes, "You knew?"

He just nodded, "I've known for a while. It's rather obvious."

"Dude, even I knew," Will called from the couch, "The moment I saw him I went 'he's gay', but I really knew when he started tearing it up with this one guy who was there. Damn, they were moving!"

"We were?" I heard a tired voice ask from behind me.

I turned around and, listen I'm not gay, but I lost my breath. Rick was standing in the doorway of the bathroom in a sweater that was too big for him and the sleeves fell past his hands. His hair was unruly and his eyes were red and puffy from just waking up. It didn't help that he was rubbing his eyes with his sleeved hands as he gave a little yawn. I wasn't into him like that, but he was really cute.

I shook my head out as Will spoke, "Yeah, you were. I'm surprised that you came home with us last night."

I didn't like that Will said that.

Why didn't I like that Will said that?

Rick shook his head as he walked over to the couch to sit next to Will, "We were just having fun. It wasn't anything really."

"Yeah, right," Will shoved his shoulder playfully, "So, what's his name?"

I crept closer to the couch so I could hear his answer.

Rick blushed a bit, "Jonathan McQuavo."

"Ooh! Jonathan McQuavo, huh?" Will said, mockingly.

"Alright, Ill, leave him alone," Lyn called from the kitchen, "Besides, breakfast is ready. So, hurry up and eat so you don't miss classes."

We all went over and grabbed plates of the sausages and eggs that Lyn had made. We ate them silently scattered around the apartment. I spent the entire time being distracted by Rick. He had danced with a guy last night? And almost went home with him? It really bothered me for some reason. Probably because I was worried that he'd take advantage of Rick. He was a good friend of mine and it was very easy to trick him. This guy could very easily be taking advantage of Rick and I didn't appreciate it.

Right as we were leaving Rick's phone rang, "Hello? Oh, yeah, hi. How are you? Mh-hm. Really? Sounds great. I'll see you then."

"Who was that?" I asked him, apprehensive about his suddenly great mood.

"Jonathan," he answered with a shy grin.

"Ooh, Jonathan," Will said slyly, "Did he ask you out?"

"Yeah, he did."

What?